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Muhammad Mokaev had to be admitted to hospital after his involvement in a serious car crash in Dagestan, Russia earlier this week.

‘The Punisher’ seems to have the worst luck of late and his wrecked Mercedes-Benz only adds to his list of troubles. Just last month, the prospect was handed his release by the UFC despite being undefeated in the cage.

Now, while riding his car through Dagestan, Russia, Muhammad Mokaev was involved in a crash. Mokaev was driving with a friend on the way to visit family before a collision forced his car off the road.

Luckily for the 24-year-old, he and his friend managed to avoid any serious injury. The MMA star was taken to hospital and later released in good health. 

Mokaev posted to X to give an update on his situation and also thank those who support him.

“Alhamdulillah,” Mokaev said in his first post since the crash. “I’m well, out from hospital. Thank you for the support.”

“I have been tested on a high level at this stage of my career and I will be back stronger. InshaAllah.”

Alhamdulillah
I’m well, out from hospital
Thank u for the support!❤️

I have been tested on high level at this stage of my career and I will be back stronger InshaAllah! pic.twitter.com/FGmkOALgz5

— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) August 22, 2024

Related: Steve Erceg sheds light on ‘entitled’ Muhammad Mokaev’s UFC release

Muhammad Mokaev has been a dominant presence in the UFC’s flyweight division since first competing for the company over two years ago. The rising star has bested some high-level opponents and was likely within touching distance of a title shot before disaster struck.

Despite have an incredible 7-0 record inside the octagon, he was released by the promotion following a win over Manel Kape at UFC 304 last month.

Now, Mokaev finds himself in a precarious position with many conflicting reports surrounding his future. Any promoter would be lucky to have the 12-0 talent at their disposal, but rumors suggest that the PFL and Brave CF are ahead of the pack in being linked with the 125er’s signature.

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The fighters competing on Saturday’s UFC Vegas 96 fight card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas officially weighed in on Friday, including co-main event fighters Tabatha Ricci and Angela Hill.  

Hill (17-13) will enter the fight ranked ninth in the division and coming off back-to-back wins.  Ricci (10-2) is ranked eleventh and has won five of her last six fights.  She’s coming off a win over Tecia Pennington in May.  

UFC Vegas 96 Co-Main Event Weigh-In Video

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UFC Vegas 96 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by middleweight bout between fifth-ranked Jared Cannonier and twelfth-ranked Caio Borralho. On Friday, the two officially weighed in ahead of Saturday’s showdown.  

Cannonier (17-7) enters the fight coming off a loss to Nassourdine Imavov in June. He had won his two previous bouts. “Tha Killa Gorilla” holds wins over former middleweight champion Sean Strickland, former title challenger Marvin Vettoriand middleweight GOAT Anderson Silva, among others.

Borralho (16-1, 1 NC) last lost a fight nearly a decade ago in 2015. He’s on an incredible winning streak and undefeated inside the octagon. “The Natural” is coming off a knockout win over Paul Craig at UFC 301 in May.

UFC Vegas 96 Main Event Weigh-In Video  

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Ronda Rousey has dipped her toe into many career avenues throughout her life. Combat sports, acting, sports entertainment, the graphic novel world, and now real estate?

‘Rowdy’ has found success in almost everything she does, but the most dominant years of her life arguably came inside the octagon. The retired UFC women’s bantamweight still holds the record for the most consecutive title defenses and most finishes in title fights in the division. 

Whether fans love her or hate her, the now 37-year-old is a major factor in the success of women’s mixed martial arts and will forever be remembered as one of the greatest to ever do it.

Since leaving her sporting career in the past, Ronda Rousey is now hoping to settle down in one of her ranches with her husband — fellow UFC veteran Travis Brown — and focus on the next stage of her life.

After purchasing a beautiful home a decade ago for $ 1.4 million, Rousey is hoping to see an almost $ 1.9 million return on her Los Angeles property. 

The fabulous two bedroom, one bathroom bungalow has a warm, welcoming living space perfect for an individual or a small family.

The bungalow is hidden away in the heart of the oceanside community of Venice Beach. Though cosy, the property has a near 870 square feet living area and almost a 2250 square feet loft. Another benefit of the land is the location, which is incredibly just walking distance from the boardwalk.

Related: Ronda Rousey reveals the one thing preventing UFC return

A built-in barbecue sits in the outdoor space and is perfectly accompanied by a large rooftop lounging area for those hot summer evenings.

The California home has much to offer. Ranging from a versatile one-car garage to a comforting loft space ready to be converted into whatever one’s heart desires.

Check out the mesmerizing residence below.

View the 14 images of this gallery on the original article

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Sean O’Malley enters his second bantamweight title defense on Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas dripping with confidence.  “Suga” takes on top contender Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 306 main event and O’Malley doesn’t think they fight will last that long.  

Dvalishvili has been the top contender in the division for some time but would not fight his training partner Aljamain Sterling, who held the belt until O’Malley dethroned him.  

“He was the top guy in the UFC for a long time at bantamweight because Aljamain Sterling, his best friend, was the champion at the time and they were not going to fight,” explained O’Malley to ESPN MMA.  “Merab was the gatekeeper.  He was beating the next best guy, beating the next best guy, beating the next best guy, wanted the title shot but didn’t want to fight Aljo.”

O’Malley defeated Sterling in the UFC 292 main event last year.  He successfully defended the title against Marlon Vera to avenge a previous loss and it’s now Dvalishvili’s turn.

“It’s stylistically a very different fight.  I’m a striker.  He’s a wrestler.  He said he’s going to strike with me probably because he can’t wrestle with me.  I don’t know why else he would say that,” O’Malley said.  “I don’t think he’s going to test my wrestling.  I don’t think he’s going to be able to.”

“I don’t think Merab is going to be the one to test my wrestling to be honest.  I truly believe that I’m going to put his lights out early,” O’Malley continued.  “It only takes one mistake.”

“I find people’s chins.  I do.  I’m going to find Merab’s chin.  He has a huge head, a huge nose.  It would be hard – I could try to not hit him and still accidentally probably hit him.  That’s how huge his head is.”  

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Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has ramped up his calls for an undisputed title fight against champion Jon Jones.  Jones is expected to face former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic later this year and Aspinall is the backup fighter on standby incase one of them has to pull out.  

In a video posted to YouTube on Thursday, Aspinall said he doesn’t understand why Jones and Miocic are even fighting and called them ‘two old men.’  

“I’m back training, started taking over a little bit in the gym preparing for the rumored fight, which isn’t confirmed yet, which is obviously Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, New York City.  As I said, this fight hasn’t been confirmed,” Aspinall said.  

“After my last fight against Curtis Blaydes, there was some talk about me being the backup fighter.  The UFC spoke to me directly about that and I said, ‘I’m in.’  Somebody pulls out, I’m in.  One days notice, ten days notice, ten weeks notice, one-hours notice, I’ll be prepared for that date, so you let me know,” Aspinall continued.  

“I’m ready to take the fight.  I’m No. 1 in the division, not Jon Jones, not Stipe Miocic.  They’re a couple of older fellas having a fight, fighting for the title for some reason.  I don’t know why that reason is.  I am the guy at heavyweight, so I”m ready to prove that on an hour’s notice if I need to.  No problem.  I’ll be there.”

Aspinall. has heard rumors of potential injuries and believes both Jones and Miocic are ‘injury prone’ at their ages.  

“I’m hearing rumors that Stipe is potentially injured.  These are stuff that I’m hearing from inner circles.  Stipe, I believe his birthday was yesterday actually, he’s 42-years old.  The guy is going to be injury prone.  Jon Jones, a million miles on the clock, he’s going to be injury prone,” said Aspinall.  

“Me, I’m ready to go.  I’m not even in my prime yet.  I’m hungry for it.  I’m not sure these two guys are, but I am and I’ll fight either of them for the undisputed title on any notice.  I’m ready,” continued the interim champion.

“Jon Jones had an amazing career.  I ain’t putting Jon Jones down.  Jon Jones isn’t the best heavyweight in the world right now.  That’s me, so I want what’s mine.  I’m pissed off for greatness.  I believe that I should be the No. 1 heavyweight in the world.  I feel like I’ve done what it takes to deserve that and I’m ready to prove it.  Jon Jones isn’t.  That’s all.  My issue with Jon Jones is he’s got the belt and I want it.  I want it.  I’ve got the belt too and I want to unify the belts.  There shouldn’t be two heavyweight champions.  There should be one.” 

“I just want the belt.  The issue is not with Jon.  The issue is not with Stipe.  The issue is with them holding the belt hostage.”      

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Former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson steps back in the ring on Nov. 15 against Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Tyson will without question be the most skilled boxer Paul has stood across the ring from, but Tyson is also 58-years old going up against someone more than half his age.     

Tyson appeared on the IMPAULSIVE YouTube channel hosted by Jake’s older brother Logan Paul.  The elder Paul expressed concern for Tyson going up against his brother and gave the former ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ a warning.

“I’m very nervous for you,” the older Paul said to Tyson.  “I want you to be okay in there, Mike.  You’ve got to take him serious, Mike.”

“I take him extremely serious.  These people don’t take him serious,” Tyson responded.  “This is what I’ve learned through my 58 years of experience, that anyone is capable of killing you.  In my live, and the way I lived my life, anyone is capable of killing you, so you should be apprehensive for anyone.”  

“This is what’s going to happen, to make everything short, two men are going to fight.  Somebody is going to win.  They might fight again, and then they go to their separate banks and life goes on.”  

Later in the podcast, Tyson stated what makes him different from Paul’s previous opponents, and it’s wasn’t his boxing experience.  

“I look at him as a killer.  That’s how I look at him,” Tyson said.  “If you think I’m too old for this fight, you need to come tell me in my face.”

“The difference between me and all the other guys that he’s fought, they weren’t apprehensive and afraid of him.  I’m apprehensive and scared, so I’m totally different than them,” Tyson continued.  

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Tony Ferguson is no stranger to the weird side of MMA, and a recent Sean Strickland story has only added to Ferguson’s unique nature.

‘El Cucuy’ is arguably one of the biggest upset stories in the UFC. The veteran went on a legendary 12-fight winning run inside the octagon, all without failing to capture the undisputed lightweight title. Now, he finds himself breaking the company record for the longest losing streak with eight straight losses in the cage.

When two of the most eccentric fighters in the sport sit down to talk, something unusual is bound to happen. That was the case when Sean Strickland and Tony Ferguson shared a phone call some years back.

“Tony is mentally f***ing ill,” Strickland said on the Versus Us Podcast. “So, my experience with Tony was, I was friends with him. We would talk occasionally.”

“He’s like, ‘Hey, I’m putting together a fight team in Huntington Beach.’ I’m like, ‘Ah, sh*t, alright Tony. Well, let me know if you need sparring.’ I was [at welterweight] at the time. I was like, ‘I got you.'”

Related: Sean Strickland heaps praise on ‘piece of sh*t’ Jon Jones

“I was like, ‘Let me know if you need sparring anytime.’ He’s like, ‘But, Sean. No. It’s super secretive… If you’re going to come train with us, I don’t want you training with anybody else.’ Like really f***ing weird.”

“[It was like] you’ve got the voices in your head weird. And I was like, ‘Tony, alright dog. I’m down dude, I’ll see you…’ And I just immediately hung up.”

Strickland continued, explaining further why he believes Ferguson may have been dealing with some problems.

“He accused one of his coaches of stealing from him. And [it’s] a guy that I know. He’s like, ‘Tony, I’ve never been to your house, bro. I don’t even know where you live. How did I break into your house and steal your sh*t bro? I don’t even know where the f*** you live, Tony.'”

“Tony, dude. That’s a whole bag of f***ing crazy.”

Listen to Sean Strickland’s story about Tony Ferguson and more below.

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Top bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili is scheduled to fight champion Sean O’Malley in the UFC 306 main event at the Sphere on Sept. 14.  On Tuesday, Dvalishvili posted a video revealing a small cut over his left eye the required stitches.    

“Calm down – its all good- just a little training injury. Never pulled out of a fight – and Never will! I’m coming for you O’Malley – stronger than ever,” Dvalishvili captioned the social media post. 

View the original article to see embedded media.

UFC CEO Dana White was not happy that Dvalishvili revealed to the world, and his opponent, that he suffered a laceration in training.  White went so calling Dvalishvilli’s decision to make the cut public ‘next-level stupid.’    

“The whole world knows about Merab’s cut, he posted it,” White following Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series event in Las Vegas. “Our guys are so dumb it’s next-level unbelievable. All the stuff I talk about boxing, what I will give boxing, is when something happens in a camp, let me tell you what, it does not leak. Our guys can’t f**king wait to throw it up on social media. It’s a small cut. It’s no big deal, but obviously needed to be posted.”

“And why the f**k would you want [O’Malley] to know that?! It is next level stupid. Some of these guys are so stupid it’s mind-boggling. It’s unbelievable,” White continued.  

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There has been a lot of contradicting statements of late regarding the future of Jon Jones. Many believe that he is fast approaching retirement, but Dana White believes otherwise.

Rumors have been surrounding Jones since his promise of a move up to heavyweight four years ago. Since then, the 37-year-old has taken a long hiatus, returned to stun Ciryl Gane and capture another UFC title, and then announce his interest in fighting Stipe Miocic next. One thing the Hall-of-Famer seemingly doesn’t plan on doing in his career is fighting Tom Aspinall.

Despite Jon Jones hinting at retiring after the Miocic fight, Dana White stated that the ‘greatest fighter of all time’ won’t leave the sport without testing himself against Aspinall.

“Jon is one of those challenging guys to deal with,” White said in the Contender Series post-fight press release. “He’s thinking about retiring but will he?”

“If the Aspinall thing is really flying out there, I personally think Jon challenges himself and takes the fight. I think he does it.”

Dana White then confirmed that if it comes to it, the UFC will offer Jon Jones a large deal to fight Tom Aspinall — claiming that Jones would never turn down a fight.

“There you go. You just answered your own question. That’s what I think we’ll do [give Jones an offer he can’t refuse].”

Related: Sean Strickland heaps praise on ‘piece of sh*t’ Jon Jones

“Listen, it’s always the same dealing with Jon… That dude [Hunter Campbell] did everything in his power to make Jon Jones vs. Francis [Ngannou]. The fight did not happen, and let me tell you what, it wasn’t because of Jon Jones.”

“Jon is a very unique individual to deal with [but] Jon Jones will fight everybody. Jon Jones was absolutely, he wanted Francis…”

“There’s no way in hell that Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight Aspinall. I guarantee you… I believe Jon Jones/Aspinall happens if he beats Stipe.”

“Well do everything we can to make the fight happen… What fights don’t we make? Other than the Francis fight, what fights don’t we make?”

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