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Much has been made about the supposedly early stoppage in the Henry Cejudo vs. TJ Dillashaw main event at last weekend’s (Sat., January 19, 2019) UFC on ESPN+ 1 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

“The Messenger” rushed bantamweight champ Dillashaw with a barrage of strikes early in the fight. There’s no doubt Dillashaw was rocked. He was dropped on several occasions in a 32-second fight. But many argued he could have fought on and that the referee stopped the fight early. UFC President Dana White was among those doubters, calling the stoppage “horrible.”

Not surprisingly, Dillashaw was the main detractor of the stoppage, calling for a rematch with Cejudo after he said the fight was “stolen” from him. That may be a stretch, as Cejudo was clearly dominating the early going of the fight. Yet the shroud of doubt remains, and Dillashaw possibly could have weathered that early storm.

Hurt From the Get-Go

Cejudo doesn’t believe that was the case in any sense, however. Speaking at the UFC Brooklyn post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting), Cejudo said Dillashaw’s body went limp. The stoppage was a good one because of that:

“It was a great stoppage because I felt his body go limp. You guys have to understand I weighed in at 146 pounds when I fought him. Strong, and you could see it. Every blow that he took, he was eating some hammers. Personally, I thought it was a good stoppage because he was going to take another 10, 20 hits.

“When your body goes limp like that, when you cut weight like that, thinking you’re gonna go out there and just take my belt from me, that’s not the way it works. So I think it was a great stoppage. This is why MMA is sanctioned now because of refs. If I was to talk to that ref, ‘You’re okay, man. We were both in there. We saw him go limp a few times.’ Watch it again and you’ll see it.”

The Shove

Cejudo has a point in that Dillashaw was moving down to flyweight to face him. The weight cut, especially for an already smaller fighter, could absolutely have affected Dillashaw’s ability to absorb punches. Cejudo pointed out that his first kick seemed to rock Dillashaw because he shoved him down. To him, that was a telltale sign that Dillashaw was hurt:

“I saw he was hurt since the beginning, I thought it was that kick that really kind of rattled him. I’m going to have to re-watch that fight, but I could tell, I saw him going limp, I saw his body changing. I shoved him down. If you shove somebody down, they’re hurt. If I do this to you and you’re just (acts dazed), come on.”

For The Flyweights

And while Dillashaw may not accept the loss as legitimate, Cejudo believes he beat the best bantamweight of all-time nonetheless. He claimed the win was for every flyweight fighter looking to rise up to championship aspirations:

“This win was not just for me but for every flyweight out there that wanted the opportunity to fight for a world title someday,” Cejudo said. “I put him on the mat. I beat — I know he may not accept it from what I’m hearing — but I beat the greatest bantamweight of all time. And this is a flyweight, these are the guys that are boring (laughs).”

The post Henry Cejudo Shuts Down Early Stoppage Talk: Dillashaw’s ‘Body Went Limp’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

This weekend’s (Sat., January 19, 2019) UFC on ESPN+ 1 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, is unique in the fact that it is the UFC’s debut on sports network ESPN. However, it’s also unique in that it involves the curious cases of both Greg Hardy and Rachael Ostovich.

Women’s flyweight Ostovich will take on Paige VanZant at the event, but an outside-the-cage incident has been dominating headlines involving her. Ostovich was recently assaulted in a domestic violence attack allegedly carried out by her husband, MMA fighter Arnold Berdon. The attack left her with a broken orbital bone and seemingly forced her out of the VanZant match-up. She was allowed to fight upon a second opinion from her doctor.

That was good news, but the situation was only furthered when it was announced that rising heavyweight Greg Hardy would fight at UFC on ESPN+ 1 as well. Former NFL star Hardy was involved in a brutal domestic violence incident of his own in 2014. While he was never fully convicted due to his alleged victim failing to show up, he was suspended from football. He’s since made the transition to MMA and has torn a path through a slew of lesser heavyweight fighters.

The decision to book Hardy at UFC on ESPN+ 1 where Ostovich was competing was viewed as a callous, non-thinking decision by many members of the MMA media. Ostovich stated Hardy had nothing to do with her and she believed in second chances. Dana White grew incensed at questions about it, claiming he had consulted Ostovich about having Hardy on the same card. Regardless, Hardy will fight in Brooklyn this weekend, and the topic is still being discussed.

Helwani’s Take

Such was the case on today’s episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” where noted MMA journalist Ariel Helwani offered his view of the messy situation. Helwani first broke down the dynamics of the controversy:

“It was a very controversial decision when it was announced. Initially, Rachael Ostovich was on the card. And then she had her incident with her husband, and he’s due to stand trial in February. And at the time, when this news came out in November, most of us thought she would remove herself from the card, and that was the plan as far as the UFC was concerned.

“However, she spoke to Dana White and said, ‘No, I must be on this card. I want to remain on the card, I want to show people you can move on, you can be a role model. I want to be a positive image, if you will, for other women. So it was a great story.

“However, a month later, they announced that Greg Hardy was going to be removed from the regional fight that he was set to compete on in December and he would be making his UFC debut on the same card as Rachael Ostovich, which just so happens to be the debut of the UFC on ESPN.”

.@arielhelwani calls the UFC "tone-deaf" for booking Greg Hardy on the same card as Rachel Ostovich. pic.twitter.com/lQNUdswHi7

— First Take (@FirstTake) January 16, 2019

Hasn’t Earned The Fight?

Helwani then offered his thoughts on the matter, noting that he thought the UFC could have easily put Hardy on any one of of its 42 other cards throughout the year. Besides that, Helwani didn’t believe a 3-0 fighter who hadn’t even made it to a second round was deserving of a spot on such a card:

“I found this decision to be incredibly tone-deaf, to put it mildly. There are 43 cards scheduled for 2019. I didn’t understand why Greg Hardy had to be on A) the ESPN debut card, and B) the same card as Rachael Ostovich. I didn’t think it was fair to Rachael Ostovich. And I think it’s important to note that ESPN didn’t have a say in all of this. UFC makes the cards, they have the final say on it all.

“And I didn’t think that Greg Hardy, considering the fact that he’s just 3-0, that he’s never made it past the first minute of any of his professional fights, that he’s only been doing this essentially for a year-and-a-half. I didn’t think he earned the right to be on this historic card.”

Many share the same sentiment about Hardy, but he will fight on UFC on ESPN+ 1 nonetheless. Ostovich seems to be willing to separate herself from Hardy as she works through her own issues, but the story won’t die in the media.

As long as the UFC continues to make decisions like this for the sake of profit that may or may not even be there, the same type of backlash will ensue. Booking Hardy in a co-main event spot on one of the biggest cards of 2019 is probably one of those decisions.

The post Ariel Helwani Blasts UFC’s Decision To Book Greg Hardy Alongside Rachael Ostovich appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw had an explanation for why he believes flyweight king Henry Cejudo is not a dangerous opponent. Cejudo, on the other hand, had a diss of an entriely different kind for “The Viper.”

Much has been made about Dillashaw’s ongoing weight cut down to flyweight in order to challenge for his second UFC title. Several pictures of the bantamweight champion looking shredded but gaunt have surfaced online leading up to their flyweight showdown in the headliner of this week’s UFC on ESPN+ 1.

That’s resulted in Cejudo noticing his upcoming rival isn’t looking so good. He went off on Dillashaw’s current state during this week’s episode of The MMA Hour to promote the fight:

“Personally, I think he looks like Pee-wee Herman if you ask me. In the physique way, I really do feel like he looks like Pee-wee Herman. … I thought he’d have a little more bulk to him, but I guess not. He’s not looking so well. It looks like he needs a cup of water. He looks like a cross country runner.”

Diminished Dillashaw

Fighters moving down in weight haven’t had the most success in recent years, yet many who moved up in weight found success after ditching a draining cut.

Cejudo thinks Dillashaw will be among the former, believing he will ‘one hundred percent’ be fighting a ‘diminished champion.’ The aspects of cardio, chin, and ability to absorb body shots were brought up, which Cejudo acknowledged would all be affected due to Dillashaw’s weight cut:

“All of that’s going to be on the menu. All of that. Everything you just said is going to be on the menu,” Cejudo said.

A report recently surfaced that Cejudo would fight former flyweight title challenger Joseph Benavidez if Dillashaw did not make weight. But Cejudo said he was fighting Dillashaw no matter what. When he does, he expects him to feel the weight cut, and will expose him as a result:

“Whether he makes weight or not, we’re fighting Saturday night, so he can do whatever he wants to do. But anybody could say they could make weight. If you’ve never cut weight [to 125 pounds] — I know what it feels like to make that weight, any true flyweight knows exactly what it feels like to cut an extra 10 pounds. He’s going to feel it Saturday night, and I’m looking to expose him.”

Dillashaw has also hinted he wants to move up to featherewight at some point to challenge 145-pound champion Max Holloway. Cejudo said the weight cut was affecting his brain:

“I think he’s ridiculous,” Cejudo said. “I think that weight cut has really taken a toll on him, that’s what I think. He can’t think straight.”

A True Flyweight?

Dillashaw’s physique may be the topic of the week, yet a pic of Cejudo looking extremely ripped recently surfaced online as well. ‘The Messenger’ said that was what a truly ready flyweight looks like:

“I’m showing you guys what a true flyweight looks like,” Cejudo said. “Not depleted, nice and strong, that’s getting ready to take over the world. A lot of that I would give credit to my neuroscience team, NeuroForce1. Everything that I do is all based on technology and science, and I have never felt so good. At the age of 31, I feel like I’m in my prime, baby. I’ve never felt so strong.”

He closed by claiming how ready he was due to the fact Dillashaw was coming for his belt. Cejudo promised to make an example out of ‘The Viper’:

“I’m locked in, cocked in, whatever you want to call it. This dude is going to get it. He’s messing with my division, he’s trying to take my belt, he’s trying to snatch my dream. T.J. Dillashaw is going to be my perfect example.”

The post Henry Cejudo: Weight-Cutting Dillashaw ‘Looks Like Pee-Wee Herman’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Lately, the UFC welterweight title picture has been an absolute mess that only now has some clarity.

Champion Tyron Woodley most recently fought in September. He demolished Darren Till in the main event of UFC 228. ‘The Chosen One’ needed thumb surgery after the win, however. The UFC needed a headliner for January 26’s now-postponed UFC 233, and Woodley was called out for not defending his title in four months.

Never mind the fact that few UFC champions make that quick of turnaround these days. They simply don’t.

Regardless, a three-way slog of title contention between Woodley, Colby Covington, and Kamaru Usman ensued. Usman finally got the next title shot after Covington reportedly turned down too many fights. He pointed to a recent procedure for sinusitis. Seeming to be a more effective company man, Usman received the title shot against “The Chosen One” at UFC 235.

Not His Decision

That was somewhat of a surprise due to the pre-installed rivalry Woodley had with Covington. But on today’s edition of ‘Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,’ Woodley said who he fought wasn’t his decision to make. He did think his beef with Covington was more built up and the Usman match could have been built afterward:

Tyron Woodley tells @arielhelwani that who he defends his title against isn't his decision to make. He feels that the storyline to face Colby was already built up and felt that the fight with Usman could have been built up more after a Colby fight.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) January 14, 2019

But now that he is fighting Usman, he said he was far from ready to fight him:

.@TWooodley says that Usman isn’t mature enough in the sport & isn’t ready to fight him yet. #HelwaniShow @arielhelwani

— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) January 14, 2019

According to T-Wood, “The Nigerian Nightmare” is simply a less-evolved version of himself where he was 5-6 years ago. Because of that dynamic, he had to “big brother” Usman:

#HelwaniShow

Tyron Woodley to @arielhelwani on Kamaru Usman:
"He's a version of myself 5 years ago, 6 years ago… Now I gotta big brother him."https://t.co/oh11yyPKZy

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) January 14, 2019

Yet Woodley isn’t done with Covington just yet either. He said he hopes he sits out for a title shot. The reasoning for that is so he can eventually make him never want to fight again:

.@TWooodley says that he hopes Covington sits out & waits for a title shot. Says what he’ll do to Colby will make him never want to fight again. #HelwaniShow @arielhelwani

— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) January 14, 2019

That might sound like Woodley is looking past UFC 235 and Usman, but the next aspect of his career he revealed made him seem extra confident.

Woodley said his new rap album was coming out on March 4, two days after his bout with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’ In that sense, he was betting on himself:

Tyron Woodley tells @arielhelwani that he has an album called "Chaos Theory" that is coming out on March 4th, two days after his fight with Kamaru Usman at UFC 235. In other words, he seems pretty confident that he will win that fight and has essentially raised his own stakes.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) January 14, 2019

Finally, Woodley said he plans on defending his title over Covington and Usman then fighting for the 185-pound belt at the end of the year:

Tyron Woodley wants to beat Usman & Covington then fight for the MW title at the end of the year.#HelwaniShow

— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) January 14, 2019

Woodley has monstrous plans for 2019, and that all begins with Usman at UFC 235. He seems to have a lot on his plate in addition to looking towards potential future fights. Will that come back to haunt him in Las Vegas this March?

The post Tyron Woodley Sets Sights On Middleweight Title After ‘Big Brothering’ Usman appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Once upon a time, fighters in the UFC relished lucrative sponsorship deals that let them brandish their fight shorts with a colorful array of high-paying sponsors.

That all went away in an instant when the UFC signed their exclusive sponsorship contract with Reebok in late 2014. Starting in 2015, fighters were no longer able to find their own sponsors to promote in the cage. Instead, they were and still are forced to wear Reebok-made uniforms and are paid a fraction of their former sponsorship money as a result.

It’s been an unmitigated disaster for most. Fighters are making far less money and the Reebok UFC line has been met with cold reception at best. Many fans say it’s just not that great based on the price required to purchase it.

But there are far more lasting and damaging effects than just that. A formerly thriving industry of MMA clothing allowed the apparel brands to sponsor smaller events. Now those are gone, and perhaps no place has felt the impact more than Brazil.

Brands Gone Overnight

Brazil is certainly one of the biggest hotbeds of MMA in the world. Yet the smaller promotions that gave rise to many of the country’s up-and-coming talents are now struggling to make it according to a recent report from MMA Fighting detailing the dire scene in great depth. Brazilian MMA promoter Ricardo Saldanha described how the Reebok contract has ruined regional Brazilian MMA:

”The Reebok deal hurt the Brazilian MMA scene and killed many brands,” Saldanha said. “Tapout, Venum, those brands were way stronger. They cut investment because the UFC would give them exposure and national promotions would reinforce the brand, but that can’t happen anymore. I thought they would invest in the national promotions (after the Reebok deal), but they haven’t.”

That has resulted in promoters like him not being able to promote events without any sponsors backing them. When he had clothing sponsors, Saldanha said he could take on the risk because he knew he would sell tickets. That’s not the case nowadays, he said:

”It was okay in 2016, but it got really complicated in 2017,” Saldanha says. “Sponsors were almost gone, people weren’t buying tickets. I’d take the risk many times because I knew I would be able to sell 2,000 tickets in a gymnasium, but it’s hard nowadays. You can’t risk that much if you don’t have sponsors, or you’re screwed. You do it knowing that you’ll lose money, or don’t do it at all.”

Brazil’s Economy Didn’t Help

Still, some of the downturn in Brazilian MMA has to do with the vicious economic downturn in the country. Jungle Fight promoter Wallid Ismail has gone from 16 events in 2013 to just five over the past two years. The economy has affected how many UFC events air in the country, which in turns limits the UFC’s signing Brazilian fighters. He opened up about how that has dried up the sport:

“The economy is bad,” Ismail says. “It’s a series of things. Events in Brazil are made to create talent, but one thing leads to others. With less UFC events in Brazil because of the economy, there are less Brazilian athletes signed by the UFC. You invest in the sport to take them to the UFC, that’s my case. I only work with the UFC, basically, and when there’s less demand from the UFC, I have less demand to do events here. But we’re coming back.”

Andre Pederneiras Weighs In

One of Brazil’s most famous names in MMA also put Brazil’s situation in perspective. Nova Uniao coach Andre Pederneiras has promoted Japan’s Shooto events in Brazil since 2003. He’s built a large training center in Rio that he’s doubled as a ‘stadium’ for the shows. The events are mainly used to showcase the talents of his rising fighters from Nova Uniao. In total Pederneiras put on 10 Shooto shows in 2018.

But he was only able to do so because of his array of successful businesses. Most promoters can’t do what he does. He knows that promoting regional events in Brazil is accepting you will lose money:

“It’s impossible to promote events in Brazil today,” Pederneiras says. “If you don’t take money out of your pocket, you don’t do it. That’s the truth. There are no sponsors. Many people continue doing events in Brazil, but most never worried about building something for when the winter comes. I have. If I made some money with my event, I’ll buy that lamp or that sound (equipment) over there. I slowly built this, and that’s why I can do events today. I have the structure that allows me to do events with or without sponsors.”

It’s a scene that doesn’t have an easy or quick fix on the horizon. The UFC’s deal with Reebok expires in 2020, but there’s no guarantee that the promotion will bring back anything resembling the old sponsorship structure.

Thanks to this harrowing view of MMA in Brazil, however, it’s clear that the restricting Reebok deal has had affects that reverberated down the entire food chain of mixed martial arts. Brazil is one of the most decorated locales of the sport, producing some of the most respected names MMA has ever seen.

If that’s to continue, it seems the country will have to pull itself out of its current slog – in MMA and overall.

The post UFC-Reebok Deal Is Killing Brazilian MMA appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Jon Jones made a successful return to the Octagon by defeating rival Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of December 29’s UFC 232 from Inglewood, California.

The dominant third-round TKO seemed to end the rivalry between ‘Bones’ and ‘The Mauler’ that persisted dating back to their classic first match-up in 2013. Gustafsson even offered his praise for Jones by calling him the best in the world right after the bout. However, his management is singing a completely different tune two weeks after UFC 232.

Of course, Jones was met with some controversy when he was found to have tested positive for trace amounts of anabolic steroid Turinabol in the months leading up to his return. They weren’t enough for USADA to suspend Jones again, but the NSAC wouldn’t license him. UFC 232 was moved to Los Angeles as a result, and Gustafsson declared he believed Jones was indeed a doper.

In a written statement to MMAjunkie, Gustafsson’s manager Nima Safapour revealed they weren’t backing down on that stance:

“We hold the same position about Jones as it relates to the doping controversy. Whatever he is doing, it smells terrible.”

Shady Dealings

Whatever they think Jones is doing, however, he hasn’t been caught for. ‘Bones’ passed both USADA and CSAC-issued drug tests after UFC 232. He’s certainly not out of the woods in terms of performance-enhancing drug issues, and perhaps he never will be. Safapour pointed out to the inconsistencies in Jones’ testing, where he tested positive but the results weren’t given to the CSAC for his re-licensing hearing:

“His results were, ‘pulsing,’ in August and September, which means he did not test negative,” Safapour wrote. “Does that mean he tested positive on those occasions? Those same tests results were not given to the California commission at Jon’s last hearing, nor was it given to California when he failed his test from December.”

In his mind, something is amiss with Jones and PEDs. He pointed out the fact that Jones and his team just want everyone to believe he has been an unlucky victim of the testing system. To him, no other fighters have the issues he has:

“Why are other fighters not having these problems? We are just supposed to believe that Jon is an innocent victim that has the worst luck in MMA history,”

Plan To Bounce Back

Regardless of the PED-related controversy, Jones is officially back and clean, at least as of now. He’s passed his rivalry with Gustafsson by destroying ‘The Mauler’ in a fight that wasn’t close. It’s hard for Gus’ camp to make excuses for that. Safapour said it simply wasn’t Gustafsson’s day that day. He can definitely beat Jones on the right day in his opinion.

With that said, Gustafsson will be back crawling towards a title shot soon:

“The plan is to come back stronger than ever. The fight was the fight. We still believe 100 percent that Alex can beat Jones. Just depends on the day. Anyone can win depending on the circumstances of the fight. It was not our day, but we will come back and get the title in due time either from Jon or whoever else is holding the title at that time. Expect to see ‘The Mauler’ back in action soon.”

Gustafsson has been incredibly inactive in the last two years, with only one fight since May 2017. Now that he has work to do, he may be forced to fight more in an effort to claw his way back to an unprecedented fourth title shot.

‘The Mauler’ called out for a bout with rising contender Corey Anderson at March 16’s UFC London, a fight that would help him bounce back somewhat. But in terms of Jones, achieving a rematch is going to be tough sledding.

Will the towering Swede ever be able to break ‘Bones?’

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