Tag: UFC 205

Tyron Woodley Reacts To Interim Title Bout Rumors

Some surprising news surfaced in mixed martial arts (MMA) yesterday (Thurs., March 22, 2018) when a report arrived the UFC was targeting an interim welterweight title bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington at May’s UFC 224 from Rio de Janeiro. Upon second glance, it may not be all that surprising considering the UFC’s […]

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Some surprising news surfaced in mixed martial arts (MMA) yesterday (Thurs., March 22, 2018) when a report arrived the UFC was targeting an interim welterweight title bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington at May’s UFC 224 from Rio de Janeiro.

Upon second glance, it may not be all that surprising considering the UFC’s extreme focus on interim title fights over the past year-and-a-half or so, but the timing was a bit odd because divisional champ Tyron Woodley, although on the sidelines since last July with a shoulder injury, was planning to return this summer.

So the outspoken 170-pound champ not surprisingly spoke up on the situation on this week’s episode of UFC Tonight (via MMA Weekly), detailing his recovery and projecting a July return:

“I feel really good. I had surgery in December. I had two series of PRP, as well as stem cell injections to my shoulder. I have one more series in April. After that, I’ll be in training camp.

“I fought four world title fights in 12 months, if anybody deserves to heal and be back at 100 percent (it’s me). I will be back when it’s time for Tyron Woodley to be back.

“My projection is July. The doctors are telling me that. I’m feeling good about it. I’m healing up very well. I’m back to training again. After I do that third series of PRP and stem cells, I’m gonna be 100 percent. Somebody is getting hurt.”

With Woodley predicting he’d be back in three months, he predictably scoffed at the prospect of an interim title being made after he had fought so often the year prior:

Woodley is on the mend, but his next fight is unknown in terms of date and opponent. He urged everyone to be a little patient with him, insisting that the top-ranked combatants in the deeply talented welterweight division would all get sent packing one by one.

He believes it’s an exciting time for the weight class, with surging names like dos Anjos and Convington joining rising contenders like Darren Till and Kamaru Usman stirring things up on social media, even if Woodley believes they ultimately don’t really want to face his jaw-dropping power:

“Everybody is gonna get it. It doesn’t matter. It’s just a matter of when. At the end of the day, every welterweight that wants to be at the top is gonna have to see me at some point,” Woodley said when asked about who is next for him.

“I could fight (Rafael Dos Anjos), I could fight Colby (Covington), I could fight (Kamaru) Usman, I could fight Darren Till. It’s a good time for the sport because I’ve got the red dot on me, but to be honest, I don’t think any of these guys want to see me. I’ve already beat the toughest guys in the division. I’m the champion for a reason. I got here the old school way,” he continued.

“They are doing what they are supposed to. They’re supposed to want to fight me. They’re supposed to want to be the UFC champion, but it’s not gonna happen.”

‘The Chosen One’ is correct in his suggestion that the welterweight division is buzzing with top contenders and talent at the present moment, but the issue is all of them are just talking about fighting each other instead of actually sorting out the mess at the top.

With dos Anjos rumored to face Covington in Brazil and Till supposedly headlining UFC Liverpool against former title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, the division should get some much-needed direction in the somewhat near future.

If and when it does, the returning ruler will hopefully have his next rival.

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Rumor: Interim Welterweight Title Bout Targeted For UFC 224

With welterweight champion Tyron Woodley on the sidelines, the 170-pound division could move on with an interim title match very soon. And it may contain two very high-profile contenders. A report surfaced earlier today from BJ Penn’s Chris Taylor detailing that multiple sources have confirmed to him a Rafael dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington interim […]

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With welterweight champion Tyron Woodley on the sidelines, the 170-pound division could move on with an interim title match very soon.

And it may contain two very high-profile contenders.

A report surfaced earlier today from BJ Penn’s Chris Taylor detailing that multiple sources have confirmed to him a Rafael dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington interim title fight is in the works for May 12’s UFC 224 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Although not finalized, it is reportedly expected to be soon:

Dos Anjos has appeared reinvented at welterweight after ditching the draining weight cut at his former home of 155 pounds, a division where he became the UFC champion but ultimately decided to move up following two consecutive losses to Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson.

He’s been on a tear ever since, most recently taking out former 170-pound champion Robbie Lawler after wins against Neil Magny and Tarec Saffiedine.

Covington, on the other hand, has become MMA’s public enemy number one after calling out a large portion of the UFC roster whether they fight at 170 or not.

The brash, Brazil-blasting contender has won five straight fights in a row with his most recent a unanimous decision over Brazilian fan favorite Demian Maia last October, a fight after which he called the Sao Paulo crowd “filthy animals” and had to be escorted out of the stadium by security.

Another trip to the hostile territory is apparently in the works for Covington, and you can’t deny his gall for going back to Brazil.

UFC 224 is currently headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington.

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UFC 221 Shows Rough State Of The UFC In 2018

Tonight (Sat., February 10, 2018), the UFC will trudge forward with its packed early 2018 schedule, this time offering UFC 221 live on pay-per-view from Perth, Australia. It’s an event that has been largely derided by the majority of MMA media as one of the lesser pay-per-view cards the promotion has put on for some time, […]

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Tonight (Sat., February 10, 2018), the UFC will trudge forward with its packed early 2018 schedule, this time offering UFC 221 live on pay-per-view from Perth, Australia.

It’s an event that has been largely derided by the majority of MMA media as one of the lesser pay-per-view cards the promotion has put on for some time, and indeed, the card has dubious potential to join the list of the worst pay-per-view cards of all-time, at least on paper.

That’s not to say that the Australian fighters on the card won’t show up and put on a night of exciting bouts for the home crowd; they most certainly could and assuming otherwise would be foolish and disrespectful to the athletes who have worked so hard to get where they are in the sport.

And it certainly didn’t help that the main event saw a late-notice change of the worst form when middleweight champion and nearby fan favorite Robert Whittaker was forced from his main event bout with Luke Rockhold thanks to a host of frightening injuries, a fact that was only dampened by Romero missing weight and being unable to contend for the interim title. But overall, the fact that the UFC was even in that position due to the overall shallowness of this card just shows the tough state the promotion is in during 2018.

Attempting to put on an event every single weekend with little to no name value and maybe even less promotion or time to promote it is only helping their FOX TV schedule, and it shows just how much the promotion has simply spread itself thin under new owners Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG).

As many in the media such as MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas have noted during the week leading up to UFC 222, they don’t have the roster depth to keep up this breakneck pace and maintain interest. And Deadspin’s Patrick Wyman succinctly dissected that their insistence on believing the product will sell just because it has the UFC brand attached to it is a foolhardy assumption.

Neither is sustainable for long-term success in the fight game, and it would seem Endeavor is rushing head-first into booking the biggest spectacles they can without much concern for the consequences soon to arise.

Making Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather in the octagon is a perfect example of this cash-grab-and-go strategy, as is making Tyron Woodley vs. Nate Diaz in a farcical welterweight title bout. Last-minutes changes, weight misses, and injuries ruining main events are unpredictable sets of circumstances that certainly don’t help, but the UFC’s seeming insistence on making both FOX-aired and pay-per-view cards as shallow and uninspiring as possible is why offerings like tonight’s cannot recover from losing a huge bout.

It was most likely happening for years if we’re honest – but the outright deluge of viewers and fans brought in by crossover stars Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey truly masked the clear evidence that this plan was not working. With their million buy-ability now gone, nearly every metric measuring the UFC’s success or lack thereof proves it is not – pay-per-view buys are way down, and big FOX ratings have hit an all-time low.

With a new TV deal on the horizon, that’s the worst news Endeavor could hear, so they appear ready to pull out the stops and book the most ‘superfights’ they can in order to drum up interest. They’re major players in Hollywood, so that’s no surprise. It might even work in the short term as it drums up some mainstream attention (‘might’ is the key word there, though).

If it actually gets a major network to pay the reported outlandish figure the UFC is asking is a different story altogether, however, and with figures falling to atrocious levels as the UFC is no longer a special event with watered-down events every weekend, it may turn out they can’t.

What’s clear is that something has to change, however, as tonight’s Rockhold vs. Romero main event is a great fight to be certain, but also one that had been repeatedly discussed for a FOX or Fight Night event, and now the UFC is forcing fans to pay $65 to watch it without any real meat on the undercard to boot.

That fact proves just how out of touch the UFC is with their fans right now, and they’re quickly losing the full backing of many fighters due to low pay and mounting issues over treatment. Something has to change, and it’s unclear when or if anything ever will.

If the new owners (who aren’t so new anymore) want the numbers to pick up in any or all facets of measurable success, they’re going to have to adapt, and serving up a pay-per-view like tonight’s is the exact opposite of doing just that.

Maybe they have something up their sleeve, and it will most likely involve the return of McGregor. A return to the previous glory days of the UFC could be rapidly moving out of reach for the world’s biggest MMA promoters, however, and their insistence to badly water down the schedule while assuming the fanbase would blindly follow the UFC brand are two major reasons why.

Do you envision a bounceback from the UFC this year, or are they digging themselves into an even bigger hole?

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Tyron Woodley Wants To Punch Dana White In The Face

Recently UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been in a public war of words with UFC president Dana White. While it’s far from the first time we’ve seen a similar scene unfold, this time, the drama centers on White calling Woodley ‘full of s**t’ when he revealed he had been offered a title fight versus […]

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Recently UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been in a public war of words with UFC president Dana White.

While it’s far from the first time we’ve seen a similar scene unfold, this time, the drama centers on White calling Woodley ‘full of s**t’ when he revealed he had been offered a title fight versus supposedly returning fan favorite Nate Diaz.

‘The Chosen One’ wants to clear the situation, so he addressed it on his ‘Hollywood Beatdown’ segment on TMZ Sports, clarifying that he didn’t say he had received a contract to face Diaz yet, just that the fight had been discussed in December and once again now:

“I don’t want people to think that I’m full of sh*t, as my boss said. And that I’m making this sh*t up. That a fight with me and Nate was never talked about in December and has never been brought up since then — that is bullshit. It has. Did I get a contract to fight Nate? No, I did not. So, if I’m not thinking about the highest prize as a prizefighter, I am a complete idiot. I should suicide slap myself.”

The discussion stemmed from an interview with ESPN where Woodley stated he thought Diaz would be his next fight, eliciting the harsh reaction from White. But Woodley said he was merely stating his thoughts, and never claimed anything resembling an official agreement had been made – just initial opening negotiations. From there, the champ said, things got a little blown out of proportion:

“I’m entitled to think whatever the hell I want to thin. I didn’t say, ‘Hey, the UFC has a bout agreement, we’re in the process of negotiations, Dana White called me and offered me the fight.’ So everyone took that and they ran through the roof with their perception of what that meant.”

Finally, Woodley said in a somewhat joking segment that he wanted to punch White in the face and wasn’t the only fighter in the UFC who wanted to sock the brash frontman:

“Let’s punch Dana White in the face. I know so many fighters on the UFC roster may have been wanting to do this for a long time.

“You gotta get these hands. Can’t hide behind the black suit and the promotion anymore. You gotta get this right hand.”

Woodley’s clash with White is only the latest in an ever-growing, never-ending list of fighters who have an issue with the longtime president under new owners Endeavor.

With each passing event, White seems to be throwing more fighters under the bus, a baffling instance of counterproductivity considering he’s trashing the athletes who he’s supposed to be promoting and also the athletes responsible for aiding Endeavor in making back their $4.2 billion investment.

Fighter morale seems to be at an all-time low in the UFC as of right now, and Woodley is one of the biggest-name fighters to make his discontent public, although he’s far from the only one. Will White continue to stand in his own – and Endeavor’s – way?

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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.