Dan Lambert Tried Talking Jorge Masvidal Out Of UFC 251 Fight With Kamaru Usman

Masvidal Kamaru UsmanAmerican Top Team (ATT) owner Dan Lambert did not want Jorge Masvidal to fight Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 earlier this month. Masvidal notably stepped in on six days’ notice to challenge Usman for the welterweight title in the UFC 251 headliner. Although he would wind up losing a unanimous decision, “Gamebred” received plaudits for […]

Masvidal Kamaru Usman

American Top Team (ATT) owner Dan Lambert did not want Jorge Masvidal to fight Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 earlier this month.

Masvidal notably stepped in on six days’ notice to challenge Usman for the welterweight title in the UFC 251 headliner. Although he would wind up losing a unanimous decision, “Gamebred” received plaudits for stepping in as well as his overall performance.

But Lambert never liked the idea as he tried convincing Masvidal not to take the fight to no avail.

“I found out Gilbert [Burns] dropped out because Jorge called me at like 1 o’clock in the morning,” Lambert told BJPenn.com. “He said hey, I’ll take that fight, let’s make some calls. I didn’t want him to [take it]. I tried to talk him out of it.

“That is like less than a week from today in Abu Dhabi, halfway around the world like are you out of your mind? He said, no, I’m taking the fight, it’s going to happen. Like alright, I’ll make a call and let them know you want it to happen and tell them to call your guys and start working it on it. I wasn’t a big fan of it happening on that kind of notice.

“There is a big difference between a guy who is around the gym and a guy in a training camp. But, Jorge Masvidal did pretty damn well.”

Masvidal Wants Rematch

Masvidal has since expressed his desire for a rematch as he believes he has what it takes to defeat Usman with a proper training camp — especially after going 25 minutes with him.

He even claimed he would reject a fight with Conor McGregor if it meant getting revenge on Usman. But for Lambert, he would much prefer the BMF champion face McGregor instead.

“Jorge probably has a much better seat at the table now that he has proven himself as a draw,” he said. “If I had my say, I want him to make as much money as possible. Conor McGregor is the biggest fight in the world for anybody. So, if I had my say, that would be his next.

“If Jorge has his say, he probably wants the rematch. Right now, the belt is more important than money.”

What do you think Masvidal should target next?

ATT Owner Didn’t Want Jorge Masvidal To Take Kamaru Usman Bout On Short Notice

American Top Team owner Dan Lambert admits he tried to talk Jorge Masvidal out of taking a short notice fight with Kamaru Usman. Usman was set to put his UFC welterweight championship on the line against Gilbert Burns in the main event of UFC 251. That…

American Top Team owner Dan Lambert admits he tried to talk Jorge Masvidal out of taking a short notice fight with Kamaru Usman. Usman was set to put his UFC welterweight championship on the line against Gilbert Burns in the main event of UFC 251. That plan went awry when Burns tested positive for COVID-19. […]

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Dan Lambert: Amanda Nunes Should Be Overall GOAT Conversations

NunesLambert: No Female Close To Nunes American Top Team owner Dan Lambert believes Amanda Nunes should be in another GOAT conversation. Nunes is set to defend her women’s featherweight title against Felicia Spencer in the main event of UFC 250 this Saturday night. A win would represent her first featherweight title defense and further consolidate […]

Nunes

Lambert: No Female Close To Nunes

American Top Team owner Dan Lambert believes Amanda Nunes should be in another GOAT conversation.

Nunes is set to defend her women’s featherweight title against Felicia Spencer in the main event of UFC 250 this Saturday night. A win would represent her first featherweight title defense and further consolidate her place for many as the greatest female fighter of all time.

After all, she is on 10-fight winning streak, holds the distinction of being the first two-weight female champion in the UFC and holds wins over the likes of Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Holly Holm to name a few.

And for Lambert, the conversation will eventually have to transition to ranking Nunes along with the likes of Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre.

“If it’s a conversation on the female GOAT, I don’t think there’s another name you can throw into the mix and have an argument over,” Lambert told MMA Fighting. “Pound-for-pound GOAT is what I think she’s working her way into the mix on. Male, female, weight division, anything. I think her name should be in that mix right now.

“If you look at the run she’s been on, the champions she’s beaten, the ex-champions she’s beaten. The manner in which she’s beaten them and made it look so effortless, two divisions, I think her name should be in that hat with the other all-time greats, Jon Jones, D.C. (Daniel Cormier), GSP (Georges St-Pierre). I think her name is right there in that mix, male or female.”

Lambert acknowledges there is not a big pool to choose from when it comes to the female fighters especially as women only started competing in the UFC in 2013.

The only fighter he believes comes close to Nunes is current women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. Unfortunately for her, she has already lost to the Brazilian twice.

“If you just want to look at how good a fighter Holly Holm versus [Valentina] Shevchenko versus [Cris] Cyborg, versus Ronda [Rousey], versus Miesha [Tate], yeah I think Shevchenko is a better fighter than all of them,” Lambert added. “Two wins over Valentina Shevchenko speaks absolute volumes.”

Do you agree with Lambert?

Colby Covington ‘Shocked’ Jorge Masvidal Broke No-Trash Talk Gym Rule

Covington MasvidalColby Covington believes Jorge Masvidal questioned American Top Team (ATT) owner Dan Lambert’s authority by breaking the new no-trash talk rule. Last month, it was revealed that Lambert had enforced a zero tolerance rule barring trash talk between fighters at the gym if they are not scheduled to face each other. It was introduced amid […]

Covington Masvidal

Colby Covington believes Jorge Masvidal questioned American Top Team (ATT) owner Dan Lambert’s authority by breaking the new no-trash talk rule.

Last month, it was revealed that Lambert had enforced a zero tolerance rule barring trash talk between fighters at the gym if they are not scheduled to face each other. It was introduced amid Covington’s beef with teammates Dustin Poirier and Masvidal among others.

Although Covington and Poirier have seemingly made up, Masvidal took to Twitter to explain why it doesn’t apply with him and “Chaos”:

“F*ck coby. The most fragile most sensitive guy in ufc history,” Masvidal wrote. “Can’t kick me out cause this rule was for fighters only. Not crotch sniffers that get their jaw broken by other crotch sniffers. @AmericanTopTeam we all know that dude is no fighter.”

It’s been a couple of weeks since, but Covington finally reacted to Masvidal’s tweet.

“Yeah, my reaction is, I was shocked,” Covington told Submission Radio. “He completely went against Dan Lambert’s word. Lambert put out that headline that said no talking between teammates unless you’re scheduled to fight, and Jorge completely just questioned his authority.

“So, as Dan Lambert, I can’t even imagine how he feels towards Jorge that he just completely tried to question him as a man and question his authority and just completely tried to pretty much back talk him. It’s just… that’s pretty embarrassing. I feel pretty bad for Jorge that he did that to Dan Lambert, and I can’t imagine the talks that were going on behind closed doors with that.”

Although it looks like Masvidal is set to face welterweight champion Kamaru Usman next, a fight with Covington seems inevitable in the future.

But having sparred with “Gamebred” regularly when they were roommates, Covington believes it’s a fight Masvidal doesn’t want:

“My relationship between me and journeyman street Judas Jorge Masvidal is, he could potentially be competition,” Covington added. “We’ll have to see if he makes it that far. To be honest, I’ve said what I said. He’s lighting in a bottle, he’s all hype, he doesn’t want to fight me, man.

“We used to train together for eight years, man. We were best friends, we lived in an apartment together. Me and Jorge Masvidal used to fight for free. Go look on YouTube. There’s literally fights where we fought in our living room. We fought for two hours straight and I made him quit, pretty much like every other training session that I made him quit. So, journeyman street Judas Masvidal does not want to fight me, and that’s just facts.”

And as far as trash talking Masvidal goes, Covington is going to adhere to the gym’s rule.

“Yeah, I’m still gonna stick by that rule, man,” Covington said. “I’m a man of my word and I got nothing to say about it anymore. I’m just focused on Tyron Woodley and Marty Fakenewsman and any other business opposition that I have to get involved in. And this is the fight business, this isn’t the feelings business and this isn’t friends business. So, I’m here to make money, I’m not here to make friends.”

What do you make of Covington’s response?

Dan Lambert Implements Gag Order On Trash Talk Between ATT Teammates

American Top Team owner Dan Lambert is putting a stop to trash talk among teammates in his gym. Former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington has drawn the ire of many, including his teammates Jorge Masvidal, Dustin Poirier, and Joanna Jedrz…

American Top Team owner Dan Lambert is putting a stop to trash talk among teammates in his gym. Former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington has drawn the ire of many, including his teammates Jorge Masvidal, Dustin Poirier, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. While Covington has made amends with Poirier, he still has beef with Masvidal and […]

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Colby Covington To Return To Training In ‘Couple Of Weeks’

Colby Covington will be returning to training in no time. Covington suffered a broken jaw in his fifth-round TKO defeat to Kamaru Usman in their welterweight title fight at UFC 245 last month. Although there were conflicting reports about the extent of his injury, it was certainly fractured with many expecting “Chaos” to be the […]

The post Colby Covington To Return To Training In ‘Couple Of Weeks’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Colby Covington will be returning to training in no time.

Covington suffered a broken jaw in his fifth-round TKO defeat to Kamaru Usman in their welterweight title fight at UFC 245 last month. Although there were conflicting reports about the extent of his injury, it was certainly fractured with many expecting “Chaos” to be the on the sidelines for a while.

However, that won’t be the case. Covington was recently seen playing a pickup basketball game indicating that his jaw is all healed up. And according to his manager Dan Lambert, he should be back in the gym in a couple of weeks.

“He had a small fracture in the jaw. It did not (need to be) wired shut or anything along those lines,” Lambert told theScore. “He’s back just healing up, resting and relaxing. I expect him back in the gym in a couple of weeks. Full throttle from there, that’s the way that kid is.”

Given that he’ll be in training by next month, Lambert expects Covington to return to the Octagon in April or May. However, given his ranking, ideally he would want an opponent that not only excites him, but assures of him of getting right back into title contention.

“He’ll be training in February so I mean in theory he’ll be ready to fight as early as April, maybe May,” Lambert added. “But that depends on what he wants to do, what the UFC has in mind for him opponent wise. A lot of things have to happen before he gets back in there, so I guess we’ll have to see.

“… Anybody in the Top 10 I’m sure or Top 5, Colby is still ranked one or two. So he’s right up there, so I think (his opponent) is going have to be somebody to excite him. Somebody that’s a big fight for him, that puts him right in position to get a title shot after that.”

What do you think of Covington potentially making a swift return to action?

The post Colby Covington To Return To Training In ‘Couple Of Weeks’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.