In what was truly a unfortunate scene, two amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters — who were making their debuts at Cage Titans 27 in Plymouth, Mass — were a part of a scary moment when they both went crashing through the cage door and …
In what was truly a unfortunate scene, two amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters — who were making their debuts at Cage Titans 27 in Plymouth, Mass — were a part of a scary moment when they both went crashing through the cage door and onto the bare floor.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran Joe Lauzon was on hand to catch that moment — which just so happened to involved one of his students — and uploaded to his Instagram.
According to MMA Fighting, the combatants were James Collins and Marty Navis. Navis — the Joe Lauzon-trained fighter — was fine according to “J-Lau.” Collins, though, had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for an injury to his ribs.
In an ironic twist, the promotion announced that they cage in use that night was brand new.
Notorious knockout artist and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has run through a murderer’s row of contenders on his quest to securing 145 pound gold, which he did with a spectacular 13 second knockout of Jose Aldo at December 12, 2015’s UFC 194. The Irishman appears to be hungry for the toughest of challenges, however,
Notorious knockout artist and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has run through a murderer’s row of contenders on his quest to securing 145 pound gold, which he did with a spectacular 13 second knockout of Jose Aldo at December 12, 2015’s UFC 194.
The Irishman appears to be hungry for the toughest of challenges, however, as he’s set to take on reigning lightweight king Rafael dos Anjos at March 5’s UFC 196 in an attempt to become the first man in promotional history to simultaneously hold two titles.
Getting that second title will be no easy task for McGregor, as dos Anjos has been a force to be reckoned with as of late.
The Brazilian champion has won five straight including three finishes over the cream of the crop at 155 pounds, leading UFC president to call McGregor crazy for taking on RDA:
“Conor wants to be a two-belt champion, so he wants to fight dos Anjos, which is crazy,” the UFC president said on “Opie with Jim Norton” on Thursday. “If you look at that guy, look what he did to ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, look what he did to Ben Henderson, look what he did to Anthony Pettis. And now Conor wants to fight this guy. It’s gonna be awesome.”
While many feel as if he may have problems with dos Anjos inside of the Octagon, McGregor has already begun to unleash his relentless trash talk in hopes of playing mind games with the Brazilian.
White feels as if it’s more than just trash talk, however, noting that the “Notorious” is very calculated and intelligent with mental warfare:
“It’s not even about shit talk with this guy,” White said. “His mental warfare game is better than anything I’ve ever seen in how he gets in guys’ heads immediately. Very intelligent, calculated. Conor McGregor is a very interesting guy.”
At the end of the day, McGregor has combined his mic skills with his world class fighting abilities to become one of the promotion’s biggest draws. White wasn’t afraid to admit that the “Notorious” one is the “money fight”, claiming that there aren’t many fighters who don’t want a piece of him:
“From flyweight to heavyweight, they all want to fight Conor McGregor,” White said. “It’s the money fight.”
UFC on FOX 18 went down last night (Sat., Jan. 30, 2016) inside the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and now it’s time to see who went home with the biggest slice of the Reebok sponsorship pie.
For complete UFC on FOX 18: “Johnson v…
UFC on FOX 18 went down last night (Sat., Jan. 30, 2016) inside the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and now it’s time to see who went home with the biggest slice of the Reebok sponsorship pie.
For complete UFC on FOX 18: “Johnson vs. Bader” results and coverage of all the night’s action click here.
Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader each walked away with a $15,000 sponsorship check after their main event scrap which saw “Rumble” knockout “Darth” out in the very first round to continue his ascension in the light heavyweight division.
According to the revamped payout structure (see it), the more fights you have combined with UFC and the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Strikeforce promotions, the more coin you have for your combat sports piggy bank.
And the less fights you have under the ZUFFA banner… well, the less you get. If you have a problem with the structure, take it up with UFC, not Reebok.
According to the report, fighters will also receive royalty and payments up to 20-30 percent of any UFC-related merchandise sold that bears his or her likeness. That’s a great way for the Internet “morons” to help the cause.
For complete results from UFC Fight Night 81: “Dillashaw vs. Cruz,” including play-by-play updates, click here.
At the UFC On FOX 18 post-fight press conference, UFC Vice President of Public Relations, Dave Sholler, revealed that the promotion plans to make the announcement for Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier II “within the next coup…
https://youtu.be/S3qv_Ukt4w0
At the UFC On FOX 18 post-fight press conference, UFC Vice President of Public Relations, Dave Sholler, revealed that the promotion plans to make the announcement for Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier II “within the next couple of days here.”
Sholler said the following, as transcribed by MMAFighting.com.
“We expect to have an announcement within the next couple of days here,” said Sholler during the post-fight press conference. “Things are shaking out, and I think you guys are going to be pleased with the outcome.”
Jones defeated Cormier in their original match at UFC 182 in January of 2015, winning a unanimous decision to retain his UFC Light Heavyweight Title before being stripped following a hit-and-run incident leading to D.C. becoming the new champion during his hiatus.
Just call me Zane “Shelby” Simon, because I’m about to take over this fight booking game. It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. No, not the fights. I mean, yeah, those are good and all, but what are they in comparison to a really good…
Just call me Zane “Shelby” Simon, because I’m about to take over this fight booking game.
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. No, not the fights. I mean, yeah, those are good and all, but what are they in comparison to a really good fight booking article? Pretty shabby, I’d say. And this is going to be a really awesome fight booking article. You know this. I’m here to play fantasy matchmaker to all the main card talent on UFC on Fox 18, and maybe just a little bit of the undercard talent as well. So, join me for what is almost assuredly going to be the highlight of your weekend.
Well… don’t join me, I’m writing this and you’re reading it, so technically we can’t be doing both together, at the same time. But you know what I mean, damn it.
Just for the record, I’ll be trying to follow the Joe Silva/Sean Shelby methodology as close as I possibly can. Matching winners with winners and losers with losers and pitting similarly tenured UFC talents against one another. So, lets get to it!
Anthony Johnson: There’s really only one good option for Rumble right now, and that’s to wait. If Jones beats DC (as seems likely), then Johnson vs. Jones is easily the best fight the UFC can put together at light heavyweight. It promises to be surefire action, and almost certainly a title fight that will end in a stoppage loss for somebody. For all Jones’ great success, he’s very willing to eat a lot of heavy shots in order to wear down his opponent. Gus cracked him, DC landed a lot of shots in tight, and even Glover got his licks in. If Johnson gets the opportunity to land a few hard bombs, things could get real interesting.
Ryan Bader: There are two obvious outcomes Bader should be angling for right now. The most obvious is a fight with Alexander Gustafsson when the former title contender is ready for another bout. It’s the biggest fight Bader could get right now, and even if it’s not one he’s incredibly likely to win, it’s his best path to sticking around the top of the division and returning to something like potential title contention. If he wants a softer landing in a smaller fight, then he could fight Shogun once he loses to Rashad Evans at UFC on Fox 19. That wouldn’t be half as compelling, but it’d be a fresh fight for Bader against someone with some name value left.
Ben Rothwell: Unfortunately for Rothwell, he may feel like a title contender right now, but there’s a line ahead of him and it is slow moving. He’s already beat Overeem, even though the Dutchman is ranked ahead of him, so his best bet is to angle for a fight with Stipe Miocic, but that could be a very hard sell to Stipe if Miocic is of the belief that he’ll get a title shot if he waits long enough. Rothwell’s likely best option is a bout with Travis Browne. It’s not the sexiest big fight, but it’s probably the one that makes the most sense immediately.
Josh Barnett: Fortunately for Barnett this loss sets him up for a perfect top heavyweight bout. Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski. Somehow Arlovski and Barnett have never fought and with them both coming off losses right now (it’d be better if they were both coming off wins obviously) it’s the fight to make. Both guys have question marks, both guys are solidly top 10. Book it!
Jimmie Rivera: He passed his “get into the top 15” test with a win over Iuri Alcantara, unfortunately his next step is a bit less clear. Most of the rest of the 10-15 ranked fighters are either already booked, or coming off a loss. With Caraway and Almeida gunning to fight one another that seems like it could tie up just about everyone at the top of the division. But, it leaves one awesome option. Jimmie Rivera vs. Michael McDonald. That fight would be bananas and super fun. And while McDonald is ranked 6, his performance against Masanori Kanehara doesn’t inspire me to believe that he’s solid in that spot. If the UFC isn’t willing to give him that big a bump up, then he could fight a veteran gatekeeper like Rani Yahya or Felipe Arantes.
Iuri Alcantara: That’s probably an end to his current run in the top 15, but I”m not sure that it’s absolutely the end. There are a few other hangers-on in that division that aren’t winning but have managed to keep a spot in the rankings. Fights against Takeya Mizugaki, Eddie Wineland, or Johnny Eduardo all look really good right now. I think I’d like to see Mizu fight Frankie Saenz more so I’d put Iuri Alcantara against Eddie Wineland if Wineland is still determined to keep his fighting career going.
Tarec Saffiedine: Saffiedine didn’t look amazing in his bout against Ellenberger, but he looked as good as he needed to to get a win. The road ahead gets more difficult, though. Most of the top ranked welterweights are not fading as fast as Ellenberger has been and have a lot more to offer a low powered volume striker. The fight I think would be most interesting and should offer an interesting skill clash would be Dong Hyun Kim, his huge frame and powerful Judo could be a really interesting test (along with his flaily striking) to see if Saffiedine can consistently beat big tough welterweights, especially ones that can offer a lot of diverse offense.
Rafael Natal: I had a bunch of other ideas as to what might make the best fight for Natal right now, but it’s pretty obvious. Nate Marquardt just got a big win and wants to keep going, throw Natal at him. It’ll be ugly, but it’s the best option out there at the moment.
Wilson Reis: Reis just put on the performance of his career in a win over Dustin Ortiz. As such, this is the time to rush him up the ladder. Despite what Rogan says, a 9-year vet in his 30s is not a “prospect.” He’s the best fighter he’s likely going to be and we’re seeing it right now. Unfortunately, with the way that division is right now, there are almost no good options. Reis just lost to Formiga, Joe-B and Makovsky are booked, Ali-B is coming off a loss and so is Moraga. The simplest fight is with Kyoji Horiguchi, that would be nuts, but if Horiguchi loses that pushes back one of the divisions best young fighters just a bit further. Honestly, I’d say give Reis a fight with Ian McCall, even with McCall coming off a loss, he’s been out for a while, he’s top ranked, and if Reis wins, it builds a new title challenger without sacrificing a new face.
Sage Northcutt: Horacio Gutierrez would be a good idea right now.
Other Bouts: Barberena vs. Steele, OAM vs. Madadi, Ortiz vs. Bagautinov, Caceres vs. Miller, Brown vs. Herrera, Makashvili vs. Alers, Jackson vs. Knight, Martin vs. Erosa
