Tag: Khabib Nurmagomedov

Luke Rockhold Reacts To Injury Criticisms Towards AKA

The American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California is home to some of the best mixed martial artists in the world including UFC champions Luke Rockhold and Daniel Cormier, former champion Cain Velasquez, and top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov. The success of the team inside of the cage speaks for itself, but AKA has also garnered

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The American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California is home to some of the best mixed martial artists in the world including UFC champions Luke Rockhold and Daniel Cormier, former champion Cain Velasquez, and top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The success of the team inside of the cage speaks for itself, but AKA has also garnered its fair share of criticisms due to its somewhat questionable injury history.

Velasquez and Nurmagomedov have been plagued with injuries over the last few years, and Cormier also recently pulled out of a highly anticipated title fight to due to an injury suffered in training.

While many have fired shots at the team, and more specifically at Velasquez, Rockhold recently spoke on the situation, saying that injuries happen in MMA, and that nothing is intentional:

“Injuries happen, we have a high level of competition at the gym,” said Rockhold in a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “But we’re family and people aren’t trying to hurt each other. From time to time, things happen. I don’t believe we have a big problem with injuries. I know myself, I know DC, I know a lot of these guys and a couple injuries plague you, but the rest of us have been pretty healthy.”

Continuing on, the reigning 185-pound champion said that AKA is simply the best camp in the world with the best fighters pushing each other to their limits:

“Cain gets some injuries, but people are fighting,” added Rockhold. “We just come from the top camp in the world with a lot of top names and there’s a lot of focus. Any time anyone gets hurt, people want to point the finger. But the thing is, we have the best camp in the world and there’s a reason why that’s happening.”

Do you agree with Rockhold, or does AKA seriously have to consider their training methods?

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Rafael Dos Anjos Explains Why Nurmagomedov Doesn’t Deserve Title Shot

rafael-dos-anjos-press-conference

While the MMA world was impressed with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Octagon return against Darrell Horcher at the UFC On FOX 19 event earlier this month, reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos was not.

After defeating Horcher, “The Eagle” made it clear that he has his sights set on another fight with Dos Anjos, a man he easily defeated inside the Octagon in the past. Dos Anjos, however, made it clear that despite the fact that he lost to Nurmagomedov in the past, he didn’t see anything in his recent fight against Horcher that impressed him.

Dos Anjos recently had the following to say abuot Nurmagomedov’s performance against Horcher, as well as a potential rematch with “The Eagle”:

“I was not even a little impressed. He fought a guy who has a full-time job and took the fight on a week’s notice. After the first minute, with all due respect, (Horcher) looked pink, completely out of shape, and (Khabib) still needed almost two rounds to finish the fight. Congratulations to the opponent that accepted the fight, but there’s no way… When I lost to Khabib, I was ranked No. 5 or 6 and many things have changed since. He beat a guy who has a full-time job, and I beat Jason High, Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone. He’s saying he needs some rest because he trained for three months for this fight? Wait a minute… Forty days after fighting him, I fought Jason High. Two months later, I fought Ben Henderson. When you want the belt, you have to work for it. I think that after a performance like that, he should at least fight Tony Ferguson in May. Now he beats a guy who has a full-time job and thinks he deserves a title shot? In my opinion, he does not. He has to work more. He can’t live the rest of his life saying ‘oh, I beat Rafael, I’m the champion without the belt’. He has to work.”

H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above quote.

rafael-dos-anjos-press-conference

While the MMA world was impressed with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Octagon return against Darrell Horcher at the UFC On FOX 19 event earlier this month, reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos was not.

After defeating Horcher, “The Eagle” made it clear that he has his sights set on another fight with Dos Anjos, a man he easily defeated inside the Octagon in the past. Dos Anjos, however, made it clear that despite the fact that he lost to Nurmagomedov in the past, he didn’t see anything in his recent fight against Horcher that impressed him.

Dos Anjos recently had the following to say abuot Nurmagomedov’s performance against Horcher, as well as a potential rematch with “The Eagle”:

“I was not even a little impressed. He fought a guy who has a full-time job and took the fight on a week’s notice. After the first minute, with all due respect, (Horcher) looked pink, completely out of shape, and (Khabib) still needed almost two rounds to finish the fight. Congratulations to the opponent that accepted the fight, but there’s no way… When I lost to Khabib, I was ranked No. 5 or 6 and many things have changed since. He beat a guy who has a full-time job, and I beat Jason High, Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone. He’s saying he needs some rest because he trained for three months for this fight? Wait a minute… Forty days after fighting him, I fought Jason High. Two months later, I fought Ben Henderson. When you want the belt, you have to work for it. I think that after a performance like that, he should at least fight Tony Ferguson in May. Now he beats a guy who has a full-time job and thinks he deserves a title shot? In my opinion, he does not. He has to work more. He can’t live the rest of his life saying ‘oh, I beat Rafael, I’m the champion without the belt’. He has to work.”

H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above quote.

Rafael Dos Anjos: Khabib Doesn’t Deserve Title Shot

Fans everywhere were excited to finally see the return of oft-injured lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov at April 6’s UFC on FOX 19, even if it was just against an overmatched late replacement in Darrell Horcher, whom “The Eagle” finished via dominant ground and pound. Just don’t count lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos among them. According

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Fans everywhere were excited to finally see the return of oft-injured lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov at April 6’s UFC on FOX 19, even if it was just against an overmatched late replacement in Darrell Horcher, whom “The Eagle” finished via dominant ground and pound.

Just don’t count lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos among them.

According to the champ, Nurmagomedov’s victory was far from impressive. In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, ‘RDA’ spoke up with some harsh criticism about the win over Horcher, who was making his UFC debut:

“I was not even a little impressed. He fought a guy who has a full-time job and took the fight on a week’s notice. After the first minute, with all due respect, (Horcher) looked pink, completely out of shape, and (Khabib) still needed almost two rounds to finish the fight.

“Congratulations to the opponent that accepted the fight, but there’s no way… When I lost to Khabib, I was ranked No. 5 or 6 and many things have changed since. He beat a guy who has a full-time job, and I beat Jason High, Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone.”

Nurmagomedov could have most likely moved into an immediate title shot despite the low-ranking opponent, as he was the last fighter to defeat dos anjos with a dominant decision at UFC on FOX 11 in 2014. But “The Eagle” wants to take more time off for the religious holiday of Ramadan, and dos Anjos isn’t buying that as an excuse to sit out further:

“He’s saying he needs some rest because he trained for three months for this fight?” dos Anjos said. “Wait a minute… Forty days after fighting him, I fought Jason High. Two months later, I fought Ben Henderson. When you want the belt, you have to work for it. I think that after a performance like that, he should at least fight Tony Ferguson in May. The number of UFC fights he has, I did it in one year.

“I offered him to fight me in July when his fight got cancelled, but he couldn’t do it for religious reasons, I guess, but the opportunity was offered and he didn’t say yes. Now he beats a guy who has a full-time job and thinks he deserves a title shot? In my opinion, he does not. He has to work more. He can’t live the rest of his life saying ‘oh, I beat Rafael, I’m the champion without the belt’. He has to work. Forget about that. I’ve done a lot of things and evolved more since that fight.”

Dos Anjos will move on to a title fight with top contender Eddie Alvare as during the UFC’s jam-packed International Fight Week this July because he was unwilling to wait round for Nurmagomedov. ‘RDA’ continued on about the Dagestani talent’s absence repeatedly insisting that he should want to fight as much as possible:

“I can’t make plans for November in April. Khabib hasn’t fought in two years and wants to take six months off? What is that? If I take two years off, I would want to fight as much as possible. Many things will happen until November. I think he should fight more. He can’t expect to fight for the title whenever he wants, especially since his results don’t guarantee that. He beat a guy who has a full-time job.”

Finally, touching on his first loss to “The Eagle,” dos Anjos noted that he’s a completely different fighter after beating five straight opponents in dominant fashion. Based on those recent results, the champ believes the game has simply evolved too much for his nemesis to beat him in the rematch:

“I was a different fighter back then. I’ve done wrong things with my diet and my personal life, and I wasn’t 100 percent focused in the fight. It would be a completely different fight now. Take a look at my results and his results. It would be completely different. Two years have passed, the game has changed, and he needs better results.”

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GSP Was Reportedly Offered An Interesting Opponent For UFC 200

UFC brass has attempted to replace the blockbuster UFC 200 main event that was to be Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor II with the return of longtime former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. “GSP” was rumored to be offered a bout against undefeated lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov. In a recent interview with Match TV, the Russian admitted

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UFC brass has attempted to replace the blockbuster UFC 200 main event that was to be Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor II with the return of longtime former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

“GSP” was rumored to be offered a bout against undefeated lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov. In a recent interview with Match TV, the Russian admitted to have being offered the main event of the UFC’s blockbuster event in July:

“Yesterday the UFC called me with a proposal to hold the main bout of the evening against Nate Diaz, or against Georges St-Pierre.”

The event, however, is too close to the Russian’s religious holiday of Ramadan, making it difficult to be healthy enough for a five round bout:

“They hope that I will take the fight. But it is four days after the month of Ramadan, and it would be hard physically to fight five rounds. I’ll be back in September and October.”

While there have been rumblings of negotiations for GSP’s return, nothing has been made official just yet. A bout with Diaz could potentially be a huge draw for both men in their respective situations.

A win over Nurmagomedov could thrust Diaz into immediate title contention, while a victory for “The Eagle” over the man who beat Conor McGregor could propel him into the next tier of stardom.

The return of “GSP” or a clash with Nate Diaz vs. Nurmagomedov would be a huge main event, this news can definitely confirm the UFC is desperately scrambling to find a new main event for the supposedly phenomenal upcoming PPV event.

Nurmagomedov seems reluctant to take the bout so close to Ramadan, so it should be interesting to see what the UFC can muster up next in attempt to save the main event of the otherwise stacked card.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov Says UFC Offered Him GSP, Diaz Fights For UFC 200

Well, it looks like the UFC is scrambling to book a new main event for UFC 200, and it appears that they are thinking outside the box.

UFC Lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov recently claimed that UFC officials offered him a fight against Geor…

khabib-nurmagomedov

Well, it looks like the UFC is scrambling to book a new main event for UFC 200, and it appears that they are thinking outside the box.

UFC Lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov recently claimed that UFC officials offered him a fight against Georges St-Pierre or Nate Diaz for the upcoming UFC 200 event in July.

According to “The Eagle,” however, he will not be able to make his Octagon return until September or October.

“Yesterday the UFC called me with a proposal to hold the main bout of the evening against Nate Diaz, or against Georges St-Pierre,” Nurmagomedov told Match TV. “They hope that I will take the fight. But it is four days after the month of Ramadan, and it would be hard physically to fight five rounds. I’ll be back in September and October.”

As things stand now, there is still no new opponent for Diaz at UFC 200, nor has a new main event been announced. Initially, Conor McGregor was to fight Diaz in an immediate rematch at 170 pounds in the main event of UFC 200, however that fight was canceled this week when McGregor refused to take part in his promotional commitments.

UFC 200 is scheduled for Saturday, July 9, 2016 at the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

H/T to BloodyElbow.com for transcribing the above quote.

UFC Rankings Update: Khabib Nurmagomedov Retakes Top Spot At Lightweight

The official UFC rankings have received yet another shakeup in the fallout of this past weekend’s (Sat., April 16, 2016) UFC on FOX 19 from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, and none of those shifts may be more significant than Khabib Nurmagomedov’s reclaiming of the top spot at lightweight following his dominant stoppage win over

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The official UFC rankings have received yet another shakeup in the fallout of this past weekend’s (Sat., April 16, 2016) UFC on FOX 19 from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, and none of those shifts may be more significant than Khabib Nurmagomedov’s reclaiming of the top spot at lightweight following his dominant stoppage win over late replacement Darrell Horcher.

It’s not all that surprising of a shift given that “The Eagle” dominated current champion Rafael dos Anjos in his last fight before missing almost two years due to knee injuries, but new No. 2-ranked will get the next shot at “RDA” this July nonetheless.

In other movement, the women’s bantamweight division saw a lot of movement because of Raquel Pennington’s hard-fought win over Bethe Correia at UFC on FOX 19. “Rocky” went up three spots to No. 9 as a result, which Correia dropped three spots to No. 12. Liz Carmouche moved up to No. 8 as a result, while Valentia Shevchenko and Lauren Murphy moved up one spot each to Nos. 10 and 13, respectively, and Marion Reneau inexplicably shot up three spots to No. 12.

At light heavyweight, Glover Teixeira moved up one spot for his massive first-round knockout of former champion Rashad Evans, overtaking the No. 4 spot from Alexander Gustafsson. Evans held steady at his previous No. 7 ranking. At middleweight, all-time great former champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva regained the No. 5 spot from Lyoto Machida after “The Dragon” admitted to taking a banned substance and was pulled from his scheduled rematch with Dan Henderson.

Lightweight saw another big move up aside from Nurmagomedov, as rising underdog contender Michael Chiesa rose an incredible five spots to No. 9 for his emphatic second-round submission of previous No. 7 contender Beneil Dariush. Dariush fell down to No. 10 as a result. Donald Cerrone also rose one spot to No. 5 at lightweight, trading spots with Nate Diaz, who fell down to No. 6 heading into his rematch with Conor McGregor. Edson Barboza also rose one spot to No. 8 heading into his fight with former champion Anthony Pettis at this Saturday’s UFC 197.

Bantamweight saw some shift thanks to the electrifying debut of former flyweight title contender John Dodson, who knocked out Manny Gamburyan in an impressive 47 seconds to debut at the No. 10 spot. Johnny Eduardo, Jimmie Rivera, and Eddie Wineland all dropped a spot as a result, and Frankie Saenz dropped two. John Lineker held steady at No. 12, yet his previously scheduled opponent Cody Garbrandt fell out of the rankings with Dodson debuting.

At flyweight, every contender below No. 2-ranked Henry Cejudo, who will meet dominant champ Demetrious Johnson in the UFC 197 co-main event, rose up one spot with Dodson now moved up to his old home at 135 pounds.

Check out the full rankings update via the UFC’s official website right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Jon Jones
2 Demetrious Johnson
3 Luke Rockhold
4 Fabricio Werdum
5 Dominick Cruz
6 Rafael Dos Anjos
7 Robbie Lawler
8 Conor McGregor
9 Daniel Cormier
10 Jose Aldo
11 Chris Weidman
12 Frankie Edgar
13 TJ Dillashaw
14 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
15 Miesha Tate

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Jussier Formiga +1
4 Ian McCall +1
5 Kyoji Horiguchi +1
6 John Moraga +1
7 Zach Makovsky +1
8 Wilson Reis +1
9 Dustin Ortiz +1
10 Ali Bagautinov +1
11 Justin Scoggins +1
12 Louis Smolka +1
13 Ray Borg +1
14 Sergio Pettis +1
15 Ben Nguyen *NR

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Dominick Cruz
1 TJ Dillashaw
2 Renan Barao
3 Urijah Faber
4 Raphael Assuncao
5 Aljamain Sterling
6 Michael McDonald
7 Thomas Almeida
8 Bryan Caraway
9 Takeya Mizugaki
10 John Dodson *NR
11 Johnny Eduardo -1
12 John Lineker
13 Frankie Saenz -2
14 Jimmie Rivera -1
15 Eddie Wineland -1

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Chad Mendes
4 Max Holloway
5 Ricardo Lamas
6 Cub Swanson
7 Charles Oliveira
8 Dennis Bermudez
9 Jeremy Stephens
10 Hacran Dias
11 Darren Elkins
12 Brian Ortega
13 Tatsuya Kawajiri
14 Mirsad Bektic +1
15 Clay Guida -1

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Rafael Dos Anjos
1 Khabib Nurmagomedov +1
2 Eddie Alvarez -1
3 Anthony Pettis
4 Tony Ferguson
5 Donald Cerrone +1
6 Nate Diaz -1
7 Michael Johnson
8 Edson Barboza +1
9 Michael Chiesa +5
10 Beneil Dariush -3
11 Dustin Poirier -1
12 Al Iaquinta -1
13 Bobby Green -1
14 Evan Dunham -1
15 Rashid Magomedov

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Robbie Lawler
1 Rory MacDonald
2 Stephen Thompson
3 Tyron Woodley
4 Carlos Condit
5 Johny Hendricks
6 Demian Maia
7 Neil Magny
8 Matt Brown
9 Dong Hyun Kim
10 Tarec Saffiedine
11 Rick Story
12 Kelvin Gastelum
13 Albert Tumenov
14 Hector Lombard
15 Thiago Alves

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Luke Rockhold
1 Chris Weidman
2 Jacare Souza
3 Vitor Belfort
4 Michael Bisping
5 Anderson Silva +1
6 Lyoto Machida -1
7 Robert Whittaker
8 Gegard Mousasi
9 Tim Kennedy
10 Uriah Hall
11 Derek Brunson
12 Thales Leites
13 Rafael Natal
14 Dan Henderson
15 CB Dollaway

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Jon Jones
2 Anthony Johnson
3 Glover Teixeira +1
4 Alexander Gustafsson -1
5 Ryan Bader
6 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Rashad Evans
8 Mauricio Rua
9 Jimi Manuwa
10 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
11 Patrick Cummins
12 Corey Anderson
13 Ilir Latifi
14 Nikita Krylov
15 Gian Villante

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Fabricio Werdum
1 Cain Velasquez
2 Stipe Miocic
3 Alistair Overeem
4 Junior Dos Santos
5 Andrei Arlovski
6 Ben Rothwell
7 Travis Browne
8 Mark Hunt
9 Josh Barnett
10 Roy Nelson
11 Frank Mir
12 Antonio Silva
13 Derrick Lewis
14 Ruslan Magomedov
15 Alexey Oliynyk

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Claudia Gadelha
2 Carla Esparza
3 Rose Namajunas
4 Tecia Torres
5 Valerie Letourneau +1
6 Jessica Penne -1
7 Paige VanZant
8 Maryna Moroz
9 Michelle Waterson
10 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
11 Joanne Calderwood
12 Randa Markos
13 Jessica Aguilar
14 Juliana Lima
15 Justine Kish

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Miesha Tate
1 Holly Holm
2 Ronda Rousey
3 Cat Zingano
4 Amanda Nunes
5 Julianna Pena
6 Sara McMann
7 Jessica Eye
8 Liz Carmouche +1
9 Raquel Pennington +3
10 Valentina Shevchenko +1
11 Bethe Correia -3
12 Marion Reneau +3
13 Lauren Murphy +1
14 Germaine de Randamie -1
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith *NR

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