Skip to main content

'TUF 31' contestant recalls being told he was replaced by Conor McGregor fighter before show began

Mitch Ramirez was on Cloud 9 when he was told, after a 10-day waiting period, that he’d made the final cut for “The Ultimate Fighter 31.” But then Conor McGregor touched down in Las Vegas, and that changed everything.

When McGregor arrived in February to coach opposite Michael Chandler, the former UFC two-division champion wasn’t alone. He brought his own fighters with him and, as a result, Ken Cross, Brandon Jenkins and Ramirez were pulled from the show before filming started in order to make room for McGregor’s handpicked guys, according to MMA manager Daniel Rubenstein.

It’s something McGregor later denied, but in an interview with Fight Fluency, Ramirez recalled being told by one of the producers that he was off the show for that reason.

“What he told me is that, ‘Conor landed today and brought two of his guys with them. He’s demanding they’re on the show. He has the prospects. Unfortunately you have the least amount of fights on your record, so you’re being replaced,'” Ramirez said. “To me, that was just such a blow, such a nut shot.”

Ramirez was stunned (“what the f*ck” were his words) and said he’d already reached out to his mom and family to let them know he wouldn’t talk to them for six weeks while he competed for a UFC contract. He asked if there was anything that could be done, but the show’s producers apologized.

Ramirez never heard from UFC president Dana White or McGregor directly about the decision. He tried not to take it personally, but it was hard.

“Here’s the thing: I get it,” Ramirez said. “I understand who Conor McGregor is. I understand the way business works. I’m smart enough to understand that it wasn’t personal, personal, but it is personal because it’s my life, dude.”

Ramirez, 30, is a perfect 7-0 as a professional, which includes knockouts in his two most recent wins for XMMA and Tuff-N-Uff. He doesn’t have a known upcoming fight.

“TUF 31” premiers Tuesday, May 30 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+. The entire season will unfold with with one episode airing each Tuesday for 12 weeks.



from MMA Junkie https://ift.tt/fpCXAjL
via IFTTT

Popular posts from this blog

Burmese fighter: Joshua Van details pioneering journey to plant Myanmar's flag on UFC turf

Joshua Van remembers asking his mother why they had to live in Houston. Why couldn’t they just go back home where things were familiar? He was 12 years old at the time, and Van wanted to go back to where he lived the first decade of his life, in Myanmar. Life wasn’t easy for an undersized pre-teen who spoke little English and was picked on during school for both of those attributes. Looking back, the math adds up that he’d become the first Burmese fighter to compete in the UFC. “I was a small kid,” Van recently told MMA Junkie. “From where I come from, you get picked on. It’s kind of like I fight everyday, and I got to the point where I enjoyed fighting. I watched clips on street fights and how to win street fights. I tried it in my next fight and things like that. That’s what got me into my career.” Van grew up one of five siblings in Myanmar, a country ridden with military and political conflict . When things increasingly worsened, Van’s parents decided to move to Malaysia. Van...

Video: Oli Thompson lands devastating first-round knockout punch on Aleksei Oleinik in Russia

Aleksei Oleinik returned to action for the first time since his UFC exit, but things did not go in his favor. In the main event of REN TV Fight Club at Dynamo Volleyball Arena in Moscow, Russia, Oleinik (60-17-1 MMA) faced fellow UFC veteran Oli Thompson in a heavyweight bout. The result was a violent finish that left Oleinik staring up at the lights. Thompson (21-16 MMA) unleashed a crushing right hand that sent Oleinik crashing to the canvas with 35 seconds remaining in the opening round. Check out video of the finish below (via Twitter ): Oli Thompson destroys Alexey Oleynik with a massive right hand in the first round pic.twitter.com/AdWy25dQxR — caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 26, 2023 Thompson, 43, returned to the win column for the first time since 2020, snapping a four-fight losing skid. His last victory was also a first-round stoppage; a 23-second knockout of Szymon Bajor at Fight Exclusive Night 28 on June 13, 2020. Oleinik, 45, competed in his final UFC bout in Octo...

Logan Paul, KSI to fight (separately) as part of Misfits Boxing 'The Prime Card'

Logan Paul and KSI will top an upcoming Misfits Boxing card entitled “The Prime Card,” they announced Friday on social media . The event takes place Oct. 14 at AO Arena in Manchester, England and streams on DAZN pay-per-view. Opponents for the two influencers-turned-boxers have not yet been announced. It is unclear if the bouts will be professional or exhibition. Paul, 28, has not competed in a professional boxing match since he fought and lost to  KSI in November 2019. The bout was a rematch of an August 2018 amateur fight which ended in a draw. In June 2021, Paul competed in an exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather and went all eight rounds in a non-scored bout. While he’s been relatively inactive in boxing, Paul has thrilled fans with his athleticism in intermittent appearances in pro wrestling bouts for WWE. KSI, 30, has competed four times since the pro bout against Paul. All four of those matches were exhibitions. KSI won three of them inside the distance, while a f...