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Women's MMA Report: Joanna Jedrzejczyk keeps UFC strawweight belt

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Filed under: News, UFC

Fresh off of her dominant title victory in March, undefeated UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk successfully retained her new belt in a violent and bloody battle on June 20 at “UFC Fight Night 69: Jedrzejczyk vs. Penne” in Berlin, Germany. The Polish star crushed former Invicta FC champ Jessica Penne on the feet en route to a third-round TKO win.

Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) made a big statement to the rest of the strawweight division in March when she brutally knocked out then-champion Carla Esparza at UFC 185, and her victory over the well-rounded Penne (12-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was arguably even more impressive.

In Round 1, Jedrzejczyk fought off Penne’s takedown attempts and created space on the feet that allowed her to land a devastating right hand that dropped Penne. The champion swarmed on her downed foe with punches, but Penne survived and secured a late takedown. Things got worse for Penne early in Round 2 when Jedrzejczyk landed a vicious elbow that opened a severe gash on the bridge of Penne’s nose. Blood poured out of the cut and covered Penne’s entire face as Jedrzejczyk teed off with punches, knees and more elbows.

Penne showed a lot of heart by continuing to fight on, and she finally secured a much-needed takedown midway through the third round. Jedrzejczyk quickly scrambled back to her feet, however, and she resumed her striking assault. A series of punches and head kicks from Jedrzejczyk forced Penne to retreat to the cage wall, and referee Marc Goddard waved off the fight at the 4:22 mark after Jedrzejczyk landed a final flurry and a knee.

The third-round stoppage marked the first time that Penne had ever been finished by strikes in her 15-fight pro career. Jedrzejczyk’s performance drew high praise from UFC officials and fellow UFC fighters, including some who branded her as the best striker in the UFC today. Jedrzejczyk did sustain a thumb injury during her win over Penne, but she happily announced this past week that she will not require surgery and plans to fight again later this year.

Jessica Aguilar vs. Claudia Gadelha booked for UFC 190 in Brazil

Former WSOF women’s strawweight champion Jessica Aguilar (19-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) signed with the UFC earlier this month and makes her long-awaited octagon debut on Aug. 1 at “UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Aguilar is set to battle Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Claudia Gadelha (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a UFC women’s strawweight title eliminator.

Aguilar received her release from WSOF in mid-May and immediately announced her intentions to challenge for UFC title gold. However, the former WSOF champ must first get past Gadelha, who looks to rebound from a razor-thin decision loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in December. Many observers felt that Gadelha had done enough to defeat Jedrzejczyk, and Gadelha now has her sights set on avenging the loss and taking Jedrzejczyk’s title.

The winner of the August bout between Aguilar and Gadelha is expected to move on to challenge for the UFC women’s strawweight championship in late 2015, pending Jedrzejczyk’s return from her recent thumb injury. While Aguilar and Gadelha are best known for their skills inside the cage, both have also been targets of PED use allegations from peers in recent years.

It remains to be seen whether CABMMA will test either fighter leading up to the title eliminator, but UFC 190 headliner Bethe Correia recently stated that she has yet to be tested a single time by CABMMA as she prepares for her bantamweight title bout with Ronda Rousey.

Three title fights headline Invicta FC 13 in Las Vegas

Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane Justino (13-1) makes the next defense of her title in one of three championship bouts on July 9 at Invicta Fighting Championships 13 in Las Vegas. Justino is set to face Storm MMA champ Faith Van Duin (5-1) in the night’s main event.

For years, Justino has campaigned for a fight with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, but with Justino’s ability to ever make 135 pounds still very much in doubt, the Brazilian knockout artist continues to fend off featherweight title challengers under the Invicta FC banner. She is coming off of a 46-second destruction of Charmaine Tweet at Invicta FC 11.

Van Duin enters next month’s title fight following an impressive showing in her Invicta FC debut against hard-hitting prospect Amanda Bell in April. She finished Bell with a no-hooks rear-naked choke early in Round 2 of their Invicta FC 12 bout to earn a shot at Justino’s title. Van Duin is a significant underdog against Justino, but the New Zealander plans to upset the heavily-favored champion en route to capturing her first international MMA title.

The Invicta FC 13 co-feature pits veteran wrestler Tonya Evinger (16-5) against highly-touted Mexican striker Irene Aldana (5-1) in a bout that will be contested for the vacant Invicta FC bantamweight championship. Evinger has won six straight fights including three inside the Invicta FC cage. Aldana has posted back-to-back submission wins since signing with Invicta FC this past year, and she is one of the most powerful female strikers in MMA today.

Newly-crowned Invicta FC atomweight champion Herica Tiburcio (9-2) makes her first title defense against former Jewels champ Ayaka Hamasaki (11-1) at Invicta FC 13. Tiburcio captured the 105-pound belt in December when she submitted recent UFC signee Michelle Waterson. She has won four straight fights since suffering a competitive decision loss to top UFC strawweight contender Claudia Gadelha in May 2013. Hamasaki is 2-0 as an atomweight and she now makes her return to Invicta FC for the first time in two years.

Two of the top prospects in the women’s bantamweight division are set to collide at Invicta FC 13 when former Cage Warriors champ Pannie Kianzad (7-0) takes on Jessica-Rose Clark (5-1), who has captured multiple titles in her home country of Australia.

Rounding out the Invicta FC 13 card, Amber Brown (4-1) battles Catherine Costigan (5-0) in an atomweight bout, Amy Cadwell Montenegro (6-1) meets Jamie Moyle (2-0) in strawweight action, and “Four Horsewomen” member Marina Shafir (1-1) makes her Invicta FC debut against Amber Leibrock (0-0) in the featherweight opener.

Tecia Torres outpoints Angela Hill at UFC 188

While it was not her best performance, highly-touted strawweight prospect Tecia Torres (6-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) kept her undefeated record intact with a unanimous-decision victory on June 13 at “UFC 188: Velasquez vs. Werdum” in Mexico City, Mexico. Torres smothered Angela Hill (2-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) en route to an uncharacteristically lacklustre win.

Many fans had anticipated a standup war between the two noted strikers, but Torres took Hill down in Rounds 1 and 2 and kept her pinned on the mat while working from the top in half-guard. Hill nullified most of Torres’ offense, but Torres held a clear edge on the scorecards after 10 minutes thanks to her positional control. She tried unsuccessfully for takedowns throughout Round 3, which ended with a chorus of boos from the Mexican audience. Scores were 29-28 and 30-27 twice for Torres, who took a step towards title contention with the victory.

Mizuki Inoue vs. Emi Fujino trilogy bout added to Deep Jewels 9

Deep Jewels strawweight champion Mizuki Inoue (8-4) looks to rebound from a pair of close defeats inside the Invicta FC cage when she defends her 115-pound title on Aug. 29 at Deep Jewels 9 in Tokyo. Inoue faces off against a familiar foe, recent WSOF title challenger Emi Fujino (16-8), in one of two championship fights on the card.

Inoue and Fujino first clashed in July 2010 when a 15-year-old Inoue made a successful pro kickboxing debut by dominating her much more experienced opponent. The fighters faced off in MMA action at Deep Jewels 2 and Inoue once again prevailed via unanimous decision.

Inoue went on to capture the Deep Jewels strawweight title in August, but the talented young fighter then suffered back-to-back decision defeats for Invicta FC. Fujino has racked up three straight wins since she challenged unsuccessfully for WSOF title gold one year ago, and she most recently defeated Jeong Eun Park at Road FC this past month.

Deep Jewels 9 also features a previously announced bantamweight title rematch between champ Takayo Hashi (15-5-1) and unbeaten South Korean challenger Ji Yeon Kim (3-0-2).

Quick results

Strawweight – [autotag]Alessia Espinosa-Vallve (1-0) def. Natalie Gonzales Hills (2-2) via KO (punch) at the 2:00 mark of Round 3 at Brace For War 34 on May 23 in Canberra, Australia.

Flyweight – Terissa Wall (2-1) def. Brooke McLeod (0-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 4:59 mark of Round 1 at Xtreme Fighting Championship 24 on May 23 in Mansfield, Queensland, Australia.

Catchweight (110) – Simona Soukupova (5-3-1) def. Iman Darabi (2-1) via KO (knees) in Round 2 at International Ring Fight Arena 8 on May 23 in Solna, Sweden.

Bantamweight – Anna Elmose (3-0) def. Mara Romero Borella (4-2) via KO (punches) at the 45-second mark of Round 2 at Unified Combat League 23 on May 23 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Strawweight – Helen Harper (4-1) def. Sofie Langsford (1-1) via unanimous decision at “Showdown Series: MMA Showdown 5” on May 23 in Notting Hill, West London, England.

Bantamweight – Taila Santos (11-0) def. Wellen Taynara (0-2) via TKO (doctor stoppage) at the 5:00 mark of Round 1 at Aspera Fighting Championship 19 on May 23 in Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Flyweight – Marta Souza (2-6-1) def. Geyse Geyse (0-1) via submission (armbar) in Round 1 at Energy Combat Girls 2 on May 24 in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.

Strawweight – Yoo Jin Jung (1-3) def. Yuko Kiryu (0-1) via TKO (punches) at the 53-second mark of Round 1 at “Top FC 7: Return To Basics” on May 29 in Changwon, South Korea.

Catchweight (121) – Irene Cabello (4-2) def. Herminio Garcia (0-1-1) via submission (armbar) at the 3:08 mark of Round 1 at Mix Fight Events on May 29 in Valencia, Spain.

Lightweight – Farlynn Smallchild (1-2) def. Ulrike Strunk (0-1) via KO (punch) at the 15-second mark of Round 1 at Unified MMA 23 on May 29 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Bantamweight – Rachael Cummins (3-2) def. Slavka Vitaly (2-2) via unanimous decision at “Venator Fighting Championship: Guerrieri Italiani Finals” on May 30 in Bologna, Italy.

Catchweight (132) – Molly McCann (1-0) def. Katy Horlick (0-1) via TKO (punches) at the 3:12 mark of Round 1 at Shock n Awe 20 on May 30 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

Flyweight – Luana Carolina Carvalho de Souza (1-1) def. Isabela de Padua (0-1) via submission (guillotine choke) in Round 2 at Casa Branca Fight 2 on May 30 in Casa Branca, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Flyweight – Bianca de Araujo Carvalho (3-1) def. Ana Claudia Fatia (0-2) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 2:25 mark of Round 3 at “Round X: Leal vs. Soares” on May 30 in Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Strawweight – Paulina Vargas (1-0) def. Mariana Alvarez (0-1) via TKO (punches) in Round 2 at Xtreme Kombat 30 on May 30 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

Bantamweight – Shawna Anderson (2-1) def. Davrene Morrison (0-1) via TKO (elbows and punches) at the 2:15 mark of Round 1 at “Fight To Win: Prize Fighting Championship 9 – Bakken Brawlers” on May 30 in Williston, N.C.

Flyweight – May Ooi (2-0) def. Zhen Wei Foo (1-2) via TKO (punches) at the 3:48 mark of Round 3 at “Malaysian Invasion MMA: Mixed Martial A’rr” on June 1 in Andaman Sea, Thailand.

Strawweight – Also on the Malaysian Invasion MMA card, Rachael Short (1-1) def. Adek Omar (0-2) via submission (guillotine choke) at the 4:53 mark of Round 2.

Flyweight – Susy Watson (3-2) def. Jenny Liou Shriver (3-3) via TKO (punches) at the 1:17 mark of Round 3 at “King of the Cage: Awakening” on June 4 in Worley, Idaho.

Flyweight – Jaymee Jones (4-1) def. Katy Collins (1-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 2:42 mark of Round 1 at “XFL: Xtreme Fight Night 23” on June 5 in Tulsa, Okla.

Catchweight (132) – Jin Tang (22-7-3) def. Malihe Younes (0-1) via TKO (retirement) at the 5:00 mark of Round 1 at “Kunlun Fight 26: Cage Fight Night, Round 3” on June 6 in Chongqing, China.

Catchweight (132) – Also on the Kunlun Fight 26 card, Colleen Schneider (7-6) def. Jingnan Xiong (5-1) via unanimous decision.

Strawweight – Bianca Reis (4-4) def. Anne Karoline Nascimento (4-5) via submission (armbar) at the 3:50 mark of Round 3 at Gladiator Combat Fight 13 on June 6 in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.

Flyweight – Also on the Gladiator Combat Fight 13 card, Jady Larissa Menezes (3-1) def. Marta Souza (2-6-1) via split decision.

Flyweight – Karine Silva (7-2) def. Leticia Oliveira Ribeiro (0-1) via submission (armbar) at the 4:24 mark of Round 1 at Aspera Fighting Championship 20 on June 6 in Navegantes, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Bantamweight – Also on the Aspera FC 20 card, Taila Santos (11-0) def. Gisele Pereira (0-1) via TKO (head kick) at the 1:06 mark of Round 1.

Catchweight (121) – Fabrina Vanessa (2-1) def. Luana Zuquini (0-2) via unanimous decision at Fight Team Junior Oliveira 9 on June 6 in Vilhena, Rondonia, Brazil.

Bantamweight – Giselle Campos (3-1) def. Sirleia Gomes (0-2) via submission (armbar) at the 2:41 mark of Round 1 at Personal Open Fight 7 on June 6 in Altamira, Para, Brazil.

Flyweight – Jeanne Ruas (1-0) def. Geisa Fagundes (0-1) via TKO (punches) at the 4:56 mark of Round 2 at Iron Fight Combat 8 on June 6 in Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil.

Strawweight – Rebecca Ruth (3-1) def. Krystal Manues (0-3) via TKO (punches) at the 2:19 mark of Round 1 at “Shamrock Promotions: Opposition” on June 6 in St. Louis, Mo.

Bantamweight – Talita de Oliveira (2-1) def. Lohanna Correia (0-1) via submission (armbar) at the 40-second mark of Round 1 at Maximus Fight 2 on June 7 in Rio Bonito, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Lightweight – Brittney Elkin (2-2) def. Gabrielle Holloway (4-3) via unanimous decision at “Pride & Pain MMA: The Professionals” on June 12 in Gillette, Wy.

Strawweight – Katie Halley (2-1) def. Megan Pierce (0-1) via KO (knee to the body) at the eight-second mark of Round 1 at “Alaska Fighting Championship: Land of the Midnight Sun 2” on June 12 in Anchorage, Alaska.

MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every few weeks. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.


Filed under: News, UFC
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Check out UFC 190's extended preview, full fight card (with seven main-card bouts)

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Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos

The UFC returns to pay-per-view next week with UFC 190, and the Brazilian card features an extra-large seven-bout main card.

UFC 190 takes place Aug. 1 event at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The main card, including women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) vs. Bethe Correia (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), airs on PPV following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Rousey and Correia have created quite the rivalry in recent months. But the champ, who looks for her sixth consecutive title defense, is a massive 15-1 favorite.

UFC 190’s lineup includes 13 bouts in all, and with “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4″ tournament finals – lightweights Fernando Bruno (15-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. Glaico Franca (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and bantamweights Dileno Lopes (18-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. Reginaldo Vieira (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) – slated for the PPV portion of the event, the main card has seven bouts instead of the usual five.

Rounding out the main card are light-heavyweight co-headliners Mauricio Rua (22-10 MMA, 6-8 UFC) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC), heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-9-1 MMA, 5-5 UFC) vs. Stefan Struve (25-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC), heavyweights Antonio Silva (18-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC) vs. Soa Palelei (22-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC), and strawweights Jessica Aguilar (19-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. Claudia Gadelha (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

The full UFC 190 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia – for women’s bantamweight title
  • Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua
  • Fernando Bruno vs. Glaico Franca – “TUF: Brazil 4″ lightweight tournament final
  • Dileno Lopes vs. Reginaldo Vieira – “TUF: Brazil 4″ bantamweight tournament final
  • Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Stefan Struve
  • Soa Palelei vs. Antonio Silva
  • Jessica Aguilar vs. Claudia Gadelha

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)

For more on UFC 190, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.


Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos
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'UFC 190 Embedded,' No. 3: Ronda Rousey rethinking her plan to sustain the beating

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Filed under: News, UFC, Videos

It’s a new fight week, which brings the debut of of “UFC 190 Embedded” and a preview of Saturday’s pay-per-view event.

The online series previews the card, which takes place at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena with a headliner of UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) vs. challenger Bethe Correia (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC). The series also will focus on the card’s other top big fights: light heavyweights Mauricio Rua (22-10 MMA, 6-8 UFC) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-9-1 MMA, 5-5 UFC) vs. Stefan Struve (25-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC).

In the third episode, Rousey does the media rounds, and she admits that her plan to sustain a main-event beating maybe wasn’t the best one. Additionally, Correia and “Shogun” arrive in Rio, Struve does some grocery shopping, and main-card fighters Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Aguilar make an appearance.

Check out the full episode above.

Also see:

For the latest on UFC 190, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.


Filed under: News, UFC, Videos
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UFC 190 pre-fight facts: A rare title fight with two undefeated fighters

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Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey continues to break down barriers. At UFC 190, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion becomes the first American titleholder to travel to Brazil to put her title on the line.

“Rowdy” (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) ventures to the Southern Hemisphere for a 135-pound championship grudge matchup against Bethe Correia (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in what will be just the fourth title-fight meeting in UFC history between two undefeated combatants. The event takes place at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena, and the main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

For more on the numbers behind Rousey vs. Correia and the other 12 bouts scheduled for the organization’s ninth PPV of the year, check out 77 pre-fight facts about UFC 190.

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Main event

Ronda Rousey and Bethe Correia

Ronda Rousey and Bethe Correia

Rousey owns or is on the verge of owning several women’s bantamweight and overall UFC records, all of which can be viewed on her complete UFC career stat sheet.

Rousey is the first American-born UFC champion to put her title on the line outside of North America since Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson at UFC 144 in February 2012.

Rousey vs. Correia marks just the fourth title fight in UFC history between undefeated fighters. Rousey vs. Cat Zingano at UFC 184, Rousey vs. Sara McMann at UFC 170 and Lyoto Machida vs. Rashad Evans at UFC 98 are the others.

Correia’s three-fight UFC winning streak in women’s bantamweight competition is the third longest active streak in the division behind Rousey (five) and Miesha Tate (four).

Correia’s three victories in UFC women’s bantamweight competition are tied for the fifth most in divisional history behind Rousey (five), Tate (four), Alexis Davis (four) and Jessica Andrade (four).

Correia has earned seven of her nine career victories by decision. Two of her three wins under the UFC banner are by decision.

Co-main event

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Mauricio Rua (22-10 MMA, 6-8 UFC) is 4-2 when fighting in Brazil. His two losses came by knockout to Ovince Saint Preux and Dan Henderson.

Rua enters the event with just one victory in his past five fights. He was stopped inside the distance in three of those losses.

Rua has suffered nine of his 10 defeats to fighters who once held or challenged for a UFC title.

Rua’s 18 light-heavyweight victories under the UFC/PRIDE banner are tied with Quinton Jackson for the most in the combined history of the two organizations.

Rua is the only light heavyweight in UFC history to earn his first six victories with the organization by knockout.

Rua’s six knockout victories in UFC light heavyweight competition are tied for second most in divisional history behind Chuck Liddell (nine).

Rua’s 15 knockout victories in UFC/PRIDE competition are the most by any fighter in the weight class. Wanderlei Silva trails Rua with 12 knockouts.

Rua’s six finishes in UFC light-heavyweight competition are tied for the third most in divisional history behind Liddell (nine) and Jon Jones (nine).

Rua’s nine knockdowns landed in UFC light heavyweight competition are the third most in divisional history behind Liddell (14) and Lyoto Machida (11).

Rua’s has been awarded six fight-night bonuses in his UFC career and is tied with Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin for the second most of any light heavyweight in company history behind Jones (seven).

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC), 39, is the oldest of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete on the card.

Nogueira competes for just the third time since December 2011.

Nogueira suffered just the second knockout loss of his career in his last bout. Anthony Johnson stopped him with strikes in just 44 seconds.

Nogueira defends 64.6 of all opponent significant strikes attempts in UFC light-heavyweight competition, the second highest defense rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Ryan Bader (71.9 percent).

Nogueira has defend 71.7 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC light-heavyweight competition, the fourth highest defense rate among active fighters in the weight class.

Remaining main card

Stefan Struve

Stefan Struve

Stefan Struve (25-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) enters the event on the first two-fight losing skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since September 2012.

Struve holds just one UFC victory over a fighter who’s still with the organization. The nine competitors he’s defeated have a 20-27 record with the UFC.

Struve competes in his 15th UFC heavyweight bout, tied for fifth most of any fighter in divisional history behind Frank Mir (25), Gabriel Gonzaga (20), Cheick Kongo (18) and Andrei Arlovski (17).

Struve’s eight stoppage victories in UFC heavyweight competition are tied for the fifth most in divisional history behind Mir (13), Gonzaga (11), Arlovski (11) and Cain Velasquez (nine).

Struve’s four submission victories in heavyweight competition are tied with Gonzaga for the second most in divisional history behind Mir (eight).

Struve has attempted 19 submissions in UFC heavyweight competition, the second most in divisional history behind Mir (21). His 3.4 submission attempts per 15 minutes of fighting are the most in divisional history.

Struve has been awarded five fight-night bonuses in his UFC career, the second most of any heavyweight in company history behind Roy Nelson (six).

Struve has suffered all five of his UFC losses by knockout.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-9-1 MMA, 5-5 UFC), 39, is tied for the oldest of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete on the card.

Nogueira competes at the same event as his twin brother for the first time since UFC 140 in December 2011.

Nogueira enters the event on the first two-fight losing skid of his career. He previously hadn’t lost consecutive fights since he made his debut in June 1999.

Nogueira’s 22 victories in UFC/PRIDE/Strikeforce/WEC competition are the fourth most in the combined history of the four organizations behind Wanderlei Silva (27), Dan Henderson (24) and Mirko Filipovic (23).

Nogueira has earned 13 submission victories in UFC/PRIDE/Strikeforce/WEC competition, the most of any fighter in the combined history of the four organizations. Overall, he has earned 21 of his 34 pro victories by submission.

Nogueira’s seven armbar submission victories in UFC/PRIDE/Strikeforce/WEC competition are tied with Rousey for the most in the combined history of the four organizations.

Nogueira has committed to 56 submission attempts in UFC/PRIDE/Strikeforce/WEC competition, the most of any fighter in the combined history of the four organizations. Chris Lytle ranks second with 37.

Nogueira has suffered all five of his UFC losses by stoppage. He had never been stopped in MMA competition prior to joining the organization.

Nogueira has been knocked down eight times during his 10-fight UFC career, the most of any heavyweight in company history and tied for the third most of any competitor in UFC history behind Keith Jardine (10) and Dan Henderson (9). Nogueira was knocked down just three times in 21 PRIDE bouts.

Antonio Silva

Antonio Silva

Antonio Silva (18-7-1 MMA, 2-4-1 UFC) enters the event with just two victories in his past eight bouts. He’s winless in his past four octagon appearances and hasn’t registered a victory since February 2013.

Silva and Mark Hunt combined for 200 significant strikes at UFC Fight Night 33, the second most in UFC heavyweight history behind Junior Dos Santos and Stipe Miocic’s 213 strikes at UFC on FOX 13.

Silva knocked out Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 despite a -30 significant-strike differential. His victory represents the third greatest statistical comeback finish in UFC heavyweight history.

Silva has suffered six of his seven career losses by knockout. All six of those stoppages have come in the first round.

Soa Palelei (22-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has earned all 22 of his career victories by stoppage. “The Hulk” has recorded his past 12 victories by knockout.

Palelei has recorded three UFC finishes via strikes from mount position, tied with Evan Tanner, Matt Lindland and Diego Sanchez for the most such finishes from the position in company history.

Demian Maia (20-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC) is 5-2 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in July 2013.

Maia’s six submission victories in UFC competition are tied for sixth most of any fighter in the modern era. He’s the only fighter in the modern era to win five consecutive UFC fights by submission.

Maia’s 48 takedowns landed in UFC competition are the 12th most in modern company history. His 156 takedown attempts at third most in UFC history.

Maia is 14-2 in UFC bouts in which he lands at least one takedown.

Maia completed just two of 22 takedown attempts in his unanimous-decision loss to Rory MacDonald at UFC 170. Those 22 takedown attempts were the most ever in a single UFC welterweight bout.

Neil Magny

Neil Magny

Neil Magny’s (15-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) seven-fight UFC winning streak is the longest active streak in the welterweight division.

Magny’s seven-fight UFC winning streak is the third longest among active UFC fighters behind Chris Weidman (nine) and Demetrious Johnson (eight).

Magny’s five UFC victories in 2014 tied Roger Huerta’s record for most octagon wins in a calendar year. Huerta accomplished the feat in 2007.

Magny’s strike differential rate of +2.36 in UFC welterweight competition is the best among active fighters in the weight class and second highest overall in divisional history behind Georges St-Pierre (+2.39).

Magny absorbs just 1.56 strikes per minute in UFC welterweight competition, the least among active fighters in the weight class.

Preliminary card

Claudia Gadelha

Claudia Gadelha

Claudia Gadelha (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) earned the first victory in UFC strawweight history when she defeated Tina Lahdemaki at UFC Fight Night 45.

Gadelha competes in her third UFC strawweight bout, tied for the second most appearances in divisional history behind champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (four).

Jessica Aguilar (19-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes her UFC debut on a career-high 10-fight winning streak. She hasn’t suffered a defeat since September 2010.

Aguilar is a former WSOF strawweight champion. She holds career victories over notable fighters such as Kalindra Faria, Megumi Fujii, Carla Esparza and Lisa Ellis.

Rafael Cavalcante (12-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has earned all 12 of his career victories by stoppage. He’s earned seven of those finishes in the first round.

Cavalcante’s four knockout victories under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner are tied for the second most in history behind Cung Le (seven).

Cavalcante earned the quickest submission victory due to strikes in UFC history when a knee to the body forced Igor Pokrajac to tap out at the 1:18 mark of Round 1 at UFC Fight Night 32.

Cavalcante owns a 9:2 knockdown ratio in his past 12 UFC/Strikeforce/EliteXC contests.

Patrick Cummins

Patrick Cummins

Patrick Cummins (7-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has completed 50 percent of his takedowns in UFC light-heavyweight competition, the highest rate among active fighters in the weight class and third overall in UFC history.

Cummins completed 10 takedowns against Kyle Kingsbury at UFC on FOX 12, the second most in a light-heavyweight bout. Rodney Wallace holds the record with 11 takedowns against Jared Hamman at UFC 111.

Cummins has suffered both of his career losses by first-round knockout.

Cummins completes 6.18 takedowns per 15 minutes of fighting in UFC light-heavyweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.

Nordine Taleb (11-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.

Iuri Alcantara (31-6 MMA, 6-3 UFC) competes in his ninth UFC bout in Brazil, the most appearances in the country by any fighter in company history.

Alcantara is 4-2 with one no-contest since he dropped to the UFC bantamweight division in January 2013.

Alcantara has earned four of his six UFC victories by decision.

Leandro Issa (13-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned both of his UFC victories by submission.

Vitor Miranda (10-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has earned nine of his 10 career victories by stoppage, with eight of those finishes coming in the first round.

Clint Hester

Clint Hester

Clint Hester (11-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has earned all four of his UFC victories by a different method (knockout, doctor’s stoppage, unanimous decision and split decision).

Hester is one of 14 fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a standing elbow strike. He accomplished the feat against Bristol Marunde at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.

Hugo Viana (8-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since July 16, 2014. His 381-day layoff is the longest of his career dating back to his May 2010 debut.

Viana landed three knockdowns of Reuben Duran at The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale, the most in a single UFC/WEC bantamweight fight.

Guido Cannetti (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has earned all of his career victories by stoppage. He has finished all of those opponents inside the first round.

For more on UFC 190, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

FightMetric research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.


Filed under: News, UFC
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MMAjunkie Radio (noon ET): Nogueira, Struve, Aguilar, Gadelha, Magny, Cummins, Moraes, Sefo

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Claudia Gadelha

Claudia Gadelha

MMAjunkie Radio kicks off at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) with guests Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Stefan Struve, Jessica Aguilar, Claudia Gadelha, Neil Magny, Patrick Cummins, Marlon Moraes and Ray Sefo.

Nogueira, Struve, Aguilar, Gadelha, Magny and Cummins all fight Saturday at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro. WSOF bantamweight champ Moraes coheadlines Saturday’s WSOF 22 event and is joined in studio by WSOF President Sefo.

MMAjunkie Radio airs from noon to 2 p.m. ET (9 to 11 a.m. PT), live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The show is available on SiriusXM Sports Zone (channel 92). You can also listen to and watch a video stream of the two-hour show at www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

MMAjunkie Radio listener guide:

  • HOW TO WATCH (ON WEB): Check out a live video/audio stream of the show on the MMAjunkie Radio page.
  • HOW TO CALL: MMAjunkie Radio takes phone calls from listeners throughout the show. Call into the MMAjunkie Radio hotline at (866) 522-2846.
  • HOW TO DISCUSS: The MMAjunkie MMA Forums has a new section devoted solely to MMAjunkie Radio. Stop by the MMAjunkie Radio forum to discuss the show, interact with the hosts, suggest future guests and catch up on the latest MMAjunkie Radio news.
  • HOW TO VISIT THE SHOW: You can watch MMAjunkie Radio live and in person at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on the world-famous Las Vegas Strip. The booth is located in the resort’s Race & Sports Book next to the Mandalay Bay poker room. To plan a trip to Sin City and MMAjunkie Radio, go to www.mandalaybay.com.

Filed under: News, UFC, WSOF
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Twitter Mailbag: Is Ronda Rousey's dominance a reason to watch – or to skip – UFC 190?

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Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey

In this week’s Twitter Mailbag, is the very strong likelihood that Ronda Rousey will utterly destroy Bethe Correia at UFC 190 a feature or a bug? How about Wanderlei Silva, who seems to have gone on perhaps one rant too many? And is the most intriguing fight this weekend being almost completely overlooked?

All that, plus much more. If you’ve got a question of your own, fire it off to @BenFowlkesMMA on Twitter.

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You’re asking me personally? I cover this sport for a living, so skipping a Rousey fight isn’t really an option for me. I’m going to watch no matter who she fights, and then I’m going to expense the cost of the pay-per-view and get reimbursed by my employer.

But for the average (meaning not independently wealthy) MMA fan, I could see how Rousey’s tendency toward quick annihilation of her opponents might discourage them from reaching for the credit card when she fights.

Take Rousey’s last fight against Cat Zingano, for instance. We all made a big deal out of how flawless the performance was, how efficient. And yet the whole thing fit very nicely into GIF form. Within a few hours of the fight, those GIFs were all over the Internet. They still are. You didn’t need to pay to see that fight. You just needed to wait and Google it.

There are some drawbacks to that strategy. For one, if you go scouring the internet for a GIF of the fight, you almost can’t help but spoil the ending before you see it. Of course, if you’re pretty sure you already know how the fight will end, maybe that’s not such a deterrent. That brings us to the other downside, which is that you don’t get to see the rest of the main card.

That’s where Rousey could use some help from the UFC. The main card at UFC 190 has a lot of fights (seven of them, in fact), but not a ton of drawing power. The big names – Rua, both Nogueiras, “Bigfoot” Silva and, sure, even Stefan Struve – are pretty much all fighting to salvage some shred of continuing relevance. Then there are the “TUF: Brazil 4″ fights that most North American fans don’t know enough to care about, and the women’s strawweight bout between Jessica Aguilar and Claudia Gadelha, which, outside of the main event, might be the fight with the most meaningful title implications here.

If money’s tight – or if you have a weird hang-up about staying up all night, trudging through the tedium of some TUF Finale pageantry you don’t care about, just to see a fight whose outcome seems more or less predetermined – I could see why you might skip this one. I guess it comes down to how badly you want to experience Rousey’s dominance live and in real time, and what that feeling is worth to you.

First of all, you’re aware of what’s going on in other UFC divisions, right? Alexander Gustafsson is getting a UFC light-heavyweight title shot coming off a knockout loss. Carlos Condit could very well get the next crack at the UFC welterweight title, despite posting recent losses to two of the guys who the UFC seems content to skip over just to get to him.

Compared to that, giving a title shot to an undefeated fighter like Correia, who’s won three straight in the UFC, seems positively unimpeachable.

But second, look around the women’s bantamweight class. There’s no one else for Rousey to fight right now. If there were, we wouldn’t be staring down the barrel of a third fight with Miesha Tate after this squash match. Face it, Correia’s opponents may not have done much in the UFC, but at least she beat them all. For the time being, that makes her the best we’ve got.

I think it’s partly because the other allegations Silva made against the UFC were of a general nature, leaning heavily on his own personal opinions. Accusing the UFC of putting on fixed fights is a very specific accusation, not to mention a potentially very harmful one.

Fight-fixing would, I hope, be the kiss of death for any MMA promoter. UFC executives would have to be out of their minds to even consider it. For a former UFC fighter to accuse them of it, that’s serious business. They’re well within their rights to address that in court.

What they shouldn’t be able to do, however, is hold Silva in this permanent limbo. In that sense, it’s almost hard to blame him for lashing out with wild accusations that I highly doubt he can prove. Between the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s bizarre decision to ban Silva for life, and the UFC’s refusal to let him out of his contract, he’s effectively been blackballed from the industry in which he’s spent his entire adult life. And for what? For avoiding a drug test?

You tell me that running from a test counts the same as failing a drug test, and hey, I’ve got no objection. Fine him. Suspend him a year or even two, whatever the market rate for failed drug tests was at the time, and then let the UFC decide whether to offer him a fight or let him go. But to keep him in this purgatory, to keep him from making a living while fighters with far more egregious offenses on their records are allowed to fight on, that’s flat out wrong.

If Silva could only limit himself to making that case, rather than hurling every accusation he can think of at the UFC in the hopes that something will stick, it might be easier for us to sympathize with him.

Actually? Now that you’ve reminded me that this fight is even happening? Yeah, I am forced to agree.

Any Rousimar Palhares fight at this point is weirdly intriguing, even if it’s for most of the wrong reasons. And the fact that he’ll be facing a submission grappling ace like Jake Shields at WSOF 22 on Saturday night, that only makes it more so.

So yes, for the fight fan who’d rather save some money and wait on the Rousey GIFs, this is a very viable alternative Saturday night plan. I just wonder how many people even know it’s an option.

If you’re looking for diminished fighters – particularly diminished Brazilian fighters – UFC 190 has got you covered. Between Mauricio Rua, his opponent Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Lil’ Nog’s brother, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, we have at least three fighters on the card who could retire at literally any moment now without anyone worrying that it was too soon.

Rua’s not even that old, just 33, which seems impossible. Still, the career he’s had makes him sort of like that great old car you’ve had forever, which you love, but which only starts on the first few cranks about half the time now, forcing you to resign yourself to the fact that one of these days it won’t start at all.

And you’re right that the sport evolved, but I don’t know if Rua’s decline is a result of not keeping up with that evolution. If anything, it’s a consequence of relying on a young man’s style while inhabiting a (prematurely) old man’s body.

Before I answer your question about whether the forthcoming IV ban (the ins and outs of which I covered in this story last week) is worth it, let me address the unstated assumptions in your question, because they’re pretty damn big ones.

For one thing, you assume that drastic weight cuts will be harder on fighters if they can’t use an IV solution to rehydrate once they get off the scales. That may or may not be true, depending on the fighter and the resources at his or her disposal.

The MMA-specific diet and weight cut specialists I spoke to mostly said they didn’t like using IVs to rehydrate their fighters, since oral rehydration was just as if not more effective when you know what you’re doing. That’s part of USADA’s argument as well, is that IVs simply aren’t necessary for “mild dehydration.”

The problem, as you hinted at, is that especially in instances where fighters accept bouts on short notice, the dehydration required to make weight at the last minute might be relatively severe. So if they know they can’t IV it up after weigh-ins, will that make them less likely to accept those late-notice replacement bouts, which, in the case of Chad Mendes stepping in against Conor McGregor, helped save the entire card?

I suspect the answer is no, which is where the potential for added danger comes in. Guys like Mendes, who stood to make a big payday and potentially jump straight from contender to interim champ by agreeing to step up on short notice, they’re probably not going to turn that down on the basis of weight issues alone. More likely, they’ll endure the rough cut and take their chances – either with the IV, betting that USADA won’t catch them, or without it, betting that they can sufficiently rehydrate on their own.

If they’re wrong on the first one, they get fined and suspended, which is bound to hurt. If they’re wrong on the second one, however, the potential consequences could be a lot worse.

Dominick Cruz has made some solid points about the UFC bantamweight division as a whole, but not so much about its champion, T.J. Dillashaw.

It’s true that the bantamweight division is a little thin right now. For a while, Dillashaw and Renan Barao were the only two interesting fighters in it, with Urijah Faber hopping in and out as the mood struck him.

When Cruz said that there aren’t many compelling match-ups to be found for Dillashaw now that he’s beaten Barao twice, he was mostly right. When he said Dillashaw needed him to “make his career worth anything,” he was mostly wrong. Yes, there are some similarities in style between the two men, but they aren’t so similar that it’s impossible to imagine Dillashaw developing that style in an alternate universe where Cruz never existed.

Similarly, if Cruz never comes back, if he tears out both ACLs and vomits up a lung trying to get into fighting shape, I don’t think we’ll end up feeling like Dillashaw’s title reign is a hollow one. Don’t get me wrong; it’d be great to see Dillashaw vs. Cruz. That’s the fight to make right now, if Cruz can get healthy and shake off whatever rust might have built up. But if it never happens due to Cruz’s terrible luck with injuries, I don’t think it will be that hard for us to accept Dillashaw as the true 135-pound champ.

I also think, due at least part in to the aforementioned rust, that if Cruz returns this year and jumps straight into a title fight? Dillashaw probably beats him.

That’s a tricky one. UFC President Dana White is a man with the virtues of his faults.

His bombastic, never-back-down, in-your-face style was very important to the UFC’s rise from obscurity. For much of the UFC’s history, he’s been the tireless bulldog who would charge right through the many, many obstacles standing between MMA and mainstream acceptance. He’s also been a petty, immature bully who treats the truth like a malleable means to an end, and in that sense he’s also become one of the barriers to mainstream acceptance.

As for whether the UFC has outgrown him, I’m not sure. On one hand, he does seem more unhinged than usual lately, which is saying something. His antics over the last few weeks have done more to harm the UFC’s public image than any political opponent in recent memory. You know how he likes to selectively compare fighters to people with regular jobs, especially when justifying why he fired them for misbehaving? Ask yourself how many company presidents in fields other than professional cagefighting would still have a job if they acted like White.

At the same time, who would replace him? He’s a fight promoter, which makes him part carnival barker and part used car salesman. You need a big, borderline absurd character to fill that role. That’s what gets people to pay attention long enough to learn that there’s a fight on TV this Saturday night.

At the same time, if you’re going to be a double-edged sword for the company you run, you’d better make sure you aren’t cutting the wrong way too often.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Follow him on Twitter at @BenFowlkesMMA. Twitter Mailbag appears every Thursday on MMAjunkie.


Filed under: News, UFC
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Jessica Aguilar, Claudia Gadelha both expect strawweight title shot with UFC 190 win

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Filed under: News, UFC

RIO DE JANEIRO – A crucial strawweight bout will open UFC 190’s main card when top contenders Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Aguilar collide inside the octagon.

Although Gadelha (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is coming off a loss and Aguilar (19-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is making her promotional debut, both are confident a victory will earn the next shot at 115-pound champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC).

Gadelha is actually just one fight removed from a bout with Jedrzejczyk, but she’s still hanging around the top of the division because of how the fight played out. She suffered a split decision loss to the current champion at UFC on FOX 13 in December for the first and only defeat of her career.

The catch, however, is that many believe Gadelha won the fight. Of the 14 media outlets to score the contest via MMADecisions.com, 12 granted Gadelha the victory. The judges felt differently, though, and Jedrzejczyk had her hand raised then moved on the capture the UFC title in her next bout.

Gadelha is driven by the desire to rematch Jedrzejczyk for the title. That will likely be the scenario if victorious at UFC 190, but she knows Aguilar is hardly a pushover.

“I don’t even like to talk about that fight; in my head and in my heart, I’m still undefeated,” Gadelha told MMAjunkie. “For me, I didn’t lose that fight. A lot of people who watched the fight think the same. I need to do another fight with her. We need to do the rematch to see who really is the best, who is better.

“I’ll do whatever I can to beat (Aguilar) and get the title shot. I’m ready for anything. I’m so strong, so fast and I did the best camp of my life. If she makes one mistake, she will fall.”

Aguilar has every intention of squashing Gadelha’s dreams of UFC gold. She has the same aspirations, and there can only be one No. 1 contender in the strawweight division.

“Jag,” a former WSOF champion, has waited several years for her chance to join the UFC roster. She’s frequently declared herself as the top fighter in the weight class, however, her level of competition in outside organizations made that claim difficult to verify.

Now that Aguilar is just days away from her UFC debut, she’s ready to use the high-profile matchup as a springboard to a title fight with Jedrzejczyk.

“She’s just another opponent to get my belt,” Aguilar said of Gadelha. “A lot of respect, but I’m here for a reason. I’m not here just to be a fighter or be a mix in the fighters. I’m going to be competing against the best fighters in the world and I’m going to keep proving why I’m the best in the world.

“All that work, it was well worth it. It’s been more than 10 years now. It’s so clichĂ© or whatever, but hard work does pay off. It’s paying off.”

Gadelha said she shared mutual respect for her opponent, but she also has every intention of forcing Aguilar to back up her words.

“She’s one of the first strawweight fighters, but I think to prove she’s the best at strawweight on the planet; she has to fight in the UFC and fight the best,” Gadelha said. “The best fighters, the best strawweights are in the UFC. She needs to step in and prove that she’s the best.”

“The UFC said if you want to prove you’re the best, then fight Claudia. If she can beat the best then she can call herself a real champion. The UFC gave her that fight so that she could prove that she’s the best.”

Aguilar claims she’s been verbally promised a title fight if she emerges victorious at UFC 190. She said she remains focused on the task at hand, but after years and years of talking and training, it’s hard to contain the excitement of being able to step in the octagon and remove any doubt about where she stands.

“I’ve been visualizing this moment for a long time; in 2008 when I met (UFC President) Dana White, it was far beyond their talks about having women in the UFC. I said I was going to be UFC champion and I believed.

“They told me that (a title shot is next), but they didn’t put it in the contract or anything so they can do whatever they need to do. They can obviously go another direction, but I’m going to make a statement when I win and this is going to get me a title shot in my next fight.”

UFC 190 takes place Saturday at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

For more on UFC 190, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.


Filed under: News, UFC
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Stream or download MMAjunkie Radio #2011 with Struve, Magny, Gadelha, Cummins, Aguilar, Marlon Moraes, Sefo

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Stream or download Thursday’s edition of MMAjunkie Radio with guests Stefan Struve, Neil Magny, Claudia Gadelha, Patrick Cummins, Jessica Aguilar, Marlon Moraes and Ray Sefo.

Struve, Magny, Gadelha, Cummins and Aguilar fight Saturday at UFC 190 in Brazil. Struve, Magny and Cummins compete against Antonio Nogueira, Demian Maia and Rafael Cavalcante, respectively. Aguilar and Gadelha face each other. Moraes defends his WSOF bantamweight title Saturday against Sheymon Moraes. Sefo, the president of WSOF, stopped by to promote WSOF 22, which features the Moraes vs. Moraes fight.

You can listen below, or directly download (right click) the episode.


Filed under: News, Radio, UFC, WSOF
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UFC 190 start time, TV schedule, streaming info for Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia

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Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos

It’s fight day, and here are all the essentials for the UFC 190 start time, TV schedule, streaming info and fight card.

UFC women’s bantamweight Ronda Rousey (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) meets Bethe Correia (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in the headliner of the pay-per-view main card (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), which follows prelims on FOX Sports 1 (8 p.m. ET) and UFC Fight Pass (7 p.m. ET).

UFC 190 actually features seven main-card bouts, not the usual five, so expect tonight’s event to end an hour later than usual.

You can join us for live UFC 190 play-by-play and official results and join the UFC 190 discussion on the MMAjunkie homepage. As usual, we’ll also have a live stream of the UFC 190 post-event press conference at the card’s conclusion.

The full UFC 190 lineup includes:

UFC 190 MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

UFC 190 PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

UFC 190 PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)

For the latest on UFC 190, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.


Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos
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UFC 190 staff picks: Brave (delusional?) enough to pick Correia over Rousey?

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Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC
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Is anyone – anyone – picking Bethe Correia to score a seemingly impossible upset over women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in tonight’s UFC 190 pay-per-view headliner? Not ’round these parts.

In our UFC 190 staff picks, all nine writers, editors and radio hosts are picking Rousey (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) over big underdog Correia (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) when they clash on pay-per-view at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena.

In fact, there wasn’t a whole lot of dissension overall. In the co-headliner, Mauricio Rua (22-10 MMA, 6-8 UFC) is the 8-1 choice over fellow light heavyweight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC), Stefan Struve (25-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is the 6-3 pick over heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-9-1 MMA, 5-5 UFC), Antonio Silva (18-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC) got the 7-2 nod over heavyweight Soa Palelei (22-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC), and Claudia Gadelha (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is the 6-3 favorite over strawweight Jessica Aguilar (19-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

In the “TUF: Brazil 4″ tournament finals, Fernando Bruno (15-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is the 5-4 favorite over lightweight Glaico Franca (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), and Dileno Lopes (18-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is the 9-0 pick over bantamweight Reginaldo Vieira (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

Check out all the picks above. Additionally, leave your main-card picks below. As usual, MMAjunkie reader “IAMMA” is organizing the MMAjunkie Member Picks, where “sadowolf” is still the man to beat.

For the latest on UFC 190, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.


Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC
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10 reasons to watch the Rousey show and some other fights, or UFC 190 and WSOF 22

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Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey

At the time of this writing, the main attraction of this weekend’s pair of MMA events is a 14-1 favorite over her opponent.

That’s blatant mismatch territory. And yet, you don’t see a whole lot of crowing over the circumstances that led to pairing UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Bethe Correia in UFC 190’s headliner. We know how we got here – “Rowdy” ran through everyone else, and Bethe loudly volunteered.

This week, several in the MMA know have approached Saturday with a mixture of dread over what could happen to Correia, sympathy for the physical consequences she’ll face after feeling Rousey’s wrath, and, of course, curiosity over the speed of the impending car crash.

A lot’s been written about the effect of Rousey’s dominance, and whether it will draw more fans to the sport, a la Mike Tyson in his heyday, or, with the door charge and inevitable result, drive them toward something a little more competitive. We’re about to find out, because fights like the one against Correia can’t credibility be sold on their competitive merits. And so, we need other reasons to show up.

If not for the UFC champ’s exploding popularity in Brazil and the press corps following every pay-per-view, UFC 190 could be the event editors tell their reporters to skip, like it was when Tyson faced Buster Douglas. We all know what happened then. This fight, on the other hand, seems different. It appears that Rousey is an athlete at or near her competitive peak, though that opinion comes from the admittedly unreliable world of promotional footage and interviews and other eye tests. The champ is looking to teach her opponent a lesson for evoking her father’s suicide. And Correia is far, far, too slow and not nearly sophisticated enough to stop what’s coming at her, save for a well-placed punch that manages to clip the champ’s chin.

Do you want to watch that? The good news is, you’ll probably only have to do it once, and probably not for long. But that leaves a lot of other time for tonight’s supporting cast at UFC 190, which takes place at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro and airs live on pay-per-view, FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass, and WSOF 22, which takes place at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and airs live on NBCSN and MMAjunkie.

1. Stating the obvious

UFC 190: With her victory all but assured, the only variable of any interest in women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey’s (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) sixth attempted title defense against Bethe Correia (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is how long it will take her to dismantle her opponent. Will she string it out and punish Correia for two or three rounds? Will she hit a quick armbar? Or will Correia make things interesting and survive the initial onslaught? Will the Brazilian shock the world? Rousey’s mom, AnnMaria De Mars, gave her daughter some good advice: Don’t give Correia any chance whatsoever to pull off the impossible. We’ll see if it’s followed.

2. A king size main card

UFC 190: Thank our friends at the U.S. State Department for turning UFC 190’s main card into a refuge for the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 4.” Saturday’s pay-per-view fights number seven with finals in the bantamweight and featherweight “TUF” categories – it’s going to be a late night. But hey, there’s more product and more chances for beautiful violence.

3. 10 years coming

UFC 190: Until ex-champ Mauricio Rua (22-10 MMA, 6-8 UFC) met Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC), he really hadn’t met much opposition in the now-defunct PRIDE. But “Lil Nog” gave him his stiffest test to date, producing a memorable scrap that paved the way for his critical win in the middleweight grand prix. It seemed like neither were anxious to go another round when they migrated to the UFC. But in the wake of Anderson Silva’s drug testing woes, Nogueira got a coaching spot opposite “Shogun” on “TUF Brazil 4,” and suddenly, hardcore fans got a tasty rematch. They’re a lot older and slower than they once were, so it’s hard to see the fight living up to its earlier iteration. But if it’s close, good enough.

4. Wuthering heights

Stefan Struve

Stefan Struve

UFC 190: Heavyweight Stefan Struve’s (25-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC) career was a roller coaster without the heart condition that endangered it. Wins were followed by nasty knockout losses, and he never seemed able to build any sustainable momentum. The Dutch skyscraper said his past failures in the cage are explained by the lack of oxygen coursing through his body, and for now, we have to take him at his word. A fight against legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-9-1 MMA, 5-5 UFC) follows two straight knockout losses, and it’s chance to prove he’s a different man now that his health problems are, for now, in the rear-view mirror.

5. Another heavyweight smasher

UFC 190: Big-man Antonio Silva (18-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC) is a complicated talent. At times, he’s looked positively frightening, and others, a lug who falls easily to those who stand up to him. After two straight knockout losses, he’s at a crossroads. He is 35 and in a division where a title shot is never too far away, and his onetime foil, Cain Velasquez, is no longer champion. He once went the distance with the current champ, Fabricio Werdum, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he’s got another run in him. He just needs to get it together, and if he can’t against the hard-slugging Soa Palelei (22-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC), he may never.

6. Strawweight title eliminator

UFC 190: Women’s strawweight Claudia Gadelha (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) went the distance with current champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk and lost via split call, making a rematch – in an already thin division – not a terribly bad idea. Pairing her with the No. 1-ranked Jessica Aguilar (19-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is the UFC’s way of validating a new contender or rebooting another. They can sell Aguilar as the new kid on the block, or Gadelha as the gal with a score to settle.

7. Make it eight

Neil Magny

Neil Magny

UFC 190: In a different division, or a different time, UFC welterweight Neil Magny (15-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) would have already fought for a title. But since he fights now in one of the most crowded classes, seven wins just isn’t good enough. Finally, the UFC is giving him the opponents that could earn him a title shot, in this case onetime middleweight title challenger Demian Maia (20-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC), whose threat on the ground and adequate standup provides a good test of his ability to handle top competition. Pass this, and he should get someone in the top-10.

8. Return of “Feijao”

UFC 190: Light heavyweight Rafael Cavalcante (12-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) faded into the background after a decision loss to Ryan Bader in June 2014. Back in the saddle after an injury layoff, he returns to fight wrestler Patrick Cummins (7-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who will most certainly blanket him if he can’t find his sprawl. The close training partner of Anderson Silva is a dynamo when he finds his rhythm; getting there is going to be the tough one in this matchup.

9. The limb collector

WSOF 22: Welterweight champ Rousimar Palhares (17-6) can’t just march his way to a takedown and quick heelhook against onetime UFC title challenger Jake Shields (31-7-1). Or can he? The speed with which he took out Jon Fitch was an eye-opener, and if Shields and his American jiu-jitsu isn’t on point, we’re bound for another grisly display of frantic tapping as the Brazilian secures a leg.

10. Kingpin vs. upstart

WSOF 22: Bantamweight champ Marlon Moraes (14-4-1) continues to dominate the competition in the No. 3 promotion, but the undefeated Sheymon Moraes (7-0) looks to make his name against the champ, who should get a pass to the UFC if he continues to perform at a level above the rest of WSOF’s competition.

For more onUFC 190 and WSOF 22, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.


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UFC 190 results: Claudia Gadelha tops Jessica Aguilar to set up potential title shot

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Jessica Aguilar and Claudia Gadelha

Jessica Aguilar and Claudia Gadelha

RIO DE JANEIRO – Jessica Aguilar long was considered the top strawweight in the world not in the UFC. But Claudia Gadelha had something to say about that.

Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a former WSOF champion who was making her highly anticipated and long-awaited UFC debut. With the win, which came via a trio of 30-27 scores, Gadelha set up a possible rematch with strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who beat her by split decision this past December.

The women’s strawweight bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC 190 event at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Aguilar came inside early, but ate a knee from Gadelha, who then peppered her left jab out. Aguilar moved backward, but ate a right hand in close. Gadelha stayed right in the pocket and a minute in worked kicks, then caught Aguilar with a combination. Gadelha found a home for kicks and knees, plus her jab, making things difficult on the UFC newcomer. Aguilar was showing wear on her face with a minute left in the round, and Gadelha drove in and slammed her to the canvas. Gadelha took Aguilar’s back to close the round.

In the second, Gadelha got back right to what worked for her in the first round. She tagged Aguilar with an uppercut, then landed a kick and pushed Aguilar to the fence. Shortly thereafter, Gadelha landed another big slam and worked to take Aguilar’s back with four minutes left in the round. Although Aguilar’s striking seemed to get better as the round progressed, Gadelha landed the heavier shots and kept Aguilar’s face bloodied up. Gadelha landed a picture-perfect takedown to seal the round.

After having some success with it in the second round, Aguilar worked her right leg kick in the third, hoping to find some traction. The two traded punches – with Gadelha appearing to have some trouble with her lead leg. Aguilar shot for a takedown, but couldn’t get it and finally broke off to again trade punches. With 30 seconds left, another Gadelha takedown made sure Aguilar couldn’t land a Hail Mary to win it.

“Dana White, make my title shot happen,” Gadelha said while pointing at the UFC president sitting cageside. “I’m the best strawweight in the world, and I’m here to prove that. This fight (with Jedrzejczk) has to happen. I’m going to keep training and I’m ready for you whenever you want.”

“Obviously, I’m not happy,” Aguilar said. “It was horrible, but I’ll be back. She is a strong fighter. I felt her power, so now I must go back to my team, get back to training, and I will be back.”

Gadelha got back in the win column after a split-decision loss this past December to current strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Aguilar lost for the first time in nearly five years and had a 10-fight winning streak snapped.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 190 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Brazil.)


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UFC 190: Claudia Gadelha vs. Jessica Aguilar video highlights

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Filed under: News, UFC, Videos

RIO DE JANEIRO – Jessica Aguilar was considered by most to be the best women’s strawweight not in the UFC. But Claudia Gadelha had little trouble with her.

Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) won a unanimous decision over Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who was making her UFC debut after coming over as WSOF’s strawweight champion.

The fight was part of Saturday’s UFC 190 event at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janerio. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Check out the highlights above.

See also:

For complete coverage of UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.


Filed under: News, UFC, Videos
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Fight Tracks: The walkout songs of UFC 190, with the customary Joan Jett

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Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey

While it take intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a UFC win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.

Check out what the fighters from Saturday’s UFC 190 pay-per-view event in Rio de Janeiro went with as their backing tracks.

* * * *

Ronda Rousey def. Bethe Correia via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:34

Ronda Rousey: “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Bethe Correia: “Beijinho No Ombro” by Valesca Popozuda

Mauricio Rua def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Mauricio Rua: “Sail” by Armen Van Buuren

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: “Theme” by Pregador Luo

No video

Glaico Franca def. Fernando Bruno via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:46

Glacio Franca: “Lean On” by Major Lazer & DJ Snake

Fernando Bruno: “Anjos” by O Rappa

Reginaldo Vieira def. Dileno Lopes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Reginaldo Viera: “Burning Heart” by Survivor

Delino Lopes: “Vida Loka Parte 2″ by Racionales MCs

Stefan Struve def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Stefan Struve: “Gimme The Prize” by Queen

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: “Come With Me” by Puff Daddy

Antonio Silva def. Soa Palelei via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:41

Antonio Silva: “Lado B Lado A” by O Rappa

Soa Palelei: “Danza Kuduro” by Dom Omar feat. Lucenzo

Claudia Gadelha def. Jessica Aguilar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Claudia Gadelha: “Na Frenta Do Reto” by O Rappa

Jessica Aguilar: “El Gallo De Oro” by Ana Gabriel

Demian Maia def. Neil Magny via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:52

Demian Maia: “Numb” by Linkin Park

Neil Magny: “No Regrets” by Lacrea feat. Suzy Rock

Patrick Cummins def. Rafael Cavalcante via TKO (elbows) – Round 3, 0:45

Patrick Cummins: “Oblivion” by Grimes

Rafael Cavalcante: “Suite 14″ by Henrique & Diego feat. MC Guime

Warlley Alves def. Nordine Taleb via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:11

Warlley Alves: “Quanto Major O Gigante”

Nordine Taleb: “Go Hard Or Go Home” by Wiz Khalifa feat. Iggy Azalea

Iuri Alcantara def. Leandro Issa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)

Iuri Alcantara: “Nao Morrereri” by Marquinhos Gomes

Leandro Issa: “Negro Drama” by Racionais MCs

Vitor Miranda def. Clint Hester via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:38

Vitor Miranda: “Tropa De Elite” by Tihuana

Clint Hester: “I Bang” by HB feat. Tektite Afrika

No video

Guido Cannetti def. Hugo Viana via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Guido Cannetti: “Mi Buenos Aires Quierido” by Carlos Gardel

Hugo Viana: “Fe Cega Faca Amolada” by Margareth

For more on UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.


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UFC 190 post-fight facts: Ronda Rousey into uncharted territory – in just six UFC fights

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Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey’s statistical greatness has already ventured into uncharted territory – in just six UFC fights.

Her past three fights have clocked in at 64 combined, with the latest in Saturday’s UFC 190 pay-per-view headliner at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) stopped Bethe Correia (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) via 34-second knockout to retain her women’s bantamweight title.

Rousey has dominated the competition since her 2013 UFC debut, and in that short period, she’s managed to shatter a number of longstanding records. For more on the numbers behind Rousey’s knockout of Correia plus the other 12 bouts on the card, check out 55 post-fight facts about UFC 190.

* * * *

General

HSBC Arena

HSBC Arena

In the UFC’s 23 Brazilian events to date, fighters from the country are 126-68 against foreign opposition. Brazilians went 5-4 against outsiders at UFC 190.

Rousey, Mauricio Rua, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Demian Maia earned $50,000 UFC 190 fight-night bonuses.

UFC 190 drew an announced attendance of 14,723. No live gate was announced for the event.

Betting favorites went 9-4 on the card.

Total fight time for the 13-bout card was 2:26:27.

Main card

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey

Rousey became the first UFC champion to secure two successful title defenses in 2015.

Rousey’s six-fight UFC winning streak is the longest active streak in the women’s bantamweight division.

Rousey’s six victories in UFC women’s bantamweight competition are the most in divisional history.

Rousey’s six consecutive UFC title defenses are tied with Demetrious Johnson for the most of any current UFC champion behind Jose Aldo (seven).

Rousey’s six-fight UFC finishing streak is the longest among active fighters.

Rousey’s seven first-round finishes in UFC/Strikeforce women’s bantamweight competition are the most in history. The only fighter to come close to Rousey in the category is Amanda Nunes, who has three.

Rousey’s three knockout victories took place in her past four fights.

Rousey’s streak of six consecutive stoppages in UFC championship bouts is the longest title-fight finishing streak in history.

Rousey’s six stoppage victories in UFC title fights are tied for the third most in history behind Anderson Silva (nine) and Matt Hughes (eight).

Rousey’s five first-round finishes in UFC championship bouts are the most in modern history.

Rousey’s the only fighter in UFC/Strikeforce/PRIDE/WEC history to win four title fights in less than one minute each.

Rousey’s total cage time after 12 pro fights is 25 minutes and 36 seconds. She’s ended eight of her pro victories in less than one minute each.

Rousey has been awarded six fight-night bonuses during her UFC tenure, the most of any women’s bantamweight fighter in company history.

Bethe Correia

Bethe Correia

Correia had her nine-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of her pro career.

Rua (23-10 MMA, 7-8 UFC) earned just his second victory in his past six UFC appearances.

Rua improved to 5-1 in rematches during his career.

Rua earned the first decision victory of his UFC career and his first in pro competition since Dec. 31, 2006 – a span of 3,135 days (more than eight years) and 16 fights.

Rua was awarded the seventh fight-night bonus of his UFC career, tied with Jon Jones for the most of any light heavyweight in company history.

Nogueira (21-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) has suffered five of his seven career losses by decision.

Glaico Franca (13-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned 12 of his 13 career victories by stoppage.

Fernando Bruno(15-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first submission loss of his career.

Reginaldo Vieira (13-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned his first decision victory since Apr. 16, 2011 – a span of 1,568 days (more than four years) and 10 fights.

Delino Lopes (18-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his career.

Stefan Struve

Stefan Struve

Stefan Struve (26-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) snapped his two-fight losing skid for his first victory since September 2012.

Struve fought to a decision for just the second time in his career.

Struve became the seventh fighter in UFC history to earn 10 heavyweight victories.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-10-1 MMA, 5-6 UFC) suffered his third consecutive loss to extend the longest skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since October 2012.

Nogueira suffered his first decision loss since Sept. 10, 2006 – a span of 3,247 days (nearly nine years) and 12 fights.

Antonio Silva (19-7-1 MMA, 3-4-1 UFC) snapped his four-fight winless drought for his first victory since February 2013.

Silva has earned all three of his UFC victories by knockout.

Soa Palelei (22-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has suffered four of his five career losses by stoppage.

Palelei suffered his first knockout loss since Dec. 29, 2007 – a span of 2,772 days (more than seven years) and 17 fights.

Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned both of her UFC victories by decision.

Jessica Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had her 10-fight winning streak snapped for her first defeat since September 2010.

Aguilar suffered her first decision loss since Sept. 10, 2010 – a span of 1,786 days (nearly five years) and 11 fights.

Preliminary card

Demian Maia

Demian Maia

Maia (21-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) improved to 6-2 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in July 2012.

Maia’s seven submission victories in UFC competition are the fourth most in company history.

Maia improved to 15-2 in UFC competition when he completes at least one takedown.

Neil Magny (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) had his seven-fight winning streak snapped for his first defeat since November 2013.

Magny has suffered three of his four career losses by submission.

Patrick Cummins (8-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has earned six of his eight career victories by stoppage.

Cummins has landed 25 takedowns in his four UFC victories.

Rafael Cavalcante (12-6 MMA, 1-3 UFC) fell to 1-3 with one no-contest in his past five fights.

Cavalcante has suffered four of his six career losses by knockout.

Warlley Alves

Warlley Alves

Warlley Alves (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned seven of his nine career victories by stoppage. He’s won two UFC fights by submission.

Nordine Taleb (11-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) suffered the first submission loss of his career.

Iuri Alcantara (32-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) improved to 5-2 with one no-contest since he dropped to the UFC bantamweight division in January 2013.

Alcantara has earned five of his seven UFC victories by decision.

Leandro Issa (13-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his career.

Vitor Miranda (11-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned 10 of his 11 career victories by stoppage.

Miranda has earned eight of his 11 career victories by knockout.

Clint Hester (11-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has suffered both of his UFC losses by knockout.

Guido Cannetti (7-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.

For more on UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

FightMetric research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.


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Claudia Gadelha gets next shot at champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk, says she won first fight

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Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos

RIO DE JANEIRO – Claudia Gadelha has earned her chance to dethrone UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) solidified her case for the next title shot on Saturday with a dominant unanimous-decision victory over former WSOF champ Jessica Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

The bout kicked off the pay-per-view main card of the event, which took place at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena (watch the Gadelha vs. Aguilar video highlights).

Immediately after the fight – and before UFC President Dana White confirmed she’s next – Gadelha stated her case for another shot at Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who earned a narrow split-decision win over the Brazilian in 2014.

“I want that fight,” Gadelha said. “I want to fight Joanna. And I’m sure she wants (it) too because – I can’t even talk about the last fight. So, we need to fight again and (make it) clear who’s the best strawweight on the planet.”

Thankfully for Gadelha, who said she has no doubts she deserved the win in the first meeting, she’ll get her chance. White confirmed the plans via Twitter and during the post-UFC 190 show on FOX Sports 1.

A date hasn’t been set, and Gadelha needs to have an injured hand checked out. But when it happens, she said she’ll be ready for the title fight, especially since she’s put an emphasis on her conditioning during the past year.

“You guys just saw I fought three rounds with no problems,” he said. “I’m ready for five rounds.

” 
 I’ll fight her anywhere. I just want to fight her.”

Check out the full conversation above.

And for complete coverage of UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.


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The three stars of ‘UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia' in Brazil

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Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey

The UFC plans to stage 45 events in 2015, and during that time, hundreds of fighters will enter and exit the octagon.

While pre-fight hype is an enjoyable aspect of the sport, it’s ultimately the in-cage performances that speak most to fans. For the majority of fighters, the opportunity to present their skills to the world only comes along a few times per year.

A total of 26 fighters got the chance on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

* * * *

Third Star: Demian Maia

At 37, Demian Maia (21-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) proved he’s still one of the top fighters in the UFC welterweight division.

Maia snapped Neil Magny’s (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) impressive seven-fight UFC winning streak with an utterly dominant performance that ended with a second-round submission finish.

It was only Maia’s second stoppage victory since 2009, but the display proved how dangerous the jiu-jitsu world champion can be when fighting on the ground.

Maia said after his victory that he believes he has what it takes to become the UFC’s 170-pound champion and wants to fight a top contender like Tyron Woodley, Johny Hendricks or Carlos Condit – or do a rematch with Rory MacDonald – to prove just that.

With a three-fight UFC winning streak under his belt, the Brazilian deserves such as opportunity.

Second Star: Claudia Gadelha

Claudia Gadelha

Claudia Gadelha

It was somewhat overshadowed by the rest of the card, but Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) earned one of the most significant victories on the card when she defeated Jessica Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) to earn a shot at the UFC women’s strawweight championship (watch the Gadelha vs. Aguilar video highlights).

Gadelha completely shut down the former WSOF titleholder for a unanimous-decision victory. The win will set up a highly anticipated rematch with 115-pound champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC).

Gadelha is just one fight removed from a bout with Jedrzejczyk, but she has an argument at being the best in the weight class. She suffered a split-decision loss to the current champion at UFC on FOX 13 in December for the first and only defeat of her career.

The catch, however, is that many believe Gadelha won the fight. Of the 14 media outlets to score the contest via MMADecisions.com, 12 granted Gadelha the victory. The judges felt differently, though, and Jedrzejczyk had her hand raised and then moved on the capture the UFC title in her next bout.

Gadelha has been very vocal about her desire to rematch the dangerous Polish striker. She’ll get her opportunity after a big win at UFC 190.

First Star: Ronda Rousey

She did it again.

Despite threatening to drag out her UFC 190 main event bout with Bethe Correia (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) earned yet another quick finish to defend her title for the sixth time.

Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) handed Correia (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) her first pro loss when she scored a 34-second knockout that left her Brazilian foe unconscious on the canvas (watch the Rousey vs. Correia video highlights).

Rousey’s list of achievements and records is otherworldly. But beyond the numbers, the flawless and thrilling nature of her victories are a sight to behold.

Correia’s attempt to lure Rousey into a slugfest failed miserably. She ate a massive shot to the temple just seconds into the fight and went crashing to the ground.

It was another remarkable performance for the UFC’s most dominant champion and again raised questions about who can test, let alone dethrone, “Rowdy.”

For more on UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.


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UFC 190: What really mattered, including three fighters making huge statements

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Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos

Sure, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey ran through yet another opponent in less than a minute, but that wasn’t the only story that mattered at UFC 190. Relive the memorable moments from Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena.

In this week’s edition of “What really mattered,” MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Chamatkar Sandhu point out a few stories outside of the night’s headliner that still stand out to them 24 hours after the conclusion of the card.

From another woman proving her place as one of the best in the world to a man once dismissed as “a barista” proving he can hang with the elite, Morgan and Sandhu revisit a few of the night’s most important topics, starring Ronda Rousey, Demian Maia, Claudia Gadelha and Patrick Cummins.

For complete coverage of UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.


Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos
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UFC 190 medical suspensions: Claudia Gadelha among five with potentially long terms

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Claudia Gadelha

Claudia Gadelha

Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA), MMA’s regulatory body in Brazil, has issued medical suspensions to fighters from this past weekend’s UFC 190, and five face lengthy terms.

MMAjunkie today obtained the list of suspensions from CABMMA, which oversaw Saturday’s pay-per-view event at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.

Although CABMMA issues minimum 14-day suspensions to all competitors, 21 of the 26 fighters from UFC 190 received longer terms.

Most notably, Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Jessica Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who fought to open the main card, could be out as long as 180 days. Gadelha beat Aguilar in a unanimous decision to set up a title fight rematch with women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzeczyk. Gadelha will need to have her left hand cleared by a doctor, or she’ll be out six months. Aguilar needs an x-ray on her nose done before she will be cleared.

Three other fighters have potential six-month terms. Patrick Cummins (8-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who beat Rafael Cavalcante (12-6 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a TKO on the prelims, could be out six months with a fractured nose. Cavalcante was given 90-day suspension with 60 days of no contact. And Reginaldo Vieira (13-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Dileno Lopes (18-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who fought in the “TUF: Brazil 4″ lightweight final, have six-month suspensions unless cleared ahead of time.

Aside from the six-month terms, CABMMA doesn’t give the reasoning for the individual suspensions, though fighters who suffer knockout losses or take part in especially grueling bouts usually get longer terms.

The full list of UFC Fight night 67 medical suspensions includes:

  • Ronda Rousey: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
  • Bethe Correia: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.
  • Mauricio Rua: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.
  • Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.
  • Glaico Franca: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
  • Fernando Bruno: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
  • Reginaldo Vieira: Suspended 180 days unless nose is cleared.
  • Dileno Lopes: Suspended 180 days unless fractured nose is cleared.
  • Stefan Struve: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.
  • Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Suspended 60 days with no contact for 45 days.
  • Antonio Silva: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
  • Soa Palelei: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.
  • Claudia Gadelha: Suspended 180 days unless left hand is cleared.
  • Jessica Aguilar: Suspended 180 days unless nose is cleared.
  • Demian Maia: Suspended 14 days with no contact for seven days.
  • Neil Magny: Suspended 14 days with no contact for seven days.
  • Patrick Cummins: Suspended 180 days unless fractured nose is cleared.
  • Rafael Cavalcante: Suspended 90 days with no contact for 60 days.
  • Warlley Alves: Suspended 14 days with no contact for seven days.
  • Nordine Taleb: Suspended 14 days with no contact for seven days.
  • Iuri Alcantara: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
  • Leandro Issa: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.
  • Vitor Miranda: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
  • Clint Hester: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days.
  • Guido Cannetti: Suspended 14 days with no contact for seven days.
  • Hugo Viana: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.

For complete coverage of UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.


Filed under: News, UFC
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Twitter Mailbag: How many chances should Rousimar Palhares get, exactly?

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Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares

In this week’s Twitter Mailbag, are we finally ready to label Rousimar Palhares the most egregious rule-breaker in MMA history? And is UFC Fight Night 73 the last best chance for Glover Teixeira to prove he can be somebody in the UFC?

We’ll also discuss Ronda Rousey’s star turn, and Diego Sanchez’s weight class change, among other topics.

Got a question of your own? Tweet it to @BenFowlkesMMA. It really is that easy.

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He’s not going to win any sportsmanship awards, that’s for sure. Palhares has a problem. It’s a problem that starts somewhere between his ears, and manifests itself in the movement of his hands and occasionally his mouth.

This isn’t the first time he’s concluded that anyone he can’t get a hold of must be greasing. Remember when he paused mid-fight to complain about his inability to get a grip on Nate Marquardt’s leg? That mental lapse got him knocked out, and when officials checked Marquardt immediately after the fight, they found no evidence of wrongdoing. It’s almost as if Palhares is an extremely poor sport. As in, the kind of poor sport who puts his fingers in your eyes when he’s losing.

I understand why WSOF opted to suspend and strip him, but not cut him. The fact that he cannot contain himself to the many forms of violence allowed within the rules, that makes him fascinating to watch. You’re always wondering what crazy stuff will happen in his next fight. Plus, if we’re being honest, he really is quite good. You can tell by how he keeps submitting people who don’t get submitted.

Still, he can’t keep doing this. Eventually even the already insane world of MMA will say enough’s enough. But if he hasn’t got the message by now, after being fired from one job and suspended by more than one commission, what’s it going to take?

Despite taking former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones “to the limit” (what the commercial forgot to add was “
of the allowable time in which to get beaten up”), I’d say Teixeira is pretty far out of the title picture already.

The ad for UFC Fight Night 73 failed to mention that after the episode with Jones and limits, Teixeira lost a decision to Phil Davis, who then bolted for Bellator. A loss to Ovince Saint Preux makes it three straight, which is a long fall even if it started at the very top of the division.

The good news for Teixeira is that this is a winnable fight for him, and against a guy with a two-fight streak that looks good on paper. We’ve seen that Teixeira’s chin holds up well under fire, and I really don’t see OSP submitting him. That means Saint Preux likely has to beat him up for five rounds to win a decision whereas Teixeira only needs to land one of those hammers. I think that’s doable for him. I also think that if he doesn’t do it this will be the last time we see him in a UFC main event.

You’ll get no argument from me. Rousey vs. Cristiane Justino is the biggest women’s fight the UFC could possibly make, and I have to think Zuffa executives know that. I also think they’re at least a little bit worried that “Cyborg” might win that fight, so they’re going to take their time and wring some more cash out of these Rousey squash matches before they make it.

That’s a somewhat understandable strategy, but a risky one. The best time to make this fight is right now, while they’re both hot, before anything weird can happen.

If combat sports history teaches us anything, it’s that the more likely scenario is the fight happening a few years too late or not at all.

I think some of it is maturity. When we see Rousey explaining her thoughts on femininity and body image, we see someone who has learned the power of her own voice. She has the potential to reach people and impact their lives, and maybe realizing that helps her to feel like she doesn’t have to channel the Diaz brothers just to get attention.

Fight fans, whether they realize it or not, want their fighters to be about something. It’s why just being very good and very bland isn’t enough in this sport, though it usually is in others.

When Rousey takes on larger issues, opens up about her own struggles, or even when she burns Floyd Mayweather Jr. , she fills that role for a lot of people. They feel like she stands for them in some way, and her success then becomes their success. Maybe that’s why they don’t care if the outcomes of her fights seem like foregone conclusions.

Depends how you define success. Is Sanchez going to become the UFC featherweight champ? No way. Is he going to put a little distance between himself and forced retirement? Maybe, but it probably won’t be as much distance as he thinks.

More likely he’ll discover that the fighters at 145 pounds are even faster than the ones at 155 pounds, and last time he checked, most of them were too fast for him at this point in his career.

This is a classic case of the change in weight classes as the fighter’s false friend. It provides the illusion of a clean slate, and offers the fighter just enough of a reason to believe everything will be different. It won’t, though, because the problems Sanchez is facing are not about weight – they’re about time.

It’s possible Georges St-Pierre is doing that for a calculated reason, one that might influence the number of zeroes that appear of a paycheck somewhere down the line. Or maybe avoiding any specific use of the r-word is, in his mind, the only way to make retirement seem manageable.

He wouldn’t be the first pro fighter to have difficulty with the concept of never again stepping inside the cage. I remember working on this story about life after retirement for the fighters from the “comeback” season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” One of the things that kept popping up was this idea that, yes, they were done fighting, unless one specific thing happened.

For some it was a certain fight, maybe a rematch with another guy from their era, or just the right-size payday. Others told themselves that they were done fighting, but maybe the right grappling match could lure them back to some form of paid competition.

The more I heard this, the more it seemed less like anything these guys actually wanted to have happen, and more like something they could tell themselves so the idea of retirement didn’t seem so scary, or so final.

Maybe that’s what GSP is doing. Maybe he feels like as long as he doesn’t have to look this monster directly in the eye, he can live with it. Or maybe he’s just waiting for the pile of money to get big enough that a comeback seems worth it.

That’s a bad comparison, and I wish people (especially the ones offering it in defense of Palhares) would stop making it.

Talk to fighters, and they’ll tell you that knockouts often come as a surprise. You’re throwing punches, just focusing on making them land. Then your opponent is on the floor, and the only thing on your mind is finish, finish, finish. You can’t blame a fighter in that situation for failing to do a full consciousness check before throwing another punch. That’s what the ref is there for, is to tell him when it’s over.

Submissions are different. When you apply a submission, you know (or at least have reason to hope) that the end is near. You’re waiting for the tap, and for the referee intervention that will follow. All your training prepares you for that. If anything, it almost takes a conscious effort not to let go at that point. Unless, as has been argued in Palhares’ case, you’re just so “zoned in” that you can’t let go in a timely fashion.

But if that’s the case – if it’s really not something you’re in control of – that only seems like more of a reason to keep you out of the cage.

The fact that no one really seems that upset about Jake Shields’ post-fight punch probably tells us what the current sentiment is regarding Palhares. But still, there should be some punishment, if only to remind us that you don’t get to break the rules just because someone else did it first.

I’d support a short suspension, even the three- or six-month variety that’s mostly meaningless to fighters who only compete a couple times per year. Just enough to show that what Shields did was wrong, even though we understand why he did it.

I’m glad you liked the story on Ben Rothwell and his gym, but getting to do those kinds of stories is a luxury in the current MMA media climate. They take time and money. They take resources. A lot of sites don’t think it’s worth the investment, since you can often get around the same number of clicks with a phone interview and a snappy headline.

That’s not to say that phone interviews are bad. I’ve had plenty of interesting, illuminating ones. But usually how it works is, the week before an event the UFC blocks off chunks of time during which some fighter on the upcoming card does one 10-minute phoner after another. That sucks, because no one is having any fun there. Not the writer, who gets neither the time nor the space to actually learn anything in this interview. Not the fighter, who gets asked the same questions over and over again, because there are only so many reasonable questions you can ask someone before a fight. Not even the UFC PR flack who listens in to make sure nothing weird happens.

It’s just a media assembly line, churning out one piece of online content after another. It’s efficient, in a way, but it’s also boring. It’s how you end up reading a story about how Fighter X has never been more ready for a fight in his life, or how he’s preparing for the best possible version of Fighter Y. I don’t blame you for not being so into that.

The difference between Rousey’s win over Bethe Correia and Chad Mendes’ win over Cody McKenzie is that, for Rousey, there really were no better options available.

The UFC had four fighters ranked ahead of Correia at the time of the fight, and Rousey had already beaten them all. The top contender is Miesha Tate, who Rousey’s beaten twice, with us already complaining about the third time before it even happens. Who else is Rousey supposed to defend her title against? What better choice is there at women’s bantamweight right now?

That wasn’t the case when Mendes faced McKenzie. As UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby later explained, it was a late-replacement scenario in which the UFC essentially felt like it had to give Mendes some sort of fight to compensate him for the time and money he’d already invested in his training camp. McKenzie was the only one willing to take it, so he got it. Even now, it’s not exactly something you’ll hear UFC executives discuss with great pride.

In fairness, Jessica Aguilar debuted in the UFC with probably the toughest non-title bout any female strawweight could possibly get.

Claudia Gadelha is the only fighter so far to really keep things close against UFC women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who handed Gadelha her only pro loss, which came via split decision.

Point is, yes, Aguilar faced lesser competition outside the UFC, but then she faced really, really good competition as soon as she set foot in the octagon. That’s one good thing about the UFC’s decision to add female 115-pounders, is the way it’s consolidating the talent that was previously spread out among whichever organizations were in the business of WMMA at the moment.

But don’t write off Aguilar just yet. Once she finds her footing in the UFC, she may still surprise some people.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Follow him on Twitter at @BenFowlkesMMA. Twitter Mailbag appears every Thursday on MMAjunkie.


Filed under: Featured, News, UFC, WSOF
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