“Her [MacMann’s] last two losses have been all on her as far as making a tiny mistake during dominant performances” stated Urijah, referring to Sara’s losses to both Marion Reneau and Ketlen Vieira before her hiatus due to pregnancy. McMann lost to both women in the second round by triangle and arm-triangle choke.

“To see her get back and show what we know she can do is really awesome”, said Faber just minutes after McMann had gutted out a win against Muay Thai specialist Lina Lansberg, in a very tactical bout where she was able to stick to the wrestling gameplan for the duration of the fight.

And as for the California Kid? Even though Urijah is unsure of what is next in terms of his fighting career he still really enjoys fighting.

In his original retirement, “I was really retired,” he said, “meaning I wasn’t thinking about fighting, etc. other than they were offering me fights here and there. And over that time I stayed in great shape and my weight got a little away from me, and I wasn’t doing any sparring other than a couple of rounds with Chad Mendes and Cody Garbrandt every once and a while.”

Faber mentioned that now, he is staying in shape and completely open to bouts in the future as long as it is with the right dance partner. “Fighting a guy like Petr [Yan] got my blood flowing, if I find someone who really gets my blood flowing I may jump in there.” Faber seems dead set on match-ups with the next generation of elite fighters. Testing new talent, seeing if he still has it, pitting old blood with the next generation are fights that are on a 40 year old Urijah Faber’s mind. A few months before Faber’s head kick loss to Yan he had made his return with the crazy KO of Ricky Simon in the very first round.

Watch the full UFC Raleigh press scrum with Urijah Faber above!

The post UFC: Urijah Faber Staying Healthy and Looking for ‘Next Gen’ Match-ups appeared first on Cageside Press.

Curtis Blaydes

Curtis Blaydes earned himself a second-round TKO win over Junior Dos Santos at UFC Raleigh. In the first round, Blaydes attempted multiple takedowns which were all defended beautifully by Dos Santos. This ended up opening up the boxing of Blaydes, as he was able to land an overhand right to put Dos Santos away in the second round.

This win puts Curtis Blaydes in the number one contender spot alongside the winner of Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The obvious next fight for the champion, Stipe Miocic is a trilogy fight with Daniel Cormier. Which either leaves Blaydes waiting until after that fight or fighting the winner of Ngannou and Rozenstruik. With the title fight between Miocic and Cormier not even booked yet, it would appear Blaydes’ best bet would be to fight the winner of Ngannou and Rozenstruik. Although Blaydes has already lost twice to Nganoou so if Ngannou does defeat Rozenstruik he may jump Blaydes in the number one contender slot.

Blaydes’ Next Fight: Winner Of Ngannou and Rozenstruik 

Michael Chiesa

Michael Chiesa was able to defeat Rafael Dos Anjos by decision in the co-main event of UFC Raleigh. After his win, he got on the mic and called out Colby Covington for a fight in July. Although this would be a great stylistic match-up, Chiesa was not even ranked at welterweight before his win over RDA. RDA was ranked number five and a win over him should push Chiesa pretty far in the top 15. It’s not unheard of but normally a fighter would have to fight two or three top 15 guys before he got to fight a top three opponent.

Another fighter in a very similar position to Chiesa is Conor McGregor. McGregor just came back to fight Donald Cerrone at 170. Cerrone is ranked number five at lightweight and that win pushed McGregor to be ranked at number 14 at welterweight. Chiesa’s win likely pushes him around the 10-12 spot in the division. Although McGregor seemingly wants the big fights and to get back in there for a title, he also wants to fight natural lightweights at welterweight. Michael Chiesa was a big lightweight but he was in fact a lightweight not too long ago. A fight with Chiesa could be the grappling test that McGregor needs to prove himself for the wrestling filled top five at welterweight.

Chiesa’s Next Fight: Conor McGregor

Alex Perez

This past weekend number 12 ranked flyweight Alex Perez defeated number 11 ranked Jordan Espinosa via arm-triangle choke. Being as though they were ranked so close to each other its not likely that the win pushes Alex Perez crazy far in the rankings. In his post-fight interview though, he called out Askar Askarov. By saying “I forgot his name but I want to fight the guy that beat Tim Elliot at UFC 246.” Sending a slight jab at Askraov by not remembering his name and also setting up one hell of a flyweight bout.

Askarov only has two UFC fights with a win over Tim Elliot in his last fight and a draw with Brandon Moreno in his UFC debut. Yet he is still ranked higher than Perez who is now 5-1 in the UFC. Thee pair have conflicting styles and a fight with Perez could be a huge test for Askarov in the UFC.

Perez’s Next fight: Askar Askarov

Who would you like to see these fighters fight next? Let us know in the comments down below.

The post UFC Raleigh Matchmaker: A New Contender At Heavyweight appeared first on Cageside Press.

That makes it two wins in a row for Perez, who told reporters including Cageside Press following the bout that “I always, always, always envision myself winning.”

“It doesn’t matter how,” he added.

Coming off the win, “it’s a great feeling,” said Perez, who improved to 23-5 on the night. “People don’t understand, this is my life, this is what I do for a living. I don’t have another job. I literally train. My other job you could say is I teach classes at the gym, and help coach. But I’m around fighting all the time.”

The submission finish might be seen as putting the rest of the flyweight division on notice. But, Perez said, “I always tell people ‘I can care less about what people think of me.’ If I cared what people thought about me then I’d be like everybody else. I don’t care, you can talk sh*t, you can talk sh*t about my fighting style, you can make fun of me, whatever it is. I can care less what my division thinks of me. I know what I can do, and I know what I bring to the table.”

The key, moving forward, said Perez, is to “keep winning fights. I want to rematch [Joseph] Benavidez. But it’s crazy, you see people that lose and try to rematch those guys right away.” Perez, who lost to Benavidez via TKO in November 2018, is taking a different approach. “Keep my mouth shut, keep working toward that goal and I will get there eventually.”

As he noted later, Benavidez “has a title fight to worry about. I’m going to get that rematch eventually. Whether it’s for the title or not. I’m going to fight him again eventually. There’s only so many people in this division.”

In the meantime, added Perez, one fight that does interest him is UFC 246 winner Askar Askarov.

Watch the full UFC Raleigh post-fight press scrum with Alex Perez above!

The post UFC Raleigh: Alex Perez Looking for Rematch with Joseph Benavidez appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It’s just this, this knuckle got scraped in the cage. That’s just about it,” he said, speaking to reporters backstage including Cageside Press.

Jackson clearly won the striking game throughout. Which earned him a unanimous decision on the scorecards. The lopsided scores — 30-26, 30-26, and 30-25 — told the story. But Colares refused to be put away.

“People like that, they got to go to sleep. There’s nothing else,” said Jackson, who is now on a three-fight win streak inside the octagon. “You can’t look for the ref to stop it, you can’t look for a doctor’s stoppage. You got to put him to sleep, unfortunately, but that’s the name of the sport.”

His approach to the fight, said Jackson, was to “just see what he got to offer, and take advantage.” And there were no surprises, not even his opponent’s toughness. “Nothing surprised me. Based off my coaching, my coaches told me that’s what I should expect. At that point, edging him out on striking, I kind of figured he had to go for some Hail Marys, which was probably going to be a submission of some sort.”

As for what comes next for the Dana White’s Contender Series winner, Jackson didn’t bite when asked for a name. “No man, I leave that to the matchmakers. I just work on my training.”

Watch the full UFC Raleigh post-fight press scrum with Montel Jackson above!

The post UFC Raleigh: Montel Jackson Knew Felipe Colares Wouldn’t Be Easy to Put Away appeared first on Cageside Press.

Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press, Brunson observed that “Edmen is a young, reckless, confident guy. And it’s kind of funny because I remember being that age and being where he’s at — and just having hype behind me, so I know what it feels like.” Derek entered the UFC way back in 2012 at 28 years old with a record of 9-2. Much has changed since then and Brunson has been in the UFC’s Middleweight Top 10 for a few years and on multiple occasions been just a single win away from a title shot. Now 36 years old the tables have turned for Brunson as he now welcomes potential top contenders to the upper tiers of the 185lbs division within the UFC.

Brunson had a rough 2018 after not only losing two fights but also being stopped in the first round of both of these bouts. But things are a lot different now, he says. “I think I got a solid situation. I switched my training up over the past year and a half at Hard Knocks down in Florida, and we have a good group of guys who are trying to get each other better.” Since his stoppage loss to Israel Adesanya in late 2018 Brunson has definitely looked much improved. Thanks in part to the training move to Florida, Brunson logged two unanimous decision victories against Elias Theodorou and Ian Heinisch who had combined records of 29-3 when they lost to Derek.

“MMA is so great and everybody loves it because nobody runs it per se. The fighters don’t run it,” expressed Brunson. “Boxing lost its luster, people killed the whole sport because the boxers started running boxing.” Derek made a valid point when speaking about his former opponent Israel Adesanya and defending his belt against Yoel Romero, despite the fact that the Cuban is coming off of two consecutive losses. If fighters are allowed to pick there own match-ups then inevitably they will try to ensure they have the best records possible, likely resulting in postponing most of the matches that the fans want to see. Brunson pointed ou that having the ranking system is something that he likes because it makes the match-ups “justified”.

Derek also went on to say that despite the recent rash of UFC middleweights moving up to light heavyweight and abandoning their excessive weight cuts, he will not be one of them. Despite admitting that he has considered moving up in weight, mostly while in the actual act of making the cut, Brunson still likes the middleweight division stating,”I come from wrestling so I’m used to cutting weight. Me in my best shape, focused, grinding, I think is at 185- is where I feel the best at.”

Derek Brunson faces Edmen Shahbazyan on the main card of UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero, Saturday, March 7, 2020, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card airs live on Pay per view.

The post UFC Raleigh: North Carolina Native Derek Brunson Ready to Keep Building Momentum in 2020 appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It’s really tough, because I’ve had a lot of fights where I thought I won, and I ended up getting the loss,” she told reporters including Cageside Press following the bout at the PNC Arena on Saturday. “And then I’ve had a lot of close decision losses where I was like, ‘I probably could’ve done a little more, I probably could’ve gone for a take down, I probably could’ve done this and that.’ And I always know that I have the skills but a lot of the times it’s just a matter of pulling the trigger, and I finally said f*ck it.”

Hill had a moment of clarity last year, where she realized she needed to go harder. “I think it was the Randa Markos fight. In February last year, I was dwelling on this one submission that I saw her get on TUF that I got submitted with in training,” she recalled, “and I was just like ‘what if she does it? What if she does it?’ And I hesitated in every moment of that fight and I ended up getting arm-barred.” Afterward, said Hill, “I felt like I almost willed it to happen because I was so worried about this one thing.”

Impressively, starting from that Markos fight in March 2019, Hill has competed five times. That’s awfully close to the record in the UFC. “So this year, I’m gunning for it,” she told reporters. “I’ve told my husband that next year I’m going to be in shape all year round. I’m taking every fight, every short notice fight, every match-up they give me. I’m saying yes to everything, I’m not going to turn anything down.”

Watch the full UFC Raleigh post-fight press scrum with Angela Hill above!

The post UFC Raleigh: Angela Hill Gunning for Most Active Fighter Record appeared first on Cageside Press.

Against his toughest opponent yet. Wins over Diego Sanchez and Carlos Condit were far from easy, but Rafael dos Anjos, who Chiesa threw down with in Raleigh, was a former champion at lightweight. A man who had challenged for (interim) gold at welterweight. An all-around veteran of the sport. Still, Chiesa took home the unanimous decision win.

Chiesa knew exactly what he wanted post-fight. “I’d like to cut this interview short and call out my next opponent,” Chiesa said inside the octagon, giving Daniel Cormier the cold shoulder. “Colby Covington, I’ll see you in July.” Exit stage left.

Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press backstage following the bout, Chiesa was a little more forthcoming, explaining why ‘Chaos’ is the next fighter in his sights.

“I just beat the number five ranked guy in the world,” explained Chiesa. “I always say the most important time to ask for a fight is after you win. You’ve got to capitalize. I’m not out to engage in some verbal pissing match with the guy. I respect his skills, he’s super tough.”

At the same time, however, Chiesa’s goal is gold, and facing tough opponents is a prerequisite for getting there. “I’m just trying to get to a world title, and I think that’s the fight that makes the most sense when you look at the top five,” he continued.

“I said before the fight, ‘I beat Rafael dos Anjos, I’m not fighting anybody less than five.’ I’m taking his spot, and just looking at the landscape of the division, that’s the fight that makes sense.” Not only does it make sense, it might actually be the only option.

A glimpse at the UFC’s official rankings shows only Leon Edwards, Jorge Masvidal, Covington, and Tyron Woodley ahead of RDA. Woodley and Edwards are booked opposite one another. Masvidal is circling either a title fight with Kamaru Usman, or a spectacle with Conor McGregor.

“I want to be tested, I want to fight the best,” added Chiesa. “So Colby it is.”

Chiesa didn’t fully know who he planned to call out until a few weeks before UFC Raleigh. “I kind of waited to see how 245 ended,” he admitted. He also wanted to see what happened with Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards, who will throw down at UFC London this March.

There’s a reasonable chance Chiesa gets his wish in the long run, something that factored into the callout. “I wouldn’t go ask for some outlandish match-up. Any time I’ve won a fight and asked for an opponent, I’ve usually got it,” he stated, “and that’s because it’s well thought out. I just don’t throw things against the wall that aren’t going to stick. I think it’s a fight that makes sense, I think it’s a fight I can get, so we’ll see what happens.”

A battle with a former title holder in the weight class — interim or not, stripped or not — would be a huge fight. And would show that Chiesa is here to stay at welterweight, not that he has any thought of ever leaving.

“This is just the right weight class for me. Even if I had come up short tonight, it wouldn’t have changed my mind to go back down,” Chiesa about the feeling at 170lbs. For what seemed like years while he competed at lightweight, Chiesa was dogged by suggestions that he move up to 170. A 2018 miss at the scales ahead of a fight against Anthony Pettis finally forced him to pull the trigger.

There are plenty of reasons to stick at welterweight anyway. “In my opinion, this is one of the most prestigious weight classes in the sport,” Chiesa said. Rattling off names like Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre, and Pat Miletich, Chiesa opined that the division was as prestigious as any outside heavyweight, historically.

There’s more too it than that, however. Even a 165lb division wouldn’t lure Chiesa back down, he said. “I’d go 175 before I go 165. I like feeling good.” There’s a mental edge to being at 170. “At least for me, what that weight cut really messes with is my confidence,” Chiesa revealed. If you’re one of those who believe the fight game is half mental, you can see what a huge factor that is.

Outside of fight camp, said Chiesa, his confidence was always high. He believed in his ability to become a champion. “Then I’d get into these camps, and I’d get into these tough weight cuts, and all of a sudden my confidence gets sapped, and I start doubting myself,” he revealed. “So it’s not just about how I feel, it’s about how I think.”

“If 165 comes around, that means 175 is coming around, and I’m going north,” he finished. “I’m not going south. I’m going to 175.”

Watch the full UFC Raleigh post-fight press scrum with Michael Chiesa above!

The post UFC Raleigh: Michael Chiesa Explains Covington Callout, Dismisses 165lb Suggestion appeared first on Cageside Press.

Or anybody else, for that matter. So, not surprisingly, he relied on his wrestling against the former heavyweight champ. Even if it was to set up his own striking.

In the end, Blaydes earned a second-round TKO. Following the bout, which gives him three straight wins in the octagon, Blaydes spoke to media outlets including Cageside Press — and reiterated his plan to stick to his wrestling.

“That’s the best path to victory,” he said of his bread and butter. “I don’t like getting hit in the face, so I know if I put you on your butt you can’t hit me. I don’t mean to be mean to the fans, I know they want me to stand and bang but that’s not ever going to be my game plan. It’s always going to be wrestle, wrestle, wrestle, wrestle.”

Blaydes now has three consecutive wins, over Justin Willis, Shamil Abdurakhimov, and now JDS. Arguably the biggest win of his career, up there with his 2018 victory over Alistair Overeem.

So is a title shot next? Even Blaydes doesn’t have the answer. “Is it? I don’t know, I don’t make the rules,” he said. “I would like for [the next one] to be a title shot but you never know. I hope, all you can do is hope.”

Of course, the weight class is a bit of a mess. Miocic vs. DC 3 is likely next, but there’s no time table set. Francis Ngannou, with a pair of wins over Blaydes, fights the surging Jairzinho Rozenstruik in March.

One thing is for certain, however. Curtis Blaydes doesn’t want to sit and wait. “Eight months is way, way too much,” he said when the possibility of sitting that long was suggested. “I like to be active, I like to get in at least three fights a year. I could wait five or six months but nothing I’m saying tonight is in stone. This literally just happened.”

And as Blaydes understands, there’s still those other names in the mix.

When it comes to beating a former champ, meanwhile, Blaydes said it didn’t really matter. “I don’t even think of that, because he was a champion before I was even fighting. So that’s not even in my mind. It’s old news to me. It feels good just to win, but that’s not even my favorite. My favorite was probably the Nashville one. Getting to beat up on that guy was a good one.”

For those keeping track, “that guy” was Justin Willis.

The post UFC Raleigh: Curtis Blaydes Won’t Wait Too Long For Theoretical Title Shot appeared first on Cageside Press.

All three had their hand raised Saturday. For her part, McMann earned a unanimous decision against the “Elbow Queen,” Lina Lansberg, in Raleigh. The win was her first since 2017. In her first fight since February 2018.

“It felt really good,” she told reporters including Cageside Press following the bout. “I tried not to focus on the outcome and I tried to really focus on the process.” In other words, what she wanted to do at each moment of the fight. Where she could keep advancing. “I chose position over taking too much of a risk and I knew if I stayed solid and stayed smart and one step ahead of her that I was going to get my hand raised.”

Wrestling, of course, was McMann’s game plan. With a silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the Olympics, and working with Team Alpha Male, of course it is. “Even before I went out I thought ‘is there a girl on the planet in my weight class that I’m not going to be able to take down?’ and I’m like ‘no.’ It may not be the first take down or the second or the the third but if I want someone to go to the ground they’re going to the ground.”

As for the ring rust question, McMann said that while “I do believe that sometimes ring rust is real, I felt completely at home out there.”

After all that time away, “it was important for me to go out there and do well,” McMann later added. “I really feel like in my last two fights that I lost, I was doing really well. It’s not like I went out there and anybody dominated me. The biggest thing for me was I have better focus than what I showed, I was doing really well and I had a lapse in judgement.”

On what comes next, McMann said that “if I’m healthy and can fight three months from now, I would love that. I would love to keep fighting more frequently.”

Watch the full UFC Raleigh post-fight press scrum with Sara McMann above!

The post UFC Raleigh: Sara McMann Feels She Can Take Down Any Girl in Her Weight Class appeared first on Cageside Press.

Raleigh, NC — You only get one chance to make a first impression. And Herbert Burns made quite the impression in his promotional debut at UFC Raleigh on Saturday.

Facing fellow newcomer Nate Landwehr, Burns shocked fans with a first round knockout with a knee. The KO opened up the card. And it wasn’t the expected outcome, precisely, given Herbert, brother of UFC lightweight/welterweight Gilbert Burns, is better known for his submissions.

He did have a choke in earlier in the round, mind you. “At the start it was a good choke but he managed to open his elbow and took the pressure off it,” Burns recapped, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press following the bout. “I kept squeezing so there was a lot of pressure and he was having a hard time breathing until I tried to adjust, when I tried to adjust I lost it completely.”

With an impressive debut win under his belt, Burns has an idea of what he wants next. “I want to fight in Brazil, I want to fight May 9th in Brazil,” he said. That would be UFC 250, potentially headlined by Henry Cejudo vs. Jose Aldo. “I want to go back to Brazil and fight in front of my fans and my family.”

As for who he wants to tango with, “I’ll give you a few names,” he said. “Chase Hooper who also just debuted, would be a good match-up for me. Also Ryan Hall, he said he was the best grappler in the division. I came here to make a statement, I did with the first knockout and I want the bonus also.”

Hooper has become something of an overnight sensation after his love of M&Ms went viral. That and a quirky sense of humor, playing up his resemblance with Ben Askren, thrust him in the spotlight. As for Hall, he was last seen dispatching Darren Elkins.

On the bonus front, at least, Burns got what he was asking for. Burns was awarded one of two $50,000 post-fight Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Raleigh.

The post UFC Raleigh: Herbert Burns Wants Chase Hooper or Ryan Hall in Brazil appeared first on Cageside Press.