Tag Archives: Frankie Edgar

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to be Inducted into UFC Hall of Fame

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Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is entering a special hall…

The 42-year-old Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist, one of the most lethal knockout artists of all time,will be inducted by the UFC into the its Hall of Fame later this year.

Mauricio "Shogun" RuaRua holds a special place in combat history, having won titles in the UFC and Pride Fighting Championship.

He rose to prominence as a member of the famed Chute Boxe Academy and won the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona.

Rua (27-14-1) moved to the UFC when it acquired Pride in 2007. A knockout win over Chuck Liddell in 2009 earned him a light heavyweight title shot against a seemingly invincible champion in Lyoto Machida. Rua ended up losing to Machida in a highly controversial decision at UFC 104. The UFC booked an immediate rematch and Rua knocked out Machida in the first round.

Rua continued to fight until January 2023, when he retired in the Octagon in Rio de Janeiro after a loss to Ihor Potieria.

He’s already in the UFC Hall of Fame‘s fight wing, thanks to his classic bout against Dan Henderson at UFC 139 in 2011.

He will now enter the modern wing in 2024 along with Wanderlei Silva, Frankie Edgar and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Pedro Munhoz to Fight Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 292

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Pedro Munhoz is stepping in…

The 36-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, a perennial top-10 bantamweight, will face Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 292 on August 19, after Vera’s original opponent, Henry Cejudo, withdrew from the bout due to injury.

Pedro MunhozVera (22-8-1) was supposed to face Cejudo in the co-main event of UFC 292, but Cejudo withdrew shortly after the bout was agreed to because of a shoulder injury.

Vera’s management team announced the new pairing via social media on Friday.

Munhoz (20-7) has floated amongst the UFC bantamweight rankings for years, although he’s only 2-4 in his last six outings. All four losses, however, came against current or former UFC champs in Aljamain Sterling, Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz.

Fighting out of American Top Team, Munhoz is coming off a much-needed upset over Chris Gutierrez in April.

Vera, of Ecuador, will look to rebound from a split-decision loss to Cory Sandhagen in March. Sterling, the defending bantamweight champ, is slated to headline the UFC 292 pay-per-view event against Sean O’Malley.

The event will take place inside TD Garden.

Jose Aldo to be Inducted Into UFC’s Hall of Fame

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Jose Aldo is head to the Hall…

The 36-year-old Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, the longest-reigning featherweight champion in UFC history, will be inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame later this year.

Jose AldoAldo retired from the UFC in September, one month after losing to Merab Dvalishvili in a highly ranked bantamweight fight. Had Aldo won that fight, he might have moved on to fight for a UFC title one more time.

Although he officially retired from MMA and was removed from the UFC’s rankings, Aldo has left the door open to competing in a boxing match.

Born in Manaus, Brazil, Aldo rose to 145-pound superiority in the WEC, where he won his first major championship by knocking out Mike Brown in 2009. He defended the title twice before the UFC brought the division into its fold and crowned Aldo its first-ever featherweight champ.

Aldo (31-8) won 18 consecutive fights from 2006 to 2014 and defended the UFC featherweight title a record seven times. His championship run came to a close in 2015, when he suffered a stunning 13-second knockout to rival Conor McGregor. He reclaimed the title seven months later by defeating Frankie Edgar, but lost it a second time in his next fight to Max Holloway.

Still widely considered the greatest featherweight of all time, Aldo dropped to the 135-pound bantamweight division in 2019 to try to win a second belt. He challenged Petr Yan for the vacant belt in 2020 but lost via fifth-round TKO.

Aldo joins the UFC Hall of Fame’s “modern wing” of fighters that includes Forrest Griffin, BJ Penn, Urijah Faber, Ronda Rousey, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier.

Brian Ortega to Fight Chan Sung Jung in UFC Fight Night Event in October

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Brian Ortega has lined up his next opponent…

The 29-year-old Mexican American mixed martial artist will fight Chan Sung Jung in a highly anticipated featherweight bout, according to ESPN.

Brian Ortega

The 145-pound contest will headline UFC Fight Night on October 17 at a to-be-determined location.

The fight was originally supposed to take place in December in Jung’s native South Korea, but Ortega was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury. Jung ended up staying on the card and knocking out former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

Ortega and Jung have gone back and forth on social media seemingly ever since.

Earlier this year, Ortega was involved in a brief public scuffle with one of Jung’s friends, rapper Jay Park, at a UFC event in Las Vegas. Ortega later apologized for the incident.

Milenio.com first reported the featherweight fight’s date.

Ortega (14-1) hasn’t fought since he challenged then-champion Max Holloway for the UFC championship in December 2018. Ringside physicians stopped the fight after the fourth round due to damage to Ortega’s face. It was the first loss of the 29-year-old’s professional career.

Jung (16-5) has been on a tear since returning from a four-year absence from the sport to serve in the South Korea military. He is 3-1 since coming back, with first-round knockouts of Dennis Bermudez, Renato Moicano and Edgar. His only loss came in November 2018 to Yair Rodriguez, in which he was knocked out in the final second of a bout he was leading on the scorecards.

Aldo Retains UFC Featherweight Champion Title

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Make that 15-straight for José Aldo…

The 26-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist defeated Frankie Edgar in the main event of UFC 156 over the weekend to retain his featherweight champion title.

Jose Aldo

Aldo used his precise striking and effective leg kicks to counter the constant pressure from the former lightweight champion, winning a unanimous decision for his 15th consecutive victory.

“I’m very happy and I don’t plan to lose my belt any time soon,” said Aldo through a translator after beinh hailed the winner.

Aldo looked solid in the first three rounds, controlling the fight and landing the more significant strikes. Edgar pressed forward in the final two periods, trying to spark a change in momentum, but the Brazilian champion was too elusive.

The judges’ scores were 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 in favor of Aldo, who improved to 22-1. Edgar fell to 15-4-1.

“It was a very difficult fight,” said Aldo. “Frankie is a very dangerous fighter and I had to take it step by step.”

Aldo remains among the UFC’s top handful of pound-for-pound fighters despite a 13-month absence from the cage caused by a series of injuries. His kicks are among the most vicious in MMA, and his overall agility in the cage can be stunning to opponents and fans alike.

Edgar was trying to become the third UFC fighter to win a title in two different weight classes.

“It was a close fight, I keep finding myself in these positions,” he said. “I’m just going to go home and take some time to think about things.”