Tag: Joseph Benavidez

Spinning Back Clique: Yoel Romero’s Bellator debut reaction, an MMA Sophie’s choice, and more

Check out this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique” covering the biggest topics in MMA.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week, we cover the aftermath of Bellator 266 and UFC Fight Night 192, the retirements of two UFC legends, an unexpected fight announcement, and finally look ahead to UFC 266 on Saturday.

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Danny Segura and Brian “Goze” Garcia debates and discusses these topics with host John Morgan:

  • It was a busy weekend in MMA with both the UFC and Bellator holding events, but it seemed a majority of eyes were on [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag], who ended up losing a decision to Phil Davis in his promotional debut at Bellator 266. After the result, we’re kind of left to wonder, at age 44, did Romero finally show his age? Or are there still big wins ahead for him? What does he have left in the tank?
  • We had 26 bouts to take in on Saturday between the UFC and Bellator, so that’s a lot of athletes who got their hand raised. Even though no new champions were crowned or future title fights secured, who walked away as the star of the night?
  • A couple of UFC and WEC legends called it a career this past week, with both [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] and [autotag]Carlos Condit[/autotag] electing to retire. So here’s a Sophie’s choice scenario, but the timing is perfect with the UFC Hall of Fame getting a few new members this week: If you could only place one of them in the Hall of Fame, is it Benavidez or Condit?
  • Speaking of UFC and WEC greats, how about the news from ONE Championship that Demetrious Johnson will have a mixed rules fight with muay Thai legend Rodtang Jitmuangnon? Sounds kind of fun, doesn’t it? What are we thinking here? Should organizations like the UFC be more open to wild ideas like this, or does someone need to be protecting the sanctity of MMA?
  • Finally, it’s a big week for the UFC – International Fight Week, in fact. UFC 266 features a couple of big title fights, the long-awaited return of Nick Diaz, multiple top contenders in action, and more. With all that is going on, what’s the most intriguing storyline of the week?

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Tuesday on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel.

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Demetrious Johnson praises ‘legend’ Joseph Benavidez: ‘An amazing career’

Demetrious Johnson reacts to former opponent Joseph Benavidez’s retirement from MMA.

[autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag]’s career forever will be intertwined with [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag]’s.

The flyweights fought twice in UFC title fights and were responsible for building the men’s 125-pound division in the UFC as two of the original four fighters in the weight class for the promotion.

It’s been almost a decade since the birth of flyweight in the UFC and Johnson now is the only active fighter left from the first four. Benavidez announced his retirement from the sport this past week, leaving behind a 15-year career in professional fighting.

Benavidez never became UFC champion. He was unable to beat Johnson in the two UFC title fights he part took in. Despite not getting his hands on UFC gold, Johnson still tips his hat to Benavidez and says being champion is not everything.

“(He had) an amazing career,” Johnson told MMA Junkie Radio. “Me and Joseph Benavidez shared a lot of time together throughout our career – going to see Coldplay before UFC 152, where me and him competed for the first flyweight title in the UFC; me and him fighting at UFC on FOX 8 in Sacramento, (Calif.); and just sharing the octagon with him has been a pleasure of mine.

“I remember watching him fight when I used to work full time. He’s had a great career, and I always told him there’s more to fighting than being a world champion. All of the sudden when he has kids, it’s going to change his whole perspective about life. For me, to be able to take my daughter to school this morning, pick her up, come home, cook her lunch, and her sitting on my lap now – this is why I fight, to be able to provide for my family. So for him, I sent him a message on Instagram saying, ‘Congrats on an amazing career. Enjoy the next phase of your life.’ We can’t fight forever. There’s going to be a point in time where I’m going to do the same thing.”

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Even though Johnson and Benavidez were longtime rivals, being the two best flyweights for many years, Johnson said he likes him the most out of any opponent he’s ever had. After all, the two were responsible for helping build an entire weight class – something that in many ways was a team effort and had them share a lot of experiences.

“Me and Joseph spent a lot of time together,” Johnson said. “I would say out of all my opponents, he’s the one I probably enjoyed spending the time with the most. I remember doing a tour in Australia and going to Brisbane and just traveling all over Australia and going to the zoo together. We did a lot of sh*t together that I wouldn’t have done with any other opponent. But me and him were trying to build a division that started in 2012.

“I wish Joseph and Megan (Olivi) nothing but the best. I’m sure they’re going to have beautiful babies and the next phase of their lives is going to be amazing. They’re both positive people. They’ve never been negative, so nothing but the best. What a successful career. Even though he never became a champion, still an amazing career. People are going to look back at his fights and see how good he was, how he fought in both divisions. I mean – legend.”

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MMA Junkie Radio #3193: Guest James Young, Benavidez retirement, Jake Paul-Dana White, Moreno’s next fight

Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.


Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.

On Episode 3,193, the fellas discuss [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag]’s retirement, Dana White’s criticism of Jake Paul, Paul’s rebuttal, [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag]’s trilogy fight with [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] and more. Plus, they welcome in guest [autotag]James Young[/autotag], a main training partner for Demetrious Johnson who has an upcoming debut for ONE Championship. Tune in!

Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.

Emotional Joseph Benavidez opens up on retirement, says he made decision a while back

Joseph Benavidez reveals that while the news only just came out, he decided to retire a while back.

The news that he was officially retired came out a little sooner than [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] expected, but it’s a decision he came to terms with a while back.

After fans noticed his name was removed from the UFC’s flyweight rankings, speculations arose and the news later became official that multiple-time title challenger and perennial contender Benavidez has decided to hang up his gloves.

Although it wasn’t news to Benavidez (28-8 MMA, 19-7 UFC) himself, the 37-year-old couldn’t help but get emotional when he saw the public’s support and praise for his accomplished career.

“I’ve known I’ve been retired, so I didn’t also think it would be an emotional thing,” Benavidez told TSN. “But just reading a bunch of stuff, I was crying in the backyard – so it’s been a good day. I haven’t been able to put anything out myself yet.”

Benavidez said once he notified the UFC of his decision and he was removed from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool, everything happened fast.

“It just kind of came very sudden,” Benavidez said. “I’ve actually known I was going to retire for a while, but you have to make it official, I guess, to retire and do all that stuff – like tell the people that it concerns, like (UFC matchmaker) Mick Maynard, that you’re going to retire, and USADA and all that. So I actually just had to kind of do that yesterday because I was bored. I was like, ‘I should probably make this official.’ I’ve kind of been retired, in a way.

“So I talked to Mick, and he was like, ‘Yeah, you’re probably going to be out of the rankings here soon, so people will probably know what’s happening.’ I said cool. He said it’ll probably be until Monday, but then I got out of a workout, and I had a few people messaging me, and I was like, ‘Well, here we go. That’s how it is.’ In all honesty, I hadn’t really had time to post and to really take it all in.”

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Four-time UFC title challenger Joseph Benavidez retires from MMA

Joseph Benavidez, a staple of the UFC flyweight division’s upper echelon since its conception, has retired from MMA.

[autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] has retired.

A longtime contender, Benavidez (28-8 MMA, 19-7 UFC) has hung up his gloves after 36 professional MMA fights – 26 of which came in the UFC. A staple of the UFC flyweight division’s upper echelon, Benavidez challenged for the 125-pound title on four occasions – twice against Demetrious Johnson and twice against Deiveson Figueiredo.

MMA Junkie verified the news with multiple people close to the situation, who requested anonymity because Benavidez has yet to officially make the announcement. According to sources, Benavidez instructed the UFC to remove him from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool.

Benavidez’s wife, UFC correspondent Megan Olivi, subsequently confirmed the news on social media (via Twitter):

Benavidez, 37, exits the UFC after three straight losses. He most recently competed at UFC 259 in March when he was defeated by Askar Aksarov via unanimous decision.

In June 2006, Benavidez made his professional MMA debut on the California regional scene. With an 8-0 record in July 2008, Benavidez made his WEC debut with a unanimous decision win over Danny Martinez. He’d go 5-2 in WEC with his only losses coming by a unanimous and a split decision against Dominick Cruz.

Upon the UFC-WEC merger in 2011, Benavidez made his promotional debut at UFC 128 against Ian Loveland, a bout he won via unanimous decision. Two fights later, he dropped to flyweight for the promotion’s four-man tournament for the inaugural title. After a win over Yasuhiro Urushitani, Benavidez lost a split decision to Demetrious Johnson in the promotion’s first flyweight title fight.

Three more wins returned Benavidez to challenge Johnson in December 2013. In that fight, “Mighty Mouse” knocked out Benavidez in 2:08. Following the bout, Benavidez won six straight before a split decision loss to Sergio Pettis in June 2018.

Victories over Alex Perez, Dustin Ortiz, and Jussier Formiga earned Benavidez another title shot after Henry Cejudo, a fighter he defeated in 2016, vacated the championship. Benavidez was finished with strikes by Deiveson Figueiredo. However, since Figueiredo missed weight, an immediate rematch for the vacant title was booked. In July 2020, Benavidez lost the rematch via first-round submission.

Benavidez holds the record for most knockout wins in UFC flyweight history (13) and shares the record with Johnson for most wins overall in the history of the weight class (13). His four fight-night bonuses for 125-pound bouts rank second all-time behind Johnson (nine).

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Joseph Benavidez torn after UFC 259 loss: ‘I’m not who maybe I used to be’

At this stage of his career, Joseph Benavidez is facing a hard realization after his third straight loss.

[autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] has endured some tough battles both physically and mentally.

The multiple-time UFC title challenger has been questioning his standing in MMA after a string of defeats that have plagued the last year of his career. Benavidez (28-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) most recently came up short in a unanimous decision against top flyweight contender Askar Askarov this past Saturday at UFC 259. It was his third consecutive defeat, as he had lost twice to current 125-pound champion Deiveson Figueiredo in attempts to capture UFC gold.

At 36 and having competed in MMA since 2006, it seems doubt about his ability to compete among the best has started creeping into his mind. In a candid conversation with wife Megan Olivi on their “At Home with Benalivi” podcast, Benavidez opened up about his feelings toward the current state of his career.

“If talking about everything, I just couldn’t find the adrenaline, the excitement and explosiveness,” Benavidez said. “It’s a tough realization because I feel like why couldn’t I find that? You come to this point I think in every sport that you just feel like you’re not the same person in there anymore. I’m not who maybe I used to be in there and I’ve had those thoughts a long time, you know, fighting for 15 years.

“I’ve even had it in practice leading up to this sometimes, but practice is practice. Day in and day out, sometimes you have a good day, sometimes you have a bad day. But yeah, in the fight that’s how I felt. Some of the things that came so naturally to me like the scramble, like I’m mister scramble. And I see in the second round I got held down, and that was never a worry for me because taking me down is like taking yourself down – it’s pretty hard to hold me down. It wasn’t a thing (I worried about).”

Prior to the string of defeats, Benavidez was 9-1 with his lone defeat a split decision to Sergio Pettis.

Benavidez is a pioneer of the UFC flyweight division. He’s the first fighter to pick up a win in the weight class and the only fighter from the original four that lunched the weight class who’s still in the organization.

Benavidez is unsure of what will come next, as he remains hesitant to make any calls on his future in MMA.

“I thought I could get out of that disappointment (from the losses to Figueiredo), win, knock this guy off, and show I can compete at the top and have that rare opportunity to walk away on top, or at least still competing with the best, which I have always done in my career,” Benavidez said.

“I thought I could avoid that inevitable disappointment and just somehow get it. It’s just hard. Not that if I would’ve won or lost had anything decided as far as my future goes. You win and you still feel good. I never had a plan in mind. I wanted this year to have a fight or two, and we’ll see how it goes. It was just about having fun.”

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UFC 259 results: Askar Askarov dominates, bloodies Joseph Benavidez in one-sided decision

Askar Askarov’s success and Joseph Benavidez’s struggles both continued at UFC 259.

[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] entered and exited UFC 259 without a loss on his resume.

On the UFC 259 prelims Saturday, Askarov (14-0-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC) defeated former UFC flyweight title challenger [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] with a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).

The flyweight bout was part of the UFC 259 preliminary card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN following additional prelims on ESPN+ and ahead of the main card on pay-per-view.

Round 1 was predominantly a striking battle. Askarov and Benavidez (28-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) gave and took with both fighters landing strikes. Askarov’s kicks came into play and he scored a late takedown.

The second round was when Askarov really began to tip the scales in his favor. Askarov controlled Benavidez for much of the round – on the mat and on the feet. Late in the round, Askarov landed some heavy shots that further damaged the face of Benavidez. In Round 3, Askarov’s striking shined again. The Russian flyweight landed punches and kicks alike. Benavidez’s offense was never allowed to get going.

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With the victory, Askarov continues his quick ascent up the UFC’s flyweight ladder. Following a draw against Brandon Moreno in his promotional debut, Askarov rattled off unanimous decision wins against Tim Elliott and Alexandre Pantoja prior to Saturday’s fight.

As for Benavidez, the loss is his third in as many outings. A four-time UFC flyweight title challenger, Benavidez has only lost to two men who haven’t held UFC title gold. Askarov is one. The other is current Bellator bantamweight Sergio Pettis.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 259 results include:

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UFC 259 pre-event facts: Israel Adesanya’s champ-champ attempt comes with a twist

The best facts and figures about UFC 259, which features the seventh championship triple-header in company history.

The UFC’s third pay-per-view event of the year takes place Saturday with UFC 259, which goes down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features the most loaded lineup of the year.

For just the seventh time in company history, three championship fights are on the docket at a single event, meaning the landscape of the sport has the potential to alter significantly by the end of the weekend.

Check below for all the pre-fight facts behind UFC 259, which features [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] (27-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) vs. [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) for the light heavyweight title in the main event; [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 13-1 UFC) vs. [autotag]Megan Anderson[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) for the women’s featherweight strap in the co-main event; and an [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) vs. [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] (19-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) bantamweight title grudge match in the featured bout.

UFC 259 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

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UFC 259: Make your predictions for three title fights in Las Vegas

We want your predictions for UFC 259, which features title fights at light heavyweight, women’s featherweight and bantamweight.

We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC 259 event in Las Vegas.

Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Thursday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the UFC 259 main card staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. UFC 259 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

Make your picks for the fights below.