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McGregor spokesperson issues statement
"This story has been circulating for some time and it is unclear why it is being reported now. The assumption that the Conor McGregor retirement announcement today is related to this rumor is absolutely false. Should Conor fight in the future it must be in an environment where fighters are respected for their value, their skill, their hard work and their dedication to the sport." -Karen Kessler
Rousey also happy in retirement
White's unofficial response to McGregor's retirement
Firas Zahabi on the one thing Kamaru Usman must do to reach G.O.A.T. status
“I was incredibly impressed by Usman. I think he’s the champ. I think he’s the best welterweight in the division now, and I believe that he’s gonna be champion for many years to come. If he stays healthy, he’s gonna be champion for many years to come, in my opinion. If I was him, I would put all my eggs on staying healthy. Because I do feel he’s just one level ahead of everyone, and the only thing that can derail him from being one of the greatest of all time is a bad injury. These fighters go through a lot of grueling training and it definitely harms the body,” he said. “It’s a tough business physically and I feel like a lot of champions sometimes ruin their careers with injuries. Usman, from what I saw, is one of those guys who can be head and shoulders above the rest. He can be in the discussions for best pound-for-pound. I don’t think there’s many guys who can stop him, but again, it remains to be seen. Maybe he has a weakness that we haven’t discovered yet.” h/t BE
Artem Lobov wants to settle it with Zubaira Tukhugov like a man
Conor McGregor's teammate has left the UFC for bare-knuckle boxing, but there's one fight he yet covets: "In August of last year I was in talks with Bare Knuckle FC and I was very close to signing a deal with them. But I knew I had to get Tukhugov first, that's the reason I remained in the UFC for a year. What is the point in staying there if I can't get the fight I want and I can make a lot more money elsewhere? If we look at the deal I was able to secure now, I will be earning more than 90% of the UFC's fighters. For a prizefighter, that is success. ... I'm ready to take that fight whenever, any weight class, any discipline. So we'll have to wait until he's [off suspension and] back fighting and we'll begin the talks then. ... Everybody knows Tukhugov's strength is in his wrestling, so it wouldn't make much sense to meet me in Bare Knuckle. But if he wanted to do it there, I'm all for it. ... what promotion, or what location, it doesn't matter. To me, it's not about conflict. I just feel we have to settle it in the cage. MMA is where this conflict started, and MMA is where we need to finish it. We have to settle it like men. One on one, in the cage, and let's see what happens. Then there will be no conflict after that." h/t RT That final sentence is wishful thinking.
Urijah Faber feeling temptation to return
"With the baby in my life, and with the rejuvenation of my body, and seeing why I stood out for so long, it's just really, really tempting. And I'm going to take this time to prepare for this May 25 [Polaris grappling] matchup with one of the best jiu-jitsu players on the planet, to get my body into shape. And I'm going to continue with that and get my body back into a weapon and look for an opportunity to possibly step in if there's something that makes sense. I was just so tempted to hop in there because I've been feeling great in practice. I actually feel like the rest has been a rejuvenating rest. My body feels amazing. My head feels clear. But I don't like to be doing things on a whim. I stayed in the testing pool since Day 1 because I thought I might want to jump in." h/t Sherdog
MMA coach develops self-defense garment
Vernon, BC lifts MMA ban
The Vernon council voted unanimously, without discussion, to rescind a 2014 bylaw which outlawed competitive MMA fights in the city. In 2014 the then council banned competitive MMA fights from being held in the city. One of the reasons given at the time was the sport's perceived association with gang culture. Earlier this month, council asked RCMP Supt. Shawna Baher for her evaluation of whether the perceived connection with organized crime was real. In Baher's report to council, the police chief says she doesn't think MMA events would bring organized crime to the city: "I would be more concerned with the behavior of individuals within the audience attempting to emulate what they observed during and after the event." To mitigate the issue the chief recommends events are sufficiently policed and the bill for the extra officers must be paid by the promoter. h/t Infotel
Jacare Souza ready to retire if no title shot with win over Yoel Romero at UFC on ESPN 3 on 4/27
”I don’t know why the UFC put [Adesanya] to fight for the title. He hasn’t done enough. Because he never fought against top fighters, you know? Okay, he beat Derek Brunson, but I’m a jiu-jitsu fighter and I beat Derek Brunson twice. And the second time, when I kicked the Derek Brunson’s head, my eyes were closed. I did better than him twice, and in the second time my eyes were closed. Why the UFC put this guy to cut my line? I don’t know. But he doesn’t deserve to fight for the title. He don’t deserve, 100 percent. Anderson is out of the rank and out of shape. He doesn’t deserve it. ... If UFC doesn’t give me the chance, I’m going to open a jiu-jitsu school for me. I don’t have a problem with retiring. Right now my body is good, my hormone is great, everything is good. I don’t have a problem with this. I’d be retiring to my jiu-jitsu on top. So I have to win this fight and wait on the UFC.” h/t MMA Mania
Henry Cejudo: If Dillashaw doped, I will never fight him again
”If someone ends up dying in the Octagon one of these days, our sport’s gonna get - they’re gonna ban it for good. They’re gonna take that one shot. With this whole TJ thing, it made me sad, if it’s all true. You feel sad, then you go to feeling mad - like wait, what if he’d beat you up like Brock did with Mark Hunt? Sometimes these things cross your head because this ain’t baseball, man. If it all comes out to be true, I would never feel comfortable fighting someone like that again. I hope it was an accident, I hope something happened. But if it’s true, I truly feel bad for the man. I really do. And I just would never fight him again. I don’t care for whatever amount of money, I would never fight him again. ... I’m still kind of emotional. I hope it’s not anything crazy, but this is the last interview I want to do about it because it just bugs me.” h/t MMA Mania • Watch The Ariel Helwani Show
Latest 10 UFC fight announcements, today's in bold
•Casey Kenney in vs. Ray Borg at UFC on ESPN 2 on 3/30 in Philly
•Ilir Latifi vs. Volkan Oezdemir at UFC on ESPN+ 10 on 6/1 in Stockholm
•Jimi Manuwa vs. Aleksandar Rakic at UFC on ESPN+ 10 on 6/1 in Stockholm
•Stipe Miocic vs. Jon Jones at HW reportedly under consideration
•Felice Herrig vs. Yan Xiaonan at UFC 238 on 6/8 in Chicago
•Makwan Amirkhani vs. Chris Fishgold at UFC on ESPN+ 10 on 6/1 in Stockholm
•Li Jingliang injured and OUT vs. Alex Oliveira at UFC on ESPN 3 on 4/27 in Ft Lauderdale
•Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes for vacant bantamweight title reportedly at UFC 238
•Alexa Grasso OUT Jessica Aguilar IN vs. Marina Rodriguez at UFC on ESPN 2 on 3/30 in Philly
•Tai Tuivasa vs. Blagoy Ivanov on 6/8 at UFC 238 in Chicago
Bellator WFTW champ Julia Budd defends vs. Olga Rubin in 7/12
Bellator’s return to WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. on Friday, July 12 will be headlined by a women’s featherweight title fight featuring Canada’s Julia Budd (12-2) defending her title for the third time vs. undefeated Olga Rubin of Israel. The event will be broadcast live and free on Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, as well as DAZN.com, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and globally on the Bellator Mobile App.
Nate Diaz colorfully addresses Conor, Khabib, Poirier
Kamaru Usman has a mean theory about Ben Askren's popularity
“He’s just a troll. There’s a reason a lot of people relate to him. Because a lot of trolls are ... people behind the computer at home, they’re eating doughnuts. They look like Ben Askren, to be honest. They got the hair like him; they got the gut like him; so they relate to him. So it’s all fun and games. It’s not personal.” h/t MMA News
Champ Eduard Folayang ready to rematch best version of Shinya Aoki
“I am really happy to be sharing the main event with him, and to face a legend like Aoki for the second time. I could not be any happier. It’s an honor, definitely. He’s the greatest submission artist in the history of mixed martial arts. We all know how dangerous he is on the mat, but I’m confident with my skills and I will do whatever it takes to defend my belt. I knew that one day, [we] were gonna face each other again. It was really inevitable. He has finished all his opponents, which means he’s determined to reclaim his belt. I think he’s still the best at what he does, especially when it comes to grappling. I think I have a mental and spiritual edge against Aoki. I know I have also improved from my last fight. As much as possible, I will not give him the opportunity to bring me down to the mat...” h/t Manila Standard • Watch trailer
Alexis Davis sums up losing in two words
Daniel Cormier still aiming for Brock Lesnar fight
“I don’t have a fight exactly scheduled yet but I got my eyes on Brock Lesnar. I may go to the WWE’s WrestleMania and I may go cost him his title over there so he can hurry up and get to the UFC so I can beat him here.” h/t MMA Fighting • Watch
Maycee Barber's family is beyond all in on her UFC career
All six of Bucky and Maryanne Barber's children were homeschooled and started martial arts early. Maycee, 'The Future' who may be the future of WMMA, started at 3, was teaching adults at 13 at the family studio, and at 14 decided she wanted to fight in the UFC. Then it goes serious. They drove her 1000 miles round trip every other week to Jackson-Wink, put her with Duane Ludwig and Trevor Wittman, they tried to get Matt Hume, put her at Team Alpha Male, brought her to Ryan Schultz and Matt Pena and Marc Montoya and Izzy Martinez and more. While Marc Montoya at Factory X in Colorado remains her head coach, the family sold their martial arts academy and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Maycee and her 17-year-old brother Wyatt, and now own a coffee shop there. Barber intends to break Jon Jones's record as youngest UFC champ; he was 23 years, eight months and one day. That gives Barber two years, ten months, and six days. She's off to an extraordinary start.
Pettis reports CM Punk still in training
CM Punk (real name Chick Magnet Brooks) took a Fire-Ready-Aim approach to MMA, signing with the UFC, and then starting training. It didn't work, but to his credit, as detailed by Anthony Pettis, he hasn't quit training: "I don't know what his plan is. I know he's doing some movies and a couple other things, but I'm not sure if he plans on fighting again or what. But, I know he's still training ... That dude's a hard worker. Not many people in the world can do what he did. I mean, it's on the biggest stage, and he fought some good guys too. It's not like he was fighting scrubs. He's fighting good guys in the UFC. He's training with killers. He's training with me, Woodley. He comes in day and day, and he's getting his butt kicked, and coming back, showing up, so I give him props, man. No matter what, he did it." h/t TMZ
