Author: Dylan Bowker

Beneil Dariush bounced back from a two fight losing skid to return to the win column against a former UFC lightweight title challenger but it did not come without it’s challenges along the way. After previous losses to Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan, Dariush bested Renato Moicano by way of unanimous decision during their clash at UFC 317 as part of the promotion’s International Fight Week offering this year.

At the UFC 317 post-fight press conference describing to on-site media members the totality of what was happening in his head and heart in that moment, Dariush said,

“I’m feeling fine—frustrated. I’ve already said it—frustrated—so I’ll try to stop saying it, but I feel fine. I just keep replaying that first round in my head and it just makes me more angry.”

“It’s frustrating because you don’t follow the game plan that you set. You lose the round because of it, and then you go into round two now you’re just so mad you’re not even thinking about game plans anymore. You’re just thinking about finding a way to win. The more I play it over in my head, it’s better if I internalize it instead of externalizing it because it just doesn’t sound good when I speak.”

Dariush continued, “He was doing a lot of fakes and he’s very sneaky with his hands. I kind of stopped respecting him maybe in the first round—I don’t know what I did, but he caught me with a straight down the middle. That’s something I should be aware of, and he still caught me. Definitely impressed with his performance. I had to dig deeper, but that’s okay. I’m perfectly fine with digging deeper.”

Beneil Dariush and his first round frustrations

Beneil Dariush referenced that opening stanza with Renato Moicano multiple times while speaking with assembled media and all of the judges gave that round to the Brazilian. A straight right down the middle put Dariush down to the canvas with Moicano hastily crowding to work toward the finish but Dariush showed great composure through the remainder of that fight with 29-28 scores across the board in his favor when all was said and done.

One of the more viral clips on MMA social media in the last few days saw Sean Strickland rush the cage to attack a victorious fighter at a regional MMA show and that fighter in question has offered up his side of the situation. Luis Hernandez had submitted Miles Hunsinger Tuff-N-Uff 145 and the former then began taunting a cageside Strickland with DX style crotch chops after securing the win.

The former UFC middleweight champion would then make a beeline into the cage where he encroached upon Hernandez’s space rapidly. Chris Curtis was also involved in this skirmish as he served as Hunsinger’s cornerman along with Sean Strickland as all three are combat compatriots at Xtreme Couture.

Coming off of a weekend that featured UFC 317 and Jake Paul beating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., this Strickland scuffle was certainly the most discussed unsanctioned bout from the last few days. While speaking with Mike Heck of MMA Fighting regarding this viral scuffle involving the two aforementioned UFC stalwarts, Hernandez said,

“I noticed Sean and his team looking at me and laughing before the fight. I heard them say something like, ‘He’s tired, his arms are going to blow out.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m not.’ I stuck my tongue out, blew a kiss—just having fun. I wasn’t trying to disrespect anyone; I just wanted to show I’m the real deal. I have 11 pro fights, six finishes, and I take this seriously. I wanted to get the last laugh, and I did. When the moment happened, I was just laughing, because I didn’t expect it to escalate like that.”

Sean Strickland scuffle explanation continued

Hernandez continued, “He hit me, but I’m still standing, still smiling. Honestly, if this was a sanctioned bout, I’d fight him for money. I wasn’t expecting an unsanctioned fight in the cage, but if the UFC wants to make this fight happen, I’ll sign the contract. I have nothing against Sean or Chris or Extreme Couture. I actually like those guys. I hope nothing happens to them, and I told the commission I don’t want to press charges. I just want to keep things professional.”

Tom Aspinall is finally on the other end of one of the stranger sagas in MMA history and he has gotten into the specifics of his recent upgrade to heavyweight champion with Jon Jones retiring.

During an exclusive sit-down interview with Brett Okamoto for the official UFC YouTube channel, the newly minted heavyweight titleholder delved into several subjects after a frustrating timeline that saw him become the longest reigning interim champion in company history while Jones ambled around with the heavyweight title before the MMA retirement of ‘Bones’ was announced by Dana White at the UFC Baku post-event press conference.

When touching on his mindset of being upgraded to UFC heavyweight champion outright while illuminating some touchstone moments in the timeline leading to the Jones retirement announcement post-UFC Baku, Tom Aspinall said,

“I would have rather fought for it, of course… I always saw myself as a champion anyway. I think the whole Jon Jones thing was a bit weird—everybody can see that was a strange situation. But luckily, now that is in the past and we can move on, which is good.”

“I was just getting a shower—it was just before midnight—and I started getting calls on my phone that they’d announced it. I knew Jon Jones was going to retire, and I was going to be the champion, but I didn’t expect it last weekend, and I didn’t expect it to be in Azerbaijan. All due respect to Azerbaijan, but it’s just not really what I expected.”

Tom Aspinall sent a strong message about his next fight by former multi-time UFC champion

Tom Aspinall was recently given some intriguing advice from a prominent pugilist, as documented by video footage posted on Aspinall’s YouTube channel, recently. This took place while Aspinall was in attendance at UFC 317, and he had a conversation with Israel Adesanya during the International Fight Week card that caught the attention of many. Adesanya said [via MMA Knockout on SI],

“The interim title means something. If Rob [Whittaker] had beat me it would have been a title defense for him. When you beat and defend your belt, it is a defense, never let them take that away from you.”

Ilia Topuria entered the octagon at UFC 317 supremely confident and felt like the outcome of his Charles Oliveira fight was almost a formality in a sense. On Saturday, June 28th, Topuria cemented himself among two division champions throughout UFC history when the former featherweight kingpin captured the lightweight belt after a highlight reel knockout of former 155-pound titleholder Charles Oliveira.

The magnitude of a victory like this, in the International Fight Week headliner no less, is belied by the post-fight demeanour of the Spanish-Georgian mixed martial artist who was surrounded by a team that was assured of this kind of outcome all through the training camp stages. When expounding upon this collective mindset at the post-fight press conference while also giving some insights intom specific moments from his UFC 317 clash, Ilia Topuria said,

“Everyone around me knew that I would do it. Everyone knew it. I just came to collect my belt. I already wore it in the training sessions. I know how hard I work. I know what I’m able to do in sparring. I know how good I am. I know that no one can match my level of skills inside the octagon. I used to prove it that I’m the best fighter in the world.”

“I was this close to getting a very dominating position. He did a good scramble there, but I saw in his face that he was hurt and I decided to stand up and finish the fight.”

Ilia Topuria could get to ‘Jon Jones level’, according to former UFC veteran

Ilia Topuria already exists in rarefied air, being that he is now on the tier of two-division UFC champions throughout history, but a statement win in a potential first title defense could get him to the level of Jon Jones according to a former UFC welterweight. This was touched on by Matt Brown during an episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer which also features Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. When touching upon his thought processes in this vein, Brown stated [via MMA Fighting],

“Ilia, to me, is on the verge of we start comparing him to like Jon Jones. To me, if he goes out and beats an Arman [Tsarukyan] or maybe Islam [Makhachev] moves back down or [Ilia] moves up if Islam wins or [he fights Jack] Della Maddalena, we’re starting to talk about Jon Jones level greatness. Start making comparisons, but if he goes out and beats a Paddy [Pimblett], he’ll go back and fight some of the tougher guys after that. Not that Paddy’s not tough, I shouldn’t say that.”

“But we know he’ll go back and fight some of those tougher matchups after that at some point. I just want to see it now. The guy’s right on the verge. I looked through some of Jones’ resume, and I was comparing some of the three fight runs that he went on, which he went on an undefeated run, but I’m not sure you compare them to this with Ilia. Maybe hindsight is 20/20, but I don’t know it’s as good as this run that Ilia is on.”

Jake Paul put the insurance industry on blast, and Dana White by proxy, in showing support for Ben Askren, who is amid a trying health scare. ‘The Problem Child’ shouted out the former ONE Championship and Bellator MMA titleholder during his in-ring address following his win over the weekend against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Paul spotlighted a situation that saw Askren in need of a double lung transplant, which Askren has since received per his wife Amy, with the former two time Hodge Trophy winner being denied key coverage from his insurance amid this situation. Donation options had been set up for this Askren situation in lieu of the insurance issues, with Paul also indicating before his Chavez Jr. fight that he wanted to help the Askren family in any way he might be able to.

When addressing his post-fight spotlighting of Ben Askren at the post-event press conference while also taking shots at the US insurance industry and UFC figurehead Dana White, Paul said,

“It’s just insane—insurance is a f***in scam, and it’s so sad. Right when you need these companies, they’re not there. It’s f***ed. His insurance denied him to get the double lung transplant, which is also one of the most expensive surgeries, which is why they denied it. It just sucks. It sucks that no one’s doing anything. I was obviously super busy this week, so we’re figuring out the donation now, but none of these people—like Dana [White] or anyone—are stepping in, so I feel like I have to do something. That’s really all it is.”

Jake Paul and Ben Askren: from rivals to paying tribute

Jake Paul and Ben Askren do have a competitive history with one another as the two stepped into the ring for one of the more curious boxing attractions of the modern era when they threw down in April 2021. Paul vs Askren took place in Atlanta under the Triller Fight Club banner with the former knocking out the latter in the opening stanza.

This improved Paul’s pro boxing record at the time to 3-0, with the Askren victory representing his first recorded win over a professional fighter. It seems like this recent gesture of good faith from Paul to Askren has dispelled any idea that there is still animosity between the two.

Joe Rogan is lamenting about the loss of the Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou bout amid retirement and contractual dynamics with other promotions. On JRE MMA Show episode 167 while speaking with Cory Sandhagen, Joe Rogan was getting into what contest he truly yearned to see inside of the cage as Rogan said,

“The real fight would have been Jon Jones versus Francis [Ngannou]. That’s the real fight. If I like clearly, I’m not responsible for making decisions because I would have made a lot of different decisions. I would have been like, ‘Francis, let’s talk, let’s work this out.’ That guy’s a star. Francis is the scariest heavyweight of all time. That guy, as the heavyweight champion, is so marketable. He puts people into orbit. He flatlined Stipe, he flatlined Alistair, he flatlines people. He’s terrifying.”

Rogan continued, “That’s the heavyweight champion, and for that guy to walk away from the belt and then almost beat Tyson Fury and then get knocked out by Anthony Joshua and then to come back and destroy that dude in PFL—that’s the guy. That’s the fight. It’s a shame when that happens in the sport, dude. It’s the worst. I hate it. I see it happen all the time, and I can’t help but think a lot of it is like, hopefully, it’s just maybe money, business stuff, but I really think that some of it is ego.”

Joe Rogan on the lost Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou bout

Joe Rogan has discussed this lost heavyweight dream fight for years now and this was evidenced by him commenting on it during a Joe Rogan Experience episode circa February 2023. Around this period, Rogan expressed a desire to see Ngannou get his blockbuster boxing bout that he desired [which ended up being against Tyson Fury] and to come back to the octagon to face the winner of Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane which was then an upcoming bout for the vacant UFC heavyweight title.

Even beyond the prickly relationship between Ngannou and UFC figurehead Dana White, the heavy handed heavyweight is contractually bound to the PFL for his MMA fighting career and is loyal to PFL per one of Ngannou’s coaches. Around the time of the February 2023 JRE episode, Rogan seemed optimistic that the Cameroon native could return to the octagon while also encouraging Ngannou to not sign an exclusive contract.

Alexandre Pantoja related his own journey to the one Joshua Van is embarking on as the former touts the skills of the latter ahead of what would seem like the next flyweight title fight between the two of them. At UFC 317, both Pantoja and Van would emerge with massive victories. Pantoja defended his flyweight strap in the co-main event with a third round rear naked choke victory over Kai Kara-France while Van bested Brandon Royval in a barnburner bout that he won via unanimous decision.

While taking part in a post-fight interview that saw him address the man he just defeated while now predominantly focusing on the man who would seem to be his next adversary, Pantoja said,

“Joshua Van reminds me of a younger Pantoja. When I was 23, I was working in a restaurant, cleaning dishes. This guy is 23, going to fight for the belt, for the world championship. I think this guy is going to be my toughest challenger. He’s young, he’s hungry, and he doesn’t make wars like I did in the past. I’ve made 35 professional fights—a lot of wars. UFC gives me this new guy.”

“Everybody wants to see the new generation rematch for me. I want to fight with that guy, too. I want that challenger—a new blood, a new kid, very hungry. I watched a couple of fights from Josh. He’s doing an amazing job. He defends all the takedowns, he beat Bruno in his last fight, he had the opportunity to fight the number one contender, Royval, and did an amazing job.”

Pantoja continued, “I think that’s my toughest challenge. Monday, I’ll be back in the gym. My coach knows I’m not the champion of the world anymore—I’m the challenger. I know who’s my opponent and I know what I want. I want this belt again.”

Alexandre Pantoja on the depth of the flyweight class today

Alexandre Pantoja is a few days away from hitting the two year mark of his flyweight title reign and has the second most defenses in the championship’s history with the Kai Kara-France win putting him at four successful defenses. The only man to have more defenses than him is Demetrious Johnson who Pantoja called out after his UFC 310 win over Kai Asakura.

The reigning UFC flyweight champion addressed DJ post-UFC 317 and compared the flyweight class when ‘Mighty Mouse’ was champ versus the 125 pound hierarchy today, Alexandre Pantoja stated [via Sherdog],

“I said before I really want to fight with him [Johnson]. He said he’s retired, he’s not coming back. Maybe it’s not good for him to come back because the flyweight division right now is so different. This high level is different. I respect all the guys opening the doors for us but right now you see, especially in my division, you have the whole world in the same division. Top 10, you have guys from the whole world: Japan. Africa. Brazil. Russia. Australia. New Zealand. That’s so amazing to be part of that.”

Holly Holm spoke about how she maintains her composure and focus amid being trash talked after returning to the win column in her first boxing bout in over a decade. The former UFC bantamweight champion donned the big gloves once again on Saturday night with
Holm securing a unanimous decision victory over Yolanda Vega. It was an impressive return to form for Holm with the former three weight boxing champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee looking like she hasn’t lost a beat competing under Queensberry Rules.

The victory took place as part of the Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. event which went down on Saturday, June 28th concurrently with the pugilistic proceedings of UFC 317. When addressing on-site media members in the aftermath of this win, with footage provided by MMA Fighting, ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ was asked for her thoughts on pre-fight comments from Vega that were oriented to wanting to send Holm into retirement.

When responding to those comments from her opponent and if the smack talk gave her a bit of extra fuel, Holly Holm said,

“I use anything as motivation. They could be being too friendly, and I’m like, ‘I’m not your friend.’ They could be talking a bunch of trash, and you’re like, ‘Don’t talk like that.’ It’s just leading up to a fight—you’ll use anything for motivation. So, yeah, it’s motivation, but really my motivation is just in me. I fight for me, and for the support that I have for my team. I want to win.”

Holly Holm and ‘a sweet victory’ that was twelve years in the making

Holm continued, “I don’t want to fight somebody who’s not there to win. I don’t want to fight somebody who’s not at their best. I want to beat them when they’re at their best, so I wanted her to come with everything she had. That makes it more of a sweet victory. It doesn’t bother me, it does fuel me, but I want them to come. I don’t want to beat someone at their worst. I want to beat them at their best.”

Payton Talbott is still coming to terms with suffering his first professional mixed martial arts loss but has a chance to potentially put it behind him this weekend. Talbott entered this calendar year with a 9-0 pro MMA record and by all accounts seemed like one of the big surging prospects within the company. That trajectory took a slight setback this January when Raoni Barcelos bested the 26-year-old by way of unanimous decision in their UFC 311 clash.

Reflecting on that setback against Barcelos a few months ago at the UFC 317 fight week media day as he is just hours out from being given a chance to redirect his competitive trajectory, Talbott said,

“I’m still not over the loss. I don’t think I ever will be over that. Yeah, I took that to heart. That’s like, you know, it’s a loss, but the ref isn’t in there and you’re on the street with somebody like that, and your life could be ended. It’s deep, man. So, I take that to heart, and that’s been my motivating factor every time I’ve been to the gym.”

Payton Talbott and the challenge that awaits him at UFC 317

Payton Talbott is looking to return to the win column during this year’s International Fight Week offering in the main card opener for the promotion’s big annual tentpole event. The bantamweight competitor will get in there with Felipe Lima who boasts a 14-1 professional ledger heading into this Talbott fight. Talbott began his MMA career by putting together a 5-0 record with all of his victories coming by way of emphatic knockout through that stretch while he cut his teeth on circuits like FirePower and Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat.

After then securing a UFC contract on Contender Series, in what is his lone pro MMA fight to go the distance, Talbott returned to his fight ending ways with finishes in his first three UFC outings before that Barcelos setback.

Charles Oliveira seems to highly tout lia Topuria heading into their fight this weekend but the former is wondering if the latter can measure up the murderer’s row of talent he has fought throughout his career. Oliveira vs. Topuria headlines UFC 317 on Saturday, June 28th with the vacant lightweight title up for grabs in this year’s International Fight Week main event.

While Oliveira looks to regain the lightweight strap he once had, Topuria is aiming to enter that rarefied air of two divison champions in UFC history considering he previously won their featherweight strap. When speaking to assembled reporters at the fight week media day regarding his process heading into this fight as well as his prior fighting history compared to the run Topuria has been on, Oliveira said,

“Evolution, experience—you grow every day. That’s what I’m doing. I’m evolving, I’m not losing my aggressive style, but I’m a little more calculated. I continue to be aggressive, but I’m also thinking more.”

“I’ve fought legends of this sport. Ilia Topuria has a lot of hype right now, but does he have what it takes to match those men? The guys you mentioned—how many years have they been among the best in the world? Topuria is a kid who is arriving, hungry, undefeated, and has a lot to prove.”

Charles Oliveira vs. Ilia Topuria is a 50/50 fight according to former lightweight champ

Charles Oliveira and Ilia Topuria is a fight that is captivating the attention of many including the man who vacated the lightweight belt that will be on the line this weekend. Islam Makhachev was touching upon this massive matchup during a recent interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie as Makhachev stated [via MMA Junkie],

“It depends who can follow his game plan. If Charles can take him down, he can finish him easy on the ground. Or, if Topuria can catch him, he’s going to sleep. It’s two options. Who is going to make the game plan work?”

“[Oliveira has a] big chance. He always fights good against strikers. He has good striking. Against [Dustin] Poirier he fought good, against [Michael] Chandler he fought good. Both have good punch, both very good at stand up. But if you give him small chance, he’s going to finish. That’s why Charles is always dangerous. So I’ll go 50/50.”

Alberto Blas was BKFC’s bantamweight champion until seemingly just earlier today when a surprise signing to BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing shook up the landscape of the sport. BKB announced the signing of the undefeated bare-knuckle boxing standout to their ranks in a move that raised the eyebrows of many within the space of gloveless combat considering the banner year Blas had with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in 2024.

The already stacked BKB Men’s Lightweight division just got more dangerous. Announcing the signing of bare knuckle world champion, BoxRec’s number 6 ranked pound-for-pound fighter and its top-ranked bantamweight (BKB Lightweight/135), 6-0 (6 first-round KOs) Alberto “El Indio”… pic.twitter.com/Wr0KWrxqaq

— BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing (@bkbbareknuckle) June 26, 2025

In the coming hours, BKFC then sent out a press release which proclaimed that they had elected to release their 135 pound champion effective immediately for what was broadly described as “a pattern of unprofessional behavior outside of competition”. The press release ended off by detailing that the BKFC bantamweight belt is now vacant with said release also stating,

“BKFC values discipline, accountability, and respect for the sport both inside and outside the ring. While the athlete’s performance inside the squared circle has been exceptional, repeated incidents and conduct inconsistent with the values and image of the organization have made it necessary to part ways.”

Also in a statement that was included in the referenced press release, BKFC Founder and President David Feldman stated,

“We have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of our promotion and the sport as a whole. There were multiple infractions that went into this decision. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Alberto Blas responds to all of the discourse surrounding him jumping ship to BKB

Alberto Blas then took matters into his own hands and went to his personal social media in an attempt to give his side of the story and hopefully answer some questions for quizzical bare-knuckle boxing fans worldwide.

In a truly curious turn of events, BKFC’s partial owner Conor McGregor was also found liking a post from Alberto Blas regarding the initial announcement of the BKB signing as captured in a screenshot shown below.

Plus, in an exclusive statement to MMA News on the matter of Blas departing BKFC and the promotion’s account of how things transpired here, BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing president Mike Vazquez quipped,

“It’s hard to release someone that wasn’t under contract. It’s also hard to digest that they would put a statement like that out about a fighter only minutes after he signed by another organization. And it’s also strange to think that they’re relying on any kind of ethical/moral values or integrity after seeing what happens in that organization.”

“My inbox is full of past and current [b]kfc fighters complaining about late or no pay. Purse and bonuses. That’s a fact. I will leave it to him and his coach to decide if they want to pursue a defamation suit, I know I would. Lastly, they should produce that so called ‘release letter’. Let’s see when it was made, and when and to whom it was sent.”

BKFC was reached out to for subsequent comments on the matter and to flesh out the specifics of what patterns of behaviour and outside of the ring incidents Blas was described to have been engaging in that warranted his dismissal. The promotion has not responded to these inquiries at the time of this writing.

Alberto Blas leaves BKFC with a spotless 6-0 record comprised of all first round finishes after not only capturing but also then defending their 135 pound strap at BKFC 66 last September.

Ilia Topuria is poised to take over this new weight category that he finds himself in as International Fight Weeks marches toward Saturday night. This weekend Topuria aims to become the new kingpin of 155 pounds as he does battle with former divisional ruler Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt in then UFC 317 main event.

Spoeaking to on-site media members for the fight week media day, the former featherweight champion fielded several quesitons about the differences he has noticed in his prior efforts fighting at 145 pounds in the context of how different fighting at lightweight is. While expounding upon that thought process to assembled reporters, Topuria said,

“Featherweight and lightweight are two different worlds. I have been able to enjoy the whole process. Even today I feel good, and when I was fighting in the featherweight division at this point, I was feeling really, really bad. I think that I made a great decision. Years ago, when Dustin Poirier went from featherweight to lightweight, he said it took him a few fights to feel like a lightweight rather than just a featherweight who stopped cutting.”

“Charles said something similar, that when he went up to lightweight, he would be able to knock people out at featherweight, but at lightweight, they could take a lot more damage, and it took him a while to kind of feel like that. Do you feel like a featherweight still, or have you stayed experienced? I already fought in the lightweight division, I have one fight in the UFC in that division, so I felt actually great. My experience is going to be completely different.”

Ilia Topuria and his prior foray in the UFC lightweight ranks

Ilia Topuria referenced in the above quote that this will not be his first dance in the octagon as a lightweight with his previous UFC effort in the 155 pound ranks providing some fireworks. On March 19th, 2022, the 28-year-old threw down with Jai Herbert in a main card bout as part of UFC Fight Night: Tom Aspinall vs. Alexander Volkov.

After overcoming some early adversities against Herbert, Topuria would turn out his adversary’s lights sixty seven seconds into then sophomore round of the fight after landing a devastating right hook in their main card opening bout.

Alexandre Pantoja has been competing in mixed martial arts for more than half of his life and the gratitude to do what he does remains noticably at the forefront of his focus. Pantoja prepares to run it back against prior opponent on The Ultimate Fighter Kai Kara-France as the two run it back for a quasi-rematch (considering TUF bouts are categorically exhibitions) with the former defending his flyweight title against the latter this weekend.

It all takes place in the co-main event of UFC 317 as part of this year’s International Fight Week proceedings with the reigning 125 pound titleholder fielding questions from assembled media at the fight week media day. When expounding upon his gratitude oriented mindset while also delving a bit into his long road to this moment on Saturday night through the lens of his anecdotal journey within MMA, Pantoja said,

“I really appreciate everything UFC does for me and for my family. I love to fight in this octagon. That’s always a huge opportunity. I fight in the best octagon ever in the world—thousands of people watch me live, millions watch me on TV. I love it, man. I really appreciate that. That’s so cool. I’ve been fighting all my life, brother.”

“My first fight was at 17, and now I’m 35, still fighting at a high level, showing all the world my skills. That’s why I started to fight—I want to show everybody my art. That’s so crazy because I’m not a huge fan of social media and everything, but I love people watching me fight. That’s what I do. When I go to the octagon, that’s when you see the Cannibal, Pantoja.”

Alexandre Pantoja inside the cage versus outside of the cage

Alexandre Pantoja continued, “But outside the octagon, I’m a regular man, a regular guy. The opportunity to go to the octagon and feel freedom—that’s what I like. When I go to the octagon, I feel freedom. I can do whatever I want to do to finish my opponent. That’s why I go to the UFC—why people pay me—to see what I can do to finish my opponent. I love that situation. I don’t know if you have another sport like that. You need to use all your skills to beat your opponent and feel freedom to do that. That’s why people love UFC, love MMA.”

Jake Paul has been knocked by critics for what some have described as cherry picked matchmaking but ‘The Problem Child’ will soon be fighting a real fighter at last, according to a boxing legend. This was expressed during an interview on DAZN’s Ariel x Ade: The Boxing Show as Oscar De La Hoya discussed the Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. boxing bout which is set for Saturday, June 28th.

With De La Hoya serving as Chavez Jr.’s promoter for this co-promoted boxing event with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, it articulates a seeming shift in approach for ‘The Golden Boy’ who previously seemed to stay away from promoting these kinds of influencer crossover fights. Explaining the shift in his approach and thought process in this regard, De La Hoya said,

“The partnership with MVP has been incredible—amazing. The only reason I got involved is because Jake’s fighting a real fighter now—Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., an ex-world champion, who went 12 rounds with Canelo. This is a real, legit fight. I’m looking forward to it. There are a lot of questions about Chavez Jr.—will he be in great shape, will he make weight—but ultimately, Jake Paul is fighting a world champion. That’s a big step!”

Oscar De La Hoya on if Jake Paul can become a champ and Chavez Jr. bout prediction

Jake Paul is someone that Oscar De La Hoya thinks can win a world title in the sweet science someday. In the same referenced interview, De La Hoya expressed this thought but did say that Paul winning gold someday is something that will take time and experience to accomplish.

Also curiously enough, De La Hoya is predicting that Paul will edge out Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the fighter that ‘The Golden Boy’ is promoting this weekend, by way of a split decision and thinks the combat sports disruptor can get it done in a back and forth battle against the former WBC middleweight champion on the same night that UFC 317 transpires.

Paddy Pimblett vs. Ilia Topuria is a fight that we could potentially see sooner rather than later according to a former two-division UFC title challenger. The bad blood between the two fighters over the years at one point seemed like it could potentially never lead to an in-cage culmination.

But the landscape is quite different now as Topuria is now prioritizing competing at lightweight which is the class Pimblett has been fighting at through his UFC tenure. Chael Sonnen was the analyst in question who touched upon the timeline of the Topuria and Pimblett rivalry as Sonnen said,

“When these two met, nobody knew what Ilia Topuria was. I used to call him Mr. Hand Sanitizer because I couldn’t pronounce his name. I didn’t know if Ilia was a first name, last name, or nickname. I don’t know if Topuria was a first name, last name, or nickname. And all these guys have done is gone out there and kick butt.

“Nothing trumps rivalry. You can have nationalistic, you can fight for pride of country, you can fight for world championships and undefeated records, but nothing trumps personal feud. Those fights are very hard to come by. If you’re a promoter, you dream of catching a fight like that on your watch—it’s just very hard to get to.”

“I do think it’s just one fight away. I think it should be the safest fight that they can find a way to get Paddy that victory, and then a lot’s got to happen on Ilia’s side, but they already took care of the hardest part—they got the hardest guy out of the division completely, check that box, one down. Paddy and Ilia can find each other if they both win their next fight, but oddly enough, Paddy and Ilia can find each other if they both lose their next fights.”

Ilia Topuria, Paddy Pimblett, and the path to a possible colission course

Ilia Topuria has his next assignment locked in and he could make a massive leap in his career when the cage door gets locked behind him on Saturday night. The former featherweight champion looks to claim the vacant lightweight title when he clashes with former 155 pound kingpin Charles Oliveira in the UFC 317 pay-per-view main event on June 28.

While Paddy Pimblett does not have his next fight formally booked, there are signs that he will be getting a big name opponent next that could vault him into a title challenger position following his dominant win over Michael Chandler earlier this year.

Laura Sanko has given an illuminating perspective to the narrative centered on Ilia Topuria switching up his training camp arrangement in the lead up to UFC 317. This was touched upon during her podcast One on One, which she co-hosts with Din Thomas, as Sanko said,

“Speaking of his coaches, though—no longer training under those coaches that he came up with from day one. This is the first time that he’s trained in his own camp. I was researching this, and basically, Ilia had so many sponsor-type obligations that were in and about Madrid that he moved to Madrid. It was just too much for him to do the four-hour back-and-forth type thing.”

“So he kind of did his own training camp this time without them in it. Again, that leads me to believe that, in his entire career, he took it upon himself to kind of do his own thing. We read a lot into that—‘Oh, I can’t believe he left his coaches.’ But at the end of the day, if they were that instrumental and he was that dependent on them, we’re talking about a world champion.”

Sanko continued, “He’s flying these guys out to train him if it was that instrumental to him. The reality is, I think that he did a lot of this work on getting good himself. They’re on good terms, too. It certainly wasn’t any sort of bad-blood type of breakup, just logistics.”

Ilia Topuria and the importance of Climent Club to his MMA career

Topuria aims to enter rarefied air as he attempts to become a two-division UFC champion this weekend, as he aims to claim the vacant lightweight belt against the former 155-pound titleholder Charles Oliveira. But what is the backstory on Topuria striking out on his own now?

Ilia Topuria had previously been training with Agustin and Jorge Climent in Alicante, Spain at their facility Climent Club. The former featherweight champion and his brother Aleksandre Topuria have been training under the tutelage of the Climent brothers since both began their journeys in mixed martial arts. As Sanko mentioned above, the change in camp seems to be more of a logistics thing with proximity and outside of the cage projects preventing the kind of work that was once had.

The Georgian-Spanish fighter has addressed the change in camps, and it seems like there is no negative sentiment at all attached to the split as Ilia Topuria stated [via Bloody Elbow],

“We thank them for all these years of mutual learning and growth, and they wholeheartedly wish them all the best in all their projects.”

Kai Kara-France has expressed his respect for Alexandre Pantoja but he aims to become the new UFC flyweight champion this weekend in historic fashion. Kara-France challenges for Pantoja’s 125-pound belt in the co-main event of UFC 317, which goes down on Saturday, June 28th as part of the promotion’s International Fight Week festivities.

During an interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, the New Zealand native had an anecdote relayed to them that Pantoja gave in a separate interview with Bohn regarding Kara-France as someone who feels like a Mike Tyson figure to him. When asking for the title challenger’s thoughts on that, Kai Kara-France said,

“It’s definitely an honor to be in the same sentence or to be brought up as the Mike Tyson of the flyweights, but I’m the first Kai Kara-France of the flyweight division. I’ve got my own name to live up to and to write. I said it in my last fight when I fought Steve Erceg—when DC asked me how I have all these knockouts on my record, where does that power come from? I went off the cuff, just speaking my truth, saying it’s because I’m Māori, and that’s my superpower.”

“That’s something I tap into, something that anchors me, fuels me, and allows me to make sense of everything. There’s no difference in this fight—I just have a stronger connection to why I’m doing this. Nothing but respect to Pantoja, but the way I respect you is by coming for that belt and coming for your head. I know he hasn’t been knocked out in the UFC and hasn’t been stopped—I want to be the first one to do that and make history. That would be an unreal way to get the belt.”

Kai Kara-France and Alexandre Pantoja’s history with one another

Kai Kara-France and Alexandre Pantoja have met inside the cage before, albeit in a situation that was technically an exhibition bout. The two flyweight standouts did battle on The Ultimate Fighter back in 2016 during a hugely influential period for the 125-pound division, with the TUF cast for that twenty-fourth season being comprised of flyweight champions from around the world.

Pantoja would end up securing a unanimous decision victory over Kara-France, and now almost a decade later in this quasi-sequel clash that is not technically a rematch in the traditional sense, the two will test skills again.

Charles Oliveira’s history of getting dropped with strikes has been put under the microscope a bit by a UFC Insider as we’re days away from the Brazilian competing in yet another lightweight title clash. ‘Dro Bronx’ will battle former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria for the vacant 155-pound belt in the headliner of UFC 317, and many are stoked for this international fight week main event offering.

That includes Din Thomas, who was discussing the marquee matchup alongside his co-host Laura Sanko for their show One on One as we are now immersed in fight week proceedings. When breaking down the machinations of this lightweight title bout with a specific focus on the durability of the former lightweight champion, Thomas said,

“He’s been knocked down by [Michael] Chandler, [Dustin] Poirier, [Justin] Gaethje, but each time he’s gotten back up. It hasn’t been since, not with Beneil [Dariush], not with the second Chandler fight. I mean, everybody, if you get clipped, is a little chinny, right? Like, these are the best of the best. Took an overhand right, and he dared to stumble. Everybody at that level, you get clipped, you’re going to be—you know, in fact, I’m more willing to say that, you know, to not have a chin like Nate Diaz is the anomaly here.”

“I think typically, his chin is about standard. It’s just he’s dealing with big punchers in big fights. The problem is, he’s dealing with a guy with the kiss of death. And if he does get knocked out, we’ll say, ‘See, I told you he was chinny.’ But I don’t necessarily believe that he’s like truly chinny in a sense. He’s just, man, he’s dealing with guys that are killers, have killer instinct and one-punch power.”

Charles Oliveira biopic is in the works

By Sunday morning, Charles Oliveira could be saying ‘last night was a movie’ (to use the parlance of our times), but there currently is a biopic in the works based on the life of the hugely successful MMA fighter. Eduardo Ferro’s 405 Films acquired the life rights for the film, which documents a journey of overcoming a harsh life in the favelas and overcoming life-threatening health issues to his successes on the Brazilian jiu jitsu circuit as well as his mixed martial arts exploits that saw him capture UFC lightweight gold previously.

Filming will be done in Las Vegas and Brazil with Charles Oliveira describing 405 Films as ‘the right team to bring the story to life.’

Julio César Chávez Jr. is not pulling any punches before he and Jake Paul get to officially fight one another in the coming days. Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, the former WBC titleholder covered several subjects before his fight with ‘The Problem Child’ next weekend. Julio César Chávez Jr. versus Jake Paul is set to go down on Saturday, June 28th on DAZN pay-per-view from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Referencing an open workout that he did ahead of this fight where many on-site were loudly chanting ‘f*** Jake Paul’ in the context of if he feels like the California faithful will be supporting him in a big way against the combat sports disruptor, Chávez Jr. said,

“I think the people everywhere know it’s with me. Nobody likes Jake Paul… He tried to put down Mike Tyson, who is a legend, and that’s disrespect. That’s why I want to beat Jake, that’s why the people are on my side.”

Julio César Chávez Jr. names four fighters he has in his crosshairs post-Paul

Julio César Chávez Jr. has mentioned that he would entertain a rematch with the YouTube personality following next Saturday’s boxing bout but he also has some eyes on big names at both light heavyweight as well as cruiserweight. These names were mentioned during the same referenced Ariel Helwani interview and saw Chávez Jr. call out both Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez as well as Jai Opetaia with both of those pugilists holding seventy-five percent of the major cruiserweight world championships.

Julio César Chávez Jr. also mentioned light heavyweight greats Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev as in-ring adversaries that he would like to test skills with post-Jake Paul down the line as well. Articulating his vision for what he sees transpiring post-June 28th, Chávez Jr. stated [via Bloody Elbow],

“I wanna fight a rematch with Jake Paul. A rematch with Jake Paul is a money fight, so that’s why I don’t wanna say no to this thing happening. For real, what I want is to fight the best. I’d love to fight ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. I’d love to fight a cruiserweight champion. [Jai] Opetaia is a super, super strong guy.”

“I’m here because I want to fight the best. If Opetaia offered me, if Ramirez offered me, after this fight or another fight, I’m there. I’m ready to fight Bivol at cruiserweight or the other guy, Beterbiev. That’s my goal. They are killers. So, wait until after June 28, and after that, we’ll do another interview and talk about that fight.”

Francis Ngannou does not have any immediate plans to return to the UFC and seems perfectly happy continuing to ply his trade in the PFL smart cage, according to his coach. During an interview with Online Slots, Dewey Cooper expressed this thought when asked several questions regarding the lineal MMA heavyweight champion.

There have been some reports as of late that teased a UFC return might be possible per comments from Ngannou’s coach at Xtreme Couture Eric Nicksick. Nicksick has since clarified that those comments were misconstrued a bit, with Dana White and Ngannou himself also seemingly dispelling notions of an octagon return for the former UFC heavyweight champion.

When touching on the topic himself, Dewey Cooper said,

“I don’t see any chance of Francis returning to the UFC. The other coaches on our staff may think differently. “I can see him doing a kind of co-promotion thing, maybe a UFC fight, but in conjunction with the PFL. “Because when all this went down and we ‘fumbled the bag’, the PFL had Francis’ back, and one thing about Francis, he appreciates the support he got from PFL.”

““He’s not just gonna forget about that when the whole world said he screwed up and he blew it, or that he was afraid to fight someone – which was never the truth. “The PFL came to him and had his back, so as of now he’s still with the PFL, so in order to do anything, the PFL would definitely have to be involved.”

Francis Ngannou and Dana White barbs throw cold water on possible UFC return

With UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones retiring from MMA and interim champion Tom Aspinall finally being upgraded to champion outright, but amid a fairly unpopulated landscape at heavyweight, a Francis Ngannou return may be needed more than ever. At the UFC Baku post-event press conference, Dana White announced that Jon Jones elected to retire from the sport of mixed martial arts, but the promotional figurehead also addressed someone else within that UFC heavyweight title lineage.

When expressing his feelings on Ngannou overall and if the PFL champion could ever return to the UFC fold, White stated [via Bloody Elbow],

“I’m not a big fan, I would be shocked if Francis ever came back here, on lots of different levels, I’m not a fan and he doesn’t always mean what he says publicly.”

To that statement, ‘The Predator’ would respond to White on his personal X page as Francis Ngannou quipped,

“Did I say I’m ever coming back?”