Tag: UFC 260

UFC 260 ‘Embedded,’ No. 4: Stipe Miocic takes questions from Daniel Cormier

Go behind the scenes of UFC 260 as heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou, and others on the card prepare during fight week.

The UFC’s heavyweight title is on the line Saturday in a bout the promotion is billing as the “biggest, baddest rematch” when reigning champion [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] faces the hard-hitting [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag].

The bout is the UFC 260 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

Miocic (20-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) and Ngannou (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) first met in 2018, in the main event of UFC 220. That night, Miocic dominated over the course of five rounds to prove himself the baddest man on the planet. But Ngannou has since strung together four consecutive knockouts to earn himself another crack. The highly anticipated rematch features the top two fighters in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie heavyweight rankings bidding for the UFC belt.

Ahead of the blockbuster matchup, the UFC’s traditional pre-fight series, “Embedded,” has returned. The third episode features Miocic and Ngannou, as well as Tyron Woodley, Vicente Luque, and Sean O’Malley. Here’s the UFC’s description from YouTube:

Stipe Miocic trains, recovers and eats in his room. Vicente Luque works out downstairs from some heavyweights. Francis Ngannou meets his action figure and takes his photographer’s job. Sean O’Malley and Tyron Woodley attend virtual media day.

Also watch:

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UFC 260 breakdown: What’s different about Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou rematch?

MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the UFC 260 title fight rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.

MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for UFC 260.

UFC 260 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 260: Miocic vs. Ngannou 2 press conference live video stream (5 p.m. ET)

Watch as Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou share the stage for the first time during UFC 260 fight week.

LAS VEGAS – Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou are set to share the stage Thursday for a UFC 260 news conference, and MMA Junkie will be on the scene.

Miocic and Ngannou will run it back in a rematch of a January 2018 title fight won by Miocic. The champion will enter UFC 260 after completing a trilogy with Daniel Cormier in which he won two of their three fights, while Ngannou rides a four-fight winning streak consisting of all first-round knockouts.

The news conference, which also will feature UFC president Dana White, comes two days ahead of UFC 260 on Saturday at the UFC Apex. The event has a main card on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

You can watch a live stream of the news conference in the video above.

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Sean O’Malley: Jake Paul has to beat Ben Askren ‘to show he’s a legitimate boxer’

Sean O’Malley sees Jake Paul’s upcoming boxing match against Ben Askren as a must-win matchup for the YouTube star.

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LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] sees [autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag]’s next boxing match as a must-win.

YouTube star-turned pro boxer Paul meets [autotag]Ben Askren[/autotag] in an eight-round bout under the Triller banner on April 17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Though Paul is yet to compete against a pro boxer, he will be facing a combat sports athlete for the first time. Askren is a decorated wrestler and former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight champion, making him Paul’s sternest test to date.

O’Malley says he’s looking forward to watching the fight and thinks if Paul wants to prove his worth in boxing, he must get past Askren.

“There’s not a lot of fights that excite me, and this ain’t gonna be the best boxing fight,” O’Malley told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC 260 media day on Wednesday. “This isn’t gonna be like a good, technical boxing fight, but I’m excited. I’m excited for that fight. I’m gonna watch it. I’m gonna be excited fight week. I’m gonna watch if they have any little Embeddeds or whatever they’re putting out. I’m watching.

“I wanna see that fight. I don’t know, Ben vs. Jake, it’s exciting. It’s gonna be a sloppy, sloppy fight. Ben’s gonna make it sloppy, which is good for him. Jake, he looks like he’s training hard. He’s young, he’s athletic, so if he doesn’t beat Ben Askren, we’ll see where he goes from there. He has to beat Ben to show he’s a legitimate boxer.”

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But despite Askren’s accolade-filled career and experience, O’Malley is leaning towards Paul to get the job done if he’s able to pace himself throughout the fight.

“I wanna say Jake because he’s gonna be a better boxer,” O’Malley said. “Ben’s such a good competitor – it’s not gonna be a good boxing fight. It’s gonna be grueling. God, I hope Jake doesn’t come in there and try to put his lights out in the first round, two rounds. He’s gonna gas out and Ben’s gonna be there.

“Ben’s gonna be there all eight rounds. I don’t think Ben’s gonna gas. I think if Jake comes out calm, stays calm fight week, stays calm fight day, doesn’t get too excited and just blow his load the first couple of rounds, I think he can outbox him. If he stays behind his jab and doesn’t let Ben do what Ben wants to do, I think Jake could get the job done.”

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Khama Worthy credits Tony Ferguson for career direction in ‘coin toss’ sport

Khama Worthy made quite the stir in his first two UFC appearances, but a 93-second loss this past September put an end to that dream start.

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LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Khama Worthy[/autotag] made quite the stir in his first two UFC appearances, but a 93-second loss this past September put an end to that dream start for “The Death Star.”

No matter, says Worthy. Such is the nature of the fight game.

“I definitely made a coupe of mistakes in the fight, and it’s some stuff that I have to fix with, but really it’s just the coin toss,” Worthy told MMA Junkie at a media day at the UFC Apex. “It’s what we do. We fight, and sh*t can go wrong.”

Worthy debuted in the UFC with a stunning “Performance of the Night” victory in 2019, shocking Devonte Smith for a massive upset. Worthy then followed that up with a submission win over respected prospect Luis Pena this past June. However, in September, he would fall victim to Ottman Azaitar in a frustratingly short affair.

Worthy said the nature of the loss made it difficult to pick up any truly valuable lessons on which to build.

“You can only really take so much lessons from a fight that’s like less than two minutes,” Worthy admitted.

But that hasn’t bothered him, he said. With nearly nine years competing as a professional, Worthy said he’s come to realize there’s only one thing you can control in MMA, and it certainly isn’t the result of the fight. It’s a lesson he says he took from former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.

“Actually, Tony Ferguson said it best, and I’ve kind of been living by that for a while: He said the only thing you can control in the fight is your pace, and that’s very true,” Worthy said. “The only thing you can control is how in shape you are. Everything else is a coin toss.

“Yeah, I wish everything played out right. I had an amazing camp for that fight, and I didn’t do anything. It was just all backwards. It happens.”

Worthy (16-7 MMA, 2-1 UFC) returns to action at Saturday’s UFC 260 event, where he takes on fellow lightweight Jamie Mullarkey (12-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC). According to the oddsmakers, Worthy is a slight favorite in the contest, but he really doesn’t concern himself with that. It’s one more thing that he simply can’t control, so he’s going to focus on what he can.

With that in mind, the goal for this one remains simple.

“In MMA, you’re only as good as your last fight,” Worthy said. “People will watch you win 10, 12 fights – you lose one, then everybody be bums making memes of you and stuff. That’s just the sport, and you can’t take it too personal. You have to know who you are and understand how you approach the fight game. So for me, it’s just come out here and get another ‘W.'”

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Sean O’Malley: Megan Anderson shouldn’t have let Casey Kenney’s sexual remarks offend her

“She’s not a co-worker anymore.”

UFC bantamweight [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] doesn’t seem to mind Casey Kenney’s sexual remarks about [autotag]Megan Anderson[/autotag] from an episode of his podcast.

In late January on “The Timbo Sugarshow” co-hosted by O’Malley and his coach, Tim Welch, Kenney was asked by Welch if he would “smash” Anderson – meaning have sex with her. Kenney answered the question openly and proceeded to rate Anderson’s attractiveness, which she took offense to and called it “utterly degrading.” Anderson’s response prompted a same-day apology from Kenney, with whom she was scheduled to share the UFC 259 card.

During a Wednesday appearance on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” O’Malley was asked about the incident.

“I didn’t say anything bad, did I?” O’Malley said.

O’Malley, who didn’t say anything about Anderson during the episode with Kenney, was asked if he regrets that the topic came up on his podcast.

“I think that’s just a … I mean, you can’t let … if someone … you can’t let someone else’s words affect how you feel emotionally,” O’Malley said. “If you said something about me, and I … I don’t know. It’s … I don’t know. I don’t know. She’s not a co-worker anymore. It is what it is.”

Anderson seemingly responded to O’Malley’s comments in a tweet with two words and a pair of emojis.

Stay classy 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

Kenney and Anderson both were unsuccessful earlier this month at UFC 259. Kenney lost a split decision to former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, while Anderson was submitted in the first round of her featherweight title fight with champ Amanda Nunes. Anderson, a former Invicta FC champ, subsequently was released by the UFC.

O’Malley (12-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) returns this Saturday at UFC 260, where he’ll look to rebound from the first loss of his career. O’Malley meets Thomas Almeida on the pay-per-view main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

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Ahead of UFC 260, ‘quitting is not an option’ for Tyron Woodley. He’s ‘got to go out on top’

Despite losing three fights in a row, “The Chosen One” isn’t thinking about stopping.

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LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag] knows how things have looked recently. His last three fights have ended in losses, and he doesn’t care they were to top contenders.

In the midst of fight week, Woodley (19-6-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC) plans on the end result of his UFC 260 fight against [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] to come down to a simple equation. If he performs to the best of his ability, he wins. If not, he’ll lose.

“You can really control your performance,” Woodley told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “I just know with me performing to the level I can perform, everything else is just going to pan itself out. I’m not going to have to worry about wins and losses. I’m not going to have to worry about bonuses and big fights.”

As simple as it sounds, not understanding that was an issue for Woodley in the past. Perceived by some as a fighter who often competed with a chip on his shoulder, Woodley enters his battle with Luque (19-7-1 MMA, 12-3 UFC) unconcerned about the public opinion.

“I think I was focused so heavily on proving people wrong so many times in my career that it took away from proving people right,” Woodley said. “I got 20 or 30 people I’ve got to prove right: coaches, loved-ones, kids, training partners, people who really supported me since the beginning. It’s millions of people you’ve got to try to prove wrong. For me, it’s just really focusing and really understanding that life is not a straight path. It can be, but we make choices. I made choices in my life that kind of veered me off that path.”

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Woodley, who turns 39 on April 7, has not won a fight since a September 2018 title defense against Darren Till. He’s competed three times since then, a skid that consists of two unanimous decision losses (to Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns) and a fifth-round TKO defeat due to injury (to Colby Covington). Despite his recent struggles, Woodley won’t consider retirement unless he’s on top.

“Quitting is not an option,” Woodley said. “I’ve got to go out on top like I plan to do in the way I saw myself at the beginning of the sport. That’s not the way. It wasn’t losing to these guys. Although they were the champion, one, and two. But on paper, I’m a better fighter than all of them.”

Though he admits his mind could’ve been in more productive places in past fights, Woodley thinks his physical preparation was never short of perfect. That makes losing a difficult problem to solve. At the end of the day, Woodley needs to perform. That’s it.

“I just see myself controlling the variables that I can control,” Woodley said. “I’ve trained. I’ve put my body through the fire. I’m ready to go. Just performing, performing. I don’t even know how I can say it any different way. I’m trying to draw some more fancier, $50 words for you but that’s all it really boils down to is performing. I do that against (Luque) and I just focus on who’s in front of me. Every fight is the biggest fight, and after that, it’s the next biggest fight and performance. If I can do that, I think I’ll be fine.

UFC 260 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

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Still feeling undefeated, UFC 260’s Sean O’Malley insists he has ‘no issues losing’

Sean O’Malley is adamant that he’s no sore loser and explained why during UFC 260 media day.

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LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] is adamant that he’s no sore loser, even if that’s been the public perception his undefeated record was taken away by Marlon Vera last summer.

O’Malley (12-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) suffered his first career defeat last August at UFC 250, where “Chito” gave him a perfect low kick that triggered the nerve in his leg and caused visible damage. It set up a flurry from Vera that led to the TKO, but O’Malley has insisted since it wasn’t a real loss and he should still have a perfect record.

That’s caused much backlash from MMA fans, who have accused O’Malley of being a poor sport and acting delusional. Seven months later, as he readies for a return to action against Thomas Almeida (21-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) at UFC 260 on Saturday, he stands by his original viewpoint of the outcome.

“It’s just the way I feel,” O’Malley told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC 260 media day on Wednesday. “I feel undefeated. I don’t feel I was beat because my skillset wasn’t as good as his. It was a freak accident. How many leg kicks have been thrown since that kick to now. How many times has that happened? If he would’ve said, ‘I’m going to go in there and kick his nerve’ then it happened, I would’ve been like, ‘This motherf*cker is good.’ And he is good. ‘Chito’ is a good opponent. But the way that fight ended, watching the fight before that happened, I was controlling the fight. I was doing what I wanted.”

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O’Malley said the entire situation comes down to his perspective on the fight game. He’s not trying to be disrespectful or dismissive about what happened inside the octagon, but he can’t chalk up the Vera result as one where he was proven to be inferior.

“Suga” knows the day will eventually come when he is beaten fair and square, though, and everyone from himself to his opponent to the viewing audience will know the better fighter.

When that day comes, O’Malley said he will take it without complaint.

“I have no problem with losing,” O’Malley said. “I lose in the gym all the time. You get up, slap hands and compete again. I don’t mind losing. One of these days I’m going to lose a fight, hopefully not in that kind of fashion, then it’s going to be like, ‘He beat me.’ I have no issues losing. I think the whole 12-1 mentally undefeated thing has gotten a little crazy, but I do kind of enjoy when people get mad at it.”

Regardless of his or anyone else’s feelings, the fight with Vera is in the past and now O’Malley is moving forward. He gets a tough opponent in Almeida in the bantamweight main card matchup, which takes place at the UFC Apex and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

O’Malley said he holds Almeida in high regard, and he looks forward to putting the Brazilian’s name on his resume.

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UFC 260 ‘Embedded,’ No. 3: Francis Ngannou gets submission pointers from Jake Shields

Go behind the scenes of UFC 260 as heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou, and others on the card prepare during fight week.

The UFC’s heavyweight title is on the line Saturday in a bout the promotion is billing as the “biggest, baddest rematch” when reigning champion [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] faces the hard-hitting [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag].

The bout is the UFC 260 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

Miocic (20-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) and Ngannou (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) first met in 2018, in the main event of UFC 220. That night, Miocic dominated over the course of five rounds to prove himself the baddest man on the planet. But Ngannou has since strung together four consecutive knockouts to earn himself another crack. The highly anticipated rematch features the top two fighters in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie heavyweight rankings bidding for the UFC belt.

Ahead of the blockbuster matchup, the UFC’s traditional pre-fight series, “Embedded,” has returned. The third episode features Miocic and Ngannou, as well as the Las Vegas arrivals of Tyron Woodley, Vicente Luque, and Sean O’Malley. Here’s the UFC’s description from YouTube:

Champ Stipe Miocic customizes his training room. Co-main stars Vicente Luque and Tyron Woodley land in Las Vegas, as does Sean O’Malley. Francis Ngannou wrestles with Jake Shields, and Miocic has an interview interrupted.

Also watch:

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Hannah Goldy vs. Jessica Penne off UFC 260 due to COVID-19; bout expected to be rebooked

UFC 260 has lost a fight from Saturday’s lineup.

Jessica Penne’s long-awaited return to the octagon will have to wait longer.

[autotag]Hannah Goldy[/autotag] won’t be fighting Penne at UFC 260 on Saturday. In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Goldy (5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) revealed she tested positive for COVID-19 and is out of her scheduled preliminary card matchup.

Her fight against Penne (12-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) is expected to be rebooked for the promotion’s April 17 card, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

“Life is crazy man,” Goldy wrote on her Instagram post. “I literally can’t even believe I have to tell y’all that I won’t be fighting this Saturday. Flew out to Vegas and tested positive for COVID. I have never felt better, stronger or more complete. I was so ready to perform for y’all Saturday, unfortunately that was not Gods plan. I’ll be taking the necessary precautions and rescheduled as soon as I am healthy! I am so sorry guys. And I am so sorry @jessicapenne I have been looking forward to sharing the octagon with you. I will keep everyone updated. Thank you guys for all the support.”

Goldy has not competed in the UFC since August 2019, while Penne is coming off a nearly four-year layoff due to multiple injuries and a lengthy battle with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

UFC 260 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card streams on pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.

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