UFC Fighter's Coach Receives Death Threats, Dan Henderson Return?, UFC Fight Night 129 Weigh-Ins
- Live fighter weigh-ins for Saturday's UFC Fight Night 129 event from Santiago, Chile will stream on Wrestling Inc. beginning at 6 p.m. ET. The card features Demian Maia taking on Kamaru Usman, along with Alexa Grasso vs. Tatiana Suarez.
The main card airs live on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on both FOX Sports 2 and UFC Fight Pass.
Below is the current fight card:
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1/10 p.m. ET)
* Welterweight: Kamaru Usman vs. Demian Maia
* Strawweight: Alexa Grasso vs. Tatiana Suarez
* Light Heavyweight: Jared Cannonier vs. Dominick Reyes
* Bantamweight: Diego Rivas vs. Guido Cannetti
* Female Flyweight: Veronica Macedo vs. Andrea Lee
* Welterweight: Vicente Luque vs. Chad Laprise
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 2/8 p.m. ET)
* Welterweight: Michel Prazeres vs. Zak Cummings
* Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Moreno
* Strawweight: Poliana Botelho vs. Syuri Kondo
* Featherweight: Gabriel Benitez vs. Humberto Bandenay
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/6:30 p.m.)
* Featherweight: Enrique Barzola vs. Brandon Davis
* Bantamweight: Henry Briones vs. Frankie Saenz
* Lightweight: Claudio Puelles vs. Felipe Silva
- Dewey Cooper, the key coach for UFC heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou, has received death threats since his fighter faced off against reigning champion Stipe Miocic. And while some might have ignored the threats, Cooper took a different approach.
"I responded to every single one of them ? '(Expletive) you, I'm at One Kick's Gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays,'" Cooper told MMAjunkie Radio recently. "'I'm at Mayweather's gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. I'm at the UFC gym at 2 o'clock on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Come kill me, mother(expletive)."
Cooper has worked in combat sports for 30 years, helping Jessie Vargas challenge for the WBO title vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2016. He explained that many of the threats involved fans who placed bets on Ngannou to defeat Miocic. In 2017, Cooper came to the defense of Kevin Lee when he was approached by several fans.
"We're not being bullied physically or on social media," Cooper said. "You talk (expletive) about me, I'm talking (expletive) about you. Period. I don't give a (expletive) if I'm at the White House with the president. I don't care if I'm at the hospital with my girl having my child. You disrespect me, I'm disrespecting you.
- With talk of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz fighting again, and Fedor Emelianenko making a run to the Bellator heavyweight title, could we see a return by Dan Henderson to the cage? Henderson, 47 years old, doesn't see it happening at this point.
"I have no plans on getting back in there," Henderson told MMAjunkie Radio. "I wouldn't say wasting their time if they had a lot of money (to offer for a return)."
Henderson posted a record of 32-15 overall in his career, including nine wins with the UFC. His UFC 139 classic with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame this July.