Tag: UFC 292

Demetrious Johnson heaps praise on Sean O’Malley after KO win over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292: ‘He found the chin’

Demetrious Johnson Sean O'Malley Aljamain Sterling UFC 292After Sean O’Malley’s insane finish at UFC 292, the bantamweight GOAT Demetrious Johnson has released a video breaking down the terrific knockout of Aljamain Sterling. O’Malley and Sterling threw down after a tumultuous buildup. Sterling claimed he was going to expose O’Malley, while ‘Suga’ begged to differ. Each fighter was confident in their abilities and […]

Demetrious Johnson Sean O'Malley Aljamain Sterling UFC 292

After Sean O’Malley’s insane finish at UFC 292, the bantamweight GOAT Demetrious Johnson has released a video breaking down the terrific knockout of Aljamain Sterling.

O’Malley and Sterling threw down after a tumultuous buildup. Sterling claimed he was going to expose O’Malley, while ‘Suga’ begged to differ. Each fighter was confident in their abilities and felt like once locked in the cage, they’d be able to prove themselves against one another.

The first round was extremely competitive. Neither fighter looked to have obtained an edge over the other, and they swapped strikes as they continued to try and figure the other out. When they went back to their corners, neither fighter was chastised much by their team. In fact, each corner felt pretty good about the first round and sent their fighter to see the second without requesting major changes to their strategy.

However, Aljamain Sterling’s corner would give him a bit of advice that would prove to be the difference maker in the fight. Aljo’s team asked him to hold back a bit as far as pursuing O’Malley around the cage goes. They felt that since he was the champion, he shouldn’t be the one rushing in and pushing the action. They wanted him to continue to pressure ‘Suga’, but not lunge forward and over-extend himself to create contact. This would prove to be great advice, and sadly it was something Sterling was unable to follow.

Demetrious Johnson breaks down the Sean O’Malley knockout of Aljamain Sterling

Rushing in with a punch, ‘The Funkmaster’ would overextend himself, landing himself in a predicament where he couldn’t stop his momentum from moving forward. He ran right into a masterfully placed right hand by Sean O’Malley, and Sterling was just lucky it didn’t completely shut the lights out. ‘The Funkmaster’ would crash face first into the canvas, dropped. And the rest was history. Sean O’Malley would follow up the right hand with some vicious ground and pound, and eventually, the referee Marc Goddard would stop the action.

The bantamweight GOAT Demetrious Johnson would give his reaction on Youtube, where he posted a video breaking down the knockout and showing his live reaction to it.

“Ohhhh sh*t!” Demetrious Johnson exclaimed as he watched the knockout. “…He’s out, he’s f****** out. He’s still in. Pass guard, pass guard! Oh fu*k. He’s done… He (Sean O’Malley) found the chin.”

“Had Sterling overextended, and then he found the chin,” Mighty Mouse continued. “That’s what ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley said he was going to do. Find the chin, when you (Sterling) overextend, and that’s what he said he was going to do.”

Johnson would continue to speak about the viral knockout, saying that Aljamain Sterling definitely made a mistake in overextending against somebody looking to primarily counterstrike against him.

“The best thing you could do against somebody looking to counter-strike against you is just walk forward with your hands up,” Demetrious Johnson explained. “Don’t try and punch across distance, walk across distance. When you’re punching across distance and the person is backing up, that’s when you’re going to get dropped. I know, cause that’s how I got dropped by John Dodson… Adriano Moraes… I learned my lesson.”

What do you think about Demetrious Johnson’s reaction to the Sean O’Malley knockout, and do you think it was an early stoppage?

Twitter Reacts to Zhang Weili’s dominant victory over Amanda Lemos at UFC 292: ‘She is an animal’

Zhang Weili Amanda Lemos UFC 292Zhang Weili made quite the impact at UFC 292 with her dominant performance over Amanda Lemos. The media, fans, and even fellow fighters didn’t hesitate to give her props, which led to an extreme amount of tweets on Saturday night praising Zhang’s fantastic efforts. Despite the smothering offense of Zhang, Lemos would not give up […]

Zhang Weili Amanda Lemos UFC 292

Zhang Weili made quite the impact at UFC 292 with her dominant performance over Amanda Lemos. The media, fans, and even fellow fighters didn’t hesitate to give her props, which led to an extreme amount of tweets on Saturday night praising Zhang’s fantastic efforts.

Despite the smothering offense of Zhang, Lemos would not give up and was fully prepared to give Zhang five rounds of war. While Lemos had her moments, it was pretty apparent that the Chinese superstar Zhang was taking every round. Her grappling prowess would shine against the Brazillian and Lemos was hard-pressed to keep things standing. Even on the feet though, Zhang would prove to be more advanced. The Chinese superstar outstruck Lemos 50-23 at a distance, and in total: 296-24.

It was truly a standout performance by Zhang Weili, and the world didn’t hesitate a second before singing her praises on social media platforms like Twitter.

Twitter reacts to Zhang Weili’s impressive performance at UFC 292

“Weili completely dominated every round,” fellow fighter Tracy Cortez would say.

“Amazing fight by the champion Zhang Weili,” Casey Oneill tweeted.

“50-45 Weili for me. Some of those coulda been 10-8’s, I just didn’t go there myself,” Jillian DeCoursey would state. She was speaking on the fact that one of the judges ultimately chose to give Amanda Lemos a round. This was a fact that was met with pure mockery by the MMA world, as virtually everybody is of the opinion that Zhang Weili won every round.

In fact, Ben Askren was of the same opinion. After the judges’ decision was read, Askren would take to Twitter and demand answers for what he viewed as atrocious judging.

“Which one of these idiot judges gave Lemos a round???” Askren demanded. In the comments, many fans declared Zhang should’ve won 5-0, but there was a slight percentage of people that believed it was at least debatable that Zhang lost the fourth round to Lemos. Regardless, it was still a clean-cut victory for the Chinese champion, and one she can be proud of for a long time.

Do you think Amanda Lemos won round four in her match with Zhang Weili at UFC 292?

Michael Chandler slams Conor McGregor for skipping TUF finale at UFC 292: ‘Tonight was part of the job’

McGregorDespite UFC 292 hosting The Ultimate Fighter tournament finals, TUF coach Conor McGregor was nowhere to be found in the building. Emanating from Boston’s iconic TD Garden, the 31st season of the long-running reality series wrapped up with the bantamweight and lightweight finals. Kicking things off was previous TUF winner and representative of Team McGregor, […]

McGregor

Despite UFC 292 hosting The Ultimate Fighter tournament finals, TUF coach Conor McGregor was nowhere to be found in the building.

Emanating from Boston’s iconic TD Garden, the 31st season of the long-running reality series wrapped up with the bantamweight and lightweight finals. Kicking things off was previous TUF winner and representative of Team McGregor, Brad Katona, who squared off with Cody Gibson for the 135-pound contract. Katona delivered an exceptional three-round performance and scored himself another opportunity with the promotion.

Immediately following Katona’s win was the lightweight tournament final featuring two Team Chandler representatives, Kurt Holobaugh and Austin Hubbard.

Holobaugh defied the odds and scored a slick second-round triangle choke to claim his own UFC contract. Joining Holobaugh in the Octagon following the bout was his TUF coach and lightweight fan favorite, ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler, who could be seen embracing his fighter as the two celebrated the victory.

Michael Chandler Criticizes Conor McGregor’s Work Ethic

Following the event, Michael Chandler spoke with members of the media and addressed Conor McGregor’s absence in Bean Town.

“You know, Conor does what Conor wants to do. I think I’m a different breed, not just separate from Conor. I think I’m a different breed from every single person on this roster, and a lot of people in this world,” Chandler said. “Whenever I sign my name on a dotted line, I show up, and I do it to the best of my ability. That’s why I was with Kurt, and Austin, and Cody earlier today, seeing them, giving them a hug, telling them how much I love them, telling them that I’m excited to go and watch them compete tonight, because tonight was part of the job. 

“That doesn’t mean that (McGregor) is doing anything wrong by not showing up,” Chandler continued. “I would love for him to be here for numerous reasons, not the least of which would be to go say hi to him, see what’s up, see how life is, see how training’s going. But ultimately Conor does what Conor wants to do” (h/t MMA News).

It would have been a prime opportunity for Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler to go face-to-face for the first time outside of their roles on The Ultimate Fighter. Many speculated that the event could also see an official announcement regarding their long-awaited clash in the Octagon. Unfortunately, the most promising update we got from Dana White is that the bout will likely go down sometime “early next year.”

Sean O’Malley practiced the punch that put Aljamain Sterling’s lights out hours before UFC 292 headliner

Sean O'MalleyJust before stepping into the Octagon and delivering one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history, ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley was backstage practicing the very strike that netted him his first world championship. On Saturday night, O’Malley shocked the world by delivering a picture-perfect counter right that sent his opponent, Alajamain Sterling, crashing to the canvas. […]

Sean O'Malley

Just before stepping into the Octagon and delivering one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history, ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley was backstage practicing the very strike that netted him his first world championship.

On Saturday night, O’Malley shocked the world by delivering a picture-perfect counter right that sent his opponent, Alajamain Sterling, crashing to the canvas. From there, it was only a matter of time before O’Malley finished the fight and claimed the bantamweight crown.

Less than 24 hours following his highlight-reel-worthy finish inside Boston’s iconic TD Garden, O’Malley released a video via his YouTube channel that shows O’Malley practicing the counter right that ended Sterling’s five-year undefeated streak at UFC 292.

The series of behind-the-scenes moments also shows Sean O’Malley’s immediate reaction to winning the biggest fight of his career and detailing all the adversity he faced going into the contest. ‘Sugar’ revealed that he had received cortisone shots in his back prior to beginning his fight camp and had been unable to grapple for the final six weeks of his preparation. He was also unable to run for the entirety of the camp due to issues with his knees.

“This is the first time I hadn’t ran. We did those stairs, but this is the first time I didn’t run on the treadmill,” O’Malley said. “The first camp I’ve ever done [without] it because my knees weren’t feeling great.”

Following the victory, Sean O’Malley called out the man who could be his first potential title challenger, Marlon Vera. With ‘Chito’ handing ‘Sugar’ his only loss inside the Octagon thus far, there is a very easy story for the promotion to sell, but with Merab Dvalishvili sitting atop the bantamweight contenders list and Aljamain Sterling determined to score an immediate rematch, it’s anyone’s guess who O’Malley will face in his first title defense.

Who would you like to see Sean O’Malley make his first title defense against?

Dana White slams accusations of favoring fighters after UFC 292: ‘There’s no such thing as Dana White privilege’

Dana White slams accussations of favoring fighters after UFC 292 no such thing as Dana White privilegeOnce infamously coined as ‘Dana White privilege’ by former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, the promotional president, has vehemently denied such an existence following UFC 292 – showering praise on newly-minted bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley after the 28-year-old struck gold in Boston, Massachusetts.  Taking main event honors for the first time in his lengthy Octagon […]

Dana White slams accussations of favoring fighters after UFC 292 no such thing as Dana White privilege

Once infamously coined as ‘Dana White privilege’ by former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, the promotional president, has vehemently denied such an existence following UFC 292 – showering praise on newly-minted bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley after the 28-year-old struck gold in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Taking main event honors for the first time in his lengthy Octagon tenure, Montana native, O’Malley landed a stunning second round TKO win over defending bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling last night at the TD Garden, securing the divisional crown and becoming just the second Dana White’s Contender Series product to land Octagon spoils. 

Dana White shuts down accusation of favoring fighters after UFC 292

Sharing his thoughts on O’Malley’s route to the title – which has been highly-criticized due to the fact only one fighter on his win column remains on the promotion’s roster in the form of former champion, Petr Yan, White claimed that the thought of privilege he shows to certain fighters is completely unfounded and bogus.

“Yeah, I mean, listen – ‘Dana White privilege’,” Dana White told assembled media after UFC 292. “You don’t become the number two in the world without earning it. I don’t pick that; you people do. He (Sean O’Malley) went in there and delivered tonight. There is no such thing as ‘Dana White privilege’ in this company.”

“They can do that type of sh*t in boxing, I’m not going to say that some people can’t catch some breaks sometimes,” Dana White continued. “People are hurt; this or that happens. Certain matchups can’t happen at one time. You got a situation where Merab Dvalishvili won’t fight the champion. I mean, there are lots of different things that can happen, but it has nothing to do with us. It’s just the way that timing and everything else plays out. When you get to a title shot, you’ve earned it here.” 

Off the back of his title win over Sterling, O’Malley already has sights fixed on an opponent for a return for a championship defense – offering fellow UFC 292 main card winner, Marlon Vera a shot at gold as soon as December at UFC 296. 

Dana White claims Stephen Thompson rejected bout with Ian Machado Garry after UFC 292: ‘He turned down the fight tonight’

Dana White claims Stephen Thompson rejected fight with Ian Machado Garry after UFC 292UFC president, Dana White has claimed that former two-time undisputed welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson rejected a potential fight with undefeated Irish contender, Ian Machado Garry – after the Dubliner called out the striking favorite following his one-sided decision win over Neil Magny at UFC 292. Improving to 13-0 as a professional last night and […]

Dana White claims Stephen Thompson rejected fight with Ian Machado Garry after UFC 292

UFC president, Dana White has claimed that former two-time undisputed welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson rejected a potential fight with undefeated Irish contender, Ian Machado Garry – after the Dubliner called out the striking favorite following his one-sided decision win over Neil Magny at UFC 292.

Improving to 13-0 as a professional last night and lodging his sixth consecutive Octagon win, Portmarnock striker, Machado Garry managed to land a series of brutal knockdowns via leg kicks against Illinois native, Magny over the course of their three round short-notice clash on the main card of UFC 292 in Boston, Massachusetts.

And following his judging victory, the outspoken Machado Garry issued a call out to veteran Simpsonville challenger, Thompson, calling for the organization to book him in a five round clash with the fan-favorite kickboxer in his next Octagon walk.

Ian Machado Garry eyes striking clash with Stephen Thompson next

However, according to the above-mentioned, White, Thompson, who has been sidelined since December of last year, rejected a pairing with Machado Garry. 

“‘Wonderboy’ (Stephen Thompson) turned down the fight [with Ian Machado Garry] tonight,” Dana White told assembled media after UFC 292. “We make fights, man. That’s what we do.” 

Scheduled to return at UFC 291 back in July, Thompson saw a slated bout with Michel Pereira fall to the wayside ahead of the clash, after the Brazilian missed non-title weight by four pounds, with Thompson electing against remaining on the card in a catchweight bout with the former.

And targeting an Octagon return – potentially at UFC 295 in November at Madison Square Garden, Thompson has drawn the attention of former division champion and former pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman for an end-of-year clash.

As for Machado Garry, the 25-year-old has been backed to potentially fight at that pay-per-view card in a return as per, White, who also confirmed that the Dubliner would likely earn himself an Irish homecoming in the capital with a victory in his next Octagon outing.

Would you like to see Ian Machado Garry fight Stephen Thompson next?