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Adesanya is returning to the UFC with a new outlook on fighting and a renewed faith in the unique style that carried him to the top of the sport.

Israel Adesanya is set to return at UFC 305 on August 17th against middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. It’s been a minute since “The Last Stylebender” has fought — 11 months, which is a long stretch considering Izzy fit his last three fights into the same amount of time.

In a new interview, Adesanya says the break was essential to regaining focus on what he wanted to do in this final phase of his fight career.

“The hiatus was definitely needed,” he told Sias Du Plessis. “Because physically, mentally, even spiritually, I just needed a break from not just the fights but from the training camps and the constant rigmarole we put our bodies through as warriors. So it was good for me to just unplug from the game.”

“I’ve learned a lot in the time I’ve been away. I’ve always been a patient guy if you’ve actually paid attention to what I’m doing, but I’ve got more patience now, more clarity. And I’m sure of what I wanna achieve in this this last chapter of my game.”

While Adesanya is stepping right back into a title fight against Du Plessis in Perth, Australia, he said he’s not driven by a desire to win the belt back.

“I’m the two-time UFC middleweight champion,” he said. “To make it three times, that’ll be nice, but it’s not really the main goal. For me, it’s about beating warriors from different codes, different nations, great fighters like Dricus, take them out, put them on my record, and move on to the next one until I’m done. That’s what it’s about.”

“The belt, it was always like, yeah, definitely be a UFC champ, but to get there was more the journey. I was just enjoying beating people up. So I’m back there. I’m just gonna enjoy beating people up and the belt will come, and it’ll stay. And eventually I’ll let it go.”

When discussion turned to how he’d handle the physicality and strength of Dricus Du Plessis, Adesanya didn’t seem concerned.

“I fought the largest middleweight, Alex Pereira, and I knocked him out,” he said. “How am I gonna deal with Dricus’ uniqueness? It’s just be unique myself. Be unique to who I am.”

“Never again will I ever stray away from my style or my flow just because I wanna do something different or pander or anything like that. I’m always gonna stick to my style and stick to what I do best, which is beating people up in fantastic fashion. And, yeah, I’ve done that my whole career, and I wanna get back to that. I’m not really worried about the outcome. It’s more about the journey.”

We’ll get to see the results of Adesanya’s mental refocusing on August 17th. Check out the full UFC 305 card right here.

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As if Pereira doesn’t already have a lot of big fight options, now we have Joshua suggesting he consider a big money boxing match as well.

There’s a lot of MMA fighters out there that think they’d do well in boxing. Less rare are boxers who agree with those opinions. But now we have boxing heavyweight great Anthony Joshua suggesting UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira should step out of the cage and into the ring.

“Alex Pereira should make a boxing debut one day,” Joshua wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Pereira isn’t a complete stranger to boxing. He has one official exhibition match on his record: a TKO win over Marcelo de Souza Cruz in 2017. But this was right in the middle of Alex’s seven year kickboxing career. Six months later “Poatan” won the Glory middleweight championship and he put aside any ambition to keep boxing.

Now he sounds open to the idea … of a one-off match, at least.

“I’m honored you think so,” Pereira replied. “It’s always been my dream, I’m 37 I cannot make a career in it so who do you recommend I fight?”

“The options are endless champ,” Joshua replied. “I am sure something can be done. Drop [258 MGT [Joshua’s agent] a line.”

Just “AJ” being nice, or is he interested in fighting Pereira down the line? Unless it’s way down the line, we’re not particularly interested. “Poatan” is now one of the biggest stars in the UFC, and he may explode into super-stardom over the next year or two with the right fights.

There’s Jon Jones. There’s the Israel Adesanya trilogy fight. There’s Tom Aspinall. And they all compete in the same sport as Pereira. MMA fighters boxing is an okay sideshow, but it’s getting a bit tired at this point. Diaz vs. Masvidal 2 was great and all … but it would have been better under MMA rules.

What do you think, Maniacs? Do you have any interest in seeing how “Poatan” would do in boxing?

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Saint Denis will get another chance to break into the lightweight top ten against the crafty Moicano, and this time he’ll do it in front of a hometown crowd.

Benoit Saint-Denis is headed back home to Paris for his next fight, a five round affair against Renato Moicano.

Saint-Denis is coming off a tough loss to Dustin Poirier back in March, but the UFC still clearly sees a bright future for the 28 year old “God of War.” The promotion is putting him in the main event slot for their annual September foray to France, set this year for September 28th at the 15,000 seat Accor Arena.

It’s not a title shot, but a pretty nice consolation prize.

Verbal agreements for the bout were first reported by AG Fight, with MMA Junkie confirming contracts have now been signed.

Saint-Denis is 5-2 in the UFC and currently sits at No. 12 in the lightweight rankings. The No. 10 ranked Moicano is 11-5 and is currently on a three fight win streak. His last win was a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Jailin Turner at UFC 300. Given both men’s styles, this is going to be a wild battle that probably won’t make it the scorecards.

UFC France is just under three months away now, which means we should start getting more news as to who else will fight on the card. There’s plenty of hot local talent to choose from: Ciryl Gane headlined the last two Fight Nights in the country, and Manon Fiorot vs. Rose Namajunas was last year’s co-main.

Gane and Fiorot are both unbooked at the moment, so chances are good they’ll end up in France — unless UFC decides to match Manon up against champion Alexa Grasso for their big Noche UFC Sphere event a few weeks earlier. We’ll keep you updated as this latest Paris card shapes up.

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Diaz vs. Edwards 2?

Nate Diaz scored a win last night (Sat., July 6, 2024) over former foe Jorge Masvidal, defeating him via majority decision, picking up his first boxing victory from inside Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. (watch highlights).

Immediately after his big win in the boxing ring, Diaz called for rematches with Jake Paul and UFC Welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

During the Diaz vs. Masvidal post-fight press conference, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter doubled down on rematching Edwards at some point.

“It was just off the top of my head,” Diaz told the media. “I would like to whoop [Paul’s] ass. I would like to get a win against Leon Edwards, who is the best fighter in the world right now at 170 and I think that’s something that I can take and put in a credential box. That’s what I’m going for. I’m not trying to go for any fun fights because that s—t ain’t fun.”

Diaz has praised Edwards since their fight at UFC 263 in 2021 in Glendale, AZ, often saying he is the best fighter in the UFC. The Stockton fighter lost a dominant unanimous decision but had the entire fight talking when he rocked Edwards in the final moments of the fight.

Obviously, Diaz isn’t going to get that fight anytime soon, but hey, if Edwards wants a money fight – I’m sure UFC CEO Dana White would take a phone call.

For now, “Rocky” has to get through Belal Muhammad later this month (July 27) at UFC 304 in Manchester, England.

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It was all action from start to finish between Diaz and Masvidal, but in the end Nate’s legendary cardio and high volume earned him the nod from two judges.

Nate Diaz showed up in top form for his boxing match against Jorge Masvidal, using his trademark pressure game to earn a majority decision win over 10 rounds.

Two judges scored the fight 98-92 and 97-93 for Diaz, while a third saw it as a 95-95 draw.

The fight was a contrast in styles: Diaz with the relentless volume, and Masvidal with the power shots. Both men did good work in every round, to the point where there was no clear-cut winner depending on how you scored the output. Diaz’s long streams of punches were impressive, but Masvidal landed a lot of shots that would have put down a chinnier opponent.

Against Diaz, even the biggest of blows barely elicited any reaction. That may have made the difference. Or maybe it was Nate’s confident showboating, or the look of utter exhaustion on Jorge’s face even as he continued to slug it out for 10 full rounds.

There’s no doubt there will be controversy over this decision, if only because both men fought hard and fought well.

Following the win, Diaz declared his intention to avenge his loss to Jake Paul. Nate revealed he ditched out of training camp for that bout and went on a four week bender. His performance against Paul certainly looked like it. But in Anaheim, Diaz showed up with his cardio in check and his gameface on. He proved that he’s still got the skills and the ability to hang against tough opposition … if he can make it to fight night healthy and motivated.

Check out the highlights from the fight here:

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The Mac is putting half a million dollars on Diaz to beat Masvidal in Anaheim, but that didn’t stop him from throwing a few disses Nate’s way.

Conor McGregor is betting a cool half mil that his former opponent Nate Diaz will defeat Jorge Masvidal in tonight’s (Sat. Jul 6th) ‘Last Man Standing’ boxing event (here’s how to watch).

McGregor had some complimentary words for the younger Diaz brother, who beat “The Notorious” via submission in 2016. Conor would decision Nate in a rematch later the same year, putting them at 1-1.

“I’ve decided to put $ 500,000 on Diaz to win tonight’s boxing match,” McGregor wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Range, form, experience, solely hands being used, I can’t see Masvidal causing any problems to Nate in a boxing ring whatsoever.”

But don’t get it twisted: neither man is anywhere near McGregor’s level.

“They are both little play around dips—s in a fight, play around bollox,” he added. “But I feel Nate does him in EASY here for real. $ 500k gets me back $ 1,625,000 all in.”

This is all part of a sponsorship deal with crypto casino Duelbits, who signed McGregor back in May. Since then he’s placed two public bets: an $ 85,000 one for Spain to win the Euro 2024 soccer tournament, and $ 365,000 on Argentina to win Copa America. Both bets were priced to pay a million each, and so far Spain and Argentina are both doing well.

Mystic Mac > Drake?

We won’t have to wait as long to find out if McGregor’s latest $ 500,000 bet pays off. Diaz vs. Masvidal is just hours away, and we’ll have all the results and highlights ready for you right here at MMA Mania.

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Rozik and Boyqobilov fought hard across four entertaining rounds that could lead to a superfight against the one and only Hasbulla.

Tajikistani singer and social media influencer Abdu Rozik can officially add ‘boxer’ to his bio after a hard fought four rounds against Erali Boyqobilov at Social Knockout 3.

Abdu Rozik is best known for his longstanding feud with Hasbulla, and his performance in Dubai on Saturday will only fuel calls for a superfight between the two. While Hasbulla has been the one to challenge Rozik to fight in the past, Rozik just proved he’s actually willing to fight.

Influencer boxing is often sloppy, but can make up for its shortcomings if both boxers are willing to lay it on the line and scrap. Erali Boyqobilov was definitely down for that, and he brought the fight to Rozik across four two-minute rounds. At the end both men were declared champions, leaving a confused Boyqobilov wondering what just happened to his clear decision win.

As for Rozik, he took a lot of punches and kept going. Boyqobilov was the better boxer but Rozik showed a lot of heart hanging in for the full fight. He also has the better mic skills: he trashed the results of the fight and accused Erali of cheating.

If people were hoping this bout would be terrible and fizzle interest in Rozik vs. Hasbulla? It didn’t. If anything, we want Rozik vs. Hasbulla, with the winner facing Boyqobilov!

Watch the highlights below:

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Watch “Last Man Standing” tonight as Nate Diaz attempts to avenge his loss to Jorge Masvidal on DAZN.

Tonight, (Sat., July 6, 2024), live from Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., we’ve got the combat sports rematch between long-time mixed martial arts (MMA) practitioners, Nate Diaz vs. Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal. Yes, it’s coming in the punching-only variety, but is anyone really all that upset that the two mostly standup fighters won’t have the option to go to the ground?

Fisticuffs it is!

Both fighters are known for their feisty and cantankerous outside-the-ring/cage behavior, and none of that has changed as the two, uh, “gentlemen” age and mature.

To sweeten the pot, this card, which starts at 6 p.m. ET/ 3 p.m. PT, has a surprisingly decent undercard of names most boxing fans will recognize as well as some undefeated prospects. We’ve got former IBF and WBA Middleweight champion (and bone cancer survivor), Daniel Jacobs (37-4, 30 KO), squaring off against Shane Mosley Jr. (21-4, 12 KO) in the co-main event of the evening.

There’s also unbeaten prospects Sean Garcia (7-0-1, 2 KO) — younger brother of boxing’s current Icarus, Ryan Garcia — who will go against Amado Vargas (10-0, 4KO), the son of former IBF and WBA light Middleweight champion, Fernando Vargas.

Finally, to round out the main card, we’ve got the former WEC and UFC Lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis, going off against long-time Diaz stablemate, Chris Avila. Avila has done well for himself in the influencer boxing scene, racking up a five-fight win streak as the combat sports spoiler to the likes of Anthony Taylor and Paul Bamba, as well as taking down another former MMA competitor in Jeremy Stephens.

The fight card is available on Fanmio, UFC Fight Pass and DAZN (right here) in select countries for the reasonable price of $ 49.99.

DIAZ VS. MASVIDAL, LAST MAN STANDING QUICK RESULTS

175 lbs. Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal
168 lbs. Daniel Jacobs vs. Shane Mosley Jr.
135 lbs. Amado Vargas vs. Sean Garcia
175 lbs. Chris Avila vs. Anthony Pettis

DIAZ VS. MASVIDAL, ‘LAST MAN STANDING’ LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY:

Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Round 9:

Round 10:

Final result:

Daniel Jacobs vs. Shane Mosley Jr.:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Round 9:

Round 10:

Final result:

Chris Avila vs. Anthony Pettis

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Final result:

Amado Vargas vs. Sean Garcia

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Final result:

To check out the latest and greatest boxing news and notes be sure to hit up our archive here.

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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Boxing superstar Ryan Garcia is clearly in a bad way.

Fortune and fame are great, but it’s become more than apparent that “King” has some issues to sort through. It’s difficult to even describe his last six months as a rise and fall, because even in the lead up to his high-profile victory over Devin Haney — since overturned to a “No Contest” — there were plenty of troubling signs of substance abuse and general mental health concerns.

Chugging a beer at weigh-ins is not the sign of an athlete with his head on straight.

On Thursday, the suspended boxer shot himself in the foot once more with a wildly racist and uncomfortable rant, in which Garcia used the N word repeatedly and tackled subjects like George Floyd and pedophilia. Subsequently, he was quickly expelled from the WBC, though there could be longer term consequences for his words as well.

Since then, Garcia has issued a lengthy apology. Simultaneously, he “takes all responsibility” while also claiming to be “misunderstood.” Really, the entire apology is a strange jumble of words (read in full below), but the most important bit came in a separate social media post that read, “I’m going to rehab, btw.”

“I take all responsibility for my words. I’m misunderstood, I just got a lot of trauma. And It’s been a tough couple of months as everyone can tell but I AM SORRY. I struggle with substance abuse and it hard for me with everything going on. I actually love black people no cap which is why I’m actually said I offended all my black family and friends. This sucks but all I can do is be better and stop using stupid words and letting some people in my circle hype me up. Sorry everyone that I offended. I still stand on stopping black on black crime And that I hate pedo’s so that will always remain something I stand on.”

While that was the main apology, Garcia continued to rant on social media afterward. Primarily, he complained about other boxers saying questionably racist phrases, like Tim Bradley calling him a “zoo animal” or Devin Haney’s claim that he’ll “never lose to a white boy.”

Certainly, there’s room for off-color trash talk in combat sports, but Garcia found and crossed the line. Hopefully, he’s telling the truth about his planned rehab stint and can get the help he needs.

Insomnia

Being able to fight often is an overlooked benefit to effortlessly knocking out all your opposition.

Rear naked choke will always be king, but I expect d’arce to rise above armbar on a long enough timeline.

Some interesting wrestling from Bantamweight prospect Rei Tsuruya:

A technical dive into lead hand feinting and movement from the open stance:

Based solely on this clip, I’m thinking Portuguese and Czech don’t have a ton of crossover.

Heavyweight Jon Jones moving some weight and getting his cardio in:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Kholmirzaev was able to transition belly down so quickly because his opponent failed to put pressure into him and stack. Slick!

Right low kick and jump knee is an underrated double threat.

A trade of right hands, but Aoyagi closed the door with his left hook afterward.

Random Land

Views from above.

Midnight Music: Soul, 1972

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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Jon Jones is on the road back to the Octagon and looks to be in great shape after squatting 525 pounds earlier this week.

Fight fans were hoping to see more of Jones at the heavyweight level, but after defeating Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 to win the title “Bones” suffered a torn pectoral and has been sidelined ever since. While it’s been more than a year since Jones competed inside of the Octagon fight fans won’t have to wait much longer.

With rumors swirling that Jones will return to action sometime this fall he has begun to amp up his training. This includes some deadlifting and squats that have already turned Jones from a skinny light heavyweight champion to a strong heavyweight fighter. Despite his recent pectoral injury it seems Jones’ strength is returning to normal.

“Today we worked on the top part of my squat,” wrote Jones via Instagram (shown above). “I finished up at 525 pounds for a set of three. It’s awesome to feel my strength coming back, while shredding pounds at the same time. I got 18 weeks and three days to improve, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Progress equals happiness, sacrifice today, smile tomorrow. Find your personal love for self improvement. That’s a @youngla T-shirt by the way.”

Jones, 36, has never really fell victim to lengthy layoffs in his career outside of the three years he took off to move from 205 pounds to heavyweight. For the most part, “Bones” has remained healthy. It has yet to be seen if this recent setback will change anything inside of the cage, but Jones appears to be back in full health leading up to his return.

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