(Like all great artists, McGregor is a man who operates in periods. Picasso had his Blue Period, Dali had his Dada period, and McGregor has clearly entered his “Gay Persian discotheque owner from the 80’s” period.)
And so, it begins.
Following their incredible first round finishes of Jose Aldo and Donald Cerrone, respectfully, featherweight champion Conor McGregor and lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjoswill do battle at UFC 197 with the latter’s gold on the line. To describe the bout as anything other than “unprecedented” would be an injustice, to say the very least.
In the co-main event of the evening, Holly Holm will get her wish and defend her title against the ever-present top contender Miesha Tate, hoping to become the first female not named Ronda Rousey to defend the bantamweight title in the process. Again, the word “unprecedented” comes to mind.
Earlier today, the first press event for UFC 197 was held, giving both pairs of fighters a chance to lock eyes. Check out the staredowns after the jump.
(Like all great artists, McGregor is a man who operates in periods. Picasso had his Blue Period, Dali had his Dada period, and McGregor has clearly entered his “Gay Persian discotheque owner from the 80′s” period.)
And so, the wait begins.
Following their incredible first round finishes of Jose Aldo and Donald Cerrone, respectfully, featherweight champion Conor McGregor and lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjoswill do battle at UFC 197 with the latter’s gold on the line. To describe the bout as anything other than “unprecedented” would be an injustice, to say the very least.
In the co-main event of the evening, Holly Holm will get her wish and defend her title against the ever-present top contender Miesha Tate, hoping to become the first female not named Ronda Rousey to defend the bantamweight title in the process. Again, the word “unprecedented” comes to mind.
Earlier today, the first press event for UFC 197 was held, giving both pairs of fighters a chance to lock eyes. Check out the staredowns after the jump.
As to how both the main eventers see the fight going? Well, Dos Anjos opted for a more straightforward approach, telling MMAFighting that “I will be calm and kick his ass for good. I want to finish him. I want to submit him, actually. Sometimes you knock someone out and the way they go down isn’t nice, but when you submit someone… I want to make him quit, I want him asking me to stop. That’s what I want.”
As for McGregor, well, you might be shocked to learn that he went for the more barbarics approach, stating “I will behead Rafael dos Anjos. I will drag his head through the streets of Rio de Janeiro through a parade of people. It will become a national holiday as well, I would imagine.”
Michael Bisping was his usual snarling-mad self while facing off with Tim Kennedy today, in advance of their meeting at Wednesday’s TUF Nations Finale. Kennedy decided to hold his tongue during the verbal assault — he’s a strong, silent type, who prefers to do his talking on the Internet — but that point-and-head-shake gesture at the end definitely got his point across. Anyway, this fight is in two days. Get excited.
Michael Bisping was his usual snarling-mad self while facing off with Tim Kennedy today, in advance of their meeting at Wednesday’s TUF Nations Finale. Kennedy decided to hold his tongue during the verbal assault — he’s a strong, silent type, who prefers to do his talking on the Internet — but that point-and-head-shake gesture at the end definitely got his point across. Anyway, this fight is in two days. Get excited.
UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey and upcoming challengerSara McMann had their first official staredown yesterday at a media event in Los Angeles, which luckily didn’t end in an awkward face-butt. (Although the pretend crane-kick that McMann flashed was kind of awkward in its own way.) It’s hard to imagine these two undefeated Olympic medalists developing an intense hatred for each other by the time they meet in the cage at UFC 170, which is a little over six weeks away. And that’s perfectly fine. We don’t need a “storyline” for every title fight, do we? Can’t this just be a simple squash match between two talented athletes who respect each other?
After the jump: Rousey gives her thoughts on her UFC 168 fight against Miesha Tate (and the resulting handshake controversy), the pressure of being the face of WMMA, her inability to pronounce “tournament,” and her love of Fedor Emalienenko. Plus, Sara McMann discusses how she got the opportunity to compete for the UFC title, preparing for Ronda, and motherhood.
UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey and upcoming challengerSara McMann had their first official staredown yesterday at a media event in Los Angeles, which luckily didn’t end in an awkward face-butt. (Although the pretend crane-kick that McMann flashed was kind of awkward in its own way.) It’s hard to imagine these two undefeated Olympic medalists developing an intense hatred for each other by the time they meet in the cage at UFC 170, which is a little over six weeks away. And that’s perfectly fine. We don’t need a “storyline” for every title fight, do we? Can’t this just be a simple squash match between two talented athletes who respect each other?
After the jump: Rousey gives her thoughts on her UFC 168 fight against Miesha Tate (and the resulting handshake controversy), the pressure of being the face of WMMA, her inability to pronounce “tournament,” and her love of Fedor Emalienenko. Plus, Sara McMann discusses how she got the opportunity to compete for the UFC title, preparing for Ronda, and motherhood.
On Monday, the UFC kicked off an insanely ambitious promotional tour that will take the headliners for UFC 165, UFC 166, UFC 167, and UFC 168 to five countries over five days. The “UFC World Tour” stopped at the Club Nokia at Nokia Live in Los Angeles yesterday, and the fighters had a chance to get up in each others’ faces, while the meatheaded fans in attendance shouted whatever came to mind, like they were at home watching it on TV. You can check out the video above. Some highlights…
0:17-1:00:Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate come out dressed like office temps. They mean-mug each other, and Rousey gives Tate the ol’ Stockton Heybuddy walking away. The crowd fires off various catcalls. Dana’s goony mug at 0:41 says it all.
1:10-1:52:Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks face off, with Hendricks looking noticeably jacked. The crowd chants “USA!” A fan asks Hendricks what he weighs, and Hendro says “215,” flexing like a boss.
2:35-3:07:Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson get very close. Gustafsson rolls his tongue around in his mouth, preparing himself for the incoming kiss…but it doesn’t come. Breaking with tradition, Jones actually shifts his head and looks directly into the eyes — nay, the soul — of Alexander Gustafsson. Jones hoists his belt, then pop-and-locks his way off stage. The crowd boos.
On Monday, the UFC kicked off an insanely ambitious promotional tour that will take the headliners for UFC 165, UFC 166, UFC 167, and UFC 168 to five countries over five days. The “UFC World Tour” stopped at the Club Nokia at Nokia Live in Los Angeles yesterday, and the fighters had a chance to get up in each others’ faces, while the meatheaded fans in attendance shouted whatever came to mind, like they were at home watching it on TV. You can check out the video above. Some highlights…
0:17-1:00:Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate come out dressed like office temps. They mean-mug each other, and Rousey gives Tate the ol’ Stockton Heybuddy walking away. The crowd fires off various catcalls. Dana’s goony mug at 0:41 says it all.
1:10-1:52:Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks face off, with Hendricks looking noticeably jacked. The crowd chants “USA!” A fan asks Hendricks what he weighs, and Hendro says “215,” flexing like a boss.
2:35-3:07:Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson get very close. Gustafsson rolls his tongue around in his mouth, preparing himself for the incoming kiss…but it doesn’t come. Breaking with tradition, Jones actually shifts his head and looks directly into the eyes — nay, the soul — of Alexander Gustafsson. Jones hoists his belt, then pop-and-locks his way off stage. The crowd boos.
3:35-3:40: “We want Brock! We need Brock!” Ugh, you guys.
3:45: The fighters line up while the fans continue to shout shit at them.
4:53-end: “Who’s the girl in the yelloooooow?!” [*crowd cheers*] Ugh, seriously, you guys.
– 1 p.m. ET July 31, Beacon Theatre, New York: News conference with UFC President Dana White, Velasquez, dos Santos, Jones, Gustafsson, St-Pierre, Hendricks, Rousey and Tate. Free and open to the public.
– 12:30 p.m. ET Aug. 1, Complexe Desjardins, Montreal: News conference with UFC Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright, St-Pierre and Hendricks. Free and open to the public.
– 1 p.m. CT Aug. 1, Toyota Center, Houston: Open workouts with Velasquez and dos Santos. Free and open to the public.
Aug. 1: Stockholm. Press tour with Jones and Gustafsson.
– 1 p.m. CT Aug. 2, Cowboys Stadium, Dallas: Open workouts on the field with St-Pierre and Hendricks. Free and open to the public.
– Aug. 2, Chicago: Press tour with Rousey and Tate.
– Aug. 2, London: Press tour with Jones and Gustafsson.
– 3 p.m. BRT Aug. 2, HSBC Arena, Rio de Janeiro: Velasquez and dos Santos joint Q&A session prior to weigh-ins for UFC 163. Free and open to the public.
During Thursday’s UFC on FX 8 pre-fight press conference, Vitor Belfort did that thing he loves to do where he held his right fist out to Luke Rockhold‘s chin during their photo-op staredown. Luke was not amused. So, after the two headliners weighed in today at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil, Rockhold just walked straight through Belfort’s fist-pose, making body contact with the Brazilian fighter. Belfort shoved Rockhold, and Bootleg Dana had to separate them.
Video of that incident is above, and the full “Belfort vs. Rockhold” weigh-in results are after the jump. Be sure to come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 9 p.m. ET for our liveblog of the main card!
During Thursday’s UFC on FX 8 pre-fight press conference, Vitor Belfort did that thing he loves to do where he held his right fist out to Luke Rockhold‘s chin during their photo-op staredown. Luke was not amused. So, after the two headliners weighed in today at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil, Rockhold just walked straight through Belfort’s fist-pose, making body contact with the Brazilian fighter. Belfort shoved Rockhold, and Bootleg Dana had to separate them.
Video of that incident is above, and the full “Belfort vs. Rockhold” weigh-in results are after the jump. Be sure to come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 9 p.m. ET for our liveblog of the main card!
Main Card (FX, 9 p.m. ET)
Vitor Belfort (186) vs. Luke Rockhold (186)
Ronaldo Souza (186) vs. Chris Camozzi (186)
Evan Dunham (156) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (156)
Rafael Natal (186) vs. Joao Zeferino (185)
Preliminary Card (FUEL TV, 6 p.m. ET)
Nik Lentz (146) vs. Hacran Dias (146)
Francisco Trinaldo (154) vs. Mike Rio (156)
Gleison Tibau (156) vs. John Cholish (156)*
Paulo Thiago (170) vs. Michel Richard dos Prazeres (171)
Iuri Alcantara (136) vs. Iliarde Santos (134)
Fabio Maldonado (205) vs. Roger Hollett (204)
Preliminary Card (Facebook, 4:30 p.m. ET)
John Lineker (126) vs. Azamat Gashimov (126)
Jussier da Silva (126) vs. Chris Cariaso (126)
Lucas Martins (153) vs. Jeremy Larsen (155)
* Cholish was originally .2 pounds over his limit, but made weight shortly after.
If there’s one thing that Michael Bisping knows how to do, it’s convincingly sell eachandevery one of his fights as a “grudge match.” If there’s a second thing Michael Bisping knows how to do, it’s make a bunch of promises about said fights that he has no intention of following through with. Set to face Alan Belcher at UFC 159 this weekend, Bisping has already made sure to check both of those items off his list. First, he promised fans that he will knock Belcher out in the first round — something he has promised ad nauseum over the years yet hasn’t actually done since 2008 — and at today’s UFC 159 presser, he successfully convinced us that his fight with Belcher really is a grudge match. Touche, Mee-kale.
Granted, Bisping is facing a guy who has been calling him out for years now, but it’s starting to seem like Bisping needs to hate the guy he’s fighting in order to get motivated — commonly known as The Diaz Initiative. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if Bisping was truly confident that he could finish Belcher so easily, wouldn’t it have been nice to see him actually take Belcher and Wallace Gilberry up on their bet? Knocking out Belcher would be impressive, sure, but knocking him out and costing his buddy a $300,000 Rolls Royce? That is walking away from an explosion in slow-mo and not looking back levels of cool.
In either case, Bisping and Belcher made sure to get the shit-talking started early at today’s presser, and we’ve thrown the video above for your enjoyment. So check it out, then let us know how many times you think Bisping will point at Belcher’s face and scream “You’re dead!” come weigh-in time. He seems to enjoy doing that.
If there’s one thing that Michael Bisping knows how to do, it’s convincingly sell eachandevery one of his fights as a “grudge match.” If there’s a second thing Michael Bisping knows how to do, it’s make a bunch of promises about said fights that he has no intention of following through with. Set to face Alan Belcher at UFC 159 this weekend, Bisping has already made sure to check both of those items off his list. First, he promised fans that he will knock Belcher out in the first round — something he has promised ad nauseum over the years yet hasn’t actually done since 2008 — and at today’s UFC 159 presser, he successfully convinced us that his fight with Belcher really is a grudge match. Touche, Mee-kale.
Granted, Bisping is facing a guy who has been calling him out for years now, but it’s starting to seem like Bisping needs to hate the guy he’s fighting in order to get motivated — commonly known as The Diaz Initiative. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if Bisping was truly confident that he could finish Belcher so easily, wouldn’t it have been nice to see him actually take Belcher and Wallace Gilberry up on their bet? Knocking out Belcher would be impressive, sure, but knocking him out and costing his buddy a $300,000 Rolls Royce? That is walking away from an explosion in slow-mo and not looking back levels of cool.
In either case, Bisping and Belcher made sure to get the shit-talking started early at today’s presser, and we’ve thrown the video above for your enjoyment. So check it out, then let us know how many times you think Bisping will point at Belcher’s face and scream “You’re dead!” come weigh-in time. He seems to enjoy doing that.
