Tag: Edson Barboza

Khabib Calls Out Georges St-Pierre After UFC 223 Title Win

Khabib Nurmagomedov finally became the UFC lightweight champion by dominating a tough Al Iaquinta (watch full highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The bout was the culmination of years of hype surrounding the undefeated “Eagle,” whom many believed would […]

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Khabib Nurmagomedov finally became the UFC lightweight champion by dominating a tough Al Iaquinta (watch full highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The bout was the culmination of years of hype surrounding the undefeated “Eagle,” whom many believed would have been champ sooner were it not for his long list of injuries suffered in training, and it was also the culmination of a week full of insanity after Khabib was tasked with literally five potential opponents beginning with longtime rival Tony Ferguson and ending with ‘Ragin’ Al.’

But all is well for the 26-0 Dagestani grappling machine, as he now owns the only 155-pound belt in the world’s biggest MMA promotion and will be headed for a massive fight no matter which direction he goes. Most will want him to face former champion Conor McGregor, with whom he has a monstrous beef bubbling over after their now-infamous run-in this week where McGregor threw a metal dolly through a bus window and was incarcerated on assault charges.

Yet while the fight could legitimately be one of the biggest fights in UFC history, Khabib chose a different route when asked whom he wanted to face next by Karyn Bryant on the UFC 223 post-fight show on FOX Sports 1, calling out legendary former middleweight and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in the most respectful way possible:

“To be honest, if they ask me, I wanna take Georges St-Pierre. St-Pierre is greatest athlete to compete in UFC. When I grow up, I watch his fight. When he defend his title in UFC like 10, 11 years ago, I compete in junior Dagestan championship in Combat Sambo.

“You know, can you imagine this? Now we’re here, and we can fight. It’s like crazy. 10, 11 years ago when I was like 19, 18 as a kid, when I watch his fight when I was like his very biggest fan. Now, he talk about how he wanna become UFC lightweight champion; before he was UFC middleweight and welterweight champion. Why not? If he can make, let’s go in New York.”

Now that McGregor’s fighting – and overall – future is uncertain at best, Khabib may be free to fight St-Pierre rather than ‘The Notorious’ when he returns to the cage later this year in November.

“Rush” has stated he can make lightweight, but he’s still recovering from a bout with colitis after the increased food intake he consumed to keep on the mass necessary to fight at middleweight, where he returned to after nearly four years off and choked out Michael Bisping to win the title before vacating the gold hardly a month later.

You’d have to think if St-Pierre was going to put himself through the opposite and cut all the way down to lightweight, it would have been for a fight with the UFC’s biggest star in McGregor.

A match-up with Khabib, however, could start to look like more of an enticing prospect for the all-time legend who has said he only wants the biggest and the best fights.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Al Iaquinta Full Fight Video Highlights

Following the craziest week in MMA history, undefeated lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov finally met Al Iaquinta – his fifth possible opponent in under a week’s time – in the main event of last night’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. And the 26-0 Dagestani showed why he is the […]

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Following the craziest week in MMA history, undefeated lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov finally met Al Iaquinta – his fifth possible opponent in under a week’s time – in the main event of last night’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

And the 26-0 Dagestani showed why he is the most dominant grappling force in MMA by dominating Iaquinta over five full rounds, although it wasn’t without some resistance from a tough ‘Ragin’ Al.’

The fight began according to Khabib’s expected gameplan, with “The Eagle’ grounding Iaquinta before he got back up:


In the second round, Khabib ground Iaquinta again and began raining down punches, but ‘Ragin’ Al’ was able to survive the round:


The fight wasn’t without a few moments from Iaquinta as well, as he nailed ‘The Eagle’ with some big punches in the third round:


And although his wrestling was working in the early rounds, Nurmagomedov seemed to be content to stand and trade in the later rounds:


Finally, Khabib locked up the UFC lightweight title after taking Iaquinta’s back in the fifth yet again:

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UFC 223 Post-Fight Press Conference

This weekend’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, is in the books, and the card delivered a solid night of action for the New York fans, even if it couldn’t live up to the hype of the all-out craziness of the week that preceded it. In the main […]

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This weekend’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, is in the books, and the card delivered a solid night of action for the New York fans, even if it couldn’t live up to the hype of the all-out craziness of the week that preceded it.

In the main event, Khabib Nurmagomedov became the new UFC lightweight champion after he dominated tough last-minute replacement Al Iaquinta after four prior potential opponents were removed from the fight for one reason or another.

In the co-main event, women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas beat former dominant champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in an exciting, back-and-forth affair that saw “Thug Rose” win the first two rounds, Jedrzejczyk come back in the middle rounds, and Namajunas come back strong in the fifth.

There’s a lot to unpack, so join us for the UFC 223 post-fight press conference streaming live right now:

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Khabib Nurmagomedov Dominates Tough-As-Nails Al Iaquinta To Win Belt

Finishing the all-out insanity that went down in the UFC this entire week, undefeated top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov took on last-minute replacement Al Iaquinta in the main event of tonight’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The scene was unlike any other ever witnessed in MMA, as “The […]

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Finishing the all-out insanity that went down in the UFC this entire week, undefeated top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov took on last-minute replacement Al Iaquinta in the main event of tonight’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The scene was unlike any other ever witnessed in MMA, as “The Eagle” had faced five potential opponents in only six days – starting with his original opponent, longtime rival Tony Ferguson, who was forced out of the fourth time the fight was booked after tripping over a cord in a dark room while wearing sunglasses fulfilling his UFC-mandated media obligations for the fight.

Yes, that really happened, but it actually got worse. Ferguson’s replacement Max Holloway had the courage to fill in for “El Cucuy,” but the featherweight champ’s weight cut to even lightweight was too big, and he was deemed medically unfit to compete at Friday morning’s early weigh-ins.

From that finding spun a chaotic sequence of events where former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who was scheduled to fight Michael Chiesa but had no fight when “Maverick” was injured in Conor McGregor’s illegal bus melee, was targeted to replace Holloway, then Paul Felder, who was turned down because he was unranked, and finally settling on Iaquinta, who could not win the title because he weighed in early 155.2 pounds, 0.2 pounds over the title limit of 155.

As for the actual fight, it was another dominant showing from Nurmagomedov despite some incredible toughness shown by ‘Ragin’ Al.’

The main event bout began with Iaquinta throwing a jab. ‘Ragin” pressed the pace early, landing a good punch. Khabib shot and Iaquinta avoided. A big right missed from Iaquinta before Khabib shot and got the takedown to smother Iaquinta. “The Eagle” took Iaquinta’s back but he got back up. Khabib dumped him again and went to the mount. Iaquinta got up a bit as Khabib hit him with ground punches. Shots rained down and “The Eagle” rode Iaquinta down when he tried to stand back up. Iaquinta stood up but was taken down again as Khabib stuck on him and unleashed more ground damage. “Ragin’ Al” stood back up to end the first round, but it was a dominant showing for Nurmagomedov.

Iaquinta came out pressing the action to start the second, landing a right hand and staying low to hopefully avoid the takedown. Nurmagomedov dove for a takedown and Iaquinta defended it, but Khabib persevered to get another. “The Eagle” rode Iaquinta’s back until the path for another double leg came, and Khabib was on his back instantly. “The Eagle” went for a choke but Iaquinta got out only to be back-mounted. Flattened out, Khabib rained down big shots and went for another choke, yet Iaquinta survived to see the third frame.

The third frame kicked off with Iaquinta landing a jab and missing a big left. He scored a right and the fighters traded strikes. Khabib snapped two jabs and Iaquinta taunted him a bit before Nurmagomedov landed a few strikes. Iaquinta shook off a takedown and landed a solid right. Nurmagomedov kept scoring jabs and threw a kick. Both competitors landed leg kicks. Iaquinta grabbed a Khabib kick and countered with a right hand before Nurmagomedov threw a spinning kick. Nurmagomedov scored with a two-piece combination and continued snapping his jab. The third ended with Iaquinta just missing on a big right hook.

The feature bout headed into the championship rounds, and they started with “Ragin’ Al” stalking Khabib. Nurmagomedov went for a takedown that was defended and then landed a shot. Nurmagomedov walked Iaquinta down but Iaquinta countered. Nurmagomedov snapped a jab and a hook but was countered. He kept scoring jabs, but another takedown was shucked. Iaquinta worked the body, and Khabib went for a wild combo. Iaquinta attempted a takedown but landed a left hand to roars. Iaquinta landed a big shot, Nurmagomedov a combination, and a strong strike from “Ragin’ Al” ended the fourth.

The fifth and final frame started with a takedown from Nurmagomedov that was stuffed. A nice combination scored from “The Eagle,” but “Ragin’ Al” landed a good body shot followed by a left. Iaquinta scored with a strong uppercut and another strike, throwing a missing spinning backfist. A body shot and jabs landed from Nurmagomedov. “The Eagle” sought a takedown on the fence but was defend again. Khabib in the striking then took Iaquinta down. Taking his back, he rained punches and looked for the choke, but the bloodied Iaquinta defended well. The five-round battle ended with Khabib on Iaquinta’s back.

When the dust settled, Khabib was crowned the lightweight champ by a wide margin on a game Iaquinta.

Final Result: Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Al Iaquinta via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-43, 50-43)

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Khabib Issues Warning Message To Conor McGregor

The UFC is still digesting the fallout of by far their craziest week ever, one that started by the last-minute knee injury to Tony Ferguson, who was forced out of his fourth scheduled fight with longtime rival Khabib Nurmagomedov at tomorrow’s UFC 223. But that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came […]

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The UFC is still digesting the fallout of by far their craziest week ever, one that started by the last-minute knee injury to Tony Ferguson, who was forced out of his fourth scheduled fight with longtime rival Khabib Nurmagomedov at tomorrow’s UFC 223.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to craziness for this week.

Yes, lightweight champion Conor McGregor went off in an over-the-top, illegal tirade where he threw a metal dolly and guardrail at a bus containing Nurmagomedov following UFC 223 media day yesterday, for which he eventually turned himself in on assault charges and was bailed out and approved to go back to Ireland.

Yet it didn’t stop there, as UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, the man tabbed to replace Ferguson, was ruled out of the UFC 223 main event when NY doctors deemed him unfit to continue cutting weight for the fight. So began a twisting, turning chain of events involving three top lightweights that ultimately resulted in an impromptu title fight between Nurmagomedov and Al Iaquinta, a fight where Dana White says ‘Ragin’ Al’ can win the title but the commission says he can’t.

It’s all compiled upon itself to result in the most hectic two days the sport of MMA has ever seen, and perhaps no one was affected more than the No. 2 Khabib, who was tasked with five potential opponents this week and the subject of McGregor’s unnecessary outburst of danger. ‘The Eagle’ rapidly issued a response to those who said he was “scared” of McGregor yesterday, and during today’s (Fri., April 6, 2018) UFC 25th-Anniversary Press Conference, Khabib reiterated that McGregor could give him a location to come find him:

“If you wanna find me, please, just send me location. Send me location. Of course, I am UFC fighter, lotta people follow me, I have to be perfect for example, but nobody perfect. when somebody like you, UFC fighter, talk about you bad, or he try to go bully with him, one hundred percent I’m gonna give him back.”

Asked exactly what message he had for ‘The Notorious,’ the wrestling technician said he hoped McGregor took care of his business so they could settle their smoldering beef once and for all – whether it was inside the cage or out of it:

“To be honest, I hope he’s gonna he’s gonna fix his problem and we gonna fix between me and him problem – inside the cage or outside the cage, it doesn’t matter – we have to fix this.”

Following the events that transpired this week, there’s little doubt that a McGregor vs. Khabib lightweight bout would be the most anticipated fight this year, with the possibility of being one of the biggest UFC fighters ever staged.

The rivalry appears to be a real one after Khabib cornered McGregor’s training partner and teammate Artem Lobov in a hotel earlier this week, and the rest is history after ‘The Notorious’ did what he did in Brooklyn.

He has to sort out his legal standing, and Khabib, of course, has to get past Iaquinta at UFC 223 tomorrow night, but if the stars do align, McGregor’s insane antics may actually create a clear path to the biggest fight in the octagon in quite a few years.

If it does, ‘The Eagle’ insists he’s ready to settle the score.

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Dana White Confirms Al Iaquinta Can Also Win Lightweight Title At UFC 223

Earlier today, the main event for tomorrow’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, was thrown into an outright mess when featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced out of his short-notice lightweight title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. The UFC worked through many twists and turns to find a replacement […]

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Earlier today, the main event for tomorrow’s (Sat., April 7, 2018) UFC 223 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, was thrown into an outright mess when featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced out of his short-notice lightweight title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The UFC worked through many twists and turns to find a replacement for “Blessed,” and after much consideration, No. 11-ranked ‘Ragin” Al Iaquinta was chosen as “The Eagle’s” unlikely rival.

The catch was, however, that he could not win the title considering he had weighed in for his scheduled fight with Paul Felder at 155.2 pounds – 0.2 over the title bout limit – with his underwear on because he thought he had to be under 156 for a non-title fight.

Only Khabib could win the belt, but UFC President Dana White refuted that notion at the outset of today’s UFC 25th-Anniversary Presser, revealing that Iaquinta made weight when the commission weighed his underwear:

“The problem with Al was, he was 155.2, which isn’t fight, that was with his underwear on. The commission literally weighed his underwear, and they were .2, so he made weight.”

Pressed if that meant “Ragin’ Al” could also win the title, White said he could – even if it wasn’t necessarily sanctioned by the commission – because if he beat the undefeated Nurmagomedov, everyone would know he was the one and only champion:

“It is on the line, so the title is on the line. As far as the commission goes, Khabib is the one who is eligible for the title, but obviously, if “Ragin Al” wins this fight, he’s the champ. If you beat the man, you are the man, so.

“We as fans, and as fight fans, and as the people, know who the champ is if you win the fight. I mean if you win the fight, you’re the champ. To be the man, you beat the man, and if you beat the man, it’s hard to deny that he’s not the champion, so all technicalities, we will figure out after the fight.”

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