David Branch Promises He’ll ‘Shut Luke Rockhold’s S**t Down’

This Saturday, Luke Rockhold will be fighting for the first time since losing his middleweight belt by knockout to Michael Bisping at UFC 199. Standing in his way of redemption is former WSOF middleweight and light heavyweight champion David Branch, who has thus far made good use of his second UFC run. Branch revealed his […]

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This Saturday, Luke Rockhold will be fighting for the first time since losing his middleweight belt by knockout to Michael Bisping at UFC 199.

Standing in his way of redemption is former WSOF middleweight and light heavyweight champion David Branch, who has thus far made good use of his second UFC run.

Branch revealed his thoughts on Rockhold and his performance against Bisping leading into their upcoming main event fight in Pittsburgh this Saturday during an appearance on The MMA Hour:

“He’s going to try and come out to establish his dominance. He’s going to try and run his alpha male shit on me and I’m going to shut that shit down, obviously,”

“I think that in that fight against Bisping the motherfucker slipped up. You can’t go out there and take anybody lightly,” said David. “That’s the thing with me, I come from a different background than Luke, and I don’t have that kind of indoctrination that he does. I come from the fucking streets and I don’t take anybody lightly.”

Rockhold infamously was on the receiving end of a stone-cold knockout from Michael Bisping in a rematch of a fight he had dominated and won. Many fight fans and pundits alike are under the impression that Rockhold didn’t take “The Count” seriously, and fought with a carelessness he had yet to display in the octagon thus far.

As for his opponent, Branch was complimentary of Rockhold’s skills, but stopped short of withholding his violent intentions:

“He’s a tough opponent. I respect him enough to have trained for him the way I trained for him. And that’s the most respect that this motherfucker is going to get from me,” he explained.

“He’s not getting anymore respect. I already gave him enough respect by training the way I have. When I go in there, I am going to be very disrespectful to him.”

Do you think Rockhold will emerge victorious in his comeback fight, or will Branch spoil that party?

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Mickey Gall Finally Booked For UFC Return

After beating two of the UFC’s more famous names (though not necessarily the best fighters) in 2016, undefeated welterweight prospect Mickey Gall has been out of action for the entirety of this year. That will all change at the upcoming UFC 217, however. Word broke from Newsday (via MMA Fighting) today that Gall will face […]

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After beating two of the UFC’s more famous names (though not necessarily the best fighters) in 2016, undefeated welterweight prospect Mickey Gall has been out of action for the entirety of this year.

That will all change at the upcoming UFC 217, however.

Word broke from Newsday (via MMA Fighting) today that Gall will face Randy Brown at the anticipated pay-per-view (PPV) event this November 4 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.

The bout will join a quickly forming card which features three title fights when Michael Bisping faces a returning Georges St-Pierre for the middleweight championship, Cody Garbrandt finally defends his bantamweight title against TJ Dillashaw, and strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk battles Rose Namajunas.

Gall has performed well in his short UFC tenure thus far, submitting Mike Jackson, Punk, and Northcutt via rear-naked choke in all three of his octagon bouts. He sits at a promising-but-still-unproven 4-0 in his professional mixed martial arts career after finding the opportunity to compete in the UFC on Dana White’s “Looking For A Fight” online series.

Brown was also found on the show and currently sits at 3-2 in the UFC. He was most recently handed a decision defeat by Belal Muhammad.

Not that it needed it, but UFC 217 has added yet another potentially exciting bout to possibly the most jam-packed lineup of 2017 – at a time when they need just that more than ever. Check out the full updated card right here:

Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre
Cody Garbrandt vs. T.J. Dillashaw
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Rose Namajunas
Aiemann Zahabi vs. Ricardo Ramos
Johny Hendricks vs. Paulo Borrachinha
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Curtis Blaydes
Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Ion Cutelaba
Corey Anderson vs. Patrick Cummins
Stephen Thompson vs. Jorge Masvidal

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UFC Fight Night 116 Countdown: Full Episode

UFC Fight Night 116 takes place on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This event will be the third that the UFC has hosted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A middleweight bout between former Strikeforce and UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold and former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch will […]

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UFC Fight Night 116 takes place on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This event will be the third that the UFC has hosted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

A middleweight bout between former Strikeforce and UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold and former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch will headline this event.  Thiago Alves vs. Mike Perry in a welterweight bout will co-headline this show. Rounding out the six bout main card is Hector Lombard vs. Anthony Smith in a middleweight bout, Gregor Gillespie vs. Jason Gonzalez in a lightweight bout, Sergio Moraes vs. Kamaru Usman in a welterweight bout, and Justin Ledet vs. Dmitriy Sosnovskiy in a heavyweight bout.

The UFC has released the full episode of UFC Fight Night 116 Countdown to their YouTube channel to not only get the fans excited for this upcoming event but to give insight into the background of the current stories revolving around the fighters. You can watch the full episode here:

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Luke Rockhold: Michael Bisping Has Avoided Every Fight

Luke Rockhold isn’t likely to make peace with Michael Bisping anytime soon. Rockhold will do battle with David Branch this Saturday night (Sept. 16), but he can’t avoid questions about Bisping. Back in June 2016, Rockhold lost his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title to “The Count” via first-round knockout. Since then, Rockhold has blasted […]

Luke Rockhold isn’t likely to make peace with Michael Bisping anytime soon. Rockhold will do battle with David Branch this Saturday night (Sept. 16), but he can’t avoid questions about Bisping. Back in June 2016, Rockhold lost his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title to “The Count” via first-round knockout. Since then, Rockhold has blasted […]

Kevin Lee Enlists MMA Legend To Help Prepare For Tony Ferguson

The MMA world may be (sort of) fixated on tonight’s (Sat., September 9, 2017) UFC 215 from Edmonton, Alberta, but surging lightweight Kevin Lee is understandably focused on his interim lightweight title bout with Tony Ferguson at October 7’s UFC 216. “The Motown Phenom” parlayed a controversial submission win over Michael Chiesa into his interim […]

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The MMA world may be (sort of) fixated on tonight’s (Sat., September 9, 2017) UFC 215 from Edmonton, Alberta, but surging lightweight Kevin Lee is understandably focused on his interim lightweight title bout with Tony Ferguson at October 7’s UFC 216.

“The Motown Phenom” parlayed a controversial submission win over Michael Chiesa into his interim title shot, and he knows he’s going to need some outside help to help him snap “El Cucuy’s” nine-fight win streak, so he’s done just that.

On an impressive five-fight run of his own, Lee recently revealed that he’s trying to keep that streak alive by enlisting longtime former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who takes on Michael Bisping for the middleweight title at November 4’s UFC 217, on Instagram (via Bloody Elbow).

In doing so, he also set an incredibly high bar for UFC 216 when he called himself a “legend” whom was about to become the “person people look up to. Check it out:

While “The Motown Phenom” may definitely be one of the deep lightweight division’s best talents, putting himself up on a pedestal with St-Pierre, who is regarded as the best welterweight in MMA history and one of the best fighters overall period, may seem a bit premature, even for Lee’s normally over-the-top and brash trash talk.

The gold belt he’ll face Ferguson for is unfortunately one that most fans will deem to be “fake” in a time where interim belts are thrown around like gifts on Oprah, and this one could be even worse considering the winner most likely won’t even get to face UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor for the real title in their next bout.

By comparison, St-Pierre is facing Bisping for the ‘real’ middleweight belt, and he’ll potentially become the fourth two-division champion in UFC history if wins. While many MMA fans have cooled regarding the all-time legends return, it’s extremely difficult to envision Lee becoming the”one they all look up to” with an interim title win – especially if St-Pierre can win the second belt Lee referred to in his post.

What do you think?

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Free Fight: Luke Rockhold Finishes Former Champion Lyoto Machida

Luke Rockhold served notice in the UFC’s middleweight division back in 2015 when he submitted Lyoto Machida. Rockhold would go on to face Chris Weidman for the title, winning it with a fourth round TKO victory in 2015. Later this month, Rockhold – also an ex-Strikeforce champion – returns to action at UFC Fight Night […]

Luke Rockhold served notice in the UFC’s middleweight division back in 2015 when he submitted Lyoto Machida. Rockhold would go on to face Chris Weidman for the title, winning it with a fourth round TKO victory in 2015. Later this month, Rockhold – also an ex-Strikeforce champion – returns to action at UFC Fight Night […]