Tag: Eddie Alvarez

Video: Nate Diaz & Dustin Poirier Face Off For First Time

Watch Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz’s first UFC 230 staredown here:

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News of an anticipated lightweight showdown between Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier at November’s UFC 230 broke late last night.

The bout was confirmed for the pay-per-view event at today’s UFC 25th Anniversary Press Conference. Poirier was on hand to discuss the bout at the beginning of the presser, but Diaz was noticeably absent.

However, the Stockton slugger soon appeared to face off with Poirier. Check out their first faceoff for the high-profile match-up here:

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UFC 25th Anniversary Press Conference

Watch the UFC’s 25th Anniversary press conference streaming live right here.

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The UFC will reveal the headlining events for the rest of their upcoming pay-per-view events of 2018 at a special 25th Anniversary Press Conference live from Los Angeles, California today.

Set to happen right before the UFC 227 ceremonial weigh-ins for tomorrow’s (Sat., August 4, 2018) pay-per-view event from the Staples Center, the presser is slated to feature ‘more than a dozen’ fighters from the biggest events of the fall and winter. The conference is expected to be where the upcoming Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier fight announced last night will be officially confirmed.

But the media event could have much, much bigger ramifications than just that. The rumor circulating, of course, is that the UFC will finally announce the anticipated lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor for either UFC 229 in October or November’s UFC 230.

That gives the 25th Anniversary Presser some extra high stakes, and needless to say, the entire MMA world will be tuning in in anticipation. You can do just that starting live at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT right here:

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Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz Is UFC Matchmaking At Its Best

A surprise fight announcement in the middle of the night has MMA fans, fighters and media alike buzzing with anticipation. Out of nowhere, it was confirmed that the co-main event of UFC 230, which goes down Saturday, November 3 at Madison Square Garden…

A surprise fight announcement in the middle of the night has MMA fans, fighters and media alike buzzing with anticipation. Out of nowhere, it was confirmed that the co-main event of UFC 230, which goes down Saturday, November 3 at Madison Square Gardens in New York City, will be an exciting lightweight bout between top […]

The post Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz Is UFC Matchmaking At Its Best appeared first on MMA News.

UFC Rankings Update: Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier Climb On Lightweight List

Conor McGregor continues to rise up the rankings without fighting.

The post UFC Rankings Update: Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier Climb On Lightweight List appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The official UFC ranks have been updated following last weekend’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and not surprisingly, Dustin Poirier was one of the main benefactors.

However, an impressive second-round TKO over Eddie Alvarez in the UFC on FOX 30 main event couldn’t push him past former champion Conor McGregor, who somehow overtook former interim champion Tony Ferguson despite not fighting in the UFC for going on two years.

“The Diamond” rose one spot to No. 3 for his win over Alvarez, and McGregor overtook the No. 1 spot at 155 pounds, presumably because of the excitement over his expected return against current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year. “The Eagle” rose one spot on the pound-for-pound list, overtaking Stipe Miocic at the No. 8 spot.

You can check the fully updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Demetrious Johnson
3 Conor McGregor
3 Max Holloway
5 Georges St-Pierre
6 TJ Dillashaw
7 Tyron Woodley
8 Khabib Nurmagomedov +1
9 Stipe Miocic -1
10 Robert Whittaker
11 Cris Cyborg
12 Tony Ferguson
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Cody Garbrandt
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Henry Cejudo
2 Sergio Pettis
3 Joseph Benavidez
4 Ray Borg
5 Jussier Formiga
6 John Moraga
7 Wilson Reis
8 Alexandre Pantoja
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 Brandon Moreno
11 Ben Nguyen
12 Matheus Nicolau
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Ulka Sasaki

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Marlon Moraes
5 Jimmie Rivera
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Pedro Munhoz
10 Cody Stamann
11 Rob Font
12 Alejandro Perez
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Brett Johns
15 Douglas Silva de Andrade

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Jeremy Stephens
5 Cub Swanson
6 Chad Mendes
7 Josh Emmett -1
8 Mirsad Bektic
9 Chan Sung Jung
10 Renato Moicano
11 Alexander Volkanovski
12 Ricardo Lamas
13 Darren Elkins
14 Yair Rodriguez
15 Zabit Magomedsharipov

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Conor McGregor +1
2 Tony Ferguson -1
3 Dustin Poirier +1
4 Eddie Alvarez -1
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Al Iaquinta +1
10 James Vick +1
10 Nate Diaz -1
12 Michael Chiesa
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Dan Hooker
15 Francisco Trinaldo

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington (Interim Champion)
2 Darren Till
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Stephen Thompson
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Kamaru Usman
7 Demian Maia
8 Neil Magny
9 Jorge Masvidal
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Leon Edwards
12 Donald Cerrone
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Alex Oliveira
15 Dong Hyun Kim

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Derek Brunson
7 David Branch
8 Paulo Costa
9 Israel Adesanya
10 Brad Tavares
11 Antonio Carlos Junior
12 Uriah Hall
13 Thiago Santos
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Krzysztof Jotko

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Ilir Latifi
4 Jan Blachowicz
5 Jimi Manuwa
6 Corey Anderson
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Glover Teixeira
9 Anthony Smith
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Mauricio Rua
12 Dominick Reyes
13 Patrick Cummins
14 Tyson Pedro
15 Sam Alvey *NR

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Derrick Lewis
3 Curtis Blaydes
4 Francis Ngannou
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Junior Dos Santos
8 Mark Hunt
9 Marcin Tybura
10 Tai Tuivasa
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Stefan Struve
14 Shamil Abdurakhimov
15 Justin Willis

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez
10 Nina Ansaroff +3
11 Cortney Casey -1
12 Alexa Grasso -1
13 Randa Markos -1
14 Angela Hill +1
15 Joanne Calderwood -1

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Katlyn Chookagian +4
4 Roxanne Modafferi +1
5 Liz Carmouche -1
6 Alexis Davis -3
7 Lauren Murphy -1
8 Jessica Eye
9 Barb Honchak
10 Jessica-Rose Clark
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Andrea Lee
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Montana De La Rosa
15 Paige VanZant

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Lina Lansberg
12 Irene Aldana
13 Lucie Pudilova
14 Sarah Moras
15 Gina Mazany

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Will Conor McGregor’s UFC Return Be Announced This Friday?

What will the UFC’s “special” presser this Friday reveal?

The post Will Conor McGregor’s UFC Return Be Announced This Friday? appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The UFC will reveal the upcoming schedule for the rest of this year at a press event from Los Angeles this week.

Earlier today (Wed., August 1, 2018) the promotion announced a “special” press conference featuring “more than a dozen” fighters from upcoming cards in the latter half of the year. The press conference will start at 1:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. ET, and will be held at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California, the site of the UFC 227 ceremonial weigh-ins, which will follow the press event.

The UFC is calling the conference its “25th anniversary seasonal press conference,” and while no fighters have been named as officially attending, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and his upcoming opponent Darren Till will be in attendance according to MMA Fighting. Fans can obtain tickets for free starting tomorrow morning through TicketMaster.

Of course, the biggest speculation is that the headliners for October’s UFC 229 and November’s UFC 230, both expected to be major pay-per-views from Las Vegas and New York, respectively, will be announced at the presser, with Conor McGregor’s oft-discussed return against Khabib Nurmagomedov potentially happening at one of the events. With “The Notorious’” legal issues in the past after his recent plea deal for his Brooklyn assault, his path to return has never seemed more realistic.

Nothing has been confirmed, of course, but if the UFC wants McGregor to save their 2018 while there’s still time, it would make sense to announce his feverishly-anticipated comeback as soon as they can.

Stay tuned.

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Eddie Alvarez Reacts To Coach’s Controversial Elbow Call At UFC Calgary

Eddie Alvarez broke his silence on his recent loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC Calgary.

The post Eddie Alvarez Reacts To Coach’s Controversial Elbow Call At UFC Calgary appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It took a few days, but “The Underground King” Eddie Alvarez has reacted to the fallout from UFC Calgary.

The much-anticipated rematch between the self-proclaimed most violent man in the UFC and Dustin Poirier did not disappoint. In the end, Poirier earned a TKO victory over the former lightweight champion, albeit with some controversy.

Alvarez was doing well in the fight, and in top control of Poirier when he would inexplicably throw an illegal 12-to-6 elbow forcing referee Marc Goddard to stand the fighters up. Alverez would be looking at the rafters just 25 seconds later.

Always a class act, “The Underground King” holds no ill will towards referee Marc Goddard or his rival Poirier. Alvarez would issue something of a statement on Instagram explaining his position:

“Controversial calls, judging, and fan support can always add to the drama but in the end one will stand and one will fall,” Alvarez wrote on Instagram. “Hats off to Dustin and his team, he stayed calm under pressure and fought beautifully, this makes us 1-1.”

“In no way will I judge Goddard harshly, we have the same job,” he wrote. “He has to make decisions in split seconds just like I do, and he makes them with my health and my opponents in mind. What’s done is done.”

Making an appearance on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” longtime Alvarez coach Mark Henry took complete ownership of the elbow, saying I was confused and it was a miscommunication. Alvarez, however, was quick to point out Henry is responsible for his success.

“As for Mark Henry calling for an elbow in the heat of the moment, an angled elbow is an incredible shot from the position I was in,” Alvarez wrote. “We simply had a miscommunication, it happens in war more often than not. This was a case of ‘friendly fire’ and we ended up on the losing end of this battle But let’s remember Ricardo and Mark are also responsible for my UFC world title and wins over some of the greatest fighters in UFC.”

You can read Alvarez’ full Instagram post here:

There are no grey areas in Fighting , one man will lose and the other will win , this is why I love this game . Controversial calls , judging , and fan support can always add to the drama but in the end 1 will stand and 1 will fall . Hats off to Dustin and his team he stayed calm under pressure and fought beautifully this makes us 1-1 . In no way will I judge Godard harshly , We have the same Job ! he has to make decisions in split seconds just like I do , and he makes them with my health and my opponents in mind . What’s done is done . As for Mark Henry calling for an elbow in the heat of the moment . An angled elbow is an incredible shot from the position I was in , it’s actually the only shot you can throw . We simply had a miscommunication, it happens in war more often than not , this was a case of “friendly fire” and we ended up on the losing end of this battle . But let’s remember Ricardo and Mark are also responsible for my UFC world title , and wins over some of the greatest fighters in the UFC , He’s the hardest worker on our team , obsessive, detailed , and pushes us all to understand the opportunity we have in front of is on a world stage . He’s my coach , friend , and Been a mentor of mine for longer than most of you know . Losing is never satisfying , I don’t lose often but when I do I grow the most as a person/fighter . Adjustments will be made , if anything this loss will add to the joy of my next Victory ! I want to thank my team , coaches , my family , and everyone who supports me in this journey . My family especially, the sacrifice falls on the back of my wife and our children . We experience great Joy in our victories and incredible Pain in our losses but our only other option is to avoid the experience and feel nothing at all . We are grateful to be able to fight every time the walk is made to the octagon , and anxiously awaiting the the opportunity to make that walk again . Thank you @ufc . I was brought here , not to win , but to entertain…. Are you not entertained ???? T.H.N.Q

A post shared by Eddie Alvarez (@ealvarezfight) on

The former lightweight champion will now be forced to play the waiting game. Having fought out his contract, Alvarez could take his brand of violence elsewhere in the MMA world, or he may continue fighting the best lightweights in the UFC.

No matter what transpires, he won’t be blaming Henry.

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