UFC middleweight contender Kevin Holland has fired a shot at Khamzat Chimaev for only taking fights which "make sense" for him — Fightful have you covered on this story and all of the news in the world of combat sports.
Kevin Holland goes after Khamzat Chimaev
UFC middleweight contender Kevin Holland believes that Khamzat Chimaev is taking fights which "make sense" for him. Both Holland and Chimaev were two of the biggest breakout stars in the UFC in 2020 however, Holland believes that Chimaev's rise to stardom could be tainted by only taking fights which "make sense" for him.
When speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience, Holland said "He’s bouncing back and forth to the fights that make the most sense." Holland also said "So, he’ll go to ‘ 70 for a fight that makes sense. He’ll come back to ’85 for a fight that makes sense."
Take a look at the full episode below.
Holland is essentially putting Chimaev's success so far in the UFC down to excellent management. He said "You know, nothing wrong with it, good management, fighters who fight like that, very smart fighters, I tip my hat off to them, them and their management and their coaches, that’s great,” Holland added. “That’s not me, I’d never be that, so props to those guys. But it’s like, you go to 70 cause this fight makes sense for you, smart move. You go back to 85 cause this fight makes sense for you, smart move.”
Even though Chimaev had a very impressive start in the UFC, Holland is not buying into all of the hype around him. Holland said, “I was impressed by the way he knocked out Meerschaert just because he took the smartest route, which was keeping it standing, and I thought the guy who likes to grapple was going to take it to the ground, but knocking out Meerschaert, after Meerschaert is coming off of losses, you know what I mean – and I know I smacked him a couple of times, I know Deron Winn smacked him a couple of times, and I know Ian Heinisch ultimately landed the last smacking."
How do you think a fight between Holland and Chimaev would go down?
James Krause says Joaquin Buckley bout is "dead in the water"
During Joaquin Buckley's rise in the UFC, there was only one man who he wanted to fight and that was MMA veteran James Krause. However, that fight is now unlikely as Krause has come out and said that the fight is "dead in the water."
Speaking to Line Movement, Krause said "I’ve done all I can to ask for it. I’m past it. I can only ask for it so many times. I’ve asked for it twice, they said they didn’t want to make it happen. It wasn’t on his end, the UFC didn’t want to make it happen. I know for a fact they never asked the UFC for that fight, though,” Krause said. “The answer’s yes, I think it’s dead in the water. I haven’t heard anything else. I don’t see the point of it at this point. It doesn’t even make sense for anybody anymore. If it was ever thrown at me, I would for sure take it. But for me, it doesn’t make sense for a guy who is 2-2 in the UFC coming off of a knockout loss.”
Max Holloway recalls interrupting Conor McGregor's interview
During his last visit to Fight Island, former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway grabbed headlines for two different reasons. The first reason is due to his phenomenal performance against Calvin Kattar and the second reason is that he interrupted Conor McGregor's interview with Farah Hannoun by riding by on a skateboard.
Holloway has now recalled the situation.
Holloway said "We were with the boys, with the team, and I was on my skateboard and we know that’s where you do interviews, right? So I didn’t know who was in it, but I was like, ‘If someone’s interviewing, I’m gonna act like an idiot passing the whole window,'” Holloway grinned. “So I was doing stupid stuff like this (flails arms around) the whole time when I was riding past and, of course, it’s Conor’s interview, so it was just funny.”
Holloway also spoke about if he would be interested in a rematch with McGregor.
Holloway explained, "The UFC had that fight on a very short list, I believe, and the beautiful thing about this sport is time,” Holloway added. “Timing is everything and you know this so we’ll see what happens. I don’t want to kick the man when he’s down or talk about him, so let him figure out his stuff, and I’ll be right here. Timing is everything in this sport, so we’ll see what happens.”
Alex Caceres is trying to make a record that nobody can catch
Although Caceres is only 32 years old and he looks incredibly young, he is actually one of the most experienced fighters in the UFC.
Caceres is looking forward to setting a record which nobody else can catch.
Check out what Caceres had to say below.
Max Holloway believes his win against Calvin Kattar win was the “best performance” of his career
Max Holloway put on one of the best performances in UFC history at UFC on ABC 1 where he dominated fellow UFC featherweight contender Calvin Kattar for the whole five rounds. Holloway has now come out and said that he believes that his performance against Kattar was the best performance of his career.
In an interview with ESPN, Holloway gave his thoughts on the performance, "No, I think that was my best performance out there, we get better every time, right? That’s what we did. And to do it against a guy like Calvin Kattar who many hold him as one of the great boxers, not in our division but all of UFC."
Holloway also went on to say "To have that performance against him was great. But, like I’ve been telling everybody, it takes two-man, it takes two to tango,” Holloway added. “Calvin deserves just as much praise as I do. He was in there taking it, he was in there giving it. Nothing but respect to him. But I really believe that was my best performance for sure… I just felt like I was untouchable in there”
What do you think should be next for Holloway?
Dominick Cruz is still blaming Keith Peterson for his loss to Henry Cejudo
Dominick Cruz is still holding a grudge against MMA referee Keith Peterson for his stoppage in his fight against Henry Cejudo.
After the fight, Cruz accused Peterson of smelling like "alcohol and cigarettes" in the Octagon.
In an interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Cruz said "I believe Keith Peterson gave him (Henry Cejudo) a nice gift with that (stoppage)." Cruz added, “I was, you know — yeah I got hurt and I shouldn’t have put myself in that position but I was — if you talk to the refs, and you talk to anybody — you have a couple of things you need to do in order to keep the fight going. You need to be defending yourself and you need to be working into a better position. I was doing both of those things when the fight got stopped.“
Cruz also revealed that for his upcoming fight against Casey Kenney, he is going to specifically request for Peterson to not have any involvement in the bout. He said “I’m gonna definitely request — and I can only hope and pray that the commission honors my request to not have him (Keith Peterson) in my corner — or refereeing my fight,” Cruz said. “I can’t guarantee it, the commission does whatever they want and I respect them and their decisions, but I don’t believe he’s a competent ref with the way he treated my fight and the way he treated it before the fight happened.“
Do you think Cruz's comments are unfair on Peterson?
Edson Barboza re-signs with the UFC
UFC veteran Edson Barboza has officially re-signed with the UFC.
Barboza's management told MMA Fighting that Barboza who is a long-time UFC lightweight contender has signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion.
Barboza's manager Alex Davis said "The UFC has opted to re-sign Barboza and keep him on the roster and keep him active going forward,” Davis explained. “Barboza and I believe he has what it takes to make a run for the belt and become champion, and that’s his focus.”
After Barboza's impressive win over Makwan Amirkhani, Barboza expressed his desire to not re-sign with the UFC and that he was planning on testing free agency.
Do you think Barboza has what it takes to make one last run at a belt?
Karolina Kowalkiewicz opens up on struggles with depression
Former UFC strawweight title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz has opened up about her previous experiences with depression and suicidal ideation.
February 23 is Poland's day of combatting depression and Kowalkiewicz opened up about her mental health challenges in the past by posting an open and honest video on her Instagram.
Check out the full video below.
Belal Muhammad gives his thoughts on his upcoming fight against Leon Edwards
Belal Muhammad only fought just two weeks ago at UFC 258 but he is already training for his next fight which will be against top contender Leon Edwards.
Edwards was originally scheduled to fight Khamzat Chimaev but Chimaev was forced to pull out due to effects of COVID-19 which he is still suffering with after testing positive back in December 2020.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Muhammad gave his thoughts on his upcoming bout against the Englishman.
Muhammad said "I knew that during these times, anything could happen, so I was like, stay ready so when you do get that call, you’ll be able to say, yeah. I hoped that it would happen like this. Nowadays, these high-ranked guys, none of these guys want to take fights.”
Muhammad was quite surprised that Edwards took the fight as Edwards had turned down four separate opponents after his fight against ex-champion, Tyron Woodley was canceled due to the pandemic.
“It wasn’t like he was forced to say yeah, but he said no to all these other guys thinking that they weren’t worth it,” Muhammad said. “But now, you’re going to fight the hardest guy on the roster, and it’s for sure not worth it for you."
“This is the only way it would have happened. The higher guys, they all know how good I am, so they can use that excuse that the number’s not too high against the name. It’s like these guys forget why we’re in this game. We’re in it to fight, we’re not in it to sit back and play the business role. This is the fight. What’s in your contract. Are you here to fight?”
How do you think the fight will go down between Edwards and Muhammad?
Joe Rogan campaigns for UFC lightweight title fight between Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira
UFC commentator Joe Rogan has started campaigning for a UFC title fight between Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira.
With Khabib Nurmagomedov basically retired that leaves the door open for a vacant title fight and Rogan believes that the right fight for a vacant title is Poirier vs Oliveira.
Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said "Man, I want to see him (Oliveira) fight for the title,” Rogan concluded. “I wanna see him fight Dustin.”
Rogan also spoke about Oliveira's performance against Tony Ferguson. He said "The way Oliveira controlled [Tony Ferguson] on the ground—we wanted to know what would happen [if Ferguson fought Nurmagomedov] because Tony is dangerous off his back… I’m more interested to see Oliveira fight for the title than anybody in that division."
“I believe [Nurmagomedov] is the GOAT of that division, but I don’t know what would have happened with Oliveira until you see it,” Rogan continued. “With Oliveira, there are moments—like when Cub Swanson knocked him out—there are moments when you go back in his career and you go, ‘this guy is not the greatest.’ Then you see him in some fights like the Kevin Lee fight, and he’s just so technical, everything’s so good. He’s never out of position. He doesn’t force anything."
Do you agree with Rogan that Poirier vs Oliveira is the right fight to make?
Holly Holm believes Jon Jones will thrive at heavyweight
UFC bantamweight Holly Holm has come out and expressed her beliefs that her teammate and friend Jon Jones will thrive in his move to heavyweight.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Holm spoke about Jones and his skills.
Holm said "I think Jon always knows how to take a lot of pressure and embrace it, I think that’s one of the biggest things. There are a lot of things that make Jon great. There are a lot of things that make Jon unbeatable. One of those things is that he really does well with a lot of pressure. A lot of people in his position, where everything is expected of him, sometimes don’t really perform super well even if they train super hard. I think he really knows he’s doing what he needs to do.”
Holm also believes that Jones matches up really well with his fellow heavyweights.
Holm also said "I don’t know how many fighters are actually taller than him and he’s very strong, his skill set, I believe, is just better. He has a better skill set. He’s already as tall as them. I don’t think people really think about that a lot. It’s like, ‘Oh, he’s going up in weight, and these guys are big.’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, they are big, but Jon is a big guy.’ If you’ve ever stood next to him, he’s a big guy. He’s not a small 205er. He’s tall. He’s long. He’s skilled. He’s got more speed. Like I said, his skill is just on another level – so I think he can go in and do very well.”
How do you think Jones will get on against heavyweights such as Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou, and Derrick Lewis?
Angela Hill confused as to why Tecia Torres would ‘rather sit out’ for months than accept a rematch
Angela Hill will fight Ashley Yoder at UFC Vegas 20, however, that is not the fight that Hill wanted.
Hill was campaigning for a rematch against Tecia Torres but Torres did not want the fight.
Speaking at UFC Vegas 20 media day, Hill said "I have been waiting for a call from [UFC matchmaker] Mick [Maynard] to reschedule that fight, especially after listening to Tecia’s post-fight scrum,” Hill explained when speaking to MMA Fighting during Thursday’s UFC Vegas 20 media day. “She’s like ‘I want to get right back in there, quick turnaround,’ and so I’m waiting like OK, she already signed the contract for me for December, so nothing has changed. It’s not like she fought someone who was ranked or fought someone who even had experience or fights in the UFC.
“Then I keep hearing back that she doesn’t want the fight anymore. That really bummed me out. Because it’s a redemption thing. Yoder’s probably coming in here with the same idea like it’s her chance for redemption of a loss that happened in the past, like a long time ago. So I was excited about that fight. I feel like I’ve gotten better than her in the recent years, and she kind of showed that she has no interest in fighting me.”
It's obvious that Hill is annoyed that Torres chose to turn down the fight but she still remains hopeful that the fight will happen somewhere down the line.
Julian Erosa has no issue with ref stoppage in TKO win over Nate Landwehr
At UFC Vegas 19, Julian Erosa pulled off a highlight-reel flying knee finish over Nate Landwehr.
Landwehr was critical of the referee's stoppage but Erosa believes that it was the correct call.
Speaking to BjPenn.com Erosa said, "The whole early stoppage bullshit doesn’t matter to me. If the ref doesn’t stop it there, I just punch him two or three more times and he goes out cold again, the fight was done anyway. He went out anyway. I don’t think there was any controversy anyway. People saying it was an early stoppage are just upset they lost money. It was 100 percent a knockout win.”
What did you make of the referee's stoppage in this fight?
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