Tag: Jose Aldo

Kenny Florian Wants to Face Champ Jose Aldo, Not Through at 155

Quips about Kenny Florian’s move to featherweight have been heard over and over again since he announced his decision to move down a weight class in February.A former middleweight and welterweight as well, Florian is no stranger to the weight cutting g…

Quips about Kenny Florian’s move to featherweight have been heard over and over again since he announced his decision to move down a weight class in February.

A former middleweight and welterweight as well, Florian is no stranger to the weight cutting game, despite the constant jokes and questions about whether he will make weight for his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes in June.

Responding to criticism about not being able to compete against bigger opponents at 155, the former lightweight contender told MMAWeekly, “I know I’ve done well at 55 and I know I can be a champion at 155.”

The real reason for the move: a chance to face current UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

“It all started when I was offered a fight with Jose Aldo at 155 pounds, and when that opportunity arose, I just started thinking Jose won’t go up to 155, could I be able to make it at 145?” Florian said.

Finding himself at a stage in his career where he wants “to face the best”, the Bostonian viewed a move down in weight as a way to test his skills against the promotion’s best lighter weight warriors.  

With fighters like Mark Hominick and top contender Chad Mendes making waves in the featherweight division, Florian has a wealth of talent to test himself against – but the real prize is the belt.

“I see it as an opportunity to face one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world in Jose Aldo, hopefully, down the line”, Florian stated.

Mendes looks like the next in line for Aldo’s belt, but a win over Nunes at UFC 131 will definitely put Florian into mix, with a shot for the title possibly coming before the year’s end.

With hopes for success in a new division, the newly minted featherweight isn’t done at lightweight just yet, telling MMAWeekly, “Going down to 45 is a new challenge, and I expect to be at 155 (again) soon.”

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Mark Hominick Says It’s Bittersweet to Get Congratulated After a Loss

Filed under: UFCOn Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, Mark Hominick had a message for fans who were concerned about the softball-sized lump growing out of his forehead by the end of his featherweight title bout against Jose Aldo at UFC 129: it looked wo…

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On Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, Mark Hominick had a message for fans who were concerned about the softball-sized lump growing out of his forehead by the end of his featherweight title bout against Jose Aldo at UFC 129: it looked worse than it felt.

And yeah, he knows it looked pretty bad.

“I remember watching fights, like the [Hasim] Rahman [vs. Evander Holyfield] fight, and it was like, oh my God. I could just imagine what the crowd and everybody else was feeling when they saw that, because it’s definitely disturbing to see that,” Hominick told Ariel Helwani. “But again, it’s a superficial injury. It’s not affecting my vision; it’s not affecting my performance. After I had an icepack on it after the fight, it went right down.”

MMA: ESPN Releases Latest Power-Ranking List, Who Made the Cut?

ESPN.com has released their latest top 10 pound-for-pound list for MMA.  Six members of the ESPN staff weighed in on the issue, including MMA Live host Jon Anik.
UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva was the unanimous pick for the top spot on t…

ESPN.com has released their latest top 10 pound-for-pound list for MMA.  Six members of the ESPN staff weighed in on the issue, including MMA Live host Jon Anik.

UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva was the unanimous pick for the top spot on the list, while welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was able to lock down the second spot.

St-Pierre’s stock undoubtedly took a hit after winning a snoozefest against Jake Shields at UFC 129, with not one voter picking GSP over Silva this time.

Anik actually felt that St-Pierre’s performance was so underwhelming, that he personally felt that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was more deserving of the second spot than GSP was.

Jones ended up ranked No. 3 on the list, surprisingly passing up UFC featherweight title holder Jose Aldo.   

This change is probably the most controversial one on the list, as Aldo has not lost since 2005; his sole career loss, and has won 12 fights in a row since then.

Regardless where fans feel Jones belongs on this list, it is impossible to ignore that this superstar is taking the MMA world by storm.

Incredible takedowns and striking, both on his feet and on the ground, have led Jones to a 13-1 professional record.  He has also earned his place in the record books, as “Bones” is the UFC’s youngest champion ever at 23 years old. 

Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar rounded out the top five, while UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz claimed the sixth spot on the list. 

Despite a 17-1 career record and a UFC title around his waist, Cruz is still not a household name for most MMA fans.

Cruz has a great opportunity to open some eyes at UFC 132, when he has a chance to avenge his only career loss against Urijah Faber in the main event. 

Cain Velasquez was the lone heavyweight to crack the top 10, with the staff praising his abilities as a boxer, wrestler and jiu-jitsu practitioner. 

Gilbert Melendez was the only Strikeforce selection in ESPN’s power ranking list, as the lightweight champion is coming off a dominant TKO victory over Tatsuya Kawajiri and is currently riding a five-fight win streak.

ESPN’s selection at No. 9 is described by the staff as “MMA’s Sisyphus,” none other than welterweight grinder Jon Fitch.

Fitch is 21-1-2 since 2002, with his sole loss coming against welterweight king Georges St-Pierre. 

Gray Maynard rounds out the list at No. 10, owning quality wins over the likes of Jim Miller, Kenny Florian, and is currently still the only man who has defeated UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

“The Bully” has a chance to prove his relevance in the UFC lightweight division when he meets Edgar for a third time at UFC 130. 

Maynard hopes finally to get his first taste of gold in the UFC, and definitively prove once and for all that he is a better fighter than Edgar. 

Regardless who wins the main event at UFC 130, a superfight between Gilbert Melendez and either Edgar or Maynard remains very intriguing for deciding who is the best 155-pounder in MMA.

So to recap, ESPN’s latest top 10 pound-four-pound list reads as follows: 1. Anderson Silva, 2. Georges St-Pierre, 3. Jon Jones, 4. Jose Aldo, 5. Frankie Edgar, 6. Dominick Cruz, 7. Cain Velasquez, 8. Gilbert Melendez, 9. Jon Fitch, and 10. Gray Maynard.

Also receiving votes are Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, UFC light heavyweight contender Rashad Evans, and welterweight contender BJ Penn.  

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MMA Top 10 Featherweights: Aldo on Top, Mendes No. 2

Filed under: UFC, Bellator, Rankings, FeatherweightsJose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the U…

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Jose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the UFC do with Aldo from here?

The fight I think the UFC really wants to make for Aldo is against Kenny Florian, who has more name recognition than anyone else on the UFC’s featherweight roster. If Florian wins his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes at UFC 131, he’ll instantly step into title contention — and into the featherweight Top 10.

But for now, the No. 1 featherweight appears headed toward an August showdown with the undefeated Chad Mendes — and on my featherweight rankings, that’s the right call.

UFC 132: Urijah Faber Thinks Dominick Cruz Is "Immature"

The recent bad blood between rivals Urijah Faber and UFC bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz has certainly been well-documented.Both competitors will headline UFC 132, when they meet in a rematch from WEC 26, to determine the newly crowned bantamweigh…

The recent bad blood between rivals Urijah Faber and UFC bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz has certainly been well-documented.

Both competitors will headline UFC 132, when they meet in a rematch from WEC 26, to determine the newly crowned bantamweight champion. 

While appearing as a guest on MMA Fight Corner Radio, Faber did not hold anything back when discussing his opponent. In fact, the former WEC featherweight champion used as little dialogue as possible

“Immature,” Faber said when asked on describing his opponent. 

The last time both men competed, Faber picked up the victory, submitting Cruz via guillotine choke.

Since failing to recapture his featherweight title against Mike Thomas Brown and current title holder Jose Aldo, Faber recently moved down to bantamweight and made his debut at UFC 128.

Faber defeated Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision and following the bout he proceeded to call out his rival, Cruz.

The win ultimately earned Faber a title shot against Cruz, scheduled for this summer. 

Faber continued to speak of his disdain for Cruz, and while he isn’t one to trash-talk or belittle his opponents, “The California Kid” said he respects the bantamweight champion, but he wouldn’t consider him a friend.

“I was forced to spend some time with him this last week with the Marines in Camp Pendleton in San Diego and it was fun,” Faber said.

“He can actually take a joke, and we were at each other’s throat a little bit at the beginning there. He’s a decent guy, but he has a lot of growing up to do, and me beating him up is going to be part of that process.”

UFC 132 is scheduled for July 2nd, live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

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State of WEC, PRIDE Titles Following Zuffa Acquisitions

Filed under: UFC, NewsLineal champions have always interested me for one reason or another, and with talk intensifying of Strikeforce champions facing UFC champions in the near future, I thought it would be interesting to see where the WEC and PRIDE ti…

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Lineal champions have always interested me for one reason or another, and with talk intensifying of Strikeforce champions facing UFC champions in the near future, I thought it would be interesting to see where the WEC and PRIDE titles have ended up, considering those are the two biggest organizations Zuffa purchased over the years. No disrespect to the EliteXC or the IFLs of the world, but that would just get too confusing.

So check out the state of the WEC and PRIDE titles below. Dare I say more titles than you think have been unified.