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Yoel Romero Admits Fighting Bisping Would ‘Taste Better’

No. 1-ranked UFC middleweight contender Yoel Romero is undoubtedly deserving of a title shot. The former Olympian has won an incredible eight straight, with six of those victories coming by way of stoppage. After finishing ex-champion Chris Weidman last November at UFC 205 in New York City, Romero was expected to be the next challenger […]

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Instead, the UFC announced that Bisping would next take on returning former welterweight king Georges St. Pierre. That bout has yet to receive a date, however, after it was made clear that Bisping was still suffering from a knee injury and St. Pierre wouldn’t be ready to compete until the fall.

With the top of the division at a dead lock, the UFC was forced to keep things moving. In order to do so, the promotion booked Romero in an interim title bout with red hot No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker at July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Recently speaking on the fight, Romero said that he’s ‘okay’ with the situation, although he admits it would’ve been ‘a bit better’ had he been matched against Bisping:

“No, I take the interim belt, fight for the interim belt and then I wait for Mr. Bisping.” said Romero during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “I am not dissatisfied, I am okay. You have to have in your head that you have to go step-by-step, and my goal right now is to fight for the title and that’s what I am going for. I am going to get that title.”

“It’s not one specific person. Now, the food would’ve probably tasted a bit better had it been against Bisping, and everybody knows why.”

Romero and Bisping have gone back-and-forth quite a bit in the media over the last few months and a fight between the two would likely be quite intriguing. “The Solider of God”, however, will first have to get through “The Reaper” and he knows that’s no easy task:

“He’s a great athlete, he’s doing everything that he needs to do to become a greater fighter and the worst mistake any fighter can make in front of Whittaker, is to underestimate him. He is a great athlete.”

Whittaker is riding an impressive seven fight win streak of his own and is coming off of a vicious TKO victory over former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC on FOX 24 this past April. Prior to that, he had scored victories over the likes of Mike Rhodes, Clint Hester, Brad Tavares, Uriah Hall, Rafael Natal and Derek Brunson, with three of those victories coming by way of stoppage.

The 26-year-old Australia-based contenter certainly possesses an impressive resume, but he may be taking on the stiffest test of his career when he meets “The Solider of God” during International Fight Week.

Who do you expect to come out on top when Romero and Whittaker do battle in July?

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Georges St-Pierre Will Retire For Good If He Loses One Fight

Without a truly bankable star having fought in 2017, the MMA world was waiting with great anticipating for the return of longtime former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre when it was announced “Rush” would meet middleweight champion Michael Bisping at a later-to-be-determined date sometime this year. That is, until the saga of St-Pierre, who appeared alongside […]

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That is, until the saga of St-Pierre, who appeared alongside “the Count” at a highly-publicized press conference the day before March’s UFC 209, took a strange turn after he released a video revealing he wouldn’t be able to fight until November. UFC President Dana White then revealed that Bisping would fight number one contender Yoel Romero instead, a fight that ultimately couldn’t be book on accord of “The Count” having a nagging knee injury he had surgery on earlier this year.

Romero was booked to face surging contender Robert Whittaker at UFC 213 in July, and St-Pierre then revealed the real reason why he needed a long-off date for his rumored match with Bisping. An eye injury that will keep him out of sparring until September is to blame, and during an interview on today’s The MMA Hour, he discussed why he didn’t want to reveal that to the public at the impromptu presser earlier this year:

“When the fight got announced with the press conference, we knew that we couldn’t fight in the summer. UFC knew as well that I couldn’t fight in the summer. They knew that I had an eye injury, but we still did the press conference, and I felt very uncomfortable during this whole time.

“Everybody has advisors, and I was advised to not talk about it, not talk about my eye injury. As an athlete, you don’t want to talk about these things. If you know about it now, it’s because this whole thing became out of proportion, it turned into a very negative thing. As athletes, we all have injuries and don’t want to talk about this, because it gives you weaknesses, something that your opponent can exploit.

“It’s an eye injury, and it’s a long healing process. I had surgery done and everything is OK. It’s just, there’s a lapse of time, minimum time, that I need to wait before I go back and train, especially if I take a risk to get hit on my eyes, because it can damage (my eye permanently), because my vision has not recovered 100 percent yet. It will be fine, everything is fine. It’s just, I need to wait for the lapse of time that the doctor asked me to wait for, and it’s in September that I can start sparring again.”

Photo: Joe Camporeale – USA TODAY Sports

St-Pierre also said he hadn’t been informed that his fight with Bisping was officially off yet – signifying it could still happen – and he attributed White’s announcement to his emotional attitude before praising the successful promoter:

Just what I’ve heard in the news. But Dana, he’s a very emotional person. He’s a very emotional person, and I understand that. You need to be emotional in this game. The way he is, Dana is the best. Like I said, he’s the best promoter, pound-for-pound, of all-time, and he can sell you every fight. It’s crazy. He’s the best. He can sell you anything, like, he’s so good at it. And I’m sure if he still wants to make this fight, we can make it. It’s up to him.

“Things with Dana are hard. I have people that their job is public relations and they deal with the UFC people, and sometimes all the stuff that I hear from Dana is from the reporters. Stuff that I hear, all the time, are [from] the reporters. It explodes like a bomb that I didn’t know. So I guess it’s the same thing for him on this fight.”

So while the fight may be off for now, St-Pierre reaffirmed his desire to face Bisping at some point because he simply wants to hurt the brash veteran ‘real bad’:

“I want to fight Michael Bisping. For me, personally, that’s the man I want to fight. As much as I respect him as an athlete — even though he’s been very arrogant and cocky with me, I respect him as an athlete — but if I fight him, I’m going to hurt him real bad. That, I can promise you.”

Finally, St-Pierre revealed that when he does finally come back to the sport he dominated after four years off, he’s going to try to make more history. However, “Rush” closed by saying that if he loses at any point during his comeback, he will retire for good:

“I’m at one fight for retiring for good, this I can tell you for sure. If I come back and I lose, this is it for me. Yes, his is it for me. If I come back and I lose, it’s finished; this I can tell you for sure. Because it’s over, I don’t wanna hang there and become a punching bag for younger people. I do not believe I’m gonna lose, I think I’m at my best, my trainer believe I’m at my best.

“I put a lot on the line, and I know that if I come back, it’s because I believe I’m a much better person that what I was and I wanna go back to another shot and rewrite history, but if down the road, if I lose, I pass the torch, it’s over, it’s finished. It’s a lot of pressure, and that’s why I will be fighting at my best because I will be fighting like there’s no tomorrow.”

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Germaine De Randamie Says She’s Returning To Bantamweight Division

The MMA world has neither seen nor heard from UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie since she revealed she would need hand surgery immediately after her highly controversial championship win over Holly Holm in the main event of February’s UFC 208. Today (Mon. May 29, 2016), however, de Randamie has finally broken the silence […]

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Today (Mon. May 29, 2016), however, de Randamie has finally broken the silence about her unwillingness to fight Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino, the consensus top female featherweight in the world and the woman whom many feel is by far the most dominant force in all of women’s MMA. A fight with Cybrorg seems like a no-brainer for de Randamie, yet “The Iron Lady” revealed on her official Instagram account (via MMA Mania) that there were too many issues with drug testing to face Justino:

Dear All,

It’s been a while since I posted something. But because of the commotion that I have come to feel, I feel the need to hear something from me and to clear the air (as far as possible). It is absolutely not so that everything that is said makes me do nothing. Also, I am a human being and I also have feelings. Despite the fact that I’m always positive, the comments make me more than I had hoped. The positive but also the negative.

The fight between me and Chris Cyborg was offered to me last November. Even then, I had all my reservations but I accepted the fight. Chris Cyborg has rejected the fight because she could not get the weight of 66 kilos in twelve weeks time. One month later, she was visited by the USADA and did not pass the test. The rest of the story is known.

My reason for rejecting the fight now has nothing but nothing at all to do with my fear.

I believe that if you want to do sports you do this without any means that can affect the muscle mass. I – as a top athlete – always trained, always watched my food and put 18 years of my life on sports, without using just one means that is not allowed.

Everyone has his or her opinion on this and that may. But that people think to know what my motives are / do not put me in the cold clothes.

With that announcement, the already uncertain UFC women’s featherweight landscape, which was only just created this year when de Randamie fought Holm for the inaugural title, is even more uncertain, but de Randamie issued yet another post that made it even more so – if that’s even possible.

In the second, she teased that not only would she not fight Cyborg, but she was returning to her original division of women’s bantamweight after having her hand examined:

I work full time and irregularly, which takes a lot of time. In addition, there is still a lot of unclear about my hand. I have an appointment with the doctor on 14 June, and it will be decided whether or not to be operated. This option should also be considered for me because there is a great chance that my tendons / nerves can cause such damage that I could not use my hand more optimally.

During the negotiations on the battle with Holly Holm, I said in advance that after this fight I want to return to my natural weight class of 61 kilos. My task has not been completed yet

The UFC has promised me that this would be no problem and I can just return to my natural weight class.

This is why I am focusing on this moment.

When I fell in love with the martial arts 18 years ago, I had 1 goal. Share my great love with others who have the same love for martial arts as me !! This is my goal and will always remain my goal.

I want to thank everybody who has always stood before me and still support me through thick and thin !! You guys rock.

For all the haters; Two Baths !! “The IronLady” is far from done

So de Randamie is on the sidelines with her return more unclear than ever, and the 145-pound picture is only further clouded by the UFC’s decision to wait on the “Very serious” case of Cyborg punching strawweight Angela Magana at last weekend’s UFC fighter retreat.

If Justino is indeed cleared, she’s lobbied for a fight with Invicta FC featherweight champ Megan Anderson at UFC 214 near her adopted American home.

One thing is certain, however – she won’t be fighting the actual champion, who’s maintained quite possibly the strangest start to a title reign of any UFC champion in MMA history.

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Glover Teixeira Reacts To Vicious Eye Poke From Alexander Gustafsson

Glover Teixeira is reporting that an accidental eye poke he incurred during his loss to Alexander Gustafsson on Sunday, played a role in the fight, but only in the bout’s opening stages. Teixeira battled Gustafsson in the main event of UFC Fight Night 109 on Sunday, which went down in the latter’s hometown of Stockholm, […]

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Glover Teixeira is reporting that an accidental eye poke he incurred during his loss to Alexander Gustafsson on Sunday, played a role in the fight, but only in the bout’s opening stages.

Teixeira battled Gustafsson in the main event of UFC Fight Night 109 on Sunday, which went down in the latter’s hometown of Stockholm, Sweden. In the opening frame, Teixeira took a finger to the eye, and was clearly (understandably) bothered by it. The Brazilian light-heavyweight, however, opted to continue, and as the fight wore on, Gustafsson’s footwork and boxing began to dominate the action. Finally, in round five, “The Mauler” put Teixeira away with a vicious flurry of punches.

Since then, the 37 year-old Teixeira spoke with MMA Fighting to discuss the one-sided fight. During the interview, the heavy-handed fighter had this to say about the eye poke he took early on:

“If I tell you that that didn’t disturb me, that’s a lie,” Teixeira said. “Everybody knows, a fighter or not, that getting poked in the eye like that, it was strong, so that disturbed me. But if I had gotten knocked out right after that, I’d definitely blame it. I went back in there without seeing anything. I was seeing three Gustafssons. It was all blurry, but I thought I’d have five minutes (to recover).

“I don’t know if you saw this, but I told the (referee) ‘of course I’ll come back to fight, but I need a time to, I don’t know, rub my eyes, wait to recover’. But he said ‘you get no time, you get no time. Or you’re good to come back or you’re not.’”

Now, if you’re thinking Teixeira’s just tossing out excuses for the defeat, hold up. The veteran fighter went on to report that his vision was back to normal by round three. In addition, Teixeira also praised Gustafsson for his speed, and said that the Swedish star was “better”.

Teixeira did say, however, that he doesn’t think he would have been knocked out necessarily, if not for the eye poke. But, Teixeira also relayed the following message to the light heavyweight contender:

“Congratulations to Gustafsson. He fought me in the best shape of my life, no injuries whatsoever. I have no excuses.”

And as far as Teixeira not receiving any additional time to recover from the eye poke? Well, since UFC Fight Night 109, Mark Goddard, who officiated the fight, is reporting that fighters only receive 5 minutes of recovery time for groin strikes. Not eye pokes. So this is why Teixeira was asked, soon after taking the foul, whether he was good to go or not.

All this aside, it’s going to be interesting to see where Teixeira goes from here. The bout marked the second time in Teixeira’s last three fights that he’s been stopped. Prior to his quick, KO loss to Anthony Johnson last year, Teixeira hadn’t been finished since 2002.

So, when you consider Teixeira’s age, and the level of talent at 205 pound, you have to wonder if a title run is still possible. There’s no doubt that Teixeira still hits like a truck, and that he’s ridiculously dangerous on the ground as well. So, it might be a bit early to count Teixeira out just yet, but another loss would be a massive setback.

Do you think the noted finisher can climb his way back into a championship fight?

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UFC Fight Night 109 Adds New Life To Struggling Light Heavyweight Division

The light heavyweight division was once the UFC’s marquee weight class. Home to stars such as Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the 205 pounders once presented must see action for fight fans. That, however, is no longer the case. In fact, it’s far from it, as the light heavyweight division […]

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Jon Jones, the very best light heavyweight on the planet, has only competed once since January 2015 due to his own actions outside of the cage. Multiple drug test failures as well as legal issues have not only kept “Bones” out of action, but also caused the UFC to strip him of his long held light heavyweight strap in 2015.

Jones’ issues outside of the cage led former Olympian Daniel Cormier, who Jones beat quite handily at UFC 182, to seize an opportunity and secure the vacant 205-pound title at UFC 187 with a submission victory over Anthony Johnson. Since then, “DC” has defended the title just twice, beating No. 1-ranked Alexander Gustafsson in a five round war at UFC 192 and once again submitting Johnson, who retired after the rematch, at UFC 210 earlier this year.

Now, Cormier and Jones, two elite level athletes who possess one of the deepest rivalries the sport has ever seen, are finally scheduled to rematch at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017 in Anaheim, California. Whether or not the rematch actually comes to fruition this time is of course up in the air, but it remains one of the most anticipated bouts the UFC could put on.

After that fight, however, the light heavyweight division appears to be quite dull, lacking in legitimate contenders and recognizable stars. In reality, it has seemed that the gap between Cormier, Jones and the rest of the division is simply too large for any legitimate threats to emerge. And that may be the case, but UFC Fight Night 109, which took place yesterday (May 28, 2017) from Stockholm, Sweden, certainly added new life to a division in desperate need of it.

The main event featured a pivotal bout between Gustafsson and No. 2-ranked Glover Teixeira, with the winner likely earning himself a shot at the winner of UFC 214’s main event between Cormier and Jones. And the result? A one-sided showcase for Gustafsson in front of his hometown fans. “The Mauler”, using fluent movement and effortless combinations, picked the Brazilian apart with a barrage of brutal uppercuts and straight right hands, finally finishing off the resilient Teixeira with a vicious combination in the fifth and final round.

Photo by Per Haljestam for USA TODAY Sports.

In a year where not only the light heavyweight division is struggling, but the UFC as a whole is as well, the outcome of UFC Fight Night 109’s main event was likely a beneficial one for the UFC.

Sure, Gustafsson has lost to both Cormier and Jones, but his fights with both men were instant classics. “The Mauler” gave Jones the stiffest test of his career at UFC 165, pushing “Bones” to his limits in a five round slug fest. In fact, many still consider the bout to be the best title fight in divisional history and if it weren’t for a late comeback from Jones, the Swedish striker would’ve walked away with the title. The same could be said for Gustafsson’s fight with Cormier, as “The Mauler” had “DC” badly hurt before losing a closely contested split-decision.

The silver lining here is that a rematch between Gustafsson and either man would be an intriguing fight. Specifically, a rematch between Gustafsson and Jones, as it’s been clamored for for years now.

Perhaps the division is led by a three man race, but there are signs that things may be headed upward. For example, No. 5-ranked Volkan Oezdemir scored a brutal knockout victory over the previously surging Misha Cirkunov yesterday, calling out No. 3-ranked Jimi Manuwa, who’s scored back-to-back stoppage victories of his own, in the aftermath. Manuwa has also stirred up a rivalry with Cormier in recent memory.

In the end, UFC Fight Night 109 was a win for the light heavyweight division. With two huge rematches looming and a few contenders slowly emerging, the 205-pound class has gained some new life for the time being.

Whether or not this results in a complete resurrection for the division remains to be seen, but the light heavyweights could once again provide fight fans with an intriguing attraction in the near future.

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Georges St-Pierre Finally Unveils Real Reason He Can’t Fight Until October

One of the bigger – and perhaps the largest – messes in a down first five months of 2017 for the UFC was the failed attempt at booking longtime welterweight boss Georges St-Pierre’s awaited comeback fight against current middleweight champion Michael Bisping. The bout was announced in March, with the promotion putting on a hastily […]

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The bout was announced in March, with the promotion putting on a hastily thrown-together press conference at UFC 209 despite the fact that St-Pierre repeatedly insisted he wouldn’t be able to make it to the cage until October at the earliest (even if Dana White wanted him to fight in July) and Bisping having undergone knee surgery not long before the announcement.

That justifiably lead to mass outcry from the majority of the currently jam-packed middleweight landscape, with everyone from Luke Rockhold to Anderson Silva calling the fight a terrible decision that only served to further delay the champion defending against a truly deserving title contender. The wheels predictably fell off the bout when the superstar released a video reiterating his stance that he could only fight after October. White then announced that they would no longer wait for “Rush” to return and Bisping would fight consensus contender Yoel Romero for the belt.

But with “The Count” allegedly still nursing a knee injury, the promotion was left with no other choice to book Romero vs. surging young contender Robert Whittaker for the interim belt at UFC 213, somewhat solving the puzzling title picture that will only come together when Bisping is able to defend the belt. He’s been holding out for the huge payday St-Pierre will no doubt bring, and indeed the fight may still happen.

However, as we wait to see what happens in the head-scratching mess that has followed the fight’s original unveiling, St-Pierre came out with some revealing information as to just why he could not fight this summer. Speaking up in an interview with Justin Kingsley at today’s C2 Montreal conference (via MMA Fighting), the MMA star detailed an eye injury that will keep him from sparring until the fall:

“Trust me, I’m not the kind of guy who thinks, ‘Hey, I’m going to make everybody wait for me. I don’t want to fight during the summer, I want to take my time …That’s not the reason. If it were up to me, I would come back. The reason is I had a problem with my eye. I had an injury. My vision has not been back yet. It will be back. It’s something very minor. The doctor insisted for me that I don’t spar until September.”

And while the UFC still lobbied him to fight in July, St-Pierre insisted they knew the timetable for his comeback but staged the press conference anyway:

“The UFC was aware of it. They knew I couldn’t fight during the summer, but they still insisted on doing that press conference with Michael Bisping. And when it happened, we were not very excited about the idea, but we wanted that fight, so we decided to do it, but then it turned into a negative thing because it took so long.

“But UFC knew. Everyone knew. The people concerned knew that that was the case, but they still tried to put pressure on me to fight in July. That’s the reason why I’m coming out public today about the reason why I’m not fighting this summer.”

So many fans and media members may be growing impatient about the superstar’s highly anticipated and long-awaited return but the longtime champion reaffirmed his belief that he has to be in the best shape possible if and when he faces the middleweight champion, because he’s putting his nearly spotless legacy on the line by even setting foot back in the octagon:

“I always said that if I was coming back to fight, it needed to be a fight that excites me. I wanted to fight Michael Bisping because I wanted to fight someone that could elevate me. Michael Bisping is the champion now, and I think that he could elevate me as much as I could elevate him. I’m taking a huge risk coming back. I’m putting my legacy on the line.”

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