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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tyson Fury appears to be out of his scheduled matchup with Oleksandr Usyk due to an accidental elbow.

On Friday, Fury was forced out of his planned heavyweight unification bout with Uysk due to a nasty cut over his right eyebrow sustained during training. And after video was released of the incident, it appears that despite wearing headgear, it was an elbow that landed and cut Fury open.

Fury and Usyk were originally set to fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 17. The bout was supposed to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion, with Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) holding the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles, and Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) holding the WBC title.

It briefly appeared as if Usyk could remain on the card, with mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic emerging as an early possible replacement, however Saudi Arabia royal adviser Turki Alalshikh stated Friday that Fury vs. Usyk “will be rescheduled at a later date and tickets will be refunded to the public.”

Fury most recently faced lineal MMA heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in a 10-round non-title match last October. Fury eked out a controversial split decision after getting knocked down by Ngannou in the third round.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

“Beat the man!”
| BJPenn.com

UFC

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It’s been 2.5 years since Manny Pacquiao last stepped into the ring as a professional boxer. He was competitive with Yordenis Ugas in his final bout before retirement, but it was clear the then-42 year old was another step slower and significantly less accurate. As with many retirements in combat sports, however, it doesn’t seem to have fully taken.

In December 2022, Pacquiao returned to action, winning an exhibition match in South Korea (watch highlights). He’s talked about returning to the ring numerous times since, and he recently booked another exhibition bout versus Muay Thai legend Buakaw.

Apparently, exhibition matches alone aren’t enough to satisfy Pacquiao’s itch for action. According to a report from Michael Benson, Pacquiao is returning to professional competition and should be considered “out of retirement.” He also has some high-profile opponents in mind: Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, and Conor McGregor.

How feasible are those fights for the boxing legend? Davis is atop the boxing world right now, a pound-for-pound talent and champion who fights a handful of weight classes below “Pacman.” That could be an issue, but of course, money talks! Garcia is a bit bigger than “Tank” and has similar star power, so that could be a viable option if his struggles with Golden Boy Promotions don’t come into play.

As for McGregor, the situation grows complicated for a handful of reasons. For one, UFC would have to allow McGregor to box since he’s under contract. In addition, Pacquiao is currently embroiled in a legal battle with McGregor’s management group, Paradigm Sports. That multi-million dollar feud could bring about a halt in negotiations, but then, McGregor was calling for the match himself back in December.

Stay tuned.

Insomnia

Bring back Condom Depot and Dynamic Fastener.

An important anniversary for the MMA community.

Dominick Cruz is a great fighter and all, but look at these pictures and tell me with a straight face that it’s surprising his knees keep exploding.

A new Flyweight booking:

Pull to avoid the kick, slip outside the left hook, immediate pivot off — SMOOTH!

Jamahal Hill is getting back into the swing of things with the help of Sean Strickland.

Grant Dawson needs to prove he can not get knocked out in the first minute, and Terrance McKinney pretty much only wins by in the first couple minutes. Book it!

These stat lines have me feeling a little nauseous.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Oh yeah, this right here is a Heavyweight MMA overhand right.

A bit of careful closing of the distance sets up a huge left hand:

“Why they got a pensioner fighting a young kid?” — Liam Harrison

Random Land

RIP Carl Weathers.

Midnight Music: Hip-hop, 2006

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Turning pro even before he graduated high school afforded Ashton Sylve a lot of options in his boxing career.

With cameras pointed at him since he started boxing at 8, the highly touted prospect was already conditioned to receiving attention. At 16, Sylve was an honor student, a football player, and he was preparing to make his pro debut, which caught the eye of several world champions, including Floyd Mayweather, Shawn Porter and Leo Santa Cruz.

Despite being flooded with offers to sign with various promoters, Sylve followed his father’s lead, taking some time before making any rash decisions with his career.

“We started off when I turned pro, and I had a bunch of offers just before I turned pro, as well,” Sylve told MMA Fighting. “My dad always told me to take my time, and he made sure that we took our time, because I was always anxious. Like, ‘This is cool, imagine going with them,’ or, ‘They’ve got a big name!’ We just took our time.

“I think that’s the preparation my dad groomed me for since I was younger. He always had me around the scene, and I always has a little bit of fame since I was young. I started boxing at eight years old, and with Floyd and [Manny] Pacquiao and all these big fighters recognizing me, my dad always made sure I stayed steady, [stayed] grounded.”

When he’s not in the gym training for his next fight, Sylve immerses himself in his studies, a college student seeking a business management degree. Getting an education means a lot, even as he’s still learning from the people around him.

Perhaps one of the biggest influences on him in recent years has been social media star turned boxer Jake Paul, who won the sweepstakes to sign Sylve to his Most Valuable Promotions (MVP). When Paul and business partner Nakisa Bidarian filling out a roster with young, hungry and talented fighters, Sylve checked every box.

MVP executives attended one of Sylve’s fights, and the youngster quickly received an offer. Now 20, he said he knew rather quickly it was the perfect time to sign with a promoter.

“Nakisa came to one of my fights in northern California, and then I think after that, Jake ended up calling my dad,” Sylve said. “Basically [he said], ‘We want Ashton to be part of the team, and we want to grow together.’ That was the taste of it, but I know for sure Nakisa came to one of my fights. I had a massive knockout, and it kind of took off like a rocket from there.”

Since signing with MVP, Sylve has gotten prime placement on several major cards, including the undercards of Paul’s main events against Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz. He’s also headlined a couple of MVP cards of his own, including his next fight against Estivan Falcao in Orlando on Feb. 2.

Paul routinely touts Sylve as a future champion and promotes him constantly on his various social media channels, where he maintains millions of followers across Twitter, Instagram and his YouTube channel.

Sylve obviously appreciates the push, but he said Paul gave him some valuable advice about social media clout after they first started working with one another.

“Jake always told me he can push me as much as he can, but at the end of the day, I still have to get in the ring and show off my skill set,” Sylve said. “That’s going to be my spotlight.

“Because people will become a fan of mine after [my fights]. Being able to have the platform of Jake [is great]. But at the end of the day, it’s my skill set and who I am, [that’s] who I gain my fan base from.”

On Friday, Sylve competes for the WBC youth world championship. It might just be the first of many belts he collects over the next few years. He currently sports a perfect 10-0 record with nine knockouts, and because he’s received so much attention at such a young age, there’s already been a push to get him into higher-profile fights right away.

Sylve appreciates that fans, fighters, and the media see his potential, but he’s not going to rush into any situation before he’s truly ready. He’s trusting in his father and Paul to guide his career, so when he’s ready for that next level of competition, they’ll let him know.

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself, and that’s why I’m glad I have a team behind me to make sure we take our time, we go slowly and not rush anything,” Sylve said. “My expectations are so high, and people believe in me. I believe in myself, as well, we believe I can be a champion right now. But it’s more so about the route, and the timing is everything. We make sure to take our time and that each opponent is progressing slowly, so we don’t get ahead of ourselves.

“I’m just like, ‘Give me [anybody], it doesn’t matter. Whoever you bring this way, I’ve got it.’ That’s why I leave it to them to pick which guys [I fight] and what they think is good for me and my career. That’s a team. That’s what I call teamwork.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Former UFC title challenger Dominick Reyes believes Jon Jones’ avoidance of a title unification fight with Tom Aspinall is all about “risk management.”

Bones’ returned from a three-year-long layoff last March, walking into a heavyweight title fight with top-ranked contender Ciryl Gane. Jones made quick work of ‘Bon Gamin’ and was slated to defend the strap against consensus GOAT Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November. Unfortunately, Jones suffered a torn pectoral weeks before their scheduled scrap.

Instead, fans were treated to an interim heavyweight title fight pitting Tom Aspinall against Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall came out on top, scoring a 69-second KO against the Russian knockout artist.

Typically, an interim titleholder moves on to fight the undisputed champ upon their return. However, it didn’t take long for Aspinall to realize that a fight with Jones wasn’t in his future. With the UFC determined to rebook Jones vs. Miocic for some time in 2024, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Aspinall will never get his dream match against ‘Bones.’

Aspinall Fight is ‘Too Dangerous’ For Jon Jones

Speaking with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview, Reyes, a former foe of Jon Jones inside the Octagon, understands why ‘Bones’ is avoiding a fight with Aspinall, likening it to when the two-division champ refused to sign on the dotted line for their own rematch following UFC 247.

“I completely understand where Jon [Jones] is coming from,” Reyes said. “Jon is Jon Jones, say his name anywhere in the world, and people recognize it. Fighting Tom [Aspinall] is a risk management thing. It’s almost the same reason why he didn’t rematch me kind of thing. It’s too dangerous and not enough payoff. Tom is an excellent fighter” (h/t MMA News).

In the eyes of many, Dominick Reyes should have walked away with the light heavyweight title after his five-round war with Jones in 2020.

Seeing a lot of himself in Aspinall, ‘The Devastator’ believes their potential meeting is a “super dangerous” one that offers minimal upside for ‘Bones’ when it comes to both money and legacy.

“Tom is very similar to myself, but he’s a heavyweight,” Reyes added. “That’s super dangerous. He moves extremely well, he’s very quick, his wrestling is really good, his grappling is good, his power is off the charts. How is that gonna benefit Jon? Beating the most recent champion? Nah, let’s fight the greatest heavyweight of all time, Stipe Miocic…Jon is a great himself, so he’s going to fight another active great.”

LowKickMMA.com

The first of four UFC events in February kicks off this weekend at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.  On Friday, the athletes competing on the UFC Fight Night 235 fight card officially weighed in.  

The event is headlined by a middleweight bout between ninth-ranked Roman Dolidze (12-2) and eleventh-ranked Nassourdine Imavov (12-4, 1 NC).  Dolidze had a four-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing losing to Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision last March.  Imavov had a rough 2023, losing to Sean Strickland and having a no contest against Chris Curtis after an accidental clash of heads in his last fight. 

Luana Carolina missed weight for his women’s flyweight bout with Julia Stoliarenko.  Carolina came in at 129 pounds, 3 pounds over the allotted limit.  

UFC Fight Night 235 Official Weigh-In Results

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

• Roman Dolidze (186) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (185)
• Drew Dober (156) vs. Renato Moicano (156)
• Randy Brown (171) vs. Muslim Salikhov (171)
• Viviane Araujo (126) vs. Natalia Silva (125.5)
• Aliaskhab Khizriev (186) vs. Makhmud Muradov (185.5)
• Charlie Radtke (170.5) vs. Gilbert Urbina (171)

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

• Diana Belbita (116) vs. Molly McCann (116)
• Charles Johnson (125.5) vs. Azat Maksum (126)
• Themba Gorimbo (170.5) vs. Pete Rodriguez (170)
• Blake Bilder (144.5) vs. Jung Gyeong Lee (146)
• Luana Carolina (129)* vs. Julija Stoliarenko (126)
• Marquel Mederos (155.5) vs. Landon Quinones (155.5)
• Thomas Petersen (261.5) vs. Jamal Pogues (265.5)

*missed weight

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