In the fast paced world of mixed martial arts we at Fighters Only know it’s hard to stay on top of all the latest news so here’s five stories that may have flown under your radar.
Rashad the middleweight
After spending the majority of his career fighting 205lb, former UFC light heavyweight champion ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans is dropping down to middleweight and hopes to make his 185lb debut at UFC 205 on November 12th in Madison Square Garden, New York City.
“I can tell you I’m working towards that in making my cut down to middleweight,” Evans told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour podcast. “As far as the opponent, nothing has been set in stone. There has been talks about a fight with Tim Kennedy, but other fights too as well, but nothing has been signed yet.
“If I get a chance to be on this card, I’m going to go out there and show off, I’m going to do my thing, and I’m going to enjoy doing it, you know what I’m saying. No matter what happens in my life, I’ll live forever in this moment, I’ll be immortalized in this moment, being the fact that I can say that I competed in the first card at Madison Square Garden, UFC, mixed martial arts, and that for me it’s something that nobody can ever take away. I’ll just be happy I could be a part of that.”
Cowboy and Chill?
UFC lightweight and more recently welterweight contender Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone is getting the Netflix treatment. Appearing on this week’s episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, the former UFC title challenger made the announcement he’s destined for the small screen next year.
“It’s a Netflix series,” revealed Cerrone. “I got six episodes. Going to do cowboy s**t. It’s called ‘Godless.’ I’m part of a gang, a train robbery gang. I’m excited. We start on the 12th.” The show is expected to debut on Netflix in 2017 for a limited series run.
Meanwhile, back at his day job, as soon as Robbie Lawler made it known he was looking for a fight, Cowboy jumped on social media to throw his name into the mix and asking for a slot at Madison Square Garden. Is there a fighter on the roster that doesn’t want to feature in NYC?
Third times a charm for MVP–Gonzalez
After two failed attempts to get a fight between Michael ‘Venom’ Page and Fernando Gonzalez into the cage, Bellator MMA is going back to the well one more time and have announced the welterweight pairing will be part of the of the Bellator 163 main card, headlined by Michael Chandler’s lightweight championship defense against Benson Henderson.
“My next victim, shall I say, will be Fernando Gonzalez,” Page told ESPN. “He’s a tough guy. That just means the punching bag is going to last a bit longer and you get to see more MVP. That’s the only thing I can see being the cause of why everyone wants to see this fight.”
Gracie backs up the one trick pony theory
Following yet another faultless performance this past weekend, where Demian Maia became the first man in 10 years to submit Carlos Condit, and in the process, cement himself right at the top of the welterweight divisions list of most deserving to get the next title show, MMA legend Royce Gracie weighed in on his fellow BJJ practitioner.
Gracie, who has the most submission victories in UFC history, just one ahead of Maia, believes even in 2016 mastering one martial art can be enough at the elite level.
Gracie said: “His fight was perfect. He showed how efficient jiu-jitsu is, and that he can win only using his jiu-jitsu. The way he’s going, he will beat that number and put the record way up. He’s doing great. You don’t need to trade punches or allow getting punched in the face to win the fight, and Demian shows that.
“He spent some time wanting to use Muay Thai, but grew a lot when he started believing in his jiu-jitsu again. You have to work on your stand-up to know what’s coming, but jiu-jitsu is enough to win the fight.”
The Huntingdon Beach Bad Boy vs. The Last Emperor
Tito Ortiz isn’t done just yet. Before the former UFC light heavyweight champion decided to call it a day it looks like he still has something left on his bucket list. A fight with one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time: Fedor Emelianenko.
“Let’s make an interesting fight,” said Ortiz said a the weekend. “Let’s see if Fedor can get down to 205. I think it’s just the weight. That’s the only thing stopping me. I’m getting paid the same amount of money no matter what, don’t matter who it is.”