Latest news with #Ige
USA Today
20-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC 318 results: Patricio Freire notches first win in promotion with decision over Dan Ige
Patricio Freire now has a win under the UFC banner after getting past Dan Ige. Freire (37-8 MMA, 1-1 UFC), one of best champions from the Bellator era, won his sophomore appearance in the UFC by winning a unanimous decision (29-29, 29-28, 29-28) over Ige (19-10 MMA, 11-9 UFC). The featherweight bout served as the second fight on the pay-per-view main card of UFC 318 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The fight started off at a methodical pace as neither fighter rushed the feeling-out process. "Pitbull" secured a nice takedown sequence midway through the round as the first big action of the fight. Ige did well to prevent damage and scrambled to his feet. Freire leaped forward with a knee for a nice connection, but the crowd wasn't very happy with the overall offering in the opening frame. Round 2 started off at a similar slow pace, but Ige offered a good combination. The boo birds continued to chirp as the fight reached the midpoint of the round. That's when things changed out of nowhere. "Pitbull" cracked Ige with a hard left hand, dropping him to a knee. The swarm from Freire was on, but Ige survived the moment. Although the finish was no longer in play, Freire kept the pressure on with a nice takedown with some ground and pound before heading back to the stools. Needing to change the fight in a hurry, Ige cracked Freire with a hard head kick early in the final round. Freire held on to avoid follow-ups, though. A low kick from Ige paused the fight momentarily, but on the restart, Freire kept Ige busy with takedown attempts, and caught a kick to bring the fight to the ground until the final horn. All three judges scored the first two rounds for Freire and the final for Ige. With the win, Freire successfully rebounds from his UFC debut loss to former interim champ Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314 in April. "Pitbull" entered the UFC on he heels of a Bellator title defense against Jeremy Kennedy last March. On the other side, Ige fails to keep momentum going after a third-round finish of Sean Woodson, which also took place at UFC 314. Up-to-the-minute UFC 318 results
USA Today
19-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Dan Ige vs. Patricio Freire prediction, pick, start time for UFC 318
Dan Ige and Patricio Freire meet Saturday on the main card of UFC 318 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom. Last event: 4-2 UFC main cards, 2025: 68-50-1 Dan Ige vs. Patricio Freire UFC 318 preview Ige (19-9 MMA, 11-8 UFC) comes in after successfully rebounding from back-to-back losses by stopping Sean Woodson at UFC 314 in April. Prior to that fight, Ige dropped a super-short notice replacement outing vs. Diego Lopes at UFC 303 followed by a unanimous decision loss to Lerone Murphy. In the fight prior, Ige lived up to his "50K" nickname with a bonus-winning stoppage of Andre Fili. ... Freire (36-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is hunting for his first win under the UFC banner. The former Bellator champion debuted in April, but couldn't get the job done against Yair Rodriguez. "Pitbull's" last victory came by third-round stoppage in his final Bellator bout against Jeremy Kennedy last March. Dan Ige vs. Patricio Freire UFC 318 expert pick, prediction In what's arguably the second-best fight on the card, Dan Ige will get his wish when he meets former Bellator double champ, Patricio Freire. Considering the theme at the top of this card, you could also argue that this serves as a solid BMF fight as far as featherweight standards go. Freire, who might not get the respect he deserves from casual fans (particularly after the way Joe Rogan called his last fight), has had one of the more impressive careers outside of the UFC in MMA's modern era. Ige, on the other hand, has been building his own resume and reputation within the UFC in recent years, becoming a well-respected staple of the scene who you can always count on for quality fights. If this fight were a few years ago, then I'd probably be forced to steer away from bias by picking an elite pound-for-pound talent in Freire. However, with Freire firmly in the post-prime of his career after spending the better part of the past decade hopping around weight classes, I'm not sure I can confidently pick him to outwork or stop a durable and proven product like Ige within three frames. The pick is Ige by knockout in Round 2. Dan Ige vs. Patricio Freire UFC 318 odds The oddsmakers and the public are favoring the Hawaiian fighter, listing Ige -225 and Freire +180 via FanDuel. Dan Ige vs. Patricio Freire UFC 318 start time, how to watch Ige and Freire are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 10:40 p.m. ET. The fight broadcasts live on ESPN and ESPN+.
USA Today
17-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Dan Ige views Patricio Freire as top five featherweight, plans to knock him out at UFC 318
NEW ORLEANS – Despite Patricio Freire being an unranked UFC featherweight, Dan Ige sees him as a big fight. Ige (19-9 MMA, 11-8 UFC) meets former two-division Bellator champion Patricio Freire (36-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on Saturday's UFC 318 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main card at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Ige explains that he's been wanting to fight "Pitbull" for a while. "Actually, before he even signed, (I was asking to fight him). There were talks about him signing, and I texted the UFC right away. I was like, 'I want this fight,'" Ige said during Wednesday's media day. "He got the Yair (Rodriguez) fight, I got the (Sean) Woodson fight, and eventually it played out the way it did because we're fighting this weekend. "'Pitbull' has been a guy I've been watching for a long time, probably for over a decade. I've been a fan of his. I love his fighting style – one of the best to ever do it. He fell short in his debut, but take nothing away, I still believe he's one of the best featherweights in the world – definitely in my opinion top five. So this is a big fight for me." Freire said he plans on being the first to finish Ige, but Ige thinks he'll be the one to get the knockout. "Twenty guys in the UFC have said that, so that's not a new thing for me to hear," Ige said. "How do I see myself winning is another spectacular finish by knockout."
USA Today
16-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Patricio Freire identified calmness as debut mistake but vows to be violent at UFC 318
NEW ORLEANS – Patricio Freire's UFC debut played out like someone slowly letting the air out of a balloon. There's no one who recognizes that more than "Pitbull" himself. The fatal mistake wasn't nerves or jitters, no. It was quite the opposite. Freire (36-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) said his UFC 314 loss to Yair Rodriguez was the result of being too calm. "The problem was that I was very calm," Freire told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. "That was my mistake. (I had) too much experience. Ten years fighting for five rounds, 25 minutes. I saw everything in the cage. I was calm and relaxed. That was my mistake. ... For sure, (this one) will be a violent fight." Almost immediately after the loss in March, Freire launched a social media campaign for a fight vs. Dan Ige (19-9 MMA, 11-8 UFC). It wasn't long before the promotion got on board with the idea and booked the two to fight Saturday at Smoothie King Center. "Yeah, it makes sense," Freire said. "He's a tough guy. He's the division's gatekeeper. He separates the good from the great. He's going to kick down that door. ... I will be the first to knock him out or submit him." Freire, 38, said he's focused solely on Ige. But he couldn't help but notice the addition of another former Bellator star, Aaron Pico, to the UFC roster. Despite the two long being aligned to clash in the now-defunct promotion, they never did. With Pico (13-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in need of a new opponent, Freire thinks that matchup could be next. "My focus now is to beat (Ige), but after that: Aaron Pico," Freire said. "... We were in Bellator for a long time. I was the champion, but he couldn't get to the belt. Now we can fight. Next week? Yeah. I'm ready, always ready."
Chicago Tribune
21-06-2025
- Climate
- Chicago Tribune
First extreme heat wave of 2025 headed to Chicago: What to know for the weekend
Beginning Saturday, Chicagoans can expect intense heat compounded by muggy humidity for the next several days. The National Weather Service has declared an extreme heat warning in Cook County from 10 a.m. Saturday through midnight Monday. Daytime temperatures may reach 97 degrees on Saturday, with a peak afternoon heat index of 106, according to the National Weather Service. At night, temperatures will probably 'struggle' to drop below 80 degrees, said Brett Borchardt, a senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service. That makes this first heat wave of the year particularly dangerous. 'So we have a prolonged period of time where we're not able to cool off, and the effects of heat accumulate,' Borchardt said. 'That's when we start to see those heat-related illnesses crop up.' Through Sunday and Monday, daytime temperatures may continue to hit the mid- to high-90s, and the heat index is forecast to reach 100 to 105 degrees. The National Weather Service may extend its heat warning through Tuesday if conditions persist, Borchardt said during a Friday morning news conference at the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications. High humidity is also contributing to this weekend's heat warning. The combination of extreme heat and humidity can have dangerous health consequences such as nausea, confusion and passing out. The heat can also turn deadly, city officials stressed. Mayor Brandon Johnson urged Chicagoans to take the warning seriously, adding that officials have learned grave lessons from the past. 'We are one month away from the 30-year anniversary of the 1995 heat wave, the deadliest heat wave in American history,' Johnson said. 'We lost more than 700 Chicagoans. Most of them were the elderly and poor. … It really challenged the city to recognize the danger of extreme heat.' Over the last three years, the city recorded 485 heat-related deaths and more than 700 heat-related emergency room visits in Chicago, Public Health Commissioner Olusimbo Ige said. People who are already sick and people older than 65 are the most vulnerable, she added. Certain regions of the city may also be more susceptible to extreme heat because of the urban heat island effect — when factors, including building materials and tree canopy cover, cause the environment to trap more heat. Public health data shows the 60620, 60623, 60628 and 60651 ZIP codes historically see more heat-related emergencies than other locations, Ige said. Residents should stay inside with air conditioning if possible, officials said. According to Ige, 89% of the city's population live in air conditioned buildings. Almost 180 city facilities serve as cooling centers during heat waves, including public libraries, Department of Family and Support Services and Park District buildings. There are an additional 110 spray features at city parks. However, most cooling centers have limited hours that don't extend throughout the evening. According to city data, 33 cooling centers aren't open during the weekend and 26 are not open Sundays. Only 3% of Chicagoans went to a cooling center in 2024, Ige said. Other ways to stay safe during the heat wave include drinking lots of water, wearing light clothing, keeping ovens and stoves shut off and cooling off with a cold bath or ice packs, officials said. The city plans to send teams out to do well-being checks on older and homeless people throughout the weekend, said Maura McCauley, acting commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services. And for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the city is opening all its pools again seven days a week. Outdoor pools open Saturday, and can help residents beat the heat, Park District chief of staff Michael Merchant said.
