Early birds can watch Holm vs. Correia for free
Jones’ mother dies; Cormier reaches out
If you’re reading this no later than 8 a.m. today, you still have a chance to watch Albuquerque’s Holly Holm fight Brazil’s Bethe Correia on UFC Fight Pass.
The card is scheduled (or was, depending on one’s Saturday sleeping habits) to start at 6 a.m. MDT. That’s 8 p.m. in Singapore, site of the card.
Holm-Correia is the main event, so signing onto the UFC’s digital streaming service at 8 should allow plenty of time.
To access Fight Pass, go to ufc. com. It’s a pay service, but the UFC is offering a seven-day free trial.
Holm (10-3) weighed in Friday at 135 pounds, the bantamweight limit. Correia (10-2-1) weighed 136, an allowable pound over.
TRUCE: The MMA Twitter war between Daniel Cormier and Albuquerque resident Jon Jones is on hold.
When it resumes, as it almost certainly will, perhaps the tone will be less toxic.
On Sunday, Jones’ mother, Camille, died at age 55 after a long, debilitating battle with diabetes. On Tuesday, Cormier, who’s scheduled to defend his UFC light heavyweight title against his bitter rival on July 29 in Las Vegas, Nev., tweeted out his condolences.
“In our community the mother is the backbone,” Cormier wrote. “@JonnyBones, Arthur, chandler (Jones’ brothers) and mr. jones I am sorry for ur loss. RIP Mrs Camille. Prayers”
Jones has not responded, and in fact hasn’t tweeted since June 8 — when he and Cormier last engaged in their typically angry and insulting back-and-forth.
A memorial service for Camille Jones is scheduled today in Rochester, N.Y.
The Jones-Cormier feud dates to August 2014, when the two engaged in fisticuffs at a news conference held in advance of their January 2015 fight.
FRIENDLY ENEMIES: Correia likes to talk trash — she essentially talked her way into a fight with Ronda Rousey, which she lost by TKO in 34 seconds of the first round — and has not spared Holm. She has called the Albuquerquean overrated and has pledged to become the first MMA fighter to knock Holm out.
Holm prefers not to talk trash, but has been firm in her belief that if anyone gets knocked out, it will be Correia.
Their face-offs at news conferences and at Friday’s weigh-in were appropriately hostile.
Nonetheless, there exists a photo of the two combatants sharing a sauna in Singapore in their final and successful efforts to make weight.
Staged? Perhaps. Awkward? It
doesn’t appear so. Both fighters are smiling, with Holm displaying a thumbs-up and Correia flashing a Hawaiian “shaka” (thumb and little finger extended, middle fingers folded) that is popular with the Brazilian jiujitsu community.
MALDONADO-CANO: Albuquerque’s Fidel Maldonado Jr. (23-3-1, 19 knockouts) weighed in Friday in Frisco, Texas, at 140 pounds, the junior welterweight limit, for his nationally televised fight tonight (ESPN2, 9 p.m.) against Mexico’s Pablo César Cano for the vacant WBC Fecarbox (Central American) title.
“He’s a dangerous fighter,” Fidel Maldonado Sr., his son’s trainer and manager, said of Cano (30-5-1, 21 KOs). “He can take a punch and he can give one. He’s in your face all night. It’s gonna have to be an intelligent fight.”
It is, the elder Maldonado said, a risk worth taking.
For the winner, more opportunities and bigger paydays likely await. For the loser, it’s a giant step back. TROUT UPDATE: Sorry, there isn’t one.
While everyone believes an IBF junior middleweight title bout between Las Cruces’ Austin Trout (30-3, 17 KOs) and champion Jarrett Hurd (20-0, 14 KOs) is going to happen, there is still no where and still no when.
Boxrec.com, an online record keeper, continues to list TroutHurd as happening on July 29 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
There is in fact a boxing card scheduled at Barclays that night, featuring junior welterweights Mikey Garcia and Adrien Broner in the main event. But Boxrec’s listings are unofficial, and neither Barclays nor event promoters have confirmed that TroutHurd is on the card.
Nor has either fighter made an announcement on social media, beyond Hurd’s tweet on June 2 that July 29 at Barclays is the “likely” time and place.