Usman Thinks Dana White Could Change His Mind About Covington’s Title Shot

Kamaru Usman thinks he can get in on the welterweight title mix before Colby Covington.

The post Usman Thinks Dana White Could Change His Mind About Covington’s Title Shot appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Kamaru Usman is certain he’ll become UFC welterweight champion one day.

Usman served as the backup fighter for the UFC 228 main event in Dallas, Texas last weekend. Tyron Woodley successfully defended his 170-pound championship against Darren Till with a submission win.

Speaking to MMA Junkie after the event, Usman remained firm in his belief that he’ll win the gold one day:

“I will be champion,” Usman said.

Now that Till has had his chance at the welterweight crown, that opens up the door for young and impressive prospects such as Usman to get their shot. After the event, UFC President Dana White noted that Colby Covington will receive the next shot.

Not only do Covington and Woodley have personal issues with one another, but “Chaos” did win the interim 170-pound title earlier this summer. Covington, however, was unable to unify at UFC 228 because of an injury.

As for White saying Covington is next, Usman isn’t too worried about that right now. He believes there’s a chance White can change his mind about who gets the next title opportunity:

“I’m not dwelling solely on what Dana said yesterday, because tomorrow Dana could change his mind,” Usman said.

Even though Covington’s next fight may be for the welterweight title, Usman is still patiently awaiting a crack at the American Top Team (ATT) product. He really wants the chance at putting hands through Covington’s face:

“I truly want to put my hands through his face,” Usman said. “That’s a guy that the world will be watching as well.”

The post Usman Thinks Dana White Could Change His Mind About Covington’s Title Shot appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Watch: Sean O’Malley Surpasses Tyron Woodley’s Punching Power

Rising UFC bantamweight “Sugar” Sean O’Malley is currently set to return from injury to face Jose Quinonez at October 6’s UFC 229. He’s been out of action since March’s UFC 22, where he outlasted Andre Soukhamthath despite a badly injured foot. O’Malley has been one of the UFC’s most touted rising stars since his highly-publicized […]

The post Watch: Sean O’Malley Surpasses Tyron Woodley’s Punching Power appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Rising UFC bantamweight “Sugar” Sean O’Malley is currently set to return from injury to face Jose Quinonez at October 6’s UFC 229.

He’s been out of action since March’s UFC 22, where he outlasted Andre Soukhamthath despite a badly injured foot. O’Malley has been one of the UFC’s most touted rising stars since his highly-publicized knockout on Dana White’s ‘Tuesday Night Contender Series’ in summer 2017.

Since then, the *********-focused O’Malley has made quite the name for himself. He’s carved out his own niche in the sport utilizing a very cannabis-friendly persona, evident by his full-on pimp getup on last night’s ‘UFC Tonight.’ O’Malley showed up with his trademark afro, shades, scarf, skinny jeans, and boots – but don’t let that fool you.

The kid can straight-up throw hands, and that became evident when he took to the show’s power-punching machine. There, O’Malley uncorked a shot so powerful that it surpassed UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s score and put him behind only heavyweights Derrick Lewis, Daniel Cormier, and Pat Barry.

Watch O’Malley’s power punch right here:

The post Watch: Sean O’Malley Surpasses Tyron Woodley’s Punching Power appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Rankings Update: Tyron Woodley Rises On Pound-For-Pound List

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the days following last weekend’s (Sat., September 8, 2018) UFC 228 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. In the card’s headliner, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley submitted touted rising challenger Darren Till to become the longest-reigning current UFC champion. For his efforts, he earned a massive one […]

The post UFC Rankings Update: Tyron Woodley Rises On Pound-For-Pound List appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the days following last weekend’s (Sat., September 8, 2018) UFC 228 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

In the card’s headliner, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley submitted touted rising challenger Darren Till to become the longest-reigning current UFC champion. For his efforts, he earned a massive one spot rise on the pound-for-pound list, putting him behind Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, and Georges St-Pierre.

McGregor has been out of action for almost two years and will return at October’s UFC 229. Holloway had a dominant 2017 but has since seen three high-profile fights fall apart in the first seven months of 2018 with his health now a major question. St-Pierre has fought once in the last nearly five years, most recently defeating a now-retired Michael Bisping before promptly vacating the title last November.

All are amazing fighters to be certain, but it’s also safe to ask if Woodley is getting his fair due as one of the most decorated and dominant champions of the current era. It’s also safe to ask if the UFC rankings are a legitimate picture of what’s really going on in the sport because of it.

But that’s a larger discussion for another time. In terms of other movement, women’s featherweight champion Cris Cybrog and flyweight champion Henry Cejudo moved up one spot each on the pound-for-pound list, pushing middleweight champ Robert Whittaker down two spots.

Two women’s divisions saw a ton of movement in the fallout of UFC 228. Surging strawweight Tatiana Suarez rose five spots to No. 4 for her dominant TKO win over former champion Carla Esparza, who fell two spots to No. 8. Jessica Andrade held firm at No. 2 following her KO of Karolina Kowalkiewicz, who fell one spot to No. 5.

At flyweight, a mess was incited when former champion Nicco Montano was hospitalized before the UFC 228 weigh-ins. The promotion stripped her of the title and her scheduled opponent Valentina Shevchenko became the No. 1-ranked fighter at 125 pounds. Montano fell two spots to No. 2, Sijara Eubanks did the same to No. 4, and the rest of the Top 15 slid as a result.

Check out the fully updated rankings via UFC.com here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Conor McGregor
3 TJ Dillashaw
4 Max Holloway
5 Georges St-Pierre
6 Tyron Woodley +1
7 Demetrious Johnson -1
8 Khabib Nurmagomedov
9 Stipe Miocic
10 Cris Cyborg +1
11 Henry Cejudo +1
12 Robert Whittaker -2
13 Tony Ferguson
14 Amanda Nunes
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Henry Cejudo
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Sergio Pettis
3 Joseph Benavidez
4 Ray Borg
5 Jussier Formiga
6 Deiveson Figueiredo
7 John Moraga
8 Wilson Reis
9 Dustin Ortiz +1
10 Alexandre Pantoja -1
11 Brandon Moreno
12 Ben Nguyen
13 Tim Elliott
14 Matheus Nicolau
15 Ulka Sasaki

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Marlon Moraes
5 Jimmie Rivera
6 John Lineker
7 Aljamain Sterling +1
8 John Dodson -1
9 Pedro Munhoz
10 Cody Stamann
11 Rob Font
12 Alejandro Perez
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Douglas Silva de Andrade
15 Rani Yahya

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Renato Moicano
5 Chad Mendes
6 Jeremy Stephens
7 Cub Swanson
8 Josh Emmett
8 Mirsad Bektic +1
10 Chan Sung Jung
11 Alexander Volkanovski
12 Ricardo Lamas
13 Darren Elkins
14 Zabit Magomedsharipov +1
15 Yair Rodriguez -1

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Conor McGregor
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Dustin Poirier
4 Eddie Alvarez
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Al Iaquinta
10 Nate Diaz
11 Michael Chiesa
12 James Vick
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Dan Hooker
15 Islam Makhachev

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington (Interim Champion)
2 Darren Till
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Stephen Thompson
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Kamaru Usman
7 Demian Maia
8 Neil Magny
9 Jorge Masvidal
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Leon Edwards
12 Donald Cerrone
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Alex Oliveira
15 Curtis Millender

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion : Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Derek Brunson
7 David Branch
8 Paulo Costa
9 Israel Adesanya
10 Brad Tavares
11 Antonio Carlos Junior
12 Thiago Santos
13 Uriah Hall
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Krzysztof Jotko

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Ilir Latifi
4 Jan Blachowicz
5 Jimi Manuwa
6 Corey Anderson
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Glover Teixeira
9 Anthony Smith
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Mauricio Rua
12 Dominick Reyes
13 Patrick Cummins
14 Tyson Pedro
15 Sam Alvey

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Derrick Lewis
3 Curtis Blaydes
4 Francis Ngannou
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Junior Dos Santos
8 Mark Hunt
9 Marcin Tybura
10 Tai Tuivasa
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Stefan Struve
14 Shamil Abdurakhimov
15 Justin Willis

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Tatiana Suarez +5
5 Karolina Kowalkiewicz -1
6 Tecia Torres -1
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Carla Esparza -2
9 Felice Herrig -1
10 Cortney Casey
11 Nina Ansaroff
12 Alexa Grasso
13 Randa Markos
14 Angela Hill
15 Mackenzie Dern

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Nicco Montano -2
3 Katlyn Chookagian
4 Sijara Eubanks -2
5 Alexis Davis
6 Liz Carmouche
6 Roxanne Modafferi -2
8 Lauren Murphy -1
9 Jessica Eye -1
10 Jessica-Rose Clark -1
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith -1
12 Joanne Calderwood -1
13 Mara Romero Borella -1
14 Andrea Lee -1
15 Jennifer Maia

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion : Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Irene Aldana +1
12 Lina Lansberg -1
13 Lucie Pudilova
14 Sarah Moras
15 Gina Mazany

The post UFC Rankings Update: Tyron Woodley Rises On Pound-For-Pound List appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Stephen Thompson Sounds Off on Colby Covington’s Trash Talk

Stephen Thompson sounds off on Colby Covington calling him a virgin. Covington has been nabbing more attention thanks to his trash talking. While the 14-1 professional mixed martial arts record helps, Covington has been making a push for the mainstream…

Stephen Thompson sounds off on Colby Covington calling him a virgin. Covington has been nabbing more attention thanks to his trash talking. While the 14-1 professional mixed martial arts record helps, Covington has been making a push for the mainstream media with his antics. Even someone as well liked as “Wonderboy” has been targeted with […]

The post Stephen Thompson Sounds Off on Colby Covington’s Trash Talk appeared first on MMA News.

Manager Shoots Down Reports Of RDA vs. Usman

A high-profile welterweight match reportedly isn’t happening – yet. Word broke today (Wed., September 12, 2018) from Combate that recent interim title challenger Rafael dos Anjos would take on surging contender Kamaru Usman at November 30’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28 Finale from the Pearl Theatre at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The […]

The post Manager Shoots Down Reports Of RDA vs. Usman appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

A high-profile welterweight match reportedly isn’t happening – yet.

Word broke today (Wed., September 12, 2018) from Combate that recent interim title challenger Rafael dos Anjos would take on surging contender Kamaru Usman at November 30’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28 Finale from the Pearl Theatre at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The bout was supposed to headline the event, however, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz replied on Twitter that he heard no word of the fight:

Former lightweight champ dos Anjos was last seen losing an interim title bout to Colby Covington in the co-main event of June’s UFC 225. He had previously been on quite the tear since moving up to welterweight, winning three straights bouts at 170 pounds.

Meanwhile, the dominant Usman was last seen dominating former title contender Demian Maia in a lackluster unanimous decision win in Santiago, Chile, this May. The 17-1 contender has won all eight of his UFC match-ups since debuting as the TUF 21 champion in 2015.

We’ll keep you updated on this potential match-up.

The post Manager Shoots Down Reports Of RDA vs. Usman appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Colby Covington Compares Khabib-Conor to Junior Varsity

Colby Covington compares the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor to junior varsity. Nurmagomedov will put his lightweight gold on the line against McGregor in the main event of UFC…

Colby Covington compares the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor to junior varsity. Nurmagomedov will put his lightweight gold on the line against McGregor in the main event of UFC 229. The bout will take place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oct. 6. Many […]

The post Colby Covington Compares Khabib-Conor to Junior Varsity appeared first on MMA News.