Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Daniel Cormier is holding his ground in his latest back-and-forth with his old rival, Jon Jones.
The current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion, Jones, has had a rather problematic history outside the Octagon, to say the least. So much so that it upset his boss, UFC CEO, Dana White, a time or two. One time specifically came in 2014 when revealed through some text messages between White and former UFC owner, Lorenzo Fertitta.
Reacting to the leaks shortly after, Cormier noted how all businesses deal with bad employees. This bothered Jones enough to elicit a response on Twitter, saying, “Never let a ‘bad employee’ beat you up and take everything from you twice. It’ll leave you bitter for a really long time evidently.”
“If I could say 100 things about him positively, he hangs onto the negative thing,” Cormier responded on his YouTube channel. “I wasn’t talking about him directly. I was talking about in business and you have employees in your business, sometimes things go sideways with the employees, and you say bad things. When someone’s being a bad employee, you say bad things. That was my argument.
“Even if he won both fights [against me], in that moment it doesn’t change what I was saying,” he continued. “I’m paid to do a job, guys. I’m paid to talk and try to make sense or give you guys the inside views as to what’s going on in mixed martial arts. Even if he won both fights, it doesn’t change what happened with the fight with Dan Henderson. It doesn’t change with UFC 200. It doesn’t change all those reasons why Dana went off.”
About Cormier’s last mentions, Jones’ declining of a fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 151 after Henderson was injured out of their bout infamously resulted in the event’s cancelation in September 2011. In July 2016, UFC 200 was supposed to feature Cormier vs. Jones 2 atop the billing, but saw Jones removed from the card when he tested positive for a banned substance just a few days out.
Cédric Doumbé is eager to make his second PFL appearance.
The former GLORY welterweight champion lived up to his hype in September when he debuted for the promotion with a spectacular nine-second knockout of Jordan Zebo that ignited a raucous scene among his French countrymen at PFL Europe 3. Doumbé is now set to face undefeated prospect Baissangour Chamsoudinov on March 7 in the main event of another PFL Europe card in Paris, and he has high expectations for his follow-up act.
“He has a pretty good fan base in France,” Doumbé said Wednesday on The MMA Hour.
“People, they’re talking a lot of s*** about [him winning] because he looks like a wrestler. He’s [originally] from Chechnya, he looks like a wrestler, and nobody [has been able to] take me down. And they think he is the guy, as they thought Jordan was the guy. So now they think he’s the guy, but I will show the same — first-round knockout — and they will find another guy who is supposed to be the guy, that guy. And it’s the same s***, different day.”
Doumbé, 31, is generally considered to be one of the top welterweight prospects in MMA.
His debut PFL appearance instantly became one of the most talked about debuts of 2023. Known for his flair for the dramatics, Doumbé marched out with a mattress for his opponent, led the crowd — and French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappe — in a thunderous chant, then put Zebo to sleep in mere seconds with a monstrous left hand.
It was an eye-opening performance in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 7,000 fans at the Zénith Paris, and Doumbé already upped the ante for his sophomore outing — the Frenchman said his next fight sold out nearly 20,000 seats for the Accor Arena in just 20 minutes. For the decorated kickboxer, it’s further validation that he made the right move by signing with PFL after originally expecting to join the UFC in 2022. Doumbé’s octagon debut fell through due to a medical issue and he was ultimately released from his contract.
Less than two years later, he has no regrets.
“That makes me smile because they f***** up,” Doumbé said of the UFC. “They f***** up. But I didn’t lose anything. They lost. So it is what it is, you know? Everything happens for a reason.
“I’m just doing my thing. I know I would do the same — maybe even better, maybe less — in UFC, but I’m just doing my thing. Some people say that, ‘You will never have done that [walkout] with the mattress in UFC, they will never let you do this,’ so I’m better here.”
With more than 80 kickboxing fights to his name, Doumbé knows he’s no spring chicken when it comes to his future in combat sports. While he’s still at the peak of his powers, he does not expect to fight into his late thirties. Because of that, he is focusing all of his energy into his partnership with PFL and doubts he ever opens the door to the UFC again.
“We never know for tomorrow, but I think 90 percent no,” Doumbé said. “Ninety percent no, because I’m not 20, I’m not 21. I’m not that younger fighter. So I think I’m more close to the end than the beginning, so I think I will not open the UFC door again. But we never know.”
Doumbé already has grand plans for his next step after March 7. Once he wins, he expects his next opponent to be former UFC champion Anthony Pettis. He’s confident he could one day sell out France’s Parc des Princes, the massive stadium that house soccer club Paris Saint-Germain.
First, however, he must get by Chamsoudinov. The 22-year-old native Chechen is a perfect 8-0 in his young MMA career and picked up a second-round knockout of UFC veteran Efrain Escudero in his most recent appearance.
“He’s better than Jordan,” Doumbé said. “He’s got very good judo. He’s from judo, he’s a judoka. But even his wrestling is not enough to impress me. I think even on the ground, the grappling, I’m better than him. But nobody knows [because] you haven’t seen it yet.
“A lot of his fans, they think he’s the guy. But even Jordan, everybody thought that would be the guy who’s going to expose me, but it’s always the same.”
Sean Strickland’s middleweight title reign came to an end a mere four months after it began.
Following his stunning upset of two-time champion Israel Adesanya in September, Strickland was primed to score his first successful defense against South African finisher Dricus Du Plessis. And in the eyes of many, he did exactly that. However, two of the three judges overseeing the bout favored DDP, handing him the victory and the title by a razor-thin margin.
Strickland had little to say in the immediate aftermath, but the outspoken fan favorite recently shared a video on YouTube that documented his response to the loss backstage.
“Once that eye opened up, man, I just couldn’t see sh*t,” Strickland said after returning to the locker room with his team. “Welcome to fighting. I feel like Chris Curtis. I’m going to start f*cking calling myself Chris Curtis.”
Strickland sustained a nasty cut over his left eye, one that he later attributed to a headbutt in the later rounds of the 25-minute affair. On X, Strickland shared a clip of the incident which offered a look at some compelling evidence along with the subsequent damage it resulted in.
With the accidental clash of heads apparent and everyone seemingly split on who should have left Canada with the title, including UFC CEO Dana White who scored it in favor of Strickland, there is a very strong case to be made for an immediate rematch between the two. Unfortunately, that appears to be on the back burner as the promotion is looking to book a clash with either Israel Adesnaya or the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev.
All things considered, do you believe Sean Strickland is entitled to a rematch?
We all know I won… The only reason why it wasn't one sided for 5 rounds is the headbutt took my eye….. Wasn't touched till the blood took my vision.. pic.twitter.com/CLvcURLzWT
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) January 22, 2024
Sean Strickland’s first outing as a UFC champion did not go as planned.
The now former UFC middleweight champion released behind-the-scenes video this week documenting the before and after of his UFC 297 main event against Dricus du Plessis. The footage, which published on Strickland’s YouTube channel, shows Strickland’s arrival to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena alongside teammate Chris Curtis, the pair warming up backstage under the watchful eye of UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, and Strickland’s immediate reaction following his split decision loss.
After a closely contested back-and-forth bout, one judge scored the 48-47 for Strickland, while two others turned in 48-47 scorecards for South African challenger du Plessis.
Watch Strickland’s journey above.
“Once that eye opened up, man, I just couldn’t see s***,” Strickland said after returning to the locker room with his team. “Welcome to fighting. I feel like Chris Curtis. I’m going to start f****** calling myself Chris Curtis.”
Strickland has since blamed the cut he suffered mid-fight due to an accidental head butt as the catalyst for his loss. “I didn’t take the coward’s way out and tell the doctor I couldn’t see and got a no-contest,” Strickland wrote on Instagram after UFC 297. “The only reason why you took a round from me is because I couldn’t see. I won that fight, the world knows I won that fight. The belt they gave you will never make you a champion, enjoy.”
UFC CEO Dana White revealed post-fight that he scored the bout for Strickland but said the UFC does not plan to book an immediate rematch between Strickland and du Plessis.
Following his loss to Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event, former champion Sean Strickland released a statement alleging that Du Plessis had headbutted him during the match. In another social media post, Strickland blamed the loss on the headbutt and attached a video.
“Well f**k haha… man that headbutt really made it difficult to see but I thought we got the job done. Blood and all!!! Onto the next one!!! Thanks everyone who supported me,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In the second post Strickland stated, “We all know I won… The only reason why it wasn’t one sided for 5 rounds is the headbutt took my eye….. Wasn’t touched till the blood took my vision..”
Well fuck haha… man that headbutt really made it difficult to see but I thought we got the job done. Blood and all!!! Onto the next one!!! Thanks everyone who supported me!!!!!!
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) January 21, 2024
We all know I won… The only reason why it wasn't one sided for 5 rounds is the headbutt took my eye….. Wasn't touched till the blood took my vision.. pic.twitter.com/CLvcURLzWT
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) January 22, 2024
Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo isn’t buying what Strickland is saying. After watching the fight and the incident in question, Cejudo believes Strickland was cut before it occurred. He also wouldn’t consider what happened a ‘headbutt.’
“If this is a headbutt, I don’t know what to tell you. But he was already leaking,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel.
“He was already leaking on that side and it was the fact that he (Du Plessis) pretty much came up. If you call this a headbutt then f**k I’d be headbutting everybody. That’s not it. He was already leaking. It’s unintentional, but it wasn’t enough to say, hey, he headbutted me,” continued Cejudo
Cejudo scored the fight for Du Plessis, saying, “I thought he was the clear winner.” The former Olympic Gold Medalist scored Strickland winning the first and last rounds with Du Plessis winning rounds two, three, and four.
Mayra Bueno Silva | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Mayra Bueno Silva came up short in her attempt to claim the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 297, and according to her, an ear injury sustained during the fight affected her performance.
Silva had a good first round, and even threatened Pennington with a rear-naked choke, but told MMA Fighting that she couldn’t keep up that pace after suffering the injury early in the second round.
“I had a minor ear injury, but aside from that, I feel great and ready to come back,” Silva said. “Raquel hit me hard in the ear and partially tore my eardrum and I kind of lost balance. But it’s part of the game.”
“Sheetara” suffered her first UFC loss as a bantamweight at UFC 297 since moving up from flyweight in 2022, and laments not being able to do “anything we planned for this fight.”
“I couldn’t read the fight and know what was happening after the strike [that caused the injury],” Silva said. “Kudos to her for landing a good strike that took me out of the fight.
“I’m still licking my wounds and had no time to analyze the fight and know what went wrong yet. We’re still kind of on a hangover.”
The Brazilian will visit a specialist to determine a timeline for her return to training, she said, and picks Pennington to successfully defend the belt against Julianna Peña next. As for her next bout, Silva has a few names in mind for potential opponents if the timing works out.
“There are two athletes that don’t have a fight booked, and I think would make sense for me,” Silva said. “First, Irene Aldana. I think that’s a fight we could do, but first I need to wait and see what the doctor sees. I don’t want to stay out too long, I want to come back soon.
“I also thought about Miesha [Tate], but let’s see what the UFC has to offer. Maybe Miesha would be a good name.”
The UFC women’s bantamweight division received a nice addition on Tuesday with the signing of two-time PFL lightweight champion Kayla Harrison, who will cut all the way down to 135 pounds to face Holly Holm in her promotional debut at UFC 300 on April 13.
“I think she will do great,” Silva said of Harrison, a teammate at Florida’s American Top Team. “She’s very professional and would never enter a challenge if she knew she couldn’t fulfill it, so I think she will do great [at bantamweight].”
Silva, who trains with Harrison and submitted Holm in the octagon, picks the former PFL star to knock out “The Preacher’s Daughter” in Las Vegas and enter title contention next.
“We have competition in our backyard now,” Silva said with a laugh. “But it’s all good. Kayla is a sweetheart. This is work and she’s chasing her dream just like I am, so no problem whatsoever.”
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