MMA UK

UFC 263: Leon Edwards reveals what Nate Diaz told him after their fight: “Name your price.”

Yadhukrishnan Prasad 15/06/2021

Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz fought for 25 minutes in a non-title, non-headlining five-round bout at UFC 263 this past weekend. ‘Rocky’ had the better of Diaz for the majority of the fight, as seen by his unanimous decision victory, but he came dangerously near to being stopped on the feet by Diaz in the final round. Following a grueling competition with one other, it appears that the two have gained some mutual respect. Diaz, who has a track record of getting what he wants from the UFC and the sport of MMA, appears to have imparted some wisdom with the welterweight contender. “Nate told me after the fight, ‘don’t let these motherfuckers tell you [you] ain’t shit,” tweeted Edwards. “‘Name your price of they will name it for you,’ and I felt that.” Edwards’ relationship with the UFC hasn’t exactly been smooth lately. Edwards’ desired UFC championship chance has eluded him despite a long undefeated streak in the promotion dating back to his loss to current champ Kamaru Usman in 2015. Edwards was scheduled to face Tyron Woodley in a main event before the COVID-19 epidemic broke out. Edwards had been promised a title chance if he won the fight, according to UFC President Dana White. However, when that event was cancelled and Edwards bucked at orders to board a plane and get to the US before various places went into lockdown (despite having no plan for how Edwards might get home), the Brit seems to have fallen out of favour. Edwards had to wait a long time to fight again in the UFC. During that time, he was demoted from the UFC’s welterweight division. After agreeing to face White’s current pet project Khamzat Chimaev, he was reinstated in the rankings. The Chimaev fight never came about due to both men suffering serious bouts of COVID-19. Edwards was finally able to return to action (after a nearly two year lay-off) when he faced Belal Muhammad in March. That match ended in a no contest due to a nasty eye-poke inflicted on Muhammad in the second round. Now with a win over Diaz, Edwards likely views himself as a natural contender for Usman. However, we’ll have to wait and see if the UFC is willing to give him what he wants.

Kamaru Usman reveals he almost jumped into UFC 262 card after Nate Diaz pulled out

Yadhukrishnan Prasad 10/05/2021

Kamaru Usman was ready to challenge Leon Edwards at UFC 262. Usman was serious when he said about fighting again sooner this year. The current welterweight champion recently revealed that he was ready to step up to fight Edwards after Diaz got injured and pulled out of UFC 262 card. However, the fight between Diaz and Edwards got rescheduled for UFC 263. But this still doesn’t change the fact that Usman still wants to be active. “I’m crazy in the sense to where as soon as I heard about (Diaz’s withdrawal), I just landed here in Atlantic City for my brother’s fight. And I’m quarantined in my room,” Usman told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto (h/t Clyde Aidoo of MMA News). “And I hear about it. And I look around, and I look in the bathroom. So I pick up the phone, and I speak with my manager Ali, and I tell him, ‘Hey…” and he already knew what I was gonna say… I’m like, ‘Hey, I need to check my weight, and I’mma go put in some rounds in the morning. And depending on how I feel, we might be fighting next week.” “And he goes, ‘Are you kidding me?’ And I’m like, ‘Nah, we might be fighting next week.’” Usman is expected to run it back with his heated rival Colby Covington, as per Dana White. However, Usman has stated that his first interest is in fighting the winner of Diaz vs Edwards.

BRAVE CF title challenger Amin Ayoub reveals photo of champ ‘’Predator’’ on his room: ‘Focused on winning’

Frankie 29/10/2020

Amin Ayoub is a man on a mission. As the clock ticks down for his title fight against reigning BRAVE CF Lightweight world champion Cleiton ‘’Predator’’ Silva, the preparation gets harder, but his eyes remain on the prize – the world title belt from the fastest-growing MMA organization in the world. The French-Tunisian athlete will take on Cleiton in the main event of BRAVE CF 44, which takes place on November 5th, in Bahrain. To remind himself of the sacrifices he’s made to get to where he’s at, Ayoub keeps a photo of his future opponent in his room and looks at it every morning before training. ”I think about my opponent every day. I keep a photo of Cleiton in my room to never forget why I’m working so hard. When I wake up, I see his face. When I go to sleep, I see his face again. He’s in my head every day, every time, when I’m training I think about him, and that’s why I will win this fight. I’m very focused on this fight, on this opponent and that belt is for me’’, says Amin, who predicts a third-round submission over the world champion. ”Cleiton is a long, tall fighter, he will come forward with everything in the beginning, but he won’t be able to sustain the same form. He will be tired very soon and I’ll capitalize on that. I think I’ll beat him in the third round, with a submission”. ”Fierceness” has credentialed himself as a top contender with a series of six straight wins. In total, he has 14 professional victories against only four defeats. He has become a specialist in submitting his opponents, winning eight of 14 via tap-out. He hopes to make nine out of 15 against Cleiton, who is primarily known as a striker, but also possesses a good ground game and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. BRAVE CF 44 will have several top fights on its line-up. Aside from the main event for the Lightweight world championship, the show will also feature a battle of grappling giants in the co-main event, as former Welterweight world champion Abdoul Abdouraguimov takes on Louis Glismann. In total, 10 nations will be represented on November 5th.

Darren Till reveals 2019 plans

Peter Knox 28/12/2018

Darren Till spoke to MTK Global about his plans for 2019 The Liverpudlian was denied the UFC world welterweight title by champion Tyron Woodley back in September but is determined to learn from his sole career defeat and progress to becoming simply “the best.” Till said: “I’ve moved fast and I’m still not in my prime. I’ve got a few years to go until I’m in my prime. In MMA, you hit that around 29 or 30 and I’m 26 now. “As much as it was a bad end for me with the title lost, it was good in that it showed me a few things I need to change – just a few little tweaks and a few little mentalities. I’m sure as hell going to do that in my next time. “I can’t wait to fight again and really lay it on someone. Sometimes I’m in fights and I’m clever and stylish and win in a stylish way but that’s not going to be me next year – I want to fight five times. “I want to train hard, win all my fights and become the best. I want to be the best, I really do.” Till recently attended Frank Warren’s Christmas boxing event at Manchester Arena, where he watched a host of MTK Global team-mates such as Carl Frampton and Michael Conlan.

Brave Combat Federation reveals fight card for South Africa

Frankie 20/11/2018

Brave Combat Federation has confirmed the full fight card for the promotion’s debut in South Africa. Brave 19 will be held on December 8th, at the Sun City Resort, in South Africa and will feature the debut of highly-touted welterweight Adam Townsend. The American will face Mark Hulme in the main event of the evening. Also set for fight night is the highly-anticipated return of Carl Booth from England to face Dino Bagattin from South Africa in the main card. The co-main event will feature a battle of bantamweights trying to get back into the win column. Former title challenger Frans Mlambo is coming off two losses and will face Arnold Quero from France. David Bear from France will make his return to face the dangerous contender, Pawel Kielek from Poland. The Polish sensation is coming off the biggest win of his career, against Mehdi Baghdad, and hopes for another victory. Ireland’s Will Fleury also returns to the Brave Combat Federation after a victorious debut. Fleury faces Carlos Graca. The other bout features Cedric Doyle against Gareth Buirski and Nkosi Ndebe against Ahmed Faress in featherweight bouts, IMMAF Gold Medalist Abdul Hussein will return after his loss at his promotional debut with Brave Combat Federation to face Sylvester Chipfumbu in a flyweight bout. Hanru Botha will face Alex Martinez and Francois Meyer will face Jan Paul Ronge in lightweight bouts. The initiative is the largest combat sports festival ever held in South Africa. Brave Combat Federation also announced broadcast partnerships with StarSat and VodaCom secured through Scuffle Media to broadcast the event live in the region. Brave 19 marks the first time a global promotion will be having an event in South Africa. Fight card Adam Townsend vs. Mark Hulme – Welterweight (Main event) Frans Mlambo vs. Arnold Quero – Bantamweight (Co-main event) David Bear vs. Pawel Kielek – Welterweight Dino Bagattin vs. Carl Booth – Welterweight Will Fleury vs. Carlos Graca – Middleweight Cedric Doyle vs. Gareth Buirski – Featherweight Abdul Hussein vs. Sylvester Chipfumbu – Flyweight Nkosi Ndebe vs. Ahmed Faress – Featherweight Hanru Botha vs. Alex Martinez – Lightweight Francois Meyer vs. Jan Paul Ronge – Lightweight

Edgar reveals why he hasn’t dropped down to Bantamweight

Peter Knox 17/11/2018

Frankie “The Answer” Edgar has made his unforgettable legacy out of fighting much bigger opponents at both 145 & 155. Although why won’t he move down to 135? Frankie was a successful 15-3-1 in his lightweight career come featherweight he’s 8-3. Edgar is the former UFC lightweight champion where he made a total of 3 title defences, however, the future hall of fame inductee had decided to drop down come 02/02/13 where he challenged Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight title. Never the less the amount of success Edgar has had at both 145, 155 a potential drop to 135 could be the right move to earn himself a new title to go into his trophy case. T.J currently rules the bantamweight division with a stacked number of contenders lined up to challenge for the belt and that could have phenomenal showdowns with Edgar if he were to drop down. Frankie’s last bout was scheduled to happen at UFC Denver, but due to injury he was forced to withdraw from the fight against “The Korean Zombie.” Chan Sung Jung. This was Edgar’s statement on why he has never decided to cut to bantamweight. “If you can make the weight and you can perform, all power to you. That’s how this sport is set up. I’m not knocking anybody for that, but if I wanted to be the best dieter, I’d be a fucking jockey, I’m a little dude and I’ve always been a little dude and I think I like being the little guy in there battling the big dudes, I like to show that hard work and technique can overcome anything.” “I just don’t feel I need to, Could I? I probably could and maybe if an opportunity arose, maybe I would, but I don’t feel the need for it.” “The Answer” will never completely remove the thought of a potential move to bantamweight but after some fantastic recent performances. Edgar still knows he’s on the brink of earning another title shot. Edgar’s last victory was in Atlanta City at the UFC Fight Night 128 event where he picked up a unanimous decision victory in a rematch against Cub Swanson. Unfortunately, before this bout, Edgar suffered his first stoppage loss in the hands of Brian Ortega who will challenge Max Holloway for the featherweight title at UFC 231. A few notable accomplishments by Frankie “The Answer” Edgar. Edgar holds a total of 7 fight of the night bonuses; he also owns one knockout of the night bonus and two performance of the night bonuses. Edgar was also rewarded with, Fighter Of The Year 2011 for his bout against Grey Maynard on January 1, 2011, & 2017 beatdown of the year after his victory of Yair Rodriguez. Both accomplishments are coming under Sherdog. Who’d you like to see Edgar face next ..?