UFC

UFC: Khabib Nurmagomedov-Justin Gaethje title fight targeted for UFC 253 on Sept. 19

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Arguably the most anticipated UFC title fight of 2020 is getting closer to being official. Combate is reporting that the UFC is close to finalizing the lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) and Justin Gaethje (22-2). The anticipated matchup would headline UFC 253 on September 19th. UFC President, Dana White, has recently said that they were targeting this matchup for September.

Nurmagomedov looks to overcome a tough 2020

For champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, 2020 has not been the best of years. He was scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 249, but was forced to pull out of the event due to travel restrictions in Russia. Following that, his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, was diagnosed with COVID-19. He’s been in critical condition for a significant portion of time. Despite all of this, Khabib has been in the gym and said to be more motivated than ever to defend his UFC lightweight title. He’s said to be using everything from this year as motivation for him to put on the best performance of his career.

Nurmagomedov has been one of the more dominating fighters the UFC has ever seen. His record is almost confusing because you never see someone reach a record like 28-0 in MMA. Nurmagomedov’s last two performances were the best of his career. At UFC 229, Nurmagomedov smashed bitter rival, Conor McGregor, then submitted him in the fourth round. After being suspended due to a post-fight brawl, Nurmagomedov made his return last September against Dustin Poirier. Poirier had won the interim lightweight title in Khabib’s absense. The fight was very similar to the McGregor fight in that Nurmagomedov had his way before submitting Poirier in the third round. Nurmagomedov might be facing his biggest challenge yet in the form of current interim champion, Justin Gaethje.

Gaethje looks to continue his run to the undisputed UFC title

Back in April of 2018, Justin Gaethje was knocked out in the fourth round by Dustin Poirier at UFC on Fox 29. It was the second straight knockout loss for Gaethje, and he realized he needed to make a big career change. Gaethje said that he would start to have fun in the middle of a brawl which would leave him susceptible to counters which would hurt him badly. Gaethje and coach, Trevor Wittman, started working on Gaethje being more technical and patient inside the octagon. Since the mental change, there has been nobody more impressive in the UFC‘s lightweight division than Gaethje.

Since the loss to Poirier, Gaethje has gone 4-0 with four knockouts including three in the first round. Gaethje’s last performance against Tony Ferguson was truly the “Highlight” of his career. Despite Nurmagomedov being the champion, many people believed that Tony Ferguson was the best lightweight in the world. The two were scheduled to fight before Khabib couldn’t leave Russia. Gaethje decided to step in, and he put on the best performance of his career. Outside of getting dropped in the second round, Gaethje controlled the entire fight before stopping Ferguson in the fifth round to win the UFC‘s interim lightweight championship. These two lightweight superstars are on a collision course, and only one man will leave the undisputed lightweight champion.

The Takedown

This is a very fascinating matchup to breakdown when you think about it stylistically. To date, nobody has been able to stop Nurmagomedov from taking them down. Gaethje is a tremendous wrestler, but in college, he was known for his defensive wrestling. He was incredibly hard to take down. Looking at the two, Gaethje definitely has the advantage on the feet. Gaethje has incredible hands and arguably the best leg kicks in the business. This fight will truly come down to the takedown. If Nurmagomedov can get Gaethje to the ground, it will be just like another Khabib fight. If he can’t, it could be a long night for the Russian. I cannot wait to break this fight down as we get closer to UFC 253.

UFC: Conor McGregor Called Out By Mayweather Over Retirement

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Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather

UFC 250 is past, but some of the most notable news came after the event – Conor McGregor announced his intent to retire, again, and the MMA world has been left wondering if it’s legitimate or if it’s a negotiating tactic to set up better conditions for McGregor to get a fight that he wants.

McGregor claims to not be excited by the fight game anymore, and this time, his retirement appears to be from all combat sports – a departure from how things were when the UFC lightweight took a break from MMA to pursue a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

It’s McGregor’s former opponent Mayweather that recently weighed in on the supposed retirement, using it as a chance to question past statements from McGregor and question his choice while hinting at the possibility of a future challenge.

“Well, if you decide to come back, I will be waiting to punish you again,” Mayweather closed the Instagram comment with.

The two originally met in August 2017 in a fight that Mayweather won using a conservative strategy, tiring out his opponent over the course of a fight that went on longer than some expected. The end result was a TKO in the 10th round, but the closer than expected nature of the fight didn’t help to extinguish talks about a rematch. After all, in boxing, a rematch can be profitable for both sides involved more-so than in MMA.

But that won’t happen if McGregor’s retirement from combat sports is real – which isn’t a certainty, considering McGregor’s history of apparently walking away from MMA only to come back again before long. Will that happen again? It definitely could, but for now, it looks like we might not see another boxing match involving the always controversial former UFC champion.

UFC: Ian Heinisch gets quick turnaround; fights Brendan Allen on June 27

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What a month it’s been for UFC middleweight Ian Heinisch. First, he has a cornerman test positive for COVID-19 which led to the UFC pulling him off the UFC 250 card. Then he gets the news that the test was a false positive so the fight was back on. He then went on to knock out Gerald Meerschaert in the first round. After all that, he has decided to take on another fight this month against Meerschaert’s teammate.

Heinisch looking for two wins in one month

The UFC has booked Heinisch (14-3) and Brendan Allen (14-3) for UFC Fight Night 174 on June 27th. Heinisch made a big statement with his win at UFC 250. Heinisch came into that fight with his back up against a wall after losing two consecutive fights. Heinisch had a ton of momentum before that losing streak, and he needed to get back to his winning ways. Heinisch spent some time in Thailand working on his skills prior to the event. The training paid off and Heinisch looked better than ever. He will now look to win his second fight in the month of June.

Brendan Allen looks to join the ranks

For Allen, he’s looking to continue his winning streak and avenge his teammate in this fight. Since winning his fight on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, Allen has gone 2-0 in the UFC with two finishes. Heinisch is the first opponent in the top 15 for Allen. This would be a massive win for Allen which would launch him into the top 15 in the UFC’s middleweight division.

UFC Fight Night 174, which is headlined by Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker, is coming together nicely for the promotion. The card also features great matchups including: Aspen Ladd/Sara McMann and Mike Perry/Mickey Gall. This last card for the month of June is the perfect springboard for what should be an insane month of July for the UFC.

UFC: Trouble at the top; McGregor, Jones, and Masvidal frustrated with the UFC

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UFC, Dana White

UFC President Dana White seems to have a problem on his hands. Three of the top stars in the UFC have all come out in the last week expressing their frustrations with the company. Everything started with the failed Jon Jones/Francis Ngannou negotiations. Then it spilled into the Jorge Masvidal/Kamaru Usman negotiations. Then out of no where on Saturday night, Conor McGregor announces he’s leaving the sport because of where things stand with him. The world is going through a pandemic which has already created a lot of issues for the UFC, but the UFC’s biggest problems start at the top.

The Jon Jones Situation

Back in early May, the UFC was riding high after being the first major sport to return to action. UFC 249 was a huge success, and so many fighters were chomping at the bit to get back into the octagon. One of those fighters was UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. Jones has flirted with the idea of moving to heavyweight for the last couple of years, and after Francis Ngannou’s performance at UFC 249, “Bones” was ready to take on the challenge.

The two men exchanged some public jabs through Twitter, and stated that they wanted to fight each other if the money was right. Jones said that he wanted to be paid more to make the jump up in weight to take on the heavyweight knockout artist. Conventional wisdom was that Jones would probably get a pay bump, but then Jones took to Twitter to voice his frustrations.

This was just the beginning of this saga. There was some public back and forth between White and Jones before Jones came out and asked to be released. Jones went on to announce on Twitter that he would vacate his light heavyweight title. Jones is widely considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, and he’s one of the biggest names in the sport. White acknowledged the fact that Jones was a partner in the business, and stated that they would figure things out eventually. Jones took to Twitter as recently as yesterday to voice his frustrations stating: “Everything was good until I asked for a piece of the pie…”.

Jorge Masvidal wants answers or a release

By all accounts, the UFC was fully planning on having Jorge Masvidal fight Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title on July 11th. Masvidal had an incredible 2019, and the two men have had verbal altercations which has put a lot of steam behind the fight. Despite not bringing in money from live gates, it appeared that the fight would get done. However, everything changed when Masvidal took to Twitter to voice his frustrations.

Following the Jones situation, it appeared that we had a second failed negotiation with the UFC. Since this tweet, there has been a lot of public remarks made by “Gambred” regarding the revenue split between the fighters and the UFC. The July 11th negotiations are pretty much dead, and Masivdal is wanting answers from the UFC. After defeating Tyron Woodley, Gilbert Burns is likely going to get the title shot over Masvidal due to the fact that he’s willing to accept the smaller purse to make the fight happen. Masvidal is now in this incredibly frustrating position where he doesn’t have an opponent, and he doesn’t have any prospects. White said that Masvidal just signed a new seven fight deal months ago which gives the UFC way more leverage in these negotiations, but it’s still frustrating for the welterweight.

Conor McGregor Walks Away. . . For now

UFC 250 was another huge success for the company. The fights were incredible and the PPV numbers were trending very well. Five minutes hadn’t gone by after the Amanda Nunes fight had ended before Twitter became the platform again for a big statement. This one coming from the biggest star the sport has ever seen.

Conor McGregor shocked everyone by announcing his retirement from fighting right after the event had concluded. McGregor has been very active on social media lately showing off his training and calling out multiple fighters. McGregor has told White that he wanted to fight as soon as he could. White said last week that he would recommend that McGregor wait until Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje fight in September. This obviously was incredibly frustrating for the Irishman to hear.

McGregor stated at the beginning of 2020 that he wanted to be very active this year. He wanted multiple fights, and he wanted to regain his lightweight title. If McGregor had followed the advice of White, he would likely not fight again until December, if not 2021. That would be another year-long layoff for McGregor. He stated in an interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that we wanted to fight Gaethje for the interim title in July.

The UFC was not willing to make that happen, and they did not offer McGregor another opponent. As a result, the superstar was left just sitting there. Frustrated by the entire thing, McGregor took to Twitter to announce his retirement. To me, this sounds a lot like the UFC is not too eager to make a Conor McGregor fight with no fans in the stands. It would be a massive PPV, but they’d be missing out on a $10+ million gate. In my opinion, that is playing a massive role in the UFC’s hesitancy to give him a fight. Now, I don’t believe that McGregor is actually retired, but I do believe that there are major problems between the UFC and their top draws.

Where does the UFC go from here?

The UFC needs to get a handle on this situation. It is one thing for one fighter to publicly come out with an issue, it’s another ballgame when three of your biggest stars are asking to either be released or retiring altogether. The UFC still does not have a main event for their big July 11th card. If it was me, I would try to work things out with Masvidal to get the original fight booked. If I couldn’t make that happen, I’d try to get McGregor to headline the card. Missing out on a live gate is not worth losing Conor McGregor for good. The UFC needs to sit down with these guys and figure out the best path forward for everyone. As White stated, these guys are partners with the company when they become stars. The situation is tense right now, but I think eventually we will see cooler heads prevail. As a fan, I’m hoping that we get to see all three men fight again at some point in 2020. You have to believe the UFC would like that as well.

UFC: Alexander Volkanovski & Max Holloway rematch targeted for UFC 251

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The UFC is planning on putting together it’s biggest card of the year on July 11th, and we now know one of the title fights that Dana White is planning on bringing to Fight Island.

Volkanovski out to prove a point

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported Monday evening that the UFC is planning on having Alexander Volkanovski (21-1) and Max Holloway (21-5) run things back at UFC 251. Back at UFC 245, Volkanovski shocked the world when he dethroned Holloway. Volkanovski has been nothing short of dominant since he joined the UFC back in 2016. Since his debut, Volkanovski has gone 8-0 and owns victories over Holloway, Jose Aldo, and Chad Mendes. In this rematch, Volkanovski is looking to prove that his first victory over Holloway was not a fluke.

Holloway looks to win back the UFC featherweight title

Max Holloway had a rough 2019 after going on a five-year run that saw the former champion go 13-0. Holloway entered 2019 as one of the pound for pound best fighters in the world. He moved up in weight to fight Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title at UFC 236. He would lose that fight then return to featherweight where he successfully defended his title against Frankie Edgar. In December, Holloway was dethroned by Volkanovski which gave him a 1-2 record for 2019. Many consider Holloway to be the greatest featherweight of all-time, and he’s looking to prove that he’s still the best in the world on this trip to UFC‘s Fight Island.

The July 11th card is going to be stacked. Helwani reported that the UFC is considering having three title fights in total on the card. In addition to the title fights, the UFC has already booked: Andrade/Namajunas, Munhoz/Edgar, and Oezdemir/Prochazka. While the UFC might not have one of their biggest stars on this card, they are stacking the deck with some incredible fights.

UFC: Holly Holm and Irene Aldana to headline 8/1 Event

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Things are fast and furious in the UFC right now. Another Fight Night is coming to the APEX on August 1st, and a former champion will be headlining the card.

Another chance to climb the ladder for Holly Holm

Holly Holm (13-5) and Irene Aldana (12-5) will be going head to head in a women’s bantamweight matchup that will headline the UFC‘s 8/1 card. Holm, the former UFC bantamweight champion, bounced back after a loss to Amanda Nunes with a win over Raquel Pennington back at UFC 246. Holm has consistently been one of the best in the world over the last five years, and has appeared in five UFC title fights. For Holm, a win in this matchup could get her closer to a sixth title fight. Holm is just 1-4 in her championship fights, but she remains confident that she could capture UFC gold again one day.

Aldana can prove she’s one of the best in the world

Aldana will be making her ninth appearance in the UFC‘s bantamweight division. Aldana got off to a rough start in her UFC career losing her first two fights, but since then, she’s gone 5-1 with her lone loss being a split decision loss to former title challenger, Raquel Pennington. Aldana won her last fight by first round knockout, and a win over Holm could mean a title shot for Aldana. If you look at the landscape of the bantamweight division, there is no clear challenger for champion, Amanda Nunes. If Aldana can come out and impressively beat the former champion, she has just as good of an argument as anyone for the next shot at Nunes.

Brunson/Shahbazyan to finally fight

In addition to announcing the Holm/Aldana main event, it was revealed that Derek Brunson (20-7) and Edmen Shahbazyan (11-0) would also be fighting on the August 1st card. This is the third time that this anticipated middleweight contest has been booked. Shahbazyan is a very exciting 22-year-old prospect who is coming off of a head kick knockout over Brad Tavares back at UFC 244. Brunson is a big test for Shahbazyan. Brunson has been in there with the best in the world from champion, Israel Adesanya, to former champion, Robert Whittaker, to the great Anderson Silva. A win over Brunson would be massive for Shahbazyan, but a win for Brunson would inch him closer to a title shot after three consecutive wins.

UFC: Jiri Prochazka set for debut; fights Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 251

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UFC

UFC 251 just added a big-time light heavyweight matchup to it’s impressive and growing fight card. Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger, Volkan Oezdemir (17-4), will be welcoming a big-time fighter to the UFC that not a lot of people know about.

Prochazka’s Debut

Jiri Prochazka (26-3-1) was signed by the UFC back in January to a new exclusive deal. Prochazka comes into this first UFC fight riding a ten fight winning streak, where only one fight went the distance. He has only seen the second round in two of those ten fights. Prochazka is coming off wins over UFC vets, C.B. Dollaway and Fabio Maldonado. Prochazka was the Rizin light heavyweight champion prior to signing with the UFC. 23 of Prochazka’s 26 career wins have come via KO or TKO.

Volkan looks to keep it going

Oezdemir is coming off back to back wins which have helped his career get back on track. Oezdemir lost three consecutive fights starting with his world title loss to Daniel Cormier back at UFC 220. The light heavyweight division is in a state of limbo, but this is a really good fight for the division. If Oezdemir is able to win this fight, it would be his third in a row, and it would put him right back at the top of the division.

This is a great matchup to introduce a new fighter to the division. Prochazka is not getting a layup here in his first fight. We will know right away what kind of fighter this guy is. A win for either man will put them squarely in the conversation for a future title shot. If you’re not familiar with Prochazka, you can check out his highlights below.

UFC close to finalizing Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier 3

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The UFC is close to finalizing the third and final installment of the Stipe Miocic/Daniel Cormier rivalry for later this summer. The two fighters have taken to Twitter to announce that the trilogy fight is on.

UFC President, Dana White, hinted this weekend at UFC 250 that the fight was close to being done. Stipe Miocic (19-3), has been recovering much of this year from an eye injury that he suffered at the hands of Daniel Cormier (22-2-1) in their second fight back at UFC 241. That night, Miocic redeemed himself, stopping Cormier in the fourth round to win back the heavyweight title of the world.

As UFC fans, we are getting to witness a second trilogy in the last ten years involving the heavyweight title. Cormier’s AKA teammate, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos gave UFC fans three incredible fights for the heavyweight title. Velazquez closed the trilogy with an incredible fifth round TKO to win the series 2-1. Now, it’s Cormier’s turn to try to win his trilogy in what will likely be his last UFC fight.

Miocic: 1 – Cormier: 1 with 2 Knockouts

Cormier became the second man in UFC history to hold two UFC titles simultaneously after he knocked out Miocic back at UFC 226. Miocic had defended the title more times than any UFC heavyweight champion in history, but Cormier, who was the light heavyweight champion at the time, moved up in weight and knocked him out in the first round. The MMA world was turned on it’s head, and Cormier finally won a legitimate title that wasn’t tied to his light heavyweight rival, Jon Jones.

Cormier defended the title against Derrick Lewis back at UFC 230 before granting Miocic his rematch. The second fight was a classic back and forth battle. Cormier was controlling the fight leading into the championship rounds. However, Miocic made some key adjustments and started doing serious body work. Miocic was able to catch Cormier with a body shot which hurt “DC” bad, and Miocic finished him off with a flurry of punches winning back his title.

Miocic vs Cormier 3 is about more than the title

There is so much on the line in the conclusion of this trilogy. If Miocic is able to defeat Cormier for a second time, he will solidify himself as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. If Cormier is able to defeat Miocic for the second time, he might be able to make that same distinction, but he will also go down as one of the greatest to ever do it. These two men do not like each other, and both men have knocked the other out. This is the heavyweight title fight we’ve been waiting for, and it’s going to happen later this summer.

Five Fights to Make after UFC 250

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UFC, Dana White

Last night, the UFC made it’s PPV return to the fight capital of the world, and the card did not disappoint. There was a leg-kick TKO, two walk-off knockouts, and a brilliant performance from the greatest female fighter of all time. With that being said, let’s talk through five matchups that should be booked following UFC 250.

Suga Sean O’Malley vs Top Ten Opponent

Before last night, I said that the UFC did a great job of booking Eddie Wineland as an opponent for Suga Sean. O’Malley (12-0) is an elite striker, and he does a fantastic job at fighting from range. I thought it was the perfect showcase fight for him, and he did not disappoint. About halfway through the first round, O’Malley uncorked a right straight that put Wineland to sleep. O’Malley’s star is only going to continue to shine brighter, but I think the UFC needs to bring him along gradually. They need to use a similar path that they used with Conor McGregor.

O’Malley needs to fight someone in the rankings for his next fight. If you ask me, I would give him someone like a Rob Font (17-4). Font is currently ranked as the tenth best bantamweight in the world according to the UFC rankings. Font is coming off back to back wins, and he would be a good test for O’Malley. Font has been in there with some of the best guys in the world, and has only lost three times since 2016 to John Lineker, Pedro Munhoz, and Ralphael Assuncao. This is another winnable fight for O’Malley, but it would be a fight that would give him some top ten experience. Another win would vault O’Malley closer to the top five and a potential title shot.

Cory Sandhagen vs Jimmie Rivera

Last night did not go as planned for Cory Sandhagen (12-2). Sandhagen entered the matchup riding high having been unbeaten in the UFC. Sandhagen was submitted early in the first round by Aljamain Sterling (19-3). The only positive for Sandhagen was that he didn’t take damage in this fight. Sterling was able to get his back very quickly, but didn’t land a ton of shots. Instead, Sterling used his diverse ground attack to lock up a rear naked choke. With the loss, it’s back to the drawing board for Sandhagen.

To me, Jimmie Rivera (22-4) would be a good next opponent for Sandhagen. Rivera is currently ranked eighth in the world, but he’s coming off of back to back losses to Petr Yan and Sterling. Rivera is a tough guy who has consistently been one of the best in the world at bantamweight. Rivera hasn’t fought since last June so you have to believe he’s looking for a fight. With the limited damage, I’m guessing Sandhagen would like to get back in there as soon as he can. This would be a solid matchup of two top ten bantamweights who are looking to get back on the right track.

Cody Garbrandt vs Marlon Moraes

Cody Garbrandt (12-3) might have landed the best clean walkoff knockout of all time last night. Garbrandt had his back against the wall and he was facing a very tough challenger in Ralphael Assuncao (27-8). Garbrandt showed massive improvements last night in terms of his fighting IQ. Garbrandt stayed on the outside and used his speed brilliantly in this fight. Just before the second round ended, Garbrandt unleashed a right hand that put Assuncao to sleep. After getting knocked out three times in a row, this is exactly the type of win that Garbrandt needed.

“Magic” Marlon Moraes (23-6-1) is in a very weird spot in the bantamweight division. Moraes is currently the number one ranked bantamweight and he’s coming off of a win against the man who is getting the next title shot, Jose Aldo. Moraes is 5-1 in his last six fights with his only loss being to former champion, Henry Cejudo. It’s very clear that Aljamain Sterling is getting the next title shot, but a Garbrandt/Moraes fight would be perfect to setup the next challenger. Yan and Aldo will fight this summer, but maybe the UFC looks to book Sterling against the winner with Garbrandt/Moraes on the under card. Either way, I think this is the fight that makes the most sense.

Aljamain Sterling vs Winner of Yan/Aldo

There is no one in the UFC right now that is probably more deserving of a title shot than Aljamain Sterling. Sterling has now won five straight fights since his last loss to Marlon Moraes. Sterling has looked sensational in his last three fights, but last night he went to the next level. He went through the fourth ranked bantamweight like he was nothing. Sterling made an emphatic statement that he is next for the title, and honestly, he should be fighting for the title now.

Petr Yan (14-1) and Jose Aldo (28-6) have their fight finalized for sometime in July. Dana White announced that the fight was done and would take place in July. Sterling will be watching this fight very closely to figure out who he’s going to be taking on for the title.

Amanda Nunes vs Megan Anderson

To be honest, I really don’t know what to do with Amanda Nunes (20-4). She looked better than ever last night completely out-classing poor Felicia Spencer (8-2) over the course of a five-round beat down. Nunes is so much better than her competition it’s not even funny. I don’t see anyone in either of her two divisions giving her a challenge. Her only realistic challenger would be the UFC’s flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko. I previously said it’s a super fight the UFC needs to make, but last night, Dana White said that fight wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.

With that in mind, we look at her two divisions for some challengers. After previously defending her bantamweight title a couple of times in a row, I think Nunes will look to defend her featherweight title for the second time in a row. The logical choice for a challenger would be Megan Anderson (11-4). Anderson is 3-1 in her last four fights with her only loss being to Felicia Spencer. Anderson is a very tall woman and could pose some interesting challenges for the champion. However, I don’t think anyone would give Anderson much of a chance in this one. Nunes is just so much better than anyone which is why she is the greatest of all time.

UFC: Jorge Masvidal Wants Answers from UFC after failed negotiations

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One of the UFC’s brightest stars is asking for some answers from his employer. Jorge Masvidal became a huge star during 2019 after he knocked out Darren Till, Ben Askren, and won the BMF title against Nate Diaz back at UFC 244. Masvidal’s huge year made him the number one contender in line to fight the winner of the Kamaru Usman/Colby Covington fight back in December. Usman went on to win that fight which would setup the big title fight with Masvidal. All year long, this fight was anticipated to headline the UFC‘s big July PPV. Even after the pandemic hit, the UFC seemed to be pushing to book this fight for July 11th. Those talks have come to a screeching halt.

There seemed to be some back and forth going on with negotiating the finances for the fight. Masvidal said in an interview with ESPN’s Kenny Mayne that when the Jon Jones situation was going on, he started taking a look at the holdup in his own negotiations. Masvidal stated that the UFC decided to pull his offer off the table, and offer the title fight to another fighter for a lot less money. He said that the fighter is willing to take the fight which leaves him in a weird position. We can all assume that the fighter he’s talking about would be Gilbert Burns. This week, Dana White said that Burns would likely be next for the title after his win against Tyron Woodley.

Revenue Split

Masvidal mentions in his interview that most major sports in America have about a 50/50 revenue split between the owners and the athletes. He mentions that the deal that was being offered to him or the athletes was for about 18% of the revenue. Upon investigating the numbers further, Masvidal wants answers from the UFC, which is why negotiations have gone south quickly. White came out this week and said that they will not beg anyone to fight with everything going on. There are a lot of fighters who just want action, but the top draws are still wanting their money.

Where to go?

To be honest, I’m really not sure where we are going to go from here. Gambred has mentioned that if he doesn’t get compensated fairly, he would like to be released. Masvidal joins Jon Jones as the second fighter to ask for a release due to failed negotiations with UFC brass. White came out this week said this week that he was confident the UFC would work things out with Jones. They will likely get this figured out with Masvidal as well. It’s clear that some issues have come to the surface recently between the UFC and some of their top athletes when it comes to fighter pay. With everything going on, Burns is likely going to get the next shot at Usman which will leave Masvidal without an opponent. Maybe the UFC tries to book a fight with Gamebred and his former friend, Colby Covington. Honestly, that fight might sell more than Masvidal’s fight with Kamaru Usman. Time will tell, but you can catch Masvidal’s entire interview with Kenny Mayne below.