Category: UFC

CM Punk Loses Second UFC Fight By Decision

cm punk loses ufc 225

Ex-WWE star CM Punk went the distance during his second UFC fight, but failed to pick up a win.

Punk was defeated by Mike Jackson via unanimous decision following the third round at UFC 225 in Chicago. He was not interviewed in the octagon after losing.

Announcer Joe Regan commended the former WWE champ’s heart, but was pretty harsh for most of the fight on commentary — once criticizing Punk for not being able to do basic white belt maneuvers.

During the post-fight press conference, Dana White seemed less than pleased with the performance of Mike Jackson and said he regretted not putting these two competitors on the fight pass card.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero 2, CM Punk On Fight Card 6/9/18

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DATE: June 9, 2018
LOCATION: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

MAIN CARD

UFC Middleweight Championship
Robert Whittaker (c )vs.Yoel Romero

Welterweight: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington

Featherweight: Holly Holm vs. Megan Anderson

Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski vs.Tai Tuivasa

Welterweight: CM Punk vs. Mike Jackson

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1)

Heavyweight: Alistair Overeem vs. Curtis Blaydes

Women’s Strawweight: Cláudia Gadelha vs. Carla Esparza

Featherweight: Ricardo Lamas vs. Mirsad Bekti?

Heavyweight: Rashad Coulter vs. Chris de la Rocha

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS)

Light Heavyweight: Rashad Evans vs. Anthony Smith

Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez vs. Sergio Pettis

Lightweight: Clay Guida vs. Charles Oliveira

Featherweight: Mike Santiago vs. Dan Ige

CM Punk Not Completely Closing Door On Pro Wrestling Return, Reveals His UFC 225 Entrance Song

CM Punk spoke to MMAFighting.com ahead of UFC 225 this Saturday in Chicago. Punk, who will be facing fellow 0-1 fighter Mike Jackson on the main card of the event, admitted that he’s not sure what the crowd response for him will be, although he doesn’t expect it to be like his past WWE matches in the city. He also revealed that he will come out to the fight to Living Colour’s Cult Of Personality, which he used during his WWE and ROH runs.

Punk also talked about “All In” in September and noted that he will not be a part of the event, saying that “it’s not happening.” Punk also noted that he wasn’t directly asked to be a part of the event, or any pro wrestling show.

“Nobody has ever asked me, like straight up asked me, to come wrestle for them. Nobody.” Punk added, “[People have said] hey, if you ever wanna do anything… Nobody’s ever been like, ‘hey, here’s the deal, we’re having a show, we’re paying you X amount and you’re working this guy. Whaddaya say, yes or no?’ Nobody’s ever done that.”

Punk also stated that he doesn’t think that he would accept a real offer to return to pro wrestling, although he wasn’t completely closing the door on it.

“I don’t think so, it’s a hard question to answer, a lot’s happened this week,” Punk said. “I could definitely tell you if you asked me that question a week ago when I still felt like I had a foot in the grave, the answer [would have been] no, I don’t want anything to do with it. I feel like I’m out and the future is yet to be written, it’s a wide open book, it’s my story to tell. I’m just being real, I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘No! No!’ Something might come up, some fun might be had.

“Right now my heart and my mind and my focus is 100% on Saturday and fighting. So does that mean fighting beyond Saturday? To me that means yes.”

Punk also discussed fighting in the UFC again, how this fight is different from his UFC debut, not knowing if he will fight again after Saturday and more. You can watch the whole interview at this link. We will have live round-by-round coverage of UFC 225 this Saturday, followed by a special Saturday night edition of the Wrestling Inc. podcast with Matt Morgan, Chris Featherstone and myself discussing Punk’s UFC return, NJPW Dominion and more.

Source: WrestlingINC

CM Punk And Colt Cabana Win Defamation Lawsuit Filed By A WWE Doctor

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Jurors sided with CM Punk and Colt Cabana on Tuesday — clearing the pair in a defamation lawsuit filed by a WWE doctor upset with comments Punk made during a controversial 2014 podcast.

The decision came down around 4pm Chicago-time in Cook County Circuit Court, according to Wrestlezone, capping off a libel trial that lasted one week.

Over five days of testimony, Punk and Cabana’s lawyers tried to prove Punk believed what he said during the interview about Dr. Christopher Amann. Ultimately, Amann’s side had trouble proving any real monetary damage occurred. The doctor was seeking $4 million dollars (one dollar per each podcast stream) and additional punitive damages.

In the November 2014 podcast interview conducted by Cabana, Punk recalled his medical issues and treatments in the months leading up to him walking out of WWE following the Royal Rumble. Though he was rarely mentioned by name in the podcast, Amann felt Punk’s claims directly damaged his reputation and caused distress.

Amann told jurors he was harassed and humiliated by fans and that the podcast hurt his standing with patients. However, the WWE ringside physician couldn’t point to any monetary damages and he remains employed by the company.

Much of the testimony centered around a lump on Punk’s backside which Punk felt made him ill over an extended period. Punk contended Amann didn’t properly treat it. Amann claims he never saw it. His attorneys showed numerous texts and emails regarding Punk’s health and at no point did Punk put anything in writing with WWE doctors about the lump.

In the podcast, Punk said the lump ended up being a staph infection that ultimately could’ve cost him his life. It was shown it court that the lump was diagnosed by a physician’s assistant as a lump. Even so, the P.A. who treated Punk labeled it a possible staph infection — but never tested it.

Punk said the podcast was his way to “set the record straight for my fans” and tell his story. He told jurors he wouldn’t change anything about the interview.

At the end of the day, jurors didn’t see enough to prove Punk and Cabana legally defamed Amann.

With this trial now behind him, Punk has four days to get mentally prepared to step into the octagon. His second UFC fight is set for Saturday in Chicago against Mike Jackson.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

ESPN Outbids FOX To Secure UFC TV Rights With $1.5 Billion Deal

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On the heels of FOX closing in on a five-year deal with WWE’s SmackDown Live brand worth over $1 billion, ESPN has reached a second agreement with UFC, Fortune reports.

Last October, the exclusive negotiating period between UFC and FOX expired, giving the brand an opportunity to shop their television rights package to other companies. WWE started talking with FOX around that time, as executives from both parties initially met at the close of 2017. For WWE, NBC Universal decided to retain their partnership with the Raw brand, while FOX commenced a billion-dollar five-year deal to acquire SmackDown.

Just a few weeks ago, Disney’s new Direct-To-Consumer & International segment along with ESPN reached a $150 million per year agreement to exclusively air 15 full-card events on their ESPN+ platform, effective January 2019. ESPN has now struck a second $150 million five-year deal with UFC to broadcast and stream more than 30 fights a year.

According to USA Today, the broadcast deal will include 10 full UFC cards along with the preliminary card for a dozen UFC pay-per-view shows. Combined with the April agreement, the deal is said to be worth $1.5 billion. Both deals begin on January 1st.

Source: WrestlingINC

UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington 5/12/18

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MAY 12, 2018 JEUNESSE ARENA, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

 UFC FIGHT PASS EARLY PRELIMS 6:15PM/3:15PM ETPT, FX PRELIMS 8PM/5PM ETPT, PPV MAIN CARD 10PM/7PM ETPT

MAIN CARD

  • Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pennington (BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT)
  • Ronaldo Souza vs. Kelvin Gastelum
  • Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Cooper
  • John Lineker vs. Brian Kelleher
  • Vitor Belfort vs. Lyoto Machida

UNDERCARD

  • Cezar Ferreira vs. Karl Roberson
  • Alexey Oleynik vs. Junior Albini
  • Davi Ramos vs. Nick Hein
  • Elizeu Zaleski vs. Sean Strickland
  • Warlley Alves vs. Sultan Aliev
  • Thales Leites vs. Jack Hermansson
  • Alberto Mina vs. Ramazan Emeev
  • Markus Perez vs. James Bochnovic

UFC Finalizes Multi-Year Deal With ESPN

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The UFC and Disney’s new Direct-To-Consumer & International segment along with ESPN, have reached a multi-year media rights agreement for exclusive live UFC content on ESPN+, as well as across a variety of ESPN’s television, social and digital platforms, in English and Spanish, taking effect in January 2019.

“One of our goals for ESPN+ is to bring sports fans of all genres content they love and are passionate about, and this agreement with UFC is illustrative of exactly that, ” said Kevin Mayer, Chairman, Direct to Consumer and International, The Walt Disney Company. “We look forward to providing UFC’s enthusiastic, growing fan base with a wide array of live events and building a lasting relationship with the industry leader in mixed martial arts.”

“UFC is a premier global sports property with legions of incredibly avid fans,” added Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN President and Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks. ” We are excited to be able to bring their world-class events and content to ESPN+ and the ESPN networks. This agreement shows the commitment we have to delivering fans the very best across our entire platform.”

While no deal with FOX has been announced, Variety reported in April that ESPN and FOX Sports were teaming up to bid for the UFC television package that would bring as many as 15+ fights to ESPN+. UFC’s current deal with FOX Sports expires in December. This deal provides for 15 live UFC events to stream exclusively on ESPN+ with a full card with 12 fights. The events will be branded “UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night” and will deliver a full card of 12 UFC bouts.

“I couldn’t be more excited to partner with The Walt Disney Company and ESPN on an agreement that will continue to grow our sport,” said UFC President Dana White. “UFC has always done deals with the right partners at the right time and this one is no exception. We will now have the ability to deliver fights to our young fan base wherever they are and whenever they want it. This deal is a home run for ESPN and UFC.”

Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) by downloading the ESPN App at ESPNPlus.com. In addition to the live UFC cards, other UFC content available to ESPN+ subscribers will include:

  • Exclusive, all new-seasons of “Dana White’s Contender Series” beginning in June 2019
  • A new original, all-access series produced by IMG Original Content
  • Exclusive pre- and post-event shows for all 15 “UFC on ESPN+ Fight Nights”
  • Non-exclusive access to UFC’s full archive of programming, including historic events, classic bouts, and original programming
  • Additional UFC-branded content, including “UFC Countdown” shows, press conferences, weigh-ins, and pre-and post-shows

In addition to the live events and content included in the ESPN+ subscription, fight fans will be able to purchase and watch UFC Fight Pass and UFC PPV events via ESPN+, for a separate cost. ESPN will also bring fans a variety of UFC content across ESPN’s linear and digital platforms, including an exclusive, 30-minute special on ESPN’s linear networks previewing upcoming bouts and breaking down match ups leading up to each UFC PPV; hundreds of hours of UFC library programming on linear networks; and re-airs of current UFC PPV events.

Source: WrestlingINC

FOX May Partner With ESPN For UFC Television Rights Bid

Over the past several months, there have been discussions of WWE potentially ending their relationship with USA in order to commence a partnership with FOX. WWE’s deal with NBC Universal expires on September 30, 2019, and CFO George Barrios said that the company hopes to announce their U.S. distribution plans between May and September of this year. In late 2017, Triple H had a meeting with executives of FOX Sports to potentially rekindle a partnership. WWE worked with the company in the past, airing a couple of episodes of Saturday Night’s Main Event, as well as a WrestleMania 11 special in 1995.

To make the bidding war more competitive, Variety reports that ESPN has partnered up with rival FOX Sports to bid for television rights for UFC. The two companies have recently proposed to split the UFC TV package, which would bring as many as 15 fight events to the new subscription streaming service, ESPN+. As a company, ESPN has agreed that it would be willing to pay $120-180 million per year to add UFC to the collection of live-event rights. In addition, FOX is willing to increase their contribution from $120 million to $200 million.

The effort in ESPN partnering with FOX aims to turn around the decline in UFC interest, as ratings dropped 22% in average total viewers from last year, falling to just under 2 million. The UFC Fight Night specials on FS1 also fell 17%, averaging 795,000 viewers.

In 2011, FOX signed a seven-year deal with UFC, which expires this year. A partnership with ESPN would keep the relationship with FOX and UFC alive, particularly since FOX is in the transition of selling the bulk of its entertainment divisions to Disney. In addition, this partnership would be a stronger presentation in the potential bidding war with WWE. The $200 million dollar bid from FOX to secure the UFC TV rights is far lower than the asking price of Endeavor, UFC’s parent company.

Source: WrestlingINC

Max Holloway out of UFC 223 main event against Khabib Nurmagomedov

UFC 223 is having a rough week.

Featherweight champion Max Holloway has been pulled from Saturday’s main event fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov after being deemed medically unfit to compete. MMA Fighting confirmed the news Friday morning during UFC 223’s official weigh-ins following an initial report by ESPN.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported that commission doctors put a halt to Holloway’s weight cut in fear of his safety, however Holloway wished to continue. At the time of the decision, Holloway wanted to “keep pushing” and was “close,” a member of Holloway’s team told Helwani.

The loss of Holloway vs. Nurmagomedov marks the fourth fight to be scratched from UFC 223 over a 24-hour span, adding to the trio of fights lost on Thursday because of Conor McGregor’s attack on a fighter bus.

Holloway, 26, accepted the bout against Nurmagomedov on Sunday after an injury to Tony Ferguson derailed UFC 223’s main event six days out from fight night. Holloway’s nutritionist George Lockhart told MMA Fighting that Holloway’s impromptu weight cut was expected to be “tied for the largest weight cut” Lockhart had ever managed.

With Holloway out, the UFC is currently attempting to put together a replacement main event between Nurmagomedov and former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.

Pettis’ original UFC 223 fight against Michael Chiesa was cancelled on Thursday after Chiesa was injured in McGregor’s bus attack. Pettis has yet to weigh-in.

Update: Holloway tweeted out this statement Friday morning.

Source: MMAFighting

Conor McGregor Charged With Assault & Criminal mischief Following Backstage Melee At UFC 223 Media Day

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UFC Fighter Conor McGregor crashed the UFC 223 Media Day at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY with a group of people. McGregor was seen on video throwing a hand dolly through a window of a bus carrying UFC fighters.

UFC fighters Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg was injured. Chiesa had facial lacerations and Borg experienced problems with his eye from particles of glass.

McGregor turned himself into the New York Police Department. McGregor was charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of criminal mischief.

MMA fighter Cian Cowley, who was part of McGregor’s group has been charged with assaualt and criminal mischief.

UFC fighter Artom Lobov, who was with McGregor, has been pulled from Saturday’s UFC 223 card.

Three fights had to be cancelled due to the incident – Michael Chiesa vs. Anthony Pettis, Ray Borg vs. Brandon Moreno and Artom Lobov vs.  Alex Caceres.

UFC president Dana White calls McGregor’s behavior “the most disgusting thing that has happened” in UFC history. White also said that it was a “bad career move” for McGregor.