Covington suffered a nasty cut in the first round against Joaquin Buckley in the main event of UFC Tampa. The cut was pretty bad to begin with but only got worse as the fight went on and Buckley continued to target it.

The fight was stopped in the first round after the ref called the doctor in and decided to call the fight.

“He’s busted open so bad the doctor has to look at it three times. Twice he stops the action to let it keep going. The third time he said ‘we can’t go anymore’. I was going to stop that fight,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.

“I already grabbed the towel. When the doctor came in for the third time, and I’m watching the blood, it’s not stopping. It is going into the eye.”

For someone like Sonnen to be willing to throw the towel in is very telling. MMA fighters in large part would rather get finished than have their corners call it quits.

“When we as fight fans, we as tough guys, think the doctor should have stopped it, we’re talking about it doesn’t really matter how bad the cut is from our perspective as long as it’s not going in the eye. If it’s blinding a guy, it doesn’t matter if it’s a little or a lot, if it’s in his eye, and he can no longer see out of that eye, it’s the same thing,” he said.

“This was bad. This was in the eye. I literally stood up so I could see what the doctor was doing. I told Charlie, the No. 2, I said ‘hand me that towel, I’m stopping this.’ I bring that to you because the referee was taking some criticism. Well, let me be fair here, I saw what they saw.”

Both Covington and UFC CEO Dana White came out and said the fight would not have been stopped if it took place in Las Vegas which, to be fair, isn’t for sure.

Regardless of the result Sonnen had plenty of positives to say about Covington.

“When you look at the grit-meter, this was one of Colby’s best fights,” he said.

“When you look at the digging deep, this does not replace the fight with Kamaru Usman but g*ddamn, it’s right there. When you look at grit, you look at the shots that he took, you look at the damage that they did, he did not care.”

Watch the entire video here.

The post Chael Sonnen Claims He Was Going To Throw Towel For Covington appeared first on Cageside Press.

Tokkos had not been so quiet in the lead up to the fight. He said Stirling, who trains at City Kickboxing in New Zealand, did not have the type of wrestling that he had.

“It’s something you always need to work on right? There’s so many levels of wrestling,” Stirling told Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“It was good to put some respect on City Kickboxing wrestling, and our little gym in New Zealand. We’re a country of 5 million. There’s more than 5 million in the state in America. So to come from a small country where we don’t have wrestling backgrounds, and to just defend his wrestling like it was nothing, some of the guys at my gym are better wrestler than him.”

Stirling (6-0) made his UFC debut in Tampa, but he fought a total of four times in 2024 including a Contender Series bout, and two fights with HEX Fight Series. He wants his 2025 to be just as busy.

“I would like to fight at least 3 minimum. It’s all about just keeping the injuries off me, staying healthy, that’s my goal every year,” he said.

“Being in the gym as much as I can, nursing injuries…the more time you have to spend on the mats it’s just the better you become.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Navajo Stirling above.

The post Navajo Stirling Defends City Kickboxing, Wants At Least 3 In 2025 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Alvarez (22-3) had teased the move to 170 earlier in the week, but nobody was really sure why. Was this his last fight at 155?

“Could be, but I decided if there’s going to be a UFC Spain that would be my last dance at 155,” Alvarez told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator at his post-fight scrum.

It’s not like there hasn’t been talk of the UFC’s first event in Spain. Recently both UFC CEO Dana White and UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria have expressed interest in going to Spain.

Now if it is the last dance at 155 he’d need a willing dance partner, and he threw a name out that we haven’t heard in a bit.

“I don’t have an opponent in mind, but for my last dance I would fight somebody that’s coming back there. I heard he might be coming back to 155, 170, but he would be (Donald) Cowboy Cerrone,” he said.

“Listen to me it would be a dream. I heard it might be a possibility. It would be a dream for me to get a photo with him. Imagine a fight with him. That would be an amazing thing if he’s coming back.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Joel Alvarez above.

The post Joel Alvarez Would Stay At 155 For UFC Spain, Wants Cerrone appeared first on Cageside Press.

“After I beat (Charles) Jourdain I was told that I was likely going to fight a ranked guy. Then I got matched up with (Alex) Caceres. When I signed the contract for Caceres he was ranked at the time,” Woodson told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“Couple weeks before we fought he got bounced out of the rankings. I beat him and then after that I was for sure told I was going to get a top 15 guy. I was told I was going to fight (Edson) Barboza in December. I was waiting on the confirmation for that. It never happened.”

Woodson (13-1-1) may have been a bit frustrated with how things played out at that point.

Until he got Padilla’s name offered to him.

“They came to me with Fernando. I just knew though like him being the finisher he is, I feel like the company still had a lot of hype behind him. I just know I’m due for a ranked guy now,” he said.

If he wasn’t clear about what he wants in 2025, he made sure to clarify for everyone in the room.

“A ranked opponent. I will go anywhere in the world. At first I was big on ‘I don’t want to fly overseas’ and all that. I will go anywhere, I will fight anybody, rank me,” he said.

“Dana’s big on ‘earn what you kill’. I heard him say that a lot. I feel like I’ve set myself up for a big fight. I’ve earned it and I deserve it.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Sean Woodson above.

The post Sean Woodson Says He Embraced, “Earn what you kill”, Wants Ranked Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I’m a 135, I’m not 145, everybody’s thinking now (I’m fighting) at 145, but I’m not,” Lima told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I’m fighting 135. I was supposed to fight Miles in 135. We signed the contract 135, but he changed his mind afterwards. I accept no problem. We’re going to go back down.”

Lima (14-1) was supposed to fight Johns at 135 pounds. Johns was scheduled to face Cody Garbrandt in November so he had already cut to bantamweight. When Garbrandt pulled due to injury Johns was matched up with Lima, but had to be at 145 pounds.

Featherweight felt good to Lima, but the goal has always remained to be a champion at 135 pounds.

“Feels good. Maybe one day I’ll move up, but right now I’m 135. That’s my goal to be a bantamweight champion one day,” he said.

“End of 2025 I want to finish in the top 10. That’s my goal.”

As far as opponents go Lima has no preference and anybody can get it.

“Doesn’t matter who,”he said.”

“(Whoever’s) above me, I want to fight them.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Felipe Lima above.

The post Felipe Lima Enjoyed 145, But Will Make Way Back To Bantamweight appeared first on Cageside Press.

Then he looked back at a fight he’d like to get a second shot at.

“The Justin Gaethje fight. That’s the one that I want,” Johnson told Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I think everybody would love a Gaethje-Johnson 2. I gave him that opportunity when he came over when nobody else wanted to. I think he should go ahead and give that back and we need to run one. I know he knows he got away from that one.”

Johnson (23-19) was impressive on the night given that, at 38-years-old, he’s still able to compete with the younger fighters and even finish them. How much longer he’s willing to do this however may depend on how he feels.

On Saturday night he felt young.

“5 years, 10 years, I mean I always tell people I wan to do 8 to 10 more years,” he said.

“They look at me with this face, but I’m not slowing down anytime soon. As long as my body’s healthy, and I can get through what I need to get through, I’m going to fight for as long as I can.”

Then he quoted someone that isn’t commonly quoted, but drops dimes when you least expect it.

“I think Nate Diaz said it the best. He’s turned into like a good friend. He was an opponent of mine so we always keep in touch. He made a comment that said ‘Sh*t i’ll fight till I’m 50. I’m just getting started.’,” Johnson said.

“That’s what it is man. I’m just getting started. This might be my peak.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Michael Johnson above.

The post Michael Johnson Wants Gaethje Rematch, Quotes Nate Diaz appeared first on Cageside Press.

Maybe even Jose Aldo heights.

“I want to face the best in the world. I think my next fight will be against Jose Aldo,” Marcos told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“It’s one of the tougher fights. He’s had his time. It’s my time now. I know it, I’ll say it, because I believe it. I know I can win the fight. I hope for an opportunity to get into the top 15.”

Marcos (17-0) remained undefeated, but by the smallest of margins getting the split-decision nod over Yanez. Even with the fight being so close Marcos believes he’s sent a message to the rest of the division.

“This is a message for everyone in the top 15. A Peruvian has arrived, a dog, to fight. I am the new generation, the new rising star.”

In the first round Yanez suffered a foul when Marcos kicked him in the groin and poked him in the left eye seemingly at the same time. Many felt a point should have been taken, but that’s not Marcos’ concern.

“I’m not a judge. I don’t score fights. I can’t say much more than that,” he said.

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Daniel Marcos above.

Translated by Cageside Press’s Eddie Law.

The post Daniel Marcos Sets Sights On Jose Aldo, Says He’s Rising Star appeared first on Cageside Press.

In the octagon following the fight Kape went off with some colorful language aimed at Brandon Moreno, Kai Kara-France and Israel Adesanya.

“No that’s the truth. I know they want to put me to fight somebody else before Pantoja, but it can’t be. I’m tired of this bullsh*t of Kai Kara-France. We’ve been booked two times, he didn’t show up the first time, and then second time he didn’t show up again,” Kape told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“He said that he was not ready to fight because he is going to have a son or whatever. I have a daughter and sometimes I don’t see her all day.”

Kape (20-7) is visibly impatient with anything standing in his way of a title shot. Fighters careers don’t last very long, and he’s in a hurry to get to gold.

“I’m not going to wait (for) anybody. I’m here a long time in UFC. I’m 31-years-old, I’m not going to be 31 forever, it’s my time to get the title shot,” he said.

In between the second and third rounds Kape went over to where UFC CEO Dana White was sitting and they had a short conversation. White, in his post-fight scrum, said that he told him he’d speak with him after the fight.

“Me and Dana we are neighbors. We live 10 minutes away of each other. If he don’t get the conversation, I’m going to his home,” Kape said with a bit of a smile.

“I’m going to knock his door because we live in Summerlin in Vegas so it’s easy. (I’ll) catch him.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Manel Kape above.

The post Manel Kape Uninterested In Kara-France, Wants Pantoja appeared first on Cageside Press.

Or maybe not. Fans have been calling for a rematch with DooHo Choi and Swanson had to admit that one would interest him.

“That one’s possible. Although he looked amazing his last fight and it makes me want to sit back and relax a little bit, but I just know the fans would be ecstatic for that one,” Swanson told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“That one would be hard to say no to.”

Swanson (30-14) scored a third round KO of Billy Quarantillo in Tampa on Saturday night. Swanson had been pushing back against retirement talk in the lead up to the fight, but said it may have actually been the last one.

“It’s ultimately my decision and what I want to do,” he said.

“I had a little bit of a war (in this fight) but I was trying to be fast and loose and paint a picture and make it beautiful. Something I could be proud of, and if it was the last then I could say man I’m happy with that.”

Ultimately it is Swanson’s decision, but that doesn’t mean some negotiating with his wife won’t be in order. Swanson said in the cage he had told her this may be it for him.

“I’m always going to be temped (to come back). We’ll see how I heal up. I got three little kids that are getting a little bit older now, and definitely want my attention more. I got a bunch of fighters, my team Bloodline, the guys I manage and coach. I put a lot of effort into them,” he said.

“I honestly am more excited to be a coach at this point. I love the sport, and the nice thing about being on the other side of the cage is I don’t go home with lumps and bruises.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Cub Swanson above.

The post Cub Swanson Could Be Tempted To Return For DooHo Choi Rematch appeared first on Cageside Press.

Covington, who hadn’t looked like his usual self against Leon Edwards in December of 2023, had averaged one fight per year so far this decade. He is known for carefully picking and choosing his fights, favouring matchups with older fighters on their way out like Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal. So naturally, it was a pleasant surprise to see him accept a fight against a relevant, younger contender.

As for Buckley, after making a splash with his highlight-reel KO of Impa Kasanganay back in 2020, he traded wins and losses at middleweight before dropping to welterweight in 2023. He had since gone 5-0 and was looking to follow up his knockout of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson with a fourth win in 2024.

Covington might have cited injuries as the reason for his lackluster performance against Edwards, but he looked legitimately old here. The athleticism advantage that Buckley benefits from in just about all his fights was especially pronounced, as Covington had nothing for him. He had trouble dealing with Buckley’s variety of strikes and he wasn’t able to push his usual pace.

It was nice to see Covington sign-up this type of matchup, but the fight also showed us that Covington’s age and inactivity has finally started to catch up to him. His time near the top of the division is over, but he still might have enough to win a few fights here and there. But who knows whether or not he will get up for matchups that aren’t marquee main events or on big PPV cards?

On the Buckley side of things, “New Mansa” looked as explosive as ever. He has kept improving every time out since making the move to 170 lbs. He always looked like a relatively small middleweight, so the weight cut doesn’t appear to be a problem, and he looks imposing next to other 170ers.

This has by far been the most productive calendar year for him, going 4-0 with three ranked wins over Vicente Luque, Thompson and now Covington all by knockout. While the name value here is good, it’s still unclear how much those wins will ultimately tell us about his long-term potential in the title picture as he has yet to face a top contender his age. The improvements are noticeable and encouraging, but how much do they mean when matched up against a fellow new generation welterweight?

Only time will tell, but for the time being, Buckley has shown that he is clearly ahead of the current Luques, Thompsons and Covingtons of the world. He has now clearly entered the title picture, and it will be intriguing to see how he fares against the top dogs of the division.

The post Covington vs. Buckley: What Did We Learn? appeared first on Cageside Press.