Robbie Lawler vs. Tim Kennedy Added to Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson Card

Filed under: StrikeforceA fight pitting recent middleweight title challenger Robbie Lawler against Tim Kennedy has been added to Strikeforce’s July 30 show outside Chicago.

Strikeforce announced the fight via Twitter on Thursday. The fight is expecte…

Filed under:

A fight pitting recent middleweight title challenger Robbie Lawler against Tim Kennedy has been added to Strikeforce’s July 30 show outside Chicago.

Strikeforce announced the fight via Twitter on Thursday. The fight is expected to be part of the main card for Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, which takes place at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a northwest suburb of Chicago.

Lawler (18-7, 1 NC, 2-3 Strikeforce) fights for the first time since a January submission loss to Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in San Jose, Calif. Lawler got that title shot on the strength of a 50-second knockout of Matt Lindland about two months earlier in St. Louis.

Kennedy (13-3, 4-1 Strikeforce) returns after making quick work of Melvin Manhoef at Strikeforce’s March show in Columbus, Ohio. In that fight, he submitted the Dutch kickboxing specialist in the first round.

Kennedy, too, has a loss to Jacare on his resume. Kennedy, a Bronze Star medal winner in the Army, fought Jacare for Strikeforce’s vacant middleweight title after Jake Shields vacated the belt to sign with the UFC. That loss was his only one in six fights.

Lawler, the former EliteXC middleweight champion, has had an up-and-down stretch since winning that belt in September 2007 against Murilo “Ninja” Rua. After EliteXC folder, Lawler picked up with Strikeforce – but it was almost a year between fights for him. Since his Strikeforce debut, a loss to Shields, he had a pair of 2010’s best knockouts against Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland, plus a decision loss to Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Lawler hasn’t had a winning streak since 2007.

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson features a main event between light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson and former pound-for-pound MMA kingpin Fedor Emelianenko, who is looking to rebound from consecutive losses for the first time in his career.

The card also features a women’s welterweight title fight between champion Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, a welterweight bout between Paul Daley and Evangelista Santos and a light heavyweight bout between Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Roger Gracie.

The show will be Strikeforce’s second in the Chicago area, and second at the Sears Centre. The promotion’s first trip to the venue featured a heavyweight tilt between Fedor and Brett Rogers, a fight Fedor won by second-round TKO – his last victory. That main card was broadcast live on CBS. The July 30 show’s main card will be televised by Showtime.

 

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On This Day in MMA History


(Back when Ken was making more than GSP…)

The TUF 11 Finale went down 1 year ago.

Why it matters:

Five of the fighters from the show are still active in the UFC and four are undefeated in the Octagon.

TUF winner Court McGee, who defeated Kris McCray in the finale by rear naked choke also beat Ryan Jensen by arm triangle at UFC 121 in October. He’s set to face Don Yi Yang at UFN “Battle at the Bayou” in September.

Kyle Noke, who was beaten by teammate McCray by unanimous decision in the quarterfinals of the show, defeated Josh Bryant by TKO at the finale and rattled off two rear naked choke submission wins against Rob Kimmons at UFC 122 in November and TUF 11 cast mate Chris Camozzi at UFC 127 at home in Australia in February. He’ll face Tom Lawlor next at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle in August.

Brad Tavares, who lost to McGee in the semi-finals by rear naked choke is undefeated in official competition as well as 2-0 in the Octagon.He defeated TUF 11 quarterfinal opponent Seth Baczynski at the finale by unanimous decision and Phil Baroni by knockout at UFC 125 in January.


(Back when Ken was making more than GSP…)

The TUF 11 Finale went down 1 year ago.

Why it matters:

Five of the fighters from the show are still active in the UFC and four are undefeated in the Octagon.

TUF winner Court McGee, who defeated Kris McCray in the finale by rear naked choke also beat Ryan Jensen by arm triangle at UFC 121 in October. He’s set to face Don Yi Yang at UFN “Battle at the Bayou” in September.

Kyle Noke, who was beaten by teammate McCray by unanimous decision in the quarterfinals of the show, defeated Josh Bryant by TKO at the finale and rattled off two rear naked choke submission wins against Rob Kimmons at UFC 122 in November and TUF 11 cast mate Chris Camozzi at UFC 127 at home in Australia in February. He’ll face Tom Lawlor next at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle in August.

Brad Tavares, who lost to McGee in the semi-finals by rear naked choke is undefeated in official competition as well as 2-0 in the Octagon.He defeated TUF 11 quarterfinal opponent Seth Baczynski at the finale by unanimous decision and Phil Baroni by knockout at UFC 125 in January.

Nick Ring, who was forced out of the competition due to a lingering knee injury that also left him unable to compete at the finale is undefeated in his MMA career and is 2-0 in the UFC with a February UFC 127 unanimous decision win over Riki Fukuda and a UFC 131 rear naked choke win over James Head at last weekend’s UFC 131.

Cage Potato TUF 11 guest blogger Rich Attonito beat Rafael Natal at the finale and lost a hard-fought decision to Dave Branch at the TUF 12 Finale in December. He squares off with Daniel Roberts next week at UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Story.

Strikeforce Challengers: Villasenor vs. Cyborg went down two years ago.

Why it matters:

The card, which featured a ton of talent was one of Strikeforce’s “B” show’s best. Tim Kennedy made his debut with the promotion on the card, as did Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. Kennedy defeated Nick Thompson via tapout due to strikes, while Santos dropped a split decision to Joey Vilasenor.

Also on the card were future SF women’s welterweight champion Sarah Kaufman, Dennis Hallman, Lyle Beerbohm, Luke Rockhold, Conor Heun and Duane Ludwig.

UFC 48: Payback went down 7 years ago.

Why it matters:

Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes both earned a shot at the vacant UFC welterweight title with their respective wins over Jay Hieron and Renato Verissimo.

Frank Mir won the vacant UFC heavyweight strap by defeating (and breaking the arm of) Tim Sylvia. Three months later he was in a serious motorcycle accident in which he broke his leg in several places. He didn’t compete again until nearly two years after winning the belt. Two years later he won the interim title by defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by TKO at UFC 92 in December 2008, but failed to unify the belts by beating Brock Lesnar seven months later at UFC 100 in July 2009. An impressive unanimous decision win last month over Roy Nelson at UFC 130 has elevated him back to contender status.

Evan Tanner defeated Phil Baroni for the second time in as many fights. One more win over Robbie Lawler (via triangle) at UFC 50 earned Tanner a shot at the vacant UFC middleweight strap, which he won by beating highly-touted David Terrell at UFC 51 by first-round TKO.

Ken Shamrock beat Kimo Leopolda by first-round TKO (knee). The fight would be Kimo’s last in the Octagon. Shamrock made $170,000 for the bout (including a $50,000 win bonus), while Kimo took home $55,000. St-Pierre, who was on the undercard, made $8,000, including a $4,000 win bonus.

Mike Swick was born 31 years ago.

Why he matters:

Of the 16 contestants from the show, only seven are still in the UFC. Although he hasn’t enjoyed the same level of success as cast mates like Forrest Griffin, Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian or Chris Leben, Swick, like Stephan Bonnar, has some personal victories to his credit.

Beating a former number one contender like David Loiseau like he did at UFC 63 was a huge upset. Beating the career-threatening stomach ailment that hindered his training and ability to put on and cut weight is another notch in his belt. Although his job with the UFC is at risk coming off two straight losses, a year and a half away from the game spent training in places like Thailand and medical treatment to cure his misdiagnosed dyspepsia will hopefully have done the welterweight good and help to rejuvenate his career.

His next fight is against Erick Silva at UFC 134 in Rio in August.

On This Day in MMA History…


(Thank Crom somewhere along the way, they decided to wear shorts.)

36 years ago: MMA’s version of Yoda, Greg Jackson, was born in Washington, DC.

34 years ago: UFC middleweight and former CagePotato TUF 11 guest blogger Rich Attonito was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Check out the rest after the jump.


(Thank Crom somewhere along the way, they decided to wear shorts.)

36 years ago: MMA’s version of Yoda, Greg Jackson, was born in Washington, DC.

34 years ago: UFC middleweight and former CagePotato TUF 11 guest blogger Rich Attonito was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

4 years ago: UFC 72: Victory took place in Ireland, marking the first time the Octagon made an appearance on the Emerald Isle.

Although the card was not a particularly great one, a few things of note happened:

• A number of notable fighters fought their last respective bouts in the Octagon that night, including Hector Ramirez, Scott Smith and Rory Singer.

• Yushin Okami lost his first UFC bout against Rich Franklin. Had he won, he would have fought Anderson Silva next.

Martin Kampmann was originally scheduled to fight Franklin, but withdrew from the bout due to injury.

Jake O’Brien was scheduled to fight Tom Murphy, but was also forced to withdraw due to injury. Since no replacement for O’Brien could be found, Murphy too was pulled from the card.

• Clay Guida lost by split decision to Tyson Griffin, which was his second loss in a row. He pulled out a close split decision in his next fight against Marcus Aurelio. Had he lost that one, he may have been cut from the UFC.

Fight of the Night went to Clay Guida and Tyson Griffin.

Submission of the Night went to Ed Herman for his second-round rear naked choke over Scott Smith.

• Knockout of the Night went to Marcus Davis for his 1:15 knockout of UFC newcomer Jason Tan.

• 7850 attended the event.

1 year ago: Strikeforce LA took place on a Wednesday night at at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The event, whose final line-up changed several times after Charles Bennett, Jason Miller, Bobby Lashley, and Ron Sparks all ended up being pulled from the card for various reasons.

Two of the card’s bouts had title implications.

Renato “Babalu” Sobral defeated Robbie Lawler by decision in a 195-pound catchweight bout and was awarded a number one light heavyweight contendership bout his next fight against Dan Henderson after declaring that he would not face his friend and sometimes training partner Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.

Tim Kennedy defeated Trevor Prangley and got a shot at the Strikeforce middleweight strap (which was vacated by Jake Shields when he left for the UFC) against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Had Lawler defeated Sobral, he would have faced Souza instead.

It’s estimated that 164,000 viewers tuned in for the event with a peak audience of 197,000 watching it on Showtime.

5259 attended the show.

Tim Kennedy Offers to Fight Michael Bisping for the Good of Mankind

(Guess if they’re gonna let *somebody* fight Bisping, it might as well be somebody we like.)

When last we heard from Tim Kennedy, he’d just completed the MMA equivalent of sinking a two-foot putt by choking out Melvin Manhoef in Strikeforce, then went public with his lament that he hadn’t been the one to administer an in-home eye exam to Osama bin Laden. Y’all know we’ve always liked Kennedy. Seems like a super cool dude and admittedly there’s something fascinating about a guy whose typical day might just as easily include either choking out a Dutch-Surinamese kickboxer or smoking the world’s top terrorist. Give or take.

It’s exactly that admiration that led us to be a bit disappointed this week when we heard about Kennedy offering to fight Michael Bisping over at MMA Weekly. Calling out Bisping is one of the more played-out moves a well-known middleweight can make, after all. When we saw Kennedy saying it, we assumed it was just another case of a guy trying to make his bones off Bisping’s inflated reputation and general overratedness. Truthfully, there probably is some of that at work here. But then we started digging into Kennedy’s quotes and realized that A) He’s offering to fight “The Count” basically for free (PR bump notwithstanding) and B) He seems driven to do it out of moral obligation, more than anything else. As far as we’re concerned that – as long as he’s not just bullshitting us – is pretty cool.

(Guess if they’re gonna let *somebody* fight Bisping, it might as well be somebody we like.)

When last we heard from Tim Kennedy, he’d just completed the MMA equivalent of sinking a two-foot putt by choking out Melvin Manhoef in Strikeforce, then went public with his lament that he hadn’t been the one to administer an in-home eye exam to Osama bin Laden. Y’all know we’ve always liked Kennedy. Seems like a super cool dude and admittedly there’s something fascinating about a guy whose typical day might just as easily include either choking out a Dutch-Surinamese kickboxer or smoking the world’s top terrorist. Give or take.

It’s exactly that admiration that led us to be a bit disappointed this week when we heard about Kennedy offering to fight Michael Bisping over at MMA Weekly. Calling out Bisping is one of the more played-out moves a well-known middleweight can make, after all. When we saw Kennedy saying it, we assumed it was just another case of a guy trying to make his bones off Bisping’s inflated reputation and general overratedness. Truthfully, there probably is some of that at work here. But then we started digging into Kennedy’s quotes and realized that A) He’s offering to fight “The Count” basically for free (PR bump notwithstanding) and B) He seems driven to do it out of moral obligation, more than anything else. As far as we’re concerned that – as long as he’s not just bullshitting us – is pretty cool.

Kennedy, it turns out, is still kind of pissed about Bisping’s tainted win over friend and Ranger-Up stablemate Jorge Rivera back at UFC 127. He and the Brit have already had words about it on Twitter – yawn – and now that Chael Sonnen has been remanded to purgatory for his all-around untrustworthiness, Kennedy is offering to take his place in any sort of athletic endeavor against Bisping. Preferably one that involves punching him in the face.

“I haven’t lost sight of where I am and who I’m looking at realistically in Strikeforce,” Kenneday says. “I knew that Chael (Sonnen) was going to be in a bad position, and if Chael and Bisping are kind of the No. 1 and 2 guys, and Chael is out, I’ll fight the No. 2 guy in a heartbeat. I know they don’t have anybody lined up for him, so I’ll step up to the plate.”

Now, all that seems like standard boilerplate call-out material, but then Kennedy launches into a stirring indictment of the illegal knee Bisping landed en route to his victory over Rivera and essentially makes the case that he’ll fight the former “TUF” winner to strike a blow for the powers of good and decency against cheaters, liars, swindlers, hustlers, backbiters and evil-doers everywhere.

“I don’t like trash talking, but I hate people that don’t fight fair,” he says. “I hate cheaters. I hate people that use steroids. I hate people that hide their urine samples. I hate people that grease their bodies. I hate people that manipulate judges. I hate it all. Just go out there and fight. It disrespects everything this sport is about …

“He walks away with a win, a TKO, from blasting the dude in the face, illegally. Just drives me insane, like it’s the worse (sic) thing that can happen in the sport. As a fellow athlete, I think somebody has to hold him responsible for that … If the promotion won’t do it, let’s let the other athletes do it.”

In our minds eye, we imagine Kennedy delivering these words from the back of a truck on a makeshift airfield, surrounded by a ragtag band of misfits, as smoke swirls around him and some emotive music plays in the background. You know, like Bill Pullman in Independence Day. Unfortunately, it probably didn’t go down that way, but that doesn’t stop Kennedy from saying if he got to fight Bisping, he’d donate his entire purse to charity.

“Without a moment’s hesitation,” he says. “I love fighting, I love this sport, I love the competition of fighting, and I’m still a military guy through and through. I don’t fight for the money. So my fight purse I would give to a military-based non-profit. I have some in mind. I’m waiting for this fight to happen before I said who it was, but they already know who it would be.”

So, in summation, does calling out Michael Bisping make you look like a guy who’s looking for a winnable fight that will further your career? Yeah, it does. But if you’re absolutely 100 percent committed to calling out Michael Bisping, we guess, this is the way to do it.

Tim Kennedy Offers to Donate Fight Purse to Charity to Fight Michael Bisping

Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy has been busy over the past few days. Kennedy has officially called out the UFC’s Michael Bisping who made headlines with his antics against at UFC 127 where he landed an flagrant illegal knee to the jaw o…

Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy has been busy over the past few days. Kennedy has officially called out the UFC’s Michael Bisping who made headlines with his antics against at UFC 127 where he landed an flagrant illegal knee to the jaw of Kennedy’s friend, Jorge Rivera.

Kennedy took to Twitter where he began a verbal lashing the U.K.’s most popular fighter on Tuesday, May 17.

@TimKennedyMMAIt is #disrespectful and unprofessional to illegally knee someone in the face while they have their knees on the ground @bisping

@TimKennedyMMA#alliwantis little boys and girls to understand that cheating like @bisping doesn’t pay. Contrary to actual outcome of his last fight.

@TimKennedyMMA: @bisping I often re-watch fights in my division to try and learn something new. Takeaway from your fight was @Jorge_Conquistais awesome.

@TimKennedyMMA#itshardwhen you want to fight the best but have to wait for them to step up. GIVE ME A FIGHT

Never one to be shy about returning trash talk, Bisping responded Wednesday to Kennedy’s tweets during an interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.

“It’s completely weird. He actually sent me a Tweet. It was directed to me, @bisping, ‘Bisping you’re an a**hole,’ or something, ‘You disrespected the sport and Jorge Rivera for the illegal knee.’ Normally, I never, ever respond to negative Tweets because, you know, all you’re doing is confirming to this person that you’ve actually read it and it may have gotten to you, so I never usually respond. But on this occasion, I thought, Here you’ve got another fellow professional of the sport that should know better, and he’s directing it at me. I’ve never met the guy, he doesn’t even fight in the UFC, and I just said, You know what, Tim Kennedy? Go f**k yourself. You’ve missed the train. That bandwagon left two months ago. I don’t know what his problem is. Again, he’s another one in a long list of people who’s trying to make a name off my back.”

Jorge Rivera and Kennedy’s Ranger Up business partner Nick Palmisciano spoke out in March about the UFC 127 situation, but according to the Ranger Up Facebook page, Tim Kennedy is prepared to let his fists do the talking.

‎”I will give my fight purse to charity if the UFC: Ultimate Fighting Championship lets me fight Bisping,” Kennedy stated.

Suggestions of a possible Bisping vs. Kennedy season of The Ultimate Fighter have been flooding in on Twitter, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Many other fighters have been calling out Bisping over the last few months, so Kennedy may have to get in line.

The biggest obstacle is likely the contract implications which are still somewhat of a mystery since Zuffa purchased Strikeforce. While fighters are technically under contract with Zuffa whether they are in the UFC or Strikeforce, UFC President Dana White has made it sound more complicated than that. No Strikeforce fighter has fought on a UFC card, or vice versa, since the merger.

But no other fighter has offered to give up his fight purse just for a chance to deliver another Dan Henderson-like knockout to the Brit, either.

The storylines in this potential fight are juicy and plentiful.

Let’s make this happen.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Michael Bisping Discusses Chael Sonnen’s Suspension, What’s Next

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsWednesday’s news that Chael Sonnen’s suspension was upheld by the California State Athletic Commission will most likely ruin any chance of seeing Sonnen fight Michael Bisping in the near future.

That’s a fig…

Filed under: , ,

Wednesday’s news that Chael Sonnen‘s suspension was upheld by the California State Athletic Commission will most likely ruin any chance of seeing Sonnen fight Michael Bisping in the near future.

That’s a fight many MMA fans were looking forward to, including both Sonnen and Bisping.

Sonnen was unavailable for comment on Wednesday, but Bisping shared his thoughts with MMA Fighting on Sonnen’s suspension and what’s next for him.

Ariel Helwani: What’s your reaction to Wednesday’s news about Chael Sonnen?
Michael Bisping: I’m disappointed. I’ve been sitting on the sidelines for a while now and I think pretty much everybody can work out that I was hoping to fight Chael Sonnen, and we were waiting to hear if he was going to clear up his personal problems. Obviously today we found out that he’s been indefinitely suspended.

It’s a shame for the guy. I really do feel for him. We’re all human beings; we all make mistakes. He’s being punished, and OK, he’s made some very, very bad decisions lately, but no one’s perfect — I’m certainly not perfect — and I feel for the guy. By the sounds of it, he’s stuffed in his career as a realtor and he’s also screwed as an MMA fighter at the moment. He’s an exciting fighter, and I think it’s a shame for him; it’s a shame for mixed martial arts.

What do you think you’ll do next then?
Well, I’ll probably go to bed in the next few minutes (laughs). Then after that, I’m sitting by the phone, waiting for a call from the UFC. I’m very, very eager to know when I’m going to fight again or whether I’m going to coach The Ultimate Fighter. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I’m very, very eager. I still have been training for a while. I love to fight and I can’t wait to fight again.

Did the UFC tell you about any other plans they had for you in case Sonnen’s suspension was upheld?
No, they didn’t. I’ll be honest, I haven’t actually spoken to the UFC. My manager actually spoke to the UFC about all of this, and I’ve just been waiting on the sidelines waiting for this to clear up. I knew there was a little red tape to go through and today we have the combination of all that. It’s a shame for Chael Sonnen, it’s a shame for the fans, and all in all, a bad turn of events. And for me as well, it was a big opportunity. You know, Chael Sonnen, a fight with him would have been a big deal for me and a No. 1 contender fight, so obviously, I’m disappointed as well, but yeah, I’m not sure what is going to happen now.

Are you still interested in coaching TUF without Sonnen?
Yeah, absolutely. The Ultimate Fighter did fantastic things for me as a fighter and my career. If it weren’t for The Ultimate Fighter, it’s possible we might not be having this conversation now. So, I’m very grateful for my time on The Ultimate Fighter as a contestant and as a coach. So if the UFC were graceful enough to give me another shot on the show, then who am I to turn it down? The UFC have been the best employees a man can ever wish for. If that’s what they want me to do, then I’m their man.

It feels like every other day someone is calling you out. So now that it looks like you won’t be fighting Sonnen, who do you want to fight next?
I did fancy a fight with Nate Marquardt, but to be honest, the fight that I really wanted more than anything, and I said straight after the Jorge Rivera fight, and that was before any of the rumors of The Ultimate Fighter started, I wanted to fight Chael Sonnen. I think I’ve paid my dues, I’ve proved who I am as a fighter and my skills, and I wanted to fight for the title. Chael Sonnen was ranked No. 2 and that’s the guy who I wanted to fight. Not only because of that, I mean, the guy certainly does bring a lot of hype to a fight rightly or wrongly, and I thought the guy used to be hilarious in his pre-fight trash-talk. So I wanted to fight him. Other than that, I haven’t really given too much thought about it. As I said, Nate Marquardt, but he dropped down to 170.

Yeah, you’re right, there’s a bunch of guys who have been calling me out. They’re all just jumping on the bandwagon and trying to get a name for themselves. It seems popular to talk sh** about me. They can all go f**k themselves as far as I’m concerned. If they’ve got a problem with me, come and say it to my face, as opposed to over the Internet like a f**king spineless a**hole. But we’re talking from middleweight to lightweight to heavyweight, I’ll fight anyone of those guys. I try to keep it professional. You never see me calling guys out on the Internet. You’ve never seen me once call a guy out on the Internet or on my Web site or via Twitter. But people say I’m the a**hole.

Who do I want to fight? I don’t know, anyone that is going to get me closer to a title shot.

I noticed Tim Kennedy called you out via Twitter on Tuesday. Where did that come from?
It’s completely weird. He actually sent me a Tweet. It was directed to me, @bisping, ‘Bisping you’re an a**hole,’ or something, ‘You disrespected the sport and Jorge Rivera for the illegal knee.’ Normally, I never, ever respond to negative Tweets because, you know, all you’re doing is confirming to this person that you’ve actually read it and it may have gotten to you, so I never usually respond. But on this occasion, I thought, Here you’ve got another fellow professional of the sport that should know better, and he’s directing it at me. I’ve never met the guy, he doesn’t even fight in the UFC, and I just said, You know what, Tim Kennedy? Go f**k yourself. You’ve missed the train. That bandwagon left two months ago. I don’t know what his problem is. Again, he’s another one in a long list of people who’s trying to make a name off my back.

If you were to guess, when do you think we will see you fight again?
If I was to guess, for me, I’m training hard right now. Obviously, it’s been a few months since the fight, so I’ve gained a few extra pounds but nothing too crazy. I’m not as fat as I have been at some stages, but I want to fight as soon as possible. I’m a fighter, this is what I do. I’ve literally been crawling the walls since my last fight. I’ve been doing my best to maintain my fitness and improve my skills and stay in shape, but without a fight lined up, it’s been pretty hard. It’s hard to maintain motivation.

This is what I do. I truly love the sport and I’m a student of the game. Without a fight lined up it has been hard. So for me, ASAP. If the UFC were to call me up and say, We’ve got a fight for you in the next few weeks, I would be very happy. But I couldn’t put a time as of right now.

 

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