In the fast paced world of mixed martial arts we at Fighters Only know it’s hard to stay on top of all the latest news, so here’s five stories that may have flown under your radar this week…
Rory goes back to the future?
Just weeks after he officially signed with Bellator MMA, ‘The Red King’ Rory MacDonald has gone all Marty McFly and appears to want to take his career back to the early days of the sport. Taking to twitter he called out the entire Bellator roster with the following proposal – “no time limit, 1 round, open weight class, no judges.” We wonder if he spent the $50,000 bonus he picked up from last year’s Fight of the Year with Robbie Lawler on a DeLorean too!
DC–Rumble starts popping
Any thoughts of an amicable rivalry between two of the best 205lb fighters in the world were put to rest this week as UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and top contender Anthony Johnson went at it on twitter following DC’s announcement that he’s upping his commentary and analyst work for the UFC / FOX Sports. “I thought we were fighters… I know I am but maybe I’ll become a commentator,” said Johnson, which then prompted the following from Cormier: “…don’t know how many times I have to tell you. You will wait for your whipping until end of December. Why are you rushing? You know what’s going to happen.”
Weight a minute… what?
Cris Cyborg is going through a gruelling and challenging weight cut to ensure she hits 140lb and not a pound over by 11am local time tomorrow at the latest in Brasilia, Brazil. Much has been made of the reasoning behind pitting Cyborg against Lina Lansberg, who is also a regular featherweight fighter, at this catchweight bout. Adding a new wrinkle to the story is Lansberg’s confession that she would have been willing to fight Cyborg at 145lb, if the UFC had offered that to her. yet another twist in the bizarre working relationship between Cyborg and the Octagon.
2Tap to hang ’em up in Belfast
Irish MMA pioneer and current UFC flyweight Neil Seery confirmed yesterday that he’ll be hanging up his gloves following his next fight, with Ian McCall at UFC Fight Night Belfast on November 19th. “I’m going to get to walk away while I’m still in the UFC and not a lot of people get to do that,” said Seery. “A lot of people get cut from the UFC and then try to put a run back together to get back in. I’ve made this decision. My final fight will be against a man whose style I have admired for a long time. The fact that I get to have my final fight in Belfast is just a really nice bonus.” The 37-year-old’s UFC chance came out of nowhere in 2014 due to his now somewhat unflattering 16-12 pro record. Yet he’s rapidly become a surefire fan favorite due to his all action performances.
Bellator return to Europe
Having ventured into Europe this year with shows in Italy and England, Bellator are set to return to the land of pizza and pasta with Bellator 167, planed for Florence on December 10th. The show will be hybrid event combining Bellator Kickboxing and a MMA portion to the evening’s festivities. Headlining the MMA portion of the card will be former UFC fighters Alessio Sakara vs. Joe Beltran.
