Renan Barao reached the pinnacle of his sport when he became UFC bantamweight champion.
But Barao can no longer compete in that division and now sees himself becoming a challenger in the UFC’s featherweight ranks. The Brazilian meets Phillipe Nover this Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 95.
Barao (33-4) had a rough featherweight debut earlier this year, losing a decision to Jeremy Stephens. He is now just 1-3 over his last four, including a pair of knockout losses to T.J. Dillashaw.
“I am confident in this new division, I can see myself in the Top-5 of the division and I don’t think about going back to bantamweight,” he said. “What is most important today is my health and well-being.”
As for his opponent, Barao admits that he “did not know Phillipe Nover,” but has since studied his previous fights and believes he knows where the bout will go.
“I expect the best possible from this fight,” Barao said. “I think this fight will have a lot of grappling, but I am very relaxed as to that.”
Renan Barao reached the pinnacle of his sport when he became UFC bantamweight champion.
But Barao can no longer compete in that division and now sees himself becoming a challenger in the UFC’s featherweight ranks. The Brazilian meets Phillipe Nover this Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 95.
Barao (33-4) had a rough featherweight debut earlier this year, losing a decision to Jeremy Stephens. He is now just 1-3 over his last four, including a pair of knockout losses to T.J. Dillashaw.
“I am confident in this new division, I can see myself in the Top-5 of the division and I don’t think about going back to bantamweight,” he said. “What is most important today is my health and well-being.”
As for his opponent, Barao admits that he “did not know Phillipe Nover,” but has since studied his previous fights and believes he knows where the bout will go.
“I expect the best possible from this fight,” Barao said. “I think this fight will have a lot of grappling, but I am very relaxed as to that.”
Two of the biggest heavyweights in MMA will collide Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 95, as Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva meets Roy “Big Country” Nelson.
For Silva, the bout is a chance to get back on track after losing two straight and four of his last five. The Brazilian has recorded just one win since a 2013 knockout of Alistair Overeem.
“Roy Nelson is a tough opponent, a guy who has proved to withstand many strikes and who has a heavy right hand,” he said. “I respect him a lot, we are friends, I even helped in his training for the fight against Overeem. He really likes to fight on his feet, but in his last fight, against Derrick Lewis, he proved to be able to take the fight to the ground. Because of that, I tried to train for everything to be prepared: wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu.”
Once a challenger for the UFC heavyweight title, Silva has suffered back-to-back first round knockout losses to Stefan Struve and Mark Hunt. He was also finished by Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski around a second round TKO win vs. Sao Palelei in 2015.
“I don’t know what can happen, but I am sure it will be a great fight,” Silva said.
Two of the biggest heavyweights in MMA will collide Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 95, as Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva meets Roy “Big Country” Nelson.
For Silva, the bout is a chance to get back on track after losing two straight and four of his last five. The Brazilian has recorded just one win since a 2013 knockout of Alistair Overeem.
“Roy Nelson is a tough opponent, a guy who has proved to withstand many strikes and who has a heavy right hand,” he said. “I respect him a lot, we are friends, I even helped in his training for the fight against Overeem. He really likes to fight on his feet, but in his last fight, against Derrick Lewis, he proved to be able to take the fight to the ground. Because of that, I tried to train for everything to be prepared: wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu.”
Once a challenger for the UFC heavyweight title, Silva has suffered back-to-back first round knockout losses to Stefan Struve and Mark Hunt. He was also finished by Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski around a second round TKO win vs. Sao Palelei in 2015.
“I don’t know what can happen, but I am sure it will be a great fight,” Silva said.
Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino successfully weighed in at the 141-pound limit for her catch weight fight against Lina Lansberg.
The Cyborg-Lansberg bout headlines Satur…
https://youtu.be/WGhmWhABfCw
Well, it was quite the struggle, but she made it.
Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino successfully weighed in at the 141-pound limit for her catch weight fight against Lina Lansberg.
The Cyborg-Lansberg bout headlines Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 95 event in Brasilia, Brazil. The show will air live via FOX Sports 1.
Below are complete results from the official UFN 95 weigh-ins:
Main Card (FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET)
Cris Cyborg (141) vs. Lina Lansberg (140)
Renan Barao (146) vs. Phillipe Nover (146)
Roy Nelson (258) vs. Antonio Silva (265)
Francisco Trinaldo (155) vs. Paul Felder (155)
Thiago Santos (186) vs. Eric Spicely (185)
Godofredo Pepey (146) vs. Mike De La Torre (146)
Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)
Gilbert Burns (156) vs. Michel Prazeres (158*) (Prazeres will be docked 20 percent of purse)
Rani Yahya (136) vs. Michinori Tanaka (135)
Jussier Formiga (126) vs. Dustin Ortiz (124)
Erick Silva (171) vs. Luan Chagas (171)
Undercard (UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET)
Alan Patrick (156) vs. Stevie Ray (156)
Vicente Luque (171) vs. Hector Urbina (170)
Glaico Franca (156) vs. Gregor Gillespie (156)
The UFC lightweight division is in focus right now, as the New York debut for the promotion beckons. UFC 205 is set for Madison Square Gardens in NYC, and as usual pulling together the biggest stars for the November 12 pay-per-view has not been a simple process. Originally widely rumoured to feature Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor
The UFC lightweight division is in focus right now, as the New York debut for the promotion beckons. UFC 205 is set for Madison Square Gardens in NYC, and as usual pulling together the biggest stars for the November 12 pay-per-view has not been a simple process. Originally widely rumoured to feature Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor for the lightweight title, the story took a few twists and turns this week. First off UFC president Dana White and Khabib Nurmagomedov chimed in.
‘The Eagle’ claimed, with a confirmation from White Himself, that he was next in line for the title shot. Sharing via Twitter that he’d signed the bout agreement for UFC 205 against Alvarez, Nurmagomedov laid waste to weeks of rumours, or at least it appeared that way. Following this stream of head-spinning announcements came another curve ball. Apparently ‘The Notorious’ was still injured from his UFC 202 bout with Nate Diaz. Was the Irish star out of the running for UFC New York?
Who’s It Gonna Be?
After the announcement of McGregor’s injury came reports to the contrary. The featherweight champion was fine and still gunning for a spot at UFC 205. All the while the UFC featherweight division was like the poor relative on the outskirts of town, waiting for an invitation to the big party. Dana White had previously stated McGregor would have to vacate the 145-pound title to fight at any other weight again. Clearly confirmation of anything in that regard is still wanting.
Now we await next Tuesday, where the official line-up of UFC 205 will be confirmed. In the meantime, Ariel Helwani confirmed that neither McGregor or Alvarez have officially been offered a fight against each other. Khabib Nurmagomedov on the other hand, he’s already signed two bout agreements, as per his recent Tweets:
August, September, October and November I was offered to fight, but he never signed agreement. #needtobestrippedof@danawhite
That’s an interesting question, one that ‘The Eagle’ has his own opinion on. As per a report on FOX Sports, Nurmagomedov feels McGregor should fight his way from the bottom:
“I promise I become the lightweight champ, I promise all the lightweight fighters, Conor is not going to fight for the belt. He’s going to have to earn it. From the bottom up.”
Ross Pearson and James Krause have a date for UFC Fight Night 99, the promotion announced on Thursday.
Pearson (19-12) is a former Ultimate Fighter winner who has lost his last two and …
Ross Pearson and James Krause have a date for UFC Fight Night 99, the promotion announced on Thursday.
Pearson (19-12) is a former Ultimate Fighter winner who has lost his last two and is just 1-3 over his last four, dropping his overall Octagon record to 11-9.
Krause (23-7) sports a 4-3 UFC mark and recently snapped out of a 1-3 skid with back-to-back wins over Daron Cruickshank and Shane Campbell.
UFC Fight Night 99 takes place November 19 from Belfast, Northern Ireland and airs live on UFC Fight Pass. Gunnar Nelson-Dong Hyun Kim is the planned main event.
Middleweights Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson have been added to the upcoming UFC Fight Night 101 card set for Australia later this year.
Whittaker (16-4) has won five in a row, includ…
Middleweights Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson have been added to the upcoming UFC Fight Night 101 card set for Australia later this year.
Whittaker (16-4) has won five in a row, including finishes of Brad Tavares and Clint Hester. He is coming off back-to-back decision wins vs. Rafael Natal and Uriah Hall.
Brunson (16-3) sports a similar five-fight win streak that includes a recent finish of Hall and stoppage victories over Roan Carneiro, Sam Alvey and Ed Herman.
UFC Fight Night 101 takes place November 27 from the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Luke Rockhold meets Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in the main event.
