Author: Dan Hiergesell

Chris Weidman’s return from a brutal leg injury suffered at UFC 261 is going to be a very long process, but at least the former UFC middleweight champion is finally smiling as his recovery picks back up.

Weidman injured his leg in a main card matchup with Uriah Hall at UFC 261 this past April. The two fighters barely exchanged any strikes before Weidman launched a leg kick that landed perfectly on Hall’s leg and snapped Weidman’s shin in two. The injury is one of the worst you can suffer inside of the Octagon and Weidman is finding that out the hard way.

Luckily, the UFC veteran is a fighter at heart. While Weidman’s career already seemed to be on the down swing the 36-year-old is going to battle tooth-and-nail to heal his leg and make a memorable return to action. It’s easier said than done, but Weidman seems to be making incredible progress with his recovery.

Earlier this month, a video surfaced that saw Weidman walking using an anti-gravity treadmill. It was incredible to see just a few weeks removed from the injury. Now, a few weeks later, Weidman’s recovery has picked up even more. The former UFC champion has progressed so well that he’s already walking on his own. Check it out above.

“I’m walking on my own! Big day baby!! Thanks for all the love and support. Inspired by you all,” wrote Weidman via Instagram.

There have been a few fighters to return from an injury like this, including Weidman’s former rival, Anderson Silva, so the odds of Weidman making a full recovery and fighting gain are pretty solid. This is assuming he can continue to safely ramp up his recovery efforts without suffering any setbacks.

Mania will continue to provide updates on Weidman’s status moving forward.

T.J. Dillashaw is keeping a close eye on Cory Sandhagen leading into their clash this July and that includes spying on “Sandman’s” camp.

Dillashaw, who has been serving out a two year suspension after popping for banned substances back in 2019, is expected to make his awaited Octagon return on July 24 against Sandhagen. The two are expected to meet in a Fight Night main event but that hasn’t been made official at this time.

Leading into their crucial matchup in the bantamweight division Dillashaw has reportedly sent spies into Sandhagen’s camp to check in on the streaking contender. Sandhagen’s teammate, current LFA featherweight fighter Justin Wetzell, recently told James Lynch (via BJPenn.com) that a few new faces have popped up in the gym over the past few weeks.

“Yeah, he had some Ludwig students come into our Friday sparring,” claimed Wetzell. “I wasn’t there that day, but I heard about this from other people. They were like, ‘Yeah, there’s these Ludwig affiliates and when Cory started sparring in the cage, they whipped out their phones and started recording.’ And then later on Instagram, they posted some s—t on their story bragging, ‘Hey TJ, we got these rounds for you, we’ve got it all recorded.’”

It’s unknown at this time if Dillashaw really did send “spies” into Sandhagen’s camp, but it would just be another way of gaining an upper hand on “Sandman” when the cage doors shuts on July 24. If Dillashaw is able to defeat Sandhagen, who many believe to be the most well-rounded fighter at 135 pounds, he’ll immediately put himself back in line to fight for the title

Dillashaw, the former UFC bantamweight championship, lost his bid for a flyweight title in his last trip to the Octagon when he was put out by Henry Cejudo with a 32-second TKO. Dillashaw has had two years to lick his wounds and plot his return to the cage and it all starts with Sandhagen this July.

After claiming the undisputed UFC lightweight title with a TKO win over Michael Chandler at UFC 262 earlier this month Charles Oliveira is already looking to win another belt.

Oliveira, who was nearly finished by Chandler in the first round, fought back to find the finish in the second and lock down his ninth-straight win at 155 pounds (highlights HERE). While he just captured the title and has a long line of contenders who are itching for a shot at UFC gold, “Do Bronx” is open to dropping back down to featherweight in search of a second UFC title.

If you remember Oliveira fought at 145 pounds under the UFC banner from 2012-2017, but after four failed weight cuts during that span the promotion forced the Brazilian to move up to lightweight. Oliveira didn’t necessarily like the decision, but it ultimately paid off in the form of a UFC championship.

It’s been nearly five years since Oliveira competed at featherweight but he’d be willing to make the cut again if given the proper amount of time. Oliveira would also need to fight for the title in his return to the division so he has a chance of becoming double champ.

“If I have the opportunity to fight directly for the title, giving me time to do that, I would do well,” Oliveira told Combate. “Today I have a good nutritionist, a good team that will help me with this and make it happen. But only if it was straight for the title.”

Oliveira hasn’t lost at lightweight since 2017 and if he’s able to get through the next set of lightweight contenders, which includes Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, and Justin Gaethje, then maybe the promotion lets him take another shot at 145 pounds. The current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is scheduled to fight top contender Brian Ortega later this year. Either fighter would be a great opponent for Oliveira if he decided to drop back down one final time.

What do you think, fight fans? Would Oliveira win another UFC title if he dropped back down to featherweight?

Sound off!

We are just a few days away from the return of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) and UFC is reminding us all what the reality show can offer fight fans everywhere.

TUF, which is set to return June 1, 2021 on ESPN+ for season 29, hasn’t aired since Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum coached season 28 back in 2018. The new season of TUF will feature UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and top contender Brian Ortega as the coaches with the two fighters squaring off later this year.

While TUF hasn’t’ been around for a few years there’s no denying what the show has accomplished in the past. From spitting out future UFC champions to producing some of the best Octagon action you will ever see, TUF has been a productive outlet for the promotion to grow young fighters and give them the opportunity to create a dedicated following.

In the leadup to season 29, UFC has released complete footage of the best finishes in TUF history. From Uriah Hall’s infamous spinning kick knockout over Adam Cella to Pete Sell’s incredible comeback finish over Scott Smith, TUF has produced some wild stoppages over the years.

Check out the video in the above player.

Only time will tell if the upcoming season of TUF will produce similar carnage. But considering the series hasn’t aired in a few years and will now take place on ESPN+, the participating fighters should do whatever they can to stand out and capture ultimate glory.

Conor McGregor is pulling out all the stops for his upcoming trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 this July and it includes trolling “Diamond” six weeks in advance.

McGregor, who lost to Poirier via second-round TKO back at UFC 257 this past January, is in desperate need of a win at this point in his career. The Irish superstar has enough money to retires ten times over, but McGregor is still trying to work his way back towards a UFC title and it all starts with his trilogy opposite Poirier. Another loss for McGregor could completely bounce him from the UFC lightweight title picture and force him out of the game whether he likes it or not.

In the lead up to his third fight with “Diamond,” McGregor is doing what he can to remind Poirier that he won their first battle all the way back at UFC 178 in 2014. That contest was held at featherweight, but McGregor still finished Poirier with a beautiful first-round knockout and one of his most infamous finishes to date.

McGregor took a trip down memory lane earlier this week when he released the below photos. The first shot is a picture of McGregor lounging around the pool taking his usual selfie. The next photo, however, sports a very clever photoshop, which shows McGregor’s knockout win over Poirier in the Irishman’s sunglasses.

This is all well and good but McGregor is unlikely to get under Poirier’s skin at this point in time. Poirier just handed “Notorious” his first career knockout loss and has all the confidence in the world to do it again. McGregor will be pulling out all the stops over the next six weeks to gain a mental advantage over “Diamond” heading into their massive trilogy fight with July.

It will be up to Poirier to deflect, defuse, and destroy McGregor like he did just four months ago.

For complete UFC 264 news and coverage click here.

We almost saw a boxing match between former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre and former boxing world champion Oscar De La Hoya, but UFC president Dana White prevented it from happening.

Say what you will about White and how everything played out, a boxing match between GSP and “Golden Boy” would have been, well, golden. Some may think the matchup is a risky venture for St-Pierre, who is widely considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, but it would have been a great opportunity for the retired UFC fighter to earn a massive payday and test his skills against a legend like De La Hoya.

While the matchup has fallen between the combat cracks never to see the light of day again it’s still worth talking about, especially as new details emerge.

Earlier this week, St-Pierre sat down with MMA Joe (via BoxingScene) to discuss his missed opportunity to fight De La Hoya. GSP also revealed the proposed ruleset for the boxing match and a few details about a percentage of his fight purse going to charity.

“The problem with UFC, it’s a really serious sport that you can be really badly damaged. In boxing there are ways of tweaking it,” said St-Pierre. “For example, I was offered to have a fight with Oscar De La Hoya, but the rules were different because we were both retired.”

“It would’ve been bigger gloves, two-minute rounds, eight rounds. So the terms were different to accommodate, to make it more like a show,” St-Pierre continued. “It’s less dangerous. Part of the profit, part of our purses would have been given to a charity. Unfortunately, it did not happen, but it would have been fun. It’s a different form of entertainment, and with boxing you can tweak it like this — you can change the gloves — in MMA you can’t really do that.”

Most of us are still surprised that White was so quick to put a stop to this boxing match, especially since GSP shows no signs of returning to the Octagon, but it’s proof that the UFC president really doesn’t get along with De La Hoya. White may have a few different reasons why he didn’t approve of the fight, but he likely didn’t want to do business with “Golden Boy” even if it came at the expense of a massive payday for GSP.

For now, St-Pierre will stay retired and De La Hoya will have to find another dance partner for his anticipated return to the boxing ring later this year.