UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t want Kamaru Usman to go anywhere after his past idea of moving up to light heavyweight.
Chimaev is awaiting his next opponent in the Octagon after a quick finish over Li Jingliang at UFC 267. He’s undefeated in his MMA career and has emerged as one of the biggest stars in the welterweight division.
Usman recently alluded that he once considered a move up to 205 pounds to take on the then-champion, Jan Blachowicz, for the light heavyweight title. Blachowicz would go on to lose his belt to Glover Teixeira at UFC 267.
Chimaev is knocking on the door of the welterweight title picture after a string of dominant wins. His most recent victory over Jingliang propelled him into the welterweight rankings.
Usman’s comments about pursuing titles at multiple weight classes have irked Chimaev. In a recent tweet, Chimaev aimed at Usman for his previous comments.
“So your trying to change weight before I come for you?” Chimaev said. “Don’t go anywhere I am coming! I smash you and Burns in 2 mins believe me! I’m THE KING here.”
Usman is expected to face Leon Edwards later this year in his next welterweight title defense. He’s coming off an electric 2021 in which he earned finishes over Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns, along with another decision win over Colby Covington.
Chimaev’s starpower began to rise after an impressive 2020 in the Octagon. He earned three-straight finishes at both welterweight and middleweight, including two wins in 10 days.
Usman has remained somewhat mysterious regarding his future in the UFC. He has hinted at a potential retirement after a few more fights in the Octagon and has also pitched a crossover fight against boxing world champion Canelo Alvarez.
Chimaev and Burns have verbally agreed to fight in the spring, although nothing has been formally announced by the UFC. With a win over Burns, Chimaev could potentially land a future title shot and faceoff with Usman.
How do you think a Kamaru Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev fight would play out?
“I think stylistically for Colby Covington, this is a great fight, yes, because he feels like he can go and ground Jorge Masvidal,” Cormier said on a recent episode of the DC & RC podcast (via Sportskeeda).
“A lot of people from within the sport of mixed martial arts think that it’s going to look like Robbie Lawler vs. Colby Covington, where Colby is just trying to overwhelm him with this pressure, but what you don’t understand is the improvements that Jorge Masvidal has made in wrestling and his ability to counter a lot of the things that Covington may have been able to do to him in the past years.
“The guy is a much better fighter today and he’s a much better fighter because of his interactions with Kamaru Usman, even though he lost those fights, he got better preparing for the champion.”
Since Covington and Masvidal are both coming off losses to Kamaru Usman, this fight could be a path back to the title. Both men are still at the top of their game, and if Usman were to lose his next fight, the winner of this UFC 272 main event could very well receive another title opportunity.
With that being said, Covington and Masvidal know each other well. Some people think this will be beneficial to them. They used to be friends and roommates back in their college days.
A lot has changed since these two had a falling out. Both have improved greatly in their fighting skills. Masvidal has only lost to the champion in the last three years. The same goes for Covington, who has only lost to Usman in the last five years.
If you keep up with the fighters on social media, you know that O’Malley and Strickland have some conflict with each other.
Sean Strickland, noted for his outlandish comments, has not shied away from stating his honest opinions about Sean O’Malley. Last year, the controversial fighter ridiculed O’Malley for his tattoo choices and association with rapper Tekashi 69 via Twitter.
“@SugaSeanMMA woke up one day and said “you know that guy who snitched on all his friends, did something shady with minor, yeah that guy I want him to tattoo his name on me” lol!! You know @SugaSeanMMA walks around holding his pocket lol!!!,” Strickland tweeted in December.
@SugaSeanMMA woke up one day and said "you know that guy who snitched on all his friends, did something shady with minor, yeah that guy I want him to tattoo his name on me" lol!! You know @SugaSeanMMA walks around holding his pocket lol!!!!
However, it is highly unlikely the two will ever meet in the cage. Sean O’Malley, 14-1-0, fights at bantamweight, and Sean Strickland, 24-3-1, fights in the middleweight division. But a spar between the two could simmer Strickland down.
Let O’Malley tell it, he cannot fathom the intensity of fighters like Strickland. Sparring viciously outside of the Octagon seems like a waste of his time and threatens the longevity of his career. (h/t Pundit Arena).
“I remember him, he was on fucking streak, no one was beating him. He’s been good for a long ass time. It would be a pain in the ass to have him as a sparring partner though. You know you’re just fighting every time.
“I feel like I’ve gotten to a spot where I’m not going to fight dude, I’m not getting into a fistfight with this guy if I’m not getting paid. I’m not doing it. It’s not good for my brain, it’s not good for my body, I only have a certain amount of scraps, and I think everyone does, and I’m not going to waste them in the gym,” Sean O’Malley explained on his podcast.
UFC President Dana White might be interested in a fight between Henry Cejudo and Alexander Volkanovski, that is if it can happen.
White mentioned the fight during a live Q&A session on Wednesday. This came when he was asked by a viewer about “superfights” he would be open to making in 2022. Along with a fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou, he mentioned a series of matchups that would see retired Cejudo face champions.
“Well, we just had Henry Cejudo talking about coming back. If he really wants to come back, there’s a process that he has to go through, which includes getting back in the USADA pool. And if that’s really the fight he wants, he wants to come back and fight either Petr Yan, or Aljamain Sterling, whoever is the champion, or something crazy like jumping up a weight class and really taking on Alexander Volkanovski,” said White. “But right here off the top of my head, as far as superfights go, Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou, the only other one that comes to mind would be Cejudo (versus) either Yan, Sterling, or Volkanovski.”
Cejudo Has Proposed Fight Against Volkanovski Before
Alexander Volkanovski (Image: Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty), Henry Cejudo (Image: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Cejudo got the public’s attention earlier this month when he was vocal about wanting to face Volkanovski. This came due to Max Holloway being forced out of a fight against Volkanovski that was set for later this year. He has also called for this fight multiple times in the past. However, UFC eventually landed on The Korean Zombie as the next featherweight title challenger.
Cejudo has been retired for over a year now. He departed the sport in 2020 after defending his bantamweight belt, stopping Dominick Cruz in the second round of a fight.
Cejudo has given himself the nickname “Triple C” in recent years. This is because he has a belt at flyweight and bantamweight in the UFC and also earned a gold medal for freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Should he ever find himself in a featherweight title fight, he might have to change his nickname.
Would you be interested in a fight between Henry Cejudo and Alexander Volkanovski?
UFC Flyweight Champion Deiveson Figueiredo believes he’d have only needed another 30 seconds to have finished arch-rival Brandon Moreno in round three at UFC 270.
At the opening pay-per-view of 2022, Moreno and Figueiredo met for the third time. While the Mexican was aiming to cement his status as reigning 125-pound king and turn the page on the Figueiredo chapter of his career, the Brazilian was hoping to become the first two-time flyweight titleholder in UFC history and regain his place on the throne.
One of the pivotal rounds in the co-main event was the third. In a close frame, Figueiredo gained the momentum and almost finished the fight in the closing seconds after dropping Moreno with a flush right hand. Despite locking in what appeared to be a tight guillotine choke, “The Assassin Baby” survived thanks to the round-ending horn.
During his appearance at the post-fight press conference, Figueiredo was asked what he felt at that moment and whether he thought he was close to the finish. The newly-crowned champ suggested if there were another 30 seconds in the round, the fight wouldn’t have gone beyond the third stanza.
“You know, if it was 30 seconds more, I feel that I would have gotten him,” said Figueiredo. “I think that he lost his senses a little bit. He looked like he was not feeling too well there. He was kind of saved by the buzzer, and I do feel like his soul left his body. I do feel that with 30 seconds, I would’ve just killed that guy.”
While we certainly had another intriguing clash added to the history books for Figueiredo and Moreno’s rivalry, one thing we didn’t get was closure to it. With the score now at 1-1-1, it stands to reason the pair will meet for a historical fourth contest down the line, maybe even immediately.
However, with top contenders like Askar Askarov, Alexandre Pantoja, and Kai Kara-France all hoping to stake their claim for a title shot, perhaps the UFC will choose to divert from Figueiredo vs. Moreno 4 for the time being.
Would you like to see Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno 4?
The BOAT is the Best of All Time. Unlike the GOAT, you aren’t bound by the laws of longevity. There’s no need to wait for a decade or more to begin a conversation that you can plainly see is going to happen anyway. Nope, you can strictly go by talent and the likelihood to win any given contest, no matter the circumstances.
Last weekend, two men boosted their BOAT candidacy in their respective crafts. Francis Ngannou added a high-value name to his decorated résumé when he defeated Ciryl Gane, an undefeated man he was placed as an underdog against, via unanimous decision. In so doing, Ngannou took another step closer if not fully into heavyweight BOAT waters.
As for Patrick Mahomes, he racked up 378 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and several BOAT-esque clutch plays that don’t show up on a stat sheet when he led the Kansas City Chiefs to a divisional playoff win over the snakebitten Buffalo Bills.
AP Photo/Ed Zurga
To the untrained ear, there is no difference between these two terms. That’s why the only term used in debates in the sports media and in any discussion platform is “GOAT,” even when the opposing sides are clearly weighing and discussing different criteria. But if you listen more carefully, you’ll notice that this distinction pops up all the time.
Such was the case earlier this week on FS1’s First Things First when Nick Wright was basking in the afterglow of the win of his beloved Kansas City Chiefs and the performance of their star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
“And there is nothing more perfect than the best football weekend we have ever seen—because that’s what this weekend was—being punctuated by the best football player we have ever seen winning the day,” Wright said at the top of Monday’s program.
At this point, one of Wright’s cohosts, Kevin Wildes, briefly interjected to express his disapproval to such high praise for a 26-year-old who has only been in the NFL for five seasons. That’s when Wright started spittin’ that BOAT talk.
“Is he the most accomplished? No. All-time quarterback rankings, take all those, crumple them up, and throw ’em in the trash…because everybody knows this: There is not a person watching this show, not one, that if your life were on the line and you were asked, ‘You can have any quarterback (in) NFL history for one game, one drive, one throw, who ya takin’?’ The answer from everyone, from K.C. Wolf the Chiefs’ mascot to Gisele Bundchen, is Patrick bleepin’ Mahomes!”
Moments later, another show cohost Chris Broussard chimed in, unknowingly educating program viewers on the difference between the GOAT and the BOAT.
“I want to address what you said because a lot of people obviously gonna just blow off, ‘Oh, Mahomes (is) the best player ever? Not just the best player right now? You said the best player ever?’
“And it’s premature. However, people were saying Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player ever long before he won six rings. In 1994 when they built that statue in front of (the) United Center, it says ‘The best there ever was, the best there ever will be.’ That was after three rings.
Michael Jordan, Bobby Knight, Image Credit: Basketball Network
“Bobby Knight, coaching Michael Jordan in the Olympics in 1984, said ‘He’s the best basketball player I’ve ever seen.’ Obviously, Bobby Knight saw all the greats. So I’m not gonna completely dismiss what you said. Obviously, when we talk GOAT, [Mahomes] has to win championships and all that.”
But as Wright alluded, when we talk BOAT, you break things down to even simpler terms: Who would you trust to come through and win based on their talent and likelihood to win on any given night?
Like Patrick Mahomes to Tom Brady, Francis Ngannou doesn’t have the amount of championship wins as the consensus GOAT of his division, Stipe Miocic. But just as Wright argued with Mahomes, if the fate of the world is on the line, your life is depending on it, and you have to choose one heavyweight fighter to win a fight, who are you taking?
If you’re smart, you’d put some serious thought into taking the 2021/2022 version of the greatest KO artist in heavyweight history who has added takedown defense and offensive wrestling to his game and who, when at his best, has steamrolled names like Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, and Stipe Miocic.
And then, when arguably his worst, he beat an undefeated next-generation phenom in Ciryl Gane while on a bum knee. Oh, and by the way, he’s never been dropped by strikes or finished in the most dangerous MMA division. That’s BOAT ish.
And I don’t know about you, but if my life is on the line, I’m riding to safety with the BOAT over any GOAT every time.
You can check out the full segment from the best sports talk show on TV, First Things First, Below.
Dana White is dismissing all the post-fight drama surrounding his sudden exit from the Honda Center after Francis Ngannou’s title retention at UFC 270.
The buildup to UFC 270 was not short on drama. It featured the bitter split between Ngannou and ex-coach Fernand Lopez, a backstage blowby gone viral, and of course the ongoing contract dispute between Ngannou and the UFC.
While there always is an air of “what’s next?” following every big event, typically, all the storylines coming in are settled by the end of the night. In the case of the UFC 270 aftermath, we learned the drama was only just beginning.
Hordes of spectators could not help but notice that UFC President Dana White did not wrap the world title around the waist of Francis Ngannou after his big victory over Ciryl Gane, as he typically does to the winner of every title fight. They also noted that White was conspicuously absent in the post-fight press conference as well.
Due to the tense contract negotiations between Ngannou and the UFC being common knowledge, people of all walks of life chalked up White’s abrupt exit as rage-fueled disrespect towards Ngannou launched from a corporate foxhole.
During his much-anticipated Q&A Wednesday on ESPN+, White attempted to shut down this narrative and also had a few choice words for those who have been spreading it.
“For anybody thinking I was showing any type of disrespect towards Francis: I saw Francis all week, you idiots. I shook his hand, I said hi to him, I was out there for the staredowns, the whole thing. So for anybody to think that there was some type of disrespect shown towards Francis—I wasn’t out there for [Michael Bisping vs Luke Rockhold 2 at UFC 199], either, because I was dealing with some stuff. And I sprinted from the back. I didn’t even have my jacket on. I still only had my shirt on to go out there and put the belt on Bisping, but I couldn’t make it out there to put the belt on Francis.
“There’s only been one time that I’ve walked out on a fight and made it very clear, showed up to the press conference and said, ‘This is exactly why I left.’ It was in Abu Dhabi. So there’s the answer.”
It should be noted that White took the initiative to bring the subject up himself, as the above remarks were not a response to any question submitted by a fan.
White Shares Positive Thoughts About Ngannou Following UFC 270
Francis Ngannou, Dana White (Image Credits: Jeff Bottari/Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
White was also complimentary towards Ngannou’s game plan in his victory over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. He expressed his belief that Gane was just as shocked as everyone else to see Ngannou adopt a wrestling-heavy approach, and this element of surprise was a huge ingredient to Ngannou’s success in the final three rounds.
“In 2022, I think people are excited about Gaethje and Oliveira,” White said. “A lot of people are excited about that fight. You saw the pop that Gaethje got on Saturday night at the arena. And I think another big fight, if it’s possible to get it done, would be Jon Jones and Francis.”
Francis Ngannou is set to undergo knee surgery in the near future with an estimated recovery timetable of nine months. Perhaps during this time, he and the UFC will be able to come to terms on a new deal before the end of the year.
Do you believe Dana White’s explanation for his UFC 270 exit and that he did not intentionally disrespect Francis Ngannou?
Injuries sustained recently by Francis Ngannou could force him out of action for the better part of a year.
Ngannou’s manager recently spoke with Brett Okamoto of ESPN and unveiled how the heavyweight champ plans to rehabilitate following his fight. Injuries he took to one of his knees will reportedly require surgery, and his team is planning to give him nine months to recover.
Per the interview, Ngannou is getting the surgery due to tearing his MCL and damaging his ACL in the lead-up to his UFC 270 fight against Ciryl Gane. The decision to get surgery was made after he was evaluated earlier this week.
Ngannou will receive the surgery after he comes back from a trip to his home country of Cameroon.
During Ngannou’s recovery process, manager Marquel Martin hopes the team can work to figure out his contractual situation with the UFC.
“Upon his return, we plan on getting surgery and starting the recovery process so we can get him back to 100 percent as soon as possible,” said Marquel in an interview with ESPN. “In the meantime, we hope we can find a peaceful resolution in these contract talks. We’d like to thank all the fans for their continued support and belief in Francis.”
The fact that Ngannou suffered his knee injuries during his training camp means he competed in his title fight while hurt. Many assumed that something was up with Ngannou when he entered the cage on Saturday night and was wearing padding on both of his knees.
Do you believe we will see Francis Ngannou compete in the UFC again after his surgery?
“My money’s on Yan,” Dillashaw said (via MiddleEasy). “The way that fight went down and to kind of see Aljamain just break and give up… he really didn’t have much for him. I was kind of expecting Sterling to give him a lot more trouble in the grappling aspects and the takedowns. Yan just kind of shrugged them off. [Sterling] had no strength. I don’t know if there’s much, you can change with that.”
The way the fight between Sterling and Yan ended, with a disqualification knee to a downed opponent, left a lot of questions unanswered. Sterling will have another opportunity to show the world that he is the rightful owner of that 135-pound belt. It is clear that Dillashaw believes that Yan is the one to beat in that matchup.
“Yan’s a killer. You see the way he fights, he stays real tight, stays clean, and he’s got the mentality that he’s a fighter,” Dillashaw said. “You got those competitors, you got athletes, and then you got fighters. Guys like myself and guys like Yan are the full package, you do all of them.”
Sterling has been taking quite a bit of heat from all sides since he won the belt in the way he did back in March. Dillashaw might have his chance at Sterling if “The Funk Master” is victorious at UFC 273. If that fight takes place, Dillashaw believes he has what it takes to defeat him.
“I feel like Sterling is more of a competitor or an athlete. He doesn’t have that fighting spirit in him. He’s a little bit weak when it comes to that last thing.”
Who do you think will bring him the belt at UFC 273, Sterling or Yan?
Jiří Procházka is planning on getting some outside help in the lead-up to his title fight.
Jiří Procházka has secured his first title shot in the UFC. He will be challenging newly crowned champion, Glover Teixeira, in May at UFC 274. The Czech Republic native has been looking for this shot for some time now and he is willing to do what it takes to be successful when that big moment arrives, even if that means changing up his training situation.
Procházka spoke to CBS Sports about what he is planning for this training camp.
“In February, I am thinking about and working towards preparation in America. Especially with Henry Cejudo and Jon Jones there. I want to go there and work on my wrestling. I especially want to take my wrestling to the next level. I’m really looking forward to that,” Procházka said. “I’m a big fan of Figueiredo. His style is great. It’s an honor to go there and train with these guys.”
It is not crazy that Procházka wants to be a part of this group. Jon Jones is the former light heavyweight champion, and one of the all-time greats. Cejudo was a two-division champion and has now shifted his focus to work with other fighters and make them champions. Recently, he helped Weili Zhang in her fight against Rose Namajunas and Deiveson Figueiredo in his training camp before reclaiming his belt against Brandon Moreno.
Procházka came to the UFC in July of 2020 and after just two wins in the organization, he has reached the point of fighting for the title. His prior fights have been mostly in Rizin, and he is undefeated since 2016. Just because Procházka is a newcomer to the UFC light heavyweight division doesn’t mean he is new to this game.
“I fought ‘King Mo’ two times. The second time, when I defeated him in the Rizin title fight, I was a different guy than the first time he won,” Procházka said. “From that Rizin title fight to now, I’m five levels up. He can talk with [Teixeira] and give him special tips for me, but I think I’m another person. I’m a different person in character. I changed myself completely since that time. It doesn’t matter. If ‘King Mo’ will help him to be a better fighter, I’ll be glad for that. I want to fight the best version of Glover’s style.”
Charles Oliveira’s next lightweight title defense is set, as the Brazilian is set to take on Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 on May 7.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was the first to report Oliveira and Gaethje’s upcoming clash. This fight will be joining Glover Teixeira and Jiří Procházka’s light heavyweight title bout slated for the same card. There is currently no word on which fight will serve as the main event. According to the ESPN report, this card is expected to take place in the United States after originally being targeted for Brazil.
Justin Gaethje was adamant about his place as the #1 contender after defeating Michael Chandler in a Fight of the Year candidate at UFC 268. Dana White agreed with Gaethje’s self-assessment and has now put the idea into action by making the fight plans public.
Image Credit: Zuffa LLC
Earlier this week, Gaethje put MMA journalists on blast for even suggesting Conor McGregor could skip the title-shot queue and receive a title shot upon return. Should Gaethje defeat Oliveira at UFC 274, he will put himself into a powerful enough position to hold the highest cards of the lightweight title picture.
This will be Gaethje’s second opportunity at becoming lightweight champion after coming up short against then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2020.
This bout will mark Charles Oliveira’s second lightweight title defense. Last month, he defeated Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 via third-round submission to cement himself as the king of the 155 division.
Oliveira has not lost a bout since a 2017 defeat to Paul Felder. Since then, he has turned an incredible 10-fight winning streak, with an astonishing 9 of those 10 wins being by way of finish. Come May 7, Oliveira will look to add Justin Gaethje to his highlight reel.
With the addition of this title bout, the updated UFC 274 card is as follows:
Renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has questioned the intention behind one of Joe Rogan’s questions during the post-fight interview with Francis Ngannou at UFC 270.
At the opening pay-per-view of 2022, the UFC Heavyweight Champion fought through an abundance of adversity to successfully defend his title for the first time. From his torn MCL and potential “irreversible” knee damage to his uncertain future with the UFC and possible looming free agency, “The Predator” wasn’t short of potential distractions.
But while his knee injury may have played on his mind during his struggles on the feet in the opening two rounds, the only thought in his head for the final three frames was victory. He secured that with a controlling display of wrestling, taking rounds three to five to secure a unanimous decision triumph.
In his Octagon interview with Rogan, there were a host of questions that could have been asked. One that some feel was perhaps out of place was a query about the champ’s desire to crossover to the boxing ring in the near future.
“Now, it was beautiful to see this evolution to your game and adding the grappling, but we’ve heard talk of you potentially boxing. Have you thought about doing that? What is your future plan? You obviously retained the title, it’s your option now what to do with your future?”
A dominant performance from your HW champ 👏🏆 #AndStill
While some put the question down to the pre-fight talk surrounding Ngannou’s hopes to face the likes of Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder inside the squared circle, one prominent name in the MMA industry has pondered whether it had a deeper meaning.
Having already slammed UFC President Dana White for his post-fight actions, which saw him choose not to put the belt on Ngannou or attend the presser, Helwani has now questioned whether Rogan’s post-fight interview was designed to trip up “The Predator.”
During a recent post on his Substack, Helwani pointed to the timing of the legal threat and Rogan’s subsequent boxing question after the fight, which he believes was out of place given the abundance of other intriguing queries he could have asked.
“So much to unpack from that interview, most of which I mentioned right after he signed off, but I’ll add this: when I was watching Joe Rogan interview Ngannou after the fight, I thought it was rather odd that he asked him a question about boxing,” Helwani wrote. “They never do that. Especially since there were, like, 50 other questions pertaining to the fight one could have asked (not to mention a follow-up on the knee injury).
“And then we find out about that legal e-mail they received on the night of the fight, and, well, I can’t help but wonder if Rogan was asked to ask that question to trip up Ngannou,” added Helwani. “Because, again, in the moment, it seemed really out of place, considering how they usually handle those situations. For those who don’t know, all broadcasters wear an earpiece (aka an IFB) so the producer can speak to them during the show, so it’s possible someone asked him to ask that.”
WOW Francis Ngannou just told @arielhelwani that he and his team got an email from the UFC as they were on their way to the Honda Center that they were going to be sued after having talks with Nakisa Bidarian who is Jake Paul's promoter about Boxing#TheMMAHour#UFC270
UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson is targeting a return to the Octagon in the coming months and has two promotional veterans in mind.
At the start of 2021, Thompson was riding a two-fight win streak and was fresh off a dominant main event victory over Geoff Neal. His target over the next 12 months was to secure his third title shot in the UFC.
But instead of booking a date with reigning 170-pound king Kamaru Usman, “Wonderboy” slipped down the rankings with back-to-back setbacks.
In his first appearance of the year, Thompson faced recent title challenger and top-three welterweight Gilbert Burns. At the time, many believed a victory over “Durinho” would have secured the 38-year-old another opportunity to reach the mountaintop. However, in the UFC 264 co-main event, he was controlled and beaten on the scorecards by the Brazilian.
Fast forward five months to December’s UFC Vegas 45, and Thompson had a quick chance to rebound and keep his place in the title conversation. But in a similar fashion to his previous outing, he was taken down and convincingly out-grappled, this time by rising name Belal Muhammad.
Despite yet another setback and his close proximity to the 40-year-old milestone, Thompson isn’t letting his championship aspirations disintegrate just yet. Spurred on by his desire to become the promotion’s oldest fighter, “Wonderboy” is ready to set things right in 2022.
During a recent interview with MiddleEasy, Thompson provided an update on his return. While an April fight is his current target, “Wonderboy” did reveal he is awaiting an MRI scan on his collarbone, which he’s experienced pain on since his defeat to Muhammad on December 18.
“Well, I wanna get back in April. I’ve got an MRI I’ve gotta do on my collarbone; It’s been killing me after the last fight,” said Thompson. “When Belal Muhammad picked me up and threw me down, I ended up putting my arm out and we both landed on my shoulder. I kinda jacked my collarbone up. So, I’m still training but usually, after every training session, it’s giving me some problems… But I wanna fight again in April. I’m not sure who yet.”
Nevertheless, Thompson doesn’t believe it’s too serious and hopes to have the chance to end his losing skid in the second quarter of the year.
Despite suggesting he’s looking to avoid an overwhelming wrestler in his next matchup, “Wonderboy” did admit he’s open to a “jiu-jitsu vs. karate” clash with grappling specialist Michael Chiesa.
“At this point, I would say, let’s hold off on the wrestlers real quick [LAUGHS]. The last few guys I just got obliterated… I think (Chiesa) would be a good opponent, for sure… I mean, he does have a name and he’s a good buddy of mine too, so I think that’d be a fun one,” added Thompson. “Obviously I’m gonna try and keep that fight standing because his jiu-jitsu is good. You saw his last fight with Vicente Luque, getting submitted, that’s kind of always been a thing. I’ve seen him start wrestling guys and him wrestling himself into a submission; getting sucked into a guillotine or triangle.
Michael Chiesa, Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
“He’s doing work at 170. I think I can outstrike him, I can out-move him, for sure. If we fought, I’d definitely look to keep the fight standing. But he fights fairly stiff. Maybe that’s why he’s so strong. He’s got that muscle. I think it would be a fun fight, it would definitely be one of those jiu-jitsu vs. karate guys again.”
But if he’s focusing solely on another striker he can trade blows with, who better than welterweight legend and former champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler?
“I think (Lawler) would be a really fun fight, especially for the fans. I’ve been trying to fight this guy since he was champion. I think that would be a great fight, even though he’s not ranked at this point, I would love (it). It would be an honor to fight a legend, and exciting, it would be an exciting fight. Two guys going out there striking it up. That would be awesome,” concluded Thompson.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CThroK7LUi3/
Despite consecutive defeats in the Octagon, Thompson remains a fan favorite and a name most will always be excited to watch. “Wonderboy” will hope to put his entertaining and slick striking style on full display again in 2022 after an underwhelming last 12 months.
Who would you prefer to see Stephen Thompson face next, Michael Chiesa or Robbie Lawler?
A routine night out at a bar turned into a night of chaos for former UFC welterweight Demian Maia.
Maia’s latest Octagon appearance came at UFC 263 in a unanimous decision loss to Belal Muhammad. Despite his grappling prowess still being a problem for most fighters, the 44-year-old looked years past his physical prime in recent losses to Muhammad and Gilbert Burns.
Maia is arguably one of the most universally liked and respected fighters in UFC history. He was never one to engage in trash talk during his career and let his trademark Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu do the talking for him.
But a few years ago, Maia’s life was in danger when he was attacked and stabbed, suffering serious injury. During a recent appearance on the Inteligencia Ltda podcast, Maia detailed a scuffle he got into with some alleged Middle Eastern gang members while at a bar in Sweden. (h/t Bloody Elbow)
“I’m in the corner, and like in other clubs outside Brazil, at 2 AM, they turn on the light,” Maia explained. “2 AM, all lights turned on. All the security guards went down to evacuate people and things like that. When I stood up, there were some guys from that gang there and they saw me. I think it was a small town thing. The guy came at me to attack me, but not exactly attack me. He came to push me. No reason, man. They were very messy.”
Maia initially didn’t think much of the push, but the altercation was more serious than he realized.
“They kind of ran the place. I was upset because my knee wasn’t getting better. I had hurt myself again in Sweden teaching class and stuff like that. When the guy came to put his hand on me, I threw an elbow at him. In his face,” he said. But that elbow was so hard, he didn’t fall over. He just imploded in the same place, you know. Do you know when a guy lands on his own leg? Yeah, man. He imploded. Man, by the time he fell, my first thought was, ‘God, please help me. I hope I didn’t kill this guy.’ Because it was too strong and the guy blacked out right away. I thought, ‘Imagine I killed this guy, I’m going to be f—ked, stuck in Sweden for the rest of my life.’
“F—k, no one would want to know he came to assault me,” Maia continued. “In the end, I would have killed the guy, Suddenly, I see a small guy coming up beside me quietly. All this I’m talking about was in five or six seconds, I don’t know. But very fast. The elbow, two punches. I walked backward, the guy came and hit me in the belly. This guy didn’t hit me in the belly, he stabbed me. And I knew it right away. Why did I notice? Because these guys don’t know how to fight, they’re just making trouble. If the guy isn’t a very good boxer who knows what to do, he’ll never hit you in the belly. He’ll hit the head. The guy will try to hurt you in the face. And as soon as it hit down here, I felt a knock and they ran away.”
Maia then explained what went through his mind after being stabbed.
“I had this thing in my head, ‘Can’t get air, can’t get air.’ I knew that getting air could cause embolism, and I got this paranoia. I still didn’t know if I was stabbed. I just felt the knock, but I was suspicious. When the guys ran away, I did it here. I looked over quickly and my shirt was soaked with blood.”
Maia was sent to a local hospital directly after the incident. He was treated and quickly released by medical staff.
Maia’s story shows that MMA fighters can still be the victim of vicious attacks, despite their athletic accolades. Thankfully, Maia is still alive to tell the story and continues to practice and teach the art of BJJ.
Veteran Chris Curtis is expected to return at UFC’s April 9th pay-per-view event, facing Dricus Du Plessis in a middleweight matchup. The fight has joined the UFC 273 card, per a report from Shaun Al-Shatti and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting.
The fight joins a growing PPV card that doesn’t have a confirmed location at the moment.
Curtis will be attempting to build upon a strong run that started on the regional scene in 2020 and has brought him to the UFC.
Chris Curtis attained a strong five-fight winning streak from early 2020 to July 2021, with four of those wins coming via stoppage. This earned him the UFC call, as he stepped in on short notice to face Phil Hawes.
Curtis prevailed in that matchup, stopping Hawes late in the first round of a fight at UFC 268. He wrapped up the year by earning another paycheck, scoring a finish win against Brendan Allen in December.
A win in April would move the middleweight veteran’s win streak to eight consecutive fights.
Du Plessis Searching For Third Win
Dricus Du Plessis
Like Curtis, Du Plessis has yet to lose since joining the UFC roster. The former KSW welterweight champion made his promotional debut in October 2020, stopping Markus Perez in the first round with strikes.
Du Plessis’ last appearance was a big win, stopping the three-fight winning streak of Trevin Giles with strikes.
Du Plessis was at one point matched against André Muniz for a UFC card in December, although that matchup didn’t come to fruition.
UFC 273 currently has two title fights set for the top of the lineup. In the main event, UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski is scheduled to face The Korean Zombie.
Here’s the updated lineup:
Featherweight Title Bout: Alexander Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie
Bantamweight Title Bout: Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan
Bantamweight Bout: Irene Aldana vs. Aspen Ladd
Middleweight Bout: Chris Curtis vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Featherweight Bout: Pat Sabatini vs. Gavin Tucker
Welterweight Bout: Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott
Heavyweight Bout: Jairzinho Rozenstruick vs. Marcin Tybura
Strawweight Bout: Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres
Middleweight Bout: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov
UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman pondered the idea of furthering his greatness by facing Jan Blachowicz at 205 pounds.
Usman has risen to the top spot in the UFC’s pound-for-pound list after a memorable 2021. He earned knockout finishes over Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal and won his rematch with Colby Covington at UFC 268.
Usman is widely expected to face Leon Edwards next in another defense of his welterweight title. However, he’s also flirted with the idea of attempting to become a champ at multiple weight classes.
During a recent interview with GQ, Usman revealed that he once eyed a matchup with Blachowicz when he was the light heavyweight champion.
“I was going to skip Israel [Adesanya and go fight Jan at 205 [pounds],” Usman said. “Because I’m pound-for-pound, I want to prove it. No matter what weight it is, I thought he was a really good matchup for me.”
Blachowicz shares a two-inch height advantage over Usman. Still, Usman has always been seen as big for a welterweight and has at times looked extraordinarily drained after weight cuts.
For now, the possibility of a Usman vs. Blachowicz fight is off the table. Blachowicz lost his belt to Glover Teixeira in stunning fashion at UFC 267 and will face Aleksandar Rakic later this year.
Usman and Blachowicz are still looking to hold their spots as two of the most intimidating fighters on the planet, but a fight between them looks to be buried in the past.
How do you think a Kamaru Usman vs. Jan Blachowicz fight would play out?
Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier has encouraged Jon Jones to return to fighting before talking down the quality of the heavyweight division.
Among the abundance of stories and narratives heading into the unification showdown between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 last weekend was the future of Jones. In the minds of many, despite the hesitance of Dana White to confirm it, the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s return would come against whoever emerged victoriously.
In one tweet, Jones suggested he was excited about his chances when he makes his long-awaited move to the division having witnessed the “apex of heavyweight fighting.”
If this is the Apex of heavyweight fighting, I’m excited about it. Got some more records to break
Echoing a recent sentiment shared by his fellow color commentator Michael Bisping, in which “The Count” told Jones to, “Stop tweeting and start fighting,” Cormier suggested the 34-year-old should reserve himself from judging either Ngannou or Gane’s performance at UFC 270 when they’re actually entering the Octagon to compete.
“For me, it’s about Jon Jones needs to fight, right? At some point you gotta fight,” said Cormier during a recent episode of DC & RC. “It’s one thing to be the champion, defending, fighting… even when him and I were going through our thing, he would get suspended, but then he would come back and he would fight, even if that meant fighting Ovince Saint Preux when I was hurt. But ultimately, he was fighting.
“Right now, he’s just talking. It’s like, he’s just talking RC? When are you going to fight?” Cormier added. “Because for as bad as it was, Francis had a torn meniscus, Francis was hurt, Francis had a bad training camp, all these thing; Francis still fought. So you can say, ‘They’re not that good,’ but ultimately, they’re still in there doing their thing.
“Why aren’t you in there doing your thing? You are one of the most talented mixed martial artists of all time, why aren’t you in there doing your thing against these guys, as opposed to judging them?”
Despite having not fought since February 2020, Jones’ comments on social media and frequent updates on his weight transformation ahead of a desired heavyweight switch suggest he is still committed to making a push for a second divisional UFC belt.
With Ngannou’s future firmly up in the air, it remains to be seen who Jones must go through to achieve his goal. One thing that is certain, though, as Cormier pointed out, is he has to fight somebody soon if he’s to back up his talk on social media.
Do you agree with Daniel Cormier’s take on Jon Jones’ reaction to UFC 270?
Even away from the Octagon, rising UFC welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev continues to show the threat he poses to the rest of the 170-pound roster.
Having returned to action last October at UFC 267 by brutally dominating and choking out Li Jingliang, Chimaev’s name is well and truly back on the agenda. With his dominance in the cage so far, which has seen him build an unblemished 4-0 UFC record that includes four finishes, many are touting “Borz” as a future champion.
Despite being in-between fights, training footage from Chimaev’s ongoing stint at Thailand’s Tiger Muay Thai gym has continued to show why he’s regarded highly in all aspects of MMA.
We’ve consistently seen his ability to rag-doll his opponents on the ground, and we even saw his knockout power in his third outing against Gerald Meerschaert, but how about the ability to land a crippling body shot?
Given the way he dropped a partner in a recent sparring session, we can certainly check that off the list…
Chimaev Trains With Fellow UFC Stars Ahead Of Rumored Burns Clash
Expanding beyond his usual preparation at the Allstar Training Center in Stockholm, Sweden, Chimaev has been getting set for his next appearance in the Octagon at the renowned Tiger Muay Thai facility in Phuket, Thailand.
There, the Chechen-born Swede has been training alongside some of the biggest names in the sport, from UFC stars Petr Yan, Rafael Fiziev, and Marlon Moraes, to undefeated Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov, and ONE Championship kickboxers Chingiz Allazov and Roman Kryklia.
Khamzat Chimaev, Rafael Fiziev, and Petr Yan sharpening the tools in Thailand 🐯🇹🇭
With many believing “Borz” is just one big victory away from a shot at Kamaru Usman’s 170-pound gold, a win against “Durinho,” who fought for the belt last February and defeated top contender Stephen Thompson five months later, could well book Chimaev a date with “The Nigerian Nightmare.”
Would you like to see Khamzat Chimaev face Gilbert Burns next?
After two rounds, Ngannou was down, troubled by his injury, and unable to get close to the technical and fast “Bon Gamin.” That all changed with one third-round takedown.
After turning to his wrestling game, a facet of his development not many had considered heading into the unification showdown, the Cameroonian controlled the remainder of the contest and took home a unanimous decision verdict.
A dominant performance from your HW champ 👏🏆 #AndStill
Ngannou’s Camp Dealt With A Lot Ahead Of Fight Night
An incredible amount was riding on Ngannou’s first title defense. As well as the possibility of “irreversible damage” to his knee, “The Predator” entered the PPV headliner with a bitter feud with his former coach Fernand Lopez in the limelight and his ongoing uncertain future with the UFC attracting major attention.
Ngannou and his team have long been vocal about their displeasure with the champ’s current contract, which would have expired had he been defeated by Gane; another reason the clash was so crucial for Ngannou’s negotiating position.
While most will acknowledge Martin’s endeavour to fulfil his client’s wishes in the world’s premier MMA organization as a positive, one individual clearly sees his role in the contractual dispute differently, as they displayed ahead of UFC 270 with an abusive anonymous text.
The rant, which included a racial slur, branded Ngannou a “dumb piece of sh*t” for listening to Martin’s advice. The expletive-ridden text, which came from a number with a Las Vegas area code, showed another side to Ngannou’s difficult lead-up to his Octagon walk.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZCUlZlFRwe/
In the caption, Martin didn’t make any accusations or infer who the text could have come from. Instead, he sent a message to others who have received racism for simply doing their jobs.
“Just a small piece of what has been going on recently. All for trying to do my job to the best of my ability. All supporting my brother Francis. All for trying to do what’s right and fair. All for believing in respect. I don’t share this for pity, I know I’m not perfect, but I share this to help show support and uplift Anyone who is or has experienced ANY type of racism, hatred, self-doubt, etc. I feel it trust me. Especially this week haha. It will be hard, it will be scary but stand strong and keep the faith.
“Also sharing because I am thankful for these experiences (trials). I have grown SO much. So thank you to my enemies, God bless you. I have grown in wisdom, I have grown in patience, I have grown in spirit and I have grown in knowing who I KNOW I am as a man…And I’m proud of myself.”
If the message was intended to play a part on Ngannou and his team’s mindset, it certainly failed. With one of the best performances of his career, through extreme adversity, “The Predator” maintained his spot on the heavyweight throne.
Is Francis Ngannou’s victory even more impressive given the factors he and his team dealt with prior to the fight?
Julianna Peña is looking to have some fun before she takes on Nunes again.
The new UFC Bantamweight Champion Julianna Peña is already making plans for her next move in the division. Peña made headlines when she defeated two-division champ Amanda Nunes at UFC 269. The win by Peña shocked many, as Nunes was on a 12-fight winning streak and defeated some of the best names in women’s MMA along her way. Now that Peña is holding the belt, she has an idea of what could be next.
“A dream come true for me would be to coach The Ultimate Fighter and then go right into the rematch,” she told BT Sports. “So, that’s a perfect-world scenario. I know we don’t live in a perfect world, but that’s what I would like. As long as I can get the rematch at whatever time, that’s what’s gonna make me happiest.”
At the moment, this is all a dream for Peña, but that doesn’t mean that it will never happen. Peña claims that this idea is already in the planning phase and talks have begun.
“Yeah, it has,” Peña said of TUF talks. “So, I mean, we’ll see.
The future is unclear for Nunes, who has a bit more freedom than Peña at this point. Nunes still holds the featherweight title and could very well defend that as her next fight.
Also, Nunes is in the process of changing gyms and fight camps. This fact could delay her return. If Nunes is indeed looking for an immediate rematch, the idea of coaching on TUF could be a good way to have some training time before getting back in the Octagon.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou has revealed why he chose to fight through a knee injury at UFC 270 rather than withdraw.
Without considering the injury he carried into the fight, Ngannou’s successful defense and ability to overcome adversity this past weekend were impressive enough. In the opening two rounds, “The Predator” slipped behind in the contest and appeared unable to get close to his former teammate Ciryl Gane.
But in the third round, one takedown changed the tide. Once it was clear he could find success and control in the wrestling department, Ngannou put his improved ground game on full display. After winning the last three rounds, the champion left the cage with a unanimous decision triumph.
In the aftermath of his victory, Ngannou confirmed that rumors of a pre-fight injury were indeed true, something his choice to wear kneepads also suggested. During his post-fight interview, the Cameroonian revealed he’d suffered a grade 3 MCL tear and a damaged ACL just 25 days prior to the year’s opening pay-per-view.
Speaking to the media shortly after, Ngannou explained his decision to go through with his unification showdown against Gane rather than withdraw and push for another date, a choice he admitted was perhaps “dumb.”
“Leading up to this fight, I get injured. But you don’t know what will happen. I could have withdrawn from this fight, and then get into another fight, get (injured) even worse, you know?” Ngannou said. “We are doing a sport that is very dangerous and you can hurt yourself all the time. So if you feel like there is a chance that you can do it, I think you have to do it.
“And I believe in myself. I’ve been through a lot of stuff in my life,” added Ngannou. “So I was sure (I could do it). I mean, that must be a dumb decision, but I didn’t wanna withdraw from this fight. I was very confident in my skills in this fight.”
A dominant performance from your HW champ 👏🏆 #AndStill
With his contractual dispute clearly not sorted with the promotion, the question begs, will we see “The Predator” continue to defend the title or will he sit out his contract for the rest of 2022 and crossover to boxing next year?
One thing for certain is that with the possibility of knee surgery looming, the UFC will likely have quite a few months to attempt to come to an agreement before the champ would be ready to enter the Octagon again.
How impressed were you with Francis Ngannou’s performance at UFC 270, especially given his knee injury?
Ranked welterweights Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad are set to meet in the main event of UFC’s April 16th card.
The five-round matchup between top welterweights was first reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN on Tuesday. It’s expected to headline a Fight Night card that doesn’t have a confirmed location at the moment.
The matchup allows the welterweight division to come one step closer to finding the next challenger for current champ Kamaru Usman. Luque is currently ranked at #4 in the division, with Muhammad listed just behind him.
Luque is currently on a four-fight winning streak that has been in development over the past two years. His most recent appearance was in August, where he secured a first-round submission victory over Michael Chiesa.
Prior victories from Luque include wins over notable names like former champ Tyron Woodley and divisional vet Randy Brown. His UFC career has been highly successful since joining in 2015, attaining 14 wins through 17 fights.
Muhammad has also maintained a lengthy win streak in recent years. He has gone undefeated since April 2019, attaining six victories in that time. He overcame two veterans in 2021, first going through Demian Maia before beating Stephen Thompson in December.
The new booking is a chance for Muhammad to get a proper re-appearance into the main event picture. He made his first UFC main event appearance in March 2021, although that fight didn’t produce a satisfying result. His bout against Leon Edwards was ruled a no-contest finish, as Muhammad suffered a brutal eye poke just moments into the second round.
Who do you favor in a fight between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad?
UFC lightweight contender Justin Gaethje had a significantly different take than most fans while he fought Michael Chandler at UFC 268.
In the promotion’s return to Madison Square Garden last November, a host of moments took the roof off the iconic arena and had fans across the world stuck to their TV sets.
From Chris Barnett’s spinning wheel kick, Ian Garry’s McGregor-esque debut knockout, and Alex Pereira’s memorable flying knee KO, to Rose Namajunas and Kamaru Usman’s successful title defenses, the event certainly didn’t disappoint.
But the one fight that left everybody talking was the clash of lightweight contenders between Gaethje and Chandler. Leaving everything in the cage, both men swung hard and put their bodies on the line. After 15 minutes, Gaethje walked away with the unanimous decision verdict, but both played their part in what was the consensus fight of the year bout.
Whether it was FOTY or not, everybody has and continues to recognize the incredible contest. But one man had a different version of events at the time, that man being one half of the memorable clash.
During a recent interview with BT Sport while in attendance at UFC 270 last weekend, Gaethje incredibly claimed he thought the fight was “boring” while he was inside the Octagon. “The Highlight” said he didn’t like it because the main card opener represented a rare moment where he favored securing the victory over putting “Iron” to sleep.
“To be completely honest with you, I felt like that was kind of a boring fight when I was in there,” said Gaethje. “Yeah, it just makes no sense. It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted to win more than to knock somebody out. So, yeah, it was not good, I didn’t like it. I wanna go back to just wanting to hurt somebody and finish them. But, now that I’ve won, I got my title shot, I can go back to how it should be.”
Thrilling, exhilarating, exciting, enthralling, memorable, crazy, and a host of other adjectives have been used to describe UFC’s 268’s Fight of the Night. But I guess we now have to add… boring to it? I’m okay leaving that out if you are.
How would you describe Justin Gaethje’s barnburner with Michael Chandler at UFC 268?
UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley has given his take on the upcoming UFC 272 main event between former title challengers Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal.
After Alexander Volkanovski’s trilogy fight with Max Holloway collapsed and his next defense was pushed back to UFC 273, the March pay-per-view was left needing a new headliner. What better replacement than one of the most highly-anticipated grudge matches in the UFC right now?
Both Covington and Masvidal are coming off losses to reigning welterweight king Kamaru Usman. “Gamebred” fell to back-to-back setbacks against the champion at UFC 251 and 261. “Chaos,” meanwhile, failed in his attempts to reach the 170-pound mountaintop at UFC 245 and UFC 268.
Nevertheless, the Miami native had been in fine form before colliding with Usman, securing finishes against Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz in 2019. Rising bantamweight star O’Malley believes Masvidal could return to that level of form when he enters the Octagon with Covington in March.
“Jorge has never really been taken down and just beaten up for 25 minutes, ever in his career,” O’Malley said on an episode of his YouTube podcast. “If anyone was going to do it, you think it would have been Usman. Usman didn’t go out there, take him down, and maul him. He did knock him out but I don’t know.
“That’s a sick fight. I just get a gut feeling right now that Masvidal could definitely piece up Colby if he shuts down the striking or shuts down the takedowns,” added O’Malley. “Colby brings an insane pace, but Masvidal, that’s going to be such a sick fight. This is the fight I’m most hyped about out of all the big ones.” (h/t Pundit Arena)
Given Covington’s antics prior to his rematch with Usman, we can expect an even more bitter build-up this time around, especially given the former interim champ’s history with former ATT teammate Masvidal.
How do you see the UFC 272 main event between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington playing out?
Chael Sonnen isn’t a fan of Brandon Moreno’s fighting style.
At UC 270, Moreno suffered a decision loss to Deiveson Figueiredo in their trilogy match to lose his flyweight title. For Sonnen, he wasn’t surprised Moreno lost, as he says his style is completely wrong.
“He’s been a complete dud. There is nothing even good about his fighting style except for his offense. Oh boy, is his offense on point,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel (via PunditArena). “His stance is wrong, his motion is wrong. Do not be an aspiring fighter and go watch Moreno and then go do it.”
Sonnen believes the way Moreno holds his hands was the reason he lost the fight as it allowed Figueiredo to connect on shots that dropped him. Had the Mexican not been dropped, says Sonnen, he would’ve won the fight.
The former UFC title challenger questions Brandon Moreno’s defense and says it is a big issue the Mexican needs to change.
Brandon Moreno
“The son (of a) b***h fights with his hands right here [below his face]. It’s like he’s peaking out from under a blanket just making sure you have all the good stuff to hit. Why not just put your hands down,” Sonnen said of Moreno. “If your hands are not in front of your face, why not just put them down? It’s infuriating to watch but his offense is good, I got to give him that. He’s quick, he’s tough as an old leather boot. There’s a lot of compliments I could give him. But world champion? Come on, man. No.”
With the loss, Moreno drops to 19-6-2 as a pro and never successfully defended his flyweight title. It’s uncertain if he will get an immediate rematch, which would be the fourth fight between him and Figueiredo. If that fight is made once again, Sonnen hopes the Mexican makes a serious change to his style to keep his hands up to avoid Figueiredo’s power shots.
What do you make of Chael Sonnen’s criticism of Brandon Moreno?
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