Darren Till has reacted sternly to Marvin Vettori's decision win over Kevin Holland at UFC on ABC 2, Conor McGregor has predicted how his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier will go, and much more — Fightful Fix is your one-stop-shop for combat sports news.
Darren Till predicts he will "hurt" Marvin Vettori
Darren Till has taken to Twitter to reflect on Marvin Vettori's decision win over Kevin Holland. The Scouser was meant to face "The Italian Dream" but was forced to withdraw after breaking his collarbone in training. Vettori implemented a grappling-heavy focused attack on Holland and Till predicts that had they got to fight, he wouldn't have controlled him as much as he did to Holland.
There
— D (@darrentill2) April 11, 2021
I would of hurt this man for five rounds on the feet
But hey who the fuck am I to talk?
I pulled out of the fight so every right I have goes out the window with that
Whatever happens for Marvin next good luck
I’m sure we’ll meet soon
I’ve got a fake injury to recover from
Conor McGregor makes prediction for Dustin Poirier UFC 264 trilogy
Conor McGregor made a name off of predicting how he would finish his opponents, so much so that he earned the nickname "Mystic Mac." And "The Notorious" has made his latest prediction for when he faces Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in their highly anticipated rematch. Will McGregor be correct in his prediction?
Kevin Holland warns he won't change his style
Kevin Holland has warned his critics that he isn't going to change his whole fighting style despite back-to-back losses. Holland lost to Marvin Vettori and Derek Brunson in quick succession, with both fighters implementing a grappling heavy attack. Despite the recent setbacks, "Big Mouth" has no intention of switching his game completely and will instead look to tweak his defense.
"Can’t say too much changes,” Holland said about his training when speaking during the UFC Vegas 23 post-fight show (h/t MMA Fighting). “We’ll see what it is. I honestly don’t know. Go spend some time with D.C. (Daniel Cormier) for sure, work on some of those wrestling things. Go work on wrestling of course. Learn how to stop some of these takedowns. Other than that, same old same."
“I’m not going to change the fighter I am and try and become a wrestler just because all these guys want to wrestle. It’s like, I like to strike, I like to bang. I just [need] to do a better job of keeping the fight up on its feet and deliver some more knockouts to the people and that way they’ll be back on the bandwagon sooner or later.”
Dominick Cruz predicts TJ Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen
Dominick Cruz has weighed in on how he thinks his rival T.J. Dillashaw will cope in his return against rising star Cory Sandhagen. Cruz recently returned to the Octagon with a split decision win over Casey Kenney at UFC 259 last month. The UFC broadcaster is also well aware of what Dillashaw offers and is backing him to out-fight Sandhagen despite his lay-off from a USADA suspension.
“Somebody asked me in another interview, who’s the hardest guys to gameplan before the fight? And it’s the one that had the layoff, and he’s had a long layoff. He’s been out two-plus years. He got double shoulder surgery, he got a complete revamp of his body, completely rested. So who knows how he’ll show up? I will assume he will show up a lot healthier and a lot better than before, to be honest, because of the two-year layoff. Especially once you repair your shoulders,” Cruz said to James Lynch (h/t BJPenn.com).“I know as a champion I went into a lot of fights with injuries. This fight (with Casey Kenny) was the first fight I went into in a long time with no dings, nothing was hurting, and it felt very good to fight that way. So if he’s going into the fight like that then he has a good chance against Sandhagen. But he’s going to have to mix in his takedowns and wrestling. Because I think if that fight stays standing, then I think Sandhagen has a very good chance of finishing it. You don’t have to finish every takedown, but you’ve got to at least mix it. You’ve got to create some sort of options there because Sandhagen has been looking really sharp.”
Henry Cejudo gives himself a new nickname
Henry Cejudo has granted himself a new nickname after his former adversary Demetrious Johnson was knocked out at ONE on TNT 1. Cejudo and "Mighty Mouse" have previously fought twice in the UFC. They first met back at UFC 197 with Johnson knocking out Cejudo with knees to the body to defend the UFC flyweight title. They then rematched at UFC 227 in August 2018, this time with Cejudo besting Johnson via split decision. And Cejudo has kept the receipt and poked fun at the former flyweight champion.
I’m the legacy snatcher ------#bendtheknee pic.twitter.com/YSoo6YSSLV
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) April 9, 2021
Petr Yan continues to taunt Aljamain Sterling
Petr Yan is not letting up on Aljamin Sterling as the backlash from their controversial fight shows no signs of ending. Yan has called for Sterling to be stripped of the title or at the very least an interim title be crowned as "Funkmaster" is rumored to be getting neck surgery which will halt any plans for an immediate rematch. Yan also has reacted to a clip of Marlon Moraes knocking out Sterling and again raised doubts over the legitimacy of Sterling's injuries.
The guy laughing stock has the belt. You fought your first Top 5 opponent and were to stupid to win, even with a fatigue advantage. I can’t wait to slap the shit outta you https://t.co/kRkuL3VK8V
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 9, 2021
Actor fought 4 months after that KO, but still “concussed” after our fight -- https://t.co/nY3vaZ67r7
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) April 9, 2021
Julian Marquez lauds decison to switch camps, Sam Alvey reponds to loss
Julian Marquez defeated Sam Alvey with a second-round technical submission at UFC on ABC 2. Marquez has credited the slickness of his performance to switching gyms. Marquez now trains out of Glory MMA & Fitness and believes that he made the right call.
“It was super amazing for me, my career and confidence. Understanding that I made the right decision to go to Glory MMA & Fitness, I’m trusting the process and my coaches. It’s a huge leap for me.” Marquez said (h/t MMA Junkie).
Alvey didn't have such a good night and in a video, he posted moments after the fight, he was visibly distraught. Alvey was open in saying that a loss could signal the end of his UFC run as he is now 0-5-1 over his last six UFC fights.
“It’s minutes after my fights guys, and yeah, it didn’t go as planned. But God is in my corner, and his plan is always better than my plan. I’ll be back. Man, that hurts. Well, at least I’ve been choked out cold in front of millions of people now. I guess I can get that off my bucket list. Praise be to God always. Win or lose, he’s in my corner,” Alvey said (h/t BJPenn.com).
---- pic.twitter.com/3uThduyxbE
— Igor (@IgoPetrovichMma) April 10, 2021
Anderson Silva gets choked up following news DMX has died
Anderson Silva has opened up on the loss of DMX and what the rapper meant to him. DMX, real name Earn Simmons, died at age 50 on Friday, April 9, a week after being administered to the hospital due to a drug overdose seven days earlier. Since his passing, which has been mourned by millions of his fans all over the world. One of those whose death has hit the most is Silva, who used to walk out to his music. They were good friends and this death hurts him.
“DMX is part of my life. I’m very sad because he is a huge man, a huge talent, and I’m sad. I’m very sad because this man has great potential to do something more and more in this world. For me, DMX is completely different because he’s very charismatic. And the talent that DMX has is completely different. He’s a good actor and singer. I’m sad. I’m very sad,” Silva said to TMZ Sports.
Silva is returning to the boxing ring in June when he takes on Julio Cesar Chavez. According to “The Spider,” he will honor his fallen friend by using his entrance music again.
“For sure, I will go and use his music (in my walkout) because it’s part of my life,” Silva said (h/t BJPenn.com).
Jimmy Flick announces retirement: ‘The UFC is not my dream no more’
Jimmy "The Brick" Flick has laid his gloves to rest and announced his retirement from MMA. Flick, who earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in September and earning his first octagon victory to cap off 2020, announced his retirement Saturday at the Freestyle Cage Fighting event. Flick stated that he accomplished his goals in 2020 of not drinking soda, making $100,000 for the year, and making the UFC walk. After checking off those boxes, Flick said he has three new goals moving forward which all have nothing to do with the UFC or fighting in general. Check out the video that was captured by "The Corner And The Casual" here.
“I have three new goals in life: spend more time with my family, help my wife reach her goals, and, my third goal, is to finish the book I started over a year ago to tell my story, to tell my life, to tell everybody why I did this,” Flick said (h/t MMA Fighting). "A lot of people keep asking me where I see myself in 10 years. ‘Where do you see yourself in the UFC?’ To be honest, everybody, the UFC is not my dream no more. A lot of people won’t understand why. It’s hard to explain and it does bring tears to my eyes, but the UFC is not looking out for me. My wife is looking out for me, my kids are looking out for me and that’s what I want. I want to be their father. I want to go to work every day, come home and be with my family. I want to spend time with my little girls, I want to spend time with my wife. And I’ve found out I don’t want to be the next Conor McGregor, or the next Demetrious Johnson. So I step in this cage tonight and telling everybody that I’m retiring from mixed martial arts. I’m gonna pursue the other goals in life that make me more happy than fighting ever did.”
UFC on ABC 2 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Venum era begins
MMA Junkie reports that the fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ABC 2 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $182,500. This is the first pay in the Venum era of UFC. The full UFC on ABC 2 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Marvin Vettori: $6,000
def. Kevin Holland: $11,000Arnold Allen: $6,000
def. Sodiq Yusuff: $4,500Julian Marquez: $4,500
def. Sam Alvey: $21,000Mackenzie Dern: $6,000
def. Nina Ansaroff: $6,000Daniel Rodriguez: $4,500
def. Mike Perry: $11,000Joe Solecki: $4,000
def. Jim Miller: $21,000Mateusz Gamrot: $4,000
def. Scott Holtzman: $11,000John Makdessi: $16,000
def. Ignacio Bahamondes: $4,000Jarjis Danho: $4,000
def. Yorgan De Castro: $4,500Jack Shore: $4,000
def. Hunter Azure: $4,500Luis Saldana: $4,000
de. Jordan Griffin: $4,500Da Un Jung: $4,500
de. William Knight: $4,000Impa Kasanganay: $4,000 def. Sasha Palatnikov: $4,000
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