Fightful Fix is your one-stop-shop for all of today's biggest combat sports stories — from UFC President Dana White's haunting memo, to an explanation for Yoel Romero's release — conveniently compiled in one place. Take a look below.
Dana White is going snip, snap chop on the UFC roster
White warns that the promotion will cut approximately 60 fighters from the UFC roster by the end of 2020. White shared the unfortunate news during the UFC Vegas 16 post-fight press conference.
“We’re gonna go through some serious cuts here at the end of the year," said the UFC President. "Probably gonna have 60 cuts coming up before the first of the year."
Dana says they are probably going to cut 60 fighters by the end of the year.#UFC pic.twitter.com/nhyduiqm1A
— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) December 6, 2020
Yoel Romero aged out
White also touched on the release of perennial middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero. White said the release was one of many that will occur over the next several weeks. When asked if there were clashes at the negotiation table, White insisted it was a simple matter of statistics.
"Yoel has lost four of his last five, he's 44-years-old. Our roster is very inflated right now. We're going to have some big cuts coming before the end of the year. You're going to see a lot of names going here in the next several weeks," he said at the same presser. "We're just literally starting to go through the list. He's 44, he's lost four of his last five. These are the tough decisions you have to make."
Chris Lee strikes again
Judge Chris Lee was at the heart of yet another troubling split decision at UFC Vegas 16. Lee, the same judge who scored in favor of Paul Felder against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Vegas 14, was the dissenting judge in what many believe was a clear unanimous decision win for Roman Dolidze against John Allan. White told the media at Saturday's presser that he wants to see the Nevada State Athletic Commission single out problematic judges.
"I don't know how that guy could score that fight that way," White said (h/t Essentially Sports). “I had a 51-year-old school teacher, from Massachusetts, that I grew up with was watching the fight. A 51-year-old woman that I went to school with, in kindergarten, texted me tonight, ‘I don’t know a sh*t about these things but who judged that fight?'”
"It’s not good. It’s something the commission needs to stay on top of, and they need to single out and call out people that continuously make bad calls," he continued. "Because they’re gonna f**k somebody’s life up.”
Marvin Vettori snaps at Israel Adesanya
Marvin Vettori and Israel Adesanya have a grudge. The pair fought to a split decision on April 14, 2018, and it remains the closest Adesanya has come to losing a mixed martial arts contest. Following Vettori's unanimous decision win over Jack Hermansson at UFC Vegas 16, "The Italian Dream" reneged his interest in fighting Paulo Costa and went straight for the middleweight king.
“Israel is full of shit,” Vettori said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference (h/t Sherdog). “He was like, ‘Oh I don’t think I will ever see Marvin again, he will never make it to the title.’ Well, guess what motherfucker? I’m here... He thinks he has it all figured out. He’s got nothing figured out. I know his true colors. I met him a few times. I fought him. I know his true colors. I want that fight.”
“To be honest with you, before I called out ‘Borrachinha,’, but fuck ‘Borrachinha,’ he just came out of a crazy loss,” he continued. “Why would I even fight him? I want to go straight to the title. I’ll be really honest. I like the fight, but I feel Top 5 there’s no opposition. There’s no real opposition."
Vettori did express interest in fighting former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker for an interim title belt.
Marvin Vettori: "Glover Teixeira deserves" title fight
Vettori also rejected the idea that UFC middleweight champion Adesanya deserves a UFC light heavyweight title shot over Glover Teixeira. There are tentative plans for Adesanya to fight Jan Blachowicz at 205; however, Teixeira is still in the mix.
“Glover Teixeira deserves that fight,” Vettori asserted. “[Adesanya] shouldn’t fight for the light heavyweight title. I think Glover Teixeira’s going to get that fight.”
Dana White gives update on Matt Wiman
Matt Wiman was the victim of a brutal, almost uncomfortable to watch, slam at UFC Vegas 16. Jordan Leavitt framed against Wiman's neck and drove him into the canvas. The veteran fighter was immediately stiff and took a noticeable amount of time to regain consciousness. After the fight, White insisted that Wiman was okay but doubled down on the ferocity of the slam.
“It was a very weird sound in there tonight when he hit [the canvas]," White told media at Saturday's post-fight press conference. "It was weird. Glad he’s ok, though."
Jack Hermansson suffers a broken eye socket and a broken toe
Hermansson and Vettori threw a record-setting number of significant strikes across their five-round clash of will at UFC Vegas 16. "The Joker" came up short; however, his fighting spirit remains intact. Hermansson took to social media and updated fans on his post-fight injuries.
“Broken toe and broken eye socket, but not a broken spirit,” Hermansson wrote in the Instagram caption. "The goal remains the same. Thank you for your support."
Jon Fitch ranks martial arts
Jon Fitch teamed up with Fightful for a fun new video. The former UFC and Bellator welterweight title challenger ranks 12 martial arts by effectiveness in this tier list. The included disciplines are boxing, capoeira, jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, kickboxing, kung fu, Muay Thai, combat sambo, sumo, taekwondo and wrestling. Watch the video below.
Fightful has all of your MMA needs covered. Follow us on Twitter for updates, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive interviews, lists, news updates and predictions.
