Tag: mighty mouse

Demetrious Johnson Reveals Severity Of UFC 227 Injuries

Demetrious Johnson detailed just how serious his UFC 227 injuries are.

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Demetrious Johnson revealed the severity of the significant injuries he suffered at August 4’s UFC 227.

The record-setting Johnson defended his flyweight title 11 consecutive times. He lost a narrow split decision to Cejudo at the pay-per-view card from Los Angeles, therefore ending the historic run.

Johnson claimed he suffered some serious injuries in his narrow loss to “The Messenger.” He would not, however, blame for the loss in a great fight. Meanwhile, it turns out his injuries are indeed quite serious.

Johnson revealed on today’s episode of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” that he has a partial LCL tear in his knee. He is also dealing with a potentially serious issue with his calf:

“There’s no broken bones but there’s still a little swelling. I got the MRI results. I have a high-grade partial tear in my LCL. Right now, I’m suffering from pain in my lower calf area … I can’t even sleep at night. I’m waking up, just sweating in bed. I saw the UFC Performance Institute doctor, the physio therapist, and I have a possible tear in my Achilles into my calf, (but) that’s not for certain. I need to see how high the grade is for the tears.”

The injuries sound ominous, but due to the grade of the tear, Johnson is optimistic. He said he believes he will not require surgery:

“I don’t think I should (need surgery) but it all depends on the severity of the tear. Because when I get MRIs it says hybrid partial tear on the LCL. So is that grade 1, grade 2 or grade 3? Typically grade 3, you need surgery, grade 2 is six weeks off and rehab. It’s feeling like a grade 2 because I’ve had a tear in my left LCL before. In the fight, when it happened, I felt the pop go and the first thing that went through my head was, ‘Oh that’s fantastic, there goes the right LCL.’”

The longtime former champ will be on the sidelines for some time to heal. In the meantime, Cejudo is campaigning for a super fight with bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw.

When Johnson is able to return, it will be beyond difficult to deny him a rematch because of his illustrious track record.

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UFC 227 Medical Suspensions: Cody Garbrandt Facing Max Term

The UFC 227 medical suspensions are in.

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The UFC 227 medical suspensions are in, and former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is facing a lengthy term.

“No Love” took on archrival TJ Dillashaw in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., August 4, 2018) pay-per-view (PPV) from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. There, he lost by knockout for a second straight bout with “The Viper,” meanwhile ending his heated rivalry with his former friend.

While that seems like enough punishment, Garbrandt will face more agony due to the UFC 227 medical suspensions. Garbrandt will face a potential six-month suspension for a broken right hand. He can avoid the maximum term if cleared by a physician. The one-time champ is also facing 45 days for the knockout loss.

Dillashaw was only given a seven-day mandatory suspension in a win. Meanwhile, co-main fighters Henry Cejudo and Demetrious Johnson also received only seven days.

The full list of UFC 227 medical suspensions is as follows via MMAjunkie:

T.J. Dillashaw: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Cody Garbrandt: suspended 180 days with 180 days no contact, or until cleared by physician, for possible fracture to right hand; suspended at minimum 45 days with 30 days no contact for KO.

Henry Cejudo: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Demetrious Johnson: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Renato Moicano: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Cub Swanson: mandatory seven-day suspension.

J.J. Aldrich: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Polyana Viana: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Thiago Santos: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Kevin Holland: suspended 60 days with 60 days no contact, or until cleared by physician, for laceration to left eyelid; also given mandatory seven-day suspension.

Pedro Munhoz: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Brett Johns: suspended indefinitely or until cleared for facial injury, possible orbital fracture; also given mandatory seven-day suspension.

Ricky Simon: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Montel Jackson: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Ricardo Ramos: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Kyung Ho Kang: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Matt Sayles: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Sheymon Moraes: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Alex Perez: suspended 60 days with 60 days no contact, or until cleared by physician, for laceration to left eyebrow; also given mandatory seven-day suspension.

Jose Torres: suspended 45 days with 30 days no contact for KO; also given mandatory seven-day suspension; also given mandatory seven-day suspension.

Weili Zhang: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Danielle Taylor: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Marlon Vera: mandatory seven-day suspension.

Wuliji Buren: suspended 60 days with 60 days no contact, or until cleared by physician, for laceration to top of scalp; suspended at minimum 45 days with 30 days no contact for KO, and also given mandatory seven-day suspension.

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UFC Rankings Update: TJ Dillashaw Soars On P4P List

TJ Dillashaw is up in rarified air after UFC 227.

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The latest UFC rankings update is out, and bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw has taken one of the top spots in MMA.

“The Viper” soared to No. 3 on the pound-for-pound list following his second straight knockout win over Cody Garbrandt in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., August 4, 2018) UFC 227 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Receiving his due as one of the top fighters in MMA, Dillashaw rose three spots on the latest UFC rankings update.

Also of note is Henry Cejudo’s debut on the pound-for-pound list following his close win over dominant former champ Demetrious Johnson. “The Messenger” debut at No. 12 on MMA’s most hallowed list. “Mighty Mouse” fell to No. 6 for the loss.

Rising featherweight Renato Moicano also made a splash on the rankings. The Brazilian rose up to No. 5 by defeating previous No. 5 Cub Swanson via submission.

Check out the full UFC rankings update via UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Conor McGregor +1
3 TJ Dillashaw +3
4 Max Holloway -1
5 Georges St-Pierre
6 Demetrious Johnson -4
7 Tyron Woodley
8 Khabib Nurmagomedov
9 Stipe Miocic
10 Robert Whittaker
11 Cris Cyborg
12 Henry Cejudo *NR
13 Tony Ferguson -1
14 Amanda Nunes -1
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Henry Cejudo
1 Demetrious Johnson -1
2 Sergio Pettis
3 Joseph Benavidez
4 Ray Borg
5 Jussier Formiga
6 John Moraga
7 Wilson Reis
8 Alexandre Pantoja
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 Brandon Moreno
11 Ben Nguyen
12 Matheus Nicolau
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Ulka Sasaki

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Marlon Moraes
5 Jimmie Rivera
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Pedro Munhoz
10 Cody Stamann
11 Rob Font
12 Alejandro Perez
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Douglas Silva de Andrade +1
15 Brett Johns -1

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Renato Moicano +6
5 Chad Mendes +1
6 Jeremy Stephens -2
7 Cub Swanson -2
8 Josh Emmett -1
9 Mirsad Bektic -1
10 Chan Sung Jung -1
11 Alexander Volkanovski
12 Ricardo Lamas
13 Darren Elkins
14 Yair Rodriguez
15 Zabit Magomedsharipov

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Conor McGregor
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Dustin Poirier
4 Eddie Alvarez
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Al Iaquinta
10 James Vick
11 Nate Diaz -1
12 Michael Chiesa
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Dan Hooker
15 Francisco Trinaldo

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington (Interim Champion)
2 Darren Till
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Stephen Thompson
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Kamaru Usman
7 Demian Maia
8 Neil Magny
9 Jorge Masvidal
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Leon Edwards
12 Donald Cerrone
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Alex Oliveira
15 Dong Hyun Kim

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Derek Brunson
7 David Branch
8 Paulo Costa
9 Israel Adesanya
10 Brad Tavares
11 Antonio Carlos Junior
12 Thiago Santos +1
13 Uriah Hall -1
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Krzysztof Jotko

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Ilir Latifi
4 Jan Blachowicz
5 Jimi Manuwa
6 Corey Anderson
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Glover Teixeira
9 Anthony Smith
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Mauricio Rua
12 Dominick Reyes
13 Patrick Cummins
14 Tyson Pedro
15 Sam Alvey

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Derrick Lewis
3 Curtis Blaydes
4 Francis Ngannou
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Junior Dos Santos
8 Mark Hunt
9 Marcin Tybura
10 Tai Tuivasa
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Stefan Struve
14 Shamil Abdurakhimov
15 Justin Willis

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez
10 Nina Ansaroff
11 Cortney Casey
12 Alexa Grasso
13 Randa Markos
14 Angela Hill
15 Joanne Calderwood

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Katlyn Chookagian
4 Roxanne Modafferi
5 Alexis Davis +1
5 Liz Carmouche
7 Lauren Murphy
8 Jessica Eye
9 Barb Honchak
10 Jessica-Rose Clark
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Andrea Lee
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Montana De La Rosa
15 Paige VanZant

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Lina Lansberg
12 Irene Aldana
13 Lucie Pudilova
14 Sarah Moras
15 Gina Mazany

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Henry Cejudo Promises To Knock TJ Dillashaw Out

Henry Cejudo claims he’s going to knock TJ Dillashaw out.

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Newly-crowned UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo made history when he ended Demetrious Johnson’s record-setting streak of title defenses in the co-main event of last Saturday night’s (August 4, 2018) UFC 227 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

But only two days after the shocking changing of the guard, “The Messenger” already has his sights on making history of a different kind.

Cejudo took the opportunity in the moments after his victory over “Mighty Mouse” to call out the winner of UFC 227’s main event between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt (which Dillashaw eventually won by first-round TKO), and he’s sticking to that bold path to improve his scope of attention.

Speaking about his fighting future on today’s edition of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” Cejudo went so far as to even predict he would knock out decorated 135-pound champion Dillashaw before saying it was simply time to get the fight signed:

“I want the challenge, I’ll go up. I will knock TJ Dillashaw out,” Cejudo said. “We can do it at 125 pounds, but I prefer it at 135 pounds because I want his belt. I know I’ll knock him out, that’s all there is to it.

“At 135, I feel really good for that weight class. I’ll fill in naturally to 135 pounds. My whole thing is making history. I would love to fight TJ. I hope he accepts my offer to fight at 125 or 135 pounds. Enough talk, let’s get to signing.”

Dana White did admit he liked when fighters were willing to step outside of their division and fight anyone at any time after Cejudo’s big win at UFC 227. Yet conventional wisdom still states that “Mighty Mouse,” who defended his flyweight title a record 11 times, is more deserving of an immediate rematch than any other former champion in UFC history, especially considering many have received that with a far, far less impressive record.

Cejudo believes Johnson definitely deserves an immediate rematch based on that logic, but based on where he believes the flyweight division is headed, perhaps “Mighty Mouse” should be out of the picture for the time being:

“I would agree when it comes to the statistics, but at the same time, I know what the UFC is trying to create,” Cejudo said. “It’s good for our weight class to start new storylines. I think just for the sake of our weight class, I think it would be good to see somebody else for now instead of Demetrious Johnson.”

Whether the division wants to see “Mighty Mouse” right now or not will depend on how significant his injuries from UFC 227 are, and at first glance they appear at least somewhat serious. That in and of itself could open a path for Cejudo to get the champion vs. champion superfight he wants against Dillashaw.

Is it the right call to make for both of the lower weight divisions?

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Six Biggest Takeaways From UFC 227

History was made at UFC 227. Check out our biggest takeaways here.

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The UFC put on a second consecutive barnburner of an event in as many weeks with last night’s (Sat., August 4, 2018) highly entertaining UFC 227 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Just like last week’s UFC on FOX 30 from Calgary, Alberta, UFC 227’s top two bouts delivered some huge drama in the co-main event and a huge TKO in the headliner.

The main storyline of UFC 227 was, of course, the shocking ending of longtime UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson’s historic run when he lost a close decision to Henry Cejudo, a result that is still being debated over now. Not to be outdone, bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw scored a second straight TKO over Team Alpha Male rival Cody Garbrandt, ranking him up amongst the best bantamweight fighters of all-time.

So while UFC 227 may not bring in monstrous pay-per-view sales just like UFC on FOX 30 brought record-low ratings, it was an amazing event thanks to the top two title fights and a host of other performances elsewhere up and down the card. Check out our six biggest takeaways from the event here:

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Demetrious Johnson Deserves An Immediate Rematch

After Cejudo outlasted “Mighty Mouse” via close split decision, he took advantage of the moment and called out the winner of the Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt main event to come, citing that he would do what Johnson never wanted to and move up in weight for a champ vs. champ super fight.

There’s no denying the timing and excitement of such a callout in the current era of entertainment-focused super fights in MMA, and it’s refreshing to see more rising stars like “The Messenger” call out their shots. However, with immediate championship rematches having been handed out for far less than Johnson’s 11-fight string of title defenses, there’s simply not another fighter who has ever deserved one more than “Mighty Mouse.”

And it’s not like Cejudo dominated Johnson and stopped the fight – he won a split decision that many feel should have gone to the former champion.

Johnson has some serious injuries to heal up from that may postpone the fight, yet Dillashaw didn’t seem to think that Cejudo was really deserving of a 135-pound title shot.

He’s right. Cejudo should rematch “Mighty Mouse” when the all-time great former champ is ready to return.

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Dana White Reacts To Henry Cejudo Dethroning Demetrious Johnson

Find out how Dana White reacted to Henry Cejudo’s shocking win over Demetrious Johnson.

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Demetrious Johnson’s record-breaking run of title defenses came to a screeching halt when he lost a close split decision to Henry Cejudo at last night’s (Sat., August 4, 2018) UFC 227 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

The fight may just have been the best flyweight title fight in the history of the UFC (watch highlights here), with each elite competitor having their moments. Cejudo was more successful with his Olympic gold medal-winning wrestling and top control, and Johnson landed a steady stream of kicks. It came down to the judges’ scorecards, and “The Messenger” won the fifth and final frame on all three judges’ cards to score the huge upset.

After the jaw-dropping win, UFC President Dana White addressed the title bout and the score at the post-fight press conference, giving respect to both fighters for their amazing effort:

“Yeah. It’s incredible what he’s done. And tonight’s fight was close. I don’t know how you guys scored it but I had it 2-2 going into that last round, but who gives a **** what I think, but that’s how I had it. Very close fight. First of all, what a technical battle that fight was. Both guys are so incredibly talented. And, um, how much better Henry Cejudo is now from the first time he fought Demetrious Johnson is impressive.”

White was asked about Cejudo’s callout of bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw for his next fight, and he noted that while he didn’t know what was next for the new champ, he loved the attitude. In fact, he even compared the optimistic callout to the strategy of Conor McGregor:

“I love guys that wanna fight everybody. I love guys who are willing to jump in, and I think the fans love guys like that too. So that’s always good to hear, I love; I don’t know but we’ll see what’s next and we’ll figure it out.

“But you know, the reason Conor McGregor’s such a huge star is cause he’s that guy – he’ll do that and jump around and fight anywhere and fight anybody, and when you have that mentality, people like it.”

White then addressed the supposed criticism UFC 227 was receiving in the week leading up to the card, with much of it being because the lineup featured fighters from lower weight classes. White brushed it off, focusing on the fact they had sold out The Staples Center in Los Angeles:

“I didn’t hear that. Alright, when isn’t there criticism? We’re always gonna have criticism. This card was full of the small guys, you know what I mean? The first fight of the night, the second fight was women and small guys. We sold out The Staples Center, every A-list celebrity and you know, whos-who in Hollywood was here tonight; you know, what are you gonna do?

“It was an awesome night, a very successful night, and I’m happy.”

Further expounding on the popularity of the flyweight division, White said that after years of essentially being the stepchild of the UFC, tonight’s card full of great fights at the lower weight classes attended by many top celebrities was an indicator why it was now making waves.

And even though Johnson may have lost to Cejudo on the night, his body of work proved the overall evolution of the division – something the fans loved according to White:

“Listen, I think the popularity of the flyweights was there tonight. I mean, what more do we need? I told you the place was packed with A-list celebrities, sold out The Staples Center, you know, the small guys did almost a $3 million gate tonight with a sold-out Staples Center. And the crowd was very into that fight, it’s the “Fight of the Night,” and I think that when you saw scrambles with these guys, the crowd reacted to ’em, they were very educated on what was going on.

“I mean, I think we’re there, and I think that Demetrious Johnson’s reign, and what he’s done, and I’ve talked about this to many of you this week, this guy not only got better with every fight but he started finishing people in spectacular fashion. And I think that from the walk-in to their announcement that Buffer gave ’em to the fight to the end, the crowd loved it and they were into it, and you know, it was a very successful night.”

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