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Fight fans aren’t liking the looks of Benoit Saint Denis’ forehead, and that’s not a knock on the rising Lightweight contender’s appearance.

Saint Denis is scheduled to face former interim champion Dustin Poirier this weekend (Sat. March 9, 2024) in the co-main event of UFC 299 from Miami, Florida. It’s a five-round booking and one of the most highly anticipated bouts of the card, as Poirier is a beloved knockout artist while “BSD” is on a major tear, having won five bouts in a row via stoppage.

Unfortunately, Saint Denis has an unpleasant looking wound on his forehead. Many took notice of the opening during recent fight week-related media, and quite a few have diagnosed the wound as a staph infection, one of the more serious illnesses that wrestling rooms can pass on.

It’s not just fans either, as fellow UFC Lightweight contender Renato Moicano thinks it could be staph as well.

Reactions were mixed online, from full on panic to others dismissing the issue. Check out a sample below:

looks like a badly popped pimple

if someone has staph, doesn’t the fight get cancelled automatically?

It doesn’t change the fight because Dustin was always going to dominate

I think he said in an interview that it was from a bullet round when he was shooting. But who knows. If that is indeed staph infection, it could absolutely play a huge factor. I think BSD will be fine though

If bros on antibiotics it’s going to be a miserable weight cut

That’s gross. He shouldn’t fight with that.

Here’s the problem with the speculation: anyone could be correct. Without getting the infection tested, a small wound like that could be a nasty staph infection fully in the blood stream or it could be a popped pimple or it could be a finger nail scratch with some other kind of infection. Not every staph infection results in Kevin Randleman-esque wounds; that level of decomposition is very uncommon!

That said, antibiotics could be a real talking point if it is indeed staph. Antibiotics are known to wreak havoc on an athlete’s conditioning. For example, Luke Rockhold nearly passed out from exhaustion after defeating Chris Weidman, and he attributed the fatigue to a staph and antibiotic combo.

Bettors beware?

Insomnia

If I’m being fully honest, I thought Mickey Gall got released at some point in the last year or two.

Is my memory also faulty in remembering Sean O’Malley and/or UFC marketing him as Irish after Contenders Series? I feel like that was part of the Conor McGregor comparisons.

The great Georges St. Pierre has jokes!

Francis Ngannou dropping some fire on the mic!

It would be very cool to see Ecuador celebrating a UFC champion.

Whatever those officers were being paid was not worth a potential Mike Tyson left hook.

Conor McGregor is a confirmed Sean Strickland fan.

BJJ ace Mikey Musumeci and actor Tom Hardy working some arm drags!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

We see this kind of marching step/low kick feint all the time in MMA, but nobody is throwing uppercut elbows off them!

Footage from a referee body cam!

This girl put some stink onto that right hand — clearly some training here!

Random Land

“I got mercury poisoning
It’s fatal and it don’t get better”

Midnight Music: Funk rock, 2002

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

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Dustin Poirier knows he’ll always be attached to Conor McGregor after their UFC trilogy.

Lately, while Poirier prepared for his return against Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299, McGregor has been stuck awaiting word about when he’ll actually fight again. Despite his declaration that he wanted to face Michael Chandler in June and then possibly finish a separate trilogy with Nate Diaz in September, McGregor said on Tuesday that the “lack of action” to get him back in the cage is causing him to lose enthusiasm about competing again.

July marks three years since McGregor last competed in his third bout against Poirier. Between McGregor’s time off and the extended delays in booking a fight, Poirier can’t say with any certainty that his longtime rival will ever return again.

“Who knows,” Poirier said of McGregor. “I’m a fan of the sport, so any time that guy fights, you know I’m watching. But your guess is as good as mine. Who knows if he ever comes back?”

Questions about McGregor’s future will only continue to grow until he actually books another fight, but even with his own matchup cemented for UFC 299 this weekend, Poirier actually faces a similar inquiry about what comes next for him.

Poirier made a comment recently regarding his potential retirement when asked about what happens if the fight with Saint Denis doesn’t go his way. In clarifying that comment on Wednesday, Poirier offered a harsh reminder that any fight could be his last, but not because his mind has been overrun with thoughts about hanging up his gloves for good.

“I’ve been seeing people say that a lot,” Poirier said addressing his future. “I think that’s because like a week ago I did an interview and somebody asked me, ‘Is this your last fight if it doesn’t go your way?’ I said, ‘Well, any fight could be my last one, win or lose.’

I’ve been doing this a long time so I think that’s where they ran off with it at. But we’ve just got to fight. We’ve just got to fight Saturday.”

As he approaches his 30th UFC appearance on Saturday, Poirier knows he has far less time left ahead of him than what’s already behind, but that doesn’t mean he’s finished chasing his goals.

Ideally, he’ll beat Saint Denis and then position himself for another No. 1 contender’s fight sometime later this year, because becoming UFC lightweight champion remains the only item on his bucket list that really matters.

“The undisputed world championship is like the last thing I really want to do in this sport,” Poirier said. “I feel like I’ve done a lot, not being boastful or anything but I’ve been fighting a long time. This is my 30th fight in the UFC. I’ve come up short, I’ve been victorious. It’s been a long journey. I’m thankful. I’m in a place where I’m content with everything. I’m happy with who I am and the career I’ve had and being able to provide for my family the way that I have. It’s been beautiful. That’s the fight journey.

“What’s beautiful about it to me is I’ve been fighting for 17 years and I’ve been surrounded by so many guys with the same dreams and even with the same work ethic. They get out of this sport broken and broke and beat up. I’m just thankful.”

When it comes to that title shot, Poirier likely sits behind a pair of upcoming fights that could have championship implications attached to them. Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira clashes with Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 while Gaethje battles Max Holloway in a BMF title fight on the same card.

Poirier isn’t looking too far ahead, but he knows with his history in the division and the résumé he’s put together, he’s never too far away from earning that same kind of opportunity.

“I think a lot of that depends on how I win,” Poirier said. “If it’s a big finish or something like that, I believe I’m a win away from a title shot with a great performance. But it rights the ship. It gets me back in the win column and we take it from there. I try not to look too far past these fights because Saturday isn’t here yet.

“We’ve got to go out there and do the damn thing, and then Sunday, that’s when we reassess and see really where we’re at and what’s next.”

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KSI, real name Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, has called for Ryan Garcia to be pulled from his upcoming boxing match with Devin Haney following the former interim WBC lightweight champion’s “mental breakdown” in recent weeks.

Garcia has been the subject of multiple headlines, many of them stemming from his increasingly erratic behavior that has fighters, fans, and those close to him genuinely concerned for his well-being. Social media star and part-time boxer KSI suggested that Garcia needs to seek help and should be removed from his title tilt with Haney for the time being.

“Cancel the Ryan Garcia fight and actually get him some help,” KSI wrote on X. “It’s sad watching him have a mental breakdown publicly like this.”

Unfortunately, the chances of Garcia vs. Haney being canceled, or even postponed seem unlikely. However, it does appear that ‘The Flash’ is attempting to refocus on his April 20 boxing match rather than some of the more disturbing content he’s been putting out into the world as of late.

“I Ryan Garcia, will not be speaking or tweeting or writing anything other then My Fight “Boxing” and Sports. All topics of discussion will be discussed after my fight,” Garcia wrote on social media. “5 weeks of focus. You have my word I’m locked in I’ll see you 4-20.”

He followed that up with another post, writing: “As I’ve stated I will only be talking about boxing, let’s see who’s really listening! Ask me any “Boxing” QUESTION? On plane back to go train with Derrick in Dallas. So why not do a Q&A of Boxing and Sports!”

Sean O’Malley Comments on Ryan Garcia’s Downward Spiral

Ryan Garcia’s downward spiral seemingly began with a confusing post that referenced his own death and Satan. He attempted to explain himself in a video two days later but provided little answers. From there, he engaged in a deranged conversation with controversial combat sports figure Andrew Tate, claiming that someone had tied him up in the woods and forced him to watch illegal acts being perpetrated on children.

His meltdown continued online where he spammed his X account with posts about aliens, Bohemian Grove, and peace in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley attributed Garcia’s behavior to a substance abuse problem telling reporters, “Cocaine’s a hell of a drug.”

LowKickMMA.com

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngnnaou will have his second professional boxing match on Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  After losing a controversial split decision to Tyson Fury last October in his debut, Ngannou has secured a bout against former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.  

“I know AJ can box.  I know AJ is a specialist, but I know Francis can fight,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel.  “I know Francis can fight and he showed in his last boxing fight that he can beat if not the best boxer of this generation or ever.”

“It’s not my place to pick a winner.  I’m not God.  I’m not either of these men.  They’re going to pick a winner themselves, but I have a weird feeling that you don’t want to blink in this fight,” Adesanya continued.

Adesanya is friends with both Joshua and Ngannou.  He and Joshua are both from Nigeria.  Ngannou and Adesanya’s friendship is well documented.  “The Last Stylebender” didn’t make a prediction and hopes both men emerge from the match unscathed.  

“I’m not going to pick a winner in this fight.  Look, I’m going to watch.  I’m going to hope both guys come out unscathed.  I just hate when I love get hurt,” said Adesanya.     

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Dana White always touted that he would build UFC into the biggest sporting brand in the world, and while he’s not there yet, executives within the promotion believe they may have already taken down one of the four majors in the United States.

That’s according to TKO Group Holdings president Mark Shapiro, who addressed the tremendous growth UFC has seen over the past few years, especially in the aftermath of the global pandemic. UFC has continued to produce record revenue year after year, with dozens of sold out events, the addition of several huge sponsorships, and television ratings that apparently crush the sport of hockey.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in sports in my career, I’m getting old now, and once in a while you hear — you used to hear it more often than you do now — but it used to be the four majors,” Shapiro said referencing football, basketball, baseball, and hockey while appearing at the Morgan Stanley Tech, Media, and Telecom conference on Wednesday. “The four majors. Frankly, what are you talking about?

“UFC is now not only mainstream, but it’s one of the four majors. The ratings on ESPN and ESPN2, apples to apples against the NHL — even including the playoffs, we dwarf them.”

Shapiro said the ratings that UFC produces compared to the NHL aren’t even close, which is why he believes MMA now surpasses hockey as one of the biggest sports in the U.S.

“You put a Fight Night, not a pay-per-view, not a preliminary bout in front of the pay-per-view, a regularly weekly Fight Night on ESPN — does double digit ratings, beats [the ratings] against the NHL,” Shapiro said. “The demos are anywhere from 20 to 40 percent up.

“Not to smack [NHL commissioner] Gary Bettman or anything, I love the NHL, I’m a huge Chicago Blackhawks fan, but they’re just not in our league. That’s just not the case.”

Of course, a huge part of UFC’s business remains behind a paywall through a subscription based service at ESPN+, not to mention monthly pay-per-views, which produce a huge amount of revenue for the company.

That’s why Shapiro made sure to specifically identify UFC cards that currently air on ESPN when comparing the ratings the promotion produces to hockey games in the NHL.

“Keep in mind when I rattle off those ratings, that doesn’t include what we’re doing on ESPN+, which they’re not publishing,” Shapiro said. “We’re that much bigger. So we’re in a great place.”

Shapiro will look to further back up those comments when UFC begins negotiations on a new TV deal later this year, with the promotion’s broadcast agreement with ESPN set to come to a close in 2025.

When the NHL inked a new seven-year deal with ESPN in 2021 that included rights for 25 games, half the playoffs each season, and the Stanley Cup finals in four of the seven years, the Disney owned network reportedly ponied up around $ 400 million per year.

Many believe the UFC will be looking for a massive increase in sports rights fees when negotiations begin on a new broadcast rights deal, with the promotion potentially seeking more than $ 3 billion for a multi-year contract.

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