On the day Kamaru Usman won the UFC welterweight title, he was done chasing fights.

Ever since he won his season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, Usman was calling out any number of ranked opponents just trying to climb the ladder towards his ultimate goal, which was becoming champion.

After a lopsided win over Tyron Woodley to become the new welterweight king, Usman knew his days calling people out was over because now he’s got what everybody else in the world wants.

That’s why Usman isn’t going to say that former interim champion Colby Covington is definitively his next fight because now that he’s the champion, he’s going to face whoever the UFC throws at him.

“Let’s be honest, that’s the fight we said that we want but it’s not necessarily a done deal yet,” Usman said about a potential showdown with Covington. “He’s not necessarily the next guy. There’s a few different things going on here. As you can see, that division has shifted around quite a bit in the last couple months.

“There’s no telling what could happen. He’s been running around thinking he deserves certain things, that certain things are a shoe in for him but it doesn’t work like that.”

When Covington was ranked ahead of him at welterweight, Usman routinely called for a fight against him and while the UFC attempted to put the matchup together on several occasions, it never happened.

Now Usman is the one with the title and Covington is chasing after him.

Obviously, Usman would happily accept that fight if it’s offered to him but right now after undergoing hernia surgery, his main concern is getting healthy and then when it’s time to compete again the UFC will send him a contract and he’ll sign it no matter the opponent.

“That’s a fight I’ve been offered five different occasions before and I’ve taken it all five times and he’s rejected the fight all five times,” Usman said about Covington. “So now that you’re not in the driver’s seat, now that you’re not in the position, what’s really going to happen? All I know is we want to fight in the fall. We want to fight whoever the organization feels is deserving of the shot.

“We don’t pick. We’re not picking. We’re not sitting here hoping and praying it’s this guy or that guy. We’re up for the next guy. The beauty about the position we’re in, I don’t have to struggle calling guys out to get a fight when all these guys knew they didn’t want to fight me. Now we’re in a position where we just sit back, train and beat up whoever they put in front of us.”

As much as Covington has been promised the next shot at the welterweight title, the reality is there are no guarantees when it comes to UFC matchmaking.

Covington was an interim champion less than a year ago yet Usman leap frogged over him into the title shot against Woodley back in March. With several high profile welterweight fights coming up in June and July, Usman knows the same thing could happen again, which is why he’s not going to waste a lot of oxygen talking about Covington when that may not even end up as his next opponent.

“I mean if Woodley goes out there and does something spectacular again, now he makes the case for himself. If Ben Askren goes out there and does something spectacular, which I doubt, he makes a case for himself,” Usman said. “All these guys, there’s big fights coming up. That’s how it works.

“Whoever stays active, whoever catches the boss’s eye is who is probably going to get that shot. If you’re choosing to sit back because ‘I deserve this’ or ‘I’m going to be the next guy in line’, we’ve seen it time and time again guys get passed over. We saw him just get passed over. If you’re not active, you can’t expect the company to reward you.”

As far as his own timeline for a return to action, Usman is still recovering from hernia surgery and he can’t do much of anything until he gets cleared to train again.

That said, the reigning welterweight champion has an idea in mind about when he hopes to defend his title but nothing is certain until he’s back to full health.

“We’re playing it by ear,” Usman said. “The doctor wanted me to sit for two months with no activity. So two months I can’t train and after two months I’m hoping they’ll clear me to start training and once I’m cleared to train, I’m ready to go.

“So I’m looking at something later on maybe in the fall. We’ll look at maybe September.”

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/kamaru-usman-explains-why-colby-covington-may-or-may-not-get-the-next-title-shot

When it came to his February bout against former Ultimate Fighter cast member Josh Parisian at Lights Out Championship 2, heavyweight Brett Martin feels like he did about as well as he could have.

In just over a minute, Martin was able to submit Parisian and pick up his second straight win to successfully defend his Lights Out Championship title.

“I don’t do a lot of game planning; I just kind of go out and fight the best I can fight,” Martin told MMAWeekly.com. “I went out there and go the early takedown, we scrambled a little bit and I ended up catching (Parisian) with a pretty nice Kimura early on. It went really well.”

Coming off nearly a year layoff, Martin’s win over Parisian was his third fight since August of 2018. It’s the kind of pace that Martin enjoys and can handle thanks to his many years of amateur wrestling.

“I did most of my amateur career back-to-back-to-back-to-back, and you wrestle your whole like you’re used to competing,” said Martin.

“I like to stay active if I’m healthy. I had some knee injuries as an amateur and an early pro, and it’s been about a year since I had surgery, this is the healthiest I’ve been for a stretch of fights, so I’m trying to take advantage of that and do the best I can to get a lot of these big fights knocked out while I’m young.”

At Lights Out Championship 3 on Sautrday in Grand Rapids, Mich., Martin (6-1) will once again look to defend his title when he faces Jesse Hernandez (7-2) in a heavyweight championship main event.

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“He hasn’t fought in a couple of years, but he’s 7-2, so he has a good record and has fought some tough guys,” Martin said of Hernandez. “I’m sure he’s ready to get back in there and prove why he’s good.

“We’re just going to do what we always do. I don’t really change my game plan up. I go out there do what I’m good at. I feel like it’s more a fight against yourself more than it is a fight against someone else.”

For Martin, being a heavyweight could mean a fast track to the next level of the sport, but not being one to leap before he looks, he’s only going to make the move when it makes sense for him to do so.

“We’ve got some offers from other promotions, but we’re looking to get to that top pinnacle,” said Martin. “But there’s no timeline.

“I’ll get offers for fights, and if one of them makes sense then that’s where I’ll go, but as of right now there hasn’t been one that’s struck my attention to makes me want to jump off this scene. I’ve got plenty of people who want to fight me right now, so there’s no rush for anything.”

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/brett-martin-sticking-to-the-game-plan-in-lights-out-championship-3-title-defense

(Courtesy of UFC)

Last year Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defeated former middleweight champion Chris Weidman in the Fight of the Night at UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden.

Souza faces Jack Hermansson next in the main event of UFC Fight Night Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, April 27. He was supposed to have fought fellow contender Yoel Romero in a rematch, but Romero had to withdraw following a bout with pneumonia.

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Tune in Saturday, April 27 to MMAWeekly.com for UFC on ESPN+ 8: Jacare vs. Hermansson full live results from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/watch-jacare-souza-knock-out-chris-weidman-ufc-ft-lauderdale-free-fight

While he was able to go undefeated in 2018, having only two fights didn’t sit well with lightweight veteran Benson Henderson.

A second round submission of Roger Huerta in April was followed up in October with a unanimous decision victory over Saad Awad, both in Bellator, yet, Henderson wanted more.

“I did not fight enough,” Henderson told MMAWeekly.com. “I wanted to stay busier. I had two fights last year, and that’s probably one of the slowest years of my entire career. I want to stay busier than that. They were good wins for me, but I want to build on that, grow on that, and fight as much as possible.”

Though he’s been fighting for 13 years and is approaching 40 fights, Henderson maintains continual growth, with the help of those around you, is essential for continuing to perform at the highest level of MMA.

“You have to be aware of any holes in your game, any mistakes you’ve made, and fix them,” said Henderson. “You can be darn sure that your next opponent’s coaches are scouting, MMA coaches are smart, so you have to be aware of what you’re doing and how much success you have with whatever.

“Definitely I’m a strongly highly self-motivated, but that being said, you need a team to do things. My team definitely helps motivate me. The young guys push me, but I push them back and show them what the old dog has. They definitely continue to push me and inspire me to be better every single day.”

On Saturday in San Jose, Calif., Henderson (26-8) will look to add to his current two-fight winning streak when he faces Adam Piccolotti (11-2) in a Bellator 220 main card lightweight bout.

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“He’s a good prospect coming up,” Henderson said of Piccolotti. “He took two losses in a row, but he’s had two wins since then, so he’s the hot prospect coming up. It’s going to be a tough pick.”

For Henderson, the immediate task of picking up a win in his upcoming fight with Piccolotti will lead to the next fight and hopefully sometime before the end of the year the achieving of his goal to once again be a champion.

“Long term goals, short term goals, you definitely have to take it fight-by-fight,” said Henderson. “Those short term goals lead to the long term goals.

“To me, winning every single fight I have; every single Jiu-Jitsu match, every single wrestling match, every boxing smoker that I go to; I want to win everything and by the end of 2019 I want to make sure I have the Bellator belt around my waist.”

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/benson-henderson-continues-his-quest-to-become-champion-at-bellator-220

For middleweight Jordan Williams, 2018 is a year told in two halves.

Following back-to-back wins to kick off his 2018 for Dragon House and Bellator, Williams spent the second half of the year on suspension due to a positive test for marijuana following his June victory over Tim Caron at Dana White’s Contender Series.

“Last year I had my first fight coming off of a two year layoff, and in that fight before the layoff I was knocked out, so I basically spent two years trying to get back into the cage physically and mentally,” Williams told MMAWeekly.com. “(In my first fight back) I ended up knocking that guy out in the first round. (Then) I fought an undefeated fighter and knocked him out in the second round.

“Then I got a call for a five days’ notice to fight in The Contender Series, and I ended up winning that fight with a third round TKO. I ended up having a suspension from the State Athletic Commission for the use of marijuana. My suspension is up, and that’s where we are at here right now.”

Rather than sit back during his suspension, Williams continued to push himself and develop his game.

“I always had the drive to get back in there no matter what,” said Williams. “I’m always training to stay ready. Even though I had time out, I was still training pretty religiously throughout that whole time period.”

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On April 27 in San Jose, Calif., Williams (7-2) will look to kick off his 2019 in strong fashion when he faces Diego Herzog (4-2-1) in a Bellator 220 middleweight preliminary bout.

“I feel like I have better striking and better wrestling and jiu-jitsu background,” Williams said. “In a fight anything can happen, but I feel like if I wanted to force the knockout and keep it standing, I could. I feel like that could be an option for me, even if I forced it. But I can take the fight where I want it and it’s going to end how I want it to end.”

When it comes to the remainder of 2019, Williams just wants to focus on fighting and leave the rest of the rest up to the team around him.

“I like to take it fight by fight,” said Williams. “Management has already given me the heads up that if this fight goes my way they already have other fights lined up. So I just need to keep going how I’m going and get this W.”

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/jordan-williams-says-bellator-220-bout-with-diego-herzog-will-end-how-he-wants-it-to