Renan Barao will move up to the featherweight division for the first time in his UFC career as he takes on Jeremy Stephens on a Fight Night show not yet announced. Renan Barao will fight at featherweight for the first time in his UFC career…
Renan Barao will move up to the featherweight division for the first time in his UFC career as he takes on Jeremy Stephens on a Fight Night show not yet announced.
Renan Barao will fight at featherweight for the first time in his UFC career. To welcome him to the weight class, hard-hitting veteran Jeremy Stephens has accepted the challenge, as Combate reported.
10 fights into his UFC career, the former bantamweight champion Barao (33-3-1) decided to go up a division after losing to T.J. Dillashaw for a second time last July. Although the change is not yet known to be permanent, Barao has struggled severely with weight cutting in the past, to the point of passing out on the day before a title fight back at UFC 177, when he had to hospitalized.
Three years ago, Stephens (24-12) also decided to change weight classes, but dropping from 155 instead of going up. He managed to score good wins over the likes of Darren Elkins, Dennis Bermudez and Rony Jason. But “Lil’ Heathen” has been struggling lately, with only one win in his last four outings. He lost by unanimous decision to Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson, with only the Bermudez flying knee knockout victory sandwiched in between those defeats.
Although there is no event or country announced for the event, Combate also reported the bout will serve as the co-main event for a Fight Night card that is scheduled to take place on May 29.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight champion Renan Barao is putting an end to his drastic weight cuts — which at one point led to this — for a shot at featherweight superstardom.
That starts with a fight against v…
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight champion Renan Barao is putting an end to his drastic weight cuts — which at one point led to this — for a shot at featherweight superstardom.
That starts with a fight against veteran face puncher Jeremy Stephens at the upcoming UFC Fight Night 88 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on May 29 in Brazil, according to a report from Combate.
Barao (33-3, 1 NC), once considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, hasn’t competed since TJ Dillashaw turned him inside out at UFC on FOX 15. It was the second time in the span of 14 months the Brazilian was bit by “The Viper,” which likely prompted his 135-pound departure.
But the competition won’t be any easier up north.
Stephens (24-12) has been hot-and-cold since moving down from lightweight. He smashed Dennis Bermudez at UFC 189 last July, but was unable to keep that momentum against Max Holloway just a few months later, dropping a three-round unanimous decision.
No other bouts have been announced for UFC Fight Night 88; however, reports indicate “Barao vs. Stephens” will serve as the FOX Sports 1 co-main event.
UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum labelled Conor McGregor a “sellout” on Wednesday and said that the Irish fighter would do anything for money.
McGregor remains the UFC featherweight champion despite losing to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 earlier i…
UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum labelled Conor McGregor a “sellout” on Wednesday and said that the Irish fighter would do anything for money.
McGregor remains the UFC featherweight champion despite losing to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 earlier in March.
He has had altercations in the past with a variety of Werdum’s Brazilian compatriots—including snatching Jose Aldo’s belt ahead of UFC 189—and the 38-year-old is clearly not happy with McGregor’s constant attention-seeking antics, per Brazilian outlet Combate (via Lucas Rezende of BloodyElbow.com):
If we’re even in the same place, I don’t want him saying anything to me or trying to do anything to me. I won’t just stand there. I’m not going to taunt him, but if he does, I will hit him with a chair, for real. If he tries to snatch my belt, I would first have a go at [UFC president] Dana White. I would go crazy, like a thug. In a staredown, you never touch your opponent. Everything is already so tense, and the guy goes and touches you?
Conor started out well, but then he went over the line, he started talking about Jesus. He just looks like a clown. In Brazil, we call them prostitutes, because they do anything for money. He’s a sellout. Of course it’s important to fight for money, but that guy will sell out for anything. I wouldn’t doubt he would sell out his ass. I wouldn’t do it.
McGregor was taken down a notch in his defeat to Diaz, forced to submit in the second round of their welterweight encounter, per BT Sport UFC:
However, he remains one of the biggest names in the sport, having finally taken Aldo’s featherweight crown at UFC 194 after the longtime champion pulled out of the UFC 189 clash.
Indeed, McGregor knocked Aldo out in 13 seconds when they finally met, and the Brazilian immediately called for a rematch after his loss to Diaz (Warning: Contains NSFW language):
Aldo is not the only one of his Brazilian opponents McGregor has wound up, with his comments to Rafael Dos Anjos likely to have rubbed Werdum the wrong way.
The Dubliner was meant to meet Dos Anjos in a lightweight title fight at UFC 196—but Dos Anjos pulled out with injury—and McGregor conjured up some graphic imagery in their pre-fight press conference, per the MailOnline’s Martin Domin: “He’s a slower version of Aldo, he’s a bum version of Aldo. I will drag his head through the streets of Rio de Janeiro through a parade of people. It will become a national holiday. It’s all about who’s true and who’s not. I see a man who, although he’s Brazilian, does not represent Brazil as he should.”
McGregor, 27, is unlikely to be overly bothered by Werdum’s accusations about money.
He has never made any secret of his ambition to make money, and he said when making the jump up to welterweight to face Diaz that “the only weight I give a f–k about is the weight of the cheques, and my cheques are super-heavyweight,” per Domin.
Hardly a subtle character, McGregor has always been a divisive figure within the UFC, and clearly, Werdum is not a fan.
Given their massive difference in weight class, the pair will never meet in the Octagon, but there could be fireworks anyway if they come across each other in different circumstances.
Heavyweight KO artist Matt Mitrione told the Three Amigos Podcast that part of his decision to leave the UFC for Bellator MMA was the possibility of a dream matchup with the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. In case you missed the news on Monday,…
Heavyweight KO artist Matt Mitrione told the Three Amigos Podcast that part of his decision to leave the UFC for Bellator MMA was the possibility of a dream matchup with the legendary Fedor Emelianenko.
In case you missed the news on Monday, TUF 10 cast member and UFC veteran Matt Mitrione has become the latest fighter to sign with Bellator MMA via free agency. “Meathead” does not have a fight booked as of yet, but when he does step into the Bellator cage, it’ll mark the first time in his MMA career that he’s competed outside of the Octagon. His four-fight contract will net him a guaranteed six-figure payday. The 37-year-old holds a record of 9-5, with only a win against Joey Beltran and a loss to Cheick Kongo going the distance.
Earlier this week, the Three Amigos Podcast caught up with Mitrione, who is never one to mince words. While he didn’t specify any person he wanted to fight in his debut, he did stress the types of fights he wanted to have regardless of who the matchmakers set him up with.
“Honestly it’s not my business,” Mitrione said. “I know they’ll tell me, ‘Hey look this is the fight we’re thinking about for you’, and I say ‘Okay, cool.’ You know I have reservations that — I only want to be in fights that are exciting for the fans. I don’t want to be in a fight where somebody’s going to try to stall something out. I was brought here for my fighting style and my ratings/my draw. I want to fight against somebody that really wants to fight; not necessarily go toe-to-toe. I don’t care if we grapple, I don’t care — whatever it is — but I want there to be an action-filled fight, and whoever they deem appropriate — ‘Look, this guy’s a stand-and-banger, he’s a hell of a grappler, and he’s got hands on him,’ [then] awesome.
When asked if he wanted an immediate title shot vs. Vitaly Minakov or even a rematch with Cheick Kongo, Mitrione praised the champion’s skill set, but wasn’t terribly keen on another fight with Kongo, given how lackluster their first matchup was.
“I believe that Vitaly Minakov has really solid standup, he’s also a very solid wrestler, and he beat Fedor in a Sambo tournament. That dude has got some chops, so I think that [fight] sounds awesome. As far as Cheick Kongo goes, I know how the first fight went, and it was me chasing him down and him running until the 2nd half of the 3rd round. If there’d be something that’d be different about that, then I’d really entertain it, but I’m not trying to put on my track shoes to fight somebody.”
Of course, with joining Bellator MMA comes the potential for a fight with Fedor Emelianenko, who is currently with Rizin Fighting Federation in Japan. Scott Coker has let on that there’s even a chance that Fedor could fight in Bellator this year, although nothing additional has been added beyond confirmation of talks between the two parties.
As Mitrione admitted, the potential for him to fight Fedor played a role in his decision to sign with the organization.
“It absolutely did,” Mitrione said. “And I would be honored and would love to have the opportunity to fight Fedor. If Fedor were to say my name out loud, I would fight him in a heartbeat.”
But would he ever go as far as to actually call out “The Last Emperor” in a post-fight interview? Not so fast.
“I have too much respect for Fedor to call him out,” Mitrione said. “If Fedor knows who I am and can even halfway decently pronounce my name, and he wants to get down, then he can tell his people, and as long as he says my name out loud one time, I’ll happily do my best to punch him in his face.”
There were many more topics discussed during the course of this excellent interview, and you can check those out here(Matt’s interview starts at the 1:17:40 mark of the audio),or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you’re looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we’re under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page,Three Amigos Podcast.
Current UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum is not a fan of the always outspoken UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Werdum explained to Combate that he has had enough of him. According to Werdum, he would not stand for McGregor’s lash outs against him, and he would just hit him with a chair. “If we’re even
Current UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum is not a fan of the always outspoken UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Werdum explained to Combate that he has had enough of him. According to Werdum, he would not stand for McGregor’s lash outs against him, and he would just hit him with a chair.
“If we’re even in the same place, I don’t want him saying anything to me or trying to do anything to me. I won’t just stand there. I’m not going to taunt him, but if he does, I will hit him with a chair, for real. If he tries to snatch my belt, I would first have a go at Dana White. I would go crazy, like a thug. In a staredown, you never touch your opponent. Everything is already so tense, and the guy goes and touches you?”
Werdum explained that McGregor crossed the line during his pre-fight press conference with Nate Diaz to promote UFC 196 with his line about Jesus, which caused a lot of backlash towards McGregor.
“Conor started out well, but then he went over the line, he started talking about Jesus. He just looks like a clown. In Brazil, we call them prostitutes, because they do anything for money. He’s a sellout. Of course it’s important to fight for money, but that guy will sell out for anything. I wouldn’t doubt he would sell out his ass. I wouldn’t do it.”
Werdum is set to fight Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 198, in Curitiba, Brazil, on May 14. McGregor is set to fight at UFC 200.
It appears former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez is going to need a rebound win before the promotion rubber stamps another 265-pound title fight.
That’s according to UFC Tonight, which has Velasquez p…
It appears former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez is going to need a rebound win before the promotion rubber stamps another 265-pound title fight.
That’s according to UFC Tonight, which has Velasquez paired off with top contender Travis Browne for UFC 200, the upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) booked for this July inside MGM-AEG Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (more on that here).
UFC has yet to comment on the match up.
Velasquez (13-2) is currently riding the pine after back surgery, which booted him from his Fabricio Werdum rematch earlier this year. “Vai Cavalo” went on to get Stipe Miocic at UFC 198 while the longtime American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) staple gets back into fighting shape.
If he can’t be ready by July, it might be time to have “the talk.”
Browne (18-3-1) rebounded from a technical knockout loss to Andrei Arlovski by playing billiards with Matt Mitrione at UFC Fight Night 81. Unfortunately for “Meathead,” his eye was the 8-ball and the Hawaiian’s fingers were the cue stick. Nevertheless, it goes down as a win for “Hapa.”
Taking one over Velasquez could lead to a future title shot.
No bouts are official for UFC 200 at this time; however, you can expect that to change sooner, rather than later.
UFC heavyweight champion 
