Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva 3 was on the table for UFC 212. Weidman told Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” that he was offered a third bout against Silva at the pay-per-view last month. He explained why he had to turn down the fight (via MMAMania.com): “The UFC was asking me if I would […]
Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva 3 was on the table for UFC 212. Weidman told Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” that he was offered a third bout against Silva at the pay-per-view last month. He explained why he had to turn down the fight (via MMAMania.com): “The UFC was asking me if I would […]
A massively heavy-hitting heavyweight bout has been added to September’s UFC 215 from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. UFC Canada just announced on social media that former champion Junior dos Santos will meet surging young contender Francis Ngannou on the card: BREAKING: @junior_cigano vs. @francis_ngannou added to #UFC215 at @RogersPlace in Edmonton!@EdmontonSun article: https://t.co/boDxUc4Rv0 pic.twitter.com/1HUtz8n40G — UFC […]
It looks to be the toughest test yet for “The Predator,” a steamrolling force of nature who has finished all five of his UFC bouts since making his way to the octagon in December 2015. He most recently demolished fading former champion Andrei Arlovski by TKO in the first round at January’s UFC on FOX 23 from Denver, Colorado.
At a career crossroads of sorts, former champion dos Santos is in a must-win situation after seeing mixed results in recent years. The former champ and respected knockout artist has only gone 3-4 in his last seven fights, with his most recent effort a first-round TKO loss to current champion Stipe Miocic in their rematch at May’s UFC 212 from Dallas, Texas.
“Cigano” also hasn’t finished a bout since his legendary 2013 spin kick KO of Mark Hunt, and with injuries mounting to keep him out of any semblance of consistent competition, it’s easy to wonder if he’s a stepping stone for a fighter more than a few MMA pundits consider to be the future champion at heavyweight.
With Ngannou winning five fights by finish – even if he hasn’t faced near the competition that dos Santos has – in just over a year-and-a-half, ‘JDS’ has his work cut out for him in a big way.
UFC 215 will go down on September 9, 2017 from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
25-year-old Max Holloway completed his rise to the top of the UFC’s featherweight division in the main event of UFC 212 earlier this month (June 3, 2017), finishing Jose Aldo in the third round to become the undisputed 145-pound champion. Despite losing the first two rounds, Holloway took note of how Aldo was reacting to […]
25-year-old Max Holloway completed his rise to the top of the UFC’s featherweight division in the main event of UFC 212 earlier this month (June 3, 2017), finishing Jose Aldo in the third round to become the undisputed 145-pound champion.
Despite losing the first two rounds, Holloway took note of how Aldo was reacting to his movements, and “Blessed” recently said that the Brazilian was often ‘jumping back’:
“When I was putting my hand out and stuff, every time I’d put it, he would shut it down,” Holloway told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “He would throw something, he would do something reactive. Every time in the beginning rounds when I feinted at him, he was jumping back. I [saw these] big motions from him and he was countering super fast at certain things I was doing.”
Towards the tail end of the second round and into the third, Holloway began to loosen up, letting his hands go and taunting Aldo. It was at this point that Holloway said he realized that Aldo didn’t want to fight:
“I told myself, he’s not firing,” Holloway said. “It’s time to taunt. Let’s taunt. Let’s see if he cracks me. I taunted him — I put my hands up for a couple of seconds. And he didn’t do nothing. I was like OK, I’m gonna do it again. And he did nothing. I was like man, this guy don’t want to fight.”
“These guys are playing checkers,” Holloway said. “I’m out here playing chess. When they figure it out, it’s too late.”
Despite the slow start that many viewers clearly saw taking place from him, Holloway says the fight with Aldo went exactly according to his game plan, and now the young Hawaiian plans to lead MMA into a new era:
“I already knew our game plan was gonna work,” Holloway said. “There’s enough tape. Aldo, he’s one of the greatest ever, but it’s just time for a new era. It’s time for the new wave of guys, us young guys are coming up and we’re proving it. We’re showing to the world that we’re here to stay, we’re taking forever. MMA is forever evolving. You either evolve with the sport or you get left behind. I’m trying to lead the back. I’m trying to sprint.”
What do you make of Holloway’s assessment of the fight?
Earlier this month (June 3, 2017), Jose Aldo surrendered his featherweight title in the main event of UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, suffering a third round TKO loss to Max Holloway. Aldo had success in the first two rounds landing big shots, but after the bout many had wondered why the Brazilian strayed […]
Earlier this month (June 3, 2017), Jose Aldo surrendered his featherweight title in the main event of UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, suffering a third round TKO loss to Max Holloway.
Jason Silva for USA TODAY Sports
Aldo had success in the first two rounds landing big shots, but after the bout many had wondered why the Brazilian strayed away from using his patented leg kicks.
According to his longtime coach Andre Pederneiras, Aldo had suffered a leg injury in training that limited his attack:
“Every fight the athlete enters he has some kind of injury, and Aldo is no different, he has his,” Pederneiras told FOX Fight Club (Via MMFighting.com) Many people asked why he didn’t kick. Aldo has a leg injury, so he couldn’t throw kicks or run during his entire camp. That doesn’t take anything away from Max Holloway’s win, we don’t want to say that. We would go back between rounds and the crowd said ‘tell him to kick,’ but we, the cornermen, were the only aware of it. We avoided the kicks because of this injury. We were afraid it would strain his muscle. We could train his kicks a bit in the last week, but we didn’t force it too much. We believed that, the way he was going (in training), he would be able to win with his boxing. And that was happening.”
While Aldo is a vicious striker, Holloway is also well-versed on the feet, which is why many expected Aldo to possibly take the fight to the ground. Pederneiras admitted that Aldo worked specifically on his boxing and his wrestling during camp because of his injury, but he said that “Scarface” decided not to shoot in for takedowns after having success on the feet early on:
“He spent his entire camp working on his boxing and his takedown, his ground game,” Pederneiras said. “Since Aldo felt well standing in the first rounds, he decided not to go for takedowns, but (Holloway’s) punch landed and everything changed.”
The loss to Holloway marked the second TKO loss for Aldo in his last three bouts, and his fighting future is currently unclear, although he did say that he would be back in the aftermath of UFC 212.
Holloway, on the other hand, extended his winning streak to an incredible 11 straight with his UFC 212 victory. The 25-year-old Hawaiian champion now has some interesting options awaiting him, as top contenders Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson have both been campaigning for title shots. Holloway has already beaten Swanson, as has Edgar, so the fight to make seems to be a clash between “Blessed” and “The Answer”.
Either way, the featherweight division seems to be in a good place moving forward with Holloway at the helm after being held up by Conor McGregor over the last few years.
What do you make of Pederneiras’ comments and who would you like to see Holloway take on next?
Since Nate Marquardt was defeated by Vitor Belfort earlier this month, the accomplished vet’s argued he didn’t really lose their bout, and “The Phenom” sounds a little agitated. Belfort and Marquardt got after it at UFC 212 on June 3rd, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Belfort walked away from the tightly contested […]
Since Nate Marquardt was defeated by Vitor Belfortearlier this month, the accomplished vet’s argued he didn’t really lose their bout, and “The Phenom” sounds a little agitated.
Belfort and Marquardt got after it at UFC 212 on June 3rd, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Belfort walked away from the tightly contested bout with a unanimous decision win, via scores of 29-28 across the board.
Well, Marquardt has argued since thathe should have received the judges’ nod, and might have, if the fight hadn’t taken place in Belfort’s home country (quote viaMMA Fighting):
…In the fight, I felt like I was winning pretty much every second of the rounds, you know. He only caught me with a couple of punches, and the only thing that appeared differently from being in the fight than watching it from the outside was the crowd.
Every time he would throw a kick – I would block every single one of them, he didn’t land one – the crowd would just cheer so loud, and I don’t know if that has anything to do with the judging, but I wouldn’t think so because al the websites had me winning the fight. So I mean, I don’t know. I guess obviously looking back, there’s things you could’ve done or mistakes that I made, but all-in-all, I fought very well and felt like I was the victor.
As a result, Belfort recently posted the following comments on Instagram:
I respect @natemarquardt a lot but finding excuses for a loss it is not right. I won the fight for sure and fighting in Brazil doesn’t make a difference for the organization and the judges. As far as I’m concerned UFC is a international organization that has events and staff all over the world.
But if you want to do it again. I am down for it!!
Let’s fight in a neutral ground, so you can’t complain about hometown advantage.
I will make sure that the fight will not go to the last round!
Marquardt is likely on board with this idea, but chances are, Belfort – Marquardt II won’t be coming to a TV near you, anytime soon. While it was a very close bout, and some people had Marquardt winning the scrap, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of fans calling for the them to run it back.
What do you think? Would you like to see Belfort – Marquardt II?
Cub Swanson feels there would’ve been no question that he’s up next for a featherweight title opportunity had Jose Aldo emerged victorious at UFC 212 this past weekend. Aldo suffered a third round TKO loss to Max Holloway in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Saturday (June 3, 2017) and dropped his undisputed featherweight title to the […]
Cub Swanson feels there would’ve been no question that he’s up next for a featherweight title opportunity had Jose Aldo emerged victorious at UFC 212 this past weekend.
Aldo suffered a third round TKO loss to Max Holloway in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Saturday (June 3, 2017) and dropped his undisputed featherweight title to the Hawaiian. It marked only the second loss of “Scarface’s” UFC career, his first being a 13-second knockout loss to Conor McGregor back in December of 2015.
As it currently stands, Cub Swanson is the No. 4-ranked featherweight in the UFC while Frankie Edgar sits at the No. 2-ranked position. There has been much debate as to who will earn the nod to challenge “Blessed” for the title first, but Swanson doesn’t believe this would even be a topic of discussion had Aldo won in Brazil (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“We both knew going in that if Aldo won, I 100 percent was going to get (the next title shot),” he said. “And then if Max won, it was going to be a tossup between the two of us. That’s just because Frankie never fought Holloway.
“The reason I was going to get it over him either way was just because Frankie has fought for the title a bunch of times. And when you fight for the title a bunch of times and you don’t win, it’s hard to sell that.”
Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel for USA TODAY Sports
Swanson is currently on a four fight win streak, winning all of those bouts via unanimous decision, over names such as Hacran Dias, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Doo Ho Choi, and Artem Lobov. His last loss (interestingly enough) came to the newly-crowned champ Holloway via guillotine choke back in April of 2015.
Edgar is on a two fight win streak after defeating Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez over a span of six months. “The Answer” has challenged for the featherweight throne twice before, but was unsuccessful both times. Due to the fact that Edgar is 0-4 in his last UFC title fights, however, “Killer Cub” doesn’t think it’s the New Jersey native’s time to challenge for the gold at the moment:
“I’m not taking anything away from him,” Swanson said. “I respect the guy. I think he’s an amazing fighter. He has a win over me. But since then, I’ve been on a tear. And the fact is he’s 0-4 in his last four title fights.
“That fact you can get that many title fights is crazy. I’m just looking for one. I’ve never had the opportunity, and I’ve been promised multiple times and had it taken away. … All I’m asking for is the opportunity.”
