Tag: UFC on ESPN 8

UFC on ESPN 8’s Claudia Gadelha responds to Carla Esparza: ‘Stop with the (expletive) excuses’

At the UFC on ESPN 8 post-fight press conference, Claudia Gadelha responded to Carla Esparza’s accusations of greasing.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – [autotag]Claudia Gadelha[/autotag] directed some parting words at a past opponent at the end of her UFC on ESPN 8 post-fight interview Saturday.

After Gadelha (18-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) defeated Angela Hill (12-8 MMA, 7-8 UFC) by split decision in the card’s co-main event, UFC commentator Paul Felder asked if she had an opponent in mind for her next fight.

“Hey, [autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag],” Gadelha said into the microphone. “Let’s do it again.”

The callout got a reaction out of Esparza (16-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC), the first strawweight champion in UFC history, who responded with a tweet reading, “Let’s run it back. Leave the grease at home this time.”

At the UFC on ESPN 8 post-fight press conference, Gadelha responded to Esparza’s tweet. Gadelha said Esparza is looking for excuses why she lost their first meeting.

“Man, it’s 2020,” Gadelha told MMA Junkie. “This sport is evolving so much. Come on. I have the commission at least following me from the time I step in the octagon till the time the fight is finished. How the (expletive) am I going to grease? Carla Esparza, stop with the (expletive) excuses. Let’s get back in there again.”

Esparza, 32, competed a week ago at UFC 249. Taking on Michelle Waterson, Esparza earned a split decision. Gadelha indicated she had watched the fight and largely refrained from commenting on what she saw.

“Right now, I wouldn’t say much because everyone is going through crazy times,” Gadelha said. “It’s tough to train. It’s tough to do anything. I don’t know how her camp was. Not a lot of things happened in that fight, so I can’t say much.”

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The inaugural meeting between Gadelha and Esparza took place at UFC 225 in June 2018. The two strawweights fought for 15 minutes with Gadelha getting the split decision.

The week after their bout in Chicago, Esparza publicly called Gadelha a “dirty fighter throughout (her career)” and “a cheater.”

“And just for the record, I would never publicly accuse someone of anything unless I was 100 percent sure,” Esparza added.

UFC on ESPN 8 took place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

Check out Claudia Gadelha’s full UFC on ESPN 8 post-fight press conference in the video above.

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Video: Alistair Overeem celebrates 40th birthday during post-fight medicals

UFC heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem’s corner sings him happy birthday during post-fight medicals at UFC on ESPN 8.

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[autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag]’s 40th birthday was quite unique.

The former Strikeforce and DREAM heavyweight champion turned 40 minutes after picking up his 46th career MMA win. Overeem (46-18 MMA, 11-7 UFC) defeated Walt Harris in the main event of UFC on ESPN 8, which went down Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Dutch fighter survived a rough first round and came back to dominate the action in the second and eventually get the stoppage. Overeem stopped Walt Harris with a TKO at the 3:00 mark of Round 2.

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Overeem was dropped hard by Harris and almost finished with ground-and pound halfway in the first round. He was able to bounce back using his wrestling and tagged Harris on the ground until the first five minutes finished.

Overeem continued that momentum in Round 2. He dropped Harris, got back mount and landed many shots until the referee was forced to wave off the fight.

The clock struck midnight during Overeem’s post-fight medicals and his corner made sure to celebrate the veteran. Even at 40, Overeem is working his way back to title contention. He’s 3-1 in his past four outings with his lone defeat being a last second comeback by Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Below is a video of Overeem’s corner singing him happy birthday:

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UFC on ESPN 8 bonuses: Yadong-Vera war takes ‘Fight of Night’ honors

Song Yadong, Marlon Vera, Cortney Casey and Miguel Baeza each earned $50,000 bonuses at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 8 event.

[autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag], [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag], [autotag]Cortney Casey[/autotag] and [autotag]Miguel Baeza[/autotag] each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 8 event.

Yadong and Vera earned the “Fight of the Night,” while Casey and Baeza each won “Performance of the Night” honors. UFC officials announced the winners following the event, which MMA Junkie attended.

Yadong (16-4-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Vera (17-6-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in their bantamweight bout to open the main card. The fight was close, and Vera was upset enough at the decision that he snubbed Yadong for a post-fight handshake.

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Casey (9-7 MMA, 5-6 UFC) submitted Mara Romero Borella (12-8 MMA, 2-4 UFC) with a first-round armbar in her move to the women’s flyweight division. It was Casey’s first submission win since November 2016.

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Baeza (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) stayed undefeated with a second-round knockout of veteran Matt Brown (22-17 MMA, 15-11 UFC) to close out the prelims. Brown had big moments in the first round, but Baeza rallied late, then carried that over into the second for a quick KO.

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UFC on ESPN 8 took place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+. It was the UFC’s third fight in an eight-day stretch in Jacksonville.

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Twitter reacts to Alistair Overeem’s comeback TKO of Walt Harris at UFC on ESPN 8

See the top Twitter reactions to Alistair Overeem’s win over Walt Harris in the UFC on ESPN 8 main event.

[autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] added the name of another heavyweight contender to his resume on Saturday when he beat [autotag]Walt Harris[/autotag] in the UFC on ESPN 8 main event.

Overeem (46-18 MMA, 11-7 UFC) spoiled Harris’ (13-8 MMA, 6-7 UFC) emotional return to the octagon when he scored a second-round TKO victory in the event headliner, which took place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., and aired on ESPN.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Overeem’s victory over Harris at UFC on ESPN 8.

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UFC on ESPN 8 results: Alistair Overeem rallies to TKO Walt Harris

Alistair Overeem played the unfortunate villain in Walt Harris’ emotional comeback story when he won the UFC on ESPN 8 main event.

[autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] played the unfortunate villain in [autotag]Walt Harris[/autotag]’ emotional comeback story Saturday when he emerged victorious in the UFC on ESPN 8 main event.

Overeem (46-18 MMA, 11-7 UFC) was compassionate to Harris’ (13-8 MMA, 6-7 UFC) journey back to the cage after the shocking murder of his stepdaughter this past fall, but promised it would be “all business” when fight night arrived. He delivered, scoring a second-round TKO victory in what was Overeem’s 65th professional fight.

It was a wild back-and-forth fight, with both men knocking each other down. Overeem did it better, though, and picked up the stoppage win at the 3:00 mark of Round 2.

The heavyweight bout was the UFC on ESPN 8 main event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. It aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

Harris came out swinging hard hands at Overeem, who looked to use footwork and be evasive. He couldn’t do it for long, though, because Harris connected with an enormous shot that dropped Overeem to the canvas. Harris swarmed, but Overeem somehow survived the initial attack and subsequent finishing attempts. Overeem got back up, and with a huge cut around his right eyebrow, managed to secure a takedown on Harris. Overeem attacked from on top, chipping away at a fatigued Harris with ground-and-pound for the remainder of the round.

The action picked up where it left off in the second. The pair came out throwing heavy strikes, and Overeem went over the top of Harris’ guard with a sneaky head kick to score a knockdown. Overeem battered Harris from there. Referee Dan Miragliotta gave Harris ever chance to move position and get himself out of danger, but Overeem trapped him in back mount and pounded away until the fight was waved off.

Overeem credited his determination for the win, and with three wins in his past four fights, is looking to make another push to title.

“Somehow I keep finding the focus, I love it,” Overeem said in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder. “Let’s look at the rankings, fight again later this year and maybe see if there’s one more shot at the title.”

Harris, for his part, was emotional after the loss. However, he vowed to come back stronger.

“I want to say thank you first and foremost to he UFC,” Harris said. “They’ve been amazing through the whole process. My wife and my family is so grateful. We owe you guys everything … I’m so grateful to you guys.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 8 results include:

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UFC on ESPN 8 results: Claudia Gadelha edges Angela Hill, calls for Carla Esparza rematch

Former title challenger Claudia Gadelha extended her winning streak to three with a split decision win over Angela Hill at UFC on ESPN 8.

[autotag]Claudia Gadelha[/autotag] continues to climb back toward title contention.

The former UFC title challenger picked up a split decision win over [autotag]Angela Hill[/autotag] at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 8. Gadelha won with a pair of 29-28s on the judges’ scorecards. A third judge had it 29-28 for Hill.

The women’s strawweight bout was the UFC on ESPN 8 co-main event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. It aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The bout was an exciting, high-paced back-and forth affair.

In Round 1, Gadelha (18-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) and Hill (12-8 MMA, 7-7 UFC) exchanged evenly on feet, but deep into the round Gadelha was able to score a takedown and control her opponent. It was a clear round for the Brazilian.

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The second went well for Hill. She dropped Gadelha early in the round and continued to overwhelm her with volume while avoiding takedowns and keeping the fight at range.

It seemed to come down to the third, when both fighters shined on the feet. Hill seemed to land the higher volume, but Gadelha pressured forward and landed clean shots of her own.

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Gadelha now has won her last three trips to the octagon. She called for a rematch with Carla Esparza during her post-fight interview. Esparza, who fought Wednesday and beat Michelle Waterson, also expressed interest in the rematch following her win. Gadelha’s most recent loss came to Nina Ansaroff in December 2018. Hill saw a three-fight winning streak come to an end. The bout was her seventh in 14 months.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 8 results include:

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Twitter reacts to Dan Ige’s narrow win over Edson Barboza at UFC on ESPN 8

See the top Twitter reactions to Dan Ige’s win over Edson Barboza at UFC on ESPN 8.

[autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag] gave [autotag]Edson Barboza[/autotag] a rude welcome to the featherweight division on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 8.

Ige (13-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) extended his winning streak to six fights when he pulled off a split decision victory over Barboza (20-9 MMA, 14-9 UFC), who was coming down from lightweight, in the featured matchup, which took place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., and aired on ESPN.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Ige’s victory over Barboza at UFC on ESPN 8.

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