A flyweight bout between two of the division’s most exciting fighters has been added to UFC 246.
A 125-pound bout is the latest addition to the ever-expanding UFC 246 card.
Flyweights [autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] and [autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag] will square off on the first pay-per-view event of the UFC’s 2020 calendar.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie on Friday following an Instagram post by Askarov.
UFC 246 takes place Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected for ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
Askarov (10-0-1 MMA, 0-0-1 UFC), the former Absolute Championship Berkut champion made his promotional debut in September at UFC on ESPN+ 17. Askarov and Brandon Moreno fought three back-and-forth rounds, which ultimately ended as a draw.
Meanwhile, Elliott (15-9-1 MMA, 4-7 UFC) has alternated wins and losses since his UFC return in late 2016. In his most recent outing at UFC on ESPN+ 19 in October, Elliott was submitted 3:08 into the first round by Deiveson Figueiredo.
With the addition, the up-to-date UFC 246 lineup now includes:
Tito Ortiz thinks he has a good chance to beat one of the greatest fighters of all time, current UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
[autotag]Tito Ortiz[/autotag] has made quite a bold statement.
Speaking to TMZ, Ortiz, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, said he thinks he can beat arguably the greatest fighter of all time, current UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag].
“I think I can beat Jon Jones,” Ortiz said. “I think I have a good chance – I really do think I’ve got a good chance. If people say, ‘Oh, Tito, (expletive), you’re over the hill,’ whatever. Come to my camp. Come train with me. Come wrestle with me. Come do jiu-jitsu with me. Watch my weight training. Watch my biking and stairs that I do. I push myself harder than I pushed myself through my whole career. I’m doing amazing. My mind is in the right place, my body is in the right place.”
Ortiz is scheduled to take on former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio in a 210-pound catchweight bout in the headliner of a Combate Americas pay-per-view event Dec. 7 in Hidalgo, Texas.
The UFC Hall of Famer acknowledged Jones is one of the greatest talents to ever step in the cage, but thinks he has tarnished his legacy with his mishaps in and out of the cage.
“He could be the best ever, but I mean, could have – not anymore,” Ortiz said. “He tarnished his career so many times, so much stuff that he did in and out of the cage it just – God, it bums me out because I love the guy, man. He was one of the best light heavyweights to ever grace the octagon.”
Considering Jones’ accolades, where both guys are in their careers, and the fact Ortiz is almost 13 years his senior, Ortiz’s claim likely will be viewed as absurd.
But Ortiz thinks the key to beating the long and rangy Jones is to press forward and take his weapons away from the outside.
“Come on, why wouldn’t I? Pressure, pressure, pressure,” Ortiz said. “You stay in that angle, the outside reach of him, you’ve got problems with it. You can’t just sit there and play his game.”
Cynthia Calvillo thinks it will be a short night for Marina Rodriguez if their fight hits the canvas at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington.
[autotag]Cynthia Calvillo[/autotag] is confident she has a major advantage in the grappling department going into her next fight.
Calvillo (8-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) takes on the undefeated Marina Rodriguez (12-0-1 MMA, 2-0-1 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 7 next week and thinks if the fight hits the canvas, it will be a short night for Rodriguez.
“I feel like it’s going to be a fun fight standing, but if it hits the ground, it’s going to be game over,” Calvillo told MMA Junkie. “So if I get that opportunity to take her down, it’s going to be a quick finish for sure.
“Its going to be ground by elbows, first round ground-and-pound. It goes down, it’s going to be over. There’s going to be a submission or ground and pound. She’s either going to get stopped with a ground-and-pound TKO, or she’s just going to turn around and give me her neck.”
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Originally scheduled to take on former UFC strawweight title challenger Claudia Gadelha, Calvillo faces a different stylistic matchup in Rodriguez, but is confident in her preparation. She has spent a little more than two months in Thailand at the renowned Tiger Muay Thai gym in preparation for the fight.
Despite losing out on the Gadelha fight, she still thinks Rodriguez is a formidable opponent.
“She’s 12-0 for a reason,” Calvillo said. “She is a muay Thai champ, and she did beat some notable names. She did beat Tecia Torres in her last match. She looked great, and I think it would be awesome for me to beat an undefeated fighter at 12-0 who’s ranked above me. So I think it’s an opportunity for me to really make a statement.”
There is also the perk of taking the zero away from an undefeated fighter’s record, a feeling Calvillo knows all too well.
“I was there – I was her when I was fighting Carla Esparza, and then I kind of got stopped (and) slowed back a little bit,” Calvillo said. “(It) was just more of a learning lesson, but I feel like it’s just one of those things. She’s coming up (and) I’ve already been in the UFC for a while. I do think she’s a dangerous fighter and she’s hungry, and I think she understands how important this opportunity is to fight me. And on top of that also, being a co-main event – I’m super thankful to be able to have that spot, a co-main event in our nation’s capital.”
Calvillo’s loss to Esparza is her only career blemish. Since that loss, she was able to rebound with back-to-back wins over Poliana Botelho and, most recently, Cortney Casey in February.
In Rodriguez, she takes on another taller and rangier striker, but preparing at a camp like Tiger Muay Thai has allowed her to further develop her striking skills.
“She’s a dangerous fighter,” Calvillo said. “I feel like it’s a great fight for me to be able to really showcase what I have. I feel like sometimes I’ve had really tough or awkward fighters when it comes to striking, and I haven’t been able to really showcase what my striking is just because everybody’s been different. Styles make fights, and I think this is a great fight where I’m strong in my grappling and submission wrestling, but I’ve also been in Thailand for the last nine weeks getting ready and training non-stop, striking.”
Darren Till wants Robert Whittaker in the co-main event of the UFC 246 headliner between Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone.
[autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] is eager for a quick turnaround, it seems, and he still has his eyes on former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag].
After the Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone fight was announced for the UFC 246 main event on Jan. 18, Till posted on Instagram that he wants to fight in the co-main event.
“Surely they need a co-main event ?
@robwhittakermma let’s go!
#LowTopTing 🦍”
Till probably wants a piece of that McGregor pay-per-view pie, and who can blame him? Don’t think the English fans will be too pleased, though, considering Whittaker said he was game to face Till in London, and it was even his idea.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
The odds are out for the UFC 246 main event between Conor McGregor and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone – and they favor the Irishman in a big way.
[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s long-awaited return to the cage was something many MMA fans no doubt gave thanks for on the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.
McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is set to headline UFC 246 in January against [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC), the promotion announced Thursday. The welterweight fight is one that has been talked about for several months, but as with all things McGregor-related seemed to be up in the air pending his decision to put pen to paper.
Now that the fight is official, the opening betting odds have been released – and former dual champion McGregor is a sizable favorite out of the gate. McGregor is a -278 favorite at BetMGM.com. The comeback on “Cowboy” is +200.
In other words, a $100 bet on Cerrone would pay out $300 (including the original $100 wager) if he pulls the upset in Las Vegas. A $100 bet on McGregor would pay out about $136 (including the original $100 wager) if he wins.
UFC 246 takes place Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims likely for ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
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It probably should come as no surprise that McGregor is favored. He’s only been an underdog twice in his career. In his featherweight title fight against then-champ Jose Aldo at UFC 194, Aldo was just a slight favorite at -135 to -110 for McGregor. McGregor knocked out Aldo in 13 seconds to win his first UFC belt. And in his lightweight title fight against champ Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October 2018, he was as much as a 2-1 underdog in a fight he lost by fourth-round submission.
Cerrone is on just the second losing skid of his career. After starting 2019 with back-to-back wins over Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta, he has dropped consecutive bouts to Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, both by TKO.
Before those setbacks, he was on a three-fight run that saw him pick up a bonus for his submission of Mike Perry, two bonuses for his TKO of Hernandez, and a “Fight of the Night” for his decision win over Iaquinta. He has the most post-fight bonus awards in UFC history with 18.
McGregor hasn’t won a fight in more than three years. In November 2016, he stopped Eddie Alvarez with a second-round TKO at UFC 205 to win the lightweight title. That made him the first fighter in UFC history to hold belts in two divisions at the same time. He was forced to vacate his featherweight belt soon after, having never defended it.
He never defended the lightweight title, either. He chose instead to take a highly lucrative boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017 in a turn that made him truly a global superstar. He eventually was stripped of the 155-pound belt, and Nurmagomedov claimed it to set up the pair’s vicious rivalry that culminated in a brawl after their fight and suspensions for both.
McGregor has become almost as well known for his issues outside the cage as his fighting. Several months before his fight with Nurmagomedov, he had a now-infamous incident in which he attacked a fighter bus at UFC 223 and was arrested. The brawl at UFC 229, though not started by him, didn’t help matters.
Earlier this year in Miami Beach, he was arrested for taking a man’s phone, smashing it on the ground, then walking away with it. Ultimately, the strong-arm robbery and criminal mischief charges were dismissed. But in August, video surfaced of McGregor punching a man in a Dublin pub. Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to assault and was fined. Reports of sexual assault accusations also have surfaced, though he has not been charged.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship, and there is no influence on news coverage.
The UFC recently held its 500th live event, and the organization is marking the occasion with a list of 500 Unforgettable Moments.
UFC 244 marked the promotion’s 500th live event, and the organization is celebrating the occasion with “an internally curated list of 500 Unforgettable Moments from UFC history.”
Scheduled to be released in seven installments, UFC Fight Pass 500 Moments shines a spotlight on some of the most memorable highlights – and lowlights – from the UFC’s 26-year run, both in and out of the cage.
UFC Fight Pass officials have committed to sharing video of a few of those key moments with MMA Junkie, as well. This time, we bring you one of the best knockouts of 2019 – and all-time – when UFC women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] knocked [autotag]Jessica Eye[/autotag] out cold with a walk-off head kick finish at UFC 238 for her first successful title defense.
UFC.com’s Walker Van Wey sets the table:
Jessica Eye had one of the greatest climbs in recent memory when she went from four straight losses to flyweight title shot against Valentina Shevchenko. 2018 Comeback Fighter of the Year made it a little over a round before being on the wrong end of possibly the hardest head kick KO in the history of women’s MMA.
You can watch the fight footage in the video above. And check out a few more memorable moments below:
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
It didn’t take long for Billy Quarantillo to get a new opponent for UFC on ESPN 7.
It didn’t take long for [autotag]Billy Quarantillo[/autotag] to get a new opponent for UFC on ESPN 7.
“Dana White’s Contender Series” season 2 signee Quarantillo (12-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will now face season 1 competitor [autotag]Jacob Kilburn[/autotag] on Dec. 7.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an announcement.
UFC on ESPN 7 takes place Dec. 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. The card airs on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+.
Kilburn (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will replace former Cage Warriors champion Chris Fishgold, who withdrew from the event earlier this week for unknown reasons.
New York’s Quarantillo is riding a five-fight win streak entering his showdown with Kilburn. In his most recent fight in July, Quarantillo punched his ticket to the UFC when he defeated surging Arizonan Kamuela Kirk by third-round TKO.
In 2018, Kilburn was one solid performance away from being inked to the UFC. However, Bobby Moffett played the spoiler when he submitted Kilburn in the second round at DWCS 16.
Since DWCS, Kilburn has won back-to-back fights by TKO – both under the Island Fights banner. In his most recent outing in October, Kilburn finished Javanis J. Ross by strikes in 94 seconds.
With the change to the card, the UFC on ESPN 7 lineup now includes:
Cal Ellenor has gone through hell over the past few months. But after saving his career, he’s ready to bounce back at Bellator Europe 7.
When [autotag]Cal Ellenor[/autotag] revealed he had been forced to pull out of his main event bout with James Gallagher at Bellator Europe 4 in Dublin in September, things couldn’t have looked much worse for the Sunderland man’s future MMA prospects.
Ellenor (8-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) had made an impressive start to life as a Bellator fighter by defeating former Cage Warriors flyweight champion Nathan Greyson via first-round submission at Bellator Europe 1 in February. But ahead of the biggest fight of his career, he was handed crushing news. His brain scans were flagged as a concern and sent for assessment by a neurologist, who diagnosed early-onset brain damage.
“He looked at my scans and told me I had a gap in my frontal lobe that wasn’t there previously, and that I also had three black spots of damage on the right side of my brain,” he said in an emotional Instagram post explaining his situation.
“He basically told me it was the start of brain illness, and it wasn’t a case of what could happen, but it was a case of what will happen. His advice was he doesn’t want me to ever take another shot again. He doesn’t think it’s a wise move to even continue training at all, never mind fight … He left me there telling me I have to retire.”
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It looked as if the Englishman’s career was over, and fans and colleagues from inside MMA expressed their sympathies with the talented bantamweight, who appeared to only just be coming into his prime.
But with such a final verdict delivered by the neurologist, Ellenor sought a second opinion, but any chance of success required his previous brain scans taken before a fight for South African promotion EFC back in 2017. Getting his hands on those was arguably the biggest and most important fight in his career. Thankfully, a friend based in South Africa was able to track them down.
“I’m fortunate that I’ve got Alistair Bishop,” he told MMA Junkie during Bellator Europe 6 media day in London. “He’s a friend for life. He lives in South Africaand I was trying to get the images from the original scans and I could never get them. EFC wouldn’t give us them. I couldn’t get them. And Alistair went and he pestered the lab for me and he was there all the time and he actually went there and he got them. He got sent around all these different places, to different people, and eventually he got them. That was the light at the end of the tunnel, just getting the images.”
Those images were crucial to Ellenor being cleared to fight again, as they showed that, in fact, there had been no changes in his brain from his 2017 scan, when he had been cleared to fight, and 2019, some five fights later.
“Even though the neurologist said the doctor wouldn’t be wrong on the sheet, when I got the images they were wrong on the sheet,” he said. “They said all this stuff in 2017 when I fought, they said wasn’t on my brain scans. But when the images came, all the stuff was already was there. So they’re saying I’m not at any further risk, I’d already been fighting. It’s been five professional fights since I had that scan and nothing has changed at all. So the door was cracked back open then and there was a glimmer of hope.”
Ellenor’s fight for his career was waged during one of the toughest times of his life. With his fighting future hanging in the balance, Ellenor was also grieving the loss of his mother and his best friend. It was the darkest time in his life, but once he had fought to get the medical documents to present to the neurologist in the U.K., he was cleared to fight again, and Bellator Europe matchmaker Jude Samuel immediately rebooked his main event bout with Gallagher, which will take place in the same city (Dublin), and the same venue (3Arena), albeit five months later than originally planned.
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“When they said about getting this back on I was absolutely over the moon,” he said. “It was just one of the best things ever. It completely got me through those horrible times, a horrible phase in my life – losing my mother, losing my best friend, and thinking I was losing my career to then now being back here. Honestly, I’m on Cloud 9.”
Now Ellenor looks like a man with a great weight lifted from his shoulders. The pain of losing two of his nearest and dearest is clearly still fresh in his mind, but he now has an outlet for that grief, and he said he has already thrown himself into his training in a bid to honor his mother and best friend with the best performance of his career on Feb. 22. He also said he wants to put on a show for all the fans who reached out to him with words of support after he posted his original Instagram message back in September.
“I’m super fired-up,” he said. “I’m hungry, I’m back in the gym training constantly now and that’s it from now. My Christmas is on hold until after the fight. My camp has started now. It’s 13 weeks on Saturday and I’ll be the best version of myself for this fight.
“I can’t thank anyone enough. The support I got was absolutely crazy. Heartwarming, you know what I mean? So this next fight’s for them. It’s for my mum, obviously, in memory of my mum, this one.I’m dedicating this one to her. I’m literally fighting for them now. I’m going to make them proud.
“I realize how many people back home have got behind us and how many people believe in me, so I just cannot wait to get in there and show them how much I value it. Plus I have a second chance, and I just can’t wait to shine, to go in there, into a hostile environment and win it for them.”
And, with a second chance at the career he always dreamt for himself, Ellenor says a big win over one of the most prominent names on the Bellator roster can open the door for him to fulfill his dreams as a professional fighter.
“I feel if I do beat James the way I believe I will, I feel that will open the doors to the stages I want to be on. I want to fight overseas, I want to headline Newcastle … I’d love to main event anywhere really. I’d love to fight in New York if that was ever an option. So these are the things I dream about, and beating James will get us there. So that’s how my chapter will start, by getting this one out the way.”
Ronda Rousey ultimately was the reason why women’s MMA would exist in the UFC, but it couldn’t have been possible without Gina Carano.
Before [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag], there was [autotag]Gina Carano[/autotag]. And before Carano, there were other talented female mixed martial artists. But until Carano hit the scene – when she took part in the first sanctioned women’s MMA fight in Nevada in June 2006 – there wasn’t a female fighter quite like her.
Carano was the first breakthrough star of women’s MMA. She was the perfect combination of beauty and badass, which captured the attention of the mainstream during an era when women’s MMA wasn’t so widely accepted. From 2006 until August 2009, when she lost her final bout against Cris Cyborg under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner, Carano was the poster girl for the sport.
An entire generation of fans might not realize this, but without her there probably isn’t women’s MMA in the UFC.
“First women’s MMA fight I ever saw was her and Julie Kedzie,” Rousey said in 2015 during UFC 184 media day. “I would not have even known (MMA) was an option for me. She’s the one that planted the seed in my head.”
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Rousey’s professional debut was in March 2011. In a sense, she was Carano 2.0. She demanded the attention of the mainstream for the same reasons. With time, UFC president Dana White couldn’t ignore Rousey: She was the reason he’d finally allow women to fight in his promotion in 2013. From there, Rousey went on an incredible run to become the UFC’s biggest star before it all came to a stunning end.
These days, Carano and Rousey have found success and happiness outside of MMA – both in acting, but Rousey also as a WWE superstar. Nevertheless, their impact on the sport is undeniable.
Our question for you is this: Who was more important to women’s MMA? You can answer in the poll below:
MMA can be crazy to follow and watch, but there’s a lot to be thankful for in this sport we love.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hopefully you’re enjoying today – or you will or you have depending on when you read this – with family and loved ones.
We know mixed martial arts can be crazy to watch and follow this at times – actually often. But that’s why we love it. Isn’t it? With that in mind, may we present to you what we’re thankful for in MMA this Thanksgiving.
Thank you …
****
To the fighters, for their time
The athletes in MMA are the reason this whole thing exists. They fuel everything in the industry, are the reason this website exists, and it’s an honor to have a part in telling their stories.
While every minute of time over the phone, at a media day, an open workout, and all the other platforms is appreciated, there were two particularly special moments for me in 2019.
The first was at UFC 241 media day in August, when, after nearly an hour of interviews, [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] was being pulled away from the media day stage by UFC public relations staff. But ‘DC’ saw me and cameraman Dave Mandel waiting in line and told the PR team to allow him one final interview with us. It’s hard to express how much that meant.
A special shout-out also goes to [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag], who offered up hours of interview time with MMA Junkie in the weeks leading up to his UFC 242 title-unification bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Poirier helped bring the “Dustin’s Diaries” series to life, and in addition to that, allowed John Morgan and I to conduct an elaborate pre-fight interview in Abu Dhabi just days before the event.
These fighters could easily just stick to the bare minimum in terms of media, only doing what the UFC requires as mandatory leading up to and during a fight week. Some do that. The overwhelming majority consistently go above and beyond, though, and there’s no better time than now to express gratitude.
– Mike Bohn
To MMA fans, for their dedication
I get paid to watch people kick each other in the head for a living. Some of my MMA media peers might bristle at reducing our jobs to this, because there’s so much more that goes into what we do. But at the end of the day, that’s really what it is, and the reason I get to do something I love is because of the passionate dedication of the sport’s fans. Being an MMA fan can be a chore. You stick with this through all the madness: the canceled fights, the fights that don’t deliver, the seven-hour cards, you name it. Without you, I’d have to get a real job, and that goes for anyone else who makes a living in some way related to MMA. So thanks for your passion, folks, and Happy Thanksgiving.
– Dave Doyle
To technology, for making work a little more enjoyable
My thankful-for-MMA list is short, but important. I considered putting the free serve-yourself fountain drink stations at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla., as the top spot on my list – because that means, during Bellator events when I’m there, I get free Mtn Dew all night. But I’ll just consider that a fringe benefit and say what I’m most thankful for is that with only a few rare exceptions, when it comes to watching fights for work, I can do it almost exclusively from my phone. That means, if I don’t feel like leaving my home office to sit in front of the TV, I don’t have to – I can stream just about everything on my more-than-adequate 6-inch screen. If I need to work in the car while on a road trip while the Missus drives, I can do it. If I want to sit out on the back deck with the dogs during the fights, it’s a thing that can happen and has happened often. A few short years ago, this wasn’t the case. So thank you, technology, for making my work life infinitely more flexible.
– Matt Erickson
To the UFC’s Abu Dhabi deal, a great thing for the Middle East MMA scene
Khabib Nurmagomedov (red gloves) reacts after defeating Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. (Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
I am thankful for the UFC finally bringing an event back to the Middle East. Being based here, the UFC’s five-year deal with Abu Dhabi that guarantees a title fight means big events for the region and an opportunity for the sport to grow.
Being on this side of the world, in a market that barely knows anything about MMA, the UFC making the annual visit will certainly garner more interest in the region and grow the overall MMA scene. As a journalist, this will obviously give me more to work with in my region, as well as being able to provide young fighters that continue to struggle to get their name out on a platform.
I am very grateful that I got to cover my first UFC event with MMA Junkie at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, which will forever stick as a memorable moment in my career.
– Farah Hannoun
To better UFC start times and pacing, what a relief
What am I thankful for this MMA Thanksgiving? There are a lot of things, many of which I’ve been thankful for year in and year out. Don’t believe me? How about the fighters, coaches, managers, and others who lend me time, being able to cover the combat sport I love – stuff I don’t take for granted.
So, I tried to think, what’s something new I’m thankful for? Something fresh in 2019?
I’m thankful for the UFC’s implementation of viewer-friendly pacing and East Coast-friendly start times. I know there will be many international readers who roll their eyes at this – and maybe even a colleague or two or three (sorry, Simon, Abbey, and Farah!). But let us East Coasters have our fun. Plus, we all get to enjoy the departure of that horrendous FOX Sports pacing. I wouldn’t have wished that on my worst enemy. Let’s hope this keeps up!
Happy Thanksgiving,Junkie Nation!
– Nolan King
To a special kind of PED, for a super necessary boost
I have to offer a confession. I am a user of PEDs – Performance Enhancing Drinks. Espresso, to be precise. It’s the hot beverage equivalent of attaching your brain to a set of jump leads and, as one of MMA Junkie’s two resident Brits, having the Nespresso machine in my kitchen primed and ready for every fight night is, as Jorge Masvidal would say, “super necessary.”
A standard UFC pay-per-view show starts at around 11:30 p.m. here in the U.K., with the main card kicking off at 3 a.m.. By the time the fights are over, and I’ve watched the post-fight press conference, it’s past 7 in the morning. It means my body clock is in absolute shambles and tends to remain so throughout the week. It’s also probably why I never seem to suffer from jet lag after I visit the U.S. I live on GMT, but work on EST, and that’s why I need the aforementioned PEDs.
And, thanks to the life-giving properties of the maximum-strength espresso pods I have in my kitchen cupboard, I’ve never crashed out and missed a main event. And I’m very grateful for that.
To weight-cutting on the decline, because fighter safety is priority No. 1
This year, I’m grateful for many things in MMA, but the one I’m most grateful for is the continuous change in fighter perspective towards weight-cutting. For some time now, fighters have started to compete closer to their natural weights, and this year was no exception.
The idea of killing yourself to cut down seems more archaic as time goes by. It’s a trend I hope continues in 2020, as fighter safety is the most important priority in our sport. This also serves as a good example for future generations that look to compete in MMA. And, yes, Darren Till is finally at middleweight!
– Danny Segura
To … work?
I’m grateful for MMA Junkie.
Now, it sounds like an easy out to praise your workplace, but I can honestly say this site has been part of my life, in some shape or form, for the last decade. Whether I was an MMA fan, competitor or contributor, MMA Junkie (and eventually the people behind the brand) has always been a reliable resource to me – in many ways – throughout all the highs and lows of the last 10 years.
I’m lucky enough to now find myself working alongside these special individuals, and this job in itself has allowed me opportunities to make friends with other fantastic colleagues and followers of the sport – something that quietly becomes important when you spend a big chunk of your week-to-week life covering MMA. And for that, I am grateful.
– Dan Tom
To the UFC for their new year-end schedule
Listen, when it comes to being a hardcore, I’m right there with any of you. Over-saturation? I can’t stand when people talk about it. Give me MMA every day of the year. That said, I’m loving the UFC’s decision to nix the traditional year-end event (a decision made more from the fine folks at ESPN, as per my understanding).
As a Las Vegas resident, I cover all of the UFC’s events here in town, which has usually meant working intensely on the week of Christmas. Honestly, I’m not much of a sentimental kind of guy, so I didn’t really care. But as my son is getting older, I’m beginning to realize the importance of setting aside those moments to create memories as a family, so I’m thankful for the UFC’s adjusted schedule. UFC 245 is going to be phenomenal, but it’s on Dec. 14 – not Dec. 28, when I would have expected it to take place had you asked me at the beginning of 2019.
There’s still some great MMA to be had at the end of the year, with Bellator and Rizin partnering to create a few great crossover cards, not to mention the PFL handing out a few more million-dollar checks, as well. But I’ll be watching those at home, hopefully with the little man alongside me, at least until it’s his bedtime. That will be a nice change this year.
