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Last week, Daniel Cormier’s long-rumored title fight with Brock Lesnar fell apart when Lesnar officially retired from MMA. It’s finally time Cormier breaks his silence on the topic.

Today (Mon., May 6, 2019), Cormier spoke up on the matter during his first appearance of 2019 on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.” Cormier has received some flack for waiting to fight a man who doesn’t have an official win since 2010. Most thought he should give Miocic an immediate rematch given the fact that he had the most consecutive UFC heavyweight title defenses.

Cormier didn’t seem to feel too bad, though, as he claimed that Miocic would have done the same thing:

“With this whole Brock Lesnar thing, it was, when Stipe and I’s fight got announced, Stipe and I both were pretty knowledgeable with the idea that whoever won was probably gonna get to fight Lesnar. And I imagine he was going to do the same thing that I did. I mean, obviously, he wouldn’t have minded waiting; he waited, and he lost.”

More Than Just Money

Cormier then opened up on his desire to face Lesnar.

There was the obvious monster payday of such a fight. But Cormier claimed the two had a history dating back to their collegiate wrestling days. Now that it’s not a realistic possibility, however, he said it was simply time to move on to the next thing:

“So I got excited. You know, as a fan of Brock and as a guy that’s known Brock for a long time. Brock and I have a story. You know, he was the heavyweight and I was the ’97-pounder and people would always wonder who would win. Minnesota-Oklahoma State, so there’s a lot of history in terms of why I wanted to compete against him.

“But when it didn’t happen, you know, you just kind of move on to the next thing and this is what it is. It was a little disappointing in the sense that I would have loved to compete against him. It was a big fight, a big moment, but I’ve always kind of been a guy that does what’s next.”

Talks Fizzled

As for just what happened between Lesnar and the UFC to make ‘The Beast’ retire from the sport, Cormier wasn’t sure. He said a lot of things go into these decisions and he has to move on:

“I don’t know, I think that when we get these fights, there’s a lot of negotiations, there are a lot of things that need to be discussed and hammered out. I don’t know if Brock was able to come to terms with the UFC, I just don’t know. I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He always seems to land on his feet. I just know that I got a call saying that, “Brock is gonna be done fighting’ and, ‘What do you want to do next?’”

Cormier then closed by sticking to his guns in terms of his prior statement that he would rematch Miocic if the Lesnar fight fell through. It did, and here he is:

“I’ve said it from day one and I’ve always been firm in that belief that when Brock wasn’t fighting, that was the conversation we always had. Well, I‘ve always said I’d fight Stipe again if Lesnar couldn’t fight, so I said, ‘Let’s fight Stipe.’”

The post Daniel Cormier Breaks Silence On Brock Lesnar’s Retirement From MMA appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Last night, news arrived from his manager that Khabib Nurmagomedov wanted to fight three times in the next 11 months.

The proposed schedule seemed a difficult one to pull off considering that Khabib has fought once since April 2018. Making matters more complicated was the angle that Khabib supposedly wants to fight legendary former two-division champion Georges St-Pierre next April. While ‘GSP’ is retired as of now, the door remains open for a potentially massive superfight with ‘The Eagle’ if the UFC can work it out.

But there’s another high-profile name who not surprisingly wants to throw his name into the mix.

That’s outspoken UFC welterweight contender Ben Askren. ‘Funky’ has long wanted to face St-Pierre to prove who the best welterweight is, and he’s also called out Khabib in recent years. In truth, Askren seems to insert himself in all major topics in MMA. Yet he truly has a vested personal interest in this developing story.

GSP Not Retired?

Speaking up as the first guest on today’s episode of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” Askren dove into the situation. First, he claimed that many people knew St-Pierre wasn’t fully retired when he left the title behind in late 2013. He noted that he did return, which is perhaps a sign for the future:

“No one actually believed Georges was retired. You didn’t believe it, I didn’t believe it. And then, it took him four years, but he came back. And then he disappeared again.”

St-Pierre vs. Khabib A Real Possibility?

Askren then claimed the rumored Khabib vs. St-Pierre superfight was a real possibility but may not have materialized due to money negotiations. Also, he said, the UFC didn’t want to risk their undefeated champion against St-Pierre if “GSP” was only going to leave again:

“I feel like the Khabib-George thing was real, and I don’t know why it fell through. Probably some type of money negotiations, some type of Khabib’s 27-0, he just beat up Conor. He’s got a lot of heat. If Georges comes in and beats up Khabib and says, ‘I’m done again,’ then that’s going to be terrible for the UFC to market Khabib in the future. Probably something there. I think that’s probably what happened.”

Overall, Askren doesn’t believe St-Pierre is really retired. He pointed to the fact that St-Pierre is still training hard as the telltale sign:

“No, I do not believe that. Do you? Why he’s still training all the time then?”

One Major Thing Missing

Askren has a big fight coming up versus top-ranked Jorge Masvidal at July 6’s packed UFC 239 from Las Vegas. He knows he has to win that fight and several more to reach the status of a fighter whom St-Pierre wants to fight. Because of that, he said he hasn’t discussed the bout with the UFC.

He knows he needs to win the UFC welterweight belt first:

“No, I have not. I think when the time comes, we’ll get to it. If I can’t go win a UFC belt, it’s a moot point. Because, you know, if I’m 19-2, Georges doesn’t want to fight me.”

The post Ben Askren Reacts To Khabib vs. GSP Superfight Rumors appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

If Conor McGregor isn’t retired, he simply has to fight Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.

Cerrone put on an incredibly impressive performance over a game Al Iaquinta (highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., May 4, 2019) UFC on ESPN+ 9 from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The victory was so good, in fact, that ‘Cowboy’ even rekindled his rivalry with the (somewhat) retired Conor McGregor. ‘Cowboy’ is looking to fight McGregor in July if that’s possible.

The fight seemed to be almost a certainty after ‘The Notorious’ agreed to fight ‘Cowboy’ after the latter’s impressive win over Alexander Hernandez back in January. But Cerrone admitted it was no longer a reality in the lead-up to UFC Ottawa.

However, it was soon back on if ‘Cowboy’ couldn’t get the title shot he wanted next. In reality, a fighter with McGregor may be easier to get than a title shot. The victory over Iaquinta is an amazing one for sure, but he’s likely to need one more win to face the winner of Khabib vs. Dustin Poirier.

Perhaps a win over Tony Ferguson (if he can return) will get him there.

McGregor Retired?

But back to McGregor.

Amid multiple scandals like his Miami arrest and a sexual assault investigation, the UFC’s biggest star has been more concerned with his Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey than actual fighting. You can hardly blame him. Getting paid multiple millions for promoting your own liquor is a smoother path to profit than getting punched in the face by the most dangerous unarmed men on the planet. He even retired on social media, yet that doesn’t seem to be sticking.

Like it or not, McGregor is truly a transcendent crossover star the likes of which MMA has never seen. His recent online friendship with world-famous actor Sylvester Stallone after ‘Sly’ offered McGregor his UFC equity proves it.

But even though he doesn’t need to fight, McGregor also seemingly shut down his retirement on social media last week. He loves the fight game too much, he claims, and probably isn’t done because of that view. So if he is not and still has a one or two fights left in him, he simply has to fight Cerrone. The latest callout after yet another win is just too much to turn down. McGregor also isn’t ready for an immediate rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

He’s without a UFC victory since late 2016. Nothing in their first fight suggested a rematch would go any differently than the one-sided outcome from UFC 229.

The Best Match-Up

Unlike that fight, however, ‘Cowboy’ may be willing to strike with McGregor unlike the champ. He has a sneakily lethal submission game that would pose problems for ‘The Notorious,’ but Cerrone is known mostly for his Muay Thai style.

Cerrone is a fan-favorite fighter with a long list of UFC records to his name. Who else should ‘The Notorious’ fight if he’s truly going to come back? You could argue maybe the foregone conclusion of his trilogy with Nate Diaz, yet that’s far from guaranteed. With the infamous Irishman wanting a piece of UFC ownership to return, things also get a bit complicated. The fact remains that McGregor vs. Cerrone is simply a license to print money.

‘Cowboy’ keeps winning, and with each victory, the match-up becomes harder and harder to deny. If McGregor truly is not retired, the UFC should find a way to make this fight happen. They may not care as much now that their new pay-per-view (PPV) deal with ESPN doesn’t pressure them to sell as many PPV buys any longer. That said, there’s also just no reason not to book it if they can.

Too Early For UFC 239?

July 6’s UFC 239 is already stacked to the brim.

McGregor vs. ‘Cowboy’ would put it over the top into potentially historic territory. It may be too short a notice to get the fight negotiated with ‘Notorious” side. But if it could be set up for the winner to face the victor of Khabib vs. Poirier this September, that’d be quite the direction for the stacked lightweight division.

Just another reason of many that McGregor should return against Cerrone.

We’ll have to wait and see if the UFC will pony up the cash to get their biggest star back in the cage. At this point, it’s a lot. As always, it will be worth it, and there’s no other man for him to face than ‘Cowboy.’

The post If Conor McGregor Isn’t ‘Retired,’ UFC Needs To Book Donald Cerrone Match-Up appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The topic of Greg Hardy in the UFC is quickly becoming one of the most polarizing topics in mixed martial arts (MMA).

A former NFL star with the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys, Hardy has been a controversial figure ever since he began his MMA journey. He has been and always will be followed around by the shadow of his domestic violence arrest from years ago. Hardy was ultimately not convicted when his alleged victim failed to show up and testify, suggesting a settlement had taken place.

Regardless of the outcome, the alleged incident has haunted Hardy throughout his entire MMA journey thus far. Part of that may be the fact that the UFC has chosen to book Hardy in the co-main event of both of his UFC fights despite the belief he hasn’t even come close to earning it.

Billy Padden, Hardy’s boxing coach at Florida’s American Top Team (ATT), surprisingly agrees with that sentiment. He recently told Bloody Elbow that their training staff wanted Hardy to be brought up slower but his management didn’t agree:

“We tried to slow this thing down. We didn’t want this to happen. He doesn’t want to be the co-main event. It takes guys 10 years to get to this level, to the UFC. He knows this happened quickly; we know this happened quickly.

“Management teams are not always on the same page as the trainers. The management people felt he was ready; we have to respect their decision. Greg felt he was ready. I’m gonna train him to the best of my ability no matter who they put in front of him.”

No Ceiling On Hardy?

So Hardy is fighting at the top of events despite his competition being lesser-known names like Allen Crowder and Dmitrii Smoliakov. He was disqualified for hitting Crowder with an illegal knee in January and recently destroyed Smoliakov at last weekend’s UFC Ft. Lauderdale. Padden believes Hardy has the potential to beat fighters far better than those two. Based on what he’s seen, Hardy could even be UFC champion one day:

“There’s no ceiling. I’ve had some professional boxers come in and spar him, and he hangs right with them. We want to fight the best — not now, not next fight, but within a couple years. Within a year I think he’ll be in the top 10.

“I just believe he has everything you need (to win the belt). He’s starting to prove it now with the way he came back and almost recreated himself for this fight. … If he stays the course, I absolutely believe he could be heavyweight champion.”

No Malice Intended

As for Hardy’s alleged history of domestic violence, Padden has a certain theory about what really happened. If Hardy truly wanted to hurt a woman, he said, she would be dead:

“I watch Greg Hardy hit grown men and make them limp as a noodle in seconds,” Padden said. “If he had any malice the night of this alleged incident, the woman would be dead.”

Interesting way to look at things from Padden, who has worked in law enforcement himself. The coach not surprisingly backed his fighter, and even took the brash stance of painting Hardy as a victim of sorts:

“The Greg Hardy I know is one of the best living guys I’ve met down here,” Padden said. “Every time I’m walking him to the ring, I hear, ‘You woman beater,’ I hear nasty things said to him. I don’t think he deserves it.”

The post Coach: Greg Hardy Would Have Killed Alleged Domestic Violence Victim ‘If He Had Malice’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Last night (Tues., April 30, 2019) the extremely anticlimactic news that Brock Lesnar had abruptly retired from the sport of MMA broke.

The announcement ended almost a year full of speculation that the former UFC heavyweight champion would return to face current champ Daniel Cormier. Lesnar slid into the Octagon to shove ‘DC’ in the moments after he knocked out Stipe Miocic in the main event of last July’s UFC 226. It was thought that a pay-per-view (PPV) spectacle between the two would serve as Cormier’s swan song.

Obviously a massive payday, the bout was essentially a reward for company man Cormier’s long tenure of service to the UFC. While utterly ridiculous from a rankings and legitimacy standpoint, it was understandable from a standpoint of rewarding Cormier. And of course, the fact it would almost certainly be one of the top-selling PPVs of the year didn’t hurt from the UFC’s perspective.

Never A Real Chance

But talks never got off the ground.

Lesnar finally called it quits on MMA – something he did at least once before. While it’s a big blow to Cormier’s pocketbook and even the UFC’s bottom line for 2019, you can also argue it’s simply great for the sport of MMA. Sure, Cormier vs. Lesnar was always going to sell big numbers on PPV. With the UFC’s new streaming deal with ESPN, that just doesn’t matter as much now, however.

The price to get those numbers was also too great. The division remained tied up, even though Cormier defended his title in a one-sided bout with Derrick Lewis just last November. Miocic was waiting on the sidelines for a rematch with Cormier. He probably deserved it, even though his first fight with Cormier was rather one-sided and clear-cut. You could argue the eye poke played a role in the outcome. Yet more importantly, Miocic held the record for most consecutive heavyweight title defenses with three.

So the UFC went ahead and went with that fight as a consolation prize. The bout is rumored for an August PPV, which should be UFC 241. It’s the fight hardcore MMA fans were clamoring for, and they’ll get it. Overall, it just adds continuity to the heavyweight division. If Cormier wins, he can retire. If Miocic wins, well, he can either continue on as champion or face Cormier in a trilogy match if ‘DC’ so desires. What if Lesnar would have somehow won as a huge underdog? What happens to the title then?

The Past Is Just That

Lesnar is a huge draw, that much cannot be disputed. His time as champion proved he was one of the biggest draws the UFC has ever had. I was there. All of his bouts had a palpable buzz back then, something akin to a feeling we may never see recreated in the sport.

We still need to remember that his last true win came in 2010. That’s nearly nine years ago. Many have whispered that the UFC’s anti-doping partnership with USADA played a part in Lesnar’s retirement, and it may have. He was busted for a banned substance following his win over Mark Hunt in July 2016. The general consensus was that he appeared much smaller when his UFC return was rumored over the past year.

So what does this all amount to? Well, it means some semblance of continuity for both the heavyweight division and the UFC overall. It’s absolutely ridiculous to hold up a division for a sometimes fighter who could leave for pro-wrestling at any time. The specter of him testing positive even if the fight happened loomed large as well. Case in point, the fact that Lesnar called Miocic and Francis Ngannou “pieces of s**t” in the Octagon at UFC 226 shows how out of touch he was with MMA’s current state. Again, he hadn’t won a fight since 2010.

Casual fans may bemoan missing out on a potentially huge match-up. They’ll have to get over it, however. The fact is, Lesnar retiring is just good – if not great – for the UFC heavyweight division.

Even if it cost Cormier his coveted massive payday.

The post Hopefully, The UFC Can Just Move On From Brock Lesnar appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.