UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor had a tough time at UFC 196. Facing Nate Diaz in a short notice welterweight battle, the Irishman who’d never been defeated during his promotional run came unstuck. He unloaded some very powerful strikes in the first round, hoping to dispatch Diaz in similar fashion to his previous opponents, but
UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor had a tough time at UFC 196. Facing Nate Diaz in a short notice welterweight battle, the Irishman who’d never been defeated during his promotional run came unstuck. He unloaded some very powerful strikes in the first round, hoping to dispatch Diaz in similar fashion to his previous opponents, but he Stockton bad boy’s chin held up. Heading in to the second round the tide began to turn.
Although bloodied and at that point outstruck, Diaz came out with fire in his heart and hands. Wobbling McGregor with a number of heavy counter strikes, it wasn’t long before the grappler’s prediction came true. Hurt from a stern left hand, ‘The Notorious’ shot in for a highly uncharacteristic takedown. It was easily stuffed by Diaz, and then began the real trouble for McGregor.
Taking full advantage of his massive grappling arsenal, Diaz first took the mount and rained down with punches, before McGregor bucked and gave up his back. Within a split second the arm was well under the chin and locked tight to the other bicep, and Diaz began cutting off the blood supply to the Irish star’s brain. Before napping, ‘The Notorious’ opted to tap and madness ensued from this point onward.
Part of the insanity that’s filled the aftermath of their first fight stemmed from the near-immediate booking of the rematch. McGregor had demanded a do-over at welterweight and the promotion obliged by giving the main event spot at UFC 200 as their date to dance once again. That was a very short lived booking.
As Diaz enjoyed his new found superstar status, McGregor began spiralling towards a fight he could not win, in the form of a standoff with the UFC. Briefly retiring from MMA with a sensational Tweet, then linking himself to a rather satirical boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, ‘The Notorious’ sparked huge debate as to his future in fighting, and his motivation to continue in the UFC. All this time the featherweight belt remained in keep, albeit in an undecided holding.
Continue to page 2 for McGregor’s explanation about his retirement and problems with the UFC…
While Conor McGregor has spoken about his first ever Octagon loss to Nate Diaz before, he never has quite like this.
On Saturday, the reigning UFC Featherweight Champion spoke at an event to promote his coach John Kavanagh’s new book, “Win or Learn,…
While Conor McGregor has spoken about his first ever Octagon loss to Nate Diaz before, he never has quite like this.
On Saturday, the reigning UFC Featherweight Champion spoke at an event to promote his coach John Kavanagh’s new book, “Win or Learn,” and opened up at length about the finishing sequence that led to his first ever loss in the UFC.
According to “The Notorious” one, he was toying with Diaz for the first several minutes of their initial meeting, and he feels he will do the same when the two meet again in the main event of UFC 202 in August.
“I’m feeling very confident in myself that I’ll go in and I’ll toy with this man,” McGregor said. “Eight minutes of the fight, I was toying with him. That fadeaway left hand that he caught me with, my senses were still there. It was almost like a fatigue thing that my balance was gone.”
McGregor continued, going even more in-depth into his first loss to Diaz.
“I always look back and question and say, what would have happened if I would have just weathered the storm? He was one or two shots being done, I feel. I feel when that left hand hit, he got this burst of energy. You can see it in his corner, they went insane. It was like they won the lotto. Then I took a couple shots and I shot [for a takedown] and I ended up in that guillotine and then it was just downhill from there. I wonder what would have happened if I just kept my hands up, I kept circling, took the smacks and survived. Eventually his energy that he gained from that left-hand shot would have dipped again and then round three would have began. There’s a lot of questions and stuff I’m confident I can improve next time. I’m going in here confident that I will get this rematch back.”
As Conor goes on to explain, the weight — 170 pounds — and the short notice around it also led to his performance.
“My body almost went into shock and I was stuffing my face and eating everything. I was almost like, I don’t have to make weight, I can train all day long. So we were doing 6-to-8-hour sessions on fight week, swinging on gymnastic rings. Looking back, it wasn’t the best idea and it came back and bit me in the ass. … I was a little bit heavy in the midsection, I was overtrained, my diet wasn’t great and it came back and bit me in the ass. But as Coach always says, we win or we learn, and I have learned and I am focused. I’m staying on my nutrition. I’m very fight-orientated. I’m not swinging on gymnastic rings too much and I certainly won’t be doing it on fight week.”
Finally, McGregor spoke about bringing in some specialists to help him prepare for his second 170-pound meeting with the Stockton native.
“I didn’t actually bring in any southpaws — not one,” McGregor said. “I didn’t spar with any southpaws, because the reason we don’t really care what the opponent is doing is because they always pull out, every damn time. But this time I know Nate is gonna show up. I know I’m gonna be facing a tall, lanky southpaw with a decent lead hand. And that’s it. And now I have brought in tall, lanky southpaws with a solid lead hand, guys with solid jiu-jitsu credentials and John is overlooking every session, managing every session.”
Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor 2 is scheduled to headline the UFC 202 pay-per-view event on Saturday, August 20, 2016 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Conor McGregor quotes.
In a recent interview with the Three Amigos Podcast, women’s bantamweight fan favorite, Leslie Smith, discussed the Cyborg fight, the Ali Act and her thoughts on the possibility of Ronda Rousey’s return to MMA.
Last month, Cris Cyborg made her much anticipated UFC debut. She faced one of only two women that said “yes” to the fight. Leslie Smith was that woman. Leslie didn’t win the fight, but she now carries the unique distinction of having faced the most feared woman in women’s MMA, where a rumored 10 others had declined the fight.
Since Smith’s bout, others have started voicing an interest in facing Cyborg, an occurrence that has not escaped Leslie’s watchful eye. She spoke to the Three Amigos Podcast in a recent interview, and shared her opinion on the sudden change of heart.
“I know there were ten other women who were approached for this fight—TEN—and they did not take the fight. That’s kind of a high number, much more than I expected. I would’ve thought a couple, but I was told it was ten, which is amazing to me. I don’t think there was anything that would lead any of them to want to be in a fight with her, as far as weaknesses that were displayed in the less than two minutes of our fight.
I think it’s got a lot more to do with them realizing that they shouldn’t be little…scaredy-cats [laughs]. They shouldn’t be little beezies, not taking the real fights, because that’s what it’s all about.-Leslie Smith
I think it’s got a lot more to do with them realizing that they shouldn’t be little…scaredy-cats [laughs]. They shouldn’t be little beezies, not taking the real fights, because that’s what it’s all about. Maybe a couple of them watched the embedded where I talked about it, and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I guess this is what I wanna do.’
For the record, I know that Miesha Tate has always said that she would take the fight, but she had other obligations to the UFC. It’s all the other ones; I love laughing at seeing how many of them are willing to take that fight now.”
Another topic that has Smith’s avid interest is the Ali Act. She’s well versed in its finer details and keen to see the bill passed that would see MMA included under its umbrella, despite the UFC’s oppositional stance to it.
“The Ali Act is an act that happened about 16 years ago for boxing. Not all the aspects have always been enforced, but they have been used in court a couple times, so they have been beneficial and served their purpose in that regard.
It’s not all completely applicable to MMA, however, it would do the job in helping the fighters in at least guaranteeing things like rankings, which translate directly to championship fights. That’s significant, and part of the act would say that the UFC couldn’t be the determining body on the rankings, because that’s kind of a conflict.
Then there’s things like long-term contracts that prevent fighters from one organization fighting for another one. Sometimes that can prevent the fights that we all want to see, the big, money-making fights, but for the most part, it makes sense why you’d want to fight in the same promotion.
There are those that would say that it’s not that applicable, but having things like having all the revenue from a card announced publicly, that would be useful. It would be really useful for fighters to know exactly what their value is. There’s another section of it that talks about how a manager cannot be a promoter, which is interesting, because I think I still hear about that happening in boxing.
There are some points that apply and some that don’t. I just think it’s really important for fighters to start establishing themselves as a group that’s intelligent and professional and conscientious of protecting their rights. I think the Ali Act is a very big step in that direction.”
A question that has been on the minds of many a fan of late, is will Ronda Rousey return to action or will she solely pursue her acting career. Leslie would like to see her return to the sport, and feels that if she does, it will be a boon for WMMA.
“First, going the way of Gina Carano would certainly not be a bad thing. She’s definitely a money maker and has brought about some big changes for women’s MMA in the course of her still short career.
I’d like to see her back. I think it would be great if she came back, but it’s up to her. Fighting isn’t a job, or even a sport like any other. It’s a hard thing to tell someone they have to go back in there and fight. You can tell someone to go play soccer or baseball, and even if their heart is not into it, you can give them a tough slap on the back and say, ‘Go get ‘em, Tiger,’ and hopefully their blood will get going and they’ll remember something.
You can’t really do that for a fight, though. Either someone wants to fight or they don’t. I think it’s a tough place to come back from, where she’s at right now, because when you create a persona—and she lived up to that persona– and something happens to take that away, it’s like that person has died.
She even mentioned that she had suicidal thoughts briefly, and I think it’s great that she’s been that outspoken. It’s really sad that she got to that point, and I hope that she has more people around her that love and appreciate her for more than just fighting, because that’s not the only thing that defines her, or any of us, for that matter.
She’s been really vocal about the pain it’s caused her, and I respect that. She even mentioned that she had suicidal thoughts briefly, and I think it’s great that she’s been that outspoken. It’s really sad that she got to that point, and I hope that she has more people around her that love and appreciate her for more than just fighting, because that’s not the only thing that defines her, or any of us, for that matter.
I just hope for the best for her. I think it would be a good thing for her to come back and have another fight, and I think that she would do great. She’s a powerhouse, but at the same time, if her head and heart isn’t in it, then she shouldn’t, because you have to be in 100%. That’s the main reason that the pool is so small, it’s because it’s a hard thing to stay injury-free, stay focused, and stay 100% invested mentally. That’s a really tough thing to do, and only she knows if that’s what’s right for her.”
There were many more topics covered in this excellent interview that covered:
What she’s been doing in the month since her fight with Cris Cyborg
Her ideal fight schedule and if she feels the division is deep enough to keep her active
Discussion on the UFC’s new weight cutting guidelines
If she’d ever be interested in fighting at 125 again
Ways she thinks refereeing could be improved
If she prefers the refs err on the side of caution or for allowing the fighters a chance to come back (even if it means taking more damage)
Her thoughts on judging issues
Why she feels that other women in her division are now willing to fight Cyborg when they weren’t just two months ago
Her thoughts on Brock Lesnar’s return and the exemption that was granted to him
Her take on the Ali Act and if there are specific points of concern
In a recent interview with the Three Amigos Podcast, women’s bantamweight fan favorite, Leslie Smith, discussed the Cyborg fight, the Ali Act and her thoughts on the possibility of Ronda Rousey’s return to MMA.
Last month, Cris Cyborg made her much anticipated UFC debut. She faced one of only two women that said “yes” to the fight. Leslie Smith was that woman. Leslie didn’t win the fight, but she now carries the unique distinction of having faced the most feared woman in women’s MMA, where a rumored 10 others had declined the fight.
Since Smith’s bout, others have started voicing an interest in facing Cyborg, an occurrence that has not escaped Leslie’s watchful eye. She spoke to the Three Amigos Podcast in a recent interview, and shared her opinion on the sudden change of heart.
“I know there were ten other women who were approached for this fight—TEN—and they did not take the fight. That’s kind of a high number, much more than I expected. I would’ve thought a couple, but I was told it was ten, which is amazing to me. I don’t think there was anything that would lead any of them to want to be in a fight with her, as far as weaknesses that were displayed in the less than two minutes of our fight.
I think it’s got a lot more to do with them realizing that they shouldn’t be little…scaredy-cats [laughs]. They shouldn’t be little beezies, not taking the real fights, because that’s what it’s all about.-Leslie Smith
I think it’s got a lot more to do with them realizing that they shouldn’t be little…scaredy-cats [laughs]. They shouldn’t be little beezies, not taking the real fights, because that’s what it’s all about. Maybe a couple of them watched the embedded where I talked about it, and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I guess this is what I wanna do.’
For the record, I know that Miesha Tate has always said that she would take the fight, but she had other obligations to the UFC. It’s all the other ones; I love laughing at seeing how many of them are willing to take that fight now.”
Another topic that has Smith’s avid interest is the Ali Act. She’s well versed in its finer details and keen to see the bill passed that would see MMA included under its umbrella, despite the UFC’s oppositional stance to it.
“The Ali Act is an act that happened about 16 years ago for boxing. Not all the aspects have always been enforced, but they have been used in court a couple times, so they have been beneficial and served their purpose in that regard.
It’s not all completely applicable to MMA, however, it would do the job in helping the fighters in at least guaranteeing things like rankings, which translate directly to championship fights. That’s significant, and part of the act would say that the UFC couldn’t be the determining body on the rankings, because that’s kind of a conflict.
Then there’s things like long-term contracts that prevent fighters from one organization fighting for another one. Sometimes that can prevent the fights that we all want to see, the big, money-making fights, but for the most part, it makes sense why you’d want to fight in the same promotion.
There are those that would say that it’s not that applicable, but having things like having all the revenue from a card announced publicly, that would be useful. It would be really useful for fighters to know exactly what their value is. There’s another section of it that talks about how a manager cannot be a promoter, which is interesting, because I think I still hear about that happening in boxing.
There are some points that apply and some that don’t. I just think it’s really important for fighters to start establishing themselves as a group that’s intelligent and professional and conscientious of protecting their rights. I think the Ali Act is a very big step in that direction.”
A question that has been on the minds of many a fan of late, is will Ronda Rousey return to action or will she solely pursue her acting career. Leslie would like to see her return to the sport, and feels that if she does, it will be a boon for WMMA.
“First, going the way of Gina Carano would certainly not be a bad thing. She’s definitely a money maker and has brought about some big changes for women’s MMA in the course of her still short career.
I’d like to see her back. I think it would be great if she came back, but it’s up to her. Fighting isn’t a job, or even a sport like any other. It’s a hard thing to tell someone they have to go back in there and fight. You can tell someone to go play soccer or baseball, and even if their heart is not into it, you can give them a tough slap on the back and say, ‘Go get ‘em, Tiger,’ and hopefully their blood will get going and they’ll remember something.
You can’t really do that for a fight, though. Either someone wants to fight or they don’t. I think it’s a tough place to come back from, where she’s at right now, because when you create a persona—and she lived up to that persona– and something happens to take that away, it’s like that person has died.
She even mentioned that she had suicidal thoughts briefly, and I think it’s great that she’s been that outspoken. It’s really sad that she got to that point, and I hope that she has more people around her that love and appreciate her for more than just fighting, because that’s not the only thing that defines her, or any of us, for that matter.
She’s been really vocal about the pain it’s caused her, and I respect that. She even mentioned that she had suicidal thoughts briefly, and I think it’s great that she’s been that outspoken. It’s really sad that she got to that point, and I hope that she has more people around her that love and appreciate her for more than just fighting, because that’s not the only thing that defines her, or any of us, for that matter.
I just hope for the best for her. I think it would be a good thing for her to come back and have another fight, and I think that she would do great. She’s a powerhouse, but at the same time, if her head and heart isn’t in it, then she shouldn’t, because you have to be in 100%. That’s the main reason that the pool is so small, it’s because it’s a hard thing to stay injury-free, stay focused, and stay 100% invested mentally. That’s a really tough thing to do, and only she knows if that’s what’s right for her.”
There were many more topics covered in this excellent interview that covered:
What she’s been doing in the month since her fight with Cris Cyborg
Her ideal fight schedule and if she feels the division is deep enough to keep her active
Discussion on the UFC’s new weight cutting guidelines
If she’d ever be interested in fighting at 125 again
Ways she thinks refereeing could be improved
If she prefers the refs err on the side of caution or for allowing the fighters a chance to come back (even if it means taking more damage)
Her thoughts on judging issues
Why she feels that other women in her division are now willing to fight Cyborg when they weren’t just two months ago
Her thoughts on Brock Lesnar’s return and the exemption that was granted to him
Her take on the Ali Act and if there are specific points of concern
URCC hosted an exhibition match between two local celebrities Kiko Matos and Baron Geisler, which had multiple incidents that went viral. The URCC, which is one of the longest running MMA promotions in Asia, had Filipinos buzzing about the m…
URCC hosted an exhibition match between two local celebrities Kiko Matos and Baron Geisler, which had multiple incidents that went viral.
The URCC, which is one of the longest running MMA promotions in Asia, had Filipinos buzzing about the much hyped celebrity match up between actors Baron Geisler and Kiko Matos on Saturday night. Thousands flocked to Uptown Bonifacio, in Taguig city, selling out their venue and had fans lining up around the corner, still trying to get in even hours after the event had already started.
This wasn’t your normal fight event, and the Geisler vs Matos match up had people who never even watched Mixed Martial Arts all either excited to be attending the show or desperately searching for a bootleg stream. The insane hype stems from various videos and antics that completely went viral in the country.
Last May, the two had a bar fight that went viral on social media and covered on all local news outlets. The URCC then invited them to settle the score with an actual MMA fight, and both men surprisingly agreed to it. That wasn’t the end on all the antics that burned through the internet though. During a pre-fight press conference, Geisler kissed Matos on their staredown. On their official weigh-in, Kiko shouted ‘Baron, drink my piss!’ and started spraying his opponent.
Some claim it was just beer, but it was enough to get the internet buzzing even more about the contest.
As for the actual bout, it was dubbed as an exhibition match without knees or elbows allowed to the head, and it pretty much went as you’d expect from two actors without much martial arts backgrounds or ample time to prepare. While they had the entire crowd screaming and chanting the whole time, their sloppy two-round bout ended in a somewhat anti-climactic draw.
“Are you not entertained?!” Geisler channeled the Gladiator as he screamed to the fans after the bout.
This was a complete spectacle of course. While it was never meant to showcase technical MMA skills, it did its part and served its purpose. The URCC took a page from MMA’s old playbook, and put on a freakshow bout that drew in a completely different audience.
Picking up quality wins on the card are URCC champ Chris Hoffman and MJ Abrillo. While the countless casual fans tuned in for the celebrity match, officials are hoping that those extra eyeballs on the legitimate fighters are converted to regular viewers moving forward.
Time will tell if it works, but hopefully everyone holds off on the pee spraying next time.
A stacked UFC 200 card lays just around the corner on July 9, with 17 of the 24 stars having headlined a card in the past, six former champions and three current champs (if you count Jon Jones’ interim belt). One fight that’s been getting masses of attention, quite rightly, is the heavyweight showdown between
A stacked UFC 200 card lays just around the corner on July 9, with 17 of the 24 stars having headlined a card in the past, six former champions and three current champs (if you count Jon Jones’ interim belt). One fight that’s been getting masses of attention, quite rightly, is the heavyweight showdown between Mark Hunt and Brock Lesnar. The former heavyweight champion and WWE star revealed he’d be taking on ‘The Super Samoan’ after his image was shown in a teaser trailer during the broadcast of UFC 199.
Hunt’s storied MMA career has now led him to a massive fight with Lesnar, and in terms of pay-per-view attraction it could well help shatter the pay-per-view record. As well as numbers, the fight holds a lot of weight for ‘The Super Samoan’s’ future, as the undeniable twilight of his career could be irreversibly altered if he is to fall to ‘The Beast.’
The story behind Lesnar’s revival of his mixed martial arts career revival is apparently down to his undying motivation to fight again. Some argue that the WWE crossover is simply looking for another payday, but Hunt’s intentions are, as usual, worn much more on his sleeve. The heavy-handed former K-1 champion is still hungry for a UFC title shot, and has stated his desire to ‘knock Brock’s lips off his face’ come July 9.
In a recent interview with AXS TV’s Inside MMA, Hunt tells Bas Rutten and guest host Josh Barnett that he’s been training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, Nevada, and feels his wrestling defense is good enough to stave off the larger man’s attacks at UFC 200. Check out the video, and the transcribe is courtesy of MMAMania. “That’s probably the reason why people are watching, it’s Brock, Brock, Brock, Brock. That’s cool by me. I’m looking forward to the fight and to just be fighting Brock. He’s a huge name in sports, a lot of people are probably going to watch this fight because he’s on the card. It’s good for my stock as well. It’s great.”
“I don’t really care about whatever is happening with the testing, I’m looking at fighting and winning the fight,” added Hunt. “I mean it does nothing for my rankings, but it does everything for my profile, of course, because he’s such a big name.”
“I don’t really think he can take me down, and if he does I believe I can just get back up anyway.”
A win for Mark Hunt will put him on three straight for the UFC, with knockout wins over Antonio Silva and Frank Mir in recent memory, but will it earn him his shot at the championship title?
With three cards stacked from top to bottom over three consecutive nights in July, the 2016 edition of UFC International Fight Week is on track to be the biggest and best ever. But what about those who aren’t initiated yet, the casual sports fans who aren’t sure whether they want to invest the time or effort into checking out the fastest growing sport in the world? Those folks need a reason to tune in or buy a ticket. So here are a dozen reasons. These are the fighters that never disappoint.Countdown to UFC 200
With three cards stacked from top to bottom over three consecutive nights in July, the 2016 edition of UFC International Fight Week is on track to be the biggest and best ever. But what about those who aren’t initiated yet, the casual sports fans who aren’t sure whether they want to invest the time or effort into checking out the fastest growing sport in the world? Those folks need a reason to tune in or buy a ticket. So here are a dozen reasons. These are the fighters that never disappoint.Countdown to UFC 200
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