Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out which epic battle earned MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Year award for 2023.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best fights from January to December 2023.
As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Year.
Aaron Pico would love the gift of a rematch this holiday season, but he’s not getting his hopes up that Santa will come through.
[autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] would love the gift of a rematch this holiday season, but he’s not getting his hopes up that Santa will come through.
Pico (12-4 MMA, 12-4 BMMA) had a six-fight winning streak snapped in 2022 when a shoulder injury at Bellator 286 led to a TKO after the first round against [autotag]Jeremy Kennedy[/autotag] (19-3 MMA, 4-1 BMMA). Because of that unique circumstance, Pico wants to run it back – and says Kennedy is being elusive about it.
“I want to make something clear: I’ve asked to fight Kennedy so many times,” Pico recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “Him and I have the same manager, Ali (Abdelaziz). … I’ve asked: ‘I want to fight a rematch with Kennedy. That wasn’t a clean win.’ I’ve said it time and time again. But you know who doesn’t want that fight is Kennedy. He doesn’t want that.”
Pico, a standout high school wrestler who skipped the college wrestling scene to move straight into MMA, dislocated his shoulder at Bellator 286, and though he was willing to fight with it into the second round, the bout was called off.
Pico said then-Bellator president Scott Coker said the nature of the loss wouldn’t be counted against him.
“That night when I was in the hospital, I got a call from Scott Coker. He said, ‘Hey, that win didn’t count for Kennedy. I don’t even count that. You were worried. You wanted to fight. But I want to run that fight back ASAP.’ I said, ‘You got it, boss. I want that fight as bad as you do.'”
Instead, once he was recovered, Pico said he started hearing no.
“I had the surgery. I’m calling for the fight, asking Ali: ‘No, no, no. You have to fight (James Gonzalez).’ OK. I fight him. I win. I said, ‘OK, I want to fight Kennedy.’
‘Now you’ve got to fight Pedro Carvalho.’ I beat Pedro Carvalho. I said, ‘OK, I’m ready to fight Kennedy.’ Now Kennedy is going to fight for the championship, so I really don’t know what’s going on. Then the rankings come out. I’m above Kennedy, so explain that to me.”
Pico implied Kennedy’s own win over Carvalho 10 months ago in Dublin had him in line to fight champion Patricio Freire, which would explain not jumping at the chance to fight Pico again – and possibly lose and fall out of the immediate title race.
But regardless, Pico said he recognizes he’s in the prime time to be busy in the sport.
“I haven’t really heard anything for PFL, just in Bellator,” he said. “I believe I should fight for the title, and just because you believe it doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily going to happen. But I can say I’m not sitting at my house whining or complaining. I’m in the gym getting better. I’m getting better in my personal life, I’m getting better in the gym, I’m spending time with my son – so in all aspects of my life, I’m trying to enhance myself so when that time does come and they say you’re going to fight, for example, in March, I’m ready to go, and against anybody, and we’ll be ready.”
As we near the halfway mark of 2023, Daniel Cormier listed his top three UFC fights of the year.
As we near the halfway mark of 2023, [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] listed his top three UFC fights of the year.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Cormier said there have been “some tremendous battles” so far in 2023, but three particular ones stood out for the former UFC dual champion.
All three of Cormier’s picks earned Fight of the Night and took place at UFC 284, UFC 285 and UFC 286.
Scroll below to see Cormier’s selections.
Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman’s motivation hasn’t wavered after he dropped two straight for the first time in his career.
[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]’s motivation hasn’t wavered after he dropped two straight for the first time in his career.
Usman has lost back-to-back title fights to welterweight champion Leon Edwards, who handed him his first octagon loss. Edwards dethroned Usman with a late head-kick knockout at UFC 278, then beat him again in their rematch at UFC 286 in March.
Usman (20-3 MMA, 15-2 UFC) admits he finds himself in unfamiliar territory after having previously defended his welterweight title five times, but says this by no means signals the end for him.
“People were more upset that I lost than I was,” Usman said in a recent episode of “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson.” “People were devastated. … I know that I’m the best welterweight, for sure, in the division – I know that. But I’m just in the place where I’m loving the sport again, falling in love with the sport again. I’ve been training now and I just feel stronger. I’m doing certain things, and I’m liking that process again. When I look back on my journey to becoming champion, and defending over and over and over, it was the journey.
“I remember in my white Nissan Maxima, tinted out, just me and my daughter. She’s in the car seat in the back, we drive to the gym, get done, go to Babies R Us, hang out for an hour. I knew what song to play in the car, knock her out, she’s asleep, get home, put her to bed. That was my routine, that was my structure, and I was in love with that process. Then you get to the top and it’s like, ‘No, you’ve got to go here for this interview, you’ve got to go to L.A. for that, you’ve got to go do this show.’ Now I’ve been gone for three weeks and I haven’t even spent time with my daughter.”
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Usman doesn’t currently have a fight booked, but the former champion is ready to return soon.
“I’m loving the process right now, and I’m loving falling in love with the sport again to where, for me, I might just want to pop out in the next couple months and beat somebody up again,” Usman said. “I’m really starting to feel that, but it’s on my own terms now.”
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from March 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from March 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for March.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
Before UFC 287 on Saturday’s main card and prelim fighters are scheduled to speak to reporters at media day.
MIAMI – A numbered UFC event returns to Miami on Saturday for the first time in more than 20 years with UFC 287, which takes place at Kaseya Arena with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Before fight night arrives, though, notable athletes from the card spoke to reporters Wednesday at media day, and MMA Junkie was on-site for it all.
That includes headliners [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC), who are scheduled to rematch for the middleweight title in the main event, as well as the four remaining main card matchups and featured prelim bout.
If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for the archived videos of each media day.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from March 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from March 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for March.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Colby Covington has been declared the next welterweight title challenger for champ Leon Edwards after UFC 286. Is that the right move?
[autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] defended his welterweight title earlier this month in front of his home fans.
He didn’t have a lot of time to bask in the glory of the win against former champ Kamaru Usman, which came in their trilogy fight, and in front of a friendly crowd in London. Former interim champ [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] was in attendance as a backup fighter for the UFC 286 headliner and was declared the next title challenger.
Edwards isn’t on board with the idea that Covington should be next in line after a lengthy layoff. Many fans and pundits aren’t thrilled about it, either, considering it leaves someone like Belal Muhammad still out in the cold.
UFC president Dana White seems committed to another shot for Covington, but things got a little more interesting when Covington rival Jorge Masvidal told MMA Junkie Radio he has “insider information” that if he beats Gilbert Burns at UFC 287, he’ll jump the line past Covington.
So what do we make of that Masvidal claim? And what do we make of Covington being the presumed next challenger? And what do we think should happen with Muhammad? It’s potentially messy in a talent-rich division.
We asked this week’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Nolan King to break it all down with host Simon Samano. Check out their breakdowns 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.
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The UFC’s return to London earlier this month might not have been as finish-happy as a year ago, but there was no shortage of highlights.
The UFC’s return to London earlier this month might not have been as finish-happy as a year ago, but there was no shortage of highlights.
UFC 286, which took March 18 at The O2 in London, featured one of England’s favorites, welterweight champion Leon Edwards, in his first title defense – which happened to be a trilogy rematch with former champ Kamaru Usman. Edwards retained the title with a majority decision – and did so despite losing a point for a fence grab.
His win, once again as an underdog, looks even more impressive when seen through the eyes of the UFC’s super-slow motion cameras in the promotion’s regular pay-per-view “Fight Motion” video highlights piece.
Check out the super-slow motion video highlights from the event, including Edwards-Usman, Justin Gaethje’s Fight of the Night win over Rafael Fiziev, and bonus-winning stoppages from Gunnar Nelson anad Jake Hadley.
Check it out above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 286.
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Muhammad Mokaev suffered another injury at UFC 286 in London, but said he won’t let that derail his activity.
[autotag]Muhammad Mokaev[/autotag] suffered another injury, but he won’t let that derail his activity.
During his fight with Jafel Filho at UFC 286 in London, Mokaev (9-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) was caught in a tight kneebar in Round 3, but the young prospect refused to tap. Mokaev eventually battled out of it and cinched his own submission which ended the fight.
However, Mokaev didn’t come out unscathed. The 22-year-old revealed that he suffered a partial grade 2 MCL tear in his left knee and is expecting a 6-8 week recovery timeline.
“UFC I’m ready for top 10 opponents! I will be ready to fight, I’m going & hungry! I’m not here to pad record or pull out from every single injury! I’m here to become a champion!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CqLaEotIjsY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Mokaev had to deal with similar adversity in the lead-up to his Filho fight. Mokaev dislocated his shoulder three months prior to the fight, but vowed to make it regardless. With the win over Filho, Mokaev is now 4-0 in the UFC with three submissions.
His pursuit for a ranked opponent continues, as Mokaev issued a challenge to anyone in the top 15, including Matt Schnell.
“Still haven’t heard anything from top 15 opponents! Imagine 22 years old kid calling all these old mans out and they still quiet
“
Still haven’t heard anything from top 15 opponents!
Imagine 22 years old kid calling all these old mans out and they still quiet 🤐— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) March 25, 2023
“Matt Schnell you said you don’t want to fight in UK, that’s fine! I will come to US to your backyard and fight you there How about that ? July/august let’s go!”
Matt Schnell you said you don’t want to fight in UK, that’s fine!
I will come to US to your backyard and fight you there
How about that ?
July/august let’s go!— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) March 25, 2023
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