One of the summer’s most awaited fights that never was has reportedly been rescheduled for November 4’s UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York. Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt was headed for a championship match-up with hated rival and former champion TJ Dillashaw in the main event of July 8’s UFC 213 after the two […]
One of the summer’s most awaited fights that never was has reportedly been rescheduled for November 4’s UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York.
Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt was headed for a championship match-up with hated rival and former champion TJ Dillashaw in the main event of July 8’s UFC 213 after the two built up a significant amount of hype as coaches of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25, but the fight fell apart when Garbrandt was unfortunately forced out with a back injury.
The MMA world has been anticipating “No Love’s” first title defense since he won the gold with a rousing decision win over legendary champion Dominick Cruz at UFC 207, and the Team Alpha Male star tweeted they would get it at UFC 217 today:
If and when the huge title bout is confirmed, it will join the long-rumored Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre middleweight title fight, for which St-Pierre recently posted a picture of him signing the official bout agreement for.
So UFC 217 is set to be huge and could get even bigger in the coming few months. Jon Jones has expressed interest in actually avoiding the card due to the high rate of taxes placed on fighters’ purses in the state, even though he’s a native of Upstate New York.
Regardless, with Bisping vs. St-Pierre and now reportedly Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw, UFC 217 is shaping up to challenge July 29’s UFC 214 as the best UFC pay-per-view event of the year.
Cody Garbrandt is ready to get back inside the Octagon and make his first career UFC title defense. “No Love” shocked the mixed martial arts (MMA) world back in December of last year when he handed Dominick Cruz his first loss in nearly a decade. The pair threw down in the co-main event of UFC […]
Cody Garbrandt is ready to get back inside the Octagon and make his first career UFC title defense.
“No Love” shocked the mixed martial arts (MMA) world back in December of last year when he handed Dominick Cruz his first loss in nearly a decade. The pair threw down in the co-main event of UFC 207 where the Team Alpha Male product handed Cruz a unanimous decision defeat, taking his 135-pound title in the process.
Garbrandt was expected to make his first title defense against former teammate TJ Dillashaw at UFC 214 this past weekend, however, the bantamweight champ suffered a back injury that forced that fight to be cancelled. Recently speaking to MMA Fighting via text message, Garbrandt said he has been ‘hardly doing MMA’ since the injury and has been strictly focusing on rehabilitation, however, he has his eyes set on a November return to the UFC at Madison Square Garden (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I want MSG,” he said.
“Feeling a lot better. Hardly doing MMA. It’s been all rehab and strength and conditioning. I can’t wait to get back.”
Per MMA Fighting, the UFC is targeting five title bouts before the year’s end between the months of October and December. No bouts have been made official, however, here are the match-ups they are eying:
Bantamweight: Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw Featherweight: Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar Interim lightweight: Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov Middleweight: Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre (expected to headline UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden)
It should also be noted that the UFC will crown an inaugural female flyweight champion come December in the latest installment of The Ultimate Fighter.
Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has yet to be approached for his next, and (if successful) what could be a record-breaking third, heavyweight title defense as he remains adamant on holding out until his contract issues are resolved.
It appears that former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz may have his next fight lined up. Following his 20th straight win against Thomas Almeida at UFC on FOX 25, Jimmie Rivera is looking for a big fight. The rising contender called out Cruz at a post-fight media scrum in Long Island, New York over the […]
It appears that former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz may have his next fight lined up.
Following his 20th straight win against Thomas Almeida at UFC on FOX 25, Jimmie Rivera is looking for a big fight. The rising contender called out Cruz at a post-fight media scrum in Long Island, New York over the weekend.
Cruz has been out of action since he lost the title to breakout talent Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207. Despite the loss, he is still ranked as the official No. 1 contender. On the flip side, Rivera has opted to fight T.J. Dillashaw for the interim title.
“What I want next is either to fight T.J. for an interim belt if (champ) Cody (Garbrandt) is still hurt, or get Cruz off the bench and let’s fight,” Rivera told the media.
If you recall, Dillashaw was expected to face the current champion at UFC 213, but the bout has been postponed to an undisclosed date due to a back injury sustained by Garbrandt. Dillashaw lost the title to Cruz last year.
It’s become clear that Rivera is someone to look out for as he is one of the hottest prospects in the division and is hoping to climb one step closer to a title shot by beating Cruz or Dillashaw in the fall.
“I’m hoping to get back in there in November, whether it’s T.J. or Cruz,” he said. “I hope to get back in November in (Madison Square Garden).”
Jimmie Rivera is shooting for the stars after his UFC on FOX 25 victory. Last night (July 22), Rivera took on Thomas Almeida in the event’s main card opener. After a back-and-forth scrap, “El Terror” emerged as the winner via unanimous decision. Following the decision, Rivera said he was eyeing an interim title bout against […]
Jimmie Rivera is shooting for the stars after his UFC on FOX 25 victory. Last night (July 22), Rivera took on Thomas Almeida in the event’s main card opener. After a back-and-forth scrap, “El Terror” emerged as the winner via unanimous decision. Following the decision, Rivera said he was eyeing an interim title bout against […]
With the UFC’s rough start to 2017 now almost in the middle of June, the topic of just how bad the year is for the UFC is not only an oft-discussed talking point, but it has become a brooding specter of uncertainty at this point, one that could ultimately spell doom for the outfit that […]
With the UFC’s rough start to 2017 now almost in the middle of June, the topic of just how bad the year is for the UFC is not only an oft-discussed talking point, but it has become a brooding specter of uncertainty at this point, one that could ultimately spell doom for the outfit that has led MMA for so long.
The reasons why this unfortunate circumstance is becoming clear are many, and indeed they’ve been brewing for several years in more than one instance. The fact that the company is under new ownership after Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG purchased the UFC for a record-breaking $4.2 billion last July is obviously a huge motivating factor why the UFC is failing, but there are many others that only speed up that process.
Several MMA pundits have predicted grey skies for at least the immediate future of the UFC, and it’s hard to predict a quick turnaround for the promotion in the final seven months of the year, even if at least a few big fights are on the horizon. What’s more, there are even a few more ominous signs that suggest the new owners are possibly running the world’s biggest MMA company into the ground for good.
Let’s take a look at the biggest reasons why the UFC is spiraling downward rapidly.
5. Dana White’s Strong-Arm Tactics:
There’s no denying that White, alongside with his childhood friends and Las Vegas casino moguls Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, saved MMA and the UFC from dying off when they purchased the company back in the late 20th century. They then parlayed that gamble into one of the most lucrative rags-to-riches (figuratively) stories in combat sports, turning MMA into a worldwide phenomenon while making the UFC one of sports’ most coveted properties by the time it reached its height in 2016.
A lot of that financial success was built on paying fighters the bare minimum, however, and that fact was effectively kept under wraps when the Fertittas were in charge, but absolutely exploded on to the forefront of most MMA discussion when WME-IMG bought it for a seemingly ludicrous $4.2 billion last year.
But White, who was kept on as president and the company’s public face, has recently seen this strong-arm strategy backfire in his face and in no small way. His messy feud with dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson that recently spilled over into the media is the most glaring – and poignant – example.
Fighters aren’t going to take whatever scraps the UFC offers them now that they know how much they’re really worth, and while they’ve failed to effectively organize in any lasting form to this point, White’s bullying clearly isn’t going to scare today’s fighters into signing whatever is put in front of them and their managers.
After winning the UFC bantamweight title from 135-pound legend Dominick Cruz in the co-main event of last December’s UFC 207, Cody Garbrandt is headed for a highly-publicized title bout with former champion TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas. Their bad blood comes from their well-documented history as onetime
After winning the UFC bantamweight title from 135-pound legend Dominick Cruz in the co-main event of last December’s UFC 207, Cody Garbrandt is headed for a highly-publicized title bout with former champion TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas.
Their bad blood comes from their well-documented history as onetime teammates at Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male, a camp where Dillashaw became the team’s first UFC champion – and also where Garbrandt reportedly knocked him out in training as a rising prospect. When Dillashaw split the team alongside former TAM head coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig; however, a dividing rift was created and “The Viper” became instant enemies opposite his old training partners and friends.
Photo Credit – Mark J. Rebilas for USA TODAY Sports
With Faber now retired, Garbrandt seems to have taken up the onus of defending Team Alpha Male’s name against a man they feel is a “snake” after he supposedly sold them out to take the higher payday at Colorado’s Elevation Fight Team. Riding high on one of the most impressive performances ever witnessed at 135 when he outclassed Cruz over five rounds, Garbrandt is quickly becoming one of the hottest rising stars in MMA.
But it wasn’t always like that, because while Garbrandt is undefeated in his professional MMA career, he lost two bouts in his amateur career, and one of them came when he was absolutely floored by Jerrell Hodge in the North American Allied Fighting Series (NAAFS) back in early 2012. Watch the shocking KO video right here:
Such a brutal stoppage loss will stick in a fighter’s mind, but while Cruz tried to point to the loss to Hodge as a sign of weakness, Garbrandt was quick to turn that around with his belief that the knockout only served to make him a much better and stronger fighter.
It’s hard to argue with that train of thought, too, as the ultra-exciting “No Love” has reeled off 11 consecutive wins against top competition, including nine by T/KO and seven in the first round. Garbrandt obviously displays knockout power that we’ve rarely if ever seen in the bantamweight division, and his rigorous commitment to training with TAM has paid big dividends for his all-around game during a meteoric rise to prominence as a young and marketable champion.
Photo by Mark J. Rebilas of USA Today Sports
And it couldn’t be at a more opportune time, either, as the UFC currently needs bankable stars arguably more than they ever have in their nearly 24-year history. Dillashaw brings some of the most confusing footwork along with amazing accuracy and an NCAA-level wrestling background, but Garbrandt showed he could easily withstand all the skills of “The Dominator,” who beat Dillashaw, albeit quite narrowly, in their early 2016 meeting.
MMA math rarely adds up, and the bad blood dynamic of this fight will certainly mean that emotions will be running high for both sides. The drama of the TV show has amplified that to a much greater degree as well, especially with Faber present as one of Garbrandt’s coaches.
Dillashaw will bring a unique challenge, that much is true, but it’s also one Garbrandt has seen before. So while the champ has been brutally knocked out before, he’s shown he has rebounded to become one the fast-rising stars in all of MMA.
