MMA News

Author: Dylan Bowker

  • Alex Pereira’s Mistake: Respecting Magomed Ankalaev Too Much In Their First Fight – UFC Contender

    Alex Pereira’s Mistake: Respecting Magomed Ankalaev Too Much In Their First Fight – UFC Contender

    Alex Pereira had certain shortcomings in the first Magomed Ankalaev bout that he can potentially subvert in their rematch, in the eyes of a former UFC title challenger. This sentiment was expressed by Dan Hardy during an interview with Helen Yee Sports at Xtreme Couture.

    At UFC 313 in March, Alex Pereira dropped his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev and the fairly lopsided bout saw Ankalaev ascend to the 205 pound throne by way of a unanimous decision. Giving his overview on the first fight and touching on the looming Pereira-Ankalaev sequel clash in the coming weeks, Dan Hardy said,

    “I think maybe [Pereira] had a little bit too much respect for [Magomed] Ankalaev in the last fight… Pereira when he’s at that close range—either when you’re coming to him, like when [Sean] Strickland fought him, or when someone’s moving away and he’s walking into their range like Jamahal Hill—you feel that pressure of his kind of frame coming at you and people feel like they need to react.”

    “If I’m [Alex] Pereira, I would be thinking about getting as close to him as possible, getting in his face, maybe even try and use a bit of Thai clinch just to kind of manage the clinch a bit. He’s going to be better defending takedowns on the front foot as well, right?… It’s better if he’s pressuring forward and forcing Ankalaev to shoot under pressure.”

    Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalev 2 broken down by a former UFC light heavyweight champion

    Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev will again step into the octagon on UFC 320 on October 4th. One of the fighters who knows Pereira best, and is also interwoven within that UFC light heavyweight title lineage, has weighed in on the sequel clash. Glover Teixeira is the combatant in question and the former UFC titleholder has guided the career of ‘Poatan’ in a coaching capacity for several years now.

    On the Overdogs Brasil podcast with Renato Moicano as well as American Top Team coach Marcos da Matta, the 45-year-old commented on how he sees the second chapter of the Pereira vs. Ankalaev story unfurling as Teixeira stated [via Sherdog],

    “The first round will be brutal. It’s not that he’ll come in angry, but he’ll come in with that same [aggressive] attitude. This fight will be much more dynamic. ‘Poatan’ will be pressing the entire time because he’s ready for it.”

    “Mentally, there are guys who are different. I’ve always been calm in my fights, but I had my doubts. ‘Poatan’ seems very confident, very focused. He’s doing very well. Now we’ll hone it in these last three weeks, get the timing right, because the guy is already ready for five rounds.”

  • Tony Bellew could see Carl Froch fight Darren Till if it “makes sense financially” for ‘The Cobra’

    Tony Bellew could see Carl Froch fight Darren Till if it “makes sense financially” for ‘The Cobra’

    Tony Bellew can see Carl Froch making a return to the ring and Bellew isn’t ruling out donning the gloves one more time himself. Bellew expressed these sentiments recently during an exclusive interview with Pundit Arena. The discussions about Froch returning to the ring have been ignited by Darren Till’s call outs of ‘The Cobra.’

    After Till’s last fight where he halted Luke Rockhold inside the distance at Misfits Boxing 22, the former UFC welterweight champion then put Froch in his proverbial crosshairs. Froch hasn’t competed since May 2014 when he stopped George Groves in the eighth round of their high stakes rematch inside of Wembley Stadium for the IBF world super middleweight championship.

    Bellew thinks that if the money is right, he thinks that Carl Froch could be convinced to compete under Queensberry Rules once more as Bellew said,

    “After the Darren Till fight, Carl fed into the narrative that he’s willing to get back in a boxing ring. I think he’s missing it. I think if it makes sense financially enough for Carl, he’ll do it.”

    Tony Bellew isn’t ruling out his own return to the ring either

    Tony Bellew also mentioned in this referenced interview that everyone does have a price. With the conversation touching on if Carl Froch would get out of retirement to fight Till but pivoting to Tony Bellew’s thoughts on mounting his own comeback, Bellew stated,

    “I don’t really have a name I want to fight. But listen, we’ve all got a price. Do I want to? No. But then I’m stupid enough to say I would never do it? No I’m not. Because like I said before, we’ve all got a price. If someone was to stump up enough money, you’ve got me. If Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have got a price, then so does the fat boy from Liverpool.”

  • Mario Bautista is Prepared to Shut Down Umar Nurmagomedov Entirely

    Mario Bautista is Prepared to Shut Down Umar Nurmagomedov Entirely

    Mario Bautista is not daunted by the prospect of fighting Umar Nurmagomedov and is confident he has a methodology to put the second blemish on the pro MMA record of the Dagestan-based fighter. Bautista appeared on MMA Junkie Radio leading into his UFC 321 fight against Umar Nurmagomedov. That high stakes bantamweight clash will emanate from Abu Dhabi and will transpire on October 25th. This bout will put the number two ranked Umar Nurmagomedov against the number eight ranked Bautista.

    The victor of this bout would be well positioned in the title shot queue as the UFC 320 bantamweight title fight between reigning champ Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen looms ever closer. Speaking to his preparations for this looming matchup in the coming weeks against Nurmagomedov, Bautista said,

    “I completely have all the trust and faith in my team… the MMA Lab, we’re pretty good grapplers. We have grapplers from everywhere. NCAA finalist Bryce Meredith, Ezra Elliot who’s killing it in jiu-jitsu and grappling. We have some of the best strikers, like Marcus McGee who went three rounds with Peter Yan. I have complete faith we’re going to come up with a good game plan for this.”

    “You just have to be a great grappler yourself and actually threaten the grappling back, so I think that kind of evens things out. If a wrestler is just being offensive the whole time, he’s winning… You kind of have to put that in their head too. It’s very taxing on their body and we’ve seen it with Umar kind of gassed out towards the end there. So yes, blueprint’s out there.”

    Mario Bautista fighting someone here who “came close to beating the champ”

    As he kept further expounding upon his thoughts on this huge bout at 135 pounds, Mario Bautista continued,

    “The higher you climb up, the better they’re getting. So, I’m happy with it. And you just fought a guy that about a year ago many people were saying could be the best bantamweight in the world. Patchy Mix… This sport’s unforgiving in the sense that no disrespect to him, he hasn’t been part of the UFC. Umar has and he came close to beating the champ. So just that climb, that competitiveness in your division, is amazing.”

  • “Biggest fight in women’s MMA history” Kayla Harrison Preparing to Face Amanda Nunes

    “Biggest fight in women’s MMA history” Kayla Harrison Preparing to Face Amanda Nunes

    Kayla Harrison is touting her looming bantamweight title defense against the former multi-time 135 pound titleholder Amanda Nunes as the biggest bout in the history of women’s mixed martial arts and understandably so. Speaking with Danny Segura of MMA Junkie, Harrison spoke about several subjects ahead of her highly anticipated super fight with the returning Amanda Nunes.

    Touching upon the magnitude of the matchup against ‘The Lioness’ who returns to MMA after a period of being retired from the sport, Harrison said,

    “This is probably the biggest fight or arguably one of the biggest fights in women’s MMA history… I have had conversations with coaches about how long to wait before asking because it’s not fair to the division. We all have a short window. I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen, Amanda is ready, she wants to fight, I want to fight, just waiting on details. I want to fight at the beginning of next year.”

    “20 fights in, my game plan doesn’t change much, just altering little things. We’ve been training and preparing for a while… My Muay Thai coach has like 10 pages of notes on Amanda, who used to work with him. We’ve been in it.”

    Kayla Harrison’s prior Amanda Nunes training dynamic “didn’t happen like I wanted”

    As the former multi-time Olympic gold medalist in Judo outlined her brief yet well documented training history with Amanda Nunes from years back, Kayla Harrison continued,

    “She [Amanda Nunes] is a big reason I moved to Florida. I came down, met Mike Brown, and second day sparred Amanda and I was like holy s**t. I hadn’t had an MMA fight yet. Very quickly I was like, ‘This is where I gotta be; you want to be the best, you train with the best.’ But our paths didn’t cross a ton; she was way ahead with privates and one-on-ones, but I always made myself available. We trained a little, but not a lot, which was unfortunate for me. I believe we had opportunity to raise each other’s level. There was no scarcity at the table, but it didn’t happen like I wanted.”

  • Merab Dvalishvili Planning to Knock Out Cory Sandhagen on the Feet at UFC 320

    Merab Dvalishvili Planning to Knock Out Cory Sandhagen on the Feet at UFC 320

    Merab Dvalishvili has a unique vision for how he sees this Cory Sandhagen fight ending relative to how a lot of Dvalishvili’s fights play out. As he aims to defend his 135 pound crown at UFC 320, the Georgia native foresees a finish transpiring in the standup portions of the fight instead of Dvalishvili’s typical path of weaponizing his path in a grappling vein to secure the victory.

    Speaking to Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Merab Dvalishvili addressed the claims from some that he’s perceiving this Sandhagen fight as an easy one and is overlooking Sandhagen a bit for a Petr Yan fight later this year to close out 2025 on a historic note. Touching on his next title challenger who he pointedly described as a dangerous opponent, Dvalishvili said,

    “I have so much respect for him [Cory Sandhagen] as a fighter and as a human being. Every time I watch the knockout when he finished Frankie Edgar, it’s crazy for me. He had finish against [Mario] Bautista, dominated Chito Vera, great fight against Petr [Yan]. He’s dangerous, hard to stop, with submission games, knockout games, good cardio, good takedown defense, good footwork… It’s going to be a great fight and I’m looking forward to facing him.”

    Merab Dvalishvili “looking for a knockout” agaisnt Sandhagen in October

    As he continued to break down this next threat to his championship claim at UFC 320 on October 4th and the outcome he is mapping out for Sandhagen, Merab Dvalishvili continued,

    “Yeah, I’m looking for a knockout because now I’m working on my striking. This fight most likely going to be on the feet. Of course, I’m going to exchange some punches with him and that’s the goal, but same time it’s MMA fight and we have to be ready for everything… I want to do my best to win but whatever happens, I will be happy because I will give all in my training camp and fighting. Even if he beats me, I will be happy for him because he’s a great opponent and deserves everything good.”

  • Who is Derek Moneyberg and Why Did Sean Strickland Publicly Ambush Him?

    Who is Derek Moneyberg and Why Did Sean Strickland Publicly Ambush Him?

    Derek Moneyberg was confronted recently by Sean Strickland but some are still unsure as to who Moneyberg is or what the crux of the confrontation was. Breaking all of this down on The Ariel Helwani Show, the titular figure first touched on that initial piece of this situation as Helwani said,

    “For those that don’t know who Derek Moneyberg is…he’s someone that you may see quite often on social media, on YouTube, on Instagram, but not really sort of process who exactly this dude is.”

    One of his co hosts who operates under the pseudonym GC would flesh out Moneyberg’s profile a bit more as GC responded,

    “He’s like an online wealth coach, that’s how he makes his money and he appears to have a lot of it. And then he goes out there and hires guys like Jake Shields, Glover [Teixeira]…dudes that are very high level mixed martial artists and he trains with them. The biggest controversy lately is that he earned his BJJ black belt after only, I believe, like a year or two of training. And a lot of people have called him out for that…”

    In terms of some of the over the top claims that have drawn Moneyberg the ire of many martial arts aficionados, GC stated,

    “What he [Moneyberg] claims is three and a half years from first training to black belt. 3,000 hours of one-on-one training. The best training team in history. In the picture, it’s Lyoto Machida, Glover Teixeira, Jake Shields, and Frank Mir. Zero days missed over the three and a half years of training with these guys.”

    One of Helwani’s other co-hosts Petesy Carroll then responded to GC as Carroll,

    “Well, that would make him quicker than BJ Penn, the black belt. And BJ Penn had a record as a North American for years…”

    Derek Moneyberg, Sean Strickland, and details of their viral interaction

    In the video that was recorded by the former UFC middleweight champion himself, Sean Strickland lambasted Derek Moneyberg as Strickland quipped,

    “This guy’s a real big rope jack. He says, ‘Why do I call him a scumbag on the internet?’…

    Derek Moneyberg would then respond to the overt advances of Strickland as Moneyberg responded,

    “You got to do that for [the] camera. You can’t have a private conversation like an adult. You can only do the things for the internet. You can’t have a private conversation.”

    Strickland was not long to fire back a retort as right away, Strickland responded,

    “Because what I have to say is factual. And you guys…”

    Derek Moneyberg refuted those claims when he said,

    “It’s not factual.”

    Shortly after that point the internet personality walked off of camera with the former 185 pound kingpin in the UFC continuing to express himself as Strickland stated,

    “Just…So you guys, let me tell you why I don…Don’t—would I like to get free money from this guy? Yeah, sure, dude, would I—would I pay me money for a second? …. He takes advantage of these men and he uses their platform to pedal financial scams and he sues people and what he does is so dishonest and so scummy that no—I will not just cuz you’re nice and you shake my hand and you say you’re my buddy when no—you are a fraud, you are dishonest, you fraud people. This is why you don’t want to be on camera because you know everything I say is true… Go scam somebody else.”

    After the personalities on The Ariel Helwani Show finished watching the Strickland and Moneyberg footage, GC quipped,

    “He has these 4.1 million followers, but if you look at all his posts, they all do like 40,000 likes on the dot. Like, just a little bit over 40,000 likes. And they always have like 30 to 35 comments…

    The titular figure of the program would respond to those social media figures as Ariel Helwani said,

    “If you’re getting 40,000 likes and 30 comments, that means…”

    Undulating along with that point from Helwani, GC stated,

    “But if you’re always getting like 42K, 41.9, 42.3, 42K, 42K, 42K, 41.6K, 42K. It’s always right there.”

  • Michael Chandler could be a “Sexy Opportunity” for a UFC Veteran

    Michael Chandler could be a “Sexy Opportunity” for a UFC Veteran

    Michael Chandler is one of the most widely called out lightweights in the UFC and Chandler has been called out by ‘The Great Ape’. That combatant in question is riding a four fight winning streak with back to back striking-based finishes on his ledger. This was expressed during an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show by Alexander Hernandez who is riding high off of his recent Noche UFC win.

    That victory over Diego Ferreira marked Hernandez’s second win in less than a month with a prior finish of Chase Hooper at UFC 319 in August. When referencing that he called out the former multi-time Bellator MMA champion in his Noche UFC post-fight interview with Helwani asking his guest how confident he is that ‘Iron’ Michael would accept that challenge, Hernandez said,

    “I love that idea. I think it’s something that could happen. It could be a sexy opportunity for either one of us…I think it’s a 2026 fight. The reason for the delay is I want to clean up this left side first…If I can get that back to par, I’ll be as exciting as anyone expects…I’ve entertained the matchup for over a year now. We’ve breached those doors now…I think it’s just a fun stylistic matchup…I don’t think he’ll wait for Conor [McGregor] to fight on this White House card. I wouldn’t rely on Conor for anything if I were him.”

    Michael Chandler eyes spot on UFC White House card

    Michael Chandler has that White House card in his crosshairs, as Hernandez referenced above, and has enthusiastically expressed his desire to be part of that event which is tentatively mapped out for June 2026. Since his loss to Paddy Pimblett in April, Chandler has not engaged in any discourse about a subsequent fight this year.

    In fact, it seems as if Chandler is not specifically targeting competing again in 2025, at least at this juncture. In terms of discussing his desire to fight in alignment with celebrating 250 years of America, Michael Chandler stated [via Uncrowned],

    “That’s the one I want, but every single person on the entire UFC roster wants that fight. I realize that I, as well as everyone on the roster, are gunning for that card, wanting to be on that card. You got Jon Jones coming out of retirement, entering the testing pool. You got Conor [McGregor] entering the testing pool right after that gets announced, so that’s the one everybody wants. That’s the pinnacle.”

    “Is that gonna be my next fight? I don’t know, but I’m definitely wanting to be on that card. I’ve spoken to the UFC about it. They know I want to be on that card, carrying the red, white and blue stars and bars across the lawn into the UFC octagon. It would be a dream come true. Opponent to be determined. We shall see.”

  • BKFC Tyson says “Death is coming” for Ben Rothwell: “I’m cracking his head”

    BKFC Tyson says “Death is coming” for Ben Rothwell: “I’m cracking his head”

    Leonardo Perdomo secured a massive win at BKFC 80 and ‘El Zambo’ is now putting BKFC heavyweight champion Ben Rothwell in his crosshairs. Perdomo’s win in the September 12th headlining fight in Hollywood, Florida saw him finish former multi-time BKFC titleholder Arnold Adams for the second time. Perdomo is now 9-0 in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship with all nine of his wins coming by way of first round knockout.

    A ledger like that in gloveless combat could certainly justify a title shot to many and Perdomo expressed that sentiment when he called out current titleholder Ben Rothwell at the BKFC 80 post-fight press conference as Perdomo said [via MMA Junkie],

    “Everybody knows Ben Rothwell is scared of me. I’m not in a rush. When BKFC gives me opportunity for the title, then OK. But Ben Rothwell is a little boy.”

    “When someone knows you want to kill them, that person goes pale. Death is coming over [Rothwell], OK? If the fight happens, I’m cracking his head. The thing is that BKFC opened the doors for me, and they gave me a chance to become a professional, the chance to make a name for myself – Zambo – so I have to wait for them to give me the opportunity. This is a process. It’s little by little. I’m going to continue growing with the league and continue to help them grow.”

    The BKFC resumes of Ben Rothwell and Leonardo Perdomo

    Ben Rothwell stands atop the BKFC’s heavyweight division with the former UFC veteran ascending to the throne in January. At KnuckleMania V, Rothwell stopped then-titleholder Mick Terrill in less than forty seconds to become the new champion in Philadelphia. Rothwell also has a spotless record in bare knuckle with Big Ben earning prior wins over Bobo O’Bannon, Josh Copeland, and Todd Duffee with his present record in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship set at 4-0.

    For Leonardo Perdomo, he has earned wins over bare knuckle stalwarts like Ryan Shough, Bobby Brents, Leo Bercier, Steven Banks, and Levi Costa. The Cuban leviathan also scored a win over a former gloved boxing titleholder in former WBA champ Steve Herelius.

  • Yoel Romero finds potential BKFC title fight “Very Tempting”, post-BKFC 80

    Yoel Romero finds potential BKFC title fight “Very Tempting”, post-BKFC 80

    Yoel Romero made a big splash in his BKFC debut to the scale that his sophomore fight in bare knuckle boxing could potentially be for a title. ‘Soldier of God’ dispatched of Theo Doukas with a bloody second round stoppage after dropping Doukas multiple times. Romero won his bare knuckle debut in the heavyweight ranks. This transpired in the feature fight of the night at BKFC 80 in Hollywood, Florida on September 12th.

    During the former UFC veteran’s post-fight interview, his interest was gauged in a potential cut down to cruiserweight for the purposes of a potential future shot at the BKFC crusierweight belt. BKFC cruiserweight champion Chris Camozzi will next defend his crown against Alessio Sakara in the headliner of BKFC 83 in Italy on October 25th. Romero has contended for UFC gold on multiple occasions and at the BKFC 80 post-fight press conference, when the former Bellator MMA title challenger was asked how it felt competing without the gloves, Romero said [through the aid of an interpreter],

    “Thank you and first thank God for everything that has happened to me and I’ve been in this game for a long time and I’ll still come.”

    Yoel Romero: it would “be an honor” to fight for BKFC gold

    Referencing the in-ring suggestion regarding a possible future title fight against the BKFC Italy main event victor and when asked what the Cuban competitor wants as his next step in BKFC, Romero stated [through the aid of an interpreter],

    “Sounds very tempting. Of course when you fight and you discuss something like that, it would always be an honor. But I’m ready for whatever they put on the table for me.”

    The former Olympic silver medal winning judoka has found himself thriving across multiple combat sports rulesets with a pair of wins on the Dirty Boxing Championship circuit before this recent debut effort in gloveless combat. Finally when asked what example he wants to leave here at BKFC with his vast experience in combat sports, Yoel Romero quipped [through the aid of an interpreter],

    “I don’t wake up and think about this. It’s what God has for me and the purpose that God has for me and I will continue to do that.”

  • Islam Makhachev Will Submit Jack Della Maddalena In The Championship Rounds, According to Former UFC Contender

    Islam Makhachev Will Submit Jack Della Maddalena In The Championship Rounds, According to Former UFC Contender

    Islam Makhachev will finish Jack Della Maddalena in the later stages of their oncoming welterweight title fight according to a former UFC title challenger at 170 pounds. Dan Hardy spoke about this looming fight at Madison Square Garden during a recent interview he did with Helen Yee Sports.

    Islam Makhachev vacated his lightweight belt in the attempt to enter that rarefied air of two divison UFC champions in history when the Dagestan native tries to unseat JDM from his welterweight throne on November 15th. When discussing the machinations of this matchup in Q4 of 2025, Dan Hardy said,

    “I’ve been high on JDM for a long time… His boxing’s always impressed me. But at this point, I feel like Islam’s moving up a weight class at the right time… I don’t think Islam can stay healthy and stay in the lightweight division for any longer. I think right now he’s allowed himself to move into a division where his body’s just going to grow into it.”

    “He’s going to be incredibly powerful. I just think Islam’s all-round game is so problematic for any single fighter. I see him taking it… probably a 50-50 striking exchange, Makhachev winning with a kicking advantage, but then his grappling and wrestling taking over—probably winning by submission in the championship rounds.”

    Islam Makhachev can lose to Jack Della Maddalena if the champ does one thing right, per ex-UFC fighter

    Islam Makhachev is ultimately being picked to win by another former UFC welterweight veteran but that combatant in question does see a way that Jack Della Maddalena can defeat the former UFC lightweight champion.

    Jake Ellenberger is the referenced fighter in question and during a recent interview with Bloody Elbow giving his viewpoint on this UFC welterweight championship bout, Ellenberger stated [via Bloody Elbow],

    “That’s a fun one. [With Islam Makhachev moving up a weight class] that changes the story a little bit.”

    “On paper, it’s hard to bet against Islam. The guy is incredible. When you get to the highest level, it just comes down to strategy: who can build a strategy and implement it when it matters.”

    “That’s a fun one. I’m still leaning towards Makhachev, but there are plenty of ways Jack can win.”

  • WWE Star Stephanie Vaquer Eyes UFC Opportunity “Do something together”

    WWE Star Stephanie Vaquer Eyes UFC Opportunity “Do something together”

    Stephanie Vaquer has been making massive waves in WWE in recent times and seems passionate about other TKO properties as she has recently expressed how much she enjoys the UFC. This was expressed during a recent interview done with Sports Illustrated as the former New Japan Strong women’s champion has articulated a desire to want to collaborate with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in some capacity going forward.

    Vaquer has had anecdotal training experiences at the Mexico-based UFC Performance Center and also has a friendship with fellow Chilean compatriot, UFC combatant Ignacio Bahamondes. The former concurrent NXT champion and NXT North American champion was offering up her predictions on the Canelo vs Crawford fight, which also had TKO heavily invovled, and when discussing another TKO property, Vaquer said,

    “I love the UFC. I’ve been training in Mexico at the UFC Performance Center, and I have a really good friend there. I’m a big fan of the UFC, and I hope one day we can do something together. I know it’s a different discipline from pro wrestling, but we are both fighters. My friend Ignacio Bahamondes is famous in Chile, and he’s also my best friend. In both fighting and wrestling, he understands me, the sport, and the discipline. That’s why I hope one day we can do something together.”

    Stephanie Vaquer as a microcosm of the WWE and UFC synergy under TKO

    Stephanie Vaquer drew a fair bit of attention earlier this year when in March, she showcased her pro wrestling prowess at the aforementioned UFC facility. The appearance took place around the time UFC put on a Fight Night Card in Mexico with Vaquer being a featured personality on-screen during the broadcast.

    The WWE and UFC synergy udnerneath the broader TKO umbrella has become more and more prevalant over the years since that merger happend in 2023. The comments above from Vaquer do not specifically indicate competing in mixed martial arts and can also refer to a myriad of options like broadcasting, digital content creation, etc.

  • Artem Lobov: Prime Conor McGregor Takes Out Ilia Topuria

    Artem Lobov: Prime Conor McGregor Takes Out Ilia Topuria

    Conor McGregor in the prime of his career was a true phenomenon and a former compatriot of ‘The Notorious’ thinks that version of McGregor can put out the lights of reigning UFC lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria. This was a sentiment recently expressed by Artem Lobov during an interview with Jordan Ellis for Bloody Elbow.

    ‘The Russian Hammer’ covered several subjects during that chat ahead of his return to combat sports after over four years as Lobov will finally clash with long time rival Zubaira Tukhugov at PFL Champions Series 2 on October 3rd in a catchweight contest at 165 lbs. Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov had a publically documented fall out with each other but the latter does still hold the former’s fighting ability in high regard.

    When touching on how a hypothetical mega fight would play out between the pair of fighters who’ve both held UFC gold at featherweight as well as lightweight, Lobov said,

    “I’ll be honest with you. I’m a massive fan of Ilia. You know, his style is incredible. You know, he’s incredible striking, very ballsy, you know, he fights aggressively, you know, comes in fearless, you know, good wrestling. It’s; I put him up very, very high up there. I still do think, if I’m really honest, I might be a little bit biased. But I do think that in their prime, Conor still, I think, edges it, you know.”

    “He was just honestly; just watching Conor like in his prime was incredible. Just untouchable, you know, and I watched him in trainings, you know. I annihilate and annihilate, you know, like five guys in a row one by one, you know. They all coming in fresh, including me and him not even breathing heavy. Like he was just a killer, you know.”

    Conor McGregor could have beat Topuria as well as Mayweather and Nurmagomedov

    Further expressing how pedigreed of a pugilist he felt that Conor McGregor was during his prime in the UFC, Lobov continued,

    “So for me, as I said, I’m probably biased, but for me, it’s hard to imagine anyone doing anything to that corner, you know. I feel that Conor could have beat everyone that; that’s, you know, for me. He could have beat even [Floyd] Mayweather and Khabib [Nurmagomedov], you know, that corner. But Ilia is probably a very close second to me.”

    “Right behind Conor, right behind top level Conor, you know. But right now Ilia is the best. There’s there’s no question about it. He’s the number one guy now. Yeah, he’s so dominant and so exciting to watch and yeah, I love watching his fights.”

  • Khalid Taha eyes Losene Keita’s vacant throne with strong Oktagon 75 title eliminator win

    Khalid Taha eyes Losene Keita’s vacant throne with strong Oktagon 75 title eliminator win

    Khalid Taha clashes with Edgar Delgado Jimenez at Oktagon 75 on September 13th but that was not always going to be his opponent in the Oktagon MMA cage. Taha appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts to discuss how he was initially supposed to fight Max Holzer before an illness popped up recently which scrapped the bout booking.

    When discussing if it is a profoundly different experience fighting this new opponent now relative to the approach he would have had against Max Holzer, Khalid Taha said,

    “The opponent has like almost the same fighting style like Holzer. He’s also southpaw. He’s also a jiu-jitsu to black belt. And yeah, I think it’s going to be the same. He’s going to look for the shoot, for the takedown, try to take me down, try to finish me on the ground. Exactly the same what Holzer wanted to try. Yeah, so it’s like almost the same fight.”

    When discussing the feeling of getting a new opponent but where the same skills he worked on in the camp can still be applied to his new Oktagon MMA opposition, Taha stated,

    “Yeah, definitely it is because like there were; we knew from the pull out, what was it like maybe 13 days, 12 or 13 days before the fight. 14, maybe two weeks, around two weeks. So like there’s no time anymore like to change a lot, you know. So it worked well for us.”

    Taha now prepares to fight a man many see as the highest ranked fighter from South America and someone who was the Mexican LUX Fight League champion. When discussing his thoughts on fighting the former four-time LUX Fight League champion here and what he sees as some of Jimenez’s better skills heading into this weekend, Khalid Taha quipped,

    “I think he’s very dangerous. Like he’s very experienced fighter and like I saw from his fights, you have to be careful until the very last second, you know. So it doesn’t matter how the fight goes, he never gives up. He can change the fight like in the last second and because of that like we have to be very aware. Hve to stay focused, stick to the game plan, and do our thing.”

    When touching on the excitement with this being his third straight MMA fight in Germany and the partisan crowd sentiment towards him, Taha quipped,

    “Yeah, sure. because almost I don’t know like 6, 7, 8 years before that like I couldn’t fight in Germany, you know. I was like fighting all around the world and honestly it’s also for me like much easier, you know [laughs]. I don’t have to travel a lot, I don’t have all this jet lag stuff. I don’t have all the expenses as well you know. I like honestly, I like to fight in front of my crowd, my family, my fans. So yeah, it’s a win-win situation, you know.”

    Khalid Taha and chasing Losene Keita’s former Oktagon MMA strap

    Khalid Taha knows that this is a key fight for the Oktagon MMA featherweight title picture in Oktagon with prior champ Losene Keita moving to the UFC. As he addressed the current landscape in Oktagon MMA’s 145 pound title scene, Khalid Taha stated,

    “Of course, like now Losene Keita is in the UFC, the title is vacant and it was like almost; it was almost a title contender fight, you know, between me and [Max] Holzer. It was the plan like the winner of us is going to fight Keita. Then Keita moved to the UFC and I’m sure I’m the next in line. I will fight next week. If [it’s] God will, [I’ll] win this fight and then I’m next in line and I will fight for the belt.”

    In any event, the chance to cement himself in the Oktagon MMA record books someday is clearly important as Taha quipped,

    “Yeah, of course. Especially it’s very nice because I don’t know, do you know who the champion was before Keita or was he the first Oktagon featherweight champion? I know they had the lightweight champion. Oh, I know they had the lightweight champion and the featherweight champion was Ivan Buchinger, I think. The first one, then Keita, and I think I’m going to be the third one. If I, of course, if I get the belt and it’s like history. You know, like it’s very nice to write that history for me and for the fans. I’m very excited to get that chance, you know.”

  • Artem Lobov Takes Aim at BKFC Leader David Feldman Over Ongoing Pay Problems: “He’s never provided me with the real numbers”

    Artem Lobov Takes Aim at BKFC Leader David Feldman Over Ongoing Pay Problems: “He’s never provided me with the real numbers”

    Artem Lobov claims he is owed money by Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship but based on some uncertainties with reported pay-per-view numbers, he concedes that the amount he is owed could vary around that. The former UFC combatant spoke about this during a recent interview with Jordan Ellis of Bloody Elbow.

    Lobov is targeting a return to combat sports after over four years on the sidelines when he makes his official PFL debut against long time rival Zubaira Tukhugov at PFL Champions Series 2 on October 3rd. In June 2019, Lobov defeated Paulie Malignaggi at BKFC 6 in what was one of the most influential fights in the nascent days of the company but some confusion regarding the PPV buy rates from that show have ‘The Russian Hammer’ usnure on some financial particulars.

    Artem Lobov unsure of what Feldman is denying, knows BKFC owes him a certain cut of whatevever the cumulative PPV buy rate was

    When asked in a prior interview on The Ariel Helwani Show a few weeks ago, Lobov was asked if a BKFC return was possible and the former Conor McGregor training partner did not totally put the kibosh on it but claimed the gloveless promotion owed him some money.

    Some prior claims positioned BKFC 6 at 200K pay-per-view buys but David Feldman has also disputed that figure at times. During the aforementioned Bloody Elbow interview that he has done in more recent times, Artem Lobov said,

    “I don’t understand what he was denying because he knows he owes me money. He’s saying denying that, oh, it wasn’t 200,000 pay-per-view sold, but this is simply what he announced. You know, he announced and somebody actually pulled up an article there under the tweet of Ariel Helwani and and Feldman talking about this.”

    “Someone pulled up an article where David Feldman announced 200,000 pay-per-views sold. Like, he’s never provided me with the real numbers. So, I can only go off by what he reported to the media, you know, worldwide. So, that’s where I got this number. Now, fair enough. If he’s saying it was around 100,000 pay-per-view sold, okay, no problem. In that case, he owed me about $75,000, you know.”

  • Terence Crawford on Being the Underdog Against Canelo: “Just watch me”

    Terence Crawford on Being the Underdog Against Canelo: “Just watch me”

    Terence Crawford is not obtuse to the fact that many think he will fall short against Canelo Alvarez on Saturday, September 13th on Netflix but this does not dissuade the undefeated figher in the least. ‘Bud’ spoke about this perception from oddsmakers heading into his next contest to on-site reporters at the pre-fight media day. This media gathering was hosted on Wednesday ahead of his massive fight with Canelo Alvarez over the weekend.

    Crawford has cemented himself as a multi-division champion in the sweet science but will arguably be embarking on his most daring quest yet. ‘Bud’ Crawford will jump up multiple weight categories for what amounts to a potentially massive legacy move by taking on the undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. When discussing the mindset he has with being so demonstrably successufl in boxing but still having several doubters heading into this Canelo clash, Crawford said,

    “I think people is underestimating everything about me, you know, but that doesn’t matter, you know. We got to fight here Saturday and all the answers will be answered that night… Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, you know, what one, you know, think of me doesn’t, you know, move me or anything. They can’t fight for him. They can’t fight for me. So, you know, their opinion doesn’t matter at the end of the day in my eyes or in my feelings because I’ve been doubted my whole career, my whole life in boxing.”

    Terence Crawford: “just watch me do it” on Netflix broadcasted super fight

    In expressing past instances in his boxing career where people tried to temper aspirations of his that outsiders saw as lofty, Terence Crawford said,

    “So, you know, I’ve been told I wouldn’t never be where I’m at now. I was told that I needed to get another job because I wasn’t going to be a world champion. So many things that I’ve been told in my life, I just like, okay, well, just watch me do it, you know, and with my self-belief in myself, I don’t care what nobody else say because I’m comfortable in my own skin.”

  • UFC Insider Names Who Jon Jones Should Face in His Comeback Fight

    UFC Insider Names Who Jon Jones Should Face in His Comeback Fight

    Jon Jones should step back into the octagon against a particular heavyweight, one who doesn’t happen to be the reigning UFC champion, per a former opponent of Jones. This sentiment was expressed by Chael Sonnen on his YouTube channel where ‘The American Gangster’ shouted out a former two time opponent of Tom Aspinall’s for who he thinks could give Jones a run for his money.

    Expounding upon why he feels the number four ranked heavyweight contender in the UFC could give ‘Bones’ a stiff test inside the confines of the cage, Sonnen said,

    “The hardest opponent for Jon Jones has not changed. The hardest stylistic matchup for Jon Jones, and this has been true for the better part of half a decade, is Curtis Blaydes. Now, you let that sink in and you do with that what you want, but as far as matchup goes, the highest achievement that Jon ever had in wrestling was something called a junior college national championship; a very good and hard achievement. Curtis Blaydes’ highest achievement is that same exact title, one weight class apart. Curtis Blaydes is also a junior college national champion. Jon did it at 197 pounds and Curtis did it at heavyweight.”

    Jon Jones acting like his retirement never happened, Sonnen questions Jones’ return

    The Jon Jones retirement saga and the emergent talks of Jones wanting to return to compete at next year’s UFC White House card are leaving Sonnen perplexed. The title unification talks with Tom Aspinall dominated MMA media headlines for months with Jones inauspiciously choosing to vacate his belt with Dana White stating ‘Bones’ was hanging up the gloves at the UFC Baku post-event press conference.

    Jones has since re-entered the UFC’s drug testing pool for the White House card next Summer with promoter Dana White mentioning that Jones being featured on that particular card would be a one billion to one type of likelihood. Despite Jones claiming he is back to training five days a week, Sonnen has his doubts as he has not seen anyone come out to claim they’re training with the former two division UFC champion and no one is coming out claiming to be coaching Jones.

    The former two division UFC title challenger mentioned this on a recent episode of Good Guy/ Bad Guy which Chael Sonnen regularly hosts with fellow former Jones adversary, Daniel Cormier. As he expressed himself on that referenced podcast, Sonnen stated [via MMA Junkie],

    “If Jon says that he’s back and he was never injured, he was never ill, he just didn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall; that’s the part to me that’s a little bit weird. He’s playing this as though that retirement never happened, as opposed to this is a comeback. If you’re coming back, what are you coming back for? What is it that you’re coming back to? And is it just an open slate to admit anything? ‘Anyone except that guy, that guy over there in England. Anybody but him.’ Is that how we’re supposed to interpret this?”

  • Why Darren Till Wants Andrew Tate Next: ‘I’m ready whenever you are’

    Why Darren Till Wants Andrew Tate Next: ‘I’m ready whenever you are’

    Darren Till is eyeing a fight with the controversial Andrew Tate for his next outing and is making it known publicly. Till again put this desire for a Tate fight out there during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. The former UFC welterweight title challenger has been carving out a name for himself on the Misfits Boxing circuit with Till’s most recent win being a highlight reel KO of Luke Rockhold at Misfits Boxing 22 toward the end of August.

    Tate is an extremely polarizing influencer who is also a retired kickboxer that has competed in MMA before as well. When outlining who he wants to fight next in the big gloves, Till said,

    “Andrew Tate, listen. I’m calling you out. I want that fight. It’s been talked about a lot, but it hasn’t happened yet. I’m ready whenever you are. You think you can step in the ring with me? Let’s see what happens. I’m not scared. Let’s do it.”

    Darren Till does have other options in mind if Tate bout doesn’t pan out

    Darren Till did pointedly mention a few other names that he would like to throw down with under Queensberry Rules if the manosphere content creator does not step into the ring with him. ‘The Gorilla’, in the same referenced interview above, shouted out the likes of Carl Froch, Tommy Fury, Mike Perry, and Jorge Masvidal as individuals he would be keen to fight in the Misfits Boxing ring.

    Froch is someone that Till called out on the microphone in the waning moments after his KO of former UFC champion Rockhold in Manchester. Carl Froch has been retired for years now and while he did not confirm a return, there seemed to be a certain level of intrigue in a future Till fight.

    Tommy Fury was initially lined up to fight Till in the Misfits ring until a tongue in cheek comment from the latter about throwing kicks if the boxing bout did not go his way caused the young Fury to pull out of the planned bout. Perry and Masvidal are individuals he has history with as Till has long sought out a fight with ‘Platinum’ Perry which has inexplicably never happened while Till did fight Masvidal in the UFC and the UK native got knocked out by the former BMF champion in 2019.

    Till had also mentioned in the chat with Helwani that he intends to compete again this calendar year by pointedly mentioning December as when he aims to return to the ring. It remains to be seen who Darren Till will throw down with around the holiday season.

  • Ex-Team Khabib Fighter calls Tony Ferguson “1 of the craziest lightweights of all time”

    Ex-Team Khabib Fighter calls Tony Ferguson “1 of the craziest lightweights of all time”

    Tony Ferguson recently snapped an eight fight losing skid at Misfits Boxing 22 and a former fighter out of Team Khabib has weighed in on the journey ‘El Cucuy’ has been on. Khalid Taha, the referenced fighter in question, has also had that training proximity to Luke Rockhold who also competed at MFB 22 although with quite a different end result as he was finished by Darren Till.

    Khalid Taha clashes with Edgar Delgado Jimenez at Oktagon 75 on September 13th and Taha appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts to cover several subjects across the combat sports world. That being said Rockhold’s journey has been a microcosm of sorts for what kind of an exciting time it is to be a combat sports athlete with Rockhold competing in BKFC, Karate Combat, Craig Jones Invitational, and now Misfits Boxing since departing from the UFC.

    Taha admittedly enjoyed the pre-fight build to Luke Rockhold vs. Darren Till but mentioned how he only saw the finish across social media and didn’t have as much direct insights on that particular prizefight. When expressing his thoughts on the characterization that the landscape for fighters seems decently healthy now in the aforementioned regards, Taha said,

    “It’s the same with Tony Ferguson. I like it, you know, because imagine like the new fans when they watch MMA since 1, 2, 3, 4 years [ago], they see like Tony Ferguson as the biggest flop in history, you know. But if you watch UFC and MMA from before, Tony Ferguson was one of the craziest lightweights of all time, you know.”

    Tony Ferguson returning to the win column and the landscape today benefitting the vets

    When further expressing his admiration for Tony Ferguson’s recent win and what this current free agency landscape can provide tenured fighters who still have a name and a desire to compete, Taha continued,

    “And that’s what I like because he [Tony Ferguson] has a long losing streak, has like psych[ological] problems and all the stuff. You never know what happens, you know. And I like it that you have different opportunities now. Different organizations who pay also a lot of money so that you can fight for a living, you know. And it’s very, very good for like the veterans.”

  • Brian Ortega was unconscious for 30 minutes amid rough UFC Shanghai weight cut

    Brian Ortega was unconscious for 30 minutes amid rough UFC Shanghai weight cut

    Many in the MMA world could tell Brian Ortega had a rough weight cut for his last UFC outing but the former multi-time featherweight title challenger has gotten into even more specific detail about the trying ordeal. ‘T-City’ was intially contracted for a clash with Aljamain Sterling at 145 pounds until a last minute shift to a 153 pound catchweight contest inspired by Ortega’s difficulties hitting the featherweight limit for UFC Shanghai.

    Ortega looked like a shell of himself on the scales with many worrying about him in the lead up to his unanimous deicison loss to the former UFC bantamweight champion. In a video address posted to his personal Instagram account, Ortega said [via MMA Junkie],

    “I cut weight on Thursday. We hit the first one – we got down to ’51. Second one, later on I decided to jump the gun on that one at 12, but we cut from midnight all the way to 8 in the morning, cutting weight the entire time. I realized I had 1.7 to go still. I was confused on how my body wasn’t really pouring out the water, why it was just holding it in, but no matter what, we have to get this weight off so we did.”

    Brian Ortega on going unconscious and waking up hospitalized

    Brian Ortega continued to delve into the tumult with his recent weight cutting situation in China as Ortega stated,

    “So we went downstairs, ate something, decided to cut more weight, put the plastics on, sweet sweat. I hit 20 minutes on the bike. Once I got off, I went unconscious. I was unconscious for about 30 minutes. During that time, they were putting ice on me, they took all my clothes off, they left me in boxers. I woke up in the E.R., I ripped everything off, I couldn’t really speak, translate to them.”

    “I was like, if they don’t take everything off, I’m going to take it off myself. We knew we had time limit to get to the weigh-ins, otherwise I could not fight. If you saw the weigh-ins, you obviously know I looked delirious, and just coming off 30 minutes of being unconscious in the tunnel. After that, weighed in. We figured if I didn’t feel good or if something was seriously off, we would call the fight.”

  • Ex-boxing champ takes on Wanderlei Silva, replaces Vitor Belfort at SFN 2

    Ex-boxing champ takes on Wanderlei Silva, replaces Vitor Belfort at SFN 2

    It did not take long for Wanderlei Silva to get a replacement opponent for Spaten Fight Night 2 after Vitor Belfort had to withdraw from their boxing contest. In Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 27th, Silva will still don the big gloves and throw down under Queensberry Rules but instead of running things back with Belfort, he’ll now be facing a former world champion within the sweet science. Acelino ‘Popo’ Freitas will now throw down with ‘The Axe Murderer’ after MMA Fighting confirmed this following a report from Spaten Fight Night’s official TV broadcast partner, Globo.

    It is unclear if the contest will be an official professional bout or if it will be an exhibition and the sizable weight discrepancy between the two fighters does inform that lack of clarity. Freitas has collected WBO and WBA super featherweight titles as well as cementing himself as a two time WBO lightweight champion. Conversely, Silva was the Pride FC middleweight champion and was a stalwart of the UFC’s light heavyweight division. ‘Popo’ is one of Brazil’s most acclaimed practitioners of the sweet science with 41 wins across 43 bouts with 34 knockout victories.

    Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort 2 and the 2026 re-focus

    This contest will mark the boxing debut for Wanderlei Silva who has not competed in combat sports in around seven years. Silva last fought under the Bellator MMA banner against long time rival Quinton’ Rampage’ Jackson where the former was stopped by the latter which tied up their series at two wins apiece.

    Spaten Fight Night has professed a desire to want to re-book the Silva vs. Belfort boxing bout for 2026. The timeline is a bit nebulous because it is tied to Belfort’s medical situation which caused him to withdraw from this bout at month’s end. The former UFC light heavyweight champion revealed on his social media that he had suffered a grade three concussion in his training camp and it is unclear when Belfort can return for this rematch with Silva.

    The two previously threw down almost thirty years ago in the UFC’s first ever card in Brazil where ‘The Phenom’ finished Silva with strikes less than a minute into the bout.

  • Kiefer Crosbie Stuffed in a Cab by the UFC with No Medical Oversight Despite Concussion

    Kiefer Crosbie Stuffed in a Cab by the UFC with No Medical Oversight Despite Concussion

    Kiefer Crosbie not only ended up on the wrong end of a questionable referee’s call after taking an illegal technique but the bad times for Crosbie only snowballed for him in the aftermath of UFC Shanghai. Crosbie lost to Nueraji Taiyilake via TKO in the wake of being hit with an illegal knee which resulted in a point deduction. But Crosbie did also not get the full five minutes of recovery time and many felt like Taiyilake should haven been disqualified outright.

    Expressing what happened to him post-fight the comment section of one of his Instagram posts relating to the recent MMA bout of his, Crosbie said,

    “No doctor checked on me after the fight. No brain scan organized. No concussion test or questions asked how I was doing etc. No medication given even though I have major concussion and whiplash. Just stitched up and f**ked in a taxi and good luck. Some buzz.”

    “Anyone with a f**king braincell can see in this clip I’m distorted from the knee with blood in my eyes and clearly shouldn’t be making decisions that quick. Makes me sick honestly. Welcome to the big leagues.”

    “Ironically enough the knee to the head wasnt even the scummiest thing to happen in that fight. Chinese doctor who glanced at the cut without assessing me at all coincidentally enough aye and rushed back in with no rest from the ref. “Be careful” he says.”

    Kiefer Crosbie’s UFC Shanghai experience and the ex-UFC vet who can relate

    Kiefer Crosbie is not the only UFC veteran who has felt mistreated by the promotion when in the same Instagram post that Crosbie made his comments regarding the tumult he experienced during his last MMA fight, Marc Diakiese said,

    “Happened to me against Joel Alvarez. You’re left standing alone, no one speaking up for you. It cuts deep!”

    The 35-year-old then replied to Diakiese in the same IG comment section as Crosbie quipped,

    “Nobody gives a bollox. It’s a sick one yeah. Put our lives on the line every time and to be treated like a dog is just disgraceful behavior.”

    The UFC serves all oversight related needs for events in areas that don’t have formally established regulatory bodies. This means that Crosbie’s expressed grievances here would fall on the promotion during their recent fighting foray into China and what he expressed happened.

  • Rizin CEO laughs at ONE Championship’s Chatri Sityodtong, open to future K-1 collab

    Rizin CEO laughs at ONE Championship’s Chatri Sityodtong, open to future K-1 collab

    The CEO of Rizin is willing to entertain the idea of a K-1 HERO’S cross promotional event if the latter can boost their brand among recent restructuring and he also worked in a laugh directed toward ONE Championship’s Chatri Sityodtong. Nobuyuki Sakakibara was asked at a recent Rizin media event by X user @majan_saitou of Dropkick Pro wrestling and martial arts about the recent addition of Genki Sudo to K-1 fold with the distinction of a producer role within that promotion.

    Sudo is a massive figure from the glory days of K-1 with him holding the iconic “we are all one” flag being an emblazoned image in the minds of fans from that era. In July of this year, Sudo took part in the Upper House elction and ran for a seat which did not pan out. Now the massive Japanese combat sports figure has now redirected his focus on prizefighting with a professed aim to book unique and creative K-1 matches going forward.

    In a translated post on X from the aforementioned @majan_saitou when asking the Rizin CEO about Sudo’s inclusion into the K-1 fold, Sakakibara said,

    “It’s different from Chatri [Sityodtong], so welcome [laughs], but who knows about HERO’S now? If the brand gets polished, there might be an inter-promotional event. As a producer, I wonder how much resolve he has to take on.”

    The Rizin and ONE Championship bad blood rooted in disrespect

    Chatri Sityodtong has made himself some enemies in Japan with past comments toward organizations like RISE and Glory being representative of “small promotions” when someone asked about potential co-promotion opportunities with those federations. ONE Championship has also ventured into the Japanese market several times with a looming card in November as the promotion is seemingly trying to stack ONE 173 as deep as possible for their Tokyo-based card.

    The former Pride FC figurehead was asked about multiple instances of Sityodtong being disrespectful to fighters and promoters alike on the Japanese scene and to that, Sakakibara stated,

    “If you want to come to Japan and do business in the Japanese martial arts world, you must properly respect Japan’s martial arts organizations. Whether they are small or large doesn’t matter.”

    In a separate instance, the ONE Championship figurehead made disparaging comments about Shoot Boxing champion Kaito Ono which spoiled a budding cross promotional releationship being built with ONE and Shoot Boxing. As the Rizin CEO offered up his own responses to that particular situation, Sakakibara quipped,

    “An apology has been made, hasn’t it? So I think the situation has shifted a bit… You need to understand that there is Chairman Takeshi Caesar, there is Shoot Boxing (SB), and these are connected to where we are now. Without that understanding, I don’t think you qualify as a promoter to do business in this country.”

    “If you want to apologize, you should step forward and do it in the Japanese way … If you claim to be half-Japanese, you should learn about Japanese etiquette, manners, and how to behave towards seniors, not just as a promoter, but as a human being. If you want to do business in Japan, that’s the most important thing. Other emotional issues are already being addressed with apologies, and it will lead to better rule-making.”

  • Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva 2 boxing battle falls out

    Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva 2 boxing battle falls out

    Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva will no longer be running things back in a boxing contest after the former had to withdraw from the bout. The two combatants were supposed to headline the sophomore Spaten Fight Night event. The first Spaten Fight Night card was headlined by a boxing bout between former UFC rivals Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.

    Alas, Belfort will not be competing September 27th in Sao Paulo, Brazil with reports from Brazilian outlet Globo indicating as such with ‘The Phenom’ himself also coming out to touch on pulling out of this sequel clash with ‘The Axe Murderer.’ The former UFC light heavyweight champion posted a video to his Instagram page with Belfort saying that he suffered what was described by medical professionals as a grade 3 concussion when he was training for this Queensberry Rules showdown.

    While Belfort is no longer competing towards the end of the month, Silva will still be donning the big gloves for this event. The promotion is reportedly set to announce a replacement opponent for the former Pride FC champion during one of the most popular programs in South America, Fantastico, with the new opponent for Silva set to be announced on their Sunday broadcast.

    Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva and their history together

    Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva first fought almost thirty years ago during the UFC’s first ever card in Brazil. This took place at UFC 17.5 in 1998 with Belfort storming through Silva 44 seconds into the contest with that barrage of strikes that crumbled the Brazilian berserker finding itself on seemingly innumerable UFC highlight reel packages thereafter.

    There have been attempts to re-book this fight in the 27 years since their initial meeting took place with Belfort also withdrawing from that booking attempt. That transpired at UFC 147 when Vitor Belfort was forced into pulling out from the June 2012 rematch after suffering a broken hand. Rich Franklin would step up to fill that vacancy and ended up besting Silva on points.

    Silva makes his boxing debut here in the coming weeks and while Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva fell out, we will see the story unfurl this weekend when Silva’s replacement opponent for SFN 2 comes to light.

  • Raja Jackson May Not Be Arrested, Explains Pro Wrestler and Former UFC Star

    Raja Jackson May Not Be Arrested, Explains Pro Wrestler and Former UFC Star

    Raja Jackson continues to find himself to be a prominent topic of discussion in combat sports, for all the wrong reasons, as a prominent pro wrestler and mixed martial artist has weighed in on Jackson’s visceral assault of pro wrestler Syko Stu. The man with the real name of Stuart Smith has become widely known name overnight, unfortunately as the result of being knocked out by a Raja Jackson slam with several devastating, follow up ground and pounds on the unconcious Syko Stu.

    During an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, Tom Lawlor touched on this troubling situation with the former UFC veteran also being a respected professional wrestler which gives him unique anecdotal insights into this situation. When discussing the violent assault that transpired on widely seen livestream footage and if the combat athlete is surprised that Rampage Jackson‘s son has not been arrested as of yet, Lawlor said,

    “Am I surprised that he hasn’t been picked up? No. And I think part of that is where it took place. I mean, pro wrestling, even today in 2025 and especially, you know, really on the independent level, is lawless to a certain degree… We’ve seen; I mean, there’s receipts when it comes to this. But the company itself, Knox Pro, was trying to handle this kind of in-house. So, no, I’m not surprised that Raja Jackson hasn’t been picked up at this point.”

    “Nobody has your back. Whether you think it’s your best friends in the business, whether you think it’s a guy that you have beef with, whether it’s the promoters; pro wrestling is a thankless endeavor. At the end of the day, you’re on your own.”

    Raja Jackson cut off by father, Rampage Jackson thinks son should go to jail

    Raja Jackson is someone that his father Quinton Jackson has distance himself from and as the former UFC light heavyweight champion was expalining this on a recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, Jackson [via Uncrowned],

    “He dishonored my name. I’m not cutting him off forever. I just haven’t talked to him. I talked to him after the s*** happened, and he hid the fact that he did this s***, and he put my other kids in danger, based off what the other people are saying [threatening them online]. I just can’t talk to him right now. “I need some time. I’m dealing with his attorneys and all this s***. I’m very disappointed in Raja. I’m not a perfect parent, so I don’t know what the protocol is to stop talking to your son when he f***ing goes out there and hurts somebody. He put the guy in the f***ing hospital.”

  • Mackenzie Dern ‘Not Surprised’ on Weili Zhang Vacating Her Title pre-UFC 321

    Mackenzie Dern ‘Not Surprised’ on Weili Zhang Vacating Her Title pre-UFC 321

    Mackenzie Dern was not caught off guard by Weili Zhang vacating her strawweight crown ahead of her flyweight championship super fight with reigning titleholder Valentina Shevchenko and had multiple reasons as to why that was the case.

    This was discussed during an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show as Dern heads into her next fight in pursuit of that aforementioned vacant strap at 115 pounds. The 32-year-old will clash with Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 on October 25th with the victor receiving the strawweight championship. Amid a wild journey where she found out via social media that her Jandiroba clash would be for the title and specifically addressing if she was surprised by the belt being vacant in the first place, Dern said,

    “No, I’m not surprised. I mean, I think like depending on how her fight with Valentina would be, if it would be anything like Alexa [Grasso] and Valentina [Shevchenko], they could do like a trilogy, you know, and all this stuff. So, I think it’s just… it just makes sense, you know, not to put the division on hold. And she was so dominant in the strawweight division, you know what I mean?”

    “It’s just like everyone they were throwing at her, she was just beating. So, I mean, I think even if she wants to come back after the one fight with Valentina, I think that it would make sense. But I mean, I figured maybe she’d want to have two belts, you know, but I think depending how her fight goes with Valentina, she might want to have like trilogy or something like that, and that could take a while.”

    Mackenzie Dern and her prior history in the UFC with Virna Jandiroba

    Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba are on a collision course for championship gold in the coming weeks but this is not the first time that the two prolific combatants will compete against each other. At UFC 256 in December 2020, Dern emerged victorious against Jandiroba by way of unanimous decision.

    Dern is presently the number five ranked contender in the division while Jandiroba enters the octagon as the number one ranked strawweight contender in the UFC for this highly anticipated sequel clash.