UFC 239 is in the books and there was no shortage of domination. With so many fighters showing up, it’s time to see what’s next for our favorite fighters!

Michael Chiesa Outgrapples Diego Sanchez

Michael Chiesa didn’t look bad against his foe, Diego Sanchez. Diego makes things hard for grapplers in the first place. Chiesa kept things on the ground, where he was comfortable. Diego had no answer for Chiesa’s pressure. While Chiesa struggled to get the finish, he ultimately got a 30-26 on all three scorecards.

Next Opponent for Michael Chiesa: Vicente Luque vs. Mike Perry winner, Demian Maia

Next Opponent for Diego Sanchez: Tim Means, Dong Hyun Kim

Blachowicz Breaks Luke Rockhold’s Jaw

Blachowicz rebounded from his tough bout with Thiago Santos with a huge knockout win over former middleweight champ, Luke Rockhold. Blachowicz negated all of Rockhold’s wrestling fairly easy. Blachowicz was simply stronger and faster than Rockhold. With a giant left hook, he took Rockhold’s soul.

Rockhold looked gassed at the end of the second round. While he did press Blachowicz against the fence, he had trouble mounting any offense. By the second round, Luke was noticeably slower and not as crisp. It’s not often I say fighters should retire, but Rockhold doesn’t seem to have his heart into it anymore. And with his jaw broken once again, serious health concerns are brought up for the former champ.

Next Opponent for Jan Blachowicz: Dominick Reyes, Volkan Oezdemir vs. Ilir Latifi Winner

Jorge Masvidal ScoresFastest KO in UFC History

Not much to say here. Jorge Masvidal knocked out Ben Askren in five seconds because Askren was predictable. Askren will rebound and Masvidal will ride the wave.

Next Opponent for Jorge Masvidal: Tyron Woodley, Kamaru Usman

Next Opponent for Ben Askren: Darren Till, Santiago Ponzinibbio

Amanda Nunes Further Solidifies Herself as the Women’s GOAT

We all knew Amanda Nunes was the GOAT before UFC 239. Having beat every champ at bantamweight and featherweight, there’s almost nobody for her to fight. Valentina Shevchenko was a decent match the first two go-arounds. Nunes might just flatline anyone the UFC throws at her from now on.

Holly did a good job of using her jab to keep Nunes away in the beginning. But Nunes finds ways to make you make mistakes, as we saw with Holm. After eating a big shot, Holm flinched at a feint and Nunes knew she had the kill. Holm might not get a title shot ever again.

Next Opponent for Amanda Nunes: Cris Cyborg vs. Felicia Spencer winner, Ketlen Vieira

Next Opponent for Holly Holm: Sijara Eubanks, Yana Kunitskaya

Jon Jones Overcomes a Legless Thiago Santos by the Skin of his Teeth

Jon Jones was very reserved in the fight with Thiago Santos. He stalked him down the entire fight but seemed hesitant to pull the trigger knowing Santos was coming with bombs. Jones defended his title and won his first split decision fight. But the champ didn’t look too impressive in this fight.

Santos tore nearly every ligament in his left knee and his meniscus. He was still throwing kicks later on in the fight but not as frequent. Santos fought Jones the complete opposite of how everyone thought. He didn’t bum rush Jon early on. He was patient and made Jones move first. Many people, myself included, thought Santos won that fight, but you have to convincingly beat the champ. Santos will return, and the beast that he is will make another title run after UFC 239.

Next Opponent for Jon Jones: Dominick Reyes, Daniel Cormier if Victorious

Next Opponent for Thiago Santos: Anthony Smith Rematch, Jan Blachowicz

The post UFC 239 Aftermath: What’s Next After a Main Card Full of Domination? appeared first on Cageside Press.

UFC 239 was one of the most hyped up cards of 2019, and it lived up to all of the expectations. Both title fights on the card were excellent, as the main event saw Jon Jones just outlasting title contender Thiago Santos to retain his light heavyweight championship. The co-main featured a bantamweight championship fight between defending two-weight champion Amanda Nunes, and former bantamweight champion Holly Holm. A bout that Nunes went on to win, adding yet another former world champion to her resume.

The card also featured big results such as Jorge Masvidal defeating Ben Askren in five seconds with a flying knee, Jan Błachowicz upsetting Luke Rockhold in the second round, and in a battle of former Ultimate Fighter winners, Micheal Chiesa dominating Diego Sanchez.

Here are a few takeaways from that crazy night in Vegas.

Thiago Santos should face Jon Jones again, when healthy

It’s hard to not look at Thiago Santos’s performance at UFC 239 and not give him props. The former middleweight went into the fight as a tremendous underdog, with many seeing his only path to victory as an early knockout. Instead, Santos showed a more technical side that we hadn’t seen before, and despite a knee injury early took the dominant Jones to a decision. With one judge and many fans believing that he won the fight. The first time in Jones’ amazing career that someone has beaten him on any judge’s scorecard.

Santos started out strong, taking the first round according to all three judges. Doing massive damage to Jones’ legs in the first, Santos looked to continue his work in the second round. However, Santos injured his knee in the second round, and while he would fight on, it severely hampered his movement and absolutely affected Santos’ chances of pulling an all-time upset. However, Santos remained competitive, winning on one scorecard, and even having many notable MMA personalities such as Brett Okamoto and Chael Sonnen scoring the fight for him.

Santos’ performance is even more surprising when you examine both main event fighter’s careers to that point. Jon Jones is considered by many to be one of the greatest fighters of all-time, with his resume reading like a hall-of-fame list. Having defeated multiple MMA legends in dominating fashion, it was hard for most to see Thiago Santos having a chance against him. Santos was a career middleweight who could never break into the top-10 until he moved up to 205 pounds, where he went on a three-fight winnings streak to earn a title opportunity.

We recently learned the extent of the damage to Thiago Santos’ left knee, and it was much worse than we first thought. An MRI after the fight showed that the left knee meniscus and three ligaments are completely torn. Those injuries should put Santos on the shelf for at least a year. With Dana White not wanting an immediate rematch for Jon Jones next, it seems he will get his wish.

But when Santos is healthy and ready to return, it’s hard to argue that he shouldn’t get a rematch against Jones. The light heavyweight division is light on title challengers at the moment, and when someone arguably defeats Jon Jones, it’s hard to not want to see that again. It’ll also be a lot more fun when Santos has two working knees as well. Who wouldn’t want to see that fight again with a healthy Santos?

Well, besides Dana White of course.

Jorge Masvidal needs to face Kamaru Usman next

Going into UFC 239, the welterweight showdown between Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren was seen as a potential title eliminator bout. The fight had lots of bad blood going into it, as both men were talking loads of trash about the other. Many fans saw the fight as the best fight on the card and thought IT had “fight of the night” potential. Instead, Jorge Masvidal only needed five seconds.

Well to clarify, he really only needed two seconds. Jorge Masvidal ran across the cage at the start of the bout and threw a flying knee at Askren, Askren fell into it, and that was it. Askren was out cold two seconds into the fight and a couple of unnecessary (or necessary if you ask Masvidal) shots later and the fight was over. Jorge Masvidal needed only five seconds to defeat the 19-0, former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren.

This is also the second time in a row that Jorge Masvidal got a highlight-reel knockout. The last time being in March, knocking Darren Till out cold and silencing the London crowd. Before that fight, Masvidal hadn’t fought since 2017, where he lost to Stephen Thompson at UFC 217. However MMA is all about what you’ve done lately, and Masvidal has knocked out two top-five talents in a row.

Many believe that Masvidal’s friend and teammate Colby Covington should get the shot at Usman next, as Covington defeated Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 last year to win the interim welterweight championship. However, he never got the shot at the undisputed strap due to an injury, and was thus stripped of his interim status. It’s hard to stay in line when you don’t fight, and Covington hasn’t fought in over a year. Since then, Masvidal has made his return and solidified himself as the number-one contender.

Colby Covington takes on Robbie Lawler next month, and while a win could get his name back in the title conversation, right now Jorge Masvidal should be next for the champion Usman.

Multiple fighters need to consider retirement coming out of this card

UFC 239 had some of the highest highs and some of the lowest lows. While there were many amazing performances from many athletes in their prime, many of those performances came at the expense of fighters that are past their prime and shouldn’t be fighting anymore. Some of these fighters shouldn’t be fighting for different reasons, but they all need to take a look at potentially hanging the gloves up.

First up is former bantamweight champion, Holly Holm. Holm is one of the greatest combat athletes of all time, having been a boxing champion, kickboxing champion, and UFC champion. However, since defeating Ronda Rousey in 2015, she has gone 2-5 and having lost in possibly her last title opportunity against Amanda Nunes at UFC 239, it may be time for her to hang them up. She’s accomplished so much already, and while still competitive there has been a drastic decline since her championship win over Rousey at UFC 193.

Keeping in line with former champions, Luke Rockhold should really consider retirement. Luke Rockhold is one of the few MMA stars that could get out easily, as he already spends time as a model in his spare time and is the face of Ralph Lauren cologne. Rockhold won the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 194, with an incredible win over Chris Weidman. However, since then, he has gone 1-3, with all losses being via brutal knockout. With injuries mounting, and knockouts piling up, it may be time for Rockhold to examine his future in MMA.

Diego Sanchez is not a former world champion as our previous fighters, but he’s still one of the most accomplished UFC fighters of all time. Being the first ever Ultimate Fighter winner, fighting professionally since 2002, he has defeated some of the best in MMA over the years. However, with all those years, comes a lot of damage. Sanchez has taken thousands of strikes over the years and took almost 100 in his 30-26 loss to Michael Chiesa this past weekend. He’s still competitive but at some point, there’s only so much damage one person can take to the brain. It seems Diego Sanchez could reach that point soon if he hasn’t already.

In MMA, it’s hard to tell someone when it’s time. Now while it’s arguable that these fighters should retire or not, the conversation should at least be had.

The post UFC 239 Aftermath: Three Takeaways from Saturday’s Great Card appeared first on Cageside Press.

Las Vegas, NV — “I’m so sad. I don’t like this wait. I can’t wait to come back.” That was Johnny Walker’s immediate response to being asked about the feeling of being in Las Vegas at a big event like UFC 239, but not being able to fight.

Walker has been out more than a minute, rehabbing a shoulder injury incurred while celebrating his last win, in typical Walker fashion. And he’s not loving it. “Two months, stopped [training],” Walker said backstage at the T-Mobile Arena over the weekend. “Like 100% stopped it, after my surgery, to recover my shoulder.”

“Now I start training again, I can beat some heavy bags and lift weights. Start to train properly,” he said with a hint of relief in his voice. But he admitted to media outlets including Cageside Press that “the last two months, after my surgery, was the worst months of my life, because I can’t do nothing.”

Despite injuring himself doing “the worm” in celebration after his last win, Walker has no plans to stop “I don’t need to change my celebrations. The doctor fixed my shoulder, now I can celebrate properly,” he said Saturday. Asked directly if he’d keep going on with his post-fight antics, “Yeah of course, why not?” he answered.

Boss Dana White might not be too happy with that. “He told [me to stop],” Walker admitted, “but I won’t hurt myself again, no way.”

So where does his Walker, who seems to be dancing before and after fights, get his inspiration? “When I’m younger, I watched a lot of Michael Jackson, he’s great,” said Walker. But can he pull off the Moonwalk? “Maybe.”

Having been out longer than he wanted, clearly, a return date could be imminent. Walker said that while nothing is set in stone, “maybe Corey Anderson at UFC Abu Dhabi [UFC 242], but it’s not 100 percent.”

The post UFC Light Heavyweight Johnny Walker Chomping at the Bit to Get Back in Action appeared first on Cageside Press.

Combate first reported the details of Thiago Santos’ suspected injury from UFC 239. They added that the recovery is expected to last over eight months, which shuts “Marreta” down until March 2020 at the earliest.

There are four ligaments in the knee: the ACL, MCL, PCL, and LCL. Thiago Santos tore all but the LCL, plus his meniscus in his left knee in the first round of a five-round bout against arguably the greatest fighter of all time. On top of that, there is a partial ligament tear in his right knee. The injury occurred after Jones checked a leg kick from Santos in the first, and Santos’ plant leg visibly buckled. Despite falling on his own several times during the fight, Santos did enough to win on one judge’s scorecard. It was the closest pound-for-pound great Jon Jones has ever been to truly losing a fight.

The severity of the injury does prompt hope for a rematch down the road, as it obviously played a factor in how the fight went. If Jones still wants to avoid moving up to heavyweight, Jan Blachowicz, Corey Anderson, and Dominick Reyes seem to be the top light heavyweights available at the moment. Keep in mind Anderson has defeated Blachowicz in the past.

Jones said he has his sights set on a December return, well within Santos’ injury timeline.

So, who would you guys like to see me scrap next!? Already focused on December

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) July 8, 2019

It will definitely be a while, though, until we see one of the UFC’s most entertaining fighters, Thiago Santos, return to the Octagon. Of the Brazilian’s 13 wins with the promotion, 11 have ended by KO/TKO.

The post UFC 239: Thiago Santos Tore Three of Four Knee Ligaments Plus Meniscus in Split Decision Loss appeared first on Cageside Press.

Las Vegas, NV – Jon Jones came one scorecard away from losing his light heavyweight title in the UFC 239 main event. Thiago Santos gave it his all, even after injuring his knee in the first round. However, the story after the fight focused on the performance of Jones rather than the toughness of Santos.

“It would be disrespectful to Thiago and his great team to say that this was a subpar performance. I met a fighter who came game. He’s a black belt in Muay Thai. He’s been doing it for a long time. I fought him where he is comfortable. As a result, I have sore feet and sore legs, but I’m very grateful I came out on top.”

It’s safe to say Jones has never fought an opponent quite like Thiago Santos, and Jones elected to fight him where his opponent is strongest, as he has done throughout his career.

“He’s extremely powerful. His kicks were powerful. His punches were powerful. I wanted to play a smart game. It probably would have been a lot smarter to get him to the ground and test him there. But I felt like I was winning at what he is absolutely best at. I feel like his team had him ultimately prepared. His cardio was great, his punches and kicks were great. I feel like that was his best. I found a way to win on the feet at what he’s absolute best at. In a rematch, if that were to happen, I’d obviously need to make some adjustments and make smarter choices, maybe attack him where he’s a little weaker. But I am proud because his kickboxing and his standup is what he’s known for. I faced it head-on for 25-minutes and I found a way to come out on top.”

A big turning point in the fight came very early on, when Santos suffered a knee injury. Jones gave his thoughts on it.

“I feel like in the first round he kicked me and I checked the kick. I feel like maybe he hurt his foot, but I haven’t seen any injury reports.” Jon was then informed of the knee injury and responded with, “Oh wow, I didn’t know his knee was hurt at all. I figured he maybe he hurt his foot. It’s good to know it was his knee.”

Jones has yet to be truly defeated in 27 career fights. When the scorecard was being read, his career of dominance nearly hit its first in-cage roadblock.

“I was like, ‘Please, not like this.’ I was confident I won the fight. My coaches wouldn’t lie to me. They said, ‘Jon, we feel like you won every round.’ So I was just extremely grateful. To have a fight like that is extremely humbling. It drives me to study more, work harder, and take the game even more seriously. It was a good warning for me tonight.”

Jones rolled up to the press conference in a wheelchair, and detailed his ailments.

“Right now, my feet are hurt. Both shins are swollen. But nothing’s injured, things just hurt. And that’s what you get when you stand with a Muay Thai black belt, you’re going to have a lot of shin and feet colliding. It’s a small price to pay for this great victory.”

At the end of the day, Thiago Santos did more than enough to gain the respect of Jon Jones at UFC 239.

“Honestly, I’d have to say he’s the most powerful guy I’ve ever fought. I blocked almost all of his face punches. I think maybe two of them actually landed on me. Boy, he knocked my mouthpiece out. Even when I was blocking, he was making my defense rock side to side. Very powerful. I think Thiago represented his team and his country so well. I wish nothing but the best for Thiago. I think when he gets back to Brazil, people need to give him a parade or do something special for him. He should be very very proud of himself. He handled defeat like a man. He came up and gave me a hug and said, ‘Sorry for some of the negative things I said about you before the fight.’ And that was something I wasn’t expecting. Then, ‘Whenever you come down to Rio, I’m taking you out.’ I was like, ‘I would definitely party with you Thiago.’ He was cool. My type of guy.”

Check out the rest of Jon Jones’ UFC 239 press conference above!

The post UFC 239: Jon Jones Full of Respect for Thiago Santos After Split Decision Victory appeared first on Cageside Press.

Las Vegas, NV – Amanda Nunes continued to build her legacy as the greatest female fighter of all time with a huge head kick knockout against Holly Holm in the co-main event of UFC 239. She told media afterward that her story isn’t ending anytime soon.

“It means a lot. Like I said in all my interviews this weekend, this is about making history. Keep improving and battling all those girls in my division. Once again tonight, I proved it.”

The fight started conservatively, with both fighters feinting in front of each other. This approach from Holm took Nunes by surprise and forced an adjustment.

“I thought Holly was going to move a lot, I thought she was going to be in-and-out, running a little bit, try to clinch me. But she showed up and she stood still there. So I had to do something else. I had to do plan B because my first one was chase her and she showed up different. It was better for me, how she showed up tonight.”

Amanda Nunes finished Holm with a pair of feinted punches then a picture perfect high kick. It was a combination that Nunes had played out in her head many times leading to fight night.

“Honestly, me and my coach Katel [Kubis], we have been doing this for so long. Just this weekend, I was in the hotel room, me and Nina [Ansaroff] started to practice. Like hook, straight, and finish with the head kick. Every time before I slept we were doing it over and over until I thought, ‘I might catch her with this one. I’m going to do this.’ I have the best coaches in the world and we do this over and over. This was something I had all along, but I never had the chance to show it. But tonight was a great night to show it, and I’m very happy about that.”

One fight prior to Nunes’ title defense, her teammate, Jorge Masvidal, set the promotion’s record with a five-second knockout, which certainly inspired the champion.

“He opened it up for us. When I saw that, the energy was through the roof. I thought, ‘I’m going in there and will do the same.’ And I did it. It was awesome.”

Nunes even gave her assessment of Holly Holm’s gameplan and what went wrong with her approach.

“I think the biggest problem with Holly tonight was that she couldn’t find that timing with me. Not even those kicks were able to stop me because she didn’t have the right timing to throw those kicks. She was just throwing them without meaning. That’s it. They didn’t hurt me at all. If she kept doing that, I would have done something else because I started to catch all the timings that I needed to to really finish that fight.”

“I feel like my front kick was the big thing. When I landed that front kick, I saw that she didn’t want that thing again. And I started to work her with my hands because I knew my next kick would land again in the same spot and it happened two or three more times. She was really hurt badly. After I connected with my right hand, she was really odd about it. I saw everything after that.”

Check out the rest of Amanda Nunes’ UFC 239 post-fight press conference above!

The post UFC 239: Amanda Nunes Says Holly Holm’s Unexpected Gameplan Opened Up Finishing Opportunity appeared first on Cageside Press.

Las Vegas, NV — It’s safe to say that Marlon Vera had a hellish week or two leading up to UFC 239. After spending months preparing for ‘The Sugar Show,’ a.k.a. Sean O’Malley, Vera was greeted by the reality that O’Malley had been yanked from the event by the Nevada commission, following an atypical drug test result that is believed to stem from a previous test failure.

He was then faced with the grim reality that he might not fight at all, as opponent after opponent fell through. Until, finally, Nohelin Hernandez stepped in on very short notice.

So it’s not surprising that Vera, despite from early adversity, was simply happy to get the win, period.

“To me a win is a win,” he told reporters after the fight, including Cageside Press. “I always say I’m not looking to finish a fight, I’m just looking to win.” The victory came via second round submission. No easy feat, as Hernandez proved tough. Plus all the distractions outside the cage.

Explaining the insanity that unfolded prior to UFC 239, Vera said that “it was a little weird and crazy going into the fight. Because a week before the fight, so many changes. Let’s be real, mentally it was f*cking like a roller coaster. At some point, I told my team, ‘guys I don’t want to fight, too much has happened, maybe it’s a sign not to fight.'”

However after consulting with his family and team, and being offered Hernandez, Vera decided to stay the course. “We just went ‘you know what, it’s a fight, just go and fight.'”

Still, it meant coming in with the bare minimum in preparation for any specific opponent. “The game plan for this fight was basically come and fight. There wasn’t no specific [plan for] how to beat him. Get in front of him, put [on] a big pace, and then wear him out then finish him. But there was a lot of things coming into this fight.”

“I believe so,” Vera said when asked if this particular opponent change was the most difficult of his career, “because I feel every time it’s happening, I’m the short notice guy coming in. Which, it’s the same for both guys, because we both have to, in a small period of time, figure it out.”

“But this time, I had O’Malley four months ago. So four months I’m doing a camp for one specific guy,” he pointed out. “The week of the fight, three guys. So it was crazy.” Still, at the end of the day said Vera, we’ve all got two hands and two legs. And he had the will to fight.

Speaking about the opponents the UFC offered, “the first guy they offered me was like a plain boxer, with only wrestling defense,” said Vera. “I was like ‘I guess I can kick him and move around.’ The second guy said ‘okay, I’ll take the fight’ then the promotion he was fighting for don’t let him out of the contract. And then they offered me this new guy that I fought today. I was like ‘okay that’s six days from the fight, that’s the third guy.'”

“In my head I wasn’t sure about what I want, because it was too much going on.” It was not a pretty situation. “I don’t want to come here without being prepared mentally. But I just played the old Chito, like ‘f*ck it, let’s go.'”

Some last minute training, and hot yoga, helped level him out. Although Vera almost sabotaged himself by breaking his diet ahead of the fight when he found out O’Malley had dropped out. “I started eating more food, I was like ‘I’m not going to diet for nothing.’ Then when they called me I was like ‘f*ck I need to cut the weight again.’ And that was a little hard, but I still made it as the professional I am.”

Asked whether he’d like to get the Sean O’Malley fight back, Vera seemed fine either way. “I’m not interested in nobody. If the UFC wants to make the fight, cool. If the UFC throws somebody else [my way], cool.”

Watch the full post-fight press scrum with Marlon Vera from UFC 239 above!

The post Marlon Vera Had to Return to Old Chito Mentality Ahead of UFC 239 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Las Vegas, NV — Chinese bantamweight Song Yadong earned his fourth straight win under the UFC banner Saturday night. At UFC 239, he knocked out Alejandro Perez in a bonus-winning effort that should put him firmly on the radar of fight fans everywhere.

Yadong (14–3 (2)), who has been training with Team Alpha Male, is a standout Asian fighter in a time where the promotion is facing increased competition in the region, notably from ONE Championship. The UFC has opened up a Performance Institute in China, one that dwarfs the Las Vegas version of the facility.

With the market of greater importance than ever before, it was no surprise to see Song Yadong fight stateside for the first time at UFC 239. It was, after all, the biggest show of the UFC’s year so far. It was certainly a good outcome for Yadong, although perhaps not quite what he expected.

Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press, the Chinese fighter said that he “didn’t plan to knock out his opponent before the fight. Of course, I watched my opponent a lot to find out where the opening [was, so I] could get it. I trained specifically on it.” However, Yadong was “planning on fighting for three rounds” with his opponent, because Perez, he said, is “a really tough guy.”

As a result, with the fight ending “too fast,” Yadong “didn’t show everything I got yet. I can do better if the fight goes longer.”

Yadong later told Cageside Press that his game had improved “everywhere from Team Alpha Male,” though he added that “even now, I need to keep improving.”

Fighting on such a big card might give some fighters pause, but Yadong “didn’t feel too much pressure, all I felt was excited, and appreciative that the UFC gave me this chance.” Moving forward, in fact, he has just two locations in which he wants to compete: China and America. “These are the only two places I want to fight.”

Yadong said following the fight that he has a small injury he’d need to heal up from, so it’s too soon to talk about when exactly he’ll be back. That injury — to his knee — is what forced him out of the Perez fight back in March. That likely takes him out of the running for UFC Shenzhen in August. However, with the UFC continuing its push into mainland China, he should get his chance soon enough.

Watch the full post-fight press scrum with Song Yadong from UFC 239 above.

The post UFC 239: Song Yadong Looking to Heal Knee Injury Before Competing Again appeared first on Cageside Press.

Las Vegas, NV — After going 1-2 across three fights and coming off a loss to Nina Ansaroff, Brazilian strawweight and former 115lb title challenger Claudia Gadelha got back in the win column at UFC 239 on Saturday.

It wasn’t always pretty, and the fans let both Gadelha (17-4) and opponent Randa Markos know it. It was, however, a step in the right direction for ‘Claudinha’ — who moved camps for the fight.

Recapping the fight with media members including Cageside Press following the bout, Gadelha noted that “when I looked for the takedowns, I saw she was in a very, very low stance. So I just kept standing.”

That led to a bit of a stalemate, or at least a perceived lack of action, at times. It’s something Gadelha anticipated, however. “I expected that, because when she fought Carla Esparza, she did the same thing, so we were waiting for her to do that.”

“She’s tough. Randa Markos is a tough fighter,” she said of her opponent, who joined the UFC via The Ultimate Fighter 20, when the promotion introduced the women’s 115lb weight class. “I knew she was going to be tough, I knew she was going to be in the fight for fifteen minutes. I played my game. Everything I did today in the octagon was new. I added a lot of new things to my game, and I wanted to show that tonight.”

Ultimately happy with the victory, Gadelha added that “I’m satisfied. I won, and Randa is a tough fighter. She fought the best of the best, and she’s been there for fifteen minutes with almost everybody. Almost nobody’s finished Randa.”

Gadelha also got to prove that her cardio is not an issue. “People just don’t know. They say things that they don’t know,” she observed of her critics. “I have great cardio, but sometimes it’s other things that take you out of the fight. It’s been happening to me lately. It happened to me before, it’s not going to happen again.”

Among those “other things,” lacking a Portuguese-speaking corner in previous fights. “Not having somebody speaking Portuguese to me in the octagon was a problem, and I fixed that,” she said. Now, “I have somebody speaking Portuguese to me the whole time.” Additional issues included the fact that “I kind of disconnected in there before. With paying attention for other things. And that made me look bad.”

“A lot of little things that will take you out of the game,” Gadelha observed, and “people will think it’s your cardio. But I showed tonight I can do that, all day. And I fixed a lot of little things in my camp, in my life, and in my style of fighting.”

Moving forward, Gadelha is looking for a third fight with rival Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Officially, she’s 0-2 against the former champ, but that’s not how she sees it. She even planned to call out Jedrzejczyk following the fight.

Then came word that Joanna was booked opposite Michelle Waterson later this year. “I was a little surprised because I wanted to beat Randa tonight, and call out Joanna,” Gadelha revealed. “Because I feel like it’s 1-1 and we’ve got to do a third fight. Like [Joanna] told me that she knows that. I wanted to fight Joanna, but I was a little surprised when I found out she’s fighting Michelle Waterson now.”

The plan, now, is to “wait for them to fight, and I’ll wait for that to happen, because I really want to fight Joanna again.” A fight with ‘The Karate Hottie,’ however, is less alluring. “Michelle is my friend. We agreed to fight if it’s for the title. I love Michelle, she’s a good friend of mine.” Since the title’s not on the line, “I really want to fight Joanna.”

Making her feelings about Jedrzejczyk clear, Gadelha admitted that “we hate each other. I respect her as a fighter, as a professional athlete, but I don’t respect her as a person.” Their relationship did not improve after serving as coaches on TUF. “I spent eight weeks with her on The Ultimate Fighter, and it was a nightmare, the way she is, the kind of person she is. I feel like I beat her the first time. If everybody go back and watch that fight, I beat Joanna. That was a nightmare for my life, because I couldn’t accept that loss. So I really feel like we’ve got to get back in there and do it again.”

As for the current champ, Jessica Andrade, Gadelha called her “a different animal.”

“She’s so strong, so powerful,” Gadelha, who lost to her fellow Brazilian at UFC Fight Night 117 in 2017, said. “I even think it’s not fair for her to fight in the strawweight division, because I’ve been in there with her for three rounds, and I felt like a dude was on top of me.”

Watch the full post-fight press scrum with Claudia Gadelha from UFC 239 above!

The post UFC 239: Claudia Gadelha On Hatred of Jedrzejczyk, Says It’s Not Fair Jessica Andrade Fights at Strawweight appeared first on Cageside Press.

Las Vegas, NV – Michael Chiesa is now completely back on the right track. After two straight losses to Kevin Lee and Anthony Pettis, Chiesa elected for a change of scenery by moving up to welterweight. After a win over Carlos Condit, Chiesa dominated Diego Sanchez at UFC 239 to get to 2-0 at 170.

Through his career, the Washington native has found a second home in Las Vegas, and couldn’t think of a better place to win this fight.

“Last year was so tough for me. Everything with Brooklyn, missed weight cut, losing to [Anthony Pettis], especially losing here. I love Las Vegas. I love fighting here. This is feeling more and more like home. I’ll never leave Spokane, Washington, but I love fighting in Las Vegas. I love the fans, I love the environment. This is just where I enjoy fighting most. So it just feels good to get that one back. A year ago today was the lowest point of my professional career. I can honestly say that that day is long gone. This is the best version of myself and I’m in the right weight class. I’m making the right decisions with my career. It feels really good to be up here talking to you guys. It’s surreal.”

Diego Sanchez is a notoriously tough and durable opponent, regardless of the skill gap present between Chiesa and him. Chiesa was able to experience that toughness first hand, as Sanchez still has not been submitted in 41 career fights despite being in trouble for the great majority of this fight.

“I think the first submission attempt I got a little too ahead of myself. It’s something we went over in the back. The chances of me submitting Diego Sanchez are very slim. Especially with the choke. As you saw, any time I tried to go hooks in and stretch, he just had a good way of just kind of shrinking himself and slipping out. So I really had to ride the wrists really hard. I had one decent kimura attempt. I knew if I was going to submit him it was going to be some sort of two-on-one hammerlock. I didn’t expect to get one like I did against Condit. I knew if I was going to get the finish it was going to be ground-and-pound. Dude, he’s Diego Sanchez, he’s tough as hell.”

Exactly one year ago, Chiesa reached the lowest point in his career as he was submitted by Anthony Pettis. “Maverick” will use that moment as motivation for the rest of his career.

“I remember sitting in the back here at T-Mobile. I remember the fight getting over and going back to the locker room and I was just by myself, nobody there. My team was tied up and I beat everyone to the locker room. There was no other fighters, no other coaches, no commissioners, nobody. I remember going back to that locker room and just sitting. I don’t know how long that was. Could have been one minute, could have been a half hour. I just remember sitting in that locker room all by myself. Everything just piling down on me. Just being like, ‘How did this happen?’ I trained hard, I take my career very seriously. It was a lot for me to overcome and get where I’m at here today. I had to push myself to my absolute limit against Diego Sanchez to get the win. I’m very blessed, I’m very thankful. Looking back at last year, you have to remember days like that, because you just have to remember where you don’t want to be. I will remember that moment for the rest of my life and cling on to it, keep it dear to my heart. Because I know I’ll never let myself get back to that point again. I’m just very blessed to be where I’m at.”

Always seen as a huge lightweight, Chiesa is now at a much more natural weight class and it is paying dividends for his career. He also explained why he stuck around at lightweight for so long.

“It felt really good. The last fight against Carlos Condit, change is very scary for everybody. That’s not just in fighting, but in life. Making changes in your life, it’s a scary thing to do. Not only am I going into foreign territory, having two straight losses – I’ve usually lost one then rebounded with two or three wins. Losing two in a row, I then decided to make that jump up, I didn’t really get to soak it in against Condit. I was very stressed out, I was nervous. Even in the weight cut. I was still expecting it to be as bad as it was against Anthony. Whereas this fight and fight week I was just like, ‘This is cake. I feel good. This is how fighting should feel.’ I can’t believe I spent so much of my career killing myself to make 155. But when you’re in the rankings and you’re a couple wins away from title contention, that’s hard to walk away from. It took two losses in a row to make that decision. Did I want to go that way? Absolutely not. But I made the change, took the leap of faith, now I’m enjoying this more than I ever have. I feel like this extended my fighting career. Before, I didn’t really see myself fighting past 33, 34. Now I’m like, ‘F**k yeah, man. I can fight to 38.’ If I can fight at this weight and feel this good, going through fight weeks with this amount of confidence, yeah, I can do this for a long time.”

Check out the rest of Michael Chiesa’s UFC 239 post-fight scrum above.

The post UFC 239: Michael Chiesa Recalls Lowest Moment, Explains Why He Fought at Lightweight for So Long appeared first on Cageside Press.