Archive for the ‘News’ Category
UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington
When: May 12th, 2018
Where: Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
How: Pay-Per-View
Who:
Preliminary Card:
(UFC Fight Pass 6:30PM ET/3:30PM PT)
Ramazan Emeev vs. Alberto Mina
Jack Hermansson vs. Thales Leites
Sultan Aliev vs. Warlley Alves
(FX 8PM ET/5PM PT)
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Sean Strickland
Nick Hein vs. Davi Ramos
Junior Albini vs. Aleksei Oleinik
Cezar Ferreira vs. Karl Roberson
Main Card:
(Pay-Per-View 10PM ET/7PM PT)
Vitor Belfort vs. Lyoto Machida
Brian Kelleher vs. John Lineker
Amanda Cooper vs. Mackenzie Dern
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
Raquel Pennington vs. Amanda Nunes (UFC bantamweight champion)
UFC 223 has gone from amazing, to not bad, to nightmare. Sprinkle in some Conor McGregor nonsense and the circus is now complete.
Max Holloway (pictured) has been declared medically unfit to compete for the (vacant?) UFC lightweight title against Khabib Nurmagomedov in Saturday’s main event.
Holloway, the UFC featherweight champion, accepted the scrap on only six days’ notice after interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson was forced out of his long awaited and highly anticipated showdown with Nurmagomedov with an injury.
The UFC did not state the exact reason why Holloway was pulled, but it was due to weight cutting issues. Although Holloway was moving back up in weight to face the undefeated Russian, it was likely the Hawaiian was well above the required 155 pound limit for a lightweight title tilt when he agreed to the tango.
Holloway issued an apologetic tweet after physicians didn’t allow him to continue his weight cut:
. @TeamKhabib my brother I want to keep going but they are stopping me. Sorry to your team and the fans. You don’t deserve this. This is number one. Shout outs to you and @Showtimepettis . Give the fans what they deserve
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) April 6, 2018
It is unknown if Holloway (most likely not) or Nurmagomedov will still be paid their show money.
UFC 223 was quite promising when Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson for the lightweight crown was initially announced. The rematch between Namajunas and Jedrzejczyk as the co-featured attraction was icing on the cake. Then the card took a nosedive when Ferguson exited.
The lineup lost three fights yesterday when McGregor lost his mind and started smashing the glass of the bus transporting fighters back to the hotel with hand trucks and rails. Michael Chiesa suffered several cuts to his face from flying shards of glass, and Ray Borg reportedly had glass in his eyes. They were both removed from their respective bouts.
Artem Lobov was yanked from his bout against Alex Caceres because he helped teammate McGregor during the melee.
McGregor was arrested late Thursday night and is due in court later today.
The UFC did not mention who will now headline tomorrow’s show inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but the obvious choice is the co-main event between women’s strawweight champ Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
There are rumblings the UFC is trying to keep Nurmagomedov in the card against Anthony Pettis, who was originally slated to fight Chiesa, but Pettis is running short on time to hit the scale for this morning’s early weigh-ins. Stay tuned…
Here is UFC 223’s current lineup:
Preliminary Card:
(UFC Fight Pass 6:15PM ET/3:15PM PT)
Kyle Bochniak vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
Devin Clark vs. Mike Rodriguez
Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Bec Rawlings
(Fox Sports 1 8PM ET/5PM PT)
Evan Dunham vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Joe Lauzon
Felice Herrig vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Main Card:
(Pay-Per-View 10PM ET/7PM PT)
Paul Felder vs. Al Iaquinta
Calvin Kattar vs. Renato Moicano
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Rose Namajunas (UFC women’s strawweight champion)
Conor McGregor (pictured) has either transformed into a marketing master, or an entitled brat. Or both.
The current UFC lightweight champion surprised everyone by crashing the end of Thursday’s UFC 223 media day inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It is believed McGregor was partaking in the UFC 223 festivities in support of SBG Ireland teammate Artem Lobov, who faces Alex Caceres in Saturday’s prelims.
However, it’s clear McGregor is still scorching hot from UFC president Dana White’s announcement Wednesday that McGregor will be stripped of his lightweight title the second Khabib Nurmagomedov and Max Holloway take center stage to compete for the 155-pound crown in UFC 223’s featured attraction.
McGregor captured the lightweight throne by putting down Eddie Alvarez in November 2016, but has yet to defend his title. Much of his extended hiatus is due to August’s blockbuster boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. where McGregor reportedly walked away with $100 million for the TKO loss.
You’s’ll strip me of nothing you’s do nothing cunts.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 5, 2018
McGregor and his entourage rushed Barclays’ dock and tried to rush one of the buses that was transporting the UFC 223 fighters back to the hotel. It is believed McGregor thought Nurmagomedov was on that shuttle.
McGregor and his crew went crazy and started throwing objects at the bus, smashing the windshield with either a chair or railing.
Conor McGregor is making his presence felt here in NYC. Felice Herrig just posted this clip of him on IG going a little wild. 😱 pic.twitter.com/arvUJF1pV2
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) April 5, 2018
Conor McGregor throwing a dolly at the bus @TheNotoriousMMA @arielhelwani pic.twitter.com/nkH1zlPnIt
— Style Street (@StyleStreetCo) April 5, 2018
@TheNotoriousMMA is about that life pic.twitter.com/kLRbMVzSzk
— joshua. (@jrsvx) April 5, 2018
Michael Chiesa, who was on the bus, suffered multiple cuts to his face from shards of flying glass. The lightweight is currently in the hospital and his bout against Anthony Pettis is now in jeopardy.
Someone whose fight isn’t uncertain is Lobov. White has yanked him from UFC 223 because he says Lobov joined McGregor in the melee.
White told reporters it was “the most despicable thing in UFC history.” When asked if he still wanted to be in business with McGregor, by far the UFC’s biggest cash cow, White countered, “Would you?”
White added that there is currently a warrant out for McGregor’s arrest and his private plane won’t be allowed to leave New York.
UFC Fight Night 129: Usman vs. Maia
When: May 19th, 2018
Where: Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile
How: Fox Sports 1
Who:
Andrea Lee vs. Veronica Macedo
Chad Laprise vs. Vicente Luque
Alexa Grasso vs. Tatiana Suarez
Guido Cannetti vs. Diego Rivas
Poliana Botelho vs. Syuri Kondo
Humberto Bandenay vs. Gabriel Benitez
Zak Cummings vs. Michel Prazeres
Henry Briones vs. Frankie Saenz
Jared Cannonier vs. Dominick Reyes
Claudio Puelles vs. Felipe Silva
Ray Borg vs. Brandon Moreno
Enrique Barzola vs. Brandon Davis
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Demian Maia vs. Kamaru Usman
UFC Fight Night 128: Barboza vs. Lee
When: April 21st, 2018
Where: Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey
How: Fox Sports 1
Who:
Preliminary Card:
(UFC Fight Pass 10PM ET/7PM PT)
Tony Martin vs. Keita Nakamura
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Ricky Simon
Aspen Ladd vs. Leslie Smith
(Fox Sports 1 10PM ET/7PM PT)
Corey Anderson vs. Patrick Cummins
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Luan Chagas
Magomed Bibulatov vs. Ulka Sasaki
Alex Garcia vs. Ryan LaFlare
Main Card:
(Fox Sports 1 10PM ET/7PM PT)
Dan Hooker vs. Jim Miller
Brett Johns vs. Aljamain Sterling
David Branch vs. Thiago “Marreta” Santos
Chase Sherman vs. Justin Willis
Frankie Edgar vs. Cub Swanson
Kevin Lee vs. Edson Barboza