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Category: UFC News

  • UFC 197 Observer Panel Picks: Jon Jones vs. OSP: DJ vs. Henry Cejudo

    As Elton John once said, “Saturday night’s all fight for fighting!” and with a week of madness in the world of MMA, it’s time for some action inside the Octagon and tonight will see the return of Jon Jones.

    While not quite the matchup that everyone was hoping for due to light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier pulling out of the originally scheduled main event, it’s still a big deal when the pound for pound best in the world steps into the Octagon. If you don’t buy the “interim” tag as legitimate, you can watch Demetrious Johnson put up his flyweight title in the night’s co-main event against the unbeaten Henry Cejudo. There are also two former champions on the card in Anthony Pettis and Carla Esparza. It should be a great night of action and our panel weighs in with their picks for the biggest fights on the card.

    Here’s our panel with the 2016 records in parenthesis. We’ve also added a running tally of the records of the favorites going into the fights and the panel consensus picks

    • John Pollock (24-11; .686) – Fight Network analyst, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, MMA Report co-host
    • Josh Nason (23-12; .657) – Host of Josh Nason’s Punch Out; writer/editor WrestlingObserver.com , WON Twitter guy
    • Mike Sawyer (21-14; .600) – Tough Talk MMA
    • Consensus picks (19-13; .594)
    • Mike Sempervive (20-15; .571) – Wrestling Observer Live and Big Audio Nightmare co-host
    • David Bixenspan (20-15; .571) – Figure Four Weekly writer, podcast host
    • Ryan Frederick (20-15; .571) – Observer DraftKings expert, WON Twitter guy
    • Favorites (20-15; .571)
    • Dave Meltzer (19-16; .543)– Wrestling Observer founder
    • Steve Juon (19-16; .543) – MMA Mania/Wrestling Observer writer, Angry Marks founder
    • Front Row Brian (17-18; .486) – MMA newsbreaker, Beloved internet personality, Podcast host
    • Paul Fontaine (16-19; .457) – MMADraws.com founder, WrestlingObserver.com writer

    Interim Light Heavyweight Title: Jon Jones (21-1) vs Ovince St Preux  (19-7)

    Jones’ problems outside the cage are well documented but inside the cage it’s hard, if not impossible, to question his dominance. The only question here is whether nearly 16 months outside the Octagon in the prime of his career will hurt him. For his first fight back he really shouldn’t have a problem with the overmatched OSP, who took this fight on three week’s notice. The winner of this fight should get a title fight with Daniel Cormier this year in what will be one of the biggest fights of the year.

    Jones (massive favorite): Juon, Frederick, Sawyer, Pollock, Nason, Sempervive, Fontaine, Bix, Meltzer, FRB

    UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson (23-2-1) vs Henry Cejudo (10-0)

     Johnson is the first and only champion in this division, having beaten Joseph Benavidez in a tournament final nearly 4 years ago to win the strap. This will be his 8th title defence and he’s the longest reigning current champion in the UFC. He’s also managed to finish 4 of his last 6 challengers  inside of 5 rounds. He does have a tough test in Olympic champion wrestler Cejudo. The unbeaten challenger has been on a fast track to a title shot since debuting in the UFC 15 months ago and has won all 4 of his fights in the Octagon, despite not having scored a finish. If “Mighty Mouse” manages to get through Cejudo, he’s scheduled to face the winner of the TUF 24 flyweight tournament later this year.

    • Johnson (big favorite) – Juon, Frederick, Sawyer, Pollock, Nason, Bix, Meltzer, FRB
    • Cejudo – Sempervive, Fontaine

    Anthony Pettis (18-4) vs Edson Barboza (16-4)
    Lightweights

    These guys are on almost every show…in a sense. Pettis’ “Showtime” kick, which clinch his WEC title fight with Benson Henderosn is shows in video packages at every live event, as is Barboza’s devastating head-kick KO of Terry Etim in their 2012 bout. Matching them up together will hopefully produce another memorable moment and it will almost certainly be an action-packed fight. Barboza is trying to get where Pettis has already been, to the top of the most stacked division in MMA. Both guys have lost 2 of their last 3 fights though and a loss for either man will probably remove them from the title picture.

    • Pettis (moderate favorite) – Juon, Frederick, Sawyer, Pollock, Nason, Fontaine, Meltzer, FRB
    • Barboza – Sempervive, Bix

    Robert Whittaker (15-4) vs Rafael Natal (21-6-1)
    Middleweights

    Whittaker has been on a tear since moving up from 170 as he’s won 3 straight with 2 KO’s and a dominant decision win over Uriah Hall. The TUF Smashes winner is probably Australia’s best hope for their first ever UFC champion. Standing in his way is the veteran Natal. After losing to Tim Kennedy in his first and only UFC main event, Natal followed that up with a loss to veteran Ed Herman and many thought he was done. Instead he’s rung up 4 straight wins and will be in title contention with a win over Whittaker. This is a very important fight in the division and could steal the show.

    Whittaker (big favorite) – Juon, Whittaker, Sawyer, Pollock, Nason, Sempervive, Fontaine, Bix, Meltzer, FRB

    Carla Esparza (10-3) vs Juliana Lima (8-2)
    Strawweights

    Esparza makes her UFC return 13 months after being destroyed in a 2 round massacre at the hands of Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The first ever champion in this dvision also formerly held the Invicta title in the same weight class. Lima also fought the current champ but managed to go the distance with her in her UFC debut. Since that loss, she’s run up two straight decision wins and will be on the short list of title contenders with a win over the former champ.

    • Esparza (moderate favorite) – Juon, Whittaker, Sawyer, Pollock, Nason, Sempervive, Bix, Meltzer, FRB
    • Lima – Fontaine

    *****

    Action begins with the Fight Prelims at 6:30 pm eastern, followed by the FS 1 portion at 8. The main card kicks off at 10 pm on PPV and Dave Meltzer will have ongoing coverage of the entire card.

    While you’re waiting, check out the following content, also related to the show:

  • UFC 197 DFS Playbook: value picks, who to avoid

    The Octagon heads back to Las Vegas and pay-per-view for UFC 197 on Saturday night, featuring the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. Jon Jones makes his return against Ovince Saint Preux in the main event for the UFC Interim Light Heavyweight Championship, and Demetrious Johnson defends the UFC Flyweight Championship against Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo in the co-main event. Below are our studs, value plays and fighters to avoid when making your fantasy line-ups for Saturday’s event.

    STUDS

    Jon Jones ($11,400)

    Jon Jones is the top play for this weekend’s event as he makes his long-awaited and much-anticipated return to the Octagon. It isn’t the fight everyone wants since Daniel Cormier pulled out due to injury, but he gets Ovince Saint Preux, who is a solid top-ten fighter at 205 pounds, but a favorable matchup for Jones. Jones commands the highest salary of all the fighters on the card, and really, that is to be expected seeing as he is arguably the best fighter in the world. The biggest question surrounding Jones is whether the 15 months off and the distractions throughout that time hinder his performance.

    There is nothing that suggests that, though. Saint Preux is powerful at this weight and has solid striking and a great submission game, but he is taking the fight on short notice, and he can’t match the skills of Jones. Jones has dynamic striking, great wrestling and excellent submissions, and is suffocating from top position. Saint Preux struggles when he is controlled on the mat, often looking like a lost puppy when on bottom. Jones should finish him, it’s just a matter of when. Jones should be the most used fighter on the card.

    James Vick ($10,900)

    James Vick is entering UFC 197 on Saturday with a perfect 8-0 record in his career, and a 4-0 record inside the Octagon. If you include his bouts on TUF, his overall record would be 11-1, with the only loss coming to Michael Chiesa, a top-ten ranked lightweight. To say the least, Vick’s record isn’t too shabby. The only problem is his lack of activity due to injuries and various reasons. He was on the TUF Live season in early 2012, but didn’t make his UFC debut until August 2013. He was then out of action for over a year, but had three fights between August 2014 and May 2015.

    He hasn’t fought since that May fight, when he submitted Jake Matthews, who was also undefeated at the time and hyped by a lot. Vick has scored stoppage wins in five of his eight wins, all of them in the first round. He is fighting TUF Brazil winner Glaico Franca on Saturday. Franca won his lone UFC bout in August but this is a huge step up in competition for him. Vick should be able to easily score the win on Saturday, and a finish is very likely. He is an excellent play on Saturday.

    VALUE PLAYS

    Andre Fili ($8,900)

    Andre Fili boasts an impressive 15-3 record in his professional career but has struggled for consistency inside the Octagon. He is just 3-2 in the UFC and has rotated wins-and-losses in those bouts. History would dictate that he is set up for a loss on Saturday as he won his last fight. However, he looked the best he has to date in his first-round TKO win over Gabriel Benitez in November, and he is improving in his overall performance. He has struggled with UFC caliber opposition, and he has that on Saturday in the form of Yair Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a former TUF Mexico winner and has been solid in his three UFC bouts, and is coming off an impressive showing in his most recent win. Fili is the toughest test for Rodriguez to date in the UFC, and he has more than twice the experience of Rodriguez. Fili is a very solid value play on this card and worth a look.

    Henry Cejudo ($8,400)

    Henry Cejudo has been to the top of the mountain in every competition he has been in, and the only thing left is to win UFC gold. He has that opportunity on Saturday night when he takes on Demetrious Johnson for the UFC Flyweight Championship. Cejudo is undefeated in his MMA career and is a former Olympic gold medalist in wrestling. He enters the fight with Johnson on Saturday night as a big underdog, thus making his salary very low, among the lowest on the card. He has a tall task in front of him in Johnson, who is one of the best in the world.

    What makes Cejudo an interesting play is the fact that this fight is five rounds, and it is likely to go the full five rounds. Cejudo has been the distance in all of his UFC bouts and Johnson has gone to the fifth round in all but two of his title fights. That should give both men more opportunities to land significant strikes and for Cejudo to use his wrestling. He also has a good chance at scoring an upset. It is hard to pick against Johnson, but Cejudo’s salary makes his excellent value.

    FIGHTERS TO AVOID

    Kevin Lee ($10,300)

    Kevin Lee is looking to rebound from a disappointing loss to Leonard Santos in December, a fight many expected to go his way. Perhaps he was thinking that too and got too overconfident, and it ended up with him being finished in the first. That ended Lee’s four-fight win streak and has relegated him to opening fight duties on the UFC 197 card. Lee gets a tough opponent in Efrain Escudero, a long-time UFC veteran and former TUF winner who needs a win himself if he wants to avoid being cut for the third time. Lee is the favorite and should get the win, but here is why I am putting him as a fighter to avoid. At his salary, I see better options available at similar salaries. I don’t see him finishing Escudero, and I don’t see him scoring a lot of points en route to a win. Lee likely will win, but for fantasy reasons, I recommend fading him in your line-ups.

    Walt Harris ($9,800)

    Walt Harris has fought three times inside the Octagon, and all three times he has lost. His last two losses have been by knockout. Surprisingly, he has a higher salary than his opponent, Cody East. East is making his UFC debut coming off of Dana White’s Looking For A Fight show, and he boasts a 12-1 record. East has won nine straight fights and eleven of his twelve wins have come by stoppage. East has eight wins in the first round, and he should be looking for an impressive debut win. Harris trains with a top camp in the American Top Team camp, but has just a 7-4 overall record. He badly needs a win to avoid being cut from the UFC roster, and that will give him added motivation. It is just a bad matchup for him, and I am avoiding Harris at all costs.

    OUR LINEUPS

    RYAN FREDERICK- Jon Jones ($11,400), Danny Roberts ($10,400), Marcos Rogerio de Lima ($10,000), Cody East ($9,600), Henry Cejudo ($8,400)

    Jon Jones is my top play this weekend and my top pick. He has the highest salary and I expect him to get the finish of Ovince Saint Preux. I think a second-round submission win is in the cards for Jones. Danny Roberts is another solid pick. He fights Dominique Steele, a man who won his last bout but was knocked out quickly in the bout before. Roberts is an excellent finisher and I see him getting another first-round win here. Marcos Rogerio de Lima fights Clint Hester. One man is going to sleep in that fight as both rarely go the distance. de Lima hits way harder and is bigger and I like him.

    Cody East has a ton of first-round finishes and his opponent, Walt Harris, is a good bet to go down early. My last pick is Henry Cejudo. I think he has a realistic shot at getting the win, and going five rounds will add to the points. Even in a defeat, I see him getting enough points over 25 minutes to equal another underdog that wins points total. He is a risk, but one I’m taking.

    PAUL FONTAINE- Jon Jones ($11,400), Robert Whittaker ($10,700), Sergio Pettis ($10,100), Juliana Lima ($9,200), Henry Cejudo ($8,400)

    I don’t really care what Jones’ salary is, he’s a must for my team. After 16 months away and facing the weakest opponent since before he won the title, he’s almost a lock to score an early finish. I’m picking Henry Cejudo to unseat the champion here in the year of upsets. Robert Whittaker should continue his impressive run at middleweight with another stoppage win over the aging Natal. I like Sergio Pettis to cement his place in the line of flyweight contenders with a dominant win over my countryman Kelades. Rounding out by team is Juliana Lima. She’s got the former champion Esparza coming in off a brutal defeat at the hands of Joanna Champion and should score a victory here.

    PEACH MACHINE- Demetrious Johnson ($11,000), Robert Whittaker ($10,700), Kevin Lee ($10,300), Juliana Lima ($9,200), Edson Barboza ($8,800)

    Again, another perfect use of 50,000. Bet this line-up. DJ is my number one power player in DK. He goes five rounds and gets finishes. IDK if he’ll be able to finish Cejudo, but he will win. Barboza is my questionable pick. I like him to beat Pettis, but it’s iffy. Whittaker is who I THOUGHT i was picking last week. I really like him to beat Natal. Lima is gonna destroy Esparza. I guarantee Esparza will come out scared and flat and will get beaten, and rightfully so. She was absolutely decimated the last time she entered the cage. Kevin Lee is going to be faster and stronger than the fading Escudero. Escudero is one of those guys that had a ton of potential, and just couldn’t get the job done. Lee will get the job done.

  • Watch the McGregor-free UFC 200 press conference; news & notes

    It’s been that kind of week for the UFC, publicly dealing with one of their biggest stars retiring and then un-retiring, and announcing they were pulling him out of July’s UFC 200 event due to him not showing up for today’s press conference and other promotional events. (That’s Conor McGregor, by the way.)

    Without a main event and with Nate Diaz floating in the wind without an opponent, who knows what will be said at Friday’s UFC 200 press conference? Well, you will know if you watch the stream below.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3gTwkCutlQ

    Emanating from Las Vegas, NV, you’ll see women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and challengers Amanda Nunes, strawweight champion Joanna Jedrezejczyk and challenger Claudia Gadelha, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and Eddie Alvarez, interim featherweight title contenders Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, and heavyweight opponents Cain Velasquez and Travis Browne.

    Action kicks off at 5 PM EST/2 PM EST. You never know what surprises are in store, especially during this week.

    Here’s some notes for those watching this late via Dave Meltzer:

    – The first major news is that White announced that Nate Diaz will fight on UFC 200 and have a new opponent. White said you have to show up for the press conferences and shoot the commercials, and said everyone here has better things to do. He said they gave McGregor every opportunity to be here. 

    – White said they don’t have an opponent yet for Diaz.

    – White brought up that Jose flew in the day his sister got married, stayed here, and fighters have done this, said appearing at the press conferences is part of the job.

    – Diaz said he came to fight McGregor and isn’t interested in anyone else.

    – White said the fight is three months away which is why they did this this early.  He said he wants Conor to fight but you can’t not show up.  White said he’s ruling out Conor at this point.

    – When the rumor of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. GSP at UFC 200 was brought up, White said as far as he knows that’s completely inaccurate.

    – Nate Diaz said that if he doesn’t get McGregor, he’s going on vacation.

    – Dana White said they’re spending $10 million on promotion and shooting a commercial and said the production crew has been shooting the commercial the last few days and McGregor didn’t come.

    – He said Aldo vs. Edgar will fight and the winner will fight Conor.

  • TMZ: UFC refuses to put Conor McGregor back on UFC 200

    According to TMZ, UFC is refusing to put Conor McGregor back on the UFC 200 show after his Facebook post today where he made it very clear he still wanted to be on the show and was not retiring.

    Given that UFC has not announced a new main event and thus started promoting a new fight, it makes no sense at this point not to put McGregor back on, unless the dispute was something very different than has been portrayed or if McGregor would not do the necessary promotional work such as appear on the promo commercial.

    McGregor’s earlier post was a public statement that he wanted to be on the show, but it was posturing for him to not be blamed for any issues that led to the fight falling apart. It is still unknown what the real behind-the-scenes issues are that are keeping the fight from taking place.

    But it is also still in everyone’s best economic interest for UFC 200 to be as big as possible, which can only happen if the fight ends up happening.

  • UFC/TUF Team Joanna vs. Team Claudia season premiere recap

    This season, both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing. At the end of the season if both Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha, they’ll be fighting on the TUF 23 Finale LIVE with Joanna Champion defending her strawweight title. First up though are the qualifying fights for the teams on TUF 23. Let’s do this!

    115 pounds: Mellony Geugjes (0-1) vs. Amanda Cooper (1-1)

    Geugjes is in the red trunks and Cooper the black. Geugjes claimed in her pre-fight interview that she got into MMA because people refused to fight her any more in kickboxing. Cooper certainly didn’t refuse. Geugjes jumps into her guard after tripping her 23 seconds in and it was a big mistake – Cooper quickly trapped an arm and rolled and tapped Geugjes at the one minute mark.

    GEUGJES ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.

    205 pounds: Eric Spicely (8-0) vs. Kenneth Bergh (3-0)

    Spicely is in the red trunks and Bergh the black. Other than his face there doesn’t seem to be an inch of Bergh’s body from the knees up that isn’t tattooed. Spicely quickly double legs him to the ground and takes his back – tapping Bergh out to a rear naked choke in 33 seconds.

    SPICELY ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.

    115 pounds: Ashley Cummins (3-3) vs. Lanchana Green (2-1)

    Cummins is in the red and is an Invicta veteran. Green is in the black and runs her own gym with her boyfriend in England. Cummins secures a takedown to side control and Green tries and fails to back her off, eating elbows to the face as they spin. Green tries to grab a leg and sweep but ends up eating left hands to the head. Cummins takes the back with hooks in at2:47 then winds up on top again in half guard. Green keeps surviving but she’s eating lots of rights and elbows. Cummins gets a full mount at 4:18 then takes the back again. Green survives the RNC because the horn saves her.

    Green survives two takedown attempts and suddenly Cummins starts getting creamed with knees when she doesn’t break away cleanly from the fence. The ref warns her multiple times to fight back and finally steps in to save Cummins. It’s pretty much the story of Cummins career in a fight that doesn’t even officially count on her record. She always looks good until she makes a mistake – and then “Smashley” gets smashed.

    GREEN ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA TKO.

    205 pounds: Khalil Rountree (4-0) vs. Muhammed Dereese (5-0)

    Rountree has white trunks and Dereese is in the black. Dereese credits his Islamic background for why he’s a fighter instead of in jail. Rountree says MMA is what gave him direction and got him in shape. Dereese gets a takedown 12 seconds in and Rountree gets a warning for shots to the back of the head. Dereese hits a leg trip, takes the back, gets the back and Rountree escapes the submission. Dereese goes for the takedown again and Rountree is lighting him up. Wild action in round one.

    Rountree lands a nasty head kick and pours it on with kicks to the body on the ground until the referee steps in and saves Dereese.

    ROUNTREE ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA TKO.

    115 pounds: Alyssa Krahn (3-1) vs. Jamie Moyle (3-1)

    Moyle is the second straight Team Syndicate fighter competing on the show (Rountree was the first). Krahn wants to represent women’s MMA in Canada. Krahn is in the red trunks, Moyle the black. Krahn outwrestles her early on but gives up her back late and gets taped out to a rear naked choke at 4:10.

    MOYLE ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.

    205 pounds: Myron Dennis (12-4) vs. Jamelle Jones (6-2)

    Dennis is in the red trunks and Jones the black. Dennis says he’s light-skinned dynamite. Jones says he was a three time collegiate All-American. Dennis lights Jones up standing until the ref stepped in to save him – which was the right call since Jones seemed uncertain where he was. Dennis tells Dana White to get his checkbook out because he’s not a cheap date!

    DENNIS ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA TKO.

    115 pounds: Ashley Yoder (4-1) vs. Jodie Esquibel (5-1)

    Yoder is a Team Quest fighter with Dan Henderson who discovered fighting after her brother passed away in an accident. Esquibel has been friends with Holly Holm for 16 years and her fiancee is former UFC star Keith Jardine – she’s also another Invicta FC veteran. Yoder is in the red trunks and Esquibel the black. Esquibel is landing big kicks and right hands and you can see her striking skill, but Yoder is getting advice from Hendo who tells her to get a single leg – and she does. She’s unable to get the RNC before the horn. After an action packed second round Dana White believes it’s going to a third, but “Big” John McCarthy says it’s over.

    YODER ADVANCES VIA SPLIT DECISION – DANA AND THE COACHES ARE APPALLED.

    205 pounds: Norman Paraisy (13-4-2) vs. Elias Urbina IV (3-0)

    Paraisy was a competitor on season 11 of TUF who quit between rounds of his fight with James Hammortree. He says that mistake made him a better man and now he’s back to prove he can do better. He’s in the white trunks. His brother Hector is in UFC with a record of 17-9-1 (1-1 in two UFC bouts). This fight is cut down to highlights. Dana scores the first round for Paraisy, says the second round both guys were gassed, but Urbina did enough to get it to the third – and ultimately to the judges.

    URBINA ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.

    115 pounds: JJ Aldrich (2-1) vs. Kristi Lopez (2-0)

    This is cut down to highlights of Aldrich (who is a training partner of Rose Namajunas) beating the snot out of Lopez over the course of two rounds.

    ALDRICH ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.

    205 pounds: Abdel Medjedoub (3-0) vs. John Paul Elias (3-0)

    Elias’ wife is Carly Lauren – Miss October 2013 in Playboy. This one is also cut down to highlights. Dana White says Medjedoub took Elias down and smothered him for the entire fight. The judges agree.

    MEDJEDOUB ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.

    115 pounds: Tatiana Suarez (3-0) vs. Chel-C Bailey (2-0)

    Suarez is a cancer survivor. She’s in the red trunks. Bailey is friends with Bryan Caraway and Miesha Tate, who are there to offer her advice and support for the fight. Bailey has black trunks. Grappling is the story of round one, allowing Suarez to control position and attack effectively. Even Tate seems pretty clear Bailey didn’t win the first round. Suarez is relentless with the takedowns in R2, and she’s got a full mount with some nasty strikes in the last ten seconds. The winner seems clear.

    SUAREZ ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.

    205 pounds: Phillip Hawes (3-0) vs. Andrew Sanchez (7-2)

    Hawes is a training partner for Jon Jones. Sanchez was a four time All-American and apparently can play ukelele judging by the pre-fight clip. Even though the hype was on Hawes, Sanchez was able to outwork him over two rounds.

    SANCHEZ ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.

    115 pounds: Irene Cabello Rivera (6-2) vs. Kate Jackson (7-2-1)

    JACKSON ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA TKO.

    206 pounds: Cory Hendricks (3-0) vs. Marcel Fortuna (8-1)

    Hendricks is a WSOF veteran in the red trunks. Fortuna is the only Brazilian among the men and he’s in the black trunks. Hendricks stuffed almost all of the takedowns in the first round and landed a lot of hard leg kicks. The judges decide Fortuna did enough with takedowns in the second round for there to be a third.

    HENDRICKS ADVANCES VIA DECISION – THEY DON’T SAY IF IT WAS SPLIT OR NOT.

    115 pounds: Amy Montenegro (7-2) vs. Helen Harper (4-1)

    Montenegro is in the red trunks and Harper the black. Harper says she learned martial arts as a survivor of domestic abuse. She goes for Montenegro’s back and trips her to the ground. Montenegro gets back to her feet and delivers a nice elbow to the face, then goes for a single leg of her own. She loses it and Harper gets the back with both hooks in. She goes hard for a sub, Montenegro gets on top and tries to power bomb her way out of it but is ultimately forced to tap.

    HARPER ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.

    205 pounds: Josh Stansbury (7-2) vs. Trever Carlson (10-2)

    Stansbury has been here once before but lost a TUF 19 elimination fight when he broke his leg. He’s in the red trunks. Carlson is in the black and works in a gold mine. Stansbury ends up on top pounding the heck out of Carlson 40 seconds into the fight, Carlson tries to roll to save himself as Herb Dean warns him about shots to the back of the head, Stansbury moves to side control and traps the head, but Carlson keesps on surviving. Eventually though he sinks in the americana and Carlson taps.

    STANSBURY ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.

    Team Selections with Gadelha going first:

    * Gadelha picks Tatiana Suarez.
    * Jedrzejczyk picks JJ Aldrich.
    * Gadelha picks Andrew Sanchez.
    * Jedrzejczyk picks Joshua Stansbury.
    * Galdeha picks Kate Jackson.
    * Jedrzejczyk picks Jamie Moyle.
    * Gadelha picks Eric Spicely.
    * Jedrzejczyk picks Khalil Rountree.
    * Gadelha picks Amanda Cooper.
    * Jedrzejczyk picks Ashley Yoder.
    * Gadelha picks Abdel Medjedoub
    * Jedrzejczyk picks Myron Dennis.
    * Gadelha picks Lanchana Green.
    * Jedrzejczyk picks Helen Harper.
    * Gadelha picks Cory Hendricks.
    * Jedrzejczyk picks Elias Urbina IV.

    First fight: Jedrzejczyk picks Rountree vs. Hendricks. Hendricks has a foot injury though and may not be able to compete. Interesting that the two Syndicate MMA guys have to face each other right off the bat next week.

  • Conor McGregor releases statement regarding UFC 200

    Updated with additional thoughts by Dave Meltzer below

    Conor McGregor was removed from UFC 200 earlier this week and “retired” on Twitter, events that have taken the MMA world by storm this week. After hearing from Dana White several times, fans and media have been waiting for a response from the featherweight champion on his future and what is going on.

    One finally came on Thursday on Facebook.

    McGregor stated his desire to still compete at the year’s biggest event while doing less promotional work as he wants to focus more attention to training for his rematch against Nate Diaz. 

    He ended his statement emphatically, saying that he is not retired.

    Other key quotes:

    – “It is time to go back and live the life that got me this life. Sitting in a car on the way to some dump in Conneticut or somewhere, to speak to Tim and Suzie on the nobody gives a f*ck morning show did not get me this life.”

    – “I feel the $400 million I have generated for the company in my last three events, all inside 8 months, is enough to get me this slight leeway.”

    – “There had been 10 million dollars allocated for the promotion of this event is what they told me. So as a gesture of good will, I went and not only saved that 10 million dollars in promotion money, I then went and tripled it for them. And all with one tweet. Keep that 10 mill to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good.”

    – “For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations – I AM NOT RETIRED.”

    The full statement is below:

    Additional thoughts from Dave Meltzer

    The game continues, and make no mistake about it, that is what this is.

    Conor McGregor put up a Facebook post today clearly designed to get him back in the main event at UFC 200 without being the one to back down, particularly when a lot of the court of public opinion wasn’t favorable to him since Dana White had done the media to get his side of the story over.  McGregor made it clear he’s not retired and still wants the fight with Nate Diaz on 7/9.  What he said was a calculated move to get back into that match without being the one to back down. 

    He claimed that he was paid to fight and not paid to promote, which explains his rationale and what the fight about getting him to come to the U.S. this week was.   

    His argument is that with the simple use of social media, he was able to garner tons of publicity without coming in to do press conferences and commercials this week, and what appears to be his concession is that he will do the New York press conference. But the key is the television commercial which UFC is spending $1 million on producing for the show, not the New York press conference.

    Part of the real story here goes back to last year when McGregor had great resentment that he was promoting both Jose Aldo fights so much harder than Aldo was.  The rationale from the UFC side was that McGregor was far more effective than Aldo at promoting, but McGregor felt Aldo not having to do as much tiring promotional work that would keep him from gym time was an advantage.  While McGregor won the fight, it was not a secret he wasn’t happy with Aldo not having anywhere near the media obligations he had, and that Aldo was benefitting by not wanting to promote.

    Then, there was a big UFC press conference with all the fighters, where McGregor stole the show, but midway through, Aldo left to fly back to Brazil to attend a wedding.  McGregor had made it clear he’d missed many social occasions to help promote his fights and this was the big press conference event of the year and Aldo, for his biggest fight, was given permission to leave early.

    McGregor made it clear he wasn’t retiring, just two days after he said he was and after his coach said he was, and after having photos taken by friends clearly pointing him out as a retired fighter. By making it clear he’s not retiring, it means he won’t be stripped of his featherweight title, which UFC threatened when he claimed to be retired.

    From both sides, they are playing a game to the public but the end result is that it is of great financial benefit to both sides for the Nate Diaz fight to take place as scheduled on 7/9.  Both obviously had a dispute, both dug in their heels, McGregor said he wasn’t coming to the U.S. this week and issued a retirement Tweet as his strategy. UFC and Dana White called his bluff by going everywhere and saying he was pulled from the show as their strategy.

    This Facebook post was a way to get the public to believe he’s ready to fight and make UFC the bad guys for not giving the fans a fight they want to see. And in offering to go to New York, he’s offering a compromise, but clearly by not coming to Las Vegas for the commercial, it’s a small concession. 

    The issue is within UFC there is a mentality that they’ve given in to McGregor over and over, and at some point, you have to say no.

    But from a business standpoint, when it comes to the show and the short-term (and almost all promoters think short-term), the best thing is to give the public the fight that will make the most money.

    But UFC is in the game long-term, and they are well aware of it.  Essentially the ball is back in their court, and the fight is getting a ton of mainstream publicity that it wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. 

  • White on McGregor: “It’s not a money issue.  That’s false.”

    Dana White denied today that money had anything to do with the situation with Conor McGregor and UFC 200, but also admitted that the McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight could still be saved and said he believed McGregor would fight for the UFC again within the next year.

    White appeared this afternoon on the Colin Cowherd show on FS 1 and said, “It’s not a money issue.  That’s false.  That’s the problem with the Internet.  Never ever was this about money.  Conor makes a lot of money and he’s very happy with the money he makes.”

    He said McGregor has never come back after agreeing to a deal and looked for more money.

    White claimed the entire issue is that McGregor refused to come to Las Vegas this weekend for promotional purposes.  White said they were going to shoot the television commercial and have press conferences in three cities, starting in Las Vegas, and then he’d be able to return to Iceland and train for the fight, noting it’s not like they were asking him three weeks before the fight to break camp.

    White claimed that in a conversation with McGregor’s manager, he was asked to move this to May and White said that they were spending $10 million promoting the show and the money is in motion.

    “It never got combative,” said White.  “I was talking to his manager. They were asking, `Let’s move all this to May.’  You can’t move it.  This stuff is in motion.”

    “I’m not mad, even a little bit,” said White to Cowherd, who said that White didn’t appear to be mad yesterday when they were together.  “You were with me yesterday, did I seem mad?  It’s UFC 200.  It’s a massive fight.  Believe me, when Conor went out, ten other people called asking to come in.”

    “Obviously Conor made a decision and made a choice to not want to fight on this card. And that’s how he gets paid.  That’s on him.  The show will go on.”

    White said that McGregor does have to clear up the retirement talk, noting that if McGregor says he’s retired, then the UFC 200 fight with Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar would be for the featherweight title and not, as it stands right now, the interim title.

  • Dana White: Conor McGregor is off UFC 200; search for new main event underway

    One of the biggest news stories in MMA history continues to evolve as UFC president Dana White announced on ESPN Tuesday night that featherweight champion Conor McGregor is off UFC 200, and that they will soon announce a new main event.

    White appeared on ESPNews after hours of silence by UFC in the wake of McGregor’s apparent retirement tweet earlier in the day, and said that McGregor was taken off the card for refusing to come to Las Vegas, NV, for a press conference to promote the show. Obviously, there is far more to that since McGregor was the key to the show.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIK1RN7ZH5g

    White claimed that the company and McGregor have a good relationship but “you can’t decide not to show up to these things.  You have to do it.”

    White described it as that McGregor was training in Iceland and didn’t want to break his preparation for the fight to come to Las Vegas, but regarding whether McGregor has really retired, White said that only McGregor knows for sure.

    White said that he would be discussing a new opponent for Diaz on Tuesday, which, given the lay of the land and the show itself, would logically have to be lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. It will be a huge drop in quality and will badly hurt the aura of UFC 200 as the biggest show in history, but it would still be a show with three title matches if that was the case.

    Dos Anjos vs. Eddie Alvarez had been announced a few days earlier for a Fight Pass headlining title fight on July 7 in Las Vegas, two days before the UFC 200 July 9 date at the new T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

    Obviously McGregor is playing it close to the vest and there is a story behind the story, which is already getting the obvious speculation about the sides playing a game of who holds the cards when it comes to a deal.

    Both sides would be out millions of dollars if the fight doesn’t happen. UFC can obviously survive the loss, but McGregor has tremendous leverage because the increases in UFC business over the past year are largely due to he and Ronda Rousey. Now, the future of both are speculative.

    It is always possible that McGregor will retire, but historically in these circumstances, that isn’t the case. McGregor was live at the show last week where Joao Calvalho passed away, but he had resumed training for the Diaz rematch in Iceland.

    Following McGregor’s tweet,  John Kavanagh, McGregor’s trainer, as well as other close to the situation, tweeted that McGregor has indeed retired from fighting, shortly before a fight that he had asked for and one that would have garnered him the biggest payday of his career.

  • Conor McGregor possibly teases retirement

    A cryptic tweet out of nowhere by Conor McGregor has shaken up the MMA world.

    McGregor earlier today wrote:

    “I have decided to retire young.

    Thanks for the cheese.

    Catch ya’s later.”

    There was nothing more said, no doubt by design.

    With Ronda Rousey out of action, McGregor is the key draw for UFC business going into its planned biggest week in history in July when he was the headline UFC 200 against Nate Diaz.

    McGregor has been unavailable to media and UFC has not said anything.

    Whether this is a negotiating ploy, a legitimate retirement or just his own practical joke that will be explained that he’s always said he doesn’t want to fight a long time is unknown.

    McGregor is a big spender, and he was likely to get his biggest paycheck to date for UFC 200.  He had talked in the last year about a number of different business plans for the next few years but all of them involved building his name up bigger and continuing to fight.

    There will no doubt be more on this as the day progresses.

  • UFC on FOX overnight ratings as good as could be expected

    Last night’s UFC on FOX event did 2.13 million viewers based on the overnight ratings, but led FOX to winning a weak night overall in the 18-49 demo.

    The number is about as good as you’d hope for considering it was an April show where two of the top three fights changed late in the game.

    The 0.8 in the overnights beat ABC’s 0.6 with rerun programming, beat CBS’ 0.5 with rerun programming and NBC’s 0.3 with live Premier Boxing.

    Because of viewership mostly with older viewers, when it came to overall viewers, ABC and CBS all beat FOX.  NBC did not as the boxing only did 1.24 million viewers, which is a terrible prime time number, even for Saturday, for first-run programming.

    It should be noted that the final number will be up somewhat for NBC and FOX because the number measures viewership for FOX stations from 8-10 p.m. on the West Coast, when they were airing other programming since UFC aired from 5-7 p.m.

    The growth will be less than usual because the main event ended right around 10 p.m. due to Glover Teixeira knocking out Rashad Evans in just 1:48.  Usually the final rating growth includes both the West Coast viewership and the post-10 p.m. viewership which is always the largest rated portion of the show.  That’s why five round main events are so valuable when it comes to ratings and why they stalled to have the main event start past 9:50 p.m., hoping for it to go long.

    The original card featured a top three fights of Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, but Ferguson was injured and Nurmagomedov instead beat unknown Darrell Horcher; Teixiera vs. Evans and Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida, the ladder canceled when Machida was provisionally suspended on a PED violation for admitting use of a supplement that contained banned DHEA.

    Last year’s show in April headlined by Machida vs. Luke Rockhold, which was a much stronger match at the time, did 2.43 million on the overnights and ended up with the West Coast at 2,745,000 viewers.

    For this show, a final number of 2.35 million or greater should be considered okay.