UFC bantamweight championAlex Pereira explained why he won't be competing at UFC 301.
"I haven't really thought about it yet. If it goes on long enough, I'd rather defend the belt. If I fight at heavyweight and get injured, when do I defend my belt? I don't want to hold up the division. When I called for a heavyweight fight at UFC 301, I was too optimistic. But I have two broken toes on both feet.... It's complicated. I don't want to hold up the flyweight division. Of course, it would be cool to fight at heavyweight at UFC 301 and then make a title defense at flyweight," MMA Fighting quoted Pereira as saying.
UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has spoken out about his closest opponent, former interim titleholder Dustin Puryear.
e>Unhandled Exception
UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev revealed how he kept in shape during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
American mixed martial arts veteran, expert and analyst Chel Sonnen is confident that the UFC management will not create a new weight class up to 165 pounds for the fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, which will be held on June 29 at UFC 303.
The idea was previously floated by the promotion's former two-weight champion Daniel Cormier.
"There's no need for a 165-pound division. The commission won't agree to it. Yeah and the UFC won't want to do it. Plus, Chandler and McGregor have already lost more fights than I have in my entire career. So if anyone is worthy of fighting for the mythical belt, it's yours truly," Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.
Francis Ngannou, former UFC heavyweight champion and current PFL fighter, has spoken out about his future in mixed martial arts.
"Right now, I don't know what to answer that question for you. I have a great desire to do boxing. I have to make a name for myself in this sport. I believe this sport owes me a debt. My last fight in boxing didn't go the way I wanted it to. So I want to come back and rehabilitate myself. I have to get my respect back. And in MMA, I have all that. That's why I don't know what to tell you. Maybe I will fight in MMA before returning to the ring," Ngannou stated.
We will remind, in his last fight Ngannou lost by knockout to Anthony Joshua.
Sergey Pavlovich, UFC heavyweight, named his bloodiest fight in the promotion. In Sergey's opinion, it was the fight with Derrick Lewis.
"Probably the bloodiest fight turned out to be with Derrick Lewis. I didn't even realize how it happened. I think when he was hitting the side kick, did a cross-section. You can see it in the photo there - bloody face. It's okay, it's pretty. I didn't feel it during the fight. But you can refer it to bloody fights, because there is blood on the face," - said Pavlovic in a recent interview.
Recall, his next fight Pavlovic will hold against Alexander Volkov. The fight will take place on June 22 in Saudi Arabia.
Diego Lima, the mentor of former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, said he was not completely satisfied with his mentee's performance in his fight with Arman Tsarukyan.
The Brazilian lost to the Armenian by split decision on April 13 at the UFC 300 show.
"I think in the fight with Tsarukyan we lacked a little bit of aggression. You saw - all the best moments of the fight, when it was close to completion, were from our side. Arman was in a dominant position for a while, but he wasn't very effective. Charles dominated for less time, but was very close to the finish.
He hit Tsarukyan with two good punches in a row and I think he could have knocked him out, but we lacked a little bit of aggression," MMA Mania quoted the specialist as saying.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Jiri Prochazka revealed what being a Samurai means to him.
John Kavanagh, the permanent mentor of former UFC champion in two weight categories Conor McGregor, spoke about the form of his ward before the fight with Michael Chandler.
The Irishman and the American will meet in the main event of UFC 303, which takes place on June 29 in Las Vegas, USA.
"He looks amazing. Conor is back on the mat as tough as ever. Of course we need to work the rounds and improve our physicality to be ready for the fight, but his technique remains as polished as ever.
I think Conor looks like his version of himself right now before the Chad Mendes fight. I will have a surprise if his fight with Michael goes two rounds. He just punches too hard and too sharply. There might be some tough exchanges, a few tekdowns and the like, but every round starts with leg kicks and his ability to counterattack is underrated. So I'll be surprised if we see two rounds," Bloody Elbow quoted the specialist as saying.
