“There are many organizations that have already reached out that pretty much pay what the UFC pays in some capacity. And now with the avenue of having sponsors potentially involved, there are avenues I could make the same money as a UFC fighter elsewhere. ... I have no ill will toward the UFC. I don’t think being upset about it does anyone good. Especially myself. I don’t want to burn any bridges, but I also want to look at it in the positive aspects where I’m happy and healthy, and I’ve been successful in 20 of my professional times. The UFC does have 600 athletes. I think they just looked at what I was making now being 8-3 in the UFC, the five or seven Canadian fighters they recently added, they probably can pay every single one of their paychecks with my paycheck. ... I’m excited for the next step in my career and make myself undeniable, wherever that is.” Theodorou has been training at TriStar for an extended period, and plans to travel to other gyms to add tools to make him a more exciting fighter: “I’ve kind of looked at myself as a Pollack painting. Abstract with its own beauty. But it seems if you don’t look at MMA as a sport, but rather entertainment, I’ve gotta be more Van Gogh, and cut my ear – or someone else’s ear.” h/t MMA Junkie

“Henry Cejudo, sit down somewhere, dawg. Sit down somewhere; you’re annoying everybody. He is a phenomenal fighter. It’s amazing that he’s been able to win an Olympic gold medal, which is more important to me than a UFC belt, because it’s the hardest thing that you can do in combat sports. He beat Demetrious Johnson, a pound for pound legend, won a belt in two divisions. So what I’m saying is that his resume is crazy in a very short period of time. But when you start doing that extra stuff, oof, just stop. Hey, man, you a beast. Keep killing it. Keep it up in the Octagon. Tone down the extraness by like 10. Take it down 10, and you set.” h/t MMA News • Watch The Hollywood Beatdown

A native of Den Helder, Netherlands, the 30-year old Baars is easily one of the most sought-after martial artists in the world and has attained success in every stage that she has competed in. Among Baars’ accolades include the ISKA Welterweight World Championship, a National Dutch Muay Thai Championship, the Amazon of K-1 Muay Thai Grand Prix Championship, and the inaugural Lion Fight Muay Thai Women’s Welterweight World Championship. Baars remains undefeated in 49 Muay Thai contests, owning an impressive 46-0-3 record with 16 of those victories coming by way of knockout. The most notable win in Baars’ stellar resumé is a unanimous decision victory over multiple-time mixed martial arts World Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino to capture the inaugural Lion Fight Muay Thai Women’s Welterweight World Championship.

“Life is so wonderful that it shows you the right path to go, and sometimes having to take a step back helps you a lot. Jose Aldo is someone I respect a lot, I have no shame in admitting that he’s my idol, but that fight showed me I can stand with him and the best fighters. ... I got a lot of attention from fans, people coming to talk to me all the time, and maybe I didn’t handle that really well. People saying I was going to beat Jose Aldo, maybe I let that carry myself too much and didn’t dedicate to the big task I had ahead of me, which was beating Jose Aldo. I should have gotten more focused. I was fighting in Brazil and everybody talking about me being the betting favorite. I was too calm in there, and we can’t underestimate someone like Jose Aldo, a knockout artist, the best featherweight of all times. I’ve learned that we have to be the same way, no matter who we’re fighting. This is our life. It’s kill or be killed. A loss means a lot, a win means a lot. A... If you win, you’re good. If you lose, you’re bad. I’ve learned to stay focused on myself and not think about others.” Moicano fights Chan Sung Jung at UFC on ESPN+ 12 on 6/22, 2019 at Greenville, South Carolina. h/t MMA Fighting

Two of SBG Ireland’s brightest prospects, Cian Cowley and Nikolay Grozdev, are confirmed to compete at Brave CF 24 in London on July 25. Lightweights Cowley vs. Maciej Gierszewski is the first addition to the card. Cowley, a longtime teammate of Conor McGregor, won his first two fights for Brave before dropping his most recent bout via SD to John Brewin at Brave 22 in the Philippines on 3/15.The Moldovan featherweight Grozdev, coming off a third-round armbar win at WWFC 14, also makes his Brave debut; he has signed a multi-fight deal with Brave. Grozdev has been part of many of McGregor’s training camps over the years. h/t MMA Junkie

“Khabib is fighting Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi in September. Then I don’t know, we’ll see. Tony Ferguson just came off a great win this weekend over ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, and I’m assuming he’s next. ... We’ll see what happens with Conor – what Conor wants to do. Conor is super rich. It’s hard to get guys to fight when they’re super rich.” h/t MMA Junkie • Watch LVSportsBiz.com’s “Guerilla Cross Radio”

“When I fought both of them it was a couple of years ago so I recognize they improved a lot, they change a little bit of their game. Every fight has their particular way to go, so I believe it’s hard to say now who will be the tougher one, but we’ll see. Bader did a great job in the heavyweight division. He beat Fedor, one of the biggest names in the sport. I was impressed with that, but I would like to fight both [Bader and Mousasi] in different times and I consider Bader now the name that everybody wants to face him.” Machida also expressed interest in a move up to light heavyweight: “I’m pretty open for that. I have to confess that in 205 I felt really good. Back in the day I already fought in 205, I’m the former champion in 205 and in order to not cut any weight for me it’s much better, but I’m pretty open to which comes first, I’ll be ready.” h/t MMA Junkie