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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sarah Hildebrandt has been one of the United States’ most consistent women’s wrestlers for the past decade, but on Wednesday she finally broke through to capture an Olympic gold medal.

Following a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo that ultimately led to her winning a bronze medal, Hildebrandt returned in 2024 with a renewed motivation to make it to the top of the podium. She realized that dream following a shutout 3-0 win over Yusneylis Guzman Lopez from Cuba to win her gold medal.

“I love this sport,” Hildebrandt said after the win. “It’s so much fun. I’m going to smile as much as I can. I think I did a great job of that this week.”

Known for her signature smile after matches, Hildebrandt’s exuberance after her victory was undeniable as she became the second member of the United States wrestling team to win gold after 20-year-old Amit Elor was the first on Tuesday at 68kg.

The championship run was a bit of a whirlwind for Hildebrandt starting on Wednesday morning after she got word that her original opponent Vinesh Vinesh from India failed to make weight, which disqualified her from the tournament. Per Olympic rules, Lopez was pulled back into the gold medal match because she lost to Vinesh in the semifinals.

In 2023 at the Pan-Am Championships, Hildebrandt dominated Guzman with a 10-0 victory, winning by technical superiority in less than two minutes.

This time around, Hildebrandt didn’t get quite the same lopsided win, but she brimmed with confidence as she shut down Guzman and scored the only takedown of the match early in the opening period. Hildebrandt’s third point came from a passivity call on Guzman after she failed to engage and the referee put her on the clock to score or face a penalty.

In the end, Hildebrandt got the win 3-0 and immediately celebrated with a raucous group of supporters in the crowd, many of whom traveled from her home state of Indiana to be with her in Paris.

Already one of the most decorated women’s wrestlers from the United States, Hildebrandt now owns an Olympic gold to go along with her bronze from 2020 and four medals in the World Championships.

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Financial loss
| BJPenn.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is holding a special pre-fight media day this afternoon (Weds., Aug. 7, 2024) for the upcoming UFC Vegas 95: “Tybura vs. Spivac 2” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN and ESPN+, scheduled for this Sat. night (Aug. 10) inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The LIVE video stream gets underway promptly at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Fighters scheduled to appear include:

2:30 p.m.: Chepe Mariscal available
2:45 p.m.: Quang Le available
3:00 p.m.: Serghei Spivac available
3:30 p.m.: Chris Gutierrez available
3:45 p.m.: Marcin Tybura available
4:00 p.m.: Damon Jackson available
4:15 p.m.: Danny Barlow available
4:30 p.m.: Nikolay Veretennikov available

Note: Times and availability subject to change.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 95 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card matchups, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN/ESPN+) at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 95 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Tybura vs. Spivac 2” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Terence Crawford was the heavier fighter this past Saturday despite moving up in weight to challenge now-former WBA super welterweight champion Israil Madrimov.

The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) released the event’s fight night weight report to MMA Fighting, which tracks the gains athletes make prior to stepping in the cage.

Crawford weighed in at 169.8 pounds on fight night after initially stepping on the scale at 153.4 pounds for his super welterweight championship bout with Madrimov. Crawford ultimately won the bout via unanimous decision, giving him his fourth divisional title after previously capturing belts at welterweight, junior welterweight, and lightweight. Crawford’s 16.4 pound gain represented one of the largest increases among the 16 fighters who competed on the Aug. 3 card and even surpassed Madrimov, whose jump from 154 pounds at weigh-ins to 168.6 on fight night represented at 14.6 pound gain.

The biggest weight gain of the event belonged to Steve Nelson, who shot from 167.6 pounds to 193 — a 25.4 pound gain — for his super middleweight contest against Marcos Ramon Vazquez, which Nelson won via fifth-round knockout on the preliminary card.

The complete list of Crawford vs. Madrimov’s fight night weights can be seen below.

• Terence Crawford (153.4 to 169.8, 16.4 pound gain)
• Israil Madrimov (154 to 168.6, 14.6 pound gain)
• Jose Valenzuela (139.8 to 150.2, 10.4 pound gain)
• Isaac Cruz (140 to 156, 16 pound gain)
• Andy Ruiz (274.4 to 275.4, 1 pound gain)
• Jarrell Miller (305.6 to 312, 6.4 pound gain)
• Martin Bakole (284.4 to 288, 3.6 pound gain)
• Jared Anderson (252.4 to 252.4, 0 pound gain)
• David Morrell (174.8 to 190, 15.2 pound gain)
• Radivoje Kalajdzic (174.4 to 191.6, 17.2 pound gain)
• Andy Cruz (134 to 144.8, 10.8 pound gain)
• Antonio Moran (134.8 to 152.2, 17.4 pound gain)
• Steve Nelson (167.6 to 193, 25.4 pound gain)
• Marcos Ramon Vazquez (167.6 to 180.8, 13.2 pound gain)
• Ziyad Almaayouf (144 to 154.2, 10.2 pound gain)
• Michal Bulik (142.4 to 151.6, 9.2 pound gain)

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Angela Lee can’t help but wonder how she would have fared in the UFC.

Lee became the youngest fighter in MMA history to win a world title, claiming the ONE atomweight championship at 19 years old via a unanimous decision victory over Mei Yamaguchi in 2016. In the years that followed, ‘Unstoppable’ became one of the most exciting fighters on the roster, delivering a series of instant classics, including an iconic trilogy with Xiong Jing Nan and an absolute banger against her eventual successor, Stamp Fairtex, at ONE Championship’s 10th-anniversary event in Singapore.

She successfully defended her atomweight crown on five separate occasions and twice competed for the strawweight world title.

Sadly, Lee laid down her gold and her gloves at ONE Fight Night 14 in September 2023 following the tragic passing of her 18-year-old sister and ONE Championship prospect Victoria Lee.

Reflecting on her career in combat sports, Lee admits that she regularly thought about what it would have been like to step out of the ONE Championship spotlight and into the Octagon to test herself against a new crop of talent.

“I think if you ask any fighter, any champion, they wanna go out and test themselves,” Lee said in an interview with Demetrious Johnson. “That’s what it means to be a fighter. You’re always looking for the next challenge. If you ask any of them, yes, 100 percent, they would love to go and fight the best of the best and really find out who was No. 1.

“It’s come across my mind multiple times, of course, seeing the top-level fighters in other organizations. Looking back now, it’s really hard because when you’re in the organization, especially at the top, it’s such a scary thing to go out and jump ship or try” (h/t MMA Mania).

Angela Lee knew it was time to lay down her gloves

Following the death of her sister, Lee was inspired to address her own struggles with mental health and acknowledge that her passion for mixed martial arts simply wasn’t there anymore.

“I told myself, I love it, I love it, I love it, for so long,” Lee said. “After a while, I wasn’t really honest with myself about like, ‘Hey, I think I might be getting burnt out. Hey, this is not really fun anymore. I want a break.’ But I didn’t know how to or … I did voice it up to my team and my family, but there was some disagreement about, ‘Hey, this is not really the time to do that and this and that.’”

Last year, Lee launched FightStory, a non-profit mental health organization inspired by the life of Victoria Lee. “Our mission is to inspire, heal, and unite the world through the stories, struggles, and triumphs of fighters from all walks of life,” the official website reads.

Visit the official FightStory Instagram to learn more about the cause and how you can share your story with the world.

LowKickMMA.com

Israel Adesanya faces a new test when he returns at UFC 305 to try and reclaim the middleweight title in a fight with Dricus Du Plessis.

“The Last Stylebender” has had his rivals in the past and whilst his story with Alex Pereira has defined big parts of both men’s careers, and the likes of Marvin Vettori and Sean Strickland weren’t big fans of his, this one is different.

No opponent has been able to bring this kind of intensity out of the former champion quite like Du Plessis has. due to his comments on bringing the title back to Africa.

This opens up the debate whether Adesanya fights best when he’s relaxed or amped up.

Megan Anderson Says That Israel Adesanya’s Emotion Could Help Or Hinder Him At UFC 305

In a recent preview video of the UFC’s return to Perth on her own YouTube channel, former UFC fighter Megan Anderson spoke about the war of words between Du Plessis and Adesanya.

Things appeared to have calmed down (a little) on this front if their most recent encounter was anything to go by but there is clearly still some tension there which could come back around on fight week.

Anderson believes that Adesanya’s previous interactions with the champion don’t paint the best image for him unless, of course, he can use this dislike of Du Plessis to raise his game another level.

“If anything has shown us, anytime these two get together, Israel reacts incredibly emotionally. He is saying things that we’ve never heard him say before, he is really just going out there and just being so incredibly passionate about this. How much of that is Dricus really revving up this whole rivalry between them and this is getting under Israel’s skin, we’re going to find out. But, whether it hurts him or helps him perform, that’s the biggest question for me.”

Read also: Coach Dismisses Outcome Of Decade-Old Sparring Session Between Adesanya & Du Plessis: ‘We’ve Heard Stories Of AJ Being Knocked Out In Boxing…’

Continue Reading Former Fighter On Du Plessis Getting Under Adesanya’s Skin: ‘Reacts Incredibly Emotionally’ at MMA News.

MMA News

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Aljamain Sterling does not agree with UFC’s decision to let Muhammad Mokaev go.

In July, Mokaev picked up his seventh straight UFC win, taking a unanimous decision over Manel Kape at UFC 304. The bout was the final fight on Mokaev’s UFC deal, and following it, UFC CEO Dana White revealed the promotion will not re-sign the 24-year-old undefeated fighter. While Mokaev did have a number of unfortunate incidents with Kape prior to their fight, including sucker-punching Kape at the fighter hotel on fight week, White’s decision was still unexpected — and Sterling, for one, does not agree with it.

“If you ask me, I think it’s f*cked up,” Sterling told The MMA Hour. “I don’t think there was any real reason to cut him. You can say the piggybacking of the fight at the P.I., but that takes two to tango.

“I know Mokaev was the first one to talk shit. Manel told him, ‘When you see me, keep that same energy.’ He saw him, tried to apologize, but Manel told him to keep that same energy, they had a fight or whatever happened, the scuffle. Fast forward, they had a fight again … and then we saw what happened at the hotel, which is kind of odd to put your arm around someone to take a picture and then sucker-punch them. I think that’s a little bit too low for me. I think that one was very, very dirty.

“Then they fought the way that they fought, which was unfortunate because the whole toe thing with Manel in that fight. Then you’ve got one guy who is undefeated, gets cut, it’s weird.”

While Mokaev was not actually cut, merely not re-signed, his departure quickly became cause for speculation. With a 7-0 record in the UFC, Mokaev has unequivocally proven himself as one of the best flyweights in the world, but at his post-fight press conference, “The Punisher” revealed that UFC officials warned him about his wrestling-heavy style, saying he needed to be more exciting. And while Mokaev only landed 30 significant strikes in this fight, Sterling believes he’s getting short shrift here.

“You hear that supposedly he was told that if you don’t want to get cut, don’t keep shooting for takedowns,” Sterling said. “I don’t think he really kept shooting for takedowns in the fight against Manel. I thought he fought a really good fight. I thought both of them brought a really good fight. Outside of the animosity, I thought it was a really good fight. If you saw the animosity and thought it was going to be a crazy barnburner, these guys were going to be just throwing down, standing in the middle Max Holloway style, but that didn’t happen. It was very technical. I still thought it was a good fight.

“You always want to be exciting. I think people kind of get it a little twisted thinking that guys come out wanting to have a boring fight. We all want to have an exciting fight. Sometimes you’ve got to fight certain styles differently than you would a different style.”

UFC CEO Dana White expressly rejected the idea that anyone from the company told Mokaev how he should fight, insisting that the promotion’s issues with the prospect stemmed from “many reasons,” saying “the matchmakers aren’t big fans of his.” Whatever those reasons are, for Sterling this is just another example of the fine line you have to walk as an MMA fighter, between pleasing the promotion and doing what’s best for yourself.

“You’ve kind of got to just do what’s best for you,” Sterling said. “Mokaev is [24] years old. It’s unfortunate that he got cut for that. I don’t think that was necessary. He more than deserved another chance and I think if he goes on the regional circuit and wins one fight, or if they just bring him back right away, it gets odd.

“Because there’s another clip of Nate Maness, who was 5-2, stepped up to fight Umar even though he was a ‘25-pounder, got three bonuses, and from what he was saying, he was told he’s not an exciting guy. He’s got three bonuses! He’s got more bonuses than I have and I’m 16-4 in the UFC. It’s kind of crazy.

“It’s a very interesting spot to be in. I guess you’ve got to try and play the game a little bit because it is entertainment for the fans, but you also want to win, and sometimes it’s not easy to find that silver lining to do both; a little bit of entertainment, but also you make sure you secure the bag and get both checks. I think that’s what most people are afraid of, they don’t want to go home with one check. They want both checks.”

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