Though Jorge Masvidal was volunteering his services to fill in for the injured Khabib Nurmagomedov against Donald Cerrone at UFC 187, his days fighting as a lightweight appear to be numbered. At least for now.
According to a report on Friday…
According to a report on Friday night’s edition of UFC Tonight, Masvidal wanted to face Cerrone at a catchweight. The reason being that “Gamebred” is making the move to welterweight. Masvidal said that he had been waiting to go up to 170 pounds for about four years, stretching back to when Zuffa purchased Strikeforce.
The American Top Team fighter — who was last seen dropping a controversial split decision to Al Iaquinta at UFC Fight Night 63 on April 4 — said he is currently walking around at 193 pounds.
According to Ariel Helwani, Masvidal remained at lightweight for the last few years because he thought it would be better for his career. In his seven fights in the UFC at lightweight, he has gone 5-2 and is currently ranked #15 in the division. Masvidal said that he believes he should be 7-0 at this point, but the controversial decision against Iaquinta — along with a close 2013 decision loss to Rustam Khabilov — has prompted him to try his luck at 170 pounds.
Of all the missteps Jon Jones has taken in his career — including Sunday’s latest when he allegedly ran a red light in Albuquerque, caused a three-car accident, injured a pregnant woman, and fled the scene — the fact that he supposedly came back to grab a fistful of cash from the abandoned rental car is the reddest of red flags. If true, that was a disarming look at Jones’ instincts. That was the glimpse at the sad place Jones, in his greatness, has ascended to. That is the sum of his experience.
Fleeing a mess that he is believed to have created, with zero regard for anybody but himself..
We won’t know everything until people start explaining, and when they do there’s a 50 percent chance of fog, but this goes right past Jones’ lesson in the deal and becomes a lesson for the UFC. In the past, like in January when Jones checked into rehab for a single night to deal with a drug issue, it’s always been about how he grows from it. This one can’t be chalked up to immaturity. It’s either a problem that hasn’t yet been fully admitted (or even acknowledged), or worse — as in, this is just who Jones is. His fans can only hope it’s the former, because the humble preacher’s son from Endicott is a million miles in the rear-view mirror at this point.
Earlier in Jones’ career, back when he became the UFC’s youngest ever champion after beating Mauricio Rua at UFC 128, his coach Greg Jackson said the only man he worried about defeating Jones was Jones himself. Jackson has always been sage. In 2015, Jones can’t get out of his own way. This latest incident, though, demonstrates the kind of erratic behavior that leaves a lot of openings for speculation. If our actions define us, a hit-and-run in broad daylight — with one quick stop to grab the loot before hopping a fence and vanishing — is a bad character assessment. If he weren’t coming off of so many mistakes, maybe it could be regarded differently. But this was more in the realm of “what did Jones do this time?” This one was, “how long until Jones destroys himself completely?”
What the UFC should do is take his belt away.
That is a hard thing to imagine, given that Jones is one of the promotion’s biggest stars who had/has a big title defense coming up at UFC 187 against Anthony Johnson, but then again, who is calling the shots here? Drastic times call for drastic measures. If the UFC stands by Jones, it is enabling him at this point. That sheen of invincibility that he carries around is in part made of people turning the other cheek. The UFC stood by Jones through his 2012 DUI/crash in Binghamton, and his recent issue with cocaine, but this one is different. The word “felony” has an ominous ring to it. That sort of thing reflects poorly on the promotion. It also makes that promotion look like suckers if they just stand by. The last thing Jones needs right now is more “yes men.”
And from the look of things, what Jones really needs is some help, or a dose or reality, or possibly both. Maybe he needs new friends and associates. Maybe the move to Albuquerque from his native New York was a bad one, and he needs to reevaluate things. Whatever it is, he could do without the title at this point in time. The right thing for the UFC to do would be to take that symbolic accessory and remind everyone that there is responsibility attached to it. That the belt is really just a decal of the UFC, that the UFC — which has helped Jones make his millions, and is the avenue for millions more — expects better professionalism from its tenants. Jones is playing charades with the code of conduct. The code of conduct is either a real thing, or it isn’t. It applies to everyone the same, or no one. It shouldn’t be interpretable for needle movers. It’s not in place to prompt skirting or justification.
I hate moralizing. Especially in a sport where a little outlaw can go a long way. But this latest incident is more of a pattern than it is a lesson for the 27-year-old Jones. This time it’s a lesson for the UFC. And when Jones steps in the Octagon again, if he’s still carrying that belt, we’ll know what was taken from it.
Of all the missteps Jon Jones has taken in his career — including Sunday’s latest when he allegedly ran a red light in Albuquerque, caused a three-car accident, injured a pregnant woman, and fled the scene — the fact that he supposedly came back to grab a fistful of cash from the abandoned rental car is the reddest of red flags. If true, that was a disarming look at Jones’ instincts. That was the glimpse at the sad place Jones, in his greatness, has ascended to. That is the sum of his experience.
Fleeing a mess that he is believed to have created, with zero regard for anybody but himself..
We won’t know everything until people start explaining, and when they do there’s a 50 percent chance of fog, but this goes right past Jones’ lesson in the deal and becomes a lesson for the UFC. In the past, like in January when Jones checked into rehab for a single night to deal with a drug issue, it’s always been about how he grows from it. This one can’t be chalked up to immaturity. It’s either a problem that hasn’t yet been fully admitted (or even acknowledged), or worse — as in, this is just who Jones is. His fans can only hope it’s the former, because the humble preacher’s son from Endicott is a million miles in the rear-view mirror at this point.
Earlier in Jones’ career, back when he became the UFC’s youngest ever champion after beating Mauricio Rua at UFC 128, his coach Greg Jackson said the only man he worried about defeating Jones was Jones himself. Jackson has always been sage. In 2015, Jones can’t get out of his own way. This latest incident, though, demonstrates the kind of erratic behavior that leaves a lot of openings for speculation. If our actions define us, a hit-and-run in broad daylight — with one quick stop to grab the loot before hopping a fence and vanishing — is a bad character assessment. If he weren’t coming off of so many mistakes, maybe it could be regarded differently. But this was more in the realm of “what did Jones do this time?” This one was, “how long until Jones destroys himself completely?”
What the UFC should do is take his belt away.
That is a hard thing to imagine, given that Jones is one of the promotion’s biggest stars who had/has a big title defense coming up at UFC 187 against Anthony Johnson, but then again, who is calling the shots here? Drastic times call for drastic measures. If the UFC stands by Jones, it is enabling him at this point. That sheen of invincibility that he carries around is in part made of people turning the other cheek. The UFC stood by Jones through his 2012 DUI/crash in Binghamton, and his recent issue with cocaine, but this one is different. The word “felony” has an ominous ring to it. That sort of thing reflects poorly on the promotion. It also makes that promotion look like suckers if they just stand by. The last thing Jones needs right now is more “yes men.”
And from the look of things, what Jones really needs is some help, or a dose or reality, or possibly both. Maybe he needs new friends and associates. Maybe the move to Albuquerque from his native New York was a bad one, and he needs to reevaluate things. Whatever it is, he could do without the title at this point in time. The right thing for the UFC to do would be to take that symbolic accessory and remind everyone that there is responsibility attached to it. That the belt is really just a decal of the UFC, that the UFC — which has helped Jones make his millions, and is the avenue for millions more — expects better professionalism from its tenants. Jones is playing charades with the code of conduct. The code of conduct is either a real thing, or it isn’t. It applies to everyone the same, or no one. It shouldn’t be interpretable for needle movers. It’s not in place to prompt skirting or justification.
I hate moralizing. Especially in a sport where a little outlaw can go a long way. But this latest incident is more of a pattern than it is a lesson for the 27-year-old Jones. This time it’s a lesson for the UFC. And when Jones steps in the Octagon again, if he’s still carrying that belt, we’ll know what was taken from it.
Mark Munoz will be fighting in his swan song bout against Luke Barnatt on May 16 in Manila as part of UFC Fight Night 66, but he’s already in the process of stepping away from mixed martial arts.
During an appearance on Monday’s MMA Hour, Munoz announced that he had sold his gym, the Reign Training Center, which is located in Lake Forest, Calif. The 37-year-old “Filipino Wrecking Machine” said it was just time to move on with his life as a husband and father.
“I’ve actually sold Reign Training Center, and I’m looking to get into coaching for wrestling again,” he said. “For me, my son is going into high school, and my daughter has got two more years of college, and I want to be a dad that leaves a legacy with his children. I want to be able to spend time with them. These past six years have gone by so fast, and I haven’t really gotten to spend time with them. I’ve been spending 12, 13 hours days at the gym, teaching, coaching. And then I’ve been doing a lot of my community work with my anti-bullying campaign, all the while trying to be a husband to a wife and four kids, and then being a UFC on top of that.
“It’s been a hard year as far as injuries, a lot of stress. So I just want to simplify my life.”
Reign has been the home to many name fighters for the last few years, including welterweight Jake Ellenberger, Brett Cooper, Michael Bisping, Uriah Hall and former light heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski. Munoz said that it was an emotional decision to sell the gym. He officially closed the door last Friday.
“It was tough. It was really tough,” he said. “I actually got emotional. I really got emotional. There was a three-day period of mourning. I helped a lot of people through that gym. People came up to me and said, ‘you saved my life having this gym open.’ Kids that are underprivileged or at risk came to the gym and they found a purpose in their life through the gym.
“It was tough. It was really for me, but my first service is to my family. To leave a lasting impact on my family first…I’ve got to tend to them first. And the gym was like keeping me away.”
Munoz was an All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State in the early-2000s, and won an NCAA National Championship his senior year. He continued on as a coach at the university before coaching at UC Davis. It was there that he began taking up MMA. He went on to fight twice in the WEC and 14 times in the UFC, where he came into middleweight contention in 2012. Munoz lost a potential No. 1 contender’s fight to Chris Weidman in July of that year.
Since then Munoz has gone just 1-3, having lost his last three bouts via finishes. In his last fight, Munoz — who signed a new deal with the UFC shortly beforehand — tapped out to a rear-naked choke against Roan Carneiro just 1:40 into the opening round. Though many thought he may opt to retire after the loss, Munoz wanted to be part of the UFC’s maiden voyage to the Philippines, which he called a “dream come true.” After that, he will hang up the gloves.
Asked how his mental state of mind was heading into the fight with Barnatt with so much going on with the closing of Reign and his projects, Munoz said he’s feeling good.
“I’m doing well man, I’m excited,” he said. “I had a great practice today here. I’ve got great training partners. My weight is down. I guess, you know about the last weight cut. It was very hard, and usually when you have a hard weight cut it’s probably not a good outcome for me. But hey, my weight’s good. I’m going into this fight ready. I’m prepared. I’ve had a great training camp.”
Mark Munoz will be fighting in his swan song bout against Luke Barnatt on May 16 in Manila as part of UFC Fight Night 66, but he’s already in the process of stepping away from mixed martial arts.
During an appearance on Monday’s MMA Hour, Munoz announced that he had sold his gym, the Reign Training Center, which is located in Lake Forest, Calif. The 37-year-old “Filipino Wrecking Machine” said it was just time to move on with his life as a husband and father.
“I’ve actually sold Reign Training Center, and I’m looking to get into coaching for wrestling again,” he said. “For me, my son is going into high school, and my daughter has got two more years of college, and I want to be a dad that leaves a legacy with his children. I want to be able to spend time with them. These past six years have gone by so fast, and I haven’t really gotten to spend time with them. I’ve been spending 12, 13 hours days at the gym, teaching, coaching. And then I’ve been doing a lot of my community work with my anti-bullying campaign, all the while trying to be a husband to a wife and four kids, and then being a UFC on top of that.
“It’s been a hard year as far as injuries, a lot of stress. So I just want to simplify my life.”
Reign has been the home to many name fighters for the last few years, including welterweight Jake Ellenberger, Brett Cooper, Michael Bisping, Uriah Hall and former light heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski. Munoz said that it was an emotional decision to sell the gym. He officially closed the door last Friday.
“It was tough. It was really tough,” he said. “I actually got emotional. I really got emotional. There was a three-day period of mourning. I helped a lot of people through that gym. People came up to me and said, ‘you saved my life having this gym open.’ Kids that are underprivileged or at risk came to the gym and they found a purpose in their life through the gym.
“It was tough. It was really for me, but my first service is to my family. To leave a lasting impact on my family first…I’ve got to tend to them first. And the gym was like keeping me away.”
Munoz was an All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State in the early-2000s, and won an NCAA National Championship his senior year. He continued on as a coach at the university before coaching at UC Davis. It was there that he began taking up MMA. He went on to fight twice in the WEC and 14 times in the UFC, where he came into middleweight contention in 2012. Munoz lost a potential No. 1 contender’s fight to Chris Weidman in July of that year.
Since then Munoz has gone just 1-3, having lost his last three bouts via finishes. In his last fight, Munoz — who signed a new deal with the UFC shortly beforehand — tapped out to a rear-naked choke against Roan Carneiro just 1:40 into the opening round. Though many thought he may opt to retire after the loss, Munoz wanted to be part of the UFC’s maiden voyage to the Philippines, which he called a “dream come true.” After that, he will hang up the gloves.
Asked how his mental state of mind was heading into the fight with Barnatt with so much going on with the closing of Reign and his projects, Munoz said he’s feeling good.
“I’m doing well man, I’m excited,” he said. “I had a great practice today here. I’ve got great training partners. My weight is down. I guess, you know about the last weight cut. It was very hard, and usually when you have a hard weight cut it’s probably not a good outcome for me. But hey, my weight’s good. I’m going into this fight ready. I’m prepared. I’ve had a great training camp.”
MONTREAL – Now that Quinton Jackson is back in the UFC and has a win under his belt, “Rampage” is thinking about the kind of havoc he can create in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
Jackson scored a unanimous decision victory over Fabio Maldonaldo at UFC 186 Saturday night after a tumultuous fight camp. He was removed from the card briefly after an injunction was filed against him by the state of New Jersey in relation to Belltor’s suit against him for breach of contract. However, with the injunction lifted on Tuesday, Jackson was back on for his fight with Maldonado.
And after winning it, even with the future somewhat in doubt with the legal actions still looking, Jackson is proceeding as if he’ll be in the UFC for the long run. Given his druthers to fight stand-up fighters, when asked who he’d like to see next in the Octagon, “Rampage” said any of the guys who’ve beat him in the past.
“Honestly, I want to come back and beat everybody that beat me,” he said in the post-fight press conference. “I want to fight Shogun [Rua], Glover [Teixeira], Rashad [Evans] and make my way back up to [champion] Jon Jones. I am on a mission. That’s the honest truth.”
Jackson became the UFC champion back in 2007 when he defeated Chuck Liddell at UFC 71. He defended the belt against Dan Henderson at UFC 75 four months later, before losing it to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. Jackson had a title shot against Jones at UFC 135 in Denver, which he lost via submission (rear-naked choke). That loss began the three-fight losing streak that ultimately led to him bolting the UFC for Bellator. Included in that streak was a loss to the wrestler Ryan Bader, which at the time soured Jackson against UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.
“To be honest, I was just happy not to be fighting somebody who was desperate to take me down,” Jackson said after the win over Maldonado. “When you’re fighting like a real man, a real MMA fighter, somebody who wants to fight, you know, stand and bang with you, you don’t have to worry about somebody trying to take you down. So you can let the kicks go, let the knees go, you can do things. I would’ve done a flying knee but he was doing a great job.
As for this win serving as vindication for him in light of the acrimony upon leaving Bellator, Jackson said he was happy to be back with the UFC.
“I’m going to tell you, this was he most stressful time of my whole career,” he said. “I’ve been fighting for 15 years and I had to deal with what I had to deal with just to get here. And I hope I never have to do that again. But like I said before my fight, I fight everything. I don’t even know why I fight half the stuff I fight. Ask my kids. I fight them all the time. I fight everything.
“I want to give Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta] a big thanks. They had my back, they helped me out. I’m going to say it right now. I was over there…Bellator can’t f*ck with the UFC. I ain’t going to lie.”
MONTREAL – Now that Quinton Jackson is back in the UFC and has a win under his belt, “Rampage” is thinking about the kind of havoc he can create in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
Jackson scored a unanimous decision victory over Fabio Maldonaldo at UFC 186 Saturday night after a tumultuous fight camp. He was removed from the card briefly after an injunction was filed against him by the state of New Jersey in relation to Belltor’s suit against him for breach of contract. However, with the injunction lifted on Tuesday, Jackson was back on for his fight with Maldonado.
And after winning it, even with the future somewhat in doubt with the legal actions still looking, Jackson is proceeding as if he’ll be in the UFC for the long run. Given his druthers to fight stand-up fighters, when asked who he’d like to see next in the Octagon, “Rampage” said any of the guys who’ve beat him in the past.
“Honestly, I want to come back and beat everybody that beat me,” he said in the post-fight press conference. “I want to fight Shogun [Rua], Glover [Teixeira], Rashad [Evans] and make my way back up to [champion] Jon Jones. I am on a mission. That’s the honest truth.”
Jackson became the UFC champion back in 2007 when he defeated Chuck Liddell at UFC 71. He defended the belt against Dan Henderson at UFC 75 four months later, before losing it to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. Jackson had a title shot against Jones at UFC 135 in Denver, which he lost via submission (rear-naked choke). That loss began the three-fight losing streak that ultimately led to him bolting the UFC for Bellator. Included in that streak was a loss to the wrestler Ryan Bader, which at the time soured Jackson against UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.
“To be honest, I was just happy not to be fighting somebody who was desperate to take me down,” Jackson said after the win over Maldonado. “When you’re fighting like a real man, a real MMA fighter, somebody who wants to fight, you know, stand and bang with you, you don’t have to worry about somebody trying to take you down. So you can let the kicks go, let the knees go, you can do things. I would’ve done a flying knee but he was doing a great job.
As for this win serving as vindication for him in light of the acrimony upon leaving Bellator, Jackson said he was happy to be back with the UFC.
“I’m going to tell you, this was he most stressful time of my whole career,” he said. “I’ve been fighting for 15 years and I had to deal with what I had to deal with just to get here. And I hope I never have to do that again. But like I said before my fight, I fight everything. I don’t even know why I fight half the stuff I fight. Ask my kids. I fight them all the time. I fight everything.
“I want to give Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta] a big thanks. They had my back, they helped me out. I’m going to say it right now. I was over there…Bellator can’t f*ck with the UFC. I ain’t going to lie.”
MONTREAL – Fabio Maldonado may have been a perfect welcome back opponent for Quinton Jackson, but he was anything but an easy fight. Jackson won a unanimous decision over Maldonado at UFC 186 at the Bell Centre Saturday night in his first fight back with the UFC, but he didn’t do everything he set out to do.
Namely, he didn’t finish the Brazilian. And in the post-fight press conference, Jackson didn’t want to make excuses for why.
“The last time I fought was last May [for Bellator], close to my hometown, I have no excuses,” he said. “I wasn’t rusty or nothing. This is the hardest I’ve ever trained in my whole 15-year career. I started back training with Bobby Rimmer. He’s like one of the best boxing coaches I’ve ever seen and that I’ve trained with. And he pushed me to the limits. He pushed me to points that I didn’t even think that I could perform. I got no excuses.”
The 36-year old former UFC light heavyweight champion still hit Maldonado with plenty of violent shots throughout the fight, but Brazilian wouldn’t go down. Jackson offered some analysis on it afterwards.
“I just think that Fabio is not human,” he said. “I hit that guy with everything, and he was asking for some more. I was like, damn. I even tried to kick him in the head. I didn’t even think he’d see that coming. I didn’t know what to do. I was thinking about blowing my bad breath on him…but I didn’t think that would work either. So I just kept trying.”
With the victory, Jackson (36-11) has now won four fights in a row, beginning with a knockout of Joey Beltran at Bellator 109 in 2013. It was Jackson’s first victory in the UFC since Matt Hamill at UFC 130 in May 2011.
MONTREAL – Fabio Maldonado may have been a perfect welcome back opponent for Quinton Jackson, but he was anything but an easy fight. Jackson won a unanimous decision over Maldonado at UFC 186 at the Bell Centre Saturday night in his first fight back with the UFC, but he didn’t do everything he set out to do.
Namely, he didn’t finish the Brazilian. And in the post-fight press conference, Jackson didn’t want to make excuses for why.
“The last time I fought was last May [for Bellator], close to my hometown, I have no excuses,” he said. “I wasn’t rusty or nothing. This is the hardest I’ve ever trained in my whole 15-year career. I started back training with Bobby Rimmer. He’s like one of the best boxing coaches I’ve ever seen and that I’ve trained with. And he pushed me to the limits. He pushed me to points that I didn’t even think that I could perform. I got no excuses.”
The 36-year old former UFC light heavyweight champion still hit Maldonado with plenty of violent shots throughout the fight, but Brazilian wouldn’t go down. Jackson offered some analysis on it afterwards.
“I just think that Fabio is not human,” he said. “I hit that guy with everything, and he was asking for some more. I was like, damn. I even tried to kick him in the head. I didn’t even think he’d see that coming. I didn’t know what to do. I was thinking about blowing my bad breath on him…but I didn’t think that would work either. So I just kept trying.”
With the victory, Jackson (36-11) has now won four fights in a row, beginning with a knockout of Joey Beltran at Bellator 109 in 2013. It was Jackson’s first victory in the UFC since Matt Hamill at UFC 130 in May 2011.
This is the UFC 186 undercard blog for the UFC 186 event at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday night.There will be seven fights on the UFC 185 undercard. Patrick Cote vs. Joe Riggs, Alexis Davis vs. Sarah Kaufman, Chad Laprise vs Bryan …
This is the UFC 186 undercard blog for the UFC 186 event at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday night.
Aisling Daly vs. Randa Markos Round 1: Daly moves in and initiates the action. Markos slouched in orthodox, connects with a solid right. Now they exchange in center, and both catching heat. Daly with a momentary clinch and a knee, but they break. Furious action early. Solid combo up top from Markos, who then wheels out on the counters. Big right hand catches Daly, and she clinches up and drives Markos to the fence. She’s trying for a takedown, but so far can’t get it. They are toiling there, and Daly still trying to toss Markos to the ground. Markos isn’t budging — until now. Markos is down, but she immediately reverses and is now in mount on Daly on fence. Daly rolls, and Markos has her back. Daly throwing punches backward on Markos, who has the full body lock. Trying to set up a RNC, but can’t get her limbs situated. Markos keeping Daly vulnerable here, but Daly able to roll, and Markos now working sub game from top, working arm triangle choke. It’s tight! Markos base is legit. Daly able to scramble out at the end, but big opening round for the Canadian Markos. MMA Fighting scores R1 for Markos, 10-9.
