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Dana White is excited for 'The Future'
“She’s a gangster, this girl. I love everything about this girl. You should see the crazy texts she sends me all the time, including tonight. As soon as the fight was over she started texting me. She wants to fight everybody and she wants to do this and: ‘I told you! I told you I was gonna do this!’ ... She’s fun and it’s going to be fun for all of us and the fans to watch her grow over the next couple of years. ... I don’t know if I’d call her Ronda Rousey, but if you look at a young Ronda Rousey, she was arm-barring everybody. This girl put on a striking clinic ... I think Maycee is Maycee. She’s somebody completely different. But I love her intensity, I love her attitude I love that she wants to be a world champion before everybody else was. ... she speaks really well, she’s very smart and, yeah, I can’t say enough good things about her. She’s fun.” h/t MMA Junkie • Watch post-fight press conference
John McCarthy wants to see a point deduction for eye pokes
MMA refs are hesitant to take a point, as with just 3 rounds it's a huge penalty, as the Dean of MMA Referees John McCarthy acknowledges, but the eye poke problem is so major, he wants the deduction used uniformly: "Any time you take a point, it's kind of like in football. They do the Hail Mary pass and there's pass interference and the ball moves 80 yards down the field to the 1-yard line based upon the penalty. That's what taking a point in MMA basically is. You are influencing that fight a lot. Officials are always trying to be judicious when taking a point. ... It does not matter intent, it does not matter anything. Every time there's gonna be a point taken if the referee sees someone sticking a finger out and we have a thumb or a digit going into the eye socket. It's an automatic deduction -- you know it's gonna happen." h/t ESPN
Why Alex Davis appeals fights
When Edson Barboza lost to Paul Felder in Abu Dhabi by 27-30, 30-27, and 29-28, Barboza's manager, the highly-principled Alex Davis appealed. When Davis's Dhiego Lima won in Australia via split decision Luke Jumeau, Davis appealed to make the win unanimous. Davis appealed Alex Oliveira’s loss to Nicolas Dalby in Copenhagen. The odds of success are vanishingly slight, but Davis is undeterred: “I’ll appeal every time there’s a mistake, not because I think I’ll win, but because we have to fight it. A mistake happens, everyone forgets about it in three or four days, and life goes on. We can’t let that happen. The mistake in (Oliveira’s) fight cost him half of his purse. The mistake in Dhiego Lima’s fight almost cost that. I’ll complain every time something like this happens, and I think everyone should, too. If we don’t do this, no one else will. My fighters, their teams, and myself are the ones who lose with that. It’s a matter of principles.” h/t MMA Fighting
Mackenzie Dern reflects on no longer being undefeated
“You’re a bit worried when you’re undefeated - ‘is this opponent a good fight for me?’ - thinking about strategies and whatnot. And now, after you have your first loss, you just want to get in there and fight and take risks. A fight shows up and I’m training, let’s do it. I’ll fight on short notice. I feel like I can fight better now. I’m hungrier to fight all the time. I want to get in there and do my best and continue to evolve as an athlete and as a fighter. To always choose fights that your coaches think are good for you is good, but being a fighter that fights any type of opponent is tougher. That’s life. You have wins, you have losses, but the plan remains the same: climb the rankings and win the belt. Nothing has changed.” h/t MMA Fighting
WILD flying knee by Jonas Bilharinho at Future MMA 9 in Brazil
Napao beats Bigfoot at BKFC
Combate signs 3-year deal with Univision and Televisa
Combate Americas has reached a three-year partnership with Univision and Grupo Televisa worth an eight-figure sum. This is the first cross-border deal for combat sports, with Univision and Televisa set to deliver live fights via their recently relaunched TUDN sports brands in the U.S. and Mexico. While Combate fights have aired on Univision since 2018, the new deal dramatically expands the relationship. The agreement includes more than a dozen live events through the end of 2019 and 35 of them in 2020. CEO Campbell McLaren: “Not since I launched the UFC, have I done anything this big for the sport. This historic deal will bring MMA to a completely new audience and new generation of fans and accelerate our company mission to become the No. 2 sport globally with Hispanic fans.” h/t Deadline
DC: Dominick Reyes has the one key to give Jon Jones problems
“I think it’s a good matchup. Dominick Reyes has a good body. He showed he can stop takedowns. I think it will be a great fight between those two. I believe this kid is the real deal. He’s done everything right up to this point. I’m really impressed with Dominick Reyes. He’s healthy after that big fight and Jones just got through his most recent court problems or whatever it was – so why not let him fight? He has the one key thing that has proven to give Jones pause, and that’s size.” h/t MMA Junkie
Chatri Sityodtong ONE: CENTURY pre-event speech to the fighters
Dana White wants to have a conversation with Chris Weidman about retirement
Chris Weidman is now 35, and lost five of his last six fights, all by KO, most recently on Friday night in about 100 seconds as 'All-American' tried moving up a division vs. Dominick Reyes with a title shot on the line. At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White commented: “What he said tonight didn’t sound to me like he’s considering retirement. So it’s a conversation that he and I definitely need to have. This was his move up to light heavyweight, which obviously didn’t go well for him. So maybe he goes back down to middleweight, or thinks about maybe retiring.” h/t MMA Fighting
Maycee Barber: I will ruin PVZ's instagram career
Martin Brown misses weight for Titan FC 57, stripped of lightweight title
Titan FC lightweight champion Titan FC lightweight champion missed weight by one pound for his title defense vs. Johnasser Paulino in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and has been stripped of his title. Titan FC COO Lex McMahon: “It was a heartbreaking decision. It’s heartbreaking but at the same time it is protocol and it had to be done. Champions must come in on the mark during a title defense, and because Martin Brown came in at 156 pounds, we have to follow the rules and take the belt from him. If Johansser Paulino wins the fight tomorrow night, he will be the new Titan FC lightweight champion. If Brown wins, he wins, but he does not go home with the belt." The event will stream live tonight on UFC Fight Pass at 8 p.m. ET.
POST-FIGHT PRESS CON: UFC on ESPN 6
Greg Hardy win changed to NC over use of imhaler
There was bafflement when disgraced heavyweight Greg Hardy used an inhaler between Rounds 2 and 3. Hardy and his corner Din Thomas said the use of the inhaler was okayed by an Inspector - “I was in the ring, me and my coach asked the commission if it would be OK to use my inhaler, and they said yes, so I took it. I’m still the new guy in this sport. I did what I do in every situation. I asked permission, I got permission. And I did what I was told.” However, use of an inhaler must be pre-approved by the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission, and the inspector did not have the authority to OK the usage, so the bout outcome has been changed from a Unanimous Decision to No Contest. Hardy's manager Abraham Kawa plans an appeal. This was Hardy's third UFC fight; the first one ended in a DQ for an illegal knee. And those transgressions are as nothing compared to his pre-MMA behavior.
