Former UFC champ changing fighting style, blames judging criteria, O'Malley
UFC 280's fight between Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan ended in controversy, and this ex-champ explains why.
Dillashaw says Aljamain Sterling was ‘gifted the belt’; Garbrandt trilogy ‘not worth my effort’
Former UFC champion T.J. Dillashaw took aim at both Aljamain Sterling and Cody Garbrandt during his recent appearance on the MMA Hour. Dillashaw went on to discredit “Funkmaster’s” title win and refuses to name him the division’s best champion just yet. “I feel like he was gifted the belt to begin with, the way he […]
Video: Charles Oliveira gets emotional backstage after Islam Makhachev loss at UFC 280
In its recent edition of The Thrill and the Agony, the UFC took us backstage following the top three fights at UFC 280 this past October. First up was Sean O’Malley vs. Petr Yan, the potential No. 1 contender in the bantamweight division that won ‘Fight of the Night’ honors after an all-action affair. In […]
TJ Dillashaw had ‘utmost belief’ he would win against ‘most beatable champion’ Aljamain Sterling
How could anyone have expected things to go differently? That’s the question many fans and pundits found themselves asking after UFC 280, where TJ Dillashaw revealed a longstanding and debilitating shoulder injury in the aftermath of a one-sided beatdown at the hands of Aljamain Sterling. By his own admission, the injury had been plaguing Dillashaw […]
Opinion: Time for a break – Aljamain Sterling is right not to rush into his next title fight
Aljamain Sterling sounds like he knows that the objective—even if the UFC, fight fans and his fellow competitors don’t like it—is to be as healthy and prepared as possible when defending his UFC title. And the reason couldn’t be more simple: Money. Sterling is coming off a UFC 280 win over T.J. Dillashaw. Looking at […]
Marlon Vera: ‘Dry as a tomato’ Aljamain Sterling won ‘fair and square’ at UFC 280
Aljamain Sterling defended the undisputed bantamweight title at UFC 280 against T.J. Dillashaw two weekends ago via TKO. The other side of that story is that Dillashaw entered the bout with a compromised left shoulder, which for some, may have taken a bit away from Sterling’s win. Number four-ranked 135-pounder Marlon Vera, however, sees no […]
‘EPO can’t save you anymore’ – Cody Garbrandt wants third fight with T.J. Dillashaw
T.J. Dillashaw currently holds two wins over former Team Alpha Male training partner Cody Garbrandt. And according to Dillashaw, he fought “No Love” with the same injured shoulder as he did when he faced Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280. “I’ve fought like this before. I knocked out Cody Garbrandt twice with two blown-out shoulders. My […]
‘That dude is on another level’ — Joe Rogan blown away by Islam Makhachev at UFC 280
Joe Rogan thinks newly-crowned UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev deserves every bit of credit that comes his way following his dominant submission win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 280. Makhachev silenced his critics in convincing fashion after getting the better of Oliveira in virtually every aspect of the fight, including standup and grappling, which caught […]
‘He demands greatness’ – Belal Muhammad describes Coach Khabib as the ‘Kobe Bryant of MMA’
UFC 280 gave the rest of the mainstream MMA world a look at Khabib Nurmagomedov, the coach. “The Eagle” went 3-0 with his fighters over the weekend, beginning with his cousin Abubakar, Belal Muhammad, and of course, Islam Makhachev who ended up winning the vacant lightweight title. Khabib’s impressive coaching run was certainly noticed by […]
Sean O’Malley: ‘People would put a lot more respect on my name’ if I lost at UFC 280
Sean O’Malley picked up the biggest and most significant win of his career at UFC 280 over the weekend. The 28-year-old bantamweight defeated former champion Petr Yan on the scorecards, which ultimately shot him ten spots up the 135-pound rankings to number one. But because it was such a razor-thin decision, a chunk of fans […]
‘I’ve fought like this before’ – Dillashaw claims similar injuries in Garbrandt bouts after UFC 280 disaster
Is TJ Dillashaw trying to have his cake and eat it too? Both the fighter and the UFC have claimed that his shoulder injury was kept secret from the organization ahead of Dillashaw’s disastrous showing against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280 on October 22nd. The former bantamweight champion was notably absent during open workouts, and […]
Joe Rogan believes Petr Yan beat Sean O’Malley at UFC 280: ‘I did think he won at the end of it’
Joe Rogan thinks Sean O’Malley fought a great fight against Petr Yan at UFC 280 but that it shouldn’t have been enough to get him the victory. O’Malley won a controversial split decision over Yan after a grueling three-round contest at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi last weekend. Both men got dropped and almost finished […]
Henry Cejudo slams Aljamain Sterling for win over ‘handicapped fighter’ T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280
Henry Cejudo has attempted to discredit Aljamain Sterling’s reign as UFC bantamweight champion by exposing his last three title victories against Petr Yan (twice) and T.J. Dillashaw. ‘Triple C’ blasted Sterling’s back-to-back victories over former champion Yan before accusing ‘Funk Master’ of beating up a ‘handicapped fighter’ in Dillashaw to retain his bantamweight championship at […]
Expect a better version of Sean O’Malley after UFC 280
Sean O’Malley discovered some things during his UFC 280 matchup opposite Petr Yan. Those things could change him as a fighter. After his split decision win over the former UFC bantamweight champion, O’Malley was not the same fighter we had heard and seen in other post-fight interviews. His usual swagger was gone. The brashness we’ve […]
‘This guy may want to look at something different’ – DC says Petr Yan thinking about UFC exit
Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges. It’s a phrase that’s been repeated so often as to become cliche in the MMA world. In a sport with few rules and many, many options for generating offense, traditional scoring methods have a way of feeling even more subjective than they do in other combat […]
Khabib’s protégée Islam Makhachev receives hero’s welcome in Dagestan
After being crowned lightweight champion at UFC 280 last week, Islam Makhachev returned home to a hero’s welcome in his native Dagestan. Footage showed Makhachev arriving at the airport terminal, where he was greeted by Sergey Melikov, the Russian politician who serves as the Head of the Republic of Dagestan. The fighter also met with […]
Sean O’Malley rewatches fight with Petr Yan, confirms he ‘def won’
Sean O’Malley says he ‘def won’ against Petr Yan at UFC 280 this past Saturday. In a ‘Fight of the Night’ awarded appearance, O’Malley defeated Yan by controversial split decision. The initial consensus was that ‘No Mercy’ should have gotten the nod over ’Sugar,’ and many fans and fighters cried foul when the judges’ scorecards […]
Coach: Beneil Dariush ‘100 percent’ deserves title shot against Islam Makhachev
If it were up to Javier Mendez, Islam Makhachev would be defending the UFC lightweight championship against Beneil Dariush next. Minutes after his second-round submission win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 this past Saturday, Makhachev shifted his focus to the first defense of his reign—which, by all appearances, will come against UFC featherweight champion […]
MMA SQUARED: TJ Dillashaw is not at fault for the UFC 280 debacle
Chris Rini Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you Monday. Chris
Cub Swanson: T.J. Dillashaw ‘couldn’t even lift his own arm’ in training camp for UFC 280
Over the weekend at UFC 280, T.J. Dillashaw lost via second-round TKO to Aljamain Sterling at the co-main event. As he revealed during his post-fight interview, he dislocated his shoulder “a good 20 times” during training camp, and it remained problematic up until the fight itself. “I told the ref in the back before we […]
UFC fighter rankings: Makhachev cracks top three at P4P, two new number one contenders
Well folks, UFC 280 certainly didn’t disappoint. The event produced a new lightweight champion in Islam Makhachev, who starched Charles Oliveira in the second round of their headliner. The show also produced two new top contenders in their respective divisions – Sean O’Malley and men’s bantamweight, and Manon Fiorot at women’s flyweight. Here’s a look […]
Coach Khabib reveals being ‘very nervous’ about Islam Makhachev’s UFC 280 title fight
As a fighter, former UFC champion and recent Hall of Fame inductee Khabib Nurmagomedov is as stoic as they come. The only time he publicly showed some emotions happened right after he defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 two years ago. But as he told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto after UFC 280 over the weekend, he […]
‘Let him prepare this’ – Khabib offers Volkanovski training advice, gives away Makhachev’s game plan
Shelved UFC star Conor McGregor recently offered some unsolicited advice to Alexander Volkanovski, who is looking like he’s headed for a lightweight title bout against newly-minted champion Islam Makhachev. Via Twitter, “The Notorious” told the reigning featherweight titleholder and pound-for-pound king to “aim to head butt the chest cavity.” Likewise, Makhachev’s long-time training partner Khabib […]
Oliveira admits Makhachev was the better fighter at UFC 280, vows to return ‘10 times stronger’
Charles Oliveira has no excuses for his loss at UFC 280. After being dominated by the newly crowned Islam Makhachev, the former UFC lightweight champion shared some of his impressions on his performance, as well as his training camp and his future intentions. “There’s not much to say. It wasn’t my day,” Oliveira said in […]
‘Aim to head butt the chest cavity’ – Conor McGregor advises Volkanovski on lightweight move
Never one to stay out of drama around the lightweight title picture, former two-division champion Conor McGregor was quick to insert himself in the discourse following Islam Makhachev’s victory over Charles Oliveira and the UFC’s quickly announced plans that the next title shot would be going to Alexander Volkanovski. My two old belts. On two […]
UFC 280 Reactions & UFC Vegas 63 Picks | Care/Don’t Care Podcast
It’s time for another one of our infamous and patented Care/Don’t Care Podcasts, with your talent: the astounding Eugene S. Robinson, author of the ‘Eugene S. Robinson Substack’, the fight book: “Fight: Everything You Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking”, host of the ‘Eugene S. Robinson […]
UFC 280: Oliveira vs. Makhachev – Unofficial Awards
There’s no doubt UFC 280 was the most stacked card of the year heading into the event. Two title fights as well as several other contests that featured major consequences for their divisions is a hell of a haul. Hell, UFC 278 really only had one title fight and one meaningful fight in another division. […]
Video: Khabib’s live reaction to the controversial Sean O’Malley vs Petr Yan decision is priceless
Sean O’Malley had the performance of his career Saturday at UFC 280, which got him near universal praise for putting up such a great fight against former champion Petr Yan. That being said, most of those people didn’t seem to think he actually won the fight, leading to a lot of outrage from fighters on […]
MMA SQUARED: UFC 280 was quintessential MMA, the good, the bad, and the ugly
Chris Rini I was just as stunned as Suga when they read the decision. But what is there to joke about? The kid actually proved his mettle in a fight where most people (myself included) thought he might get handled. Regardless of the judges’ decision, he rose to the occasion. Take care of yourself and […]
Editorial: UFC can’t – and shouldn’t – trust T.J. Dillashaw after UFC 280
T.J. Dillashaw’s stock was high with UFC president Dana White before UFC 280. However, it’s doubtful that White felt the same about the former bantamweight titleholder after current champ Aljamain Sterling dispatched an injured Dillashaw in the co-main event of Saturday’s pay-per-view fight card. In the lead-up to UFC 280, White sang the praises of […]