The UFC 200 press conference was in full swing this week, moving ahead without featherweight champion Conor McGregor and his welterweight rival Nate Diaz. Instead, we were reintroduced to the ever seething feud between current light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and his predecessor Jon Jones. It was just yesterday (Wednesday April 27, 2016) that the UFC
The UFC 200 press conference was in full swing this week, moving ahead without featherweight champion Conor McGregor and his welterweight rival Nate Diaz. Instead, we were reintroduced to the ever seething feud between current light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and his predecessor Jon Jones. It was just yesterday (Wednesday April 27, 2016) that the UFC took over ‘Good Morning America’ on ABC for a bizarre and somewhat awkward half hour segment. Their intention was to announce the UFC 200 main event between ‘DC’ and ‘Bones,’ but in typical fashion as of late, the news was leaked a good half hour before the promotion had intended.
The press conference held later that afternoon may have paled in comparison to live stream viewers to the Diaz/McGregor Youtube hit (220K to 33K to be precise) but it was nonetheless a highly entertaining peak at the next milestone pay-per-view.
The highlight of the UFC 200 press conference was without doubt the beef between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones. The two rivals always find it hard to hide their feelings, and it always leads to some classic viewing. In this case, the fired up New York crowd actually added in a big part to the madness, as one fan asked Jones if his crack dealer would be present at UFC 200. Watch the video starting at the 29:55 mark to see the awkwardness:
Wow, talk about cringe worthy. So what else was good at the eventful UFC 200 presser? Thanks to the UFC’s official Yotube channel once again, we’ve got some diamond moments from the stacked presser to look at. Possibly the most rib tickling section was when Jones jumped up and demonstrated how he made ‘DC’ his ‘bitch’ when they fought the first time at UFC 182 last January.
Also noteworthy was Cormier’s best ‘stats Nazi’ impression, Miesha Tate just being generally awesome, and Amanda Nunes doing her best to get some trash talk going.
Filed under: UFC, NewsNick Diaz will fight Carlos Condit for the UFC interim welterweight championship on February 4. But what happens to the interim champ after that? UFC President Dana White says he expects the interim champion to fight the reigning …
Nick Diaz will fight Carlos Condit for the UFC interim welterweight championship on February 4. But what happens to the interim champ after that? UFC President Dana White says he expects the interim champion to fight the reigning champion Georges St. Pierre sooner rather than later.
After UFC on FX 1 on Friday night, White told Ariel Helwani that St. Pierre is in better shape following surgery to repair a torn ACL than doctors expected, and that St. Pierre is already working out and getting himself prepared for a welterweight title unification fight in the summer. That’s a more optimistic timeline than previously reported: St. Pierre had indicated he didn’t think he’d be able to return to the Octagon until the fall.
“GSP’s rehab could not be going better,” White said. “He was texting me pictures of him kicking, doing everything. … I think he’s going to be back sooner than doctors anticipated.”
So it sounds like the Condit-Diaz winner will take on St. Pierre next, rather than defend the interim title while St. Pierre continues to rehabilitate. And while St. Pierre has no control over which man he fights next, White said St. Pierre is hoping it’s Diaz.
“He says, ‘I am praying every night when I go to bed that Nick Diaz wins this fight,'” White said. “I have never seen Georges St. Pierre hate somebody. He hates Nick Diaz. I’ve never seen him so motivated to fight somebody and to beat somebody like Nick Diaz.”
Filed under: StrikeforceSaturday’s Strikeforce card, headlined by a main event of Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine was a perfectly good night of fights. And yet something was missing — something that Rockhold himself put his finger on in his post-fight…
Saturday’s Strikeforce card, headlined by a main event of Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine was a perfectly good night of fights. And yet something was missing — something that Rockhold himself put his finger on in his post-fight interview.
What’s missing from Strikeforce these days is enough talented, recognizable fighters to fill up a full fight card, and enough talented, recognizable fighters to put together a complete weight class. And so it was no surprise that when Rockhold was asked after the fight who he’d like to defend his middleweight title against next, Rockhold said he’d like to fight someone from the UFC.
“I like fighting, I like getting paid, but I love competition and striving to be the best,” Rockhold said. “Right now all the best guys are in the UFC, at least the Top 10 ranked — besides myself, maybe, in some rankings. Those are the guys I want. I want to climb to the top, I want to fight the best in the world, and I think they should bring over some top contenders. Let’s see who the true No. 1 contender is, because I believe I am, and I’d love the chance to prove it.”
Showtime executives probably gulped hard when they heard those words — here’s the guy who just won the main event on the first card of the new Showtime-Strikeforce partnership, and he’s basically saying Strikeforce isn’t good enough.
But Rockhold is largely correct: The best guys are in the UFC, and if Rockhold wants to prove that he’s one of the best guys, there’s really no way for him to do it until he’s fighting opponents from the UFC. If Zuffa won’t either move Rockhold into the UFC or move UFC fighters into Strikeforce, there’s just no way for Rockhold to show where he stacks up.
Unfortunately for Rockhold, all indications are that it’s simply not going to happen: The UFC is going to keep its best fighters in the Octagon, and Strikeforce will have to make do with what it has. Don’t expect a Top 10 fighter from the UFC to be challenging for Rockhold’s Strikeforce belt.
That’s too bad for Rockhold, but that’s the reality: Strikeforce is capable of putting together entertaining fight cards, but if you want to see the best you have to watch the UFC.
Strikeforce Notes — Starting with this card, all of Strikeforce’s preliminary card fights will air on Showtime Extreme, which is a welcome development — at least for people who get Showtime Extreme. Unfortunately, the level of talent on display in some of the undercard fights was lacking. About the only thing Alonzo Martinez showed in his unanimous decision loss to Estevan Payan is that he can take a punch, and Martinez took a whole lot of punches for 15 solid minutes. Martinez really didn’t look like he belonged in a televised fight. And Ricky Legere’s unanimous decision victory over Chris Spang was a ho-hum affair. I realize Strikeforce preliminary cards aren’t exactly going to have Top 10 fighters, but they need to improve the matchmaking on the prelims to give the fans a reason to tune in a couple hours before the main card starts.
— Seeing UFC President Dana White interviewed during a Strikeforce broadcast was a surprise, and another indication that the UFC’s ownership of Strikeforce is not, contrary to what White says, “business as usual.” White looked a little uncomfortable in the role, but the bottom line is that White — not Scott Coker — is the promoter the fans want to hear from, and it just makes sense that White would be the promoter to appear on television during a Strikeforce show.
Strikeforce Quotes “She explained to me that she wants to give us a fair chance to keep continuing, and I respect that. Because if that was me, I would rather be put to sleep than her jump in and me still be awake.” — King Mo Lawal, saying he understood why referee Kim Winslow stopped his win over Lorenz Larkin when she did. It’s to Lawal’s credit that he was concerned enough about his opponent that he wanted the fight stopped sooner, and it’s also to Lawal’s credit that he acknowledged that the referee has a hard job knowing exactly when to step in.
Having said that, I thought the stoppage was a little slow — Winslow let Larkin take a couple punches too many.
Good Call The judges for that Payan-Martinez fight all got the scores right — 30-27 for Payan — which gave me some hope that we’d see a night of good judging. Unfortunately, there were some highly questionable scorecards in the three split decisions later in the night, including …
Bad Call The scores were all over the map on the Tarec Saffiedine-Tyler Stinson fight. Only one judge got it right, 29-28 for Saffiedine. One judge scored it 30-27 for Saffiedine, which was highly questionable given Stinson’s performance in the first round, and another scored it 29-28 for Stinson, which was highly questionable given Saffiedine’s performance in the second and third rounds.
Stock Up Gian Villante is an athletic young light heavyweight with potential, and it was good to see him turn in an impressive first-round TKO win over Trevor Smith. Villante did a phenomenal job of ground and pound, grabbing Smith’s leg with one hand and battering Smith in the face with his other hand.
Stock Down Keith Jardine is a fighter I’ve always liked, but it’s hard to see why he should keep fighting. Jardine is just 2-6-1 in his last nine fights, and he’s now been brutally knocked out several times in his career. For the sake of his long-term health, Jardine needs to seriously consider hanging up the gloves.
Fight I Want to See Next Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy. Bringing in a middleweight from the UFC would be great for Rockhold, but the reality is that it’s not going to happen. Kennedy is the Strikeforce middleweight who makes the most sense for Rockhold.
Filed under: UFCUFC President Dana White is fond of saying that the only way to prove you’re the best fighter in the world is to do it in the UFC. It’s not that there aren’t any good fighters in other promotions, White believes, it’s just that the only…
UFC President Dana White is fond of saying that the only way to prove you’re the best fighter in the world is to do it in the UFC. It’s not that there aren’t any good fighters in other promotions, White believes, it’s just that the only fighters who consistently test themselves against the best in the world are the ones who do it inside the Octagon.
By that rationale, White says Yushin Okami — who will fight Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 134 — is the greatest Japanese fighter in MMA history.
“In my opinion, Yushin Okami is the best fighter ever to come out of Japan,” White said. “This guy didn’t fight cans and get this built-up, mythological record.”
Fighters who fight “cans” and build up a “mythological record” are a constant thorn in the side of White, who regularly complains about fans and members of the media who proclaim Fedor Emelianenko — whose best moments came in Japan, and who never fought in the UFC — as the greatest fighter in history. White always insists that Silva is the best ever, and now that he’s promoting Silva against Okami, he’s talking up Okami as the best ever to come out of Japan.
A lot of longtime fans of Japanese MMA — especially the fans from the Pride days — would disagree. Kazushi Sakuraba, Takanori Gomi, Kid Yamamoto, Hayoto Sakurai, Caol Uno and Shinya Aoki could all make a case that they’ve accomplished more in mixed martial arts than Okami has.
White is right, however, that none of those fighters have proven it in the Octagon. Aoki has never fought in the UFC. Sakuraba and Sakurai each fought in the UFC just once, with Sakuraba fighting on the UFC’s Japan card in 1997, and Sakurai losing to Matt Hughes in 2002. Gomi and Yamamoto are both currently under contract to the UFC, but both were past their prime before they ever appeared inside the Octagon. Uno had some success in the UFC and fought twice for the UFC lightweight title, but his overall record in the UFC was just 3-5-2.
And White is surely right that if Okami beats Silva — a very big “if” — he would have an excellent case that he’s the best fighter ever to come out of Japan. Okami has already beaten Silva once, although that was a controversial disqualification. If Okami were to beat Silva convincingly, that would become the signature win of his career and completely transform his reputation, while simultaneously knocking Silva from the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.
“Anderson Silva is fighting for his legacy,” White said. “Yushin Okami is fighting for respect.”
For Okami, White believes, a win over Silva would make it impossible for anyone to deny that he’s the greatest fighter ever to come out of Japan.
“If he wins this fight,” White said, “he’ll get the credit he finally deserves.”
Filed under: UFC, NewsThe reason that Nate Marquardt failed to pass his required medical examinations remains murky, but one thing is clear: UFC President Dana White is not happy about it.
White said on the UFC Live pre-fight show on Versus that he’s …
The reason that Nate Marquardt failed to pass his required medical examinations remains murky, but one thing is clear: UFC President Dana White is not happy about it.
White said on the UFC Live pre-fight show on Versus that he’s angry at Marquardt for failing to adequately address the issues that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission told him to address, and that Marquardt should come clean with UFC fans about what, exactly, those issues are.
Both White and a Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission official said they were legally prohibited from offering details about Marquardt’s pre-fight medicals.
White said that the Pennsylvania commission is “the best commission in the United States,” and that its privacy rules are strict, meaning Marquardt’s medical issues won’t be revealed unless Marquardt himself reveals them.
“Nate Marquardt’s gonna have to man up and come out and tell the world why he didn’t pass his medicals,” White said. “When he does that I think everybody is going to understand why he was cut from the UFC.”
White said he believes in second chances, but he doesn’t expect to give Marquardt another chance.
“I think it’s pretty clear to the fans and everybody else that I’m pretty disgusted with Nate Marquardt. He’s been cut from the UFC, he won’t fight in the UFC ever again,” White said. “Bottom line is, what Nate Marquardt’s thing is, it’s bad enough to be cut from the UFC.”
After the action in the Octagon is over, the UFC 131 fighters will meet the media at the UFC 131 post-fight press conference, and we’ll have the live video right here at MMAFighting.com.
The winners of the Knockout of the Night, Submission of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses will be announced, and UFC President Dana White will offer his thoughts.
The UFC 131 post-fight press conference will begin about half an hour after the main event ends, and the video is below.
Sam Stout celebrates his win with coach Shawn Tompkins at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Krzystof Soszynksi moves forward against Mike Massenzio at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
After the action in the Octagon is over, the UFC 131 fighters will meet the media at the UFC 131 post-fight press conference, and we’ll have the live video right here at MMAFighting.com.
The winners of the Knockout of the Night, Submission of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses will be announced, and UFC President Dana White will offer his thoughts.
The UFC 131 post-fight press conference will begin about half an hour after the main event ends, and the video is below.
Sam Stout celebrates his win with coach Shawn Tompkins at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Krzystof Soszynksi moves forward against Mike Massenzio at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
![UFC-200-poster-Aldo-Edgar[3]](http://cdn.lowkickmma.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/UFC-200-poster-Aldo-Edgar3.jpg)
Saturday’s 
UFC President Dana White is fond of saying that the only way to prove you’re the best fighter in the world is to do it in the 
The reason that 
After the action in the Octagon is over, the 
