Chris Weidman is on the cusp of mixed martial arts stardom. Since the start of his run in the UFC, Weidman’s maturity in competition has been something worth watching. As 2015 approaches, the current middleweight champion finds himself in a position to have a huge year, if he can continue to stay victorious and healthy. […]
Chris Weidman is on the cusp of mixed martial arts stardom. Since the start of his run in the UFC, Weidman’s maturity in competition has been something worth watching. As 2015 approaches, the current middleweight champion finds himself in a position to have a huge year, if he can continue to stay victorious and healthy. […]
Veteran lightweight Anthony Njokuani has verbally agreed to a multi-fight deal with Legacy FC following his recent release from the UFC, Legacy FC owner Mick Maynard confirmed to MMAFighting.com on Wednesday.
A 34-year-old former kickboxer, Njokuani (16-9, 1 NC) had been a mainstay in the WEC/UFC 155-pound division ever since his 2009 debut, fighting 15 times and scoring memorable KO/TKO wins over Chris Horodecki, Edward Faaloloto and Roger Bowling, among others.
Njokuani entered the UFC as one of the WEC’s most promising lightweight prospects following the WEC-UFC merger, however things never panned out as Njokuani struggled to win just three of his next eight fights.
His UFC career came to an anticlimactic conclusion with an 0-2 run in 2014 that saw Njokuani drop consecutive decisions to Vinc Pichel and Daron Cruickshank, bringing his total WEC/UFC record to 7-8.
Njokuani is now scheduled to tangle against Thomas Gifford (9-6) on Feb. 13 in his Legacy FC debut, which will take place in Allen, TX. Gifford, a 22-year-old submission specialist out of Brush Creek, AR, scored a second-round TKO win over Wade Johnson this past Aug. at Legacy FC 34.
Veteran lightweight Anthony Njokuani has verbally agreed to a multi-fight deal with Legacy FC following his recent release from the UFC, Legacy FC owner Mick Maynard confirmed to MMAFighting.com on Wednesday.
A 34-year-old former kickboxer, Njokuani (16-9, 1 NC) had been a mainstay in the WEC/UFC 155-pound division ever since his 2009 debut, fighting 15 times and scoring memorable KO/TKO wins over Chris Horodecki, Edward Faaloloto and Roger Bowling, among others.
Njokuani entered the UFC as one of the WEC’s most promising lightweight prospects following the WEC-UFC merger, however things never panned out as Njokuani struggled to win just three of his next eight fights.
His UFC career came to an anticlimactic conclusion with an 0-2 run in 2014 that saw Njokuani drop consecutive decisions to Vinc Pichel and Daron Cruickshank, bringing his total WEC/UFC record to 7-8.
Njokuani is now scheduled to tangle against Thomas Gifford (9-6) on Feb. 13 in his Legacy FC debut, which will take place in Allen, TX. Gifford, a 22-year-old submission specialist out of Brush Creek, AR, scored a second-round TKO win over Wade Johnson this past Aug. at Legacy FC 34.
In any case, it has now been a year and a half since we last saw Cyborg compete — save a Muay Thai match here and there — and her Invicta featherweight title has presumably been collecting dust in the same dark corner where her stripped Strikeforce featherweight title sits. So with time working against her, Cyborg has decided to postpone her bantamweight debut in order to simply compete again. She spoke with MMAFighting earlier this morning:
I haven’t fought in a long time. With this injury, I believe the best option now will be fight in my division. I can’t wait anymore, I need to fight. I’m the featherweight champion and Invicta FC needs me to defend my belt.
In any case, it has now been a year and a half since we last saw Cyborg compete — save a Muay Thai match here and there — and her Invicta featherweight title has presumably been collecting dust in the same dark corner where her stripped Strikeforce featherweight title sits. So with time working against her, Cyborg has decided to postpone her bantamweight debut in order to simply compete again. She spoke with MMAFighting earlier this morning:
I haven’t fought in a long time. With this injury, I believe the best option now will be fight in my division. I can’t wait anymore, I need to fight. I’m the featherweight champion and Invicta FC needs me to defend my belt.
I believe I will be ready to fight in February. I’m slowly returning to training, so I won’t get injured again. I’m swimming and doing physical therapy since I got back from Thailand. My physical therapist Ivan Carmosino will clear me to train soon.
At this point, Cyborg’s drop to bantamweight has been teased and hinted at more than a new Tool album, and this latest hitch seems like the final straw to me. While Cyborg has been toiling away in obscurity these past couple years, her entire reason for cutting to bantamweight — Ronda Rousey — has risen to become one of the most complete athletes on the planet. Do I still think Cyborg poses some legitimate threats to the women’s bantamweight champ? Undoubtedly, but not nearly as many as she did when she opted out of her UFC contract last year. It almost makes one question her decision to hire Tito Ortiz as her manager.
We’ll keep you updated on Cyborg’s return as information is made available.
When Anthony Pettis steps into the cage for the first time in 15 long months on Saturday at UFC 181, he’ll be facing down more than just opponent Gilbert Melendez, the former Strikeforce champion who is looking to write his own name in the UFC’s record book. In Melendez’s shadow, another man lurks—his spirit and […]
When Anthony Pettis steps into the cage for the first time in 15 long months on Saturday at UFC 181, he’ll be facing down more than just opponent Gilbert Melendez, the former Strikeforce champion who is looking to write his own name in the UFC’s record book. In Melendez’s shadow, another man lurks—his spirit and […]
Edson Barboza improved to 9-2 in the UFC with a unanimous decision victory over Bobby Green at UFC Fight Night 57, but Green wasn’t the original opponent the UFC wanted next for the Brazilian lightweight.
Barboza, who was coming off a first-round knockout over Evan Dunham in July, was offered a fight with Nate Diaz. The Brazilian lightweight accepted the challenge, but Diaz declined.
“He was supposed to fight Nate Diaz, but Nate didn’t accept the fight,” Barboza’s manager Alex Davis told MMAFighting.com.
With five wins over the past six bouts after beating Green, Barboza and his team won’t call anyone out.
“We won’t look to opponents now,” Davis said. “We have to beat anyone they put in front of us. Whatever they do, we will fight and win. We won’t call this or that guy out.”
Nate Diaz, who returns to the Octagon against Rafael dos Anjos on Dec. 13, could be one of the options for Barboza if he beats dos Anjos.
“There’s Rafael dos Anjos vs. Nate Diaz and a few other good fights now, so (Barboza) should fight the winner of one of them next,” Davis said. “I think that (Diaz) would be an interesting fight to promote Barboza in the media because (Barboza) doesn’t talk too much, so a fight with Nate Diaz would be good in that sense, but Bobby Green was also a great fight.
“There are many guys in this division, many tough fights,” he continued. “We’ll have (Gilbert) Melendez vs. (Anthony) Pettis now, and there’s (Khabib) Nurmagomedov, (Abel) Trujillo and many other fighters, and (Barboza) can beat every single one of them.”
Donald Cerrone and Jamie Varner are the only fighters who handed Barboza defeats in his MMA career, and Davis believes that the Brazilian contender has made the changes he needed in order to become a high-level MMA fighter.
“He got all the pieces together,” Davis said. “He lives in Florida and trains at American Top Team, and then he goes to New Jersey to sharpen his weapons with Mark Henry, Ricardo ‘Cachorrao’ (Almeida) and Anderson Franca, my son in law, and that is working perfectly. When he’s off camp, he’s training hard at ATT, and then he does specific training in Jersey.
“I believe he has everything to become the UFC lightweight champion. I know what he’s capable of. He became a top MMA fighter, and this is the best moment of his career. I’m really confident.”
Edson Barboza improved to 9-2 in the UFC with a unanimous decision victory over Bobby Green at UFC Fight Night 57, but Green wasn’t the original opponent the UFC wanted next for the Brazilian lightweight.
Barboza, who was coming off a first-round knockout over Evan Dunham in July, was offered a fight with Nate Diaz. The Brazilian lightweight accepted the challenge, but Diaz declined.
“He was supposed to fight Nate Diaz, but Nate didn’t accept the fight,” Barboza’s manager Alex Davis told MMAFighting.com.
With five wins over the past six bouts after beating Green, Barboza and his team won’t call anyone out.
“We won’t look to opponents now,” Davis said. “We have to beat anyone they put in front of us. Whatever they do, we will fight and win. We won’t call this or that guy out.”
Nate Diaz, who returns to the Octagon against Rafael dos Anjos on Dec. 13, could be one of the options for Barboza if he beats dos Anjos.
“There’s Rafael dos Anjos vs. Nate Diaz and a few other good fights now, so (Barboza) should fight the winner of one of them next,” Davis said. “I think that (Diaz) would be an interesting fight to promote Barboza in the media because (Barboza) doesn’t talk too much, so a fight with Nate Diaz would be good in that sense, but Bobby Green was also a great fight.
“There are many guys in this division, many tough fights,” he continued. “We’ll have (Gilbert) Melendez vs. (Anthony) Pettis now, and there’s (Khabib) Nurmagomedov, (Abel) Trujillo and many other fighters, and (Barboza) can beat every single one of them.”
Donald Cerrone and Jamie Varner are the only fighters who handed Barboza defeats in his MMA career, and Davis believes that the Brazilian contender has made the changes he needed in order to become a high-level MMA fighter.
“He got all the pieces together,” Davis said. “He lives in Florida and trains at American Top Team, and then he goes to New Jersey to sharpen his weapons with Mark Henry, Ricardo ‘Cachorrao’ (Almeida) and Anderson Franca, my son in law, and that is working perfectly. When he’s off camp, he’s training hard at ATT, and then he does specific training in Jersey.
“I believe he has everything to become the UFC lightweight champion. I know what he’s capable of. He became a top MMA fighter, and this is the best moment of his career. I’m really confident.”
When Anthony Pettis steps into the cage for the first time in 15 long months on Saturday at UFC 181, he’ll be facing down more than just opponent Gilbert Melendez, the former Strikeforce champion who is looking to write his own name in the UFC’s record…
When Anthony Pettis steps into the cage for the first time in 15 long months on Saturday at UFC 181, he’ll be facing down more than just opponent Gilbert Melendez, the former Strikeforce champion who is looking to write his own name in the UFC’s record book. In Melendez’s shadow, another man lurks—his spirit and reputation still engulfing the entire lightweight division.
Pettis fights not just to secure his UFC Lightweight Championship but against the legend of future Hall of Famer B.J. Penn.
Slow down, I can hear you thinking. Pettis, after all, hasn’t even defended his UFC title a single time. All-time great? Really?
The stakes, surprisingly, are just that high.
With just a handful of solid wins, Pettis could write his name next to Penn’s, staking his claim as the best 155-pound fighter in MMA history. That says plenty—both about Penn’s overwhelming presence in the division for years and just how good Pettis can be.
But, despite his obvious and at times mesmerizing skill, doubt has attached itself to Pettis like a shroud. His ability just to make it to the fight has been called into question—and perhaps rightfully so. Since his famous “Showtime kick” helped him beat Benson Henderson for the WEC championship in 2010, Pettis has only stepped into the Octagon five times.
“I’ve been through a lot in my life, and I believe I’m mentally very strong,” Pettis told Bleacher Report’s Duane Finley. “There isn’t much that can faze me mentally. But it’s hard, man. Seeing all of these people advancing their careers and winning these fights and I’m stuck on the sidelines. It’s just one of those things you just have to get through, and I had to get through it. Once you do that, the great things come.”
While it’s hard to carve out a place in fans’ hearts and atop the pound-for-pound list—where Pettis currently sits in the sixth position on the UFC’s official rankings—without, you know, fighting, Pettis’ skills are so overwhelmingly obvious he’s managed to do so anyway.
His physical tools are plain—speed, quickness and a long, lanky build. Less obvious, Bloody Elbow striking expert Connor Ruebusch explains, is that Pettis’ success is predicated on his smarts every bit as much as his athletic prowess: “Cagecraft, generalship, Octagon control—whatever you call it, Pettis understands it. Much like highly hyped UFC neophyte Conor McGregor, Pettis is equally adept at playing the counter fighter and the aggressor. When he is on the prowl, his understanding of the cage is unrivaled.”
Physical skill alone won’t be enough to stop Melendez, one of the division’s toughest outs for more than a decade. A classic wrestler-boxer, the Cesar Gracie product is capable of taking a slick finesse fighter and grinding him into the mat for 25 long minutes.
There’s some fear of that, surely, in the back of Pettis’ mind. After all, Clay Guida, a kind of lesser Melendez, did something similar to the champion in his first UFC fight.
That loss, however, was more than three-and-a-half years in the past. In the meantime, Pettis has spent plenty of time on the mat with Olympian Ben Askren, improving his wrestling defense and ground game by leaps and bounds.
That much was obvious in his title win over Henderson. The former champ was thought to be the better grappler going in, but Pettis was able to consistently stymie Henderson’s wrestling attacks against the fence. When Henderson did manage to leap on top of his challenger after a slip, Pettis exacted the ultimate revenge—an armbar submission from the bottom.
Pettis believes he can fend off Melendez’s takedowns as well. And, if he does, the fight will be contested in his wheelhouse, where he expects his more multifaceted approach to pay serious dividends against a fighter who has focused almost entirely on his hands.
“I think he’s very basic when it comes to stand-up,” Pettis told Damon Martin of Fox Sports. “He’s got decent boxing, and he’s tough. That’s most Mexican fighters; they are the most exciting fighters, they are tough and have good boxing. Unfortunately for him, that’s my zone. If he wants to stand in there and trade, he’s not going to see me having a Diego Sanchez fight, I’ll tell you that. I think I outclass him in the striking like he’s a beginner.”
If Pettis can back up that boast, it would be the kind of resume item that would help him make a strong case historically in the lightweight division. In a career spanning 12 years, much of it spent competing against top competition, Melendez has never been stopped.
If Pettis can pull it off, in that trademark spectacular Pettis fashion, it’s time to start talking about more than just a run-of-the-mill title defense. It’s time to, once again, dust off the superfight with featherweight champion Jose Aldo and let Pettis, finally, make his case for immortality.
When