Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from October 2020.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from October 2020: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Month” award for October.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Check out the best social media posts from fighters and other members of the MMA community on Halloween 2020.
Today is Halloween, and plenty of fighters and other MMA notables are embracing the opportunity to dress up and celebrate the holiday.
Costumes from the past four years set the bar quite high, but the challenge was certainly met with all kinds of creative costumes.
Check below for the top Halloween costumes shared on social media.
Eddie Alvarez, 36, finds himself in a position where he might have to do more in order to challenge 21-year-old champion Christian Lee.
[autotag]Eddie Alvarez[/autotag] isn’t sure when or where he’ll return to the ONE Championship cage, but he knows what he wants: a title shot.
Alvarez, the former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion, would love nothing more than to add a third major championship to his resume, but the indication from the promotion, according to Alvarez, is that he might have to wait for his shot once he’s back in action.
“They said one or two fights,” Alvarez recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “I don’t even know what that means.”
Moreover, Alvarez (30-7) doesn’t necessarily understand why he’d be in a position to have to prove himself given what he’s accomplished throughout his decorated career.
“I’ll do what it takes. I want world championships, and I want titles. I’ve always been patient. But I don’t know,” Alvarez said. “I want bigger names and bigger fights. If I haven’t proven it in the past 17 years that I deserve big names and be on that massive stage and fight for world titles, you’re just not watching the sport. If I can get in front of the champion, that’d be great. If not, I’ll fight the No. 1 contender and then get there. It is what it is.”
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Alvarez, 36, signed with ONE in October 2018 after a four-year UFC run. His first order of business was the promotion’s lightweight grand prix at 170 pounds, looking to add more gold to his collection, but he was immediately bounced from the tournament after a first-round TKO loss to Timofey Nastyukhin. Alvarez received a second chance, though, when he was named a replacement and fought Eduard Folayang in the semifinals, submitting the former two-time ONE titleholder in the first round.
This meant Alvarez would get his shot at the tournament final against Saygid Arslaniev, if only he didn’t have to withdraw because of injury. ONE lightweight champion Christian Lee took his place and won by unanimous decision to claim the tournament title.
Alvarez’s bout with Arslaniev had been rebooked for June 26 but was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While ONE Championship has gotten back up and running events again, Alvarez has remained sidelined because of travel restrictions.
That could change soon – and when it does, Alvarez would prefer he gets a shot at Lee, the 21-year-old champion.
“He’s good, and he’s still growing. He’s young. He’s hungry. To be able to put myself against the champion of the promotion, I’m excited about it,” Alvarez said. “I show up in big-time situations when there’s belts on the line and when everything’s on the line. …
“No disrespect to the champion, but I think as many fights as he has, I’ve probably fought for more world title fights than he has actual fights. I don’t feel like I need to prove my mettle to someone like that. He’s talented. He’s a hell of a great fighter. But when it comes to resume and fighting world champions, I’ve fought them one after the other.”
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ONE Championship 118 is now official for Oct. 30, and four championship fights headline the card.
ONE Championship 118 is now official for Oct. 30, and four championship fights headline the card.
ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently revealed the promotion’s plans, though he declined to name a location for the behind-closed-doors event, which will stream live on B/R Live.
In the night’s main event, two-division champion [autotag]Aung La N Sang[/autotag] (26-10) puts his light heavyweight title on the line against undefeated Dutch challenger [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] (12-0).
Additionally, welterweight title holder [autotag]Christian Lee[/autotag] (13-3) puts his belt on the line against undefeated challenger [autotag]Iuri Lapicus[/autotag] (14-0), lightweight champion [autotag]Martin Nguyen[/autotag] (13-3) faces “The Ultimate Fighter 22” cast member [autotag]Thanh Le[/autotag] (11-2), and women’s flyweight champ [autotag]Jing Nan Xiong[/autotag] (14-2) faces [autotag]Tiffany Teo[/autotag] (9-1).
Additional fights are expected to be announced shortly.
“You know, I hate to sound trite but the show must go on, and what I have learned personally is that my team at ONE Championship, the resilience, the passion, the excellence, has far exceeded my expectations,” Sityodtong said on a recent media call promoting the event. “I will tell you that the morale internally in ONE Championship is at all-time high. People are just fired up.
“I always say that in crisis, you really discover who you are as a person, who you are as an individual, and as a team, and one quote that comes to mind, always is, you know, ‘Ships are not made for the calm waters of the harbor, ships are made for the rough seas in search of new horizons,’ and, ‘Great captains are made in rough seas, never in the calm of the harbor.’ That’s why I said, you know, I think, I genuinely believe that the best companies in the world will not only survive, they will thrive in the same way ONE Championship is thriving in this environment. The show must go on.”
ONE Championship hasn’t hosted a title fight since January’s ONE Championship 107 event in the Philippines.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced ONE Championship officials to halt live events from March until late July, when the company set up shop for a string of six fight cards in Thailand.
Ahead of the Oct. 30 event, the promotion will host two cards in Singapore, starting with Friday’s “ONE Championship 116: Reign of Dynasties,” which streams on B/R Live.
The lineup for “ONE Championship 118: Inside the Matrix” currently includes:
As Fabricio Werdum navigates the free agent market, the former UFC heavyweight champion has a few targets in mind.
As [autotag]Fabricio Werdum[/autotag] navigates the free agent market, the former UFC heavyweight champion has a few targets in mind.
Werdum (24-9-1) said he’s open to hearing all offers but sees a few primary options on the table: Either a move to Bellator for a rematch with Russian legend [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] (39-6), or perhaps a switch to ONE FC and a showdown with current heavyweight champ [autotag]Brandon Vera[/autotag] (16-8). Werdum said he’s just waiting on his manager, Ali Abdelaziz to let him know which route they will take.
“Next step in my career, I want to make like superfights,” Werdum told MMA Junkie. “Maybe a Fedor fight. Maybe I go to ONE FC. I have a lot of options. Bellator. Ali talked with the guys, the organizations, and I’m just waiting because, you know, I’m young. My mind is young. This is very important. I’m 43 years old, but I’m not feeling that. I just want to fight again and again and again.
“It’s so hard when I say, ‘stop fighting.’ Everybody says that. I’m going to stop. I’m going to retire. But it’s so hard for us to stop the fight because this is my life. I love fighting. For sure, the money is very important, too – the money for sure, 100 percent. But now I just fight because I like this. This is my life. I want to fight again. I’m ready.”
Werdum, of course, defeated Emelianenko in a historic 2010 clash, ending the former PRIDE champion’s incredible 10-year unbeaten run. Werdum likes the idea of revisiting the contest while Emelianenko is on his “farewell tour” into retirement.
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“The history is very important, too,” Werdum said. “Fedor, I think everybody wants to see this fight. Maybe Russia, maybe USA, I don’t know, but I think this is a good deal for the organization, and I respect him a lot.
“I respect Fedor. I never said nothing about him. Zero. Nothing. For sure, I saw two days ago, he said something about the rematch, and I love this. Maybe. Why not the rematch? I don’t know if he’ll retire after that, but I’ll keep going for sure like two years more.”
Werdum said he considers current Bellator boss Scott Coker a “good friend” and would enjoy working with him again. However, the idea of potentially going to ONE FC and challenging for a belt is appealing, as well, Werdum said – and there is history there, as well, with “Vai Cavalo” defeating Vera in a 2008 bout under the UFC banner.
“Brandon Vera is my son, man,” Werdum said. “I beat him. He is my son. He is scared, for sure. When I go to ONE FC, I’ll take his belt. Maybe not even fight – just give me the belt, please.
“I love belts. This is a beautiful belt. I’m just waiting for Ali to say something, but I’m ready.”
Werdum, 43, says wherever he ends up, he’d like it to be for the remainder of his career, which he thinks will be about two years. But during that stretch, he wants to fight frequently.
And though he saw action just one month ago, Werdum said he’s anxious to get back into the cage before the end of the year.
“Just sign, and October, November, I’m ready,” Werdum said. “I just fought one month ago. Monday I start again training, and I keep going. That’s it. I want to keep fighting.”
To hear more from Werdum, check out the video above.
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It was a night of mixed results for the Thai MMA contingent at ONE Championship 111, with one notable victory and one crushing defeat.
ONE Championship continued its return from the promotion’s COVID-19-enforced hiatus with a muay Thai-heavy card in Bangkok, Thailand. But there were two MMA bouts thrown into the mix, too.
The first MMA matchup of the night saw Thailand’s [autotag]Yodkaikaew Fairtex[/autotag] (5-2) score a second-round knockout of England’s [autotag]John Shink[/autotag] (3-1), but Thai MMA fan-favorite [autotag]Pongsiri Mitsatit[/autotag] (10-6) was unable to follow suit.
He lost out via first-round knockout at the hands of Japanese contender [autotag]Akihiro Fujisawa[/autotag] (6-3), who halted a three-fight run of first-round losses with a quickfire win of his own as he put Mitsatit away with a perfectly-timed short left hook with seven seconds remaining in the opening frame.
The defeat continues Mitstatit’s disastrous form in ONE Championship, with the 24-year-old suffering his fourth straight loss, and his sixth defeat from his last seven outings.
Check out highlights of all the action in the video above – as well as the best moments from the night’s featured muay Thai matchups.
ONE Championship 111 full MMA results include:
Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA rankings ahead of this week’s big UFC 252 event.
There was plenty of major MMA action this past Friday and Saturday, which meant plenty of potential for climbs up or down the rankings ladder.
Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis (24-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) picked up a big knockout win over Aleksei Oleinik (59-14-1 MMA, 8-5 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN+ 32 main event. And former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman (15-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) got back on track with a win over Omari Akhmedov (20-5-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC). But was there room for either of them to move up in the rankings?
What about UFC winners Yana Kunitskaya (13-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and Beneil Dariush (19-4-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC), as well as Bellator 243 winners Michael Chandler (21-5 MMA, 18-5 BMMA) and Timothy Johnson (14-6 MMA, 2-2 BMMA)? Did they find themselves moving up or entering the charts?
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Check out all the movement in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie in the drop-down menus above ahead of another big opportunity for ladder movement Saturday with UFC 252.
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Cosmo Alexandre explains his reasons for re-signing with ONE Championship.
At this point in his career, [autotag]Cosmo Alexandre[/autotag] is looking for security.
Alexandre (8-1), who recently had a contract dispute with ONE Championship, has re-signed with the promotion with the help of his new manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
The 38-year-old hasn’t competed since his 29-second knockout over Sage Northcutt in May 2019, putting a momentary halt to his momentum. He reportedly was unhappy with his contract and asked ONE Championship to either increase his pay or release him.
But after coming to terms with ONE Championship and signing a new six-fight deal, Alexandre plans on getting back to action soon.
“After my fight against Sage, we started talking about my contract – so it was a long talk,” Alexandre told MMA Junkie. “(It was) kind of like a long fight. But in the end now, I talked straight with (ONE chairman) Chatri (Sityotong), and I think it was better for me. A lot of people talk about UFC and other shows here in the U.S., but for me I see ONE Championship is safe for me.
“It’s safer for my family. I’m 38. I don’t want to fight until like 43, 44. I just want to fight a few more years and looking at it this way, it’s safer for me to stay in ONE Championship.”
Alexandre doesn’t plan on competing for too much longer, which is why he views ONE Championship as a more stable home for him. He said regardless if he wins or loses, he will get to fight out his six-fight deal without the risk of potentially getting released.
“Financial, because I made a deal – six fights – so I know I’m going to fight the six fights. So it doesn’t matter what happens in my last five fights,” Alexandre said. “If I fight five and for some reason I lose the five, I will still fight in my sixth fight.
“Any other show in the U.S., probably you can’t do it. Like UFC, if you sign a four-fight deal, if you lose the first two, maybe you fight a third, but probably they will cut you, so you won’t fight your fourth. So for me, that’s what I was thinking. So for me it’s safer to stay in ONE Championship.”
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Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA rankings ahead of this week’s UFC on ESPN+ 32 and Bellator 243 events.
[autotag]Derek Brunson[/autotag] was a sizable underdog in his UFC on ESPN+ 31 main event this past Saturday.
Brunson was at +300 against Edman Shahbazyan, who was a 4-1 favorite and widely expected to continue his unbeaten ascension in the UFC’s middleweight division after a 4-0 start in the UFC with three straight first-round finishes.
But Brunson put Shahbazyan’s rise to an end with a stunning third-round TKO in the headliner. But how far could Brunson climb in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings?
This week, we have the UFC back in Las Vegas again with heavyweights atop the card. And Bellator returns, as well, with a key lightweight matchup between a former promotional champ in Michael Chandler and a former UFC and WEC champ in Benson Henderson. So there could be lots of room for movement next week.
But for now, check out all of our latest rankings in the drop-downs above heading into this weekend’s action.
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Check out the latest edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”
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Monday’s episode of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here!
On Episode 3,075 of the podcast, the guys look back at UFC on ESPN+ 31, plus events from Invicta FC, ONE Championship and LFA. In addition, they talked about Joanne Calderwood’s fainting incident after her loss, as well as Conor McGregor’s future.
Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio, or check it out above. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.
