Author: Timothy Rapp

Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino-Holly Holm Fight Still in Works Despite Tweet About Money

A matchup between Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Holly Holm is still being negotiated after Justino said Tuesday she had cancelled a meeting with the UFC for financial reasons.         
“Emotions can run high during n…

A matchup between Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Holly Holm is still being negotiated after Justino said Tuesday she had cancelled a meeting with the UFC for financial reasons.         

“Emotions can run high during negotiations, but to clarify things, the UFC has not made an offer for a fight at UFC 219,” Justino’s manager, George Prajin, told Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com on Wednesday. “We are still in talks. Cris wants to fight Holly Holm on Dec. 30. That is what we are working towards, and we are optimistic it will happen.”

That comes a day after Justino tweeted the following:

According to Okamoto, a meeting between Justino’s and Holm’s camps is “tentatively” scheduled for next week.

Justino, 32, is a perfect 3-0 in the UFC and 18-1-1 overall in her professional fighting career. In her last bout at UFC 214 in July, she defeated Tonya Evinger by technical knockout and claimed the vacant featherweight title. She is one of the most feared fighters of all time, and perhaps only Ronda Rousey in her prime was more dominant. 

Holm, 35, is most famous for upsetting Rousey at UFC 193 in November 2015 in one of the most shocking results in the organization’s history. That win ended Rousey’s perfect 12-0 record and halted her dominance over the women’s bantamweight division. Holm promptly lost her next three fights, though she defeated Bethe Correia via TKO in June at UFC Fight Night, improving her MMA record to 11-3.

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Ronda Rousey’s Trainer Says There’s a ’50-50′ Chance She Fights in UFC Again

Ronda Rousey’s trainer, Edmond Tarverdyan, told the MMA Hour on Monday that he believes the UFC superstar may fight again, giving her a 50-50 chance to return to the Octagon. 
“It’s going to be her decision,” he said (h/t Brett Okamoto of ESP…

Ronda Rousey‘s trainer, Edmond Tarverdyan, told the MMA Hour on Monday that he believes the UFC superstar may fight again, giving her a 50-50 chance to return to the Octagon. 

“It’s going to be her decision,” he said (h/t Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com). “Maybe one more. I’ve spoken to her; I don’t know if she’ll do it. If her body does give her one more fight, and she really wants to, mentally, she might. It’s 50-50 right now, I’d say.”

He added: “I would love her to fight one more fight, and a fight I always wanted for her was [Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino] vs. Ronda. When I trained Ronda, I knew Ronda could beat Cyborg. I know that. Cyborg is too slow.

“I’m telling you, she’s too slow for us. Ronda would beat her. And Ronda needs a challenge. She really needs to be like, ‘This person is no good. I need to prove something to the whole world.’ That’s how Ronda works good. She didn’t have that with Holly [Holm] … This one, she has it.”

Rousey, 30, exploded onto the UFC scene, winning her first six fights by either submission, TKO or KO. Between July 2014 and Aug. 2015, she won three fights in a combined 64 seconds and emerged as one of the most popular and marketable UFC superstars.

That came to a halt at UFC 193 in Nov. 2015, however, after getting knocked out by Holm in the second round. A year later at UFC 207 she disappointed again, losing by TKO to Amanda Nunes in just 48 seconds.

A Cyborg-Rousey fight has long been desired by the fighting community, though Rousey’s recent defeats have made the matchup less scintillating. Okamoto also reported that Justino is “eyeing” a potential title fight vs. Holm this December, so a Cyborg-Rousey fight likely wouldn’t occur until sometime in 2018, if at all. 

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Daniel Cormier Reinstated as UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

UFC spokesperson Lenee Breckenridge confirmed to Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting on Wednesday that Daniel Cormier has been reinstated as the UFC light heavyweight champion.
Jon Jones defeated Cormier at UFC 214, but “the California State Athletic Commiss…

UFC spokesperson Lenee Breckenridge confirmed to Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting on Wednesday that Daniel Cormier has been reinstated as the UFC light heavyweight champion.

Jon Jones defeated Cormier at UFC 214, but “the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) overturned the fight to a no-contest” after Jones tested positive for the banned substance Turinabol.

“If it’s a no-contest, then the fight didn’t happen,” Cormier said Wednesday on UFC Tonight (via Raimondi). “[White] said, ‘If one of you guys would have missed weight, he would have won the fight, but you still would have kept the belt. Because of that, the championship is getting returned to you.’ The fight is a no-contest. If he cheated, he could not have fought and cheated and still won the fight. Once again, I’m the UFC champion.”

As Brett Okamoto noted, it’s a fascinating final chapter to Jones vs. Cormier: 

Jones “won” both matchups between the pair, though only his first win at UFC 182 in January 2015 will stand.

It’s unclear whom Cormier will now fight as the titleholder. As for the dubious nature of his earning that belt, Cormier isn’t concerned.

“Now, people will say stuff like, ‘Well, you got handed the belt,'” he continued on UFC Tonight (via Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie). “He cheated, and the reality is, for me to say I don’t want this title when I was going to be in championship fight anyways, financially it’s just a big difference if I don’t fight as the champion as opposed to fighting for a vacant title. I’m taking the belt.”

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Jose Aldo Wants to Finish Fights in UFC Contract to Start Boxing, Coach Says

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo may soon follow in the footsteps of Conor McGregor and take his talents to the boxing ring. 
“He’s training boxing because he has this dream of competing in professional boxing,” his coach, Andre P…

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo may soon follow in the footsteps of Conor McGregor and take his talents to the boxing ring. 

“He’s training boxing because he has this dream of competing in professional boxing,” his coach, Andre Pederneiras told Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com. “If it was up to him, he’d fight all of his UFC fights (left on the contract) in three months and go box. He wants to box professionally.”

“He doesn’t want to stay inactive for a long time, and there’s both sides: He definitely wants to finish the contract,” he added.

Aldo has four fights remaining on his UFC deal.

He has lost two of his last three fights, however, including his loss to McGregor in Dec. 2015 that cost him his featherweight title before winning it back against Frankie Edgar in July 2016. He lost it again vs. Max Holloway in June.

Prior to the McGregor fight, Aldo was a perfect 7-0 in his UFC career, defending the featherweight title in all seven of those fights. 

McGregor’s decision to make the crossover to boxing—and his decent showing and the huge paycheck he garnered—may have a ripple effect in the UFC. At the very least, fighters like Aldo could leverage a potential move to the ring in the attempt to gain bigger money while negotiating with the UFC. And for UFC fighters with the right reputation, making the move to boxing—even if only for a fight or two—could potentially lead to a major payday on its own as well.

The counterargument, however, will be that the appeal of McGregor facing Floyd Mayweather won’t be replicated. McGregor is arguably the UFC’s biggest and most marketable star, Mayweather put his perfect record on the line and was already boxing’s most notorious figure and the novelty of seeing an MMA fighter face a boxer may have already run out.

Nonetheless, it would appear last weekend’s superfight now has MMA fighters like Aldo carefully weighing their options. As for Aldo’s next fight, that remains up in the air.

“We’re waiting for the UFC,” Pederneiras said. “We’re trying to get this fight done, against Cub Swanson or someone else. He wants to fight (against) someone well ranked, and wait for an opportunity to fight for the belt.”

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Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor Party at Separate Clubs After Fight

Floyd Mayweather went to his Girl Collection strip club after his fight against Conor McGregor in Las Vegas on Saturday night, TMZ Sports reported, while Conor McGregor went to the Surrender Nightclub.
“It didn’t turn out the way we wanted bu…

Floyd Mayweather went to his Girl Collection strip club after his fight against Conor McGregor in Las Vegas on Saturday night, TMZ Sports reported, while Conor McGregor went to the Surrender Nightclub.

“It didn’t turn out the way we wanted but we can still party like it did,” McGregor said on the mic at the club.

As for Mayweather’s party, “Floyd partied inside for two hours, then re-surfaced and dealt with Vegas cops who showed up for crowd control. There were so many people who wanted a piece of Floyd they were spilling into the streets.”

Mayweather defeated McGregor by technical knockout in the 10th round of their matchup on Saturday evening. While McGregor didn’t hit the mat, the referee stopped the fight after Mayweather stunned and bloodied McGregor with a flurry of punches. 

The much-hyped and highly anticipated fight earned Mayweather a guaranteed purse of $100 million and McGregor a guaranteed $30 million, per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, though he reported that the promotional money from the fight is likely to push Mayweather’s earnings past $200 million, while McGregor should exceed $100 million.

So it isn’t hard to see why both men were in the mood for a party afterwards.

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Mayweather vs. McGregor Odds: Last-Minute Betting Advice for Superfight

Finally, after over a year of negotiating and hype, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is set to face Conor McGregor on Saturday evening at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena in Nevada and on Showtime pay-per-view.
Mayweather currently holds -375 (bet $375 to …

Finally, after over a year of negotiating and hype, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is set to face Conor McGregor on Saturday evening at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena in Nevada and on Showtime pay-per-view.

Mayweather currently holds -375 (bet $375 to win $100) odds to win the fight, per Oddsshark.com, while McGregor is being given +285 odds in the fight. While it might be tempting to take McGregor‘s excellent odds, it’s not the smart play.

Consider this.

ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael and Brett Okamoto broke the fight into six categories: defense, endurance, durability, speed, power and experience. They both gave Mayweather the advantage in defense, endurance, speed and experience and were split on durability. McGregor‘s only clear advantage in this fight, then, would appear to be power.

Now, power is a good advantage to have. Power gives you the ability to end a fight in one punch. Power can wear down an opponent and make them sloppy in the later rounds. 

But Mayweather hasn’t often had the power advantage in his fights, and it’s never mattered. His speed, defense and boxing IQ allow him to dart in and out of an opponent’s guard and escape the most dangerous of blows.

Betting on McGregor outright is too risky, then, but betting on Mayweather won’t exactly bring the greatest return. So prop bets might be the better play in this matchup. 

For example, Mayweather is -135 to win by any of knockout, technical knockout or disqualification, while he’s +250 to win by either a decision or technical decision, per Oddsshark.com. Even more specifically, he’s +325 to win by unanimous decision, +450 to win by knockout, +240 to win by technical knockout, +800 to win by disqualification, +1600 to win by majority decision and +3300 to win by technical decision.

The more specific you are willing to get, obviously, the more favorable odds you can acquire. That’s probably a pretty smart route in this fight, where just about everyone believes Mayweather will win. If you have a strong inclination, say, that Mayweather will win by knockout, that is a smart place to put your money. If you believe that the fight will go the distance and McGregor might actually keep things close, there is big money in betting on a Mayweather majority decision.

Interestingly, the odds of McGregor winning by a knockout are just +325. Contrast that to his odds of winning a split decision (+2500), majority decision (+3300) or unanimous decision (+3300). It’s pretty clear Vegas believes McGregor has a slight chance of securing a knockout given his power, but the chances of him going the distance and winning on points is an extreme long shot.

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