Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor may not have been the last we ever saw of mixed martial arts (MMA) vs. boxing crossover bouts. Showtime Sports Vice President Stephen Espinoza was a guest on The MMA Hour recently, and reflected on the amount of success produced by the “Money Fight.” Espinoza noted that a friend of […]
Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor may not have been the last we ever saw of mixed martial arts (MMA) vs. boxing crossover bouts.
Showtime Sports Vice President Stephen Espinoza was a guest on The MMA Hour recently, and reflected on the amount of success produced by the “Money Fight.” Espinoza noted that a friend of his told him after the event that this could be the “Super Bowl 1” of a huge franchise moving forward (quotes via MMA Mania):
“A friend of mine text me after the event and he said, ‘This could be Super Bowl 1.’ He said, ‘When they did Super Bowl 1, they never thought that this would give rise to an entity like the NFL. It was the uniting of two different business.’ I’m not saying that we’re going to meld all of combat sport into one organization, but, it’s interesting to think about. Is this something that is this more than just a one-off?”
Image Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mayweather vs. McGregor is expected to break numbers all across the board, but if more crossover bouts are expected to happen in the future, Espinoza knows not to expect such ground-breaking numbers each time:
“I think at this level of success, you can take some things from it, but not everything. You can’t expect everything to be at this level of success or even half of that level,” said Stephen.
“You had a perfect storm of a lot of different factors. I do think there a limited number of athletes who have the appeal, desire and the skill to do both. I think it’s a business opportunity on both sides. Now, on some level it’s up to the MMA promoters whether that’s something they feel like that is something that benefits them or their athletes in the long run. But from this side of the table, I think it’s really intriguing and we’d love to do more of them.”
Darren Till is coming to make a statement when he takes on UFC veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone next month (October 21, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 118. Till is undefeated in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career thus far, having racked up a record of 15-0-1 coming off back-to-back wins inside the Octagon. The welterweight […]
Darren Till is coming to make a statement when he takes on UFC veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone next month (October 21, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 118.
Till is undefeated in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career thus far, having racked up a record of 15-0-1 coming off back-to-back wins inside the Octagon. The welterweight prospect is looking to propel himself into a whole new tier of competition, however, if he can get past a former UFC lightweight title challenger in “Cowboy” Cerrone. While Till doesn’t feel that Cerrone and Jackson-Wink took him seriously upon the fight’s announcement, he believes they’ve changed their tune after doing their research on him (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“It’s been good getting a bit of attention,” Till said. “And he said he doesn’t know me, which is fine because it’s not disrespect. On Instagram, Jackson-Wink put up ‘Donald Cerrone versus who,’ but I’m sure they’re researching me now and thinking, ‘We have to take this kid seriously.’
“At the end of the day, Donald Cerrone is a 34-year-old man who is on his way out and drinks every day. I’m a 210-pound gorilla, and they should be scared because I’m not scared, and I’m going to go in there and knock him out.”
Both men have something to prove heading into this fight; as Cerrone needs to make up for back-to-back losses, and Till looks to make a name for himself with what would be the biggest win of his career. Till is extremely confident heading into the fight and believes it’s a risky one for Cerrone, but is thankful that he took the fight anyways:
“He’s got to come in and win because he’s on a losing streak, but I’ve got to come in and prove who I am,” Till said. “This is for me to now build my name, and I’m going to build my name off Donald Cerrone.
“I’m over the moon, and I can’t stop thinking about the opportunity the UFC have given me. I’m grateful to Donald, too, because this is a risky fight for him, so you’ve got to take your hat off to him because he’ll fight anyone at any time. It’s still a bad move and he shouldn’t have taken the fight against me, because I’m a gorilla.”
Till claims he is going full throttle at Cerrone when they’re locked inside the Octagon, and vows to ‘destroy’ the longtime UFC veteran en-route to MMA greatness:
“Whether it’s five rounds, the main event or pressure, I don’t care,” Till said. “If you can’t handle them things then you shouldn’t bother fighting and you may as well quit. I honestly don’t care – I’m just going in there to beat Donald Cerrone.
“I’m straight back into camp, no messing about. I’ve had a week off just to get over a few little injuries, but we start again this week. I’m coming to destroy Donald Cerrone in one round, and that’s what’s going to happen.”
Darren Till is coming to make a statement when he takes on UFC veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone next month (October 21, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 118. Till is undefeated in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career thus far, having racked up a record of 15-0-1 coming off back-to-back wins inside the Octagon. The welterweight […]
Darren Till is coming to make a statement when he takes on UFC veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone next month (October 21, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 118.
Till is undefeated in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career thus far, having racked up a record of 15-0-1 coming off back-to-back wins inside the Octagon. The welterweight prospect is looking to propel himself into a whole new tier of competition, however, if he can get past a former UFC lightweight title challenger in “Cowboy” Cerrone. While Till doesn’t feel that Cerrone and Jackson-Wink took him seriously upon the fight’s announcement, he believes they’ve changed their tune after doing their research on him (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“It’s been good getting a bit of attention,” Till said. “And he said he doesn’t know me, which is fine because it’s not disrespect. On Instagram, Jackson-Wink put up ‘Donald Cerrone versus who,’ but I’m sure they’re researching me now and thinking, ‘We have to take this kid seriously.’
“At the end of the day, Donald Cerrone is a 34-year-old man who is on his way out and drinks every day. I’m a 210-pound gorilla, and they should be scared because I’m not scared, and I’m going to go in there and knock him out.”
Both men have something to prove heading into this fight; as Cerrone needs to make up for back-to-back losses, and Till looks to make a name for himself with what would be the biggest win of his career. Till is extremely confident heading into the fight and believes it’s a risky one for Cerrone, but is thankful that he took the fight anyways:
“He’s got to come in and win because he’s on a losing streak, but I’ve got to come in and prove who I am,” Till said. “This is for me to now build my name, and I’m going to build my name off Donald Cerrone.
“I’m over the moon, and I can’t stop thinking about the opportunity the UFC have given me. I’m grateful to Donald, too, because this is a risky fight for him, so you’ve got to take your hat off to him because he’ll fight anyone at any time. It’s still a bad move and he shouldn’t have taken the fight against me, because I’m a gorilla.”
Till claims he is going full throttle at Cerrone when they’re locked inside the Octagon, and vows to ‘destroy’ the longtime UFC veteran en-route to MMA greatness:
“Whether it’s five rounds, the main event or pressure, I don’t care,” Till said. “If you can’t handle them things then you shouldn’t bother fighting and you may as well quit. I honestly don’t care – I’m just going in there to beat Donald Cerrone.
“I’m straight back into camp, no messing about. I’ve had a week off just to get over a few little injuries, but we start again this week. I’m coming to destroy Donald Cerrone in one round, and that’s what’s going to happen.”
Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos made quite a statement last night (Sat. September 9, 2017) when he made quick work of Neil Magny at the UFC 215 pay-per-view (PPV), as the Brazilian campaigns for a shot at Tyron Woodley’s welterweight title. Woodley served as an analyst on FS1 for the fights and didn’t […]
Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos made quite a statement last night (Sat. September 9, 2017) when he made quick work of Neil Magny at the UFC 215 pay-per-view (PPV), as the Brazilian campaigns for a shot at Tyron Woodley’s welterweight title.
Woodley served as an analyst on FS1 for the fights and didn’t seem to take “RDA” too seriously after calling the champ out, joking about which belts he’d be willing to give to dos Anjos (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“Well, I’ve got a Gucci belt you can have,” Woodley said. “I’ve got a Louis Vuitton belt you can have, but the welterweight gold, the 14 pounds, brother – it’s going to be a long time before I give that up.”
Photo: Perry Nelson for USA TODAY Sports
Woodley admitted that dos Anjos’ performance against Magny was in impressive won, but doesn’t think it was quite enough to earn him a shot at the 170-pound title. With two more impressive welterweight victories under his belt, then “The Chosen One” will consider stepping into the Octagon against the Brazilian:
“I didn’t take (the callout) personally,” Woodley said. “All I’m saying is there are a lot of guys in my division. They always put them in front of me, and everyone thinks they have the solution to beat me. But I think I’m the most well-rounded fighter. I punch the hardest in the UFC of all the fighters. And he’s a great fighter. He’s a former world champion. I do think one or two more fights in the division, with a great performance like he had this evening, we will see him on the other side of the octagon. At that point, we’ll be ready to roll.”
In the meantime, Woodley also expressed interest in jumping up to his fellow FS1 analyst Michael Bisping’s championship weight class of middleweight, possibly teasing a superfight between the pair (or Georges St-Pierre):
“I want to fight at middleweight,” Woodley said. “So, I’m thinking about taking a trip up to middleweight.”
Valentina Shevchenko had a hard fought bout against UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 215 PPV (pay-per-view) event. After going 25-minutes, the judges awarded Nunes the split decision victory, which marked the second win that Nunes holds over the title contender. This did not make Shevchenko very happy […]
Valentina Shevchenko had a hard fought bout against UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 215 PPV (pay-per-view) event. After going 25-minutes, the judges awarded Nunes the split decision victory, which marked the second win that Nunes holds over the title contender.
This did not make Shevchenko very happy as she stood inside the world famous Octagon after the bout with her hands on her hips. In her post-fight interview with longtime commentator Joe Rogan, Shevchenko pulled no punches on how she felt about suffering her second loss to Nunes.
“I really don’t understand why the victory goes to the other side,” Shevchenko said (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). For two takedowns in five rounds? She didn’t hit me with one punch. Nothing significant. Look at her face. Her nose is red from my punches. Why she is still (champion), I don’t understand. Even when I was on the ground, I kicked very hard from the ground position and I really don’t understand why (Nunes won).”
“I think that she didn’t want to be in this fight. She didn’t hit this fight…not one punch. Just like these kicks, these are her kicks,” she said as she kicked the air lightly. I hit hard…I hit hard. This is the reason I hit hard,” she explained, pointing to the cut she suffered on her shin. “But this one?” she asked, again lightly kicking the air.
Shevchenko would go onto say that she didn’t agree with the judges’ scorecards. She insisted that she would win if she met Nunes for the third time. A third fight is not likely due to the fact that Nunes has won both previous bouts and because the UFC 215 PPV buy rate is not expected to do that well.
“I definitely will win this next fight. I won this fight, and I totally disagree with this decision going to the other side. I disagree.”
Shevchenko continued to sound off on the decision while speaking with reporters at the post-fight press conference. This was when she claimed that she felt she had won the first three rounds.
“My thoughts on this fight…first of all, I respect decision of judge, but I don’t agree with the decision at all,” she said. I think this fight…in three rounds this was my points…I won these three rounds. In the final fifth round, only one takedown and she didn’t do nothing, just one takedown. And for this takedown to give victory, I don’t agree with this. Even when I was on the ground I was landing more punches, and she was just holding the position, nothing more.”
“After the first round, it was pretty close. Second, third and fourth it was mine. And fifth…all the rounds it was mine. Just one takedown, I think about this, the judge gave one to the other side. Even this takedown, it was only a control position, and I was landing more punches from being on the ground.”
“I’m frustrated with the decision because I don’t agree totally. My opinion, if it will be victory, it should be victory, like, clear. In this fight, I see more tactical. You can see on her face and my face who landed more punches. I had on my shin stitches because, I don’t know, maybe her teeth. It was cut in, bleeding. I totally disagree.”
Tonight (Sat., September 9, 2017), Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko will finally settle their long-standing rivalry when they battle for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship in the main event of UFC 215 from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The bout, a rematch of their closely-contested first match-up at UFC 196 in early 2016, where Nunes […]
Tonight (Sat., September 9, 2017), Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko will finally settle their long-standing rivalry when they battle for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship in the main event of UFC 215 from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The bout, a rematch of their closely-contested first match-up at UFC 196 in early 2016, where Nunes emerged victorious, was scheduled to take place in the main event of July 8’s UFC 213 until a last-minute illness forced Nunes to pull out of the International Fight Week-ending card the day of the bout.
Still one of the more dominant champions in the UFC, Nunes has repeatedly stated she believes the UFC is “punishing” her for not fighting at UFC 213 by placing her fight with Shevchenko in the co-main event, but that became a moot point when Ray Borg was forced from his main event clash with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson with an illness similar to Nunes.
So regardless, Nunes vs. Shevchenko will have their rematch, and despite the outright hangover from Conor McGregor’s boxing match against Floyd Mayweather two weeks ago, this is one of the best fights – especially meritocracy wise – that the world’s MMA leader could put on. That was never more apparent than it was shortly following Shevchenko’s shocking submission win over talented grappler Julianna Pena at January’s UFC on FOX 22, a bout which earned “Bullet” her title shot and Nunes was present for.
Photo: Ron Chenoy for USA TODAY Sports
The two shared an interesting moment of their own shall we say, unique, trash talk, and MMA’s perhaps most underrated rivalry was taken to a new level. It’s cooled off significantly after the highly-publicized mess at UFC 213, and the timing of the rescheduling probably couldn’t be much worse than it is now. But that simply doesn’t change the fact that this may be the single best fight in UFC women’s bantamweight history in terms of talent.
Nunes and Shevchenko represent the true evolution of women’s MMA, and that makes the UFC 215 main event a true spectacle of modern mixed martial arts, even if it isn’t getting much attention. Let’s break down the fight from all aspects of both females’ well-rounded MMA games.
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas for USA TODAY Sports
Striking:
Here’s where both women have been most touted, with Nunes being regarded as the most powerful puncher in women’s MMA not named Cris Cyborg, and Shevchenko renowned for her championship-level Muay Thai background that includes multiple victories over UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Nunes’ recent smatterings of Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate prove she has the power to knock out any female fighter in MMA if she lands cleanly, and indeed she was able to land some hard shots on Shevchenko in the first two rounds of their first match. But she wasn’t able to easily plow through “Bullet’s” defense and finish the fight in devastating fashion like she did against Rousey and Tate, and that lead to her gassing badly in the third round, which she lost in dominant style.
That means a more measured, precise striking game that evolves over several rounds of the five-round fight will favor Shevchenko. The Russian-born combatant rarely finds herself in danger, evident by her ability to stay clear of noted knockout artist Holly Holm’s strikes in a shockingly one-sided decision win at UFC on FOX 20. She’ll look to counter Nunes’ inevitable rushes, and it’ll require some extreme accuracy to do so without getting tagged.
If Nunes can land early, obviously this arena will trend in her favor. If she can’t hurt Shevchenko in the first two frames, however, it may shift to ‘Bullet’s’ favor in short order.
Advantage: 50-50
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas for USA TODAY Sports
Wrestling:
Neither elite woman relies all too heavily on their wrestling to get the job done; but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a significant amount of skill in that arena.
Nunes is a big, strong bantamweight who can muscle opponents to the mat with ease but prefers to bash her foes with powerful, precise strikes as her takedowns to open up a path for a fight-ending submission, most commonly a rear-naked choke. The aforementioned tendency to gas will most likely lead Nunes to avoid too many prolonged wrestling exchanges, however.
Shevchenko is all more well-known for her elite striking and then her submissions second, but she showed some underrated takedowns in her win over a former champion in Holm. She also proved she could more than hold her own with one of the best wrestlers in the division by stopping Pena in her latest victory.
The champion has a brutalizing top game that she proved she could use to control Shevchenko in their first bout, but that again will be limited by her notorious gas tank. Shevchenko has proven she can go five hard rounds. This one is close, but I’ll give a slight edge to the challenger on longevity alone.
Advantage: Shevchenko 55-45
Photo by Ron Chenoy for USA TODAY Sports
Submissions:
Both women are extremely versed in grappling just like they are striking and, to a lesser extent, takedowns.
Nunes prefers to rock her opponents on the feet and then go for the tapout when her opponents are too rocked to defend a submission. She did just that to two world-class bantamweights in former champion Tate and former title challenger Sara McMann. She’s a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is an absolute bear to deal with on the ground. However, she’ll always favor her potentially fight-ending power, and 10 of her 14 MMA victories have come by knockout, while only three have come by submission.
Meanwhile, Shevchenko is widely known for her decorated Muay Thai resumé, so that’s lead to her dangerous grappling skills being overlooked significantly. She has actually won six of her 14 MMA victories by submission, with only four coming by way of T/KO. Tapping “The Venezuelan Vixen” with a risky armbar like she did in January shows she can submit anyone from any position, making her a highly dangerous challenge on the mat for any female in MMA.
It may sound cliché, but this area of MMA is once again as closely matched as it could be.
Advantage: 50-50 again
Photo: Ron Chenoy for USA TODAY Sports
Final Prediction:
Hyperbole be damned, this is truly a title bout that represents the sheer evolution of women’s MMA as it features the two most well-rounded, dangerous, and talented female bantamweights to ever set foot in the octagon.
Rousey paved the way for these women to enjoy the positions they do today, but Nunes and Shevchenko took those opportunities and ran with them, clearly pulling away from the rest of the pack. The division isn’t stacked underneath them by any means, but “The Lioness” and “Bullet” are two of the best female fighters in women’s MMA history regardless of who wins or loses tonight.
With that said, I feel the champion has indeed improved since they first faced off, but Shevchenko may have gotten even better. “The Lioness” was clearly fading in the third round of their first fight, and with this scheduled for five rounds, I think it will just be too much to finish “Bullet” in the early rounds. If and when she can’t, Nunes may gas from implementing her high-paced, power-slugging gameplan.
I think that will lead to a rapid shift in momentum, one which the Russian-Peruvian kickboxer will capitalize on to take the belt.
Both men have something to prove heading into this fight; as Cerrone needs to make up for back-to-back losses, and Till looks to make a name for himself with what would be the biggest win of his career. Till is extremely confident heading into the fight and believes it’s a risky one for Cerrone, but is thankful that he took the fight anyways:
