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Quote: Darren Till Getting Woodley Fight ‘Devalues’ UFC Belts

The welterweight title circus continues.

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UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will defend his title against No. 2-ranked Darren Till at UFC 228 on September 8th – not interim 170-pound champion Colby Covington.

Covington captured the division’s interim title when he took a unanimous decision win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 last month. It set up a unification bout with Woodley at some point down the road, or so we thought.

Due to a sinus injury, Covington wasn’t able to fight Woodley until later this year. Rather than wait for the unification bout between Woodley and Covington, the UFC has decided to give Till the nod instead. As for what will become of Covington’s interim strap, that will be stripped and rendered useless the minute Woodley vs. Till starts.

Mike Brown, Covington’s MMA coach, recently spoke to MMA Fighting about the situation. In Brown’s view, the UFC giving Till the title fight instead of waiting for Covington essentially devalues their title belts:

“I’m pretty bummed about it,” Brown said. “I just feel like its devaluing the belts. You can’t just make every fight a title fight if it doesn’t go your way. It just doesn’t seem right, it doesn’t seem like it’s good for long-term value for the titles. That’s a big problem. That’s the bottom line, I think they’re devaluing the belts. Everybody sees it.”

As for Covington, Brown reveals that his fighter is understandably upset but feels confident that he’ll get the opportunity to fight the winner when Woodley and Till’s meeting in Dallas comes to an end:

“He’s of course upset,” Brown said. “But what are you gonna do? Life goes on. Whatever happens, he’s gonna be the biggest fight after this that they’re gonna want to make. What’s next, they want to do it quickly. But after that, there’s gonna be something else that will be next.

“I think that he’ll be the guy they’ll want to fight the winner, I’m sure. He’s the guy that I think has earned that spot. I think he’s also drawing a lot of attention. I think it’ll also have the best numbers. I’m sure we’ll see it. But it’s just a shame how they’re going about it.”

Woodley and Covington have had serious issues with one another for the past year. The American Top Team (ATT) teammates have been at each other’s throats through the media for the past several months.

While a big drama show between Covington and Woodley might have been an interesting build, “T-Wood” will instead have to shift his focus to the 25-year-old Englishman who comes off a big win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson:

“I think the bigger fight would have been Colby,” Brown said. “Let it wait a couple months. “Everybody wants that fight. I think Woodley wants the fight, I think Colby wants the fight. I think a couple months later wouldn’t have hurt anything. It’s really frustrating.”

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Coach: Conor McGregor’s Chance To Return ‘Very, Very High’

‘The Notorious One’s’ return could be nearing.

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Conor McGregor’s legal proceedings in regards to his UFC 223 media day bus attack are now behind him.

This morning (Thurs., July 26, 2018) it was announced that a plea deal had been accepted for McGregor. The Irishman will not be charged with any felony counts, instead pleading guilty to disorderly conduct.

He will be forced to do five days of community service, take anger management classes and honor three orders of protection against Ray Borg, Jason Ledvetter, and Michael Chiesa. He’s not allowed to go near any of those men until 2020.

McGregor will also pay damages done to the bus.

Back in April McGregor stormed UFC 223 media day and attacked a pair of fighter buses holding fighters on the weekend’s card. McGregor threw a dolly at one of the windows and shattered it, which injured several fighters and forced them off the card.

“The Notorious” was targeting UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, earlier in that week Nurmagomedov had confronted McGregor’s teammate, Artem Lobov, at the fighter hotel along with his entourage. This upset McGregor, who was seeking physical retribution with the Russian. It’s perhaps likely they’ll get to settle their differences once and for all inside the Octagon with the UFC’s 155-pound title on the line.

McGregor’s striking coach, Owen Roddy, recently spoke to MMA Fighting and revealed that McGregor is eager to get back into the cage now that his legal troubles are behind him:

“That’s what we all envisaged would happen, and it’s just great to be able to get back to doing what we love to do,” Roddy said.

“Conor has been eager to get back out there; he’s been eager to get something in front of him, to set a date and to push for fight. I think now that it’s out of the way, the potential for Conor to get back in there is very, very high.”

“Mystic Mac” hasn’t fought in the UFC since November of 2016 when he defeated Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden. The following year he made his professional boxing debut in a money fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., in which the Irishman was unsuccessful as he lost via 10th round TKO.

Just when it looked like McGregor could be making his return earlier this year, his incident at UFC 223 essentially put his fight career on hold, as Roddy describes it:

“Everything was put on hold because of this. We all had hoped that we would get the news that we got today, but of course, nothing could have been set in stone before the decision came through.

“Anything could have happened, so everything had to be put on hold until Conor got this sorted. I know we are all eager to see what’s coming next and I’m sure something’s going to lined up.”

As for what Roddy thinks is next, a fight with Nurmagomedov before the end of the year sounds like the plan:

“That seems about right,” Roddy said. “I’m sure it’s all going to be negotiated now. I would like to see that fight this year and I think the frontrunner to be Conor’s opponent for his return is Khabib.

“As I said before, he’s eager to get something going, he’s been training hard. He’s been doing all sorts of wrestling and jiu-jitsu — he’s just been enjoying his training. I’m sure he’s going to strike a deal with the UFC, and whenever he’s in there, we’ll be prepared.”

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Coach: Conor McGregor’s Chance To Return ‘Very, Very High’

‘The Notorious One’s’ return could be nearing.

The post Coach: Conor McGregor’s Chance To Return ‘Very, Very High’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Conor McGregor’s legal proceedings in regards to his UFC 223 media day bus attack are now behind him.

This morning (Thurs., July 26, 2018) it was announced that a plea deal had been accepted for McGregor. The Irishman will not be charged with any felony counts, instead pleading guilty to disorderly conduct.

He will be forced to do five days of community service, take anger management classes and honor three orders of protection against Ray Borg, Jason Ledvetter, and Michael Chiesa. He’s not allowed to go near any of those men until 2020.

McGregor will also pay damages done to the bus.

Back in April McGregor stormed UFC 223 media day and attacked a pair of fighter buses holding fighters on the weekend’s card. McGregor threw a dolly at one of the windows and shattered it, which injured several fighters and forced them off the card.

“The Notorious” was targeting UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, earlier in that week Nurmagomedov had confronted McGregor’s teammate, Artem Lobov, at the fighter hotel along with his entourage. This upset McGregor, who was seeking physical retribution with the Russian. It’s perhaps likely they’ll get to settle their differences once and for all inside the Octagon with the UFC’s 155-pound title on the line.

McGregor’s striking coach, Owen Roddy, recently spoke to MMA Fighting and revealed that McGregor is eager to get back into the cage now that his legal troubles are behind him:

“That’s what we all envisaged would happen, and it’s just great to be able to get back to doing what we love to do,” Roddy said.

“Conor has been eager to get back out there; he’s been eager to get something in front of him, to set a date and to push for fight. I think now that it’s out of the way, the potential for Conor to get back in there is very, very high.”

“Mystic Mac” hasn’t fought in the UFC since November of 2016 when he defeated Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden. The following year he made his professional boxing debut in a money fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., in which the Irishman was unsuccessful as he lost via 10th round TKO.

Just when it looked like McGregor could be making his return earlier this year, his incident at UFC 223 essentially put his fight career on hold, as Roddy describes it:

“Everything was put on hold because of this. We all had hoped that we would get the news that we got today, but of course, nothing could have been set in stone before the decision came through.

“Anything could have happened, so everything had to be put on hold until Conor got this sorted. I know we are all eager to see what’s coming next and I’m sure something’s going to lined up.”

As for what Roddy thinks is next, a fight with Nurmagomedov before the end of the year sounds like the plan:

“That seems about right,” Roddy said. “I’m sure it’s all going to be negotiated now. I would like to see that fight this year and I think the frontrunner to be Conor’s opponent for his return is Khabib.

“As I said before, he’s eager to get something going, he’s been training hard. He’s been doing all sorts of wrestling and jiu-jitsu — he’s just been enjoying his training. I’m sure he’s going to strike a deal with the UFC, and whenever he’s in there, we’ll be prepared.”

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UFC Rankings Update: Anthony Smith Surges Up LHW List

Is this high enough for Anthony Smith?

The post UFC Rankings Update: Anthony Smith Surges Up LHW List appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The official UFC rankings have been updated after last week’s (Sun., July 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 134 from Hamburg, Germany, and not surprisingly, Anthony Smith was the main benefactor.

The surging “Lionheart” brutally knocked out former champion Shogun Rua in the main event, earning the former middleweight the No. 9 spot in his debut on the light heavyweight ranks. Rua dropped three spots to No. 11 for the defeat.

Also at 205 pounds, Corey Anderson rose three spots to No. 6 when he secured the biggest win of his career over former No. 3 Glover Teixeira, who dropped five spots to No. 8. Ilir Latifi, Jan Blachowicz, and Jimi Manuwa all rose one spot to Nos. 3, 4, and 5 respectively.

At pound-for-pound, Conor McGregor inexplicably rose one spot to tie sidelined featherweight champion Max Holloway despite not fighting in the UFC since late 2016, perhaps a product of the thought he may return to action after clearing up his Brooklyn legal trouble this week.

You can check out the fully updated UFC rankings courtesy of UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Demetrious Johnson
3 Max Holloway
3 Conor McGregor +1
5 Georges St-Pierre
6 TJ Dillashaw
7 Tyron Woodley
8 Stipe Miocic
9 Khabib Nurmagomedov
10 Robert Whittaker
11 Cris Cyborg
12 Tony Ferguson
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Cody Garbrandt
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Henry Cejudo
2 Sergio Pettis
3 Joseph Benavidez
4 Ray Borg
5 Jussier Formiga
6 John Moraga
7 Wilson Reis
8 Alexandre Pantoja
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 Brandon Moreno -1
11 Ben Nguyen
12 Matheus Nicolau
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Ulka Sasaki

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Marlon Moraes
5 Jimmie Rivera
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Pedro Munhoz
10 Cody Stamann
11 Rob Font
12 Alejandro Perez
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Brett Johns
15 Douglas Silva de Andrade

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Jeremy Stephens
5 Cub Swanson
6 Josh Emmett
6 Chad Mendes +1
8 Mirsad Bektic
9 Chan Sung Jung
10 Renato Moicano
11 Alexander Volkanovski
12 Ricardo Lamas
13 Darren Elkins
14 Yair Rodriguez +1
15 Zabit Magomedsharipov -1

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Tony Ferguson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Dustin Poirier
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Nate Diaz
10 Al Iaquinta
11 James Vick
12 Michael Chiesa
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Dan Hooker
15 Francisco Trinaldo

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington (Interim Champion)
2 Darren Till
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Stephen Thompson
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Kamaru Usman
7 Demian Maia
8 Neil Magny
9 Jorge Masvidal
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Leon Edwards
12 Donald Cerrone
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Alex Oliveira
15 Dong Hyun Kim

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Derek Brunson
7 David Branch
8 Paulo Costa
9 Israel Adesanya
10 Brad Tavares
11 Antonio Carlos Junior
12 Uriah Hall
13 Thiago Santos
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Krzysztof Jotko

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Ilir Latifi +1
4 Jan Blachowicz +1
5 Jimi Manuwa +1
6 Corey Anderson +3
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Glover Teixeira -5
9 Anthony Smith *NR
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Mauricio Rua -3
12 Dominick Reyes -1
13 Patrick Cummins -1
14 Tyson Pedro -1
15 Gadzhimurad Antigulov -1

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Derrick Lewis
3 Curtis Blaydes
4 Francis Ngannou
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Junior Dos Santos
8 Mark Hunt
9 Marcin Tybura
10 Tai Tuivasa
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Stefan Struve
14 Shamil Abdurakhimov
15 Justin Willis

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez
10 Cortney Casey
11 Alexa Grasso
12 Randa Markos
13 Nina Ansaroff
14 Joanne Calderwood
15 Angela Hill

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Alexis Davis
4 Liz Carmouche
5 Roxanne Modafferi
6 Lauren Murphy
7 Katlyn Chookagian
8 Jessica Eye
9 Barb Honchak
10 Jessica-Rose Clark
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Andrea Lee
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Montana De La Rosa
15 Paige VanZant

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Lina Lansberg
12 Irene Aldana
13 Lucie Pudilova
14 Sarah Moras
15 Gina Mazany

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Jose Aldo Hints Retirement From MMA Is Near

The greatest featherweight of all-time’s career is coming to a close.

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At just 31 years of age, former UFC and WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo says he is near the end of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

In an MMA career that has lasted over a decade, the Brazilian has only lost four times, the first coming when he was submitted by Luciano Azevedo under the Jungle Fight banner. Aldo would go on to be undefeated for over a decade before running into a young Irishman by the name of Conor McGregor, who dethroned “Scarface” from the top of the UFC’s featherweight mountain in just 13 seconds of the first round.

After bouncing back with a unanimous decision victory over Frankie Edgar just several months later for an interim title, Aldo was again promoted to undisputed champion of the featherweight division after McGregor’s jump to 155 pounds. In his first title defense since winning back the title, Aldo was unsuccessful, as he was knocked out in the third round by Max Holloway in his home of Brazil.

Rematching the young Hawaiian later that year, Aldo was once again finished in the third round via TKO. He now approaches a non-title fight – the first of his UFC tenure and his first since he was in WEC in 2009 when he knocked out Cub Swanson in eight seconds – against Jeremy Stephens in the co-main event of this week’s (Sat. July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 in Calgary.

He recently spoke to media in Brazil ahead of this weekend’s  card and revealed that he has no plans of signing a new deal with the UFC after his contract expires (quotes via MMA Fighting):

”No, I don’t think so,” Aldo said. “It doesn’t cross my mind to sign a new contract after.”

With that being said, Aldo has three fights left on his UFC deal after fighting Jeremy Stephens in Calgary. Knowing his career in fighting is coming to an end only motivates the former champion to give it his all in the final stretch so he doesn’t go out on a loss:

”I think it’s easier because you know it’s coming near the end, so you have to give your all because you don’t want to go out on a loss, you want to go out on top,” Aldo said. “It’s a lot easier seeing the end of the tunnel and working harder because you know it’s coming to the end.

”When you’re starting there’s that euphoria, but I remain the same. I dream of being champion and dream going out as champion. That’s my biggest motivation. … I take much pride in winning, I don’t accept losses, so I’m always going after that. The day I lose this fire, I think it’s time for us to stop.”

Recently, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced to pull out of his scheduled title bout with Brian Ortega at UFC 226 due to concussion-like symptoms. Brain trauma is a key reason Aldo is deciding not to continue his fighting career much longer:

”That’s why I think it’s the right moment to stop,” Aldo said. “The first goal is to recapture the belt and then think about it. Not only me, but every athlete fears that. Health comes first, and we have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

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Dustin Poirier Is ‘100 Percent Positive’ He’ll Get Title Shot After Beating Alvarez

Conor McGregor could throw a wrench in these plans.

The post Dustin Poirier Is ‘100 Percent Positive’ He’ll Get Title Shot After Beating Alvarez appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Dustin Poirier knows he’s on the cusp of a lightweight title shot.

The surging veteran believes a win over former champ Eddie Alvarez in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary will finally earn him his elusive title shot, a fight he’s been fixated on since making his way to the 155-pound division more than three years ago.

With seven victories in his past eight fights, you’d be hard-pressed to argue with him in that regard, yet anything is certain in the currently in-flux UFC 155-pound title picture. Speaking about his fighting future with ESPN heading into the biggest bout of his career, Poirier admitted that on paper his record would state that he’s earned a title shot, but the insanity of his division has him fighting to prove he’s worthy of a shot at the belt:

“If someone would have asked me three years ago if I would have fought for a belt by now, winning seven of eight, I definitely would have said yes. This division is crazy. After this weekend, when I do get my title shot, nobody can say I didn’t earn it.”

And although he’s correct in stating that the stacked lightweight title picture is unclear right now, Poirier still believes a win over Alvarez, which would give him four straight over former champions, will “one hundred percent” earn him a title shot. “The Diamond” focused on the fact that he’s not just beating these former champs, but finishing them off in brutal displays of violence:

“I’m positive I will get a title shot after this. I am 100 percent positive,” Poirier said. “This will be my fourth fight in a row against a world champion. Alvarez, [Anthony] Pettis, [Justin] Gaethje and Alvarez again.

“And I’m not just beating these guys,” said Poirier, “I’m punishing these guys.”

There’s certainly at least some degree of title implications on the line in Poirier’s main event rematch with Alvarez this weekend, with current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov set to be present at the Canadian event for a Q&A session with fans on weigh-in day. But with former champion Conor McGregor rumored to resolve his assault charges in Brooklyn, NY, tomorrow, it’s plain to see the next shot could go to the Irish superstar.

Still, Poirier insists he won’t fight again in 2018 unless the belt is on the line:

“The only way I’ll fight again this year is if a gold belt is on the line.”

‘The Diamond’ will have to get past Alvarez first, however, and he’s bringing some bad blood into their rematch after the former champion nailed him with an illegal knee that caused their first match-up at UFC 211 to be declared a no contest. He was respectful of his foe at the time, but that dissipated when Alvarez began calling him out on social media:

“I have less respect for him as a person than I did going into the first one,” Poirier said. “When you saw me tell the crowd last year in Dallas to stop booing Eddie, that was real. I thought in the heat of the moment he made a mistake. But the way those Twitter fingers started running after the fight, saying things like I wanted out — come on. Look at what I’ve done in the fights I’ve been in. Why would I want out of a fight that I was punishing you in? The stuff he said really made me lose respect.”

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