Tag: UFC 279

Tony Ferguson has no intentions of retiring, fires back at Daniel Cormier: ‘I never cheated to get on the scales’

Tony Ferguson has responded to his recent critics – including Daniel Cormier, whom he called out for cheating the scale at a weigh-in.

[autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] has responded to his recent critics – including [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag].

After Ferguson dropped his fifth straight bout in a submission loss to Nate Diaz in this past Saturday’s UFC 279 main event, many, including Cormier, who commentated at the fight, took aim at Ferguson for his recent decline.

As for Cormier’s regular recent criticism, Ferguson fired back and said he doesn’t understand why he’s constantly trying to bring him down.

“When I feel like I’m ready to retire, I will retire,” Ferguson told ESPN. “But right now it’s a little bit different, a little bit more interesting. DC and all these commentators that just keep repeating the same sh*t in the past couple of years – because that’s what they want me to do. They want the public eye to see me like that and they want to see me as a quitter and so on and so forth.

“I never cheated to get on the scales to retain my championship like DC – hashtag ‘towel gate,’ – these guys grabbing the towel, trying to lift some pounds off the scale. The UFC (was) right there – they went with it. It’s like an inside job. This guy wants to call it out, I’m going to call you right back out. You don’t have to be an asshole to the people who actually work hard. There’s a lot of up-and-coming fighters that see that sh*t and they’re going to try and go with the clique – and that’s it. So don’t start that sh*t. I’ve literally given my shirt off my back to the fans, and same thing with the UFC, and I’ll still take my shirt off to go inside that f*cking octagon and show that I’m the f*cking man. I’m still the f*cking champ.”

Former interim lightweight champion Ferguson (25-8 MMA, 15-6 UFC) was once on a 12-fight winning streak. Although he’s currently enduring a rough patch, “El Cucuy” insists he’s still making improvements and just sees losses as part of the game.

“Did you see Nate have to take breaks? Nothing against him, but I gave him his break,” Ferguson said. “It was a send-off fight. I’m not saying I took it easy on him and what we prepared for, but it’s a little bit more interesting when you’re preparing for a guy you really don’t know.

“The company is growing and I’m growing with the company, and to be able to help pave the way, kind of be right there with the promoters and try to get sh*t done, that’s mad sh*t, dude. I’ll continue to do that despite the commentators and the people (who criticize me). … A lot of other people, sometimes it’s just really real, and sometimes it’s just ignorant, and they don’t know any different because they didn’t grow up like you. (They’re) not into sports. It’s different. I’ve had gold medals and I’ve had bronze. None of them have been consecutive.”

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Video: What’s next for Tony Ferguson and his five-fight skid?

It’s been quite a tumble for former UFC interim champion Tony Ferguson. What should his next move be?

It’s been quite a tumble for former UFC interim champion [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag].

Ferguson only is three years removed from the days when he was riding high on a 12-fight lightweight winning streak. Included on his resume in that run was an interim 155-pound title win against Kevin Lee, as well as wins over former champions Rafael dos Anjos and Anthony Pettis. He also had an absurd nine post-fight bonus awards over that 12-fight stretch.

To say Ferguson was one of the best in the world would be understating it.

In May 2020, he fought Justin Gaethje for another interim belt and was knocked out in the fifth round. Things haven’t gotten much better.

Ferguson dropped decisions to future champ Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush after his Gaethje loss, which was the first time he had been knocked out in his career. After a year off, Michael Chandler finished him with a Knockout of the Year contender head kick at UFC 274 in May.

Then this past Saturday, Nate Diaz submitted him in the fourth round of their UFC 279 main event for Ferguson’s fifth straight loss. But the fight was at welterweight after years at lightweight, and Ferguson experimented with some camp changes, too.

Did he look improved enough at 170 pounds, despite the loss? Should he stay there? Should he go back to lightweight? Should he hang up the gloves? There are all kinds of possibilities for “El Cucuy,” and we asked the opinions of our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura, who discussed the topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their conversation in the video above, or check out this week’s full episode below.

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UFC 279 ‘Fight Motion’: Watch highlights of Nate Diaz’s potential final octagon fight in super slow motion

Check out the super slow motion highlights from UFC 279, including clips of Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson.

[autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] bid the UFC farewell in style.

Diaz (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC), who originally was scheduled to face Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 279 main event, fought Tony Ferguson at T-Mobile Arena, instead, in what may have been his final fight in the octagon. It was a wild contest in which Diaz pulled out some of his old tricks, like turning his back to walk away before resuming the fight. He was able to bloody up Ferguson and eventually submitted him in Round 4.

In the co-main event, [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) ran through Kevin Holland by submitting him with a D’Arce choke in the first round.

You can watch it all unfold in super-slow motion in the UFC 279 “Fight Motion” video highlights above.

Also featured are highlights of [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]’s unique up-kick body shot finish of Macy Chiasson, [autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag]’s first-round submission of Ion Cutelaba, [autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag]’s bonus-winning submission of Anton Turkalj, [autotag]Chris Barnett[/autotag]’s TKO of Jake Collier and more.

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Video: What should Nate Diaz’s next move be after UFC 279?

Nate Diaz fought out his contract and left little doubt in his post-fight interview that his next move won’t be returning to the UFC.

[autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] fought out his UFC contract this past Saturday and left little doubt in his post-fight interview that his next move won’t be returning to the UFC.

Diaz (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC) submitted former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson (25-8 MMA, 15-6 UFC) with a fourth-round guillotine choke. The mild upset appeared to delight the Las Vegas crowd, given Diaz’s status as a longtime fan favorite.

Diaz was supposed to fight Khamzat Chimaev – against whom he was a massive underdog. Instead, he got to go out on a high note with his win over Ferguson, which also got him a $50,000 post-fight bonus award.

Then confirmed he will leave the UFC to pursue other options, likely outside MMA in boxing. Jake Paul definitely appears to be interested in a fight with Diaz after he boxes Anderson Silva next month. Diaz also likely would be a big draw for BKFC – or for any other MMA promotion, like Bellator, PFL or ONE Championship.

But what do we want to see Diaz do next?

That’s the question we asked our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura, who discussed the topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their conversation in the video above, or check out this week’s full episode below.

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Sean Strickland: Khamzat Chimaev has a better shot at being UFC champion at welterweight

Sean Strickland thinks Khamzat Chimaev should stay at welterweight because he’ll have a better shot at becoming a UFC champion.

[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] should stay at welterweight.

Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) came in 7.5 pounds over the welterweight limit for his originally scheduled bout against Nate Diaz this past Saturday at UFC 279. As a result, the card was shuffled and he fought Kevin Holland, instead, in a 180-pound catchweight bout.

“Borz” scored a dominant first-round submission of Holland. Although Chimaev’s head coach, Andreas Michael, hinted that his next fight will probably take place at 185 pounds, former welterweight and current middleweight contender Strickland likes Chimaev’s chances of gold at welterweight more.

“It’s a hard one,” Strickland said in an interview with Helen Yee. “If it wasn’t for my accident, I would still be at welterweight and I would probably have way better odds of winning a belt at welterweight. So, it’s one of those weird things where it’s like, would he enjoy life more at middleweight? F*ck yeah. I have cheeseburgers – I’m a happy, fat man.

“But that being said, at welterweight, life was f*cking miserable. I was f*cking running every night. But he will have a better shot at being a champion at welterweight, I’ll tell you that. But I also understand that that cut is f*cking brutal, and if I didn’t get into a motorcycle accident, I’d probably still be a welterweight.”

Strickland (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC), who meets Jared Cannonier in the UFC Fight Night main event Dec. 17, thinks Chimaev is one fight away from a title shot at welterweight. He sees former interim champion Colby Covington as the perfect opponent.

“He needs to fight a high-ranked guy,” Strickland said. “I think Covington would be a great fight. He fought Gilbert Burns, but I think Covington should be his next fight and if he wins, he should get a title shot.”

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Belal Muhammad: ‘Fat’ Khamzat Chimaev needs to start being more disciplined after UFC 279 weight miss

Belal Muhammad took aim at Khamzat Chimaev for missing weight at UFC 279.

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] took aim at [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] for missing weight at UFC 279.

Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) came in 7.5 pounds over the welterweight limit for his headliner against Nate Diaz, causing the top three fights on Saturday’s card at T-Mobile Arena to get a shakeup. Chimaev fought Kevin Holland in a 180-pound catchweight bout and tore through him with a first-round submission win. Muhammad has called out Chimaev on numerous occasions for a fight, but it never has materialized.

This time, he’s calling him out for his bad weight miss, making reference to former NBA standout Allen Iverson’s famous “We’re talking about practice” line when he was chastised for missing practice.

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Chimaev,” Muhammad said on social media. “You know, I have a lot of doctor friends in the field and we were talking about his medical condition. A lot of them are telling me it could be serious – of why he didn’t make weight. They say – it was like a scientific term – they called him fat. Yeah, I think that was it. He’s just fat. So maybe he starts eating healthier, starts being more disciplined, stops with the ‘llen Iverson practice. ‘We talking about practice?’ Because obviously he’s skilled.”

Muhammad (21-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) wasn’t surprised to see Chimaev score the quick finish and thinks it was stylistically a bad matchup for Holland.

“(It was) pretty much what I expected,” Muhammad said. “Holland’s weakness is wrestling. Chimaev’s strength is wrestling. Holland did have a couple of really good grappling sequences, and it would have been really interesting to see if he got past the first couple of minutes, because that was all sprint for Chimaev and he kept locking in the D’Arce (choke), squeezing, squeezing and squeezing. Holland didn’t have no give up in him. He was trying to fight out, but Chimaev is just relentless with the grappling.”

Looking to emerge as the next title challenger, Muhammad meets Sean Brady at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

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Video: What should the UFC do with Khamzat Chimaev after his big weight miss?

Khamzat Chimaev certainly had an eventful fight week for UFC 279. But what should the UFC do with him now?

[autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] certainly had an eventful fight week for UFC 279.

Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) stayed unbeaten when he submitted Kevin Holland (23-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in the first round in dominant fashion in the UFC 279 co-main event. But that wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Far from it, in fact.

Chimaev was supposed to fight Nate Diaz in the main event, in which he was as much as a 14-1 favorite. But after several days of incidents involving Chimaev – an altercation with Paulo Costa at the UFC Performance Institute, then backstage shenanigans at the UFC 279 news conference that helped lead to the decision to cancel the press event altogether – he missed weight in massive fashion Friday.

His 7.5-pound miss was so big that the Nevada Athletic Commission wasn’t going to let him fight Diaz, who hit his mark on the scale. So the UFC had to shuffle things around, and Diaz fought Tony Ferguson, and Chimaev fought Holland at a 180-pound catchweight.

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The pre-fight antics aside, as well as his post-fight interview antics in which he seemed to be very much intent on making himself the UFC’s newest villain that many fans will love to hate, the weight miss could be a problem for Chimaev if he wants a shot at the welterweight title. If he can’t be trusted to make weight, the UFC might be reluctant to count on him to be on target when it really counts for a title fight.

So should the members of the UFC brass let him back to welterweight? Or should they push him up to middleweight?

That’s the question we asked our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura, who discussed the topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their conversation in the video above, or check out this week’s full episode below.

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 13: Irene Aldana gaining steam

Check out our MMA rankings update after a matchup shakeup at UFC 279.

After a last-minute shuffling of bouts and issues on the scale, UFC 279 ended up with three catchweight bouts on the main card, which left some winners and losers seeing no movement this week. However, there were some that gained or lost ground in the rankings.

Although it wasn’t his original opponent, [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] got his promotional send-off by defeating former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson in a welterweight bout. For Ferguson, it was his fifth-straight setback. Although the fight didn’t take place in the weight class in which he’s ranked, being finished by an unranked Diaz causes him to lose a couple of spots, landing at No. 12 among lightweights.

In another catchweight bout, [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] faced Macy Chiasson on the main card. Chiasson had a tough first round, but just as things were turning in her favor, Aldana landed a very rare finish with an upkick to the liver, resulting in a TKO victory. Again, even though this bout technically took place outside of the division, Aldana’s performance was worthy of a bump up from No. 8 to No. 7 in this week’s update.

Check out all of the changes following UFC 279.

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Video: Was the UFC 279 lineup debacle handled the right way?

This past Saturday’s UFC 279 devolved into one of the craziest 48 hours before an event in UFC history.

This past Saturday’s UFC 279 devolved into one of the craziest 48 hours before an event in UFC history.

Thursday, the UFC had to cancel its press conference when multiple backstage incidents between camps threatened to turn into bigger issues. President Dana White endured the boo birds when the fans couldn’t see the likes of Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev up close and personal.

Then Friday, headliner Chimaev missed weight so badly that the UFC had to shuffle the top three fights – and everyone got a new opponent with just a day’s notice.

Diaz (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC) fought and submitted Tony Ferguson (25-8 MMA, 15-6 UFC) instead of a much tougher matchup (at least from a betting perspective) against Chimaev. Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) dominated Kevin Holland (23-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) for a quick submission after he beefed with him and his camp before the press conference. And Daniel Rodriguez (17-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) took a split call from Li Jingliang (19-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC), who was Ferguson’s original opponent.

A lot of people made the argument, in the aftermath, that perhaps Chimaev’s massive weight miss was a good thing, considering the new matchups were arguably more competitive and made for three better fights than what originally were booked. But did the UFC make the right calls now that we have a few days to look back on it?

That’s the question we asked our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura, who discussed the topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their conversation in the video above, or check out this week’s full episode below.

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Robert Whittaker open to training with Khamzat Chimaev, expects him to do ‘quite well’ against top middleweights

Former champion Robert Whittaker has no doubt Khamzat Chimaev would fare well against the UFC’s middleweight elite.

[autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] has no doubt [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] would fare well against the UFC’s middleweight elite.

Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has competed at middleweight several times before, but has emerged as a top contender at 170 pounds. However, after missing the welterweight mark by 7.5 pounds for his originally scheduled bout against Nate Diaz this past Saturday at UFC 279, many wonder if his future is at 185 pounds.

Chimaev mentioned his intent of becoming a UFC dual champion before, and when asked about a potential fight with Whittaker, “Borz” said he’d rather train with Whittaker (24-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC). The former middleweight champion is definitely interested.

“I’m happy with that,” Whittaker told Middle Easy. “His personality is just, what you see is what you get. He’s wild, but he’s a phenomenal fighter. I like his approach on hunting bad guys. I was really impressed with that (Kevin) Holland fight, and yeah, I’m very interested in seeing where he goes with this.

“Definitely, it is a compliment. I’d like to work with him because anyone that can implement game plans the way he has, and obviously his wrestling and grappling is top-tier. He’s trained with the likes of Till as well. Hopefully our paths cross and we can get some good work together.”

Whittaker was asked how Chimaev stacks up against the middleweight division’s top five, and after seeing him tear through Holland in one round at UFC 279, he’s confident he’d have no issues.

“For sure,” Whittaker said. “I can’t express enough how wild it was to see him just go in there and manhandle Holland that way. It was crazy. And then for him to have the undoubted belief and confidence and skill set, strength and endurance to just do that, it’s crazy. People don’t realize how hard it is to hold people down that don’t want to be held down. He did that quite easily. He’s a big dude. I’m sure he could do 185 quite well.

“I think a lot of what the fans can’t appreciate, and I think only the other fighters can appreciate, is the amount of confidence – the amount of confidence Chimaev needed to have to just be like, ‘You know what? I’m going to get this guy down, and that’s all I’m doing, and I will outlast him. I’ll get him down, I’ll hold him down, I’ll do what I want with him, and I’m going to do everything.’ Like, he just let his gas tank go. He just invested completely knowing that that’s how it was going to happen. It was wild – absolutely wild.”

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