Tag: UFC News

UFC Partners With NYPD To Help Its Cops & Kids Program

Before UFC 268 took place in New York, Dana White and the UFC partnered with the NYPD in an effort to renovate gyms and help local youth.

One walk-through in an NYPD Cops & Kids gym in Brooklyn is all it took. Dana White had an appreciation fo…

Dana White & The NYPD

Before UFC 268 took place in New York, Dana White and the UFC partnered with the NYPD in an effort to renovate gyms and help local youth.

One walk-through in an NYPD Cops & Kids gym in Brooklyn is all it took. Dana White had an appreciation for the renovations provided by the NYPD to help improve the program. In two New York boroughs fraught with criminal activity, the Cops & Kids gyms were a welcome addition to the neighborhood.

The UFC boss admitted that he was once a part of a police program. With the intention of removing kids from the street, the local gyms are in place to offer impressionable youth a home away from home.

“I’m very pro-police, pro-military, and who isn’t pro-kids and getting kids off the street,” Dana White said. “Plus, I came out of a PAL program, too, and it changed my life. What you get out of something like this is immeasurable. Lessons learned here, how hard you push yourself in a place like this, the types of people you meet, the different paths that people take, you name it.”

The Cops & Kids program was created in 1985 by retired NYPD officer Pat Russo. While Russo admits the gyms weren’t very popular in their inception, they were an outlet for troubled youth nonetheless. The NYPD’s collective goal is to have the gyms reach all five boroughs of New York.

Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, of the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau, is a proponent of the NYPD-sponsored gyms. The program is designed to assist in athletics but also put in place to help with mentorships and academia.

“We have young people who come from all over the city, who take two or three trains, two or three buses, to come to this program because it’s a safe place for them to be,” Maddrey said. “There’s cops and adults from the community – community leaders, elected officials, clergy – that care about them, and it’s free for them to come here, do schoolwork, get homework help, have a mentor, to do physical fitness training. So it’s important that we have places for our young people to go that doesn’t cost them anything. It’s important for their parents, too. It helps the parents when they need a safe place to send them so the parents can work and do the things that are needed around the home.” 

In what has become an integral part of the community, Russo’s creation of the Cops & Kids gym serves the neighborhood and inspires hope for young adults from all walks of life.

Continue Reading UFC Partners With NYPD To Help Its Cops & Kids Program at MMA News.

Conor McGregor Blasts Ireland’s COVID-19 Restrictions

Conor McGregorUFC star Conor McGregor isn’t happy with his home country, Ireland’s new restrictions during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Ireland’s government recently announced that the country will go back on lockdown, with Irish pubs undergoing a curfew and work-from-home returning for most employers and employees. McGregor has dabbled in the world of politics, especially during the […]

Conor McGregor

UFC star Conor McGregor isn’t happy with his home country, Ireland’s new restrictions during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Ireland’s government recently announced that the country will go back on lockdown, with Irish pubs undergoing a curfew and work-from-home returning for most employers and employees. McGregor has dabbled in the world of politics, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, to criticize his nation’s government.

Earlier today, McGregor aimed at Irish politicians Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin over the new policies in Ireland.

Check out Conor McGregor’s reaction to the new COVID-19 restrictions in Ireland

“Frustrated with these new restrictions in Ireland,” McGregor said. “We’ve done our part and we’ve followed the rules. [They] told us last month we had the virus suppressed. And yet we move forwards only to move backward again. All we ask for is clarity, and we have gotten none since the beginning.”

“Ireland and its people, with its high vaccination rate, after enduring the longest lockdown in the free world, is not to blame for the undersupply of our healthcare system,” McGregor continued. “Those in government are! Almost 3 years to bolster this for our people, and nothing. Ireland will rise!”

Despite countries like Ireland having high vaccination rates, the Delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread like wildfire throughout Europe. This isn’t the first time that McGregor has come out on Twitter and addressed his country’s politics.

McGregor is arguably the most influential celebrity to ever come from Ireland and his words matter. Especially during these tough times, the Irish people are listening to what he and other Irish celebrities have to say about the current global crisis.

McGregor is planning a UFC return sometime in 2022 and is continuing to recover from a nasty leg injury he suffered against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

What are your thoughts on Conor McGregor’s rant about COVID-19?

Miesha Tate Lays Out The Problem With Fighter And Coach Dating

Miesha Tate is offering some advice to the tougher generation of female fighters.

Miesha Tate is a veteran in the world of MMA. She recently has made a return to fighting after a short retirement. She has been in the UFC since 2013 and has been thr…

Miesha Tate

Miesha Tate is offering some advice to the tougher generation of female fighters.

Miesha Tate is a veteran in the world of MMA. She recently has made a return to fighting after a short retirement. She has been in the UFC since 2013 and has been through it all. Now as a radio personality, Tate has the chance to speak out on news topics within the sport. Recently she caught some slack for her comments on fellow bantamweight Aspen Ladd and her relationship with her boyfriend/coach.

“It is, from my experience, generally problematic when a female fighter, especially younger, starts dating a coach,” she told The MMA Hour. “The more the age difference, the more they become, sort of, hooks in, claws deep, and they start to feel like they can rule your life. And that can happen even outside of fighting, but when you add that kind of dynamic to it as well, it can just be such an ugly situation. So I think it’s something we should definitely have conversations about, make people a little more aware that it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Bryan Caraway, Miesha Tate
Bryan Caraway, Miesha Tate

Tate is speaking from her own experience throughout her career. She was in a relationship for quite some time with former UFC fighter Bryan Caraway. Caraway also doubled as Tate’s coach through most of her UFC career. The two split since then and now Tate is dating another fighter named Johnny Nuñez who she has two children with.

“But a lot of times, I feel like women gravitate toward a male figure that’s in their life consistently and trying to help them. But once it becomes a relationship, things become so entangled and so intertwined, and it’s very difficult not only to separate your personal life from when you go into the gym but the gym from when you go home. That was my biggest problem was that the coach always came home. I lost the significant other if you will, and it just became this mental game — it was 24/7.”

Tate and Ladd have had a great deal of back and forth both arguing about Ladd’s recent botched weight cut. The two even planned to fight each other before it all went down. They could still find themselves across the cage from each other in the future.

Do you agree with Tate’s assessment of a fighter/coach relationship?

Continue Reading Miesha Tate Lays Out The Problem With Fighter And Coach Dating at MMA News.

Dustin Poirier Sides With Yan Over McGregor In Best UFC Boxer Debate

Dustin Poirier knows great boxing when he sees it.

Dustin Poirier is known as one of the best lightweights in the UFC. He is getting the chance to show that he is the best as he takes on champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 269. Recently, there has be…

Dustin Poirier Petr Yan

Dustin Poirier knows great boxing when he sees it.

Dustin Poirier is known as one of the best lightweights in the UFC. He is getting the chance to show that he is the best as he takes on champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 269. Recently, there has been a debate going on as to who is the best boxer in the UFC. Poirier is one of the better stand-up fighters in the game but he has his own opinion on who is the best.

“I think Petr Yan (is the best boxer in the UFC),” Poirier told The MMA Hour. Just the way he moves. He doesn’t waste a lot of movements. His positioning is always crisp. His footwork, he’s never out of position. He doesn’t load up, but he throws clean power shots. Good accuracy, but he works the body well. Goes up, goes up. There’s just a lot of things that he does really well.”

Conor McGregor took on this topic as well. Although he did recognize that Yan’s boxing was top-notch, he had himself at the top of the list. He even invited Yan to come and train with him so they could see firsthand who was superior.

Poirier’s complement didn’t go unnoticed by Yan. He took to Twitter later to acknowledge these statements by Poirier and to add a dig at McGregor.

“Obviously, @DustinPoirier understands boxing better than @TheNotoriousMMA ?,” Yan wrote.

Since coming to the UFC Yan has only lost one fight, his disqualification against Aljamian Sterling. He has four KO or TKO finishes and is now holding the interim bantamweight title. His last showing against Cory Sandhagen was what got people talking about his striking. It was a masterclass in MMA standup.

Who do you think has the best boxing in all of the UFC?

Continue Reading Dustin Poirier Sides With Yan Over McGregor In Best UFC Boxer Debate at MMA News.

Henry Cejudo Explains Why He’s Training Jon Jones, Tells ‘DC’ To Bend The Knee

Henry CejudoFormer UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo has given an explanation as to why he’s training alongside former two-time light heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones at Fight Ready in Arizona — as well as directing his now-infamous phrase, “bend the knee” to Jones’ former rival, and fellow former duel-weight champion, Daniel Cormier.  Cejudo, who announced […]

Henry Cejudo

Former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo has given an explanation as to why he’s training alongside former two-time light heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones at Fight Ready in Arizona — as well as directing his now-infamous phrase, “bend the knee” to Jones’ former rival, and fellow former duel-weight champion, Daniel Cormier. 

Cejudo, who announced his retirement following his UFC 249 bantamweight title defense against former two-time division best, Dominick Cruz back in May of last year — has been continuously linked with a return to active competition in the form of outings against the quartet of Alexander Volkanovski, Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling, and Deiveson Figueiredo, however, a return has yet to come to fruition. 

For Jones, the Albuquerque resident was recently suspended from attending long-time home base, Jackson-Wink MMA in New Mexico amid his September arrest by head coach, Mike Winkeljohn — before confirming himself that he had completely parted ways with the Albuquerque-based outfit. 

Footage emerged last week of Jones training in Arizona alongside the aforenoted, Cejudo — leading to a rather tongue-in-cheek comment from the abovementioned, Cormier — an arch-rival of Jones during their respective light heavyweight runs.

Henry Cejudo defends his decision to help train Jon Jones – a past-foe of Daniel Cormier

Responding to Cormier’s comments, Cejudo posted a tweet claiming that fellow sport greats need to help each other.

“You know I love you @dc_mma [Daniel Cormier],” Henry Cejudo tweeted. “But legends got to take care of legends. Us [goat emojis{ gotta take care of each other. But if you don’t like it DC, I got three words for ya. #bendtheknee #TripleCandSchmo #JonJones.“

Speaking with The Schmo, Henry Cejudo reiterated claims that a happy Jones is going to prove to be a successful Jones.

“Daniel [Cormier], you know I love you my man, you’re retired just like me, as a legend” Henry Cejudo said. “I am a legend, but as a legend, we’ve got to take care of other legends whether you guys had beef or not. I believe, a happy Jon Jones is a successful Jones. And I think we’ve got to take care of each other. We’ve got to take care of our brothers. It’s a certain fraternity, it’s like the world championships or the Olympic club that we always got to watch out for each other. That’s all it is. But if you don’t like it ‘DC’, you can do me a favor and bend the knee to ‘King Triple C’.“

Glover Teixeira Gets Hometown Parade & Key To The City

Glover TeixeiraGlover Teixeira has been awarded a key to the city, as well as being given a parade around his hometown of Danbury, following on from his impressive victory over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267. Teixeira was able to secure the light heavyweight championship following his submission victory last month, returning to his hometown he and […]

Glover Teixeira

Glover Teixeira has been awarded a key to the city, as well as being given a parade around his hometown of Danbury, following on from his impressive victory over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267.

Teixeira was able to secure the light heavyweight championship following his submission victory last month, returning to his hometown he and his fellow residents took time to appreciate his achievement.

The Brazilian who owns Teixeira MMA and Fitness, a gym located within Danbury took a moment during his acceptance speech to say thank you to everyone who has supported him.

“I’m just so happy this is happening over here, I come to Danbury in 1999 and people just warm hearts over here, just opened their arms for me. It’s the land of opportunity. I had a dream in Brazil to be a professional athlete. Most of the people, I have a lot of people from my town here, they know how hard it is over there.

“I couldn’t train, I couldn’t do anything, and I come here, and I say, ‘This is the land of opportunity, I want to be a world champion. Greg Davis is one of my guys there that trained with me. He was there when I say — I couldn’t speak much English, he asked me, ‘Why are you training in jiu-jitsu for?’ I said, ‘I want to be UFC champion.’” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)

Glover Teixeira’s Road to Glory

Those MMA fans who have followed his career will know just how impressive what he has done is, at the age of 42. Teixeira held an eight-fight winning streak when he challenged Jon Jones for the belt back in 2014. Although he was unsuccessful in his attempt and would go on to trade wins and losses up until the start of 2019, Teixeira wasn’t to be put off.

The Brazilian started his hot streak with a first-round submission win over Karl Roberson in January 2019. He would follow this up with Rear Naked Choke victory over Ion Cutelaba, earning himself a performance bonus. He would then edge out a split decision victory over Nikita Krylov before returning to the bonus column with his TKO win over Anthony Smith. Teixeira would then submit Thiago Santos extending his winning streak to five before fulfilling his lifelong dream by dethroning then Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz.

At 42 years old who knows how long Glover Teixeira’s will be able to maintain his time at the top with many fans speculating his first defence will come against Jiri Prochazka.

How does Glover Teixeira match up against the number one contender?