Tag: UFC 207

Garbrandt Reveals Why Dillashaw Won’t Admit He Regrets Leaving Team Alpha Male

Heading into their bantamweight title bout in the co-main event of November 4’s UFC 217 from New York, Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw have a mounting tide of bad blood that’s been accumulating for several years. Dillashaw infamously left Garbrandt’s Team Alpha Male to continue training with former TAM head coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig in […]

The post Garbrandt Reveals Why Dillashaw Won’t Admit He Regrets Leaving Team Alpha Male appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Heading into their bantamweight title bout in the co-main event of November 4’s UFC 217 from New York, Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw have a mounting tide of bad blood that’s been accumulating for several years.

Dillashaw infamously left Garbrandt’s Team Alpha Male to continue training with former TAM head coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig in Colorado, something that earned him the reputation of a ‘snake’ among MMA fans online. Dillashaw has since admitted he isn’t happy with how it all played out, but during a media call for the card this week (via MMA Fighting), he also acknowledged that the rivalry has now resulted in what he called UFC 217’s most anticipated fight:

“It all led up to this big fight, to the real main event of this card. Seventy percent of the fans want to see this fight more than any other on the card, so, it all happened for a reason, it’s building our names.”

Considering the puzzling lack of overall promotion for UFC 217’s main event between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre, it’s both surprising and not-so-surprising to see Dillashaw cite a poll declaring his bout with Garbrandt to be the most anticipated bout on a PPV featuring three title fights.

That could certainly be from the past between the two fighters, as Dillashaw came up fighting alongside Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, Justin Bucholz, and everyone else at TAM. It’s considered a ‘real’ beef, perhaps unlike the seemingly manufactured one between Bisping and St-Pierre, who has curiously never fought at middleweight in the UFC.

Tensions here are real – and bubbling over – so Garbrandt outright denied that Dillashaw is only thinking of the fight ahead. In his mind, Dillashaw simply won’t admit he made a mistake in leaving TAM, who built him up to be the fighter he is today, and also know the ins and outs of his style:

“He regrets it every day of his life. But his ego won’t let him admit that. Let’s be honest, T.J.

“All my teammates, they built T.J. up to where he’s at,” Garbrandt said. “They know T.J. like the back of his hand. They got me ready for Dominick Cruz, they went countless hours, 27 rounds with Dominick Cruz, so they knew him, they taught T.J. everything. I had Justin Buchholz in this camp the whole camp the last year preparing for T.J., getting ready for this guy, and Justin taught him how to throw a punch, so I’m extremely confident when I get in there.”

The bout was set to make a splash at this summer’s UFC 213 after Garbrandt and Dillashaw coached The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25, yet lost much of the momentum and buzz “No Love” had created when he won the belt from longtime champion Dominick Cruz at 2016’s UFC 207 11 months after Dillashaw lost it to ‘The Dominator.’

Now, it’s slowly regaining steam heading into UFC 217, and could be the most awaited fight on what is the biggest UFC card of the year, at least on paper. Not taking a truly ruthless path by disavowing his former teammates, Dillashaw admitted he saw things playing out differently, but at this point, he said all he can do is make the most of the huge opportunity before him:

“It’s definitely not how I [foresaw] it going down. But, it all worked out for the reasons that it did and I’m going to make the most of it.”

The post Garbrandt Reveals Why Dillashaw Won’t Admit He Regrets Leaving Team Alpha Male appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Ronda Rousey Remains Coy On WWE Debut

Ronda Rousey is remaining mum on her perceived World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) debut. The legendary former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, who has largely stayed out of the public eye as she’s abandoned fighting for a future with husband Travis Browne, has been rumored to be making her pro-wrestling debut soon after appearing at a few […]

The post Ronda Rousey Remains Coy On WWE Debut appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Ronda Rousey is remaining mum on her perceived World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) debut.

The legendary former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, who has largely stayed out of the public eye as she’s abandoned fighting for a future with husband Travis Browne, has been rumored to be making her pro-wrestling debut soon after appearing at a few of former teammate Shayna Baszler’s matches for WWE.

When ‘Rowdy’ was asked about the topic by TMZ, she said that she wouldn’t reveal any of the juicy details, because as a longtime pro-wrestling fan herself, she wouldn’t want to know before it happened:

“If you were a real fan, would you really wanna know? I enjoy it more that way and I don’t wanna ruin anything.”

If and when she does make a more prolonged appearance in the WWE after appearing at WrestleMania in 2015, Rousey may do so alongside her UFC heavyweight husband “Hapa,” whose once-skyrocketing MMA career has taken a severe turn for the worst after four straight losses in the octagon.

When he was asked about his future, Browne also remained coy, but also would not say no to WWE if they came calling:

“We’re still making decisions on my part. I’m not gonna say no.”

Are you excited to watch Rousey – and potentially Browne – competing inside the squared circle?

The post Ronda Rousey Remains Coy On WWE Debut appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Cris Cyborg Reacts To Edmond Tarverdyan’s Callout

Yesterday, Ronda Rousey’s longtime head coach Edmond Tarverdyan slithered his way back into the headlines by calling out UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino for his pupil. Rousey was famously involved in a heated back-and-forth with Cyborg during her time as a dominant UFC women’s bantamweight champion, when a bout between the two seemingly […]

The post Cris Cyborg Reacts To Edmond Tarverdyan’s Callout appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Yesterday, Ronda Rousey’s longtime head coach Edmond Tarverdyan slithered his way back into the headlines by calling out UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino for his pupil.

Rousey was famously involved in a heated back-and-forth with Cyborg during her time as a dominant UFC women’s bantamweight champion, when a bout between the two seemingly unstoppable forces was one of the hottest topics in MMA.

But with Rousey having lost her last two fights by one-sided knockout, the shine has worn off the fight, and with Rousey currently headed for a WWE career, it’s highly doubtful that she ever returns to the cage. That didn’t stop Tarverdyan, who has been embroiled in a highly-publicized bankruptcy case, from stirring up old beef and calling out Cyborg himself during The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani yesterday:

“That’s the one,” Tarverdyan said. “I want that fight. When I trained Ronda, I know Ronda could beat Cyborg. I know that. Cyborg is too slow.”

Today, Cyborg responded to the callout to MMA Fighting, offering the belief everyone already knows – that Rousey has long been checked out of MMA and would offer little resistance to the true top women’s fighter in MMA. With that said, however, Cyborg did offer to face Rousey in WWE, a place where she believes her ‘joke’ of a coach Tarverdyan would fit in well:

“If Ronda wants to come back for a fight,” Cyborg said, “I believe it’s better for her to fight Miesha Tate. I’m in another stage of my career. I wanted to fight Ronda when she was psychologically well and confident.

“Now, if she wants to make a good fight for the fans, we can make it at WWE,” she said. “It would fit perfectly [for her] to go to Hollywood, and for me would be another challenge in my career.

“And something brilliant, her coach would fit perfectly in her corner in WWE, he’s nothing but a joke.”

It’s hard to argue with Cyborg’s response, as the many fight fans who have witnessed Rousey look absolutely lost in the stand-up game versus Holm and Nunes can plainly see things most likely wouldn’t go any better versus by far the most powerful knockout artist the female side of the sport has ever seen.

Rousey’s unlikely to return to the octagon at any point, and Tarverdyan calling out the best fighter after two brutal knockout losses which many attributed to him only looks like what most have already called it – a money grab.

Would Rousey have any shot at returning to MMA if she ditched Tarverdyan?

The post Cris Cyborg Reacts To Edmond Tarverdyan’s Callout appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Edmond Tarverdyan Thinks Ronda Rousey Could Still Beat Cyborg

Ronda Rousey has largely chosen to stay out of the limelight following her knockout loss to Amanda Nunes in her long-awaited return at last December’s UFC 207. She even went as far as to have her wedding to UFC heavyweight Travis Browne on August 26, the same day as Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor. While […]

The post Edmond Tarverdyan Thinks Ronda Rousey Could Still Beat Cyborg appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Ronda Rousey has largely chosen to stay out of the limelight following her knockout loss to Amanda Nunes in her long-awaited return at last December’s UFC 207.

She even went as far as to have her wedding to UFC heavyweight Travis Browne on August 26, the same day as Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor. While she has appeared at WWE events that will reportedly lead to her pro-wrestling debut, it’s a strategy she’s implemented ever since her first knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 almost two years back.

Few believe she will ever come back to fighting, and that’s kept the criticism of her oft-blasted head coach Edmond Tarverdyan to a minimum. That is, until today, when Tarverdyan appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani to fire back at his critics before voicing his desire for Rousey to come back for one more fight. Not surprisingly, it was her oft-rumored but never capitalized-upon match with current UFC women’s featherweight champion Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino:

“That’s the one,” Tarverdyan said. “I want that fight. When I trained Ronda, I know Ronda could beat Cyborg. I know that. Cyborg is too slow.”

Tough words from Tarverdyan considering Cyborg is unbeaten since her first MMA fight in May 2005 and has cut a swath through every opponent she has faced since outside of one no contest. Rousey also doesn’t appear motivated to fight the best females in MMA anymore, but Tarverdyan insisted that ‘Rowdy’ would be motivated by Cyborg’s prior use of steroids:

“I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll live and we’ll see. If injuries weren’t there and everything was where it was, we would take that fight and I’m telling you she’s too slow for us. And Ronda will beat her. Ronda needs a challenge that she really needs to be like this person is no good and I need to prove something to the whole world. That’s how Ronda works good.

“And she didn’t have that with Holly, she’s the one that pushed and wanted some aggressiveness before the weigh-ins. This one she has it. She said she cheated before, she’s hurt women and she wants to come and beat her.”

With that said, Tarverdyan also believes Rousey is now in a good place mentally thinks to her marriage to Browne, and that would also propel her to a victory over Cyborg:

“That’s why if she wants to make a comeback and get one fight, I think she will do the best she’s ever done and I think she’ll be victorious. Because I know Ronda’s personality, because she’s happy right now and she has a good challenge in front of her that she focuses on. I think whatever she wants to do right now, she can do. It’s in her mind.”

Many have billed Tarverdyan as a sort of snake oil salesman who took Rousy away from her world-class judo background so he could trick her into thinking she was an elite striker, something that proved painfully true when she faced true great strikes like Nunes and Holm.

Would Rousey really have any chance at Cyborg if her mind was right, or is Tarverdyan just getting his name back in the media in hopes of one last major payday?

The post Edmond Tarverdyan Thinks Ronda Rousey Could Still Beat Cyborg appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Cain Velasquez Rules Out Fighting In 2017

Hours after word arrived that the UFC’s biggest name may not fight in MMA in 2017, a former UFC champion has revealed he’s planning on doing just that. Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez revealed to Ariel Helwani that he would be out for the remainder of 2017 and hoped to be healthy at some […]

The post Cain Velasquez Rules Out Fighting In 2017 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Hours after word arrived that the UFC’s biggest name may not fight in MMA in 2017, a former UFC champion has revealed he’s planning on doing just that.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez revealed to Ariel Helwani that he would be out for the remainder of 2017 and hoped to be healthy at some time in 2018 at today’s UFC 215 open workouts in Edmonton, Alberta.

Velasquez detailed how far he was from recovering from the back issues that prompted the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to deem him unfit to fight heading into his UFC 207 rematch with Fabricio Werdum, claiming that he’s not ready to make his comeback yet. With a son on the way soon, Velasquez wants to be there for his arrival this fall (via MMA Fighting):

“I’m close. I’m not there yet, but I’m close. And also, focused on this time as far as the baby that we have coing along. I wanted to be there for that, he’s due in November, so it’s been a really good process of healing, being with the family, you know what I mean?”

As for his anticipated return, a situation his fans have become all-too-familiar with in recent years, Velasquez stated he won’t return until he is fully healed up:

“I want to be one hundred percent for the fans, and I need to stop messing around and coming back too early. I can’t do that, I can’t afford that anymore. I gotta be a hundred percent ready to come back, and I’ll do tjhat.”

When he does return, however, Velasquez doesn’t have an opponent in mind, as his team hasn’t discussed any potential bouts:

“That’s not up to me. I’ll ask for whoever. We haven’t talked.”

No doubt one of the best heavyweights to ever compete in mixed martial arts, Velasquez’ career has unfortunately shifted from it being a foregone conclusion that he would be the greatest to a discussion of if he can even ever fight again after countless injuries – mostly from the hard-charging training he defends – have limited him to just two fights since October 2013. He says he’s not done yet and still loves going to the gym to train:

“I want to. I love it. I love fighting, you know?. My favorite part of my job is to go into the gym everyday and work out. I love working out, I’ve never said, ‘Oh, working out sucks,’ I love it, you know what I mean? So, I want to return. Just competing, man. Yeah, I miss competing”

While he still loves all the aspects of fighting, Velasquez closed by saying he just isn’t ready to return this year:

“This year? Probably not.”

You can check out his full interview here:

The post Cain Velasquez Rules Out Fighting In 2017 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Ronda Rousey Posts New Photos Of Wedding Day

Ronda Rousey may be out of fighting for the time being and perhaps ever, but she appears to be doing fine without it. Yesterday, some photos of the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion’s marriage to Travis Browne surfaced online from ‘Hapa’ and her personal photographer. However, today some news photos have arrived from “Rowdy” herself, […]

The post Ronda Rousey Posts New Photos Of Wedding Day appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Ronda Rousey may be out of fighting for the time being and perhaps ever, but she appears to be doing fine without it.

Yesterday, some photos of the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion’s marriage to Travis Browne surfaced online from ‘Hapa’ and her personal photographer.

However, today some news photos have arrived from “Rowdy” herself, who posted several images of her big day on her official Instagram page. Check them out here:

Happiest day of my life….

A post shared by rondarousey (@rondarousey) on

The Love of my life

A post shared by rondarousey (@rondarousey) on

The post Ronda Rousey Posts New Photos Of Wedding Day appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.