Tag: UFC News

Gilbert Burns Eyes June Bout Against Mystery Opponent After Being Turned Down By Colby Covington

BurnsFormer UFC Welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns is eager to get back into the octagon and has been given multiple options regarding an opponent for his return. Earlier today on Twitter Burns shared that he and his team were looking at potentially returning in June and out of the three opponents that had been approached […]

Burns

Former UFC Welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns is eager to get back into the octagon and has been given multiple options regarding an opponent for his return.

Earlier today on Twitter Burns shared that he and his team were looking at potentially returning in June and out of the three opponents that had been approached to face him, two had said yes, and Colby Covington had said no.

Both burns and his team appear to have been eyeing the Covington fight with Burns posting shortly after about the number one ranked contender.

“I don’t want slap this guy for free, even though he deserves! But if he keep saying no to fight me, I might have to”

According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Burns’ manager Ali Abdelaziz requested this fight for his client, however, this wasn’t the only name with the team also asking for Michael Chiesa. It is currently unclear if Chiesa is one of the fighters who agreed to fight Burns in June when approached.

Also, Abdelaziz who also manages Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman shared that he had spoken to the champ and while he holds the belt Covington will need to defeat another contender before he is granted a rematch.

Covington and Usman faced off at UFC 245 in December of 2019, in this extremely close fight Usman was able to finish Covington in the fifth round to defend his title. Since then Covington has only entered the octagon a single time to face former champion, Tyron Woodley, in September of 2020.

Burns is coming off his own failed attempt at the title against his teammate and friend Usman and is currently the number two ranked contender right behind Covington.

Right now, Burns’ mystery opponent remains a secret, however, there are three free fighters in the top six who are not currently booked, Leon Edwards, Stephen Thompson, and Michael Chiesa so it could likely be one of these fighters.

Petr Yan Shares Potential Time Frame For Aljamain Sterling Rematch

Petr YanFormer UFC Bantamweight champion Petr Yan believes that his time to challenge for the belt again, after losing it at UFC 259 due to throwing an illegal strike, will come again sooner rather than later. In an interview with Russian outlet Sport24, Yan shared that his team had already begun discussing a date for the […]

Petr Yan

Former UFC Bantamweight champion Petr Yan believes that his time to challenge for the belt again, after losing it at UFC 259 due to throwing an illegal strike, will come again sooner rather than later.

In an interview with Russian outlet Sport24, Yan shared that his team had already begun discussing a date for the rematch to take place with the UFC.

“The rematch is already under discussion, Yan said. “Perhaps it will be in the next two or three months – in the summer or closer to this time.” [Translated through Google]

The bantamweight title changed hands at UFC 259 after Yan landed an illegal knee on Aljamain Sterling as he was at the time a downed opponent.

Following this, Sterling could no longer continue, and referee Herb Dean was forced to call the fight. Up until that point, the fight had been quite competitive, however, it appeared to be trending in favor of Yan heading into the later rounds.

As far as taking a loss goes, Yan appears to be in high spirits sharing with Sport24 that the incident may have given him the publicity that he lacked previously.

“In this division, the loudest opponent is myself,” Yan said. “Previously, no one really noticed me, but after this incident, now all the media are trying to talk about it. Well, nothing, life goes on, and there are positive aspects. Better to lose the way I did it than win the way Sterling did.” [Translated through Google]

Following his victory it appeared that Sterling may have been eyeing a match with the former double champion and retired fighter Henry Cejudo, however, Sterling later cleared up these accusations stating that the video face off the pair took part it was all a part of fun and not serious.

While in Sterling’s hands, the Bantamweight title will likely be put on the line once again in a rematch that will hopefully share a clear indication of who is currently the number one Bantamweight fighter in the UFC.

Anderson Silva Team Deny Rumors Of UFC Legend Boxing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

SilvaAnderson Silva will not be boxing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. For now, at least. Reports started floating Thursday that the former UFC middleweight champion would take on Chavez Jr. on the undercard of the latter’s father’s final boxing headliner on June 19. That, however, appears to be news to the team of Silva who have […]

Silva

Anderson Silva will not be boxing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. For now, at least.

Reports started floating Thursday that the former UFC middleweight champion would take on Chavez Jr. on the undercard of the latter’s father’s final boxing headliner on June 19.

That, however, appears to be news to the team of Silva who have since denied it (via Damon Martin).

“Despite a lot of chatter on Twitter, Anderson Silva’s management team tells me they’ve heard nothing about him boxing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on June 19.

“Who knows if that will change but that’s the word for now.”

It’s definitely a random matchup as while Chavez Jr. has won once in his last three, he is still a former boxing champion who happens to be 10 years the junior of Silva who turns 46 next month.

If people wanted Silva to retire from mixed martial arts because of the damage he was taking, it would possibly be worse if he stepped in the ring with a younger boxer.

Hopefully, “The Spider” either continues to compete in mixed martial arts or calls it a day.

Silva departed the UFC late last year after suffering a fourth-round TKO defeat to Uriah Hall. It was his third loss in a row while it also put him at one win in his last nine outings.

What do you want to see Silva do next?

Leon Edwards Doesn’t See What Jorge Masvidal Does Differently Against Kamaru Usman

Usman MasvidalLeon Edwards expects the Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal rematch to go the same way. Usman will defend his welterweight title against Masvidal in a rematch that will headline the upcoming UFC 261 pay-per-view event taking place April 24 in Jacksonville, Florida. It will be Masvidal’s second straight attempt at welterweight gold after losing his […]

Usman Masvidal

Leon Edwards expects the Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal rematch to go the same way.

Usman will defend his welterweight title against Masvidal in a rematch that will headline the upcoming UFC 261 pay-per-view event taking place April 24 in Jacksonville, Florida.

It will be Masvidal’s second straight attempt at welterweight gold after losing his short-notice fight with Usman via an uneventful unanimous decision at UFC 251 in July last year.

Edwards was notably hoping to be next in line but will have to continue waiting. That said, he will still be watching and expects a good fight.

And while the narrative is that Masvidal will put up a better fight now that he will be more prepared with his camp and weight cut, Edwards doesn’t see what “Gamebred” can do different to prevent Usman from winning again.

“It’ll be a good fight, I’ll be watching it for sure,” Edwards said on Joe Rogan’s podcast (via Middle Easy). “But if I had to put money on it, I would probably go Usman for the win again. I can’t see what (Masvidal) can do differently. He’s going to come out again and do what he does, swing for the fences, and try to knock him out. Usman is going to have a high guard and just grapple him.

“I just can’t see what (Masvidal) does different. Unless he catches (Usman) and knocks him out, I just can’t see what he does differently.”

That’s not just Edwards talking as a rival as it seems to be the general opinion of many in the combat sports world.

However, the Birmingham native is a little dumbfounded as to how he and Masvidal have not yet fought despite their infamous UFC London backstage encounter in March 2019.

“For sure, I thought ‘okay that’s the next fight,’ straight away, and to have it now be two, two and a half years and we still ain’t fought yet?” Edwards added. “I’ve been calling him out ever since, and the UFC wants it, but he just keeps turning it down and saying no he don’t want to fight.”

Perhaps it could happen in the near future.

What do you make of Edwards’ comments?

Georges St-Pierre: UFC Want Khabib Nurmagomedov To Lose Before Retiring

St-Pierre NurmagomedovGeorges St-Pierre believes the UFC doesn’t like to see champions leave on their own terms. Khabib Nurmagomedov retired following his win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 back in October. But despite that being nearly five months ago, UFC president Dana White is yet to strip him of the lightweight title. In addition, he has […]

St-Pierre Nurmagomedov

Georges St-Pierre believes the UFC doesn’t like to see champions leave on their own terms.

Khabib Nurmagomedov retired following his win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 back in October. But despite that being nearly five months ago, UFC president Dana White is yet to strip him of the lightweight title.

In addition, he has continually tried to persuade Nurmagomedov out of retirement with repeated only to no avail thus far. Why is the UFC reluctant to let Nurmagomedov go?

St-Pierre has a theory.

“From a business standpoint, for sure the UFC does not like one of their athletes to leave on their own terms, especially when they are champions,” St-Pierre said in an interview with ESPN (via MMA Fighting). “They like to keep the ball rolling in the organization and that’s one of the things they were angry at me [about], I’ve done this two times. But I think they attach too much importance into that. If you look at boxing, the way they promote the sport, it would be for example, ‘Mayweather vs. Canelo,’ and then after you know what they’re fighting for.

“But in UFC, the way they promote it is ‘UFC 259,’ that’s the UFC, they promote the UFC, then you have the two guys. So it’s just a different way they promote the sport. I think the promotion should be more centered on the athlete than the promotion because there’s all kinds of titles. The title is just a meaning. Even if you’re champion, doesn’t mean that people think that you are the best in the world if you are champion. You can be champion, but you haven’t fought the best guy. People are not stupid. People know that.”

St-Pierre has certainly butted heads with White in the past.

But the French-Canadian stuck to his terms and was able to retire on top. And he praised Nurmagomedov for doing the same — despite the UFC likely wanting someone to beat him before he retires.

“For that reason I believe they want to keep Khabib in because they feel like Khabib is undefeated,” St-Pierre added. “He has probably the most dominant career ever. I don’t even know if he lost a round—He might have lost a round but he dominate all his opponents.

“They don’t want him to leave on his terms, they want a guy to beat him, then after they gonna be like, ‘Okay, now you can leave.’ But Khabib is smart, I think he’s very smart, he left on top, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Do you agree with St-Pierre?

Leon Edwards Claims He Beats Belal Muhammad ‘Ten Times Out Of Ten’

Leon EdwardsDespite the controversial ending to their UFC Vegas 21 headliner last weekend, welterweight contender, Leon Edwards has distanced himself from a potential rematch against Belal Muhammad, but claims if he was to meet the Chicago native again he’d beat him “ten times out of ten“. Making his first Octagon appearance since UFC Fight Night San […]

Leon Edwards

Despite the controversial ending to their UFC Vegas 21 headliner last weekend, welterweight contender, Leon Edwards has distanced himself from a potential rematch against Belal Muhammad, but claims if he was to meet the Chicago native again he’d beat him “ten times out of ten“.

Making his first Octagon appearance since UFC Fight Night San Antonio back in July of 2019, Birmingham native, Edwards started brightly, to say the least, snapping a stinging one-two in the opening round, before forcing a wobble and retreat from Muhammad via a whipping left high-kick around Muhammad’s guard.

Seeing the matchup called in the second round, Edwards landed an unintentional poke to Muhammad’s left eye for the second time of the night, this time, however, drawing a massive reaction from the #13 contender, who immediately fell to his back on the canvas, reeling in pain.

Consulting the Octagon-side physician, referee Herb Dean urged Muhammad to gather his composure, who was in extreme pain as he reeled — worrying explaining to the above-mentioned doctor that he couldn’t “see anything” from his left eye when questioned if he was experiencing double-vision — resulting in Dean’s decision to wave off the fight, declaring the bout a ‘No Contest’.

Immediately distancing himself from a potential re-run with Muhammad, Edwards surprisingly claimed that the result now meant “nine in a row” for him, and echoed prior calls throughout 2020 for a shot at welterweight champion, one-time foe, Kamaru Usman’s throne.

Speaking with UFC colour-commentator, Joe Rogan on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience — Edwards claimed that while Muhammad is a durable fighter if he was pitted with him ten times, he’d prevail each time.

“He’s (Belal Muhammad) durable, he’s very durable,” Edwards said. “When I caught him with a head-kick in the first round — I kinda rushed my work a little bit, I kinda went wild and started swinging for him. But I should’ve picked my shots a little bit better. But he’s tough, he’s durable, but he doesn’t beat me. Any given day, I believe, if we fight ten times I beat him ten times, that’s just it.“

“He was a late step-in, Khamzat (Chimaev) stepped out, and I think he should work his way back up. And then hopefully we can meet somewhere down the line, but for now, I’m looking for the title shot, I’m looking to become a world champion.“

Despite calls for a shot at welterweight gold in his next outing, the promotion has already booked an undisputed championship rematch between the above mentioned, Usman and BMF champion, Edwards’ rival, Jorge Masvidal to take main event honours at UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida on April 24. 

Whilst initially refusing to do “charity” for Edwards by accepting a short-notice matchup with him for last weekend, former interim champion, Colby Covington has claimed that a matchup between the two can be possible in the future if the UFC compensate him sufficiently.