Fighters Only

Issue 120

October 2014

Morsels of Fighters Only musings on everything MMA.

3 rounds of action: FO scores MMA’s hottest stories

Round 1: CONOR McGREGOR’S LAS VEGAS ‘DIAMOND’ OPPORTUNITY

Irish featherweight sensation Conor McGregor gets the chance to build on his incredible homecoming success at UFC Dublin in July with a main card slot on September’s UFC 178 card in Las Vegas.

After finishing Diego Brandao inside one round, McGregor saw his stock rise into the UFC’s top 10 at 145lb. But he’s now getting the chance to climb even closer to a title opportunity after being matched up with sixth-placed Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier.

The ATT athlete is a teammate of Cole Miller, the man who was supposed to face McGregor in Dublin only to be replaced by Brandao after picking up an injury, and McGregor believes the fact Poirier didn’t step in then is a clear indication he doesn’t want to face him at all.

McGregor said: “His own teammate Cole Miller pulled out of the fight in Dublin and both Dustin Poirier, a top 10 guy, and Nik Lentz, a top 10 guy, both would have known about this injury before the UFC would have known and neither of them had fights scheduled. Yet neither campaigned for the fight, even though it was a main event slot.

“So I know that he doesn’t want the fight. He can pretend that he wants it and send out his little tweets about this and that. But let’s do it. I will take every one of them out, and if next in line is Dustin that’s no problem.”

FO SCORE: If McGregor is going to get a shot at the UFC belt then he will have to break into the top five at 145lb, making non-wrestler Poirier the ideal opponent.

Round 2: TITLE CHALLENGER VITOR BELFORT WALKING ON EGGSHELLS

Vitor Belfort’s career, along with his December 6th UFC middleweight title chance opposite Chris Weidman, rests upon him coming through the preceding months clean, insists the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The former light heavyweight champion received a conditional license to face Weidman at UFC 181, but must commit to any form of drug testing – at his own expense – required by any commissioner at any time in the run up to the fight.

Belfort accepted the terms of the license, saying: “I know like the UFC is my authority, you’re my authority... I’ll fully collaborate with you.”

FO SCORE: Belfort is going to have to be prepared to jump through hoops to appease the NSAC which also stated it was not prepared to “be embarrassed” by the Brazilian. He drops the ball now and his career could be over.

Round 3: ‘FIGHTERS ABOVE 170LB NOT MIXED MARTIAL ARTISTS’

UFC lightweight Josh Thomson told Fox Sports recently that he doesn’t rate any fighter from middleweight up, despite being a teammate of UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez at American Kickboxing Academy.

“You hit 185, 205, and heavyweight, those guys are always just good at, like, one thing, two things, but they’re not great all the way around. There’s ways to finish them,” Thomson said.

“They’re not mixed martial artists. They’re not as good as the 155lb’ers and below, they’re just not. To me that’s just a fact.”

FO SCORE: With Velasquez, Daniel Cormier and Luke Rockhold all in camp at AKA right now we’re wondering whether Thomson is regretting his comments when it comes to grabbing a training partner on the mats.

ON THE RADAR

Three red-hot prospects worth keeping an eye on...

Joseph Duffy, 10-1

Back in MMA after a three-year dip into professional boxing, Duffy has re-signed with Cage Warriors and makes his long awaited return on August 16 at the Helix in his hometown of Dublin. His original 10-0 run in the sport included back-to-back submission victories over UFC stars Conor McGregor and Norman Parke no less.

Michelle Nicolini, 2-0

The 32-year-old six-time jiu-jitsu world champion is transitioning nicely into MMA, judging by her most recent performance, winning by devastating armbar. Considering she’s a black belt under current UFC light heavy Robert Drysdale, and the fact the promotion is scouring the earth for strawweight talent, she could be hot property very soon.

Justin Rader, 2-0

Wrestling from the age of four, Rader transitioned to jiu-jitsu to become a black belt under Rafael Lovato Jr. He’s won numerous BJJ championships, including the world no-gi at brown belt, and is considered by many as one of the best top control players in the game. Now in MMA, he’s 2-0 and just signed with Texas-based promotion Legacy FC.

STAR SIGHTING: DEMI LOVATO

Who? Former Disney actress now singer

Where? UFC 175, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Demi Lovato may not look like the biggest fight fan, especially considering her past as a Disney Channel star, however, no one seemed more excited at UFC 175 than the pint-sized singer who managed to strike up an unlikely friendship with UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman.

QUOTES

“I could sit here and say a thousand times that the sport passed me by, but it’s just there are just such quality people in the UFC at the moment.”

BJ Penn’s retirement speech brought tears to our eyes too.

“Bjorn Rebney made this thing confrontational, and you know me, if you want to poke me, I’ll poke you back.”

Former Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney is definitely off Dana White’s Christmas card list.

“I had a million people asking me if I was retiring for wrestling, but honestly speaking, if I didn’t get seriously paid to do it I wouldn’t do it. I think it would be disrespectful to my legacy in the UFC if I didn’t do a deal that would make sense where I got paid! Besides, that s**t is harder on my body than fighting.”

Rashad Evans vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 31?

“The first time (the NSAC) randomly tested people, everybody failed. Imagine what that looks like across 450 athletes. Are we talking 60% or 70%? I really believe it’s somewhere in that range of fighters that are using.”

Tim Kennedy has his suspicions regarding how many fighters in the UFC are on the juice.