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Check out the excellent HBO video “Legacy on the Line”, detailing the history between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, right here at Bloody Elbow.

Coming up on April 9, Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley square off for the third time to put an end to their rivalry. It’s a match with a lot of backstory behind it, and a lot to talk about. HBO always puts out high quality promotional hype to get you ready for a fight, and this one is no different.

“Legacy on the Line: From Bradley to Pacquiao” highlights the history between these men, starting with their highly controversial 2012 fight. Interestingly, rather than focus on the megastar Pacquiao as he heads in to what is being billed as his final professional fight, “Legacy on the Line” shines the spotlight on Bradley – his is the titular “Legacy” being discussed. Here, HBO tells his side of the Pacquiao story, and it’s a story worth telling, as Bradley details the depression and suicidal thoughts he had in the wake of the first fight, and how that drove him forward in his career. It’s a great look into the lives of the men who put so much on the line for fans every time they step in to the ring, and a reminder of a fighter’s humanity.

And of course, it does a great job making you care about the coming fight.

Watch “Legacy on the Line” below, or at HBO’s YouTube page. And join us here at Bloody Elbow for live fight night coverage of Pacquiao vs. Bradley III, Saturday, April 9.

It’s already time to run back one of the biggest bouts in the history of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), even though a very important person thinks it’s a “crazy idea.” In breaking news that will probably shock no one, Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor will headline the historic UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which takes place inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., July 9, 2016.

“UFC Tonight” made the bout official earlier this evening, reporting that it will again take place at Welterweight. That’s not this only twist, though: McGregor will apparently forfeit (at least for a time) the Featherweight title he won in 13 seconds and never defended, meaning that former 145-pound champion, Jose Aldo, will battle ex-Lightweight kingpin, Frankie Edgar, for the now-interim title (more on that bout shortly).

McGregor, who was expected to vie for the Lightweight title at UFC 196, was instead submitted by Diaz when the Stockton slugger stepped in — at the requested weight of 170 pounds — for the injured Rafael dos Anjos. Diaz — who preferred to rematch McGregor at 155 pounds — is adamant that UFC hand-picked him to lose when dos Anjos went down with an injury, dashing a potential “super” fight with retired 170-pound champion, Georges St-Pierre.

Nonetheless, Diaz seems more than willing to keep cashing those monstrous UFC checks. And it doesn’t get much bigger than a UFC 200 main event against one of the biggest draws in the sport today.

In addition to Diaz vs. McGregor 2 and Aldo vs. Edgar, also confirmed this evening to compete at UFC 200 are Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne, Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez and Takanori Gomi vs. Jim Miller. We’ll pass along the latest UFC 200: “Diaz vs. McGregor 2” fight card and rumors as soon as possible.

A rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz is now officially the UFC 200 main event, while Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo will rematch for the interim featherweight title.

Conor McGregor and Frankie Edgar will be fighting at UFC 200, just not against each other. The UFC’s featherweight champion will rematch Nate Diaz, again at 170 pounds, in the July 9th pay-per-view headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Meanwhile, Edgar will rematch Jose Aldo for the interim featherweight title, in a fight that wasn’t officially named the co-main event. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani first reported the news before it was announced on FS1’s UFC Tonight.

Diaz (19-10) submitted McGregor(19-3) with a 2nd round rear-nakedd choke in the main event of UFC 196 on March 5th, sending “The Notorious” Irishman to his first career UFC defeat. McGregor was supposed to fight lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in an attempt to become the first simultaneous two-division champ in UFC history, but RDA’s broken foot paved the way for Diaz to step in for a thrilling headliner that reportedly drew 1.5 million buys and generated incredible pre-fight hype on such short notice.

Edgar (20-4-1) has won his last 5 fights, including a stunning 1st round KO of two-time title challenger Chad Mendes in the TUF 22 Finale main event. The former lightweight champion’s only loss at 145 pounds is to Jose Aldo, who beat him by unanimous decision at UFC 156 back in February 2013 to remain the UFC’s featherweight champion. Aldo (25-2) saw his reign atop 145, which dates back to winning the WEC title in 2009, ended in abrupt fashion when McGregor KO’d him in just 13 seconds at UFC 194. Just one year after an Aldo injury prompted the UFC to book at McGregor vs. Mendes interim title, McGregor’s decision to rematch Diaz has led to the UFC making an Edgar vs. Aldo rematch for the interim belt.

The following fights are also set for UFC 200:

Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne
Derek Brunson vs. Gegard Mousasi
Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez
Takanori Gomi vs. Jim Miller

The fact that Edgar vs. Aldo II wasn’t announced as the official co-main event leaves the door open for an actual title fight to be placed on this card, which means we could see at least 3 main card bouts scheduled for 5 rounds.

Two new fighters are on their way to the UFC, to help fill out two of the promotion’s shallowest divisions.

It’s good to see the UFC finally taking a run at some of their downtrodden divisions. Women’s bantamweight and men’s light heavyweight are two of the most stagnant places for new talent in the UFC (men’s flyweight is right in there too), but both divisions are getting a bit of a kick this week with the signing of two new fighters, or three if you want to consider Cyborg’s final move into the UFC ranks as a new. Ion Cutelaba is set to make his light heavyweight debut at UFC Ottawa as announced by MMA Junkie alongside a slew of new bouts for the card. Also making headlines is the addition of a Anna Elmose. The bantamweight will make her debut in Rotterdam on May 8th against Germaine de Randamie. So…

Who is Ion Cutelaba?

The 22-year old Moldovan fighter comes to the UFC training out of Timoshkov Sport Club in Chisinau, Moldova and Combat Sambo Association Moldova. He’ll be coming to the UFC with an 11-1 (1 NC) record having fought largely on the central European circuit, almost entirely with WWFC for the past two years. That being what it is, Cutelaba’s record is pretty thin. Most of his fights are against .500 journeymen or complete unknowns. he’s not exactly can crushing, but his record of 10 first round stoppages (and one in the early second) should be taken with a large grain of salt. His only loss comes against his best opponent, Michal Andryszak, in Cage Warriors, via DQ, so there’s not a lot to take from that one way or another. Word on the street is that he was a national Judo and Combat Sambo champ as a teenager, before turning to MMA.

What you should expect:

Well, there’s a pretty good chance he’s going to start the fight with a spinning backfist, for one. Otherwise, Cutelaba likes to fight as a boxer first and foremost. He’s got fast hands, a very aggressive style, and is more than willing to stand in the pocket and try and trade shots. He does an alright job with head movement to defend strikes, but can be a bit straight up and down when he’s throwing, tending to pull his head back rather than slipping consistently in combinations. It’s something that could get ironed out with time, but might be a big factor against other big punchers at 205.

His wrestling isn’t bad when he’s in the scramble and he’s a pretty solid ground and pound threat, but can really get caught up on the feet looking to throw hands, and doesn’t seem to have much takedown defense for reactive shots. Because he’s a good athlete with a solid build (6′ 1″ with huge arms), he can scramble decently off his back to better positions. He does have a strange love of omoplatas from top control as well. I don’t know that he’ll get that to work in the UFC, but it’ll be fun to see him try.

What this means for his debut:

This is tricky. On a skill for skill basis, Cirkunov should take this easy. But Cirkunov is only just starting to show himself as a competent striker, and that’s where Cutelaba is dangerous. And unlike past UFC opponents, Cutelaba probably won’t look to close Cirkunov down and clinch with him. Does that mean that Cirkunov can’t or won’t hit a reactive takedown, put Cutelaba on his back and twist one of his limbs off? No. But given Cutelaba’s scrambling and his power from range, Cirkunov can’t afford to lose out on too many chances. Cirkunov’s the favorite, but I could see a big upset.

To get us better acquainted, here’s Cutelaba’s bout with Vitali Onishchenko:

Who is Anna Elmose?

The 31-year-old Danish fighter will maker her UFC bantamweight debut in Rotterdam, on the back of a 3-0 undefeated record. She’s training out of the Rumble Sports gym, home of UFC fighters Nicolas Dalby and Damir Hadzovic, and former UFC vet Mats Nilsson, alongside Invicta featherweight Pannie Kianzad. It’s a solid camp producing a lot of high level talent. Her record is about what you’d expect for a 3-0 fighter, which is to say wholly unremarkable, excepting that she’s won all her fight via KO, which is likely what’s sparked the UFC’s interest. Outside of MMA she has a long background in kickboxing and Muay Thai.

What you should expect:

At 5′ 3″ Elmose is a bit undersized for the division, but given her frame, might not be all that well suited to strawweight. Given her lack of height, however, she’s got just about the right style to make it all work. She reminds me a lot of Jessica Andrade, a fast starter who really knows how to put power behind her strikes early. And unlike Andrade, she’s got a much deeper technical tool kit to draw from when striking. She does a great job creating frames in the clinch to land knees, elbows, and short punches, and really uses her short, powerful frame to push opponents off balance as they try to stop her knees and elbows.

Somewhat surprisingly, and somewhat like Andrade, Elmose is a little too eager to dive in on takedowns and clinch work, even when she’s the superior striker. Her more typical single/double leg takedowns aren’t anything special and her top game is a little too dependent on securing hard to get control positions like mounted crucifix. Given that, she could have some trouble adjusting to fighting big, powerful athletes at 135 in the UFC. She did show much more willingness to stay outside in her last fight, including some nice body punching, so that’s a good sign for the future.

What this means for her debut:

There are too many questions yet to be answered to make me feel comfortable that Elmose will beat GDR. For one, I’m not sure how well Elmose’s cardio will hold up, I’m also unsure of her ability to implement her game consistently against big well rounded athletes. But GDR is also something of a strange case herself. A longtime kickboxer with a long frame who has really struggled with anything other than the most ideal match-ups for her. This fight is probably something of a wash on the ground, with Elmose being the more willing grappler, but not necessarily more able. And while Elmose may have a little more pop in her hands and a more diverse clinch attack, she’s giving up so much size against a similarly technical opponent that I’d have to pick GDR to grind out a win.

To get us better acquainted, here’s her last fight against Mara Romero Borella (Elmose is in the gladiator shorts):

I’ve been tolerating this Never Back Down franchise since 2007 (proof).

But like that rash I got from the Scagnetti sisters last fall, these spin-offs refuse to go away. The good news is, MMA fans will get treated to some familiar faces this time around, including Stephen Quadros, Michael Schiavello, and UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett.

The official synopsis:

Former MMA champion Case Walker (Michael Jai White) has kept a low profile, winning small-time regional matches after refusing to join the powerful new leagues that push performance- enhancing drugs on their fighters. Walker is convinced by old friend and renowned fighter Brody James (Josh Barnett) to join him in Thailand and train him for a big fight against the undefeated and deadly Caesar Braga (Nathan Jones). During training, Brody is injured. Under pressure from an unscrupulous, high-powered promoter (Esai Morales), Walker agrees to replace James and fight his toughest opponent yet, but only on his own terms.

Sounds like art is definitely imitating life. Sign me up!

Rated R, Never Back Down: “No Surrender” hits DVD and Digital on June 7.