Tag: 69

Dana White Reveals If Conor McGregor Will Retire After Floyd Mayweather Fight

MMA may be moving along at a snail’s pace during a ho-hum start to 2017, and a lot of that has to do with lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s absence from the octagon as he chases a lucrative boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, a bout that is reportedly at a standstill itself. Rumors recently arose from

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MMA may be moving along at a snail’s pace during a ho-hum start to 2017, and a lot of that has to do with lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s absence from the octagon as he chases a lucrative boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, a bout that is reportedly at a standstill itself.

Rumors recently arose from a Showtime Sports exec that talks of the bout had stalled because the UFC was worried their golden goose would promptly retire after securing a potential nine-figure payday against “Money,” but UFC President Dana White told TMZ that simply isn’t true in an interview this week:

“I saw a quote the other day from a guy from Showtime who said that I’m stalling the thing [Mayweather vs. McGregor] because I’m worried that McGregor will retire after this fight, which is completely false and not even close to being true.”

White suggested the combat sports world simply pump their brakes a bit and be patient, as a once-in-a-lifetime bout is difficult to navigate and will take a long time to make a reality:

“To get a deal like this done, this doesn’t happen in a couple months. It’s gonna be a tough deal to get done, if it gets done at all.”

Indeed a deal like that doesn’t get done in a couple months, as McGregor vs. Mayweather went from what seemed like a a laughing matter to something that looked like a near certainty just a couple months ago before talks died down.

But the UFC’s biggest star by far remains on the sidelines in a time where they need him the most, so it would serve White and his new bosses at WME-IIMG to figure something out before 2017 goes down as the worst year in promotional history. Do you have faith they’ll be able to turn things around?

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Vitor Belfort’s Retirement Fight Reportedly Set For UFC 212

UFC legend Vitor Belfort reportedly has his final fight in the octagon ready to go. After an initial report from Combate, MMA Fighting has confirmed the UFC is targeting ‘The Phenom’ versus Nate Marquardt for June 3’s UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in what will be Belfort’s last trip to the cage. Belfort

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UFC legend Vitor Belfort reportedly has his final fight in the octagon ready to go.

After an initial report from Combate, MMA Fighting has confirmed the UFC is targeting ‘The Phenom’ versus Nate Marquardt for June 3’s UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in what will be Belfort’s last trip to the cage.

Belfort is one of the fight game’s most transcendent stars as the only to have bridged the gap from the UFC’s “Dark Ages” to today’s evolved brand of mixed martial arts. The Brazilian knockout artist will go down as one of the most game competitors to compete in the octagon as well, having won a UFC Heavyweight Tournament title and the UFC light heavyweight title. He’s obviously seen better days in his decorated career, however, losing four of his last five bouts with all four losses coming by way of TKO.

Also a veteran of Pride and other MMA promotions, Belfort fought a who’s-who of legendary MMA talent and has only lost to the best in a 25-14 career that featured 18 knockout wins. A true testament to his warrior spirit, he’s fallen only to Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Alistair Overeem,  Jacare Souza, Gegard Mousasi, Chris Weidman, and most recently Kelvin Gastelum.

After losing to the rising TUF 17 winner this March, Belfort revealed his next fight would be his last after admitting his body could no longer compete with the best fighters in the world after so many years and wars.

That’s a long list of unforgettable UFC stars a fighter would be hard-pressed to even face half of throughout a career. Belfort also owns wins over Couture, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Rich Franklin, Luke Rockhold, two over Henderson, Heath Herring, and of course, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

It’s that unreal record which “The Phenom” should be most remembered for, but unfortunately two drug test failures (one in Pride and one out of competition in the UFC) cast a severe cloud over his legacy, the second of which ended his highly controversial run as the poster boy for testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT) when he knocked out Bisping, Rockhold, and Henderson with huge head kicks in the span of roughly 10 months in 2013.

True, he’ll always be equated with performance-enhancing drugs, yet his impact on the growing sport of MMA – throughout its frowned-upon early years and the public popularity of today – cannot be denied.

He’ll look to end his illustrious run on a high note against Marquardt, another middleweight who’s fought a long list of legends, in his native Rio de Janeiro on the Jose Aldo/Max Holloway-headlined event. He was rumored to potentially face former rival Anderson Silva, but “The Spider” shot down the fight by citing he wanted an opponent who won his last fight after Kelvin Gastelum was forced out of the bout for failing an out-of-competition USADA drug test for marijuana metabolites.

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UFC on FOX 24 Does Lowest Overnight Ratings In History

In a head-scratching turn of events, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson’s greatest triumph in the octagon has actually resulted in his worst-ever numbers for a FOX-aired main event at last night’s (Sat., April 15, 2017) UFC on FOX 24 from Kansas City, and also the worst-ever numbers for a UFC on FOX card. The card, which featured

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In a head-scratching turn of events, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson’s greatest triumph in the octagon has actually resulted in his worst-ever numbers for a FOX-aired main event at last night’s (Sat., April 15, 2017) UFC on FOX 24 from Kansas City, and also the worst-ever numbers for a UFC on FOX card.

The card, which featured Johnson tying respected former champion Anderson Silva’s record for consecutive title defenses at 10 and also the return of popular women’s strawweights Rose Namajunas and Michelle Waterson in the co-main event, still struggled mightily according to a report from MMA Fighting’s Dave Meltzer to the tune of a record-low 1.74 million viewers in overnight numbers and a .6 share in the paramount 18-49 demographic.

By comparison, last year’s UFC on FOX card at the same time of the year, which featured Glover Teixeira vs. Rashad Evans in the main event, drew 2.13 overnight viewers and a .8 share in the 18-49 demo, while 2015’s April UFC on FOX spearheaded by Luke Rockhold vs. Lyoto Machida drew even more at 2.43 million viewers and a .9 share in 18-49.

In an odd parallel for the event’s overall success, the event from the Sprint Center was the first-ever UFC card in Kansas City, and broke record numbers for attendance and gate in Missouri, something that UFC President Dana White highly touted after the card’s conclusion.

But that won’t help the overall appeal of the event, which is unfortunately an indictment of Johnson’s highly criticized drawing power, as his three prior UFC on FOX main events all did bigger numbers than his greatest win last night. It’s even more concerning because Namajunas, a heavily promoted contender dating to her early UFC days on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), and Waterson, who recently became the strawweight divisions darling after stealing Paige VanZant’s promotional freight train by submitting “12 Gauge,” squared off in the main event.

Waterson’s victory over VanZant in the main event of last December’s UFC on FOX 22 drew 2.69 million viewers in overnight ratings itself, almost a million more than Johnson vs. Reis garnered last night.

It could also be a damning critique on fan’s overall attitude for the UFC and their new owners in the highly lackluster start to 2017, something White said the WME-IMG-owned promotion would snap out of as they gained momentum heading into the summer.

One more further motivating factor in the poor ratings could be Johnson’s continued dominance, as he’s rarely ever even close to tested in his fights, which often air on FOX. One would think this would actually play in his favor as it has with past champs. Most likely it was a combination of several factors.

However, it’s still a tough look for the marketing “Mighty Mouse” as a true star if a record-tying dominant title defense gains the lowest ratings ever.

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Dana White Reacts To Woodley vs. ‘Wonderboy’ Scores

It wasn’t the most crowd-pleasing bout in UFC history, but welterweight champion Tyron Woodley retained his title over Stephen Thompson in a heavily questioned majority decision result in the main event of last night’s (Sat., March 4, 2017) UFC 209 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After the fight’s results were announced, fans and media

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It wasn’t the most crowd-pleasing bout in UFC history, but welterweight champion Tyron Woodley retained his title over Stephen Thompson in a heavily questioned majority decision result in the main event of last night’s (Sat., March 4, 2017) UFC 209 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

After the fight’s results were announced, fans and media members began to discuss the result, with many unsure how Woodley could win a decision while mostly moving backwards and throwing little volume while doing so for at least three rounds. UFC President Dana White agrees with them, as he told FOX Sports after the fight he had it scored in favor of ‘Wonderboy’:

“I had it 3-2. ‘Wonderboy.’”

When asked if he thought the fight might turn out to be another draw when the strange scores once again came up, White clarified the thought had never crossed his mind. He noted that one of the cageside judges scored the fifth and final round, where Woodley did do some heavy damage to Thompson, a dominant 10-8 for the champ, something White found to be ludicrous:

“I didn’t think it was gonna be a draw; I mean, from the fight that I watched, I had it 3-2 ‘Wonderboy,’ and one of the judges scored the last round 10-8, which is insane.”

But regardless of how he felt the fight should have been scored, White had to accept that Woodley won no matter what, and the fans will have to as well. Typically vague with the direction of the UFC’s plans for the deep welterweight division, White only confirmed that the win, which was Woodley’s first official defense, didn’t help his case too much:

“Tyron’s the champ, he won tonight. But you know, listen, me, the fans, everybody else – we’re not judges. The judges called him the winner tonight so he’s the winner. So we’ll see where we go from here. Listen, this fight didn’t help his case in any way, shape, or form. But I don’t know, we’ll see what happens from here.”

 

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Ronda Rousey Gets Downgrade For Next Acting Role

Her fighting career remains uncertain at best, but former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will be returning to acting soon. In a press release issued today (Tuesday, February 21, 2017), news came that Rousey will be featured on an upcoming episode of NBC’s “Blindspot” as a female prisoner called “Devon Penberthy”: Rousey will be

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Her fighting career remains uncertain at best, but former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will be returning to acting soon.

In a press release issued today (Tuesday, February 21, 2017), news came that Rousey will be featured on an upcoming episode of NBC’s “Blindspot” as a female prisoner called “Devon Penberthy”:

Rousey will be playing DEVON PENBERTHY: a female prison inmate who grew up in a working class family from the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and is serving time for transporting weapons across state lines. She is a tough, athletic woman who knows how to fight and handle a weapon.

While it sounds like a role obviously tailor made for Rousey, it can also be called a severe downgrade for the once-featured movie actress, who has played roles in high-budget feature films like “Fast & Furious 7,” “The Expendables 3” and, “Entourage.”

That should probably come as little surprise based on Rousey’s recent results in the octagon, where the once-feared champion has lost her last two bouts by devastating knockout to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. She’s yet to publicly address her 48-second defeat to Nunes at December 30’s UFC 207 except for a canned statement on social media, and it’s largely thought we may have seen the last of her in a MMA cage.

And in the cutthroat world of show business, one’s window to enjoy the limelight – just like it is in the fight game – can close in an instant, as rumors circled about that Rousey’s acting skills were beginning to become less and less desireable in the months after her upset loss to Holm.

She was supposed to star in Mark Wahlberg’s “Mile 22,” but it was rumored her part was reduced significantly due to her acting skills – or lack thereof. A “Roadhouse” remake starring Rousey has also been delayed multiple times with no official release date known.

“Rowdy” is now doing guest roles on cable network crime dramas,  quite the setback from being one of the most sought-after female faces in Hollywood less than two years ago. The MMA great doesn’t need the money, but it doesn’t seem like something that will occupy the competitive drive of the Olympic bronze medalist.

Hey, there’s still fighting, as many feel she could rekindle her past success if she’d just leave a certain downtrodden head coach.

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DOES DONALD “COWBOY” CERRONE HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST ROBBIE LAWLER AT UFC 205?

After all this talk of McGregor vs Diaz 2 (3, 4, or however many times they milk their cash cow), finally there’s a fight for the fans, the real fans.

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New York Just Got a Lot More Dangerous…

After all this talk of McGregor vs Diaz 2 (3, 4, or however many times they milk their cash cow), finally there’s a fight for the fans, the real fans.

UFC President Dana White announced Wednesday on a Cleveland Radio show that “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (27-11)  is set to fight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (31-7) at UFC 205 in New York. This a fight fan’s wet dream as these are two of the most game fighters and both have a point to prove.

Lawler’s quick turnaround shows he wants to distance himself from his most recent loss to current champion Tyron Woodley, and with the latest finish of Rick Story in a second round TKO, “Cowboy” wants to show the welterweight division that he’s not here to take part, he’s here to take over. Now does “Cowboy” have a chance? Sure he does, with early finishes in his last two fights it’s clear that Cerrone’s power has transferred over to the heavier division. Coupled with his Muay Thai skills, impressive Jiu Jitsu, and lanky body type (which gave Lawler problems against Carlos Condit), there’s no reason he shouldn’t be in it to win it. However, “Cowboy” has shown the tendency to let his nerves get the best of him and not show up for big fights, and MSG is probably the biggest stage there is. Also, Robbie Lawler 3.0 has a gas tank now and is a much smarter fighter. He puts together different techniques seamlessly and has incorporated knees and elbows into his already vicious attack…oh, and did we mention he still has that devastating left hand?

Both fighters are strikers that will be looking to end it early but can go the distance. Lawler comes into the 5th round like a bat out of hell and the fact that he’s been on the big stage with 2 title defenses, it’s going to be a long night for the Budweiser swigging “Cowboy.”

Edge: Robbie Lawler

What do you fight fans think of the upcoming bout? Is Cowboy up to the challenge, or will Robbie Lawler show his latest outing was a fluke?

UFC 205 is set for Nov 12, 2016 at Madison Square Garden N.Y., N.Y.,

Lionel Harris-Spence is a local drunk and part time writer for Cage Potato, and Generation Iron MMA. You can catch him screaming obscenities at a flat screen during most MMA events.

 

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