Tag: UFC 225

UFC 225 Prelims Draw Second-Lowest Numbers Of This Year

Viewership numbers are in for the UFC 225 preliminary card.

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It’s time to look at how the viewership for the UFC 225 prelims did on network television.

The ratings have come out, and the prelims for the show pulled in 667,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1, which marked the second-lowest total thus far this year only beating out UFC 224 prelims that pulled in 574,000 viewers on FX.

By looking at these numbers, it should come as a big surprise to see these numbers considering that it had a pretty good undercard with some top names including a heavyweight bout with contenders Alistair Overeem vs. Curtis Blaydes, and a strawweight bout with Claudia Gadelha vs. Carla Esparza.

The prelims peaked with 848,000 viewers for the heavyweight bout. By looking back on history, the prelims for the PPV event last June pulled in 732,000.

The show pulled in 8,998 viewers streaming on FSGO and FOX Now. The pre-fight show on FS2 pulled in 79,000 viewers while the post-fight show did 86,000 viewers.  

Here are the average viewership numbers for UFC PPV preliminary cards over the last year:

UFC 208 – 874,000

UFC 209 – 1,033,000

UFC 210 – 723,000

UFC 211 – 1,148,000

UFC 212 – 732,000

UFC 213 – 657,000

UFC 214 – 886,000

UFC 215 – 418,000

UFC 216 – 653,000

UFC 217 – 1,276,000

UFC 218 – 694,000

UFC 219 – 914,000

UFC 220 – 905,000

UFC 221 – 697,000

UFC 222 – 905,000

UFC 223 – 892,000

UFC 224 – 574,000

UFC 225 – 667,000

Fight fans will have to wait to see more UFC action. The next event is UFC Singapore is set to take place on Saturday, June 23, 2018 in Singapore

The main card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 a.m. ET while the preliminary card will be broadcasted on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 4:30 a.m. ET.

Donald Cerrone vs. Leon Edwards in a welterweight bout will headline this event while Tyson Pedro vs. Ovince Saint Preux in a light heavyweight bout will serve as the co-main event.

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Rafael Dos Anjos Releases Statement On UFC 225 Loss

Rafael dos Anjos isn’t giving up just yet:

The post Rafael Dos Anjos Releases Statement On UFC 225 Loss appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Ahead of his co-main event interim welterweight title fight against Colby Covington this past Saturday (June 9, 2018) in Chicago, Illinois, former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos appeared to be nothing short of confident despite Covington’s brash and consistent trash talk in the build-up to the contest.

On fight night, however, things didn’t go as planned for dos Anjos, as he ended up suffering a decision defeat to Covington, who has now set himself up for a unification bout with 170-pound titlist Tyron Woodley.

In the days following the loss, dos Anjos has remained relatively quiet, but he took to his official Instagram page earlier this week to release a full statement on the fight.

Check it out below:

“I want to thank you all for the messages and the support,” dos Anjos wrote. “I am a very competitive guy and I confess I never know how to handle defeat. I did my best inside the octagon, I had the support of the best coaches in the world. The result was not mine, but nothing will make me give up. I am a challenge driven guy and this is just another one in my way. In 2014, after the fight against Khabib, I worked very hard, and with God’s blessing, 11 months later I became the lightweight champion. This time it won’t be any different. I got the chance to fight for the interim belt after only three fights in the welterweight division. My path in this weight class has just started. I know what I am capable of, I know what I can achieve. I won’t give up my dreams because of the first obstacle in this division. Now it’s time to see what did not work, improve, and get back to my path to the top. God knows everything. Bad guys win sometimes in real life, but at the end, the good guys always win. You can lose the battle, but never the war. Thank God I have the best friends and family I could ask for. I’ll be back soon stronger than ever. You’ll see!”

Where would you like to see dos Anjos go from here?

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Khabib Reveals Who Could Potentially Beat Curtis Blaydes

Do you agree with Khabib’s theory?

The post Khabib Reveals Who Could Potentially Beat Curtis Blaydes appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Rising heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes extended his winning streak to four this past Saturday (June 9, 2018) at UFC 225, scoring a brutal stoppage victory over veteran Alistair Overeem.

Following the bout, Blaydes called for a title shot, but it’s also been reported that he suffered a few injuries in the contest, making a timetable for his return a bit cloudy.

Regardless of if he receives a title shot next or not, Blaydes has continued to gain recognition. In fact, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov feels as if the 27-year-old will one day be a champion:

“I think Blaydes can become UFC champion,” Khabib told documentary producer Will Harris of Anatomy of a Fighter. “He has very good wrestling, he’s young, he’s strong, he’s hungry, he has different motivation. I think he’s the new blood in the UFC’s heavyweight division.”

Blaydes, who holds a professional record of 10-1-1, has given various fighters problems with his fighting style and Nurmagomedov believes this will carry on as Blaydes continues to earn big fights. “The Eagle”, however, also named one combatant who he feels is capable of stopping Blaydes’ run:

“I think only one guy can beat him. I think Daniel Cormier; he can beat him,” he said. “Other guys, even Stipe Miocic, I think for Stipe, he’s a bad matchup, because he pressures all the time, (he has) very good wrestling.”

“But, we’ll see. He’s the new blood,” Khabib said of Blaydes. “We have to wait (until after) July 7th (UFC 226). I think he deserves a title shot, more than everybody.”

Cormier, a teammate of Nurmagomedov’s and the current 205-pound champion, will indeed move up in weight to challenge heavyweight titleholder Stipe Miocic in the main event of July 7’s UFC 226 from Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Top WWE Star Thinks He Could Beat Mike Jackson In MMA Fight

Mike Jackson has reacted to one WWE superstar thinking he could beat him in an MMA fight.

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Mike Jackson has reacted to one top WWE superstar thinking he could beat him in an MMA fight.

That star is former WWE champion Daniel Bryan. This WWE talent has been a long-time follower of MMA and even did some training at Xtreme Couture in 2009. Bryan holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and uses the techniques that he has learned in his pro wrestling matches.

However, Bryan does have a history of suffering concussions as he was forced to retire from in-ring competition in 2016 as a result but was finally cleared by a team of medical experts back in March and is now back in the sports entertainment company as a full-time wrestler.

During a recent live Instagram story that was posted by his wife, Brie Bella, Bryan was asked if he could beat Jackson and Bryan replied with the following:

“Did they just ask me if I could beat Mike Jackson in a fight?” Bryan said. “I could beat him on the ground, for sure, I think. If the WWE would let me fight in the UFC, maybe [I would prove it].”

As seen in the opening bout of the main card for Saturday’s (June 9, 2018) UFC 225 pay-per-view event at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, Jackson was able to beat Punk, real name Phil Brooks, by unanimous decision.

It didn’t take long for Jackson to respond to Bryan’s comments and had a lot to say.

“A friend of mine, who is a journalist reached out and said, ‘Yo, did you hear Daniel Bryan called you out?’” Jackson said to FanSided. “I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He sends it to me and I remember seeing that headline. I was like, ‘Yo, this is getting out of control now.’

“He says, ‘Man, I can beat him on the ground in a UFC fight.’ Look Daniel Bryan; I will do you worse than I did your man Punk because I will have no reservations in punching this guy in the face 100-percent. And at will. . .

“If Daniel Bryan wants the smoke, just call me the chimney man because I’ve got the smoke.”

This led to Jackson also taking to social media to comment on the statements made by Bryan as well as send him a warning.

“Hey, @WWEDanielBryan, don’t let your mouth write a check your ass can’t cash. You don’t want to get potatoed like your mans did at #UFC225.”

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UFC 225 Preliminary Viewership Peaks at 848,000

Viewership numbers for the UFC 225 prelims have been revealed. The FOX Sports 1 preliminary broadcast drew an average of 667,000 viewers (via MMAFighting.com). The event peaked at 848,000 viewers for the featured heavyweight clash between Curtis Blayde…

Viewership numbers for the UFC 225 prelims have been revealed. The FOX Sports 1 preliminary broadcast drew an average of 667,000 viewers (via MMAFighting.com). The event peaked at 848,000 viewers for the featured heavyweight clash between Curtis Blaydes and Alistair Overeem. The event also took in 8,998 viewers from FOX Sports Go and FOX now. This […]

The post UFC 225 Preliminary Viewership Peaks at 848,000 appeared first on MMA News.

Chris Weidman Says He Can Finish Robert Whittaker

Chris Weidman appears highly confident in his chances against Robert Whittaker:

The post Chris Weidman Says He Can Finish Robert Whittaker appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former 185-pound champion Chris Weidman was in attendance at UFC 225 this past Saturday (June 9, 2018) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois where current middleweight champion Robert Whittaker scored a somewhat controversial victory over Yoel Romero in the evening’s main event.

Recently speaking on the fight and his future, Weidman made it clear that he not only would like to fight Whittaker for the title next but that he feels as if he can finish “The Reaper” should they agree to fight:

“Obviously for me that would be the best case is to fight for the title. Fighting Whittaker, that’s a guy I match up well with and that’s a guy I feel I can go out there and finish,” Weidman said on a Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

“I feel I am the most decorated guy in the division, I’ve had the most title defenses. I had a rough patch, I went undefeated my whole career, I lost one, happened to lose three in a row. My mind, I felt like it wasn’t in the fight spot,” he said. “I came back, got myself where I needed to be, got my mind back and I went out there and beat one of the top contenders, Kelvin Gastelum. I feel like I dominated the fight and went out there and finished him. I feel like you’re only as good as your last fight and I finished the other guy that we’re talking about in my last fight. I think I definitely deserve shot at the title. It will be a good fight.”

Weidman, who started his mixed martial arts career a perfect 12-0 while successfully defending his title three-straight times, did indeed hit a rough patch from 2015-2017, losing consecutive bouts to Luke Rockhold, Romero and Gegard Mousasi.

Most recently, however, he submitted Kelvin Gastelum, who’s also in the running for a title shot, last July on Long Island, but he hasn’t competed since due to a lingering hand injury.

And in terms of who the next shot should go to, Weidman feels as if his resume is a bit more impressive than Gastelum’s:

“If you’re going to start doing that, you are picking what is the worst look for me. If you’re going to go back, look at my whole career. If you’re going to start with my first losses, it’s going to look bad,” Weidman said. “But if you look at my whole career, I’ve fought only the best guys in the world since I’ve been in UFC and I’ve done pretty damn good, have the most title defenses and I went through a little rough patch and I climbed my way out of it, I didn’t have any rough patches before that.

“There’s a lot of losses in Gastelum’s career that don’t look so good. We have one common, we fought each other so that answers the question. I went out there and I finished him, he had the same opportunity and he went out there and lost to me, so…”

Who would you like to see challenge Whittaker next?

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