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USA Today
19-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC Fight Night 256 winner HyunSung Park: Callout of Matt Schnell was 'random'
UFC Fight Night 256 winner HyunSung Park: Callout of Matt Schnell was 'random' Show Caption Hide Caption UFC's HyunSung Park, now 10-0, seeking step up in competition UFC Fight Night 256 winner HyunSung Park talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight after his first-round submission of Carlos Hernandez. LAS VEGAS – HyunSung Park says his post-fight callout of Matt Schnell at UFC Fight Night 256 was nothing personal. Park (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) kept his undefeated record intact Saturday when he scored a first-round submission of Carlos Hernandez (10-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) in their flyweight bout at the UFC Apex. Afterward, he used his in-cage microphone time to request a matchup with Schnell (17-9 MMA, 7-7 UFC), who is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jimmy Flick at UFC on ESPN 66 in April. According to Park, there was no malice behind him naming Schnell. If anything, it was a product of admiration. "Matt Schnell was just a random name that came up to me," Park told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter backstage at UFC Fight Night 256. "Nothing against him. He's half-Korean, so I've been looking to him. He's a great fighter. Whoever it is, I want to fight." As for the performance against Hernandez, it was a good moment for Park. He has finished all three of his opponents inside the octagon, but this was his quickest to date and another sign of growth for the 29-year-old. "Game plan was striking, but I saw an opportunity on the ground and I was able to choke him out," Park said. "Eventually, I think in striking I'm one of the best, I'm very talented, but at wrestling, grappling, I'm above the average. I'm still out to learn, and I want to get better."
USA Today
05-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC 315: Why champ Belal Muhammad is surprised Ian Machado Garry is the backup
UFC 315: Why champ Belal Muhammad is surprised Ian Machado Garry is the backup Machado Garry tapped for potential fill-in spot after dominant win over Prates in Kansas City UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad didn't expect Ian Machado Garry to be in the title picture so soon. Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) makes his first title defense against Jack Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 315 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) headliner at Bell Centre in Montreal. Machado Garry (16-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) was dubbed as the official backup for Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena after surviving a late scare to defeat Carlos Prates in the UFC on ESPN 66 main event just over a week ago. "I had no knowledge, and even when he said it in the cage, I'm like, there's no way this guy is about to step up as the backup because he looked a little bit beat up, especially in that fifth round when he was crawling on the floor (vs. Prates)," Muhammad said of Garry on the "Anik & Florian" podcast. "He definitely took some damage, but is he going to make weight again, and is it really going to be worth it? Because I'm not pulling out, and I'm sure Jack's not pulling out coming all the way from Australia. So is it really worth it if you're going to make the weight? But he's trying, right? Especially in a division now where people are saying there isn't a clear No. 1 contender anymore." Muhammad recently told MMA Junkie that he expects Shavkat Rakhmonov to be next, but if Rakhmonov isn't healthy in time, he sees a former champion potentially leapfrogging everyone. "Shavkat, we don't know when he's coming back, and then you've got (Sean) Brady who just looked great against Leon Edwards," Muhammad said. "You've got Kamaru (Usman) and (Joaquin) Buckley who are about to fight each other. I think for (Machado Garry), he's trying to just put his name in the mix, thinking that he's going to cement himself as being the backup. But you never know what the UFC wants. I think if Kamaru wins, they'll make Kamaru skip the line, no matter what."
USA Today
01-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC newcomer Malcolm Wellmaker recalls key early career motivation from Jorge Masvidal
UFC newcomer Malcolm Wellmaker recalls key early career motivation from Jorge Masvidal Show Caption Hide Caption UFC's Malcolm Wellmaker recalls Jorge Masvidal's motivating message UFC bantamweight Malcolm Wellmaker speaks to MMA Junkie Radio following his debut victory at UFC on ESPN 66 in Kansas City, Mo. Malcolm Wellmaker will never forget his UFC debut, and the motivating factor that helped him believe he could become a star in MMA. At UFC on ESPN 66, Wellmaker (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) impressed in his UFC debut with a vicious first-round knockout of Cameron Saaiman. It was a moment that he will never forget, not only because it was his UFC debut, but the Performance of the Night bonus he pocketed for the knockout allowed him to quit his job to focus on fighting full time. Today, Wellmaker is as confident a bantamweight you'll come across, but before he reached this level, he recalls a message from a UFC BMF who helped him believe he could achieve big success as a fighter after just his second professional fight. "It was my second pro fight when I fought for Jorge Masvidal," Wellmaker told MMA Junkie Radio. "Biggest opportunity I had – I had First Round reach out to me for the opportunity to fight on his show. I had never even met a UFC fighter before. So, I got that opportunity, I went out there, put on a show. Jorge gave me a $1,000 cash bonus for the knockout. "I walked away from that fight night and I believed him when he told me I could be great, that I could do some good things. Ever since then, I believed in my heart that I could make it to this level and do this." That night on Aug. 5, 2022, at iKON FC 4, Wellmaker knocked out Langston Sykes with a left hook in the first round. It was one of five finishes in his first seven fights that earned him a call to Dana White's Contender Series last August, where he knocked out Adam Bramhald to earn a UFC contract. He would go on to make the most of his debut with another statement knockout, one that he knew would happen. "Me and my coaches 100 percent believed it was going to be a right hand that knocked him out," Wellmaker said. "We definitely didn't think it would be that early, and the reason why is we expected him to come in and wrestle. ... Fortunately, he never even level changed to try to shoot for a takedown, so it came a lot faster." The knockout came fast, and so did a major life change. Just a couple of days after his fight, Wellmaker quit his job as a pipefitter welder, which he admits is a bit scary, but he believes it's a necessary move in order to elevate his game to the fullest potential. "It's weird to think that I don't have to do that anymore and my bills are still going to be paid," Wellmaker said. "It's bittersweet, too, because the guys I worked with are like family to me. I've been at the job I'm at now for over two years. These guys have been a part of my life for so long. We've been going through Christmases together, they've been to my baby shower – I love these guys. ... It's bittersweet, but all of them want to see me win. It's good, man. I'm gonna go out there and try to make them all proud."
USA Today
30-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Chris Gutierrez has two opponents in mind for Noche UFC in Guadalajara
Chris Gutierrez has two opponents in mind for Noche UFC in Guadalajara Chris Gutierrez has a name and date in mind for his next UFC fight. The veteran bantamweight wants to get matched up against Adrian Yanez or Marcus McGhee, who beat his teammate Jonathan Martinez. This callout from Gutierrez (22-5-2 MMA, 10-3-1 UFC) comes after defeating John Castaneda in a split decision this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 66 in Kansas City, Mo. "I'd like to fight next against Adrian Yanez or maybe the guy that last beat Johnny, Marcus McGhee. I'd like one of those," Gutierrez told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. On top of having two specific names in mind, Gutierrez also has a card and date. He'd like either of those two fights to go down at this year's Noche UFC, the UFC's annual event celebrating Mexican Independence, which is slated for Sept. 13 in Guadalajara, Mexico. "I would like to fight again in September now that the UFC is going to Guadalajara," Gutierrez said. "I'd like to fight in front of a Hispanic audience, but first I need to recover from my hand. Health is the most important, and that's what I'm focusing on." Gutierrez suffered a hand injury in the lead-up to UFC Kansas City. He's yet to have a medical diagnosis, but if health permits, Noche UFC is his target. For Gutierrez, who's U.S. born but with Colombian and Guatemalan parents, reconnecting with the Hispanic MMA audience is important. The last time he fought outside of the U.S. was back in 2019 at a UFC Fight Night event in Uruguay. "I want to show my face in front of a Hispanic crowd," Gutierrez explained. "That blood runs hot, and it's a different energy that us Hispanics bring. I would obviously like to fight in front of that audience, of course. All my recent fights have been in the United States. This last fight was in Kansas City, but the fights before that were at the Apex. Man, the Apex bores so much. It's not what you think. The sport was made to fight in front of an audience. It's a beautiful experience, and I want to do it again, but this time in front of a Hispanic audience."
USA Today
29-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Chael Sonnen: Carlos Prates 'wasn't even close' to finishing Ian Machado Garry
Chael Sonnen: Carlos Prates 'wasn't even close' to finishing Ian Machado Garry Chael Sonnen doesn't believe Ian Machado Garry faced any real danger in his UFC on ESPN 66 win. Machado Garry (16-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) survived a late scare to defeat Carlos Prates (21-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday's main event at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Machado Garry was comfortably winning the fight until Prates reversed him on the ground in Round 5 and landed some hard ground and pound. Machado Garry appeared hurt, but later revealed that he was fully conscious throughout. "That moment in the fifth round, by the way, has been greatly embellished," Sonnen said on "Good Guy/Bad Guy" with Daniel Cormier. "I read a thing on Twitter, it was talking about, 'I can't believe he didn't finish him in the fifth round.' He wasn't even close to finish him in the fifth round. There was a spot where he could have swarmed him and attempted to finish, and then we could all guess what would happen from there, but it's not like Ian was doing all that bad." Sonnen was impressed with how Machado Garry handled his first UFC main event. The 27-year-old will be the official backup for the welterweight title fight between champion Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena, which headlines UFC 315 on May 10 in Montreal. "Ian has weaponized pace," Sonnen said. "When he was coming on his run, he breaks into the top 15. ... I remember being surprised how surprised he was that he broke into the top 15. He goes in, and he starts sliding through, but then we got to start to wonder about championship rounds and big fights, co-main events and main events. When the lights are brightest and all the pressure is on you, he reacts just fine."
