Tag: Breaking News

Glover Teixeira Gets Next Shot at the Title, Believes He Can KO Jon Jones

Prior to Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 28 in Brazil, Glover Teixeira was promised a title shot if he looked impressive in his bout against Ryan Bader.
Following a first-round knockout where Teixeira put Bader away with a quick right-left combin…

Prior to Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 28 in Brazil, Glover Teixeira was promised a title shot if he looked impressive in his bout against Ryan Bader.

Following a first-round knockout where Teixeira put Bader away with a quick right-left combination, the Brazilian, who’s on a 20-fight win streak, found out that the aforementioned promise will be fulfilled.

UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik stated at the post-fight press conference that UFC president Dana White confirmed that Teixeira will receive the next shot at the belt against the winner of the upcoming fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.

“Yeah that’s confirmed,” Zelaznik said. “Dana’s confirmed it, Joe (Silva) confirmed it, Glover gets the next shot.”

Jones will face Gustafsson in just a few weeks at UFC 165, and the winner of that fight will take on Teixeira to defend the light heavyweight belt.

Teixeira has been on a tear since joining the UFC in 2012, winning all five fights inside the Octagon and finishing four of those opponents inside the distance.

With the title shot now looming overhead, Teixeira is ecstatic to face whoever has the title, but he would like to face the man currently ranked as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.

When breaking down the UFC 165 main event, Teixeira believes that’s who he will face when it’s all said and done.

“To tell you the truth I don’t have any preference, my dream is to get the belt,” Teixeira said. “But I believe Jon Jones will win, that’s the way I see it, and I definitely prefer him as well in a certain manner because Jon Jones has a better name, he’s been a champ for a long time, so whoever goes to face him has to be very focused, very well trained, and to look at his game to make him disappear.

“Obviously the knockout power, I believe I have it and if I hit him, he’s going to go down.”

Teixeira can now travel to Toronto in a few weeks and watch the main event with a vested interest knowing that he’s going to face the winner with the UFC light heavyweight title on the line.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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UFC Fight Night 28 Results: Teixeira vs. Bader Round-by-Round Recap and Analysis

UFC Fight Night 28 was over and done with by 10 p.m. on the East Coast. That’s usually about the time the main card gets going on pay-per-view.
So you can’t be blamed if you missed the event, which was headlined by light heavyweights Glover Teixeira an…

UFC Fight Night 28 was over and done with by 10 p.m. on the East Coast. That’s usually about the time the main card gets going on pay-per-view.

So you can’t be blamed if you missed the event, which was headlined by light heavyweights Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

How did the fight unfold? Here’s a round-by-round recap. We’ll update as the action unfolds.

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Chael Sonnen vs. Rashad Evans Confirmed for UFC 167 in November

Chael Sonnen wanted to co-main event the UFC 167 card as a part of the UFC’s 20th anniversary show, and he’ll get his wish as he faces another former light heavyweight champion in November.
Sonnen confirmed during the Fox Sports 1 pre-fight show ahead …

Chael Sonnen wanted to co-main event the UFC 167 card as a part of the UFC’s 20th anniversary show, and he’ll get his wish as he faces another former light heavyweight champion in November.

Sonnen confirmed during the Fox Sports 1 pre-fight show ahead of UFC Fight Night 28 in Brazil that he will face Rashad Evans in November in a light heavyweight contest.

“The most well-dressed man, future Hall of Famer, former world champion Rashad Evans,” Sonnen said during the pre-show. “He will be fighting on Nov. 16 against the man with the biggest arms, the greatest charms and does all the harm. You simply know him as Chael P.”

Sonnen was lobbying hard for the UFC 167 card ever since he tapped out former light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC Fight Night 26, which helped launch the Fox Sports 1 network.

Originally, Sonnen appeared ready to face Pride legend Wanderlei Silva in a grudge match after the two fighters had exchanged words for each other a number of times in different interviews.

Unfortunately, Silva is suffering from a back injury that will keep him out of action until at least January 2014, so that eliminated him from fighting Sonnen in November.

Instead, Sonnen turned his attention to a good friend and co-worker in Evans, who he routinely shares space with during the Fox Sports pre- and post-shows as well as UFC Tonight (which Sonnen co-hosts).

Evans was more than happy to accept, and he will look to tack another win on his record when he faces Sonnen following his last win over Dan Henderson at UFC 161 in June.

Sonnen and Evans will battle at 205 pounds in a fight that is expected to serve as the co-main event on the UFC 167 fight card.

The main event will pit welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre against current top contender Johny Hendricks in a battle for the 170-pound title.

More fights for the UFC 167 fight card are expected to be announced in the coming weeks as the UFC moves closer toward the celebration of 20 years in business as the top MMA promotion in the world.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

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Erik Koch ‘Likely’ to Move to 155 Pounds, Brutal Weight Cut Akin to James Irvin

A year ago, Erik Koch was on the cusp of a title shot for the UFC featherweight belt, but now after two tough losses in a row, the Milwaukee based fighter in contemplating a weight class change.
Now typically whenever a fighter is moving weight classes…

A year ago, Erik Koch was on the cusp of a title shot for the UFC featherweight belt, but now after two tough losses in a row, the Milwaukee based fighter in contemplating a weight class change.

Now typically whenever a fighter is moving weight classes, it’s usually down a division to maximize weight cutting techniques as well as diet, while increasing strength and size against other fighters.

For Koch, his current problems at featherweight stem from how much weight he already has to cut, so while the final decision is still in the air, it appears his next trip to the Octagon will be as a lightweight.

“The next move, we’re talking about it right now, I like to take a few days off and let everybody process it. This is going to be a team decision, me and Erik and Duke (Roufus) are going to get on the horn with each other and see and kind of go from there the best situation for Erik. I think a move to 155 is pretty likely,” Koch’s manager Mike Roberts said. “That cut for Erik is horrible.

“It’s worse for anybody I’ve ever seen other than when James Irvin cut to 185. It’s literally taxing on his body. Erik is lean at 170 pounds walking around, and I just think the cut is a little bit too much for him.”

For those that don’t remember, Irvin is a former UFC fighter who fought most of his career at either heavyweight or light heavyweight, but at one point in 2010 he made the cut down to middleweight. At the weigh ins, Irvin was a shell of himself, shriveled down and looking miserable as he shed the additional 20 pounds to move down from light heavyweight to middleweight.

In the history of the UFC, Irvin’s appearance at middleweight on appearance alone was one of the most brutal experiments of weight cutting gone wrong.

While Koch looks like a lean and trimmed competitor at 145 pounds, Roberts said that the fighter typically walks around nearly 40 pounds heavier, and the move to lightweight will just allow him to be healthier and realistically, he’ll already be even bigger than the man who just won the title last Saturday in Milwaukee.

“He walks around at 185 no problem. He’s way bigger than Anthony Pettis,” Roberts said. “We’ll meet and we’ll sit down and figure out what’s the best move as a team together, but right now we’re all leaning towards 155 and then we just need to include the UFC in that conversation.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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Rashad Evans: Fight with Chael Sonnen ‘Going to Happen’ at UFC 167

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans remains extremely confident he will square off with fellow FUEL TV analyst Chael Sonnen at UFC 167 on November 16. 
In an appearance on Alchemist Radio, “Suga” said the pivotal light heavyweight m…

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans remains extremely confident he will square off with fellow FUEL TV analyst Chael Sonnen at UFC 167 on November 16. 

In an appearance on Alchemist Radio, “Suga” said the pivotal light heavyweight matchup is “definitely something the UFC wants.” 

“That fight is going to happen,” Evans said. “ … We’re still talking about it, but it’s definitely something the UFC wants. It’s something that we want to do well. If it does happen, it will happen on November 16th. Hopefully it’ll be in the co-main event slot. I definitely think its co-main event worthy, honestly speaking no matter where it falls, it’s not about ego for me, and it’s going to be a fight the people want to see. That’s the most important thing. There are things sometimes where a lot of people get caught up in ego and their fight has to be main event, but it really doesn’t matter to me.”

“The American Gangster” issued a friendly challenge to Evans last week on Twitter, which the 33-year-old promptly accepted.  

Evans, the co-founder of the Blackzilians training camp, located in Boca Raton, Florida, has won five of his past seven bouts, most recently defeating ex-Pride and Strikeforce titleholder Dan Henderson at UFC 161 in June.

Prior to that victory, Evans had dropped back-to-back decisions to divisional champ Jon Jones and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Sonnen is riding high following a submission win over a former Pride and UFC champion in Mauricio Rua, tapping the Brazilian brawler with a guillotine choke in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 26 encounter last month.

The Reign Training Center fighter is just 3-3 in his past six matchups, though he has an impressive 8-1 mark in his past nine non-title bouts.

UFC 167, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, is headlined by a welterweight title clash between Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks and currently does not have a co-headline fight booked.

 

UPDATE: 4:10 P.M. Eastern Time

MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle reports that Sonnen vs. Evans is official for UFC 167.

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com. 

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TJ Grant Not Taking ‘The Coward’s Way Out,’ Plans on Finishing Anthony Pettis

The Canadian lightweight was pulled from the main event in last weekend’s card after he suffered a concussion in training. The injury has kept him from any real workouts since it occurred.
Because concussions can be minor or severe, TJ Grant wanted to …

The Canadian lightweight was pulled from the main event in last weekend’s card after he suffered a concussion in training. The injury has kept him from any real workouts since it occurred.

Because concussions can be minor or severe, TJ Grant wanted to make sure he gave his head time to heal after suffering the injury, and it’s been a tough road back—one filled with some anguish and a bit of anger, but he’s starting to find focus again.

“I’m starting to turn the corner and be able to do more now,” Grant said Tuesday. “I’m able to watch TV, watch fights, hang out with people, drive, hangout with my kid all that stuff. That’s all good for me, but it also puts things into perspective of how much I miss and how much I love training and doing this for a living.

“I’m able to do some light exercises and stuff, which is good. I’m just excited to hopefully move forward here soon.”

Grant has seen other athletes push a concussion and rush back too soon. He’s also seen the ill effects of the injury on others like NHL star Sidney Crosby, who has missed huge stretches of time due to concussion symptoms.

The time to return to action will be when Grant knows his head is ready for it, and not a moment sooner. Like every fighter, he is yearning to compete again, but not at the expense of his health and definitely not by taking a chance on suffering an even more serious injury.

“It comes down to me and when I feel symptom free, and I would like to be symptom free for a good amount of time before I go out there and start sparring,” Grant said. “My goal is to be on the mat doing some jiu-jitsu and doing some light stuff in October.”

Once he’s back in training, Grant will begin preparation for his UFC lightweight title shot against Anthony Pettis. While there was some doubt after UFC 164 ended about who Pettis would face next, UFC president Dana White confirmed Tuesday that Grant would get the next shot at the lightweight belt when he’s healthy.

Grant knows that a fight against Pettis will be one that the fans will definitely enjoy, and the judges can take the night off because there’s no way it’s going to decision.

“It’s a competition there’s a ton of strategy involved, but at the same time, I’m not taking the coward’s way out,” Grant said. “I’m trying to beat a man up with my skills overall. I’m not trying to hold a guy up against the fence and grind them down. I’m trying to fight and be violent and I think (Pettis) is the same way. I think it’s an exciting fight and we’d put on a good one.”

Pettis is out of action for at least seven weeks after suffering a knee injury during his title fight win over Benson Henderson, but the delay will also give the Canadian the time necessary to heal up from his concussion.

Currently, Grant is targeting the final two months of 2013 to get back into full training and preparing for a bout against Pettis in the new year.

“I’m optimistic, but I realistically think I could be in a training camp in November and December,” Grant said. “So that’s kind of where I want to be. I don’t want to get passed over, and I don’t want to lose my spot.”

It’s just a waiting game now for Grant to allow his concussion symptoms to fade while he sits by the phone for the call to say Pettis is also healthy and ready to schedule their fight.

Then it’s game time, and that’s when Grant is happiest.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com