UFC heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis could be facing a lengthy layoff following his KO victory over Curtis Blaydes at UFC Vegas 19 — Fightful has you covered on how long "The Black Beast" could be sidelined as well as other news from around the world of MMA.
Derrick Lewis Potential Six-Month Layoff Headlines UFC Vegas 19 Medical Suspensions
UFC Vegas 19 has come and gone and that means the unfortunate part of combat sports has also come...injuries.
Derrick Lewis notched the biggest win of his career in the form of a second-round KO over Curtis Blaydes during the evening's main event, but "The Black Beast" is facing a potential six-month layoff.
The entire suspension list can be found below.
Derrick Lewis — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by Orthopedic Dr.
def. Curtis Blaydes — No contest until Apr. 22
Yana Kunitskaya — No suspension
def. Ketlen Vieira — No contest until Apr. 7
Darrick Minner — No contest until Mar. 14
def. Charles Rosa — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by Orthopedic Dr.
Chris Daukaus — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by Orthopedic Dr.
def. Aleksei Oleinik — No contest until Apr. 7
Phil Hawes — No contest until Mar. 23
def. Nassourine Imavov — No contest until Mar. 23
Tom Aspinall — No contest until Mar. 14
def. Andrei Arlovski — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by Orthopedic Dr.
Jared Gordon — No contest until Mar. 23
def. Danny Chavez — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by Orthopedic Dr.
John Castaneda — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by Orthopedic Dr.
def. Eddie Wineland — No contest until Apr. 7
Julian Erosa — No suspension
def. Nate Landwehr — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by ENT Dr.
Casey O'Neill — No contest until Mar. 23
def. Shana Dobson — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by Ophthalmologist
Aiemann Zahabi — No suspension
def. Drako Rodriguez — No contest until Apr. 22
Sergey Spivac — No contest until Mar. 14
def. Jared Vanderaa — No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by ENT Dr.
***Jamall Emmers was unable to compete. No contest until Aug. 20 or until cleared by Orthopedic Dr.***
UFC Announces Launch Of Dana White Contender Series: Asia, Partnership With Migu
The UFC has announced a partnership with Migu, to stream live events in China, beginning with UFC 259 as well as the launch of an Asian-based Dana White Contender Series.
The deal notes that the network will play host to an annual schedule of 12 pay-per-view cards and 30 UFC Fight Night events to stream on the platform, as well as the aforementioned upcoming Dana White Contender Series: Asia.
“We are proud to call Migu the new home of UFC in China,” UFC Asia-Pacific senior vice president Kevin Chang stated.
“Migu is the clear industry leader, and UFC will be among other top echelon sports properties on the platform," Chang continued. "This ‘first of its kind’ partnership will be transformative for our growth and development and will firmly entrench UFC as an iconic global sports brand. The scope of this deal with Migu is unprecedented, and we’re looking forward to all the exciting projects we’ll work together on over the next few years.”
“Sports are an important way to improve people’s health, a means to satisfy people’s aspirations for a better life, promote people’s all-round development, and a significant driving force for economic and social development,” Migu general manager Liu Xin stated. “Together with UFC, we will make full use of China Mobile’s 5G market leadership and Migu’s experience in the industry to bring exciting content in sports and health and promote the digital transformation and high-quality development of the sports industry.”
(h/t to MMA Junkie for the quotes)
Jairzinho Rozenstruik Admits He's Not Ready For UFC Heavyweight Title Shot
A pair of UFC heavyweight contender's hold the marquee at UFC Vegas 20 this weekend when Jairzinho Rozenstruik takes on Cyril Gane.
"I want to take out Gane, then I want to fight once more before the title," Rozenstruik told MMA Junkie's John Morgan.
When asked about that one fight before a title shot, should he beat Cyril Gane, Rozenstruik was asked about a potential showdown with Derrick Lewis, who's less then a week removed from knocking out top contender Curtis Blaydes at UFC Vegas 19.
"That fight makes sense but I don't want to walk into that right hand," joked Rozenstruik. "I just want to be ready for a title fight and I don't feel like that I'm ready right now that's why I'm saying that I want one more fight after this."
Walt Harris And Wife Angela Launch Foundation In Honor of Late Daughter
UFC heavyweight contender Walt Harris and his wife, Angela had to deal with a parent's worst nightmare when their daughter, Aniah Blanchard was kidnapped and murdered in 2019.
The unspeakable tragedy has made way for the launch of the Aniah's Heart Foundation.
The non-profit organization will seek to prevent families from going through what the their family unfortunately had to.
Aniah’s Heart Foundation will provide resources to help families searching for a missing loved one and help teach self-defense and awareness training to hopefully prevent further kidnappings.
“When a family member has a missing loved one, you really don’t know what you need to do,” Harris told UFC.com. “The contributions we receive for Aniah’s Heart will go towards lodging, food, travel and other costs you just wouldn’t think about. We needed clothes on the fly, food and a place to stay when everything first happened."
“It becomes very, very expensive very quickly, and we realized how much goes into everything in real time," Harris admitted. "In those moments, parents aren’t even thinking of anything related to those things. You don’t think about renting a helicopter that costs $10,000 to search the areas from the air, you are just doing anything you can to try and find your child. We want to ease that stress as families are going through and those issues in the middle of that horrible process. We just want to be a buffer and blessing in that situation.”
The foundation will focus on four key aspects into stopping futurue kidnapping situations.
1). Safety and Awareness Education: Live Talks, taking place on social media, are information-driven sessions that disseminate tips, personal safety strategies, and heightened awareness of potential safety risks to those vulnerable to potential violent crimes.
2.) Self-Defense Training: Local in-person and mobile sessions provide skills training from expert instructors to people of all ages.
3.) Search and Rescue: Aniah’s Heart Foundation is a fundamental resource for organizing and providing support for search and rescue field operations that align with state and local officials (*More than 600,000 people are abducted in the United States annually).
4.) Support Families of Missing Victims: Help families survive, manage, recover and cope from the crisis of being victimized.
Angela Hill Claims Tecia Torres Doesn't Want To Fight Her
UFC strawweight contender Angela Hill returns to the octagon at UFC Vegas 20 when she meets fellow strawweight Ashley Yoder. However, if it was up to Hill, Tecia Torres would be the one standing across from her on Saturday night.
"My manager called me and said Tecia doesn't want the fight," Hill told MMA Junkie during her pre-fight media availibility.
"I think she's a punk," Hill said of Torres. "I think she doesn't want to fight someone that she's already beaten. She made that mistake when she fought Rose again and she lost. She seems to be pretty proud that she beat her even though it was like eight years ago. So, I feel like that ship has sailed and she's not going to do it again and ride off the fact that she beat me when I only had like two fights in the UFC."
Max Holloway Has Interest In Conor McGregor Rematch
Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has his eyes set on many things in his near-future...including attempting to right a wrong against former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
The brash-Irishman took a unanimous decision over Max Holloway at UFC Fight Night 26 back in 2013 and both men have seen multiple title reigns and outside of the octagon successes since their first encounter.
"Timing is everything in this sport," Holloway told Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie.
"We'll see what happens," Holloway said of a potential rematch with McGregor. "Give the guy some time. I don't want to kick a man when he's down or at the bottom, so let him figure out his stuff and I'll be right here."
Stephen Thompson Still Has Title Aspirations Despite Previous Shortcomings
Perennial UFC welterweight contender Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson still has his eyes set on UFC gold.
The recently-turned 38-year old came up short in his previous bid at the UFC's welterweight title when he fought to a majority-draw against then-champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 205. Thompson would get a rematch but would come up short and drop a majority-decison to Woodley at UFC 209.
However, "Wonderboy" still has hopes to wrap UFC gold around not only his waist, but akso his father's.
"My dad talks about that title every day...I'm wrapping that belt around his waist," Thompson told Mike Heck on his "What The Heck" podcast.
"I wouldn't be winning just for me...but for everyone who helped me get here. My coaches, my teammates but especially my dad." Thompson continued. "My dad's been with me everyday. He talks about that title every single day as if he's the one fighting for it. Winning that title would be the world to not only me, but him as well."
Pedro Munhoz Claims To Have "Squashed" Beef With Petr Yan, Title Fight Still Possible
UFC bantamweight contender Pedro Munhoz and the division's champion Petr Yan have apparently squashed their beef after having several social media back-and-forths over the past few months.
Munhoz (18-5) takes on Jimmie Rivera, this weekend at UFC Vegas 20 and thinks there's a clear path towards UFC gold, should he be victorious Saturday night.
If the Munhoz-Yan fight were to take place, there'll be no ill-will, according to Munhoz.
“Yes, we spoke, it's all good," Munhoz told MMA Fighting.
“We have to talk to the American Top Team leaders so we have an answer about that and work on who we’re fighting next," said Munhoz. "But as of right now, I don’t know, because I don’t know how long he’s going to train [at ATT], if he’s going to be part of the team or not.”
UAE Warriors Lightweight Champion Bruno Machado "Frustrated" By Lack Of UFC Interest
Bruno Machado, who holds lightweight gold in the UAE Warriors promotion, is "frustrated" by the lack of interest by UFC President, Dana White.
Machado, who successfully defended his title on earlier this year, now wants to face all former UFC fighters until he catches White's eye.
“By the time I got in there to fight, [White] wasn’t around the cage there anymore,” Machado told MMA fighting when speaking of Dana White, who attended the Jan. 15 event where Machado defended his title.
“He didn’t even watch my fight. When my fight was over, I looked around and couldn’t find him," said Machado. "Truth is, I think the only reason he went there was to talk to Khabib. If you watch the fight, [Lebout] had more than 30 fights and a 20-10 record, and I made him look like a beginner,” Machado said. “I dominated him from start to finish. I don’t think he would have gone past the fourth round. It was a bit frustrating for me that [White] hasn’t watch it, but it’s OK. “I want to keep this belt and, if possible, continue to score wins over former UFC fighters until I get that chance. I’ll make the most of my chance and prove my worth. I’ll call for the toughest opponents.”
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