MMA News

Tom Taylor - November 19, 2017

Last night, the UFC returned to Sydney, Australia, with an exciting 13-fight card. In the main event of this card, which happened to clock as the longest card in UFC history, former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum stepped into the cage with rising Polish contender Marcin Tybura. Despite a strong effort from Tybura, the much more experienced Werdum ultimately came out on top, capturing a unanimous decision win after five rounds of action. Unsurprisingly, this fun, five round affair generated some interesting reactions from the MMA community. Without further ado, here are some of the best reactions from Fabricio Werdum and Marcin Tybura’s fellow fighters:

Chris Taylor - November 18, 2017

A heavyweight scrap between former division champion Fabricio Werdum and Marcin Tybura served as the main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 121 fight card in Sydney. Round one begins and Tybura and Werdum exchange low kicks early. Marcin steps in with a left hand. Werdum counters with a left of his own followed by a head kick which is blocked. Werdum presses forward with a flurry. Tybura avoids and circles out. Werdum lands a nice uppercut followed by a right hand. He attempts a head kick but Marcin is able to block the strike. Tybura is covering up well but not getting off much. He lands a low kick followed by a shot to the body of Werdum. Fabricio steps in with a knee. He misses with a front kick. Tybura with a nice overhand right. Werdum replies with a straight right. Fabricio shoots in for a takedown. He doesn’t get it but is able to take the back of Tybura while standing. Werdum works in some knees. He looks to score a trip takedown. He can’t get it. Werdum loses the position and round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - November 18, 2017

A women’s flyweight scrap between UFC newcomer Jessica-Rose Clark and veteran Bec Rawlings served as the co-main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 121 fight card in Sydney. Round one begins and Rawlings comes out quickly. Clark gets her to retreat by throwing a flurry. Clark with a left hand and then a low kick. Rawlings come forward with a right hand. She charges in with a flurry but nothing lands. Clark with a nice outside low kick. Rawlings catches a second kick and takes Clark to the floor. Bec is working from full guard. Bec with some nice right hands. Clark scrambles and winds up in top position. That was some nice work from Jessica-Rose. Clark is able to pass to half guard. She is looking to pass to side control but Bec won’t allow it and Clark opts to stand up. Bec gets back to her feet and lands a punch. Clark circles and lands a left. A nice right hand over the top by Jessica-Rose. Rawlings eats the strikes and presses forward. Another ncie right hand and then a counter left from Clark. Another good combination from Clark. She follows that up with a low kick. Bec charges forward with punches. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - November 18, 2017

A welterweight scrap between Tim Means and Belal Muhammad took place during tonight’s UFC Fight Night 121 main card in Sydney. Round one begins and Means uses his reach advantage early landing a right and then a left hand. Belal circles out but Means stays on him. Muhammad misses with a left hook attempt. Means fires off a body kick. Belal replies with a nice left hand. He lands another. Means has his left hand tucked. He is looking to counter here. Means with a nice straight left hand. Belal circles and then comes forward with a right hand that finds a home. Means goes to the body with a push kick. Muhammad responds with a beautiful left hook. Means with a nice right jab. Belal responds with a kick to the thigh. Means is applying pressure now. He lands a nice jab. Belal circles and then comes over the top with a left hand. He lands a right hand now. Means with a hard low kick. Both men connect with straight right hands. Belal with another nice left hook over the top. One minute remains in the opening round. More strikes from both men but nothing significant. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - November 18, 2017

A middleweight scrap between Daniel Kelly and Elias Theodorou took place on tonight’s UFC Fight Night 121 main card in Sydney. Round one begins and Theodorou immediately begins firing off leg kicks. Kelly charges forward with punches but Elias circles out and then continues to work the legs. More kicks from Elias including one to the body of Kelly. Dan charges forward with a flurry but cannot connect. Another hard leg kick from Elias. Kelly is able to find a home for a left hand. Elias goes upstairs with a kick but it is blocked by Kelly. Dan eats a body kick. He charges forward with punches and clinches Elias against the cage. Theodorou breaks free and lands an outside leg kick. Elias with two more hard low kicks. He throws a side kick to the body. Another hard kick to the body but Kelly just walks through it. Kelly with a flurry now. He charges after Elias who circles out. Theodorou with yet another solid kick to the body of Kelly. Elias misses with a follow up head kick. Dan charges in with an uppercut but Elias makes him miss. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - November 18, 2017

After being frustrated by Ashkan Mokhtarian’s fight style for the better portion of two rounds, Ryan Benoit was able to land a massive high kick that knocked his opponent out cold in round three. The devastating kick can be seen below:

Chris Taylor - November 18, 2017

A heavyweight scrap between Rashad Coulter and Tai Tuivasa took place during tonight’s UFC Fight Night 121 prelims in Sydney, Australia. Round one begins and Coulter immediately shoots in for a takedown attempt. He pushes Tai up against the cage but Tuivasa is able to break free. A hard combination from Tai appears to hurt Coulter. Rashad presses for the clinch. Tai with a nice knee on the break. Rashad shoots in and scores a takedown. Tai quickly scrambles up to his feet. Tuivasa with an elbow. He follows that up with a shot to the body. Big shots now from Tai. Coulter retreats. Tai catches him with a leg kick. He follows that up with a HUGE flying knee and this one is all over! WOW!

Chris Taylor - November 18, 2017

The octagon returns to Sydney, Australia tonight for UFC Fight Night 121. The event is headlined by a heavyweight scrap between former division champion Fabricio Werdum and surging contender Marcin Tybura.

Justin Golightly - November 18, 2017

Garry Tonon has some amazing achievements under his black belt. He’s beat names like Dillon Danis, AJ Agazarm, Ralek Gracie After winning multiple International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) No-Gi world titles and becoming a multiple time three-division champion at the Eddie Bravo Invitational, grappling stud Garry Tonon has finally decided to transition into MMA. His ONE Championship debut has yet to be announced, but Tonon recently opened up about his shift in focus to MMA in a new interview.   “The reason why I’m switching over now it’s because I’ve done quite a bit in my jiu-jitsu career. I could’ve transitioned to MMA potentially earlier, but the right offer wasn’t necessarily on the table. I was very much still focused on grappling, and there were still a few things that I wanted to do. I wanted to get that last ADCC out of the way, and it’s hard to split my focus between grappling and mixed martial arts. I always told people when I was coming up in jiu-jitsu that I was interested in fighting, but that I wanted to get good at jiu-jitsu first before starting mixed martial arts, and I think that I’m kind of good at jiu-jitsu now.” 

Justin Golightly - November 18, 2017

Jose’ Shorty’ Torres is the Titan FC bantamweight and flyweight champion, the only thing he’s been knocking on more than his competition is the UFC’s door. He’s pestered them for over a year now, so much that matchmaker Mick Maynard had to block him. His luck may have changed last night though at Titan FC 46. The champ champ revealed before his fight that the UFC reached out and said they’d work something out with another win. Spoiler alert, he won.   “Mick Maynard obviously blocked me on social media. Hey, I’m annoying. I get it. They contacted me before this fight and they go, ‘Hey, after you win this fight, give us a call and we’ll figure something out.’ I personally want to fight December 30th [UFC 219]. I want to make up for lost time and really just have a lot of fun in there and put on a spectacle. Mainly to end 2017, I said as my New Year’s resolution that I will be in the UFC in 2017 and I still stand by that today.” — Jose Torres speaking to Fightful. 

Justin Golightly - November 18, 2017

“Its been offered to me, its been offered to Nate Diaz. Unfortunately one half has not accepted…” – @TWooodley https://t.co/AVNXx7GRdK — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) November 18, 2017

Justin Golightly - November 18, 2017

Kelvin Gastelum was originally supposed to fight the legend Anderson Silva in the main even of UFC Shanghai, but Silva’s flagging by USADA took away that opportunity. Luckily, perhaps an even more high profile match-up landed in Gastelum’s lap. Michael Bisping wanted to bounce right back from his loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217, so he offered to step up short notice against the middleweight contender. Gastelum feels like a possible win over Bisping could finally get him close to the gold belt. “Yes. If I win this fight [with Michael Bisping], it will put me up high in the rankings and hopefully in the conversations to fight for the title. That’s ultimately my goal. I feel like if I win this fight then I might have tarnished those plans and I might’ve just permanently put myself in the position where I’ll be fighting for the middleweight title. If I get to fight for the middleweight title, then that’s ideal but I also feel like if I do the right things and I’m able to make the 170 safely and healthy, then I can do it and I want to fight for that title too.” — Kelvin Gastelum speaking on the UFC Shanghai conference call. 

Justin Golightly - November 18, 2017

Frankie Edgar challenging Max Holloway was a fight everyone wanted to see. The two somehow haven’t fought yet and Edgar — along with Chad Mendes — were perpetually switching out for the second best featherweight in the world next to Jose Aldo. When an injury forced him out of his third chance at the title at UFC 218, the former champ was subbed in for a rematch with Holloway. Cub Swanson was in the running for awhile, but one name missing from the equation was Ricardo Lamas. He opened up about the scenario in a recent interview with Luke Thomas. .@RicardoLamasMMA explains why he should have been in the running for a title shot against Max Holloway#TLTS@lthomasnews pic.twitter.com/Dn6YlvC5dE

Adam Conklin - November 17, 2017

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s return is currently one of legend. The 29-year-old left the limelight after his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, a fight that looks to have broken most, if not all, applicable records back in August. According to McGregor’s longtime coach John Kavanagh, the champ won’t return until ‘April or mid-next year’, per Farah Hannoun of SportsJournal.ae.

Adam Conklin - November 17, 2017

Its been a good week for UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino. First, she books the first defense of her title against former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm in what is one of the most sought after matchup in MMA. Next, Cyborg confirms to the media via her website that a new deal has been reached with the UFC that will keep her in the Octagon at least the next year. Cyborg has made the most of her long-awaited UFC career. She stands undefeated in the Octagon with three straight wins, all of which coming by knockout in no later than the third round. Her most recent history came over former Invicta FC bantamweight champ Tonya Evinger who made her UFC debute opposite one of the most feared fighters in MMA.

Adam Conklin - November 17, 2017

Justin Golightly - November 17, 2017

It is what it is! Dropping soon! @moskova pic.twitter.com/cCliKDFnfA — Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) November 17, 2017

Justin Golightly - November 17, 2017

If Fabricio Werdum’s turnaround from UFC 216 seems quick, that’s because it is, but Werdum knows what he’s doing. He’s been doing everything he can to get back the title that Stipe Miocic took from here and stacking together dominant performances in a short amount of time will only sway his chances. In an interview before his UFC Sydney fight, Werdum states that’s all he’s been waiting for and that surging contender Francis Ngannou just isn’t there yet. “I want to show inside the cage that I’m waiting for the title shot. This, I think is the best way. I put in my mind, I’m just waiting for the title shot. How long am I waiting? I don’t want to have to wait for too much. I wait for like six months and one year for a [second] fight with Stipe Miocic. My big goal is not Stipe Miocic. My big goal is the belt. I want the belt. That’s it. It doesn’t matter who is there. In my mind, I’m waiting, waiting, waiting for a long time for the fight. I’m waiting, waiting, waiting and maybe these guys don’t get an opportunity. I want to show I’m waiting for the fight, for the title shot again. I have two belts in my home. I want number three.”