Tag: Frankie Edgar

Brock Lesnar Probably In, Jon Jones Probably Out, And The State of UFC Headliners

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Sherdog – …During a hearing on Tuesday, the California State Athletic Commission revoked Jones’ license in the state and fined him 40 percent of his purse — $205,000 – from UFC 214. The revocation comes with a one-year period of ineligibility, meaning that Jones will not be able to reapply for a license until August at the earliest….“Let USADA give their discipline, when that’s completed, I’ll be inclined to support Jones in getting his license back,” CSAC Executive Officer Andy Foster said. “”I do not believe we should end Mr. Jones’ career today, but I do believe he should sit out for a while.”

sky sports – Lesnar is currently the WWE Universal champion but did not attend Raw this week…He was also absent from Sunday night’s Sky Sports Box Office event, Elimination Chamber, although he was not scheduled to appear, and was photographed in the host city Las Vegas with White…..That led to speculation that Lesnar will return to UFC after WrestleMania, and when asked on Sirius XM radio what the odds of that happening were, White said: “Very, very, very good.”

Express – Conor McGregor is reportedly in talks with the UFC to fight twice this year. That’s according to MMA Fighting’s Dave Meltzer, who last week revealed that negotiations between the UFC and their poster boy are going swimmingly. “The word is that negotiations with Conor McGregor are going well,” he wrote in his subscription-only newsletter.

It is surely a very odd time to be a UFC fan right now. It seems like the injury bug is biting everyone, including those at the top, and what seems to be compounding everything is that the few folks that could be counted on to carry a PPV simply aren’t around. In Brock Lesnar’s case, he hasn’t been for awhile, save a cameo at UFC 200. Jon Jones actually hasn’t been around much either, fighting once a year since 2014 and prefering weed, coke, hitting and running, and steroids to fighting, or so it seems. We’ll get to the man with the red panties later. What that makes for is this sort of holding period for the leader in MMA while they build up new superstars with peculiarly-placed headlining and co-headling bouts while biding their time with fan friendly duels between veterans and solid title fights that move divisions along the best they can.

There is a reason, after all, That previously barely-knowns Darren Till and Josh Emmett were both recently given quick turnaround, high profile fights (Till vs. Cowboy Cerrone, a success, Emmett vs. Jeremy Stepehens, not) after a noted highlight-reel knock out. The UFC is desperate to quickly build up names and star power, hoping to get one or more of the next generation of revenue generators into the title picture while they await Jones and Lesnar to cycle off and for Conor McGregor to stop slinging whiskey and shoes and get back in the gym.

This is the same reason behind Brian Ortega stepping in against Frankie Edgar in this weekend’s UFC 222 co-main event. Frankie Edgar has been a longtime top-10 pound for pound talent and has been breathing down the belt’s neck for awhile now, save for an admittedly lackluster performance against Jose Aldo at UFC 200. He could have either dropped from the card and waited for his title shot or faced a better known opponent, as it is rumored McGregor himself offered to step in to some capacity. However, Edgar has also proven to be willing and able to provide his services as the gatekeeper to the 145 top -3ish as well, e.g when he took on the highly-touted Yair Rodriguez last May. “The Answer” demolished Rodriguez, who was clearly not ready for what he had bitten off, and sent the prospect back home to catch up to the 36 year old veteran. Enter Ortega – coming off a convincing, if not a little sloppy, guillotine finish over perennial top-10 145er Cub Swanson. If Ortega is able to beat Frankie Edgar, it sets up a HUGE Featherweight Title fight between two of the best young fighters to come along in a who knows how long: Ortega and 145lb Champion Max Holloway. If he loses, it only cements Edgar’s claim to his title shot and his place among the featherweight elite. Either way, it clears the way for a big PPV headlining fight for the UFC; one less that they have to worry about.

Besides Till and Ortega, there are a few other guys you can be sure the UFC will try and build quickly over the next few months. At 170lbs with Till there is Santiago Ponzinibbio (Dana White doesn’t seem too pleased with the pace of a lot of Kamaru Usman’s fights and Colby Covington’s behavior is too erratic for the UFC to trust him yet; see Jones, Jonathan Dwight). At Middleweight, champion Robert Whitaker should be a household name soon if he can stay healthy, with stud Kelvin Gastelum, a 170-185lb tweener, always on the verge of stardom. There’s a bit of dearth in the heavier weight classes, but I could see Volkan Oezdemir sticking in the title picture and gaining popularity at 205. I could also see Aussie Tyson Pedro making the jump at some point, should he string together some wins. Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic should already be a star and the UFC is foolish to not have capitalized on his bankable skills and personality already. Up-and-comer Curtis Blaydes has star potential and pedigree and returning legend Cain Velsaquez has one more run in him should he stay healthy. In the lower weight classes, the Dillashaw-Garbrandt feud should be around awhile and a money maker. Jimmie Rivera and Marlon Moraes are also breathing down their necks at 135 lbs. 155lb is ready to blow up with Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, and maybe some day Nate Diaz gunning for a part in the enjoyable feud between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, with McGregor soon returning to join the fracas.

That paragraph, if you stuck around for it, was probably a long, boring read of a list of potential superstars who you probably don’t care about yet. But it illustrates my point that the lack of RIGHT NOW star power is not so much of a problem for the UFC if they can capitalize on what they have on their AAA team. With Lesnar possibly coming back to fill in a space and McGregor supposedly fighting twice this year, the UFC may only need a Fox card and a high-PPV spot for a couple of these guys to be pushed into contention and headliner status. If you are as much of an MMA nerd as I am, you’re also excited to see how it plays out.

 

5 Different Professional Fighters in The Ultimate Fighting Championship Have Simply Refused To Fight Zabit Magomedsharipov.

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Image result for zabit magomedsharipov

(He’s the one in the air, in case you didn’t draw that conclusion)

Sherdog –  The former Absolute Championship Berkut competitor took to Twitter to call out the likes of Myles Jury, Arnold Allen, Yair Rodriguez, Andre Fili and Artem Lobov for turning down a potential bout with him on April 7. According to Magomedsharipov, of those five only Lobov agreed to a fight — only to have his team decline.

Fuckin Dagestan, man. They just don’t want to stop producing the most terrifying MMA fighters alive. It’s bad enough when you have Khabib Nurmagomedov calmly telling fighters they don’t have a shot in hell and they need to give up so he can fight for the title – while reigning down hellfire elbows on their skulls. Now you have this GIGANTIC featherweight who is already such a problem two fights into his UFC career that the entire 145lb division has just said, nah, fuck that. Someone else do it. I mean look at those names above. Myles Jury (a former 155er btw), Yair Rodriguez, Andre Fili. Not only are those guys up there in terms of divisional standing (Fili aside, but he’ll be back into the Top 15), but they make their living going to Goddam WAR. They bring it. They’re all “anywhere, anyone, anytime” guys. That’s what makes this guy Magomedsharipov so special. He’s the limit. He’s where the rest of these guys said yaaaaaa anyone but him.

A little more on the man himself. He’s 14-1 with 12 finishes. His last two opponents – as aforementioned his first two in the UFC – both met their end via rear-naked choke. Also already mentioned, he is from the MMA factory known as the Republic of Dagestan. By “Republic” I mean Dagestan is a subject of Russia’s that sort of operates as it’s own thing because it would be too much of a pain in the ass for Russia to try and control them as much as some of their other regions. Given Dagestan’s proclivity for MMA, you can probably imagine why. A 6’1 featherweight,  when he is stateside (I don’t how often/constant that is) Magomedsharipov trains out of Ricardo Almeida BJJ amongst the likes of Edson Barboza and Frankie Edgar. That gym is known as one of the most underrated in the sport and a great spot for a 26 year natural. Apparently, maybe it’s a little too good for him because now no one wants to fight him.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. It’s hard enough for foreign fighters to rise up the UFC pecking order sometimes, for various reasons, without the road block of not being able to find an opponent. Let’s hope someone rises up soon to accept the challenge because this guy could be a part of the new wave at 145 along with Holloway and Ortega.

(Note: I wonder if between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Zabit Magomedsharipov Dougie will start putting a quota on how much text I can waste of names. Hope note.)

Here. We. Go. (Again) – Khabib Nurmagomedov Vs. Tony Ferguson Official For UFC 223 in Brooklyn

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So I didn’t hear this directly, but it is all over the “Toucher and Rich” twitter that this morning Dana White himself confirmed on the show – one of  Boston’s top morning sports-talk programs, for those not in the know – that The Eagle vs. Tony Ferguson will go down in Brooklyn at UFC 223. This also almost guarantees Conor McGregor will be “stripped” of his 155lb belt, as Dana White has previously alluded, and that this fight will be for the undisputed championship, not Ferguson’s as-previously billed-as Interim Title.

This is, I believe, something like the 4th time this fight has been booked in some capacity, the last being the infamous UFC 209 fiasco where Nurmagomedov couldn’t even show up for weigh-ins. With Tyler Minton now firmly entrenched as his trusted nutritionist, I’m actually pretty optimistic weight issues are in the past for the Dagestani. the venue is also of note, as the UFC is very well aware of Brooklyn’s large Russian population, something they’ve exploited in the past by having Nurmagomedov hold interviews there, etc.

It goes without saying that this fight is huge for the division, the UFC, and most directly, the two fighters involved. Whoever wins this fight is almost assuredly also the next winner of the McGregor sweepstakes, as White has also mentioned  that The Notorious would like to come back to the Octagon in the fall. His opponent, one would assume, would be the winner of this fight, giving McGregor an opportunity to win back the belt he was “stripped of” due to his elongated vacation from the cage. Whoever faces McGregor is now always expected to receive an inflated payday and permanent boost in stature, and it can be expected that the man who will emerge from this long-awaited clash of 155ers with a belt around his waist will see an even bigger bump than normal.

As for the UFC and the division, this fight will be a huge part of unweaving quite the web spun by McGregor’s absence, injuries to both competitors, and Nurmagomedov’s fight with the scale. As long as all goes to plan over the next 9-11 months, we will know, in no uncertain terms, who the top 3 Lightweights are, in order. This is not unimportant, as the Lightweight division has been historically one of the UFCs most storied, having been the home of legends like B.J Penn and Frankie Edgar. Their heir awaits them.