Latest news with #InternationalFightWeek
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jon Anik largely supports recent UFC trend against simultaneous two-division champions
Jon Anik would still like to see rare exceptions of simultaneous two-division UFC champions, but he understands the logic against not allowing it. After a multi-year window where several athletes were afforded the opportunity to keep their UFC title while moving to another division to challenge for or defend a belt, an evolution has occurred in 2025. Both Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev vacated gold in the featherweight and lightweight divisions in order to change weight classes. Advertisement Back in February, UFC CEO Dana White stated that instances of two-division championship would be afforded on a case-by-case basis, but since then the actions of the promotion have spoke for itself. Lead UFC play-by-play commentator Anik thinks the limitations have been placed out of necessity due to the aggressive event calendar the company puts forth, and from that perspective, he said it it adds up. "I think it does hold up divisions and it causes maybe an unnecessary need for interim championships," Anik told MMA Junkie Radio. "I would like in select cases – perhaps Islam Makhachev would've been worthy of that opportunity, but I would imagine he had enough peace to move up to the welterweight division. I think only in select cases. I think it really is about looking at the 14 pay-per-views, times two title fights. In a perfect world you have 28 championship fights a year minimally and every pay-per-view is championship doubleheader, or maybe get a championship triple header during International Fight Week, and maybe another time in the year. "If you look at recent history, the UFC's heavyweight division, the undisputed title hasn't been on the lime three times a year at all. We need title fights to go around and ideally they aren't interim title fights, so largely I agree with the way the promotion is proceeding. But Islam Makhachev is a special case." Advertisement The UFC has not been shy to implement interim titles over the past decade. Anik thinks the value of those have diminished over time, though, not only in the eyes of the fans, but for the athletes as well. He points to the UFC 317 vacant lightweight title bout between Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) on June 28 in Las Vegas, which was booked in the wake of Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) moving to 170 pounds, as a relevant example. "You could argue monetarily wise that Charles Oliveira or Ilia Topuria emerging from UFC 317 as the interim lightweight champion is not that big of a deal," Anik said. "For the athlete it is, and it'll be nice for whoever wins that fight to be crowned undisputed." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jon Anik supports recent UFC trend against two-division champions
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Jon Anik largely supports recent UFC trend against simultaneous two-division champions
Jon Anik largely supports recent UFC trend against simultaneous two-division champions Jon Anik would still like to see rare exceptions of simultaneous two-division UFC champions, but he understands the logic against not allowing it. After a multi-year window where several athletes were afforded the opportunity to keep their UFC title while moving to another division to challenge for or defend a belt, an evolution has occurred in 2025. Both Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev vacated gold in the featherweight and lightweight divisions in order to change weight classes. Back in February, UFC CEO Dana White stated that instances of two-division championship would be afforded on a case-by-case basis, but since then the actions of the promotion have spoke for itself. Lead UFC play-by-play commentator Anik thinks the limitations have been placed out of necessity due to the aggressive event calendar the company puts forth, and from that perspective, he said it it adds up. "I think it does hold up divisions and it causes maybe an unnecessary need for interim championships," Anik told MMA Junkie Radio. "I would like in select cases – perhaps Islam Makhachev would've been worthy of that opportunity, but I would imagine he had enough peace to move up to the welterweight division. I think only in select cases. I think it really is about looking at the 14 pay-per-views, times two title fights. In a perfect world you have 28 championship fights a year minimally and every pay-per-view is championship doubleheader, or maybe get a championship triple header during International Fight Week, and maybe another time in the year. "If you look at recent history, the UFC's heavyweight division, the undisputed title hasn't been on the lime three times a year at all. We need title fights to go around and ideally they aren't interim title fights, so largely I agree with the way the promotion is proceeding. But Islam Makhachev is a special case." The UFC has not been shy to implement interim titles over the past decade. Anik thinks the value of those have diminished over time, though, not only in the eyes of the fans, but for the athletes as well. He points to the UFC 317 vacant lightweight title bout between Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) on June 28 in Las Vegas, which was booked in the wake of Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) moving to 170 pounds, as a relevant example. "You could argue monetarily wise that Charles Oliveira or Ilia Topuria emerging from UFC 317 as the interim lightweight champion is not that big of a deal," Anik said. "For the athlete it is, and it'll be nice for whoever wins that fight to be crowned undisputed."
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Magomed Ankalaev claims Alex Pereira 'never coming back,' will move on from UFC rematch
Magomed Ankalaev claims Alex Pereira 'never coming back,' will move on from UFC rematch Magomed Ankalaev is sick of waiting for a rematch date that accommodates Alex Pereira and is prepared to move on to something else. After taking the light heavyweight title from Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) by unanimous decision at UFC 313 in March, Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) said he's been ready and willing for the sequel to be confirmed. He claims multiple dates have been offered, including the UFC 317 headliner during International Fight Week on June 28 in Las Vegas. Still, though, nothing has been finalized, and it appears Ankalaev now thinks it never will be. He bluntly said Sunday on social media he thinks Pereira essentially is retired and won't compete again, and therefore he wants to move on to the next contender. (via X): "Alex (is) done he never coming back," Ankalaev wrote. "Let's move on – June, July, August, I said yes." If the Ankalaev vs. Pereira rematch does not come to fruition, there is multiple potential opponents for his first 205-pound title defense. Former champion Jiri Prochazka is the likely leading candidate, Carlos Ulberg is on a seven-fight winning streak in the weight class and on June 21, ex-champ Jamahal Hill meets Khalil Rountree in the UFC on ABC 8 main event in Baku, Azerbaijan.
USA Today
27-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC 317 adds Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Terrance McKinney to lineup
UFC 317 adds Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Terrance McKinney to lineup Terrance McKinney and Viacheslav Borshchev will meet in a matchup of powerful lightweight strikers at UFC 317. The fight card that highlights UFC's 13th annual International Fight Week on June 28 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) will feature McKinney (16-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) vs. Borshchev (8-5-1 MMA, 3-4-1 UFC) as part of the lineup. Two people with knowledge of the booking verified the news to MMA Junkie after McKinney announced the fight himself on Monday. McKinney, 30, is coming off a two-minute finish of Damir Hadzovic at UFC Fight Night 250 in February. "T-Wrecks" has earned all 16 of his career wins by stoppage, with a remarkable 15 of those coming in the first round. Borshchev, 33, meanwhile, will try to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to Tom Nolan at UFC 312 in February. "Slava" is 1-2-1 in his past four fights overall dating back to November 2023. The latest UFC 317 lineup includes:
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Michael Bisping has mixed feelings about Vitor Belfort's UFC Hall of Fame induction
Michael Bisping has mixed feelings about Vitor Belfort's UFC Hall of Fame induction Michael Bisping has mixed feelings about Vitor Belfort joining the UFC Hall of Fame. If there's anyone who would have a valid protest to Belfort having his name enshrined in the pioneer wing of the Hall during International Fight Week on June 28, it would be Bisping. The former UFC middleweight champion, who is a member of the Hall himself, received a serious eye injury in his January 2013 loss to Belfort at UFC on FX 7. The repercussions of a kick ultimately led to Bisping completely losing his vision, and now he famously has a prosthetic eye. Injuries are an inherent risk of combat sports, but what makes the situation with Bisping even worse, is that Belfort was competing while being granted a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT), which essentially was a then-legal performance-enhancing drug that was outlawed and banned from the sport in February 2014. Bisping understandably still has issue with Belfort for everything that happened. It makes the legacy of "The Phenom" highly complicated, but if Bisping can remove all emotion, he said Belfort belongs in the UFC Hall of Fame. "When we were in Des Moines, Paul Felder had a little piece for the (video) package where we speak about the greatness of the people getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. They said, 'We won't ask you Mike, for obvious reasons.' I said, 'You know what? I don't care. I'll do it,'" Bisping told MMA Junkie. "When you look at it and remove all the emotions from it, the man was the UFC heavyweight champion of the world at 19. He then became the light heavyweight champion. He almost became the middleweight champion. He's the closest thing we've had to a three-weight champion. "Was he a massive cheater? Of course. Did he take a lot of steroids? Of course. Were there a lot of other people doing that at the same time. Absolutely there was. I get it." During his storied career, Belfort owned UFC gold, won the UFC 12 heavyweight tournament and racked up an all-time UFC record 13 finishes in the first round of his fights. There are other athletes in the UFC Hall of Fame who have accomplished far less than Belfort, and had their own controversies as well. For that reason, Bisping can accept that Belfort, despite his faults, earned his place. "I lost an eye because of this guy," Bisping said. "He can stick his Hall of Fame up his ass. But he does deserve it. You can't deny what he did inside the octagon. You just can't deny it. If that's not a Hall of Fame career, I don't know what is. Whether you like it or not, he deserves it." To hear more from Bisping, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
