UFC

Conor McGregor gave an update to SevereMMA on Friday regarding the broken left fibula and tibia he suffered during his UFC 264 fight against Dustin Poirier last July.

"Very good. It’s getting there, day by day," McGregor said regarding his recovery from surgery (h/t MMA Fighting Newswire).

"Day by day, I feel better. They’re telling me to just take it easy, but I feel I can go. So I just need to kind of pull the reins back on my own self, so that’s kind of what I’m doing."

McGregor suffered the injuries at the end of the first round. A doctor's stoppage gave Poirier the TKO win.

McGregor provided more information on some of his next steps:

April, they said I can spar again and I can box again basically. So I’m just going to take it day by day. Hopefully, now, once I get back sparring, I’ll know weight, I’ll know feel, I’ll know my own style. You know what I mean? I’m going to develop a different style, I’d imagine, so I’ve been shadowboxing a bit lately and I feel like I’m just getting the bearing of myself. But I feel good. I’m grounded on my feet, I can stop and start and take off. It’s just the little twists or a torque, I’ve just got to be careful on.

But this will be a here today, gone tomorrow type of thing in my own head. The bone will recover, it’ll connect back to itself and it’ll be like it never happened.

He also called out lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.

"If your man’s wise, he might give it another month or two," McGregor said. "July seems OK for me. I can’t say too early, but July, if I’m sparring in April, May, June, July—I could slap the head off of most of these guys at the end of April."

The former UFC featherweight and lightweight dual champion is one of the most accomplished fighters in the promotion's history. He sports a 22-6 professional record and has seven Performance of the Night honors to his name.

Welcome back in to the B/R MMA Mailbag. Here's where we answer your questions about all the various MMA issues of the day.

UFC 272 goes down March 5 and is topped by the culmination of one of the most fiery and widely dissected feuds in recent memory. Accomplished welterweights Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington both trained together at American Top Team before a falling-out made them bitter enemies. Both are known for their skills on the mic and in the media, both mainstream and social. And they'll both have a chance at satisfaction when the main event begins in Las Vegas.

The whole thing got us to thinking. What are some of the sport's best rivalries? It could be now, it could be in the past. We asked you, the reader, for your takes, and the responses ran the gamut.

We picked several responses and will grade them here. Submissions may be edited for length or clarity. Ready? Let's get it on.

                      

Chuck vs. Tito

@JeremyGordon

Play word association with any old MMA head and see how they respond to the word "rivalry." I'd be willing to wager that most would bring up Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz as the grudge match of the 2000s and beyond. You can't have this conversation without them. Even ESPN produced a 30 for 30 documentary devoted entirely to the beef between these two champions and Hall of Famers.

Both men were bruising light heavyweights. Liddell stalked down his opponents and finished them with kickboxing and that deadly overhand right, while Ortiz was a master of ground-and-pound, which back then was a fighting style unto itself.

Their personalities could not have been more different. Ortiz, heavily influenced by professional wrestling, was the loudmouth heel. Liddell leaned into his nickname, Iceman, his cool-headed demeanor belying a ferocious killer instinct underneath.

Drama followed the pair wherever they went. Ortiz, who held the light heavyweight title for three years, faced repeated accusations that he was ducking Liddell, taking the fight only after he lost the strap to Randy Couture. That allowed the rivalry to simmer for two years, with suspense building the entire time.

When they finally stepped in the Octagon together, Liddell won by second-round KO, but the result was marred by an eye poke in the fight's closing sequence—a dirty tactic associated with Liddell throughout his career. 

The second contest, held at UFC 66 in 2006, ended with another Liddell knockout. It was Liddell's fourth consecutive defense of the title he won from Couture in 2005.

There was a third fight, but I refuse to seriously acknowledge their pitiful 2018 money grab under Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, which saw a 43-year-old Ortiz knock out a 48-year-old corn husk doll that loosely approximated Liddell.

I could go on, but we'll leave it there. This rivalry between two decorated champions stands out as one of the best, most action-packed, most controversial and most sustained rivalries the sport has ever produced.

Grade: A

                       

Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier will always be the best. They genuinely hated each other and still do.

@blahblahblah9

The hate was indeed real between these two light heavyweights. Witness the anguished tears Cormier couldn't stifle after his second loss to Jones.

The whole thing started as a bit of bravado gone awry and blossomed into full-on mutual hate. It wasn't a shock from the swaggering Jones, but it was a bit jarring to see the affable Cormier spewing invective all over the MMA news cycle. If it was all an act, these two thespians are in the wrong line of work.

To call out just a couple of examples from the full timeline, these two brawled on stage during a media event in 2010 and repeatedly traded pointed and personal barbs on national television.

In the first bout at UFC 182, Jones dominated the action for five rounds, outlanding Cormier 92-58 in significant strikes, per UFC stats, thanks in large part to the massive 12-inch reach advantage then-champion Jones held over the challenger. With his cornermen sporting T-shirts that read "Break Bones," Cormier simply could not get inside to work his wrestling game, eating clinch elbows and uppercuts for his troubles and landing only one of eight takedown attempts.

Their second bout, at UFC 214 in 2017, didn't go much better for Cormier. In fact, it was markedly worse, as he suffered a dizzying knockout in the third round.

But it wouldn't be a Jon Jones fight without a dose of malfeasance. The fight was later overturned to a no-contest after Jones failed a drug test. So it goes.

This one stands out for the sheer enmity and prodigious talent on both sides.

But it loses points for its one-sidedness in the cage.

Still, Jones and Cormier arguably go one-two as the best light heavyweights ever, and their rivalry was a gift to fans.

Grade: A-

                   

Silva vs. Sonnen

@Chico_suave

@vince_flamingo

A little context: In 2010, Anderson Silva was the baddest man on the planet, repeatedly and easily defending his middleweight title and even destroying a few light heavies on the side just for fun. So it was notable when Chael Sonnen, accomplished but still just a 4-3 record in the UFC, raised his hand and essentially talked himself into a title shot.

Did Sonnen's trash talk cross the line at times, particularly his comments on Silva's wife and, you know, the entire nation of Brazil? It arguably did.

But he backed up the talk at UFC 117 when he came within two minutes of shocking the world for Silva's middleweight title. Instead, he famously tapped to a Hail Mary triangle choke that kept Silva from suffering a massive, legacy-altering upset. (Sonnen's subsequent drug test failure and lack of contrition also added to the drama around the bout.)

Their second bout in 2012 ended in a second-round Silva knockout, after Sonnen badly whiffed on a spinning backfist and fell on his backside, after which point Silva made short work of him. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZUMCSCKmpY

So this one had momentum because of Sonnen's talk and a relative balance of action in the cage. If not for some of Sonnen's comments aging so poorly, this might be the best one ever.

Grade: A-

                 

Cody vs. Sugar

@Speakez415

Time for a deep cut. The two fighters in question here are Cody Garbrandt, the former bantamweight champ and current flyweight glass cannon, and "Suga" Sean O'Malley, whose deceptively destructive striking has led to an 8-1 UFC record including a run of three consecutive bonus-winning knockouts.

The rivalry incubated on Twitter—nothing weird there.

Fight me https://t.co/H9kSeTPOzN

— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) December 17, 2020

But it escalated to the point that the two had to be separated at a news conference for UFC 269 last December—even though they were both fighting other opponents.

An intense rivalry to be sure, but sadly a grudge match doesn't appear likely.

First and foremost, Garbrandt would have to return to 135; who knows whether that's a possibility. Second, Garbrandt appears to be a diminished version of his championship-level self, even if he can still crack with the best of them.

Neither of these guys hesitated to verbally attack the other. We'll see what the future holds. For now, though, this one appears to have cooled off.

Grade: B-

              

Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko

@Donphilyon

There's no bad blood here, no social media jabs. Just two razor-close decisions between the two best female fighters on the UFC roster.

After Nunes' recent loss to Julianna Pena, some of the bloom came off of this rose. After laying waste to the flyweight division, Shevchenko appears ready to challenge Nunes, even if there's no longer a belt on the line. Shevchenko told me a little while back that she believed Nunes was ducking her.

Nunes took each of their bouts, both of which were punctuated by extended inactivity. In the first contest, Shevchenko and Nunes only landed three significant strikes apiece in the second and third rounds, respectively. That's a low number.

Judges awarded the second bout to Nunes, though Shevchenko pushed back hard against the decision.

With the controversial scoring, a third bout may be possible despite the two Nunes wins. However, the blemish on Nunes' record makes it harder to claim she's the GOAT or even the current best, not with Shevchenko and Kayla Harrison floating around.

This would surely move units, but not at the level of some of these other rivalries.

Grade: C-

                   

Let us now close up the B/R MMA mailbag. See you next week for riffs on a new topic.

Police bodycam footage of Jon Jones' arrest in September showed the UFC fighter headbutting a police car and using racial slurs.

Adam Hill and Glenn Puit of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Jones was "detained on suspicion of domestic violence after a security guard at Caesars Palace noticed his fiancee, Jessie Moses, with a bloody lip and blood on her clothing."

The arrest happened in Las Vegas, where Jones was because he was being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

"It's hard to bring this guy to Las Vegas, for any reason," UFC President Dana White said at the time, per Marc Raimondi of ESPN. "This city is not good for Jon Jones, and here we are again."

Raimondi also noted Jones "has been in trouble several times outside of the Octagon, including a felony hit-and-run arrest and two failed drug tests."

As for the video, the fighter directed slurs at Black and white officers and notably headbutted the SUV.

The misdemeanor domestic battery charge was dismissed, but he paid $750 in restitution when he pleaded no-contest to a misdemeanor count of destroying another's property in December.

He also completed anger management counseling.

Jones' last UFC fight was in February 2020 when he defeated Dominick Reyes to improve to 26-1 in his career.

Jamahal Hill's first-round knockout of Johnny Walker highlighted UFC Vegas 48 action on Saturday evening.

The main and preliminary cards flew by with six of the 12 matches resulting in Round 1 or 2 finishes. Hill continued that trend on the main card, which featured three early results.

Elsewhere, Jim Miller got a second-round TKO over Nikolas Motta, and Kyle Daukaus rebounded with an excellent submission win over Jamie Pickett.

The closest main card action saw Joaquin Buckley beat Abdul Razak Alhassan by split decision. Heavyweight Parker Porter took down Alan Baudot by unanimous decision.

Here's a look at the night's results and some highlights.

     

Main Card

Light Heavyweight: Jamahal Hill def. Johnny Walker by Round 1 TKO (punches) at 2:55.

Catchweight (195 pounds): Kyle Daukaus def. Jamie Pickett by Round 1 Submission (D'Arce choke) at 4:59

Heavyweight: Parker Porter def. Alan Baudot (unanimous decision): 29-28, 29-28, 29-28

Lightweight: Jim Miller def. Nikolas Motta by Round 2 TKO (punches) at 1:58

Middleweight: Joaquin Buckley def. Abdul Razak Alhassan by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

    

Preliminary Card

Catchweight (148 pounds): David Onama def. Gabriel Benitez by Round 1 KO (punches) at 4:24

Women's Bantamweight: Stephanie Egger def. Jessica-Rose Clark by Round 1 Submission (armbar) at 3:44

Featherweight: Chas Skelly def. Mark Striegl by Round 2 TKO (knee and punches) at 2:01

Women's Strawweight: Gloria de Paula def. Diana Belbita by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Bantamweight: Chad Anheliger def. Jesse Strader by Round 3 TKO (punches) at 3:33

Featherweight: Jonathan Pearce def Christian Rodriguez by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Bantamweight: Mario Bautista def. Jay Perrin by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

    

Main Card Recaps and Highlights

Johnny Walker vs. Jamahal Hill

This match didn't last all of three minutes as Hill produced a statement win in his first-ever UFC main event.

The 205lb division was just put on NOTICE 🤯

[ @JamahalH | #UFCVegas48 ] pic.twitter.com/1vNMNXNJSZ

— UFC (@ufc) February 20, 2022

Walker was aggressive early and landed 12 significant strikes to Hill's six, but the winner never let up. Eventually, he got the upper hand and landed a ferocious knockout that threw Walker back onto the Octagon cage.

Hill is now 10-1 in his career with one no-contest. He entered the night ranked as the No. 12 light heavyweight contender, but he figures to rise significantly after the win over No. 10 Johnny Walker.

     

Kyle Daukaus vs. Jamie Pickett

Only one second was left on the Round 1 clock when Daukaus earned the submission win over Pickett:

BUZZER BEATER 🔔

[ @KyleDaukaus | #UFCVegas48 ] pic.twitter.com/H5x60uYvzy

— UFC (@ufc) February 20, 2022

     

Daukaus dominated the fight until that point, landing 19 significant strikes to Pickett's five and taking him down three times.

This was a big win for Daukaus, who had won just one of his last four fights. He started his professional MMA career 9-0 and is now 11-2 with one no-contest.

Heavyweight: Parker Porter vs. Alan Baudot

A closely contested fight went in Porter's favor as he earned the unanimous-decision victory.

Porter registered two takedowns, with the former one occurring right before the bell. He got the second one in the third round, but Baudot landed 24 significant strikes to Porter's 12 in that five-minute frame.

Baudot ultimately had 55 significant strikes to Porter's 43, and the punches and kicks on both sides were fierce.

Some 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙑𝙔 action moving into the 3rd 😳 #UFCVegas48 pic.twitter.com/OG8lr9jCmX

— UFC (@ufc) February 20, 2022

In the end, the judges ruled in favor of Porter, who has now won three straight matches by unanimous decision to move to 12-6 overall.

         

Lightweight: Jim Miller vs. Nikolas Motta

Miller landed a hard counter right to Motta's jaw and then finished him off with more punches on the ground as the 38-year-old earned the TKO win.

Jim Miller still packs a punch 💥 #UFCVegas48 pic.twitter.com/ibYYHTyNL7

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 20, 2022

The first round was evenly matched. Motta kept landing his punches, but Miller routinely connected on his kicks.

Miller shut the door in the second round, though, and it appears he's set his sights on potentially fighting in UFC 300.

Got his targets set on UFC 300 👀

[ @JimMiller_155 | #UFCVegas48 | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/6Bn6iX08iw

— UFC (@ufc) February 20, 2022

Miller holds numerous UFC records, including most fights (39) and most wins (23). He co-owns the latter record now with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

     

Middleweight: Joaquin Buckley vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan

The main card opened with the most competitive fight as Buckley snuck by Alhassan via split decision.

Buckley had three takedowns in Round 1, and he amassed 26 significant strikes to Alhassan's nine in Round 2.

However, Round 3 was all Alhassan, who registered all three of his takedowns in addition to 23 significant strikes.

In the end, the split decision went Buckley's way, leaving Alhassan devastated:

New Mansa notches the victory by SD! 💢

[ @NewMansa94 | #UFCVegas48 | LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/UfghRIEDK1

— UFC (@ufc) February 20, 2022

Both fighters showed their respect for one another afterward.

All respect. #UFCVegas48 pic.twitter.com/EXYOqvYOHC

— UFC (@ufc) February 20, 2022

     Buckley, who has won four of his last five fights, is 14-4 lifetime.

Retired professional mixed martial artist Mike Swick announced on Instagram that he has cancer.

He provided a thorough update on his diagnosis and treatment on Wednesday:

Anyway, for those wondering where I have been the last 5 weeks, I been battling Cancer in the toughest and most aggressive battle I have ever had. Started with a 48 hour water fast, then the first Chemo session with an additional 24 hour water fast, then a day of solid plant based organic food, followed by another chemo and fast, then plant based again, keeping this routine until the week was over.

... After 7 days all 15+ swollen lymph nodes in my neck were completely gone. Never had a single fever throughout, and vitals were always normal. Round 1 went to me for sure!

Swick went on to say that he was continuing the same routine without fasting and that he checked out of the hospital a few days ago. He said he is now recovering at home and doing well mentally, though he said he feels physically weak but that his vitals are good.

He added that he's getting a scan and update in a little over a week.

Swick also wrote that he apparently had cancer for over seven months without knowing.

"Since all vitals were good and I passed all regular tests and blood work, we assumed it was the Johnson and Johnson Vaccine side effects, since the nodes swole up literally the day after I got it," Swick wrote.

He also thanked his girlfriend Julia for supporting him during his treatment.

Swick went 15-6 during his professional MMA career (10-5 UFC). He began his UFC stint as a middleweight before moving to welterweight. Swick also earned Knockout of the Night honors twice, both as a welterweight.

Swick's professional bouts spanned from 1998-2015. Eight of his wins came by knockout, and three more occurred via submission.

He's also one of the original members of The Ultimate Fighter series. Fighting at light heavyweight at the time, Swick reached the semifinals before falling to Stephen Bonnar in the semifinals. He moved to middleweight for UFC Ultimate Fight Night and beat Gideon Ray by first-round knockout.

Following his fighting career, Swick founded AKA Thailand, a muay thai, MMA and fitness training facility. He also acts as the co-owner and CEO.

Swick also hosts a podcast Real Quick with Mike Swick.

Welcome back to the B/R MMA Mailbag. Here's where we answer your questions about all the various MMA issues of the day. 

This week we're focused on the UFC's heavyweight division, which is steeped in drama thanks to champ Francis Ngannou's extended absence and Tai Tuivasa's one-shot knockout last weekend of all-time UFC knockout king Derrick Lewis.

It's kind of a weird division right now, with top stars on ice and new stars, Tuivasa notwithstanding, slow to materialize.

We asked for your questions Monday. What did you want to know about this glamorous if depleted division?

Questions may be edited for length or clarity.

           

What about Stipe Miocic? Is Jon Jones really gonna fight? If so, when? —@Bear2327

Stipe needs a fight! —@Brundon

Miocic has been the odd man out lately at the top of this division, but if our readers are any indication, he's far from forgotten.

Miocic only competed once per year from 2019 to 2021, going 2-1 by notching two wins over Daniel Cormier before losing the title to Ngannou. The matchmaking gods simply haven't looked his way, perhaps in part because of his relative lack of marketability.

No question he's been quiet lately, but a single tweet recently landed him back in the spotlight. That tweet came from a person named Jon Jones.

The greatest heavyweight of all time versus the greatest light heavyweight, who wants to see it? I’m game

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) February 4, 2022

You might balk at Jones' vague language in the tweet, but it gets a little less murky when you remember that Miocic holds the record for most consecutive UFC heavyweight title defenses with three. So, by at least one metric, Miocic is indeed the best heavyweight ever. 

If one insider is to be believed, Miocic has been making the most of his layoff. ESPN and social media personality Chael Sonnen recently reported that Miocic, in an effort to compete with Ngannou and other fighters on the larger end of the spectrum, has put on 20 pounds of muscle and now clocks in at 249 pounds, much closer to the division's upper limit of 265. (For comparison's sake, Ngannou weighed in at 257 for his January bout with Ciryl Gane.) 

Stipe Miocic weighs… pic.twitter.com/PKGaVaRBXW

— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) February 10, 2022

There's plenty of momentum for a Jones-Miocic matchup. Cormier, a former champ and current broadcaster, has given the match his stamp of approval. It is in no way far-fetched to expect the winner to be named interim heavyweight champ, especially given the UFC's conflict with Ngannou over paying him a fair wage for his efforts.

But as with all things Jones, just getting him back in the ring is half the battle. Until the cage door closes, his future will be uncertain. But if it doesn't work out, Miocic and the UFC might have to move on. At age 39, Miocic has to be motivated to get back into action as soon as possible. If a Jones matchup doesn't pan out, a bout with the red-hot Tuivasa could make for a juicy consolation prize.

        

It has to be Ngannou or Stipe next for Tai, right? —@ProgressiveFlo 

Is Ngannou coming back, and if he does who does he fight? —@EvilTexan88

If I answer your question, do I get discounted insurance for my RV? I certainly hope so.

Ngannou is on the shelf until the end of the year following knee surgery. His future in the UFC is mostly cloudy given his contract status and his stated desire to try boxing—a desire that's very much requited.

If Miocic vs. Jones doesn't move forward as an interim title match, Tuivasa might get a shot at Miocic. 

My personal vote, however, is for Tuivasa vs. Gane. Gane has the more deliberate game, while Tuivasa has, well, the less deliberate game. Anyone who can crush Lewis with a single elbow strike deserves to be tested against the best.

         

Is there any new blood aside from Tom Aspinall being injected into the heavyweight division? —@Bear2327

Despite his recent loss to Lewis, I'm not ready to punt on Chris Daukaus just yet. If you can bully or wrestle him, you've got a chance. If not, you're getting starched. Ask Aleksei Oleinik, Shamil Abdurakhimov, or any of the other 11 guys he's knocked out in 16 pro fights. Is he a future champ? Probably not. But he can continue to make noise and has a puncher's chance against anyone.

If you're looking for a deeper cut, try Alikhan Vakhaev. Coming out of the fighting hotbed of Russia's North Caucasus region, Vakhaev is 11-2 on regional circuits, punctuated by an active seven-fight win streak. His last loss came to Volkan Oezdemir, who fights in the UFC's light heavyweight division. The 6'6" Chechnyan knows how to use his size and range to pick opponents apart.

Let us now close up the B/R MMA mailbag. See you next week for new topics.