- Glover Teixeira talks about Alex Pereira’s transition to light heavyweight:
“I like him going to light heavyweight,” Teixeira said during the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 post-match news conference (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “When he said he was going to light heavyweight, I was like, ‘I love it’ because I don’t want to see him cutting that much weight. You don’t know how much that guy cuts. He’s 230 pounds right now and he’s lean.
“He’s probably like 8 percent body fat. For him to drop to 185 is crazy – crazy, man. I cut weight. I don’t cut that much, but I know how hard it is and as you get older, it gets harder and harder. That eventually can be bad for your health, and I don’t want him to be in that position, so I’m glad.”
- Dan Hooker calls Justin Gaethje vs. Dustin Poirier II a “silly fight”:
“That’s why it’s a little bit of a silly fight, you know what I mean?” Hooker said on Israel Adesanya’s YouTube channel (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “We’re prizefighters at the end of the day. Nah. What does it actually mean though?”
“Of course I’d take it because there’s money that comes with it, which is the main objective of doing it. But having a BMF title and hanging that on my wall and being proud of that is not the same as a world title. I’d probably put it under the bed or something like that.”
- Henry Cejudo says Yair Rodriguez is a bigger challenger for Alexander Volkanovski than Islam Makhachev was:
“I know the majority of you guys are going to go with Alexander Volkanovski – I really do,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “But I think if Yair can really hone in on a lot of stuff that I was talking about – (he’s) just athletically gifted – if he’s able to do it right in that fight, I do believe that Yair Rodriguez is a much different fight than Islam Makhachev, and maybe for that reason I think it’s a lot tougher of a fight because this man’s going to throw a lot more kicks.
“If you take him down, he’s going to be a lot more vicious on bottom. The biggest question that I have for a guy like Yair Rodriguez: If he can tame some of that power, you don’t have to throw so much. I think I can easily see you outpoint this dude. You don’t (have to) knock him out – you’ve just got to outpoint him.”
- Tommy Fury responds to the criticisms from KSI for a potential boxing match:
“Here we go again, guys. KSI going on about how it’s my fault the contract hasn’t been signed yet,” Fury said on Instagram videos (transcript via Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting). “Just a few things to clear up. KSI’s only just agreed to do drug testing for this fight, he took his time with that one, and now he’s complaining about the weight. This fight’s at 185, take it or leave it. I know you’re a midget and you’re worrying about the weight, but get some more food down you and you’ll get there.
“If you just don’t want to fight, I know somebody who will fight in October, somebody who is ready to fight, and who will get to 185. Jake Paul, if you want to run it back, let’s do it. Fine by me. I’ll knock you spark out this time. So let me know boys.”
- Canelo Alvarez announced on Instagram that he will be fighting Jermell Charlo on September 30.
