UFC president Dana White sent a warning to illegal streamers on Monday and says he has a “surprise” for those who illegally stream UFC events in 2021.

The fight promotion’s first pay-per-view event takes place on Jan. 23 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The event, UFC 257, marks the return of former two division champion Conor McGregor in a rematch against former interim lightweight titleholder Dustin Poirier.

White posted a video promo for the upcoming event on Instagram and issued his warning in the comments.

“The Notorious” is the biggest draw on the UFC roster. With McGregor headlining the fight card, White expects a high buy rate. Check out the video promo below.

TRENDING Mike Perry posts graphic disturbing video of bloody leg laceration

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/dana-white-sends-warning-to-illegal-streamers-ahead-of-ufc-257

When it comes to covering fight week, few moments get the blood pumping and the anticipation soaring better than a great faceoff. The UFC squares off their fighters before every event for exactly that reason, and some of the sport’s biggest stars have developed their own styles as they use their faceoff opportunities to strike a final mental blow ahead of fight night.

Over the course of 2020, and despite the social distancing rules applied across the globe, we were still treated to a host of memorable faceoffs. To kick off the year – and before COVID-19 arrived – we saw the likes of Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone get up close and personal at the UFC 246 ceremonial weigh-ins in January, while Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk exchanged words in a tense staredown ahead of their memorable strawweight title clash at UFC 248 in March.

The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in March didn’t deprive us of some memorable faceoffs, however, with the fighters allowed to go nose to nose, with or without masks, after being subjected to multiple COVID-19 tests before and throughout fight week.

It meant we got to see debuting former KSW and EFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis go face-to-face with “The Joker,” aka Markus Perez, ahead of UFC Fight Night 179 in October, while middleweight champion Israel Adesanya enjoyed a pair of tense faceoffs as he locked eyes with rivals Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa ahead of his two successful title defenses in 2020.

Recap the best of the UFC’s 2020 faceoffs via the video above.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/video-conor-mcgregor-israel-adesanya-and-zhang-weili-star-in-ufcs-best-faceoffs-of-2020

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