Curtis Blaydes vs. Francis Ngannou Reported for 11/24 in China

In an unexpected heavyweight booking, Curtis Blaydes will reportedly be returning to action this fall as requested but not against the opponent he had in mind According to Ariel Helwani of ESPN, Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou will face off on 11/24…

In an unexpected heavyweight booking, Curtis Blaydes will reportedly be returning to action this fall as requested but not against the opponent he had in mind According to Ariel Helwani of ESPN, Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou will face off on 11/24 in Beijing China instead. Curtis Blaydes has been lobbying for a fight with […]

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Curtis Blaydes: ‘I Hope Stipe Miocic Is Considering My Callout’

Curtis Blaydes really wants a meeting with Stipe Miocic.

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Curtis Blaydes is really gunning for a fight with Stipe Miocic.

Normally, someone in Blaydes’ position would likely be gearing up for a UFC heavyweight title shot. He is coming off five straight wins over some of the division’s most elite competition.

His last Octagon outing resulted in a devastating third round TKO win over Alistair Overeem. After Daniel Cormier’s UFC heavyweight title win at UFC 226 earlier this year, things went horribly wrong for Blaydes.

Former UFC heavyweight champion and pay-per-view (PPV) attraction Brock Lesnar returned to the promotion. Dana White has confirmed he will be Cormier’s next challenger for the heavyweight title. Cormier even openly stated that he has no interest in fighting Blaydes at this point in his career.

This leaves Blaydes in a tough situation. With Lesnar vs. Cormier not being eligible to take place until January, the 27-year-old will likely be forced to fight again. If that’s the case, he’d like to fight the man Cormier defeated for the heavyweight title – Stipe Miocic.

Miocic is statistically the most successful heavyweight champion in UFC history, as he was the first to defend it successfully three consecutive times. Blaydes has respectfully called out Miocic in recent weeks.

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Blaydes revealed that the UFC has offered Miocic a fight against him at UFC Denver on November 10th. Blaydes hopes Miocic signs the contract, as neither one of them will receive their deserved shot at the title anytime soon:

“I don’t feel like it’s my right to tell another athlete, let alone another man, how he should feel about a situation, but if it were me, he has a legitimate claim for the rematch [against Cormier], but I also have a legitimate claim for a title shot now. It is what it is,” Blaydes said.

“Neither one of us is going to get that title shot this year. We’ve still got five months left in the year. I don’t want to wait that long. I want to get another one in before the holidays start. The UFC, they’re behind it, because like I said, it makes sense. It’s a good matchup, it would be a good fight.

“He’s good, I’m good, we’re both good wrestlers. My hands have gotten a lot better. I want to showcase the skills I’ve been developing, and I just think, because I live here in the Denver area, I live 15 minutes away from downtown Denver, so I feel like it’ll help me grow a fanbase here.

“This is where I live now. I don’t know how Stipe sees the callout … but I’m hoping he’s really considering it. Really, for him, it’s either he fights me or he waits until April. I mean, that’s a long wait. I want to make my argument for a title shot stronger. And that’s what Stipe does.”

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Curtis Blaydes Claims Stipe Miocic Has Been Offered Fight Against Him

It turns out that Curtis Blaydes’s respectful callout of Stipe Miocic may have been intended not to get the ball rolling on a potential fight against the former world champion, but to keep it rolling. If Curtis Blaydes’ tweet yesterday is to be underst…

It turns out that Curtis Blaydes’s respectful callout of Stipe Miocic may have been intended not to get the ball rolling on a potential fight against the former world champion, but to keep it rolling. If Curtis Blaydes’ tweet yesterday is to be understood, either the UFC reached out to Stipe immediately after Blaydes’s challenge through […]

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Curtis Blaydes Calls Out Former UFC Champion Stipe Miocic

Curtis Blaydes calls for a bout with Stipe Miocic in perhaps the most respectful challenge to date. Blaydes is coming off a brutal TKO victory over Alistair Overeem. Blaydes was able to take down Overeem and finished him with ground-and-pound. Many bel…

Curtis Blaydes calls for a bout with Stipe Miocic in perhaps the most respectful challenge to date. Blaydes is coming off a brutal TKO victory over Alistair Overeem. Blaydes was able to take down Overeem and finished him with ground-and-pound. Many believed the win was enough to get Blaydes a title shot, but Brock Lesnar […]

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Six Fighters Who Turned Their Careers Around In 2018

These six fighters defied the odds and turned their careers around in 2018.

The post Six Fighters Who Turned Their Careers Around In 2018 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Mixed martial arts is a crazy and unpredictable sport. It takes a special kind of individual to throw caution into the wind and risk their own physical wellbeing for the sake of entertainment.

There is no blueprint on how to become a fighter. We have seen fighters come from all different walks of life. There have been lifelong athletes that transition into MMA after their collegiate days, and we have seen real estate agents by day turn into savage cage fighters at night.

Likewise, some fighters hit the ground running in MMA, laying waste to opponents right from the very start of their careers. Other fighters don’t quite hit their fighting groove till much later in their careers.

One thing, however, does remain true in combat sports. and particularly MMA. That is you can always expect the unexpected. 2018 has provided mixed martial arts fans with some memorable moments, and with five months still left to go in the year, its a safe bet there are still many more heart-stopping outcomes still to come.

2018 has seen its fair share of comebacks inside the octagon, but we here at Lowkick wanted to put a different spin on the term “comeback.” We took a look back at the first half of 2018 to bring you our list of six fighters who have turned their fight careers around this year.

Here is our list:

Jeremy Stephens

There is perhaps no greater example of what one year can do for an MMA career than Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens.

Stephens first set foot into the Octagon back in 2007 at UFC 71. He would lose his debut against Din Thomas on that night, but here we are over a decade later, and “Lil’ Heathen” has never looked better.

In Stephens’ last outing, he destroyed rising Team Alpha Male contender Josh Emmett via KO at 1:35 of the second round of their main event at UFC on FOX 28 in February. Just one month prior to FOX 28 at UFC Fight Night 124, “Lil Heathen” took out highly-touted prospect Doo Ho Choi in a war that earned “Fight of the Night” honors.

Stephens is 2-0 in 2018 and plans on adding more Ws to the win column before year’s end. He was recently called upon to fill in for Max Holloway at UFC 226 after the champ was removed from the card for exhibiting concussion-like symptoms. “Lil’ Heathen” jumped at the short-notice opportunity, however, his would-be opponent Brian Ortega refused the fight.

Stephens now turns his sights to longtime former featherweight king Jose Aldo, who he will be facing in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 30 next week (July 28, 2018).

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Curtis Blaydes: I Feel UFC Doesn’t Want me to Win Heavyweight Title

Curtis Blaydes gets the sense that the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) doesn’t want him to capture heavyweight gold. Blaydes is coming off a nasty TKO finish over Alistair Overeem at UFC 225 last month. Many felt that Blaydes punched his tic…

Curtis Blaydes gets the sense that the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) doesn’t want him to capture heavyweight gold. Blaydes is coming off a nasty TKO finish over Alistair Overeem at UFC 225 last month. Many felt that Blaydes punched his ticket for a heavyweight title shot. It wasn’t meant to be as newly crowned heavyweight […]

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