The UFC didn’t get its first wish on a next opponent for Carlos Condit. Now, Tyron Woodley will get his.
After UFC president Dana White initially balked at the idea of Condit vs. Woodley—joking that Woodley was bombarding him with text mess…
The UFC didn’t get its first wish on a next opponent for Carlos Condit. Now, TyronWoodley will get his.
After UFC president Dana White initially balked at the idea of Condit vs. Woodley—joking that Woodley was bombarding him with text messages on the subject—the fight company confirmed on Tuesday that the two welterweight contenders will indeed meet at UFC 171 in March.
“If Tyrone Woodley texts me one more time…” White joked on Saturday during the post-fight media scrum for UFC on FOX 9. “The guy can’t text me enough. I mean, I’m not kidding you, I’m not being a promoter here. He must’vetexted me 15 times a day, and then when this thing with Georges St-Pierre went down—boom—he wants every fight.”
After St-Pierre vacated his title and announced an indefinite leave from the UFC last Friday, White had designs on matching Condit in a second fight against Nick Diaz. Unfortunately, Diaz—who has also been retired since a loss to St-Pierre in March—turned down the fight.
The organization rolled Diaz’s reluctance into Woodley’s gain, as the former Strikeforce contender will now meet previous interim UFC champ Condit in Dallas on March 15. That card will also feature the bout between Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler to crown a new welterweight champion.
It’s likely that the winner of Condit-Woodley will be on a very short list of contenders up for the first crack at the new champion.
Condit (29-7) defeated Diaz to capture the interim title at UFC 143 last year. Most recently, he was booked to meet Matt Brown last weekend at UFC on Fox 9, until Brown dropped out with a back injury the week of the event.
After a three-year run in Strikeforce, Woodley (12-2) made his Octagon debut with a first-round knockout of Jay Hieron at UFC 156 in February. He lost his next fight to Jake Shields via controversial split decision, but rekindled his momentum with a KO of Josh Koscheck at UFC 167.
Now that he’s lined up in a high-stakes fight against Condit, score one for Woodley’s persistence.
During the GSP-retirishment™ conference call on Friday, UFC president Dana White mentioned that he was working on getting welterweight contender Carlos Condit a big fight for the UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler supporting card. As it turns out, White intended to book a rematch between Condit and currently-inactive star Nick Diaz — but Diaz turned it down.
According to an MMAJunkie report, White offered Diaz the fight in person at UFC on FOX 9, Saturday night in Sacramento. Diaz declined, saying he might return to competition in the spring, but only for a title fight.
“He doesn’t want the fight,” White told reporters following UFC on FOX 9. “I thought he wanted the rematch…but he’s not interested. He said maybe he’d be interested in coming back in May…He said, ‘I’ll fight the winner of Hendricks and Lawler.’ I said, ‘You’re ranked No. 10. It kind of doesn’t work that way.’”
“I’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” White continued. “Condit accepted the fight immediately, but I didn’t get it done (with Diaz)…Obviously the Diaz brothers are very unique individuals. You don’t pressure a guy who’s not interested in fighting. In this business, you’ve got to have the fire or you shouldn’t do it.”
(Photo via Getty)
During the GSP-retirishment™ conference call on Friday, UFC president Dana White mentioned that he was working on getting welterweight contender Carlos Condit a big fight for the UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler supporting card. As it turns out, White intended to book a rematch between Condit and currently-inactive star Nick Diaz — but Diaz turned it down.
According to an MMAJunkie report, White offered Diaz the fight in person at UFC on FOX 9, Saturday night in Sacramento. Diaz declined, saying he might return to competition in the spring, but only for a title fight.
“He doesn’t want the fight,” White told reporters following UFC on FOX 9. “I thought he wanted the rematch…but he’s not interested. He said maybe he’d be interested in coming back in May…He said, ‘I’ll fight the winner of Hendricks and Lawler.’ I said, ‘You’re ranked No. 10. It kind of doesn’t work that way.’”
“I’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” White continued. “Condit accepted the fight immediately, but I didn’t get it done (with Diaz)…Obviously the Diaz brothers are very unique individuals. You don’t pressure a guy who’s not interested in fighting. In this business, you’ve got to have the fire or you shouldn’t do it.”
As for Condit, he still doesn’t have his next opponent booked. All we know is that Condit won’t be fighting Tyron Woodley, because Woodley isn’t currently ranked in the UFC’s top 10, as if that means a goddamned thing.
(This is the closest thing to a photo of Jones and Teixeira in the same room that currently exists. Via IFWT.)
Look, we know it might seem trivial to complain about anything in the wake of Georges St. Pierre’s retirishment, but this is getting f*cking ridiculous.
MMAJunkie passes along word that Jones vs. Teixeira will now serve as the main event of UFC 172, which will transpire at the Baltimore Arena in April. No specific date for UFC 172 has been set as of this write up.
As of now, Jones vs. Teixeira is the only fight to be booked for UFC 172, so I don’t have much else to talk about, really. Did you guys hear that Iran sent its second monkey into space and back recently? Or that The Beatles are releasing 59 rare and unheard tracks next week? Crazy times, you guys. Crazy times.
(This is the closest thing to a photo of Jones and Teixeira in the same room that currently exists. Via IFWT.)
Look, we know it might seem trivial to complain about anything in the wake of Georges St. Pierre’s retirishment, but this is getting f*cking ridiculous.
MMAJunkie passes along word that Jones vs. Teixeira will now serve as the main event of UFC 172, which will transpire at the Baltimore Arena in April. No specific date for UFC 172 has been set as of this write up.
As of now, Jones vs. Teixeira is the only fight to be booked for UFC 172, so I don’t have much else to talk about, really. Did you guys hear that Iran sent its second monkey into space and back recently? Or that The Beatles are releasing 59 rare and unheard tracks next week? Crazy times, you guys. Crazy times.
(“Physically I am 100%, but mentally I cannot go through another training camp right now, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to.” / Photo via Getty)
Georges St-Pierre‘s impromptu conference call turned out to be incredibly significant after all. The UFC welterweight champion announced today that he is taking an indefinite break from MMA competition, and has vacated his welterweight title. As he explained during his opening statement on the call:
“I’ve been fighting for a long time at a very high level. It’s a lot of pressure, a lot of criticism, and I decided to take time off. The UFC is a business, they can’t wait for my little self. I vacate my title for the respect of the other competitors, and one day when I feel like it, I might come back.
“It’s a lot of pressure. Every fight, I’m carrying weight on my shoulder, and every fight you add weight on your shoulder, you add weight, and add weight, and add weight — it becomes so heavy that I can’t carry it myself. Physically I am 100%, but mentally I cannot go through another training camp right now, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to.”
When Yahoo! reporter Kevin Iole asked St-Pierre if concern about physical damage or head trauma factored into his decision, GSP repeated that his decision had nothing to do with that. “I need to have a normal life for a bit, and that’s it.”
“I believe that one day I will come back,” St-Pierre said later, “but I don’t know [when].”
St-Pierre’s competitive future has been a question mark ever since his controversial UFC 167 victory over Johny Hendricks. Following the win, an emotionally distracted St-Pierre made a vague statement about needing to go away for a while — which drew the immediate wrath of Dana White in the post-fight press-conference. But now that St-Pierre has given more closure to the situation, White is completely supportive.
“This is fighting, and you have to be 100% mentally, physically, and emotionally,” the UFC president explained. “If you’re not, you should wait on the sidelines until you get your stuff cleared up…He was classy enough to say, ‘I’m not going to jam up the 170-pound division while I deal with these things.’ He’s going to deal with his stuff and come back…He’s the greatest welterweight of all time, and he’s the gold standard in everything…I think this is the right move for Georges St-Pierre.”
(“Physically I am 100%, but mentally I cannot go through another training camp right now, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to.” / Photo via Getty)
Georges St-Pierre‘s impromptu conference call turned out to be incredibly significant after all. The UFC welterweight champion announced today that he is taking an indefinite break from MMA competition, and has vacated his welterweight title. As he explained during his opening statement on the call:
“I’ve been fighting for a long time at a very high level. It’s a lot of pressure, a lot of criticism, and I decided to take time off. The UFC is a business, they can’t wait for my little self. I vacate my title for the respect of the other competitors, and one day when I feel like it, I might come back.
“It’s a lot of pressure. Every fight, I’m carrying weight on my shoulder, and every fight you add weight on your shoulder, you add weight, and add weight, and add weight — it becomes so heavy that I can’t carry it myself. Physically I am 100%, but mentally I cannot go through another training camp right now, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to.”
When Yahoo! reporter Kevin Iole asked St-Pierre if concern about physical damage or head trauma factored into his decision, GSP repeated that his decision had nothing to do with that. “I need to have a normal life for a bit, and that’s it.”
“I believe that one day I will come back,” St-Pierre said later, “but I don’t know [when].”
St-Pierre’s competitive future has been a question mark ever since his controversial UFC 167 victory over Johny Hendricks. Following the win, an emotionally distracted St-Pierre made a vague statement about needing to go away for a while — which drew the immediate wrath of Dana White in the post-fight press-conference. But now that St-Pierre has given more closure to the situation, White is completely supportive.
“This is fighting, and you have to be 100% mentally, physically, and emotionally,” the UFC president explained. “If you’re not, you should wait on the sidelines until you get your stuff cleared up…He was classy enough to say, ‘I’m not going to jam up the 170-pound division while I deal with these things.’ He’s going to deal with his stuff and come back…He’s the greatest welterweight of all time, and he’s the gold standard in everything…I think this is the right move for Georges St-Pierre.”
St-Pierre also gave more insight into the daily pressures he felt as a UFC star:
“I’ve never been a victim. I choose to do this. But as much as I choose to do it, [now] I choose to not do it. [Fight] promotion, Primetime, the cameras, trash-talk, everywhere I go in restaurants [fans] talk to me about [fighting] all time, it’s completely insane. Right now I need to take a pause…My life, it’s a freakin’ zoo right now.”
Beyond that, GSP was tight-lipped about his future plans, or possible time-frame of return: “You’re not gonna get anything personal out of me, and that’s all.”
That might be all for him right now, but his absence from the UFC means that the welterweight division just got a boost of necessary excitement. After St-Pierre had exited the call, Dana White announced that UFC 171: Jones vs. Teixeira (March 15th, Dallas) would also feature Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler fighting for the UFC’s vacant welterweight title. [Update:Jones vs. Teixeira has been shifted to UFC 172 in April. Hendricks vs. Lawler will headline UFC 171.] White added that he’s trying to get Carlos Condit on the card as well, though not against the recently-injured Matt Brown. (“We’re going in a different direction,” White said when asked about Brown’s immediate future. Ugh. Tough break, Matt)
In frantic fight-promoter mode, White described Hendricks vs. Lawler as a “gunfight” and a “dogfight,” on the level of “Haglar vs. Hearns.”
So that’s pretty much where we’re at right now. Please pick your jaws up off the floor and tell us how you’re feeling in the comments section.
While the UFC is reeling from the loss of Georges St-Pierre, Dana White and Joe Silva already have a successor in mind. During today’s press conference, Dana White announced that Johny Hendricks will face off with Robbie Lawler to determine who will ta…
While the UFC is reeling from the loss of Georges St-Pierre, Dana White and Joe Silva already have a successor in mind. During today’s press conference, Dana White announced that Johny Hendricks will face off with Robbie Lawler to determine who will take over as welterweight champion.
The bout is booked for UFC 171 on March 15 in Dallas, Texas. The card was originally headlined by Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira, but the fight has been moved to UFC 172. Hendricks vs. Lawler will now serve as the main event.
Sorry I misspoke on the conf call. Hendricks vs Lawler will be main event in Dallas and Jones vs Teixeira will headline UFC 172
Hendricks getting attached to a fight for the vacant belt is no surprise. “Bigg Rigg” brought Georges St-Pierre to the brink of defeat before the now-former champion was awarded a surprising split decision win. Fans and media alike generally seemed to favor Hendricks, while Dana White minced no words in saying that he gave the decision to Hendricks at the post-fight press conference.
Lawler being his opponent, meanwhile, is an interesting choice. After an ugly run in Strikeforce as a middleweight, it was unclear if Lawler would even be accepted into the UFC when they began merging the two promotions. However, he has since surged back into contention at 170 pounds, with back-to-back knockout victories over Josh Koscheck and Bobby Voelker, topped off most recently be a decision win over Rory MacDonald.
The fight is absolutely mouth-watering for fans. Both Lawler and Hendricks are known for their gun-slinging fighting style and knockout power, which will almost certainly translate into an exciting bout.
In addition to this news, White dropped the hint that former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit may also be booked to fight at UFC 171. Condit was previously scheduled to face Matt Brown at UFC on Fox 9, but the fight was scuttled after Brown withdrew with an injury. While details remain scarce, White implied that it was a title-relevant bout and would not come against Brown.
Stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available.
Diego Sanchez wanted to keep things moving in the new year, and it didn’t take long for the the UFC to line him up something exciting.
On Wednesday the organization announced on UFC Tonight that the former title challenger had recently signed an eight-…
Diego Sanchez wanted to keep things moving in the new year, and it didn’t take long for the the UFC to line him up something exciting.
On Wednesday the organization announced on UFC Tonight that the former title challenger had recently signed an eight-fight and was looking to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 171 in Dallas. While a return on March 15 was speculated, there was no talk of who he could potentially face on that card, and questions swirled around which fighters “The Dream” would scrap it out with in his next showing.
Those questions were answered on Thursday when the UFC announced via Twitter that a fight between the 31-year-old Jackson’s MMA fighter and Myles Jury had been made official for UFC 171.
The lightweight scrap is the latest high-profile tilt to be announced as the Dallas card begins to take shape. The event will also feature a welterweight tilt between Hector Lombard and Jake Shields in addition to the championship main event where pound-for-pound great Jon Jones puts his light heavyweight strap on the line against Brazilian powerhouse Glover Teixeira.
The matchup between Sanchez and Jury will feature one of the division’s grittiest veterans against one of the brightest prospects at 155-pounds. The 25-year-old Team Alliance fighter has found victory in all 13 of his professional bouts, including all four of his showings under the UFC banner. Where his first three wins inside the Octagon garnered praise and acclaim, his most recent win over Tristar product Mike Ricci at UFC 165 in September was panned for its lack of excitement.
He won’t have to worry about that aspect of the fight when facing Sanchez because that element is almost a certainty any time the New Mexico native steps inside the cage. That was certainly the case in his most recent bout against Gilbert Melendez at UFC 166 back in October as the two Mexican-American lightweights put on a “Fight of the Year” worthy battle over the course of the 15-minute affair. Where Melendez’s hand was raised at the end of the fight, Sanchez’s performance certainly proved he’s back to his hard-charging, forward pressure-based style.
While the fireworks in Houston certainly put Sanchez back on the map in the highly competitive lightweight division, he will be entering the bout with Jury with his back against the wall. The veteran has lost two of his last three showings and can ill-afford another setback if he hopes to remain in the upper-tier of the division.
On the other side of the coin, Jury will come into the bout looking to keep his undefeated record intact. A victory over an established name like Sanchez would certainly bolster his stock in the lightweight picture.
The UFC didn’t get its first wish on a next opponent for Carlos Condit. Now, Tyron Woodley will get his.
