Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Farid Basharat thinks Da’Mon Blackshear underestimated his wrestling and grappling skills in their fight at UFC 285.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Farid Basharat[/autotag] beat Da’Mon Blackshear with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 285 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Basharat, who stayed unbeaten and won his UFC debut after getting there by way of Dana White’s Contender Series.
See how the UFC 285 winners and losers reacted on social media outlets such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Since the early days when the sport was anything but a mainstream endeavor the MMA industry has thrived and survived through various websites, forums, and, perhaps most importantly, social-media platforms.
Fighters interact with fans, each other and many more through the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which helps outsiders get a deeper look into the minds of the athletes.
Following Saturday’s UFC 285 event in Las Vegas, several of the winning and losing fighters, along with their coaches, training partners or family members, took to social media to react to the event or share a message with supporters.
Dana White shares his thoughts on Alexa Grasso’s UFC 285 title win, Bo Nickal’s debut win, Darren Till’s release, more.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] had a lot to digest on Saturday night.
With [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ successful MMA comeback to win the UFC heavyweight title, to [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag]’s historic win over all-time great [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag], the UFC president had plenty on his mind at Saturday’s UFC 285 post-fight press conference.
Speaking with reporters, White shared his thoughts on many topics including Grasso’s championship win, [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s dominant debut, [autotag]Darren Till[/autotag]’s release from the promotion, and much more.
You can read White’s comments below:
Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”
Monday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.
On Episode 3,341, the boys dive into all things surrounding UFC 285. From [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ heavyweight debut and title victory, to [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] shocking the MMA world with an upset championship win over Valentina Shevchenko, to [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]’s future, the fellas touch on it all. 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.
Cameron Saaiman moved to 2-0 in the UFC with a win over Mana Martinez, but for the second straight fight he lost a point for low blows.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Cameron Saaiman[/autotag] beat Mana Martinez with a majority decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 285 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Saaiman, who lost a point for a second low blow – the same as what happened in his UFC debut.
Bo Nickal has looked fantastic in his early UFC career, but Michael Chander says “it’s a little bit unbecoming” to talk the way he does.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] believes the sky is the limit for [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] but says he needs to tone it down on the microphone.
Nickal (4-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) scored another first-round finish when he submitted Jamie Pickett this past Saturday at UFC 285. Prior to finishing Pickett, the standout wrestler had made some bold claims and called out the likes of Khamzat Chimaev. Chandler believes in Nickal’s talent but suggests his confidence could rub fans the wrong way.
“I think Bo Nickal has an exponential opportunity and exponential growth and exponential potential in this sport,” Chandler said backstage at UFC 285. “I think Bo can do awesome, awesome things. I think Bo will do awesome things. I think Bo has the people behind him, the people around him – he knows how to train. He’s got the talent, and obviously at this point he hasn’t been very shy on the microphone. That would be the second thing I would say: I think it’s a little bit unbecoming to come into the UFC off (Dana White’s) Contender Series and start talking about Khamzat Chimaev and fighting Jon Jones or whoever.
“At some point, you’ve got to just play the game, as well. You’ve got to grow, but grow at the right rate. People see what Conor did, getting on the microphone. People see what these other people have done. I think Bo’s getting a little bit too talky for the average fan’s liking. If it were me or his manager, I’d say, ‘Hey, let’s keep our nose to the grindstone. Let’s knock them down when they put them in front of us.'”
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Despite Nickal’s continued dominance, the unbeaten prospect was critical of his UFC debut win, stating that he could have done a lot of things better.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.
Former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou doesn’t see a fight against current champion Jon Jones coming together.
Former UFC heavyweight champion and current free agent [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] was surprised with [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ latest performance, but more importantly, doesn’t believe a matchup against the new champ will ever happen.
Ngannou (17-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) was last seen in the UFC’s octagon at UFC 270 where he defeated Jones’ UFC 285 opponent, former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. After an extensive recovery from knee surgery and failed negotiations for a new contract with the UFC, Ngannou walked away from the promotion and a potentially massive fight against Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC).
In the main event of UFC 285 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Jones finally made his heavyweight debut, fighting Gane for the heavyweight title that was vacated in Ngannou’s absence. The former champ was still very interested in the outcome of the fight, and watched the fight unfold live.
Ngannou celebrated as Jones tapped Gane in the first round, and then gave his thoughts on how the fight played out.
“I knew that if Jon Jones shows up in a good space mentally, not like his last two fights, he’s going to prevail in this fight, but I didn’t see this fight going this short,” Ngannou said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “I think this fight could have been longer. I was surprised, though. I was surprised the way that the fight ended. And I think even seeing Ciryl’s reaction, he was surprised as well because he wasn’t even defending. He wasn’t thinking that a submission could come from where he was.”
When Ngannou fought Gane, the heavy-handed knockout artist went with a successful, yet never-before-seen wrestling attack, despite having torn ligaments in his knee. That led Ngannou to believe that if he could do it, Jones would also have no problem getting the fight to the mat. However, Ngannou did perceive Jones’ approach in a different light.
“That was quite a great performance from Jones,” Ngannou said. “Not very surprising, because I knew that if I could out-wrestle Ciryl, Jon would be another story. He would have a hard night if Jon could lay in on him, but what I did notice is that Jon was rushing. Jon didn’t want to give him space, because I think he was afraid of something.
“Maybe he’d get exhausted at some point, not be able to grab him, so he was chasing him from the first minute to grab him. It worked out pretty good, but it tells me something like he wasn’t very confident, he was rushing, which is good for him.”
Jones is now the official UFC heavyweight champion, however, there are some that believe the title of “undisputed” is inappropriate because Ngannou never lost the title in the cage.
UFC president Dana White told reporters before and after the conclusion of UFC 285 that negotiations with Ngannou are completely over at this point, and he will “never” fight in the UFC again. White also said Ngannou “didn’t want the fight” against Jones, which the former champ addressed.
“Fun fight, a fight I’d like to have but unfortunately, we are not there,” Ngannou said about fighting Jones. “That fight didn’t happen, and probably will never happen now that he’s on a long, very long contract with the UFC. So, that’s not happening anymore.”
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Loik Radzhabov beat Esteban Ribovics at UFC 285 in Las Vegas, but that wasn’t what he came to “Sin City” for.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag] beat Esteban Ribovics with a unanimous decision Saturday to open up the preliminary card at UFC 285 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Radzhabov, a two-time PFL season finalist who picked up a win in his UFC debut.
Daniel Cormier didn’t expect to see numerous errors from Valentina Shevchenko in her past two UFC title fights.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] didn’t expect to see numerous errors from [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] in her past two UFC title fights.
Former flyweight champion Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) edged out Taila Santos by split decision at UFC 275 in a fight where she was controlled on the ground and had her back taken. Her next title defense came against Alexa Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC 285 co-main event, but this time Shevchenko’s mistakes cost her as she was submitted by Grasso after having her back taken in Round 4.
“I never thought I would see Valentina Shevchenko making consistent mistakes,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “She made mistakes in the last fight against Taila (Santos), trying to score takedowns and rushing them, and she made mistakes tonight. Ultimately, the biggest mistake was trying that spinning back kick from in close.
“The last person I remember doing that was Chris Weidman trying an ill-advised spin kick against Luke Rockhold, got himself taken down and beaten up, which ultimately led to Luke becoming the champion. Same thing tonight. When Grasso saw that spinning kick, which she said she trained for, she jumped on her back like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and she went crazy trying to chase the finish.”
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Due to her dominant title reign, Shevchenko is expected to get an immediate rematch. Although Grasso got the finish on the ground, Cormier said she needs to improve her takedown defense if she wants to retain her title.
“She struggled in the takedown defense, and if she’s going to extend this title reign, she will have to shore that up,” Cormier said. “But she was taken down multiple times but continued to fight. Every time she got to her feet, she did a great job of landing on Shevchenko to the point that Valentina started to make mistakes.”
He continued, “She squeezed so much that she squeezed the color out of Valentina Shevchenko’s face. … She didn’t have it under the chin, but she got enough pressure going forward into the jawline that it made a woman that had held that belt essentially from its inception tap instead of just going out. That’s painful.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.
“That’s a fun one. I’m not making the fight. I’m just saying that sounds fun.”
LAS VEGAS – UFC president [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] likes the idea of a fight between [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag].
After choking out Geoff Neal this past Saturday at UFC 285, undefeated Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who boasts a 100 percent finish rate, called for either Covington or a title shot.
And White is open to the Covington fight.
“That’s fun,” White White told reporters at the UFC 285 post-fight news conference. “That’s a fun one. I’m not making the fight. I’m just saying that sounds fun. I didn’t know he did that, but we’ll see.”
Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) hasn’t competed since scoring a lopsided decision win over Jorge Masvidal last March. The likes of Belal Muhammad have continuously called him out, but White dismissed the notion that Covington has been turning down fights.
“Colby’s ready to fight,” White said. “He’s ready to fight, and he’s ready to fight anybody. I know we’ve reached out to him for a couple of different fights, and he said yes to it, but it just didn’t work out.”
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Covington’s return to the octagon is likely delayed after he was allegedly attacked by Masvidal outside a Miami steak restaurant just days after their fight. Covington claimed that he suffered a brain injury and chipped tooth as a result of the attack, and Masvidal pleaded not guilty to single counts of aggravated battery and criminal mischief.
If found guilty, Masvidal could face up to 15 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for second-degree felony aggravated battery with additional penalties possible for the criminal mischief charge.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285
