Category: Radio Highlight

UFC champ Belal Muhammad unloads on Kamaru Usman after criticism: ‘You’re just a podcaster now’

Belal Muhammad went off about the state of Kamaru Usman’s declining career after recent comments about not wanting to fight Islam Makhachev.

UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] was taken aback by [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]’s recent comments.

While discussing the fallout from UFC 311 on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast, former champ Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was critical of Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) and Islam Makhachev for agreeing not to fight each other in what could be a big champion vs. champion fight.

Muhammad found the comments to be hypocritical because, when Usman was champion, he refused to go up to middleweight to face then-champ and good friend Israel Adesanya. Beyond that, Muhammad thinks Usman should focus on what’s going to happen next in his own career rather than trying to play matchmaker.

“It’s so funny when you have a guy like him. He’s on a three-fight losing streak, and when these guys are calling him out, he’s acting like – he’s putting himself on this pedestal like he’s still the champ, like they shouldn’t be calling him out,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie Radio. “But, bro, you’re just a podcaster now. You haven’t fought in over a year. If you’re not gonna defend your ranking, then leave. Quit.

“You’re on a three-fight losing streak and should start looking at retirement now, or you’re gonna get on that Tony Ferguson losing streak, and people are gonna forget that you were ever champion.”

Usman ‘never wanted to fight the toughest guys’

Kamaru Usman at UFC 294. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Having lost three straight, Usman, 37, is on the roughest stretch of his pro career. He lost his welterweight title to Leon Edwards at UFC 278, failed to win an immediate rematch, and then came up short in a short-notice replacement against Khamzat Chimaev in a middleweight bout.

When Usman was champ, he defended the title five times by facing Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal twice each, and also defeated Gilbert Burns. In Muhammad’s eyes, it was a reign that saw Usman take an easy path.

“We do know that Kamaru never wanted to fight the toughest guys,” Muhammad said. “He never looked for the toughest test. He was that champion that would be like, ‘Oh, I beat Colby already. Let me get that rematch with Colby again. I think he deserves it. Oh, I beat Masividal. Let me fight Masvidal again.’ He made it seem like he fought the next toughest guys, but he never fought the guys on a streak.

“… I was on a streak, and he acted like he didn’t know who I was. So we’ve seen it. When he had his first tough title defense against Leon Edwards, he got knocked out and then he lost again to him. He was never a guy that chased the toughest test. So, it’s funny that he’s coming on now saying, ‘Oh, these guys, they act like they train together. No, they should be fighting each other.’ It’s like, ‘Bro, are you still a welterweight? Are you still trying to chase the title? Do you think you still have a chance? Why don’t you throw your name in the mix?'”

‘I just feel bad for him’

Despite the venom spit back at Usman, Muhammad recognizes that the former champ still has a valuable name. In fact, for “The Nigerian Nightmare” to get a shot at the title, Muhammad isn’t asking a lot: Just get back in the win column against solid competition.

“I just need Usman to get a win,” Muhammad said. “Like, he sucks so bad right now, like it’s just embarrassing where I just feel bad for him. Like he goes out there, you obviously have to fight somebody that’s on a streak. I think Buckley called him out. Buckley’s been killing it at 170. He just made Colby look like a rookie. I think he goes out there and figures out a way to beat him. I know they offered him JDM, but he turned it down because he’s a coward.

“So, I think for now, he’s just waiting waiting on the sidelines, trying to have that like Conor McGregor mentality of just whenever a welterweight fight happens, just tweeting out. Just so he gets attention or he gets in the headlines because people are forgetting about him. He has to fight somebody on a streak, and he has to beat them to even be considered to get a shot at this title.”

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Anthony Hernandez aims to be in UFC title contention by end of 2025: ‘I’m f*cking ready for it’

Anthony Hernandez is excited to jumpstart 2025 with a big fight.

[autotag]Anthony Hernandez[/autotag] is excited to jumpstart 2025 with a big fight.

Hernandez (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) runs things back with Brendan Allen (24-6 MMA, 12-3 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 252 on Feb. 22 from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Hernandez defeated Allen by unanimous decision to claim the vacant LFA middleweight title in January 2018.

With a fight already booked in February, the streaking Hernandez sees himself a couple of fights away from competing for the UFC middleweight title.

“It sets me up perfect,” Hernandez told MMA Junkie Radio. “As long as I can stay healthy, my goal is to by the end of the year be in a position to fight for the title. So, if I have to knock out two more or one big one, I’m f*cking ready for it.

“I’m not getting any younger. My whole goal is to get the belt, hold it for a while, and then retire. That’s the dream. That should set me up for all the things that I want to do in life.”

Riding a six-fight winning streak, Hernandez is coming off back-to-back Performance of the Night finishes of Roman Kopylov, and most recently a TKO of Michel Pereira. He’s starting to feel the love from the fans which fuels him.

“I’ve definitely seen a lot more people on my side saying that they’re going to see me be champ in 2025,” Hernandez said. “It’s awesome to see that if you stay silent and put in the work, it’ll show for itself. People are starting to see that. I just keep my head down, and I keep grinding.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 252.

Rob Font expects vintage Dominick Cruz – like WEC era – in UFC retirement fight

Rob Font has been around the block a few times. He won’t likely be surprised when he fights Dominick Cruz.

[autotag]Rob Font[/autotag] has been around the block a few times over 15 years in the MMA game.

As such, he’s run into all manner of opponents in his career: Fighters on their way up, fighters still trying to find their footing and even ones who presume to be on their way out. Next month, he has a meeting with one who has said he’ll done for sure afterward: [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag].

Font (21-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) and Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will meet Feb. 22 in the UFC Fight Night 252 co-main event at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Cruz, 39, has said it will be his UFC retirement fight after two years on the sidelines.

But Font isn’t expecting a lesser version of the former UFC and WEC bantamweight champion. In fact, he’s willing to throw his expectations of Cruz’s fight shape back more than a dozen years.

“I’m not banking on his age to get me through this fight,” Font recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’m expecting the WEC Cruz to come out there trying to take my head off. I do believe this is going to be one of the toughest fights I’ve been in for a while.”

Font said he trained with Cruz for a couple sessions in 2024 while in Las Vegas for teammate Calvin Kattar’s fight at UFC 300. Mutual coaching friends hooked it up before a Font-Cruz matchup was a reality. As such, Font said it wasn’t a potential booking that was on his radar.

But what Cruz was able to show him in a brief amount of time, though, had Font’s wheels turning about what he might be able to bring to the table if given longer opportunities.

“He’s a smart dude. I’ve trained with him before, and I can tell you he’s smart,” Font said. “He was ahead of the game, most of the time, with his style. He’s always studying the game. He’s watching fights every weekend. He’s studying for his job and all that. So it’s not like I’m fighting some dude that’s stuck in 2009. He’s up to date with everything. This is going to be one of those types of fights that I’ve got to mature up and level up everywhere just to make sure I get this ‘W.’

“I would love to get in there, get my hand raised, have a beer with him, wait a couple of weeks and then go back to training with him. … I have nothing but respect for him.”

Check out Font’s full interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 252.

UFC 311: Makhachev vs. Moicano watch-along live stream with MMA Junkie Radio

Join MMA Junkie Radio’s “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” for a live-streamed watch-along of UFC 311 in Los Angeles.

UFC 311 goes down Saturday night with two championship fights atop the bill, and MMA Junkie Radio’s “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” will host a live-streamed watch-along right here at 8 p.m. ET.

In the headliner, an unexpected lightweight title fight between champ [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) and [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag] (20-5-1 MMA, 12-5 UFC) will take place after original challenger Arman Tsarukyan was forced to withdraw because of a back injury on weigh-ins day in a dramatic turn of events. In the co-feature, bantamweight champ [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) is an underdog in his first title defense against Makhachev’s teammate, unbeaten [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).

UFC 311 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.

Below is the lineup of fights included in the watch-along:

UFC 311 main card (pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano – for lightweight title
  • Champ Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov – for bantamweight title
  • Jamahal Hill vs. Jiri Prochazka
  • Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
  • Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder

UFC 311 preliminary card (ESPNews, ESPN+, Disney+, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Raoni Barcelos vs. Payton Talbott
  • Billy Elekana vs. Bogdan Guskov
  • Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
  • Azamat Bekoev vs. Zach Reese

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.

Why UFC’s Steve Garcia thinks about BMF title more than undisputed

For Steve Garcia, the BMF title has meaning that an undisputed UFC title cannot claim.

[autotag]Steve Garcia[/autotag] would look forward to fighting for the BMF title over an undisputed UFC championship.

Garcia (17-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC), MMA Junkie’s 2024 Under the Radar Fighter of the Year, is on a five-fight knockout streak. His exciting style earned him an opportunity against perennial contender Edson Barboza (24-12 MMA, 18-12 UFC) Feb. 22 at UFC Fight Night 252 from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle (ESPN+).

Garcia loves nothing more than meeting his opponent in the middle and throwing down, which is why the idea of a BMF title excites him.

“If I would say that there’s a title I prefer to fight for, it would be the BMF title,” Garcia told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’ve been able to knock out a lot of these guys. There’s nothing against the undisputed title, but the undisputed title, you could literally win the undisputed title, and you can win on decisions the whole entire time.

“You could win on submissions the whole entire time. You can be great and do knockouts and stuff like that, too, but I think the BMF title, the meaning says it all. To be one of the baddest dudes to step into a cage, throw in my words, chingassos. You’re going for it.”

The current BMF champion is Max Holloway, and that’s a fight Garcia would absolutely love to have.

“I would love a fight with Max,” Garcia said. “I’m such a huge fan of him, but my goodness, if you want to watch something that can go off, I think that would be a good fight. I guess I’ve got to keep knocking people out and prove people what I’m able to do to maybe have that opportunity or that shot. I think about the BMF title more than I think about the undisputed title to be honest.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 252.

Sean Woodson wants ‘fireworks’ fight with Giga Chikadze on path to UFC title contention

Sean Woodson thinks a fight with him and Giga Chikadze would inevitably deliver.

[autotag]Sean Woodson[/autotag] thinks a fight with him and [autotag]Giga Chikadze[/autotag] would inevitably deliver.

Woodson (13-1-1 MMA, 7-1-1 UFC) has been on a role after scoring four-straight wins, most recently a first-round TKO of Fernando Padilla at UFC on ESPN 63 last month.

Unbeaten in his past seven fights, Woodson thinks he’s earned an opportunity at a ranked opponent, and sees Chikadze (15-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) as the perfect dance partner. Chikadze hasn’t competed since a unanimous decision loss to Arnold Allen at UFC 304 in July.

“I was looking at the rankings, and between who’s matched up and just what I feel like would be a good fight is me and Giga,” Woodson told MMA Junkie Radio. “I want Giga Chikadze next. He’s due for a fight. He hasn’t fought for a while. He’s another 6-foot tall featherweight, and if we’re talking styles and matchups for fireworks, and making exciting fights, I feel like that’s a no-brainer, me and him. All we want to do is strike.

“We both have striking backgrounds. Neither one of us are going to be shooting for takedowns or hunting submissions. We’re both going to be hunting the knockout, and I just feel like that’s a no-brainer as far as exciting fights, and it’s a very realistic matchup for me being on the streak that I’m on and him being on the backend of the rankings. That’s the fight I want next. I want it bad.”

Woodson competed three times in 2024, and looks to replicate his successful year in 2025 – but against higher-level competition.

“That’s my ideal pace for the year,” Woodson said. “I want to get in three a year, per year, every year if I can. That’s my goal for 2025 is to get three more wins, except all three of the wins being against ranked opponents. With three ranked wins and three solid performances, I feel like that sets me up 2026 to be one or two away from a title shot, as crazy as it sounds.”

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Youssef Zalal gets motivation from 15 minutes with UFC champ Ilia Topuria

Youssef Zalal has seen his career do a pretty major 180-degree turnaround the past few years.

[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag] has seen his career do a pretty major 180-degree turnaround the past few years.

The 36-year-old Moroccan featherweight won his first three fights in the UFC by decision, but then had three straight decisions losses and a draw and found himself on the outs and trying to get back in.

In late 2022, he started a three-fight finish streak for Sparta Combat League and got back to the UFC nine months ago. Since then, he’s had three straight submission finishes and two bonuses.

But ahead of his next big test, Zalal gives a lot of credit to his first UFC loss as a learning experience. It came against current featherweight champion and 2024 Male Fighter of the Year Ilia Topuria.

“He’s the reason why I fought to get back to the UFC as soon as I got kicked out of the UFC,” Zalal told MMA Junkie Radio. “He became a champion like a year after, and that was my full motivator, my soul, the guy that I’m coming after. That’s literally who I’m coming after. It doesn’t matter. Obviously, I know the challenge to go there. It’s going to be a lot.

“… There’s a lot of names are going to come my way that I really have to face and go through. But 100 percent, this is always snapped in back in my head: OK, I fought the champion of the world. Obviously he got better, so my main thing is to improve my skill and trying to get to that level and catch up to that guy and and really show what I’m about and show all the things that I said and I will do.”

In 2024, Zalal stopped Billy Quarantillo, Jarno Errens and Jack Shore, and next takes on longtime contender Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Night 251 on Feb. 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN+).

This current six-fight tear with six finishes, including four in the first round, is a major departure from his first run in the UFC – which saw him in seven straight 15-minute grinders.

The loss to the champ came in Topuria’s UFC debut. The fact he went the distance with him might be a moral victory. The only other fighter to avoid a finish against Topuria in his career is Josh Emmett, who took him 25 minutes in a Fight of the Night headliner one bout before Topuria won the belt against Alexander Volkanovski.

“The biggest lesson is experience,” Zalal said. “I feel like people forget about that. You can tell the difference between an exciting, young, hungry guy and then an experienced guy. … That’s the biggest thing I took from my first run in the UFC, and then the second run, … it’s like you have experience behind you and then just having fun and a blast and doing what you love, which is fight in front of millions of people. That excites me. I want to be that showman that everybody talks about.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 251.

With UFC retirement not etched in stone, Damon Jackson calls out King Green

Damon Jackson may be retired – kinda/sorta. Or, maybe like in “Friends,” he’s just on a break. Let’s go with that.

[autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag] may be retired – kinda/sorta. Or, maybe like in “Friends,” he’s just on a break. Let’s go with that.

Jackson recently told MMA Junkie Radio the word of his retirement from the UFC may have been a little premature. He’s on a planned hiatus away from things, but expects it to be short – so short, in fact, that he’d take a return to the cage mid-year.

Jackson (23-8-1 MMA, 6-6-1 UFC) took his gloves off and left them in the middle of the octagon following his first-round submission loss to Jim Miller at UFC 309 in November. But he told MMA Junkie Radio that loss was in the wake of all kinds of issues outside the cage, and he thinks with those reasonably far enough in the rearview mirror, he’ll be back to his better form.

He even knows whom he’d like to fight: [autotag]King Green[/autotag].

“I’ve got a name right now, (even though I’m not officially back),” Jackson told MMA Junkie Radio. “I wanted to win that fight so bad (against Miller) and then I wanted to freaking call out Bobby Green – King Green. That was my goal, was to win that fight against Jim and then to go out there and fight Bobby.”

Green (32-16-1 MMA, 13-11-1 UFC) beat Miller in April 2024 a few months before Jackson lost to him, so Jackson said he watched plenty of footage of Green preparing for that fight. And in the process, he became a fan.

Green’s win over Miller was a bounce-back from a first-round knockout loss to Jalin Turner, but after the Miller win, he was submitted by Paddy Pimblett at UFC 304. With Green and Jackson both coming off losses, the timing could work.

“He’s such a ‘G,’ man. He fights so hard every fight – tough dude,” Jackson said. “I’m a bit of a fan of him watching him for a long time. (He’s) just tough as hell. After watching his fight with Jim over and over and over – because obviously I watch film on people – I just saw his style. Then I watched a few of his other fights and I was like, ‘Man, that would be a good fight.’

“I was hoping to win that fight and then to call him out, and I just got caught up in the moment (and lost).”

Jackson said he has three fights left on his UFC contract, and though he’s not in the drug-testing pool, he said he only plans to fight for the UFC.

Why John McCarthy thinks odd judge out is often right when scoring bouts

John McCarthy explains that one judge having a drastically different scorecard isn’t always a bad thing.

[autotag]John McCarthy[/autotag] thinks that one judge having a drastically different scorecard for an MMA fight compared to his colleagues isn’t always a bad thing.

The original UFC referee and MMA pioneer sees the scenario often, in which two judges agree on one scorecard, but the third counts it as something completely different.

That third judge is often chastised, but McCarthy argues that unorthodox fighters make it difficult to score fights. He used a UFC legend as an example to explain his case.

“No judge wants to be the odd person out, but sometimes I’m going to tell you the odd person out is the one that’s right,” McCarthy told MMA Junkie Radio. “You’ll see many times, it’s a close fight and you’ll see two judges going with one person because they’re flashier. They do things that look smoother, look cleaner as they’re throwing it.

“Remember Keith Jardine? Keith was herky-jerky in everything he did, but he was effective and he landed hard shots, and so a lot of judges wouldn’t give him the credit that he deserved in the fight based upon it just didn’t look good. It didn’t flow well, but he was effective, and so there are many times you’re going to see there could be that fight where the judge that’s the odd person out is actually the judge that got it right.”

An example where the odd judge out could have been right is during Ciryl Gane’s controversial split decision win over Alexander Volkov at UFC 310 earlier this month. Volkov was outraged by two of the judges scoring the fight the same way, 29-28 in favor of Gane, whereas judge Eric Colon had it 29-28 Volkov.

Judging is an issue that persists across all combat sports and not just MMA, but McCarthy is of the belief that the outlash over a particular scorecard can be misdirected.

Check out the video above to hear more from McCarthy on the state of MMA judging.

Damon Jackson not retiring, plans UFC return despite drug testing pool removal

Damon Jackson isn’t retiring from MMA and still has three fights left on his UFC contract.

Now that the dust has settled, [autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag] has made the decision not to retire from MMA.

Jackson (23-8-1 MMA, 6-6-1 UFC) took his gloves off and left them in the middle of the octagon following his first-round submission loss to Jim Miller at UFC 309 in November. All signs point to him walking away from the sport, but upon further reflection, Jackson decided this is not the time.

“It was a very emotional night,” Jackson told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’ve had a lot going on this past two or three years that I haven’t really shared with anyone. I kind of kept it to myself, and I’ve just had a lot going on. It was very frustrating to go out there and be on that stage and to go out there and lose that way, a way that I’ve prided myself in with my jiu-jitsu, with my wrestling.

“To go out there and take a loss like that, it was just really frustrating – so surprising and so shocking. I couldn’t even really comprehend the fact that I just lost.”

Once the reality of defeat set in, Jackson knew it could not be his final moment of competition. However, he’s not going to rush back in attempt to right the ship and set himself up for another disappointment.

Jackson, 36, intends to take a potentially half-year layoff into 2025, and during that time plans to focus on some personal projects, including expanding his gyms and launching his own fitness machines that he eventually hopes will become available to the public.

More than anything, Jackson wants to make sure life is good for his four daughters. He revealed a divorce from his wife in 2023 has been a challenge to overcome, and ensuring his children are best taken care of during the fallout of that process is significant to Jackson.

He said to this point he’s been a very present father to his daughters, and he wants that to continue. Fighting might not be the foremost thing for Jackson at the moment, but he’s not ready to leave it in the past, either.

“I’m not done, man – I’m really not,” Jackson said. “I’ve been in the gym doing two- and three-a-days just like normal. I’m still in it 100 percent, it’s just mentally I really checked out that night and it was an overload, really. But I’m not done. I just need to figure out the path to what I want to do next. But I’m not done fighting, for sure.”

Jackson said he spoke to UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby about where things stand for him, and said the members of the promotional brass are supportive of his mentality. He still has three fights remaining on his current UFC contract, and it’s his thinking that will be honored if he wants them.

It seemingly won’t happen in the immediate future, though. Jackson said he’s withdrawn his name from the UFC anti-doping testing pool, and in order to get back in will have to comply with six months of clean testing before he’s able to step back in the octagon.

Jackson did not provide a reason why he’s exited the testing pool, but made it clear he doesn’t see a fighting future anywhere outside of UFC.

“I’m not going to fight for anybody but the UFC,” Jackson said. “I’m not going to go test the contract. I don’t give a sh*t about anybody else’s contracts. I don’t care about anyone else. If I ever fight again, it’ll be with UFC. I told Sean, ‘Listen, I’m going to take some time off. I’m probably not even going to fight until this summer.'”