UFC

Conor McGregor has admitted he is not sure he wants to return to lightweight to fight Charles Oliveira. The Brazilian choked out Justin Gaethje in the first ...

McGregor then shared a close-up image of the knockout, adding: "If you pulled that out of a McDonald’s bag you’d dip it in sauce and eat without a moments thought. "This is a message to the entire division; I am a problem for the entire division. I am the enlighted, I am the champion, this is my title and it should be here," said Oliveira. "Dana White, I don't care [who I fight next], I'm not going to choose. Then he got punt kicked to the chin and got turned into a nugget himself. Who doesn't want to see Chandler against Conor?" Congrats on a solid win Michael and another barnstormer."

The Dagestani, riding a 10-fight win streak, targets lightweight championship clash at UFC 281 in October.

I deserve the title fight’. I’m going to be in Abu Dhabi, waiting for the champion there.” We’ll get in the [UFC matchmaker meeting] and argue about it and figure it out.” Listen, who doesn’t want to see Dariush and Islam? It’s a great fight, it’s a killer fight. At the post-event press conference, UFC president Dana White was asked if he still wanted to make the cancelled bout between Makhachev and Beneil Dariush next. Having already tweeted in his native Russian, Nurmagomedov then posted in English directly to UFC president Dana White, saying: “You have no other choice but make Oliveira vs Islam fight in Abu Dhabi 22 October. Perfect date, perfect location. White did say, however, that the winner of the potential Makhachev-Dariush encounter would determine the No 1-contender spot.

Oliveira (33-8, 30 finishes) knew what his job was the day before his third championship fight inside of 365 days. He had to hit 155 pounds or less, and he didn ...

He didn’t make the weight. “Do Bronx” damaged Gaethje, he of the all-action reputation, with a laser of a right hand. They know who’s the top 155er on planet Earth, and he’s got platinum blond hair and a hell of a squeeze. Ferguson, Chandler, Poirier, Gaethje. That’s a murderer’s row the likes of which the UFC has not seen at 155 pounds. “He didn’t make weight. Such a shame, as there’s no question whatsoever who’s the top dog in the UFC lightweight division. “The champion has a name, and it’s Charles Oliveira.” He did what he’s done in each of these five-round combat bonanzas: took a lickin’ and kept asskickin’. Championship-level 155ers frequently come to the cage between 170 and 178 pounds. Oliveira (33-8, 30 finishes) knew what his job was the day before his third championship fight inside of 365 days. He left the “No. 1 contender,” even after tapping out challenger Justin Gaethje via first-round rear-naked choke to close out UFC 274. I knew that I was gonna hit him.”

Lightweight Charles Oliveira shook off two big punches from Justin Gaethje and choked him out to win by submission in the first round at UFC 274.

Esparza had Namajunas down briefly twice in the fourth round, but she wriggled out both times — the second on a quick flip reversal. Wary of Esparza’s wrestling skills, Namajunas spent most of the night in the desert at a distance, ducking in occasionally to throw punches before backing out. “Thug Rose” reclaimed the title by beating Zhang Weili and won the rematch last November. Gaethje briefly appeared as if he would escape, but Oliveira got a arm under his chin and forced him to tap out with a rear-naked choke hold. Gaethje added in a takedown and again let Oliveira get back up. “I can’t believe after all these years I have the belt back,” Esparza said.

Shaking off two big punches from Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira choked him out in the first round to win by submission in the lightweight division at UFC ...

The woman ran from the stands and leaped onto the stage a few seconds after Charles Oliveira submitted Justin Gaethje in the first round. Wary of Esparza’s wrestling skills, Namajunas spent most of the night in the desert at a distance, ducking in occasionally to throw punches before backing out. Security immediately swarmed and took her away right before Gaethje left the arena floor. Esparza had Namajunas down briefly twice in the fourth round, but she wriggled out both times — the second on a quick flip reversal. Ferguson lay on the canvas for several minutes while being attended to by medical personnel before slowly rising to his stool. “Thug Rose” reclaimed the title by beating Zhang Weili and won the rematch last November. Gaethje added in a takedown and again let Oliveira get back up. I can't have a strategic fight?" Gaethje briefly appeared as if he would escape, but Oliveira got a arm under his chin and forced him to tap out with a rear-naked choke hold. “I'm always in exciting fights. ”I went through so much to get the belt both times." It (the belt) should be here.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov is adamant that Islam Makhachev needs to the be the man to fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant title after UFC 274.

And he sees UFC 281 on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi as a date that makes perfect sense for the matchup to materialize (via Makhachev, 30, has suffered just one loss in his 23-fight career. And with his streak, Makhachev – and clearly Nurmagomedov – think they should be next in line (via

'Makes you want to see Khabib': Fans want 'best on earth' UFC bout... the next best thing looms.

His jiu jitsu is ridiculous.” “He only has to get them done once for the whole fight to change.” “Islam should be next in line for the title.” “Having that level of grappling and control on the ground puts a level of fear into his opponents that he can just start unloading bombs with his hands because he has absolute control of the game. “On the way down, whether he could wrap something before Khabib got him in the grasp would be awesome to see.” “[Oliveira] could catch [Khabib] on the feet,” he said of the hypothetical bout.

Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler stole the show at UFC 274, while Carla Esparza captured the strawweight title from Rose Namajunas in a bizarre co-main ...

The Brazilian fighter was ultra-aggressive from the opening bell. He staggered Gaethje, who is from Arizona, immediately with a right hand and threw kicks to ...

UFC president Dana White told Oliveira immediately after the fight he is a No. 1 contender and not a champion, although the sport will certainly continue to see him as such. Oliveira followed him to the floor and set up a triangle then a rear-naked choke. However, it was a right hand down the middle by Oliveira that dropped Gaethje again and was the beginning of the end.

UFC President Dana White said the promotion will take a drastic measure to make sure the "nightmare" scenario of Charles Oliveira's UFC 274 weigh-in doesn't ...

“But obviously, if ‘Ragin’ Al wins this fight, he’s the champ.” UFC flyweight Matt Schnell wrote on social media that the promotion warned them that the unofficial scale was off. He went on to defeat Justin Gaethje in the first round, recovering from early trouble to submit the former interim champ. ,” White told reporters after the pay-per-view event at Footprint Center in Phoenix. “There’s so many moving parts to this beast of a machine that we run every week, and we’ve got to have a security guard in there where the scale is now. “We have this issue where guys come out and they’ll start checking the scale the night before and all the Europeans and guys from other parts of the world do kilos, so they all start f****** with the scale to look at kilos and, who knows... White indicated that non-U.S. fighters may have been responsible for altering the promotion’s scale used at UFC 274, possibly resulting in inaccurate readings.

UFC 274 results: It's time to see who were the biggest winners (and loser) from last night's "Oliveira vs. Gaethje"-led event last night.

That said, a loss is still a loss and “El Cucuy” has too many of them as of late to not be worried about his near future. Though he only managed to rack up a 1-2 mark in his first three fights — losing his last two — he was still putting in the work and effort to entertain fans. Still, as he has always done, Oliveira was patient and found the space he needed to drop Gaethje before moving in for the kill.

Tony Ferguson has been released from hospital after undergoing additional medical checks in the wake of his brutal UFC 274 defeat against Michael Chandler ...

'I am the most entertaining lightweight on the planet. Tony Ferguson suffered a sickening defeat against Michael Chandler at UFC 274 on Saturday - Tony Ferguson suffered a sickening defeat against Michael Chandler at UFC 274

Rose Namajunas lost her women's strawweight title in the UFC 274 co-main event rematch against former champion Carla Esparza on Saturday.

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Carla Esparza to get married next weekend with UFC strawweight belt around her dress, and says she's 'super relieved' to escape with unblemished face from ...

Rose Namajunas was proud that she "stuck to the strategy" in her rematch with Carla Esparza – but it cost her the title.

“I would do a rematch,” she said. “I feel like there’s something to be learned from each loss.” I felt like I was scoring.” “I knew I was scoring. “I struck to the strategy,” Namajunas said. … I felt like I did the damage.

Rose Namajunas trying not to be 'salty' but believes she beat Carla Esparza at UFC 274.

“Carla, I really respect what she does in there, but at the same time, only so much to the point where I don’t see how you become the champion like that,” Namajunas said. I think maybe the judges just wanted to see a slugfest like it was in previous fights or something so they weren’t appreciative of good strategy, but like I said, I’m always in exciting fights. “I’ll have to go back and watch it but I do remember landing nice uppercuts, and even some of the punches that weren’t super solid but were just keeping her at bay, making contact, I felt like I was not just making the damage but controlling the fight. “I stuck to the strategy. So I thought I won. “I won that fight,” Namajunas said.

Dana White isn't thrilled about what happened surrounding UFC 274 weigh-ins, but Charles Oliveira isn't getting his belt back.

He’s the guy.” I went into the octagon to defend the title. He’s the guy,” White said. “Listen, he’s the guy. He’s also “a hundred percent” assured to be involved in the next lightweight title fight. This one, however, contains shades of gray after several fighters publicly questioned the accuracy of the scale – a scale that Tony Ferguson wiggled on prior to Oliveira taking his turn.

Two of UFC 274's most exciting fights should produce mouthwatering next matchups.

White, during the UFC 274 post-fight presser, said Esparza would be paired with the winner of Zhang vs. Subscribe to Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell for the best analysis and in-depth news, including instant analysis of UFC 274 from Phoenix at the conclusion of the PPV event. Beneil Dariush: Chandler bounced back from a tough first round against Tony Ferguson and dolled out a Knockout of the Year contender. The UFC women's strawweight Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza will certainly go down as one of the worst fights in history but, fortunately, that means the division can only go up from here. Michael Chandler wore the damage dished out by Tony Ferguson and shut the lights out with a fascinating front kick KO. Saturday's pay-per-view from Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona was a mixed bag, but the lightweight division showed up and showed out.

While it takes 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 ...

If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS. The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. Michael Chandler: “Paid My Dues” and “The Search” by NF Mauricio Rua: “Sail” by Awolnation Francisco Trinaldo: “Can’t Be Touched” by Roy Jones Jr. and “Promontory” by Trevor Jones Melissa Gatto: “Unstoppable” by Sia

UFC 274 takes place Saturday night in Phoenix, and we're already dealing with a bit of drama. Lightweight champion Charles Oliveira is no longer the ...

After dropping her first career bout, she's won 10 straight. Cortez picked up a nice unanimous decision win over Melissa Gatto (29-28x3), largely thanks to her superior ground game. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace has 15 submission victories, the most in UFC history. He's now won six of his last eight fights. •3h ago "(But) I want to do both 135 and 145." The man looks and fights like he's easily in his 30s and showed it Saturday night. I feel bad for Tony Ferguson, one of my all-time favorite fighters but he's shown in his last couple fights he's a shell of what he once was. Rose lost the first matchup and Carla took her down at will. "Khaos is a dangerous boy, man," he said after the fight. We're not seeing a ton of action and fans are letting them hear it. Ovince Saint Preux and Cowboy Cerrone vs.

Dana White weighs in on controversy after Charles Oliveira was stripped of lightweight title ahead of UFC 274 victory over Justin Gaethje.

Dana White thinks that the Michael Chandler knockout of Tyler Ferguson is the most vicious one he's ever seen.

Ferguson was down and out for several seconds before he was able to get up. Ferguson ended up going to the hospital after the fight was over, but was released on Sunday morning. Dana White was in shock after what we saw at UFC 274 on Saturday night.

Jessica Andrade threw plenty of shade Carla Esparza's way after her win over Rose Namajunas at UFC 274.

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It is the NFL offseason but Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was spending time with some of his teammates outside of the team facility.

http://s2.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf?m=1293710960g http://s2.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf?m=1293710960g Murray is supporting his local team, as the Suns are in the NBA playoffs.

Does Charles Oliveira deserve to be called champ? Can Tony Ferguson possibly rebound from his KO loss? Check out our key UFC 274 takeaways.

It was the Fight of the Night, because he got knocked down before latching on a tight guillotine choke that finished the job. It’s hard to believe his durability will ever be the same going forward, and for someone with a reckless style like “El Cucuy,” that doesn’t bode well for his chances in future fights. Just a disappointing situation all around, but it seems they may be rescheduled for June 18 at the UFC’s event in Austin. Royval (14-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) choked out Matt Schnell after just over two minutes of thrilling flyweight action, waking up a crowd that was forced to sit through five decisions in the previous six fights before he stepped in the octagon. It’s not as though Cerrone will never get the opportunity to fulfill that goal again, but everything seemed to be firing on all cylinders going into this one. He landed some slicing elbows on Chandler that opened a cut below the eye, and all was going well. There will be plenty of time to dissect what the future holds for Chandler beyond this win. Chandler is not known as a devastating kicker by any stretch of the imagination, let alone one with the dexterity to land that particular shot on a taller opponent with such force. But yet somehow, some way, his instincts led him to throw that in the moment, and it couldn’t have landed any cleaner. She did it the hard way, and no matter how it went down, she set a record with the longest gap between title reigns in UFC history. She’s had to eat a lot of crap in recent years as she’s tried to rebuild from being the inaugural UFC strawweight champion back in December 2014 then losing the belt a mere three months later. It’s an unprecedented scenario, but the upside for “Do Bronx” is that he didn’t let it rattle him.

Chandler now has the opportunity to contend for the vacant lightweight title or possibly face Conor McGregor.

“I’ve quickly become that guy, the one who’s going to put butts in seats, sell pay-per-views, and brings it in the cage,” Chandler said. At this stage of his immense popularity and power, McGregor only accepts fights against opponents that can sell the fight with him. As for his future, all signs point to a showdown against McGregor, an icon of the sport. The extent of the blow was noticeable instantaneously, a vicious shot that carried with it the potential to cause significant damage. Then I felt the impact and saw him crumble. I just threw something up the middle, and it landed. My heart goes out to Tony for a speedy recovery.” Further compounding the moment was Ferguson spiking his head as he dropped onto the mat. A loss would make him drop to the bottom of the Top 10 rankings, ending any shot of competing for the title or even getting a career-defining bout against Conor McGregor. But before too much doubt crept into Chandler’s mind, he was back on his feet. Chandler finished the round with momentum off a takedown doubled with his ground-and-pound, but there was already swelling under his eye. In an instant, Chandler’s dreams of UFC glory seemed to evaporate. “My vision was affected,” Chandler said.

It's been 10 months since Conor McGregor stepped in The UFC Octagon. But he's back in the news this weekend following the events of UFC 274.

The two never fought despite Ferguson's desire to face the UFC superstar. McGregor posted a few photos from his weekend. Afterwards, he called out The Notorious One, trying to coax him out of retirement for a big money fight.

The fight card for UFC 274 had all the makings for a great night of bouts and let me tell you – it didn't disappoint at all. Charles Oliviera capped off the ...

https://ftw.usatoday.com/gallery/ufc-274-michael-chandler-ko-of-tony-ferguson-in-7-amazing-photos https://ftw.usatoday.com/gallery/ufc-274-michael-chandler-ko-of-tony-ferguson-in-7-amazing-photos https://ftw.usatoday.com/gallery/ufc-274-michael-chandler-ko-of-tony-ferguson-in-7-amazing-photos

Rose Namajunas received messages of support from Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk after issuing a statement on her title loss at UFC 274.

Sara McMann: “One off performance has nothing to do with you as a human being. Hats off to Carla and thanks to everyone who’s been there for me.” – Namajunas wrote. Very few strikes were thrown throughout the course of twenty-five minute affair and it was seemingly the pressure and brief takedowns from Carla Esparza that proved to be the difference.

UFC is hiring extra security to make sure there's no future questions as to the accuracy of its weigh-in scales.

He’s the guy.” “Listen, he’s the guy. He’s the guy,” White said. He didn’t make the weight. As for Oliveira, UFC won’t be giving him the belt back. The time to sort all that out would have been before the weigh-ins started.

Tony Ferguson suffered his most brutal defeat to date when Michael Chandler landed an insane knockout via head-kick on Saturday at UFC 274.

UFC president Dana White was shocked to see “El Cucuy” get hit like that. Ferguson was able to walk out of the octagon under his own power but everyone was understandably worried about Ferguson’s health. During the second round of the UFC 274 fight between Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler, Ferguson was knocked out by an unbelievable front-kick to the face.

UFC 274 results: It's time to see what could be next for all of the main card winners from last night's "Oliveira vs Gaethje" event in Phoenix.

Brown picked up his third straight win and improved to 5-1 over his last six fights after he defeated Khaos Williams in the opening bout of the main card. Trinaldo was also victorious at UFC 274, defeating Danny Roberts via unanimous decision in the featured bout of the “prelims.” Trinaldo is on a two-fight win streak and like Brown, is also 5-1 since 2019. Winner of six straight, Esparza should be defending her belt against Marina Rodriguez, who is ranked No. 3 and on a four-fight win streak. Esparza does have a win over Rodriguez, but the Brazilian bomber has won four in a row since the razor-thin split decision win. The fight to make is one against Makhachev, who has more than earned his spot at the top of the list. After Oliveira sliced right through Geathje to earn what should have been his second straight title defense, “Do Bronx” now has to win one more fight before he can technically call himself a champion again.

After an impressive UFC 274 finish, Charles Oliveira staked his claim in the loaded lightweight division. Who is next to face off against the "champion" for ...

Whoever lines up across from Oliveira next, the intrigue is going to deliver on plenty of levels. Islam Makhachev is the one many fight fans are clamoring to see go up against Oliveira. UFC commentator Joe Rogan brought up the possibility of Oliveira vs. Who makes sense to go up against Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title? Oliveira did not have the championship belt placed around his waist afterwards by UFC President Dana White due to him missing the weight limit. It ended with Gaethje wrapped up in a choke hold from Oliveira, leading to a tap-out in the first round. Oliveira has earned that right, and his beatdown on Gaethje in Phoenix was his latest shining example.

Charles Oliveira may not have the belt around his waist, but he cemented his status as the best lightweight in the world at UFC 274.

At 43 years old and with over a decade fighting for the promotion, he's standing with a 5-1 record in his last six fights. ''Massaranduba'' earned his 18th victory inside the Octagon with a complete striking performance and had Roberts in trouble more than once during the fight. From what I could hear of her coaches, no one tried to light a fire and get Rose to fight like Rose. That leads to the second question coming out of this fight: What do we make of Namajunas? Why did a fighter who had stood her ground against several more dangerous foes dance around the Octagon for the better part of her 25 minutes in there with Esparza? I don't know the answer, but do you know who should have known that answer as the fight unfolded? No one knows for sure, but I'll just say this: It was the type of ending I was envisioning as a possibility for Ferguson and Cerrone when I expressed concern over their bookings. Esparza landed just 30 significant strikes, the fewest in a decision victory in a UFC title fight in the promotion's modern era. In the end, Carla Esparza was booed after getting her arm raised and having the belt wrapped around her waist. No one is asking for these end-of-career guys to be shut down entirely, but matchmakers need to recognize where the fighters are in their careers before sending two of them into the cage together. The other fight I selected did go on and was indeed difficult to watch -- but not necessarily right away. Even after he came to and was helped to his feet, Ferguson still looked dazed and absent. The reason for that mixed-up circumstance is that Oliveira had missed weight Friday, leaving the UFC to take away his title the moment his fight with Gaethje began. Oliveira wobbled Gaethje in the opening minute, but moments later Gaethje dropped him with a punch.

Tony Ferguson is still hungry to fight after his knockout loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 274.

UFC president Dana White said post-fight at UFC 274 that Ferguson’s position with the promotion is not in jeopardy. He eventually left the octagon under his own power, though, and after being transported to a local hospital, was released with a negative CT scan, according to UFC officials. Congratulations to @MikeChandlerMMA On his victory at UFC👣274. Had lots of fun in there, you fans are Fuckin’ wild I love this shit!

How should Justin Gaethje and Rose Namajunas try to rebound from their title-fight losses? We ponder options after UFC 274.

Who should Charles Oliveira fight for vacant gold? How should Carla Esparza kick off her second reign? We ponder options after UFC 274.

How should the UFC book the next title fights at 155 pound and 115 pounds? In the main event, Charles Oliveira (33-8 MMA, 21-8 UFC) earned a first-round submission over Justin Gaethje (23-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in a thrilling lightweight fight. “Do Bronx” did not leave with gold, however, because he missed weight, causing the belt to become vacant.

Tony Ferguson is still hungry to fight after his knockout loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 274.

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Even though he didn't walk out of the Octagon at UFC 274 with a belt around his waist, Charles Oliveira says he's still the UFC lightweight king.

“[The win over Gaethje] is a message to the division that I know where I came from, I know where I am, I know where I’m going,” Oliveira said. And it’s a message to the division that you can knock me down but I’ll keep pushing forward.” Regardless, to Oliveira, it doesn’t change that in his mind, he is still the reigning and defending champion of the division. Oliveira says that no matter how many times he gets rocked early or gets doubted, he will continue to come forward. It also extended his records for most finishes and submission victories in the promotion’s history at 19 and 16, respectively. Oliveira came in at 155.5 pounds, a half-pound over the strict weight limit for title fights.

Michael Chandler has won big on almost every level in combat sports. After an impressive win in UFC 274, a Conor McGregor fight could soon arrive.

Chandler is right on the money with his assessment. More realistically, late 2022 feels like the target goal for McGregor and the UFC to find his next fight. Chandler was buzzing after his knockout over Ferguson, potentially vaulting him into a new tier within the lightweight division. McGregor quickly responded on Twitter following the fight saying he could see Chandler in his future road map of fights, which at least keeps the option open for this to occur soon enough. Another intriguing angle to Chandler’s call out of McGregor was the specific weight up a class at 170 pounds. Chandler had the sold-out Footprint Center crowd buzzing after his stylish knockout, and he catpialized on the moment when commentator Joe Rogan handed over the microphone.