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Molly McCann is enjoying some newfound fame and she approached the sport’s biggest superstar for some sound advice.

After two straight knockout wins with a highlight reel spinning back fist TKO in July, Molly McCann is enjoying some newfound fame. “Meatball” Molly spoke about how her life changed during the UFC 281 pre-fight presser on Wednesday.

“It’s been absolutely disgusting, to be honest. Post-fight, I’ll enjoy an ale, I’ll enjoy doing the media with everyone. And then when you get home, it absolutely kicks you in the face because you’re not normal anymore,” she told the media.

“I can’t just walk in front of Frank and Patty’s down the street anymore. I can’t just go to football. So what I’ve had to do is grieve a private life because me life’s not private anymore.

“That’s been something that not everyone would have to deal with. When we start fighting, I think we start to just win a belt. We don’t start for fame, we don’t really start for the money. It’s about the prestige and the honor of winning that belt.”

Because of these new and seemingly overwhelming experiences, McCann sought some advice from the company’s biggest superstar, Conor McGregor.

“I messaged him going, ‘How do you handle this? Because you can blow up, and then you can blow up. I couldn’t quite get me head around how sometimes people are with ya.

“And it was just like. ‘When you get in the gym, it’s just the gym. Don’t let no one else in. Keep everyone outside. Always remember it’s just fighting. You’re a cage warrior. That’s what we are, we’re Cage Warriors champions.

“He said some mad things about ‘Valentina’s gonna get a Mac smacking.’ All these… it was so poetic and it was so lovely.

“Me partner Ellis printed it off and put it in a sign in MSG and it’s in me front room. So everyday, if I’m struggling, or if I’m feeling good but I don’t need to get ahead of meself, got a big fat head and walk around with an ego, it’s to stay grounded and realize that I’m just here to win.”

McCann (13-4), who is coming off a three-fight win streak that all earned her post-fight bonuses, will return to action this Saturday at UFC 281 against Erin Blanchfield.

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Dan Hardy won’t be fighting Diego Sanchez this weekend, but he’s looking ahead to other possible future opportunities.

After a decade-long absence, former UFC title challenger Dan Hardy was scheduled for his return to combat sports. “The Outlaw” was slated to face fellow UFC veteran Diego Sanchez in a boxing match as part of the undercard of an event headlined by legends Ricky Hatton and Marco Antonio Barrera.

But as Hardy told Submission Radio in a recent interview, that fight will no longer be pushing through.

“Yeah, so basically the card was picked up by Sky Sports and they decided that they wanted the Hatton/Barrera fights off the card and to add all the rest of their own fights to it. Cause obviously they got a deal with Boxer and they’ve got loads of fighters signed to their management team,” he explained. “So yeah, they basically just took the Hatton/Barrera fight and they canceled the rest of the fights.

“I’ve had a bit of a chat with Diego about it. Of course, he was disappointed as well, but you know, it’s the fight game. It’s chaotic at the moment, and with new promoters getting into the businesses, I think sometimes they buy themselves a bit more than they can chew, and I think that’s what happened.

“I hope it goes really well. But aside from following Ricky Hatton’s Instagram, I’m not really hearing anything about it.”

The 40-year-old Hardy, who’s since found success as an MMA analyst, isn’t closing his doors on potential future opportunities.

“My Mum said it kind of feels like the universe is kind of telling you something here. Maybe it is. Maybe I’m just clinging onto something.

“But to be honest, I’m still feeling great, I still feel in good condition, my mind’s sharp, and there are a couple of options for the new year. Yeah, there’s a couple of options, couple of people’s names I’ve got in mind. But to be honest, I’m just kind of going with what comes to me at the moment.

“I’m so busy with the YouTube channel, with the new project that’s coming up in the new year. That’s gonna be incredible. That might give me an opportunity to compete again as well in Mixed Martial Arts. I’m taking things in stride a bit more. I’ve had so many curve balls these last six months. It’s been a bit of a stressful ride.

“But I’m sitting here today in front of you with a smile on my face, and I’m feeling very positive about the new year. Very, very positive.”

Hardy (25-10, 1 NC) last saw action in 2012 when he defeated Amir Sadollah via decision. He was forced to put his career on hold beginning in 2013 when he was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a rare heart condition.

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The UFC flyweight champion sounds decided that after facing Brandon Moreno once again at in January, his next move will be to go up to 135 lbs.

Still a couple of months away from his fourth fight against Brandon Moreno, the UFC flyweight champion sounds like he already has big plans for the future. Although he already has an opponent to worry about on January 21st, at UFC 283, Deiveson Figueiredo hopes that a win could allow him to move up to bantamweight for a superfight.

In a conversation with Ag Fight, Figueiredo explained his hopes for the future. Should he soundly defeat Moreno once again, the Brazilian feels that victory could warrant him an immediate title shot against whoever holds the belt at bantamweight.

“I want to show the world I own this weight class. After this next fight, I want to test myself at bantamweight. That’s my next step after this fight. I want to try a title fight at bantamweight. A win will qualify me for it even it more. I hope the promotion abides.”

In his last outing, Figueiredo (21-2-1) defeated Moreno via submission when they met for the third time back in January of this year. Before that, the 34-year-old lost a unanimous decision to the ‘Babyface Assassin’ in July 2021 and fought him to a majority draw in their first match, in December 2020.

Figueiredo is expected to face Moreno at UFC 283’s main event, making it the first time two fighters will meet for the fourth time in the Octagon. The January 21 card is scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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The former UFC heavyweight champion gave a brief statement to media following his release on bail.

Cain Velasquez is officially out of jail. The former UFC-champion was granted bail this past Tuesday, November 8th, after spending months incarcerated over charges of the attempted murder of accused child molester Harry Goularte and the shooting of Goularte’s stepfather Paul Bender.

Velasquez had been denied bail on three previous occasions, with judge Shelyna Brown noting that the 40-year-old posed an immediate threat both to Goularte, his family, and the public at large. In his latest pre-trial hearing, however, judge Arthur Bocanegra agreed to a $ 1 million bond for Velasquez—given the former NCAA All-American’s lack of criminal record and unlikelihood to be a flight risk.

As he exited the Santa Clara County corrections facility in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Velasquez gave a brief statement to the media on his release.

“I feel great,” Velasquez said. “Just feel blessed, you know? Ready to go home, be with the loved ones, the family, friends, and make something positive out of this whole situation.

“Just, thank you to everybody who had my support. I love all of you. Just, always continue to be better as a person, always do good things; just make something positive of this terrible situation. My family and I, we’re going to do that.”

Velasquez currently faces 10 charges—including attempted premeditated murder—stemming from the vehicle chase and shooting in pursuit of Goularte, who has been accused of molesting a member of Velasquez’s family at the daycare center owned by Goularte’s parents. As a condition of his release, Velasquez will be confined to house arrest and must undergo treatment for possible CTE symptoms—something Velasquez’s lawyer has argued may have been a factor in the incident.

The longtime American Kickboxing Academy athlete and recent WWE professional wrestler is due back in court on November 21st for another pre-trial hearing.

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The fights are on Saturday, but the lessons are from Friday.

Chris Rini

I updated my YouTube channel yesterday with some suplex drawings, chatting about how to exit gracefully from a business opportunity, and the beginning of my theory on how to choose the right partner. I hope you will check it out and support my art endeavours, MMA book publishing, and the new large scale paintings, but simply clicking on MMA Squared is already helping and I appreciate your time. Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you Monday. Enjoy the fights!

Chris

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After months of appeals from his attorney, Cain Velasquez has been granted bail as he awaits trial for the attempted murder of Harry Goularte.

Cain Velasquez got a significant victory in his ongoing court case for the attempted murder of Harry Goularte, and the shooting of Goularte’s stepfather Paul Bender, during a prolonged vehicle chase in Santa Clara County in February. Velasquez’s apparent attack was reportedly sparked by another ongoing court case against Goularte, for the alleged sexual molestation of minors at a day care center belonging to Goularte’s parents. A relative of Velasquez is said to have been among the victims of Goularte’s purported crimes.

Velasquez had been denied bail by presiding judge Shelyna Brown on three previous occasions following his arrest. With Brown positing that given the uncontrolled and public nature of Velasquez’s initial attack on Goularte, that he posed too significant a danger to both Goularte and the public to be released ahead of the trial. However, in a two-day pre-trial hearing on November 7-8th, under Judge Arthur Bocanegra, it seems the court has changed their tune.

MMA Junkie reports that in consideration of Velasquez’s lack of criminal history, and the supposed unlikelihood that he poses a flight risk—as the father of two children—the former UFC champion has been granted his release on a $ 1 million bond. As terms of his release, Velasquez will be required to comply with GPS tracking and must maintain a distance of at least 300 yards from Harry Goularte and his parents Patricia Goularte & Paul Bender. Velasquez will also be required to undergo CTE outpatient treatment since his lawyer, Mark Geragos, has argued that the condition may have possibly played a role in the former fighter’s actions.

“Mr. Velasquez, I would not release you if I was not convinced that upon a release at this time, eight months later, that you would be a danger to Harry Goularte primarily, Patricia Goularte or Paul Bender,” Judge Bocanegra told Velasquez in court. “If you are as devoted a husband and father, I’m confident and have to believe you will not jeopardize anything that would take you away from your son, your daughter, your family. I hope you don’t prove me wrong.”

No word yet on when Velasquez’s case will be brought to trial, but at least until then it looks like the 40-year-old will await the courts back at home and out of custody.

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The former UFC champion admits she thought about returning shortly after announcing her retirement.

Joanna Jędrzejczyk was a few months into retirement before she got the itch to fight again.

Immediately after her second-round KO loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 275 this past June, Jędrzejczyk left her gloves in the Octagon and told UFC color commentator Daniel Cormier that she would join his ‘league’ and retire. For the next phase of her career, Jędrzejczyk shifted focus to being an ambassador for the promotion and getting into managing up-and-coming fighters. And though content with that phase, the former UFC strawweight champion recently admitted she has thought about fighting again.

One of the most recent instances came a few weeks ago, according to Jędrzejczyk. ‘JJ’ told Adam Catterall of BT Sport that she spoke to her team and was thisclose to calling the UFC brass about a return to competition.

“It’s still hard,” said Jędrzejczyk. “It was a spontaneous decision, but during fight week I felt that if something [happened], I will retire and it happened. The craziest thing about my retirement is that my last camp was the best camp in my fighting career. I felt so good. I was probably—not one of the best, but I was in the best shape ever. Weili Zhang caught me and I went down. And yeah. It just happened.

“But two weeks ago, I went crazy, man,” continued Jędrzejczyk. “I was calling my management. I was about to call [UFC president] Dana [White] and [UFC Chief Business Officer] Hunter [Campbell] to bring me back. Actually, I had this conversation with my coach, Mike Brown, and Dan Lambert, the owner of ATT. But yeah, it’s hard to like sit, think, like you’ve done so much, your legacy is so big. But I’ve been doing this for the last 19 years of my life, so it’s really hard.”

It appears as though a quick return wouldn’t be an option, as UFC Roster Watch on Twitter confirmed Jędrzejczyk was officially removed from the roster, so likely would not be part of the USADA testing pool either.

Jędrzejczyk went 10-5 in her UFC tenure.

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The former UFC lightweight champion was upset after failing to reclaim his title. 

In its recent edition of The Thrill and the Agony, the UFC took us backstage following the top three fights at UFC 280 this past October.

First up was Sean O’Malley vs. Petr Yan, the potential No. 1 contender in the bantamweight division that won ‘Fight of the Night’ honors after an all-action affair. In the end, ‘Sugar’ eked out a split decision over ‘No Mercy,’ which elicited a variety of reactions.

“Man that was a crazy fight,” said O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch. ‘Sugar’ really had to show his heart and grit for that. He’s fighting the best guy in the world. Petr Yan’s an animal and we just conquered the test. And I’m sure the naysayers are really, really crying right now, specifically Henry Cejudo. I’m sure he’s really crying and really sad right now. But, like I said, props to both guys. Petr Yan’s a f—king Terminator and so is ‘Sugar,’ so we’re coming for the title.”

Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling bulldozed T.J. Dillashaw for a second-round TKO win. That was his second consecutive defense, and the ‘Funk Master’ has already shifted his focus to other challengers, including O’Malley.

In our headliner, Islam Makhachev claimed the vacant UFC lightweight championship with a second-round submission of Charles Oliveira. Both men shared a brief moment in the Octagon, where Makhachev and Oliveira hugged and showed respect after the fight.

Team Makhachev celebrated backstage, while Team Oliveira rallied around their fighter in an emotional moment that was punctuated by a speech from one of its head coaches, Jorge Patino.

“They took his belt, but we’re getting that belt back,” said Patino. “It’s our duty. We’re responsible for that. Everyone here has a piece of that belt. You and I, everybody. So, our team needs to work hard to get that belt back. Congrats to their team, they won the fight. We must understand the sport. But just accept it? Never! We’ll be back stronger, OK?”

The full episode of The Thrill and the Agony is available to watch on UFC Fight Pass.

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Get the dirt on the early contests of UFC 281 out of Madison Square Garden, including Matt Frevola looking to hand the first loss to hard hitting Ottman Azaitar.

The UFC’s annual trip to Madison Square Garden is upon us, a total of 14 fights taking place. The early prelims are short on big names – as would be expected from early prelims – but they do appear to have some FOTN candidates in there. What is a bit of a surprise is the lack of top prospects at the bottom of the card. Typically, the UFC has tossed in those whom they believe has superstar written all over them. For instance, Ian Machado Garry topped the early prelims in last years MSG showing. This year, it’s Ottman Azaitar and Matt Frevola in that spot. Nobody is seeing future stars in either of those two. Regardless, each of the fights are well-matched, none being a blatantly obvious mismatch.

• It’s possible Ottman Azaitar lost out on the prime years of his career due to his stupid violation of COVID protocols early in 2021. The UFC initially cut him before bringing him back, but the damage to his reputation at this point is permanent. Azaitar is considered to be a wrestler first, but he has opted to go balls to the wall in looking to get an immediate finish thus far in his UFC career. It has been successful so far, but Teemu Packalan and Khama Worthy have ultimately been determined to be chinny in the first place. That argument could be made about Matt Frevola as well given the aggressive wrestler has been finished within a minute or less in two of his losses. However, in other fights, Frevola has shown a solid chin. Regardless, if both live up to their reputations, this contest has an excellent chance of picking up a FOTN bonus as Frevola is thought to be exceptionally aggressive himself. However, unlike Azaitar, Frevola’s aggression tends to go towards the pursuit of takedowns. He did show pop in his last performance, securing four official knockdowns within a round, but that was the first time his power was manifest in his UFC run. Given Azaitar’s stamina is a huge question mark – he’s only won a single decision in his career in addition to leaving the first round only three times — there’s a good chance Frevola might only need survive the opening round. I think he can. Frevola via submission of RD3
• Karolina Kowalkiewicz was on her way to having one of the saddest endings to a notable career. Formerly one of the best strawweights on the planet, she endured a five-fight losing streak against increasingly weaker competition, looking worse in each passing contest. On the verge of washing out of the UFC, Kowalkiewicz shook things up with a camp change to ATT and produced immediate results. Her confidence returned and she secured the first finish of her UFC career. Of course, it also came against an opponent whose desire appeared to have extinguished in Felice Herrig, so perhaps an asterisk should be attached to the win. Then again, even if the asterisk is attached, Kowalkiewicz is facing one of the few women on the roster older than herself in Silvana Gomez Juarez. Not that Juarez is without talent. She’s a skilled striker with legit KO power, a rarity in the division. However, she’s also proven to be a fish out of water on the mat, being submitted in the first round in her first two UFC contests. Kowalkiewicz hasn’t shown a great ability to take a contest to the mat, but Gomez hasn’t shown the ability to stuff a takedown either. If Kowalkiewicz has genuinely recovered her confidence – and it looks like she has – she should easily take this contest. There won’t be much shock if Juarez can catch her, Kowalkiewicz at least has some defensive awareness, something that can’t be said about Na Liang. Kowalkiewicz via submission of RD2
• It doesn’t seem that long ago that Seung Woo Choi had the look of one of the top featherweight prospects. Now, he’s very likely fighting for his UFC employment. It doesn’t appear to be a misjudgment in terms of his physical skills; Choi is still the hard-hitting hulk of a 145er we all thought he was. The question is whether he has developed enough craft to deal with an opponent savvy enough to present a diverse attack. There’s no doubt Mike Trizano can do so, but the former TUF winner has been bonus chasing in his recent contests as opposed to mixing things up, focusing almost entirely on providing a striking battle. He did pick up a FOTN bonus in his last appearance, but he’s also on a two-fight losing streak, just like Choi. Trizano doesn’t have the physical skills to succeed without mixing things up, so he’ll fight himself out of the UFC if he continues down that path. Choi isn’t quite as technically sound as Lucas Almeida, who put Trizano down in the latter’s most recent contest, but he is bigger, stronger, and has more raw power. There’s no guarantee all that will be enough if Trizano fights to the best of his ability, but there’s no guarantee Trizano will do that. Given there’s no guarantee Trizano wins even if he fights a good fight, I’ve got to favor Choi. Choi via TKO of RD3
• People still tend to think of Montel Jackson as a youthful prospect, but he’s now 4 years removed from his appearance on DWCS and 30-years-old. If the lanky bantamweight is going to make a move, he’s got to get a move on it immediately after a 14-month layoff. No one doubts his talent. The first thing people tend to pick out from him is his impressive punching power, but his wrestling may actually be his biggest strength. We’ll know for a fact if it’s the real deal if he can get Julio Arce down given Arce’s takedown defense has been stellar thus far in his UFC run. Arce has been reluctant to wrestle himself, preferring to utilize his tight boxing instead. There were some concerns Arce might have his gas tank stunted when he dropped down to 135, but three fights in and there’s no ill-effects to be seen thus far. In fact, it could be argued Arce turned in the best performance of his career in his most recent win. However, he’s also 33, an age when many men his size begin to start their decline. If Arce can stave off Jackson’s takedowns, he is by far the more disciplined striker and would likely outpoint Jackson. However, the threat of Jackson’s wrestling alone might be enough to open up Jackson’s striking enough for him to test Arce’s chin. I think Jackson’s wrestling will find more success than just being a threat. Jackson via decision
• If you were to line up all the light heavyweights on the UFC roster in a row, Carlos Ulberg would be picked out of the lineup more often than not as the physical protype. Tall and chiseled, he even has the Hollywood good looks that cause women to swoon. Ulberg isn’t without talent either, having a successful kickboxing career before turning full-time to MMA. He’s still raw in terms of his wrestling and grappling, raw enough that he can worn down if forced to commit to it too much. You’d better believe Nicolae Negumereanu will look to do just that as the Romanian is proving to be most effective in getting his type of fight. He needs to as he isn’t anything special in terms of his physical talents –he’s on the smaller side for the division in addition to being an average athlete at best – but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone with his combination of will, stamina, and durability. Negumereanu hasn’t faced someone with the striking skill of Ulberg, so a KO isn’t out of the question, but that’s only if Ulberg can keep the fight at a distance. Negumereanu is going to do everything in his power to ensure it doesn’t stay there. Negumereanu via TKO of RD3

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Denis Stojnić was detained as part of a series of mass arrests in Bosnia and Herzegovina last week.

Former UFC fighter Denis Stojnić was detained last week as part of a series of mass arrests across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Footage posted on YouTube appeared to show the heavyweight being handcuffed by law enforcement before being taken to the BiH Prosecutor’s Office.

Stojnić’s arrest took place just days before the fighter was scheduled to compete against Russian heavyweight Oleg Popov at a Bellator event in Milan, Italy.

Over the past year, dozens of people have been arrested on charges of drug & weapons trafficking, as well as prostitution and murder. The mass arrests stemmed from a sting operation that was part of a collaboration by law enforcement agencies from several countries that intercepted millions of messages sent through the supposedly secure smartphone-based messaging app ANOM.

The ANOM service was widely used by criminals, but instead of providing secure communication, it was actually a trojan horse covertly distributed by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), enabling them to monitor all communications.

The sting operation resulted in the arrest of over 800 suspects allegedly involved in criminal activity, in 16 countries. This included several key figures in Bosnia, including the chief police inspector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska (RS) and the head of the regional office of the Intelligence.

Stojnić, who lost both his UFC fights to Cain Velasquez and Stefan Struve, appears to be the latest arrest related to the sting operation.

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