Wichita, Kansas — Featherweight Alex White snapped a two-fight losing skid at UFC Wichita against newcomer Dan Moret. Improving his record to 13-5, the win was key, and possibly saved White’s job. 0-3, after all, is not where you want to be in the promotion. Yet while he took home the win in the end, it was a slow started, and one that certainly left him bloodied up.

“I got six [stitches], could’ve got seven but the doctor said he didn’t want to put too many in,” he told media members including Cageside Press after the fight. But that was no doubt a small price to pay to secure his spot on the roster.

“I try not to think about that [pressure to win]. I feel like if I did, I’d hesitate too much,” he explained backstage. “Which in the first round, there was a slow start. That’s on me, that’s something I need to work on, and it’s something that I will work on. But in the second and third round, I tried to put more pressure on.”

What caused that slow start? “I was just rusty, I don’t know. It’s just something I need to work on. To me, it seemed like I hadn’t been in there in a long time. But I’ve trained in the ring with other fighters. I don’t know, maybe an adrenaline dump or something in the first round.”

White did come close to a finish at times, despite the fight going to a decision. On that count, he recalled that “I think on the second [guillotine] he started to gurgle a little bit. I couldn’t cinch my hands fast enough to lock it.”

As for the cut that ended up being stitched show, “At first, when [the cut] happened I didn’t think it was that bad. Then blood kept going and going and I thought, ‘oh man, maybe I need to watch this and try not to get hit there anymore.'”

What’s next is always the immediate question after any fight. In White’s case, he’s looking to stick to the UFC’s home base in Vegas. “I like fighting in Las Vegas, that’s always cool. As far as an opponent goes, when I went out to California, I stayed with my manager, and I feel comfortable with him picking whoever for me. He’s a good guy, he knows what he’s doing. I’m just going to leave it to him, he’s been doing it long enough.”

White also addressed his “headstrong” tattoo. “It was inspired by the song [by the band Trapt]. I was young at the time. I was 18, can’t hold that against me. I’ve always liked the song and it’s how I felt at the time. I always wanted to push myself, and a year-and-a-half later, I got in the gym.”

The lightweight finished with a message to St. Louis (White is a Missouri native): “I appreciate the support. The more the merrier. They can always follow me at Alex “The Spartan” White on Facebook or Instagram @SpartanWhite155. Without the hometown, where would I be now? It’s thanks to them.”

The post UFC Wichita: Alex White Addresses Slow Start, Headstrong Tattoo appeared first on Cageside Press.

Wichita, Kansas — It’s time! That trademark Bruce Buffer phrase might easily be applied to Anthony Rocco Martin these days. On Saturday night at UFC Wichita, Martin simply dominated Sergio Moraes, picking him apart with devastating calf kicks, on route to a one-sided unanimous decision. 30-27s on all three scorecards underscored the fact that Moraes never really came close in the fight.

Now, Martin is running with a full head of steam at welterweight. And aside from a dad-level joke about not being in Brazil anymore, Toto (get it? Kansas? Toto? And Moraes is from Brazil?), the night was pretty much perfect. Leading Martin to believe that now is his time.

“It feels good, 4-0 at welterweight,” Martin told reporters including Cageside Press backstage at the Intrust Bank Arena following the fight. “Obviously I’m looking for the finish, always. I think that, I was just picking him apart so well I was just like ‘hey, it’s working, I’m just gonna stick to this.'”

“That’s how my game plan is in every fight,” he pointed out. “I’m going to keep it on the feet, if I feel like I’m losing on the feet, I’m gonna take it to the ground. Ideally I’m just going to stay on the feet the whole time.”

That didn’t quite happen at UFC Wichita on Saturday, if only because opponent Moraes “got that early cheap takedown.” But while Martin “wasn’t very happy with that,” it worked out in the end. “I came up, he latched onto that guillotine, I feel like I’m almost impossible to guillotine.” When Moraes couldn’t complete the submission attempt, he tried to just hold on to the head, and the ref stood the pair up.

“That early in the fight, there’s always a little bit of concern,” Martin admitted. “You don’t want to take any unnecessary chances, especially when we’re very dry. But I’m very confident in my grappling game. I started with Brock Larson seven, eight years ago now. I’m very highly confident in that department, I think I can grapple with anyone in the world.”

The highlight in the fight, however, was the consistent leg attack by Anthony Rocco Martin. “If they start compensating for my leg kicks, then my right hand starts landing… If they start missing that right hand, then I know the low kicks are there,” he said of his approach. “It’s kind of one of those things where, he was defending my right hand very well, so I started throwing those calf kicks that me and Mike Brown work every single day, and Thiago Alves.”

It’s an approach he expects others to mimic. “Eventually, I imagine that everyone’s going to start throwing them.”

Overall, Martin gave his performance a solid grade. “B+, A- minus or something,” he suggested, noting that he “stuck to the game plan.”

In fact the only negative in the fight was the bad joke afterward. “They didn’t get it. I don’t know what happened,” he exclaimed.

“First I messed up Toto about fifteen times when we were practicing it,” Martin confessed. Yes folks, that joke was practiced. “I keep saying ‘Tito,’ they’re like ‘where’s Tito, who’s Tito?’ I’m asking Mike about three times before I get on this mic like ‘Toto? Tito? Toto?’ and he’s like ‘Toto, Toto, Toto!'”

“I thought it would be a hit here for sure, but no one got it,” he added. “I thought I nailed that one, but aww jeez. It didn’t work.”

Not at all. The good news is, Martin is not paid for his stand-up comedy efforts, but for his fighting. And that has been very, very good through these past four rights at welterweight. As he suggested in the cage post-fight, it looks like Minneapolis is up next. That goes down June 29 in the Minnesota city, where Martin started his fighting career.

“I think that they have to give me someone in the top fifteen,” he said of a possible opponent. “And I need to be on that ESPN card to get as much viewership as possible. I think that now is my time. I really need to make a push. I just need an opportunity, and the opportunity has to be someone that’s ranked, and give me a high spot on that ESPN card.”

As for the upcoming Chicago card (Martin grew up in the area), that’s just a little too close to girlfriend Kayla Harrison’s next fight. “She might try to kill me if I do that,” Martin joked.

The post UFC Wichita: Wizard of Oz Jokes Aside, Anthony Rocco Martin Feels It’s His Time appeared first on Cageside Press.

For Tim Means, UFC Wichita did not go according to plan. While he opened strong in his fight against Niko Price, slamming his opponent to the ground early, in the end, he was on the wrong side of a knockout. The first true knockout loss of Mean’s career, in fact. And when Price hit him, full force, sending him to the canvas, his leg buckled under him.

When that happened… ouch! Means suffered a broken leg in the loss thanks to his body weight coming down on the limb while in an awkward position. He posted a photo of the injury on Instagram, and in a second post described the damage.

“I do my best to leave it all in the ring every time out so the fans can get what they paid for,” wrote Means. “Wasn’t my night I have to get surgery broken tibia and ankle. Niko caught me with a punch and my foot got stuck under me. Much respect to @hybridufc . See y’all down the road. Thank you to everyone for the kind words.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu0E_wQniK8/?utm_source=ig_embed

Means will be on the mend for a while, but there’s no doubt the gritty fighter will be back in due time. Price, meanwhile, should expect to get a jump up in competition, after defeating a fighter he referred to as savage. Following the fight, Price snuck into the medical area backstage after their UFC Wichita bout to pay his respects.

The post Ouch! Tim Means’ Leg Required Surgery After UFC Wichita Loss appeared first on Cageside Press.

Wichita, Kansas — After being out over a year thanks to a knee injury, Omari Akhmedov is looking to get back in action quickly. Picking up a win in his return against Tim Boetsch at UFC Wichita on Saturday, Russia’s Akhmedov said he hopes to fight again, either in St. Petersburgh, Russia or Sunrise, Florida — targeting those dates because after that, Ramadan arrives.

“I’m not injured, so I’m ready to go. I’m up to it,” he told reporters including Cageside Press post-fight on Saturday at the Intrust Bank Arena. “UFC Sunrise [Florida, billed as UFC Fort Lauderdale], UFC St. Petersburg, I’m ready, either or. If the UFC gives me an opponent. But I have to fight [before] May, because then I have the holy month of Ramadan. So I wouldn’t be able to fight. So I’m ready [sooner].”

On his fight against Tim Boetsch, a long time veteran of the promotion, the middleweight said that “I had a long layoff, because of injury. Then I came to the U.S., I’ve been here almost half a year. I wanted to plan for a fight, I didn’t want to take any chances. So I’m real happy with my performance.”

“It went well,” he added. “I thought I was weaker, so I thought I would take [the] speed advantage.”

A turning point in the fight came when Akhmedov seemingly broke Boetsch’s nose. However, the Russian isn’t so sure Boetsch was as hurt as many thought. “I think his nose didn’t bother him a lot. He was coming forward, he was punching, hitting… Tim is known for being a tough opponent.”

The post UFC Wichita’s Omari Akhmedov Ready for Short-Notice Turnaround, UFC St. Petersburg appeared first on Cageside Press.

Wichita, Kansas — Beneil Dariush did not have an easy path to victory at UFC Wichita on Saturday night, but he did get there. Against Drew Dober, Dariush was hit early, hit hard, and hit often. Yet he held on. And in the end, scored an impressive submission win late in the second round that stunned those watching.

Reflecting on the battle with reporters including Cageside Press following the fight at the Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday, Dariush admitted that “this guy, this guy Drew, he came out hard. I really felt, in the beginning, ‘I’m going to find my distance, and I’m going to start touching him up.’ But he came fast, and he hit me good.”

“I don’t know what else to say, he hit me good,” continued Dariush. “I was going to try to do a little bit more jabbing, in and out, but he feinted really well, and was able to get inside me.”

Dariush felt Dober slow as they entered the second round, which may have been a good sign. Another good sign, his chin held up. It’s something the lightweight admitted was a concern in the past.

“My neck gave me a lot of problems, it gave me problems with my chin,” he revealed. “I would get hit sometimes, and my arm would go numb. I would get hit sometimes, and I couldn’t go forward anymore. But that’s gone. I’m pretty grateful for that.”

On Saturday at UFC Wichita, Dariush was a little more reckless as a result. “When I was younger, someone would hit me, and I was like ‘I’m going to murder you, I’m coming after you.’ A little bit of that tonight,” he explained. “When I got hit, I grabbed him for a second, but I just thought to myself, ‘I’m going to get my turn. I’m going to get my turn, and when I get my turn I’m going to hurt you.’ It didn’t work so much with my hands, but it worked with the submissions.”

The arm-bar eventually sunk in by Dariush was set up with a reverse triangle, and a kimura trap. Even Dariush himself isn’t sure what finally forced Dober to tap. “I’m wondering if he actually tapped from the choke, because the choke finished him, or it was the final pop of the arm. I’m going to have to ask him, but honestly, I don’t know.”

After the fight, generally easy-going Dariush proceeded to call someone out: his niece, whom he wished a happy birthday. No, there will be no trash-talking from Beneil Dariush. He was respectful with Dober (as Dober was in return). He will be moving forward as well.

“When it comes to competition, when it comes to fighting, I’m as savage as you’re going to get,” he explained. “I’m okay with hitting you, I’m okay with getting hit, I’m okay with cuts, broken leg, broken nose, I’ve broken my nose five, six times. But I don’t need to verbally assault somebody. I don’t need to say anything bad about somebody to get inside [their head].”

“If you feel the necessity for that, maybe it’s to hype up the fight, you’re hoping for more money, whatever it is. If you think it’s worth selling yourself out, go for it,” he allowed. “But I’m not selling myself out so I can make a little bit more money. I’m not selling my character out.”

The post UFC Wichita: Beneil Dariush Unwilling to Sell Out, Talk Trash for Money appeared first on Cageside Press.

Wichita, Kansas — Elizeu Zaleski was paired up against the formidable Curtis Millender at UFC Wichita on Saturday night. Zaleski was ranked 14th in the UFC’s welterweight division heading in. Millender was riding a nine fight win streak. It was a promising battle, enough so that even without real name value, the UFC booked it as the evening’s co-main event.

Keen eyed observers were expecting a striking war. The fight turned out to be anything but. Instead, the Brazilian picked up a rather quick submission victory. With the win, he improved to 21-5, and stated his case for a top ten seeding at 170lbs.

After Zaleski’s performance at UFC Wichita, the welterweight was beaming, with “just the feeling that the job was done, and very grateful for all my team and everyone supporting me. I was very happy.” The Brazilian had trained for more of a standup battle, but didn’t really get one. Instead, “[Millender] actually just came in a little bit too close, too early,” and made Elizeu Zaleski’s job that much easier.

“We came here to put on a Fight of the Night performance, that was the whole plan. But this is MMA. The opportunity just showed up, and I took it,” he said of the finish.

Either way, it’s hard to argue with success. Now, the question is whether that success will result in a bump up in both the rankings, and public profile. Zaleski was vocal heading into UFC Wichita about wanting a little more attention. But following his latest win, he seemed more focus that life inside the cage than outside it.

“The work that I need to do in the octagon,” he said. “The rest if just extra. If I have a little bit extra to do, I don’t mind. But the big thing is just making sure that I go in there, do my job, get the finish, and get my arm raised.”

If he keeps doing that, and finishing, however, it will be hard to deny him a big step up in competition.

The post Elizeu Zaleski, Like Everyone Else, Was Expecting More Of A Standup Fight at UFC Wichita appeared first on Cageside Press.

Wichita, Kansas — Niko Price came out of UFC Wichita $50,000 dollars richer. With the biggest win of his career against the gritty Tim Means, Price not only earned a Performance of the Night award —  he became the first man knock Means out (discounting an injury TKO early in ‘The Dirty Bird’s’ career). The win was made even more impressive given Price had been in some dangerous spots in the fight. Rocked, slammed to the canvas, in danger.

Yet he held on, and turned the tables. After the bout, he told reporters including Cageside Press that he was “just praising God. So excited right now. Happy to be able to provide for my family for another couple years, and keep going.”

Price knew he was in for a battle right from the weigh-ins. Standing across from Means, he recalled that “he said, ‘alright, let’s go f*ck each other up.’ I was like ‘alright,’ I said ‘you know it’s coming.’ And then we almost fell off stage.” That elicited a laugh. “That’s why we stopped, and were like ‘oh sh*t—’ and he grabbed my arm. Because I almost literally almost stepped off the stage. Because Mick [Maynard] wasn’t ready for us to come at each other and start rubbing foreheads.”

If that doesn’t underline it, there was nothing personal about the fight. In fact, Price was excited for it. “I was like ‘I’m about to fight a guy with forty fights.’ Fifteen years? I told him after in the medic room, I snuck in there, I was like ‘yo you’re the reason I am who I am, because I’ve been watching you from the beginning. I wanted to be savage like you.’ But now I gotta be more savage than him, because I pretty much took his title.”

“I really want to pray for him, I want to pray for his leg to heal strong and stuff, because I never want to do that to someone,” he added. “But in this sport, we gotta do what we can do.”

That’s an impressive show of respect, and Means returned the sentiment. “We shook hands, we hugged, we shed a tear, it was a great fight. We went in there, we both put our hearts on the line. He dropped me a little bit, I dropped him a little bit, he dropped me again, and I finished him. It was fun, it was great, it was an awesome war!”

Price, however, is aware of the toll those wars can take. “I’m trying to start taking care of myself more,” he explained backstage in Wichita. “I’m not jumping in [on] nine day notices, I’m not doing that unless it’s worth it. Bring me something that’s worth it, and I’ll jump in. But if it’s not worth it, I need to recover.”

“I gotta watch my health man. I’m twenty-nine,” he observed, “I turn thirty this year. I gotta start watching that. And then I got four kids, and a beautiful wife, and I just can’t be grateful enough for Jesus.”

Part of watching his health, he told Cageside Press, is watching his weight. No more big cuts. “I’m going to stay around 185, I’m not going to get into the 90s, 95s, nowhere near the 2s anymore. I don’t need to be that big. I’m going to stay just healthy, efficient, just get in there and do my job.”

As for what comes next, there’s no more backwards movement, Price stated. “I’m looking to the top. I want that belt. I want Usman. He’s really cool. I’ll work my way to him, and I know that.”

“I’m not trying to say put me in there now. I’ve still got to get better,” Niko Price admitted. “He’s a great fighter, one day I would love to stand across the cage from him. Whether he has the belt or not.”

Watch the full UFC Wichita post-fight press scrum with Niko Price above!

The post After UFC Wichita Win, Niko Price Snuck Into Medical Room to Deliver Message to Tim Means appeared first on Cageside Press.

It should come as no surprise that Derrick Lewis and Junior Dos Santos earned Fight of the Night honors at UFC Wichita on Saturday. On a card that was bogged down in the middle with some plodding (and occasionally questionable) decisions, ‘The Black Beast’ and ‘Cigano’ stole the show, even if the fight didn’t make it out of the second round. In the end, it was Dos Santos, the former UFC heavyweight champion, inserting himself back into the title picture.

Lewis? Well, he fought admirably, exceptionally well even in defeat. He hit hard, appeared to have improved cardio, and continued to surprise with his agility — really, jumping attacks are something to behold from a man who walks around north of 280lbs.

He also found himself on the wrong end of a TKO, after sustaining a kick to the body in round one that took the wind out of his sails. Lewis was a wounded animal after that. Dos Santos, smelling blood, a predator on his trail.

💰 B O N U S 💰

POTN: @NikoHybridPrice & @BeneilDariush
FOTN: @TheBeast_UFC vs @Junior_Cigano #UFCWichita pic.twitter.com/3EebEtifXj

— UFC (@ufc) March 10, 2019

On the Performance of the Night award side, Niko Price earned an extra $50,000 for his knockout of Tim Means. The finish carried a little extra meaning, as Means had never been finished — and had been winning the bout early.

Beneil Dariush also picked up a Performance bonus for his come-from-behind arm-bar on Drew Dober.

The post UFC Wichita Bonuses: Main Event Thriller Earns Fight of the Night appeared first on Cageside Press.

Wichita, Kansas — Former WSOF heavyweight champ Blagoy Ivanov earned his first win Saturday at UFC Wichita. It was no easy task. Taking on ‘Big’ Ben Rothwell, Ivanov battled it out for the full three rounds, and was looking worse for the wear after. The decision came down to volume: Rothwell had constant forward pressure, and found some success with his straight punches. But Ivanov threw more, bloodied up ‘Big’ Ben, and sealed the deal.

The Bulgarian told reporters including Cageside Press that he felt good following the bout at the Intrust Bank Arena. “Ben, he’s a hell of a fighter, he’s a tough opponent. I want to thank him, [because] we spent time together in the cage.”

One thing Ivanov, who improved his record to 17–2 (1), did learn Saturday is that when it comes to Rothwell, “his chin is very tough.”

Luckily, he saw it coming. “I was prepared for this kind of fight. To move forward, throw more jabs, and throw more punches than him. This was my game plan.” For the most part, he executed, especially in the volume department.

Of course, when going to the judges, you never really know. “I asked [coach] Javier [Mendez], he said ‘you win the fight.’ I was good when he told me this.” But he admitted that “[Rothwell]’s American, so you never know. What they see, the judges.”

On securing his first UFC win, Ivanov said that “it’s a very special moment for me, to fight with this kind of fighter. Top in the world. I feel very, very happy, and great right now.” It might be a little bit before we see the Bulgarian back in action, however, “I need some time. Maybe I will take a vacation, I didn’t take a vacation last year. Then I’ll get ready for the next one.”

The post Blagoy Ivanov Got Exactly the Kind of Fight He Prepared For at UFC Wichita appeared first on Cageside Press.

Wichita, Kansas — The main event of UFC Wichita on Saturday was nothing short of spectacular. Topping a card that bogged down just a little in the middle, Junior Dos Santos vs. Derrick Lewis delivered. And then some. With jumping switch kicks from Lewis, heavy hands, and a spinning kick to the body by JDS that set up the finish, the fight was heavy on action, getting the crowd right into it.

In the end, Dos Santos earned a TKO win, his third straight. The former UFC heavyweight champion is one step closer to another shot at gold in the promotion. With his record sitting at 21-5, once again, the Brazilian has silenced his doubters.

Though, at any point, it felt like Lewis could have finished the fight. Even after the body kick, which caused some to speculate whether Lewis was playing possum. Dos Santos dispelled that notion following the bout, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press.

“He was hurt. He was hurt,” Dos Santos said, “but that’s the thing, you know. We were studying him before, and my coach told me, as soon as he feels any punch or a kick or anything, don’t go too crazy. Because he can be pretending, or trying, even if he’s feeling [it], he can try something else, like he did. But luckily that didn’t connect, and I was able to re-establish myself, and wait.”

“I told myself, ‘we have five rounds to do this, don’t be crazy, you don’t need to,'” JDS continued. “Because he was expecting that, for me to collide against him.”

Instead, Dos Santos used his boxing, and kicks, to wear Lewis down. But really, it was the body kick in the first that was the beginning of the end, even if it didn’t come until the second. The former champ did notice a little more urgency as Lewis came out in round two.

“At the beginning I could see he was kind of walking forward, preparing the right hand, trying to position himself to throw harder punches,” he recalled. “I saw that, and I was moving a little bit more to avoid that. I knew at some point he would try to do that. He tried to take me down once, and I was expecting that. Because at some point, when your first strategy is not working, you have to try to other things, and that’s what he did. It didn’t work, luckily.”

Perhaps the only negative in the fight was an eye poke by Dos Santos that may or may not have happened. Ref Herb Dean stopped the action in the first, with Lewis complaining of the foul. ‘The Black Beast,’ in usual humorous fashion, proceeded to use the ref’s shirt to wipe his eye. Dos Santos complained that his hand was closed; replays showed it might have been a thumb, but it was far from intentional, and a borderline call at best.

Lewis’ reaction, however, was no surprise to Dos Santos. “Derrick Lewis, I could see that in his fights too, he complains a lot. Every time he got hit or something, he complains a lot. I don’t know if he’s trying to take advantage of the moment or something, but he complains a lot.”

That seemed to be the case at UFC Wichita, according to JDS. “He was fine. You can see on the camera, he was fine. It doesn’t make any sense. But that’s fine. The referee, Herb Dean, he’s the greatest in this business. I trust him, that’s why I told him, my hands weren’t open.”

In the end, the eye poke didn’t matter. The win, however, does. Talk following the fight was immediately about title shots. However, champ Daniel Cormier is linked to a fight with Brock Lesnar. “The main goal is to keep active,” said Dos Santos backstage on Saturday. “Let’s see what’s going to happen now.”

“I need a little break, my daughter is due in May,” he added. “So I need to set everything up to receive her, and make sure that everything’s fine. Then I’ll fight again. Maybe at the end of August.”

“About opponents, I don’t really care, about who I’m going to be fighting.” Instead, said Dos Santos, “what I want is to add something to my career.”

Watch the full UFC Wichita post-fight press scrum with Junior Dos Santos above.

The post UFC Wichita’s Junior Dos Santos Knew Derrick Lewis Was Hurt After Body Kick, Feels He Complains A Lot appeared first on Cageside Press.