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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Former WWE star Matt Riddle wouldn’t mind stepping back into the cage.

Riddle, 38, is one of the few combat sports athletes to find mainstream success in both MMA and professional wrestling. An alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter 7, Riddle competed 12 times in the UFC from 2008-13 and has the rare distinction of being cut from the promotion on a four-fight unbeaten streak due to a pair of failed drug tests for cannabis. Riddle then pivoted to professional wrestling, working his way from the indies up to WWE stardom before getting released this past September following a five-year run with the organization.

Riddle has since found homes with Major League Wrestling and Japanese goliath New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the latter of which saw him win the NJPW World Television Championship. But MMA still holds a place in Riddle’s heart, so he’s eyeing a return to his roots in 2024.

“I got hit up by a couple people [in the fight game],” RIddle said Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “I got hit up by bare-knuckle boxing, and I got hit up by, I believe, someone from PFL, I think it was a Dan Lambert, and he told me to message somebody — or some kind of messages went by and they asked me if I was interested, and I said I’m definitely interested. Just, the fight’s got to be right and the money’s got to be right.

“I haven’t heard back since, but to be fair, I’ve also been wrestling non-stop and doing that, because honestly, when it comes to money, it’s guaranteed money and I show up and it’s there. But I would love to step back in the cage or ring at some point. I want to do it at the end of 2024. I would love to.”

Riddle lasted competed in MMA with a 2014 cameo for Titan FC, scoring a second-round submission of Michael Kuiper to improve his pro record to 8-3 (2 NCs). That fight was the only pro bout of Riddle’s career to not come under the UFC banner, however much has changed in Riddle’s life since he pushed his MMA unbeaten streak to five straight.

Riddle spoke extensively about his WWE firing, multiple rehab stints, and various other controversies in a candid and wide-ranging conversation on The MMA Hour. And when it comes to an MMA comeback, Riddle is simply looking for the right opportunity. The TUF veteran said he currently weighs 211 pounds but would be willing to cut weight for his return to the cage. He also floated bare-knuckle MMA as a potential new detour to try.

“I’ll drop down to middleweight,” Riddle said. “Depends. Depends on who you give me.”

“I mean, maybe give me somebody I can steamroll,” Riddle added with a laugh. “I’m not saying he does a job for me, [but] let me shake off the rust.”

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Izzy’s plan
| BJPenn.com

UFC

This is like the time DX invaded WCW … except nobody was there and no one cares.

Former UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal is trying to reheat his rivalry with fellow UFC export Nate Diaz for reasons not quite understood. Perhaps Masvidal is hoping to lure Diaz to his bareknuckle promotion or maybe “Gamebred” is just bored.

One sympathizes.

Masvidal pulled up to the Nick Diaz Academy in Stockton, Calif. to hand out “free lessons” but the gym was closed. Flexing on a building after hours is pretty much on brand for a fighter who routinely brags about sucker punching his rivals.

UFC fans were unimpressed with his latest social media stunt.

—Try during opening hours.

—Dude googled their hours and showed up at 7:15 lol

—Imagine going to a gym when they are closed and being surprised nobody is there.

—Bro pulled up, hopped out the car, took a picture and hopped right back in the car.

—You guys are two friends trying to sell a fight nobody wants to see.

—Lmao, you can’t act tough when it’s not even open.

—Gyms generally have what we call “hours of operation”

—Looked up the business hours found out when they were closed lol

Diaz has yet to respond to the (cough) “invasion.”

Masvidal captured a technical knockout victory over Diaz when they went to war for the inaugural BMF belt back in late 2019. Since then, both fighters have parted ways with UFC but it sounds like “Gamebred” is hoping to work his way back.

When and where remains to be seen.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alexandre Pantoja wants to defend his UFC flyweight belt in Rio de Janeiro on May 4, and he doesn’t really care who’s standing across the octagon at UFC 301.

The Rio de Janeiro native flew to Mexico to watch Brandon Royval defeat Brandon Moreno in the main event of UFC Mexico City this past weekend and wonders if Royval, victorious via split decision, will be healthy enough to compete in early May after a 25-minute battle.

Pantoja, who defeated Royval twice already, looks at the division — and even outside the organization — to seek for challengers for his belt. Pantoja is 9-0 against fighters currently ranked in the top seven of the UFC flyweight division, including exhibition bouts on The Ultimate Fighter. For that reason, Pantoja believes undefeated phenom Muhammad Mokaev could earn a shot at the belt with a victory over Alex Perez at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 87 event.

“There’s enough time, even though he cuts a lot of weight,” Pantoja said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “I know that because he trained here at American Top Team before and he’s really big for the division. I think it makes total sense if he wins. Moreno had the ball on his court [and lost], and now Mokaev has it. Let’s see what happens.”

Mokaev can clinch his sixth straight UFC victory on Saturday, the greatest start for a flyweight in the history of the organization. He can also improve to 11-0 in the sport, with a 35-fight unbeaten streak between amateur and professional MMA bouts combined. The latter could help sell the narrative for a title fight in Brazil.

“He’s a very talented kid,” Pantoja said of Mokaev. “He’s very talented and likes to learn, but he follows a different line of thought that I do. He was raised in London, so he’s not a legitimate Russian, but he has that culture behind him.”

“Brandon Royval is lengthier and likes to play jiu-jitsu,” he continued, “and Mokaev is more solid, likes that heavy grappling, a style I’m implementing to my game and it works really well. It’s very hard to do, it requires a lot of conditioning and strength, and I’m showing I’m capable of doing it. But I also think that Mokaev has more holes in his striking than Royval, who knows how to use the distance — or Moreno and his boxing. I think it would be more of a grappling match, and I’m super comfortable doing that.”

Pantoja said he scored the UFC Mexico City main event 49-46 in favor of Royval and that “Moreno didn’t fight.” Pantoja wonders if Moreno felt the pressure of falling short once again in front of his countrymen.

But the champ ultimately expects a hard fight if he has to meet Royval a third time at UFC 301, and isn’t overlooking Royval because of his previous success against him.

“Royval is a very difficult fighter, maybe more than Moreno,” Pantoja said. “In my opinion, Brandon Moreno is not on his prime anymore. Maybe he needs to change a few things. To me, as a fighter, it’s clear that all the attention has gotten to him, which is why I try to stay focused. … I made it look easy [against Royval], and he goes to Mexico and beats Moreno, so I think people are giving me more credit now that I’ve fought both.”

Mokaev and Royval are the top choices for his next title defense, Pantoja said, but he joked that he’s willing to go “full Apollo Creed” and give the shot to anyone else in the world, even an “unknown fighter” from any organization, just to be part of UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro. Another option could be re-signing Kyoji Horiguchi, but the RIZIN flyweight champion happens to train with Pantoja on a daily basis at ATT.

Manel Kape, who was working his way up towards a chance for gold, failed to make weight recently and had a rematch cancelled versus Matheus Nicolau earlier this year. Kape lost a decision when he met Pantoja in 2021.

“Manel Kape is super tough,” Pantoja said. “I would compare Manel Kape to Francis Ngannou. He’s super tough and fights for the same things I do. He is, to me, one of the toughest fights in the division, but he doesn’t make weight. He’s too big.”

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Newly-minted undisputed featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria claims he may call time on his unbeaten professional career as soon as just 2027 – in the aftermath of his stunning knockout win over the dominant Alexander Volkanovski earlier this month at UFC 298. 

Topuria, the current undisputed featherweight champion, headlined UFC 298 in Anaheim earlier this month, ending the featherweight title run of dominant gold holder, Volkanovski – who had ruled the roost over the division since 2019.

And campaigning for a UFC Spain outing as soon as this year, German-born champion, Topuria took part in a ceremonial kick-off at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid earlier this week – bringing his championship belt with him to the capital stadium.

Weighing up a slew of title defense opponents for his first outing as featherweight gold holder, Topuria has been linked with an immediate title rematch against Volkanovski, as well as a clash with former duel-weight champion, Conor McGregor.

However, off the back of his recent come-from-behind win over Yair Rodríguez at UFC Fight Night Mexico City last weekend, former title challenger, Brian Ortega has emerged as the bookie’s favorite to land a title fight with Topuria first and foremost.

Ilia Topuria plans retirement within 3 years time

And commenting on his immediate fighting future, Topuria claimed he would be willing to fight as soon as October of November before the close of the annum, however, issued a warning to fans that he’s likely set to retire by the time he’s 30, or 32 years old at the latest.

“Ilia Topuria told El Patridazo de COPE that he wants his first title defense to be in October or November and he wants to retire between the age of 30-32. He’s currently 27 years old.”

Who do you want to see Ilia Topuria fight in his first title defense?

LowKickMMA.com

The inaugural “BMF” champion Jorge Masvidal announced his retirement following his UFC 287 loss to Gilbert Burns in April of last year, but that hasn’t stopped him from looking for fights.  

On Wednesday, Masvidal traveled to Stockton, Calif. and posted a photo outside of Nate Diaz’ gym.  “Gamebred” went there in an effort to secure a rematch with the The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner.  

“Pulled up to the Diaz Academy in Stockton. Too bad no one was there, giving out free lessons,” Masvidal wrote on Instagram with a photo of himself standing outside the facility.  

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Masvidal spoke about going to Diaz’ gym and wanting a rematch with the former UFC fighter during an appearance on The MMA Hour.  

“I was out in Cali for a couple of days and I was like, you know what, let me stop by Stockton.  I had never been there.  I heard the tacos are good over there.  Maybe I’ll run into Nate and we can make this fight happen,” Masvidal said.  

“I took my squad over there.  Write my number down on a piece of paper and started handing it out to people that looked like they might know Nate Diaz,” Masvidal continued.  “I heard Nate’s not that good with the technology and neither am I, so I said f**k it.  Maybe we should do this old school style, just meet up on a face-to-face and make this sh*t happen.”

Masvidal and Diaz fought at UFC 244 in November 2019 for the symbolic “BMF” belt.  Masvidal won via doctor stoppage after causing a nasty cut to Diaz’ right eye.  

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