Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here are the top four honorable mentions and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Year” award for 2023.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best submissions from January to December. Here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year award for 2023.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for Submission of the Year.
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With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from August 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from August 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for August.
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 August 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from August 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for August.
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 August 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from August 2023. Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for August.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Cub Swanson’s opinion on his fight with Hakeem Dawodu changed after rewatching it.
[autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag]’s opinion on his fight with [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag] changed after rewatching it.
Swanson (29-13 MMA, 14-9 UFC) defeated Dawodu by decision in what was a close fight less than two weeks ago at UFC on ESPN 51. It was a decision that stirred controversy, even getting Swanson to question the result himself.
But after getting a chance to watch it back, he agrees with the judges.
“I watched the fight, and I thought it was very close, but I definitely feel like I won the first and third round,” Swanson told MMA Junkie Radio. “Second round I’d give to him just because of basically controlling me, but he really didn’t do any damage from there.
“I was actually letting him control me because I didn’t think that anything he was doing was hurting me, and I felt like he was spending more energy than I was. So I was kind of letting him do that. But in the moment, I thought that I lost the first just because I was disappointed in what I had done, in myself. Then I thought I lost the second. So, in my mind, going into the third I was like, ‘I need to finish him.'”
Swanson, 39, knows he’s in the tail end of his career. Had he lost to Dawodu (14-3-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC), Swanson revealed that he likely would have called it a career.
“I think it’s probably safe to say that if I would have lost, I probably would have been done,” Swanson said.
While Swanson would like at least one more big fight in front of a crowd, he has to assess how his body feels first.
“I got some injuries that I need to address that I’m going to real soon here,” Swanson said. “Honestly, I’ve had this cyst on my spine that’s been causing me quite a bit of pain that I’ve been dealing with, and so I think I need to get that removed.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
UFC light heavyweight Khalil Rountree now has a number next to his name after extending his winning streak at UFC on ESPN 51.
UFC on ESPN 51 saw a number of solid performances, but a light heavyweight earned a new spot in the rankings.
[autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag] extended his winning streak to four by stopping Chris Daukaus in the first round of their main card bout with devastating punching power. Rountree has stopped three opponents on his current run, and has earned a spot in the light heavyweight rankings, settling in at No. 13.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
UFC on ESPN 51 winners and losers react on social media outlets such as X, Instagram and Facebook.
Since the early days when the sport was anything but a mainstream endeavor, the MMA industry has thrived and survived through various websites, forums, and – perhaps most importantly – social-media platforms.
Fighters interact with fans, each other and many more through the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which helps outsiders get a deeper look into the minds of the athletes.
Following Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 51 in Las Vegas, several of the winning and losing fighters, along with their coaches, training partners or family members, took to social media to react to the event or share a message with supporters.
Check out some of those reactions.
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Our panel takes a closer look at the judging in the UFC on ESPN 51 co-main event between Hakeem Dawodu and Cub Swanson.
Welcome to “Judges Gonna Judge,” where our MMA Junkie staff panel revisits the most controversial decision that occurred over the weekend.
This week, we take a closer look at the UFC on ESPN 51 co-main bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, a featherweight matchup between [autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag] and [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag].
The fight was mostly a striking affair over 15 minutes, although there were some moments in the clinch and on the mat. The judges rendered their decision and all three scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Swanson, much to his surprise.
Considering how the fight unfolded, Swanson’s reaction as his hand was raised by the referee and his admission that he did not think he won the fight in post-fight inteviews, the judges’ decision was publicly scrutinized. Media members overwhelmingly saw the fight for Dawodu, as 11 of the 13 scores submitted on MMA Decisions were in his favor.
Official judges Ron McCarthy and Jacob Montalvo issued identical scorecards, giving Swanson the first and third rounds. Judge Sal D’Amato arrived at a 29-28 score, but he saw the second and third rounds for Swanson.
MMA Junkie’s Matthew Wells, Farah Hannoun and Mike Bohn put on their judging hats and break the fight down by each round.
If you need a refresher on the official scoring criteria before we dive in, you can check it out here.
Judo ace Luana Santos beat Juliana Miller with a first-round TKO at UFC on ESPN 51 and credited Ronda Rousey for inspiring her career.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Luana Santos[/autotag] beat Juliana Miller with a first-round TKO Saturday to open up the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 51 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Santos, a judo expert who picked up a win in her highly anticipated UFC debut.
Jaqueline Amorim has all seven of her pro wins by stoppage, including a TKO of Montserrat Conejo at UFC on ESPN 51.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jaqueline Amorim[/autotag] beat Montserrat Conejo with a third-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 51 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Amorim, who has all seven of her pro wins by stoppage.
