Daniel Cormier feels the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) will play a role in Jon Jones’ performances from here on. Cormier is set to battle Jones in a rematch from their Jan. 2015 bout. “Bones” took that fight by unanimous decision. Their second encounter takes place inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on July 29 […]
Daniel Cormier feels the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) will play a role in Jon Jones’ performances from here on. Cormier is set to battle Jones in a rematch from their Jan. 2015 bout. “Bones” took that fight by unanimous decision. Their second encounter takes place inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on July 29 […]
Before the UFC announced that light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier would defend the title against Jon Jones at UFC 214, many people believed that Jimi Manuwa was the next in line for a title shot. However, after the UFC booked DC vs. Jones at the event, the promotion followed up by booking Manuwa against Volkan […]
Before the UFC announced that light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier would defend the title against Jon Jones at UFC 214, many people believed that Jimi Manuwa was the next in line for a title shot. However, after the UFC booked DC vs. Jones at the event, the promotion followed up by booking Manuwa against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 214.
It’s pretty clear that Manuwa doesn’t like Cormier and it shows. In an interview, Manuwa stated that he has plans of toning down the trash talk towards Cormier in the future.
“To me, he’s like a schoolboy bully – one of those fat kids in school who’s bigger than everyone and throws his weight around and tries to laugh at everyone,” Manuwa told MMAjunkie Radio. “That’s how he comes across to me. But we’re not in school anymore. We’re grown men, and I don’t stand for any of that shit. He can keep on with his trash-talk, and I’ll show him what’s what when we’re face to face.”
“I’m not interested in story lines and stuff. I want the belt. I’m focused on the belt,” Manuwa said. “I’m focused on the world championship belt. Whether Jon Jones gets it or Cormier (defends), they’re both hard fights. They’re both the best in the world, so I want to beat the best in the world. And that’s it for me. I’m not interested in story lines or trash-talk and all this bullshit.”
Although Manuwa has been impressive as of late as he does have devastating knockout power, he’s going to have to show more moving forward for fight fans to believe he has what it takes to be champ.Manuwa will have to move fast. If Manuwa is able to defeat Oezdemir, he’ll get the next shot at light heavyweight gold.
UFC 214 is set to take place on Saturday, July 29th at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. A portion of the preliminary card will air on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, while the rest of the prelims will air on FOX Sports 1. The main card will air on PPV (pay-per-view).
Jimi Manuwa isn’t appreciative of Daniel Cormier’s trash talking. Manuwa is set to do battle against Volkan Oezdemir inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California for UFC 214. The winner of the bout could be on his way to a light heavyweight title bout. In the meantime, there is lingering beef with the “Poster Boy” […]
Jimi Manuwa isn’t appreciative of Daniel Cormier’s trash talking. Manuwa is set to do battle against Volkan Oezdemir inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California for UFC 214. The winner of the bout could be on his way to a light heavyweight title bout. In the meantime, there is lingering beef with the “Poster Boy” […]
In the time after his impressive fifth-round stoppage over Glover Teixeira in the main event of last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 109 from Stockholm, top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson made it clear that he didn’t like Jon Jones as a person even if he was the greatest fighter in MMA history. Late yesterday, the […]
In the time after his impressive fifth-round stoppage over Glover Teixeira in the main event of last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 109 from Stockholm, top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson made it clear that he didn’t like Jon Jones as a person even if he was the greatest fighter in MMA history.
Late yesterday, the still-suspended pound-for-pound king responded to “The Mauler’s” drubbing by going off in a brutal Twitter rant. A few hours after that, Gustafsson reacted to “Bones” online assault with a few responses of his own. First, he said that although he roots for Daniel Cormier, he hopes Jones wins at UFC 214, and would pray for the former champ after he beat him:
I root for @dc_mma but I want u to win, and after the way I beat u, I promise I will pray for you. Happy now?
— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) June 1, 2017
The barb was calm enough, yet Gustafsson took the trash talk to an all-new level in replying to “Bones”” suggestion that he lost to him at UFC 165 and Cormier at UFC 192 due to a lack of heart. Gustafsson thinks his loss to Jones came from another more nefarious aspect of the fight game – the fact that USADA wasn’t testing elite UFC athletes at the time:
No my friend, against you it was because of the absence of @usantidoping
— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) June 1, 2017
Photo by Tom Szczerbowski for USA TODAY Sports
The slick retort may be the usually reserved Gustafsson’s best-ever instance of smack talk, as the respectful fighter doesn’t normally build up his matches with pre-fight verbal assaults, choosing to let his hands and feet do the talking in the octagon. Jones expectedly denied that his razor-thin unanimous decision over “The Mauler” was due to any form of performance-enhancing substance, but with Jones suspended for just that, it’s hard to argue with the top contender’s insistence.
Then Jones appeared to be amusingly hurt by the whole conversation, even though he started the entire war of words himself. The oft-troubled champ evoked a rule they teach young school children to close the conversation in an unexpected way, saying he was done with “The Mauler” for now:
Next time if you don't have anything nice to say, you know the rest. I'm done with you for now
Jones’ knowing he was only done with Gustafsson for now may be a telling prediction, as it seems the Swedish star has done enough to get the next shot at the winner of “Bones’” rematch with arch rival Cormier at July 29’s UFC 214 from Anaheim.
But we all know Jones making it the cage has become anything but a certainty in recent years; in fact, the cold truth of the matter is we’re more likely to see another highly anticipated bout be canceled for one reason or another, be it injury to either man or continuing legal and drug test issues for Jones. The UFC could most definitely be in the realm of considering how many more chances they will give the decorated Jones, but with a disappointing lack of stars present for the promotion in 2017, they could attempt to book fights for the onetime-indestructible titleholder.
No one could blame them, of course, because Cormier vs. Jones II could easily be the highest-selling PPV event in the barren desert that the year has presented the promotion in terms of overall estimated buyrates. In a sport as volatile as MMA, that’s just the fight game.
The UFC could use Jones’ trouble-free return to face Cormier and then perhaps Gustafsson in what could legitimately turn out to be two of the bigger rematches in UFC history. Just don’t count on it.
Mixed martial artists have been fighting a lot outside the cage recently.
It seems like every time you turn around, some fighters are getting themselves into confrontations under dubious circumstances.
Back on May 12, UFC lightweights Michael Chiesa an…
Mixed martial artists have been fighting a lot outside the cage recently.
It seems like every time you turn around, some fighters are getting themselves into confrontations under dubious circumstances.
Back on May 12, UFC lightweights Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee got themselves tossed out of the fight company’s summer schedule kickoff press conference after comments Lee made about Chiesa’s mom led to on-stage fisticuffs.
One week later, Bellator’s Paul Daley and Michael Page got into it in the crowd at SSE Arena in London following Daley’s lopsided submission loss in a welterweight bout against Rory MacDonald.
Then Cris “Cyborg” Justino (a women’s featherweight) punched strawweight fighter Angela Magana at the UFC’s company-sponsored fighters’ retreat on May 21.
All this unsanctioned violence—sometimes goofy, sometimes ugly—got us thinking: What are the wildest incidents of MMA fighters getting physical outside the confines of the ring?
Turns out, there are a lot them—and we mean a lot. So many, in fact, that none of these most recent examples even made the cut on this list.
So, what are MMA’s wildest out-of-the-cage brawls of all time? Read on to see if your favorite (or least favorite?) made the list…
Top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson burst back into the UFC 205-pound title picture in a big way at yesterday’s (Sun., May 28, 2017) UFC Fight Night 109 from the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, knocking out fellow former title challenger Glover Teixeira with a brutal fifth-round sequence following a drawn-out beatdown. The win, at […]
Top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson burst back into the UFC 205-pound title picture in a big way at yesterday’s (Sun., May 28, 2017) UFC Fight Night 109 from the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, knocking out fellow former title challenger Glover Teixeira with a brutal fifth-round sequence following a drawn-out beatdown.
The win, at least for now, put to rest question marks about Gustafsson after he had gone 2-3 over his past five bouts with an uninspiring decision over Jan Blachowicz serving as his most recent win. But despite the lackluster record on paper, Gustafsson has given the world’s top two light heavyweights, Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones, extreme runs for their money in two of the best back-and-forth bouts the division has ever seen at UFC 192 and UFC 165, respectively.
Those facts and the sheer lack of true depth in the division following Anthony Johnson’s impromptu retirement at UFC 210 have “The Mauler” on the precipice of yet another title shot against the winner of Cormier vs. Jones II at July 29’s UFC 214 from Anaheim, California (if it actually happens).
The only other legitimate title challenger to the throne would be surging knockout artist Jimi Manuwa, who is Gustafsson’s good friend ironically enough, even after “The Mauler” finished “Poster Boy” in their initial match in 2014. True, Cormier and Jones could run it back a third time, but there wouldn’t be too many complaining about the lightning-quick Swede getting another crack at either champion whom he only narrowly lost to the first time.
What do you think? Should “The Mauler” get a title shot in his next bout?
