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Rafa García on UFC 277 fight against Drakkar Klose, training at Team Elevation & Brandon Moreno
Rafa García (14-2) comes into his fight this weekend at UFC 277 in Dallas against Drakkar Klose (12-2) on the back of two wins, the first two of his UFC career. With a win over Klose, It would undoubtedly be the biggest of his career to date, likely earning himself a spot just outside of the lightweight rankings.
The native of Mexicali opens the ESPN+ prelims of the card as he steps in on two weeks’ notice, replacing Carlos Diego Ferreira. Speaking exclusively to VMTV, the former Combate Americas (Now Combate Global) Lightweight Champion had this to say on the last-minute opportunity:
“I’m just getting ready, I’ve been ready. I live here in Colorado so I’m always training, I’m ready so as soon as I got the call from my manager Cub Swanson to tell me about the fight I was like “Yeah, let’s take it I’m ready”. There was no hesitation on my side.”
“I think they told me Thursday [14th July]. Cub called me and then after that they just talked to the matchmakers and it was a done deal pretty fast. Drakkar accepted the fight.”
Garcia came into the UFC via a short notice opportunity in 2021 and is taking another one this weekend. Despite this, he feels very different coming into this fight, saying “I feel like I got more ready. I’m always down to go in there and fight with anybody.
I’ve always said I’m ready for anybody, anytime, anywhere. My first fight in the UFC was a little bit harder because I had to cut 22lbs in two days. Right now my weight’s good. I’ve been ready, I’ve been prepared. I’ve been staying out here in Colorado for two months so I’m good.”
García’s current two-fight win streak has coincided with moving his camps to Team Elevation. Coming into his third fight with the team, he spoke on making the move from California to Denver, saying “It’s been great. I feel like I’m learning a lot, evolving always and just training with all those guys, Kamaru [Usman], Neil [Magny], [Justin] Gaethje. Gaethje’s like the one that’s always helping me out, talking to me and advising me. He big brother’s me, tells me what to do. He’s always correcting me and gives me a lot of advice.”
Drakkar Klose signals a step up in quality for Rafa García, and García recognises this. “Yeah I know that Drakkar is a very tough opponent, he’s been up in the ranks for a long time, and he’s game too. He goes out there and always puts a lot into his fights, but I’m gonna go out there and do my gameplan. It’s gonna be my fight, my rules, my pace, and I’m gonna win this fight. Finish it”.
“It’s gonna be my fight, my rules, my pace, and I’m gonna win this fight. Finish it.”
“I know that he’s a super tough opponent, he’s always trying to bully people but I’m gonna try to fight smart. Take him down if I have to take him down. Punch him if I have to punch him. Kick him. It’s gonna be my fight.”
The co-main event of the card features García’s fellow Mexican Brandon Moreno (19-6) as he fights Kai Kara France (24-9 1NC) for the Interim Flyweight Championship and García is excited to share the card with the first Mexican-born UFC Champion.
“Yeah, that’s awesome. He’s the first Mexican champion so I think that’s super cool. It’s motivation and he’s a very good example that we can all make it. It’s super cool he’s fighting because there’s gonna be a lot of Mexicans so there’s gonna be a lot of Mexican fans cheering for me.”
The fight promises to be an all-action affair to kick off the main portion of the preliminary card, which in addition to ESPN will also be airing on ABC in the United States.
“You can expect somebody that’s gonna go out there and not take a step back and just do my fight. I’m gonna do my fight. I’m gonna wrestle him, punch him, and just try to finish the fight. I’m going to finish this fight and get my hand raised.”
Manchester’s Brendan Loughnane is coming into the 2024 PFL regular season with a point to prove after what many would call a shock, disappointing showing last year.
The PFL thought they had struck gold when they signed Brendan Loughnane straight off the back of his infamous appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series. Coming in with proven ability and a name value in the UK which they had not had until that point, they were right. He made it to the playoffs in 2021, his debut season, narrowly falling in the semi-finals to Movlid Khaybulaev via a split decision.
The following season was where the Featherweight really showed his ability. Two unanimous decision victories took him through the regular season relatively scot-free. A heated semi-final showdown against Chris Wade at London’s Copper Box Arena was next. Wade had lost in the playoffs three seasons in a row, and 30-27 scorecards across the board made that four, and moved Loughnane through to the final for $1m.
It was to be another man competing in his second season, Bubba Jenkins, standing in the way of that cheque. The iconic Theater at Madison Square Garden was the setting for the final, which proved to be the perfect moment for Loughnane to pick up his first finish of the season. In a fight he was clearly leading, a straight right from Loughnane made Jenkins do the splits in the middle of the SmartCage. A few punches on the ground followed by a knee to the chest was enough to make the Mancunian $1m richer.
As the newly minted 2022 PFL featherweight champion, Loughnane started the 2023 season strong, with a second round-TKO of former UFC contender Marlon Moraes earning him five points. A victory that put him, at that point, in good stead to make the playoffs for a third consecutive year. Then came the sophomore fight of the season, a fight in which he closed as a -800 favourite over Jesus Pinedo. What came next was the shock of the season.
Less than ninety seconds in the fight, the Peruvian landed a flush knee off of a clinch which dropped Loughnane seemingly out of nowhere, and four punches later it was over. The face of the 2022 season was not making the playoffs. Pinedo went on to win the season, and of course the $1m.
This gave Brendan Loughnane an elongated break, and in that time came a lot of change within the PFL. The acquisition of Bellator means new competition for the Mancunian, as well as the rest of the PFL roster, and that starts on Friday as he faces former Bellator title challenger Pedro Carvalho, in what is a big fight for the UK and Ireland market.
SBG Ireland’s “The Game”, makes his PFL debut, and along with his contemporaries from Bellator, has been a part of refreshing the PFL regular season roster which was at risk of becoming stale due to the small roster size leading to repeated matchups in the playoffs. Through eleven fights in Bellator, he fought the best that the organisation had to offer including Aaron Pico, Mads Burnell, and organisational GOAT Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, becoming one of the go-to names on their regular events in Dublin, which became a staple of the company over the last few years. A win for him over Loughnane will instantly ensure he is highly thought of in his new organisation and put him in a great position to make it to the playoffs at the first time of asking. As we learned last year however, all can change as the season goes on.
Despite the loss last season, Brendan Loughnane does not feel the pressure coming into the 2024 season. Speaking at media day this week, he said:
“I feel like the pressure’s off. I’ve got the title here, I’m the 2022 champion and I’m just coming here now out of choice and to have fun and I think that makes me very dangerous”.
Loughnane was able to see the positives of his shortened season in 2023.
“I was happy for the layoff. I’m the most experienced guy in my division now and Bubba [Jenkins] so I’ve been in this thing for so long that I didn’t know life outside of this for a while so it was nice to take care of a few things and reset”.
The co-main event tonight between Loughnane and Carvalho promises to be a fight of the night contender. Both men come to throw down every single outing and to many people, especially those on this side of the pond, this is the most anticipated matchup of the first round with whoever prevails putting themselves in a great position and taking that first step towards making the playoffs.
For a fighter to become the best, it helps to remain humble and focused. And if the opportunity to train with world-class athletes arises, they should grab it with both hands. Ahead of her return to ONE Championship next month, ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Smilla Sundell has been doing all that.
The Swedish striker is set to return in the main event of ONE Fight Night 22 on Saturday, 4th May, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, where she’ll defend her crown against Russian ruiner Natalia Diachkova.
Sundell has been dominant across four promotional outings. But she knows she’ll have her hands full with Diachkova, so she recently chose to take some tips from ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Tawanchai PK Saenchai.
“I did his seminar in Bangkok at PK Saenchai with my friend Matt. We went there and wanted to learn some new skills and see how he did seminars because I want to go to America after my fight to do seminars. I’ve done one now, and I like teaching, so it was fun,” Sundell said.
“There’s no competition in it. He’s like a cat playing with a rat. It’s too easy for him sometimes. He doesn’t even try.”
The strawweight Muay Thai queen sharpens her skills at the Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya, Thailand, alongside other world-class striking talents, like three-sport ONE World Champion Stamp Fairtex.
Stamp’s fun-loving nature has rubbed off on Sundell, but it’s her commitment to never backing down that has truly inspired the 19-year-old sensation.
“She’s always been a happy girl and trains hard every day. She’s basically the same funny girl. Still hungry (to get wins),” Sundell explained.
“I think I learned that you can achieve whatever you like as long as you put in the work. But I learned that from my parents, too. But maybe more practical, in a sense, because Stamp did it in martial arts.”
It’s fight week for Glasgow! Cage Warriors – Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation – heads to Scotland for the first time since 2013 with the stacked CW 171 card pitting the nation’s finest against elite opposition from the UK, Europe and beyond!
With the home nation represented in all six of the main card bouts, the atmosphere is set to be electric in the Braehead Arena as CW presents one of its biggest fight nights of all time.
In the main event, blistering KO artist Dumitru Girlean returns to face home favourite Chris ‘The Bad Guy’ Bungard in what is sure to be an electrifying lightweight contest.
Also featuring in high-stakes bouts are title hopefuls Reece McEwan and Aidan Stephen, who face UFC veteran Cameron Else and Italy’s Gianluca Scottoli respectively.
Elsewhere on the card, former title challenger Scott Malone is back in the famous yellow gloves, as he takes on surging contender Nicolas Leblond, while hot prospect Sean Clancy Jr looks to keep his unbeaten run alive against Lucas Rodriguez.
The final CW 171 card is as follows…
Cage Warriors 171: Glasgow | LIVE on UFC Fight Pass
Main Card – 12:30 (PT) | 15:30 (ET) | 20:30 (BST) | 21:30 (CEST)
Lightweight: Dumitru Girlean vs Chris Bungard
Bantamweight: Cameron Else vs Reece McEwan
Welterweight: Lucas Rodrigues vs Sean Clancy Jr
Bantamweight: Gianluca Scottoli vs Aidan Stephen
Flyweight: Nicolas Leblond vs Scott Malone
Bantamweight: Kaique Modesto vs Keir Harvie
Prelims – 08:30 (PT) | 11:30 (ET) | 16:30 (BST) | 17:30 (CEST)
Lightweight: Konstantinos Ntelis vs Jan Quaeyhaegens
Featherweight: Alberth Dias vs Paul McBain
Bantamweight: Jack Eglin vs Daan Duijs
Lightweight: Jordan Little vs Jordan Stronge
Welterweight: Wallison Henrique vs Carlo Pedersoli Jr
Light Heavyweight: Nell Ariano vs Jamie Macdonald
Catchweight (167lbs): Diego Dikson vs Ieuan Davies
Lightweight: Dec Dean vs Michael Blair
Flyweight: Ronal Siahaan vs Igor Wojtas
Featherweight: TBC vs Damon Donald
Bantamweight: Pav Sahota vs Iain Postlethwaite
Welterweight: Mush Aslani vs Khadim Dia
Featherweight: Cornellius Aritonang vs Thomas Hepburn
Cage Warriors 171: Glasgow will air live on UFC Fight Pass and international broadcast partners.
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