Tag: UFC 276

Sean Strickland trash talk? Alex Pereira says it could be a telling sign at UFC 276

Alex Pereira expects chatter at UFC 276 but plans to use it as affirmation that things aren’t well with his opponent.

All eyes are seemingly on [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] as he enters UFC 276, an event in which he can earn a shot at middleweight champion Israel Adesanya if the stars align.

Maybe the general public’s conversation is overlooking his title eliminator matchup vs. [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] a bit, but Pereira (5-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) says he isn’t. Although Strickland(25-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) hasn’t wowed him, Pereira recognizes the threat.

“Not exactly impressed, but I paid attention to him,” Pereira recently told MMA Junkie using a translator. “After our fight was booked I checked his fights. He’s dangerous, talented, has been showing his skills and potential, and I need to be alert to that.”

While Pereira’s two UFC fights have already escalated him to the doorstep of title contention, Strickland has slowly but surely built a six-fight winning streak – and a name for himself in the process. Over the past few years, Strickland has meshed his victories inside the cage with controversial comments outside of it. Pereira has heard about Strickland’s persona but doesn’t really pay attention.

“To be honest with you, I don’t check that all that much,” Pereira said. “My only social media is Instagram. I don’t have a Twitter account, but if he’s saying anything it doesn’t make a difference for me. I’m focused. I don’t care about provocation. I know how to deal with it, so it doesn’t matter what he says.”

The crossroads of skill and persona meet at a head for Strickland when he barks and trash talks opponents during a fight. Pereira expects UFC 276 to be no different but plans to use it as affirmation Strickland is frustrated.

“It won’t. I can even talk back, like with my last opponent, there was a time I clapped back at his corners for some of the things they were saying,” Pereira said. “Some people said it got in my way, but I’ve done that a few times before. Some times I use it as a strategy too. So it’s not something that affects me. It’s all planned. Sometimes I play around with my training partners, I try some tricky things here and there and say, ‘Look what I’m doing, look what I’m gonna do at the fight.’ It’s all planned. I won’t lose focus for it. Perhaps I see it as him doing it because he’s frustrated. I’ll realize what his real intentions through his actions. It could be a good telling for me.”

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Pereira predicts a victory Saturday one way or another. Despite his reputation as a knockout artist, Pereira sees a decision as a potentially likely outcome. Whatever the method, Pereira thinks his seventh pro MMA fight will be a big experience-builder.

“I believe I’ll have a great win,” Pereira said. “Like I always say, I want to get experience in the fights, fighting three rounds of five minutes is different for me, so I need to rack up some experience. If a KO comes it’ll be from the opportunity that was present to me. But I’m going in there to get a clear win and get as much experience from this fight as possible. I want people to be watching to have no doubt that I was the winner of the fight. If I win by points, I want to be as clear as possible. But if I get to finish him it’ll be great.”

UFC 276 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ABC/ESPN+.

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Jared Cannonier does not care about Israel Adesanya’s or anyone else’s ‘bullsh*t’ talk before UFC 276

“I’m not gonna contribute my energy to that bullsh*t.”

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] remembers the first time he met [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]. It was Nov. 3, 2018, the night he defeated David Branch in his middleweight debut at UFC 230. Adesanya also fought and won earlier in the evening against Derek Brunson in just his fourth UFC bout. Both men got TKO finishes.

Cannonier was already a fan of Adesanya’s at that point and afterward spoke with him backstage at Madison Square Garden.

“I introduced myself to him and congratulated him on his fight, because I got to watch his fight,” Cannonier told reporters Wednesday at UFC 276 media day. “It was kind of interesting, because he was respectful, but I felt like he was kind of sizing me up at the same time. He even said, ‘Yeah, we’ll see each other.’ And I was like, ‘Well, if we do, let’s have a good-ass fight.’ He said, ‘Oh yeah.’ He pretty much reaffirmed or, you know, reasserted the fact that we’ll fight. It’s pretty interesting that here we are now.”

Three-and-a-half years later, Cannonier (15-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) will challenge middleweight champion Adesanya (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) in the UFC 276 headliner Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. Cannonier’s first UFC title shot comes after winning five of his past six fights, including back-to-back wins over Kelvin Gastelum and most recently a TKO of Brunson this past February.

Whereas Adesanya will be looking to make his fifth title defense, this is the biggest opportunity of Cannonier’s career. But he’s not treating it any differently.

“Emotions aren’t too different from normal fight week,” Cannonier said. “I’m not putting too much extra pressure on myself. Fighting is stressful enough, if you will. Not that I’m taking it easy or anything, I work hard regardless. And I’m coming in with the same self-belief, the same confidence, the same energy – BDE – that I plan on using to get the win.”

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Adesanya has said that he’s planning a masterpiece at UFC 276, a la Anderson Silva’s brilliant dismantling of Forrest Griffin in 2009. If you think Cannonier cares one iota about that, you’d be wrong.

“I don’t really think about what other people say, so I don’t have any thoughts on what he said or what he’s saying,” Cannonier said. “My thoughts are only on what he’s going to attempt to do Saturday night and what I’m going to do Saturday night. There’s a lot of people saying a lot of different things, and damn near all of them are counting me out. Why would I even pay attention to what people say that’s on the negative side of me getting my win? That doesn’t serve me, that doesn’t help me, that doesn’t bring me any sort of joy, so I’m not focusing on that. It doesn’t hurt me. Those are just words floating out in the air.”

He continued, “I’m not gonna contribute my energy to that bullsh*t. So I refuse to even go there: ‘Here, lemme think about what they’re thinking and the thing and the betting and blah.’ No, I ain’t got no time. I’ve got a fight on my hands, and all my energy needs to go to that.”

Bottom line: Cannonier, who is a 3-to-1 betting underdo via Tipico Sportsboook, is well aware of the monumental challenge in front of him having to face a crafty, technical fighter like Adesanya.

And he’s ready for it.

“It could be a clean fight if one can control that torrential ocean of techniques that he’s throwing at you,” Cannonier said. “That’s a tall order right there. That’s a tall task to do. But it’s possible. I don’t need to throw as many techniques as he’s throwing at me to make it work, too. So I plan on using all the right skills, all the right techniques to make the fight that I can be the beneficiary of the exchange here. …

“If I could touch him once and put him to sleep, that’s perfect for me.”

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Max Holloway says UFC 276 trilogy winner not featherweight GOAT: ‘Do we forget the man Jose Aldo?’

Max Holloway won’t allow anyone to label the winner of Saturday’s UFC 276 co-main event as the greatest featherweight of all time.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] won’t allow anyone to label the winner of Saturday’s UFC 276 co-main event as the greatest featherweight of all time.

Going into the anticipated trilogy bout with Holloway (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) and Alexander Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC), which goes down at T-Mobile Arena and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and ESPN+, there are many people discussing that whoever emerges victorious from the contest will be regarded as the GOAT of the division.

Holloway is slamming the brakes on that conversation. He only has five UFC title wins to his name, and Volkanovski just four. In his mind, that doesn’t meet the level of Aldo’s (31-7 MMA, 13-6 UFC) body of work when he was champion for nearly five years.

“Not at all,” Holloway told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC 276 media day. “A lot of fans, a lot of people are saying it. Do we forget the man Jose Aldo? The man got eight title wins. I have five title wins. Until someone can beat his records as a champion with the eight title wins, then they can consider themselves the GOAT in featherweight. I got five to get here. To get Alex for my sixth title win. That’s just the cherry on top.”

There are holes to be poked in all resumes. Aldo was UFC champion in his octagon debut after the UFC bought the now-defunct WEC organization and folded the 145-pound division into the organization. Holloway, meanwhile, fought for undisputed UFC gold for the first time after 16 fights with the company – including a 10-fight winning streak leading up to it.

Moreover, Holloway owns two victories and two finishes over Aldo in head-to-head competition. Still, though, Holloway won’t take the bait of saying his resume is better.

“It’s cool I’ve got the wins, but the title defenses are the title defenses,” Holloway said. “That is the actual record. He got eight title wins, I’ve got five. We’re not that far behind him. Hopefully, I can catch him, we’ll see what happens. He’s the GOAT, bro. You can’t take it away. Just because he got gifted it, the event that the UFC bought out and he was the champion, it wasn’t a gift. I’m sure if they told him, ‘Hey you’ve got to fight for the belt.’ He would’ve fought for the belt. That’s just the kind of guy Aldo is. Standup guy, hard worker, and hard fighter and the GOAT.”

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Although Holloway doesn’t agree the winner of this fight will be pushed over the hump beyond Aldo, he does agree this is a monumental contest for the careers of both himself and Volkanovski. He’s hungry to get his hand raised this time after losing close decisions in his first two fights with the Aussie, and Holloway notes this is a truly special matchup.

“This is a legacy fight,” Holloway said. “You guys all know what pound-for-pound ranking he is. You know what pound-for-pound ranking I am. We’re on the higher end of the pound-for-pound ranks. These don’t happen in the past decade. It did only once with ‘DC’ and Jones. This is a legacy fight. This is huge in every way. To be honest – people are calling us the main event of this card. That’s saying a lot about this fight.”

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Focused on legacy ahead of UFC 276, Donald Cerrone aims ‘to put records where people can’t even touch’

The UFC 276 rematch against Jim Miller is all about legacy for Donald Cerrone, who will be one step closer to 50 UFC/WEC fights.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] has been trying his best to reach the magical number of 50 fights across his WEC/UFC career, and despite a few recent bookings falling through at the final hour in recent months, hopes he can come one step closer at International Fight Week.

Cerrone (36-16 MMA, 23-13 UFC) made it to fight week twice to face Joe Lauzon in recent months. At UFC 274 and UFC on ESPN 37, both men made it to the scale to record their official weight, but on neither occasion did the fight actually take place.

It’s not exactly surprising that Cerrone would be ready to try to fight again just a couple of weeks later, despite back-to-back weight cuts to lightweight. Cerrone is ready to take on a familiar face at UFC 276 in Jim Miller, but this time, he’ll have a few extra pounds to spare for the rematch nearly eight years in the making.

“It’s funny, after the Joe thing two weeks ago, Dana (White) was like, ‘Nah, go have the weekend, enjoy the Fourth (of July) with the family,'” Cerrone told reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “So, I go to the lake, start building a house, drinking a bunch of beer and eating barbecue, and then they call me. Like, ‘Hey!’ I was like, ‘Oh, god. Well, it has to be at 70 because I’m beer-bellied up now.’ And they’re like, yeah, no problem.”

Cerrone and Miller (34-16 MMA, 23-15 UFC) first crossed paths in the main event of UFC Fight Night 45 in Atlantic City, N.J. in 2014. The first meeting took place at lightweight, and Cerrone won that fight by stoppage from a devastating head kick in the second round.

While their rematch will take place at welterweight, Cerrone doesn’t see the weight class difference being much of a factor because neither man will be cutting to hit the 171-pound limit.

“I’m just letting you know I’m not going to be big,” Cerrone said he told Miller over the phone. “I’m 168, 169, like, that’s just kind of where I float around. He’s like, ‘Yeah, same here.’… I don’t think he’s going to come in there big, neither will I.

Fighting the big 70 pounders, the guys that cut from 200 and 90, it’s tough, man. They hit hard, they’re big, and strong. We’re both just kind of 55ers. It would have been our natural weight if we would have weighed in, came back and we’d be right around the same weight we’d fight at anyway. So, I’m sure he’s stoked, and it’s just an easier week.”

Without the stress of worrying about fighting against the scale, Cerrone can focus more on the fight itself, which has the potential to add to his legacy by becoming the all-time wins leader at 24, if victorious. Regardless of the outcome, this fight will be his 48th UFC/WEC appearance, which will get him one step closer to his goal of 50.

“My plan, I want to put records where people can’t even touch,” Cerrone said. “50 fights under Zuffa, I want these young kids to be like, ‘God, man. I’m just fighting to get one or two to keep my job. He’s got 50 of ’em?’ To me, that’s cool, you know? To put statements down like that. This is huge. This is legacy fighting. That’s what it’s all about now.”

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Video: UFC 276 media day live stream

Follow along with our live video stream from UFC 276 media day in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – Fight week is officially underway for the UFC’s seventh pay-per-view event of the year.

UFC 276 media day kicks off International Fight Week activities ahead of Saturday’s event at T-Mobile Arena. Starting at approximately 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT), MMA Junkie will live stream media day, which features headliners [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] and [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag], co-headliners [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] and [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag], and a host of others fighting on the card.

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

  • 1 p.m. Dricus du Plessis available
  • 1:15 p.m. Gabe Green available
  • 1:30 p.m. Jared Cannonier available
  • 1:45 p.m. Jalin Turner available
  • 2:15 p.m. Donald Cerrone available
  • 2:30 p.m. Max Holloway available
  • 2:45 p.m. Alex Pereira available
  • 3:15 p.m. Sean O’Malley available
  • 3:30 p.m. Bryan Barberena available
  • 4 p.m. Alexander Volkanovski available
  • 4:15 p.m. Sean Strickland available
  • 4:30 p.m. Ian Garry available
  • 5 p.m. Brad Riddell available
  • 5:15 p.m. Pedro Munhoz available
  • 5:30 p.m. Robbie Lawler available
  • 5:45 p.m. Jim Miller available
  • 6 p.m. Israel Adesanya available
  • 6:15 p.m. Brad Tavares available

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‘More fire’? Max Holloway has no idea what Khabib Nurmagomedov is talking about

Max Holloway isn’t sure why Khabib Nurmagomedov is doubting his desire to compete ahead of UFC 276.

[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] isn’t sure why [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] is doubting his desire to compete.

When giving his prediction for Holloway’s trilogy fight with featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] in Saturday’s UFC 276 co-main event, Nurmagomedov said he thinks Volkanovski has “more fire” than Holloway (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) and picked him to retain.

Since losing to Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) in back-to-back title fights, Holloway has rebounded with striking clinics against top contenders Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez, so he’s surprised with Nurmagomedov’s opinion.

“Not at all, you know? I mean, he’s probably talking about Volkanovski having more fire because he has a cooking show or something,” Holloway told Yahoo! Sports. “Maybe the fire resemblance there, but other than that I don’t know, man. I don’t know. Khabib is Khabib. He’s gonna say what he’s gonna say, and I have no idea what he’s talking about, you know? I’m here, and I’m still doing it, so I can’t wait. There’s a lot of people saying stuff, and we get to figure out if everything is true, if I still have the fire come Saturday night.”

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Holloway’s two decision losses to Volkanovski were tightly contested, with “Blessed” adamant that he won the rematch. He will get an opportunity to reclaim his belt at UFC 276 and is brimming with confidence ahead of their trilogy.

“I’m excited for the challenge,” Holloway said. “I can’t wait to go out there. Tune in Saturday, you guys do not want to miss this. It’s gonna be amazing, it’s gonna be great, and I feel good. I can’t put into words, but when you got a feeling about something, you got a feeling, and I’m ready to show it.”

UFC 276 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

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UFC 276 ‘Embedded,’ No. 2: ‘The main event should have been the co-main’

The UFC returns for International Fight Week and a big pay-per-view. “Embedded” is back to document what’s happening behind the scenes.

The UFC is back in Las Vegas for its latest International Fight Week and a big pay-per-view, which means the “Embedded” fight-week video series is back to document what’s happening behind the scenes.

UFC 276 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

UFC 275 features a title-fight doubleheader. In the main event, middleweight champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) takes on challenger [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] (15-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC). In the co-feature, featherweight champ [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) meets former titleholder [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) in a trilogy rematch.

Additionally, [autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 9-7 UFC) takes on rising bantamweight standout [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) on the main card.

The second episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:

Max Holloway does a sit down at T-Mobile and a shakeout at the PI. Champs Alex Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya cheer on a teammate in the Octagon. The Kiwis push hard in the gym. UFC 276 is on Saturday, July 2.

Watch the episode in the video above check out the previous episodes below:

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UFC 276: Make your predictions for Adesanya vs. Cannonier, Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3

We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC 276 event in Las Vegas.

We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC 276 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 276 main card staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. UFC 276 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

Make your picks for the fights below.

UFC 276 ‘Embedded,’ No. 1: Israel Adesanya gets pranked in a ‘stripper room’

The UFC returns for International Fight Week and a big pay-per-view. “Embedded” is back to document what’s happening behind the scenes.

The UFC is back in Las Vegas for its latest International Fight Week and a big pay-per-view, which means the “Embedded” fight-week video series is back to document what’s happening behind the scenes.

UFC 276 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

UFC 275 features a title-fight doubleheader. In the main event, middleweight champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) takes on challenger [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] (15-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC). In the co-feature, featherweight champ [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) meets former titleholder [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) in a trilogy rematch.

Additionally, [autotag]Pedro Munhoz[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 9-7 UFC) takes on rising bantamweight standout [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) on the main card.

The first episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:

Champ Israel Adesanya shoots hoops and gets pranked. Champion Alexander Volkanovski and rival Max Holloway both question their travel plans. Sean O’Malley uses breath to stay focused.

Watch the episode in the video above and be on the lookout for more throughout fight week.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov picks Alexander Volkanovski over Max Holloway at UFC 276 because he has ‘more fire’

Khabib Nurmagomedov sees Alexander Volkanovski sealing his trilogy with Max Holloway at UFC 276.

[autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] sees [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] sealing his trilogy with [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] at UFC 276.

UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) meets Holloway (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) in a trilogy rematch to headline Saturday’s event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

Coming off a dominant finish of Chan Sung Jung at UFC 273 in April, Volkanovski will be making a relatively quick turnaround when he faces Holloway, and Nurmagomedov thinks that will play in his favor.

“About Holloway-Volkanovski, I must say I’m really impressed with Volkanovski about his last couple of performances,” Nurmagomedov told the UFC. “I like Max Holloway. I like him. This is nothing personal, but I think Volkanovski’s going to defend his title. It’s a question: how? Who knows. But I see he (stays busier), fights all the time, experience – maybe experience. Like a little bit more fire. I feel he has a little bit more fire than Max Holloway.”

Holloway almost faced Nurmagomedov for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 223 when Tony Ferguson was forced out of his title bout against “The Eagle.” Then-featherweight champ Holloway took the fight on six days’ notice, but was pulled by the New York State Athletic Commission doctors due to the severity of his weight cut.

Volkanovski dethroned Holloway to capture the featherweight title in December 2019. He has since defended his title three times, with his first title defense coming in a narrow split decision win over Holloway at UFC 251. Holloway was able to rebound from back-to-back losses to the champion by putting on striking clinics against top contenders Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez to set up the trilogy with Volkanovski.

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