Jamal Pogues – Page 2 – Syndication Server

UFC Fight Night 219 predictions: Who’s picking Jessica Andrade on short notice over Erin Blanchfield?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the UFC Fight Night 219 main card in Las Vegas, featuring Jessica Andrade vs. Erin Blanchfield.

	Andrade vs. Blanchfield	Pauga vs. Wright	Parisian vs. Pogues	Knight vs. Prachnio	Hernandez vs. Miller
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 13-8	Blanchfield (55%)	Pauga (65%)	Parisian (64%)	Knight (64%)	Miller (64%)
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 16-5	Andrade	Pauga	Parisian	Knight	Miller
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 15-6	Andrade	Pauga	Pogues	Knight	Miller
Matt Erickson 15-6	Andrade	Pauga	Pogues	Knight	Hernandez
Brian Garcia @thegoze 14-7 2017 Champion	Andrade	Pauga	Parisian	Knight	Miller
Simon Samano @SJSamano 13-8	Blanchfield	Pauga	Pogues	Knight	Miller
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 12-9 2018, 2022 Champion	Blanchfield	Pauga	Parisian	Prachnio	Hernandez
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 12-9	Andrade	Pauga	Pogues	Knight	Miller
Nolan King @mma_kings 11-10/em>	Blanchfield	Pauga	Pogues	Knight	Hernandez
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 11-10	Blanchfield	Pauga	Pogues	Knight	Miller
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 10-11	Andrade	Pauga	Parisian	Prachnio	Miller
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 10-11 2014 Champion	Andrade	Pauga	Pogues	Knight	Miller

The is back on its home turf this week, and a short-notice women’s flyweight bout tops the card.

UFC Fight Night 219 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

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

In the main event, former women’s strawweight champion [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] (24-9 MMA, 15-7 UFC) takes on [autotag]Erin Blanchfield[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at flyweight. Andrade took the fight on just a week’s notice when Taila Santos couldn’t travel with visa issues.

Andrade is slight favorite at -135 at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Blanchfield, who is fighting in her first UFC main event, is +115. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are siding with Andrade at a 7-4 clip.

In the co-feature, [autotag]Zac Pauga[/autotag] (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) takes on [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) at light heavyweight. Pauga is the biggest favorite on the main card at -280, and he’s our lone unanimous pick.

Also on the main card, [autotag]Josh Parisian[/autotag] (15-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) meets [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at heavyweight. Pogues is a -250 favorite, but he has just a 7-4 lead in the picks from our staff members.

The closest fight on the entire card at the betting window is at light heavyweight between [autotag]William Knight[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and [autotag]Marcin Prachnio[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 2-4 UFC). Knight is a -125 favorite, but he’s got a huge 9-2 lead in the picks.

And to open the main card, [autotag]Alex Hernandez[/autotag] (13-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) takes on UFC record holder [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] (35-16 MMA, 24-15 UFC) at lightweight. Hernandez is more than a 2-1 favorite, but it’s Miller who has a big 8-3 lead from our staff members.

In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Blanchfield (55 percent), Pauga (65 percent), Parisian (64 percent), Knight (64 percent) and Miller (64 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 219.

After delay, Jamal Pogues ready to make a statement in UFC debut vs. Josh Parisian

Jamal Pogues was stoked to get a UFC shot and make his debut in 2022, but the big picture got in the way ahead of UFC Fight Night 219.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag] was stoked to get a UFC shot and make his debut in 2022, but the big picture got in the way.

Pogues’ mom, he said, is battling Stage 3 cancer. When his dad had a health issue, as well, he made the choice to help care for them, as well as his own family immediate family.

That meant the 27-year-old heavyweight couldn’t fight Tafon Nchukwi this past December.

“I had to really be a family person and family man, and I wasn’t mentally ready to fight,” Pogues said at Wednesday’s media day for UFC Fight Night 219 in Las Vegas. “I was trying to go through the camp, but then most of my time was back home just trying to make sure – take care of family, being a family guy. Respectfully, I didn’t want to come out here and not give my best, and I don’t want to put on a half-ass performance. I don’t want to come out here and make every excuse in the book like most people do. So I was like, let’s take the time, and let’s do it right. And I feel like that’s what I did.”

Pogues said the idea that he’ll be fighting in the UFC come Saturday is one that has him “numb” from what is most fighters’ dreams. But he said he’s trying to harness some energy that will have people thinking he’s wise beyond his years.

If nothing else, hopefully they won’t think he’s just a nobody.

“I’m not trying to get too excited, and I’m trying to act like I’ve been here before, and it’s crazy because half the time I’m a fan, and the other part of me is like, ‘Man, you still have a job, too,'” Pogues said “I’m just walking in this week as, like, ‘OK, stay calm. Look cool. Look focused. Act like – just look cool, man. Don’t do nothing weird.’ So it’s kind of a crazy week, man.”

Pogues (9-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is around a -250 favorite against Josh Parisian (15-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC), so expectations are high. He said trips to the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas have him with a better idea of managing his diet – and now any thoughts of moving back to light heavyweight pretty much are gone.

But a win over Parisian might be big enough to have Pogues asking after some bigger names in a hurry.

“If it’s not top 15, it doesn’t matter,” Pogues said. “We always see one-trick ponies. We see motherf*ckers get one win and then that’s it. And it’s not that I’m dissing (Parisian) or anything. But it’s like if it’s not top 15, in my head, it doesn’t matter. So once I get this win, it’s back into the gym again, it’s back to the lab, it’s back to grinding. It’s not, ‘Oh, I get one win – let’s go out and have some fun and let’s enjoy this moment.’ I came here with a goal. I’ve been training for a very long time. If it’s not top 15, it’s nothing to be celebrating for.

“It’s time to get to work. So we’re going to take this win, we’ll take a fight at a time, we’re going to do it right, prepare correctly, and then we’ll take one fight at a time. I guarantee in the next two years, I guarantee I’ll be in the top 15, and then that’s when the real work starts.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 219.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 2-8)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from Jan. 2-8.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 31-Nov. 6)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from Oct. 31-Nov. 6.

Fresh Ink: Meet the 32 fighters the UFC signed in August 2022

The UFC added 32 fighters to its roster last month. Find out who joined and learn more about them here.

The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.

Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, Dana White’s Contender Series signees, or the increasingly rare straight-up additions. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.

“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.

Scroll below to check out the 32 fighters the promotion inked in August 2022.

Jamal Pogues to move back down to 205 pounds after DWCS 49 win, eyes Dominick Reyes

Jamal Pogues will return to his original home and already has his eyes on the top UFC light heavyweights.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag] will return to his original home and already has his eyes on the top UFC light heavyweights.

Pogues (9-3) punched his ticket to the UFC by defeating Paulo Renato Jr. by unanimous decision at Dana White’s Contender Series 49 at the UFC Apex on Tuesday.

The bout took place at heavyweight, but Pogues will return to light heavyweight, where the majority of his professional bouts have taken place.

“It’s time for me to get down to 205, my original weight class,” Pogues told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the post-fight news conference. “That’s No. 1. When I came back, I was like 275 (pounds), almost 280. So coming back, I was trying to get in the best shape as I could. Obviously, I dropped a lot of weight compared to what I was. But working my way back down to 205 and fighting in the light heavyweight division, there are guys that I know are in the top 10 that I want to fight.”

Pogues went right after the division’s top contenders. He jokingly called out Jamahal Hill for having the same first name as him, but has two other names in mind that he’d like to fight.

“I want Paul Craig. I like his jiu-jitsu, and they made a mistake: I’m actually a black belt,” Pogues said. “I’m a really good f*cking black belt. But I’ve beat some good people.

“It’s going to piss a lot of people off because he’s from my old gym. He’s from my hometown. I want Dominick Reyes. It’s nothing against Dominick Reyes – we used to be training partners. He’s never done anything to me, but I just feel like if we’re going to say who’s going to be the best out of the high desert, Victorville (Calif.), Apple Valley, all of that, it’s me – and a lot of people know that. So he can see this and take it the wrong way and think I’m talking sh*t about him – I’m not. Me and Dominick are cool. But sooner or later, I was going to be in the UFC.”

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On the Doorstep: 5 fighters who could make MMA big leagues with February wins

For those who make it to the highest stage, the journey starts long before they strap on UFC or Bellator gloves.

Every champion in MMA history started out somewhere.

For those who make it to the highest stage, the journey starts long before they strap on UFC or Bellator gloves. Modern-era fighters progress through the regional ranks with hopes of accomplishing the highest accolades. Many will try, but few will succeed.

This November, five fighters on the verge of achieving major-promotion notoriety return to the cage for what could be their stepping stone fights. There are dozens of fighters inches away from making the jump in the coming weeks, but these five are particularly exemplary.

This month:

A Russian fighter looks to continue terrorizing the Northeast MMA scene and punch his ticket to the big show by defending his CFFC belt.
A quietly rising bantamweight prospect continues his undefeated streak. Perhaps, No. 11 will be his lucky number.
Focused on improvement, a 24-year-old light heavyweight is taking Dana White’s advice in stride as he continues moving closer toward a major promotional contract.
A 205-pound Wisconsite has picked up five victories in five fights. If he picks up No. 6 in his first LFA headliner, he could be looking at the big leagues.
A North Carolina State University wrestling standout with slick submission skills thinks he’s ready right now. A win in his Titan FC debut will only bolster that belief.

Scroll through the following pages to see the five fighters who this month find themselves on the doorstep:

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LFA 82 heads to Minnesota with vacant light heavyweight title fight on tap

LFA’s vacant light heavyweight strap will be up for grabs in February.

The first LFA title fight of the decade has been booked.

[autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag] and [autotag]Jamal Pogues[/autotag] collide for the vacant light heavyweight strap at LFA 82, the promotion announced on Saturday.

The event takes place Feb. 21 at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minn. It will stream on UFC Fight Pass.

A product of Chosen Few Gym in Wisconsin, Polizzi (5-0) will compete in his second LFA fight when he meets Pogues (7-2). The 28-year-old fighter has also competed for Final Fight Championship, Pure FC, and Chosen Few FC.

Through five professional outings, Polizzi has never seen the judges’ scorecards. He currently holds four TKO wins and one submission victory.

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As for Pogues, the 24-year-old Californian most recently competed (and won) on this past season of “Dana White’s Contender Series.” Although he didn’t earn a UFC contract, his performance impressed the promotion’s brass.

UFC president Dana White suggested Pogues get a few more reps in on the regional scene before he takes the jump to the big leagues.

Also added to LFA 82, a co-main event matchup between surging featherweight up-and-comers [autotag]Nate Richardson[/autotag] (7-1) and [autotag]Jake Childers[/autotag] (7-0). Additionally, a flyweight bout between undefeated fighters [autotag]Sean Stebbins[/autotag] (2-0) and [autotag]Nate Smith[/autotag] (5-0) has been added to the card.

Check out the official LFA 82 poster below: