When you think of the best welterweight fighter in the UFC, do you think of Jack Della Maddalena for defeating Belal Muhammad at UFC 315? Is it Kamaru Usman that comes to your mind, or is it Leon Edwards, who defeated ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ with great finesse? For Sean Brady, the spot is secured by Usman indeed. But why? That’s what we’ll find out in today’s episode of MMA News Roundup.
And then we’ll move on to the lightweight division and see what’s churning there. Spoiler alert, it seems like we’ll get to see Charles Oliveira fight pretty soon. And finally, we’ll take a look at Dan Hooker’s tournament. So, without wasting any more time, let’s dive right in!
Sean Brady takes a stand in favor of Kamaru Usman
During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Brady weighed in on the recent shift in power in the welterweight division. As the conversation continued, he claimed that he was ready to take on the winner of Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley. And that’s when he declared his admiration for the former welterweight champion. Brady said, “I think people are forgetting about Usman, too. I think people are crazy to count out Kamaru Usman. Yes, he’s a little bit older, people are always talking about his knees and all these things.”
According to the #1 welterweight contender, Usman’s fights reveal that he competes at a different level than what he trains at. And that seemingly makes him a force to be reckoned with. But the things were pretty clear when Brady provided the example of Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev. He said, “What he did against Khamzat on 10 days’ notice up a weight class, if there was two more rounds in that fight, it would look a little bit different.”
For now, let’s leave Brady fanboying around ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’. Instead, let’s move to the lightweight division, where ‘Do Bronx’ has revealed his readiness and asked the UFC’s big guns for a fight.
Charles Oliveira declares his readiness for next fight
With the kind of performance the fighters displayed at UFC 315, Charles Oliveira was left pretty impressed. Soon after the event, ‘Do Bronx’ took to Instagram and shared a picture of himself sitting beside Diego Lima at the Bell Centre, Montreal. And in the caption, he dragged in Dana White and the other big guns to ask for a fight. He wrote, “What a night ladies and gentlemen!!! Dana White, Sean Shelby, Hunter, we are ready with the pen in hand!!!”
After Belal Muhammad lost the bout against Jack Della Maddalena, Islam Makhachev’s move to the welterweight division seemed imminent. Of course, with the dream of becoming a double champion moving him, Makhachev refused to vacate his title. But we can’t be certain for sure. And if the throne is vacated, Ilia Topuria would definitely pounce on it. This means we might get to see Oliveira compete against ‘El Matador’. All we need to do is wait for things to become official.
Now, it’s time to catch a flight to Auckland. Here, Dan Hooker is planning something big. Yes, it’s a tournament. But what’s it all about?
Dan Hooker announces a tournament and invites applications
Taking to Instagram, ‘The Hangman’ shared a video, where he said, “I’m looking for 32 fighters. I’m running a tournament here in Auckland. So you need to be Auckland-based. It’s gonna be a super heavyweight. So, there’s absolutely no weight limit. And for the event, it’s gonna be boxing in MMA gloves. One minute fights, and I have $50 thousand on the line. Winner take all. What you need to do is give me your name, your height, your record, and I’ll see you on the other side.”
In the caption, he listed out the details of the event and wrote, “The doctors 1 minute scraps’. Brought to you by @thedoctorsocial.” Without a doubt, the announcement attracted quite some attention from the fighting community. Even his teammate, Kai Kara-France, went to the comments section to drop in a name for Hooker to consider.
What do you think of Brady’s opinion on ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’? Do you think White will let Oliveira and Topuria fight next? What are your thoughts on Hooker’s super heavyweight event? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post MMA News Roundup: Sean Brady Predicts Usman’s Fate, Charles Oliveira Sends Clear Message to Ilia Topuria, Dan Hooker Announces $50K Tournament appeared first on EssentiallySports.
