Latest news with #UFCCBO
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Maycee Barber opens up on UFC health scare in first interview since hospitalization: 'Really upsetting'
Maycee Barber is still working through the details of what caused her late withdrawal from UFC Vegas 107's main event. The top-ranked flyweight contender is feeling better physically after being rushed to the hospital this past weekend just minutes before she was supposed to walk to the Octagon to fight Erin Blanchfield. Though a bit discouraged and sad, Barber remains more frustrated than anything else. In her first interview since the incident, she joined "The Ariel Helwani Show" on Wednesday to reflect on the fateful moments before UFC Vegas 107's main event was canceled. She's still unsure where things went wrong. Advertisement "I was in the back warming up, and obviously people also were asking about the weight cut just because of me missing weight, and why I missed weight and all of that," Barber said. "Again, I'm not quite sure what went wrong, but something happened during the weight cut that the coaches and [my nutritionist] Tyler [Minton] called that off. They didn't want me to keep cutting. They felt that if I kept cutting, I was going to end up in the hospital. "The rehydration was fine. Everything was great, I felt good on fight day. And then I was warming up — and to be honest, that's really all that I remember, is warming up. Then I remember being in the back of an ambulance and that's really all that I remember. But I do know that I've cut the same amount of weight before, I've done everything the exact same as this week. So I'm not really sure what happened or what's going on, but [UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] and Dr. [Jeffrey] Davidson and all the doctors at UFC, they're trying to get me the best doctors and the best care." On fight night, Blanchfield revealed that she was told by Campbell that Barber suffered a seizure in the locker room right before walkouts. Barber clarified Wednesday that she'd never had a seizure before and is set to travel for further tests and exams to help determine what went wrong with her health. Advertisement Ultimately, she does believe there was a correlation between this and her failed weight cut. "To be honest, we don't know if it was a seizure," Barber said. "We don't know that it is that, because there were no doctors necessarily in the room. I've seen videos of what happened. I've seen everything, and doctors have seen videos, and they're not saying, 'Oh, it was 100% that.' They're just trying to figure out what it was. So I've done CT scans, I've done MRIs, I've done multiple tests already. "I've done the exact same [weight-cutting] process, I've worked with Tyler for years and years, and we've never encountered something like this, so I think that it's what made the cut challenging. Now we're trying to get to the bottom of it, because again, that can't happen. One, I can't be missing weight from something like that, and also I cannot have an outcome with a fight like that. I can't be trying to walk out for a fight and then not make it there. It was really upsetting." Barber added that she is not comfortable at present sharing what she saw on the video of the incident. Advertisement Blanchfield took aim at Barber after the fight fell apart at the eleventh hour, calling her unprofessional. Blanchfield clarified her comments to Uncrowned on Monday, stating on "The Ariel Helwani Show" that she was mainly referring to Barber's half-pound weight miss. Blanchfield added that she felt Barber needed to get her life in order, citing various outside-of-the-cage issues Barber's had in recent years. "I don't think Erin's been through anything really difficult," Barber said in response. "I can't say that 100%, but she's young — I mean, we're both young — but I think that I've had a lot of life thrown at me. I think I've been through a lot of things. Injuries, sickness, health issues, losses, wins. I've had a lot of experience within the UFC and just within life, and I think that is a maturity that I've been able to accomplish. I'm not quite sure that she has the same maturity, and for her to go out and say that — also, there's a lot of emotions. She's getting ready to walk out. There's probably some nerves there, and all of a sudden you're like, 'Oh, you're not walking out.' And I'm sure that she was upset, but the reality is she walked away with a show [purse], a win [purse] and a percentage of [my] purse. I walked away with a bunch of health issues and nothing. Advertisement "I think that she did just fine. She could turn around and fight next week if she wanted to. I'm going to be working on this for a while. And I know that the UFC is behind me and they're doing everything they can to help me get through this and to help me get back to where I need to be, but for her to say that I'm unprofessional and I need to get my life in order — yes, I need to get my health in order, because I've given everything to the sport because I'm a professional. I have given everything I have inside my body to this life and to being the best I can possibly be. It's not always easy, and I wish the best for her career and I wish the best for her health and her life, but I wouldn't wish this on anybody. It's frustrating, it's challenging, and I think that she should learn to have a little bit of compassion and understanding. "You never know when something is going to happen in your life. So I wish her nothing but the best, but I think that's very immature of her." After making it through a second canceled fight camp for a potential Barber fight, Blanchfield has repeatedly said she's permanently moving on from Barber. Ideally, she'd like to fight someone ranked above her for her next bout, eying the likes of Natalia Silva or former champion Alexa Grasso. Barber fully intends to get her health sorted out before returning to the Octagon. Still, if a Blanchfield matchup does ever materialize, she's even more determined to come out victorious after this latest chapter in their rivalry. "I think that there is the history. I think that we're building this where there's going to be a lot of things she said, there's things I've said, and I think that's what builds fights," Barber said. "I think it's a perfect fight. It might be a cursed one. It might be one of those fights where it may never happen. But if I ever get the chance to, I promise you that I will beat Erin Blanchfield, and I will finish her, and I will hurt her."
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tom Aspinall reveals details of UFC meeting in London, teases 'big news' in Jon Jones saga
Tom Aspinall traveled to London this past weekend for the UFC's latest Fight Night event. While there as a guest fighter, the reigning interim heavyweight champion also met with the brass and discussed his immediate future. Aspinall, 31, has been sidelined since his successful 60-second interim title defense against Curtis Blaydes in July at UFC 304. The division's champion Jon Jones also defended his belt with a third-round stoppage of Stipe Miocic in November. So will the long-awaited champion vs. champion bout actually happen? As expected, the potential matchup was the centerpiece of Aspinall's meeting with UFC executives. "We had a nice meal, and we talked everything through," Aspinall said Monday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show." "[UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] has always been extremely personable and reasonable with me. I can't say what he's like with other people, I don't know, but with me and my team, he's been nothing but hospitable and fantastic. We had a fantastic meeting. Everything went amazing, and I understand my position now. I understand what the company's doing now, and you've got to stay tuned, my friend. There's some big news coming." Movement on the Jones vs. Aspinall front has been relatively quiet since Jones finally received his wish of a Miocic clash to close out 2024. Regardless, UFC CEO Dana White has maintained confidence in the bout coming to fruition. This past week, White told TNT Sports that the much-discussed heavyweight title unification is "done but it's not done" and "just a matter of when now" in regards to final negotiations. Aspinall appeared relatively frustrated prior to the meeting with Campbell, revealing on his YouTube channel that the reason for his inactivity has everything to do with Jones' side. Sources within Aspinall's camp also expressed frustration to Uncrowned in February at the lack of movement with negotiations and indicated that hopes for the Jones fight had begun dwindling within the camp around that time. Now, however, Aspinall is "feeling very optimistic" after his latest meeting with UFC brass. 'I feel like we're in a good spot right now," Aspinall said. "I realize I'm a professional MMA fighter, UFC fighter, and we're doing all this media stuff lately, it's gone really well. The YouTube channel is flying, social media's flying, everything's going really, really well with that, which is good. That's really, really nice, but first and foremost, I like fighting people. That's what I like to do. If I'm not doing that, I feel a little bit — that's just what I like to do. I like to do that. That's the most important for me, and I've not been doing that over the last seven months. 'After the meeting, I'm feeling very optimistic about things. I'm in a really, really good spot with everything and my future moving forward. I think it's exciting times, man. Really exciting times. 'The break [waiting for Jones' decision], it's not a massive break, to be honest," he added. "People are saying, 'Oh, Jon Jones is holding up your career,' and stuff. It's only been seven months. It's not too bad. I don't want to say too much, but exciting stuff is in the future, for sure.' Aspinall has only fought for a collective three minutes and 37 seconds in his past four fights. In April, Aspinall will break a regrettable UFC record as the longest-reigning interim champion in promotional history, surpassing former bantamweight interim champ Renan Barao. The difference between the two is that Barao's champion counterpart at the time, Dominick Cruz, was sidelined with injuries for years. Aspinall has made it clear both publicly and privately to the UFC that his days of interim title defenses are behind him. It's undisputed gold or bust. He's unsure when his time will come in 2025, but he's ready to go right now if the UFC allows him. 'I could fight next week, and I think this is what people don't really understand — is like, I have not been out there doing anything else apart from training," Aspinall said. "That's all I do. Train, get fit, improving in the gym and stuff like that. But, of course, I want to fight. Of course I do. But it's got to be right, and as I've said multiple times, what I deserve is the undisputed heavyweight title. That's very important to me. Money and everything aside, that's really secondary. What I want is to be undisputed heavyweight champion. 'I'm working toward it, man. I'm not sat at home scratching my ass and watching TV all day. I am getting involved in the gym every day, and I'm in a really, really good spot with the training and stuff because we set up a training room where elite heavyweights are traveling to me from all over the world to train, and these guys are in camp. These guys got fights coming up soon. I'm just jumping in and getting involved with them, training at the intensity that I would do if I was training for a world title fight myself. So I'm in a good spot, man. I'm in a really, really good spot. 'I'd rather fight sooner rather than later, but I'm also the type of guy that believes everything happens for me," he concluded. "So I'm sure when the time comes, it's going to be the right time — and all good, I'm excited.' There initially appeared to be a two-man race for Jones' next fight, as Jones was vocal both before and after his battle with Miocic about his interest in fighting Alex Pereira over Aspinall. However, Pereira dropped his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 earlier this month. Jones' big caveat after his Miocic win was that he needed "F*** you money" to fight Aspinall, otherwise a champion vs. champion Pereira fight was his target. While Pereira now feels like an afterthought to Aspinall, he still hopes to see Jones get paid what he's asking for — especially if it helps secure their potential fight. 'I would never celebrate anyone who lost," Aspinall said of Pereira's loss. "That just really isn't my style, but it definitely helps [my situation], for sure. 'There's not really many places for [Jones] to go right now, I don't think. I think the UFC made it clear, anyway. I would like to keep faith that Dana and the UFC would keep their word that if Jon Jones is fighting again that it's going to be against me. But now that the Pereira fight has been taken away with his loss and stuff, I think that kind of goes without saying anyway at this point. 'I would also agree with the notion that [Jones] deserves every penny that he makes because he's done everything that he can," he concluded.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC Vegas 103 results: Manel Kape demolishes Asu Almabayev, makes case for next title shot
Manel Kape's long-elusive UFC title shot may finally be within reach. The top-ranked flyweight demolished Asu Almabayev with a third-round barrage of strikes on Saturday in the main event of UFC Vegas 103, earning a statement-making win at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The performance pushed Kape to 6-1 over his past seven UFC appearances, with four of those victories ending in knockouts — an impressive mark in and of itself for the 125-pound division, but also one that moved Kape into a four-way tie for second all-time for the most knockouts in UFC flyweight history, behind only Joseph Benavidez (5). Afterward, Kape called for a title shot against the winner of UFC 316's championship bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Kara-France, which goes down June 7 in Newark, New Jersey. "Who is next? Who is next against me? They're going to deny again my title shot?" Kape said. "Hey [UFC CBO] Hunter Campbell, you know I'm the best. I just stopped a guy with a 17 [fight] win streak. Everybody was scared to fight him. You guys really thought that I'm scared to fight him because I'm a wrestler? I can wrestle, I can stand with anyone in this division. I'm the best. I'm the 'Starboy.' "Pay attention Pantoja, Kai Kara-France, whatever — who's next to fight against me, be ready, because I'm going to steal that belt like I stole candies from my daughter." MANEL KAPE FINISHES ASU ALMABAYEV IN THE THIRD ROUND! # — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 2, 2025 Kape (21-7) established his advantage on the feet from the opening bell, darting in and out of range and catching Almabayev (21-3) with an array of long, precise punches. Kape, 31, opened a cut under Almabayev's left eye in the closing moments of the first round, then continued to find success in the second and the third, overwhelming Almabayev, 31, with strikes and easily fending off all six of Almabayev's takedown attempts. Kape finally closed the show with a salvo of unanswered knees, standing elbows and stiff punches, prompting Almabayev to turn his back and run for safety, only to eat another hard right hand that forced referee Mike Beltran to mercifully step in and stop the action at the 2:16 mark of Round 3. In the night's co-main event, middleweight veteran Cody Brundage (11-6, 1 NC) won a wild one-round sprint over Julian Marquez (9-6). After several minutes of back-and-forth brawling, referee Mark Smith stepped in with just 15 seconds left in the opening round as Brundage pummeled Marquez with unanswered punches. The performance snapped a two-fight winless skid for Brundage, while Marquez suffered his fourth consecutive KO/TKO loss, likely signaling the end of his eight-year run in the UFC. CODY BRUNDAGE FINISHES JULIAN MARQUEZ IN THE FIRST! WHAT A FIGHT 🔥 # — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 2, 2025 Catch full UFC Vegas 103 results and highlights of every finish from Saturday's card below. Flyweight: Manel Kape def. Asu Almabayev via TKO (punches) at 2:16 of Round 3 | Watch finish Middleweight: Cody Brundage def. Julian Marquez via TKO (punches) at 4:45 of Round 1 | Watch finish Lightweight: Nasrat Haqparast def. Esteban Ribovics via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) Featherweight: Hyder Amil def. William Gomis via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Welterweight: Sam Patterson def. Danny Barlow via KO (punches) at 3:10 of Round 1 | Watch finish Heavyweight: Mario Pinto def. Austen Lane via KO (punch) at :39 of Round 2 | Watch finish Featherweight: Chepe Mariscal def. Ricardo Ramos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 148-pound catchweight: Danny Silva def. Lucas Almeida via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) Women's flyweight: JJ Aldrich def. Andrea Lee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Flyweight: Ramazan Temirov def. Charles Johnson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
The Independent
20-02-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Michael Chandler explains why he took Paddy Pimblett fight and how it came together
Michael Chandler has explained why he took a fight with Paddy Pimblett, and how it came together, ahead of their co-main event at UFC 314. The lightweights will meet in a five-round bout in Miami on 12 April, supporting Alexander Volkanovski's fight with Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight title. Those contests were announced amid a slew of UFC news on Wednesday (19 February), which began with Ilia Topuria's announcement that he was vacating the featherweight belt. 'I was on a vacation last week,' Chandler said in a video on social media. 'I got a call that said: 'Hey, what do you think about fighting Paddy Pimblett in April?' 'I said, 'Well, Hunter [Campbell, UFC CBO], April's only eight weeks away. I like to put down about four weeks of training before I go into an eight-week camp. Let me think about it.' 'Next day, flew to Vegas, sat down with him in his office and talked through everything, and we made the decision: we're fighting Paddy Pimblett in Miami, 12 April, because an imperfect plan implemented now is better than a perfect plan implemented months from now. 'In this sport, things move fast. There's a lot of stuff going on in the division, it's a big summer for the lightweight division. And after the last fight – one of the most disappointing losses of my career – I wanted to get right back on the horse, get back in the Octagon.' In November, Chandler suffered a lopsided decision loss to Charles Oliveira, three years after suffering a TKO by the Brazilian in a title fight. November's rematch came after Chandler waited almost two years for a fight with Conor McGregor, which never materialised. The American continued: 'So, here we go. I like the match-up – love the match-up actually. I respect Paddy, I think he's a skilled fighter, I think he's still got a bright future, but I think he's gonna run into a buzzsaw called Michael Chandler on 12 April. 'As always, I will be the most entertaining guy that steps inside the Octagon that night. I will have everybody on their feet, I will have everybody on the edge of their seat, and – in typical Chandler fashion – we're going out there with one goal in mind: that's to separate our opponent from consciousness. 'I can't wait. We head into training camp today, and for the next eight weeks, we're gonna be getting after it.' Chandler, 38, was a three-time Bellator champion before joining the UFC in 2020, and he has gone 2-4 since. He holds knockout wins over Dan Hooker and Tony Ferguson, a decision loss to Justin Gaethje, a submission defeat by Dustin Poirier, and his pair of losses to Oliveira. Meanwhile, Liverpool's Pimblett has gone 6-0 since joining the UFC in 2021, with three submissions and one knockout along the way. Most recently, the 30-year-old submitted King Green in July.
