ONE Championship returned to TNT on Wednesday night, and the card gave us plenty talk about. In the main event, ONE lightweight champion Christian Lee reasserted himself as one ...
ONE on TNT 2: How to Watch, TV Info for Christian Lee vs. Timofey Nastyukhin
Apr 13, 2021
ONE Championship continues its "ONE on TNT" series Wednesday with lightweight world champion Christian Lee defending his title against knockout artist Timofey Nastyukhin.
Lee is one of the most highly regarded talents at ONE, having defeated Shinya Aoki for the championship in 2019 before also winning the lightweight world Grand Prix. He takes on Nastyukhin, who notably knocked out Eddie Alvarez in the American's debut two years ago.
Here's the full card, how to watch and top headlines to look out for.
Where and How to Watch
ONE on TNT 2 will take place at Singapore Indoor Stadium starting at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Those in the U.S. can watch the preliminary card live on Bleacher Report or the B/R MMA Twitter account. You can also stream the prelims on B/R Live and the B/R Live YouTube channel.
The two-match main card will be shown exclusively on TNT and in the Bleacher Report app with a TV provider login starting at 10 p.m. ET. On the West Coast, the main card will be available on TNT on a delay at 10 p.m. PT.
Match Card
Main Card (TNT and Bleacher Report, 10 p.m. ET)
(c) Christian Lee (14-3) vs. No. 3 Timofey Nastyukhin (14-4)
No. 2 Janet Todd (37-11) vs. No. 3 Anne Line Hogstad (15-5)
Not many fighters can say they've done just about all they can do in a division, but that's starting to become the case for Lee. What makes that even more impressive is he's only 22 years old.
After defeating the legendary Shinya Aoki in May 2019 to capture the lightweight belt and become the youngest male champion in ONE history at the age of 20, Lee also went on to beat Saygid Arslanaliev in the lightweight world Grand Prix final later that year. In October 2020, he defended his title for the first time against Iuri Lapicus and knocked out the top contender inside three minutes.
With a win over Nastyukhin on Wednesday, Lee will have beaten the top four ranked contenders in the division. Warrior has mentioned he would like to go back down to featherweight and become a two-division champion at some point. Perhaps that happens soon if Lee keeps rolling at lightweight.
It's been an outstanding two years for Janet Todd. After losing her debut to Stamp Fairtex for the atomweight muay thai world championship in 2019, JT is on a five-match win streak and claimed the atomweight kickboxing world title in the process.
Now she has her eyes set on becoming a two-sport champion. Currently ranked second in the atomweight muay thai rankings, a win over No. 3 Anne Line Hogstad would likely put Todd next in line for a shot at champion Allycia Rodrigues. Not bad for a 35-year-old who's only been fighting professionally for five years.
ONE Championship returns to TNT on Wednesday evening with a sparse but compelling fight card. The aptly titled ONE on TNT II event, which will air at 10 p.m...
Adriano Moraes' Shocking TKO of Demetrious Johnson Caps a Chaotic Night for ONE
Apr 8, 2021
Let's be honest with ourselves: this is probably not what ONE Championship envisioned for its big stateside debut.
That doesn't mean there wasn't a silver lining, but, yeah.
The Singapore-based MMA promotion passed a major milestone Wednesday with ONE on TNT 1, broadcast on B/R Live and the Bleacher Report app as well as basic cable. It loaded the card accordingly with UFC championship transplants Demetrious Johnson (30-4-1) and lightweight kingpin Eddie Alvarez (30-8-1). It sprung for a billboard in Times Square. The stars were coming out to play.
But the MMA gods can be rather fickle, and they were in some kind of mood in Singapore.
(Note: TNT and Bleacher Report are both owned by Turner Broadcasting System.)
The headliner pitted Johnson against reigning ONE flyweight champ Adriano Moraes (19-3). It was a little strange to see Johnson in the challenger's role given that, you know, he dominated the UFC's 125-pound division for nearly six years and is on a short list with Henry Cejudo for the best to ever do it in that weight class.
Accordingly, Moraes' massive underdog status coming in said more about the challenger than the champ, who had successfully won or defended the ONE flyweight strap six times. According to statistics provided during the broadcast, the 31-year-old Brazilian holds records for the most wins and finishes in ONE flyweight history. He's one of the most dangerous jiu-jitsu practitioners in the promotion, with a cache of submissions at his disposal and nine tapout wins to his name.
As you might expect, the action was fast-paced from the start, even when neither man was landing significant offense. Johnson switched stances and worked low kicks while Moraes circled and attempted to find the range at which he could use his length (5'8" to Johnson's 5'3") to land from long distance. An extended ground sequence was exciting but essentially ended in a stalemate, though the advantage may have shaded slightly toward the champ.
The fateful exchange came in the second, when Johnson rushed in to close the aforementioned distance. Moraes caught him coming in with a right uppercut that dumped Johnson on the canvas. As Johnson attempted to scramble up, Moraes sent a heavy left knee straight into the middle of Johnson's grill—unlike in the UFC, knee strikes to downed opponents are legal in ONE—and followed with a few coffin-nail ground strikes that forced the referee to stop the contest. The TKO came at 2:24 of the second round, and it was the first knockout loss of Johnson's pro career.
"I grew up watching DJ fight," the thoroughly likable Moraes told broadcasters in his post-fight interview. "He's a legend, bro. I knew exactly his game. He's a grappler like me, but me and my team did the perfect strategy for him. He came forward with the punches, and I got him with the uppercut. I don't know what to say, bro! I'm so excited."
Make no mistake: Johnson is the most credentialed fighter ever to grace the ONE roster. Surely ONE officials were hoping to see Johnson get a win and install himself as its star champion, one who could grace many a marquee in the coming years. It was surely a bit deflating to see its prized acquisition go down so unceremoniously.
On the bright side, though, ONE's homegrown champion just showed that he, and by extension ONE, can hang with the big boys. Moraes is still in this prime at 31 and just made one heck of a name for himself. It's just that it's still nowhere near as big as Johnson's, even after Wednesday. Will Johnson be back? Will there be other chances? Of course. But coming up short at ONE's big coming-out party still has to sting.
"I'm going to have to go back home after the fight and see where I made a mistake," a magnanimous Johnson said in his post-fight interview. "Adriano's big, and I was trying to get to him. But it's part of the game, man. You're in this game for so long, and it's bound to happen one of these days, right?...Congrats to Adriano Moraes. He's a great champion and a great dude."
The evening's weirdness wasn't confined to the headliner bout, though.
In the main card opener, Alvarez faced the promising but green Iuri Lapicus (15-1). About a minute into the first round, Alvarez had Lapicus on the ground and in trouble and went to work with punches and hammerfists. One of the blows appeared to accidentally find the back of Lapicus' head, and the referee stopped the action and promptly disqualified Alvarez. Just like that. All it took was 62 seconds.
Alvarez watched in anguish as Lapicus was taken out on a stretcher. This couldn't have been how anyone wanted to kick off the broadcast.
Although head injuries are obviously nothing to trifle with, it should be noted that UFC fighters routinely receive more leeway on these kinds of strikes than was provided by ONE. For example, there could have been a warning issued or a point deducted, especially since on replay only one strike appeared to land to the back of the head, and it was entirely inadvertent and not particularly brutal (relatively speaking). Where's instant replay or a second pair of eyes when you need them?
"They put two guys in a cage," Alvarez, fighting back tears and wishing the best for Lapicus, said after the fight. "...The ref's here to do it, and he did his best job. So the call's the call."
ONE is a solid promotion with lots of capable fighters on its roster. There will be other chances on other days. I've seen more good ONE cards than I can count, dating back well before the TNT/Bleacher Report broadcast deal.
But the facts have to be stated, and the fact is this was just one of those star-crossed cards. It happens. If anyone had forgotten how chaotic MMA can be, it just gave us all another refresher course.
ONE Championship is setting up shop on TNT this month, starting with the aptly named ONE on TNT I card, which airs this Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET...
ONE on TNT: Full Match Card Breakdown and Predictions
Apr 5, 2021
ONE Championship begins its "ONE on TNT" series this Wednesday, and it marks the return of Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez. This will be the first time either fighter has competed since the pandemic began.
Headlining ONE on TNT is Johnson's flyweight world championship shot against Adriano Moraes, who has held the title on three separate occasions for nearly five years in total. The card also includes Alvarez taking on No. 2-ranked lightweight Iuri Lapicus and heavyweight sensation Oumar "Reug Reug" Kane facing Mehdi Barghi to open the card.
Here's the full card, a breakdown of each match and predictions for ONE on TNT.
Where and How to Watch
ONE on TNT will take place at Singapore Indoor Stadium starting at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Those in the U.S. can watch the preliminary card on Bleacher Report or B/R MMA Twitter. You can also stream the prelims on B/R Live and the B/R Live YouTube channel.
The three-match main card will be shown exclusively on TNT and Bleacher Report starting at 10 p.m. ET. On the West Coast, the main card will be available on TNT on a delay at 10 p.m. PT.
Match Card
Main Card (TNT and Bleacher Report, 10 p.m. ET)
(c) Adriano Moraes (18-3) vs. No. 1 Demetrious Johnson (30-3-1)
Rodtang Jitmuangnon (265-42-10) vs. Danial Williams (24-7)
Eddie Alvarez (30-7) vs. No. 2 Iuri Lapicus (14-1)
Originally scheduled to compete in April of last year before the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to those plans, the meeting of Moraes and Johnson was then slated for Feb. 24 until the announcement that these two would meet April 7 on TNT in primetime.
After winning the flyweight world grand prix tournament in October 2019, Johnson became the No. 1 contender for Moraes' title. Theformer UFC champion is 3-0 at ONE after defeating Yuya Wakamatsu, Tatsumitsu Wada and Danny Kingad on his way to the world grand prix championship. During his time in the UFC, the Kirkland, Washington, resident was flyweight champion for six years and still owns the record for most consecutive title defenses with 11.
For a promotion that hangs its hat on the competitiveness of its smaller weight divisions, his next match against Moraes should highlight just that as one of the most important bouts in ONE history. Johnson's quest to be considered the greatest pound-for-pound mixed martial artist of all time will take a major leap with a win over Moraes, who has been close to the top of ONE's talent pool for years now.
However, the night should end with Mighty Mouse claiming his rightful spot as the top flyweight in the promotion.
Alvarez hasn't competed since defeating Eduard Folayang in the lightweight world grand prix semifinals in August 2019. He was supposed to face Saygid Arslanaliev in the final but pulled out because of injury. A win over Lapicus would propel The Underground King into the lightweight rankings as he vies for a shot at champion Christian Lee.
Alvarez began his ONE tenure with a shocking first-round loss to Timofey Nastyukhin before earning his first win with the promotion against Folayang. He was a UFC lightweight champion before joining ONE and owns a 30-7 record.
The No. 2-ranked lightweight Lapicus is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Lee for the division's title, but he isn't short on confidence heading into his match with Alvarez after claiming he'll end the former champion's career on April 7 during the event's media call.
Alvarez responded as only a wily veteran can.
"I think if you ever threaten me with the ending of my career, at first, you have to get a career," Alvarez laughed. "You haven't been around long enough to even have a career to threaten to take mine away. That's how I feel about that. I think he's green, I think he's young, and I don't think he's been through the situations in my career in fourth and fifth rounds where I just think the experience level is too much."
Alvarez is still a game fighter at 37, but he's struggled with the size of his opponents since moving up from 155 to 170 pounds when joining ONE. Against a submission specialist like Lapicus who's going to grapple with Alvarez at the first opportunity, it could be another tough night for the Underground King.
Originally scheduled to fight Jacob Smith, Rodtang will now be competing against ONE newcomer Williams. It's going to be a tough ask for the Australian, who took the fight on short notice against perhaps the best muay thai fighter in the world.
As exciting as it'll be to see Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez back on U.S. primetime, fans should be just as thrilled to see Rodtang on this stage. The Thai is always electric and makes an effort to take the fight to his opponent at all times, never giving up an inch.
For a vast majority of U.S.-based fans whose only exposure to muay thai comes from MMA matches, there's no better athlete of the sport to watch for the first time than Rodtang.
An argument can be made that Reug Reug has the highest ceiling of any heavyweight in the world, and that's really saying something for someone two fights into their pro career.
He's got everything you look for early on. His wrestling background in Senegal is outstanding, and the sheer power he showcased against Alain Ngalani in his ONE debut proved that he can win in multiple ways. Barghi, who also comes into this match with a strong wrestling background, should be Kane's toughest test yet as he's yet to compete with someone who's just as comfortable with grappling as he is.
Ultimately, though, Kane's a more well-rounded fighter, and that should get him the victory on April 7.
Kane, TKO, Rd. 1
Africa's Next MMA Star? Reug Reug Ready to Make His Mark at ONE on TNT
Apr 5, 2021
Senegal's Oumar Kane—better known by the nickname "Reug Reug"—could be the next big thing in mixed martial arts.
The 29-year-old heavyweight will look to take another big step toward that end in the opening bout of Wednesday's ONE on TNT 1 card, when he takes on Iran's Mehdi Barghi. It's unquestionably the biggest fight of his combat sports career thus far—but certainly not the first challenge he's faced.
Reug Reug was born in Thiaroye-sur-Mer—a suburb of Dakar that subsists primarily on the fishing industry. While many of his neighbors made their livings off the postcard-worthy Senegalese coast, he chose a different path.
At 16, he began practicing "mbapatte"—a grappling-based martial art created by Senegal's Seereer people hundreds of years ago. He quickly parlayed those skills into a career in "lutte avec frappe," a form of wrestling that allows punches—and Senegal's national sport.
"In Senegalese wrestling, I had about 15 fights, and I won them all," Reug Reug told Bleacher Report, speaking in Wolof through his manager and translator, Laity Sene o Mbellonguithie.
Despite his success as a wrestler, Reug Reug gradually began to feel the pull of another sport: mixed martial arts. While an MMA career presented opportunities for bigger paydays, he says his main motivation to switch sports was a simple love for combat.
"I'm somebody who loves combat sports, so I decided to shift from Senegalese wrestling to MMA," he said.
Once he'd committed to moving to MMA, Reug Reug got to work learning the unfamiliar components of the sport—submissions, kicks, knees, et cetera. He admits it was a challenging transition.
"There's a lot of differences between MMA and Senegalese wrestling," he explained. "In Senegalese wrestling, once your opponent is on the sand, it's the end of the fight. Here in MMA, it's totally different. You continue punching, going for the submission or the TKO."
Oumar Kane at a Senegalese wrestling competition
Before long, Reug Reug was scheduled for his professional MMA debut. That debut occurred under the Ares FC banner, in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, where he took on the significantly more experienced Sofiane Boukichou.
Despite his experience deficit, Reug Reug made his debut look easy, reducing his foe to ruin inside two minutes.
"I'm extremely happy with my pro MMA debut in Senegal," he recounted. "We worked very hard to win that fight.
"I was happy to fight in my home country. I didn't feel any pressure, even though it was in my country. I was already used to representing the country [as a wrestler]."
Reug Reug's pro debut was impressive enough that it resulted in a life-altering phone call from Singaporean martial arts promotion ONE Championship. There was little hesitation on his part: He signed on the dotted line, joining one of the biggest promotions in combat sports.
"I was very glad and extremely happy to sign with ONE Championship," he said. "It's a great organization. I'm always thanking them for giving me the opportunity to fight for them."
Reug Reug made his debut with ONE Championship in late January. He was welcomed to the promotion by Hong Kong-based Cameroonian Alain Ngalani, a former muay thai champion with plenty of experience in MMA.
The first minutes of that fight were tense, as the two giants circled one another, attempting to establish their distance and timing. As the round neared its conclusion, however, Reug Reug exploded into action, bulldozing his foe to the ground, and finishing him off with a meteor shower of ground strikes. At the four-minute, 32-second mark, the referee decided he'd seen enough.
That victory over Ngalani set Reug Reug up for an even bigger spot—his imminent showdown with Barghi. It's not an opportunity he's taking lightly.
"Training is my job," he said. "Every day I'm training.
"I'm praying for God to give Mehdi Barghi health until the day of the fight," he added. "Then everyone will see how hard I've been working."
The expectation is that if Reug Reug wins his fight with Barghi—particularly on a platform like TNT—he'll take another step toward MMA superstardom. In fact, comparisons to Nigeria's Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman, and Cameroon's Francis Ngannou—all UFC champions—already feel inevitable.
Reug Reug admits he draws inspiration from those men, but it's not his intention to follow in their footsteps. Instead, he intends to surpass them altogether.
"I like them," he said. "I like how they fight, and all the effort they're putting into the sport, but I want to do more. I want to do more than they're doing. I'm good at wrestling—everybody knows that. I want to become as good at MMA as I am at wrestling.
"I will be the ONE heavyweight world champion, and I'll keep the title for more than 10 years. Nobody will beat me."
Those are lofty aspirations from a fighter who's still just 2-0 in MMA, but a big win on TNT will go a long way to proving they're achievable.
That's precisely his objective.
"The day of the fight, everything that Mehdi comes with, I'll beat," he said. "I'll get the finish, and it won't take a long time."
TGIFighting: Demetrious Johnson on a New Life with ONE Championship
Apr 2, 2021
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters Demetrious Johnson of the United States celebrates after defeating Japan's Yuya Wakamatsu during their flyweight world grand prix quarterfinal of One Championship bout in Tokyo, Sunday, March 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Welcome back to our regular Friday MMA column. Here, we'll scour the sport's landscape, preview upcoming cards, tell interesting stories and, if at all possible, have fun. Let's get it on.
Demetrious Johnson Finally Gets His Closeup
If your face ever winds up on a Times Square billboard, you've probably done something right.
Demetrious Johnson never received that kind of exposure when he was with the UFC. Not even during the five years when he was its flyweight champion. But in the Singapore-based ONE Championship, where Johnson (30-3-1) landed in October 2018 after prolonged friction with the UFC, Mighty Mouse is the marquee attraction. On April 7, he'll be the face of ONE's highest-profile event to date, challenging Adriano Moraes (18-3) for Moraes' flyweight title at ONE on TNT 1.
"I mean, it's very exciting," Johnson told me in an exclusive interview. "It's a very exciting thing to see the advertisement in Times Square. [The event] is going to be on TNT live, and I'm just excited for the opportunity."
(Note: TNT and Bleacher Report are both owned by Turner Broadcasting System.)
Johnson is a heavy favorite to defeat Moraes and capture the title. Still, in Moraes, Johnson faces a dangerous and capable champion who has held the belt on three separate occasions dating back to 2014. Casual MMA fans may not know much about him, but that doesn't make the threat any less real, especially given that 12 of Moraes' wins have come by stoppage, including nine submissions.
"He has a very interesting style," Johnson said. "He's a longer fighter for the division. He has a nice opening check hook, right hand, likes to get people to the ground and take their back. He's a submission artist. Very good grappler. And a tough guy."
Dana White
Opponents aside, Johnson is effusive when discussing his promotional home. He publicly clashed with UFC President Dana White, even releasing a lengthy statement calling White a "bully," among other allegations.
But life is different in ONE. Now, Johnson said, he feels empowered to be himself without excessive pressure over what needs to happen outside the cage.
"I'd definitely say it's more peaceful," Johnson said. "In the UFC, there's always a battle going on. The UFC is driven by selling pay-per-views, but with ONE Championship, I'm not worried about that. … [The UFC] can handle their athletes however they want, but I feel the happiest at ONE Championship because I can be myself. I can be a nerd and play video games. I don't have to worry about being someone I'm not."
In particular, Johnson points to a more laidback organizational culture, one where demands on his time are fewer and farther between.
"I traveled a lot more when I was in the UFC, but I'm grateful for less travel, because it means I'm home with the family," he said. "It seemed like with the UFC, every other weekend I was traveling around the world to different shows to promote myself and different things."
Johnson doesn't have much to say about the UFC anymore. The UFC is the bigger stage, he acknowledged, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's better. For anyone questioning the wisdom of Johnson's UFC clashes and the departure that resulted, just remember that his move to ONE was a trade. In return for Johnson, the UFC received Ben Askren. And we all know how that ended up.
If that's not enough, just take a look at Times Square.
"At the end of the day, they're all businesses, right?" he said. "I think however people want to run their own entity is their own thing. Obviously, at ONE Championship, they have their values: passion, humility, courage, heart. They have that, and they want all their athletes to live by that."
Nate Diaz Gets Leon Edwards…
In February, yours truly observed that Nate Diaz (20-12) might be out of options on blockbuster fights and that he might have to take a fight with a lower-wattage but respected opponent to regain relevance.
Nate Diaz
I was half right. The UFC recently announced that Diaz would face Leon Edwards (18-3, 1 NC) in a welterweight bout in the co-main event of UFC 262 on May 15. It will be the first non-title, five-round bout outside of the main event slot in UFC history. So it has plenty of shine, even if it's not as much as you'd find in a normal Diaz fight, but Edwards is the No. 3 welterweight on the official UFC rankings and a heavy early betting favorite.
Diaz should be commended for taking a tough fight and in the process reaffirming his commitment to winning more than the daily news cycle.
…But What About Belal Muhammad?
Edwards, of course, received lots of scrutiny recently for his March bout with Belal Muhammad (18-3, 1 NC), which ended in a grisly eye poke that left Muhammad writhing on the mat and unable to continue.
Edwards has the tougher strength of schedule between the two men and has gained more prominence for his outspoken style and knockout-centric approach in the cage. So it makes sense that he would receive what is surely a lucrative opportunity with Diaz.
But Muhammad still doesn't have a new opponent. It would be a bummer to see Muhammad, who had won four straight and eight of nine coming into the Edwards fight, largely passed over. As for Muhammad himself, he's taking a sanguine approach to it.
But here's hoping for his sake that fairness has a role in the equation at some point.
Conor's Last Chance?
Word is that the rubber match between Conor McGregor (22-5) and Dustin Poirier (27-6, 1 NC) will go down in July at UFC 264. In January, Poirier evened the ledger with a second-round TKO, more than six years after losing a first-round TKO to McGregor.
Conor McGregor
McGregor continues to be the biggest star in the sport, but boy could he use a win. He's only had three UFC bouts in the past two-and-a-half years and lost two of them. It's hard to pinpoint any one specific cause, but he does have a lot of other non-fighting things going on, like his lucrative whisky brand. Fighting is hard to do when you're not as hungry as you once were.
Just a theory. A loss may not dim McGregor's shine all the way, but it could be an inflection point in his career, after which we may rightly wonder if he is now more sizzle than steak.
Endeavor Takes Control
For several years now, entertainment giant Endeavor has owned a controlling interest in the UFC. Now, as it prepares to go public, Endeavor has purchased a 100 percent stake in the UFC, giving it full control over the company. The move cost $1.75 billion, according to government documents.
The implications of this are unknown, but it stands to reason Endeavor is doing this to beef up its profile in advance of its initial public offering, a process Endeavor has struggled with before because of excessive debt. As always, stay tuned.
Demetrious Johnson Talks Adriano Moraes Fight, World Title, More in B/R AMA
Mar 25, 2021
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters Demetrious Johnson of the United States celebrates after defeating Japan's Yuya Wakamatsu during their flyweight world grand prix quarterfinal of One Championship bout in Tokyo, Sunday, March 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Demetrious Johnson is set to return to the cage April 7 for the first time since October 2019. Before he crosses paths with Adriano Moraes, Mighty Mouse stopped by for an AMA session.
Johnson can lay a claim to be one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all time after reigning over UFC's flyweight division. Now, the 34-year-old is looking to win his fourth straight fight since signing with ONE Championship in October 2018.
He tackled a number of topics with Bleacher Report, including his upcoming fight with Moraes and what more he hopes to achieve in an already legendary career.
The following is the full transcript from the AMA session.
@The_Killmonger: Who was your greatest inspiration that motivated you to become the greatest flyweight fighter of all time?
That's kind of hard, for me I say Koreshkov and Shogun for me. I just want to be successful. I can’t pinpoint someone that inspired me. I’ve had a great support system and great coaching.
@Rhettro: How are you preparing for your fight coming up on April 7?
Just like any other fight preparing with my teammates. We got the conditioning down, now we are in great shape and we are not trying to overtrain ourselves. This week we’ll put in solid drilling.
@secraw: Chick-fil-A or Popeyes?
Chick-fil-A baby! Chicken strips or chicken fingers
@bostonsports37: What is your favorite fight that you have had in your career?
All of them, I can pinpoint every single thing. I learned something and had a good time in all my fights.
@DekeGeek: Do you follow basketball and if so who’s your favorite team/player?
As of right now I don’t follow basketball. I watch. I like watching the highlights, too much downtime in a game.
@jcru38: What’s your favorite cereal?
It used to be Cinnamon Toast Crunch, now I’m rocking with Lucky Charms.
@ImFromTheFuture: When did you know you wanted to pursue fighting professionally?
There wasn't a pinpoint time that I knew I was going professionally, but after I fought Ian McCall the first time that’s when I started training full time.
@Jey1642: Ever consider boxing?
Maybe for a one off, but not for a career. Way too many hits to the head, I don't want the trauma on my head. It’s not even close to MMA. Obviously MMA you can wrestle and grapple, but in boxing it limits the ways you can strike.
@Angel01: Besides Mighty Mouse, what would be your nickname?
Black Ice, because I’m slick. That was my nickname before and they wanted me to change it.
@fiitchkarma66: How did you feel when you won your first belt?
It felt surreal. I moved down to the 125 pound belt and when I won it I couldn't believe it happened.
@BulldogChoke: What are your career goals at this point?
I would love to win another world title and stay healthy. Keep competing too. I want to just enjoy the ride, I can say that since I’ve already accomplished a lot since I know my time is coming up. You just go out there and work and train. This is how I live and make my money. This is what I do for a living. Then you have the competitive side to try and go out there and dominate.
@SportFanBeast: What’s your go-to snack?
Lately it’s been gluten free chocolate muffins.
Rapid Fire Questions:
What do you do with your free time?
Hang out with my wife and kids. Older son is into dirt bikes and my middle son we got him an ATV.
Favorite movie ever?
Aliens, Predator, Pumpkinhead
Favorite sneakers?
I just got myself some Air Force women’s sneakers with zippers. Girl shoes, I can handle that. Now if i was wearing girl’s underwear that would be another thing.
