UFC President Dana White confirmed Sunday that Ronda Rousey will have a chance to win back the UFC women’s bantamweight title when she steps into the Octagon again.
White discussed Rousey’s immediate future on ESPN Radio’s Beadle & Shelb…
UFC President Dana White confirmed Sunday that Ronda Rousey will have a chance to win back the UFC women’s bantamweight title when she steps into the Octagon again.
White discussed Rousey’s immediate future on ESPN Radio’s Beadle & Shelburne (via ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto). He didn’t commit to a date for her next fight but said it will likely happen by the end of the year, adding she’ll get the winner of Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes’ clash at UFC 200 on July 9.
“[Rousey] is definitely part of the discussion [to fight on Nov. 12 in New York], and she will fight whoever has that belt,” White said. “I think Miesha, she’s fighting at [UFC 200], she might fight again before that. She wants to fight. We’ll see what happens. Miesha has been the No. 2 baddest woman in the world for years. For her to stay active right now, makes sense.”
Rousey hasn’t fought since dropping the bantamweight championship to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November. In January, White confirmed she would remain on an extended break from mixed martial arts to complete filming for the Road House remake.
Holm’s defeat to Tate at UFC 196 in March was an indirect consequence of that decision. Her manager, Lenny Fresquez, pushed for Holm to fight another opponent rather than wait for a rematch with Rousey since the timetable for her return remains unknown.
As a result, Holm not only dropped the title, but she also cost herself some money, since the demand for Holm/Rousey 2 will have diminished somewhat.
Although he was highly critical of Fresquez immediately after the fight, White had nothing but positive things to say about Holm in her fight with Tate.
“She hung in there [against Tate],” he said on Beadle and Shelburne. “For people who know a lot about jiu-jitsu, she did everything right to defend that choke. Miesha just wasn’t letting go of that neck, man. [Holm] went out like a gangster.”
Should Rousey be victorious in her return bout, Holm might have to wait even longer for a rematch. A superfight between Rousey and Cristiane Justino, whose UFC debut will come at UFC 198 in May, might be too tantalizing for the company to pass up.
After beating Jose Aldo to lay sole claim as king of UFC’s featherweight division, Conor McGregor is setting his sights on Nate Diaz. The two will clash Saturday in Las Vegas at UFC 196.
McGregor was originally supposed to face lightweight champion Raf…
After beating Jose Aldo to lay sole claim as king of UFC’s featherweight division, ConorMcGregor is setting his sights on Nate Diaz. The two will clash Saturday in Las Vegas at UFC 196.
McGregor was originally supposed to face lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos; however, a broken foot ruled Dos Anjos out for the pay-per-view. Almost immediately, Diaz was named as a replacement, meaning the fight would be at the welterweight, rather than lightweight, limit.
Despite the fact he’s fighting in a completely new division, McGregor remains the favorite Saturday. According to Odds Shark, the reigning featherweight champion has 5-8 odds to win, while Diaz is a 7-5 underdog. McGregor also has 20-53 odds to win the fight by knockout, per Odds Shark.
No matter what the result, the fight should be extremely entertaining. McGregor is one of UFC’s best showmen, while Diaz made it clear he’s looking to make a statement inside the Octagon.
Here’s some of the pre-fight hype between the two fighters, followed by predictions for how the fight will unfold.
Pre-Fight Hype
Diaz wasted little time throwing his first shot McGregor‘s way:
Making the jump from featherweight to lightweight would’ve been a difficult enough transition for McGregor. He has to jump two weight divisions in order to fight Diaz, and as a result he has been forced to add a significant amount of weight for such a short amount of time.
In an interview on Submission Radio (via Anton Tabuena of SB Nation’s Bloody Elbow), Diaz‘s coach Richard Perez asserted his belief McGregor “has got to be on some kind of steroids.”
During a press conference on Feb. 24, McGregor dismissed similar accusations from Diaz himself. (Warning: Video contains language that is NSFW):
McGregor also shared some short clips of his pre-fight training regimen:
Even with the short turnaround time between the time McGregor vs. Diaz was announced and this Saturday, the hype machine hasn’t lost a single beat. McGregor is guaranteed to grab headlines himself, and the steroid allegations only added another layer of personal animosity between he and Diaz.
Tensions almost boiled over at the pre-fight press conference, per UFC:
Given the amount of bad blood on display, Saturday’s fight won’t be lacking in drama.
Prediction
Not only is McGregor fighting in a weight class 25 pounds higher than what he’s used to, he’s also had only a little over a week to prepare for his opponent. Even the greatest of fighters would struggle when facing those two obstacles.
Then, you throw in the physical and stylistic challenge Diaz poses, and this won’t be an easy fight for McGregor by any stretch.
In addition to his size advantage, Diaz owns a slightly longer reach than McGregor—two inches—per FightMetric. That should allow Diaz to remain a safe distance away yet still be close enough to land the volume of blows to sway the judges his way.
Diaz would be smart to use McGregor‘s aggressive nature to his advantage. The 30-year-old former Ultimate Fighter winner could frustrate his opponent with well-time jabs, and should that frustration get to McGregor, he could leave himself open long enough for Diaz to land a major blow.
While one can see a road to victory for Diaz, this fight is McGregor‘s to lose. He’s the stronger puncher, and his speed and agility will help him avoid Diaz‘s attempts to get the fight down on the mat.
McGregor has called for a first-round knockout.
“End of the first, I feel he will be put away,” he said, per Fox Sports’ Damon Martin. “I respect Nate. Don’t get me wrong. I do respect Nate. There’s a lot of (expletives) in this game and he is not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a respect there between us but it’s business in there and business is business.”
He predicted as much before his fight with Jose Aldo and duly delivered. A win Saturday won’t come nearly as easy.
Diaz will be behind on the scorecards in the third round, and he’ll start getting a little desperate as a result. That desperation will be his downfall as McGregor sees an opening and ends the fight in the third.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Wanderlei Silva on Wednesday for three years, per Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting.
The NSAC had previously suspended Silva for life before a Nevada judge overturned the decision last May.Read…
The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Wanderlei Silva on Wednesday for three years, per Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting.
The NSAC had previously suspended Silva for life before a Nevada judge overturned the decision last May.
On Monday, former UFC champion BJ Penn’s website announced his return to the Octagon will be delayed (via Nick Baldwin of BloodyElbow.com):
I thought the fight guaranteed was going to happen because the UFC, they set up medicals for me to do. I d…
On Monday, former UFC champion BJ Penn‘s website announced his return to the Octagon will be delayed (via Nick Baldwin of BloodyElbow.com):
I thought the fight guaranteed was going to happen because the UFC, they set up medicals for me to do. I did the medicals and they were sending a film crew down and we were getting all that together and I assumed we were setting up the fight, and that might have been what was happening. But, at the end of the day, Sean Shelby (UFC matchmaker) called me and said it would be more convenient for all of us to move the fight to April 23rd.
Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie.com reported Thursday the UFC released Wanderlei Silva from his contract with the company.The news coincides with Silva recanting his previous claim this past summer that the UFC fixed fights.Silva provided a full statement…
The news coincides with Silva recanting his previous claim this past summer that the UFC fixed fights.
Silva provided a full statement on his Facebook page:
In July of last year, I posted a number of comments on Facebook and Twitter, which included repeated claims that the UFC “fixed fights” and that I could “prove it.” I hereby retract any such statements in their entirety as I failed to understand that the term “fight-fixing” specifically refers to the illegal action or practice of dishonestly determining the outcome of a contest before it occurs. I understand the UFC’s reputation would be harmed if my fans and others actually believed the UFC engaged in fight fixing, and I have no evidence to support such a claim. I apologize for any misunderstanding my comments may have caused.
The 39-year-old found himself in hot water after going on social media and ranting about UFC.
“They have no respect for anyone,” he wrote, per Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com. “I made it clear for all of you that I won’t ever fight for this event again, UFCircus! Fixed fights, and I can prove it. I haven’t dropped the bomb yet, I haven’t said what I know.“
The controversial firing of cutman Jacob Duran sent Silva over the edge and precipitated his disparaging comments.
Shortly thereafter, UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, filed suit against Silva, claiming he defamed the organization.
“Over the past year, Silva has continued to criticize Zuffa, its owners and executive officers, and the (Nevada State Athletic Commission),” claimed Colby Williams, a lawyer representing Zuffa, per Marrocco. “While Zuffa has monitored Silva’s remarks, the company has largely dismissed Silva’s attacks as the misguided rants of a disgruntled ex-fighter. Silva’s latest outburst, however, indisputably crossed the line and necessitates swift legal redress.”
Thursday brings arguably the optimal solution for both parties.
Silva is free to pursue fights outside of UFC, and Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter already has one opponent lined up:
UFC, meanwhile, got Silva to walk back on his claims and thus will be able to move on from the whole situation.
Whether they’re valid or not, allegations of fight-fixing are always damaging for an organizing body. The quicker the UFC could put the issue to bed, the better.
After nearly a year of hype, Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor will finally face off Saturday to determine an undisputed UFC featherweight champion.
The two were originally supposed to fight in July, but a rib injury forced Aldo to back out of UFC 189, with…
After nearly a year of hype, Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor will finally face off Saturday to determine an undisputed UFC featherweight champion.
The two were originally supposed to fight in July, but a rib injury forced Aldo to back out of UFC 189, with Chad Mendes taking his place on the card.
You could argue the injury was actually a net positive. By beating Mendes, McGregor added another impressive win to his resume, thus silencing some of the doubters who questioned his credentials when compared to Aldo.
Here’s a look at the two fighters by the numbers:
McGregor and Aldo make for great aesthetic foils. It would be a tad simplistic to label the former an offensive fighter and the latter a defensive fighter. With that said, their respective strengths complement one another well.
McGregor is a flashy fighter who attacks his opponent almost right from the opening bell. He boasts incredible power and a seemingly limitless amount of injury. Sixteen of his 18 wins have come by knockout, and only one of his 20 fights went past the second round.
The essence of McGregor—the bravado, aggression and constant wave of offense—was on show in his victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 178:
Aldo, on the other hand, is the more measured fighter. There are no wasted movements from the Brazilian in the Octagon as he displays a ruthless efficiency against his opponents. Aldo isn’t averse to mixing it up, but he’s at his best when he’s dictating the pace of a fight and letting his opponent come to him.
His TKO of Chan Sung Jung at UFC 163 isn’t his most exciting fight, but it is one of the better showcases for what kind of fighter he is:
Openly antagonizing your opponent can sometimes do more harm than good—see Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva—but to date, McGregor has more than backed up his constant boasts.
The Irish star wasn’t shy about offering his prediction for Saturday’s fight, per UFC:
“I feel my fist will go through his head at 100 miles per hour and that will be that,” McGregor said, per Jim Rome.
However, McGregor’s mouth may prove his undoing against Aldo.
Even before this fight was officially announced, Aldo has had to deal with constant verbal barbs from McGregor in addition to McGregor’s slightly more physical provocations, including his exiting of the Octagon and facing off with Aldo at UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston last January. He also grabbed Aldo’s featherweight title at a press conference ahead of UFC 189:
All the while, Aldo has been keeping track of McGregor’s antics and storing them away. Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter believes he’s going to unleash all of that built-up anger this weekend:
Ronda Rousey’s loss to Holly Holm proved nothing is sacred in the Octagon. All it takes is one punch to change the course of a fight.
Aldo is the more well-rounded fighter, but McGregor only needs to land one major strike and the unified featherweight title is his.
While it’s unfortunate fans have had to wait so long to see Aldo and McGregor go head-to-head, the wait will be more than worth it once the opening bell rings at UFC 194.
UFC President Dana White confirmed Sunday that Ronda Rousey will have a chance to win back the UFC women’s bantamweight title when she steps into the Octagon again.