Tag: Paige VanZant

Twitter Reacts To Explosive UFC St. Louis Main Event

UFC Fight Night 124 went down tonight (Sunday, January 14, 2018) from the Scottrade Center as the octagon came to St. Louis, MO for the first time. The evening was headlined by a featherweight clash between longtime UFC vet Jeremy Stephens and exciting up-and-comer Doo Ho Choi. A simmering first round gave way to a […]

The post Twitter Reacts To Explosive UFC St. Louis Main Event appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Fight Night 124 went down tonight (Sunday, January 14, 2018) from the Scottrade Center as the octagon came to St. Louis, MO for the first time. The evening was headlined by a featherweight clash between longtime UFC vet Jeremy Stephens and exciting up-and-comer Doo Ho Choi.

A simmering first round gave way to a break-neck second. Leg kicks, jabs, and occasional punching combinations flew from both men, with “The Korean Superboy” likely edging out the first frame. He opened the second with a front kick to Stephens’ face, and that set off a borderline brawl. Stephens eventually settled into pressuring Choi backward, getting his jab going effectively. A winging right hand clipped and dropped Choi, spelling the beginning of the end. Stephens closed the show with vicious, crushing ground and pound punches and elbows, some standing, some diving. In the third main event spot of his career, Stephens finally got a W, the biggest of his career.

After the original co-feature between Uriah Hall and Vitor Belfort fell out the day of the weigh-ins, flyweights Paige VanZant and Jessica-Rose Clark were promoted to co-headliner duty. Clark got the job done, turning away the kick-happy VanZant with takedowns and top control in the first two rounds. She did not press the wrestling in the final round, though, and paid for it as “12 Guage” Paige teed off with kicks to the body and jumping knees and kicks, some coming perilously close to landing flush. This despite VanZant apparently suffering a broken right arm, seemingly from a spinning back-fist she landed in the second. Clark survived to see the final bell and had done enough work in the first ten minutes to take a unanimous decision.

See how Twitter reacted to these exciting bouts below:

The post Twitter Reacts To Explosive UFC St. Louis Main Event appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Fight Night 124 Predictions: Bleacher Report Main Card Staff Picks

It’s a new year and the slate is clean. The UFC heads to St. Louis to kick off the calendar with a featherweight clash headlining the bill at UFC Fight Night 124 in the Scottrade Center.
Contenders Jeremy Stephens and Doo Ho Choi will look to try to ig…

It’s a new year and the slate is clean. The UFC heads to St. Louis to kick off the calendar with a featherweight clash headlining the bill at UFC Fight Night 124 in the Scottrade Center.

Contenders Jeremy Stephens and Doo Ho Choi will look to try to ignite fireworks in the evening’s main event. It will be Choi’s first fight back since his loss in the 2016 Fight of the Year contender against Cub Swanson.

In the co-main event, MMA legend Vitor Belfort makes one final trip to the cage. Standing opposite him will be the dynamic Uriah Hall.

Who walks out of the cage with a win under their belt for the remaining months of the new year?

The Bleacher Report team is back. Steven Rondina, Scott Harris, Craig Amos and Nathan McCarter take a look at the four-fight main card to offer prognostications of the UFC’s first event of 2018.

Let’s jump in and see what the expert picks are for UFC Fight Night 124.

Begin Slideshow

Paige VanZant Says She’ll be ‘Really Fast, Strong, Powerful’ at Flyweight

For Paige VanZant, the UFC’s decision to create a flyweight division was one that she hopes leads to much success. VanZant makes her debut in her new weight class this Sunday night at UFC Fight Night 124 when she faces off against Jessy-Rose Clar…

For Paige VanZant, the UFC’s decision to create a flyweight division was one that she hopes leads to much success. VanZant makes her debut in her new weight class this Sunday night at UFC Fight Night 124 when she faces off against Jessy-Rose Clark from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. “I’m going to be […]

Quote: Shevchenko Doesn’t Deserve Flyweight Title Shot

Newly crowned UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano may have just won the belt, but she’s already calling shots like she’s ruled over the division for years. Montano, who holds a modest 4-2 MMA record, won the 125-pound strap at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale, defeating Roxanne Modafferi. Shortly after her big win, she was quoted […]

The post Quote: Shevchenko Doesn’t Deserve Flyweight Title Shot appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Newly crowned UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano may have just won the belt, but she’s already calling shots like she’s ruled over the division for years.

Montano, who holds a modest 4-2 MMA record, won the 125-pound strap at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale, defeating Roxanne Modafferi. Shortly after her big win, she was quoted later shutting down women’s bantamweight Valentina Schevchenko’s desire to fight for the flyweight belt.

Montano expounded upon her statement regarding who is worthy of a title shot in a division that was literally just created in the UFC during an appearance on The MMA Hour:

“You want to fight the best so that you can prove to everybody else that you are the best, but right now the best is not Shevchenko at ‘25. She hasn’t fought at that weight. It’s not Paige VanZant, she hasn’t fought at that weight either. So I think it’s pretty silly and I’m a person who wants fair fights and so I just don’t think they are deserving of it right now. I would like it to be Sarge, I think she deserves another chance. She made it through six weeks of hell doing that. I was there watching, I was there partaking in that six-week period, so I know how much heart she has and how much she’s wanting this.

Montano also refused to entertain a title fight with former strawweight Paige VanZant, who along with Shevchenko has never fought at 125 pounds in the UFC before. However, both women are moving to the flyweight division, and both carry impressive UFC and MMA records in addition to a ton of attention in terms of women’s MMA.

Shevchenko lost a somewhat underwhelming decision to current women’s bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes at UFC 215, but there’s no shame in that considering how dominant Nunes has been lately. VanZant carries with her a 7-3 MMA record, and is looking to reinvent herself at 125 pounds

TUF 26 featured a cast full of 125-pound female fighters, with Montano and Sijara Eubanks making it to the finals. Eubanks was hospitalized the day before the event and Modaferri stepped in on extremely short-notice.

With a newly created division wide open for contenders, Montano won’t be able to call the shots for much longer.

Who should be Montano’s first title defense? Does she have a point about fighters coming from other weight classes being unworthy of a flyweight title shot?

The post Quote: Shevchenko Doesn’t Deserve Flyweight Title Shot appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Valentina Shevchenko on PVZ: ‘You Have to Respond For Your Work’

Valentina Shevchenko has explained why she called out Paige VanZant. The former women’s bantamweight title challenger is making the move to flyweight soon. Also moving down to 125 pounds is VanZant. She’s set to take on Jessica-Rose Clark o…

Valentina Shevchenko has explained why she called out Paige VanZant. The former women’s bantamweight title challenger is making the move to flyweight soon. Also moving down to 125 pounds is VanZant. She’s set to take on Jessica-Rose Clark on Jan. 14, 2018. It’ll be featured on the UFC Fight Night 124 card. Back in November, […]

Valentina Shevchenko on PVZ: ‘You Have to Respond For Your Work’

Valentina Shevchenko has explained why she called out Paige VanZant. The former women’s bantamweight title challenger is making the move to flyweight soon. Also moving down to 125 pounds is VanZant. She’s set to take on Jessica-Rose Clark o…

Valentina Shevchenko has explained why she called out Paige VanZant. The former women’s bantamweight title challenger is making the move to flyweight soon. Also moving down to 125 pounds is VanZant. She’s set to take on Jessica-Rose Clark on Jan. 14, 2018. It’ll be featured on the UFC Fight Night 124 card. Back in November, […]