Paige VanZant Debuts at AEW’s Double or Nothing

While Alistair Overeem stepped into the ring Saturday, fellow former UFC star Paige VanZant beat him by just under a week.

After months of teasing, VanZant made her in-ring debut for AEW, the bonafide #2 wrestling promotion next to WWE. At the company’s Double or Nothing PPV last Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, “PVZ” took part in a six-man mixed tagged match, featuring herself, Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page against Franke Kazarian, Sammy Guevara, and Tai Conti.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1531100426753527808

VanZant’s fundamentals looked stiff, and the build-up to the match went off the rails through no fault of her own (storyline-wise, fans had no one to cheer for, with everyone in the match save for Kazarian ending up in a “heel” role). Still, she acquitted herself well enough, and the crowd seemed to enjoy her. The fundamentals, like using the ring ropes, will come with time. Arguably, some of VanZant’s bigger moves looked better than her basics, which is not all that surprising at this juncture.

Triple C Backs Diaz in Dispute with UFC

Nate Diaz has been trying to get a fight all year, and appears no closer to getting one.

The younger Diaz brother was lined up for a fight with Dustin Poirier back in March, but contract negotiations apparently stalled that. Since then, talk about a match-up with Khamzat Chimaev resurfaced, then vanished just as quickly. In the interim, Diaz has been vocal on Twitter about his displeasure at being unable to land a fight — and even posted a photo of himself urinating on the UFC PI in a protest of sorts. Or maybe he just really had to go.

Regardless, the Diaz situation boils down to, the UFC wants to extend his deal. Diaz doesn’t. And given it’s the last fight on his deal, many believe the promotion want to feed him to a killer on the way up (see: Chimaev) if he’s not going to stick around. Or, sit him until a potential McGregor trilogy fight can happen. It’s all just speculation, but Diaz not fighting when he wants to fight is an odd sight to see, given how the UFC struggled to get him in the cage for years.

Diaz has a number of backers in this spat — including one Triple C, Henry Cejudo.

“Free Nate, man,” Cejudo said recently on his podcast, The Triple C & Schmo Show. “If you’re not gonna give him a fight, dude, free him. Let him be or he could run out his contract, you know? I think every fighter has a contract where they’re literally able if they don’t get a certain amount of fights per year. Like you could literally run it out, dude, so it’s a trip.”

JDS Due for Shoulder Surgery, Hoping for Early 2023 Return

Junior Dos Santos’ first post-UFC bout, against Yorgan De Castro under the Eagle FC banner last month, ended with an unfortunate shoulder injury. Dos Santos, who had looked good in the fight, dislocated his shoulder early in the third round — and it appears the damage is worse than anticipated.

“Cigano” addressed the setback on social media last week, posting a video on the subject with an accompanying message to fans. “As you guys watched it I dislocated my shoulder on the beginning of the last round of my last fight. So for me to keep fighting I gotta fix it. So let’s do it because I felt great on my last fight and I want much more,” wrote JDS.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CePovw5AWMq/

Speaking of Injuries… Ryan Hall

Ultimate Fighter 22 winner Ryan Hall has struggled to stay healthy in his years since winning the show. Having missed all of 2017 and all of 2020, Hall actually made it to the cage twice in 2021… but will miss all of 2022, having torn his ACL in training.

Hall, like JDS, announced the news on social media.

“Not sure who has my voodoo doll, but if they could stop stabbing it, I would really appreciate that…” Hall began his written statement.

“Had just agreed to a fight on August 13th, but a bit of bad luck in training resulted in a complete tear of my ACL. Started the year really hoping to fight a bunch in 2022, as well as compete at ADCC, but with the recovery being what it is, that won’t be in the cards.”

No word on who he was supposed to fight, but seriously, whoever has that voodoo doll, knock it off already.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeRXl4muw76/

Paddy Pimblett Has Words for T.J. Dillashaw

Paddy Pimblett likes to eat — so when he’s not preparing for a fight, he pretty much turns into a happy fat kid. That has drawn criticism from fans (none of whom have ever had to make weight), and fellow fighters — including ex-bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw.

Dillashaw, who once sold a t-shirt poking fun at his own weight issues when out of camp, went on the incredibly poorly named “The Schaub Show” and proclaimed that “If you keep that same work ethic that he has now, he’ll never be a champion.” Dillashaw would go on to add that “You can’t have that down time like that. You can’t get that fat. You can’t get out of shape.”

There might be some fair criticism here— at least as Paddy gets older, those sort of weight swings will get more difficult, and take a harsher toll on the body. That said, should T.J. Dillashaw be criticizing anyone about anything?

Pimblett’s response is exactly what you’d expect from Paddy “the Baddy,” who is no doubt able to verbally eviscerate most of the active UFC roster, and do it in an accent that makes anything he says much cooler than it otherwise would be.

“Don’t forget [your] own past [you] sausage,” wrote Pimblett in response, calling Dillashaw a “cheating little juice head” who would “never have won a belt without them steroids.” He capped it off by calling Dillashaw a “f*cking mushroom.” Well, someone else had already labelled him a snake, so mushroom is at least a new one.

Dillashaw failed multiple drug tests for EPO in 2019, after losing a flyweight title fight against Henry Cejudo. He would then relinquish his bantamweight title before the UFC could strip him of the belt, and sat out a two-year suspension handed down by USADA, in one of the biggest busts since the organization was brought in to handle the UFC’s anti-doping policy.

https://twitter.com/theufcbaddy/status/1532041541618913282

So You Wanna Be a F’ing Fighter?

Bantamweight Blair “The Wild” West made his pro debut on Saturday at BTC 15 in Burlington, ON, Canada, only to have the fight stopped after the first round. Why? Well that’s pretty obvious. West was willing to continue, and was still all smiles after the fight, posing for the fans and media. Trooper.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeZw9y_LPi1/

The post Sunday MMA Quick Hits: VanZant Makes Pro Wrestling Debut, Pimblett Rips “Mushroom” Dillashaw appeared first on Cageside Press.

The Ultimate Fighter 22 winner has competed in fits and starts, never fighting twice in a year until now. On Saturday at UFC 269, Hall (9-2) went the distance with Darrick Minner, earning a unanimous decision win after being unable to finish with the numerous submission attempts he threw up.

“I’m happy to be back. It’s just great to be fighting more frequently,” Hall told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Expressing his gratitude for getting a tough opponent like Minner, Hall added that his fight camp had gone well. “No injuries for a change, other than the broken hand last time. I’m just looking forward to fighting again soon.”

Strength of schedule looks to be a focus of Hall moving forward. Hopefully permitted by changes he’d made to his fight camps.

Having engaged as many experts as possible and admittedly changing his thinking and approach to training, Hall appears to have the recipe to success in hand. In the past, said Hall, he’d dealt with a lot of “weird wear and tear injuries.” Then he tore his hip flexor ahead of a proposed fight with Dan Ige, which Hall called the “brick” that broke the camel’s back. “I was training around a lot of things, and I think I wasn’t getting the realistic feel that I needed to have in training camp sometimes. Also when you’re away from the ring for two years, you get into play mode. And I’m always trying to explore different things and different tactics. Some of them, I think they’re a really good idea.” Others, he noted, not so much.

Ultimately, realism is what Hall is looking for. “Making sure that training is s realistic as it needs to be,” he suggested. “If it’s too safe, it’s no good. If it’s too dangerous, that’s tough too, but if I had to err on one versus the other, you have to look for realism and make sure you’re getting the feedback you need in camp.”

With his fight camps sorted out, Hall has lofty goals for 2022. Having fought twice this year, he’s looking to double that figure. “Two is better than zero, so I’m pretty happy with that. Next year, if I can get between four and five fights, that would be phenomenal. I’m going to keep working hard,” said Hall, who will take time off to be with his family over the Holidays, then plans to get right back to work. “Come January 1st, we’re right back on it. I want to be back in the gym, I’m going to be back in the gym this week. But I want to be in training camp soon, I want to fight maybe as soon as March. I want to fight again after that, I want to fight again after that.”

“I came here for the toughest opposition, I’m not anywhere near done,” added Hall. “I just look to getting back in the ring soon against the toughest people that I can.”

Watch the full UFC 269 post-fight media appearance by Ryan Hall above. More coverage of the event can be found below.

The post UFC 269: Ryan Hall Aiming for Four to Five Fights in 2022 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Hall, winner of The Ultimate Fighter, was fighting for the second time in a calendar year for the first time since his run on TUF. He was also looking to shake off his first loss inside the octagon, which came against Ilia Topuria earlier this year.

Minner was also coming off a loss, against Darren Elkins, in a fight that saw some excellent grappling exchanges early on.

We saw more of those Saturday, mainly care of Ryan Hall.

After officials had some trouble getting the octagon door closed, Hall vs. Minner got underway with Hall utilizing his kicks at range. Minner landed a kick as well, and later caught a Hall kick — only to opt against dumping Hall on his back.

Instead, Minner stayed outside, moving in and out. That seemed like a smart game plan, but Hall was having none of it. Hall rolled into a takedown, grabbed a leg, and dragged Minner down. Minner escaped one leg lock, only for Hall to grab a leg again, in a better position. Minner would manage to avoid the submission game of Hall, scramble out, then rock Hall on the feet! But when Minner moved in, Hall rolled and got his opponent down once again. Another escape from Minner, but Hall got him to the ground once more, and this time Hall went after a heel hook. Hall then transitioned to the top, finishing the round there.

Hall opened round two with a kick to the body. Minner answered with an uppercut that sailed wide, but when he tried to chase Hall down, Hall rolled into another one of his patented awkward-looking takedowns. Even on bottom, Hall was a threat, his guard loose, landing body kicks and punches before threatening with an arm-bar. Minner slammed his way free of it, but opted to engage on the ground once again. Being on top, Minner was winning the round, but he wound up trapped in a triangle eating elbows. Hall couldn’t find the finish, but he ended the round in control, landing punches from the top.

In the third, Hall secured a triangle early, rolling into it, but lost the hold. That allowed Minner to get on top, working from inside Hall’s guard. Hall somehow trapped a leg in a transition, and Minner came dangerously close to kicking his opponent in the face in response. Hall continued to hunt for a leg, then transitioned into mount. Hall stayed heavy on Minner, looking to set up an arm-triangle choke. Minner couldn’t buck him off, or make any space to escape. Hall never fully committed to the choke, instead opting to rind out the round in mount, dropping ground n’ pound.

We've got a real high level clash on the canvas on our hands 👀#UFC269 pic.twitter.com/NGOIKAmfpe

— UFC (@ufc) December 11, 2021

Hall never really came close to finishing, and Minner deserves some credit for surviving on the ground with him. But Hall took home the one-sided decision in the end, and his style remains a puzzle for almost any featherweight.

Official Result: Ryan Hall def. Darrick Minner by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27)

The post UFC 269: Ryan Hall Can’t Secure Submission, Takes Decision Against Darrick Minner appeared first on Cageside Press.

A fight between two of the featherweight division’s best grapplers is on tap for UFC 269 on December 11, as Ryan Hall is expected to fight Darrick Minner.  MMA Junkie was first to report the news.

Ryan Hall (8-2) is looking to bounce back from a devastating first round knockout loss to Ilia Topuria this past July in what was his first fight in two years.  Prior to dealing with various injuries and hitting trouble booking fights, “The Wizard” had been on an eight fight win-streak in sanctioned bouts, winning The Ultimate Fighter as a replacement and going on to record victories over Gray Maynard, BJ Penn, and Darren Elkins.  It should be noted, his fights during TUF are recorded as exhibition bouts, meaning his loss to Saul Rogers does not count towards his professional win-loss record.

Darrick Minner (26-12) is hoping to return to form after a stoppage loss himself, having been defeated by Darren Elkins this past July.  An LFA and Contender Series veteran, Minner has amassed a significant number of fights at only 31 years of age after keeping a consistent schedule in the early years of his career competing in the mid-west.  The fight with Hall will be his fifth in the UFC and he has split his Octagon appearances at 2-2.

Currently, UFC 269 is expected to feature a triple-header with lightweight champion Charles Oliveira against top contender Dustin Poirier in the headliner as well as bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes against Julianna Pena and flyweight champion Brandon Moreno against Deiveson Figueiredo.  No location for the event has been announced.

The post UFC: Ryan Hall vs Darrick Minner Targeted for UFC 269 on December 11 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Boasting that he had plenty of black belts to train with while coming up in the sport, Topuria did admit ahead of the fight that he’d prefer to keep things standing if possible.

Topuria opened the fight at center, light on his feet, with Hall circling on the outside. Hall threw out a kick that fell well short, with Topuria unwilling to take the bait and move into takedown range. Hall then landed a spinning kick that was partially blocked; moments later, Hall was on his back on the ground, trying to lure Topuria in to no avail. A diving takedown attempt followed.

The rolling attacks continued, with Topuria at one point dragging Hall across the octagon floor while the grappler held on to an arm. In another grappling exchange, Hall nearly tied up a leg. But moments later, Topuria tagged Hall. This time, when Hall went to the ground, he was hurt. Hall’s style at times looked awkward, telegraphed, and almost in slow motion, but Topuria was well aware of the danger going to the ground posed. So when he finally went there, he had to be sure. That moment came when Hall dropped down after a kick.

Topuria unloaded with hammer fists, got in control, and landed several punches to the face that were not protected. Moments later, the ref made the save, with Hall completely dazed on the ground.

HOW ABOUT THAT 🤯 @TopuriaIlia #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/ZQvUa1nJpo

— UFC (@ufc) July 11, 2021

Official Result: Ilia Topuria def. Ryan Hall by Knockout, Round 1, 4:47

The post UFC 264 Results: Ilia Topuria Overcomes Awkward Attacks, Finishes Ryan Hall Early appeared first on Cageside Press.

According to adjarasport.com, surging Georgian featherweight prospect Ilia Topuria will fight Ryan Hall on July 10. Topuria subsequently confirmed the bout via social media.

Hall (8-1) has only fought three times since winning season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter, which took place in 2015. The jiu jitsu fighter has been out of action since his unanimous decision win over Darren Elkins at UFC Fight Night: de Randamie vs. Ladd in 2019. The grappler was supposed to return last August against former title challenger Ricardo Lamas, but an injury forced Hall out of that fight. He was also supposed to return against Dan Ige earlier this month at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad but another injury forced him out of the bout.

Topuria (10-0) on the other hand has been much more active. He burst onto everyone’s radar in 2020 by soundly defeating fellow prospect Youssef Zalal on ‘Fight Island’ in his UFC debut. The Georgian fighter would return two months later in December and viciously knock out Damon Jackson at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Vettori.

The UFC has removed Hall from the top 15 featherweight rankings in February due to inactivity. He was sitting at No. 14 before being removed. Depending on whether he returns to the rankings, Topuria will have a chance to take his spot.

No location, venue, or broadcast plan has been reported for the UFC’s July 10 event, although it is speculated to be UFC 264. No other fights have been announced as of yet.

The post Ryan Hall vs. Ilia Topuria Set For UFC Event On July 10 appeared first on Cageside Press.

First Reported by  Cole Shelton of BJPENN.com, Hall (8-1) has pulled out of his fight on March 13 with Dan Ige after suffering an injury in training. In a follow-up post on social media, Shelton said Hall is looking to get booked again in April.

The UFC is currently seeking a replacement for Ige.

Hall has been out of action since his unanimous decision win over Darren Elkins at UFC Fight Night: de Randamie vs. Ladd in 2019. The grappler was supposed to return last August against former title challenger Ricardo Lamas, but an injury forced Hall out of that fight as well.

Hall has only fought three times since winning season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter, which took place in 2015. According to Hall, this isn’t entirely his fault, but rather because he has had a hard time getting fights booked. Hall had called out several fighters including the Korean Zombie, and finally, Ige answered the call.

On top of being forced to withdraw from his fight, the UFC has removed Hall from the top 15 featherweight rankings. He was sitting at No. 14 before being removed. This isn’t the first time the company has removed a fighter due to inactivity.

Recently, women’s flyweight contender and fellow Ultimate Fighter winner Tatiana Surez was removed. Before that, the UFC pulled Leon Edwards from the welterweight rankings until he was finally booked with Khamzat Chimaev.

As of now, the March 13 fight card looks like this.

• Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev
• Dan Ige vs. TBD
• Eryk Anders vs. Darren Stewart
• Charles Jourdain vs. Steve Garcia
• Davey Grant vs. Jonathan Martinez
• Matthew Semelsberger vs. Jason Witt
• Jinh Yu Frey vs. Gloria de Paula
• Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Matheus Nicolau
• Ben Rothwell vs. Philipe Lins
• Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Ricardo Ramos
• Rani Yahya vs. Ray Rodriguez
• Don Madge vs. Nasrat Haqparast

The post UFC: Ryan Hall Out of Fight with Dan Ige — And Out of Top 15 Rankings appeared first on Cageside Press.

Hall (8-1), the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 22, has been looking for a dance partner for a long time. Opposite to him, “Dynamite” Dan Ige (14-3) will be looking to rebound. Suffering defeat in a war-torn unanimous decision loss on fight island to Calvin Kattar (who happens to be headlining the fight island card this weekend), Ige is stepping up against one of the most formidable grapplers in the UFC.

News of the booking was first reported by Cole Shelton at BJPenn.com

Prior to the fight with Kattar, Ige was red-hot on a six-fight win streak. With a statement win over Edson Barboza, it was hard to deny the Hawaiian prospect. Interestingly, Ige possesses a unique striking style that is sure to challenge Hall. The compact and quick brawling that Ige employs often leaves opponents bewildered. His footwork combined with power makes him a dangerous foe, but also a skilled one. Not to mention the Hawaiian also has shown his ability to go five hard rounds.

Hall has looked extremely impressive when he’s inside the octagon. Hands down, his unorthodox style is a puzzle for any opponent put in front of him. Unfortunately, due to his inactivity and lack of fights, fans sometimes are quick to forget about him. However, Hall definitely cemented himself as a contender and he did so with his own unique style. Initiating Imanari rolls and stunning opponents with question mark kicks, he’s a proven threat wherever the fight goes. One of his best wins came against lightweight legend BJ Penn, where Hall took him out with his signature heel hook at 2:46 of the first round.

With the addition of Dan Ige and Ryan Hall, here is an updated list of the bouts reported for UFC Fight Night card on March 13:

• Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev
• Davey Grant vs. Jonathan Martinez
• Matthew Semelsberger vs. Jason Witt
• Jinh Yu Frey vs. Gloria de Paula
• Ciryl Gane vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
• Ryan Hall vs. Dan Ige

The post Dan Ige and Ryan Hall to Meet at UFC Event on March 13 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Finding the proper response to much of the news finding its way into our social media feeds is becoming a tougher task every day. Nothing is surprising anymore, and there’s always more to the story. Leaving us with one reply: “huh?”

Last week, Ryan Hall continued to call-out ranked UFC featherweights, Israel Adesanya was announced as a commentator for the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. boxing bout this weekend, and Dana White and Khabib Nurmagomedov are on different pages when it comes to “The Eagle’s” future. Huh.

The reason “huh?”, in its various forms, is such a quality reply is simple. The word is as versatile as a response gets, and while it may require some explanation, “huh?” is sometimes the only way to react to the news of today. Defined by Merriam-Webster as an interjection that’s “used to express surprise, disbelief, or confusion, or as an inquiry inviting affirmative reply”, “huh” or “huh?” can mean a lot of different things.

Despite some of the follies of evolution (see: Rudy Giuliani), the development and growth of “huh” is something we should embrace. To be the change we want to see in the world, here are a few MMA stories last week that made us go “huh?”

Ryan Hall is being constantly avoided

Currently the 13th ranked featherweight in the UFC, Ryan Hall is having trouble getting a fight, and says he’s being constantly avoided. Huh?

“I am unbeaten and have won each of my fights in one-sided fashion. The narrative that I have or ever would pull out of a fight is false. I signed and trained to fight two times this year, and both fell out at great expense to myself. I am not some kind of trained monkey or gimmick who is waiting around to do one-offs against whatever grappling-based fighter people happen to be excited about at a given time. I want the best. Period. I believe that my results justify nothing less.” – via MMA Fighting

Hall has a point. While he’s not a gimmick, his fights can be goofy as hell. Just ask Gray Maynard. It’s easy to see why guys who have worked their way into the featherweight rankings wouldn’t want to risk their standing in a matchup with Hall. Maybe a high-profile guy coming off of a loss would be?

“Here we go again…again…

So, who’s got the stones to step up to the plate? @KoreanZombieMMA? I know you won’t ignore a meaningful challenge.” pic.twitter.com/PpWUeB1Tgq

— Ryan Hall (@ryanhall5050) November 17, 2020

Chan Sung Jung, “The Korean Zombie”, sounds like a fun matchup. Basically any fight with TKZ sounds fun. It’s a solid callout from Hall, who hasn’t fought since July of 2019, and had a couple of fights get cancelled this year.

Jung is 6-3 since joining the UFC, and has featured in the main event in each of his last seven fights. He was most recently defeated by Brian Ortega last month. From Hall’s point of view, it’s a no-brainer. Whether or not Jung and the promotion are interested remains to be seen.

The post Three “Huh?” Moments in MMA Last Week: Avoiding Ryan Hall, Izzy on Commentary, and Khabib’s Future appeared first on Cageside Press.

MMA Junkie has reported that Hall has pulled from the contest due to undisclosed reasons. This is now the second time that the fight has fallen through. Initially, the pair were set to fight on May 2, however, it was postponed. The UFC is now seeking a replacement opponent for Lamas to fight him on Sunday’s Fight Night card.

The 38-year-old Lamas has not competed since June of 2019. He was knocked out cold by Calvin Kattar in their UFC 238 meeting in the first round. Prior to that, Lamas ended a two-fight losing streak with a TKO win over Darren Elkins. Now, Lamas is looking to get back on track, but he’ll need an opponent first.

Check out the updated card for Sunday’s event here below:

• Anthony Smith vs. Aleksandar Rakic
• Robbie Lawler vs. Neil Magny
• Alexa Grasso vs. Ji Yeon Kim
• Ricardo Lamas vs. opponent TBA
• Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba
• Impa Kasanganay vs. Maki Pitolo
• Hannah Cifers vs. Mallory Martin
• Zak Cummings vs. Alessio Di Chirico
• Alex Caceres vs. Giga Chikadze
• Polyana Viana vs. Emily Whitmire
• Christian Aguilera vs. Sean Brady

We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available…

The post Ryan Hall Withdraws From Ricardo Lamas Fight At UFC Fight Night 175 appeared first on Cageside Press.