Tag: ufc 288

Diego Lopes felt Movsar Evloev’s ‘knee cracking and hyperextending’ at UFC 288, surprised he didn’t tap

All things considered, Diego Lopes was pleased with his short-notice UFC debut against undefeated Movsar Evloev – even in defeat.

[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] gave his all in his UFC debut, and he’s impressed that [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] was able to survive it.

The two featherweights put on a show this past Saturday on the pay-per-view main card of UFC 288 as they went back and forth to the final bell in a dramatic fight. In the end, Evloev (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) got the win, but Lopes (21-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) left with the respect of many viewers, especially considering he took the fight on just five days’ notice and gave an unbeaten contender hell.

Lopes came close to securing multiple submissions, but the closest was a kneebar attempt in the final 10 seconds of the third round.

“Yeah, (the kneebar) was the closest one,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I think if I would’ve had 20 or 30 seconds more, the result could’ve been different because his knee was fully extended, and I felt his knee cracking and hyperextending.”

Lopes knew that submitting Evloev and taking his unbeaten status wouldn’t be an easy task, but part of him is surprised he wasn’t able to get it done with the kneebar.

“Yeah, it did surprise me, but we know how these Russians are,” Lopes said. “They don’t like to tap and much more if they’re undefeated, so their mentality is very strong. I wasn’t fully surprised, but when I locked the submission I did believe he was going to tap, but he didn’t.”

The fight against Evloev officially stands as a loss in Lopes’ career. However, the Brazilian left UFC 288 with his head held high.

Despite the defeat, he did make it to the UFC by taking the short-notice fight and got a $50,000 bonus for Fight of the Night. Lopes also told MMA Junkie that UFC president Dana White promised to pay him his win bonus, as well.

“I feel very happy and really excited to have made it to the UFC and have a contract in hand,” Lopes said. “I fought someone who was ranked, who had a good record and is undefeated. Everything that I was able to do in the cage now gives me motivation.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.

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Video: Which UFC 288 performance stood out the most, headliners aside?

There were high stakes atop the UFC 288 main card, but the prelims were filled with some powerful finishes.

The two fights atop the UFC 288 pay-per-view billing garnered the most attention entering and exiting the evening, but the undercard was filled with finishes and strong performances flying under-the-radar.

In the main event, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling retained his title with a split decision win over Henry Cejudo. The co-main event saw Belal Muhammad dominated Gilbert Burns in a five-round title eliminator.

Those fights aside, which UFC 288 performance stood out the most? Was it one of the fighters mentioned above? Or was it someone else?

On the main card, Yan Xiaonan quickly dispatched of Jessica Andrade, to potentially earn her crack at women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili.

There was Matt Frevola, who proved the oddsmakers wrong when he finished Drew Dober with strikes in the featured prelim. There was Kennedy Nzechukwu, who survived an early Devin Clark onslaught to put his opponent to sleep with a standing guillotine choke. Then, there was Ikram Aliskerov, who slept Phil Hawes with a nasty one-hitter quitter.

With a handful of potential options, our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Farah Hannoun weighed in with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode below.

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.

Daniel Cormier: Beating Sean O’Malley would make UFC champ Aljamain Sterling ‘undeniable’

Daniel Cormier believes Sean O’Malley is the name UFC champion Aljamain Sterling needs on his resume to win over fans.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] believes [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] is the name UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] needs on his resume to win over fans.

After retaining his belt against Henry Cejudo in this past Saturday’s UFC 288 headliner at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Sterling (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) now holds the record for most consecutive bantamweight title defenses in company history at three. “The Funkmaster” is on a nine-fight winning streak, the longest active streak in bantamweight history.

But despite his accolades, Cormier still views him as under-appreciated and believes O’Malley (16-1 MMA, 8-1) is the opponent that could enhance his profile.

“If Aljo can get through Sean, (it) will elevate Aljo to a point where it’s undeniable,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC.” “Because for as good as Khabib (Nurmagomedov) was, he wasn’t the Khabib we know today with 30 million Instagram followers until he beat Conor McGregor.”

After the fight, Sterling called O’Malley into the cage, and the pair almost got physical when Sterling’s teammate, Merab Dvalishvili, wore O’Malley’s jacket that he threw off while facing off with Sterling.

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Cormier was able to read two things from O’Malley’s faceoff with Sterling.

“First off, Sean O’Malley seems very confident going into the fight with Aljamain Sterling and why wouldn’t he be when he hasn’t really been tested in that way outside of Petr Yan?” Cormier said. “Two things stood out, though: One, Sean O’Malley looked huge. Aljamain Sterling is one of the biggest guys in that weight class. He’s one of the tallest guys. … Secondly, he kept saying you’re gonna fight much sooner than you think you are.

“What is Sean O’Malley alluding to? What does he know that Aljo may not even know yet. He’s telling him he’s gonna be cutting the weight right now because they’re gonna fight again. I mean, are they gonna try to turn Aljamain Sterling around in three months, four months, to make him fight Sean O’Malley?”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.

UFC 288 medical suspensions: Gilbert Burns’ injured shoulder requires doctor clearance before return

UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns can’t fight again until he receives clearance from a doctor.

UFC welterweight contender [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] can’t fight again until he receives clearance from a doctor.

That was determined by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, which issued Burns an indefinite medical suspension in the wake of UFC 288 this past Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark. Burns lost a lopsided five-round unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad in the night’s co-main event.

Burns suffered a left shoulder injury in the first round that prevented him from hardly throwing punches with his left hand for the remainder of the fight. The New Jersey commission automatically suspended Burns 30 days but added that he’d be out indefinitely pending an X-ray to his left shoulder and clearance from an orthopedist.

Burns’ suspension was part of a full list obtained by MMA Junkie on Wednesday. In total, 14 fighters from the 12-fight card received medical suspensions.

The full list can be seen below.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, May 9: Belal Muhammad continues upward; Henry Cejudo reenters top five

Henry Cejudo reenters the USA Today/MMA Junkie rankings after he officially ended his three-year-long retirement.

UFC 288 took place Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. where multiple fighters made a significant impact.

In the main event, [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] returned to action for the first time in three years when he lost a close split decision to bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]. With the performance, Cejudo is eligible for ranking and inserts in at No. 4.

Co-main event winner [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] had an impressive performance as he dominated former UFC title challenger [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] for much of 25 minutes to earn a unanimous decision nod – and a jump to No. 3 in our rankings.

Two women’s strawweight contenders, [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] and [autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag], also had big, meaningful victories. Xiaonan’s TKO of Jessica Andrade moves her from No. 6 to No. 5. Jandiroba’s unanimous decision victory over Marina Rodriguez shoots her up the rankings from No. 11 to No. 6.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

Video: What did you make of Sean O’Malley crashing UFC 288 main event?

UFC president Dana White expressed regret for allowing Sean O’Malley in the cage at UFC 288, but was it really a mistake?

The MMA world hadn’t even digested [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s successful title defense over Henry Cejudo before the fight promotion began for the division’s next championship matchup.

After an aggressive invitation from Sterling, next title challenger [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] entered the cage at UFC 288 in Newark, N.J. with a red jacket a la “Thriller” that Michael Jackson would be proud of.

As O’Malley and Sterling barked, the jacket came off. That’s when Sterling’s teammate Merab Dvalishvili stole O’Malley’s jacket and broke the internet in the process.

After the verbal skirmish nearly turned physical, UFC president Dana White expressed regret in a post-fight news conference – but was it really a mistake? What is to be made of this sort of fight promotion?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Farah Hannoun weighed in with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode below.

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.

Alexander Volkanovski on Aljamain Sterling’s UFC 288 win over Henry Cejudo: ‘Get a bigger win and call me out’

Alexander Volkanovski thinks a fight with Aljamain Sterling would be a hard sell after UFC 288.

UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] thinks a fight with bantamweight champ [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] would be a hard sell after UFC 288.

Sterling edged out Henry Cejudo by split decision in this past Saturday’s headliner at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Prior to the fight, both Sterling and Cejudo mapped out a plan to fight Sean O’Malley if victorious, then move up a weight class to challenge featherweight champ Volkanovski.

But after watching Sterling (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) squeak past Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), Volkanovski isn’t too excited about the matchup.

“I think you have to give it to Sterling,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “Just don’t call me out, lads. Get a bigger win and call me out next one.”

Volkanovski (25-2 MMA, 12-1 UFC) agreed with the decision but doesn’t see UFC fans clamoring for a fight between him and Sterling either. “The Funkmaster” stuck to his original plans by calling O’Malley into the octagon as they faced off to set up his next title defense.

“We weren’t surprised that Sterling got that decision,” Volkanovski said. “Definitely no robbery or anything like that. I’m glad he didn’t call me out after that fight. Again, though, any fight excites me if people want it. But you want people to have big wins. You want people to want the fight. It’s hard to say people want the fight straight after some fights.”

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After falling short in his quest to become double champion against lightweight champ Islam Makhachev at UFC 284, Volkanovski is expected to unify his belt with interim champ Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.

Video: What’s in store for Belal Muhammad after UFC 288?

Belal Muhammad clinched a title shot, according to UFC president Dana White. So what does his journey look like from here?

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] is second in the title queue, according to UFC president Dana White.

In the UFC 288 co-main event, Muhammad dominated former UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns over five rounds to earn a unanimous decision win Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J..

With the promotion still working on Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington, Muhammad will get his crack at the winner of that welterweight title fight. When or where Covington vs. Edwards will take place be remains to be configured. Muhammad said he has no interest in weighing as a backup fighter.

So what, or who, will Muhammad encounter next? Is there a chance he’d take another fight to stay active?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Farah Hannoun weighed in with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode below.

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.

Dominick Cruz: Henry Cejudo winning at UFC 288 would’ve been ‘catastrophic’ for bantamweight division

Dominick Cruz believes Aljamain Sterling’s win over Henry Cejudo helped the UFC bantamweight division dodge a worst-case scenario.

[autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag] is glad [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] wasn’t able to reclaim gold at UFC 288.

Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) lost a razor-thin split decision to bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) in this past Saturday’s main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who was knocked out by Cejudo three years ago at UFC 249, explained that Sterling as champion would be better for the bantamweight division.

“I think that it would’ve been really catastrophic to have Henry there compared to Sterling,” Cruz said Monday on “The MMA Hour.” “I just think Sterling is gonna be much better for the 135-pound division as champion. I just think he’s more active, shows himself as a champion that I’m proud to say he’s the champion at 135, the way he carries himself, the way that he fights, the way that he shows respect, stuff like that. So it’s cool to have him now. I’m glad he’s champion.”

Cruz’s issue with Cejudo is what transpired after their fight. Cejudo retired after beating Cruz and returned from a three-year layoff to challenge Sterling. Former WEC and UFC bantamweight champion Cruz thinks Cejudo took an easy way out.

“Anybody who comes and wins the title and retires when they’re in their prime is trying to dodge pressure,” Cruz said. “If we’re in a group of 50 people, and we’re all training, all of us MMA fighters, we’re all in one room training. Let’s just say it’s a training session, and Henry knocks somebody out in the middle of that training session, and then walks off the mat and lets us all train for the next three hours, and then he comes back after three hours and goes, ‘OK, I’ll give you guys a chance to complete with me today.’

“He just rested for three hours. But we all kept working in the USADA testing pool, and while all these guys are staring at us, drooling ready to get that next spot. You know how much pressure that is? When I had three knee blowouts, a blown-out shoulder, busted hands, and I’m in the USADA testing pool, and I’ve got people calling me out every week, telling me that I need to get out there and compete. That’s a lot of pressure.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.

Belal Muhammad reveals sprained ankle heading into UFC 288: ‘Thankfully in the fight I felt good’

Belal Muhammad dodged potential disaster as he was compromised heading into his fight with Gilbert Burns.

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] isn’t one to make excuses, but he wasn’t the only compromised fighter at UFC 288.

Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) defeated Gilbert Burns (22-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday’s co-main event at Prudential Center in Newark N.J., where Burns appeared to injure his shoulder early in the fight.

But during fight week, photos surfaced of Muhammad’s swollen ankle, which raised speculation about his condition. Muhammad confirmed that he did sprain his ankle but said it had no impact on him during the fight.

“Thankfully, like I said, nothing crazy,” Muhammad told MMA Underground. “It was just, we pushed ourselves in three weeks. We had to go full force right away. And I’m always an over-trainer, an over-worker, an over-thinker. So, we started going full force at it. Stuff happens, but thankfully in the fight I felt good. The adrenaline kicked in. Nothing happened, everything worked out in our favor. It looked smooth in there. It felt smooth in there.”

Despite the injury, Muhammad used a kick-heavy approach against Burns. He was unconcerned with the further damage it could cause, since he has to wait for welterweight champion Leon Edwards to defend his title against Colby Covington before getting his title shot.

“It was a sprained ankle,” Muhammad said. “And there was a swelling around it. And we’re using it a lot because we knew we were going to be doing a lot of kicking in this fight. So, it was just like, we’ve just got to get through this fight, 25 minutes, doesn’t matter what type of pain we’re going through. We’re gonna get through it. And in the end, we’ll take all the rest we need because we’ve got to wait for these two clowns (Leon Edwards and Colby Covington) to fight anyway.”

After Muhammad pushed his unbeaten streak to 10 fights, UFC president Dana White confirmed that he’s secured a welterweight title shot against the winner of champion Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington, which is waiting to be booked.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.