Bitter enemies
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The UFC CEO admitted they were still working on UFC 300’s main event during an Instagram Live session, but whatever they chose would be ‘crazy.’

The UFC has a couple of options for their big UFC 300 main event, and whatever they end up choosing ‘is going to be crazy.’

That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White, who continues to hype their 300th pay-per-view event on April 13th in Las Vegas to the moon. Which is reassuring, because we were really starting to get comfortable with the idea of a Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad main event.

That’s a strong fight between the two best welterweights, but we’re expecting sizzle factor on par with the Lone Star fajita platter, not an old bottle of Mountain Dew. Fortunately, White is still promising mystery fajitas.

“I just gave you guys a 300 fight,” he said on Instagram Live, referring to a Yusuff vs. Lopes scrap. “When will you get the main event? You guys can’t even handle the main event. We’re working on a couple of different options. Trust me, the UFC 300 main event is going to be crazy.”

“We have a couple options for the main event,” he added. “I’m still playing with it, I’m still playing with it. When it’s time, I will give it to you.”

The most obvious choice would be Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, followed by Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus Du Plessis. But for some reason, the UFC refuses to slot McGregor back into a card. Adesanya is injured and only returning to the gym at the end of February … but there have been reports that a big money play by the UFC could entice him to return in time for UFC 300.

As always, we’ll keep you informed as this story develops. Just under three months remain until UFC 300, which means you’re starting to cut into fighter camp times with all the delays. Hopefully this waiting game will end in the next few days, and everyone will be satisfied with the result.

You buying that, Maniacs? Are you expecting to be wowed or womp womp’d by UFC 300’s main event? Let us know in the comments below!

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alexander Volkanovski has earned his place as one of the very best fighters in the world today.

The UFC featherweight champion has been virtually flawless throughout his 29-fight career with just three losses on his resume and only defeats to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev inside the octagon. In his 145-pound division that he’s called home for the majority of his combat journey, Volkanovski has yet to lose. Some within the MMA community believe his next fight could be the one in which he falls. In the case of UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, they hope it could be the one.

Volkanovski defends his title against surging contender Ilia Topuria in UFC 298’s main event next month. Should Topuria win, O’Malley has vocally exclaimed the two will collide next, assuming he also wins his upcoming fight, which comes in a rematch against Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 the following month. O’Malley recently said his reason for not sharing the same sentiment towards “The Great” current champion is because he simply likes him as a person. Volkanovski, however, just believes “Sugar” is playing things from a smarter perspective.

“He’s a clever dude,” Volkanovski told Michael Bisping. “I don’t mind Sean O’Malley, actually. I listen to his podcast here and there. He’s made pretty clear, he’s like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know if I’d want to fight Volkanovski,’ you know what I mean? He made it clear, ‘That’s something I don’t think I’d want. Maybe the other guy.’

“So, it’s like, he knows there’s a bit of history with Topuria because then they talk, and he’s just being smart. If Topuria does get it done — is he gonna bet on it? Well, he’s not allowed, but would he? Probably not. He’s probably backing me. At the same time, he’s clever. He’s gonna have a safe net. ‘Look, this is a good option for me to go double champ.’ There’s history there, [he] can move up and fight someone that he probably looks at as like, ‘Ah, I’m pretty comfortable I can do that fight.’ Where with me, probably doesn’t feel as comfortable. I’m sure he backs himself. We all back ourselves.”

After each fight, Volkanovski seems to find a new chip to place on his shoulder and this could just be another. Especially as he’ll look to rebound from one of those aforementioned Makhachev losses.

UFC 294 in October saw Volkanovski taste defeat via a first-round head kick up a weight class. Considering Topuria’s style and the speed in which Volkanovski is returning, it’s given “El Matador” a better chance to win at the time of the bout, according to oddsmakers.

Volkanovski, 35, remains unsure of exactly where Topuria is at in his career when it comes to his skill development. Regardless, he isn’t taking him lightly.

“He’s undefeated, but he hasn’t fully tested himself with guys like myself or Max Holloway, Yair Rodriguez, so, I’ve questioned that,” Volkanovski said. “I’ve said that. That’s not knocking as if he’s not at that level. We just haven’t seen it yet. That’s why — a lot of hype where, obviously, there’s always gonna be levels, we have to see where his level is at. We will see Feb. 17.

“I’m very confident. I think he’s a dangerous guy. When we talk about how dangerous, I think he’s powerful. I think he’s probably the most powerful punchers I’ve faced, you could probably say.”

TOP STORIES

Change. PFL CEO reacts to Kayla Harrison signing with UFC, “disappointed” she “chose not to make” Cris Cyborg fight

Addition. “Kayla isn’t making 135”: Cris Cyborg, other pros react to Kayla Harrison vs. Holly Holm at UFC 300

Content. Cédric Doumbé doubts he opens door to UFC ever again: “I’m better here”

Ouch. Mayra Bueno Silva reveals injury suffered in UFC 297 title loss, predicts Kayla Harrison vs. Holly Holm winner

Judging. Laura Sanko explains why she scored UFC 297 main event for Dricus du Plessis over Sean Strickland

Cinema. Road House remake starring Conor McGregor sets March release date, new poster unveiled

VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

Free fights.

Rugby plus UFC.

RIZIN Confessions 142.

Breaking it down.

Izzy training.

LISTEN UP

Reaction. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and Shaun Al-Shatti discuss Kayla Harrison signing with UFC, set to face Holly Holm at UFC 300.

Rankings Show. MMA Fighting discusses the latest rankings update. Is women’s bantamweight in 2024 the worst division in UFC history?

MORNING MUSIC

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Trial.

Sick.

Pretty much.

Ranks.

Arrival.

Reunion.

Brilliant highlight idea.

Buncha moms.

Yin-yang.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Joanne Wood (16-8) vs. Maryna Moroz (11-5); UFC 299, March 9

Alatengheili (16-9-2) vs. Victor Hugo (24-4); UFC Vegas 90, April 6

Sodiq Yusuff (13-3) vs. Diego Lopes (23-6); UFC 300, April 13

Joaquim Silva (13-5) vs. Drakkar Klose (14-2-1); UFC 301, May 4

FINAL THOUGHTS

Neither matchup is a good one for O’Malley, which makes it all the more interesting to assume from a drawing perspective that the new champion would be a more lucrative/enticing option than one of the all-time greats/long-reigning champion. What do I know, though?

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

Looking back, longtime UFC play-by-play man Jon Anik believes he may have gone a little too hard hyping Canadian standout Mike Malott.

Returning to the Octagon at UFC 297 earlier this month, Malott was a significant favorite, closing at a -380 on multiple sportsbooks against welterweight gatekeeper Neil Magny. Through two rounds of action, it appeared that the oddsmakers were justified. However, the tables were turned in the third when Magny poured it on and punished an exhausted Malott. Magny scored a TKO with just 15 seconds left in the fight.

During a recent episode of The Anik & Florian Podcast, Jon Anik spoke about the immense praise he had given to Malott ahead of fight night.

“Yeah, I mean, I do think that perhaps I was guilty maybe of overstepping a little bit when it came to some of the hyperbolic stuff I was saying about Mike Malott,” Anik said. “I mean, I stopped at suggesting he’s overrated, right? But the guy never had a decision win, so experience has gotta count for something, I give Neil Magny a whole lot of credit.”

Malott’s hype was by no means misguided. Going into the bout, the Waterdown, Ontario native was 10-1-1 with all of his victories coming by way of finish, including six submissions and four knockouts. He was also riding a five-fight win streak that predated his 2021 appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series.

“I just think that sometimes we get ahead of ourselves, especially when it comes to certain guys in certain countries with all due respect to Canada,” Anik added. “We are dying to have a man take the torch, right? And we went into this fight thinking without a shadow of a doubt, the most talented Canadian mixed martial arts male right now is Mike Malott.”

Neil Magny got back into the win column following a lackluster performance against Ian Machado Garry in August. The ‘Haitian Sensation’ is now 22-10 inside the Octagon. His victory over Malott moved him up one spot to No. 12 in the welterweight rankings.

LowKickMMA.com

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

While Dana White did confirm that UFC 300 will have no returning superstars like Ronda Rousey or Brock Lesnar, he did leave room for shocks and that’s exactly what he has now provided.

So far, the card features a plethora of current and former champions, with each matchup being considered huge in their respective divisions. Despite the card being one of the most stacked of all time, rumors suggest there is still no main event for April 13.

Dana White took to social media to announce the signing of PFL ace Kayla Harrison. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo is set to face former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm in a fight with serious title implications.

“Here’s another announcement for UFC 300. Holly Holm, she was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame of 2022,” White said. “In the history of the women’s bantamweight division, she is tied for the fourth most wins, sixth most significant strikes landed, and has the fourth best takedown defense at 78%.”

“Holly Holm is one of the baddest women to ever compete in combat sports, ever. She’s fought all the nastiest women in the world in boxing and in MMA, except for one.”

“Holly will be taking on the only person in US history to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in judo. The UFC has officially signed Kayla Harrison.”

“Kayla Harrison is 16-1 with 12 finishes. Her takedowns [and] her ground-and-pound are nasty. And this will be the first time she will be competing at bantamweight.”

Related: Dana White announces historic title fight for UFC 300

The Olympian has spent the majority of her career at lightweight and will now be jumping down an incredible two divisions to compete at UFC 300.

Despite losing a unanimous decision to Larissa Pacheco in 2022, Kayla Harrison is one of the best and most dominant women in mixed martial arts today.

Her grappling has been a problem for the very best women the PFL has to offer. If she goes out and puts on another highlight performance against Holly Holm at UFC 300, she could find herself within touching distance of Raquel Pennington’s newly acquired 135 lbs title.

Check out Dana White’s announcement below.

Breaking News: UFC has signed Kayla Harrison!#UFC300 Holly Holm vs Kayla Harrison pic.twitter.com/jQeLItwQmO

— danawhite (@danawhite) January 24, 2024

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Darren Till and Mike Perry have a funny relationship.

At various points in the last half-decade, the two have talked about fighting one another in three different sports: MMA, boxing, and bare knuckle boxing. At times, the rivalry has been downright heated, as Till threatened to “raw dog” his girlfriend, while Perry responded with an offer to drop kick Till’s mother. After that particular bit of verbal warfare, Till had created a clothing and craft beer line bearing the Raw Dog name (not to be confused with Brandon Royval). The two also had a famous friendly sparring session and appear to be on good terms … but still want to fight each other?

All the same, Till made an appearance on Mike Perry’s podcast for a chat, and he revealed the Raw Dog business wasn’t going too well. According to Till, his brand was doing well until a $ 1.4 lawsuit and cease-and-desist letter from G-Star Raw shut it all down.

“I got sued for $ 1.4 million!” Till proclaimed. “Raw Dog got sued. So it was going well, and I was actually saying to the guys, we need to give Adesanya some percent, and Perry. And then there’s a brand in England called G-Star Raw and it’s trademarked and they own the rights to the name ‘raw.’ So they sued us, and we couldn’t trade anymore. They sent us a cease and desist letter, and that was the end of Raw.”

Till did add that they ended up being able to sell for “like two months worth.”

At the moment, Till’s next move is unclear. The English talent requested his UFC release to heal up from injuries and pursue other opportunities, and he was recently linked to a possible boxing match in Russia. His most recent bout came in the form of a December 2022 defeat to Dricus Du Plessis, which perhaps doesn’t look so bad now that “Stillknocks” is UFC champion.

As for Perry, he’s firmly established as the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) golden boy. He’s 5-0 since leaving the UFC, having most recently stopped Eddie Alvarez, and his current contract with BKFC is worth a reported $ 8 million.

Insomnia

Rumor mill: Mike Tyson vs. Fedor Emelianenko in a boxing match in Saudi Arabia? It’s just weird enough to work!

If there’s a betting line for Kayla Harrison missing weight for her UFC debut, put me on the over!

Ciryl Gane’s kickboxing and fluidity of movement remain so impressive.

A second impressive display of Heavyweight athleticism:

Staged, certainly, but I respect the commitment to the bit.

It has to be Ian Garry at the moment, right?

Sean Strickland may not be able to go to Walmart peacefully anymore, but Michael Bisping can’t even use the bathroom!

One of the cooler takedowns that takes a lot of dedication to pull off:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I don’t have a moral issue with taunting, but … you have to realize it looks real bad if it goes wrong.

One of the wonkier stoppages I’ve seen!

Take a counter hook, give a counter hook!

Random Land

A mummy in rough shape.

Midnight Music: Folk, 1970

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts