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Big Country: Cro Cop loss is inevitable
Cro Cop is on a 9-fight win streak, while Roy Nelson is 3-6 his last, but against a higher level of competition, and Nelson, who won the first fight in 2011, expressed complete confidence about tonight's fight at Bellator 216: “We were supposed to do this back in May, so I’m just excited just to be able to fight, to be on the same stage as Cro Cop. ... When you’ve got that much momentum going forward, especially being the Rizin Grand Prix champion, as a fighter you always take all the pluses and keep on compounding, compounding. But eventually, it’s the Heavyweight division — you do lose! He’s on a four-year win streak, and won the grand prix in Rizin, and the way I look at is once I beat him then I’ll be the Rizin champion plus on my way to the Bellator championship.” h/t MMA Fighting • Watch
Jones to Velasquez: Move to heavyweight in 'inevitable'
Max Holloway tweets to the beat of a different drummer
Brutal, but unintentional groin kick ends Bellator 215 main event in just 0:15 seconds
Two changes to Combate Americas: Mexico vs. USA on 2/22
Evan Solorio of Spokane, Washington is out and Ivan “Choko” Castillo is in vs Daniel “D-Rod” Rodriguez. And Jimmy “Funky Cold” Medina is out and Fresno's Albert “Big Al” Gonzales is in vs. AKA team member “Shuga” Shane Keefe of San Jose, California. The event will be headlined by a previously announced, catchweight (150) showdown between Pablo “El Gallo Negro” Sabori of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mex. and Urijah Faber-protege Anthony “The Shark” Avila of Sacramento, California.
Douma holds on through vicious slam to win by triangle at Bellator MMA 215
Dorks ask does Francis Ngannou have a fighter mentality?
“Mentality is what brought me here. If I did not have that mentality, I could not have gone through what I went through. I was born and raised in Africa in a very poor family but I just have this mentality that I can’t give up. I’ve been through hell to be here today, so it’s all about fighting mentality. I have the ability to overcome that because I’ve been through worse than that, believe me when I say that.” h/t MMA Mania • Watch
Cowboy: Jackson Wink dead to me
Late last year longtime Greg Jackson protege Donald Cerrone left the Jackson-Wink camp, after Mike Winkeljohn decided to train gym newcomer Mike Perry to fight 'Cowboy' at UFC Fight Night 139. Cowboy is not going back: “Hell no. You burn a bridge with me, you’re dead my friend. ... I just don’t understand why people don’t invest more in themselves,” Cerrone said. “Every time I got money I would just keep building and building and building and building this compound because it’s all about me. It’s very selfish in this sport. I think it’s a good idea. I just walk out of my bed, go to my backyard and train. I fly all my coaches in, $#!@ it works for me. I got a [fridge] full of Budweiser and a house full of coaches. That’s what we do.” h/t MMA News
CroCop responds to fan horse meat speculation
A two-year-old image of CroCop inspired fan and foe speculation about PED usage, but Filipovic was subject to random anti-doping tests, and was not impressed with the comments: “You know how people are, so many stupid comments. This, that ... I’m a very dedicated man. I spent five, six hours rehabilitation process every day. I managed to recover. After six, seven weeks I start to jog again. I had a fight also. Leg wasn’t recovered enough. But anyway I accepted the fight. I am recovered now.” h/t MMA Mania • Watch
DC: Khabib paying teammates fines most honorable thing I ever saw
“I think that Khabib is doing the most honorable thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Not many guys will pay the fine, the 500 grand, also pay the fines of your teammates and brothers. He’s paying their money too. Whatever they fine [Abubakar and Tukhugov], he’s gonna pay it too. Those are his brothers. They were acting to help him, I guess. They’re suspended longer, he will sit with them. That’s one thing about those guys and their lifestyle and their community is that they are family at the highest level and what he’s doing is so honorable. Not many people would do that. He’s doing it with the idea that even if they take his title, it does not mean more to him than standing next to his brothers. It doesn’t get any better than that. I appreciate it. I do think the fine was steep. Whatever. He also said that he’s not gonna fight there anymore. He’s very firm in his approach, he’s very firm in what he wants to convey to the world. I’m very proud of him. I’m proud of the man that Khabib has become from the moment he walked into AKA to who he is today, I’m very proud of him.” h/t MMA Fighting • Watch The MMA Hour
Bellator considering a featherweight GP for October
Scott Coker: “The tournament format, everybody understands. ... We’ll throw tournaments when we have eight fighters that are brand names already, that people already know that we can put together. That’s been the formula and it’s worked so we’re going to continue doing it. We haven’t 100 percent said which division but I believe that come October we will probably roll out a new tournament in a different weight class. ... I think that the one that sounds the most attractive to me is the featherweight division. You have the Pitbulls and you have the A.J. McKees, [James] Gallagher could come up, Darrion Caldwell could come up, and [Aaron] Pico is in that weight class, [Henry] Corrales, [Emmanuel] Sanchez - we just have so many great fighters in that weight class that I think it makes sense.” h/t MMA Fighting • Watch
Cain Velasquez will call it quits if he can't compete at a high level on Sunday
“The reason I do this is to be the No. 1 guy. And if I’m not as competitive as I was before, then I’m not doing it. But I also believe that I am that same guy. I’ve improved a lot and right now, I feel stronger than ever, stronger than in the past. Obviously, in that fight against Travis Browne, I am stronger than that. My body feels better than I did then with the time off I’ve taken. I just have a lot of confidence to go out and win this fight. I expect to go out and compete at a high level. If I can’t do that, then I’m not going to do this any more, but the way I feel now, I feel great and feel like I can keep going for quite a while more.” h/t Yahoo Sports
UFC on ESPN 1 open workout highlights
Kron Gracie 'prepared to die’ in the Octagon
Rickson Gracie's son Kron, 30, is 4-0 in MMA, and makes his league debut at UFC on ESPN 1, on February 17 vs. Alex Caceres: “I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life. I like representing my entire family. I always expect the best result, but I’m ready for anything. I train to win, but I’m prepared to die, always.” h/t BE • Watch
Aliskerov vs Chimaev at Brave 23 someone leaves with first loss
Sambo world champion and 8-0 fighter Ikram Aliskerov fights Sweden’s 4-0 Khamzat Chimaev at welterweight bout (175 lbs) at Brave 23, on April 19, in Amman, Jordan. In his latest performance, Aliskerov stopped Geraldo Luan Santana at Brave 21, last December, in Saudi Arabia. Chimaev fights out of Allstars Training Center, alongside the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Ilir Latifi, and Reza Madadi, and beat the USA’s Sidney Wheeler in the main event of Brave 20, in India. Brave 23 will be headlined by three title fights - welterweight champion Jarrah Al Selawe vs. undefeated Abdoul Abdouraguimov, lightweight champion Abdul Kareem Al Selwady vs. Luan 'Miau' Santiago, and Eldar Eldarov vs. Mounir Lazzez for the inaugural super lightweight (165) belt.
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