After a month in the Fortress of Solitude, Josh Nason has returned for the 36th edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out with fellow scribe and FloCombat senior editor Duane Finley in tow!
Josh and Duane had no shortage of interesting stuff to talk about which included:
– A few good minutes on the Conor McGregor vs. UFC situation
– Thoughts on the build toward UFC 200 before the announcement of the event and after
– Why people are booing Daniel Cormier and loving Jon Jones
– Josh’s theory as to what Demetrious Johnson needs to get over with fans
While it may not be as major an event as Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz II was made out to be, UFC 200 got its marquee fight after all as Daniel Cormier will face rival Jon Jones in a light heavyweight championship unification bout.
The fight was announced on the Wednesday edition of Good Morning America.
Jones won the interim version of the belt by defeating Ovince Saint Preux by unanimous decision last Saturday at UFC 197 on a night he was originally supposed to face Cormier. Cormier injured his knee and had to be removed from the event, but after meeting with his doctors Monday, he’ll be cleared to fight on the July 9th event.
The two first fought in January 2015 with Jones successfully defending his title via unanimous decision. That was Jones’ last fight until this past Saturday due to various legal and personal issues.
The show will also feature Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar in an interim featherweight title bout, and women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes.
The silliness that lasted all week may or may not be over with Conor McGregor claiming he is back on UFC 200.
Early Monday morning, McGregor tweeted, “Happy to announce that I am back on UFC 200! Shout out to Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta on getting this one done for the fans.”
However, Dana White contradicted that claim Monday morning, sending a text message to Los Angeles Times reporter Lance Pugmire that read, “Not true. We haven’t talked (to) Conor or his manager since the press conference. I don’t know why he would tweet that.”
McGregor’s tweet was done early enough West Coast time (where UFC operates) where the promotion would have theoretically confirmed such a story. After hours went by with no confirmation, it raised questions as to not just the veracity of the McGregor tweet as well as the reason.
As noted on previous shows we’ve done, McGregor is playing a dangerous game because if the fanbase starts thinking of him as someone who makes stories up, he just becomes another attention seeking worker.
McGregor’s trainer John Kavanagh was on The MMA Hour today with Ariel Helwani where the situation was addressed.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 197: Jones vs. Saint Preux from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is headlined by a bout for the UFC Interim Light Heavyweight Championship as former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones makes his anticipated return to action to take on Ovince Saint Preux, who replaced an injured Daniel Cormier in what was originally supposed to be a rematch for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship held by Cormier and previously held by Jones. In the co-main event, it is another title fight as UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson looks to make another title defense as he welcomes challenger and former Olympic medalist Henry Cejudo, who puts his undefeated record on the line. Also on the card is former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis as he takes on Edson Barboza. Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6:30 PM eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle and a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
LIGHTWEIGHTS- EFRAIN ESCUDERO (24-10, 5-6 UFC) VS. KEVIN LEE (11-2, 5-2 UFC)
First round: Right and left by Lee and body kick. Lee with a left. Lee continues to land. Escudero got behind him and tried for a takedown. Lee up and tried a takedown and now Lee tried a suplex but Escudero blocked. Lee got a momentary takedown. Lee let him go. Lee with a body kick. Escudero coming backs with punches late in the round. Escudero got a takedown. Lee 10-9.
Second round: Lee with a right. Lee has him against the fence. Escudero got a single leg but couldn’t get the takedown. Lee with a knee to the body. Body kick by Lee. Both landed. Escudero has him against the fence. Escudero with a right. Left by Escudero. Lee 20-18, but this round was closer.
Third round: Lee throwing front kicks. Escudero with an accidental low kick. Lee in with a body kick. Escudero with a left. Escudedro with knees to the thigh. Lee got underneath and slammed him down. Lee landing lefts. Lee grabbed a guillotine but Escudero escaped. Lee landing punches on the ground. Lee with body punches and elbows from the top. Should be Lee 30-27 or maybe 29-28.
Scores: All three have it 29-28 for Lee.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS- MARCOS ROGERIO DE LIMA (13-3-1, 2-1 UFC) VS. CLINT HESTER (11-5, 4-2 UFC)
First round: De Lima throwing kicks. De Lima knocked him down with a right hook counter to the ear. He’s on top with punches to the side of the head. De Lima with more punches. De Lima remains on top in guard. Nothing happening and boring. Now de Lima broke fee and is landing a lot of hard punches. He pummeling Hester from the top and got the submission with a head and arm choke.
HEAVYWEIGHTS- WALT HARRIS (7-4, 0-3 UFC) VS. CODY EAST (12-1, 0-0 UFC)
First round: East landed a nice right. Harris missed a high kick and East hit a body kick. Body kick by Harris. East landing punches. East landing a lot. Kick by East landed like it was an Arena Mexico finish. Harris with a body kick. Both swing like rock em sock em robots and the crowd picked up big. Body kick by Harris. Good pace and good movement for big guys here. East with two rights and Harris countered and dropped him with a counter left to the jaw. Harris landing big punches on the ground. Now he’s landing elbows. More big punches by Harris and it was stopped. East took a real beating from a big hard hitting guy here. 4:18
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)
LIGHTWEIGHTS- GLAICO FRANCA (13-3, 1-0 UFC) VS. JAMES VICK (8-0, 4-0 UFC)
First round: Franca with low kicks and took Vick down. Second takedown by Franca. Franca staying on top. Vick up and landed a body kick. Franca pushed him against the fence. Vick with a spin kick to the body. Viick landing all kinds of shots but Franca took him down again. Close round Franca 10-9.
Second round: Between rounds they are checking Franca’s right eye but they let him continue. It’s not bleeding but it was poked. Vick taking him apart with punches at 6-foot 2 and a lightweight. Franca tagged him back. Spinning backfist by Franca landed. Franca took him down with a hip toss. Vick back up. High kick and knee by Vick. Vick has the big edge standing with his reach and accuracy. Franca fired back with a hard right. Front kick by Vick. Spin kick to the body by Vick. Vick’s round so 19-19.
Third round: Vick landing lefts. Vick with lefts and rights. Vick continuing to land lefts. Jumping knee by Vick. Franca landed a hard right. Vick continues to jab. Low kick by Franca. Vick is dancing away a lot now which could hurt him but he’s clearly superior standing. Great front kick to the head by Vick. Good fight. Crowd liked it 29-28 Vick.
Scores: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Vick
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHTS- (#2) CARLA ESPARZA (10-3, 1-1 UFC) VS. (#14) JULIANA LIMA (8-2, 2-1 UFC)
First round: Slow start as in nothing happening. Esparza with punches and Lima going for a takedown. Lima with punches and Esparza took her down. Esparza gave her a short power bomb off an armbar attempt. Lima tried for another armbar and Esparza out. Lima tried for it again and Esparza with another short power bomb. Nice up kick by Lima and another. Esparza with punches from the top but doing no damage. Lima with another up kick. Esparza cradled her and punched her a few times. Esparza 10-9.
Second round: Lima swinging wildly. Lima with a kick and Esparza slammed her down after grabbing the leg. That kick was a bad idea. Esparza with a lot of punches but again no real damaging blows. Esparza again with a short power bomb. Lima up with 30 seconds left and took Esparza down but Esparza right back up. Lima working for a takedown late but didn’t get it. Esparza 20-18.
Third round: Esparza took her down to start the third round. Another up kick by Lima. Lima back up with 3:00 left. Esparza took her down right away. Lima up. Esparza took her down again. Esparza with a few punches. Lima reversed with 1:17 left. Lima is in side control. Esparza regained guard. Boring fight. Esparza 30-27.
Scores: All three have it 30-27 for Esparza.
WELTERWEIGHTS- DANNY ROBERTS (12-1, 1-0 UFC) VS. DOMINIQUE STEELE (14-6, 1-1 UFC)
First round: Steele dropped him with a right early. Roberts worked for a triangle but didn’t get it. Roberts up with 2:50 left in the round. Body kick by Roberts. Another body kick by Roberts. Big left by Roberts. Steele went for the takedown off a missed punch but couldn’t get it. They traded knees. Steele 10-9.
Second round: Knee to the body by Roberts. Roberts with a body kick and punches. Roberts landing more punches. Steele with a knee to the body. Roberts with a knee. Roberts with an elbow. Roberts with more punches. Front kick by Roberts. Roberts landing several punches. Roberts with a head kick. Steele spun and got behind Roberts. Roberts’s round so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Steele with a high takedown. Roberts landed elbows. Steele went for a takedown but Roberts is defending well Steele now got him down. Roberts throwing elbows from the bottom. Herb Dean ordered a standup. Steele landed a knee to the head and now both are swinging wildly and Steele took him down again. Steele 29-28. Scores: All three have it 29-28 for Roberts. The crowd is booing like crazy. Steele is in disbelief as is the crowd.
FLYWEIGHTS- (#14) SERGIO PETTIS (13-2, 4-2 UFC) VS. CHRIS KELADES (9-2, 2-1 UFC)
First round: Pettis seemed to land more and be more technical. He got a takedown with a trip late. Pettis 10-9.
Second round: Kelades put Pettis down and Pettis threatened with a triangle. Pettis reversed to the top. Both landing. Nice head kick by Pettis. Body kick by Pettis. Pettis 20-18.
Third round: Pettis with a takedown. Pettis landing punches. Kelades back with punches. Pettis went for a takedown and didn’t get it. Pettis with a front headlock. Pettis shooting for a takedown. Kelades went for a choke at the horn. Pettis 30-27.
Scores: All three scored it 30-27 for Pettis. You’ve never seen such a rushed decision announcement in your life.
MAIN CARD (PPV- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)
FEATHERWEIGHTS- YAIR RODRIGUEZ (6-1, 3-0 UFC) VS. ANDRE FILI (15-3, 3-2 UFC)
First round: Rodriguez threw a crazy kick that missed. Takedown by Rodriguez off a kick. Rodriguez landing hard elbows. Rodriguez now holding him down. Rodriguez in side control. Fili back up with 45 seconds left. Nice sweeping low kick took Fili off his feet. Fili dropped him with a left jab. Hard low kick by Rodriguez. Body kick by Fili and a takedown by Fili. Rodriguez back up. Great round. 10-9 Rodriguez..
Second round: Fili tripped Rodriguez down on a kick but let him back up. Rodriguez with a takedown. Rodriguez knocked him cold with a knockout of the year jumping kick. This will be in the all-time highlight reel. It was a jumping left switch kick to the head. Fili is okay but he went out immediately. 2:15
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- (#7) ROBERT WHITTAKER (15-4, 6-2 UFC) VS. (#13) RAFAEL NATAL (21-6-1, 9-4-1 UFC)
First round: Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie chants for Whittaker. Body kick by Whittaker. Body kick by Natal. Low kick by Whittaker. Low kick by Natal. Both swinging hard. Left by Whitaker. Natal got behind him but Whittaker escaped. Natal with a low kick. Whittaker hurt him with punches and Natal went down. Natal got back up. Left by Whittaker. Whittaker landed another left. Whittaker 10-9.
Second round: Natal with a low kick. Both throwing punches. Whittaker’s left leg is all bruised up. Low kick by Natal. Whittaker missed on a punch. Natal landed a counter. Whittaker bleeding from the nose. Natal taking over this round. Natal knocked him off his feet, more a trip than a knockdown. Now Whittaker landing. Nice left by Whittaker. Low kick by Whittaker. Jumping kick by Whittaker. Could go either way, I’ve got it 19-19 with it going to Natal.
Third round: Whittaker threw a kick that landed low and the bout was stopped for a time out. Whittaker with a body kick. Whittaker’s left leg is so beat up. Whittaker now with low kicks. Left by Whittaker. Front kick and low kick by Whittaker and followed with a right. Hard left by Whttaker. Natal with low kicks. Left by Whittaker. High kick by Whittaker knocked him down and Natal up and both swinging wildly as the fight ended. Crowd liked the fight. 29-28 Whittaker.
Scores: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 Whittaker
Whittaker said he injured his right hand early so was mostly throwing lefts. He said he got tired in the second round and Natal was really tough.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- (#3) ANTHONY PETTIS (18-4, 5-3 UFC) VS. (#8) EDSON BARBOZA (16-4, 10-4 UFC)
First round: Body kick by Barboza. Low kick by Barboza. Pettis with a counter off a kick by Barboza. Good left by Barboza. Low kick by Barboza. Low kick by Barboza. Big right by Barboza. Another right by Barboza. Spin kick to the body by Barboza. Pettis tried a takedown and couldn’t get it. Spin kick to the head by Barboza. Pettis tried a flying kick that missed. 10-9 Barboza. Good round.
Second round: Barboza with a body kick as Pettis tried for takedown. Pettis landed a right. Pettis in with punches. Pettis with a body kick. Big right by Barboza. Barboza with a nice combo. Pettis tried a takedown and didn’t get it. Hard body kick by Barboza. Trading punches. Pettis tried a cartwheel kick that missed. Barboza 20-18.
Third round: Pettis with a cartwheel kick that didn’t land solid. Barboza put him down with a low kick. Low kick by Barboza. Barboza kicked him in the groin. Brief time out and back in action. Big low kick and another by Barboza. The two kicks sounded like a shotgun going off. Two more low kicks by Barboza. Left by Barboza. Another low kick by Barboza. Left and low kick by Barboza. Another low kick. Barboza really taking over now. Pettis tried for a takedown and didn’t come close. Spin kick by Barboza. Pettis missed a spin kick. Barboza 30-27
Scores: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Barboza.
UFC FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- (C) DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON (23-2-1, 11-1-1 UFC) VS. (#2) HENRY CEJUDO (10-0, 4-0 UFC)
First round: They are shooting Joseph Benavidez at ringside. Cejudo definitely got the bigger reaction. Some boos, but not many for Johnson. Low kick by Cehjudo. They are in a clinch. Both trading knees. Johnson landed a right. High kick by Johnson blocked. Back to a clinch. Takedown by Cejudo. Place went nuts for this. This is the most intense I’ve ever seen a crowd at a Johnson fight. Johnson back up. Back to a clinch. Knee by Johnson. Johnson landing a lot of knees. An elbow and knees hurt Cejudo and and knee to the body put him down and a few punches later it was over. 2:49
UFC INTERIM LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP- (#1) JON JONES (21-1, 15-1 UFC) VS. (#6) OVINCE SAINT PREUX (19-7, 7-2 UFC)
First round: Spin kick to the body by Johes. Johes kicked the knee. Jones missed a front kick. OSP missed a punch. Another kick to the knee by Jones. Kick to the body by Jones. Jones caught a kick by OSP. Side kick by Jones. Jones throwing kicks to the knee. OSP kicked the knee. Body kick by Jones. Spin kick by Jones. Left by OSP. Jones with a knee to the body. Jones 10-9.
Second round: Jones tried for a single leg but gave it up when OSP landed punches. Body kick by Jones. Body kick by Jones. OSP chant. Left to the body by Jones. Knee by OSP. Real loud OSP chants. Jones firing elbows and knees now. Jones with elbows. OSP hurt him with a punch. He missed another one. Jones with a high kick but didn’t connect with any damage. Spin kick to the body by Jones. Big right by OSP. Left by OSP. Spin kick to the head by Jones. Crowd really buzzing because OSP did land some shots. Still Jones 20-18.
Third round: Jones with all kinds of kicks to the knee. Jones with a left. OSP landed some punches. Jones with another kick to the knee. Spinning punch by Jones. Left by Jones. Left to the body by Jones. Body kick by OSP. Left by Jones. Left by OSP. Fans booing because it’s not that great of a fight. Jones with a high kick. Left and right by OSP. Body kick by Jones. Another body kick by Jones. Left and right by OSP. Jones back to attacking the knee. OSP missed big punches. He’s too slow and telegraphing them. Jones 30-27.
Fourth round: Crowd booing a lot. Body kick by OSP. Body kick by Jones. Jones working for a takedown. He picked him up and slammed him and OSP back up. Jones landed a knee. Crowd booing again. Elbows by Jones. Left to the body by Jones. Jones took him down again. He’s in side control. Elbow by Jones. OSP nearly escaped. Jones has his back with 33 seconds left. Jones with punches, a kick to the body and an elbow and a stomp. Jones had him nearly beat at the end of the round. 10-8 round Jones 40-35.
Fifth round: Jones with a body kick. Jones with a left. Spin kick to the body by Jones. Uppercut by Jones. Another uppercut by Jones. Jones with a high sidewalk slam into side control. Kick to the body by Jones and OSP back up. Jones missed a high kick. Trading punches as Jones had OSP backed into the fence. OSP just too tired to do anything as time ran out. Jones 50-44.
Scores: 50-44, 50-45 and 50-45 for Jones
Jones said this isn’t the real belt. Said it took him a while to pull the trigger. Fans booed him when it was over. I was watching and anticipating and imagining but I wasn’t going for it, watching instead of reacting. Said he physically felt amazing, mentally said he felt he was sucking. Said his problems didn’t play into the fight. Said he really needed that fight. Said he needed a fight like that before the title match. Really excited to fight Daniel Cormier. I’ll be back in practice Tuesday and Wednesday. Then said he loved the fans. Lukewarm at best reaction.
OSP interivew. Said Jon was the best pound for pound and said he only had three weeks to get ready so he thought he did a good job. Said his arm his killing him from blocking a high kick. Said he’s consistent and tactical.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
