Tag: UFC on FOX 30

Seven Biggest Takeaways From UFC on FOX 30

Check out the seven biggest takeaways from the UFC’s thrilling return to Calgary last night:

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It took six years, but the UFC paid back Calgary MMA fans in a big way with last night’s (July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30.

Dana White has made many off-handed promises that he hasn’t seen through to the end. So when White vowed to come back to Calgary in a big way next time in hopes of redemption for what many people consider the worst UFC event in history, the Canadian faithful didn’t exactly hold their breath. Little did they know, however, this would be one of those promises that White would see through to the end, and in his promised big way.

UFC on FOX 30 lived up to the hype and then some. Every one of 13 fights delivered in its own way. Whether liver kicks are your thing or you prefer a good old fashion slobber knocker, UFC on FOX 30 had something for everyone.

We here at LowkickMMA are pragmatists, and so we strive to make your life as an MMA fan a little easier. That’s why we compiled our list of the seven biggest takeaways from an insane UFC on FOX 30.

Our list starts here:

Sergei Belski for USA TODAY Sports

Dustin Poirier “should” be next to challenge for the lightweight title:

Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier melted Eddie Alvarez in their main event rematch and in so doing cemented himself as the #1 contender to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s title.

Poirier turned pro back in 2009 and made his octagon debut just two years later at UFC 125 in January of 2011. “The Diamond” fought and won three times in 2011, the final time being at the massive UFC on FOX 1 card. Poirier has sure come a long way.

Few fighters have demonstrated the ability to continually evolve in the ever-changing world of MMA as Poirier has. Although his fundamental game has mostly stayed intact, the American Top Team (ATT) fighter continues to add to his “Thug-Jitsu” base, making him a serious contender in the deepest division of the sport.

Poirier’s KO of Alvarez did more than end their rivalry. It’s performances like that that earn title shots, and that’s exactly what “The Diamond” is expecting for his next fight.

If he actually gets it another story altogether, but with eight wins in his last nine fights against the 155-pound elite, he most certainly deserves it.

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Marc Goddard Explains Decision To Stand Up Dustin Poirier vs. Eddie Alvarez

Marc Goddard has given his side of the story.

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There was some controversy in the main event of Saturday’s (July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 event at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that aired on big FOX that featured rising contender Dustin Poirier being able to score a second round stoppage victory over former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

Near the end of the fight, there was an incident that saw Alvarez threw an illegal elbow in the second round against Poirier which led to referee Marc Goddard order a standup as that was an illegal infraction and ultimately led to Poirier recovering, rebounding and scoring a TKO win.

Following this fight, there were some fight fans who brought attention to the decision made by the referee to stand up these fighters and the most vocal fighter to bring light to this situation was UFC welterweight Kamaru Usman, a friend of Alvarez’s, as he went on a mini-rant through the power of social media about it as he noted that he never wanted Goddard to officiate his bout.

This led to Goddard to take the rare step for a referee of defending his call in his response to the UFC star as he noted that the former UFC champ also grabbed the fence and illegally put his finger in Poirier’s ear.

Umman: “**** that referee. I will not fight if that ref is calling my fight. He cost Eddie that fight smfh #UFcCalgary”

Goddard: “Mr Usman, I understand that emotion is a factor. Mr Alvarez held the fence, clawed the ear & then threw the 12-6 elbow that is why the positional advantage was taken away. As for your request, no problem that’s easily arranged. I wish you all the best in your career. Thank you.”

Umman: “Marc you’re not wrong. Obviously I’m overacting because that’s my brother Ed. There were a few questionable strikes on both ends. You still do a fine job as a ref.”

At the end of the day, yes, that was an illegal move and did change part of the fight but, despite it being a dumb rule, it’s illegal and Alvarez knew it but decided to throw it.

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Joanna Jedrzejczyk Eyes Third Rose Namajunas Fight After Latest Win

Joanna Jedrzejczyk has vowed to be champion again.

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Joanna Jedrzejczyk got another W in the win column in her latest fight and is now seeking a title shot.

As seen on the main card of Saturday’s (July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 event at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that aired on big FOX, the former UFC women’s strawweight champion scored a decision win over Tecia Torres in a women’s strawweight bout.

Following the fight, she made it clear that she wants another crack at current champ Rose Namajunas, who holds two victories over Jedrzejczyk as their first fight went down in November at UFC 217 where Namajunas won with a first-round knockout and their second fight went down at the UFC 223 pay-per-view event in April that saw Namajunas win by decision.

“I will not do this,” Jedrzejczyk told reporters, including MMAjunkie, at the UFC on FOX 30 post-event news conference. “Never ever. She wants my honor? She must earn that. If she’s going to run, they’re going to make an interim belt. She was saying that she’s afraid Conor McGregor will show up again and make a mess like he did before Brooklyn. He’s not going to do this. Don’t be afraid, Rose. Come on. Just fight. Just face the best.”

“Rose saying that she will give me the third fight after I will say that she is the best? No way,” Jedrzejczyk said. “Maybe you beat me, and you’re the champion, and you won, but your legacy is not that big. You should bow down because I am the queen. I give her respect.”

“What I’m hearing is that she’s not really injured,” Jedrzejczyk said. “Maybe she is. I don’t know. Maybe she is injured, so I am sorry. I give her credit. She’s the champ. … If she’s injured, OK. But if she’s just playing, and she just wants holiday, let UFC know that. ‘I want a holiday, I want a break.’ Let UFC make an interim belt, and let’s fight for the belt.”

“I will chase you,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I will chase the belt. I will chase you until the next fight. … I will become a champion again.”

It will be interesting to see how this plays out as it doesn’t appear to be any other title caliber fighters in the division right now and Namajunas is not fit to fight anyone at the moment because she claims that she is dealing with an injury that will likely keep her out for the rest of the year but one would think that Jedrzejczyk needs to get a few more wins under her belt to get a title shot.

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Dustin Poirier Wants Conor McGregor Next, Willing To Fight Two Top Stars

Dustin Poirier has a lot of options now.

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Dustin Poirier is coming off the biggest win thus far in his pro-MMA career and as a result, has a lot of options in front of him.

As seen in the main event of Saturday’s (Saturday, July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 event at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that aired on big FOX, Poirier was able to score a second round stoppage victory over former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

With this win, one would think that he just got a bit closer to a lightweight title shot despite the division being backlogged at the moment with the expectation that the promotion will announce a blockbuster title fight between Conor McGregor and champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for a fight that is likely to go down as soon as October at UFC 229 and as late as December at UFC 232.

These are two completely different fights for Poirier as he will likely fight the winner of this mega fight between these two stars and that makes Poirier excited as if he fights McGregor next then not only will he get one heck of a payday but also the chance to get some revenge on McGregor.

“They’re both tough fights,” Poirier said on FS1’s post-fight show to MMA Junkie. “Very different fights. If I get a cut of pay-per-view, I want to fight Conor. Every loss hurts, and I’m sure it feels great to get them back,” Poirier said. “But like I said before, I’m not chasing grudge matches. I’m chasing gold.”

“I don’t want to wait a year, but if it makes sense for me to wait four, six months, we’ll see,” he said. “I’ve been fighting a while. This is my 39th fight, man. I feel like I’ve earned a position to contest for a world title.”

“If (UFC President) Dana (White) calls me, and we make a deal for the fight, maybe,” Poirier said during the post-fight press conference. “I don’t know. I’m the best in the world, man. I could beat all these guys.”

“I don’t plan on getting crazy out of shape or anything like that,” Poirier said. “I’m going to get back in the gym, work on some stuff. I have a bunch of buddies fighting in a couple months back in Louisiana, so I want to help them get ready. I’ll be around, but in a perfect world, which this is not, I would have a full camp and get a fair shake at a title shot.”

If you recall, McGregor and Poirier faced off as featherweights four years ago with the ending seeing McGregor get his hand raised after scoring a first round stoppage to climb the ranks, which on the flip side, was a turning point for the rising contender as he decided to move up to lightweight shortly after and has been on a tear since then.

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UFC Calgary Bonuses: Poirier & Aldo Score An Extra $50K

These guys certainly earned their paychecks.

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Last night (Sat. July 28, 2018) the UFC hit Calgary, Alberta, Canada for UFC on FOX 30, which featured the return of three former UFC champions.

In the premiere fight of the UFC Fight Pass exclusive prelims, Ross Pearson and John Makdessi put on a tremendous bout. After a great back-and-forth slugfest Makdessi took home a unanimous decision win. The fight was awarded Fight Of The Night honors and both men will be taking home an extra $50,000.

The co-main event saw Jose Aldo silence his doubters with a first round knockout of Jeremy Stephens. Aldo landed a beautiful body shot that folded “Lil Heathen” and earned him his first knockout victory in 2013. Aldo got his first stoppage victory in five years and also picked up Performance Of The Night. He’ll go home with an extra $50,000.

Finally, in the main event Dustin Poirier avenged his No Contest against Eddie Alvarez when he finished “The Underground King” in the second round via TKO. The pair put on another amazing fight, but Poirier’s performance was stellar. In addition to the biggest win of his career, “The Diamond” has also been granted a $50,000 Performance Of The Night bonus.

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Dustin Poirier vs. Eddie Alvarez Full Fight Video Highlights

Watch Dustin Poirier end his heated rivalry with Eddie Alvarez via TKO at UFC on FOX 30:

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Elite 155-pound challengers Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez met to put the bad blood of their controversial first fight to rest in the main event of tonight’s (Sat., July 28, 2018) UFC on FOX 30 from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Their rivalry stemmed from the uncertain ending of their initial meeting at last May’s UFC 211, where Poirier had Alvarez in big trouble only to see “The Underground King” come surging back with his own offense until an illegal knee forced the fight to end in a no contest.

The two went head-to-head on social media for months, with Alvarez defeating Justin Gaethje last December while Poirier beat Pettis then Gaethje and their paths finally crossed yet again. Tonight, it was “The Diamond” who emerged victorious to settle the score, but it wasn’t without more controversy and some adversity. Early in the fight, Alvarez found success on his feet, landing some solid combos towards the end of the first round:

In the second, Poirier looked for two submissions, jumping into a pair of perhaps ill-advised guillotine chokes, allowing Alvarez to escape and use his perceived wrestling advantage to both mount “The Diamond” and take his back to threaten with a neck crank of his own.

With his opponent in a highly compromising position against the cage, Alvarez inexplicably threw yet another illegal strike that changed the course of a bout with Poirier when Marc Goddard stood the fighters back up following a 12-6 elbow from Alvarez. His relinquishing of position proved to be his undoing, as Poirier unleashed a stream of huge punches, knees, and other strikes that had Alvarez in serious trouble until Goddard called it off:

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