Latest news with #MickMaynard
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Three-week rollercoaster: Klaudia Sygula hit full reset after unfortunate circumstances rocked UFC debut
Klaudia Sygula hasn't been on the roster for long, but there have been more ups and downs than many UFC athletes encounter in their entire careers. If the name isn't ringing a bell, Sygula (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) gets why. Her debut wasn't great. She knows it, but says that wasn't her. Advertisement Even as she tries to explain the circumstances of her second-round TKO loss to Melissa Mullins in November, she cuts herself off at even the slightest chance her reasoning could be construed as an excuse. But she pushes through, because a story is a story. Three weeks before that November fight, is when the UFC offer – her dream – came true. Sygula was initially an economics major. She's smart, her grades were good, and school was the priority. When she first signed up for a karate gym, the coach scolded her because of her lack of dedication. But her passion was in the classroom until MMA took over her life and became her obsession. So when that offer came through from Mick Maynard, Sygula couldn't say no. But the time period leading up to that seven-and-a-half minutes inside the cage was a fight within itself. Advertisement "To be honest, my debut was not good," Sygula recently told MMA Junkie. "One day after I got the UFC contract, my coach ended up in prison. It was not an easy situation for me." Renowned Polish coach Andrzej Koscielski was arrested in October. His arrest was reportedly linked to a 22-year-old murder cold case. Koscielski remains in prison. "He's still in prison. It is not an easy situation," Sygula said. "I think I shouldn't talk more about it. At this moment, it was really hard for me because I was left alone and I had to rely only on myself, so it was not easy." It's never ideal to have to find a new training home as a fighter. But three weeks before your big break fight? Even worse. Advertisement Sygula's boyfriend and another relatively inexperienced training partner made the trek over to the United States – but it's a trip that almost didn't even happen. It wasn't until Tuesday of fight week that Sygula secured her travel papers. "I took this fight as a replacement," Sygula said. "I wasn't in good shape. I'm not looking for excuses, but the situation was not easy. I didn't have visa. It was hard to take a replacement. I had 12 kilograms to cut. It was not a good camp and I was not in good shape – and this was my debut in the UFC. I didn't show myself and it hurt the most." "I got my fight three weeks before, but I got my visa on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I had flight. On Thursday, I was in Las Vegas. I had to make my weight. On Friday, was the weigh-ins and Saturday, the fight. At that moment, I thought, 'It's not important for me. I'm ready and everything is OK.'" The loss was a disappointment for Sygula, who had to reroute her whole career in the wake of victory. However, as fate as it, Sygula wasn't the only Polish fighter on her debut card. Former UFC title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz fought on the same card and lost. The two met up in the hotel afterward, and Sygula found the positive change she was in dire need of. Advertisement "(Kowalkiewicz) came with her coach Marcos 'Parrumpa' (De Matta) and that is how I met him," Sygula said. "Unfortunately, we both lost our fights. After the event, we met together in her room to talk about this, to cry together, to eat something. I talked a lot with her coach, with coach Marcos. He convinced me to come to Florida, to ATT. He said one important sentence that stayed with me, which was if I want to be a professional fighter, I have to have professional people around me. I was thinking a lot about this. I thought that I have to change something if I want to stay in the UFC, if I want to change something. I made the decision that I'd come to ATT for the first time to see how it works, to see how their coaches are and how their sparring partners are." For this camp, Sygula found herself brushing shoulders, grappling, and sparring with the likes of Dakota Ditcheva, Kayla Harrison, Bia Mesquita, Yana Santos, and others. She enters her second promotional appearance Saturday at UFC on ABC 8 in Baku, Azerbaijan feeling like a totally different fighter. "I'm sure they will see me, 'real' Klaudia," Sygula said. "Because in the first fight, I didn't show anything. As I've said before, the UFC deserves more. The people, my supporters, they deserve more. I hope that this time, they will see, 'real' Klaudia. I think that will be a better version of me." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Baku: Klaudia Sygula hit full reset button after coach's arrest, unideal circumstances
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Maycee Barber issues first comments since possible seizure nixed UFC Vegas 107 headliner at last minute
Maycee Barber's main event against Erin Blanchfield at UFC Vegas 107 fell apart at the last minute. (Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC) Maycee Barber issued her first public comments Sunday following the worrying last-second cancelation of her UFC Vegas 107 main event against Erin Blanchfield. The top-ranked flyweight contender made the wrong type of history on Saturday night, when it was revealed directly before Barber was set to make her walk to the Octagon that her headlining bout against Erin Blanchfield was off. Blanchfield subsequently revealed that she was told in the locker room by UFC executive Hunter Campbell that Barber had suffered a seizure right before it was time to fight. Advertisement Barber reacted to the cancelation with a post on Instagram, sharing photos of her in the hospital. She neither confirmed nor denied whether a seizure was the culprit of her health situation. "Not what I had planned for a Sunday post. Thank you to everyone for the prayers and support. I owe an apology to UFC, [UFC matchmaker] Mick Maynard, Dana White, [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby and Erin Blanchfield. P.S.: My life is not messy; this is just a bad hand. We will get to the bottom of it all and be back." Barber, 27, missed weight for the flyweight fight by a half-pound, tipping the scales at 126.5 pounds, which added fuel to the budding rivalry between Barber and Blanchfield that first began in late 2021. The two were originally supposed to fight that year, however Barber was forced out due to an ankle injury. The comments about Barber's life being messy are in response to aggressive criticism lobbed her way by Blanchfield after the fight fell through this second time. Advertisement "She needs to look at another division," Blanchfield told media backstage. "She needs to fix her life. She needs to fix herself. I think she's a mess in every aspect of her entire life." Barber has battled health issues throughout the past year, which led to her current 14-month absence from the Octagon. She is riding a six-fight win streak and most recently fought when she defeated Katlyn Cerminara via unanimous decision in March 2024 at UFC 299.
USA Today
09-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Mick Maynard's Shoes: What's next for Dricus Du Plessis after UFC 312 title defense?
(ALSO SEE: Mick Maynard's Shoes: What's next for Sean Strickland after bloody UFC 312 loss?) Dricus Du Plessis made it 2-0 in head-to-head competition when he successfully defended his middleweight title in Saturday's UFC 312 main event rematch, which went down at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The second defense of Du Plessis' (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) reign is in the books after a unanimous decision victory over Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC), and now he's got what could be a legacy-defining matchup with Khamzat Chimaev on the horizon. Is Chimaev the only option for Du Plessis next, or is there another candidate for a crack at gold? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Du Plessis' future after UFC 312. For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 312.
