We previewed the main card earlier this week (RIP Cowboy Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum), so check that out if you missed it. The “prelims” put that name to shame, as just about every fight on this slate could headline a Fox Sports 1 card. Frankie Edgar will look to rebound from his one-sided loss to
We previewed the main card earlier this week (RIP Cowboy Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum), so check that out if you missed it. The “prelims” put that name to shame, as just about every fight on this slate could headline a Fox Sports 1 card.
Frankie Edgar will look to rebound from his one-sided loss to interim champion Jose Aldo at UFC 200 when he takes on the brick-fisted Jeremy Stephens. Edgar is one of the fighters who has been penciled in for this card since the idea of doing a card at Madison Square Garden was but a distant dream. The Toms River, NJ, native figures to get a big pop when he makes his walk to the Octagon.
Not even making the headliner of the prelims, Khabib Nurmagomedov will attempt to push his record to an unbelievable 24-0 against the talented but enigmatic Michael Johnson. The rest of the slate sees the return of Thiago Alves, a slugfest between bruising and defensively deficient middleweights Rafael Natal and Tim Boetsch, and what is sure to be a wildly fun welterweight banger between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad.
Read on for analysis and picks of the preliminary portion of UFC 205.
Although the Kelvin Gastelum vs. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone fight was pulled from tomorrow night’s UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor mega-event in New York City as a result of the former TUF Champion’s inability to come anywhere close to the 170-pound wei…
Although the Kelvin Gastelum vs. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone fight was pulled from tomorrow night’s UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor mega-event in New York City as a result of the former TUF Champion’s inability to come anywhere close to the 170-pound weight requirement on Friday morning, a certain “Pitbull” had better fortune.
Longtime UFC veteran and former UFC 170-pound title contender Thiago “Pitbull” Alves also badly missed weight for his scheduled UFC Lightweight debut against Jim Miller, coming up 6.6 pounds short of the required 155 (with one pound allowance) weight-limit, as he tipped the scales at 162.6 pounds this morning. However, the Alves-Miller fight is apparently still a “go” for tomorrow night’s big event.
Alves’ nutritionist, Mike Dolce, issued the following statement to MMAFighting.com via Ariel Helwani regarding the fact that Alves badly missed weight for his scheduled debut fight in the new division:
“Sad to see Thiago suffer like this. Unfortunately, he and his camp chose to take a huge risk and not follow the proven system my team of licensed professionals set up early in his camp. They decided to use an alternate process, not validated through modern science. The Dolce Diet has never had an athlete miss weight. In six years with Thiago, he has always made weight and performed at an elite level. We look forward to seeing him learn from this and continue his world-class career.”
UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor takes place on Saturday, November 12th from the world-famous Madison Square Garden arena in New York City.
Join us here at MMANews.com on 11/12 for live round-by-round results coverage of the entire UFC 205 pay-per-view.
Kevin (miss weight) Gastelum has struck again. The Welterweight (arguably) didn’t even weigh in as he knew he wouldn’t make weight – this has left everyone’s favorite cowboy (Donald Cerrone) without a dance partner and most likely off the card. This is the third time Gastelum has missed weight since 2014.
Kevin (miss weight) Gastelum has struck again. The Welterweight (arguably) didn’t even weigh in as he knew he wouldn’t make weight – this has left everyone’s favorite cowboy (Donald Cerrone) without a dance partner and most likely off the card. This is the third time Gastelum has missed weight since 2014.
In similar news Thiago Alves also missed weight for his lightweight debut against Jim Miller but that bout will go on. According to NY State rules, opponents need to be within 5 lbs of each other in order for the fight to go through. Although Alves weighed in at 162.6, (6.6 lbs over the limit) Jim Miller rehydrated to 156 essentially making this a catchweight bout. Miller will not be fined but Alvarez cannot come in more than 173 lbs before the bout.
We’ll keep you posted on the latest UFC 205 news, right here!
You have to have a thick skin to choose to pursue a career in mixed martial arts, an unforgiving sport where the difference between success and failure can narrow down to split-second decisions made in the heat of combat. Never is that more apparent than in a fighters professional debut, where deciding to bob when
You have to have a thick skin to choose to pursue a career in mixed martial arts, an unforgiving sport where the difference between success and failure can narrow down to split-second decisions made in the heat of combat.
Never is that more apparent than in a fighters professional debut, where deciding to bob when they should have weaved, or to attack when they should have defended, can result in a knockout or submission that leaves them questioning whether they have chosen the right path in life.
There’s a seemingly endless list of up and coming fighters who have called it quits at this formative stage of their career, hanging up their gloves for good with an 0-1 record, and in many cases they may have made the right call and spared themselves from further punishment.
However, there’s also been examples over the years of fighters who have had the courage to continue their mixed martial arts journey, either due to their unflappable self-belief, their passion for the sport, their desire to prove the doubters wrong, or simply because they had nothing else to fall back on.
In this article we’ll look at 12 inspirational examples of fighters who came up short in their MMA debuts, but overcame that early adversity and eventually fought their way onto the sport’s biggest stage to become UFC stars, and in some cases even world champions.
Andrei Arlovski
At M-1 MFC: World Championship in 1999, a 22 year-old fresh-faced, clean-shaven Andrei Arlovski made his MMA debut against one of the sports most infamous villains, Viacheslav Datsik who was also competing for the first time.
The fight turned out to be an exceptionally sloppy affair, with commentators Bas Rutten and Stephen Quadros giggling in bemusement at what they jokingly dubbed as ‘The Lunch Money School Brawl’ that was playing out in front of them.
Datsik wacky, unpredictable striking paid off midway through the first round though, as he launched his body weight behind a right hand that flattened Arlovski.
”If Arlovski gets up from this it’ll be shades of Dracula rising from the coffin,” Quadros declared as the fight was waved off, handing Datsik an unexpected highlight-reel KO finish.
Despite the brutal loss, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about ‘The Pitbull’ over the years it’s that there’s no quit in him, and he’d go on to become a UFC heavyweight champion, and is still ranked in the top 10 today, some 17 years after his debut.
As for Datsik, he’d go on to produce a losing record in the sport, but became notorious for his crazy antics, which would eventually lead to him being put in prison as well as spending time in a mental institution.
When the UFC debuted on a fateful November day in Denver back in 1993, the opportunity for martial artists to display their hand-to-hand combat skills like never before was created in a unique and, at the time, shocking style. Although MMA has thankfully underwent countless changes and improvements since that day, the time that has
When the UFC debuted on a fateful November day in Denver back in 1993, the opportunity for martial artists to display their hand-to-hand combat skills like never before was created in a unique and, at the time, shocking style.
Although MMA has thankfully underwent countless changes and improvements since that day, the time that has passed has also obviously allowed a number of talented fighters to separate themselves from the pack in terms of their groundbreaking and effective skills inside the cage.
Every fighter gets the job done differently in the Octagon, but for the purpose of this piece, we’re going to focus on those who have piled up what the crowd usually wants to see, knockout finishes. Let’s give respect to the MMA legends that have racked up the most T/KOs in UFC history.
Stephen Thompson created a highlight-reel moment when he finished Jake Ellenberger with a spinning hook kick. The 32-year-old fighter is on a five-fight win streak that has gone mostly unnoticed to this point. Even those he still remains outside of the…
Stephen Thompson created a highlight-reel moment when he finished Jake Ellenberger with a spinning hook kick. The 32-year-old fighter is on a five-fight win streak that has gone mostly unnoticed to this point. Even those he still remains outside of the UFC’s Top 15 rankings, this victory will surely increase his recognition in the welterweight division. With that in mind, these are five suggestions for Thompson’s next opponents that add value and excitement at the same time.
