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Tag: Jack Shore

  • 9-Fight UFC Veteran Announces Shock MMA Retirement At 29

    UFC featherweight Jack Shore has suddenly called time on his career as a professional fighter.

    Shore (17-3), a former bantamweight champion under the Cage Warriors banner, began life on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage in impressive fashion, winning all five of his opening UFC bouts en route to a ranking at 135 pounds.

    But after Ricky Simón took his ‘0’ by way of submission in 2022, the Welshman bid farewell to the bantamweight division and started anew at 145 pounds. The 29-year-old has since gone 1-2 in the featherweight class, first defeating Makwan Amirkhani but then suffering consecutive setbacks versus Joanderson Brito and Youssef Zalal.

    And the moment he tapped to the latter’s arm-triangle choke in Canada early last month will surprisingly mark Shore’s final action inside the Octagon.

    After fighting out his UFC contract, “Tank” has opted against re-signing with the MMA leader — or any other organization for that matter.

    Taking to social media this week, Shore announced in a lengthy and heartfelt post that his time competing as a professional MMA fighter is over.

    “Hello guys, been quiet for a while enjoying time with my friends and family,” Shore wrote. “As what may come as a surprise to a few I’ve decided to hang up the gloves on my professional fighting career. After fighting out my contract and taking some time to think about what’s next it’s clear to me that my time with professional fighting is done. Although I had the chance to re sign with ufc I’ve decided my times done. I want to thank the ufc for letting me live out my childhood dream of fighting for the worlds biggest organisation and against some of the best in the world, I’ve enjoyed every minute!

    “From what started as a kid with a dream lead me to amateur titles, world titles and living out my dream of fighting in the ufc. I can truly say for every single fight I gave the training and the fights my all, never said no, never asked questions just kept my head down, stayed true to myself and achieved more than I ever thought possible,” Shore continued. “For the entirety of my 20’s fighting and training was my life and sole focus, however the last few weeks/months have showed this is no longer the case. And I always promised myself when I was mentality checked out I would retire from the sport rather than the sport retire me. Injures have caught up with me after a lifetime in the sport. I’m leaving with my mental in check, good health, financially stable and am fully ready to move onto the future.”

    Shore now plans on continuing his involvement in the sport by coaching the next generation of United Kingdom fighters alongside his father.

    During his career in the cage, “Tank” defeated notable names like Hunter Azure and Timur Valiev. He departs active competition with a 6-3 UFC record and his health intact.

  • VIDEO: Youssef Zalal Sets Up Club & Sub With Brutal Knee At UFC Edmonton

    VIDEO: Youssef Zalal Sets Up Club & Sub With Brutal Knee At UFC Edmonton

    Youssef Zalal is definitely a name to look out for moving forward after he racked up a third straight finish courtesy of a submission during the UFC Edmonton preliminary card.

    The first round between Zalal and Welsh standout Jack Shore was close, with the latter having the better quality action. The Moroccan, however, had more control time that prevented Shore from mounting additional attacks.

    Things quickly came to an end early in the second round when Zalal landed a perfectly timed knee that dropped Shore. “The Moroccan Devil| followed his stricken opponent to the mat and delivered some strong ground-and-pound before locking up an arm-triangle choke that scored the tap.

    Youssef Zalal Earns Third Straight Submission With Victory Over Jack Shore At UFC Edmonton

    The result marked Zalal’s third straight submission, all coming this year, after he defeated Billy Quarantillo in March and Jarno Errens in August.

    Meanwhile, after starting his career 16-0, former bantamweight Shore has now lost three of his last four Octagon outings.

  • Former PFL Champion Labels UFC Featherweight The Most Underrated Fighter In The UK

    Former PFL Champion Labels UFC Featherweight The Most Underrated Fighter In The UK

    Former PFL champion and upcoming finalist Brendan Loughnane has been around the UK MMA scene for a long time. The veteran has long been considered one of the most talented fighters in the region and he finally got his breakthrough when he signed with the PFL after fighting all over the world before that.

    During a recent episode of Uncaged by talkSPORT, Loughnane used his knowledge of the wide range of competitors to pick out a fighter that is set to return to the Octagon this weekend as his most underrated fighter from the UK. Wales’ Jack Shore is back in action on Saturday night when he heads to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

    “The Tank” will make his third appearance as a featherweight by taking on Youssef Zalal in a fight that has gone totally under the radar for most fight fans. Shore is looking to bounce back from a controversial loss last time out at UFC 301 where his fight with Joanderson Brito was stopped due to a cut on his shin.

    The 29-year old was 16-0 before being stopped by Ricky Simón in his final fight at 135-pounds and was attracting some hype off of his five fight win streak. Though Loughnane is reserving judgement on whether he can replicate that same level of success in the featherweight division, he believes Shore has all the skills he needs to compete at the highest level.

    “I think he’s the most underrated UK fighter right now, I really do, Jack Shore. I think he’s had a bit of bad luck but I think when he puts it together mate, like I don’t know about this move to featherweight…let’s just see, let’s just make an assumption after this fight but I really rate Jack and his team and I think he flies under the radar.”

  • Jack Shore Hopes To be The One To Bring The UFC To Wales

    UFC bantamweight prospect Jack Shore has big aspirations for his time on MMA’s biggest stage, including a quest to bring the promotion to Wales.

    In a talent-stacked 135-pound division, a host of prospects are emerging, some of whom would perhaps already be ranked had they been part of a less talent-filled roster. One of those individuals is UK MMA star Shore.

    At just 26 years of age, the Welshman has emerged as a future star at bantamweight. Shore, a former cage Warriors champion, boasts an unblemished 15-0 record that includes 12 finishes, eight by way of submission.

    Since arriving in the UFC in 2019, “Tank” has extended his unbeaten record with four triumphs, two of which came over Hunter Azure and Liudvik Sholinian.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CTl5oSzMmO3/

    Now, for the first time in his UFC career, Shore is set to fight on home soil, sort of…

    At UFC London on March 19, a card that represents the promotion’s return to England for the first time since 2019, Shore will face his toughest test to date in the form of Russia’s Timur Valiev. He was initially scheduled to face Umar Nurmagomedov that month, but after the highly-touted cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov pulled out, his compatriot Valiev stepped in.

    While it may not be a fight in his home country, Shore told LowKick MMA it’s about as close as he can get to one at the moment.

    “It’s the closest we’re going to get to a hometown fight at the minute is London,” Shore said. “We are a bit of a way from me being able to call for a Cardiff card.”

    Shore: Wales Card Would Be “A Dream Come True”

    While he admits it’s a distant possibility, Shore boasts aspirations of bringing the UFC to his own backyard down the line. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of Conor McGregor and Michael Bisping, who took the promotion to Dublin and Manchester, respectively, “Tank” wants to experience a Wales crowd cheering him on down the line.

    For it to happen, however, Shore believes a new arena needs to be made, with the only current options in Cardiff being too small, or too big.

    “Yeah, I think so (I’ll be the one to bring the UFC to Wales). At the minute, I think there’s three of us from Wales in the UFC,” said Shore. “I’m in a position at the minute where I’m probably the closest to being in those rankings and fighting those big names and becoming a bit of a, you know, getting that chance to finally break through into the mainstream a little bit.

    “It is something I obviously wanna do,” added Shore. “At the minute, venue-wise in Wales, we’ve got an indoor arena, but it only seats like 8,000. And we’ve got the Millennium Stadium, which seats 80,000. So, we’re a bit two ends of the scale at the minute. If they can knock us up like a 20,000-seater, then I can start to get in Dana (White’s) and Sean (Shelby’s) ear.”

    Nevertheless, Shore believes if everything falls into place in his career he can turn his homecoming dream into a reality.

    “Obviously I’d love to do it, and I’d love to just fight on a UFC card in Wales, but to be the guy that brought it to Wales like how Conor (McGregor) brought it back to Dublin, or how Bisping took it to Manchester, would be insane, it would be a dream come true. So, who knows what the future holds. Obviously, that’d be a dream of mine. Never say never. It’s not too far away. it’s just a case of the right timing and things falling into place,” concluded Shore.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CVAGNBasW_f/

    To make it happen, Shore’s goal is simple: continue winning and continue climbing the bantamweight ladder.

    With a victory over Valiev at UFC London, Shore will certainly take a big step closer towards the rankings. From there, it’ll be big names and a big rise to the top should he maintain his unbeaten start in the UFC. Perhaps a UFC Cardiff event won’t be too far down the line soon after.

    Do you think the UFC could head to Wales in the future?

  • Umar Nurmagomedov Out, Timur Valiev In vs. Jack Shore On March 19

    With one Russian prospect out, another one steps in to take on Jack Shore on the March 19 UFC Fight Night card.

    According to Marcel Dorff of MMA DNA, Jack Shore will take now be taking on Timur Valiev instead of Umar Nurmagomedov as originally planned. The event is currently scheduled to take place in England.

    Jack Shore (15-0) is coming off a decision win over Liudvik Sholinian back in September who took the fight on short notice. He was supposed to face Said Nurmagomedov on the card but he was forced out of the bout. The Welsh fighter is 4-0 in the UFC with his other wins over Hunter Azure, Aaron Phillips, and Nohelin Hernandez. The 26-year-old is also the former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion.

    Timur Valiev is 18-2 and is unbeaten in his last eight fights. He had originally lost his UFC debut to Trevin Jones last year, but that outcome was overturned to a no-contest after Jones tested positive for marijuana. Most recently, Valiev defeated Raoni Barcelos via majority decision at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov in June 2021.

    With this fight swap, here is the updated lineup for the UFC London card on March 19.

    Tom Aspinall vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov

    Jack Shore vs. Timur Valiev

    Cody Durden vs. Muhammad Mokaev

    Francisco Figueiredo vs. Jake Hadley

    Luana Carolina vs. Molly McCann

    Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Grundy

    Who do you think will win on March 19, Jack Shore or Timur Valiev?