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UFC

I remember before the announcement I had this fight very close with Grasso nudging it out. When the score cards were read and it was announced a draw, I thought (and still think) that it was the right call, but 10-8 round 5 for Grasso? That’s where I have to disagree. submitted by /u/realjobstudios [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

After years of punishing weight cuts down to bantamweight, Aljamain Sterling will finally make his long-discussed featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar at UFC 300.

And regardless of how the experiment plays out, the record-setting former UFC champion is already resolute on one thing: He’s never making 135 pounds again.

“Just the thought of it gives me a headache and makes me nauseous,” Sterling said on The MMA Hour. “Like, people tell me I wear it well and I don’t look like I’m hurting, ‘Oh, you had such a great weight cut.’ I’m like, I am literally dying inside. I could poker face it all I want, because mentally, that’s just the way I’ve always been. It’s like, you don’t show weakness in that way. You always try to show people that you’re good even when you’re not.

“But I know I’ve been hurting for a very, very long time. And I even think my past performances have kind of not been the best of me because of that. I just think I lose a little bit of myself and leave a little bit of myself in the gym. Cardio-wise, I don’t have the same output as I used to. And I’m kind of excited to just see what that’s going to look like at ‘45 and see if I can get back to that — that guy who’s in between rounds and is able to talk to the fans and yell to the crowd, and just show I’m full of energy and I’m ready to go.”

Sterling, 34, is the most decorated UFC bantamweight champion ever. Yet despite setting UFC records for the most wins, longest win streak, and most consecutive title defenses in the history of the division, his debut at 145 pounds is one long in the making. After publicly mulling the move for years, Sterling pledged to finally take the plunge — win or lose — after his latest bout against Sean O’Malley, in part for the sake of his own health and in part to clear a path to the belt for his longtime friend and teammate Merab Dvalishvili.

Sterling ultimately lost to O’Malley via second-round knockout at UFC 292, ending a nine-fight run that saw him defeat Henry Cejudo, T.J. Dillashaw, Petr Yan (x2), and Cory Sandhagen, among others. That setback squashed any potential for him to make his 145-pound debut in a champion vs. champion bout against Alexander Volkanovski, but “Funk Master” still drew a meaningful name for his April 13 showdown in Las Vegas at UFC 300.

“They offered four names and Kattar was the highest ranked,” Sterling said.

“Maybe I’m an idiot for this. Maybe I need to take the Drakkar Klose route and just go, ‘Give me the easiest opponent for the most amount of money,’ the Chael Sonnen route, right? But I want to fight the biggest and baddest dudes, man. At the end of the day, I think that’s what matters the most. How many of those guys were you actually able to beat? How did those fights look? What was your strategy like? My skill set versus his skill set. So there’s a lot that goes into it and that was the fight that made the most sense to me.

“He’s the highest ranked out of the four that they offered, and I think if I beat him and I beat him … the way that I think I’m capable of doing, I think I’m right next in line for title shot. I don’t think that’s too far fetched of a thing. You look at the guys at the top, they already fought for the belt. It Volkanovski wins again, I think the door’s wide open.”

Sterling has a point in that he enters featherweight at a curious time for the division. At age 35, Volkanovski is already the oldest champion in UFC featherweight history and has now lost two of his past three bouts at the hands of lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, the most recent of which ended with a brutal head-kick knockout in October. Volkanovski is set to defend his title against undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria on Feb. 17 at UFC 298, and if he wins, the only viable contender for him would likely be Movsar Evloev, who received surprising criticism from UFC CEO Dana White following a recent win over Arnold Allen.

That could open the door for Sterling to slide into pole position on the 145-pound ladder if he gets by Kattar, but the former champ also isn’t worried about looking that far ahead.

“I’m very grateful for everything,” Sterling said. “And I’m just wanting to see how far I can push this thing now. I hit all my goals. Now it’s, how high can I go? How many more mountains can I climb and see what I could do before it’s all said and done? At 34 years old, three-time defending UFC champion, made the money I’ve made — I don’t want to disclose that — and being able to put up family and certain things in certain positions in life, and I think, at the end of the day, that’s what we all hope to do as fighters. And if anyone hates on that, they’ve just f****** weird, man. They’re just weird people.

“So to each his own, and I’m looking forward to this one on April 13. And I can’t wait, man. I’m excited because Calvin is a badass, and I’m also excited because I like to see what I can do at this weight class, going with these guys that I’m going with now, and to see how I hold up. And I’m not going to be the biggest guy, but I know I can be just as strong, and I know I’m going to have the gas tank to push, and I think that’s going to be my weapon.

“Even if I don’t become a champ, man, I would like to just set record, set goals, and make as much money as I can,” Sterling added. “Because when it’s done, it’s done. There is no, ‘I want to go back in time and maybe I should’ve taken that fight, maybe I should’ve rolled the dice, maybe I should’ve canceled that vacation and did this.’ I don’t want to have those. I don’t want to have regrets. And I can see that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

“When I came into the sport to UFC, I was 24 years old. I’ve been with this company just about 10 years now. And to see the stuff that I’ve done over the years, man, literally three opponents unranked that I fought, everybody else has been ranked in the top 15, top 10, top five — I don’t think anyone could say anything about who I am as a person, as a character. Even if it’s not the greatest fight, they’re the toughest fights that I can get. So with that said, man, give me the best guys.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Nassourdine Imavov secured his first win in a UFC main event on Saturday, but given his war of words with Chris Curtis during and after the fight, you could forget he actually beat Roman Dolidze at UFC Vegas 85.

It was a largely dominant showing for Imavov over five rounds, but he still got caught in an ugly moment after he delivered a vicious head kick that blasted Dolidze and sent him down to the canvas.

Unfortunately, Dolidze had a hand on the mat, which made the kick illegal, and it ultimately cost Imavov a point deduction from referee Herb Dean.

It could have cost a lot more after Dean warned Imavov to stay in a neutral corner or risk disqualification after a nasty exchange with Curtis, who served as one of Dolidze’s coaches. Of course, Imavov has a no-contest on his record after an accidental clash of heads ended his 2023 fight with Curtis early.

“First of all, I’m not very happy with [this fight],” Imavov said at the UFC Vegas 85 post-fight press conference. “I try to be as focused as I can. I try to stay focused on the cage to stay calm but sometimes my wild side can come out a little bit. I tried to stay as focused as I could be focused and I think it’s a lot because of the experience I’ve got in the cage with the years.

“I liked the performance. I just didn’t like that I got a little bit angry at one point during the fight.”

Imavov explained that Curtis chirping at him from the corner is what bothered him. That eventually led to a yelling match between the former opponents – and obscene gestures with a pair of middle fingers thrown in the air.

“I was upset because the guy Chris Curtis keeps talking in every fight he’s cornering,” Imavov said. “He keeps talking to me. This is not his job as a cornerman to talk to the fighter. When I went to the cage against him, he was very silent. He got dominated, and he even quit the fight because of the headbutt. I just wanted him to stop talking and let me fight.”

Despite his disdain for Curtis, Imavov paid homage to Dolidze for not taking the easy way out after getting caught with the illegal kick.

“Roman is real warrior,” Imavov said. “He kept fighting even though he could have stopped fighting. A lot of respect, thank you so much Roman for that. As opposed to his cornerman, he’s not a quitter like Chris Curtis.”

Following his win, Imavov called for a rematch against Sean Strickland after he lost a five-round decision to the ex-UFC middleweight champion in early 2023. As much as he might want that fight, he already heard calls for a different rematch, especially considering the bad blood he obviously shares with Curtis.

Sadly, it doesn’t appear to interest Imavov, who claimed Curtis previously turned down a rematch against him and is now returning the favor.

“Before Roman Dolidze, we proposed [Chris Curtis] a rematch in UFC Paris. He declined. Refused,” Imavov said. “I’m not at all interested by Chris Curtis. First of all, he’s so low in the rankings. Second of all, I did a masterclass against him. I just dominated him. He couldn’t do anything in the cage.

“But you know, if he really wants to keep talking, I can go to his gym and we can do a real tough sparring session and I’m going to destroy him as I did in the cage.”

Putting that rivalry aside, Imavov seems ready to move forward with his career, and he wants to stay busy for the rest of 2024. He loves the idea of appearing on a future UFC card in Paris, which has become an annual stop for the promotion over the past two years.

Imavov isn’t even worried about taking the main event slot there so long as he gets to compete close to home in France.

“I want to fight as much as possible,” Imavov said. “I want to stay very active in the division. It’s very possible [headlining UFC Paris] is something that could happen.

“Right now there is a lot of French [fighters] going up the ranks, and I’m very happy for that. There’s no competition between us French, we just want to go to the top so I could be main event in Paris, I could be co-main event. Whatever happens. I’m going to be very happy fighting in Paris.”

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Bonus Report
| BJPenn.com

UFC

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — “The Rock” was happy that his guy won.

Themba Gorimbo notched his first UFC stoppage at UFC Vegas 85 last night (Sat., Feb. 3, 2024), knocking out Pete Rodriguez in 36 seconds flat with a nasty right hand followed by ground-and-pound from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights).

For some reason, Gorimbo didn’t earn a “Performance of the Night” bonus. But, perhaps that’s because Gorimbo was surprised with a brand new Florida house by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson last year after his first UFC win because of their similar stories.

And ever since, “The Rock” has been his biggest supporter.

Before Gorimbo competed on Saturday, “The Rock” sent him a text message, and during his post-fight interview with the media, “The Answer” revealed that he was crying while warming up because of the text.

“He made me cry before this fight — DJ, wherever you are, that was not cool,” Gorimbo said. “But yeah, I love him. He sent me a message just before the fight when I was backstage, and I’m sure my coaches were thinking maybe I was just in the zone, but I was crying a little bit trying to hold my tears.”

Gorimbo then revealed what the text said.

“You were born for this moment, brother. Best of luck today. God has blessed you.”

After his win, Gorimbo posted a video on his Instagram of “The Rock” face-timing him.

The audio of the phone call is inaudible, but “The Rock” commented on the post.

“Incredible win my brother,” The Rock wrote. “We’re all so proud of you. Keep climbing that mountain and inspiring everyone along the way. Congrats to you, your coaches, and TEAM. Love U!!”

Gorimbo (12-4) is riding a two-fight win streak since losing his UFC debut and, according to him, will fight for the Welterweight title by the end of the year.

For complete UFC Vegas 85 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts