Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman will return to action in the co-main event of this weekend’s (April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from Buffalo, New York when he meets No. 5-ranked Gegard Mousasi. After suffering back-to-back stoppage losses to Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero, Weidman knows many are doubting him, but that only seems to
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman will return to action in the co-main event of this weekend’s (April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from Buffalo, New York when he meets No. 5-ranked Gegard Mousasi.
After suffering back-to-back stoppage losses to Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero, Weidman knows many are doubting him, but that only seems to motivate him:
“As much as you don’t want to pay attention you know what people are thinking,” Weidman told Damon Martin of FOX Sports in a recent interview. “I love being motivated by doubters. There’s definitely a lot of doubters right now who think I’m done and I’m far from done. It excites me and helps me push during every one of those workouts. Not only to become the best I can be everybody but on top to prove some people wrong, it’s an awesome spot to be in. It’s a great time.”
Given that Weidman is riding the longest and only losing streak of his professional career, he knows this bout could be do-or-die for him. In fact, he said that this fight with Mousasi is ‘everything’ to him:
“This is everything. This is everything for me,” Weidman said. “This is my path back to the top or it isn’t. I need to do everything I can possible in training camp. No box is unchecked. Just do everything I possibly can. When I do that, there’s nobody who can beat me.
“I feel so good in this camp. I haven’t felt this good in a while and I’m just hoping that translates to a dominant win. I know it will. He’s a dangerous guy, he’s experienced but I don’t think he has anything for me. I think I’m going to be too much for him.”
Daniel Cormier thinks it’s a desperate move for Jon Jones to be attending UFC 210 this weekend (Sat. April 8, 2017). The UFC light heavyweight champion is preparing to defend his 205-pound title for the second time when he steps into the Octagon against knockout artist Anthony Johnson. The pair initially met back in May
Daniel Cormier thinks it’s a desperate move for Jon Jones to be attending UFC 210 this weekend (Sat. April 8, 2017).
The UFC light heavyweight champion is preparing to defend his 205-pound title for the second time when he steps into the Octagon against knockout artist Anthony Johnson. The pair initially met back in May of 2015 for the then-vacant light heavyweight strap at UFC 187, where Cormier won via third round submission.
Former kingpin of 205 pounds, Jon Jones, was forced to vacate his title due to a hit-and-run incident that resulted in ‘Bones” indefinite suspension. Jones was set to take on Johnson in the main event of UFC 187 to defend his title, for what would have been his ninth consecutive title defense, but was removed from the bout after the hit-and-run and replaced by Cormier.
Jones made his return to action back in April of last year and was scheduled to challenge Cormier for the title he never lost, however, Cormier unfortunately pulled out of the bout after suffering an injury in training camp. Jones instead fought Ovince Saint Preux for the interim light heavyweight strap, which Jones won via unanimous decision.
Cormier, whose sole loss in mixed martial arts (MMA) competition came against Jones back in January of 2015, and Jones were set to unify their titles in the main event of UFC 200, however, Jones was flagged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a violation and was removed from the contest two days out from the event. Cormier was left to fight Anderson Silva on very short-notice in a non-title bout.
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports
After having served a one-year suspension, Jones is nearing his Octagon return and will be in Buffalo for Cormier vs. Johnson II tomorrow (Fri. April 7, 2017) to speak to the media. During a recent media scrum Cormier addressed Jones’ presence at fight week, and noted that the whole situation is ironic (quotes via MMA Mania):
“It’s so ironic to say that you’d rather fight here than at Madison Square Garden. But, you can’t because you tested positive, or you ran over some lady or you did something to make sure you can’t do the one thing you want to do. It’s crazy. It’s really not that hard to stay out of trouble,” Cormier said.
Cormier believes Jones’ decision to speak to the media before his suspension is even up speaks volumes about his character. ‘DC’ takes Jones’ ‘prancing around’ before he is officially allowed to resume fighting hints that ‘Bones’ isn’t truly sorry for what he’s done:
“But, he is going to be here, which in itself is crazy. I am very (surprised). If I was suspended for anything, especially for something that — whatever it may have said to be — and I’m still suspended there is no way I’m out in public. I’m staying home, I lick my wounds until my suspension is done and then I come back out.
“I think that says a lot about your character,” he continued. “Because are you truly sorry for what you did if your willing to prance around even though your actually still under suspension? You can’t talk to me about a fight against Jon Jones because he is not eligible. When your eligible, we can talk.”
Jones is also set for an after party following the UFC 210 pay-per-view (PPV) this weekend. Cormier found this laughable given Jones’ history with alcohol and drugs, and called out Jones’ manager Malki Kawa for allowing such an event:
“And then, I’m going down the street and I see a poster of an afterparty. What genius did that? What genius decided to give Jon Jones, a recovering alcoholic, an afterparty? Who does that? Great Job, Malki. Awesome work, buddy.”
Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
In the end Cormier is 100 percent focused on the task at hand, Johnson, and is not worried about Jones’ involvement in fight week. He did call Jones’ appearance ‘desperate’, however, and compared him to a varsity quarterback who can’t let go of the past:
“It doesn’t bother me, I just think it’s desperate — very desperate,” Cormier said. “He’s like the old quarterback who was super-successful in high school and he comes back to the parties with his jacket on. You should be fighting here, not walking around with your varsity jacket on with your four state championships.”
UFC 210 is around the corner and the fight card has some mouth watering fixtures lined up just for your entertainment. This is the perfect fight night to get your bet on and make some serious bank while you are at it. Here are some tips and predictions which will help you do just that. […]
UFC 210 is around the corner and the fight card has some mouth watering fixtures lined up just for your entertainment. This is the perfect fight night to get your bet on and make some serious bank while you are at it. Here are some tips and predictions which will help you do just that.
145 lbs – Myles Jury Vs. Mike De La Torre
Myles Jury (15 -2 in the UFC) had a start to his UFC career which most can only dream of. Six consecutive back to back wins had him feeling invincible until he came up against Donald Cerrone. Post his loss to Cerrone Jury went down to the Featherweight category hoping he would be able to get back to winning ways, however, reality hit him hard when a slightly overweight Charles Oliveira got him with a deadly guillotine.
Myles “Fury” Jury has been out of action for sixteen months almost since his loss to Oliveira and it is going to be very interesting indeed to see how he comes out swinging when he goes up against Mike De La Torre in UFC 210.
Our predictions for this one? Fury has been out of the game for a while, but we also know for a fact that he hasn’t been slacking off during that off time. Fury’s submission prowess may prove to be too much for De La Torre to handle. We are going to go with a victory to Jury via submission. We don’t see the fight progressing much past the first round.
UFC 210 is a couple of days away and the third episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel. In the episode, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman packs for his trip to Buffalo, then checks in with the help of entertaining teammate Gian Villante. Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier travels in style to
UFC 210 is a couple of days away and the third episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel.
In the episode, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman packs for his trip to Buffalo, then checks in with the help of entertaining teammate Gian Villante. Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier travels in style to a Connecticut media day, where he has a tense exchange at ESPN with title challenger Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Weidman’s opponent Gegard Mousasi arrives in New York and begins his fight week duties.
Intensity was the operative word during faceoffs following media day on Wednesday for UFC 210. We also saw a new person stand between the fighters, and got a first-look at the female fighters set to compete in Buffalo. And yes, Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson made sure to put on their “mean mugs.”
Intensity was the operative word during faceoffs following media day on Wednesday for UFC 210. We also saw a new person stand between the fighters, and got a first-look at the female fighters set to compete in Buffalo. And yes, Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson made sure to put on their “mean mugs.”
Heading into this his light heavyweight championship rematch with Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, 205-pound titleholder Daniel Cormier knows his legacy will rest on his rivalry with troubled-yet-dominant former champ Jon Jones. Cormier recently admitted as much,
Heading into this his light heavyweight championship rematch with Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, 205-pound titleholder Daniel Cormier knows his legacy will rest on his rivalry with troubled-yet-dominant former champ Jon Jones.
Cormier recently admitted as much, and Johnson, the man he submitted to win the belt at UFC 187 in 2015, had a similar stance when he and Cormier appeared on ESPN’s “5ive Rounds’ Podcast earlier this week (via MMA Fighting), believing Jones to “always be around, regardless of what happened.”
That was where Cormier drew the line, however, noting that the fact he failed a drug test only three days before their scheduled rematch at last year’s UFC 200 should not be overlooked just because of how transcendent he was as a fighter:
“You kind of expect it, but there’s only one problem with Anthony’s answer,” Cormier said. “I think we’ve got to stop saying, ‘Regardless of what happened.’ We know what happened. We know exactly what he did. So when we say stuff like, ‘Regardless of what happened,’ or we don’t state the facts, it’s almost like we’re sweeping it under the rug. We know what he did. We know the bad things that he did. We know that he tried to cheat. We know all this stuff. So I get annoyed because I’m like, ‘Why are you asking me about a guy that, three days before we were supposed to fight, pissed hot?’ That’s the stuff that annoys me, not the fact that he’s a good fighter. He’s a great fighter.”
Jones unceremoniously tested positive for banned estrogen blockers heading into his anticipated second fight with Cormier, and the former champion and his team went on to defend their case by claiming sexual performance enhancement drugs were the culprit. There’s a large view that USADA accepted Jones’ defense following an arbitration hearing, but Cormier wanted to clear the air by detailing USADA did not accept his argument, which lead to the full one-year suspension as a sanction:
“He got that year [suspension] from USADA, right?” Cormier said. “He got a year suspension and there’s this misconception that USADA believed his excuse. They did not believe his excuse. They gave him the max amount of time that they could for what he did! The defense that he had didn’t prove anything. USADA gave him the max suspension that they could give him so, to me, he’s a cheater. They didn’t buy that whole — what was it, a fertility pill, or a sex pill? They didn’t buy it because if they bought the explanation, they would not have given him the max amount of time that they could have.”
