UFC 224 Predictions: Can Pennington Pull Off The Upset?

The day has arrived for UFC 224. Tonight (May 12), UFC 224 will take place inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the main event, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will defend her 135-pound gold against Raquel Pennington. Th…

The day has arrived for UFC 224. Tonight (May 12), UFC 224 will take place inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the main event, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will defend her 135-pound gold against Raquel Pennington. The co-main event will see middleweights Jacare Souza and Kelvin Gastelum do battle in a potential title eliminator. Can […]

The post UFC 224 Predictions: Can Pennington Pull Off The Upset? appeared first on MMA News.

The Parting Shot Podcast 5/11 UFC 224 Preview

The Parting Shot Podcast with your hosts James Lynch and Adam Martin is back with another brand new episode for MMA fans to enjoy. In today’s episode, James and Adam preview UFC 224. Thanks as always to our sponsors MMAOddsbreaker.com and Bad Boy…

The Parting Shot Podcast with your hosts James Lynch and Adam Martin is back with another brand new episode for MMA fans to enjoy. In today’s episode, James and Adam preview UFC 224. Thanks as always to our sponsors MMAOddsbreaker.com and Bad Boy MMA. If you would like to support the podcast, consider buying some Bad Boy […]

The post The Parting Shot Podcast 5/11 UFC 224 Preview appeared first on MMA News.

Betting Odds For UFC 224: Top Fighter Favored Big

Final betting odds are in.

The post Betting Odds For UFC 224: Top Fighter Favored Big appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC 224 is here, and it goes down tonight (May 12, 2018) from the  Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FX at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pennington in a female bantamweight title fight will headline this event while Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Kelvin Gastelum in a middleweight bout will serve as the co-headliner.

Rounding out the five bout main card is Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Cooper in a women’s strawweight bout, John Lineker vs. Brian Kelleher in a bantamweight bout, and Lyoto Machida vs. Vitor Belfort in a middleweight bout.

According to oddsmakers, Nunes is a -1000 favorite over Pennington, who is a +650 underdog. Other odds for the main card include Gastelum being a +125 underdog against Souza, who is a -145 favorite. Here are the full betting odds:

MAIN CARD (PPV/10 p.m. ET)

Amanda Nunes (-1000) vs. Raquel Pennington (+650)
Ronaldo Souza (-145) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (+125)
Mackenzie Dern (-280) vs. Amanda Cooper (+240)
John Lineker (-250) vs. Brian Kelleher (+210)
Lyoto Machida (-275) vs. Vitor Belfort (+235)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX/8 p.m. ET)

Karl Roberson (-140) vs. Cezar Ferreira (+120)
Junior Albini (-150) vs. Aleksei Oleinik (+130)
Davi Ramos (-140) vs. Nick Hein (+120)
Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos (-135) vs. Sean Strickland (+15)
Warlley Alves (-245) vs. Sutltan Aliev (+205)
Jack Hermansson (-155) vs. Thales Leites (+135)
Ramazan Emeev (-220) vs. Alberto Mina (+180)
Markus Perez (-310) vs. James Bochnovic (+255)

The post Betting Odds For UFC 224: Top Fighter Favored Big appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC 224 Embedded Episode 6

UFC 224 is a day away and the sixth episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel. In the episode, Ultimate Media Day brings out the fighters’ inner fashionistas, as they don apparel ranging from nice dresses to short shorts to bathrobes. Opponents sound off and face off: strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Cooper; […]

The post UFC 224 Embedded Episode 6 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC 224 is a day away and the sixth episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel.

In the episode, Ultimate Media Day brings out the fighters’ inner fashionistas, as they don apparel ranging from nice dresses to short shorts to bathrobes. Opponents sound off and face off: strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Cooper; former champions Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort; middleweights Jacare Souza and Kelvin Gastelum; and women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and challenger Raquel Pennington.

Afterward, Nunes reunites with a former coach, who brings photos from her early career. Then all attention turns to the weight cut as Cooper, Souza and Pennington sweat out their final pounds.

You can watch it here:

The post UFC 224 Embedded Episode 6 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Kelvin Gastelum Aiming For Huge Statement Against “Jacare”

It appears as if Kelvin Gastelum may come out firing tomorrow night…

The post Kelvin Gastelum Aiming For Huge Statement Against “Jacare” appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) winner Kelvin Gastelum will look to continue his rise up the middleweight rankings tomorrow night (May 12, 2018), as he’s set to take on former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in the co-main event of UFC 224 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Recently speaking on his opponent, Gastelum implied that him and Souza are cordial with each other, but he confirmed that when the cage door closes it will be all business:

“We’re both professionals – there’s nothing to it,” Gastelum told MMAjunkie at a recent media day. “As soon as he saw me, he came up to me and shook my hand and shook (coach) Rafael (Cordeiro’s) hand. We’re professionals. We know how to put those feelings of friendship aside, and when it’s time to fight, it’s time to fight. It’s just business.”

And Gastelum, who’s coming off of a vicious first-round knockout victory over former UFC champion Michael Bisping last November in Shanghai, China, certainly appears to be focused on his bout against “Jacare”, as he made it clear that he’ll be looking to make a statement:

“I feel like I need to beat him and make a statement,” Gastelum said. “If I don’t make a statement, I don’t think I’ll be able to contend for the title next. But if I go in there and knock him out in the first round, then I have no doubt that the next fight will be for the title.”

With middleweight champion Robert Whittaker set to put his strap on the line in a rematch against Yoel Romero on June 9 at UFC 225 in Chicago, Gastelum could certainly put himself in the running for the next title shot with an impressive victory over Souza.

And for the 26-year-old, holding the belt would mean ‘more than being a UFC champion’:

“It means more than being a UFC champion – it means being a champion in life,” he said. “I’ve had to overcome a lot of obstacles in life … it would mean much more than just a UFC championship. That no matter where we come from, we can achieve whatever we want.”

The post Kelvin Gastelum Aiming For Huge Statement Against “Jacare” appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC 224 Ceremonial Weigh-In Video

Watch the official #UFC224 weigh-in streaming live right now:

The post UFC 224 Ceremonial Weigh-In Video appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Today’s UFC 224 early weigh-ins saw a significant amount of drama when touted women’s strawweight Mackenzie Dern missed weight by an astonishing seven pounds for her main card bout against Amanda Bobby Cooper at tomorrow’s pay-per-view event from Rio.

The monster miss caused Dern to be fined 10 percent of her purse by CABMMA (the Brazilian athletic commission presiding over the event) and an additional 20 percent by the UFC themselves, but perhaps more damning was the fact that it was Dern’s third time missing the strawweight non-title fight weight of 116 pounds in only six professional MMA bouts.

As expected, Cooper called her out for her unprofessionalism, and the rest of MMA Twitter, of course, did the same.

The spotlight would expectedly be on the women’s bantamweight championship fight between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington in the UFC 224 main event, but with both fighters making weight effectively, all of the focus is on the hype Dern brings and her inability to make weight consistently.

That could lead to a tense staredown with Cooper at this afternoon’s ceremonial weigh-ins, which you can watch streaming live at 4 p.m EST/1 p.m. PST below:

The post UFC 224 Ceremonial Weigh-In Video appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.