dwcs 29 – Syndication Server

Dana White: In a perfect world, Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Yair Rodriguez is five rounds

Dana White thinks the highly anticipated fight between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez should serve as a headliner.

LAS VEGAS – Dana White thinks the highly anticipated fight between [autotag]Zabit Magomedsharipov[/autotag] and [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] should serve as a headliner.

The matchup has been brewing for years, but the two top-ranked featherweights have yet to fight. They’re projected to finally square off this year.

Magomedsharipov (18-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Rodriguez (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) were linked to the UFC’s Aug. 29 headliner, but Rodriguez was forced out due to an ankle injury.

Magomedsharipov accused Rodriguez of not being brave enough to show up, prompting Rodriguez to fire back and tell Magomedsharipov to wait like the “little dog” that he is.

Rodriguez is targeting a return this fall, but no official date has been assigned for their rebooking. Rodriguez wants it to be a five-round fight, and so does White, who says the bout is still being worked on.

“(Tuesday) was matchmaking, and we’re still working on that fight,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after Dana White’s Contender Series 29 in Las Vegas. “We want to do the Yair and Zabit fight, so we’re waiting for Yair to get healed.

“I don’t know how it’s going to end up playing out, but in a perfect world, yes, I would like it to be five rounds.”

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Magomedsharipov has looked near flawless in his octagon performances, but continues to draw criticism for his cardio. He has shown a tendency to slow down in fights and his headliner against Calvin Kattar in November 2019 was only three rounds due to the late-notice main event slot. He lost Round 3 on all three judges’ scorecards.

On the other side of the 145-pound bracket, former UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega will look to bounce back from his first-career loss when he takes on the streaking Chan Sung Jung in the UFC’s Oct. 17 main event.

A No. 1 contender is expected to emerge from either one of those pivotal featherweight clashes while champion Alexander Volkanovski waits for his next challenger.

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Despite another DWCS finish, Josh Parisian wasn’t sure he’d get UFC contract

The third time was the charm for Josh Parisian, who’s had a long road to the UFC.

LAS VEGAS – The third time was the charm for [autotag]Josh Parisian[/autotag], who’s had a long road to the UFC.

Parisian (13-3), who fought on Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter,”, already competed once before on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018. Despite a first-round stoppage win over Greg Rebello, he failed to earn a UFC contract.

More than two years later, Parisian got another shot. This time, his first-round finish over Chad Johnson at Dana White’s Contender Series 29 on Tuesday was enough to punch his ticket to the UFC.

It took three tries for Parisian, who never gave up.

“It almost felt like it was never going to happen,” Parisian told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after his win at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “But I just persevered, keep pushing forward, and just not taking no for an answer.”

While a quick finish almost always guarantees a UFC contract, it was an all-too-familiar situation for Parisian, who had his doubts despite the impressive showing.

“100 percent – I was almost telling myself I almost could bet I’m not getting a contract tonight. I can almost guarantee it,” Parisian said.

“It’s incredible, but at the same time I feel like it’s almost too overwhelming to really take in right now. I know I’ll probably wake up tomorrow and be like, ‘Oh my God.'”

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Brothers Orion and Louis Cosce on UFC contract-winning performances on DWCS 29

It was a successful night at the office for Orion and Louis Cosce, who both earned contracts on Dana White’s Contender Series 29.

LAS VEGAS – It was a successful night at the office for the undefeated Cosce brothers.

Both [autotag]Orion Cosce[/autotag] (7-0) and [autotag]Louis Cosce[/autotag] (7-0) earned contracts on Dana White’s Contender Series 29 by scoring big finishes in their bouts.

But it was a different kind of night for each brother. Orion had to pull through late, but Louis made quick work of his opponent.

After dropping Round 1, Orion rallied by winning Round 2 and made sure to put the stamp on his performance with a late finish over Matt Dixon after an already dominant third round.

“I thought he was really strong in the first round,” Orion told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Tuesday after his win at the UFC Apex in Las Veags. “Obviously, I knew coming out he was going to be very athletic. I’ve seen his fights previously. I knew he was going to be strong. I knew he was going to be good in the standup. I didn’t expect him to start shooting as soon as he did, so those takedowns – he caught me by surprise. It was perfectly timed, but I capitalized on that.

“In the second round, my corners were telling me it was close. That three-second stuff, it’ll never happen again. I don’t want people to think I quit because in every fight I’ve ever been in – this is my third fight now where it’s a finish in the third round. It goes to show that I’m not a quitter. I’m going to do whatever I can. I don’t trust judges.”

Louis on the other hand, dispatched Victor Reyna in just 82 seconds, continuing his impressive 100 percent finishing rate.

“That’s the whole point of a fight,” Louis said. “You go out there to finish it – don’t leave it to the judges. You never know how it’s going to go down. I remember saying in my interview I was going to try to bomb on him and finish him, and I wanted to stick to my word because I know a lot of people, they win by decision. They don’t always get that contract on this show. So I wanted to go out there and put a stamp on it. I felt like if I finished him in the first, there was no denying me, and I stuck to my word and I did exactly so, or what I said I was going to do.”

Cheyanne Buys explains how she manifested her journey to the UFC by moving to Fortis MMA

Cheyanne Buys had been blowing up Dana White’s phone for a while, and Tuesday he finally got to see what she’s about.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Cheyanne Buys[/autotag] had been blowing up Dana White’s phone for a while, and Tuesday he finally got to see what she’s about.

Buys (5-1) earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series 29 with a unanimous decision over Hilarie Rose.

Buys earned high praise from White for her performance and she made sure to let the UFC president know how long she’s been trying to get his attention.

Buys, along with her husband JP, moved from South Africa to Dallas to train with coach Sayif Saud at Fortis MMA, which has produced the likes of Geoff Neal, Alonzo Menifield and Ryan Spann – all of who earned UFC contracts through DWCS.

So Buys made the move to Fortis MMA, knowing that it’s a proven launch pad for fighters who want to make it to the UFC.

“For the past two years, I’ve been writing Dana, and I just kept telling him, ‘Dana, I’m going to be a star for you. Dana, I’m coming,'” Buys told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after her win at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “And my coach over at Fortis MMA, Sayif – my husband and I we moved from South Africa all the way to Dallas just to be with that coach because, one, they’re the best team in the world, and two, Dana loves them fighters. If you look at our team, they’re killers. They’re mean.

“If you think I’m mean, we’ve got some dudes that I’m like, ‘Yo, they’re mean.’ So we went there and I told Dana, ‘Listen, I’m going to Fortis MMA. I know you like that gym. I’m going there.’ I had this whole thing set up for this moment tonight. I told them, ‘Hey, I’m at Fortis.’ ‘Hey, I just won another fight with LFA.’ ‘Hey, my coaches talked to Mick (Maynard). I’m getting on Contender.’ And then I got my opponent, and I was like, ‘I’m going to kill this girl, I promise you.’ And tonight, the only thing I wanted to do was to kill this girl and go to him and be like, ‘Can you write me back now?’ I just wanted to get his attention.”

DWCS 29: Josh Parisian post-fight interview

Josh Parisian talks to media after his Dana White’s Contender Series 29 victory.

Dana White open to Jon Jones fighting for UFC heavyweight title, but not before Francis Ngannou

Dana White said he won’t have a problem with Jon Jones fighting for the UFC heavyweight title – as long as it happens after Francis Ngannou.

LAS VEGAS – “It’s official,” according to UFC president Dana White: [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] has vacated the UFC light heavyweight title.

At the DWCS 29 post-fight press conference Tuesday, White confirmed the news, which the now-former champion Jones (25-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) had revealed Monday.

Additionally, White provided some context in an interview on ESPN on Tuesday. The UFC president said Jones plans on taking some time off before jumping back into fight mode.

“Jon Jones is vacating the light heavyweight title,” White said. “Obviously, you can see he’s been tweeting. He has an interest in fighting at heavyweight. He doesn’t know when. He doesn’t know who. I think he’s going to just take some time right now and do some of the things he wants to do outside of the Octagon. When the time is right, he’ll step in and possibly fight at heavyweight.”

White didn’t voice any issues with Jones’ interest in fighting at heavyweight. In fact, White sounded supportive and indicated Jones could jump straight into a title fight. If Jones’ next fight is for the UFC heavyweight title, White said it’ll be after Francis Ngannou gets his shot at Stipe Miocic.

“(Miocic vs. Ngannou) is definitely the fight that’s going to happen at heavyweight now,” White said. “Francis Ngannou had earned that title shot. Then we’ll see what happens. We had a matchmaking meeting today. A lot of the top four or five guys are laid out for fights coming up in the fall. We’ll see what Jon Jones’ timing is to come back and who makes sense for him.”

“… Listen, (Jones) is the longtime light heavyweight champion. In my opinion, he is the greatest of all time. If he wants to come back and take a shot at the heavyweight championship, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. But he can’t jump in front of Francis Ngannou right now.”

Despite his recent and public spat with the UFC, Jones is still the UFC’s president’s pick for the greatest fighter of all time.

“Well, I say it all the time,” White said. “He’s the G.O.A.T. If you look at his career right now, he’s like 26-1. He’s 27-0. He’s never been beaten in the Octagon. He’s fought the who’s who of the sport. He went through murders’ row at 205 pounds and destroyed everybody. He’s the greatest of all time.”

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Dana White: UFC targeting Anderson Silva’s ‘last fight’ to be against Uriah Hall

Dana White says the UFC is working on Anderson Silva’s last fight – against Uriah Hall.

[autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag]’s next fight is in the works – and it could be his final one under the UFC’s banner.

According to UFC president Dana White, the UFC is working on a fight for Silva (34-10 MMA, 17-6 UFC) that will take place sometime in 2020. Though White said he’s under the impression the fight will be Silva’s last, he wants to leave that announcement up to Silva.

“We’re working on a fight for him coming up soon here,” White said at the DWCS 29 post-fight news conference Tuesday. “He will fight again. I met with his managers the other day. This will be his last fight. This will be his last fight. I think he’s going to retire. That’s not our business. That’s up to him. That’s up to him. Let him do this the way he wants to do it.”

As for an opponent, White initially didn’t reveal a name. However, when asked a few follow-up questions, White name-dropped who the UFC is targeted as Silva’s next (and potentially last) fight.

“We’re talking about putting him in a very competitive fight that should be fun. … [autotag]Uriah Hall[/autotag],” White said.

Silva, 45, has only won one fight in eight attempts since losing his belt to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in July 2013. In 2019, Silva competed twice against Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier. Against Cannonier, Silva suffered a leg injury on a kick. In May 2020, Silva underwent knee surgery. Upon announcing his surgery completion on Instagram, Silva indicated he had two fights left on his UFC contract and intended on fighting them out.

Hall (15-7 MMA, 8-9 UFC) was scheduled to fight Yoel Romero on Aug. 22. However, Romero recently withdrew from the bout for unknown reasons. Hall is currently riding a two-fight winning streak – the most consecutive wins he’s compiled since late 2015.

The two fighters were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 198 in May 2016. However, Silva fell ill and the fight was scrapped.

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DWCS 29: Official weigh-in highlight

See all fighters for Dana White’s Contender Series 29 make weight successfuly.

Dana White’s Contender Series 20 fighter faceoffs

After all fighters made weight, they squared off against their opponent