Welcome to the MMA India show’s weekly MMA round up. We take a look at the biggest stories of the past week, which includes big names Miesha Tate, Cory Sandhagen, Canelo Alvarez etc.
Miesha Tate wants to take on Cris Cyborg in a grappling match
Former UFC and Strikeforce champ Miesha Tate is considering coming out of retirement and is interested in a grappling matchup with Cris Cyborg.
Since retiring from MMA in 2016, Miesha has become a mother of two and a Vice President for ONE Championship. After a brief period of living over in Singapore where ONE is based, Tate recently came back home to Washington state for the holidays. As she gets to spend some time with her family, she is then planning to relocate to Las Vegas where she spent the majority of her fight career.
Speaking with James Lynch recently, Tate discussed the possibility of returning to competition in the form of a grappling match against current Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.
Read the full story here.
Frankie Edgar will fight Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night 187
The UFC is finalizing an exciting bantamweight fight for early 2021, as Cory Sandhagen and Frankie Edgar have verbally agreed to meet on Feb. 6
The former UFC lightweight champion is being targeted to fight top contender Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night 187 on Feb. 6. The location for the event has yet to be announced. First reported by ESPN.
Read the full story here.
Raphael Assuncao vs. Raoni Barcelos for Feb. 27
UFC has booked another bantamweight scarp for early 2021, as Raphael Assuncao is set to fight against up and comer Raoni Barcelos on Feb. 27
Multiple people confirmed the booking on Friday but asked to remain anonymous, as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. The fight was first reported by Sherdog. The UFC has paired up two of its top Brazilian bantamweight. A surging divisional up and comer will look to possibly crack the top-10 of the bantamweight division.
Read the full story here.
Canelo Alvarez beats Callum Smith to become the unified champion at 168lbs
Canelo Alvarez defeats Britain’s Callum Smith via unanimous decision to become the new WBA and WBC super-middleweight champion of the world.
The fight took place at the Alamodome in San Antonio in the presence of 12,000 fans. It was a clinical performance by the Mexican star who completely outpunched and out jabbed the Briton to earn a unanimous decision.
Read the full story here.
Is UFC trying to get rid of fighters?
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman says UFC is trying to get rid of fighters who get paid a lot of money.
In recent times, UFC has released Anderson Silva, Yoel Romero, Corey Anderson, Anthony Johnson etc from their respective UFC contracts. UFC president Dana White even went on to say that as many as 60 fighters including the well-known veterans could be let go from the promotion by the end of the month.
While Dana White insisted that the cuts were purely based on performance and not money, Chris Weidman doesn’t think that is the case.