Category Archives: Mmafighting.com

Carlos Prates wants to boost his meteoric rise in the UFC with a top-ranked foe in the first quarter of 2025.

Now 3-0 in the UFC, with a trio of bonus-winning knockouts this year, Prates headlines UFC Vegas 100 this Saturday against 33-time octagon welterweight veteran Neil Magny at the UFC APEX, and already has a target in mind for his next bout. Previously linked to a fight with Randy Brown, he plans to call for a bigger name instead.

“I think I’ll be way ahead with a win over Neil Magny,” Prates said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I’ll be ranked, and there’s no point fighting Randy Brown anymore. He ran from me once, there’s no point chasing him—although I think he’s way easier than Neil Magny. I was looking at the ranking, and I want to fight in Australia in February. Maybe I’ll call out Jack Della Maddalena.”

UFC’s return to Sydney is scheduled for Feb. 8 and Maddalena is expected to be on the card after winning seven straight in the octagon, most recently a third-round stoppage over Gilbert Burns. Prates finished Li Jingliang this past August.

“I don’t know if the UFC would make this fight because of the rankings, but that’s the fight I want at the moment,” Prates said. “And I don’t know if he would take this fight either since I’m ranked lower than him, but that fight would make me happy and I think it makes sense. Let’s go! If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

Maddalena has won five of his seven UFC bouts via stoppage and Prates is confident he could be the first to finish the Australian standout inside the octagon.

“We would break each other in there,” Prates said with a laugh. “He’s a durable guy and hard to knock out, so I think it would be three rounds of war. I think I’d beat him, but it would be tough. It would be awesome.”

Magny is his next assignment and Prates predicts a finish before entering the championship rounds to make a case for a big name next, especially after seeing Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry get big jumps in the division after beating the veteran.

Prates admitted he expected to be the favorite against Magny, but was surprised to see the veteran such a heavy underdog odds-wise. The 31-year-old striker, however, vows not to underestimate Magny in Las Vegas.

“I expected to be the favorite considering my 10-fight winning streak and my knockouts and the fact I’m younger, but not by that much,” Prates said. “I see comments online of people kind of underestimating Neil Magny. I think I’ll win, I think I’ll knock him out, but I don’t expect an easy fight like some are saying because he’s experienced and can slow down a fight. He’s ranked No. 15 in the world for a reason, right? He’s beaten a lot of hyped fighters, so I’m working to make sure he doesn’t derail my hype.”

“I think I’ll knock him out around the third round,” he added. “He won’t come in trying to trade with me. I think he will wrestle and try to hold me against the cage. I don’t even know if he will try to take me down, just do that boring fight, you know? That’s what I expect. If he comes in trading, that’s great, but I’m ready for everything.”

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UFC fighters Denise Gomes, Jessica Andrade, and Karol Rosa have joined forces to create a new all-women’s MMA team to ignite change in Brazil.

Gomes, who enters the octagon Saturday to face one-time UFC title contender Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC Vegas 100 in Las Vegas, said that GAEA Project was born in Sao Paulo from a desire to give women better training environment and support, especially after experiencing past situations “no athlete needs to experience.”

“GAEA Project came to give girls the opportunity to work freely, work the correct way, and give them option in training,” Gomes said in an interview with MMA Fighting. The trio of UFC fighters were part of PRVT, which closed doors after the retirement of coach and manager Gilliard Parana. Andrade said she will file a lawsuit against Parana.

“The truth is, our previous team ended and we kind of had no place else to go,” she continued. “Based on the things we went through there before, we were more selective of what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. The team ended, but Karol, Jessica and I remained together, so we decided, alongside other great people, to create our own team.”

Gomes said GAEA Project, a non-profit company based on empathy and cooperation to empower women, is a place where female athletes can go and train for upcoming fights without the need to necessarily part ways with their original teams, creating opportunity for women to do their camp and at the same time helping full-time GAEA members.

GAEA Project’s first assignment in the UFC is Gomes’ strawweight clash with Kowalkiewicz this Saturday, with the Brazilian looking to go 4-2 in the company after a June victory over Eduarda Moura. The Polish talent was riding a four-fight winning stream before dropping a decision to Iasmin Lucindo in May.

“It’s a privilege to be here [fighting Kowalkiewicz],” Gomes said. “She has fought so many girls that are role models, and now I’m fighting her. I obviously respect her history, but I want to build my own story. … She’s a striker than can grapple, but I think she will try to take me down instead of trading on the feet. I’m confident in my hands and in the grappling area, and I will be able to use all the weapons I have.”

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The UFC will host their 100th UFC Fight Night event at the APEX in Las Vegas this Saturday for UFC Vegas 100, and in the main event, welterweight veteran Neil Magny will look to slow the incredible momentum of Carlos Prates. What is at stake in Saturday’s headliner?

Ahead of this weekend’s slate, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew preview the event, the Magny vs. Prates headliner, what Prates could gain with his fourth win of the year in the octagon, and the chances Magny has to pull off the upset. Additionally, they’ll discuss the overall quality of the card, the middleweight tilt between Gerald Meerschaert and former ONE champ Reinier de Ridder, and much more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 100 preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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MMA Fighting has ONE 169 results for the Malykhin vs. Reug Reug fight card from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday night.

In the main event, Anatoly Malykhin defends his ONE heavyweight title against Oumar Kane, popularly known as “Reug Reug.” Malykhin has reeled off 14 straight wins to begin his pro career, while Reug Reug (6-1) has only suffered one professional loss.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon lost his ONE flyweight Muay Thai title after failing to make weight, but Jacob Smith still has a chance to win the championship after hitting the mark. Their fight is now a catchweight at 135.5 pounds.

Check out ONE 169 results below (MMA unless otherwise noted).

Main Card (Amazon Prime at 8 p.m. ET)

Anatoly Malykhin vs. Reug Reug

Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Jacob Smith (Muay Thai)

Jackie Buntan vs. Anissa Meksen (kickboxing)

Adriano Moraes vs. Danny Kingad

Kongthoranee Sor Sommai vs. Tagir Khalilov (Muay Thai)

Kade Ruotolo vs. Ahmed Mujtba (kickboxing)

Sam-A Gaiyanghadao vs. Zhang Peimian

Marcus Buchecha vs. Amir Aliakbari

Eddie Abasolo vs. Mohamed Younes Rabah (Muay Thai)

Ayaka Miura vs. Macarena Aragon

Aliff Sor Dechapan vs. Walter Goncalves (Muay Thai)

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Anatoly Malykhin might have a fight booked against Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane on Friday at ONE 169 but he hasn’t forgotten about pursuing an eventual showdown with ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou.

It’s a fight he’s been chasing ever since Ngannou signed with the PFL, which opened up the possibility for a cross-promotion matchup between arguably the two best heavyweights outside of the UFC. Actually, Ngannou could make a compelling case that he’s still the real lineal heavyweight champion considering he left the UFC in free agency while still holding the title.

Following a two-fight stint in boxing, Ngannou finally returned to MMA in October when he dispatched Renan Ferreira inside the first round to extend his overall win streak to seven in a row. Malykhin was keeping a close eye on Ngannou’s first fight back in MMA since 2022 but truth be told, he wasn’t exactly blown away by what he witnessed that night.

“Of course I watched the fight and actually I didn’t see anything special,” Malykhin told MMA Fighting about Ngannou’s win. “Nothing too impressive in that fight. He did not surprise me with anything.

“So I do think that 2025 could be the year for us to face each other. I’m ready. I’m ready to face him. He made a statement that he was the [best] fighter on the planet. I don’t think so. He cannot and he shouldn’t be saying that until he faces me.”

After initially calling out Ngannou earlier this year, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong didn’t scoff at the idea of working with the PFL to make Malykhin’s dreams come true, although he didn’t expect a very compelling fight if it happens.

“Francis has one-punch KO power, great striking, but he doesn’t have a ground game,” Sityodtong told MMA Fighting in June. “I mean, genuinely [he has] blue belt level jiu-jitsu and no wrestling. Anatoly would take him down in a heartbeat. I don’t think it would be competitive, just to be very blunt.”

Malykhin won’t argue with Sityodtong’s assessment but that doesn’t make the fight any less intriguing thanks to Ngannou’s established name and resume.

“100 percent, I agree with Chatri,” Malykhin said. “I watched his fight and he doesn’t have decent wrestling. He doesn’t have good cardio. He cannot feel the distance properly. He has a very strong punch. That is very true. But my overall skill set is much better than his.”

Before he can seriously pursue the Ngannou fight, Malykhin first has to get through the hulking Senegalese wrestler standing in his way on Friday.

The 32-year-old heavyweight best known by his nickname “Reug Reug” comes into the title bout off three straight wins including a unanimous decision over multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu grappling champion Marcus Buchecha.

While this is a heavyweight championship fight, Malykhin doesn’t see his upcoming opponent as a massive threat, especially when it comes to his overall MMA arsenal.

“My opinion is [he’s still very raw] and I also think he’s a fitness model type of fighter,” Malykhin said. “All he does, he trains in the gym, he trains for girls, he looks good, but it doesn’t give him the teeniest, tiniest chance to defeat elite sportsmen, elite fighters like me. Name me one name of a good fighter, a decent fighter that he beat? No.

“The only thing that he did was fall from some invisible punch, as far as I’m concerned. That’s all I can see. Somewhere I just punched the air and ‘Reug Reug’ just fell down.”

Obviously, Malykhin is more than confident that he’s going to retain his title in impressive fashion and he hopes to use “Reug Reug” as a way to send a message to Ngannou.

“I’m going to finish the best wrestler who is coming from Africa,” Malykhin said. “In 2025, I’m ready to finish the best puncher from Africa.”

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Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where we shine a light on fights from across the globe that may have been overlooked in these hectic times where it seems like there’s an MMA show every other day.

Apologies, but I’m going to need all of you to put your UFC Vegas 100 party planning aside for a moment so you can check out this week’s latest randomness from the fighting world, namely Yatcha Club being at it again.

(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs and submissions, and to @Grabaka_Hitman for uploading many of the clips you see here. Give them a follow and chip in on Patreon if you can.)

If you’re not familiar with Yatcha Club, its whole gimmick is putting on fights in the most off-beat places you can imagine. Children’s play areas, underground tunnels, parking garages, you name it, the club has probably thrown two dudes in it to punch and kick each other.

In their latest experiment, fighters Chung Soo Lee and Kris Kirsch made their way over to a wading pool to do battle and the results are just about what you’d expect.

Going for a takedown in this setting is incredibly smart. If you’re the one being taken down, doing anything besides immediately trying to get up off your back is incredibly not smart. Because of, you know, the whole being submerged in water thing.

Once Kirsch is down, Lee doesn’t even have to do much other than sloppily grapple as his opponent tries not to swallow a gallon of water. The only strategy to even consider in this fight is making sure you’re on top and then pushing the other guy down until they tap or drown. Like, bro, why are you even going for ground-and-pound there?

Let’s toss this concept in the “never again” pile.

Watch the whole fight below and more from Yatcha Club on their YouTube channel.

Damien Anderson vs. Gabriel Wanderley
Richard Mayol vs. Dallas Dodd
Artur Minev vs. Cristobal Ibanez

With whatever that was out of the way, let’s retreat to the comfy confines of UFC Fight Pass, where human beings were KO’ing and submitting each other the old-fashioned way.

At Fury FC 98 in Houston, Damien Anderson scored a heel hook submission that would make Ryan Hall proud, winning a tangle of limbs to force the tap from Gabriel Wanderley.

Not going to lie, this may have just been an excuse to mention Ryan Hall. Get well and fight again soon, sir.

Richard Mayol (not to be confused with British comedy legend and Drop Dead Fred star Rik Mayall, may he rest in peace) kicks off a cavalcade of right hand knockouts with this precision shot to the temple of Dallas Dodd.

You can pinpoint the exact moment where Dodd’s body shuts down and were it not for the cage wall stopping him, he would have fallen flat back into a nice nap instead of having to absorb that extra shot.

Earlier on the card, Artur Minev needed just 28 seconds to queue up his right hand to blister Cristobal Ibanez.

Stuffs the shot, immediately corners his opponent, and then ends him. Cold efficiency from the Ukrainian lightweight, who improves to 4-0 as a pro.

Stefano Paterno vs. Jorge Bueno
Konstantinos Ntelis vs. Simone Patrizi

Over at Cage Warriors 179 in Rome, the top 2 fights of the night delivered with-you guessed it-a pair of powerful right hand knockouts.

Stefano Paterno continued his recent hot streak, cracking Jorge Bueno for a stylish walk-off finish.

That’s six straight wins for Paterno, including three wins inside the distance since returning to Cage Warriors. At 29, the Italian’s best days are still ahead of him.

Greece’s Konstantinos Ntelis made sure it was a short night at the office as he caught an advancing Simone Patrizi with an absolute hammer that Patrizi stepped directly into.

There’s your “When Your Legs Don’t Work Like They Used To Before” KO of the Week.

Mauricio Partida vs. Brandon Uruchurtu

Zipping over to Lux Fight League 47 in Mexico City, we go from lower limb shutdown to total body shutdown.

Mauricio Partida refused to let Brandon Uruchurtu just chill against the fence, so when he saw an opening to strike, he took it and then some. That’s a monster knee up the middle and Uruchurtu doesn’t just go down in pain, he appears to freeze up completely. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he cracked a rib there.

Emily Ducote vs. Yulia Ostroverkhova
Victoria Leonardo vs. Amanda Torres
Shanna Young vs. Pamela Boveda
Magdalena Czaban vs. Jessica Hope Holmes

Hopefully you tuned in live on CBS, but in case you didn’t, Invicta FC has you covered with all the highlights from its latest show in Kansas City, Kan. It was a big night for recently released UFC vets, with Emily Ducote, Victoria Leonardo, and Shanna Young all picking up impressive finishes.

Of the three, I’m happiest for Leonardo, who was coming off of two rough knockout losses to Wang Cong and Natalia Silva. During her UFC run, Leonardo developed a reputation for being on the wrong end of spectacular highlights, so for her to get back in the win column and score her first finish since 2020, that’s got to be sweet.

Just two fights into her pro career, atomweight Magdalena Czaban has a submission win she can crow about after locking in this nasty guillotine.

If the UFC ever gets serious about implementing the 115-pound division, Czaban is one to keep an eye on.

Emin Huseynov vs. Olzhas Zhakypbekuly

Let’s end today’s globe-trotting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where Olzhas Zhakypbekuly ended up with his face in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Whatever Emin Huseynov had done prior to this, he had Zhakypbekuly biting hard on a fake before launching into his spin kick. Zhakypbekuly gets low, gets his hands up, and still ends up eating all of that one. That can’t feel good.

Full Alash Pride fights are available to watch for free on their YouTube channel.

If you know of a recent fight or event that you think may have been overlooked, or a promotion that could use some attention, please let us know on X — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.

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Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are about to step into the squared circle for what could be the most-watched boxing match in combat sports history.

That’s right, with their fight airing live on Netflix with no extra charge to its over 280 million subscribers, it’s well within the realm of possibility that Paul vs. Tyson shatters modern viewership records. At the very least, when you head to the water cooler (do people still do this?) on Monday, there’s a strong chance your co-workers will have heard about “that crazy Tyson fight” that happened Friday night.

With all of that said… who exactly is this fight for?

Paul has made the most of his transition from social media huckster to influencer boxer, scoring high-profile fights with everyone from Nate Diaz to Tommy Fury to Anderson Silva to Mike Perry, and has now caught in his net one of the most popular boxers ever, “Iron” Mike Tyson.

Yes, Tyson is back and competing in a professionally sanctioned bout for the first time in over 19 years (it should be noted that he stepped into the ring with Roy Jones Jr. for an exhibition bout in 2020). He and Paul were first scheduled to fight on July 20, but health problems on Tyson’s side postponed the bout until Nov. 15, and in between those dates, Tyson actually celebrated his 58th birthday. That’s 31 years older than Paul.

Again… what are we doing here?

MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Jed Meshew, and Damon Martin scratched their noggins to figure out the best and healthiest way to approach Paul vs. Tyson if you’re one of the many planning to tune in even if you don’t know why.

Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

1. Paint the best possible outcome for Friday.

Martin: A compelling fight that doesn’t look like a 27-year-old fighting a 58-year-old.

That’s setting a dramatically low bar but the reality is no one knows for certain what to expect in this fight. At his best, Jake Paul is a prospect with some good boxing skills and huge knockout power but at his worst, he’s still largely a novice without any real experience against top level opponents.

Then there’s Tyson, who in his prime was arguably the most feared fighter in the history of combat sports but that feels like a lifetime ago with his last win coming all the way back in 2003. Jake Paul was six years old at the time.

So what exactly defines compelling?

Let’s be honest the fear factor for this fight almost entirely surrounds Tyson because it’s just not realistic to expect somebody nearing 60 to still be fighting at a high level. Perhaps he’s really found the fountain of youth, and if he can manage to knock Paul down even once or just find a way to stick around for all eight rounds without taking too much damage, that’s a win in my book.

Meshew: Everyone has fun and no one gets seriously injured.

With over 20 years of combat sports fandom, I’ve seen a lot of stuff, and in general, I try not to clutch my pearls about most things. At the end of the day, this is two consenting adults and who am I to tell them how to live their lives? But this one is really on the boundary of acceptability for me, and truth be told, it’s beyond.

Sure, Jake Paul isn’t within three zip codes of where Mike Tyson was in his prime, but Tyson ain’t in his prime. In fact, he’s about three decades away from it. This is akin to Hall of Fame football players trying to put the pads back on to play in the XFL — absurd. Tyson had a freaking medical emergency this year! He is damn near a senior citizen and even the training footage they’re releasing to show “Mike’s still got it” is concerning. No doubt, Tyson looks like he’s in terrific shape for 58, but he very much looks like an old man.

There is no doubt about the outcome of this “fight.” The only doubt is in how bad it will be. The best case scenario is that both Tyson and Paul realize what this is and have a glorified sparring session for eight rounds where all the money is made, egos are stroked, and we can get out of there without feeling gross.

Lee: Speak for yourselves, fellas, if I’m going to dream up a best-case scenario for this one, I’m dreaming big:

Tyson knocks the absolute stuffing out of Paul.

Nothing personal against “The Problem Child” (though there are plenty of reasons to dislike Paul, so pick one), and Tyson is certainly no saint himself, but Tyson reaching down deep to land one last punch of doom on Paul’s chin would create unfathomable ripples in the timeline. This wouldn’t just be the biggest story in boxing of 2024, it would arguably be the biggest story in all of sports if Tyson put Paul down for the count.

I get it. Ideally, neither man ends up getting seriously injured for the sake of a freakshow fight that’s more a test of Netflix’s live streaming capabilities than an athletic contest that anyone should be taking seriously. But this is a pro bout. This is a fight. And, even at damn near 60, this is the always unpredictable Mike Tyson.

The heavyweight legend’s 2020 spar with Roy Jones was unexpectedly charming, and if we see something akin to that, I can’t imagine too many fans complaining. They’ll also forget about it by Saturday, once UFC 309 pre-show programming begins.

If Tyson somehow destroys Paul, though? Let’s just say Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will have a tough act to follow.

Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

2. And what’s the worst possible outcome?

Lee: I’ll leave the more morbid predictions for my colleagues, but I think one of the worst things that could happen is that Friday’s event is such a big hit that we get a flood of Netflix combat sports specials in the same vein.

Look how saturated the streaming network has become with comedy specials. Even if you’re a fan of this kind of content, which is uploaded to Netflix on a regular basis, I imagine there are plenty of subscribers rolling their eyes at the slew of standups bombarding their screens whenever they log in.

Now instead of those, imagine execs trying to tap into the novelty bout market. More Jake Paul vs. [insert legend here] fights. More over-the-hill boxers being thrust into the ring with the promise of a massive payday. Complete nonsense fights featuring influencers with millions of followers named, like, “X44Reggie” or something. All at the touch of a button.

On the other hand, if this leads to a partnership between Netflix and Fight Circus, then I take it all back.

Meshew: Death. I do not say that lightly, but it’s a realistic possibility.

In combat sports, fighters court death constantly. They are always talking about “being willing to die in the ring” and in general there’s an understanding that the profession of fighting is trading in health for money. Usually that manifests in terrible, long-term consequences (which Tyson already shows signs of) but fairly regularly it also results directly in death. Literally hundreds of people have died in the ring, averaging 13 deaths per year in boxing. And in most instances, those are matchups between equally capable fighters in their relative youth. That is not at all what’s going on here.

Because high-profile deaths in combat sports are rare (and thankfully non-existent in the UFC) most fans do not really think of it. But the reason they are less frequent is because there was a concerted effort to make this incredibly dangerous sport as safe as possible. Putting a near 60-year-old guy in their with a man 30 years his junior who hits incredibly hard, that’s tempting fate. And the combat sports gods are bastards. You never want to tempt them.

There’s an old adage that “you don’t play boxing” and I cannot help but think that’s exactly what is happening on Saturday. A bunch of people with absolutely no moral imperative other than making as much money as possible are playing a dangerous game. I sincerely hope it doesn’t come back in a terrible, tragic way.

Martin: Tyson being carried out of the ring.

Not to be overdramatic, but it’s impossible not to think about a scenario like that when a 58-year-old fighter is competing professionally for the first time in nearly two decades. Yes, Tyson is undergoing medical testing to get cleared to fight, but let’s not forget this is the same Texas commission that sanctioned Dada 5000 to face Kimbo Slice back in 2016 and then afterwards Dada 5000 suffered cardiac arrest and kidney failure before being rushed to the hospital following his collapse in the cage.

Yes, Tyson looks like he’s in phenomenal shape for his age and he still hits like a truck but this isn’t the same guy who went scorched earth on Michael Spinks in 1988 and, truth be told, he’s not even the same person who effectively spent eight rounds sparring with Roy Jones Jr. back in 2020.

No amount of testing can guarantee that Tyson won’t take an overhand right from Paul, end up face-down on the canvas, causing every single concern about this fight even happening in the first place to come bubbling up to the surface. Obviously, nobody wants to see Tyson get seriously hurt, but if you’re looking for the worst possible outcome, that’s it.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

3. Should Jake Paul win, what’s next for “The Problem Child?”

Martin: It’s so hard to figure out what exactly Paul really wants for his boxing career.

One minute he’s calling out Conor McGregor and Alex Pereira and the next he’s spouting off about becoming a world champion in the next couple of years. Here’s a hint: You’re not going to win a legitimate title beating MMA superstars in the boxing ring.

But for all his talk about legitimacy, Paul has shown us time and time again that he’s much more about spectacle than sport — and that’s totally OK, by the way. His couple of fights against journeymen boxers generated little interest, so Paul has to recognize that as much as he brings as an “A” side, people aren’t going to care to watch unless there’s at least a somewhat compelling “B” side.

So the answer here is Paul finally faces KSI.

Outside of fighting his brother Logan Paul, that’s pretty much the final boss when it comes to the influencer boxing scene. KSI has the name, he has the draw, and there’s so much disdain between him and Paul that it’s actually a fight worth watching.

Lee: It’s MMA time, baby!

PFL just delivered a couple of highly anticipated fights in the Francis Ngannou return and Cris Cyborg taking on Larissa Pacheco, plus they’re making this year’s championship event a free show with a subscription to ESPN+ as opposed to the usual pay-per-view price. While they’re in the habit of giving the people what they want, it’s time to throw Paul in the SmartCage.

Who he’ll fight, I don’t rightly know. And I’m not sure it matters. Paul, on his own, is not going to break attendance or viewership records, but he will bring a demographic to PFL that they’re sorely in need of. Not to get all “how do you do, fellow kids?” here, but I don’t know if the league has been much of an attraction for the younger generation of fight fans and that’s still a group Paul has some pull with.

Selfishly, I’m curious to see how Paul’s work ethic, youth, and resource advantages translate to MMA. This business loves a good heel, and if Paul is even half decent at grappling or throwing the occasional teep, he could be a legitimate feather in PFL’s cap.

It’s by no means a lock that he ever crosses over, but I’m excited at the possibility of Paul throwing caution to the wind and seeing how far he can go with six months of sprawl training.

Meshew: I think Damon is right, it’s probably KSI.

I do not care how often Paul says it, the man is not concerned with legacy. I’m not even sure he can define what that means, or what he means by it. Paul is interested almost exclusively in attention and money, and he probably only cares about the attention insofar as it leads to more money (and to be clear, that’s not a knock on him, it is an extremely pragmatic away to approach life).

Paul dabbled in the “real boxer” matchups, but it seems he’s realized that there was simply not much of a market for watching him beat scrubs no one has ever heard of before. Jake Paul fans do not care about him boxing (they care about being entertained and that’s not entertaining) and MMA fans (the other big base of viewership for these things) don’t care if he’s not fighting someone they know.

Which leads us back to KSI. These two are the godfathers of the influencer boxing scene and a fight between them has been talked about for years. At this point, it’s delayed so long it’s maybe past due already. Do the thing boys and then we can see what happens when the logical endpoint of everything finally arrives.

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Think you can figure out which UFC fighter we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out.

We’re back for another day of the SB Nation UFC in-5 daily trivia game, and we’re switching to a system of a new article each day for the game.

We tried using a single article for the game, updated with the latest game each day, but it was creating a bit of an unwieldy experience in the comments. So, we’ll have the current day’s game plus the previous three days in each new article. That way, you can catch up if you miss a day.

Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game!

What we need from you

1. Play the game
2. Share your result in the comments and on social media
3. Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below)

Today’s UFC in-5 game

Thursday’s UFC in-5 game

Wednesday’s UFC in-5 game

Tuesday’s UFC in-5 game

The goal of the game is to guess the correct random UFC fighter player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED FIGHTERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. It will be a mix of well-known players and some “that guys” that we haven’t thought of in some time. The game will appear in slot #3 of the MMA Fighting layout each morning, with occasional movement later in the day.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media.

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After getting knocked out for the first time in his career in the main event of UFC 308 by Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway’s featherweight career appears to be over for good, as he recently confirmed he’ll be making the move to the UFC lightweight division. Is it the right move for the current “BMF” champion?

On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel reacts to Holloway’s full-time lightweight jump, discuss who he could face next at 155, and if a third meeting with Dustin Poirier is the fight to make. Additionally, topics include Brandon Moreno’s sensational performance at UFC Edmonton and what’s next for the former two-time champ, other standout moments from this past Saturday’s card, Rakhmonov wanting a fight with Kamaru Usman for the interim welterweight title at UFC 310, if the UFC should just wait for Belal Muhammad to heal up, UFC Vegas 100 this Saturday headlined by Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates, and much more.

Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee and Eurosport’s Marcel Dorff.

Watch the show live at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT in the video above.

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The UFC Vegas 100 weigh-in video features 24 fighters stepping on the scale Friday morning in Las Vegas. Watch a live stream of the official weigh-ins above courtesy of Ag. Fight.

In the main event, Neil Magny and Carlos Prates have to hit the welterweight limit of 171 pounds for the non-title fight. Magny seeks to extend his record for the most wins by a welterweight in UFC history, with his number currently standing at 22.

Prates can complete a spectacular 2024 campaign that already includes three wins this year. He has finished all of his opponents during that stretch, with each performance earning him a $ 50,000 bonus.

Ricky Turcios and Benardo Sopaj have to hit the 136-pound limit for the non-title bantamweight fight in the penultimate bout of the evening.

The UFC Vegas 100 official weigh-in video begins at 12 p.m. ET.

Check out UFC Vegas 100 weigh-in results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET)

Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates

Ricky Turcios vs. Benardo Sopaj

Gerald Meerschaert vs. Reinier de Ridder

Luana Pinheiro vs. Gillian Robertson

Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Dusko Todorovic

Preliminary Card (ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET)

Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Denise Gomes

Gaston Bolanos vs. Cortavious Romious

Elizeu Zaleski vs. Zach Scroggin

Matthew Semelsberger vs. Charlie Radtke

Cody Stamann vs. Da’Mon Blackshear

Tresean Gore vs. Antonio Trocoli

Melissa Mullins vs. Klaudia Sygula

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