UFC President Dana White is doubling down on his surprise for those planning to illegally stream Conor McGregor's return at UFC 257 — Fightful has you covered on Dana's plans to stop pirating UFC pay-per-views and much more.
Dana White Gives Final Warning For Those Planning To Illegally Stream UFC Pay-Per-Views
Last week, UFC President Dana White said that he "has a surprise" for those who plan to illegally stream UFC pay-per-views in 2021.
“We’ve been one of the leagues that has been so proactive on piracy," White said when speaking to The Mac Life.
“Not at all,” White said. “Listen, you’re a criminal. You’re a criminal and now I’ve got guys - I love this one, listen to this one - there’s a guy right now who, literally after I said this thing, so if you go through my Instagram and look through all the comments, there’s a guy saying ‘DM me if you want to get the fight this weekend.’ He’s stealing people’s information. People that are DM’ing him, he’s stealing their information. He’s taking your money from your bank and charging your credit card. These guys are fucking scumbag criminals! Don’t listen to them! These guys are scumbags, they’re criminals. They’re bad guys.”
“They’re never all going to go away,” White concluded. “They’re going to be out there and we’re not trying to get rid of all of them. I just want to catch a few. That’s all I’m looking for. I just want to catch a few. You can’t shut the whole thing down, that piracy industry is going to go on forever. Let me catch a few and watch what happens...and I will, oh it’s coming.”
Conor McGregor Comments On Khabib Nurmagomedov's Retirement
Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor's rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.
The brash Irishman is "not surprised" that Nurmagomedov would "scurry away" into retirement rather than give McGregor a rematch.
“How you could walk away at this stage is baffling to me but to each to their own,” said McGregor to The Mac Life when asked about what he thought about Nurmagomedov's decision to retire.
McGregor continued:
“It’s been the hallmark of his approach. I was not surprised to see him walk away or scurry away, I should say. It is what it is. We carry on," McGregor said. "I don’t think he made weight the last time either out here to be honest,” McGregor said. “That was very skeptical on the scales. Very, very unusual behavior. But it is what it is.”
“I feel it should be [for the title],” McGregor continued. “I don’t think Dana’s going to be bouncing in to throw me a belt straight away with the way the year went and I understand that. What are the belts? I’m here to compete. Get some good competition in and the belts will come.
“The belt, I think maybe the next bout, is fair. I would have liked to see this fight but there were circumstances surrounding the man scurrying away to an extent. They’ve given him a bit of time. We’ll see what happens. It’s of no odds to me.”
“I’m not going to get caught up in the politics of this business,” said McGregor. “I have in the past and it’s hampered me. So we focus on the bout ahead and that’s it.”
Robin Van Roosmalen Seriously Injured, Sister Passes Away In Car Accident
Bellator and Glory veteran Robin Van Roosmalen remains hospitalized after being seriously injured in a car accident in his home country of the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Roosmalen's 29-year old sister, Melissa has tragically passed away during the accident, according to Vecht Sport.
Gilbert Burns Relieved Not To Lose Title Shot To Khamzat Chimaev
Gilbert Burns will receive his first UFC title shot at UFC 258 when he steps into the octagon against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
The longtime UFC contender, Burns was apparently worried that he'd lose his spot to the company's newest superstar Khamzat Chimaev.
"Thank God we closed the deal," Burns told AG Fight in a recent interview.
"They had already sent me the date, the problem was the contract that was taking too long," said Burns. "But it’s all official now. The ‘Countdown’ crew has been to my house already, so it’s definitely going to happen. I’ve been training hard, but I was afraid the fight would go to Khamzat Chimaev or something. I think it took that long because of the UFC. I don’t know if they were dealing with Jorge Masvidal or Colby Covington, too. But now is the time to train hard and win that title.”
Dana White Has Interest In Booking Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker, But Not For Interim Title
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is moving up to light heavyweight, hoping to become only the eighth double champion in the promotion's history when he takes on 205-pound champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259.
UFC President Dana White has interest in booking a fight between the top two contenders at middleweight, Paulo Costa and former champion Robert Whittaker...but not for an interim title.
“Well, I can tell you Paulo Costa and his team are terrorizing us to make that fight. I would make that fight though. Yeah, I would make that fight,” White told The Mac Life.
When asked if he would make the potential bout for an interim title, White simply responded "no".
Michael Bisping Calls For Accountability In MMA Judging
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is not a fan of some recent judging decisions in MMA.
"Don't leave it in the judges' hands," said Bisping when speaking about the UFC Fight Island 7 main event between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar.
The British legend further dove into the lack of accountability in MMA judging when speaking on his "Believe You Me" podcast:
“Almost every event there’s an outlandish fight that’s scored,” Bisping continued. “Even commentating I’ve been like, ‘What the fuck? How did that judge even come to that conclusion?’ I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, they need to be held accountable. Number one, these guys are doing a job. They’re doing a job. They get paid! So you’ve got to do that job well. In any other walk of life if you do a sh*t job, you get fired!"
“When I say held accountable, it’s very simple. If there’s an outlandish score that doesn’t make sense, he sits in a room with two or three other judges and you explain why you scored that round that way, and if you can’t give a feasible excuse that’s rational and believable, then you’re either incompetent or inaccurate and either way, you’re not fit for the fucking job. It’s as simple as that and I don’t understand why that isn’t implemented," he concluded. “Sometimes one judge’s decision can change your life, change the amount of money you’re about to earn, might make you champion of the world, might make you not champion of the world. This is high stakes!”
Dana White Confirms Charles Oliveria Declined Michael Chandler Bout At UFC 257
Longtime Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler makes his UFC debut against Dan Hooker at UFC 257.
According to UFC President Dana White, Chandler's debut was set to be against surging contender Charles Oliveira but the latter declined the bout due to weight cutting concerns.
“We offered him this fight (with Chandler), but he couldn’t make weight, so you can’t blame the guy for that,” White said when speaking to The Mac Life.
“Look at Oliveira. I mean, look at what this guy has done,” said White. "Coming off that performance that he just put on over Tony, it’s hard to overlook him.”
Joaquin Buckley Plans To Test Alessio Di Chirico's "Compromised" Chin At UFC Fight Island 7
One of the breakout stars of 2020 was Joaquin Buckley.
The 26-year old St. Louis-native notched the knockout of the year against Impa Kasanganay and followed it up with a vicious knockout of Jordan Wright just five weeks later to close out his 2020 campaign.
“I think I’ve seen his fight before with Zak Cummings before I knew who he was,” said Buckley to MMA Junkie during his media availability ahead of his UFC Fight Island 7 clash against Alessio Di Chirico.
“It was kind of a boring fight back and forth, but Zak Cummings ended up giving him a nice shot at the last third round of the match, and it really showed that Alessio’s chin is probably very compromised, and I’m looking to show that in the fight we about to have.”
“I’m thinking of that fast rise for sure,” Buckley said. “And fighting the right fights at the right time and in 2022, definitely having that gold belt around me.”
“I gotta enjoy it. I gotta have fun with it. Me winning that award is a big deal. It was history-making," he concluded. That’s gonna go down for a very long time, and people are gonna look back at that and say how amazing that moment was so for me, I just gotta enjoy the moment, but just not bask in it. It happened, move on to the next, and Alessio is definitely going to be on that mark for 2021 ‘Knockout of the Year.”
Jiu-Jitsu Legend Hannette Staack Planning MMA Debut In 2021
Hannette Staack is one of the best Jiu-Jitsu competitors of all-time. In 2021, she plans to take over another sport... mixed martial arts.
The 41-year old IBJJF Hall of Famer laid out her plans to make the transition to MMA when speaking with MMA Fighting:
“I wanted to do something to challenge myself,” said Staack. “Since I already have a few titles in jiu-jitsu, no-gi and the ADCC, I didn’t see much sense in entering more tournaments, except for super fights. I came to Brazil to train with a friend and this possibility was presented to me. Something that I’ve always wanted to do but women’s MMA wasn’t so popular back then. Life has taken me to a different path of education, building a gym and having students,” she said, “But after doing a lot of thinking, I saw it was a good challenge.”
“That’s exactly what I want, to challenge myself in a different form, so I thought of doing one MMA fight this year,” said Staack, who returns to the United States for a no-gi match on Jan. 29 before kicking off her first MMA camp. “I need to work on my boxing and kickboxing, so I’ll focus on that. Not that I’m going to change my characteristics, but I’ll train to become more complete as a fighter.”
Staack is a seven-time IBJJF world champion and has captured three ADCC gold medals between 2002 and 2011.
Ali Bagautinov Ready For Brave CF Debut
Former UFC flyweight title challenger Ali Bagautinov makes his return to the cage at Brave CF 46 after a year long hiatus.
The Bahraini-based promotion makes their first trek to Russia where the Russian-born Bagautinov will be the co-headliner of the evening against Oleg Lichkovakha at 130-pounds.
“I don’t think much of my opponent Oleg,” said the 35-year old former UFC contender when speaking to MMA Junkie.
“Let him think of me. And I calmly wait and prepare for Jan. 16. I missed the cage very much, I am hungry and angry. I want to show my best fighting qualities.”
“I see him on Instagram sledding downhill in the snow and having fun. He thinks he can easily win against me, that’s why he is relaxed,” said Bagautinov. “He thinks I’m a nobody, but I’m fired up, I want to win. I will beat him and shock the MMA community.
“Ali may have better stamina, but I have lasted three rounds in many fights and my endurance is much much better than him. His last fight was in boxing, he probably doesn’t even train wrestling anymore. I’m a better wrestler and grappler, I can submit him.
“I will use wrestling, striking, grappling, jiu-jitsu, everything to show I am the better fighter since everyone considers me an underdog. Ali, do not relax. Ride less on the slides and be careful. Don’t pull out cause you don’t want to face me.”
10 Busiest UFC Judges In 2020 Revealed
One of the toughest jobs in combat sports is being an MMA judge.
In the tumultuous year of 2020, the UFC held 41 events that boasted 220 bouts that went to the judge's scorecards, 185 unanimous decisions and the other 35 decisions were split.
Here's who was the busiest judges in the year that was 2020:
1. Sal D'Amato — 77 decisions — 29 events
2. Derek Cleary — 65 decisions — 29 events
3. Michael Bell — 59 decisions — 26 events
4. Chris Lee — 44 decisions — 22 events
5. Eric Colon — 43 decisions — 21 events
6. Dave Hagen — 37 decisions — 22 events
7. Ron McCarthy — 30 decisions — 16 events
8. Junichiro Kamijo — 28 decisions — 15 events
9. Clemens Werner — 25 decisions — 8 events
10. David Lethaby & Anders Ohlsson — 25 decisions — 7 events
Coach Marcos DaMatta: Amanda Ribas "Absolutely" Has Championship Potential
According to many, UFC women's strawweight contender Amanda Ribas has superstar written all over her. Count her Jiu-Jitsu coach Marcos DaMatta in with the crowd who believes the 27-year old will be a future UFC world champion.
“Absolutely, she’s one of American Top Team’s future champions – that we really believe,” said DaMatta when speaking to MMA Junkie.
“The reason I say that is not because I train her. It’s just because she has the full package. She’s a good striker, she’s an awesome judo player, she has good jiu-jitsu, amazing attitude, charisma and the list goes on and on.
“She’s amazing for 115," the coach added. "She’s extremely focused. Her weight is already on fight week range, ahead of schedule. Last fight, she was 125 (pounds) easy, so I think her mentality is what makes her a little different. She’s not training just to beat Mackenzie or Randa (Markos) or Paige or Marina (Rodriguez). She’s training to be the best.”
Ribas will look to extend her winning streak to six when she takes on Marina Rodriguez at UFC 257 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
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Bevon Lewis Suspended By NAC For Marijuana Use
The Nevada Athletic Commission has suspended Bevon Lewis due to a failed drug test for the use of marijuana.
At the NAC's monthly meeting, earlier this week, it was announced that Lewis would be retroactively suspended for six months and would be fined a total of $1,345.36 ($1,200 fine + $145.36 in legal fees).
The suspension stems from a failed urine test which was submitted on Nov. 7 following Lewis' third-round TKO loss against Trevon Giles which resulted in the UFC releasing the Georgia-born middleweight.
Should Lewis pay the fines in total, he can return to competition on May 7.
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