Tag: Michael McDonald

UFC Bantamweight Michael McDonald Granted Release, Blasts Promotion For Dishonesty

You can now refer to top bantamweight Michael McDonald as a former UFC title contender. Key word, former. The fighter has been granted his release from the promotion, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported Thursday. McDonald, who challenged Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight title at UFC on Fuel TV 7 in 2013, requested his release […]

You can now refer to top bantamweight Michael McDonald as a former UFC title contender. Key word, former. The fighter has been granted his release from the promotion, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported Thursday. McDonald, who challenged Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight title at UFC on Fuel TV 7 in 2013, requested his release […]

UFC Bantamweight Michael McDonald Granted Release, Blasts Promotion For Dishonesty

You can now refer to top bantamweight Michael McDonald as a former UFC title contender. Key word, former. The fighter has been granted his release from the promotion, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported Thursday. McDonald, who challenged Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight title at UFC on Fuel TV 7 in 2013, requested his release […]

You can now refer to top bantamweight Michael McDonald as a former UFC title contender. Key word, former. The fighter has been granted his release from the promotion, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported Thursday. McDonald, who challenged Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight title at UFC on Fuel TV 7 in 2013, requested his release […]

Former UFC Title Challenger Michael McDonald “Can’t Afford To Train”

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Michael McDonald’s mixed martial arts (MMA) career is currently on hold. The 26-year-old, No. 8-ranked 135-pounder revealed to ESPN this week that he will be working a different job to help pay his bills and save enough money for a training camp: “I’m trying to make enough money right now

The post Former UFC Title Challenger Michael McDonald “Can’t Afford To Train” appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Michael McDonald’s mixed martial arts (MMA) career is currently on hold.

The 26-year-old, No. 8-ranked 135-pounder revealed to ESPN this week that he will be working a different job to help pay his bills and save enough money for a training camp:

“I’m trying to make enough money right now to pay my bills and still have a little savings for a camp,” McDonald said. “And it’s tough because I don’t know if camp will be perfect and I don’t know if I’ll pay for one, only to have my opponent back out. It’s always iffy.

“My goal is to fight, but I also have to keep my possessions,” McDonald said. “I’ve borrowed money before and racked up $15,000 in debt in order to train like a professional athlete. And I’ve went through injuries and lost everything, twice. I’ve lost my home and moved back in with my parents.”

In his last bout inside the Octagon, a first-round knockout loss to John Lineker at UFC Fight Night 91 this past July, McDonald took home a total of $53,000 for his $20,000 base pay, a $25,000 show-headliner bonus, and $5,000 in Reebok payouts. After bills and training expenses, however, that dried up rather quickly:

“The worst part is you never really know if you have enough. You just get this chunk of money and you’re saying, ‘I hope this [is] enough.’ Let’s say I have $20,000 in the bank. I think I’m good, start working my butt off, get injured and need surgery. By the time I get healthy, now I’ve got $5,000. What happens if I get injured again? I’ve had three hand surgeries and taken two years off before. You go into a lot of debt doing that.”

This isn’t the first time McDonald has experienced financial issues due to his career choice, but in the past, he feared to speak up on the issue due to what might come from it – until now:

“When people open their mouths and talk about how they’re not paid enough, it seems like they disappear. I’m to a point now where I have nothing to lose. The UFC isn’t paying my bills as it is.”

McDonald joins a class of fighters who are struggling to make ends meet financially, which includes former UFC women’s strawweight champ Carla Esparza who was forced to try to sell her Harley Davidson motorcycle (which she was given for winning The Ultimate Fighter) to help pay the bills.

The post Former UFC Title Challenger Michael McDonald “Can’t Afford To Train” appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Michael McDonald Confirms Why he Cannot Afford to Fight in The UFC

UFC bantamweight Michael McDonald confirms that he cannot afford to continue his UFC career. McDonald’s last stint in the octagon was the loss to John Lineker in July. In a recent story reported by ESPN, Mayday confirmed that he wants to fight, but cannot fund his training camp. McDonald, an ex title challenger, has been in debt due […]

UFC bantamweight Michael McDonald confirms that he cannot afford to continue his UFC career. McDonald’s last stint in the octagon was the loss to John Lineker in July. In a recent story reported by ESPN, Mayday confirmed that he wants to fight, but cannot fund his training camp. McDonald, an ex title challenger, has been in debt due […]

UFC Rankings Update: Cormier Passes McGregor On Pound-For-Pound List

In the aftermath of last Wednesday’s (July 13, 2016) electric UFC Fight Night 91 from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the official UFC rankings have been updated thanks to a few key bouts. First, however, came a slight change on the vaunted pound-for-pound list, as light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier

The post UFC Rankings Update: Cormier Passes McGregor On Pound-For-Pound List appeared first on LowKick MMA.

In the aftermath of last Wednesday’s (July 13, 2016) electric UFC Fight Night 91 from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the official UFC rankings have been updated thanks to a few key bouts.

First, however, came a slight change on the vaunted pound-for-pound list, as light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier overtook featherweight champion at the No. 5 spot despite a lackluster win over Anderson Silva at UFC 200, pushing ‘The Notorious’ down to No. 6 heading into his awaited rematch with Nate Diaz at August 20’s UFC 202 from Las Vegas.

The other big move came in the form of streaking bantamweight John Lineker’s debut on the 235-pound top five following his scintillating knockout of Michael McDonald in the UFC Fight Night 91 main event. ‘Hands of Stone’ came in at No. 5 and forced ‘Mayday’ down to No. 7.

Rising flyweight prospect Louis Smolka also found himself in the top 10 for the first time after he battered and bloodied Ben Nguyen in a first-round finish in South Dakota.

The only other significant movement came at women’s bantamweight, where Ashlee Evans-Smith rose two spots to No. 13 without fighting and Katlyn Chookagian debuted on the 135-pound rankings at No. 15 following her debut win over Lauren Murphy in Sioux Falls.

Check out the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Jon Jones
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Daniel Cormier
6 Conor McGregor
7 Jose Aldo
8 Eddie Alvarez
9 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
10 Stipe Miocic
11 Michael Bisping
12 Luke Rockhold
13 Rafael Dos Anjos
14 Frankie Edgar
15 TJ Dillashaw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post UFC Rankings Update: Cormier Passes McGregor On Pound-For-Pound List appeared first on LowKick MMA.

UFC Rankings Update: Cormier Passes McGregor On Pound-For-Pound List

In the aftermath of last Wednesday’s (July 13, 2016) electric UFC Fight Night 91 from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the official UFC rankings have been updated thanks to a few key bouts. First, however, came a slight change on the vaunted pound-for-pound list, as light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier

The post UFC Rankings Update: Cormier Passes McGregor On Pound-For-Pound List appeared first on LowKick MMA.

In the aftermath of last Wednesday’s (July 13, 2016) electric UFC Fight Night 91 from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the official UFC rankings have been updated thanks to a few key bouts.

First, however, came a slight change on the vaunted pound-for-pound list, as light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier overtook featherweight champion at the No. 5 spot despite a lackluster win over Anderson Silva at UFC 200, pushing ‘The Notorious’ down to No. 6 heading into his awaited rematch with Nate Diaz at August 20’s UFC 202 from Las Vegas.

The other big move came in the form of streaking bantamweight John Lineker’s debut on the 235-pound top five following his scintillating knockout of Michael McDonald in the UFC Fight Night 91 main event. ‘Hands of Stone’ came in at No. 5 and forced ‘Mayday’ down to No. 7.

Rising flyweight prospect Louis Smolka also found himself in the top 10 for the first time after he battered and bloodied Ben Nguyen in a first-round finish in South Dakota.

The only other significant movement came at women’s bantamweight, where Ashlee Evans-Smith rose two spots to No. 13 without fighting and Katlyn Chookagian debuted on the 135-pound rankings at No. 15 following her debut win over Lauren Murphy in Sioux Falls.

Check out the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Jon Jones
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Daniel Cormier
6 Conor McGregor
7 Jose Aldo
8 Eddie Alvarez
9 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
10 Stipe Miocic
11 Michael Bisping
12 Luke Rockhold
13 Rafael Dos Anjos
14 Frankie Edgar
15 TJ Dillashaw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post UFC Rankings Update: Cormier Passes McGregor On Pound-For-Pound List appeared first on LowKick MMA.