Category Archives: Mmamania.com

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — High-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu is back!

UFC Fight Pass Invitational 7 goes down tonight (Weds., May 15, 2024) from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the main event, “Gordon Ryan Hunter,” Nicky Rod, returns for his first headlining opportunity against the guy who Ryan was supposed to grapple, Mason Fowler. In the co-main event, surging UFC Lightweight contender, Renato Moicano, takes on Cristian Guzman.

UFC Fight Pass Invitational 7 will stream LIVE on UFC Fight Pass, beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.

UFC Fight Pass Invitational 7 Quick Results:

Nick Rodriguez vs Mason Fowler
Renato Moicano vs Cristian Guzman
Kanyan Duarte vs Luke Griffith
Giancarlo Bodoni vs Gabriel Arges
Renato Canuto defeats Aaron Wilson via submission (heel hook)

Johnatas Gracie defeats Jay Rodriguez via points in overtime

Raquel Canuto defeats Aislin O’Connell via points

Piter Frank defeats Rafael Domingos via submission (armbar)

Oliver Taza defeats Pedro Rocha via points
Helena Crevar defeats Aurelie Le Vern via unanimous judges’ decision

UFC Fight Pass Invitational 7 Highlights:

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Nick Rodriguez vs. Mason Fowler (Absolute)

Final result:

Renato Moicano vs. Cristian Guzman (170 lbs.)

Final result:

Kanyan Duarte vs Luke Griffith (Absolute)

Final result:

For the latest Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling related news click here.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is the odds-on betting favorite to defeat WBA, IBF, and WBO kingpin Oleksandr Usyk when they hook ‘em up for the “Undisputed” title this Sat. night (May 18, 2024) at Kingdom Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (watch it here).

But not by much.

“The Gypsy King” is currently holding steady at -120 against +100 for the Ukrainian “Cat.” But as with any major boxing event, Draft Kings went far beyond the moneyline and whipped up a variety of fight specials and prop bets for the “Ring of Fire” card.

Have a look:

Fight Lines:

Moneyline
Tyson Fury -120 | Oleksandr Usyk +100

Total Rounds
Over 10.5 -320 | Under 10.5 +220

Alternative Total Rounds

OVER
Over 7.5 -750
Over 8.5 -500
Over 9.5 -425

UNDER
Under 7.5 +425
Under 8.5 +310
Under 9.5 +275

Fight Specials:

Fury to Win and Over 10.5 Total Rounds +140
Usyk to Win and Over 10.5 Total Rounds +160
Either Fighter to be Knocked Down in Rounds 1-6 +220
Fury to Win and Under 10.5 Total Rounds +475
Usyk to Win and Under 10.5 Total Rounds +500
Usyk to be Knocked Down in the 1st Minute of any Round +550
Fury to be Knocked Down in the 1st Minute of any Round +600
Usyk to be Knocked Down 2+ Times +700
Usyk to be Knocked Down and Fury to Win By Decision +750
Fury to be Knocked Down 2+ Times +800
Fury to be Knocked Down and Usyk to Win By Decision +800
Either Fighter to be Knocked Down in Rounds 1-3 +850
Fury to be Knocked Down and Win By Decision +1200
Usyk to be Knocked Down and Win By Decision +1200
Three or more Knockdowns in the Fight +1400
Both Fighters to be Knocked Down and Fight to Go the Distance +1400

Prop Bets:

Winning Method
Tyson Fury by Decision or Technical Decision +185
Tyson Fury by KO/TKO/DQ +350
Draw +1400
Oleksandr Usyk by Decision or Technical Decision +185
Oleksandr Usyk by KO/TKO/DQ +475

Exact Winning Method
Tyson Fury to Win by KO +850
Tyson Fury to Win by TKO +550
Tyson Fury to Win by Disqualification +10000
Tyson Fury to Win by Unanimous Decision +300
Tyson Fury to Win by Split Decision +750
Tyson Fury to Win by Majority Decision +1600
Draw +1400
Oleksandr Usyk to Win by KO +1200
Oleksandr Usyk to Win by TKO +700
Oleksandr Usyk to Win by Disqualification +8000
Oleksandr Usyk to Win by Unanimous Decision +300
Oleksandr Usyk to Win by Split Decision +750
Oleksandr Usyk to Win by Majority Decision +1600

Five bucks on the Fury DQ wins you $ 500.

“I think this win puts me at number one, barring none. Beating Usyk now puts me number one status of all time,” Fury said. “I think he’s the best opponent I’ve ever faced, because I’ve fought world heavyweight champions before or undefeated people before, I’ve fought Olympic gold medals before, but I’ve never fought a two-weight world champion before. So I think that puts him at the top of it all.”

For the completed “Fury vs. Usyk” fight card and DAZN PPV lineup click here. For more boxing news and notes click here.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Things are getting heated between Team O’Malley and Team Dvalishvili, with ‘Suga’ coach Welch refusing to defuse the situation.

Aljamain Sterling wants to fight Sean O’Malley again, and once he’s done with that maybe he’ll fight O’Malley’s coach for good measure.

Bad blood has been brewing between Team Aljo and “Suga” coach Tim Welch since video popped up online showing Welch pretending to be Sterling’s cornerman during the O’Malley fight. “Aljo, you gotta go!” Welch yells, moments before Aljo goes and gets cracked with a fight finishing counter.

Sterling insists he wasn’t reacting to what Welch was doing, but he was annoyed at the behavior of O’Malley’s coach during the fight. After his buddy and training partner Merab Dvalishvili threatened Welch, “Funkmaster” got in on the action too.

“You talked hella s— during my fight with Sean,” Aljo wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “The ref had to tell you to stfu multiple times. I wanted to slap you in between rounds and I regret not taking the fine for that … Let Sean talk shit, you don’t need to be chiming in on the shit talk unless you want the problems as well. It’s that simple bro.”

“You making yourself fair game,” he added in another tweet. “That’s all I’m saying.”

In a new episode of the TimboSugarShow, Welch reacted to Sterling’s latest comments.

“When [Aljamain] said he wanted to slap me between rounds, I went ‘Oh!’” he said, downplaying the heckling. “I bet you there were people yelling at Michael Jordan.”

“Dude, Aljo is trying to knock my buddy out. Aljo was flustered, and I get it. Bro, I never talk s—, I always give respect. But I must’ve been burning him pretty bad, I don’t know.”

“And then he was talking about ‘You’re putting yourself in the pool!’” Welch added. “Like what kind of pool? A street fight pool? What ruleset do you want to do? I’m not going to talk s— to anyone I think can f— me up.”

It all adds up to a potentially explosive fight week when Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling’s teammate Merab Dvalishvili fight sometime towards the end of the year. While Merab has claimed the fight will go down in September at the Sphere, our sources say the event will be later than that. Until then, let the bad blood fester!

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Fresh off his dominant win over Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC St. Louis last weekend (Sat. May 11, 2024), Joaquin Buckley may have found his next dance partner. Initially, Buckley used his post-fight interview to call for a showdown versus Conor McGregor, but “New Mansa” pretty quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. Appropriately, he changed his target to former Welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns.

Buckley has called to fight “Durinho” previously, as he’s faced several of Burns’ Kill Cliff FC team mates, like Vicente Luque. Though Burns is coming off a fairly nasty knockout loss to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 back in March, the Brazilian is down to jump back into action and accepted Buckley’s callout on his Show Me The Money podcast.

“Let’s do it,” Burns responded. “The way I see it, I’m not in the situation to call anyone out or to pick and choose. I’m [ranked] number six right now. I don’t know, if they send me [a contract], I’ll say yes now. I never say no to a fight, and I’m not planning on start doing.”

At 37 years of age, Burns has to get back in the win column sooner than later if he’s going to work his way back to a second title shot. He’s lost two fights in a row, the aforementioned knockout loss to Maddalena and a decision defeat to Belal Muhammad. Prior to those defeats, Burns had won two straight fights.

As for Buckley, the rising knockout artist has won four straight since dropping to 170 lbs. He’s looking for the biggest win yet of his career, whereas Burns would have the opportunity to rebound against a tough opponent. If the timeline works for both, the bout makes sense.

Insomnia

I don’t fully understand, but I am impressed.

An interesting bit of history relevant to the recently announced Rose Namajunas vs. Maycee Barber-led event …

Team Usyk responds to the John Fury head butt incident:

Michel Pereira doing his part to help with the flooding in Brazil. Good guy “Demolidor!”

Well, this is certainly one way to hype up a fight …

Joaquin Buckley throwing shots at Michael Chandler in an indirect manner is funny.

A bit of a trend developing in reversing the back clinch? Carlos Diego Ferreira’s sequence really stood out to me when it happened,

A high-level women’s Strawweight booking is heading to the Apex.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Kick low then kick high!

There are literally dozens of very violent Alexander Shlemenko highlights to choose from.

Perrone carries that right hand loaded and ready to fire.

Random Land

Ouch.

Midnight Music: Synth pop, 2005

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

The build up to Jorge Masvidal’s combat sports return hasn’t been ideal for “Gamebred.”

Masvidal, 39, was originally scheduled to take on Nate Diaz in a boxing rematch of their November 2019 mixed martial arts (MMA) bout inside the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California on June 1, 2024. However, after assessing the scheduling conflict with UFC 302 on that same night in Newark, New Jersey, the event was relocated to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and delayed until July 6, 2024.

“You don’t want to go up against other dates and other fight events,” Masvidal told ESPN. “Especially, you don’t want to go up against UFC. So, from the beginning, I was trying to switch this date. Nate’s a f—king idiot. He was adamant about staying on that date because he’s not a UFC employee no more and, ‘I don’t have to do nothing for the UFC,’ and this and that.

“It just doesn’t make sense, especially when I know Nate thinks he’s a boxer now because he boxed the Jake Paul guy, but he’s not a boxer,” he continued. “He doesn’t have a boxing fanbase. The fanbase that he has is from MMA and UFC. So, why go up against our own fanbase? Me as a promoter, I’m thinking I don’t even want to do it. I know a lot of fight fans would buy both or watch both events, but in my opinion, why even do it if there were dates that weren’t conflicting?”

Masvidal was openly displeased to be going up against UFC before the change happened. “Gamebred” noted how even one week earlier (Sat., May 25, 2024) was a perfectly open and acceptable date.

When Masvidal and Diaz collide for the second time in a combat sports contest, it will be Masvidal’s first appearance in action since his unanimous decision loss to Gilbert Burns in April 2023. Masvidal announced his retirement from MMA after the bout and has been promoting his Gamebred Bareknuckle promotion and the occasional boxing event since. Masvidal’s last victory came in his first clash with Diaz when he became the inaugural Baddest Motherf—ker (BMF) champion by earning a third round doctor’s stoppage technical knockout.

“I don’t like that another month and a week got added to this already long training camp,” Masvidal said. “In hindsight, it doesn’t really matter because I’m making the transition from one sport to another. So the more time I get to practice and perfect my craft, sharpen my tools, it doesn’t hurt me or bother me.

“Now, Nate Diaz’s ass is somebody that does bother me and I want to f—k him up,” he continued. “We could have had this fight at an earlier date but this guy’s such a f—king diva and a f—king coward that he wouldn’t want to fight in Miami, didn’t want to fight in Texas because things didn’t go his way in Texas against Jake Paul. Didn’t want to fight in New York. Didn’t want to fight in California unless it was in his hometown. I’m here pent up, frustrated, training my ass off every day just to get in there with this guy, and f—king hurt him.”

MMAmania.com – All Posts

The bigger they are… the harder they fall.

Being the ‘sumo guy’ in my social circle means that anytime something viral happens on the dohyo, my Whatsapp gets flooded with ‘OMG’ and ‘Did you see this?’ messages (like when Anthony Johnson and Curtis Blaydes threw down under sumo rules). And I’m not mad at that! I love it when friends notice sumo and provide me with an opening for telling them way more than they asked for.

This week I was inundated with a match that took place in the makushita (third division) during the ongoing natsu basho (summer tournament). Check it out in all its glory below (as shared by Al Zullino on X).

The bout features the 207 lbs Oyamada getting a win over the 556 lbs Dewanojo. Oyamada scored the win via an ashitori (leg pick), which to many of the MMA fans watching resembled a single leg takedown.

One of the many questions MMA observers had next was, “can you do single legs in sumo?”

Yes. Yes, you can. In sumo you lose if any part of your body, other than the soles of your feet touch the ground, or if you are forced out of the ring. Takedowns like what we saw from Oyamada are legal, but rare, since it’s hard to guarantee you won’t touch the ground before your opponent does.

The short list of illegal moves in sumo include: pulling hair, striking with a closed fist, choking, groin strikes and biting.

Another question this video raised was regarding weight classes in sumo, or lack thereof. In Grand Sumo (the most popular form of sumo, which is administered by the Japan Sumo Association), all rikishi compete in a tiered league system which has no weight classes. So bouts like the one above are common place.

You especially see matches like this in the makushita, which is the division directly below juryo and makuuchi. Those top two divisions are the only salaried divisions in the sport.

The makushita is stocked with 42 wrestlers hoping to gain promotion to juryo so they can start getting paid. Only a small percentage of these wrestlers will ever make it to the top two divisions. The majority of the makushita are men who either have a little bit of technique or a lot of size. Anyone who has both technique and size has a good shot of progressing to the salaried ranks.

Oyamada, who we saw win in the above clip, has OK technique, but he needs to either be elite in that department or add an ‘armor of fat’ if he hopes to make it to the top division (and join fellow small guy wrestlers Midorifuji and Tobizaru).

Above: The 250 lbs Midorifuji takes down the 330 lbs Shodai in this year’s Spring Tournament.

Oyamada is 24 and has competed in 13 tournaments. He trains out of the Naruto stable, which was established by Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kotooshu Katsunori in 2017. That stable is also home to current top division wrestler Oshoma.

Given his past performances, I give Oyamada a slim chance of making it to the salaried divisions. In the meantime, though, he will continue to be Naruto’s go-to guy for thirst trap vids.

Dewanojo is 30-years-old and a veteran of 73 tournaments. He’s never made it past makushita (and he likely never will). He trains at the Dewanoumi stable, alongside current top division wrestler Mitakeumi. He’s one of the heaviest men to ever compete in Grand Sumo.

I’ve been given the green-light to post sumo stories like this here at MMA Mania when they pop up. If you’re interested in more sumo content, including tournament updates and technical deep dives, you can check out my Substack Sumo Stomp!

And if you have any questions about sumo, throw them in the comments below and I’ll answer any that I can.

To close, check out this highlight reel of Enho (the most popular little guy ever) taking out giants.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

‘Thug Rose’ is back and ready for another tough fight at 125 pounds as she continues to chase a second women’s division title.

Already making progress?

After hitting St. Louis, Mo., this past weekend with a fun show, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will continue to venture outside the cozy (and lazy) confines of its APEX venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a return to “Mile High City.”

Rose Namajunas is picking up momentum in her quest for women’s Flyweight gold. Indeed, the former two-time women’s Strawweight champ defeated Amanda Ribas at 125 pounds back in March, and now she’s expected to return in July to face No. 3-ranked Maycee Barber.

That news comes via Ariel Helwani, who reports that the fight, “will be the main event of the UFC Fight Night event on July 13” in Denver, Colorado. That’s going to be disappointing news to Florida fans, who had been teased for weeks that Tampa was going to host that weekend’s “Fight Night”-themed show.

Perhaps the site fee payment from the city’s tourism board bounced?

Kidding aside, “Thug Rose” hasn’t competed more than once per year since earning back-to-back wins over Weili Zhang in 2021. After losing an absolutely dreadful fight to Carla Esparza where nothing happened across five rounds, there were big questions as to whether Namajunas was really committed to fighting. A finger injury suffered in a loss to Manon Fiorot kept her out of action for six months, but now that she’s healthy she is turning around in four for Barber.

It might help that UFC is giving her the opponent she wanted — Namajunas called out Barber following her last win.

“I think she’s a savage,” Namajunas said. “She’s a big girl, she’s strong. She’s just like a bully in there. I knew her when she was really young, and she’s a lot different now. And she called me out back when she was younger and things like that. So, I think that’s kind of funny.

“But, she’s really tough,” Namajunas concluded. “That would definitely motivate me and get me going every day because I know she throws with really bad intentions.”

As for Barber, she’s currently on a six-fight win streak and is 9-2 in her UFC career. She also just went viral on the internet recently after getting into an altercation with a possibly-intoxicated “Karen” at 2 a.m. in a parking lot.

Onward and upward.

To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Retired UFC Lightweight Gray Maynard has an issue with a recent viral interview clip with his former boss, UFC CEO Dana White.

White recently sat down with Bill Maher on the Club Random Podcast, and the topic of men’s mental health came up. White took a hard stance against the current shift in men’s mental health awareness. Deeming himself “old school,” White claimed he doesn’t have time for feelings and advised other to “be a man.”

Maynard didn’t appreciate the sentiment. The two-time Lightweight title challenger went on a bit of a rant in response, arguing that White’s penchant for fury counts as a feeling. According to “The Bully,” people are mistaking White’s business acumen for emotional intelligence. He also labeled White’s tirade as “used car salesman bulls—t.”

Additionally, the conversation moved a bit towards White’s success as UFC head. Per Maynard, the bulk of the success in turning UFC into a household name belongs to the Fertita brothers, who paid for the promotion and then made off like bandits when they sold the company to WME-IMG in 2016.

Somehow, I don’t think Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2 is going to end up as a Hall of Fame bout.

Maynard retired from MMA in 2018 after over a decade as a UFC fighter. He’s best known for his trilogy of fights vs. “The Answer,” but Maynard also picked up victories over the likes of Nate Diaz, Kenny Florian, and Jim Miller in his UFC career. His final bout came in October 2018, a technical knockout loss to Nik Lentz.

Insomnia

The return of “Korean Super Boy!” I see no way that Doo Ho Choi vs. Bill Algeo isn’t an entertaining Featherweight clash.

A look into how Arman Tsarukyan is able to throw axe kicks and slides out of single legs:

“You should study Pokemon to get stronger,” Kazushi Sakuraba

It’s so fun to watch Kade Ruotolo grapple.

The best fighters are those who can bring their training room tactics into the fight.

Matt Brown is staying active in his retirement.

A feud is brewing between Ryan Garcia and George Kambosos …

Bryce Mitchell has words for … Ben Shapiro?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Double left hook with a reload between:

The way Bembe charged into that combination reminded me of Tyron Woodley vs. Jay Hieron.

Random Land

“Almost gets attacked” and “forest cows” are both wrong, but this clip of a man whipping out the mace against COWS made me chuckle.

Midnight Music: Rock, 1975

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s boxing debut is going to have to wait.

MMA Mania has confirmed with sources that the scheduled boxing match on June 8, 2024, at Rumble of Titans: Duel In the Desert in Qatar between Jackson and former Heavyweight champion, Shannon Briggs, is now off. The bout’s cancelation comes as a result of fraud concerns from the fighters regarding the event’s promoter, Quantum Sports & Media (QSM) World. It’s unknown whether or not the promoters will still try and hold an event on the discussed date.

QSM’s Founders, Hossama Dawood Khan and Suleyman Dawood Khan, along with other family members, were alleged of defrauding concerts of artists, Drake and Travis Scott, per a lawsuit by Jazba Entertainment (h/t Global Village Space) in July 2023. The allegations stated that Jazba Entertainment was persuaded by the family to invest in a Dubai concert featuring the above acts on May 28, 2021. The event was pitched with the name “Rhythm” at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena. Jazba’s Pervaiz Akhtar with the aid of Kenyan promoter, Rani Jamal, transferred $ 250,000 to QSM World’s Qatar account for the event. QSM World ignored Akhtar and failed to deliver the promised concert materials once the transfer was made. The Khans were also alleged to have advertised a boxing event in 2022 that never happened after acquiring support from investors.

“Hossama Dawood Khan alleged that the $ 3 million investment made by Akhtar was forfeited by Drake and Travis Scott’s management when the concert was canceled,” Global Village Space’s report read. “However, representatives of the artists denied these claims, expressing surprise and disappointment that their names were misused in fraudulent activities.”

MMA Mania has since received a brief letter of legal action sent to QSM World in July 2023 along with proof of text messages that were unresponded to by Hossama Khan, countering his claim below that no legal action is being taken. It’s believed that all has just been ignored. A report was made to the Qatar embassy in London, England but a response has yet to be received by Jazba Entertainment as of March 2024. Jazba Entertainment plans to take action with Qatar’s capital, Doha.

“Both news articles are with the intention of defamation,” Khan said in a statement to MMA Mania this past March. “Also, if we have done something wrong, why have they not gone down a legal avenue as they have said in the article? To date, no legal action has been taken against us because legally they have done a breach of contract. Anyhow, we have moved on with our legal options to take down the news articles and our team is already working on it. As said before they’re just trying to defame our name.

“When you read both news articles they don’t match up,” he concluded. “One article says one thing and the other says another thing.”

QSM World requested The News International take down or at the very least edit out the QSM name from its story on the Khans on Feb. 22, 2024. Legal action was specified as not threatened but details for the request were not specified. Sources close to the situation alleged that QSM World is not registered in Qatar and currently uses a headquarters location in Doha Tower that does not exist.

As the boxing event got closer, a pre-fight press conference in Qatar was scheduled for March 28, 2024. The press conference didn’t happen and Khan’s reasoning for why was as follows.

“Regarding the press conference, it’s rescheduled as in Ramadan we can’t have musical performance in Ramadan,” Khan told MMA Mania.

Aside from the well-documented eating and drinking limitations of Ramadan, which ended on March 29, there don’t appear to be any rules in Qatar regarding musical events or performances. Nonetheless, the press conference was not rescheduled.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Colby Covington tried his damndest to talk his way into a Dustin Poirier fight.

Unfortunately for Covington, his former training partner out of American Top Team — where “Chaos” is no longer welcome — is too busy chasing the 155-pound title to waste his time with nonsensical matchups in heavier weight classes.

Perhaps former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will take the bait.

“I want legacy fights,” Covington told Submission Radio. “I think a guy like Charles Oliveira makes sense. He was out there saying the other day that he wants to come up to welterweight. So, I’m the king of f*cking Brazil, man. Everybody knows I run that f*cking country. So, all the women love me. All the men in Brazil want to be like me. So, Charles Oliveira, you want this fight? You want to really come up to welterweight? You want big fights? Let’s see if you’re about it or if you just talk or you want to come up here and walk the walk. Let’s see.”

All the women in Brazil … except Polyana Viana.

Oliveira, 34, expressed interest in dipping his toe into the 170-pound waters following his close decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan at the UFC 300 pay-per-view (PPV) event last month in Las Vegas, which ruled him out of the lightweight title chase for the foreseeable future.

And challenging “Do Bronx” helps Covington, 36, avoid undefeated welterweight phenom Ian Garry.

“We’re very comparable in size,” Covington continued. “But skill? No, that’s where we’re not comparable. That’s where I just beat [Oliveira] everywhere. I’m a better jiu-jitsu artist than him. I’m a better striker. I’m just a better all-around mixed martial artist. So, that’s why I just don’t think he actually comes up and follows through with his word. I think he’s all talk and he’s not really going to do it. So, I match up well with him and I’d love to entertain that fight. That’s what I want. That’s what I love, you know, fighting former champions. That’s all I’ve done in the last like seven or eight years. So, that’s all I want to keep doing. And I want to leave my legacy in this company as the first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

Fighting someone who is “not comparable” and gets beaten “everywhere” is not how you build a legacy. In addition, there are no ballots for the UFC Hall of Fame because there are no voters. UFC is a brand, not a sport, so top executives pick and choose candidates at their discretion.

Even the ones who’ve been banned for life.

“The ship’s sailed, and I’ll fight whoever I want to fight, when I want to fight,” Covington said when asked about fighting Garry. “I don’t need to fight on anybody’s card. I had my main event pay-per-view. I don’t need anybody. I’m already a superstar. I have the biggest, most famous people person alive, and the most famous people around in my corner. So, I don’t need to be on anybody’s time. I’m on my time, and I’m gonna come back healthy, a hundred percent, and we’ll see where the business is at in the next month or two, and who’s the biggest and best fight I can give for the company.”

A timeline for Covington’s return has yet to be revealed.

MMAmania.com – All Posts