Now that Robbie Lawler has defended the welterweight title against Rory MacDonald, the division is so wide open that his next defense could be any of several names. Should it be somebody like Tyron Woodley, who has won a pair of fights in a row (though the last one was a split decision over Kelvin Gastelum)? Should it be former 170-pound champ Johny Hendricks, in the rubber match of the trilogy?
Or…could it be…could it be Georges St-Pierre, who walked away from fighting in 2013, thus putting his belt up for grabs for Lawler and Hendricks to begin with.
Now that St-Pierre’s Tristar training partner MacDonald is (at least for the time being) no longer hovering near title contention in the UFC’s packed welterweight division, could this be the moment that GSP comes back?
St-Pierre’s longtime coach Firas Zahabi was a guest on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and he was pressed on the subject.
“Well, you know, I haven’t talked to Georges yet, but whatever he wants to do I’ll support him,” Zahabi said. “For me, he’s the greatest welterweight of all time, so he can do whatever he wants. If he wants to get back in the game, that’s up to him. If he wants to stay out of the game, it’s up to him. There’s nothing to prove.”
Zahabi, who was in MacDonald’s corner Saturday night in Las Vegas at UFC 189, said that he’s only been in contact with St-Pierre via texts.
“It was just, ‘good job, good try, we’ll get back to it,’ and that’s it,” Zahabi said.
St-Pierre himself was not on hand at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, having just got back from Europe where he has been shooting a movie.
The 34-year-old ceded his title after defending it against Hendricks at UFC 167, saying he needed time away from the pressure of the game. Since that time the popular Canadian champion — who defended the welterweight title nine times between 2008 and 2013 – made it clear he’d only contemplate a return if the UFC did something about PED users in the sport.
As of this month, a third-party anti-doping agency (USADA) has been commissioned to conduct year-round out-of-competition testing to everybody on the UFC’s roster. Asked if that might have sway with St-Pierre, Zahabi said it might, but that he’s not going to twist his arm.
“I think it’s definitely a step in a positive direction,” he said. “But I think Georges, he just has to train for fun and do what he feels like doing. He doesn’t owe anybody anything, now. So if he feels like he wants to take a fight on — he might wake up tomorrow and feel like he wants to take a fight on — I’ll back him up. If he doesn’t feel like it, he doesn’t feel like it. There’s always another fight. There’s always another thing to do.
“So for me, I don’t think that I get to put him in that situation we need to call out him and put pressure on him. He’s got to do what he wants. He’s paid his dues, he’s done his fights, and that’s it. Just enjoy your life. He’s put in his time.”
St-Pierre has gone 18-1 since 2004, with his only loss coming at the hands of Matt Serra at UFC 69 in 2006. Since that time he has won 12 fights in a row to solidify himself as the greatest welterweight champion of all time. His fight with Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto shattered the attendance and live gate records for the UFC. He’s made plenty of money in his career, and continues to do so.
All of these things go into Zahabi’s reasoning to leave St-Pierre alone in deciding his future, whether it’s in movies, in fighting, or in some other sphere.
“There’s nothing for him to prove left,” he said. “For me, there’s nothing left to prove. So if he wants to do it, it’s out of pure, sheer enjoyment, for the kicks of it, for the adventure of it all. He’s given up so much of his time and energy in his life to do what he did, and now he’s enjoying his time as a retired champion…or a sabbatical if you want to call it, whatever you want to call it. And tomorrow if he calls me and says he wants to do another fight, I’ll be there for him. But I don’t want to be the guy who’s pressuring him.”
Asked why St-Pierre just doesn’t come out and say he’s retired, just so people won’t continue bugging him with the same questions, Zahabi said that it’s because nothing’s set in stone.
“I don’t think he’s decided,” he said. “That’s the bottom line. He’s just getting some perspective. He’s trying new things in his life to see what he likes to do. He’s still a very young guy, and I don’t know if he’s going to find another interest or if he’s going to get bored with his day-to-day routine. Right now he’s shooting a few movies, let’s see how that goes.”
Now that Robbie Lawler has defended the welterweight title against Rory MacDonald, the division is so wide open that his next defense could be any of several names. Should it be somebody like Tyron Woodley, who has won a pair of fights in a row (though the last one was a split decision over Kelvin Gastelum)? Should it be former 170-pound champ Johny Hendricks, in the rubber match of the trilogy?
Or…could it be…could it be Georges St-Pierre, who walked away from fighting in 2013, thus putting his belt up for grabs for Lawler and Hendricks to begin with.
Now that St-Pierre’s Tristar training partner MacDonald is (at least for the time being) no longer hovering near title contention in the UFC’s packed welterweight division, could this be the moment that GSP comes back?
St-Pierre’s longtime coach Firas Zahabi was a guest on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and he was pressed on the subject.
“Well, you know, I haven’t talked to Georges yet, but whatever he wants to do I’ll support him,” Zahabi said. “For me, he’s the greatest welterweight of all time, so he can do whatever he wants. If he wants to get back in the game, that’s up to him. If he wants to stay out of the game, it’s up to him. There’s nothing to prove.”
Zahabi, who was in MacDonald’s corner Saturday night in Las Vegas at UFC 189, said that he’s only been in contact with St-Pierre via texts.
“It was just, ‘good job, good try, we’ll get back to it,’ and that’s it,” Zahabi said.
St-Pierre himself was not on hand at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, having just got back from Europe where he has been shooting a movie.
The 34-year-old ceded his title after defending it against Hendricks at UFC 167, saying he needed time away from the pressure of the game. Since that time the popular Canadian champion — who defended the welterweight title nine times between 2008 and 2013 – made it clear he’d only contemplate a return if the UFC did something about PED users in the sport.
As of this month, a third-party anti-doping agency (USADA) has been commissioned to conduct year-round out-of-competition testing to everybody on the UFC’s roster. Asked if that might have sway with St-Pierre, Zahabi said it might, but that he’s not going to twist his arm.
“I think it’s definitely a step in a positive direction,” he said. “But I think Georges, he just has to train for fun and do what he feels like doing. He doesn’t owe anybody anything, now. So if he feels like he wants to take a fight on — he might wake up tomorrow and feel like he wants to take a fight on — I’ll back him up. If he doesn’t feel like it, he doesn’t feel like it. There’s always another fight. There’s always another thing to do.
“So for me, I don’t think that I get to put him in that situation we need to call out him and put pressure on him. He’s got to do what he wants. He’s paid his dues, he’s done his fights, and that’s it. Just enjoy your life. He’s put in his time.”
St-Pierre has gone 18-1 since 2004, with his only loss coming at the hands of Matt Serra at UFC 69 in 2006. Since that time he has won 12 fights in a row to solidify himself as the greatest welterweight champion of all time. His fight with Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto shattered the attendance and live gate records for the UFC. He’s made plenty of money in his career, and continues to do so.
All of these things go into Zahabi’s reasoning to leave St-Pierre alone in deciding his future, whether it’s in movies, in fighting, or in some other sphere.
“There’s nothing for him to prove left,” he said. “For me, there’s nothing left to prove. So if he wants to do it, it’s out of pure, sheer enjoyment, for the kicks of it, for the adventure of it all. He’s given up so much of his time and energy in his life to do what he did, and now he’s enjoying his time as a retired champion…or a sabbatical if you want to call it, whatever you want to call it. And tomorrow if he calls me and says he wants to do another fight, I’ll be there for him. But I don’t want to be the guy who’s pressuring him.”
Asked why St-Pierre just doesn’t come out and say he’s retired, just so people won’t continue bugging him with the same questions, Zahabi said that it’s because nothing’s set in stone.
“I don’t think he’s decided,” he said. “That’s the bottom line. He’s just getting some perspective. He’s trying new things in his life to see what he likes to do. He’s still a very young guy, and I don’t know if he’s going to find another interest or if he’s going to get bored with his day-to-day routine. Right now he’s shooting a few movies, let’s see how that goes.”
So, Fedor Emelianenko wants to fight again. Can I get an oh, hells yes. The great Фёдор Влади́мирович Емелья́ненко, yo! By now we should all know that in MMA “retirement” is Latin for “a place to refuel,” but still…freaking Fedor! Do you know what this means? Fedor can now fight against…
Hold up, though, hold up. Before we get too excited, let’s just kick the tires here a bit and thumb through the Carfax, just to…you know, be thorough.
It sounds like a show for The Animal Planet’s gang of gullibles, but there was a time when “The Great Emperor” got pummeled by a Bigfoot in the swamps of New Jersey. You can look it up. It was during the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix four-and-a-half years ago. Antonio Silva looked like a CGI creature next to Emelianenko, but he had a mile of available chin for the Russian to work with. Fedor had been in there against bigger men his whole career. His business was finding every giant’s black spot before they could find his.
Yet when Silva got on top of Fedor in East Rutherford the credits began to roll. Remember that? Silva beat the holy living mystique out of The Greatest Heavyweight of All Time. With every loaf-sized hammerfist that crashed into the Russian’s cranium, with every rude elbow that cracked his temple, everything that happened eight months earlier seemed less and less like a fluke. Fedor had got caught by Fabricio Werdum in his previous fight out in San Jose, his first loss in nearly 10 years. It still felt like an aberration.
Against Silva, he was being busted into a million pieces. I’m just saying, it felt like reality. At the time.
So when he lost to Dan Henderson five months later, the eulogists were already humming along on their keyboards. Henderson was making a cameo appearance at heavyweight, chugging water to make the 206-pound minumum. To get knocked out in that fight was the final shred of evidence needed to make the case — at 34 years old, and now riding a three-fight losing streak, Fedor had ceased being Fedor.
That’s where it felt like it ended.
He did go on to win three fights before retiring, but those were against Jeff Monson, Satoshi Ishii and a well-shot Pedro Rizzo in Russia. Little stocking stuffers to help make it a less-depressing Christmas. Hardly anybody in America paid attention to his swan song fight. The GOAT sort of receded into family life and Moscow politics as MMA fans were left to lament that he never fought in the UFC.
And here we are three years later, with a reminder to never say never.
Because, getting back to the point, what I was trying to say is…Fedor is back! Who will land the greatest heavyweight that ever was, especially now in a day and age when what was has so little to do with what is?
If you think about it, Fedor’s timing to take off his shoes again couldn’t be better — right now in the realm of heavyweights we are willing to believe anything is possible. After Mark Hunt (an inheritance from Pride) made his run, and Ben Rothwell came surging back into relevance, and Andrei Arlovski (!) has emerged once again a heavyweight contender, and Frank Mir has kicked back into fifth, and Werdum, at 38, is now an unstoppable force as the UFC’s champ, well, the idea that Fedor could make some noise again doesn’t sound so far-fetched.
In fact, stick him in that fold on the UFC roster, and possibilities and back stories get a little overwhelming. Who wouldn’t want to see Fedor — and his 19th century priests that double as his cornermen — decked out in a Reebok kit, inside those eight famous cage walls?
There are so many questions to ask. What is Fedor’s ultimate value? Did the time away help him? Has he been training? Did he ever find that sweater that he used to wear all the time (#NeverForget)?
The thing is, as with all the other heavyweight resurrection stories, it’s possible the passage of time has washed away all that writing on the wall. That’s a compelling story on its own. And with Fedor it’s usually complicated. He’s a free agent, but — like before — he’s a free agent with red tape. M-1 Global is riding sidecar with him wherever he ends up, and it was that alliance that hindered him ever appearing in the UFC. Still, right now Fedor’s name can’t be mentioned without the word “sweepstakes” attached to it. And for good reason. A fighter who pops up in the GOAT conversation so frequently making a comeback?
Compelling stuff.
Who will win the sweepstakes? Will it be Bellator? It’s Scott Coker who’s been trotting Fedor out to all of America’s Dave & Busters and events. He and Fedor are friends going back to Japan and Strikeforce. Will it be the WSOF? There’s the huge rematch with Blagoy Ivanov (who beat him in the Sambo Worlds in 2008) just sitting there, waiting for the WSOF hype machine to do its work. Will it be Japan? Promotions are kicking back up over there. Fedor is a deity in Japan. Will it be Russia? M-1 Global is still behind a great many levers.
Or will it be the UFC? For Dana White and Lorenzo Ferittta, Fedor is the white whale. The one they can’t get. He’s the dangling carrot forever out of reach. Last time they tried to get him — to fight Brock Lesnar at Dallas Cowboys Stadium – it fell through when Fedor’s father passed away. Now talks of that same oversized venue (now AT&T Stadium) are getting kicked up again, with Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo headlining. It would need some strong support.
Imagine Fedor fighting Arlovski on that same card. Or fighting Mir, or Hunt (again), or Alistair Overeem, or Hendo, Shogun, Derrick Lewis, or really any sentient thing. Imagine the moment that Fedor finally walks into the Octagon, whether it’s in Dallas or as the UFC makes inroads into Russia. There is no such thing as too late.
And really, that’s forever been the missing part of the Fedor’s story.
So, Fedor Emelianenko wants to fight again. Can I get an oh, hells yes. The great ????? ????????????? ????????????, yo! By now we should all know that in MMA “retirement” is Latin for “a place to refuel,” but still…freaking Fedor! Do you know what this means? Fedor can now fight against…
Hold up, though, hold up. Before we get too excited, let’s just kick the tires here a bit and thumb through the Carfax, just to…you know, be thorough.
It sounds like a show for The Animal Planet’s gang of gullibles, but there was a time when “The Great Emperor” got pummeled by a Bigfoot in the swamps of New Jersey. You can look it up. It was during the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix four-and-a-half years ago. Antonio Silva looked like a CGI creature next to Emelianenko, but he had a mile of available chin for the Russian to work with. Fedor had been in there against bigger men his whole career. His business was finding every giant’s black spot before they could find his.
Yet when Silva got on top of Fedor in East Rutherford the credits began to roll. Remember that? Silva beat the holy living mystique out of The Greatest Heavyweight of All Time. With every loaf-sized hammerfist that crashed into the Russian’s cranium, with every rude elbow that cracked his temple, everything that happened eight months earlier seemed less and less like a fluke. Fedor had got caught by Fabricio Werdum in his previous fight out in San Jose, his first loss in nearly 10 years. It still felt like an aberration.
Against Silva, he was being busted into a million pieces. I’m just saying, it felt like reality. At the time.
So when he lost to Dan Henderson five months later, the eulogists were already humming along on their keyboards. Henderson was making a cameo appearance at heavyweight, chugging water to make the 206-pound minumum. To get knocked out in that fight was the final shred of evidence needed to make the case — at 34 years old, and now riding a three-fight losing streak, Fedor had ceased being Fedor.
That’s where it felt like it ended.
He did go on to win three fights before retiring, but those were against Jeff Monson, Satoshi Ishii and a well-shot Pedro Rizzo in Russia. Little stocking stuffers to help make it a less-depressing Christmas. Hardly anybody in America paid attention to his swan song fight. The GOAT sort of receded into family life and Moscow politics as MMA fans were left to lament that he never fought in the UFC.
And here we are three years later, with a reminder to never say never.
Because, getting back to the point, what I was trying to say is…Fedor is back! Who will land the greatest heavyweight that ever was, especially now in a day and age when what was has so little to do with what is?
If you think about it, Fedor’s timing to take off his shoes again couldn’t be better — right now in the realm of heavyweights we are willing to believe anything is possible. After Mark Hunt (an inheritance from Pride) made his run, and Ben Rothwell came surging back into relevance, and Andrei Arlovski (!) has emerged once again a heavyweight contender, and Frank Mir has kicked back into fifth, and Werdum, at 38, is now an unstoppable force as the UFC’s champ, well, the idea that Fedor could make some noise again doesn’t sound so far-fetched.
In fact, stick him in that fold on the UFC roster, and possibilities and back stories get a little overwhelming. Who wouldn’t want to see Fedor — and his 19th century priests that double as his cornermen — decked out in a Reebok kit, inside those eight famous cage walls?
There are so many questions to ask. What is Fedor’s ultimate value? Did the time away help him? Has he been training? Did he ever find that sweater that he used to wear all the time (#NeverForget)?
The thing is, as with all the other heavyweight resurrection stories, it’s possible the passage of time has washed away all that writing on the wall. That’s a compelling story on its own. And with Fedor it’s usually complicated. He’s a free agent, but — like before — he’s a free agent with red tape. M-1 Global is riding sidecar with him wherever he ends up, and it was that alliance that hindered him ever appearing in the UFC. Still, right now Fedor’s name can’t be mentioned without the word “sweepstakes” attached to it. And for good reason. A fighter who pops up in the GOAT conversation so frequently making a comeback?
Compelling stuff.
Who will win the sweepstakes? Will it be Bellator? It’s Scott Coker who’s been trotting Fedor out to all of America’s Dave & Busters and events. He and Fedor are friends going back to Japan and Strikeforce. Will it be the WSOF? There’s the huge rematch with Blagoy Ivanov (who beat him in the Sambo Worlds in 2008) just sitting there, waiting for the WSOF hype machine to do its work. Will it be Japan? Promotions are kicking back up over there. Fedor is a deity in Japan. Will it be Russia? M-1 Global is still behind a great many levers.
Or will it be the UFC? For Dana White and Lorenzo Ferittta, Fedor is the white whale. The one they can’t get. He’s the dangling carrot forever out of reach. Last time they tried to get him — to fight Brock Lesnar at Dallas Cowboys Stadium – it fell through when Fedor’s father passed away. Now talks of that same oversized venue (now AT&T Stadium) are getting kicked up again, with Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo headlining. It would need some strong support.
Imagine Fedor fighting Arlovski on that same card. Or fighting Mir, or Hunt (again), or Alistair Overeem, or Hendo, Shogun, Derrick Lewis, or really any sentient thing. Imagine the moment that Fedor finally walks into the Octagon, whether it’s in Dallas or as the UFC makes inroads into Russia. There is no such thing as too late.
And really, that’s forever been the missing part of the Fedor’s story.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Though he was very careful not to divulge too much information as to what was hindering him in Friday night’s main event against Andrey Koreshkov, Douglas Lima hinted that he wasn’t himself at Bellator 140.
“Honestly there were a lot of wrong things with this camp,” the Brazilian said, shortly after losing his welterweight title. “I don’t want to go into details on that, because I don’t want to take anything away from Koreshkov. He fought a good fight. I know I can do a lot better than that. It was just different. There was some stuff that was wrong, but we’re going to fix it and come back. I’m confident that I’m going to get this belt back. But I’m just happy to be back fighting. It’s been a long layoff. But it wasn’t me 100 percent in there. We’re going to come back.”
The 24-year-old Koreshkov was able to keep Lima off balance by taking the fierce striker Lima down at intervals throughout the fight. When standing, the Russian used the clinch on the fence to stay out of Lima’s range, and worked the body with kicks when they did stand and trade.
Lima — who was fighting for the first time in 15 months after winning the vacant 170-pound title against Rick Hawn — was never able to find a rhythm in the fight, and lost on the scorecards 50-45, 48-47, 50-45.
He was very careful not to lean on any excuses for his performance on Friday, while at the same time making it clear there were things plaguing him.
“Everybody trains with injuries in this sport that we do,” he said. “It’s rough. But yeah, there was some stuff going on with this camp. But, like I said, I never want to use that as an excuse. I’m just happy that I went in there and fought five rounds. It was a fun fight. I just wish I was more ready for it. It’s okay. It’s part of the game, you know. You win some, you lose some, I’m going to come back better from it.
“It was just frustrating. I couldn’t get the rhythm. It was all on me. No excuses. Just props to him. I don’t even know what to say anymore. He fought a good fight, and I’m happy for him. But I’m coming back for that belt. I can guarantee you that. I’m going to come back 100 percent next time. If I’m not 100 percent, I’m not sure I’m going to take a fight now. So I’m just going to heal up, take a little bit of a break, check what’s wrong, check everything and come back.”
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Though he was very careful not to divulge too much information as to what was hindering him in Friday night’s main event against Andrey Koreshkov, Douglas Lima hinted that he wasn’t himself at Bellator 140.
“Honestly there were a lot of wrong things with this camp,” the Brazilian said, shortly after losing his welterweight title. “I don’t want to go into details on that, because I don’t want to take anything away from Koreshkov. He fought a good fight. I know I can do a lot better than that. It was just different. There was some stuff that was wrong, but we’re going to fix it and come back. I’m confident that I’m going to get this belt back. But I’m just happy to be back fighting. It’s been a long layoff. But it wasn’t me 100 percent in there. We’re going to come back.”
The 24-year-old Koreshkov was able to keep Lima off balance by taking the fierce striker Lima down at intervals throughout the fight. When standing, the Russian used the clinch on the fence to stay out of Lima’s range, and worked the body with kicks when they did stand and trade.
Lima — who was fighting for the first time in 15 months after winning the vacant 170-pound title against Rick Hawn — was never able to find a rhythm in the fight, and lost on the scorecards 50-45, 48-47, 50-45.
He was very careful not to lean on any excuses for his performance on Friday, while at the same time making it clear there were things plaguing him.
“Everybody trains with injuries in this sport that we do,” he said. “It’s rough. But yeah, there was some stuff going on with this camp. But, like I said, I never want to use that as an excuse. I’m just happy that I went in there and fought five rounds. It was a fun fight. I just wish I was more ready for it. It’s okay. It’s part of the game, you know. You win some, you lose some, I’m going to come back better from it.
“It was just frustrating. I couldn’t get the rhythm. It was all on me. No excuses. Just props to him. I don’t even know what to say anymore. He fought a good fight, and I’m happy for him. But I’m coming back for that belt. I can guarantee you that. I’m going to come back 100 percent next time. If I’m not 100 percent, I’m not sure I’m going to take a fight now. So I’m just going to heal up, take a little bit of a break, check what’s wrong, check everything and come back.”
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Though Paul Daley ultimately vanquished Dennis Olson on Friday night, it ended up being a little bit of a struggle. A couple of times in the first round of the co-main event on Friday night “Semtex” was double-legged and taken down. No big deal since he scored a vicious second-round TKO anyway, right?
Well, with his nemesis Josh Koscheck sitting cageside for his fight, those double-leg takedowns were loaded.
“I felt his presence,” the 32-year-old Daley said after the fight. “When Olson came out and shot the double-leg and he got it straight away, I was like damn…I know Koscheck’s going to be like, yes or whatever. But I got back up and we seen how the fight ended.
“But yeah, there was something in the back of my mind, because I knew Olson was a very tough wrestler, so I wanted to show improvements in my ground game. I hit a nice sweep out there, I defended a few of his submission attempts, but I think I did that. I’m still improving, you know.”
Since Bellator signed Josh Koscheck in June, there has been talk about a rematch between him and Daley from their UFC 113 bout in 2010. That fight was dictated by the wrestler Koscheck, who scored a unanimous decision by keeping Daley on his back for the bulk of the bout. After the final horn, Daley took a swing at Koscheck out of frustration, which resulted in him being banished from the promotion.
In an interview conducted during Friday night’s broadcast on Spike TV, Koscheck — who lost five fights in a row to end his run with the UFC — said he was hoping Daley would get through Olson so that they could potentially fight in December.
Asked about that time frame, Daley said it’s all conditional.
“I think Koscheck needs to win a fight first and then we’ll talk after that,” he said. “So when Koscheck gets a win here in Bellator, then we’ll talk about fighting. If he gets a win before December and Bellator thinks it’s the right fight in terms of promotion and getting eyes on the promotion, then I’ll accept the fight, but let’s get him a win. Maybe Koscheck vs. [Douglas] Lima, maybe that’s an interesting fight next.”
Lima dropped a unanimous decision in Friday’s main event versus Andrey Koreshkov. In any case, Daley is already booked for a kickboxing match in Glory on Sept. 19 in San Jose, Calif., as part of Bellator hybrid Dynamite event.
With things still up in the air, Daley said that he was willing to fight whoever he was asked to, but that he understands that a Koscheck rematch is big business for Bellator.
“It’s an important fight, because it’s a big fight,” he said. “In terms of promotion, in terms of financial reward it would be probably bigger than a lot of the other fights. But becoming champion, you know, again there your marquee name goes up and the financial awards are there too, so for me it’s a title fight or the Koscheck fight next. We’ll see what Bellator thinks.
“If they want me to have another fight, I’ll have another fight. I’ll never say no to another fight before either of those two fights because I’m still not 100 percent happy with what I did tonight, or 100 percent happy with the Andre Santos fight [at Bellator 134]. So I’d still like to have another run out and try and work on some more things that I’ve been working on in camp.”
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Though Paul Daley ultimately vanquished Dennis Olson on Friday night, it ended up being a little bit of a struggle. A couple of times in the first round of the co-main event on Friday night “Semtex” was double-legged and taken down. No big deal since he scored a vicious second-round TKO anyway, right?
Well, with his nemesis Josh Koscheck sitting cageside for his fight, those double-leg takedowns were loaded.
“I felt his presence,” the 32-year-old Daley said after the fight. “When Olson came out and shot the double-leg and he got it straight away, I was like damn…I know Koscheck’s going to be like, yes or whatever. But I got back up and we seen how the fight ended.
“But yeah, there was something in the back of my mind, because I knew Olson was a very tough wrestler, so I wanted to show improvements in my ground game. I hit a nice sweep out there, I defended a few of his submission attempts, but I think I did that. I’m still improving, you know.”
Since Bellator signed Josh Koscheck in June, there has been talk about a rematch between him and Daley from their UFC 113 bout in 2010. That fight was dictated by the wrestler Koscheck, who scored a unanimous decision by keeping Daley on his back for the bulk of the bout. After the final horn, Daley took a swing at Koscheck out of frustration, which resulted in him being banished from the promotion.
In an interview conducted during Friday night’s broadcast on Spike TV, Koscheck — who lost five fights in a row to end his run with the UFC — said he was hoping Daley would get through Olson so that they could potentially fight in December.
Asked about that time frame, Daley said it’s all conditional.
“I think Koscheck needs to win a fight first and then we’ll talk after that,” he said. “So when Koscheck gets a win here in Bellator, then we’ll talk about fighting. If he gets a win before December and Bellator thinks it’s the right fight in terms of promotion and getting eyes on the promotion, then I’ll accept the fight, but let’s get him a win. Maybe Koscheck vs. [Douglas] Lima, maybe that’s an interesting fight next.”
Lima dropped a unanimous decision in Friday’s main event versus Andrey Koreshkov. In any case, Daley is already booked for a kickboxing match in Glory on Sept. 19 in San Jose, Calif., as part of Bellator hybrid Dynamite event.
With things still up in the air, Daley said that he was willing to fight whoever he was asked to, but that he understands that a Koscheck rematch is big business for Bellator.
“It’s an important fight, because it’s a big fight,” he said. “In terms of promotion, in terms of financial reward it would be probably bigger than a lot of the other fights. But becoming champion, you know, again there your marquee name goes up and the financial awards are there too, so for me it’s a title fight or the Koscheck fight next. We’ll see what Bellator thinks.
“If they want me to have another fight, I’ll have another fight. I’ll never say no to another fight before either of those two fights because I’m still not 100 percent happy with what I did tonight, or 100 percent happy with the Andre Santos fight [at Bellator 134]. So I’d still like to have another run out and try and work on some more things that I’ve been working on in camp.”
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator’s welterweight title has been on ice for a long time. And now it’s Andrey Koreshkov who is holding it.
The 24-year old Russian challenger was able to control Douglas Lima on Friday night at the Mohegan Sun, using an effective mix of clinch-work, body kicks and takedowns. Lima, who won the vacant 170-title in April 2014 against Rick Hawn, was unable to get much going in the fight, getting frustrated with single-leg takedowns at intervals throughout. Though he tried, even in scrambles and in attempts to sweep Koreshkov, Lima couldn’t swing the momentum in his favor.
In the end, the judges scored the fight 48-47, 50-45, 50-45 for Bellator’s new welterweight champ, Koreshkov (18-1).
The loss was Lima’s first since a spring 2012 defeat at the hands of then-champion Ben Askren. Though he had been off for more than a year, Lima had won five fights in a row heading in.
In the co-main event, Paul Daley got taken down in the first round of his fight with Dennis Olson as his newly signed nemesis Josh Koscheck watched on, but he was landing the bigger shots throughout. Daley was able to score a TKO victory over the outmatched Olson with a barrage in the second round.
The end came at 1:12 of the second round.
“We had our beef,” Daley (37-13-2) said of Koscheck afterwards. “I still hate that hair, and I still hate him.”
Meanwhile, Connecticut’s own Brennan Ward scored a violent knockout of Roger Carroll earlier in the card. Ward scored a couple of easy takedowns before lowering the boom on Carroll with a big right hand at 2:06 of the first round.
Ward, who is now 2-0 as a welterweight since debuting at Bellator 134 against Curtis Millender, is now 11-3.
The rising star Michael Page kicked off the main event in typical “MVP” fashion, knocking out Rudy Bears in the first round. After a series of undulating moves and with his hands dangling down at his thighs, Page ended the fight with a strong right hand at the 1:05 mark of the round.
“The one and only MVP is back,” Page said in his post-fight interview. “I think everyone knows exactly what kind of statement I made tonight.”
With the victory, Page moves to 8-0, while Bears drops to 16-14.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator’s welterweight title has been on ice for a long time. And now it’s Andrey Koreshkov who is holding it.
The 24-year old Russian challenger was able to control Douglas Lima on Friday night at the Mohegan Sun, using an effective mix of clinch-work, body kicks and takedowns. Lima, who won the vacant 170-title in April 2014 against Rick Hawn, was unable to get much going in the fight, getting frustrated with single-leg takedowns at intervals throughout. Though he tried, even in scrambles and in attempts to sweep Koreshkov, Lima couldn’t swing the momentum in his favor.
In the end, the judges scored the fight 48-47, 50-45, 50-45 for Bellator’s new welterweight champ, Koreshkov (18-1).
The loss was Lima’s first since a spring 2012 defeat at the hands of then-champion Ben Askren. Though he had been off for more than a year, Lima had won five fights in a row heading in.
In the co-main event, Paul Daley got taken down in the first round of his fight with Dennis Olson as his newly signed nemesis Josh Koscheck watched on, but he was landing the bigger shots throughout. Daley was able to score a TKO victory over the outmatched Olson with a barrage in the second round.
The end came at 1:12 of the second round.
“We had our beef,” Daley (37-13-2) said of Koscheck afterwards. “I still hate that hair, and I still hate him.”
Meanwhile, Connecticut’s own Brennan Ward scored a violent knockout of Roger Carroll earlier in the card. Ward scored a couple of easy takedowns before lowering the boom on Carroll with a big right hand at 2:06 of the first round.
Ward, who is now 2-0 as a welterweight since debuting at Bellator 134 against Curtis Millender, is now 11-3.
The rising star Michael Page kicked off the main event in typical “MVP” fashion, knocking out Rudy Bears in the first round. After a series of undulating moves and with his hands dangling down at his thighs, Page ended the fight with a strong right hand at the 1:05 mark of the round.
“The one and only MVP is back,” Page said in his post-fight interview. “I think everyone knows exactly what kind of statement I made tonight.”
With the victory, Page moves to 8-0, while Bears drops to 16-14.
With UFC 189 now in the books as one of greatest main cards of all time, Firas Zahabi can look back on his pupil Rory MacDonald’s performance with a lot of pride. And of course, as his head coach at the Tristar Gym in Montreal, a little bit of that tough love understanding.
After a classic back-and-forth battle with current welterweight champion Robbie Lawler in the co-main event Saturday night, MacDonald was finally dropped in the fifth round by a left hand that smashed into his already broken nose. The battle will go down as a Fight of the Year candidate for 2015, yet it stings a little more given what we know now.
MacDonald was officially leading on all the judge’s scorecards heading into the fifth round, three rounds to one. Zahabi, who was a guest on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, said that he suspected MacDonald was ahead, too. And that’s what he tried to communicate to MacDonald with just five minutes standing between him and gold.
“Yes, yes, absolutely, I had it exactly as the judges had it, three to one,” Zahabi said. “And I told Rory right before going into round five, I said all you have to do is just be the smartest fighter in the world and you become world champion, you’re winning, three to one. I had the exact same card as the judges.”
Of course, MacDonald by this time had been fighting with a broken nose and a fractured foot. Asked if he knew the extend of MacDonald’s injuries heading the final round, Zahabi said he was aware of what was obvious.
“I wasn’t aware it was a fractured foot, but I was aware that his nose was broken,” he said. “There’s nothing I could do about it. We brought in the cutman to help him work on it, but at the end of the day there’s nothing you can do about it. I just wanted him to adjust and avoid getting hit again, but he wasn’t able to avoid getting hit again and it was just too much.”
Zahabi, who trained Georges St-Pierre for his long reign as the 170-pound champion, thinks MacDonald’s inexperience in a five-round fight was a major factor.
“In my opinion, I think Rory has to learn that a five-round fight is different type of cardio, it’s a different pace,” he said. “I’ve prepared Georges for a lot of five-rounders, I think 10 five-rounders, I can’t remember how many. But it’s a different pace.
“I think Rory was fighting a three-round pace, and Robbie was fighting a five-round pace, and that made a huge difference. I think if it was three-round fight, Rory would win two rounds to one, and it would be pretty decisive. I don’t think anybody would argue with that. But at the end, five-round fights are different fights and I think Rory has to explore that more and hopefully get a few more five-round fights in his career and he’ll really start to understand what a five-round fight is, because 10 more minutes is a whole different world.”
MacDonald posted a picture of his face on his Twitter feed afterwards of his still swollen nose and face, as well as another one of his face during the heat of battle. On the latter, he stated he had the “best time of his life,” which Zahabi echoed on the show.
Asked if MacDonald would need surgery to repair his nose or his foot, Zahabi said it didn’t look like it, but time would tell.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “They said [the nose] looks straight. If it looks crooked they might have to fix it. But there was swelling, too much swelling for them to know. They said they’re going to give it a week for the swelling to go down but from what they could tell it was fully straight.
“As for the foot, they only put one of those temporary casts on it. I don’t know if he’s going to a cast at all, I have no idea.”
Deep in the third round, in a fight where Lawler clearly had the momentum, MacDonald connected on a head-kick that wobbled him. He then moved in for the finish, and it looked like he was close, but — fatefully — Lawler survived the round.
Zahabi said he thought if MacDonald had 15 extra seconds to work with there that he might be talking about his charge as the next Tristar champion. But, it was a lesson that he thinks MacDonald learned.
“He executed [the game plan] beautifully,” Zahabi said. “He went for the finish. He worked really hard and I think he tired himself out a bit, and Robbie kind of got a second wind late in the fourth round. Again, Robbie’s been deep in the five-rounders before, hard five rounders. [It was] Rory’s first time, and I think he had to save a little more for later in the fight. I think he put a little bit too much in round No. four, possibly.”
With UFC 189 now in the books as one of greatest main cards of all time, Firas Zahabi can look back on his pupil Rory MacDonald’s performance with a lot of pride. And of course, as his head coach at the Tristar Gym in Montreal, a little bit of that tough love understanding.
After a classic back-and-forth battle with current welterweight champion Robbie Lawler in the co-main event Saturday night, MacDonald was finally dropped in the fifth round by a left hand that smashed into his already broken nose. The battle will go down as a Fight of the Year candidate for 2015, yet it stings a little more given what we know now.
MacDonald was officially leading on all the judge’s scorecards heading into the fifth round, three rounds to one. Zahabi, who was a guest on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, said that he suspected MacDonald was ahead, too. And that’s what he tried to communicate to MacDonald with just five minutes standing between him and gold.
“Yes, yes, absolutely, I had it exactly as the judges had it, three to one,” Zahabi said. “And I told Rory right before going into round five, I said all you have to do is just be the smartest fighter in the world and you become world champion, you’re winning, three to one. I had the exact same card as the judges.”
Of course, MacDonald by this time had been fighting with a broken nose and a fractured foot. Asked if he knew the extend of MacDonald’s injuries heading the final round, Zahabi said he was aware of what was obvious.
“I wasn’t aware it was a fractured foot, but I was aware that his nose was broken,” he said. “There’s nothing I could do about it. We brought in the cutman to help him work on it, but at the end of the day there’s nothing you can do about it. I just wanted him to adjust and avoid getting hit again, but he wasn’t able to avoid getting hit again and it was just too much.”
Zahabi, who trained Georges St-Pierre for his long reign as the 170-pound champion, thinks MacDonald’s inexperience in a five-round fight was a major factor.
“In my opinion, I think Rory has to learn that a five-round fight is different type of cardio, it’s a different pace,” he said. “I’ve prepared Georges for a lot of five-rounders, I think 10 five-rounders, I can’t remember how many. But it’s a different pace.
“I think Rory was fighting a three-round pace, and Robbie was fighting a five-round pace, and that made a huge difference. I think if it was three-round fight, Rory would win two rounds to one, and it would be pretty decisive. I don’t think anybody would argue with that. But at the end, five-round fights are different fights and I think Rory has to explore that more and hopefully get a few more five-round fights in his career and he’ll really start to understand what a five-round fight is, because 10 more minutes is a whole different world.”
MacDonald posted a picture of his face on his Twitter feed afterwards of his still swollen nose and face, as well as another one of his face during the heat of battle. On the latter, he stated he had the “best time of his life,” which Zahabi echoed on the show.
Asked if MacDonald would need surgery to repair his nose or his foot, Zahabi said it didn’t look like it, but time would tell.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “They said [the nose] looks straight. If it looks crooked they might have to fix it. But there was swelling, too much swelling for them to know. They said they’re going to give it a week for the swelling to go down but from what they could tell it was fully straight.
“As for the foot, they only put one of those temporary casts on it. I don’t know if he’s going to a cast at all, I have no idea.”
Deep in the third round, in a fight where Lawler clearly had the momentum, MacDonald connected on a head-kick that wobbled him. He then moved in for the finish, and it looked like he was close, but — fatefully — Lawler survived the round.
Zahabi said he thought if MacDonald had 15 extra seconds to work with there that he might be talking about his charge as the next Tristar champion. But, it was a lesson that he thinks MacDonald learned.
“He executed [the game plan] beautifully,” Zahabi said. “He went for the finish. He worked really hard and I think he tired himself out a bit, and Robbie kind of got a second wind late in the fourth round. Again, Robbie’s been deep in the five-rounders before, hard five rounders. [It was] Rory’s first time, and I think he had to save a little more for later in the fight. I think he put a little bit too much in round No. four, possibly.”
