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Archives: Esparza & J?drzejczyk Offended By Fedor’s Comments (2015)

The UFC 185 co-headliners sound off on Fedor’s recent comments.

Continue Reading Archives: Esparza & J?drzejczyk Offended By Fedor’s Comments (2015) at MMA News.

Months ago, Khabib Nurmagomedov made headlines after implying that women’s mixed martial arts is inferior to men’s mixed martial arts. Specifically, Khabib used Julianna Peña’s victory over Amanda Nunes at UFC 269 as an example in support of his claim and, unsurprisingly, Peña took issue with these remarks.

Seven years ago, another Russian MMA legend, Fedor Emelianenko, made very similar remarks. And then-champion Carla Esparza as well as Joanna J?drzejczyk both were offended, not unlike Julianna Peña years later.

The following article was published on this day seven years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.

On This Day Seven Years Ago…

[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH 12, 2015, 1:48 PM]

At the UFC 185 open workouts on Wednesday, UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza and number one contender Joanna J?drzejczyk took exception to recent comments made by MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko.

During a recent WHOA TV interview, the former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko controversially stated that he felt MMA is a man’s sport, adding that women have no business fighting in MMA.

Esparza and J?drzejczyk, who compete in the co-main event this Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, disagree.

“I like him so much and he’s a living legend,” J?drzejczyk said. “But I think we can do a pretty good job, you know? I think it’s not right. We can fight good, we can bring the audience and we can make the show better. That’s all.”

“Facts speak for themselves,” Esparza agreed. “He’s one of the greats. I have nothing against him. Maybe we differ a little bit in opinion. You know, I think Ronda and the crowd she brought in to LA, the proof is in the pudding. It shows right there.”

Esparza continued, “I think female MMA is basically the biggest female sport out there right now. We’re being put on the same stage as the guys, and obviously, Ronda is headlining even above all the guys. It just goes to show, we’re on top right now.”

“Some people are always going to feel the way they feel. But I think day-by-day, fight-by-fight, I’m hearing those whispers a lot less than I used to I think if we go out there and keep showing that we have skills, that we have heart — I feel like a lot of times girls bring it even more than the guys just with their tenacity and they’re just non-stop. That’s why it is where it is right now because they keep proving themselves.”

Esparza concluded, “We’re legit and we’re here to stay. Nothing is going to stop this momentum that’s been going with the women.”

What do you think about Fedor’s comments about WMMA?

Continue Reading Archives: Esparza & J?drzejczyk Offended By Fedor’s Comments (2015) at MMA News.

Former UFC Champ Selling Harley To Make Ends Meet

It seems as though former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza is in a bit of financial trouble. The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 (TUF 20) winner announced via Instagram that she is selling the 2015 Harley-Davidson motorcycle that she won from the show in order to ‘make ends meet’, as she only has enough money to pay

The post Former UFC Champ Selling Harley To Make Ends Meet appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It seems as though former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza is in a bit of financial trouble.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 (TUF 20) winner announced via Instagram that she is selling the 2015 Harley-Davidson motorcycle that she won from the show in order to ‘make ends meet’, as she only has enough money to pay two months worth of bills.

If anyone is interested, I am selling my 2015 Harley Breakout that I won on The Ultimate Fighter 20 "A Champion Will be Crowned". Brand new (bc of my shoulder surgery), purchase price was $19,799. Going with highest bid OBO. It's very unfortunate that I am selling this bike not because I want to, but because I HAVE to in order to make ends meet. After having a year off from shoulder surgery (injury obtained at UFC 185), taking a short notice fight, and then 8 months since that fight, I literally have enough in my bank account to pay for 2 more months of bills. I need to fight and have been asking for a fight for so long, multiple times a week. I know I can make my run again but I also know that after being off for so long that I'm not ready to fight a title contention fight right away and all I'm being offered is the #1 contender (whom I've accepted and been scheduled to fight 2x in the past). I'm 100% down for that fight. I just asked for just one non-title contention fight with an actual camp after having so much time off from injury and the result is being benched for 8 months and still no word of a fight, not even a whisper. I'm at a loss of what to do. When I make my run, my intention is to WIN not because I'm being forced to when I'm not ready. Just frustrated and sad if anyone is interested in buying my Harley or knows someone that might please contact me at [email protected]

A photo posted by Carla (@carlaesparza1) on Dec 2, 2016 at 7:30am PST

If anyone is interested, I am selling my 2015 Harley Breakout that I won on The Ultimate Fighter 20 “A Champion Will be Crowned”. Brand new (bc of my shoulder surgery), purchase price was $19,799. Going with highest bid OBO.
It’s very unfortunate that I am selling this bike not because I want to, but because I HAVE to in order to make ends meet. After having a year off from shoulder surgery (injury obtained at UFC 185), taking a short notice fight, and then 8 months since that fight, I literally have enough in my bank account to pay for 2 more months of bills.

I need to fight and have been asking for a fight for so long, multiple times a week. I know I can make my run again but I also know that after being off for so long that I’m not ready to fight a title contention fight right away and all I’m being offered is the #1 contender (whom I’ve accepted and been scheduled to fight 2x in the past). I’m 100% down for that fight. I just asked for just one non-title contention fight with an actual camp after having so much time off from injury and the result is being benched for 8 months and still no word of a fight, not even a whisper. I’m at a loss of what to do. When I make my run, my intention is to WIN not because I’m being forced to when I’m not ready.
Just frustrated and sad if anyone is interested in buying my Harley or knows someone that might please contact me at [email protected]

The inaugural UFC strawweight champion lost her title to the now-champ Joanna J?drzejczyk back in March of 2015 via a brutal second round knockout, and made her return to the Octagon with a dominant unanimous decision win over Julianna Lima at UFC 197 this past April.

With the former UFC champ’s current financial struggles now getting worse, Esparza is desperate to get back inside the Octagon to collect another paycheck.

The post Former UFC Champ Selling Harley To Make Ends Meet appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The UFC Gambled Big, Lost Big With Cain Velasquez & Anthony Pettis

Today the MMA world is still digesting the fallout of this week’s unfortunate news that former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was forced out of his UFC 196 rematch with Fabricio Werdum due to a back injury, although it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point. Werdum was originally slated to face No.

The post The UFC Gambled Big, Lost Big With Cain Velasquez & Anthony Pettis appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Werdum was originally slated to face No. 2-ranked late replacement Stipe Miocic for the interim belt, but that bout also fell apart yesterday afternoon when ‘Vai Cavalo’ bowed out with another back injury after stating he would have fought through it in order to face Velasquez. Regardless of that tenuous situation, it was obviously the former champ that set this ultimately messy windfall into motion.

Long thought to be the UFC’s meal ticket to the largely untapped but fight-crazed Latin American market, Velasquez was forced out of yet another high-profile pay-per-view title fight, calling his career into question while simultaneously doing the same thing for the UFC’s insistence to basically let the entire direction of the heavyweight division be dictated by the frequently injured fighter’s scant availability.

It’s also called into question the training practices at Velasquez’ heralded American Kickboxing Academy (AKA); at least even more so than the already intense scrutiny they’ve had to absorb after both Velasquez and absent lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov have missed a huge chunk of their prime due to injuries supposedly suffered because of AKA’s rough-and-tumble training methods.

Whatever the reason, the UFC gambled big on Velasquez, and he isn’t the first expectedly marketable former champion that they’ve done this with to devastating results.

The promotion also has egg on its face in the huge hype and promotion of former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, another oft-injured and unreliable ‘superstar’ that gained his reputation in no small part thanks to one highlight reel move that will forever be etched into MMA history – his ‘Showtime Kick’ on Benson Henderson that helped him win the WEC title back in 2010.

While the obviously talented, handsome, articulated, and flashy ‘Showtime’ undoubtedly had many of the pieces to become a unique superstar in the UFC, ultimately he has, to this point, proved to be both injury prone and ineffective against the smothering wrestlers populating his division, and that’s lead to another absence of payoff in another proposed star that just didn’t pan out.

And the UFC could have avoided both of those scenarios, but this is what happens when you put too many of your proverbial eggs in one (or two) baskets. Let’s take a look at where things went wrong for Dana White and company, starting with the case of Velasquez….

The post The UFC Gambled Big, Lost Big With Cain Velasquez & Anthony Pettis appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Alistair Overeem: Roy Nelson, His Turnaround and What’s Next

Coming off of his victory over Roy Nelson at UFC 185 last month, Alistair Overeem took some time off to relax and recuperate from the slight damage he sustained in the fight. Overeem spoke with Bleacher Report after his vacation in Puerto Rico:
&…

Bleacher Report: You knew that Roy Nelson had a tough chin going into the fight. What did you do to prepare for that?

Alistair Overeem: To be honest, I was certain I was going to knock him out in the first two rounds. Training was excellent. I finished everyone in sparring. I felt really sharp and fast.

B/R: What was going through your mind when you saw him eat your toughest shots?

AO: I thought he was tough. But I had a little voice that was talking to me before I was walking out to the Octagon. It told me that this is the UFC, everyone in the organization is tough, and that you shouldn’t be surprised if the guy survives your barrage.

Everybody comes with a game plan, everybody wants to win. He might not go down. It’s the mindset that kept me going through the fight.

B/R: During the fight, did you realize that you broke his ribs or that he broke his hand?

AO: I believe he broke it in the second or third round. There was a moment where he was rushing me and then he stopped punching me after awhile. I got banged up from banging him up.

I noticed that I hurt him a couple of times. He is a guy that just wants to come forward and establish his dominance. When he was stumbling back a little bit, that’s when I knew I had him.

Props to Roy Nelson, because he remained dangerous ’til the very end. He caught me at the end of the third round. Throughout the fight, I felt that he was dangerous. He was waiting to capitalize on a mistake and hit me with those heavy hands.

B/R: Are you happy with your performance?

AO: Yes. Very happy. I won the fight. People can’t say I didn’t try to knock him out. I destroyed his legs, threw knees to his solar plexus. I’m surprised he survived all of that.

B/R: What do you think you have to improve on before you go after the belt?

AO: I don’t want to walk ahead. I still need to get one or two more wins before I can talk about getting a title shot. It’s closer than it was six months ago.

B/R: You have bounced back after your loss to Ben Rothwell by finally stringing together two wins in a row. Explain the turnaround.

AO: I felt good leading up to the [Rothwell] fight. I broke his arm with a kick and then I got caught. Bad luck? I would say so. I still see myself beating him nine out of 10 times.

But if you go back to the Frank Mir fight, it was a flawless victory. I had 139 hits to his five hits.

I’ve bounced back before, and the Rothwell fight was just a slip-up.

B/R: Who do you have in the Cain Velasquez-Fabricio Werdum matchup?

AO: It’s hard to say. I think that fight would be 50/50. Before I would root for Cain, but I think Werdum is a tricky fighter. He’s good on his feet, on the ground. He hasn’t lost a fight since I beat him in 2011. Werdum has made amazing progress.

Cain is an amazing fighter. However, he has not been active for a while, so it’s hard to say how he’ll come back after everything he’s been through. It’s going to be an exciting fight for sure.

B/R: How would you prepare yourself for a matchup against either fighter? Do you have a preference on who you’d rather fight?

AO: No preference. I focus more on just getting my next camp in order. Just to keep all the pieces of the puzzle together.

B/R: Junior Dos Santos’ name has been thrown out as someone who could be your next opponent. What are your thoughts on that?

AO: I could see that fight happening at this point. We’re both not scheduled to fight anyone. I’ve been cautious in calling out anyone because I want to recover my injuries from the Roy Nelson fight first.

B/R: What injuries do you have to take care of?

AO: The Roy Nelson fight was a tough fight. My ankles are a little bruised. My right foot was damaged, but fortunately, there’s nothing broken.

However, I’m in Holland taking care of some dental work, but I feel almost to the point where we can start thinking and talking about the next fight.

I’m aiming to fight again in July or August, but I will wait to talk to the UFC until after my dental work is finished.

B/R: I know you had some animosity toward Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in the past. Do you still have some beef toward him?

AO: I wish him all the luck. He’s got a very big fight coming up. His development has been very spectacular.

B/R: Who do you have in the fight between him and Jon Jones?

AO: It can go either way. It’s hard to say. I would say if it ends early, it’ll go to Rumble. However, if it goes past the second round, I’ll go for Jones.

All quotes were obtained firsthand, via interview, unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 185 Drugs Tests Come Back Clean for All Fighters

The UFC 185 post-fight drug-test results are in, and every fighter came up clean.
Lately, these reports have brought doom, as welterweight contender Hector Lombard popped hot after his Jan. 3 bout at UFC 182 and both UFC 183 main event combatants…

The UFC 185 post-fight drug-test results are in, and every fighter came up clean.

Lately, these reports have brought doom, as welterweight contender Hector Lombard popped hot after his Jan. 3 bout at UFC 182 and both UFC 183 main event combatants—Anderson “The Spider” Silva and Nick Diaz—failed their post-fight drug tests, the former for performance-enhancing drugs and the latter for marijuana.

While MMAFighting.com’s Marc Raimondi put any doubt to rest on Monday by reporting that all of the UFC 185 competitors passed their drug tests, there was serious doubt immediately after the show.

In the night’s main event, lightweight title challenger Rafael dos Anjos performed perfectly, battering former champ Anthony “Showtime” Pettis from bell to bell by utilizing a well-rounded, powerful and aggressive attack.

Showtime looked invincible going into the fight, and dos Anjos completely manhandled him.

It was a star-making performance, and in the eyes of some fans and critics, dos Anjos‘ showing was a little too good.

It’s a shame we have to go there, but that’s the reality of the UFC right now. Fighters are getting caught using steroids, and one fighter’s misstep casts a shadow on everyone else.

That’s just how it is.

The UFC, to its credit, recently announced stricter testing procedures and harsher penalties for offenders, a solid step in the right direction for snuffing out this issue once and for all.

For now, though, we can breathe easy knowing that everyone at UFC 185 played by the rules.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 185 Drugs Tests Come Back Clean for All Fighters

The UFC 185 post-fight drug-test results are in, and every fighter came up clean.

While MMAFighting.com’s Marc Raimondi put any doubt to rest on Monday by reporting that all of the UFC 185 competitors passed their drug tests, there was serious doubt immediately after the show.

Showtime looked invincible going into the fight, and dos Anjos completely manhandled him.

It was a star-making performance, and in the eyes of some fans and critics, dos Anjos‘ showing was a little too good.

It’s a shame we have to go there, but that’s the reality of the UFC right now. Fighters are getting caught using steroids, and one fighter’s misstep casts a shadow on everyone else.

That’s just how it is.

The UFC, to its credit, recently announced stricter testing procedures and harsher penalties for offenders, a solid step in the right direction for snuffing out this issue once and for all.

For now, though, we can breathe easy knowing that everyone at UFC 185 played by the rules.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com