New rivals of Volkov and Kunitskaya, Magomedsharipov's prospects and disputes over Nurmagomedov: what is being discussed in the UFC world

Magomedsharipov's 

campaign 

for the title

Zabit Magomedsharipov continues to fight for the right to receive the status of the first contender and fight for the featherweight title.

He was considered as one of the main candidates for champions at the end of 2019, but a long downtime and problems with the fight with Yair Rodriguez could not only seriously complicate his prospects in the belt race, but also lead to a loss of motivation.

However, the Russian team said that at the moment the UFC matchmakers are actively working on organizing a future battle, a victory in which may allow him to rise to the first place in the division's ranking.

“Zabit's next fight will be Candidates.

If he passes the next opponent, then there should be a fight for the title.

But there much depends on the champion, who now has health problems, ”TASS quotes the manager of the Russian fighter Rizvan Magomedov.

Zabit had his last fight at the UFC Fight Night tournament in Moscow in November 2019.

Then he defeated Calvin Kattar and strengthened in the top 3 ratings of the category, but difficulties arose with the organization of the next duel.

First, the coronavirus pandemic prevented, and then the opponent's injuries.

Initially, the battle between Magomedsharipov and Rodriguez was supposed to take place at the end of August, but it never took place.

Brian Ortega took advantage of this.

In October, the American defeated Cheng Song Jung and officially received the status of the first contender.

At the moment, it is known that the next fight with the participation of Magomedsharipov will lead one of the tournaments in January and will be held in a five-round format.

The name of the opponent has not yet been determined, but, most likely, it will not be Rodriguez.

“Opponents are currently being considered.

Yair Rodriguez is an unreliable option, he flew out of the fight several times, and then talked a lot, ”Magomedov added.

The next fights between Volkov and Kunitskaya

Unlike Magomedsharipov, UFC heavyweight star Alexander Volkov has already learned the name of the future opponent.

They will be the legendary Alistair Overeem, who in the past not only became the Strikeforce champion, but also claimed the title of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The fight will take place on February 6 in Las Vegas and will be the main event of the Fight Night series tournament.

It is worth recalling that at one time the UFC already tried to arrange a battle between Volkov and Overeem.

The fight was supposed to take place at the second-ever promotion tournament in Russia - in April 2019.

However, Alexander could not compete in St. Petersburg due to health problems, and Alexey Oleinik, who replaced him, was unable to compete with the Dutchman.

The battle lasted 4 minutes 45 seconds and ended with the defeat of the Russian by technical knockout.

Over the course of his more than 20-year career, Overeem has repeatedly met with opponents from Russia, and for him these duels ended mostly successfully.

In ten fights, he won seven victories and lost only three times.

Moreover, two defeats occurred at the initial stage of his career.

In 1999 and 2000, he lost twice to Yuri Kochkin, and in 2007 he was beaten by Sergei Kharitonov.

Since that moment, he twice crossed paths with domestic athletes and both times came out triumphant.

In addition to Oleinik, Sergei Pavlovich lost to him.

As for Volkov, if he succeeds, he may well not only break into the top 5 categories, but also earn the right to fight one of the main contenders for the belt.

We are talking about a trio represented by Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blades and Jairzinho Rosenstruyk.

Don't forget about former UFC light heavyweight champion John Jones.

Despite his status as one of the greatest fighters in history, he may not get the opportunity to fight for the title with Stipe Miocic on the fly and will be forced to conduct a test fight in the new division.

Alexander is unlikely to refuse an offer to become his first opponent in the heavyweight division.

It also became known that Kathleen Vieira will become the next rival of Yana Kunitskaya.

The bout between the top female bantamweight fighters will take place on 20 February.

At the moment, the UFC has not announced the location of the show, but the Russian woman herself hinted that it will take place in Las Vegas.

It is noteworthy that this will be the second attempt of the promotion to organize a battle between the girls.

Initially, they were supposed to face off in August, but Vieira was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to visa problems.

The Brazilian was replaced by UFC debutante Yulia Stolyarenko, but she could not offer serious resistance to Kunitskaya.

The Russian won by unanimous decision.

Jones' quarrel with Cormier

More than three weeks have passed since the last fight of Khabib Nurmagomedov, but the figure of the UFC lightweight champion not only continues to be widely discussed, but is also a cause for serious controversy in the world of MMA.

So, on this basis, another skirmish broke out between old opponents in the person of Cormier and Jones.

Daniel didn’t like that after UFC 254 ended, John began to gain a lot of attention by posting on social media, thereby robbing his American Kickboxing Academy partner of fame.

Jones was outraged by the fact that many experts and MMA fans were quick to call Nurmagomedov the greatest fighter in the history of sports.

In response, he said that the Russian can boast of only four victories in champion fights, while he has 15 of them (according to official statistics, 14).

However, John did not stop there and subsequently criticized the UFC's decision to put Khabib in first place in the pound-for-pound ranking.

According to Cormier, Khabib's success at UFC 254 should not have caused such a negative reaction from Jones, because such an attitude of the public is not surprising.

That evening, Nurmagomedov won the first victory after the death of his father Abdulmanap and repeated the lightweight record for the number of successful defenses, and then announced his retirement from the sport.

At the same time, Cormier also said that he did not consider Jones a contender for the status of the greatest fighter in the history of mixed martial arts.

According to the ex-champion in two weight categories, the reason for this is the doping scandals in which his former counterpart was involved.

“He is one of the most talented fighters you will ever meet.

But again, in my opinion, failed doping tests exclude you from the discussion (about the title of the greatest fighter

).

I don’t understand why it’s so hard to understand when it comes to sports where we fight each other.

In baseball, failing tests rob you of your chances of getting into the Hall of Fame, and then they hit the ball, on an insensitive object.

In fights, you beat living people, and positive doping tests take you out of the equation.

It's just too dangerous, "Cormier quotes MMA Fighting.

As DC noted, his candidates for the title of the greatest fighter of all time include Nurmagomedov, Georges St-Pierre and BJ Penn.

In doing so, he also noted former flyweight title holder Demetrius Johnson, who still holds the UFC record for most belt defenses.

Jones drew attention to the fact that he had been cleared of all doping charges and expressed the opinion that this allows him to be considered as a contender for the status of the greatest athlete in MMA history.

“People will remember that I was accused of using steroids, but they will also remember that I proved my innocence and was able to continue my career ... DC, you lost your last fight and retired from the sport.

Who would talk about exclusion from the discussion, "Jones wrote on Twitter.