Tag: UFC 285

Bo Nickal’s UFC 285 win to stand after Jamie Pickett’s appeal fails to materialize

Jamie Pickett won’t appeal his UFC 285 loss to Bo Nickal after all following a conversation between his manager and the commission.

[autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag] will no longer appeal his UFC 285 loss to [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag], according to his manager.

LaMont Chappell of LCA Sports Management, the agency that represents Pickett, informed MMA Junkie shortly after the March 4 fight that he was firm on appealing a perceived missed groin strike prior to the finish.

Circumstances have changed, however, as Chappell informed MMA Junkie on Friday that an appeal won’t be filed. According to Chappell, Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Jeff Mullen recently indicated to him that there are not grounds to qualify for an appeal. As a result, Chappell did not follow through with filing one.

NAC spokesperson Frankie Mason confirmed to MMA Junkie that Pickett’s team was recently notified of the qualifications of the appeal process and that the commission did not receive an official appeal.

Mason pointed to NAC 467.770, the statute that states a result can be overturned following a decision for one of three reasons, with only one relevant to the challenge at hand.

  1. The Commission determines that there was collusion affecting the result of the contest or exhibition
  2. The compilation of the scorecards of the judges discloses an error, which shows that the decision was given to the wrong unarmed combatant; or
  3. As the result of an error in interpreting a provision of this chapter, the referee has rendered an incorrect decision.

Chappell told MMA Junkie that he’s disappointed and hopes the bylaws of the appeal process can be revisited and revised for future instances.

“While disappointed with the rules that govern appeals, I still remain hopeful that cases like ours will continue to shape future conversations regarding judging and officiating that are called into question,” Chappell said in a written statement. “After speaking to a representative of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, we as a combat sports community should be more diligent in pushing for the tough conversations to better advocate for our fighters.”

[lawrence-related id=2627385,2627421]

Nickal, a former Dan Hodge Trophy winner in wrestling, needed just 2:54 to win the bout by submission. However, prior to the fight hitting the mat, Nickal kneed Pickett in the midsection along the fence. Pickett visibly grimaced once it landed, but referee Keith Peterson allowed the action to continue.

After the fight, the two sides disagreed whether or not the strike should’ve been deemed a foul.

“I hit him in the leg, in the thigh,” Nickal said. “I had him in a bad position along the wall. He wanted to get off the wall, and he wanted the ref to stop it. If I were to have actually hit him low, I would feel bad, because I don’t want to win that way. I’m not a cheater. I’m not somebody who tries to take short cuts. If I did hit him low, I would’ve just relaxed probably or let the ref stop it. But I didn’t hit him low at all, so it’s a weird move, bro.”

Mullen recently told MMA Fighting that the commission, including Peterson, reviewed the foul shortly after it occurred inside the cage but found no conclusive evidence it was illegal.

“The review official cannot overturn the in-cage referees decision without indisputable video evidence,” Mullen said.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

Dana White: Jon Jones would have beat Francis Ngannou ‘exactly’ like he did Ciryl Gane

UFC president Dana White dismissed a Francis Ngannou return and added Jon Jones would handle him ‘exactly’ like the Ciryl Gane fight.

MMA fans around the world want a [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] matchup sometime in the future, but in a way, UFC president [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] thinks the world has already seen it.

Since Ngannou and the UFC officially parted ways, White has dismissed the possibility of a reunion between the two parties. Friday in an interview with TMZ Sports, White expressed similar sentiments – but added Jones would likely handle Ngannou the way he did Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.

“I’m not interested (in that fight),” White said. “I tried making that fight for two years. He didn’t want the fight. Do you know what I mean? He didn’t want the fight. He left here without even having another deal in place. And I know how the boxing world is. It’s crazy. But Francis didn’t want to do it.

“I tried to make that fight for two years, and let me tell you what. I think a lot of other people feel this way. I think that’s exactly the way the fight would’ve gone if (Ngannou) was in there, too. Him and Ciryl had a five-round war (at UFC 270 in January 2022). If Ciryl doesn’t go for that submission, Ciryl probably wins that fight at the end of the fifth round there.”

Jones, 35, returned from a three-year hiatus March 4 when he submitted Gane with a guillotine choke in 2:04 to win the heavyweight title vacated by Ngannou. After the fight, Ngannou backhandedly complimented Jones, to which Jones called Ngannou “a big old p*ssy.”

[pickup_prop id=”32222″]

VIdeo: Is UFC women’s flyweight division on its way to being best in MMA?

After once being criticized as the weakest division in women’s MMA, the UFC flyweight division is thriving after a stunning title change.

After once being criticized as the weakest division in women’s MMA, the UFC flyweight division is thriving after a stunning title change at UFC 285 when Alexa Grasso upset Valentina Shevchenko to claim gold.

With Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) now holding the throne, the women’s 125-pound weight class is more compelling than ever with Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) sitting in the contender column alongside the likes of the highly touted Erin Blanchfield and surging Frenchwoman Manon Fiorot.

Could a case already be made that the division is the best out there? Or has it already gotten there?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom and Farah Hannoun debated that topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below.

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

‘Si se puede’: Alexa Grasso’s historic UFC 285 title win was inspired by rise of Mexican MMA

Alexa Grasso reflects on her historic UFC title win and rise of Mexican MMA.

[autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] was well aware she was fighting for more than a UFC championship belt this past Saturday.

When she set foot in the octagon at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to challenge Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC women’s flyweight title, Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) knew her legacy was at stake, and on a bigger scale, the legacy of an entire country.

Mexican fighters in the world of boxing have long dominated and claimed their piece of history in the sport. But in MMA, that’s an entire different story. For many years, Mexico-born fighters had no presence in the world’s biggest stage for MMA – the UFC. However, that is now changing.

In 2023, Mexico was presented with its chance to make a grand arrival and claim real estate atop the UFC. Grasso, along with Yair Rodriguez and Brandon Moreno,  earned opportunities to fight for UFC belts.

Moreno defeated Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283 in January to become the undisputed UFC flyweight champion, and Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett in February at UFC 284 to win the interim featherweight title and secure himself a fight with champion Alexander Volkanovski.

This gave Grasso all the momentum and strength to do her part and carry the Mexican flag even further in MMA.

“It was a huge motivation for me,” Grasso told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I truly wanted to win that belt and I couldn’t return to Mexico without the third title because this is an important moment for Mexican fighters: Brandon won, Yair won.

“So imagine, I said to myself, ‘I have to win, no matter what happens. I need to win or win that title.’ It was a big motivation to see them win. I trained a lot, I’m telling you, I trained so, so much to win.”

And that she did. In the co-main event of UFC 285, Grasso defied the odds and became the first person to finish an all-time great in Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC). She did it with a rear-naked choke in the fourth round of their contest.

“It didn’t happen by coincidence, it’s something that I trained a lot,” Grasso said regarding her submission win. “I’ve actually done it before. I don’t know if you remember the fight against Jojo (Joanne Wood), but she does similar spins.

“It’s a good attack, but you also risk getting your back taken, and that’s something my coaches and I saw as an opportunity. There were also other techniques that we had prepared to finish the fight, this was just one of them. There’s the video, you saw us training it on the mats before the fight, and it happened. The objective was accomplished and we’re happy.”

[lawrence-related id=1987969,2621690]

Prior to the defeat, Shevchenko had only lost to one person in the UFC – two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes. The loss also put an end to Shevchenko’s historic title run, which stands as the longest in the UFC’s female history, with seven successful defenses.

With that track record present, Grasso was a big underdog entering UFC 285. Many gave her little chance, and some were already talking about other contenders for Shevchenko’s next title defense.

“I’m not going to live, it obviously doesn’t feel good when so many people don’t believe in you,” Grasso said. “Everyone doubted, they said I had no chance, that I wasn’t at that level, that I can’t do it. It obviously doesn’t feel good, but I know that when I won, I surprised a lot of people and changed the mentality on how they view me. That was important. For people to see who I am and how hard I train.”

Grasso is open to fight Shevchenko in an immediate rematch, as she recognizes she stature in the sport. She also hopes that the UFC books it for an event in Mexico, but will defend the belt wherever the UFC sees fit.

The 29-year-old hopes that this title win, along with the other two from Moreno and Rodriguez, keeps inspiring Mexican athletes to the pinnacle of the sport. But more specifically, her teammates at Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“It sometimes seems impossible, or it looks so far away. We think, ‘Oh, who knows when this will come, but si se puede (it can be done). To all my training partners, si se puede. They’ve actually been sending me messages saying they’re super motivated because they saw how hard I trained and how disciplined I was, and that makes me happy. This is just the first step of what’s to come.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

‘We knew it was going to happen:’ Alexa Grasso’s BJJ coach, Diego Lopes, details lengthy prep for UFC 285

Alexa Grasso and her team sure did their homework before choking out Valentina Shevchenko for UFC gold.

[autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] is not a UFC champion by coincidence.

Many dismissed Grasso’s chances of dethroning all-time great Valentina Shevchenko entering this past Saturday’s UFC 285, and even after beating her to become the first person to finish Shevchenko, some are still not ready to give Grasso her due. At a quick glance, some see Grasso’s historic upset win over Shevchencko as a sign of luck, a costly mistake by Shevchenko, or maybe even just as one of the rare but reoccurring wild cards the MMA Gods deal out from time to time.

Well, Grasso’s jiu-jitsu coach at Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, Mexico, [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag], also a current MMA fighter, guarantees that there’s more than meets the eye.

Grasso’s quick back take and lock of the rear-naked choke in response to Shevchenko’s spinning kick was something. Like many other successful attacks from Grasso that night, that was carefully planned out  – and there’s proof of it.

“We could say that easily hundreds, actually thousands of times,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish when asked about how much Grasso trained the counter-attack seen at UFC 285. “It was a long time, and I’m telling you: We’d go over that every day – day and night.

“We were there reviewing it before hard training, after hard training, we’d always go over the same thing. Alexa has always had good jiu-jitsu. It was just about working specific details.”

[autotag]Francisco Grasso[/autotag], Alexa’s uncle and head coach, recognized the opening and brought it to Lopes’ attention after going over hours of footage on Shevchenko. They knew there had to be something that they could exploit in the fight – even from a world-class champion – and fortunately for them, they found a dent in the armor.

“In all her fights, she’s thrown spinning kicks,” Lopes said. “The master mind behind all of this has been Pancho (Francisco Grasso). He’s always days and night, even in early hours of the morning – sometimes doesn’t even sleep, analyzing every detail, every second of the fight to give us the best material for us to work with.

“It’s been a team effort, but the main credit goes to Pancho. He’s the one that saw that opening and that opportunity. He simply brought this to my attention and said, ‘Look, brother, I see this opportunity. What can we do here? What can we work with?’ And with that in mind, that’s when I contributed with my grain of sand to Pancho’s idea.

“This was the result. We waited for the opportunity and got it. As you mentioned, there’s the video. There’s the evidence. There’s no discussion. That’s what we did the whole camp. And it’s not just this, like that video, we have many other key things that we have video of in camp that happened in the fight. We knew it was going to happen. It was a team effort, but specially our coach Francisco Grasso, who saw the opening.”

[lawrence-related id=1987969,2621690]

But perhaps the most wild thing about all this, is not that Shevchenko no longer sits at the top of the UFC women’s flyweight division, but it’s actually realizing how long Grasso’s win was in the making.

The real work didn’t start months ago when Grasso and her team received a contract to fight Shevchenko in a five-round contest. They’ve actually been scouting Shevchenko well before they were in title contention.

“We started working on this ever since Alexa began taking off at 125 pounds,” Lopes explained. “After she beat Ji Yeon Kim and Macycee Barber (in 2021), we knew we could be fighting Valentina in the future, and since then, we’ve been preparing for this moment.

“People always looked at Valentina the way that she wants to be seen. But when we stopped to analyze every detail, every second of her fights, every opening that we could have, that’s when we said, ‘Hey, this is a fighter who we can beat. She’s not the seven-head monster that people are saying.’ We’ve been putting together a game plan for a long time. Obviously we’ve had a four-month camp, but that was just polishing up.”

Lopes assures that Shevchenko has been a point of discussion for many years inside the walls of Lobo Gym. Nothing personal, Shevchenko just happened to stay champion, and a UFC title at 125 pound is what they were after.

“Oh, yeah, a while,” Lopes responded when pressed about how far back they’ve been studying Shevchenko. “If you enter the rankings, and you’re not thinking about the title, then what are you doing there? If you don’t want to fight for the title, if you don’t want to face the champion, then why do you work to be in the rankings?

“The objective with Alexa was clear. In every fight you could see her evolving. The goal has always been the title, regardless of who was champion. It just so happen to be that fight after fight, Valentina stayed champion, so every time we won, we’d sit down and analyze Valentina’s fights knowing that the opportunity may one day come.”

Alexa Grasso is carried in the ring after defeating Valentina Shevchenko in a UFC 285 mixed martial arts flyweight title bout Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker) ORG XMIT: NVDB118

That night in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena, Grasso did more than just win a UFC title and become the first person to finish Shevchenko in her 20-year-career. She also made history for her country as the first Mexico-born woman to challenge and win a UFC championship belt.

Lopes is proud to have contributed to Grasso’s incredible feat and feels this win validates the work that’s being done by everyone at Lobo Gym.

“For me, it meant so much,” Lopes said. “It meant that every training session, everything, resulted in what we got that night. It filled me with pride. It filled me with emotion.

“We were against the world. Everyone was saying that it wasn’t possible, that Valentina was going to win. As you said, Alexa and I are friends apart from training partners, so it’s that, me being her trainer and friend and seeing how much she’s sacrificed to be where she’s at. She’s sacrificed so much of her life to be at this moment. The merit goes to her, the team, her uncle and coach Francisco Grasso.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

Demetrious Johnson considers Jon Jones the GOAT after capturing second UFC title

Demetrious Johnson still thinks Jon Jones is the greatest of all time after becoming a two-division UFC champion.

[autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] still believes [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] is the greatest of all time after becoming a two-division UFC champion.

A former longtime light heavyweight champion, Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) needed just 2 minutes to claim the vacant heavyweight title when he submitted Ciryl Gane last Saturday at UFC 285.

Johnson, who holds the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses at 11, is in the conversation of greatest of all time. But when asked who’s the greatest, Johnson said he still sees Jones as No. 1.

“Yeah, I said it last time: I always felt that from Jon Jones,” Johnson told TMZ.

“Jon Jones, what he did to Gane Saturday night, I mean, he took him down and choked him out. I truly believe he could’ve done that at 205.”

Johnson, the reigning ONE flyweight champion, acknowledges that out of all the greats, he’s one of the few that haven’t captured a belt in a second weight division during his UFC tenure.

[lawrence-related id=2622888,2622774,2622597]

“I’ve had the longest consecutive title defenses, and I’ve also had 14 world title fight wins,” Johnson added. “I believe he’s at 15 now. You look at GSP (St-Pierre), I think he took four years off and he fought in 2013 against Johnny Hendricks then he came back in 2017 and beat Michael Bisping, who was a champion. You look at Anderson Silva, we’ve all done amazing things in mixed martial arts.”

“The one thing that separates those guys from me is those guys have gone up and competed and won a world championship in a different weight class, where I haven’t. Henry Cejudo’s done it, Jon’s done it, Randy Couture’s done it, the list just goes on and on of all the guys who have done it, and that’s one thing I haven’t done.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

Jon Jones takes exception with Francis Ngannou, Daniel Cormier during UFC 285 reflection

After a few days of relative inactivity on social media since UFC 285, Jon Jones took jabs at Francis Ngannou and Daniel Cormier.

[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] has taken a few days to process his successful heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane this past Saturday at UFC 285.

While Jones has never been shy about sharing his feelings on Twitter, he largely remained absent on social media in the three days that followed his first-round submission to claim the vacant heavyweight title at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

On Thursday, however, that changed. After he tweeted a thank you message to his supporters, Jones answered a handful of comments posted by users pertaining to various topics, including his experience at heavyweight, a future matchup against [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag], his old rival [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag]’s reaction to his win, and more.

See below to find out what Jones had to say on a variety of topics.

Daniel Cormier: Ciryl Gane seemed ‘intimidated by the moment’ of facing Jon Jones at UFC 285

Daniel Cormier thinks Ciryl Gane was overwhelmed having to fight Jon Jones.

Was the moment too big for [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] at UFC 285? [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] believes it was.

Looking back, Cormier thinks Gane was overwhelmed by having to face Jon Jones for the vacant heavyweight title this past Saturday in Las Vegas. Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) was quickly submitted by the retuning Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) as he never had a chance to get going, with Jones taking him down and locking in a guillotine choke for the submission in just over 2 minutes.

Although Gane had told Cormier he wasn’t a fan of Jones, Cormier saw otherwise during the fight.

“It almost felt like the moment was too big for him,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC.” “Did you get that feel when the fight started? Did it feel like a letdown on Ciryl Gane’s behalf? Because it seemed like he was intimidated by the moment.”

He continued, “I interviewed Ciryl Gane the other day for my YouTube channel. He said, ‘I’m not a fan of Jon Jones,’ and that was the title because he said, ‘I’ve only been fighting long enough to see what he’s done late in his career, so I can’t idolize the things that he did prior.’ I believed him, and so did so many others. But when the competition started, it did not feel like it when (Jones) walked away from him. There’s a photo that Kevin Holland posted and it said, ‘That’s how you look at a GOAT.’ Ciryl Gane looked shook. He looked so shocked at what had just happened. His eyes were wide open like, ‘I can’t believe this just happened to me.’ You cannot be enamored with the guy that you’re fighting.”

[lawrence-related id=2622560,2622399,2621420]

After an unbeaten octagon run, including capturing the interim heavyweight title, Gane now has lost two of his past three – a close decision to former champ Francis Ngannou and now a first-round submission to Jones.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

Michael Chandler describes ‘Venn diagram’ of Conor McGregor’s personalities during ‘TUF 31’ filming

Conor McGregor “on Monday is different than Conor on Tuesday, who’s different than Conor on Wednesday, and I freaking love it,” Michael Chandler says.

LAS VEGAS – According to [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag], things aren’t as smooth with [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] as he thought they would be.

Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) respectfully called out McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and wound up getting his wish as the pair are slated to fight later this year. But first, Chandler will coach “The Ultimate Fighter 31” opposite the former UFC two-division champion.

UFC president Dana White hinted at an altercation between the two this past weekend during the filming of the show, and Chandler confirms that things are starting to heat up.

“It’s always fun and cordial until it isn’t,” Chandler said backstage at UFC 285. “It’s always copacetic until we hit the boiling point. Conor and I are natural born competitors. I came here to prove that I’m better – better than him in every sense of the word, in every single aspect of competition, and not just us fighting later this year, but in this competition of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ Conor and I have a lot of mutual respect for each other.

“Even in his awesome brash trash talk, behind all of that stuff, he’s got a lot of respect for the sport, for the purity of mixed martial arts, the purity of martial arts, and all of its competitors. Conor and I have a lot of mutual respect for one another. But ultimately I don’t know if we like each other as much as we thought we were going to. And the good thing is, we get to settle it with 4-ounce gloves under a certain rule set and a contest later on this year. And I can’t wait.”

[lawrence-related id=2622522,2619155]

Chandler also discussed McGregor’s multiple personalities that he’s experienced while around him. The Irish superstar is notorious for his trash talk, but fans saw a cordial version of him in his rematch with Dustin Poirier, before he returned to his usual ways in their trilogy bout at UFC 264.

“I think I made my prediction correctly when I see a guy in Conor who is so good at looking at the Venn diagram of good guy/bad guy, and guy in between who doesn’t quite know when he’s going to be crazy-mean, crazy-witty, crazy-nice, crazy-respective, or respectful only – crazy-respectful, just to set you up to lower your guard just so he can spit you with some venom the next day,” Chandler said. “Conor on Monday is different than Conor on Tuesday, who’s different than Conor on Wednesday, and I freaking love it.

“I absolutely love it. I came in with my arms open, my hands open, saying I have no idea what to expect here. I’m just trying to be authentically myself and let the chips fall where they may because you never know. You never quite know what’s going to happen. And also with me and my team and his, you can’t make a plan, because your plan’s going to get spoiled on this show, because there’s all kinds of crazy stuff getting pulled out of the hat at all different times. But Conor’s been both sides of the coin, to say the least.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

Daniel Cormier: With UFC champ Jon Jones’ history of failed drug tests, ‘it’s hard’ to call him GOAT

“This always puts me in a tough position,” Daniel Cormier said of whether or not Jon Jones is the greatest fighter of all time.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] believes that, despite [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ accolades, there will always be an asterisk next to his name.

A longtime former light heavyweight champion, Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) became a two-division title holder when he submitted Ciryl Gane in Round 1 to capture the vacant heavyweight belt at UFC 285.

Jones defeated Cormier twice during his 205-pound title reign – one which was overturned to a no contest after Jones tested positive for a turinabol metabolite in their rematch. Jones also tested positive for estrogen blockers clomiphene and letrozole in 2016 after he defeated Ovince Saint Preux. In both instances, an independent arbitrator determined that Jones did not knowingly cheat.

But still, based on Jones’ past history with multiple failed drug tests, Cormier can’t consider him the greatest of all time. He insists he’s not bitter; he’s just always taken this stance.

“I think it’s hard to really argue the greatest of all time when Jones has now gone up to heavyweight and won the championship because of what he did at light heavyweight,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC.” “This always puts me in a tough position, because I will always say guys that have bad things attached to their name should not be held on high.

“I think especially with the drugs and the steroid failures and those types of things. I think when you have those things, it’s hard to call you the greatest of all time. And I know Anderson (Silva) and all those guys, but I think (Jones) is in the conversation, because he’s become a heavyweight champion, and now he’s won belts in two weight classes.”

[lawrence-related id=2621046,2622774,2622597]

Not only that, but Cormier disagrees with the UFC now placing Jones as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.

“I don’t, for my opinion, believe he should be No. 1 pound-for-pound,” Cormier said. “I think Alexander Volkanovski should still stay there. I don’t think he should be No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but I have no issue with it if people have voted that.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.