Daniel Cormier’s comments echo the sentiment held by many that the UFC’s light heavyweight division’s talent pool is not as strong as it once was. The UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will engage in a battle with Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in the UFC 210 main event-rematch on April 8 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, […]
Daniel Cormier’s comments echo the sentiment held by many that the UFC’s light heavyweight division’s talent pool is not as strong as it once was. The UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will engage in a battle with Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in the UFC 210 main event-rematch on April 8 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, […]
Former light heavyweight champion, and current interim title holder (I think) Jon Jones is no stranger to controversy. The pregnant woman hitting, coke snorting, PED taking (allegedly), MMA God has had a rough couple of years, to say the least. But somehow, the Muay Thai prodigy keeps rising to the top. The media forgives him, the fans forgive him, and the fighters forgive him too…right? Wrong. It seems the who’s who of the light heavyweight division have had enough, and are calling for the ex-champ to get to the back of the line.
Former light heavyweight champion, and current interim title holder (I think) Jon Jones is no stranger to controversy. The pregnant woman hitting, coke snorting, PED taking (allegedly), MMA God has had a rough couple of years, to say the least. But somehow, the Muay Thai prodigy keeps rising to the top. The media forgives him, the fans forgive him, and the fighters forgive him too…right? Wrong. It seems the who’s who of the light heavyweight division have had enough, and are calling for the ex-champ to get to the back of the line.
In recent interviews both #2 ranked lightweight of the world Alexander Gustafsson and current champ Daniel Cormier agree that not only is Jon Jones out of the title picture, he shouldn’t even be competing against the top 3.
“It wouldn’t be fair, giving him a title shot,” Gustafsson said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I’m not saying I’m going to get it. I’m just saying, after everything that happened, it’s not fair to other fighters too, who’ve been working their asses off and they’ve been fighting each other. So, not a title shot right away. Just give him a fun fight first and that’s it.” – Alexander Gustafsson
Now Gustafsson has a real point. While Jones has been messing up for things which are well within his control, other fighters of that division have been keeping their nose clean (pun definitely intended). Cormier claims he had a heart to heart with #1 contender Anthony Johnson and they both agree that Jones has no business fighting for the title. Cormier going as far as calling for the interim title to be stripped.
”Now one thing I completely disagree with, completely – and I don’t care who hears it – why in the hell would Jon still be the interim champion? That makes no sense. That makes absolutely no sense. They should not be fighting for an interim championship. That makes no sense at all. I don’t even know why he would still be the interim champion. His ass was disqualified. Take that freakin’ belt off of him. That’s stupid.” – Daniel Cormier
This whole conversation was sparked of course by Dana White hinting at an interim title fight between Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson. While any fight fan would salivate at the thought of seeing that fight, if they didn’t give it to Jon for his past mishaps. One could only be but so mad. I completely agree on the interim title being pretty much a paper weight while the current champion is still active. It makes no sense. But as far as stripping, we’ll pretty much have to wait until the verdicts out on his failed USADA test.
“I hope to God Dana misspoke, because that makes absolutely no sense. They aren’t fighting for some interim title if they fight. They can fight in the main event because it’s a big fight but it’s a fun fight. If they fight, they fight to determine the number one contender it’s not some interim championship fight. That makes no sense at all… You’d have an interim champion defending the interim championship while the actual champion is actually still there. That makes no sense whatsoever.”
While it may seem obvious why the top lightweights in the world wouldn’t want the G.O.A.T. (arguably) to be competing, their gripes are certainly warranted. With his most recent positive testing of Hydroxy-clomiphene, an anti-estrogenic agent, and a Letrozole metabolite, an aromatase inhibitor, he makes it easy for the rest of the division to call him out.
While it’s freaky to see fighter of the same class in this type of union, what really sold me was Gustafsson. He’s a mild mannered dude with just as much integrity as fighting skills, so if he’s speaking out there must be something wrong. Unlike Cormier, I don’t think he’s afraid of Jones, he’s the only one that ever really made him look human.
Jones still has to stand before a USADA judge to determine his faith. If he’s acquitted, one can guess he’ll stand to lose 6 months from the time the issue was found; if found guilty, Jones gets at least one year from USADA and possible further sentencing from the NAC.
Check out Alexander Gustafsson’s full interview below:
Stay tuned to hear all the crazy hi-jinks Jon Jones does next. What do you guys think, do you care about Jon Jones paying a price for his actions, or do you just want to see him fight?
With UFC 197 around the corner, the Zuffa-based company has slowly been hyping up its marketing strategy for the anticipated main event. The UFC has released a free fight on YouTube of Cormier’s successful title defense over Alexander Gustafsson at UFC…
With UFC 197 around the corner, the Zuffa-based company has slowly been hyping up its marketing strategy for the anticipated main event. The UFC has released a free fight on YouTube of Cormier’s successful title defense over Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192 in 2015.
It was a back-and-forth match as Cormier squeezed by the Swedish native by a split-decision victory. Both fighters would earn a “fight of the night” bonus for their entertaining bout. Alexander Gustafsson is still on the sidelines with an injury and Cormier will face Jon Jones on April 23rd in a highly-anticipated rematch. Watch the fight below!
(I have seen the future of Swedish MMA and it is pale, polite and comes with a nasty uppercut)
No one really disappointed in the UFC’s first ever event in Sweden Saturday. Swedish headliner Alexander Gustafsson won an entertaining and technical stand-up striking battle against Thiago Silva. For his part, Silva was coming off of a one-year suspension from a failed drug test and was a late replacement for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira but found success in spots throughout the fight and never stopped pushing the pace and coming forward, no matter how much damage he took.
It’s always fun to see what crowds in new UFC territory are like and the Swedish fans proved to be a pleasing combination. Think the soccer chants of British and Brazilian fans with the polite appreciation of Japanese fans (but slightly louder). When one of their own won, they roared. When one of theirs lost, they applauded the victor for their honest effort. Old dad was on the scene last week and did a great job writing about Swedish attitudes.
As he wrote, Silva was initially one of the few people to get booed in Sweden. But that had more to do with his assumed steroid use than his nationality. And by the end of his strong-willed battle against Gustafsson, the Swedish fans cheered Silva for his aggression.
(I have seen the future of Swedish MMA and it is pale, polite and comes with a nasty uppercut)
No one really disappointed in the UFC’s first ever event in Sweden Saturday. Swedish headliner Alexander Gustafsson won an entertaining and technical stand-up striking battle against Thiago Silva. For his part, Silva was coming off of a one-year suspension from a failed drug test and was a late replacement for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira but found success in spots throughout the fight and never stopped pushing the pace and coming forward, no matter how much damage he took.
It’s always fun to see what crowds in new UFC territory are like and the Swedish fans proved to be a pleasing combination. Think the soccer chants of British and Brazilian fans with the polite appreciation of Japanese fans (but slightly louder). When one of their own won, they roared. When one of theirs lost, they applauded the victor for their honest effort. Old dad was on the scene last week and did a great job writing about Swedish attitudes.
As he wrote, Silva was initially one of the few people to get booed in Sweden. But that had more to do with his assumed steroid use than his nationality. And by the end of his strong-willed battle against Gustafsson, the Swedish fans cheered Silva for his aggression.
Gustafsson was well-prepared to deal with Silva’s “in your face” style. At the opening horn Silva rushed Gustafsson but the young Swede stayed clear of danger and used footwork to circle out. It was typical of how the fight would go. Though, both fighters each landed their share of bombs. Just a few seconds into the first round, Gustafsson took advantage of Silva rushing head first into him by countering with an uppercut that floored the Brazilian. Even though the lanky Swede used his long jab well throughout the fight to keep Silva at bay, the uppercut became his most reliable punch over the course of three rounds. And, just as he did in the first round after the uppercut, Silva responded to each big Gustafsson strike landed by gathering his wits and getting back in his face. When Gustafsson’s constant lateral movement didn’t keep him out of harm’s way, his solid chin kept him in the game. Silva landed more than a few big overhand rights that landed flush on the Swede’s chin. As the fight closed, Gustafsson seemed to know he was in the lead and tried to run out the clock. Silva, though visibly tired, finished strong in his trademark fashion (think his bout with Rashad Evans), landing hard roundhouse leg kicks and one last big overhand right.
It wasn’t enough, however, and Gustafsson won the unanimous decision (30-27, twice, and 29-28).
Gustafsson continues to climb the ranks at light heavyweight. Perhaps more importantly, he dealt with the spotlight remarkably well against an elite opponent. If he continues to win it seems likely we could see Gustafsson challenge for the belt in the next year. It’s unlikely that even a title fight will put him through the emotional grinder and place the amount of pressure that headlining his nation’s first ever UFC event did. He passed that test with flying colors, staying composed and sticking to a smart strategy. Gustafsson moved to 14-1 while Silva dipped to 14-3.
At this point I should probably be surprised at how good Brian Stann is at making other strikers fight his type of fight. And a Stann type of fight is one heavy on brawling with heavy shots being traded. Alessio Sakara could not withstand Stann’s onslaught in their co-main event and got knocked clean out early in the first round of their bout. Stann started the fight bobbing and weaving behind a type of peek-a-boo guard. When he had closed the distance, Stann unleased with heavy shots to the body and head in nice dirty boxing fashion. Sakara fell to his back and Stann finished with him stiff shots from inside his guard. One shot put Sakara out and another woke him up. The referee wisely recognized that the fight was over and stepped in. It seems like the only time Stann will lose is when he’s put against a grappler. As long as he gets paired with fellow sluggers, he should continue to impress. As it stands, his record is 12-4 and Sakara’s second consecutive loss moves him to 15-9.
Siyar Bahadurzada shocked everyone with a quick KO over Paulo Thiago just as Thiago did to Josh Koscheck a couple years ago. The Afghanistan-born Bahadurzada threw a wide left hook and a short right as Thiago waded in face-first seconds into the first round. The left hand missed but the right hand clipped Thiago right on the chin, knocking him out cold and dropping him face-first onto the mat. Bahadurzada moves to 21-4 while Thiago slides to 14-4.
Dennis Siver and Diego Nunes went after each other, mostly on the feet, for three rounds. The pair combined cautious rang-finding with dramatic spinning kick and fist attacks for about the first round and a half. Siver continues to look more confident in his grappling, as he attempted multiple takedowns, but was unable to finish them. His aggression and slight edge in accuracy ended up giving Siver the advantage on the scorecards and he won a unanimous decision. Siver improved his record to 20-8 and Nunes fell to 17-3.
In other main-card action, John Maguire beat DeMarques Johnson with an arm bar in the second round and Brad Pickett submitted Damacio Page with a rear naked choke in the second stanza of their fight. James Head also took out fan favorite Papy Abedi with a rear naked choke in the first round of their welterweight bout.
More results and an amazing photo gallery from UFC photographer Josh Hedges below
Preliminary fight results:
Cyrille Diabate defeats Tom DeBlass via majority decision
Francis Carmont defeats Magnus Cedenblad via rear naked choke at 1:42 of the second round
Reza Madadi submits Yoislandy Izquierdo with a guillotine choke at 1:28 of the second round
Simeon Thoresen beats Besam Yousef with a rear naked choke at 2:36 of the second round
Jason Young wins a unanimous decision over Eric Wisely
“I’m going to prove once and for all that I am the #1 Light Heavyweight in the world from theÅlandIslands to the Faroe Islands.”
It looks like the UFC’s first venture to Sweden will be a success, at least as far as live gate revenue is concerned. According to a report from MMAViking.com, tickets to the April 14th card sold out in under an hour. As usual, UFC Fight Club members and UFC Newsletter subscribers were given first crack at tickets before they were sold to the general public.
You know as well as I do how hard it is to get people to shell out their hard-earned krona so close to Walpurgis Night, which only emphasizes how popular the sport has become in Nordic sphere. Though the capacity of Sweden’s Ericsson Globe Arena tops out at 14,000 seats, the fast sellout is reminiscent of the organization’s previous trips to Canada and Brazil.
Full line-up for the event after the jump:
“I’m going to prove once and for all that I am the #1 Light Heavyweight in the world from theÅlandIslands to the Faroe Islands.”
It looks like the UFC’s first venture to Sweden will be a success, at least as far as live gate revenue is concerned. According to a report from MMAViking.com, tickets to the April 14th card sold out in under an hour. As usual, UFC Fight Club members and UFC Newsletter subscribers were given first crack at tickets before they were sold to the general public.
You know as well as I do how hard it is to get people to shell out their hard-earned krona so close to Walpurgis Night, which only emphasizes how popular the sport has become in Nordic sphere. Though the capacity of Sweden’s Ericsson Globe Arena tops out at 14,000 seats, the fast sellout is reminiscent of the organization’s previous trips to Canada and Brazil.
Full line-up for the event:
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Brian Stann vs. Alessio Sakara
Paulo Thiago vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
DaMarques Johnson vs. John Maguire
Brad Pickett vs. Damacio Page
Akira Corassani vs. Jason Young
Magnus Cedenblad vs. Francis Carmont
Papy Abedi vs. James Head
Besam Yousef vs. Simeon Thoresen
Jorgen Kruth vs. Cyrille Diabate
