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.
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.
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.
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.
The Monday Night Wars can officially be declared over. The World Wrestling Federation lost a few battles over the nearly four years, but has now won the war.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC On FOX 19: Teixeira vs. Evans from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The event is headlined by a five-round bout in the light heavyweight division as #4-ranked Glover Teixeira takes on former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. Also on the main card is the return of undefeated lightweight contender Khabib Numagomedov, who has been out of action for two years, plus a rematch between Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres in strawweight action. Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 4:30 PM eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.
WELTERWEIGHTS- ELIZEU ZALESKI DOS SANTOS (14-5, 0-1 UFC) VS. OMARI AKHMEDOV (15-3, 3-2 UFC)
First round: Right by Akhmedov., Akhmedov shot in with a double leg takedown. Dos Santos used a heel hook attempt to sweep to the top. Akhmedov working for a Kimura. He reversed to the top and now both on their feet. Low kick by Dos Santos. Left by Akhmedov and right by Dos Santos. Right by Akhmedov. Dos Santos with a body kick. Very close round. 10-9 Akhmedov.
Second round: Low kick by Dos Santos. Good right by Dos Santos. Akhmedov then took him down. Akhmedov with a lot of punches as Dos Santos got up. Left by Akhmedov. Low kick by Dos Santos. Good right by Akhmedov. Now Dos Santos back with a knee. Knee by Dos Santos. Another takedown by Akhmedov. Dos Santos went for a heel hook and got to his feet. Dos Santos went for a kneebar and now he’s on top. Spinning backfist by Akhmedov. Body kick by Dos Santos. Left by Akhmedov. Dos Santos went for a takedown but couldn’t get it. Both swinging and not landing. Another close round. 20-18 Akhmedov.
Third round: Akhmedov went for a takedown by Dos Santos blocked it. Dos Santos with kicks and hard punches. He hurt Akhmedov. Knee by Dos Santos. Traded knees. Hard right by Dos Santos. Akehmedov couldn’t get the takedown. Hard right by Dos Santos. Both swinging wildly. Knees by Dos Santos. Body shots and head shots by Dos Santos. Knee by Dos Santos. Dos Santos pounding him. Knee by Dos Santos and one knee after another before Dan Miragliotta stopped it.
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- OLUWALE BAMGBOSE (6-1, 1-1 UFC) VS. CEZAR FERREIRA (8-5, 4-3 UFC)
First round: Left by Ferreira. Low kick by Ferriera. Bamgbose with a low kick and landed some punches. Bamgbose dropped him with a right and landing hard punches on the ground. Bamgbose landing more punches from the top. Ferriera got back up. Ferriera with a double leg takedown and on top. Bamgbose may have blown his wad on that attempt to finish. Ferriera slipped avoiding a punch and was on his back as the round ended. Bamgbose 10-9
Second round: This is the first time Bamgbose has ever gone into the second round Ferreira with a knee to the body. Ferriera with a takedown. Bamgbose bleeding. Bamgbose with punches from the bottom. Ferreira landing elbows from the top. Another elbow by Ferreira. Ferriera with more elbows. Now he’s landing punches. More elbows by Ferriera. Bamgbose back to his feet. 10-8 Ferreira so 19-18 after two. Not sure many judges would go 10-8 here though.
Third round: Bamgbose has a nasty hematoma on his forehead. Bamgbose with a right. Ferriera took him down but Bamgbose back up. Ferriera took him down. A few punches by Ferriera. Bamgbose got up. Ferreria’s round so should win 29-27.
Scores: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-27 for Ferreira
BANTAMWEIGHTS- (#3 FLW) JOHN DODSON (17-7, 6-2 UFC) VS. MANVEL GAMBURYAN (15-8 1 NC, 6-6 1 NC UFC)Manvel Gamburyan (18-9, 1 no contest) vs, John Dodson (18-7), bw
First round: James Warring referee, one of the few guys ever to do pro boxing, kickboxing, MMA and pro wrestling. He was ranked in boxing and kickboxing as well. Dodosn landing a ton of lefts and finished Gamburyan in seconds. He hurt him on the first left and followed it up with about a 16 or so more in seconds. :47
Dodson said you’re looking at the new bantamweight champion.
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX- 6 PM ET/3 PM PT)
WELTERWEIGHTS- RANDY BROWN (7-0, 1-0 UFC) VS. MICHAEL GRAVES (5-0, 1-0 UFC)
First round: Graves moved in to attempt a takedown. Brown went for a trip but Graves back up. Both throwing knees that are borderline. Big elbow by Graves. Brown has some good balance. Another knee by Brown. Ref Dan Miragliotta speared them. Wild action with Brown punching and he threw a kick, Graves caught him and took him down. Graves with some punches from the top. Brown went for a triangle late. Graves 10-9.
Second round: Graves took him down again. Graves landing elbows. Graves got his back. Graves got the choke and it’s over.
WELTERWEIGHTS- COURT MCGEE (17-4, 6-3 UFC) VS. SANTIAGO PONZINIBBIO (21-3, 3-2 UFC)
First round: McGee moved in right away. Nice right by McGee. McGee landed another. He failed on a takedown attempt. Santiago with a low kick. Santiago landed a right. McGee back with a right. Right by Santiago. Another right by Santiago. Santiago landing shots. Low kick by Santiago. McGee landed a right. McGee landing. Right by McGee. Santiago dropped him with a right and Santiago landing punches and kicks. Santiago landing more punches and the fight was stopped. Very exciting while it lasted.
First round: Slow open. Pennington landed a right and pushed her against the fence. Left by Pennington. Pennington with a low kick. Nice left by Correia. Body kick by Correia. Right by Pennington. Right by Pennington. Correia landing punches. Pennington 10-9.
Second round: Both landing punches. Nice left by Correia. Pennington went for a takedown and it was easily blocked. Pennington with a knee. Correia starting to land. Both landing shots. Pennington landed a right. Correia moved in with punches. Both trading punches. Both continue to trade elbows. Low kick and left by Correia. Elbow and knee by Pennington. Pennington again trying for a takedown but not getting it. Knee by Pennington. Elbow by Pennington. Close round. Correia’s round, so tied 19-19.
Third round: Left and rihg by Correia. Body kick by Correia. Nice right by Pennington. Elbow by Pennington. Both landing punches. Correia with a big right. Low kick by Correia. Correia going for a takedown but Pennington blocking it. Left by Pennignton. Left by Pennignton. Correia landing shots. Pennington trying for a takedown. Pennington landed several shots. Really good fight. 29-28 Correia but this could go either way.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- (#7) BENEIL DARIUSH (12-1, 6-1 UFC) VS. (#14) MICHAEL CHIESA (13-2, 6-2 UFC)
First round: Nice low kick by Dariush. Body kick by Chissa. Great low kick by Dariush. Left by Dariush. Dariush landing more. Cheisa with a left. Low kick by Chiesa. Low kick by Dariush. Another low kick by Dariush. Right by Dariush. Another low kick by Dariush. Dariush went for a takedown but couldn’t get it. Chiesa landed some punches. Dariush again going for a takedown and Chiesa blocked it again. Chiesa with knees to the body. Dariush landing elbows. Dariush finally got a takedown late in the round and had his back. 10-9 Dariush.
Second round: Two hard low kicks by Dariush. Dariush shot for a takedown. Chiesa got the takedown and got Dariush’s back and he’s going for the choke. He’s not under the neck. Chiesa is squeezing and Dariush tapped out to a facelock. This was the first time Dariush had tapped in MMA.
Chiesa issued a challenge to Tony Ferguson after the match. Joe Rogan then asked him what he wanted next.
MAIN CARD (FOX- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)
FEATHERWEIGHTS- (#6) CUB SWANSON (21-7, 6-3 UFC) VS. (#10) HACRAN DIAS (23-3-1, 3-2 UFC)
First round: Low kick by Dias. Low kick by Swanson. Low kick by Dias. Low kick by Swanson. Right by Dias. Body kick by Dias. Low kick by Swanson. Swanson with a body kick. Low kick by Dias. Both missing. Dias with a low kick. 10-9 Dias.
Second round: Swanson put him down with a left hook. Swanson throwing big punches on the ground. Swanson wth a left hook. Low kick by Swanson. Left by Dias. Nice right by Dias. Swanson put him down more like a trip. Nice scramble and Dias landed a hard right. Dias with a knee. Swanson with a body kick. Swanson’s round so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Dias with a left. Left to the body by Swanson. Left by Dias. Dias with a right. Spin kick by Swanson but didn’t land it clean. Nice right by Swanson. Nice uppercut by Swanson and dropped him with a left head kick right after getting up. Swanson all over him. Swanson landing punches on the ground. Knee to the butt. Swanson on top. Swanson standing and kicking the legs of Dias who is laying on his back. Swanson with hard shots on the ground. Swanson’s round 29-28, could be 30-27 but Swanson has to win.
Scores: All three had it 29-28 for Swanson.
160-POUND CATCHWEIGHT- (#2 LW) KHABIB NURMAGOMED
First round: Horcher landed a left. Another left by Horcher. Low kick by Horcher. Another left by Horcher. Khabib with a running Stampede. Nurmagomedov moved to side control and landing elbows. Now he’s throwing punches. Nurmagomedov spun to the back, now moved to full mount. Now he’s got Horcher’s back and throwing hard punches. 10-8 Nurmagomedov.
Second round: Horcher bleeding from the back of he head. Judo takedown by Khabib into side control. Khabib landing punches. More punches by Khabib. Now Khabib is pounding on him. Khabib landing punches. Now he’s got Horcher’s back. He’s throwing punches. James Warring stopped it a little late.
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHTS- (#3) ROSE NAMAJUNAS (4-2, 2-1 UFC) VS. (#4) TECIA TORRES (7-0, 3-0 UFC)
First round: Namajunas staying on the outside and landing. Torres landed several punches when she got inside. Both landing as Torres moved in. Torres landing a lot of punches on the inside. Torres trying to muscle a takedown but not getting it. Namajunas got the hip toss. Good round. 10-9 Torres.
Second round: Low kick by Torres. Front kick by Namajunas. She’s going Diaz with her mannerisms. Nice punch by Torres and Namajunas back with a counter. Namajunas landed a left. Namajunas landed a left again. Left by Namajunas. Front kick by Namajunas. Namajunas with a front kick Namajunas slipped and went down but got back up. Torres moving forward and landed. Nice left by Namajunas and another. Namajunas’ round so 19-19 after two. Good action.
Third round: Overhand right by Namajunas. Left by Namajunas. Another left land by Namajuans as Torres jumped in. Torres landed a combo. Namajunas with a body kick. Namjunas got the takedown. Close round 29-28 Namajunas.
First round: Teixiera landed some punches. Body kick by Teixeira. Teixiera landed a left and followed with a right and it’s over. The left hurt him and the right put his lights out. Good stoppage.
Teixeira challenged Rumble Johnson, saying since Cormier is fighting Jon Jones, let’s make some money, let’s do business. It’s the fight that makes sense.
After our panel took a beating at UFC 196, we’ve taken a month and a bit to regroup and we’re back for the UFC’s return to big FOX. This card looks a lot different than it did when it was originally scheduled and really may be the weakest overall card in FOX history in terms of star power. But it’s UFC and with a sporadic schedule the last six weeks, I know that I at least am jonesing for some UFC action.
At least two fights on the card should have title implications in the next year or so with the Tecia Torres-Rose Namajunas fight probably determining the next strawweight contender and the Beneil Dariush and Mike Chiesa fight sending one of them into the top 5. The main event is two men on the downsides of their careers but still top contenders. A title fight for either of Rashad Evans or Glover Teixeira would be a tough sell but an impressive performance from one of them, particularly Evans, could spark some interest in a title program, should they need a challenger on short notice. The remaining two fights we’ll be picking from are between top 15 contenders in both the featherweight and women’s bantamweight divisions.
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 (20-10; .667) – Fight Network analyst, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, MMA Report co-host
Mike Sawyer (18-12; .600) – Tough Talk MMA
Josh Nason (18-12; .600) – Host of Josh Nason’s Punch Out; writer/editor WrestlingObserver.com , WON Twitter guy
Mike Sempervive (17-13; .567) – Wrestling Observer Live and Big Audio Nightmare co-host
David Bixenspan (17-13; .567) – Figure Four Weekly writer, podcast host
Consensus picks (15-13; .536)
Ryan Frederick (16-14; .533) – WrestlingObserver.com UFC reporter, WON Twitter guy
Favorites (16-14; .533)
Dave Meltzer (15-15; .500)– Wrestling Observer founder
Steve Juon (15-15; .500) – MMA Mania/Wrestling Observer writer. Angry Marks founder
Front Row Brian (13-17; .433) – MMA newsbreaker, Beloved internet personality, Podcast host
Paul Fontaine (12-18; .400) – MMADraws.com founder, WrestlingObserver.com writer
Main Event – Light Heavyweights Rashad Evans (19-4-1) vs Glover Teixeira (21-4)
Evans has only been stopped one time in his long career, having been knocked out in a title loss versus Lyoto Machida in 2009. He’s coming off a decision loss against Ryan Bader which snapped a two fight win streak for the former champion and TUF Season 2 winner. Glover Teixeira took this fight on just a couple week’s notice and agreed to a five round stipulation. He’s hoping it won’t go that long as 11 of his last 12 wins have been by stoppage. It seems likely that Evans will ether outpoint his way to a decision win or Glover will hand Rashad the second stoppage loss of his career.
Strawweights Tecia Torres (7-0) vs Rose Namajunas (4-2)
This is a rematch of a 2013 fight in Invicta that Torres won by decision. Despite that and also despite Torres still being unbeaten in her career, Namajunas comes in as the higher ranked fighter. Torres did have two losses in the TUF 20 strawweight tournament but those were not considered official fights and are not counted against her record. It’s interesting to note that all of her career fights have gone the distance. By contrast, “Thug” Rose has submissions in every one of her pro wins. She had a star-making performance last time out against Paige VanZant in the main event of a Fight Pass show in December. This fight was bumped to the co-main position after Lyoto Machida was pulled from his fight with Dan Henderson after a violation of the UFC’s drug policy.
Featherweights Cub Swanson (21-7) vs Hacran Dias (23-3-1)
Since a 2011 loss to Ricardo Lamas, Swanson has only lost twice and both were to top 5 fighters Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. Along the way, he’s beaten the likes of Charles Oliveira, Dennis Siver, Ross Pearson and Dustin Poirier, among others. But he did take a beating at the hands of Edgar and how he fares in this fight could show just how much that took out of him. Against lesser competition than Swanson has face, Dias is just 3-2 in UFC but he is on a two fight win streak. He scored a split decision win over Levan Makashvili in his last fight, which followed a dreadfully boring decision win over Darren Elkins.
Lightweights Mike Chiesa (13-2) vs Beneil Dariush (12-1)
This might be the most interesting fight on the card. Both are rising contenders just under the elite in the stacked 155 lb division. Both have recent wins over veteran Jim Miller, a tough out for anyone. Chiesa has a little more UFC experience and is a former TUF winner but Dariush has faced a higher level of competition in his 7 UFC fights. He most recently beat top 5 contender (at the time) Michael Johnson. The winner here should move into the top 5 or at the very least get a top 5 opponent next time out. Dariush is a training partner of the lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos and is on record as saying he won’t fight him.
Women’s Bantamweights Bethe Correia (9-1) vs Raquel Pennington (6-5)
Just looking at the records here, you’d almost think this was a mismatch and it might be…just in the other direction. Correia worked her way through Ronda Rousey’s 4 Horsewomen and talked her way into a title shot but was dismantled by the former champion in vicious fashion. Pennington, meanwhile, took Holly Holm to the limit in a fight many feel she actually won. That loss looks a lot better with hindsight. She followed that up with a submission victory over Jessica Andrade last September to cement her top 10 status in the division. This is an important fight for both as they are just outside the fringe of title contention.
Yet another fight was eliminated from what has become a snake-bit UFC show on FOX tomorrow.
The Islam Makhachev vs. Drew Dober fight is off because shortly after weigh-ins, UFC was informed by USADA that Makhachev had a potential anti-doping violation involving Meldonium, which is listed as of this year as a banned performance enhancing agent.
Meldonium was developed clinically for heart ailments like angina, but like insulin, was discovered to have performance enhancing properties. Like Insulin, it has been listed since the start of the year as a banned Metabolic Modulator. It is the same drug the tennis star Maria Sharapova was recently suspended for.
This marks the second fight on the show in the last three days to be canceled due to the anti-doping policy, the other being the Lyoto Machida vs. Dan Henderson fight, as Machida was suspended for admitting usage of a substance that he didn’t realize was on the banned list which contained DHEA.
Last week the scheduled main event with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson full through due to a training injury suffered by Ferguson.
The news was first reported by Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting and confirmed by a UFC release tonight.
UFC’s attempts to build the audience of Fight Pass with bigger fights continued with the announcement of the first men’s title fight as an exclusive in the U.S. on the service.
The company announced that its Fight Pass exclusive show on July 7, which is the Thursday of UFC 200 weekend and the first of three straight nights of fight shows in Las Vegas, would be headlined by Rafael dos Anjos vs. Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title.
The show takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. UFC will run the Grand Garden Arena on Thursday night with the lightweight title fight, then will run Friday night in the same building for the TUF finals and a strawweight title fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk defending against Claudia Gadelha in a fight that will be built up starting this coming week as the two are rival coaches on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter that debuts on FS 1 on Wednesday night. The Friday show also features the TUF tournament finals which will be men’s light heavyweight fighters and women strawweight fighters.
UFC 200 will take place on July 9 at the T-Mobile Arena, which is basically across the street and will be the new premiere destination for the biggest events in the city with a 20,000-seat set up. That show will feature three major main events, with Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz in a rematch of their 3/5 fight, plus Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title and Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title. It will be promoted as the biggest UFC event in history, and also has such undercard fights as Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne, Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum, Gegard Mousasi vs. Derek Brunson, Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez and Cat Zingano vs. Julianna Pena.
UFC’s annual convention and the International Fight Week convention also take place that week in Las Vegas.
The UFC’s Hall of Fame ceremony will also be taking place that weekend.
This is essentially UFC’s version of WrestleMania weekend.
Famous for plenty of combat sports & pro wrestling moments, NYC’s Madison Square Garden will have another monumental event to add to its lists: the debut of the UFC.
After NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo officially signed the bill to legalize MMA in the state Thursday, UFC announced their first show in MSG will be a PPV event on Saturday, November 12th. They also said another live event will be coming to upstate New York by the end of 2016, assumed to be Buffalo due to the proximity to Toronto which features a significant MMA fanbase.
UFC reiterated in a press release that they will run four shows a year in New York State for the first three years post-bill passage. With MSG, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Buffalo, Albany, and even Syracuse’s Carrier Dome as a longshot, there’s no shortage of venues available. UFC mentioned those venues as well as Utica and Rochester in the release.
Given the amount of time it took to pass the bill, expect a pretty stacked card — the likes of which people expected with UFC 200. If the cards fall right — always a big ‘if’ with MMA — a Jon Jones/Daniel Cormier rematch or a Conor McGregor/Frankie Edgar featherweight title fight paired with Ronda Rousey’s return to action would be a pretty great start, wouldn’t it? Expect Chris Weidman to also be part of the card depending on his title situation.
The Octagon returns to FOX for their annual April event taking place in Tampa, Florida. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout as former title challenger Glover Teixiera takes on former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. There has been a facelift to this event in recent times, and if you set lineups early, you’ve had to adjust. Below are our studs, value plays and fighters to avoid when making your fantasy lineups for Saturday’s UFC On FOX 19 event.
STUDS
Khabib Nurmagomedov ($11,400)
Despite the fact he hasn’t fought in two years, Khabib Nurmagomedov is the top play on Saturday night’s card. He has the highest salary of all the competitors on the card, and he enters the event with a perfect 22-0 record and was the last man to defeat current UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos. He was supposed to be in the headline position against Tony Ferguson, but an injury forced Ferguson out, and Nurmagomedov gets a late-notice bout against the debuting Darrell Horcher. That likely works out for him as Nurmagomedov really needs a tune-up after being out of action for so long. The fact he is an undefeated top contender fighting a newcomer makes him a big favorite, but he should get the job done. Remember, Nurmagomedov holds the UFC record for most takedowns in a fight, and whether or not he finishes Horcher, as long as the injuries haven’t slowed him down, he should be able to rack up the points.
John Dodson ($11,200)
John Dodson has the second-highest salary of the competitors on the card, and it is interesting as he is moving back up to 135 pounds on Saturday night after unsuccessfully challenging for the UFC Flyweight Championship twice. Dodson is small for 135 pounds, but he does hold a win over former champion T.J. Dillashaw. Dodson’s only two UFC losses have come to current 125-pound king Demetrious Johnson, and he was competitive in both bouts. Dodson is looking to make a title run at bantamweight, and it begins with a tough opponent in Manvel Gamburyan. Gamburyan has been inconsistent during his UFC career but is 2-0 since making his own move down to 135 pounds. Despite losing one-third of his fights, Gamburyan has only been finished three times in his eight losses. However, Dodson hits very hard, and he finished Dillashaw, the only man to do so. Dodson is a strong bet to score not just a win, but become the first man to finish Gamburyan since Jose Aldo. He is worth having on your roster.
VALUE PLAYS
Michael Chiesa ($9,400)
Michael Chiesa is an excellent value play for this card, coming in at a $9,400 salary. He fights Beneil Dariush, who has won five straight fights, but was gifted a decision in his last bout with Michael Johnson. When you look at a similar recent opponent in Jim Miller, both men scored wins over him, but while Dariush dominated Miller in a decision, Chiesa finished Miller, something that only Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone had done previously. Chiesa and Dariush have similar records in the UFC, but Chiesa has had the tougher road. He really should be favored in this fight, and that makes him a solid value pick to score a win. He may not finish Dariush, but when I look at this card, it screams a lot of decisions. Chiesa is gritty and tough, so while it may go the distance, he is a sneaky pick to score the finish. Either way, I see him winning.
Tecia Torres ($9,200)
Tecia Torres is another good value play at a $9,200 salary. She is undefeated in her seven professional fights, though she has yet to score a finish. She racks up points, though, and she has the edge of holding a prior victory over her opponent, Rose Namajunas. Namajunas has won her last two fights in dominant fashion by scoring finishes, and that has her the betting favorite here. However, she is just 4-2 in her official career, and while she has improved tremendously, Torres likely has her number, especially if this fight stays on the feet. Torres is better with the striking, but Namajunas is world-class for a strawweight on the mat. Tortes would be best served keeping it on the feet and racking up points by strikes. Again, on a card that could feature a lot of decisions, she is a good underdog pick to score a win, and there might not be a lot of those. Risky play, but she has some solid value.
FIGHTERS TO AVOID
Hacran Dias ($9,600)
Hacran Dias has an impressive overall record and will be in a high-profile bout against Cub Swanson on the main card of Saturday’s event. Swanson is still ranked in the top ten despite two straight losses, but those came to current top five fighters in Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. Swanson has taken a year off to recover from injuries and should come in fresh and is eager to get back into the title picture. Dias has struggled with opponents ranked highly, with UFC losses to Nik Lentz and Ricardo Lamas, and he hasn’t shown the ability to finish opponents inside the Octagon. He isn’t overly flashy and doesn’t rack up a lot of fantasy points, and I see him having trouble with Swanson. Swanson can be finished, but I haven’t seen anything from Dias to make me confident he’ll finish him, let alone take home the victory. Dias is an easy pass for me.
Bethe Correia ($9,500)
Bethe Correia is an easy fighter to avoid. Despite having a 9-1 career record, she just hasn’t shown anything that shows she is a good fighter. Of her three UFC wins, one came over a now retired opponent, one over an opponent who is now more focused on professional wrestling over fighting, and one who has lost four of her eight career fights. Correia folded under the pressure of her first tough match-up against Ronda Rousey, and she has a tough opponent in the gritty Raquel Pennington on Saturday. Don’t let Pennington’s 6-5 record fool you- she is very talented. Despite being just 3-2 inside the Octagon, the two losses came by split decision, including taking now former champion Holly Holm, to the limit, and she could have easily gotten the decision in both losses and be 5-0 inside the UFC right now. Pennington should get this win, and that makes Correia a fighter to definitely avoid on Saturday.
OUR LINE-UPS
RYAN FREDERICK- Khabib Nurmagomedov ($11,400), Oluwale Bamgbose ($10,500), Michael Chiesa ($9,400), Court McGee ($9,300), Tecia Torres ($9,200)
I like Khabib Nurmagomedov as my top play for the event. I’m honestly a little scared of his two-year layoff, but if he hasn’t been slowed by the injuries, he could be champion. With him fighting an opponent making his UFC debut on short notice, it should be an easy night for Nurmagomedov to rack up the points. I also like Oluwale Bamgbose despite the fight he is fighting on just one week’s notice. His opponent, Cezar Ferreira, has been disappointing in his UFC career, has been bouncing between camps and weight classes, and hasn’t shown much of a chin. Bamgbose is a heavy hitter and is a good bet to score a finish. I like Michael Chiesa, Court McGee and Tecia Torres as underdogs primed to win. Chiesa should be favored over Beneil Dariush, and he is a sneaky play to get a win. Tecia Torres has the prior win over Rose Namajunas, and despite her inability to score a finish win, I like her chances in getting a win. Court McGee is a very solid fighter and showed no ring rust in his return from a long layoff. He should be even better in his second return bout, and he has a favorable fight against Santiago Ponzinibbio. I like him to get a finish by submission.
For the record, I was gonna pick Hendo in what I thought was the best value on the card. Such is life, with Lyoto Machidar (not a spelling mistake…sound it out) having spoiled that for all of us. Glover Teixeira should be able to stop Rashad Evans in the main event. I know he’s only been stopped once in his career (at the hands of a cheater who does not deserve two mentions in my paragraph) but Teixeira has looked really good in finishing OSP and Patrick Cummins in his last two fights. Nurmagomedov should make quick work of the debuting Horcher. Horcher is a good fighter who I’ve seen fight several times on smaller shows but Khabib is one of the best in the world and he’s trying to secure a title shot. Tecia Torres and Rose Namajunas is going to be a great fun fight. I think that both Torres is going to light her up and as long as she can keep it standing, she’ll either score a late KO or score over 100 strikes on her way to a decision victory. Former TUF winner Court McGee has won 3 of his last 4, including a win over Robert Whitaker, who’s proving to be one of the best in the division. My final pick is Cub Swanson who will be looking to make an impression after being bumped onto the main card after the Dan Henderson-Cheating Brazilian fight was cancelled. Since 2012 his only two losses have been to Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway, two of the very best fighters in the division. Along the way, he’s scored several KO’s, including wins over Charles Oliveira, Dennis Siver and Ross Pearson….all much tougher competition than he’s facing on Saturday.
PEACH MACHINE- Khabib Nurmagomedov ($11,400), John Dodson ($11,200), Tecia Torres ($9,200), Rashad Evans ($9,100), Drew Dober ($8,800)
John Dodson probably scores more points than any other DK player ever. I’m just guessing, but it makes sense. Maybe DJ scores more because he’s always in five rounders, but Dodson should whip Gambo with his speed. Yes, I call him Gambo. Rashad is my heart pick. I think he should beat Glover with his speed too, but I wouldn’t be taking him if I hadn’t named one of my dogs after him. Nurmo’s oppo is taking this baby on short notice and at a catch weight. That’s great for Nurmo. TT has already beaten Rose, and I like her here to do it again. Dober is another heart pick. I think he’s looked really tough his last couple of fights, and he’s got a tough oppo but Dober always swings for the fences.
