Francis Ngannoudefeated Stipe Miocicvia KO at 0:52 of round 2
Francis Ngannou:
It’s amazing. The feeling of it, it’s just great. Imagine something that you’ve been wanting your entire life and struggling to have it… Sometimes I felt like I was drowning and I had to struggle back, but now, here we are. We are here, we got it done. It’s just amazing. I think I have to really take the time back to collect my emotion and to really feel it. Right now it is just all over the place. I assume this is going to be the biggest thing.
I just haven’t had enough time to feel it. Absolutely, it feels great, but as for right now, I can’t think far ahead. My mind is just right here, right now. Man, this is great. The emotion of it, thinking about everyone behind it. It’s not just about the belt, it’s about what it represents. It’s the principle, it’s the ethic, the dream, the life. It’s about the people that are behind me, the people that have joined me in the dream and my journey, who believed me and put their hands on the dirt to get this done. It’s all about it. This is something way beyond me.
Even if it wasn’t for the title shot, I would have liked to have a rematch against Stipe. I always wanted my title fight to be against him since I lost to him in January 2018. I wanted that revenge and as his résumé speaks for itself, he is the greatest of all time and it is good to make a statement out of that.
I was very confident about it. Obviously, I didn’t want to go down on my back, but I was even thinking of taking him down, because we’ve been working on this a lot and I really believe that I can give him a hard time on the ground game, on the grappling.
I saw how he fell and I felt like he was hurt, but he’s tough, so I didn’t really want to give him any chance. That’s why I followed that.
Today, this is not just for me. This is for all of us. For people that put their hand on the dirt and believed in this, people from around the world, for my fans, for everyone who believed it, because that’s very important. Those people give you the strength when you need it, extra motivation when you’re tired and maybe just want to skip on training or something. You think about that and that gives you motivation to keep going forward.
They are celebrating. I just called my mom, I couldn’t talk to her. I can’t talk to anybody in Cameroon right now. It’s going crazy. It’s amazing. It’s a good craziness, it’s for a good reason. Last time it was a bad one, a lot of tears, but now it’s just tears of happiness.
What’s next? I assume Jon Jones. He’s coming up and they just talked about that fight. Let’s make it happen.
Vicente Luquedefeated Tyron Woodleyvia submission at 3:56 of round 1
Vicente Luque:
It’s a big win. I’m really excited about it. I had this vision in my mind, I’ve been training for this, but once it turns into reality, it’s different. It’s much more exciting, much more exhilarating. I’m really excited about this win.
I have a tendency to bring the best out of my opponents every single time, so I’ve gotten used to not underestimating anybody and being ready for their best versions. That’s what we saw tonight. I thought Woodley was much more aggressive than in his last fights, actually connected a good right hand on me. Once I realized that that was going to be the fight, I was like, “Ok, let’s do it”. I’m used to this. This is my home. War is what I like. It was great and I got a big win.
Once he hit me and I lost a little bit of my balance, I was seeing three of him, but I kind of knew that he was going to come aggressively to try to knock me out. That’s one of the best moments to counter an opponent, so I felt like, let me just stand my ground, look for the shot and once he throws it, I’m going to throw at the same time. It worked out. He threw an overhand, I ducked my head and hit him with my right hand. That was the first one that stunned him and after that, I stunned him with a few other shots and eventually got him to the ground. I thought I was going to get the knockout, but I saw that submission and I went for it.
I went for that submission because I saw the opening and also I realized that he has a chin. I hit him hard. I know that I hit hard, I know that I put people out and he wasn’t going out that easily, so I said let me go for the submission. I know it is a strong one of mine, I felt like it was really sync’d in deep. He couldn’t get out of it and had to tap.
I think this was a big one, especially because it started off with a little bit of wrestling and I showed everybody that I’ve been working on this. People are not going to get me down that easy. It was even good for me to test myself in there and realize that training has been paying off. I’ve been working on the right path and showed a little bit of my ground game, which is really strong, it’s up there with my striking. Usually, I go with the striking, but whenever I have that opportunity, I go for the finish on the ground. It was a great fight, I’m really excited with the result.
In the Wonderboy fight, that was my first big name opponent, a big stage, it was right before another big fight… I kind of was like a little bit nervous. That’s normal, I’m nervous every single fight, but in that one, during the fight, I kind of let the nerves take me and got over excited, so I started overcommitting on my shots and just gave a lot of openings for Wonderboy. After that loss, I kind of realized that at this high level we cannot make many mistakes. The guy that makes more mistakes is going to pay for it. I have to stick to the plan and be intelligent. That’s what I did in this fight. Even though it was a big opponent, a former champion, and he did put me in a hard spot at that moment, I kept my cool. I knew what I had to do and I worked through it and got the finish. So I think that Wonderboy fight helped me a lot.
First of all, I’m going to get back home and be with my wife. She’s expecting my first boy, my first kid, and I’ve got to enjoy this moment. It’s something that I really want to be there now and take some rest. I think I deserve it right now. After that, I’m looking at the top of the division. I think a win like this over a former champion gives me a chance at those top 5 opponents. If nothing works out and Diaz wants to come back, I think that that’s a great fight. I would love to face Nate Diaz. I think his style is awesome, I’ve always enjoyed his style. I think it would be a great matchup.
Vicente Luquedefeated Tyron Woodleyvia submission at 3:56 of round 1
Vicente Luque:
It’s a big win. I’m really excited about it. I had this vision in my mind, I’ve been training for this, but once it turns into reality, it’s different. It’s much more exciting, much more exhilarating. I’m really excited about this win.
I have a tendency to bring the best out of my opponents every single time, so I’ve gotten used to not underestimating anybody and being ready for their best versions. That’s what we saw tonight. I thought Woodley was much more aggressive than in his last fights, actually connected a good right hand on me. Once I realized that that was going to be the fight, I was like, “Ok, let’s do it”. I’m used to this. This is my home. War is what I like. It was great and I got a big win.
Once he hit me and I lost a little bit of my balance, I was seeing three of him, but I kind of knew that he was going to come aggressively to try to knock me out. That’s one of the best moments to counter an opponent, so I felt like, let me just stand my ground, look for the shot and once he throws it, I’m going to throw at the same time. It worked out. He threw an overhand, I ducked my head and hit him with my right hand. That was the first one that stunned him and after that, I stunned him with a few other shots and eventually got him to the ground. I thought I was going to get the knockout, but I saw that submission and I went for it.
I went for that submission because I saw the opening and also I realized that he has a chin. I hit him hard. I know that I hit hard, I know that I put people out and he wasn’t going out that easily, so I said let me go for the submission. I know it is a strong one of mine, I felt like it was really sync’d in deep. He couldn’t get out of it and had to tap.
I think this was a big one, especially because it started off with a little bit of wrestling and I showed everybody that I’ve been working on this. People are not going to get me down that easy. It was even good for me to test myself in there and realize that training has been paying off. I’ve been working on the right path and showed a little bit of my ground game, which is really strong, it’s up there with my striking. Usually, I go with the striking, but whenever I have that opportunity, I go for the finish on the ground. It was a great fight, I’m really excited with the result.
In the Wonderboy fight, that was my first big name opponent, a big stage, it was right before another big fight… I kind of was like a little bit nervous. That’s normal, I’m nervous every single fight, but in that one, during the fight, I kind of let the nerves take me and got over excited, so I started overcommitting on my shots and just gave a lot of openings for Wonderboy. After that loss, I kind of realized that at this high level we cannot make many mistakes. The guy that makes more mistakes is going to pay for it. I have to stick to the plan and be intelligent. That’s what I did in this fight. Even though it was a big opponent, a former champion, and he did put me in a hard spot at that moment, I kept my cool. I knew what I had to do and I worked through it and got the finish. So I think that Wonderboy fight helped me a lot.
First of all, I’m going to get back home and be with my wife. She’s expecting my first boy, my first kid, and I’ve got to enjoy this moment. It’s something that I really want to be there now and take some rest. I think I deserve it right now. After that, I’m looking at the top of the division. I think a win like this over a former champion gives me a chance at those top 5 opponents. If nothing works out and Diaz wants to come back, I think that that’s a great fight. I would love to face Nate Diaz. I think his style is awesome, I’ve always enjoyed his style. I think it would be a great matchup.
Sean O’Malleydefeated Thomas Almeidavia KO at 3:52 of round 3
Sean O’Malley:
It’s so satisfying. A lot of people were talking about that. For eight months, I’ve been dealing with it, getting messages and just saying stuff like that. To be able to get out there against a good kickboxer, who was trying to kick my legs… It was a good performance. It feels good to shut people up… I don’t know if you can ever shut people up, but it feels good.
When I get in there, I flow. It felt good being in there for three rounds. I thought I was going to finish him in the second. Leading up to the fight, I thought I was going to piece him up in the first and get him out of there in the second. Thomas is a tough, tough dude, much respect to him, but it felt good to be able to do three rounds.
I don’t know what you consider a better performance. Like against Eddie [Wineland], I didn’t get hit. I got hit a little bit… I watch my fights a lot. I went back and rewatched Jose [Quinonez], I went back and watched Eddie. Those were so fast, but this one, I get to go back and watch a lot more. I’m excited to go back and watch it.
I wanted to come in here and put his lights out. The bottom line was that I wanted to come in here and I didn’t want to win a decision. I wanted to put his lights out and that’s what happened. I’m very happy with it.
He was out like before I threw that. He wasn’t there, he was out. The ref told me after the first round, he said, “Hey, if I don’t stop the fight, you have to keep fighting”. It was an unnecessary shot – nothing to the ref, but I looked in his eyes and he was gone. But if I have to land one more bomb, I’ll throw it.
I’ve been throwing that for a while. I spin fast and my spins are deadly. They have to react to the spin and when they are doing that, I’m faking it and coming with a right hand.
Miranda Maverickdefeated Gillian Robertsonvia unanimous decision
Miranda Maverick:
I’m pretty hard on myself. I want to go back and rewatch it. I obviously made a mistake in the second round. I honestly can’t remember how I got taken down specifically. I defended the submissions well, but I wish I could have turned it around a little bit faster and have been on top. I know I have that capability, I was just being very cautious of not getting submitted considering I knew that’s what her game plan was. Aside from that, I think my striking was executed very well. I showed a little bit more of what I could do and hope to just get more and more well-rounded and have better cardio next time I come in.
For me, I’m used to winning every round, so in my head, I’m like, “Ok. Even if you’re getting beat for a few seconds, don’t give up, don’t let that hurt you. Get up, keep fighting”. I was able to kind of get up. As soon as I got off the ground, kept punching, kept striking. I think took her back down again and I’m glad I was able to do that. It’s kind of getting over my own mental hurdles as well of beating myself up during the fight.
For one, I don’t like the whole age thing being mentioned. I do like that I’m young and got more ahead, but I don’t think it’s an excuse to be bad, if that makes sense. There’s Maycee [Barber], she is very young too… There are a few fighters who are young in the UFC and have done really well. I’m hoping to be that one that isn’t just a hype train. I hope to prove that I am that hype, that I can be capable of those abilities. But maybe younger doesn’t have anything to do with it other than the fact that I’m able to go back in, change things and improve, I think, at a faster rate than people who have been on the sport longer. Five years and going strong, I think I’m doing pretty good for that long.
I think I showed that I am really well-rounded. I think I showed that I have not only takedown defense, which people were trashing about, but I think I also showed that I have takedown offense. I have the wrestling, I have the striking to put it all together. In my debut in the UFC, I was only able to show one dimension of that. People only took that and walked away with it instead of watching previous fights. But basically that I was well rounded, that I can improve and come back stronger, and fight against these other girls that have more experience than me.
I’ve said in a couple of other interviews earlier that Valentina Shevchenko is the one that everybody is trying to get to. I got criticized the first time that I had my debut with the UFC. They were like, “Already calling out the champ”. I was like, “No, I didn’t”. I said within two years I want to be able to fight Valentina for that title. I’m still of that mindset and I’d like to beat her sister first.
Jamie Mullarkeydefeated Khama Worthyvia KO at 0:46 of round 1
Jamie Mullarkey:
It feels really good. It feels relieving for one, but just feels like how I wanted to start my UFC debut. It didn’t work out that way, but here we are.
This is how I fight. I’m just excited that I got to showcase my skills in that way.
I was seeing the reactions. He landed a stiff jab and I was worried about his power. He’s got real solid power. He’s very experienced. That was another thing that I was taking into account. He’s an experienced veteran. We were working that feint, the right come in with that left hook to get a reaction out of him, and it just landed clean.
It’s funny. I was feeling it and then the closer the fight got, the more at ease I became. It was weird how that worked, but the closer the fight got, the more confident I got.
When Brad’s [Riddell] fight got pulled the morning of his fight, then Alex’s [Volkanovski] fight got pulled, it just added that little bit more of motivation for me to get the job done. It fired me up.
I want to get back in there as soon as possible. I’ve got some time to make up for. I got put out for a year with an injury and 2020 locked at the start. I’ve got some time to make up for. Maybe when Alex comes to defend his belt next maybe I come back. I feel good.
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