UFC 276 is one of the most highly anticipated cards of the year and it just got put on a primetime stage for viewers. ABC Network announced on Friday that the July 2nd UFC pay-per-view will have the preliminary card aired on ABC. The UFC 276 prelims will be simulcast on ABC and ESPN, marking…
UFC 276 is one of the most highly anticipated cards of the year and it just got put on a primetime stage for viewers.
ABC Network announced on Friday that the July 2nd UFC pay-per-view will have the preliminary card aired on ABC. The UFC 276 prelims will be simulcast on ABC and ESPN, marking the first time that ABC will cover a primetime UFC event.
#UFC276 will be host to the first-ever primetime UFC event on ABC
ABC last featured a UFC event with the Max Holloway/Calvin Kattar-headlined card back in January 2021. This was a UFC Fight Night event and took place during the day.
UFC 276 will cap off the UFC’s International Fight Week festivities in Las Vegas, NV. The card will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier.
In the co-main event, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will face Holloway in a title trilogy. Volkanovski earned a unanimous decision win over Holloway at UFC 245 before winning the rematch in a close matchup at UFC 251.
The card also features the return of bantamweight star Sean O’Malley against Pedro Munhoz, as well as Miesha Tate’s flyweight debut against Lauren Murphy.
The prelims will begin at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST on ABC and the ESPN family of networks.
What fights are you most excited to watch at UFC 276?
With two of the three scheduled events on the first leg of UFC Fight Island for 2021 complete the event appears to have been an overwhelming success. In a post by ESPN’s press room, some stats were shared from the first event on Fight Island that also marked the UFC’s return to network television airing […]
With two of the three scheduled events on the first leg of UFC Fight Island for 2021 complete the event appears to have been an overwhelming success.
ABC's first live @ufc telecast delivers viewership highs for #UFCFightNight: Holloway vs. Kattar & #UFC257 Countdown
In a post by ESPN’s press room, some stats were shared from the first event on Fight Island that also marked the UFC’s return to network television airing on the ABC network in the US.
UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar became the second most viewed fight night main event since 2019 while the UFC 257 Countdown broke a long-standing record becoming the most viewed UFC countdown telecast of the past decade.
UFC 257 is set to host the much-anticipated return of Conor McGregor who has yet to compete since he made short work of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in January of 2020.
The first card to air on ABC was the fight night between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar. This fight produced an intense five-round striking clinic by the former champion Max Holloway who emerged victorious with some of the most one-sided scorecards in UFC history. Outside of the main event, the entire main card delivered with three straight KO’s to open followed by a three-round war between veterans Matt Brown and Carlos Condit.
Following this, a mid week card was held showcasing a matchup in the Welterweight division between Michael Chiesa and Neil Magny, however, this card did not air on the broadcasting network.
While this move to ABC may have only been for the single event, after pulling in record numbers as it has it is likely the UFC will return to the network in the future.
Fight Island is set to close out this weekend as UFC 257 sees Conor McGregor take on Dustin Poirier in the main event. According to UFC President Dana White, the upcoming PPV event is trending to exceed all expectations and become one of the biggest events the UFC has put on since COVID.
The Association of Boxing Commission and Combative Sports has agreed to sanction UFC 249. UFC 249’s location hasn’t been officially disclosed but a report claims that it’ll be held inside the Tachi Palace Casino Resort in California. …
The Association of Boxing Commission and Combative Sports has agreed to sanction UFC 249. UFC 249’s location hasn’t been officially disclosed but a report claims that it’ll be held inside the Tachi Palace Casino Resort in California. UFC 249 had to undergo a location change due to the coronavirus pandemic. The promotion would be exempt […]
Conor McGregor caused quite the stir after jumping into the cage at Bellator 187 in Dublin last Friday and getting into an altercation with referee Marc Goddard. He issued a formal apology online today but stuck to the stance that he was simply angered that Goddard would even have considered letting Ward’s dazed opponent John Redmond continue. […]
Conor McGregor caused quite the stir after jumping into the cage at Bellator 187 in Dublin last Friday and getting into an altercation with referee Marc Goddard.
He issued a formal apology online today but stuck to the stance that he was simply angered that Goddard would even have considered letting Ward’s dazed opponent John Redmond continue.
While McGregor may have seen it as simply coming in to celebrate an SBG teammate’s big win, the powers that be saw differently. So much so that the sanctioning bodies that be are pushing for the UFC lightweight champion to be punished, essentially targeting his possible inclusion on the upcoming UFC 219 card.
ABC President Mike Mazzulli, who was cageside during McGregor’s outburst, claimed the brash Irishman has already been sanctioned by the UFC during an appearance on The MMA Hour:
“They already sanctioned him,” Mazzulli said. “So they did hit him. He’s not gonna be making any more money this year and I commend UFC for that. I really do.”
“There’s a zero tolerance for that,” Mazzulli said. “That’s why I said when you are a professional at that level, you have to handle yourself as a professional. There’s a lot of people that are looking up to you and respecting you as an individual, as a fighter. Don’t get me wrong, Conor McGregor is a great, great fighter. I’ve watched every single fight of his and that’s what I do, this is my job.
“But when it comes to what he did to Mr. Goddard and [Bellator employee] Michael Johnson, what would possess somebody to do that? Like I said, if it was at Mohegan, I guarantee you that the Mohegan Tribe Police Department would be removing Mr. Conor. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
Mazzulli continued on to offer his stance that McGregor was not bigger than the sport as a whole despite his behavior suggesting otherwise. In closing, Mazzulli said that McGregor was simply acting incredibly unprofessional, which was the stark opposite of how a champion on his level should behave at an event:
“Mr. McGregor is not bigger than MMA,” Mazzulli said. “We all know that. Mr. McGregor may not be around in five years, but MMA will still be. I think that is very important to understand, that fighter safety is the most important thing in the world. Because without fighter safety, this sport would not proceed to the next level like it always has.”
“First of all, I’m never comfortable when somebody takes it upon himself to act like a 5-year-old and jump in the cage,” Mazzulli said. “The bottom line is he was unprofessional, he was disrespectful and it was not acceptable in my eyes. In any situation. I don’t care if it’s anybody else jumping in the cage. We don’t do that as a professional.”
MMAFighting.com reached out to McGregor’s camp upon getting word of Mazzulli’s comment, to which his agent Audie Attar said Mazzulli’s claims were “not true.”
McGregor has not been officially added to UFC 219, but there have been several rumors that a fight between the lightweight champion and interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson could headline the December 30th event in Las Vegas.
Do you believe McGregor should be punished for his actions at Bellator 187, and if so, should it go as far to remove him from potentially the biggest UFC pay-per-view event of the year?
The unified rules of MMA certainly did a great job of making the sport somewhat ‘safer’ for fighters, but did leave a number of grey areas that were open to discussion. The term ‘grounded fighter’ has led to much debate, with many combatants exposing the fact that they needed to only have one hand touching […]
The unified rules of MMA certainly did a great job of making the sport somewhat ‘safer’ for fighters, but did leave a number of grey areas that were open to discussion. The term ‘grounded fighter’ has led to much debate, with many combatants exposing the fact that they needed to only have one hand touching the canvas in order to avoid kicks or knees to the head. Quite a frustrating rule, but perhaps the least in terms of influence of a fight’s outcome.
We’ve seen quite a few fights ended in no-contest or disqualification due to knees and kicks to the head of grounded fighters. This area of fighting under the unified rules, as well as eye pokes and the criteria for scoring fights were all under the microscope this week as the ABC (Association of Boxing Commissions) approved a number of definite rule changes.
Say goodbye to eye pokes, hopefully…
There had been some controversy over eye pokes, so the ABC ruled that even holding out the hand with fingers extended in standing position is now to be considered a foul. Also the scoring criteria now has definite descriptions of how to score rounds 10-9, 10-8 or 10-7. Damage, octagon control and effective striking have all been explained fully. We can also wave goodbye to female tank top in the octagon, as the ABC rules that only short sleeve rash guards are now acceptable.
A grounded fighter is defined as: Any part of the body, other than a single hand and feet touching the fighting area floor. To be grounded, both hands and feet, palm/fist down, and/or any other body part must be touching the fighting area floor. At this time, kicks or knees to the head will not be allowed.
Extended fingers
In the standing position, a fighter that moves their arm(s) toward their opponent with an open hand, fingers pointing at the opponent’s face/eyes, will be a foul. Referees are to prevent this dangerous behavior by communicating clearly to fighters. Fighters are directed to close their fists or point their fingers straight in the air when reaching toward their opponent.
Female clothing
Female competitors must wear a short-sleeved (above the elbow) or sleeveless form-fitting rash guard and/or sports bra. No loose-fitting tops are allowed. Female competitors will follow the same requirements for bottom coverings as the male competitors, minus the requirement for groin protection.
“THE ABC IS CHANGING….oh…the MMA judging…No, no, that’s cool too…”
As some of you may know, I am working towards my master’s degree when I’m not writing for Cage Potato and currently preparing to defend my thesis. Because of this, I have been dragged into more semantics arguments than a person should ever admit to. I’ve had to defend every little “a” that could have been a “the” with Griffinesque tenacity – and I haven’t even defended the damn thing yet. Anyone who has ever attended graduate school can sympathize.
So when The Association Of Boxing Commissions (ABC) announced their newest revisions to the MMA Judging criteria at their annual conference, I read the document with skepticism. The fact that one of the new revisions removed the word “damage” from the scoring criteria partially so that opponents of MMA sanctioning can no longer point to the rulebook and say “LOOK, DAMAGING YOUR OPPONENT IS A RULE!” didn’t exactly help matters. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that some of the rule changes are actually pretty damn important.
“THE ABC IS CHANGING….oh…the MMA judging…No, no, that’s cool too…”
As some of you may know, I am working towards my master’s degree when I’m not writing for Cage Potato and currently preparing to defend my thesis. Because of this, I have been dragged into more semantics arguments than a person should ever admit to. I’ve had to defend every little “a” that could have been a “the” with Griffinesque tenacity – and I haven’t even defended the damn thing yet. Anyone who has ever attended graduate school can sympathize.
So when The Association Of Boxing Commissions (ABC) announced their newest revisions to the MMA Judging criteria at their annual conference, I read the document with skepticism. The fact that one of the new revisions removed the word “damage” from the scoring criteria partially so that opponents of MMA sanctioning can no longer point to the rulebook and say “LOOK, DAMAGING YOUR OPPONENT IS A RULE!” didn’t exactly help matters. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that some of the rule changes are actually pretty damn important.
For starters, those of you who complain about guys backpedaling their ways to victory (I’m looking directly at you, Nick Diaz fans) will be happy to know that ”effective defense” has been removed as a criterion for scoring a round. While Kalib Starnes would be pretty bummed about this one if he was still competing, I say good riddance. Honestly, I doubt many of you reading this even knew what “effective defense” meant in the first place. Frankly, I doubt anyone – judges included – agreed on whether it was more important than “aggression” when deciding which fighter won the round, or whether “effective defense” was part of “cage control” or not. It was far too open for debate to begin with, so taking it out of the rules should help judges make more consistent decisions.
Most importantly, striking and grappling are now given equal weight. I think we can all agree that it’s about time for this one. In theory, this means no more decisions like Johnson vs. Torres where the guy on top wins the round, regardless of how many submission attempts he’s trying to defend against. In theory, this puts effective striking and effective grappling on the same level. In theory, this may be the most significant rule change since the implementation of weight classes.
There’s just one problem that I see:
Too obvious?
This criteria is still in the hands of judges who, let’s face it, don’t always know what they’re even looking for in the first place. Take Cecil Peoples’ infamous “Leg kicks don’t finish fights” monstrosity: How do any of these rule changes change the fact that a person who is allowed to judge our sport doesn’t consider a leg kick to be an effective strike? They don’t. While the rule changes are a welcomed improvement when in the hands of judges who know what they’re looking for, they’re still pretty meaningless in the hands of judges who simply aren’t qualified.
In fairness though, the new revisions also clarify what constitutes effective striking, grappling, aggression and cage control. Likewise, the new revisions also tell judges how to score rounds as well (i.e. what warrants a 10-10 round; etc.), so perhaps we’ll start to see some more consistency in that department as well.
Time will tell how these rule changes actually affect the outcomes of fights, but there’s reason to be both optimistic and cynical as an MMA fan. The question now is, what side are you on?
With two of the three scheduled events on the first leg of UFC Fight Island for 2021 complete the event appears to have been an overwhelming success. In a post by ESPN’s press room, some stats were shared from the first event on Fight Island that also marked the UFC’s return to network television airing […]![27xRS[1]](http://cdn.lowkickmma.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/27xRS1.jpg)
