- Former MLB player Barry Bonds was recently awarded his blue belt in BJJ, a video of which was posted on Twitter by ESPN MMA.
- Henry Cejudo has taken to Instagram to reveal that he is off the UFC 292 card due to injury:
Some important news regarding my future...
I’m unfortunately not going to be able to compete on August 19 at UFC 292. I got an MRI on my right shoulder that revealed a tear that requires 6-8 weeks of rehab.
I stretched it out as far as I could because I love that Chito matchup, but between my shoulder and my baby expected on October 25, it’s the best decision for me and my family to not fight in August.
Nothing changes with my future goals. I want my title back. When I’m back to 100 percent, you’ll see me in the Octagon again. But until then, I need to heal. I hope the UFC can find a replacement to fight Chito so he could stay on the card, I would’ve loved to fight him in Boston on the 15-year anniversary of my gold medal. But I’ll be back.
Powered by @jimmybars, head to your local Walmart or JimmyBars.com and try the BEST protein bar in the game TODAY!
Matthew Wells of MMA Junkie posted the following transcript of what Cejudo said in the video:
“Unfortunately due to my right shoulder, I won’t be able to fight. Guys, I’ve already torn my left shoulder, where I was out for about a year. I don’t want it to tear further than what it already is. … There’s a tear in there guys. The cat’s out of the bag. It is actually a 50 percent tear.”
- Marlon Vera, who was scheduled to fight Henry Cejudo at UFC 292, issued a statement on Twitter about Cejudo’s withdrawal from the event.
- MMA Junkie is reporting that Tracy Cortez will face Jasmine Jasudavicius on the September 16 UFC card.
- UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jamahal Hill doesn’t think that Alex Pereira’s power will be the same at light heavyweight:
“His power is not going to count for as much as it was at the middleweight division,” Hill said in an interview with Middle Easy (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “At the middleweight division, whenever he hit them, they had to really, really address it. They couldn’t really roll it off. It made it harder to counter just because of the kind of power that he carried at middleweight. I don’t think that’ll be the same case at 205. He has to be more of a tactician.”
- Bendaman is reporting that Sean Brady is out of his UFC 290 fight against Jack Della Maddalena.
- The UFC has revealed that Jake Matthews will fight Miguel Baeza at UFC 291.
- UFC Vegas 76 weigh-in results (via MMA Junkie):
Main Card (7pm EST., ESPN/ESPN+)
Sean Strickland (186) vs. Abus Magomedov (186)
Grant Dawson (156) vs. Damir Ismagulov (156)
Max Griffin (170.5) vs. Michael Morales (170.5)
Melissa Gatto (125.5) vs. Ariane Lipski (126)
Ismael Bonfim (156) vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (156)
Brunno Ferreira (185) vs. Nursulton Ruziboev (183.5)
Preliminary Card (4pm EST., ESPN/ESPN+)
Rinat Fakhretdinov (171) vs. Kevin Lee (171)
Joanderson Brito (145.5) vs. Westin Wilson (146)
Karol Rosa (146) vs. Yana Santos (144.5)
Elves Brener (155) vs. Guram Kutateladze (155)
Luana Carolina (126) vs. Ivana Petrovic (125.5)
Blagoy Ivanov (259) vs. Alexandr Romanov (264)
- Aljamain Sterling blasts Henry Cejudo for pulling out of UFC 292 fight against Marlon Vera:
“Henry Cejudo is out of this fight,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel (transcript via Danny Segura of MMA Junkie). “‘The savage, remember that? The savage? Texting Dana (White) saying, ‘If that little p*ssy doesn’t want to fight, I’ll take the fight?’ Isn’t it funny how the roles are reversed now, and this ‘little savage’ is no longer a savage? Very interesting.
“For me, I call that being a dirty little weasel. You try to disparage my name in front of the fans and make it seem like I don’t want to fight, whatever, ‘The fight wasn’t that bad of a fight, so you should be able to turn around.’ Guys, I’m telling you from experience, from a championship experience, defending multiple times… it’s very, very different getting ready for 25 minutes versus 15 minutes.”
- KSI lays into Tommy Fury over the difficult negotiations for their potential fight:
“Welp, ladies and gentlemen, I don’t think this fight is happening anymore,” KSI said on his Youtube channel (transcript via MMA Fighting). “Tommy Fury is simply being difficult, making this four-month negotiation an absolute chore. We agreed on all terms, we agreed on paying you exactly what you asked for, we agreed the amount of rounds, we agreed to fight at 180 with no rehydration clause, we also agree to fight in your hometown, Manchester. We agreed on all of that and then you chose to move the goal posts yet again! Now you’re demanding that we fight at 185, or we’re not fighting at all!
“What the f*** is wrong with you? You’re meant to be the fighter. Don’t tell me you’re chatting s***, you’ve literally said this in an interview. So why are you saying one thing in front of the camera and another thing behind the camera? You literally sound like Jake Paul, constantly just chatting bulls***, left, right, and center. Tommy, you fight at light-heavyweight! That’s 175lbs! But when it comes to fighting me, the YouTuber, it has to be 185lbs? You’re the one that’s been boxing his whole life! You’re the one with the fighting family! You’re the one with Fury as your surname! So what is this nonsense that you’re trying to pull off now?”
