Jake Hadley – Page 3 – Syndication Server

Photos: UFC on ESPN 36 weigh-ins and faceoffs

Check out these photos of the UFC on ESPN 36 official weigh-ins and faceoffs in Las Vegas.

Check out these photos of the UFC on ESPN 36 official weigh-ins and faceoffs at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. (Photos by Ken Hathaway, MMA Junkie)

UFC on ESPN 36 predictions: Can ex-champ Jan Blachowicz get back on track vs. Aleksandar Rakic?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the UFC on ESPN 36 main card in Las Vegas, featuring ex-champ Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic.

	Blachowicz vs. Rakic	Cutelaba vs. Spann	Grant vs. Smolka	Chookagian vs. Ribas	Camacho vs. Torres	Hadley vs. Nascimento
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 79-38	Blachowicz (56%)	Spann (53%)	Grant (80%)	Ribas (52%)	Torres (73%)	Hadley (81%)
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 78-40	Blachowicz	Spann	Grant	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 77-41 2018 Champion	Rakic	Spann	Grant	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 76-42 2014 Champion	Rakic	Spann	Grant	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 76-42	Rakic	Spann	Grant	Chookagian	Camacho	Hadley
Simon Samano @SJSamano 75-43	Rakic	Spann	Smolka	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 74-44	Blachowicz	Spann	Grant	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
Nolan King @mma_kings 74-44	Rakic	Cutelaba	Smolka	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
Brian Garcia @thegoze 73-45 2017 Champion	Rakic	Spann	Grant	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 72-46	Rakic	Cutelaba	Grant	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 68-50	Rakic	Spann	Grant	Chookagian	Torres	Hadley
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 59-59	Blachowicz	Spann	Smolka	Ribas	Torres	Hadley

The UFC is back in its Las Vegas home base this week with a former champion at the top of the bill.

UFC on ESPN 36 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on ESPN2 and streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN2/ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, former light heavyweight champ [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] (28-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) takes on [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC). Rakic is a 2-1 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Blachowicz is +150. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are taking Rakic at a pretty high 8-3 clip.

In the co-feature, [autotag]Ion Cutelaba[/autotag] (16-6-1 MMA, 5-5-1 UFC) meets [autotag]Ryan Spann[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in another light heavyweight bout. Cutelaba is a -240 favorite, but it’s underdog Spann with a big 9-2 picks lead.

Also on the main card, [autotag]Davey Grant[/autotag] (11-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC will go after his fifth straight post-fight bonus award when he takes on [autotag]Louis Smolka[/autotag] (17-8 MMA, 8-8 UFC) at bantamweight. Grant is more than a 3-1 favorite and has a big 8-3 edge in the picks from our staff members.

Former women’s flyweight title challenger [autotag]Katlyn Chookagian[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) will go after her fourth straight win when she meets [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC). Chookagian nearly is a 2-1 favorite and only one of our pickers is taking Ribas in an upset.

[autotag]Frank Camacho[/autotag] (22-9 MMA, 2-5 UFC) returns after a hiatus of nearly two years to take on [autotag]Manuel Torres[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at lightweight. Torres is a modest -130 favorite – the smallest favorite on the main card. But he’s a near-unanimous pick at 11-1.

And to open the main card, we have our only unanimous pick: -230 favorite [autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag] (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is an 11-0 pick against [autotag]Allan Nascimento[/autotag] (18-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in their flyweight bout.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Blachowicz (56 percent), Spann (53 percent), Grant (80 percent), Ribas (52 percent), Torres (73 percent) and Hadley (81 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

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Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento rescheduled for UFC Fight Night on May 14

The matchup between Jake Hadley and Allan Nascimento has been rebooked for May.

[autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Allan Nascimento[/autotag] has been rebooked.

Hadley (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make his long-awaited promotional debut when he faces Nascimento (18-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on May 14, which doesn’t yet have a publicly known venue or location.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Eurosport NL was first to report the rebooking.

Nascimento originally replaced Francisco Figueiredo against Hadley at UFC London in March, but the bout was scrapped after Hadley withdrew due to injury.

Hadley secured a UFC deal when he submitted Season 29 “Ultimate Fighter” alum Mitch Raposo at Dana White’s Contender Series 43 this past October. But Hadley’s signing didn’t come without a bit of controversy. The unbeaten former Cage Warriors champion weighed in one pound over the flyweight limit and allegedly was unprofessional toward some of the UFC staff, causing issues behind the scenes. However, Dana White decided to sign him anyway.

A training partner of UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, Dana White’s Contender Series Brazil alum Nascimento fell short in his promotional debut when he was defeated by Tagir Ulanbekov in a back-and-forth grappling affair at UFC 267.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for May 14 includes:

Viviane Araujo vs. Andrea Lee
Frank Camacho vs. Manuel Torres
Jamall Emmers vs. Daniel Pineda
Virna Jandiroba vs. Angela Hill
Nick Maximov vs. Andre Petroski
Davey Grant vs. Louis Smolka
Ion Cuțelaba vs. Ryan Spann
Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento

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With Francisco Figueiredo out, Jake Hadley will now face Allan Nascimento at UFC Fight Night on March 19

Jake Hadley has drawn a new opponent for his UFC debut.

[autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag] has drawn a new opponent for his UFC debut.

Francisco Figueiredo has been forced out of UFC Fight Night on March 19 and [autotag]Allan Nascimento[/autotag] (18-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will step in to face Hadley (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on the rumored London card.

Two people with knowledge of the booking informed MMA Junkie of the change Friday. They asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Hadley secured a UFC deal when he submitted Season 29 “Ultimate Fighter” alum Mitch Raposo at Dana White’s Contender Series 43 this past October. But Hadley’s signing didn’t come without a bit of controversy. The unbeaten former Cage Warriors champion weighed in one pound over the flyweight limit and allegedly was unnprofessional toward some of the UFC staff, causing issues behind the scenes. But UFC president Dana White decided to sign him anyway.

Training partner of UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, Dana White’s Contender Series Brazil alum Nascimento fell short in his promotional debut when he was defeated by Tagir Ulanbekov in a back-and-forth grappling affair at UFC 267.

With the change, the UFC Fight Night lineup for March 19 includes:

Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento
Luana Carolina vs. Molly McCann
Cody Durden vs. Muhammad Mokaev
Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Grundy
Jack Shore vs. Timur Valiev
Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Tom Aspinall

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UFC adds Jake Hadley vs. Francisco Figueiredo to March 19 event

Another top U.K. prospect will compete in the UFC’s expected return to London.

[autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag] is set to meet [autotag]Francisco Figueiredo[/autotag] on March 19 at UFC Fight Night. A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial post by Hadley’s management, Paradigm Sports.

Unbeaten in his pro MMA career, former Cage Warriors flyweight champion Hadley (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) secured a UFC deal when he submitted Season 29 “The Ultimate Fighter” alum Mitch Raposo at Dana White’s Contender Series 43 in October. Not only did Hadley come in one pound over the flyweight limit, but the 25-year-old allegedly wasn’t very professional towards some of the UFC staff, causing issues behind the scenes. But UFC president Dana White decided to sign him anyway, and Hadley will get his wish when he meets Figueiredo.

Figueiredo (12-4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), the younger brother of former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, has split his first two promotional appearances. After defeating Jerome Rivera in his debut in January, the Brazilian lost a unanimous decision to Malcolm Gordon at UFC on ESPN 26 in July.

With the addition, the March 19 lineup includes:

Francisco Figueiredo vs. Jake Hadley
Luana Carolina vs. Molly McCann

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Dana White on signing Jake Hadley: ‘Hopefully this kid doesn’t make a d*ckhead out of me’

Dana White didn’t get a lot of support when he decided to offer Jake Hadley a UFC contract.

LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White didn’t get a lot of support when he decided to sign [autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag].

Despite coming in a pound over the flyweight limit, Hadley (8-0) was awarded a UFC deal when he submitted Season 29 “The Ultimate Fighter” alum Mitch Raposo in the second round. White was impressed by the unbeaten former Cage Warriors champion and decided to go against everything he normally preaches about rewarding fighters who miss weight.

“When I left the back room, my instructions were not to sign this guy,” White said during the DWCS 43 post-fight news conference. “According to Hunter (Campbell), Sean (Shelby) and Mick (Maynard) stormed out of the room when I did and took off tonight, so they’re not happy about it. I just have a gut feeling that this kid has something special, and I broke all my own rules and didn’t listen to what they said. So hopefully I’m right on this, and this kid doesn’t make a d*ckhead out of me.”

White explains that not only did Hadley miss weight, but he wasn’t very professional towards some of the UFC staff.

“He wasn’t very friendly,” White said. “He’s not a very popular guy around here this week. He seemed shocked when I told him that. I just saw him out in the hallway, and I said, ‘Listen, don’t worry about it. Yesterday was yesterday, let’s focus on tomorrow. So let’s make this a great relationship from here on out and let’s do great things together.’ So hopefully that’s the case.”

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In his post-fight interview with the media, Hadley chalked it up to a misunderstanding and likely something lost in translation due to cultural differences, but White just laughed off his notion.

“So everybody this week thought that he was an asshole because there’s a discrepancy between the sense of humor? We got lots of guys from the U.K. here, and that doesn’t happen a lot,” White said. “Although (Michael) Bisping, Bisping’s right up there, too. But Bisping is part of the family now, he’s been here for so long. People know what they’re getting from Mike.”

When asked if matchmakers will intentionally give Hadley a tough road after he went against their wishes, White stood firm on his decision.

“Probably. Good luck to him, though,” White laughed. “He’s a talented kid. I like the way he fights. He’s super aggressive. I like the way he fights off his back. When’s the last time you saw a kid that busy on his back? I screamed to him, ‘Who the hell is your jiu-jitsu coach? You’re a purple belt? That’s crazy.’ I think he’s special, broke my own rules, pissed off the boys, so we’ll see if I’m right or wrong.”

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DWCS 43 winner Jake Hadley on issue with UFC staff: ‘If I’ve upset anyone, I haven’t meant it’

Jake Hadley was confused and thinks cultural differences are what led to the UFC staff being upset with his behavior.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag] thinks cultural differences are what led to the UFC staff being upset with his behavior.

According to UFC president Dana White, Hadley (8-0) wasn’t very friendly and didn’t leave the best impression on everyone, including the matchmakers, who weren’t keen on signing him after he submitted Mitch Raposo at Dana White’s Contender Series 43 on Tuesday.

But despite Hadley’s alleged unprofessionalism and weight miss, White decided to award him a UFC deal anyway. Speaking to the media after his win, an emotional Hadley seemed rather perplexed at what he could have possibly said to cause such a frenzy behind the scenes and thinks he was likely misunderstood due to being British.

“To be honest, I don’t know what I’ve said to someone to upset them,” Hadley said during the DWCS 43 post-fight news conference. “But I want to straight out say, if I’ve upset anyone, I haven’t meant it. It didn’t come from a malicious way. That’s not my nature. That’s not me as a person. I’m not nasty in a malicious way, so I just feel like maybe it’s like a misinterpretation because of me being – like with Bisping, people don’t understand Bisping because he’s British.

“Even when I was at Whole Foods, I was like to someone, ‘You all right, mate?’ And then he was like, ‘Yeah I’m all right. Are you alright?’ I don’t think he understood what I was saying. I don’t really know what I’ve said and done to anyone. Next time I’m just gonna keep my mouth closed, I ain’t even gonna say anything, so I don’t upset no one because obviously, I don’t want something like that hindering what I’ve been working for my whole entire life. Straight up, sorry to anyone I’ve upset. I didn’t mean it from a malicious way.”

Hadley’s road to the UFC didn’t come without some drama, but the 25-year-old former Cage Warriors champion is ready to take the flyweight division by storm.

“I’ll fight whoever,” Hadley said. “Let me smash up little Figueiredo (Francisco), the little Figgy. I’ll smash his head in. No problem, easy work. I’m gonna be champion in here real quick.”

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Cage Warriors 117 live results

The Cage Warriors flyweight title is on the line as the U.K. promotion stages the first leg of its three-night triple-header in London, dubbed “The Trilogy Strikes Back.”

The York Hall in Bethnal Green, London plays host to three nights of fights as U.K. promotion Cage Warriors stages the first event of its December triple-header, Cage Warriors 117.

Dubbed “The Trilogy Strikes Back,” the second Cage Warriors triple-header features four title fights across three nights in the English capital, with the promotion’s flyweight championship on the line in Thursday night’s main event.

Newly crowned 125-pound champion [autotag]Luke Shanks[/autotag] (7-1) will put his belt on the line for the first time when he takes on undefeated challenger [autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag] (6-0) in the night’s headliner, while flyweight contenders [autotag]Adam Amarasinghe[/autotag] (6-2) and [autotag]Sam Creasey[/autotag] (12-3) will do battle in the co-main event in a bid to put themselves next in line to face the main event winner early in 2021.

There’s also a pivotal bout in the promotion’s bantamweight division, as Brazil’s [autotag]Weslley Maia[/autotag] (6-3) takes on undefeated Italian [autotag]Michele Martignoni[/autotag] (5-0) at 135 pounds.

Cage Warriors 117 takes place Thursday night at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, London. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass.

Follow the action with MMA Junkie, with live results and fight recaps throughout the night as we take you through the full fight card from London.

Cage Warriors Unlocked: Go behind the scenes ahead of Cage Warriors 114 in Manchester

Go behind the scenes inside the Cage Warriors bubble as the fighters prepare for action at Cage Warriors 114 in Manchester, England.

Thursday sees Cage Warriors hold the first leg of its three-night, three-event run at the BEC Arena, with a pair of flyweight fights at the top of the card.

France’s reigning Cage Warriors 125-pound champion [autotag]Samir Faiddine[/autotag] takes on English challenger [autotag]Luke Shanks[/autotag] in the main event, while undefeated [autotag]Jake Hadley[/autotag] takes on fellow contender [autotag]Shajidul Haque[/autotag] in the co-main event.

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The card also features a host of rising stars looking to make a statement and, during the unusual circumstances ahead of the fight, tempers started to fray.

Undefeated lightweights [autotag]Oban Elliott[/autotag] and [autotag]Michal Figlak[/autotag] were involved in a heated exchange as their paths crossed at the fighter hotel, then the heat continued onto the stage at the official weigh-ins.

Check out the scenes inside the Cage Warriors bubble ahead of fight night in Manchester via the promotion’s fight week vlog, “Cage Warriors Unlocked,” via the video above.

Cage Warriors 114 takes place Thursday at the BEC Arena, Manchester. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass.