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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Relief
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The very public battle between Cris Cyborg and the PFL continues as the Bellator featherweight champ struggles to get a booking in under new management.

Cris Cyborg hasn’t fought in MMA since October of 2023, and she’s starting to get a bit impatient waiting for her next bout to get booked.

Cyborg competes for Bellator, which just got bought out by the PFL. While PFL heads Donn Davis and Pete Murray have talked about how important she is to their plans to grow as the No. 2 promotion after UFC, she says their actions haven’t matched the rhetoric.

“Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June,” Cyborg wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “PFL or Bellator can I get a fight booked during the first half of 2024?! Pete Murray, Donn Davis. The longer I sit without an MMA fight the less likely Larissa Pacheco fight happens in 2024. My last MMA fight was Oct.”

Cyborg has been pushing to fight PFL featherweight champion Larissa Pacheco since the promotions merged. The big PFL vs. Bellator Champs event on February 24 in Saudi Arabia would have been the perfect place for that fight. Alas, Cris had a boxing match against Kelsey Wickstrum on January 19th and PFL didn’t want to book her in case she lost or got injured. They didn’t have to worry: Cyborg won that bout just 1:21 into the first round.

If a crossover fight with Pacheco can’t happen yet because of the divide between promotions (PFL and Bellator will reportedly continue to operate their separate rosters barring occasional crossover events), there’s always a fight with Leah McCourt in Belfast. Bellator 303 is set to go down there on March 22nd, and the only bout currently booked is local Karl Moore vs. Corey Anderson for the vacant light heavyweight title.

The only problem there: few give McCourt much of a chance against Cyborg. Is PFL willing to feed one of their developing Irish stars to her? It’s also a bummer watching all the hometown fighters lose, which is how things would be looking at the top of this card. Ask a Canadian how they feel about UFC 297.

In the end, Cyborg may have to continue her slow and steady venture into boxing if she can’t get an MMA fight booked soon enough for her liking.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Diana Belbita can breathe a slight sigh of relief after her latest fight.

The Romanian-Canadian strawweight was on the wrong end of a nasty armbar submission Saturday at UFC Vegas 58 as she was forced to tap out with seconds remaining in the opening round of her preliminary fight with Molly McCann. Unfortunately for Belbita, she couldn’t tap fast enough, as her arm could be seen popping as the bout came to a close.

Afterward, Belbita confirmed a report from Sportsnet that her arm was not broken, though she left open the possibility that she may have suffered a ligament tear.

“No broken bone,” Belbita wrote. “I have to do an MRI as soon as I get back into Canada. It feels like a torn ligament.”

Should there be a tear in Belbita’s arm, it will likely keep her on the shelf for a good portion of 2024.

Belbita was fighting McCann for the second time after dropping a decision to the Englishwoman in an October 2019 flyweight bout. With the loss, Belbita sees her UFC record drop to 2-5.

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After a highlight-reel knockout over Gilbert Urbina at UFC Vegas 85, Charles Radtke let it be known that his time is precious, and he needs to get paid for it.

Now riding a six-fight win streak, Radtke came into his matchup with Urbina as the underdog. He made pretty quick work of his opponent and found home with a beautiful left hook toward the end of round one to finish his opponent. Radtke was hyped after such a turn of events and delivered a very fiery promo during his post-fight interview, and even took a jab at the infamous Colby Covington.

‘Chuck Buffalo’ wouldn’t stop there, though. During his post-fight press conference, Radtke took an aggressive stance toward media members and seemingly let some of his true colors show.

Charles Radtke Blasts Media at UFC Vegas 85: “How Much Money You Got?”

The tension with Charles Radtke almost started immediately, as he told reporters to “hurry up with these questions”, as he wanted to get some pizza. He received the next few questions pretty mildly but did start to genuinely sound a little irritated at his situation.

“…Give me that fifty thousand dollars,” He said emphatically, towards the tail-end of answering a question about his game plan leading into that fight. “I’m broke… I’m deserving of that fifty thousand dollars and I won’t stop talking about it until I get it.”

“With a knockout like that, you know people are going to be talking, wanting to see more of you,” the reporter went on to ask (H/T MMA Fighting). “How soon do we get you back in that cage? Is there anybody that you would want to match up with?”

“How much money you got?” Charles Radtke sneered. “That’s what it is. You guys get these interviews for free. I need to get paid. Let’s go!”

The reporter must have thought it would be a good time to end there and bid ‘Chuck Buffalo’ another congrats on the win. Radtke replied with a thank you, before asking: “Up next is?”

He waited a bit, and things grew a little uncomfortably silent. When it became apparent that nobody wanted to pay him to fulfill his work obligations, he sneered: “Good,” before getting up and walking away to presumably get the pizza he’d been wanting so badly.

Do you think Charles Radtke is wrong for wanting to be paid for interviews when the large majority of athletes do them for free?

LowKickMMA.com

Renato Moicano is beginning to build a name for himself as a real fan favorite each time he steps into the octagon. Despite not picking up a highlight reel finish, the lightweight did steal the show with his post-fight speech.

‘Money’ Moicano returned after a 15-month layoff and secured a hard-fought victory at UFC Vegas 85. Drew Dober pushed the pace and got the better of the striking exchanges, but it was the Brazilian’s grappling was the story of the fight and subsequently earned him the unanimous decision victory.

Although the three-round affair was one of the best displays on the night, it was what happened afterward that captured the world’s attention. Renato Moicano unleashed an epic rant that began with him sharing some revealing news about his father.

“My father is 62 years old and he had a baby yesterday,” Moicano revealed during his post-fight victory speech. “Tomorrow when I get home, I’m going to get my wife pregnant another time.”

“Because, if my f***ing father, 62 years old can populate the world, I can too.”

Moicano showed no signs of slowing down during his speech, later insisting that he would one day love to serve as an officer of the law in the States.

“I love you f***ing America, you know. I’m not American but my green card is three years, in two years I will be a f***ing American.”

“After I’m done with fighting, I will serve on the police officer, I want to be a SWAT team and I want to f***ing kill the bad guys. Make no mistake, there is right and there is f***ing wrong and people are forgetting about that.”

“People are going crazy. That’s why I want more kids, I want people to go to the church, I want people to respect the f***ing law. Otherwise, this great country in the world is going to be a third-world country, and I don’t want that motherf***ers.”

“Something is f***ing wrong in America and I want you motherf***ers to fix it, right now.”

Related: UFC Vegas 85 Live Results: Dolidze vs. Imavov

Continuing, Moicano asked fans to subscribe to his YouTube channel while simultaneously calling out a popular MMA content creator.

“I have a channel. If you support Brazil, if you support America, Money Moicano channel right f***ing now. Subscribe on YouTube. The best f***ing content in the f***ing world.”

“Hey, MMA Guru. You are a f***ing pig. You say I would get slapped by Drew Dober. Almost one year without fighting and I school this motherf***er.”

Watch Renato Moicano’s entire 2-minute rant below.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Phil De Fries seeks a new challenge.

KSW’s dominant heavyweight champion is set to face MMA veteran Josh Barnett in a submission grappling match in Gliwice, Poland, on Feb. 24, the promotion announced Friday.

De Fries has run roughshod over KSW’s heavyweight division, recording nine straight successful title defenses and riding a winning streak that dates back to 2017. With few viable opponents remaining for him at the moment, he now targets a grappling win over Barnett.

“The Warmaster,” who won the UFC heavyweight title 22 years ago, has not competed in MMA since 2016. Barnett has instead competed in other combat sports disciplines, including a first-round finish of Shoma Shibisai in a mixed-rules bout in December 2022, and a loss to grappling ace Gordon Ryan at a QUINTET event.

In 43 pro MMA bouts, Barnett has recorded 19 submissions, while De Fries has won via submission in 14 of his 30 fights.

The KSW Epic event takes place on Feb. 24 and will be available via online pay-per-view.

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