UFC Liverpool card still undergoing changes with about a week to spare
(https:)The UFC’s debut in Liverpool, England, is just around the corner – but the lineup still is undergoing changes.
South African lightweight Don Madge (7-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) a month ago said he was fighting David Teymur (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 130 for his promotional debut. But that fight now has been removed from the lineup at UFC.com, and Teymur recently said on Twitter that he’s going to instead be fighting Nik Lentz (28-8-2 MMA, 12-5-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 131.
In addition, welterweight Brad Scott (11-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) recently told MMAFighting.com that his fight against Salim Touahri (10-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was no longer going to happen. Scott told the site if he wasn’t rebooked quickly, he was inclined to not take a fight on the show at all.
Veteran journalist Ariel Helwani moves to ESPN, will host new show with Chael Sonnen
(https:)Veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani is moving to ESPN, the cable network today announced.
Helwani will make the move from MMAFighting.com, where he has spent the bulk of his career. The Montreal-born New York resident is a six-time winner of the “MMA Journalist of the Year” award from the fan-voted World MMA Awards. His resume also includes work for FOX Sports’ UFC coverage, as well as SiriusXM Radio.
Helwani will move to the network next month and his roles, according to a news release, will include co-hosting a new weekly program on ESPN+: “Ariel & The Bad Guy” with current Bellator fighter Chael Sonnen. In addition, Helwani’s popular current MMM Fighting show “The MMA Hour” will continue at ESPN, but as “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” the network stated. In addition, he’ll be an MMA reporter for ESPN across on-air and digital media platforms.
UFC Fight Night Moscow officially announced for Sept. 15
(https:)After a whirlwind of reports and speculation since early 2018, the UFC has finally made its first trip to Russia official.
The promotion announced its maiden voyage to the country via its social media channels on Wednesday morning. RT.com first reported that the UFC were targeting a Russian event way back in January.
UFC Fight Night Moscow will take place at Olimpiyskiy Arena. Tickets for the event will go on sale on Friday, June 1st.
Planning fall return, Tony Ferguson believes he’s ‘still the true 155-pound champion’
(https:)Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov were supposed to fight at UFC 223 for the right to be called the undisputed UFC lightweight champion. Unfortunately, Ferguson injured his knee shortly before the event and had to have surgery so Nurmagomedov ended up fighting Al Iaquinta for the title instead, cruising to an easy victory. Nurmagomedov has indicated he would like to defend his title sometime in November or December, and when he does, Ferguson says he will be ready and waiting.
Mackenzie Dern weighed 139.5 pounds five days before UFC 224, ‘wasn’t able to stand up’ during cut
(https:)Mackenzie Dern was confident that she could hit the strawweight limit until the night before the official weigh-ins, despite arriving in Brazil for the UFC 224 fight week at 139.5 pounds.
On Friday, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu star was the talk of the MMA world when she came in seven pounds over the strawweight maximum for her showdown with Amanda Cooper.
“I started to get nervous on Thursday night,” Dern told Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.
Peter Sobotta announces change to the middleweight division, does not fight at UFC Hamburg
(https:)UFC fans in Germany will miss Peter Sobotta at the UFC Fight Night in Hamburg on 22 July. As the 31-year-old announced in a statement on Facebook, he refused a fight offer the UFC - for joyous reasons.
"This refusal was not easy for me," says Sobotta. "After all, I've participated in all five UFC events on German soil so far. For the first time in my life I have to say that I have something more important than the next fight. I'm going to be a father! My wife and I are expecting our first child in about six weeks and I definitely do not want to miss that. "
In addition, Sobotta announced the switch from welterweight to middleweight. The step into the higher weight category is justified by the head coach of the team Planet Eater with the hard weight-cut and the related health problems that have occurred in the past.
Dustin Poirier vs. Eddie Alvarez rematch official for UFC on FOX 30 headliner in Calgary
(https:)After plenty of back-and-forth on social media over one guy said yes, but the other said not yet, a rematch between Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez now is official.
Not only is it official, but it Alvarez (29-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and lightweight rival Poirier (23-5 MMA, 15-4 UFC) will headline UFC on FOX 30 in July. UFC officials made the formal announcement of the main event today.
UFC on FOX 30 takes place July 28 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The main card airs on FOX following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
UFC announces Contender Series debut date for Nick Newell, opponent change for Greg Hardy
(https:)Two of the Contender Series’ most intriguing names are one step closer to seeing their potential UFC dreams come true.
On Saturday’s UFC 224 broadcast, several dates were announced for Season 2 of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, which is set to kick off on June 12.
Along with women’s flyweight Antonina Shevchenko, the sister of top 125-pound contender Valentina Shevchenko, former NFL player Greg Hardy and congenital amputee Nick Newell are generating plenty of buzz ahead of their Zuffa debuts.
Hardy has won all three of his amateur bouts by first-round knockout. The 29-year-old embarked on an MMA career after his NFL run — which included stints with the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys — ended in a shroud of controversy with a domestic violence case and a cocaine possession charge contributing to his exile from the league.
Originally scheduled to fight Brandon Sayles, Hardy will now instead face fellow ex-NFLer Austen Lane. The former Jacksonville Jaguars draft pick is considerably more experienced than Hardy, having compiled a 4-0 professional record and a 4-0 amateur record.
Newell has long campaigned for a chance to compete in the UFC and his Contender Series bout has been scheduled for July 24, with an opponent to be announced. Despite being born with the lower part of his left arm missing, the 32-year-old has won 14 of 15 pro MMA fights, with his only loss coming to current UFC lightweight standout Justin Gaethje.
Nick Newell doesn’t mind taking ‘the hard road’ to UFC: ‘I’ve been doing that my whole life’
Fighters who compete and win on the Contender Series are not guaranteed contracts, but Season 1 episodes saw UFC president Dana White typically choose one or two fighters from each episode to reward with a shot at the big show.
Season 2 will air on UFC Fight Pass from June 12-Aug. 7.
Nate Diaz wants a UFC comeback fight, but there's just one problem: 'Nobody’s interesting'
(https:)...Diaz also talked about fighting, which he’s still interested in doing, contrary to UFC President Dana White’s continued assertions that he isn’t during the last year.
“I’ve been trying to get in there and get going,” Diaz told MMAjunkie. “I’ve been wanting to get in there and get going this year. I just got this lawsuit out of the way that I’ve been going through for the last two years, so I wasn’t even able to fight. So that’s all done and over, and I’m ready to get back to fighting if I’m going to be fighting anymore. …
“I’m training until there’s something good to do here.”
Something good apparently doesn’t include former two-division champion Georges St-Pierre.
Raquel Pennington’s loss at UFC 224 shines spotlight on the onus of cornering
(https:)Back at UFC 188, 10 minutes into giving it his best shot against the younger, stronger Kelvin Gastelum, Nate Marquardt told his longtime cornerman Trevor Wittman he was done. With no trace of inner-conflict or reluctance, Wittman turned to the referee, Dan Miragliotta, and conveyed that sentiment — “it’s over,” he said. “Stop it.” And they did. The fight was stopped. Wittman didn’t linger for a moment on what it means to be a “warrior”, and felt no need to reiterate a timely fight game dogma to “dig deeper”; he was Marquardt’s guardian and protector in the heat of the moment, and he acted as such.
Sometimes accepting “enough is enough” is its own act of courage, especially in a sport where the most taboo word imaginable is “quit.”
On Saturday night, after 20 minutes of giving it her best shot against the stronger, more versatile Amanda Nunes, Raquel Pennington told her corner she’d had enough. “I’m done,” she said, “I want to be done.” In this case, her corner didn’t let her go so gentle into that good night. “No no no no,” her coach said. “Let’s power through this. Let’s believe. Change your mindset. Change your mindset. Let’s just throw everything we got. We’ll recover later. Throw everything we got.”
UFC 224 bonuses: Lyoto Machida earns 50k for front-kick KO of Vitor Belfort
(https:)Lyoto Machida got another knockout and with it came another Fight Night bonus.
The former UFC champion earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for knocking out fellow veteran Vitor Belfort at Saturday’s UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro. The 39-year-old Machida stopped Belfort with a front head kick in the second round of their middleweight bout. “The Dragon” is on a two-fight win streak and hold a professional MMA record of 24-8.
UFC 224 weigh in results: dern misses weight by 7 pounds
(https:)
Mackenzie Dern had issues making weight in her fighting career, and Friday was no exception.
At the weigh-ins for UFC 224, Dern hit the scales at 123 pounds, seven pounds over the strawweight limit of 116 pounds for her fight with Amanda Cooper on Saturday at the jeunesse arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Yair Rodriguez cut by UFC for turning down Lamas and Magomedsharipov bouts
(https:)From being considered a rising star that could carry the Mexican market for the UFC, to being unceremoniously released from the roster, all in a year? That seems to be the case for Yair Rodriguez, according a report from LA Times’ Lance Pugmire.
The number 11 ranked featherweight was said to have been punished for declining two bouts for UFC 227 against Zabit Magomedsharipov and Ricardo Lamas, and has been subsequently cut from the promotion.
Pugmire says the news comes from Dana White himself.
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