July 2020 – Page 10

Hulk Hogan recently attended his first WWE event in years when he was invited to the premiere of the upcoming Andre the Giant HBO documentary. While he was there, TMZ met up with Hogan and asked him if he agreed with Mark Henry’s comments stating that he needed to apologize to all of the African American wrestlers in the business. Hogan admitted that an apology is in order by stating, “I totally agree with him, not to the black wrestlers, to all the wrestlers. What I said was way out of line and I’m forever sorry for that.” Hulk Hogan was released from WWE back in 2015 after racist comments that he made went public, but the company has reportedly had talks about possibly bringing him back. For right now, Hogan is still not under contract to WWE.
John Cena has been calling out The Undertaker with the goal of facing him at WrestleMania, but “The Deadman” still has yet to respond to any of Cena’s challenges. A match between the two WWE legends is still expected to take place at the event, and with only one more episode of Raw left to go before the big event next Sunday, it seems likely that the match will be announced on that episode of Raw. Cageside Seats has just reported that the plan is for The Undertaker to arrive on Raw this Monday night and finally accept Cena’s request for a WrestleMania match. The match will officially mark the first time that Cena and Undertaker have faced off at a WrestleMania before.
There is still no show on earth that exudes more pageantry than WrestleMania does. For over three decades, the event has provided countless memories and moments that fans will remember for a lifetime. With WrestleMania 34 just a few more days away from finally taking place, WWE has just uploaded a brand new photo gallery onto their website featuring some of the most iconic images taken from past WrestleMania events. Moments like Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan from WrestleMania 3 have obviously made the cut, but the gallery includes several other photos as well. Be sure to check out the defining WrestleMania image gallery by clicking on the link down below:

Iconic shot after iconic shot. These images DEFINE @WrestleMania! https://t.co/iElB9XHvLr
— WWE (@WWE) March 31, 2018

Minnesota, Penn State, Oklahoma State all remain in the hunt

OKLAHOMA CITY — There was a lot of scoreboard watching on Saturday morning. Those on press row and most everyone inside Chesapeake Energy Arena required an abacus as Penn State, Minnesota and Oklahoma State continued their battle for the 2014 national team title.

At the conclusion of the fifth session of the 2014 NCAA championships, all coaches were doing the math with one round left and the Gophers holding a 104-101 ½ point lead. The Cowboys, still mathematically alive with four finalists, could only sit and watch Saturday morning as the Nittany Lions and Gophers went back and forth. Continue reading at www.ncaa.com

WrestleMania 34 is just a few days away and until now there is no word yet on who Braun Strowman’s mystery partner will be but there are a number of wrestlers who are ready to return to action including: Samoa Joe, Big Cass, Big Show, Bobby Lashley, Jeff Hardy and Drew McIntyre.
According to Dave Meltzer, there is always the chance that it could be someone who is not currently signed by WWE, but the two top names on that list which are Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio are either committed elsewhere (Jericho) or have denied any involvement at WrestleMania (Mysterio).
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

By Brian Hoops

1884 – H.M. Dufur defeated James McLaughlin for the American Collar-and-Elbow Title in Chicago, Illinois.

1951 – Sonny Myers defeated Dennis Clary for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in Kansas City, Kansas.

1956 – Joe Scarpello defeated The Mystery Man to win his third Midwest Wrestling Association Junior Heavyweight Title

1957 – Don McIntyre defeated Kurt Von Brauner to win the Georgia NWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia

1961 – The Mysterious Medics defeated Jackie and Joey Fargo for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Mobile, Alabama

1963 – Dick Steinborn defeated Tarzan Tyler to win the Georgia World Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia.

1963 – Lee Fields and Joe Scarpa (Jay Strongbow) defeated Tiger Tomasso and Pancho Villa for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Dothan, Alabama

1967 – Paul DeMarco and Luis Hernandez defeated Jim Bernard and Tarzan Tyler to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in San Antonio, Texas.

1967 – Ripper Collins and Curtis Iaukea defeated Johnny Barend and Hans Mortier to win the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Title in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1968 – Ron Etchison won the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title from Harley Race in St. Joseph, Missouri.

1969 – Karl and Kurt Von Steiger defeated Tony Borne and Moondog Mayne for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title.

1974 – Buddy Colt defeated Bill Watts for the Tri-State NWA North American Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida

1975 – In Chicago, Illinois; Superstar Billy Graham & Dusty Rhodes beat Baron Von Raschke & Horst Hoffman

1976 – Big Bad John and Bill Dundee defeated Plowboy (Stan) Frazier and Jerry Lawler to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee

1979 – Mr. Sato and John Tolos defeated Akihisa Takachiho (The Great Kabuki) and Ricky Romero) to win the NWA Western States Tag Team Title in Amarillo, Texas.

1980 – The Sheik defeated Mighty Igor in Detroit, Michigan for the Detroit NWA United States Heavyweight Title. At that same event, Frankie Laine and George Steele won the Detroit NWA World Tag Team Title from John Bonello and Randy Scott.

1982 – Jimmy Garvin defeated Mr. Wrestling II for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in West Palm Beach, Florida

1983 – Bret Hart defeated Leo Burke for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title in Regina, Saskatchewan

1985 – In Denver, Colorado; Jerry Blackwell & The Crusher & Sgt. Slaughter beat Masked Superstar & King Tonga & Sheik Adnan in a steel cage match; AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Jim Garvin and Greg Gagne went to a time limit draw with Nick Bockwinkel.

1985 – Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams defeated The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) to win the Mid-South Tag Team Title in Houston, Texas

1990 – John Tatum defeated Bill Dundee for the USWA Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas.

1991 – Eric Embry defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the USWA Heavyweight Title reign in Dallas, Texas.

1992 – The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton in a steel cage match to win the title in Chicago, Illinois.

1993 – Papa Shango defeated Jerry Lawler in Memphis, Tennessee to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title

1995 – IWGP Tag Team Champion Keiji Mutoh defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto to win the title in Fukuoka, Japan.

1998 – Booker T defeated Chris Benoit for the WCW World Television Title at a house show in Savannah, Georgia

2006 – CM Punk defeated Brent Albright in a strap match in Louisville, Kentucky to win the OVW Heavyweight Title.

2006 – Koji Kanemoto defeated Tiger Mask for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in Fukuoka, Japan.

2012 – at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka, Japan; Low Ki defeated Prince Devitt to become the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion and Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima to win the IWGP Tag Team Title.

WWE’s biggest show of the year just recently took place and it was watched by more than 70,000 fans in attendance and millions worldwide. There were even a number of NJPW Stars in attendance as they were there to keep a close eye on the Styles vs Nakamura Match. But what about the rest of the NJPW roster particularly Kenny Omega. A fan asked Kenny Omega what we has doing during WrestleMania 34 on Sunday and Omega responded that he was playing video games in his hotel room. A different fan asked then asked Omega why he wasn’t watching the PPV and Omega responded, “Michael Jordan probably doesn’t watch street ball in his spare time, regardless of what court they’re playing on.”
You can check out the exchange of tweets below:

We are danger close to turning #WrestleMania off and never watching @WWE again. I wonder what @KennyOmegamanX and @njpwglobal are doing…
— BnSySy (@PSBrendan) April 9, 2018

Sitting in my hotel room playing #DBFZ
— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) April 9, 2018

Really? As a pro wrestler you don’t watch #Wrestlemania ?
— Venkatesh (@cosmovenky) April 9, 2018

Michael Jordan probably doesn’t watch street ball in his spare time, regardless of what court they’re playing on.
— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) April 9, 2018

By Ryan Frederick, WrestlingObserver.com

The UFC heads to the Philippines for the first time on Saturday for “Breakfast With The UFC” for the North American audience as UFC Fight Night 66 rolls into the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila. The card will air live on FOX Sports 1, with a main card start time of 10 AM eastern, a preliminary card start time of 8 AM eastern for the FOX Sports 1 portion, and the UFC Fight Pass preliminary card portion airs at 7 AM eastern.

A big fight will be headlining the UFC’s debut in Manila, a fight that is being dubbed a superfight as former champions Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber square off in the five-round main event. The UFC is bringing some quality names for their Manila debut, as former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi fights Costas Philippou in the semi-main event, Mark Munoz ends his career against Luke Barnatt, and Neil Magny looks to extend his win streak against Hyun Gyu Lim. Let’s take a look at five storylines heading into the event as we look towards UFC Fight Night 66.

1. Who wins the superfight between Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber?

People are dubbing this a superfight. It’s hard to say if it truly is as neither are the champions of their respective divisions, but both are former long-time champions. Edgar held the UFC Lightweight Championship from April 2010 until February 2012, while Faber held the WEC Featherweight Championship from March 2006 until November 2008. Both have fought for the titles numerous times in the UFC, and in different weight classes over their careers. Faber has been recently fighting at 135 pounds, but he will move back up to 145 pounds for this fight, and it has the makings of being a potential fight of the year candidate.

Edgar has had more success in main event bouts in the UFC. Edgar is 4-3-1 in main event fights in the UFC, while Faber is just 1-3 when he has been in the headline position in the Octagon. Faber remains a perfect 19-0 in non-title bouts in his career, and all seven of his career losses have come in title fights. Edgar has only lost four times in his career, and three of those came in title fights. Quite frankly put, these fighters have tons of success when not fighting for the title, but both have come up short in recent attempts to get a grasp of championship gold again. This fight does have title implications for both.

A win for Edgar would give him four straight wins and line him up for a shot at the winner between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor in July. A Faber win would be his third straight, and could set him up for a challenge at 135 pounds, or even at 145 pounds should he choose to stay at featherweight. He is in a dilemma, as his teammate T.J. Dillashaw currently holds the UFC Bantamweight Championship, and another teammate, Chad Mendes, is a top-three contender at 145 pounds, and right behind Edgar in the line of guys who would be next title challengers at 145 pounds.

As far as who wins this, it is a tough call to make. Edgar is the overwhelming favorite on the betting odds, and you would have to assume he has the best chance of winning. He is a little quicker than Faber on the feet, and his boxing is better. Faber is probably a slightly better wrestler of the two, and his submission game is better. The betting odds should probably be closer in this fight. I do like Edgar to win the fight, but it really is a tough fight to predict what will happen. I do sense it going the full 25 minutes, and I think it will be one hell of a fight.

2. Can Gegard Mousasi finally win back-to-back fights in the Octagon?

Gegard Mousasi is only 29-years-old and has fought 43 times in his professional career. He has fought all over the world for numerous organizations, including PRIDE, DREAM, Strikeforce, and now will be making his sixth appearance inside the UFC Octagon. He has 36 wins to his credit, including 31 stoppage wins, and he has won titles in numerous organizations. He is a black belt in judo, has great kickboxing skills, has amateur boxing experience, a good submission game, and has wins over excellent competition in his career. What is one thing he has never done?

He has never won two straight fights in the UFC. Although he only has five UFC fights on his record, he has alternaned wins-and-losses in them. He started with a win over Ilir Latifi, then lost to Lyoto Machida. He bounced back with a win over Mark Munoz, but then dropped his next fight to Ronaldo Souza. He won his last fight against Dan Henderson. He has faced excellent competition in his UFC career sans Latifi (who replaced Alexander Gustafsson just days before he was supposed to face Mousasi).

Mousasi fights Costas Philippou in the semi-main event on Saturday as he searches for the elusive back-to-back victories in the UFC. Philippou is also looking to score back-to-back wins after knocking out Lorenz Larkin in his last bout. However, he has been out of action for over a year due to injuries, and he hasn’t had a lot of recent success as he has dropped two of his last three fights. Mousasi has the better skill set than Philippou, and he is very elusive when it comes to getting hit. Philippou’s best chance is to land a big punch, and that will be very hard to do against Mousasi.

3. How will the career of Mark Munoz end?

Mark Munoz will make his final appearance in the Octagon on Saturday when he takes on Luke Barnatt. He has announced that he will retire following the fight regardless of whether he wins or loses. He would love to go out with a win as he has lost three straight fights and four of his last five overall. He was on the cusp of a title shot before being knocked out by Chris Weidman, and after he missed a year of action following that loss, he never came back to looking like the same contender he was before.

He has closed the doors on his gym, the Reign Training Center, which housed a lot of top fighters. He is going to focus on being a parent with four kids, and being a coach for the fighters that trained at his gym. He is of Filipino heritage, and fighting in the Philippines has been a dream for him. It looked like it wasn’t going to happen after Munoz was choked unconscious in his last fight, but Barnatt was able to step in after his previously scheduled bout against Clint Hester was scrapped.

Barnatt is looking to break a two-fight losing skid when he takes on Munoz. He was undefeated to start his career with eight wins in his first eight career bouts. He has since dropped split decisions to Sean Strickland and Roger Narvaez, and he hasn’t looked like the same fighter in those two bouts. He would love to bounce back, but he has to know that Munoz is coming in looking to cap off his career with an impressive showing. Barnatt is the slight betting favorite and he will look to test that chin of Munoz in trying to find the knockout.

4. Neil Magny has won 6 straight fights. Does he get his 7th, and where does he go from here?

Neil Magny has won six straight fights as he heads into his second fight of 2015 against Hyun Gyu Lim on Saturday. He has done it somewhat quietly at times, but his name has been getting more attention lately. He was on the brink of being cut from the UFC roster at one point after losing two straight fights following a win in his UFC debut. 2014 came along and we saw a new Magny inside the Octagon.

He has put everything together in making his six-fight win streak run. He won all five of his fights in 2014, tying the record for most UFC wins in a calendar year. His six-fight win streak has seen him win three fights in going the distance, two fights by knockout and one fight by submission. The only knock you could make on his current win streak is that due to him wanting to be as active as possible, he hasn’t fought top-15 competition yet. His biggest win during his streak has to be over Tim Means, who was just coming back to the UFC when they fought, but Means has since won four straight fights himself.

Magny has a tough opponent in Lim on Saturday. Lim is a hard fighter to finish and has some knockout power himself. Lim has only fought once while Magny has been putting together his win streak, but it was a 78-second knockout win over Takenori Sato in September. Lim has won eight of his last nine fights, and his only loss came to former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine in an entertaining five-round main event bout he took on short notice. Magny has his toughest test to date, and if he is able to make it seven straight wins, you have to think that he will be getting a top-15 ranked opponent in his next fight, perhaps against someone like Demian Maia or the winner of the upcoming fight between Carlos Condit and Thiago Alves. He would definitely deserve it.

5. Who is a fighter to watch, and a fight to not overlook on the rest of the card?

With this fight card being in the Philippines, there are a lot of Asian fighters on the card, and some with Filipino hertiage as well. Phillipe Nover will be making his return to the UFC on the main card. He was a finalist on season eight of The Ultimate Fighter, and he was hyped during the show as being the next big star to come into the UFC. He was out of the UFC quickly, losing to Efrain Escudero in the TUF 8 finals, and then two more to Kyle Bradley and Rob Emerson, leading to his release. He has gone 5-2 since then and campaigned to get on the card, and he returns with a tough fight looking to break his winless 0-3 mark in the Octagon.

Royston Wee is another fighter to keep an eye on. He has just four career fights, and only had two when he was selected as an alternate for TUF: China. He was signed to a UFC contract despite not being on the show, and he has won both of his fights inside the Octagon by decision. He is improving on his skills, and he gets a tougher foe in his fight on Saturday in Ning Guangyou, who won TUF: China as a featherweight. He will be dropping to bantamweight on Saturday in search of a win in his first post-TUF fight. While this fight is buried on the preliminary card, it is one to keep an eye on as the UFC searches for an Asian star.

Full UFC Fight Night 66 Fight Card, Betting Odds & Predictions

MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 AM ET/7 AM PT)

Featherweights: Frankie Edgar vs. Urijah Faber

Betting Odds: Edgar (-400), Faber (+325)
Prediction: Edgar by decision

Middleweights: Gegard Mousasi vs. Costas Philippou
Betting Odds: Mousasi (-550), Philippou (+425)
Prediction: Mousasi by knockout in round 2

Middleweights: Mark Munoz vs. Luke Barnatt
Betting Odds: Munoz (+140), Barnatt (-160)
Prediction: Barnatt by knockout in round 2

Welterweights: Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Neil Magny
Betting Odds: Lim (+100), Magny (-120)
Prediction: Magny by decision

Featherweights: Phillipe Nover vs. Yui Chul Nam
Betting Odds: Nover (+155), Nam (-175)
Prediction: Nover by decision

Featherweights: Mark Eddiva vs. Levan Makashvili
Betting Odds: Eddiva (+310), Makashvili (-400)
Prediction: Eddiva by decision

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 AM ET/5 AM PT)

Lightweights: Tae Hyun Bang vs. Jon Tuck
Betting Odds: Bang (+135), Tuck (-155)
Prediction: Tuck by decision

Lightweights: Zhang Lipeng vs. Kajan Johnson
Betting Odds: Lipeng (+115), Johnson (-135)
Prediction: Lipeng by decision

Welterweights: Li Jingliang vs. Dhiego Lima
Betting Odds: Jingliang (+170), Lima (-200)
Prediction: Jingliang by decision

Bantamweights: Ning Guangyou vs. Royston Wee
Betting Odds: Guangyou (+105), Wee (-125)
Prediction: Wee by decision

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 7 AM ET/4 AM PT)

Flyweights: Roldan Sangcha-an vs. Jon Delos Reyes
Betting Odds: Sangcha-an (+160), Reyes (-185)
Prediction: Reyes by submission in round 2

Flyweights: Nolan Ticman vs. Yao Zhikui
Betting Odds: Ticman (-225), Zhikui (+185)
Prediction: Ticman by decision

As successful as the Greatest Royal Rumble event proved to be for WWE last week, the show still managed to be a highly controversial one. The show was hosted in Saudi Arabia as part of a new 10-year partnership that WWE has with the nation, however, some fans were outraged over the fact that the show featured no female competitors. Some of the female WWE roster members themselves have commented and expressed their feelings on being left off of the show, and although the company will be coming back to Saudi Arabia this November, it appears likely that the women’s division will once again be prohibited from appearing on the show that WWE is planning later this year.
While it does not look like women will be able to compete in Saudi Arabia with the male WWE roster members any time soon, it does appear that a rumor about the women being compensated for having to miss the event is accurate. PWInsider backed up a previous claim made by WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler during his podcast by confirming that the female WWE roster members have received payment for the Greatest Royal Rumble show. Although no members of WWE’s women’s division were featured on the show, the report claims that they have all been paid as if they did perform on the card last week. Triple H has stated that he is hopeful that the women will be able to compete in Saudi Arabia eventually.
Kane continues to wrestle and appear in WWE every once in a while, but “The Big Red Machine” has been making fewer and fewer appearances for the company over the past few months. This is because Kane is currently running to be the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. The Raw Superstar is getting ready to make his final push before the Knox County primary takes place tomorrow. A victory in the primary will allow Kane to become one of the two final candidates in the election this fall. Several different WWE Superstars have thrown in their support for Kane over the past few months, but tomorrow shall reveal his future in the ongoing mayoral race in Tennessee.

Making a final push knocking on doors before election day. Say hello to us in West Knoxville. pic.twitter.com/yKunbyiJXC
— Glenn Jacobs (@GlennJacobsTN) April 28, 2018

By Josh Nason, WrestlingObserver.com

Follow @JoshNason

Saturday’s UFC 187 is about one word for me: redemption. In the main event, Daniel Cormier wants to redeem himself for not beating Jon Jones in one of the most heated grudge matches of the last 10 years. Anthony Johnson wants to redeem himself against all of the critics he gained from years of missing weight to his recently cleared legal issues around domestic violence.

It doesn’t stop there. Vitor Belfort wants to redeem himself against those who have railed against him for two years due to his issues with PEDs. Joe Benavidez and John Moraga want the opportunity to redeem themselves against Demetrious Johnson someday, as would John Dodson. Stun Gun Kim and Josh Burkman are looking for redemption after losses. Even Mike Pyle wants to redeem himself after getting beat up by Jordan Mein. And what about Rose Namajunas?

Up and down the stack, this is one of the most intriguing and packed fight cards in recent history. Enjoy it!

Our panel:

– Jack Encarnacao (43-12 | .781) Sherdog Rewind host, The Lapsed Fan podcast co-chair, Steve Austin impersonator

– Mike Sempervive (38-17 | .690) Wrestling Observer Live co-host | Big Audio Nightmare

– Steve Juon (38-17 | .690) AngryMarks founder, MMA Mania writer

– John Pollock (38-17 | .600) Fight Network personality, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, The MMA Report host

– David Bixenspan (37-18 | .672) Figure Four Weekly writer, Observer Daily Update writer, podcast host

– Front Row Brian (34-21 | .618) MMA newsbreaker, Twitter personality, podcast host

– Dave Meltzer (34-21 | .618) Wrestling Observer founder & writer, occasional cougher

– Josh Nason (30-25 | .545) Wrestling Observer digital media and content guy, WON Twitter enabler

– Mike Sawyer (29-26 | .527) Tough Talk MMA, 2014 picks panel champion

*****

– Vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Anthony Johnson (19-4) vs. Daniel Cormier (15-1)

For the first time since March 2011, we’ll have a new 205-pound champion in the UFC and a good storyline for whoever will defend against Jon Jones when he hopefully comes back. (Does Vegas have odds on that?)

Johnson has looked amazing since returning to the Octagon as a 205’er, beating up Phil Davis, Antonio “Lil’ Nog” Nogueira, and Alexander Gustafsson in dominant fashion in January. He physically looks healthy, is cresting at the right time, and has won nine straight. His last loss? A 1st round submission loss in a 197-pound catchweight bout for Belfort back in 2012.

At 36, Cormier is a lot closer to the end of his career than the beginning which is why winning Saturday is so important. His only loss of his career came in January at the hands of Jones, another example of DC not winning the big one. He’s had no issue in beating big names like Josh Barnett, Dan Henderson, Frank Mir, and Patrick Cummins. Well, three of them are big names anyway. Is tonight the night he straps UFC gold around his waist?

Johnson (even): Meltzer, FRB, Bix
Cormier (even): Nason, Sempervive, Pollock, Sawyer, Juon, Encarnacao

– Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman (12-0) vs. Vitor Belfort (24-10)

Weidman has been everything you’d want a champion to be, yet still hasn’t fully got that love from the universal MMA world as you might expect. He’s beaten Anderson Silva twice and slugged it out with Lyoto Machida in one of last year’s best fights. He now looks to finally take out his longtime rival Belfort in a fight originally scheduled for May 2014, and an encounter with either Luke Rockhold or Jacare Souza awaits. He’s also been out of action since last July.

Belfort has been on the shelf since November 2013 due to injury and a suspension due to elevated TRT levels. He almost fought Chael Sonnen and the Weidman fight has been scheduled three times. He’s won five of his last six with five finishes. He’s won three straight by T/KO over the likes of Luke Rockhold, Michael Bisping, and Dan Henderson.

Weidman (big favorite): Nason, Sempervive, Pollock, FRB, Sawyer, Juon, Encarnacao, Bix, Meltzer

– Donald Cerrone (27-6-0-1) vs. John Makdessi (13-3)
Lightweights

How many times have we said, “Donald Cerrone is on the verge of a UFC title shot”? With a win here, there’s no more denying him. He rides into Saturday having won seven straight with decision wins over Eddie Alvarez, Myles Jury, and Benson Henderson in his last three.

Makdessi replaces Khabib Nurmagomedov who injured his knee in training. Makdessi came off a year plus absence last month with a great TKO win over Shane Campbell at UFC 186. Without a doubt, this is the biggest fight of his career and is also the shortest turnaround for a fight in his career.

Cerrone (huge favorite): Nason, Sempervive, Pollock, FRB, Sawyer, Juon, Encarnacao, Bix, Meltzer

– Travis Browne (17-2-1) vs. Andrei Arlovski (23-10-0-1)
Heavyweights

At 32, Browne likely finds himself a big win away from a title shot. A winner in four of his last five, Browne’s only defeat was in a title shot eliminator bout against Fabricio Werdum. Resilient and focused, he’s finished opponents in seven of his eight UFC wins including his last five.

It still feels improbable that Arlovski is back in the UFC after years away. At 37 years old, he’s 2-0 in his second Octagon run after knocking out Bigfoot Silva in just three minutes back in September. He’s won four in a row and six of his last seven dating back to 2012.

Browne (big favorite): Sempervive, Nason, Pollock, FRB, Sawyer, Juon, Encarnacao, Bix, Meltzer

– Joe Benavidez (21-4) vs. John Moraga (16-3)
Flyweights

Benavidez is one of those guys who’s too successful for his own good. How so? He’s already got two title shots in the span of 15 months, but lost them both. However, he’s 6-0 in non-title flyweight bouts. He goes into tonight on a two-fight winning streak, but a win likely keeps him in “interesting fight” status instead of #1 challenger status.

Moraga has also fallen at the hands of Johnson, as well as likely #1 challenger John Dodson. He’s 5-2 in the UFC and has also won two straight with submission wins over Justin Scoggins and Willie Gates. He’s a legit top contender, but there’s not a lot of fan buzz behind seeing him get another title opportunity.

Benavidez (massive favorite): Nason, Sempervive, Pollock, FRB, Sawyer, Juon, Encarnacao, Bix, Meltzer

Dave has you covered live from cageside today here on WrestlingObserver.com!

The following is from a third party:

Top UFC contender Ryan Bader came on Submission Radio this week to break down the latest updates on his feud with Daniel Cormier.

Thoughts on Jon Jones hit and run:

“Yeah so I got the call, kind of in that morning from my manager, saying there’s rumours around. And then I got, you know I was kind of campaigning to get that fight with Anthony Johnson. I was probably four weeks into my camp with DC and I was feeling good and still had about two and a half weeks left, and I felt like I could go in there and win that belt. And as it plays out, Jon Jones gets stripped and all that kind of stuff. So I think he’ll be out for a li’l while. I do think he’s going to come back at some point. You know, he’s going to have to go through the legal process here and figure out what’s going on with that. That’s going to take a while. Then he might have some civil suits on him and all that kind of stuff from the person he hit. So he’s going to have to deal with that for a while, you know and it definitely shook up the 205 pound division too. He was such a dominant champ and he beat a lot of tough guys, all in a row, all the title defences. And so he really opened this [division] up.”

What went through Ryan’s mind when he was walking to confront Daniel Cormier on stage at UFC 187 post-fight press conference and what he would have done if Security didn’t step in:

“In my mind, when I was walking up there I was like “I wanna get my hands on him somehow”, you know. But walking up there – you know obviously the security guards and everything came up and kind of got in my way and grabbed me. And then you start thinking “I’m not going to make a fool of myself and flip over the table or try to hit him or slap him or something.”

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“Going through my mind when I was walking up there, I wanted to slap him. But you know, we’re professionals and he’s actually been through that stuff before, and I don’t want to make a fool of myself and get into that kind of confrontation. So I just kind of backed off at the end there. But when he was yelling over me and he had the mic, ’cause nobody could hear me at all, I decided to walk up there. In my mind at the time it was the right thing to do”

“I’ve been thinking about that guy for a long time now. I was supposed to fight him one other time. Then I was supposed to fight him after Phil Davis. Was supposed to fight him in June. And we had plenty of time. We had lots of time to prepare for that fight, think about him, watch tape. And so I’ve been thinking about him ever since the Phil Davis fight, you know to this day. And for that to get pulled for me, it was just all kinds of frustration. And me not getting that shot, and seeing him as the champ too, and that could have been me and all that. But that’s beside the point. Now I just want to go out there fight him.”

On not getting the respect from DC that he deserves after all his fights in the UFC’s light heavyweight division

“He drops down to 205 pounds, and then he fights Patrick Cummins and Dan Henderson, and then gets a title shot. He gets his butt whooped, and then gets gifted another title shot, and then finally wins the belt. You know, that’s pretty much the easiest path that I’ve ever heard or ever seen anybody getting that belt, the UFC belt. So for him to say that, then by his logic, then let’s do it. But I know I can go out there. I know I can beat him.”

“Yeah I haven’t gotten the respect, especially from him. So that’s why I wanna go out there, that’s why I wanna fight him, that’s why I wanna prove to him and everybody else that not only do I belong in the same octagon with him, I’m gonna beat him and I deserve to have that belt around my waist.”

On if Ryan thinks the fact that DC has lost to Jon Jones and never really beat him for the belt takes away from him being the real champion:

“Yeah I kind of do. I have two thought processes on this whole situation. The first is; everybody in the 205 pound division, we didn’t get together and cast Jon Jones out because he was dominating or anything like that. You know? He put himself in this position. So we’re just making the best of what we have. What else can we do? We can’t sign a petition saying ‘Hey we want Jon Jones back, because this belt doesn’t feel right’. You know? So we just carry on business as usual, and our main goal is to fight those fights in front of us, win those fights, and ultimate goal is to have that belt around your waist. So we’re doing what we want, and have been striving to do since we were wrestling as little kids and what not.”

“On the other side of that, it does feel like a consolation prize. And same deal if I go in there and beat DC and I have that belt, I still know there’s somebody out there that never really lost the belt. It was kind of taken from him. So you know, until Jon Jones comes back and that belt holder fights him and beats him, then I would say you’re the real champ. But this belt definitely would make you feel like it’s a consolation prize, for sure. If I had it, if DC has it. Anybody really in the division”

On Ryan’s response to DC’s comments on the MMA Hour, saying he was disrespectful to Anthony Jonson and that Anthony should beat him up for it:

“I think their [Cormier’s comments] are a bunch of BS. I never was disrespectful to Anthony Johnson at all. Like going back to what I was saying before the fight, DC is the one that came out there and did that interview saying I haven’t beaten anybody. I was just responding to that interview and that’s it. I sent out a tweet before the fight [saying] who I thought was going to win, and that was it. I thought DC was going to go out there, it was gonna be tough for the couple of first rounds, then DC would take control. And that’s what happened. And so I was in no way at all disrespecting Anthony Johnson. I was just going at Cormier after that interview, and he’s saying that I was disrespectful to DC also? That’s ridiculous. ”

“I think he talks so much that everything is a tangled web. He doesn’t remember what he said in the last interview and he can’t shut his mouth. So everything, he just keeps spewing out crap and then when you call him on something, you know it’s a whole other story. So he wants to fight me, he wants to shut my mouth, he wants this, and then he thinks I should fight him, and then he wants to fight Jon Jones, but Jon Jones is going to be out for a while, so he’ll fight me again. So who knows. I have no clue what he’s doing.”

Ryan expands on his comments from a recent interview saying that Daniel Cormier has changed:

“Just randomly people come up and just say his whole demeanour [has changed] and he’s not the guy he used to be. And not even fighters or anything, just people; your regular Joe kickboxing, you know cardio-kickboxing people that go the gym. And so that’s what I was just saying, just that whole deal. We come from a wrestling background where we never got any accolades. You go out there, win nationals or become an All-American, you get a hug from your Mom and handshake from your Dad and that’s it. And that’s what we’re used to. And you go through your life humbly and you go into this whole MMA deal and people want your autograph and you’re like “Holy crap. Why do people want my autograph?”. And you respect the fans and just respect yourself and the sport itself. That’s what people love about MMA. They love that there’s no real divas and we’re all accessible, and they can come up and shake your hand and take a picture. And 99 precent of the fighters are like that. You know? I just don’t want to see Cormier or any other fighters start taking that Diva route. And so like you saw right when he came to the press-conference, he goes “address me as champ”. And you know he could be kind of joking around here and there, but you know I’ve been around him, and I can just see it just piling on, piling on, and pretty soon he’s going to be a full blown diva.”

On being able to threaten DC in areas other people can’t in their fight:

“I just feel I can threaten him more than other people can. You know, on the mat, get him down with my takedowns and then put some power on him because I know he’d get hit.”

Official prediction on how he beats DC:

“I’m gonna stop him. You know, I hate doing predictions. I hate doing – you know it’s so hard. You never know. People ask “what round you doing? What’s this?”. You have no clue in MMA. You know? I guarantee I’ll go out there, I’ll put on an exciting fight, and my goal is to go out there and stop him. And I want that belt so bad. I should be in this title fight. I want to fight DC. We’ve been scheduled before. But I guarantee you this, I’ll go out there, put it all on the line and take that belt.”

By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com

1879 – H.M. Dufur defeated James Owens in Boston, Massachusetts to win the American Collar-and-Elbow Title.

1933 – In Waterloo, Iowa; Bronko Nagurski beat Frank Topaz

1943 – In St. Joseph, Missouri; Ronnie Etchison beat Tom Zaharias, In a Boxing match, Lee Wyckoff beat Cowboy Luttrall via ko-3rd round, George Pavich beat Carlos Rodriquez and Gene Reardon drew Bill Dusen

1955 – Doug Donovan & Ivan Kameroff defeated Luther Lindsay & George Dussette to win the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title.

1964 – In Kansas City, Kansas; Mongolian Stomper beat Moose Evans 2 to 1 falls, The Lawman beat Lee Henning … Larry (Rocky) Hamilton beat Baron Von Strauss and Steve Bolus and Tom Poulos beat Tokyo Tom and Bulldog Plechas

1965 – Wilbur Snyder & Dick the Bruiser defeated The Assassins (Guy Mitchell & Joe Tomasso) to win the World Wrestling Association Tag Team Title

1970 – In Winnipeg; Edouard Carpentier & Pepper Gomez beat AWA Tag Team Champions Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon via dq and Lars Anderson beat Bob Windham

1970 – In Kansas City; Frank Hester defeated Scandor Akbar via DQ, Pat O’Connor defeated Tom Brandon, The Viking fought Roger Kirby to a draw, Danny Little Bear & The Viking & Pat O’Connor defeated Roger Kirby & Scandor Akbar & Don Drummer and Baron Von Raschke & Harley Race defeated Rufus R. Jones & Bob Ellis in three falls.

1971 – In Winnipeg; AWA Tag Team Champions Red Bastien & Hercules Cortez beat Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon, In a Death match
The Crusher beat Strong Kobayashi, Blackjack Lanza beat Dr. Big Bill Miller and Nick Bockwinkel beat Paul Diamond

1971 – The Assassins, (Tom Renesto & Jody Hamilton) won the NWA Georgia Tag Team Title, defeating Ray Gunkel & El Mongol in Atlanta, Georgia

1973 – El Marquez defeated Karloff Lagarde for the Mexico National Welterweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico; Masked Lee & Sandy Parker defeated Jumbo Miyamoto & Mariko Akagi for the WWWA World Tag Team Title in Sasebo, Japan

1975 – Gene & Ole Anderson defeated Wahoo McDaniel & Paul Jones to win the Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA World Tag Team Title in Raleigh, North Carolina

1976 – Great Kusatsu & Mighty Inoue defeated Rip Tyler & Eddie Sullivan to win the IWA Japan World Tag Team Title in Furukawa, Japan; In Denver, Colorado; Larry Hennig & Jos Leduc no contest Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke, Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum, Russ Francis pinned Kim Duk and Buddy Wolff beat Billy Red Cloud

1980 – Alan Dennison defeated Jim Breaks for the British Welterweight Title in London, England; In Ottawa, Ontario; Verne Gagne & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan, Dino Bravo went to a double countout with Jerry Blackwell, Jesse Ventura beat Steve Olsonoski, Adrian Adonis beat Mad Dog Vachon and Jerry Blackwell beat Super Destroyer Mark III. Attendance was 4,000

1981 – In Winnipeg; AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura beat the Crusher & Baron Von Raschke. In a Non Title Match, Jim Brunzell beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel, Mike Graham beat Buck Zumhofe and Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon. Attendance was 3,000; Takashi Ishikawa & Akio Sato defeated Kevin & David Von Erich to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.

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1983 – King Tonga & Gran Apolo defeated Buddy Landel & Terry Gibbs for the WWC North American Tag Team Title in San Juan, Puerto Rico; At the Cow Palace in San Francisco, Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke, AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Wahoo McDaniel, Mike Graham beat Buck Zumhofe Rick Martel beat Blackjack Lanza dq and Greg Gagne beat John Tolos

1984 – Rick Rude defeated Jerry Lawler to win the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee

1989 – The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated The Southern Force (Black Bart and Tony Anthony) in Orlando, Florida, to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title.

1993 – Tracy Smothers defeated Tony Anthony to win the held up SMW
Heavyweight Title in Knoxville, Tennessee; Saemi Numata defeated Kumiko Maekawa for the AJW Junior Title.

2003 – At a TNA weekly PPV taping in Nashville,Tennessee; AJ Styles won the TNA/NWA World Title by defeating Raven and Jeff Jarrett.

2005 – In Brandon, Florida; Chris Sabin defeated Sonjay Dutt to win the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup.

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