Fightful MMA News & Notes For 6/8/23: UFC Roster Trimmed, DC Snubs Jim Miller & More!

Here is the Fightful MMA News & Notes For 6/8/23…

– UFC Hall Of Fame member Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe that Jim Miller should be in the UFC Hall Of Fame:

“I tap out, bro,” Cormier said during a segment of DC & RC (transcript via Matthew Wells of MMA Junkie). “I don’t feel like time served immediately puts you in the Hall of Fame. Look, he’s got more wins than anyone else. But, I love Jim Miller and that makes it hard for me – but I just don’t feel like time served puts you in the Hall of Fame.

“RC, there’s an offensive lineman in the NFL right now that played 20 years. Is that guy going into the Hall of Fame just because he played 20 years? It doesn’t work that way, RC. You have to have accomplishments to go into the Hall of Fame.”

– UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya says “real recognizes real” when it comes to UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones:

“I’ve been a fan of Jon since I saw him at UFC 94,” Adesanya said on IMPAULSIVE (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “He fought Stephan Bonnar, rest in peace. I saw what he did in that fight. I was a fan, I think he was as well. Then he mentioned something like, ‘Oh, I’d like to fight Israel.’ Why the f*ck does this guy want to fight me? I’m middleweight.

“But then I responded back and we had beef. For a few years, it was like that then after I fought (Paulo) Costa it went really deep then and that was around the time it could have happened but I don’t know what happened, scheduling, COVID reasons, whatever. I fought Jan (Blachowicz). Yeah. Real recognize real, I’ll put it that way.”

– Chris Weidman plans on earning title shot while making comeback from leg injury:

“The goal for me making this comeback after everything I’ve been through is not just for this one fight and to be done,” Weidman said on the Won’t Back Down with Chris Weidman podcast (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “I got some big things on the horizon in my mind. I wanna come back and put on a great performance, completely dominating performance. And then the goal is to fight again on that New YorkCity November card at Madison Square Garden.

“And just climb up the rankings, earn my way back to a title fight. I love the champion, Israel Adesanya. I love that matchup. That’s the goal, is to get there and to get a fight with him. I am on a mission to make that happen. And it’s not gonna come easy, but I’m excited for all the hard work and the discipline and everything it’s gonna take to get there. I know I have the tools, and I have everything it takes to do it.”

– Beneil Dariush says there is nothing Islam Makhachev can do that is better than what he can do:

“I just think there is nothing really that he does that I can’t do better,” Dariush told reporters at the UFC 289 media day (transcript via Farah Hannoun & Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie). “I know people will disagree. They used to say wrestling, I can’t wrestle with these guys, the last fight I showed it.

“Now we’re talking about jiu-jitsu, next is going to be striking. I can do it all, and that’s really what I want to show the world. I could do it all. So, as far as Makhachev goes, I don’t see anything that he does that I can’t do better.”

– The PFL issued a press release stating that the featherweight and light heavyweight division playoffs will happen on August 4 from the Boeing Center At Tech Point in San Antonio, Texas.

– Israel Adesanya says he gave advice to Alex Pereira about his upcoming fight with Jan Blachowicz:

“We talked, we went through security, took our shoes off,” Adesanya said on IMPAULSIVE (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “And then we’re waiting for our bags to come through the belt, and then talked about – I was like, ‘Jan next, yeah?’ He’s fighting the guy, first MMA loss for me when I went up to 205 (pounds). He kinda has the same idea.

“Through our limited conversation skills, because of his English and my Portuguese, we kind of had the same idea of what’s gonna happen. But I had to let him know, I thought the same thing when I fought Jan. I thought Jan was gonna attack me a little bit more, but he was patient. So I kind of let him know, you be patient too. In more so words. I didn’t wanna say too much, but yeah.”

– Dan Ige plans on rebuilding himself before trying to move up the rankings again:

“As far as the rankings go right now, I’m just honestly trying to go out there and rebuild myself,” Ige said during the UFC 289 media day (transcript via Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie). “Rebuild my name, rebuild my brand. If I went out there and fought No. 4 and won like, cool. It doesn’t really do me anything. It’s not going to earn me a title shot right away. I’m all about winning and racking up those wins.

“I’ve been on a six-fight winning streak in the past, and I want to get back to that. I want to get back to just a good, long winning streak before I’m fighting the top five guys and eventually work my way back up to the belt.”

– MMA Junkie is reporting that the UFC has signed undefeated female bantamweight Melissa Dixon to a multi-fight contract.

– Amir Albazi says the commentary team gave Kai Kara-France too much credit at UFC Vegas 74:

“I still think I won (Rounds) 1, 2, and 3,” Albazi said to ESPN (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “I came into the fourth feeling like I had done enough. I took three in the bag, so it came to the judges. That’s about it. I feel like the judges were with me on that one. I think a lot of people are also looking at commentary, what the commentary said.

“That’s another part I didn’t like. They were kind of like not giving me credit for what I was doing and giving Kai too much credit for stuff that I don’t believe. They said he defended my takedowns, but let’s be real here. The moment I tried to take you down, I got you down. I didn’t want to take you down, I wanted to punch you in the face. That’s actually what happened.”

– Henry Cejudo wants the UFC to adopt open scoring going forward:

“Let’s talk about judging,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “That’s right. I’m talking about all you bald-headed fat people who have never fought before who are actually judging fights. Guys, I’m not here just to talk about my fight. I’m talking about Vasiliy Lomachenko. I’m talking about Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi.

“All these fights happened in the last three weeks. Robbery upon robbery. Close fights, people giving a fifth round to somebody who I don’t know how it is he actually won it. Where are we going to hold these judges accountable? What are they watching? Could there be a curriculum where a lot of these judges could actually fight or do we make the actual referee into a judge and we make it even because he’s the closest person in there? Or should we have an open scorecard?

“I actually like that. I actually do believe that the UFC should actually change it into an (open) scorecard. We said, ‘Hey man, you lost. That was blue corners or that was red corners round.’ Where people actually know where is it and when is it that you have to put the pedal to the metal. It’s to the point where it’s getting confusing and the last thing we want to do is turn the sport of mixed martial arts into boxing where there’s complete robbery. Where you know that you can knock the guy down 10 out of the 12 rounds and still lose.”

– Irene Aldana says that UFC 289 opponent Amanda Nunes is the G.O.A.T.:

“For me, she is the greatest of all time, for me, she is,” Aldana told reporters at a UFC 289 pre-fight news conference (transcript via Mike Bohn & Danny Segura of MMA Junkie). “That’s why it makes it even more great for me to be able to have this opportunity against her, to beat one of the greatest.”

– Eryk Anders says he plans on retiring after 5 more fights in the UFC:

“Five (more fights) puts me at 20 UFC fights and I think that’s a really good – not many people get that many fights with the UFC,” Anderson told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 289 media day (transcript via Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie). “My kids are getting older so it’s time for me to kind of – not really transition into a father role because I’m active in their lives, but going away for two months at a time and being gone fighting then needing surgery and even when I get home, sitting on the couch in a cast or whatever. It’s just time for me to put more into them. I’m already 36, so I kind of already see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

– Brandon Royval isn’t happy that Amir Albazi could leap him for a flyweight title shot:

“I thought at the very least, even if Albazi won, it’s not deserving of a title performance and it’s not really deserving to jump me in the rankings,” Royval told MMA Underground (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “I thought that immediately, I was like, ‘Cool, he ain’t gonna beat me in the rankings and he’s not gonna take my title shot from me.’

“I was pretty stoked. Then I saw Dana White’s interview and I was like, ‘What the f*ck?’ If they’re really gonna jump me over that performance, that’s f*cking crazy. I’m not even trying to say just over my winning over Kai Kara-France.”

– Javier Mendez says Abubakar Nurmagomedov suffered a knee injury at UFC Vegas 74:

“It was such a close and competitive fight,” Mendez said on his YouTube channel (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “Hats off to dos Santos. He’s a great fighter. He really is a great fighter. I watched him fight, and I said, ‘Man, we got our hands full.’ I was very proud of Abubakar. He fought like a warrior. He popped his knee in the first round. He comes back, he goes, ‘I popped my knee.’ I went, ‘Ohh, boy.’ This is one of those situations where injuries happen all the time.

“Whether you pop your knee, you break your hand, I’m sorry, but you gotta go out and win the fight or you quit right there on the stool. He didn’t wanna quit, obviously. He went and fought, he fought his heart out, and obviously, he couldn’t do what he wanted. But regardless, the other opponent was super tough. And hey, it was a great fight. Not for the fans but for us, it was a great fight in the sense that we didn’t know who won. Both sides didn’t know.”

– Chatri Sityodtong says Angela Lee will likely not fight again after the passing of her sister:

“Angela Lee is likely not coming back due to the loss of her sister,” Sityodtong said during a Facebook Live session (transcript via Damon Martin of MMA Fighting).

– Amanda Nunes says she couldn’t retire with Juliana Pena holding the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title:

“I decided to not retire, because if I retire, I leave my belt with Julianna,” Nunes said during UFC 289 media day (transcript via Damon Martin of MMA Fighting). “No way. No way. It can be with somebody else, but with Julianna, no.”

– UFC Roster Watch has reported that the UFC has parted ways with Bea Malecki, Don Shainis, Takashi Sato, Aaron Phillips, Journey Newson, Maxim Grishin, Erick Gonzalez, Nick Fiore, Orion Cosce and Luana Santos.