Yair Rodriguez fires back at Zabit Magomedsharipov.
It seems like Zabit Magomedsharipov’s recent comments didn’t sit well with [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag].
The Mexican featherweight contender took to Instagram on Thursday to respond to Magomedsharipov’s recent claim suggesting Rodriguez wasn’t brave enough to step in the cage with him when he pulled out of their planned bout for Aug. 29.
Rodriguez (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) withdrew from the contest citing an ankle injury. “El Pantera” hopes to keep the Magomedsharipov bout intact and said he’s ready for a late fall return.
“Sit down and wait for me the way you have been waiting,” Rodriguez wrote on Instagram. “You will get a real good taste of my big Mexican balls soon enough. And since when did you become the sh*t talker? That you or your manager? Either way, you’ll both wait for me like the little dogs you are. Tongue out and begging. I’ll see you in October-November 5 rounds.”
[lawrence-related id=541561,541863,541095]
This isn’t the first time a Rodriguez-Magomedsharipov bout has fallen through. In 2018, the two were supposed to fight at UFC 228. But Rodriguez suffered an injury and withdrew from the bout.
The 27-year-old Rodriguez last fought in October, when he defeated Jeremy Stephens with a unanimous decision.
Below is Rodriguez’s Instagram post responding to Magomedsharipov:
Yair Rodriguez has suffered an injury, according to UFC president Dana White.
Fight fans will have to wait longer than expected to see [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Zabit Magomedshariov[/autotag].
In the midst of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday, Mexican news outlet Milenio reported Rodriguez (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) was out of the expected fight.
At the DWCS 27 post-event news conference, UFC president Dana White was asked about the report. White confirmed that Rodriguez is out of the matchup and cited an ankle injury as the reason why.
“He had a high ankle sprain and a fracture,” White said. “He’s out.”
While never announced by the UFC, White had hinted at it’s official booking in the past. Rodriguez vs. Magomedsharipov (18-1 MMA, 6-0) was rumored to take place as the promotion’s Aug. 29 main event.
White did mention whether or not the matchup will be preserved and moved to a later date, or if Magomedsharipov will be getting a new opponent.
The Rodriguez vs. Magomedsharipov cancellation is not the first time the matchup has fallen apart. In 2018, the two featherweights were supposed to fight at UFC 228. However, Rodriguez suffered an injury and withdrew from the bout.
Rodriguez has only competed twice since November 2018 – both times fighting Jeremy Stephens. In the same stretch of time, Magomedsharipov defeated Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar – both by unanimous decision.
There was plenty to address in this week’s Twitter Mailbag with Danny Segura. Check it out.
Questions on your mind about recent happenings in MMA or the sport in general? MMA Junkie’s Twitter Mailbag is here – and this week it’s @DannySeguraTV to answer:
What’s your opinion on fighters wanting more money?
Is [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] a tougher matchup for welterweight champion Kamaru Usman than [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag]?
Can gaming improve your MMA skills?
Those are answered in the video above. You can also read on a few more topics below.
****
What’s DC biggest concern going into his fight with Stipe
What is Daniel Cormier’s biggest concern heading into the Stipe Miocic trilogy?
Body shots, body shots, and body shots.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] is a great fighter with basically no huge holes in his skillset. The only thing you can nitpick about his game is that he might not take body shots as well as some other world-class fighters. Now, let’s make this clear: Body shots suck, and they can take a toll on anyone.
With Cormier, we saw it briefly in the Anderson Silva fight, and we definitely got a good look of it in the rematch with Miocic.
Cormier can’t let [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] add up those body shots. If so, that can slow down Cormier and zap his gas tank. Henry Cejudo made an excellent point once when analyzing the Miocic-Cormier rematch. “Triple C” said Cormier needs to learn when to compete and when to fight. To give you some context, Cejudo said he competed in the first round with Marlon Moraes, but he fought in the second and third.
[lawrence-related id=525647,515246]
It felt like Cormier fought the entire rematch with Miocic. In my opinion, I think if he can manage those two gears better and also spend more time worrying about defending and not always attacking, Cormier could do a lot better in the course of a five-round fight. Maybe the first-round knockout in the first fight gave him too much confidence on his finishing ability, I don’t know. But hopefully Cormier expects an outcome where Miocic takes his shots and is in the cage until the final bell.
Why isn’t Yair Rodriguez being mentioned in the featherweight contenders he beat Jeremy Stephens last time around and the Korean Zombie who himself getting mentioned as one of the next guys in line
Why isn’t Yair Rodriguez talked about as a UFC title contender?
I don’t agree with the sentiment of this question, but I do think there’s a little truth to it.
When you talk about the top five of the UFC featherweight division, you have to include [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] in there – most knowledgeable fans would agree. However, I don’t think people are pitching his name for the next title shot. The truths is, Rodriguez is super talented, exciting, and has big wins. His only problem is that he’s a little inactive on one front that often drives title discussion fighters’ way – fight frequency
“El Pantera” has fought three times in the last three years. And, yes, he’s done memorable things in those three bouts, but the best way to stay in the conversation is to be winning often. The more recent your wins are, the more relevant you are. The fight game has a short memory, and unfortunately for Rodriguez, he doesn’t log as many fights as the other top contenders in the division.
Do you believe the Volkanovski/Max fight is too soon after the previous one, not much is going to change right?
Is the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway rematch happening too close to their first bout?Will much change?
I’m never a fan of immediate rematches, as they’re often repetitive and unnecessary.
I see the case for an immediate rematch when the outcome is controversial and unjust, or when the champion has longevity at the top and is too deep into his/her prime to the point there’s not much time left at the world-class level.
[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag]’s loss to [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] was clean and free of controversy. He’s also young enough to address the holes in his game, take a break from fighting the other best guy in the division, and focus on improving his craft. Thinking long term, the Volkanovski-Holloway rematch could’ve used a little more cooking. But who knows? Maybe Holloway proves me wrong and is able to make the necessary improvements to beat Volkanovski.
A full recap of 2019’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 producers Michael Carroll, here are some of 2019’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.
* * * *
EVENTS
Octagon girls at UFC 238
The UFC held 42 events in 39 different cities across 15 countries and five continents.
Within those events, there were 516 fights across 13 different weight classes (including catchweight bouts).
Those 516 fights combined for a total cage time of 94:59:04.
The longest event of the year was “UFC on ESPN+ 19: Joanna vs. Waterson” in Tampa, Fla., at 2:57:27. It was the second longest in company history behind “UFC Fight Night 121: Werdum vs. Tybura” (3:04:18).
The shortest event of the year was “UFC on ESPN 3: Ngannou vs. Dos Santos” in Minneapolis at 1:38:12.
“UFC on ESPN+ 13: de Randamie vs. Ladd” featured 62 seconds of total fight time in the main and co-main event, the single-event record in company history.
At those events, the UFC drew an announced total attendance of 548,023 for a live gate total of $61,050,133.74 (Note: Live gate was not announced for 11 events; no attendance was revealed for one event).
The highest reported attended event of the year was “UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya” in Melbourne (57,127), which was the all-time company record, while the lowest attended event was “UFC on ESPN+ 20: Maia vs. Askren” in Singapore (7,155).
The highest reported income gate of the year was “UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz” in New York ($6,575,996.19) while the lowest reported income gate of the year went to “UFC on ESPN+ 4: Lewis vs. Dos Santos” in Wichita, Kan. ($636,417.26).
In 2019, 168 fight-night bonuses were given out for a sum of $8.4 million.
The most knockouts at a single event went to “UFC on ESPN 3: Ngannou vs. Dos Santos,” “UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz” and “UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington” with seven each.
Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes
“UFC 238: Cejudo vs. Moraes” featured a total of 1,818 significant strikes landed, a new single-event record. UFC 231 held the previous high with 1,647.
The most submissions at a single event went to “UFC on ESPN 5: Covington vs. Lawler” with five.
The most fights to go to a decision at a single event went to “UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards” with 10.
“UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards” featured nine consecutive decision results, tied for the single-event UFC record.
“UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards” started with nine consecutive decision results, the single-event record.
“UFC on ESPN 7: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik” marked the third event in company history to feature two draws. UFC 22 and UFC 216 were the others.
Betting favorites went 319-182. Fifteen fights ended in a draw, no contest or had even odds.
Betting favorites went 22-18 in event headliners. Two fights ended in a no contest or had even odds.
“UFC on ESPN 3: Ngannou vs. Dos Santos” and “UFC on ESPN+ 22: Blachowicz vs. Jacare” had the most favorites come through victorious, with 10 each. On the flip side, seven underdogs won at three separate events.
Aspen Ladd
A total of 30 fighters officially missed weight for their respective contests. The 28 fighters in that group to compete went 10-17-1 in their respective bouts.
A total of 135 fighters made their UFC debut in 2019. Those fighters went 57-74-2 with two no contests. Debuting fighters who faced an opponent with at least one bout of UFC experience went 43-58-2 with two no contests.
A variety of circumstances caused a total of 19 UFC main event or co-main event fights to be adjusted, postponed or canceled entirely.
One entire event was canceled (UFC 233 in January in Anaheim, Calif.)
Here are 20 fights MMA Junkie hopes to see happen in 2020.
With a new year comes new things, including good ol’-fashioned fist fights. What kinds of matchups are we hoping to see in 2020? What kinds of bookings do we want the MMA gods to bless us with?
Here’s a list of some ideas and why they may (or may not) make sense:
Dillon Danis
20. [autotag]A.J. Agazarm[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Dillon Danis[/autotag]
This list is being kicked off by “El Jefe” himself. I know this will automatically trigger the Twitter trolls, but hear me out. Danis and Agazarm easily are two of the best grapplers Bellator has in its lighter weight classes. The two have competed against each other plenty of times in the grappling world and they don’t have a lot of love for each other. Their name value doesn’t match their experience level in MMA, so they both often have fights against unknown opponents, which makes their fights hard to promote.
So why not pit them against each other? It makes sense for both fighters skill-level wise, it could be a fun buildup, and we could certainly see some fun, world-class jiu-jitsu.
Bryce Mitchell
19.[autotag]Kron Gracie[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag]
Let’s keep the jiu-jitsu train rolling. Gracie is jiu-jitsu royalty and Mitchell scored a cool-looking submission in his most recent fight – a twister. The UFC certainly is not shy about throwing Gracie against someone with far more experience (cough, cough – Cub Swanson). I know Mitchell is a bit more experienced than Gracie, but not by a crazy margin. Both guys need fights and have interesting and opposing personalities. Why not?
Some of the most significant in-fight moments and records in UFC history have occurred and been etched in stone over the past decade.
The past decade of UFC action has seen a lot unfold, and it is arguably the most important in the organization’s history from in terms of evolution.
Only within this era have statistics truly come to the forefront. After so many years of fights, the groundwork for what’s viewed as meaningful and the history attached has finally been laid out. The athletes and techniques have evolved, too, meaning new methods of causing damage and finishing fights are attempted and pulled off with a higher rate of frequency.
That evolution is apparent in the history books, because some of the most significant moments and records in UFC history have occurred over this past decade.
Let’s dig into the archives.
****
EVENT FEATS
Sajik Arena in South Korea
The UFC held 363 events in 159 difference venues across 26 countries over the past decade.
“UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya” in October 2019 had the highest announced attendance in company history at 57,127.
“UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor” in November 2016 sold a largest live gate in company history at $17.7 million.
“UFC Fight Night 121: Werdum vs. Tybura” in November 2017 had the most total fight time of any event in company history at 3 hours, 4 minutes and 18 seconds.
“UFC Fight Night 55:: Rockhold vs. Bisping” in November 2014 had the least total fight time of those events at 1 hour, 3 minutes and 51 seconds.
The UFC canceled four events over the decade: UFC 151 in September 2012; UFC 176 in August 2014; UFC Fight Night 97 in October 2016 and UFC 233 in January 2019.
Michael Bisping def. Luke Rockhold at UFC 199
“UFC Fight Night 55: Rockhold vs. Bisping” and “UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington” in May 2018 each featured 11 stoppage results, the most for any card in company history.
“UFC on FOX 7: Henderson vs. Melendez” in April 2013, “UFC Fight Night 45: Cerrone vs. Miller” in July 2014, “UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping 2,” in June 2016 and “UFC 218: Holloway vs. Aldo 2” in December 2017 each featured eight knockout results, the most of the decade.
“UFC on FUEL TV 10: Werdum vs. Nogueira” in June 2013 featured eight submission results, the most for any card in company history.
Seven events each featured 10 decision results, the most for any card in company history.
“UFC Fight Night 134: Shogun vs. Smith” in July 2018 and “UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards” each featured nine consecutive decision results, the longest streak on a card in company history.
“UFC Fight Night 79: Henderson vs. Masvidal” in November 2015 and “UFC 222: Cyborg vs. Kunitskaya” in March 2018 each featured five split-decision results, the most for any card in company history.
Henry Cejudo def. Marlon Moraes at UFC 238
“UFC 238: Cejudo vs. Moraes” in June 2019 featured a total of 1,818 significant strikes landed, a single-event record for the company.
“UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta” in April 2018 featured seven fighters who landed 100 or more significant strikes, a single-event record for the company.
“UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping 2” in June 2016 featured 15 knockdowns, a single-event record for the company.
“UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor” in July 2015 was the only event in company history to feature two knockouts stemming from flying knee strikes.
“UFC 228: Woodley vs. Till” in September 2018 was the only event in company history to feature two kneebar submission results.
“UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre” in November 2017 marked the only event in history to feature three title changes.
