Fury gave a rundown of his future fighting plans, and they included a rematch against Ngannou. But only after he fights Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua twice.

Aside for the tens of millions of dollars he made in 2023, Tyson Fury has been having a bit of a rough run lately.

“The Gypsy King” showed up fat and uninspired to his October fight against former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, getting punked by the newbie boxer as a result. Only a questionable scorecard saved him from defeat. And then he was forced to pull out of a highly anticipated unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk due to a bad cut above his eye.

The cut is real, but Usyk’s team has wondered whether Fury got it on purpose to avoid their February 17th fight. The match is now set for May 18th, but that hasn’t silenced critics who wonder whether Tyson is preparing to step away from boxing.

Not so, according to Fury.

“I keep hearing talk of people saying that I should retire or I’m going to retire soon or whatever,” Fury said in a video posted to his social media accounts. “I ain’t retiring anywhere!”

“I’ve got two fights with Usyk, for the undisputed twice. Then I’m going to fight AJ at least once. Maybe twice if there’s a rematch, if he wants one after the first battering I give him, and then I’m going to fight Ngannou again, and that’s just to start. So there’s five little fights for you to whet your appetite with. I ain’t going nowhere. Nowhere. I’m 35 years old, in the prime of my life.”

MMA fans whose boxing interests lie mostly with Francis Ngannou will notice Fury put “The Predator” at the end of his list of fights. That may not be up to Tyson, though. All of these big money heavyweight fights are happening at the direction of Turki Alalshikh, who runs Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Entertainment.

While the standard in boxing is to do an immediate rematch on big fights like Usyk vs. Fury, Alalshikh has already stated he wants the winner of Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou to face the winner of Usyk vs. Fury. Since he’s the one shelling out the eight figure paydays, he calls the shots here.

So, in theory, all Ngannou has to do to jump the line is defeat Joshua on March 8th. That’s no small feat, but we stopped betting against Franny the moment he put Tyson Fury to the canvas in round three of their fight.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ilia Topuria believes he is already the best featherweight on the planet.

Belief will no longer be needed if UFC 298 goes the Spaniard’s way next Saturday night at UFC 298. Taking on longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski in the Anaheim, Calif. main event, Topuria can become the fifth featherweight champion in promotional history as well as the first to represent his country. That’s all the proof one needs to solidify the claims Topuria’s made.

It’s been a perfect run to the title thus far for the 27-year-old, boasting an undefeated 14-0 record. Slowly becoming an international superstar of sorts, Topuria has all the skills in the world to support his confidence. So much so that it’s similar to the all-time famous rise of former divisional champion Conor McGregor, says Daniel Cormier.

“[Topuria’s confidence] reminds me of Conor about to fight Jose Aldo,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel (h/t MiddleEasy). “He told you, and he was so sure that he was going to get it done that you knew that if it happened, he would become a star that we’ve never seen in the UFC before or in fighting. So, when it happened, he went to the moon. I feel like Ilia Topuria is setting himself up to have that type of ascent if he can deliver on all of the promises that he is making.”

McGregor wasn’t undefeated in his career overall before he challenged Aldo for the undisputed 145-pound crown at UFC 194 in December 2015. He had run through his UFC featherweight competition with relative ease, however, as he knocked out all but one of his six opponents that led up to his huge Aldo title fight.

Promotionally, Topuria has taken matters into his own hands outside of the UFC’s power. Whether it’s with cinematic social media hype videos or a literal documentary that he says is currently in production, Topuria is out to manifest destiny. Cormier can’t help but be surprised by the welcoming of such pressure.

“It seems like all [Topuria] wants to do is put pressure on himself,” Cormier said. “This dude has now said he’s releasing a movie on becoming the champion of the world, this dude has updated his [social media] bio with another win and he’s now the UFC featherweight champion. This dude has stated he wants to fight in the same stadium where Real Madrid plays football in Spain. This dude has said to anyone that will listen how Alexander Volkanovski can not compete with him. Most people under these circumstances want to release the pressure. Not this dude.”

TOP STORIES

Beef. Ian Machado Garry refuses ‘f***ing idiot’ Rampage Jackson’s podcast invite, Jackson apologizes

Worry. Chael Sonnen questions whether Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa will fight at UFC 298

Explainer. ESPN partners with FOX, Warner Bros. on new streaming service: What that means for UFC’s upcoming TV deal

Doubts. Gilbert Burns questions legitimacy of Colby Covington foot injury, if fight is ‘still relevant’

Accident. Thiago Santos reveals ‘mistake’ that led to positive drug test and ended PFL season

Backed. Themba Gorimbo talks The Rock’s career support, believes he’ll be champion in 2024

Clarity. Joe Pyfer lashes out at ‘nerds’ who don’t believe he beat Francis Ngannou’s power punch record

VIDEO STEW

Between the Links.

The Fight That Changed Joe Pyfer’s Life Forever.

Volkanovski vs. Topuria breakdown.

An Aspinall on a tank.

LISTEN UP

Heck of a Morning. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck reacts to Dana White’s latest update on Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler.

MORNING MUSIC

Just one of those days, we’re going to be fine.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Memories.

There you have it.

Onward.

An absplosion, you could say. Or you couldn’t. Please couldn’t.

Sure, lol.

Drama.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

James Gallagher (12-2) vs. Jeremy Kennedy (19-3, 1 NC); Bellator 302; March 22

Bill Algeo (18-7) vs. Kyle Nelson (15-5-1); UFC Atlantic City, March 30

Takayo Hashi (19-8-1) vs. Honoka Shigeta (3-0); Pancrase 341, March 31

Satomi “Sarami” Takano (18-14) vs. Sayako Fujita (8-2); Pancrase 341, March 31

Shizuka Sugiyama (21-7-1) vs. Emiko Raika (13-10-1); Pancrase 341, March 31

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s going to take someone truly special to ever eclipse or even reach the superstardom of McGregor. The sport is still young though so time will tell, but Topuria doesn’t feel like the guy yet… Especially comparatively. McGregor was already a made star before he ever fought for UFC gold. This isn’t the same thing.

Hate to admit it, but Paddy Pimblett is a closer and better comparison in that specific regard.

Happy Friday, all. Enjoy our annual good old-fashioned big U.S. sports weekend. 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.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Joe Pyfer has a message for all the “f*cking nerds” who refuse to believe that he beat Francis Ngannou’s power punch record.

After just three fights inside the Octagon, Pyfer heads into his first UFC headliner this Saturday night as the promotion returns to The APEX for a second straight weekend. Meeting ‘Bodybagz’ in the main event will be Swedish standout Jack Hermansson.

Weeks ahead of their Fight Night clash, the man Dana White wants everyone to be like made headlines after he appeared to break former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou’s record on a power punching machine. And just for good measure, Pyfer reportedly broke the record multiple times to erase any potential doubt. But despite the repeated successful attempts and video evidence to prove it, Ngannou still maintains the top spot and Pyfer is pissed.

“This sh*t pisses me off. I hit the f*cking machine — the same machine — and I hit it with a 16-ounce glove,” Pyfer said during the UFC media event on Wednesday. “For all these nerds out there that don’t understand science… I hit it with a 16-ounce glove. That means I didn’t even get to hit it as hard as I could because I had a big pad. So I broke the record with a big glove. I broke it four or five times. Broke it in front of the operations guy.

“There was a heavyweight from Brazil that was hitting it. Couldn’t even come close to it. Coach hit it, couldn’t come close to it. Brendan Allen’s coach hit it, didn’t come close to it and they didn’t want to give it to me officially.”

Pyfer made it clear that he doesn’t hold any animosity towards Ngannou, but wants the record to be set straight at some point.

“I don’t know why and then everybody makes this narrative about oiling up Dana’s ass and sh*t and that it’s like Dana White trying to take out Ngannou,” Pyfer continued. “I’ve got nothing, but respect for anybody that’s ever stepped in this cage and has ever done something to change their life who comes from the slums. You hear all these stories from people like Charles Oliveira, Francis Ngannou. Even my teammate. We’ve all come from struggles to be something and then I get discredited because I hit harder. Sh*t pisses me off.

“F*ck those nerds and whoever told me I didn’t get that f*cking score. I’ll do it again and just to say this, I had a torn rotator cuff when I hit it. I had to stop because I hurt myself. F*ck those nerds.”

Joe Pyfer may not be officially recognized as the world’s most powerful puncher — for now — but he has undeniably lived up to his ‘Bodybagz’ moniker by stacking up bodies inside the Octagon. With a second-round KO of Ozzy Diaz on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022, Pyfer burst onto the scene with three straight victories under the UFC banner, including back-to-back first-round knockouts.

Pyfer flexed his submission skills in his last outing against Abdul Razak Alhassan, with a second-round arm triangle choke, extending his current win streak to five in a row.

LowKickMMA.com

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Last fight of deal
| BJPenn.com

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Teofimo Lopez vs. Jamaine Ortiz just wrapped up moments ago (Thurs. Feb. 8, 2024) from inside Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lopez sought the first defense of his WBO Super Welterweight title, and technically, he achieved that goal with a unanimous decision victory after 12 rounds of combat.

Maybe with a little help from the judges …

First things first, Lopez vs. Ortiz was not a good fight. If you watch the first three rounds, you’ve effectively seen the entire 36 minutes of “action.” The general flow of the match went like this: Ortiz, fighting from the Southpaw stance, flashed jabs that didn’t land and circled to his right. Lopez chased him all over but never really tried to cut off the cage.

The most significant strike in 12 rounds of boxing was an accidental clash of heads. Otherwise, Ortiz landed the occasional check hook with some pop, while Lopez connected on a few counter uppercuts that may have done some damage. Nobody was ever hurt or particularly bothered, and both men finished the contest with fairly clean faces and an awful landing percentage.

Still, it felt like Ortiz was the more effective man overall by a small margin. MMAmania’s own Patrick Stumberg scored the fight 118-110 Ortiz, and the majority of scorecards I saw online were also in favor of “The Technician.” The bout was too close and too uninteresting for anyone to get overly upset, but it’s still somewhat shocking that the final scorecards were so in favor of Lopez (117-111, 115-113 x2).

Check out the (meager) highlights below:

For a man who rebranded himself “The Showman,” this wasn’t exactly a star-making night for Teofimo Lopez. He may have scraped by with the victory, but he probably didn’t earn many new fans with this performance.

Insomnia

Cris Cyborg doesn’t expect to compete in the cage in the first half of 2024 … at a minimum.

Gilbert Burns isn’t buying the Colby Covington x-ray schtick.

I thought sending this shirt to Matt Frevola was a bit of a d—k move at first, but then previous tweets revealed it was Frevola’s idea, and now I’m fully on board.

I do not like this news.

I’m going to have difficulty spelling his name for at least two years, but this man’s fit is tremendous. The Mongolian talent is 8-0 at 25 years of age.

Who knows whether or not Zabit Magomedsharipov would’ve become UFC champion, but the man always had some slick moves.

Favorite left hook in MMA history is a difficult question. Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens comes to mind!

Featherweight violence in the works:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Jeremiah Wells is one of the mostly oddly athletic fighters in recent memory.

More “Robocop” content!

A great Muay Thai highlight!

Random Land

A quick word from a founding father:

Midnight Music: Folk, 1965

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

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gordon Ryan is asking for your help.

The BJJ king took to social media on Thursday, revealing that his truck was stolen in the middle of the night. According to Ryan, the culprits ransacked multiple vehicles in the immediate area and made off with a variety of guns as well as knives and a heap of ammunition he had stored in his ride.

A frustrated Ryan then offered a $ 5,000 reward for anyone who could direct him to the truck or provide a tip leading to the recovery of his property.

He also managed to somehow place the blame on U.S. President Joe Biden, but that’s an entirely different issue to unwrap.

“Here in Joe Biden’s America, someone just stole my f*cking [RAM] TRX out of the driveway last night at 3:30 a.m.,” Ryan told his Instagram followers. “They also stole a bunch of stuff from other people’s cars — guns and stuff like that. I had a couple of John’s knives in there, probably a thousand rounds of ammunition.

“I’ll be offering a $ 5,000 reward for anyone who can point me to this truck. If you can get me this truck back, I will send you $ 5,000. If you actually give me a piece of information that allows me to get this truck back, I’ll send you $ 5,000.”

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Fun fact — the world’s very first car theft was committed by Bertha Benz all the way back in 1888. A whole 131 years before Biden was sworn into office.

The more you know.

LowKickMMA.com