Tag: MMA

UFC’s Yoislandy Izquierdo Talks ‘Daily Dedication and Sacrifice’ of Training MMA

Yoislandy Izquierdo is a name you should learn to remember. The Cuban-born MMA fighter is a lightweight prospect who will be making his debut at UFC on FUEL TV 2 against battle-hardened Swede Reza Madadi.But Izquierdo is ready.Hard work is nothing…

Yoislandy Izquierdo is a name you should learn to remember. 

The Cuban-born MMA fighter is a lightweight prospect who will be making his debut at UFC on FUEL TV 2 against battle-hardened Swede Reza Madadi.

But Izquierdo is ready.

Hard work is nothing new to the man who pours hours and hours into training daily. He had to leave his home several years ago and work his way up to the best MMA promotion in the world.

“I left Cuba at the age of 23 years under political asylum,” Izquierdo told Bleacher Report through his manager Alfred Munoz, who translated.

“I was working for an export auto company a short time ago, but I am now a full-time fighter,” said Izquierdo. “I realized I wanted to be an MMA fighter for a living when I saw I had a talent in the sport and enjoyed practicing it.”

That talent in the sport is quite considerable. Izquierdo first fought in April 2010 and is now 6-0 in professional MMA, with three wins by TKO and one win by submission to his name. 

But fighting isn’t easy. 

“The most difficult thing about being a professional MMA fighter is putting forth daily dedication and sacrifice in training,” he said. Nevertheless, Izquierdo isn’t one to back down from a difficult task or to be daunted by a challenge; he looks at the difficulties in a positive light. 

“The best thing about being a pro fighter is seeing how all of my sacrifices and hard work are not done in vain when I give my all in the fights. At the same time, the admiration and support I receive from my fans feels great.”

Despite the fame and praise of being a successful MMA fighter, Izquierdo hasn’t forgotten the people who helped him get this far. 

“I would like to thank all of my fans, because in some way or another, they have had a huge part in my career. I would like to also thank my family, trainer and manager,” he said. 

Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Reza Madadi is scheduled to air on the Facebook preliminaries for UFC on FUEL TV 2 on April 14th. It will be Izquierdo’s seventh MMA bout, and his first fight in the UFC.

 


Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Brock Lesnar’s WWE Return Spotlights Lack of Depth in UFC Heavyweight Division

The majority of MMA fans weren’t surprised when Brock Lesnar signed with the WWE last week. Lesnar’s return may have happened a bit faster than most anticipated, but it seemed it was inevitable and most took it in stride and even tuned in t…

The majority of MMA fans weren’t surprised when Brock Lesnar signed with the WWE last week.

Lesnar’s return may have happened a bit faster than most anticipated, but it seemed it was inevitable and most took it in stride and even tuned in to watch him send the live crowd into a frenzy last Monday on Raw.

While Lesnar and the WWE made headline news last Monday night, the UFC had a bombshell dropped on them Wednesday, as heavyweight title challenger Alistair Overeem was busted for failing a pre-fight drug test by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

While Overeem isn’t officially out of the UFC 146 main event, it is extremely unlikely that he will be cleared to compete on May 25th and the UFC now is being forced to try to find a replacement for an event that’s not even two months away.

The replacement that seemed most logical, Frank Mir, has already seemingly been ruled out by UFC president Dana White, who said that the fight between Mir and Cain Velasquez would go on as planned as the co-main event of the 146 card.

With both Mir and Velasquez locked into a bout, the UFC is left with an extremely thin roster of heavyweights that could step in and take on Dos Santos.

Fans have started to rally behind streaking K1 and Pride veteran Mark Hunt, saying his three-fight win streak should be enough to push him into the title fight, but in all honestly he should have to win another fight or two before getting anywhere near a title fight.

Other options include Dan Henderson, a light heavyweight who has even made the cut to middleweight for portions of his career, or Fedor Emelianenko, a guy not even under UFC contract at the moment.

Simply put, the UFC’s heavyweight division needs some firepower, and oddly enough the man that they could use most just returned to television with another company.

Lesnar was the most popular fighter in MMA the second he stepped inside a cage, and with the UFC’s heavyweight super card in shambles they could use him now more than ever.

If Lesnar had stuck around, they may have been able to throw him into the main event or used him to replace Mir and fight Velasquez in a rematch that he’s wanted for quite some time. But without him the division just feels like it falls flat.

Dos Santos, Overeem, Mir and Velasquez are the only truly elite fighters in the UFC’s heavyweight division right now. And while help is on the way with Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett moving over after their Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix final, the fact that the UFC is seemingly left without any viable options for Dos Santos is troubling.

It’s not Lesnar’s fault that the UFC’s most popular division has taken a hit just months after he decided to hang up his gloves, and the UFC had to have known that they wouldn’t be able to ride his popularity for too much longer. But ultimately Lesnar’s return to the WWE came at the worst possible time for the UFC.

Lesnar was one of the few guys on the UFC roster that was famous enough that they could promote an event on his name alone, and seeing him aligned with another company, despite the fact that he was always known more as a wrestler than a fighter, still makes the UFC look like it lost one of it’s biggest stars to a company that they compete with for PPV buys and fans.

The loss of a high-profile title fight and seeing Lesnar reemerge as a star in the WWE proves what we knew all along, that the UFC needed Brock Lesnar far more than Brock Lesnar needed the UFC.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 145: Why Rashad Evans Has the Tools to Beat Jon Jones

Sometimes an individual emerges within the confines of the expected. In the combat sports, it happens suddenly, oftentimes wildly, and violently exceeds all those expectations with such ease that it’s almost vulgar. Terms are quickly attached to …

Sometimes an individual emerges within the confines of the expected. In the combat sports, it happens suddenly, oftentimes wildly, and violently exceeds all those expectations with such ease that it’s almost vulgar.

Terms are quickly attached to such individuals: prodigy, virtuoso, wunderkind and so on.

When Jon Jones came into the spotlight against Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94, observers were left scrambling to find which of those terms best applied to this fluent, violent, almost acrobatic slam-machine that tossed Bonnar around the cage like a practice dummy.

But the truth is, we’ve seen this before.

Mark Coleman and Mark Kerr were thought to be unbeatable in their heyday, only to find out that the sport of MMA is one of constant motion. They thought their dominance was the status quo, but they learned that to stay the same in MMA is to seem immobile. In the jungle, it’s always the animals stuck in quicksand that are devoured.

Undefeated fighters have long basked in the glory of those calling them unbeatable. It is a fan virtue in the fight game to be the first to “see” greatness in its earliest stages and openly proclaim it before the fighter becomes popular.

But it rarely lasts; just ask fighters like Royce Gracie, Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida and, of course, Rashad Evans.

Soon, he will bring his excellent record into the Octagon to challenge a man he knows well: the undefeated (disregarding the DQ loss to Matt Hamill) superstar of the moment, Jon “Bones” Jones.

So, who has the advantage? And where? Read on and find out.

It’s closer than you think.

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Joe Rogan Says It’s an ‘Awesome Idea’ to Have Mark Hunt Headline UFC 146

UFC commentator Joe Rogan appears to add himself to the ever-growing list of support for UFC heavyweight contender Mark Hunt.Since the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed Alistair Overeem’s test results last week, the Dutchman’s title bout agains…

UFC commentator Joe Rogan appears to add himself to the ever-growing list of support for UFC heavyweight contender Mark Hunt.

Since the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed Alistair Overeem’s test results last week, the Dutchman’s title bout against Junior dos Santos has been put in doubt and Hunt has been considered one of the possible contenders to replace him, due in large part to the online petition on Twitter.

Rogan recently wrote on The MMA Underground forum that he supports the idea of seeing Hunt challenge the Brazilian in the main event at UFC 146.

“Style wise that might be the most exciting match up,” Rogan said. “Either way, even if Hunt doesn’t replace the reem I would still love to see this matchup down the road, especially considering how good Hunt looked against (Cheick) Kongo.”

Hunt is currently on a three-fight winning streak, including victories over Cheick Kongo and Ben Rothwell, and traditionally it would put a fighter within title contention. 

Prior to Hunt, former UFC champions Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir were possible replacements to face dos Santos, but UFC President Dana White denied the rumors and confirmed via Twitter that both contenders are still expected to meet in the co-main event.

Hunt continues to receive overwhelming support from UFC fans, and it’s evident that even with Rogan’s input on the potential bout, fans are interested in witnessing an entertaining matchup between two of the heavyweight division’s most powerful strikers. 

Overeem is expected to apply for a license and meet the NSAC later this month, and although White has yet to announce a replacement at this time, Hunt is the only likely candidate to headline the event outside of Overeem, Mir and Velasquez. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on Fuel TV 2: Brian Stann vs. Alessio Sakara Head-to-Toe Breakdown

After a deflating loss to Chael Sonnen—his first as a middleweight—Brian Stann will return to the Octagon against Alessio Sakara at Saturday’s UFC on Fuel TV 2.With an impressive win over Sakara, Stann would put himself back in the hunt for…

After a deflating loss to Chael Sonnen—his first as a middleweight—Brian Stann will return to the Octagon against Alessio Sakara at Saturday’s UFC on Fuel TV 2.

With an impressive win over Sakara, Stann would put himself back in the hunt for a title shot, but he has ground to make up to pass other contenders like Michael Bisping, Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman.

Meanwhile, Sakara has gone more than one year without fighting after suffering a decision loss to Weidman. Prior to that defeat, Sakara had won three straight fights and was looking to make a run toward the top of the 185-pound division.

Now, these two fighters will compete to get back on track and within striking distance of the division’s top fighters. Let’s take a look at how the sluggers match up against one another heading into Saturday’s event.

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Alistair Overeem and the State of the Heavyweight Division

There was a time when the UFC’s heavyweight division was considered one of the weakest in the promotion. It seemed like every pay per view was headlined by Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia duking it out in a best of 75 series. Those days thankfully …

There was a time when the UFC’s heavyweight division was considered one of the weakest in the promotion. It seemed like every pay per view was headlined by Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia duking it out in a best of 75 series. 

Those days thankfully long behind us as the UFC has made it a point to improve the extremely shallow division. From the champion all the way down to the fighters making their UFC debut, the level of talent is exponentially greater in today’s UFC. 

With UFC 146 just around the corner, let’s take a look at the current state of the heavyweight division and find out who are contenders and who are pretenders. 

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