Tag: UFC Fight Night 216

UFC’s Alex Caceres has considered move to Power Slap, dismisses concerns over brain health

Slap fighting isn’t good for brain health, according to health professionals, but Alex Caceres says “neither is eating bad food.”

LAS VEGAS – If UFC president Dana White approaches [autotag]Alex Caceres[/autotag] about participating in his slap fighting league, he just might do it.

Caceres, who meets Julian Erosa in a featherweight bout Saturday at UFC Fight Night 216 at the UFC Apex, told reporters Wednesday that he’d be open to a move to Power Slap.

“I have considered it,” Caceres said during UFC Fight Night 216 media day. “I think it’s hilarious, it’s cool. I don’t know, it’s funny. It’s pain tolerance. I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s mostly about. I figure I have pretty big hands. I know I’m like one of the only 145ers who wears large gloves in the UFC. I think I could be pretty decent at slapping somebody.”

Caceres apparently hadn’t considered criticisms of slap fighting raised by doctors and health professionals.

“What are the criticisms?” he asked.

Chief among them is the nature of the competition, which calls for repeated full-forced, open-hand slaps to the face between two opponents. This led one doctor, Brian Sutterer, to deem slap fighting “as risky of a sport as possible” for brain injuries. He takes issue with participants not being able to defend themselves, unlike in MMA, and can’t understand why any athletic commission would sanction slap fighting as the Nevada Athletic Commission did to accommodate Power Slap events at the UFC Apex.

When it was mentioned that slap fighting isn’t good for brain health, Caceres responded, “Neither is smoking cigarettes, neither is working in factory plants, neither is eating bad food or getting punched in the head for a living like I do. I mean, a lot of things are dangerous. Sitting still is dangerous. Being too sedentary can mess up your brain. So, yeah, take your chances. It’s your life.”

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Caceres (19-13 MMA, 14-11 UFC) hopes to get back on track vs. Erosa (28-9 MMA, 6-5 UFC) after losing a unanimous decision to Sodiq Yusuff in his most recent bout, which snapped a five-fight winning streak.

You can watch his full UFC Fight Night 216 media day session in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.

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UFC Fight Night 216 commentary team, broadcast plans set: Who is calling final event of 2022?

Brendan Fitzgerald, Dominick Cruz and Paul Felder will call the action at UFC Fight Night 216, the final UFC card of the year.

The UFC schedule continues this week with UFC Fight Night 216 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

As always, some marquee on-air talent will be there to help guide viewers through the experience.

Details of who will work as commentators and analysts for each event have been acquired by MMA Junkie through a person with knowledge of the situation, and you can see the scheduled broadcast team below.

UFC free fight: Sean Strickland boxes up Brendan Allen for TKO finish

Revisit Sean Strickland’s last TKO finish, when he showed off his boxing skills to finish Brendan Allen.

Sean Strickland’s striking has giving many of his opponents trouble, and Brendan Allen was no exception.

Strickland (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) took on Allen at UFC Fight Night 182, and finished the fight behind his effortless, precise punching.

In the first round of the fight, Strickland put together sharp combinations as Allen attempted to establish his own offense. After catching a kick, Strickland took the fight to the ground, and then controlled a clinch position against the cage. Back in space, Strickland’s two-punch combinations landed at a high rate.

Continuing to pick his shots well in the second round, Strickland’s punches found their mark over and over again. His style of focusing on connecting with the target rather than loading up big power paid huge dividends as a sharp two-punch combo rocked and dropped Allen. Strickland then swarmed with follow-up punches to complete the TKO stoppage.

Strickland returns to action Saturday when he takes on former title challenger Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Fight Night 216 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The final event on the UFC’s 2022 calendar airs on ESPN+.

Before Strickland takes on Cannonier, relive his finish of Allen in the video above.

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Drew Dober: ‘UFC will not let me fight’ Paddy Pimblett after controversial win

There was a time when Drew Dober pushed hard for a matchup with Paddy Pimblett, but now he thinks it’s an act of futility.

LAS VEGAS – There was a time when [autotag]Drew Dober[/autotag] pushed hard for a matchup with [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag], but now he thinks it’s an act of futility.

When Pimblett (20-3 MMA, 4-0 UFC) was looking for an opponent to fight at UFC 282 this past weekend, Dober (25-11 MMA, 12-6 UFC) threw his name in the hat hoping for a chance to fight the surging British star. It didn’t materialize, and the promotion instead booked a pairing with Jared Gordon.

Pimblett won the fight, but it wasn’t without controversy as he got the unanimous decision win much to the chagring of the overwhelming majority of the MMA community.

Dober, who meets Bobby Green (29-13-1 MMA, 10-8-1 UFC) on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 216 at the UFC Apex, has shared the octagon with many of the best lightweights in the world. Dober’s resume includes bouts with the likes of Islam Makhachev, Beneil Dariush, Alexander Hernandez, Terrance McKinney, and more, which is a level of competition Pimblett hasn’t experienced.

Given how much Pimblett struggled to get past Gordon, Dober doesn’t have much hope that fight will ever come to fruition.

“UFC will not let me fight him,” Dober told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC Fight Night 216 media day on Wednesday. “Let’s be honest. We watched his last fight. We know what I’m capable of. That’d be a fun one. I just want to fight in London at that O2 Arena. So if Paddy says yes, I’m all for it. But we all know. We got Dana, UFC and all those – they won’t let that happen.”

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If the UFC somehow did oblige and give Dober the fight, he knows there would be climbing uphill to a degree. His goal would be to finish the fight, but Dober theorizes that anyone going to the scorecards with “The Baddy” is at risk of experiencing what happened to Gordon.

“My opinion on the entire matter is there’s something to star power in the judges’ decisions,” Dober said. “We’re watching octagon control and effectiveness and all this other stuff – star power is something you’ve also got to get over. So when you’re fighting a guy as big as Paddy, you’ve got to do more than just five more punches.”

For now, Dober is focused on his looming showdown with Green, which is another fight that gets him amped. It’s the first fight for Green since he returned from a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspension for a contaminated supplement, and while some might have questions about Green being clean, Dober has zero concerns.

“It’s rough. Cross-contaminated supplements is a thing,” Dober said. “I’ve seen that. I think Bobby made a mistake, but he didn’t intentionally make a mistake. I don’t think I’m fighting a steroided, chemically performance-enhancing Bobby Green. I think it was just an error, and he had to pay his punishment. But I don’t think he did it intentionally. I think he’s a natural, clean fighter. He’s been fighting for the longest time. So I’m not worried about it at all.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.

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UFC Fight Night 216 pre-event facts: Drew Dober can tie Dustin Poirier’s lightweight KO record

Check out the numbers behind UFC Fight Night 216, the promotion’s 2022 finale where Drew Dober could tie Dustin Poirier’s record for most lightweight knockouts.

The UFC will put a bow on its 2022 calendar Saturday with UFC Fight Night 216, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.

A matchup of middleweight contenders will mark the final UFC bout of the year. [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) and [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) will attempt to rebound from their July losses when they meet in a five-round bout that will put the winner back on the title path.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts for UFC Fight Night 216.

Jared Cannonier: ‘I’m not doing my job well enough’ if Sean Strickland talks trash at UFC Fight Night 216

Jared Cannonier thinks it’d be a bad sign for him if Sean Strickland starts talking trash during Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 217 headliner.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] thinks it would be a bad sign for him if [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] starts talking trash during Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 216 headliner.

Cannonier (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) meets Strickland (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in Saturday’s middleweight headliner at the UFC Apex. The card streams on ESPN+.

It’s an important fight for both contenders, who are looking to bounce back from high profile losses in their most recent outings. As much as the physical game will determine the fight, Cannonier also knows there’s a mental component to this one. Strickland is well known for his talking inside the cage, and on multiple occasions he’s been successful in rattling opponents.

“If he’s doing that then I’m not going my job well enough,” Cannonier told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC Fight Night 216 media day on Wednesday. “I’m not putting the pressure on him to make him focus more on the fight opposed to talking crap and taking me out of my element. I think he’ll have his hands a little full to be talking crap, and if he is talking crap, good on him.”

When it comes to the style matchup, Cannonier said he’s ready to fight Strickland anywhere he wants. He’s expecting a stand up fight, and if it stays upright, he expects his power to be a decisive advantage.

“I’m expecting him – I know he wants to get in my face,” Strickland said. “He says he wants to go to the center of the octagon, stand there and duke it out. I expect him to (be the) same old Sean Strickland. Try to pressure me, try to walk me down, stick his jab in my face, get off a couple kicks, maybe get his right hand off. That’s what I expect him to try to do. We have answers for those attempts. If he doesn’t want to do any of that, I’m ready to lead the dance.”

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For Cannonier, UFC Fight Night 216 marks a chance to rebound from the most high profile loss of his career. After working for years to get to a title shot, he delivered a flat performance in challenging then-champ Israel Adesanya for the title at UFC 276 in July.

He couldn’t get any effective offense going in a lopsided unanimous decision loss against Adesanya, but Cannonier said he learned some critical lessons that he’ll parlay into this fight.

“Naturally disappointment after the fight. I would like to say it gets easier, but it doesn’t,” Strickland said. “I went back to the locker room and shed a few tears, received condolences from family and friends and all that. But essentially on the way home from the arena, I was over it. I was ready to move on and get better, learn from the experience. It still sucked. The sting is still there. But I don’t focus on the negative. I focus on the positive.”

Since Cannonier lost to Adesanya, there has been a changing of the guard at 185 pounds. Alex Pereira is the new champion, which means a reset for the other contenders. A rematch between Pereira and Adesanya is likely on the horizon, however, and if the belt stays put, it will change Cannonier’s trajectory with a win.

“I suppose so,” Cannonier said. “Me, Robert Whittaker is up there. I’m sure the rematch between Israel and Alex is up there, as well. I’m right there. So good, old fashioned ass-whooping on Saturday will put me right there in the mix.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.

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‘Don’t play with my name’: UFC’s Bobby Green fired up about USADA suspension tarnishing reputation

Bobby Green arrived at UFC Fight Night 216 media day with a lot to get off his chest.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] arrived at UFC Fight Night 216 media day with a lot to get off his chest. He walked up on the dais and grabbed the microphone before knocking over a Monster water bottle that was standing on the table in front of him. After that, he looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath.

Then he went off.

“I’ve been chastised. I’ve been villainized,” Green told reporters at the UFC Apex before he could be asked a question. “I’ve been anymore of those ‘ized’ [sic] I can come up with – scrutinized – talking about this, that, drugs. Drugs? I fought everybody, I think maybe two people with more than 30 days’ (notice). There’s no way I can be on drugs. Don’t play with my name. I’m not that guy. If you think that I would do – play with my public [sic]. I’ve never lied to none of my public ever. I don’t tell lies. Only lies I tell is to the woman I lay with, you know, because she can’t deal with the truth. Besides her, I don’t tell no lies. I don’t tell no lies to my homies, and I definitely don’t lie to my public.”

The reason for Green’s diatribe is obvious: He doesn’t appreciate how his reputation has been tarnished since October when it was revealed that he accepted a six-month suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after he tested positive for a banned substance. Green’s system contained dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which he ingested from an over-the-counter supplement.

The positive test and suspension resulted in Green’s removal from his UFC 276 bout with Jim Miller a week before it was scheduled to take place. He was suspended just six months because he cooperated with USADA’s investigation and “provided evidence” that he didn’t knowingly take the banned substance.

While Green admits that he “f*cked up,” it’s that last part that he wishes everyone understood so as not to lump him in a category with cheaters.

“That’s the No. 1 question that everyone keeps asking me is about some f*cking drugs,” Green said. “I’m not T.J. (Dillashaw). I am not that one. Don’t play with me.”

Green essentially attributed his dirty urine sample to ignorance. He said he knew to stay away from stores like GNC, which specialize in selling nutritional supplements, but he “had no idea that you could find something (to test positive for) at Walmart.”

“Not behind the counters, not anything that I have to ask a doctor or someone for. No, the same thing that a kid could get or go steal. It’s right there in the vitamin section,” Green said. “There’s Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and this other thing right there says DHEA. I don’t know what that was, but I’m watching these videos with this guy named Dr. Eric Berg. Look him up on YouTube, and he’s all about health.

“I’m getting old, guys. To be this consistent, to be this great, I’ve got to start doing some things – and not no drugs, OK? I would never ever play with you. I’m all about health, OK? If that means I can clean my liver, clean my kidneys, maybe remove some plaque out of my arteries, I’m all for it to help me keep going. But besides that, stop playing with me. I don’t do anything like this. I would never play with you. I would never ever play with anybody like that in this sport. Don’t confuse me with those guys.”

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Green said he “broke down crying” when he got the call from USADA about his test results. He wishes people would understand that he’d never knowingly try to cheat given his rough upbringing and everything he’s overcome to spend 14 years as a professional fighter and nine with the UFC.

“You know how hard I worked to get to this one point, to get to this one point where a black man like – all I wanted in life was to have a home that nobody could take from me.”

Green (29-13-1 MMA, 10-8-1 UFC), 36, returns Saturday in a lightweight bout against Drew Dober (25-11 MMA, 11-7 UFC) at the UFC Apex. Despite the suspension, it’ll be Green’s third fight of 2022. That’s because back in February he fought twice within a span of two weeks, beating Nasrat Haqparast by unanimous decision and then losing by first-round TKO to now-champion Islam Makhachev in his first UFC headliner.

Given Green’s unexpected long layoff and the criticism he’s faced, he’s ready to get back to work.

“Some people were saying I was cut, I got dropped from the roster. Surprise! Surprise! I’m still here,” Green said. “I ain’t going nowhere unless I choose to go. At the end of the day, it don’t matter how it feels or all those feelings. … I got work to do. And that’s all I focus on is the work. I let y’all do the talking, and I’ll do the fighting. I let my fighting speak.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.

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Sean Strickland has no game plan for ‘scary motherf*cker’ Jared Cannonier at UFC Fight Night 216

Sean Strickland admits he doesn’t know a whole lot about Jared Cannonier other than he’s got some frightening knockout power.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] admits he doesn’t know a whole lot about Jared Cannonier other than he’s got some frightening knockout power.

Strickland (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) will meet Cannonier (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 216 middleweight headliner, which takes place at the UFC Apex and streams on ESPN+.

It’s an important matchup in the division, and the one thing Strickland does know going into it is that he needs to be weary.

“‘The Killa Gorilla,’ let’s f*cking go – sounds like a scary motherf*cker,” Strickland told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC Fight Night 216 media day on Wednesday. “Sounds like I don’t want to share a f*cking cell with that guy.”

Strickland, who continued sparring for this weekend’s fight at recently as Tuesday, said he intends to go into the cage with an open-minded approach. He considers himself quite well-rounded, and hinted that he’ll fight with whatever feels most natural in the moment.

“Maybe I’ll take him down. Maybe I’ll kickbox. Maybe I’ll box. I don’t even f*cking know these things,” Strickland said. “You’re asking questions I haven’t even thought about yet.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.

UFC Fight Night 216’s Manel Kape: I have more weapons than ‘stiff guy’ David Dvorak

Manel Kape expects his power and speed to be too much for David Dvorak at UFC Fight Night 216 on Saturday in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] expects his power and speed to be too much for [autotag]David Dvorak[/autotag].

Kape (17-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) meets Dvorak (20-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 216, which takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

With his five most recent wins by knockout, Kape expects to take out Dvorak, who he doesn’t think will be able to keep up with his movement.

“He’s a stiff guy,” Kape said on MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s a fight I can win not easily, but I can win more easy than the other fights because he’s a perfect match for me. When I fight somebody more stiff, his footwork is not so developed so I can make my game – it’s where I see I have more weapons than him.”

Both men have dropped decisions to Matheus Nicolau, which has allowed Kape to draw confidence and plenty of takeaways from that fight.

“He’s going to feel not just the speed, but the power,” Kape said. “I have crazy power for my division. He’s going to feel my power, and when he feels the power, he’s going to try and take me down. He’s going to shoot for the takedown, because I saw his last fight with Matheus Nicolau and Matheus Nicolau dropped him.

“And if Matheus Nicolau dropped him, what am I going to do? Because I fought Matheus Nicolau and Matheus Nicolau is a fast guy. He’s one of the fastest guys, but he’s fast with his hands with no power. So if one guy is fast with no power and he drops you, then what am I going to do to you?”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.

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Video: ‘UFC Fight Night 216: Cannonier vs. Strickland’ media day interviews

Before UFC Fight Night 216 on Saturday, the main card fighters are scheduled to speak to reporters at media day.

The UFC puts on one final event this year from its home base of Las Vegas on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 216, which takes place at the UFC Apex and streams on ESPN+.

A key middleweight matchup serves as the main event, with Jared Cannonier (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) and Sean Strickland (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) both looking to rebound from tough losses in July and get back in the title picture.

Before fight night arrives, though, notable athletes from the main card spoke to reporters at media day, and MMA Junkie will have a live stream of the festivities.

If you missed any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for archived videos of each media day appearance.