UFC 257 came and went, two lightweights at the top of the card had spectacular finishes, and … champion Khabib Nurmagomedov still isn’t interested in coming back for a 30th fight.

That’s not how UFC president Dana White originally said things would shake out, though.

Prior to UFC 257, White told us that Nurmagomedov would consider coming out of retirement to fight whomever did something truly impressive in either of the two headliners. Well, that happened as Dustin Poirier finished Conor McGregor by second-round TKO in brutal fashion and Michael Chandler made a huge statement in his promotional debut with a first-round finish of Dan Hooker. After the event, though, White indicated he wasn’t confident in Nurmagomedov’s return after talking to him about the two fights.

On this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” we debated bold statements, asking if they were overreactions or on the money. So … The Khabib sweepstakes were just a hoax, and it was all about setting up Khabib vs. McGregor 2. Overreaction or on the money?

Watch the video above to hear Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, and Nolan King weigh in.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-khabib-sweepstakes-hoax-to-set-up-mcgregor-rematch

More than a year and a half since its last show, Italian promotion The Golden Cage is ready to kickstart the latest chapter of its development as the organization prepares for its debut event on UFC Fight Pass.

TGC 3 will take place Feb. 6 in a studio at the Heaven Fight Arena in Rome, and will feature a welterweight title fight in the headline slot.

Italian 170-pound rivals Leonardo Damiani and Marco Saccaro will do battle in a rematch for the vacant 170-pound strap.

In his last outing, Damiani (9-2-1) scored an impressive victory with a split-decision win over Welsh welterweight Aaron Khalid at Cage Warriors 118. That victory took his unbeaten streak to five fights, with the 30-year-old going 4-0-1 since his January 2018 defeat to former UFC competitor John Maguire.

He’ll take on Saccaro (6-2), whose last appearance saw him snap a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Ismael Foscarini in December 2019. Previously, Saccaro lost out on the scorecards to Damiani in their first meeting at an Italian Cage Fighting (ICF) event in October 2018. Now the pair will face off for a second time with championship gold on the line.

The night’s co-main event will feature a battle between unbeaten welterweight prospects Franc Agalliu (3-0) and Wisem Hammami (4-0), and the promotion’s vacant featherweight title is also on the line on the main card, as Italy’s Michele Baiano (3-0) takes on Tunisia’s Nizar Ben Amara (4-0).

Confirmed bouts for TGC 3 include:

• Leonardo Damiani vs. Marco Saccaro – for vacant welterweight title
• Franc Agalliu vs. Wisem Hammami
• Michele Baiano vs. Nizar Ben Amara – for vacant featherweight title
• Danilo Belluardo vs. Dragan Pesic
• Walter Cogliandro vs. Greg Shestakov
• Fabio De Luca vs. Mohammad Walid
• Carlo D’Ambrosio vs. Dylan Hazan
• Dumitru Girlean vs. Simone Patrizi
• Emanuele Sabatino vs. Enzo Tobbia
• Domenico Coluccini vs. Giuseppe Ruggeri

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/the-golden-cage-3-welterweight-title-fight-to-headline-italian-promotions-ufc-fight-pass-debut

Former Pride FC champion and current Bellator fighter Fedor Emelianenko has reportedly been released from the hospital in Russia as he recovers from a bout with COVID-19.

Fedor was being treated at Clinical Hospital No. 52 in the Russian capital, according to RT Sport. His release comes less than a week after having been admitted.

No details have been released about his condition, but his release from the hospital is obviously good news.

While he was in the hospital last week, Fedor issued a statement on Instagram, saying, “Thank you all who are sincerely worried about my health. I am feeling well now, I am on the mend. I am grateful to the doctors and medical staff for their care and your hard work.”

Fedor hasn’t set foot in the cage since December of 2019, when he defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, which kicked off what is essentially his retirement tour.

Fedor’s retirement tour and notable omission from fighting in the UFC

After losing to Ryan Bader in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix, Fedor, 44, in partnership with Bellator president Scott Coker, decided to fight a handful of bouts that would lead to his retirement.

His tour stalled out in 2020 because of the global coronavirus pandemic that causes COVID-19.

Pending Fedor’s recovery from COVID-19, Coker has been hoping to have him continue his retirement tour, culminating in a marquee bout on his home turf in Russia.

Fedor got his start in the famed Rings tournaments in the early 2000s before becoming one of the most dominant figures in mixed martial arts history with his run in Pride FC in Japan.

He has fought for numerous other organizations following Pride’s purchase by the UFC. Fedor flirted with fighting in the Octagon on numerous occasions, most notably when there were potential bouts opposite Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar on the table.

A deal with the UFC never came to fruition after Fedor’s team and UFC officials failed to come to satisfactory terms form him to fight in the Octagon.

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Flashback Fedor takes out Rampage

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/fedor-emelianenko-released-from-hospital-following-covid-19-battle

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — LFA CEO Ed Soares recently announced that the promotion will host its historic LFA 100 event in the state of Kansas. The main event of LFA 100 will feature a flyweight world title fight between the winningest fighter in LFA history and a top undefeated prospect. The winner will become the seventh 125-pound champion in LFA history. The four most recent champions are currently fighting in the UFC.

LFA 100: Altamirano vs. Mota takes place Friday, Feb. 19 at the Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas, which is a suburb of Wichita. The main event will feature a flyweight title fight between LFA’s all-time wins leader Victor “El Magnifico” Altamirano and top undefeated Brazilian prospect Carlos “Tizil” Mota. The co-main event will showcase the second middleweight tournament semi-final between LFA standouts Anthony “SugaFoot” Adams and Gregory “RoboCop” Rodrigues. The winner will face the winner of the LFA 98 headliner for the LFA middleweight title. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

“We are excited to celebrate LFA 100 by bringing the flyweight championship and second LFA middleweight tournament semi-final to Kansas,” stated LFA CEO Ed Soares. “Victor Altamirano just broke the LFA’s all-time wins record in November. He will now fight top undefeated Brazilian prospect Carlos Mota for the LFA flyweight title. Anthony Adams and Gregory Rodrigues will also meet with a shot at the LFA middleweight title on the line.”

There are a limited number of tickets available for LFA 100: Altamirano vs. Mota. These tickets are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.com.

Altamirano (8-1) became the LFA’s all-time wins leader in November with a spectacular second round Triangle Choke submission against fellow LFA standout Lloyd McKinney at LFA 95. The win snapped a tie with current UFC fighter and former LFA featherweight champion Damon Jackson for the most wins in LFA history. The proud Texan has won all eight of his professional bouts for LFA and was hoping to build on that record-setting tally with LFA gold on the line. The charismatic 30-year-old, who moonlights as a cellist, will get that title shot at LFA 100.

Mota (5-0) is one of the most popular and promising flyweight prospects to emerge from the MMA hotbed of Brazil in recent years. The Brazilian dynamo burst onto the global MMA scene with a thrilling performance in his LFA and North American debut at LFA 79. The jiu-jitsu black belt faced another top undefeated prospect George Martinez that night, but he surprised his American opponent with a body kick KO just 36-seconds into their highly-anticipated encounter. The 25-year-old is now looking to become the fourth Brazilian to capture LFA gold.

The co-main event of LFA 100, will feature the long-awaited showdown between Anthony “SugaFoot” Adams and Gregory “RoboCop” Rodrigues. They were originally set to fight each other in April of 2020, but that event was postponed due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As fate would have it, their paths are set to meet again. However, this time around the stakes are even higher. It will take place in the LFA middleweight four-man tournament. The first semi-final bout of the tournament features Josh Fremd and Bruno Oliveira. That fight takes place this Friday in the main event of LFA 98. The winner of that bout will face the winner of Adams vs. Rodrigues for the LFA middleweight title later this spring.

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Currently Announced LFA 100 Main Card

• Main Event | Flyweight Title Bout (125 lb)- Victor Altamirano (8-1) vs. Carlos Mota (5-0)
• Co-Main Event | Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final Bout (185 lb)- Anthony Adams (8-2) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (7-3)
• Featherweight Bout (145 lb)- Steven Nguyen (6-1) vs. Raihere Dudes (8-1)
• Flyweight Bout (125 lb)- Charles Johnson (7-2) vs. Karlee Pangilian (6-0)
• Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)- Christian Natividad (2-0) vs. Evan Woolsey (1-1)

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/lfa-100-fight-card-announced-for-landmark-event

After seeing Conor McGregor’s performance against Dustin Poirier, American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez has no doubt that Khabib Nurmagomedov would have dominated him again.

McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who suffered a second-round TKO to Poirier in the UFC 257 main event this past Saturday, was angling for a Nurmagomedov rematch had he beaten Poirier.

Prior to that fight, Mendez had no hesitation dubbing McGregor as Nurmagomedov’s toughest matchup. But after McGregor fell short against “The Diamond,” Mendez no longer thinks that’s the case.

“(McGregor) would’ve got smashed,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “Khabib’s gotten better. He would’ve gotten smashed. He would have gotten smashed, straight up. Khabib’s better. He’s better than he was when they fought two years ago. Conor didn’t appear to be better. He’s regressed a little bit. Khabib’s gotten way better. He would have gotten smashed.”

Mendez, who had picked McGregor to win, was critical of “The Notorious’” performance against Poirier. He was surprised at McGregor’s inability to adjust or prepare for Poirier’s calf kicks, which proved to be a game changer.

“When I saw Dustin start going for the leg kicks, I go, ‘Oh my god, Conor’s stance is not made for checking properly leg kicks like that,” Mendez said. “Especially calf kicks. So, I thought that was going to be a major problem. And then when he hit Dustin with the good shot and Dustin took it, that’s when I kind of knew, ‘Oh boy, things are gonna change.’ And sure enough, they did. And it was a great game plan from Dustin to work the leg kicks, calf kicks. And it was a bad judgment on Conor’s part to not be prepared for that.

“I don’t understand how you cannot be prepared for something like that, when that’s what everyone’s going to. Khabib, I told him, I reminded him every day that Justin’s coming after your legs, Justin’s coming after your legs. Every day I was telling him that. And you would think that you would be reminded also because that’s a big weapon. Until fighters learn how to deal with it, it’s gonna be a big weapon, guys.”

A potential rematch between Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) and McGregor was being lauded as the biggest fight in UFC history, but after the UFC 257 main event outcome, Mendez doubts Nurmagomedov comes out of retirement.

“You’re never gonna get that rematch,” Mendez said. “Just like you’re never gonna get the Tony and Khabib fight. That’s never gonna happen either. It’s not gonna happen. I mean, Khabib doesn’t need it. He seems fulfilled. And like I said, I think the only juicy part for him is what his father wanted, GSP. I’ve said it many times. And who knows, maybe that’s out of the question now. Maybe GSP doesn’t want it, maybe Khabib don’t want it now. I don’t know, because I never talked to Khabib about what he wants, I’ve always listened to him.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/javier-mendez-khabib-wouldve-smashed-regressed-conor-mcgregor-in-rematch