Tag: Kevin Lee

Conor McGregor Favored Against Tony Ferguson & Nate Diaz

Conor McGregor’s anticipated MMA return currently remains unknown during a time when the UFC needs him most. The most likely candidates are obviously interim champion Tony Ferguson and Nate Diaz, as “The Notorious” recently called out “El Cucuy” online while a third match-up with Diaz will always loom large as a massive financial windfall until […]

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Conor McGregor’s anticipated MMA return currently remains unknown during a time when the UFC needs him most.

The most likely candidates are obviously interim champion Tony Ferguson and Nate Diaz, as “The Notorious” recently called out “El Cucuy” online while a third match-up with Diaz will always loom large as a massive financial windfall until it inevitably happens.

McGregor could go either way for his next fight, or he could come out of left field with something else altogether. But Ferguson and Diaz are the most probable opponents for the UFC megastar, and online betting site Bovada (via Bloody Elbow) has released some early odds for both prospective bouts should they become a reality.

According to their early odds, McGregor is a favorite against both opponents, coming in at -165 versus the streaking +135 underdog Ferguson, who has won an unheard-of 10 straight fights in the deeply talented UFC lightweight division capped off by his latest interim title-sealing win over Kevin Lee at October 7’s UFC 216. Diaz, meanwhile, who hasn’t fought since he lost a close decision to McGregor at UFC 202, is a bigger underdog, rating at +195 to McGregor’s -250.

McGregor famously lost to Diaz via second-round submission in their historic first match at March 2016’s UFC 196, inciting arguably the most popular rivalry in MMA history. The rematch did even bigger numbers, but Diaz may have lost a bit of steam after staying out of action while McGregor signed onto and participated in his circus of a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather last August, which he ultimately lost by 10th-round TKO.

He’s also been reported to want upwards of $20-30 million for the fight, a figure even McGregor proclaimed may price him out of the fight.

The majority of hardcore MMA fans seem to want McGregor to finally defend his lightweight title against a true top contender, which Ferguson no doubt is as the interim champ. “The Notorious” has also teased he would defend the belt, which he has not done since winning his first UFC title in 2015, to “legitimize the rankings.”

Do you agree with the odds as they are now, or should Ferguson and Diaz be given more of a chance versus the Irish megastar?

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Dana White Shoots Down Addition Of More Weight Classes To UFC

One of the biggest issues in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is fighters missing weight – something UFC President Dana White can’t stand. Fighters such as Kelvin Gastelum, Ray Borg, Johny Hendricks, and many more have shown issues hitting their target weight when they step on the scales. Most recently, Kevin Lee initially […]

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One of the biggest issues in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is fighters missing weight – something UFC President Dana White can’t stand.

Fighters such as Kelvin Gastelum, Ray Borg, Johny Hendricks, and many more have shown issues hitting their target weight when they step on the scales. Most recently, Kevin Lee initially missed weight prior to his interim UFC lightweight title match against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216. Lee was given a second chance to make the weight and would later return coming in just under 155.

“The Motown Phenom” lost the bout via submission; however, after the fight he pondered the possibility of moving up to 170 pounds, and also called for a 165-pound division to be implemented by the UFC. This is a proclamation UFC President Dana White has heard several times before but explained to TSN why he has no interest in making such a move (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“People are like, ‘Add weight classes, do this, do that,’” White said. “It’s never going to change. You’re still going to have people trying to – let’s say I add a 165-pound weight class. That will only mean bigger guys will try to make 165. Everybody’s always looking for an advantage.”

Per White, the problem with weight cutting isn’t the gap between weight classes, but rather the techniques that fighters use to do so. The UFC boss outlined that there are proper ways to go about cutting weight but everyone is looking for the fast and easy way out:

“There’s ways to cut weight,” White said. “There’s safe ways. There’s scientific ways. Nutritionists can help you do this. Everybody just wants to take shortcuts and the easy way. But there is no easy way when you’re cutting weight.”

“What we’ve been doing is Jeff Novitzky, the guy we hired who handles all the (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) stuff, he’s tracking all these guys’ weights,” White said. “He tracks them. When you come in the week of the fight we find out where you are compared to where you were the last couple times you fought.”

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Khabib Says Kevin Lee ‘Gave Up’ Against Tony Ferguson

Top-ranked UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov has been out of action since last November’s UFC 205, but ‘The Eagle’ is finally healed up from his latest set of ailments and looking to return to the Octagon. The brutalizing grappler was set to take on current interim champion Tony Ferguson for the second-place title at March’s UFC […]

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Top-ranked UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov has been out of action since last November’s UFC 205, but ‘The Eagle’ is finally healed up from his latest set of ailments and looking to return to the Octagon.

The brutalizing grappler was set to take on current interim champion Tony Ferguson for the second-place title at March’s UFC 209, but a failed weight cut forced him out of the bout and into the hospital. He was reportedly offered yet another booking versus Ferguson at October 7’s UFC 216, but the lasting effects of the draining cut coupled with a back surgery left him unable to compete yet again.

So Ferguson fought Kevin Lee for the interim lightweight title instead, and despite a harrowingly difficult weight cut of his own, ‘The Motown Phenom’ was able to use his size and strength to ground Ferguson and rain down some significant damage in the first two rounds. In the third, however, Lee clearly tired from the staph infection that had plagued his cut and succumbed to a triangle choke from Ferguson.

Nurmagomedov is back making the media rounds, and he told Ariel Helwani on this week’s episode of “The MMA Hour” that Lee lost the fight because he fought like a ‘chicken’ and ‘gave up’:

“I think [Ferguson] won because Kevin Lee was fighting with him like chicken. That’s why he won. [Lee] talked too much. He was not focused on the fight; he was focused on, I think, promoting the fight. When the fight was beginning, first round, [Lee] beat [Ferguson], and second round, [Lee] stayed with him in his distance, he ate a lot of jabs, and third round, he gave up, because he doesn’t have conditioning. That’s why.”

Photo Credit: Joshua Dahl for USA TODAY Sports

There’s no doubting Lee did gas at UFC 216, as he admitted as much in between the second and third rounds. Khabib believes this would never happen to him, and the gameplan to beating a rangy, unorthodox striker like Ferguson is to get in his face and take him down, something that Lee was having success with early.

The difference according to ‘The Eagle’ is that he will never tire nor get submitted, a belief he insisted his AKA teammates Daniel Cormier and Luke Rockhold would attest to:

“(Rafael) dos Anjos and Kevin Lee fought with him at his distance. That’s why these guys [lost to] him,” Nurmagomedov said. “But what happens if Ferguson fights a fighter like me, who all the time tries to take him down, smash him on the ground, and never, never stop? All my life, in my amateur career, professional 24 fights, I never tire. Never, ever. In training, amateur fights, and professional fights, I never get tired.

“All my life, I never tire, I never lose, and I never give up. In training, in amateur fights, in professional fights, I’ve never given up. Never. Nobody has choked me, nobody has submitted me. Never, ever, in all my life. I’m training with a lot of fighters from different weight classes — heavyweight, welterweight, lightweight. You can ask ‘DC,’ you can ask Luke Rockhold, all fighters: I never give up and I never get tired. This is what I want to say about this.”

Few doubt Nurmagomedov’s sheer grappling advantage over any lightweight in MMA right now, but the 24-0 Dagestani’s problems have always been outside of the cage, as a long list of injuries and weight-cutting issues have limited him to just two fights in the last three years.

But in spite of those problems, he believes he’s in a similar spot as to where he was at around this time last year, where he beat Michael Johnson handily at UFC 205 and was headed for a bout with Ferguson to find out who would fight Conor McGregor for the title. He’s confident he can get both fights, but admitted he needs to keep his weight in check more this time around:

“It’s a very tough sport. Nobody knows (what happens behind the scenes).

“Last time when I had to fight with Tony, I thought, ‘I’m confident 100 percent the fight will happen, and I have to beat Tony to take the belt, and then at the end of the year I’m going to fight with Conor.’ But everybody knows what happened. And now I have the same feeling. I have the same feeling, and next time I have to stay a little bit careful, more control my weight, more control my health and my everything.”

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Khabib Nurmagomedov: Lee Was Fighting Ferguson Like a Chicken

Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t impressed with Kevin Lee’s performance at UFC 216. Lee fell short in his bid to capture the interim UFC lightweight title. “The Motown Phenom” was submitted by Tony Ferguson in the third round. Lots had been made about Lee’s staph infection and his weight cut. During a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The […]

Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t impressed with Kevin Lee’s performance at UFC 216. Lee fell short in his bid to capture the interim UFC lightweight title. “The Motown Phenom” was submitted by Tony Ferguson in the third round. Lots had been made about Lee’s staph infection and his weight cut. During a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The […]

Kevin Lee Admits He’s A Little Annoyed With Joe Rogan

One of the most controversial topics coming out of UFC 216 was Kevin Lee’s staph infection being discovered as he made his entrance into the Octagon for his interim lightweight title clash with Tony Ferguson. Lee would go on to lose the fight via third round submission by way of a triangle choke, however, it’s […]

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One of the most controversial topics coming out of UFC 216 was Kevin Lee’s staph infection being discovered as he made his entrance into the Octagon for his interim lightweight title clash with Tony Ferguson.

Lee would go on to lose the fight via third round submission by way of a triangle choke, however, it’s believed that the staph infection hindered his performance a bit. “The Motown Phenom” recently joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour to discuss the controversy yesterday (Mon. October 16, 2017) and admitted that he was a little annoyed with UFC commentator Joe Rogan for bringing up the infection despite orders from the production team not to (quotes via Bloody Elbow):

“It kind of takes away from it, and it kind of takes away from Tony too,” Lee said. “I thought Tony did a great job, even with the staph infection.”

“It kind of takes a little bit away from our performance. But look, it’s the truth, and it is what it is. I always like to do that with people, I always like to tell people the way it is, so I can’t really hold it against him. I was a little annoyed at first that he would bring it up, but it’s clear.”

Joshua Dahl for USA TODAY Sports

The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has also been under fire as of late for allowing Lee to compete with the staph infection, but Lee was quick to jump to their defense:

“They got a little bit of backlash for letting me fight, but they were mostly just concerned about the weight,” Lee said. “I think I did a pretty good job of hiding it. I felt like I did a good job of using makeup and trying to hide the best that I could. It wasn’t really their fault. “

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Patrick Cummins Posts Pic Of Disgusting ‘Mutant’ Staph Infection

The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) may have come under fire recently for allowing Kevin Lee to compete at October 7’s UFC 216 with an obvious staph infection, but the state of New York won’t be having any similar problems with light heavyweight Patrick Cummins. Cummins announced on social media (via MMA Fighting) that he had […]

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The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) may have come under fire recently for allowing Kevin Lee to compete at October 7’s UFC 216 with an obvious staph infection, but the state of New York won’t be having any similar problems with light heavyweight Patrick Cummins.

Cummins announced on social media (via MMA Fighting) that he had acquired a ‘mutant’ staph infection that was so resilient even IV antibiotics would not kill it, making it impossible for him to make it to his scheduled bout against Corey Anderson at November 4’s UFC 217 from New York City. The infection was so bad his foot swelled up to almost twice normal size.

Check it out here:

It’s a significant setback for ‘Durkin,’ who rebounded from two TKO losses to Glover Teixeira and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira to win decisions over Gian Villante and Jan Blachowicz in his last two bouts.

In a division as talent-starved as light heavyweight, title contention is truly only a few wins away, but Cummins will obviously need his foot to go back to normal size before he can even consider a return.

Based on the toughness he’s displayed in the octagon since debuting as a late replacement for Rashad Evans in 2014, he should be back sooner than later.

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