Kevin Holland is MMA Junkie’s 2020 “Breakout Fighter of the Year.”

Holland (21-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) had such a good year that he’s even a candidate for “Fighter of the Year.”

Holland, whose first fight of 2020 took place in May, made UFC history by becoming the fastest man to notch five wins in a calendar year, doing it in 210 days. Four of his wins came by finish, and he took home three “Performance of the Night” bonuses along the way.

One of the most active fighters on the roster, Holland kicked off his 2020 campaign with a 39-second finish of Anthony Hernandez at UFC on ESPN 8 in May. He followed that up with a third-round finish of Joaquin Buckley in August, who went on to score one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history.

Just over a month after stopping Buckley, Holland made a quick turnaround to face Darren Stewart at UFC on ESPN+ 36 in September. He edged out the Brit in his only decision win of the year.

At UFC on ESPN+ 39 in October, Holland stepped in for Krzysztof Jotko to face Makhmud Muradov. But after Muradov tested positive for COVID-19, Holland ended up facing newcomer Charlie Ontiveros, whom he finished via slam in Round 1.

When Darren Till was forced out of his main event vs. Jack Hermansson at UFC on ESPN 19, the UFC knew to call “Big Mouth.” Holland accepted the fight on short notice, but was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19. Instead, Marvin Vettori, who was slated to face Ronaldo Souza a week after, got the replacement call.

However, Holland’s willingness to compete against anyone at anytime would pay off, as he was rewarded with another big opportunity when he faced Souza at UFC 256. It would be Holland’s best performance to date, where he was able to score a knockout of the perennial contender and jiu-jitsu ace off of his back in one of the best finishes of the year.

Not only did Holland become a fan favorite, he became a middleweight contender. The 28-year-old was able to go from prospect to dangerous contender in just seven months – not bad for a fighter who failed to impress his boss despite securing a win on Dana White’s Contender Series.

2020 ‘Breakout Fighter of the Year’ Honorable Mentions

Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev went from relatively unknown to one of the most popular fighters on the roster in the span of five months. Chimaev’s rise has been unparalleled, where he was remarkably able to amass over 1 million followers on Instagram since joining the UFC roster.

The Chechnya-born Sweden-based fighter had one of the most impressive promotional debuts in history when he ran through John Phillips at UFC on ESPN 13 in July. He went on to make a historic turnaround just 10 days later at UFC on ESPN 14, steamrolling newcomer Rhys McKee.

But in his most impressive performance to date, the undefeated fighter was able to knock Gerald Meerschaert out in just 17 seconds at UFC on ESPN+ 36, showing that he’s more than just a dominant grappler. Chimaev already finds himself on the cusp of title contention when he faces Leon Edwards in a date to be determined.

Joaquin Buckley

Heading into his second UFC fight, Joaquin Buckley was relatively unknown. He had suffered a stoppage loss to Kevin Holland on short notice in his UFC debut in August, but quickly got the opportunity to redeem himself.

And boy, did Buckley just do that. “New Mansa” took on Impa Kasanganay at  UFC on ESPN+ 37 and scored one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history. After Kasanganay caught Buckley’s kick, Buckley turned around and delivered a spectacular spinning back kick that connected flush on Kasanganay’s chin and dropped him to the canvas.

The viral kick knockout was the UFC’s most-watched Instagram video ever with 17.8 million views and the highlight was even included on loop in one of Kanye West’s latest tracks.

Buckley continued to ride his momentum when he made an even quicker turnaround to take on another undefeated Contender Series veteran, Jordan Wright, just one month later at UFC 255. His explosive power was on full display once again when he scored a second-round knockout of Wright. The finish earned him his second straight “Performance of the Night” bonus.

It’s been a memorable year for Buckley, who emerged as one of the most exciting breakout stars on the roster.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/mma-junkie-2020-breakout-fighter-of-year-kevin-holland-ufc

It’s safe to say Conor McGregor isn’t at all concerned about ring rust heading into UFC 257.

By the time McGregor steps foot inside the octagon to meet Dustin Poirier on Jan. 23 on “Fight Island,” it will have been more than one year since his last fight – a 40-second TKO of Donald Cerrone on Jan. 18, 2020 at UFC 246.

Should there be concern about the lack of activity heading into such a big matchup? Maybe. But McGregor, the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, made it pretty clear that’s not on his mind with one simple tweet Monday night.

“I promise a masterpiece,” McGregor wrote.

I promise a masterpiece.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 5, 2021

So far, McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) hasn’t said much about the lightweight headliner with Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) at UFC 257, which will be a rematch of a September 2014 featherweight bout won by McGregor with relative ease in just 1:46.

A lot has changed for both fighters since then, with McGregor becoming a UFC champ-champ and Poirier going on to claim an interim UFC 155-pound title, although the people closest to McGregor expect a similar result to the first fight.

“(Poirier) 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,” SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh said.

Added McGregor striking coach Owen Roddy: “I think Poirier has improved an awful lot since that first fight. I think Conor has improved more since then, as well. They’re definitely two better fighters than they were when they first met, but I still think Conor is just the better fighter. I think he’s too precise. Poirier’s skills have definitely improved. His hands are very good. He’s tough, he’s durable, he sets a good pace, but I just don’t see where he beats Conor. Conor’s just too good everywhere, too precise and too clinical with his striking.”

If that’s the case, McGregor just might deliver on his promise.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/conor-mcgregor-promises-ufc-257-masterpiece-vs-dustin-poirier

UFC fighter Mike Perry on Sunday posted a disturbing video of a bloody leg laceration to his Instagram stories.

Perry posted the video with little additional information. It shows him lying on his back in a hallway. He then shows a shattered pane of glass before moving on to his bloody leg with what appears to be a deep laceration.

The series of three videos can be seen in full below.

The original two video segments posted to Perry’s stories ends with him mumbling “f–k am I supposed to do about this?” The third segment, which was posted hours later but is included in the video below, shows Perry laying on a table getting stitches.

It was a disturbing post, to say the least, and comes just a few months after a video surfaced of Perry punching a restaurant patron. He has also been accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife.

He has stepped into the Octagon twice in 2020. He defeated Mickey Gall on June 27 at UFC on ESPN 12. Perry then faced Tim Means on Nov. 21 at UFC 255, losing via unanimous decision.

Perry doesn’t currently have another UFC bout scheduled.

TRENDING Video: Mike Perry punches man in restaurant; charged with assault

Mike Perry’s disturbing video of leg laceration (Graphic)

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/mike-perry-posts-graphic-disturbing-video-of-bloody-leg-laceration

Watch Dustin Poirier’s most recent victory over Dan Hooker in a wildly entertaining Fight of the Night from this past June. Poirier faces Conor McGregor at UFC 257 on Saturday, January 23, on Fight Island.

(Courtesy of UFC)

TRENDING Mike Perry posts graphic disturbing video of bloody leg laceration

UFC 252 recap and highlights: Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier 3

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/watch-dustin-poirier-beat-dan-hooker-ahead-of-conor-mcgregor-rematch

Despite Brian Ortega’s recent improvements, Alexander Volkanovski thinks his pressure will be too much.

UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski (22-1 MMA, 9-0 UFC) will meet Ortega in the first quarter of 2021, but a date is yet to be official. Dana White teased a February matchup, but Volkanovski would rather see the fight pushed back a little more so he’s able to get enough time to conduct his camp at City Kickboxing in New Zealand.

Ortega (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) is coming off arguably his best performance yet in which he shut out Chan Sung Jung and outstruck him over the course of five rounds in the UFC on ESPN+ 38 headliner.

The win repositioned Ortega into title contention and caught the champion’s attention.

“It took me by surprise because I didn’t expect him to fight – I wouldn’t say fight smart, but his shot selection, there was a couple of things that I just didn’t expect,” Volkanovski told SCMP MMA. “I thought he would just be looking for the finish, that’s what he does.

“But there, he showed patience, shot selection, fakes – a lot of things that we work on. Whether he took some notes out of our book, I don’t know, but he’s obviously stepped it up and he looked good. He really did look good.”

However, despite Volkanovski being impressed with Ortega’s advancements, he remains unfazed. He sees a similar game plan that Max Holloway was able to implement when he battered Ortega in 2018 as a blueprint that will work.

“I believe I’m going to break him,” Volkanovski said. “The way that Max did, I believe that’s somewhere that I can go with – especially with my pressuring style. This is a fun fight for me because I believe I get to put the pressure on. I get to be in his face, which is fun. People want to see that.

“There’s levels to this, and I believe my pressure, when I use it, my pressure’s on a whole other level that not many people in the world have ever felt.”

Volkanovski is coming off back-to-back wins over Holloway and has said on numerous occasions that he’s excited to take on a new challenge in the featherweight division. He acknowledges Ortega is dangerous everywhere, but isn’t afraid to dabble on the ground with the jiu-jitsu ace if necessary.

“It’s exciting for me, but at the same time, I really do believe I’m just at a whole other level,” Volkanovski said. “I’m so well-rounded. I can take the fight wherever it is. I’m the guy that never quits. With me, it’s so easy to say I’m well-rounded, but it goes so much deeper than that. There are so many little things that I just have down to a tee, and I work so hard to make sure that I am such a complete fighter that if someone gives me trouble somewhere, I can always take it somewhere else.

“Even if I have to go to the ground with Ortega … I don’t need to worry about him taking me down. We’ll see. Obviously, I can’t give too much away, but if I want to take someone down, I can. Am I going to have a BJJ match with him in the middle of a UFC fight? No. But again, I’m a very smart fighter. There’s different rules to just on the BJJ mats. We can punch you on the face. We’ve got a cage. There’s a lot of obstacles in an MMA cage, especially when you can use your hands and elbows and whatnot.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/alexander-volkanovski-impressed-new-version-brian-ortega-confident-win-ufc