Longtime UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson suffered a disappointing submission defeat to Anthony Smith in front of his home fans at UFC Stockholm. The crowd fell silent immediately after he tapped out, as their countryman dropped a second consecutive bout. In the post-fight interview, Gustafsson left his gloves in the cage, signaling his retirement from the sport.
Light heavyweight Johnny Walker is at a crossroads. On one hand, he wishes to be the one to finally dethrone champion Jon Jones, but on the other, he just can’t bring himself to root against fellow countryman Thiago Santos, who is scheduled to take on ‘Bones’ at UFC 239, on July 6.
Recently crowned UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade has said former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk needs to string some wins together before she earns her shot at the belt.
Andrade (20-6) won the UFC strawweight belt earlier this month when she knocked out Rose Namajunas in the second-round after slamming ‘Thug’ Rose on her head. The 27-year-old beat the best before winning the belt, knocking out Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and winning decisions against Tecia Torres and Claudia Gadelha.
Less than two weeks ago, Aspen Ladd was on the prelims of UFC Rochester against fellow contender Sijara Eubanks. After a Fight of the Night performance and another win, Ladd has been elevated to headliner status after previously never appearing on a UFC main card.
Conor McGregor’s return from a two-year absence from MMA at UFC 229 did not end well for him. “The Notorious” failed to reclaim the 155-pound title from Khabib Nurmagomedov, who ended up tapping him out by the fourth round of their main event fight.
“The Iron Lady” is about to have her mettle tested by an undefeated foe.
Officials announced Wednesday that Germaine de Randamie will fight Aspen Ladd in the bantamweight main event of UFC Sacramento on July 13. The matchup was first reported by MMA Junkie.
12 p.m.: Show open. After a brief introduction, I’ll take a look at fights from the weekend and explain why talent prospect is difficult on the Monday Morning Analyst.
12:35 p.m.: 5 minutes on the clock. All of your social media questions answered at A Round of Tweets using #themmahour hashtag.
12:40 p.m.: To preview his upcoming grappling match with Nicky Ryan, Urijah Faber will join us.
It’s a good day to be Yoel Romero. That’s because a New Jersey court awarded “Soldier of God” $27.45 million after winning a lawsuit against Gold Star Performance Products, the company behind the contaminated substance that was the root of his failed drug test in 2016.
After striking a deal with United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA), his original nine-month suspension was reduced after Romero threatened to bring his case to arbitration, where he could’ve faced a two-year ban from mixed martial arts (MMA) had it not been resolved in his favor.
The UFC Rochester event just finished up with the UFC’s former lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos submitting the promotion’s #7 ranked lightweight, Kevin Lee, but up at 170-pounds.
