Tag: MMA News

Conor McGregor Questions Kamaru Usman’s ‘Suspect Dome’, Believes He Wins Third Title Against Him

Conor McGregorFormer two-weight UFC champion, Conor McGregor has claimed he has stopped a multitude of holes in the overall game of current welterweight kingpin, Kamaru Usman, including an apparent, “suspect dome” — before claiming he would fancy his chances of clinching a third UFC crown if paired with him. McGregor, who last featured in the main […]

Conor McGregor

Former two-weight UFC champion, Conor McGregor has claimed he has stopped a multitude of holes in the overall game of current welterweight kingpin, Kamaru Usman, including an apparent, “suspect dome” — before claiming he would fancy his chances of clinching a third UFC crown if paired with him.

McGregor, who last featured in the main event of UFC 264 back in July, dropped his second consecutive loss at lightweight in the form of a first round doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to former interim champion, Dustin Poirier after he fractured his left tibia at the end of the opening frame.

The Dubliner, who underwent a surgical procedure the following day in California, is expected to be sidelined until next summer at the very earliest as he continues to recover and rehabilitate, however, tonight as part of an “#AskNotorious” session on his official Twitter, claimed he would be back in a position to spar fully by April.

“I will be full mixed martial arts sparring by April,” Conor McGregor tweeted. “Easily! By then a return will be imminent. But I must be patient. I will beat this!“

McGregor, who has been linked with a slew of opponents for his expected return next year, including the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Michael Chandler, Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, and the aforenoted, Poirier — has also claimed he will challenge for gold upon his return.

Conor McGregor questions the durability of Kamaru Usman, and envisions a third UFC title victory against him

The 33-year-old has frequently linked himself to a welterweight title challenge against Usman in the future. And when asked for his assessment on the Auchi native’s UFC 268 victory over Colby Covington, claimed he saw many holes in the defending champion’s game.

“(I) thought Colby (Covington) lumped him up nice last fight,” Conor McGregor tweeted. “Finished stronger. Without that 2nd round knockdown, it’s Colby’s fight imo (in my opinion). If even still. I see many holes. As well as a suspect dome. I fancy it greatly for the treble.“

Whilst McGregor envisions a future fight with Usman, the defending welterweight champion is already firmly on the radar of the #3 ranked, Leon Edwards who hopes to secure a well-overdue title rematch with the Nigerian next.

Another contender who appears to have grabbed the attention of McGregor is former featherweight kingpin, Max Holloway, with the duo originally clashing back in 2013. Both McGregor and Holloway appear to be highly receptive to a rematch to boot. 

VIDEO | Francis Ngannou Spars Two Training Partners At Once Ahead Of UFC 270

Francis NgannouUFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou has taken a rather peculiar approach to his preparation ahead of January’s title unification clash with interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane — appearing to spar two training partners at the same time ahead of his UFC 270 headliner. Batie native, Ngannou, headlined UFC 260 back in March of this year […]

Francis Ngannou

UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou has taken a rather peculiar approach to his preparation ahead of January’s title unification clash with interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane — appearing to spar two training partners at the same time ahead of his UFC 270 headliner.

Batie native, Ngannou, headlined UFC 260 back in March of this year at the UFC Apex facility — successfully scooping the undisputed heavyweight crown at the second time of trying against former two-time gold holder, Stipe Miocic — avenging his first promotional blemish against the Ohio veteran.

In the time since, Ngannou, who has yet to make another Octagon walk, was linked with a pair of title defenses against former two-time light heavyweight best, Jon Jones, as well as a championship rematch against Derrick Lewis — with neither pairing coming to fruition.

In August, MMA Factory mainstay, Gane, a brief former teammate of Ngannou in Paris, headlined UFC 265 against common-foe, Lewis, stopping the most prolific heavyweight knockout artist in the organization’s history courtesy of a one-sided third round knockout of his own.

In turn, the promotion has since booked a heavyweight title unification bout between Ngannou and Gane — which is slated to take headlining honors at UFC 270 in January at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Ahead of the pairing, Ngannou recently hit the headlines after he drafted current reigning GLORY Kickboxing heavyweight kingpin, Dutch striking sensation, Rico Verhoeven into his camp at Xtreme Couture per his coach, Erick Nicksick in a bid to prepare for the striking style of Gane.

Francis Ngannou appears to spar two training partners at once ahead of UFC 270 return

However, in video footage released this week, it appears Ngannou has elected to utilize two training partners at the same time as he gets up to speed for his start-of-year showdown with Fernand Lopez product, Gane.

Tensions between Ngannou, Gane, and the latter’s head coach, Lopez appear to still be high after footage emerged of the Cameroonian appearing to blank and ignore his former coach and brief training partner backstage during his walk through the corridors at UFC 268 earlier this month.

Ngannou would later reveal that if Gane was by himself backstage at Madison Square Garden he likely would have spoken to the undefeated kickboxer, however, has claimed that Lopez — who he believes has made disparaging comments about him in the past would misconstrue any sort of interaction. 

Michael Chandler Denies Claims He Only Wants Conor McGregor Fight For ‘Red Panty Night’

Michael ChandlerOne-time UFC lightweight title challenger, Michael Chandler has denied speculation that he only wants to score a fight with former two-weight gold holder, Conor McGregor to land himself a “red panty night” or a significant payday — insisting he wants the experience and spectacle that the Dubliner brings with his activity inside the sport. Chandler, […]

Michael Chandler

One-time UFC lightweight title challenger, Michael Chandler has denied speculation that he only wants to score a fight with former two-weight gold holder, Conor McGregor to land himself a “red panty night” or a significant payday — insisting he wants the experience and spectacle that the Dubliner brings with his activity inside the sport.

Chandler, who is tasked with snapping a two-fight skid in his fourth Octagon bout, last featured in the main card opener of UFC 268 earlier this month at UFC 268 — dropping a unanimous decision Fight of the Year contender against former interim lightweight best, Justin Gaethje.

The loss came as the Missouri veteran’s second consecutively following a vacant lightweight title challenge loss to current division kingpin, Charles Oliveira back in May as part of UFC 262. Despite starting well against the Brazilian, which included a late first round knockdown — Chandler was himself dropped early in the second frame before succumbing to strikes soon thereafter. 

Akin to Chandler, former champion, McGregor is also tasked with halting a two-fight skid — for him though, a string of losses has come for the first time in his career. The 33-year-old headlined UFC 264 back in July, suffering a first round doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to former interim titleholder, Dustin Poirier, after he fractured his left tibia at the end of the first round.

Kicking off this year with the first knockout loss of his professional mixed martial arts career, Crumlin native, McGregor dropped a second round knockout defeat to Poirier — who will challenge Oliveira for lightweight gold at UFC 269 on December 11. off the back of his successive successes against the Dubliner. 

Michael Chandler denies he is only hoping to score Conor McGregor fight to land big payday

Soon after his loss to Arizona standout, Gaethje, Chandler suggested a 2022 return in tandem and against McGregor — even claiming he could fight the former featherweight and lightweight champion at welterweight.
Immediately many began to speculate that Chandler was attempting to lure McGregor into a showdown in order to secure himself a lucrative payday, however, those claims could not be further from the truth according to the former.

“I think everybody wants to fight Conor (McGregor), but I want to fight him for a different reason,” Michael Chandler told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “Everybody wants to fight Conor because they know it’s a big payday. I’m here in mixed martial arts to do big things. To be in big fights, big stages, against big opponents, in big arenas, with a lot of eyeballs. That’s what excites me about a fight with Conor.“

“I’ve got a ton of respect for Conor because what Conor has done — and people will discredit what he has done because of certain things that he has said — but what he has done is revolutionize the entire sport,” Michael Chandler continued. “The sport of mixed martial arts is better because Conor McGregor is in it. It’s bigger and it’s got more eyeballs on it because of what Conor has done, so to share the Octagon with him, that’s why I want to do it. It’s not the payday, it’s not the ‘red panty night,’ it’s not the thing that all these other fighters are chasing. Do I want that? Do I want to provide for my family? Of course, But I want epic moments of maximum amounts of impact and that’s what you get when you fight Conor McGregor.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)

Earlier this week, the Sanford MMA mainstay also claimed that anyone who chose to “discredit” McGregor amid his recent losing run and actions outside the sport were simply just “haters” or “casuals“. 

Ali Abdelaziz ‘100%’ Believes Henry Cejudo Returns To The UFC In 2022

Henry CejudoDominance MMA leader and prominent mixed martial arts manager, Ali Abdelaziz has claimed that he wholeheartedly believes his client, former two-weight undisputed bantamweight and flyweight champion, Henry Cejudo will snap a retirement from the sport next year in an Octagon return. Cejudo, a former undisputed bantamweight, and flyweight gold holder, and an Olympic gold medalist […]

Henry Cejudo

Dominance MMA leader and prominent mixed martial arts manager, Ali Abdelaziz has claimed that he wholeheartedly believes his client, former two-weight undisputed bantamweight and flyweight champion, Henry Cejudo will snap a retirement from the sport next year in an Octagon return.

Cejudo, a former undisputed bantamweight, and flyweight gold holder, and an Olympic gold medalist — in quite surprising fashion, called time on his professional mixed martial arts career back in May of last year following his co-headlining title defense win against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249.

However, despite failing to feature in active competition since hanging up his gloves more than a year ago, Cejudo has been continually linked with an Octagon return — including against the likes of former flyweight best, Deiveson Figueiredo, bantamweight champions, Aljamain Sterling, and Petr Yan — as well as featherweight kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski — in an attempt to become the first three-weight champion in the history of the UFC.

Despite this constant speculation linking him to the move back to the promotion — which Cejudo fuels himself to boot, a return has yet to hit the cards. However, according to the Los Angeles-born former champion’s manager, Abdelaziz, he believes “100%” that Cejudo makes his retirement snapping return next year.

Ali Abdelaziz floats a fight between Henry Cejudo and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski

“Yes I do,” Abdelaziz replied when asked by MMA Fighting if he believes Henry Cejudo returns next year. “100 percent I do. I think he (Henry Cejudo) does.“

“If he lost, he (Henry Cejudo) can go down to 135(lbs),” Abdelaziz said. “He’s not coming in for one fight. He’s coming in for a legacy fight to get three belts but at the end of the day, too, there’s a lot of fights at 135 and 145, too, it’s no problem. He’s a competitor. As long as he’s breathing, this guy’s going to be a champion.“

An immediate featherweight title fight for Cejudo on his return is sure to upset the applecart, however, Abdelaziz has hypothesized that former champion, #1 contender Max Holloway, as well as Giga Chikadze — could just fight either Cejudo or current champion, Volkanovski in the future, regardless of his client’s potential return.

“Of course, Max [Holloway] deserves [the title shot], too but I think timing will be great because Henry can fight in February and Max can fight the winner,” Abdelaziz said. “But also it’s a huge gap in the division. You have Alexander (Volkanovski), you have Max and it’s a huge gap and you have someone like Giga (Chikadze), who has a seven-fight winning streak. Giga has a fight (against Calvin Kattar). I think it’s the perfect time for Herny to come in and see what he can do in the division. If he wins, he can fight Max and after that, he can fight Giga. In reality, it’s a really great fight. It’s a really big fight.“

“Henry did a great job keeping himself relevant in the sport,” Abdelaziz said. “He hasn’t fought for a long time. I’m very sure Dana (White) will go for it if everyone is serious and everyone will honor what we can do. It’s a very intriguing fight and I respect the champ very much, especially after the last fight (against Brian Ortega). How can you not respect this guy? But stylistically, it’s a great matchup. I like to favor Henry for this fight but it’s not going to be an easy fight. It can be a reality if everyone buttons up and says, ‘Let’s do this’.“

VIDEO | Brutal 5-On-5 Team Fight Takes Place At The War 3 MMA Event In Poland

The War 3A rather peculiar five-on-five professional mixed martial arts fight took place at an event billed as ‘The War 3’ last night in Poland, where 10 competitors fought in groups of five simultaneously inside the confines of a cage. The fight, which features 10 separate fighters competing at the same time, is overseen by three referees, […]

The War 3

A rather peculiar five-on-five professional mixed martial arts fight took place at an event billed as ‘The War 3’ last night in Poland, where 10 competitors fought in groups of five simultaneously inside the confines of a cage.

The fight, which features 10 separate fighters competing at the same time, is overseen by three referees, as the group of five competing as part of two teams fight simultaneously as part of ‘The War 3’ event.

Quickly, footage of ‘The War 3’ event, as well as the team fight, surfaced on social media, with Twitter users sharing their thoughts on the rather peculiar and outlandish event.

One team receives brutal, one-sided loss in hard to watch five-on-five fight at ‘The War 3’ event

In rather unsightly viewing, however, quickly we witnessed a rather brutal knockout as a competitor, wearing a white rashguard and shorts was dropped among the carnage inside the cage with a series of winging shots. However, with referees attempting to watch five fights at once, the competitor who suffered the early knockdown found himself on the receiving end of some rather worrying punishment as a fighter on the opposition team threw a volley of ground strikes. 

The fighter is eventually saved by the cage official who brings him back to his feet inside the cage and appears to hold him up, as the action continues without the fallen fighter receiving immediate treatment or assessment from a medical professional.

Soon thereafter, the opposition team, wearing black shorts score a pair of quickfire ground strikes knockouts — with two competitors, in particular, teaming up to knockout a sole opposition team member as the fight becomes more and more difficult to spectate. 

At the end of the fight at ‘The War 3’, the team sporting black shorts emerge with a comprehensive 5-0 victory — with the final competitor on the opposing team finding himself on the receiving end of punishment from eventually three fighters at once. However, during the broadcast of the event, the footage of fighters receiving subsequent knockout strikes was cut to footage of the audience as officials failed to corral fighters dishing out punishment in timely fashion. 

Receiving mass criticism across social media for the untimely stoppages, the event also showcased a two-on-two fight as well as a fight in which a female competitor appeared to collapse in her corner between rounds, requiring removal from the cage on a stretcher — to go with a fight which seen a competitor dropped countless times before the bout was ultimately ruled a ‘No Contest’ following an illegal ground strike. 

Prominent Twitter user, @Grabaka_Hitman — otherwise known as Caposa commented on the event, and in particular the five-on-five contest and early knockout — claiming that the subsequent strikes received made the barrage look like “attempted murder“.

“The KO and subsequent follow-ups (strikes) around the 17 second mark legit looks like attempted murder,” Caposa tweeted. “Three refs isn’t enough for these.“

This latest freakshow mixed martial arts event comes off the back of another highly-criticized event which also took place in Poland which saw a woman suffer a brutal second round knockout at the hands of a man in an intergender mixed martial arts fight.

VIDEO| Ciryl Gane Creates A Parody Of The Francis Ngannou Snub At UFC 268

Ciryl GaneCiryl Gane hilariously recreated the snub that Francis Ngannu gave him at UFC 268 in New York with his friend. Mostly everyone has seen the video of Ngannou walking by Gane and not giving him the light of day. Just a stone cold stare forward while Gane was looking at him. Ngannou explained that he […]

Ciryl Gane

Ciryl Gane hilariously recreated the snub that Francis Ngannu gave him at UFC 268 in New York with his friend.

Mostly everyone has seen the video of Ngannou walking by Gane and not giving him the light of day. Just a stone cold stare forward while Gane was looking at him. Ngannou explained that he just flat out didn’t feel like saying hello to Gane and his old coach Fernand Lopez. Gane on the other hand, didn’t understand the snub from Ngannou and why he flat out ignored him and his former coach Lopez.

Gane and his comedian friend Maff Derulo were the stars of this video. Derulo pretended to be Ngannou walking by quickly without looking. Derulo posted the video to his Instagram.

Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane will face each other at UFC 270 in Jan. to unify the heavyweight championship.

Gane won the interim title against Derrick Lewis a little while back, while Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic to win the title. Ngannou is currently the fourth ranked fighter in the pound for pound rankings. Gane is known to be one of the most technical strikers in the UFC, and many believe he is a true threat to dethrone Ngannou.

‘The Predator’ on the other hand, is one of the scariest fighters to ever step foot on Earth. When he touches his opponents he shuts their lights off in such a violent way. He is the hardest hitting fighter in UFC history without a doubt and he brutally knocked the heavyweight ‘GOAT’ Stipe Miocic out easily in their second bout.

Ngannou is on a five fight win streak and has knocked each of those opponents out on his way to the title. Gane is still an undefeated fighter and is on a ten fight win streak. This fight could possibly end up being one of the greatest heavyweight fights in UFC history.

Did you find Cyril Gane’s parody funny?