Tag: UFC Moscow

Calvin Kattar vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov Rescheduled For UFC Moscow

Calvin Kattar went from having a home fight to going into enemy territory. He was expected to take on Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC Boston next month, but the Russian had to pull out of the bout. Now, the fight has been rescheduled for UFC Moscow, according to ESPN.com. Calvin Kattar is coming off of a […]

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Calvin Kattar went from having a home fight to going into enemy territory. He was expected to take on Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC Boston next month, but the Russian had to pull out of the bout.

Now, the fight has been rescheduled for UFC Moscow, according to ESPN.com.

Calvin Kattar is coming off of a very impressive knockout win over Ricardo Lamas at UFC 238. Before that he beat Chris Fishgold. The American, who hails from Massachusetts, is 4-1 inside the Octagon with his other two wins over Shane Burgos and Andre Fili and his lone loss to Renato Moicano.

Zabit Magomedsharipov, meanwhile, is 5-0 inside the Octagon and last fought at UFC 235. There, the Russian beat Jeremy Stephens by decision. Out of his five wins, three have come by submission and two by decision. He has wins over Kyle Bochniak, Brandon Davis, Mike Santiago, and Sheymon Moraes.

According to ESPN, this was a fight Kattar wanted and he was fine not fighting in Boston and moving it to Russia.

UFC Moscow now looks like:

  • Junior Dos Santos vs. Alexander Volkov
  • Calvin Kattar vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
  • Magomed Ankalaev vs. Dalcha Lungiambula
  • Klidson Abreu vs. Shamil Gamzatov
  • Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Ed Herman
  • Roman Kopylov vs. Karl Roberson
  • Davey Grant vs. Grigorii Popov
  • Vinc Pichel vs. Alexander Yakovlev
  • Zelim Imadaev vs. Danny Roberts

Who do you think will win the fight between Calvin Kattar and Khabib Nurmagomedov?

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Junior dos Santos vs. Alexander Volkov Set To Headline UFC Moscow

The UFC’s return to Moscow is set to be headlined by a pivotal heavyweight encounter between Junior dos Santos and Alexander Volkov. The news was announced by the promotion on Saturday with the event taking place November 9 at the CSKA Arena in Moscow. It was also announced by Volkov himself on Instagram: The bout […]

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The UFC’s return to Moscow is set to be headlined by a pivotal heavyweight encounter between Junior dos Santos and Alexander Volkov.

The news was announced by the promotion on Saturday with the event taking place November 9 at the CSKA Arena in Moscow. It was also announced by Volkov himself on Instagram:

The bout had been targeted for some time now but looks to be finally official.

Dos Santos was last seen in the Octagon earlier this year when his three-fight winning streak was snapped after getting knocked out by Francis Ngannou. Had he won that night, he might have been in contention to challenge Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title.

As for Volkov, he hasn’t featured since his late knockout defeat to Derrick Lewis at UFC 229 in October last year. Before that setback, “Drago” was on a four-fight winning streak. He was set to return and headline UFC Saint-Petersburg against Alistair Overeem back in April, but had to pull out due to health issues.

The event will be the second in Moscow and just the third in Russia overall. It is expected to air on ESPN+.

What do you think of the headliner? Who do you think will go on to win?

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MMA Union Supporter Released From UFC Roster

MMA Union supporter Kajan Johnson announced his UFC release in an emotional Instagram post. It seemed like a foregone conclusion as Johnson constantly spoke out against the UFC’s controversial business practices. And today, Johnson confirmed that his four-year run with the UFC had indeed come to an end. View his Instagram post here: “It is […]

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MMA Union supporter Kajan Johnson announced his UFC release in an emotional Instagram post.

It seemed like a foregone conclusion as Johnson constantly spoke out against the UFC’s controversial business practices.

And today, Johnson confirmed that his four-year run with the UFC had indeed come to an end.

View his Instagram post here:

“It is with sadness in my heart that I say farewell to the UFC. I spent the majority of my life trying to get in and once I was in I did it my way. I accomplished my dreams and did what I could to effect change within a system that greatly needs it, I am grateful for the blessings and the lessons that I was given and shown in these last 4 years and am truly a better man and fighter because of them. To all those that believed supported me, thank you, I love you. To all those that hated on me and motivated me, thank you, I love you, to whatever awaits me next, I am ready, let’s go! ” – Kajan Johnson

View this post on Instagram

It is with sadness in my heart that I say farewell to the UFC. I spent the majority of my life trying to get in and once I was in I did it my way. I accomplished my dreams and did what I could to effect change within a system that greatly needs it. I am grateful for the blessings and the lessons that I was given and shown in these last 4 years and am truly a better man and fighter because of them. To all those that believed supported me, thank you, I love you. To all those that hated on me and motivated me, thank you, I love you. To whatever awaits me next, I am ready, let’s go! ????? . . . . #farewell #ufc #freeagent #alwaysmovingforward #benow #grateful #blessed #mma #tristarvancouver #love #lifeswork #lifespassion #martialartist #vancouver #vancity

A post shared by kajan johnson (@iamkajan) on

A Bittersweet Ending

Johnson recently competed at UFC Moscow where he dropped a split decision loss to Rustam Khabilov. The bout marked the end of his four-fight contract, and apparently, it was not renewed, perhaps due to his unionization efforts.  Johnson had previously stated that he had hoped to fight out his contract in hopes of re-signing with the UFC.

UFC President Dana White and Johnson had a contentious relationship. After all, Johnson is the interim vice-president of Project Spearhead and an outspoken fighter advocate. Which made Johnson’s actions at the UFC Calgary weigh-ins that much more puzzling.

Watch Johnson’s handshake prank on Dana White:

Prior to his last two losses, “Ragin” Kajan was riding high on a four-fight win streak. At 34 years old it would seem this Tristar-trained fighter still has some fight left in him.

If Johnson decides to pursue other avenues he can always focus on his true passion of music, as Johnson is an aspiring musician in his own right.

As far as the UFC goes, he was on a short leash.

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Dan Hardy Criticizes Herb Dean For UFC Moscow Stoppage

Dan Hardy criticizes Herb Dean for his stoppage during a UFC Moscow bout. In the featured preliminary bout on the UFC Moscow card, Khalid Murtazaliev went one-on-one with C.B. Dollaway. Murtazaliev was dominant in the fight and things looked to be comi…

Dan Hardy criticizes Herb Dean for his stoppage during a UFC Moscow bout. In the featured preliminary bout on the UFC Moscow card, Khalid Murtazaliev went one-on-one with C.B. Dollaway. Murtazaliev was dominant in the fight and things looked to be coming to an end in the second round. With Dollaway belly down and taking shots on […]

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Video: Henry Cejudo Is Reunited With UFC Flyweight Title

Newly crowned champion Henry Cejudo has been reunited with his flyweight title.

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Newly-crowned champion Henry Cejudo has been reunited with his UFC flyweight title.

Cejudo shocked the world when he defeated the only champion the UFC flyweight division has ever known. Shortly after Cejudo beat Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson to become the new flyweight king, he jumped on a plane and headed for Russia.

The new champ wasn’t going to party it up in mother Russia. To the contrary, the UFC had a number of festivities planned for the entire week-long promotional machine known as UFC Moscow. Unfortunately, Cejudo lost his luggage in transit and with it, his UFC flyweight title.

Perhaps the most insane part of the story is that this isn’t the first time Cejudo has lost something priceless. He lost his Olympic gold medal while escaping the California wildfires a year back:

“Unfortunately, my belt is in my luggage,” Cejudo told reporters in Moscow. “So now, on top of my gold medal, now it’s my belt. I don’t know what it is about gold. I can’t keep it.”

“Let’s be honest, material comes and goes,” he added. “It’s the memories, it’s the legacy that comes with being a champion. I’m going to get a gold medal back. I’m going to get a belt back. But it’s the memories that come with that that makes it special.”

Cejudo didn’t seem too shaken up about losing his newly acquired championship belt. Maybe “The Messenger” knew everything would work out in the end.

Cejudo announced today (Sept. 18 2018) via his Instagram account that he has been reunited with his flyweight title and all is now good.

Watch Henry Cejudo and his flyweight title reunite here:

“Don’t you ever leave me again,” Henry Cejudo says to the title in the video.

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Dan Hardy Destroys Herb Dean For UFC Moscow Late Stoppage

Rising UFC middleweight Merab Dvalishvili put on a brutal showing against a respected veteran at last week’s (Sat., Sept. 15, 2018) UFC Fight Night 136 from Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. But he didn’t just beat longtime fighter CB Dollaway at the UFC’s debut in Russia. No, he floored him and absolutely rained down one […]

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Rising UFC middleweight Merab Dvalishvili put on a brutal showing against a respected veteran at last week’s (Sat., Sept. 15, 2018) UFC Fight Night 136 from Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia.

But he didn’t just beat longtime fighter CB Dollaway at the UFC’s debut in Russia. No, he floored him and absolutely rained down one of the most one-sided beatings the Octagon has unfortunately ever witnessed. Dvalishvili was only doing his job, however, the true fault of the fight was on referee Herb Dean.

Dean let Dvalishvili land countless shots on a turtled Dolloway who was making no effort to defend himself whatsoever. Dan Hardy, who was cageside calling the fights, pleaded for longtime official Dean to stop, yet he would not answer. He finally stepped in to call off the fight in a strange scene. The comparisons to disgraced ref Mario Yamasaki for the inexplicable decision had already begun, however.

Hardy appeared on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour to detail his opinion of Dean’s jaw-dropping negligence. The former welterweight title contender offered his respect for the longtime official, but also insisted the fight was over:

“It’s difficult to criticize Herb Dean because he’s refereed me before and he’s been excellent. He’s had an excellent career as a referee so far. I mean, I don’t know what went wrong, to be honest. For me and I think for everyone in the arena who starts to boo, I think we all saw the fight was over.”

“The Outlaw” then went in Dean a bit more, adding that he did Dolloway a disservice by letting him take so many shots:

“I feel like Herb did him a disservice there,” Hardy said. “He could have saved him from at least 10 seconds of punches. He was curled up on his side, then he moved belly down, and for me, that’s too many, when they’re belly down, they’re done.”

Hardy admitted that Dolloway was a warrior, but the fight had reached a point where he had nothing left to give. At said point, Hardy believed, it was the ref’s job to save the fighter from themselves:

“I watched the fight back today and I think it was 26 seconds before the end of the round, I said something about Dollaway, fatigue had taken over and he had not a lot to give,” Hardy said. “He was trying to fight back he’s a warrior, he wouldn’t give up. I always appreciate a guy who will take a beating until the referee stops it, but that’s what the referee is for is to save the fighters from themselves and from their ego and pride.”

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