Month: June 2017

Conor McGregor shows off training for Floyd Mayweather bout

Posted on by Zane Simon in Boxing, Front Page, UFC News

Fans who were expecting Floyd Mayweather to look significantly diminished, out of shape, or somehow otherwise unready for a fight with Conor McGregor probably didn’t take much heart from recently released footage of the boxing all-time great hitting the bag in the gym. Mayweather showed off his fast hands and slick movement, as he prepares to fight McGregor on August 26th in Las Vegas Nevada.

But fear not, McGregor fans… or at least fear less. “The Notorious” Irishman has been putting his own time in, and released some footage of a recent training session on Instagram.

You’ve never seen these moves. #Ghost

A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on

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And of course, with footage of both men now out making the rounds, there’s some serious opportunities for a side by side comparison.

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Expect a lot more footage, mini-docs, features, and breakdowns for comparison over the next few months, as promotion and excitement for the event kicks into high gear. And, of course, stick to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates.

Former WSOF champ Justin Gaethje takes shots at ‘quitter’ Conor McGregor ahead of UFC debut

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Interview, UFC News

For hardcore fans, few recent lightweight UFC signings have come with as much anticipation as that of Justin Gaethje. The 28-year-old Trevor Wittman trained fighter has stormed through the early years of his MMA career. A former All-American DI wrestler, Gaethje hit the ground running in 2011 with a slam KO of Kevin Croom, and (now 17-0) hasn’t looked back since.

Gaethje won the World Series of Fighting (currently Professional Fighters League) lightweight title in 2014, with a KO of Richard Patishnock, and went on to defend the belt 5 times over the next three years. Now he’s set to face former Ultimate Fighter finalist and top ranked UFC lightweight Michael Johnson, in his debut with his new promotional home. And while Johnson is no easy opponent, it seems Gaethje already has an eye on bigger fights down the line. Or, more specifically, an eye on current lightweight champion Conor McGregor.

In a recent interview with the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Gaethje gave his thoughts on McGregor and how he sees himself matching up with the lightweight superstar (transcript via MMA Fighting).

“Skill wise, there’s nobody that’s gonna outwork me. He’ll outtalk me, that’s for damn sure but he ain’t gonna outwork me. His skillset is special, he’s got a great left hand. But we’ve seen him quit. He’s got quit in his heart and once a quitter, always a quitter.”
…
“I’m gonna get that opportunity. I’m gonna get the interim belt around my waist and then when he comes back, he has to fight me. [I’ll] make it a dogfight, make it a war, everything he doesn’t want it to be.

“Absolutely [I’m calling for a title shot after my fight]. Like I said, if I get that belt around my waist, there’s no question who he has to fight when he comes back. Well, he can fight whoever the hell he wants obviously but if I have the interim title and I’m finishing people like I know I can, he has to fight me.”

Gaethje also repeated his ‘quitter’ mantra, when talking about Michael Johnson, pointing to Johnson’s 11 losses, many by decision. “I think at first I’ll be fighting Michael Johnson the fighter and 10 minutes in I’ll be fighting Michael Johnson the track star.”

The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale takes place on July 7th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is expected to be headlined by Gaethje’s debut against Johnson, with the final round of the TUF Redemption tournament serving as the co-main event. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates.

Johny Hendricks says fever, not weight mismanagement behind latest missed weight cut

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Confidential, UFC Interview, UFC News, Videos

When Johny Hendricks stepped on the scale at UFC Oklahoma City on June 25th, even he seemed exasperated. Hendricks put his head in his hands as the numbers were read out, the former career welterweight (and former UFC champion) had missed weight again. But he wasn’t nudging the line at 170lbs like he had against Kelvin Gastelum and Neil Magny, this time he was over the middleweight limit.

Johny Hendricks hit the scales at 188 lbs for his fight with Tim Boetsch, a man 3 inches taller than him, who has spent his career bouncing between light heavyweight and middleweight. For many, that was a sign that Hendricks had reached his nadir, that he had checked out from the kind of dedication that had made him a championship talent in the first place.

But if that’s fan sentiment, it’s a stance that Hendrick vehemently denies. Instead, ‘Bigg Rigg’ tells Sub Radio that a simple fight week illness was to blame for his bad weight cut, nothing more.

“I felt like I was moving forward. That second round I really felt like I got his timing down. But you know, it really started the time before that,” Hendricks said, speaking of his fight with Boetsch and where things went wrong, “because like Wednesday something happened and I started running a fever. Thursday, Friday I’m just trying, you know what I mean? I’m like, I’m sitting there going (laughs), ‘Oh my gosh,’ cause what’s crazy is – you know, it’s funny because I love fans, but then again I think they’re the most ill-informed people. And the reason why I say that is because, you know, perfect example, if y’all are feeling sick, what are you gonna do?

“If you are sick, what do you get to do? You get to sort of take a day off, you know what I’m saying? Where it sucks that – cause my family was going through sickness for like three weeks prior to the fight. And I left and I was like, I didn’t get it. I was super excited. I was like, awesome, you know, nothing’s going on. But as soon as you start cutting weight – cause I showed up and I think I was 13 (pounds) over when I showed up. And I drank ten pounds of fluid that day, and the next minute *cuts out*. At that point you’re fighting not only the weight but also the body.

“And I got to where it just, it just sucks because 185’s not that hard to make, but whenever you’re sick, it is. You know, your body’s just not gonna give up anything. And the next thing you know, you’re trying to turn it right around in 48 hours in the fight of your life.”

As for just how sick he was? Hendricks says he was running a fever of 102 for two days.

“You know what, it was just, you’re running like 102 temperature for two days and you’re playing it that way,” Hendricks explains. “You know, you’re running a high temperature, you’re trying to do everything you can, you’re not trying to kill fluids but you’re trying to keep your fluids up a little but so that way you could fight it. And I pretty much just told the commission, I was like, ‘Guys, I have to fight this fight.’ And then it broke on late, late Friday, I think like one or two o’clock in the morning. And whenever it sort of broke we tried to hit hard to get that last little bit off, but at that point my body was just saying, ‘Hey, where just trying to survive at this point,’ you know what I mean?

“And like I said, it’s not that hard to make 185. And that’s what I think is so funny, these people, they’re like, ‘Oh, he missed weight again. Oh, he did this.’ Well you know what? You have no idea. You have no idea. Anytime you get sick you got to a hospital. What do they do? They put you in an IV and they hydrate you up. Why? Cause fluid helps you fight the sickness. So that’s really what I’ve been trying to do, is I was trying not to put on a lot of weight, but also I was trying to get – you know, because if I don’t break that sickness then what do I do? Then I don’t get to fight. Then you just wasted literally ten weeks of camp for nothing.

“And so you’re in a catch twenty two,” Hendricks continued. “Do you sit there and say, you know what – I think I was three over – and whenever I was three over, your body is not breaking it and so what do you do? Do you just sit there and say, hopefully I can? Cause guess what, they’re gonna look at ya, they’re gonna see that you’re not doing well, they’re gonna check your body temperature, all that kind of stuff. So there’s a lot of things that were playing in my head. Cause I’m sitting going, I really wanted to fight.

“That’s all I thought about, I wanted to fight. But we also thought that if we can break the sweat or break the temperature, we could get down. And it just didn’t happen that way, which sucks. It does, but you know, we got on, it is what it is. Other than that, I don’t know what else to say besides the fact that you train so hard, you do all these things and all of a sudden it comes down to literally two days of being sick that messes up a great camp.”

He also spoke about how negative fan feedback affected him, especially his feelings that fans won’t put any stock in his illness as the reason for his poor weight cut. He specifically pointed out comments from Mike Dolce and Kenny Florian, telling the UFC color commentator, “And then you got people like Kenny Florian saying, ‘Oh, he’s just there for a pay check,’ you know what I’m saying? And you’re going, Kenny, you’re an idiot, because wasn’t I forcing the pace the whole fight? Now, wouldn’t a pay check just be over in like 20 seconds in MMA? Does that make sense?”

No matter the reason for his trouble in the fight and the days leading up to it, Hendricks’ loss to Boetsch puts him at 3-6 since his first title shot against Georges St-Pierre back in 2013. Hendricks was coming off a win at middleweight over Hector Lombard at UFC Halifax, back in February. The win broke a three-fight losing skid for the former champion. No word yet on when Hendricks plans to return, but from what he told Sub Radio it seems as though he could be ready to go again soon.

Michelle Waterson lands cover for ESPN’s Body Issue

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC News, Videos, Women's MMA

While the Sports Illustrated ‘Swimsuit Issue’ may come off as little more than softcore gentleman’s special interest literature, ESPN’s ‘Body Issue’ has been widely received as a fascinating reflection of health, fitness, and the stereotypes of what a top flight athlete actually looks like. It’s also been a great platform for MMA fighters over the years.

In the eight years since its first publication, the magazine has featured Jon Jones, Miesha Tate, Cris & Evangelista Cyborg, Conor McGregor, and Ronda Rousey. Now, with the 9th edition about to hit newsstands, a new fighter is taking the opportunity to bare all.

ESPN recently announced that Michelle Waterson would be in this years issue, and gave fans a look at her cover edition in a post on ESPNW’s twitter page:

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Here’s a look at the other athletes who are taking part in the magazine:

The magazine will hit stands on July 7th. Waterson is coming off a recent loss to Rose Namajunas at UFC on FOX 24 back in April of this year. At the moment, no date or opponent for her next bout has been announced.

Michael Chandler on fan reaction to Bellator NYC title loss: ‘You guys are ruthless’

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, Front Page, MMA Interview, Videos

Michael Chandler’s Bellator NYC title defense on PPV couldn’t have gone any worse. The face of the promotion’s lightweight division didn’t just lose his belt, but he lost it in a series of strange and unfortunate circumstances. Early in the first round of the fight, Chandler rolled his ankle hard. He soldiered on for another minute on his busted foot, even landing a couple hard punches, but it was clear he was severely hobbled.

Just over two minutes into the first round, the referee called a timeout to bring in the ringside doctor and take a look at Chandler’s foot. After some conversation, Chandler, who had been seated, got up to reiterate that he wasn’t badly injured and could continue. Then he tried to sit back down…

Instead, butt met canvas as the New York Commissioner had removed the stool from underneath Chandler when he stood up. The resulting fall has made Chandler something of a viral video sensation, and may have even been the final straw that caused doctors (unaware of why he fell) to stop the fight. He described the situation in a recent interview on the MMA Hour:

“But, we’re sitting there, he had to come into the cage because he’s my guy, he’s in charge of everything Michael Chandler that whole event,” Chandler said, describing the role of the Commissioner who removed the stool from under him. “I guess he brought the stool up, because my cornermen aren’t allowed to come in. He put the stool down, I stand up. I guess for some reason he thought we were going to continue. He pulls the stool out and it’s gone viral. It’s made Chive, it’s got millions and millions and millions of views at my expense.”

“I mean, I’m laughing at it, man,” Chandler assured. “Literally, the night of the fight, I’m sitting there… People are ruthless, you guys are freaking ruthless. The human race is ruthless, okay. You just had a man go out there in front of millions of and millions of people, walking around like a baby deer that just got birthed into a field, and walking around on the stanky leg. And there’s people posting those videos of that runway model with her ankles, or posting the video of me getting dropped on my butt on the stool.”

And while Chandler may be laughing at his own misfortune, his broader takeaway was notably less lighthearted. As he said on the MMA Hour, to him, the incident reflected especially poorly on the sport.

“People love to make fun of people. It looks bad on the sport, honestly. I could care less, you can laugh at me all you want. I love myself and I have enough self esteem to say, ‘Hey, stuff happens. That’s pretty darn funny actually.’ But it’s bad for the sport, it looks really bad. It made ESPN or something, I think, or ESPN.com.”

Eventually, while Chandler had a lot of good things to say about the commissioner who made him go viral and about the New York City itself, he admitted that he’d rather not fight there again. The commission has quickly gained a reputation for weirdness, with multiple issues over multiple events both for Bellator and the UFC.

“New York is a cool city, but I don’t want to fight here ever again,” Chandler said. “It’s a little bit amateur hour, man. It’s different. They don’t know what they’re doing in MMA as much as they should. We’ve had five fight cards and every single one of them has been some crazy controversy going on.”

Otherwise, it sounds like Chandler is hoping to return to action sometime this fall, when it seems like that a rematch with newly minted lightweight champion Brent Primus will be awaiting him.

Scott Coker ‘baffled’ by UFC uniform deal: ‘It should be against the labor laws’

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, Front Page, MMA Interview, UFC News, Videos

The battle between employee and independent contractor status didn’t start with the UFC. And frankly, given the hyper-individualistic and competitive nature of the sport, that battle may still be a long way away from anything the promotion has to actually confront. But, whenever (if ever) that day does arrive, it seems a near certainty that one of the major talking points will be over the UFC’s Reebok deal.

The Zuffa-era decision to bring in a single sponsor, to take over outfitting of the 500+ (at any given time) fighters under contract, cut a serious hole in some fighters’ pockets. No longer allowed to display personal sponsors on in-cage banners or on clothing, many athletes were cut down to fractions of what they made previously in non-purse money on fight night. It also called into question the assertion that fighters were “independent contractors.” Just how independent could they be if they can’t even wear their own clothes?

That’s the question Bellator CEO Scott Coker is asking in a recent interview on the MMA Hour (transcript via MMA Mania):

“Listen, they’re independent contractors,” Coker said. “How they’re forced to wear uniforms, to this day, still baffles me. It should be against the labor laws or something. Because you have to wear this sponsor? You have to wear a certain uniform when you fight? To me, they should be contractual position to get whatever sponsor they want. If Ryan Bader went out and made a million dollars in sponsorship, good for you!”

Coker also pointed out that, unlike the UFC in their pre-Reebok era, the promotion also doesn’t charge a ‘sponsor tax.’ Which means that whatever brands fighters can attract represents money for them and them only.

For some fighters, like Ryan Bader, that’s meant a return to his pre-Reebok sponsor numbers. For others, like Rory MacDonald, they’re still working to put all the right pieces in place to get what they used to make during their UFC run. Either way, the lack of mandated uniforms is likely to remain a strong lure that Bellator can use to keep drawing away veteran talent who feel they can make more money on their own. And could represent a key legal battle for fighters somewhere down the line.

UFC Oklahoma City: Chiesa vs. Lee – Fights to Make

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Editorial, UFC Results

The UFC got some divisional sorting done in the men’s lightweight and women’s strawweight divisions last night. Kevin Lee took out top 10 ranked Michael Chiesa, while Carla Esparza and Felice Herrig both asserted their place in their division. Along with a few rising fighters taking solid steps forward, there’s plenty of need for bigger and better fights on the horizon.

Which is why I’m here, to deliver the best of the best when it comes to potential future UFC matchmaking. To do that, I’ll be following the classic Silva/Shelby model of winners vs. winners, losers vs. losers, and similarly tenured talent against one another. If you wish to pitch in with your own fantasy matchmaking, leave a comment below starting with, “I’m trying to give you advice. Right now, you’re playing the reporter role. You might want to do your job a little bit better, that’s all I’m saying.” I’ll pick one winner from the responses below.

Joining me this week is longtime BE reader kjjackson (also known as K.J. Jackson):

Hello, my friends! My name is K.J. Jackson, commonly known on BloodyElbow as… kjjackson. As you can tell from my username, I am extremely creative which is the main reason I was chosen to fight pick this week. I became a MMA fan because I went to a friend’s house to watch Silva/Sonnen 2. I was hooked instantly, but it took me a year or so to fully appreciate the technicalities of the ground game. Currently, I train MMA part time and hope to compete professionally within the next few years. I hope you all enjoy my opinions.

KEVIN LEE

K.J. – This is an unfortunate speed bump in Kevin’s ride to the top. It’s not his fault the referee made a huge mistake. He was doing his job efficiently up until the bogus stoppage. A rematch is definitely the right way to go in this situation. But if the UFC decides to keep Lee moving along, I think another rematch would make sense. Al Laquinta. We get to see who’s progressed more. I’m gonna say Kevin Lee vs Michael Chiesa or Kevin Lee vs Al Laquinta

Zane – Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t really think the UFC needs to book this rematch. The ref screwed up, but only in that it looked like he stopped the fight milliseconds before Michael Chiesa lost consciousness. Lee didn’t make any mistakes, he didn’t do anything against the rules, rerunning the fight immediately just punishes him for what otherwise looked to be a great upset win. Part of me says give Lee the Gaethje vs. Johnson winner, but since the Iaquinta fight is right there, I’ll agree with K.J. and say Lee vs. Iaquinta rematch next.

MICHAEL CHIESA

K.J. – It was a tough night for Chiesa, but I was surprised he won the few striking exchanges. Chiesa wasn’t out, but was getting thoroughly roughed up on the ground. A rematch is always the right way to go when a referee blunder occurs, but I could see the UFC keeping the Lee train moving on. In that case, coming off a loss, I think Evan Dunham is the next fight for Chiesa. I propose Michael Chiesa vs Kevin Lee or Michael Chiesa vs Evan Dunham

Zane – If it needs to be a ranked opponent, the Chiesa/Dunham is definitely a nice fight. But, provided the chips fall right, there’s another bout I’d really love to see. even though it’s winner vs. loser, and even though he might go back to featherweight instead, if the UFC could swing booking Michael Chiesa vs. Charles Oliveira out of this mess, they absolutely should give it a go. Chiesa vs. Oliveira would be a ton of fun.

TIM BOETSCH

K.J. – When someone that big can throw kicks to the body that fluidly, it really is a scary thought. Despite being in his mid 30’s, Tim Boetsch probably mauls the lower end of the middleweight division. I really enjoy watching him improve so much. His win over Hendricks was one-sided and ended with an exclamation point. I really do think he deserves to fight anyone in the top 15, and he’d be a perfect test for Uriah Hall who currently sits in the top 15 despite losing his last 3. I’m going with Tim Boetsch vs Uriah Hall

Zane – Uriah Hall vs. Tim Boetsch does have some curbside appeal, but I feel like Boetsch deserves another winner coming off a fight like this one. And, since the UFC continues to refuse my plans to match up Vitor Belfort with Nick Diaz or Rashad Evans, then maybe this just makes Boetsch the right fight at the right time. Vitor Belfort vs. Tim Boetsch is the fight to make.

JOHNY HENDRICKS

K.J. – From being able to out-wrestle GSP, and out-strike Robbie Lawler; it truly breaks my heart to see Johny get beat so thoroughly. He didn’t even make weight in a higher weight class, which is completely unprofessional. He simply got shut down against the Barbarian, and I honestly think he should hang them up for good. But if he wants to continue his journey, why not put him up against an older guy who also recently lost? I think Johny Hendricks vs Daniel Kelly would be a fun scrap.

Zane – This is a tough one. On the one hand, there is no reason really that a fight between Johny Hendricks and Dan Kelly should make sense. On the other hand, the other option that springs to mind is… Nate Marquardt. And it’s not like Marquardt is a doing better in the cage than Dan Kelly these days. Pretty much everything else at MW for Hendricks right now feels a bit pointless, so yeah go with Johny Hendricks vs. Dan Kelly.

TIM MEANS

K.J. – A solid gameplan for a solid fighter. Alex Garcia isn’t top 15 material, and Tim didn’t impress. I think it makes sense for another solid, lower ranked fighter (who also recently won) to face Tim to see if either one can hit a stride. I’m going with Tim Means vs Omari Akhmedov

Zane – It’s really too bad that Alan Jouban is injured right now, because a Jouban vs. Means fight would be fantastic. Otherwise, Means has some name value in the welterweight division and is best suited to action fights. I’d really rather see him against someone looking to rise up the division and carve out a space in the top 15. To that end I say match Means up with Leon Edwards. Edwards has already picked up some good wins and if he could beat Means that would go a long way to really establishing him as a member of the welterweight elite. Leon Edwards vs. Tim Means.

DENNIS SIVER

K.J. – I’m about to write the same thing everyone writes after a BJ Penn fight nowadays; please retire BJ. Siver got hurt, but really punished BJ in the third. Siver is a known veteran who will never be champion, but I know of another featherweight that fits that description. In fact, he won Sunday night just like Siver. I propose Dennis Siver vs Clay Guida

Zane – If Guida ever drops back down to 145, or Siver goes back up to 155, then I’m all for it. Otherwise, the UFC is unfortunately short on aging veteran featherweights coming off a win. Hacran Dias and Mizuto Hirota would both be strong choices off a loss, as would Rony Jason. Part of me says the UFC should book him against Enrique Barzola, who looks Siver’s age despite only being 28. If the UFC can’t get Caceres in on short notice against Fili, then Caceres would be a good option as something of a young veteran. Eventually I’m going to say give Barzola the big fight, it’s a great opportunity for him to get a name win. Dennis Siver vs. Enrique Barzola.

CLAY GUIDA

K.J. – It’s just incredible to see Clay still giving flashy strikers a taste of reality in 2017. Guida is still game, but a long ways from earning a high profile fight. As I stated above, Clay Guida vs Dennis Siver makes a lot of sense for these two tough veterans.

Zane – Did you know that neither Joe Lauzon nor Jim Miller have ever fought Clay Guida? Neither has Charles Oliveira, nor Nik Lentz… Basically when it comes to 155 these days, Guida has options. Lauzon is coming off a loss, but how do you have that fight available and not book it. Clay Guida vs. Joe Lauzon all day every day.

CARLA ESPARZA

K.J. – Carla won just the way everyone expected. I didn’t see any new additions to her game that makes me think she can dethrone the champ, but nonetheless, winning convincingly against talented competition earns you better fights. In that case, I’m booking Carla Esparza vs Tecia Torres

Zane – I like that Tecia Torres idea, but the ‘Tiny Tornado’ is stepping in against Juliana Lima at the TUF 25 Finale. And while Esparza has no single clear option, she does have a lot of decent matchups. Michelle Waterson is coming off a loss, but she’s probably the best fight out there. Otherwise, Esparza can campaign for a top contender bout with Claudia Gadelha or Jessica Andrade, or Karolina Kowalkiewicz. On the flip side, Cortney Casey is un-ranked, but coming off the highlight preformance of her career. Still, Waterson vs. Esparza is right there, no reason to pass on it.

MARYNA MOROZ

K.J. – It is truly sad when a talented fighter can’t stop a fighter at their game. Carla went in there and did what she planned on doing, and there wasn’t much Moroz could do. I don’t know if Paige VanZant plans on returning, but that’d be the perfect fight for them. If not, Maryna Moroz vs Joanna Calderwood seems like a logical fight between two talented fighters coming off losses.

Zane – I really like the idea of Moroz vs. VanZant, as both women have looked good in flashes during their strawweight careers, but haven’t found near the consistency expected of them fighting against the divisional elite. I also think this would be a really good time to match Moroz up with Jessica Aguilar, if Aguilar is going to be back anytime soon after her loss to Cortney Casey. Otherwise, fights with Rawlings, Penne, or Kish would all be fine. Still, I think Moroz vs. VanZant makes the most sense and should be an interesting matchup for both women.

OTHER BOUTS: Herrig vs. Markos, Kish vs. Rawlings, Reyes vs. Clark, Garcia vs. Luque, Koch vs. Green, Vettori vs. Borrachinha, Miranda vs. Spicely, Horcher vs. Hadzovic, Powell vs. McBride, Gordon vs. Hall, Quinones vs. Buschkamp, Martin vs. Makhachev, Case vs. Martins, Kimball vs. Cutelaba, Stansbury vs. Wilson

Felice Herrig says she’s ‘not pretty enough’ to get a promotional push from the UFC

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Confidential, UFC Interview, UFC News, Women's MMA

The UFC’s promotional marketing machine doesn’t really get out in force for many fighters. There are the video packages, the pre-fight interviews, post-fight scrums, and maybe a few minutes here and there on an Embedded video or other bit of “behind the scenes” footage; the kinds of things that cover everyone to some extent without really highlighting anyone. But the fighters that get pushed for talk shows, and feature article write-ups, that get connected with bigger advertising opportunities, or even just exclusive Reebok contracts, those are few and far between.

So, what gets a fighter that extra push? What takes them from run-of-the-mill success to UFC star? Felice Herrig seems to have some idea, or at least an idea as to why she’s not benefiting from it. Speaking to reporters in her UFC Oklahoma City post-fight media scrum, following her win over Justine Kish, she gave her analysis of why the UFC isn’t heavily promoting her (transcript via MMA Fighting):

“I think that I had one bad performance, and because I’m a veteran in this sport you can’t look at me as this new up-and-comer that they can be like, ‘This girl is going to be the next big thing,’” Herrig said following her victory over Kish in a media scrum. “I already solidified myself in this sport, I’ve already been in it for 15 years, I’ve fought some of the best and fought completely out of my weight class in so many fights.

“Honestly, if you want to know the truth, I just feel like I’m not young and beautiful for the UFC to want to promote me. And it’s sad because I’ve really worked hard to be here and it’s hard to see, you know, these people who haven’t been through what I’ve been through and just got to the UFC at the right time, and they’re getting all these opportunities. I’ve seen how hard I’ve worked to get here and it just doesn’t matter because I’m not pretty enough and I’m not getting any younger, so I don’t know.”

The comments are a bit of a surprise, as Herrig has always done a lot of work to promote her physique alongside her combat sports career. But, it’s hard not to see the UFC’s push for youth in their heavy marketing of Paige VanZant and Sage Northcutt.

She also commented on her lack of top 10 ranking, saying that “rankings are a gimmick, a marketing tool to solidify match-ups that the UFC wants to put out and to hype up fighters that aren’t really top 10 or anything.” And while her statement has a strong ring of truth to it, it wouldn’t be surprising to see her jump up the strawweight rankings soon, as one of the few women at 115 currently riding an extended win-streak.

The MMA Vivisection – Bellator NYC: Sonnen vs. Silva picks, odds, & analysis

Posted on by Zane Simon in Bellator, Front Page, MMA & Boxing Gambling, MMA Editorial, Videos

Bellator commands the MMA world this weekend with their NYC PPV event on Saturday, January 24th. The event is headlined by Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva in a light heavyweight bout, Silva’s first fight since 2013. With a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Mitrione in the co-main event. Add in Michael Chandler defending his lightweight title, a welterweight title fight between Douglas Lima and Lorez Larkin, and a light heavyweight title fight on the prelims between Phil Davis and Ryan Bader, and Bellator is definitely putting on the biggest show in town.

As always, if you enjoyed our show, give us a “like” over on YouTube. And while you’re there, subscribe to MMANATIONDOTCOM. That way you’ll always get the latest video content from BE, including, interviews, analysis, and features. For the audio only version of this show check it out on SoundCloud.

Here’s the Bellator NYC PPV card as it stands right now:

PPV MAIN CARD
Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva – 48:43
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione – 43:19
Michael Chandler vs. Brent Primus – 37:30
Aaron Pico vs. Zach Freeman – 33:45
Douglas Lima vs. Lorenz Larkin – 22:39

SPIKE TV PRELIMS
Phil Davis vs. Ryan Bader – 14:25
James Gallagher vs. Chinzo Machida – 12:20
Neiman Gracie vs. Dave Marfone – 11:23
Heather Hardy vs. Alice Yauger – 10:24

ONLINE PRELIMS
Ryan Couture vs. Haim Gozali – 8:30
Jerome Mickle vs. Anthony Giacchina
John Salgado vs. Hugh McKenna
Matthew Rizzo vs. Sergio da Silva
Nate Grebb vs. Bradley Desir