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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Renan Ferreira doesn’t plan on fighting until he faces Francis Ngannou.

The 2023 PFL heavyweight champion walked through Ryan Bader in the main event of PFL vs. Bellator earlier this month in Saudi Arabia, which was promoted by PFL as a bout to determine who will welcome former UFC champion Ngannou to the company.

Ferreira told MMA Fighting that he will not enter the 2024 PFL season and will instead opt to wait for Ngannou to resume his MMA career first. “The Predator” shocked the world in 2023 with a split decision defeat to Tyson Fury in boxing, and now faces Anthony Joshua on May 8. Ngannou’s return to MMA could be delayed again depending on what happens against Joshua, as well as the result of Fury’s upcoming title clash with Oleksandr Usyk on May 18.

“At the moment, we will sit and we will wait,” Ferreira said. “I’ll get some rest. I’ve been fighting in [PFL tournaments] for three years and it’s very exhausting. I fought in November and had no rest, I had to fight in February already, so my body is tired now. I need some time to recover physically and go back to training, so I’ll be waiting for this fight, quite anxiously. I’m very happy for this opportunity, and I hope it happens soon.”

Ferreira said he’s confident Ngannou will compete under the PFL umbrella eventually since the Cameroonian champion is under contract with the promotion and PFL already advertised that the winner of Ferreira vs. Bader will get Ngannou next.

Ferreira admits, however, that he was surprised to see Ngannou walk away from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh without doing an in-cage faceoff to promote a future bout.

“It surprised me a little bit,” Ferreira said. “I thought he was going to go up there, that we would do the faceoff. I saw he had an uncomfortable smile on his face. I think he felt this is for real, that this is a big problem for him. There’s a guy coming and he’s not fooling around, he’s hungry for the victory.

“[Ngannou] is on this boxing adventure that is opening many doors and I have huge respect for him, but he has a contract with PFL. Like I said, I’m ready to box him as well, I’m ready to fight him in MMA. Wherever they want, I’ll be ready.”

Ferreira is 13-3 with a trio of no-contests in MMA, and has stopped his opponents in 11 of his professional wins. Ferreira finished four rivals in less than a minute since joining PFL, and claimed the 2023 heavyweight championship with a brutal knockout of Denis Goltsov.

Ngannou hasn’t competed in MMA since a decision victory over Ciryl Gane to defend his UFC heavyweight title in January 2022, which capped off an intense six-fight win UFC streak before he made history by departing the promotion as champion. “The Predator” knocked out his prior five opponents, from former UFC champions in Stipe Miocic, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos, to contenders in Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

“It was great motivation for me to have Francis Ngannou watching me there,” Ferreira said. “He’s seen me fight before and has spoken greatly about me, and that was extra motivation. This fight interests me a lot. To fight a champion like him, a really tough guy, it’s a fight the whole world wants to see. I was happy to have him there, and I didn’t feel any pressure. To have Mike Tyson there, great names like Jon Jones, people that have made history.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Merab Dvalishvili believes he holds the key to dethroning Sean O’Malley.

Following an impressive showing against former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298, ‘The Machine’ appears to be next in line for a bantamweight title opportunity.

Before getting his turn, Dvalishvili will sit back and watch as O’Malley puts his title on the line for the first time against the only man to have bested him inside the Octagon thus far, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, at UFC 299 on March 9. Should ‘Sugar’ pass his first test as the bantamweight king, Dvalishvili already has a pretty good idea of what he’ll need to do to end O’Malley’s reign.

“I see [O’Malley] as a dangerous opponent because he has good footwork, he has knockout power, he has a very strong right hand, and he has good timing,” Dvalishvili said on the MIGHTYcast podcast with Demetrious Johnson. “I see him as a dangerous fighter. Once he won on the Contender Series and I saw him in the UFC, I wanted to fight him because I want to challenge myself and I’m still looking that way.

“But how I see [the fight playing out], I think I should stay smart, just patient, keep striking and just wait for my time to shoot. If he defends, I let him go and then I’m going to shoot again, make him slow, make him tired, and eventually I will take him down” (h/t MMA Fighting).

Merab Dvalishvili ready to prepare for a potential clash with ‘Chito’

Of course, if Vera scores a second win over O’Malley in Miami, he will likely be the man fighting Dvalishvili later this year.

“I think ‘Chito’ is also a good fighter,” Dvalishvili said. “Very smart, he’s waiting in his pocket, he’s patient. He’s slow, but he’s sharp. Of course, he has a lot of experience in the UFC, he’s been in so many fights, won and lost. He’s dangerous, he has good kicks as well. But I don’t study him much, ‘Chito’ Vera, yet, but one thing is for sure, I will just train hard.

“What I learned is that you’ve got to just go step by step every fight. I’m focused on my next fight, next fight, next fight, that’s how I believe. I realized that a couple of years ago, just focus on the next fight.“

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA veteran Marcin Sianos was disqualified from a boxing match against Artur Bizewski on Saturday after executing a takedown and scoring a brutal ground-and-pound knockout.

Sianos (8-7 MMA, 0-1 boxing) faced off against undefeated prospect Bizewski (9-0 boxing) at Rocky Boxing Night in Koszalin, Poland. Sianos appeared to be on the verge of pulling off a dramatic upset after staggering Bizewski with a flurry of punches midway through the second round, however he then seized an illegal double-leg takedown, secured mount position, and pummeled his foe with a brutal ground-and-pound elbow that left Bizewski crumpled in a heap.

Sianos was ultimately disqualified before fleeing the ring amid a sea of angry fans.

Watch video of the scene below.

Following the incident, Sianos posted a lengthy statement on social media in Polish, apologizing for his actions and stating that he could not explain his behavior.

That post can be read (in Polish) below.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Umar Nurmagomedov would love to stay more active, but sometimes it’s just not possible.

The 28-year-old bantamweight contender competed for the first time in more than a year on Saturday at UFC Vegas 87, defeating Bekzat Almakhan after being forced out of a previously scheduled bout this past August against Cory Sandhagen in a five-round main event. As it stands, Nurmagomedov has only fought twice in the past 14 months, and he responded to critics claiming he’s earned a reputation for pulling out of fights and not competing as often as required to deserve a reputation as one of the best talents in the world at 135 pounds.

“Everybody talks about my pullouts,” Nurmagomedov said at his post-fight press conference. “Sean [O’Malley’s] coach and some different guys [talk about it]. In my life, I pulled out because of me, my health, two times. First time, I was sick. My face was very big and I didn’t sleep all night and I was very sick. I don’t remember [anything] worse than that time in my life. I didn’t fight, but it was a fight with Sergey Morozov and later I fought with him. Second time, because of me, because of my health, I pulled out because of my shoulder. I injured my shoulder and I did surgery and I will fight with Cory Sandhagen again, I hope.

“It’s two times when I pull out because of me. Other [times], when [the pandemic happened], when my uncle [Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov] passed away, when my opponents pull out, they’re going to count everything and say Umar pulled out eight times. It’s not true.”

Despite a perfect 17-0 record, Nurmagomedov had endured plenty of bad luck in his attempts to work toward title contention in the UFC.

It’s unfortunate, but Nurmagomedov says ultimately injuries only forced him to pull out of two contests, but nobody wants to acknowledge the other circumstances that led to fight cancellations.

“I pull out two times,” Nurmagomedov said. “One time, I fight with this same guy again. I don’t think someone is scared. Guys come to MMA, mixed martial arts, and I think everybody who comes to do this job goes inside and tries to make damage to each other. Everybody is brave. I just want to fight.

“Next, Cory Sandhagen — he talked about [fighting me during International Fight Week], he wants to fight, let’s go, I’m ready. If he don’t want it, somebody else. I really don’t care.”

Nurmagomedov acknowledged that the damage inflicted on his body due to a rigorous training schedule can come back to bite him occasionally, but that’s just the nature of the sport.

Because he can be called upon to compete at any time, Nurmagomedov stays training year-round, and punishing the body like that week after week, month after month would catch up to anybody.

“I’m doing a hard job,” Nurmagomedov said. “They said to me, ‘You’re going to fight,’ for example, ‘the last fight in January.’ They said, ‘Yes, you’re going to be fighting in March.’ I keep working. I think nobody can do hard training all year. That’s why I’m sometimes injured.

“First time I injured my knee, second time I injured my shoulder because I’m not healthy like a robot. I can break too. That’s why I want to fight everything [in] three months. I want to be active. It doesn’t depend on me, but when you’re injured, what are you going to do?”

As far as his standing in the division, Nurmagomedov promises he’s not afraid to face whoever the UFC throws at him, and he’s certainly not looking for an easy opponent. He’s confident that he can beat anybody in the world at 135 pounds right now, and he’s never going to regret expressing that confidence in himself.

“I’m talking because I know what job I did,” Nurmagomedov said. “I know other guys, what they’re doing. I know my team. The way I’m talking, I can smash and I can finish Petr Yan. I’m serious. I can do this. When I talk about Cory Sandhagen and I can finish him, I’m serious.

“Not because I’m cocky or something like that. No. But guys, I have a very, very good team. Look at our team. Four guys are lightweight division champions. Who else teams have like that? Nobody.”

Now that he’s back and healthy again, Nurmagomedov doesn’t want to waste any time booking his next fight. He plans to train through Ramadan and hopes that UFC 303 on June 29 could potentially serve as a landing spot for his return to action.

“[UFC] said we have a date [International Fight Week] with Cory Sandhagen,” Nurmagomedov said. “Before this fight, they’re talking about this and Cory is talking about this, so I think it’s going to happen.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

A bantamweight bout between two of the most promising prospects in the bantamweight division was featured on Saturday’s UFC Vegas 87 fight card.  

Undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov faced Bekzat Almakhan at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas Saturday afternoon.  Nurmagomedov had finished three of his four UFC opponents and hadn’t tasted defeat in his eight-year mixed martial arts career.  Almakhan was making his promotional debut but entered Saturday’s showdown riding an eight-fight winning streak.  

Almakhan went high with a kick that Nurmagomedov blocked.  Nurmagomedov responded with a leg kick.  Almakhan connected with a left hand that knocked Nurmagomedov down.  Nurmagomedov quickly took Almakhan down.  He moved to side control before taking Almakhan’s back.  Midway through the round, Nurmagomedov delivered right hands.  Almakhan worked his way to full guard.  Nurmagomedov landed an elbow followed by another one.  The opening frame went to Nurmagomedov.  

Nurmagomedov pressured Almakhan.  He landed a right hand, changed levels and put Almakhan on his back.  Nurmagomedov quickly moved to half guard before advancing to side control.  Almakhan reversed Nurmagomedov and got to his feet.  Nurmagomedov ducked under a right hand and secured a takedown.  He mounted Almakhan with two minutes remaining in the round.  Nurmagomedov postured up and leg his hands go.  Almakhan kicked Nurmagomedov off and got to his feet.  Nurmagomedov immediately took him back to the ground.  He delivered punches.  Almakhan worked to stand but Nurmagomedov maintained top position.  The second round went to Nurmagomedov.  

Nurmagomedov landed a leg kick.  Almakhan responded with a high kick that missed.  Almakhan connected with a counter right hand.  Nurmagomedov changed levels and took Almakhan down.  He delivered short elbows and punches.  Almakhan was flat on his back.  He moved to the fence but Nurmagomedov pulled him away from the cage.  Nurmagomedov took Almakhan’s back and landed left hands.  Almakhan rolled to his back but Nurmagomedov remained in the mount.  The fight ended with Nurmagomedov posturing up.  

The scorecards read  30-25, 30-26, and 30-26. for Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision.  

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