Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Mohammed Usman beat Jake Collier at UFC Fight Night 228 and now has back-to-back decision wins after a KO to win “The Ultimate Fighter.”
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Mohammed Usman[/autotag] beat Jake Collier with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 228 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Usman, who has back-to-back decision wins after a knockout to win “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Bryce Mitchell would like to spend some time with UFC champ Sean O’Malley to make an impression on him.
[autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] got back in the win column at UFC Fight Night 228 this past Saturday, but no one’s going to be talking about that now.
The talk was about his post-fight mic time and his Bible-raising call for “Freedom!” during his introduction. He dug his heels in Monday with a response on Instagram and apology to UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley for some past comments.
Self-proclaimed “inbred hillbilly” Mitchell’s monologue moved to farming, how he’ll prove to O’Malley the earth is flat, which will help him have his come-to-Jesus moment, and how he wants to own a farm with the UFC bantamweight champion. We could transcribe it and let you read the madness, but why not just take a look and listen.
Watch the video below:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxnslYOrzLl/?igshid=NzZhOTFlYzFmZQ%3D%3D
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Jacob Malkoun thinks he got a raw deal in his disqualification loss against Cody Brundage at UFC Fight Night 228.
[autotag]Jacob Malkoun[/autotag] thinks he got a raw deal in his disqualification loss against Cody Brundage at UFC Fight Night 228.
After largely controlling the opening minutes of action in the middleweight bout against Brundage (9-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Malkoun (7-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) threw and landed a forearm/elbow shot from partial back control that referee Mark Smith deemed to be an illegal blow.
The bout was paused, the Nevada Athletic Commission officials reviewed the replays, and when Brundage declared he was unable to continue, the disqualification of Malkoun was issued.
Malkoun did not comment on the result in the immediate aftermath, but he did Sunday on social media. He posted a statement breaking down his perspective of what happened, and felt the wrong call was made, as he did not intentionally throw an illegal blow, nor does he feel the impact warranted the end of the fight (via Instagram):
I’ve had some time to think.
I just want to make it clear that the shot was UNINTENTIONAL, as I was throwing the elbow to the side of his head he turned his back to me. Really the forearm hit his trap so it wasn’t the back of the head anyways.
I’ve lost the bout and some money after dominating which leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But then I remind myself, the morning of the fight I prayed to god asking for two things, to perform to the best of my abilities and show all the hard work I’ve put in, the second was to keep my health.
So in the end god gave me both of these things so it’s not that bad.
Onto the next!
#top10
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxlq65Fy1GJ
Malkoun, 28, returned to competition from an 11-month layoff at UFC Fight Night 228. He looked in solid form, but the outcome led to a loss on his record, and the Aussie has now technically dropped three of his past four.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.
Bryan Battle is not fully happy with his submission win at UFC Fight Night 228.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Bryan Battle[/autotag] is not fully happy with his performance, despite getting his hand raised in the end.
The Season 29 “Ultimate Fighter” winner picked up a second-round submission win over AJ Fletcher this past Saturday on the main card of UFC Fight Night 228. Yet, despite leaving unscathed and with a stoppage victory, Battle (10-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) thinks he didn’t fight up to his true potential against Fletcher (10-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC).
“Honestly, with the type of work me and my coaches were doing, I kind of underperformed a little bit,” Battle said at a post-fight news conference. “I was really gunshy in that first round. I was really tentative. But after he sent that big shot out, I was like, ‘OK, it’s time to fight now. It’s time to wake up. Let’s go.’ Honestly, there wasn’t a lot of surprising once I was in there.”
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Battle thinks he got too into reading Fletcher and not trying to make a mistake in that first round. However, in the second, that was all gone, and he went in for the kill.
“For a multitude of reasons,” Battle said when asked why he underperformed. “One, you always want to get your range and timing and all that. I guess I just felt so prepared for this fight, I didn’t want to do anything silly and make any goofy mistakes. I didn’t want to give up a takedown because I was too aggressive. He’s shown explosive takedowns and really good top control, and I didn’t want to give that to him.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.
This week’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel discusses the UFC’s massive week of fight bookings, Israel Adesanya breaking his silence and more.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts, with a new special start time of 11 a.m. ET, which will lead straight into our live-streamed coverage of the Dana White’s Contender Series 64 weigh-ins in Las Vegas.
This week’s panel of Matthew Wells, Nolan King and Danny Segura will join host Mike Bohn live at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:
UFC Fight Night 228 winner Charles Jourdain says he wants Cub Swanson next.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag] wants to fight veteran Cub Swanson, especially after their most recent interaction.
Jourdain called out Swanson after his submission win at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 228 at the UFC Apex. Jourdain (15-6-1 MMA, 6-5-1 UFC) tapped Ricardo Ramos (16-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC) with a guillotine choke in the first round of their featherweight contest.
After the fight, in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping, Jourdain shot his shot.
“I saw Cub Swanson around,” Jourdain said. “I know I said I wasn’t going to call anyone out, but Barboza doesn’t want it and I just fought two very good Brazilians. So Cub, let’s fight in Toronto. Canadian fans deserve a very good fight between the new school and the old school.”
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Jourdain didn’t plan on calling anyone out, but a negative interaction with Swanson during fight week changed his mind.
“I just had another interaction with him a couple of days ago with him,” Jourdain said at the UFC Fight Night 228 post-fight news conference. “I went to shake his hand, you guys know me, I’m a very nice guy, and he was sizing me all the time. I’m like, ‘Dude, f*ck you.’ I’m not a mean guy. I said congratulations on your last victory, and he was like, ‘Yeah, thank you.’ Ok, I’ll punch you, motherf*cker.”
Apart from not having a pleasant interaction with Swanson, Jourdain also thinks that fight makes all the sense in the world.
“Cub, I wouldn’t be asking for him if he was going down, but he just fought Hakeem (Dawodu) in a very nice fight and Hakeem is a very capable man,” Jourdain said. “He’s one of my fellow Canadians. Yes, it was for some people controversial, but Cub looked fantastic in there. It’s a big name. It’s a fun fight for me. It’s a fun fight for the fans. They can use the fact that I’ve been calling him out since I was 23 years old and yeah to build up something. If he wants to.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.
Dan Ige reacts to his loss to Bryce Mitchell at UFC Fight Night 228.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag] won’t the latest setback of his fighting career affect him.
Despite losing a decision to Bryce Mitchell this past Saturday on the main card of UFC Fight Night 228, Ige (17-7 MMA, 9-6 UFC) is staying positive and remains confident he’ll bounce back better than ever. The UFC featherweight posted a video on Instagram reacting to his defeat.
“I fell short tonight,” Ige said. “I lost on the judges’ scorecards. Small mistakes. I just have to get better and keep chipping away, pick myself up again. I’ve been here before many times. I’ve fallen, and I’ve always gotten back up. That’s the story of my life. Congrats to Bryce. Enjoy the victory with your family, and I’m sure I’ll see you guys soon in the octagon.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxjq3CqRaQU/
With this loss, Ige saw a two-fight winning streak come to an end. He entered UFC Fight Night 228 with a knockout win over Damon Jackson and a decision win over Nate Landwehr. Ige is 2-4 in his past six UFC outings.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.
Suddenly, Rafael Fiziev finds himself on a two-fight losing skid and with a big injury to overcome after the UFC Fight Night 228 main event.
(ALSO SEE: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Mateusz Gamrot after UFC Fight Night 228 win?)
[autotag]Rafael Fiziev[/autotag]’s night ended early at UFC Fight Night 228 when a knee injury brought an end to his main event with Mateusz Gamrot.
It was an unfortunate end for Fiziev (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who saw his leg buckle in the second round of the lightweight contest at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, giving Gamrot (23-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) the TKO win.
After putting together a six-fight winning streak at 155 pounds, Fiziev has now lost back-to-back fights after he fell short against Justin Gaethje at UFC 286 in March. To make matters worse, he likely has a tough road to recover ahead, which means sitting on this tough run for the foreseeable future.
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It’s an example of how quickly things can shift in a fighter’s career, and Fiziev seemingly has some challenging times ahead.
Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on what’s next for him after UFC Fight Night 228.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.
Mateusz Gamrot isn’t getting full credit for beating Rafael Fiziev after injury stopped the UFC Fight Night 228 headliner, so what now?
(ALSO SEE: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Rafael Fiziev after UFC Fight Night 228 injury loss?)
What should’ve been one of the biggest wins of [autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag]’s career had some of the shine taken off it at UFC Fight Night 228.
Gamrot (23-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was awarded a second-round TKO win in Saturday’s lightweight headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas after Rafael Fiziev (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) went down with a knee injury.
On paper, Gamrot has five victories in his past six octagon appearances, but a number of those have had some degree of controversy, muddying the Polish fighter’s name when it comes to getting the next big opportunity at 155 pounds.
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What’s next for Gamrot? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on his future after UFC Fight Night 228.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.
Analysis of the biggest UFC Fight Night 228 storylines, from Bryce Mitchell’s post-fight scene to the legitimacy of Mateusz Gamrot’s win.
What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 228 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
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