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Response from the Co-op Live Fan Services team regarding the sale of alcohol, food and drink for UFC 304 later this month. Doesn’t look like they’re going to be available, similar to UFC 204. Pathetic given the ludicrous start time. I would suggest anyone attending pushes the arena in the next few weeks to try and sway this decision. submitted by /u/JDB00- [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Nate Diaz got the job done this past Saturday night in Anaheim, Calif., earning a majority decision win over Jorge Masvidal in a rematch from their UFC 244 main event in November 2019. With Diaz evening the series at one win apiece, what is next for the Stockton superstar, and could his next fight be in the UFC?

On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck reacts to Diaz’s win over Masvidal, the scorecards, talks the results of a rewatch, and the chances of Diaz’s callout of Leon Edwards becoming reality. Additionally, listener questions include UFC Denver, the main event between Rose Namajunas and Tracy Cortez, how Cortez fits in the women’s flyweight divisional pantheon and if she can get to a title fight. the UFC Paris bout between Benoit Saint Denis and Renato Moicano, and more.

You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces.

If you miss it live, audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal wrote the second chapter of their combat sports rivalry this past Saturday night in the boxing ring. This time, Diaz got the victory over Masvidal in a very fun 10-rounder. How do you grade the fight between one-time UFC competitors, and what is next for both guys?

On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the MMA Fighting panel reacts to the Diaz vs. Masvidal fight, if a third meeting should be next, and how likely Diaz and Masvidal’s next fights will be in the UFC. Additionally, topics include this Saturday’s UFC Denver event, the headliner between former champ Rose Namajunas and Tracy Cortez and the stakes for both women, other must-see bouts on the card, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic continuing to defend their potential fight, Darren Till’s boxing debut, and more.

Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee.

Watch the show live at a special start time of Noon ET / 9 a.m. PT in the video above.

If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.

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UFC women’s flyweight Tracy Cortez (11-1) enters the biggest fight of her life on Saturday as she headlines UFC on ESPN 59 against former two-time strawweight titleholder Rose Namajunas.  Cortez has lofty aspirations and goals that exceed a win over Namajunas (12-6).  

There have been several women pioneers in the sport: Tara LaRosa, Shelby Walker, Gina Carano, and Miesha Tate, to name just a few.  They all laid the way for Ronda Rousey to put women’s MMA on the mainstream map.  Rousey was crowned the inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight champion in 2012 and went on to set nearly every UFC record for women.  Cortez plans to surpass Rousey’s accomplishments.  

“Everyone’s waiting or the next Ronda, for the next Joanna [Jędrzejczyk].  Someone incredible like Weili [Zhang] to stay on top and prove themselves.  Someone like Rose to ride that like Ronda did, or even myself now that I’m here,” Cortez said during an appearance on The MMA Hour. 

“I’m very grateful for the way Ronda paved the way for women’s MMA.  No one has done it like she has.  I say this humbly, I hope to surpass that,” continued Cortez.  

Cortez will enter the octagon on Saturday at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado ranked 11th in the women’s flyweight division.  Namajunas will make the walk to the cage ranked sixth.  It will be Cortez’ first UFC main event, but she loves having pressure to perform. 

Related: Conor McGregor wins mouth-watering amount on Nate Diaz bet, Diaz responds

 “I thrive off of pressure.  I’ve always been judged and overlooked and just a pretty face.  I’m here now.  The record speaks for itself, and I thrive off of it.  I love it.  I genuinely love the pressure.  I feel like I perform.  I embrace it to the fullest,” Cortez said.

A win over Namajunas would put Cortez squarely in contender status, but she’s looking to be more than just a contender.  She plans to be the best.  

“I see myself being the best.  I look back at my fights against these girls that are killers.  Killers.  Black bets, they can’t submit me.  I’m still in disbelief.  That’s me?  Oh my God.  It’s just one of those things where I saw myself, I was watching footage of myself and I said, ‘Man, I have the ability to be the best.  I have what it takes,'” Cortez said.  “I’ve been training for this.  I’ve been preparing for this.”    

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If the UFC wants Nate Diaz to fight under their banner again, they’re going to have to open up their wallets and pay him like the star he is, says coach Cesar Gracie.

After a disappointing outing against Jake Paul, Nate Diaz redeemed himself last weekend with an impressive win over Jorge Masvidal. The two UFC legends boxed it out over 10 rounds and threw nearly 1400 punches during that time. Two judges thought Diaz’s punches and ring control were slightly more effective, earning him the majority decision.

And with that win, Diaz is back in a position to make a ton of money in his free agent era.

Unfortunately, two of the guys he’s voiced an interest in fighting are under UFC contract. The Stockton fighter has unfinished business with Conor McGregor and welterweight champ Leon Edwards. In a new interview with Submission radio, Diaz’s coach Cesar Gracie discussed those possibilities.

“I think a trilogy probably makes a lot of sense for both of those guys,” Gracie said of Diaz vs. McGregor 3. “You know Chandler and McGregor is a good fight too. But I mean, just the history of Nate and McGregor, I think it’d be the bigger fan fight if they had a trilogy. And in my opinion, that’s what I’m thinking.”

“Nate doesn’t look like he’s really lost any steps lately. With McGregor, he’s been out of it for a while and he hasn’t had a win in a long time. I would have to favor Nate on that one. His toughness, and he’s been in the game. And you know it’s not good when guys come out and stay out that long from the game. It’s hard for them. And I think whether McGregor fights Chandler or someone else, I think he’s going to have a lot of trouble getting back to his peak performance.”

As for Leon Edwards, Cesar believes Nate already showed the world he has the tools to beat “Rocky.”

“Edwards is at the top of his game for sure,” he said. “And the thing with Nate is he just always has the tools to beat you. Edwards landed some absolutely devastating shots in their fight. I saw kicks, I saw punches, and he won some of the rounds. But if we’re going to be perfectly honest, if there was another round left, I think all the fans realized that Edwards was about to get knocked out in that fight.”

Gracie suggested the only way to win a fight against Diaz was to avoid fighting him and eke out a decision.

“If you want to point fight him, yeah, you could maybe beat him,” Cesar said. “But if you really go to knock him out, that’s when you can get in trouble. So it depends on what it was we would see that night.”

It’s all a bit academic at this point with Diaz outside of the UFC. If the promotion wants him back, they’re gonna have to back up a few trucks full of money to get him. There’s no more denying his ability to move the needle after 18,040 people turned up for the Masvidal fight in Anaheim.

“Millions and millions of dollars, whatever they’re paying their highest people,” Gracie said. “Nate is such an icon of the sport. He’s fought and deserves the things he’s gotten. He had to get everything the hard way. He brings star power with him. The event last night was sold out. It was. And it was on Nate Diaz over there.”

“No one would have gone to that show without Nate Diaz. It was so huge.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira and Artem Vakhitov split their two-fight series in GLORY title fights at one apiece before the Brazilian departed kickboxing to focus full-time on MMA.

Now “Poatan” seems surprised to see Vakhitov’s recent comments.

In a recent interview, Vakhitov told MMA Fighting that Pereira “is a superstar and I am happy for him,” but also said he’s absolutely down to meet Pereira again, this time under MMA rules now that Vakhitov is focused on building his own MMA career. Vakhitov added that he believes many of Pereira’s recent opponents have been too intimidated by the UFC light heavyweight champion and are “already defeated before the fight starts.”

“His biggest weakness is that he is all attack, he has no defense,” Vakhitov said of Pereira. “Because of his lack of defense, he is open to taking a lot of punches to the head if he’s facing a skilled striker. You saw that in his second fight with Adesanya. He got caught because he leaves a lot of openings for people who know what they are doing.

“These other guys haven’t done well against Alex because their striking isn’t at a high enough level. They aren’t confident against him and they think he’s unbeatable, so in their heart they are already defeated before the fight starts. But I have beaten him before in pure striking competition, and I am sure I’ll do it again if we can get our trilogy match in the UFC.”

Pereira, who recently knocked out Jiri Prochazka a second time to successfully defend his title at UFC 303, responded to the Russian striker on Instagram, giving Vakhitov advice.

“Hey brother, be careful with the people that are giving you this idea,” Pereira wrote in Portuguese. “The same person that is advising you to do that has tried the same to me and I didn’t do because I’m not stupid LOL Everybody knows that when they gave you the win [in GLORY in 2021] it’s because GLORY knew that that would be my last fight in the organization and they didn’t want me to leave with the belt! For you to expose yourself like this, it seems that you’re a bit lost and almost certainly doesn’t have a manager. That’s what I think. You should send a message to ‘Joinha’ [Jorge Guimarães, Pereira’s manager] because I think he can help you. Chama.”

Pereira became an undisputed two-division champion in GLORY in January 2021 when he won a split decision over Vakhitov. The two fought in a rematch eight months later. At that point, “Poatan” was already expected to ink a deal with the UFC, and Vakhitov won his belt back via majority decision. Pereira made his UFC debut two months later with a second-round knockout over Andreas Michailidis at Madison Square Garden.

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