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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC 297 press conference video will feature many of the top stars for the UFC’s first pay-per-view of 2024 on Thursday evening.

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, middleweight challenger Dricus du Plessis, bantamweight title challengers Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva, Mike Malott, Neil Magny, Chris Curtis, Marc-Andre Barriault, Arnold Allen and Movsar Evloev are slated to appear at the UFC 297 press conference.

The UFC 297 press conference is slated to begin at 5 p.m. ET.

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Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano and IBF mandatory challenger, Nina Meinke, are also set to face off this afternoon at 2 p.m. ET from inside the legendary Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.

Jake Paul — who is coming of a wipeout of Andre August back in Dec. 2023 (watch highlights) — will continue his path toward becoming a boxing world champion when he returns to the squared circle on Sat., March 2, 2024, inside the legendary Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

His opponent at this time is still “undetermined;” however, perhaps we will get some answers from “The Problem Child” once the press conference live feed begins at 2 p.m. ET in the video player embedded above.

The full list of press conference participants includes:

• Jake Paul
• Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano, IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO, and Ring Magazine women’s Featherweight champion
• Nina Meinke, IBF mandatory challenger
• Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez, WBO Junior Flyweight champion
• Kystal Roado, Super Flyweight sensation

From a recent press release:

“The fight marks Amanda Serrano’s first fight in Puerto Rico since becoming undisputed champion, with a sellout crowd expected to honor her as Puerto Rico’s first-ever undisputed world boxing champion, male or female. Serrano will fight for the second time at 12×3, the men’s championship standard, in defense of her unified IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO, and Ring Magazine featherweight world titles. In a true commitment to change for women’s boxing, Serrano recently vacated her WBC title, as the sanctioning body does not support women’s choice for 12×3.”

For the latest and greatest boxing-related news and notes click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Watch live video of the Serrano vs. Meinke press conference featuring Jake Paul as they answer questions before the March 2 boxing event at El Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Serrano vs. Meinke airs live on DAZN pay-per-view.

The press conference is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET.

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Sean Strickland has once again angered the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.

On Saturday, January 20, Strickland is set to defend his 185-pound title for the first time since claiming the crown with a decisive unanimous decision victory over Israel Adesanya last year. Hoping to make Strickland’s first reign a short one is No. 2 ranked contender Dricus Du Plessis.

Ahead of their highly anticipated and all-too-personal clash in the UFC 297 headliner, Sean Strickland has been making the rounds, speaking to members of the press about the impending title tilt and pretty much anything else that pops into his head. During Wednesday’s media scrum in Toronto, one brave reporter decided to question Strickland on his past comments about the gay, lesbian, and transgender communities.

In December 2021, Strickland tweeted, “If I had a gay son I would think I failed as a man to create such weakness.” As the reporter attempted to read back additional posts, Strickland was quick to cut him off and deliver one of his signature diatribes.

“Ten years ago, to be trans was a mental f*cking illness,” Strickland said. “And now, all of a sudden, people like you have f*cking weaseled your way in the world. You are an infection. You are the definition of weakness. Everything that is wrong with the world is because of f*cking you.”

Needless to say, Strickland’s comments didn’t go over well with many fighters and fans, including former UFC title challenger Megan Anderson who offered her take on the middleweight champ’s latest rant.

“I understand from a journalist POV asking these types of qns [questions] and not shying away from thesr topics, etc,” Anderson wrote on X. “However, when you have someone like Sean who is confrontational, at times volatile, and has very polarizing beliefs, maybe don’t give him a platform asking these qns [shrug emoji].”

Over the last year, Strickland has established himself as one of mixed martial arts’ most polarizing figures. Moving forward, he will look to carve out a more substantial legacy for himself as one of the middleweight division’s greatest champions.

That journey begins against a South African knockout artist riding an impressive eight-fight win streak.

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Former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas will have her second fight at flyweight in the UFC 240 main event on March 30.  She takes on eighth-ranked Amanda Ribas.  

Namajunas lost her flyweight debut in September dropping an unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot.  Not only has Namajunas changed her weight class, she’s cut out caffeine, recommitted to her faith and has worked to become a better person.  

“I just been working through a lot of things spiritually.  I’ve been changing a lot of things.  I’ve been changing a lot of things in my life and I feel like I’m at a point right now where, awe, I feel like I figured some stuff out.  It just didn’t go my way but it almost gave me more fuel.  I know that I’m 31 now.  I don’t have the most time but I feel like I’m right at that spot where it’s like physically and mentally, I’m still feeling really good physically.  I feel like now is the time,” Namajunas told The MMA Hour.

“It’s really exciting because one: it’s like I achieved everything that I wanted to achieve at 115 and this is like sort of the last of my to-do list as far as my MMA career.  I just want to make some noise at 125, get that belt again.  That would be super cool.  Wherever God leads me that’s where I’m going to go and just kind of leave it up to him.  I know I’ve a certain amount of time and I’m going to make the most of it and I’m going to do whatever I can.”  

At flyweight, Namajunas doesn’t have to cut the weight that she did to make the 115-pound weight limit.  Looking back, she didn’t feel it was healthy.  

“I actually felt really good (in flyweight debut).  Now I’m even a little more solid.  I had a little more fat on me but it wasn’t a ton or anything.  I was definitely a lot leaner at 115 but now I feel like I’m a little bit bigger and more solid too and I’m just more accustomed to moving around at this weight as well because that’s smothering thing.  Once you put on that size you have to also be able to have a little bit of endurance and that’s what my goal is because I do feel like even though it’s more work overall fighting at a little bit bigger of a weight class but I feel like over time I’m able to have more endurance because these other girls are a little bit bigger so they’re moving around more weight.  Now I’m getting into that balance sweet spot where now I don’t want to get too big because I don’t want to be cutting the same weight I was at 115 because it was getting kind of rough,” she said.  

Related: Sean Strickland: ‘I hate f**king Ian Garry so much’

“Now, as I sit, I can’t even imagine trying to go back down.  I’d really have to be starving and running a lot.  It doesn’t seem like a healthy thing to do.”

With the Ribas fight on the horizon, Namajunas believes that she’s the better fighter.  

“She’s always got some good energy.  She comes to fight.  She’s going to give it her all every second of the fight.  That’s probably the biggest danger that she poses.  She’s got some good techniques but overall I just feel like I’m better everywhere.  I know I’m better everywhere.  I just have to maintain focus and discipline and just stick to the game plan and get her out of there when I can.”  

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts