Ralek Gracie was willing to finally book another female match at Metamoris, but Gabi Garcia and Mackenzie Dern reportedly didn’t come to a deal.
Metamoris 6 takes place Saturday in California, and Dern, who became the first to defeat Garcia in six years, contacted Gracie asking for a bout at the event. However, when the promoter offered Garcia as an opponent, the talk slowed down.
“I was offered to fight two other girls at Metamoris, and those two declined because of the BJJ Worlds and for personal reasons. Then they offered Gabi, and I accepted to fight her, but we didn’t come to a deal on the money,” Dern told Tatame. “It’s a 30-minute match, especially being on short notice, four days before the event.
“I want women’s jiu-jitsu to be valued, and I have my price,” she continued. “If Metamoris paid my price, I would fight Gabi tomorrow. If they couldn’t pay my price, fight for less money – especially against a world champion like her – depreciates women’s jiu-jitsu. Of course she will accept to fight for little money: she just lost. I’m not desperate for money to fight anyone for no title and less money. I will be there at the Worlds, ready to fight anyone – especially Gabi.”
According to Garcia, Metamoris would have made Garcia vs. Dern this edition’s secret match, but Dern decided not to compete.
“I came to the United States to fight at Metamoris, Ralek invited me. I was going to fight Mackenzie, who asked to be on the event,” Garcia said to Tatame. “Ralek accepted the fight, Mackenzie accepted the fight. Now, days before the event, she refused it. It’s a promotion that pays women, would be good for women’s jiu-jitsu. I came here just to fight. I don’t turn down any opponent. A champion is that one who stays at the top, who accepts to fight anyone and proves to be the champion. It’s easy to reach the top. I’ve been there for seven years and never ran from anyone. Mackenzie just gave up on fighting. It’s a loss for women’s jiu-jitsu. It would be a fight with no points, submission-only, the real jiu-jitsu.”
After Tatame published the story, Garcia posted on her Instagram page that Metamoris was willing to pay them way more money, and even offered to give her purse to her opponent, but Dern refuted it. Garcia later deleted the post.
“Gabi Garcia, you are lying to all of your fans,” Dern posted on her Instagram. “Ralek just talked to me about money today. So there was no fight set up before. If you say you will give me your purse and your purse is more than what I want I will fight you Saturday. Tell your manager to come talk to me!”
Ralek Gracie was willing to finally book another female match at Metamoris, but Gabi Garcia and Mackenzie Dern reportedly didn’t come to a deal.
Metamoris 6 takes place Saturday in California, and Dern, who became the first to defeat Garcia in six years, contacted Gracie asking for a bout at the event. However, when the promoter offered Garcia as an opponent, the talk slowed down.
“I was offered to fight two other girls at Metamoris, and those two declined because of the BJJ Worlds and for personal reasons. Then they offered Gabi, and I accepted to fight her, but we didn’t come to a deal on the money,” Dern told Tatame. “It’s a 30-minute match, especially being on short notice, four days before the event.
“I want women’s jiu-jitsu to be valued, and I have my price,” she continued. “If Metamoris paid my price, I would fight Gabi tomorrow. If they couldn’t pay my price, fight for less money – especially against a world champion like her – depreciates women’s jiu-jitsu. Of course she will accept to fight for little money: she just lost. I’m not desperate for money to fight anyone for no title and less money. I will be there at the Worlds, ready to fight anyone – especially Gabi.”
According to Garcia, Metamoris would have made Garcia vs. Dern this edition’s secret match, but Dern decided not to compete.
“I came to the United States to fight at Metamoris, Ralek invited me. I was going to fight Mackenzie, who asked to be on the event,” Garcia said to Tatame. “Ralek accepted the fight, Mackenzie accepted the fight. Now, days before the event, she refused it. It’s a promotion that pays women, would be good for women’s jiu-jitsu. I came here just to fight. I don’t turn down any opponent. A champion is that one who stays at the top, who accepts to fight anyone and proves to be the champion. It’s easy to reach the top. I’ve been there for seven years and never ran from anyone. Mackenzie just gave up on fighting. It’s a loss for women’s jiu-jitsu. It would be a fight with no points, submission-only, the real jiu-jitsu.”
After Tatame published the story, Garcia posted on her Instagram page that Metamoris was willing to pay them way more money, and even offered to give her purse to her opponent, but Dern refuted it. Garcia later deleted the post.
“Gabi Garcia, you are lying to all of your fans,” Dern posted on her Instagram. “Ralek just talked to me about money today. So there was no fight set up before. If you say you will give me your purse and your purse is more than what I want I will fight you Saturday. Tell your manager to come talk to me!”
LOS ANGELES — Bobby Lashley wants nothing more than for CM Punk to excel. He just knows all too well that there is a serious learning curve coming over from pro wrestling to MMA. And Lashley had the benefit of being a college wrestling cham…
LOS ANGELES — Bobby Lashley wants nothing more than for CM Punk to excel. He just knows all too well that there is a serious learning curve coming over from pro wrestling to MMA. And Lashley had the benefit of being a college wrestling champion before breaking into the sport.
Lashley, who was a WWE star and now performs for TNA Impact pro wrestling, also started MMA on small shows before getting the call from Strikeforce in 2010. CM Punk won’t have that kind of slow burn. The former WWE headliner signed a deal with the UFC in December and will make his pro MMA debut in the Octagon.
“I wish he can have a fight before going in there,” Lashley said at a recent Bellator MMA media day in Hollywood. “I wish they could send him out to some jungle somewhere and put him in a cage and fight a nobody and see what he does.”
Lashley, who meets James Thompson at Bellator 138 on June 19 in St. Louis, has a major question about what phase of MMA CM Punk will use to bail himself out of jams. Lashley, a two-time NAIA wrestling champion who trained for the Olympics, has always had his wrestling to fall back on. Punk has trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for years, but has never competed.
“Everybody has to have their go-to,” Lashley said. “I don’t know what his go-to is gonna be. If the water is getting deep for me, I’m gonna take somebody down. For him, you can’t just rely on your hands because there’s so many people out there that are just phenomenal with their hands. I really don’t know where he’s gonna go. That’s a tough one.”
In Lashley’s mind, it’ll really depend on who the UFC gives CM Punk for his first fight. That still could be months or even a year away with Punk training hard at Roufusport in Milwaukee.
“I hope he does well,” Lashley said. “I know he’s at a good camp and I know the guys are saying he’s training his ass off. That’s a hard situation, because what do you do? You’ve got a guy that’s 0-0. Are you gonna bring somebody else that’s 0-0 into the UFC and give him that berth or are you gonna give him someone that’s more experienced?”
Lashley, 38, and CM Punk were both WWE headliners are different times. Lashley starred in 2007 and 2008 before transitioning to MMA and then TNA in late 2008 and 2009, respectively. Lashley debuted in Strikeforce in 2010. In July, the Denver native signed with Bellator and has gone 2-0 for the promotion.
Punk, 36, had some crossover with Lashley in WWE, but didn’t become a full-fledged draw until 2011. Last year, he retired from pro wrestling after a nasty dispute with WWE and announced in December that he would be coming over to the UFC despite no formal fighting experience.
The road will be a hard one for Punk, but Lashley is definitely rooting for him.
“I hope he does well and it’s not even for the [pro] wrestling aspect,” Lashley said. “He’s going out there fighting and sticking his neck on the line, so I hope he does well.”
Tim Means will take a step up in the welterweight division when he meets No. 5-ranked Matt Brown at UFC 189. Will jumping into a fight against a top-five opponent put Means in over his head? No, I don’t think so. It’s understandable why that thought may creep into your minds. Means has had the chance on several […]
Tim Means will take a step up in the welterweight division when he meets No. 5-ranked Matt Brown at UFC 189. Will jumping into a fight against a top-five opponent put Means in over his head? No, I don’t think so. It’s understandable why that thought may creep into your minds. Means has had the chance on several […]
On this week’s episode of “The MMA Beat,” the panel will discuss the new Reebok compensation terms, the revamping of the UFC Hall of Fame, Jon Jones fallout, and more.
Watch “The MMA Beat” live today at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. BST.
Subscrib…
On this week’s episode of “The MMA Beat,” the panel will discuss the new Reebok compensation terms, the revamping of the UFC Hall of Fame, Jon Jones fallout, and more.
Watch “The MMA Beat” live today at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. BST.
Subscribe to the show on iTunes: audio | video or Soundcloud here. Stream it on Stitcher here.
If you think UFC light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier is sweating Dana White’s‘stone age’ comments regarding the training habits of San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy, guess again.
“We have to train hard,” Cormier told Chael Sonnen this week on the latter’s podcast. “Guys get praised for what they do when they come out of this gym. Only good things are said about Luke Rockhold right now. When [UFC heavyweight champion] Cain Velasquez fights, only good things. Myself, all of our guys, not even just the top guys.
“Our guys train really hard and we’re going to continue to do it. We’re going to continue to train hard. We’re going to continue to work our butts off. We’re going to continue to spar hard.”
In the wake of former champion Jon Jones‘ being stripped of the light heavyweight title, Cormier will face Anthony Johnson for the vacant championship in the main event at UFC 187 May 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Earlier this week, White elaborated on his concerns of the training habits of select gyms like AKA, saying, ‘You can’t have all the best guys in the world beating the living s**t out of each other every day.’
“We have changed our training a little bit,” Cormier explained. “Like, over the course of the week we’ll go lighter. Cain and I tomorrow, we’ll spar five rounds. We’ll spar five rounds, light. Yesterday, Cain and I fought. We didn’t spar yesterday, we fought. We fought for five rounds and today I’m feeling it. [Cain] says he’s feeling it, but it’s why we will be prepared whenever the Octagon door closes.”
Sonnen brought up Velasquez’s struggles to stay healthy, the champion not having fought since scoring a TKO victory over Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 in October 2013.
Velasquez is booked to headline UFC 188 opposite interim heavyweight champion Fabrício Werdum in Mexico City, Mexico.
“He’s going to walk out there and fight Fabricio Werdum finally,” Cormier said of his teammate. “Get to finally fight in Mexico City. They’ve tried three times. This is the third time they’ve gone to Mexico City with the idea that Cain Velasquez is going to main event the card. This time he’s healthy. This time he looks amazing. The dude’s ready to go. I can’t wait.”
Barring a loss to Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 later this month, middleweight champion Chris Weidman would likely see AKA’s Rockhold named the next No. 1 contender.
Cormier happily took the chance to remind everyone AKA isn’t the only camp with casualties.
“We get a lot of flak, man, but Weidman hasn’t made it to the Octagon as many times as he’s been scheduled, too. So it’s a situation where Chris needs to come out healthy in this [Belfort] fight if him and Luke are going to fight later in the year.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Get paid? UFC announces how much (or how little) fighters will be paid through the Reebok uniform deal.
‘These are minimums.’ UFC brass outlines why it believes Reebok compensation terms are a win for fighters. ‘This athlete outfitting policy is going to create guaranteed income, thus eliminating the burden of acquiring sponsors.’
Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas discusses Miocic vs. Hunt, Joe Rogan’s comments on Jon Jones, the Reebok numbers, Metamoris 6 and more in this week’s live chat.
Reebok, explained. Paul Gift crunches the numbers for the new Reebok sponsorship tiers to show fighters and fight fans what the UFC world may look like.
‘We’re fighting for the real belt.’ Daniel Cormier says it’s not his fault Jon Jones got into trouble.
MEDIA STEW
Performance Replay: Valdir ‘Baby Monster’ Araujo vs. Steve Carl from TUF.
May 22, ONE Championship: Warrior’s Quest in Kallang, Singapore is a 2015 Card of the Year Candidate & features some of the best UFC-level talent on ONE’s roster…and in the entire world for that matter.
Lowen Tynanes, from Hawaii USA, is one of those fast rising Stars for ONE Championship.
A Hawaiian State Wrestling Champ, 24 year old Lowen Tynanes is already on many sites’ top prospect lists because Tynanes is such a well rounded beast Lightweight with a strong American wrestling base. Tynanes has great size, strength, speed, explosive power, and very well rounded skillset. Lowen Tynanes is the total package for 155 lbs.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
If you think UFC light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier is sweating Dana White’s‘stone age’ comments regarding the training habits of San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy, guess again.
“We have to train hard,” Cormier told Chael Sonnen this week on the latter’s podcast. “Guys get praised for what they do when they come out of this gym. Only good things are said about Luke Rockhold right now. When [UFC heavyweight champion] Cain Velasquez fights, only good things. Myself, all of our guys, not even just the top guys.
“Our guys train really hard and we’re going to continue to do it. We’re going to continue to train hard. We’re going to continue to work our butts off. We’re going to continue to spar hard.”
In the wake of former champion Jon Jones‘ being stripped of the light heavyweight title, Cormier will face Anthony Johnson for the vacant championship in the main event at UFC 187 May 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Earlier this week, White elaborated on his concerns of the training habits of select gyms like AKA, saying, ‘You can’t have all the best guys in the world beating the living s**t out of each other every day.’
“We have changed our training a little bit,” Cormier explained. “Like, over the course of the week we’ll go lighter. Cain and I tomorrow, we’ll spar five rounds. We’ll spar five rounds, light. Yesterday, Cain and I fought. We didn’t spar yesterday, we fought. We fought for five rounds and today I’m feeling it. [Cain] says he’s feeling it, but it’s why we will be prepared whenever the Octagon door closes.”
Sonnen brought up Velasquez’s struggles to stay healthy, the champion not having fought since scoring a TKO victory over Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 in October 2013.
Velasquez is booked to headline UFC 188 opposite interim heavyweight champion Fabrício Werdum in Mexico City, Mexico.
“He’s going to walk out there and fight Fabricio Werdum finally,” Cormier said of his teammate. “Get to finally fight in Mexico City. They’ve tried three times. This is the third time they’ve gone to Mexico City with the idea that Cain Velasquez is going to main event the card. This time he’s healthy. This time he looks amazing. The dude’s ready to go. I can’t wait.”
Barring a loss to Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 later this month, middleweight champion Chris Weidman would likely see AKA’s Rockhold named the next No. 1 contender.
Cormier happily took the chance to remind everyone AKA isn’t the only camp with casualties.
“We get a lot of flak, man, but Weidman hasn’t made it to the Octagon as many times as he’s been scheduled, too. So it’s a situation where Chris needs to come out healthy in this [Belfort] fight if him and Luke are going to fight later in the year.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Get paid? UFC announces how much (or how little) fighters will be paid through the Reebok uniform deal.
‘These are minimums.’ UFC brass outlines why it believes Reebok compensation terms are a win for fighters. ‘This athlete outfitting policy is going to create guaranteed income, thus eliminating the burden of acquiring sponsors.’
Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas discusses Miocic vs. Hunt, Joe Rogan’s comments on Jon Jones, the Reebok numbers, Metamoris 6 and more in this week’s live chat.
Reebok, explained. Paul Gift crunches the numbers for the new Reebok sponsorship tiers to show fighters and fight fans what the UFC world may look like.
‘We’re fighting for the real belt.’ Daniel Cormier says it’s not his fault Jon Jones got into trouble.
MEDIA STEW
Performance Replay: Valdir ‘Baby Monster’ Araujo vs. Steve Carl from TUF.
May 22, ONE Championship: Warrior’s Quest in Kallang, Singapore is a 2015 Card of the Year Candidate & features some of the best UFC-level talent on ONE’s roster…and in the entire world for that matter.
Lowen Tynanes, from Hawaii USA, is one of those fast rising Stars for ONE Championship.
A Hawaiian State Wrestling Champ, 24 year old Lowen Tynanes is already on many sites’ top prospect lists because Tynanes is such a well rounded beast Lightweight with a strong American wrestling base. Tynanes has great size, strength, speed, explosive power, and very well rounded skillset. Lowen Tynanes is the total package for 155 lbs.
Tim Means will take a step up in the welterweight division when he meets No. 5-ranked Matt Brown at UFC 189.
Will jumping into a fight against a top-five opponent put Means in over his head? No, I don’t think so.
It’s understandabl…
Will jumping into a fight against a top-five opponent put Means in over his head? No, I don’t think so.
It’s understandable why that thought may creep into your minds. Means has had the chance on several occasions to make a statement at both 155 and 170, but he has come up short each time. He lacks a signature win over a top-level opponent. So it’s fair to suggest that Means dove into the deep end too quickly in accepting a fight with a top-five opponent.
For many fighters, it is best to work their way up the ranks slowly. Top 15, top 10 and then top five. But Means can make this jump because he is a crafty veteran who has fought legit competition. This won’t be a monumental leap for Means.
The Dirty Bird has been on fire since returning to the 170-pound division. He is 6-1 with four straight wins. He has a fan-pleasing style that invites gritty exchanges, and he takes full advantage of it. The matchup with Brown is one that could easily steal Fight of the Night, and it’s winnable for Means.
Brown and Means are very similar. Brown worked his way up the ranks after a rough stint from 2010 to 2011. Starting in 2012, he put together seven consecutive wins. That stretch moved him into a title eliminator against Robbie Lawler.
After dropping that fight, he took on Johny Hendricks in another losing effort. Brown received his adulation in part because his style was so exciting. However, it was not a seven-fight win streak over seven elite talents. It was a win streak of impressive finishes.
Brown earned his standing in the division, but it is slightly inflated.
Means’ skill set matches up well with Brown’s. He has a dynamic striking game with excellent elbows in tight and a solid ground game, should Brown try to take the fight to the canvas. Brown’s propensity to engage in a brawl should give Means opportunities to score on foot.
Brown loves to brawl, but where he may have the advantage is on the ground.
He may also have a slight overall advantage, but nothing that should make Means a massive underdog. It is a winnable fight for Means, and one that could move him into the top 10 in this division. It’s a big fight for this weight class.
If this was a fight against Hendricks, then Means would be out of his depth—at least where he stands today. But against Brown, it is a fight that makes sense.
Styles make fights. Brown is not a defensive genius. He gets hit. That bodes well for Means’ chances.
It’s a bit too far out to side with either fighter, but this matchup is closer than the rankings suggest.
This is undoubtedly a step up in competition, but Means is not in over his head against Brown.
