The poster for UFC 257 has been revealed, Colby Covington makes his prediction for between Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier and much more — this is your Fightful Fix news roundup.
UFC 257 Poster Revealed
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier are set to square off at UFC 257 in a rematch of their UFC 178 bout which ended when the brash Irishmen TKO'd Poirier in the first round.
Check-out the poster for their rematch below:
OFFICIAL: Your Poirier-McGregor 2 poster has landed ------
— UFC (@ufc) December 23, 2020
[ #InAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/fbvMEO2RBE
Colby Covington Predicts UFC 257 Main Event, Comments On Potential Jorge Masvidal Bout
Former interim UFC middleweight champion Colby Covington recently spoke with Submission Radio and covered a myriad of topics.
"Chaos" had the following to say on the UFC 257 main event between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier:
“My best fake friend Dustin Sorrier. All I can say guys, is you guys make sure you got the Kleenex ready at the press conference, because you know Dustin Sorrier is gonna break down on the mic, he’s gonna cry to the world, get everybody to feel sympathy and feel bad for him. He’s gonna get sparked again in the first round, because he’s completely washed up and has no chin anymore and no heart.”
“It’s not gonna be competitive,” Covington added. “I think Conor’s just gonna spark him first round. Just get the Kleenex ready, cause Dustin’s gonna be crying up a storm at the press conference and getting everybody to feel bad for him. ‘Wah-wah, feel bad for me, I didn’t accomplish my dream.’ Yeah, cause you’re a (expletive). You didn’t work hard enough for it. What is up with society these days? People think that everyone should get a participation trophy. Dustin needs his safe space. Go in your safe space, Dustin.”
On a potential bout against his former teammate Jorge Masvidal, Covington stated:
“I’m good to go on my end. I’m ready to go. I gave them my verbal agreement, and I’m a man of my word. I’m gonna show up and do what I do best, that’s win and fight hard and put on a show for the fans around the world.”
“Getting Jorge ‘Street Judas’ Masvidal on board is a whole other story,” Covington said. “The guy, I mean, he’s got no options, and he thinks he’s gonna fight Conor (McGregor), he wants the easy fight with the ‘soy boy’ Nate Diaz. The guy is desperate right now. You don’t want to fight the No. 1 guy in the world? I’m the No. 1 guy in the world.”
“Where’s he at now? Now you haven’t heard a peep out of him. He’s completely silent. I think it’s going to show the fans the truth, and he’s gonna lose all that street cred. All that street cred for being a badass mother (expletive), for being a street king and a street fighter, and just the baddest dude who would show up at any time, he’s losing all that credibility by the day, because he’s nowhere to be found.”
“There’s a reason he doesn’t want to fight me, because he’s experienced this fight before,” Covington said. “He knows how this fight plays out, and he doesn’t want to get embarrassed in front of the whole world. So, he’s in hiding right now.”
“They (UFC) said it was gonna be a tough task because he doesn’t want to fight you. They pretty much told me that he plain and simple told them that he doesn’t like the style match-up. You’re in the UFC fighting the best fighters in the world, you claim to want to be the best in the world, and you don’t like a style match-up? Like, what is this, The Real Divas of Atlanta? What are we doing? I thought we were the Ultimate Fighting Championship, not the Ultimate Feelings Championship. That’s why he’s never been the Ultimate Fighting Champion. He’s been nothing more than a broken mediocre fighting champion.”
Daniel Cormier Thinks Khabib Nurmagomedov Will Only Return For Georges St-Pierre Bout
Recently retired former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight Daniel Cormier recently spoke with MMA Fighting and commented on Khabib Nurmagomedov's recent retirement. "DC" thinks that teammate and current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will only come out of retirement for a super-fight against former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Cormier then got in-depth on the reasoning behind the comments:
“I think that when we look at these things and Dana as a promoter and the head of the UFC, that’s what he’s supposed to do,” Cormier told MMA Fighting. “He’s supposed to be hopeful that he gets another Khabib Nurmagomedov fight. Why wouldn’t he? I think that’s where we are today. I don’t know for certain that Khabib is going to fight. I don’t know if he’s not going to fight. I try to keep our relationship a friendship. I don’t want to always be talking to him about things about his career because he’s a star.
“But if you’re Dana White, I think he’s playing it the exact way he needs to and I don’t know where Khabib is personally. But if you ask me still, I know this guy is a man of his word so I don’t know what he’s going to do.”
“It would have to be Georges St-Pierre,” Cormier said. “I believe that a big fight is what he would want in order to just prove himself. Like you said, Khabib Nurmagomedov is just trying to make history and a win over Georges St-Pierre would do exactly that for him.
“When your resume becomes so big, not many things can add value to it. If he can go and fight GSP and beat GSP, that adds value.”
“It’s a great fight,” Cormier said. “I think Georges has good takedown defense. I think Georges has good striking. The highest level striking we had seen for a long time. Georges was one of those guys that almost seemed to be ahead of the times. He almost ahead of the times. Like we were learning to strike or wrestle while Georges was able to do them both at the same time. That was very rare back then and that’s why he stood out so far above everybody else.
“If he fought Khabib, especially the Khabib that you saw against Justin Gaethje where people thought that he didn’t have in the standup, he was at a clear disadvantage. The way he fought in the standup, that tells you he’s got a guy in front of him that can do just about anything.”
Jessica Andrade Has Eyes Set On Becoming First Ever UFC Triple Champion
Former UFC women's strawweight champion Jessica Andrade is expected to challenge UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko sometime in 2021 but "Bate Estaca" has her eyes set on even more gold in her future.
When speaking with MMA Fighting, Andrade laid out her plans for 2021 and beyond:
“I told Dana [White], I told the UFC that right now I’m floating, I’ll be wherever they need me,” she said. “If I win the flyweight title, I definitely want a chance to fight for the belt with Zhang Weili again and maybe become a two-division champion.”
“It’s easier for Amanda because there are almost no girls at 145, and she fights once a year at 135,” she added. “At 115 and 125, I would have to fight at least six times a year, so that would be more complicated. But reclaiming the 115 title is definitely something I want really bad.”
“Who knows, maybe I go crazy down the line and want to fight for the [bantamweight] belt too, right?” Andrade concluded. “Anything can happen in life. Can you imagine? I’ll have three, it would be great. A champion in three different weight classes, that will be great.”
Jordan Leavitt Responds To Negative Comments About His UFC Vegas 16 Knockout Celebration
Undefeated UFC lightweight prospect Jordan Leavitt virally slam KO'd now-retired Matt Wiman at UFC Vegas 16 to improve his professional record to 8-0.
After the knockout, Leavitt celebrated with his patented victory-split, which garnered much negativity on social media since Wiman was still seemingly unconscious during the celebration.
When appearing on the "What The Heck" podcast, Leavitt responded to the negative comments made about his celebration:
“It took until my 12th fight to get a knockout and it was on the biggest stage; a main card in the UFC. I didn’t see it coming that way, via a ‘Rampage’ slam. I definitely don’t train for that one so that was cool.”
“These are the same people that loved it when Jorge Masvidal bodied Ben Askren when he patted the ground, these are the same people that love it when there’s just blood everywhere. Just screw ‘em,” Leavitt explained. “Their opinion doesn’t mean much. They’re very fickle. I’m sure if I had gotten knocked out, he would’ve jumped on the cage, screamed into the camera. But you fall into a quick split and then you walk to the cage and realize he’s not waking up right away, and then they go to commercial break because you’re crying."
“So it’s like, ‘You’re the bad guy,’ and I’m like,’ This is an ugly sport.’ I was upset by the way I won, but, literally, there are many more brutal knockouts than that all the time and people cheer for it. So it’s like, ‘Your boos mean nothing, I see what makes you cheer’ kind of a thing. It was hard for me, not as hard for me as it was for Matt or his wife. But I waited for him to wake up before I did the Dirty Dancing lift."
“The reason I did it twice is because Bruce Buffer was like, ‘C’mon, I missed it. You have to do it,’ and when Bruce Buffer asks you something, I was like, ‘All right Bruce, I’ve been wanting to talk to you since I was 14. This lift’s for you.’ But I understand that the way it was cut, it seemed tasteless. But in reality if you’ve been watching the sport for longer than 24 hours, you see some pretty distasteful things. I’m sorry if I offended people, but also, grow up.”
“I didn’t know exactly what to say. I just said, ‘I’m sorry,’ Leavitt explained. “Because I was sorry. I was sorry that I won that way and she was very composed and she said, ‘This is the fight game. It happens,’ which kind of made me feel worse. She was cool about it when I’m not cool with it. I just said I was sorry. I said, ‘Your husband is a good man.’ I’m not sure if she reached out to hug me, or I reached out to hug her, but I went back in the cage. But I said I was sorry. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what I should say.”
“It was really weird because I used to be a big fan of his when I was younger,” Leavitt said. “A lot of the tactics that he used were like 10 years ahead of the time—like dropping for leg locks, pulling guard, shooting for single legs, scrambles—a lot of stuff that I thought was interesting and that I still implement today. So when I saw his name I was like, ‘Oh, that’s weird. He’s one of my favorites.’
“I had mixed feelings coming into this fight. I went in thinking I don’t want to get knocked out by Matt Wiman, but I don’t want to knock Matt Wiman out. He’s never been submitted before so I was planning on being rugged and for me to ride out a decision. So the fight was anticlimactic. I got pretty lucky and fortunate with that slam. It was a scary knockout and I hope I don’t have to win that way again, but if the opportunity presents itself, I will slam you.”
Chase Hooper Admits Joe Rogan And Daniel Cormier's Commentary Bothered Him
At UFC 256, Chase Hooper locked-in a last second submission to steal a victory over Peter Barrett.
After the first two rounds, it was clear that Barrett was up on all three judge's scorecards and Hooper needed a finish, which he secured.
During the first 10-minutes, commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier were arguably tough on the 21-year old prospect, saying that he was "done" and "maybe needs to go get some more experience" before fighting again in the UFC.
Hooper appeared on the "What The Heck" podcast and had the following to say about the commentary during his bout:
“It’s brutal to hear these people that you kind of idolize a little bit sh*tting all over you,” Hooper said. “It’s hard to deal with. Some points were valid but I just feel like it was a little more accentuated than it needed to be. Obviously, I know I need to work on my striking, and I’m getting that situated. I’m gonna go to Thailand and get the work in that I need.
“But I think, because of this narrative that people have that, ‘Oh, his striking is so bad,’ but I was holding my own to an extent. I never felt out of there, I didn’t get rocked, I didn’t get anything significant landed on me anywhere besides my legs, so I feel like I’m making the improvements, but that was glossed over.
“I heard they were pretty brutal the whole night, overall. It’s just a little harder when it’s about you specifically.”
“You can see by my face that I don’t have a mark on me,” Hooper said. “It wasn’t a crazy, Rocky comeback like that but I feel like I let him control the distance too much. He, obviously, had the leg kicks, but there wasn’t a whole lot from either of us significantly back and forth scoring wise, so I definitely felt those leg kicks added up in that second round.
“So I didn’t feel like it was this crazy comeback, but I do think positionally because of those leg kicks, I was losing those first two rounds, but it was closer than people made it out to be. It was great to land that Imanari—which I’ve been practicing for months now—get to that position and realize, ‘I still have like three minutes left. I can take my time and kind of hang out here.’
“I was able to get into that Honey Hole position, where essentially both of my legs are safe, almost completely, and I have real good control over his leg where I was able to heel hook.”
Bec Rawlings Comments On Paige VanZant Signing With BKFC
Former UFC strawweight Bec Rawlings left the promotion in 2018 and signed with Bare Knuckle FC where she amassed a perfect 3-0 record and secured a title under the BKFC banner.
She recently left BKFC to return to MMA and signed with Bellator MMA where she's 1-1 and most recently fought right before the COVID-19 pandemic began in February, where she won a unanimous decision over Elina Kallionidou.
When speaking with MMA Fighting, Rawlings had some choice words for BKFC's most recent signing, fellow former UFC strawweight Paige VanZant:
“With Bare-Knuckle signing Paige it’s definitely garnered a lot of interest in people wondering if I’m going to fight her,” Rawlings said. “I would love that fight. I’m sure we could probably try to work something out with Bellator and Bare Knuckle, doing a cross promotion thing. I don’t know, I’d be down for that. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I was and then I wasn’t [surprised she signed with the BKFC] because they probably just threw a ridiculous amount of money at her and she’s just seeing dollar signs,” Rawlings continued. “She’s very naive and thinking it’s just two weapons and I don’t think she realizes the skill set it takes, especially in bare-knuckle boxing to not take damage.
“She hasn’t been the greatest with not taking damage. She’s known for being tough and that’s cause she takes a beating. I just don’t think she’s thought it through. I think after her first fight, whoever that is, I think she’ll probably realize that bare-knuckle boxing isn’t the sport for her.”
“I would love to avenge that loss,” she shared. “That loss still sits in the deep pit of my stomach and I’ve never let that go. I think that she has no hope in bare-knuckle boxing against me. I really don’t think she’s going to do well against any of the girls but especially with the girls I faced. I just don’t see her as a boxer. She’s never been a great boxer. She’s been a great grappler. A very good kicker. But boxing is a different game.
“I definitely feel like she wouldn’t get out of the first round with me. I’m very confident in that fight and I’d love to avenge my losses as best I could. Obviously it’s not MMA, it’s not avenging it completely but I would definitely love to fight her again.”
Belal Muhammad Aiming For Ranked Opponent In 2021
UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad is slated to face Dhiego Lima in early 2021 after their previous scheduled bout, set for UFC Vegas 17 was postponed after Muhammad tested positive for COVID-19.
Muhammad (17-3) told MMA Junkie Radio that he hopes their bout officially gets rescheduled, then wants a ranked opponent after a presumable win over Lima:
“It all depends on whether Lima wants to wait or not. This thing pushed me back a little bit just because if I do end up having to fight Lima again, I have a set plan where it’s like, ‘Alright, I beat Lima and now I finally get a ranked guy.’ I got my number now, he came up, basically got lucky because he got a ranked opponent now. It took me forever to get a ranked opponent, he got a ranked opponent so it’s all on him if he wants to wait for me to get healthy and fight me because your goal is to be in the rankings. So if he wants to wait for me, that’s a ranked guy, so why not wait for me?
“But if he doesn’t, cool, I don’t really care. I don’t have anything personal or anything against him. I just want a name, I want somebody to fight, and I wanna move up that ladder. I want to keep moving up that ladder. For me, the only thing that’s heartbreaking is I would have fought him, if I would have beat him, my next fight for sure would have been against a ranked guy. So let’s see who the UFC gives me now and see what they’re thinking now.”
“If it’s gonna be Lima again, I was already training for him, so hopefully that will be a lot easier if we could just do that and then pop that up in February real quick.”
Bellator Signs "Russian Ronda" Irina Alekseeva
Women's flyweight prospect Irina Alekseeva has agreed to a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA.
Alekseeva (3-1) is a three-time silver medalist at the Russian Judo Championships and a European gold medalist at Sambo Worlds.
The 30-year old Russian is coming off her first professional loss in December 2019 under the ProFC banner where she lost a unanimous decision to Liliya Kazak.
Phil Baroni Claims ONE Championship Has Fixed Fights
Former UFC welterweight Phil Baroni has claimed that his former employer, ONE Championship has put on multiple "worked fights" in the past.
Responding to a fan on Twitter who said he'd like to see Baroni fight YouTube sensation Jake Paul, Baroni claimed that all of former ONE Championship welterweight champion Ben Askren's title fights were fixed:
I mean does he just want to kill some jabroni bum?All @benaskren fights were worked.I mean I even put a Japanese guy over for @ONEChampionship Everyone knows ONE has worked fights https://t.co/l8sdbmtp3F
— phil baroni (@philbaroni) December 24, 2020
Askren is planning a boxing match with Paul on the 28th.
Chris Weidman Admits He May Be Cut From UFC With Another Loss
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is scheduled to face surging contender Uriah Hall at UFC 258 in February.
A loss to Hall has Weidman on the cusp of a potential release from the company.
The promotion has been undergoing a roster overhaul which will see as many as 60 fighters being released from the promotion in the coming weeks, according to UFC President Dana White.
When speaking with Fanatics View, Weidman addressed his murky UFC future:
“I’m not really worried about it but I wouldn’t be surprised,” Weidman began. “There’s nothing that surprises me. I don’t think I’m more special than anybody where they’re just gonna go like, ‘oh, Chris Weidman’s a guy we’re just going to keep forever no matter what.’”
“If I don’t prove I am a world class fighter and prove that I’m still title challenger ready? Then yeah, I can hundred percent see that [the UFC cutting me].”
“It’s unprecedented that they’re letting guys go with fights on their contract,” Weidman stated. “It really does put everybody in a position, if you’re in the UFC , of like, ‘oh crap.’ If you’re not winning right now? Especially if you’re getting paid a lot of money? It looks like they’re trying to get rid of you. [They want to] bring these younger guys up who they’re not paying as much money.”
Complete List Of UFC Fighters Who Have Tested Positive For COVID-19
Bloody Elbow has compiled a list of every UFC fighter that has tested positive for COVID-19 as well as how each of their fights have been canceled or rescheduled.
The list is as follows:
Lyman Good - April 4th
Jacare Souza - May 8th
Gilbert Burns - July 3rd
Anderson dos Santos - July 3rd
Vinicius Moreira - July 3rd
Pedro Munhoz - July 6th
Alexander Romanov - July 9th
Viviane Araujo - July 20th
Irene Aldana - July 22nd
Gerald Meerschaert - August 1st
Ion Cutelaba - August 11th
Mark Striegl - August 20th
Ovince Saint Preux - August 22nd
Giga Chikadze - August 26th
Nicco Montano - August 29th
Glover Teixeira - September 4th
Cody Garbrandt - September 4th
Thiago Moses - September 5th
Marco Rogerio de Lima - September 5th
Kevin Natividad - September 5th
Frank Camacho - September 10th
Thiago Santos - September 15th
Nate Landwehr - September 17th
Wellington Thurman - October 1st
Alejandro Perez - October 3rd
Mounir Lazzez - October 7th
Rafael dos Anjos - October 8th
Cynthia Calvillo - October 15th
Gabriel Benitez - October 27th
Makhmud Muradov - October 29th
Felipe Corales - November 1st
Renato Moicano - November 22nd
Curtis Blayds - November 27th
Kevin Holland - Nobvember 28th
Leon Edwards - December 1st
Alexandre Pantoja - December 4th
Movsar Evloev - December 5th
Angela Hill - December 7th
Karl Roberson - December 7th
Dwight Grant - December 8th
Jared Vanderaa - December 10th
Muslam Salikhov - December 15th
Belal Muhammad - December 15th
Rick Glenn - December 16th
Aiemann Zahabi - December 17th
Jordan Espinosa - December 22nd
UFC Will Air January 16th Card Live On ABC
UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar on January 16 marks a number of firsts for the promotion. It'll be the UFC's first card of 2021, their first card in three weeks and their return to network television.
According to MMA Junkie, the UFC has also canceled their January 30th card for unknown reasons. At this time, it's not known if the entire card or just the main card will be airing on ABC.
The event will mark the promotion's first appearance on network television since UFC on FOX 31 in December 2018.
Fightful has all of your MMA needs covered. Follow us on Twitter for updates, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive interviews, lists, news updates, and predictions.
