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Coach: Why Kamaru Usman wants to fight Colby Covington
Jorge Santiago: ”If Kamaru had to fight Tyron Woodley again, [Woodley] would deserve that, but I think the next in line now is Colby. [Covington] tried to gain some attention and you like him or not, he’s got it. He’s no Conor McGregor, but he’s reading his book on how to get attention. Kamaru wants this fight. He really wants to shut this guy up because he talks a lot. He said, ‘he’s someone I want to fight and punish.’ I think Colby is an average fighter, does a bit of everything, just like Kamaru, but Kamaru does it on a higher level. I don’t believe this fight goes five rounds. I think it ends before five rounds.” h/t MMA Fighting
Conor McGregor: Holloway, Poirier, 'even Aldo' deserve rematches
"If you beat a man convincingly, a first-round KO, a dominating performance, there’s not really a need for a rematch. But, if that individual rises up the ranks, if he goes back, checks himself, humbles himself, stays focused, stays positive, and rises up exactly like Dustin Poirier has done, and exactly like Max Holloway has done, well then there is rematches deserved. Even Aldo now currently, he had a great win, his last two wins were great wins. He had a little bit of a slip, but he’s had two great wins and now he’s fighting in his hometown of Rio De Janeiro. I actually was thinking I might slide in and face him, but all these politics and co-main event conversation kind of halted that as well. If he wins, I believe he’s up in line for a rematch also. Although it was a 12-second knockout, I still think if you rise up again, you deserve a rematch. So, this is where we are at.” h/t MMA Mania • Watch
Gerald Harris: That was my last one plus I turn 40 in November
DWTNCS returning to ESPN+ in June or July
Dana White's Contender Series moves from UFC Fight Pass to ESPN+ in June or July. It will take place in the UFC’s new state-of-the-art production facility that is currently under construction in Las Vegas. A second DWTNCS is also planned for later in 2019; it could end up on ESPN+ or on Fight Pass. h/t MMAjunkie
Conor McGregor: Rematch vs. Floyd Mayweather 'should happen'
“He gets his money and then it comes right back down, he must step back into the ring so I’ll be here ready for him. I’ll be here ready and confident. ... In my preparation when I was sparring, all my sparring partners were on the back foot, with the shoulder roll against the ropes, the way he usually would fight. When he came and switched that up, I wasn’t prepared. His experience showed through and he got the win. You can’t do nothing but respect that because that takes 50 pro fights to gain that experience and be able to switch through the gears like that. I prepared for the style he originally came out with, and I was whooping his ass when he came out that way because I was prepared for it. When he switched up to a different style I wasn’t prepared for, he ended up getting the win, so much respect. Next camp, and I do believe it should happen, I mean, why not? Why not? If I have sparring partners in my camp that march forward, trust me when I tell you, I’ll send his head into the bleachers.” h/t MMA Mania • Watch fan Q&A in Chicago courtesy of BJPenn.com
Nicolas Cage to star in Jiu Jitsu, the best film, ever
Nicolas Cage is set to star in Jiu Jitsu, a sci-fi documentary in which Cage will team-up with a martial artist to fight an alien named Brax that comes to earth every six years, looking for a fight. The fighter representing Earth will be played by Machado BJJ black belt Alain Moussi, who starred in the Kickboxer sequels. The Cage character teams up with Moussi to defeated Brax. Jiu Jitsu will be directed by Dimitri Logothetis, who produced Kickboxer: Vengeance, Kickboxer: Retaliation, and Kickboxer: You Killed My Master Now I Must Kill YOU. h/t Hollywood Reporter
Historic comeback at Bellator 218: Anatoly Tokov vs. Gerald Harris
Bellator ftw champ Julia Budd vs. Olga Rubin on 7/12
Bellator is back at the WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma, and the event will see 145 champion Julia Budd defend her title vs. undefeated challenger Olga Rubin. Budd is on a 10-fight win streak, the last six for Bellator. The event will see the main card on DAZN and Paramount, with the prelims streaming on Facebook.
Darren Till breaks silence following loss
Violent Bob Ross offers honest apology for weigh-ins fail
Latest 10 UFC fight announcements, today's in bold
•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
•Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Ian Heinisch at ESPN+9 card on 5/18 in Rochester
•Fabian Edwards vs. Falco Neto Lopes at UFC on ESPN+ 8 on 5/4 in Birmingham
•Kane Mousah vs. Mateusz Piskorz at UFC on ESPN+ 8 on 5/4 in Birmingham
•Kevin Lee vs. Rafael dos Anjos at WW at ESPN+9 card on 5/18 in Rochester
•Luke Rockhold vs. Jan Blachowicz at LHW at UFC 239 on 7/6 in Vegas
•Donald Cerrone vs. Al Iaquinta at UFC on ESPN+ 8 on 5/4 in Ottawa
•Said Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos at UFC 237 on 5/22 in Rio
•Alan Jouban vs. Dwight Grant at UFC 236 on 4/13 in Atlanta
Alexander Volkanovski fight in jeopardy after Jose Aldo hospitalized with bacterial infection
A small cut reportedly got infected, and the former UFC featherweight champ spent two days in the hospital. The first antibiotic was problematic, but Aldo reportedly showed improvement on the second day. His doctors need to see significant further improvement before okaying the fight vs. Volkanovski at UFC 237 on 5/11 in Rio. Aldo says he wants to fight three times this year, and retire. h/t Combate (Portuguese language)
Wonderboy to fans: I'm still here
“Out of sight out of mind, I haven’t fought in 10 months and people forget about you. That’s part of the sport. My goal is to go out and put on a good show for the fans, and hopefully come out with the finish, and let everybody know — the fans, and the UFC — that I’m still here. ... Something we’ve been working on in our camp - being a little more aggressive, but being smart with it, trying to push the action a little more. ... This fight was made on social media. He called me out. He was looking for a fight, I was looking for a fight. He said let’s make it happen, and the fans were all about it. ... With the upsets and the whole trash-talking component, the whole ‘three-piece and soda’ Masvidal gave Leon Edwards, that’s being talked about like crazy. I’m excited about the welterweight division right now, even though it’s the toughest division in the UFC, I believe. Golly.” h/t MMA Fighting • Watch
Cain Velasquez seriously considering pro wrestling in 2019
Former UFC champ Ronda Rousey is doing extremely well in the WWE. Now the highly reliable Dave Meltzer, who knows more about the combined MMA and pro wrestling worlds than anyone, says former UFC champ Cain Velasquez may shortly enter the world pro wrestling: "Obviously UFC would have to okay this for contract reasons, but there is significant talk of Cain Velasquez doing some high-profile pro wrestling this year." h/t WON (subscription)
Figueiredo: Cejudo proved to Dana that flyweight division is strong
Ahead of his fight vs. Jussier Formiga at UFC on ESPN+ 6, Deiveson Figueiredo made a case for the flyweight division: “Cejudo showed that we’re good fighters and that we flyweights always put on a show. We have KO power. It was a spectacular fight. It proved to Dana White, who was thinking about letting us go, that we’re a strong and impressive weight class. We’ll keep it up, and my time is coming. I have a singular goal when I step into the Octagon: I always look for a knockout or a submission against anyone that’s in front of me, since my goal is the belt. ... If I can, I’d like to keep it until I retire. That’s all I think about.” h/t MMAjunkie
Tyron Woodley calls out Conor McGregor
“We both just lost in a world title fight. ... I’m dead ass [serious]. ... He wants to fight Cerrone - never been a champion. He wants to fight Nate Diaz - never been a champion. He wants a rematch of Khabib immediately, so do I. I don’t look like I’m getting an immediate rematch so it looks like we dangling around Conor. Come get this smoke. Who makes sense for me to fight right now?” Woodley asked. “I might as well fight Conor. Where you at Conor? Quit being a b!@$#. Let’s fight. I want to fight Conor. I’ll fight him in Ireland. I’ll fight him in a f@$%ing back alley of White Castle. Wherever y’all want to do it at.” h/t MMA Fighting • Watch TMZ interview
Best kickboxing KOs of 2018
Chris Leben suing bareknuckle promotion WBKFF for 90k
When MMA was in its infancy, there were endless misconceptions, and it's incumbent upon MMA media to not repeat errors of the past. This story is not about the Bec Rawlings-fronted Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. It's about the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF), and Chris Leben says they owe him $90,000. Leben says he was promised 100k if he won; he was given a 10k as a down payment. He won, got nothing more; others are more abused still: "At least I got ten percent but a majority of the fighters in the match got zero. I had 10 different excuses from them where the money was." WBKFF boss Tomasz Stankiewicz is currently in prison in Illinois for an unrelated case of wire fraud. h/t NBC San Diego
