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With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from September 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from September 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for September.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Rose Namajunas says Pat Barry is not to blame for Trevor Wittman’s absence in her corner at UFC Paris.
[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] says [autotag]Pat Barry[/autotag] is not to blame for Trevor Wittman’s absence in her corner.
Namajunas (11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) fell short in her flyweight debut when she lost a unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 co-headliner at Accor Arena in Paris.
A notable absence in her corner was Wittman, but Namajunas says that was her choice – not her fiancé Barry’s.
“Everybody wants to sh*t on Pat and just makes assumptions because that’s the way things are no matter what,” Namajunas said in an Instagram video. “People are just going to assume that he’s the reason why (Wittman) wasn’t in my corner. It has nothing to do with Pat.
“It has everything to do with me and (Justin) Gaethje and him having a fight with the ‘BMF’ and all that stuff, and I did not want to interfere and I stayed back. There’s more to it than that, but for the most part, that’s all I think I want to say about that because our relationships are very … we’re very close people and it’s nobody’s business.”
Barry received plenty of criticism when taking the lead in Namajunas’ corner in her title-fight loss to Carla Esparza at UFC 274. Namajunas lost the strawweight title in a lackluster decision.
Namajunas said she spoke to Wittman after her fight, and plans to continue working with him. Namajunas also said she received the fight offer for Fiorot during Gaethje’s training camp for his “BMF” title fight against Dustin Poirier, and didn’t want to interrupt it.
“The state of mind that I was in, I couldn’t bring that around him,” Namajunas said. “The fact that I could contribute to him not doing well has not sit right with me since that Carla (Esparza) fight. So, I took it upon myself to stay back.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Rose Namajunas is more than comfortable at flyweight.
[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] is more than comfortable at flyweight.
Although Namajunas (11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) lost a unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 co-headliner at Accor Arena in Paris, she had no issues standing toe-to-toe with the French fighter.
Namajunas dislocated her pinky finger in the first round, but battled through it for the three rounds. The two-time strawweight champion said she’s unsure what’s next, but insists flyweight is her new home.
“What’s next? Good question. I’m still piecing that together,” Namajunas said in an Instagram video. “I’ve thought about a rematch. I’ve thought about a bunch of different things. But definitely, rematch comes to mind, or I’ll get her eventually because I almost beat her with one hand. So that’s how I feel about that.
“I’m definitely going to stay (at flyweight). I want to put a little more muscle on. I don’t want to go back down (to strawweight) – definitely not. I felt so much bigger not cutting weight.”
Fiorot told MMA Junkie at the post-fight news conference that Namajunas is too small for 125 pounds, which didn’t sit well with “Thug Rose.”
“I did see a headline where she says I’m too small, and I didn’t win a round,” Namajunas said. “Well, I disagree with both of those things. I think I dropped your ass, so I’m definitely not too small. I might have had some moments of, like, freaking out because I couldn’t grip my fingers together or I couldn’t make a fist, but definitely not too small.”
Namajunas plans on building herself even more into the flyweight frame, and is confident she can beat Fiorot.
“If I have a little more time, I will definitely put more size on,” Namajunas said. “And that’s what I’m going to concentrate on right now. … If it was a real fight, the fight would have kept going on and I would have eventually, I believe, found a way to win, even with just one hand.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Nora Cornolle’s fairytale ending would be to face Jacqueline Cavalcanti for the title – the only fighter to beat her.
PARIS – [autotag]Nora Cornolle[/autotag]’s fairytale ending would be to face [autotag]Jacqueline Cavalcanti[/autotag] for the title – the only fighter to beat her.
Cornolle (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Cavalcanti (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) both competed on this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 event at Accor Arena in Paris, but not against each other. Cornolle defeated Joselyne Edwards by unanimous decision, whereas Cavalcanti defeated Zarah Fairn to kick off the night.
Cornolle’s loss to Cavalcanti came in her professional MMA debut. She has since won seven straight and prefers to get her rematch once they’ve both established themselves in the UFC.
“It will be great storytelling to meet Jacqueline at the top for the belt,” Cornolle told reporters through an interpreter at the UFC Fight Night 226 post-fight news conference. “That each one of us goes their own path because it makes sense for us to face other new fighters, face more experienced fighters in our path. It will be great to face each other and get my revenge.”
Cornolle has already competed four times this year, and hopes to squeeze in one more before the end of 2023.
“I hope to fight again before the end of the year,” Cornolle said. “I have a four-fight contract, and I’m willing to do them well. I hope I introduced myself in this fight, and that they’ll offer me something soon.
“I want to quickly climb the rankings, show that I’m effective everywhere. That I’m a real MMA fighter that’s going to perform, that’s going to climb the rankings, that’s going to go get the belt.”
Cornolle was showered with love from her home crowd in France, which surpassed her expectations.
“All week I’ve been thinking that I’ve never experienced a crowd like this, an arena like this,” Cornolle said. “A lot of stress because we don’t know what kind of crowd we’ll get. The beautiful surprise was to have all the French fans, all of Paris tonight chanting my name. It was incredible.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Just hours after his win at UFC Paris, Ciryl Gane found out that burglars entered his home and took more than $160,000 worth of stuff.
While he was competing at UFC Fight Night 226, [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag]’s home was burglarized.
According to French newspaper Le Parisien, police were called to Gane’s apartment in Nogent-sur-Marne, a suburb of Paris, at around 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning, just hours after he fought at UFC Fight Night 226 at Accor Arena. Police discovered forced entry through the front door and found that a Rolex watch and more jewelry were missing. In total, the damage was assed at $150,000 euros, or roughly $162,000 U.S.
According to Le Parisien, this method of burglary – while high-profile victims aren’t home – is often used against professional soccer players. A source close to the case told the newspaper it’s possible the burglars were helped from within Gane’s camp.
“It is possible that the thugs have carried out scouting or that someone from the sportsman’s entourage has informed them about his schedule,” the person said.
Just hours before police got the call, Gane put on a masterclass against Serghei Spivac in front of his home crowd. Gane won by second-round TKO with a barrage of punches, a nice rebound from his disappointing showing against Jon Jones in March.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Jacqueline Cavalcanti reacts to getting eye poked in both eyes at during Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 fight.
PARIS – [autotag]Jacqueline Cavalcanti[/autotag] got fouled in a way never seen before in the UFC.
The women’s bantamweight fighter got accidentally eye poked in both her eyes by her opponent Zarah Fairn in the opening bout of UFC Fight Night 226, which took place this Saturday. The odd thing is that it wasn’t two separate eye pokes. Instead, it was one motion with two fingers poking both eyes separately.
“Actually it was two fingers, not one, so one in each eye,” Cavalcanti said when asked about the accidental eye poke at the UFC Fight Night 226 post-fight press conference. “One of the eyes got really affected, so I had to stop. Thank God, they stopped it so I could recover, and I could continue to go after my win.”
As soon as the foul happened, the referee stopped the bout and gave Cavalcanti (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) time to recover. She would eventually clear her sight and return to outpoint Fairn (6-6 MMA, 0-4 UFC) and win a unanimous decision against the Frenchwoman.
UFC Fight Night 226 marked Cavalcanti’s debut with the promotion.
You can watch her full scrum in the video above.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Farid Basharat wants to get in one more fight before the end of the year.
PARIS – [autotag]Farid Basharat[/autotag] didn’t get time to call his shot in his in-cage, post-fight interview at UFC Fight Night 226, but he did let the media know what he wants next.
Basharat (11-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who defeated Kleydson Rodrigues (8-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) by first-round submission on Saturday night, is hoping to get another fight this 2023.
“I want to fight Dec. 16, maybe if it’s (Conor) McGregor vs. (Michael) Chandler,” Basharat said backstage in the post-fight press conference. “If not, it doesn’t matter. I want to fight Dec. 16. I think that’s 15 weeks for now. I feel good for the most part, so I want to stay active, and I want to get back in there. I feel very confident in my ability. Dec. 16, that’s the card I want to fight on.”
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As far as a potential opponent, Basharat doesn’t see availability at the top, and there’s no way he’ll call someone out below him.
“No, there isn’t anybody I have in mind,” Basharat said. “The division is in a place where most of the people above me are booked. There are some guys who are below me, but they’re not worth calling out, you know. I don’t want to cherry-pick.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Ange Loosa hopes the UFC keeps him active.
PARIS – [autotag]Ange Loosa[/autotag] wants to keep the momentum going.
The UFC welterweight got in his first fight of 2023 this past Saturday, defeating Rhys McKee in a unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 226. Loosa (10-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) hasn’t been very active in recent times, but he wants that to change.
“That was a tough year for me,” Loosa said. “I want to be back before the end of the year. I really hope the UFC gives me something, and yeah, I want to be active as much as possible.”
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Despite being a year away from the cage, Loosa looked good and had a strong showing against McKee (13-5-1 MMA, 0-3 UFC). He was very proud of what he was able to do in his return.
“I came to this fight and I knew I was able to bring the fight everywhere, so I was testing my skills and seeing where I can bring the fight, and I think I did that pretty well,” Loosa said. “I was winning on the striking and winning on the ground, so I’m proud of everything in this fight.”
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Morgan Charriere was thrilled with his UFC debut KO win in home country of France at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226.
PARIS – [autotag]Morgan Charriere[/autotag]’s UFC debut was like few others.
The 27-year-old finally got to prove himself in the octagon this past Saturday on the main card of UFC Fight Night 226 and he did so in impressive fashion. Not only did he debut at home in France, and did so with a win, but he scored a highlight-reel first-round knockout. It was the perfect scenario for the Frenchman.
“I feel like a rock star,” Charriere said at the post-fight press conference. “Like for real, I was like come on. It’s something indescribable. I work so hard just to have the people who follow me and knowing they can see me, it’s just a dream come true. My UFC debut is in France, and they had never seen me fight, so for them, it was something they had waited for and I did an incredible performance. So I did everything perfect for them and for me, so I’m really happy that everything played out like this.”
Charriere (19-9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) targeted the body of his opponent Manolo Zecchini (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with kicks. They eventually added up until the Italian fighter was badly hindered, and that’s when Charriere threw even more kicks.
This is something Charriere tells UFC fans they can expect moving forward.
“My kicks are really hard,” Charriere said. “I have really hard kicks that can hurt people and I know it. My coach take it a lot, and he takes about this, even with the gear. He’s like, ‘Come on, you hurt me so much,’ and I’m like, ‘Don’t worry, coach. I’m going to get him with it.’ I knew my kick was so powerful. Even if you put your hand, I break your hand, or I touch the liver. That’s what I did. I throw two or three more because he was already in pain. He couldn’t block, he couldn’t do nothing.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
Ciryl Gane is back in a position of prominence in the heavyweight division after his UFC Fight Night 226 win, but what’s next for him?
[autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] answered some important questions about his career on Saturday when he defeated Serghei Spivac in the UFC Fight Night 226 main event.
After a deflating loss to Jon Jones for the vacant heavyweight title in March, there was some mystery around how Gane (12-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) would move forward in his career. He got a hometown headliner against Spivac (16-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) at Accor Arena in Paris, and responded in resounding fashion with a second-round TKO to get back in the win column.
Although no one is ready to entertain the idea of Gane getting a rematch with Jones at this point, he certainly is worthy of another significant fight in the division. But who should it be?
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Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Gane’s future after his UFC Fight Night 226 victory.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
