Cory Sandhagen is ready to move on from losing his UFC Raleigh fight against Frankie Edgar….sort of. After Brian Ortega went down to injury, Frankie Edgar stepped up to replace him and headline against Chan Sung Jung at UFC Busan on December 21. With E…
Cory Sandhagen is ready to move on from losing his UFC Raleigh fight against Frankie Edgar….sort of. After Brian Ortega went down to injury, Frankie Edgar stepped up to replace him and headline against Chan Sung Jung at UFC Busan on December 21. With Edgar’s bout against Cory Sandhagen scheduled a month later, Sandhagen sensibly […]
Cory Sandhagen is ready to move on from losing his UFC Raleigh fight against Frankie Edgar….sort of. After Brian Ortega went down to injury, Frankie Edgar stepped up to replace him and headline against Chan Sung Jung at UFC Busan on December 21. With E…
Cory Sandhagen is ready to move on from losing his UFC Raleigh fight against Frankie Edgar….sort of. After Brian Ortega went down to injury, Frankie Edgar stepped up to replace him and headline against Chan Sung Jung at UFC Busan on December 21. With Edgar’s bout against Cory Sandhagen scheduled a month later, Sandhagen sensibly […]
Cory Sandhagen takes issue with Frankie Edgar potentially take a short-notice fight with Chan Sung Jung. Sandhagen is scheduled to take on Edgar at UFC Raleigh on Jan. 25. This is set to be Edgar’s bantamweight debut. There may be a roadblock as …
Cory Sandhagen takes issue with Frankie Edgar potentially take a short-notice fight with Chan Sung Jung. Sandhagen is scheduled to take on Edgar at UFC Raleigh on Jan. 25. This is set to be Edgar’s bantamweight debut. There may be a roadblock as Ariel Helwani has reported the UFC is targeting Edgar to replace Brian […]
Curtis Blaydes’s eyes are still directed towards gold heading into his main event slot against Junior dos Santos at UFC Fight Night 167, and he has his expectations on who will be champion when he earns his title shot. Reigning heavyweight champion Sti…
Curtis Blaydes’s eyes are still directed towards gold heading into his main event slot against Junior dos Santos at UFC Fight Night 167, and he has his expectations on who will be champion when he earns his title shot. Reigning heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic recaptured the world title in August at UFC 241 when he […]
Michael Chiesa will step into the Octagon against a former UFC champion in his next outing. Chiesa meets ex-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Raleigh on January 25. It’s quite the step up in competition for Chiesa, who comes off a big win over Carlos Condit, now on a two-fight win streak. The winner […]
Michael Chiesa will step into the Octagon against a former UFC champion in his next outing.
Chiesa meets ex-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Raleigh on January 25. It’s quite the step up in competition for Chiesa, who comes off a big win over Carlos Condit, now on a two-fight win streak. The winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 19” spoke to MMA Junkie to discuss the matchup.
“Maverick” looks forward to taking on dos Anjos, who was defeated by Leon Edwards in his last bout via unanimous decision. Dos Anjos is the No. 5-ranked welterweight in the world, and Chiesa feels like everything is clicking for him heading into the fight.
“This is one of those things, like I beat ‘RDA,’ and there is no backwards steps from there, it’s a guy ranked higher and that’s it,” Chiesa said. “There are no backwards steps. Once you get in the rankings, you just have to keep stepping forward until you lose to the guy ahead of you, and then you can start considering guys below you.
“This is a great opportunity to make a big leap in my career, a big leap in my skills, so this is what it’s all about for me. I can’t emphasize it enough. I’m finally in this position that I wanted to be in for so long. I get to fight ‘RDA.’ He’s truly top five, so there are these big ramifications, and this is the situation I’ve always wanted to be in. This is what it’s all about, and it couldn’t have happened to me at a better time.
“(I’m) 31 years old, about to be 32 – I’m in my prime. Everything is clicking, my camp is good, my home life is good, my social life is great – everything is perfect right now, so there is no better time for a fight like this than right now.”
While Chiesa is aware of just how dangerous a fighter “RDA” is with his skillset, he doesn’t necessarily consider the matchup a dangerous fight.
“The most dangerous guy, yes, but not the most dangerous fight,” Chiesa said. “A dangerous fight is like you lost your last two fights and now you’re fighting Carlos Condit. That, to me, is a dangerous fight because it’s like the do-or-die, the pressure, winning and keeping your job – or losing and maybe get cut. That’s a dangerous fight.
“Is this one of the most dangerous guys? Yes, 100 percent. But like I said, the pressure is off, and when it’s off, that’s when I fight my complete best. This is two wins in a row, fighting a top guy. Not a lot of people are probably counting on me to win. So, like, dude: Let’s just have fun, let’s train as hard as we possibly can, implement a game plan, go out there and fight this guy bell to bell. I believe I’m going to beat him.”
Do you agree with Chiesa’s comments about his matchup with dos Anjos?
A featherweight contest between Josh Emmett and Arnold Allen is on the agenda next. The news was officially confirmed by the promotion on Wednesday as it will take place in the UFC’s debut show in Raleigh on January 25. Six fight win streak! 🏴 England’s @Arnoldbfa takes his record to #UFCRaleigh to face @JoshEmmettUFC pic.twitter.com/umZjs2Ub2Q […]
Emmett is on a two-fight winning streak. He bounced back from his knockout loss to Jeremy Stephens last year with a come-from-behind knockout of Michael Johnson earlier this year.
The American followed it up with a dominant first-round TKO victory over Mirsad Bektic in the summer.
Allen, meanwhile, remains undefeated in the UFC. His last outing was a unanimous decision victory over former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez at UFC 239. As a result, the Briton went 6-0 with the promotion. He will face arguably his toughest opponent yet in Emmett next.
UFC Raleigh looks to be a stacked Fight Night event headlined by a heavyweight bout between Junior dos Santos and Curtis Blaydes.
In the co-main event, Frankie Edgar makes his bantamweight debut when he meets young prospect Cory Sandhagen. Meanwhile, a huge welterweight class is also in the works between Rafael dos Anjos and Michael Chiesa.
What do you think of Emmett vs. Allen? Who wins? And what do you think of the stacked UFC Raleigh card?