Sage Northcutt celebrates his win over Zak Ottow at a UFC event in 2018. | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
It’s been almost four years since Northcutt was last seen in competition, but that’s all time that he’s spent training and recuperation for a return to fighting.
Sage Northcutt is all set for his MMA return on May 5th in Broomfield, CO. The former top UFC prospect left the world’s largest MMA promotion back in 2018 to play the free agent market, eventually landing with Singapore’s ONE Championship. What was supposed to be a glorious debut, against former kickboxing sensation Cosmo Alexandre turned instead into a career altering moment for the Team Alpha Male fighter.
A quick KO in round 1 saw Northcutt suffer 8 facial fractures. He hasn’t competed since.
Despite the severity of the setback, in a recent interview with the MMA Hour, Northcutt revealed that the idea of stepping away from competition permanently never crossed his mind.
“No, not really,” Northcutt admitted, when asked if he’d considered retiring (transcript via MMA Fighting). “After my fight, even right afterward, the very next day I was already planning on coming back. It did take a little while — as a lot of people know, for about a year plus, I was just healing up. So that took a little bit of time, for sure. But after that, I was full-blown training.”
In fact, The now 26-year-old had his MMA return all prepared for April 2021—a bout against Shinya Aoki—when he was hit by another major medical setback.
“Horrible coincidence, but two weeks out from my fight, I was supposed to leave to go overseas, I got COVID,” he said. “That just threw everything for a loop. I was pretty sick for a little bit. It took like six months of doing blood work, trying to figure out what’s going on.
“I didn’t even know for the first couple of days. I kept trying to train through and started to get run down, ended up testing positive for COVID. … So I was trying to work around that, and I think trying to do that, I just ran myself down pretty bad. Then I had to sit at home, and that was the hardest thing, not doing anything.”
All told, while it hasn’t been the most productive time of ‘Super’ Sage’s life, it sounds like he’s found a quality silver lining out of it. Namely that this major series of setbacks came early in his career.
“I”m glad this happened at a time when I was so young and didn’t happen later in my career,” Northcutt enthused. “I have a full career ahead of me. It happened now, and it’s better than later.”
ONE Fight Night 10 takes place at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, CO. The card is expected to be headlined by a 135 lb title trilogy bout between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.
Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Conor McGregor was apparently offered a coaching stint in an upcoming Ultimate Fighter season, according a recent social media post.
UFC star Conor McGregor says he’s been offered to coach an upcoming season of the Ultimate Fighter. “The Notorious” revealed the news in a recent Instagram post, which included an old photo of him at the Ultimate Fighter gym in 2015.
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A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma)
“This is a snap from the original ultimate fighter house. Where I coached vs urijah faber,” McGregor wrote. “This photo was just before the show tho. It was right before I won my first world title beating urijah team mate chad mendes around. I then went on to coach the famous fight show straight after the fight.
“With a big black eye and a gash, my tricolor, and my new and first ever ufc gold belt, I waltzed into the notorious fight gym in Las Vegas. The slickest suits and shouts the show had ever seen before. On top of the silverware. And I coached my team to victory. Crazy. Some journey.
“I have just been offered to coach this role again. I like it. It is full immersion which is needed.
“I see fighters lining up. I know whats ahead I been ready motherfuckers. #StayReady”
McGregor and Faber coached alongside each other for TUF 22, which featured a US vs. Europe storyline. They never ended up fighting, which was customary for TUF coaches to do at the end of the season.
McGregor, who turns 35 this year, has yet to finalize his UFC return, but his coach John Kavanagh is willing to bet the house that it happens in 2023. At the same time, the Irish sports star is also dealing with new assault accusations, this time from a woman he allegedly attacked and threatened to drown during a yacht party for his 34th birthday in July 2022.
About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)
Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao will be on trial this March to deal with the ongoing lawsuit filed by Paradigm Sports.
In 2021, Paradigm Sports Management filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao. As the suit claims, Pacquiao, who at the time was a recent signee with Paradigm, allegedly decided to go back and work with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions.
Part of the supposed deal with Paradigm was a $ 25 million purse to face Mikey Garcia that same year, which they claim fell apart after Pacquiao wanted a guaranteed $ 5 million in advance even without fighting. Also included was a planned crossover boxing match with Conor McGregor, one of Paradigm’s top talents.
The case is now moving forward. Per a report by MMA Fighting on Wednesday, the trial for the lawsuit has been set for March 3rd. Paradigm CEO Audie Attar also released this statement:
“Manny’s days of thumbing his nose at our contractual rights are almost at an end. We have an overwhelming case against him and look forward to justice being served.
“The court has already entered an order stating that – due to his consistent violation of court orders – Pacquiao is now deemed to have admitted that he breached his contract with Paradigm and that Paradigm has suffered more than $ 20 million in damages.”
Attar also sent a message to other organizations planning to work with Pacquiao while the suit is ongoing.
“If any promoters, managers, fighters, or broadcasting networks are considering entering into an agreement with Manny prior to the trial, they are now on notice that Paradigm will immediately commence an action against them for tortious interference with contract and seek both an injunction and damages.
“Once Paradigm wins at trial in March, we will cut off 100 percent of Manny’s opportunities to earn money in the United States from any source because any revenue he generates will be attached to his judgment.
“Additionally, Paradigm will aggressively pursue enforcement of its judgment in any foreign country where Manny seeks to fight.”
Judd Burstein, who will be representing Paradigm in this ongoing case, used to work with Pacquiao for a previous contract dispute lawsuit. Pacquiao’s lawyers are now filing a motion to disqualify Burstein.
According to court docs, Judd Burstein represented Pacquiao in a previous lawsuit involving a contractual dispute. He now is representing Paradigm as they are suing Pac https://t.co/7eHKXIOgRL
— Jason Cruz (@dilletaunt) January 25, 2023
For his part, Pacquiao had already denied any wrongdoing.
“Paradigm Sports’ lawsuit against me has no merit,” Pacquiao’s camp said in a 2021 statement. “I have an absolute right under the agreement with Paradigm to engage in the upcoming bout with Errol Spence. If this frivolous lawsuit continues, I will be proven correct in court.”
The 44-year-old Pacquiao (62-8-2 with 39 KOs), who retired in 2021 to focus on his Philippine presidential campaign, is now set for his 2023 boxing return under Rizin. He did an exhibition match in December against YouTuber DK Yoo and won by decision.
Todd Duffee awaits the start of his bout against Frank Mir in 2015. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The former UFC talent hasn’t competed since a no-contest to Jeff Hughes in 2019.
At one point in time, Todd Duffee was one of the most exciting heavyweight prospects in MMA. First making his way to the big stage in 2009 with an unbeaten 5-0 record, the then-23-year-old made a splash in his debut—knocking out Tim Hague just seven seconds into the first round.
A shocking upset KO loss to Mike Russow (and some potentially ill-considered words about the UFC pay structure) later and Duffee was back on the regionals. While he returned to the world’s largest MMA promotion in just two years time, his career became snakebit by a long series of injuries. After a KO loss to Frank Mir in 2015, Duffee wouldn’t set foot in the cage for another four years—a return to competition that ended in a disappointing no-contest after Duffee suffered a first round eye poke. Eventually more injury complications forced his retirement from MMA altogether.
Or, at least they did until now.
In a recent interview on the MMA Hour, Duffee announced that he was officially returning to competition. Not with the UFC, however, but with one of Europe’s premiere MMA organizations: KSW.
“Who else are you going to call to besides an American to come save the heavyweight division for KSW?” Duffee joked to Ariel Helwani about the news.
Coincidentally, Duffee’s return to MMA should have a very familiar feel to it. After getting axed from the UFC the first time around, he returned to the promotion in 2012 against none other than current KSW heavyweight champion Phil De Fries. Duffee won that bout via TKO just 2:04 into Round 1.
De Fries will get his chance at revenge in the main event of KSW 79 at the Home Credit Arena in Liberec, Czech Republic.
‘S-11’ saw his own UFC career come to an end in 2013, following a nineteen second loss to Matt Mitrione at UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi. After trading wins and losses on the regionals for the next several years, the Sunderland native seems to have hit his stride. He’s currently riding a 10-fight unbeaten streak, having captured the KSW heavyweight title in 2018. If De Fries can defeat Duffee, it will make his 8th consecutive successful defense of the championship crown.
KSW 79 takes place on February 25th. Alongside the main event, the promotion has also announced a bout between two other fellow former UFC heavyweights—with Viktor Pesta set to take on Daniel Omielanczuk. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and notes.
About the author: Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. Host of the MMA Vivisection and 6th Round, he has covered MMA and the UFC since 2013.(full bio)
Kelvin Gastelum at weigh-ins for UFC Vegas 34. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
A middleweight tilt is the latest addition to the upcoming pay-per-view event in April.
Kelvin Gastelum is set for his UFC return.
Alex Behunin of MMA Mania reports that Gastelum and Chris Curtis are expected to fight at UFC 287, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for April 8. Both fighters have since confirmed the report on their respective social media accounts.
Expected to return against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Vegas 67 in January, Gastelum was forced to withdraw after suffering a mouth injury during a final sparring session. The 31-year-old needed stitches to sew his teeth ‘back on,’ so his appearance at the first UFC event of 2023 was canceled.
Gastelum has lost four of his past five fights since coming up short against Israel Adesanya for the interim UFC middleweight championship at UFC 236 nearly four years ago. The 31-year-old then suffered losses to Darren Till and Jack Hermansson, rebounded with a win over Ian Heinisch, but fell to Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier shortly after.
Curtis got his UFC career off to a great start with three consecutive wins over Phil Hawes, Brendan Allen and Rodolfo Vieira. The ‘Action Man’ had his first setback at UFC London, where he lost a unanimous decision to the aforementioned Hermansson. The Xtreme Couture product completed his 2022 with a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded second-round KO of Joaquin Buckley at UFC 282 this past December.
Gastelum and Curtis are ranked No. 13 and No. 14 in the UFC middleweight division, respectively.
With the addition of Gastelum vs. Curtis, the line-up for UFC 287 is as follows:
Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Loopy Godinez
Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs. Luana Pinheiro
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Nikolas Motta
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Christian Rodriguez
Steve Garcia Jr. vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
Joe Pyfer vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Chris Curtis
Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates to the event as they become available in the coming months.
Merab Dvalishvili, Aljamain Sterling and the rest of Serra-Longo Fight Team after UFC 278. | Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
The UFC bantamweight champion believes his teammate can defeat Yan with the same blueprint he used in his title-unifying performance at UFC 273 in April.
Aljamain Sterling says Merab Dvalishvili has the blueprint for defeating Petr Yan.
Yan is on a two-fight losing streak, coming up short against Sterling and Sean O’Malley in his recent Octagon appearances. For the reigning UFC bantamweight champion, those performances are the perfect guides for Dvalishvili to follow in his upcoming fight.
“For this, Merab needs to make sure he fights his pace of fight,” said Sterling on his official YouTube channel. “Slow him down by taking away his offense with his shots, his punches, his unorthodox striking that he just throws some wild stuff sometimes to keep Yan guessing. And then when Yan tries to be super technical, it’ll leave those wild strikes, some openings and some room for him to set things up to get those takedowns or just to get the entry and push him against the cage. Drop a couple strikes, push off, go back and do that again. It’s not Merab’s job to get off the cage. It’s Petr’s job to get off the cage and do damage. Merab’s job is to put him on the cage, do damage, try to take him down, do damage.
“And that’s going to be the tempo of the fight,” continued Sterling. “He’s gonna have to fight Merab’s fight the entire time. This is a dangerous fight for Merab, but this is just as dangerous of a fight for Petr Yan. When you’re at the top of the game, it’s a game of inches. Merab just needs to be super dialed in, and I think he has the blueprint already on how to beat him. He’s got a striker’s blueprint from Sean O’Malley. He’s got a wrestler’s blueprint for myself.”
Should Dvalishvili defeat Yan, he would extend his win streak to nine, which could lead to a championship opportunity. The ‘Machine’ and the ‘Funk Master’ have sworn off a potential fight, given their relationship as friends and teammates in the Serra-Longo Fight Team stable.
Though they would not fight each other, Sterling says he and Dvalishvili should be considered the top two 135-pound fighters in the world.
“We got two of the best guys in the world,” said Sterling. “When Merab beats Petr Yan, we will both be hands down literally No. 1 and No. 2 in the world.”
UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili is scheduled for Sat., March 11, at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley was recently thrown out of a restaurant because of a dress code policy.
In the UFC and the MMA community, Sean O’Malley holds a strong name value. But unfortunately for him, his star power doesn’t always translate well into the world outside of prizefighting.
In a recent social media video, “Sugar” Sean revealed being sent away from a seafood restaurant in Scottsdale because he failed to comply with the dress code policy (H/T MMA Mania).
Sean O’Malley get denied via dress code to a restaurant because they don’t know who the number one bantamweight in the world is pic.twitter.com/3W1cunA8hx
— (@mmamarcuss) January 23, 2023
“I went to Ocean 44 right across the street. I walk in, looking good as f—k like I usually do. Then they go, ‘Uh, sir, we can’t serve you. We have a dress code.’ I said, ‘Bitch, you know who the f—k I am?’ I didn’t say that…”
Left with no other choice, the 28-year-old decided to take his business elsewhere. He later found a Mexican restaurant just across the street.
“So, we came across the street to Toca Madera, and they’re hooking us up with free food because they know who the f—k I am. So, f—k you, Ocean 44…”
O’Malley currently sits at the number one spot in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings after his split decision win over former champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 last October.
About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)
Dan Hooker celebrates after his victory over Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 back in November. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
The upcoming UFC PPV schedule just got a new fantastic lightweight booking.
Dan Hooker has a habit of facing fighters at the apex of their careers. With the exception of Dustin Poirier, who was fresh off his title fight loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, every opponent Hooker has faced in the last three years has been coming off at least two wins. In fact, each of the ‘Hangman’’s last three opponents—Claudio Puelles, Arnold Allen, and Islam Makhachev—were running years long winning streaks when they faced off against the City Kickboxing talent.
That makes news of Hooker’s latest fight booking something like business as usual. In an interview with The Mac Life, the 32-year-old announced his next bout, against #10 ranked lightweight Jalin Turner on March 4th.
“I’m fighting Jalin Tuner. Top 10, baby,” Hooker announced. “Obviously, had a couple beers with him about a month ago. Twitter rampage proceeded to follow, as it does. Just fishing with dynamite, really. I think I said that he turned the fight down. And he said, ‘Hey man, I didn’t turn that fight down.’ And I was like, ‘Well, let’s have a fight then.’ And it worked.”
Much like Hooker’s other recent opponents, ‘The Tarantula’ is currently riding a 5-fight win streak, most recently coming off a first round shellacking of Hooker teammate Brad Riddell at UFC 276 last July. That win brought Turner’s MMA record to 13-5 overall, with his last loss coming against Matt Frevola back in 2019.
For Hooker, his knack for taking tough fights hasn’t necessarily always served him well. While fresh off a victory over Claudio Puelles back in November, Hooker had previously lost back-to-back fights against the aforementioned Allen and Makhachev. He’s 12-8 over his 8-year UFC run, with an overall MMA record of 22-12.
Hooker vs. Turner is currently planned for the undercard of UFC 285. The PPV event is set to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and former interim heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane.
About the author: Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. Host of the MMA Vivisection and 6th Round, he has covered MMA and the UFC since 2013.(full bio)
Glover Teixeira eats a right hand from Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 283. | Photo by Leandro Bernardes/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The long time head coach of the famed ‘The Pit’ MMA gym tried unsuccessfully to get the title fight between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill stopped between rounds.
UFC 283 marked the end of an era. One of the last PRIDE stars still actively competing in MMA, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua took to the cage for the final time for a bout against Ihor Potieria. The 41-year-old had made no bones about stepping away, stating well before fight night that this would be his last trip to the cage.
Somewhat more unexpected, however, was the retirement of Glover Teixeira, following the evening’s main event. Having just lost the light heavyweight title back in June of last year, the Brazilian battled Jamahal Hill for five rounds in an attempt to regain UFC gold. The 43-year-old had previously made it known that he’d hoped to hang ‘em up with the belt around his waist. Hill put a stop to that plan.
The fight was a lopsided affair, with ‘Sweet Dreams’ out-striking Teixeira at a 3-to-1 clip to become the first ever champion to come to the UFC off Dana White’s Contender Series. The action got so one-sided at one point, that Teixeira’s longtime coach and cornerman John Hackleman tried to get the bout stopped between rounds. He was out-voted. All told, Teixeira absorbed 232 significant strikes, 91 of them after the third round.
The experience may not have caused a sudden shift in outlook for Hackleman, who has apparently always disliked doing corner work—and admits to being “a known fight-stopper”— but it does seem that this was a final straw. With UFC 283 in the books and Teixeira retired, Hackleman says he’s cornered his last bout.
“That’s my last cornering,” Hackleman told MMA Fighting. “I’m never going to work a corner again.”
“I just don’t like to see guys get any kind of beatings or brain damage. I’m just real quick on the gun.”
“I’m thankful they didn’t [stop it],” he added. “I know this wouldn’t have gone well with anyone. It would have made a lot of people really unhappy, and I don’t want it to be about me. I would have thrown it in after the third. I would have been completely happy with the fight stopping there. I saw no reason for it to go on after that.”
Hackleman added that stemming back to his competitive fighting days (compiling an 8-4-1 record as a pro boxer between 1982-85), he wishes that his own trainers had stopped a couple of his fights earlier.
“I’m sure I’ve taken away a lot of potential wins,” Hackleman admitted. “Imagine if [Jiri Prochazka’s] corner threw in the towel in the middle of the fifth round [against Teixeira]?”
While Teixeira is done fighting and Hackleman is done cornering, fans are left to wonder what’s next for Jamahal Hill. The newly minted champion has a host of potential contenders waiting for their chance at gold. Chief among them, recently stripped belt-holder Jiri Prochazka—who is currently rehabbing a shoulder injury. It seems more likely that fans will see Hill in the cage against either Jan Blachowicz or Magomed Ankalaev sometime in the near future.
About the author: Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. Host of the MMA Vivisection and 6th Round, he has covered MMA and the UFC since 2013.(full bio)
Liam Smith’s upset knockout of Chris Eubank seemed to come out of nowhere, but there were warning signs. We take a look at the technical details that led to the shock.
Well, it’s probably safe to say nobody saw that coming. Liam Smith, the smaller, older man, jumped up in weight to take on Chris Eubank Jr, and took him to pieces. The first three rounds had been tight, with Eubank seeming to get the upper hand with his jab. Then in the fourth, seemingly out of nowhere, Smith cleaned his clock. He knocked his opponent down with a combination, then finished the job when the referee let a dazed Eubank carry on. Even Smith, who says he did predict it, must surely have been anticipated a more prolonged affair, after breaking Eubank down a bit.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, though. With it we can see some clues, some bad habits of Eubank’s that Smith exploited, that were visible even in the earlier rounds. Let’s take a look and see what we can find.
The Breakdown
The first thing to realise, when searching for reasons, is that nothing much was wrong with Eubank’s actual plan. He wanted to lead with the jab, peppering Smith with it through the middle of his high guard. Once that was established, he’d start to either step in and out or draw Smith on, and look to throw uppercuts up the middle or hooks round the side. All of those are sound ideas, which could in theory work well to bring Eubank’s speed and size advantage to bear. And, indeed, for the first three rounds they did. The first round was close, but Eubank seemed to be growing in to the fight and definitely won the third pretty clearly.
And then.
DOWN goes Eubank Jr.
Can Liam Smith close the show? #EubankJrSmith pic.twitter.com/G8FULK8jr9
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 21, 2023
The end came from a combination that sent Eubank down. The most damaging punches were an uppercut that nearly took his head off and a left hand following that sent him down. Those ended the fight, for sure, with Eubank allowed to carry on but never recovering from that hurt. The initial damage, though, came just a second earlier in the same combination. Eubank tried to escape a previous uppercut by leaning back on to the ropes. He did take the sting off that one, but as he came back forward, he leant straight in to a right hand that Smith was throwing. It didn’t even seem that clean a shot, but with Eubank’s momentum taking him on to it, he clearly felt it. He visibly slumped, and it was then that his reactions started to be unguarded, not properly aware of what Smith was throwing.
Eubank later described this as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ shot, an out-of-nowhere miracle throw that Smith couldn’t repeat or have really intended. That, however, is not true. While it seemed sudden, it took advantage of several tendencies Eubank had been displaying already, even while up in the fight.
The first was that snap back to escape the uppercut. Now, much like with the gameplan in general, this isn’t inherently a terrible move for a fighter to make. Leaning back to avoid strikes is pretty common and often the best move. In addition, Smith had to that point been throwing quite a few looping overhands or hooks from both sides. Leaning or hopping back wasn’t a bad reaction to those. If they fell short they’d sail past his nose and give him chances to counter.
The problems that manifested themselves in the knockout were threefold. The first was that Eubank’s balance wasn’t good enough to consistently make that move without having to physically step back to stay steady. The best fighters pulling that maneuver are able to do it just shifting their balance back, maybe sliding their back foot a bit for better control but not really actually moving themselves away. Eubank, though, does need that step, and that means only a big reaction is in his repertoire. Sometimes, in tight spaces, that’s a weakness.
The second problem, somewhat relatedly, is that those fighters don’t then come back the same way. They have enough control to take their head off center line as they straighten up, making it much harder for an opponent to walk them into something. Think Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin. That’s what Eubank was trying to do. Because he didn’t have that control of his balance, though, he would often need to hop backwards to get clear, and almost every time he’d also just lean straight back up.
The third part of that ill-fated combination of factors was Eubank’s footwork more generally. He didn’t use the space in the ring well, for someone whose gameplan was based on using his length. Even before the KO, he’d found himself pushed to the ropes and corners unnecessarily, allowing Smith to trap him there for a bit. As long as he kept his head over his feet, that wasn’t too big a problem. He’d eat some shots but eventually clear some space with his jab and escape. The moment he tried the lean-back though… well, he simply didn’t have the space. He needed to hop, but he didn’t have anywhere to hop to, and bounced. So he needed to slide under the incoming straight right… but he couldn’t. He tried, he turned his head in an attempt, but his feet and legs weren’t right to actually drop a level and he took it on the temple.
It’s worth noting that it’s entirely possible that Smith knew what he was doing and planned to take advantage of exactly those tendencies. We’ll probably never know for sure, unless he talks us through it, exactly how precisely he intended all this. What Eubank was being taught by his coach- Roy Jones Jr, a master of that sort of fighting – has been clear from their previous fights together, though. And a smart gameplanner- which both Smith and his own coach Joe Mcnally seem to be – could have had some thoughts on how those would fit with some of Eubank’s old bad habits. It would be a stretch to say that he aimed for exactly this to happen, but trying a few things, seeing how Eubank reacted? Maybe throwing those earlier looping shots precisely to bait that step back? It’s certainly something a good fighter can do. And drawing a big overreaction while he himself kept it tight and simple is something Smith has relied on before.
Either way, that was it. Eubank did get up, but he couldn’t walk straight. Realistically, the referee could have stopped the fight there, but he let him try once more. It became immediately clear that he wasn’t defending himself, though. He was so gone that when the referee did wave it off, he didn’t even notice. Smith’s own coaches had to get in between and guide him to his corner. It was a pretty emphatic finish, and a spectacular one.
The Future
In the immediate aftermath, a rematch was mooted. Financially and in terms of the show, that makes sense, and there was the implication that Eubank has a rematch clause. If true, if he decides he wants it within a certain timeframe, it has to happen. He’s made some comments post-fight, though, that seem to suggest that if he takes it, it won’t be next. Quite why is unclear- whether he just wants to clear his head and regroup, or whether he’s carrying an injury he suspects won’t heal fast enough. He certainly did see his cheek swell up concerningly at the end of the fight, and if that’s broken it could be a while.
Whatever the reasons, if the rematch isn’t next, neither fighter can afford to spend time tuning up. Smith implied he wants Gennady Golovkin. That’s a risk, being new to this weight, but it might well be the right time to catch the aging Kazakh. And even if it’s a step too far still, it’s a big fight for him. The other champions at the weight might be tempting too, especially Jermall Charlo. If he can’t get one of those showcases, though, he might find it preferable to come back down to 154lbs. That’s a shark tank of a division at the moment, but he’s not at risk of being overpowered there. And winning this high-profile fight might make him a good proposition for some of the young contenders who want to test themselves.
Eubank has to have a think. Firstly, if it’s really working with Roy Jones. They seem to pair well personally, but it’s just not clear that the things Jones teaches are helpful for someone with the fundamental flaws Eubank displays. If not, though, he’ll have to listen to someone else, and that’s notably been a problem for him in the past. Either way, he also has to think about the weight. It’s too soon to say that cutting to 160 was an actual factor in his previously solid chin failing him here, but it might have been. He claims he still wants Conor Benn, and if he can make the natural welterweight come to 160 that might still be viable. Other than that, though, does he want to be taking big shots from fighters natural at the weight? Of course, as he goes up the opponents punch harder, but making weight comfortably can make such a difference. Ultimately, though, it’s just not really clear where he stands, so predicting the future is hard.
What he does have to do, though, is learn from this. At 33 he’s never going to become a technically flawless fighter, but boucning off the ring-ropes while his opponent throws a combination? Yeah, he can probably avoid that bit.
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