According to his longtime attorney, Ross Goodman, Diaz, 37, signed a fight agreement Tuesday to face Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 on Sept. 25 in Las Vegas.
Lawler has not signed his agreement yet, sources told ESPN, but wants the fight, and is expected to sign his side shortly. The non-title fight is expected to be five rounds, and will be on the main portion of the pay-per-view card.
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Diaz (26-9) is the older brother of UFC star Nate Diaz, and a pioneer in mixed martial arts.
He is a former Strikeforce welterweight champion, and was involved in big fights with the UFC versus B.J. Penn, Carlos Condit, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva from 2011 to 2015.
In September 2015, the Nevada State Athletic Commission
suspended Diaz for five years after he tested positive for marijuana
metabolites after his fight versus Silva in UFC 183. It was his third
marijuana-related offense in the state of Nevada, which led to the harsh
punishment.
Ironically, the NSAC voted just last week in favor of no
longer disciplining combat sports athletes for marijuana use.
Diaz and Lawler have a history that runs back to 2004. They met on the undercard of UFC 47. Diaz won via knockout in a highly entertaining contest.
Lawler (28-15) is a former UFC welterweight champion. He won the 170-pound title by defeating Johny Hendricks in 2014 and defended it twice in instant classics versus Rory MacDonald and Condit.
The 39-year-old has dropped his past four bouts, all against very high-level competition.
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Dustin Poirier now owns two triumphs over the biggest star in the history of mixed martial arts. This one, though, didn’t end in the cleanest way.
Poirier hit Conor McGregor with a combination at the end of the first round of Saturday night’s highly anticipated UFC 264 main event. McGregor went to plant his left foot and his leg buckled, sending him to the mat. Poirier followed up with punches on the ground as time expired in the round.
With McGregor clearly hurt, referee Herb Dean called the
lightweight fight. The official result was Poirier by TKO (doctor’s stoppage)
at 5:00 of the first round. A stretcher was brought in to transport McGregor to
the hospital. The video replay showed McGregor’s lower leg bent gruesomely as
his foot hit the canvas.
UFC president Dana White later stated the injury
was to McGregor’s lower tibia and that he will have surgery Sunday morning.
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The finish left the sold-out crowd disappointed. There was a
mixture of boos and cheers when Poirier was declared as the winner. This was
one of the most anticipated trilogy fights in UFC history.
“I beat the guy,” Poirier said in his postfight
interview.
Poirier explained that he hurt McGregor’s ankle on a checked
kick and then the ankle buckled at the end of the first round. McGregor denied
that it was a checked kick that did it. Poirier picked up his 15th career
first-round finish.
“This is not over,” McGregor said.
White said Poirier will fight for the UFC lightweight title next versus champion Charles Oliveira and that when McGregor is healthy he will probably get a fourth fight against Poirier.
“When Conor is healed and ready to go, we’ll do the
rematch, I guess,” White said. “Poirier will do his thing until Conor
is ready.”
Oliveira told ESPN’s Mike Coppinger he expects the fight
with Poirier to possibly be in December.
“It’s really sad what happened [to McGregor], but if
you look at Poirier’s game, he’s been improving a lot, he’s been putting a lot
of pressure, so he deserves the win,” Oliveira said of Saturday night’s
result.
White said he believes that had McGregor not been injured,
he would have gotten out of the first round.
“His ankle snapped from throwing punches. He was
fighting back,” White said. “It wasn’t like he was up against the
cage with Dustin unloading punches on him. If his ankle doesn’t break, I think
we get to the end of the round.”
Poirier, for his part, said he and McGregor “are going
to fight again, whether it’s in the Octagon or on the sidewalk. … He was
saying that he was going to kill me. You don’t say stuff like that.”
Poirier said he wasn’t sure he felt a sense of closure
following the trilogy.
“I need to digest it all, because right now, it kind of
feels weird,” he said. “It’s not a good feeling.”
Poirier stopped McGregor at UFC 257 in January via
second-round TKO. In 2014, at UFC 178, McGregor knocked out Poirier in less
than two minutes.
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Robert Whittaker doesn’t create a lot of headlines. He doesn’t talk any trash. Never has he made a spectacle of himself.
But quietly, Whittaker has built a résumé that rivals some
of the most impressive in mixed martial arts.
The former UFC middleweight champion put forth another brilliant performance Saturday, defeating Kelvin Gastelum by one-sided unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
Whittaker beautifully mixed up his striking over all five
rounds, landing jabs, straight rights, left hooks, leg kicks and even a front
kick to Gastelum’s jaw in the final frame. It was a sublime showcase against
another one of the top middleweight fighters in the world.
“I’m feeling on top of the world,” Whittaker said. “Obviously, this was a very hard fight. A lot of people were selling Kelvin short. … He’s one of the best fighters in the division. That was a very tough fight.”
ESPN had Whittaker ranked No. 2 in the world at middleweight coming in. This victory should put him in line for a shot at champion Israel Adesanya, who beat him for the belt two years ago.
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“Nothing but respect,” Whittaker said of Adesanya.
“He’s a great fighter. But I think we should talk, mate. I think it’s time
we crossed paths again.”
Whittaker and Gastelum were first supposed to fight at UFC
234 on Feb. 10, 2019, when Whittaker was the UFC middleweight champion. But
Whittaker withdrew from the fight the day of the card due to a hernia. A
collapsed bowel caused him to have to undergo emergency surgery.
On Saturday, Gastelum was replacing Paulo Costa, Whittaker’s original opponent, who had to pull out due to lingering effects of COVID-19.
The change of opponent did not affect Whittaker at all. He
rocked Gastelum in the first round with a head kick and never really slowed
down from there. The very tough Gastelum hung around for all 25 minutes, but
rare was a minute when Whittaker was not in total control.
Later in the first round, Whittaker took Gastelum down and
landed some ground-and-pound. In the second, Gastelum had some success with his
boxing and straight left hands, but Whittaker landed some nice jabs and
counters. Whittaker rocked Gastelum again with a combination in the third, a
round in which Gastelum had some success early.
Whittaker landed two nice uppercuts in the fourth round and
got right up from a Gastelum takedown. In the fifth, Whittaker was starting to
wear some of Gastelum’s offense — Gastelum was bruised up, as well — but
Whittaker capped the technical performance with a surprising front kick to
Gastelum’s face.
Whittaker outlanded Gastelum in meaningful strikes 150-62,
and 115 of those from Whittaker were to the head, according to UFC Stats.
Whittaker (23-5) has won three consecutive fights and 12 of
his past 13 overall. The New Zealand-born Australia resident has just one loss
since 2014, versus Adesanya. Whittaker, 30, held the middleweight belt from
2017 to 2019, dropping it to Adesanya at UFC 243 in October 2019.
Whittaker is 14-3 in UFC.
Gastelum (16-7, 1 NC) was coming off a unanimous decision victory over Ian Heinisch at UFC 258 on Feb. 13. The California native had lost three straight prior to that.
The 29-year-old Gastelum was once considered one of the best middleweight fighters in the world, fighting Adesanya for the interim belt at UFC 236 in April 2019.
Saturday’s card was held with no fans at the UFC Apex, a facility across from the promotion’s corporate campus, with COVID-19 protocols in place.
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Curtis Blaydes made no apologies about his strategy coming into a huge heavyweight fight with Derrick Lewis. Blaydes was going to use his dominant wrestling early and often. He told anyone who would listen.
Maybe it was a decoy. But Blaydes should have stuck to his original game plan, as Lewis crushed him with an uppercut knockout at 1:26 of the second round in Saturday’s main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
Blaydes gained confidence on the feet in the first round and attempted only one takedown, which Lewis stuffed. And Lewis, one of the most dangerous KO artists in the history of MMA, made him pay.
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It was the biggest upset in a UFC main event since Michael Bisping defeated Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 in 2016, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Lewis was a +350 underdog, per Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill, ESPN’s odds provider. Bisping was +400 against Rockhold five years ago.
With the stoppage, Lewis ties Vitor Belfort with the most knockouts in UFC history (12).
Lewis also is now tied for the second-most wins in UFC heavyweight history (16) with Frank Mir. Andrei Arlovski is the all-time UFC heavyweight victories leader, with 19.
Saturday’s finish came when Blaydes ducked in, trying to
close the distance for a clinch or a takedown. Lewis saw it coming and let
loose with a massive uppercut. Blaydes’ body shook on impact, and he was
unconscious as he fell to the canvas. Lewis followed up on the ground with
punches, until referee Herb Dean came in to pull him off.
“That was the only punch I was waiting for the entire fight,” Lewis said. “I knew he was gonna come in. … That’s all I was waiting for. I wasn’t worried about throwing a one-two, a jab or anything.”
The fight was originally arranged for Nov. 28, but Blaydes tested positive for COVID-19, and the contest was pulled one day prior to the event before official weigh-ins.
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Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns were full of emotion while embracing in the middle of the Octagon on Saturday night. Burns had blood and tears running down his face. Some of their cornermen behind them were trying not to cry.
Usman stopped Burns, his former teammate, via TKO at 34
seconds in the third round to defend his UFC welterweight title in the main
event of UFC 258 in Las Vegas.
Usman landed a right hand as he was switching stances to
floor Burns, then slammed Burns with punches on the ground until referee Herb
Dean pulled him off.
“Gilbert is a guy that I’ve known from the start,” Usman said in his postfight interview. “I love him. This one was tough for me to deal with.” Usman picked up his 13th consecutive win, surpassing legend Georges St-Pierre for the most consecutive victories in UFC welterweight history.
Only Anderson Silva has won more than 13 straight fights in UFC history, winning 16 in a row from 2006 to 2012.
Usman is tied with six other fighters with 13 consecutive wins.
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Usman and Burns were teammates in South Florida since 2012, first with the Blackzilians and most recently with Sanford MMA.
Usman departed for Colorado to train under coach Trevor Wittman last year after the initial fight with Burns was scheduled for July.
But Burns tested positive for COVID-19 and withdrew from that bout. Henri Hooft, the longtime head coach for both Usman and Burns, did not corner either man and said he would not even watch the fight.
The fight had major implications outside of the personal
story. Coming in, ESPN had Usman ranked No. 5 in the world in its
pound-for-pound MMA rankings. In the welterweight division, ESPN has Usman
ranked No. 1 and Burns at No. 5.
Burns rocked Usman twice early with huge right hands. But Usman
hung in through a tumultuous first round. He then took over in the second,
working a beautiful jab and stymieing Burns’ power and explosiveness. Usman’s
striking looked better than ever, as he switched stances and landed with power
from each one.
In the second round, Usman dropped Burns twice, the second
time with a jab. In the third, it was a right hand that resembled a jab that
put Burns on his butt before Usman pounced and finished on the ground.
Usman outlanded Burns 83-45 in significant strikes, per UFC
Stats.
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The UFC’s 2021 debut on ABC was big news for everything that
happened inside the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on
Saturday, and everything that didn’t.
Max Holloway put on one of the most punishing, one-sided displays of boxing in UFC history, landing a record 445 significant strikes in his unanimous decision triumph over Calvin Kattar. Despite absorbing all of that damage, Kattar stood up to the barrage and made it to the final bell.
But just as big as Holloway’s declarative statement for a return shot at the featherweight championship was, the biggest question going into the night centered around the recently retired Khabib Nurmagomedov.
While Nurmagomedov announced his retirement after defeating Justin Gaethje in October, Dana White has been actively trying to draw him back into the fold for one more megafight, with Conor McGregor the likeliest opponent.
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White promised an update on Nurmagomedov’s position on a return fight, and while there wasn’t a definitive answer either way, White’s assertion that Nurmagomedov could be persuaded back into action with a particularly dominant performance in either of two key fights at UFC 257 — set to be headlined by McGregor and Dustin Poirier — left the door open a crack.
With an eye toward the fallout of Saturday’s events, Brett
Okamoto answer some of the UFC’s most pressing questions as they project what’s
to come.
A rematch versus Khabib Nurmagomedov is Conor McGregor’s to
lose
Okamoto: One million percent. Nurmagomedov has spent the past two years basically saying he has no interest in McGregor, but the narrative around McGregor has changed in the past two years. After Nurmagomedov defeated him in 2018, McGregor’s career was really up in the air. It was not a question of whether he was about to retire but rather what he wanted out of the sport at that point.
A money fight once a year? Or did he want to try and get back to where he was in 2016, at the top of the lightweight division?
Would that loss to Nurmagomedov reignite his desire to be the best in the world, the same way he was obsessed with evening the score with Nate Diaz in 2016? It appears to have done the latter. McGregor looks motivated, just as he appeared motivated in 2020, before circumstances out of his control interrupted his plans for the year.
If he looks great versus Poirier and someone hands him a mic, McGregor is going to be the obvious choice to fight Nurmagomedov; and based on White’s comments on the matter, I now expect Nurmagomedov to take that fight, if offered.
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With a latent light heavyweight title shot on the line,
41-year-old Glover Teixeira managed to pull out another classic presentation.
Teixeira managed to survive some big scares to submit Thiago Santos in the main
event of UFC Fight Night from Las Vegas’ UFC Apex facility.
Santos, who was returning for the first time since suffering a knee injury in a split-decision loss to then-champion Jon Jones in July 2019, came out fast and hard, rocking Teixeira in the first round.
Teixeira survived the scare and fell back on his grappling, scoring a takedown and dominating the rest of the round from top position. The grappling of Teixeira would dominate in the second round as well, this time without the scare.
Teixeira put Santos down early and stayed on top for the entire round before locking in a deep rear-naked choke only to see Santos saved by the bell.
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Time running out in the second almost led to a nightmare
scenario in the third round when Santos instantly dropped Teixeira with a
crushing left hand and followed him to the ground, scoring with a series of
heavy punches from the top position. Santos quickly ran out of gas, however,
and Teixeira reversed position, ending up on top and shortly after locking in another
rear-naked choke.
This time there was no safety to be found as Santos was
forced to tap at the 1:49 mark of Round 3.
The victory ran Teixeira’s winning streak to five and seems to set him up to challenge recently-crowned champion Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title — a belt Teixeira fought for in a losing effort in 2014. However, UFC president Dana White has recently called a fight between Blachowicz and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya “the fight to make.”
“Dana White, come on, man,” Teixeira said. “I’m an old man here. You’re going to give the shot to Adesanya and make me wait? Five fights in a row beating these young guys, it’s not easy. Give me that title shot, man.”
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Nurmagomedov submits Gaethje with triangle choke in round
two despite competing with broken foot; Russian reveals shock retirement
following the death of his father: “Today I want to say this is my last fight.
No way am I coming here without my father”
Nurmagomedov extended his undefeated record to 29-0 with a
second-round submission victory in Abu Dhabi – his third successful title
defense, having previously beaten Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.
It was also the Russian’s first fight without his father and
coach, Abdulmanap, who died from complications caused by coronavirus earlier
this year, and one he went into with a broken foot.
In an emotional post-fight interview
Nurmagomedov stated: “Today I want to say this is my last fight. No way am I coming here without my father. When UFC called me about Justin I spoke with my mother for three days. “She didn’t want me to fight without father and I said this is my last fight – and I have given her my word.
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UFC president Dana White revealed after the fight that
Nurmagomedov had competed with a broken foot and that by retiring with a 29-0
record he has to be considered as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.
Nurmagomedov first claimed the UFC lightweight title with a
points decision victory over Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 in 2018 before defending
the title versus McGregor in Las Vegas later that year at UFC 229.
McGregor took to social media on Saturday night to
congratulate Nurmagomedov and confirmed he would continue in the sport, even
without the prospect of a rematch with the Russian.
“Good performance @TeamKhabib,” McGregor wrote on
Twitter.
“I will carry on. Respect and condolences
on your father again also. To you and family. Yours sincerely, The McGregors.”
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Israel Adesanya once again proved his power in the middleweight division with a second-round TKO victory over Paulo Costa in the main event of UFC 253 on Saturday.
The champion was in the driver’s seat for the first round.
Costa showed some patience in waiting to commit to an attack but Adesanya took
advantage of that wait-and-see approach by peppering him with leg kicks.
Costa was more interested in goading Adesanya into throwing more than actually throwing much himself. The second round featured a more aggressive Adesanya and that was all kinds of bad news for the Eraser.
The Last Stylebender opened up, continued to mercilessly attack the lead leg while also throwing head kicks. When he targeted the head with punches Costa quickly buckled and the champion added another successful title defense to his name.
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It was as baffling a presentation for Paulo Costa as it was a great performance for Adesanya.
The champion was certainly dominant but Costa’s lack of activity and inability to mount any offense had analysts wondering what happened to the Borrachina that mowed over each of his opponents to this point.
Adesanya has already made quick work of a loaded middleweight
division. His list of victories includes Anderson Silva (albeit an older
version of The Spider), Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero. There are some highly
ranked contenders out there, but only one has the champion’s eye right now.
“There’s one more I’m really interested in and that’s Jared Cannonier,” Adesanya stated, per Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com. Cannonier has put together three consecutive wins by TKO and has a fight calendared with former champion Whittaker in October.
Adesanya will be watching that matchup very carefully, but at this point, it’s hard to find someone in the division he won’t be favored against.
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Cris Cyborg is back, and her first Bellator title defense will ring in the promotion’s debut on a new network.
Cyborg will put her Bellator women’s featherweight title on the line versus Arlene Blencowe on Oct. 15 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, promotion officials revealed Friday.
The card will air in a Thursday night time slot on CBS
Sports Network. Bellator had been on Paramount Network (formerly Spike TV)
since 2013.
Cyborg (22-2, 1 NC), ESPN’s No. 3-ranked pound-for-pound female fighter in the world, won the Bellator title in her last outing, stopping Julia Budd by fourth-round TKO in January.
The Brazilian knockout artist has won two consecutives after losing the UFC women’s featherweight title to Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 in December 2018. Cyborg, 35, departed the UFC after her contract expired last year. She is one of the most fearsome women’s MMA fighters of all time with 18 KO/TKO finishes in 22 pro victories.
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Blencowe (13-7) has won three straight and is coming off a unanimous decision win over UFC veteran Leslie Smith last November. The Australia native has just two MMA losses in the past five years, both to Budd. Blencowe, a 37-year-old boxing veteran, has seven KO/TKOs in 13 pro wins.
Bellator president Scott Coker also revealed Friday the main event for a card Oct. 29 at Mohegan Sun. Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima will move up to middleweight to fight Gegard Mousasi for the vacant middleweight title.
Lima (32-7) has won three straight and is a three-time
Bellator welterweight champion. The 32-year-old Brazilian is tied for the most
knockouts in Bellator history (9).
Mousasi (46-7-2) has won nine of his past 10, including five
straight in the UFC before he left as a free agent in 2017. The 35-year-old
Netherlands resident, a former Strikeforce and Dream champion, has been a
perennial contender in multiple divisions for more than a decade.
In addition, Coker announced that a welterweight bout between Paul Daley and Derek Anderson will headline an Oct. 1 in Milan, Italy.
Bellator’s show in Paris on Oct. 10 — the first major MMA event in France since the country legalized the sport earlier this year — will be acceptable to have up to 5,000 fans in attendance. Michael Page vs. Ross Houston and Frenchman Cheick Kongo vs. Tim Johnson will be on the Paris card.
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