Tag: ufc 224

Pic: Retired Vitor Belfort Is Already Massive Again

Vitor Belfort is already looking massive after retiring:

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Legendary knockout artist Vitor Belfort may have retired after losing to Lyoto Machida at May 12’s UFC 224, but ‘The Phenom’ is already looking insanely jacked in his post-retirement days.

Belfort recently took to social media to post a photo of himself from the neck up on Instagram, and let’s just say it hearkened back to his controversial testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT) days.

Check it out:

Belfort infamously racked up three jaw-dropping knockout wins over Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, and Dan Henderson, all by way of head kick, during an unprecedented run from 2013-2014 which earned him a title shot at then-champion Chris Weidman.

It also made him by far the most controversial fighter in the UFC due to his use of TRT, which was legal at the time but frowned upon. A failed out-of-competition drug test in early 2014 lead to the banning of its use in mixed martial arts competition, and may have laid the foundation for the UFC’s stringent USADA testing every fighter must subject to now.

Belfort is sure to draw a decent amount of heat for the above photo.

Could a move to Rizin or even Bellator be in the cards for “The Phenom?”

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10 Worst Weight Cuts In UFC History

These 10 fighters had the worst weight cuts in UFC history:

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Weight cutting has been an integral issue at the forefront of the conversation in MMA lately.

It seems like every card is ruined by a fighter missing weight, and usually by a large margin. Main event fighters like Darren Till, Yoel Romero, and Kevin Lee have soiled recently featured bouts, and fight fans are rightfully getting frustrated.

Solutions from more weight classes to eliminating early weigh-ins have been considered, but thus far, nothing substantial has been done to address this glaringly obvious issue in MMA.

You won’t believe the amount of weight some fighters have clocked in at. Even worse, many of them are repeat offenders, making every weigh-in a gamble as to if they will actually make weight.

However, some of the fighters on this list who struggle with their weight cuts have been champions; for example:

 

10. Renan Barao – UFC 177

The former bantamweight champion had some serious difficulty making the 135-pound limit and didn’t even come close at UFC 177. Barao was attempting to take the title he had lost to TJ Dillashaw beforehand, but the rematch didn’t end up happening at UFC 177.

Rumor has it that he was cutting down from 163 pounds, making it a nearly 30-pound weight cut.

Barao’s weight cut was so bad that he actually passed out while in the sauna as he tried to sweat out water weight in an effort to make the bantamweight limit. Barao smacked his head on the bathtub upon blacking out and was forced out of the fight as a result.

Joe Soto ultimately filled in for Barao, making this a seriously messed up weight cut on Barao’s part. Blacking out and not even making it to a title fight is as bad as it gets.

Barao now fights at featherweight, which is still likely a difficult cut, but at least it hasn’t caused him to blackout.

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Details Of Conor McGregor’s Supposed UFC 224 Return Emerge

We now know more about Conor McGregor’s rumored agreement to fight at UFC 224.

The post Details Of Conor McGregor’s Supposed UFC 224 Return Emerge appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Earlier today (Wed., June 6, 2018) former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor took to Twitter to react to making Forbes’ World’s Highest-Paid Athletes For 2018 list.

He took to Instagram to claim that he believes he could’ve moved up from the No. 4-spot, surpassing soccer mega-stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, to take No. 2 had he fought at UFC 224 last month in Brazil – like he had agreed to do:

McGregor hasn’t fought in the UFC since November of 2016 when he defeated Eddie Alvarez for the 155-pound title. He returned to combat sports action last August to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the boxing ring, a fight he lost via tenth-round TKO.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans have been patiently waiting on The Notorious One’s Octagon return, and it looks like he could’ve made it in Brazil last month.

As per McGregor’s Instagram post, he suggests he was set to return in Rio De Janeiro at UFC 224 but didn’t name his supposed opponent.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reports that the opponent likely would’ve been Rafael dos Anjos and the interim welterweight title would’ve been on the line:

Ultimately this fight did not happen as McGregor would cause a massive scene during fight week at UFC 223 in Brooklyn. The Irishman stormed a parking lot alongside his entourage and assaulted fighter buses that were carrying competitors on the PPV card.

He even threw a dolly at a bus, which shattered a window and injured several fighters inside. This act was in retaliation for now-UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov confronting McGregor’s good friend and teammate, Artem Lobov, at the designated fighter hotel earlier that week.

Three fights from UFC 223 were canceled as a result. McGregor was subsequently arrested for his actions and has since been released.

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Conor McGregor Claims he Was Set to Compete at UFC 224

Conor McGregor has claimed original plans called for him to compete at UFC 224. UFC 224 took place last month inside the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A women’s bantamweight title bout between champion Amanda Nunes and Raquel Penningt…

Conor McGregor has claimed original plans called for him to compete at UFC 224. UFC 224 took place last month inside the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A women’s bantamweight title bout between champion Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington headlined the card. The event didn’t gain much buzz, but that certainly would’ve changed if original plans had come […]

The post Conor McGregor Claims he Was Set to Compete at UFC 224 appeared first on MMA News.

Conor McGregor Claims He Was Supposed To Fight In May

Seems like the times Conor McGregor was ‘supposed to’ fight are adding up:

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Yesterday (Tues., June 5, 2018) Forbes released their World’s Highest-Paid Athletes For 2018 list, and a familiar face for mixed martial arts (MMA) fans ended way up at the No. 4 spot.

Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor made the top five with $99 million, ranking 4th, thanks in large part to his high-profile boxing bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. that earned him a reportedly staggering $85 million payday.

At the No. 1 spot was none other than “Money” himself, who raked in $285 million. McGregor first appeared in Forbes’ list back in 2016 when he was ranked at No. 85. The following year he shot his way up to the No. 24-spot.

McGregor recently took to Instagram to celebrate the news of his placement on this year’s Forbes list and made a rather interesting revelation as well.

The Irishman claimed that he could’ve passed up soccer mega-stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to take the No. 2 spot had he fought on at UFC 224 May 12th in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which he claims to have agreed to do:

“Made it to number 4 on the Forbes list this year. If I had of fought on the agreed May 12th bout in Rio De Janeiro, I would have surpassed Ronaldo and Messi to take 2nd place.  Something came up however… Ah well, still under 30.”

McGregor’s “something came up however” reference is likely in regards to his dolly-throwing antics in Brooklyn before UFC 223. “The Notorious One” stormed a parking lot with his entourage and attacked a pair of buses that were transporting fighters on the pay-per-view (PPV) card.

This was allegedly in an attempt to hunt down now-UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who had a run-in with McGregor’s teammate and friend, Artem Lobov, at the designated fighter hotel earlier that week. McGregor threw a dolly at one of the busses and shattered a window, which injured several fighters and caused a few fights to be scrapped from the card.

McGregor was subsequently arrested, and if his statement of agreeing to fight in May proves to be true, this is likely the reason those plans never came to fruition.

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UFC Rankings Update: Mackenzie Dern Falls Out After One Week

It didn’t take long for Mackenzie Dern to fall off the official UFC rankings:

The post UFC Rankings Update: Mackenzie Dern Falls Out After One Week appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The new UFC rankings are here, and the backlash directed at Mackenzie Dern’s debut last week has apparently persuaded the media-generated list.

Although the UFC staged a pivotal welterweight main event between Kamaru Usman and Demian Maia at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 129 from Santiago, Chile, that caused Usman to rise two spots to No. 5 and dropped Maia one spot to No. 6 for his loss, the popular women’s strawweight prospect is drawing most of the attention for the latest set of official UFC ranks.

After Dern debuted at No. 15 on the women’s strawweight Top 15 following her first-round submission victory over Amanda Bobby Cooper at May 12’s UFC 224 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a proverbial brush fire was ignited based on the fact that Dern had missed weight by an awe-inspiring seven pounds for the fight, putting her closer to flyweight than strawweight. The backlash came from both fans and fellow fighters such as strawweight competitors Felice Herrig and Angela Hill.

Apparently, the media members who vote for the highly-lambasted rankings took notice a week later, as Dern has been left off of the women’s strawweight rankings, allowing Hill to appear back on the list. Tatiana Suarez also rose up three spots to No. 9 in the class following her submission win over Alexa Grasso in Chile. Grasso fell two spots to No. 11 for the rapid loss.

In other movement, former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum was removed from the rankings after news arrived he had failed a USADA drug test and was facing a potential violation as his reported UFC Moscow fight with Alexey Oleynik was called off.

Check out the full updated rankings via UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Georges St-Pierre
3 Stipe Miocic
3 Conor McGregor
5 Daniel Cormier
6 Max Holloway
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Khabib Nurmagomedov
10 Cris Cyborg
11 Tony Ferguson
12 Amanda Nunes
13 Robert Whittaker
14 Cody Garbrandt
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 John Moraga
7 Wilson Reis +1
8 Alexandre Pantoja +4
9 Brandon Moreno -2
10 Dustin Ortiz
11 Ben Nguyen -2
12 Matheus Nicolau -1
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Bryan Caraway
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Cody Stamann
12 Rob Font
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Brett Johns
15 Eddie Wineland

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Jeremy Stephens
5 Cub Swanson
6 Josh Emmett
7 Ricardo Lamas
8 Chan Sung Jung
9 Renato Moicano
10 Darren Elkins
11 Mirsad Bektic
12 Zabit Magomedsharipov +1
13 Myles Jury +1
14 Dooho Choi +1
15 Calvin Kattar *NR

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Conor McGregor
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Dustin Poirier
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 James Vick
12 Anthony Pettis
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Paul Felder
15 Olivier Aubin-Mercier

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Robbie Lawler +1
3 Colby Covington
5 Kamaru Usman +2
6 Demian Maia -1
7 Jorge Masvidal -1
8 Darren Till
9 Neil Magny
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Gunnar Nelson
13 Alex Oliveira
14 Leon Edwards
15 Dong Hyun Kim

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Michael Bisping
7 Derek Brunson
8 David Branch
9 Lyoto Machida
9 Brad Tavares +1
11 Uriah Hall
12 Thiago Santos
12 Antonio Carlos Junior
14 Paulo Costa
15 Elias Theodorou *NR

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Ilir Latifi
5 Jan Blachowicz
6 Jimi Manuwa
7 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Mauricio Rua
9 Corey Anderson
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Patrick Cummins
12 Dominick Reyes *NR
13 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
14 Tyson Pedro -2
15 Gian Villante -1

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Alexander Volkov
4 Curtis Blaydes
5 Derrick Lewis +1
6 Mark Hunt +1
7 Marcin Tybura +1
8 Andrei Arlovski +1
9 Aleksei Oleinik +1
10 Stefan Struve +1
11 Tai Tuivasa +1
12 Shamil Abdurakhimov +1
13 Justin Willis +1
14 Junior Dos Santos +1
15 Junior Albini *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez +3
10 Cortney Casey
11 Alexa Grasso -2
12 Randa Markos -1
13 Nina Ansaroff +1
14 Joanne Calderwood -1
15 Angela Hill *NR

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Lauren Murphy
4 Alexis Davis
5 Katlyn Chookagian
6 Barb Honchak +1
7 Liz Carmouche +1
8 Roxanne Modafferi -2
9 Jessica-Rose Clark
10 Jessica Eye
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Andrea Lee *NR
13 Mara Romero Borella -1
14 Paige VanZant -1
15 Montana De La Rosa -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Irene Aldana
12 Lucie Pudilova
13 Sarah Moras
14 Lina Lansberg
15 Gina Mazany

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