Tag: Top Stories

Michael Page Reveals How Close Ian Garry Was To Getting First-Round Choke At UFC 303: ‘Their Arms Burn Out Before I Tap’ 

While he admits the submission hold was deep, Michael “Venom” Page says he was never concerned about getting choked out by Ian Garry at UFC 303. Page made the walk inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena at last month’s International Fight Week pay-per-view event, making his sophomore appearance inside the Octagon after swapping Bellator for the […]

Continue Reading Michael Page Reveals How Close Ian Garry Was To Getting First-Round Choke At UFC 303: ‘Their Arms Burn Out Before I Tap’  at MMA News.

While he admits the submission hold was deep, Michael “Venom” Page says he was never concerned about getting choked out by Ian Garry at UFC 303.

Page made the walk inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena at last month’s International Fight Week pay-per-view event, making his sophomore appearance inside the Octagon after swapping Bellator for the UFC in late 2023.

While “MVP” immediately burst into the rankings on debut by getting the better of Kevin Holland in Miami this past March, he was unable to climb further toward his targeted all-English title fight with Leon Edwards on June 29.

Instead, Garry cemented his top 10 spot by narrowly getting the better of the Londoner on the scorecards in the UFC 303 main card opener. The Irishman utilized his grappling to enjoy large periods of control in rounds one and three.

For the most part, Page didn’t appear in danger of getting finished throughout the close fight. He did, however, find himself in a worrying spot during the first grappling exchange, as “The Future” attempted a rear-naked choke.

But although many were surprised to see “MVP” escape the hold, the man himself was less shocked…

Page: Not Getting Choked Out Is One Of My Jiu-Jitsu ‘Superpowers’

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Page looked back on his first UFC setback and failed attempt to blemish the perfect professional record of Garry, a former Cage Warriors champion.

The Brit was specifically asked about the compromising position he found himself in on the ground shortly into the opening round, having no doubt drew out cries of ‘he’s going to tap’ from some fans watching at home.

Page is yet to be submitted in 25 pro fights, and he says that’s for good reason.

“I’m very difficult to choke. In jiu-jitsu, that seems to be one of my superpowers. It’s always hard for people to finish chokes on me,” Page said. “When I got into that position…that was way closer than (against Holland). When I say closer, yeah, it was deep, but there was no way I was tapping and I wasn’t going to sleep either.

“Not to give away anything, but like I said, I am very difficult to choke,” Page continued. “Even in the gym, there’s guys that get me really deep and they’re like, ‘What the f…?!’ Their arms burn out before I tap. So luckily, I’m stubborn in that area. But it was a deep choke (at UFC 303).”

Whether Page will need to prove that once again opposite one of the welterweight division’s top grapplers next time out or will instead be matched against a fellow striker remains to be seen.

But either way, “MVP” has touted his extra motivation since the defeat in Las Vegas and vowed to bounce back as his pursuit of gold continues.

Continue Reading Michael Page Reveals How Close Ian Garry Was To Getting First-Round Choke At UFC 303: ‘Their Arms Burn Out Before I Tap’  at MMA News.

Dustin Poirier Wishes UFC Would Bypass Stipe Miocic For ‘Blockbuster’ Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira Fight 

We can add former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier to the list of those who disagree with Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic being the next title fight at heavyweight. Not many topics have been debated in 2024 quite like the championship conversation in the UFC’s heavyweight division, which currently boasts two champions, only one […]

Continue Reading Dustin Poirier Wishes UFC Would Bypass Stipe Miocic For ‘Blockbuster’ Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira Fight  at MMA News.

We can add former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier to the list of those who disagree with Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic being the next title fight at heavyweight.

Not many topics have been debated in 2024 quite like the championship conversation in the UFC’s heavyweight division, which currently boasts two champions, only one of which is keen on fighting the other.

After an injury forced Jones out of his planned defense against Miocic at Madison Square Garden last November, Tom Aspinall stepped up on short notice to capture the interim gold at the expense of Sergei Pavlovich.

While that would usually lead to a unification showdown, Jones has remained firm on Miocic being his next fight despite pushback from Aspinall, as well as many fighters, fans, and pundits.

In the meantime, Aspinall will put his belt on the line in a rematch against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester this month. The build-up to that July 27 bout will no doubt feature Jones’ name heavily and talk of Aspinall making one last bid to jump ahead of Miocic.

According to one UFC star, however, a third option should be the leading candidate upon Jones’ comeback form injury…

Poirier: It’s The ‘Perfect Time’ For Jones vs. Pereira

During a recent in-studio appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Poirier gave his take on the current state of the heavyweight division and the ongoing debate surrounding who should be Jones’ next challenger.

While most of the opposition to Miocic receiving a shot over three years on from his knockout loss to Francis Ngannou has placed Aspinall in the position instead, “The Diamond” wants to see Alex Pereira shoot for two-division glory.

“Stipe’s been out a good bit. Stipe could come back and be a completely different person,” Poirier said. “Aspinall’s obviously legit; he’s the interim world champion, he’s beat some good guys. But he doesn’t have the aura that Alex and Jones have. … (Pereira’s) starting to get that aura, like a Fedor (Emelianenko) had or an Anderson (Silva) had.

“It’s the perfect time for it. I would (do it now). Yeah, (bypass the Miocic fight),” Poirier continued. “It’s bigger! It’s a blockbuster, bro. … And in the light heavyweight division, who’s he gonna fight? Ankalaev? Nothing against Ankalaev, but I’m not excited (by that). At the point he’s at in his career, he’s a superstar. I want to see him vs. Jones at heavyweight.”

Jones himself has noted Pereira as a future option and suggested it sits above interim champ Aspinall in terms of intrigue.

But just like his division’s other titleholder, “Bones” has refused to budge from Miocic in order to accommodate a super fight with Pereira toward the end of 2024.

Continue Reading Dustin Poirier Wishes UFC Would Bypass Stipe Miocic For ‘Blockbuster’ Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira Fight  at MMA News.

Michael Page Gives Grim Assessment Of Ian Garry’s Title Chances After UFC 303: ‘Leon’s Gonna Kill You…Shavkat’s Gonna Kill You’ 

Having shared the cage with him at UFC 303, Michael “Venom” Page doesn’t see Ian Garry reaching the top of the welterweight division. The pair collided in the main card opener of the International Fight Week pay-per-view on June 29 in Las Vegas. The three-round affair was widely branded somewhat lackluster, with the Irishman utilizing […]

Continue Reading Michael Page Gives Grim Assessment Of Ian Garry’s Title Chances After UFC 303: ‘Leon’s Gonna Kill You…Shavkat’s Gonna Kill You’  at MMA News.

Having shared the cage with him at UFC 303, Michael “Venom” Page doesn’t see Ian Garry reaching the top of the welterweight division.

The pair collided in the main card opener of the International Fight Week pay-per-view on June 29 in Las Vegas. The three-round affair was widely branded somewhat lackluster, with the Irishman utilizing his grappling to edge frames one and three on the scorecards.

The result marked the latest addition to Garry’s undefeated professional record and moved his UFC slate to 8-0, cementing his top 10 spot in the process.

While “The Future” has confidently expressed that he’ll now move on to focusing on those above him in the pecking order and the title, “MVP” is confident he’ll soon have his résumé blemished…

Page Didn’t Feel A Future Champion Against Garry At UFC 303

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Page looked back on the defeat he suffered in what marked just his second fight competing on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage following a decade in Bellator.

The Londoner expressed frustration with his performance inside T-Mobile Arena, suggesting the result was more down to his own shortcomings than Garry’s efforts inside the Octagon.

With that in mind, Page didn’t feel like he was squaring off against a sure-fire future champion. Far from it, in fact. “Venom” recalled facing someone who would get “killed” by UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards and top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.

“Not all. No,” Page said when asked if he sees Garry as a future champion. “Because if that’s the game you’re going to (use) when you get a decent striker, then Leon is going to kill you anyway, then Shavkat is going to kill you anyway. There’s a few guys in there that I just don’t see him surpassing. … Even in some of the areas, he didn’t feel massively strong. I’m not even trying to be disrespectful to him, because again, he’s done his job, he was smart about how he kind of went by it. But for me, regardless, this game for me is about combat. It’s about fighting. Not about stealing wins.

“Even like I said, that last round, I didn’t necessarily need to stand up or need to let him stand up. I could’ve stayed there and just dragged it out and potentially got a better score in the third round and maybe that would’ve swayed it, but that’s not the game I’m in. I’m in a combat game. Like, I want to cause damage, I want to hurt people,” Page continued. “So yeah, I don’t see him progressing to the top. I think he’s talented. I think he’ll always be around there, top 10, top five, and then he’ll keep losing out to certain people. But he is still talented, and obviously he’s got a loads of time to progress and get better anyway.”

Garry no doubt feels differently, having frequently insisted that a title crowning on MMA’s biggest stage is inevitable. He’ll look to prove that when he returns to action, potentially against one of the names mentioned by Page.

Post-UFC 303, the Irishman had the name of Rakhmonov on his lips. While he got a positive response from “Nomad,” it remains to be seen if the UFC will share the same outlook and pair them together next.

Continue Reading Michael Page Gives Grim Assessment Of Ian Garry’s Title Chances After UFC 303: ‘Leon’s Gonna Kill You…Shavkat’s Gonna Kill You’  at MMA News.

Chael Sonnen Snubs Alex Pereira For 2024’s Best Male Fighter Thus Far: ‘When I Watched O’Malley…’

Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen had an interesting pick for male fighter in his and Daniel Cormier’s recent mid-year awards. While the real interest in awards comes at the end of each calendar year, there’s been no shortage of action and memorable moments to digest on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage through the first […]

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen Snubs Alex Pereira For 2024’s Best Male Fighter Thus Far: ‘When I Watched O’Malley…’ at MMA News.

Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen had an interesting pick for male fighter in his and Daniel Cormier’s recent mid-year awards.

While the real interest in awards comes at the end of each calendar year, there’s been no shortage of action and memorable moments to digest on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage through the first six months of 2024.

In line with that, ESPN recently released its mid-year awards. A 14-person voting panel including renowned journalists like Brett Okamoto and Brett Okamoto voted on a number of categories following UFC 303.

And that event contributed to one result, with 100 percent of the votes for Male Fighter of the Mid-Year going to UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira.

Pereira is the only titleholder to have emerged victorious twice in 2024, with “Poatan” following his knockout of Jamahal Hill in the main event of April’s milestone UFC 300 card with another brutal finish last month, this time at the expense of Ji?í Procházka on short notice.

While that run would perhaps make the Brazilian an obvious and unrivaled choice, one former fighter sees things differently…

Sonnen Favors O’Malley Title Defense Over Pereira’s Two Knockouts

During a recent episode of his and Cormier’s Good Guy / Bad Guy show on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Sonnen left his co-host in shock with one of his mid-year award picks.

Despite Pereira’s dominant performances against two high-ranked former light heavyweight champs, “The Bad Guy” gave his nod to bantamweight kingpin Sean O’Malley.

“When you look at the Male Fighter of the Year, I’m going with Sean O’Malley,” Sonnen said. “When ‘Sugar’ Sean fought ‘Chito’ Vera, I did not know Sean was that good. I believed that Sean was the best guy in the world. I thought it was competitive; there’s guys that could beat him but he could beat them as well. But when he fought ‘Chito’ Vera and he dominated that…

“To watch the growth that Sean had (from the first Vera fight), not to mention the pressure he had going from the Apex to top of the bill, a $14.1 million gate, and you’ve got to follow the show Dustin Poirier put on,” Sonnen continued. “There was so much pressure on this young man, who is a showman. … Can you back up what you say? Not only did he do it, he did it for 25 minutes. 15 minutes in he could’ve put the brakes on…wasn’t good enough for him. He tried to finish that fight. … I thought it was the total package.”

Sonnen’s pick received a shake of the head from Cormier, who was firm in stating that Pereira is the correct and obvious pick.

Whether that will remain the case come the end-of-year awards remains to be seen. O’Malley would no doubt strengthen his case should he get past his expected next challenger, wrestling specialist Merab Dvalishvili.

But should Pereira face and defeat the man widely labeled his biggest threat at 205 pounds in Magomed Ankalaev, the debate could be wrapped up.

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen Snubs Alex Pereira For 2024’s Best Male Fighter Thus Far: ‘When I Watched O’Malley…’ at MMA News.

Last Man To Beat Alex Pereira In Kickboxing Highlights His Biggest Weakness: ‘You Saw That In His Second Fight With Adesanya…’

A figure from Alex Pereira’s kickboxing past sees some gaping holes in the UFC light heavyweight champion’s game. When Israel Adesanya reigned supreme over the UFC’s middleweight division and defeat appeared a distant possibility, talk emerged of one man whom he couldn’t get the better of in kickboxing crossing over to mixed martial arts. That […]

Continue Reading Last Man To Beat Alex Pereira In Kickboxing Highlights His Biggest Weakness: ‘You Saw That In His Second Fight With Adesanya…’ at MMA News.

A figure from Alex Pereira’s kickboxing past sees some gaping holes in the UFC light heavyweight champion’s game.

When Israel Adesanya reigned supreme over the UFC’s middleweight division and defeat appeared a distant possibility, talk emerged of one man whom he couldn’t get the better of in kickboxing crossing over to mixed martial arts.

That man was Pereira, who now occupies the light heavyweight throne having previously unseated “The Last Stylebender” at 185 pounds. And “Poatan” is now the subject of similar discussion.

In 2021 — Pereira’s final year in the striking-only sport — the current UFC star did battle with Artem Vakhitov twice under the Glory Kickboxing banner. After falling on the right side of a split decision first time around, the Brazilian was outpointed in the rematch, marking the end of his journey in the promotion and the sport as a whole.

Vakhitov, meanwhile, won a single subsequent fight before making his own transition to MMA, where he’s since gone 2-1 inside the cage.

While still early on in his journey, the Russian appears to already be laying the groundwork for a third combat sports showdown with Pereira in a different environment…

Artem Vakhitov: Alex Pereira Very ‘Open’ To Punches

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Vakhitov spoke about his venture to MMA and unsurprising desire to work his way to a history-fueled clash against Pereira on the sport’s biggest stage.

“MMA was always interesting for me anyway, but obviously I am very motivated by the prospect of getting that trilogy match with Pereira,” Vakhitov said. “He’s a superstar now and I am happy for him, but when I hear people saying he’s the best striker in the world … well, I think it’s time for MMA fans to learn about me and my team, put it that way.”

Vakhitov went on the break down what he seemingly percieves to be an overrated striking game, highlighting the major weakness he sees in Pereira’s approach. And the 33-year-old used “Poatan’s” sole defeat to Adesanya at UFC 287 in April 2023 as the prime example of it.

“His biggest weakness is that he is all attack, he has no defense,” Vakhitov said. “Because of his lack of defense, he is open to taking a lot of punches to the head if he’s facing a skilled striker. You saw that in his second fight with Adesanya. He got caught because he leaves a lot of openings for people who know what they are doing.

“These other guys haven’t done well against Alex because their striking isn’t at a high enough level. They aren’t confident against him and they think he’s unbeatable, so in their heart they are already defeated before the fight starts,” Vakhitov continued. “But I have beaten him before in pure striking competition, and I am sure I’ll do it again if we can get our trilogy match in the UFC.”

Pereira was quick to respond to his former kickboxing rival, advising the Russian to avoid going down this path off the back of what he described as bad advice from somebody close to him.

“Poatan” signed off by recommending a Vakhitov whom he described as “lost” to seek management, and he even provided a recommendation for his ex-opponent.

Continue Reading Last Man To Beat Alex Pereira In Kickboxing Highlights His Biggest Weakness: ‘You Saw That In His Second Fight With Adesanya…’ at MMA News.

Dricus Du Plessis On What He Saw In Israel Adesanya’s Eyes During Staredown: ‘Trying To Convince Himself He Still Wants To Do This’

UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis drew some conclusions from his long faceoff with Israel Adesanya last week. After a bitter feud dating back to the start of 2023, Du Plessis and Adesanya will finally have the chance to settle their grudge inside the Octagon at the upcoming UFC 305 pay-per-view in Perth, Australia, next […]

Continue Reading Dricus Du Plessis On What He Saw In Israel Adesanya’s Eyes During Staredown: ‘Trying To Convince Himself He Still Wants To Do This’ at MMA News.

UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis drew some conclusions from his long faceoff with Israel Adesanya last week.

After a bitter feud dating back to the start of 2023, Du Plessis and Adesanya will finally have the chance to settle their grudge inside the Octagon at the upcoming UFC 305 pay-per-view in Perth, Australia, next month.

Having been unable to make the turnaround post-beating Robert Whittaker to face “The Last Stylebender” in Sydney last September, “Stillknocks” set this bout up once again by dethroning Sean Strickland months after he upset Adesanya Down Under.

With their long-awaited showdown just over a month away, Du Plessis and his challenger went face to face in Perth for an on-sale press conference.

Following some firm words with microphone in hand, the pair engaged in one of the lengthiest and most intense faceoffs in recent memory. And according to the champ, he learned a thing or two from it…

Du Plessis Saw Uncertainty In Adesanya’s Eyes During Perth Faceoff

During a recent appearance on the All Talk podcast, Du Plessis looked ahead to his opening defense of the middleweight title and reflected on his first in-person interaction with Adesanya during the UFC 305 buildup.

The South African spoke about the importance of pre-fight faceoffs, even branding them the first part of a bout. And given what he claims to have seen in the eyes of Adesanya, the champ evidently believes round one went to him.

“Once I get into that zone for any staredown, there’s no humor in that. That’s when things get serious. That’s part of the fight right there, winning that exchange,” Du Plessis said. “Almost a theme for me in this whole fight is seeing that Israel Adesanya…he has done great things in this sport. But when it comes to as big as he’s gonna get, he has been as big as he’s gonna get. When it comes to the title defenses and the winning streaks, that will never come again because he doesn’t have the time.

“His biggest achievement for him personally was beating Alex Pereira. He had this nemesis who’s beaten him multiple times. And after that fight, he was ready to call it quits,” Du Plessis continued. “That’s what I saw in his eyes as well; trying to convince me but more so trying to convince himself that he still wants to do this and that he still has what it takes to be the best fighter in the world. As soon as you’re asking yourself that question, you’re in a dark place.”

Whether or not Du Plessis draws the same conclusion when they go face to face again when fight week rolls around in Perth remains to be seen.

But given his golf jibe relating to retirement during the recent presser, it would appear that “Stillknocks” sees Adesanya having one foot out the door ahead of his first fight in 11 months.

Continue Reading Dricus Du Plessis On What He Saw In Israel Adesanya’s Eyes During Staredown: ‘Trying To Convince Himself He Still Wants To Do This’ at MMA News.