No. 4-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Jimi “Poster Boy” Manuwa may not return to the Octagon for his next fight. After knocking out Corey Anderson in London last month, Manuwa expressed interest in a UFC title shot, but also expressed interest in a boxing match with fellow countryman David Haye. According to the “Poster Boy”,
No. 4-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Jimi “Poster Boy” Manuwa may not return to the Octagon for his next fight.
After knocking out Corey Anderson in London last month, Manuwa expressed interest in a UFC title shot, but also expressed interest in a boxing match with fellow countryman David Haye. According to the “Poster Boy”, all parties are ‘planning on making it happen’ and that includes Manuwa, Haye and UFC President Dana White:
“I spoke to David Haye today (Wed., April 26, 2017),” said Manuwa in a recent interview with BJ Penn Radio.. “I spoke to him last week when I was in Vegas with Dana [White], and Dana liked the numbers—what can be generated through this event. We’re planning on making it happen. David Haye is out and about walking, he’s back walking now after his injury. We’re doing everything we can to make it happen.”
Manuwa has said that a fight with Haye could take place on the undercard of a potential Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor event. If that fight happens, however, it may take place in September, which may be too early for Haye, who’s recovering from an injury:
“Possibly,” added Manuwa. “But we’re big enough to do our own card as well in London. It depends when the Conor – Floyd fight happens. If it’s in September I think that would be too early for David Haye. I think he’ll be ready November or December. So a September card would be too early for him. We’ll see what happens. We’ve got options.”
Does a potential bout between Manuwa and Haye interest you?
The former UFC champion and recently retired Bellator fighter has been mending a few fences since hanging up the gloves.
Dana White and Tito Ortiz’s public relationship has been a pretty bitter one, going all the way back to 2001, when White dropped managing Ortiz to take over as president of the UFC. The former business partners pretty quickly became embittered rivals, and almost ended up meeting in the boxing ring back in 2007.
Still, for 15 years, Ortiz was a fixture in the former Zuffa organization. Even well after his championship title days were over, he was a cornerstone of UFC PPV cards – headlining another 5 of them without a title on the line. Win or lose, Ortiz’s public presence in the sport loomed large.
He left the promotion in 2012, in an initial retirement bid, following his second loss to Forrest Griffin, and temporarily set up shop as a manager for other fighters. But, retirement was short lived, and Ortiz soon ended up in Bellator and back in the cage. From talent, to manager, to working with a UFC rival, none of these moves helped rebuild his relationship with Dana White. However, time heals all wounds, and it seems that Ortiz’s latest (and seemingly more permanent) decision to hang up his gloves may also have put his relationship with the UFC president back on track.
“I’m very thankful to Bellator,” Ortiz said, speaking of his retirement in a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “Scott Coker’s been amazing to work with. It’s kind of weird, because after it was all over I got a text from [UFC president] Dana [White] saying congratulations. Me and Dana haven’t really been eye-to-eye for a long time, but recently we’ve been texting back and forth. I don’t know, man. Life’s too short. Too short to hate. I’ve done a few things in my career that I regret towards him. Maybe wearing a tee shirt that says ‘Dana’s My Bitch’ is one of them.” … “Yeah, I’d have to say yes [we did bury the hatchet],” Ortiz continued, when asked if his feud with White was done. “We briefly spoke, and it seemed like the old Dana. I guess we kind of both said life is too short to hate as much as we have. It’s one of those things man. I’ve learned, why waste my time with hating somebody when I can just forget about it and let life go on? I’ve done that.”
Ortiz also spoke about his upcoming plans, including “shooting a film with Tyler Perry” (Boo 2! A Madea Halloween), and “playing some poker with Poker Stars.” He also plans on having another surgery on his notoriously damaged neck. Whatever the future holds, it doesn’t sound like a return to MMA competition is going to be part of it, but with fighters, you never know.
The former UFC champion and recently retired Bellator fighter has been mending a few fences since hanging up the gloves.
Dana White and Tito Ortiz’s public relationship has been a pretty bitter one, going all the way back to 2001, when White dropped managing Ortiz to take over as president of the UFC. The former business partners pretty quickly became embittered rivals, and almost ended up meeting in the boxing ring back in 2007.
Still, for 15 years, Ortiz was a fixture in the former Zuffa organization. Even well after his championship title days were over, he was a cornerstone of UFC PPV cards – headlining another 5 of them without a title on the line. Win or lose, Ortiz’s public presence in the sport loomed large.
He left the promotion in 2012, in an initial retirement bid, following his second loss to Forrest Griffin, and temporarily set up shop as a manager for other fighters. But, retirement was short lived, and Ortiz soon ended up in Bellator and back in the cage. From talent, to manager, to working with a UFC rival, none of these moves helped rebuild his relationship with Dana White. However, time heals all wounds, and it seems that Ortiz’s latest (and seemingly more permanent) decision to hang up his gloves may also have put his relationship with the UFC president back on track.
“I’m very thankful to Bellator,” Ortiz said, speaking of his retirement in a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “Scott Coker’s been amazing to work with. It’s kind of weird, because after it was all over I got a text from [UFC president] Dana [White] saying congratulations. Me and Dana haven’t really been eye-to-eye for a long time, but recently we’ve been texting back and forth. I don’t know, man. Life’s too short. Too short to hate. I’ve done a few things in my career that I regret towards him. Maybe wearing a tee shirt that says ‘Dana’s My Bitch’ is one of them.” … “Yeah, I’d have to say yes [we did bury the hatchet],” Ortiz continued, when asked if his feud with White was done. “We briefly spoke, and it seemed like the old Dana. I guess we kind of both said life is too short to hate as much as we have. It’s one of those things man. I’ve learned, why waste my time with hating somebody when I can just forget about it and let life go on? I’ve done that.”
Ortiz also spoke about his upcoming plans, including “shooting a film with Tyler Perry” (Boo 2! A Madea Halloween), and “playing some poker with Poker Stars.” He also plans on having another surgery on his notoriously damaged neck. Whatever the future holds, it doesn’t sound like a return to MMA competition is going to be part of it, but with fighters, you never know.
Jon Jones and current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier are highly-expected to mix it up one more time at the upcoming UFC 214 event on July 29 in Anaheim, California.
Though the fight hasn’t been officially signed, the two men haven’t wasted time hyping up the potential rematch, as they once again went at it on Twitter.
Of course, “Bones” is referring to being the first man to ever … defeat Cormier inside the Octagon, taking him out via unanimous decision at UFC 182 back in 2015. Since then, “Bones” has gotten into some trouble in and out of the fighting arena, while “DC” claimed the vacant 205-pound strap and defended it twice.
But, the loss to Jones still lingers, and he could have the chance to finally earn some get-back this summer. Assuming “Bones” doesn’t take a warm-up fight.
No, not that way.
Jon Jones and current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier are highly-expected to mix it up one more time at the upcoming UFC 214 event on July 29 in Anaheim, California.
Though the fight hasn’t been officially signed, the two men haven’t wasted time hyping up the potential rematch, as they once again went at it on Twitter.
Of course, “Bones” is referring to being the first man to ever … defeat Cormier inside the Octagon, taking him out via unanimous decision at UFC 182 back in 2015. Since then, “Bones” has gotten into some trouble in and out of the fighting arena, while “DC” claimed the vacant 205-pound strap and defended it twice.
But, the loss to Jones still lingers, and he could have the chance to finally earn some get-back this summer. Assuming “Bones” doesn’t take a warm-up fight.
Former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson recently underwent knee surgery, and the current Bellator MMA fighter is aiming for a summer return.
The last time we saw Ben Henderson in an MMA cage was last November, when Michael Chandler defended his Bellator lightweight title by split decision over the former WEC and UFC champion. Henderson’s Bellator MMA career has seen him lose title fights in two weight classes, while picking up an injury TKO win over Patricio Freire in a fight he was arguably losing.
As it turns out, Henderson (24-7) has been dealing with a heavily damaged knee throughout his run in Bellator. Bendo explained to MMAjunkie what happened and how he’s dealt with it over his last three fights.
“(The injury occurred) about two months before the Andrey Koreshkov fight, actually, but I didn’t feel like it really affected my performance,” Henderson said. “I don’t make excuses. It didn’t affect any of my performances. I was able to be smart about it and train the way I wanted to for all my fights. But for the Chandler fight, it had got worse and worse and worse. Just gradually it got worse, and I wasn’t able to do certain things.
“(For) the Chandler fight, I didn’t have the training camp I wanted, and it became tougher for me to do the things I wanted to do. It become difficult for me to have the type of training camp I know I’m supposed to have. No excuses at all for whether I got my hand raised or whether I lost. But it became so hard and tough for me to maintain my output at such a high level, I knew it was time to have the surgery.”
The 33-year-old has never pulled out of a fight in his entire WEC/UFC/Bellator career, and amazingly fought through multiple torn ligaments. He recently underwent surgery and has his target date for his return.
“My surgeon has said nine to 12 months because it wasn’t just the ACL; it was ACL, MCL and meniscus,” Henderson said. “Because it’s everything it was, he recommends a longer layoff so I can do my due diligence with the rehab and all that stuff. He says nine to 12 months, but I’m a little bit more optimistic than that with me being the fighter I am. I’m a little bit more risky, so we’ll see.
“I want to be in there before nine months. I had surgery on Dec. 19, so basically at the beginning of the year in January is when my rehab started. If I can make it back before the ninth of September – I don’t want to push it and be crazy, but late July, maybe August. I want to have that Adrian Peterson comeback.”
When Henderson does return, he’ll be looking to avoid dropping to 1-3 since leaving the UFC in free agency to sign with Bellator MMA. Now that he’s fixed the problems with his knee, hopefully we can see “Smooth” at his best the next time he fights.
Former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson recently underwent knee surgery, and the current Bellator MMA fighter is aiming for a summer return.
The last time we saw Ben Henderson in an MMA cage was last November, when Michael Chandler defended his Bellator lightweight title by split decision over the former WEC and UFC champion. Henderson’s Bellator MMA career has seen him lose title fights in two weight classes, while picking up an injury TKO win over Patricio Freire in a fight he was arguably losing.
As it turns out, Henderson (24-7) has been dealing with a heavily damaged knee throughout his run in Bellator. Bendo explained to MMAjunkie what happened and how he’s dealt with it over his last three fights.
“(The injury occurred) about two months before the Andrey Koreshkov fight, actually, but I didn’t feel like it really affected my performance,” Henderson said. “I don’t make excuses. It didn’t affect any of my performances. I was able to be smart about it and train the way I wanted to for all my fights. But for the Chandler fight, it had got worse and worse and worse. Just gradually it got worse, and I wasn’t able to do certain things.
“(For) the Chandler fight, I didn’t have the training camp I wanted, and it became tougher for me to do the things I wanted to do. It become difficult for me to have the type of training camp I know I’m supposed to have. No excuses at all for whether I got my hand raised or whether I lost. But it became so hard and tough for me to maintain my output at such a high level, I knew it was time to have the surgery.”
The 33-year-old has never pulled out of a fight in his entire WEC/UFC/Bellator career, and amazingly fought through multiple torn ligaments. He recently underwent surgery and has his target date for his return.
“My surgeon has said nine to 12 months because it wasn’t just the ACL; it was ACL, MCL and meniscus,” Henderson said. “Because it’s everything it was, he recommends a longer layoff so I can do my due diligence with the rehab and all that stuff. He says nine to 12 months, but I’m a little bit more optimistic than that with me being the fighter I am. I’m a little bit more risky, so we’ll see.
“I want to be in there before nine months. I had surgery on Dec. 19, so basically at the beginning of the year in January is when my rehab started. If I can make it back before the ninth of September – I don’t want to push it and be crazy, but late July, maybe August. I want to have that Adrian Peterson comeback.”
When Henderson does return, he’ll be looking to avoid dropping to 1-3 since leaving the UFC in free agency to sign with Bellator MMA. Now that he’s fixed the problems with his knee, hopefully we can see “Smooth” at his best the next time he fights.
UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie has neither been seen nor heard from ever since she won the inaugural UFC women’s 145-pound title with a close and controversial decision win against Holly Holm in the main event of February’s UFC 208 from Brooklyn, New York. The obvious direction for “The Iron Lady” was a
UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie has neither been seen nor heard from ever since she won the inaugural UFC women’s 145-pound title with a close and controversial decision win against Holly Holm in the main event of February’s UFC 208 from Brooklyn, New York.
The obvious direction for “The Iron Lady” was a title bout against former Invicta and Strikeforce champ Cris “Cyborg” Justino, the woman a majority of the MMA universe feels is far and away the best female fighter on the planet and arguably the solitary reason the UFC created a women’s featherweight division, even if she turned down the first title bout in the weight class this year.
But when she was faced with the prospect of meeting Cyborg in the cage after her win over Holm, de Randamie said she would need time off to have hand surgery to repair an injury that had been bothering her for three fights. Justino teased a meeting with de Randamie at July 29’s UFC 214, but there has been no update in the two-and-a-half months since until now, and it appears the news isn’t promising.
Earlier this week, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani tweeted that de Randamie’s future was “up in the air” as she was possibly targeting a fourth quarter return but may even vacate the belt without defending it:
Re: GDR, her immediate future is up in the air. Not likely for 7/29. Maybe 4th quarter 2017. Even been some talk of vacating. All TBD.
Helwani stated retirement wasn’t an option as of right now, but her fighting future was still very uncertain as questions began to mount about the UFC’s newest champ:
That said, have not heard any talk of retirement at this time. Still, a very unique situation. More questions than answers re: her future.
It’s a situation that will almost definitely continue to irk UFC ownership, who created a division with de Randamie, Justino, and Holm to save a pay-per-view (PPV) card, a decision that did not prove to be a great one when UFC 208 was derided as one of the more lackluster pay events in years.
The obvious reaction will be that de Randamie is ducking Cyborg, and based on the ruthlessness and ferocity which she’s been finishing each and every opponent, it’s easy to see why people think that. De Randamie had to know a fight with the most controversial female in MMA was coming though, and to sit on the sidelines for a full year after winning a close call for the belt just isn’t a good look for the titleholder of a division many thought shouldn’t have been installed anyway.
On top of that mess, enough weight classes are already in a state of confusion as it is, so adding yet another uncertain set of circumstances only casts more doubt on possibly the most auspicious start to a UFC calendar year we’ve seen. Can the new owners rise above the mounting avalanche of seemingly endless issues to cash in on their $4 billion investment?
After Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was sold to WME-IMG for a staggering $4 billion last year (details), company president Dana White inked a five-year deal worth an estimated $360 million to stay as head honcho for the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion.
Because he’s not in it for the money, he’s in the fight game because he loves it and if it were up to him, he would have signed a 55-year deal if he could.
“I couldn’t do that (walk away). I’m in, man. I love this. I’m not going anywhere. Everybody keeps asking me, ‘You signed a five-year deal?’ I signed a five-year deal because you have to sign a deal. I would have signed a 55-year deal,” said White during an appearance on The Exchange via Yahoo! Sports.
The old adage, ‘Do what you love and it won’t feel like work,’ is one the outspoken president can relate to, as he confirmed he could’ve easily walked away and never “work” a day in his life. But his passion for what he does best is much stronger.
“At the end of the day, it’s not like, oh, you have a five-year deal, you have to work for five years. Nobody can make you work. If I said (expletive) it; I’m done. I’m not going to do it anymore. I could get up and walk out of here right now. Nobody can make me work. So no matter what you sign, you’re either here because you want to be here or you’re not,” he said.
“I want to continue to put on badass fights and break records. I said it a long time ago, this has the potential to be the biggest sport in the world. We have more potential now to reach more people, so that the world can see the fights.”
Despite becoming richer than his wildest dreams could’ve ever imagined, White maintains that he isn’t in it for the dough.
“I don’t even think about the money,” he said. “It’s not what I’m in it for. I was never in this for the money, ever.”
Once his five years are up, it will be interesting to see whether or not White sticks around for another five or if the promotion decides to go a new route. After all, the new head honchos upstairs have shown they aren’t afraid to shake things up.
After Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was sold to WME-IMG for a staggering $4 billion last year (details), company president Dana White inked a five-year deal worth an estimated $360 million to stay as head honcho for the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion.
Because he’s not in it for the money, he’s in the fight game because he loves it and if it were up to him, he would have signed a 55-year deal if he could.
“I couldn’t do that (walk away). I’m in, man. I love this. I’m not going anywhere. Everybody keeps asking me, ‘You signed a five-year deal?’ I signed a five-year deal because you have to sign a deal. I would have signed a 55-year deal,” said White during an appearance on The Exchange via Yahoo! Sports.
The old adage, ‘Do what you love and it won’t feel like work,’ is one the outspoken president can relate to, as he confirmed he could’ve easily walked away and never “work” a day in his life. But his passion for what he does best is much stronger.
“At the end of the day, it’s not like, oh, you have a five-year deal, you have to work for five years. Nobody can make you work. If I said (expletive) it; I’m done. I’m not going to do it anymore. I could get up and walk out of here right now. Nobody can make me work. So no matter what you sign, you’re either here because you want to be here or you’re not,” he said.
“I want to continue to put on badass fights and break records. I said it a long time ago, this has the potential to be the biggest sport in the world. We have more potential now to reach more people, so that the world can see the fights.”
Despite becoming richer than his wildest dreams could’ve ever imagined, White maintains that he isn’t in it for the dough.
“I don’t even think about the money,” he said. “It’s not what I’m in it for. I was never in this for the money, ever.”
Once his five years are up, it will be interesting to see whether or not White sticks around for another five or if the promotion decides to go a new route. After all, the new head honchos upstairs have shown they aren’t afraid to shake things up.
