Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Brok Weaver spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
Brok Weaver spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
Antonina Shevchenko spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
Antonina Shevchenko spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
Gilbert Burns thinks it’s possible a title shot could stem from a win over Tyron Woodley – but he has to finish.
Fourteen appearances into his promotional tenure, [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] is finally on the marquee.
At UFC on ESPN 9, Burns (18-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) will headline against former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. The career milestone doesn’t come with added emotions, Burns told MMA Junkie on Wednesday.
“This is for sure my first time headlining a card, but I knew that day would come,” Burns said. “I was getting ready for that. I knew I would headline a card. I knew I’d be in a main event. I knew I was going to have a big fight. That day just came, you know?
“I have no emotions right now. I just keep doing what I’m doing. I’m doing my best in every session, resting, eating and doing everything good to go there on Saturday at my best. It’s business as usual.”
The fight against Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) originally stems from a figment of Burns’ imagination. Before the UFC’s March 21 event scheduled for London fell through, Burns volunteered to fight Woodley on short notice. Two months later, it’s a reality – and Burns said he loves the matchup.
“I hope he comes out firing the way he says he’s going to come,” Burns said. “I don’t know. It’s a big test for me. … I knew the next one would be a tough guy. It couldn’t be tougher. It couldn’t be better. He’s the No. 1 contender and a former champion. I’m ready for whatever I have to go through. If I have to go five rounds, I’m ready to. I’m confident.
Burns outlined confidence as a main difference between the two fighters. Woodley isn’t lacking confidence. It’s quite the opposite, Burns indicated.
“I know he’s over-confident. He’s going to be shocked. I’m going to walk forward with forward pressure on him. I know he’s got good wrestling takedown defense. I’m going to shoot. I’m going to hit him hard and I’m going to put pressure. I’m going to make it a dirty fight. I can’t wait for that. I hope we’re ‘Fight of the Night.’ I’m excited for this fight.”
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Knockout or submission, Burns said it doesn’t matter. According to the Brazilian, the main focus is to finish the fight. Should he win, a title shot could be on the line – but it’s contingent on how he gets it done.
“For sure,” Burns said. “Especially if I beat him the way I want to beat him, the way I believe I’ll beat him. If I beat him up good and get the finish I’m looking for, he’s the No. 1 contender. The next fight would be to fight for the title. I think it all depends on the performance.
“If I go out there and kill Tyron Woodley in a couple rounds, for sure I’m next in line. If it goes to a tough fight or a split decision, maybe I’ll have to do another one. We’ll see. I’m just looking forward to a great performance.”
UFC on ESPN 9 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
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Gilbert Burns spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
Gilbert Burns spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
After losing belt, Tyron Woodley changed outlook towards fighting.
[autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag]’s outlook toward his professional fighting career has changed.
The former UFC welterweight champion had a tough time after losing his belt to Kamaru Usman back at UFC 235 in March 2019. The struggles of losing his title, which he had defended four times prior, forced Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC) to reassess and take a new approach to his UFC journey.
And ahead of his first fight back since losing the belt, Woodley expects to see the new approach show in his main event bout against Gilbert Burns at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9.
“I went into a state of depression for a while,” Woodley told reporters at Thursday’s virtual media day. “I really wasn’t talking to many people, I was eating terrible, I wasn’t training, and I just really didn’t expect – I felt like all my competition before Kamaru Usman was my stiffest competition. I felt like all the great welterweights I beat before then would be my toughest competition. I didn’t take anyone lightly. I didn’t think it was going to be cruise control at that point, but I felt like I had those five rounds mapped out so well. I felt like my strategy, my gameplan, my studying, my coaches, my team, I felt like I had everything in position to win. So I really had to deal with that, and it took longer than any other fight in my career.
“I got to the point where I felt like I faced it head on. I felt like I’m a better person, I’m a better fighter, a better human being because of it. I felt like it was necessary for my journey. Sometimes you see guys, and they just go from the bottom to the top and they spring all the way though. They got everybody helping them out, whether it’s media push or social media, and they just got all the things given. It’s the people who have to bounce back, who have to face adversity and have to show the fans what they’re made of – that they’re just not going to crawl into a ball.
“I’m coming out swinging, and I’ve always come out swinging after defeat, but this time its a little different because I plan on making this a complete lifestyle change. The way that I’m taking the fight game and really my focus is really set back to the amateur Tyron Woodley, who was trying to turn professional, who was trying to fight in the UFC, who wanted to be a champion, who wanted tor reign. I’m out for everything right now.”
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As far as the performance against Usman, Woodley has no answers as to why he couldn’t perform. The 38-year-old fighter just felt it was an off night for him.
“I really can’t explain what happened, so I didn’t make any adjustments. so I really can’t make any adjustments,” Woodley said. “I just wasn’t in my body that night. I haven’t really watched the fight or focused too much on it, just focused on moving forward from it and that’s what I’m doing right now.”
Woodley expects a win over Burns to unlock many good options for his career – including a title fight rematch with Kamaru Usman.
“I think just winning in dominant fashion is going to set up a lot of things for me,” Woodley said. “It could be fighting Usman or it could be anything, but I think going out on Saturday and focusing on that first and not looking so far down the road is going to help me in this situation.”
UFC on ESPN 9 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
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Previewing Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 fight between Blagoy Ivanov and Augusto Sakai, with MMA betting odds, picks, tips and bets.
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Blagoy Ivanov and Augusto Sakai clash in a heavyweight bout on the main card at UFC on ESPN 9 – also known as Fight Night 176 – at the UFC’s Apex Facility in Las Vegas. The card kicks off Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+.
Ivanov (18-3) has a four-inch reach disadvantage, and he is four inches shorter than his opponent, too. In addition, Sakai (14-1-1) holds a 5.51 to 3.09 significant strikes landed per minute advantage, and 46.40 to 38.03 significant strikes-accuracy percentage advantage. Sakai’s bread and butter is on the ground, and that’s where he is likely to try and take the fight early and often. “Baga” hasn’t had the same kind of success on the ground at the UFC level as he had in the lower levels, however, going 2-2 with all four of his UFC fights going the distance.
Sakai has been a knockout machine throughout his career, posting 11 of his professional wins via KO/TKO. Since arriving at the UFC level, he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, going 3-0 with a pair of knockout wins, including a 59-second knockout of Marcin Tybura last time out (Sept. 14, 2019). He quickly turned heads when he outlasted veteran Andrei Arlovski on the Jacare-Hermansson card last April, too. Sakai is for real, and a rising star in the heavyweight class.
Want to place a bet on UFC Fight Night? Place bets at BetMGM online in CO, IN, NJ and WV! New customer offer: Risk-free first bet! Visit BetMGM for terms and conditions. Bet now!
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday, May 28 at 7:30 a.m. ET.
SAKAI (-110) and Ivanov (-110) is basically considered a coin flip at this juncture, as the books expect a close affair between the two sluggers. However, remember that height and reach advantage when looking into a wager on this fight. Sakai has advantages in both departments, and he is a knockout machine. Ivanov will have to be a little more defensive than he is used to. If he lets his guard down, it could be a quick ending.
Betting on KO/TKO/DQ (+160) on how the fight will finish, regardless of winner, is a tremendously attractive prop. If you get specific and take SAKAI TO WIN BY KO/TKO or DQ (+320), you can more than triple your bet and profit handsomely. It’s also a good idea to take NO (+120): WILL THE FIGHT GO THE DISTANCE? Plus, betting UNDER 2.5 TOTAL ROUNDS (+135) is an even better value.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on Sakai (-110) to win returns a profit of $9.09. A $10 bet of No (+120) on the fight going the distance pays a $12 return, and betting on the fight to end on a KO/TKO/DQ (+160), regardless of fight winner, fetches a $16 profit.
To watch the full card, sign up for ESPN+ now.
If you want some action on this MMA bout, place your wagers at BetMGM now. For more sports betting picks and analysis, visit SportsbookWire.com.
Follow @JoeWilliamsVI on Twitter, and follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and Facebook.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
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Mackenzie Dern won’t let her first pro loss faze her as she looks to get back in the win column against Hannah Cifers.
[autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag] won’t let her first pro loss faze her.
After winning her first two UFC bouts, Dern (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was bounced out of the ranks of the unbeaten when she suffered a unanimous decision loss to Amanda Ribas this past October.
Although Dern is still young in the sport, the jiu-jitsu star doesn’t see her first blemish necessarily relieving the pressure she had coming into the sport.
In fact, she liked it.
“For me, I like being undefeated,” Dern told MMA Junkie. “I like the pressure. For me, the pressure is like, ‘OK, yeah, everyone is watching, everyone wants me to win, I have to prove them right or prove them wrong.’ The more you’re winning, the more people want to see you get taken down, the more they put you to fight, the more they – just sponsors and everything … so for me, the loss definitely wasn’t good. I would prefer that this loss come a little bit more in the future, but it is what it is.
“It didn’t change too much for me in my mind as a person, but I know that for a lot of the other people it changed a little bit. But that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to use it and take it and try and forget about it.”
Dern returned just four months after having her first child, and though it’s a relatively quick turnaround, she offers no excuses for her loss to Ribas.
“I think I was ready to go that night,” Dern said. “Amanda was better than me on that day, so all the credit to her. If it was an injury, sooner or later I’d have to come back after an injury – if I had a knee surgery or whatever – so I think the fact that it was a pregnancy and people think that a pregnancy is way worse than an injury or something like that, so they think that’s why I lost.”
Looking to get back in the win column, Dern faces Hannah Cifers on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 9, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
And naturally, she expects her strength in grappling to be the biggest difference.
“Definitely the ground,” Dern said. “I think at least from the fights that I saw of her on the ground, I think that’s more of her weaker spot and obviously that’s my strongest spot so I wanna play in my strongest spot. But thankfully she’s such a tough girl, she has a lot of fights in the UFC so I was able to see a lot of her fights because there’s tons of them.”
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Billy Quarantillo spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
Billy Quarantillo spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
Previewing Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 fight between Billy Quarantillo and Spike Carlyle, with MMA betting odds, picks, tips and bets.
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Billy Quarantillo and Spike Carlyle hook up in a catch weight bout on the main card at UFC on ESPN 9 – also known as Fight Night 176 – at the UFC’s Apex Facility in Las Vegas. The card kicks off Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+.
Quarantillo and Carlyle step into the spotlight of the main card after Kevin Holland (shoulder) was forced to withdraw from his welterweight bout with Daniel Rodriguez. Gabriel Green will make his UFC debut in place of Holland, but the bout was moved to the prelims, while Quarantillo and Carlyle were shifted to the main card.
Quarantillo (13-2) doesn’t land quite as many punches as Carlyle (9-1), but when Quarantillo does land, he is accurate. He has an 81.38 significant strike-accuracy percentage to Carlyle’s 68.97, although the latter holds a 14.12 significant strikes landed per minute to 10.77 advantage. Still, those are very, very high numbers, and are mostly from the lower levels, as each fighter has just one fight under their respective belts at the UFC level.
Each of Quarantillo’s past five fights have finished inside the distance, including four via KO/TKO and a submission win in Round 2 against Jacob Kilburn in his UFC debut.
For Carlyle, each of his past three fights have all ended the same, a KO/TKO win. He knocked out Aalon Cruz after just 85 seconds in his UFC debut Feb. 29, 2020. On the flip side, Carlyle has never been knocked out in 10 career professional bouts, winning three times by KO/TKO, and he has never lost by submission, either, while winning three times on the mat.
Want to place a bet on UFC Fight Night? Place bets at BetMGM online in CO, IN, NJ and WV! New customer offer: Risk-free first bet! Visit BetMGM for terms and conditions. Bet now!
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday, May 28 at 7:10 a.m. ET.
QUARANTILLO (-152) is a moderate favorite in the newly-minted main card bout, while Carlyle (+125) enters as a short dog.
Both of these fighters will be looking to brawl early on, but they might tire themselves if they do not pace themselves. Based upon their histories at the lower levels, this one isn’t going to go the distance. The books agree as NO (-167): WILL THE FIGHT GO THE DISTANCE? is an even steeper price than the 2-way line on the fight. Still, a bet on NO is warranted, as it’s hard to envision this one as a boring fight with few fireworks.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on Quarantillo (-152) to win returns a profit of $6.58. A $10 bet of No (-167) on the fight going the distance pays a $5.99 return.
To watch the full card, sign up for ESPN+ now.
If you want some action on this MMA bout, place your wagers at BetMGM now. For more sports betting picks and analysis, visit SportsbookWire.com.
Follow @JoeWilliamsVI on Twitter, and follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and Facebook.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
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Tyron Woodley spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
Tyron Woodley spoke with the media via teleconference ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas.
