Tag: TUF 25

TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt II Reportedly Finalized For UFC 227

A blockbuster bantamweight rematch has reportedly been finalized for this summer. News broke tonight (Wed., April 4, 2018) from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that the UFC has supposedly booked TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt II for August 4’s UFC 227 from The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The fight is expected to be officially announced […]

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A blockbuster bantamweight rematch has reportedly been finalized for this summer.

News broke tonight (Wed., April 4, 2018) from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that the UFC has supposedly booked TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt II for August 4’s UFC 227 from The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

The fight is expected to be officially announced in the coming days.

Current champion Dillashaw recently won the title back from Garbrandt in the co-main event of last November’s UFC 217 after the archrivals served as coaches of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). The Denver, Colorado-based ‘Viper’ won the title by knocking out then-pound-for-pound great Renan Barao at UFC 173, defending it twice before losing it to Dominick Cruz via controversial split decision in January 2016.

‘No Love’ then won the title from Cruz in turn at UFC 207, paving the clear path for a rivalry with pre-installed beef from their days as Team Alpha Male teammates and training partners, where Dillashaw left for Denver alongside former TAM head coach Duane Ludwig. The bad blood resulted in a great back-and-forth bout at UFC 207, with ‘No Love’ rocking Dillashaw in the first round and Dillashaw winning the fight with an earth-shattering punch in the second.

Dillashaw had long been rumored to be headed for a super fight with dominant UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, but that fight is apparently off for now, and the bantamweight division’s most awaited rematch sits in its place.

Was this the right fight to make at 135 pounds?

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Quote: TJ Dillashaw vs. Demetrious Johnson Will Happen In July

As a 35-fight MMA veteran, Muay Thai world champion and former UFC fighter Duane Ludwig spent 15 years competing in combat sports. After retiring from fighting in 2012, ‘Bang’ settled into a role as a full-time Muay Thai and MMA striking coach by propelling California’s Team Alpha Male to new heights in a short amount of […]

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As a 35-fight MMA veteran, Muay Thai world champion and former UFC fighter Duane Ludwig spent 15 years competing in combat sports. After retiring from fighting in 2012, ‘Bang’ settled into a role as a full-time Muay Thai and MMA striking coach by propelling California’s Team Alpha Male to new heights in a short amount of time.

In particular, current UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw found the most success from Ludwig’s tutelage. After he won the bantamweight title from Renan Barao at UFC 173 in 2014, Dillashaw and Ludwig moved their fight camp – amidst a highly-publicized spat with TAM that exists to this day – to Colorado where ‘Bang’ opened his own gym.

Since then, Dillashaw lost the title to Dominick Cruz in a close split decision in 2016, before winning it back against Cody Garbrandt after the feud started by Dillashaw and Ludwig moving away from TAM. A possible rematch between Dillashaw and Garbrandt was rumored for March 3’s UFC 222, but Dillashaw and his team were understandably much more interested in a champ vs. champ super fight with dominant flyweight king Demetrious Johnson, although no official details have been confirmed.

Speaking during an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour today, Ludwig discussed why Dillashaw vs. Johnson is the much better fight:

“The better fight is against Demetrious Johnson, he is the only real big fight for TJ Dillashaw right now. Cody (Garbrandt) doesn’t deserve a rematch. (Cody) got knocked out in the second round, he hasn’t really earned that rematch. I know TJ got dropped in the first round but he came back and knocked Cody out.”

‘Bang’ also detailed why Dillashaw vs. Johnson was the best fight for ‘The Viper’ and why a rematch with Garbrandt was not.

The longtime coach said he understood that new UFC owners Endeavor were trying to make back their investment when featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced out of his headlining bout with Frankie Edgar, but he insisted the timing was wrong for Dillashaw given that he had just had a child, and also thought Garbrandt just didn’t deserve the fight:

“What we’ve got here is an entertainment business taking over a martial arts company. TJ just had a kid, and the timing wasn’t right for the Johnson fight at that time, but the company is trying to make their investment back, but TJ vs. Johnson has to happen. They must really like Cody right now because he doesn’t deserve that rematch.”

He then reiterated their team was looking for the super fight, and that it would happen this July during International Fight Week while touting Dillashaw’s standing as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in his mind:

“We are hunting for that Johnson superfight. TJ is not a big 135-pounder, he has to lift quite a lot make 135 pounds. He is basically between the two weight classes, he could defend both titles. We’ve trained from day one to be the best, our main goal is to see how good we can get him. It’s time to have the two best mixed martial artists in the lower weight classes meet and test TJ’s skill set again Demetrious. The fight with DJ will happen in July, at international fight week, and TJ will be the new 125-pound champion of the world.

“I think right now, TJ is the best fighter in the world regardless of weight class. Who knocked Cody out in the second round, anybody else? No, he ran through Renan Barao twice.”

Yet while it seems Ludwig is only focused on grabbing the highest-profile fight he can for his best student, ‘Bang’ also discussed a bigger picture view of his career as a martial arts coach, noting that he was excited to have a rewarding non-stressful career teaching. He’s apparently parlayed that into a seminar with Dillashaw and Bas Rutten in addition to a few other high-profile names, and wants to use that forum to pass on his wealth of fighting skill to those willing to learn:

“I’m super happy and I just love teaching martial arts. I focus on just teaching martial arts to martial artists, it’s not stressful, it’s pretty much rewardable and enjoyable. I have a huge seminar coming up this weekend.”

“I’ll be in New York this weekend with TJ Dillashaw, Bas Rutten, Andy Souwer, Chinzo Machida and also Shane Fazen. We are going to be doing a three-day seminar in New York City, teaching the best martial arts to all the people we can get together. It’s open to the public.

“I love being the Google of martial arts, finding the best martial artists and picking their brains and passing that information on to the people who are attending.”

So while Ludwig may be the in the media for his connection to Dillashaw, he also wanted to clarify that he doesn’t run an MMA team any longer, and wants to teach the current students at his MMA academy to be the best martial artists they can be:

“I want to help other people become better people and martial artists now. If I was running a fight team still, I would have the best fighters, but I’m running a martial arts academy and I try to teach them to be the best martial artists.”

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Report: Two Huge Replacement Fights Targeted For UFC 222

Earlier today the UFC saw another high-profile title fight fall apart when it was announced featherweight champ Max Holloway had been forced out of his UFC 222 main event versus Frankie Edgar due to injury. The news was extra concerning given that UFC 222 had few other anticipated bouts on the card, but according to […]

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Earlier today the UFC saw another high-profile title fight fall apart when it was announced featherweight champ Max Holloway had been forced out of his UFC 222 main event versus Frankie Edgar due to injury.

The news was extra concerning given that UFC 222 had few other anticipated bouts on the card, but according to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC is working on making the card potentially even bigger by adding replacement bouts to the March 3 event from Las Vegas.

Apparently, the UFC is looking to book TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt II for the bantamweight in a rematch of their UFC 217 grudge match, while still giving Edgar to fight on the card against top contender Brian Ortega:

But after Dillashaw knocked out Garbrandt in November, rumors surfaced he was waiting for his oft-teased super fight with record-breaking flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, a fight that has been discussed for July’s UFC 226.

Helwani spoke to Dillashaw’s coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig, who reiterated they’re still aiming for “Mighty Mouse” because Garbrandt needs to earn a rematch:

Garbrandt fired back at Ludwig’s suggestion, presumably trying to goad Dillashaw into taking a rematch by suggesting he had been nearly out towards the end of the first round of their first bout, something that may be true but also remains a moot point considering Dillashaw came back to finish “No Love” in the second.

Regardless, Garbrandt quickly clapped back by saying he had accepted and the ball was in their camp’s court:

Nothing official has been announced by the promotion for UFC 222’s replacement main event, yet it appears something big is in the works.

Is a bantamweight title rematch the right fight to make? Does the UFC have another option?

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Five Ways The UFC Is Becoming More Like WWE

When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion. It may have been extremely rough around the edges in […]

The post Five Ways The UFC Is Becoming More Like WWE appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion.

It may have been extremely rough around the edges in those ‘dark’ days where the sport having few rules and regulation had it on the precipice of doom, but the opposite is very much true today. After the Fertitta brothers along with Dana White purchased the UFC for a paltry sum and turned it into a legitimately regulated competition watched on pay-per-view the world over, the UFC exploded into a global brand that put shows on nearly every weekend.

When its popularity peaked in 2016 on the heels of the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rivalry, the Fertitta brothers saw an opportunity to cash in, and cash in they did. Selling the UFC to Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG (now Endeavor) for a then-record $4.2 billion, one of the biggest franchise sales in sports (of any kind) history was complete. But all was not rosy. This year has seen the advent of some truly horrific pay-per-view and television ratings, with UFC 213, UFC 215, and UFC 216 ranking as three of the lowest-watched PPVs ever, while December’s TUF 26 Finale was the least-watched UFC live event of all-time.

So while it was undoubtedly rough around the edges in its infancy, the UFC is dealing with a whole different set of problems heading into 2018, and many would argue that the UFC owners don’t exactly know what they’re doing. A growing sense is that the Hollywood agency is now trying to book the more mainstream, over-the-top spectacle fights rather than those that clearly have a more legitimate meaning based on meritocracy.

It’s lead to a steady stream of criticism that the UFC is becoming more like pro-wrestling and their WWE counterpart, obviously not the most endearing of words from fight fans. The argument, unfortunately, cannot be totally denied. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:

Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire

5.) Titles Mean Next To Nothing:

Endeavor has to be commended for finally getting the middleweight division moving in the right direction by booking Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold for UFC 221, but there is one weight class that is an absolute mess in the UFC.

It’s obviously Conor McGregor’s held-hostage lightweight division, where “The Notorious” fought once and won the belt way back at UFC 205 in November 2016 before leaving to box – and lose – to Floyd Mayweather for the entirety of 2017. McGregor made the record-setting payday he was always looking for and can’t be blamed for doing it, but the fact remains the 155-pound landscape, which is still one of the most talented in MMA, has no clarity whatsoever at the current moment.

An interim belt was given to Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216, but without a path to a unification bout with McGregor, he opted to have elbow surgery, leaving not one but two champions on the sidelines with no real news about a return. Take into account the middleweight situation as well, where Michael Bisping was allowed to avoid the top 10 contenders by facing a retiring No. 14 Dan Henderson and an unretiring Georges St-Pierre, who had never even fought in the division. St-Pierre won and vacated the belt hardly a month later.

Interim titles are also created around much more frequently, making them seem more like the WWE titles that are handed over and won back on a never-ending cycle.

Because of these occurrences, UFC titles seem like little more than gold belts to be flaunted after a win rather than symbols of true MMA supremacy to be defended with pride.

The post Five Ways The UFC Is Becoming More Like WWE appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Five Ways The UFC Is Becoming More Like WWE

When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion. It may have been extremely rough around the edges in […]

The post Five Ways The UFC Is Becoming More Like WWE appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

When UFC 1 took place on a cold November night back in 1993 from McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, it ignited the beginning of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, fueled by the concept of the best fighting the best to call themselves champion.

It may have been extremely rough around the edges in those ‘dark’ days where the sport having few rules and regulation had it on the precipice of doom, but the opposite is very much true today. After the Fertitta brothers along with Dana White purchased the UFC for a paltry sum and turned it into a legitimately regulated competition watched on pay-per-view the world over, the UFC exploded into a global brand that put shows on nearly every weekend.

When its popularity peaked in 2016 on the heels of the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rivalry, the Fertitta brothers saw an opportunity to cash in, and cash in they did. Selling the UFC to Hollywood talent giant WME-IMG (now Endeavor) for a then-record $4.2 billion, one of the biggest franchise sales in sports (of any kind) history was complete. But all was not rosy. This year has seen the advent of some truly horrific pay-per-view and television ratings, with UFC 213, UFC 215, and UFC 216 ranking as three of the lowest-watched PPVs ever, while December’s TUF 26 Finale was the least-watched UFC live event of all-time.

So while it was undoubtedly rough around the edges in its infancy, the UFC is dealing with a whole different set of problems heading into 2018, and many would argue that the UFC owners don’t exactly know what they’re doing. A growing sense is that the Hollywood agency is now trying to book the more mainstream, over-the-top spectacle fights rather than those that clearly have a more legitimate meaning based on meritocracy.

It’s lead to a steady stream of criticism that the UFC is becoming more like pro-wrestling and their WWE counterpart, obviously not the most endearing of words from fight fans. The argument, unfortunately, cannot be totally denied. Let’s take a look at the reasons why:

Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire

5.) Titles Mean Next To Nothing:

Endeavor has to be commended for finally getting the middleweight division moving in the right direction by booking Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold for UFC 221, but there is one weight class that is an absolute mess in the UFC.

It’s obviously Conor McGregor’s held-hostage lightweight division, where “The Notorious” fought once and won the belt way back at UFC 205 in November 2016 before leaving to box – and lose – to Floyd Mayweather for the entirety of 2017. McGregor made the record-setting payday he was always looking for and can’t be blamed for doing it, but the fact remains the 155-pound landscape, which is still one of the most talented in MMA, has no clarity whatsoever at the current moment.

An interim belt was given to Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216, but without a path to a unification bout with McGregor, he opted to have elbow surgery, leaving not one but two champions on the sidelines with no real news about a return. Take into account the middleweight situation as well, where Michael Bisping was allowed to avoid the top 10 contenders by facing a retiring No. 14 Dan Henderson and an unretiring Georges St-Pierre, who had never even fought in the division. St-Pierre won and vacated the belt hardly a month later.

Interim titles are also created around much more frequently, making them seem more like the WWE titles that are handed over and won back on a never-ending cycle.

Because of these occurrences, UFC titles seem like little more than gold belts to be flaunted after a win rather than symbols of true MMA supremacy to be defended with pride.

The post Five Ways The UFC Is Becoming More Like WWE appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

TJ Dillashaw Says Cody Garbrandt Doesn’t Deserve A Rematch

After coming from behind to shocking finish Cody Garbrandt in the co-main event of last night’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, UFC bantamweight champion continued campaigning for his oft-rumored super fight with dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. It’s a potential bout that Dana White cautiously […]

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After coming from behind to shocking finish Cody Garbrandt in the co-main event of last night’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, UFC bantamweight champion continued campaigning for his oft-rumored super fight with dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

It’s a potential bout that Dana White cautiously wants to see how the fight performs on pay-per-view, and it would also go in line with the UFC’s trend of so-called “money fights,” if it could even be called that.

But one fighter is staunchly against that possibility, and that’s obviously Garbrandt. The former champ appeared to have former teammate and archrival Dillashaw in trouble at the very end of the first frame, rocking and wobbling him with some big shots. Dillashaw recovered in between rounds, however, and dropped Garbrandt with a head kick before finishing him with a huge shot and follow-up onslaught of ground and pound in the second round.

Their rivalry was one that lasted for quite some time, and “No Love” wants to run it back. Yet Dillashaw isn’t so enthusiastic about that possibility, noting at the UFC 217 post-fight press conference (via MMAFighting.com) that with only seven UFC fights, he’s still young in the promotion and had to work his way back up.

He referred to his example of when he lost the championship to all-time great former champion Dominick Cruz in a close split decision at UFC Fight Night 81 in January 2016 and had to win three fights to get another shot at the belt:

“I just finished him in the second round. He doesn’t deserve a rematch. He’s very new in this sport, he needs to work his way back up.

“I should’ve gotten a rematch after that (Dominick) Cruz fight (in Jan. 2016), a very close split decision that I thought I won, and I did not get it. It took me a year-and-a-half — well actually, almost two years — to get it. So yeah, I think he’s going to definitely (need to) build himself back up.”

Noah K. Murray for USA TODAY Sports

Although he unloaded a ton of personal insults including releasing an alleged knockout video, stating that Dillashaw ruined current TAM coach Chris Holdsworth’s MMA career, and claiming that he taught their team how to use performance-enhancing drugs, Garbrandt said that he respected Dillashaw as a fighter, but not as a person.

The newly-crowned champion said he also respects “No Love” as a fighter, but had lost a lot of his respect for the things he said in the months building up to the fight:

“I respect him as a fighter as well,” Dillashaw said. “I do not appreciate, me or my family — as you can see, my brother got very emotional after the fight — have not appreciated the accusations and just the crap talk, and trying to diminish my name and who I am. So, that’s one that I won’t ever forgive him for. But I do respect him for being a great competitor and I’m sure we’ll see him again. But yeah, he’s lost a lot of my respect. He’s lost all of the respect from my family.”

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