Dustin Filloy | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

8 Fighters Released from the UFC, Including Former WEC Champ Brian Bowles

The UFC’s massive stable of fighters shrunk slightly Tuesday when the promotion released eight fighters, including former WEC bantamweight champ Brian Bowles, per a report from Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.
Aside from Bowles, the other form…

Aside from Bowles, the other former UFC fighters who received their walking papers were: Stanislav Nedkov, Andy Ogle, Akira Corassani, Humberto Brown, Rodolfo Rubio, Juan Puig and Tim Gorman.

Of the eight fighters who were cut, none seemed to make more sense for the UFC than Bowles.

Not only has Bowles been finished in each of his last two bouts, but he was also arrested on Jan. 14 and slapped with multiple drug charges and an additional charge of possession of a firearm during the admission of a crime.

Bowles won his first two fights in the UFC before being guillotined in the second round by Urijah Faber and TKO’d in the second round by George Roop in his last two fights.

Nedkov, who entered the UFC with an 11-0 mark, tasted defeat in two of his last three fights. Nedkov only eluded a submission loss against Thiago Silva at UFC on Fuel TV 6 because the decision was overturned after the Brazilian tested positive for marijuana in a post-fight drug screen.

After earning a unanimous-decision win over Josh Grispi at UFC on Fuel TV 7, Ogle dropped four straight fights in the promotion, including an eight-second TKO loss to Makwan Amirkhani in his last outing.

Akin to the Bowles‘ situation, few fans should seem surprised over the UFC’s decision to let go of Corassani. After all, the Swedish-born featherweight essentially announced his retirement after suffering his third straight KO/TKO loss in January.

Puig got cut after getting knocked out in back-to-back fights by Adriano Martins and Doo Ho Choi. Sadly for Brown, Rubio and Gorman, they each got their pink slips after losing in their promotional debuts.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Gene LeBell Argues That Ronda Rousey Finished Cat Zingano in 12 Seconds

One could say he’s splitting hairs, but “Judo” Gene LeBell still maintains that his stopwatch proved that Ronda Rousey put Cat Zingano away quicker than the official records showed Saturday at UFC 184.
After the UFC 184 post-fight press conference, LeB…

After the UFC 184 post-fight press conference, LeBell, a longtime judo red belt and mentor of Rousey, claimed that his stopwatch read 12.83 seconds following her win over Zingano.

“It was a little more than a second faster,” LeBell said. “I was there at the start, and it was right in front of me. Willie’s a great timekeeper, but he was on the other side, so it took him a second to push the button. So he said 14 (seconds), but it was 12.83 seconds.”

LeBell said Rousey gave him the stopwatch he wears around his neck for all of her fights prior to the start of her illustrious pro career in 2011.

“‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey gave me this stopwatch,” LeBell said. “She said, ‘Uncle Gene. Every one of my fights you’re going to be there with this watch,’ and I was there tonight and I’ll continue to be there for her.”

With the win, the 28-year-old Rousey defended her UFC women’s bantamweight title for the fifth straight time. Rousey has won nine of her 11 fights by armbar, eight of which came in the first round. Rousey‘s other two wins came via knockout and TKO. Her last three title defenses have lasted a combined 96 seconds.

Rousey set the record for the swiftest finish in a UFC title bout. She came one second shy of tying Andrei Arlovski for the fastest finish in a UFC title fight with her 16-second KO of Alexis Davis at UFC 175 in July.

LeBell pointed out that Rousey started her trend of finishing opponents quickly long before her pro MMA career spawned.

“She was working out at my school many years ago before she started (MMA), and some guy came in with a black belt, a jiu-jitsu fella, and he said, ‘I want somebody to work out with,'” LeBell said. “I said, ‘Hey, class is over with and everyone’s gone home, except for one little girl (Rousey) on the mat. They started out standing, and pow, she armbarred him in five seconds. Then he jumps up, because it was an accident, and says, ‘Let’s do it again.’ So Ronda armbarred him again, this time in seven seconds.”

Although Rousey‘s movie career could keep her out of the Octagon in the coming months, she’ll likely see one of two contenders, Bethe Correia or Jessica Eye, in her next attempt to defend her belt.

The sixth-ranked Eye holds a 1-1 record in the UFC with one no-contest. Eye originally defeated fifth-ranked Sarah Kaufman at UFC 166, but the win was overturned and deemed a no-contest after Eye tested positive for marijuana following a post-fight drug screen.

The seventh-ranked Correia holds a 9-0 record and wins over two of Rousey‘s stablemates, Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler. Correia is 3-0 in the UFC.

All quotes were obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Anthony Johnson Explains Prank on Dana White: ‘He Damn Near S— on Himself’

The crowd erupted in laughter when Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson met for a staredown at the “Welcome to the Show” press conference prior to UFC 184 on Saturday at The Event Deck at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
Light heavyweight champ Jones and top-ra…

Light heavyweight champ Jones and top-ranked contender Johnson, who are scheduled to fight for the belt at UFC 187 on May 23, enacted a scheme to relive the press-conference brawl between Bones and Daniel Cormier at the MGM Grand in August.

And despite the fact that he was the victim of a prank, UFC President Dana White couldn’t help but join the crowd with a rosy-faced chuckle.

Johnson explained why he and Jones got together backstage and decided to pull the stunt.

“I just said, ‘Hey, we need to do something to get everybody going. He said, ‘Hey I could give you the whole headbutt like I did with Daniel,’ and I said, ‘Cool let’s do it, but where’s Dave.’ Dave Sholler was the one that was onstage whenever him and (Cormier) got into it. And he was like, ‘Dana’s up there, (so) we can’t do it.’ (But) I was like, ‘No, let’s do it.'”

With White standing in between them at center stage, Jones forcefully put his forehead to Johnson’s, which caused Rumble to feint a right hand at the champ. Because White wasn’t in on the joke, he responded by trying to stop what he perceived as another would-be catastrophe.

Although Jones and Johnson intended to punk UFC public relations chief Dave Sholler—the man who comically attempted to stop the Jones-Cormier brawl—they ended up fooling a totally unsuspecting White.

Johnson pointed out that the scheme would have made more sense had Sholler once again been the last line of defense, rather than White.

“Oh yeah, if Dave was up there it would have been perfect, but it is what it is. I think it’s even better, though, because it was Dana. Dana’s mister Billy bad ass, you know what I mean? You can’t do anything to him, but he definitely damn near s— on himself.”

The much-anticipated Jones-Johnson bout will serve as the main event on a card that includes a middleweight title fight between unbeaten champ Chris Weidman and former light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort. The card will also include several other high-profile matchups, including a lightweight bout between second-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov and third-ranked Donald Cerrone and a heavyweight tilt between third-ranked Travis Browne and seventh-ranked Andrei Arlovski.

All quotes were obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 61 Results: Real Winners and Losers from Bigfoot vs. Mir

The UFC’s first trip to Brazil in 2015 will be remembered as a night of memorable upsets.
Underdogs made statements with notable upsets in every fight but the night’s first at UFC Fight Night 61: Bigfoot vs. Mir, including 37-year-old Marion Reneau, wh…

The UFC’s first trip to Brazil in 2015 will be remembered as a night of memorable upsets.

Underdogs made statements with notable upsets in every fight but the night’s first at UFC Fight Night 61: Bigfoot vs. Mir, including 37-year-old Marion Reneau, who submitted 10th-ranked women’s featherweight Jessica Andrade on Sunday.

In the same vein, a large group of favorites, like eighth-ranked bantamweight Iuri Alcantara, got knocked down a few pegs after suffering disappointing defeats.

Although the primary theme was the success of the night’s underdogs, the secondary storyline was the promotion’s decision to allow 13th-ranked heavyweight Frank Mir to fight eighth-ranked Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the main event.

While both men are decorated heavyweights who stay active against the world’s best, heading into the night Mir hadn’t won a fight since submitting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140 in December 2011. Bigfoot, conversely, hadn’t tasted victory since KO’ing Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 over two years ago.

It’s difficult to argue that Mir and Bigfoot don’t deserve to be called top-flight heavyweights, but to pit them against each other in a main event at this point in time made little sense. Truth be told, the UFC could have made a more sensible main event matchup with co-main event fighters and budding lightweights Michael Johnson and Edson Barboza.

Coming into the bout, the 12th-ranked Johnson had won six of his last eight bouts, and sixth-ranked Barboza had prevailed in five of his last six.

Did the UFC make the right decision by pitting Mir and Silva in the big show? Or should the seemingly obvious barnburner between Johnson and Barboza have gotten tabbed as the main event?

Read on to find the answers to the most significant questions that surrounded UFC Fight Night 61.

Begin Slideshow

Demetrious Johnson Wants $2 Million Payday for Fight with T.J. Dillashaw

Although UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson doesn’t have a history of beef with T.J. Dillashaw, “Mighty Mouse” said he wouldn’t be opposed to locking horns with the bantamweight champ—but only if the money is right.
During Monday’s episode of…

During Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, per a report by MMA Fighting, Johnson described a recent run-in with Dillashaw and how the two champs talked about meeting in the Octagon for a superfight and a super payday:

I was like, ‘Hey, I told everybody that I’ll fight you. He was like, ‘You did?’ I said, ‘Yes and I told everybody we gotta get paid. I said $2 million.’ He goes, ‘Eff, yeah. I’m down with that.’

Mighty Mouse already holds wins over top-ranked UFC flyweight John Dodson, Joseph Benavidez (No. 2), Ian McCall (No. 3), John Moraga (No. 4), Ali Bagautinov (No. 6) and Chris Cariaso (No. 9). In the cases of Benavidez and McCall, he’s topped them both twice.

But because he’s essentially conquered every deserving contender at flyweight, Johnson could realistically compete in a superfight the next time he graces the Octagon.

That theory grew even stronger when seventh-ranked John Lineker failed to make weight before defeating McCall in a catchweight bout at UFC 183. The incident marked the fourth time in which Lineker didn’t make weight at flyweight. The 24-year-old Lineker also didn’t make weight at UFC on Fox 3, UFC 163 and UFC Fight Night 30.

Following UFC 183, President Dana White told Combate, per a report by Sherdog, that Lineker will have to bump up a weight class if he wants to continue fighting in the UFC.

“Lineker will never fight at flyweight again. He will have to move up to bantamweight,” White said.

After watching Lineker impressively beat six of his last seven opponents, Johnson was licking his chops for a chance to potentially fight the explosive Brazilian, per MMA Fighting:

It does suck for the flyweight division. That was the No. 1 contender. He’s been on a hot streak, destroying his opponents. Not just squeaking by. It would have made for a great fight for me and the fans.

Johnson hasn’t defended his belt since submitting Cariaso with a kimura at UFC 178. Mighty Mouse has gone unbeaten in eight fights since dropping to 125.

Dillashaw, meanwhile, has won seven of his last eight bouts, including four via KO/TKO. Dillashaw has won his only two career UFC title fights via KO from a head kick and follow-up punches.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Chris Weidman Talks Anderson Silva’s Future: ‘I’d Just Like to See Him Retire’

Despite the fact that Anderson Silva scored a win just 13 months after breaking both his left tibia and fibula, the man responsible for those injuries, UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman, evidently wasn’t all that moved by the feat.
Top-ranked middl…

Top-ranked middleweight Silva amazingly proved he’s fully recovered from the gruesome injuries he suffered on a leg check from Weidman at UFC 168 by outpointing Nick Diaz in the main event at UFC 183 on Saturday. Still, Weidman, who seemed to be speaking genuinely and from a fan’s point of view, essentially said on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, per a report by MMA Fighting, that he hopes the longtime former middleweight champ and pound-for-pound king will now decide to call it quits:

Being the champion, I know this ends up going further than I’d even want my comments to go, because my opinion, I don’t think, really matters that much and I don’t want it to weigh on him at all. But me as a fan, if I’m just a normal person, I want to see him done. As Chris Weidman, as me, it’s a big money fight, a third fight eventually. But I’d really just like to see him retire. I think he’s got a great family, he’s got five kids, he’s made a lot of money, he has a great legacy. He just won a fight. I wouldn’t mind seeing him retire on a (win).

In his first win since whipping Stephan Bonnar in the main event of UFC 153 in October 2012, The Spider looked like his former self in spurts, out-striking Diaz 108-80 and stuffing the Californian’s lone takedown attempt. Each of Silva’s 108 strikes landed was deemed a significant strike, and though Silva didn’t score a knockdown or threaten to finish the ever-durable former middleweight title challenger, he clearly outclassed a battered Diaz in a win that brought him to tears.

But even though Weidman expressed excitement about watching Silva bounce back from his injuries, he didn’t seem impressed by his performance or convinced that the 39-year-old Brazilian deserves a title shot in the near future:

In the fight, you know, I’m happy that he came back. He was healthy, he was able to go out there and get a (win). But do I think he looked impressive? No. I don’t think he’s what everybody thought Anderson would look like and what he could do to Nick Diaz. There was a lot going against him with the leg injury, (and) it didn’t seem like he was kicking the legs as much as he usually could. But, you know, I don’t know. I don’t think he deserves a title shot. There’s a lot of other guys that I think are better than him right now.

In just his 10th career fight, Weidman upset Silva and took his middleweight belt at UFC 162 in July 2013, becoming the first man to KO The Spider in the process. Less than six months later in their rematch at UFC 168, Weidman checked a low kick that ended up breaking Silva’s tibia and fibula.

All statistics were gathered via Fightmetric.com.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com