Chris Weidman is addressing the elephant in the room. Earlier this month, the ‘All American’ announced his retirement from…
Chris Weidman is addressing the elephant in the room.
Earlier this month, the ‘All American’ announced his retirement from mixed martial arts during the UFC 311 weigh-in show. Weidman was given ample time to make the announcement, bringing an end to a 13-year run inside the Octagon that saw him earn wins over Demian Maia, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Kelvin Gastelum. Along the way, Weidman captured the middleweight championship and successfully defended it three times.
Eight days later, Weidman is officially coming out of retirement.
During Friday’s live Global Fight League draft, ‘All American’ was selected by Team New York as the seventh overall pick and is expected to take part in the promotion’s inaugural regular season when it kicks off in April.
During the live draft broadcast, Weidman offered some insight into his decision to cut his retirement short one week after announcing it.
“The elephant in the room is I just retired from UFC,” Weidman said. “A lot of people thought I was done fighting,” explained Weidman. “I didn’t know. I thought maybe I’m done fighting. I was kind of open to other opportunities outside of the UFC, but it had to be good. This is a league with a lot of guys I have a history with. You got Luke Rockhold, you got Gegard Mousasi, you got Uriah Hall.
“Rockhold was my first loss ever. That was a tough pill for me to swallow. We were supposed to rematch a bunch of times in UFC, but it never happened. So that would be a fight I’d love to have. It’s older dudes that I have a lot of history with. I love to compete and we make a whole lot of money. It’s not something I really feel like I can say no to. It’s really an exciting time for me.”
Chris Weidman joined by 19 other fighters on Team New York
Joining Weidman on Team New York will be former UFC light heavyweight contender Ovince Saint Preux, ‘Motown Phenom’ Kevin Lee, ex-bantamweight queen Holly Holm, BJJ specialist Dillon Danis, and former BKFC heavyweight champion Alan Belcher.
All six teams have been revealed for the Global Fight League’s inaugural season. On Friday, the promotion held its…
All six teams have been revealed for the Global Fight League’s inaugural season.
On Friday, the promotion held its first-ever live draft hosted by former UFC play-by-play man Mike Goldberg and a host of others. The No. 1 pick of the evening saw Team Dubai select former UFC welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley who has not competed in a mixed martial arts bout in nearly four years.
Team Los Angeles selected former UFC and ONE Championship standout ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt as its first pick, followed by Team London who took ex-Bellator middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi. Former UFC heavyweight titleholders Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum were selected by Team Miami and Team Sao Paulo respectively while Team New York closed the opening round by selecting ‘Motown Phenom’ Kevin Lee.
Paige VanZant, Holly Holm, and Cat Zingano among the woman featured in Global Fight league draft
Aspen Ladd was the first female fighter selected, taken by Team Los Angeles in the second round of the draft. She was followed by Josefine Knutsson and Holly Holm who were taken as the 15th and 18th overall picks. UFC fighter turned BKFC brawler Paige VanZant and Cat Zingano were both selected by Team Miami in the later rounds.
Also selected were a slew of prospects, including atomweight standout Kayla Hracho who went a combined 5-2 during her runs under the Combate Global and iKON Fighting Federation banners.
Former flyweight champion and the winningest woman in Bellator MMA history, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane was also taken in the GFL draft. She was selected by Team Los Angeles, joining Cynthia Calvillo, Jessica Penne, and Cory McKenna.
‘El Cucuy’ picked up by team los angeles
Hours after being declared for the GFL draft, former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson was selected by Team Los Angeles. El Cucuy‘ closed out his 13-year-long run with the Ultimate Fighting Championship following a record-breaking eighth straight loss inside the Octagon against Michael Chiesa at a Fight Night event in August. Ferguson has not won a fight since a June 2019 TKO stoppage against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
Check out the rosters for all six global fight league teams below:
All six teams have been revealed for the Global Fight League’s inaugural season. On Friday, the promotion held its…
All six teams have been revealed for the Global Fight League’s inaugural season.
On Friday, the promotion held its first-ever live draft hosted by former UFC play-by-play man Mike Goldberg and a host of others. The No. 1 pick of the evening saw Team Dubai select former UFC welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley who has not competed in a mixed martial arts bout in nearly four years.
Team Los Angeles selected former UFC and ONE Championship standout ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt as its first pick, followed by Team London who took ex-Bellator middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi. Former UFC heavyweight titleholders Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum were selected by Team Miami and Team Sao Paulo respectively while Team New York closed the opening round by selecting ‘Motown Phenom’ Kevin Lee.
Paige VanZant, Holly Holm, and Cat Zingano among the woman featured in Global Fight league draft
Aspen Ladd was the first female fighter selected, taken by Team Los Angeles in the second round of the draft. She was followed by Josefine Knutsson and Holly Holm who were taken as the 15th and 18th overall picks. UFC fighter turned BKFC brawler Paige VanZant and Cat Zingano were both selected by Team Miami in the later rounds.
Also selected were a slew of prospects, including atomweight standout Kayla Hracho who went a combined 5-2 during her runs under the Combate Global and iKON Fighting Federation banners.
Former flyweight champion and the winningest woman in Bellator MMA history, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane was also taken in the GFL draft. She was selected by Team Los Angeles, joining Cynthia Calvillo, Jessica Penne, and Cory McKenna.
‘El Cucuy’ picked up by team los angeles
Hours after being declared for the GFL draft, former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson was selected by Team Los Angeles. El Cucuy‘ closed out his 13-year-long run with the Ultimate Fighting Championship following a record-breaking eighth straight loss inside the Octagon against Michael Chiesa at a Fight Night event in August. Ferguson has not won a fight since a June 2019 TKO stoppage against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
Check out the rosters for all six global fight league teams below:
Things did not go as planned for PFL standout Mostafa Abada Rashed Neda in Dubai. In just the second…
Things did not go as planned for PFL standout Mostafa Abada Rashed Neda in Dubai.
In just the second bout of the promotion’s Road to Dubai card on Saturday, the Saudi fighter suffered a brutal injury when his opponent, Haider Khan, unleashed a front kick that ended things in a flash. Neda attempted to block the kick with his forearm but immediately paid the price when his forearm literally snapped in half, forcing him to put the arm back in place while retreating from his opponent.
Fortunately, the referee and Khan recognized the injury immediately and the bout was promptly stopped at the 3:18 mark of the opening round.
The victory moved Haider Khan to 9-1 in his mixed martial arts career with five of his wins coming inside the distance. Neda fell to 9-4 overall and saw his five-fight win streak snapped with the loss to Khan. Neda has been finished in all four of his losses.
Aline Pereira’s patented left hook led her to a second-straight win under the Karate Combat banner on Friday night….
Aline Pereira’s patented left hook led her to a second-straight win under the Karate Combat banner on Friday night.
Returning to The Pit in Miami, Pereira, the sister of UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira delivered another lights-out performance against short-notice opponent Amanda Torres in the KC52 co-main event.
While the opening round was fairly competitive with Torres holding her own against the bigger and more experienced Pereira, things took a quick turn in the second round when ‘Lady Chama’ unleashed a picture-perfect left hook that sent Torres crashing to the mat. Pereira unleashed some ground-and-pound strikes which encouraged the referee to step in and call for the stoppage.
Official Result: Aline Pereira def. Amanda Torres via TKO.
The stoppage was met with some scrutiny from the broadcast team as Torres appeared to be intelligently defending herself, but it was clear that Pereira was in complete control and likely would have caused even more damage had the fight been allowed to continue.
Pereira is now 2-0 in Karate Combat with both victories coming by way of knockout.
check out highlights from Aline Pereira vs. Gisela Luna at Karate Combat 52:
While it took Robelis Despaigne a little more than four seconds to get his second win under the Karate…
While it took Robelis Despaigne a little more than four seconds to get his second win under the Karate Combat banner, the Cuban knockout artist delivered another memorable performance inside The Pit at KC52 on Friday night.
In December, ‘The Big Boy’ made a statement in his promotional debut with a four-second KO against Dominik J?drzejczyk. This time, Despaigne needed roughly 10 seconds to dispatch Brazilian newcomer Marcos Brigagao in Miami.
Official Result: Robelis Despaigne def. Marcos Brigago via KO.
With the win, Despaigne moves to 2-0 in Karate Combat with both of his fights combined lasting less than 20 seconds. Outside of KC, he is 5-2 in his mixed martial arts career, his only two defeats coming in the UFC.
Check Out highlights from Robelis Despaigne vs. Marcos Brigagao at karate combat 52:
All six teams have been revealed for the Global Fight League’s inaugural season. On Friday, the promotion held its…
Things did not go as planned for PFL standout Mostafa Abada Rashed Neda in Dubai. In just the second…
MAX
DAZN
OKKO 
Aline Pereira’s patented left hook led her to a second-straight win under the Karate Combat banner on Friday night….
While it took Robelis Despaigne a little more than four seconds to get his second win under the Karate…
