“There’s tons of miles on my body and I do understand that it’s like, hey, if something stupid happens and I blow out my knee or I blow out my shoulder, at this point, I’m not coming back from that,” Miller said. “I’ve been lucky enough to keep those types of injuries away. The plan is to continue to do that and to train intelligently – try to really maximize what I have left and do the right things.”

And to Miller, there is really no rhyme or reason as to when people go down hurt. You could be in phenomenal shape and doing something silly and miss out on time. That’s a consideration that he keeps in mind.

“I’ve seen guys that I’ve trained with, their careers get shortened or their careers get paused because of nonsense injuries, right? One of my training partners a couple of years ago tore his Achilles playing flag football,” he recalled. “Absolute stud, undefeated, one of my best training partners and he sidelined for a year because he was cold and playing flag football, right? So it’s like something like that could happen at any time.”

Despite those things always lurking around him, Miller has been mostly healthy throughout his career. The secret for that fact? Miller says that it’s more simple than you realize.

“There probably is a secret. I should probably shut up,” Miller said with a laugh. “No, honestly, I think it’s just that I’ve always focused my training around, not that I fight conservatively, but nobody likes getting hit, right? You don’t want to absorb it. So my training style, my striking style is always, I try to keep my hands up and, and keep my head between my hands so that I’m not getting caught outside my guard.”

He also attributes some of his toughness to his upbringing. Not only has it helped him to stay healthy and not get hurt, but it’s also helped him stay in fights – having only been finished in five fights over a career like his.

“I think honestly – it’s my upbringing. As a kid, we were just doing stupid stuff. We learned how to take falls and we’ve learned how to dust yourself off and get back up,” he said. “In those fights I’ve never looked for the way out. I’ve always had in my head, even the times where I have been finished – there’s gotta be a way out of this.”

His next chance to take a step towards that elusive goal comes at UFC 328, which taked place this Saturday. Miller will take on Jared Gordon as part of the prelim portion of the card. The card starts at 5pm EST and will air on Paramount+.

The post UFC 328’s Jim Miller Shares Keys to Longevity appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I switched to management and within like three weeks of working with my new manager he was like ‘hey, I know we’re still kind of like getting to know each other, but I want to know how you feel about PFL as an option,” Bowers recalled, “At this point I am open to anything bigger and better, so he presented me with the opportunity.”

Not only is the option bigger than where she was, but Bowers believes that the 125lbs division in PFL might be as good as anywhere. She’s excited for the challenges on the way – especially the one at the top.

“It’s a step-up – there’s a ton of really good girls in the PFL. Within the next year to two years I would love to fight Dakota [Ditcheva],” she said. “I don’t think it’s really any different in my eyes compared to the UFC. I feel like it’s very well-rounded and it has a deep 125 pool right now.”

It’s not only flyweight kingpin Dakota Ditcheva that has her interested. When looking up and down the division, Bowers sees plenty of exciting matchups as well as fighters she looks up to.

“I actually just noticed yesterday they added another girl fight to the Sioux Falls card with Talia Santos on it. I’ve always been a huge fan of hers even before she fought Valentina for the the UFC belt. Super pumped to see that in person,” Bowers said. “Other girls like Jenna Bishop and Angela Hill I’ve always like been googly-eyed in love with – they’re just such cool fighters. So to know that I’m in the same pool as Jenna Bishop is super awesome because I’m a big jiu-jitsu girl.”

However, it’s not just the existing stars that makes PFL’s flyweight division so good. Their commitment to grabbing the top upcoming talent in the division also gives it real growth potential.

“Overall like there’s a lot of up-and-comers like myself that are that are entering the division a lot of girls that are undefeated like 6-0, 7-0 somewhere like that,” she said. “There’s a lot of rising talent that I think we’re going to see kind of explode over the next year or two.”

Bowers will get her first crack at one of those undefeated names when she faces Sabrinna de Sousa at PFL Sioux Falls. That fight takes place as part of the prelim portion of the card, which begins at 7pm EST this Saturday on ESPN 2.

The post PFL Sioux Falls’ Cheyanne Bowers: PFL 125ers as Good as Anywhere appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I was always kind of like an ultra ADHD kid that could never like sit still in the classroom and could never really focus on what was happening in front of me. Then when I walked into an MMA gym, did my first few classes there, I was hooked. It felt like the first time I could ever fully focus in my life,” he explained. “I could just feel myself get better every session in a way that I’d never felt myself with anything else before in my life. I’d played football. I’d played cricket. I was never like a talented guy, nor was I a guy that could like sit down and really learn what they were like trying to teach me. Then with MMA, it was completely different. It was like everything that these people are telling me, I feel like I’m absorbing. I feel like I’m a sponge for this. I made it my purpose from then on.”

That mentality shift and having a purpose changed everything for Mar Fan. He shared that there was never a plan B after that point and it was all arrows pointing in the same direction. However, his first fight definitely didn’t help that trajectory and further made him an underdog to the people watching him.

“I started my MMA amateur career with a 10-second knockout loss. From then on, I was the underdog. So it’s become an area I’m very comfortable being in,” Mar Fan revealed. “I’m very comfortable with people kind of doubting me – assuming that I’m weaker in areas than I actually am. So yeah, I carry that all the way through my career.”

That moment, while it didn’t help his public image, did fuel his mentality moving forward. He embraced the idea of the doubters and the idea of winning as many as he could over to his side.

“It was definitely disheartening at first, and it’s one of those cool things nowadays because I did have people at the time say, ‘hey, this is going to be a really cool story one day when you make it,” he said. “At that point in time, there was no one other than myself that really thought I was going to make it. So it’s been cool, each fight, being able to sway a few more people to my side and then sway a few more people after that to my side. Then eventually it’s going to get to the point one day where there’s no one in the world that doubts me, and everyone is going to just assume that I’m going to win.”

He started moving more over to his side during the Road to UFC – winning in the first round of the tournament as a +350 underdog. Now he looks to continue his winning ways as an underdog when he takes on Kody Steele at UFC Perth. That fight takes place on the prelims of the fight card, which starts at 4am EST on Paramount+.

The post UFC Perth’s Dom Mar Fan Embraces Doubters, Vows to Win Them Over appeared first on Cageside Press.

Ahead of his fight with Robert Bryczek, which has Rowston looking to go 3-0 in the UFC, the 31-year old spoke with Cageside Press via The Top Turtle MMA podcast and discussed the state of the UFC’s 185lb division at the moment.

In recent times, the weight class has seen Paulo Costa exit for a middleweight run, while ex-champ Robert Whittaker has been talking about doing the same. Alex Pereira is long gone, first to light heavyweight and now heavyweight, while even champ Khamzat Chimaev has teased a move to 205lbs.

In response, Rowston (14-3) noted that “it’s kind of like this intermediary period where no one fighter has really stood out as the next guy. I think the last time you really had a dominant champion was Israel [Adesanya], really. That guy coming up, and everyone’s like ‘oh he’s going to be the champion, he’s going to be the champion for a while.'”

“Before Israel the belt kind of bounced around a bit. They had Chris Weidman, Luke Rockhold, it was kind of like up in the air and it was still waiting for that new guy to come through and establish himself. And I think you will see that with a lot of the prospects at middleweight coming up, especially the Contender Series the last year or two.”

Rowston singled out Yousri Belgaroui and Baisangur Susurkaev as two of those names, as well as “a few other guys that have come off Contender Series that the UFC is trying to push through.” Belgaroui is a former kickboxer who once competed against Alex Pereira and now trains with him; Susurkaev remains undefeated. Rowston expects to be right there with them.

“I think these guys are going to be taking over the spot of the old guard. And the old guard, whether that’s them just sailing off into the sunset, calling it a career or moving up a weight class, those spots are eventually going to be filled. And that’s me, I’m hoping to be one of those guys who fills one of those spots and just kind of blasts his way to the top and announces himself as ‘hey, I’m here in the middleweight division. Cam Rowston is here.'”

Rowston has reason to be flying high. For one, teammate Carlos Ulberg captured the light heavyweight crown in April, doing so on a torn ACL. “You see him do that on one leg— he could probably have done it on no legs. That’s how special of a guy Carlos is,” Rowston exclaimed.

Another reason for Rowston to feel good, it’s his third fight in the UFC, with all of those coming close to New Zealand’s City Kickboxing. Three fights, meanwhile, have Rowston in a comfortable routine.

“It’s starting to feel a little more routine. I like routine, I feel very comfortable in routine. I do my best work when there’s predictability in my life and there’s a lot of structure,” he told us. “Once I signed with the UFC I was able to transition into basically full-time training. I didn’t have to work anymore, and it made my whole week, my whole weekly schedule extremely predictable and structured. Train in the morning, come home, eat, groceries- eat sleep train sh*t basically. That’s all it was every day, and I love that, I love doing that.”

With three fights in less than 12 months, Rowston says that he and his team have gotten into the “nuts and bolts” of training camp, “refining it every fight.”

“I’ve really refined it with the coaches, we’ve leaned it out, cut all the fat off it, all the process and it’s something I really enjoy now.”

From Robert Bryczek, Rowston later explained, “I’m expecting the Polish power. Polish power is a real thing, you look at a lot of the Polish fighters in the UFC and fighting around the world, they’re all, they’re big hitters.”

“From the footage I’ve seen of Bryczek that me and my coaches have broken down, he’s a goer. He’s gonna come forward, he likes to have momentum coming forward, that’s when he does his best work. He’s got really good hands, he throws his punches very mechanically sound, he’s not sloppy with his punches. I’m excited to make this a bit of a dogfight, to just really get stuck in and feel him out and just put on an absolute barnburner of a fight.”

Watch our full interview with UFC Perth middleweight Cam Rowston above.

The post UFC Perth: Cam Rowston Sees Middleweight In “Intermediary Period” appeared first on Cageside Press.

Kicking off this UFC Perth edition of TTP is our interview with UFC middleweight, Dom Mar Fan. Mar Fan discussed the Road to UFC and how his career has been changed by the tournament. Plus, he digs into his feeling about doubters and getting to debut in his home country. Then we talk about the specifics of his fight with Kody Steele on Saturday.

Fights, Dogs and Parlays: UFC Perth (16:27)

The UFC heads down under for a fight card loaded with talent. In the main event, Jack Della Maddalena looks to put himself back in the title picture as he faces Carlos Prates. Plus, Quillan Salkilld will look to leap forward at lightweight when he faces Beneil Dariush.  We’ll break down those fights as well as some of our other favorite fights on the main card. Plus, as always, we’re hitting you with an underdog and a plus-money parlay that we think will make your wallet fat this weekend. For this segment, all odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Cam Rowston Interview (22:28)

Closing out this UFC Perth edition of TTP is our interview with UFC middleweight, Cam Rowston. With a special shoutout to Cageside Press’ own Jay Anderson for an assist with the interview, he chats with Rowston about the upcoming contest in Perth as well as starting to feel comfortable inside of the UFC.

Cheyanne Bowers Interview (38:42)

Closing out this UFC Perth edition of TTP is our interview with PFL flywight, Cheyanne Bowers. Bowers talks about her change in management and how that led her to exploring a move to the PFL. Now in the organization, she’s got her eyes on plenty of names within the division. Those names include the likes of divisional kingpin, Dakota Ditcheva. She gives a timeline she’d like to get there and then a breakdown of her fight in Sioux Falls this weekend.

The post TTP Ep. 529: Dom Mar Fan, Cam Rowston, Cheyanne Bowers and UFC Perth appeared first on Cageside Press.

When asked about where that longevity comes from, Grant mostly isn’t sure.

“I don’t know. I look after myself. I still feel like I’m getting better,” Grant said. “It’s crazy. I didn’t think this back when I was young, but then I’ve always thought I’m going to to base my career on how I’m performing, and I know I can still hang out with the best guys in the world.”

His ability to hang comes in part from his thirst for learning. With MMA being such a diverse sport, Grant feels like he keeps acquiring new information and adding tools to the toolbox.

“I feel like the way that my sparring goes, the way I’m still constantly working on new stuff – still just trying to get better,” he said. “MMA is such a broad spectrum, you’re never going to know it all. I’m just trying to soak up as much as I can for fighting and just for learning and coaching sake.”

A change of location has certainly aided in the process as well. While his time at SBG Bishop Auckland was vital, he’s now full-time coaching and training at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas. Having all the resources of Vegas, a solid team of guys, and his whole family with him now – Grant is as happy as can be.

“I’m coaching like every day at Syndicate and I absolutely love the place and we’ve got the full family here in Vegas now. And I was always going to be a coach. I used to love coaching. I remember I had a job coaching soccer when I was about 11, 12 years old. Do you know what I mean? I was always sort of warm to it,” Grant explained. “I think I really like to help people. I really like to help people better their lives.”

He’ll look to show off all of that growth in the cage on Saturday. He fights dangerous newcomer Adrian Luna Martinetti and feels like he can get it done early.

“I’m going for the knockout the whole day along, you know what I mean? That’s what we all want,” he said. “You know, that’s the plan.”

You can catch that fight with Martinetti as part of the UFC Vegas 116 main card. That fight card starts at 5pm EST and airs on Paramount+.

You can hear the entire audio of this interview on the latest edition of the Top Turtle MMA Podcast. The interview airs at 2:01.

The post UFC Vegas 116’s Davey Grant: Still Getting Better at 40 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Kicking off this UFC Vegas 116 edition of TTP is our interview with UFC bantamweight, Davey Grant. “Dangerous” Davey discusses getting better in the sport at 40-years old and having his kids hold the pads for him. Plus he talks about coaching at Syndicate MMA and how that has helped to level up his game. Then we dig into his upcoming fight at UFC Vegas 116 against exciting prospect, Adrian Luna Martinetti.

Fights, Dogs and Parlays: UFC Vegas 116 (9:59)

The UFC heads back to it’s home inside the Apex for UFC Vegas 116. The main event will see former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling as he looks to stake a claim for a title shot in a second weight class. To do so, he’ll have to hold off Youssef Zalal who is on a four-fight win steak. Plus, bantamweights Norma Dumont and Joselyne Edwards do battle in a high stakes co-main event. We’ll break down those fights as well as some of our other favorite fights on the main card. Plus, as always, we’re hitting you with an underdog and a plus-money parlay that we think will make your wallet fat this weekend. For this segment, all odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Samuel Bark Interview (17:47)

Closing out this UFC Vegas 116 edition of TTP is our interview with Oktagon featherweight, Samuel Bark. Bark discusses coming back to Oktagon after spending some time with other organizations. In addition, he digs into this weekend’s Oktagon 87 card and all the Swedish fighters that are featured on the card. In addition to all of that content, he’s also giving us the dirt on his social media back-and-forth with Radek Rousal. Rousal has been very vocal in the lead up to this one, but Bark thinks he lacks the bite he’ll need to hang with him in the cage.

The post TTP Ep. 528: Davey Grant, Samuel Bark, and UFC Vegas 116 appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I first started training at The Academy, popping in and out in college was like 2011 through 2014,” Castaneda recalled. “During that time, I think it was kind of like the end of another era like that. There was a lot of guys like Nik Lentz, Jacob Volkmann, Sean Sherk were leaving – Rose Namajunas. They were kind of on their tail end of their career or moving locations.”

While it was cool to see the names that he saw there, it did create a tough time for Castaneda. After some of the larger names departed the gym, he was left with a bit of a void when it came to high-level sparring partners. Although that was rough at first, the gym is coming out the other side of that now.

“I almost like to think like, okay, everybody kind of graduated from that. I was like the lower classmen, and I was able to kind of climb the ranks with a lot of bodies for sure, but not a lot of high level people around me,” he said. “Not quite yet, but over the last few years – that’s evolved. Everybody’s getting better. The team is growing. People are coming to join up.”

Now he has a slew of guys who are high-level and much younger than him – all of which are keeping him on his toes. As a result, he’s enjoying the process and growing as much as ever.

“I got a roster full of guys who are anywhere from 135lbs to 155lbs that are at the highest levels,” he explained. “Those are the names that you mentioned, the Noah Gasho’s, the Cannon Swanson’s, the Tyree [Overton]s – there’s a lot of guys that are that I’m in the trenches with every single day. It’s awesome to go from like the young up-and-comer to now the old established vet and seeing these guys kind of work up those ranks now as well.”

He looks to use all that hard work with the up and comers to make a statement at UFC Winnipeg. He faces newcomer and Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Mark Vologdin in a matchup he believe favors him heavily.

“I’m going to be in his face. I’m going to push the pace. I’m going to break him,” he said. “I see either a TKO or a sub. I’m trying to get the job done inside the first three rounds.”

You can catch that bout with Vologdin on the prelims of UFC Winnipeg. That fight card begins at 5pm EST this Saturday and airs on Paramount+.

The post UFC Winnipeg’s John Castaneda Talks Next Wave at The Academy MN appeared first on Cageside Press.

“That was a trip. It was it was a really cool memory like a big life moment that I’ll never forget walking out in a huge arena like that. I’ve never been in an arena that big before and I didn’t really expect to to really make a difference in in the experience and everything,” Croden said. “It was funny like before I walked out, I was like my stoic self – really focused, really concentrated. Then as I’m walking people are giving me high-fives and cheering me on and stuff – it’s hard not to smile in moments like that. I just really enjoyed it and immerse myself in the entire present moment of it.”

Following that fight and a subsequent short notice fight inside of the Apex, Croden wasn’t necessarily expecting a return to her home country. As you can imagine, with the reception she got last time, she was pumped to get that call again.

“I was really excited. I wasn’t expecting to get on the the game. The next Canadian card, honestly, because I know there’s lots of other Canadian fighters that are chomping at the bit to perform in the homeland,” she said. “So when my manager called me and was like, okay, we got it. We got you on the Canadian card. Here’s your opponent. Here’s the date. I was quite excited.”

Now she’ll look to feed off the crowd yet again as she faces Darya Zheleznyakova this Saturday. She expects a fight that the crowd is going to love and one that should help her move forward in this division.

“I think it’s going to be a really exciting fight because her and I both like to stand and throw hands. So I think it’s going to be like a crowd favorite fight. I think I think it’ll be yeah one to appease the gods,” Croden said. “I think I’m going to have to go with a good old-fashioned Croden TKO, third round.”

You can catch her bout with Zheleznyakova as part of the UFC Winnipeg prelims this Saturday. The card begins at 5pm EST and airs on Paramount+.

The post UFC Winnipeg’s Melissa Croden Looks to Feed Off Crowd Again appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I’ve been trying to get on contenders for two, three years now – and it didn’t happen. I was actually cut from the Ultimate Fighter, the season that Robert [Valentin] was on it, and he went in final. I was like in the one of the last, I was not in the last alternate, but I was like waiting,” LeBlanc explained. “I had signed the contract waiting to know if I was flying out to Vegas to go and unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance.”

After nearly being on the season with Valentin, it was a wild moment when his manager got a hold of him and told him his debut would be against the TUF 32 finalist.

“It was like a full life circle. It was crazy. My manager just told me like you got a fight and I’m okay with the opponent. I didn’t really know and then he sent me his topology,” he said. “I was like, wow, that’s crazy. Some things are like they look like coincidence, but I believe it’s not a coincidence. I believe like I said, sometimes life is doing weird things. I was laughing in my head.”

While he recognizes the skill that Valentin brings to the game, he’s been waiting too long to squander this moment. He’s ready for all the heat early and ready to go in there to get the ‘W’.

“I respect him a lot… I do believe that he’s going to come out really hard in the first round. So I’m going to be ready for the fire,” LeBlanc said. “The only way I see it and ending is with my hand raised. So that’s the ultimate goal regardless how it is – that’s really the ultimate goal and that’s what’s going to happen.”

You can catch Julien Leblanc’s fight with Robert Valentin as part of the UFC Winnipeg prelims. The fight card begins at 5pm EST this Saturday and airs on Paramount+.

The post Julien Leblanc Talks Full Circle Moment at UFC Winnipeg appeared first on Cageside Press.