“I think she deserves to come back and fight for the title straight. She’s been proved a lot, you know? She’s been proved for everybody,” Ricci said. “She’s the best in the division. So, I think she deserves to get the title shot, but we don’t know when. That’s the thing, everybody is waiting to see when Weili is going to come back.”

And while she’s waiting to hear of when the champ will come back and fight, Ricci has her own big fight on the horizon. A booking with the aforementioned Virna Jandiroba should put her firmly in the conversation for before or after Weili returns.

“It’s a huge step. You know, it put me right there to fight for the next, for the title next. So I was honored,” Ricci said. “I think if I have a good performance against Jandidova, it’ll put me right for the next. So I think it just depends how it’s going to be – the fight.”

Making this an exciting fight she feels will be easy. She thinks her advantages in each facet of the game should make for an undeniable, dominant performance that will leave no question in the bosses’ heads.

“I think I’m going to be a little bit more complete in this fight It’s going to be a lot of smarts and see who is going to find who first. I’m really excited and I’m going to be ready if it goes to the ground, I’ll be at home. If it stays on the top, I think I have a little bit more advantage on the strikes,” she said. “It ends with Baby Shark win and challenge for the belt.”

You can see “Baby Shark” stake her claim for a title shot as the co-main event of UFC Vegas 115. The fight card begins at 5pm EST and airs on Paramount+.

The post UFC Vegas 115’s Tabatha Ricci on Complicated Strawweight Title Picture appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I actually tore my meniscus again in my [last] fight with in the first round – this is my fourth meniscus surgery,” she explained. “I just went to pass guard and I felt the click and then my leg got stuck. That’s why round two, I didn’t look like round one because I couldn’t move. So I went and got that fixed. I tried to see if I could do it without surgery, but where the tear was, there’s no blood flow in that area. So I had to have surgery to get it removed.”

Not only was the time away necessary for her recovery, but she made some changes to her camp as well. After training near home in Texas for most of her life, she made the move out the fight capital of the world to improve her training. While she was originally hesitant about the move, she found a home with Eric Nicksick and gang.

“I moved out to Vegas. I’ve been training out in Vegas for about nine months. I feel like I’m at home,” Cowan said. “I obviously miss home a lot, but I’ve definitely found a second home at Xtreme [Couture] and at the [UFC] P.I. And I’m surrounded by people that I love, people that I trust. It’s been a good not a year that I didn’t want to take a year off, but it ended up being a very good thing because I was able to kind of grow with my new coaches and grow with my team.”

Not only has her training leveled up, but she’s now mentally in a better space as well. The sport, particularly with all of the injuries, had become more of a job and less of the thing she loved. Now it has returned to where she was at her best.

“It’s I almost lost my sense of reverence for the sport, because I was just like going from rushing from one injury to the next – almost that I was I was just waiting to get hurt again, like I lost my my like love for training. It was almost became a chore,” she said. “But I was able to change my mindset and kind of find my my love for the sport again. And so I’m having fun in training. I love all my training partners. I love being on the mats with the greatest fighters on the planet.”

You can see the fruits of this year outside of the cage when she takes on Alice Pereira at UFC Vegas 115. That fight takes place on the prelim portion of the card, which begins at 5pm EST on Paramount+.

The post UFC Vegas 115’s Hailey Cowan Talks Growth During Time Away appeared first on Cageside Press.

“He’s good fighter. He fights till the very end,” Yakhyaev told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.

“Probably the reason is we were born in the region where there was a war. Born in the region and raised to weather the mountains. Our soul is pretty brave and hard,” he said.

The Chechen fighter spoke on his ability to finish fights, but didn’t make it sound very complicated.

“It’s natural and just the result of hard training,” he said.

With the upcoming bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland set for UFC 328 Yakhyaev spoke on his fellow Chechen and the title.

“So I think Khamzat’s going to win. Maybe (by) submission,” he said.

Watch the entire media day scrum with Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev above. He faces Brendson Ribeiro at UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday night.

The post Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev Backs Khamzat Chimaev, Eyes Win at UFC Vegas 115 appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Man I’ve fought guys that were undefeated, myself I had the hype and been undefeated once. I’m out to show people with a win on Saturday why I’m here, why I deserve to be here, and i’ll show that people,” Ribeiro told reporters on Wednesday through a translator.

Ribeiro (17-9) made it clear he’s approaching this matchup with a different level of urgency following his most recent loss. For him, this isn’t just another fight, it’s a pivotal moment to prove he belongs.

“I’m not going to run away from him, never run away from anybody here in the UFC or in other promotions. There’s a big difference (between us),” he said.

“He wants to win. I NEED to win.”

Ribeiro also pointed to the preparation behind the scenes as a driving force heading into Saturday night. Beyond the stakes, he’s motivated to showcase the effort he and his team have invested throughout camp.

“Besides the pressure obviously to having to win there’s also the work that we put in. I wan to show people the work that we put into this fight,” he said.

“I want to show the people my work and the work of my team that we put on to come out with the win. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Brendson Ribeiro above. He faces Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev at UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday night.

The post Brendson Ribeiro Brings Urgency Into Clash With Rising Yakhyaev appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Feel like I’m strong and tough as well. You know what I do.”

“I’m aware. That stuff gets to me. The information comes to my attention. I think it’s a number and these numbers are meant to be dissected and broken (down),” he said.

“Believe me, we’re going to put on a performance to get that done.”

It’s hard to make a quick rise in a stacked bantamweight division, and Estevam isn’t delusional enough to believe he’ll get a title shot soon. As a matter of fact he’s not in a rush whatsover.”

“I understand I just came up, right? I can see myself (come up) very slowly. Not rushing into anything,” he said.

“But I can see myself like two, four, six fights and I’m going and climbing up the rankings. I understand my place and I know that I’ll have to put in some work to do it.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Rafael Estevam above. He faces Ethyn Ewing at UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday night.

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“I never thought that I would fight somebody from American Top Team, but it happens. Then I just have to be cordial. Respectful. I respect him,” Moicano told reporters on Wednesday.

“I don’t have nothing against him. I just want to win. I want to win the fight, and I have no bad blood at all. Don’t get me wrong, I go over there to finish him.”

Moicano (20-7-1) recognizes this bout as a must-win to avoid a three-fight losing streak. With the lightweight division as deep as ever, another setback could significantly impact his standing and future opportunities in the promotion.

“That makes sense. I’m coming off two losses in-a-row. I think last time I was in this situation was when I lost to Korean Zombie and Jose Aldo. That was very hard for me,” he said.

“So definitely I need to win right now.”

Moicano was supposed to face Brian Ortega in March, but the latter withdrew from the bout due to what he describe as “nagging injuries.” Regardless Moicano still hopes the fight materializes.

“I would like Ortega 100%, but we don’t know what happened to him,” he said.

“UFC doesn’t disclose what happened to him. If I beat Chris Duncan on Saturday, and they want to make Ortega like in 2-3 months, 100%.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Renato Moicano above. He faces Chris Duncan at UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday night.

The post Renato Moicano on Facing Teammate: ‘I Respect Him… But I Go Over There to Finish Him’ appeared first on Cageside Press.

Duncan (15-2) said both fighters remained at the same gym throughout camp, albeit training separately, and emphasized there was no tension between them as they prepared for the bout.

“Yeah he was in the same gym. We were in the sauna together. A lot of people don’t get what I’m doing, what me and Moicano do. We have so much respect for each other. It’s going to be fighting,” Duncan told reporters on Wednesday.

“Whoever wins, wins, and people can’t fathom that.”

American Top Team typically isn’t fond of teammates fighting one another, no gym really is, but Duncan acknowledged the reality of the sport. When two top fighters in the same division are chasing the same goal, a matchup can sometimes become unavoidable.

“They obviously don’t like it, but you know how big the UFC is. It just sometimes has to happen. They’ve done this millions of times and they understand it’s business at the end of the day. I’m very fortunate to have ATT be able to work like that,” he said.

“There was no picking and choosing the better fighter, or who gets this and who gets that. Straight down the middle. Everybody gets the same opportunity.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Chris Duncan above. He faces Renato Moicano in the main event bout of UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday night.

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Kicking off this UFC Vegas 115 edition of TTP is our interview with UFC strawweight, Tabatha Ricci. Ricci discusses the complicated picture in the strawweight division that includes a champion leaving, a new champ being crowns, and the possibility of the return of the previous champ. Plus, she talks about where that puts her in the division as she enters a de facto number one contenders fight on Saturday. She’ll throw down with former title challenger Virna Jandiroba in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 115 this weekend and is giving us the breakdown of the whole fight.

Fights, Dogs and Parlays: UFC Vegas 115 (10:29)

The UFC heads home to the Apex for another fight night event. UFC Vegas 115 is headlined by lightweights Renato Moicano and Chris Duncan as they try to stake their claim for a run up the division. Plus, in the co-main event, the aforementioned Tabatha “Baby Shark” Ricci meets Virna Jandiroba in a 115lbs clash with immediate, meaningful implications. We’ll break down those fights as well as some of our other favorite fights on the main card. Plus, as always, we’re hitting you with an underdog and a plus-money parlay that we think will make your wallet fat this weekend. For this segment, all odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Hailey Cowan Interview (17:22)

Closing out this UFC Vegas 115 edition of TTP is our interview with UFC bantamweight, Hailey Cowan. Cowan discusses her time outside of the cage and the injury that led to it. Despite it being hard not having a fight on the docket, she made the best of her time. She talks about the camp change, some of her training partners and a whole lot more from this last year. Plus, she breaks down her fight at UFC Vegas 115 with Alice Pereira and we make some jokes about the age difference.

The post TTP Ep. 525: Tabatha Ricci, Hailey Cowan, and UFC Vegas 115 appeared first on Cageside Press.