Conor McGregor is set to return on Jan. 23, 2021, at UFC 257 to rematch Dustin Poirier. The two are ranked in the UFC’s top three at lightweight, but the bout won’t be for a title even though lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement following his last fight.

Of course, the reason that the belt remains around Khabib’s waist is because he hasn’t withdrawn from the USADA testing pool and UFC president Dana White hopes to convince him to fight at least one more time.

McGregor’s longtime coach, John Kavanagh, however, feels McGregor vs. Poirier should be for the belt.

“I don’t really get why this one isn’t for the title, if I’m being 100 percent honest,” Kavanagh told MacLife recently. “Maybe it’s Dana, this is a little carrot towards Khabib, ‘Do you really want (McGregor to regain the belt)?’ I don’t know. I know there’s stuff, the games that go on, I don’t involve myself in it.

“But this to me feels like it’s for the belt. But I guess at the very least the winner of this will be offered a title fight but who would that be against? It’s a bit of a strange scene we have in front of us, which makes it interesting.”

Though Kavanagh thinks the fight should be for the belt, he feels the fight is still heavily in his fighter’s favor, especially since McGregor holds a win over Poirier from their first fight 2014. He knocked Poirier out at 1:46 of the first round.

“I think you can spend a lifetime going to sports psychologists and talking to this person and that person; that’s not going to have been erased from his mind,” Kavanagh said of McGregor knocking out Poirier in that first fight.

“He knows that he is facing somebody who can shut off his lights very, very rapidly and now is a lot more powerful and a lot more experienced than he was even then, so it’s a tough, uphill battle for Dustin.”

TRENDING Tito Ortiz in anti-mask confrontation with citizen and at city council meeting

(Video courtesy of TheMacLife)

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/conor-mcgregor-coach-says-dustin-poirier-facing-uphill-battle-in-what-should-be-a-ufc-title-fight

It has been more than two years since The Ultimate Fighter reality series has produced a new season. Following the TUF 28 Finale in December 2018, UFC president Dana White said that the show would make the move with the UFC from FOX to ESPN.

Though TUF has been on hiatus all this time, it is about to reemerge.

The UFC in October announced that there would be a new season of The Ultimate Fighter featuring bantamweights and middleweights. It is expected to air exclusively on ESPN+ as soon as March 2021.

Before The Ultimate Fighter returns, sit back with Season 1 light heavyweight winner Forrest Griffin, as he walks us back through all 28 seasons of TUF.

(Video courtesy of UFC)

TRENDING Tito Ortiz in anti-mask confrontation with citizen and at city council meeting

Flashback: Dana White confirms The Ultimate Fighter will continue on ESPN

(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/the-ultimate-fighter-is-about-to-reboot-check-out-the-first-28-seasons

The votes are in and the winners have been announced for the 12th World MMA Awards, and some elite names are on the list.

Against the unprecedented backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the awards, produced by Fighters Only, had an extended voting period of January 2019 through July 2020. This year, the fight winners skewed exclusively to the UFC.

Israel Adesanya and Jorge Masvidal were multiple award winners among fighters, as was UFC analyst Joe Rogan. Conversely, Ben Askren saw two of his opponents win awards at his expense.

Take a look at all the winners below:

Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya

Nominees: Henry Cejudo, Justin Gaethje, Douglas Lima, Jorge Masvidal

Female Fighter of the Year: Amanda Nunes

Amanda Nunes

Nominees: Cris Cyborg, Kayla Harrison, Valentina Shevchenko, Zhang Weili

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Jorge Masvidal

Jorge Masvidal

Nominees: Gilbert Burns, Alexander Volkanovski, Zhang Weili, Petr Yan

International Fighter of the Year: Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya

Nominees: Aung La N Sang, Valentina Shevchenko, Kamaru Usman, Zhang Weili

Fight of the Year: Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 248)

Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Nominees: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum (UFC 236), Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos (UFC on ESPN 11), Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker (UFC on ESPN 12), Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington (UFC 245)

Knockout of the Year: Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren (UFC 239)

Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren

Nominees: Cody Garbrandt vs. Raphael Assuncao (UFC 250), Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page (Bellator 221), Sean O’Malley vs. Eddie Wineland (UFC 250), Anthony Pettis vs. Stephen Thompson (UFC on ESPN 6)

Submission of the Year: Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren (UFC on ESPN+ 20)

Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren

Nominees: Misha Cirkunov vs. Jimmy Crute (UFC on ESPN+ 16), Aviv Gozali vs. Eduard Muravitsky (Bellator 225), Bryce Mitchell vs. Matt Sayles (UFC on ESPN 7), Brent Primus vs. Tim Wilde (Bellator Europe 2)

Comeback of the Year: Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier (UFC 241)

Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier

Nominees: Eddie Alvarez vs. Eduard Folayang (ONE Championship 99), Cody Garbrandt (career), Peter Queally vs. Ryan Scope (Bellator Europe 4), Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Alistair Overeem (UFC on ESPN 7)

Upset of the Year: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway (UFC 245)

Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski

Nominees: Kai Asakura vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (Rizin FF 18), Henry Corrales vs. Aaron Pico (Bellator 214), Timofey Nastyukhin vs. Eddie Alvarez (ONE Championship 92), Khama Worthy vs. Devonte Smith (UFC 241)

Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year: Trevor Wittman

Trevor Wittman

Nominees: Eric Albarracin, Eugene Bareman, Mike Brown, Sayif Saud

Trainer of the Year: Phil Daru (strength and conditioning)

Nominees: Andre Hicks (strength and conditioning), George Lockhart (nutrition), Bo Sandoval (strength and conditioning), Sunz Singh (strength and conditioning)

Gym of the Year: American Top Team

American Top Team

Nominees: American Kickboxing Academy, Elevation Fight Team, Fortis MMA, Sanford MMA

Referee of the Year: Herb Dean

Herb Dean

Nominees: Mike Beltran, Marc Goddard, Jason Herzog, Frank Trigg

Ringcard Girl of the Year: Brittney Palmer

Brittney Palmer

Nominees: Jhenny Andrade, Carly Baker, Louise McKie, Mercedes Terrell

Leading Man: Dana White (UFC)

Dana White

Nominees: Scott Coker (Bellator), Martin Lewandowski (KSW), Nobuyuki Sakakibara (Rizin FF), Densign White (IMMAF)

Best Promotion: UFC

Photo by Josh Hedges-DWCS LLC/Zuffa LLC

Nominees: Bellator, KSW, ONE Championship, PFL

Personality of the Year: Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan

Nominees: Jon Anik, John McCarthy, The Schmo, Chael Sonnen

Analyst of the Year: Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier

Nominees: Michael Bisping, Robin Black, Paul Felder, Dan Hardy

Best MMA Programming: JRE MMA Show

Joe Rogan

Nominees: Anatomy Of A Fighter, Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Dana White’s Contender Series, UFC Embedded

MMA Media Source of the Year: ESPN

Laura Sanko, ESPN

Nominees: The Athletic, The Mac Life, MMA Junkie, Sherdog

MMA Journalist of the Year: Ariel Helwani

Ariel Helwani

Nominees: Mike Bohn, Gareth Davies, John Morgan, Brett Okamoto

Fighting Spirit of the Year: Dustin Poirier (Good Fight Foundation)

Dustin Poirier

Nominees: Walt Harris (Return to fighting), Robbie Lawler (How to take a loss), Conor McGregor (PPE donation), Justin Wren (Fight for the Forgotten)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/amanda-nunes-israel-adesanya-jorge-masvidal-pace-major-winners-at-world-mma-awards

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from Dec. 21-27:

UFC Fight Night, Jan. 16, Abu Dhabi

Middleweight: Phil Hawes (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) (MMA DNA)

Middleweight: Joaquin Buckley (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Alessio Di Chirico (12-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC) (MMA Junkie)

UFC Fight Night, Jan. 20, Abu Dhabi

Michael Chiesa

Welterweight: Michael Chiesa (17-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) vs. Neil Magny (24-7 MMA, 17-6 UFC) (ESPN)

Welterweight: Dean Barry (3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. Mike Jackson (1-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) (MMA Fighting)

UFC 257, Jan. 23, Abu Dhabi

Dec 7, 2019; Washington, DC, USA; Makhmud Muradov (red gloves) after winning his fight against Trevor Smith (not pictured) during UFC Fight Night at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

Middleweight: With Andre Muniz out, Makhmud Muradov (24-6 MMA, 2-0 UFC) steps in to fight Andrew Sanchez (12-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) (TASS)

UFC Fight Night, Feb. 6, TBA

Lightweight: Devonte Smith (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Alex da Silva (21-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) (James Lynch)

UFC Fight Night, Feb. 27, TBA

Nov 16, 2019; Sao Paolo, BRAZIL; Randy Brown (blue gloves) reacts to fight against Warlley Alves (red gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Ginsasio do Ibirapuera. Mandatory Credit: Jason Da Silva-USA TODAY Sportsh

Welterweight: Randy Brown (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) vs. Alex Oliveira (22-8-1 MMA, 11-7 UFC) (Combate)

Women’s strawweight: Hannah Cifers (10-7 MMA, 2-5 UFC) vs. Emily Whitmire (4-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) (MMA Fighting)

UFC 259, March 6, TBA

Women’s featherweight: Amanda Nunes (20-4 MMA, 13-1 UFC) vs. Megan Anderson (11-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) (ESPN)

UFC Fight Night, March 13, TBA

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 22: (R-L) Matthew Semelsberger punches Carlton Minus in their welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on August 22, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Welterweight: Matthew Semelsberger (7-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Jason Witt (18-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/mma-ufc-fight-announcements-bookings-matchups-december-21-27

(Editor’s note: Hablemos MMA is MMA Junkie’s weekly Spanish-language podcast hosted by reporter Danny Segura. New episodes are released every Monday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more of your favorite podcasting platforms. You can also stream or download the latest episode here.)

En el episodio 23 de Hablemos MMA, Danny Segura charla con Rodrigo Del Campo acerca de los mejores momentos del 2020 de las artes marciales mixtas. Danny y Rodrigo nos comparten sus selecciones para el mejor peleador y peleadora del año junto con la mejor pelea, sumisión y nocaut.

También hablan del gran año que tuvo los hispanos en UFC incluyendo la trayectoria de Brandon Moreno, Marlon Vera, Sabina Mazo, Irene Aldana, y muchos más.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/hablemos-mma-23-los-mejores-momentos-del-2020