dana white

UFC: Max Holloway could get the next title shot according to Dana White

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It was very clear that UFC president Dana White was not a fan of the decision at UFC 251 between featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, and former champion, Max Holloway.

The fight left the UFC in a bit of a pickle when it comes to what happens next. If Holloway had only lost that one time to Volkanovski, the promotion would have no issues booking the fight again.

However, Holloway has lost two consecutive fights to Volkanovski. Yes, the second fight was razor close, but still it’s two losses in the record books. With that, most thought that there is no way that the UFC would give Holloway another shot especially right away.

Despite that, White said to ESPN that, “It’s hard to not…” when considering booking Volkanovski – Holloway 3. White went on to talk about how Volkanovski wouldn’t enjoy that idea.

What should the UFC do?

The UFC is really in a tough spot when it comes to the featherweight division. The UFC is going to book Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez but that’s not finalized yet. They are also going to book Brian Ortega – Chan Sung Jung but that fight is also not finalized.

Those are all the contenders in the division outside of Calvin Kattar. I’m not convinced the UFC loves the idea of giving Kattar a shot at the title right now.

So with everyone booked, either Volkanovski is going to sit for a while or they run the fight back a third time. I definitely understand the frustration this would bring from the champion.

Volkanovski really has nothing to gain from fighting Holloway a third time meanwhile Holloway has everything to get back. Both of these fighters are so evenly matched. A third fight between the two would create more problems than solutions.

What if Max Holloway wins a close fight? How could you then deny Volkanovski a fourth fight since he won the first two? If you give Holloway another shot, it really hurts the division.

While he might not want to, I think the best thing would be for Volkanovski to sit on the sidelines for a bit. Maybe let Holloway fight a guy like Calvin Kattar next. Let the division play out more before giving Holloway a third fight with Volkanovski.

UFC: Khamzat Chimaev wants another quick turnaround

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If there was one fighter that became a star from the UFC‘s trip to Fight Island it was Khamzat Chimaev (8-0). Chimaev fought twice in ten days, smashing both of his opponents.

The numbers that Chimaev put up in his first couple of fights were just insane. Chimaev outstruck his two opponents 192-2 in his two fights. Think about that dominance for just a second. Chimaev is an absolute animal.

The one thing that Dana White loves is a fighter who’s hungry, and Chimaev is definitely hungry. “Borz” has been begging White for another fight at UFC 252. White seems to be all for it saying, “He wants to fight now again in August. I’m going to get him what he wants.”

Top UFC contender now?

Chimaev currently only has eight fights, but he doesn’t look like someone who’s still trying to figure it out. He looks like a killer already and he’s hungry to keep fighting.

Chimaev’s smooth confidence is another thing that is going to make him extremely popular with fans. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani said yesterday he believes that Chimaev can already compete with the top five of the UFC‘s welterweight division.

The UFC is trying to get Chimaev a fight, but it looks like he’s already been throwing a few names out there.

Chimaev has called out former title challenger, Demian Maia (28-10) and top ten UFC contender, Michael Chiesa (17-4). To be honest, I think Chimaev beats both of them right now.

I’m on the same boat as Helwani in my belief in this guy. Maia presents an interesting challenge considering his grappling capabilities, but it’s going to be hard to submit a guy with the level of output as Chimaev.

I think you’re going to see Chimaev get fast-tracked. With his skillset, I think he would fair better on this track than others with more of a striking background would. He’s a problem for anyone that steps across the octagon from him.

 

 

UFC: Khabib Nurmagomedov – Justin Gaethje official for October 24th

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UFC president Dana White announced some pretty big news today. It was announced and confirmed that Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) with defend his title against interim champion, Justin Gaethje (22-2), on October 24th.

White confirmed the news to CNN. There have been a lot of questions about the future for Khabib after his father passed away. Many wondered if he would even fight again. But the fight is on.

“It’s going to happen, I can tell you right here right now,” White said. “That fight’s going to happen. Khabib versus Gaethje on October 24.”

Two more UFC fights for Khabib

Recently, it was announced by his manager that Khabib only has a couple of fights left in his UFC career. The first being his title defense against Gaethje.

Nurmagomedov is one of the sports biggest stars. He’s 28-0 and he’s one of the highest paid fighters in the promotion. However, he’s always talked about walking away early from the sport.

Dana White was asked by ESPN what he’d want to do if Nurmagomedov were to only fight two times. He said he would for sure fight Gaethje, but there was an interesting option for his retirement fight.

Justin Gaethje presents the biggest challenge to Khabib from a stylistic standpoint. However, if Khabib can get passed Gaethje, fight fans might get a fight they’ve dreamed about.

Many have wanted to see Georges St. Pierre drop down to 155 to challenge Khabib for the UFC title. White has always dismissed that because GSP would only want to fight once. But, if Khabib is also going to be walking away, the fight could happen.

Exciting times for the UFC‘s lightweight division. Khabib – Gaethje is a matchup that’s so interesting and exciting to think about because there are so many unknowns. Khabib hasn’t fought anyone with as good of defensive wrestling as Gaethje. Should be a fun fight with big implications that will follow.

UFC: Khabib Nurmagomedov Could Have Pick Of Final Opponent

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It appears that, according to his manager, Khabib Nurmagomedov is going to shoot for a record of 30-0 before retiring altogether. Manager Ali Abdelaziz told the news to UFC Arabia, but the final opponent for Nurmagomedov – assuming that he beats Justin Gaethje to advance to a record of 29-0 – is still an unknown.

The fight with Gaethje is set to unify the lightweight belt and determine the true champion, whether that’s the underdog Gaethje or the favorite, Khabib. However, it appears from the outside that the death of his father has impacted his motivation to defend the belt in the future even if he does unify it when the Gaethje fight finally happens.

Khabib will likely go for the 30-0 mark

Instead of aiming to defend the belt for as long as possible, Khabib’s plan is to take one more fight and achieve an undefeated 30-0 record before retirement. According to ESPN, that’s something that UFC boss Dana White is willing to accommodate.

On Monday, White told ESPN that he would support Nurmagomedov’s choice of a final opponent, including former welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

White mentioned that one of the possible fights to make is the rematch against Conor McGregor, who pushed for the fight ever since the first match between the two happened. McGregor, however, is retired right now. At least allegedly.

Would a second fight with Khabib be enough to lure McGregor back into the sport? It’s possible, and many would say that it’s likely, but McGregor has a track record of not behaving how experts and fans expect.

We also don’t know yet if Khabib himself is after the rematch. Another fight mentioned by White is one between Khabib and Georges St-Pierre, who has been away from the sport for longer than McGregor has. However, St-Pierre was recently called out by Kamaru Usman, and responded by quickly denying talks about a return.

“I need to stay objective and smart about my decisions, and right now, to come back to fight for the welterweight title against Kamaru Usman and risk it all, there’s more cons than pros. It’s not worth it for me,” St-Pierre said on the matter.

White also said that he’s willing to do anything Khabib wants, when it comes to the matchmaking for his final fight.

Of course, all of this talk about a 30-0 record depends on Khabib winning one more fight against Justin Gaethje in September, and that’s no given. Especially with recent rough events in Khabib’s life, which have potentially played a role in his decision to retire early in the first place.

Once the title unification fight happens, things will truly get interesting for lightweight matchmaking.

UFC: When will Henry Cejudo return?

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UFC, Henry Cejudo

Back in early May, the UFC’s lower weight classes were turned on it’s head when “Triple C” Henry Cejduo announced that he was walking away from the sport.

Cejudo had just stopped Dominick Cruz in the second round of his first title defense in the bantamweight division. In the post-fight interview, Cejudo told Joe Rogan that at 33-years old, he was walking away.

The Motivation for Retirement

To Cejudo’s point in the post-fight interview, he could walk away with nothing to improve. He won and successfully defended belts in two UFC weight classes along with winning an Olympic gold medal.

Cejudo from a credentials standpoint is one of the greatest combat sports to have ever lived. You cannot deny him of that.

Cejudo began to mention that he wanted to get paid more. He started pushing this after he defeated TJ Dillashaw back in January of 2019.

Flyweights notoriously were not the highest paid guys in the UFC, but Cejudo wanted to change that based on his performances.

Cejudo moved up to fight Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 to try to become a double champ, and he successfully did that. Yet, it seemed Cejudo was still not happy with his compensation.

While he didn’t come right out and say that, one has to wonder if that was the primary reason that Triple C walked away from the sport after UFC 249.

When will he return to the UFC?

This is the million dollar question when it comes to Cejudo. When and will he actually return to the UFC?

Right after Cejudo retired, it was rumored that he was trying to get a boxing match against young standout, Ryan Garcia. The fight would net Cejudo a pretty penny if it came together, but nothing ever got close to getting done.

Cejudo has remained extremely active on Twitter calling out UFC fighters despite being retired. The one fighter he seems to be calling out the most is Alexander Volkanovski.

Volkanovski holds something that would cement Cejudo as a combat sport immortal. The UFC‘s featherweight title is something that Cejduo covets more than anything.

If the UFC were to ever put on that fight and Cejudo win, he would become the first man in UFC history to win a title in three weight classes to go along with his Olympic gold medal.

Cejudo told Joe Rogan on JRE that this would be the one fight he’d come back for. Of course Dana White and company are hesitant to make it happen. The reason being that Cejudo said he’d likely walk away again if he won the title before defending it.

I tend to believe that we have not seen the last of the King of Cringe. Cejudo is a natural competitor and I believe that before long, he’s going to be presented with something that makes him want to compete again.

The UFC’s strategy for Sean O’Malley

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Dana White and the UFC are constantly looking for their next superstar that would resemble a Conor McGregor or a Ronda Rousey. A fighter than transcends the sport and becomes a massive star.

Right now, the UFC has a few stars on the rosters in guys like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Jorge Masvidal, and Israel Adesanya. Excluding McGregor those are the three most popular fighters that they have.

However, there is one fighter not in that group that has the potential to become the biggest star in the promotion. That fighter is Suga Sean O’Malley.

The Rise of a Star

The Suga Show first made it’s UFC debut on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series back in 2017. O’Malley delivered the goods in an epic knockout victory over Alfred Khashakyan.

O’Malley followed that up with back-to-back victories to start his UFC career. However, issues with USADA would sideline O’Malley for two years.

In his two years off, O’Malley completely elevated his game, and his star didn’t dim at all. In fact, his return at UFC 248 this year was talked about almost more than any fight on the main card.

O’Malley starched Jose Alberto Quinonez in the first round. O’Malley got a quick turnaround at UFC 250 against former title challenger, Eddie Wineland.

In the toughest matchup of his career, O’Malley put on his best performance. O’Malley slept Wineland early in the first with a walkoff KO that will be watched for years.

The UFC’s Plan Moving Forward

The promotion is being incredibly smart when it comes to the development of O’Malley. I think the company sees the potential they have with this guy.

Certain fighters just have it, and O’Malley definitely has it. People are just drawn to the guy and when he talks, people listen.

O’Malley is scheduled to fight Chito Vera at UFC 252 next month. If O’Malley gets the victory, he will continue to climb up the rankings.

The UFC is bringing O’Malley along like they did with Conor McGregor. Slowly building him up and giving him opponents that will allow him to put on exciting performances.

Think about McGregor’s fight against Diego Brandao. That is how I’m viewing the UFC 252 fight for O’Malley. A win will likely get him a crack at someone inside the top eight of the division.

The UFC is going to play this very smart and they are going to be strategic with O’Malley. Starting with the August fight, O’Malley might only be two or three wins away from his first crack at UFC gold. If O’Malley is able to become champion, he might become the biggest star in the promotion.

UFC: Where does Kelvin Gastelum go from here?

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Entering 2019, many people believed that Kelvin Gastelum (15-6, 1 NC) was near the top of the UFC‘s middleweight division.

Gastelum came into the year coming off of a knockout win over former champion Michael Bisping, and a win over Jacare Souza. Those wins led him to getting a interim title shot against Israel Adesanya.

The fight back at UFC 236 was an instant classic. Both men had big moments in the fight. Gastelum became the first man inside the UFC to make Adesanya look vulnerable.

In the final round of the fight, Adesanya made it clear that he was the better man. Gastelum fell in that fight, but his stock actually rose.

A fall from the top of the UFC’s middleweight division

Now we fast forward to our present time, and nobody believes that Gastelum is at the top of the UFC‘s middleweight division. After last Saturday, Gastelum is now 0-3 in his last three fights in the division.

Gastelum lost his fight to Adesanya then took on middleweight newcomer and former UFC welterweight title challenger, Darren Till.  Despite a split decision, I thought it was clear Till won the fight unanimously.

Gastelum took eight months off before showing up on Fight Island to fight Jack Hermansson. Gastelum talked about his mental struggles, but was confident he would dominate Hermansson. Hermansson went on to submit Gastelum in 78 seconds.

Gastelum is just getting ready to turn 29-years old, but where does he go from here? Gastelum is naturally a welterweight, but struggled mightily to make weight at 170.

After missing weight multiple times, Dana White forced Gastelum to move up. While his middleweight career started out well, he’s now just 3-4, 1 NC in the division.

I really think that Gastelum should evaluate what he wants to do moving forward. I think he could be one of the best welterweights in the world if he could show a little more discipline.

If Gastelum decides to stay in the UFC middleweight division, I’m not sure where he goes from here. Maybe he fights the loser of the Edmen Shahbazyan/Derek Brunson fight next? If not that, he’s going to have to take someone near the bottom of the top 15. Gastelum really needs to take a step back and evaluate the next steps in his career.

UFC: Justin Gaethje turns down Conor McGregor fight

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Right now, the UFC‘s lightweight division is in a bit of a holding pattern. In September, lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) was supposed to fight interim champion, Justin Gaethje (22-2).

However, after the recent passing of Nurmagomedov’s father, there have been question marks around the eagle’s future. As a result, the division has come to a halt.

With the uncertainty around his future, Khabib suggested that Gaethje fight Conor McGregor (22-4) while he figures his situation out. According to Gaethje’s manager, that was not an offer he was interested in.

“Khabib told me to tell Justin to go fight Conor. Justin said no,” Ali Abdelaziz said to TMZ Sports.

What’s next in the UFC’s lightweight division

A fight between McGregor and Gaethje for the interim UFC lightweight title would be massive. It’s a fight that has a ton of heat because the two men do not like each other.

Of course, McGregor has seemed to be enjoying retirement life as of now. Dana White and pretty much everyone in the world does not believe that McGregor is actually retired.

I’m a little surprised Gaethje was so quick to dismiss the opportunity to fight McGregor. However, at the same time it does make since if you’re Gaethje.

The interim UFC lightweight champion would have a tougher time dealing with McGregor due to the style. A McGregor-Gaethje matchup would happen completely on the feet.

If both men were at their peak, I don’t think many would favor Gaethje over McGregor in a stand up fight. Whereas Khabib will try to take Gaethje down over and over. If Gaethje could keep that fight standing, he’d have a massive advantage.

Despite the tougher matchup, I don’t think Gaethje is dodging McGregor. I think he just envisions becoming the undisputed UFC lightweight champion. A dangerous fight with McGregor could take that opportunity away in the blink of an eye.

 

UFC: Major title fights will be coming back to Fight Island

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UFC, Dana White

The UFC will be leaving Fight Island to return to the United States this week after a very successful first run in Abu Dhabi.

In speaking with The National, White detailed some of the bigger fights that he has in mind for the UFC‘s return to Abu Dhabi.

“Khabib will be the next…we’re talking about Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa, that fight is happening. Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas is a possibility. All the massive, big fights with literally the champion vs. the No. 1 contender are all looking like Fight Island.”

UFC’s Fall Return

The UFC‘s fall return to Fight Island is going to be massive. I would expect that the first fight we will see booked is the middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya (19-0) and Paulo Costa (13-0).

The two undefeated fighters have a ton of heat between the two of them. Over the weekend, the fight was prematurely announced for September. However, Dana White said the fight is not official.

Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) will be making his return at some point against Justin Gaethje (22-2). The two men will unify the UFC‘s lightweight championship on Fight Island.

Zhang and Namajunas is another massive fight that will happen on Fight Island. There could also be additional title fights that will still be announced in the months to come for Fight Island in the fall.

The UFC will likely have to make most of their big fights on Fight Island with the way that the pandemic is going. The United States is a fluid country with the virus. As a result, I think the UFC might be setting up shop on Fight Island for most of 2020.

UFC: Aljamain Sterling still not confirmed as number one contender

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After UFC 250 back in June, there was little doubt in the MMA community as to who was the number one contender in the bantamweight division.

Aljamain Sterling (19-3) steamrolled Cory Sandhagen in 88 seconds in what was supposed to be a title eliminator. Everyone (including myself) made the assumption that Sterling would be next for the UFC bantamweight title.

However, UFC president Dana White has yet to confirm Sterling as the next contender. White is usually pretty firm about the next guys in line. Just look at how he’s talking about Gilbert Burns. White was asked about Sterling at the post-fight press conference last night.

Who is the UFC’s top bantamweight contender?

White continues to evade from confirming Sterling as the next contender for Petr Yan’s first title defense. Yan (15-1) just won the vacant UFC bantamweight title a little over a week ago on Fight Island.

I just can’t help but think that if Sterling is not the next contender, who is? The only two guys ranked around Sterling are Marlon Moraes and Cody Garbrandt. Those two guys are rumored to be fighting in October.

Yan has said that he wants to defend his title for the first time in October. So that would rule out those two. Sandhagen just lost to Sterling and Aldo just lost to Yan. The only other guy in the top six is Pedro Munhoz who is fighting Frankie Edgar at UFC 252.

Is it possible that the UFC is waiting to see if Frankie Edgar (23-8-1) can defeat Munhoz at UFC 252? Are they thinking more about name recognition instead of resume?

Whatever the reason, it just doesn’t make sense. Despite the chaos in other divisions, the bantamweight division seems very clear. There is a true number one contender and his name is Aljamain Sterling.