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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Corey Anderson did not see this coming.

In 2022, Anderson had a pair of significant bouts bouts with Vadim Nemkov for the Bellator light heavyweight title. In the first, he dominated the bout before an inadvertent head butt stopped the bout and led to a no-contest. In a rematch seven months later, Nemkov out-pointed Anderson to retain the title.

But when Anderson took a split decision win over Phil Davis last June, “Overtime” thought he’d punched his ticket to a trilogy bout. Instead, Nemkov officially vacated the Bellator light heavyweight title to move up to heavyweight, and Anderson was completely caught off guard.

“Yes, 100 percent,” Anderson told The MMA Hour when asked if he was surprised by Nemkov’s decision. “Especially with the way the first fight ended. He beat me the second time, but if anybody can be honest with yourself, you saw that first fight. It was a slippery slope. If I didn’t finish you before I told the ref I head-butted you – I was probably going to take you down and finish you in the next round. He was pretty much a fish out of water on the ground at that point.

“So I thought for sure a third fight, and why wouldn’t you? You make championship money, and now you’ve got to go back and just be a contender. I know how the contracts work, and I’m sure his works the same: if you don’t have a title, you don’t make nearly as much. So I keep telling people, why is he avoiding the fight? Scared money don’t make money. He doesn’t want to take the opportunity to risk getting beat the third time, so he just gave up his belt and [went] to fight somebody else.”

Nemkov will now fight former PFL heavyweight champion Bruno Cappelozza in a non-title main card bout at the PFL vs. Bellator: CHAMPS card, which takes place on Feb. 24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

To Anderson, that choice just proves Nemkov is scared to run it back.

“I think so. I think so,” Anderson said when asked if he really thinks Nemkov is scared. “He did an interview after the fight, and when they asked him, ‘What did you think about the fight between Corey and Phil [Davis]?’ His translator said he was hoping Phil won, or something like that, so he could fight Phil a third time. But then when he did an interview, he said he didn’t want to fight at 205 anymore. ‘Well, I feel it’s time for me to go to another weight because I’ve already beaten these guys. I don’t want to fight the same guys anymore. There’s nothing left I can prove at 205.’

“Well, when I beat Phil, you said you wished Phil won so you could fight him a third time. But now, a couple months later — at the time, Bellator had already talked to both of us and said we were fighting Nov. 18 in Chicago. They were about to announce it.

“They told us they were going to announce it on Thursday — this was Monday — [and] Tuesday night he did an interview saying he was no longer fighting at 205 and going to heavyweight. Come on, bro! We’ve been discussing this. They’ve been talking about the date and where to go for how long now? Now, all of a sudden, the week they were going to announce it, you decide you’re not going to fight anymore? They didn’t even know. I talked to everybody, and they had no clue.”

Fortunately for Anderson, he still gets a shot at the light heavyweight title, facing Karl Moore for the vacant belt at the first Bellator show under the PFL umbrella. When he beats Moore to finally capture that elusive title, the fact that it won’t come against Nemkov won’t make it any less sweet.

“I already believe I’m the best light heavyweight in the world,” Anderson said. “People are going to say what they’re going to say. I believe it every day, that’s the only way I can get up and keep doing this thing. I believe so hard that I’m the best. I lost my opportunity to prove it against Nemkov, but it is what it is.”

Bellator’s return takes place on March 22 in Belfast, Ireland.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Advice
| BJPenn.com

UFC

UFC fighters are probably accustomed to the promotion’s existing drug-testing parameters, which have gotten less stringent over the years when it comes to certain substances. Unfortunately, Mexico’s Federación de Artes Marciales Mixtas maintains a zero-tolerance policy, which could present problems for those athletes competing at UFC Mexico City this weekend on ESPN+.

That’s according to a report from MMA Fighting.

The promotion recently handed down a deadline for stopping the use of select drugs. Among them are stimulants like Adderall (seven days before weigh ins), as well as glucocorticoids like Hydrocortisone (three days before weigh ins). Narcotics like Fentanyl also made the list, but I can’t imagine that would be an issue for anyone regardless of what commission they’re answering to.

Then again, nothing should surprise us these days.

Stimulants:

Ritalin: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Adderall: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Solriamfetol: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Modafinil: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Pseudoephedrine: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Concerta: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Vyvanse: Discontinue use 12 days before weigh ins

Narcotics:

Morphine: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Oxycontin: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Fentanyl: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Methadone/Suboxone: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Buprenorphine: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins
Tramadol: Discontinue use seven days before weigh ins

Glucocorticoids:

Hydrocortisone: Discontinue use three days before weigh ins
Dexamethasone: Discontinue use five days before weigh ins
Betamethasone: Discontinue use five days before weigh ins
Methylprednisolone: Discontinue use five days before weigh ins
Prednisone: Discontinue use 10 days before weigh ins
Prednisolone: Discontinue use 10 days before weigh ins
Triamcinolone Acetonide: Discontinue use 60 days before weigh ins

UFC Mexico City will be headlined by former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno taking on longtime rival Brandon Royval, a five-round headliner (and 25-minute rematch) with serious title implications for late 2024 and beyond. In the featherweight co-headliner, Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega run it back after their UFC Long Island “No Contest” in summer 2022.

For the rest of the UFC Mexico City fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

With a nickname like “Lefthand2God,” it’s no surprise that Danny Barlow packs a serious punch but even he couldn’t have imagined that he would score his first knockout in the UFC using a broken arm.

This past Saturday night at UFC 298, Barlow battered Josh Quinlan with a barrage of punches and ended up with several knockdowns before the referee mercifully stopped the fight in the second round. Afterwards, Barlow noted that he likely broke his arm in the fight and an x-ray taken at a local hospital in Anaheim revealed that he had a clean break across his forearm.

What’s even more unbelievable is that Barlow delivered the majority of the finishing blows using his left hand — that same one connected to the shattered forearm that now sits in a cast as he awaits word on whether or not he’ll need to undergo surgery to repair the damage done.

“We knew it was broken,” Barlow told MMA Fighting. “It’s the forearm. I think it happened within the first minute of the first round, it was early on. I’m either going to have a ‘L’ with a broken arm or a ‘W’ with a broken arm. I’m trying to get that ‘W.’”

It was probably the worst case scenario come to life after Barlow suffered the injury so early in the fight and he wasn’t even really trying to use his left hand after realizing his arm was broken. Instead, Barlow tried to disguise his combinations to Quinlan wouldn’t pick up on the injury and try to use it against him.

“You’ve got to find some way to adjust to it,” Barlow said. “It was a mental adjustment for sure but if you’re still going to fight with it, the one thing you don’t want to do is let your opponent know. You don’t want to show any signs and one thing that people notice is when you start shaking the arm or stop throwing it.

“So I started to throw it more. A lot of times that I threw it, I didn’t even want to land it. I was just throwing it to keep it out there and set some stuff up in the later rounds. I didn’t want to just be standing there so he could kick it.”

When the first round ended, Barlow went to his corner but didn’t inform his coaches about the injury because he knew the surrounding cameras and microphones would undoubtedly pick up on it.

“I didn’t want the commentators to know because they hear what you’re talking about,” Barlow said. “I just dealt with it. I didn’t have time to address it so I had to make adjustments myself.”

Examining the fight, Barlow absolutely noticed that his accuracy was thrown off by the broken arm as he continued tossing out punches just to keep Quinlan off guard.

“It’s funny because while I’m punching him, I’m throwing this arm straight but it kept going [sideways],” Barlow said. “I was throwing it and if you see it right before I hit him with the hammer fist, I threw two straight [punches] and they went past his head. Every time I would throw it, I’d have to readjust it. I threw it twice and it went past his head and I’m seeing him. I was trying to line it up but it kept missing him. Then I hit him with the quick hammer fist because I couldn’t aim.

“It wasn’t going in the direction I was throwing it. I felt it for sure. The accuracy was gone. I was basically hitting him with a broke stick.”

Not only did Barlow continue fighting but the punch that led to the finish actually came from his left hand. In the moment, he didn’t think the shots from his left were even connecting with that much power because he obviously couldn’t feel the impact due to the broken arm.

Still, Barlow’s punches kept finding a home as he cracked Quinlan with several hard shots, knocking him to the ground multiple times until the fight was finally stopped.

“It did look hard but in the fight, it really didn’t feel like I was throwing hard,” Barlow said. “I was just trying to keep it active and not show that it was broke. I was reading a lot of comments and they were making the Mike Tyson comparisons and I was tripping. It was crazy that nobody noticed it.

“That’s why the fight became way more basic than it would have been. Because I broke it. That’s why I didn’t kick, there was a lot of stuff and I did the total opposite [of what we planned] because if we got on the ground and now I’m grappling with a broken arm. That’s why I wanted to keep it boxing.”

Despite the injury, Barlow pulled off the highlight reel finish and now his unique nickname will probably take on a whole new meaning considering he somehow generated enough power with a broken arm to put Quinlan away.

“The name is definitely blessed after that,” Barlow said with a laugh. “I wanted to come in there and make a statement. It’s definitely a statement after that fight.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Following the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career, Khabib Nurmagomedov had a call waiting for him from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Considered by some to be the greatest fighter in UFC history, Nurmagomedov’s biggest moment came at UFC 229 in October 2018 when he scored a fourth-round submission victory over Irish megastar Conor McGregor. Immediately following the fight, Putin made the call to congratulate his countryman, but found himself on hold for quite a while as Nurmagomedov notoriously hopped the cage and lept into the crowd to fight one of McGregor’s cornermen — Dillon Danis.

By the time Khabib Nurmagomeov waded through a sea of security staff and police officers, Putin was still on the line and ready to hand ‘The Eagle’ a lavish and life-changing gift.

“He didn’t even make it back to his dressing room after the fight, and Putin was on the phone,” UFC CEO Dana White recounted of the UFC 229 saga on the “Games with Names” podcast. “Putin gave him and his father, like, $ 20 million worth of property in Russia. Then he went into the Muslim territories where these guys are like, cars, money, gyms, whatever he wanted.”

Nurmagomedov also received a Mercedes given to him by Putin’s ally and Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, who has gained notoriety for his relationships with UFC fighters, most notably Khamzat Chimaev. It is believed that Chimaev’s close relationship with Kadyrov is why ‘Borz’ is running into issues obtaining a visa to fight in the United States.

White believes Khabib Stopped short of becoming the undisputed MMA GOAT

Two years after his victory over McGregor, ‘The Eagle’ walked away from MMA following the death of his father and longtime trainer, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Since then, White has tried to lure the former lightweight champion back, offering him a reported $ 40 million to return to the Octagon. But as is the situation with Conor McGregor, once you have the kind of money that Nurmagomedov has, it’s hard to wake up in the morning and willingly get punched in the face.

“Once you get to that level [of Nurmagomedov’s fame], it’s like what we’re dealing with with Conor McGregor,” White said. “Conor McGregor lives in a yacht in the middle of wherever the warmest place in the world is at that time. Once you get to that level, you’re not getting up and getting punched in the face anymore.”

White also believes that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s hasty exit after just three title defenses is the reason he failed to obtain MMA GOAT status in the eyes of the many, himself included.

“The GOAT is Jon Jones,” he said. “Jon Jones is undefeated. Khabib is undefeated, too, but I would have liked to have seen Khabib do more” (h/t MMA Fighting).

LowKickMMA.com

Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley faces rival Marlon “Chito” Vera in the UFC 299 main event on March 9th in Miami, Florida.  The rematch with Vera will be O’Malley’s first title defense.  

Vera (23-8-1) handed O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) his only career loss when the two first fought at UFC 252 in August 2020.  Vera finished O’Malley with punches and elbows late in the opening round.  O’Malley seeks to avenge the loss and expects to stop Vera at Kaseya Center.  He even predicted what round the fight will end.  

“I’m better than this dude.  I’m going to go out there and do what I was about to do to him and put his lights out,” O’Malley told The MMA Hour.  “He’s good.  He’s tough.  He’s very durable, but that doesn’t get the job done against me.  You can’t just be tough.  You can’t just be durable.  I believe I’m more skilled, faster, more accurate, and I just feel confidence standing in front of him.”  

“Mentally, physically, emotionally, I’m preparing for 25 minutes,” O’Malley continued.  “I’m preparing to leave there limping, leave there sore. leave there with my hand hurting from his head.  So, preparing for the worst, but realistically I’m putting this dude’s lights out within three.”      

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