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Here’s Who Jose Aldo Turned Down Before Fighting Jeremy Stephens

This would have been an interesting match-up.

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Jose Aldo turned down a fight before agreeing to fight Jeremy Stephens.

Aldo returned to the Octagon at UFC on FOX 30 late last month (Sat. July 28, 2018) against “Lil Heathen.” The former Brazilian champ defeated Stephens via first-round TKO after landing a hellacious body shot.

It was Aldo’s first win since the summer of 2016. “Scarface” suffered the first loss of his UFC career in December of 2015. He was knocked out and dethroned from the top of the 145-pound mountain by Conor McGregor in 13 seconds.

Aldo bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Frankie Edgar several months later. He was subsequently dethroned yet again after suffering back-to-back TKO losses to Max Holloway. Aldo once again established himself as a top contender with his victory over Stephens.

It was his first non-title fight in UFC history and the first of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career since 2009. It turns out things could’ve played out a lot differently at UFC on FOX 30.

Aldo’s coach, Andre Pederneieras, spoke to Brazilian media to talk about his star pupil’s recent win. He revealed that they decided to turn down a fight from Yair Rodriguez before accepting a fight with Stephens (quotes via Bloody Elbow):

“They offered us Yair Rodriguez and it was a fight that didn’t interest us,” Pederneiras said. “He was coming off a loss, way below in the ranking.

“It’s not that we were afraid of Yair, but why am I fighting a guy [in that situation]? But when they offered someone better ranked, coming off a series of knockouts, close to a title shot, that’s worth it.”

Rodriguez is currently the No. 14-ranked featherweight in the UFC.

He’s slated to face Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC 228 from the American Airlines Center on September 8th from Dallas, Texas.

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UFC Rankings Update: Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier Climb On Lightweight List

Conor McGregor continues to rise up the rankings without fighting.

The post UFC Rankings Update: Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier Climb On Lightweight List appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The official UFC ranks have been updated following last weekend’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and not surprisingly, Dustin Poirier was one of the main benefactors.

However, an impressive second-round TKO over Eddie Alvarez in the UFC on FOX 30 main event couldn’t push him past former champion Conor McGregor, who somehow overtook former interim champion Tony Ferguson despite not fighting in the UFC for going on two years.

“The Diamond” rose one spot to No. 3 for his win over Alvarez, and McGregor overtook the No. 1 spot at 155 pounds, presumably because of the excitement over his expected return against current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year. “The Eagle” rose one spot on the pound-for-pound list, overtaking Stipe Miocic at the No. 8 spot.

You can check the fully updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Demetrious Johnson
3 Conor McGregor
3 Max Holloway
5 Georges St-Pierre
6 TJ Dillashaw
7 Tyron Woodley
8 Khabib Nurmagomedov +1
9 Stipe Miocic -1
10 Robert Whittaker
11 Cris Cyborg
12 Tony Ferguson
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Cody Garbrandt
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Henry Cejudo
2 Sergio Pettis
3 Joseph Benavidez
4 Ray Borg
5 Jussier Formiga
6 John Moraga
7 Wilson Reis
8 Alexandre Pantoja
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 Brandon Moreno
11 Ben Nguyen
12 Matheus Nicolau
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Ulka Sasaki

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Marlon Moraes
5 Jimmie Rivera
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Pedro Munhoz
10 Cody Stamann
11 Rob Font
12 Alejandro Perez
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Brett Johns
15 Douglas Silva de Andrade

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Jeremy Stephens
5 Cub Swanson
6 Chad Mendes
7 Josh Emmett -1
8 Mirsad Bektic
9 Chan Sung Jung
10 Renato Moicano
11 Alexander Volkanovski
12 Ricardo Lamas
13 Darren Elkins
14 Yair Rodriguez
15 Zabit Magomedsharipov

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Conor McGregor +1
2 Tony Ferguson -1
3 Dustin Poirier +1
4 Eddie Alvarez -1
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Al Iaquinta +1
10 James Vick +1
10 Nate Diaz -1
12 Michael Chiesa
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Dan Hooker
15 Francisco Trinaldo

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington (Interim Champion)
2 Darren Till
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Stephen Thompson
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Kamaru Usman
7 Demian Maia
8 Neil Magny
9 Jorge Masvidal
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Leon Edwards
12 Donald Cerrone
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Alex Oliveira
15 Dong Hyun Kim

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Derek Brunson
7 David Branch
8 Paulo Costa
9 Israel Adesanya
10 Brad Tavares
11 Antonio Carlos Junior
12 Uriah Hall
13 Thiago Santos
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Krzysztof Jotko

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Ilir Latifi
4 Jan Blachowicz
5 Jimi Manuwa
6 Corey Anderson
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Glover Teixeira
9 Anthony Smith
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Mauricio Rua
12 Dominick Reyes
13 Patrick Cummins
14 Tyson Pedro
15 Sam Alvey *NR

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Derrick Lewis
3 Curtis Blaydes
4 Francis Ngannou
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Junior Dos Santos
8 Mark Hunt
9 Marcin Tybura
10 Tai Tuivasa
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Stefan Struve
14 Shamil Abdurakhimov
15 Justin Willis

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez
10 Nina Ansaroff +3
11 Cortney Casey -1
12 Alexa Grasso -1
13 Randa Markos -1
14 Angela Hill +1
15 Joanne Calderwood -1

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Katlyn Chookagian +4
4 Roxanne Modafferi +1
5 Liz Carmouche -1
6 Alexis Davis -3
7 Lauren Murphy -1
8 Jessica Eye
9 Barb Honchak
10 Jessica-Rose Clark
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Andrea Lee
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Montana De La Rosa
15 Paige VanZant

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Lina Lansberg
12 Irene Aldana
13 Lucie Pudilova
14 Sarah Moras
15 Gina Mazany

The post UFC Rankings Update: Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier Climb On Lightweight List appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Eddie Alvarez Breaks His Silence Following TKO Loss to Dustin Poirier

Eddie Alvarez suffered a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC on FOX 30 but he’s not passing the blame onto anyone else but himself. Alvarez fell to Poirier by second round TKO after the fighters were reset in the center of the Octagon following a f…

The post Eddie Alvarez Breaks His Silence Following TKO Loss to Dustin Poirier appeared first on MMA News.

Video: Watch Jose Aldo’s Brutal Calgary TKO In Super Slow-Mo

Jose Aldo’s stoppage of Jeremy Stephens is even more brutal in slow motion.

The post Video: Watch Jose Aldo’s Brutal Calgary TKO In Super Slow-Mo appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Longtime former UFC champion Jose Aldo went into his co-main event fight against Jeremy Stephens at last weekend’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from Calgary, Alberta, with tons of questions to answer about his fighting future.

After some early adversity from the hard-hitting “Lil’ Heathen,” he answered them, proving why he is still one of the most dangerous competitors in MMA at 145 pounds. Surviving an attack of vicious uppercuts from Stephens, Aldo rocked the formerly surging veteran with a brutal two-punch combination to the body that debilitated a fighter even as tough as the hard-nosed Stephens. Aldo poured on the ground damage and the ref stepped in to call off the bout.

It was legitimately one of the most impressive stoppages via body shots in MMA history, and also gave Aldo’s previously fading career a huge shot of life at a time when he needed it most. Watch it in super slow-mo in the UFC’s Fight Night Calgary: Fight Motion video here:

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Eddie Alvarez’ Coach Admits Blame For Controversial 12-6 Elbow

Well, this is just weird.

The post Eddie Alvarez’ Coach Admits Blame For Controversial 12-6 Elbow appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Top-ranked lightweight Dustin Poirier scored perhaps the biggest win of his UFC career when he ended his rivalry with former champ Eddie Alvarez in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

However, like their oft-discussed first meeting that ended in a no contest, it wasn’t without some controversy, as Alvarez landed an illegal 12-6 elbow while he had Poirier mounted against the fence. Referee Marc Goddard, after witnessing two prior fouls from Alvarez, decided it was time to take away “The Underground King’s” position rather than issue a warning, a decision many argued changed the tide of the fight for good.

Poirier opened up with a gorgeous fight-ending sequence when they were stood up, and while he wouldn’t call Alvarez a dirty fighter, he did believe there was a line that had to be drawn at some point in regards to respecting the rules.

Today, however, we’ve received some new insight into the strange situation in terms of what happened. Alvarez’ longtime coach Mark Henry revealed on today’s episode of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” that it was indeed his fault Alvarez threw the illegal strike, as he signaled that he wanted elbows from his fighter the wrong way:

“I wanted to tell him (Alvarez) that I wanted elbows and I gave him the wrong signal. The referee always tells fighters and coaches about no 12-6 elbows. It was my fault, I’m not an idiot. I gave the wrong signal.”

It was a strange occurrence from one of MMA’s most respected coaches, and he continued to go off the beaten path when he admitted that he ‘wasn’t surprised’ Poirier knocked out his former champion. In his opinion, Poirier is so accurate and well-coached that he wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually wins the title:

“Dustin is one of the most precise strikers in the UFC. He’s a beast. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on to win a title.”

Interesting. Many were quick to jump on Henry’s back online and say he sounded more like Poirier’s coach than Alvarez’. Indeed it’s a strange scenario where a coach admits he gave a top fighter the wrong signal for a strike and it resulted in an illegal one, especially one that changed the course of a high-profile fight as clearly as this one.

Is it time for Alvarez to seek a new camp, or was it just a bad night for the otherwise decorated trainer?

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Dustin Poirier Deserves His Shot, But Conor McGregor’s Shadow Looms Large

Without fighting, Conor McGregor still controls the UFC lightweight division.

The post Dustin Poirier Deserves His Shot, But Conor McGregor’s Shadow Looms Large appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

In more sober times, Dustin Poirier would be in quite the enviable spot.

“The Diamond” won for the eighth time in his last nine contests when he finally put his rivalry with Eddie Alvarez to rest by knocking out “The Underground King” in the second round of their main event at last night’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

He’s also finished six of those eight wins, reaching a form that the American Top Team (ATT)-trained veteran has never before attained in his lengthy mixed martial arts career. Poirier has never looked more complete or dangerous, and his recent resume is without a doubt one that is fully deserving of a title shot in the talented UFC 155-pound weight class.

However, he’s not likely to get that shot, at least not next, for one huge reason.

That reason is obviously the reportedly pending return of former lightweight champ Conor McGregor, who knocked Poirier out in their bad blood-choked match-up in 2014 and recently put the legal troubles stemming from his Brooklyn bus attack prior to April’s UFC 223. MMA’s biggest star will supposedly return to a rumored megafight with current 155-pound champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, a fight that could become one of the biggest in the sport’s history.

It’s a fight that has to happen, and a fight that should happen. With the UFC struggling to bring in both acceptable pay-per-view sales and television ratings, it’s a fight the world’s leading MMA promotion absolutely needs as well. It should and hopefully will happen soon, but it serves as a reminder as to just how much McGregor, who hasn’t fought since he won the lightweight belt he never defended in November 2016, dictates the direction of 155 pounds (and sometimes featherweight). In truth, McGregor had a clear connection to every fighter in the two main fights at UFC on FOX 30 last night.

He knocked out both Poirier and Alvarez with ease, infamously did the same to Aldo in their historic meeting in 2015, and essentially owned Aldo’s opponent Jeremy Stephens without even considering fighting him. That’s how big of an impact – love him or hate him – McGregor has on the UFC and the sport of MMA as a whole. You could argue that’s not a good thing, because although he brings the biggest numbers the UFC has ever seen, he doesn’t exactly fight with any degree of consistency nowadays, and many still believe he’s ready to leave fighting after his monstrous payday to box Floyd Mayweather last summer.

Regardless, if he wants to return to the Octagon, the fight Nurmagomedov will always be his first and foremost, and it needs no explaining as to why. On merit alone, it’s clearly “The Diamond” who is more deserving; McGregor has won a single fight at lightweight and it was nearly two years ago.

What’s earned doesn’t matter in today’s entertainment era of the UFC, however, and they’ll do whatever gets McGregor back in the cage in order to cash in on him hopefully one more time. That could force Poirier to wait it out or perhaps take a fight with former interim champion Tony Ferguson when “El Cucuy” returns from the knee surgery he had earlier this year. That would mean Poirier would need 9 wins in 10 fights to get a lightweight title shot, and Ferguson has already won 10 in a row without a shot at the official belt, even if he or Nurmagomedov have repeatedly gotten hurt when his chance neared.

That’s how much McGregor controls the direction of the lightweight division, and until he comes back and finally fights “The Eagle,” his shadow will loom infinitely large over one of the UFC’s most talented landscapes.

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