One man with multiple experiences of enduring these hardships is UFC veteran Gray Maynard (13-7-1-1), who for over a decade clawed tooth and nail to the upper echelon of the sport, but to no avail. In an exclusive interview with The Body Lock, he described his time spent on the roster while discussing topics such as fighter pay and the famed trilogy with Frankie Edgar.

Since its inception in 1993, the UFC has remained the premier destination for all things MMA, and the global money-making machine is driven on keeping it that way. Despite making it to the big leagues and sporting the highly sought Ultimate Fighting Championship gloves, becoming a stable member isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

Maynard was a key component in the promotion’s lightweight and featherweight divisions for a number of years, proudly going to war with some of sports best at the time. After failing to string together any consistent success along with his general unhappiness with the company, he requested a release from his contract in December of last year and is currently a free agent.

He detailed the years leading up to his subsequent release and why no longer being a member of the UFC is a positive thing.

“Dana, he locked me into an eight-fight contract back in 2014,” Maynard said. “There was no place to go at that time, no place to kind of bargain with. Bellator didn’t have Coker as the president, he wasn’t in charge.

“Bjorn Rebney was kind of iffy, I heard bad reviews but there really wasn’t anywhere to go and that was pretty much my whole career. The UFC bought out everybody, you know, so there was no real negotiating to be done with them.”

After sealing himself into an airtight contract many years before his departure, Maynard expected to run through his remaining fights in order to escape the firm grip of the UFC. However, as he put it, life got in the way as it so often does.

“I thought I could rattle them off pretty quick,” Maynard explained.

“But you know, life happens, you’ve got kids and a whole bunch of different stuff. My wife was in school doing her masters degree and I didn’t really have a chance to get it done as quick as I could’ve. The last fight against Nik Lentz, that was honestly the worst time, I just had to get another one done.”

After earning a well-deserved win over Teruto Ishihara in 2017, he was paired with fellow veteran Nik Lentz at UFC 229 in what would mark his first lightweight bout in over two years. The event itself was the highest-grossing pay-per-view in the sport’s history, therefore the platform given to each competitor was immense.

Maynard explained the series of events that led to him accepting a fight with Lentz in spite of his physical health being sub-par.

“Me and my wife [came] down with these weird symptoms where we were slurring our words, always sleeping etc, like Max Holloway had,” Maynard said. “If it was just me I would’ve been scared incase it was from a concussion, like oh shit, my brains all messed up as I couldn’t talk. Because it was her too I’m like oh shit we both have something weird, and it was the exact same stuff Holloway had, right about that time too.”

“Anyways we both got better, three days after it happened again even worse. I couldn’t hold onto stuff and was dropping glasses and I was slurring words, it was crazy. I went to the hospital to do blood tests and my liver was through the roof; your AST and ALT would probably be 0-40, mine was 1600. So it was a virus going through it. They still couldn’t give me any answers so I called up a doctor I knew and he’s just like ‘it’s your liver we know that, go home and get bed rest.’

“I was in bedrest for about a month and that put me into August, end of July or August. I’m going through my head like dude, I’ve got to hurry up and get this contract done because it’s taking forever, I signed it in 2014. So I just called up Sean Shelby on bedrest and was like hey, give me a fight.

“I went up against Nik Lentz and had a six-week camp, if that. It was just more about getting out of the contract. Ultimately I did get out of it because he called me up and was like ‘I don’t want you to fight no more,’ so I said, ‘just release me then.’ And he did.”

Since his release from the organization “The Bully” has maintained a low profile. Even while sitting at the mellow age of 41, he revealed to The Body Lock that his intentions are to return to the cage, if the price is right.

“I’m not retired. Maybe I have one fight left, maybe I have three fights left, but I want it done right.”

Shameful payslips

Rivalries are a common sight in the world of sport and are as old as time itself. The animosity between one another, whether it be personal, competitive or both, spurs plenty of talk amongst fans.

When discussing some of MMA’s greatest rivalries, many are quick to favor the likes of McGregor/Diaz or Jones/Cormier due to the mainstream success of both athletes involved, however for more hardcore fans, numerous other names spring to mind. In undoubtedly one of the best rivalries of the last decade, dangerous lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard traded blows for more than 11 gruelling rounds, stealing the show on two occasions.

On January 1, 2011, reigning lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was set to defend his crown against undefeated contender Gray Maynard, who defeated the champion less than three years prior. For the champion, it was about vengeance, but for Maynard, much more was at stake: the promotion’s 155-pound title, to be precise.

In the first round of their January 1 rematch, the challenger completely shut out the champion, knocking him down a multitude of times and leaving him visibly stunned. No other lightweight at the time could eat the sort of punishment Maynard dished out in those first five minutes, apart from Edgar.

Edgar amazed every spectator in attendance as he not only recovered within the one-minute rest between rounds but battled back to win the upcoming round. After 25 minutes of sheer brutality and heart, the bout was ruled a split draw to the dismay of both participants and their teams. Recounting that historic night, Maynard elaborated on Edgar as an opponent and why preparing correctly for his style was crucial.

“I knew he was going to show up, be in shape, ready to go,” Maynard said.

“He never put a lot of talk or drama into it, he was the type of guy that’s not gonna kill you — he didn’t have the heaviest punches or the quickest, but he was always there. Every second of every round.”

“You have to get the right sparring and get new guys in because a lot of times you’ll spar two rounds, and your partner will start to lose his steam or cardio — you’ve got to get a new guy in there as that’s not what Edgar does. He doesn’t lose steam, he builds it. You just have to prepare cardio wise. I knew going into it he had a couple of holes, striking wise, and he has a lot of tendencies to do stuff but he doesn’t have a lot of big holes in his game.”

When scoring his first championship encounter with Edgar, the first round is distinctly a 10-8 in favor of Maynard. Albeit according to the man himself, he believes it should’ve been noted as a 10-7 by all judges because of his clear destruction of the champ. Not only does he have an issue with the scoring that night, but the sport’s adopted 10-point must scoring system, where 10 points must be awarded to one contestant each round.

“The problem I have with MMA is the 10 point must system,” Maynard said.

“I’ve never really seen a 10-7 round, so why do we have it? If you watch boxing the scoring applies to that, but the scoring doesn’t apply to MMA. If I’m a judge, that round one [between me and Edgar] is a 10-7. If you watch Pacquiao vs. Marquez, he knocked down in round one two or three times and it was like a 10-6 or 10-7, and he came all the way back and had a draw with Pacquiao because he won those rounds. Now I understand that but why give me a 10-8 when that was a bad round? I don’t understand the scoring.”

For his aforementioned 2011 rematch with Edgar, which headlined the promotion’s 125th PPV event, Gray Maynard was only guaranteed $26,000.

“Getting up to the title dude, I would be in the hole almost all of the time,” Maynard said. “Paying my coaches, paying for the best training, and then it just gets old where you’re like fuck man, there’s just no getting ahead with this sport. There’s no payoff at the end.”

“I walk to the cage with a pay-per-view main event guaranteed $26,000. If I would’ve lost that fight and had to pay $26,000 I would’ve had to pay to be in that fight. There’s a lot of crazy shit. That’s why I really feel like if you get a big name sticking up for the guys in the sport its gonna be a game-changer.”

“The UFC got bought for 4.5 billion dollars, not because of how it great it is or whatever, it’s because there are no rules. They could get a guy to fight for $100 on a pay-per-view, they can get away with that.”

Mixed martial arts is more than just two warriors displaying the art of fighting, there’s a business side that fans do not get to see. Business can be ugly, and this description correlates perfectly with how the UFC deals with its own.

“People have no idea how ruthless this sport is business-wise. I mean people have no idea. We’re kind of like strippers – we get tipped out and we get a shitty pay,” laughed Maynard.

“That was kind of how it worked. We had a bad contract, but that we would get a little bit of money afterwards and it was like what is this, a tip? You can’t guarantee us this cash? It happens all across the world its not just here. Promoters just get that power and all the guys just turn into numbers, they constantly think ‘how can we make the most off him.’

“It’s the wild wild west man, the wild west. We don’t know the numbers and everybody’s just trying to get what they can get on a small portion and not looking at the big picture.” 

 “I want you to retire”

Gray Maynard was awarded a contract with the UFC in 2007 after a fairly successful stint on the hit reality TV Show, The Ultimate Fighter. Throughout the series, fans saw him fight a combined three times up until his eventual defeat to future foe Nate Diaz in the semi-final round, who would go on to be crowned tournament winner.

The thought of professional fighting and reality TV being thrown into one cocktail is an odd one, nevertheless, it has proved to be ‘must-watch’ television.

“There was a couple of people on the show who wanted to get camera time and do all that stuff, and I felt like it came out on-screen that that’s what they were there for. Whereas the guys that wanted to win it and compete were there for a longer time,” Maynard explained. 

“It’s not like you go in there and you get to train – it’s not about the sport, its about drama. They don’t allow you to read, they don’t allow you to talk on the phone or get on the computer or watch TV, because they want you to kind of go crazy. [The] training was kind of a hit or miss.”

Despite disappointing sessions in the training room, Maynard proved himself worthy of a shot in the UFC and was awarded that chance on the season finale. That night he faced Rob Emerson, with one of the weirdest outcomes of a fight occurring.

During the second round, Maynard lifted Emerson with a double leg takedown. After a thundering slam, both men seemed unconscious, prompting the referee to step in and wave things off.  Maynard immediately protested the stoppage, however it remains a No Contest on his record.

Maynard explained the story from his perspective.

“The story behind that is Joe Stevenson was helping me out in the last part of my camp and we were picking up bags and slamming them,” he said.

“When you take a person down you don’t really concentrate on the slam, that was kind of new to me and I just ended up in that double leg and picked him up; a guy is a lot smaller than when you take a punching bag and slam it, which is what we were doing. So I misjudged it, but I really wasn’t out. I broke his ribs, that’s what he told me afterwards. I tried to get up and I was dazed, so, unfortunately, didn’t get the win.”

After this unexpected event, Maynard amassed an impressive eight wins in quick succession, enabling him to challenge Frankie Edgar for the UFC lightweight throne. Although things never went according to plan, as they rarely do, his sights remained on championship gold, and a few losses would not deter him. But UFC president Dana White had other ideas.

Months after inking his previously mentioned eight-fight deal with the promotion, Dana called him up with a peculiar proposition – retirement.

“I had another loss and he [Dana] called me in the office and was like ‘I want you to retire,’ knowing that he had just signed me to an eight-fight contract. So I’m like fuck, I’m going to have to work through this, and he’s like ‘I want you to retire.’

“I said no, I love the sport, so he replied with ‘well, I loved boxing but I walked away from it.’ I was just like how the hell does that compare to me?”

“Dana wants to tell everybody when they should retire. Well, why don’t you pay us more to help us retire, right? A lot of us have to fight.”

This isn’t the first time Dana White has asked one of his fighters to retire, and nor was it the last; many of his athletes are forced to continue fighting for a somewhat regular flow of income, a commonly accepted yet harsh truth in today’s era.

Collecting data

When the UFC Performance Institute first opened its doors in 2017, many were blown away by 30,000 square-foot facility that cost more than $14 million to construct. The building prides itself on research, innovation, and offers updated training equipment and talented staff at zero expense to each member of the UFC roster. Because of this, it is home to a number of fighters who complete their training camps in the Las Vegas-based performance center.

While the intentions of each individual working there are pure, promotional veteran Gray Maynard believes there’s a bigger reason as to why the UFC opened the facility.

“The UFC’s got the UFC PI going and people are like ‘Oh, you guys get free food,’ well, a bunch of people have to fly out there to do that,” Maynard said.

“They have great coaches and everybody’s there to help out, but at the top level, they’re trying to control the sport but understanding it. There’s no research done on the sport; they’re collecting data, they’re collecting research because if you have all the data, you control all the stuff. That’s what they want, control. It’s not to help us out.”

“‘Alright, we’re flying guys in here and we’re collecting all this data,’ that’s the priceless stuff. People that are getting all this stuff done to them like ‘here’s your VO2 max, blood lactate,’ whatever it is, it’s good data to have but do you really have to have it? Not really. But once they start getting it all, they’re collecting charts, charts, and charts of all the data. That helps them to start understanding the sport, and then they’ll probably start to come up with a way to start controlling the coaching aspect of it.”

“I went there too because I was like man, it’s here in town, but I’m not dumb, I know why you guys are doing this. You’re not going to spend all this money just to help us, because if you [were], you would’ve paid us more.”

“As a whole, we’re basically numbers, there’s only a couple of guys who aren’t but as a whole, we’re all pretty much numbers. And The more data and more information they can get, the more they can control the game. Just like buying out all the other promotions; they didn’t buy them out because they wanted to keep them going, they bought them out to not have any competition and control the game.”

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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has led to lockdowns across the globe, travel restrictions, and widespread shutdowns of sports and businesses. Nonetheless, the UFC is pressing forward with events, something of which de Castro is honored to be a part.

“I’m honored to be part of such a big card of this [magnitude],” de Castro told The Body Lock. “I told my manager, ‘I will be ready no matter what.’ If it was the 28th or was the 18th, or whatever is next, so then they [kept] me on the card, as I always reach to my manager and say that I’m ready to go no matter what. This now is more mental than physical. You got to be ready to fight. I’m always ready to fight, man. I believe I was born for this. So, I’m in the zone for me to be a part of such a big show like this.”

Like many living in America, de Castro has been subject to government-led isolation and distancing measures whenever possible.

“I live with my wife and my daughter,” said de Castro. “We stay home; I’m the only one who really goes out to train and for shopping and stuff, but my wife and my daughter stay home all the time.”

However, de Castro has been out of the house to train, as well as to serve as an essential worker.

“The training: so, it’s different. It’s just me and the coach and two teammates, that’s it. We split it up: strength and conditioning in the morning, and we drill in the afternoon, so we kind of keep it safe.

“We adapt. We split it up. My strength and conditioning is only one-on-one. By myself, me and my coach [do] pad work, and we spar on Saturday – so the two different teammates – but most of the work now is done by myself; me and one of my striking coach or my grappling coach.”

When he’s not training, de Castro is working part-time as a safety officer in the Fall River public school district.

“Right now, the school is closed, but we still provide food for families that [don’t] have, can’t afford right now. So, we are still gonna serve lunch, so I still do part-time – like 10 to 2 o’clock – and we still get paid like full time,” said de Castro.

For fighters who don’t have a second job, or whose livelihood is limited, UFC President Dana White has said that the promotion will “take care” of financial difficulties where possible.

However, as de Castro reiterates, that falls short of paying out monthly stipends, as fellow American promotion Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced they will do, which ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto reported are worth roughly $1,000 a month.

“They say if we need anything or if any of our family needs anything we go, any type of situation we get [where we] struggle, just reach out they will help us, but about [stipends]? No, I don’t think so. If we need money, I bet that they will help us. I’m not in that situation because I still work. I have a part-time job. So thank God I can live with it.”

Likewise, de Castro says the UFC is not paying fighters extra for competing during the pandemic.

“No! The same money, man, the contract is the same,” said de Castro with a laugh. “I was hoping to get more money, but no. We fight because we want to fight, I mean, they don’t force us to fight; you can say “No” right now. There’s no hard feelings right now. I want to fight, so I’m fighting. But they told us that we don’t have to put ourselves in the situation right now.”

As for the event itself, many have raised concerns over the promotion’s lack of transparency surrounding safety measures, as well as to whether an event can be held safely during the current COVID-19 situation. De Castro believes that it can be done, and that the UFC is taking the precautions necessary to ensure it is.

“I think they try to do it as safe as possible. I know we’re going to get tested before we fly to Florida,” said de Castro, claiming that the UFC would test the fighters and their coaches prior to the event.

“They text us – I think we had an email last week asking for the address of me, my two coaches – my two corners – and they will test us before we fly down there and when we get there, I think we’re going to get tested, too, and submit to a bunch of other safety stuff,” he continued.

“We have a lot of precaution and safety stuff that we have to do when we get there. I believe that UFC’s been taking care of everything, and [when] we go down there we’re going to be safe and taken care of. They’re going to do everything possible to make it as safe as possible. But I do, of course, I do [have] concern for everybody outside and everything is happening. You got to be aware of everything. But I think we’re gonna be good.”

One such measure de Castro mentioned is that he believes the UFC has reduced the number of coaches who may be present at upcoming events, noting that he is only bringing two corners specific to his camp to the event.

“I think they cut it down with the coaches in the corners. Gonna be less corners this time for everybody. Yeah, but my third corner then with Eric [Nicksick], from Extreme Couture, so he’s going to be in Francis Ngannou’s corner so he was going to be there already,” the Cabo Verdean explained.

De Castro will face former NFL Pro-Bowler Greg Hardy on the card, a fight he has been campaigning for for some time.

“I begged for this fight actually,” revealed de Castro. “This was never a fight that they’ve given it to me. They keep asking me I remember Mick Maynard and in my manager kept saying, “Do you really want to take this fight?” and I’d say, “Yeah, this is the fight I want. The guy’s got name [value]. People are gonna want to watch this fight. I mean, either you like him or you hate him.

“I think he is one of those guys who’s going to get better with time. I mean, I don’t know him personally; I’m talking about the athlete. I think he’s getting better, and in a year or two he’s going to get even better. He’s super athletic, big for the division, athletic. In a year or two, I think he’s going to be too good. I think now is the time to fight him, and I asked for this fight.”

Both de Castro and Hardy have been lauded for their heavy hitting, but de Castro believes he has the edge, something he thinks will be the deciding factor come fight night.

“Every time I fight, I knock people out. Cold. I’m talking about not TKO, if I touch them, they go out cold. I mean, he’s a big guy, we’re both big, there’s a 50-50 shot, but I don’t remember if he ever knocked someone out. He got a TKO. He’s got five fights in UFC, two are TKO. Two he got DQed, and one he lost. I mean, it is what it is. I mean, he probably hit hard but I’m 100% sure that if I touch him, either with a right hand, left hook, any one… I’m pretty sure I’m gonna put him out.

“We don’t get paid by the hour. If we can get it done in the first round, good. But I do think he has the skills, and he’s long – his reach. He can make the fight go longer, but he’s gonna be up to him. I want to get done in the first round. I’m willing to take a risk even if I go out, but I’m willing to close the distance and take a risk.”

Should de Castro get past Hardy, he believes the UFC will have no choice but to put him in the mix for a ranked opponent.

“I think they’re going to have to give a ranking opponent. Greg Hardy is not in the ranking right now, but he’s definitely a big name, and the UFC got a lot of hope on him. Not just UFC. A lot of people think he can do good in the division. If I go down there and finish him, the next one has to be big.”

For The Body Lock’s full interview with de Castro and more MMA videos, interviews, and podcasts, check out our brand-new YouTube channel.

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The sky was the limit for the 31-year-old, who was brought in on short notice for the UFC’s first-ever visit to the Russian city of St. Petersburg against light heavyweight Devin Clark, whose original opponent, Abdul-Kerim Edilov, withdrew due to injury.

Shtyrkov’s hulking, action figure-like figure and impressive 80% finishing rate prompted excitement among fans of the sport eager to watch his UFC debut.

They would not get the chance.

Prior to the event, reports emerged that Shtyrkov was removed from the event due to hospitalization. A month later, it was revealed that Shtyrkov had tested positive for boldenone, an anabolic–androgenic steroid. He then accepted a two-year suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and left the UFC.

Speaking to The Body Lock with translation provided by his manager, Sayat Abdrakhmanov, Shtyrkov spoke for the first time about his doping violation and UFC release, claiming that his usage of the steroid was to recover from an injury.

“I intentionally used boldenone to recover from the knee injury,” wrote Shtyrkov. “At that time, I didn’t even have plans to fight in UFC. I didn’t know that this anabolic can stay in your system for so long and I didn’t expect USADA to trace picogram leftovers in my body.”

Shtyrkov continued, “I didn’t try to cheat; I knew I [couldn’t] take any prohibited substances if I [did] fight in UFC, but unfortunately, I was punished for something I took a long time ago when I didn’t even have intentions to sign for the organization.”

The Russian recounted the emotions he felt during the week of the fight and his subsequent departure from the promotion.

“My manager called me the night before the fight to tell me that UFC won’t allow me to compete just because I had atypical test results. I was shocked, and it was a very hard moment for me. Emotionally, I kept everything inside. It was a hard hit because I let down my supporters, my team, my manager, and my family. [The] fact that this happened in Russia didn’t help either. It was very difficult to digest everything that was going on. I wouldn’t even wish it to my foe, the emotional rollercoaster that was going on inside of me.”

Asked whether or not he would consider a return to the UFC once his suspension ended, Shtyrkov was non-committal.

“I don’t want to make any prediction about my future, UFC is a great organization, but I know now that there are many other top competitions outside of UFC. I’m not getting younger so I will make decisions based on the situation at the moment.” 

Soon after he snd the UFC parted ways, Shtyrkov signed a “4 fight deal” with RIZIN Fighting Federation that allows him to compete in Russian Cagefighting Championships (RCC), a promotion run by copper billionaire Igor Altushkin, with whom Shtyrkov is closely aligned.

Shtrykov thanked both his management and RIZIN for allowing him to compete so quickly after his doping violation, noting that doing so might not have been the easiest process.

“Big thanks to my managers and organization for the hard work and trust put in me despite the situation around my persona at that time, Rizin was able to give me the opportunity to compete again very quickly.”

Notably, in December, Shtyrkov – a career heavyweight and light heavyweight – dropped a sizable amount of weight to compete in the middleweight division. 

“It was my personal decision to cut down to middleweight,” said Shtyrkov. “I wanted to try and have that experience going down in weight class. At that time I had this motivation to cut because of the fight with Yasubey [Enomoto]. I wanted to challenge myself and wanted to find out if I could do it in the future.”

Shtyrkov’s fight with Enomoto, a former M-1 Global welterweight champion who has fought the likes of Alexander Shlemenko, Albert Tumenov, Roman Kopylov, and Rashid Magomedov, marked the light heavyweight contender’s first professional loss.

However, Shtyrkov says he was happy to learn from the loss, and from his experience fighting at middleweight in general.

“I’m glad I had this experience. I don’t want to say that I lost because of the weight cut and downplay Yasubey’s achievement. Weight cut was very hard and I didn’t have enough time to prepare for the fight and do the cut properly but I’m not gonna make excuses because of that, it was my experience and I’m fully responsible for the result. Yasubey fully used his advantages in that fight,” said Shtyrkov.

“Right now I don’t have any illusions about my future in that division, it could have been otherwise if I faced someone else in my middleweight debut, I’m grateful it turned out the way it did, now I’m focused on fighting at LHW.”

Shtyrkov’s focus on light heavyweight could have title implications in Japan, should he get his way.

“My goal in MMA was always to become a better fighter, to improve every day, to grow, and to be the best version of myself as a fighter and as a human being. Belts are good, it will bring more fame and money. But you should have something bigger, some internal motivation. But if we are talking about materialistic goals, right now I have the opportunity to win the RIZIN belt. We don’t have belts in RCC. The RIZIN championship will be a great achievement and right now it’s my main goal.

“I have the deal with Rizin and my priority is to fight there.”

The RIZIN light heavyweight was recently vacated, as former champion Jiri Prochazka signed with the UFC in January.

For now, however, Ivan Shtyrkov is focusing on staying safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Life is on pause now. I’m trying to stay at home most of the time, but also trying not to get out of shape by being creative in my training routine by using everything I have in my house. Sometimes I go to the forest outside of the city to train outside.  To be honest, there was no dramatic change to my life; when I’m in fight camp, I have a similar lifestyle, too. The biggest difference is panic going around. 

“Obviously, with the current situation in the world, it is hard to make any plans. Let’s overcome this pandemic first and get back to normal as soon as possible.”

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While some fans were exciting to hear of the booking, which came after former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo was forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Cejudo due to visa issues stemming from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, third-ranked contender Petr Yan isn’t one of them.

Writing to The Body Lock, Yan explained, “[The] event being canceled and travel being restricted was predictable in the current situation, so I expected that Aldo would be out of the fight. But the news of [a Dominick] Cruz title shot came out of nowhere. Everyone already forgot that he is an active fighter. But, a lot of crazy things happening now, not only in [the] MMA world.”

Cruz, 35, has yet to compete inside the Octagon since losing his title to ex-titlist Cody Garbrandt by decision at UFC 207, which took place in December of 2016. Including the fight against Cejudo, the American has been booked to fight three times since – once in 2017, once in 2019, and now once in 2020.

A matchup with Jimmie Rivera slated for UFC 219 fell through after Cruz suffered a broken arm, and a proposed UFC 233 fight with now-ONE Championship athlete John Lineker was canceled after Cruz withdrew with a shoulder injury.

In Cruz’s absence, the bantamweight division has experienced a rebirth. Cejudo captured his title by knocking out T.J. Dillashaw in under a minute to kick off the UFC’s ESPN+ partnership, Aljamain Sterling has amassed a 6-2 record – including four straight victories, two-weight WSOF champ Marlon Moraes cemented his status as a top contender, and Yan has been a perfect 6-0 inside the Octagon.

To Yan, Cruz’s inactivity and the division’s other contenders’ successes make the former champion undeserving of an immediate title shot upon his return to action, though he understands that things aren’t always as straightforward in MMA.

“I don’t think Cruz deserves the title shot,” said Yan, “but I understand and accept the rules of this game.”

Yan believes he has done enough in his two-year UFC tenure, which includes victories over Rivera, UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber, and John Dodson, among others, to earn a crack at promotional gold, but is willing to take out all comers en route to the title if need be.

“I think I deserve to fight for the title, and I’m ready to prove it with my actions. If I have to clear out the division before I fight for the belt, I will do it.”

Currently, Yan is slated to Moraes in what could be a title-eliminator in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on June 13. However, the UFC’s ability to move forward with the event as planned is as of yet uncertain.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC has been forced to postpone or cancel all of its events since UFC Brasilia on March 14, most notably the ill-fated UFC 249 card set to take place at Tachi Palace in California.

Yan provided an update on his current situation due to the virus, and expressed his willingness to compete as scheduled.

“I’m currently in Phuket, Thailand with my family,” Yan said. “Right now, the government here has got the situation under control, and we [haven’t had] new cases on the island for a few days already. So, we expect things to get back to normal on May 1st. [The] gym was closed for one month already, so I had to adapt and train at home. Now, I can’t wait to go back to camp.”

The 27-year-old explained that he has faith in the UFC to mitigate risks and ensure the fighters’ safety amid the pandemic, even expressing willingness to compete on “Fight Island,” an undisclosed private territory reportedly secured by UFC President Dana White for the purpose of conducting fights involving international fighters.

“I think the UFC knows better what to do. They won’t put on an event if they can’t guarantee safety measures for everyone involved,” said Yan.

“I will fight in any place in the world, [even] wherever this island is located.”

The Russian fighter said that his fight with Moraes is one he feels is the most challenging in the division, going on to dismiss rival Cody Garbrandt’s repeated verbal jabs.

“I already have a scheduled fight against #1 contender Marlon Moraes. He has wins over Sterling and Aldo. I believe he presents more challenges than anyone else in the division; that’s why I wanted to fight him. Right now, I’m not interested in fighting Cody. [The] last time he won was more than 3 years ago. I can deal with him later if he can start winning again and won’t run away to the flyweight division,” concluded Yan. 

The post Petr Yan: Everyone “forgot” Dominick Cruz was still fighting, open to facing Marlon Moraes on ‘Fight Island’ appeared first on The Body Lock.

“It just hasn’t sunken in yet man, it honestly hasn’t sunken in yet,” Culibao told John Hyon Ko. 

“Nothing feels different besides people congratulating me before I’ve even won. Whereas if I was fighting locally they’d wait until after I won to congratulate me, but they already seem to be congratulating me on making it to the UFC.”

Competing in the UFC is an achievement only a few are able to accomplish, and there are a variety of paths one can take in order to secure an exhilarating stint in the promotion. Winning on the Contender Series, appearing on Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight, or simply being scouted are all ways to propel a fighter to the big leagues.

For the young Culibao, his chance came as a short notice fight he couldn’t turn down.

“This is where I’m going to make the biggest statement. I’ve got the most eyes on me and this is where I’m going to make the most money. It’s definitely the beginning of my career, and every fight from here on out is going to be the biggest test.”

UFC Auckland

The Octagon touches base in Auckland, New Zealand, on February 22, and what better way to show off the Oceanic talent than with a stellar cluster of fights.

Culibao (8-0) received the short notice call-up from the UFC, with his first promotional outing coming against lanky lightweight Jalin Turner. The Australian normally competes in the featherweight division, however, he has no issues taking the fight against the larger Turner.

Culibao explained to John Hyon Ko that this isn’t the first time he’s accepted a contest in a different weight division and has, in fact, fought heavier than lightweight in the past.

“I’ve actually fought at a catchweight of 85 kilos [180 pounds]. When I was 15, 16, I was pushing nearly 100 kilos – I think I was like 95, 98 kilos. And I just started training and dropped the 15 kilos, got down to 80 kilos because my coach just wanted to get me a fight at the time as I seemed to be doing very well in the gym.

“For someone that fights at featherweight now, I was carrying a lot of fat at 77 kilos. Literally I just wouldn’t eat dinner – I wouldn’t eat the day [of weigh ins]. So that was basically it, I didn’t really cut weight for 77 kilos. But all the dietary stuff I’ve learned through experience, books, and watched other fighters and what they tend to eat. So yeah, just trying to figure out what works for me.

“I’m happy fighting up a weight class. I’m not draining myself, I’m not killing myself. For me to make the 66-kilo division, it’s always the last two or three kilos that suck.”

Culibao has been working extensively on his grappling to ensure every loose end of his game is securely fastened.

“I’ve actually been doing a lot of grappling lately, a lot of jiu-jitsu. You know, everyone’s playing those 50/50 leg lock games, with heel hooks and all that stuff. It’s become a trend so I felt like I needed to catch up on that stuff because I’ve sort of neglected my jiu-jitsu for a long time. So I’ve been mucking around with the legs and just having fun with the training.”

In preparation for his matchup with 6-foot-3-inch tall lightweight Jalin Turner, Culibao has been training with athletes much larger than himself. This will give the Australian an indicator as to what his February 22 showdown could look like.

He listed close training partners who have aided him in his intense preparation for Turner.

“Tali, who’s a middleweight amateur champion three or four times straight already. He’s a killer and he’s perfect because he’s tall like Jalin. I think he’s 6’7 or 6’8, and he’s a southpaw kickboxer.

“I have Joel Kendrick who has actually trained with Jalin before. Joel’s actually one of my closest friends and he’s a tall guy, he knows how to imitate Jalin so it’s awesome. Even though it’s a short camp, I’m just trying to get as much work in with those guys because it’s valuable. As much as I’d like to be training with guys my size, it’s not happening — I’ve got to get ready for a guy who’s another five inches taller than I am.”

Many fighters have succumbed to the added pressure of being apart of a UFC card for the very first time. But Culibao believes his ‘nothing to lose’ mentality will spice up the bout and may belittle his pre-fight nerves.

“I’ve got nothing to lose. I go out there and perform, I put on a fight, and win, lose or draw, I get to show everyone what I’ve been saying from the beginning I belong there and I can eat. Even at lightweight, I belong there and I’m going to show everybody that supports me that they’re right. I’m going to go out there and put on a performance. Either way, it’s going to be a crowd-pleasing fight.”

“When I first got into the sport it was always to fight the best. You know, I always thought that fighting the best meant you were the best. You get the most money, you get the most fame, but all that stuff comes with having the mindset of just thinking that you’re the best, fighting the best guys and beating the best guys.”

The post UFC Auckland is Joshua Culibao’s chance to shine appeared first on The Body Lock.

Along with Hooker, various other Oceanic competitors will be making an appearance such as Ben Sosoli and Brad Riddell. One well-known fighter the card is none other than New Zealand’s own Kai Kara-France, who will be fighting at home for the first time in almost two years.

The hard-hitting flyweight spoke to John Hyon Ko about returning home, getting back into the win column and the landscape of the 125-pound division.

A long-awaited homecoming

Kara-France had a thrilling start to his UFC campaign, capturing three wins in under a year which not only increased his fan base but his ranking in the division.

It was a no brainer for the flyweight that the UFC’s return to Auckland would mark the perfect return fight for him.

“It’s something I couldn’t miss out on. Injured or not, I would’ve taken this fight,” Kara-France said to John Hyon Ko.

“I didn’t have any injuries after that last fight. It was all bruising and superficial stuff. So now we’re good, I’m ready to go. I could go this week.”

It wasn’t until UFC 245 last December where the 26-year-old met his match in the organization. Kara-France battled it out with Brandon Moreno over the course of three rounds in what turned out to be a slugfest. Although he lost the contest, the flyweight gave a fantastic showing of himself and was eager to return to the Octagon as soon as possible.

“I thought I definitely took the first round, because of a few knockdowns,” he said to John Hyon Ko.

“He adjusted well in the second round. So the third round was kind of the decider; both landing hard punches, he was coming a bit more forward than I was so I think the judges were scoring his ring control and aggression. But I feel like I was landing the cleaner shots.”

“I would love to run it back this year. I know he’s fighting number three Formiga, so we’ll see what happens in the next few months. But I would love to run it back, hopefully on this side of the world as well.”

In his upcoming fight on February 22, Kai Kara-France will be squaring off against fellow veteran of the sport Tyson Nam, who is ten years his elder.

Despite not having a long time off to recover from his December scrap, “Don’t Blink” feels extra motivated and rejuvenated as many of his teammates will be competing on the same card, including headliner Dan Hooker.  He will also be performing in his hometown in front of friends and family, an experience martial artists dream of attaining.

“I haven’t really had too much time off, I haven’t been dwelling on the loss, I’ve kind of been staying in the gym and surrounding myself with all the guys that are getting ready for their fights. It’s been a good transition because there’s been no halt in the lead-up, it’s just kind of been straight into this next camp. I feel ready, I feel motivated – you can’t get much more motivated than fighting in your hometown.”

This wasn’t the first time Kara-France petitioned to compete in his hometown of Auckland under the UFC banner.

The promotion first touched base in Auckland, New Zealand, back into 2017, which saw the nation’s own Mark Hunt capitalize on an injured Derrick Lewis, walking away with the knockout victory.

At the time, Kara-France was riding a three-fight win streak at bantamweight, which included two knockout victories. He collected all three of these wins in under two months as a means of showing he was ready for the big leagues. Unfortunately, he never got the call-up he rightfully deserved and witnessed the event as a fan instead.

“I was in the front row seats the last time the UFC came. That was back in 2017, I was campaigning for that card. If you’ve been following my journey, I fought three times in seven weeks, just to have the best shot to get on that card.”

“It’s been on my bucket list since I started the sport, to fight in my hometown at Spark Arena. That’s only five minutes away from my house.”

“I was picturing and visualizing what it’d be like when I fought here. And when Dan brought me up in his post-fight speech and said ‘who wants to see Kai fight here in Auckland in the UFC,’ I got a good reception. I remember everyone asking ‘why aren’t you on this’ and ‘I really want to watch you fight,’ so when they did announce they were coming back, even though I already had a fight booked, I knew I had to be on this card.”

Auckland’s own

Last year was a remarkable year for New Zealand gym City Kickboxing, who won The Body Lock’s 2019 MMA Gym of the Year, with head coach Eugene Bareman also picking up recognition for his efforts.

The gym is currently home to UFC champions Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya, who both captured gold late last year in two individually stunning performances. Along with the titleholders is crafty veteran Dan Hooker, Brad Riddell, and Kai Kara-France, all of whom will be competing at the upcoming UFC Auckland card on February 22.

On top of being apart of the best gym on the planet, Kara-France spent a prolonged period of time before his UFC days training in Thailand at the world-renowned Tiger Muay Thai. He recounted the time where he first met the formidable and ruthless bantamweight contender Petr Yan for the first time, and how the two would bring the heat during sparring sessions.

“I remember when he came to Tiger for the first time, and I was like ‘who the hell is this little guy’ because he looks similar to me,” Kara-France said.

“Everyone called him the Russian Kai cause from behind we looked similar. There’s always been this little beef – not beef, friendly competition. We just always wanted to one-up each other, so we always used to spar due to being the same size. So to see what he did to Uriah Faber really solidifies that he needs to fight for the world title.”

Fast forward back to the present and Kara-France currently has his sights set on Tyson Nam, who has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to sharing the octagon with the best. Nam has fought for the UFC, Bellator, WSOF (now PFL) and Elite XC to name just a few, however, this will only be his second outing for the world’s top promotion.

The Hawaiian lost his debut against Sergio Pettis back in September but now has the chance to pick his first UFC victory and spoil the homecoming of Kara-France.

“I know he likes to strike,” said Kara-France when asked about his upcoming opponent.

“I watched his last fight with Sergio Pettis. He does a few good things really well, so we’re definitely going to respect his strengths. But coming into this fight I’m more focused on myself and what I can bring to the table rather than what he’s going to bring. I’ll leave all that stuff to Eugene and our other coaches to breakdown, but for this fight, I’m bringing it to him.”

“I’m also gonna be mixing it up you know, I’m not just gonna be a one-trick pony and look for the knockout, I want to be patient, take my time, feel it out and then kind of go from there.”

Although his opponent is yet to win in the UFC and isn’t ranked, Kara-France is not taking him lightly.

“When you’re in the UFC, you’ve just got to prepare that you’re fighting the best in the world, and give the best version of yourself. I feel like being in a familiar space, where I know what’s on the line and having my whole country and team behind me watching this fight is going to help me rise to the occasion.”

In less than a month’s time, the UFC will once again have a male flyweight champion. Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo will battle it out in the main event in Norfolk, Virginia, to determine who’ll walk away with the 125-pound crown.

Kai Kara-France weighed in on the upcoming title fight, breaking down the skillset of top-ranked Benavidez.

“It’s a great place to be right now in our division because every fight is fun. In the top 15, anyone can beat anyone, and one or two [wins] in a row and you’re back in the mix for title contention.”

“The Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez fight I’ll definitely be watching closely because [they’re] future competition. I feel like Joseph Benavidez is going to be too crafty for Figueiredo; he [Figueiredo] is good at what he does: he hits hard, he’s got a good ground game, he’s aggressive but I feel like he’s going to walk into a trap against Joseph Benavidez and that’s going to be the difference.”

The post Kai Kara-France talks upcoming bout at UFC Auckland, sparring Petr Yan and vacant title fight appeared first on The Body Lock.

Between Fight Ready in Scottsdale and the MMA Lab in Glendale, fighters have a wealth of coaches, sparring partners, and gyms to choose from. As a result, fighters like Henry Cejudo, Benson Henderson, and Sean O’Malley spend a significant amount of time training in the Grand Canyon State.

Another fighter who has been the lucky recipient of all that Arizonian MMA has to offer is Casey Kenney. Kenney, who is currently 13-1-1 and 2-0 in the UFC, divides his time between the previously mentioned MMA Lab and Rise Combat Sports. The 28-year-old is coached primarily by BJJ expert John Crouch and UFC veteran Chris Cariaso, as well as strength and conditioning coach Nick Holck, a former USA Weightlifting performance coach.

In a recent interview with John Hyon Ko, Kenney discussed his growth as a fighter and praised his coaches.

“I feel like I’ve got a complete package as a team in the MMA Lab and Rise Combat Sports with John Crouch at the Lab and Chris Cariaso at Rise,” Kenney said.

“I still bounce back and forth there, and I’ve got my strength coach in Tuscon, Nick Holck, as well. I’ve just been getting so much better, you know.”

In particular, Kenney holds his team at the MMA Lab in very high regard. The gym, founded in 2007, has quickly established itself as one of the premier gyms in North America, responsible for the growth of fighters like Jared Cannonier and Bryan Barberena. The MMA Lab fight team also features Kenney’s fellow bantamweight prospects O’Malley and Mario Bautista, and this strength in depth is something Kenney is immensely grateful for.

“There’s not a better MMA gym in the world than the MMA Lab; we run deep in there. You know, seeing so many different looks lets me go back to the drawing board and get so much better.

“I’m always improving; I’ve been professional for five years now and I’ve been grappling a lifetime, but I’ve only been striking for as long as I’ve been doing MMA, so my striking is constantly getting better and we’re always coming up with new things.”

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With a head coach pairing of Chris Cariaso and John Crouch, Kenney has formed perhaps one of the most experienced coaching pairings in the UFC, with Crouch boasting over 170 cornered fights and Cariaso 13 UFC/WEC fights including a title fight at flyweight. This combination of coaching wisdom and hardened experience not only means training camps are exceptionally planned and focused, but the advice in between rounds is outstanding as well, leading Kenney to make a rather interesting comparison with another sporting duo.

“It’s like having Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in the corner at the same time. Chris is the hands on OG that’s done it all, and Crouch is the general that’s been leading guys into battle for a long time. You cross the best of both worlds, and that’s a dangerous combination.”

Casey Kenney will face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Rio Rancho on Feb. 15. The card is headlined by a light heavyweight rematch, and likely #1 contender bout, between Corey Anderson and Jan Blachowicz, both fresh off of victories against Johnny Walker and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza respectively. In the co-main event, Diego Sanchez will face backflipping sensation Michel Pereira in a must-watch welterweight bout.

Also on the card, Nathaniel Wood will look to remain undefeated in the UFC against John Dodson, and Yancy Medeiros and Lando Vanatta will meet at lightweight.

The post Casey Kenney compares coaches John Crouch and Chris Cariaso to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady appeared first on The Body Lock.

The 30-year-old “Combat Wombat” was born in Australia where he currently resides but spent many of his formative years in South Auckland. Sosoli moved to Melbourne as many of the top heavyweights in the region were in Australia. He knew he’d one day be back to fight in Auckland as a pro, but never imagined he would be returning as a member of the UFC roster.

“Man, I’ve always wanted to back home and fight, even if it was just a local show fighting pro,” Sosoli told John Hyon Ko. “I only fought amateur back home… I always knew that one day I’ll go back and fight back home in Auckland, but I never thought it would be in the UFC. It’s crazy. It just makes everything a lot more, kind of a lot more intense, and I’m also looking forward to it so much more.”

The road back home for Sosoli has been unconventional, especially in regards to his time with the UFC. After fighting in Guam and New Caledonia, he received his first shot at the UFC during “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters” season. The hype was massive for the bruising knockout artist Sosoli, leading to him being the first pick for Team Gastelum. Unfortunately, he fell short of those expectations, losing in his first fight to Juan Espina.

He got a second crack at the UFC a little over a year later on the Contender Series. Unfortunately, that fight ended in the first round due to an accidental eye poke. Sosoli once again walked away falling short of a contract. Still, Sosoli surely made an impact on Dana White. Two months later, he would officially debut for the promotion. Not only had Sosoli made it to the UFC, he found himself in a high profile fight against the controversial Greg Hardy.  In line with his past on UFC branded shows, the outcome was less than ideal. Sosoli saw a unanimous decision loss overturned to a “no contest” when Hardy inexplicably took his asthma inhaler in between rounds. Despite outrage for the action by fans and pundits alike, Sosoli was more critical of foregoing his gameplan and chasing the walk-off knockout.

“My coaches were screaming at me for my gameplan because I felt like that shot was close; it was only centimeters away a couple of times. So I thought ‘nah, this guy is gone. If I catch him, then I’ll get him’ So, I was just trying to…I didn’t think, and I was just trying to land that one shot the whole time.”

Ir would have been easy for Sosoli to blame the loss on any potential advantage the inhaler gave Hardy. According to WebMD, inhalers prescribed for asthma assist in opening the airways of the user, reducing mucus and inflammation in the lungs, and depending on the type prescribed, can give a boost of energy. The potential benefits for a fatigued fighter are invaluable. However, if there was an advantage provided by the inhaler, Sosoli didn’t notice it.

“Uh, not really,” Sosoli replied when asked if he noticed a difference after Hardy used his inhaler. “I usually don’t pick up on how the other person feels other than how much they don’t want to get hit. All I think about is my fitness and make sure that I can keep pushing, and I was able to keep pushing the whole time. And yeah, the inhaler, it didn’t affect me at all. I didn’t think it had much to do personally.”

A full camp and a new diet

Sosoli will have the right dance partner to put on a show for the home crowd. Across the octagon will be Marcos Rogerio de Lima, a hulking Brazilian with a penchant to stand and trade. The 34-year-old is coming off a February 2019 submission defeat to Stefan Struve and will desperately look to spoil Sosoli’s homecoming.

De Lima will have his work cut out for him. He’ll be taking on one of the best versions of Sosoli to date. Before the Greg Hardy fight, Sosoli had a less than two-month turn around after his fight on the Contender Series. The situation will be drastically different before UFC Auckland. Not only will Sosoli have a full camp, but three of his Resilience Training Centre teammates will also share the card. Jimmy Crute, Jake Matthews, and Callan Potter will also do battle at UFC Auckland, and the benefit of having three teammates preparing for a fight is undeniable.

“You’ve got four guys that are all just pushing so hard, so the pace is always so high, and the sparring sessions are intense. But it’s good because when one guy is having a bad day, there are three others to pick him up. It just creates a really, really awesome vibe in the gym.”

Resilience Training Centre is under the ownership of head trainer, UFC veteran, and former Olympic Judoka, Dan Kelly. Kelly has not competed since May 2018 and the 42-year-old considers himself retired. Still, he has a sharp mind for MMA and is embracing the coaching life. However, according to Sosoli, that doesn’t mean he can’t throw down. He may have put on a little weight, but a return is not off the table.

“Yeah, yeah, he could without a doubt,” Sosoli confidently declared when asked if Kelly could still fight. “He jumps in and spars still every now and then, he’s just got a basketball around his waist at the moment, but other than the tummy he’s still good to go… You can always tell with other fighters when they’re done or not, and he’s not done. He’ll have a few things coming up I reckon in the next year or two.”

Hard sparring and good coaching will not be the only things helping Sosoli before his battle with Marcos Rogerio de Lima. The 30-year-old took a long, hard look at his recent fights and did not like the flat-footed fighter he was watching. The former rugby player admitted he’s usually the more tired party in the cage. He realizes he has strayed away from the light-footed fighter he was earlier in his career. A change in diet was necessary, and Sosoli has made the measures to ensure that if he loses a fight, it won’t be from fatigue.

“I’ve been working with Michelle Reeves. She does a lot of work with the people here she’s handling Jake’s (Matthews) diet, Jimmy’s (Crute) diet… but it’s been awesome just changing it up… I used to eat a lot of red meat, and I don’t really like eating it that much anymore. Mainly white meat, way more vegetables, and fruits.”

“It brings my weight down, and I’m way lighter. My knees don’t swell up because I’m too heavy to be moving around a lot, and when I’m tired, I can still just dance around the whole time.”

Sosoli will prepare to test his new diet by going three hard rounds, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to forget about his bread and butter

“I’m going to go in and act like I’m going to try and just win all three rounds and just have a high pace for all three rounds, but I know that if I get a good shot, it’s going to be finished.”

The post Ben Sosoli talks new diet, Greg Hardy inhaler fiasco ahead of UFC Auckland appeared first on The Body Lock.

Fighting is nothing new for Ewell whose family regularly moved when he was a child. Every school had a bully and that bully always wanted a piece of the new kid. Tired of being picked on, Ewell eventually began taking martial arts to learn to defend himself. 

“I ended up starting with wrestling and moved on into Taekwondo/boxing and boxing kind of took over everything. I was a big fan of Roy Jones back then, well, I still am. That was his era, he was taking over,” Ewell told The Body Lock.

Ewell got more into athletics but ended up focusing on boxing full time. After the birth of his son, “Daii” took some time away from pugilism. In an unfortunate turn of events, Ewell lost custody of his son and felt the judge was looking down on him for his lack of accomplishments in life. This lit a fire under the Californian. 

“I ended up having to figure out what I was good at, and fighting was something I was good at because my whole life had been about me fighting. So I was pushed back into that situation. When I came back from retirement, it was MMA. I knew that was going to be the fastest way for me to get to the top and here I am, still trying to make my way to the top.” 

Gunning for the top

Ewell gets another chance towards that dream of making it to the top when he meets Jonathan Martinez this Saturday. He sees Martinez as an exciting fighter who matches up well with him stylistically.

“If he’s looking for that brawl then I’m definitely the guy that will honestly bring him the type of fight that he wants. I definitely see straight excitement in this one. On paper, anything is anything. It’s all about how you perform and I’m doing everything to assure I perform better than I did in my last fight and the one before that. My aim is to be the best on camera, the best me.” 

Over the last couple of years, the UFC’s bantamweight division has become must-see TV. The top ten is full of men who could on any given night be crowned champion. For Ewell, the killers that await don’t matter. They’re just bodies in the way of him realizing his dream. 

“They (those ranked ahead of him) are just people I know I’m going to have to fight. I have to take their spot. To be the best, you have to beat the best. Right now, it’s the best that’s in front of me. It’s just numbers in front of me. As soon as I get the chance, I’m taking that spot,” Ewell stated. 

Not only are there plenty of new challenges on the horizon, but Ewell would also like the chance to run back his loss to Marlon Vera. He feels he beats “Chito” ‘nine out of nine’ times in rematches but makes no excuses for the loss and admits Vera had the better night during their first meeting. 

“We have to run that one back. It’s something we have to end up doing and he knows why.” 

No matter the cost

A newly christened purple belt in jiu-jitsu, Ewell says we’ll be seeing more of his groundwork as his game advances. But he also wants to excite and wow the crowds; even if it comes at his own detriment. 

“I feel I owe the world submissions and KOs but first is KOs. That’s what I owe them. I have to get back to how it started; me throwing hands and people getting dropped. But I’m not going to exclude certain areas from my game. So you’re definitely going to see my ground game but nine times out of ten, I’m just going to be using my ground game to set up these hands. My end game is just to be ready for all of it.” 

“But I always try and keep it exciting. When I fought “Chito,” his fans were all hating and when I fought Renan Barao, his fans were all hating and there were ‘kill him’ chants in Brazil. But I kept it so exciting, when I was walking out, people were asking to take pictures with me, saying ‘great fight,’ they ended up loving me and asking me to come back.” 

With another child on the way, Ewell is more motivated than ever. He says he spends all of his time training or getting tattooed and once his son is born, Ewell will be bringing him to the gym with him so he doesn’t miss any rounds. 

It’s these sacrifices that will pay off in the future. It’s the hours in the gym, the lack of social life and the blood spilled that is all for a greater cause. 

“I have to leave a legacy behind for the young ones. I’m going to have two sons and they’re definitely going to have a father they can look up to.” 

The post Andre Ewell ready to get back to ‘throwing hands’ at UFC 247 appeared first on The Body Lock.

In his most recent outing last December, the Surinamese fighter landed a rocket of a right hand on legend Alistair Overeem, decimating a portion of his upper lip with just five seconds remaining.

That win earned Rozenstruik the main event slot against Francis Ngannou, who is also known for his freakish one-punch knockout power. The two are set to throw down on March 28 in Columbus, Ohio, accompanied with a stacked card featuring the likes of Cody Garbrandt and Matt Brown.

He spoke with John Hyon Ko before his upcoming bout, including why he believes he’ll be the first to knock out Francis Ngannou.

Relocating to American Top Team

Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10-0) burst onto the MMA scene almost one year ago when he flatlined Junior Albini in his UFC debut. Little did we know that in the space of ten months, “Bigi Boy” would go from being a relatively unknown prospect to headlining events. Rozenstruik has climbed from unranked fighter to #5 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

“I didn’t know it was going to go so fast,” Rozenstruik said. “Everything that happened last year, I thought would happen this year, so the process has been faster. We adjust to it and focus on the goal.”

Watching the heavyweight perform is quite the experience, as we found out in December. Just when everybody thought it was over, Rozenstruik once again sent shockwaves across the MMA world when he crushed Overeem with one punch.

After the fact, Overeem stated that he wasn’t looking at it as a loss in his eyes, as he won 24 minutes and 55 seconds of the contest. Unfortunately for him, MMA does not work like that.

“In his eyes, he thought he won the fight because it was an early stoppage, that’s what he’s saying. But in the end, I knocked him out and walked away.”

“Next fight there is going to be no hesitation. People aren’t going to say ‘hit him’ because I’m going to go until I can’t stop.”

Now that he is pounding on the door of the ‘heavyweight elite’ club, March 28 will do nothing but give answers for what the career of Jairzinho Rozenstruik entails. But for now, the 31-year-old is embracing each day as it comes.

“I try to enjoy every moment. It’s not easy. If I’m tired or think it’s enough, I take a couple of steps back and go in my own zone,” said Rozenstruik, talking about his new-found stardom. “People give me good wishes, give me love and it feels great, but sometimes you need space.”

The surging Suriname native has recently relocated to American Top Team, which operates in Florida. The gym is not only one of the best in the nation but is home to numerous high-level heavyweights, including former UFC champions Andrei Arlovski and Junior Dos Santos.

“Bigi Boy” spoke about what fueled his move to ATT in favor of continuing his training at Hard Knocks 365 (now Sanford MMA).

“Before the fight against Alistair I needed professional help. I didn’t have enough sparring partners at Hard Knocks and all the guys I used to train with were injured, so I needed to make a decision on what’s going to happen. So me and my coach went to our management and they advised us to go to American Top Team – we got all the help we needed.”

Hunting a predator

Standing at 6-foot-3-inches and weighing in at over 253 pounds, Francis Ngannou is a human specimen. He has one of the hardest punches ever recorded and knocked out his past three opponents, all in the first round.

In the space of a few years, Ngannou sent Overeem to the shadow realm with a blistering uppercut and utterly destroyed one of the best to ever do it in Cain Velasquez.

Rozenstruik and Ngannou have gone back-and-forth on social media, with the undefeated Rozenstruik going as far as to say he’ll knock out the former title challenger.

“Francis is number two in the world, and I want his spot. So the only thing that counts is winning this fight, taking his spot and going for the title shot after,” Rozenstruik said.

Although Curtis Blaydes and Daniel Cormier would disagree, it would be hard to decline him a title shot if he is able to walk through the bogeyman that is Francis Ngannou. Not many people would sign on a dotted line that allows a 253-pound man with supernatural knockout power to punch them in the face, but for Suriname’s favorite fighting son, its an opportunity.

“Nobody wants to fight him. He’s knockout everybody out of their face. I do the same! So what’s going to happen? If I land first, he goes to sleep. I’m going to be the first guy to knock his ass out.”

Rozenstruik already holds one record – the fastest knockout in UFC heavyweight history at just nine seconds. However, despite already holding one, the ferocious striker has his eyes on another.

“I’m looking for another record. If I beat him, I go 5-0 in the UFC with 5 KO’s, go for a title shot, take the title and make another record: six fights in the UFC and I’m champion. What’s better than that?”

On March 23, 300 people from Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s home country of Suriname plan to fly out in support of their national hero. He explained to John Hyon Ko how surreal he expects the experience to be, and why it makes him extra motivated heading into the fight.

“That’s going to be the craziest thing I’m going to see in my whole entire life. Its crazy – 300 people sitting there cheering for you, singing for you, saying your name, screaming your name out loud – it gives me more motivation.”

Before entering the world of mixed martial arts, Rozenstruik was an avid kickboxer, picking up 76 wins. It’s evident through his four fights in the UFC that kickboxing was a truly perfect base that has allowed him to successfully transition to mixed martial arts.

“I think its the best base because you start standing up. You don’t start laying on the ground. You start standing up, you touch gloves or not and start hitting each other. Before you go for the shot, it can be finished. The Allen Crowder fight… I knocked him out in nine seconds. It looked easy but it took a lot of work.”

“I have a lot of experience. 76 wins and 46 KO’s is not easy, it means I have a lot of experience. I did it over and over and over again, so I know exactly when I hit you hard. I know when you’re going to be dizzy, and I know if I give you one more, you’re going to be done. I can see it. So that for me is experience.

The post Jairzinho Rozenstruik on Francis Ngannou matchup: “I’m going to be the first guy to knock his ass out” appeared first on The Body Lock.