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LAS VEGAS — Charles Oliveira is one of the best submission artists in the featherweight division, maybe in the UFC. Jeremy Stephens knows all about that and it doesn’t make him wary.

Stephens meets Oliveira in the co-main event of The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale on Friday night here at Palms Casino Resort. And “Lil’ Heathen” is pretty sure he knows how things will go.

“This isn’t a submission grappling match,” Stephens told MMA Fighting on Wednesday at TUF 20 Finale media day. “This is an MMA match and I feel like I excel at MMA matches. I’m able to punch you in the face. I’m able to do a lot of things, keep you away from me. I feel like I’m a better athlete than him, I have better footwork, I’ve been in there with more versatile fighters. I’ve been in the game, man. I think that overall experience is just going to overwhelm him. I’ve got the power.”

Stephens (23-10) is coming off a tough, five-round unanimous decision loss to Cub Swanson in June, A win there would have put him in the 145-pound title discussion. Instead, he’ll have to work his way back up starting with Oliveira, who has won two straight, both of which earned him Performance of the Night bonuses.

“I know he’s looking to come back and make a statement,” Stephens said. “I’m looking to break it. I’m looking to break his mentality. I’m looking to eat him up in there.”

Stephens is undoubtedly one of the hardest hitters in the division and Oliveira (18-4, 1 NC) one of the very best Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialists. So if you’re into the classic striker versus grappler matchups of yore, this one will be a treat.

Stephens, though, just sees it as another rung in the ladder. If he beats “Do Bronx,” he plans on coming back to fight early in 2015 and starting on another run. Stephens won three straight before falling to Swanson. By the end of next year, “Lil’ Heathen” is hoping to be right back in that title mix — or better.

“It’s only going to be a matter of time,” the 28-year-old said. “I’m here to stay. I’m going to make a statement come Friday and guys are going to know that I’m for real and I mean business.”

Not that he’s looking past Oliveira. Stephens just figures he knows how it’ll end up.

“As soon as I start touching him up, landing that damage, I think it’s going to change his mindset,” Stephens said. “I think it’s only a matter of time until I get that finish.”

Penne wasn’t at her best during ‘extremely difficult’ TUF tournament

Jessica Penne made it all the way to the semifinals of The Ultimate Fighter 20 tournament. Yet she never once felt like she was completely at 100 percent in the house. The living situation just didn’t agree with her.

“I did the best that I could with my circumstances,” Penne said. “I definitely know that I can do a lot better than what I showed. I’m proud of myself for my accomplishment. It was really hard for me being in that house, not having any alone time and being away from the comforts of home, but it was difficult for everyone.”

Penne, who meets fellow semifinalist Randa Markos at the TUF 20 Finale on Friday night, said training since leaving the Las Vegas house has been almost a breeze.

“For me personally, it was extremely difficult,” she said of The Ultimate Fighter. “I tried to prepare myself to go into it and to know what was expected. But it was really different than anything I’ve ever done and I think it was definitely the hardest training camp I’ve ever had to go to. Afterwards, everything just seems a little bit easier, a little bit more relaxed.”

TUF drama not quite buried yet

Randa Markos and Carla Esparza had one of the biggest rivalries on The Ultimate Fighter this season even though they didn’t fight each other. The feud spilled over onto FOX Sports 1’s post show after one episode with each woman firing barbs at the other.

Markos made it seem like the hatchet has not been put away.

“The biggest negative was people’s attitudes,” Markos said. “You go in there thinking you’re going to train with the best in the world, they’re professional athletes and they act so unprofessional. That was really sad to see. It just shows what kind of person you are and the people they are, the attitudes they have. It just bothered me to see how far people have gotten with their attitudes. Like being a champ in Invicta and having such a horrible attitude.”

LAS VEGAS — Movies. Late-night talk shows. Clothing deals.

There’s much more to Ronda Rousey than just being the UFC women’s bantamweight title. Rousey is a mainstream, crossover star.

When Rose Namajunas looks into her own personal crystal ball, she sees all the same things for herself.

“I feel like I’ve been doing such a good job at such a young age and so early on in my career, I have a lot of time to really develop myself as a person and getting more experience with it,” Namajunas said Wednesday at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale media day. “If it doesn’t happen right now, it’s definitely going to happen eventually.”

Namajunas, 22, takes on Carla Esparza in the UFC’s inaugural women’s strawweight title fight at the TUF 20 Finale on Friday night here at Palms Casino Resort. A victory would put Namajunas alongside Rousey as the only female champions in the UFC. But the comparisons won’t end there. Both are blonde, attractive, charismatic and have an aggressive fighting style that makes people gravitate toward the television whenever they’re in the cage.

UFC president Dana White was actually the first person to make the link when he said over the summer that the next Rousey was on The Ultimate Fighter. White was talking about Namajunas and she knew it.

“It’s cool,” Namajunas said. “I know I have a lot to look forward to as long as I stay on this path and stay focused and stay humble, train hard, be OK with everything coming my way. Find peace in this chaos.”

Namajunas was seeded No. 7 to start the season, which seems silly now. She tore through the competition in the house, finishing Alex Chambers, Joanne Calderwood and Randa Markos, all by submission. Mind you, Namajunas came into the show known for her striking.

Esparza opened as a slight favorite in some sports books and she is an incredibly talented fighter. But from a marking perspective, the UFC would likely benefit from Namajunas being the face of this new division.

“She’s not going to be the next Ronda Rousey,” former UFC heavyweight Pat Barry, Namajunas’ boyfriend, told MMA Fighting. “She’s going to be the first Rose. That’s what she’s going to be. In my eyes, she has the potential to be bigger than Ronda if she wants to take it that way. If she wants to go that route, she can. She’s absolutely completely capable to the point where it’s almost unreal sometimes. Like is this really happening? She’s absolutely capable of being bigger than everyone. She has the look, she has the fighting ability, she has the personality, she has the interview skills. She has the professionalism about her. Everything about her is just the next generation of fighter.”

Namajunas is embracing all of this. While some fighters will tell you over and over that all they want to do is train and compete, Namajunas is already thinking a few steps ahead. Recently, she signed with high-profile Kevin Harvick Inc., the management company founded by the well-known NASCAR driver. Harvick only had two previous UFC fighters — Donald Cerrone and Miesha Tate — and said last week at UFC 181 that bringing Namajunas on board was an “obvious decision.”

“I don’t think I’m ready — I gotta be ready,” Namajunas said. “It’s coming. So I’m ready for it. Whatever happens happens, I’m just having fun with it. Any mistakes that I make is an investment in my future. I’m really young and I’ve got a long time, so I’m ready for it.”

Like Rousey, Namajunas is rounding into a bonafide star even before her first UFC fight. Now, Rousey is a feature film actress. She was in “The Expendables 3” this year and will add “Fast & Furious 7” and “Entourage” to her resume in 2015. Her list of endorsements is a mile long. Rousey has become a household name among casual fans and beyond.

Namajunas has a long way to go for that. But she has the support of someone who has been there — Rousey herself.

“As soon as I saw her, I saw this girl is special,” Rousey told MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz in September. … “She’s got an amazing skill set, she’s an exciting fighter. She takes risks, she’s gorgeous, and she’s charismatic. I really think she has all the tools that are needed in order to be the next really influential champion.”

First, of course, Namajunas has to become the champion. That means beating Esparza on Friday night. But Namajunas isn’t in a rush. She’s confident she’ll win, but she also knows time is on her side.

“I feel like I have some shoes to fill,” Namajunas said of Rousey. “She’s definitely up there and it’s going to take me some time just to develop it. It’s coming a lot faster than I was expecting.”

LAS VEGAS — Ian McCall traveled to Brazil in November knowing he was under the weather. He still cut the pounds he needed and successfully hit the flyweight 126-pound limit.

A few hours later, McCall was in the hospital with an infection in his blood. He had to pull out of his UFC Fight Night 56 co-main event bout with John Lineker in Uberlandia, Brazil. But it wasn’t by choice. If it were up to him, McCall said, he still would have fought.

“I still made weight having a sickness, a bacterial infection,” McCall told MMA Fighting on Wednesday at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale media day at the Palms. “I think that kind of opened John’s eyes, too. Like, I’ll die doing this. I don’t care. I didn’t pull out, UFC pulled me out. They took me to the hospital. Their doctor pulled me out.”

McCall (13-4-1), of course, didn’t have much of a choice. There’s no way the Brazilian commission would have let him compete. McCall calls the entire experience a “nightmare.” It took him 27 hours and four flights to get to Uberlandia. He missed one flight and the airline lost his luggage. Meanwhile, he was sick the entire time.

“For me, everything outside of the cage is super emotional,” McCall said. “It just wears on you. You don’t have control over it. I can’t beat the s*** out of this situation. You can’t physically do anything about it, so it’s hard.”

McCall will get a reprieve when he gets the fight with Lineker he wanted at UFC 183 on Jan. 31 here in Las Vegas. The Southern California native won’t have to travel all that far this time around. More than that, though, it’s just a huge fight for both men. The winner is likely to earn a title shot against UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

“This fight gives me a lot of validity into what I’m trying to accomplish,” McCall said. “It puts value into me having a title shot or at least one step closer to a title shot. If they don’t give me a title shot after this, of course I’ll make a stink about it.”

Lineker (24-7) poked some fun at McCall after he was forced to withdraw, telling reporters that McCall was going to need a trip to the hospital anyway. McCall didn’t mind the words. In fact, he said Lineker could have been harsher.

“I would have talked way more trash,” McCall said. “In reality, John is a nice guy. John held back from talking trash. He did.

“It’s just not in him. He’s a nice, nice guy. You have to talk a little bit of trash. That’s fine. But we are going to fight and you’ve avoided it long enough. You almost got away with not fighting me. Do or say whatever you want, but you’re going to end up on your back and you’re going to end up sleeping.”

McCall is already taking precautions to be healthier heading into this camp. His diet, he said, is already pretty clean, but instead of going out to eat and partying this weekend in Vegas, he’s going to keep it low key. “Uncle Creepy” even has his teammate Carla Esparza’s nutritionist making food for him.

There’s no way he wants a repeat of Uberlandia.

“It felt like the one machine I built just crapped out on me,” McCall said.

The UFC’s first women’s strawweight title fight is set.

Rose Namajunas will meet Carla Esparza in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale on Friday in Las Vegas with the 115-pound belt on the line. Namajunas beat Randa Markos by first-round submission and Esparza knocked off Jessica Penne via unanimous decision in the semifinals on Wednesday night’s final episode of The Ultimate Fighter 20.

Namajunas (2-1) came in as the No. 7 seed, but has emerged as the favorite to win the whole thing. On the show, she choked out Alex Chambers in the first round, submitted Joanne Calderwood with a kimura in the quarterfinals and dispatched Markos with the same kimura in the semis. The 22-year-old has been uncovered as what UFC president Dana White has presented as the Ronda Rousey-like competitor on this season of the show.

“I feel speechless, like spectacular,” Namajunas said. “It’s really nice to know that hard work does pay off. You just keep a positive attitude no matter what comes in your way — challenges, roadblocks — don’t let it faze you and you can overcome anything.”

Esparza (9-2) started as the top seed and the former Invicta FC women’s strawweight champion and has only lived up to that potential. She beat Angela Hill by first-round submission in the first round and Tecia Torres by majority decision in the quarterfinals before outstriking Penne in the semis. Esparza executed the perfect game plan in the latter bout, beating up Penne on the feet and taking her down, but staying out of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu player’s dangerous guard.

“I feel so emotional,” Esparza said. “It’s just amazing, because people expected me to make it this far and be in the finals, but I didn’t know if I could do it. And now it’s just like it finally happened. I can’t put it into words.”

Penne and Markos will fight each other Friday night at the Pearl at the Palms in a pseudo third-place matchup that is still far more important than any other Ultimate Fighter consolation fight. The winner will likely gain a top-five spot in the rankings.

With four top-10 light-heavyweights on the card at UFC Stockholm on January 24, Ryan Bader believes it “will have a tournament feel to it”.
Bader, No 7 on the division, faces No 5 Phil Davis, while No 1 Alex Gustafsson meets No 3 Anthony Johnson in a title eliminator at the 30,000 Tele2 Arena, in Stockholm. It will be only the second time in the UFC’s history that they have taken the mixed martial arts fighting organisation to a stadium.
Bader has competed against Davis once before – when they were wrestlers. Currently it’s 1-0 to Davis. “One year I wrestled him a … Read the Full Article Here