Tag: UFC News

Jimmy Crute To Miss Rest Of 2022 Due To Knee Reconstruction

UFC light heavyweight Jimmy Crute’s 2022 in the cage will end before it even began due to a necessary knee reconstruction operation. Crute announced the news on his Instagram page. “Absolutely gutted to announce that I will be out for the rest of the year,” Crute said. “I need a knee [reconstruction]. I have been…

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UFC light heavyweight Jimmy Crute’s 2022 in the cage will end before it even began due to a necessary knee reconstruction operation.

Crute announced the news on his Instagram page.

“Absolutely gutted to announce that I will be out for the rest of the year,” Crute said. “I need a knee [reconstruction]. I have been putting this off for years but I have sustained too much damage over the last few fights and it has finally come to the point that if I don’t get it fixed it could turn into a career ending injury. I am obviously very disappointed but at the same time a challenge like this is also exciting. It gives me 9+ months to work on other aspects of training and life and come back 100% refreshed and injury free. Thank you all for the continued support. I’m not going anywhere and the Bendigo express is still in full motion.”

Crute has lost back-to-back fights to Anthony Smith and Jamahal Hill over the past year. His loss to Smith at UFC 261 was due to a doctor’s stoppage after injuring his left leg. It’s unclear if the reconstruction is on the same leg that Crute injured.

Crute’s loss to Hill at UFC Vegas 44 came by knockout in just 48 seconds.

Crute had once been touted as one of the top light heavyweight prospects in the UFC following wins over the likes of Michal Oleksiejczuk and Paul Craig. He earned a shot in the promotion after an impressive first-round knockout over Chris Birchler on Dana White’s Contender Series.

For now, Crute will look ahead to 2023 and work to bounce back in a big way in the Octagon. At 25 years old, he has plenty of time to get back on track in his UFC career.

What is your reaction to Jimmy Crute missing all of 2022?

Continue Reading Jimmy Crute To Miss Rest Of 2022 Due To Knee Reconstruction at MMA News.

ATT Owner Says Masvidal/Covington Beef Was Unfixable

The bad blood between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal will finally be settled at UFC 272. At this point, many people know about the feud between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington. They were friends, training partners, and roommates. They used to train together at ATT, one of the most famous MMA gyms in the U.S….

Continue Reading ATT Owner Says Masvidal/Covington Beef Was Unfixable at MMA News.

The bad blood between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal will finally be settled at UFC 272.

At this point, many people know about the feud between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington. They were friends, training partners, and roommates. They used to train together at ATT, one of the most famous MMA gyms in the U.S. The gym is or was home to many top fighters from the UFC to Bellator and boxing. With that many high-quality athletes, there are bound to be some butting heads, however, the beef between Covington and Masvidal was unable to be reconciled.

The owner of ATT, Dan Lambert spoke about what led to Covington being asked to leave the gym when he spoke to MMA Junkie.

“Yeah, it got toxic. And it got to the point where it was affecting the gym,” Lambert said. “We’ve had lots of fighters in this gym over the past 25 years. We’ve had people that love each other, we’ve had people that don’t like each other. But we’ve always been able to separate that, keep some professionalism in the gym and not let it affect the team. And their situation, it just got to the point where it was affecting people inside the gym, and I couldn’t keep it under control. And at one point, we had to tell both of ’em to leave.”

Masvidal has continued to train at ATT while Covington has found his new home elsewhere. It seems the fact that Masvidal “won” the gym in their friendship divorce is the fuel that he is continuing to add to the trash talk fire. Masvidal recently uploaded a message to Covington bragging about the gym and how Covington got kicked out.

“We try to address situations immediately when we see ’em comin’. It’s one of our benefits for being around for a long time,” Lambert said. “We’ve dealt with a lot of the issues before and learned from things we did right and things we did wrong. This one just kinda—it just kept growing, and growing, and growing. And we tried to find solutions inside the gym to make it work, and we just weren’t successful in doing that. And it finally got to a point where it boiled over and we had to do something drastic. And at that point, we told both guys to leave the gym just ’cause it was out of control.”

Since his departure from ATT, Covington has been training at MMA Masters in Miami. He left ATT in May of 2020 and since then, has had two fights in the UFC with his new training camp: a win over Tyron Woodley in September 2020 and the recent loss to the champion Kamaru Usman in November of last year.

Do you think Colby Covington and his new gym will beat Jorge Masvidal and ATT at UFC 272?

Continue Reading ATT Owner Says Masvidal/Covington Beef Was Unfixable at MMA News.

Michael Chandler On UFC 268 Classic: I Out-Gaethje’d Gaethje

Michael Chandler is taking some time to reflect on his loss at UFC 268. Michael Chandler came to the UFC with the mission to become a champion. After losing to Charles Oliveira in a vacant title fight at UFC 262, he hit a second roadblock in that mission when he lost recently to Justin Gaethje….

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Michael Chandler is taking some time to reflect on his loss at UFC 268.

Michael Chandler came to the UFC with the mission to become a champion. After losing to Charles Oliveira in a vacant title fight at UFC 262, he hit a second roadblock in that mission when he lost recently to Justin Gaethje.

The fight between Chandler and Gaethje at UFC 268 was considered to be a title eliminator match to see who will face champion Charles Oliveira next. Unfortunately for Chandler, he was eliminated from that discussion. Now, he is taking some time to look back at what went right and what went wrong in the cage with Gaethje.

Chandler is a seasoned vet. He knows when he was been in a good fight and when he has been in a bad one. He feels that the fight against Gaethje, although a loss on paper, was a good one for him. However, after Gaethje downplayed the entertainment value of the classic by calling it ‘boring,’ Chandler explained to CBSSports.com why Gaethje might feel that way.

“I think in Justin Gaethje’s mind, I think he was disappointed in his performance and when that comes about, it can play tricks on your mind that it was a boring fight because there are a lot of times when we as fighters get done with our fights and we see the fight differently in our head or we remember how we felt after the fight right away,” Chandler said. “Then you go back and watch it and realize it was a much more exciting fight or a much more dominant fight. Case in point, my fight against Benson Henderson years ago. I lost the fifth round, so I felt like I lost the entire fight. I was just so disappointed by the way the fight came to a close after that fifth-round win. Really, I spent the first four rounds dominating him on a lot of people’s scorecards.

Chandler: I Out-Gaethjed Justin Gaethje

Michael Chandler Justin Gaethje
Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Chandler was happy with the bout, although not the outcome. It was a brutal fight in which both men ended up being sent to the hospital afterward. Chandler has mentioned that he has no desire to fight in that manner again in his career again, but he still believes the quality of his performance and the fight can’t be denied.

“So I think what happened there was, I think Justin Gaethje was a little bit disappointed in his performance,” Chandler said. “Not to mention the fact that he did drop me and wasn’t able to finish me. Not to mention the fact that I think I out-Justin Gaethje’d Justin Gaethje in some of those exchanges. I think there is no doubt it was definitely not a boring fight. The Fight of the Year awards on everybody’s cards solidifies that. Maybe we’ll share the Octagon again and we’ll give the fans another treat. We’ll see.”

Chandler is putting the Gaethje fight behind him and is looking ahead to new opportunities. He has a rumored fight in the works against Tony Ferguson. And although the fight is not official yet, a win there could have Chandler right back in the mix. As for Gaethje, he is next for the champ Charles Oliveira later this year.

Where do you rank the fight between Michael Chandler vs. Justin Gaethje all time?

Continue Reading Michael Chandler On UFC 268 Classic: I Out-Gaethje’d Gaethje at MMA News.

Storm Causes Serious Damage To The O2 Arena Roof Ahead Of UFC London

UFC LondonStorm Eunice swiped through the London area on Friday morning/afternoon and did some notable damage to the famous O2 Arena in London. The roof of the dome has been largely shredded apart and has put into question the massive UFC London event taking place at the arena on March 19th. The venue released the following […]

UFC London

Storm Eunice swiped through the London area on Friday morning/afternoon and did some notable damage to the famous O2 Arena in London. The roof of the dome has been largely shredded apart and has put into question the massive UFC London event taking place at the arena on March 19th.

The venue released the following statement following the incident.

“There has been some damage caused to the tent fabric in our roof at The O2,” a statement read on The O2 website. “The safety of our visitors remains of paramount importance, and we will continue to assess the ongoing situation and act accordingly.”

There are some notable combat sports events that were expected to be held at the arena in the near future other than the UFC London event.

Lawrence Okolie is set to defend his WBO cruiserweight world championship against Michael Cieslak at the venue next Saturday, February 26 while Cage Warriors are also due to return to London on Friday, March 18 for the featherweight title unification rematch between Jordan Vucenic and Paul Hughes.

The following night will see the massive UFC London event take place where the likes of Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblett and more will be on hand for the UFC’s first event in London since March 2019. Hopefully, the damage will be repaired in time for the UFC’s long-awaited return to England.

Do you think the damage will be enough to move the UFC London event?

Jake Paul’s Fighter Pay Campaign Would See ‘700 fighters’ Cut If Successful

Jake PaulJake Paul’s crusade of fighter pay would cull the UFC roster by nearly 80%, leaving more than 700 fighters without their positions within the UFC if Jake Paul’s fighter pay plan played out, it has been claimed. Jake Paul labelled “clown” for using fighter pay issue for self-relevancy UFC veteran and light-heavyweight/middleweight ever-present Sam Alvey […]

Jake Paul

Jake Paul’s crusade of fighter pay would cull the UFC roster by nearly 80%, leaving more than 700 fighters without their positions within the UFC if Jake Paul’s fighter pay plan played out, it has been claimed.

Jake Paul labelled “clown” for using fighter pay issue for self-relevancy

UFC veteran and light-heavyweight/middleweight ever-present Sam Alvey is not on board with the Jake Paul publicity parade, and has, in fact, come out swinging at him, branding him a “clown” who only cares about keeping his own name relevant. The 35-year-old, who holds a record of 33-17 in the UFC, has had his say about Paul, and has not held back:

“Jake Paul is a clown and he is not trying to help fighter pay, he is trying to help himself,” Alvey said in an interview with Full Mount MMA, per The Mirror. “Every fight sells when you either want to see somebody win or see somebody get knocked out. Jake Paul has figured out that everyone wants to see him get knocked out so he wants to try and switch that narrative.”

“So he goes after the low-hanging fruit that sounds great to everyone, ‘pay fighters more’… If UFC, Dana White, any of those guys were to do what Jake Paul is asking, he wouldn’t get us paid more. He would eliminate the roster of the UFC. We would go from a roster of what 800 to down to 75.

“It would be the Jon Jones’, Francis Ngannous, Conor McGregors and then a bunch of people to feed to them, that’s the way it would go.”

Alvey made his own UFC debut in 2014, in a losing unanimous decision effort to Tom Watson. He fought earlier this month, dropping a loss to Brendan Allen in Las Vegas. Alvey has actually claimed that he earns a lot more compared to when he made his debut. He expanded on and clarified this:

“Right now it’s up to $12,000 to show $12,000 to win for your first UFC fight. You find me any other job in the world, a 50 per cent increase in 9 years of the base pay, you’d be hard pressed to do it.”

“I currently make more money than Joe Stevenson and Gray Maynard did when they fought for titles, the UFC’s pay is going up dramatically every year.”

Jake Paul has been embroiled in a tit-for-tat [social] media spat with UFC president Dana White for a number of months now, even claiming that he would retire from boxing and sign a one-fight UFC deal were Dana to agree to Paul’s propositions, including minimum base pay of $50,000 for every fighter, as well as better fighter healthcare and sharing 50% of the profits with the fighters.

Watch: O2 Arena Ripped Apart By Storm Weeks Before UFC London

It appears the UFC’s long-awaited return to London, England may have hit another roadblock in the form of Britain’s worst storm in decades. On March 19, MMA’s premier promotion is set to host a card in England’s capital for the first time since 2019. After an attempt to cross the Atlantic proved unsuccessful last September,…

Continue Reading Watch: O2 Arena Ripped Apart By Storm Weeks Before UFC London at MMA News.

It appears the UFC’s long-awaited return to London, England may have hit another roadblock in the form of Britain’s worst storm in decades.

On March 19, MMA’s premier promotion is set to host a card in England’s capital for the first time since 2019. After an attempt to cross the Atlantic proved unsuccessful last September, the UK audience has finally had an event officially confirmed, one that sold out in minutes.

But an extreme weather event may be about to throw a spanner in the works. As Storm Eunice causes havoc across the British Isles and delivers record-breaking gusts, damage is inevitable. What most probably hadn’t banked on, though, was the roof of the O2 Arena being torn off…

While it’s uncertain how serious the damage is and what a potential repair timeline will look like, the storm continues to rage on. With that in mind, it’s unlikely the venue will remain in its current state, with further destruction expected.

It’s impossible to tell at this stage whether UFC London will be affected. However, with WBC Cruiserweight World Champion Lawrence Okolie set to make his second defense against challenger Michel Cieslak next weekend at the O2, we can expect the status of the March 19 UFC Fight Night to become clearer towards the end of the month.

The O2 Is Set To Host A Stacked British Showcase

Having been kept to US-based events and Abu Dhabi-held cards since the COVID-19 pandemic caused havoc in 2020, the UFC has understandably pulled out all the stops ahead of its return to overseas events.

As well as the presence of top UK names and prospects like Tom Aspinall, Arnold Allen, Paddy Pimblett, Paul Craig, and Molly McCann, well-known international fighters like Dan Hooker, Ilia Topuria, Nikita Krylov, Gunnar Nelson, and Alexander Volkov are also set to enter the cage inside London’s O2 Arena.

With a host of exciting matchups set, fans will certainly be hoping any more damage to the host venue as a result of Storm Eunice is limited.

Listed below are the fights currently expected to go down on March 19 in London, England:

Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall (heavyweight main event)

Dan Hooker vs. Arnold Allen (featherweight)

Paul Craig vs. Nikita Krylov (light heavyweight)

Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Sergei Pavlovich (heavyweight)

Jack Shore vs. Timur Valiev (bantamweight)

Paddy Pimblett vs. Kazula Vargas (lightweight)

Gunnar Nelson vs. Claudio Silva (welterweight)

Nathanial Wood vs. Liudvik Sholinian (bantamweight)

Ilia Topuria vs. Jai Herbert (lightweight)

Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Grundy (featherweight)

Molly McCann vs. Luana Carolina (women’s flyweight)

Cody Durden vs. Muhammad Mokaev (flyweight)

Cory McKenna vs. Elise Reed (women’s strawweight)

Which UFC London fight are you most looking forward to on March 19?

Continue Reading Watch: O2 Arena Ripped Apart By Storm Weeks Before UFC London at MMA News.