Tag: UFC 205

Poll: Are You Sick Of ‘Money Fights’ Yet?

Recently, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has seen a massive uptick in top fighters calling for so-called ‘money fights’ in their next bout rather than the fight that makes the most sense from a rankings and/or merit standpoint. The term rose to extreme prominence in early 2016, when current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor began

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Recently, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has seen a massive uptick in top fighters calling for so-called ‘money fights’ in their next bout rather than the fight that makes the most sense from a rankings and/or merit standpoint.

The term rose to extreme prominence in early 2016, when current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor began throwing about his now-infamous ‘moneyweight’ comment about his fight with late replacement Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 196, a fight McGregor would actually suffer his first UFC loss in. But ‘money fights’ were here to stay, and McGregor only added fuel to that fire when he took on Eddie Alvarez to win his second UFC championship at November 2016’s UFC 205.

The upper echelons of the UFC roster – who are solid drawing fighters in their own right but nowhere near McGregor – justifiably see what ‘The Notorious’ is pulling in each fight, and that coupled with the UFC’s recent sale to Hollywood giant WME-IMG for a staggering $4.2 billion has them understandably wanting to be paid like top athletes. But the problem is, not as many want to see some of these so-called ‘money fights’ even close to as much as they’d want to see any fight with McGregor.

Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley began calling for a huge payday literally minutes after he knocked out Robbie Lawler to win the title last August, pegging Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz as his prospective big draw opponents. When he was instead scheduled to face Stephen Thompson at UFC 205 and fought “Wonderboy” to a draw, Woodley then began putting out the feelers for a ‘money fight’ with middleweight champion Michael Bisping. The term has also been used by newly-crowned bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, who wants to face featherweight champion Jose Aldo, and by Rose Namajunas for her desired match with surging contender Michelle Waterson.

Those are big fights, but they just aren’t bouts on the level of a true ‘money fight’ headlined by McGregor, and overall some of of these champions will just have to start defending their belts rather than calling their shots for potentially huge paydays. That’s not to say some kind of super fight, such as a long-rumored GSP vs. Anderson Silva bout, wouldn’t be good for the sport in a barren schedule of early 2017 bouts lacking a true feature attraction.

What do you think – is all the ‘money fight’ talk getting old, or do you understand the fighters’ points of view?

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Watch: Frankie Edgar’s Hilarious Post-Surgery Video

Frankie Edgar wanted to get back into the Octagon as soon as possible, but unfortunately for the former 155-pound UFC champ he had to undergo groin surgery to repair a nagging injury. Edgar’s last Octagon appearance saw him take home a unanimous decision win over No. 5-ranked featherweight Jeremy Stephens at UFC 205 from Madison

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Frankie Edgar wanted to get back into the Octagon as soon as possible, but unfortunately for the former 155-pound UFC champ he had to undergo groin surgery to repair a nagging injury.

Edgar’s last Octagon appearance saw him take home a unanimous decision win over No. 5-ranked featherweight Jeremy Stephens at UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden, earning himself another notch in the win column after his lopsided defeat by current undisputed featherweight champion Jose Aldo in July.

Prior to his loss to Aldo at UFC 200; ‘The Answer’ racked up an impressive five-fight win streak over names such as BJ Penn, Cub Swanson, Urijah Faber, and Chad Mendes. The string of wins over the cream of the crop in which the 145-pound division has to offer, solidified Edgar as one of the premiere challengers the featherweight division can offer.

Now after fixing an injury that has been bothering him since his fight with Stephens, it could only be a matter of time before we witness Edgar return to the Octagon and propel himself into title contention once again.

Although his attempts to get on the UFC’s upcoming card from Brooklyn, New York proved to be unsuccessful, the former lightweight champ is confident he’ll be back in action in no time at all. Edgar took to Instagram to share a hilarious post-surgery video, which you can check out here below:

“Groin surgery was a success. Was trying to get on the Brooklyn card but couldn’t get the deal done. So took care of a nagging injury. Shouldn’t be out to long! #AnesthesiaGotMeLikeWhoa“

Who would you like to see ‘The Answer’ throw-down with next?

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Floyd Mayweather: Conor McGregor Doesn’t Deserve $100 Million Payday

The heat between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. continues to resonate, as both men are persistently fueling the rumors that the two will eventually meet in a combat sports superfight inside a boxing ring soon. Mayweather has been retired from the squared circle since achieving an incredible record of 49-0

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The heat between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. continues to resonate, as both men are persistently fueling the rumors that the two will eventually meet in a combat sports superfight inside a boxing ring soon.

Mayweather has been retired from the squared circle since achieving an incredible record of 49-0 after his 2015 unanimous decision win over Andre Berto, and has stated he is reluctant to return to fighting unless it’s for a crack at the heavy-handed Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) star.

During a recent interview with ESPN, Mayweather said he’ll offer ‘Notorious’ as high as a $15 million payday to fight, but doesn’t think the 155-pound UFC champ is worth more than that:

“We tried to make the Conor McGregor fight. They know what my number is,” Mayweather said. “My number was a guaranteed $100 million, that was my number. We’re the ‘A’ side and I don’t really know how much money Conor McGregor has made. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t even made $10 million in a MMA bout.

“But we are willing to give him $15 million and then we can talk about splitting the percentage, the back end percentage on pay-per-view. But of course, we’re the ‘A’ side. How can a guy talk about $20 or $30 million if he’s never made $8 or $9 million?”

Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Mayweather would go on to reiterate what he’s said countless times before; the only fight that interests him and would force him out of retirement is a slugfest with ‘Mystic Mac’ because it would generate the most pay-per-view (PPV) numbers:

“I’m saying right here on this show, Conor McGregor keeps telling everybody he wants the fight — let’s make it happen,” Mayweather said. “Only thing that I’m probably interested in is the Conor McGregor fight,” Mayweather said. “I’m a businessman and it makes the most business sense, I think.”

Both men continue to exchange barbs in the media, and combat sports fans continue to wonder if this potentially lucrative superfight will ever happen. If ‘Money’ and ‘The Notorious One’ can find their way to a boxing bout on PPV, it could certainly be the biggest sporting spectacle of our time.

You can check out Mayweather’s interview with ESPN here:

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If Tyron Woodley Can Beat “Wonderboy”, Will The People Accept Him As Their Champ?

To put it bluntly, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley rubs people the wrong way. Whether it’s for lack of personality, big money fight call outs, or playing the race card, for some reason or another he hasn’t exactly been a big smash hit with the fans. Until now…maybe?

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Tough Crowd

To put it concisely, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley rubs people the wrong way. Whether it’s for lack of personality, big money fight call outs, or playing the race card, for some reason or another he hasn’t exactly been a big smash hit with the fans. Until now…maybe?

One of the biggest critique of Tyron Woodley is that he’s been ducking fights. He recently fought the much touted Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to a majority draw at UFC 205. While it didn’t settle much on the scorecard – it did show that he could bang with the karate phenom, almost finishing him in Rd 4 . Now it seems after failed negotiations for a super fight with middleweight champ Michael Bisping, the two will meet again at UFC 209.

In a recent episode on his podcast “The Morning Wood”, he revealed that him and Wonderboy would again be sharing the octagon on March 4th.

“March 4th, UFC 209 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at what I believe to be the T-Mobile Center, you will see ‘Wonderboy’ get the worst ass-whooping of his life,” Woodley said. “And hopefully all of his fans and all of his over-entitlement deceases at that moment and we can do a eulogy for it.”

“From this point forward, I’m going to commit to taking this dude out in the most embarrassing and worst fashion,” Woodley said. “And with that said, that last fight is in the dust. I ain’t going to cry over spilled milk. I ain’t going to cry over what round, who did what, where, when, where. That fight is in the dust. It’s done, it’s over with.

“This is a new fight, the most important fight of my life, not only to just continue to be the champion and to keep my belt — I can’t allow myself to lose to him and what he stands for and what his fans stand for, and this overly-entitled group of individuals who are in mixed martial arts. I can’t let myself lose to that. So with that said, let’s get to work and let’s get this party on the go.”

So the real question is – even if he beats Wonderboy in March, will people finally accept Tyron Woodley as their champ? Probably not. Let’s face it, the fans want to see him lose. That’s why they’re going to hail whoever he fights next as the person to dethrone him. Don’t get me wrong, Demian Maia and Donald Cerrone are absolute beasts and could very well do the job if Wonderboy can’t take care of business, but I think it’s the case that most fans just can’t connect with the welterweight champ.

To a certain degree he reminds me of Dominick Cruz. Before he was a fan favorite, he was a guy that wasn’t very much liked. “The California Kid” Urijah Faber was definitely the more popular of the two with his surfer vibe and coloquios attitude. Cruz was a bit more serious, more introverted, more in his head. His turning point really happened after his injury, he became one of the best analyst in the game, and started to inspire people with his never say die attitude. His under 2 minute K.O. of Takeya Mizugaki didn’t hurt either.

In my assessment, Woodley will have to keep that belt for a long time for people to really come round to him. At the end of the day you can’t deny someone who keeps on winning (insert Floyd Mayweather exception here).

What do you guys think of the welterweight champ, and how do you think he can turn things around?

 

Lionel Harris-Spence is a writer, filmmaker, and functioning alcoholic. You can catch him screaming obscenities at flat screens on fight night.

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Amanda Nunes: I Want To Make UFC History Like Conor McGregor

Coming off of the biggest win of her professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is looking to capitalize off the momentum of her 48-second knockout win over Ronda Rousey in hopes of making UFC history. With the addition of the new female 145-pound weight class by the UFC, Nunes

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Coming off of the biggest win of her professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is looking to capitalize off the momentum of her 48-second knockout win over Ronda Rousey in hopes of making UFC history.

With the addition of the new female 145-pound weight class by the UFC, Nunes tells TMZ Sports (via FOX Sports) that she’s looking to make history inside the Octagon, similar to what Conor McGregor did at UFC 205, by becoming the first female dual-weight champion in the promotion’s history:

“Honestly, I want to take a little time, enjoy it a little bit but I really look forward to this 145-pound belt,” Nunes said.“Maybe I’ll go up to fight for the 145-pound belt. We’ll see. Maybe I’m going to have two belts like Conor McGregor.”

McGregor once reigned as the UFC’s featherweight champion before challenging then-lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez for the 155-pound strap in the main event of UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden, in which he secured a second round knockout win to become the first dual-weight champion in UFC history. Now Nunes is looking to use that blueprint to make championship history of her own, by attempting to hold the women’s bantamweight and featherweight titles consecutively in the near future.

The inaugural featherweight title will be contested for between former UFC 135-pound champ Holly Holm and No 10-ranked bantamweight Germaine de Randamie in the main event of UFC 208 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. If Nunes could potentially secure a bout with the winner of that contest, she could get her chance at achieving female MMA greatness.

Do you think Nunes is deserving of the opportunity to make women’s history in the UFC?

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Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson Interim Title Bout Rumored For UFC 209

The next UFC lightweight title bout is rumored to be set for March’s UFC 209, and once again it could be an interim with current 155-pound champion Conor McGregor on the sidelines to welcome his first child. This morning Bloody Elbow’s Karim Zidan reported that Russian news outlet investia.ru was reporting undefeated Russian star Khabib Nurmagomedov

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The next UFC lightweight title bout is rumored to be set for March’s UFC 209, and once again it could be an interim with current 155-pound champion Conor McGregor on the sidelines to welcome his first child.

This morning Bloody Elbow’s Karim Zidan reported that Russian news outlet investia.ru was reporting undefeated Russian star Khabib Nurmagomedov will meet surging rival Tony Ferguson for the interim title:

The bout makes sense considering the current status of the champion, as “The Eagle” and “El Cucuy” have been oft-scheduled to face one another before, most recently at April’s UFC on FOX 19 before Ferguson was forced out with an injury. The feared Dagestani grappler returned from a lengthy injury layoff of his own to defeat late replacement Darrell Horcher at the event before dominating top-ranked Michael Johnson at November’s UFC 205.

Ferguson, meanwhile, has been on an absolute tear as of late, imitating Max Holloway’s recent run to merely an interim title shot by winning nine straight fights, the latest an exciting decision win over former champ Rafael dos Anjos at November’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF): Latin America 3 Finale. Rising to the top after winning TUF 13 as a member of Brock Lesnar’s team in 2011, Ferguson has often mixed it up with both Nurmagomedov and the media as of late.

Dana White has teased a UFC event in Russia recently, but it would seem that could be some time away with Nurmagomedov rumored to be facing Ferguson for the interim belt in Vegas this March.

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