Tag: UFC 266

Dana White Believes Nick Diaz Looked “Incredible” At UFC 266

UFC President Dana White has given his take on Nick Diaz’s return to action against Robbie Lawler last weekend at UFC 266. On the pay-per-view’s main card, Diaz made the walk to the Octagon for the first time in over six years. He’d last been in action against the legendary Anderson Silva in 2015. Having […]

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UFC President Dana White has given his take on Nick Diaz’s return to action against Robbie Lawler last weekend at UFC 266.

On the pay-per-view’s main card, Diaz made the walk to the Octagon for the first time in over six years. He’d last been in action against the legendary Anderson Silva in 2015. Having been out of action for so long, and being without a win in MMA since a victory over BJ Penn in 2011, no one knew what to expect from the Stockton native when he took to the cage inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Despite falling short of a second win against Lawler, Diaz showed some glimpses of his old self. The volume from both men through two rounds was relentless, and we got to see some classic boxing combinations and exchanges. While he may not have had the stamina and speed he once had, Diaz certainly put on a show before succumbing to “Ruthless” in the third frame.

While the MMA community is largely split when it comes to Diaz’s performance on the night, one man has praised the fan favorite. Dana White has lauded the 38-year-old’s efforts at UFC 266 despite him being finished for the first time since 2007.

Speaking in the aftermath of this week’s episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC kingpin suggested that Diaz’s display was impressive, especially considering how long he’d been away from the sport.

“I thought Nick Diaz looked incredible, considering he hasn’t fought in (six) years. I don’t know what I was expecting. You never know what to get with the brothers. But let me tell you what, with a (six-year) layoff, I thought he looked unbelievable.

“That first round—and I don’t know if you guys saw Robbie after the fight, but Robbie had friggin’ knots and lumps all over him. Those two went to war. The fight itself exceeded my expectations because Nick hadn’t fought in five years. I thought Robbie was just gonna go out there and buzzsaw through him. And that was not the case.”

When asked if he expects to see Diaz compete again despite the late weight class change and his comments about fighting in the week prior to last weekend’s event, White said he’s unsure of the Stockton star’s status, but reiterated his pleasant surprise at Diaz’s performance.

“Those are the kind of things I expect from the Diaz brothers. But I don’t know. I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. But he looked damn good. That kid’s got a massive heart. He’s obviously a super-talented fighter. And yeah, I was impressed.”

What did you make of Nick Diaz’s performance at UFC 266?

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Volkanovski Willing To Fight At Lightweight As He Awaits Max/Yair Winner

Alex Volkanovski is prepared to step up to lightweight in a bid to stay active. In what may go down as the best fight of the year, Volkanovski defended his featherweight title for a second time at UFC 266 on Saturday against Brian Ortega. The thrilling back-and-forth encounter saw the 32-year-old escape Houdini-like from several […]

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Alex Volkanovski is prepared to step up to lightweight in a bid to stay active.

In what may go down as the best fight of the year, Volkanovski defended his featherweight title for a second time at UFC 266 on Saturday against Brian Ortega. The thrilling back-and-forth encounter saw the 32-year-old escape Houdini-like from several deep submission attempts and record his twentieth successive victory—the longest active winning streak by a fighter on the UFC roster.

The lopsided unanimous decision will go far to solidify Volkanovski’s status as champ following his contentious second victory against Max Holloway in July last year. And while the Australian is yet to clean out the division, there remains few top featherweight contenders who haven’t already been soundly defeated by Holloway or Ortega.

There are, of course, plenty of willing challengers further down the ranks, including rising stars Giga Chikadze and Arnold Allen. However, both are yet to be tested against top-five opponents.

Volkanovski
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Alex Volkanovski Itching For Quick Return, Open To Lightweight

Now that Volkanovski has vanquished his two closest rivals, it appears his next order of business is to fight more often. A bout with COVID-19 robbed the Australian of fighting Ortega in March, and Saturday’s fight was his first in 15 months.

However with Holloway scheduled to face #3 ranked Yair Rodriguez on November 13, Volkanovski faces yet another long wait to fight the victor. Speaking at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference, the 32-year-old said he’s not prepared to do so.

“They’re not fighting till later. If I have to move up just to get a fight while we’re waiting for that—because again, I want to fight regularly. I don’t want to wait another fuckin’ six, seven months. So yeah, we’ll just see what happens,” said Volkanovski.

So eager to make up for lost time is Volkanovski that he’s willing to move up a division.

“Yeah, I’ll move up,” continued Volkanovski. “I’ll go up to lightweight, have a bit of fun there, and then just wait for the winner, and then we’ll run that back.”

While a move up to 155 pounds may seem an enticing prospect for Alex, it probably won’t translate into an immediate title shot. Champ Charles Oliveira is slated to face Dustin Poirier in December, which means Volkanovski will have to place his unbeaten streak on the line against one of the lightweight division’s many other killers, without the chance of capturing UFC gold.

What do you think? How would Alex Volkanovski fare at lightweight?

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Cynthia Calvillo Releases First Statement Since UFC 266 TKO Loss

After losing to Jéssica Andrade by TKO in the first round at UFC 266, Cynthia Calvillo has issued her first statement since the defeat. Inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Calvillo was stopped in the first round due to strikes. The fight started at a breakneck pace and saw the former strawweight champ swarm […]

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After losing to Jéssica Andrade by TKO in the first round at UFC 266, Cynthia Calvillo has issued her first statement since the defeat.

Inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Calvillo was stopped in the first round due to strikes. The fight started at a breakneck pace and saw the former strawweight champ swarm Calvillo. Unable to withstand the pressure against the cage, Andrade forced the TKO against the 34-year old.

As the curtain-raiser for the main card at UFC 266, the two were responsible for kicking off the show. After the first round finish, Cynthia Calvillo released a statement following the defeat on social media.

“To my family, friends and supporters, I love you and I’m ok. I’ll be back ???Congratulations to @jessicammapro . She is a beast! It was a dream of mine to share the octagon with her and I’m proud of myself for going out there in front of the world. Losing isn’t easy but as they say there’s beauty in the struggle. Highest highs and lowest lows. We live to fight another day!” Cynthia Calvillo posted on Instagram.

The defeat to Andrade marks Calvillo’s second back-to-back loss in the UFC. In addition, this is the 34-year old’s first defeat by TKO in the organization. With a 1-2 record overall in the flyweight division, Calvillo’s only win at 125-pounds was in June of 2020 against Jessica Eye. It will be interesting to see which path Calvillo takes in order to get back on track in the UFC.

Prior to the setbacks, the California native was mentioned briefly about competing for the title at 125-pounds last year. While her title aspirations are suspended for now, adjustments in her striking game will make her return to either weight class much more welcome.

Do you think Cynthia Calvillo needs to change weight classes or stay at 125-pounds?

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Bisping Praises Nick Diaz For Ending Lawler Fight Early: “That Takes Balls”

Michael Bisping has praised Nick Diaz for choosing not to continue his fight against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. The decision came 44 seconds into the third round after Lawler, a former UFC welterweight champion, dropped Diaz with a big right hook. While on the ground, the Stockton-native narrowly avoided a stinging uppercut from Lawler […]

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Michael Bisping has praised Nick Diaz for choosing not to continue his fight against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266.

The decision came 44 seconds into the third round after Lawler, a former UFC welterweight champion, dropped Diaz with a big right hook. While on the ground, the Stockton-native narrowly avoided a stinging uppercut from Lawler before referee Jason Herzog asked Diaz if he wanted to continue. After he made no effort to get back up to his feet, Herzog waved off the fight.

It was a disappointing end to Diaz’s long-awaited return to the Octagon, in which the 38-year-old showed glimpses of his famous boxing prowess. Lawler, however, relentlessly marched forward the entire fight, landing the more powerful blows to earn a victory which he since admitted is possibly “spoiling” the UFC’s grand plans for one of its biggest stars. 

It was Diaz’s first fight in over six years, and he’s now without a win in almost ten. Even so, given his star power, it seems the UFC’s door will always be open to one of its most beloved fighters.

Nick Diaz
PHOTO: Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Michael Bisping Lauds Nick Diaz For Ending Fight And Avoiding Injury

The act of throwing in the towel is widely accepted and regularly put into practice in boxing. In MMA however, it carries a stigma that often calls into question a fighter’s will to win and commitment to the sport.

Michael Bisping, a man famous for suffering a variety of long-term injuries thanks to his time in the UFC, thinks otherwise. The former middleweight champ, now UFC color commentator praised Diaz for his ballsy decision to end the fight early, thereby avoiding further serious damage.

“Fighters know, we know deep inside of us, ‘I’ve got nothing left. I am exhausted, my arms are tight, it feels like I’m punching through water, I’m taking a lot of shots to the head.’ We don’t know how dazed he was, how rattled he was, how close to losing consciousness on numerous occasions. We don’t know any of that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. 

“Nick Diaz was man enough to say, ‘I’m done.’ And that’s hard to do. That takes balls. And I know a lot of you might think that’s crazy. ‘What? He gave up. It takes balls to give up?’ It takes balls to recognize that you’re done. It takes honesty with yourself, real tough honesty to say, ‘You know what? He’s got me. I’m done. He’s beaten me.’”

Michael Bisping
PHOTO: KEVIN IOLE

Bisping noted that Diaz’s decision was likely influenced by the fact that it was a five-round fight, and that he may not have been prepared to endure another two rounds. Had it been three, Michael contends that Diaz may have stuck it out to the end. 

Whatever the reasoning for the decision, Bisping thinks it was a wise one given the serious long-term health consequences Diaz could have suffered had he sustained more unnecessary damage. 

“Because he could have got up,” Bisping continued. “Of course Nick Diaz could’ve got up. But he would have just taken another hiding. He would’ve taken more blows that he didn’t need to take. And that could’ve contributed to CTE down the line, or more injuries, or the need to go to the hospital. We don’t know.”

“Listen, when you’re in there, it’s real shit. This ain’t messing around. This ain’t fun and games. This is real consequences. Serious consequences. And Nick Diaz knew at that moment in time, ‘I’m done. There you go. Robbie, take it. Have it.’ And as I said, that was a tough decision to make, but I respected it.”

What did you think of Nick Diaz’s decision to end the fight early?

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Marvin Vettori & Paul Felder Share Intense Exchange On Social Media

Marvin Vettori has ignited a heated encounter between himself and Paul Felder over the retired lightweight’s color commentary. Since his retirement from MMA, Paul Felder has been a mainstay on the UFC commentary team and was chosen to replace Joe Rogan on last weekend’s card due to the 54-year-old’s late exclusion from the card. While […]

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Marvin Vettori has ignited a heated encounter between himself and Paul Felder over the retired lightweight’s color commentary.

Since his retirement from MMA, Paul Felder has been a mainstay on the UFC commentary team and was chosen to replace Joe Rogan on last weekend’s card due to the 54-year-old’s late exclusion from the card. While there are many who welcome Felder onto the team for his insight and past fighting experience, it seems that the #5-ranked middleweight, Marvin Vettori, isn’t the biggest fan of “The Irish Dragon”.

As we approached the latter stages of UFC 266, Vettori took to Twitter to state his frustration at Felder’s commentary, labeling him the worst commentator in the history of the sport.

“Had to mute the comment on the fights, can’t stand Felder lol worst to ever do it” claimed Vettori.

Despite being on commentary duty, Felder took time to respond to the criticism in good ol’ Paul Felder fashion.

“Am I using too many big words?” Felder joked. “I’m sorry Marvin”

The tension between the two seems to date back to Vettori’s loss to Israel Adesanya in a middleweight title fight at UFC 263, where Felder was once again on commentary.

The war of words had no signs of dying down, as the pair continued hours after the original tweet.

Marvin Vettori will be aiming to get back in the win column and recapture the form that led him to a title shot when he headlines the UFC Vegas 41 card alongside Paulo Costa on October 23.

Do you think Marvin Vettori’s criticisms of Paul Felder were fair?

Continue Reading Marvin Vettori & Paul Felder Share Intense Exchange On Social Media at MMA News.

The Pulse of MMA: Fans React To Nick Diaz’s Return & UFC 266 Results

The Pulse of MMA: Fan Reactions To The Sport’s Biggest Stories UFC 266 Results: Volkanovski vs. Ortega Results This past Saturday, UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega took place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here are some of the reactions from the MMA community to the main card results! Jessica Andrade def. Cynthia […]

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The Pulse of MMA: Fan Reactions To The Sport’s Biggest Stories

UFC 266 Results: Volkanovski vs. Ortega Results

This past Saturday, UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega took place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here are some of the reactions from the MMA community to the main card results!

Jessica Andrade def. Cynthia Calvillo

Curtis Blaydes def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Robbie Lawler def. Nick Diaz

Valentina Shevchenko def. Lauren Murphy

Alexander Volkanovski def. Brian Ortega

You can catch the full UFC 266 results right here!

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