Earlier this month, Bellator MMA president Scott Coker voiced his stance against the judges’ decision after Logan Storley defeated Michael Page by split decision. Also from this month, Carla Esparza defeated Rose Namajunas by split decision to become the UFC strawweight champion, in a fight which the judging was also questioned by many. Last month, UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling earned a split decision win over Petr Yan, leaving many asking questions about that decision as well.

You get the idea. There have been plenty of dubious decisions from judges, with little accountability. The four fights referenced are from within the past two months. If you have followed MMA for a long time, you know that we could spend all day picking fights from the past that led to head-scratchers from the judges.

UFC president Dana White has famously said many times that if a fighter is unhappy with a decision after a loss, then they should do everything possible to not let the fight go to the judges next time they’re in the cage. A fighter’s title shot or opportunity at a contract could be in the hands of the judges.

Many have suggested that MMA should allow open scoring, which would allow fans, fighters, their corner, basically everyone watching know what the score is in-between rounds. While that would spark a sense of urgency for the fighter who is trailing going into a final round, it could also lead to a boring final round for the leading fighter, who might be far more tactical than aggressive. Those types of performances generally lead to boos from the crowd, followed by some not-so-friendly comments by White in his post-fight press conference.

Let’s be honest, if we allowed open scoring, it makes the coach’s job easier because they know where the judges stand. Part of fighting is having a good corner who will be honest and view the fight objectively and coach the fighter in response to how each round goes.

Another suggestion thrown out there is to have former fighters serve as judges. While it’s a great idea, let’s be honest, fighters are connected to one another and there could be a lot more favoritism than people think, either due to training at the same gym, friendships or other type of connections.

So, what’s the solution here? Easy: media requirements.

It is time to hold judges accountable. The best way to do that is for commissions to require judges to do post-fight press conferences. It would force judges to have to explain some of their decisions.

You may not agree with everything they say, but at least fighters, coaches, promoters and fans can get the explanation that is needed after a fight. We all know the media will absolutely ask the necessary questions after a controversial decision.

If judges were forced to face the media and answer questions publicly, maybe it will make them take judging more seriously, in addition to being more accurate. UFC announcer Joe Rogan once called out a judge for “not watching” a fight at UFC 247.

Obviously, no judge will want to face a question about not paying attention.

When certain fights lead to questionable decisions, everyone speculates why some fights were scored in weird ways. Sometimes judges will favor a champion far more than the champion deserves. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones benefited from this after questionable decision wins over Thiago Santos at UFC 239 and Dominick Reyes in UFC 247.

Another reason why fans think judges unreasonably leaned toward a fighter is could be the hometown favoritism. Fans in attendance will always get behind the fighter from the hometown. Perhaps certain crowd reactions force judges to feel a certain type of way when scoring a fight. It’s also possible a judge might have a connection to a specific fighter.

At UFC 247, James Krause accepted a fight on 24 hours notice against Trevin Giles. Krause lost the fight by split decision, which was questioned by many. According to a write-up from MMA Fighting, which also sourced TSN, judge Joe Soliz received his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from Eric Williams, who coaches Giles and cornered him for UFC 247. That’s an unacceptable conflict of interest and biased decision that stands on Krause’s record forever, which is absolutely something Soliz should have to answer for.

The problem is there are far more complaints than actual attempts at a solution for poor and questionable judging. But if judges were required to do media interviews, we could see a change in the sport in a positive way.

Again: media requirements could pressure judges to pay closer attention, which in turn could lead to fewer controversial judges. And even if we still get the same kinds of decisions, at least the judges explain themselves, reducing speculation as to why certain judges scored fights in questionable ways, whether we agree or disagree.

The post Opinion: MMA Judges Should Be Required to Face Media After Events appeared first on Cageside Press.

For the longest time, White would tell the media “I don’t make fights the night of the fight” when peppered with questsions about future match-ups for fighters who were still cleaning up in the back. For a while, White stopped giving even that reply. Recently, any time he received a matchmaking question, White would instead give a vague answer, along the lines of “yeah” or “sounds good.”

White gets a lot of grief from the media. A lot of it is deserved. This isn’t one of those times. Unless there’s an obvious number one contender waiting in the wings, matchmaking shouldn’t be done the night of.

The UFC 274 post-fight press conference featured a myriad of matchmaking questions during White’s appearance on stage. Nothing out of the ordinary from the media. However, White brought back his “I don’t make fights the night of the fight” comment. He rejected multiple matchmaking questions after the event.

If you watch or listen to White’s post-fight press conferences, you recognize at least the voices of various media members. Some of these reporters only go to a couple of events, but there are some who attend just about every show or at least every UFC pay-per-view. Yet these same reporters who’ve asked White several questions over the course of the year still ask him matchmaking questions, knowing damn well that he doesn’t answer these types of questions.

And yes, we’ve done it once or twice ourselves.

How hard is this? Why is the media pretending like they don’t know what White’s response will be? Why is it that they act like they’ve never heard White dismiss matchmaking questions previously? Worse, when White opts to go with the “sounds good” or “makes sense” sort of responses, these get blown up into bigger stories suggesting fights are set in stone.

That’s not always the case, much like some of the leaked war room match-ups were placeholders, or just wistful thinking.

I get it. We’re all fans and there were some exciting moments during UFC 274, especially in the lightweight division. As a result, we are all curious as to what we should expect to see next.

I see nothing wrong with fans and the media wanting to discuss and speculate on what is next for each fighter. But please give the matchmaking questions the night of the fight to White a rest. You know he won’t give you an answer, so stop asking him matchmaking questions right after a pay-per-view. At this point, they’re just filler.

The post Dear MMA Media: Stop Asking Dana White Matchmaking Questions the Night Of the Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

Tate outlasted 10 other celebrities in a 29-day battle inside the Big Brother house to win the $250,000 grand prize.

Tate won six competitions this season, more than any other house guest. Tate won four Head of Household competitions and two Power of Veto contests. Tate made a statement from the very first day inside the Big Brother house. She won the first Head of Household competition of the season. Tate also won the final HOH competition during the live finale, where she got to decide the final evictee of the season and who she wanted to sit next to in the finals.

Tate aligned closely with singer, dancer and YouTube star Todrick Hall, who he defeated in the final two.

The biggest storyline of the season was Tate against Carson Kressley, a TV personality, actor and designer. Tate and Kressley targeted each other and worked together at different times during the game. However, it was the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion who got the last laugh when she and Hall voted to evict Kressley on Day 24 by a 2-1 vote.

Tate is still scheduled to fight Lauren Murphy on May 14 for UFC Fight Night 209. During her time in the Big Brother house, Tate mentioned she has an upcoming fight that she has to prepare for. Tate shared multiple stories about her MMA career while on the show, such as sharing an RV with two other friends in MMA as well as her rivalry with former UFC bantamweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey.

Some notable celebrities who Tate defeated include two-time NBA champion Lamar Odom, Nsync singer Chris Kirkpatrick, seven-time U.S. national medalist Mirai Nagasu and actor Todd Bridges.

Tate is the second Celebrity Big Brother contestant to represent the UFC and MMA community. UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell competed in the inaugural season of Celebrity Big Brother. Liddell was the first celebrity evicted, placing 11th that season.

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One gigantic heavyweight title fight that will draw a lot of attention and interest as we head into 2022 would be a rematch between UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and top heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis. The fans need it, and so does the UFC.

Yes, we know UFC president Dana White does not think that far ahead. The man frequently reminds reporters that he doesn’t book fights the night of the event, let alone weeks prior to a fight like Ngannou vs. Gane. But let’s be honest: MMA fans and MMA media always look ahead, whether we like to admit it or not. We know Ngannou has a tough test in late January against interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. If Ngannou retains his title, his next opponent should be Lewis.

Ngannou and Lewis met in the octagon back in 2018 at UFC 226 in Las Vegas. As someone who attended the event, this was the fight I was looking forward to the most.

The fight was a massive disappointment, with only 31 strikes thrown in three rounds as Lewis won by unanimous decision. Fans at T-Mobile Arena voiced their displeasure during the fight. The masses were even chanting “Fight! Fight! Fight!,” followed by the wave, typical phone-flashlights cageside and a bunch of boos throughout what was absolutely a lackluster bout.

The only cheer during the fight was when referee Herb Dean paused the action to tell the fighters to be more active, but that did not work. If you recall, UFC announcer Joe Rogan did not conduct a post-fight octagon interview with the victorious Lewis following the announced decision (this was actually the most fun fight of the night as an attendee, just for the pure entertainment from the fans and the reactions during the fight. But I know fans at home did not feel that way, though I am sure Twitter as always pulled through with some satire.).

Needless to say, we need that rematch in hopes that Lewis and Ngannou will both look better the second time around.

Ngannou had a weird year in 2018 where he did not look like the most feared heavyweight in UFC history. Outside of 2018, Ngannou has never had a fight go into the third round. All 11 of his UFC victories have come in either the first or second rounds. This past March, he demolished established heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, the man who holds the title defense record in the division.

Meanwhile, Lewis is coming off a knockout win over Chris Daukaus to keep himself in title contention. His knockout win earlier this month was his 13th as a UFC Fighter, which broke the promotion’s record. He’s won five of his last six. And following the victory, he had plenty to say about Ngannou. None of it was, in a word, kind.

Although Lewis could have made this rematch happen with a win over Gane at UFC 265 for the interim strap, his recent Daukaus win keeps him in title contention and likely keeps him as the favorite to earn the next title shot, regardless of the winner at UFC 270.

If Ngannou wins, the UFC and the fans will all get their wish and everyone can expect Ngannou vs. Lewis 2 at some point in 2022. Perhaps more importantly, Ngannou will get a chance to wash the stain of the pair’s first fight from his record — while Lewis might just prove that the third time is the charm in his quest for gold.

The post UFC Needs Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis Rematch in 2022 appeared first on Cageside Press.

It’s been a few years since we’ve seen such a shocking upset in the UFC. But then, they’re part of what makes the sport so unique — and despite a recent lull, there have been plenty of upsets over the years in the UFC. With that in mind, here’s our take on the 10 biggest upsets in UFC history.

10. UFC 70: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Mirko Cro Cop

Leading up to his fight against Gabriel Gonzaga in April of 2007, Mirko Cro Cop was 22-4-2 in his MMA career. This was just his second fight in the UFC after a successful run Pride. So successful that the bout was billed as a title eliminator, with Cro Cop the heavy favorite. But Gonzaga had other plans. His head-kick knockout is still considered one of the best knockouts of all time, and he became only the second person at the time to knock out Cro Cop.

Cro-Cop would later avenge this loss, finishing Gonzaga in the third round of their rematch. Being honest, however, most people remember the first fight.

The post Nunes vs. Pena, and the 10 Biggest Upsets in UFC History appeared first on Cageside Press.

According to a police report, Jones’ fiancée was bleeding from her nose and mouth. Jones reportedly pulled his fiancée’s hair because she tried to leave the room during a dispute with the former UFC light heavyweight champion. When police arrived to Jones’ hotel room at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, they noticed blood on his fiancée’s clothes as well as on the bed sheets.

Jones resisted arrest when being taken into custody. He also allegedly headbutted the front hood of a police car.

Prior to learning about these details, UFC president Dana White spoke to the media on Friday after the ceremonial weigh-ins and said “it’s not even shocking anymore.”

The list of incidents involving Jones are piling up. They have been for years. Jones was stripped of the UFC light heavyweight title three times, including when he held the interim belt. Jones was first stripped of the belt for a hit-and-run incident where he injured a pregnant woman in another vehicle in 2015. He fled the scene. In 2016, Jones was stripped of the interim belt right before he was supposed to headline UFC 200 in 2016. He tested positive for clomiphene and letrozole in that incident. After defeating Daniel Cormier for a second time, who he was supposed to face in a rematch at UFC 200, Jones was stripped of the belt in 2017 after testing positive for Turniabol, an anabolic steroid.

That was three strikes right there. Even then, the UFC still granted Jones an immediate title match each and every time he returned from suspension after being stripped of the belt. Fast forward to late 2018.

UFC 232 was supposed to take place in Las Vegas with Jones set to fight for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title against Alexander Gustafsson. However, a trace of turniabol was found in his system in Jones’ pre-fight drug test. Since the Nevada State Athletic Commission did not have enough time to look into the test result in time to clear him for UFC 232, the UFC moved the entire event to Inglewood, California since the California State Athletic Commission was willing to grand Jones a license. This gave birth to endless “picograms” memes.

And so not only did the UFC strip Jones of the belt three times and gave him a title match right away, but the UFC bent over for Jones and moved an entire pay-per-view event to another state. On just six days’ notice. Sorry, fans who made travel plans and booked accommodations in Las Vegas: Jon Jones matters more than you.

Things got interesting in the past year-and-a-half as there was some hype about a potential fight between Jones and Francis Ngannou. According to UFC president Dana White, Jones was asking for $15 million to fight Ngannou, which is half of what boxer Deontay Wilder makes.

With Ngannou now the UFC heavyweight champion, Jones kept pushing for a massive payday. He expressed that anything below $10 million is too low for him.

Due to disagreements on Jones’ payout, the fight was never booked. For the UFC’s sake, they were right to reject what he wanted. Just not for the reasons you think.

Jones just proved why the UFC was right to deny his demand of $15 million to fight Ngannou. The UFC would surrender a lot of money to someone who is not guaranteed to stay out of trouble. If the fight was booked and Jones won the belt, Jones would likely be stripped for a fourth time. No UFC fighter has ever been stripped of a title twice yet it has happened to Jones three times already.

The UFC has stood behind Jones and have been very generous by providing multiple chances. Above and beyond what is required, really, with giving him a title match in every return from suspension and moving an entire event because of him. The only other fighter on the UFC roster who the UFC would be this lenient for would arguably be Conor McGregor. Who is a much bigger draw than Jones.

Is it worth the headache for the UFC to even keep Jones at this point? That is ultimately up to White.

Jones has said multiple times that he has changed and improved and his legal battles are behind him. In a recent Instagram story post, he talked about becoming better again. Unfortunately, that could not be further from the truth. The UFC might want to strongly consider parting ways with Jones as he continues to struggle avoiding trouble.

The post Jon Jones Proved UFC Was Right To Not Give Him $15 million appeared first on Cageside Press.

Among Gall’s seven wins, six of them have been by submission via rear-naked choke. Among those six submission wins, five of them have occurred in the UFC.

According to UFC research analyst Michael Carroll, Chris Lytle, Demian Maia and Gunnar Nelson all tie the record for most submission wins in UFC welterweight history with six. Gall has five, just one away from tying the record, along with Matt Hughes and Erick Silva.

MOST WELTERWEIGHT SUBMISISONS – UFC History
6 – Chris Lytle
6 – Demian Maia
6 – Gunnar Nelson
5 – Matt Hughes
5 – Mickey Gall
5 – Erick Silva#UFCVegas32

— Michael Carroll (@MJCflipdascript) July 24, 2021

Gall just fought in his tenth career professional fight and is 29-years-old, but has not been the most active fighter. It had been 13 months since his last fight where he lost to Mike Perry in June of 2020. Ten months prior to that, he beat Salim Touahri in August of 2019. Gall did not fight for 11 months after a 4-0 start to his career.

During his octagon interview with Daniel Cormier following his win over Williams, Gall stated he wants to be more active. Gall has proven to be one of the best jiu-jitsu fighters in MMA today, which can help him continue to climb the ladder among the welterweight division.

If Gall can stay active, with his skillset, there is a chance he could have a rise similar to how Cody Garbrandt rose in 2016, going from unranked to becoming the UFC bantamweight champion in a calendar year. Gall gained a lot of attention when he fought an inexperienced fighter in CM Punk at UFC 203 and is still known for that victory. But he’s proven that he belongs in the UFC. Now, he must prove he can hang in there with some of the best in the division. If he can stay active, he will be able to prove that he can compete with ranked fighters in the UFC and eventually get ranked.

The post Mickey Gall Could See a Quick Rise if He’s Active appeared first on Cageside Press.

UFC president Dana White (by way of Hunter Campbell) confirmed that McGregor broke his lower tibia and was expected to have surgery Sunday morning. Keep in mind that McGregor turns 33-years-old this week. By the time McGregor has surgery, fully recovers and returns to the octagon, it is very likely that McGregor will be 34-years-old or very close to turning 34.

For the first time in McGregor’s career, he has suffered consecutive losses. More importantly, McGregor is 3-4 in his last seven UFC fights. Although many of the MMA media and fans, and even McGregor himself, pondered the idea of a trilogy with Nate Diaz, McGregor will be sidelined for quite some time. Although McGregor said the rivalry with Poirier is not over, the reality is is that Poirier and likely Diaz will move forward rather than wait for McGregor to return.

There is a lot of uncertainty regarding McGregor’s future. His performances have not been good lately. Add a gruesome ankle injury on top of that, and McGregor has an uphill battle if he wants to reign supreme in the lightweight division. That will require a full recovery, in addition to stringing together a few wins.

Since returning to the UFC after his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, McGregor has gone 1-3 since 2018. McGregor’s two biggest weaknesses are his ground game and his stamina. Those two factors have been used against McGregor, hence his recent struggles.

But given the extent of McGregor’s ankle injury, which has drawn comparisons and references to the leg injuries sustained by Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman, whether McGregor can come back stronger at 33-years-old is another key talking point.

McGregor rakes in a wide audience every time he fights. But will that same McGregor show up after recovering from surgery?

Only time will tell. However, the odds are heavily stacked against McGregor. Until then, Poirier will pursue a lightweight title match with Charles Oliveira, while Daiz will need to look for a new opponent.

For the first time in a good long while, the MMA world is poised to move on without Conor McGregor.

The post UFC 264 Aftermath: Conor McGregor’s Best Years Are Behind Him appeared first on Cageside Press.

From there, there was the ascent to featherweight gold.

But UFC 196 provided the blueprint on how to beat McGregor. Despite McGregor dominating most of the fight in his first bout against Nate Diaz, it was Diaz who took advantage of McGregor’s weakness, which was quite clearly on the ground.

Although McGregor avenged his loss to Diaz and went on to defeat Eddie Alvarez to become the UFC’s first two-division champion later that year, McGregor struggled immensely against Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor lost to Nurmagomedov in the fourth round by submission. McGregor returned 15 months later and defeated Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds.

Then, McGregor was defeated twelve months later at UFC 257 when Dustin Poirier won by TKO. That loss, in January of this year, evened their career series at one fight apiece.

McGregor has gone 3-3 in his last six bouts. A loss could put a small dent on McGregor’s superstar status and could be the start of a decline. Should McGregor lose to Poirier, he will have suffered consecutive losses for the first time in his career.

If that happens, who is the UFC’s biggest name right now?

Jon Jones has fought only four times since UFC 232 in late December of 2018 and has not fought in 17 months. Ronda Rousey has not been a part of the sport since UFC 207 in late 2016. Brock Lesnar is seemingly done, as is Georges St-Pierre.

Although the UFC has some great champions at the moment in Amanda Nunes, Valentina Shevchenko, Rose Namajunas, Francis Ngannou, Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman, none of them have the superstar status that McGregor, Jones or Rousey have or had.

If McGregor loses to Poirier, there is a valid question as to what the Irish star’s next move would be. Many, including McGregor, has tossed around the idea of a trilogy with Diaz, which would attract a wide audience. But outside of that, if McGregor loses at UFC 264, it is hard to imagine a scenario where McGregor would pull in massive pay-per-view buys. His aura would be smashed, his good will with casual fans marred.

There could be a case made that even with a loss, McGregor would still be the UFC’s biggest superstar. Even so, it is far from ideal for the UFC’s top star to have gone 3-4 in their last seven fights.

A victory for McGregor is vital at UFC 264, because it would help keep his superstar crown while the UFC’s top money-maker avoids consecutive losses. As the WWE’s Triple H would say: that is best for business. And MMA is very much a business, one which needs an active, victorious McGregor as much now as it ever did.

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Although UFC 259 is stacked with three title matches, Anderson is probably a big unknown to most MMA fans on this card.

Anderson owns a 3-2 record in the UFC. She signed with the promotion in 2017 and was set to make her debut at UFC 214 against Cris Cyborg for the inaugural UFC Featherweight Championship match until she had to pull out of the fight due to a personal matter. Four years later, she earned another opportunity to fight for UFC gold.

Anderson has a couple of traits that she brings to the octagon that not many of Nunes’ past opponents have had.

First, all three of Anderson’s UFC wins came in the first round. After a disappointing UFC debut against Holly Holm, Anderson defeated Cat Zingano with a head kick that injured Zingano’s eye. This forced referee Marc Goddard to step in and stop the fight as Zingano could not continue in the fight.

After losing to Felicia Spencer in May of 2019, Anderson got back in the win column after she submitted Zarah Fairn Dos Santos and knocked out Norma Dumont Viana, which translated to a performance bonus.

While some might say Anderson finished unknowns in the UFC at 145 pounds, it is worth noting that this is not anything new for her. After losing in her debut at Invicta FC, Anderson scored TKO victories against Amber Leibrock, Amanda Bell, Peggy Morgan and Charmaine Tweet, all of which were performance or fight of the night bonuses for Anderson. Anderson defeated Tweet to capture the vacant Invicta FC Featherweight title, which was previously held by Cyborg.

The other threat Anderson poses is her size compared to Nunes. Nunes is 5-8 while Anderson is 6-0. Anderson is the tallest fighter Nunes will have faced in her career as Anderson has a four-inch advantage. Anderson also has a 72.5 reach, which bests Nunes by 3.5 inches.

The closest fighter Nunes has faced to Anderson in terms of size is Germaine de Randamie. De Randamie is 5-9, being three inches shorter than Anderson, and has a reach of 71, which is 1.5 inches shorter than Anderson’s.

Nunes is a massive favorite to win this fight as she is placed as at least a -1000 favorite on most betting websites. Due to Anderson being unknown to many outside dedicated MMA aficionados, the general public has been led to believe that Nunes can make this look easy. But don’t be surprised when it isn’t easy. In fact, don’t be surprised if Bruce Buffer announces Anderson as the winner while Dana White wraps the belt around her waist.

If there was ever a fighter not named Valentina Shevchenko that could challenge Nunes in a fight, Anderson is that opponent. With her ability to finish fights, her size and having James Krause in her corner, Anderson has the tools she needs to pull off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.

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