5 Seconds! The fastest knockout in UFC history

Jorge Masvidal recorded the fastest knockout ever in the UFC at last Saturdays event in Las Vegas. At just five seconds, Masvidal sprang from the cage and delivered an explosive knee to his opponent Ben Askren. Many believe that the knockout should have been 2-3 seconds as it was clear that Askren was knocked out prior to this. The knee was clearly a pre meditated and well executed stroke of genius by Masvidal and his team. Mike Brown, coach at american top team (where Masvidal trains) posted a video of Masvidal practicing the knee just 48 hours prior to the fight. Masvidal also stated on the Aerial helwani show that he believed Askren couldn’t react to a change of pace and he would ‘freeze’ if he tried something out of nowhere. Askren showed good character after a devastating loss by appearing on the same show not 2 days removed from the fight.

“Losses happen, Saturday night was obviously not ideal for myself, but I got nothing to complain about,”

“There’s a little part of my memory that’s blank there. I remember being in the cage with him, I don’t remember the flying knee. When I can remember, I was like ‘oh shit, I lost to Jorge Masvidal, this freaking sucks.’

“I always thought, ‘who the hell gets flying kneed? Can’t you see that coming? It’s coming from so far away!’ When I watched the film — I don’t like Jorge at all — but that was a damn good flying knee”

“He hit it fast and explosively, he got some serious air time on it, and then obviously connected in the right spot.”

Askren shows guts appearing on Aerial Helwani’s show days after KO loss

Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Michelle Waterson verbally agree to fight

The two strawweight superstars are set to collide in a crucial title eliminator on Oct 12th as the main event on UFC on ESPN+ 19. Jedrzejczyk (15-3) will return to combat for the first time in seven months after a convincing decision loss to Valentina Shevchenko in December of last year for the inaugural women’s flyweight belt. Losing 3 out of her last 4, the long time former strawweight champ will look to climb the mountain one more time and a win here will put her in poll position.

In stark contrast, Waterson (17-6) is facing her best career stretch, amassing a three-fight winning streak with wins over Cortney Casey, Felice Herrig and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. A win over former champion Jedrzejczyk, could finally earn “The Karate Hottie” her long awaited title shot. This high profile affair should settle who is next in line for strawweight gold, taking on the victor of the upcoming title bout between Jessica Andrade and Weili Zhang in China.

Thiago Santos’ injuries to left knee leave him sidelined for the rest of 2019

Just days after his historic performance against Jon Jones it was confirmed that the commentators concerns about the legs of Santos were true. On Monday, an MRI exam showed that Santos’ left knee meniscus and all its ligaments are completely torn. Furthermore his right knee also suffered significant damage during the fight and will need further tests to see if surgery is needed. This is the same knee that underwent surgery just shortly after the Jones fight was agreed. According to Santos’ team, he fought Jan Blachowicz with a torn miniscus. The knee surgery delayed his training camp with Jones by 45 days, leaving only 2 months to prepare for whom many consider the G.O.A.T. If it wasn’t for extensive rehabilitation and an iron will to compete this fight would have never happened.

The injuries and adversity which Santos faced is a true testament to his character and will to be the best. Despite his loss he showed great heart and also leaves a looming questions. ‘ What if he had of been 100 percent”. One things for sure, his return will be highly anticipated and welcomed with open arms by the MMA community.

Adesanya and Jones Continue to fire shots at one another

Despite being in different weight divisions, these two superstars of the sport can’t help but leave a smoking gun in their holster every time they are asked about the other. The feud intensified this week on Aerial Helwani’s MMA show with Adesanya criticizing the performance of Jones on Saturday.

“I saw him live, he doesn’t have it,”

“He was great when he was fighting and there wasn’t USADA around, but now, the man needs to get back on the pictograms if he wants to be great again.”

Jones responded on twitter.

It’s safe to say that this rivalry will have to be put in the slow cooker. Jones has expressed his interest in the winner of Miocic and Cormier while Adesanya is looking down the barrel of his toughest fight to date, a middleweight title showdown with the battle tested Robert Whittaker. It may be a while before we see this fight come to fruition. However regardless of whether these two fighters come through their respected trials, this fight could still be on the cards. Bad blood will always sell a fight and the UFC is in the business of making money by giving fans what they want. Don’t be surprised if the reality of this fight becomes stronger and stronger as time goes on.

Urijah Faber returns this Saturday at UFC fight night 155

After the adrenaline dump of UFC 239, the organisation attempts to cure the hangover this weekend with a decent card in Sacramento California. UFC fight night 155 is headlined by a number one contenders bout between Germaine de Randamie and Aspen Ladd. The winner likely gaining the bittersweet prize of challenging Amanda Nunez for the Woman’s Bantamweight title.

However the real story of this card is the unlikely return of Urijah Faber (34-10) as he takes on Ricky Simon (15-1). Fans were last treated to a Urijah Faber fight in Dec of 2016, defeating Brad Pickett via unanimous decision. It will be interesting to see how Faber looks after such a long lay off and against a hungry up and comer in Simon. Coming off of a win on Dana White’s contender series, Simon has bulldozed through his first 3 UFC opponents and looks to claim the scalp of a big name in Faber.

Also on the card, Faber’s team mate Josh Emmet looks to add another win after returning to competition when he takes on Mersad Bektic in the featherweight division. Heel hook specialist Ryan Hall is also featured on the prelims facing Darren Elkins in another featherweight bout. This card has more than enough to make it worth the watch.