As previously reported, however, Tyron Woodley is not interested in fighting overseas. 

“I’m ready to fight soon, man,” Woodley said during a live chat with fans on social media. “They want me to fight in London. F*ck that, I’m not going all the way to London to fight. I’m the five-time world champion, I’m gonna fight f*cking here. January 18th, January 25th, February 8th, I wanna fight in the States. I don’t wanna go out of the country and fight. When I go out of the country I wanna be on vacation.”

Speaking to the Eurobash podcast, Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards responded to Woodley’s lack of interest to a showdown in London.

“I’m hoping he takes it, but from what I’m hearing he won’t come to London,” Edwards said. “He says he’ll fight, but not in London. That makes no sense. We’re in negotiations now and hopefully I’ll know this week. I’m meeting with the UFC, so I’ll have more information about that and what’s going on. What I’m hearing is he doesn’t want to come to London, so we’re trying to force him to come to London.”

Edwards went on to remind MMA Fighting’s Eurobash that he’s currently undefeated in the UK — a factor he believes goes into Woodley’s reservations to accepting the call out.

“I’ve never lost a fight in the U.K., from amateur to pro,” he said. “He’s probably looking at that thinking, ‘I don’t want to go over there and get beat,’ because where does he go [from there]? Like I said, he’s making excuses from the jump.”

Edwards believes that this fight is the one to make — and one that will finally give him the respect he’s obviously owed.

“I’m ready to go. I think that’s the fight that makes the most sense,” he said. “Everyone else has been matched or has just fought so I think me and Woodley, the former world champion, would be the next step to make. We’re pushing for it… hopefully it should get done.”

“What will they say when I go and beat a former world champion?” Edwards added. “What will they say then because every time I get a win they make a new excuse. Let’s see what they say after I go out there and beat someone like Tyron Woodley. I’m ready to go, I deserved that title shot two or three fights ago. I’m just gonna keep doing my thing, keep winning. I’ll be taking a very close look at the welterweight title fight this week and I’ll go from there.”

What do you think of the match-up? Sound off below!

The post Leon Edwards Responds to Tyron Woodley’s Reservations About Fighting at UFC London appeared first on Cageside Press.

After Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards called out Tyron Woodley the pair have been linked to a number one contenders bout, the fight reportedly being targeted for UFC 246 in January, or perhaps if Edwards had his way at UFC London on March 21. Woodley has no an issue with fighting Edwards, although he does have an issue with being asked to fight in enemy territory.

“I’m ready to fight soon, man,” Tyron Woodley said on a recent live stream (via BJPenn.com). “They want me to fight in London. F*ck that, I’m not going all the way to London to fight. I’m the five-time world champion, I’m gonna fight f*cking here. January 18th, January 25th, February 8th, I wanna fight in the States. I don’t wanna go out of the country and fight. When I go out of the country I wanna be on vacation.”

Depending on who wins this Saturday night, Woodley could find himself back in the mix with a single victory. If Covington takes gold against Kamaru Usman, a fight between the pair could gain plenty of attention considering their long-standing rivalry.

Woodley is motivated to return to his former glory after his lopsided loss to Kamaru Usman back at UFC 235.

“I’m starving to get the strap and watching all this press conference sh*t is so corny and so tacky man,” Tyron Woodley said. “They’re making the belt look dumb so I gotta get back in there. Everybody thinks it’s something until they get in that pocket. They complain and they wanted me to be a champion in a different way, but I was a champion my way. Now you guys understand that it’s different. It’s different when you’re in the pocket. So much demand, so much sh*t you gotta do.”

The post Tyron Woodley Shuns Leon Edwards at UFC London: “When I go out of the country I wanna be on vacation” appeared first on Cageside Press.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS

🏆 Bantamweight Champion Jack Cartwright will headline CW112: Manchester in his first title defence

👊 Webb, Proctor, Stapleton, Ventre and more among the 14 names just announced

📍 BEC Arena, Manchester // March 7th#CWMCR #CW112 pic.twitter.com/rnOffuk2hr

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 11, 2019

Over a dozen names have been announced for Cage Warriors debut event in Manchester. The event, Cage Warriors 112, will be the first for the promotion in 2020.

Headlining the Manchester card will be reigning bantamweight champion Jack Cartwright (7-0). He’ll put his belt on the line in his highly anticipated first title defense. Cartwright’s opponent has yet to be named.

Last time out, the Manchester native finished Scott Malone and Marko Kovacevic in the first round to win the Bantamweight Title Tournament at Cage Warriors Unplugged 2 in September.

Also announced this week, UK welterweight Adam Proctor (11-1) will join the Manchester card. So too will Martin Stapleton, Adam Ventre and Mick Stanton. The latter will enter the new year having won all three of his fights in 2020.

Liam Gittins, former Middleweight Champion James Webb and Scotland’s Scott Malone are also expected to appear.

Manchester, of course, is the home of former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. ‘The Count’ would defend the belt at home against arch-rival Dan Henderson at UFC 204 in October 206, his only title defense.

Cage Warriors 112 will take place March 7, 2020 at the BEC Arena in Manchester, England.

The post Cage Warriors 112 Announced for Manchester, England appeared first on Cageside Press.

Former champion Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett is set to return to action at Cage Warriors 113: London next March. The match-up comes after a rough stretch in 2019 which saw fights with Donovan Desmae and Joe Giannetti fall through on short notice.

The promotion announced the news Friday via their official website.

Pimblett (14-3) will enter the bout off a 2018 loss to prospect Soren Bak. 2019 was a struggle with canceled fights, and his only real action came in a grappling contest against Stevie Ray. However, over the years, Pimblett has been perfect in London, earning wins over Ashley Grimshaw, Teddy Violet and ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ alum Julian Erosa.

Cage Warriors 113 will mark his first trip to the city in over three years.

Also announced for what looks to be a massive card, flyweight Champion Samir ‘Silverback’ Faiddine will defend his title for the first time. He won the strap after defeating Sam Creasey this past summer at CW106: Night of Champions.

Other additions to the card include Mason ‘The Dragon’ Jones (8-0) and Ireland’s Ian Garry (3-0). Cory McKenna, Sam Creasey and Jamie Richardson will also feature.

“This is one of those cards that everyone on the roster wants a part of,” said Cage Warriors President Graham Boylan in Friday’s press release. “My phone has been blowing up with guys calling up asking for a spot on March 20th. When people look back on our biggest London shows of all time, this one will be part of the conversation, no question.”

Just a day after the Cage Warrior London card, the UFC will hit the O2 Arena. In a neat twist, for a limited time, Cage Warriors London ticket buyers will receive an early access code for UFC London tickets.

The post Pimblett, Faiddine Among Names Announced for Cage Warriors London on March 20 appeared first on Cageside Press.

There’s been a lot of talk for Edwards (18-3-0) vs Woodley (19-4-1), and they have been linked for a potential bout for a number of weeks now, but the fight hasn’t been finalized. 

Check out the original message that Edwards sent via Twitter to his rival Woodley below.

Get me on that London card @UFCEurope @ufc @TWooodley are you free champ?

— Leon 'Rocky' Edwards (@Leon_edwardsmma) November 26, 2019

“Get me on that London card @UFCEurope @ufc @TWooodley are you free champ?”

As of now it appears as though middleweight contenders Darren Till and Robert Whittaker will meet in the main event of that card, though nothing is official. But an Edwards vs. Woodley match-up is the perfect co-main for that card.

Edwards has a 10-2 record so far in the UFC and is currently riding an eight-fight win streak that includes a decision win over Rafael dos Anjos in his last fight, the biggest win of his career to date. He is inching closer and closer to a title shot at welterweight. Edwards is looking to Woodley as his next opponent to stay busy.

The former UFC welterweight champ, Tyron Woodley, is coming off a lopsided loss to Kamaru Usman which saw him lose his belt earlier this year. He’s clearly still one of the top welterweights in the world and wants to get back into title contention himself. If Woodley wants to remain relevant in the stacked welterweight division, beating a red-hot fighter like Edwards would help him remain in title contention.

As of yet the UFC have not announced any fights for the UFC London card early next year.

The post Leon Edwards Calls Out Tyron Woodley to Fight at UFC London appeared first on Cageside Press.

Among the most recent additions to Bellator Dublin, former ‘Geordie Shore’ star Aaron Chalmers (5-1-0) is set to welcome Austin Clem (3-1-0) to Bellator in a welterweight featured fight. Chalmers got back to his winning ways with a submission win over Fred Freeman in his last outing, following his first career defeat to Corey Browning at Bellator Newcastle.

Bellator’s European branch announced the news Monday via press release, with the promotion’s official website updated to reflect the most recent bookings. A host of Irish fighters have been included for the Bellator’s latest ‘European Series’ event.

The card will be topped by James Gallagher (10-1-0), in a do-over of what was supposed to be the main event last September at Bellator 227. Now booked for the second time, Gallagher is expected to face England’s Cal Ellenor (8-2-0). ‘The StrabAnimal’ went on to defeat ex-UFC fighter Roman Salazar by guillotine choke submission 35-seconds into the first round at Bellator 227. That came after Ellenor was forced off the card due to a medical condition.

Also at February’s Bellator Dublin, SBG’s Will Fleury (6-2-0) will go toe to toe with Justin Moore (9-4-0) in a middleweight contest.

Richie Smullen (5-1-1) will look to add to his perfect Bellator record against Ranjeet Baria (3-1-0), while Blaine O’Driscoll (7-3-0) will be looking to get back in the win column when he faces Ezzoubair Bouarsa (7-1-0) and Danni Neilan (1-0-0) is looking for a second career victory when she meets Chiara Penco (4-1-0).

Elsewhere on the card a welterweight fight between Lewis Long (17-5-0) and Oliver Enkamp (8-2-0) promises fireworks. Further announcements are expected to come in the following days and weeks but the card, as it stands so far, is:

Bellator Dublin Fight Card

Main Card

Bantamweight main event: James Gallagher vs. Cal Ellenor 

Welterweight bout: Aaron Chalmers vs. Austin Clem 

Preliminary Card:

Welterweight bout: Oliver Enkamp vs. Lewis Long 

Lightweight bout: Philip Mulpeter vs. Daniel Crawford 

Lightweight bout: Ryan Roddy vs. Chris Duncan 

Light heavyweight bout: Karl Moore vs. Arunas Andriuskevicus 

Middleweight bout: Will Fleury vs. Justin Moore 

Women’s strawweight bout: Danni Neilan vs. Chiara Penco 

Flyweight bout: Blaine O’Driscoll vs. Ezzoubair Bouarsa

Featherweight bout: Richie Smullen vs. Ranjeet Baria 

The post Aaron Chalmers Added to Bellator Dublin Card appeared first on Cageside Press.

Polaris Pro Grappling landed in the United Kingdom for Polaris 12 in Newport, Wales on Saturday, November 30. The main event featured breakout star Nick Rodriguez facing former UFC middleweight champ and Polaris debutant Luke Rockhold. This was the third time Rodriguez grappled on the Polaris mats, winning twice previously with the promotion. Jiu-jitsu fans were excited to see these two heavyweights face off against each other.

Other notable matches included Gilbert “Durinho” Burns, who took on Tommy Langaker in a gi, and PJ Barch matched up with Marcin Held.

Polaris 12 streamed on UFC Fight Pass. Check out the full card results below.

Polaris 12 Results

Main Card

Nick Rodriguez def. Luke Rockhold via Unanimous Decision

Ash Williams def. Richard Alarcon via Armbar

Tommy Langaker def. Gilbert “Durinho” Burns via Unanimous Decision

Michelle Nicolini def. Vanessa English via Toe Hold

Devhonte Johnson def. Arya Esfandmaz via Unanimous Decision

PJ Barch def. Marcin Held via Split Decision

Preliminary Card

Espen Mathiesen def. Bryn Jenkins Via Armbar

Shane Fishman def. Stefan Petrov via Inside Heel Hook

Stephen Ramos def. Justus Goeschel via Unanimous Decision

Craig Ewers def. Liam Cann via Unanimous Decision

Frederic Vosgrone def. Ash Amos via Guillotine

Jeremy Skinner def. Eoghan O’Flanagan via Heel Hook

Fred Greenall def. Shane Price via Armbar

Nastasa Silviu Georgian def. Jamie Hughes via Reverse Triangle

The post Polaris 12 Results: Rockhold Falls to Rodriguez appeared first on Cageside Press.