UFC 170 will get underway in Las Vegas on Saturday night, but the 22 competitors will first need to step on the scale to make weight before any fisticuffs can transpire. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will defend the crown against fellow undefeated Olympic medalist Sara McMann in the night’s main event. Daniel Cormier, […]
UFC 170 will get underway in Las Vegas on Saturday night, but the 22 competitors will first need to step on the scale to make weight before any fisticuffs can transpire. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will defend the crown against fellow undefeated Olympic medalist Sara McMann in the night’s main event. Daniel Cormier, […]
LAS VEGAS — If you were expecting Dana White to trash Nate Quarry, think again.
The veteran middleweight aired his grievances over the UFC’s fighter pay system on The Underground late last week.
But the oft-profane UFC president isn’…
LAS VEGAS — If you were expecting Dana White to trash Nate Quarry, think again.
But the oft-profane UFC president isn’t about to trade verbal barbs with the retired fighter.
“I like Nate Quarry,” White told reporters Thursday. “Let me tell you what. You’re never going to hear me say anything negative about any of the guys from season one of The Ultimate Fighter. I love those guys, I respect them, I always had a great relationship with Nate Quarry.”
Among Quarry’s issues were that he received a flat payment of $10,000 for his loss to Rich Franklin in a UFC middleweight title fight at UFC 56. White echoed recent comments by Lorenzo Fertitta in a recent Yahoo! Sports column,which pointed out that Quarry fought Franklin before the UFC turned the corner from a $44 million debt to profitability.
“Lorenzo said it the best, it’s unfortunate that Nate fought at a time when we were still $44 million in the hole, you know?” White said.
“It’s easy to look back and go “they invested $44 million and this thing’s worth a few billion,” White said. “Easy to say that now. But back then? … It was so close to being shut down and going away. There was a time I was like, we’re never, f——- ever get that $44 million back. It’s never going to happen. There was a time when I absolutely believed that.”
White, however, didn’t show much in the way of sympathy for fighters’ ability to attract sponsors, which was the basis of much of Quarry’s argument, particularly since some fighters whose fights air on Fight Pass streams have found difficulty getting sponsors.
“It’s not my f—– problem,” White said. “Getting sponsorship is a problem. It’s tough. it’s hard to do. That question is ridiculous. If a guy fights on Fight Pass, first of all, he’s getting paid to fight. That’s what he’s getting paid for. That’s what he does. How sponsorship works out for a guy is not my problem. That is not my problem. He’s a fighter, he gets paid to fight, period, end of story. Whatever extra money he makes outside of the UFC with sponsors and all that s—, that’s his f—— deal.”
UFC 170 will get underway in Las Vegas on Saturday night, and all 22 competitors officially made weight on Friday evening.
The main event will feature two undefeated Olympians squaring off for UFC gold. UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey de…
UFC 170 will get underway in Las Vegas on Saturday night, and all 22 competitors officially made weight on Friday evening.
The main event will feature two undefeated Olympians squaring off for UFC gold. UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey defends against No. 4-ranked Sara McMann in one of the biggest bouts in women’s MMA history.
The co-main event also features an undefeated Olympian. No. 4-ranked heavyweight Daniel Cormier drops to light heavyweight and welcomes UFC newcomer Patrick Cummins to the cage.
Bleacher Report will have full coverage of UFC 170 for you on Saturday.
UFC 170 Weigh-in Results
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship: Ronda Rousey (135) vs. Sara McMann (135) Daniel Cormier (205) vs. Patrick Cummins (205) Rory MacDonald (171) vs. Demian Maia (170) Mike Pyle (171) vs. TJ Waldburger (171) Robert Whittaker (170) vs. Stephen Thompson (170.5) Alexis Davis (135) vs. Jessica Eye (136) Raphael Assuncao (136) vs. Pedro Munhoz (135) Cody Gibson (135.5) vs. Aljamain Sterling (135.5) Zach Makovsky (125) vs. Josh Sampo (126) Rafaello Oliveira (155) vs. Erik Koch (155) Ernest Chavez (156) vs. Yosdenis Cedeno (155.5)
LAS VEGAS — If you had your hopes up for a Matt Hughes-Matt Serra rematch, well, sorry.
The retired former UFC welterweight champions, who coached against one another on the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, got into it over Twitter o…
LAS VEGAS — If you had your hopes up for a Matt Hughes–Matt Serra rematch, well, sorry.
The retired former UFC welterweight champions, who coached against one another on the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, got into it over Twitter on Wednesday, challenging one another to a rematch.
But UFC president Dana White put a stop to the talk before it could really heat up.
“I get it, they don’t like each other,” White said Thursday. “It’s not even a sideshow. Both great competitors, great champions. Matt Hughes is a guy who helped us build this thing, as did Serra. Serra was always a great guy to us. But this doesn’t need to happen.”
Hughes and Serra fought at UFC 98, with Hughes taking a unanimous decision. Hughes‘ last fight was a knockout loss to Josh Koscheck in Sept. 2011, and is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame. Serra, best known for his stunning upset of Georges St-Pierre to win the welterweight title at UFC 69, last fought in Sept. 2010, a decision loss to Chris Lytle.
Besides, it’s been awhile since either fighter has attempted to make 170 pounds, prompting White to take a playful jab.
“Where are they going to fight, super heavyweight?”
LAS VEGAS — Gilbert Melendez is one of the more prominent free agents to leave the UFC and sign with a competing organization in many years.
Melendez, currently ranked No. 2 in the UFC’s lightweight division, signed a term sheet earlier this week…
LAS VEGAS — Gilbert Melendez is one of the more prominent free agents to leave the UFC and sign with a competing organization in many years.
Melendez, currently ranked No. 2 in the UFC’s lightweight division, signed a term sheet earlier this week with Bellator. The UFC has the right to match the deal and keep Melendez in the fold, but thus far they have not done so.
White told the media on Thursday afternoon that he’s fine with Melendez trying to earn fair market value.
“Gilbert’s out there testing the market,” White said. “Good for him. I don’t have any hard feelings for Gilbert Melendez.”
White was not so kind to Bellator owners Viacom, however.
“Guys are trying to f— get out of that place. They got these contracts you can’t get out of. Look at what they did to Eddie Alvarez. Eddie Alvarez fought once in two years,” he said. “They promised all kinds of things that they never had. The difference is, we don’t sue our fighters. If a guy wants to try to move on with his career and test the waters, we don’t sue them. We don’t jump in and start suing our fighters.”
Alvarez returned to Bellator last year after an extended legal battle with Viacom. Sources have previously told Bleacher Report that Alvarez only signed a two-fight contract with the company, however, and will be heading to the UFC after his next fight against Michael Chandler this year.
White was sympathetic to Alvarez’s plight and turned his aim toward Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, a frequent and favorite target of the mercurial promoter.
“That dude’s out of his f— mind,” he said.”Nobody can f— deal with those guys. Viacom will sue you ’til you f— bleed. Sue you ’til you bleed. That’s a whole other ballgame over there. Everyone wants to talk like the UFC are bullies? They’re the f— bullies over there. They’ve got these contracts you can’t get out of.”
Melendez’s move, while depriving fans of seeing him face off against the best lightweights the UFC has to offer, is also a sea change in mixed martial arts. If Bellator begins aggressively pursuing the best free agents available, it would stand to reason that fighters and their bank accounts will benefit.
White seemed fine with the idea of Melendez and others testing the free-agent market.
“He’s out there testing the waters, man. That’s how this s–t works,” he said. “Is it a bad thing? I thought this is what everybody wanted.”
LAS VEGAS — Ronda Rousey is about to defend her UFC women’s bantamweight title for the second time in eight weeks, then head off to make another movie.
Whether or not she defeats fellow unbeaten Sara McMann on Saturday night in the main e…
LAS VEGAS — Ronda Rousey is about to defend her UFC women’s bantamweight title for the second time in eight weeks, then head off to make another movie.
Whether or not she defeats fellow unbeaten Sara McMann on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 170, Rousey will take a well-earned break from the sport after this grueling stretch.
But Rousey’s 2014 in MMA won’t be over by a longshot after this weekend, says UFC president Dana White.
“She’ll fight three times this year,” White said Thursday at Mandalay Bay.
On Thursday, Rousey indicated she hopes to fight again in late summer, which could theoretically put her on track to return again for the UFC’s year-end show and get three fights in.
Rousey’s boss expressed admiration for her ability to mutl-task, as she pivots from fighting to movies and back again. He referenced an MMAFighting.com story from Thursday in which Rousey voiced her concerns over pay-per-view sales for Saturday night’s event.
“I was reading this thing today that said she was nervous about the PPV buys,” White said. “You know? It’s unbelievable. What other fighter gives a shit how many pay-per-view buys they’re going to do on Saturday? … She’s worried about the pay-per-views. Relax. Don’t be worried about the pay-per-view buys.”
White went on to call Rousey the hardest working person he’s encountered in his time as UFC boss.
“I like that about her, but I’m glad she feels she has to worry about the pay-per-view buys,” White said. “That’s one of the many things I love about Ronda Rousey. Ronda is, I’m telling you, the hardest worker I’ve ever seen, especially in this sport. The hardest worker I’ve ever seen, and she does everything the right way, man.”
LAS VEGAS — Gilbert Melendez is one of the more prominent free agents to leave the UFC and sign with a competing organization in many years.