Category: Radio Highlight

Jon Anik recounts time Shaquille O’Neal fired him up before delivering UFC intro

Shaquille O’Neal had Jon Anik starstruck right before he was about to go on the air.

NBA legend [autotag]Shaquille O’Neal[/autotag] had [autotag]Jon Anik[/autotag] starstruck right before he was about to go on the air.

The UFC’s lead play-by-play commentator was unexpectedly greeted by O’Neal as he was getting ready to deliver an intro during a UFC event – a moment that remains memorable for him to this day.

“I’ve had one moment like that, and I will never forget it because he’s one of my all-time favorite athletes,” Anik told MMA Junkie Radio. “So I wasn’t doing the standard pay-per-view open, but you may have noticed over the last two years or so, I’ll have certain situations during the broadcast where I do like a standup on camera where I’m sort of close to the crowd, and I’ll memorize something, and then I’ll deliver it and throw to a feature.

“So I’m getting ready in my standup position to do one of these, and I look down, and there’s a big hand reaching out to, like, give me a fist bump. It’s Shaquille O’Neal. If that doesn’t fire you up to fist bump that dude and then deliver to camera, right? I’m not sure how I delivered. It was probably one of the greatest deliveries of my life, right? It gave me a lot of confidence, the good kind of nerves. …Only one real instance where a celebrity was, you know, in sort of my frame of mind as I was just about to deliver something, and that would be the great Shaquille O’Neal.”

You can watch Anik’s full interview in the video below.

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Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: UFC on ESPN 54, Brandon Moreno’s hiatus from MMA, Whittaker-Chimaev, more

On this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses UFC on ESPN 54, Brandon Moreno’s hiatus from MMA, and more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, and Nolan King will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:

  • UFC on ESPN 54 is in the books, and it left plenty to talk about, including [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag]’s win over Erin Blanchfield and where she fits into the title picture at women’s flyweight; [autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag]’s 3-0 start in his return to welterweight; [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag]’s controversial win over Bruno Silva and his future in MMA. We recap the main results of Saturday’s event in Atlantic City.
  • Sad news for the men’s flyweight. Arguably the division’s most popular name has announced a hiatus from MMA. Former champion [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] revealed that he’s in need of a break from fighting and that he will be stepping away for some time, but he promises to come back eventually. We react to the news and its impact on the flyweight division.
  • The UFC’s debut event in Saudi Arabia is taking shape. UFC CEO Dana White announced several key matchups for the June 22 event, including a title eliminator bout between [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] and [autotag]Khamzhat Chimaev[/autotag] – which will serve as the main event of the card. We break down Whittaker vs. Chimaev, along with the rest of the fights announced.
  • Things got weird earlier this month when [autotag]Igor Severino[/autotag] got disqualified, and later cut from the UFC, after biting his opponent Andre Lima at UFC on ESPN 53. We heard almost immediately after the incident from Lima, UFC CEO Dana White, the Nevada Athletic Commission, but this Severino broke silence in an exclusive interview with MMA Junkie. We discuss the whole incident as well as Severino’s recent comments.

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Jon Anik defends Bo Nickal’s UFC 300 main card placement: ‘There’s just a different electricity’

Jon Anik justifies why Bo Nickal should be on the UFC 300 main card.

[autotag]Jon Anik[/autotag] justifies why [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] should be on the UFC 300 main card.

Nickal (5-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) opens up the April 13 main card against Cody Brundage (10-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, placing him above the likes of former champion Jiri Prochazka, former champ Aljamain Sterling and the UFC debut of two-time PFL winner and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison.

The UFC’s lead play-by-play commentator argues that the lure surrounding standout wrestler Nickal warrants a main card spot, even though the matchup against Brundage may not be that intriguing.

“Khamzat Chimaev, I would even throw out there 18-year-old Raul Rosas Jr., Bo Nickal – there’s just a different electricity when it comes to some of these guys,” Anik told MMA Junkie Radio. “You parlay their fight style with the expectation, and the pressure, and the fan intrigue, and I just think Bo Nickal checks a lot of boxes.

“For us, when we get through our pay-per-view open, and we have that exhale moment, when we get to sit down and watch that first fight on pay-per-view with all the masses around the world, that’s a very strategic position on the card. It’s a prime slot. Maybe at times you don’t get as many people as seen on during the featured prelim on ESPN, but they don’t mess around when it comes to that first fight. I can’t necessarily speak to Cody Brundage and the decision to feature him against Bo Nickal.”

According to BetMGM, Nickal is a whopping -2100 favorite, meaning it would take a $2,100 bet on the rising star to return a $100 profit. Brundage is a +1100 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on the Factory X fighter would win $1,100 profit.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

John Dodson laments UFC pushing him to 135, thinks he’d knock out Alexandre Pantoja ‘right now’

John Dodson wasn’t thrilled about fighting at bantamweight because the UFC pushed for it, which didn’t go well for him.

[autotag]John Dodson[/autotag] likes his chances against UFC flyweight champion [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag].

Dodson only lost twice in the UFC as a flyweight – both title fights against Demetrious Johnson. The Season 14 “Ultimate Fighter” winner was released by the UFC in 2020 after going 4-5 as a bantamweight.

Dodson, who’s now back down at 125 pounds, said what prompted his move up to bantamweight was the UFC’s unwillingness to book a trilogy bout between him and Johnson down the line. So, seeing Brandon Moreno fight Deiveson Figueiredo four times and Pantoja three times, Dodson thinks he’d fair well against the top UFC flyweights.

“Back in my day when I was in the UFC, they sat there and told me that I couldn’t fight Demetrious Johnson for the third time, and it would be a boring fight,” Johnson told MMA Junkie Radio. “So I had to move up to 135, and I did, and look how well that turned out. Then I went back down to flyweight and look how amazing I am. I don’t even know why they haven’t chose to bring other people back in.

“They just want to get new life, new fame, new stardom, new star power to that flyweight division. More power to them, they want to keep it like a unique system for them to go ahead and make more money. Let’s just go ahead and push the older guys out who would demolish all those younger guys because I really think I can knock out Pantoja right now, too.”

Dodson defends his flyweight title against Dagoberto Aguero in the main event of BKFC 59 Friday at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M.

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UFC 301’s Jonathan Martinez believes win over Jose Aldo will ‘open a lot of doors’

Jonathan Martinez relishes the opportunity to face Jose Aldo at UFC 301.

[autotag]Jonathan Martinez[/autotag] relishes the opportunity to face [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag] at UFC 301.

UFC Hall of Famer Aldo (31-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC) will come out of retirement to face Martinez (19-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) on May 4 at Rio Arena in Rio de Janeiro (pay-per-view, ESPN+).

With UFC 301 needing another big fight, rumors emerged of a potential fight between former champions Aldo and Dominick Cruz. Martinez admits he was surprised to get the call.

“I never thought I was going to fight Jose Aldo, but it’s a big name, and I’ll be ready for it,” Martinez told MMA Junkie Radio.

Martinez is on a six-fight winning streak, including leg-kick finishes of Cub Swanson and Adrian Yanez. Aldo isn’t currently ranked at bantamweight, but Martinez knows the value of fighting the former featherweight champion.

“It’ll help me a lot just because he’s a big name, and a win is going to open a lot of doors,” Martinez said. “That’s the way I see it.”

Martinez will have to withstand the rowdy Brazilian fans, who will be cheering for “The King of Rio.” But for Martinez, who hasn’t competed in front of a large crowd since February 2020, a booing crowd is better than no crowd.

“Honestly, I’m ready for the boos just because I’ve been fighting at the Apex for a long time,” Martinez said. “Hearing boos to me is going to feel like they’re cheering for me.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 301.

Karl Moore on Bellator title shot: ‘Belfast, Beirut, Bangladesh – it doesn’t matter’

Karl Moore on Bellator title shot: ‘Belfast, Beirut, Bangladesh – it doesn’t matter’

#BellatorBelfast

Karl Moore has the biggest opportunity of his career in font of him. He can admit that Friday is not just another fight.

[autotag]Karl Moore[/autotag] has the biggest opportunity of his career in font of him. He can admit that Friday is not just another fight.

Moore (12-2) will fight Corey Anderson (17-6) for the vacant Bellator light heavyweight title atop the Bellator Champions Series: Belfast lineup at SSE Arena in Northern Ireland. What’s more, it’s a home fight for Moore – though he tries to make that not matter.

“I love the fact that I’m fighting in front of my own people in Belfast. It’s a once in a lifetime experience,” Moore told MMA Junkie Radio. “But for me personally, everything outside the cage is just irrelevant. It’s amazing, but when me and Corey’s in there, everything outside is just background noise. It doesn’t matter. It’s me and Corey locked in a cage for 25 minutes. Everything outside is just irrelevant.”

Anderson is 4-1 under the Bellator banner after he came over from the UFC in 2020. He lost a previous title shot to Vadim Nemkov in 2022 in a fight that was a rematch after a no contest from earlier that year.

Moore in 4-0 in Bellator, but seems comfortable with the line of thought that his wins over Lee Chadwick, Karl Albrektsson, Maciej Rozanski and Alex Polizzi don’t quite match up with Anderson’s Bellator opponents – Melvin Manhoef, former two-division champion Ryan Bader, Phil Davis and Nemkov among them.

But Moore knows his wins aren’t slouches, either, and said he’s prepared to back up the reason he’s in a title fight.

“Before Nemkov had the belt, I was the only guy in the division that Vadim hadn’t fought. He’s beaten everybody else except me,” Moore said. “I’m 4-0. I’m undefeated in the promotion, and in them four fights, I’ve taken out the fifth and sixth ranked guy in the division. I think that speaks for itself. When I fight, my fights are nearly always exciting too. I come to fight. I think that speaks for itself.

“”In terms of footage and on paper, yes, I would say (he’s my toughest opponent). But you won’t know until you’re in there. This fight could last 5 seconds and it could be the easiest fight I’ve ever had, or it could last 25 minutes and be the toughest fight.”

Anderson is as much as a 4-1 favorite in the fight, so the oddsmakers aren’t expecting Moore to make it a 5-second win, that’s for sure. And even if the fans could give him an edge, he might be so focused in the moment it would’t matter.

“After the fight’s over and I win, I can take it and I can soak it in and appreciate everything – fighting in front of my own people, winning the belt,” Moore said. “But them 25 minutes, it doesn’t matter. It could be silence. It could be absolutely mayhem. I’m focusing on the job at hand and that’s it.

“It can be in Belfast, Beirut, Bangladesh – it doesn’t matter. The job’s still the same.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s eventgholvlrlllg for Bellator Champions Series: Belfast.

Ex-Bellator, Strikeforce boss Scott Coker hopes to build stars again with new event series

The Bellator Era of Scott Coker’s career is in the rearview mirror, but the MMA pioneer is looking back on his run there with pride.

The Bellator Era of [autotag]Scott Coker[/autotag]’s career officially is in the rearview mirror, but the MMA pioneer is looking back on his run there with pride.

Coker took the reins at Bellator in 2014 just after his Strikeforce deal ended. That deal was in place after he sold the promotion he founded and it was folded into the UFC. In late 2023, Bellator was bought by the PFL, and Coker did not make the transition to the new company.

“The opportunity was there,” Coker recently told MMA Junkie Radio, but he chose to get back to his entrepreneurial roots and will run a new event series called Fight Night at the Tech, which premieres May 18 in San Jose, Calif. Coker will be an executive producer and will work alongside former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.

He said developing young fighters is something he was most proud of from his time in Bellator, and likes the idea of doing that again.

“When I first got there, the roster was, they had (Patricio) ‘Pitbull’ (Freire) – he was a great fighter; his brother (Patricky) … they had a couple, maybe three or four people that I’d say were at that level. But I remember sitting down with Bob Cook. … I showed him the roster when I came over and I said, ‘What do you think?’ And he says to me, ‘Oh man, Coker, you’ve got a lot of work to do.’

“Right. So I said, OK, that’s fair. So we’ll go sign Aaron Pico. We’ll go discover A.J. McKee. … I said, ‘Man, this guy – he’s something. I think he’s special, and I think that we should work together.’ So I made a deal with his dad, and then we picked out certain fighters that we’re going to invest in and grow.”

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Patricio Freire was a two-division champion for Bellator at featherweight and lightweight and remains its 145-pound champion. He puts his title on the line Friday at Bellator Champions Series: Belfast, the first in the new iteration of Bellator events under PFL ownership. Patricky Freire was a lightweight champion. McKee held the featherweight title, as well.

Coker drew comparisons to the fighters who became homegrown stars under his watch at Strikeforce – all of whom went on to title-winning and Hall of Fame-worthy careers in the UFC.

“Look what’s happening now. Now they’re all becoming stars of their own right,” he said. “To me, that’s something I’m really proud of. We did it in Strikeforce with Daniel (Cormier) and Ronda (Rousey), (Tyron Woodley), Luke Rockhold, Miesha Tate, Amanda Nunes started with us. (Rafael) ‘Feijao’ (Cavalcante) started with us. I mean, it’s like the who’s-who of MMA.”

Jeremy Kennedy: ‘I’m a lot more physical at featherweight’ than Bellator champ Patricio Freire

Jeremy Kennedy expects to have a strength advantage over Bellator champ Patricio Freire.

[autotag]Jeremy Kennedy[/autotag] expects to have a strength advantage over Bellator featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag].

Kennedy (19-3) challenges Freire (34-7) in Friday’s Bellator Champions Series: Belfast co-headliner at SSE Arena in Northern Ireland.

Freire finds himself on a two-fight losing skid for the first time in his career. But with both losses not coming at featherweight, Kennedy admits it’s tough to gauge which version of Freire he’ll get.

“I’m training like I’m fighting the best ‘Pitbull,'” Kennedy told MMA Junkie Radio. “I have to. That’s the way I approach every fight. It’s hard because there is a lot of little speculation around those losses. He hasn’t lost at 145. So he’s still, in my eyes, that undisputed, that multitime champion. (At) 145, who’s beat him at 145?”

One of Freire’s losses came in a bantamweight title fight against Sergio Pettis this past June – his divisional debut. He was then knocked out less than a month later by Chihiro Suzuki in a 154-pound catchweight bout that he accepted on very short notice.

While Kennedy doesn’t put too much stock into Freire’s skid, he can’t help but think his recent cut to 135 pounds will play a factor.

“The biggest thing that sticks out to me was that cut to ’35,” Kennedy said. “Not the age, not the wear and tear, just the frame, the size. The fact that he could even make that weight, I just know I’m a bigger human than him. I just know I’m a lot more physical at featherweight than he is because I couldn’t even dream about making 140.

“So, the fact that he could, and did, and not even that long ago, like within a year, I don’t think he’s going to be able to put on the muscle properly to even compare with me physically. That’s the biggest one I’m taking away, is I just think he’s going to be too small. But again, he has fought his whole life as a pretty undersized featherweight. He’s a little undersized, and I plan on showing that just by being too physical and too dominant everywhere.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator Champions Series: Belfast.

Fabian Edwards hopes Johnny Eblen stays champion: ‘Even a loss confirmed that I can beat that guy’

Fabian Edwards is eager to run things back with Johnny Eblen.

[autotag]Fabian Edwards[/autotag] is eager to run things back with [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag].

Edwards (12-3 MMA, 8-3 BMMA) meets Aaron Jeffery (14-4 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) March 22 at Bellator Champions Series: Belfast at SSE Arena, in what he projects to be a title eliminator.

Edwards is coming off a knockout loss to middleweight champion Eblen (15-0 MMAA, 10-0 BMMA) this past September at Bellator 299. One judge had him up two rounds, and Edwards thinks he was en route to winning before he got caught in Round 3.

“Even a loss confirmed that I can beat that guy,” Edwards told MMA Junkie Radio. “I gave him a nasty cut. I felt like I was winning that fight. I defended the takedowns, he never landed anything before the fight was ended.

“He never landed anything I thought was too powerful. I’ve been working for the past six months to get back to that title fight and Bellator say I’m one fight away from it now so, I’m excited.”

Eblen squeaked past Impa Kasanganay at PFL vs. Bellator: Champions in February. Edwards is not a fan of Eblen as a person – branding him as fake, but is glad to see him remain unbeaten.

“He needs to keep that belt,” Edwards said. “When I’d seen that he won the fight against Impa, I was like, ‘OK, I don’t like the guy, but I’m happy he kept it,’ because I feel like it’s part of my story for him to keep the belt, for me to come back and take it off him.”

After seeing his performance against Kasanganay, Edwards wasn’t impressed at all by Eblen.

“He looked terrible,” Edwards said. “He looked like he hadn’t improved one bit. I know he’s the champ and all of that so you have to give him credit, but people can’t look at me and say skill for skill, he’s the best guy in the fighting world. I feel like he hasn’t improved in the areas he needs to improve on.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 302.

Dan Henderson indifferent about not having spot in UFC Hall of Fame: ‘I don’t lose sleep over it’

Dan Henderson is not bothered by not having a spot in the ‘Pioneer Wing’ of the UFC’s Hall of Fame.

[autotag]Dan Henderson[/autotag] is considered by many a pioneer and a legend of MMA. Yet, he doesn’t have an individual spot in the UFC’s Hall of Fame.

Henderson is technically in the UFC’s HOF but under the “Fight Wing,” – which is a sector dedicated to recognizing the greatest fights in company history. His 2011 all-out war with Mauricio Rua got him inducted in 2018. However, Henderson alone is not in the UFC’s Hall of Fame.

With names like Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Antonio Nogueira, and most recently Wanderlei Silva in the “Pioneer Wing,” all guys who Henderson fought, many expected to see the former Pride FC champion join his former rivals.

Even though that has yet to come to fruition, eight years after his retirement from MMA, Henderson is completely unbothered by it.

“I don’t lose sleep over it,” Henderson told MMA Junkie Radio.

Henderson wouldn’t mind getting the recognition, but he’s also fine without it. Entering the HOF was never in his must-do for his MMA career.

“Everybody asks me that, but I never fought to one day be in the Hall of Fame,” Henderson explained. “I fought to try to challenge myself and set goals and try to achieve them and be the best fighter out there in the world, you know.

“It’s up to everybody else to feel if I did enough to be in the (UFC) Hall of Fame, and honestly, it doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. I don’t really think about it hardly ever. Even if Wanderlei got inducted, I think he should get inducted. He’s a great ambassador for MMA for a long time.”

Henderson, who represented the U.S. in two Olympic cycles in Greco-Roman wrestling, challenged for UFC titles in two different weight classes: middleweight and light heavyweight.

He also competed as early as UFC 17, where he fought twice in one night and won the UFC 17 middleweight tournament. He’s a former two-division Pride FC champion who fought and defeated tons of notable talent, including Silva, Nogueira, Franklin, Vitor Belfort, Renzo Grazie, Michael Bisping, Fedor Emelianenko, ‘Shogun,’ Hector Lombard, and many others.

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