As expected, chaos ensued when KSI and Dillon Danis went face-to-face for the first time ahead of their boxing match.
KSI and Danis headline Misfits Boxing 21 on March 29 in Manchester, England. The two appeared at Tuesday’s press conference to promote the card, and when they squared off, the trash talk from the previous 20 minutes continued — that is until KSI slapped Danis right in the face with a pancake.
Check out video of the wild moment and pull apart below.
@KSI SLAPS @DILLONDANIS AT THE FACE OFF #UnfinishedBusiness | #KSIDanis | Live on DAZN on March 29 pic.twitter.com/puTFIptXPZ
— MF & DAZN X Series (@MF_DAZNXSeries) March 4, 2025
During the press conference, KSI and Danis agreed to a bet, where if one fighter knocks out the other, the winner gets to keep the loser’s fight purse. Other memorable moments included Danis saying he’s not even training for KSI in lieu of an unannounced MMA bout with Tony Ferguson, KSI saying his boxing style is similar to Dmitry Bivol’s, and KSI being able to hit harder than UFC light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira.
Both fighters look to bounce back from boxing losses in their most recent bouts from the The Prime Card in October 2023, where Danis lost via DQ to Logan Paul, while KSI dropped a decision to Tommy Fury.
Leon Edwards | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Leon Edwards sees himself on the cusp of another title shot with a pivotal win in his home country.
“Rocky” headlines UFC London opposite Sean Brady on March 22, a matchup that materialized after Edwards’ original opponent Jack Della Maddalena was called upon to challenge welterweight champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. Muhammad won his title with a commanding decision win over Edwards this past July, and Edwards actually angled for a rematch when he heard Muhammad needed a title challenger for the upcoming May pay-per-view.
“I heard about my replacement fight probably, like, a couple of weeks before,” Edwards said on his YouTube vlog. “I’d been in talks with the UFC, I was trying to step in to fight Belal, but I know that they sold London around me, so it would be difficult to take me off the card and leave Jack on the card. It would be weird to let Jack headline London.
“So we got a new opponent, Sean Brady, it’s a style that I’m used to. It’s a style that I’m comfortable fighting. So I’m looking forward to it, should be good.”
The fighter shuffle was necessitated by an injury to No. 1 welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov. Muhammad was set to defend against Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in December before a bone infection forced Muhammad off of that card. Though their rematch was never officially booked, the understanding was that Rakhmonov was still next in line, so his unavailability opened the door for Della Maddalena to face Muhammad instead.
Edwards thinks change at the top of the division is a good thing, especially for him if he puts on a statement performance against Brady at The O2 Arena.
“Also, Jack getting replaced to fight for the title, I feel like that opened up the division more,” Edwards said. “If he goes out and gets the win, I think that’s the perfect fight for me next. If Belal beats him, then a rematch is definitely as well.
“I spoke to the UFC, they told me that after this win this is a No. 1 contender fight. Whoever wins this, fights for the title. Well, when I win this I fight for the title. That is my aim. My aim is to get back that two-time world championship and everyone knew the result of the fight with me and Belal, everyone knew that wasn’t me. That was fighting at home, 5 a.m. in the morning, there’s a lot of things that went into it that played a part in the performance. So I can’t wait to get back in there and just set everything right and I think it all starts with Sean Brady.”
Muhammad responded to the clip on social media, warning Edwards that he’s going to have to wait “three long years” before they fight again.
someone tell him he got three long years ahead of him
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 2, 2025
This is a reference to their feud that began in March 2021 when they first fought in the main event of a UFC APEX card. That bout ended in a no-contest when an eye poke left Muhammad unable to continue just 18 seconds into Round 2. Muhammad had to rattle off five consecutive wins before being granted a rematch with Edwards at UFC 314 in July 2024.
Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney | Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images
The Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero press conference will feature Ryan Garcia, Rolly Romero, Devin Haney, Jose Ramirez, Teofimo Lopez, Arnold Barboza Jr., and more to promote their upcoming fights at the “Fatal Fury: City of Wolves” event on May 2 in New York City.
The Garcia vs. Romero press conference is expected to begin at 3 p.m. ET.
The UFC 313 fight card will feature 12 fights, including UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira defending his belt against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event.
Pereira, who has reeled off five straight UFC wins, will attempt to defend his UFC light heavyweight title for a fourth consecutive time. Ankalaev, who is 11-0-1 with 1 no-contest in his past 13 UFC fights, hasn’t lost since his UFC debut on March 17, 2018.
In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje will square off against Rafael Fiziev in a lightweight contest. Gaethje and Fiziev have clashed once before with Gaethje winning via majority decision at UFC 286 on March 18, 2023.
Curtis Blaydes has been a perennial top-five heavyweight for the biggest part of his UFC career so there were more than a few curious looks when his next fight was booked against relative unknown Rizvan Kuniev.
It’s not to say that Kuniev is an unskilled fighter but he’s making his UFC debut against Blaydes after two fights on The Contender Series, a single appearance in the PFL, and spending a year on the shelf after he was suspended following a positive drug test for multiple steroids. Blaydes admits he didn’t know any of that because he had never heard of Kuniev before the UFC came to him with that name as an opponent.
“I did [a double take] but like I always say, the money’s the same regardless if it’s Jon Jones or if it’s a debut guy,” Blaydes told MMA Fighting. “The money’s the same so I’ll always be down.
“I had to Google him. I watched his fight on The Contender [Series], that’s really the only fight of his I watched. He looks like your traditional heavyweight — swings heavy and hopes to knock you out early.”
Once Blaydes started doing his research he came across Kuniev’s name for the suspension he faced from the Nevada Athletic Commission after he tested positive for a cocktail of banned substances. Kuniev was penalized after a drug test discovered drostanolone, metenelone, boldenone, and 19-norandrosterone, which are all anabolic steroids, in his system.
Discovering that information might give someone pause before a fight but Blaydes didn’t lose any sleep over it.
“I heard about that also,” Blaydes said about Kuniev’s suspension. “Who knows that might be part of this. Maybe he has to get it out of his system but I heard about rumors like that about [Jailton] Almeida and I mean he is very strong and he did have skills, but roids are not going to be the difference. It’s not going to be enough.
“Even if he is on some stuff, I don’t believe it’s going to help him with his sprawling or help him take a punch. I’m all right with it, even if he is on some stuff.”
Perhaps the biggest danger in this fight is that Blaydes walks into UFC 313 as an overwhelming favorite to win based not only on his past resume but also because he’s facing an octagon rookie.
That means the expectations are high for Blaydes to tear through Kuniev but he learned a long time ago that just because something is supposed to happen doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.
“I think that’s one of the benefits coming up through wrestling,” Blaydes explained. “I’ve been in this position before where I was a junior in high school, highly ranked, No. 4 in the state, got some unknown dude. I went out there messing around with him, took him down a few times, let him up, I’m playing with my food so to speak, and then got hit with a headlock and I got pinned by some unknown unranked heavyweight.
“After that, I’ve never approached anything athletic like ‘Oh this dude’s a bum.’ He’s here for a reason. He must have some type of skill. I’m not going to not approach him with the respect he deserves. He’s here. He’s in the UFC. They’re not bringing in unskilled heavyweights. I’m approaching it as if he has the ability to beat me, which he does. This is heavyweight. It only takes one sloppy haymaker and lights out.”
While Blaydes didn’t get upset that the UFC offered him a newcomer, he initially had his sights set on a different opponent.
Coming off a knockout loss to current interim heavyweight Tom Aspinall this past July, Blaydes thought a showdown against Ciryl Gane was the fight that made the most sense but he also didn’t get his hopes too high that would happen.
Blaydes has never considered himself a trash talker and he doesn’t go out of his way to stir up trouble but he’s got receipts to back up his belief that Gane has no interest in ever facing him.
“I normally don’t do this but he has turned [it down] — I have heard this from my management speaking with Hunter [Campbell], who does the contracts and negotiations for [heavyweights], he has turned me down three times over the past four years,” Blaydes revealed. “I remember I asked for him originally in 2021 and they gave me Volkov. I wanted him again after that one and they gave me Derrick Lewis. I’ve asked for him a few times.
“Originally that’s the one I wanted after the Aspinall fight. OK, I guess I’ll go for Gane and he ends up in there with Volkov. I don’t think we will ever fight, unfortunately.”
As much as it bugs him that Gane seemingly has no interest in the fight, Blaydes understands the logic, at least based on the visuals of how he expects that matchup to play out.
“We understand why,” Blaydes said. “I go out there and I smash him, he loses a lot marketability. The aura of the Frenchman who does all the fancy stuff. If you see me go out there and just body slam him on his head like four or five times and elbow him into oblivious, it kind of removes the marketability. So I get it.
“It just sucks because I think it would be a great fight for me. I beat him, that should be enough to get another title shot. Beating the guy I’m about to fight right now, it’s hard to say. He doesn’t have any value as a name right now. I don’t even know his name. Rizvan Kuniev? Right now doesn’t have a lot of name value.”
Beating Kuniev might not do much for him in the long run outside of earning another paycheck but Blaydes is proud that he didn’t scoff at the offer when the UFC came calling.
He’s nowhere near done with his career but Blaydes holds his head up high knowing when the day comes that he finally hangs up his gloves that no one can ever say he backed down from a fight.
“That’s a legacy I’ll brag about,” Blaydes said. “I won’t brag about the names. I’ll brag that I never said no. Never ever said no.”
Ryan Garcia | Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images
Ryan Garcia wants to prove this is a new chapter in his life.
One of the most popular fighters in boxing, Garcia had a tumultuous 2024. Ahead of his fight with Devin Haney in April, had a number of incidents, that led some to question the state of his mental health, including badly missing weight for the fight with Haney and then chugging a beer in their final face off. Despite these incidents, Garcia delivered a sensational performance against Haney, pulling off an upset victory, only to later have that result overturned after he test positive for a banned substance.
Garcia received a one year suspension for the infraction and now makes his return on May 2 when he takes on Rolly Romero in the main event of mega boxing card that takes place in Times Square in New York City. On Tuesday, Garcia participated in the first press conference for the “Fatal Fury” event and made it clear that this time around there would be no antics from him.
“I want to be great,” Garcia said. “I’ve always wanted to fight the best fighters in the sport. As far as my problems outside the ring, I’ve always had those problems. I don’t know who else struggles with stuff like that, but that’s just something I was struggling with.
“I want to just show everybody that you can come back from anything. I want to show my dedication to the sport and be a true professional. I admit my wrongs and I don’t want anybody to take my actions of drinking and smoking before the fight and try to think that’s a way to handle yourself as a professional. So I came here to change that. This is my first fight to get respect back and to prove to everybody that it wasn’t a fluke, and I’m ready to do it.”
Garcia’s rival Devin Haney is also fighting on the same card, taking on Jose Ramirez in the co-main event, with both parties openly acknowledging that should should they both win, a rematch of their now No-Contest will take place later this year.
When Chris Weidman suffered a gruesome broken leg back in 2021, he had no idea the amount of time, surgeries and rehabilitation that it would take to get back in the cage again.
Over two years and 14 surgeries later, the New York native finally returned to action but he wouldn’t wish what he went through on anybody else. While thankfully it’s not exactly a common occurrence, Weidman witnessed Detroit Lions star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson suffer through almost exact same injury when his leg snapped after colliding with a teammate as he sacked Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott.
Hutchinson ultimately broke the fibula and tibia, which required him to undergo emergency surgery just hours after the game ended. Initially, the former Michigan Wolverine was expected to be out of action for at least six to eight months but there was some optimism that perhaps he could return even sooner if the Lions made the Super Bowl, which takes place on Feb. 9.
That equals out to four months between the injury and playing football again.
While he can’t predict how quickly Hutchinson will recover, Weidman knows from his own experience — and 14 total surgeries on his leg — that coming back from something so traumatic takes time.
“That’s not happening,” Weidman told MMA Fighting about Hutchinson playing again this season. “I really hope the best for him. I don’t know the full extent of his injuries. I don’t know exactly what happened. I saw the videos but I haven’t seen the x-rays. I don’t know what they did surgery wise.
“I can tell you with me, it was the hardest thing I’ve been through in my life by far. I mean it took me over two years to come back. I fought in April 2021 and I think I fought [August] 2023. Around that same time but it’s not fun.”
Based on reports, Hutchinson’s optimistic timeline to recover was based on a few key factors.
The fracture itself was a clean break with no ligament or nerve damage done. Hutchinson was also able to get the surgery to repair the damage done almost immediately after the injury happened because he was close to Baylor University Medical Center, which is a Level 1 trauma center, where Dr. Alan Jones resides.
Jones is widely regarded as one of the top experts in tibia and fibula injuries and repairs.
Weidman didn’t know the extent of the injuries that Hutchinson suffered so he couldn’t speculate when comparing potential recovery times, especially after he suffered through a compound fracture when his leg broke in a fight.
“Every injury’s definitely different,” Weidman said. “It’s a traumatic injury so everyone is going to be a little bit different. Some people could possibly come back faster. Did it go through the muscle? Did it come out of the skin? Did it hit nerves? Did they fix the fibula as well as fix the tibia?
“I’m sure they put a pin through the tibia if he broke that but a lot of times they don’t put the plates on the fibula. So it just kind of depends on what he ended up doing.”
There’s no telling if Hutchinson would actually attempt to play again this season and that’s obviously also depending on how far the Lions potentially go in the playoffs.
Right now, Detroit sits at 8-1 overall with a great chance to possibly land the No. 1 seed in the NFC, which would give them home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
If the Lions can make it all the way to the Super Bowl, perhaps Hutchinson really could become a medical marvel and play again in the biggest game of the season but Weidman knows the journey there is going to be incredibly difficult.
Much like fighting, football is a violent, contact sport and it’s a lot to ask of the human body to go through a traumatic injury and then bounce back in such quick fashion.
If anything, Weidman hopes that perhaps Hutchinson could get a little extra help in his recovery and then perhaps playing in the Super Bowl might actually be possible.
“It’s very physical,” Weidman said. “You’ve got to explode off of it. I hope he’s able to come back fast. I tried my ass off to come back as fast as possible.
“I would say if he can get on some steroids and get on some performance enhancers and they let him do that, I think that’s smart and I think that should be allowed. That maybe would help being able to come back faster. But doing it all natural, it’s not easy.”
Jon Jones and Adam Catterall | TNT Sports, YouTube
Jon Jones doesn’t want to hear anymore Tom Aspinall questions.
On Wednesday, Jones refused to sit down with TNT Sports reporter Adam Catterall in anticipation of receiving more questions about the UFC interim champion, who is on friendly terms with Catterall. Jones defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic this Saturday at UFC 309 in New York and in the build-up to the event he has frequently been asked whether he plans to meet Aspinall in the future to unify their belts.
Watch a clip of Jones making a quick exit from the interview room below (h/t Championship Rounds):
Jon Jones refused to do an interview with Adam from TNT Sports because of his ties with Tom Aspinall
“Common sense tells me what type of questions I’m just going to get asked.”
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 14, 2024
“Hey, I’m not going to do this interview,” Jones said after initially greeting Catterall. “No, because it’s going to be an Aspinall-fest.”
Jones is later seen speaking to Catterall in the lobby, telling him it was “nothing personal” but “I see how close you [and Aspinall] are common sense tells me what type of questions I was going to get asked.”
Catterall tells Jones, “You’re entitled to it. Speak to who you want to.”
Shortly after, Jones re-entered the interview room for an interview with Nick Peet of TNT Sports. Jones is not asked any questions about Aspinall in the video, which can be seen below.
Jones is widely hailed as one of the greatest fighters of all time, primarily based on his work in the UFC light heavyweight division where he went undefeated for a decade (outside of a controversial disqualification loss to Matt Hamill), recorded numerous title defenses, and defeated a long list of legends and future UFC Hall of Famers. In March 2023, Jones defeated Ciryl Gane to capture a vacant heavyweight title.
Miocic was to challenge Jones at UFC 295 the following December, but a pectoral injury forced Jones out of the matchup and out of action for several months. In their absence, Aspinall defeated Sergei Pavlovich to claim an interim title.
With the Jones-Miocic matchup pushed back a year, Aspinall successfully defended his title with a win over Curtis Blaydes this past July. Since winning the interim belt, he has campaigned for a fight with Jones, but Jones has repeatedly said he has no interest in fighting Aspinall.
Aspinall is set to weigh in as the backup for Saturday’s main event and has said he hopes to convince either Jones or Miocic to stick around to face him regardless of who is victorious.
Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Dustin Poirier only had to point at the scoreboard to win his latest dispute.
It’s no secret that Poirier and fellow lightweight contender Michael Chandler have long disliked each other, with their feud culminating at UFC 281 in November 2022 when Poirier defeated Chandler by second-round submission in a “Fight of the Night”-winning duel.
Despite the respect was shown in the cage that night, there’s still plenty of animosity between Poirier and Chandler, and Chandler used a word association segment with ESPN to take a shot at “The Diamond.”
Watch the clip below, in which Chandler called Poirier “salty.”
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A post shared by ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
It didn’t take Poirier long to respond and he didn’t have to say much, simply posting the finish from their fight on Instagram Stories (h/t Championship Rounds):
Dustin Poirier shared this video to his story after Michael Chandler called him salty #UFC309 #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/YBkgqFsWRr
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 13, 2024
Chandler has other fish to fry this Saturday as he takes on another past opponent in Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 309 in New York. Let’s hope Chandler is recovered from Poirier’s burn by the time fight night rolls around.
TOP STORIES
Redemption. Eryk Anders reflects on how beating a drug habit changed his life—and what could have been.
Trial. Conor McGregor testifies in a civil suit stemming from a 2018 sexual assault allegation.
Laughable. Stipe Miocic doesn’t know what’s up with Jon Jones ahead of their UFC 309 main event fight.
Truth. Tom Aspinall knows whoever wins between Jones and Miocic won’t be the “undisputed” anything.
VIDEO STEW
Jones.
Miocic.
Oliveira.
Nickal.
And the rest.
Tyson and Paul face off.
Embedded.
Break it down.
FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR
No Bets Barred. Jed Meshew brings you the wildest wagers for Paul vs. Tyson and UFC 309.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
*chuckle*
Had to make a quick edit https://t.co/sTnOcAogIv pic.twitter.com/WiNrE5EWYk
— Story of the Fight (@StoryOfTheFight) November 13, 2024
Ngannou and Reug Reug.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Francis Ngannou (@francisngannou)
FORTY. FIVE.
Reporting for his 45th, YEAH THAT’S RIGHT, 45th UFC fight week #UFC309 | @JimMiller_155 pic.twitter.com/nJAJaWfc6b
— UFC (@ufc) November 12, 2024
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Jim A10 Miller (@jimmiller_155)
NERRRRRRRRD.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by “The Natural” Caio Borralho (@caioborralho)
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
David Onama (12-2) vs. Roberto Romero (8-3-1); UFC 309, Nov. 16
FINAL THOUGHTS
The top-2 fights at UFC 309 are intriguing, but as far as narratives go they have zero juice. Jones has spent 90 percent of his media time being asked about Tom Aspinall, not Stipe Miocic, and Michael Chandler’s rematch with Charles Oliveira came out of nowhere.
That’s not to say these fights won’t deliver because they definitely could. It’s just that the lack of enthusiasm surrounding the final UFC pay-per-view of 2024 is understandable.
EXIT POLL
If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.
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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.
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