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Yoel Romero vs. Robert Whittaker Interim Title Bout Set For UFC 213

UFC 213, which is set to take place during International Fight Week on July 8, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada, was originally scheduled to be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion Cody Garbrandt and ex-titleholder TJ Dillashaw. A women’s bantamweight title scrap between 135-pound queen Amanda Nunes and surging contender Valentina Shevchenko is […]

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UFC 213, which is set to take place during International Fight Week on July 8, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada, was originally scheduled to be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion Cody Garbrandt and ex-titleholder TJ Dillashaw. A women’s bantamweight title scrap between 135-pound queen Amanda Nunes and surging contender Valentina Shevchenko is also slated for the card.

Recently, however, it had been reported that “No Love” was dealing with back issues, putting his title fight with Dillashaw in serious jeopardy. According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, who appeared on an edition of SportsCenter earlier tonight (May 23, 2017), Garbrandt has officially been removed from the card, with his fight with Dillashaw being scrapped.

The UFC clearly needed to fill a void on what is typically a marquee pay-per-view for the promotion and it did so in the form of an interim middleweight title fight, as top contenders Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker will face off in the card’s co-main event, also per Okamoto.

Reigning middleweight champion Michael Bisping hasn’t defended his title since scoring a unanimous decision victory over Dan Henderson last October at UFC 204 in Manchester, England. Earlier this year, UFC President Dana White had announced that Bisping would next defend his title against returning former longtime welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, but that bout has since fallen through according to White. Either way, Bisping, who’s currently dealing with a knee injury, won’t be ready to compete until the fall, leaving the promotion with no choice, but to move forward with the division.

Romero, the rightful No. 1-contender, has won an incredible eight straight fights, with six of those victories coming by way of stoppage. “The Solider of God” holds notable victories over Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in addition to former champion Chris Weidman, who Romero finished with a vicious flying knee at UFC 205 last November in New York City.

Whittaker, on the other hand, currently sits at No. 3 in the divisional rankings and is riding a seven fight win streak of his own that includes four stoppage victories. The 26-year-old Australian-based contender dubbed “The Reaper” is coming off of back-to-back finishes over Derekn Brunson and Souza.

Many UFC middleweight contenders, most notably former champion Luke Rockhold, who hasn’t competed since shockingly being knocked out by Bisping at UFC 199 last June, have voiced their displeasure with the state of the division. Many have also criticized Bisping for the caliber of opponents he has elected to take on in his title reign thus far. The creation of an interim title, however, should appear as a step in the right direction and it should provide contenders with a sense of clarity in regards to where the division is headed.

What do you make of the UFC’s decision to book Romero against Whittaker?

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Cody Garbrandt Officially Off UFC 213, Dillashaw Headed For HUGE Fight

Cody Garbrandt has officially been ruled off of July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas. Following weeks of speculation that 135-pound champion “No Love” would be unable to participate in his TUF 25-ending bantamweight title grudge match with former teammate and champion TJ Dillashaw, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto revealed that Dana White informed him Garbrandt was […]

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Cody Garbrandt has officially been ruled off of July 8’s UFC 213 from Las Vegas.

Following weeks of speculation that 135-pound champion “No Love” would be unable to participate in his TUF 25-ending bantamweight title grudge match with former teammate and champion TJ Dillashaw, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto revealed that Dana White informed him Garbrandt was indeed out.

With that news, “The Viper” will supposedly take on longtime flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at a yet-to-be-named card in August:

The massive bout had been discussed by White in recent weeks as speculation ramped up that Garbrandt would no longer be able to fight in the UFC 213 co-headliner after going to Germany for a special treatment on a nagging back injury. Garbrandt recently stated he had four weeks of recovery before he could even resume training.

It’s a significant setback after “No Love” maintained a ton of momentum in the months after his dominant five-round decision win over longtime bantamweight ruler Dominick Cruz at last December’s UFC 207. He was slated to take on his former Team Alpha Male training partner Dillashaw, who has most recently scored one-sided wins over John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao in the two bouts following his own controversial split decision loss to Cruz in “The Dominator’s” return in January 2016.

So “The viper” will instead take on the most dominant force in all of mixed martial arts in flyweight champion “Mighty Mouse,” who was most recently seen destroying Wilson Reis in the main event of April’s UFC on FOX 24, a bout that tied Anderson Silva’s record of 20 consecutive title defenses for the 125-pound kingpin. Dillashaw will cut down to 125 pounds to go for his second title.

Johnson has fought at 135 pounds in the past, losing a decision to Cruz back in 2011 before moving down to his more natural home of flyweight to become the only champion the division has ever seen after winning the title against Joseph Benavidez in September 2012.

So overall, though unfortunate, Garbrandt’s withdrawal sets up a very unique situation for the UFC, which has been focused on so-called “money fights” with fighters from different weight classes in 2017, albeit to disastrous results.

But with the recent announcement that Yoel Romero will fight Robert Whittaker for the interim middleweight title after champion Michael Bisping, who was supposed to take on longtime former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at a later date after October, said his recently operated-on knee was not yet fit to fight with, the 185-pound division is set to move on, and now Dillashaw will be able to move forward with his elite career against one of the best fighters the UFC has ever seen.

It’s a golden opportunity to possibly pick up a second title and join the short list of fighters who have accomplished such a legendary feat, but he’ll have to beat the most bulldozing force in MMA to do it. Dillashaw should have the size advantage, yet it’s hard to imagine “Mighty Mouse” being an underdog to any fighter at 135 pounds except Garbrandt.

Do you think “The Viper” has what it takes?

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Dana White Responds To Cyborg Punching Angela Magana At UFC Athlete Summit

It’s been quite the week for the UFC and Cris Cyborg. Earlier this week it was reported that Cyborg punched UFC strawweight Angela Magana at the UFC Athlete Summit in Las Vegas after Magana posted some incredibly personal Tweets about the Brazilian. Cyborg reportedly ‘rocked’ Magana, but she didn’t fall to the ground. Magana’s friend, Bec […]

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It’s been quite the week for the UFC and Cris Cyborg.

Earlier this week it was reported that Cyborg punched UFC strawweight Angela Magana at the UFC Athlete Summit in Las Vegas after Magana posted some incredibly personal Tweets about the Brazilian. Cyborg reportedly ‘rocked’ Magana, but she didn’t fall to the ground.

Magana’s friend, Bec Rawlings, however, has a different account of the incident, saying that Magana did not get rocked but instead ‘took it like a G.’ After the incident Magana took to Twitter yet again, this time claiming to be the victim of ‘roid rage.’

She clarified that it was in fact the UFC, not her, who contacted police after the debacle but she has decided to press charges against Justino. Magana also claimed that cops are looking into felony assault charges after the attack.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s (LVMPD) Larry Hadfield later announced that Cyborg has been charged with misdemeanor battery:

“This is a misdemeanor crime, which is the lowest of Nevada penalties,” said Hadfield. “When they found probable cause to believe the crime had occurred, they cited that other individual. For us, it’s a very minor call, I guess you could say.”

The maximum penalty for such a crime, per the Clark County DA’s office, is a six month stint in jail and a $1,000 fine.

While Magana claims that the incident has cost Cyborg her job with the promotion, UFC President Dana White was recently asked about his thoughts on the situation during The Ultimate Fighter 26 (TUF 26) tryouts and said that he’ll have to wait and see what happens (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“Obviously we’re looking more into that,” White said. “It’s very serious. We’ll see what happens.

“This is a thing that the district attorney and police are handling right now. There’s way more to that than just what am I thinking about.”

If you haven’t seen the video of Cyborg punching Magana, you can check it out here:

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Jorge Masvidal Compares Demian Maia Loss To STD

Heading into May 13’s UFC 211 from Dallas, Texas, Jorge Masvidal, the No. 5-ranked welterweight contender, was riding an impressive three fight win streak that included back-to-back stoppage victories over the likes of Jake Ellenberger and Donald Cerrone. At UFC 211, “Gamebred” met Brazilian grappling guru and surging contender Demian Maia in a battle for […]

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Heading into May 13’s UFC 211 from Dallas, Texas, Jorge Masvidal, the No. 5-ranked welterweight contender, was riding an impressive three fight win streak that included back-to-back stoppage victories over the likes of Jake Ellenberger and Donald Cerrone.

At UFC 211, “Gamebred” met Brazilian grappling guru and surging contender Demian Maia in a battle for the next welterweight title shot. Masvidal, however, ended up losing a split-decision and he recently compared that loss to an ‘STD’:

“Oh man, it burns like an STD. I wouldn’t know, but I’ve heard,” joked Masvidal during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “Every time I wake up to piss, it burns, bro. And I’m not talking like an STD, I’m talking about real life because I hate losing,” he said.

Mandatory Credit: Tracy Lee for USA TODAY Sports

Despite the loss, Masvidal actually put on a decent showing, as he saw success on the feet, while avoiding the submission attempts of Maia. With that being said “Gamebred” wanted to make it clear that he asked for the fight and he also expressed interest in running it back with Maia in the future:

“I want to remind everyone that I asked for this fight because this was the toughest fight, just like ‘Cowboy,’ it was one of the toughest fights I could make for 170. It was a fight where I could prove the most. It didn’t go my way 100 percent, but, I can’t wait to do it again, me and Maia are going to have to do it again,” he said.

“We both had each other in trouble at times, but it was small mistakes I made on my part. If I had tweaked this and that, instead of being split it could have been a unanimous. I’m eager to improve on those mistakes. If we’re talking about damage, yeah, I feel I won the fight,” he declared.

“But, control is a big part of the game, so the people that say, ‘You won, you got ripped off,’ and things like that, I do understand Demian’s side, you can’t ask that dude to become a striker all of a sudden when he hasn’t been. He’s always been who he is you know? He can’t change over night and a big part of the game is control and I didn’t do well in that department as I usually do.”

Masvidal remains one of the best welterweights in the world and he has his sights set on another high profile fight: a bout against No. 1-ranked two-time title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson:

“I think he is the next highest ranked opponent that I can get my hands on. Like I said at the beginning of it when it’s easy money, I only want the toughest opponents available to me,” said Masvidal. “Don’t let the slogan throw you off. I only want the highest-ranked dudes, the toughest fights. That’s all I ever wanted since coming to UFC. So all the Ultimate Fighter winners, the up-and-coming phenoms, the 9-0 guy, is not what I am looking for right now, you know? I’m proven animal and I’m only going to fight dude’s that are at the highest in the game, high up on the food chain. I’m trying to get the biggest fights, always. If not the biggest, the toughest,” he concluded.

Would you like to see “Gamebred” square off with “Wonderboy”?

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Rory MacDonald Plans To Fight For Two Bellator Titles By End Of Year

Although he lost back-to-back fights to then champion Robbie Lawler and top contender Stephen Thompson to end his UFC tenure, Rory “Red King” MacDonald is still only 27 years of age and undoubtedly one of the best 170 pounders in the world, which is why it was surprising to see the world’s largest mixed martial […]

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Although he lost back-to-back fights to then champion Robbie Lawler and top contender Stephen Thompson to end his UFC tenure, Rory “Red King” MacDonald is still only 27 years of age and undoubtedly one of the best 170 pounders in the world, which is why it was surprising to see the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion let him go.

Either way, the Canadian made his Bellator debut this past Friday (May 19, 2017), successfully submitting English knockout artist Paul “Semtex” Daley in the main event of Bellator 179 from London, England.

With that performance, MacDonald feels as if he likely got the attention of the UFC, although he admits he’s ‘very happy’ with his new promotion:

“I opened a lot of eyes I think and I’m sure the management over at UFC feels the same way as you just said,” Rory said during a recent interview on The MMA Hour. “We are in the shoes we are in now and I’m going to continue my journey in the way I fought on Friday and we’ll see where we are next contract negotiations. But, I am very happy with Bellator and I hope they are with me, too,“ said MacDonald. “I foresee a long relationship with each other.”

MacDonald also feels as if he may have changed the view of the UFC when it comes to free agency, as the promotion has let a few well-known stars walk in recent memory. The “Red King” also said that the UFC ‘messed up’ in not resigning him:

“As far as them not wanting to let go of some of their talent, being cautious on how easy they let things slip through their fingers. As I’ve said in the past, fighters can’t always be on 24/7 every time they step into the ring,” he added. “So you have to allow for these performances that aren’t up to par from what you normally see. So, I think they definitely messed up when they let me go, but, that’s their fault and Bellator’s gain.”

The Canadian may have a point, as he holds wins over current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and current No. 1-contender Demian Maia, while still being in the prime of his career. On the contrary, he must look forward to what he called ‘chapter three’ of his career and he’s planning to make a run at two Bellator titles by the end of 2017:

“I’d like to fight for the Middleweight title maybe at the end of the year if there is a big card we can promote and get me and the Middleweight champion on there,” said Rory.

“Obviously, I am not looking past the welterweight championship fight, I’m just saying if everything goes as planned. An end of the year show for the Middleweight title would be fantastic.”

MacDonald is indeed expected to take on the winner of June 24’s welterweight championship fight between champion Douglas Lima and Lorenz Larkin.

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Bisping On Possible Interim Title: I Hope Whittaker Beats Yoel’s Brains Out

It’s looking like the verbally agreed to bout between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre isn’t going to happen. This past March UFC President Dana White announced that former welterweight king “GSP” would be making his Octagon return at the 185-pound weight-class and would be receiving an immediate title shot against Michael Bisping. A target date […]

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It’s looking like the verbally agreed to bout between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre isn’t going to happen.

This past March UFC President Dana White announced that former welterweight king “GSP” would be making his Octagon return at the 185-pound weight-class and would be receiving an immediate title shot against Michael Bisping. A target date in July seemed to be the promotion’s hope for the middleweight title clash, however, earlier this month St-Pierre claimed he wouldn’t be ready to compete until after October.

As a result, Dana White called off the bout between “The Count” and St-Pierre, naming No. 1-ranked Yoel Romero as the new challenger for the middleweight strap. White confirmed that the Canadian’s mixed martial arts (MMA) return would be against the welterweight champion (seeing as current champ Tyron Woodley is expected to defend his title against Demian Maia first).

Bisping, however, recently claimed he has been dealing with a lingering knee injury which will hinder his ability to compete this summer, thus opening the door for an interim title fight between Romero and No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker.

“The Count” took to his podcast, Believe You Me, to comment on the whole situation in the middleweight division and stated that while he has yet to hear any official word, he believes his fight with St-Pierre isn’t going to happen (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I know they’re trying to move on from the GSP fight. From my understanding, it looks like the GSP fight isn’t happening. I’ve yet to have a discussion with them about this. From my understanding, Georges still wants to fight me and I still want to fight Georges. So this is what I want to know: I want to know what the problem is. If the UFC have moved on, they got tired of waiting, whatever. But to my understanding, the fight was never gonna really happen in July anyway. I heard that from some sources right at the start. They said, ‘we’re hoping for July 8th but it’s probably not gonna be that.’

“Now they’re saying they want to do a fight in July and my knee isn’t gonna be ready in July. [St-Pierre] wasn’t gonna be ready until October, November. So to me, that plays perfectly but I know the UFC wants me to fight and they’re saying if I can’t fight that they’re gonna do an interim title fight.”

Bisping went on to claim that he believes an interim title bout is next for the 185-pound division due to his inability to compete. His leading candidates for the bout would be Romero and Whittaker.

While Bisping holds no ill-will towards Whittaker, he has a great deal of disrespect for the top-ranked Cuban challenger, who the Englishman believes is nothing more than a cheater. “The Count” said that if Romero and Whittaker meet in the Octagon, he’s hoping that the New Zealander will ‘beat the brains’ out of Romero:

“I’m assuming that they’re probably gonna do an interim title fight but I’ve got to speak to Dana. . . Probably Whittaker vs. Yoel, if I were the matchmakers, that’s what I’d do. Whittaker, we all know this, he’s on an absolute tear. I’ve got nothing against Robert Whittaker. Fine young man, great fighter, fights hard, got a lot of respect for him. Can’t say the same about Yoel. Yoel is certainly not on my Christmas card list. We all know my thoughts on him. He’s a scumbag, he’s a cheat, and that’s that. So if they do fight I, hope Whittaker beats the brains out of him.”

“I couldn’t care less. If they want to do an interim title fight, so be it. I understand they’ve got to keep the division moving. It’s been a while and like I said, I can’t fight, certainly for the next few months anyway. So from the UFC’s side, I understand that.”

His chances may not be great, but Bisping is still hoping his fight with St-Pierre will come through. The middleweight champ feels as though he’s owed this fight after toppling the best the division has to offer, and will tell Dana White exactly that when he speaks to him again:

“It probably isn’t happening but let’s not give up all hope,” he said. “It’s not done. We’re gonna have the conversation, I’m gonna put my best foot forward that I should still fight GSP. That is my objective. When I speak to Dana, I’m gonna say ‘Dana, I feel like you owe me this fight.’ We had a deal. I fought everybody they put in front of me my whole career, I’ve been a soldier for the organization, so we’ll see what happens.”

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