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UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is set for her first title defense. She’ll meet Jessica Eye in the co-main event of June 8’s UFC 238 from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

The fight is sandwiched between the anticipated Tony Ferguson vs. Donald Cerrone lightweight bout and the Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes bantamweight title bout. Add in the fact that Shevchenko isn’t exactly known for outside-the-cage trash talk, and the high-profile women’s fight has flown under the radar thus far.

However, there was a recent incident that could definitely add some heat to the lead-up of the fight. Last week, ‘Bullet’ posted some training footage of her hitting the bag at the UFC Performance Institute that garnered quite the response from fans – and Eye herself. Check it out:

Eye soon responded that the footage of the training video was sped up to make Shevchenko appear faster:

Not surprisingly, the comments section on both the video and Eye’s tweet went wild. Many claimed ‘Bullet’ was just that fast and Eye was clutching at anything she could to trash her opponent. On the other side of the coin, more onlookers pointed to the speed at which cars rushed by in the background of the video as proof it was indeed sped up.

Shevchenko responded to the tweet with a short diss soon thereafter:

‘Bullet’ then opened up on the claim in much greater detail in an appearance on MMA Junkie Radio this week. In it, she affirmed that Eye’s insistence of doctoring the footage didn’t get to her too much. Instead, she’s much more focused on the actual fight:

“It didn’t bother me like how people are trying to imagine, like it goes deep to your soul, like it bothers you too much,” Shevchenko said. “No, this doesn’t happen with me, because to make that happen it would have to be too much happening. I know how to control my emotions and how cool I have to be before the fight, to concentrate all my emotions on one thing, to explode during the fight.”

But even though Eye’s suggestion won’t affect her much, she also couldn’t let it go unaddressed:

“Of course, I felt that I had to tell her something, because if the person (makes up) stupid things, you have to respond. Even if they don’t make any sense, this is my point of view, and I shared it with everyone.”

At the end of the day, Shevchenko isn’t going to waste energy on worrying about such things, however. She and Eye both train at the UFC Performance Institute, and the champion says she can even say hello to her adversary while focusing on the bout:

“For me, it’s nothing. I even can say hello to her,” Shevchenko said. “For me, it doesn’t cost anything, because in the octagon we have to fight. Right now, I have to prepare for my fight. This is what I think about everything, all day long, to be the best version of me for my fight. I don’t spend too much energy on different things.”

The post Valentina Shevchenko Responds To Jessica Eye’s Footage-Editing Claim appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Last week, former UFC contender Sage Northcutt made an unsuccessful debut in ONE Championship when he was knocked out in only 29 seconds by powerful kickboxer Cosmo Alexandre at Friday’s ‘Enter The Dragon’ from Singapore.

The loss was devastating in and of itself, yet some much more concerning news came when it was revealed that Northcutt underwent a nine-hour surgery to fix eight fractures in his face. The surgery was certainly an intense operation, and we found out just how intense today.

Speaking during an interview on The MMA Hour with Luke Thomas today, Northcutt’s Team Alpha Male mentor Urijah Faber detailed just how gruesome it was. He stated that the huge right hand from Alexandre broke Northcutt’s face so badly that doctors had to pick 30 different pieces of bone fragments out of his face:

“Sage went one way and then the other way, first time in a ring, and literally gets manhunted with the nastiest punch and crushes his whole face. Basically splintered his cheek into 30 pieces and broke his orbital bone. He had eight different fractures and literally they had to pick the pieces of the bone fragments out. 30 different pieces out of his face.”

Didn’t See A Fight

Faber said we didn’t get to see Northcutt’s skills because the fight ended so quickly at the hands of the big and powerful Alexandre:

“So a bunch went wrong, 23, 25 seconds in we really didn’t see much of a fight. Cosmo’s a seven-time world champ, he’s dangerous, fighting at 185 pounds, under the impression that nobody cuts weight in ONE FC and they do hydration tests because of etc., and we didn’t get to see much of a fight to be honest.”

Faber then opened up on the question of if Alexandre had cut weight or not. ‘Super’ was fighting at 185 pounds in ONE after competing at 155 and 170 pounds in the UFC. ‘The California Kid’ speculated that even though Northcutt trusted that no one was cutting weight in ONE, everyone still was.

Won’t Blame Weight Cutting

He wouldn’t blame that for his loss, however. Faber said Northcutt was simply caught with a huge punch:

“Sage is such a faith-based guy and takes things as they’re said. Of course, everybody’s cutting weight,” Faber said. “I was kind of trying to wrap my head around the thing and you have to do a hydration test and they weigh you in a couple of days in a row, so it makes it really difficult. But I talked to multiple guys there that were cutting weight and it is what it is.

“That wasn’t the main problem there. Cosmo’s an incredible fighter, seasoned Muay Thai kickboxer, 7-1 as a mixed martial artist. Just came across the ring and landed a nasty punch and ended it for Sage there.”

Ill-Advised Match-Up?

There was a general sentiment that Northcutt possibly could have been given or asked for an easier fight for his ONE debut, and that was exacerbated by hindsight bias here. Faber admitted the 23-year-old had been dealing with some minor injuries, so perhaps taking the bout with such a seasoned striker wasn’t the best idea:

“There’s a lot of stuff going into this fight, he’d had to pull out a couple of different times on dates, it’s been almost 10 months since he actually had a fight,” Faber said. “Didn’t get to see him follow through with practices for a long time now because of some little injuries. In retrospect, there were some warning signs maybe not to take this fight and like you said, it’s not like you go into a fight thinking you’re gonna get your face smashed.”

Listen To The Coaches

Finally, Faber acknowledged there was some advice in play to not take on Alexandre. He believes Northcutt should fight at 170 pounds in the future and make sure he has a full camp behind him when he does. Faber wouldn’t blame those things for the loss either. But he did touch on his coaches perhaps having the final say in decisions like that, perhaps throwing a bit of doubt on his father Mark’s management of his career:

“But against some advice, the fight was taken, not that we don’t believe in Sage absolutely, in the future I’d like to see him at 170 pounds and I’d like to see him at least be able to follow through with an entire camp or at least more than he was able to.

“Again, that’s not the reason why he lost the fight. He fought a great competitor and it’s his first time in the ring and kind of a freak of a thing happened with his face shattering like that I feel like. In the future, maybe coaches having the final say on whether or not a guy goes out there is a good idea and I think talking to his father who loves Sage very much and believes in him, hard lesson learned for all of us.”

The post Urijah Faber: Doctors ‘Took 30 Different Pieces’ Out Of Sage Northcutt’s Face appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Ever since their classic, controversial draw last year, boxing fans have been waiting for a rematch between WBC champion Deontay Wilder and former champion Tyson Fury.

At first, it looked like the fight would happen immediately due to the first bout’s close result. However, that fell by the wayside when both men signed streaming deals with different companies. Fury signed with ESPN, while ‘The Bronze Bomber’ re-upped with SHOWTIME Sports.

So each man moved on to face a new (and less high-profile) challenge. Wilder infamously knocked out mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale in Brooklyn, New York, last weekend. Fury, meanwhile, will face Tom Schwarz on June 15 in Las Vegas.

“The Gypsy King” responded to Wilder’s win before issuing a warning to all top heavyweights. He also appeared on today’s episode of ‘Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show’ to discuss Wilder’s win and his own fighting future. He reiterated that he was impressed by Wilder’s win, and that anyone who stood directly in front of the ‘Bronze Bomber’ would be knocked out:

“Very impressed. You know Deontay Wilder’s got a lot of power, and if you stand in front of him, he will knock you out. That’s what Breazeale did, and he paid the price.”

Asked if the fact that Wilder knocked out Breazeale and not him made him look better, Fury insisted it didn’t matter much:

“Um, not really, because styles do make fights. You can’t really go too much on the performance over Dominic Breazeale compared to mine because Dominic’s got a totally different style to me. Like I say, one style might work for Dominic Breazeale might not necessarily work for someone like myself.”

Fury was then questioned about Wilder’s pre-fight statement about adding a ‘body’ to his record and killing Breazeale in their fight. Fury chalked it up to simple promotion:

“I didn’t buy into too much because a lot of fighters have to create opinions and try and sell their selves and get people talking about their stuff. So they do crazy things. So I know Deontay Wilder’s a family man, he doesn’t want to kill anybody, so I don’t read too much into it. But nevertheless, it is a combat sport, people do happen to die in the ring now and again. It’s not a nice thing to do because, when two men are in there fighting for their life the last thing you need is someone to get severely injured or worse.”

The discussion then predictably moved on to Fury’s expected rematch with Wilder. He said they were close to a rematch, but his own ESPN deal, as well as Wilder’s plans, got in the way:

“We were very close to a rematch. We had contracts, they had contracts, we were trying to agree to terms. But all of the sudden, I had a massive offer from ESPN; they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, no pun intended. That would have been in May, I believe. Deontay Wilder apparently signed a three-fight deal before I signed an ESPN deal. So this was all done before we even put pen to paper.”

Helwani posed the concern that he, Wilder, and Anthony Joshua may never meet due to their fight deals. Fury said that was nonsense and that a deal could be reached. He pointed at his first fight versus Wilder as an example:

“Oh no. If the fighters are willing to fight, then why should the network get in the way? Fighters use that as an excuse. A.K.A. Anthony Joshua. He uses that a lot as the excuse. But I believe if the fighters really want to fight each other – as I proved, I was on BT Sports; I came over to the United States and fought on SHOWTIME – these fights can happen. Why can’t they not do a dual broadcast? It’s been done before, it’ll happen again. Deontay Wilder cannot run from Tyson Fury forever.”

“The Gypsy King” then said his rematch with Wilder simply has to happen. He pointed to next spring as the targeted date:

“This rematch has gotta happen. Gotta happen. But it won’t be in May, June, July, or August. This fight, I’m being told, is likely happening March or April of next year.”

Fury said he had no location for the bout:

“I’ve no idea, but that’s the dates I’ve been given.”

He said he would most likely take another fight or two in between his match-up with Schwarz and his rematch with Wilder. He wants to stay active, and won’t wait around for certain fights:

“I’ve no idea. I’ll probably have another couple of fights in between then if all goes all. I want to be active. I’m not playing anybody else’s games. You know, I’ve got to think about me and my career, and my family, and my life. I’m not going to put my career on hold because I’m waiting for X, Y, Z people to take fights. I’m taking my career in my own hands, destiny, I hold ‘em in both hands. And when the time’s right, we’ll do the fight.”

Finally, Fury was asked if he was concerned about Joshua and Wilder facing off next, leaving him the odd man out. He said he wasn’t concerned, as neither could be considered the best unless they beat him:

“I’m not worried at all. I’m “The Gypsy King,” and the lineal heavyweight champion of the world. All roads lead to Tyson Fury. C’mon. Who wins out of them two, they can never be considered the best in the world unless they beat me. I hold the lineal championship of the world. To be the man of the era, they have to beat Tyson Fury. And no one’s been able to do it in 29 fights so far.”

The post Tyson Fury Reveals Targeted Date For Deontay Wilder Rematch appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Surging light heavyweight contender Thiago Santos is scheduled for the biggest fight of his career when he meets champion Jon Jones in the main event of July 6’s UFC 239 from Las Vegas.

The powerful knockout striker has been disposing of everyone in his path in his recent move up to 205 pounds. “Marreta” has earned a 205-pound title shot as a result. But he also knows this fight will be unlike any of his previous matches.

Speaking to MMA Junkie about the big fight recently, Santos acknowledged just how crafty ‘Bones’ is. Yet that won’t stop him from making Jones ‘suffer’ wherever the fight goes:

“He’s a very intelligent guy, so I need to be ready for everything. I need to be ready for everything and to make him suffer everywhere. If it’s on the ground, he has to suffer, if it’s on the feet, he has to suffer. If he takes me to the fence, he will suffer. That’s how I see it.”

No Secret Formula

Despite that ultra-confident mindset, however, Santos knows Jones will adapt to whatever is thrown at him. There is no set formula for beating the all-time MMA great, he conceded. Any such formula for beating Jones would have shown itself by now according to Santos:

“If there was a formula, or a secret, someone would have figured it out already,” Santos said. “That’s something we’ll see then. We’re working on it, my coaches are studying him, but I think he’s a very intelligent guy. He adapts. If the fight is bad on the feet, he goes to the ground, if it’s bad on the ground, he goes to the feet. If it’s bad at the center of the cage, he takes it to the fence, if it gets bad on the fence, he takes it to the center.”

Due to that ability to adapt, Santos pointed out that we’ve not really seen a weakness in his game. “Marreta” also clarified that we haven’t really seen Jones with his back on the mat absorbing ground and pound. He wants to make Jones react to that, but he reiterated he must also be ready for everything:

“We haven’t really been able to see a weakness in his game,” Santos said. “But we have never seen him with his back against the ground – better yet, with his back to the ground and a hand landing heavily.

“Then, we’ll see. That’s something we haven’t seen, how he reacts to a powerful ground-and-pound from the top. But anyway, more than ever I need to be ready for anything. He’s a very well-rounded guy, he adjusts to wherever the fight is, so my strategy is to make him feel bad wherever he is.”

The post Thiago Santos Makes Bold Prediction For Jon Jones Fight: He Will Suffer appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Last Saturday, news broke that former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis would face Nate Diaz in the polarizing fan favorite’s awaited MMA return at UFC 241 this August.

The fight is a huge match-up that fans are approaching with a sort of tentative anticipation. After all, Diaz hasn’t fought since his rematch with Conor McGregor at August 2016’s UFC 202. He was set to return against Dustin Poirier at last November’s UFC 230. While the bout fell apart due to a hip injury for ‘The Diamond,’ Diaz didn’t seem all too worried he couldn’t fight.

Most expected he was waiting around for his long-rumored trilogy with McGregor. Defeating Pettis in impressive fashion could certainly get him there. But ‘Showtime’ isn’t planning on letting that happen. Speaking on today’s episode of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” Pettis opened up about the match-up:

“Oh man. Perfect fight for me. You know me and Nate, we had beef and drama for a long time. Just something that was supposed to happen a long time ago and it’s finally happening. And at comfortable weight class for both of us, so it’s going to be a scrap.”

Pettis’ Past Beef

‘Showtime’ also said Diaz frequently talked smack for the cameras but remained quiet when they were not around:

“Yeah, I feel like Nate always did that. Cameras would show up and he’d yap at the mouth. I coached against Gilbert Melendez the whole Ultimate Fighter season, not one word. Didn’t say anything. Then the cameras are around and he has something to say.

“It’s time to back it up, everything he’s been saying and all the drama he’s been trying to cause with the UFC vets. Alright, let’s settle it now, in the Octagon, exactly how I want it. And man, I’m excited for this fight. One hundred percent motivated. I wanna knock this guy out.”

Offered McGregor

Pettis was apparently offered another huge name in McGregor for later in the summer, but the bout never materialized:

“Honestly, there were some big names thrown my way. Conor McGregor was thrown my way from Dana. I thought that was going to happen in New York like in August. That didn’t happen, so I pulled back. And then Diaz pops up, so it’s just perfect.”

Pettis offered a somewhat surprising take on the situation. He didn’t know why the fight fell through, only that it had.

“No idea. Um, he just said, ‘Just stay ready,’ that’s all Dana said. I was going to stay busy regardless, July or August was the latest I wanted to fight so for me, it was just waiting for an opponent. But when you get names like that, it’s exciting.”

Finally, asked by Helwani, Pettis claimed he’d rather be fighting Diaz than McGregor because he just doesn’t like the Stockton fan favorite:

“Diaz. Diaz, a hundred percent. I just don’t like the guy. And that’s how it is. This is just one guy I don’t like. I don’t do that, I don’t come out in public, I don’t need to talk trash, my fighting style speaks for itself. Me and Diaz, we got problems, and now we can solve ’em.”

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