Monday, February 27

Ex-NFL Player Greg Hardy Will Take Anger Management Courses, Still Training MMA

Greg Hardy, the former Pro Bowl defensive end whose NFL career was short-circuited by a domestic abuse conviction and other bad behavior, will undertake anger-management counseling as he continues to train in preparation for a professional MMA debut.

Hardy and his new MMA manager, Malki Kawa, announced the news Monday on The MMA Hour broadcast with host Ariel Helwani. As Hardy continues his training with well-known MMA camp American Top Team, he still isn't sure when he will debut.

"I would love to debut tomorrow, man, but like I said, I have a lot of respect for my coaches and the actual sport," Hardy said. "Seeing how hard these guys work, man, it's pretty much going to be up to the coaches."

In the meantime, the 28-year-old Hardy, who spent time with the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys but currently finds himself a free agent with no serious suitors, will undergo anger-management counseling beginning next week, according to Kawa, who also participated in the interview.

"He'll do that for as long as he has to," Kawa said of the treatment. "He understands the rules he has to abide by."

Asked if he had an anger problem, Hardy responded that MMA training "has helped me in a lot of ways."

"I have a lot of problems as a human being," he said. "It's not something where you're just walking around saying, 'I'm perfect.' I have a lot of different issues that I'm just working through and working on. I would say this helps me channel everything. ... I made mistakes and I've hurt people, and I'm sorry that all that happened."

Hardy rejected—perhaps unconvincingly—the suggestion that he is only pursuing MMA because his NFL career appears to be over.

"I do not think that is fair," he said. "I think [MMA] is something I've been wanting to do for a while, just, you know, as far as boxing and MMA and just getting into the business and cross-training because it's wonderful for football players."

In 2014, Hardy was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. He was placed on probation and later suspended by the NFL. But the Cowboys took a chance on him anyway, only to be rewarded by locker-room destabilization and a September cocaine arrest. 

On Sunday, TMZ Sports posted videos of Hardy training at ATT, which houses several elite UFC competitors. Former UFC heavyweight Antonio Silva told TMZ Sports he believes Hardy could be in the UFC in one or two years.

Hardy credited ATT with what he said was a professional "turnaround."

"I felt like joining that team and joining those guys was something that, you know, it was a step that I had to take to change what I had going on in my life," Hardy said. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

That Time Khabib Nurmagomedov Wrestled a Bear

They do things a little different in Russia. They breed their mixed martial artists a little different there too.

If you don’t believe that to be true, consider Exhibit “A”: a 9-year-old Khabib Nurmagomedov grappling a bear, seemingly for no reason other than that there was a bear in front of him and he was, even then, a skilled grappler.

According to the time stamp on the video, the main event of Nurmagomedov vs. Bear went down only three days after the elite UFC lightweight contender turned nine. The video is something of a highlight reel, with Nurmagomedov slickly hitting single legs, high crotch rolls and surprisingly deep double legs over the course of its six-minute runtime.

Again, to be clear, this is a nine-year-old boy wrestling a live bear.

In discussing his son’s aptitude for easily handling one of nature’s greatest predators in a boyhood grappling match, Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap, told ToFight.Ru (h/t Bloody Elbow) the matchup was “a test of character more than exercise.”

That’s certainly one way of describing it.

For its part, the bear could not be reached for comment.

Nurmagomedov has parlayed his youthful pursuits into a 24-0 professional MMA record and 8-0 UFC run, becoming one of the most feared mat tacticians in the sport. He smashed Michael Johnson at UFC 205 to secure his place as a top title contender and will now take on Tony Ferguson for the UFC interim lightweight title in the co-main event of UFC 209, going down this Saturday in Las Vegas.

Check out the video below.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Sunday, February 26

The Forgotten MMA Careers of Six Past and Present WWE Wrestlers

Mixed martial arts and professional wrestling have always been kissing cousins. From the first modern MMA promotion being founded by Tiger Mask to today, when competitors can be seen in the ring one month and in the cage the next, there has always been, and likely always will be, a great deal of crossover between the two sports.

Unfortunately, both MMA and pro wrestling fans have always had short memories, and that has resulted in many crossover careers—long and short, successful and unsuccessful—being forgotten to time. With that in mind, it's worth dusting off the old imported VHS tapes and dredging the oceans of video content online today to unearth some of the lost gems wrestlers have given us.

Here are six past and present WWE wrestlers who made the jump to MMA and, for one reason or another, had their careers get largely overlooked by the public at large.

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Dana White Comments on Mayweather-McGregor Talks, UFC Star's Next Fight

In an interview with TMZ Sports on Friday, UFC President Dana White revealed that little progress has been made regarding a potential fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

As seen in the following video, White said, "We're nowhere," when asked about negotiations between the sides:

Both McGregor and Mayweather have expressed interest in striking a deal to box each other, but Mayweather tweeted on Feb. 14 that no terms have been agreed upon:

While it remains unclear if or when McGregor and Mayweather will lock horns, White believes he knows what the UFC lightweight champion's next fight will be.

White said he expects it to be an MMA encounter in the UFC against the winner of the lightweight tilt between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 on March 4.

The UFC president's comments are in direct conflict with McGregor's views, however, as the 28-year-old told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani (h/t Mike Bohn of MMAJunkie.com) on Jan. 28 that his next fight will be against Mayweather.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Saturday, February 25

Bellator 173 Results: Winners, Scorecards from McGeary vs. Fields Card

Bellator 173 didn't disappoint.

The big winners on the night are Liam McGeary and James Gallagher, who both finished their opponent in front of the Irish fans in Belfast in dominant fashion even if McGeary's win came in a strange way via a doctor's stoppage in Round 2. 

 

McGeary won the fight but may have been disappointed by the stoppage. He was really beginning to get into a rhythm before the doctor called the bout. It appeared his opponent, Brett McDermott, was having trouble seeing after getting tagged with a brutal knee to the forehead.

The promotion needed a good card tonight after the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione main event collapsed at Bellator 172, so hopefully the company can move on and try to regain the momentum it had at the beginning of the new year. 

There were five total fights on the main card in Belfast, and here's how it went down:

Bellator 173 Main Card Results

  • Liam McGeary def. Brett McDermott by TKO (doctor’s stoppage). Round 2, 1:06
  • James Gallagher def. Kirill Medvedovsky by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 1, 2:53
  • Iony Razafiarison def. Sinead Kavanagh by unanimous decision
  • Alex Lohore def. Colin Fletcher by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 2, 2:42
  • Shay Walsh def. James McErleane by unanimous decision

 

Walsh outlasts McErleane

In the first fight of the main card, Shay Walsh was able to narrowly defeat James McErleane in a tough battle in the bantamweight division.

For Walsh, it was a big victory over a tough opponent that should push him up the rankings even though he wasn't able to secure the finish. He won over all three judges 29-28 in a tight contest though it wouldn't have been a surprise if the fight went in favor of McErleane.

As all fighters know by now, it's best to just finish the fight and not leave it up to the judges.

 

Lohore chokes out Fletcher

Alex Lohore was lucky to survive the first round, but he pulled himself together and was able to submit Colin Fletcher in the second round.

 

Lohore took Fletcher down 25 seconds in, and Fletcher worked hard on a D’Arce choke only to see Lohore escape. Fletcher then caught a Lohore kick, and after backing him up, leveled him with a massive right hand that sent Lohore to the canvas.

It looked like the fight was going to be stopped since Lohore went limp, but somehow, Lohore was able to regain consciousness and survived the round. In the second, Lohore got the mount and worked Fletcher's head and body until Fletcher gave his back, which allowed Lohore to lock in a rear-naked choke and force the tap.

It was one hell of a debut for Lohore, and he may have gained a strong following with such a resilient, entertaining performance.  

 

 

Razafiarison takes care of Kavanagh

Not many people expected Sinead Kavanagh to lose on home turf, but Iony Razafiarison was the better fighter Friday night.

Things started well for Kavanagh as she scored a knockdown in the opening minutes of the fight, but that was the only real moment that Kavanagh had the edge. Razafiarison took Kavanagh down with relative ease throughout the bout even though there times when she didn't do much but lay on top of Kavanagh.

Having said that, Razafiarison did show some brutal ground-and-pound at times.

 

If Kavanagh was able to land a few more punches and show some type of activity, things might've turned out differently for her.

Unfortunately, she wasn't ready for this type of grueling, frustrating fight. 

 

Gallagher can't be stopped

The reign of James Gallagher continues, and he just can't stop choking out his opposition.

Gallagher had little trouble against Kirill Medvedovsky as he was able to take down Medvedovsky in the opening minutes of Round 1 and immediately get his back. 

Once Gallagher gets your back, you're going to sleep.

The Irishman has been on a tear to begin his young professional career. The 20-year old SBG product is now 5-0 as he moves up the featherweight rankings. And speaking of moving up the rankings, Gallagher knew exactly what to say after his victory and showed no mercy in calling out his future opponent.

 

Is A.J. McKee up next for the young Irishman? Fight fans certainly hope so.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Thursday, February 23

5 UFC Fighters Who Should Consider Jumping to Bellator

With the UFC under uncertain new leadership and evidently looking to offload perceived ballast, suddenly the fields of Bellator look a lot greener. A little bouncier and more lush, well nourished, yawning from Thackerville to the Mohegan Sun. 

Big names like Rory MacDonald, Benson Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko turned to the Bellator side rather than re-sign (or sign) with the UFC, lured by the promise of free-flowing sponsors and generally greater autonomy.

To the UFC and its army of devotees, it's nothing but blasphemy. To claim Bellator is a worthy landing spot for anyone who once carried the mark of those three letters is to bare your hapless backside to the gods themselves.

Oddly, some fighters are still doing it. Who else on the current UFC roster could follow suit? Let's take a look at the five most likely candidates.

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The Question: What Can UFC Fans Expect from a Returning Georges St-Pierre?

It’s official, and by now it’s officially sunk in: Georges St-Pierre will be returning to the UFC Octagon. In a year that has so far begun with little of substance to celebrate, the news came as a welcome development.

But now that St-Pierre’s flirtations have evolved into a full-blown marriage, it seems time to manage the expectations of his return. St-Pierre isn’t likely to step into the cage until the second half of the year, at which point he’ll be 36 years old. That isn’t ancient, but his age coupled with a layoff that will stretch to nearly four years, seems ominous.

Much has happened in the interim, from title switches within his division to wholesale increases in movement and changes in striking patterns that have altered the styles of many of the sport’s elite.

Can St-Pierre adapt and evolve, or will he be left by the wayside, another cautionary tale of an athlete who wrote a perfect ending only to let it go to waste?

Joining me to discuss St-Pierre’s return to the helter-skelter word of cagefighting is MMA Lead Writer Chad Dundas.

Mike Chiappetta: I have to admit that when St-Pierre first started discussing the possibility of coming back, I was on board. But that was 2015. Yes, he’d already had a long layoff, but it was long enough to recharge his batteries while being short enough to ensure he hadn’t missed the last of his prime years.

These days, I don’t have the same feeling. By attempting to bridge that four-year gap between UFC bouts, he’ll be attempting to do something unprecedented in UFC history. Sure, he can look at Dominick Cruz as inspiration, but when Cruz returned from a nearly three-year sidelining in 2014, he was only 29.

The difference between 29 and 36 in athletes can be massive. This is particularly true as you move towards the lighter weight classes. While Fabricio Werdum won the undisputed UFC heavyweight belt at 37, the oldest man ever to win a welterweight title is current champ Tyron Woodley, who had just turned 34 when he snagged it.

So history is against him. 

However, there is some cause for optimism. For one, St-Pierre has stayed in remarkable shape throughout most of his layoff. Sure, he suffered a knee injury shortly after vacating the belt, but anyone who follows him on social media knows he’s spent time traveling around the world training with various fighters and coaches.

This is a man who’s kept his body in motion, so it’s easy to theorize that he won’t be suffering from the same kind of ring rust that afflicts athletes who take blocks of time away from the gym. 

Moreover, his shift in priorities may well work in his favor. While he was once obsessed with winning and defending the welterweight belt, St-Pierre seems to have more interest in assembling fights that intrigue him from either business or philosophical points of view. Choosing matchups based upon style pairings or other favorable reasons will offer him more room for error than taking on the best available contender time and time again. 

The way that St-Pierre and the UFC leadership navigate his return will be interesting to see, Chad. How do you expect them to go about it? I think we all expect the brass to try to capitalize at the box office and pay-per-view registers first and foremost, but what will that mean in the way they match him up, and will it be good or bad for his win/loss prospects?

Chad Dundas: Obviously, there are a ton of unknowns surrounding St-Pierre's return. For starters, he'll step back into a UFC where not only has the athletic landscape greatly changed but also where new ownership appears to be rapidly altering the fight company's overall value system.

During the years when GSP was in his prime, there was nothing more desirable to be in the UFC than a dominant champion. Nobody played that game better that St-Pierre, keeping the 170-pound title on lock more or less uninterrupted for the better part of seven years. Meanwhile, he used his built-in Canadian fanbase to establish himself as the organization's biggest pay-per-view draw to boot.

These days, titles seem to mean a whole lot less in the grand scheme of things. Marketability is king, and it's that fervent following north of the border that has the UFC interested in bringing a 36-year-old version of St-Pierre off the bench and back into the fold.

I think that new focus on big-money matchups will serve St-Pierre well as his second life in fighting begins. In 2013, near the end of his initial run with the company, it seemed as though walking the razor's edge of being champion had driven him to near madness. Now, those pressures are, if not gone completely, at least changed.

That's a fairly roundabout way to answer your question, Mike, but it seems unlikely we'll ever see St-Pierre return to the rat race of the welterweight title picture. He's already been there and done that and, besides, that's not really why the UFC is bringing him out of retirement.

As you mentioned, we're most likely to see St-Pierre set up in a series of superfights. Judging by the things his longtime coach Firas Zahabi told Ariel Helwani on this week's MMA Hour (via MMAFighting.com), it sounds as though middleweight champion Michael Bisping and lightweight champ Conor McGregor are both in the mix for GSP's return fight.

A 185-pound superbout against Anderson Silva is also enjoying some renewed interest.

Any of those fights will be fine with me, though I confess I have a slight preference for either Silva or McGregor. Bisping would be fine, but there are so many legitimate contenders for the middleweight crown at the moment, it'd be a shame to see that division put into a further holding pattern.

How about you, Mike? Which path for GSP's future strikes you as the most likely? And will the former champion be able to hang in the new UFC? Or is his return destined to make us feel as sad as seeing guys like BJ Penn and Fedor Emelianenko try to overstay their welcome?    

Mike: Your question puts a lot into context, because it firmly places GSP in a gray area between championship-caliber fighter and elder statesman heading toward the senior’s tour. 

His age suggests he’s closer to the latter, although we must firmly acknowledge his dedication to fitness combined with a pull-back from the wear-and-tear of the daily MMA grind over the last few years could make him an outlier.

Still, I think we have to assume he’s not going to return with the same popping jab and explosive power double leg takedown that he rode to legend status. We’ll see flashes of the old GSP for sure, maybe even stretches, but young and schooled opponents won’t be as susceptible to that kind of arsenal as they used to be a few years ago.

The game has changed. Power doubles are still around, but takedown defense has improved enough that someone like Woodley, who has a Division I collegiate wrestling background, has just a 45 percent accuracy rate. And he’s the champion.

Stephen Thompson stops 78 percent of takedowns. Jorge Masvidal stops 79 percent. Robbie Lawler stops 67 percent. And none of those guys are even “wrestlers.”

But that point may be moot if St-Pierre decides that he is completely disinterested in fighting as a welterweight. If that’s the case, the UFC won’t have him fight contenders.

And that opens up the Bisping fight, or Silva, or maybe Nick or Nate Diaz. And frankly, any of those—particularly the last three—seem like a better use for St-Pierre, and one that more closely aligns with his current physical state.

After a career of fighting the hungriest contenders, St-Pierre can approach these kinds of fights in a different way. It will no longer be about proving who is the best in the world, but about a test of martial arts skill combined with a hint of spectacle. It will simply be more fun.

From an athletic standpoint, perhaps that will open him up a bit more. If there is not so much at stake with every punch, kick and takedown, maybe the game plan won’t be so rigid. At the least, it will signal to fans that it’s OK to temper their expectations of him.

After all, does anyone expect Silva vs. St-Pierre 2017 to be what it might have been eight years ago? 

Everyone ages. And even while I expect St-Pierre to age better than most fighters, I am fully prepared to see some withering of his once-brilliant talents. For someone who rarely struck with knockout power over the last half-decade of his career, his margin for error will only decrease further. That means if he’s a half-tick slower on his reaction time, he’s going to get hit. If his double leg takedown has lost a few horsepower, it’s going to get stopped.

And this is what we should expect to see, a fighter who has been compromised by time and injury. There may be bursts of past greatness, but also moments of noticeable erosion. And if he hangs around long enough, yes, even the welterweight G.O.A.T. will end up following the same path as others like Penn.

Am I too doom-and-gloom here, Chad? After all this time away, do you see a realistic road to reclaiming his past form, or is he doomed to repeat the mistakes of other greats who couldn’t say goodbye? 

Chad: Anybody who has been around this sport for a while greets news of an all-time-great coming out of retirement with some measure of dread. MMA exacts too great a physical toll on its athletes not to fret about it, especially where it concerns a person as likable at St-Pierre.

Compounding those reservations is the perception that GSP had made a clean break from the sport. He was all the way out, with a good deal of money in the bank and a passable career in movies to buoy him.

So, yeah, it can be troubling if you allow your mind to drift too far down that rabbit hole.

The only thing I would take exception to is that it seems like we're all judging St-Pierre without actually seeing him compete. I'm trying to keep my mind open until I get some visual evidence to work with.

Mike, you raise some really good questions about whether GSP's takedowns-and-top-control game will still be effective in the 2017 UFC. That's one of the reasons why I'm glad it doesn't seem like he'll be jumping back into the thick of welterweight competition.

The most likely scenario is that St-Pierre inks a multi-fight deal with the UFC and returns for a series of high-profile bouts against guys like Silva, McGregor, Bisping and Nick Diaz. All those would score big returns for the UFC while—with the possible exception of eating some discombobulating McGregor lefts—putting GSP in comparatively little danger.

With that in mind, maybe I'm in the minority among our colleagues, but I'm actually pretty bullish about St-Pierre's return. He's historically been arguably the sport's best overall athlete, a guy who transformed himself into one of MMA's most dominant wrestlers while having no competitive background in this sport.

Do I want to see what he has left in the tank? Absolutely. Will I willingly plunk down a chunk of change to watch him fight any of those aforementioned four men? Gladly.

Will I still feel that way a year from now?

Check back with me then.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

That Time Cody Garbrandt Shoved Conor McGregor

There was a time when people suspected Cody Garbrandt was a little mushy between the ears. A talented knockout artist, yes, but was he also a bit hot-tempered? (Bend pinky, place at corner of mouth.) 

Before their bantamweight title belt, Dominick Cruz tested that theory, jumping under the skin and into the head of Garbrandt every chance he got. He's shook, everyone said. 

And guess who's wearing the belt now? If you said "Cody Garbrandt," that is correct. 

So where did this perception come from? The throat sleeve may have played a role, I grant you, but there's more here. There was that time, if you'll recall, when he confronted a high-profile UFC star by the name of Conor McGregor

It was on the 22nd season of The Ultimate Fighter, and McGregor was taunting rival coach Urijah Faber (and doing a pretty good job of it, too). McGregor, not being the kind to pull back in a chicken game, spread his invective to cover Team Alpha Male, Faber's fighter stable, most of whom were sitting just a few feet away.

One of those charges was Garbrandt. Dared by McGregor to "do something," Garbrandt answered the bell by standing and giving McGregor a hard shove, nearly igniting a bleacher-clearing brawl in the process.

This might have been the seed that planted the Garbrandt-is-a-hothead theory in peoples' minds. Shows how much we know. 

Moving forward, Garbrandt once said he'd move all the way up to 155 pounds to face McGregor. If McGregor ever gets off this Floyd Mayweather kick, that might be something worth investigating.

 

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Wednesday, February 22

Ronda Rousey to Appear as Prison Inmate in Upcoming Episode of NBC's 'Blindspot'

Ronda Rousey will make her return to acting after landing a guest role as a prison inmate in NBC show Blindspot

The broadcaster released a statement detailing the former UFC women's bantamweight champion's addition to the cast list and what her character will bring to the show, per Des Bieler of the Washington Post:

“Rousey will be playing Devon Penberthy: a female prison inmate who grew up in a working-class family from the White Mountains of New Hampshire and is serving time for transporting weapons across state lines. She is a tough, athletic woman who knows how to fight and handle a weapon.”

Rowdy is making her return to acting after suffering the latest loss in her current two-defeat streak in the UFC, having been stopped in her meeting with women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 207.

Despite losing some of the veil of invincibility that once surrounded her during her unbeaten run through the UFC bantamweight division, Rousey still sounds like a good fit for the role of Penberthy.

It could be that this role is the latest indicator Rousey intends to concentrate more heavily on a potential Hollywood future as she prepares to make a decision on whether or not she wants to prolong her time in the UFC.

Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast in late January, UFC President Dana White voiced his belief that she was "probably done" fighting for the promotion following her second career loss, via Sports Illustrated:

The 30-year-old already has experience on the big screen after taking on roles of tough characters in films such as The Expendables 3 and Furious 7, as well as playing herself in the Entourage movie adaptation.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Best Fights the UFC Can Make Right Now

The UFC is at a crossroads.

Ronda Rousey, one of its two biggest stars, has lost two fights in a row and might never return. Conor McGregor, the biggest draw in the sport's history, is in no hurry to return to the Octagon. Its early offerings in 2017 have been underwhelming at best and downright bad at worst. The schedule looks like it will pick up in the second quarter of the year, but it's still on pace to lag far behind 2015 and 2016.

What can the promotion do to right the ship?

It still has a tremendous amount of talent on its roster, and if put together in compelling matchups, there's no reason the ship can't be turned around. In this piece, we'll take a look at the seven best fights the UFC could put together, from a returning Georges St-Pierre to McGregor himself. We'll weigh marketability alongside pure stylistic joy, seeking a balance of fun and profit.

Let's take a look at each fight.

Begin Slideshow

Johny Hendricks Isn't Quite Back, but He's Not Gone Yet Either

There’s a curiosity in changing weight classes. Guys do it all the time hoping to reinvigorate a stagnant career, and as soon as there are more weight classes available to them in the UFC you can bet that women will be doing it too.

On Sunday night in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Johny Hendricks took to the cage with an eye on doing exactly that. A loser of three straight welterweight fights and four out of five in the class, Hendricks attempted to tackle the 15-pound chasm northward in a venture to middleweight.

The results were steady, if unspectacular.

He was paired with Hector Lombard, a four-fight welterweight himself who has never been a large middleweight and only hit 182 pounds for their Fight Night 105 scrap.

Hendricks came out with a modest paunch and started a little slow, working his way into a groove.

He looked mystified by Lombard at certain points, attempting to solve the puzzle of an Olympic caliber judoka and doing it to mixed results until he began to score with knees up the middle and lively clinch work.

He slowly figured it out, and as he did, he actually came on in a way he hadn’t for quite some time. Hendricks ended up securing a unanimous decision win, his first success in two years.

“I was beating him on the feet so I didn’t have to wrestle. I used my wrestling to setting up knees, my hands,” he said after the fight.

There’s reason to doubt that this is some sort of resurgence for the 33-year-old, who has been fighting the very best 170-pounders on Earth for years and is still badly undersized for a middleweight, but there were positives in the lead-up and in the cage itself.

“When was the last time you saw me putting things together? It’s been what, two years? I’m going to take what I got. I’m looking at the fight and playing it through my mind. The first thing I told my coaches was that I actually flowed out there.”

Still, it wasn’t perfect, and Hendricks wants to make some changes going forward.

“We didn’t get a strength and conditioning coach. It was a quick turnaround. The next fight, I’m going to be better. I’m going to have better cardio. Those are things that sort of even scare me a little bit, and excite me at the same time. How much better could it be if I knew my third round was going be as good as it was today? I could have pushed harder in the second round. I could have pushed harder in the third.”

Now with some excitement about how he looked in Halifax and what the future might hold, for the first time in a long time he appears content. In fact, he’s open about the idea that he should have moved up sooner.

“You make such a good mark at 170, it’s hard to give that up. Now that I look back I’m like [I’m] an idiot for not doing it sooner. But who’s to say [now’s] not the right time for me to move up? [I missed] by a quarter of a pound, and then [I missed] by two-and-a-half. Then [my] kidneys fail for five, I think six days and then they rebooted and I came back. Everything lines up. I believe there’s a purpose for everything.”

It’s too early to say he’s back for sure, but he hasn’t gone anywhere just yet. Based on how people have been talking about him over the past while, that’s a positive step for a man who was once one of the best in the business.

He’s even got an idea for a future opponent at 185 pounds.

“I love Canada. I’m 4-0 in Canada. Georges [St-Pierre] might be coming back. I just say sorry for the Canadians. I’m going to have to beat his face in, definitely if he comes to 185. That’s a fight I’ve been really looking for.”

 

All quotes were obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report unless otherwise noted. Some have been edited for concision.

 

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Monday, February 20

Who Should Georges St-Pierre Face in His Big-Money Return to the UFC?

Georges St-Pierre, longtime UFC welterweight champion and one of the greatest fighters of all time, is back.

The UFC has never needed St-Pierre more. In his three years away from the sport, two new starsRonda Rousey and Conor McGregor—have risen. Rousey has since crashed back down to earth, while McGregor is in no hurry to fight in the Octagon after an active 2016, setting his sights instead on a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

Jon Jones is on the sidelines until July 2017 following a suspension by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Anderson Silva, who turns 42 in April, has aged out of stardom. Neither Diaz brother appears to be in any hurry to return. While young fighters like Cody Garbrandt are promising, no new box-office draws have yet emerged to supplement McGregor and replace the old guard.

There are several different routes the UFC could go with St-Pierre in his return, though. Will it point him toward big money or welterweight legitimacy? Bleacher Report's Steven Rondina and Patrick Wyman discuss.

 

Steven: I've got good and bad news for you, Patrick: Georges St-Pierre is back.

The former (but, really, still-reigning) welterweight champion and the UFC have put their differences aside enough to come together for at least one cash-raking session. That's either a complete delight or a serious worry for longtime fans.

St-Pierre's semi-retirement back in 2013 was equal parts nice and depressing. He left with his head up and his waist adorned with a big gold belt, but he also gave fans and pundits a scary audit of the tolls his brain has paid for 11 years in the Octagon.

I think we both agree that, at this point, St-Pierre's return is a matter of "when" and not "if," but I'm curious as to how you're feeling about this. I don't know if this world of BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguezes and Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock 3s has numbed me, but I find myself oddly excited at the prospect of seeing, in my book, the GOAT back in the cage.

Patrick: Since we last saw GSP in the cage, his status as the greatest of all time has only been cemented: Anderson Silva broke his leg, tested positive for PEDs and then had a couple of fights in which it was clear how far he'd fallen, while Fedor Emelianenko has looked every day of his age (40) in a couple of underwhelming outings since returning from his own retirement.

St-Pierre is one of the biggest names in UFC history and, to me, the unquestioned GOAT. With Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey on the sidelines, the UFC has never needed St-Pierre more than it needs him now.

That doesn't mean they should toss him right back into the welterweight division in the hopes of spicing up a weight class that hasn't been the same since he left. He could easily slot into a fight with the winner of the upcoming Tyron Woodley-Stephen Thompson rematch for the title or he could fight Michael Bisping for the middleweight title, but I think either would be a waste.

There are other welterweights who deserve a shot at the belt, namely Demian Maia. There are plenty of middleweights who have earned their shot at the crown, including Yoel Romero and Jacare Souza. It makes far more sense to use St-Pierre for exciting, interesting fights that can headline a card and give the halo effect of his stardom to the other fighters out there.

I see two real options: Anderson Silva or a rematch with Nick Diaz. What say you, Steven? Who do you want to see St-Pierre fight?

Steven: Those are two very good options if the UFC wants to go in the "money fight" direction.

Newer fans may not remember it, but before Cris Cyborg vs. Ronda Rousey and Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, the biggest superfight imaginable in MMA was Silva vs. GSP. Both men ruled their divisions with an iron fist from 2007 to 2013, and both men were interested in the fight at different times.

It never quite came to fruition, of course. The UFC used the fight as leverage against Silva during his "champion fighting on the prelims" years. By the time that ended, GSP had enough power at the bargaining table to demand a bigger cut of the revenue generated by the biggest fight in MMA history, something the UFC wouldn't acquiesce to.

With both guys in a position to pick their shot, it might be worth dusting this one off.

The same goes for a GSP vs. Diaz 2, though. GSP vs. Diaz 1 was one of the biggest pay-per-views in UFC history and was GSP's biggest by a solid margin. Both men seem to be angling for the biggest fights possible...and they could certainly do a lot worse than this.

Of course, while GSP vs. Silva and GSP vs. Diaz 2 would both mean big money, I think you'd agree that the biggest money fight for anyone out there is Conor McGregor and the lightweight champion seems to be interested, judging from his recent smack talk.

How interested would you be in a McGregor vs. GSP? And do you think it's possible?

Patrick: Outside of GSP-Diaz 2 and GSP-Silva, which would be my preference from a narrative perspective, McGregor-GSP is probably the biggest single fight the UFC could possibly make right now.

The real question is whether that fight would be the best use of McGregor and St-Pierre as promotional resources and how it relates to the UFC’s strategy would be moving forward. Is the promotion trying to create the single biggest splash possible at any given time, or does it want to run a succession of profitable, well-received events?

There are arguments to be made for both approaches, but with limited promotional pieces to work with right now, the UFC might be best served to spread out its few marketable stars.

As far as action in the cage is concerned, I'd watch St-Pierre fight just about anyone with great interest. While I don't especially want to see him in there with prime welterweights like Woodley and Thompson—aging is a real thing and St-Pierre [who turns 36 in May] looked shopworn before he stepped awayfights with other veterans like Diaz and Silva would be competitive and intriguing.

A fight with McGregor would be fascinating for a number of reasons. Could the Irishman find ways to deal with St-Pierre's size and wrestling skills? Could an aging St-Pierre handle McGregor's powerful left? I wouldn't mind learning the answers to those questions.

What's your preference, Steven? Which fight makes the most promotional and action sense to you?

Steven: I think you're onto something in saying that the UFC might benefit more from having two big pay-per-view main events than one massive one. The UFC's plans for on-paper contenders like Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov come into the equation here.

The best move for the promotion (and for ol' fashioned sporting legitimacy) is to send GSP back in the direction of the welterweight title. It isn't the biggest cash grab, sure, and his legacy is secure, regardless of whether he can recapture gold. But GSP's departure killed the credibility and drawing power of the entire 170-pound division, and he could fix it pretty easily.

While Johny Hendricks got a little bit of the rub from being the last man to take a decisive loss to GSP (I will fight you over this), that faded even faster than the rest of his career. Hendricks handed the belt over to Robbie Lawler, and while Lawler's run as champ made him a darling to hardcore fans, he struggled at the box office.

There's a little bit of buzz surrounding Woodley and Thompson and, frankly, having GSP face the winner of their UFC 209 fight would legitimize them as champions (lineal titles mean more now than ever before) and give them at least a bit of a bump as PPV draws. And heck, if GSP wins and reclaims the belt, there's nothing barring him from facing Diaz or McGregor for the welterweight strap down the line.

The matchup that provides the most fun and excitement, though, is just pairing him off with Diaz again. They know how to sell that fight, and Diaz is incapable of being boring in the cage.

Patrick: Not to disagree with your point about St-Pierre bringing sporting legitimacy back to the welterweight division, but is that something the new-look UFC is concerned about? If so, they haven't made many moves in that direction.

The better argument you made for bringing GSP back to the top of the welterweight division has to do with drawing power. Because he retired on a win, albeit a controversial one, St-Pierre never passed on all the hype and name value he had accrued over the course of his career to a successor.

Even an aged, faded GSP is still the biggest win Woodley or Thompson could hope for. If that's the fight St-Pierre really wants, I suppose he's earned the right to try his hand at the title. For the UFC, you're right—that's the best-case scenario.

If St-Pierre is looking for something less dangerous to his health and more lucrative for his pocketbook, the bouts with Silva and especially Diaz are the way to go. He has history with both fighters. Even a subpar promoter could spin narrative gold out of his years-long back and forth with either man.

The UFC is at a low ebb right now, its lowest point since the dog days of 2014. Regardless of how they decide to use him, the promotion desperately needs the name value and box-office profile he brings to the table.

 

Pay-per-view buyrate information drawn from MMA Payout's Blue Book, which compiles figures from Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

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Johny Hendricks Wants Georges St. Pierre Fight, Says He Would 'Beat His Face In'

New UFC middleweight Johny Hendricks has called on the organisation to pit him against the returning Georges St. Pierre in a rematch, and he believes he would easily beat the MMA legend at 185 pounds. 

Speaking to reporters after his win over Hector Lombard at UFC Fight Night 105, the 33-year-old said a fight between him and his old rival would make more sense than a bout between St. Pierre and current champion Michael Bisping. 

Per Steven Marrocco of USA Today Sports, he said:''Who would want to see him and Bisping, or me and Bisping? I’m pretty sure the whole world would much rather see that. I would just say sorry for the Canadians. I’m going to have to beat his face in, definitely if he comes to 185. Because that’s a fight that I’ve been really looking for. And now that I’ve got a win under my belt at 185, he’s a newcomer at 185.''

Hendricks and St. Pierre fought at UFC 167 for the welterweight belt, and the latter retained his title in a controversial decision. The Canadian hasn't fought since, while Hendricks went on to win the title.

He's struggled with making weight since then, however, leading to the move to middleweight. His win over Lombard was his first in his last four fights, and the veteran clearly felt great afterwards:

Hendricks moved a lot better on Sunday than he has in the past year, and the move to middleweight seems to have been the right one. The three losses prior to the win over Lombard will hurt him in fight negotiations, but for the UFC, he would make an interesting first opponent for St. Pierre.

The MMA legend might not be anxious to see his old nemesis in his return to the octagon, as Hendricks gave him one of the toughest challenges of his career when they last met. Bisping is a possibility for the 35-year-old, and via Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com, the current champion appears up for the challenge.

A bout with Anderson Silva would be another option. Fans have been waiting for the two to meet for years, and while the Spider is cleary on the decline, a fight between two of the biggest stars the UFC had on the books in the last decade should do very well at the box office.

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Jokes Aside, Derrick Lewis Is the KO Artist No One in UFC Should Want to Fight

Derrick Lewis brought jokes to UFC Fight Night 105, and—luckily—he got the chance to use them.

But just barely.

Things were touch and go for Lewis on Sunday, as he endured a series of painful body kicks from Travis Browne during the first round of their heavyweight main event at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

For those first five minutes, it looked like the suddenly patient Browne might win the day, before Lewis abruptly roared back for a dramatic KO victory 3:12 into the second.

He was still holding his stomach as ring announcer Joe Martinez informed an announced crowd of 8,123 of the particulars, but a few moments later, Lewis assured UFC color commentator Brian Stann that Browne never had him in serious trouble.

"I'm not really hurting from the kick; I just have to go poo-poo," Lewis said.

He then ripped Browne over allegations of domestic violence made by Browne’s ex-wife in 2015. For his closing number, Lewis even sent a public how-you-doin’ out to Browne’s current girlfriend, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

“I just knew I had a bigger heart than him,” Lewis said. “He calls himself a man, but he likes to put his hands on women, so, forget that guy. I have much more heart than he has. Where’s Ronda Rousey’s fine ass at?”

Lewis’ antics may not be classy, per se, or even appropriate, but they're becoming boon for a division that historically has a hard time getting out of its own way. They were also a welcome capper for another six-fight UFC cable television main card that ran over three hours while conspicuously lacking star power.

Dispatching Browne marked Lewis’ division-leading sixth win in a row. In the volatile 265-pound weight class, it may well be the one that vaults the Houston native to legitimate contender status.

It's clear people are starting to take notice (NSFW language):

The flaws in Lewis’ game often threaten to short-circuit his climb up the heavyweight ranks, but so far his savvy, mental toughness and crushing punching power have been enough to stave off disaster.

He has a knack for getting opponents to play to his strengths. When the 6’3”, 262-pound brawler can bait guys like Browne into abandoning their game plans in favor of a slugfest, Lewis comes away looking like the kind of KO artist nobody in their right mind should want to fight.

Simply put, it’s tough to look good in a fight against a guy like Lewis. He excels at turning bouts into gritty, stand-and-bang affairs where athleticism and technical skill get smothered by his jaw-jacking attacks. Those sorts of fights often end with visuals like this one, from the Instagram account of MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn:

To think, things started so well for Browne.

He came out of his corner looking to capitalize on his lanky 6’7” frame and did a good job in the early going keeping Lewis at the end of his rangy front kicks. Browne was content to land hard leg kicks and continually dig his toes into the shorter fighter’s gut while staying away from Lewis’ devastating punches.

Lewis managed some surprisingly lithe attacks of his own, firing off a couple of spinning strikes and a jumping kick, but the flashy stuff all missed its mark. As the two went back to their corners after the first, it looked as though the slumping Browne might score the biggest win of his recent career, perhaps concluding a stretch that saw him go 2-3 since April 2014.

In the second, though, Lewis did a better job getting inside Browne’s kicks. He stunned the taller fighter with punching barrages against the fences and landed a few hard uppercuts out of the clinch. When Browne tried to take him down midway through the round, Lewis skillfully revered the position and wound up in top position, landing strikes from half guard.

Browne managed to get back to his feet, but then Lewis dropped him the final time with a glancing right hand to the top of the head. He followed with a series of heavy blows that left Browne unconscious on the mat, finally prompting a dangerously late stoppage from referee Mario Yamasaki.

As the UFC’s broadcast on Fox Sports 1 went to commercial, both fighters remained down on the canvas. By the time cameras returned to live action, though, they were up, and Lewis was ready to showcase his unique charms on the mic.

The series of wry one-liners kept rolling at the post-fight press conference. Lewis showed up toting a tiny replica title belt and declaring himself the UFC's “interim heavyweight champion.” He also called out fellow heavy-hitter Mark Hunt for a future fight.

And why not?

While putting up a 9-2 record in the Octagon dating back to April 2014, Lewis has become very popular with MMA’s hardcore fan base. His outrageous social media presence and self-proclaimed “keep it real” attitude have set him apart, even if it’s unclear what the increasingly corporate-minded UFC will make of him.

All joking aside, Lewis has also emerged as one of the heavyweight division’s only real up-and-coming prospects. At 32 years old, he’s still comparatively young for the rapidly aging weight class and now has also fashioned himself into one of its best loved current characters.

Beating Browne is an important signpost for Lewis. Though the 34-year-old Hawaii native has recently fallen on hard times, it wasn’t too long ago that Browne himself was a 13-0 prospect and thought to be a future star in the division.

Previous to this defeat, Browne’s only losses had come at the hands of former champions, and in one oddball 2012 fight where he tore his hamstring in the opening moments against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

Lewis came into this fight No. 8 on the UFC’s official heavyweight rankings. He and No. 6 Francis Ngannou are the division’s only two noticeable prospects at the moment, and it makes sense for matchmakers to keep them apart as they build their resumes.

A meeting with Hunt hits the ear just fine, depending on how Hunt’s scheduled fight against Alistair Overeem goes at UFC 209.

First, though, Lewis insisted he’s ready for a breather. He's fought eight times during the last two years—an insane pace for a heavyweight—and has earned the chance for a little R&R.

“We just gotta go back and press the reset button,” Lewis told Stann. “I just need a break. Fighting every other month, every two months like that has put me in a bad mood at home with my family. I just feel like I need some time off. I don’t want to hear nothing about no fighting for the next three months.”

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UFC Fight Night 105 Results: Matches to Make for the Winners and Losers

Stomach issues aside, Derrick Lewis did the thing on Sunday night at UFC Fight Night 105.

"The Black Beast" survived the first round where his opponent, Travis Browne, looked quite good. Then his incredible raw power came into play and violently finished his adversary.

It puts Lewis on the radar as a title contender. How does the UFC address that?

Also in action, Johny Hendricks picked up his first win at middleweight while bantamweight contender Sara McMann made a statement to put her in line for a possible title shot. The Halifax crowd got a night full of fun fights and interesting results.

How does the UFC handle Lewis, McMann and all the rest? Mosey on this way for a look at all the matches to make following UFC Fight Night 105 in Halifax.

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UFC Fight Night 105 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Halifax

Forget that pesky pound-for-pound qualifier; Derrick Lewis is the hardest hitter in the entire UFC, full stop.

On Sunday night, Lewis took a five-fight win streak and those two engine blocks on the ends of his arms into Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the toughest fight of his pro career.   

Waiting for Lewis on the other end of UFC Fight Night 105's main event was Travis Browne, himself a hellacious hitter and one of the toughest outs in the heavyweight division. If you beat Browne, you're good.

So how good is Lewis in a heavyweight division that desperately needs new blood at the top? Can Browne leap out of the tabloids and back into the win column after dropping his last two?

And what about the co-main event? Johny Hendricks tried to overcome his battle with the scale as a newly minted middleweight, and he tried his luck against the always-dangerous Hector Lombard.

As always, the final stat lines only tell part of the story. These are the real winners and losers from UFC Fight Night 105.

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Lewis vs. Browne Results: Winner and Reaction from UFC Fight Night 105

UFC Fight Night 105 provided the quintessential Derrick Lewis performance.

Lewis took his time, soaked up some damage and then finished with absolute viciousness. A shot at gold may not be too far off.

Lewis wasted no time marching out to the center of the cage, and Travis Browne set the distance with his leg kicks. About a minute into the first round, Hapa began coming forward, and the Black Beast was inviting him into range. Browne hurt Lewis to the body, and the latter had to protect his midsection for a prolonged period of time.

The 34-year-old slipped as Lewis threw heavy punches, and the Hawaiian native was in trouble, but he quickly rolled back to his feet. Shortly after, a damaging knee to the gut landed for Browne, forcing Lewis to turn away and run to the fence. The Black Beast was able to get a clinch and survive, but his opponent easily won the first round.

Browne went right back to the heavy leg kicks in the second round. He was eventually tagged by Lewis, who started throwing huge bombs, but Hapa was covering up well. The 32-year-old Lewis landed several good uppercuts, but Browne told the referee he was fine. The fight hit the mat with Lewis landing on top, and he also was ahead in the contest.

The Hawaiian got up to his feet, but not for long. Lewis clocked him with a right hand that sent him crashing to the mat, and referee Mario Yamasaki allowed him a few more clean shots on the ground to shut off the lights. It was a brutal finish due to a late stoppage.

The loss hurts Browne drastically. He was winning the fight, looking sharp and was on his way to re-establishing himself in the division. Lewis' Herculean power changed all of that, and Hapa's third straight defeat puts him in a precarious position in the heavyweight division.

To rebound, Browne cannot fight top-10 level competition for the remainder of 2017. That's just the brass tacks of it. He needs to hit the back of the breadline in a serious way, but at 34-years-old, it's a tall order.

As for Lewis, the opposite is true. He's a legitimate title contender.

The division is in need of new challengers, and Lewis is just that. He may not be the most polished or well-rounded, but he's exciting and on a win streak that should earn him a crack at a belt in 2017.

He could be forced into a title eliminator, but that would be poor booking. He should go right into a title fight.

The future is still unclear and in the hands of the UFC hierarchy. But on Sunday, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Lewis laid claim to being an elite heavyweight.

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