Tag: UFC 269

Askar Askarov to Kai Kara-France: ‘Let’s see if anybody from your country can beat anyone from Dagestan’

Askar Askarov thinks Kai Kara-France should get through him before thinking of a title shot.

[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Kai Kara-France[/autotag] should get through him before thinking of a title shot.

Kara-France (23-9 MMA, 6-2 UFC) knocked out former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt at UFC 269 this past Saturday and thinks his marquee win was enough for him to leapfrog the other contenders.

But sitting at the No. 2 spot in the UFC flyweight rankings is Askarov (14-0-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC), who’s unbeaten in his professional MMA career. The 29-year-old is coming off back-to-back wins over Alexandre Pantoja and former title challenger Joseph Benavidez and battled current UFC flyweight champ Brandon Moreno (19-5-2 MMA, 7-2-2 UFC) to a split draw in his promotional debut.

When making the callout, Askarov took a little dig at Kara-France’s teammate Dan Hooker for his first-round submission loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 267.

@kaikarafrance I want to give you a chance to fight contender fight I am number 2 you are number 6 let’s see if anybody from your country can beat anyone from Dagestan we all know what happened last time.

Following Moreno’s title-winning performance of Deiveson Figueiredo, Askarov sent the champion a message, claiming there was unfinished business. But now that Moreno is set to defend his belt in a trilogy at UFC 270 on Jan. 22, Askarov has turned his attention to Kara-France.

Though Kara-France didn’t directly respond to Askarov, he laughed at a fan’s comment, which criticized Askarov for coming in a pound over the flyweight limit in his past fight against Benavidez.

After going the distance in his first four UFC wins, Kara-France finally started living up to his “Don’t Blink” nickname, scoring two straight knockouts of Rogerio Bontorin and most recently Garbrandt.

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Video: Did Amanda Nunes’ loss at UFC 269 change where Kayla Harrison will end up?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” takes a look at all of the options for Kayla Harrison following Amanda Nunes’ title loss at UFC 269.

Amanda Nunes’ loss to Julianna Peña at UFC 269 may have an had effect on the biggest free agent in MMA.

[autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag], a two-time PFL champion who was in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to witness the changing of the guard at bantamweight, may now have a reason to not sign with UFC.

Following the event, UFC president Dana White said if Nunes won, a fight with Harrison would have been one of the biggest fights ever seen. Does Nunes losing mean the UFC is no longer interested in signing Harrison?

With a number of potential landing spots, how does Peña’s win affect Harrison’s future? Is there a best place for her right now, even if it means simply staying with the PFL?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, “Gorgeous” George Garcia, and “The Goze” Brian Garcia discuss five topics with host John Morgan.

Check out the discussion in the clip above and watch the full episode in the video below.

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

UFC 269 medical suspensions: Sean O’Malley among four facing potential six months

A hand issue means Sean O’Malley will need doctor clearance before he can return to the octagon.

Five fighters left UFC 269 this past Saturday facing six-month medical suspensions.

Sean O’Malley, who finished Raulian Paiva on the pay-per-view main card at T-Mobile Arena, was chief among those handed potential 180-day terms by the Nevada Athletic Commission, along with Pedro Munhoz, Erin Blanchfield, and Randy Costa.

On Tuesday, MMA Junkie acquired a full list of medical suspensions from MixedMartialArts.com, the official record keeper of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC). All fighters’ suspensions can terminate sooner should they be cleared by a doctor.

Check out the full UFC 269 medical suspensions below.

Spinning Back Clique: Ranking Julianna Peña’s upset and Charles Oliveira’s chances of luring Khabib

This week on “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel recaps an insane UFC 269 event, where Charles Oliveira and Julianna Peña left as champs.

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.

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, “Gorgeous” George Garcia and “The Goze” Brian Garcia discuss five topics with host John Morgan.

  • [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] cemented his UFC lightweight title reign with a first defense over Dustin Poirier at UFC 269. Now that ‘The Olive Era’ is underway, what will the future hold? Is he set up for a long reign? Could he even be the man to bring Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement?
  • As great as Oliveira looked at UFC 269, his win was overshadowed by [autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag], who took down the GOAT, submitting [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] to become a UFC champion. Many are calling this the greatest upset in UFC history. But is it?
  • UFC president Dana White said if Nunes had won against Peña, a fight with [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] would have been one of the biggest fights ever. Does Nunes losing mean the UFC is no longer interested in signing Harrison? How does Peña’s win affect Harrison’s future?
  • The unranked champ, [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag], defended his title at UFC 269 with a first-round TKO of Raulian Paiva. Afterward, UFC boss White said it was time to get O’Malley some tougher competition and some bigger paychecks. What do you make of “The Sugar Show” right now? Has he played this perfectly, or is he letting opportunities pass him by while he slow-plays his career?
  • [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag] called out his broadcast partner [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] for not doing tape study ahead of UFC 269. Was it fair or foul of him to do this?

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Tuesday on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch the full episode in the video above.

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Colby Covington: Dustin Poirier has ‘quitter mentality’; let’s fight in ‘real man’s weight class’

As expected, Colby Covington jumped at the opportunity to rip Dustin Poirier following his title loss at UFC 269.

It should come as no surprise that [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] jumped at the opportunity to rip [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] following his title loss at UFC 269.

Poirier (28-7 MMA, 20-6 UFC) was submitted by lightweight champion Charles Oliveira (32-8 MMA, 20-8 UFC) in the main event Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, falling short a second time in his quest for undisputed gold.

Having traded barbs with Poirier in the past, Covington (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) piled on his former American Top Team teammate, accusing him of breaking from the pressure of Oliveira’s grappling.

“Just the quitter mentality of Dustin,” Covington told Submission Radio. “He’s always been like that. Doesn’t like to work hard. You know, living off beating Conor McGregor, what’s the big deal about beating Conor McGregor anymore these days? I mean, he has a great legacy, did some great things in the past. The guy made a lot of money, but he doesn’t have that same drive anymore.

“So, beating a guy like that is not going to mean you’re going to be some world beater or the best in the world. So, that’s what I saw. I figured he’s gonna gas out, and he was going to eventually quit. And that’s what he did, just like in the Khabib fight. He quits, he puts his head on the mat, and he leaves his neck open so he can get rear-naked choked. So, it wasn’t a surprise.”

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Covington is currently angling for a fight with another former teammate in best friend-turned rival Jorge Masvidal, but he is certainly open to facing Poirier after “The Diamond” teased a potential move up to welterweight.

“There’s a lot of options out there,” Covington said. “You look at this bully that fought last night. You know, Dustin ‘Soyrier,’ Louisiana swamp trash. He said a lot of things too in the media. And now he’s saying that he might come up to 170. He wants to come fight in a real man’s weight class. So, this is another personal fight. These are different types of fights, man. This isn’t about the rankings. This is about personal grudges and being held accountable for your actions.

“You said ‘it’s on site when I see you’ in the media, it’s this and that. He’s talking this big game like he’s a street fighter, he’s some badass fighter. Stop cutting all that weight, Dustin. Come up to the real man’s weight class, welterweight, and let’s do this, man.”

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Julianna Peña unsurprised by Amanda Nunes’ quick tap at UFC 269, disses Kayla Harrison

Julianna Peña is in no rush to book a rematch with Amanda Nunes after UFC 269.

[autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag] is in no rush to book a rematch with [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] after UFC 269, but she fully expects it to be her next fight.

Peña (11-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history Saturday when she dethroned Nunes (21-5 MMA, 14-2 UFC) of the women’s bantamweight title at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The challenger went in against the heavily-favored Brazil and used to a surprising striking attack to set up a takedown in the second round and quickly forced the finish with a no-hooks rear-naked choke.

The surprise in Peña winning was not only that it happened, but how it happened. Nunes showed little resistance to the choke that ended her reign, and multiple fighters and analysts have questioned her perseverance. Peña thinks the criticism of Nunes’ is too strong, though, because she said the technique she applied was no joke.

“She didn’t have a choice but to tap,” Pena told MMA Junkie on Monday. “She literally was going to get hurt if she didn’t tap. I knew that I had that choke and I knew it doesn’t have to be as deep as it needs to be for a standard rear-naked choke in order to finish it. That was a variation of the rear-naked choke I’ve been working for a while. I knew she was going to have no choice but to tap.”

Although Peña told anyone who would listen prior to UFC 269 that she was going to be the one to unseat Nunes, no one outside of a select few bought into her chances.

Peña had no doubts that his confidence would translate into real-life practice, and she credited the execution to having all the necessary elements firing on all cylinders.

“This sport takes so much out of you mentally, emotionally, physically that you have to be on top and be in the right mind frame and the right state of mind,” Pena said. “I think she was just faking the right mind frame, but my mind frame was 100 percent solid. I wasn’t faking anything and I knew I was in such a great head space mentally that I knew all I needed was for her to show up.”

Peña’s win over Nunes shook up to sport and put new life into the 135-pound division, which had been dominated by Nunes since she won the belt at UFC 200 in July 2016. It also appeared to derail the promotion’s plans for Nunes to fight two-time PFL champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison, who is a free agent that recent met with the UFC brass.

If Harrison does sign with the UFC, she would compete at women’s featherweight. Peña has said repeatedly she doesn’t have much interest in moving up in weight, and she’s currently unbothered by the idea of Harrison as a potential opponent.

“I think she’s the lesser of the training partners for her and Amanda Nunes,” Peña said. “If that’s the case and I just took out Amanda, I don’t know what kind of position that would put her in. But she’s been fighting the B-leagues. I’ve been fighting in the UFC, I’ve been fighting at the top of the division. I’m fighting in the biggest league of this sport so I’m not paying too much attention to what she’s doing down there.”

Peña said in the immediate aftermath of her win that she would give Nunes an immediate rematch. Nunes has since accepted that offer, but said she needs some time off before going back into another camp and setting a date.

That’s more than fine with Peña, she said, because her short-term plans include a long-overdue vacation to Disney World with her daughter, who turns four in January. Once Peña takes a satisfying break to catch up on family time and enjoy her win, she said she’ll be prepared to talk logistics about the rematch.

“Amanda is the only matchup I think that makes sense for me and giving her that rematch,” Pena said.

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Amanda Nunes after UFC 269: ‘I undoubtedly accept the rematch’ with Julianna Peña

Amanda Nunes says she isn’t going out like that.

[autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] says she isn’t going out like that.

After suffering one of the biggest upset losses in UFC history against [autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag] on Saturday at UFC 269, there were a lot of questions about where Nunes (21-5 MMA, 14-2 UFC) was mentally. It seemed that going into the event, defending her women’s bantamweight title was a foregone conclusion. Then the unthinkable happened, and she was submitted in the second round after succumbing to a slugfest.

The immediate fallout saw Peña (11-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) offer Nunes an immediate rematch, and UFC president Dana White declared an opportunity for revenge is there if Nunes wants it.

Nunes made it clear she does, but first she needs a chance to get her ducks in a row before committing to a date.

“You guys think I’m going to go out unbalanced,” Nunes wrote on Instagram. “I undoubtedly accept the rematch. Give me a little time to get my shit together and I will be back better than ever.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXbl4W_PS62

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Despite the loss, Nunes, 33, is still the UFC women’s featherweight champion. She had a multiyear run as a dual-division titleholder, but her 12-fight winning streak was brought to a shocking end in the UFC 269 co-headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Nunes said in the octagon that she didn’t feel at her best. She didn’t attend the UFC 269 post-fight news conference to elaborate on her loss but left no questions about her intentions in her first post-fight statement.

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MMA Junkie Radio #3217: Unpacking UFC 269 and what comes next

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

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

On Episode 3,217, the guys react to the major happenings at UFC 269 – Charles Oliveira defending his title against Dustin Poirier, Julianna Pena’s huge upset of Amanda Nunes, Sean O’Malley continuing to shine bright (and getting Dana White’s attention), Kai Kara-France’s bold statement and what to do about Cody Garbrandt, and more. 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.

Dana White: Michael Chiesa ‘had a little bit too much to drink,’ cut his eye celebrating Julianna Peña

Michael Chiesa couldn’t contain himself when Julianna Pena did the unthinkable at UFC 269.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] couldn’t contain himself when [autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag] did the unthinkable.

Peña (11-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) scored one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when she submitted the consensus greatest female fighter Amanda Nunes to capture the bantamweight title Saturday at UFC 269.

Chiesa, who was front row to support his longtime teammate, jumped over the railing and took a tumble when rushing to celebrate Peña’s win, apparently injuring himself in the process.

In the UFC 269 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White detailed what happened to Chiesa in the aftermath, adding that he had to be escorted out of the arena.

“How do I say this without embarrassing this guy?” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, following the event. “He had a little bit too much to drink this evening. When she won, he freaked out and tried to jump into the octagon and fell down on his face, cut his eye and busted his eye open, then was arguing with the police that he needed to get into the octagon and be with her because that’s his teammate. They dragged him out, got him outside and calmed him down in the back, and I went back and talked to him for a minute, and we’re all good.”

Chiesa did end up getting to congratulate his teammate backstage, bursting into tears while greeting Pena with a long embrace.

“I have always believed it was written in the stars for one of us to become world champion. For 14 years we’ve been running down this dream.

@venezuelanvixen did it, she fulfilled that dream we both share. Julianna Peña is the UFC bantamweight champion of the world. I love you to the moon and back VV, I’m so proud of you!”

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CXZrs6AD6wX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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Conor McGregor asks: ‘So what date am I fighting’ Charles Oliveira?

Following through on his words prior to UFC 269, Conor McGregor seems to expect a shot at lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.

[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] appears to want a shot at UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag].

Following Oliveira’s (32-8 MMA, 20-8 UFC) submission win over Dustin Poirier on Saturday at UFC 269, former two-division champion McGregor presumptuously asked Monday when he’d be facing the champ.

“So what date am I fighting Oliveira?” he tweeted.

Despite having just one win at 155 pounds in the UFC, McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) had said prior to UFC 269 that he’d be fighting for the title in his return once his leg heals from the break he suffered in his most recent TKO loss to Poirier in July.

McGregor’s two UFC title wins came in spectacular fashion, knocking out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds to claim the featherweight title and finishing Eddie Alvarez in dominant fashion to capture the lightweight title in 2015 and 2016.

McGregor is coming off back-to-back stoppage losses to Poirier, but that has never stopped the Irish superstar and sport’s biggest draw from gunning for UFC gold.

Prior to his title defense against Poirier, Oliveira stated that he’s confident he could knock out McGregor if they fought. McGregor’s reaction to Oliveira’s first title defense seemed slightly celebratory, but it didn’t come without a jab, referencing his time when he dethroned Brazilian legend Aldo to win the 145-pound title.

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