Author: Dustin Filloy

Belfort Explains Why He Said No to an Interim Title Fight with Machida

Fourth-ranked UFC middleweight Vitor Belfort didn’t just make an impulsive decision to turn down an interim title bout with third-ranked Lyoto Machida.
Truth be told, Belfort decided after his last bout back in November 2013 that he had done more than …

Fourth-ranked UFC middleweight Vitor Belfort didn’t just make an impulsive decision to turn down an interim title bout with third-ranked Lyoto Machida.

Truth be told, Belfort decided after his last bout back in November 2013 that he had done more than enough to deserve a genuine middleweight title fight the next time he graces the Octagon. And since that win over Dan Henderson at UFC Night 32 in his last bout, Belfort has come up with a long list of points to support his argument. 

In the following Facebook post from Sunday, The Phenom explained, in great detail, his motives for turning down an interim title bout with the fellow former light heavyweight champ.

Although he’s been slated to fight on several occasions, Belfort hasn’t competed since his win over Henderson because of a number of issues.

First, the promotion decided to pull Belfort from his scheduled middleweight title fight with champ Chris Weidman at UFC 173 after the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided to outlaw Testosterone Replacement Therapy. The NSAC‘s decision resulted in Belfort losing his exemption to use TRT.

In June, Belfort was set to replace Wanderlei Silva in a fight against former three-time title challenger Chael Sonnen at UFC 175. However, Sonnen was pulled from the card after failing a random drug test from the NSAC.

The UFC again tried to pit Belfort against Weidman, this time at UFC 181 in December. The bout was postponed in September, when Weidman suffered a broken hand during training.

In the latest development in Belfort‘s struggle to land a title shot, the UFC announced Friday that Weidman got pulled from their third scheduled title fight after he sustained a rib injury.

Belfort has won his last three fights via knockout (Henderson and Luke Rockhold) and TKO (Michael Bisping). The Phenom has racked up a 6-2 mark in the UFC in his third stint with the promotion, suffering his only losses in that span to Anderson Silva and Jon Jones in title fights.

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Anderson Silva Reveals Training Partner Who Knocked Him out Before UFC 183

Apparently plenty of drama unfolded in the training room for Anderson Silva prior to his bout with Nick Diaz at UFC 183 on Saturday.
Not only did the longtime former middleweight champ knock out one of his training partners prior to his comeback f…

Apparently plenty of drama unfolded in the training room for Anderson Silva prior to his bout with Nick Diaz at UFC 183 on Saturday.

Not only did the longtime former middleweight champ knock out one of his training partners prior to his comeback fight, he also got knocked out himself.

Per a report by MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz, The Spider confirmed on Thursday that a kick to the face from training partner Khalil Rountree rendered him unconscious during his training for Diaz.

“Yeah. Khalil [Rountree] gave me a kick in the face. Boom,” said Silva. 

Rountree, a light heavyweight who turned pro last summer after racking up a 6-0 amateur record (four knockouts and one submission), weighed in on his alleged knockout of Silva. 

“We train hard to guarantee we’re going to win, and things happen during training. No big deal,” said Rountree, who knocked out Blake Troop in just 39 seconds to improve to 2-0 as a pro at RFA 21 in December. “I know a lot of people get knocked out in training and simply don’t say, but he’s an honest guy. It happened in training but not in the fight, so it doesn’t matter.”

In a report per Bloody Elbow‘s Karim Zidan, Silva talked bluntly about Rountree‘s potential: “Khalil is the next champion at 185.”

Prior to returning to Los Angeles for his final preparations for Diaz, Silva knocked out Douglas Moura with a knee and follow-up punches during a sparring session at Team Nogueira in Brazil on Jan. 13. Moura, a Brazilian welterweight, holds a pro record of 5-1, with four submissions and one TKO.

Silva recovered from the incident with Rountree in time to outlast Diaz in the main event of UFC 183. Silva’s unanimous-decision win over Diaz marked his first time competing since breaking his left tibia and fibula in his second consecutive loss to middleweight champ Chris Weidman at UFC 168 in December 2013.

Before his back-to-back losses to Weidman, Silva won a UFC-record 16 straight fights, 11 of which were middleweight title fights.

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UFC 183’s Joe Lauzon and the 8 Most Violent Fighters in the UFC Today

Fighters cut from the same cloth as Joe Lauzon don’t need pristine records to maintain job security in the UFC. Win-loss records don’t carry as much weight in the careers of the sport’s most genuine gladiators.
The UFC has a massive stable of 565 compe…

Fighters cut from the same cloth as Joe Lauzon don’t need pristine records to maintain job security in the UFC. Win-loss records don’t carry as much weight in the careers of the sport’s most genuine gladiators.

The UFC has a massive stable of 565 competitors, all of whom have proven capable of putting on captivating shows. However, this countdown is an homage to the most ruthless fighters in the promotion, the guys and gals who act like their lives are on the line every time the Octagon door slams shut.

Whether they’re wrestling, striking or looking to slap on a submission, these fighters always scrap for the finish and rarely leave their fates in the hands of judges.

Here’s a look at the eight most violent fighters in the UFC today.

*Any fighter who hasn’t competed in the last year was not eligible to make this list.

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Jones Details Erased Gustafsson Tweet, Gives His Opinion on Divisional Rankings

Despite the fact that Alexander Gustafsson gave him his greatest challenge in his storied career, UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones offered The Mauler little respect following his devastating upset loss at UFC on Fox 14 on Saturday.
Just minutes af…

Despite the fact that Alexander Gustafsson gave him his greatest challenge in his storied career, UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones offered The Mauler little respect following his devastating upset loss at UFC on Fox 14 on Saturday.

Just minutes after watching top-ranked light heavyweight Gustafsson get TKO’d in brutal fashion by third-ranked Anthony Johnson in the night’s main event, Jones tweeted, “Not impressed Alex.” Jones quickly deleted the tweet from his Twitter handle, but before he could, MMAFighting.com’s David St. Martin retweeted the remark.

When asked by a fan why he deleted the tweet, the UFC’s pound-for-pound kingpin explained his course of action.

Jones’ justification of his tweet stemmed from the following Facebook post that Gustafsson made following Bones’ unanimous-decision win over second-ranked Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on Jan. 3.

Roughly two hours after explaining his insensitive tweet to Gustafsson, Jones gave his opinion on how he’d rank the top five fighters in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.

Gustafsson became the first and only man to truly threaten Jones’ light-heavyweight throne when he gave the Jackson’s MMA stalwart a tooth-and-nail battle at UFC 165 in September 2013. Jones swept the scorecards against Gustafsson for a controversial unanimous decision in what many media outlets deemed the “Fight of the Year.”

Since UFC 165, Jones has gone 2-0 with a pair of convincing unanimous-decision wins. Gustafsson, on the other hand, TKO’d the previously unbeaten Jimi Manuwa at UFC Fight Night 37 before falling to Johnson on Saturday.

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Mendes vs. Lamas, Masvidal vs. Green Set for UFC Fight Night 63 in April

Former UFC featherweight title challengers Chad Mendes and Ricardo Lamas will lock horns in the main event of UFC Fight Night 63 on April 4 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. 
Per a report by UFC.com, four other bouts were added to the ca…

Former UFC featherweight title challengers Chad Mendes and Ricardo Lamas will lock horns in the main event of UFC Fight Night 63 on April 4 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. 

Per a report by UFC.com, four other bouts were added to the card, including a co-main event fight between ninth-ranked UFC lightweight Bobby Green and 13th-ranked Jorge Masvidal. 

Mendes, a former two-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler and the UFC’s top-ranked featherweight, saw his impressive five-fight winning streak come to a halt when he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to longtime champ Jose Aldo at UFC 179. The bout garnered “Fight of the Night” honors, but it marked the second time Mendes has lost to Aldo in a featherweight title fight.

Lamas, a former NCAA Division III All-American wrestler who’s ranked No. 3 at featherweight, has reeled off two straight wins since losing via unanimous decision to Aldo in his first title fight with the promotion at UFC 169. Lamas has since defeated Hacran Dias by unanimous decision and Dennis Bermudez by guillotine choke. Bermudez was riding a seven-fight winning streak heading into his fight with Lamas.

Green’s eight-fight winning streak was snapped in his last fight, a unanimous-decision loss to Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 57. The loss was Green’s first in the UFC and his second under the Zuffa banner.

Masvidal, who has won each of his last three fights by unanimous decision, has prevailed in six of his last seven fights. He suffered his lone UFC loss to Rustam Khabilov at UFC Fight Night: Fight for the Troops.

Other bouts on the card include sixth-ranked featherweight Dustin Poirier vs. Diego Ferreira and lightweight contender Michael Chiesa vs. Mitch Clarke.

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Dillashaw vs. Barao 2, MacDonald vs. Lombard Set for UFC 186 in Montreal

The UFC’s brass waited less than a month after Dominick Cruz’s ACL injury to find a new challenger for bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw.
Per a report by UFC.com, Dillashaw will attempt to defend his title for the second time when he tangles with …

The UFC’s brass waited less than a month after Dominick Cruz’s ACL injury to find a new challenger for bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw.

Per a report by UFC.com, Dillashaw will attempt to defend his title for the second time when he tangles with top-ranked bantamweight and former champ Renan Barao in a rematch in the main event at UFC 186 at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 14.

A bout between Canadian second-ranked welterweight Rory MacDonald and former Olympic judoka and fifth-ranked Hector Lombard will co-headline the card.

Additionally, former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will appear in the Octagon for the first time since signing with Bellator MMA. Jackson will face 13th-ranked Fabio Maldonado. 

Dana White just announced on TSN that Dillashaw-Barao 2, MacDonald-Lombard, ‘Rampage’-Maldonado are set for UFC 186 in Montreal.

In a bout that garnered “Fight of the Night” honors, Dillashaw took the bantamweight belt from Barao with a shocking fifth-round TKO at UFC 173 in May. Heading into the bout, Barao was riding a 32-fight unbeaten streak and was considered an 8-to-1 favorite (-800) to defeat Dillashaw (+550) by OddsShark.com.

Barao and Dillashaw were scheduled for a rematch just three months after UFC 173, but Barao was hospitalized during the final stages of his weight cut and subsequently pulled from the card.

Dillashaw KO’d Joe Soto in his first title defense at UFC 177 in August. Barao submitted 14th-ranked Mitch Gagnon in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 58 in December.

Jackson, who finished his first stint in the UFC on a three-fight losing streak that included a loss over light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, won three straight fights in Bellator MMA, two of which were KOs. Maldonado scored his fourth win in five fights by TKO’ing Hans Stringer at UFC 179 in October.

Also, ninth-ranked middleweight Michael Bisping will face 10th-ranked C.B. Dolloway in a bout on the main card. Middleweights Joe “Diesel” Riggs and Patrick Cote will also lock horns in a main-card bout.

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