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Israel Adesanya suffered a defeat on his return at UFC 305 but as always, he was incredibly respectful and humble in defeat.

Fight fans have seen “The Last Stylebender” come up short on four occasions during his time in the promotion.

Which each loss, he has always continued to represent himself and his team incredibly well and this is something that his coach takes a lot of pride in.

The only slight exception to this was his loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, where Adesanya decided to not speak to the media but this was understandable after the amount of time he had spent doing his media duties throughout his UFC career.

In fact, the former middleweight champion’s character after a defeat is so strong that his coach prefers this side of him to the celebratory one after a win.

Eugene Bareman Says Israel Adesanya Is Better At Handling Losses Than Anyone Else In MMA

Though City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman would obviously rather that Adesanya wins each and every one of his fights, he does like seeing the man that his fighter is in the difficult moments where he lets his opponent have their moment without stepping in the way.

There was a lot of tension between Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis heading into this fight but any beef was squashed after the two men faced off in Perth.

During a recent appearance on the ‘Who The Fook Are These Guys?’ podcast, Bareman spoke about how great “The Last Stylebender” is after a defeat.

He also referenced how the shock upset loss to Strickland is an exception because they weren’t able to take positives or lessons from that particular setback.

“Yeah he keeps handling it well and you’re right, I love the way he loses. I actually prefer the way he loses than the way he wins. I’m not a big fan of some of the ways he win but I’m definitely a big fan of the way he loses. I think he does it better than anyone in the sport. In a sport that’s proliferated with a bunch of idiots that make up all sorts of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen over the years, especially at that level it’s just crazy, and I think he does it the best but I mean the Strickland loss, he’ll never get over. You just fought badly and it was unexplainable.”

Read also: Dan Hooker’s Coach Feels Unlucky Mateusz Gamrot Let Down By ‘The Machine’: ‘That Should Have Been His Opportunity…’

Continue Reading Israel Adesanya’s Coach Honest About UFC 305 Loss: ‘I Prefer The Way He Loses Than The Way He Wins…’ at MMA News.

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Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has always had a somewhat rocky relationship with certain parts of the MMA fanbase.

“Funkmaster” has an awkward striking style and a strong grappling game which means that his fights aren’t always the most exciting to watch, even if he’s incredibly effective at what he does.

Aside from this, another point that saw some of the UFC’s audience take a dislike to Sterling was what happened at UFC 259, where he challenged Petr Yan for the 135-pound title.

Yan landed an illegal knee to Sterling’s head whilst he was a downed opponent in the fourth round which the challenger couldn’t recover from.

As a result, Yan was disqualified, meaning that the title changed hands in disappointing fashion.

Eric Nicksick Recalls How Aljamain Sterling Had No Memory Of UFC 259 On His Journey Home

Despite the knee strike being a clear and obvious foul on Yan’s side, some fans didn’t like the way Sterling won the title as a result, and questioned whether he actually couldn’t continue or if he was looking for a way out because the fight wasn’t going his way.

This was cleared up during a recent episode of the Verse Us podcast where Sterling joined Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick, who was in his corner on that night.

Nicksick provided more details about how that decision was made to not continue and what the aftermath of that knee landing was like.

He recalled how, after nominating himself to stay with Sterling and take him back home from the hospital, it was clear that he had no memory of what had just happened.

“I said to Ray [Longo], I’ll go to the hospital with him and I had to sit in the f****** parking lot. You didn’t get to sit in the waiting room, this is COVID era so I get a text from him or whoever was kind of there, one of the nurses or UFC personnel, ‘Hey, he’s ready, you can come around the back, you can pick him up.’

“We get in the car and what, 30-minute ride home and this is why I know, from a personal level, that this dude wasn’t faking. 30-minutes of him asking round after round after round. I say this because guys that I know that have been knocked out or have had head trauma have asked the same questions. ‘What happened in round one? What happened in round two?’ Going through everything in their head.”

Sterling returns at UFC 307 where he faces Movsar Evloev in search of his second consecutive win at featherweight.

Read also: Aljamain Sterling Accuses Sean O’Malley Of Being Given The ‘Jake Paul Route’ By The UFC: “Stacking The Deck Against His Opponent”

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling’s Cornerman Clarifies Any Doubt Over Faking Petr Yan Disqualification & Title Win at MMA News.

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It has been a long journey full of ups and downs for Dan Hooker to work his back into the top five of the lightweight division.

After defeating Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305, he’s riding a three-fight winning streak which has seen him bounce back from consecutive losses.

Hooker, at one stage, had just one win in his last five Octagon outings and that came after he made it into the top five for the first time in his career. And in his opinion, that skid was caused by a few crucial mistakes he made.

He has learned a lot in this four-year-period and is now confident that he won’t make the same mistakes that he did last time.

Dan Hooker Says That Fighting Michael Chandler At UFC 257 Was A Mistake On His Part

Hooker is now seemingly on the verge of what could be a title eliminator against the likes of Charles Oliveira or Justin Gaethje.

Though he took big fights against Dustin Poirier and the debuting Michael Chandler the last time he was in this position, he believes that the latter in particular was a mistake.

“Iron” Mike would hit the ground running in the promotion by stopping the Kiwi fighter in the opening round in Abu Dhabi.

Hooker didn’t need to risk his ranking against a new arrival like Chandler, even if competing in the co-main event of a Conor McGregor card was a big opportunity for him.

The major issue with taking this fight is that it took place during the COVID-19 pandemic where New Zealand had very strict regulations, which compromised his preparations.

Having admitted in an interview with ESPN Australia that he has a whole new level of respect for the team around him, Hooker said that he has learned from the missteps that he has made in his career and isn’t going to waste this opportunity.

“I kind of have learnt that from my first rodeo, is to just kind of not do anything dumb this time around. I mean the last time I was number five, I agreed to fight Michael Chandler. Gave Michael Chandler a shot, it was his first fight in the UFC, I flew to Abu Dhabi so other side of the world with absolutely no coaches and went and fought him with a guy I’d been training for six months in my corner. so it was not the smartest of decisions so I guess this time around, I’m just not gonna do anything dumb or sell my title shot again.”

Read also: Israel Adesanya’s Coach Says Du Plessis Defeat Better Than ‘Unexplainable’ Strickland Upset: ‘It Was A Good Loss…’

Continue Reading Dan Hooker On Learning His Lessons From Initial Top Five Stint, Vows Not To ‘Sell His Title Shot Again’ at MMA News.

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For the first time in his MMA career, Israel Adesanya finds himself coming off the back of consecutive defeats inside the Octagon.

This doesn’t tell the story of both the fights that took place a year apart, because though he didn’t get his hand raised on either occasion, the story of the fights were completely different.

“The Last Stylebender” didn’t look himself at UFC 293 where he was shockingly upset by Sean Strickland before taking a year off to return at UFC 305.

Despite not reclaiming the title against Dricus Du Plessis, Adesanya appeared somewhat back to where he was before and looked to be gaining momentum in the fight until Du Plessis was able to capitalize on a few mistakes to earn a submission win in the fourth round.

Adesanya’s head coach at City Kickboxing, Eugene Bareman, gave his thoughts on the fight during a recent interview with Combat TV.

He came away feeling a lot more positive after this loss compared to the one from last year because they were able to learn from clear and obvious mistakes that will only lead to improvements, unlike UFC 293 which left the team scratching their heads.

“He made some mistakes which you can only, in my opinion, put down to fatigue and the fatigue, you can put down to the work that Dricus was able to do so you can’t do nothing but applaud that. It was a loss but you know, it was a good loss. Me and Israel can walk away from that loss and it’s measurable, it’s tangible. You can put that down, this is why this happened, this is why that happened. The Strickland fight is just a bit unexplainable to us. That’s much harder to get over cuz it’s like well what happened there.”

Eugene Bareman Gives Credit To Dricus Du Plessis For An Aspect Of His Game That They ‘Didn’t Anticipate’

Bareman agrees with the common consensus that heading into the fourth round, it looked like the momentum was swinging towards Adesanya in the later rounds.

However, it was Du Plessis’ finishing ability that ended up deciding the fight after he was able to wobble the former champion on the feet and take his back for the rear-naked choke win.

As he previously stated above, Bareman puts these crucial mistakes down to Adesanya being fatigued and while this is something they worked on during his training camp, the City Kickboxing boss revealed that he was surprised by how effectively the champion is able to weaponize his conditioning.

He said that Du Plessis may not be a perfect fighter but he’s always making his opponents work hard to try and capitalize on his weaknesses.

“It looks like he has some holes in his defense, he also makes you work to take advantage of those holes, you know what I mean. It’s tough work out there. Yeah, the holes are there but it’s tough work to find them and it just fatigued Israel and fatigued Israel and fatigued Israel and it slowly, slowly got to Israel to the point where he was so fatigued, Dricus was able to take advantage of it. That was probably something I didn’t anticipate happening as much as it did and I just had an expectation that Israel would be able to push through that.”

Read also: Sean Strickland Responds To Machine Gun Kelly’s ‘Big Bro Advice’ As Rapper Wanted UFC Star To Not Talk About Him Anymore

Continue Reading Israel Adesanya’s Coach Says Du Plessis Defeat Better Than ‘Unexplainable’ Strickland Upset: ‘It Was A Good Loss…’ at MMA News.

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Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili will fight for the UFC bantamweight championship on September 14, 2024, at the Sphere, Nevada. While the champion is already one of the most popular MMA fighters out there, Dvalishvili has all the hype around him due to his ten-fight win streak in the UFC.

Both O’Malley and Dvalishvili have defeated former UFC bantamweight champ Petr Yan. “Suga” knocked out Aljamain Sterling for the title after that win, while “The Machine” defeated another former champ Henry Cejudo.

Despite their evenly matched resumes and countering fighting styles, Tim Welch has explained why O’Malley will defeat Dvalishvili at Riyadh Season Noche UFC…

Tim Welch Reveals Why It Is Hard To Train For Sean O’Malley And What Makes Merab Dvalishvili An Intimidating Opponent

O’Malley’s coach Welch reviewed Dvalishvili’s latest training footage and other antics on his official YouTube channel recently. He pointed out that “The Machine” is a tough opponent due to his relentless pace, level changes, and cardio.

However, he could not help but notice how Dvalishvili can be hit while shooting for takedowns. On top of that, he loses balance when he punches going forward making him extremely vulnerable against an accurate striker like O’Malley.

“Loses balance a little bit on the punches. Falls forward and that’s something that definitely could get him in trouble here and it’s too close to the fight now to fix. Really lunging in here, throwing the overhand right, bringing his back foot with him which is another thing that could get you in trouble. You saw it with Aljo.”

Welch believes that “The Machine” cannot improve his balance in the coming weeks, and the UFC bantamweight champion will capitalize on it. The Sterling fight is a good example of “Suga” catching opponents as they lunge towards him.

According to the coach, it is hard to find training partners who can properly replicate O’Malley’s style during sparring. This should be another key factor in the favor of the champ.

“I’m thankful that I’m not having to be a trainer training someone against sugar because it would just be so hard to find sparring partners that can do anything remotely close to him. And then you find sparring partners that try to mimic him. They do their best at mimicking him.”

Although Welch is confident about O’Malley winning via knockout, he explained why Dvalishvili is not an easy opponent at all. He breathes through his mouth for long durations without any impact on his pace. He can take quite a few shots as well so “Suga” must be prepared for the challenger forcing takedowns on him.

“Merab doesn’t even like, control his breath. He doesn’t even think about controlling his breath. He just, he’ll just breathe in, he’ll be mouth breathing the whole time and he’ll be able to keep up the pace. That’s one thing that’s scary about him. He’ll be able to just keep up the pace the whole time. Just at that, frantic breathing, frantic pace, that’s one of the things that make him really dangerous.”

• Read also: Kamaru Usman Compares Career To Israel Adesanya & Alexander Volkanovski Ahead Of Rumored Return Against Belal Muhammad: ‘How Disrespectful Are MMA Fans’

Continue Reading Sean O’Malley’s Coach Calls Merab Dvalishvili ‘Scary’ But Highlights Major Flaw In His Game: ‘Too Close To The Fight Now To Fix’ at MMA News.

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It is common knowledge in MMA circles that Sean Strickland has a rocky relationship with Colson Baker, a.k.a. Machine Gun Kelly. Back in February 2024, the former UFC champ ran into the rapper during a Power Slap event where he commented about MGK’s outfit.

The interaction went south quickly and Strickland had to be escorted out of the venue. Since then, he’s frequently talked about Kelly’s clothes and lifestyle. Megan Fox, who’s currently dating Baker, even reached out to Strickland via Instagram DMs regarding some of these remarks.

MGK finally broke the silence on Strickland and advised the fighter to not talk about him anymore. Unsurprisingly, the former UFC middleweight kingpin already has a response…

Machine Gun Kelly Asks Sean Strickland To ‘Shut The F** Up’ After Calling Him Racist And Homophobic

Baker opened up about his interactions with Strickland on the latest episode of IMPAULSIVE podcast, hosted by Logal Paul and Mike Majlak. The hip-hop artist claimed that he would’ve avoided meeting the UFC star in the first place if he had been aware of the latter’s racist and homophobic statements.

“I don’t know this guy from a crumb of bread, Right, I didn’t know who he was when I met him. I got hip afterward that he’s like, insanely racist and homophobic and just not my type of guy so I would have never even wanted to shake hands him with him in the first place. But, he also is just a representative of every person who’s too scared to just be themselves because if you’re comfortable as yourself, you don’t care who anybody else is.”

Kelly then suggested Strickland to live his life and stop commenting on him. The rapper called the UFC fighter insecure for caring about other people’s appearance and verbally bashing them for it.

Baker stated that Strickland would most likely respond to his aforementioned remarks which would be more detrimental to the fighter.

“He’s so dumb that I’m going to tell him right now. You should not keep saying stuff because it just makes me look better but you’re going to keep saying stuff so I know that you’ll react and say more things but you’re, you just shouldn’t. As a person who’s just giving you big bro advice, learn this, shut the f**k up! And don’t speak on me anymore. And live your life, but you won’t, and I’m going to continue laughing at you because you’re a f*****g idiot.”

MGK wasn’t wrong as Strickland has already replied to him on X. Yet again, he has targeted the rapper for his tattoos and accused him of drinking blood. He also claimed to be more comfortable hanging out with online trolls instead of the singer.

All in all, it is safe to assume that the beef between Strickland and MGK is far from over. Fans of both celebrities are already engaging in heated online debates and it is unlikely that the two sides will find common ground soon.

• READ MORE: Sean O’Malley’s Coach Calls Merab Dvalishvili ‘Scary’ But Highlights Major Flaw In His Game: ‘Too Close To The Fight Now To Fix’

Continue Reading Sean Strickland Responds To Machine Gun Kelly’s ‘Big Bro Advice’ As Rapper Wanted UFC Star To Not Talk About Him Anymore at MMA News.

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Francis Ngannou found himself in the news without doing anything the week before the press conference for his PFL debut.

“The Predator” may be gearing up for his long awaited MMA return where he will face Renan Ferreira on October 19 but the legacy he left behind in the UFC will never be forgotten.

The MMA leader found themselves receiving some criticism during fight week for UFC 305, after claims that they had tried to erase Ngannou from the promotion’s history books due to his name being edited out during the Countdown episode preview.

Though Dana White did apologise for this and put it down to a miscommunication, it certainly wasn’t the first time that the UFC have tailored things to better suit the promotion.

Dan Hardy Says Francis Ngannou’s UFC Erasure Was Sad But Not Surprising Based On Track Record

During a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA, PFL commentator Dan Hardy gave his thoughts on the discourse regarding the UFC’s conduct around the career of their former heavyweight champion, who left the promotion on less than stellar terms.

“The Outlaw” spoke about the comparisons between Ngannou’s treatment and that of Randy Couture, who also left to sign with another promotion and wasn’t remembered fondly by the UFC as a result.

“It was sad to see and it didn’t surprise me unfortunately and I did see what Dana’s reply was about the fact that the editors had assumed that’s what he would have chosen and what he would have wanted and look, they were probably right because it’s happened so many times in history. Ngannou and Randy, they’re two fantastically credible names in the sport.”

Hardy was also able to draw from his own experiences, even if his was on a smaller scale.

The current Head of Fighter Operations for PFL Europe left the promotion in 2021 after some disagreements with the UFC, both publicly and privately.

He recalled how he was seemingly wiped from the history of UK MMA during an event in London where his wife, Veronica, was in action.

Despite being the first Brit to challenge for a UFC title when he faced Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight belt, “The Outlaw” was nowhere to be seen across the celebrations of the sport in this region.

“My history in the UFC is far more mediocre in comparison but even so, at UFC London when Veronica was on the card, there’s posters of all the UK fighters on all of the underground tubes and everything and of course, I’m not there. It does happen, they do it a lot.

“It makes no difference to me, I can dye my hair red and walk down the street and people will remember my fights. It’s just kind of a weird thing to see and for people like Randy and Ngannou, they need to be celebrated because they’ve inspired so many people, myself included. They shouldn’t be omitted, they’re part of the fabric of the sport and I think the fans will always remember that.”  

Read also: PFL CEO Contradicts President’s Rejection Of Muhammad Mokaev: ‘He Could Absolutely Be The Future Face Of Flyweights Within PFL’

Continue Reading Dan Hardy Reacts To UFC Erasing Francis Ngannou, Compares With Own Experience at MMA News.

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Belal Muhammad came into UFC 304 as the underdog but he certainly didn’t look like it in the early hours of the morning in Manchester.

The welterweight title challenger largely dominated Leon Edwards to become the champion via a unanimous decision verdict.

After Edwards had already beaten top grapplers in Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, many assumed that he would have no problem thwarting the heavy wrestling approach of Muhammad, but this wasn’t the case.

Having been inside the Octagon with him for 25 minutes, a former opponent of the current champion saw this performance coming from him and successfully predicted it ahead of time.

Gilbert Burns Reveals Correct Pre-Fight Prediction & Breakdown For UFC 304

During a recent episode of the Believe You Me Podcast, Michael Bisping was joined by former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns.

Burns is looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats next time out when he faces Sean Brady, both of whom whom were beaten by Muhammad during his undefeated run to the title.

“Durinho” revealed during the interview that he wasn’t surprised by what went down in Manchester and had in fact, told Bisping ahead of time.

After going through his messages, the former middleweight champion was able to find the message which correctly called that “Remember The Name” would get his hand raised on July 27 and how he would do it.

Bisping read the message aloud having asked Burns for his prediction, only to then forget to mention it during the live broadcast.

“Tough fight but I believe Belal’s going to make it a dog fight. I think that’s the only way for him to win and I believe he will do that. Randy Couture style dog fight. Inside dirty boxing mixed up with the wrestling.” 

Read also: Stephen Thompson On Welterweight Star He Wants To Fight Instead Of Michael ‘Venom’ Page: ‘I Think People Would Boo That Fight’

Continue Reading Former Opponent Reveals That He Perfectly Predicted “Randy Couture Style” Welterweight Title Win For Belal Muhammad At UFC 304 at MMA News.

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Kamaru Usman has lost three fights in a row in the UFC but he’s still regarded as one of the best welterweight fighters in the world. Many believe he deserved to win his last fight against Khamzat Chimaev or it should’ve been a draw.

There are plenty of contenders in the UFC welterweight division for the new champion, Belal Muhammad. Although fans and the champion himself have acknowledged Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jack Della Maddalena as worthy title contenders, it is worth noting that Usman is ranked higher than both.

While talking about his imminent return to the Octagon, “Nigerian Nightmare” compared his journey to former champs Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. He also revealed certain bitter truths about MMA fans…

Kamaru Usman Shares The Struggles Of Active Champions Like Himself, Israel Adesanya, and Alexander Volkanovski

Usman recently appeared on the Weighing In podcast hosted by John McCarthy and Josh Thomson. After claiming that he’s better than Muhammad in every department, the former UFC champ remembered how hard he worked at the peak of his career.

“I was entertaining and entertaining and entertaining was the thing for me. I didn’t care what I was going through. I didn’t care what I was dealing with. I didn’t care what I was battling physically, mentally, emotionally. Didn’t matter to me, I was going to jump in there and perform and perform and perform. And the same thing with Israel Adesanya which is why you saw ton of those title defenses and I’m sure Alexander Volkanovski, who also came out and expressed.”

Usman relates to Adesanya and Volkanovski because they were active champs as well. Like them, he sidelined injuries and ignored recovery to go out there and entertain the fans as much as possible.

The future UFC Hall of Famer admitted to benefitting a lot from his championship run. However, he called out fans who immediately turn on champions after they lose their belts. Without realizing how hard it is to maintain dominance at the top of the sport, people call former champions washed or question their legacy.

“Now, I’m in a place where, okay, with all of that comes a lot of injuries. All the things that you’ve been dealing with, it kind of catches up to you. And now I’m just in a position to, where I’m trying to heal all of that. Because you know, you stack up all these injuries over time and it starts to diminish your performances to where people start to forget just how good you are, just how much time you spent building your career, doing the things that made you successful to where they start, oh, he’s washed. Which is how disrespectful are MMA fans. How disrespectful are they, oh he’s washed, oh he can’t do this anymore.”

Such behavior naturally doesn’t sit well with Usman. Now that he no longer has the pressure to defend a championship, though, he looks forward to returning to the Octagon at his best and reminding everyone of his skills.

• Read More: UFC Fight Night Results & Highlights: Caio Borralho Decisions Jared Cannonier

Continue Reading Kamaru Usman Compares Career To Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski Ahead Of Rumored Return Against Belal Muhammad: “How Disrespectful Are MMA Fans” at MMA News.

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Robert Whittaker, since moving up to middleweight in the UFC, has only lost thrice. Two of these losses came against Israel Adesanya, and he most recently lost to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290.

Although Whittaker’s been unable to reclaim his UFC middleweight title since 2019, he’s defeated top contenders such as Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, and Ikram Aliskerov.

“Bobby Knuckles” will now face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308. Here’s what he thinks of fighting another intimidating contender and how he plans to emerge victorious…

Robert Whittaker Reveals Several Reasons That Make Him Confident About Beating Khamzat Chimaev

Whittaker appeared on the Submission Radio YouTube channel recently and discussed the state of the UFC middleweight division. When asked about his next fight, “The Reaper” highlighted that he’s had two camps preparing specifically for Chimaev which is naturally a huge advantage.

“I’ve essentially had two camps for this guy, right? I think skill-set wise, I’m probably at the best I’ve been. I’ve been especially most prepared for Khamzat, theoretically speaking as I could be, right?”

The former UFC middleweight kingpin also feels great physically and mentally. He likes fighting in the Middle East, which is luckily where UFC 308 takes place.

Whittaker didn’t hold back when asked about his strategy going into the Chimaev fight. He’s aware of the explosive wrestling his opponent brings in the early rounds. However, he’s certain about neutralizing Chimaev’s wrestling and turning the tides as the fight goes on.

“Yeah, definitely that high-paced start and his wrestling prowess. It’s quite simple. You know, you got to worry about how hard he’s going to push the wrestling envelope in the first few rounds. And then, like, what I’m going to do after that, after I stop the takedowns, after I get back up or whatever, and just taking the fight to him.”

Whittaker has racked up two impressive wins in 2024. By ending the year with a win over a huge name like Chimaev, he’ll most likely earn a title shot.

• READ MORE: Kamaru Usman Compares Career To Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski Ahead Of Rumored Return Against Belal Muhammad: “How Disrespectful Are MMA Fans”

Continue Reading ‘I’ve Essentially Had Two Camps For This Guy’ –  Robert Whittaker Lays Down Confident Plan To Get Past Khamzat Chimaev And Fight For UFC Middleweight Gold at MMA News.

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