Tag: Yoel Romero

Luke Rockhold Prefers Robert Whittaker Over Yoel Romero As Next Opponent

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold recently got back to his winning ways, finishing veteran David Branch in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 116 main event, which took place in Pittsburgh on Sept. 16, 2017. Now focused on retaining his title, Rockhold was asked on yesterday’s (Sept. 25, 2017) edition of The […]

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Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold recently got back to his winning ways, finishing veteran David Branch in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 116 main event, which took place in Pittsburgh on Sept. 16, 2017.

Now focused on retaining his title, Rockhold was asked on yesterday’s (Sept. 25, 2017) edition of The MMA Hour if he’d be interesting in fighting fellow top contender Yoel Romero, who’s coming off of a loss to interim champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 215 this past July.

Rockhold, however, made it clear that he’d rather fight Whittaker, although he also said that he’s uninterested in fighting for ‘little change’:

“I’d be interested in Whittaker. I want the title. Everything is gauged to get to the title, to get the money. I want money fights, that’s what I am here for,” he said.

“I am turning 33, I’m not getting any younger and I want to set myself up. I’m not fighting for this little change, you know. I want the real money. Everything is structured to be there. Like I said before, I want a path, I want a direction and with both titles being held hostage, there is no point fighting anybody until they straighten things out. Or unless they pull up the title,” Rockhold said.

Whittaker, however, is currently dealing with an injury. Middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who stole the title from Rockhold in June 2016, on the other hand, is set to defend his 185-pound strap against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 217 on Nov. 4, 2017.

With that being said, Rockhold also said that a move up to light heavyweight could certainly take place for him in the future:

“Obviously I’d like to finish my business here at Middleweight, but I have been thinking about it for a long time. I’m a lot more explosive. The weight cut is definitely affecting me, and it takes time to shake off that nerve and get the feel back. I feel good at Light Heavyweight I feel great.”

Who would you like to see Rockhold fight next?

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Rumor: GSP Will Call Out Conor McGregor With UFC 217 Win

Legendary longtime former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will finally return to the cage after nearly four years off when he faces middleweight champion Michael Bisping in the main event of November 4’s UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Many have derided the fight based on St-Pierre’s lengthy absence […]

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Legendary longtime former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will finally return to the cage after nearly four years off when he faces middleweight champion Michael Bisping in the main event of November 4’s UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

Many have derided the fight based on St-Pierre’s lengthy absence and the fact that he has never fought at middleweight, but the MMA legend has insisted he only wants to come back for the biggest and best fights. If he does get by ‘The Count,’ who’s gradually become the most hated man in the 185-pound division, he’s aiming for one that would be much, much bigger than even his fight versus Bisping indeed.

At least, that’s according to St-Pierre’s TriStar Gym training partner Olivier Aubin-Mercier, who revealed to TSN (via The Irish Mirror) that GSP will call out McGregor if he wins the middleweight title at UFC 217:

“I think what will be probable is that he will call out Conor after. That’s what I would do. I think for the UFC, it’s a really smart fight to do. It’s a win-win for them. Well, win-win, kind of, for short term.”

There’ve been whispers St-Pierre had a plan to eventually face the biggest name in mixed martial arts right now, and you couldn’t blame him, as a bout versus the ultra-popular “Notorious” would be the biggest UFC bout of all-time.

Following his record-setting pay-per-view (PPV) payday with Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring last month, the lightweight champion is rumored to be coming back for a trilogy bout with longtime rival Nate Diaz, although it’s nothing but rumor at this point.

If St-Pierre can shake off the dust and beat the brash champion, who will have out of action for over a year when they finally meet, however, then he could have an arguably even bigger fish on the line if St-Pierre does call him out.

Which one do you want to see?

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Jorge Masvidal Recalls Encounter With ‘Drunken Hoe’ Michael Bisping

With rival Luke Rockhold calling middleweight champion Michael Bisping’s title reign ‘the worst in UFC history’ last night, ‘The Count’s’ scope of annoyance has now spread to the top of the UFC welterweight division as well. No. 4-ranked welterweight Jorge Masvidal, who will face former title contender Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at Nov. 4’s UFC 217, […]

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With rival Luke Rockhold calling middleweight champion Michael Bisping’s title reign ‘the worst in UFC history’ last night, ‘The Count’s’ scope of annoyance has now spread to the top of the UFC welterweight division as well.

No. 4-ranked welterweight Jorge Masvidal, who will face former title contender Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at Nov. 4’s UFC 217, where Bisping takes on returning legend Georges St-Pierre in the main event, recently told a head-scratching story to Submission Radio (via MMA Mania) that involved a drunken ‘Count’ and the UFC brass.

Needless to say, it has Bisping at the top of Masvidal’s list of ‘hoes to slap’ after Masvidal attempted to incite more of a faceoff but was met with only a dude-bro type response from ‘The Count’:

“Bitchping Michael, whatever. I just think that’s the number one hoe I gotta slap, man. You know, that dude is a child. I’ve seen him in Vegas, the first time I’ve seen him actually in all of my life, and it was after he said all types of craziness on social media and telling me something (like) ‘if he ever saw me.’

“So, I happened to be walking out of my hotel elevator and he’s getting out of a cab stumbling drunk, and this is like eight in the morning, and I see him and I just start staring at him and we were in the same line of path trajectory. He went completely the other side and just not focused on me, didn’t look at me, nothing. I look at him and I go, ‘Bisping, what’s up?’

“And I raise my hands up to see what his thought process is, what he’s thinking. And the whole UFC PR was in there and they was dying laughing because he threw up the cowabunga sign, just walked away and got in the elevator. And since then I knew he was a little hoe. I already knew before, but that like extra clarified it for me.”

Much of the criticism directed at Bisping has been based on his seeming willingness to avoid fighting the top contenders in the deeply talented middleweight division, fighters like Yoel Romero and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza whom Robert Whittaker knocked off before getting injured himself, leaving Bisping with a clear shot at his coveted monster payday with ‘GSP.’

But Masvidal’s beef is much more simple in that he was just trying to clear up an alleged social media beef with the drunken Bisping, only to be brushed off with a ‘cowabunga’ sign.

While it’s not a fight that’s likely to happen anytime soon – especially with Bisping teasing retirement after UFC 217 – ‘The Count’ still stands high on ‘Gamebred’s’ list of hoes to slap. Or something.

For now, both men have two extremely talented challenges to focus on when the UFC returns to Madison Square Garden for their awaited pay-per-view on Nov. 4.

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Rockhold: ‘No One’ Has Avoided Every Contender Like Bisping

Nearly a year-and-a-half after Michael Bisping shockingly knocked him out in the first round of their short-notice main event at June 2015’s UFC 199, former UFC middleweight champ Luke Rockhold finally returned to the octagon when he stopped former WSOF champ David Branch in the second round of their main event at last weekend’s UFC […]

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Nearly a year-and-a-half after Michael Bisping shockingly knocked him out in the first round of their short-notice main event at June 2015’s UFC 199, former UFC middleweight champ Luke Rockhold finally returned to the octagon when he stopped former WSOF champ David Branch in the second round of their main event at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 116 from Pittsburgh.

After the win, Rockhold took an opportunity to call out Bisping for waiting over an entire year to fight returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at November 4’s UFC 217 from New York City, a fight that most believe “The Count” held out for due to the massive expected payday.

With only one title defense – and over retiring No. 14 legend Dan Henderson, no less – in his reign since defeating Rockhold, many fans have blasted the brash Brit on several occasions for his seeming unwillingness to fight the top contenders at middleweight such as Yoel Romero and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The two top-ranked but aging stars were eventually knocked off by interim champ Robert Whittaker, causing an absolute mess in one of the UFC’s most talented divisions.

So Rockhold won’t pull any punches in his criticism of Bisping’s reign, offering the belief that it’s the worst in UFC history on this evening’s episode of “UFC Tonight”:

“I think it’s the worst in UFC history. No one has ever gotten that treatment, no one has avoided every top contender. He was supposed to fight Jacare, he avoided that, he was supposed to fight Yoel, he avoided that, and somehow he’s getting away from this fight with Whittaker. He found Dan Henderson, the No. 14th-ranked at the time, and now he’s going for GSP, you know? He hasn’t done anything. I fought a guy that’s four spots higher than the guy he fought, his title defense.”

Photo Credit: Jake Roth for USA TODAY Sports

As for how he would respond to Bisping’s supposed running, Rockhold said all he could do was put himself in a position to earn a title shot, and at that point, it will be up to Bisping if he’s going to accept the awaited trilogy match after Rockhold won their first bout in November 2014:

“I’m going to put myself in position. He’s going to have a choice. Either he stands and fights like a man, or he runs. And we all know what he’s doing. He’s ran from the start and it looks like he’s going to run to the finish.”

The former champion wouldn’t take it easy on St-Pierre, either, offering the assessment that his title fight with Bisping was ridiculous in that ‘GSP’ has been retired for four years and has also never fought at middleweight:

“Look in the history of the UFC – have we ever had a champion that hasn’t defended his belt in a year-and-a-half and not fought one contender? GSP is irrelevant at 185; he retired for four years, never fought a man at ’85. Take the title away and make a fight that is real, make it a stage, there’s just no point. What they’re doing right now is lost.”

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Luke Rockhold vs. David Branch Full Fight Video Highlights

After a year and three months off following a knockout loss to Michael Bisping, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was looking to make a big statement return when he met David Branch in the main event of (Sat., September 16, 2017) UFC Fight Night 116 from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Penn. But for […]

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After a year and three months off following a knockout loss to Michael Bisping, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was looking to make a big statement return when he met David Branch in the main event of (Sat., September 16, 2017) UFC Fight Night 116 from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Penn.

But for the majority of the first round, it appeared that Rockhold was still attempting to shake off the cobwebs, as former WSOF dual-weight champ Branch used a perfect pressuring gameplan to hit a lackadaisical Rockhold against the cage when he had his hands down. Rockhold’s chin held up this time, however, and the second round was a different story, as he ragdolled Branch to take the fight to his world.

Seemingly settling into his groove, Rockhold eventually mounted Branch, taking his back and raining down a brutal onslaught of shots that forced Branch to implement the scarcely-seen tap to strikes. Watch the highlights of Rockhold brutal -and much-needed – return finish right here:

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Mickey Gall Finally Booked For UFC Return

After beating two of the UFC’s more famous names (though not necessarily the best fighters) in 2016, undefeated welterweight prospect Mickey Gall has been out of action for the entirety of this year. That will all change at the upcoming UFC 217, however. Word broke from Newsday (via MMA Fighting) today that Gall will face […]

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After beating two of the UFC’s more famous names (though not necessarily the best fighters) in 2016, undefeated welterweight prospect Mickey Gall has been out of action for the entirety of this year.

That will all change at the upcoming UFC 217, however.

Word broke from Newsday (via MMA Fighting) today that Gall will face Randy Brown at the anticipated pay-per-view (PPV) event this November 4 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.

The bout will join a quickly forming card which features three title fights when Michael Bisping faces a returning Georges St-Pierre for the middleweight championship, Cody Garbrandt finally defends his bantamweight title against TJ Dillashaw, and strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk battles Rose Namajunas.

Gall has performed well in his short UFC tenure thus far, submitting Mike Jackson, Punk, and Northcutt via rear-naked choke in all three of his octagon bouts. He sits at a promising-but-still-unproven 4-0 in his professional mixed martial arts career after finding the opportunity to compete in the UFC on Dana White’s “Looking For A Fight” online series.

Brown was also found on the show and currently sits at 3-2 in the UFC. He was most recently handed a decision defeat by Belal Muhammad.

Not that it needed it, but UFC 217 has added yet another potentially exciting bout to possibly the most jam-packed lineup of 2017 – at a time when they need just that more than ever. Check out the full updated card right here:

Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre
Cody Garbrandt vs. T.J. Dillashaw
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Rose Namajunas
Aiemann Zahabi vs. Ricardo Ramos
Johny Hendricks vs. Paulo Borrachinha
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Curtis Blaydes
Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Ion Cutelaba
Corey Anderson vs. Patrick Cummins
Stephen Thompson vs. Jorge Masvidal

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