Is Conor McGregor fighting or not? Between the USADA pool mystery, punching mascots in Miami, SA allegations and his TUF coaching appearance, nobody seems to have a solid answer on if we’ll see “The Notorious” against Michael Chandler in 2023.

The women’s MMA GOAT Amanda Nunes called it a career at UFC 289 in Vancouver after she defeated Irene Aldana in a clinic in the main event. What lies ahead for Nunes, could she possibly ever make a comeback, and what is her legacy within the sport at this point?

Ilia Topuria secured a valuable victory against Josh Emmett at UFC Jacksonville on Saturday which puts him on the short list of title challengers for the featherweight title. How many more wins does he need to challenge for the belt and who should it be?

And of course all of the MMA headlines out, and comments and questions during the show! Join Fred Kirby and Eddie Law LIVE tonight 5:30pmPT/8:30pmET!

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Keyboard Warriors goes LIVE weekly on Friday or Sunday! Make sure to subscribe to Cageside Press on YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, Facebook and all social medias! Hit the notification to get the alert when the show goes live!

The post Keyboard Warriors Is LIVE NOW! McGregor, Nunes, Topuria And More appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Fear the” Maverick went into UFC 289 in Vancouver as the #15-ranked women’s flyweight in the UFC, but came away from the event thoroughly defeated by Canadian standout Jasmine Jasudavicius.

Given Team Canada went 5-0 on the night (and 6-0 if you include adopted Canadian Diana Belbita, a Romanian fighting out of Stoney Creek, Ontario), Maverick was far from the only fighter to suffer a setback on the evening.

It seems the usual collection of trolls and miscreants online, however, have singled out Maverick, deeming her defeat worthy of death threats.

The 25-year old, who had been on a two-fight win streak prior to UFC 289, addressed the matter on her Instagram story:

Miranda Maverick revealed that she's received death threats among other nasty comments on social media. #UFC289

via her IG pic.twitter.com/lsoXJDZV6N

— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) June 13, 2023

“I’ve received so many death threats, messages telling me to commit suicide, kill myself, etc in the past 2 days, it is insane.

Just because we have a blue check by our names doesn’t mean we are invincible. Mind you, I ignore these clowns but to those who struggle with what social media thinks of you, remember most keyboard warriors don’t have much to show for their lives. Go after something with all the effort you have and regardless of the result know you put your all on the line.

And to you pieces of [poop emoji] who say such hateful things, I hope you never experience the pain of having someone say/do the same to you.

God bless you all.”

Maverick previously revealed that she had lost vision during the fight, something she admitted had scared her more than the fight itself.

“Some things are scarier than fighting- and one of those things is going blind. My left eye went blurry end of 2nd round and was completely blind throughout the 3rd round. Its (sic) mostly back now and I’ll be meeting with a retina specialist this coming week. But I’ll admit I was scared during that time.”

The post Miranda Maverick Reveals She Received Death Threats Following UFC 289 Defeat appeared first on Cageside Press.

Let’s take a look at what could be next for the winners of the main card.

Amanda Nunes

The greatest ever female mixed martial artist, Amanda Nunes, called it a day on her career after securing a win against Irene Aldana.

“The Lioness” was originally set to put an end to her rivalry with Julianna Pena, but the former champion pulled out weeks prior due to an injury. Despite having pulled out of the bout, Pena was present for fight week and throughout the days, continued to make it known what she thought of the current champ. None of that mattered though, as it was Irene Aldana who was looking to dethrone the Queen.

Although the fight went to the judges’ scorecards, Amanda Nunes didn’t even have to get out of first gear as the Mexican challenger made it extremely easy for her. After the bout, Nunes called for the cut-man to bring in his scissors for her to begin taking off her gloves. From that point, it became clear what was about to happen

The Brazilian emotionally explained how she wanted to retire whilst still being at the top of her game, something hardly any fighters are able to do. With that, she lay down her bantamweight title next to her featherweight title with her gloves embedded in the middle, and contentedly walked out of the Octagon with her family for the last time.

Nunes’ Next Fight: Amanda Nunes announced her retirement

Charles Oliveira

Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira came into fight week with what felt like the entirety of Canada behind him. With his last fight being his title loss to Islam Makhachev, the Brazilian knew he had to win this fight to hopefully secure a second meeting with the Dagestani.

Ahead of him though stood Beneil Dariush, who was riding an 8-fight-win-streak into this fight, knowing that a win over the former champion would guarantee him a title fight in his next one. From the opening bell, it was clear that Oliveira wanted to show Dariush why he was the former lightweight champion.

“Do Bronx” began fast and landed a few clean strikes on Dariush, which led to Dariush clinching up and subsequently allowing the fight to go to the ground. Whilst in top position, Dariush landed a few good strikes whilst nullifying the grappling threat of the Brazilian.

It didn’t last long though because as soon as the fight got back to the feet, Oliveira landed a big head-kick followed by a right hook, sinking Dariush to the ground where he was subsequently finished.

The only way to describe the crowd’s reaction would be electric. Yet again, Oliveira exemplified how far he has come in his career, continuously improving and becoming even bigger of a star fight by fight.

At the moment, it is unclear which direction the UFC will go in, in terms of Charles’ next fight. With him gaining such star-power, I imagine they will want to capitalise on it and give him a rematch with the dominant Makhachev. For me though, that fight finishes very similarly to their first fight, but with there being no other clear contender right now, it probably makes the most sense.

Oliveira’s Next Fight: Islam Makhachev 

Mike Malott

“Proper” Mike Malott made it back-to-back submission victories with yet another impressive performance, this time defeating Adam Fugitt at UFC 289. During Malott’s walkout, there was an incident in which the barrier gave way, resulting in several rowdy fans falling down to the walkout space. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries to the fans and Malott came away unscathed.

With the win, Canadians finished the night undefeated 5-0, making the return an extremely successful one. It is likely that Malott’s next fight will be against a decent step-up in competition.

Someone who would be a step-up, but a manageable one, is Abubakar Nurmagomedov. Not only that but their timelines coincide as Nurmagomedov fought a week prior. Depending on whether Malott is keen on the travel, this fight could take place on the Abu Dhabi-based UFC 294 card.

Malott’s Next Fight: Abubakar Nurmagomedov 

Dan Ige

Dan “50k” Ige put on another emphatic boxing performance, epitomising perfect fundamentals in that area, de-railing Nate “The Train” in the process.

Ige has finally registered back-to-back wins again with the step down in opponent proving beneficial for him in the long-run. With that being said, it may be the time to once again have him fight a fellow ranked competitor.

Despite Landwehr being extremely durable, there were a few moments in the fight where Ige came close to finishing him. Since his appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017, he has made 14 appearances staying very active in the 145lb division. Ige is still yet to be finished in professional MMA.

Still being at a good age of just 31, Ige could still yet make a run towards the title. A fight that could be beneficial for both parties is a fight with Sodiq Yusuff.

Ige’s Next Fight: Sodiq Yusuff 

Marc-Andre Barriault

Opening up the main card for the Canadian’s was “Powerbar” Marc-Andre Barriault. His last victory came against Julian Marquez back in March, where he finished him in round two.

On the other side was Eryk Anders who was looking to try and string together consecutive victories for only the third time in his 16 fight UFC career.

Barriault’s UFC tenure began with three losses in a row, with the Canadian likely coming very close to being cut. From then on though, he was able to pick up several impressive victories over the likes of Azaitar, Lungiambula and Jordan Wright, showing he deserved a spot on the growing roster.

The 33-year-old has likely earned himself a fight with a decent name for his next outing. A fight with Michal Oleksiejczuk could be a fun one.

Barriault’s Next Fight: Michal Oleksiejczuk

The post What’s Next: UFC 289 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

Topped by Amanda Nunes taking on Irene Aldana, a surprise retirement by “The Lioness” following a dominant victory over the challenger leaves the Mexican bantamweight in an interesting spot. We’ll play matchmaker and try to sort out what comes next.

Irene Aldana

Aldana will likely be disappointed with her low-output performance in her title challenge against Amanda Nunes, but this fight also just showed how many levels above the rest of the division Nunes is – or rather, was, now that she is retiring. With that retirement making the women’s bantamweight belt vacant, Aldana is not too far out of the title picture even after such a poor performance.

Julianna Pena and Raquel Pennington, the number one and two contenders, will likely face off next for the belt. Aldana is the fifth ranked contender, so one or two wins could put her right back in a title fight. Irene has already faced every fighter near her in the rankings: she lost to third-ranked Holly Holm but beat fourth, sixth, and eighth-ranked Ketlen Vieira, Yana Santos, and Macy Chiasson. Vieira is fighting seventh ranked Pannie Kianzad in July and the winner of that fight would be a perfect opponent for Aldana’s next fight.

Aldana’s Next Fight: Winner of Vieira vs Kianzad

Beneil Dariush

Beneil Dariush had won eight straight fights – including wins over Carlos Diego Ferreira, Tony Ferguson, and Mateusz Gamrot – before getting stopped in round one by number one contender Charles Oliveira at UFC 289. Dariush came so close to a title shot, only to be turned away at the last moment. He will be understandably upset, but he’s not done by any means just yet because of the interesting stylistic dynamic which would exit between him and champion Islam Makhachev.

Fighting this next week is the man who gave Islam his toughest test to date: Arman Tsarukyan. The ninth-ranked phenom is an incredible grappler and wrestler, with good striking to boot. Those traits are ones he shares with Dariush, which would make for another thrilling stylistic match-up between the two. Arman’s original ranked opponent, Renato Moicano, unfortunately had to pull out with injury. That left him to face unranked Joaquim Silva, who is talented but is being almost completely discounted in this fight – Tsarukyan is a -1100 favorite as of now. Assuming Tsarukyan does his job and beats Silva – which seems likely, though all MMA fans know nothing is certain – then him vs Dariush would be an amazing fight to make.

Dariush’s Next Fight: Winner of Tsarukyan vs Silva

Adam Fugitt

Adam Fugitt lost to the Canadian home crowd’s star boy Mike Malott at UFC 289. Fugitt fell to 1-2 in the UFC and will now look to get back to .500 and keep his job in the process. There are a bevy of inexperienced welterweights for Adam to fight in his next bout, but one potential option is Ange Loosa. Loosa lost his DWCS fight to now-ranked Jack Della Maddalena but made it into the UFC after one more win anyways. He is now 1-1 in the UFC, a position Fugitt was in before fighting Malott, and if the two fought it would have potential to be a big turning point in both men’s fight careers.

Fugitt’s Next Fight: Ange Loosa

Nate Landwehr

Nate ‘The Train’ Landwehr’s three-fight violent win streak was broken by ranked contender Dan Ige at UFC 289. Nate’s toughness was on full display, as always, as he made it to the scorecards despite being dropped multiple times and hurt badly. Nate will look to rebound against a fellow almost-ranked featherweight.

At UFC 288 last month, debutante Diego Lopes shocked the world when he almost submitted top-ranked, undefeated prospect Movsar Evloev. He lost the fight in the end, but he pushed Evloev to the limit and won ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for his performance. After showing he can hang with the top of the division like that, Lopes deserves a fight with a fringe-contender like Landwehr. The Mexican MMA pioneer could continue his momentum and set himself up for another shot at the rankings, as could Landwehr, with a win in this bout.

Landwehr’s Next Fight: Diego Lopes

Eryk Anders

Eryk ‘Ya Boi’ Anders looked as good as he had in years in his bout with Marc-Andre Barriault. He lost the fight by decision but won a ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus for the back-and-forth war. Coming into this fight Anders said he would fight five more times before retiring, which would put him at twenty total UFC fights. He will want to make these next four count.

Chidi Njokuani broke into the UFC by stopped Barriault in just sixteen seconds in his debut, but has fallen to 2-2 in the promotion now with two straight losses. Still, Chidi ‘Bang Bang’ always puts on a show, as evidenced by his three post-fight bonuses in four UFC fights. Both him and Anders are coming off of losses but are clearly able to put on exciting, diverse battles in the cage, and a fight between them would be on the pre-event shortlist for a bonus on any card.

Anders’ Next Fight: Chidi Njokuani

The post What’s Next: UFC 289 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Nunes retired off a dominant performance against Irene Aldana, with the story of the fight etched all over the challenger’s face.

When it comes to combat sports, the word “era” is far too often exaggerated, and even when not, poorly defined. It’s a nebulous term seemingly marched out each and every time a popular fighter retires.

Oddly enough, it has rarely been used to describe Nunes’ reign. For whatever reason, maybe her lack of marketability outside of being the women’s GOAT and double-champ, maybe a portion of the fanbase still overlooking female fighters, but “the Nunes era” is something that hasn’t exactly been talked about much up until this point.

It probably should be. It’s downright laughable now, but it has been just ten years since Dana White reneged on his claim that women would “never” fight in the UFC. Ronda Rousey opened the door for female fighters, quickly establishing herself as one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts.

Rousey’s star burned bright but extinguished quickly, at least in terms of her UFC run. A little over two years after defeating Liz Carmouche in the first women’s fight in promotion history in 2013, she had lost her bantamweight title to Holly Holm. The Rousey era stretches back a little further if you count her Strikeforce run, but regardless, by 2015, it was over.

Holm hot potato’d the title to Miesha Tate, who also dropped the belt in her first attempt at defending it — to none other than Amanda Nunes. “The Lioness” ascended to her place as Queen of the Jungle at UFC 200 in 2016, headlining a historic card by default after Jon Jones flunked his drug test, and Conor McGregor bailed on media duties forcing the promotion to pull him from the event.

From the outset, Nunes never seemed to be given the credit she was due. After bludgeoning and submitting fan favorite Tate to win the UFC bantamweight championship, Nunes was booked into a fight with Rousey — a fight whose sole focus was on “Rowdy.” Video promos ahead of UFC 207 centered on the ex-champ’s impending comeback. Nunes was conspicuously absent. Internally, the UFC’s new (at the time) ownership, Endeavor, went as far as referring to Nunes as “cannon fodder.”

Nunes, however, had other designs. Having competed for both Strikeforce and Invicta FC prior to joining the UFC in 2013, Nunes put on a one-sided beatdown of Rousey that proved who the real “cannon fodder” was.

Want to talk about eras? From March 21, 2015 to June 10, 2023, a span of over eight years, Nunes defeated 14 of 15 opponents put in front of her, nearly all of whom were ex-champs, top contenders, or wily veterans. Her title reigns lasted just shy of seven years. She defeated six former and future UFC champions, including every woman to hold the UFC women’s bantamweight championship. Nunes avenged the only loss she suffered in that span, against Julianna Pena, last year.

Amanda Nunes leaving the octagon for the last time. #UFC289

🎥: @CagesideJay pic.twitter.com/P9iQRqVelJ

— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) June 12, 2023

In 2018, she added featherweight gold to her collection, knocking out the fearsome Cris Cyborg to do so. A rematch would never materialize, and the division was never truly built by the UFC, who despite having the resources to sign the best 145’ers in the planet allowed them instead to walk to Bellator MMA, and later the PFL as well.

But Nunes still carried and occasionally defended that 145lb title in one-off fights. As long as she did, the hope remained that the UFC might some day, finally, get around to shoring up its featherweight ranks. If there’s any downside to Nunes retiring while on top, it’s that the women’s featherweight division in the UFC will likely be mothballed. UFC President Dana White hinted at just that following Saturday’s card in Vancouver.

Imagine being Norma Dumont, who has a fight with Chelsea Chandler at 145lbs booked for July and is on a two fight win streak— and is now competing knowing that win or lose, she may be out of a job regardless.

I asked Nunes following UFC 289 is she was disappointed that the UFC failed to do more to build the division. Ever the company woman, Nunes said simply “Honestly no. The UFC, they know what they’re doing.” Had she not retired, Nunes added that she would have fought anyone the promotion put in front of her at 145.

Regardless of the lack of effort on the UFC’s part on the featherweight front, in Nunes, they had a bonafide GOAT on their hands. When it comes to the Greatest of All Time among women, there is Nunes, Cris Cyborg, and everybody else. And Nunes, having defeated Cyborg and claimed two belts, albeit one in a half-baked division used seemingly on a whim, has the clear edge in the debate.

Despite all that, Nunes was disrespected all Fight Week long ahead of UFC 289, with fans referring to Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush as the “real” main event. A very good fight, to be sure, but no one has “Do Bronx” in the greatest of all time debate just yet.

When it comes to Nunes, there is no debate. Much like pineapple on pizza (it belongs there). And there’s little question that Saturday marked the end of an era, with the women’s bantamweight championship now up for grabs, and the featherweight division most likely gone for good.

The post The Lioness Hunts No More: End of an Era, and Quite Possibly Division, In UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

“(I knew I would retire) When I signed the contract for this fight. I tried to hide it from you guys the whole week, but like you guys looked like (you were) on top of it. I just didn’t want to focus on that,” Nunes told reporters including Cageside Press at her post-fight scrum on Saturday.

“I (didn’t) want to keep talking about retirement all the time, and I’m still talking. Imagine if I said yeah I’m going to retire. Would have been all about that.”

Now that it’s over Nunes has time to reflect on her legacy on how people will remember her time in the MMA.

“The greatest of all time. I did everything you know, I break a lot of records. Tonight I tied with Anderson Silva it’s amazing huh? So I’m very happy about that,” she said.

With no more actual fighting in her future ‘The Lioness’ will take a step back and run her gym where she has a couple of fighters training.

“I love this sport. I have my gym. I have a couple girls there and I love to help them to be able to succeed as well. I have a lot to offer, as a double champ I know a lot. We’re a team we work together, and I’ll be able to make a girl a champion too,” she said.

“If I really work with one girl I can make her a champion. I know everything about this game, mental and be good at it, do strategy. We’re really going to make a strong team in the future.”

Coaching aspirations aside Nunes will now take time off to heal, catch up with family, and help her wife Nina out with her pregnancy as the two are expecting their second child together.

“Right now I’m going to take a break. I’m going to go see my family in Brazil, and enjoy a little bit too my family at home. Nina’s pregnant too she needs a little break. She almost had a heart attack today in the hotel,” Nunes said laughing.

Nunes gave her partner all the credit for making her life easier as she continued to train and fight. Now it’s time to rest, relax, and prepare for their incoming child.

It’s also time to reflect on a long and successful career. The question was posed to her, if she could go back at tell her younger self who was leaving Brazil to head to the states to train and fight anything, what would she tell her?

“You make the right decision, girl,” Nunes laughed. “Good job and I’m so proud of you. You made the decision so young.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Amanda Nunes above.

The post Amanda Nunes Reflects On Decision To Pursue MMA In The US, Talks Post-Career Plans appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Yeah I got some lumps and bruises. My hands are a little sore. He’s got a hard head dude,” Ige told reporters including Cageside Press.

“Dude’s head’s like a freaking bowling ball.”

Landwehr proved to be a tough fight for Ige in the sense that he would not go away. Ige was able to drop him a few times during the fight, but Landwehr continued to get up and fight.

“I had him so hurt. I hurt him in round one, I hurt him in round two pretty bad, I saw him wobbling back to the corner. My coach Eric told me ‘look at that mother f’er. Look at him!’ It takes a lot out of you when you hurt a guy like that and just the adrenaline to go for the kill. He’s dangerous, and honestly when that guy gets hurt he’s even more dangerous,” he said.

“He just keeps coming. I should have probably choked him out.”

Now that Ige is on a two-fight win streak the next fight is an important one to set him up for a possible run at a title. Even if featherweight is a tough one to move up the ladder in.

“I’m going back to Hawaii with my family on Thursday. Going to spend 10 days there with the fam, and just rest, recover, recharge. I’ve been f*cking grinding my ass off since literally my last fight,” Ige said.

“I just want to be the best version of myself and it takes a lot out of you. You prepare so hard for one day and I want to be better than that. I want to be better than what I’ve shown.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Dan Ige above.

The post Dan Ige Says Landwehr’s head is “Like A Freaking Bowling Ball.” appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Do Bronx” finished Beneil Dariush with ground n’ pound inside of a round in the co-main event in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the response from Canadian fans downright massive despite the Brazilian having previously lost all four of his fights in the country.

Immediately after the win, talk turned to a rematch between Oliveira (34-9, 1NC) and champ Islam Makhachev, who defeated him for the UFC lightweight championship last October. It’s a fight that was promised to Dariush; having vanquished Beneil, the match-up seems to make sense for Charles as well.

“Who’s got the belt? He’s got the belt. And I want to be a champion, so I have to go through him. Of course I want to fight him, but right now, I don’t want to worry about it.” Instead, Oliveira said following the fight, he wants to go back home to spend time with his family, and let his team worry about plotting their next move.

The aftermath of Saturday’s win was clearly an emotional moment for Oliveira, that much was painted on his face.

“This is a movie that went through my head. I know that the majority of my losses have been here [in Canada]. So for me to actually be here and have a standing ovation — everybody was just standing and applauding me and cheering — it was just an amazing feeling,” Oliveira explained. “I usually try to keep my composure, just keep going, focus on the fight. But I let my emotions get me because it was so amazing. It felt like I was in the community, it felt like I was actually back at home. As a Brazilian, it felt like I was not miles and miles from home. And afterwards, to win here after so many losses, even with the losses they were applauding me even with that.”

“Afterwards, I just let it go. It’s something I’m never going to forget in my life,” he added.

Watch the full UFC 289 post-fight press conference appearance by Charles Oliveira above.

The post UFC 289’s Charles Oliveira On Makhachev Rematch: “He’s Got the Belt, and I Want to Be A Champion” appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I’m not really like that type of guy. I’m not going to pretend to be Conor McGregor or anything, but I’m going to do what I have to do in the gym, prepare, and the fights will come,” Zahabi told Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I’m not worried about any of that.”

Zahabi (10-2) stopped Aoriqileng by knockout in the first round of their fight in Vancouver which clearly sent a message to the rest of the bantamweight division that he’s a someone to deal with.

“For me I think it’s the best (the UFC bantamweight division). The most entertaining because it’s like you’re swimming with sharks. Everyone’s a shark, everyone’s good, the whole roster is dangerous,” Zahabi said.

“They can all finish you in their own way, and they all have great expertise. I think that’s why people love the bantamweight division, and we can take a punch. We ain’t that heavy so we throw a lot.”

A big storyline of UFC 289 were the Canadians going 6-0 on the night with Zahabi, Diana Belbita, Kyle Nelson, Jasmine Jasudavicius, Marc-Andre Barriault, and Mike Malott all walking away victorious in their native country. Seems like every time Canadians do well in the UFC more and more people begin to train.

“I think we’re going to be on a hot streak man that’s great. I’m so happy for Canada. The sport needs to grow even more here. When Canadians do good on UFC cards like this in our country it’s amazing,” he said.

“Hopefully it pushes people to do more shows and get more into the sport.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Aiemann Zahabi above.

The post Aiemann Zahabi Not One To Call People Out, Happy For Canadian MMA appeared first on Cageside Press.

Canada’s Malott was the final Canadian in action at the Rogers Arena on Saturday, with every hometown fighter picking up a win. The casual audience may not have known Fugitt, but Malott was hip to the danger he posed.

“He’s good. He’s really good. He wasn’t getting any love or attention this week, nobody was giving that guy a shot.” Malott saw things very differently. “He got thrown to a tough opponent [Michael Morales] on nine days’ notice for his debut, and he was winning that fight until he got caught, kind of gassed and got caught. And he took the fight on nine days’ notice. And then he beat like another killer in his next fight.”

The left Malott believing that “this guy isn’t the can that everyone thinks he is.” The reaction by the UFC faithful, meanwhile, was something Malott admitted, “was a little bit of pressure. I’m like ‘dude this is not a guy you just walk through. This guy’s good.'”

Still, Malott noted that he put in all the preparation, felt he could beat Fugitt everywhere, “and I felt like I beat him everywhere.”

Ahead of UFC 289, Waterdown, Ontario’s Malott barely uttered Fugitt’s name, however. “My focus wasn’t even remotely on my opponent, my focus was on myself and the process and this moment tonight. I give respect to everyone I fight, and I analyze them as much as I feel necessary, but there’s a reason I didn’t use his name, because it’s not about him.”

“I’ve never talked trash about anybody. I’ve just said how I feel, I’ve been honest, and I prefer to talk about myself, rather than other people, not to be conceited. But it’s just, I’m not talking about him. He’s a great fighter, but this was Canadian MMA’s show,” Malott continued. “I want to talk about, this was our show. This was our coming out party. This was us coming home, this was us getting to finally feel that  again. And everybody showed up! Everybody showed up in the audience, the fans showed up. The fans were amazing, the fighters were amazing, everybody won!”

Watch the full UFC 289 post-fight press conference appearance by Mike Malott above.

The post Mike Malott Calls UFC 289 Canada’s “Coming Out Party” appeared first on Cageside Press.