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?
2022 regular season and playoff events will be simulcasted on ESPN and ESPN+. Some additional PFL coverage will take place on ESPN2.
The PFL first agreed to a broadcast partnership with ESPN back in 2019. Before that, the league had a longstanding deal with NBC Sports before “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” agreed to become the league’s new televised home.
2022 is expected to be another huge year for the PFL as a whole. The league’s new Challenger Series program, similar to Dana White’s Contender Series, will launch next month. The show will give up-and-coming prospects a chance at signing with the league.
“After two successful years of providing fans with premium MMA content alongside ESPN, PFL is proud to extend and expand our agreement,” CEO Peter Murray said via a press release. “As MMA continues to evolve as a sport and rights property, our differentiated product and unique approach will help shape its path forward and in 2022 fans can expect more events, matchups between the world’s best fighters, and innovative content than ever before.” (h/t MMA Fighting)
The league has added a different spin on how MMA is scored and judged. The PFL’s point-based system, along with its league standings and postseason, has added a new and unique dimension to the sport.
The PFL regular season will begin on April 20 as Anthony Pettis, Julia Budd, and possibly Harrison make their returns to the cage.
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?
Jack Claffey, formerly Jack Gallagher of the WWE, will debut in the BKFC in 2022. His release from the WWE followed sexual assault allegations in 2020. Claffey issued a statement where he took responsibility for drinking heavily and behaving inappropriately with a young woman at a 2014 New Year’s Eve party.
Mid-year will mark the lightweight’s first professional venture outside of the WWE.
The “Captain” also falls in line with a number of other WWE wrestlers that either left to join another promotion or participate simultaneously. Brock Lesnar and CM Punk have records in the UFC, and Bobby Lashley fought under Bellator and various other MMA promotions.
Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, CM Punk; Photo Credit: Getty Images
Impressively, the England-born fighter won both of his amateur bouts by submission—one by armbar and one by guillotine choke.
Fans of Jack “Captain” Claffey have not seen him in action since his loss to Jake Atlas during a live WWE event in June 2020, and are surely anticipating his debut in the bloody combat sport.
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?
22-year-old French MMA fighter Pierre Ludet committed suicide weeks before his 23rd birthday and next bout.
Pierre was found in his apartment on Sunday with a fatal gunshot wound from his service weapon. He was an outstanding mixed martial artist and member of the French national police force.
Ludet followed in his father’s footsteps and became a police officer, then followed his dream of being a mixed martial artist. His future was bright in the MMA world. Ludet had only one loss in his amateur and professional career combined. And most of his wins are by submission and TKO/KO.
Pierre Ludet, Photo Credit: L’EST REPUBLICAN
The 6-1 MMA fighter was set to fight again after his last win in 2019 this February 26 against Antoine Hidrio at Hexagone MMA 3 in Reims, France–nine days before his birthday. February would have been a celebratory month for the impressive young man.
Suicide Affects Everyone
We expect MMA fighters to be tough inside and outside of the ring.
Multiple hits to the face and body may improve a fighter’s physical toughness, but it does not make them any different than civilians who fight their own inner battles.
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?
Vitor Belfort has his eyes on Tommy Fury next time out.
Belfort is set to return at Triller Triad Combat 2 on February 26 against Chad Dawson. The former UFC champion is coming off the TKO win over Evander Holyfield in an exhibition bout in Triller Fight Club Legends 2 back in September.
Now, even before he returns against Dawson, Belfort has his eyes on Fury and wants that fight next. He believes it makes sense as he doesn’t think the Brit should be focused on fighting Jake Paul. Instead, Belfort says Fury should want to face a real fighter.
“I will fight him anytime,” Belfort told theScore. “Tommy Fury, it’s a shame you were going to fight Jake Paul. Fighting a YouTuber is a shame. (Paul) is a piece of shit. Not as a person —as a fighter. Tommy Fury, I’m up to the challenge,” he continued. “Let’s make this duel.”
Fury, of course, was scheduled to fight Paul in the main event of a Showtime boxing pay-per-view card in December. However, the undefeated boxer was forced out of the bout with broken ribs and an infection.
Since he pulled out, Tommy Fury campaigned to get the fight rebooked, but Belfort clearly hopes that doesn’t happen. Although Belfort is a former UFC champion, Fury would get more eyes on him if he were to box Paul and defeat him. It would also be a bigger payday for the Brit.
At this time, it does seem unlikely Fury would box Belfort, as the Brazilian has his own fight on February 26. Should he win, then perhaps it might make sense, but Fury has yet to respond.
What do you make of Vitor Belfort calling out Tommy Fury and who do you think would win a fight between the two?
The UFC rankings have been updated following UFC 270, and we’ve got the full report for you below!
Men’s Pound for Pound: One man shot up the pound-for-pound rankings after UFC 270, and that man is the newly crowned flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, who went from unranked to #12 after defeating former champion Brandon Moreno via unanimous decision. As a result of the loss, Moreno falls three spots down to #13.
Also moving down this week are Stipe Miocic (#10), Robert Whittaker (#14), and Jan Blachowicz (#15). Moving up we have Glover Teixeira (#11), and Petr Yan moved up two spots to #9.
As for the big winner of the heavyweight championship unification bout, Francis Ngannou, he remains at #4 behind Israel Adesanya (#3), Alexander Volkanovski, and Kamaru Usman (#1), who was in Ngannou’s corner during the event.
Women’s Pound for Pound: No Changes
Strawweight: No Changes
Women’s Flyweight: No Changes
Women’s Bantamweight: No Changes
Women’s Featherweight: N/A
Flyweight: Brandon Moreno is now the #1 contender following his UFC 270 title loss to Deiveson Figueiredo.
Bantamweight: Pedro Munhoz (#9) and Marlon Moraes (#10) swap positions.
Featherweight: No Changes
Lightweight: No Changes
Welterweight: No Changes
Middleweight: No Changes
Light Heavyweight: No Changes
Heavyweight: No Changes, as Ciryl Gane remains ranked #1 following his main event loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 270.
Dan Hooker has stood by the comments he directed at Jon Jones, and suggested those who defend the former UFC light heavyweight champion are “f”cking idiots.”
After Jones appeared to mock Chael Sonnen’s December arrest and compared it to his own, Hooker defended the former two-division UFC title challenger and, in doing so, slammed Jones’ September incident.
Imagine beating up 5 people and not one of them is your wife. (JJones RN 🤯) https://t.co/Jzw6oVC640
In response to Hooker’s remarks, Jones suggested the New Zealander was only getting vocal because he was jealous of the former light heavyweight titleholder’s success.
“@danthehangman, every opportunity you’ve had to make a name for yourself and be closer to your boy Izzy, you dropped the ball. You can’t achieve greatness, so you hop online and attack someone who has. Sounds about right.”
Not one to back down, Hooker turned the attention back to Jones’ domestic violence charge.
Life hack: if you don’t beat up your wife, family events will be more enjoyable. Merry Xmas bitch. https://t.co/tc1uQNm8ov
After going back-and-forth with Jones on social media, Hooker appeared to have the last laugh after “Bones” deleted his post. Now, in an interview with John Hyon Ko for The AllStar, “The Hangman” has looked back on his interaction with his UFC peer.
Hooker’s takeaway from the incident? Don’t come for him when he’s at least two beers deep on Christmas Day.
“It is what it is. It’s the internet. Brendan Schaub was right, he’s not wrong. I feel like he (Jones) definitely didn’t receive a lot of criticism for the things he’s definitely done,” said Hooker. “But it wasn’t really until he bit back at me… I didn’t tag him in it or anything like that, then he decides Christmas Day to tag me in. Dan Hangman was drinking some beers on Christmas Day. It’s a bad day to come at me on Twitter. If I’ve had a couple beers, it’s a bad day to come at me because I’m gonna shoot back, and I’m not gonna bite my tongue as most people would.”
Ultimately, Hooker said he completely stands by his words, and while an official fight with Jones wouldn’t make sense, the fan-favorite New Zealander says he’d be open to a car park scrap if Jones still harbors ill will towards him, something he’d never back down from after criticizing someone publicly.
“I said what I said and I stand by it. I would never say anything about someone or to someone and not give them the opportunity to not punch me in the face,” added Hooker. “Do I have any kind of malice or ill will towards Jon Jones? Definitely not, I don’t spend any time thinking about Jon Jones, I couldn’t care less about Jon Jones. Would we have a fight? No, the fight would never make sense. Would I fight him in the car park? If he had a problem with me, of course, I would oblige.
Dan Hooker, Jon Jones
“I would never insult someone and not give them the opportunity to punch me in the face. That’s an entirely different discussion. But do I have any ill will towards Jon Jones? Nah, definitely not.”
Discussing how the exchange came about, Hooker said he was compelled to defend his “mentor” and “good guy” Sonnen after Jones attempted to group the retired fighter’s arrest, which seemingly came after he attempted to defend his wife, with his domestic violence charge.
“I don’t know too much about Jon Jones, you can only see what he’s done… It was more that Chael Sonnen’s my guy. That’s my guy. I view Chael as a mentor… He’s a good dude, he’s a great guy,” Hooker continued. “As Brendan Schaub said, those are two entirely different situations, and the way that Jon tried to portray it with Chael was that they were similar. He goes out his way to share the thing of Chael getting arrested.
“He’s trying to compare them but, there’s like, a definite line. To me, defending your wife from people insulting her is one of the most honorable things you could possibly do. And then to put hands on your wife is one of the most terrible things. This is just my viewpoint.”
I was triggered by your disingenuous attempt to bring attention to Chael’s situation. He was arrested for defending his wife, you were arrested for assaulting yours. 🍎 & 🍊
In Hooker’s mind, the sides of the coin are simple; either you’re against domestic violence in all forms or you think it’s fine as long as the attacker is good at a sport. For “The Hangman,” those who follow the latter mindset are “f*cking idiots.”
“As far as I’m concerned from what I said, there’s like, only two arguments. that come to it, it’s people that think it’s not okay to physically abuse your spouse, and then the other side of it is people that think it’s okay if you’re really good at a sport. Those people are, excuse my French, those people are f*cking idiots, like, those people are just young and immature and not up to scratch. It’s just not okay… There’s no possible way you could convince me there’s any kind of exception,” concluded Hooker.
With his social media fight versus Jones now behind him, Hooker will turn his attention to his return to the Octagon. He’ll hope to push back towards contention when he moves down to 145 pounds to face Arnold Allen.
While his toughness and willingness to trade blows inside the cage have always been clear, the New Zealand brawler is evidently not afraid to bite back at his fellow fighters on Twitter when he thinks they’re in the wrong.
Francis Ngannou claims he received a threat from the UFC right before UFC 270.
Francis Ngannou has just successfully defended his UFC heavyweight title for the first time. In the leadup to the fight, a good portion of the attention he was getting was regarding the relationship between him and the UFC.
“I walked into the room waiting for my manager, my coach,” Ngannou explained on The MMA Hour (via ESPN). “And they were like, ‘Wow.’ I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ They told me they just received an email from the UFC saying they’re going to sue [Marquel Martin] for talking with this guy, Nakisa. Yeah. I’m like, ‘Who is Nakisa?’ I wouldn’t recognize him if you put him in front of me.”
Ngannou has been talking about his desire to box for a while now. When he was having trouble securing the purse he wanted from the UFC, he mentioned wanting to try out boxing because of the significant pay differential. A few former UFC fighters have made the switch over and made more than they ever have in the UFC. Ngannou wants to get in on that money but his contract prevents him from doing so.
“You can be free and fight for the UFC,” Ngannou said. “I just want to be free. We are supposedly independent contractors. [An] independent contractor is technically a free person. That’s the reason why they need some adjustments in that contract. That’s what I’ve been fighting for. It doesn’t look like they want to talk to me anymore.”
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69219439/1201973094.jpg.0.jpg)
