Tag: UFC 206

Tim Kennedy Retires From MMA With Emotional Statement

After 16 years of fighting, Tim Kennedy has called it quits on his MMA career… Tim Keenedy’s comeback from two years away did not go well. Facing Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 206, Kennedy was thoroughly and eventually finished with strikes. Having been absent since his crushing and somewhat controversial loss to Yoel Romero, the US

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After 16 years of fighting, Tim Kennedy has called it quits on his MMA career…

Tim Keenedy’s comeback from two years away did not go well. Facing Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 206, Kennedy was thoroughly and eventually finished with strikes. Having been absent since his crushing and somewhat controversial loss to Yoel Romero, the US military veteran had an uphill battle in Gastelum. Although we’d seen him surpass obstacles like this in the past, the now-37-year old was simply not up to the task.

Announcing his retirement on Facebook today, Tim Kennedy gave an emotional statement:

Tim Kennedy Retires

Sitting in the ER at Saint Michael’s hospital in Toronto, Canada after my fight, I looked up at my buddy Nick Palmisciano who had ridden in the ambulance with me. This wasn’t our first time in this situation. I’d been here a few times in our past decade together. Sometimes for wins and sometimes for losses. The end result always looked the same: Nick carrying five bags that should have been split among three corners and me and my face are bleeding and swollen. “That’s it man,” I said. “We’re all done.”
We had talked about it a lot over the past few years. I’d spoken to Nick, to my wife Ginger, and to Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson ad nauseam about the coming end. No matter how hard I trained, I knew this ride wouldn’t last forever. But saying it out loud definitely brought me both sadness that this chapter was complete and overwhelming relief that it’s a decision I could make without worrying about taking care of my family.

I had just lost to Kelvin Gastelum, a really respectful and hard-working young fighter who went out and did all the things I consider myself good at, but did them better. He actually reminded me of me when I was younger, except I was kind of a jerk back then. As losses go, I was kind of happy I lost to a guy like him.
A lot of my coaches, friends and fans immediately tried to build me up again. “Kelvin has the right skillset to beat you and it was your first fight back.” “You had ring rust.” “You’re still a top 10 middleweight.” I appreciated their comments and I don’t think they are wrong. I know I am still a good fighter. I know I was away a while. But they didn’t feel what I felt, and that’s being 37. I felt like I was in slow motion the entire match. I felt tired for the first time ever in a fight. I’m the guy that once graduated Ranger School – a place that starves you and denies you sleep for over two months – and took a fight six days later in the IFL and won. I’m the guy that is always in shape. And I was for this fight. I worked harder than I ever have before for this fight. But I wasn’t me anymore. My brain knew what to do but my body did not respond. I’ve watched other fighters arrive here. I’ve watched other fighters pretend they weren’t here. I will not be one of them.

I want to thank the military community for their support. I’ll never be able to explain how much you motivated me and how much I always tried to make you proud. I’ve been a professional fighter for two decades, but there was no greater moment for me than winning the main event of Fight for the Troops 3. You made me invincible that night. I will keep fighting for you all until the day I die.
I want to thank all of my coaches, from the old Days working with John Hackleman and Chuck Liddell, to all my military buddies who trained with me while I was on active duty, to Greg Jackson, Mike Winkeljohn, and Brandon Gibson now. That you all thought me worthy of the investment of your time means more than you will ever know.

I want to thank all of my opponents. Iron sharpens iron and every great victory or crushing defeat occurred because there was someone who trained hard and had the courage to meet me across the cage. I want to call a few guys out in particular. To Luke Rockhold and Jacare: you guys gave me two grinding fights that asked for everything I had. You both made me better and I hope I did the same for you. I hope the two of you keep that Strikeforce chip on your shoulders and get back on top. To Robbie Lawler: you hit me harder than anyone ever has. Seriously, that really hurt. To Roger Gracie: My training for your fight reminded me that I love the gi. Thank you for that. To Rafael Natal: It took tremendous guts to take the Fight for the Troops fight. I will always appreciate you for that and cheer for you every time you fight. To Michael Bisping: I’ve never wanted to beat anyone more than I wanted to beat you, and that motivated me to provide the best version of myself. Best of luck to you going forward, Champ.

Finally to my wife: I don’t deserve you and you don’t deserve what I’ve put you through. I could lie to you and tell you it’s all over, but we both know I have already moved onto another super dangerous thing to fill my time, so I’m going to leave it just at “thank you and sorry” for now.
So with that, to all of you fighters out there, I am not going anywhere. I love fighting and will always have the heart of a figher. I am committed to growing our sport and taking care of those who are a part of it. As sad as it is for me to walk away, the only thing sadder would be for me to stay because I had no other choice in order to feed my family. Someday the Kelvin Gastelum’s and the Yair Rodriguez’s and the Paige VanZant’s will be sitting in their respective emergency rooms with their respective Nick’s talking about it being over. And when that day comes, I want to make sure their future is secure.

I love you all. Thanks for listening. And thank you most of all for giving me the opportunity to do what I love for all these years.

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Ben Rothwell Highlights Interim Belt Debacle With Dana White

The UFC heavyweight’s tweet to Dana White provokes questions over the recent growth in the introduction of interim belts.

When all else fails, introduce an interim title to the mix. Not the words of the UFC top brass, although in the past couple of months we have seen the introduction of a secondary belt to the featherweight and lightweight divisions in times of promotional crisis, and the absence of a champion [McGregor].

Daniel Cormier and Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson were due to square off in Canada late last year at UFC 206, but injury to the champ forced a rapid rethink in strategy. The decision to shuffle Max Holloway vs Anthony Pettis to the top of the bill at UFC 206 was made, although this was never going to garner the interest that the initial headliner would. So what did Dana White and co do? Well, they created  an interim featherweight title fight. Suddenly, UFC 206’s primary fight would once again be for a “title”, as intended.

The decision drew criticism from some, who felt that it was a weak effort on behalf of the promotion to make the PPV event worthwhile. Conor McGregor was simultaneously stripped of (or voluntarily relinquished) his 145 pound strap, with the winner of the Holloway/Pettis strap facing [new champion] Jose Aldo for the “real” title. From the promotions perspective, selling the fight as a title eliminator would not have held as much weight without a physical belt, given the UFC’s track record for reneging on title-shot promises.

While fans and associates of Conor McGregor were among the first to ridicule the introduction of the belt, McGregor himself was not averse to hoisting the interim gold over his head in his win over Chad Mendes at UFC 189. These belts arguably grant the victor with an elevation on their stock, but to many fans they are somewhat worthless in the grand scheme.

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson was made official for UFC 209 this week, in a fight spiced up (once again) by an interim belt. McGregor is likely out of action until the end of the year, so the possibility of the winner between the Russian and the American having to defend (and possibly lose – confirmation, Dana?) the title of Interim Champion makes for even more confusion.

What makes this scenario unique, however, is that both guys are solidly in the #1 & #2 spots in the lightweight rankings, so the result should logically determine the challenger to the Irishman’s strap, right? Tyron Woodley v Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is a title fight on the ‘209 card, so it is not as though the UFC are in a similar position to the Holloway v Pettis situation.

UFC’s Ben Rothwell sent a cheeky tweet to UFC president Dana White on Friday, appearing to poke fun at the President for this recent rise in interim belts:

https://twitter.com/RothwellFighter/status/819999581756866561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

One may argue that the new owners of the world’s chief MMA promotion are responsible for the rise in secondary titles, and being a business with finance at the forefront of its operations, it is a valid argument. Conjecture of motives aside, the introduction of a litany of belts has led to a series of mismatches, and a ton of promotional disputes in boxing – let us hope that the UFC are not planning on adopting a similar model of throwing a belt into the mix in just any fight.

 

The UFC heavyweight’s tweet to Dana White provokes questions over the recent growth in the introduction of interim belts.

When all else fails, introduce an interim title to the mix. Not the words of the UFC top brass, although in the past couple of months we have seen the introduction of a secondary belt to the featherweight and lightweight divisions in times of promotional crisis, and the absence of a champion [McGregor].

Daniel Cormier and Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson were due to square off in Canada late last year at UFC 206, but injury to the champ forced a rapid rethink in strategy. The decision to shuffle Max Holloway vs Anthony Pettis to the top of the bill at UFC 206 was made, although this was never going to garner the interest that the initial headliner would. So what did Dana White and co do? Well, they created  an interim featherweight title fight. Suddenly, UFC 206’s primary fight would once again be for a “title”, as intended.

The decision drew criticism from some, who felt that it was a weak effort on behalf of the promotion to make the PPV event worthwhile. Conor McGregor was simultaneously stripped of (or voluntarily relinquished) his 145 pound strap, with the winner of the Holloway/Pettis strap facing [new champion] Jose Aldo for the “real” title. From the promotions perspective, selling the fight as a title eliminator would not have held as much weight without a physical belt, given the UFC’s track record for reneging on title-shot promises.

While fans and associates of Conor McGregor were among the first to ridicule the introduction of the belt, McGregor himself was not averse to hoisting the interim gold over his head in his win over Chad Mendes at UFC 189. These belts arguably grant the victor with an elevation on their stock, but to many fans they are somewhat worthless in the grand scheme.

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson was made official for UFC 209 this week, in a fight spiced up (once again) by an interim belt. McGregor is likely out of action until the end of the year, so the possibility of the winner between the Russian and the American having to defend (and possibly lose – confirmation, Dana?) the title of Interim Champion makes for even more confusion.

What makes this scenario unique, however, is that both guys are solidly in the #1 & #2 spots in the lightweight rankings, so the result should logically determine the challenger to the Irishman’s strap, right? Tyron Woodley v Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is a title fight on the ‘209 card, so it is not as though the UFC are in a similar position to the Holloway v Pettis situation.

UFC’s Ben Rothwell sent a cheeky tweet to UFC president Dana White on Friday, appearing to poke fun at the President for this recent rise in interim belts:

One may argue that the new owners of the world’s chief MMA promotion are responsible for the rise in secondary titles, and being a business with finance at the forefront of its operations, it is a valid argument. Conjecture of motives aside, the introduction of a litany of belts has led to a series of mismatches, and a ton of promotional disputes in boxing – let us hope that the UFC are not planning on adopting a similar model of throwing a belt into the mix in just any fight.

 

Max Holloway Won’t ‘Wait Around’ For Jose Aldo, Wants Frankie Edgar

max-holloway-BIG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4PFLQoLQZI

We’re almost a full month removed from UFC 206. The event was headlined by an interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis. “Blessed” was too much for “Showtime” and earned a third round TKO win to capture the belt.

It looked as if current 145-pound champion Jose Aldo would meet Holloway in a unification bout at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, NY. Holloway’s swollen foot put a dent in those plans. The war of words is well documented between both men. Holloway has started a “Where’s Jose Waldo?” campaign, while Aldo has said the interim champ is “acting like a punk.”

“Blessed” appeared on MMAJunkie Radio and said if Aldo decides to fight for the interim lightweight title instead of the unification bout, he isn’t going to wait for him:

“I’m not going to wait around. I’ll defend the interim title 10 times if I have to.”

Holloway hasn’t been shy in letting people know he’ll fight anyone in his division. One fighter that jumps out to him is former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

“I want to fight Edgar. I’d love to fight Edgar. I’d take that fight in a heartbeat. Former champion, back on his win streak, he fought Aldo, and if I can do my thing and win the fight convincingly, (I will) prove to people (I deserve the belt). I’m not trying to race through the division; I’m trying to clean out the division.”

“Blessed” heard ramblings of Aldo claiming he’d fight for an interim title until Khabib Nurmagomedov turned it down. Holloway isn’t convinced Aldo would’ve showed up for the fight.

“He has a better chance of showing up to a soccer game. So next contract, I’m going to tell them, put (on Aldo’s contract that) you’re playing at a soccer game, but you need to show up to make this weight. He’s going to show up that way. When he signs a contract, I have a better chance of winning on red or black than him showing up to the fight.”

max-holloway-BIG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4PFLQoLQZI

We’re almost a full month removed from UFC 206. The event was headlined by an interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis. “Blessed” was too much for “Showtime” and earned a third round TKO win to capture the belt.

It looked as if current 145-pound champion Jose Aldo would meet Holloway in a unification bout at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, NY. Holloway’s swollen foot put a dent in those plans. The war of words is well documented between both men. Holloway has started a “Where’s Jose Waldo?” campaign, while Aldo has said the interim champ is “acting like a punk.”

“Blessed” appeared on MMAJunkie Radio and said if Aldo decides to fight for the interim lightweight title instead of the unification bout, he isn’t going to wait for him:

“I’m not going to wait around. I’ll defend the interim title 10 times if I have to.”

Holloway hasn’t been shy in letting people know he’ll fight anyone in his division. One fighter that jumps out to him is former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

“I want to fight Edgar. I’d love to fight Edgar. I’d take that fight in a heartbeat. Former champion, back on his win streak, he fought Aldo, and if I can do my thing and win the fight convincingly, (I will) prove to people (I deserve the belt). I’m not trying to race through the division; I’m trying to clean out the division.”

“Blessed” heard ramblings of Aldo claiming he’d fight for an interim title until Khabib Nurmagomedov turned it down. Holloway isn’t convinced Aldo would’ve showed up for the fight.

“He has a better chance of showing up to a soccer game. So next contract, I’m going to tell them, put (on Aldo’s contract that) you’re playing at a soccer game, but you need to show up to make this weight. He’s going to show up that way. When he signs a contract, I have a better chance of winning on red or black than him showing up to the fight.”

Max Holloway Won’t ‘Wait Around’ For Jose Aldo, Wants Frankie Edgar

max-holloway-BIG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4PFLQoLQZI

We’re almost a full month removed from UFC 206. The event was headlined by an interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis. “Blessed” was too much for “Showtime” and earned a third round TKO win to capture the belt.

It looked as if current 145-pound champion Jose Aldo would meet Holloway in a unification bout at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, NY. Holloway’s swollen foot put a dent in those plans. The war of words is well documented between both men. Holloway has started a “Where’s Jose Waldo?” campaign, while Aldo has said the interim champ is “acting like a punk.”

“Blessed” appeared on MMAJunkie Radio and said if Aldo decides to fight for the interim lightweight title instead of the unification bout, he isn’t going to wait for him:

“I’m not going to wait around. I’ll defend the interim title 10 times if I have to.”

Holloway hasn’t been shy in letting people know he’ll fight anyone in his division. One fighter that jumps out to him is former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

“I want to fight Edgar. I’d love to fight Edgar. I’d take that fight in a heartbeat. Former champion, back on his win streak, he fought Aldo, and if I can do my thing and win the fight convincingly, (I will) prove to people (I deserve the belt). I’m not trying to race through the division; I’m trying to clean out the division.”

“Blessed” heard ramblings of Aldo claiming he’d fight for an interim title until Khabib Nurmagomedov turned it down. Holloway isn’t convinced Aldo would’ve showed up for the fight.

“He has a better chance of showing up to a soccer game. So next contract, I’m going to tell them, put (on Aldo’s contract that) you’re playing at a soccer game, but you need to show up to make this weight. He’s going to show up that way. When he signs a contract, I have a better chance of winning on red or black than him showing up to the fight.”

max-holloway-BIG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4PFLQoLQZI

We’re almost a full month removed from UFC 206. The event was headlined by an interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis. “Blessed” was too much for “Showtime” and earned a third round TKO win to capture the belt.

It looked as if current 145-pound champion Jose Aldo would meet Holloway in a unification bout at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, NY. Holloway’s swollen foot put a dent in those plans. The war of words is well documented between both men. Holloway has started a “Where’s Jose Waldo?” campaign, while Aldo has said the interim champ is “acting like a punk.”

“Blessed” appeared on MMAJunkie Radio and said if Aldo decides to fight for the interim lightweight title instead of the unification bout, he isn’t going to wait for him:

“I’m not going to wait around. I’ll defend the interim title 10 times if I have to.”

Holloway hasn’t been shy in letting people know he’ll fight anyone in his division. One fighter that jumps out to him is former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

“I want to fight Edgar. I’d love to fight Edgar. I’d take that fight in a heartbeat. Former champion, back on his win streak, he fought Aldo, and if I can do my thing and win the fight convincingly, (I will) prove to people (I deserve the belt). I’m not trying to race through the division; I’m trying to clean out the division.”

“Blessed” heard ramblings of Aldo claiming he’d fight for an interim title until Khabib Nurmagomedov turned it down. Holloway isn’t convinced Aldo would’ve showed up for the fight.

“He has a better chance of showing up to a soccer game. So next contract, I’m going to tell them, put (on Aldo’s contract that) you’re playing at a soccer game, but you need to show up to make this weight. He’s going to show up that way. When he signs a contract, I have a better chance of winning on red or black than him showing up to the fight.”

Max Holloway Blasts Jose Aldo: Brazil Deserves Better

Interim UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of undisputed 145-pound titleholder Jose Aldo. After extending his winning streak to an incredible 10 straight and winning the interim strap with a dominant performance over Anthony Pettis at last months’s UFC 206, Holloway called out Aldo, who expected the fight to

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Interim UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of undisputed 145-pound titleholder Jose Aldo.

After extending his winning streak to an incredible 10 straight and winning the interim strap with a dominant performance over Anthony Pettis at last months’s UFC 206, Holloway called out Aldo, who expected the fight to take place at UFC 208 in Brooklyn in February. Holloway, however, suffered an ankle injury and is unable to fight again next month.

With that being said, there were rumors of Aldo moving up in weight to accept an interim lightweight title bout. If “Scarface” isn’t available when Holloway plans to return in May, the Hawaiian is willing to defend his interim title:

“I’m not going to wait around,” Holloway told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’ll defend the interim title 10 times if I have to.”

If he were to defend his title, Holloway said he would be interested in facing off with former lightweight boss Frankie Edgar and cleaning out the division:

“I want to fight Edgar,” he said. “I’d love to fight Edgar. I’d take that fight in a heartbeat. Former champion, back on his win streak, he fought Aldo, and if I can do my thing and win the fight convincingly, (I will) prove to people (I deserve the belt). I’m not trying to race through the division; I’m trying to clean out the division.”

“Blessed” then said that he’s been calling out the division’s top names for years without much success. Now, however, he implied that he will he get his wish:

“I’ve been calling out Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar forever,” he said. “I’ve been calling out the top-five guys every damn time. We just wasn’t getting a fight. Now it’s here, and I want them even more. The storyline is even better.”

At the end of the day, it’s likely that Holloway and Aldo will face off in a title unifier later this year and he invited the Brazilian’s fans to come over to his side:

“Brazil deserves better,” Holloway said. “Get off the Aldo train. Waldo’s train? Where is the train? My train is easy to find. Come on over.”

Would you like to see these two featherweight titans square off?

The post Max Holloway Blasts Jose Aldo: Brazil Deserves Better appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Does The Bearded Fighter Carry An Unfair Advantage?

We all know the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson was judge of Israel and derived his great strength from his lengthy locks. When his enemies discovered his secret they devised a plan to cut off his hair, gouge his eyes out, and imprison him to a number of years of hard labor…geez. So how would Samson favor in the new age of MMA? Well if he fought in Ontario, let’s just say I wouldn’t exactly put the house on it.

The post Does The Bearded Fighter Carry An Unfair Advantage? appeared first on Cagepotato.

Hair today…

We all know the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson was the judge of Israel and derived his great strength from his lengthy locks. When his enemies discovered his secret they devised a plan to cut off his hair, gouge his eyes out, and imprison him to a number of years of hard labor…geez. So how would Samson favor in the new age of MMA? Well if he fought in Ontario, let’s just say I wouldn’t exactly put the house on it.

Under Ontario Athletics Commision fighters must be clean shaven or wear a closely cropped mustache prior to competing. This left welterweight Emil Meek as well as two other fighters dumbfounded and shocked prior to their 206 bouts.

“After I had cut weight, I just checked the weight with the UFC commission [liaison team]. I was waiting to get called up to the official weigh-ins. As I was there, the Ontario commission sat there and asked if they could have a word with me. I just sent my cornerman since I was dehydrated,”

“He yelled at me, ‘Emil! You need to shave your beard.’ I was like, ‘Uh, that’s funny.’“

Nope, it’s a thing. Meek discovered the hard way what many fighters have had to deal with for years. These rules started from boxing and were implemented into MMA, stemming from reasons from making the sport more palpable to the public to being able to medically inspect cuts and bruises. Other reasons include possible beard grabbing, friction from rubbing, hygiene, and possible cushioning. Fortunately, Unlike Samson, Emil “Valhalla” Meek doesn’t derive his strength from his sweet sweet Norwegian beard and pulled off a unanimous decision over a lackluster Jordan Mein.

But despite the red tape, do these reasons really post any significant advantage to the fighters who chose to grow out their mane? If cushioning is the reason then guys with long hair would be immune to head kicks, if it’s being able to inspect cuts and bruises, most of those things happen over the eye and nose. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a fight stopped via chin cut. If it’s a broken jaw they’re looking for well that’s determined from the inability to close your mouth, and/or protruding teeth or jaw – nothing to do with facial hair.

With that being said, there are many wrestlers who will tell you grappling a guy with a long beard is no fun. In the high stakes world of MMA every little bit counts, and competitors are always looking for an edge, could this be the next budding issue of MMA?

Hit us up with you thoughts and comments below.

The post Does The Bearded Fighter Carry An Unfair Advantage? appeared first on Cagepotato.