Almost as long as modern MMA has been around, fans around the world have wondered how their legs would fare getting kicked by a professional fighter.
The answer is almost always the same – not well – with the main variable being how badly one gets hurt when they allow someone who kicks legs for a living to kick them.
For one very brave fan, the end result was a pair of crutches, courtesy of UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones. This guy didn’t quit at just one leg kick, but decided to grit his teeth through two – and he really paid for it.
Check out the video below, and enjoy the look on Jones’ face as he congratulates (?) the fan on allowing his leg to get mangled.
This trend of letting professional MMA fighters kick you in the leg only ever ends one way
pic.twitter.com/yKKMkNlpa6
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) March 11, 2024
Jones has kicked – and elbowed, and kneed – a lot of civilian limbs in recent weeks on a tour of Australia and Thailand. Still on the mend from a torn pectoral muscle that ruled him out of a title defense against ex-champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 295, “Bones” has kept himself busy teaching seminars. Naturally, a few folks have emerged from the woodwork to get a signature less permanent than a sharpie to a t-shirt, but far, far more memorable.
Jones is expected to face Miocic later this year in his first title defense as heavyweight champion. The fight could serve as his retirement from the sport after more than a decade atop the MMA world as light heavyweight and heavyweight champ.
Welcome to the latest update to the MMA Fighting pound-for-pound rankings, where every month our esteemed panel sort through the noise to answer one question: Who are the best overall male and female MMA fighters in the world?
Following a wild night at UFC 299, how have the rankings shaken up? Let’s take a look.
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
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Is Sean O’Malley a top-10 fighter in the world?
That’s the question our team faced after the UFC bantamweight champion notched his first defense of the belt by racking up historic striking stats in a rout of Marlon Vera at UFC 299. O’Malley has been a curious case since his abrupt ascent because of the lack of top names on his résumé, but with a trio of impressive wins over Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling, and Vera now lining his record, it appears he’s starting to turn our eight-person panel into believers.
Following his takeover of Miami this past Saturday, “The Sugar Show” vaulted into elite company, jumping into the pound-for-pound top 10 by settling into a tie at No. 9 with fellow UFC champion Dricus du Plessis. But how high can O’Malley climb? Whether he gets his wish and challenges Ilia Topuria (No. 5) or has to settle for Merab Dvalishvili (No. 18T), O’Malley’s next bout will come against another man ranked on the pound-for-pound list. That fight, more than any other, is likely to determine if O’Malley is here to stay as one of MMA’s top fighters or whether his time in the rankings will be a fleeting one.
As for what’s next, all eyes now turn to the UFC’s blockbuster tricentennial show on April 13. UFC 300’s lineup may have left some fans disappointed, but there’s no doubting the talent throughout the bill — a whooping five of our top-20 male fighters are set to compete, including No. 4 ranked Alex Pereira, who faces Jamahal Hill in the high-stakes main event.
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 11 Sean O’Malley def. Marlon Vera
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill (UFC 300, April 13), No. 6 Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan (UFC 300, April 13), No. 14T Justin Gaethje vs. No. 18T Max Holloway (UFC 300, April 13), No. 18T Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar (UFC 300, April 13)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Kamaru Usman (4), Dustin Poirier (3), Johnny Eblen (3), Shavkat Rakhmonov (3), Patricio Pitbull (2), Jiri Prochazka (1), Brandon Moreno (1), Jan Blachowicz (1), Jamahal Hill (1), A.J. McKee (1), Belal Muhammad (1), Usman Nurmagomedov (1), Robert Whittaker (1), Vadim Nemkov (1), Arman Tsarukyan (1)
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images MMA Fighting
This month’s update of the women’s pound-for-pound ranks is more notable for who’s not here rather than who is. Yes, by surpassing the 18-month threshold for inactivity, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and current No. 1 bantamweight contender Julianna Peña is no longer eligible to be ranked, thus forfeiting her No. 15 perch on the list.
Peña will surely reclaim her spot whenever she heals from her injuries and faces No. 9 ranked UFC champ Raquel Pennington in a grudge match that dates back to The Ultimate Fighter 18, but for now, our focus shifts forward to a loaded slate that sees a staggering eight of the top-20 women in MMA returning to the cage over the next four weeks.
Included among that group is pound-for-pound No. 1 Zhang Weili, who defends her UFC strawweight title in a historic battle against her Chinese countrywoman, No. 10 Yan Xiaonan, in the co-main event of UFC 300.
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Zhang Weili vs. No. 10 Yan Xiaonan (UFC 300, April 13), No. 5 Erin Blanchfield vs. No. 8 Manon Fiorot (UFC Atlantic City, March 30), No. 14 Rose Namajunas vs. Amanda Ribas (UFC Vegas 88, March 23), No. 15 Jessica Andrade vs. Marina Rodriguez (UFC 300, April 13), No. 19 Kayla Harrison vs. No. 20T Holly Holm (UFC 300, April 13)
The eight-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Shaun Al-Shatti, Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Steven Marrocco, Damon Martin and Jed Meshew.
Updates to the rankings will be completed following every UFC pay-per-view. Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout.
Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice (let’s put it this way: we’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did).
As a reminder, the notion of pound-for-pound supremacy is always going to inherently be subjective. When you’re debating whether someone like Justin Gaethje should be ranked above someone like Max Holloway, there is no true right answer. In other words: It’s not serious business, folks.
Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.
A bout between heavyweight contenders served as the UFC 299 preliminary fight card featured bout on Saturday.
Fifth-ranked Curtis Blaydes and seventh-ranked Jailton Almeida clashed at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Blaydes hoped to rebound from a loss to Sergei Pavlovich in his last outing. Almeida entered the match riding a 15-fight winning streak. He last felt defeat in 2018.
Almeida looked to get the fight to the ground early in the opening round. He put Blaydes on his back but Blaydes worked his way back to his feet. Almeida slammed him back to the canvas. Blaydes tried several times to stand but Almeida continued to put him back down.
Almeida did not inflict damage but secured nine takedowns in the first frame. MMAWeekly scored the round a clear 10-9 for Almeida.
Almedia landed a right hand at the beginning of the second round. He quickly changed levels and worked to secure a single-leg takedown. Blaydes sprawled and delivered hammer fists to the side of Almeida’s head. Almeida was hurt and fell over to the side and the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.
Blaydes ended Almeida’s 15-fight winning streak and got back in the win column. He’s won four of his last fight fights.
Season 32 gets underway Tues., June 4, 2024 on ESPN featuring head coaches Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. The rival flyweights are expected to face off for a third time at the conclusion of the combat sports reality show; however, a date and location have yet to be announced.
The coaches of TUF 32 might end up fighting before the coaches of TUF 31, which is both sad and hilarious. Grasso defeated Shevchenko at the UFC 285 pay-per-view (PPV) roughly one year back to win the 125-pound title, then battled “Bullet” to a draw in their Noche UFC rematch last fall.
Here’s the finalized TUFC 32 roster, featuring men’s featherweights and middleweights.
MEN’S FEATHERWEIGHTS (145)
Edwin Cooper Jr | 31 | 6-1 | Albuquerque, N.M. Nathan Fletcher | 26 | 8-1 | Liverpool, England Zygimantas Ramaska | 27 | 9-2 | Ukmergė, Lithuania Roedie Roets | 27 | 7-1 | Polokwane, South Africa Bekhzod Usmonov | 28 | 12-4 | Tajikistan Guillermo Torres | 37 | 7-1 | Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Kaan Ofli | 30 | 11-2-1 | Melbourne, Australia Mairon Santos | 23 | 13-1 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
MEN’S MIDDLEWEIGHTS (185)
Omran Chaaban | 23 | 6-1 | Finland Shamidkhan Magomedov | 29 | 8-1 | Gubkinsky, Russia Robert Valentin | 28 | 10-3 | Switzerland Mark Hulme | 29 | 12-3 | Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Ryan Loder | 31 | 6-1 | Sacramento, Calif. Giannis Bachar | 33 | 9-2 | Athens, Greece Thomas Theocharis | 30 | 9-5 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada Paddy McCorry | 26 | 4-1 | West Belfast, Ireland
Stay tuned for more TUF 32 news and notes in the coming weeks.
Nate Diaz thinks he would have a lot of success in boxing against the top heavyweights in the sport.
Diaz made his pro boxing debut last year when he dropped a decision to Jake Paul. Despite that, Diaz has still expressed interest in continuing to box and after Francis Ngannou was knocked out by Anthony Joshua on Friday, the Stockton native called out the three top boxers.
Mandatory Credit: Richard Pelham
Anthony Joshua Deontay wilder Tyson fury
I’ll whoop all your asses Just so u know.
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) March 11, 2024
“Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury. I’ll whoop all your asses. Just so u know,” Diaz wrote.
Although Diaz called the three out, it’s almost certain that the former UFC fighter would never box the heavyweights, due to the weight and the fact he lost to Jake Paul in his debut, which fans reminded him of.
Love ya Nate… but you lost to Jake Paul…
— CHUR (@CHUR_i3) March 11, 2024
“Love ya Nate…. but you lost to Jake Paul…,” one fan wrote.
Stop embarrassing yourself you’re a grown man
— igor (@ukraniandream) March 11, 2024
“Stop embarrassing yourself you’re a grown man.”
Never thought I’d say these words.. I’m tired of Nate Diaz
— Fight Night Bets (@fightnightbets_) March 11, 2024
“Never thought I’d say these words.. I’m tired of Nate Diaz.”
bruh. you lost to jake paul
— Mekumoto (@BankaiMekumoto) March 11, 2024
“bruh. you lost to jake paul.”
As many fans point out, Nate Diaz did lose to Jake Paul, so they don’t think he would have any success against the likes of Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury. The three boxers also never responded to his callout, which isn’t a surprise, as the fight is unlikely to ever happen.
Nate Diaz eyes return at UFC 306 in September
As for his fighting career, Diaz has not fought since he lost a decision to Jake Paul in a boxing match last August. He does not have his next fight booked, but has expressed interest in returning to the UFC to fight at The Sphere in September, while also being linked to a boxing match against Jorge Masvidal.
But, it’s almost certain that despite his callout, Diaz will not be boxing any of Joshua, Wilder, or Fury anytime soon, or ever.
What do you make of Nate Diaz calling out Anthony Joshua and peers?
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MMA Fighting 
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
MMA Fighting 
(@ukraniandream) March 11, 2024
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