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Turns out Andy Kaufman isn't dead, but he's not funny
UFC 241 faceoffs
Jose Aldo wants to drop to 135, beginning with title shot vs. Henry Cejudo
“I sat down with everybody, did a study, and I think there’s a real possibility I can make [135 pounds]. This is the new division I want to move to, and I’m asking for the title shot right away. That’s what matters for me now. Cejudo said he’s open to anyone, so I’m open to that. I want the opportunity to fight him and beat him. He’s an Olympic champion, a great athlete, and I respect his history a lot. He deserves everything he’s winning. If the UFC thinks it’s a great fight, I think they’ll want that, it’s a huge challenge. ... Nobody expected him to beat [Marlon Moraes] on the feet, you have to respect that. To me that’s great, it’s a good size for me, he has a fighting style that pleases me, that matches up well with my game. If it’s against him or not, I think about being adapted to the weight, fast and strong, which will be my differential in this division.” h/t MMA Fighting • Combate (original Portuguese)
Cody Garbrandt schedules surgery, out until early 2020
The former UFC bantamweight champion suffered a torn tendon in a training session last week; surgery has been scheduled. 'No Love' seeks a return to the octagon in the first quarter of 2020. Garbrandt overcame a back injury, and most recently was cleared to return from a hand and wrist injury, until this latest setback. The fighter started his career 11-0, but has now lost three in a row. h/t MMA Junkie
Embedded, UFC 241, episode 6: Angel
DC: I was a 'broken man' when I started fighting
“When I left the Olympics after the second time, there wasn’t much left of Daniel Cormier. You’re a guy who captained the Olympic team and you don’t get to step on the mat [due to hospitalization during weight cut]? It broke me down and it should have. So when I got this second opportunity to start fighting I understood who I was — because I was broken. I was like a broken man when I started fighting. I was like, ‘man, if this thing works out for me, I want to appreciate these opportunities. I took for granted the Olympics. I took for granted being the number one guy in the U.S. I want to make sure I don’t take this for granted. I always work hard and I always stay true to the lessons I learned as a young kid wrestling.” h/t MMA Fighting
Embedded: UFC 241, episode 5: Superstition
Stamp Fairtex aiming for world MMA championship
Chatri Sityodtong: "I had the precious opportunity today to spend the afternoon at Fairtex to watch two-sport ONE Atomweight World Champion Stamp Fairtex train (as well as the rest of the Fairtex Fight Team). If you notice our photo together, Stamp has 3 fingers pointed up because her dream in the future is to win the ONE Atomweight World Championship in the sport of mixed martial arts to add a 3rd sport to her world title collection. I was super impressed with her fast-developing mixed martial arts skills! Stamp will be making her MMA debut later this year. If there is anyone who can be a World Champion in Muay Thai, Mixed Martial Arts, and Kickboxing at the same time, it is Stamp!" h/t Facebook
Dana White reacts to Conor McGregor bar jab video
“That happened in April. I knew that happened, they just got the video. It’s pretty bad. Not allegedly, it’s pretty clear. So apparently this was in a pub in Ireland and it was an argument over whiskey. Conor has a whiskey now and it was an argument over the whiskey and Conor reaches out and hits him with a left hook. I don’t know the context of it. I don’t know the entire story but he punches a guy, an older man, in the face. ... You get to a point where you look at a guy like Conor and you look at the bus incident in New York and the camera, the phone, the guy took the picture of him in Miami and he slaps the phone — what’s the number? What’s it going to cost Conor McGregor before he decides ‘all right, this isn’t worth it, enough is enough, I need to stop doing this’. The incident in New York cost him millions. Millions he had to pay out. He had to pay the guy with the phone. What’s he going to pay this guy that he hit in the bar? The list just goes on and on. I just don’t know when he wakes up and says ‘I’ve got to stop doing this’.” h/t MMA Fighting • Watch Jim Rome interview
Chael Sonnen: Jon Jones will get replaced by Israel Adesanya
"Israel Adesanya is going to be the one that grabs the torch and moves that organization forward, for sure. He will become the biggest star and the talk will quickly be that he is the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Jones is getting replaced. Over time, [Jones, 32] is going to have to move weight class if he wants to be remembered. ... He needs to expand, he needs to show on some level that he can go out there and compete with Cormier clean. I don’t think he realizes how quick that clock is winding down. He will not be the world champion at 35 years old. He absolutely will not be. He likely, will not even be the main event or co-main event by 36 years old. By 37 years old, he will be fighting for his place in the sport. That’s just the way it goes.” h/t BJPenn.com • Watch Beyond The Fight (10:13)
Khabib Nurmagomedov: Gov't must smash Conor McGregor
“I think these people have to go jail, bro. This happened in Ireland? What happened about Ireland government? We guys from Russia have problem with visa, but why this bull$#!@ guy don’t have problem with visa in USA? ... These people, they have to go jail. ... I told you guy, this guy have no class, no respect. This is very bad for sport. Somethings he’s done are good for sport but right now, he without his mind. He lose his mind. It’s crazy and government has to smash him, this is my opinion. I’m really, really mad about this video. I don’t understand how you can punch old man. How you can punch him. Even if he punch your face 10 times, 20 times. This is big, big disrespect, not only for this old guy, this is big disrespect for all people. ... 100 percent [they should arrest him]. Today he punches old guy, what’s gonna happen tomorrow? Nobody knows.” h/t MMA Fighting • Watch TMZ Sports interview
We don't deserve the Diaz brothers
Ronda Rousey lands recurring role on FOX's ‘9-1-1’
Bigfoot signs with BKFC
White: Next McGregor fight hinges on two fight outcomes
Dana White on trilogy fight vs. Nate Diaz: “I don't know. That, I don’t know. See how Saturday goes, see how September goes, and then see what happens with Conor.” On Saturday, Nate Diaz fights Anthony Pettis. On 9/7 at UFC 242 lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov fights interim champ Dustin Poirier. With a win on Saturday, a trilogy fight vs. Diaz would seem inevitable, but could be trumped by a title shot, vs. either Nurmagomedov or Poirier. h/t MMA Junkie • Watch (10:28 mark)
Nate Diaz still holds records
Most UFC Subs: Charles Oliveira (13), Royce Gracie (11), Demian Maia (10), Nate Diaz (9) • Most UFC/WEC subs from bottom: Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis (tie, 5). Most consecutive subs in modern UFC: Nate Diaz, Maia, Oliveira (tie, 4) • Significant strikes per minute: Duane Ludwig (6.72), Bryan Barberena (5.69), Nate Diaz (5.34) • Most significant strikes landed in a 3 round fight: Nate Diaz (238, vs. Cowboy Cerrone at UFC 141) • Most performance bonuses: Donald Cerrone (18), Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon (tie, 15) • 1,092-day layoff is the longest of Diaz's 15-year career. h/t MMA Junkie
Stipe Miocic: I won't make the same mistake twice
“100 percent I made a mistake, but this sport is all about mistakes. Every fighter who has ever set foot in the [Octagon] has made mistakes. He makes mistakes, too, and does the same ones over and over. I don’t spend much time thinking of that because it’s just all talk that doesn’t mean anything. Not just this last fight, but every fight, we go through it and we see what I did wrong and we try to figure how we can fix it and how we can be better the next time. I just laugh when I hear stuff like this. It’s not like he knows something about me that I don’t know or that my coaches don’t know. I just picked a bad time to make a mistake, and he capitalized on it.” h/t Yahoo Sports
Ponzinibbio Scheme: Drop to 155, KO Khabib Nurmagomedov
UFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio is on a 7-fight win streak, and another win or two from a title shot, but he's willing to drop, too: “Khabib, he’s 27-0, I can finish this guy, I know. The first guy to beat this guy, is an exciting opportunity too. For good opportunity, of course, I do 155.” 'The Eagle' fights interim champ Dustin Poirier on 9/7 September 2019 at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi. The next title challenger is likely Tony Ferguson. h/t MMA Mania • Watch (8:34)
PFL boss and Kayla Harrison 'asolutely' interested in Cris Cyborg
PFL President Ray Sefo: “Absolutely, we’re interested in Cris Cyborg. Cris Cyborg is a legend. She’s been around the long time and she’s been a champion for many years. A champion in different organizations. Our team is talking to her team and hopefully, we can make something happen. She’s in a situation where she’s shopping right now. She’s probably talking to Bellator, ONE FC and so on, so we’ll see. For her, I would love to sign her but we’ll just have to wait and see how that all pans out.” Top PFL lightweight Kayla Harrison: “Absolutely. Come on down, Cris. It would be great. Listen, whether or not she loses to Amanda [Nunes], she’s still one of the greatest and to be the greatest, you’ve got to beat one of the greatest. So I’m happy to take that fight on, I’m happy to climb that mountain and take on that challenge. Right now, I’m going to focus on winning this season and hopefully Cris decides to slide on over to the PFL.” h/t MMA Fighting
Embedded: UFC 241, episode 4: Strong arm
DC: Miocic may be making one massive mistake
“In the build-up to this fight — and there are a lot of things that have been said — I feel he was fighting well. He took me down, he hit me with some good shots. When you listen to him talk, it sounds like I landed a lucky punch. Like it wasn’t very competitive. If that’s the mindset he’s training with, I think it’s a massive mistake. I was very honest with myself that he hit me. I mean one time he hit me with two right hands back-to-back. One time he hit me and I wasn’t even looking at him. It landed clean on the button. ... He’s frustrated sitting from afar — I would love for him to come in there and try to kill me. It’ll make it worse. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not afraid of anybody. I think that’s what people don’t really, truly get. I think he feels he was giving his best. And if that was his best, it’s not enough. ... I respect the guy, I just think I’m better than him.” h/t MMA Mania • Watch (12:18)
