Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the MMA Junkie’s Dan Tom’s analysis and predictions for the UFC on ESPN 16 main event between Holly Holm and Irene Aldana.
Check out the MMA Junkie’s Dan Tom’s analysis and predictions for the UFC on ESPN 16 main event between Holly Holm and Irene Aldana.
MMA Junkie’s John Morgan checks in from “UFC Fight Island” as he tees up the weekend’s fights to follow at UFC on ESPN 16 in Abu Dhabi.
MMA Junkie’s John Morgan checks in from “UFC Fight Island” as he tees up the weekend’s fights to follow at UFC on ESPN 16 in Abu Dhabi.
Holly Holm spoke with the media ahead of UFC on ESPN 16 on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
Holly Holm spoke with the media ahead of UFC on ESPN 16 on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
The bantamweight fight between Holly Holm and Irene Aldana will now headline the UFC’s Oct. 3 event.
[autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] and [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] will still get a headliner spot for their fight.
After a positive COVID-19 test forced Aldana out of the UFC’s Aug. 1 main event, the promotion has moved her bout with Holm to the Oct. 3 headliner. The matchup was announced during the UFC 252 broadcast Saturday night.
The event location has not officially been announced by the UFC, but is expected to take place at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
Aldana (12-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) will become the first Mexican-born woman to headline a UFC event when she squares off with Holm. A win will most likely would position her as the No. 1 contender at 135 pounds. Winner of five of her past six, Aldana is coming off a “Performance of the Night” knockout over Ketlen Vieira at UFC 245, bouncing the Brazilian out of the ranks of the unbeaten.
[lawrence-related id=539109]
Holm (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC), a former UFC bantamweight champion, has split her past four appearances and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Raquel Pennington at UFC 246, beating her for the second time. Prior to that, she failed to recapture the 135-pound title when she was stopped by featherweight and bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes in Round 1 at UFC 239.
The latest lineup for UFC’s Oct. 3 event includes:
[vertical-gallery id=394058]
[vertical-gallery id=471136]
UFC on ESPN+ 31 will no longer be headlined by a pivotal women’s bantamweight bout after Irene Aldana’s withdrawal.
UFC on ESPN+ 31 will no longer be headlined by a pivotal women’s bantamweight bout.
The original main event between former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] and top contender [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] has been postponed to a later date. In its place, a middleweight showdown between [autotag]Derek Brunson[/autotag] and undefeated [autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag] will serve as the Aug. 1 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It will remain a three-round fight despite being elevated to headliner status.
The news was announced Wednesday by UFC president Dana White while doing an Instagram live with Ronda Rousey, who manages Shahbazyan. White didn’t offer why the change was made, but a person with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie it was Aldana who withdrew for undisclosed reasons.
[lawrence-related id=532767,507441,484437]
Shahbazyan (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is an unbeaten rising contender in the UFC’s 185-pound division. The 22-year-old fighter is coming off a head-kick knockout of Brad Tavares last November at UFC 244.
Meanwhile, Brunson (20-7 MMA, 11-5 UFC), a longtime contender in the division, is riding a two-fight winning streak. The 36-year-old last fought in August 2019 when he outpointed Ian Heinisch.
This marks the third time that Brunson vs. Shahbazyan has been booked after bookings in March and April fell through.
With the change, the current UFC on ESPN+ 31 lineup includes:
[vertical-gallery id=459085]
Holly Holm understands why Amanda Nunes might contemplate retirement but hopes she stays active long enough to face off again.
[autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] understands why two-division UFC champion [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] may contemplate retirement, but hopes she doesn’t hang up the gloves just yet.
Nunes (20-4 MMA, 13-1 UFC), the UFC featherweight and bantamweight champion has torn through competition, becoming the first fighter in history to defend two titles simultaneously.
She has won her last 11 in a row, including a first-round finish over former UFC bantamweight champion Holm (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) last July. Now Holm is on the comeback trail as she bids to get back into title contention.
After losing to Nunes, Holm rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Raquel Pennington in January and is slated to take on Mexico’s Irene Aldana in the main event of the UFC’s event on Aug. 1.
Nunes has beaten every former champion at both 135 and 145 pounds in the UFC and recently mentioned that she is considering considering walking away from the sport having achieved everything that she’s wanted.
[lawrence-related id=527858,527586]
Holm understands where Nunes is coming from but says she hopes she doesn’t actually go through with retirement because she wants a second crack at “The Lioness” before she hangs up her gloves.
“She’s kinda been pretty active and been on a roll,” Holm told MMA Junkie. “Obviously she’s run through everybody so sometimes maybe she feels a little satisfied so maybe she doesn’t feel that urge to want to keep on it but then again, you have a little bit of time in between fights and it’s like, ‘Ah no, I want to do it again,’ so I don’t know. We’ll see what she really does.
“I know she’s at a place where I don’t think anybody would blame her for walking away, but I don’t think she really wants to walk away. She might want to keep fighting. When you’re on top sometimes it’s hard to walk away from that so I think that’s gonna be however she feels. Life always is going on for everybody outside of the cage as well, so a lot of people are feeling certain things in their life. Wherever she wants to take her path, more power to her. But I hope she’s still there so I can get a rematch with her.”
Grappling with Jon Jones and Holly Holm seems like a walk in the park compared to what Steve-O has put his body through.
“Jackass” star Steve-O is no stranger to putting his body through abuse. And in comparison to what he’s done, getting tossed around by some UFC champion caliber fighters seems like a walk in the park.
That’s likely why he seemed to take so much joy out of mixing it up on the mats with UFC light heavyweight titleholder [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and former women’s bantamweight champ [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] today at Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, N.M.
Steve-O stopped by the gym and got manhandled on the mats by Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) and Holm (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC), and did it all with a massive smile on his face.
Watch the footage of the separate exchanges below (via Instagram):
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBjgEaRn_i1
Steve-O fancies himself to be a massive MMA fan, as he detailed during a January interview with MMA Junkie that can be seen above. He also has his own podcast where he’s had UFC president Dana White on as a guest along with several notable fighters.
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.
More than four years since she lost her bantamweight title, Holly Holm hasn’t given up on her quest to regain UFC gold.
[autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] hasn’t given up on her quest to regain UFC gold, and she’s confident beating Irene Aldana in their upcoming headliner could set up another title shot.
Holm (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has been caught up in some backlash for the number of championship opportunities she’s received since losing the women’s bantamweight title in March 2016 after winning it with an all-time knockout of Ronda Rousey at UFC 193. She’s fought in three title bouts across two divisions, with her most recent chance being a first-round TKO loss to Amanda Nunes in July 2019 at UFC 239.
She’s since rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Raquel Pennington at UFC 246 in January, and now Holm, No. 7 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie women’s bantamweight rankings, is set to fight No. 5 Aldana in a main event spot Aug. 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. If she can win that, Holm said she “could definitely be next in line for the belt,” despite what critics might think.
“I’ve fallen short of getting that title back more than once, and it’s frustrating, but I know I keep fighting the very top-ranked girls, so I’m constantly right there,” Holm told MMA Junkie. “I’m still aching for it. I still want it. That’s a lot to say. Some people say, ‘Oh, I want the belt’ then they don’t really think about it. I know exactly how much work that takes to get there, and I know it took a big commitment.
“You’ve got to win fights along the way and when it comes, I can’t let the opportunity slip through my fingers again. Obviously it’s right there. I know people say, ‘Oh, she’s had plenty of title fights.’ There’s a reason: Because I keep fighting the best, and I keep staying right there. A lot of times I’m just one fight away. No matter what, I have Irene Aldana in front of me.”
Holm’s original title run was relatively brief. She shocked the world and knocked out Rousey in November 2015, then turned around four months later and succumbed to a stunning comeback-from-behind submission to Miesha Tate to drop the title. The chances to get it back haven’t gone her way, but that title was precious to Holm in the time she had it, and she won’t stop trying to climb back to the top.
Although there are plenty of perks that come with being a UFC champion, such as greater pay and notoriety, Holm said her reasons are purely selfish.
“It’s just knowing I’m No. 1,” Holm said. “It’s not necessarily the recognition to other people; it’s not trying to prove other people wrong. I worked so hard that I want to beat the best so that I can be the best. That’s it. When you have the belt on you, that means you beat the best, and that’s what I want. I want to be No. 1.”
[lawrence-related id=527586,527437]
If Holm wants to be in that title spot anytime soon, then winning against Aldana is a must. It won’t be easy, especially with the Mexican boxing stylist coming off a vicious knockout of the previously unbeaten Ketlen Vieira at UFC 245 in December.
“My goal is just to be clearer, stronger, sharper, and more well rounded,” Holm said. “I want to do all of that. I know she’s coming. She’s got a lot of movement; she’s got long punches and long arms. She’s one of the taller bantamweights. Every fighter brings their own strengths, and my job is just to be better at any of those things, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
[opinary poll=”do-you-want-to-see-holly-holm-in-another-WlPS3v” customer=”mmajunkie”]
Former UFC champ Holly Holm discusses her main event with Irene Aldana on Aug. 1, where she fits into the title picture and Amanda Nunes’ possible retirement.
Former UFC champ Holly Holm discusses her main event with Irene Aldana on Aug. 1, where she fits into the title picture and Amanda Nunes’ possible retirement.
