UFC fighters have voiced their opinions on Ray Borg’s removal from UFC 215 just a day-and-a-half before his scheduled fight with Demetrious Johnson. While Borg has denied that weight-cutting issues were the issue, all signs point to a difficult drop to 125 pounds, which is a weight that has caused Borg to be pulled from […]
UFC fighters have voiced their opinions on Ray Borg’s removal from UFC 215 just a day-and-a-half before his scheduled fight with Demetrious Johnson.
While Borg has denied that weight-cutting issues were the issue, all signs point to a difficult drop to 125 pounds, which is a weight that has caused Borg to be pulled from fights in the past.
Two prominent fellow UFC fighters took to Twitter, and both of them agreed on one thing: more weight classes.
get rid of the fucking weight cut @ufc !Guys are getting sick and ruining business.Add weight classes. Why are we waiting for someone to die
Women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, who is actually filling in as headliner after “Mighty Mouse” and Borg were pulled from the card, felt the same way after a particularly brutal weight cut prior to UFC 213:
“I was unable to (breathe) and felt off-balance from the pressure in my sinuses,” Nunes said of her weight cut for UFC 213.
Like Borg, Nunes didn’t make it to fight night at UFC 213, and instead will defend her belt against Valentina Schevchenko in the main event of UFC 215 on Saturday, the same main even though Borg was scheduled to fight in against Demetrious Johnson.
The issue of weight cutting has become such a problem that USADA now has rules regarding how much weight a fighter is allowed to cut based on their body weight.
Do you want to see more weight division ls in the UFC? Is weight cutting as big of an issue as it’s being made out to be?
Woman’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes bailed on her UFC 213 title defense against Valentina Schevchenko on the day of the fight, however her team insists that Nunes’ illness began days earlier. Naturally, UFC president Dana White criticized his champion for waiting until the very last minute to call off the fight, as he’s done with […]
Woman’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes bailed on her UFC 213 title defense against Valentina Schevchenko on the day of the fight, however her team insists that Nunes’ illness began days earlier.
Naturally, UFC president Dana White criticized his champion for waiting until the very last minute to call off the fight, as he’s done with other champs who have done similar in the past (Renan Barao, Jon Jones…).
Nunes’ team came to her defense in response to White’s criticism, while defending her choice to pull out of the fight due to the illness they witnessed first hand.
“She was already feeling it before the weigh-ins,” Nunes’ coach Conan Silveira said. “Las Vegas is too hot, so I think that contributed to her chronic sinusitis, and the weight cut doesn’t help since you dehydrate. I don’t want to blame the weight cut, but it definitely doesn’t help.
“That has happened before, but we managed to come back, but it wasn’t as hard as this time. People don’t understand that that’s a big responsibility. You invest a lot to get to this position. You have to be 100 percent.”
“Critics and dumb people get together and form an opinion that doesn’t exist,” Silveira said. “Even fighters saying she was scared. Amanda is not scared of anyone. She retired Miesha Tate, she retired Ronda Rousey. Not to mention that she already beat Valentina by unanimous decision. How did she become scared now? Know the facts before you have your opinion.”
“If any other fighter is ill, nobody says anything. Everyone has this right. But she doesn’t because the champion? She has no right to get ill?” Silveira responds. “He’s the promoter and has his opinion. That’s what he got from the doctor. Amanda went back to the hospital the next morning (Saturday) and did other tests and they saw she had chronic sinusitis and gave her antibiotics.”
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Silveira said the two will fight again as soon as Nunes feels fit to return and defend her title, although the UFC has not yet officially announced a new date as of today.
“The fight will happen. We want Valentina,” he said. “They will set a new date, and I’ll tell you this: the result won’t be any different than what we had planned. No disrespect to Valentina, she’s a great opponent and a great fight for Amanda, but our final answer will be on fight night, with Amanda defending her belt. That’s the best answer to those who talk too much.”
White had said that Nunes was cleared to fight by doctors, but insisted she was too ill to fight regardless. He later expanded on that view by stating Nunes’ withdrawal was ’90 percent mental’ and only 10 percent physical, something that’s an entirely speculative number that severed to drag one of his dominant current champions through the mud, even if she did essentially ruin one of the year’s biggest weekends the day of the main event bout.
Nunes and Schevchenko are believed to be fighting at UFC 215 in September, but the rematch has been made official as of yet.
Another PPV in the books, and another night of fights to analyze. UFC 213 had it all, thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and all without a real main event. While Amanda Nunes pulled out of her title defense the day of UFC 213, the show must go on, and go on it surely did. Let’s take […]
Another PPV in the books, and another night of fights to analyze.
UFC 213 had it all, thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and all without a real main event. While Amanda Nunes pulled out of her title defense the day of UFC 213, the show must go on, and go on it surely did.
Let’s take a look at the five biggest takeaways from UFC 213.
5. Travis Browne Loses Fourth Fight In A Row
Years ago, “Hapa” seemed to be destined to become heavyweight champion. His massive 6’6 frame and athleticism was simply unparalleled at the time.
Browne had a few setbacks, sure. A draw with Cheick Kongo, a TKO loss to Bigfoot following a mid-fight injury, but then “Hapa” really came into his own.
He dispatched Gonzaga and Josh Barnett with his patented hellbows in a minute flat, and overcame adversity to knockout Alistair Overeem during a spirited run just a few years back.
And then, something changed. Browne decided to join his paramour Ronda Rousey at Glendale Fighting Club, and he hasn’t looked the same since.
He honestly looked like he didn’t want to be there while headlining the preliminary portion of UFC 213 on FS1.
Olyneik, a submission specialist, dropped Hapa in the second round and submitted him, but Browne looked done well before the finish.
Now with just two wins in his past eight fights, the book appears to have closed on Hapa’s UFC career, to the point where Dana White said Browne ought to retire at the post-fight press conference.
What a dramatic downfall for a once-promising contender.
Only hours before the fight was set to go down, the MMA world was dealt a disappointing blow earlier today (Sat., July 8, 2017) when it was announced that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes had been hospitalized and was out of her title fight versus Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of tonight’s UFC […]
Only hours before the fight was set to go down, the MMA world was dealt a disappointing blow earlier today (Sat., July 8, 2017) when it was announced that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes had been hospitalized and was out of her title fight versus Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of tonight’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas.
The two top-ranked women’s bantamweights in the world by a solid margin, Nunes and Shevchenko have a long history with each other after their initial match at last year’s UFC 196, a fight which “The Lioness” won on the scorecards but was in trouble as she gassed in the third and final round, opening up the opportunity for “Bullet” to score enough that most feel she would have finished the fight where it a five-round affair.
That fight made the rematch one of the best and closely-contested affairs of a down 2017 for the UFC, so losing it naturally threw fans into an upheaval.
And Shevchenko understandably feels the same way, as she was set for the biggest fight of her long and decorated martial arts career after she won her way back to a rematch with Nunes, this time for the belt, by defeating Holly Holm and Julianna Pena. She released a statement containing her reaction on her official Instagram this evening:
“Today I am 100% ready for this fight. During the last 3 months of training I did everything to be in my best shape for this fight. Nunes couldn’t cut weight correctly and was hospitalized. She wanted to cut weight and recover rapidly to have the advantage. The end result, everything went wrong. Even though she was medically cleared to fight, she backed out. This fight was originally offered to take place in April and she would not accept then.
“I did my part and am very upset that I can’t fight for the title today on this great event. I am even more upset for all my dear fans who support me every time throughout the world and to those who traveled to see me fight here in Las Vegas live. I feel frustrated about what happened but I won’t relax, will not put down energy in my preparation, and will wait until the UFC gives us another date for the fight.”
Photo: Ron Chenoy for USA TODAY Sports
“Bullet” is admittedly frustrated at the situation, where the rising Russian had many fans coming from far-off locales to see her fight in Las Vegas, costing them much of their time and hard-earned money for what amounted to nothing more than disappointment.
The same could be said for herself, as she was headed for by far the biggest payday of her four-fight UFC career in a bout that could have seen her accomplish her ultimate goal. She should have another chance soon, however, as UFC President Dana White hinted that Nunes vs. Shevchenko II could headline September’s UFC 215 from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Either way, Nunes may have some weight cutting issues to deal with as her rival suggested, and it’s just not a good look for a UFC champion to be withdrawing the day of a high-profile summer pay-per-view (PPV(0 event. Will it motivate “Bullet” to come out even stronger when they finally do throw down in the rematch?
