Category: UFC Interview

‘He’s no. 1 P4P, there’s no giving him my advice’ – Gaethje on helping Usman through KO loss

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

Few fighters ever get the chance to fly as high for nearly so long as Kamaru Usman did. The former NCAA D-II national champion wrestler held the UFC welterweight title for 1,267 days, through five successful title defenses, before being unseated this last August by Leon Edwards.

It wasn’t just the loss that was so shocking, however, but the way it all went down. Through a nearly 10-year pro MMA career, Usman had only been defeated once—in 2013, by submission. He’d never been knocked out or even failed to win in a fight that he had so firmly in control heading into the later rounds.

Although the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ has largely brushed off any supposition that the loss might have been especially hard on him, given the circumstances it would hardly be surprising if he had done a little soul searching in the weeks after losing his belt. In a recent interview with Combat Culture, friend and teammate Justin Gaethje talked a bit about what advice he’s been able to offer Usman on how to bounce back from his first KO loss. Mostly, it seems, Gaethje feels that it’s all about perspective.

“I mean, he’s no. 1 pound-for-pound, there’s no giving him my advice,” Gaethje admitted when asked about Usman’s loss. “I’m there as a friend, as a teammate. And my job is to remind him that when we were kids we got caught on our backs, now we get caught on our chin. It’s the same game. When we got caught on our back at 6-years-old it was just as devastating as getting caught on our chin now, because we knew nothing then. That was our life, that was everything then.

“We’ve been devastated multiple times in our lives. You don’t get to this spot with 100% success through your whole life. He’s been pushed, he’s been broken before, he’s broken himself. So yeah, there’s nothing to tell him, other than just to remind him that we’ve been here. This is what we do, this is who we are, this is what we’ve done since day one.”

Gaethje also talked about renovating his gym, renovating his nose, and his time left in mixed martial arts.

“I have two or three hard, hard fights left,” Gaethje revealed, adding that his bouts with Chandler and Ferguson only partially counted toward that total. “Whenever I would rather live than compete anymore. But, we’re nowhere near there.”

No word yet on when the ‘Highlight’ might return to action. He himself admitted that he probably wouldn’t be up for any kind of immediate title shot from the upcoming bout between Charles Oliveira & Islam Makhachev, but hopes to fight the winner from one of the UFC’s other high profile lightweight bookings.

As for Usman, there’s no date targeted at the moment, but expectations are that he’ll get an immediate rematch against Edwards at a yet to be named UFC event, sometime in early 2023—possibly on UK soil.

It was a ‘little chauvinistic’ – Dana White talks initial aversion to women’s MMA

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

Few soundbites have haunted Dana White so regularly throughout his tenure as UFC president as a 20-second TMZ clip captured outside an LA restaurant back in 2011. In the video, White answers a question about Cain Velasquez’s return from injury, before getting asked “When are we going to see women in the UFC?” His answer, delivered with a laugh, couldn’t have been more succinct.

“Never. Ever.”

Two years later, the UFC hosted its first ever women’s MMA bout. A main event fight between newly minted champion Ronda Rousey—her title ported over from Strikeforce with the UFC’s acquisition of the rival promotion—taking on Liz Carmouche. The years since have seen the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion host hundreds of women’s MMA matches. Today the Endeavor-owned fight organization hosts four women’s divisions and more than 100 female athletes.

On a recent episode of the BASIC! When Cable Was Cool podcast, White sat down with former Viacom and Spike TV executive Doug Herzog to talk about the UFC’s rise to TV prominence. Along the way he got onto the topic of women’s MMA and the journey White went on, in going from ‘never’ to making female athlete’s a cornerstone of the UFC brand.

“So, one of the things that you have to remember at the time—there’s a very famous clip of me on TMZ, I’m getting out of a restaurant in LA, and they’re asking me, ‘When are women going to fight in the UFC?’ And I look in the camera and I say, ‘Never,’” White explained, setting the stage for his story on the UFC and women’s MMA. “At this time, I’m trying to get people to accept men fighting in a cage! Right?”

“I went to a fight up in northern California, once, where there was a horrible mismatch between women. And I was like, ‘Oh, my god.’ And listen, I’m not gonna lie, there’s a little bit of that—being a man—little chauvinistic; in that, ‘Women are pretty, women are—bwah, you don’t wanna see women get beat up, you don’t wanna see—’ In a million years, I never saw this coming; where these women would be so technical, and so tough, and so badass. I mean, the women that we have now, in the UFC? There’s a lot of things I saw coming, I didn’t see that one coming. That’s for damn sure.”

White may not have been at all prepared for the idea of women competing inside the Octagon, but—as he’s often repeated—the rise of Ronda Rousey in Strikeforce was a major game changer.

“But the thing that changed everything was, I met Ronda Rousey,” White explained. “Ronda Rousey manifested all these things that have happened. And I had a meeting with her one day, and halfway through the meeting I’m like, ‘Holy shit, I think I’m gonna do this. And I think she’s the one to do it with.’ And thank god I was right.”

Surprisingly enough, after that meeting and White’s growing interest in bringing women to the UFC, the longtime promoter revealed that he got no push-back whatsoever from FOX executives or anyone else in the UFC front office. According to him, it was fans who held all the resistance to the idea.

“No,” White answered when asked if he had trouble convincing other top brass to bring women to the UFC. “But, I think that you hear these things about—and this is coming from a man’s point of view—you know, ‘Women aren’t treated the same as men. Women aren’t this and that.’ All this other stuff. And I was always like, [chuckles] ‘You know, maybe there’s some of this and some of that.’ Until I headlined Ronda Rousey above Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida and people lost their fucking minds. I was getting these messages from people, like, ‘You piece of shit. You dah-dah-dah-dah-dah.’ I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ I never realized this existed because it’s never happened to me, you know what I mean?

“So once I headlined Ronda Rousey I was like, ‘Wow, man.’ I never realized there would be this kind of blow-back from these lunatics out there. Then, that night, we were in Anaheim; when she walked out of that tunnel in that arena, I knew I made the right decisions. Sold out, two women fighting in a main event.

“If you look at women’s boxing—before I did my first women’s fight, you looked at women’s boxing and it was more sort of a sideshow type thing,” he continued. “When Ronda Rousey walked out of that tunnel that night? The entire arena erupted. I get goosebumps even telling the fricking story. The entire arena erupted. And the fight, it was incredible. She was one her way to not only being the biggest superstar in the sport, but the highest paid. Pretty badass.”

Beyond just coming around on one star, or simply the idea that female athletes could be a profitable presence in the fight business, White admits that the whole experience gave him a new perspective on the sexism that women face in their everyday lives.

“I have learned my lesson, believe me. I have learned my lesson,” White admitted. “We live and learn, and I have learned. It’s true.”

‘The fans turned on me’ – Israel Adesanya says Yoel Romero fight was career low point

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC 281, UFC Interview, UFC News

Israel Adesanya enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame in the UFC. After making his debut with the promotion in 2018, the former world class kickboxer rattled off six straight victories, picking up an interim middleweight title in the process—before defeating Robert Whittaker to unify the the belts in 2019.

A little more than a year later, and Adesanya tried his hand at securing his second UFC belt, with a light heavyweight title fight against then-champion Jan Blachowicz. The ‘Last Stylebender’ walked out of that fight with the first loss of his pro MMA career. However, in a recent video posted to his YouTube channel, the 33-year-old admitted that losing didn’t sit half so poorly with him as a fight he had in 2020. The real low point of Adesanya’s MMA career came in his first title defense, a notably lackluster victory over Yoel Romero.

“It’s not the Jan fight, surprisingly,” Adesanya admitted in the brief interview clip, “Because people expected, like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be—’ No, I’m fine. Like I said, dare to be great.”

“Lowest point in MMA, holdup—if I’m being honest, the Romero fight. Because that was the first time people were just like, ‘Ah, boring.’ He had another fight after me and he did the same thing. The smart people were like, ‘Ah, Israel was right. He’s doing the exact same thing.’ Because he knew if he made a move against me the wrong way, I was gonna catch him.”

“Bits of it still reared its ugly head, but I squash it now because I’m an adult and I know how to handle it. But after that fight, I was like, ‘I was fighting, I was trying to—he was just standing there, why are you blaming me?’ That’s why this now, I’m just like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ And I talked to George about it, and I’m like, ‘Eh, whatever, I know what I’m gonna do.’

“But that was my first time where I kind of felt, like, ‘Bluh.’ I hate to say it, but the fans ‘turned on me’ in a way. Where I was like, ‘Wait, what? Now they’re saying I’m shit?” I’m like, ‘Did you not watch the one before this? Did you not watch the one before-before that? The one before, before that!?’

“That’s why in that Costa fight I had that chip on my shoulder, and I was just like, ‘Watch this.’”

Adesanya went on to talk about his feelings in the wake of his KO loss to Alex Pereira as well, but eventually came back around to the Romero fight again.

“Like I said, the Romero thing as well, that was the worst for me,” Adesanya added. “It wasn’t that ‘worst.’ But, it was just, like, the narrative, and it was the voices that were the loud—they were probably the minority, but they were the loudest voices. The fucking eat-ass cunts. So that’s why I went in to the Costa fight just free, like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna show you what’s up.”

Adesanya is currently scheduled to take on his aforementioned former kickboxing foe, Alex Pereira, in defense of the UFC middleweight title on November 12th, at UFC 281, in Madison Square Garden, New York, NY. Alongside that main event bout the UFC has booked a women’s strawweight title fight between recently re-crowned champion Carla Esparza and former champion/current top contender Zhang Weili.

‘Dana White has had 10,000 sleepless nights’ – Michael Chandler argues against better fighter pay

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

The discussion over UFC fighter pay isn’t about to die down and go away, at least not as long as the promotion has to contend with high-profile athletes holding out for better contracts. But that doesn’t mean that every fighter in the promotion is looking for a bigger piece of the UFC pie.

At least one top talent appears to believe that there are very good reasons that the promotion deserves the vast share of revenue generated from UFC events. To hear former Bellator champion and lightweight top contender Michael Chandler tell it on a recent episode of Jeremy Piven’s ‘How U Livin J Piven’ podcast, Dana White just works harder than fighters do.

“And that’s why I’ve always been—and I think I take some flack for it from fighters—because I don’t have a problem with the quote/un-quote ‘fighter pay’ argument,” Chandler explained. “I think people think we should make a lot more money because the UFC makes a ton of money on their shows. Well, the UFC’s been at it since 1993. Dana White has had 10,000 sleepless nights when most of us fighters are just showing up to practice and going to bed, laying our head on the pillow and getting after it—and getting paid a decent wage for what we do.

“For me, I have been able to monetize things outside of just my fights,” he continued. “And you always see guys on the microphone saying UFC should pay more—or that the media should say that the UFC should pay more—and it’s never the guys who are out there having their own YouTube channel, getting roles in movies, building fitness & wellness lifestyle programs, selling merch; doing all the different things that we can do as fighters, because we’re independent contractors. With our platform and our name and likeness—the UFC owns it, and they can use a picture and a video of me in whatever they want—but I can sell shirts, I can sell hats, I can do whatever I want. I can be in your next movie [clears throat], I don’t know? We can do whatever we want.

“I always think that there’s people on the lower rungs of society always throwing rocks at the people above them, when it takes the same amount of energy to reach up and grab the next rung to pull themselves up to get there. That’s kinda my thought process on it, and I’ve kinda been a self starter and a self motivated kind of guy.”

It’s worth noting that multiple fighters over the years have found themselves struggling to “do whatever they want” while under UFC contract. Whether it’s outfitting or fight-week sponsorship, competing in other, non-MMA sports, or—in the past—contract language that prevented fighters from engaging in dangerous activities like riding motorcylces or wake-boarding, working with the promotion may come with major bonuses, but it’s not without limitations.

Chandler is currently fresh off a second round KO victory over former interim UFC champion Tony Ferguson at UFC 274. That win broke a two-fight skid, with losses to Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira in 2021. After the win, Chandler called for a second shot at the UFC lightweight title or, barring that, a chance to face off against former double-champ and UFC superstar Conor McGregor. No word yet on when he may be back in the Octagon.

‘I should probably thank you’ – Kai Kara-France recounts meeting high school bully

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

Kai Kara-France has truly shed his ‘dark horse’ status to become a UFC title contender. The City Kickboxing flyweight first entered the Octagon back in 2018 as something of a highly experienced journeyman. A holdover from a seemingly doomed TUF season that came right as the UFC appeared to be abandoning the flyweight division altogether.

Fortunately for him, and despite a few bumps in the road along the way, the UFC reversed course on their plans to kill off his weight class—giving Kara-France the chance to put together a fantastic three fight run that should have him fighting for gold sometime in 2022.

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour, the 29-year-old recalled the start of his long journey in martial arts. Notably a the bullying he went through in high school that pushed him toward a career in fighting.

“That’s the story of my life, though, Just being the underdog,” Kara France said, reflecting on his recent run of success. “If you follow my journey, people know that I started this sport because I used to get bullied. I used to be the smallest and vulnerable, shy kid in class that—I guess I was timid and people saw that as a target. So that at one point, I didn’t go back to high school, because I was getting beaten up every day. I was about 12-13, and that’s when I walked into a gym to get more, I guess, confidence in myself and to learn, obviously, some self defense. And I just stuck at it.

“It wasn’t for anyone else. I wasn’t in the gym to get attention or to, ‘Look at this guy, he’s a fighter now!’ I did it for myself, because the personal growth I was getting from it, that’s what I fell in love with.

“And eventually I just stuck at it,” he continued. “Had my first pro fight when I was 17. I only had two amateur fights, but there was no one else to fight. So it was just, like, either sink or swim. And I won by headkick knockout. And then the next day I had my exams in high school. So I was fighting grown men, but I was just a young boy. And then, yeah, just stuck at it, bro.

“That’s the thing about this fight game, it’s not the guys that are the best in the gym or are the most aggressive or most violent. It’s the guys that stick to this, and eventually find their feet; that, after the losses, still come back to the gym, still get better. Eventually it all will work out, but you gotta just ride it out. Even if things aren’t working out—or they are—you go on to the next thing. You just evolve and get better and adapt. And if you’re faced with adversity, or you have to go through a rough patch, just ride it out and eventually it’s all gonna work out.”

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Kara-France added that he even just recently re-encountered one of his high school bullies, who’s now cheering him on from the sidelines.

“I didn’t go for a week,” Kara-France told Helwani speaking of having to leave school due to bullying. “Obviously, I had all these bruises on me and, yeah, was in a tough spot, man. I remember getting full nelson-ed in the bathroom and then just bullies body-shotting me in the bathroom.

“And this was just, like, a normal thing. Just because I was small, and they thought, you know, ‘Let’s beat this guy up, he looks vulnerable. Obviously easy target.’ And obviously they had a lot of insecurities and shit going on in their lives.

“But, crazy story, I actually bumped into one of my bullies, like, not even four or five months ago,” Kara-France recounted. “I was just at a takeaway spot close to my house. And then this guy comes up to me and he’s like, ‘Hey Kai!’ And I was like, ‘Hey bro, do I know you?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s me.’ I won’t say his name, but he’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s me, we went to high school together.’ I was like, ‘Oh shit, I didn’t recognize you at all.’ Because, obviously, it was more than 10 years ago.

“And he’s a tradie now, different life. But he was like, ‘I’ve been following your journey, bro! Big fan.’ And in my head I was just, ‘Bro, I should give you a hiding right now.’ But then I was like, ‘I should probably thank you, because you’re the reason why I started this. Here we are now. Life works out. You know, I’m one of the best fighters in the world now because of you.’”

Currently the New Zealand based fighter is awaiting the potential outcome of a fourth bout between flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. Although both fighters took a chance to call him out after his win over Askarov, asking to fight Kara-France rather than face one another again. Whether that means he’ll be fighting for gold sooner than expected remains to be seen. For the moment, Figueiredo vs. Moreno 4 has been penciled in for July, plenty of time for plans to change.

‘The worst thing is you have to do it multiple times’ – Francis Ngannou on Jackass nut-punch stunt

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC 270, UFC Interview

Francis Ngannou has a couple of big fights upcoming. One against interim champion Ciryl Gane in a bid to defend and unify the somewhat needlessly fractured heavyweight title. The other against the UFC as Ngannou looks to renegotiate his current contract with the world’s largest MMA organization.

However, he recently made headlines for a different bit of pugilistic exhibitionism, as a featured part of the upcoming Jackass 4 movie. The latest teaser trailer for what’s been advertised as the final installment of the long-running stunt-prank series put Ngannou front and center, where the man known for packing the most power in the UFC was asked to deliver a shot – full force – to the groin of one of the Jackass cast members.

Ngannou, who was made available through one of his sponsors, recently sat down with Bloody Elbow to talk about the experience. Noting that he wasn’t really familiar with Jackass before appearing in the film and, unfortunately for his stunt partner, required multiple takes to get just the right ball-busting cinematic moment.

“No, at first I didn’t know exactly what it was about,” Ngannou revealed, when asked if he was already familiar with the Jackass series. “I thought it was gonna be, like, something that would be pretend that you’re hitting, you know? Then I went there and they’re like, ‘No, no. No pretending. You’re going full force.’ I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’

“It was so weird. I was kinda nervous. Like, ‘Man, what can happen?’ And the worst thing is you have to do it multiple times. Because, first I was nervous, then I was afraid to go full force. And they’re like, ‘No, you have to. This is how we do it. You have to go full force.’ And sometimes the guy would be moving, and you would not hit it—like hit it on the side. And they’re like, ‘No, you rest and you come back.’ I’m like, ‘Bro, this guy will die.’ Yeah, that was so… [sighs].”

As for what happened to the man on the wrong end of the fist? Ngannou admits that he didn’t do any followup visits to see if emergency measures were required once his job was done.

“Honestly, I didn’t check. How he was going to go? I didn’t want to know. It was so weird for me, so strange,” Ngannou said, adding that while it couldn’t have been easy for the guy taking the shots, he wasn’t exactly reveling in the job either.

“Even being the punching guy is not easy.”

Ngannou vs. Gane takes place on January 22nd in Anaheim, CA. Outside the heavyweight title unification bout in the main event, the card is also expected to feature the flyweight title trilogy bout between champion Brandon Moreno and former belt-holder Deiveson Figueiredo.

Francis Ngannou is an ambassador for Stake.com, one of the leading and fastest-growing cryptocurrency betting and gaming operators worldwide.

‘I hate losing a lot more than I like winning’ – Ryan Hall talks post-fight shrugs, volatility of MMA

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

MMA is home to plenty of odd personalities and unconventional talents. But, few fighters are as unusual to in their approach to combat itself as longtime grappling ace and featherweight UFC talent Ryan Hall.

And it’s not just down to his Imanari rolls and leg lock prowess, MMA has seen its fair share of exciting guard grapplers. It’s also baked into a striking style that’s largely based around defensive movement, distance maintenance, and a regular output of creative kicks. Fighters that face Hall inside the Octagon often find themselves with a puzzle to solve that runs against the meta of the sport at large.

When Hall wins, it can feel like he’s done so by breaking down the ability for his opponent to have a fight with him at all. He forces foes into aggressive pursuit, only to spring on them with a thrilling submission attempt when their aggression gets too wild. And when it all works (as it often has) he follows up those moments of victory with a shrug to the camera.

In a recent interview with the MMA Hour, Hall explained his trademark post-fight celebration. One he says is a nod both to the chaotic and unpredictable nature of MMA, and to the fact that, as far as he’s concerned, winning isn’t nearly as important as not losing.

“Ah, well, that happened,” Hall elucidated (transcript via MMA Fighting). “You can win, and you can lose. Every single fight that I ever won, I could have lost.”

“I would say I’ve had times in fights where I’ve been lucky,” Hall added, after talking about what he felt were a few “lucky” turns for Ilia Topuria in the Georgian fighter’s recent victory over Hall. “You step this way instead of that way, and I’ve gotten good outcomes and I’ve gotten bad outcomes. … So I guess what I would say is I’m here to learn, I’m here for the challenge, I’m here to fight with everything that I have and face the best opposition that I can. I just need to get the experience and need to keep pushing forward.”

“But win, lose, or draw, I will push forward,” he said. “I recognize the volatility of the game; I recognize the seriousness of the game. When you win, you’re like [shrugs].

“I hate losing a lot more than I like winning.”

‘Friends before and after?’ – Brad Riddell ready to make money against Rafael Fiziev

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

Training relationships in MMA can get complicated. While unquestionably an individual sport, most fighters find themselves working under something much closer to a team dynamic day-to-day. More often than not, the necessities of training require athletes to band together, under many of the same coaches, sometimes to the point of even helping one another with direct fight preparation.

And while the combat sports world is big enough to largely keep training partners from having to face one another in competition, things get a whole lot tighter when it gets down to the UFC and their top ranked fighters.

That’s the problem that ranked UFC lightweights, and former sparring partners, Brad Riddell and Rafael Fiziev have found themselves in—as they prepare to face off against one another this coming Saturday, December 4th, at UFC Vegas 44: Font vs. Aldo.

What looks to be a surefire all-violence clash also seemed like a bout that might never get made, considering the camaraderie and history between the two men. But, in a recent interview with Sub Radio, Riddell revealed that both he and Fiziev felt that taking the bout wouldn’t get in the way of their friendship.

“I just texted him and just said that they sent me his name on a contract and I hadn’t signed it, and just let me know when you’re free for call,” Riddell revealed, speaking of the UFC’s offer to take on Fiziev. “And I was leaving a training session. He messaged me he was free, so I gave him a call and we just had a chat. And I just said that there wasn’t anybody available to fight other than him.

“Like, me and him it seemed like for some reason, me and him were the only two guys available in the top 15 available to fight this year. Otherwise we had to wait, or we had to fight somebody un-ranked. And you know, it’s a lot of work to get into the rankings, obviously. And I also don’t wanna wait, because I like money in my bank as well. I enjoy fighting, and so does he. So, we just did, like, I just said, man, friends before and after? And he goes, yeah, let’s make some money. And he said, don’t get injured in fight camp, which I haven’t, which is good. And yeah, that was it.”

And while the two men have absolutely squared off on the mats against one another before, it doesn’t sound like Riddell thinks their history will be a major factor inside the Octagon. Especially since it appears it’s been quite a while since they’ve actually seen one another in training.

“Not really. It was like four or five years ago,” Riddell responded, when asked if he thought their past sparring sessions would be a factor. “He’s changed a lot since then, and I’ve changed a lot. I barely did MMA back then, so a whole heap’s changed for me. But I definitely don’t think I’ll rely on those sparring sessions too much. You change in like six months, three months in this sport. Like, it evolves so quickly, you can’t rely on some shit from four years ago.”

“I feel like we’re very similar. Like, we’re very evenly matched sort of everywhere. I don’t think either of us stand out significantly above each other in any aspect of the sport. So, I think it’s gonna be a very even, interesting fight. It will be I guess who turns up on the night”

“From memory, obviously he’s hard to strike with. Even though he hasn’t wrestled much in the UFC, he’s a very good wrestler. He’s got some pretty good submissions up his sleeve and stuff like that. It’s hard to say, because I’m not gonna talk shit about my mate, but it’s gonna be a pretty epic fight. Like, I think as excited as everybody is, they have good reason to be.”

Eventually, while Riddell knows that fans expect a standup war (and even he expects the fight to end inside the distance) he’s prepared for the bout to go just about anywhere. After all, while high octane violence may be great for fans, the most important thing for him is to walk away with a victory inside the Octagon.

“I think everybody wants it to be like a stand-up bloodbath,” Riddell admitted. “Like, three rounds of just standing there having a good bang at each other. But I mean, it could go anywhere. Like, at the end of the day you have to win. Like, that’s the goal. You have to win, otherwise you don’t progress.

“I don’t really believe that if you lose and have a – like, for instance, Chandler’s fight. He was very happy with the way it went. But from my point of view, and in my mind, if I lose, even if the fight is that exciting, it’s just, it’s too detrimental on your career. Like, I’m in the sport to prove I’m the best, and losing doesn’t aid me in any way in my argument. So, I will win at whatever cost it takes. If I took him down and he couldn’t get up, I’ll keep taking them down.”

UFC Vegas 44 takes place this Saturday, at the Apex facility in Las Vegas, NV. The card is expected to be headlined by a bantamweight top contender’s bout between former featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Team Sityodtong talent Rob Font. Riddell vs. Fiziev is scheduled for the co-main event.

Anthony Smith reveals potential fight with Jan Blachowicz after Rakic fight falls through

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

It was the rematch nobody really needed, at least no one other than Anthony Smith. Nonetheless, it appears the UFC had intended to go forward with Smith’s hoped for second bout against Aleksandar Rakic; a chance at revenge after being thoroughly out-classed by the Austrian back in August of last year. Smith called Rakic out after defeating Ryan Spann in September, and Rakic appeared to accept.

Unfortunately, if Smith had hoped to even the score sometime before 2022, it seems that plan is no longer in the works. That news comes after a recent appearance from ‘Lionheart’ on the MMA Hour, where he revealed that a case of staph infection, contracted after undergoing recent knee surgery has scuppered any immediate fight arrangements.

“So, I knew that there was something going on with my knee, but I didn’t know how bad it was,” Smith revealed when asked about the cancellation of the Rakic rematch. “I’ve been kinda dealing with it for a little while, anyway—I dunno, probably the last five fights. Like, I haven’t been able to run in training camp at all. We’ve had to work my strength and conditioning around my knee. So, I kinda tweaked in the fight, when I was taking Ryan Spann’s back, but I didn’t want to take the hook out and lose position, so I just left it in there. I kinda heel hooked myself, essentially, and tore my LCL. It wasn’t a complete tear; we did stem cells, we did the PRP injections. Thought I was gonna be down for eight weeks, not a big deal. But, because I already had other knee problems, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to go in, clean out a lot of the cobwebs and cartilage and scar tissue—just a lot of problems I’ve been having with it. It wasn’t gonna extend my time off anymore, because that’s about a month in itself, and it was early enough that it wouldn’t extend it anymore.

So, long story short, I end up having a whole lot more problems after the scope, and got staph infection in the joint. Now I’m on IV antibiotics for another month. They had to go back in, they had to wash it out, trim tissue, scrape the back of my kneecap, it was a disaster. So a routine, regular – two or three days out and I’m back on my feet. That was two-and-a-half to three weeks ago that I had the original scope – I think it was three weeks ago – and I just now got off the crutches, three days ago.”

Smith went on to explain that he’s not sure exactly at what point he contracted staph, considering that he had to have his knee drained several times after the tear and that he then received several injections at the site for the stem cell and prp therapy—as well as the eventual surgery. Even after the initial surgery, he was draining fluid from his knee every two days, to keep swelling down and get fluid off the joint. “There was just a lot of shit going in and out of my knee,” he admitted.

“I’m not 100% sure,” Smith said when asked when he’ll be able to return to action. “I went from the original injury, to the injections, and then the scope, and now the washout. Now I start rehab tomorrow, because there’s a lot of atrophy. My left leg is significantly larger than my right leg. So I’m gonna kinda have to battle back from that a little bit. I would guess February, March—April maybe?”

And while Smith confirmed that the Rakic fight is definitely off the table, when one door closes, often another opens.

“It sounds like we’ve got somebody else, though,” Smith revealed, saying the UFC offered him a fight with Jan Blachowicz shortly after his loss to Teixeira in the UFC 267 main event.

“They brought it to me, that night,” Smith explained. “He’s ready to fight. He wants to fight again, he wants to fight soon… as long as we can get the infection cleared up, I don’t think February is out of the question,” he added when asked if he’d even be able to fight soon.

Whether or not that bout can actually come together, given Smith’s need to still recover and complete rehab, remains to be seen. But if everything does go as well as possible, it sounds like Smith may have found himself with an even more interesting fight on his hands, all due to an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances.

Sean O’Malley ‘not far’ from UFC title shots & PPV main-events, but wants to ‘get paid fairly’ first

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

Sean O’Malley’s campaign to only fight to his current UFC pay grade continues. The MMA Lab talent competing out of Glendale, Arizona made major headlines recently when he revealed that he’d rather avoid fighting ranked opponents in the UFC, considering he gets “paid the same” either way.

If fans expected O’Malley to potentially change his tune – perhaps following a hard conversation or two with UFC matchmakers & Dana White – it doesn’t appear the 26-year-old is about to back down. In a recent interview on the MMA Hour, O’Malley spoke about his philosophy on the business of fighting, adding PPV main-events and title shots to the list of things that he didn’t yet feel like he was getting paid to take on (transcript via MMA Fighting).

“I feel like I’m the main draw at 135, I’m the biggest name at 135,” O’Malley admitted. “So there’s a lot of sweet, sweet, interesting fights at 135 that I would love to be a part of. Obviously I want to get paid fairly, but yeah, I think I’m not too far off from fighting for the title, main-eventing pay-per-views. … It depends. I really want to fight these three fights out and then start talking big names.

“I don’t think I should be main-eventing for the money I’m making right now. I think I should be getting paid more, so we’ll see.”

O’Malley did add, however, that his unwillingness to take the UFC’s offer of a fight with Frankie Edgar on their November 6th PPV card had nothing to do with Edgar’s spot in the rankings. That decision was entirely down to the card’s location, taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Instead, O’Malley countered with the proposition of fighting Edgar, or possibly Dominick Cruz, at the UFC’s Las Vegas PPV on December 11th.

“At the end of the day, the UFC picks. If they offer me Frankie, like I said, I would love to fight Frankie,” O’Malley revealed. “Frankie is a top-10 guy I think and he’s a big-name guy. I wouldn’t have said no, ‘No, I don’t want to fight him because I want to get paid more to fight him.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll fight Frankie on Dec. 11th in Vegas.’ I would’ve loved for that fight. That’s the fight I was hoping for and that’s the matchup I wanted. I’ll also fight Dominick Cruz on Dec. 11th.”

Ultimately, it sounds like the Montana-born bantamweight is setting himself up to test free agency in the not too distant future, suggesting that he “could probably renegotiate a contract right now with the UFC,” but wouldn’t get the opportunity to field outside offers as part of the process. That doesn’t mean he’s preparing to leave the Octagon, however, as he noted that he still visualizes himself remaining with the promotion.

“I really do plan on staying with the UFC. I think I belong in the UFC,” O’Malley stated. “But also if I’m going to get offered twice as much money to go do something else—I love boxing. We’ll see where it goes. Like I said, I love the UFC, they’ve been nothing but great to me. And I think after this contract is up, I don’t think they’ll have an issue paying me what I think I deserve. But we might be on a completely different mindset there. They might not think I’m worth half a million or whatever the number is. I’ve been on like five consecutive pay-per-views.”

UFC 269 is set to take place on December 11th in Las Vegas, NV. Currently the card is expected to be headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena. Former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is also set to make his flyweight debut against Kai Kara-France. No word yet on whether O’Malley will find an opponent for the event.