Tag: UFC on FOX 29

Carlos Condit Posts Emotional Statement After Latest UFC Defeat

Former interim UFC champion Carlos Condit nearly had a much-needed victory in his short notice co-main event bout with Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira at last Saturday night’s UFC on FOX 29. However, as can happen in mixed martial arts (MMA), “The Natural Born Killer” saw victory slip from his grasp and turn to defeat in the […]

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Former interim UFC champion Carlos Condit nearly had a much-needed victory in his short notice co-main event bout with Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira at last Saturday night’s UFC on FOX 29.

However, as can happen in mixed martial arts (MMA), “The Natural Born Killer” saw victory slip from his grasp and turn to defeat in the second round when a vicious upkick from the Brazilian ‘Cowboy’ shifted the bout’s momentum and opened the doorway for a fight-ending guillotine choke from Oliveira.

Instead of a rebound win, Condit was left pondering his MMA future following a four-fight skid.

Once arguably the sport’s most dependable finisher, he’s not scored a stoppage since his win over similarly fading Thiago Alves in 2015 and had even contemplated retirement following his submission loss to Demian Maia after a narrowly failed title bout versus then-champ Robbie Lawler that January.

For a fighter like the “Natural Born Killer,” getting choked out was not a usual occurrence, and he recently reacted to the brutal loss in an emotionally honest assessment of the defeat and current status on his official Instagram page:

“Post choke out, where the fuck am I , WTF happened, feeling kinda warm and fuzzy , hope I didn’t just piss my shorts on live TV , thousand yard stare. I’ve posted plenty of pictures looking like a Badass. Triumphant and powerful… But here’s the flip side, crumpled and weak in defeat. Rough day at the office ?

Fuck it though, I had fun. I trained my ass off and I came to fight. This is what leaving it all out there looked like on Saturday. Much respect to my opponent and his team. Thank you for taking the fight on short notice. Congratulations and best of luck in the future.

I don’t know what’s next guys… I still love this game, and most days I still feel that fire, I absolutely love what it do, but maybe my time has passed. I don’t know the answer. this is what I know, this is my passion. I will never stop training, and If that leads me back to the the octagon, you know I’ll try to make it bloody for ya.

Right now I’m looking forward to summer shenanigans with my sons and to expanding @hundredhandscoffee .”

Post choke out, where the fuck am I , WTF happened, feeling kinda warm and fuzzy , hope I didn't just piss my shorts on live TV , thousand yard stare. I've posted plenty of pictures looking like a Badass. Triumphant and powerful… But here's the flip side, crumpled and weak in defeat. Rough day at the office ? Fuck it though, I had fun. I trained my ass off and I came to fight. This is what leaving it all out there looked like on Saturday. Much respect to my opponent and his team. Thank you for taking the fight on short notice. Congratulations and best of luck in the future. I don't know what's next guys… I still love this game, and most days I still feel that fire, I absolutely love what it do, but maybe my time has passed. I don't know the answer. this is what I know, this is my passion. I will never stop training, and If that leads me back to the the octagon, you know I'll try to make it bloody for ya. Right now I'm looking forward to summer shenanigans with my sons and to expanding @hundredhandscoffee .

A post shared by Carlos Condit (@carloscondit) on

Condit’s head and heart seem to be halfway in the fighting game and halfway out, a tough spot to be in for any pro athlete, especially one whose downfall leads to the massive amount of physical damage as that of an elite MMA fighter.

It simply cannot be denied that he’s one of the most beloved, old-school fighters for his sheer willingness to throw down in some of the best fights the UFC and WEC have ever seen, and his commitment to the fight game also should never go unnoticed.

If that’s waning now after his decorated career and mounting defeats, well, we simply couldn’t blame him for stepping down if he feels the time is right.

Do you believe one of the UFC’s best-ever welterweights should call it a day in MMA?

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Sean O’Malley Describes UFC’s Reaction To Joint-Smoking Joke On Live TV

Surging bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley has made headlines for his flashy in-cage style in his two UFC wins over Andre Soukhamthath and Terrion Ware. But ‘Sugar’ has begun branching out his overall scope of appearance by promoting himself in his own unique way, and he continued that during the live TV broadcast for last Saturday’s […]

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Surging bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley has made headlines for his flashy in-cage style in his two UFC wins over Andre Soukhamthath and Terrion Ware.

But ‘Sugar’ has begun branching out his overall scope of appearance by promoting himself in his own unique way, and he continued that during the live TV broadcast for last Saturday’s UFC on FOX 29 from Glendale, Arizona.

O’Malley channeled his inner Nate Diaz and pretended to light a joint on live television, lighting the Twitterverse on fire and furthering his already-growing (and weed-focused) persona. While you might have thought O’Malley would get into at least some trouble for pretending to smoke weed on television, apparently, that wasn’t the case.

The rising star revealed on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour that his bosses at the UFC weren’t too angry with him for his on-camera stunt:

“Where they sat us was right in the UFC section, so I figured they would [put me on camera],

“Eventually they come up to us and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to shoot you guys here in a little bit, we’ll let you know’. I was like, ‘this is perfect timing.’

“I kept smiling at [UFC official] Heidi [Dean] who had just told us that we’re going to get on camera because I knew that she wasn’t going to be happy with me, but she wasn’t too mad. She was the one who said, ‘Okay, you guys are going to be on camera in 3,2,1,’ and I kept smiling at her but she didn’t know why, but I think she did then.”

‘Sugar’ was also sitting next to a fellow rising star in touted women’s strawweight contender Mackenzie Dern, his teammate at the MMA Lab in Arizona. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom appeared surprised when O’Malley pretended to light his spliff, but O’Malley insisted he told her his plan and she had approved:

“I told her before; I warned her. Well, I told her right before and she said, ‘Okay’. Mackenzie is cool. She’s been training at The MMA Lab for three years, so I’ve known her for a while.”

O’Malley injured his foot in his win over Soukhamthath at March’s UFC 223, and had fans talking when he said he would heal up with the aid of some ‘medicine’ in his now-infamous post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

We now know what medicine he’s referring to, and based on the increased legality of medicinal marijuana and his online personality flaunting its use, O’Malley is quickly -and cunningly – gaining a large number of fans by promoting that side of his persona.

Will he become the next Nate Diaz in MMA?

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Dustin Poirier Clarifies How Many Times Eddie Alvarez Turned Down Rematch

Dustin Poirier may have won the biggest fight of his career versus Justin Gaethje last Saturday, but he’s aiming for a much higher goal. ‘The Diamond’ called out UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov after his fourth-round stoppage of a tough-as-nails Gaethje in Glendale, Arizona, and there’s little doubt that he’s certainly in that mix after […]

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Dustin Poirier may have won the biggest fight of his career versus Justin Gaethje last Saturday, but he’s aiming for a much higher goal.

‘The Diamond’ called out UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov after his fourth-round stoppage of a tough-as-nails Gaethje in Glendale, Arizona, and there’s little doubt that he’s certainly in that mix after a four-fight unbeaten streak including wins over Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, and Jim Miller.

The top of the storied UFC 155-pound arena is quite a mess at the current time, as Nurmagomedov, recently stripped champ Conor McGregor, and recently stripped interim champ Tony Ferguson are still most likely entwined in a strange three-part rivalry without a clear end in sight.

So that could leave Poirier out in the cold requiring at least another big win to truly cement a title shot, and the clear pick for that bout is rival former champion Eddie Alvarez, with whom he fought to a no-contest in an all-out brawl at UFC 211 and the only blemish during his recent run. Many believed Poirier was well on his way to finishing the former champion when he was hit with a fight-changing illegal knee on the mat that referee Herb Dean deemed inadvertent, thus ruling the bout a no-contest.

Apparently, Poirier’s all for it, but the so-called ‘Underground King’ has allegedly turned the fight down several times. Poirier appeared on today’s episode of The MMA Hour to reveal that they were even offered the fight at this month’s UFC 223 as a precaution for Khabib or Ferguson pulling out, which could have earned Alvarez a title shot:

“Me and Eddie were offered a rematch on that Brooklyn show that Tony and Khabib were on,” Poirier said. “And my management told me that pretty much they’re probably trying to book this fight because if they fall out, one of you are going to replace them. I accepted the fight. Eddie turned it down. This was months ago. We could have been on that card, Eddie’s ranked higher than me, he probably would have fought for the belt a couple weekends ago.”

‘The Diamond’ said that in total, Alvarez had turned down the rematch five times:

“It was offered a bunch of times, man,” Poirier said. “There were a bunch of cards that they offered the fight on. I accepted every time they offered it, Eddie turned it down every time. I think it was five times.”

Based on both fighters’ propensity for all-out violence, the Poirier vs. Alvarez rematch is sort of a clear booking while the jumbled title picture gets figured out in the lightweight division.

The beef behind the rivalry is real, and Poirier admitted he is still a little miffed by how Alvarez responded to the illegal knee at UFC 211. In his opinion, his reaction was disrespectful because his strike was simply against the rules. Looking to right that wrong, Poirier admitted Alvarez was the next opponent on his radar if he didn’t get his coveted title shot:

“The things that he said after our fight, just the way he acted, I tried to stand up for the man and tell the crowd stop booing him not a dirty fighter, have some respect for the man,” Poirier said. “… Just way he acted after that. Saying that I was trying to milk the knee, he tweeted me “are you finally off your stool yet’ just all kinds of stuff like that that was very disrespectful. This isn’t a bar fight. You don’t knee somebody in the head and expect the guy to just keep going like it didn’t hurt. He got me pretty good with that knee, and it could have changed the outcome of fight. This is a sport. There has to be some line drawn.

“If I do not get the title shot next, it’s going to be Eddie.”

So while the eyes may be on Nurmagomedov, McGregor, and the title, perhaps the most entertaining fight in the oft-featured, deeply talented lightweight division is Poirier vs. Alvarez II.

The weight class has a ton of momentum after UFC 223, UFC on FOX 29, and this weekend’s Edson Barboza vs. Kevin Lee-headlined UFC Fight Night 128 from Atlantic City, New Jersey, so booking this hard-hitting rematch will keep that rolling well into the summer.

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UFC on FOX 29 Salaries: Dustin Poirier Banks Big Payday

The Arizona State Athletic Commission released the UFC on FOX 29 salaries on Monday and some of the top tier talents got paid some major cash. UFC on FOX 29 took place on Saturday, April 14, 2018, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The main card aired on FOX Sports 1 at 8 […]

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The Arizona State Athletic Commission released the UFC on FOX 29 salaries on Monday and some of the top tier talents got paid some major cash.

UFC on FOX 29 took place on Saturday, April 14, 2018, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

The main card aired on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET while the preliminary card was be split broadcasted on FOX Sports 1 at 6 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Justin Gaethje ($110,000) vs. Dustin Poirier ($170,000) in a lightweight bout headlined this event while Carlos Condit ($115,000) vs. Alex Oliveira ($100,000) in a welterweight bout served as the co-main event.

Rounding out of the four bout main card was Israel Adesanya ($106,000) vs. Marvin Vettori ($20,000) in a middleweight bout and Cortney Casey ($33,000) vs. Michelle Waterson ($80,000) in a women’s strawweight bout.

The full payouts include:

Dustin Poirier: $170,000 (includes $85,000 win bonus) def. Justin Gaethje: $110,000

Alex Oliveira: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus) def. Carlos Condit $115,000

Israel Adesanya: $106,000 (includes $53,000 win bonus) def. Marvin Vettori $20,000

Michelle Waterson: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus) def. Cortney Casey $33,000

Antonio Carlos Junior: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus) def. Tim Boetsch $72,000

Muslim Salikhov: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Ricky Rainey $14,000

John Moraga: $74,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus) def. Wilson Reis $31,000

Brad Tavares: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus) def. Krzysztof Jotko $36,000

Gilbert Burns: $56,000 (includes $28,000 win bonus) def. Dan Moret $12,000

Lauren Mueller: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Shana Dobson $12,000

Yushin Okami: $70,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus) def. Dhiego Lima $15,000

Adam Wieczorek: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Arjan Bhullar $12,000

Alejandro Perez: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Matthew Lopez $33,000

Luke Sanders: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Patrick Williams $12,000

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Michael Bisping Has No Interest in Final Fight Against Brad Tavares

If Brad Tavares wants a shot at Michael Bisping, he might be waiting for a while. Following his knockout win over Krzysztof Jotko at UFC on FOX 29, Tavares called for a fight against the former middleweight champion but he probably didn’t get the…

If Brad Tavares wants a shot at Michael Bisping, he might be waiting for a while. Following his knockout win over Krzysztof Jotko at UFC on FOX 29, Tavares called for a fight against the former middleweight champion but he probably didn’t get the answer he wanted. Tavares was respectful with his request for the […]

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Dustin Poirier Shows Off Swollen, Battered Leg After Gaethje Fight

Dustin Poirier dug deep on Saturday night to put away the notoriously tough Justin Gaethje, but didn’t leave the war without some battle wounds. Gaethje punished Poirier’s leg for the first three rounds before leaving Poirier with the perfect opportunity to put his opponent away. The TKO came in the fourth round of their five-round […]

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Dustin Poirier dug deep on Saturday night to put away the notoriously tough Justin Gaethje, but didn’t leave the war without some battle wounds.

Gaethje punished Poirier’s leg for the first three rounds before leaving Poirier with the perfect opportunity to put his opponent away.

The TKO came in the fourth round of their five-round main event,  finishing many fans’ early pick for ‘Fight of the Year’ in 2018.

‘The Diamond’ took to Twitter after the bout to show fans the damage his leg took:

Poirier thanked Gaethje for bringing out the warrior in him in another social media post, something every opponent of his has been forced to do throughout his three fights in the UFC.

Poirier is now knocking on the door of a potential title shot against newly crowned lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, having rattled off a 3-0 (1) since a 2015 defeat at the hands of Michael Johnson.

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