UFC 272 – Syndication Server

Dustin Poirier responds to Colby Covington’s ‘cute’ callout after Jorge Masvidal win

Dustin Poirier still isn’t interested in a fight with Colby Covington, no matter what his former teammate has to say.

[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] still isn’t particularly interested in a fight with [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag], no matter what his former American Top Team teammate has to say.

Poirier (28-7 MMA, 20-6 UFC) had already made it clear prior to Covington’s venomous callout at UFC 272 earlier this month that he wouldn’t give the matchup serious consideration. It appears nothing has changed after Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) attacked Poirier and his family on the microphone following his victory over Jorge Masvidal in their main event grudge match.

“It’s cute,” Poirier told ESPN backstage during Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 203 event. “It’s all good. It is what it is. People want big fights. That’s a big fight. He wants big fights. Obviously he’s not in line for the title fight. He lost twice to the champ, so he probably needs a few more wins. But I would think if you want to get back to that strap you have to fight welterweight contenders. I don’t now what I’m doing, if I’m going to welterweight, if I’m staying at 155. We’ll see. But it is what it is.”

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Poirier, 33, is coming off a submission loss to lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 in December. He’s since been angling for a fight with Nate Diaz, which remains his top priority for an anticipated summer return to the octagon.

“Nate Diaz is a fight I want,” Poirier said. “I’ve been watching him and his brother forever, so it’s exciting for me. It would be a fun matchup for the fans. That’s more likely than the Colby fight.”

Poirier knows there is at least some degree of public desire to see him settle a personal grudge with Covington, 34, but he reinforced his previous notion that he’s not keen to engage in this particular feud.

“It’s working for him,” Poirier said of Covington’s talk. “He’s got people talking. You’re asking me about him. It’s just not my style. That’s what I dislike about the sport nowadays.”

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Video: Should the fight between Renato Moicano, Rafael dos Anjos have been stopped at UFC 272?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” takes a look at the decision to let Renato Moicano continue fighting against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 272.

[autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] turned in a dominant performance in the co-main event of UFC 272 against short-notice opponent [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag].

However, one of the main talking points after this one was the decision to let Moicano (16-5-1 MMA, 8-5 UFC) continue fighting into the later rounds after suffering so much damage. After all, he took the fight on short notice and it was a special situation as a non-title, non-headlining bout scheduled for five rounds. After the first three rounds, the offense from dos Anjos (31-13 MMA, 20-11 UFC) was overwhelming, as it was clear he was dialed in against an opponent who was not on the same level that night.

As the damage piled up, should the doctor have stopped the fight to protect the fighter? Was Moicano’s late surge in the final round and the fact he avoided a finish enough to convince you that they did the right thing by letting him continue? That’s what we asked our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Nolan King and Brian “Goze” Garcia, who discussed the topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode below.

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, March 8: Mitchell, Rodriguez move closer to the top

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 272.

Following their performances at UFC 272, [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] and [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] have climbed in their respective divisions.

Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) defeated Edson Barboza (22-11 MMA, 16-11 UFC) in a dominant performance on the main card of Saturday’s pay-per-view event. While he largely controlled the contest on the mat with a smothering grappling approach, he dropped Barboza with a crisp punching combination in the first round. In his first fight since Oct. 2020, Mitchell showed new wrinkles to his game and climbs up to the No. 9 slot in the featherweight divison.

On the prelims of the same event, strawweight title hopeful Rodriguez (16-1-2 MMA, 6-1-2 UFC) edged out a close split decision win over Yan Xiaonan (13-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) to pick up her fourth-straight win over top competition, bumping her up to the No. 4 spot.

After UFC 272, take a look at movement in the featherweight and women’s strawweight divisions, as well as the rest of the full rankings ahead of UFC Fight Night 203 and Bellator 276 using the dropdown menu above.

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Video: Colby Covington-Jorge Masvidal feud is over and done with. … Isn’t it?

There’s no reason for a rematch between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, is there?

On Saturday night, [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] defeated [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] finally got to settle their beef in a caged fist fight at UFC 272.

After all of the buildup and all the personal trash talk, Covington convincingly won a unanimous decision against Masvidal, using his superior wrestling to maul “Gamebred” over the course of five rounds.

Considering how one-sided the fight mostly was, are you satisfied closing the book on the rivalry between these two former best friends-turned enemies for good or open to a rematch? That’s what we asked our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Nolan King and Brian “Goze” Garcia, who discussed the topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode below.

Henry Cejudo wants to help Jorge Masvidal be more technical after UFC 272: ‘He’s too smart’

Henry Cejudo is opening his doors to Jorge Masvidal after watching him lose to Colby Covington.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] is opening his doors to [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] after UFC 272.

Masvidal (35-16 MMA, 12-9 UFC) lost a lopsided decision to Colby Covington in this past Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and Cejudo thinks he can help him rejuvenate his career.

“What I would do with ‘Gamebred’ is, you would want to make him more of a technical fighter,” Cejudo said on “The Triple C & Schmo Show.” “Sometimes he gets into these flurries. He’s too smart.”

Covington was able to maul Masvidal for the most part, using his superior wrestling to control the fight. An Olympic gold medalist wrestler who transformed into a complete mixed martial artist, Cejudo was able to capture two UFC titles before retiring in May 2020.

With his accolades and recent coaching success, Cejudo would love to take Masvidal under his wing.

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“If I was to help him out it would be with his distance game,” Cejudo said. “Keeping him at borders, like never allow anybody to get into the upper cutter-hook range and things of that nature, slipping through, going over the areas of concentration in wrestling, different little tricks because remember, I fought. Wrestling and MMA wrestling, it is different and people need to realize.

“There are things you can slip out of, and there’s things you really gotta defend, but you cannot get into these scramble positions like he did with Colby, which eventually exhausted him. I think I would help out ‘Gamebred’ a lot. I like ‘Gamebred’ even though we stopped talking due to our management firms with Ali (Abdelaziz) and Abraham (Kawa). I’ve always had so much love for that dude.”

If Masvidal took up Cejudo on his offer, he’d be joining a herd of stars such as UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, former strawweight champ Zhang Weili, No. 1 contender Jiri Prochazka, Bellator champ Cris Cyborg, and many more who have recently worked with Cejudo.

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If asked, Serghei Spivac not sure he’d rematch Tom Aspinall at UFC London in two weeks

Serghei Spivac got in and out at UFC 272 in a hurry, but doesn’t think a quick turnaround against one particular opponent is in the cards.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] got in and out of his fight at UFC 272 in a hurry, but he doesn’t think a potentially quick turnaround against one particular opponent would be in the cards.

Spivac (14-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) had virtually no issues against Greg Hardy (7-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC) in their heavyweight fight to open the main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. Once he got the fight to the canvas against Hardy, who likely had 40 or more pounds on him, he was on his way to a TKO in less than half a round.

But when asked if he’d be down to try to avenge his most recent loss against Tom Aspinall in two weeks in London, he wasn’t willing to take the bait.

Aspinall is set to headline UFC Fight Night 204 against Alexander Volkov. And while that bout remains intact, there have been rumblings that Volkov, from Russia, might have trouble getting into England with restrictions on visas for travelers from Russia in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Spivac took a fight with Aspinall on short notice in September 2021 and was stopped with a first-round TKO.

“I don’t know if it’s right. The last time I fought him, I said yes after one week and I wasn’t ready for it,” Spivac said.

That one-week notice was a stark difference to his fight against Hardy at UFC 272. That fight was delayed when Hardy suffered a finger injury, meaning Spivac had a lengthy camp.

He said he’s also not willing to call out any particular opponent for his next one, even though he walked away from Hardy seemingly unscathed.

“I like fights like this – first round, not a long fight,” Spivac said. “You don’t have injuries. For this job, it’s very important. Because it was the first round, I didn’t feel (his size advantage). If it had gone to the second or third round – maybe.

“Six months, I prepared for this fight. It’s a very long training camp. But I think three months, I’ll come back. I don’t choose my opponents. The UFC gives me fights, and I fight.”

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Islam Makhachev shrugs off Dana White’s claim of declining RDA fight: ‘He can say whatever he wants’

Good luck trying to get to the bottom of why Islam Makhachev and Rafael dos Anjos didn’t fight at UFC 272.

Good luck trying to get to the bottom of why [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] and [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] didn’t fight at UFC 272 on Saturday.

The opportunity certainly was there last week after news broke Monday that Rafael Fiziev was forced to withdraw from the co-main event because of COVID-19. In response, Makhachev – who’s three previous bookings with dos Anjos have been canceled for various reasons – publicly volunteered to step in on five days’ notice despite beating Bobby Green just 48 hours prior at UFC Fight Night 202.

This is where the details get murky.

Depending on who you ask, the blame for Makhachev vs. dos Anjos not being made shifts between the UFC and Makhachev himself. UFC president Dana White said this past Saturday, after dos Anjos dominated short-notice replacement Renato Moicano, that Makhachev turned down the fight. Dos Anjos said Monday on “The MMA Hour” that the reason was because the UFC wouldn’t pay Makhachev $1 million as requested, something Makhachev denied in a subsequent interview with ESPN.

Makhachev is adamant about one thing: It was he who asked his manager, Ali Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA, to call the UFC about the fight, not the other way around, after finding out Fiziev was out.

“‘Hey, Ali, I saw some news,'” Makhachev recalled saying. “‘Please call UFC and say I’m ready for take this fight.'”

What happened after that is anyone’s guess.

Winner of 10 fights in a row, Makhachev (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) seemingly was in line for a lightweight title shot after finishing Green in the first round. So why, despite being on vacation in California, would he risk his title shot by fighting a second time in one week?

“I just want to help UFC, for the fans, for everybody, because this is a pay-per-view show, big show.” Makhachev said. “I just asked for very small condition, but UFC say no, and that’s it.”

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Makhachev did publicly ask for the fight to take place at welterweight, which dos Anjos said he accepted (“called his bluff”). What the “very small condition” was remains a mystery since Makhachev wouldn’t elaborate.

“But anyway, you know, I sit and watched this fight. Dos Anjos not my level of fighter. What can he give me?” Makhachev said. “If I beat him, people will be talking like this is old man, he’s not from top five, and that’s it. Now Dana say I have to fight (Beneil) Dariush. I have no problem fighting him, but who has to fight for the title next?”

At the end of the day, Makhachev says he’s at a loss as to why White claims he turned down the fight with dos Anjos at UFC 272.

“I don’t know. It’s OK. I don’t know,” Makhachev said. “He can say whatever he wants, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to fight anyone because I’m going to be champion and fight all these guys in top 10, beat all these guys.”

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Stephen A. Smith questions Jorge Masvidal’s ‘inexplicable’ excuse for Colby Covington loss

“How you were not ready for a wrestling match I don’t understand.”

There was no secret to what Colby Covington was going to try to do against [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] in their UFC 272 grudge match.

Absent some minor adjustments from opponent to opponent, Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) largely brings the same strategy into the octagon for every bout. His combination of pace, pressure, striking and wrestling are difficult to deal with, but if anyone was going to have an answer, it would’ve been Masvidal (35-16 MMA, 12-9 UFC), right?

Wrong.

Despite having an intimate knowledge of Covington from time as primary training partners, roommates and good friends, Masvidal wasn’t able to consistently thwart Covington’s offense, and the result was a unanimous decision loss at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith is struggling to wrap his head around the way the fight played out. Masvidal claimed in the aftermath of the fight that he felt “flat” and that’s why he couldn’t stifle Covington’s game plan, but Smith can’t get behind that as a valid excuse.

Smith gave his insights on the fight during Monday’s edition of “First Take.”

I’m a huge, huge Masvidal fan. I think he’s great for the sport because he’s got knockout power in both punches, he can obviously use that knee very well and he has improved his wrestling. But Colby Covington showed that he’s on a different level from a wrestling standpoint, and from a stamina standpoint. One of the things that I paid attention to coming into this fight is something that Colby Covington said. Because he knew him and they were former best friends and roommates turned enemies, Covington said, ‘Masvidal trains for his fights; I live this.’ What he was talking about is he is always in shape. He’s never out of shape. He’s renowned for his condition and the pressure he’s able to apply and how he never lets up because he keeps on coming. I saw Masvidal gutsy and survive the five rounds, but while he was waving Covington on to come on, ‘Let’s get some more.’ He was literally using two security personnel to lean on because that’s how exhausted he was. Covington looked like he was just starting. He was that energized. The guy is in phenomenal shape, he’s an outstanding wrestler and Masvidal admitted that his wrestling was flat. How was it flat coming into this fight knowing this guy as well as you know him and knowing what he was going to try to do to you, and how much you supposedly hate him? How you were not ready for a wrestling match, I don’t understand. It’s inexplicable.”

Masvidal admitted after the fight he’s bitter about losing to Covington, but intends to get back to training after some short time off after dropping his third consecutive fight.

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Bryce Mitchell vows legacy of helping less fortunate: ‘There will be children healed through (every) fight’

An emotional Bryce Mitchell discusses Dana White’s generosity and the legacy that means the most to him.

LAS VEGAS – Thanks to [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag], homeless and sick children in his home state of Arkansas will receive a large sum of money. But the ball won’t stop at UFC 272.

Following his dominant win Saturday over Edson Barboza, Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) announced intentions to donate half of his purse ($45,000) to charity. His boss, however, was moved enough to tell Mitchell he instead will donate the sum.

“Dana White came up to me after the fight and he said, ‘Don’t give your money. I’m going to give the $45,000,'” Mitchell told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “I’m still going to give some money. He told me. He said, ‘Don’t give any of your money. It’s going to be mine and I’m going to take care of it.’

“I’m still going to do something, because I just need to. There will be more than $45,000. We have people coming out of the woodwork, so I’m planting the seed. We’re going to watch this thing grow. It’s all about giving back. Like I said, this ain’t going to be about just hurting people, when I’m done. We’re going to help people.”

Appreciative of White’s donation, Mitchell still feels inclined to assist in some manner – whether it be financial or otherwise. That’s a trend he plans to continue for the length of his career. Building a legacy as a fighter is important, but Mitchell sees the impact he can make in charitable ways as truly everlasting.

“Children are some of the most precious things on the planet, brother,” Mitchell said. “I see so much evil and wickedness in the world and so much greed. People (are) killing for money. It makes me sick. I want to do the exact opposite. Do you know what the greatest thing I can do in that cage is? It’s inspire. That’s the greatest thing I can do in that cage is inspire people. Let me tell you why: Because me by myself, I really can’t do sh*t.

“My $45,000, when it comes to medical professions, it really ain’t sh*t. That sh*t is gone in one surgery. That sh*t is gone in a couple skin grafts. Do you see what I’m saying? But if I can inspire you, and you, and you, and you, then it’s limitless. Do you see what I’m saying? It keeps going. It’s perpetual. So the greatest thing I can do is inspire. I really feel like I’ve done that. I really feel like I owe that to God. … Every time that I fight, there will be children healed through the fight.”

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Beating Barboza was a massive win for Mitchell, who continues to roll in his professional career. Potentially entering top contender status, Mitchell isn’t selling himself any shorter than the matchup that could win him the ultimate in-cage accolade.

“I feel like I want a title shot, but I’m just waiting in the lunch line,” Mitchell said. “I’m not going to try no lunch line. I’m just doing everything I’ve got to do to earn my spot. Obviously, I’m going to say title shot if you ask me what I want.”

UFC 272 took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. The main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.

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MMA Junkie Radio #3240: UFC 272 recap, Nate Diaz, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, more

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

On Episode 3,240, the boys looked back at Saturday’s big UFC 272 event, including Colby Covington’s win over Jorge Masvidal and the fallout from it. Is Dustin Poirier vs. Covington the next fight to make for him? Plus, what’s the latest on Nate Diaz and Joanna Jedrzejczyk? 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.