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2019 ESPY nominations released for Best MMA Fighter
Previously, an ESPY was awarded for Best Fighter, including MMA and boxing. Now the two have been split: BEST BOXER (Canelo Alvarez, Vasily Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk, Terence Crawford) and BEST MMA FIGHTER (Israel Adesanya, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo, Amanda Nunes). Ronda Rousey got an award nomination for BEST WWE MOMENT. The 27th edition of the ESPY Awards will air ABC at 8PM ET live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 10, 2019. h/t ESPN
Santiago Ponzinibbio home after 2nd hospitalization in one month
Santiago Ponzinibbio, on a seven-fight win streak, planned to headline UFC Uruguay on 8/10, but was hospitalized with a bacterial infection in his knee and underwent emergency surgery in Florida, remaining hospitalized for a week. Less than two weeks later the Argentinian had a reaction to medication he was taking post surgery, and was hospitalized for eight more days. Ponzinibbio was released Tuesday, saying: “I want to fight soon, of course, but I have to get back to 100 percent first. I know I’ll come back better than ever and win the fights I have to win to win my title.” h/t MMA Fighting
KSW's Martin Lewandowski heads Polish amateur MMA org
Headed by KSW founder, Martin Lewandowski, as president, a new Polish federation for Mixed Martial Arts, the MMA Polska Association, has been established under the auspices of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF |WMMAA) to represent the national MMA community. The main objective of the Association is the development of MMA as a sport discipline. Alongside sport development and regulation, the long term goal is to see MMA into the Olympic Games. Lewandowski: “After 15 years in professional MMA, the time has come to organize the amateur side of the sport. This is the next step in strengthening this discipline. We can say that the MMA University is already here in Poland, but now it is time to build the elementary school and high school. I have walked a bumpy road building MMA from the beginning, making it acceptable in the media, among sponsors, fighting stereotypes, pulling MMA out of discos and dingy training rooms which lacked even basic medical care. This is all behind me, behind us."
Lyoto Machida's one goal
Lyoto Machida, 41, is coming off a win over Chael Sonnen so spectacular he believes it earned him a title shot: "It can be in both classes. [Whichever] comes first, I’ll be ready. I’d like to be a champion. That’s my goal here in Bellator. I love being here in Bellator because I feel a lot of respect from the fans and the press, [talking to] everybody. ... At 185, I have to cut a lot of weight. At 205, I barely cut any weight – just a couple of pounds, ten pounds at most. It’s easy for me. It’s going to be so easy for me. If I have to fight at 185, it’s good. If I have to fight at 205, it’s good. But in terms of cutting weight, I prefer to fight at 205 for sure. I feel like I’m too fast for 205 because I came from karate. Karate requires a lot of speed in training, so I train a lot of that. When I train with other heavyweights and light heavyweights, I can feel the difference in terms of speed because I can move fast. I can move a lot. And also, I have this strength. This strength is so important because once I hit the guy at 205, I feel the difference if I compare myself and 185 – much more power, much more impact in each technique.” h/t MMA Junkie
Dana White willing to do Justin Bieber vs. Tom Cruise
The most widely covered news in MMA last week was Justin Bieber, 25, tweeting a challenge to fight Tom Cruise, 56, in the UFC. 'Bubba', as he's known to his wife 'Bean', later tweeted that he was joking, but UFC president Dana White would entertain the idea: "I saw it like everybody else did and I didn’t pay much attention to it. It picked up a lot of steam and was everywhere. I’m not gonna say any names but I’m just gonna tell you that I got a phone call from a couple of real guys that said that they really do want to do this fight and they believe that Tom Cruise would do the fight. And I told them, ‘Well, I’ll tell you this, if that’s true, if that’s true and everybody involved in this thing really wants to do it, we can talk.’ ... I’d be an idiot not to make this fight. That would be the easiest fight to ever promote in the history of my career. I didn’t think that Floyd and Conor was gonna happen and it did. Anything is possible these days." h/t MMA Fighting
Bellator 222 Highlights (4:22)
Hannity brags about his mixed martial arts training in BJJ, Krav, Kenpo, guns, and blades
Modafferi responds with rare swear to losing Carmouche, who gets title shot
Valentina Shevchenko: How I lost to Liz Carmouche
UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko rematches Liz Carmouche at UFC on ESPN+ 14 on 8/10; 'Bullet' won the first fight at C3 Fight on 9/30/2010: “Our history… it was like some kind of medical stoppage. I was dominating all round, I was throwing combinations, I even took her down. I came for the leg lock and she threw from the ground — I was standing on my feet — she throws the heel and it landed right on my brow. So [I got] this cut on the eye and the doctor decided to stop the fight. This was not the way I planned [it], I was ready to continue the fight but the doctor decided different way. ... You can never erase [a loss] it but you still gain another [win]. I’m here to continue my victory, I’m here to continue to be the champion and I will never let no one take this belt because I will train harder than any one of them, that’s why this is going to be a good [fight]. ... Let’s see how is everything plays out. I just will continue my martial arts way, my martial arts life to do what I love the most. Martial arts for me, it’s my lifestyle, [it’s] everything. I just will do everything as best as I can to bring good fights for all fans of UFC or fans of MMA and just to make them happy.” h/t BJPenn.com • Listen to BJ Penn Radio
Jessica Eye has some solid fighter advice
Dana White explains controversial pass on Brendan Loughnane
Lou Negliaās RISE Invitational returns to Westbury, NY on 6/21
RISE Invitational was created to provide a platform for MMA stars and the best Grapplers on the circuit today to showcase their skills and compete under Submission Only rules. The Main Card will be LIVE and Exclusive on UFC Fight Pass at 10pm, and the Undercard will be available on Video On Demand the following week. RISE 7 competitors include: Pete “Drago” Sell, Josh Burkman, Gian Villante, Chris Camozzi, Dennis Bermudez, Adam Collarile, Frank Rosenthal, Carlos Rosado, Zach Maslany, Joao Miyao, Sergio DaSilva, Rey Deleon. Limited tickets still available at RISEInvitational.com.
PVZ plans to test free agency after final fight on contract
“I am, yeah. You know, it’s more for me, I want to prove my worth. And obviously, with my arm injuries I’ve had three surgeries in a row now. Even though I’m so popular, I guess... I’ve been doing amazing things outside the UFC—Sports Illustrated, Dancing with the Stars, all these amazing things. I want to show, ‘Hey, I’m a huge player in this division. I’m a huge player in the UFC.’ And I think it’s going to take one more fight to do that. And more than anything, I’m just focused on getting back in the cage. I don’t want to put any pressure on myself, or any stress behind anything. I just want to fight.” PVZ is currently recovering from arm surgery, so no fights are scheduled. h/t BE • Watch Ariel Helwani's MMA Show
Teen submission phenom Chase Hooper to make Titan FC debut on 6/28
Chael Sonnen responds to charge he was one of the worst drug cheats in MMA
Decastro, Soriano earn UFC contracts with wins on Dana White Contender Series
The premiere episode of the Dana White Contender Series featured four fights, but only two fighters earned a UFC contract directly from President Dana White: Yorgan Decastro and Puna Soriano.
Decastro wins first ever fight at UFC Apex with leg kick TKO
Combate Americas scores big television ratings for 6/7 event
It was another ratings home run for “Cricket Wireless Presents Combate Americas: Tucson Unbreakable” broadcast live on network television; it pulled in more than 420,000 viewers on Univision in its midnight ET time slot, on Friday, 6/7. The event was the highest rated program in the midnight ET time slot for the week on Univision’s schedule, a feat which has become common-place for Combate telecasts in that time period. “Tucson Unbreakable” drew nearly 4X as many viewers (421,000 vs. 115,000) as competitor PFL carried by ESPN2, Saturday, 7 p.m. Combate’s trend of dominating other major sports telecasts continued, with the Tucson telecast pulling in higher viewership than four FIFA Women’s World Cup matches airing on Telemundo and cross-promoted heavily on NBC. Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren: “Our television ratings for ‘Tucson Unbreakable’ proved once again that Combate Americas has become appointment television, particularly among young adults and that our brand of MMA brings something unique to fans of combat sports." Source: Nielsen • h/t Combate Americas
Latest 10 UFC fights, today's in bold
•Valentina Shevchenko vs. Liz Carmouche headlines UFC on ESPN+ 14 on 8/10 in Uruguay
•Journey Newson IN with Sergio Pettis OUT vs. Ricardo Ramos
•Vince Murdock IN with Chas Skelly OUT vs. Jordan Griffin at ESPN 3 on 6/29 in Minneapolis
•Alexander Hernandez vs. Francisco Trinaldo at UFC on ESPN 4 in San Antonio on 7/20
•Misha Cirkunov vs. Jim Crute at UFC on ESPN+ 16 on 9/14 in Vancouver
•Bruno Silva OUT Eric Spicely IN vs. Deron Winn at ESPN+ 12 on 6/22 in Greenville
•John Phillips OUT newcomer Wellington Turman IN vs. Karl Roberson at UFC on ESPN+ 13 on 7/13 in Sacramento
•Marina Rodriguez vs. Tecia Torres at UFC on ESPN+ 14 on 8/10 in Uruguay
•Veronica Macedo vs. Rachael Ostovich at UFC on ESPN+ 14 on 8/10 in Uruguay
•Enrique Barzola s. Bobby Moffett at UFC on ESPN+ 14 on 8/10 in Uruguay
Paulo Costa: Ex-trainer attempted blackmail with IV video
Costa received a retroactive 6-month suspension by USADA for prohibited IV use prior to his wins over Oluwale Bamgbose and Johny Hendricks; the suspension followed the emergence of a video showing 'Borrachinha' receiving an IV in a hotel room. A since-fired trainer was allegedly responsible for the vid: "He tried to use that short moment to hurt me and extort me with that video. He said, ‘If you don’t give me this amount of money…’ I obviously didn’t even try to negotiate because I knew what I was doing. ... He hurt himself a lot because he was cut from the team. He was part of the team and betrayed not only my confidence, but every fighter's. I don’t know if a trainer can have the confidence of a fighter or a gym owner now because if he does that to one fighter, he’ll do to another. This guy has to be banned from the sport. ... I believe he thought, ‘He’s in the UFC, making a lot of money, I’ll extort him.’ I had worked with him four or five years before the UFC, but there was no extortion because I wasn’t making money [laughs].” Costa fights Yoel Romero at UFC 241 on 8/17. h/t MMA Fighting • AG.Fight (original Portuguese)
Brave makes London debut with invite only event on 7/25
The invite-only event at the 8,000-seat Copper Box Arena in the heart of Stratford’s Olympic Park is designed to connect the sport of mixed martial arts to the highest level of influencers across all walks of life, including social media, business, sports, and other ventures. Brave president Mohammed Shahid: “Brave is looking to connect the biggest influencers to the best fighters in the world. This is about taking MMA to the next level, to expose the best and fastest-growing sport in the world to the wider audience. We want to make sure the sport grows, regardless of BRAVE. This is the vision of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and that’s what we want to do.”
Titan FC 55: Redemption has 2 titles on the line
Titan Fighting Championship will host Titan FC 55 from Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, June 28, headlined by a flyweight title fight between defending champion Juan Puerta and challenger, Claudio Ledesma. Puerta, on a four-fight win streak, recently served a suspension handed down by the Florida State Boxing Commission after the fighter admitted guilt and test results showed greater than 300 nanograms of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) prior to his scheduled Titan FC 53 title defense against Gustavo Balart in March. The fight never happened as it was canceled just minutes before it was scheduled to take place. Puerta’s suspension ended on June 15. He was also fined $500, plus costs, and is required to engage in community service which entails speaking with the Stoneman Douglas wrestling team about the mistakes he made and lessons learned. He will also volunteer as a wrestling coach this summer. Ledesma is coming into the title fight on a five-fight win streak. Irwin Rivera fights Matt Wagy for the promotion's interim bantamweight title.
UFC Apex to be āa big pieceā of promotionās plans going forward
When CEO of UFC parent company Endeavor Ari Emmanuel, first visited the Performance Institute two years ago, he looked out a window at a neighboring space and said he wanted to buy it. Two years later The UFC Apex opens officially with the third season of DWTNCS begins at 8 p.m. ET tonight and airs on ESPN+. UFC president Dana White explains: “We can basically do things anywhere in the world from here. This place can run 24 hours a day. We can do a fight here at 8 in the morning, rip it apart and set it up for another fight at 11, set it up for another fight at 2, can do another fight at 5. We can produce content out of here live 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. There’s a massive master plan for this whole area here that we will be building out over the next two to three years … Let me just say this, it’s ridiculous. It’s phenomenal what’s going to happen with this land right over here.” Future plans include opening the space to public for lots of fights, plus boxing, comedy shows, and concerts. h/t Las Vegas Sun
