UFC 209 adds another intriguing contest as UFC officials confirm the Fight Pass main event between Pedro and Craig. The Fight Pass main event will see a light-heavyweight bout between two unbeaten prospects as Australia’s Pedro (5-0 MMA) squares off against Scotland’s Paul Craig (9-0 MMA). on UFC Fight Pass as the streaming service’s main event. […]
UFC 209 adds another intriguing contest as UFC officials confirm the Fight Pass main event between Pedro and Craig. The Fight Pass main event will see a light-heavyweight bout between two unbeaten prospects as Australia’s Pedro (5-0 MMA) squares off against Scotland’s Paul Craig (9-0 MMA). on UFC Fight Pass as the streaming service’s main event. […]
Last Saturday’s UFC 208 was an ugly card, but things will return to normal at UFC 209…more or less.
Two incredibly compelling fights sit atop the March 4 event in the welterweight title match between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson and the in…
Last Saturday’s UFC 208 was an ugly card, but things will return to normal at UFC 209…more or less.
Two incredibly compelling fights sit atop the March 4 event in the welterweight title match between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson and the interim lightweight title bout of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson. Backing them up is a heavyweight slugfest in Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt. From there, however, the card drops off in a big way.
The full list of fights is as follows:
Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson
Lando Vannata vs. David Teymur
Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
Rashad Evans vs. Daniel Kelly
Darren Elkins vs. Mirsad Bektic
Todd Duffee vs. Mark Godbeer
Igor Pokrajac vs. Ed Herman
Other bouts will likely be announced in the coming days, and the order is yet to be determined. As such, it’s worth taking a quick look at each of the fights that are confirmed and a deeper look at the three guaranteed spots at the top.
Nurmagomedov answers questions in front of the cameras ahead of his interim title bout at UFC 209 next month. Holly Holm will take on Germaine de Randamie ion Saturday night at UFC 208 in Brooklyn in the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight championship title fight. The next card in the promotion’s calendar will be UFC 209, […]
Nurmagomedov answers questions in front of the cameras ahead of his interim title bout at UFC 209 next month. Holly Holm will take on Germaine de Randamie ion Saturday night at UFC 208 in Brooklyn in the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight championship title fight. The next card in the promotion’s calendar will be UFC 209, […]
Khabib Nurmagomedov is pushing for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to remind lightweight title holder Conor McGregor of their position of power. McGregor has been adamant about wanting to box Floyd Mayweather. He’s gone as far as to say, “F*ck the UFC.” Nurmagomedov said the UFC needs to get a hold of things. During a Q&A […]
Khabib Nurmagomedov is pushing for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to remind lightweight title holder Conor McGregor of their position of power. McGregor has been adamant about wanting to box Floyd Mayweather. He’s gone as far as to say, “F*ck the UFC.” Nurmagomedov said the UFC needs to get a hold of things. During a Q&A […]
UFC president Dana White is still unhappy with AKA… American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California is one of the most successful MMA teams around. Housing former two-time heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, ex-middleweight boss Luke Rockhold and current 205-pound title holder Daniel Cormier, AKA is legit. Although they have all this talent, including top ranked
UFC president Dana White is still unhappy with AKA…
American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California is one of the most successful MMA teams around. Housing former two-time heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, ex-middleweight boss Luke Rockhold and current 205-pound title holder Daniel Cormier, AKA is legit. Although they have all this talent, including top ranked lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov and many others, AKA is lamented by some. Using ‘The Eagle’ as an example, between October 2013 and March 2016, he fought just once. Numerous injuries and surgeries have seen Nurmagomedov pull out of three scheduled fights over the course of 13 months at one stage.
Facing similar circumstances, Velasquez, Cormier and to an extent Rockhold have all been somewhat injury prone. Looking to the source, many point the finger of blame at their camp, AKA, and their training methods. It’s no secret the San Jose gym puts on some serious brawls in sparring for fights. Although other gyms also push their fighters hard, the injury rate at AKA seems significantly higher. Given the high calibre of fighters the gym churns out, they are obviously doing many things right. Are they simply a victim of circumstance and/or bad fortune?
Dana White on AKA
Speaking with Sports Illustrated this week, UFC president Dana White believes AKA makes their own luck. Pulling no punches, he calls out the gym for ‘staggering numbers’ of injuries:
“Some of the gyms we did (addressed over training). With others it’s as bad as ever. Listen, guys at AKA get injured every single fight. Luke Rockhold is out. Khabib [Nurmagomedov] got hurt there training. Then you have Cain Velasquez. The champ, Daniel Cormier is hurt.
I don’t know, man. We started doing these seminars and stuff. They’re receptive to it. But I don’t know. Where there’s smoke there’s fire, man. Staggering numbers.”
Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Dana Would Let His Kids Fight
Talking more about injuries, Dana White reveals he would rather his kids fight in MMA than play football:
“Absolutely. My kids play f—ing football. My son broke his collarbone, first game of the season, broke his collarbone. Believe me, I would prefer them to fight, but they love football. I’m one of those guys, whatever your passion is, I will get behind you and let you do it, even though it’s so dangerous. It’s what they love to do.
Absolutely. All my kids have trained. Even my daughter. My daughter has trained. They’ve all trained, MMA, done it since they were little. They never had the passion for it. I definitely wouldn’t want them to fight if they weren’t passionate about it. You got to love fighting to fight.”
Judging by White’s comments on AKA, he still has a lot of unresolved issues with that camp. Will Javier Mendez’s elite squad change their training methods, or will they continue as they have been for many years? One thing is for sure-Dana White would love his kids to fight in MMA, but he might not advise them to join AKA.
McGregor once again reminds us of the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by MMA’s premier superstar. UFC’s lightweight champion posted a video on his official Instagram account, which gives a fly-on-the-wall look at his recent exploits in Manchester, England. The video sees McGregor arriving in his private jet, prior to rolling on to meeting fans in at […]
McGregor once again reminds us of the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by MMA’s premier superstar. UFC’s lightweight champion posted a video on his official Instagram account, which gives a fly-on-the-wall look at his recent exploits in Manchester, England. The video sees McGregor arriving in his private jet, prior to rolling on to meeting fans in at […]
