The following article was published on this day three years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
On This Day Three Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 2, 2019, 11:24 AM]
HEADLI…
The following article was published on this day three years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
On This Day Three Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 2, 2019, 11:24 AM]
HEADLINE: Archives: McGregor Sends Jon Jones Gift After UFC 232 Win (2019)
Author: Jon Fuentes
Jon Jones is back. “Bones” made dominant work of Alexander Gustafsson this past weekend (Sat. December 29, 2018) at UFC 232. The two main evented the pay-per-view (PPV) with their rematch from their legendary 2013 title fight. While their first fight went all five rounds, Jones finished Gustafsson in the third round via TKO in their rematch. Now, he’s once again the 205-pound champion of the world.
It looks like former “Champ Champ” Conor McGregor has offered Jones a congratulatory gift. Per Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole, “The Notorious” has sent Jones and his team a few bottles of Proper 12 Whiskey to celebrate the occasion:
“Ran into @jonnybones in the hotel lobby and he said @TheNotoriousMMA sent him and his team a bunch of Proper 12 whiskey!”
Ran into @jonnybones in the hotel lobby and he said @TheNotoriousMMA sent him and his team a bunch of Proper 12 whiskey!
This certainly might not be the best gift to offer Jones at the moment. Jones has had some issues with drugs and alcohol in the past, which have greatly affected his career inside the cage. McGregor received a lot of criticism for this on Twitter. He even responded to one fan, who called the Irishman a ban influence.
McGregor responded by saying, “I prefer the term “influential”. But McGregor soon made the decision to delete the Tweet:
After rebounding with a main event victory over a Dan Hooker in 2020, a bout awarded the Fight of the Night honours and widely considered a Fight of the Year contender, Poirier re-visited his rivalry with a certain “Notorious” Irishman in 2021.
Having leveled the score in the feud by becoming the first man to knock McGregor out at UFC 257, Poirier was seemingly in line for a shot at the vacant belt. Instead, he chose another money fight with the former two-division champion, one that ended with trilogy glory for the Louisianan.
But while most expected him to close out a spectacular year with title success, the formidable underdog presence of champion Charles Oliveira stood in his way. In the final pay-per-view main event of the year, “Do Bronx” submitted Poirier in the third round, a heartbreaking case of déjà vu for the perennial contender.
Following his latest setback, Poirier was unsurprisingly de-motivated and deflated. He even suggested he may never fight at lightweight again and claimed no potential fight excited him anymore. However, the thought of a clash with veteran fan-favorite Nate Diaz soon brought a glimpse of motivation back for the 32-year-old.
But while both parties appeared to accept the fight for early 2022, a stall in negotiations has seemingly left Poirier back in an uncertain crossroads in his career. That’s much to the confusion of Felder, who believes the Diaz fight was a no-brainer.
“It should be done (Poirier vs. Diaz). That should have written itself right then and there after Dustin lost that fight to Charles Oliveira. He needs a fun fight… He just needs to go out there against somebody and not be worried about titles, not have the pressure. Even a Conor McGregor fight I think is too much for him right now. Just go out there against another top dog, somebody who’s been around for a while, and try to get a W, and if not, go get paid, make people see it. I think he needs a light-hearted fight, not that any of them are easy, but he needs one with no title implications on the line.”
While all parties appeared to agree a fourth Poirier vs. McGregor clash is inevitable soon after UFC 264, the Irishman certainly isn’t short of other options and looks to have his sights set on Oliveira’s lightweight gold. Apart from that, potential bouts with Michael Chandler and Max Holloway also offer intriguing possibilities for McGregor’s comeback.
For Poirier, the options aren’t as clear heading into the new year. He’s previously teased a switch to welterweight, and with his potential departure from the 155-pound division, perhaps we’ll be seeing a grudge match between “The Diamond” and his former teammate Colby Covington in the near future, although that would certainly veer away from the type of fights Felder believes Poirier should be pursuing.
Do you agree with Paul Felder? Would a fourth fight against Conor McGregor be too much for Dustin Poirier at the moment?
Former UFC interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee wasn’t ready for the spotlight that came with his fight against Tony Ferguson.
Lee was recently released by the UFC in a stunning move by the promotion. Despite losses in four of his last fi…
Former UFC interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee wasn’t ready for the spotlight that came with his fight against Tony Ferguson.
Lee was recently released by the UFC in a stunning move by the promotion. Despite losses in four of his last five fights, he had faced stiff competition, including Charles Oliveira and Rafael dos Anjos.
Lee’s first true taste of free agency didn’t last long, as he opted to sign with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC promotion. It was arguably the biggest signing by a mid-tier promotion in 2021.
Lee was once thought of as one of the top lightweight prospects in the world, leading up to his loss to Ferguson at UFC 216. He had risen to the top of the lightweight division with wins in nine of his previous ten bouts.
During a recent interview with The Schmo, Lee was blatantly honest when discussing if he would’ve done anything different during his UFC tenure.
“I’m not gonna say I would do it differently because I don’t regret anything. I might have done some stuff better though,” Lee said. “When I first made like, the big push, when you see me do the Michael Chiesa thing. I didn’t know that that was gonna happen, no regrets, no regrets. But even afterwards, the calling out Tony Ferguson, and getting that fight way too soon, way before I was supposed to get that fight.
Tony Ferguson (left) and Kevin Lee (right)Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images
“Sometimes I regret it, I’m not gonna lie to you. Sometimes I regret having that overriding confidence to do something you know you shouldn’t do. I knew I wasn’t ready for Tony, at the time I took that fight. I just was like, ‘Alright, we gonna do it. Gonna put my balls out there and we’re gonna see what it is.’ My balls was bigger than my brain.”
Lee has previously discussed just how brutal the buildup was to his fight with Ferguson. He’s mentioned that the weight-cutting process for the interim title bout made him delirious and physically depleted as he cut down to the 155-pound limit.
Lee is slated to make his Eagle FC debut against Diego Sanchez in March in a 165-pound matchup. It’ll be his prime opportunity to get back on track after recent struggles in the UFC.
Do you think Kevin Lee will ever eventually return to the UFC?
Cody Garbrandt is maintaining a positive mindset despite suffering a brutal loss.
Garbrandt suffered a brutal knockout loss at UFC’s final pay-per-view event of 2021, getting stopped in the first round by Kai Kara-France. Despite this, the former U…
Cody Garbrandt is maintaining a positive mindset despite suffering a brutal loss.
Garbrandt suffered a brutal knockout loss at UFC’s final pay-per-view event of 2021, getting stopped in the first round by Kai Kara-France. Despite this, the former UFC bantamweight champion recently talked about the future of his career, proclaiming that he still has a lot to give.
“When it’s over, I say it’s over. Not the fans, not Dana, not anybody but me. When I know and I understand that I don’t have it anymore, I don’t have what it takes to push myself and train to be prepared to go out there and give my best shot to win, then I’ll be done,” said Garbrandt on his latest episode of the Rollin With The Homies podcast.
“I can honestly say that, and I have a good support system around me that’ll be like, ‘Look, let’s look at something else.’ But that’s so far down the road. I’m 30 years old, I still have a lot left in the tank to do. We’ll make the corrections, we’ll figure it out.” (h/t MMA Junkie)
Garbrandt Struggling Since Title Reign
Garbrandt’s recent loss at UFC 269 continued a long streak of unfortunate results. The former UFC bantamweight champion has only won once in his past five appearances. His sole victory since dropping his belt was an emphatic win in 2020, scoring a walk-off knockout against Raphael Assuncao.
Garbrandt was making his debut at the flyweight class just last month. He made weight for his fight and is still open to competing at that weight class again.
His recent success is in great contrast to earlier years in his career. Garbrandt became a UFC champ in 2017, putting together a stellar performance against Dominick Cruz to take the 135-pound belt.
Garbrandt was undefeated at the time, boasting 11 pro wins when heading into his first title fight.
UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Peña knew what she was signing up for when she agreed to battle Amanda Nunes at UFC 269.
Nunes was expected by many to run through Peña in their matchup. Instead, the fiery Peña proved to be a game opponent in the…
UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Peña knew what she was signing up for when she agreed to battle Amanda Nunes at UFC 269.
Nunes was expected by many to run through Peña in their matchup. Instead, the fiery Peña proved to be a game opponent in the opening minutes and came out with a barrage of punches in Round 2.
After exhausting Nunes, Peña secured a hard takedown and sunk in the rear-naked choke for the victory. It was arguably the biggest upset in UFC history.
Nunes didn’t look like her usually dominant self in the eyes of many. She looked sluggish and fatigued after just minutes of action in the Octagon.
During a recent interview with Fox Sports Australia, Peña said she wasn’t surprised by what Nunes brought to the cage and believes Nunes’ place in MMA history is secure in spite of her UFC 269 loss.
“Honestly, that’s the hardest I’ve ever been hit, and those leg kicks really hurt me,” Peña said. “A lot of her shots were very powerful, they were the strongest that I have ever felt. She is the GOAT for a reason, and she is considered and still will always be considered the greatest of all time, so I literally took those shots, and I thought, ‘Holy cow, I just got hit by a Mack Truck.’ I knew, though, that I had to weather the storm in order to keep the grind on her and to get the win. So I wasn’t deterred at all by the power that I felt.”
Julianna Peña, Amanda Nunes Could Be On Track To Battle Again
Amanda Nunes, Julianna Pena, Image Credit: Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
However, Nunes has hinted at taking some time off, and it’s unclear as to when we’ll see these two square off once again. Things took a heated turn after the fight when Peña claimed the title of the UFC’s first “mom champ,” much to the chagrin of Nunes and others.
After one of the most remarkable moments in modern MMA history, the Peña/Nunes rivalry appears to just be getting started.
What is your early prediction for an Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Peña rematch?
Bellator is currently working to put flashy welterweight Michael “Venom” Page against champion Yaroslav Amosov for a card in London, England.
Bellator President Scott Coker revealed the plans in a recent interview with MMA Junkie. He mentioned he h…
Bellator is currently working to put flashy welterweight Michael “Venom” Page against champion Yaroslav Amosov for a card in London, England.
Bellator President Scott Coker revealed the plans in a recent interview with MMA Junkie. He mentioned he hopes to make the fight for early 2022, although an exact date hasn’t been worked out yet.
“I know MVP was kinda back-and-forth, ‘do I want to fight Lima again, do I want to fight Amosov’ and then we said hey, just go think about it,” Coker said. “Our opinion as a company is you want to take the next step. You want to go fight for the belt now. This is your time. If you don’t do it now, when are you gonna do it? and then you can come back and fight Lima again in the future. So to me, it’s the right fight to put together. I think it’ll happen in the second quarter. It will be in London and it will be a massive fight over there because he’s such a big star.” (h/t MMA Junkie)
Page Getting Title Fight Following Important Win
Page is being put in a title fight position for the first time in his career. He is also coming off arguably the biggest win of his career thus far.
Page is being put in the title fight after avenging the sole pro loss in his career. He recently defeated former champ Lima, beating him via split decision.
The potential fight could be Amosov’s first fight as the Bellator Welterweight Champion. He earned the belt in June, going five rounds against Lima for a decision win. The victory continued his flawless pro career that includes 26 wins as a whole and seven victories in Bellator.
Who would you pick in a fight between Yaroslav Amosov and Michael “Venom” Page?
