Jorge Masvidal ‘wouldn’t have changed nothing’ about the way he fought Al Iaquinta

Jorge Masvidal got a chance to watch his fight with Al Iaquinta on video this week. Nothing he saw from the film made him change his mind. More than ever, Masvidal thought he should have won the decision.
“I thought I was in complete control…

Jorge Masvidal got a chance to watch his fight with Al Iaquinta on video this week. Nothing he saw from the film made him change his mind. More than ever, Masvidal thought he should have won the decision.

“I thought I was in complete control,” Masvidal told MMAFighting.com. “Looking at the video, I wouldn’t have changed nothing if I was to fight him tomorrow, today, whatever.”

Iaquinta came up with the split decision victory at UFC Fight Night: Mendes vs. Lamas on April 4, winning the second and third rounds on two judges’ scorecards. The other judge had Masvidal winning the bout, 30-27.

When Masvidal heard Iaquinta announced as the winner, he threw his hands up in the air and stormed from the Octagon. The fans in Fairfax, Va., booed the decision, causing Iaquinta to lash out at them in an interview with Jon Anik. The feeling of being robbed did not leave Masvidal a few days afterward.

“It was like they went into a 7-11, they took a couple 12 packs and Slurpees and just ran out the door,” Masvidal said.

The American Top Team product is trying to put the loss behind him, even if he feels like it wasn’t a loss at all. He’s actively campaigned on social media to get a fight with Benson Henderson at UFC 186 on April 25 in Montreal at welterweight. Both Henderson and Masvidal are ranked lightweights, but Henderson moved up to 170 for his last fight.

“I’d take the fight tomorrow,” Masvidal said. “I just want to compete. The main reason I’m in this sport is not to run mouths and make posts on Twitter and stuff. It’s to compete. If I can compete five, six times a year that would be perfect. I just want to get out there, compete and get that taste out of my mouth.”

Masvidal (28-9) was frustrated to begin with heading into the Iaquinta fight. He wanted a higher ranked opponent and was originally supposed to face Henderson on the card before Henderson filled in on short notice against Brandon Thatch in February.

After the loss, Masvidal, who had won three in a row and six of seven coming in, does not expect to get another ranked opponent. And he would prefer not to draw a rematch with Iaquinta.

“I could care less for it,” he said. “If it happens, it does. I beat him the first time. If they tell me, this is what we want you to do, we want you to do a rematch for whatever reason, I’ll kick his ass again. I’m cleared to fight. He ain’t.”

Masvidal, 30, did have some minor regrets about the fight. There were some opportunities to take Iaquinta down, but he didn’t take them mostly because he felt like he was doing fine standing.

“I had a couple times where I was just like I should have took him down, for sure,” Masvidal said. “Because I felt like the takedown, he couldn’t have stopped it. I was just trying to catch him with another big punch. I get him to miss big and then just catch him with a big punch. It didn’t happen in the third round.”

It did in the first and second, in Masvidal’s opinion. And even in the third, Masvidal felt like he did more than enough to win.

“When you’re in the moment, emotions get to you,” he said. “But looking at it with a clear head, I just outpointed him in every round. I outlanded him and threw more punches than what he did in every round. Not just in the first round, not just in the second. In every round. I’m baffled. But whatever. I can’t stay stuck in the past.”

In the future, though, Masvidal hopes judges can sit down with fighters and explain to them exactly what wins fights and what does not. Because he’s confused about it now.

“I thought me hitting you and you not hitting me and me making you miss and even throwing more than you means that I won a fight,” he said.

Maybe not on a Saturday afternoon in Virginia.

Fight Night Krakow Talking Points: The Legend Grows

What’s better than breakfast with the UFC? How about breakfast and lunch?Saturday’s Fight Night from Krakow, Poland, allowed UFC Fight Pass viewers – at least those on the west coast – to pour a cup of coffee and watch the early…

What’s better than breakfast with the UFC? How about breakfast and lunch?Saturday’s Fight Night from Krakow, Poland, allowed UFC Fight Pass viewers – at least those on the west coast – to pour a cup of coffee and watch the early prelims from the comfort of their beds. And then maybe stick around for lunch and the main card.It was well worth it. The much-anticipated rematch between heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga and legendary Mirko Cro Cop leads off our Talking Points on the day after. 1. Eight years. That’s how long Cro Cop waited for a rematch with Gonzaga, who s … Read the Full Article Here

After stunning upset of Joanne Calderwood, Maryna Moroz calls out champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Hard to fault a person for knowing what she wants.

Immediately after a stunning, first-round submission of Joanne Calderwood, Maryna Moroz made a beeline for the top of the Octagon. Sitting nearby was UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Moroz said something to her, prompting Jedrzejczyk to get out of her seat and wave Moroz on.

and this just happened. Maryna Moroz calls out champ @joannamma #UFCKrakow pic.twitter.com/X1QkyIRaFc

— UFC (@ufc) April 11, 2015

Just like that, a rivalry was ignited.

Moroz shook up the UFC’s 115-pound women’s division in a big way Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga in Krakow, Poland. She finished Calderwood, who was in line for a title shot, in just 90 seconds with an armbar and then she called out Jedrzejczyk.

“I consider Joanna a very good fighter, so that’s why I spoke to her,” Moroz said afterward through a translator. “It was kind of a challenge. I would be very happy now to fight for the championship title.”

Moroz (6-0) has won all but one of her fights via armbar. The other victory was by TKO. This was the Ukraine native’s UFC debut and now all of a sudden her name is being mentioned alongside Jedrzejczyk, who beat Carla Esparza for the UFC women’s strawweight title at UFC 185 on March 14 in Dallas.

In the post-fight press conference, Moroz said she would like a title shot next. Calderwood was ranked No. 6 among division contenders, so she figured she should be right on that path despite being just 23 years old. Moroz was even winning on the feet against the striker before submitting her.

“I consider myself to be able to fight already for the title and I think I showed in this fight that I’m going to even be able to win,” Moroz said.

There are likely to be a few contenders in front of her. Claudia Gadelha, who pulled out of a fight with Aisling Daly on this card due to injury, had a very close fight with Jedrzejczyk in December. Daly will go on to face Randa Markos at UFC 186 on April 25 in Montreal in an important fight. Jessica Penne and Tecia Torres are also top contenders if they can get by Juliana Lima and Angela Hill, respectively.

Then there are Rose Namajunas and the winner of a fight between Felice Herrig and Paige VanZant at UFC on FOX 15 next week. Either one of those three would be marketable options for the UFC.

It’s clear, though, that the division is completely wide open with Esparza still around as well. Moroz just threw her hat in the ring and, after a win over Calderwood, it’s hard to deny her place. Jedrzejczyk, a Poland native, seemed to come out of nowhere and now her fellow Eastern European has, too.

Moroz was asked if she thought it was too soon to ask for something as lofty as a title opportunity. It didn’t take a translator to figure out what she thought about the question.

“Why too early?” she said.

Hard to fault a person for knowing what she wants.

Immediately after a stunning, first-round submission of Joanne Calderwood, Maryna Moroz made a beeline for the top of the Octagon. Sitting nearby was UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Moroz said something to her, prompting Jedrzejczyk to get out of her seat and wave Moroz on.

Just like that, a rivalry was ignited.

Moroz shook up the UFC’s 115-pound women’s division in a big way Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga in Krakow, Poland. She finished Calderwood, who was in line for a title shot, in just 90 seconds with an armbar and then she called out Jedrzejczyk.

“I consider Joanna a very good fighter, so that’s why I spoke to her,” Moroz said afterward through a translator. “It was kind of a challenge. I would be very happy now to fight for the championship title.”

Moroz (6-0) has won all but one of her fights via armbar. The other victory was by TKO. This was the Ukraine native’s UFC debut and now all of a sudden her name is being mentioned alongside Jedrzejczyk, who beat Carla Esparza for the UFC women’s strawweight title at UFC 185 on March 14 in Dallas.

In the post-fight press conference, Moroz said she would like a title shot next. Calderwood was ranked No. 6 among division contenders, so she figured she should be right on that path despite being just 23 years old. Moroz was even winning on the feet against the striker before submitting her.

“I consider myself to be able to fight already for the title and I think I showed in this fight that I’m going to even be able to win,” Moroz said.

There are likely to be a few contenders in front of her. Claudia Gadelha, who pulled out of a fight with Aisling Daly on this card due to injury, had a very close fight with Jedrzejczyk in December. Daly will go on to face Randa Markos at UFC 186 on April 25 in Montreal in an important fight. Jessica Penne and Tecia Torres are also top contenders if they can get by Juliana Lima and Angela Hill, respectively.

Then there are Rose Namajunas and the winner of a fight between Felice Herrig and Paige VanZant at UFC on FOX 15 next week. Either one of those three would be marketable options for the UFC.

It’s clear, though, that the division is completely wide open with Esparza still around as well. Moroz just threw her hat in the ring and, after a win over Calderwood, it’s hard to deny her place. Jedrzejczyk, a Poland native, seemed to come out of nowhere and now her fellow Eastern European has, too.

Moroz was asked if she thought it was too soon to ask for something as lofty as a title opportunity. It didn’t take a translator to figure out what she thought about the question.

“Why too early?” she said.

Leon Edwards $50,000 richer after historic knockout of Seth Baczynski

It didn’t take long for Leon Edwards to fill up his wallet.
The British striker knocked out Seth Baczynski in just eight seconds on the prelims of UFC Fight Night: Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga on Saturday in Krakow, Poland. That was the second quicke…

It didn’t take long for Leon Edwards to fill up his wallet.

The British striker knocked out Seth Baczynski in just eight seconds on the prelims of UFC Fight Night: Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga on Saturday in Krakow, Poland. That was the second quickest knockout in UFC welterweight history and it earned Edwards a Performance of the Night bonus: $50,000.

Also earning a Performance of the Night bonus was Maryna Moroz for her 90-second submission over highly ranked women’s strawweight Joanne Calderwood. It was a huge upset — Moroz was a +550 underdog coming in.

The Fight of the Night went to the main event between Mirko Cro Cop and Gabriel Gonzaga. Cro Cop rallied after losing the first two rounds (and not looking good at all) to finish Gonzaga via TKO at 3:30 of the third. The MMA legend avenged a 2007 knockout loss to Gonzaga with the huge win.

Edwards (9-2) also enjoyed the biggest victory of his career. The England native lost in his UFC debut to Claudio Henrique de Silva last November. That was a tough split decision. The 23-year-old didn’t need the judges this time. He finished things nearly as quick as any other fight in UFC history.

Duane Ludwig currently holds the promotion’s welterweight (and overall) record with a six-second knockout of Jonathan Goulet in 2006. Edwards was just two seconds off and has won six of his last seven, looking like a very promising European prospect.

UFC Krakow results: Mirko Cro Cop gets revenge on Gabriel Gonzaga with third-round TKO

Mirko Cro Cop might not be all the way back. But at least he got the biggest loss of his career back.
The MMA legend finished Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO at 3:30 of the third round in the main event of UFC Fight Night Krakow on Saturday in Poland…

Mirko Cro Cop might not be all the way back. But at least he got the biggest loss of his career back.

The MMA legend finished Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO at 3:30 of the third round in the main event of UFC Fight Night Krakow on Saturday in Poland. After losing the first two rounds and looking largely listless, Cro Cop landed a vicious standing elbow that rocked Gonzaga in the clinch. Cro Cop poured it on with more hard elbows on the ground. Gonzaga was left a bloody mess and referee Leon Roberts stepped in.

Cro Cop (31-11-2, 1 NC) was knocked out via head kick by Gonzaga at UFC 70 in 2007. A win in that fight would have earned the highly touted Cro Cop a UFC heavyweight title shot against Randy Couture. The former PRIDE grand prix champion never lived up to his hype in the UFC and it all started with that stunning KO — Gonzaga finished Cro Cop the same way Cro Cop had done to so many previous opponents. It has gone down as one of the best knockouts and most stunning victories in UFC history.

Getting that loss back was one of the reasons Cro Cop, 40, cited for wanting to come back to the UFC in the first place. This was his first fight in the organization since 2001. Cro Cop, whose real name is Mirko Filipovic, seemed healthier in recent fights, including two wins over Satoshi Ishii in Japan last year. The second victory over Ishii came via head kick and it seemed like the Croatian had a little bit of his spunk back.

It did not look that way the first two rounds Saturday. Gonzaga took Cro Cop down and got to mount in both rounds relatively easily. Cro Cop didn’t do much offensively and seemed to be a shot fighter. Not so in the third. Cro Cop rallied with those big elbows and avenged the worst loss of his career.

Filipovic, who brought Stipe Miocic in for this training camp, looked emotional afterward. But he’s not going anywhere. When color commentator John Gooden asked if we’d see him again, Cro Cop said, “Of course.”

Gonzaga (16-10) has now lost three in a row after putting together a stretch of five wins in six fights.

In the co-main event, Jimi Manuwa didn’t start putting the pedal on the gas until the final minute of the fight, but he was still able to pull off a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) win over Jan Blachowicz. Every round was close with most of the action (or lack thereof) happening in the clinch, but Manuwa likely won all of them barely.

Manuwa (14-1) was coming off a broken foot that forced him out of a fight with Mauricio Rua in December. He fell to Alexander Gustafsson in March 2014 for his first career loss. The 35-year-old Brit is ranked in the UFC’s light heavyweight top 10 and said afterward he wants to begin picking off those top-ranked guys.

Blachowicz (18-4) had won six in a row coming into the fight, including a TKO of Ilir Latifi last October.

Pawel Pawlak pleased his hometown fans with a unanimous decision win over Sheldon Westcott. While Westcott wanted to stifle Pawlak against the fence, the Polish welterweight teed off on Westcott at distance with big punches, body kicks and knees. Pawlak (11-1) was coming off a loss in his UFC debut last year against Peter Sobotta. At 26 years old, he’s a solid European prospect.

Maryna Moroz pulled off the upset of the night in her debut, submitting Joanne Calderwood with an armbar in just 1:30. Afterward, Moroz got up on the Octagon and pointed at UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Moroz called out Jedrzejczyk in the post-fight interview and Jedrzejczyk got up out of her chair and made a bring-it-on motion.

Moroz (6-0), who was making her UFC debut, was actually lighting up Calderwood standing up before jumping an armbar and forcing the tap. It was a stunning, impressive performance for the 23-year-old Ukraine native.

On the prelims, Leon Edwards put on the performance of the night by knocking out Seth Baczynski in just eight seconds with a straight left hand. It stands as the second quickest KO in UFC welterweight history. Duane Ludwig still holds the record with a six-second knockout of Jonathan Goulet.

Aleksandra Albu of Moldova made her UFC debut with a guillotine choke victory over Izabela Badureak in the second round and Stevie Ray of Scotland pulled off a nice TKO of Marcin Bendel in the second round.

Also on the prelims, Bartosz Fabinski beat Garreth McLellen, Sergio Moraes defeated Mickael Lebout, Yaotzin Meza took out Damian Stasiak, Anthony Hamilton defeated Daniel Omeilanczuk and Taylor Lapilus beat Rocky Lee, all by unanimous decision.

CM Punk on detractors: ‘Shut the f*ck up and don’t watch the fight’

CM Punk reads his Twitter notifications. He knows the reaction of him transitioning from pro wrestling to MMA has been met with negativity. He also doesn’t really care.

“At the end of the day, it’s about me and not anyone else,” he told SI.com in a long Q&A this week. “But, yeah, I used to not be able to read or walk or ride a bike or drive a car. Those people who are down on me trying this? Shut the f*ck up and don’t watch the fight.”

Punk, the former WWE superstar turned UFC fighter, is currently training at Roufusport in Milwaukee with the likes of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren. The 36-year-old is getting a crash course in MMA from coach Duke Roufus after a long career in pro wrestling. A day does not go by when he doesn’t wish he had started MMA much sooner.

“Every day,” Punk said. “‘Damn it, why didn’t I do this 10 years ago?’ I’ll watch an Anthony Pettis from five years ago and go, ‘He was good.’ Then I’ll watch him fight now and think, ‘Jesus he is like a totally different fighter.’ Thinking about all the knowledge I could have attained, yeah, I wish I had started earlier. But again, why dwell? Why not just fill my brain full of knowledge today.”

Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, doesn’t have an opponent named and is not sure when he will make his UFC debut. He said in the interview that it could be eight months or even a year from now. Originally, he seemed set on competing in the middleweight division, but now he’s leaning toward welterweight. Punk’s MMA workouts have melted off the pounds and he’s currently walking at just 190. The 6-foot-2 athlete will do a test cut to 170 before deciding for sure.

“And I’m sure more is coming off,” Punk said of his weight. “It’s just different. I’m not lifting heavy weights every day anymore. In wrestling it’s being as big as you can. That’s out the window. I have a weight to focus on.”

As far as the training part of it, Punk said that he has good days and ones in which he has been humbled.

“I don’t think I’ve learned much that I didn’t already know — apart from technique,” he said. “It’s not like the first day I got hit in the head and said, ‘This is actually hard.’ I know it was hard and I knew what went into it.”

More than anything, he’s enjoying the ability to just train full time. With WWE, he was on the road nearly 300 days per year. Now, he makes a 90-minute ride from his Chicago home to Milwaukee, trains two to three times per day and then goes home to sleep in his own bed.

“What an easy job, right?” Punk said. “It’s way better for me. I was burnt out on traveling, so over it. People think I’m crazy, living in Chicago and driving to Milwaukee every day to train. That’s the easiest thing in the world!”

Punk expects his length to be an advantage, especially if he fights at 170. He also thinks having the experience performing in front of 70,000 to 80,000 at times in WWE will help him with nerves heading into his first UFC fight.

He knows he could get booed and he’s certainly been booed before. Punk does not think going from WWE to the UFC is a major leap and doesn’t care if others do.

“The people who are mad or think this is an embarrassment to the UFC or the sport?” Punk said. “I used to not be able to ride a bike. So when I was learning how to ride a bike, does Lance Armstrong come up to me and say: ‘Who the f*ck are you, trying to learn how to ride a bike?’ My attitude is punk rock across the board: Oh, you don’t think I should do it? Well, I’m going to do it and I’m going to try to be the best I f*cking can.”

CM Punk reads his Twitter notifications. He knows the reaction of him transitioning from pro wrestling to MMA has been met with negativity. He also doesn’t really care.

“At the end of the day, it’s about me and not anyone else,” he told SI.com in a long Q&A this week. “But, yeah, I used to not be able to read or walk or ride a bike or drive a car. Those people who are down on me trying this? Shut the f*ck up and don’t watch the fight.”

Punk, the former WWE superstar turned UFC fighter, is currently training at Roufusport in Milwaukee with the likes of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren. The 36-year-old is getting a crash course in MMA from coach Duke Roufus after a long career in pro wrestling. A day does not go by when he doesn’t wish he had started MMA much sooner.

“Every day,” Punk said. “‘Damn it, why didn’t I do this 10 years ago?’ I’ll watch an Anthony Pettis from five years ago and go, ‘He was good.’ Then I’ll watch him fight now and think, ‘Jesus he is like a totally different fighter.’ Thinking about all the knowledge I could have attained, yeah, I wish I had started earlier. But again, why dwell? Why not just fill my brain full of knowledge today.”

Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, doesn’t have an opponent named and is not sure when he will make his UFC debut. He said in the interview that it could be eight months or even a year from now. Originally, he seemed set on competing in the middleweight division, but now he’s leaning toward welterweight. Punk’s MMA workouts have melted off the pounds and he’s currently walking at just 190. The 6-foot-2 athlete will do a test cut to 170 before deciding for sure.

“And I’m sure more is coming off,” Punk said of his weight. “It’s just different. I’m not lifting heavy weights every day anymore. In wrestling it’s being as big as you can. That’s out the window. I have a weight to focus on.”

As far as the training part of it, Punk said that he has good days and ones in which he has been humbled.

“I don’t think I’ve learned much that I didn’t already know — apart from technique,” he said. “It’s not like the first day I got hit in the head and said, ‘This is actually hard.’ I know it was hard and I knew what went into it.”

More than anything, he’s enjoying the ability to just train full time. With WWE, he was on the road nearly 300 days per year. Now, he makes a 90-minute ride from his Chicago home to Milwaukee, trains two to three times per day and then goes home to sleep in his own bed.

“What an easy job, right?” Punk said. “It’s way better for me. I was burnt out on traveling, so over it. People think I’m crazy, living in Chicago and driving to Milwaukee every day to train. That’s the easiest thing in the world!”

Punk expects his length to be an advantage, especially if he fights at 170. He also thinks having the experience performing in front of 70,000 to 80,000 at times in WWE will help him with nerves heading into his first UFC fight.

He knows he could get booed and he’s certainly been booed before. Punk does not think going from WWE to the UFC is a major leap and doesn’t care if others do.

“The people who are mad or think this is an embarrassment to the UFC or the sport?” Punk said. “I used to not be able to ride a bike. So when I was learning how to ride a bike, does Lance Armstrong come up to me and say: ‘Who the f*ck are you, trying to learn how to ride a bike?’ My attitude is punk rock across the board: Oh, you don’t think I should do it? Well, I’m going to do it and I’m going to try to be the best I f*cking can.”