Tag: Josh Thomson

Josh Thomson Says Diego Sanchez ‘Makes Some Very Good Points’

Josh Thomson has sympathised with Diego SanchezJosh Thomson has sympathised with Diego Sanchez after the UFC veteran was released from the promotion, Thomson has said Sanchez will not be receiving a reply from Dana White and the UFC. (H/T BJ Penn.) It was announced earlier this week that Diego Sanchez had been released from the UFC, Sanchez was scheduled to fight […]

Josh Thomson has sympathised with Diego Sanchez

Josh Thomson has sympathised with Diego Sanchez after the UFC veteran was released from the promotion, Thomson has said Sanchez will not be receiving a reply from Dana White and the UFC. (H/T BJ Penn.)

It was announced earlier this week that Diego Sanchez had been released from the UFC, Sanchez was scheduled to fight Donald Cerrone on May 8 but that fight was scrapped.

Sanchez’s fight with Cerrone was called off after Sanchez’s team refused to clarify whether the UFC legend was suffering from either short-term or long-term medical issues.

Sanchez did still receive his full fight purse, win bonus and apparel pay from UFC officials for his bout with Cerrone.

Now former UFC fighter, Josh Thomson has spoke on the issue on an episode of his ‘Weighing In’ podcast with John McCarthy.

“I feel for Diego. I want everything to be good for Diego. Okay and Diego makes some very good points. The UFC, because it is like we’ve talked about before, the UFC is not gonna reply to him.” Thomson said. “We have talked about it with what is his name… Spencer Fisher. Same thing, like they (the UFC) just stop picking up your calls. They are not going to pick up your calls. Their doctors are not going to answer your calls anymore. You’re not a current fighter. There is no relationship anymore. And so that is the one thing, that if we are ever going to do a union for, it is for this.”

Diego Sanchez’s relationship with the UFC turned sour after his coach, Joshua Fabia asked the UFC to provide medical records for Sanchez.

Fabia has slammed by members of the MMA community following Sanchez’s release. UFC boss Dana White labelled Fabia a ‘creepy weirdo.’ And former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion, Rashad Evans pleaded with Sanchez to get rid of Fabia.

Josh Thomson then went on to explain further about how fighters like Sanchez are going to want medical assurances once they officially leave the UFC.

“Now you’re going to start seeing some of these fighters, especially the top ones that have been around for a long time, they are going to want to be able to come back and get some form of medical help for everything that is going on with them, and it is not going to happen. So when we talk about like the Ali Act, I could give two shits about the Ali Act, I care more about let’s get some sort of insurance fund for the fighters for after.”

Do you think fighters should be given medical assurances after competing in the UFC?

John McCarthy Thinks Sterling Milked Illegal Knee: ‘It’s Called Business’

John McCarthyIn one of the most controversial championship fights in recent memory, Petr Yan was disqualified from his title defence against Aljamain Sterling after throwing an illegal knee. The subsequent fallout has seen the MMA community split in a multitude of different ways. One take is that Sterling overacted the subsequent knee to the head in […]

John McCarthy

In one of the most controversial championship fights in recent memory, Petr Yan was disqualified from his title defence against Aljamain Sterling after throwing an illegal knee. The subsequent fallout has seen the MMA community split in a multitude of different ways.

One take is that Sterling overacted the subsequent knee to the head in order to have the fight called off. On the Weighing In podcast, ‘Big’ John McCarthy and Josh Thompson seemed to follow this school of thought.

On a recent video released on the Fight CAT Youtube channel, the two MMA personalities broke down the events that took place. McCarthy actually placed some of the blame on referee Mark Smith for discussing the potential implications of Yan landing the illegal knee with the doctor, within earshot of Sterling. McCarthy had the following to say:

“I’m gonna get eaten up by some people, especially Ray Longo. But I’ve seen Aljo take some big shots, he’s a tough dude. When you look at that knee, and you look at that initial response. And then look at what occurred. I’m not sure that it was affecting him as much as it was coming out.”

“But once he hears I’m gonna get a win here, that’s money. I’m not saying he made a bad decision. It’s called business, and you’ve got to make a business decision. If that’s what occurred I don’t blame him.”

It is notable that last time Aljamain Sterling took a knee clean to the head, he was knocked out by Marlon Moraes. Regardless of how hurt he was, Yan’s actions were unarguably illegal and he was rightly disqualified. An immediate rematch appears to be the most likely next step for both fighters. However Sterling has professed that he would also be interested in a matchup with the former champ, Henry Cejudo.

What are your thoughts on John McCarthy’s Comments? Who do you see winning the subsequent rematch? Let us know in the comments.

Gilbert Burns, Josh Thomson Clown Nate Diaz After UFC 254 Tweets

Burns DiazGilbert Burns and Josh Thomson fired back at Nate Diaz following his post-UFC 254 tweets. Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Justin Gaethje with a triangle choke in the second round of their lightweight title unification fight on Saturday. Diaz was not impressed, however, as he fired shots at Nurmagomedov along with Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier following […]

Burns Diaz

Gilbert Burns and Josh Thomson fired back at Nate Diaz following his post-UFC 254 tweets.

Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Justin Gaethje with a triangle choke in the second round of their lightweight title unification fight on Saturday.

Diaz was not impressed, however, as he fired shots at Nurmagomedov along with Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier following the event.

The most recent tweet came on Sunday when he claimed Nurmagomedov was 29-1 with the one loss coming to him after an altercation the pair had a few years ago.

That led to many fans mocking Diaz and some fighters and ex-fighters also joined in like Burns and Thomson who responded with pictures of Diaz getting beaten up.

“Just stop @NateDiaz209,” Burns replied.

Burns has notably gone back-and-forth with Diaz in the past after the Stockton native played him down as a worthy title challenger. “Durinho” would fire back by mocking the number of losses on Diaz’s record on that occasion.

Meanwhile, Thomson — the only fighter to finish Diaz via strikes — also responded with a picture of the head kick that led to the latter’s defeat in their fight. Thomson is notably a teammate of Nurmagomedov’s at American Kickboxing Academy.

“Ssshhh….. ?”

With just two fights since the start of 2017, Diaz certainly isn’t helping himself with these tweets.

What do you make of these interactions?

Josh Thomson: Patricio Pitbull Could Defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov

Nurmagomedov FreireJosh Thomson believes if anyone has a chance of stopping Khabib Nurmagomedov in the lightweight division, it’s Bellator’s Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. Nurmagomedov is the current undefeated UFC lightweight champion who is yet to meet his match so far. Many believe Tony Ferguson is the man to inflict defeat on “The Eagle” but we are yet […]

Nurmagomedov Freire

Josh Thomson believes if anyone has a chance of stopping Khabib Nurmagomedov in the lightweight division, it’s Bellator’s Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.

Nurmagomedov is the current undefeated UFC lightweight champion who is yet to meet his match so far. Many believe Tony Ferguson is the man to inflict defeat on “The Eagle” but we are yet to see that fight come to fruition after five attempts.

Even if it does happen later this year, Nurmagomedov’s former teammate Thomson doesn’t see Ferguson or anybody else defeating him.

He does, however, believe Bellator two-weight champion Freire has a chance.

“I really don’t see anyone in the 155lb division,” Thomson told Metro.co.uk. “The only one I’d bring up is Patricio Pitbull and that’s only because he’s so small. He’s short. Patricio has got the power and speed to get in. Khabib has a hard time with guys who are fast and we saw that with Michael Johnson.

“Johnson is also longer. Patricio is not a big guy and he is physically strong. Khabib had a hard time getting shots on Al Iaquinta because he sat with a very low stance. ‘He has good wrestling and take down defence, Khabib had a hard time getting in at him because he was so short. Patricio is shorter than him, he’s physically strong. He’s got speed and power. When [Patricio] fought Benson Henderson and Michael Chandler, [we saw] he knows how to fight bigger guys. Speed will always play a factor. I would still lean towards Khabib a lot.”

Although Freire did win the Bellator lightweight title by knocking out the bigger Chandler, it remains to be seen if he would be able to do the same to Nurmagomedov.

It should also be noted that Thomson is contracted to Bellator so there is definitely some bias here.

Regardless, what do you make of Thomson’s comments? Do you think “Pitbull” has a chance against Nurmagomedov?

Josh Thomson Details Worst-Case Scenarios Of Dana White Going Ahead With Fights

Thomson WhiteJosh Thomson believes UFC president Dana White is taking a huge risk in going ahead with his events amid the coronavirus pandemic. Despite receiving plenty of criticism, White has remained adamant in his plans to resume the fight schedule starting with UFC 249 on April 18 which is expected to take place on tribal land […]

Thomson White

Josh Thomson believes UFC president Dana White is taking a huge risk in going ahead with his events amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite receiving plenty of criticism, White has remained adamant in his plans to resume the fight schedule starting with UFC 249 on April 18 which is expected to take place on tribal land in California.

In addition, the UFC head honcho has revealed that he’s secured a private island which would allow his international fighters to compete as well.

But for Thomson — now retired from MMA competition — the worse-case scenarios must be considered and the consequences could be detrimental for the sport:

“Why are they doing this? Dana likes to be the daredevil,” Thomson told Metro.co.uk. “You always think of the worst-case scenario when you’re doing an event. Worst-case scenario here is you fight on an island and half the people get COVID-19. You bring it to the island and people start dying on the island. Another worst case is there’s no real hospital on the island and someone gets seriously hurt and they can’t make it to a hospital in time and a fighter dies.

“Those are the two worst-case scenarios you could think of. Dana has to be ready for those consequences. That would end Dana as the president of the UFC, it would end the promotion and the sport itself would take a huge step backwards. It would be detrimental to the sport. The average person would never support MMA of any kind again because of this recklessness [leading to a worst case scenario].”

Of course, if White is able to pull off UFC 249 and future events without a hitch, Thomson has no problems whatsoever. It’s whether that can be done that he’s doubtful about.

“If they pull it off without anyone getting seriously ill or hurt, great job,” he added. “Fighters get paid and more events can start coming back. Who knows? But it takes 250 people at minimum to run a show and that’s a lot of people in one area moving and touching each other. It only takes one person to get sick and it corrupts the whole thing.”

Do you agree with Thomson?

Josh Thomson Criticizes Dana White For Pushing Through With UFC Events During Pandemic

Josh Thomson isn’t a fan of Dana White pushing through with UFC cards in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. UFC 249 is on target for April 18. White says the event will be held inside a venue that the UFC has under wraps for two months. While…

Josh Thomson isn’t a fan of Dana White pushing through with UFC cards in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. UFC 249 is on target for April 18. White says the event will be held inside a venue that the UFC has under wraps for two months. While White hasn’t disclosed the location, it’s been […]

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