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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gilbert Burns isn’t sold on Colby Covington claiming injury in his last fight.

Covington, 35, returned to the media light this week with an appearance to share an X-ray of what he claimed to be a fracture in his left foot. The injury happened as a result of the first kick thrown in his recent title tilt against UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards, according to Covington. The one-time interim titleholder lost the bout via a lopsided unanimous decision, which was arguably his worst performance to date.

Due to the injury, Covington said it hampered his ability and thought process to fight in his typical high-volume pressure wrestling style. Edwards defended the wrestling exchanges consistently throughout when they were applied and struck his way to the victory. Covington’s fellow Miami, Fla. resident and welterweight contender Burns, however, says he saw Covington continuing life as usual after the December loss.

“I don’t think he — he was going everywhere here,” Burns told The AllStar. “I saw him walking everywhere. The X-ray, I don’t see his name on the X-ray. I don’t know. Then we saw him walk everywhere in Miami, playing poker, going everywhere. I didn’t see no cast, I didn’t see anything. So, I don’t know.

“It’s very hard to believe anything Colby says. You don’t know when it’s true, he’s a character. I just think a lot of guys said he didn’t show up [in the fight]. I think he did show up, but I think Leon just shut him down and I think Leon is — people don’t give him a lot of credit, but I think he’s very, very good. He just shut the guy down.”

A summer return is in the mind of Covington next and when pondering his next possible opponent, Burns was a name he mentioned should “Durinho” get past Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 next month. Ultimately, the matchup is one Burns has long wanted, but after seeing how Covington did against the champion Edwards, he’s not sure it’s even worth it.

“I saw a couple things, saying that he might fight Ian Garry or me,” Burns said. “Is that fight still relevant? Like, the way that guy showed up, two years without fighting. I don’t know. I’m not even thinking of this guy. I called this guy out so many times. He had so many opportunities to fight me. Now my focus is on Jack. After Jack, we’ll see, but I’m not passing through Jack. This guy’s gonna be very hungry.

“I don’t know. I just think Edwards shut down Covington real bad and I think he’s done. Whenever after the fight he called for [Stephen] ‘Wonderboy’ [Thompson] and ‘Wonderboy’ just lost, too. It’s like, that guy is done. He’ll never fight for the title again. So, why fight him?”

Burns, 37, has performed well since his first UFC title shot against Kamaru Usman at UFC 258 in February 2021. Unfortunately for him, he lost the bout via a second-round TKO but has gone 3-2 (22-6 overall) afterward with dominant wins over Thompson, Neil Magny, and Jorge Masvidal.

Despite Burns’ loss to Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision at UFC 288 last May in his most recent fight, Edwards’s coach Dave Lovell still highlighted him as a viable title challenger after the Covington win. Although it likely won’t happen with Burns lined up to face Della Maddalena, he believes it just shows his caliber within the 170-pound ranks.

“I like it,” Burns said. “I know I’m super close to get to a title shot. I think it’s gonna happen. I still got a lot in me. That’s the thing that I go to sleep thinking about. I wake up thinking about it and I put a lot of energy into my training because of that.

“I think it kind of tells my value and I like it. A lot of guys don’t like it, I think. I think I’m one or two wins away from a title shot so I gotta pass Jack first.”

TOP STORIES

Scenes. Benoit Saint Denis shares his side of Dustin Poirier fight announcement drama

Ridiculous. Dana White: Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler hopefully happens in ‘the fall’ of 2024

Future. Dricus du Plessis gives update on UFC 300 availability, believes Israel Adesanya is ‘probably’ next

Assessment. Sean O’Malley coach: Chito Vera hasn’t improved much since first fight, won’t be confident at UFC 299

Hypothetical. Tom Aspinall still open to fight Alex Pereira at UFC 300, but ‘I’ve heard nothing so far’

Hindsight. Alexander Volkanovski regrets ‘drinking every day for 3 or 4 weeks’ before UFC offered Islam Makhachev rematch

Aid. Max Holloway helps open new Boys and Girls Club in Hawaii

Boxing. Tyson Fury vows to rematch Francis Ngannou in future, dismisses retirement talk

Fantasy. Sean O’Malley wants to ‘put the lights out’ on ‘dangerous’ Ilia Topuria

Options. Kevin Lee names Tony Ferguson, Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler as possible return opponents

VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

Enter Adesanya.

CCC on UFC 298.

An Almighty preview.

Fancy forearm crusher.

LISTEN UP

No Bets Barred. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Conner Burks discuss if Joe Pyfer can make the leap to contention at UFC Vegas 86.

MORNING MUSIC

It’s not yet Saturday night, but let’s pretend.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Secrets.

Collection.

Alright then.

Oh boy… Would be smart…

What a troll.

How about that?

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

José Johnson (16-8) vs. Lucas Rocha (17-1); UFC Vegas 90, April 6

Dione Barbosa (6-2) vs. Ernesta Kareckaite (5-0-1); UFC 301, May 4

FINAL THOUGHTS

Real or not, it happened in the fight so Covington’s excuses remain invalid. Read the room, fella. The character no longer works (if it ever did).

Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Dricus du Plessis claims that while competing at a monumental UFC 300 card in April – the newly-minted middleweight kingpin has no interest in potentially landing a bout with Israel Adesanya as soon as the event, particularly if he’s going to be fighting potentially compromised.

du Plessis, the newly-crowned undisputed middleweight champion, headlined UFC 297 just last month in Canada, narrowly edging out then-champion, Sean Strickland in his first championship fight under the promotion’s banner, landing the undisputed title.

And immediately welcoming the option of a UFC 300 clash with arch-rival, Adesanya, South African favorite, du Plessis claimed he only issued a call out to the City Kickboxing, after receiving prior knowledge confirming the ex-champion’s ability to make the card.

Dricus du Plessis unsure of UFC 300 fight with Israel Adesanya

However, for himself, Pretoria native, du Plessis claimed that while a spot on the massive pay-per-view card in April would be huge for him, he won’t consider fighting at UFC 300 against Adesanya if he is not fully, one hundred percent recovered from his clash with Strickland.

“I think UFC 300 is obviously going to be a milestone event,” Dricus du Plessis told Jacaranda FM during a recent interview. “I think it’s going to be great. Every time you have the UFC 100, UFC 200, and now UFC 300 – all are massive events and the pay-per-views are insane, it’s a massive hype, and I would love to be part of that.”

“But, not if it’s going to mean that I’m not going to be fully recovered,” Dricus du Plessis continued. “Defending my title is much more important to me than being on this milestone event. The real milestone event will be UFC in Africa, and more importantly, South Africa. I can’t even explain to you how long I’ll be willing to wait to make that happen and defend my belt on home soil. That’s history. UFC 300 is just a number. It’s not as massive as UFC Africa.” 

Do you think Dricus du Plessis x Israel Adesanya headlines a UFC Africa card?

LowKickMMA.com

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sean O’Malley’s longtime coach is not impressed with the growth he’s seen from Marlon Vera since “Chito” stopped O’Malley with a first-round knockout in August 2020.

Now the UFC bantamweight champion, O’Malley makes the first defense of his title in a rematch against Vera on March 9 in the main event of UFC 299. O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch stopped by The MMA Hour on Wednesday to preview the matchup.

“I don’t think [he’s improved] a ton. I don’t think his confidence is going to be high,” Welch said of Vera. “And the way he showed up against Cory Sandhagen, he got smoked by Cory Sandhagen. He barely got past a little, short — no diss, but — Pedro Munhoz, who’s not very fast and big, he’s a little bit older. So I don’t think his confidence is super high.

“But Chito’s dangerous. He is really, really good at getting beat up and then winning, which is a dangerous thing. He’s very durable, he trains hard, he’s got a good coach, and he’s dangerous. Last time we fought him, we [underestimated] him. We thought he was just slow and clunky, and then that happened. So we’re not underestimating him this time.”

O’Malley, 29, captured the title with a stunning knockout of Aljamain Sterling this past August at UFC 292. Overall, the Montana native has won nine of his 11 UFC appearances and is unbeaten since his loss to Vera. Included in that stretch is a decision win over former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan.

Vera’s road, on the other hand, has not been as straightforward. Since defeating O’Malley, the 31-year-old Ecuadorian has racked up a 5-2 record over his seven octagon appearances, sandwiching blowout losses to Jose Aldo and Sandhagen between big wins over Frankie Edgar, Rob Font, and Dominick Cruz. Vera edged out Munhoz in a closely contested bout in his most recent outing at UFC 292.

Between that and the Sandhagen loss, Welch hasn’t exactly been blown away by what he’s watched on tape from “Chito” in 2023.

“I feel like I know what Chito’s game plan is,” Welch said. “Like everyone’s game plan [against O’Malley], kick the legs, kick the legs — oh, his body’s going to be soft. Kick the legs, kick the legs, maybe kick one to the head, kick his body. Maybe try to mix in some shots. In this big cage, he’ll feel really quickly that he’s not going to be able to take Sean down and his game plan is going to go to s*** really quick, I believe. But like I said, we just pretty much focused on his last fight against Pedro Munoz. How did he look at his last fight?

“That was not that long ago, so we watched film on that. Watched film on Cory Sandhagen, because Cory standing there, obviously he switches stances, moves around a lot, and how did [Vera] go about that fight? What did he do? It seems like he just got confused and he got broke mentally. So if that Chito shows up on March 9, it’s going to be really bad for him.

“I just think that Cory Sandhagen bout is just going to be in his mind,” Welch added, “and when he feels Sean’s movement and Sean’s speed and his reaction times, I feel like that’s going to come back into play into his mind. Like, f***, he just couldn’t get started. He felt like he just couldn’t reach him. He just couldn’t get to him. He was too slow. And I feel like that’s probably going to come back, especially in the big cage.”

Despite losing their first bout in emphatic fashion, O’Malley is currently listed as more than a 2-to-1 favorite to exact his revenge and defeat Vera at UFC 299 in Miami.

Welch sees the fight much as the oddsmakers do, and his prediction is simple: Vera starts slow and tries to pace himself for a five-round battle, until O’Malley ends things in the third.

“I believe it’s going to be a viral knockout,” Welch said. “But like I said, I’m preparing Sean for a five-round war. I’m bringing the toughest people I could find in to spar him, going tons of rounds, trying to break him, trying to break his legs, kicking his legs, and we’re preparing him for a five-war, because Chito is really good at taking shots. He’s very durable.

“So we’re preparing him for five rounds, but I do believe in my heart that he’s going to be probably face-planted at the end of the fight.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

This Saturday’s UFC Vegas 86 event is closed to the public and media, and billionaire Elon Musk will be in attendance at the UFC Apex.  

It’s a big weekend for the organization, promoter Dana White, and the city of Las Vegas.  Super Bowl LVIII weekend kicks off with a White-promoted Power Slap event on Friday.  Saturday will feature the UFC Vegas 86 fight card on ESPN and of course the Super Bowl kicks off at 6:30 ET at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday.

“To be around Super Bowl, I mean, I’m trying to think of which Super Bowl.  It was in Texas.  It might have been Dallas.  I think it was Dallas we did a fight on Super Bowl weekend.  So to do it here in our hometown, no brainer,” White told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“To have Slap on Friday, UFC Saturday, and Sunday the Super Bowl is a no brainer.  The people that are in town that are going to these events.  I mean, Elon Musk is coming to the fight on Saturday,” White continued.

The event is reportedly closed to the public and media, and it’s not the first time the fight promotion has hosted an event for a billionaire tech giant.  In 2022, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife attended UFC Fight Night 211.  That event was also closed to the public and media.  

UFC Vegas 86 is headlined by a middleweight match between 11th-ranked Jack Hermansson and Joe Pyfer.  

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

After a lackluster UFC Vegas 85 card, MMA’s leading promotion returns with yet another middleweight main event in the world’s most famous Apex, this time between Jack Hermansson and Joe Pyfer.

Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a brief recap of last weekend’s card and a status check on Flyweight Understan, before diving into yet another Apex card. After all, if the UFC can’t deliver the most fun fights in the world every weekend, we can certainly make them more entertaining by recklessly putting money on them.

Can Joe Pyfer break into the Top-10 and announce himself as a legitimate middleweight threat? Will Dan Ige ever not be a Top-15 featherweight? Just how cooked is Michael Johnson? And how many middleweight fights is too many for one card? All this and more are discussed on this week’s episode.

Tune in for episode 77 of No Bets Barred.

New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Shots Fired
| BJPenn.com

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Paulo Costa doesn’t have the best reputation for showing up to fight.

Theoretically, the problem is solved. Costa didn’t like his old contract and acted out because of it, which didn’t mesh well with UFC’s habit of announcing fights prior to contracts being signed. Fortunately, the popular Brazilian recently scored a highly lucrative deal, so this should be an issue of the past. Costa is signed to fight Robert Whittaker next weekend (Sat. Feb. 17) at UFC 298 from Anaheim, California, but that match up has fallen apart previously.

Former title contender and MMA analyst Chael Sonnen is predicting a repeat. He doesn’t offer an exact explanation of his skepticism, but Sonnen is insistent that Whittaker vs. Costa does not happen next weekend.

“If you were just to guess, I’ve had a couple fights in my life where I’ve seen them and read about them and thought, ‘That’s not going to happen,’ and that was my reaction,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel about Whittaker vs. Costa (via MMAJunkie). “I loved them and they were exciting, possibly a situation where it was too good to be true but there was something about it, I didn’t feel it was going to happen.”

He later continued, “I am not that bullish on Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker. I am not that bullish … It doesn’t feel like those guys are getting ready to fight.”

“I will make an observation, and that observation is that Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker are not behaving, and are not actively doing what other guys put in the same position that are three weeks, closing in on a fight that’s televised and monetized on pay-per-view,” Sonnen concluded. “They are not doing what two opponents generally would do, that are going to plan to face each other.”

Apparently, Sonnen has issue with the (lack of?) fight promotion between the two. I cannot say I’ve seen any heated social media discourse between the two, but that’s also not really Whittaker’s style generally. The Australian is looking absolutely shredded in his recent pictures, so his physical preparation appears to be on point. Costa, meanwhile, is posting goofy memes online per usual, but his workout posts show a built “Borrachinha” as well.

Think the duo make it into the cage in 10 days?

Insomnia

RIZIN head Nobuyuki Sakakibara meeting with Dana White … could we be seeing Kyoji Horiguchi back in the UFC? Immediate title shot!

An update to this weekend’s fight card:

It feels like everyone fell off the Guram Kutateladze hype train after the Elves Brenner upset, but maybe the Brazilian is just really good also? I’m still looking forward to the return of “The Georgian Viking.”

A real deep look into the minds of the athletes interviewed.

Alexa Grasso may be sitting in the broadcasters booth at UFC Mexico City!

Tito Ortiz and podcasts really are a match made in heaven for amusing content.

This sentiment isn’t related to his appearance, but Gregory Rodrigues is one of my favorite unranked fighters in the whole UFC. “Robocop” goes to war every time!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

A quick clip of Poland’s debuting Welterweight talent, Robert Bryczek, who fights Ihor Potieira on Saturday night.

A great performance and great write up from “The Warmaster” Josh Barnett!

Olympic silver medalist Ben Whittaker winning in style:

Random Land

Komodo dragons are venomous AND bacteria-filled prehistoric-looking lizards. To be avoided!

Midnight Music: Art pop, 1973

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts