By MukThe once pound-for-pound king, Jose Aldo has request that the UFC terminate his contract and allow him to leave the promotion. Aldo said that after not being about to rematch Conor McGregor, again, he feels fed up with the UFC and the sport, and wants to pursue another sport. Personally I think this is a bit dramatic and Aldo is acting like a bitch, but I would be frustrated if I was him and I am frustrated for him, because I too felt him and Conor was the fight that needed to be made, but I understand Eddie & Conor was the money fight. But I don't think Aldo should retire from the sport, and I know that from the moment Conor began his drama with Jose, after Conor knocked out Dennis Siver and jumped the fence into Jose's face, Aldo's mind has not been right. He became obsessed with Conor, but in a negative way, to where it drove him crazy, rather than drove him to redemption. Now I do believe Jose would give Conor his hardest fight ever in a rematch, and could defeat Conor, because Aldo is no joke, but if he can't wait any longer than best of luck to you in the new sport you wanna pursue, I would think soccer as he coulda gone pro back in the day for that too. This is how I picture Jose in his basement, with Conor's name and picture on all the walls.... But in all seriousness Jose Aldo is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, he dominated fighters for years and didn't lose a fight in 10 years until Conor. If this is the end, while I do not like Aldo, I respect everything he did inside the octagon. He did this to Urijah Faber's leg
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By MukWell folks, the UFC's debut New York card, UFC 205, has received its main event. Late last night/early this morning, the UFC and Dana White announced that Eddie Alvarez would be defending his Lightweight belt at MSG November 12th, but not against Khabib Nurmagomedov like previously rumored last week, it will be against the Notorious, Conor McGregor.
Now I have made my stance on Conor's next fight very very clear, and I said there should be no way he is allowed to fight anyone other than Jose Aldo for the Featherweight belt, and if he did not fight Jose next, the belt should be vacated and Jose and Max Holloway was a necessity. Well, Dana White has gone against his word and all his warnings to Conor, and will allow Conor to hold onto the 145-pound belt, and pursue the 155-pound belt, in the hopes of becoming the first fighter in UFC history to hold 2 championship belts at the same time (BJ Penn and Randy Couture both have held belts in two separate weight classes, but never simultaneously). For the sake of history and further increasing Conor's stock, which directly increases the UFC's stock, I can get behind this fight and what it means for the sport and for Conor himself. However, this fight will be no cake walk, and in all honesty, I do not see Conor leaving the octagon with his hand raised on November 12th. Alvarez is a world class wrestler, with tremendous stand-up skill. While I think in a strictly stand-up fight, this matchup would favor Conor, it is in no way a dominant matchup for him. Adding Eddie's wrestling into the mix of things, Conor will be faced with most likely his most difficult matchup ever. While Nate posed a much bigger threat to finishing Conor from the ground with his jiu-jitsu, Alvarez is a threat far greater, as he can and will wear Conor down, land strikes on the ground and standing up. Eddie will look to expose Conor the way Chad Mendes did, but with the hopes of keeping Conor on his back and finishing him by TKO or even a possible submission. BUT, this in no way means I feel Conor can't and won't win this fight. Conor has proved to each and every one of us that he has the heart of a champion, his chin can hold up to some serious damage, and his takedown defense along with his ground-game is at the constant center of attention for him and his team, and I expect it to be at its peak come UFC 205. Conor is chasing history, almost 10 months after he was already supposed to attempt this feat, back against Rafael Dos Anjos, and I am personally rooting for him to obtain the second belt with every part of my being, but for all those who don't know the skill level of Eddie Alvarez, I suggest you watch some tape, and keep those uneducated opinions of just how good or how bad Conor is, win or lose. PS - UFC 205 is shaping up to be quite possibly the greatest card in UFC history. Weidman & Romero have been made official, and the card now features 3 title fights, and a plethora of contender fights & great match-ups. By MukLast night's FS1 UFC Fight Night was a good one, as the main card in Brazil was very entertaining, as we got to see several big fights and big finishes. The final 3 fights of the main card were all worth watching, even though it was a good card top to bottom.
In the third to last fight last night, we saw a heavyweight matchup of Roy "Big Country" Nelson and Antonio "Big Foot" Silva that lived up to the hype. Big Foot and Big Country were pretty evenly striking through the first round, but just moments into round 2, Nelson caught him with a huge punch, dropping him to the canvas, where Roy then continued to land some big shots, knocking Big Foot out, but Nelson felt that referee Big John McCarthy took too long to stop the fight, so he gave McCarthy a piece of his mind, a kick in the butt, and a flip of the bird. Next, former 135-pound champion Renan Barao, looked to get back on the winning track as he moved up to 145 pounds to face Phillipe Nover. It was a a back and forth fight, but Barao was in clear control throughout. He secured 3 takedowns and landed more strikes, in route to a Unanimous Decision victory after 3 rounds. Finally our main event featured the always entertaining Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino who took on UFC newcomer Lina Lansberg, in a 140-pound catchweight bout. This fight didn't go exactly as expected, solely for the reason that Cyborg allowed Lina to survive the first round, but that's about all she allowed her to do - survive. Cyborg dominated every single second of the fight, landing 104 significant strikes, compared to Lina's 0 significant strikes. Lansberg only ATTEMPTED 17 strikes, and had cage control during the fight for all of 18 seconds. She did not belong in the octagon with Cyborg, but then again, most women don't. Lina may have a bright future in the UFC, but we did not see any of it Saturday night. Cyborg should not ever have to fight at 140 pounds, and the UFC's own Joe Rogan took to twitter post-fight to talk about how the UFC needs to add more female weight classes, let Cyborg be a true champion, and let the sport and divisions continue to grow. While all that is still seemingly far off, the hope is that it is sooner than later. By MukCris Cyborg once again defeated her toughest opponent she has ever faced, the 140-pound weight cut. Cyborg weighed in this morning at 141, making it under the 1 pound limit, and she will officially be taking on Lina Lansberg tomorrow night in Brazil.
I have nothing but respect for Cyborg for what she has to go through to make the 140 pound limit that the UFC has implemented for her. Cyborg truly should not ever have to fight at 140 pounds. She puts her life and health in real jeopardy with these weight cuts, and in a perfect world she wouldn't even have to fight at 145 pounds in Invicta, but she just is too far ahead of the game right now as we see no other female fighters even come close to her in size and strength. Possibly the greatest female MMA fighter ever, Cyborg is a force to be reckoned with, and the lack of women who want to fight her across the MMA world should be more than enough evidence. I've got Cyborg by first round KO/TKO tomorrow night, and truly don't see the fight going any other way. By MukCody "No Love" and Dominick Cruz may both have their wishes coming true in December, as the two are rumored to be facing off at UFC 207 for the Bantamweight Title. Cody has burst onto the scene in 2015/2016, starting with his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter as part of Uriah Faber's team, where he made headlines for having issues with Conor McGregor (what else is new). And Cruz on the other hand, has had beef with Uriah and his Team Alpha Male teammates since their WEC days 10 years ago (Cody trains with Alpha Male and Uriah). Cruz easily defeated Faber in their third, and final fight at UFC 199 this summer, and since then, Cody has made his wishes to redeem Team Alpha Male and Faber well known, and Cruz and Garbrandt have exchanged words, and backstage shoves, a few times. Cruz is known for his impeccable foot work, his ability to make opponents miss, and his ability to fight all 5 rounds. However Cody is on the opposite end of the spectrum, as the 25 year old has a professional record of 10-0, with only 3 of those fights making it out of the first round. Cody likes to strike first, strike fast, and strike often, finishing both of his recent opponents in beautiful fashion, with powerful strikes. So the question for me is, which of these two styles benefits the most, and the only answer I can really come up with is that neither does. Cody very easily could come out, come after Dominick, and put him away with a big right hand in the first round. But, if Cody were to be forced to battle with Dominick, and is dragged into the later rounds, where Dominick thrives, his explosive, hard hitting style may be his downfall as he is much much more likely to gas out, and be defeated in decision by Dominick "The Decisionator" Cruz. Regardless of the outcome, this fight will be nothing short of exciting, and I can guarantee that, from every press conference to the fight itself, these two do not like each other. PS - Hate on Cruz's ability to win fights in decision all you want, but this dude comes out and brings it every night, he just so happens to have one of the greatest MMA IQ's in the sport's history. 9/21/2016 Eddie Alvarez Looking Likely to Defend Lightweight Belt at UFC 205 in Co-Main EventRead NowBy MukEddie Alvarez, the UFC's new Lightweight champ, who finished Rafael Dos Anjos via first round knockout back in July, will look to defend his title for the first time at UFC 205, but against who, is the big question. We have heard Alvarez speak time and time again, almost to the point of it being annoying, about how little respect he has for Conor McGregor's game and how easily he feels he would defeat the 145-pound champ. So while Eddie has virtually begged for a fight with Conor, we got some news from Dana White yesterday that Alvarez may in fact be getting a fight at UFC 205 like he has requested, but not against Conor, but against the Eagle, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib has been sidelined from UFC action for much of the past two years, finally returning to the octagon a few months ago, where he was supposed to face Tony Ferguson, but due to injury had to fight UFC newcomer Darrell Horcher, whom he defeated in the second round via TKO. The Eagle is 23-0, and has dominated some of the best lightweights in the world, with his world class wrestling and pin-point striking. Now, me personally, I would love to see Conor make a run at that 155 pound belt like he was supposed to way back in March, but I have made my stance clear on what I feel Conor must do, and that is return to the featherweight division and defend his belt. And if there is one clear contender in the lightweight division, it is Khabib Nurmagomedov. Eddie Alvarez is a very tough fighter to be a fan of, because while Eddie's skill in not questioned, he is not much of a fan fighter, noting that he will execute any gameplan to win, and is not there to please the crowd. If he fought Conor, I would expect him to take Conor down and impose his strong grappling on the Irishman, and I would expect the exact opposite in a fight between him and Khabib, but the difference is, he cannot impose his will on Khabib in any way, because the Russian wrestler can strike with the best in the division. I expect the announcement to be made soon as far as who Eddie will make his first title defense against, and with either of these two fights being added to the card, UFC 205 could be the card of the year. By Muk" I tried to make the fight happen between me and Conor McGregor. We wasn't able to make the fight happen, so we must move on. " - Floyd Mayweather
It finally looks like the Floyd-Conor saga is over, as Floyd seems to have fully moved from the possibility. I for one think this is the right move, because these two do not belong in the same fight, whether it be a boxing ring or an octagon. Each fighter has a substantial advantage in their respective field, and at the moment combat sports don't have a common middle ground for the two fighters to fight on. Conor would never have been able to make this fight happen unless he took serious time off from the UFC and I just did not see that as a choice, and although the fight probably would have sold 1 billion paper views, it most likely would have been incredibly disappointing, because I personally will/would never pay for another Floyd fight for as long as I live, because I don't buy PPV's to watch someone dance around the ring and win off points. They always say to never leave the fight in the judges hands, but Floyd has the mindset of solely giving his fight to the judges. Floyd, you made your money and then some, stay retired for all of our sakes, and let boxing try to re-group and build itself back up, and Conor, get your ass back down to 145 pounds and beat Jose once and for all so we can all support your quest for "all the belts and all the money". PS - Amir Khan, if you really want to step into the Octagon with Conor, please be my guest, because I would love to watch The Notorious bounce your skull off of the canvas the same way Canelo did. By MukThe most dominant fighter in Women's MMA history makes her second appearance in the UFC Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 94 in Brazil against Lina Lansberg, who is making her UFC debut. Lansberg is looking to pull off one of the most improbable upsets in MMA history. Cyborg is 16-1, and has not lost in over 10 years, losing her first career fight to a first round kneebar way back in 2005. Since then she has dominated every single opponent, recording 16 straight wins other than a 2011 No Contest after she tested positive for steroids. Cyborg is an absolute animal, and makes what Ronda Rousey did to opponents look like child's play. She pulverizes her competition, having won all but two of her fights by KO/TKO, and predominantly in the first round. Cyborg has long struggled to make the transition to the UFC, being as that she is a true Featherweight, fighting at 145 pounds, a division that the UFC does not currently have for women, and the weight cut to 135 pounds is just too much for the 5'8 beast. Her fights with the UFC have both been 140 pound catchweight fights, and the weight cuts have not been easy for Cyborg. It was reported this week that she still has almost 20 pounds to cut by Friday's weigh in, and while I am sure she will be able to make the cut, it is damaging to her body, and the way she looked before her last UFC fight with Leslie Smith was scary, almost like she was a shell of herself. Cyborg began her camp at 170 pounds, which is INSANE, that she is being ridiculed for not dropping all the way down to 135 pounds to fight someone like Ronda. She would DIE during that weight cut, Cyborg is naturally a powerful and big woman, she cannot be fighting down to the weight of the smaller women, and unfortunately it seems the competition at 140+ pounds is underwhelming for Cyborg. I expect this Saturday to go quickly and smoothly, as Cyborg looks to finish Lina in the first round in front of a sold out home crowd in Brazil. The Invicta FeatherWeight Champ is still searching for a fight against one of the top females in the UFC, but that quest seems tougher and tougher with each passing month, as we all know Ronda wants absolutely nothing to do with Cyborg. Brutal, her poor opponents. By MukTyron Woodley will face off against #1 contender Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson at UFC 205 in New York, attempting to make his first title defense since he knocked out Robbie Lawler in the first round to claim the Welterweight Championship belt. Woodley attempted to duck Wonderboy, in search of "big money fights" with the likes of Nick Diaz and GSP, but Dana White made the call and made the right one, because their is no fighter in the UFC who is more deserving of a title shot than Stephen Thompson, and I am so happy for the superstar, and fully expect him to take the crown from Woodley. UFC 205 is really coming together nicely as the UFC looks to make a huge splash in New York for their first ever card, and the addition of Wonderboy and Woodley will surely put asses in the seats. My prediction? Wonderboy winner via 3rd round TKO, as the Karate Kid looks to get his hands on his first ever UFC Gold. Watch out for those headkicks Tyron !!!!!! By MukLast night's FS1 card featured two good fights so our main events, first with the matchup of middleweight contenders of Derek Brunson and Uriah Hall, who were both in need of a big win against a ranked opponent, and lucky for Brunson, that win came his way via first round TKO. Brunson caught Hall with a big shot that sent him to the canvas and then followed up with a few big ground and pound strikes, and the fight was stopped - but it may have been premature. Hall did protest a little after his defeat, claiming he could still defend himself, and we all know how that game can go, and just how difficult it is for the referee's to get the call right. Brunson then called for a title shot after his victory which was a bit excessive to me, as Hall is in no way a top 5 fighter in the division, especially in this division with all the top 5 fighters facing off against one-another. Brunson did however extend his win streak to 5 at 170 pounds, and he is riding a 4-fight-first-round-knock-out streak, that ties him with Shane Carwin at second all time, trailing Don Frye (5-fight-streak). Hall on the other hand suffered his first knockout loss since September 2010, going nearly 6 years without being finished by strikes.
In our main event, we had lightweight contenders Dustin Poirier and Michael Johnson facing off, in a must win battle for both men, as Poirier looked to place himself among the top 5 in the 155 pound division, and Michael Johnson looked to rebound from his loss to Nate Diaz a few months back, and remind us that he is still the man to defeat Edson Barboza. Johnson came out fast and strong and he quickly put Dustin away with a first round knockout, giving Poirier his first loss since returning the the lightweight division. Michael Johnson may have landed himself a big time fight in the process as well, as Anthony Pettis tweeted out that he would like to face Featherweight Champ Jose Aldo, or Michael Johnson next, if Aldo has other obligations with his 145 pound interim belt. Pettis is as electrifying as a fighter comes, and I would love to see either of those two fights made a reality. |
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February 2018
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