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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

This is one of the big weeks marked on the calendars for fight fans around the world with Francis Ngannou looking to shock the boxing world once again when he faces Anthony Joshua on Friday, and a loaded UFC 299 event on Saturday, headlined by the rematch between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera for UFC bantamweight gold — and that’s just a couple of the big storylines for this weekend.

On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses UFC 299 and Joshua vs. Ngannou, the O’Malley vs. Vera second chapter, and everything that could happen based on the results. Additionally, listener questions include Petr Yan’s return to the octagon against Song Yadong this Saturday, Michael Page’s UFC debut against Kevin Holland, Alexandre Pantoja’s next title defense following Muhammad Mokaev’s win at UFC Vegas 87, Jamahal Hill challenging Alex Pereira at UFC 300, and more.

You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces.

If you miss it live, audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sean O’Malley essentially handpicked his first title defense by plucking Marlon “Chito” Vera to serve as his counterpart in UFC 299’s main event.

By all accounts, Vera shouldn’t sniff a title shot right now after losing to Cory Sandhagen and then scoring an uninspiring win over Pedro Munhoz, but a victory over O’Malley from 2020 was all that mattered when booking the matchup. Because O’Malley commands an audience as a fast-rising UFC star, his desire to avenge the lone loss of his career shut out more deserving contenders like Merab Dvalishvili, who sits on a remarkable 10-fight win streak yet is on the outside looking in when it comes to O’Malley’s first title defense.

UFC welterweight Matt Brown believes that was all done with a purpose — so O’Malley could at least get one title defense under his belt before he inevitably runs into a fight he has very little chance of winning.

“He’s got good people around him, managing him, putting things together,” Brown said of O’Malley’s selection of Vera as an opponent over Dvalishvili on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “It should have been Merab, but the UFC’s squeezing all the juice they can out of Sean O’Malley before Merab comes in and empties that cup out.

“Merab is the next champion. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. Probably a longtime champion. I don’t see anybody coming up that can take Merab out. I mean, he just looks fantastic in everything he does. He’s absolutely a f****** train.”

During his current run, Dvailishvili has taken out numerous ranked opponents, including three former bantamweight champions. Following his latest win over Henry Cejudo at UFC 298, UFC CEO Dana White finally declared Dvalishvili as next in line for the title shot.

Assuming the UFC follows through on that promise, Brown says it really doesn’t matter who wins at UFC 299, because that person will inevitably fall to Dvalishvili.

“One-hundred percent [Merab wins],” Brown said. “I don’t there’s any question. He beats both of them in the same night.

“I’ve been saying for a little bit now, especially after the way he just beat Cejudo, there’s a decent chance he’s going to be one of the best of all-time. I think he has a real good chance of being top five all time. There’s nobody beating him for a long time.”

As far as who will actually leave UFC 299 with the title, Brown feels confident that O’Malley will hold onto his belt for at least one more night.

A freak injury ended the first fight between O’Malley and Vera, but it seems unlikely something that that will happen again. At their absolute best, Brown believes O’Malley is just the better fighter, although he still has to be careful with Vera through all five rounds.

“Chito’s just got an uphill battle,” Brown said. “I don’t see where he’s going to be able to pull it out other than it is a five-round fight. It’s a f****** five-round fight and Chito is a god**** dog. I’m 90-10 here on Sean O’Malley. It’s just an uphill battle for Chito. I think it’s a tough fight for him.”

Of course, Vera has pulled off wins in similar circumstances when he was down on the scorecards but then delivered an emphatic finish.

It’s possible he does the same thing to O’Malley, but Brown doesn’t expect that to happen.

“The one thing going for him in this fight is it is five rounds and he’s got good power,” Brown said of Vera. “He finds his shots really well. So basically, Sean just can’t f*** up for five rounds. But I think Sean, he showed it in the first fight, he is the better fighter. He was piecing up Chito pretty good, but to be fair, Chito’s a slow starter. I think you can find ways if you dig deep enough to find a way for Chito to win this fight. If you want him to win, you could justify it.

“I think Sean O’Malley kind of rubs a lot of people the wrong way with his purple hair and streaming weird dork stuff or whatever, which is all fine, but I think people kind of find justified ways for Chito to win because we all love Chito. He’s a great dude and we all love the way he fights. But based on the history, if Sean’s ankle holds up, he probably wins the fight.”

Listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday with audio only versions of the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio

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Don’t expect ‘The Last Stylebender’ to start calling out any names in the boxing world. Izzy is happy where he is in the UFC.

Israel Adesanya isn’t interested in crossing back over into the boxing world.

MMA fighters leaving the sport for boxing is a hot topic right now. ESPN just released an article suggesting we’ll only see more UFC guys fighting out their contract and then trying to land a big payday in the ring. As one anonymous athlete was quoted saying: “if you sell 50,000 pay-per-views, 100,000 pay-per-views, you still make a boatload of money.”

Don’t expect “The Last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya to jump on that bandwagon, though. As Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou approaches on March 8th, Adesanya shared backstage footage from Joshua’s last fight against Otto Wallin in December.

“After seeing Ngannou do what he done, what you thinking?” Joshua asked.

Adesanya revealed he had already received calls from some serious people about boxing.

“‘You ever thought about going in the boxing ring?’ I was like, I already did! 6-1!” Izzy said, referencing a 2015 dabble in the sweet science. “The money’s too much for them to get me back. I just feel like I’ve already done that, and right now the UFC’s looking after me pretty well. But I know what you mean … there’s a number, but I don’t think these guys are willing to pay it.”

UFC pay figures are intentionally opaque, but Adesanya is thought to make mid-seven figures from the UFC per fight. Good money, but it pales in comparison to the purses getting paid out at the top of boxing. Anthony Joshua earned $ 42 million in 2023, while Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fought twice last year and made $ 63 million. That’s just straight purse money, no sponsorships or business dealings.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is now in this orbit. He went from making mid-six figures in the UFC to cashing more than $ 10 million against Tyson Fury. He may make up to $ 20 million against Anthony Joshua.

No wonder so many UFC stars are angling for these cross-sport money fights. It’s called prize fighting for a reason, after all.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jake Paul added another knockout to his resume in Puerto Rico this past weekend and former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was far from impressed.

“The Problem Child’s” 10th career boxing match was just his second outside of the United States. After an eight-match start against primarily MMA fighters, the 27-year-old Paul (9-1) turned his attention to more boxing-centric opponents.

Veteran Andre August (10-2-1) took on Paul this past December. Despite being coined Paul’s toughest challenge yet thanks to his boxing background, August suffered a first-round knockout loss. The match was only his second since 2019 and Paul’s most recent opponent from this past Saturday, Ryan Bourland, was of a similar ilk. With the Paul match now under his belt, the 35-year-old Bourland (17-3) has boxed twice since 2018. He too suffered a first-round stoppage via strikes and the aforementioned Bisping can’t help but call out the blatant con job he believes is unfolding.

“Jake Paul was always destined to win this fight and you are the suckers if you paid for this fight and I know most people didn’t,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Unfortunately, the opponent was utter dog s*** and couldn’t make it through one round. How was he able to get it done? Because he’s just so good. He expected a second round but my god, the guy did it in round one. I mean, this guy’s the future.

“[Paul] was swinging punches like an absolute maniac leaving openings to get countered all day long against a decent boxer. He doesn’t have that threat because he wasn’t going up against a trained pro.”

Bisping added how taking on journeyman-type boxers as an up-and-comer is nothing new in the traditional boxing model. However, the primary difference is that when those rising star are building their record, it’s not billed atop a $ 50-plus pay-per-view (it should be noted that Saturday’s show came as part of the standard DAZN subscription, so subscribers did not incur an additional PPV charge). Therefore, making the case of Paul somewhat of a scam according Bisping.

After the win, Paul directed his attention to one of the top pound-for-pound boxers Saul “Canelo” Alvarez with a callout. Paul has mentioned becoming a worldwide great like Canelo one day with previous mentions of the Mexican sensation. At this stage, it’s laughable, according to “The Count.”

“He’s calling out Canelo because he knows damn well that fight is not going to happen,” Bisping said. “Canelo Alvarez would not wipe his ass with a Jake Paul payday. He doesn’t want circus side show, freak show fights, okay?

“He is disrespecting the sport of boxing. He’s disrespecting all the people that worked their way up, but more importantly, he’s conning the fans. If Ryan Bourland is your next Uber driver, give him five stars and give him a good tip. Beating people that you know you can beat, that’s called being a bully.”

TOP STORIES

Confidence. Francis Ngannou’s coach guarantees knockout of Anthony Joshua: “Lightning will strike twice”

Answers. Monday Mailbag: Seriously, who gets to challenge Alexandre Pantoja? Plus, UFC 299 vs. UFC 300

Nope. Francis Ngannou vows “I’m not leaving boxing” regardless of Anthony Joshua result

Gamble. Dustin Poirier: If I could, I’d bet on Max Holloway over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300

Unimpressed. Brandon Royval still wants title shot, but open to fighting ”f****** boring” Muhammad Mokaev next

Declined. Jake Paul announces next event date, shoots down Tony Ferguson callout: “That would be sad”

Rematch. Sean O’Malley says Marlon Vera knows he’s been “gifted this title shot” at UFC 299

VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

UFC 299 Embedded.

Poirier vs. BSD preview.

UFC Connected: BSD

Cruz and Cejudo break down O’Malley vs. Vera 2.

Burns’ last session.

Gaethje’s Road to UFC 300.

Fishing with Volk.

LISTEN UP

On To the Next One. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alex K. Lee discuss the matches to make after UFC Vegas 87.

MORNING MUSIC

Discovering some lovely covers lately.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

The champ is here.

He totally just watched Spaceman.

Head up and a flex.

Roots.

Great start, actually.

Bombs away.

Support.

Working.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think we’ve known this, Michael. No lies detected.

Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

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Undefeated PFL Europe prospect Cedric Doumbe tried to do his next opponent a solid ahead of their main event matchup on Thursday.

Returning to the Smart Cage for a headliner against Baysangur Chamsoudinov on March 7, Doumbe is feeling confident. So much so that he booked a hospital room for ‘Baki’ days ahead of their meeting inside Accor Arena in Paris, France.

After making a name for himself under the GLORY Kickboxing banner, capturing the welterweight championship on two separate occasions, and defending it a total of five times, Doumbe made the move to MMA and has looked nothing short of spectacular thus far. ‘Le Meilleur’ has dispatched all five of his opponents via knockout, including a vicious nine-second KO of Jordan Zébo in his promotional debut at PFL Europe 3 in September.

Doumbe will face his toughest test yet in the cage when he squares off with Baysangur Chamsoudinov, a 7-0 fighter out of Urus Martan, Chehenya. Gaining traction in ARES FC, Chamsoudinov has three wins by way of knockout and four unanimous decisions.

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