Tag: UFC on Fuel 7

UFC on Fuel 7: Which Fighter Has the Most to Gain?

UFC on Fuel 7 will be live from London, England tomorrow morning. Featured in tomorrow’s main event will be two of the world’s best bantamweights as Renan Barao defends his interim UFC title against Michael McDonald. Many fighters have plenty…

UFC on Fuel 7 will be live from London, England tomorrow morning. 

Featured in tomorrow’s main event will be two of the world’s best bantamweights as Renan Barao defends his interim UFC title against Michael McDonald. 

Many fighters have plenty to gain with a win. Dustin Poirier and Cub Swanson could be fighting for a future featherweight title shot. 

Other fighters like Che Mills and Jorge Santiago are fighting to prove that they belong in the UFC. 

But the man with the most to gain will be Michael McDonald. 

At just age 22, McDonald has already done more than many fighters will do their whole careers. 

Currently he is on an eight-fight winning streak (15-1 overall). That includes knockout victories over former WEC champs Cole Escovedo and Miguel Torres. 

McDonald would not only become a UFC champion with a win, he would become the youngest fighter to ever capture a UFC title. 

Light heavyweight champ Jon Jones currently holds the record for youngest champion. 

He was just a few months shy of 24 when he captured the light heavyweight title back in 2011. 

What may make McDonald even more dangerous is his knockout power. He has four wins by submission, but is known more for his brutal KO’s. 

Although he is only fighting for an interim title thanks to Dominic Cruz still being on the shelf, McDonald could actually be facing a tougher task in Barao. 

Barao comes into this bout on a 30-fight unbeaten streak. The only blemishes in his career are a loss in his debut and a no contest. 

He’s a great all around fighter who has defeated some of the best in the division, including Urijah Faber. 

If McDonald can find a way to crack the Barao code, he will be the youngest fighter to gain a UFC title and just the second man to defeat Barao. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on Fuel 7 Live Blog

The UFC is currently in London, England, in preparation for Saturday’s card, which is headlined by an interim title fight between bantamweights, Renan Barao and Michael McDonald.Bleacher Report MMA will be bringing you live play-by-play for every fight…

The UFC is currently in London, England, in preparation for Saturday’s card, which is headlined by an interim title fight between bantamweights, Renan Barao and Michael McDonald.

Bleacher Report MMA will be bringing you live play-by-play for every fight on the card, beginning with the Facebook prelims. Bookmark this page and come back for up-to-the-minute action.

Due to the time difference, this event will begin at 12:15 p.m. EST, and the main card kicks off at 3 p.m. EST. 

The weigh-ins took place on Friday morning, and all fighters made weight for the event. The full results are below.

MAIN CARD

  • Champ Renan Barao (134) vs. Michael McDonald (134) – for interim bantamweight title
  • Dustin Poirier (145) vs. Cub Swanson (146)
  • Cyrille Diabate (206) vs. Jimi Manuwa (204)
  • Gunnar Nelson (169) vs. Jorge Santiago (170)
  • Ryan Jimmo (205) vs. James Te Huna (205)
  • Che Mills (170) vs. Matthew Riddle (170)

PRELIMINARY CARD 

  • Terry Etim (155) vs. Renee Forte (156)
  • Danny Castillo (156) vs. Paul Sass (156)
  • Josh Grispi (144) vs. Andy Ogle (145)
  • Stanislav Nedkov (185) vs. Tom Watson (185)
  • Vaughan Lee (134) vs. Motonobu Tezuka (135)
  • Ulysses Gomez (126) vs. Phil Harris (125)

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Throwback Fight of the Day: Cyrille Diabate Beats Down a Blue-Haired Michael Bisping

Although Cyrille “Snake” Diabate has yet to truly follow up on the brutal message he sent to the UFC light heavyweight division in his promotional debut victory over Luiz Cane (who was still pretty highly-touted at the time), he has still managed to find himself on a two-fight win streak heading into Saturday night’s UFC on FUEL 7 event. With a 19-8 MMA record including appearances under the PRIDE, Cage Rage, and Deep promotions to his credit, Diabate will need all the help he can get when he takes on Jimi Manuwa, one of the light heavyweight division’s fastest rising prospects who is fresh on the heels of a brilliant UFC debut of his own at UFC on FUEL 5.

While Manuwa may be an absolute terror on the feet, we shouldn’t be quick to forget that Diabate is no slouch in the striking department either. Aside from his background in Muay Thai and shoot boxing, Diabate actually holds seven professional kickboxing matches to his credit as well. Diabate’s final match took place in May of 2005 against fellow UFC staple Michael “The Count” Bisping, who, judging by the Jonathan Goulet-esque hairdo he was sporting at the time, was just beginning to dip his toes into the rave/clubbing/DJ’ing scene that would eventually lead him to compose these kind of symphonies but not even once attempt to play Salieri.

We’ve thrown a full video of the Diabate/Bisping fight above, so check it out and let us know if you think “Snake” stands a snowball’s chance in hell of victory tomorrow night.

–J. Jones

Although Cyrille “Snake” Diabate has yet to truly follow up on the brutal message he sent to the UFC light heavyweight division in his promotional debut victory over Luiz Cane (who was still pretty highly-touted at the time), he has still managed to find himself on a two-fight win streak heading into Saturday night’s UFC on FUEL 7 event. With a 19-8 MMA record including appearances under the PRIDE, Cage Rage, and Deep promotions to his credit, Diabate will need all the help he can get when he takes on Jimi Manuwa, one of the light heavyweight division’s fastest rising prospects who is fresh on the heels of a brilliant UFC debut of his own at UFC on FUEL 5.

While Manuwa may be an absolute terror on the feet, we shouldn’t be quick to forget that Diabate is no slouch in the striking department either. Aside from his background in Muay Thai and shoot boxing, Diabate actually holds seven professional kickboxing matches to his credit as well. Diabate’s final match took place in May of 2005 against fellow UFC staple Michael “The Count” Bisping, who, judging by the Jonathan Goulet-esque hairdo he was sporting at the time, was just beginning to dip his toes into the rave/clubbing/DJ’ing scene that would eventually lead him to compose these kind of symphonies but not even once attempt to play Salieri.

We’ve thrown a full video of the Diabate/Bisping fight above, so check it out and let us know if you think “Snake” stands a snowball’s chance in hell of victory tomorrow night.

–J. Jones

Watch the ‘UFC on FUEL 7: Barao vs. McDonald’ Weigh-Ins Right Here at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT [UPDATED w/RESULTS]

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

All 24 fighters on the surprisingly-awesome UFC on FUEL 7 card will be hitting the scales shortly in London. You can watch the weigh-ins live in the player above starting at 11 a.m. ET/ 8 a.m. PT; results will be updated after the jump. And be sure to come back tomorrow afternoon beginning at 3 p.m. ET for our liveblog of the FUEL TV main card, alright?


(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

All 24 fighters on the surprisingly-awesome UFC on FUEL 7 card will be hitting the scales shortly in London. You can watch the weigh-ins live in the player above starting at 11 a.m. ET/ 8 a.m. PT; results will be updated after the jump. And be sure to come back tomorrow afternoon beginning at 3 p.m. ET for our liveblog of the FUEL TV main card, alright?

MAIN CARD (FUEL TV, 3 p.m. ET)
Renan Barao (134) vs. Michael McDonald (134)
Dustin Poirier (145) vs. Cub Swanson (146)
Cyrille Diabate (205) vs. Jimi Manuwa (204)
Gunnar Nelson (169) vs. Jorge Santiago (170)
Ryan Jimmo (205) vs. James Te Huna (205)
Che Mills (170) vs. Matthew Riddle (170)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 12:15 p.m. ET)
Terry Etim (155) vs. Renee Forte (156)
Danny Castillo (156) vs. Paul Sass (156)
Josh Grispi (144) vs. Andy Ogle (145)
Stanislav Nedkov (185) vs. Tom Watson (185)
Vaughan Lee (134) vs. Motonobu Tezuka (135)
Ulysses Gomez (126) vs. Phil Harris (125)

UFC on Fuel 7: Bleacher Report MMA Main Card Staff Predictions

The UFC is back in jolly old England, where Wembley Arena plays host to the first-ever championship fight on Fuel TV. Sure, Renan “Barao” Pedago is just the interim bantamweight champ, but who are we to quibble? A title fight is a title fight.Standing …

The UFC is back in jolly old England, where Wembley Arena plays host to the first-ever championship fight on Fuel TV. Sure, Renan “Barao” Pedago is just the interim bantamweight champ, but who are we to quibble? A title fight is a title fight.

Standing across the cage from the young Brazilian star, who won his title belt against fading pioneer Urijah Faber, is 22-year-old Michael McDonald.

A teenage prodigy who started his professional career before he even graduated high school, McDonald has a powerful right hand he will use to try to put Barao to sleep.

But the champion trains daily with featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo. He’s been through the fire many times and will be hard to impress.

Although big names are scarce, the undercard is packed with young European prospects and fights that, if our experts are any judge, are too close to call. The picks are all over the map here, which usually indicates a good job of competitive matchmaking.

Click on to see our picks. Disagree? Shout at us in the comments.

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UFC on Fuel 7 Start Time: When and Where to Watch McDonald vs. Barao

This Saturday, Feb. 16, England will welcome the Octagon to Wembley Arena for the UFC’s seventh installment of its Fuel TV series. UFC on Fuel TV 7 will feature an interim bantamweight title fight between the division’s incumbent placeholder,&nbsp…

This Saturday, Feb. 16, England will welcome the Octagon to Wembley Arena for the UFC’s seventh installment of its Fuel TV series. 

UFC on Fuel TV 7 will feature an interim bantamweight title fight between the division’s incumbent placeholder, Renan Barao, and No. 1 contender Michael McDonald. 

In the night’s co-main event, featherweight contenders Dustin Poirier and Cub Swanson will jockey for position in the promotion’s increasingly crowded 145-pound weight class. 

If you want to catch these, or any of the card’s other 10 contests, don’t forget that the action will kick off a bit earlier than usual. Since it’s happening in the U.K., the event will be a matinee in the Americas.

 

Facebook Prelims

Facebook hasn’t hosted as many fights recently as it used to, but the social media network will see a boost in live UFC content this weekend. Precisely half of the event’s action will be streamed online.

Fights on the Facebook portion of the UFC on Fuel TV 7 card include:

  • Paul Sass vs. Danny Castillo
  • Terry Etim vs. Renee Forte
  • Andy Ogle vs. Josh Grispi
  • Phil Harris vs. Ulysses Gomez
  • Vaughan Lee vs. Motonobu Tezuka
  • Tom Watson vs. Stanislav Nedkov

The Facebook prelims are set for 12:15 p.m. ET.

 

Fuel TV Main Card

The action will move from the computer to the television at 3 p.m. ET, where it will land on Fuel TV. Once you’ve jumped from the office chair to the couch, you’ll see the following bouts:

  • Renan Barao vs. Michael McDonald
  • Cub Swanson vs. Dustin Poirier
  • Jimmi Manuwa vs. Cyrille Diabate
  • Gunnar Nelson vs. Jorge Santiago
  • James Te Huna vs. Ryan Jimmo
  • Che Mills vs. Matt Riddle

Now that you know when and where to catch this weekend’s UFC action, don’t forget to check in with us at Bleacher Report for coverage of the event, including live results and post-fight analysis.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com