First of all, how did you get into MMA?

I wrestled my whole life and followed the sport at age 16. I have always loved competing and MMA fit the mold of what I wanted to do!

Do you have any background in any other sports?

I wrestled in college and was a two-time NCAA national qualifier in Division 2.

What do you do for work?

I am a carpenter as well as an MMA fighter.

Who are you currently training with and who are some of your main sparring partners?

I train with Josh Parisian and Michelle Pierreria. Recently I started working with Josh Krizan (my last opponent) and that’s been great. I also get a ton of training in with my wife Amanda Bobby Brundage (Cooper).

List of accomplishments such as titles, belt ranks, etc.…?

I’m currently a blue belt in SFS jiu-jitsu.

What are your favorite striking and grappling techniques?

My wrestling is home for me so any striking techniques to set up my entries or cut angles would be my favorites. Double legs are always the best because of their high efficiency.

You’re set to fight veteran Erick Lozano. What do you think of him as an opponent, and how do you see this fight playing out?

I think he is very tough and composed which is a benefit of his experience. Technically though I feel I am the much more well-rounded and polished fighter. There’s no area he is better in other than experience and I think technically he will be overwhelmed by the late first or early second round.

What has been the up and the down of your career thus far?

It’s been pretty much all up even my losses as an amateur were ups because they didn’t really count against me and I learned so much from those fights. I took on some of the best ammy fighters out there to make sure I’d be ready for the pro level and it’s paid off. I’ve stayed healthy, been very active and have just as much passion now as I did when I started, so I can’t say I have too many downs. When I first started my career I was living out of my car, coaching wrestling on a stipend and working security on the night shift. That was the down; everything has been up from there (laughs).

You have fought at 205 in the past. Is that a weight class you may revisit in the future?

Right now I plan on staying at 185 unless a big opportunity presents itself. I don’t cut a ton of weight so 185 isn’t bad for me to make.

If you weren’t fighting today, where would you be?

Probably coaching wrestling and teaching high school history.

If there was an opportunity to compete on The Ultimate Fighter, would that be something you would think about doing?

My wife and I have discussed it. She was on the show and made the finals, I wouldn’t do it. I can get in other ways and the environment wouldn’t be very conducive to the type of person I am. I think I’d miss my family and team too much.

Is there anyone on the regional scene you have your eyes on?

Nope, I’ll fight pretty much anyone and I’m not really into the regional petty trash talk people seem to love (laughs).

Last question. Why do you fight and who do you fight for?

I fight because I love to compete, I love to test myself alone, in an environment where your success and failure is 100-percent up to you; few sports allow that opportunity. I fight for myself first and for anyone who believes in me and has supported me. My wife always says pay your supporters back by being great so that’s what I’m going to do!

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The first of three fights on the women’s side at UFC Denver on Saturday night kicked off when Asheley Yoder took on Amanda Cooper. The fight represented one thing that the UFC did not have 25 years ago, when it all started in Denver: women fighting in the cage. That, of course, changed when the UFC acquired Strikeforce, and opened the octagon to Ronda Rousey.

The rest, as they say, is history. Cooper and Yoder, meanwhile, topped the televised preliminary portion of Saturday night’s historic card.

As action got underway, it was Cooper playing the role of aggressor. She attacked the lead leg of Yoder, and forced her to keep her back to the fence. Cooper would find some success with the hands, landing a left flush, but as the round progressed Yoder settled in, sat down on her punches, and found a home for her counters. That forced Cooper to switch up her attack, as she changed levels and scored the first takedown of the fight with just over ninety seconds remaining in the round. Yoder would try to trap her in a triangle, but didn’t have the position, and Cooper pulled free, still in side control. However transitioning, Yoder managed to move to the top, and looked to slice through the guard and do some damage.

Round two saw Yoder a little more aggressive, while Cooper continued to work the legs and throw her left hook. A brief clinch didn’t last long, but Cooper then drove Ashley Yoder into the fence, looking for a takedown. They’d drop and both spring back up, until Yoder landed a judo throw. Trying to step over into mount, she wound up in half guard, then in danger of upkicks. Cooper then escaped, and drove Yoder into the fence again. She’d stay on that attack finally securing a double leg takedown, and working from guard. She’d try to slice through guard and managed to get to a knee on belly position, before finishing the round in north-south.

Between rounds, Cooper’s corner was overheard telling her she had the fight in the bag. That didn’t stop her from going out and looking for year another takedown in the final frame. However, she overshot and wound up rolling over onto her back. Yoder moved into top position, but Cooper defended with a kimura from the bottom. Yoder would finally latch onto a leg for a Hail Mary knee bar, but Cooper held on then stepped over, escaping harm. It was certainly Yoder’s round, and she took the back in the final twenty seconds, but unable to get her arm under Cooper’s chin, it went to the scorecards.

An emotional @AshleyYoderMMA gets the split decision win & the champ @RoseNamajunas couldn't be happier! #UFCDenver pic.twitter.com/CJldgtnhhR

— UFC (@ufc) November 11, 2018

Yet when the scorecards were read, surprise surprise. One judge gave all three rounds to Cooper, but the other two gave two rounds to Yoder, giving her a split decision win. The words of Cooper’s corner certainly stand out in retrospect, but ultimately it was a close fight, especially in the third.

Ashley Yoder def. Amanda Cooper by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

The post UFC Denver Results: Ashley Yoder Wins Split Decision Over Amanda Cooper, Judging A Head-Scratcher appeared first on Cageside Press.

One thing the UFC did not have in its inaugural event twenty-five years ago: women fighting. That won’t be the case for the promotion’s twenty-fifth anniversary show in Denver, however. On Thursday, the UFC announced a pair of bouts for the UFC Denver (UFC Fight Night 139) card this November, in addition to a previously announced bout between Maycee Barber and Maia Stevenson.

The biggest addition is a former champion vs. a former title challenger. Germaine de Randamie, lest we forget, was the UFC’s inaugural women’s featherweight champion after winning a controversial decision over Holly Holm at UFC 208. That was in February 2017. The Dutch fighter has not fought since, and was stripped of her title for refusing to fight Cris Cyborg.

Raquel Pennington, meanwhile, was the most recent woman to challenge for Amanda Nunes’ bantamweight title. Prior to that, Pennington (9-6) had won four straight, including wins over Meisha Tate and Bethe Correia.

At strawweight, Ashley Yoder (5-4), who has lost all three of her UFC bouts so far, will take on Amanda Cooper (3-4), in what feels like a “loser leaves town” situation. Like Yoder, Cooper has struggled in the UFC, going 2-3. She lost to Mackenzie Dern in her last outing.

Maycee Barber vs. Maia Stevenson added to UFC Denver #UFC #UFCDenver #DWTNCS

— Cageside Press (@mmatodaynews) August 8, 2018

Finally, Maycee Barber (5-0) will make her UFC debut against Maia Stevenson (6-5) at UFC Denver. Barber won her way into the promotion on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. Stevenson, meanwhile, wife of former UFC lightweight Joe Stevenson, is an Ultimate Fighter veteran. The bout was announced on the season finale of DWTNCS season two earlier this week.

UFC Fight Night 139 takes place November 10 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO.

The post Germaine de Randamie vs. Raquel Pennington Leads Trio of Women’s Bouts at UFC Denver appeared first on Cageside Press.

There’s missing weight, and then there’s nearly weighing in the next weight class up. That’s what Mackenzie Dern did Friday at the UFC 224 weigh-ins in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However, despite weighing in at a whopping 123lbs for a 115lb strawweight bout against Amanda Bobby Cooper (given it’s a non-title affair, she had a 1lb allowance on top of that), Dern will get to fight regardless.

She’ll just be a little lighter in another area when she does so — in the pocketbook. Dern was fined 10% of her purse by the Brazilian athletic commission. Above and beyond that, the UFC opted to take an additional 20% of her pay and hand it to Cooper, per a report by MMA Fighting. That means Dern has lost %30 of her purse before ever stepping in the cage. Dern did not make a second attempt to weigh in.

It’s not the first time the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu standout has struggled to make weight. Though she hit the 115lb limit for her UFC debut earlier this year, Dern twice missed the mark in her pre-UFC days. And though flyweight has been an option for some time outside of the UFC, it seemed Dern was committed to sticking with strawweight as her home.

That may change moving forward, however. The blown weight cut also comes at a critical time for Dern. She was recently asked to leave The MMA Lab after issues with her conduct there, including not showing up for training sessions. Part of that, according to the MMA Lab’s John Crouch, may have been Dern splitting her time between Arizona and Californa. Dern now trains with Black House MMA in California.

In the meantime, Mackenzie Dern’s UFC 224 opponent, Amanda Bobby Cooper, weighed in on the blown weight cut via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ABCnation115/status/994951184099303426

The post UFC 224: Mackenzie Dern Misses Strawweight Limit by Seven Pounds, Fight Against Amanda Cooper Still On appeared first on Cageside Press.