Tag: UFC 270

Dana White: ‘I don’t feel confident saying that Jon Jones is next’ for Ngannou vs. Gane winner

Dana White says the future of Jon Jones rests in his own hands.

Dana White says the future of [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] rests in his own hands.

The general consensus among the MMA world going into Saturday’s UFC 270 event is that Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) will challenge the winner of the heavyweight title unification bout between [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] and [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag], which takes place at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The UFC president doesn’t disagree with that sentiment – but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.

Even putting Jones’ historically unpredictable behavior on the back burner, White said a lot hinges on the result of the contest. All signs point to Jones, the former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion, having made a full commitment to moving up to heavyweight, but White said that doesn’t mean the situation can’t change.

“I don’t feel confident saying that Jon Jones is next,” White told ESPN and Wednesday. “Not because I think he’s unreliable, it’s because I honestly don’t know what Jon Jones wants to do next. I think Jon’s going to watch this fight and he’ll decide. Maybe he doesn’t fight at heavyweight. Maybe he goes back and tries to regain the light heavyweight championship. I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. After everything plays out on Saturday – there’s just so much going into this fight – it’s all part of the drama, though. It’s what makes this weekend so fun.”

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One thing White does feel more confident in saying, however, is that he doesn’t think Jones should make the trip to Anaheim to watch Ngannou vs. Gane in person. It would certainly add to the atmosphere of one of the most anticipated heavyweight title fights in recent memory, but travel has led to outside-the-cage trouble for Jones more than one before, and White prefers “Bones” order the pay-per-view from the comfort of his couch.

“It’d be great for Jon to be here, but I think Jon would probably be better off at home,” White said. “Jon should watch this one at home.”

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Francis Ngannou says he knocked out Ciryl Gane in training with a high kick: ‘It was an accident’

Ahead of UFC 270, heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou also set the record straight on just how much time he sparred with Ciryl Gane.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – While old sparring footage of [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] trading strikes with his upcoming opponent recently surfaced, the UFC heavyweight champion revealed there is a reason why only a short clip is out there.

In the main event of UFC 270 on Saturday, Ngannou (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) will face a former training partner in interim champ Ciryl Gane, with whom he trained in the past at MMA Factory in Paris. Ahead of their heavyweight title unification bout, a short clip of a sparring session with Gane (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) began making the rounds in which it appeared Gane may have bested Ngannou.

“It wasn’t sparring footage. It was a clip of the sparring footage,” Ngannou explained Wednesday during the UFC 270 media day. “Because the footage doesn’t look that good.”

While he might regret stating it now, Ngannou said on the UFC 270 “Countdown” show that he knocked out Gane in one of their training sessions. “Yes, I knocked him out,” Ngannou replied when asked to clarify the statement. “(It was) a high kick, left high kick.

“That knockout wasn’t a voluntary knockout. It was in sparring. It was an accident. I didn’t intend to knock him out. I didn’t go there to knock him out. Personally, it’s not something that I feel proud of. I don’t walk around and feel all tough because I knocked my sparring partner out or down or whatever. Usually stuff like that happens in training, but it’s always an accident because we’re committed to taking care of our partner.”

Ngannou also went into detail to set the record straight about the history of training with Gane, correcting the belief that the pair have shared hours together on the mats.

“We just spent a few sessions in three weeks,” Ngannou said. “It was maybe six sessions of training, definitely less than eight. That was back in January 2019, because after I fought Curtis Blaydes in China, I went back to Cameroon and on Christmas I had the Cain Velasquez fight. So, I couldn’t come back to Vegas in time to set up a training camp because the fight was on February 17th.

“I stopped in France and trained there for one month and at the time Ciryl was there training for his fight, I believe. So, he left even before I left. I think it was three weeks before I left to go for his fight. So after that, I think it was February 3rd, I flew to Phoenix, I was there two weeks before my fight, and that’s it.”

Ngannou has since cut ties with his former training grounds in Paris, largely due to disagreements with head coach Fernand Lopez. The champ admits he does not like to think about the situation anymore and has done his best to not allow their past to affect his preparation. Ngannou also has an expiring contract situation with the UFC to deal with after Saturday’s main event, which makes for a number of outside distractions, but he knows everyone has their own personal issues to sort out before entering the cage.

“I do believe that many people deal with a lot of stuff before fights, whether it’s a contract, drama stuff, or some ex-girlfriend sh*t, or ex-wife, I don’t know, people deal with stuff,” Ngannou said. “You have to figure out your own sh*t and do what you have to do.”

As far as the fight on Saturday against Gane, Ngannou is confident he will recreate what happened in their sparring session. But this time, it will be no accident.

“My prediction is a knockout in two rounds,” Ngannou said firmly.

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Said Nurmagomedov eyes Sean O’Malley or ‘Chito’ Vera with UFC 270 win

Said Nurmagomedov wants to avenge Frankie Edgar’s knockout loss to Marlon Vera if he gets a win on Saturday at UFC 270.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – [autotag]Said Nurmagomedov[/autotag] is looking for a notable challenge after his clash with Cody Stamann on Saturday at UFC 270.

Nurmagomedov (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is currently on a three-fight winning streak in the bantamweight division and looking to extend that run against Stamann (19-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) in their main card matchup at Honda Center. The card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Going into the matchup, Stamann has been expressing his interest in a future matchup with Sean O’Malley (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who is one of the most popular names in the division. Nurmagomedov, however, said he wants that fight for himself or a bout with Marlon Vera (18-7-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) if he gets his hand raised this weekend.

“After him, I will fight Sean O’Malley, or I want to call out ‘Chito’ Vera,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC 270 media day. “He knocked out Frankie Edgar, and I want to pay him back.”

For now, though, Nurmagomedov said he’s focused on the task at hand. He thinks Stamann is a legit opponent.

“Cody’s an experienced top 15 opponent,” NUrmagomedov said. “He’s got heavy top pressure and good wrestling.”

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‘I’m not the best guy’: Ciryl Gane believes he must defeat Francis Ngannou before accepting label

Ciryl Gane holds a piece of the UFC heavyweight title, but he isn’t ready to say he is the best in the world.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] holds a piece of the UFC heavyweight championship, but he believes there is more work to do before he can be considered the division’s top fighter.

In the main event of UFC 270, Gane (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will attempt to unify the heavyweight title when he faces former training partner Francis Ngannou. Despite praise Gane has received for his performances thus far in the UFC, he has one more mission to accomplish before he will accept being considered the baddest man on the planet, a title that usually accompanies the heavyweight champion of the world.

“I’m the interim champion. I’m not the champion,” Gane said during Wednesday’s UFC 270 media day. “I’m not the best guy. I’m not the baddest guy in the world. Today, it’s Francis. If I want to be this guy, I must beat Francis.”

Gane acknowledges that holding the interim belt does mean something in the larger landscape, but it’s not enough to be satisfied as he has larger goals of bringing more recognition to his home country of France. In order to do that, he must take care of business Saturday evening. He hopes that successfully unifying the heavyweight title will bring even more notoriety to the athletes who want to make their name in France.

“I feel the people are really proud about that – this is not the champion, but this is interim champion,” Gane said. “This is something; this is not nothing, you see? This is special too. …This is something new in my country. I want to bring more media. I want to make the fighters shine in my country. We have a lot of styles in MMA, kickboxing, any sport. I want to make them shine.”

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Getting past a familiar face is the first task, though. Heavyweight champ Ngannou (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) and Gane used to be training partners at Factory MMA in Paris. Knowing each other as fighters is a huge aspect of the fight, but Gane is somewhat relieved they no longer share the same training grounds ahead of Saturday’s main event.

“If Francis stayed in the gym, this would have been a little bit more complicated because we were still sparring together so we know each other,” Gane said.  “It probably would have been real different.”

On the surface, this matchup seems like a clash of power vs. speed, but Gane believes there is more to the fight that some might be overlooking in that he too has power to accompany his speed, in addition to submission and grappling skills. These aspects of his game are perhaps why he enters Saturday evening as a -155 betting favorite, according to the lines at Tipico Sportsbook.

While not looking past an incredibly tough task in Ngannou, Gane cannot help but deny what could lie beyond in a huge potential fight against former UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones.

“If I win against Francis, yes I want to fight against Jon Jones,” Gane said. “He is the next one. … If it’s possible, we’re going to do this.”

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Brandon Moreno has ‘so much respect’ for Deiveson Figueiredo entering historic UFC 270 trilogy

Brandon Moreno is ready to thrive in his unprecedented trilogy with Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 270.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – UFC flyweight champion [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] knows his upcoming fight against Deiveson Figueiredo is significant in the grand scheme of his MMA career.

Moreno (19-5-2 MMA, 7-2-2 UFC) and Figueiredo (20-2-1 MMA, 9-2-1 UFC) are set to do something special Saturday at UFC 270 when they clash in their third consecutive flyweight title fight in the span of a 406 days. Never in the history of the UFC have two opponents fought each other three straight times.

The uniqueness of the scenario is not lost on Moreno. They fought to a draw in the first bout at UFC 256 in December 2020, then Moreno won the rematch by submission at UFC 263 last June. He wants to put Figueiredo in his past with this fight, and that means getting his hand raised by any means necessary.

“This moment definitely is special,” Moreno told MMA Junkie and other reporters during Wednesday’s UFC 270 media day. “This trilogy is helping so much with my legacy. This is the first time in the history of the UFC – we’ve seen other trilogies before – but not in a row. One, two and three in the same time. Maybe the people can think different, but I feel a lot of respect for Figueiredo what we are doing together. I want to win, definitely, and don’t feel the respect for a lot of guys on his team, but for him I feel so much respect. I just want to fight this Saturday, keep the fight with me and be ready for the next one. But definitely this part of my life, this trilogy, will be something nice in my legacy.”

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The history of UFC trilogy fights favors Moreno entering UFC 270, which takes place at Honda Center and streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+. Typically the fighter who wins the second meeting has great success in the third, and Moreno hopes that pattern continues to play out.

Moreno knows he has to take control of the situation in order to make that happen, though. Figueiredo can’t afford to suffer another loss and go down 0-2-1 in the series, so Moreno expects a fierce strategy from his opponent.

“I feel like the biggest ability of Figueiredo is he’s big, he punches hard, and he’s very intimidating,” Moreno said. “He tries to intimidate all his opponents in the octagon. So I’m expecting the same wild fighter, but a little more smart at the same time.”

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Video: UFC 270 media day live stream

Follow along with our live video stream from UFC 270 media day in Anaheim.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Fight week is officially underway for the UFC’s first pay-per-view event of the year.

UFC 270 media day kicks off the fight week activities for Saturday’s event at Honda Center. Starting at 2:30 p.m. ET, MMA Junkie will live  stream media day.

UFC 270 media day features championship fighters [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag], [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag], [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag], and [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag], along with many others competing on the card. Coaches Eric Nicksick and Fernand Lopez, as well as UFC women’s bantamweight champion [autotag]Julianna Peña[/autotag], also are extended to attend.

Below is the full lineup (all times ET, subject to change):

  • 2:30 p.m. Said Nurmagomedov
  • 2:45 p.m. Andre Fialho
  • 3 p.m. Brandon Moreno
  • 3:15 p.m. Charles Jourdain
  • 3:30 p.m. Ciryl Gane
  • 3:45 p.m. Fernand Lopez
  • 4 p.m. Deiveson Figueiredo
  • 4:15 p.m. Wellington Turman
  • 4:45 p.m. Francis Ngannou
  • 5 p.m. Eric Nicksick
  • 5:15 p.m. Ilia Topuria
  • 5:30 p.m. Michel Pereira
  • 5:45 p.m. Cody Stamann
  • 6 p.m. Rodolfo Vierira
  • 6:30 p.m. Julianna Peña

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UFC 270 ‘Embedded,’ No. 2: Brandon Moreno throws a birthday party for his daughter

Go behind the scenes with the big-name fighters of UFC 270 for the second time during fight week.

The UFC returns for its first pay-per-view of 2022 on Saturday with UFC 270, which means the fight week video series “Embedded” is back to document the fighters behind the scenes.

UFC 270 takes place Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

UFC 270 features a championship double-header. In the main event, heavyweight champion [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) looks to unify his belt against interim champ [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC). In the co-headliner, newly crowned flyweight champ [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] (19-5-2 MMA, 7-2-2 UFC) will look to close out his trilogy with [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (20-2-1 MMA, 9-2-1 UFC).

The second episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters as they go throughout their fight week. Here is the description from YouTube:

Champ Brandon Moreno hosts an early birthday party. Deiveson Figueiredo takes aim at a gun range then trains with Henry Cejudo. Ciryl Gane sightsees. Champ Francis Ngannou kicks off fight week at the UFC PI. UFC 270 is on Saturday, January 22.

Check out the episode in the video above.

Also see:

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UFC 270: COVID-19 testing and quarantining not required for vaccinated individuals

Ahead of UFC 270, the promotion has implemented COVID-19 policies and procedures that won’t require onsite testing for the vaccinated.

Like other major sports organizations in the age of the omicron variant, the UFC has changed its health and safety protocols pertaining to COVID-19.

Entering UFC 270, athletes and corners competing on the card have been notified that fully-vaccinated individuals will no longer need to test or quarantine outside of a pre-departure PCR or antigen test, according to a memo acquired by MMA Junkie. Proof of vaccination will be required, and individuals will be reimbursed for any costs incurred for the pre-departure tests.

Unvaccinated individuals will still need to test and quarantine on fight week. They will test twice onsite – once upon arrival (Monday through Wednesday) at the host hotel and once Thursday of fight week. Athletes had previously been tested once upon arrival and once Friday (weigh-in day). Unvaccinated individuals who arrive Thursday or later will only need to test once. Quarantining will be required until the first test comes back negative.

Masks will still be required for all individuals regardless of vaccination status.

Protocols have been approved by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and are very similar to those that have been used by Bellator MMA in recent months.

Previously, all individuals needed to test and quarantine regardless of vaccination status. This was as recently as Jan. 6.

While UFC 270 marks the first full week of the new protocols, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie the changes were implemented midway through UFC on ESPN 32 fight week.

The promotion has been hit hard in recent weeks with a slew of COVID-19-induced cancellations, which effected both UFC on ESPN 32 and UFC 270.

UFC 270 takes place Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN and ESPN+. The event is headlined by two title fights: a heavyweight title unification fight between champion Francis Ngannou and interim champ Ciryl Gane, and a flyweight title fight between champion Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo.

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UFC 270 ‘Embedded,’ No. 1: ‘I knew he was a joke, and he’s still a joke’

Go behind the scenes with the big-name fighters of UFC 270 for the first time during fight week.

The UFC returns for its first pay-per-view of 2022 on Saturday with UFC 270, which means the fight week video series “Embedded” is back to document the fighters behind the scenes.

UFC 270 takes place Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

UFC 270 features a championship double-header. In the main event, heavyweight champion [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) looks to unify his belt against interim champ [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC). In the co-headliner, newly crowned flyweight champ [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] (19-5-2 MMA, 7-2-2 UFC) will look to close out his trilogy with [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (20-2-1 MMA, 9-2-1 UFC).

The first episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters as they go throughout their fight week. Here is the description from YouTube:

“Champ Brandon Moreno and roommates get ready for UFC 270. Ciryl Gane checks his rankings and practices his swing. Deiveson Figueiredo takes his title threematch seriously. Champ Francis Ngannou focuses on recovery.”

Check out the episode in the video above.

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Dana White says UFC pay-per-view price hike an ESPN decision: ‘I don’t love when prices get raised’

Dana White isn’t thrilled fight fans are being asked to pay more money to watch UFC pay-per-view events.

LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White isn’t thrilled fight fans are being asked to pay more money to watch his promotion’s biggest events.

Beginning with Saturday’s UFC 270 card, the price of UFC pay-per-view events in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries that require purchase for numbered shows is set to go up. The fee for fans in the U.S. will increase from $69.99 to $74.99, and the announcement this past week largely was met with a frustrated reaction.

Although critics have gone after White and the UFC for trying to gouge more money out of the fans, the decision, according to White, was one made by broadcast partner and pay-per-view carrier ESPN. The company raised prices by $5 roughly one year ago, and White admitted he wasn’t keen on it happening again.

“We don’t have any say in that,” White told MMA Junkie post-fight at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 32 in Las Vegas. “We gave the pay-per-views to ESPN, so yeah, that’s their decision. You know how I feel about that stuff. I don’t love when prices get raised, but it’s not my decision. It’s theirs.”

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Not long after the UFC signed its broadcast deal with ESPN to begin in January 2019, a shift was made from hosting pay-per-view on traditional satellite and cable carriers to putting them exclusively behind a paywall on ESPN+.

According to White, that change placed the power in the hands of the ESPN brass, and the shot-callers have since opted to boost prices on multiple occasions.

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