Frankie Edgar relishes underdog role, chance at another UFC title

Former UFC lightweight champion, featherweight title challenger, and current number four ranked bantamweight Frankie Edgar spoke with the media ahead of his co-main event spot against number two ranked prospect Cory Sandhagen on UFC on Vegas 18.

Following Edgar’s split decision victory over Pedro Munhoz, Edgar catapulted himself into the lightweight title picture. “The Answer” believes a win over Sandhagen could warrant a title shot for the winner of Saturday night’s bout.

“I think the winner between me and Cory are right there,” Edgar said. “Put on a good performance, and could be fighting for that belt next.”

Edgar also had high praise for his opponent. 

“He’s right up there with some of the best guys I fought,” Edgar said. “Obviously his ranking says that, his resume says that, and he’s got a future ahead of him too in this sport. He’s one of the best guys I’ve fought.”

Over the course of his career, Edgar faced all-time greats such as B.J. Penn, Jose Aldo, and Max Holloway. That is some impressive company for Sandhagen to be a part of.

Frankie Edgar not surprised to once again be an underdog

Edgar is going into this fight as a heavy underdog. But he has been an underdog for the majority of his career, a role he is rather familiar with.

“I don’t think I’m the favorite many times in my fights, especially the older I get,” Edgar said. “It’s kind of normal to me.”

Edgar says the underdog role puts zero pressure on him, and believes it actually adds pressure to the favorite. In this particular case, putting the bricks on Sandhagen’s shoulder.

“Everyone seems to bring up the fact that I’m the underdog,” Edgar said. “I mean, that puts the pressure on [Sandhagen]. If you look at the line, he’s supposed to go in there and walk through me, which is kind of laughable a little bit.”

Assuming Edgar is the one who gets the last laugh on Saturday, he believes his standing in the division, along with his Hall of Fame career, will guarantee him another chance at gold.

“I think where I’m at in my career, a win over Cory will definitely give me a title shot.”

Frankie Edgar jabs Pedro Munhoz at UFC on ESPN 15
Frankie Edgar jabs Pedro Munhoz at UFC on ESPN 15

UFC Vegas 18: Overeem vs. Volkov Live Results

UFC Vegas 18 Frankie Edgar and Cory Sandhagen weigh-in

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/frankie-edgar-relishes-underdog-role-chance-at-another-ufc-title

 

BKFC ‘KnuckleMania’ results: Chris Leben retires from combat sports with wild KO win

Chris Leben says his combat sports career is over following a win over Quentin Henry at Bare Knuckle FC “KnuckleMania” on Friday.

Leben, who appeared on Season 1 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and has a lengthy and memorable UFC career, transitioned to bare knuckle fighting after retiring from MMA and had some solid moments.

He got one final high in his light heavyweight fight with Henry, earning a first-round knockout victory at the event in Clearwater, Fla. in what was deemed as his farewell fight from combat sports.

Leben got the upper hand early in the fight, connected with an uppercut that damaged the left eye of Henry, who went down claiming an eye poke. Replays showed Leben landed a clean punch. The bout was restarted shortly thereafter, then the pair brawled it out.

In the midst of the exchange, Leben landed a pair of powerful left hands that hurt Henry and put him down for the 10 count, marking the knockout at the 1:07 mark of Round 1.

After the fight, Leben confirmed he wouldn’t go out any other way.

“What a (expletive) way to finish a career right there, huh?” Leben said in his post-fight interview. “I wanted someone who was going to swing like a mother(expletive) at me, and what a way to finish a career. Thank you to Quinten and to BKFC. … If I had some gloves on, I would leave them in the ring.”

Leben, 40, had a 3-1 record in BKFC. In MMA, Leben (22-12) was the inaugural WEC middleweight champion, and his noteworthy wins include Wanderlei Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/bkfc-knucklemania-results-chris-leben-retires-from-combat-sports-knockout

 

‘BKFC: KnuckleMania’ results: Britain Hart picks apart Paige VanZant for unanimous decision

Britain Hart gave Paige VanZant a rude welcome to the Bare Knuckle FC world on in the “KnuckleMania” main event on Friday.

In VanZant’s anticipated debut with the promotion after moving on from the UFC in late 2020, Hart showed off superior work in the clinch and from range to take four of five rounds to win a unanimous decision by scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 49-46 in the 125-pound contest.

“BKFC: KnuckleMania” went down at Bert’s Barracuda Harley-Davidson in Clearwater, Fla., and streamed via online pay-per-view following prelims on MMA Junkie.

VanZant opened the fight with a solid uppercut in the clinch, but Hart fired back with some hard body shots from the inside before they were separated. VanZant charged forward with a combination, and was met with a hard counter hook. They got into a flurry just before the end of the round.

Hart opened the second round working behind her jab as VanZant attempted to weave in and land her hook. They exchanged before clinching up on the inside, where Hart worked her hard body shots. The referee broke them up, then the fighter exchanged from a distance, as Hart landed a right hook what was her best punch of the round.

VanZant opened the third round with a pair of nice right hands, but Hart showed no fear in firing back with combinations. VanZant started to get her jab going, but as soon as she came inside Hart got the better of her with activity inside the clinch. Hart showed much more aggression from the range, and VanZant clinched her again before being separated. They clinched again and burned off time until round’s end.

VanZant got some respect to start the fourth round in landing a nice right hand. She forced her way inside the clinch, but they were quickly broken up. Hart connected with a clean uppercut, and VanZant scored back to bloody the nose of her opponent. Hart used good ring control and moved forward with her punches, forcing VanZant to clinch her again. VanZant’s shots continued to be shy of the target, and Hart landed a stiff right hand before the end of the round.

The final round, Hart initiated the pressure from the striking range as VanZant used her movement to stay on the outside. She scored with a left hand and a right, but Hart charged her way inside and battered the body with more punches. VanZant landed three good hooks as the fight came under one minute remaining. They started to brawl down the stretch, with VanZant finding solid success. Hart stayed tough, though, and kept pushing her way inside and punching until the final bell.

“This is as big as you make it. Paige VanZant was an idol to me, because she’s pretty and showed you can break the limits,” Hart said in her post-fight interview. “I was not going to let Paige VanZant outwork me. You cannot outwork me.”

A post shared by Paige VanZant (@paigevanzant)

MAIN CARD

  • Britain Hart def. Paige VanZant via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
  • Dat Nguyen def. Johnny Bedford via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) – to win bantamweight title
  • Chris Leben def. Quentin Henry via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:07
  • Martin Brown def. Zach Zane via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:28
  • Lorenzo Hunt def. Rob Morrow via knockout (punches) – Round 4, 2:00
  • John Chalbeck def. Greg Bono via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 0:28
  • Haim Gozali def. John McCallister via knockout (punches). Round 2, 1:08
  • Dillon Cleckler def. Chris Jensen via TKO (body punch) – Round 1, 0:24
  • Charisa Sigala vs. Taylor Starling via unanimous decision (50-43, 50-43, 49-44)

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Travis Thompson def. Dave Morgan via TKO — Round 2, 0:22
  • Jarod Grant def. Brandon Lambert via knockout — Round 3, 1:11
  • Jeff Bailey def. Drew Lipton via knockout — Round 1, 1:32

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/bare-knuckle-fc-knucklemania-paige-vanzant-britain-hart-live-stream-official-results

 

Twitter reacts to Paige VanZant’s decisive loss in Bare Knuckle FC debut

Paige VanZant’s anticipate bare knuckle boxing debut went down on Friday at “Bare Knuckle FC: KnuckleMania,” but she did not get a winning result.

VanZant came out on the losing end of a unanimous decision to Britain Hart after five, two-minute rounds inside the ring at Bert’s Barracuda Harley-Davidson in Clearwater, Fla. It was her first combat sports appearance since parting ways with the UFC in 2020.

Check out the top Twitter reactions to VanZant’s loss to Hart below.

Mike Jackson

Cage Potato

Caposa

Dave Doyle

Phil Murphy

Mike Jackson

Brian Campbell

Tatiana Suarez

Rob Tatum

Esther Lin

Al Bernstein

MacMally

Sarah Kaufman

Mike Jackson

Mookie Alexander

Danny Castillo

Katlyn Chookagain

Oscar Willis

Ben Fowlkes

Mike Peirce

Malki Kawa

Paige VanZant

A post shared by Paige VanZant (@paigevanzant)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/bare-knuckle-fc-knucklemania-twitter-reacts-paige-vanzant-loss-britain-hart

 

Alistair Overeem cautiously approaches a UFC heavyweight title shot

In what will be his 59th (you read that correctly) professional mixed martial arts fight, Alistair Overeem looks to extend his win streak to three against perennial heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov in the main event of UFC Vegas 18.

Overeem has said recently that this is one last run to the title before calling it a career. While some fighters may put pressure on themselves after making an assertion like this, at virtual media day for UFC Vegas 18, Overeem said it’s quite the opposite in his particular case.

“Listen, I’m enjoying myself. I’m enjoying the walk out, the fight and everything that comes with it,” Overeem said. “So there is not really pressure and I think that pressure also doesn’t improve your performance.”

While “The Reem” has his eyes on the prize that is the UFC heavyweight title, there’s a pretty hefty line for who’s next to fight for it.

Francis Ngannou will be challenging UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in March. Jon Jones is already all but guaranteed a title shot against the winner of that bout. Of course, you also have the winner of Derrick Lewis and Overeem’s teammate Curtis Blaydes vying for a title shot.

But Overeem is taking it one step at a time.

“Let’s fight Saturday and see what happens there,” Overeem said. “Afterwards, we’ll talk again.”

Overeem also believes he only needs a couple more wins before rightfully receiving a title shot.

“I believe after this one, we can start talking about it,” Overeem said. “So this one, maybe one, maybe two.”

Despite more speculation, “The Demolition Man” has been in this game for over 20 years and he fully understands nothing is certain until he secures a victory over Volkov.

“Nobody knows,” Overeem said. “Let’s just focus on Saturday and see what happens.”

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/alistair-overeem-cautiously-approaches-a-ufc-heavyweight-title-shot

 

 

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