Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out which epic battle earned MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Year award for 2022.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best fights from January to December 2022.
As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Year.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from December 2022.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from December 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for December.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from December 2022.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from December 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for December.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from December 2022.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from December 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for December.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Check out a full recap of 2022’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.
Now that the year has come to a close, and with a major assist from UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll, here are some of 2022’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances in the octagon.
Darren Elkins suffered quite a bit of damage in his loss to Jonathan Pearce.
[autotag]Darren Elkins[/autotag] suffered quite a bit of damage in his loss to Jonathan Pearce.
Elkins (28-11 MMA, 17-10 UFC) lost a unanimous decision to Pearce two weeks ago at UFC on ESPN 42 in Orlando, Fla., where he was bloodied and apparently badly injured during the fight.
Elkins said he suffered multiple leg injuries, but despite being compromised, the notoriously tough 38-year-old managed to go the distance against Pearce. Doctors tried to intervene when Elkins was a bloody mess in Round 3, but he showed no hesitation in wanting to continue.
He took to Instagram on Thursday to open up about his injuries.
“Well I tore my meniscus, tore my MCL when I got the first takedown & fractured my fibula in the fight… but I still had a great vacation in the Turks and Caicos with my family.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmNRi1fv-QY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Elkins competed in his 25th UFC featherweight bout, the most appearances in divisional history. The Team Alpha Male fighter has won three of his past five, with his victories coming over Luiz Eduardo Garagorri, Darrick Minner and Tristan Connelly.
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Check out the latest edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”
Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.
On Episode 3,318, the guys bring on guest [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag], who steps into the boxing ring Saturday on Terence Crawford’s undercard. The fellas also take a look at the UFC 282 event, including the light heavyweight title fight [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag], [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jared Gordon[/autotag], and more. Tune in!
Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.
UFC on ESPN 42 produced a few moves in this week’s rankings, including the rise of a dangerous heavyweight contender in Sergei Pavlovich.
The heavyweight division has a new name ready to become a top contender.
At UFC on ESPN 42, [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] made quick work of Tai Tuivasa, finishing the fan-favorite brawler in less than a minute. The result was his sixth-straight first-round finish, while taking out his second big name after former title challenger Derrick Lewis in July. This week, he claims the No. 3 spot in the heavyweight division.
Also making moves this week is middleweight [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]. Entering his contest unranked against Jack Hermansson, Dolidze turned in a phenomenal performance with a unique calf slicer hold he used to secure a TKO victory. Now on a four-fight winning streak, Dolidze’s run has elevated him to the No. 12 spot in the middleweight division.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
At UFC Orlando, coach Bob Perez called off the main event for his fighter Kevin Holland – a difficult decision, but one he is confident in.
Twenty hard minutes were already past, when coach Bob Perez entered the cage to address and assess his fighter Saturday in Orlando.
Perez glanced at his fighter, [autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag], and confirmed a growing suspicion things weren’t the way they needed to be for a fifth round to take place. Holland’s hand was debilitated.
After a brief conversation with his fighter, Perez told referee Dan Miragliotta to call off the UFC on ESPN 42 main event. If there were boos, they were drowned out by the cheers from those in attendance, who showed their appreciation for an all-time UFC battle between Holland and Stephen Thompson.
It’s not always a warm reception when a corner calls off a fight. But even if there was audible disappointment, Perez wouldn’t have cared because as he sits Tuesday back home in Texas, he knows he made the right call.
“Fourth round, he wasn’t moving. He was backing up. He just wasn’t Kevin,” Perez told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “Going into the fifth, I walk in and go, ‘All right, buddy. Last round.’ He’s like, ‘Bob, I can’t do anything with my hand.’ I’m like, ‘Do you want me to stop it?’ He’s like, ‘Yessir.’ Done. I was watching it. We were all watching it. We were all aware. I’m looking for big signs. I’m looking for him to be vocal with me.
“My primary job there is to protect him. I would do the same for you or any other fighter. You have to prevent. People can die in there, man. I think as fans, we tend to forget that. They can die in there. It could’ve been career-ending or permanent, permanent damage that could’ve been done to his hand. Thankfully, it’s not that bad.”
Losing stinks, Perez admits – and being the one bearing the responsibility of stepping in makes matters more challenging. But Perez knows and loves his fighter and has been around the block. The co-owner of Main Street Boxing and Muay Thai, Perez has coached numerous Texas-based fighters over the years, like Holland and Derrick Lewis.
With a wealth of knowledge, “Kru Bob” used it to analyze and determine there was no better way at that moment to show that than to protect Holland, who fought one-handed for the majority of four rounds after a break in Round 1.
“I’ve had fighters say, ‘Coach, I’ll kill you if you ever stop a fight.’ I’m like, ‘Well, you’re going to have to kill me,'” Perez said. “… My point that I’m getting to is I’d rather have Kevin mad at me for a bit, than him hating me for the rest of his life or his family hating me. God forbid something terrible, terrible, terrible were to happen, I wouldn’t want to hate myself.
“At the end of the day, you try to be as technical as you can and help them with all the instruction that you can but sometimes you have to play that father figure if that makes any sense. You have to be the protector. You have to save them from themselves, because fighters will fight until the end. That’s what they do.”
Holland and his corner decide to call off the fight after four hard fought rounds at #UFCOrlando pic.twitter.com/0QbvuNzD6S
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 4, 2022
Holland will undergo surgery Friday to repair three broken metacarpals, but fighting without proper defense or offense could’ve caused worse issues. At the end of the day, fighting is entertainment – but it’s also a life-or-death trade.
“I want to make it very clear: Kevin didn’t want out because he’s afraid or anything like that,” Perez said. “He couldn’t fight. Fighting ‘Wonderboy’ with all of your limbs is very difficult, then to do it missing your strongest weapon, it’s damn near impossible. His health is paramount. All fighters’ health should come first. Kevin is a father and a family man and at the end of the day he needs to be able to go home safe and to his family and fight again.”
Corner stoppages are a lot less populous in mixed martial arts fight culture than they are boxing. Perez understands many coaches’ mentality is to let a fighter go out on his or her shield. That’s the way he was coached by others during his come-up, after all.
“It’ll always be a 50-50,” Perez said. “At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual coach. I’m just the type of guy, when I was coming up, my coaches were hard-nosed, blah, blah, blah. It was different. I’m a different type of coach, but for the most part, I’m very positive and compassionate and am going to my corrections and get on you. At the end of the day, you know I love you and I’m going to be there for you.
“Some coaches are in it for the wrong reasons. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I really don’t. To each, his own. But at the end of the day, we’re there to work for the fighter. We’re there to help them with their careers and build our legacies as well. But yeah, I think it’ll always be the same. There will be coaches that will. There will be coaches that won’t. It’s really just a matter of who they are as individuals.”
It’s not black or white, Perez explained. There is no guidebook that says, “If X happens to a fighter, stop it, and if Y happens, don’t.” There will almost always be a debate in the court of public opinion. But as Perez indicated, a determination can best be made by a coach who knows and understands his fighter. Knowledge is built up with familiarity.
“If I was your coach, we have to have a relationship, man,” Perez said. “We have to know each other because at the end of the day, you are trusting me with your life. You’re trusting that I’m going to give you the right instruction. You’re trusting that I’m going to see certain things. You’re trusting me to make the right calls. One hundred percent, I don’t think the relationship between coaches and students or coaches and fighters can be this very sterile, clinical thing. There has to be love. There has to be compassion. There has to be that intimacy, that bond that you share.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 42.
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Mexican UFC prospect Yazmin Jauregui wants no shortcuts and believes “really nice, big things await for 2023.
[autotag]Yazmin Jauregui[/autotag] wants to take her time.
The 23-year-old strawweight prospect is in no rush to get to the top of the UFC as she doesn’t want to skip any processes or lessons needed to reach her full potential.
Jauregui (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is coming off a TKO win over Istella Nunes this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 42. The victory kept her undefeated in her professional MMA career, with seven stoppages in just 10 bouts.
Although she’s looking very advanced for her age, Jauregui would like to stay away from the strawweight rankings – for now.
“I’m young, I’m only 23, I’m in no rush to enter the rankings,” Jauregui told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I’ve already mentioned it before: Evolution for me is important. Also, for the people to get to know me, my fighting style, and how dominant I can be in that cage. That’s all good.
“I think in maybe a year – maybe 2024, 2025 – the opportunity (to enter the rankings) shows up depending on how I do. I’m just ready for my team to guide me.”
While many young fighters aspire to set the record for being the youngest champion in UFC history or just simply fight at a high-level early in their careers, Jauregui doesn’t see the need to rush. She is confident in her skills and in Entram Gym in Tijuana, where she trains. But she also understands there’s a lot to learn in this game.
“Yeah, why (rush)?,” Jauregui said. “We could be fighting, improving, getting to know more the octagon, making more money, have a good time in that cage. So why go out there and look to fight a top contender? I’m willing to earn my spot like it needs to be done and give myself the opportunity to continue to improve and evolve. That’s what’s most important. I have goals and everything has its time. I just need to keep preparing and be ready for my next fights.”
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Jauregui joined the UFC roster from Combate Global in mid 2022. She was able to fight twice in the octagon and notch two wins. The Mexican is over the moon with how things panned out this year and is excited to see what’s in store for 2023.
“I’m so thankful with God and all the opportunities that presented themselves,” Jauregui said. “I honestly, at one point, thought I’d only fight in August, but when the opportunity came up to fight in December, my head was immediately in fighting mode. I did a hard training camp, and I was able to get two wins in one year in such an important organization.
“And nothing, I’m just thankful for the opportunity I have to keep working, keep preparing. I believe really nice, big things await for 2023. I want to keep working, and I have goals to accomplish.”
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