Tag: super fight

Anderson Silva: Conor McGregor Is The Best One In This Sport

Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA recently interviewed one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters the sport has ever seen, former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. They got onto the topic of ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor, Okamoto asked,’last question about Conor, what would’ve happened if you guys had fought? What do you think would’ve happened?’ […]

Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA recently interviewed one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters the sport has ever seen, former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

They got onto the topic of ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor, Okamoto asked,’last question about Conor, what would’ve happened if you guys had fought? What do you think would’ve happened?’

‘The Spider’ replied: “Wow, that’s very interesting, you know. It’s two big strikers, and I think for me, is a good challenge (for) myself. And challenge every single martial arts technique I’ve trained my entire life. You know, because Conor is a very athletic, is a very technique (technical), and he’s a good striker.

“And in my mind, it’s just you know, everybody fight with Conor and don’t realize that Conor is the best one in this sport. And (they) try to doing something better than Conor, but this is not happen because Conor is so smart, you know? Conor have the different time for everybody inside the cage.

“You know, especially when you fight for strikers, you know? Of course, when you see the fight, Conor with Khabib, it’s completely different. Khabib is the beast, you know? But when you’re talking about strikers, this is a good fight for fans.”

This would have been such a fun fight to see. Though Silva is far past his prime years, he is a great deal bigger than McGregor, that’d even things up a bit. Not to mention, he’s a 3rd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the Nogueira brothers.

Silva also has a 5th-degree black belt in Taekwondo, and a black prajied (belt) in Muay Thai. And he’s right, McGregor is the best, or at least one of the select few best strikers in the sport. They both are, they’ve both finished so many of their opponents with strikes.

It’s a little surprising to see Silva put ‘The Notorious’ above himself, given how talented Silva’s striking was at his peak, but he has always been humble and never owned up to being the best in the world, even through his 16-0 UFC run and ten title defenses.

That run also included fourteen finishes and three trips up to light-heavyweight, all three of which ended via first round knockout.

One of which was against former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin, who’d just lost the belt to Rashad Evans in his fight prior. If Silva moved up just a tad sooner, he could have been the first simultaneous double champ in UFC history, not McGregor.

Of McGregor’s 22 wins, 19 come via knockout; while of Silva’s 34 wins, 22 come via knockout. Those are some seriously impressive ratios.

It’s too bad we likely won’t ever see this fight. Though it doesn’t make the most sense, it’d be a great display of martial arts from two absolute legends.

Silva will be having his final fight on Halloween at UFC Fight Night 182 against Uriah Hall, and this is just as good of a match up.

People were saying Hall was ready to fight Silva while he was still on The Ultimate Fighter, while Silva was still the UFC Middleweight Champion. There was a lot of hype around Hall, and this fight.

Hall however couldn’t live up to the hype. He was 7-2 when he came to the UFC off the New Jersey regional scene, and went 4-0 with three brutal knockouts on the show. However, he lost his first two fights in the UFC, and has gone 8-5 since, bringing his UFC record to 8-7.

Hall gets mentally fatigued, he’s been shown to fold under pressure. He is on a two fight win streak though, he has a 2nd-degree black belt in Kyokushin Karate, and he’s as athletic and dangerous as they come.

He has shown us he can beat anyone on any given night, as he finished top middleweight Gegard Mousasi in round two of their first fight. Hall is an incredibly skilled talent that just hasn’t been able to really put it all together consistently in the UFC.

Now that Silva’s at the tale end of his career, this is the perfect fight to make at the time it will be at its most competitive.

Do you agree with Silva’s claim of McGregor being the best in the sport?

Bantamweight Champ T.J. Dillashaw Hints Of Potential Super Fight

T.J. Dillashaw hints of a potential super fight.

The post Bantamweight Champ T.J. Dillashaw Hints Of Potential Super Fight appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It looks like the champion-vs.-champion fight between T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo is going to happen.

A potential super fight between Dillashaw and Cejudo has been rumored since both fighters won their title fights at UFC 227. Dillashaw successfully defended his title on said night and Cejudo shocked the world as he knocked off the longest reigning UFC champion in history Demetrious Johnson.

According to Dillashaw who appeared on the Joe Rogan MMA podcast, the UFC is strongly considering booking the champion vs. champion fight for a yet to be determined card later this year.

“There’s been nothing serious,” Dillashaw said. “There’s been hints, and we did a media tour together, and they put us on camera together and had us talk (expletive) to each other. They didn’t say that. Everything we do is real, but it’s like, ‘Oh, (expletive), this is what you guys want? If you think you can beat me then (expletive) you, man. Let’s do this (expletive).’”

Dillashaw eluded to the one potential sticking point on putting the fight together. That is what weight the fight will take place at. Both men can undoubtedly compete at either flyweight or bantamweight. However, only one man can challenge for a title.

Ideally, Dillashaw would like to move down and challenge Cejudo at 125 pounds. According to Dillashaw, that’s just fine with Cejudo.

“I don’t want no excuses that I’m the bigger man,” Dillashaw said. “’25, especially with the coach I have now, Sam Calavitta. I was told I was going to fight Demetrious Johnson the summer before I fought Cody (Garbrandt) the first time. Within three weeks time I got down to 140 pounds.”

The ultra-competitive Dillashaw will have much more on the line if these two meet than gold. He relishes the opportunity to become the UFC’s third simultaneous two-division champion alongside Daniel Cormier and Conor McGregor. And the two-time bantamweight champ wants to prove that his wrestling is on par with the Olimpic Gold medalist Cejudo.

“The Henry Cejudo thing also entertains me so much because he’s a (Olympic) gold medalist,” Dillashaw said. “He wants to claim himself so much that he’s the greatest combat sports athlete ever. ‘I’m a UFC champion, I’m a gold medalist.’ I’ll go out there and beat you in wrestling. MMA wrestling is completely different. I’m the better athlete. I can beat him anywhere watching him fight. That’s why I’m very excited about it. It’s the greatest thing for my name right now, and it excites me a lot.”

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Bantamweight Champ T.J. Dillashaw Hints Of Potential Super Fight

T.J. Dillashaw hints of a potential super fight.

The post Bantamweight Champ T.J. Dillashaw Hints Of Potential Super Fight appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It looks like the champion-vs.-champion fight between T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo is going to happen.

A potential super fight between Dillashaw and Cejudo has been rumored since both fighters won their title fights at UFC 227. Dillashaw successfully defended his title on said night and Cejudo shocked the world as he knocked off the longest reigning UFC champion in history Demetrious Johnson.

According to Dillashaw who appeared on the Joe Rogan MMA podcast, the UFC is strongly considering booking the champion vs. champion fight for a yet to be determined card later this year.

“There’s been nothing serious,” Dillashaw said. “There’s been hints, and we did a media tour together, and they put us on camera together and had us talk (expletive) to each other. They didn’t say that. Everything we do is real, but it’s like, ‘Oh, (expletive), this is what you guys want? If you think you can beat me then (expletive) you, man. Let’s do this (expletive).’”

Dillashaw eluded to the one potential sticking point on putting the fight together. That is what weight the fight will take place at. Both men can undoubtedly compete at either flyweight or bantamweight. However, only one man can challenge for a title.

Ideally, Dillashaw would like to move down and challenge Cejudo at 125 pounds. According to Dillashaw, that’s just fine with Cejudo.

“I don’t want no excuses that I’m the bigger man,” Dillashaw said. “’25, especially with the coach I have now, Sam Calavitta. I was told I was going to fight Demetrious Johnson the summer before I fought Cody (Garbrandt) the first time. Within three weeks time I got down to 140 pounds.”

The ultra-competitive Dillashaw will have much more on the line if these two meet than gold. He relishes the opportunity to become the UFC’s third simultaneous two-division champion alongside Daniel Cormier and Conor McGregor. And the two-time bantamweight champ wants to prove that his wrestling is on par with the Olimpic Gold medalist Cejudo.

“The Henry Cejudo thing also entertains me so much because he’s a (Olympic) gold medalist,” Dillashaw said. “He wants to claim himself so much that he’s the greatest combat sports athlete ever. ‘I’m a UFC champion, I’m a gold medalist.’ I’ll go out there and beat you in wrestling. MMA wrestling is completely different. I’m the better athlete. I can beat him anywhere watching him fight. That’s why I’m very excited about it. It’s the greatest thing for my name right now, and it excites me a lot.”

The post Bantamweight Champ T.J. Dillashaw Hints Of Potential Super Fight appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Dana White Shoots Down the Idea of Many More ‘Super Fights’ Beyond Cyborg vs. Nunes

UFC president Dana White isn’t trying to book too many ‘super fights’ no matter how many champions want to jump around to new divisions to face other champions. On Saturday night in Los Angeles at UFC 227, Olympic gold medalist Henry …

UFC president Dana White isn’t trying to book too many ‘super fights’ no matter how many champions want to jump around to new divisions to face other champions. On Saturday night in Los Angeles at UFC 227, Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo dethroned 11-time defending flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to become the new king at […]

The post Dana White Shoots Down the Idea of Many More ‘Super Fights’ Beyond Cyborg vs. Nunes appeared first on MMA News.

Rafael Dos Anjos Eyeing Two Belts In The Future

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was scheduled to defend his  title against featherweight champion Conor McGregor in the main event of March 5’s UFC 196 in a bout that if won by McGregor would make the Irishman the UFC’s first fighter to hold two titles at one time. Unfortunately, the fight never came to

The post Rafael Dos Anjos Eyeing Two Belts In The Future appeared first on LowKick MMA.

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was scheduled to defend his  title against featherweight champion Conor McGregor in the main event of March 5’s UFC 196 in a bout that if won by McGregor would make the Irishman the UFC’s first fighter to hold two titles at one time.

Unfortunately, the fight never came to fruition, as dos Anjos was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an injury. Now healthy, the Brazilian will put his 155-pound title on the line on July 7, 2016 against Eddie Alvarez on UFC Fight Pass.

Despite the upcoming fight, however, dos Anjos does have high aspirations of his own that he’d like to hit. In fact, he’d like to eventually hold two titles himself, possibly moving up to welterweight in order to do so.

The Brazilian also admitted that he’d still be open to a scrap with McGregor:

“In the future, I want to have super-fights. I want to go to the weight class above,” he told Combate, per the Daily Star. “It Conor or it can be anyone. I‘ve been wanting to have two belts , why not? This is something that already goes through my head. I fought in 77 kg and is something I will do in the future.”

With the way dos Anjos has been performing as of late, a matchup between he and welterweight king Robbie Lawler would be a monumental fight to say the least.

Of course he obviously still has a plethora of challengers left in the crowded lightweight class, but potential super fights are on the horizon.

Who you would you rather see dos Anjos face? McGregor or Lawler?

The post Rafael Dos Anjos Eyeing Two Belts In The Future appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Ok, So No One Really Knows What’s Up With Jon Jones’s Toe Yet

(Thursday’s media scrum with Dana White, via MMA Heat)

Just a couple days after floating the possibility that middleweight champion Anderson Silva and light-heavyweight king Jon Jones could meet in a super fight within the year, UFC President Dana White gave the media another tantalizingly qualified statement pertaining to the matchup.

“[Jones and I] talked [Wednesday],” White told assembled media during a scrum Thursday after the UFC 160 press conference. “His thing is, he says he feels great and the toe’s healing good. But the problem was that ligament. That ligament popped. Anywhere you tear a ligament, blood flow helps the thing repair itself and heal, and you don’t get a lot of blood flow at the toe.”

Jones injured his toe in his successful title defense over Chael Sonnen last month. He is currently in Russia but White says that when Jones returns, he’ll get an MRI to get a sense of how soon his toe might be ready for training and fighting again.

“Who knows – this thing could be six weeks, or it could be six months,” White said. “It’s a pain in the ass. It’s always some crazy little thing. He’s in Russia, and when he gets back he’s getting an MRI done on his toe again.”


(Thursday’s media scrum with Dana White, via MMA Heat)

Just a couple days after floating the possibility that middleweight champion Anderson Silva and light-heavyweight king Jon Jones could meet in a super fight within the year, UFC President Dana White gave the media another tantalizingly qualified statement pertaining to the matchup.

“[Jones and I] talked [Wednesday],” White told assembled media during a scrum Thursday after the UFC 160 press conference. ”His thing is, he says he feels great and the toe’s healing good. But the problem was that ligament. That ligament popped. Anywhere you tear a ligament, blood flow helps the thing repair itself and heal, and you don’t get a lot of blood flow at the toe.”

Jones injured his toe in his successful title defense over Chael Sonnen last month. He is currently in Russia but White says that when Jones returns, he’ll get an MRI to get a sense of how soon his toe might be ready for training and fighting again.

“Who knows – this thing could be six weeks, or it could be six months,” White said. “It’s a pain in the ass. It’s always some crazy little thing. He’s in Russia, and when he gets back he’s getting an MRI done on his toe again.”

So there you have it, ‘taters: Anderson Silva and Jon Jones will totally, maybe, fight each other this year. Silva just has to beat Chris Weidman in July and Jones’ mangled toe has to heal very quickly. Then all that will be left is for the two to want to fight each other which, you know, they haven’t shown any particular interest in doing for the past couple years.

So close.

Damn it, elusive super fights. Why can’t we quit you?

–Elias Cepeda