UFC Fight Night 107 Results: Winners, Scorecards for Manuwa vs. Anderson Card

For the second time in as many fights, Jimi Manuwa dealt an impressive knockout to an opponent. This time the opponent was Corey Anderson and the event was UFC Fight Night 107 from the O2 Arena in London, England.

The 37-year-old defeated Anderson via first-round knockout. MMAjunkie tweeted out the official result for the main event:

The matchup between Anderson and Manuwa was a classic wrestler vs. striker affair on paper. Anderson attempted to impose his will on the fight early on, missing on a single-leg takedown and creating a scramble.

But Manuwa wanted no part of that. Instead, he went to work looking to land his powerful striking.

Once he settled in, it didn't take long. Manuwa landed a crushing left hook that stymied Anderson and sent the London fans home happy.

MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani described the ending and gave his thoughts on the overall card:

Manuwa gave his own commentary on the knockout after the fight, per MMA Fighting:

He didn't stop there, though. Manuwa went on to call for a title shot against the winner of Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson and professional boxer David Haye:

Those goals might be lofty for the No. 4-ranked light heavyweight, but this is a division that desperately needs some new names to join the usual suspects. This might just be the fight that launches him into that stratosphere.

The light heavyweight main event wasn't the only notable bout on this card, though. The Fight Pass main card featured the final fight for a featherweight prospect bout, the swan song for a British fan favorite and a memorable performance from Gunnar Nelson.

Here's a look at the complete results from the event as well as a closer look at each of the main card fights.

 

Main Card

• Jimi Manuwa def. Corey Anderson, KO (Round 1, 3:05)
• Gunnar Nelson def. Alan Jouban, submission (Round 2, 0:46)
• Marlon Vera def. Brad Pickett, TKO (Round 3, 3:50)
• Arnold Allen def. Makwan Amirkhani, split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)

Prelims

• Joseph Duffy def. Reza Madadi, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Francimar Barroso def. Darren Stewart, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Timothy Johnson def. Daniel Omielanczuk, split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Leon Edwards def. Vicente Luque, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Marc Diakiese def. Teemu Packalen, KO (Round 1, 0:30)
• Bradley Scott def. Scott Askham, split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Lina Lansberg def. Lucie Pudilova, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

 

Gunnar Nelson vs. Alan Jouban

Unless your name is Demian Maia, you really don't want to be on the ground with Gunnar Nelson.

That's a simple fact of life and a lesson Alan Jouban learned the hard way in the co-main event from the O2 Arena.

The Icelandic welterweight dragged Jouban to the mat in the opening round where he put on a grappling clinic for the rest of the round. He plied his ground game, working his way to mount and clearly winning the round.

From there, Nelson went to work in the second round showcasing his striking. Nelson used his precise counterstriking to crack Jouban's jaw, sending him to the mat. This time, Nelson was quick to follow, slapping on a guillotine choke.

Brett Okamoto of ESPN described the finish:

The UFC posted the highlight finish:

This is the kind of win that should continue Nelson's ascent up the welterweight rankings. He sits at No. 9 in the rankings, but after this win, it might be time for Nelson to take another high-profile fight.

Nelson has now won back-to-back fights since a unanimous-decision loss to Maia. As long as he doesn't draw the Brazilian again, he should have the grappling advantage over anyone else he fights next.

 

Brad Pickett vs. Marlon Vera

"One Punch" Brad Pickett was just over a minute from walking away from the sport of MMA with about as nice an ending as he could hope for. The English veteran was working Marlon "Chito" Vera through the first two rounds of the fight and appeared to be up on the cards.

That was until Vera unleashed a hellish head kick that landed flush and ruined the storybook ending:

Pickett—who once beat UFC champion Demetrious Johnson and fought 18 times in WEC and UFC—showcased a little power in the opening round, dropping Vera with a sharp left hand:

Pickett's striking stood out in the first round, but it was his grappling that won the second frame. One Punch earned a takedown early in the round and spent the majority of the five minutes working his ground-and-pound against Vera, who offered little resistance.

Josh Gross of the Guardian paid homage to Pickett. Although he never really elevated to contender status, he won four Fight of the Night bonuses throughout his career and was a true fan favorite.

 

Arnold Allen vs. Makwan Amirkhani

The featherweight bout between Arnold Allen and Makwan Amirkhani was supposed to be a close battle of prospects to kick off the card, and it didn't disappoint. The 23-year-old Allen and 28-year-old Amirkhani went at each other for three rounds taking turns being in control of the bout, but it was Suffolk native Allen who got the nod on two of the judges' cards.

Amirkhani had some moments in the ground game. The fight featured plenty of high-level grappling exchanges.

However, Allen was the one who held the advantage when the fight was on the feet. The UFC posted some highlights of Allen's powerful striking that helped him get the W:

Although Allen was technically the hometown fighter, he still took the time to address the doubt from the England crowd after the fight, per Ben Fowlkes of MMAjunkie:

This is a huge win for the young Allen. He continues his undefeated streak in the Octagon at 3-0 while also putting Amirkhani's own 3-0 start to a halt.

It's safe to say this isn't the last we'll see of Allen, as he's found a way to stand out in the loaded featherweight division.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Conor McGregor Discusses Floyd Mayweather Fight at Michael Conlan vs. Tim Ibarra

Conor McGregor escalated his war of words with Floyd Mayweather while making an appearance at Madison Square Garden on Friday during the Michael Conlan-Tim Ibarra boxing match. 

"I'm going to stop Floyd," McGregor said ringside, per Brian Campbell of CBS Sports. "You're all going to f---ing eat your words. The whole world is going to eat their words."

In a video taken by Fight Hub TV (warning: NSFW), McGregor says at the end he is boxing:

ESPN's Dan Rafael also tweeted about an exchange he had with McGregor at MSG:

There hasn't been an official agreement reached between McGregor and Mayweather, though it is being talked about more as a real possibility now than in the past. 

In a video posted to FightHype on March 11, Mayweather announced he would come out of retirement only to fight McGregor and wanted to get something signed for this summer, per USA Today's Mike Coppinger:

I don't want to hear no more excuses about the money, about the UFC. Sign the paper with the UFC so you can fight me in June. Simple and plain, let's fight in June.

You're the B side. I'm the A side. We're not here to cry about money. I'm tired of all this crying about money and saying you want to fight. You're blowing smoke up everyone's ass, if you want to fight, sign the paperwork.

UFC president Dana White said earlier this week during an appearance on Conan he believes the fight will happen:

McGregor was issued a boxing license from the state of California last December, setting up the possibility for a match in Mayweather's discipline if the two sides and UFC are able to reach agreement for the superfight. 

McGregor is the UFC lightweight champion and became the first person to hold titles in two different weight classes at the same time when he defeated Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. 

Mayweather hasn't fought since defeating Andre Berto to run his record to 49-0 in September 2015. One more win would allow him to break a tie with Rocky Marciano and earn 50 career wins without a loss. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Michael McDonald Released by UFC

Bantamweight fighter Michael McDonald has been released from his UFC contract, according to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com.

Damon Martin of Fox Sports confirmed the news, noting McDonald asked for a release due to "dishonest" business practices by the company. 

McDonald has a 17-4 career record in mixed martial arts.

"The UFC was dishonest in the way they tried to do business with me and it's resulted in a complete waste of my time," McDonald said, per Okamoto. "I want to feel like my employer isn't out trying to cut my head off. I'm looking to enter a mutually respectful business contract with another fight organization."

The 26-year-old last competed in a July loss to John Lineker. The match ended with a first-round knockout. Prior to that, he earned a win over Masanori Kanehara at UFC 195, his first bout in over two years.

McDonald lost to Renan Barao in 2013 in his only title fight.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

That Time Joe Duffy Choked out a Young Conor McGregor

Joe Duffy laces 'em up this weekend at UFC Fight Night 107 in London. He's perhaps not the most famous guy on the UFC roster, even if he's 3-1 in the promotion and serving as a headliner for the prelims on Fight Pass against Reza Medadi. He's also a pretty exciting customer, owner of a Performance of the Night bonus and participant in a solid tilt with Dustin Poirier at UFC 195 during his UFC career.

Luckily he doesn't need a push from the UFC or anyone else to be memorable. Why? Because Joe Duffy has a quick, clean win over superstar Conor McGregor, and no one can ever take it away from him.

Back in 2010 McGregor was a 4-1 upstart fighting in Cage Warriors FC. He was predictably brash and self-assured, but he was in the early days of developing the persona that has made him the biggest star in the sport today.

On those terms he battled Duffy in a lightweight bout and, probably to the surprise of those who know nothing of his work before being the face of the UFC, was convincingly dispatched of. As seen in the video below, Duffy easily ragdolls McGregor, stifles him on the ground and throttles him senseless.

Total time required? 38 seconds.

Of course iron sharpens iron, you learn more from a loss and all that jazz. The Duffy setback did little to deter McGregor, who went on to win his next 15 bouts in a row.

Still, we'll always talk about that time that Irish Joe did a number on Ireland's favorite son.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 107: Main Card Staff Predictions

The UFC takes its Octagon across the Atlantic for Fight Night 107 this Saturday, March 18, when it will set up at the O2 Arena in London, U.K.

The host nation will be well represented throughout the event, including the main card, which features three British fighters competing over the course of four fights. The headliner, a light heavyweight clash, pits London's own Jimi Manuwa against America's Corey Anderson.

Since starting out in the UFC with a trio of wins, Manuwa has alternated victories and defeats over his last four bouts, most recently besting Ovince Saint Preux. Anderson, meanwhile, has found success in four of his last five outings, and he is coming off a TKO win over Sean O'Connell.

In the co-main event, Iceland's Gunnar Nelson takes on the American Alan Jouban. Nelson has won two of his last four, while Jouban enters the scrap riding a three-fight win streak. 

The full Fight Night 107 main card is as follows:

• Jimi Manuwa vs. Corey Anderson
• Gunnar Nelson  vs. Alan Jouban
• Brad Pickett vs. Marlon Vera
• Arnold Allen vs. Makwan Amirkhani

The Bleacher Report team has assembled to provide you with our predictions for each of these contests. Read on for what I like to think of as our collective and considerable wisdom. 

Begin Slideshow

The Question: Is UFC Fight Night 107 Just a Low Ebb or a Disturbing New Normal?

On Saturday, the UFC returns to London, a city that has long been a hotbed of the sport. That in itself comes as no surprise. British fans flock to fill arenas whenever the UFC comes to town, often buying tickets before the fight card has even been announced. Their appetite for UFC action remains, apparently, insatiable.

What is a surprising, however, is UFC's decision to provide these loyal, rabid fans with an afterthought of a show. Even the main event, a battle between mid-tier light heavyweights Jimi Manuwa (16-2) and Corey Anderson (10-2), is little better than a time filler.

Has it come to this? Has UFC's continued expansion and obligations to both television and the hardcore fans who've purchased their streaming Fight Pass service doomed fans to a succession of lackluster cards from now until eternity?

Veteran MMA scribes Jonathan Snowden and Chad Dundas tackle the question that will make or break an entire sport.

 

Jonathan Snowden: London is one of the world's great cities. When I lived in Europe, we would fly there once every couple of months to soak it all in. There were unparalleled cultural opportunities and a diverse, interesting population, with people from all over the world who had come together to make their stand against ignorance and assorted nonsense. And also to drink beer. All the beer.

Suffice to say, I have strong feelings for London. But even if you don't particularly care one way or another, it doesn't really matter. Because, I think we can all agree, London deserves better than this abysmal UFC card.

Any place would.

Whether you live in L.A. (Los Angeles or Lower Alabama) or in the wild mountains of Montana, your town is too good for this dreadful show.

Every time I think the UFC has reached new lows, it manages to surprise me. The sport has been stretched thin, to the point of breaking. Stars are few and far between, and the generation that built the business is fading athletically. Their replacements, it seems, are making a fashionably late entrance.   

I understand that intellectually. But my heart cries out all the same.

Jimi Manuwa—main eventer? Really? Arnold Allen vs. Makwan Amirkhani? I defy you to look me in the eye and pretend you know who those gentlemen are without a sneak peak at Tapology.

And they are on the main card!

Right now, the UFC has a market desperate for mixed martial arts. The O2 Arena, which attracts more paying fans than any other indoor stadium in the world, will be packed from floor to ceiling. People are buying this dreck.

But for how long?

Is this sustainable Chad? Can UFC continue to rely on its brand to sell an increasingly dismal product, both to fans overseas and the most hardcore fans in North America via UFC Fight Pass? At some point, the straw will pile up to the point the camel will have no choice but to collapse, right?

 

Chad Dundas: Even amid the trickle of lackluster fight cards the UFC has rolled out to begin 2017, this one stands out. Someday, people are going to be flipping through a stack (or an internet slideshow) of UFC event posters, will see the one juxtaposing the big glossy photos of Manuwa and Anderson and think, "Wait, there must be some mistake here."

We're still in the backwash of the UFC's lucrative 2016, a year in which it fired a lot of promotional bullets in order to smash its own all-time annual pay-per-view sales record. At this point, though, it's mid-March. The first quarter of the year is almost up, and yet a glance at the upcoming UFC schedule shows TV events headlined by Demetrious Johnson vs. Wilson Reis, Cub Swanson vs. Artem Lobov and Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira.

By the time we get through that stretch, it'll be the end of May!

Granted, the mildly interesting UFC 210 (featuring Daniel Cormier's light heavyweight title match against Anthony Johnson) is coming up on April 8, and then the fairly stacked two-title affair of UFC 211 on May 13, but still—this is a bad stretch for UFC.

It makes you feel for fans in London who jumped in early to buy tickets to see Fight Night 107 live, only to get walloped with a card that looks like something from the regional independent circuit that ought to air on AXS TV.

And you're right, if I were a hardcore fan who was either attending this event or continuing to shell out a monthly subscription fee for Fight Pass, I'd be getting a little uneasy right about now.

If I were that fan, I'd love to know the long term strategy here. So far, new UFC owners at WME-IMG appear to be hacking away at the fight company's roster—letting legitimate prospects like Kyoji Horiguchi and Nikita Krylov walk—while serving up a menu of fight cards that will be remembered as one of the worst in the UFC's modern history.

It would be nice at some point for somebody to let us know where all this is headed, lest those hardcore fans do indeed start thinking about voting with their wallets.

What do you think, Jonathan, will the UFC turn it around in the second half of 2017? Or should we all start getting used to Manuwa vs. Anderson as the new normal?

 

Jonathan: I wish I had comfort to provide, but considering the state of the world these days, I'm fresh out. Perhaps, in some weird way, UFC is mimicking the broader world, replacing former matchmaker Joe Silva's carefully considered order with random corporate chaos. 

Of course, UFC already had the loud-mouthed Twitter troll as president—so maybe life is imitating art after all?

Anyway, to actually answer your question, I'm afraid that things may not be getting better, because I've heard this song before. WME-IMG has a corporation's soul. It's dark, shriveled and crying out for cash like a zombie with eyes only for human brains.

WME-IMG, no doubt, sees how big boxing shows operate, with big main events surrounded by dreck and random television cards filled with prospects and the occasional has-been. They know that fight cards don't have to be good to sell in quantity and have likely grasped that UFC could achieve the same financial return with much less effort and expense.

They've perhaps even intuited Silva and former UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta's darkest fiscal secret—they were fight fans who wanted to create the kind of quality top-to-bottom shows fanboys love. WME-IMG doesn't have love in its heart for great fights. Heck, despite what Citizens United told us, corporations don't even have hearts. They are driven by profit, loss and justifying the $4 billion paid for UFC last year. Quality is not job one.

As long as UFC fans in London and elsewhere are willing to pay a premium for the UFC brand no matter how obscure the fighters entering the Octagon are, WME-IMG will be happy to oblige them. If the UFC can garner consistent ratings with relative unknowns, the bean counters will be pleased to water down the shows until they are little more than gruel.

The power here rests with the consumer. After all, if you squint hard enough, you can find reasons to pretend everything is OK. Look, it's Tim Johnson, an enormous man with a mustache. Is that Gunnar Nelson? Yes please.

Are fight fans willing to watch this thing become boxing, aesthetically, if not in the cage? How hard are you willing to squint in order to pretend this is still the sport we fell in love with?

 

Chad: Honestly, man, I'm not sure I'm willing to squint much more than I already do. 

The fabric of this sport is vastly different now than when I found it. Things like the continually ballooning live event schedule, Reebok outfitting deal, Fight Pass and what in retrospect was a network television deal that asked the UFC to churn out an insane amount of content have all changed it—and not much of it for the better, in my opinion.

The vision you provide for the future of the sport is a sobering one, and all I can say is that I hope you're wrong. I was initially bullish about the prospect of the WME-IMG era in the UFC, but the first few months of 2017 have moved me squarely into the undecided column.

I still think our new overlords can make this sport better. I'm just no longer sure they will.

Which brings us back to Manuwa vs. Anderson as an even partially defensible main event inside the Octagon.

To date, I've been astonished at the willingness of the sport's hardcore fanbase to accept the many machinations of the UFC, fork over the consistently rising financial burden of being a fan and follow the twisting threads of an increasingly impenetrable schedule and do nothing but shower praise and line up for more.

How long can people keep up that level of enthusiasm? I'm guessing right up to the point that fights like Manuwa vs. Anderson become the rule instead of the exception.

I think fans are willing to sit through the doldrums of early 2017, but they're damn sure hoping for a rebound.

But if what we're seeing here is regression to a new, disappointing standard instead of a monetary lull in the action, I can't imagine even the UFC's most devout followers staying engaged forever. At least not to the level they currently are. Myself included.

 

Jonathan Snowden and Chad Dundas cover combat sports for Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

3 Fighters Ready to Step Out of the Shadows at UFC London

UFC Fight Night 107 goes down Saturday from London, one of the world's great metropolises. 

With apologies to Jimi Manuwa and Corey Anderson, who do battle in the evening's main event, this card, airing entirely on UFC Fight Pass, may lack the gleam and charm of its host city.

A more apt analogy between event and host may be the Dickensian London of a bygone era. Let's travel back to a time when the city was darker and harder, a labyrinth of thick walls, smokestacks and dark alleyways. This is the setting that gave birth to some of literature's great unlikely heroes, icons like Oliver Twist and Sherlock Holmes. 

In this context, we can move forward with our appreciation of UFC Fight Night 107. Several fighters, lesser-known to the casual fan but brimming with charisma and potential, are primed to burst from the shadows and stake their claims to the limelight.

Here are the three of those.

 

Alan Jouban

Division: Welterweight
Record: 15-4 (6-2 UFC)
Age: 35

The Louisiana native takes on grappler extraordinaire Gunnar Nelson in the evening's co-main event. Jouban's high-octane Muay Thai provides an exciting foil for a ground fighter like Nelson—or anyone else, for that matter.

Before his career began, the fighting gods swung low and blessed Jouban with two helpings of marketability. During the day, he works as a mild-mannered fashion model in Los Angeles. This is also where he trains, residing at the flagging but still potent Black House and the famed 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu gym operated by Eddie Bravo (Joe Rogan, among others, also trains here).

Jouban is also good on the mic and social media, a self-effacing presence with the toughness to return fire on opponents and the acuity to always be looking for his next call-out.

Inside the cage, Jouban is a southpaw with stopping power in his left hand and foot. He's a smart fighter on the whole but still lets himself get drawn into brawls, at which point he becomes fairly easy to hit. All the more fun for fans, if not for Jouban's gray matter.

Wrestling is an improvement area, but he's active off his back while on the ground and is better with submissions than he gets credit for.

Jouban is on a three-fight winning streak, most recently dispatching lightning rod Mike Perry. But Nelson is at a different level. If Jouban can pull the upset—he can be backed at 3-1, according to OddsShark—he'll be ready for prime time. Like, TV prime time.

  

Makwan Amirkhani

Division: Featherweight
Record: 13-2 (3-0 UFC)
Age: 28

Amrikhani has a little bit of confidence to him. No unassuming person goes by a nickname like Mr. Finland. No, make no mistake. Amirkhani is very assuming.

He certainly assumes he's going to win every time, and that instinct has been borne out in his young UFC career, during which time he's undefeated. He has an even greater dose of swagger thanks to his move last year to the SBG Ireland gym. There, the Iranian-born Finn trains alongside lightweight champion and pound-for-pound swagtator Conor McGregor.

"Everybody in the featherweight [division] should be scared," Amirkhani told Ken Hathaway and Matt Erickson of MMAjunkie. "When I step into the SBG, when I spend more time there, I'll be a really dangerous fighter after this when I go there."

This will be Amirkhani’s first bout with "more time" under his belt at SBG Ireland. It will be interesting to see how his striking chops have progressed in the 13 months since he last competed; unlike the standard European prospect, Amirkhani is a grappler first and foremost.

If he prevails in his fight with the anonymous Arnold Allen, and he's the 5-6 favorite to win, he'll keep a good thing going. Two of his three UFC wins to date came by stoppage, and one earned him a post-fight performance bonus. The well-rounded 28-year-old has the ability—and certainly the willingness—to be a high-wattage star from the UFC, particularly in Europe.

 

Marc Diakiese

Division: Lightweight
Record: 11-0 (2-0 UFC)
Age: 24

Probably the least well-known of this triad, the 23-year-old Englishman is one of the hottest up-and-comers in the lightweight division, be it in the UFC or anywhere else.

Bonecrusher has five knockouts to his name, which kind of gives you a sense of his specialty.

Diakiese was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and moved to England when he was 12. He splits his training time between Allstars Training Center and Atherton Submission Wrestling, but his speed and power are unteachable. As he has matured as a fighter, he has polished his gifts with technique and tempered his aggression with patience, becoming a well-rounded competitor in the process.

One thing that was just fine right from the start? His gift of hype. A relentless trash talker, he once compelled German fighter Nick Hein to block him on social media. He also made a few waves ahead of UFC Fight Night 107 by becaming the first UFC fighter to pose for a gay magazine.

 

This is a fairly tight three-month turnaround for Diakiese; his last fight came in December, and it was win over the similarly well-regarded Frankie Perez. He seems to like it that way, though. This is his third fight since joining the UFC in October.

If he can make an impression on this undercard against virtual unknown and injury fill-in Teemu Packalen, he might be able to take a leap to higher-profile slots on future cards.

  

Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Dana White Thinks Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor Fight Will Happen

UFC president Dana White has offered his opinion on a potential showdown between the company's lightweight champion Conor McGregor and legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., insisting he believes the bout will happen.

Speculation has gathered pace in recent weeks that a fantasy fight between the two combat sports stars could come to fruition. White, speaking on Conan (h/t Brett Okamoto of ESPN) on Wednesday, outlined some potential complications, although he expressed his belief the deal will get over the line.

"I do think it's going to happen," the UFC chief said. "I think it's going to be a tough deal, because, obviously, there are a lot of egos involved in this deal and a lot of people, so that always makes it tougher. [But] on the flip side, there's so much money involved; I just don't see how it doesn't happen."

As Okamoto noted, White has previously been coy on the idea of McGregor's taking on Mayweather, insisting in January it would be an "epic fail" for the Irishman to take part without the UFC's go-ahead.

MMA journalist Luke Thomas outlined his opinion as to why the UFC may have changed its stance:

Speaking at a promotional event in Liverpool, England, last week (h/t the Observer via the Guardian), Mayweather confirmed he was coming out of retirement to take on McGregor. "Simple and plain, let's fight in June," he said.

Further fuel was added to the fire when a report from Duane Finley of FloCombat stated the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas had been booked for June 10 for a potential meeting of the two men.

Indeed, what seemed to be a previously fantastical prospect is beginning to look increasingly feasible. In the same interview, White even offered his insight into how he felt this potential clash of styles and skills would go.

"McGregor is huge," he said. "He's in the prime of his career. Floyd is 40. Floyd has always had problems with southpaws; Conor is a southpaw, and Conor hits hard. When he hits people, they go. Floyd is definitely not knocking him out. That's for sure."

White didn't pick McGregor to win specifically, although he suggested the scrap would at least be "interesting."

Mayweather's last professional bout came against Andre Berto in September 2015, after which he walked away from boxing with a perfect 49-fight record and his reputation secured as one of the best of all time.

McGregor was last in action at UFC 205 in November 2016, when he stopped Eddie Alvarez to be crowned lightweight champion. In winning the bout, he became the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles at the same time, although he has since been stripped of the featherweight strap.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Conor McGregor Won't Be Stopped from Fighting Floyd Mayweather, Says Dana White

The potential fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. still hasn't been confirmed, but it has Dana White's blessing.

The UFC president discussed the high-profile bout with TMZ Sports on Wednesday, saying it is still a possibility.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense for my business," White said. "But I would never keep Conor from making that kind of money."

Per the Daily Mail's Jeff Powell, recent rumors suggested the superstars booked the T-Mobile Arena for June 10, but White said it "has nothing to do with us."

Mayweather retired on top of the boxing world in 2015 with a 49-0 record, although the 40-year-old recently told FightHype he has come out of retirement for a bout against the Irishman:

McGregor is still active in the UFC and is the reigning lightweight champion, holding a 21-3 record in his career. While his experience has exclusively been in mixed martial arts, he is known for his punching ability and believes he could succeed as a boxer against one of the best ever.

The challenge has been finding common ground for the two to enter the ring. White offered the pair $25 million each plus a share of the pay-per-view profits, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports, although Mayweather laughed it off.

There seems to be enough momentum for a megafight to take place eventually; fans will just be left wondering when it will happen.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Complete Guide to UFC Fight Night 107: Manuwa vs. Anderson

The UFC returns to London with a decent card on its Fight Pass platform this Saturday, March 18. In the main event, talented light heavyweights Jimi Manuwa and Corey Anderson meet to decide who will get a shot at an elite fighter in a division that badly needs new blood.

To be clear, this isn't an especially compelling main event. Neither Anderson nor Manuwa has much of a profile, and the stakes here aren't obvious or high. With that said, it should be a fun fight between two intriguing competitors.

The rest of the card fits that profile as well. There's nothing here that screams relevance, but everything is well-matched and has the potential for entertainment.

The co-main event features Iceland's Gunnar Nelson against Alan Jouban in an excellent welterweight scrap, while Brad Pickett draws Marlon Vera in his retirement fight. The featherweight bout between Arnold Allen and Makwan Amirkhani might be the best fight on the card.

The preliminary card features a mixture of talented prospects and action bouts. Ireland's Joe Duffy headlines the preliminary portion with an intriguing matchup against Reza Madadi, and the welterweight bout between Leon Edwards and Vicente Luque is a slobberknocker in the making. Keep a close eye on prospects Tom Breese and Marc Diakiese, both of whom have enormous potential.

Let's take a look at each fight.

Begin Slideshow

Floyd vs. Conor, the UFC's Lightweight Division and the Hot Mess of It All

The UFC lightweight division has twisted itself into a tricky little knot to begin 2017.

Now, the question is whether the fight company can pull the right strings to untangle it all before the most dependably great weight class in MMA begins to unravel.

Not since the UFC abruptly abandoned the 155-pound division in 2004 (only to pick it up again in 2006) have things been in such disarray.

Newly minted 155-pound champion Conor McGregor remains at odds with the organization on a return, so dead-set is he on boxing Floyd Mayweather. That far-fetched superfight continues to waffle between done deal and ain’t-no-way, depending on the day and which way the trade winds are blowing.

Last week, Mayweather announced he was “officially out of retirement for Conor McGregor,” in a video posted by FightHype.com. What that means, exactly, seems slippery at best, though at least the former five-division world champion appears to be feeling some urgency to make the fight.

“We don’t need to waste no time,” Mayweather said in the video. “We need to make this s--t happen quickly. Let’s get it on in June.”

On the MMA side of the aisle, folks continue to regard McGregor vs. Mayweather as an extreme long shot. As in, a stumble-into-a-forest-meadow-and-catch-Bigfoot-riding-a-unicorn type of long shot.

Somehow, though, the rumors haven’t dried up and blown away, despite McGregor’s exclusive contract with the UFC and Mayweather being a few weeks removed from turning 40 years old. Just about the only thing making the bout seem remotely possible is that the story itself refuses to die.

More painfully real is the growing acceptance among MMA fans that McGregor and the UFC might eternally be at each other’s throats.

The 28-year-old Dublin native has been a revelation since debuting in the Octagon in 2013. The sheer speed with which he went from complete unknown to the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view draw was breathtaking. Now, with Ronda Rousey perhaps gone for good and new owners at WME-IMG desperate to increase profits, McGregor is more important than ever.

Naturally, he’s well aware of that, too.

Better than perhaps any athlete in UFC history, McGregor has leveraged his position into big paydays. It’s been refreshing to see a fighter finally gain the upper hand on the organization in negotiations, but if McGregor’s current extended paternity leave morphs into a full-on contract hold-out, it feels as though his antics might finally start to wear thin with fans.

People seem to be getting sick of seeing McGregor win UFC titles—he’s captured two since December 2015—and then never defend them.

Case in point: Competition in the featherweight division was hot and heavy while McGregor was in the mix, but things have slumped since the UFC stripped him of the title in November 2016. Jose Aldo was promoted from interim champ to undisputed champ, but he has yet to defend the belt.

Max Holloway became the new 145-pound interim champion by defeating an overweight Anthony Pettis at UFC 206. Now a title unification bout between Holloway and Aldo is finally expected at UFC 211 on June 3.

So, McGregor’s entrance and exit at featherweight caused no small amount of chaos.

Now the same thing is happening at lightweight.

The UFC’s efforts to prop up an interim champ at 155 pounds during McGregor’s absence fizzled earlier this month when Khabib Nurmagomedov was hospitalized the week of UFC 209 and a meeting against Tony Ferguson was canceled.

Nurmagomedov officially remains the division’s No. 1 contender, but his immediate future is in doubt after his weight snafu dealt a significant blow to that event’s PPV fortunes.

Even the normally bombastic UFC President Dana White was flummoxed.

"He’s going to have to take some time to recover from this weight cut," White told reporters after Nurmagomedov's removal, via MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn. "Then, I don’t know what to do.”

The feeling is mutual.

You ready for this? Because at this point it gets a little complicated.

Ferguson remains healthy and ready to fight, but Nurmagomedov’s absence leaves him without a clear-cut championship caliber opponent. It would be a shame to see Ferguson put his nine-fight win streak on the line against lesser competition, but that might be the reality for him now.

On the other hand, he told reporters the UFC paid him less than half his expected show money for the bout after he made weight and Nurmagomedov didn’t. If Ferguson's accounting is accurate, that probably wasn’t the best way for the organization to endear itself to a guy it might need a favor from soon.

Meanwhile, former champ Eddie Alvarez—who lost the title to McGregor at UFC 205—just accepted a surprising booking against Dustin Poirier at UFC 211. That eliminates Alvarez from interim title consideration, at least in the short term.

Another former champ, Rafael dos Anjos, could make sense for the spot had he not just lost to Ferguson in November 2016. On top of that, dos Anjos recently announced his desire to decamp from lightweight entirely, in favor of a future at welterweight.

Dos Anjos cited his own difficult weight cuts as the reason for the move.

“It’s just too much for me,” he said, via MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz. “I already got the belt. And for [the money] I’m making now, it's not worth it. One day, if there’s a superfight or something that gives me good money, I can make this sacrifice and go back to 155 again, but not now."

All that means nearly the entire lightweight Top Five is indisposed at the moment.

The champion is out indefinitely. The No. 1 contender faces a murky future, and Ferguson (No. 2 on the UFC’s official rankings) is left without a clear direction.

As ever, the elephant in the room remains Nate Diaz.

Diaz is currently No. 8 in the 155-pound rankings, but he deserves to be ranked higher. He’s pretty much the only guy in the Top 15 with the recent resume and crossover appeal to give an interim title fight against Ferguson (or anybody else) the shimmer of legitimacy.

Unfortunately, Diaz is also perennially seemingly crosswise with UFC management over his pay. His last two fights were both at welterweight (against McGregor) and he hasn’t fought since a majority decision loss to the Irishman at UFC 202.

Matchmakers could pluck Diaz from the sidelines and inject him into a fight against Ferguson at any moment, but in the new cost-conscious UFC, it is perhaps unlikely that a financial arrangement to the liking of all parties is in the immediate offing.

So, what to do?

How to untie this cluster?

There is no easy answer.

The sad truth is that we will all most likely continue to wait on McGregor.

His next move could dictate a lot about the lightweight division’s future.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Former World Champion Kickboxer Curtis Page Facing 22 Sex Charges

Curtis Page, a three-time world champion in kickboxing, is currently standing trial for the alleged rape and sexual assault of three different women. 

Per Ben Wilkinson of the Daily Mail, Page has been accused of "22 historical sex assaults and rapes against three girls over a decade."

Page, who has denied the charges, is alleged to have sexually assaulted and raped these women as young as 11 years old during his time as a martial arts instructor at various different clubs in England. 

"Mr. Page had a liking for young girls and groomed them," prosecutor James Thacker said during the court proceedings at Isleworth Crown Court in London, per Wilkinson. "All of these girls lacked father figures in their lives and looked up to Mr. Page as person of authority. He drove a wedge between them and their families."

One woman said Page first groped her at the age of 11, more than 30 years ago, and she "came forward in 2013 after seeing a photograph of herself when she was 11."

Page is facing 14 charges of indecent assault, six charges of rape and two counts of sex with a child under the age of 13. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

5 UFC Stories That Would Make Great Movies

Many things have changed since WME-IMG made their record purchase of the UFC last year. Matchmaking and building pay-per-views have been altered considerably, and the chase of the almighty dollar appears to be as prominent as anything that suggests MMA is still a sport.

Some athletes under the promotion's umbrella have shown up in movies or are going to, which is an interesting turn of events. Back in the days when the Fertittas ran things, any cinematic crossovers were purely coincidental and largely focused on the biggest stars the UFC had to offer.

When new ownership took over, they began to tout the possibility of commoditizing their fighters in the Hollywood realm with far greater regularity.

With that process underway, it's hard not to think that licensing UFC stories for feature length adaptation won't be far behind. There have been far too many remarkable happenings in the UFC over the years for such a profit-driven ownership group to ignore the potential to generate revenue that those stories have.

Realistically, some guys already have movies about them, and the UFC itself has dipped its toe into the short film waters in the past to great acclaim. It's not going to be a far trip to start doing features.

If that's the objective that WME-IMG has in mind and it's the avenue they plan to go with the UFC, the following five stories might generate a little box office cheddar and get some butts in theatre seats when the time comes.

Begin Slideshow

Nothing Against Kelvin Gastelum, but Silva vs. Romero Was the Fight to Make

Yoel Romero might just be the best.

 

He’s got kind of a wrestling heel vibe, dominating opponents with athleticism and skill while affording himself enough “lie, cheat and steal” latitude so that you’re never surprised if his doping tests are flagged or he takes an extra minute or two on the stool between rounds.

If you like your MMA entertainment to extend beyond just fists meeting faces, you’re probably into Cuba’s predominant combat athlete.

This week, he fancied himself a matchmaker. Turned out he was a pretty good one too.

Seeing his title shot scrapped in favor of the utterly stupid Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre matchup, Romero called on the UFC to make an interim title fight between himself and the legendary Anderson Silva in an interview on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. The fight, for however unlikely it would have appeared even as recently as a few weeks ago, made the weirdest kind of sense.

Silva is still among the biggest names in the sport, even as a guy who’ll be 42 next month and has one (controversial) win since 2012. He defended the middleweight title more times than anyone has defended any title between 2006 and 2013 and owns the type of highlight reel of which most athletes only dream.

Romero suggested no one else who’s any good is available to fight him, and Silva made sense based on cache and circumstance.

He was right.

A quick look at the rankings shows everyone between Romero and Silva as booked or injured, and if he wanted a fight it appeared Silva should be it. It also appeared that it should be for an interim title, because everything might as well be for an interim title the way 2017 has been shaping up. Beyond that, there are some intriguing permutations on the other side of a Romero-Silva dance.

Romero and Bisping win their bouts, they meet as planned in the most meritorious middleweight matchup possible.

Silva and Bisping win, you get a rematch of their electric 2016 scrap that easily would have been Fight of the Year if Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit weren’t so good at violence.

Romero and GSP win, and you’ve got the hulking beast Romero looking to roast his second straight all-time great as he hits 40 years old himself, an unprecedented feat that would suddenly turn his career into something pretty great itself.

Silva and GSP win and you get the superfight fans have been waiting on for a decade but which has been ever so elusive for ever so many reasons over that time. Title versus title at middleweight seems to eliminate just about every one of those reasons and make the meeting, finally, a certainty.

Only the UFC didn’t see it that way.

Despite the obvious thrills and potential for revenue such an interesting matchup would offer, the promotion pivoted from it by booking Silva into a bout with upstart contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212. Gastelum has looked ferocious since his continued losses to the scale at welterweight forced him north to 185, scoring standout wins over Tim Kennedy and Vitor Belfort. He’s 4-0 as a middleweight in the UFC.

In many ways, the Gastelum fight provides a similar opportunity for the UFC to build something: A true contender scores a win over a living legend and walks out of the cage within spitting distance of a shot at Bisping or St-Pierre.

Still, the fight lacks the appeal of Romero-Silva on a broader level. There are no storylines ready to emerge from it. Nothing truly exciting.

It’s, at best, a nice win for a rising prospect who would be in the top five as opposed to undeniably next for a title fight. At worst, Silva blisters that rising prospect and creates questions about why someone so undersized is fighting among relative giants while doing little for his own legacy in the process.

It’s a booking that’s just weird instead of one that makes the weirdest kind of sense.

Even more weird is that this newfangled UFC didn’t see that. A group so in love with money should easily have seen the potential of the outcomes noted above, and it should have understood that every one of those outcomes would be bigger than anything involving Gastelum.

Yet here we are, Silva and Gastelum circling one another while Romero is left wondering why no one appreciates his brilliance—in the cage or, apparently, as a matchmaker.

One can't help but be a little befuddled by that.

 

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Anderson Silva vs. Kelvin Gastelum Fight Announced for UFC 212

Anderson Silva didn't get who he wanted, but he is getting a bout at UFC 212.

The 41-year-old will fight Kelvin Gastelum at the June 3 pay-per-view in Brazil, UFC announced Tuesday.

Silva, an MMA legend and former middleweight champion, last fought at UFC 208 in February. He defeated Derek Brunson via unanimous decision, but that bout was shrouded in controversy after many believed Brunson won the fight.

More to follow.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Kickboxer Scott Marsden Dies at 14 After Collapsing During Title Fight

Scott Marsden, a 14-year-old kickboxer, has died after collapsing during a national championship fight in Leeds, England, on Saturday.

BBC News reported Tuesday the West Yorkshire Police were looking into the situation but were not currently treating his death as suspicious.

Marsden's All Styles Kickboxing posted a message on Facebook early Sunday about the incident:

M.A.S. later announced training is "cancelled until further notice."

World Kickboxing Association England president Jon Green released a statement to BBC News about the youth fighter's death.

"Not just WKA but the world of Kickboxing is mourning such a well loved and respected fighter and sportsman," Green said. "One of our finest champions in every sense in the ring and true ambassador of the values out of the ring."

Martin Robinson of the Daily Mail noted the title bout was not sanctioned by the British Kickboxing Council because fighters under 16 were allowed to "kick and punch each other in the head."

An eyewitness to the tragedy told the Daily Mail that Marsden didn't collapse due to a blow to the head, though. Exactly what caused the medical emergency, and whether it was related to an underlying medical issue, isn't yet known.

Stephen Jones of the Daily Mirror passed along comments from Leeds District Detective Inspector Phil Jackson about Marsden.

"The incident is not being treated as suspicious and inquiries are being carried out into the circumstances for a report to the Coroner," Jackson said. "We are in contact with the family and are offering them every support at what is understandably a very difficult time for them."

A fundraising page has been started in the Sheffield native's memory, according to Matthew Taylor of the Guardian. The report noted the standout teenage competitor was a rising star in the sport, winning a gold title at the 2015 WKA Finals in Spain.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Amateur MMA Fighter Fee Chrystall Opens Up on Battle with Anorexia

In the leaden light of the Scottish morning, Fiona Chrystall—you can call her Fee—would lift the whistling kettle off the stove and pour the boiling water over half a biscuit of Weetabix, a cereal akin to Shredded Wheat. She'd tuck into the meal. That was breakfast.         

Eight or so hours later, she would eat for the second and final time of the day. The meal was exactly the same.

And those were the better days.

"There were times," Chrystall recalls now, "when I didn't eat or drink anything all day."

For the better part of her teenage years, that was life for Chrystall. Family and friends watched as anorexia wore her away before their eyes, withering her once-athletic frame down to skeletal proportions.

Her battle with the disease began at age 11. It wasn't until she was 18 that she began to pull out of its grip in earnest.

Now fit and healthy at age 25, she estimates her 5'3" frame at one point weighed as little as 30 kilos, or about 66 pounds.

One tool in her fight? Fighting itself, and not symbolically.

Chrystall is an amateur MMA fighter, hoping to turn pro soon.

"I just kind of fell into fighting by accident," she says. "I took a class while I went to university. I felt like this was for me."

Though Chrystall acknowledges her battle with anorexia will never be fully behind her, training to fight has become the healthy outlet she says she needed for a natural "super-competitive," "all-or-nothing" attitude.

"I put the emphasis now on being strong and fit and healthy, rather than looking like a skeleton," she says. "I still have these thoughts, but in a place where I can logically battle them."

The results of Chrystall's turnaround, as documented in an Instagram post that went viral early this month, have been striking:

She posted the photos as part of her involvement with Beat, a United Kingdom eating disorder charity, and to mark Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

The "before" photo, taken seven years ago, shows Chrystall emaciated and spindly, her eyes large, sunken and, yes, defiant.

Every so often during this time period, Chrystall's friends or family would panic and bring her to the hospital. There, doctors and nurses would force a feeding tube up her nose and down into her stomach, as a means of providing emergency nutrition.

This happened seven times.

Doctors suggested that Chrystall's family prepare for the worst.

"At 18 me and my wee maw were told I was a lost cause," she wrote alongside that post. "I'd had it so long and was so far gone that I would probably always be a chronic anorexic. At the time I was happy as anything, I had no desire to get better. But I know girls that have been told the same who are trying their best. At no point does recovery become unachievable. It is possible and it is wonderful."

After years of refusing to seriously pursue treatment or even acknowledge a problem, Chrystall finally had a realization when she was 18. That touched off a yearslong recovery process.

"Suddenly I said, 'I can't do this to myself or my family,'" she says. "It was a very slow process with lots of ups and downs. ... I never really wanted to get better. There's mental and physical and emotional stuff going on. It's not just eat and get better. It's so hard for people who haven't been there to understand."

Laura Moretti, a clinical nutrition specialist and eating disorders expert with the Sports Medicine Division of Boston Children's Hospital, says of the underlying psychology of eating disorders, "You're putting pressure on yourself to meet your own goals. It's the drive you have that makes you willing to go above and beyond."

Moretti also notes, "Athletes are more susceptible [to eating disorders], especially a lot of elite athletes." Chrystall may not have been an elite athlete when she developed her eating disorder, but she did have that "all-or-nothing," "super-competitive" attitude so often found in elite athletes.

The long-term health effects of an eating disorder are not behind Chrystall. A loss of bone density can heighten the risk of fractures and osteoporosis, and the reproductive system can become damaged, among other potential dangers. As she sees it, the biggest threat is a relapse of the disease itself, which, as is the case with many mental health issues, never truly disappears.

But now fully healthy and fighting every day, Chrystall says she's in a good place. The second photo in that Instagram post shows her as the picture of health, as do other photos in the feed.

Many of the photos show her hitting pads and working out at Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She's currently training away from her native Glasgow, Scotland, in preparation for her third amateur fight in the 105-pound atomweight division.

As she trains, she is experiencing a social media outpouring from new fans and followers who saw one or more of her posts.

"I had a lot of people send me photos and donations," she says. "All a bit crazy, but [the] whole point was about awareness, so more awareness the better."

 

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from eating disorders in the United States alone. For more information on anorexia and other eating disorders, visit the NEDA's resource center.

Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. He is available on Twitter. All quotes obtained firsthand.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com