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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has an Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou live stream watch party for Friday’s heavyweight bout in Saudi Arabia. The former two-time unified heavyweight champ and the former UFC heavyweight titleholder battle in the main event in a 10-round boxing match.

Join MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Conner Burks, along with special guests, to watch along with the Joshua vs. Ngannou headliner, plus the co-main event of the card appropriately titled Knockout Chaos.

After losing back-to-back fights to Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua picked up wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius in performances that left a bit to be desired among the boxing community. However, “AJ” delivered a vintage showing in his most recent appearance when he stopped Otto Wallin in five rounds this past December.

Ngannou, now a member of the PFL heavyweight roster, shook up the boxing world as he gave lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury all he could handle, and then some in a split decision loss this past October — even scoring a viral knockdown in the process.

The co-main event will be for the interim WBO heavyweight title between Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker.

Watch MMA Fighting’s Joshua vs. Ngannou Watch Party at around 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT.

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Weigh-in Results
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UFC

After nearly toppling Heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, in his professional boxing debut, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, faces another of this generation’s premier big men today (Fri., March 8, 2024) when he takes on former unified champion, Anthony Joshua, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of the “Fury vs. Ngannou”-led pay-per-view (PPV) main card right below. The main card broadcast kicks off on DAZN PPV at 11 a.m. ET (watch it here), while “AJ” and “The Predator” are expected to make their ring walks around 5 p.m. ET.

“Knockout Chaos” also features another pivotal Heavyweight clash between vicious knockout artist, Zhang Zhilei, and veteran Joseph Parker, the latter of whom upset Deontay Wilder in Nov. 2023 (watch highlights), and WBC Featherweight champion Rey Vargas’ title defense against hard-charging slugger, Nick Ball. Top Super Welterweight contenders Israil Madrimov and Magomed Kurbanov also square off for the vacant WBA title formerly held by Jermell Charlo.

Gavin Gwynne, Justis Huni, Roman Fury, Jack McGann and others see action, too.

Joshua Vs. Ngannou Quick Results:

Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou
Zhilei Zhang vs. Joseph Parker
Rey Vargas vs. Nick Ball
Israil Madrimov vs. Magomed Kurbanov
Gavin Gwynne vs. Mark Chamberlain
Justis Huni vs. Kevin Lerena — Huni def. Lerena by unanimous decision (96-94 x2, 98-92)

Joshua vs. Ngannou Round-By-Round Updates:

Heavyweight: Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou

Round one:

Round two:

Round three:

Round four:

Round five:

Round six:

Round seven:

Round eight:

Round nine:

Round ten:

Round eleven:

Round twelve:

Final result:

Interim WBO Heavyweight championship: Zhilei Zhang vs. Joseph Parker

Round one:

Round two:

Round three:

Round four:

Round five:

Round six:

Round seven:

Round eight:

Round nine:

Round ten:

Round eleven:

Round twelve:

Final result:

WBA Super Welterweight championship: Israil Madrimov vs. Magomed Kurbanov

Round one:

Round two:

Round three:

Round four:

Round five:

Round six:

Round seven:

Round eight:

Round nine:

Round ten:

Round eleven:

Round twelve:

Final result:

WBC Featherweight championship: Rey Vargas vs. Nick Ball

Round one:

Round two:

Round three:

Round four:

Round five:

Round six:

Round seven:

Round eight:

Round nine:

Round ten:

Round eleven:

Round twelve:

Final result:

Photo by Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing via Getty Images

WBA Super Featherweight championship: Israil Madrimov vs Magomed Kurbanov

Round one:

Round two:

Round three:

Round four:

Round five:

Round six:

Round seven:

Round eight:

Round nine:

Round ten:

Round eleven:

Round twelve:

Final result:

Lightweight: Gavin Gwynne vs. Mark Chamberlain

Round one: Two hours later, it’s finally time for the second fight

Both men trading jabs and straights, Chamberlain the busier in the opening minute. Solid combinations. Chamberlain landing some impressive volume as Gwynne plods forward. Nice uppercut. Clinch halfway through. Chamberlain eating Gwynne up with combinations to the head and body. Gwynne finally lands a decent right hand and gets clinched. His right eye is a mess as Chamberlain continues to tee off. 10-9 Chamberlain.

Round two: Gwynne firing the occasional jab or straight as Chamberlain tears into him with rapid-fire volumes. Lots of clinching. Short blows from Chamberlain, sneaking around and through Gwynne’s high guard at the halfway point. Four-piece combo, body shot, cracking left upstairs. Nasty uppercuts on the back foot. Clinch. Gwynne’s just too slow and static to get anything going as Chamberlain piles up the damage. Brutal chopping left in the final seconds. 10-9, 20-18 Chamberlain.

Round three:

Round four:

Round five:

Round six:

Round seven:

Round eight:

Round nine:

Round ten:

Round eleven:

Round twelve:

Final result:

Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images

Heavyweight: Justis Huni vs. Kevin Lerena

Round one: Huni orthodox, Lerena southpaw. Huni light on his feet as Lerena slowly advances. Right hands from Huni, straight left from Lerena against the ropes. Huni finding the mark with the right cross as he sticks and moves. Double left hook to pivot. Lerena weathers some sharp shots, then opens up in the corner halfway through. Huni’s doing a good job of angling out when Lerena tries to pin him down, mixing straight shots to the head and body. Good exchange in the corner. Lerena backs him up, weathers a series of jabs and a right cross before tying up. 10-9 Huni.

Round two: Lerena buzzes Huni with an early 1-2 and presses the advantage with high volume. Huni weathers it and tries to blast through his guard against the ropes before getting clinched. Sharp jabs by Lerena. Hard right hook stings Huni again and Lerena tees off with a lengthy flurry before clinching halfway through. Huni now looking to crowd Lerena and punish the body. Hard straight right, not much coming back from Lerena. Clinch. Nasty combos by Huni, mixing it up to the head and body. Sneaky shots inside. Lerena wakes up and throws heat in the final seconds. 10-9 Lerena, 19-19.

Round three: Huni sitting down more on his shots, looking to get through and around Lerena’s high guard with combinations. Significantly outworking Lerena at the moment, circling and potshotting. Halfway through. Huni’s back in cruise control, outmaneuvering the flat-footed Lerena and picking his shots. Lerena tries to chase in the final seconds and they trade in the corner. 10-9, 29-28 Huni.

Round four: Lerena backs Huni to the corner, but Huni gets the better of the exchange before disengaging. The movement, accuracy, and variety of Huni are paying dividends so far. Slick move from Huni to reverse position in the corner and fire combos. Lerena’s just not doing enough. Halfway through. Lerena gets Huni to the ropes but again it’s Huni landing the more telling shots, even in bad positions. Lerena corners him and pumps the jab, then lands a glancing overhand left. Clinch. Slick combinations by Huni. Lerena lands an overhand left, eats a straight right in the final seconds. 10-9, 39-37 Huni.

Round five: Huni continues to do work on the outside. Clinch. Lerena still advancing, still not throwing enough to take advantage. There’s a solid sequence in the corner halfway through. Huni pumps the jab, eats a cross. 1-3, pivot. It’s become a bit of a sparring match, Huni prioritizing slickness over power. Lerena tries to open up in the corner. 10-9, 49-46 Huni.

Round six: Clean two-piece from Huni to start. Body shots from Lerena, then some good sequences in the pocket. Huni backs him to the ropes and both land two-piece combos. Brief clinch, hard left hooks by Huni on the exit halfway through. Huni slowly advancing, lands to the body against the ropes. They trade uppercuts. Huni still mixing his attack nicely, putting together clean power shots. Lerena takes the initiative in the last 10 seconds. 10-9, 59-55 Huni.

Round seven: Lerena cracks Huni with a straight left, prompting Huni to come back with a combo and do some posturing. Combinations from Lerena, now more active than he’s been in some time. Double left hook to right cross by Huni. Sharp combos upstairs. Lerena’s foot is back off the gas. Huni potshotting, heavy combo by Lerena. Huni backs him to the ropes and puts together a combo. Lerena extremely passive after that one big burst. Clash of heads. Lerena tries to explode in the final seconds. 10-9, 69-64 Huni.

Round eight: Solid exchanges to start the round, then a clinch 30 seconds in. Huni takes the reins again when they break, methodically working the head and body. Good combinations piling up for him. Halfway through. Lerena fires a flurry off the ropes and clinches. Hard body shots from Huni. High-low left hooks, clinch. He seems to be fully in gear, while Lerena’s output is too sporadic to retake the initiative. 10-9, 79-73 Huni.

Round nine: All Huni at this point, landing steady volume without leaving himself exposed. Lerena absorbing most of it without issue but declining to fire back. They trade in the center halfway through. Combo by Lerena, Huni tries a 1-2 in return. Huni backs him up to the ropes and Lerena wakes up long enough to throw for about 15 seconds before clinching. Huni cracks him with a clean right cross in return. 10-9, 89-82 Huni.

Round ten: Lerena comes out with some pep, but that lasts less than a minute before Huni gets back to sharpshooting. Halfway through. Huni gets a bit too casual, though, and Lerena blasts him with a counter left that has Huni doing the chicken dance. Lerena trying to get him out of there but he might be too tired to do it. Huni’s legs still look bad as he tries to fire back and tie up. Heavy 1-2 from Lerena, then another counter left that hurts Huni. Huni waving him on, clinch. Lerena’s just too gassed, falling into the clinch before whiffing on a last-second left. 10-9 Lerena. 98-92 Huni.

Final result: Huni def. Lerena by unanimous decision

For more on “Joshua vs. Ngannou” and other boxing-related events, click here. Full odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gilbert Burns won’t make any excuses for his loss to Belal Muhammad, but that fight definitely cost him a lot.

Not only did it set Burns back in the chase towards another title shot, but the veteran welterweight ultimately had to sit out for the past 10 months recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in that fight. It was quite possibly the worst circumstance that Burns has faced during his entire career after Muhammad blocked a takedown attempt in the opening round, and then Burns had to spend the next 20-plus minutes fighting with one arm.

“Sometimes it takes me a little bit of time to start feeling good in the fight. I was like, ‘Let me try a takedown,’” Burns told MMA Fighting. “I remember when he was kicking, I jumped to a takedown, but instead of running with my feet, I just dove to a takedown. Belal Muhammad did a great job doing a down block. So he did the down block, I came with all my weight plus Muhammad’s weight on my shoulder, and I smashed into the floor with the shoulder. That’s exactly when [the injury occurred].

“I didn’t know I was injured but I knew something was happening, so I was trying to take my time. After that, I couldn’t do nothing with my left arm. That was maybe three minutes, two minutes in the first round.”

Knowing that his arm was completely compromised, Burns could have easily informed his coaches and stopped the fight, but he kept going until the final horn. Burns says the result was the same either way, but at least he tried his best to find a way to win.

“I was not going to quit on myself,” Burns said. “Never. I was trying to figure out a way [to win]. I got frustrated a couple of times. I was trying to kick, then he was catching my kicks, and then I had to post with the injured arm on the floor so it wasn’t the best feeling. I wasn’t going to quit on myself. If there’s a small possibility to win, I’m going to try. I’m not going to quit or just get out of the fight because of a couple of circumstances.

“That was a mental battle at that moment. ‘Wow, really I cannot punch? I cannot take this guy down? It’s going to be like that? OK, let’s figure out a way,’ and then I was trying to get focused on the fight and my coach was trying to get me to focus on the fight, but it was very hard. A couple guys, Joe Rogan and other guys [said], ‘You should have stopped.’ Yeah, I probably should, but in the fight, I already accepted I might lose, I might get hurt. You accept that. When I’m in the fight, I’m going to try to find any way possible to win the fight. It was a very frustrating moment.”

In the aftermath of that injury, Burns was terrified that he might have to undergo surgery, which could’ve kept him out of action for an even longer period of time. Thankfully, Burns said his doctors advised him that the injury could heal on its own, but he still needed to rest and recover without pushing himself too hard or he might end up on the operating table.

“It was an AC joint, very severe tear, and the deltoids right in the front of the shoulder,” Burns revealed. “That was a severe tear, too. Then I tore a bunch of muscles and I tore my trapezius muscle as well. It was a very hard injury.

“I almost [had surgery]. We did a stem cell shot and [waited] a month to see if we still needed surgery. After a month, my tendon, my ligaments were getting better. So we did another stem cell [injection] and we didn’t have to go through the surgery.”

The fight with Muhammad came together on short notice after UFC 288 needed a co-main event, so Burns accepted the opportunity just four weeks after he defeated Jorge Masvidal in a three-round fight.

Looking back now, Burns acknowledges that he probably should’ve taken a longer break between fights because the showdown with Muhammad was already his third scheduled appearance in a five-month period to start 2023.

There’s nothing he can do about it now, but Burns says he learned a valuable lesson which forced him to reevaluate how he approaches his attitude of never turning down a fight.

“Thinking back now, it was too close to get three fights in five months, especially the last one being a five-round fight,” Burns said. “It was just too much on my body. For sure, I want to save a card. For sure, I wanted to become the No. 1 contender, but it would’ve been way smarter if I said, ‘Give me a little break and let me rest up a little bit.’ Leon [Edwards] hadn’t even fought Colby [Covington] yet. Yeah, I should wait, but when the opportunity came, I just put my hands up like I always do.

“No excuses. I accepted the fight, wanted the fight. I wanted the No. 1 contender fight. Belal Muhammad was the best man that night. That’s it. Now I have a little criteria before I get a fight, especially a short-notice fight. I had three weight cuts, training camps — for sure, one time the body’s going to break. Mentally, we’re not breaking, but the body will break.”

On Saturday night at UFC 299, Burns returns for a matchup against Jack Della Maddalena that not only offers him the chance to get back on track, but also pits him against a highly-touted prospect with an undefeated record in the octagon.

Technically, Burns faces a less experienced opponent who doesn’t have nearly as many accolades, or even the kind of ranking that would mean more in a chase towards title contention. Those factors may matter again in the future, but for right now Burns just wants to fight, and when the UFC gave him Della Maddalena as a name, he simply answered, ‘Yes.’

“Why not? I’m going to be running behind a number? I’m No. 4?” Burns said. “No, it was about that time. I want to get back to the win column and I want to fight for the title. I need to get a win. I want to get a win.

“So whoever they put in front of me, I’m going to say yes. But for sure, after I get back in the win column, then I can pick and choose a little bit more, make a good callout. But coming from a loss, I just need to put my head down, say I’m ready, get the name, and get the job done.”

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Mike Tyson plans to finish ‘The Problem Child’ this summer.

On Thursday morning, news broke that the former undisputed heavyweight world champion would return to the ring for a boxing match with social media sensation Jake Paul. Emanating from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — home of the Dallas Cowboys — the fight will broadcast live via Netflix on July 20, 2024.

“I’m very much looking forward to stepping into the ring with Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas,” Tyson said in a press release. “He’s grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a ‘kid’ can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT.

“It’s a full circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch; as I started him off on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones and now I plan to finish him” (H/T MMA Junkie).

Mike Tyson opens as a sizeable underdog against jake paul

In November 2020, Paul stepped inside the squared circle for the second time in his career as part of the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. undercard. He earned a second-round TKO against former NBA star Nate Robinson. In the time since, ‘The Problem Child’ has amassed a 9-1 record with his lone loss coming against Tommy Fury via a closely contested split decision last year.

Paul’s last two appearances have seen him score back-to-back first-round knockouts against a couple of no-name opponents under his own Most Valuable Promotions banner.

Mike Tyson is considered to be one of the most dangerous boxers to ever step foot in the ring, dispatching his first 19 opponents by way of knockout and holding the undisputed heavyweight title from 1987 to 1990. Over his 20-year career, Tyson built a record that includes 50 wins with 44 of them coming by way of knockout.

When it comes to experience, there is no ifs, ands, or buts. Mike Tyson has a clear advantage. However, ‘Iron’ will be 58 years old by the time fight night rolls around — more than 30 years older than Jake Paul. As a result, Tyson is currently listed as a significant +300 underdog on multiple sportsbooks compared to ‘The Problem Child’ who is being heavily favored at -360.

Who wins in this July showdown: Paul or Tyson?

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The UFC 299 bantamweight title bout between champion Sean O’Malley and challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera is officially set.  

Both men weighed in on Friday morning in Miami, Fla, and tipped the scales at exact the same weight.  O’Malley and Vera weighed in at 135 pounds each.  

The fight is a rematch.  In their first meeting, Vera handed O’Malley his first and only career loss finishing “Sugar” in the first round. O’Malley seeks to avenge the loss on Saturday at the Kaseya Center.

UFC 299 Weigh-In Video: Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera 2

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