Tag: UFC 227

Volkan Oezdemir Destroyed Anthony Smith’s UFC Sao Paulo Suggestion

Volkan Oezdemir has “No Time” for Anthony Smith’s other plans.

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Volkan Oezdemir destroyed Anthony Smith’s offer to fill in for Glover Teixeira.

Teixeira was ruled out of his UFC Sao Paulo headliner with Jimi Nanuwa last night. He could require surgery due to a shoulder injury. The former title contender is out for an indefinite amount of time as a result.

Streaking contender Anthony Smith soon offered to fill in for Teixeira and face Manuwa:

No. 2 LHW Volkan Oezdemir took offense to the suggestion because of the fact he’s supposed to fight “Lionheart” in the main event of October’s UFC Moncton.

“No Time” took to social media to voice his displeasure. The former title contender put it in simple terms as well:

UFC Sao Paulo will take place on September 22, 2018. The UFC is currently looking for a replacement opponent to fight Manuwa. The British slugger reportedly already turned down a fight with Brazilian middleweight Thiago Santos.

Oezdemir will meet Smith in the main event of UFC Moncton slightly over a month later on October 27, 2018. Oezdemir has been out of action since he lost a title bid to current champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 220 this January. A broken nose forced him out of a scheduled fight with top contender Alexander Gustafsson at August 4’s UFC 227.

Meanwhile, Smith has been on a tear, knocking out former champions Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua in his last two fights.

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Demetrious Johnson Suspended Indefinitely Due To Injury

It’s unlikely we see Demetrious Johnson back in the cage this year.

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We already saw Demetrious Johnson suspended.

Now, the former UFC flyweight champ is on the sidelines due to a mandate from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).

Johnson was defeated for the first time in his 125-pound mixed martial arts (MMA) career at UFC 227 earlier this month. Henry Cejudo made history when he bested “Mighty Mouse” via split decision.

Johnson suffered a string of injuries during the fight. One of those injuries was to his knee. As a result, Johnson will now require medical clearance to be removed from the ABC database which tracks medical suspensions.

Initially, a mandatory minimum suspension of seven days was given to Johnson. Johnson will instead be suspended indefinitely. CSAC executive director Andy Foster told MMA Junkie the news this week.

The former flyweight champ said he injured his lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and broke his foot in the loss to Cejudo. Johnson did tear his LCL but did not break his foot.

Johnson had this to say about his injuries in a recent interview on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show”:

“Typically (a) Grade 3 (tear), you need surgery,” Johnson said. “Grade 2 is six weeks off and rehab. It’s feeling like a Grade 2 because I’ve had a tear in my left LCL before.”

Johnson’s seven-year undefeated streak ended with Cejudo’s defeat. That loss also broke a record title run. Johnson clearly deserves an immediate title rematch with the Olympic gold medalist due to his record title reign.

Due to Johnson’s injury and Cejudo’s desire for a super fight with TJ Dillashaw, what’s next for “Mighty Mouse” remains to be seen.

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UFC 227 Estimated PPV Buyrate Shows Encouraging Numbers

The estimated numbers are in for this show.

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UFC 227 estimated PPV buyrate has been revealed and it’s not all doom and gloom for the promotion as this show beat the expectations set for it.

UFC 227 Estimated PPV Buyrate

Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting is reporting that the early numbers show that this event pulled in 300,000 buys. This is one of the highest buyrate that the UFC has done for the majority of the year. They started off with UFC 220 that is estimated at doing 340,000 to 380,000 pay-per-view buys in January.

This number would be in the same range as the UFC 223 event. That show went down on April 7th with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Al Iaquinta main event.

Going into UFC 227, the show was not expected to draw very well as it was really a two bout card with the main and co-main events.

UFC 227 pay-per-view event took place on Saturday, August 4, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main card aired on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card aired on FX at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

The Fights

This event was headlined by a bantamweight title fight pitting champion TJ Dillashaw against Cody Garbrandt in a rematch. Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo in a flyweight title rematch served as the co-main event. Historically, rematches and grudge fights do well on pay-per-view for not only MMA events but boxing as well.

That could be a factor in this buyrate. What’s surprising about it is not only the fact that it was one of the highest bought UFC PPV events of the year. But also, it did well with four fighters that have not drawn well in the past most notably, Johnson and Dillashaw as champions.

Johnson fell to Cejudo by split decision and lost the UFC flyweight title in the process. Johnson had won a UFC record 11 straight title defenses coming in, which was a historic milestone.

Meanwhile, in the co-main event, Dillashaw won by first round KO over Garbrandt. Rounding out the five bout main card was Thiago Santos vs. Kevin Holland middleweight bout, Polyana Viana vs. JJ Aldrich in a women’s strawweight bout, and Cub Swanson vs. Renato Moicano in a featherweight bout.

History

Here is a list of the estimated numbers for the last three UFC pay-per-view events in 2018:

UFC 227: 300,000

UFC 226: 380,000

UFC 225: 250,000

The promotion returns to pay-per-view with its UFC 228 show that goes down September 8, 2018 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. This show will be headlined by Tyron Woodley defending the welterweight title against Darren Till.

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Video: TJ Dillashaw Stares Down Henry Cejudo, Prompting Speculation

Could TJ Dillashaw vs. Henry Cejudo actually be happening?

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If you thought you’d soon see a video where TJ Dillashaw stares down Henry Cejudo, you were correct.

Newly-crowned flyweight champion Cejudo called out Dillashaw after beating Demetrious Johnson at August 4’s UFC 227. “Mighty Mouse” was long rumored to be involved with that fight.

Johnson is believed to be the most deserving former champion for an immediate championship rematch. His 11 consecutive title defenses set a UFC record. Injuries have meanwhile sidelined the all-time great, leading to speculation that Dillashaw vs. Cejudo will actually happen.

The fighters squared off on a recent episode of Extra TV:

As a result, this super fight between the two lower-weight champions could be happening very soon. The UFC loves their ‘super fights’ in the current ‘entertainment’ era. Neither man has a clear-cut challenger that would see, either, so above all, the promotion needs a decent fight to promote.

Cejudo wants to move up to bantamweight, yet it seems like Dillashaw wants to cut down to 125 pounds:

“Be careful what you ask for, brother. I’m takin’ that belt from you.”

The bantamweight champ asserted his confidence he would destroy the flyweight king:

“Always. Absolutely. I’d run through him. I’m taking that belt right off his shoulder. I’ll come over to your house and take it.”

Cejudo insisted he had more gold than Dillashaw after winning an Olympic title and a UFC belt, yet “The Viper” only had one approach in mind:

“How would I approach it? I’d knock him out.”

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Video: TJ Dillashaw Stares Down Henry Cejudo, Prompting Speculation

Could TJ Dillashaw vs. Henry Cejudo actually be happening?

The post Video: TJ Dillashaw Stares Down Henry Cejudo, Prompting Speculation appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

If you thought you’d soon see a video where TJ Dillashaw stares down Henry Cejudo, you were correct.

Newly-crowned flyweight champion Cejudo called out Dillashaw after beating Demetrious Johnson at August 4’s UFC 227. “Mighty Mouse” was long rumored to be involved with that fight.

Johnson is believed to be the most deserving former champion for an immediate championship rematch. His 11 consecutive title defenses set a UFC record. Injuries have meanwhile sidelined the all-time great, leading to speculation that Dillashaw vs. Cejudo will actually happen.

The fighters squared off on a recent episode of Extra TV:

As a result, this super fight between the two lower-weight champions could be happening very soon. The UFC loves their ‘super fights’ in the current ‘entertainment’ era. Neither man has a clear-cut challenger that would see, either, so above all, the promotion needs a decent fight to promote.

Cejudo wants to move up to bantamweight, yet it seems like Dillashaw wants to cut down to 125 pounds:

“Be careful what you ask for, brother. I’m takin’ that belt from you.”

The bantamweight champ asserted his confidence he would destroy the flyweight king:

“Always. Absolutely. I’d run through him. I’m taking that belt right off his shoulder. I’ll come over to your house and take it.”

Cejudo insisted he had more gold than Dillashaw after winning an Olympic title and a UFC belt, yet “The Viper” only had one approach in mind:

“How would I approach it? I’d knock him out.”

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Demetrious Johnson Reveals Severity Of UFC 227 Injuries

Demetrious Johnson detailed just how serious his UFC 227 injuries are.

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Demetrious Johnson revealed the severity of the significant injuries he suffered at August 4’s UFC 227.

The record-setting Johnson defended his flyweight title 11 consecutive times. He lost a narrow split decision to Cejudo at the pay-per-view card from Los Angeles, therefore ending the historic run.

Johnson claimed he suffered some serious injuries in his narrow loss to “The Messenger.” He would not, however, blame for the loss in a great fight. Meanwhile, it turns out his injuries are indeed quite serious.

Johnson revealed on today’s episode of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” that he has a partial LCL tear in his knee. He is also dealing with a potentially serious issue with his calf:

“There’s no broken bones but there’s still a little swelling. I got the MRI results. I have a high-grade partial tear in my LCL. Right now, I’m suffering from pain in my lower calf area … I can’t even sleep at night. I’m waking up, just sweating in bed. I saw the UFC Performance Institute doctor, the physio therapist, and I have a possible tear in my Achilles into my calf, (but) that’s not for certain. I need to see how high the grade is for the tears.”

The injuries sound ominous, but due to the grade of the tear, Johnson is optimistic. He said he believes he will not require surgery:

“I don’t think I should (need surgery) but it all depends on the severity of the tear. Because when I get MRIs it says hybrid partial tear on the LCL. So is that grade 1, grade 2 or grade 3? Typically grade 3, you need surgery, grade 2 is six weeks off and rehab. It’s feeling like a grade 2 because I’ve had a tear in my left LCL before. In the fight, when it happened, I felt the pop go and the first thing that went through my head was, ‘Oh that’s fantastic, there goes the right LCL.’”

The longtime former champ will be on the sidelines for some time to heal. In the meantime, Cejudo is campaigning for a super fight with bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw.

When Johnson is able to return, it will be beyond difficult to deny him a rematch because of his illustrious track record.

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