Tag Archives: Rashad Evans

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.

Eva Marie to Star in the Action-Thriller “Phoenix”

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Natalie Eva Marie is headed to Phoenix…

The half-Mexican American professional wrestler, WWE star, actress, fashion designer and model will star in the action-thriller Phoenix, from Tadross Media Group, Bulldog Brothers Entertainment and director Daniel Zirilli.

Natalie Eva Marie

Eva Marie, as she’s known in the ring, will star alongside Randy Couture, Neal McDonough, former WWE tag team champion Oleg Prudius, Bai Lin and former UFC lightweight champion Rashad Evans in the film.

The film has entered production in Miami.

Phoenix centers on Fiona “Phoenix” Grant (Marie), a U.S. Army veteran sergeant who is teaching hand-to-hand combat skills in Afghanistan when she receives word that her father, Everett Grant (Couture), a prominent security specialist, has been killed in Florida. The police report says it was suicide, but Fiona doesn’t believe it. Encouraged to take a leave of absence by her commanding officer (McDonough), she heads back to the U.S. and soon learns that the prime suspect is Maxim Vasiliiev (Prudius), a ruthless local drug kingpin with an army of mercenaries and enough legal, political and business influence to keep him outside the law.  Armed to the teeth, she plans to take out Vasiliiev with her bare hands, and nothing is going to stop her.

Zirilli adapted the film from a story he wrote with Alexander Nistratov.

Eva Marie, who appeared in the reality series Total Divas, has appeared in Inconceivable and Hard Kill.

Mauricio Rua Defeats Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in UFC Fight Night to Complete Clean Sweep Against His Compatriot

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It’s a clean sweep for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua…

The 38-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist defeated his compatriot Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi, completing a clean sweep in their trilogy of fights.

Mauricio Shogun Rua

Rua had previously defeated Nogueira in 2005 on his way to winning a Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. Ten years later, Rua him again once both had made it to the UFC — and after Rua had reigned as light heavyweight champion. 

For Nogueira, the split decision defeat in the United Arab Emirates was a final disappointment, as he indicated beforehand it would be the last fight of a professional career that began in 2001.

Asked after the fight, Nogueira addressed the thought that this could be the end.

“I think so. I know I can fight very well,” he said, “but I think it’s time for the new generation to come.”

Nogueira ends his career having scored victories over some elite competition, including Dan Henderson, Rashad Evans, Tito Ortiz and Kazushi Sakuraba. He had wins over Alistair Overeem.

Just not Rua.

Saturday’s bout started out much like the first two meetings — except in slow motion. Nogueira, who came in having lost four of his previous six fights, circled Rua and measured him for left hands. Nogueira finally landed one midway through the first round, and Rua, showing some facial damage, went for a takedown and took the fight to the canvas.

Rua tried to repeat that in the second round but failed on two takedown attempts, but he did get the fight back to the canvas late in Round 3. Along the way, he also punished Nogueira with calf kicks, softening up the lead leg.

Rua did enough to earn 29-28 scores from two judges, while the third had the same score for Nogueira.

Rua, a former UFC light heavyweight champ, has lost only one of his past seven fights.

Paulo Costa to Take On Defending Champion Israel Adesanya in UFC Middleweight Title Fight

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Paulo Costa is getting his title chance…

Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against the 29-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artiston September 19, according to ESPN.

Paulo Costa

This weekend, Costa tweeted: “The fight is on folks!” News of the fight was first reported by Combate.

The fight, which will take place at UFC 253, doesn’t have a location yet. It probably will take place in either Las Vegas or Abu Dhabi, but the promotion hasn’t finalized those plans just yet because of the coronavirus pandemic, sources said.

Originally, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje was targeted for September 19. Though no official determination has been made regarding that fight, sources say the current plan is to headline the card with Adesanya vs. Costa and then do Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje for the lightweight title later in the fall.

Adesanya (19-0) successfully defended the middleweight title for the first time in March when he defeated Yoel Romero via unanimous decision. That fight was supposed to be against his bitter rival, Costa, however, Costa was forced out of the fight after suffering a torn left biceps.

Costa (13-0), most recently defeated Romero via unanimous decision in August 2019.

The duo have been entangled in a war of words since before Adesanya won the middleweight title in October.

The fight will mark just the second time in UFC history that two undefeated males fight for an undisputed title. The first time was back in 2008 when champion Rashad Evans defended the light heavyweight title against Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.

Nogueira Defeats Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Rashad Evans

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Don’t ever count out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira…

In a bout that was expected to bring some clarity to the UFC’s light-heavyweight division, the 36-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist – considered a heavy underdog – earned a unanimous decision victory over former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira & Rashad Evans

Nogueira (21-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) controlled the match with superior striking and wrestling defense, and all three judges scored the bout 29-28.

Nogueira entered the bout after a 14-month layoff, and Evans after a 10-month layoff.

Neither fighter clearly took any round, so the scorecards proved to be a crapshoot. In the end, though, the judges sided with Nogueira via 29-28 scores.

The victory marked Nogueira’s second straight win.

Evans (17-3-1 MMA, 12-3-1 UFC), meanwhile, suffers the first back-to-back losses of his career and faces a long road back to the title shot.