UFC middleweight Tom Watson (16-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) may not be a household name or ranked fighter, but that doesn’t mean his aspirations fall short of earning a world championship. “Whenever I’m with an organization, the goal is to become the champion and – that’s what the belt represents,” Watson told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “The UFC is the same when I signed. I signed to be the champion, I didn’t sign to face some UFC fighters and have a good time.” After splitting his first two trips to the octagon, the 31-year-old is just days away from his opportunity to truly let fans know what he’s all about when he makes his UFC pay-per-view debut against Thales Leites (20-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) at UFC 163. Leites was a UFC title challenger himself once upon a time, and a victory over him, especially inside the hostile HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, would raise Watson’s stock higher than ever before. His fight with Leites is on the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FX and Facebook
BAD MMA Trending Cloud
UFC • Bellator • Conor Mcgregor • PFL • Jon Jones • Daniel Cormier • Dustin Poirier • Khabib Nurmagomedov • Dana White • Francis Ngannou • Jorge Masvidal • Nate Diaz • WSOF • Anderson Silva • Max Holloway • Ronda Rousey • Amanda Nunes • Michael Bisping • Donald Cerrone • Michael Chandler • Tony Ferguson • Kamaru Usman • Alex Pereira • islam makhachev • Alexander Volkanovski • Jake Paul • Henry Cejudo • Demetrious Johnson • Charles Oliveira • Jose Aldo • One Championship • Aljamain Sterling • sean o'malley • Derrick Lewis • Stipe Miocic • sean strickland • Tyron Woodley • Georges St Pierre • Robert Whittaker • Holly Holm
- MMA News (113275)
- UFC Fight Night 252 predictions: Is Cejudo or Song the better man in Seattle?
- UFC Fight Night 252 live updates: Results, round-by-round coverage of every fight
- UFC Seattle: Cejudo vs. Song Face-Offs
- Jason Jackson details the PFL/Bellator ‘worst circumstance I’ve ever been under’ that led to title loss
- Alexander Volkanovski’s coach: Ilia Topuria following Conor McGregor’s path with lightweight move
- UFC Seattle Ceremonial Weigh-In Video
- UFC Fight Night 252 video: Henry Cejudo brings giant fortune cookie to Song Yadong faceoff
- Video: UFC Fight Night 252 final faceoffs with Allen vs. Hernandez rematch, more
- Israel Adesanya not expecting to be UFC champion again, but insists he’s not ‘washed’
- Photos: UFC Fight Night 252 ceremonial weigh-ins and faceoffs