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War Machine Receives 36 Years To Life Sentence

Former UFC and Bellator fighter Jon Koppenhaver, better known as War Machine, has been sentenced to 36 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 36 years for the vicious assault of his ex-girlfriend Christy Mack and her boyfriend Corey Thomas, per a report from MMAJunkie.com. Earlier this year, Machine was found […]

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Former UFC and Bellator fighter Jon Koppenhaver, better known as War Machine, has been sentenced to 36 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 36 years for the vicious assault of his ex-girlfriend Christy Mack and her boyfriend Corey Thomas, per a report from MMAJunkie.com.

Earlier this year, Machine was found guilty on 29 of 34 charges, which included sexual assault, kidnapping and coercion.

During the sentencing hearing, Machine and his legal team described a difficult upbringing for Machine, but Clark County District Judge Elissa Cadish said that there must be ‘consequences’:

“I don’t think you’re a monster – I think you’re a human being,” she said. “I don’t discount those, but there also have to be consequences for what happened, and I have to look out for the well being of the community as I consider the appropriate sentence. I do think a substantial amount of time is warranted, not only for punishment’s sake, but avoiding danger to the community.”

Mack also appeared at this hearing, describing the brutal circumstances that she has gone through, while voicing her concerns in regards to Machine eventually being released from prison:

“I’ve been punched and kicked, smothered and bitten, raped and tortured,” Mack said. “I was met with this more times than I can count, and I still cry every time I think about how it feels.”

“I don’t know if my life will feel complete in 12 or 20 or 30 years, but I do know that when he gets out, he will kill me,” Mack said.

Thomas also gave his input:

“I wanted to look you in the eye and let you know there are victims in this crime,” Thomas told the judge. “I’m not asking you to do anything that you don’t already know what to do. What I am concerned with how much time the defendant has wasted getting to this point and still to point to how it’s everyone else’s fault. It isn’t. He tried to kill me. Let’s get realistic. He has the background, and he’s done it before. He’s wasted everyone’s time, and I don’t think the minimums should apply.”

Finally, Machine spoke on the situation, admitting that he has many regrets, while also detailing his newly found relationship with God:

“Not a day goes by that I don’t seriously regret some of the things I did,” Machine said. “I was a lost and empty person. I hated the way that I think. I hated my impulses. It caused me to hate myself. I hate myself way more than any of these people do. I would look at myself in the mirror and smash my face. That’s how much I hated myself. It was the only thing I could do to prevent myself from killing myself.

“I gave my life to God. For the first time in my entire life, it’s brought me peace inside. It’s helped me to remove my self hate. It’s given me the ability to manage my depression and anxiety.

“I hated that this happened. I hate that I had to hurt the woman I loved. I hate that I had to ruin my career. But it’s been a blessing in my life. It’s made me grow into a real man. No matter what happens in this case or the future, I’m just glad that I finally have woken up and seen the truth. And I really believe I’m going to be able to be a good role model for the rest of my life.”

What do you make of this harrowing situation?

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Demetrious Johnson Reveals UFC’s Jaw-Dropping Threats

Demetrious Johnson is in a bad way with the UFC at the moment. “Mighty Mouse” comes off of his record-tying 10th consecutive UFC title defense when he submitted Wilson Reis in the third round of their meeting this past April. Johnson is now looking to break former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s title defense record […]

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Demetrious Johnson is in a bad way with the UFC at the moment.

“Mighty Mouse” comes off of his record-tying 10th consecutive UFC title defense when he submitted Wilson Reis in the third round of their meeting this past April. Johnson is now looking to break former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s title defense record with one more successful flyweight title defense, and the UFC would like for that fight to be against former bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw.

Johnson didn’t seem to be too interested in the bout upon its announcement, however, as his management was in the midst of negotiations to fight No. 3-ranked Ray Borg. “Mighty Mouse” revealed that UFC President Dana White and he conversed over the issue at last month’s fighter retreat in Las Vegas.

The flyweight champ said that White told him the UFC wants to make the fight and that Dillashaw really wants it as well. White also asked Johnson why he would deny Dillashaw the opportunity, and “Mighty Mouse” was surprised that White asked to put Dillashaw above himself (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“F*ck that,” Johnson said. “This isn’t TJ Dillashaw’s career. This is my career. This is how it’s going to f*cking happen.”

Johnson’s team has been going back-and-forth with UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, who stated that the UFC would consider shutting the flyweight division down if “Mighty Mouse” didn’t comply to fighting Dillashaw:

“I said close the mother f*cking division then,” Johnson said. “Because if somebody is willing to do that, that just shows you that they have no interest whatsoever of working with the champion. I never missed weight, always showed up on time, did all of my interviews on fight week, traveled to Australia in coach two times for the flyweight division. I’ve done a lot.”

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

If the fight were to go down, Johnson fears that Dillashaw will miss weight, thus scrapping the stipulation that the title would be on the line. Johnson said his team asked the UFC to guarantee him his full fight purse, as well as Dillashaw’s, and that the fight would be called off if that were to be the case:

“What is this?” Johnson asked. “Is this f*cking amateur hour? This is the sh*t you do at smokers and amateur shows. … This is supposed to be the pinnacle of mixed martial arts and this is what we’re negotiating?”

“I respect the UFC saying, ‘Hey, we’re gonna close your f*cking division, take T.J. to fight,’” Johnson said. “Sounds good. Here’s my stance: Go ahead and f*cking close it. Like I respect them being honest and straightforward with it. But don’t expect me to be, ‘OK, I’ll take the TJ fight if you’re gonna close my division.’ No, no, no, no. That’s not how it works. What have I been doing the last five years in this division? Trying to make it the best division in the world.”

As for the UFC’s threat to close down the 125-pound division if he refuses to fight, “Mighty Mouse” said he believes the promotions is willing to do it and has no reason not to believe them:

“I had to believe him,” Johnson said. “I was standing my ground. I’m a black-and-white type of dude. If you say something, I believe you’re gonna do it. When he told me that, I was like, ‘Alright, if that’s how you guys want to treat me and say that and close my division after I’ve been playing ball the whole time and defending my title, go ahead.’ They showed they had no interest in having that division.”

Johnson concluded by saying he doesn’t know how the UFC will take his comments, but stressed that he has no beef with Dillashaw in particular and would be saying the same things if it were any other bantamweight in his position:

“I have no idea,” Johnson said. “I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen: I’m not fighting another bantamweight. I’ll tell you that.”

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY

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Jose Aldo Releases Statement On Fighting Future

Longtime former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo’s future in the notoriously brutal competition of MMA was thrown into upheaval when surging 25-year-old interim champ Max Holloway stopped him with a relentless third-round onslaught in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC 212 from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The loss, which ranks as Aldo’s […]

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Longtime former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo’s future in the notoriously brutal competition of MMA was thrown into upheaval when surging 25-year-old interim champ Max Holloway stopped him with a relentless third-round onslaught in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC 212 from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The loss, which ranks as Aldo’s second knockout defeat in his last three fights, was a shocking one both for his legions of Brazilian faithful and the all-time legend himself, as he had only regained the interim belt from Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 last year, which eventually became the official belt when the UFC stripped Conor McGregor for not defending the title he won by knocking out “Junior” at UFC 194 in late 2015.

Many predicted a decision win for Aldo in what was supposed to be business as usual for the man who still feel is the best 145-pound of all-time, but it was anything but once Holloway found his footing towards the end of the second frame after Aldo won the majority of the opening two rounds. Aldo is only 30 years old, but the images of him bloodied and dejected prompted many fight fans, perhaps very prematurely, to call for Aldo’s retirement from fighting.

That’s going to be far from the case, however, as Aldo released a statement on his official Instagram account declaring that he would rise up from the loss and fight yet again:

In the translation of his post via MMA Fighting, Aldo thanked his trainers and fans for their hard work and support, adding that he would get up from loss and be back:

“Be content to act, and leave the talking to others” – Baltasar Gracian

I only have to thank my ‘dad’ Andre Pederneiras, the best team in the world, Nova Uniao, because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be the people’s champion, and (thank) all my trainers, who did a super well done job and got me ready, and all my fans who are always with me, here’s my love and my thank you. I’m speechless with all the love I’ve received until today, and every word you send to me. Thank you.

The rest, fuck it, because I’ll come back, because we go down so we can get back up!! That’s it!! We’ll be back!!

After a tumultuous couple of years facing a new crop of featherweight challengers – namely McGregor and Holloway – that forced Aldo out of his comfort zone with their longer frames and finish-focused striking, the former champ could look to reinvent himself at lightweight as he’s teased for so many years. The less taxing weight cut could certainly hep him perform more up to his talents as he gets older, but he would obviously have a size disadvantage.

He could also attempt to win back the UFC featherweight title yet again, something that wouldn’t be a surprise to see him attempt after he reigned over 145 pounds for so long. But, as many have also suggested, he may have to get back to his onetime bread-and-butter strategy of utilizing his feared leg kicks.

Where should Aldo go from here?

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Coach: Jose Aldo Didn’t Use All His Weapons At UFC 212

Attempting to defend his UFC featherweight title, Jose Aldo took on surging contender Max Holloway in the main event of this past weekend’s (June 3, 2017) UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Aldo started off strong, possibly winning the first two rounds, but he then ended up on the wrong end of a brutal […]

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Attempting to defend his UFC featherweight title, Jose Aldo took on surging contender Max Holloway in the main event of this past weekend’s (June 3, 2017) UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Aldo started off strong, possibly winning the first two rounds, but he then ended up on the wrong end of a brutal combination from Holloway in the third round that sent him crashing to the canvas. “Blessed” followed up with a flurry of strikes, forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight.

Aldo’s longtime head coach Andre Pederneiras said that he was content with the stoppage despite the fact that Aldo felt as if it was early:

“He thought Big John stopped it early, but I don’t have the same opinion,” Pederneiras told Combate. “I’m sure that, when he watches the video, he will change his mind. I saw no way how he would recover in the fourth round after so many punches to the head. It would be hard Holloway not to hunt him after that.”

After watching the fight unfold, many had wondered why Aldo didn’t throw more of his patented leg kicks. Speaking on that topic, Pederneiras admits that “Scarface” didn’t use all of his weapons:

“Holloway started to feel more confident in the end of the second round,” Pederneiras said. “He was more confident, but Aldo was fine. I said it was 2-0, that he should breathe, and I gave him the instruction about the left hand that was low. It was clear that Holloway’s game was over his low left hand.

“I think Aldo didn’t do some things that we trained, like takedowns, for an example. And when you don’t use all your weapons, it gets complicated. Many people asked why he didn’t kicked, but, considering Holloway’s stance in the fight, there was the risk of Aldo throwing a kick and falling back down.”

After suffering his second stoppage loss in his last three fights, Aldo’s future is currently unclear. Pederneiras didn’t have a clear answer as to what’s next for the now former champion, but he doesn’t feel as if we’ve seen the end of Aldo either:

“You have to put your head in the pillow and relax, because the athlete can’t make any decisions after a loss like this. Nothing good ever comes out,” Pederneiras said. “He will play foot volley and relax. We’ll talk later. He’ll go on a vacation and relax. Actually, Aldo has a really good head. There was the (Conor) McGregor loss and right after he had the title fight with Frankie (Edgar), he went there and delivered. When he has his head well, he’ll come back to win.

“Max had a great achievement for the division, defeating an athlete who’s there for a long time, UFC champion, and I believe his next fight will be against Frankie Edgar. If Frankie wins, Aldo is back in a title fight, especially because he already beat him twice.”

What do you make of Pederneiras’ assessment of Aldo’s performance?

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Joe Rogan Says Conor McGregor Is The Greatest 145-Pounder Ever

Following several years of Jose Aldo being the consensus best featherweight in MMA – even after Conor McGregor knocked him out – a shocking change of the guard took place at last night’s UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro when 25-year-old Max Holloway survived an early storm from Aldo to batter and brutalize the illustrious […]

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Following several years of Jose Aldo being the consensus best featherweight in MMA – even after Conor McGregor knocked him out – a shocking change of the guard took place at last night’s UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro when 25-year-old Max Holloway survived an early storm from Aldo to batter and brutalize the illustrious champion on his way to a merciful third-round stoppage.

The bloody stoppage in Aldo’s hometown most certainly dealt a blow to his status as the widely accepted featherweight G.O.A.T., although many still believe that two losses don’t take away his accomplishments at 145 pounds.

However, not everyone agrees with that.

Speaking up on his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast during UFC 212, octagon commentator Joe Rogan insisted McGregor was indeed the best featherweight of all time because he knocked out the man who most consider to be the best:

“I’ve got to say Conor is the greatest 145-pounder of all time cause he knocked out Aldo, who was clearly the greatest. But in terms of who’s got more victories, of course it’s Aldo. The problem is, we’re not doing MMA math here; you’re having two guys actually fight each other. So if you said who is the greatest of all time? Well, it would have to be Aldo because he beat all these guys; no, no no, because the two of them fought and Conor merked him. So you’ve to give it to him. Otherwise there’s no other metric. There’s no other metric other than a knockout.”

Harsh reality as it may be, Rogan at least has a strong argument for making the case that McGregor, who is currently the lightweight champion but pursuing a long-rumored boxing super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., is the best 145-pound MMA competitor of all time, even if he never competes in the division again.

Holloway’s destruction of Aldo last night may certainly sway some opinions because it removed another substantial piece of the invincible aura Aldo once boasted as champ.

Rogan still acknowledged there would be a backlash to his words, noting that Aldo’s body of work was the more impressive one and there would always be a shadow of doubt over McGregor’s featherweight tenure because he fought for the title once, won it, and left the division:

“People will fight against it; ‘No, because Aldo was the champion for so many years’. You’re one hundred percent right. His body of work is much more impressive and there’s always going to be an asterisk next to Conor because that was just this one time he fought for the title at 145, KO’d Aldo and was like, ‘ya’ll be cool. I’m out of here.’”

Rogan summed up his stance by reaffirming his belief that McGregor was the best ever because of his KO win over Aldo, the one single aspect of his UFC run that makes him overtake the long run at the top of Aldo:

“He’s the best ever. You have to say he’s the best ever even if he never fights featherweight again. Why? Because he KO’d the best ever. The reality is Aldo’s the best ever but Conor KO’d him. You couldn’t say without the Aldo fight that Conor was the best ever. Because if you look at all the different people that both of them fought, you’re like wow it’s really close, it’s really interesting, Aldo has more fights. But once they actually fight, that’s it. That’s all that matters. It’s not MMA math. So you’ve got to give it to him.”

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Max Holloway Ready For Idol-Turned-Rival Jose Aldo

Max Holloway could be 24 hours away from UFC featherweight greatness. “Blessed” is currently on an amazing 10 fight win streak over some of the biggest names at featherweight; including Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, and most recently former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis. Now the interim 145-pound champ is set to […]

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Max Holloway could be 24 hours away from UFC featherweight greatness.

“Blessed” is currently on an amazing 10 fight win streak over some of the biggest names at featherweight; including Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, and most recently former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis. Now the interim 145-pound champ is set to test himself against the greatest featherweight of all time – Jose Aldo.

Aldo reigned undefeated in mixed martial arts (MMA) competition for over a decade before getting slept in 13 seconds by Conor McGregor at UFC 194 in December of 2015. He bounced right back with a lopsided unanimous decision win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 for the interim featherweight strap, but was promoted to undisputed champ after McGregor was forced to vacate his title.

Now “Scarface” will once again compete in a title unification bout, but this time against a young and hungry Hawaiian who is looking to solidify himself as the best 145-pound fighter in the world. Holloway once looked up to Aldo as an idol in his fighting career, but now he is ready to de-throne the Brazilian champ and take his place amongst the greats in the UFC (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“Idols become your rivals, and now I got one of them in front of me,” Holloway says. “And I can’t wait to make that walk and fight the guy. Things happen. Timing wasn’t right (before), and the timing is (right) now. I just look forward to it. I respect the guy. You need to respect the guy. Look, he’s the greatest to do it. Like I said before, since I was 17, I watched this guy sit atop our division. So, man, it’s time for a new era.”

As for Aldo’s 13 second loss to McGregor, Holloway doesn’t to hold that against the featherweight champ as much as everyone else does. At the end of the day “Blessed” still recognizes Aldo as one of the greatest the sport has ever seen, and won’t take him lightly:

“At the end of the day, he got caught,” Holloway says. “Thirteen seconds, whatever. It happens. This is a sport. He was one of the greatest. He had a long run. You kinda question some things, like maybe why he didn’t get an immediate rematch and blah, blah, blah, this and that. But, at the end of the day, he still fought Frankie (Edgar) for a dominating win and did it, won it. I hold nothing against him. I don’t care.

“I want the undisputed career. I want the best damn career. I want to be the best guy ever to do this. When it’s said and done, a long time from now, (I want) people still talking about my name as being the undisputed (best) fighter in the world. Not only of the featherweights, the GOAT of everything. I want to be like Demetrious Johnson taking pictures with 11 belts, or even like Joanna with her five belts. So, it’s cool. I want to be like these guys and just be dominant, just be dominant and leave no question that I was the best to ever do this.”

Some people may think Holloway is acting a little too cocky heading into his bout with Aldo, but “Blessed” urges fans not to mistake cockiness for confidence:

“I know I can,” Holloway says. “This is confidence, it’s not cockiness. Everybody keeps saying, ‘oh, this kid is cocky,’ this and that. No. No, just because you don’t believe in yourself, don’t be trying to bring your negative ass energy around me. You keep your negative self away from me, and I’m going to keep my positive self with my circle of boys and people, and that’s what we’re going to do. We stay confident and I know I’m the greatest. I tell myself I’m the greatest, and this is what you need to do.

“The stats, they speak for themselves. Go look at the featherweight stats and records and whatever. If my name ain’t first, it’s at least in the top-three or top-five of whatever. So it is what it is. I’m going out there to be dominant. This guy over here (Aldo) is saying that he chooses when he wants to be in wars and now he’s choosing to finish me early or something. Like, that’s f*cking amazing. I don’t read palms, I don’t read the stars. I’m not a mind-reader or fortune teller, I can’t see the future. But at the end of the day, I want the undisputed [accolades], and I know the things I can control.”

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