Undefeated top lightweight contender Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov said that he received two contracts to fight reigning 155-pound king Eddie Alvarez – one for Nov. 12’s UFC 205 and one for Dec. 10’s UFC 206, but it now appears as if those contracts simply represented a negotiation tactic by the UFC, as Alvarez will instead
Undefeated top lightweight contender Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov said that he received two contracts to fight reigning 155-pound king Eddie Alvarez – one for Nov. 12’s UFC 205 and one for Dec. 10’s UFC 206, but it now appears as if those contracts simply represented a negotiation tactic by the UFC, as Alvarez will instead defend his strap against featherweight king Conor McGregor at UFC 205.
Nurmagomedov will fight Michael Johnson on the same card.
“The Eagle’s” head coach, Javier Mendez, head trainer at San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy, said that he was ‘disappointed’ in the way that the promotion treated his fighter:
“I was disappointed,” Mendez told MMAJunkie. “Not disappointed that (Conor) got the title shot, just disappointed that Khabib was used as a pawn, in my opinion. Why give a guy a contract to fight and actually not give him the fight?”
Nurmagomedov has made his feelings about UFC 205’s main event clear, and he’s had some harsh words for both Alvarez and McGregor, but Mendez said that it was simply out of frustration:
“He’s not gunning for any particular person,” the coach said. “But once he has his sights set on that one individual, he focuses on that individual. If there’s has any trash talking, it’s toward that one individual. But he really doesn’t have an issue with any fighter at all, period.”
A win over the No. 6-ranked Johnson would improve Nurmagomedov’s overall record to a perfect 24-0 while improving his UFC record to 8-0, making him the clear cut No. 1-contender.
On Wednesday, the first of two conference calls for the UFC’s upcoming debut show in New York, UFC 295, will take place featuring a pair of UFC Champions.
Featured above is the player needed to listen to the call, whi…
https://youtu.be/EKLXDZpAtg8
On Wednesday, the first of two conference calls for the UFC’s upcoming debut show in New York, UFC 295, will take place featuring a pair of UFC Champions.
Featured above is the player needed to listen to the call, which begins at 5pm ET. and features UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley and UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, as well as their opponents for UFC 205.
UFC 205 takes place on Saturday, November 12th from the world-famous Madison Square Garden arena in New York City. Join us here at MMANews.com on 11/12 for live results coverage of the pay-per-view.
UFC 205 is on the horizon and the mixed martial arts (MMA) world is buzzing with anticipation for the ground breaking event in the sport’s history, as UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will attempt to make history once again. In the evening’s main event McGregor will challenge Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title in attempt
UFC 205 is on the horizon and the mixed martial arts (MMA) world is buzzing with anticipation for the ground breaking event in the sport’s history, as UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will attempt to make history once again.
In the evening’s main event McGregor will challenge Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title in attempt to become the promotion’s first ever dual-weight champion, as the Irishman currently holds the UFC’s 145-pound title that he won via R1 knockout against Jose Aldo in December of last year. As far as a No. 1-contender goes for the 155-pound title after fight night in New York, lightweight veteran Gilbert Melendez believes his teammate Nate Diaz will get the next title opportunity.
Melendez recently spoke to Champions.co to claim that he believes his fellow Scrap Pack member Diaz will be the obvious candidate for either McGregor or Alvarez next, as he believes that is what the people want to see:
“I think [Nate] fights the winner [of Alvarez vs McGregor],” said Melendez. “We’re talking about business here and how things work … Eddie wins that fight, you know, I think Nate gets that fight. I think Conor wins that fight, I think Nate gets that fight as well.
“I mean, that’s what people want to see and that’s what fills the seats.”
McGregor and Diaz have quite the history with one another, as Diaz is the man who handed the SBG product his first career UFC loss when he tapped the featherweight champ in their welterweight main event scrap at UFC 196 in March. ‘Notorious’ would soon get his revenge, however, as he would engage in a tremendous 25-minute battle with Diaz in their rematch at UFC 202, to which the Irishman would take home the majority decision win in one of the best contests of the year.
With the standings between the two adversaries standing at one a piece at the moment, you can bet the two brash rivals want to bang it out to decide who the best fighter is once and for all.
Diaz and Alvarez have no such history with one another, but interestingly enough ‘The Underground King’ does hold a split decision win over ‘The Pride Of Stockton’s’ teammate Melendez, giving a bit of a story to that potential bout as well.
With Diaz’s new-found level of superstardom after his battles inside the Octagon with McGregor, whoever the former Ultimate Fighter winner takes on next is sure to be quite the show.
Returning after a year-long layoff at UFC 207, former bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey will take on Amanda Nunes. ‘The Lioness’ snatched the belt from Miesha Tate in the UFC 200 headliner, marking the third champion in a wild six-month period for the division. After Holly Holm spectacularly dethroned Rousey at UFC 193, she was in
Returning after a year-long layoff at UFC 207, former bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey will take on Amanda Nunes. ‘The Lioness’ snatched the belt from Miesha Tate in the UFC 200 headliner, marking the third champion in a wild six-month period for the division. After Holly Holm spectacularly dethroned Rousey at UFC 193, she was in turn submitted by Miesha Tate at UFC 196. Following three years of being wrapped around the waist of Rousey, the belt had suddenly become up for grabs like never before.
Rousey sat dormant, shying away from media and the spotlight she’d become so accustomed to, and her fighting future was unsure. Having her invincible aura shattered by Holm in Melbourne had taken a huge toll on ‘Rowdy,’ and until the announcement of her return fans were kept completely in the dark. Facing a big and dangerous champion in Nunes on December 30, Rousey will attempt to again make history as the first ever two-time women’s bantamweight champion.
Mindset
After admitting she’d considered suicide during a period of dark depression, the impact of UFC 193 on Ronda Rousey is still in question. Two-time opponent and ex-champ Miesha Tate points this out during a recent interview with ESPN, as she makes her prediction for Nunes vs. Rousey in December:
“I think if Ronda is at her height, I would probably say Ronda [wins],” Tate said. “I always tend to favor grapplers. That’s just my bias. I think it’s more probable for a fight to go to the ground and get finished than it is for a clean knockout. That’s less common in women’s MMA.
“So, if you factor that in, I think Ronda is the stronger grappler.”
“X Factors”
“What’s so weird about this fight is all the X factors,” Tate said. “Amanda is a really tenacious fighter and I think she’s going to have a newfound confidence coming into this fight.
“I guess what I don’t know is how Ronda is going to show up. I’m pretty confident about what Amanda will show up, but Ronda — it has been such a long time. Ring rust can be a very real thing and how is she going to be as far as being punch-shy? She knows Amanda is heavy-handed and after being cracked by Holly, does that change the mindset of someone like Ronda who kind of believed, along with many others, she was untouchable?
“It’s hard to say who wins this because it kind of depends on what version of Ronda shows up.”
Credit: Joshua Dahl USA Today Sports
Tate vs. Pennington
Returning for the first time since her loss to Nunes at UFC 200, ‘Cupcake’ will take on Raquel Pennington on the main card of UFC 205. With Ronda Rousey recently stating she’d be wrapping up her career soon, is there time for a trilogy fight if Tate is victorious in New York?
As is usually the case with the women’s bantamweight division, absolutely anything is possible. Stay tuned.
When the UFC’s strawweight division needed a rivalry, it was Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha stepping to the forefront.
The ladies first met back when both were vying to become d…
When the UFC’s strawweight division needed a rivalry, it was Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha stepping to the forefront.
The ladies first met back when both were vying to become division champion, with Jedrzejczyk scoring a razor-close split decision.
After Jedrezejczyk went on to claim the title, Gadelha worked her way into the role of No. 1 contender. The two squared off this past July as part of International Fight Week, with “Joanna Champion” once again getting her hand raised.
Next Saturday night, Jedrzejczyk defends her title at UFC 205 against Karolina Kowalkiewicz from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Three-time UFC title challenger and king of banter Chael Sonnen found himself a new home in Bellator MMA this year. Fitting his style of trash talk and fight promotion perfectly, it seems ‘The American Gangster’ has got a perfect outlet for his return. Facing fellow UFC veteran and former light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz at Bellator
Three-time UFC title challenger and king of banter Chael Sonnen found himself a new home in Bellator MMA this year. Fitting his style of trash talk and fight promotion perfectly, it seems ‘The American Gangster’ has got a perfect outlet for his return. Facing fellow UFC veteran and former light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz at Bellator 170, Sonnen has already turned on the theatrics for his long-awaited comeback. During a recent televised ‘debate’ for their upcoming bout, Sonnen and ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ turned up the heat with a comical back-and-forth.
Before there was Conor McGregor, Chael P. was the biggest talker in the UFC. Now that torch has been passed, ‘The Notorious’ is experiencing a level of fame only previously reached by Ronda Rousey. Should the brash Irishman defeat Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, he will surely surpass ‘Rowdy.’ Standing on the brink of history, McGregor has also been the subject of tense debates in the recent months. Joining the barrage of criticism from many fans, fellow fighters have demanded McGregor be stripped of the 145-pound title.
Credit: Fighters Only Mag
Who’s Got Two Thumbs & Likes Conor McGregor?
Chael Sonnen is not on board with all the hate directed towards Conor McGregor. In fact, ‘The American Gangster’ is shocked with the amount of fighters who can’t see what he considers as a great aid to the sport of MMA. Talking during a recent episode of his ‘Bad Guy Inc: Beyond The Fight’ podcast, Sonnen says other UFC fighters are just ‘too dumb’ to realise what’s going on. As transcribed by Forbes:
We’ve got fighters in weight classes that have no standing in this matter … and they’re saying, “You should strip him. Got to strip him, got to move that division on. I can’t believe that people don’t understand this that are in the industry. There is a historic opportunity if Conor should beat Eddie Alvarez. The opportunity there is that he will be the first guy in history to hold two world championships simultaneously in the UFC. It has never happened before.
So if you’re the UFC and you, through the power of the pen, take one of those belts away, you also lose the opportunity that so much media is running with to have the historic evening. If you wait to strip him or make a decision in that weight class after the fight, you preserve that opportunity. The UFC can’t come out and say that. They can’t come out and say, “Well, there’s actually a marketing opportunity for us.” Then they lose it.”
Credit: Mark J Rebilas USA Today Sports
Continued
“You think fighters would be able to understand this concept, shut their mouths, and if anything, beat the drum … help perpetuate the story. Instead, these dumb son of a b—-es are throwing water on the fire. They’re trying to get him stripped.
Why do I have to explain this so that other fighters can hear it and go, “Oh my God, he’s right.” How do you not understand what’s going on in your own industry? I never could understand … this is why you guys don’t get to be part of it, because you’re too dumb. I’m not trying to put you down. Dumb has a definition, go look it up and then relate it to yourself, because you fall under it.
We need media partners. We need headlines. Everybody in the show. Everybody in the industry. It really doesn’t even matter what organization you’re with. There is an industry called “‘mixed martial arts.’” … Why would you strip the guy and take that opportunity away? You fools.”
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