Tag: UFC News

Dustin Poirier Says He Was ‘Very Close’ To Submitting Khabib Nurmagomedov

Dustin PoirierDustin Poirier believes he was close to finishing Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242. The pair fought in September 2019 to unify the lightweight division. Nurmagomedov dominated much of the fight but Poirier did enjoy some success. At the beginning of round three of the fight, Poirier locked in a guillotine choke and began to squeeze […]

Dustin Poirier

Dustin Poirier believes he was close to finishing Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242.

The pair fought in September 2019 to unify the lightweight division. Nurmagomedov dominated much of the fight but Poirier did enjoy some success. At the beginning of round three of the fight, Poirier locked in a guillotine choke and began to squeeze with everything he had. The champion looked flustered as he tried to wriggle out of it but ultimately did so and quickly got back to dominating the fight. The Russian ultimately scored the submission win, locking in the rear-naked choke in the same round.

Speaking about his fight with Nurmagomedov on a recent episode of UFC Unfiltered podcast, Poirier said his submission attempt was very close to finishing the fight.

“It was close. “It was as close as it can get. I would have finished a lot of guys in the UFC with that choke — a lot of guys. And I finish a lot of guys in the gym, all the time.

“Doing jiu-jitsu as long as you have, and just having a feel, if there’s a centimeter of space where [Nurmagomedov] can roll his hips to the mat and just create a little bit of space and a little bit of breathing space… I should have went full guard,” Poirier continued. “I should have controlled his whole body and his hips. I could have really folded him over there if I had really went full guard. Simple things like that which would have finished 90 percent of the guys — that ten percent or five percent that Khabib is in, you just don’t finish guys with that. It has to be perfect, and it’s my fault. It’s a lag and a mistake in technique and it’s all on me.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)

Poirier hasn’t fought since losing to Nurmagomedov late last year. He is scheduled to face fellow contender Dan Hooker at UFC San Diego May 16. However, amid the coronavirus pandemic, it seems unlikely that the event will go ahead as planned.

Do you think Dustin Poirier was close to submitting Khabib
Nurmagomedov?

Diego Sanchez Compares Jon Jones To Bill Cosby After DWI Arrest

Jon Jones’ former teammate Diego Sanchez is putting “Bones” on blast. Jones found himself back in jail on March 26 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Police were responded to a criminal complaint of gunshots. The cops on duty say when they a…

Jon Jones’ former teammate Diego Sanchez is putting “Bones” on blast. Jones found himself back in jail on March 26 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Police were responded to a criminal complaint of gunshots. The cops on duty say when they arrived in the area of 3rd Street and Central Avenue, Jones was found in his car […]

The post Diego Sanchez Compares Jon Jones To Bill Cosby After DWI Arrest appeared first on MMA News.

Henry Cejudo Believes Postponing Olympics Was ‘The Right Thing To Do’

Henry Cejudo is an Olympic gold medallist in wrestling as well as being the UFC’s bantamweight champion. He has declared himself “Triple C” and said he is the greatest combat sports athlete of all-time. Although Cejudo is an Olympics …

Henry Cejudo is an Olympic gold medallist in wrestling as well as being the UFC’s bantamweight champion. He has declared himself “Triple C” and said he is the greatest combat sports athlete of all-time. Although Cejudo is an Olympics gold medallist, athletes won’t have the chance to do so in 2020. The summer games were […]

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Edmen Shahbazyan Still Plans On Being Youngest UFC Champion

Edmen ShahbazyanEdmen Shahbazyan isn’t letting the COVID-19 pandemic stop his goal of becoming the youngest UFC champion. Currently, that record is set by Jon Jones who achieved it when he was 23 years and eight months old. So, with Shahbazyan only turning 23 in July, he knows he still has time to break the record. “It […]

Edmen Shahbazyan

Edmen Shahbazyan isn’t letting the COVID-19 pandemic stop his goal of becoming the youngest UFC champion.

Currently, that record is set by Jon Jones who achieved it when he was 23 years and eight months old. So, with Shahbazyan only turning 23 in July, he knows he still has time to break the record.

“It puts a little bit of time back on that,” Shahbazyan told MMA Junkie. “We have until next July to accomplish that goal, because 23 years and 8 months – and I’ll be 23 in November, and we have another eight months on top of that. But everything happens for a reason, so we’ll see what happens. But I’m hoping to fight soon when this whole thing is over with.”

Shahbazyan was expected to fight Derek Brunson on the UFC 248 card. Yet, Brunson pulled out due to an illness and they were quickly re-booked for UFC Portland. But, according to the undefeated contender, he wanted to stay on the 248 card and the promotion offered him a different opponent but that scrap never came to fruition.

“They offered another person and we said yeah to him, but I guess the other guy didn’t accept because it was too short of a notice,” Shahbazyan said. “And then they rescheduled it to the Portland date and we agreed on that, too, and then this whole corona(virus) thing happened.”

When Shahbazyan’s next fight will happen is uncertain at this time. But, a win over Brunson could get him a top-five opponent next. So, he knows the matchmaking has been in his favor and he’s closing in on his desire title shot.

“I think we’re progressing the right way and we’re taking the right approach as to who we’re fighting and when we’re fighting them,” Shahbazyan said. “I don’t want to rush anything. But I do want to set some high goals. I have set some high goals and I do want to accomplish them. But, no rush – (we’re) taking our time and we’re going to climb our way to the top.

“I think a win over (Brunson) definitely puts me in a position, maybe like close to top five. I think it’ll bump me up a couple of spots. So close to top five it’ll put me. But yeah, in my eyes, I’m No. 1 – so that’s how I’m looking at it.”

Do you think Edmen Shahbazyan will break Jon Jones’ record?

Joe Rogan Says He Won’t Be Commentating UFC 249

If UFC 249 happens on April 18 in a location to be announced, Joe Rogan will not be commentating it as he usually does for pay-per-views. Rogan has been a staple on pay-per-views on North American soil, yet he says the plan may only be to have one comm…

If UFC 249 happens on April 18 in a location to be announced, Joe Rogan will not be commentating it as he usually does for pay-per-views. Rogan has been a staple on pay-per-views on North American soil, yet he says the plan may only be to have one commentator which will not be him. “The […]

The post Joe Rogan Says He Won’t Be Commentating UFC 249 appeared first on MMA News.

Joe Rogan Reveals He Won’t Be Commentating At UFC 249

Joe RoganJoe Rogan has said he won’t be commentating at UFC 249 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The card which is scheduled for April 18 is still without a venue. It was originally due to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, however, COVID-19 triggered a state ban on mass gatherings which […]

Joe Rogan

Joe
Rogan has said he won’t be commentating at UFC 249 due to the ongoing
coronavirus pandemic.

The card which is scheduled for April 18 is still without a venue. It was originally due to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, however, COVID-19 triggered a state ban on mass gatherings which means the promotion needs a new host location.

Veteran voice of the octagon Rogan is usually the man tasked with calling the biggest fights UFC has to offer. However, given the current climate, he will be taking a backseat for this one. Speaking on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, he said.

“The UFC is talking about putting on a
fight on April 18th. I don’t know how they’re gonna do that. I don’t
know if they’re gonna be able to do that in the United States. They’re talking
about doing it in a place with less than 10 people, just an open arena – I
guess someone’s gonna commentate it [but] it’s not gonna be me – and they’re
gonna be duking it out in an empty place. And they’re gonna try to do that on
the 18th.”

“They did it for the last card in Brazil
because it was ordered by the government. The government ordered all large
gatherings to break up when they started seeing the corona rising in Brazil so
they had to do the Brazil card indoors, no people, weird. But they’re gonna
plan Khabib and Tony this way. They’re gonna plan it, so it doesn’t even have
to be a big place. They could do it in, like, a film studio. Legitimately, they
could set this up in a film studio somewhere.

“They could definitely [hold the event]. The UFC has the capability of doing
that. The thing is, how are they going to make sure nobody has it?” Rogan
asked. “You’re going to have to test everybody. And if someone has it, do you
let them fight? What if they have it and they’re like Idris Elba and they have
no symptoms but they’ve got the corona? What if Khabib has the corona? Or what
if Tony has the corona, does Khabib even fight him?”

“This fight is so cursed!” Rogan concluded. “This is how Dana feels. This is why Dana’s trying so hard to make it happen even if there’s only 10 people in the room.” (Transcribed by MMAFighting)

Who should fill in for Joe Rogan at UFC 249?