Ahead of this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 96 event, UFC has released another complete “Free Fight” featuring one of the headliners scheduled for this weekend’s show.
Featured above is the complete John Dodson vs. Manny…
https://youtu.be/fuKc0dN3snU
Ahead of this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 96 event, UFC has released another complete “Free Fight” featuring one of the headliners scheduled for this weekend’s show.
Featured above is the complete John Dodson vs. Manny Gamburyan fight from the UFC On FOX 19 event, which saw Dodson pick up the victory in impressive fashion.
Dodson fights fellow heavy-hitter John Lineker in the main event of this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 96 show, which will air live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1).
UFC Fight Night 96: Dodson vs. Lineker takes place this October 1, 2016 from Portland, Oregon.
Manny Gamburyan, who has made 13 appearances inside the Octagon, has been forced out of a planned UFC Fight Night 94 encounter with Alejandro Perez.
Perez will remain on the September 17 …
Manny Gamburyan, who has made 13 appearances inside the Octagon, has been forced out of a planned UFC Fight Night 94 encounter with Alejandro Perez.
Perez will remain on the September 17 card from Hidalgo, Texas, as he welcomes Albert Morales to the UFC. The card, which takes place inside the State Farm Arena, airs on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass, and marks the first time the promotion has stopped in Hidalgo.
Morales (6-0) is a 25-year-old from California who has competed in Bellator, the World Series of Fighting and Resurrection Fighting Alliance. Two of his six career wins came with Bellator, while five of his six have been stoppage triumphs.
Perez (17-6) sports a 3-1 UFC mark, which includes a 2014 win over Jose Quinonez, which was in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America. The 26-year-old from Mexico rebounded from a loss to Patrick Williams by besting Scott Jorgensen and Ian Entwistle in his last two matches.
UFC Fight Night 94 features Michael Johnson vs. Dustin Poirier, Derek Brunson vs. Uriah Hall and Evan Dunham vs. Abel Trujillo.
UFC on FOX 19 has concluded and the card greatly exceeded expectations. Seven of the eleven scheduled bouts where finished while the remaining four produced spectacular decision wins. While the fantastic card did provided MMA fans with entertaining fights, we also learned a few things about the near future of some of the fighters from the event.
UFC on FOX 19 has concluded and the card greatly exceeded expectations. Seven of the eleven scheduled bouts where finished while the remaining four produced spectacular decision wins.
While the fantastic card did provided MMA fans with entertaining fights, we also learned a few things about the near future of some of the fighters from the event. Here are 5 things we learned from UFC on FOX 19.
At UFC 178, Demetrious Johnson will attempt to extend his reign as 125-pound champion against Chris Cariaso. However, the main event may not even be one of the more intriguing matchups on the card.
While Cariaso is widely being dismissed as a legitimat…
At UFC 178, Demetrious Johnson will attempt to extend his reign as 125-pound champion against Chris Cariaso. However, the main event may not even be one of the more intriguing matchups on the card.
While Cariaso is widely being dismissed as a legitimate threat to Johnson’s belt, some other bouts on the UFC 178 docket should be highly competitive on Saturday. Former BellatorMMA champion Eddie Alvarez will make his UFC debut against Donald Cerrone, ConorMcGregor will be tested by top five featherweight Dustin Poirier and Tim Kennedy will meet Yoel Romero in a bout that could carry middleweight title shot implications.
Furthermore, Dominick Cruz will return and attempt to take a step toward reclaiming his bantamweight championship against TakeyaMizugaki. Also, Cat Zingano will look to earn a title shot by beating Amanda Nunes in her much-anticipated return.
Most of the fighters mentioned above have never been in better position. However, the following UFC 178 competitors are sitting on hot seats heading into the weekend.
Dominick Cruz
Three years ago, Cruz was well on his way toward becoming the greatest bantamweight in MMA history. He may still be, but the former UFC champion hasn’t fought since his successful title defense against Mighty Mouse at UFC Live on Versus 6.
Repeated injuries forced the UFC to strip Cruz of the 135-pound championship. Though, still only 29 years old, Cruz is now back to reclaim his spot atop the bantamweight division.
Before Cruz actually gets a shot at his old belt, he’ll have to prove he’s back to his old form against Mizugaki. With wins in five consecutive fights, Mizugaki is a worthy adversary. If Cruz can win convincingly, it will show that he’s still among the best in the world.
What if Cruz loses and looks nothing like he used to, though?
This whole comeback is built around one question: Is Cruz still the best bantamweight in MMA?
Should it be immediately revealed to him that he isn’t, how will Cruz respond? There’s an outside chance he decides it isn’t worth risking further disappointment and injury to compete at something he can’t excel in any longer.
Brian Ebersole
It’s nothing compared to Cruz’s absence, but Brian Ebersole will return from a 10-month hiatus on Saturday.
After starting his UFC career with four straight wins, Ebersole was looking like a potential contender in the welterweight division. Now, Ebersole has lost two in a row and is without a win in the past 26 months.
Facing a tough opponent in John Howard, who has gone 2-1 since returning to the UFC roster, Ebersole isn’t going to have it easy this weekend. However, he could be fighting for his UFC job anyway.
Should Ebersole suffer a third consecutive loss this weekend and fail to put on a show, he could go the way of most who lose three in a row inside the Octagon.
Technically, Manny Gamburyan has not lost consecutive fights, but he did have a loss to Dennis Siver overturned due to his opponent failing a drug test, so it’s been a while since The Anvil has had his hand raised in victory.
Gamburyan‘s most recent win came 13 months ago, when he defeated Cole Miller on the scorecards.
Having really only lost once in his past three fights, Gamburyan will probably be safe no matter the result of his bout with Cody Gibson. However, should Gamburyan miss weight, which is a real possibility given the fact that he’ll be making his 135-pound debut, and also lose to an unproven featherweight like Gibson, there’s a chance the UFC brass will want to part ways with the former WEC title challenger.
(Dennis Siver celebrates healthy testicles. / Photo via Getty)
Dennis Siver has failed his UFC 168 drug test. The Russian-German fighter tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). For those not in the know, the drug is typically used post-steroid cycle. Its purpose is to restore the size of the testicles and kickstart testosterone production.
(Dennis Siver celebrates healthy testicles. / Photo via Getty)
Dennis Siver has failed his UFC 168 drug test. The Russian-German fighter tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). For those not in the know, the drug is typically used post-steroid cycle. Its purpose is to restore the size of the testicles and kickstart testosterone production.
A suspension and fine are almost definitely on their way for Siver, whose UFC 168 win over Manny Gamburyan will probably become a no contest as well.
This is an unfortunate development for the UFC, as Siver is one of their top European fighters and the company’s international efforts are more important than ever before. The tarnishing of Siver’s reputation and losing him for any length of time will be a detriment.
In a rare move, Cole Miller has decided to dispute his decision loss to Manvel Gamburyan at UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston Saturday night.
Miller is not contesting the judges’ decision, though one might believe he ought be inclined to do so. Instead, Mil…
In a rare move, Cole Miller has decided to dispute his decision loss to Manvel Gamburyan at UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston Saturday night.
Miller is not contesting the judges’ decision, though one might believe he ought be inclined to do so. Instead, Miller is contesting that the extended break for Gamburyan between Rounds 1 and 2 renders the remainder of their featherweight bout moot.
Near the end of Round 1, Miller struck Gamburyan twice in the head with legal elbows. Gamburyan was visibly shaken and refused to stand or return to his corner. In a display of apparent incompetence, referee Yves Lavigne allowed Gamburyan an additional 70 seconds following the elapse of the one-minute mandatory corner break between rounds.
Mike Chiappetta and FoxSports.com report that Miller and his team found the extra time awarded to his foe an unfair and illegal advantage:
“It was just real odd,” Miller told Fox Sports. “The referee didn’t give any indication the fight was over, he also didn’t signal it was a foul. I looked at Manny and then the ref to see what was going on. I had my hand on Manny in a sportsmanlike way to sort of encourage the process and get things moving.
“A referee doesn’t have to say if a strike is legal, a referee has to say if a strike was illegal,” he continued. “No indication was made, but after the fight, the strike was deemed legal. The referee said it was a legal strike. To me, I’ve seen the footage and they all seem to indicate a legal strike.”
Miller does have a reasonable case. Since the strikes were indeed deemed legal, the referee should have demanded Gamburyan either answer the start of the second round or forfeit the match. Given Gamuryan was not ready within the mandated 60 seconds, the proper outcome would be a TKO victory for Miller.
Miller’s team has since indicated it plans to put forth a motion for appeal for the September 12 meeting of the Massachusetts state athletic commission. However, Miller has his doubts the case will bring any positive outcome.
“You see these types of things happen often, and very rarely does it go to the fighter making the dispute,” he said.
“I just know that fighters can’t get two minutes between rounds because they can’t answer the bell when their head hurts due to a legal strike. That’s not the way the rules work. I can only hope that they see it my way.”
At UFC 178, 