As we get closer to the big show this Saturday, the final fight week traditions are nearly completed for the UFC 203 pay-per-view in Cleveland, Ohio.
On Thursday, the final pre-fight press conference for UFC 203 took …
https://youtu.be/Jqe0h5hcPmc
As we get closer to the big show this Saturday, the final fight week traditions are nearly completed for the UFC 203 pay-per-view in Cleveland, Ohio.
On Thursday, the final pre-fight press conference for UFC 203 took place at the venue that will host the PPV event this Saturday evening, the Quicken Loans Arena.
Above is a complete archive of the UFC 203 pre-fight press conference, which featured the Heavyweight headliners — Stipe Miocic, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne — as well as the two men who will be competing in arguably the fight with the most “casual interest,” CM Punk and Mickey Gall.
Headlined by the hometown boy, Stipe Miocic, who makes his first defense of the UFC Heavyweight Championship against dangerous striker Alistair Overeem, UFC 203 takes place this Saturday, September 10, 2016 from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Join us here at MMANews.com this Saturday for live round-by-round results coverage of the UFC 203 pay-per-view!
Coming off of his vicious first round annihilation of No. 6-ranked Travis Browne at UFC 200 this past July, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is looking to reclaim his former throne following this weekend’s heavyweight title fight between current champ Stipe Miocic and Alistair Overeem. Velasquez lost his title after serving as champ for
Coming off of his vicious first round annihilation of No. 6-ranked Travis Browne at UFC 200 this past July, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is looking to reclaim his former throne following this weekend’s heavyweight title fight between current champ Stipe Miocic and Alistair Overeem.
Velasquez lost his title after serving as champ for nearly three years when he took on the now-former champ Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188 in June of last year, after the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt choked out the Mexican juggernaut in the third round of their contest.
The former NCAA Division I wrestler would then bounce back with a thunderous statement against Browne just two months ago, making a convincing case for a shot at the gold.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour earlier today (September 6, 2016), courtesy of MMA Fighting, Velasquez stated that when he is at 100% there is nobody in the division who can compete with him:
“People know that if I’m 100 percent going into the fight, that there’s no one out there that can touch me,” Velasquez said. “I still feel that way going in to practice every day.”
“There’s just some things that I’ve had to change to be that guy again,” Velasquez said. “It’s just more rest during my workouts, during the camps, more maintenance to my body, and with that, I’m able to perform the way I want to.”
Dec 29, 2012; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Cain Velasquez (top) strikes Junior Dos Santos (bottom) during UFC 155 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Velasquez believes that he will receive the next shot at the gold regardless of the outcome of this weekend’s title fight between Miocic and Overeem, and stated that regardless of who wins he is ready to step into the Octagon for the opportunity to reclaim the title of ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’:
“I’m not much of a guy who picks fights,” said Velasquez. “I don’t care who wins. I’m not a fight fan really, I don’t really care who wins, I want best guy to win and I want to fight the best guy, that’s how I see it.”
“Overeem’s a great standup guy wants to keep it on feet, where I feel Stipe is more similar to my style. He does everything really well, he’s conditioned, he’s a smaller heavyweight.
I feel like both guys post threats in their own right, but with my style of fighting I can beat both those guys,” Velasquez said.
Miocic and Overeem will meet for the heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 203 live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio this Saturday (September 10, 2016).
On Tuesday evening, UFC released the second episode of their fight week series, “UFC Embedded,” which follows the top fighters as they finish their preparation for this Saturday’s big pay-per-view.
Featured above is e…
https://youtu.be/IUEf5o7s_Dc
On Tuesday evening, UFC released the second episode of their fight week series, “UFC Embedded,” which follows the top fighters as they finish their preparation for this Saturday’s big pay-per-view.
Featured above is episode two of UFC 203 Embedded. The official description for the episode reads as follows:
“On Episode 2 of UFC 203 Embedded, welterweight CM Punk takes an ice bath in his high-end home facility. Heavyweight Travis Browne trains outdoors, while his opponent Fabricio Werdum works in his gym and visits an old haunt. Divisional champ Stipe Miocic spends his Sunday judging hot rods, and title challenger Alistair Overeem goes for a high-altitude hike in New Mexico. UFC 203 Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the world heavyweight championship main event at UFC 203, taking place Saturday, September 10 on Pay-Per-View.”
Punk meets Mickey Gall in his Octagon debut in the third-from-the-top bout scheduled for this Saturday’s UFC 203 PPV at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Join us here at MMANews.com on 9/10 for live coverage of the UFC 203 PPV!
We haven’t heard much from former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey recently. Things went very quiet from ‘Rowdy’s’ camp after her devastating loss to Holly Holm in November of 2015. ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ blasted Rousey with a head kick knockout at UFC 193. Holm would later go on to lose the title against Miesha
We haven’t heard much from former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey recently. Things went very quiet from ‘Rowdy’s’ camp after her devastating loss to Holly Holm in November of 2015. ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ blasted Rousey with a head kick knockout at UFC 193. Holm would later go on to lose the title against Miesha Tate at UFC 195. Rousey fell in to a deep depression after her firs professional loss. The next we heard from ‘Rowdy’ she was considering having children.
That paired with Hollywood movie roles led to massive speculation about Rousey’s potential retirement. Following such a dominant career it really was shocking to see ‘Rowdy’ defeated in such fashion. Perhaps more unexpected is the massive contrast between her form back then, and the loss of contact between Rousey and the sport. Talk of a potential return did resurface earlier in the year, but minor surgeries put a halt on that.
The Brazilian Connection
Now that Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino has joined the UFC ranks, albeit at catchweight, there’s the possibility of a grudge match upon Rousey’s return. This of course would be a huge challenge and maybe one to climb after a few tune up fights. When speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto recently, Rousey’s other half Travis Browne indicated the former champion is in good form for her awaited comeback.
Spoke to Travis Browne. UFC 203 story next week. FWIW, on Rousey: "Physically and mentally doing great. I feel bad for whoever's next."
The exact details of Rousey’s next opponent still remain a mystery. One thing is becoming clearer though–it’s more when than if she returns. The current champ of the division is Amanda Nunes, the Brazilian dominated ‘Cupcake’ in the UFC 200 main event to capture the title. That makes three changes of champion in the past 10 months, after only having Ronda Rousey as queen since 2013. The woman who holds all the records in the UFC women’s bantamweight division would become the first two-time ruler if she came back to win the belt. That remains to be seen.
Current No. 10-ranked UFC heavyweight Derrick ‘The Black Beast’ Lewis is coming off of the biggest win of his career, as he took home a split decision win over Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 90 this past July. Now the Houstonian is itching to get back into the Octagon against big name competition, and
Current No. 10-ranked UFC heavyweight Derrick ‘The Black Beast’ Lewis is coming off of the biggest win of his career, as he took home a split decision win over Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 90 this past July.
Now the Houstonian is itching to get back into the Octagon against big name competition, and has former heavyweight king Fabricio Werdum on his radar.
Werdum was previously scheduled to co-headline UFC 203 in Cleveland against No. 5-ranked Ben Rothwell, but unfortunately ‘Big Ben’ was forced out of the competition citing an injury which opened up the door for No. 7-ranked Travis Browne to step in and save the day.
Despite Browne stepping in for the injured Rothwell, Lewis would take to social media to express his displeasure for the UFC’s emergency booking:
‘Vai Cavalo’ has seen Lewis’ campaigns for a bout against him and, courtesy of MMA Junkie, the former Brazilian champ believes a matchup against ‘The Black Beast’ would certainly be a dangerous one:
“I think the fans would also like a fight against him,” Werdum said. “He’s dangerous, strong, heavy, right there at the limit. But Travis Browne will also be interesting, also because it’s a rematch, they want to see it as well. With anyone, really, the important thing is coming out victorious.”
Despite the fact that he was not able to step in at UFC 203, Lewis is ready to get back inside of the Octagon and believes he can beat anyone in the UFC’s heavyweight division:
“I’m always working on myself,” Lewis said. “I really don’t care about my opponent. His strong suit or whatever, or his weakness, I’m just worrying about myself.
I feel like as long as my condition is on point I don’t believe anyone can beat me. I don’t care who that is.”
Lewis was asked how he believes he matches up with current heavyweight king Stipe Miocic, and concluded that in the big boys’ division i only takes one shot to put the other man across from him to sleep:
“I think I match up very well,” Lewis said. “He’s a heavyweight and everyone in the heavyweight division… One hand he can knock you out and this and that.
You know, I just look at everyone as just average, really. I feel like everyone in the heavyweight division can win on any given day. I don’t believe anyone in the division, even myself, is unbeatable.
It really doesn’t matter. I look at all of them the same, everyone average.”
When asked on his thoughts of the newly-established fighter’s union Lewis had no knowledge of it’s existence but admitted he believes it is a good thing, while also stating that he doesn’t believe in the fighters’ need for a manager a the moment:
“I guess it’s a good thing,” Lewis said. “If it’s got anything to do with us making more money, I’m down with it. I believe we don’t need a manager right now, they can’t get us no sponsors or anything. So we’re wasting money on managers.”
When told that his manager might be offended by his comments, Lewis had this to say:
“I don’t care, what is he going to do?” Lewis said.“‘We can’t manage you no more, I don’t want your percentage?’ OK”
Earlier in the year Lewis made a bold prediction that 70 percent of the UFC’s heavyweight division are abusing performance enhancing drugs (PED’s), and now the former George Foreman boxing product is claiming he has no problem stepping into a cage fight against man who is ‘juicing’:
“I don’t care if the guy is juicing or not, it really don’t matter,” Lewis said. “That stuff don’t help, you know. It just makes you look good. But I believe steroids don’t give you that extra boost when you go out there.
First of all, I believe the guys taking it, they’re really insecure. So, that’s the only advantage I see. Just being insecure about it and making yourself feel good. I guess they think they have that extra boost.”
Following the interview Lewis took to Instagram to post that he will be taking on Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night 97 in Pasay, Manila, and his representatives confirmed the bout shortly after.
UFC Fight Night 97 takes place live from the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Manila on October 15, 2016.
It looks like former UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne will soon be dance partners inside the Octagon once again.
Werdum was originally scheduled to fight Ben Rothwell in his next bout, however the news surfaced earlier this…
It looks like former UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne will soon be dance partners inside the Octagon once again.
Werdum was originally scheduled to fight Ben Rothwell in his next bout, however the news surfaced earlier this week that Rothwell was forced to pull out of the fight due to an injury, rumored to be a torn meniscus and potential ACL issue.
MMAJunkie.com was first to report the news that “Hapa” Browne is expected to be the replacement for Rothwell in the match against the Brazilian heavyweight veteran.
Werdum and Browne fought against each other the first time back at the UFC On FOX 11 event in April of 2014, with a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line. Werdum would dominate and defeat Browne by way of unanimous decision and would then go on to beat Cain Velasquez to win the title.
In his last fight, Werdum was knocked out by Stipe Miocic in the first round to lose the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Meanwhile, Browne suffered a loss in his last Octagon appearance as well, as former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez defeated him at the landmark UFC 200 event.
The Werdum-Browne 2 fight is expected to take place as part of the UFC 203 pay-per-view, which takes place at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, September 10, 2016 and features Stipe Miocic vs. Alistair Overeem for the UFC Heavyweight Championship as the main event. Also scheduled for the card is the Octagon debut of former WWE Superstar Phil “CM Punk” Brooks, as he takes on Mickey Gall.
Join us here at MMANews.com on 9/10 for live coverage of the UFC 203 pay-per-view!
Earlier in the year Lewis made a bold prediction that 70 percent of the UFC’s heavyweight division are abusing performance enhancing drugs (PED’s), and now the former George Foreman boxing product is claiming he has no problem stepping into a cage fight against man who is ‘juicing’: