Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has lost his last three fights, but could be one win away from a title shot.
Usman (20-4) held the 170-pound championship from March 2019 until November 2021. He successfully defended the title five times before losing to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 in August 2022 by a stunning head-kick knockout late in the final round.
Usman lost the rematch via unanimous decision and took a short-notice fight against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 295. Usman accepted the middleweight bout on nine-days notice. He came up short on the judges’ scorecards but showed that he’s still at the top of the game even on short notice.
Belal Muhammad captured the welterweight championship by defeating Edwards at UFC 304 in July. Usman lost twice to Edwards, and with him out of the way “The Nigerian Nightmare” has a path to a title fight again.
“If you really look at it, and this is no shade to him because I do respect this dude, but everything he does I do better,” Usman told the Weighing In Podcast. “Striking, I strike better, cleaner. I definitely have more power to where I could sit you down. Grappling, (I’m) more explosive.”
“It’s no shade. I like Belal, but I’m going to be truthful and honest. Everything you do, I do better, I’m better at” Usman continued.
McGregor believes his SBG Ireland teammate and fellow ‘Mac’ has what it takes to cut a bloody swathe through the UFC.
Conor McGregor is throwing his weight behind Danni “Mac” McCormack after her Road to UFC win last weekend.
You may not have even known there were two Road to UFC events on the 23rd of August, given how little the UFC promotes the international prospects tournament in North America. The show typically focuses on Asian talent, but there was an exception: Irish women’s flyweight McCormack, who defeated Qihui Yan via dominant decision.
“I wanted a finish but at least there’s lots of blood and let’s f—in’ fight,” she said after the win. “Because swear to God, that’s who I am. And I don’t know why I’m not already in the UFC because that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 10 fights. That’s who I am whether I win or lose, I f—in’ fight.”
THIS IS A PROMO! In at the drop of a hat to beat and maul the much bigger girl. Finishing with a call out of the UFC’s current strawweight champion who is from the same region as her just beaten opponent. Magic! IRISH GOER WAR CRY! @danawhite announce her signing brother this is… https://t.co/6BrxCVsJQp
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 26, 2024
“That’s why I’m playing this game, I don’t care about money, I’m here because I want to get in, get dirty, see who’s f—ing better and get some blood going.”
That interview led SBG Ireland teammate Conor McGregor to call on UFC CEO Dana White to sign another “Mac.”
“THIS IS A PROMO!” McGregor wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “In at the drop of a hat to beat and maul the much bigger girl. Finishing with a call out of the UFC’s current strawweight champion who is from the same region as her just beaten opponent. Magic! IRISH GOER WAR CRY!”
“Dana White announce her signing brother this is magic!”
McCormack is 9-2 as a pro and finished her amateur MMA career at 5-3. UFC matchmakers are aware of her, and after they told her to get some finishes she went and submitted Karolina Wojcik in her previous fight.
That’s probably what got her this last second opportunity on Road to UFC, but will the UFC overlook the lack of a stoppage given how blood and guts “Mac” was (and always is)? We certainly hope so.
UPDATE – It sounds like UFC matchmakers have said nah to Danni:
Danni McCormack posted that no contract has been offered following her #RoadToUFC victory.
A blood and guts war. Up a weight class. Underdog win. A+ promo on the mic.
Still no call.
A real head scratcher pic.twitter.com/Go8WqsnS2R
— Andy Stevenson (@andyste123) August 27, 2024
“No contract has been offered even after Friday night,” McCormack wrote on Instagram. “I have been told to stay ready for a short notic opportunity. If you think I should be signed let it be heard. DENY ME NO LONGER! In the meantime you will find me straight back in camp ready for anyone.”
Photo by Matt Davies/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Since retiring from UFC, Matt Brown has put a lot of time into building businesses — most notably his gym — and setting himself up for success in a post-fighting career.
While he never headlined pay-per-views or won championships, Brown spent 16 years in the UFC, and during that time he learned a lot about how the promotion does business. It’s thanks largely to that experience that the now 43-year-old former fighter believes the conversation about fighter pay is much more nuanced than simply saying UFC should be paying athletes more money.
On the surface, Brown agrees that everybody on the UFC roster is underpaid compared to the vast amounts of revenue the organization is generating. But the cause and effect of why that’s happening goes much further than simply stating that UFC needs to pay more.
“It’s hard to expect the UFC to just be completely fair about it,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “They’re running a business, and they run it very f*cking well. They’ve done an amazing job building their business. I think 99 percent of people in their shoes would be doing very similar to what they’re doing.
“Does that make it right? That’s up to each person to decide on their own. I think it’s just way more complex than people give it credit for.”
As much as the responsibility always falls back on UFC’s shoulders for underpaying athletes, Brown says anybody complaining about fighter pay can’t expect business owners to do anything differently than attempt to maximize profits for their businesses. But Brown also knows some of the blame rests with the fighters themselves for not holding UFC to account over the years — and he’s pointing the finger right at himself as part of the problem.
“If anybody is to blame for fighter pay, it’s the fighters — and I’m one of them, at least formerly,” Brown said. “I never fought against the UFC about my pay. You’ve seen on Instagram, Twitter, different interviews where the fighters stick up for the UFC.
“I’ve never heard of a business in my life where the employees — if you want to call us employees or even subcontractors — where they’re going to say, ‘I shouldn’t be paid more, they’re paying me a perfect amount of money.’ That is so unbelievable to me.”
In the past, Brown acknowledged that his only real complaint about pay came down to an in-person meeting with UFC CEO Dana White where he expressed his concerns. There was no real argument or negotiation because Brown says White agreed with his argument and the two sides reached a new deal without any further discussion.
That said, Brown never really complained about his pay with UFC because he essentially understood that arguing probably wouldn’t get him anywhere good.
“Look, I’ve always been happy with how the UFC’s treated me, I like them,” Brown said. “There’s no hate against them at all, but if I thought sticking up for myself and fighting with them about pay would get me paid more, I would absolutely do it in a heartbeat. I only question if guys are saying that because we know the amount of power that [UFC] have.
“If you try fighting against [UFC], your chances of getting more pay just get diminished. You’re just lowering your chances of getting more pay. So of course you publicly stick up for them even though something in the back of your head is saying, ‘Damn, this isn’t really what I want.’”
Another subject that comes up often regarding fighter pay is the lack of a union to represent MMA’s athletes, which plays a massive part in negotiations with other sports leagues like NFL or NBA.
But even that’s a tough comparison because the NFL is ultimately made up of 32 teams and 32 owners, and the NFL Player’s Association represents athletes across all those various teams who join the union on the day they start playing professional football. Thanks to the revenue sharing model set up for the league, the competition during the season still ultimately benefits everybody under the NFL umbrella.
That’s not the case in MMA.
UFC is by far the biggest and most profitable organization, but there’s no relation between UFC and competitors like the PFL or ONE Championship. A fighters’ union would almost have to be league specific, and that gets even more complicated when you’re dealing with contracts, athletes signing or leaving UFC to go elsewhere, and then maybe even moving on to an international promotion where a union would have no control or influence.
A better comparison would be contrasting UFC to one NFL team with no natural competitors to really challenge them on a global scale.
“UFC is like the [Dallas] Cowboys if the Cowboys had won the past 20 Super Bowls in a row and there’s not even a close second-place team,” Brown said with a laugh. “Like, literally every college star only wants to go to the Cowboys. They have complete power over every Super Bowl.
“They’re going to win for the next 20 Super Bowls and they’re like, ‘You want to go play for the f*cking Bears? Go for it. There’s another kid coming out of college tomorrow, buddy.’”
Brown doesn’t know if there’s ever going to be a solution long-term to solve fighter pay concerns, but he recognizes there’s an ongoing antitrust lawsuit at least attempting to deal with some of the disparity between UFC and other major sports leagues.
In the meantime, Brown offers advice to every other fighter either in UFC or hoping to make it to UFC when it comes to long-term planning for the future.
“If you’re an aspiring UFC fighter or MMA fighter, you need to view the UFC for what it is,” Brown explained. “It is a stage to magnify your brand so you can make money in other ways. That’s where you’re going to make the real money. Even Conor McGregor, he certainly could have retired just off the money he made in the UFC, but he’s made what 10, 20 times more probably outside the UFC? That’s the way you’ve got to do it.
“I hope that changes sometime, where like an NFL player only has four years but as long as they live below their means, which is pretty easy to do when you’re making millions of dollars a year, they can retire just off of four years of [playing football], where in the UFC that’s just not the case.”
Listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday with audio only versions of the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio
MMA veteran Vince Morales has spent a ton of time training with Merab Dvalishvili at Syndicate MMA. Both will be fighting for world titles very soon.
Vince Morales Training with Merab Dvalishvili
At United Fight League 5, ‘Vandetta’ Vince Morales will face Hunter Azure with the bantamweight world title on the line, this match is booked for August 30. To help get ready, ‘The Machine’ Merab Dvalishvili has been working with Morales to sharpen their respective skills. Dvalishvili is set to take on Sean O’Malley for the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 306 in just a few weeks.
Merab Dvalishvili is known for his relentless pace in the octagon. Against Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo, Dvalishvili lived up to his moniker ‘The Machine’ as he never stopped working for takedowns and was constantly aggressive.
Vince Morales spoke to LowKick MMA in an exclusive interview and explained what it’s like training with Merab Dvalishvili as they both prep for world title matches. He said:
“[He is] Exactly what you would expect after watching him fight—nonstop. He laughs a little more than he does in the fight. He’s a goer. We get a lot of good work in together. He’s one of my favorite training partners. We know it’s going to be a tough day, and we get in there and scrap. Thankfully, I only have him for three rounds at a time.
“I don’t know how he does it. I think it’s all mental. His mind is set on effort, and being tired doesn’t deter him. He gets tired, gets excited, and handles it. Everything he does is full of effort and intent. Even if he doesn’t get a takedown or throws the best punch, he meant to do it and put in full effort. That makes all the difference.”
Morales has remained unbeaten and put together an impressive four-fight win streak since stepping away from the UFC. With multiple world titles on the line, the Syndicate MMA gym is entering the gold season. Vince Morales added:
“We’re gearing up for the Syndicate Gold Rush. On August 30th, I’ve got Hunter Azure for the title, and then we’ve got Marab for the belt. Khalil is fighting Alex Pereira. So yeah, the Syndicate Gold Rush begins next week.”
Belal Muhammad came into UFC 304 as the underdog but he certainly didn’t look like it in the early hours of the morning in Manchester.
The welterweight title challenger largely dominated Leon Edwards to become the champion via a unanimous decision verdict.
After Edwards had already beaten top grapplers in Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, many assumed that he would have no problem thwarting the heavy wrestling approach of Muhammad, but this wasn’t the case.
Having been inside the Octagon with him for 25 minutes, a former opponent of the current champion saw this performance coming from him and successfully predicted it ahead of time.
During a recent episode of the Believe You Me Podcast, Michael Bisping was joined by former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns.
Burns is looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats next time out when he faces Sean Brady, both of whom whom were beaten by Muhammad during his undefeated run to the title.
“Durinho” revealed during the interview that he wasn’t surprised by what went down in Manchester and had in fact, told Bisping ahead of time.
After going through his messages, the former middleweight champion was able to find the message which correctly called that “Remember The Name” would get his hand raised on July 27 and how he would do it.
Bisping read the message aloud having asked Burns for his prediction, only to then forget to mention it during the live broadcast.
“Tough fight but I believe Belal’s going to make it a dog fight. I think that’s the only way for him to win and I believe he will do that. Randy Couture style dog fight. Inside dirty boxing mixed up with the wrestling.”
Read also: Stephen Thompson On Welterweight Star He Wants To Fight Instead Of Michael ‘Venom’ Page: ‘I Think People Would Boo That Fight’
Continue Reading Former Opponent Reveals That He Perfectly Predicted “Randy Couture Style” Welterweight Title Win For Belal Muhammad At UFC 304 at MMA News.
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