Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the best photos from Damir Ismagulov vs. Guram Kutateladze at UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin.
[autotag]Damir Ismagulov[/autotag] defeated [autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag] on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin, Texas. Check out the best photos from the fight. (USA Today images via Scott Wachter)
Check out these photos from the UFC on ESPN 37 ceremonial weigh-ins in Austin, Texas.
Check out these photos from the UFC on ESPN 37 weigh-ins and faceoffs from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. (Photos by Matthew Wells, MMA Junkie)
Check out these photos from the official weigh-ins in Austin, Texas.
Check out these photos from the official weigh-ins for UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin, Texas. (Photos by Matthew Wells, MMA Junkie)
“Many of us are missing our opportunities to fight on the suitable events just only because of the complicated visa policies.”
[autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag] is one of many fighters who have struggled to obtain U.S. visas.
With the majority of UFC events now taking place in the United States, Sweden-based Kutateladze has voiced his frustration on behalf of all fighters struggling to get their U.S. visas approved in time for their fights and thinks it’s about time the process got expedited.
Things have gotten even more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic and Kutateladze saw his most recent fight booking against Don Madge in July fall through partially due to his ongoing visa issues.
“With this letter I’d like to address American embassies and raise our voices about American-visa-issue that becomes more and more painful these days for the fighters (moreover in this pandemic circumstances). So I believe to address them not only from myself, but be representing a common problem that unfortunately many fighters are facing and sometimes this little visa issue can turn into a life changing thing.
Being a fighter and choosing fighting other people as your career is not the same as being an engineer or a doctor or a teacher. This is not that kind of job where you as a professional individual become better and better after years pass by. Being an active professional MMA fighter is a short journey that may last for several years only and that’s why in this journey every year and every month counts.
“Working experience” in our MMA profession is different, because we depend much on our physical condition and the peak of it is too short. Of course as all others, we gain knowledge through the time, but still your actual fighting career inside the octagon is very limited with your body condition.
Many of us are missing our opportunities to fight on the suitable events just only because of the complicated visa policies. For some of us it may take months or an year or even years to get the American visa. It took me several months to get the interview for my American working visa, even though I had one tourist visa before. And not to mention how many fight offers were missed for this reason. I truly believe that our career is too short to go through this long bureaucratic procedures. At the same time, I’m not meaning that fighters should be visa free, but I believe that our promotion such as UFC with its resources is doing their best to help fighters with the US visa application and assist to make the process smoother, but we still hope for a better cooperation from all sides, including the embassies.
Seeing how fighters are tweeting and tagging embassies, asking them for the interview appointment – feels wrong. Seeing how embassies respond and make appointments through tweets – also feels wrong. Having a very limited number of years for your fighting career and spending a big part of it just waiting for visas – feels wrong too.
Kind regards , Guram K.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUIfBHjMwsU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Kutateladze’s message comes in the wake of Dan Hooker and Nasrat Haqparast’s struggle to get their U.S. visas approved in time. While both fighters ended up obtaining themm ahead of their UFC 266 matchup Saturday, they are set to arrive just hours before they weigh in due to the lagged process.
Since joining the UFC roster in October 2020, Kutateladze has only competed once in a big debut win over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 254. A slew of injuries – including knee surgery – as well as visa issues have kept him on the sidelines.
[listicle id=1066606]
Guram Kutateladze’s callout of Paddy Pimblett turned a little ugly, and he’s not willing to let him off the hook.
[mm-video type=video id=01f2hkma30p6a6dqm4 playlist_id=01eqvpne7c1q486dvv player_id=01eqvpqbw4ymnv0rjh image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f2hkma30p6a6dqm4/01f2hkma30p6a6dqm4-62f25a7ec743c15edcf30aea545f6297.jpg]
[autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag]’s callout of [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] turned a little ugly, and he’s not willing to let him off the hook.
Kutateladze (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who’s currently healing from knee surgery, called out the recently signed former Cage Warriors champion, but Pimblett was rather dismissive of him.
The pair traded barbs on Twitter, but after Pimblett made some insensitive comments in reference to the war between Russia and Georgia that claimed many Georgian lives in 2008, it caused an uproar from the Georgian fans, with a few fighters like Ilia Topuria and Liana Jojua chiming in.
Although Pimblett (16-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) later apologized and deleted his tweets, Kutateladze hasn’t forgotten his words.
“He answered the way he did – very insulting for me – then I just answered back,” Kutateladze told MMA Junkie. “So I told him to stay humble until he’s forced to become humble. At the time, I was in Bahrain and there were some Internet issues. So I went in in the evening, and I saw like 30 or 40 tweets from the guy, and I was like, ‘OK, he went crazy on me and my manager Nima.’ He wrote some very insulting things to him, and it’s really disgusting. He talked about Georgia, he talked about my people, my country, about war between Russia and Georgia – that Georgia deserves what happened.
“But after he realized that the Georgian people started pressuring him like, ‘Hey, now you’re talking that it’s OK, that we deserve to die’ – this is not a joke. You don’t joke about some things. There are limits to everything. You have to respect the country, religion, family and stuff like that. He deleted his tweets and he kind of apologized, but you have to take responsibility for what you say. By deleting your tweets, it doesn’t mean you never said it. The words you say, they don’t disappear. I hope I meet him one day in the octagon, and I can punish this person for everything he said and for his attitude.”
But Kutateladze revealed he currently has a fight in the works – and it’s not Pimblett. That doesn’t mean he’s moved on from the idea of fighting him though, and he still hopes to get his hands on him in the future.
“I didn’t move on from Paddy,” Kutateladze said. “The thing is always going to be there. It’s not a childish thing for him, like five minutes you’re sad, or mad or grumpy about it, then after five minutes you forget about it. It’s not like that. We’re adults. I got an offer from the UFC for my next opponent, but right now I can’t say the name. But there’s going to be a fight during the summer and we’ll hope for the best and keep on thinking positive.”
[listicle id=599797]
Guram Kutateladze wants to add another former champion to his resume.
[autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag] wants to add another former champion to his resume.
Kutateladze (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who bounced former KSW dual-champ Mateusz Gamrot out of the ranks of the unbeaten in his UFC debut in October, wants to welcome another former champion to the organization.
This time, former Cage Warriors lightweight champ [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who became an official member of the UFC roster earlier this week.
Kutateladze was scheduled to face Don Madge at UFC Fight Night 187 in March, but a torn left meniscus that required surgery forced him to withdraw. Currently on the mend, Kutateladze is angling for a summer showdown with Pimblett, who seemed rather dismissive of him.
Pimblett’s response ignited a back-and-forth between the pair, drawing a fiery response from Kutateladze.
It’s barely been a week and Pimblett has already made headlines, even getting into it with Kutateladze’s fans on Twitter. Fresh off his first-round finish of Davide Martinez at Cage Warriors 122, the proud Scouser has finished five of his past six wins and has mentioned the likes of Herbert Burns, Julian Erosa and Jared Gordon as potential opponents for his UFC debut.
Check out the back-and-forth between Pimblett and Kutateladze below.
Guram Kutateladze has been forced out of his UFC Fight Night on March 13 bout vs. Don Madge due to a knee injury.
An exciting matchup between two of the lightweight division’s brightest prospects has been scrapped from UFC Fight Night on March 13.
[autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag] has been forced out of his fight vs. [autotag]Don Madge[/autotag] due to torn left meniscus, which required surgery, the Georgian announced on his Instagram Monday.
“Soon recovery, back to preparation and back to fight. Thank you everybody for your support. Much love. Yours / G. K.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLB_pCanxT0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Kutateladze (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) extended his winning streak to nine fights when he handed former two-division KSW champion Mateusz Gamrot his first career loss in his UFC debut in October. The Allstars Gym Sweden prospect was set to join his good friend and teammate Khamzat Chimaev on the same card, but his second octagon appearance will have to wait.
South Africa’s Madge (9-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) was scheduled to return for the first time since September 2019, when he defeated Fares Ziam by unanimous decision at UFC 242. Prior to that, he scored a head-kick knockout of Te Edwards in his UFC debut in 2018. Madge doesn’t currently have a replacement opponent.
With the change, the current lineup for UFC Fight Night on March 13 includes:
[vertical-gallery id=439491]
A lightweight banger between Guram Kutateladze and Don Madge the latest addition to UFC Fight Night on March 13.
A lightweight banger is the latest addition to UFC Fight Night on March 13.
[autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag] will take on [autotag]Don Madge[/autotag] in an event which does not currently have a confirmed venue or host city.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Kutateladze (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) notched his eighth straight win when he bounced former two-division KSW champion Mateusz Gamrot out of the ranks of the unbeaten in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 180 in October. The Allstars Gym Sweden prospect, who hails from Georgia, will join his good friend and teammate Khamzat Chimaev on the same card.
Winner of his past six in a row, South Africa’s Madge (9-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) hasn’t competed since defeating Fares Ziam at UFC 242 in September 2019. Prior to that, he scored a head-kick knockout of Te Edwards in his UFC debut in 2018.
With the addition, the fight card for UFC Fight Night on March 13 includes:
[vertical-gallery id=439491]
Guram Kutateladze spoke to the media following UFC on ESPN+ 38 on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
Guram Kutateladze spoke to the media following UFC on ESPN+ 38 on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
Two of Europe’s brightest prospects Guram Kutateladze and Mateusz Gamrot will make their octagon debuts on Oct. 17.
Two of Europe’s brightest prospects will make their octagon debuts on Oct. 17.
[autotag]Magomed Mustafaev[/autotag] has been forced out of next week’s UFC on ESPN+ 38 event, and [autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC)) will step in on short notice to face [autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag] (17-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. MMA Junkie confirmed the replacement after an initial report from Russian reporter Igor Lazorin.
Kutateladze joins a wave of Georgian fighters such as Ilia Topuria, Giga Chikadze, Roman Dolidze and Merab Dvalishvili who have signed with the UFC in the past couple of years. The Allstars Training Center lightweight has won his past eight in a row and is coming off a 44-second knockout of UFC veteran Felipe Silva last November at BRAVE CF 29.
Gamrot, a KSW lightweight champion, is unbeaten in his pro MMA career with five knockouts and four submissions among his 17 career victories. In his past outing in August, Gamrot defended his lightweight belt in a unanimous decision win against Marian Ziolkowski in the main event of KSW 54.
With the addition, the latest Oct. 17 lineup includes:
