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Rose Namajunas | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Rose Namajunas hopes to get into title contention with a win over Erin Blanchfield at UFC Edmonton on Saturday, but she could have arguably been closer already if her previous fight happened as scheduled.
Back in July, Namajunas was set to face Maycee Barber in a fight that potentially was to determine the No. 1 contender in the division. Unfortunately, Barber fell ill in the days leading up to the fight and she still hasn’t return to action as she continues to deal with her medical issues.
Namajunas moved on and defeated Tracy Cortez in dominant fashion instead and was happy to then book the fight against Blanchfield on Saturday rather than revisit the matchup with Barber.
“I always had my eye on Erin whenever she started her momentum and stuff in the UFC,” Namajunas said during UFC Edmonton media day. “I was in strawweight and thought she was a great competitor and somebody that if I ever got the chance to face her, I’d be really excited about.
“It’s unfortunate with Maycee there’s a lot of ambiguity, a lot of questions what’s going on. I still wish her health and wellness and hopefully she can get back to things but it really sucks when you train specifically for a fight and then it just gets all the way down to it and then it doesn’t [happen]. I’m good at adapting and changing scenarios and things like that. I would just be a little hesitant to book that fight right away because there’s a lot of questions with what’s going on with her.”
While Barber just recently posted an update that she’s continued to work with multiple doctors searching for answers so she could begin working towards her comeback, Namajunas wasn’t going to wait on that possible fight. Instead, she gets a higher ranked opponent in Blanchfield (currently No. 4 at 125 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings), who looks to rebound after suffering her first loss in the UFC in a unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot.
By all accounts, Fiorot, who also holds a win over Namajunas, is expected to get the next flyweight title shot against reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko sometime in 2025. Nothing has been signed, sealed or delivered by the UFC when it comes to that matchup, however, so Namajunas wouldn’t complain if she got the chance to jump the line with an impressive win over Blanchfield on Saturday.
“I guess anything’s possible and that’s my intention to put on a really good performance enough to where there’s no doubt I could be next,” Namajunas said. “But I just feel as if Manon deserves it next anyways regardless of what I do. She technically has a [win] over me. I do feel like if that was a five-round fight, I think I could have found a way to win. I was finding it towards the end. But it is what it is.”
Namajunas wouldn’t complain if she was granted a title shot, but again she’s not going to be too upset to potentially face Fiorot in a rematch or get the chance to go up against Shevchenko, one of her idols in the sport.
“If [Manon Fiorot] wins the belt, that would be great to fight her again or even have that dream matchup with Valentina one day,” Namajunas said. “So I’d be excited to see them fight but if the UFC wanted to put me ahead of that with a very spectacular performance, I’d be open to that as well.”
Namajunas has often talked about her adoration for Shevchenko after they trained together in the past. It might be bittersweet to face her in a title fight, but Namajunas couldn’t imagine a better person to fight than somebody she admires so much.
“She’s definitely always been my favorite female fighter,” Namajunas said about Shevchenko. “She’s somebody that I admire a lot and trained with a lot. It would be hard for me to not just be fanning out while I’m fighting her at the same time, it would be kind of weird.
“At the same time, just as a martial artist, it would be the ultimate dream to test myself against I’d say one of the truest martial artists in the game right now.”
It has been almost a week (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024) since Ilia Topuria became the first man to knockout Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legend Max Holloway at UFC 308 to notch his first Featherweight title defense from inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE (watch highlights).
Holloway shared a video of him surfing in Abu Dhabi two days after the fight.
“Monday was for the pool!” Holloway wrote. “Shout out to the goat Kelly Slater for taking care of me and the team over at @surfabudhabi. The whole team got shacked!”
Watch Holloway surf below:
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Max Holloway (@blessedmma)
Holloway was surfing at Surf Abu Dhabi, the’ biggest man-made wave’ salt water pool in the world. The pool is 612 yards long and 93 yards wide, generating up to 8 to 10-foot waves. The pool can accommodate 30 surfers at a time.
Surf Abu Dhabi was created by surfing megastar Kelly Slater, who is also a huge mixed martial arts (MMA) fan. It makes sense that he would jump at the chance to let Holloway shred waves after his big fight.
Holloway intends to return to the octagon next Summer for International Fight Week and will most likely become a permanent Lightweight.
Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis | Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Derrick Lewis and Daniel Cormier fought six years ago, but is there still bad blood to this day?
That appears to be the case at least on Lewis’ side as the veteran heavyweight cast Cormier in a negative light at Wednesday’s media day ahead of his fight with Jhonata Diniz at UFC Edmonton this Saturday. Lewis was asked what fight in his lengthy career he’d want to run back and “DC” was the name that came to mind.
“Probably DC,” Cormier said. “Because that’s still not sitting right with me, I don’t know. Do people really like DC like that?
“I told DC in his face, that guy a piece of shit. He’s a piece of shit, scumbag. F*ck DC.”
Lewis and Cormier met in the main event of UFC 230 in November 2018, with Cormier defending his heavyweight championship against “The Black Beast.” Cormier recorded his first and only successful heavyweight title defense, submitting Cormier in the second round.
When Lewis asked to elaborate on his issues with Cormier, he gave a cryptic response, joking about a past beef over a Popeyes chicken sponsorship, but then insulting Cormier again.
“DC know why,” Lewis said. “Everyone know why, too, he disrespect that Popeyes chicken, but other than that, he’s a piece of shit.”
Lewis’ comments made the rounds on social media, though it remains unclear how serious the often sardonic fighter intended to be.
During an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday, Helwani gave Cormier an impromptu call to sort out the situation, with the conversation arguably only raising more questions.
“I haven’t seen him for a while, but I was pretty hard on him about retiring because he had lost a couple of fights and I was kind of telling the truth and he seemed mad at me, but I haven’t seen him,” Cormier said. “I’m going to see him this weekend and I’m going to kind of ask him, ‘Yo, are you mad at me?’”
Lewis has seen mixed results in his past eight fights, with just three wins during that stretch, including a third-round knockout of Rodrigo Nascimento in his most recent outing this past May. In Cormier’s role as an on-air analyst and podcaster, he’s required to give his honest opinion on how fighters are performing and he believes he might have said something that rubbed Lewis the wrong way.
It’s important to note that Cormier was yet to see the clip of Lewis’ comments himself when discussing the matter with Helwani, so he was basing his response strictly on second-hand accounts. Still, real or not, Cormier sees no reason to reignite their former feud.
“It sounds like it may be a little underlying, he might be a little pissed at me because of the way I talked about him,” Cormier said. “I don’t know what fight it was where it he didn’t look great, but then he knocked the last guy out and I was like, ‘I’m glad he’s back.’ So I don’t know. My opinions go with their performances and I think maybe that’s what it is, but in terms of anything else, Derrick and I don’t really have many things that we do together outside of the Popeyes thing and then our fight.
“But we can’t be mad at each other, we already fought. It’s settled.”
UFC Edmonton is almost upon us, and MMA News is here to keep you updated with the current odds for this weekend’s lineup.
The upcoming event takes place Saturday, November 2, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The main card begins at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT, with the preliminary card starting at 4 PM ET/1 PM PT.
Topping the lineup will be former two-time UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno, who will look to bounce back from consecutive split decision losses at the hands of Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval when he competes in the “Great White North.” To Accomplish that feat, the Mexican fan favorite is tasked with stalling the surge of 17-1 contender Amir Albazi.
Before they go to battle, the co-main event will see ex-strawweight queen Rose Namajunas make the walk for the third time this year. If she’s to make it three flyweight wins in a row and stake her claim for a shot at two-division glory, “Thug Rose” must send the #3-ranked Erin Blanchfield to the first losing skid of her career.
Also set to make the walk on Saturday will be the likes of heavyweight knockout artist Derrick Lewis, welterweight prospect Mike Malott, bantamweight veteran Pedro Munhoz, and the always entertaining Charles Jourdain.
UFC Edmonton: Moreno vs. Albazi Betting Odds
Listed below are the latest betting odds for UFC Edmonton (as of 10/31), courtesy of DraftKings.
Main Card:
Brandon Moreno (-175) vs. Amir Albazi (+145)
Erin Blanchfield (-130) vs. Rose Namajunas (+110)
Derrick Lewis (+145) vs. Jhonata Diniz (-175)
Caio Machado (-148) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (+124)
Marc-André Barriault (-205) vs. Dustin Stoltzfus (+170)
Mike Malott (-185) vs. Trevin Giles (+230)
Preliminary Card:
Aiemann Zahabi (-125) vs. Pedro Munhoz (+105)
Ariane Lipski (+120) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (-230)
Charles Jourdain (-142) vs. Victor Henry (+120)
Jack Shore (+250) vs. Youssef Zalal (-310)
Alexandr Romanov (-102) vs. Rodrigo Nascimento (-118)
Serhiy Sidey (-142) vs. Garrett Armfield (+120)
Chad Anheliger (+160) vs. Cody Gibson (-192)
Jamey-Lyn Horth (-218) vs. Ivana Petrovic (+180)
Continue Reading UFC Edmonton Betting Odds: Current Favorites For Moreno vs. Albazi, Blanchfield vs. Namajunas, & More at MMA News.
Joaquin Buckley wants his shot at the interim title.
On Thursdays, news broke that welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was forced out of his UFC 310 title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov due to a nasty injury. While nothing is official, reports are that the UFC currently is looking for a replacement opponent for Rakhmonov, perhaps even for an interim welterweight title, and almost immediately Ian Machado Garry threw his hat in the ring for that opportunity.
But not so fast, so says Buckley.
Thursday evening, Buckley released a response video to Garry’s callout of Rakhmonov, dismissing the undefeated Irish star’s claim and suggesting he is better served to “take the throne.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Joaquin “New Mansa” Buckley (@newmansa94)
“Hey look, I’m going to let you finish but I’ve got something to say,” Buckley said while hitting a heavy bag. “Nobody wants to see that fight. People want to see knockouts. People want to see finishes. And that’s exactly what we’re fixing to bring, me versus Shavkat. He’s got 18 finishes, 10 subs, 8 knockouts, and your boy? I’ve got 14 knockouts, and I just knocked out my last two ranked opponents. So what you think I’m fixing to do to this dude?
“UFC, this is the fight y’all have got to make. Like I told y’all, I’m coming to take the throne, and I ain’t playing. Boom!”
Currently ranked No. 9 in the UFC welterweight rankings, Buckley is on a five-fight unbeaten streak since dropping back down to 170 pounds. Most recently he knocked out Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 307 earlier this month.
Garry, meanwhile, is No. 7 in the UFC rankings and most recently won a close decision over Michael “Venom” Page at UFC 303 this summer.
UFC 310 takes place on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and also features a men’s flyweight title bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura.
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