Ronda Rousey will make her return to acting after landing a guest role as a prison inmate in NBC show Blindspot.
The broadcaster released a statement detailing the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion’s addition to the cast list and what…
Ronda Rousey will make her return to acting after landing a guest role as a prison inmate in NBC show Blindspot.
The broadcaster released a statement detailing the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion’s addition to the cast list and what her character will bring to the show, per Des Bieler of the Washington Post:
“Rousey will be playing Devon Penberthy: a female prison inmate who grew up in a working-class family from the White Mountains of New Hampshire and is serving time for transporting weapons across state lines. She is a tough, athletic woman who knows how to fight and handle a weapon.”
Rowdy is making her return to acting after suffering the latest loss in her current two-defeat streak in the UFC, having been stopped in her meeting with women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 207.
Despite losing some of the veil of invincibility that once surrounded her during her unbeaten run through the UFC bantamweight division, Rousey still sounds like a good fit for the role of Penberthy.
It could be that this role is the latest indicator Rousey intends to concentrate more heavily on a potential Hollywood future as she prepares to make a decision on whether or not she wants to prolong her time in the UFC.
Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast in late January, UFC President Dana White voiced his belief that she was “probably done” fighting for the promotion following her second career loss, via Sports Illustrated:
The 30-year-old already has experience on the big screen after taking on roles of tough characters in films such as The Expendables 3 and Furious 7, as well as playing herself in the Entourage movie adaptation.
Former Strikeforce and Bellator heavyweight Brett Rogers has been charged with two counts of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of interfering with someone’s privacy.
Sarah Horner of the Pioneer Press cited official court documents to r…
Former Strikeforce and Bellator heavyweight Brett Rogers has been charged with two counts of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of interfering with someone’s privacy.
Sarah Horner of the Pioneer Press cited official court documents to report that Rogers—said to be homeless—was charged with all three incidents in St. Paul, Minnesota.
According to Horner, three men brought complaints against Da Grim, relating to incidents that happened in a bathroom, a library and Ramsey County Jail.
Rogers has also been convicted for violating a no-contact order.
Retired boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr. has offered crestfallen UFC superstar Ronda Rousey some words of encouragement following her second successive career defeat, which came against Amanda Nunes at UFC 207.
In a video published by Fighthype.com, Pr…
Retired boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr. has offered crestfallen UFC superstar Ronda Rousey some words of encouragement following her second successive career defeat, which came against Amanda Nunes at UFC 207.
In a video published by Fighthype.com, Pretty Boy told Rousey to “come back” amid speculation her loss to Nunes may prove to be her last bout in mixed martial arts:
Below is a transcription of Mayweather’s pep talk:
Ronda Rousey, hold your head up, stay focused, keep believing, a true champion can bounce back. You’ll be OK, everything will be OK.
I think that with her losing had a lot to do with time off.
[…]
Ronda Rousey has a lot left, she has a lot left. I don’t want her to think this is the end of the world.
She’s hearing it from the best—she’ll be OK. Ronda Rousey, hold your head up. You’re still a true champion in our eyes.
You made women’s MMA huge, so stay focused, go back to the drawing board and do what you’ve got to do. 2017 is a whole new year—you’re undefeated this year. Come back, champ.
Rousey has undoubtedly heard a wealth of advice from many different characters on where to go from here, but Mayweather may be one of the few whose words of wisdom actually take hold with the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
That being said, Mayweather isn’t talking from experience considering he hung up his gloves with a 49-0 professional record, meaning he’s never had to suffer the same trial Rousey herself is enduring.
Robert Whittaker lit up an entertaining UFC Fight Night 101 card at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Saturday evening, where he improved his standing in the middleweight division with a first-round knockout of Derek Brunson.
All it took was four minutes …
Robert Whittaker lit up an entertaining UFC Fight Night 101 card at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Saturday evening, where he improved his standing in the middleweight division with a first-round knockout of Derek Brunson.
All it took was four minutes and seven seconds for the home favourite’s head kick to connect, followed by a barrage of punches Brunson failed to restrain before a quick victory was sealed in Whittaker’s favour.
The Australian was joined in the winners’ circle by lightweight Andrew Holbrook, who glanced a split-decision victory against Jake Matthews, while welterweight OmariAkhmedov defeated Kyle Noke by unanimous decision.
Alex Volkanovski and Tyson Pedro also edged wins in Australia after beating YusukeKasuya and Khalil Rountree by knockout and submission, respectively. Women’s strawweight contender SeoHee Ham was disappointed by Danielle Taylor in the main-card opener, losing via split decision.
Read on for a recap from Saturday’s top fights in Melbourne, where the Ultimate Fighting Championship saw its international appeal take another major step in the right direction.
Recap
Whittaker was deservedly rewarded with Performance of the Night honours for his sterling display against an in-form Brunson on Saturday, where it seemed as though the latter was almost too confident for his own good.
The American could be seen with mitts low and head forward early on, but Brunson finally came to pay the price for any arrogance when Whittaker caught his foe on the recoil near the climax of the opening round, via the UFC:
It was as clean a performance as Whittaker could hope for considering his opponent came into Saturday’s event having won his last five bouts in succession, knocking out his enemy in four of those fixtures. The only positive for Brunson was a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, per MMA Junkie.
Similarly, Whittaker also entered the Melbourne meeting with five consecutive wins, only two of which finished early, although he’s proved his credentials, and MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani envisioned an upgrade for the Australian:
Another fighter who might expect an imminent push is Holbrook, who bounced back from his defeat to Joaquim Silva in The Ultimate Fighter 23 finale in July to beat Matthews via split decision.
Saturday’s penultimate clash was closer to call than its showcase event, but MMA Fighting agreed Matthews’ inexperience and decision-making was the decisive reason behind his second loss in a row:
Windang native Volkanovski made his UFC debut in fearsome style and finished Kasuya thanks to some well-picked ground strikes early in the second round, although the welterweight duo of Akhmedov and Noke stole more attention.
The latter ended the bout with a badly swollen left eye as Akhmedov unloaded on his opponent for three rounds, via the official UFC Twitter account:
Noke, 36, announced his retirement in the Octagon before he then took to Twitter to make it official:
The heaviest division on show on Saturday was light heavyweight, and Pedro showed some superb finesse in finishing Rountree in four minutes and seven seconds—identical to the main event—with a vicious rear-naked choke in the first round.
Taylor’s defeat of Ham was far more laboured and perhaps controversial to some, but she toppled the more experienced South Korean via split decision to take her record to 8-2.
Ultimate Fighting Championship sensation Khabib Nurmagomedov has vowed to embarrass dual-weight champion Conor McGregor if the two can schedule a bout, saying he wants to “finish his [McGregor’s] hype.”
Speaking to TMZ, “The Eagle” voiced his desire to…
Ultimate Fighting Championship sensation Khabib Nurmagomedov has vowed to embarrass dual-weight champion Conor McGregor if the two can schedule a bout, saying he wants to “finish his [McGregor’s] hype.”
Speaking to TMZ, “The Eagle” voiced his desire to face McGregor—the current UFC lightweight and featherweight champion—and do a little more than merely defeat the Irishman:
TMZ also provided a partial transcript of Nurmagomedov’s interview, where he said his desire to fight McGregor is “not about the money,” instead stating his wish to end his potential opponent’s reign as UFC poster child:
I want to take him down, speak with him, slap him, make him nervous … like, ‘Hey, get up! Let’s go! Where is your boxing?’ … play with him and make him give up. This is what I want.
But I don’t want to finish him 1st round, 2nd round, 3rd round … I want to fight with him for 25 minutes like 5 rounds and I want to make him look very bad. And finish his hype.
Nurmagomedov is undefeated in his professional mixed martial arts career and has amassed a staggering 24-0 record since 2008, with eight of those bouts coming in the UFC.
The 28-year-old also provided insight into his previous communications with McGregor via text, where he sent out a personal declaration of war against The Notorious in his search for the lightweight belt:
Nurmagomedov previously hoped to fight McGregor at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, New York City, but the featherweight champion instead clinched his second title with a second-round knockout of Eddie Alvarez.
Meanwhile, the Eastern European wrestling expert dominated Michael Johnson in a third-round submission victory via kimura, although Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden recently said he’s still not worthy of a shot at McGregor’s crown:
It’s true that since defeating former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in April 2014, Nurmagomedov’s resume looks light, having only fought twice in the two-and-a-half-year spell that’s followed.
Prior to beating Johnson, he demonstrated his talent with a second-round knockout defeat of Darrell Horcher, and some may believe Nurmagomedov must do more to prove his credentials before moving into title-shot territory.
With two straps to his name, McGregor now has an array of options ahead of him at featherweight, lightweight and perhaps beyond, while Nurmagomedov may need to prove his long-term fitness to land his dream fight.
According to Karim Zidan of Bloody Elbow, the Dagestan native has expressed some openness to fighting Tony Ferguson, who is currently third in the UFC’s lightweight rankings:
It was during Nurmagomedov’s rather one-sided dismantling of Johnson at UFC 205 that he could be heard gesturing to UFC president Dana White to stop sending him “fake contracts,” per Russian broadcaster RT (h/t Fox Sports’ Damon Martin).
Some believe Nurmagomedov’s grappling style could present a major mismatch to boxing specialist McGregor, and his latest comments suggest he still believes he can be the Dubliner’s kryptonite.
Conor McGregor is demanding a $100 million payday to box Floyd Mayweather Jr. and has said the retired 49-0 veteran is “afraid of a real fight” as the pair continue their war of words.
TMZ Sports captured footage of The Notorious speaking on a micropho…
Conor McGregor is demanding a $100 million payday to box Floyd Mayweather Jr. and has said the retired 49-0 veteran is “afraid of a real fight” as the pair continue their war of words.
TMZ Sports captured footage of The Notorious speaking on a microphone at the 1 Oak nightclub in New York City Tuesday, where he informed the crowd of his financial expectations in order to get into the ring with Money:
TMZ also provided a transcription of McGregor’s message to Mayweather, where he praised his potential inter-sport opponent before disclosing just how much he’ll be chasing in order to make the transition:
Floyd’s not ready for this.
Much respect to Floyd. He’s a solid businessman on what he’s been able to do … he’s a f–king animal at what he’s been able to do. But as far as real fighting … as far as true pure unarmed combat … Floyd don’t want none of this.
He wants a boxing match, he doesn’t want a fight.
I want a $100 million cash to fight him under boxing rules … he’s afraid of a real fight.
McGregor is coming off the back of his UFC 205 victory over Eddie Alvarez, becoming the first UFC fighter to hold belts in two different weight classes.
His capture of the lightweight belt means he now has his pick of the litter in terms of fight prospects, and talk of a meeting against boxing great Mayweather is reaching fever pitch:
Speculation of a fight between the pair arose back in May, at which point Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd alleged a 2016 date could be arranged (h/t MMA Fighting’s Jed K. Meshew), although that intel was off.
Earlier in the week, Mayweather told TMZ it was disrespectful for people to compare McGregor with him, referring to the Irishman as an ant, to which The Notorious responded that the boxer should “say it to my face”:
It’s hardly surprising to hear McGregor would seek such an astonishing pay cheque in order to fight Mayweather, arguably the one financial draw in the modern sport industry greater than him.
At 39 years of age, Pretty Boy may not have a lot of time left to re-enter boxing and bring his career record to that magic 50-0 mark, and UFC President Dana White recently backed his fighter when talking to TMZ:
Conor McGregor … if he touches you, you go to sleep. Floyd puts people to sleep too, with his fighting style, not with his hands.
You know how Floyd knocks people out? When they’re not looking. Watch the Victor Ortiz fight.
This kid’s just getting started. This kid’s 28 years old. Floyd can say what he wants about Conor, but even other fighters have to respect him. He’s special. Floyd’s never even come close to doing to other fighters what Conor does.
McGregor’s background as a boxer in Dublin could mean there is some substance behind rumours of a match, and it was a furious four-punch combination that eventually put away Alvarez.
Having already brought in record numbers for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and MMA in general, McGregor will apparently need to see more astronomical numbers in order to step into the ring against Mayweather.
Ronda Rousey will make her return to acting after landing a guest role as a prison inmate in NBC show Blindspot.