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USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Stephen Thompson responds to Muslim Salikhov's 'old guys' callout at UFC on ABC 9
Stephen Thompson is down for a matchup of the oldest active fighters in the welterweight division after being called out at UFC on ABC 9. Following a 42-second upset knockout of Carlos Leal on Saturday's card in Abu Dhabi, Muslim Salikhov called for a showdown against Thompson (17-9-1 MMA, 12-9-1 UFC) in what would be a pairing of two of the division's most decorated strikers. It didn't take long for the 42-year-old "Wonderboy" to respond to the callout from 41-year-old Salikhov (22-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC), and he seemingly obliged immediately (via X): Thompson is coming off a controversial split decision loss to Gabriel Bonfim at UFC on ESPN 70 this month in what was the second-to-last fight on his current UFC contract. Although Thompson admitted in a pre-fight interview with MMA Junkie that he's unsure if he'll be signed to a new deal, a clash with a fighter of similar age and style would be fitting matchmaking.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Gabriel Bonfim wants Colby Covington next: 'An appropriate next step'
Gabriel Bonfim isn't listening to the noise. Mentally, he's already on to the next battle. The rising Brazilian contender picked up his most prolific win to date on July 12 when he defeated welterweight legend Stephen Thompson at UFC on ESPN 70 by split decision. "I feel great and I'm happy with my performance," Bonfim recently told MMA Junkie through a Portuguese-language translator. "My opponent is a legend of the sport, so that victory gives me confidence moving forward, and also shows me some things that I need to work on if I'm to achieve that status myself. I'm very hungry to build on my momentum." As for the judges' decision and the wave of disagreement that came from fans online, Bonfim remains confident. "I've gone back and watched it a couple times," Bonfim said. "Overall, I'm happy. I think it was a good performance, and I stuck to the game plan. I think it was an exciting fight, which is something that's very important to me -- giving the fans something to enjoy and remember." "... I was confident that the judges would make the correct decision, and they did in declaring me the winner. There were aspects of the fight that made it close at times, but I did enough to win. Perhaps those who doubt my victory haven't rewatched the fight, which is something that I recommend." Regardless of the armchair judges' nasty social media comments, the record books have a big "W" on Bonfim's resume. The victory even landed him in the official UFC rankings at No. 14. He's since bumped to No. 13. "Myself and my team have worked so hard to get to this point," Bonfim said. "It's an honor to be recognized in this way, and it gives me even more confidence that I can continue to climb the rankings and be the champion." With one welterweight great defeated, Bonfim has turned his attention to another one – one that is a bit more loud and bombastic. Bonfim wants Colby Covington. "I'd like to fight Colby Covington," Bonfim said. "A fight against a former champion is an appropriate next step in my career after defeating Thompson, who also has a very impressive resume. That's a great matchup for me, and I believe it makes the most sense for my career. Most importantly, I've heard from a lot of fans, online and in person, who say that's the fight they want to see next, so let's do it." Bonfim, 27, has won three fights in a row since his first career loss to Nicolas Dalby. Covington, 37, has lost three of his most recent four fights including most recently a December bout vs. Joaquin Buckley.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Gabriel Bonfim wants Colby Covington next: 'An appropriate next step'
Gabriel Bonfim isn't listening to the noise. Mentally, he's already on to the next battle. The rising Brazilian contender picked up his most prolific win to date on July 12 when he defeated welterweight legend Stephen Thompson at UFC on ESPN 70 by split decision. "I feel great and I'm happy with my performance," Bonfim recently told MMA Junkie through a Portuguese-language translator. "My opponent is a legend of the sport, so that victory gives me confidence moving forward, and also shows me some things that I need to work on if I'm to achieve that status myself. I'm very hungry to build on my momentum." As for the judges' decision and the wave of disagreement that came from fans online, Bonfim remains confident. "I've gone back and watched it a couple times," Bonfim said. "Overall, I'm happy. I think it was a good performance, and I stuck to the game plan. I think it was an exciting fight, which is something that's very important to me -- giving the fans something to enjoy and remember." "... I was confident that the judges would make the correct decision, and they did in declaring me the winner. There were aspects of the fight that made it close at times, but I did enough to win. Perhaps those who doubt my victory haven't rewatched the fight, which is something that I recommend." Regardless of the armchair judges' nasty social media comments, the record books have a big "W" on Bonfim's resume. The victory even landed him in the official UFC rankings at No. 14. He's since bumped to No. 13. "Myself and my team have worked so hard to get to this point," Bonfim said. "It's an honor to be recognized in this way, and it gives me even more confidence that I can continue to climb the rankings and be the champion." With one welterweight great defeated, Bonfim has turned his attention to another one – one that is a bit more loud and bombastic. Bonfim wants Colby Covington. "I'd like to fight Colby Covington," Bonfim said. "A fight against a former champion is an appropriate next step in my career after defeating Thompson, who also has a very impressive resume. That's a great matchup for me, and I believe it makes the most sense for my career. Most importantly, I've heard from a lot of fans, online and in person, who say that's the fight they want to see next, so let's do it." Bonfim, 27, has won three fights in a row since his first career loss to Nicolas Dalby. Covington, 37, has lost three of his most recent four fights including most recently a December bout vs. Joaquin Buckley. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Gabriel Bonfim calls polarizing UFC star: 'An appropriate next step'
USA Today
18-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Steve Garcia OK losing his finishing streak in the name of big-picture UFC ascension
Garcia's KO streak snapped at five, but wins keep coming Steve Garcia kept a streak this past Saturday, but lost one, too. When his MMA timeline gets long enough, though, the 33-year-old featherweight suspects his unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar at UFC on ESPN 70 in Nashville will have a pin in it as a key moment on his resume. Garcia (18-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) put on a dominant and well-rounded standup display in his win over Calvin Kattar (23-10 MMA, 7-8 UFC). And though Kattar is in the midst of a hefty slump – five straight losses after Garcia was done with him, and six setbacks in his past seven – he's long been considered a stiff test in the division. Garcia had to go the distance to get his hand raised for the first time since 2018 – before he was in the UFC. Going into the Kattar fight, in which he was nearly a 2-1 favorite, he had five straight finishes. But with that streak snapped, he thinks he proved he's got more than just knockout power. "I've been wanting a fight like this for a while," Garcia told MMA Junkie Radio. "I thought I was going to get it with Edson (Barboza) in February (before Barboza pulled out), but that's OK. Timing's everything. We got Kattar, and Kattar's a phenomenal striker. I think I was the better boxer, though. "I think everyone wants to set the bar high. That's what I was trying to do: I was trying to knock out Kattar. … That's just how I fight. I always go for the KO. But I get a lot of backlash because everyone thinks I'm reckless or I don't know how to fight properly. … But I just knew with a veteran like Kattar, you go with someone like that who's been in the game for such a long time, who's knocked out people, such a vet – you can tell the difference in there. He's always dangerous." In his five knockouts leading into the fight with Kattar, Garcia had three post-fight bonuses in wins over Chase Hooper, Seung Woo Choi and Kyle Nelson. And those are great. But at his gym, Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, N.M., he's being told to not obsess and tie emotion to wanting to finish fights. It's a message he's trying to take to heart. With six straight wins, and increasing levels of opponent quality on paper, Garcia knows he's creeping up on title contention – but he's not trying to insert his name into the conversation ahead of schedule. That's why a win over Kattar was so important, and despite no knockout, it showed, he thinks, that he can compete with the elite at 145 pounds. "I came into this sport to be at the top," Garcia said. "I didn't really boast about any of my accomplishments leading up to any of this. … You guys understand how deep the 145 bracket is. To even have that conversation about a main event or pushing toward a title shot, it just seemed so far out of reality that I wasn't going to stumble over all that conversation and even make that a situation until there's actually some substance behind that. "I wanted to make sure we got to this position before we could even have this legitimate conversation. The five-rounders are a very high possibility now. I believe I can compete with anybody at the top."
USA Today
18-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Mike Davis goes off on UFC commentators: 'Put some respect on my name'
Mike Davis is not happy with the commentating of his UFC on ESPN 70 win. Mike Davis is not happy with the commentators who worked his most recent fight. The UFC lightweight took to Instagram on Thursday to vent about the commenting of his TKO win over Mitch Ramirez this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 70 in Nashville, Tenn. Daniel Cormier and Laura Sanko served as color commentators for the event, while Brendan Fitzgerald did the play-by-play role. Although Davis (12-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) got his hand raised in the end, Ramirez (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) did have his moments in the second round, and the broadcast team thought Davis was fading in the moments the fight wasn't going his way. Davis finds those comments disrespectful and untrue, as he assures that he wasn't tired – he was fighting smart. "Every time I fight, there's one thing I can't f*cking stand, and it's the commentator," Davis said in a video posted to Instagram. "It's what they're saying about me in a fight. I've never had a fight where they're just like, 'Damn, Mike is doing good. Mike is slipping punches. Mike is countering. Mike's wrestling is great. Mike's back control is good. Body locks here. This and that.' It's always bad-mouthing everything I do. "They always think I'm tired. Show me one fight where I got tired, where I stopped fighting. Show me one. Sodiq Yusuff, I fought with one leg nearly the whole f*cking fight. Mason Jones, I fought back the entire f*cking fight. Thomas Gifford, Viacheslav (Borshchev), Fares (Ziam). I hold back pace, my pressure, my punches because one: I'm accurate, I don't need to throw a thousand punches to hit you. I know when to hit you, how to hit you, why to hit you. And two: If you are attacking me constantly, and I'm just evading and blocking your punches like I did in the Mitch Ramirez fight this weekend, you're going to get tired. I'm not. When you're too tired to throw back, I'm going to capitalize on it and finish you like I did this weekend. Put some respect on my name. I'm not f*cking tired." With the win over Ramirez, Davis bounced back into the win column after a decision loss to Fares Ziam in February. Prior to the loss to Ziam, Davis was on a four-fight wining streak with two finishes and one Fight of the Night award.
