Bellator president Scott Coker says Michael Page is potentially one fight away from a title shot.

Coker is open to the idea of Page (18-1 MMA, 14-1 BMMA) facing Neiman Gracie (10-1 MMA, 8-1 BMMA) in a title eliminator bout in the first quarter of 2021, where the winner gets a crack at Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima.

“When I think about MVP, you’re talking about one of the most talented fighters that I’ve ever seen,” Coker told MMA Junkie. “He’s so fast, so explosive and when I think about him honestly, I think about him and maybe Neiman Gracie fighting each other at some point and then maybe the winner can fight Douglas Lima. That’s kind of in my mind, what I’m thinking.”

Page’s lone loss in his career came to Lima in the Bellator welterweight grand prix in May 2019. He has since won four straight fights, with three coming by way of knockout.

He most recently went the distance with former Cage Warriors welterweight champ Ross Houston at Bellator 248, which wasn’t Page’s finest showing. “MVP” complained of the slippery canvas at the Accor Arena in Paris, France and Coker agreed that it likely affected his performance.

“I’m sure MVP had a lot of stuff in his arsenal that he wanted to do that he couldn’t do because of the canvas,” Coker said. “Originally, I thought it might be ring rust, but I don’t think so after talking to all the fighters that fought that night.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/bellator-news-scott-coker-eyeing-mvp-neiman-gracie-title-eliminator

The holiday season’s looking extra-festive around the McGregor household.

And why not? Despite all of the challenges 2020 presented to everyone, it’s been a good year for Conor McGregor and family. The first-ever simultaneous, two-weight class UFC champion started the year by returning to the cage and defeating Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, and toward the end of the year came the announcement of his blockbuster UFC 257 bout next month against Dustin Poirier.

So of course Irish eyes were smiling in the McGregor family as they posted their holiday greeting to the fans via Instagram — the family patriarch along with partner Dee Devlin, son Conor, and daughter Croia.

And there was a strong hint next year’s photo will include another McGregor kid. The younger Conor is holding what sure looks like an ultrasound photo, and in case there’s any doubt, the IG caption features a baby emoji.

You can see the McGregor’s coy announcement below:

A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma)

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/conor-mcgregors-holiday-instagram-hints-new-addition-family

The Christmas Eve edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here!

On Episode 3,116, Rob Hewitt of Fighters Only magazine joined the show to discuss the upcoming World MMA Awards. Other topics include whether Khabib Nurmagomedov’s presence at UFC 257 would distract Conor McGregor, Dana White’s latest assault on the press, Anthony Pettis joining the PFL, whether the PFL is gaining on Bellator for MMA’s No. 2 spot, and a whole lot more.

Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/mma-junkie-radio-3116-rob-hewitt-talks-world-mma-awards-anthony-pettis-to-pfl-much-more

A lot of people were surprised or even upset when UFC president Dana White recently released a video taking media members to task. He specifically targeted those members of the media that had been highly of him finding a way to keep the UFC operational during the pandemic.

That really should have surprised no one. It’s not out of character for Dana White to speak his mind on most topics, let alone members of the media that he doesn’t feel have given him fair coverage.

And if that’s not enough, he came out and said that he had something for those members of the media. He said so in October on former UFC fighter Mike Swick’s YouTube podcast, “Real Quick with Mike Swick.”

Swick recently did a follow-up podcast talking about White’s video retaliation and framed it up from a former fighter’s perspective.

You can watch White’s full video post below.

(Video courtesy of UFC)

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Dana White’s video taking the ‘negative media’ to task

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz was recently elected to the Huntington Beach, Calif. City Council, where he was also named the city’s Mayor Pro Tem.

Ortiz has always been a lightning rod for criticism, whether it be inside or outside of the cage. That has continued and even amplified since he was elected to city office.

A longtime supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, Ortiz has also been quite vocal about the coronavirus pandemic and expresses criticism of the effectiveness of efforts to counter it with policies like requiring people to wear masks.

During Ortiz’s first city council meeting, he fielded a heavy dose of criticism from a Huntington Beach resident, who attended via phone.

He was recently engaged in further critical conversations over mask wearing with another council member during a recent meeting, all of which are video recorded. Ortiz was not wearing a mask at the meeting.

Tito Ortiz city council mask confrontation