Tag: UFC 222

Max Holloway: Stop Acting Like Jose Aldo & Frankie Edgar Are Dead

Max Holloway is without a doubt the best featherweight in the world in a division that has been notoriously deep with talent. But even with perennial contenders Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar now coming off of knockout losses, Holloway insists they’re still the top three in the division. The 145-pound champion gave his thoughts on […]

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Max Holloway is without a doubt the best featherweight in the world in a division that has been notoriously deep with talent.

But even with perennial contenders Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar now coming off of knockout losses, Holloway insists they’re still the top three in the division.

The 145-pound champion gave his thoughts on the status of the featherweight division and his unfinished business with Edgar (MMA Mania):

“Me and Frankie [Edgar] still got unfinished business. Everyone is talking about Frankie and [Jose] Aldo like they’re two dead guys. They say, ‘Too washed up.’ They’re still animals. They’ve been at the top of the heap.”

“They’ve been top-five, top-three in any division they were in, forever. People keep talking about how these guys are old; we’ll see. You can’t speak on it yet. It’s a couple losses. It’s MMA.”

“You get caught. Frankie, Aldo, these guys are not dead. They’re mid-30s and they’re fighting. People act like Frankie and Aldo are not the top-three guys. They’re still ranked in the top-three with [Brian] Ortega.”

Aldo was TKO’d twice in a row by Holloway himself, while Edgar was finished for the first time in his career at UFC 222 after blue-chip prospect Brian Ortega knocked him out in the first round.

Holloway appears to be addressing fans that have written off the two fighters:

“Come on, guys. Let’s be serious, let’s be real. These guys are not dead, they’re not gone. They’re still around. We’ll see what happens. But right now, the path is going a different way for me with Ortega and I’m focused.”

Edgar will look to bounce back quickly, as a rematch with Cub Swanson was just announced on Wednesday.

Do you agree with Holloway’s impression on Aldo and Edgar’s status in the featherweight division?

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Max Holloway: Brian Ortega May Be The Future, But I’m The Present

UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway looks set to defend his title against #1 UFC featherweight Brian Ortega this summer. Brian Ortega, who now holds an impressive record of 14-0 in the UFC, stunned the mixed martial arts world when he defeated UFC …

UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway looks set to defend his title against #1 UFC featherweight Brian Ortega this summer. Brian Ortega, who now holds an impressive record of 14-0 in the UFC, stunned the mixed martial arts world when he defeated UFC veteran Frankie Edgar via TKO in the first round at UFC 222. Many […]

The post Max Holloway: Brian Ortega May Be The Future, But I’m The Present appeared first on MMA News.

Max Holloway: Brian Ortega May Be The Future, But I’m The Present

UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway looks set to defend his title against #1 UFC featherweight Brian Ortega this summer. Brian Ortega, who now holds an impressive record of 14-0 in the UFC, stunned the mixed martial arts world when he defeated UFC …

UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway looks set to defend his title against #1 UFC featherweight Brian Ortega this summer. Brian Ortega, who now holds an impressive record of 14-0 in the UFC, stunned the mixed martial arts world when he defeated UFC veteran Frankie Edgar via TKO in the first round at UFC 222. Many […]

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Six Future Stars The UFC Can’t Afford To Miss On

Each year, a new class of prospects catch the attention of fight fans. With Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, the biggest stars of the past few years – and perhaps ever – now gone from the sport for the time being, the UFC is in a transitionary period as Endeavor attempts to build new dependable […]

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Each year, a new class of prospects catch the attention of fight fans.

With Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, the biggest stars of the past few years – and perhaps ever – now gone from the sport for the time being, the UFC is in a transitionary period as Endeavor attempts to build new dependable pay-per-view draws.

Fighters like Sage Northcutt and Paige VanZant initially made a big impact and the expectations were high, but not all prospects pan out in the cage. Those once-hyped prospects are still around, but they’ve given way to a new crop of potential future stars who are performing in the cage in addition to having their own highly marketable qualities.

So the UFC has potential stars in their midst, but with PPV sales slumping as the promotion seems to be waiting around for McGregor to return, the time is now for them to build for the future as they cannot afford more down years by failing to promote their best chances at box office success.

With the majority of a new year of MMA ahead of us, let’s take a look at six future stars the UFC simply can’t afford to miss promoting throughout this year.

Sean O'Malley
Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

6. Sean O’Malley

O’Malley captured UFC president Dana White’s attention and the exec quickly signed him.

‘Sugar’ certainly has delivered thus far, winning both of his UFC fights with stylish striking and adept grappling.

He even won his last fight after severely damaging his leg in the third round. With his charisma and fighting style, it’s no wonder the company wants to push this kid into star territory.

As O’Malley works his way up the bantamweight division, he’s certainly a fighter to watch out for. At just 23 years old, the Montana native could be a star in a post-McGregor world.

But let’s see him against a step up in competition before the hype train really starts to start. A fight against Rob Font or Thomas Almeida is a perfect test to really see where O’Malley is at, and if he wins that, the UFC should seriously consider pushing his promotion into high gear.

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Coach: Conor McGregor ‘Puts Max Holloway Away’ In Rematch

Conor McGregor is still on the sidelines reaping the monetary windfall of his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather last year, but his longtime striking coach is still speculating about a fight that’s most likely far off. McGregor has been linked to a rematch with Mayweather in the UFC octagon, but his most likely return bout […]

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Conor McGregor is still on the sidelines reaping the monetary windfall of his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather last year, but his longtime striking coach is still speculating about a fight that’s most likely far off.

McGregor has been linked to a rematch with Mayweather in the UFC octagon, but his most likely return bout (at least hopefully) is an awaited title unification bout with the winner of April 7’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov UFC 223 main event.

With featherweight champion Max Holloway, whom McGregor outlasted by unanimous decision at 2013’s UFC Fight Night 26, apparently owning the inactive ‘Notorious’ on social media as of late, McGregor’s longtime striking coach Owen Roddy discussed a potential rematch with ‘Blessed’ during a recent spot on Submission Radio (transcribed by MMA Fighting) and offered a less-than-surprising prediction.

According to Roddy, Holloway, who won the featherweight title from legendary champion Jose Aldo last June and defended it against him again last December, is now a bit overconfident in his skills and would ‘go to sleep’ were he to face McGregor again:

“I think Conor would probably put Max away,” Roddy said. “I think Max would probably be way more confident in his ability, and if you go in there a little bit overconfident with Conor you’re gonna go to sleep. Whereas, he was a little bit more… he stood back in the first fight — and obviously Conor injured himself, he couldn’t put him away — but yeah, I think it would be a great fight.

“Max has done, he’s done so well since the Conor fight. He’s been on a tear, and even John Kavanagh said it back in the day, he called that Max would have been the next champion after that fight with Conor. You could see it in Max, and I think everyone sees it. He’s a great fighter, but I think Conor’s on another level compared to him as well.”

conor mcgregor ufc 178
Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

McGregor was briefly linked to a supposed short-notice bout with Franke Edgar after Holloway was forced out of March 3’s UFC 222 with a leg injury, but the validity of him offering his services at the last minute was disputed by Edgar’s manager Al Abdel-Aziz, who claimed McGregor wanted the UFC to book him for a new 165-pound belt in order to compete on the card.

Roddy disputed that and said McGregor was excited to potentially fight Edgar, and indeed the infamous Irish superstar has claimed he will return to fight again because he’s ‘the best.’

With many doubting – and growing extremely tired of – his boasts as his streak without a title defense pushes closer to three years, McGregor and his camp seemingly need to give fans something of substance rather than endless interviews claiming he would beat this or that top contender.

As Dana White loves to say, we’ll see what happens.

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Mackenzie Dern’s Next Fight Set For UFC 224

Mackenzie Dern isn’t wasting any time returning to the Octagon. The hyped 6-0 strawweight prospect just made her UFC debut with a hard-fought split decision win over Ashley Yoder at March 3’s UFC 222, and after calling for a fight at UFC 224 in the momenta afterward, she’s headed back to the origins of her championship-winning […]

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Mackenzie Dern isn’t wasting any time returning to the Octagon.

The hyped 6-0 strawweight prospect just made her UFC debut with a hard-fought split decision win over Ashley Yoder at March 3’s UFC 222, and after calling for a fight at UFC 224 in the momenta afterward, she’s headed back to the origins of her championship-winning Brazilian jiu-jitsu pedigree.

News broke from MMA Brasil Wednesday that Dern will make a fast turnaround to face former The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 20 finalist Amanda Bobby Cooper at May 24’s UFC 224 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dern, the daughter of BJJ great Wellington “Megaton” Dias, is widely regarded as one of the finest female submission artists in the world, owning a win over feared champion Gabi Garcia. She’s submitted her foe in three of her six total mixed martial arts bouts, and the 24-year-old Brazilian-American would appear to have a match-up tailor-made for her skillset in Cooper, who has lost all three of her defeats by submission.

But the 3-3 Cooper did make it to the TUF 20 finals, and also picked up a one-sided TKO win over Angela Magana in her last bout to regain some much-needed momentum after tapping out to a Cynthia Calvillo rear-naked choke in her prior fight at UFC 209 in 2016.

Dern did show some wild inexperience on the feet against Yoder. She was prone to wild, lunging punches that left her chin incredibly open, and indeed Yoder dropped her with a big punch at one point. Yet there’s little doubt Cooper will be in imminent danger if the fight hits the mat.

‘ABC’ doesn’t seem to be phased by that fact, however, posting that she’s been training for a long while to beat Dern and would derail her hype train:

UFC 224 features a women’s bantamweight championship bout between hometown fan favorite Amanda Nunes and challenger Raquel Pennington.

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