Tag: UFC 293

Nasrat Haqparast has bold prediction for Islam Makhachev’s rematch with Charles Oliveira

Nasrat Haqparast wasn’t far removed from a critical second straight UFC lightweight win when he started looking ahead for a teammate.

SYDNEY – [autotag]Nasrat Haqparast[/autotag] wasn’t too far removed from a critical second straight win when he started looking ahead for a teammate.

Haqparast (15-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC) outworked a gritty Landon Quinones (7-2-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who was making a short-notice UFC debut, for a unanimous decision on the UFC 293 prelims this past Saturday in Australia.

And while Haqparast said he’s interested in a rematch with Bobby Green, who is booked to fight Grant Dawson, he also thinks his division’s chammpion, lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev, isn’t going to have his reign supplanted any time soon. In fact, Haqparast thinks Makhachev will “destroy” former champ Charles Oliveira when they run things back.

Haqparast talked about that and more at Saturday’s UFC 293 post-fight news conference in Sydney.

Check out the full interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Justin Tafa struck Austen Lane with follow-up shots to ensure he wasn’t ‘robbed’ of UFC 293 bonus

Justin Tafa gave up a walk-off knockout at UFC 293 just so he wouldn’t risk losing out on some money.

SYDNEY – [autotag]Justin Tafa[/autotag] gave up a walk-off knockout just so he wouldn’t risk losing out on a bonus.

After their first fight ended in a no contest just 29 seconds in at UFC on ESPN 5 in June, Tafa (7-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) knocked out Austen Lane in the first round this past Saturday at UFC 293.

Tafa dropped Lane (12-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with an overhand left but wasn’t about to pay homage to his idol, Mark Hunt, as he usually does by walking off. Instead, he decided to follow Lane to the mat and land big ground-and-pound to get a more emphatic finish.

“When I seen him falling, I was going to walk off then I saw Mick Maynard in the corner of my eye, and I was like, ‘Not this time, bro,'” Tafa told MMA Junkie and other reporters during a post-fight news conference. “I’m not going to get robbed of another 50K bonus. So, went in, had to put that ground-and-pound for the crowd to roar and definitely get that Performance of the Night.”

Tafa’s strategy worked as he was one of two fighters to earn the $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. It took him four octagon knockouts to earn his first bonus and is content to continue fighting at home even if it means he has to wait a little.

“I would like another one in later this year, but I’ve heard some talk that the UFC is coming back to Australia early next year,” Tafa said. “So, I wouldn’t mind just upscaling some more and just really rounding up my game and making my case for that top 15. Easy.”

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Jamie Mullarkey thought the scoring should have been pretty clear in UFC 293 win over John Makdessi

John Makdessi seemed none too thrilled with the scoring in his loss to Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 293.

SYDNEY – John Makdessi seemed none too thrilled with the scoring in his loss to [autotag]Jamie Mullarkey[/autotag] at UFC 293.

But from where Mullarkey (17-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is sitting, he thinks Makdessi (18-9 MMA, 11-9 UFC) doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on. The round scoring, Mullarkey said, should have been pretty clear.

Mullarkey talked about that and more at Saturday’s UFC 293 post-fight news conference in Sydney.

Check out the full interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Michael Bisping: Israel Adesanya showed an ‘air of arrogance’ in loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293

Michael Bisping thinks Israel Adesanya’s attitude contributed to his loss against Sean Strickland.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]’s attitude contributed to his loss against [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) was dropped and outstruck by Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, losing his middleweight title in a massive upset.

Strickland almost finished Adesanya at the end of Round 1, but Bisping didn’t like the reaction out of Adesanya or his corner, criticizing them for being dismissive of what had just happened.

“There was certainly an air of arrogance in the corner of Israel Adesanya and from Izzy himself,” Bisping said on TNT Sports’ Fight Week. “Even when he was dropped in the first round and very, very close to being finished, he had kind of a smug look on his face like, ‘God bless this guy, he landed a shot. Overhand? OK, no worries.’ No concern, no look of stress, no worry, no realization that he’s in there with a real threat.”

Bisping also questioned Adesanya fighting off his backfoot and relying on his counters, and doesn’t think he was active enough when throwing strikes.

“The reason he almost got the finish in Round 1 was because Izzy was moving backward, and Izzy relies on a lot of fast footwork,” Bisping said. “When you’ve backed up all the way to the fence, there’s no further to move back and you can’t even lean back as far and that was his own demise.

“That’s because he was backing up the whole time. You don’t win fights by backing up. Granted, we have seen masterclasses. … But you’ve got to have some forward pressure, as well, and dancing away all night, backfooting and backtracking, and not throwing very much is no surprise. That is not the recipe to win a fight.”

UFC president Dana White said Adesanya should get an immediate rematch against Strickland, but Bisping wants to see the division move on.

“If it’s me, we’ve got Dricus Du Plessis right there. We’ve got Robert Whittaker. We’ve got Khamzat Chimaev,” Bisping said. “This would allow the division to move on and have a breath of fresh air and maybe some new eras begin. In the meantime, Izzy can go away and have a well-deserved break.

“I am not taking away from Sean Strickland. I thought he did a sensational job. Congratulations to him. But I do think there is something to the schedule that Izzy has kept – which, good for him. It was incredible, but also, to a certain point, possibly to his detriment, as well.”

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Dricus Du Plessis doesn’t ‘really understand’ Dana White criticizing his decision not to fight at UFC 293

Dricus Du Plessis disagrees with Dana White’s recent criticism towards him.

[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] disagrees with [autotag]Dana White[/autotag]’s recent criticism towards him.

Du Plessis was slated to challenge for the middleweight title at UFC 293, but couldn’t make it to the fight due to an injured foot. White wasn’t pleased with Du Plessis turning down the short-notice turnaround after he knocked out Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July.

Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) got the call instead, and did the unthinkable by dethroning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Du Plessis thinks he should be next, and wants people to give him the benefit of the doubt for not fighting at UFC 293.

“I’ve been ready to address every situation of what might happen this weekend, and what the UFC might say, what Dana might say – obviously, him not being very happy that I turned down a fight on seven weeks’ notice with an injury, which I don’t really understand,” Du Plessis said in an interview with FightWave.

“But at the end of the day, it’s business for them and you have got to respect that. But if I can look at my track record, I know for a fact that I’m not somebody that turns down fights if it’s not a good enough reason. I’ve taken fights on short notice multiple times. Every time they phone, I say, ‘Yes, let’s go.’ This time around just wasn’t possible with the injury and short notice.”

Strickland came up big as an underdog, something Du Plessis experienced himself very recently.

“I’m happy for Sean Strickland. I’m happy that Izzy got a little bit of a hiding, although I would have loved to be the guy to give it to him,” Du Plessis said. “There’s Sean Strickland: Just goes to show, I feel he was in a very similar situation to me and Robert Whittaker where nobody gave me a shot. Nobody gave me a chance. I know Strickland didn’t even give me a chance, and I didn’t give him a chance in this fight.”

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Sean Strickland’s coach disagrees with Eugene Bareman: Israel Adesanya needs more than ‘minor adjustments’

Eric Nicksick thinks Israel Adesanya will need to change up a lot in order to beat Sean Strickland.

Eric Nicksick thinks [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] will need to change up a lot in order to beat [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) scored a massive upset win when he dethroned middleweight champion Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

Adesanya’s head coach Eugene Bareman said they’d be ready for a rematch next week, and that Adesanya would need a few minor adjustments to avenge his loss to Strickland. But Nicksick disagrees.

“I don’t really care,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie Radio. “I think from an outsider’s perspective, I think Israel always deserves a rematch just from his history alone and his body of work. I think kind of hearing their thoughts on some minor adjustments and they win that fight, I think it’s a lot more than minor adjustments.

“I think there’s a lot more to be done. But with that being said, I still think Israel ranks up there No. 1, No. 2 best middleweights to ever do it. If he wants to run it back, by all means I think that’s a fight that needs to happen then.”

Dana White said that a rematch between Strickland and Adesanya should be next. While Nicksick doesn’t necessarily disagree, he thinks Aljamain Sterling should then also get an immediate rematch against Sean O’Malley, who dethroned him by second-round knockout to win the bantamweight title at UFC 292.

“I mean, this guy was being talked about as the bantamweight GOAT,” Nicksick said. “Everybody was throwing that around for him and at this level, people are going to have off nights. People are going to have a night where they maybe underperformed.

“It’s so crazy how they get thrown to the wayside like, ‘Oh, this guy wasn’t really this good.’ There’s so many factors that go into an eight-week camp, sometimes even a short-notice fight. There’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that we’re not always predicated in knowing and understanding.”

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Video: Sean Strickland breaks new UFC belt, patches it up with duct tape

Sean Strickland has already managed to damage his UFC belt.

[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] already has managed to damage his UFC belt.

Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) scored a massive upset win when he dethroned middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

While he was emotional in the cage when getting his hand raised, Strickland was already over the moment of becoming champion during the post-fight news conference, which apparently is the case after he broke his UFC belt.

But no worries. The newly crowned champion was on brand with his methodology, using duct tape to fix his broken belt.

“Is it just me or did this belt just become way better?”

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxEl_aLJ5N7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, that’s on you.

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Why Alex Pereira is against Israel Adesanya getting immediate rematch vs. Sean Strickland after UFC 293

With Sean Strickland’s win being so decisive, Alex Pereira doesn’t think an immediate rematch with Israel Adesanya is warranted.

[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] doesn’t want to see an immediate rematch between [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] and [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag].

Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) stunned middleweight champion Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) by dethroning him with a decisive unanimous decision win in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

All three judges scored the fight four rounds to one in favor of Strickland, which Pereira doesn’t think warrants an immediate rematch. Following the fight, UFC president Dana White said Strickland and Adesanya should run things back, but Pereira thinks the active Adesanya should take some time off. Pereira awarded Adesanya an immediate rematch when he knocked him out at UFC 281 but had to rally to get the finish.

“Personally, I don’t agree,” Pereira said on his YouTube channel. “When it was me, I agreed because I was losing the fight and managed to knock him out in the final round, so it was a totally different situation. That’s why he deserved it. But now, Sean exceeded all expectations. Many people who didn’t believe now believe. And hey, if you don’t believe, that’s on you. But I think he needs to keep going, bring in other athletes to challenge him.

“Adesanya needs to take a break because he’s a guy – man, let’s not discredit him just because he lost. He’s a guy that I think fought four matches in a year. I think he needs to rest a bit his body, his mind to come back refreshed, ready for another fight and then come after that belt again and try something against Sean Strickland. But with the style Sean showed, I think it’s tough for Adesanya to get that belt back.”

Pereira, who trained with Strickland after knocking him out at UFC 276, thinks Strickland is just a bad matchup for Adesanya.

“Clearly, Sean came in and shut his game down,” Pereira said. “He was really smart. He was moving forward all the time with an amazing defense and let’s not forget the precise strikes. He walked less, circled, and landed the best attacks. And, well, you all saw the result. I want to congratulate Sean Strickland.

“He did an amazing job, and I’m really happy for this change in the division’s champion. I think Sean’s time has come, and it’s not likely that another – not likely, but it’s tricky. The way Sean behaved in this last fight, for someone else to quickly take away his belt. So, let’s brace ourselves for many more epic fights. Despite some people’s skepticism, ‘Oh, he fought with Alex, and it wasn’t like that.'”

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Alexander Volkov perplexed by UFC 293 bonus snub, wants to fight as much as possible in title push

UFC heavyweight Alexander Volkov kept his winning streak alive at UFC 293, and wants to keep the momentum going soon.

SYDNEY – UFC heavyweight [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] wants to forge a path toward the title, and hopes to be as active as possible to achieve that goal.

At UFC 293, Volkov (37-10 MMA, 11-4 UFC) extended his current winning streak to three by pulling off a rare Ezekiel choke submission on Tai Tuivasa (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) in the second round of the co-main at Qudos Bank Arena. It was Volkov’s first submission under the UFC banner and just the fourth Ezekiel choke in the promotion’s history. While happy with how everything unfolded, the Russian was perplexed by being snubbed on a Performance of the Night bonus.

“First of all, I don’t know why I don’t have any bonuses tonight,” Volkov told MMA Junkie and other reporters during a post-fight news conference. “All the fans and comments I saw were saying this. It was my very first submission in the UFC. It was a very good performance with striking with a very dangerous striker. All Australians were supporting him, so I don’t know why I don’t have any bonuses.”

The last time Volkov won by submission was in 2016, two fights prior to his UFC debut. He’s no slouch in the grappling department, but the 6-foot-7 fighter typically utilizes his striking range advantage in fights. He even admitted he doesn’t practice the Ezekiel choke often, but the opportunity was there when other techniques failed.

“Not really, I just know how to do this,” Volkov said when asked if he routinely practices the technique. “I tried to do some submissions to Tuivasa first, like a top arm triangle and guillotine, but it doesn’t work. He was a little bit like slippery and he was ready for the submissions. I saw the Ezekiel choke, and if it worked with him, I just did it.”

Vokov, 34, has now stopped three straight opponents; Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Romanov by TKO, and Tai Tuivasa by submission. With 48 fights under his belt, Volkov knows his time to make one last run at the UFC title is now. He wants to be active, and wouldn’t mind attempting to avenge a loss to Tom Aspinall.

“I want to fight as much as possible to get back into the title race,” Volkov said. “I’m ready to fight at the end of the year or maybe at the beginning of next year. … I’m enjoying camps, I’m enjoying practice, enjoying learning new things. I have a lot of fights, as you know I have almost 50, but I keep learning new things and I’m really motivated. I’m feeling like I have everything to be a champion.”

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Robert Whittaker: Israel Adesanya looked off at UFC 293 because Sean Strickland ‘shut him down’

Robert Whittaker isn’t chalking up the stunning UFC 293 outcome to a bad night for Israel Adesanya and gives Sean Strickland all the credit.

[autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] says [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] is the reason [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] looked off at UFC 293.

Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) scored a massive upset win when he dethroned middleweight champion Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) by unanimous decision this past Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

Whittaker never expected Adesanya to run through Strickland like the odds suggested and was impressed by the challenger’s ability to nullify Adesanya’s game.

“Strickland had an answer for every one of Izzy’s techniques,” Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast. “For every one of Izzy’s strengths, Strickland had an answer. He was cutting off the cage perfectly, he was in that threat space where Izzy’s leg kicks were taken out of concern. Strickland, his defensive game was on point.

“With Izzy throwing those looping shots as he kind of rope-a-dopes on the fence there, Strickland was patient, just always keeping Izzy on the backfoot, which was taking out of his gas. And, mate, he just kept it consistent from the very first second of the fight to the 25th. It was honestly a great performance from Strickland.”

UFC president Dana White thinks Adesanya should get an immediate rematch against Strickland, claiming that “The Last Stylebender” looked slow. But Whittaker said that has everything to do with Strickland’s effective game plan, not Adesanya having a bad night.

“I see a lot of things popping up saying that Izzy looked off,” Whittaker continued. “I don’t think he had an off night. He looked off because Sean shut him down. Izzy wasn’t given any space in the open floor to do any of his tricky kicks. He wasn’t given any space to work any of his flinch games with his punches. He wasn’t given the chance. Sean was in his face from the first bell ring.”

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