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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sean O’Malley has his immediate future all mapped out.

Outside of an exception here or there, the UFC has turned away from champion vs. champion fights in recent years after it felt like they were becoming the norm. The featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is the most recent champion to try and hold multiple titles at once after he attempted it twice in 2023. Unfortunately for “The Great,” he came up short in both his bids opposite the lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev.

Depending on how things shake out across the UFC landscape, Volkanovski could be the next champion to defend his throne against a fellow champion. O’Malley has made it no secret as of late that he wants to enter rarified air by holding two titles at some point in his career. Ideally for “Sugar,” he’ll successfully defend his bantamweight title against Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 in March before challenging a newly crowned Ilia Topuria, who will have to defeat Volkanovski at UFC 298 next month in Los Angeles. But what about just facing Volkanovski should he stay unbeaten at 145 pounds? Well, O’Malley just simply admires the Australian legend as a person more than he does “El Matador.”

“I don’t know. I guess that is a possibility,” O’Malley told Shakiel Mahjouri of challenging Volkanovski. “I guess I always said I didn’t want that fight but you never know. That fight definitely could happen. But if Ilia wins, I want it for sure. If ‘Volk’ wins, I think I stay down and defend my belt one or two more times. I need to get champ-champ status. If ‘Volk’s’ there in a couple of fights, that’s the fight we’ll take. We’ll go with the flow.

“‘Volk’s’ such a cool dude. Ilia seems very, very easy to dislike… Fighting is a weird sport. I always looked at it like chess and never too fight-y, but you still got to want to f*** someone up and I want to f*** up Ilia so it just makes it easier.”

O’Malley and Topuria have both been virtually flawless throughout their respective careers. In the case of Topuria, he has been, boasting a 14-0 record ahead of his clash with Volkanovski. Meanwhile, O’Malley’s rematch with Vera at UFC 299 will be his opportunity at redemption for his August 2020 first-round TKO loss — his only in 19 fights.

A move up in weight to pursue O’Malley’s dream of double champion status would admittedly be a nightmare scenario for the talent-rich bantamweight division. The 29-year-old has about as many options for challengers as any champion could ask for heading into 2024, and arguably isn’t even lined up to fight the most deserving of the bunch for his first defense. Ultimately, the champion doesn’t have much to worry about when it comes to staying active.

“If Ilia wins, I’m going to win then that is the fight that happens next,” O’Malley said. “Then I could see myself going back down to 135 pounds to defend that one. If Ilia ends up losing, there’s Merab [Dvalishvili], Henry [Cejudo], Cory [Sandhagen], if Umar [Nurmagomedov] can string a couple together there’s Umar. I have so many options. It’s a great position to be in.”

TOP STORIES

Rivals. Dricus du Plessis has no regrets over Sean Strickland trash talk: ‘Mr. Moral Compass doesn’t decide where the line is’

R.I.P. MMA veteran Diego Braga, father of PFL finalist Gabriel Braga, killed in Brazil

Mailbag. Magomed Ankalaev’s big win, Jim Miller’s UFC 300 opponent, and UFC 297 storylines

Assessment. Joe Rogan: Colby Covington’s ‘f***** up’ trash talk ‘backfired’ against Leon Edwards

Goals. Francis Ngannou declares ‘I’m not done with MMA’ ahead of Anthony Joshua boxing match

Aftermath. Johnny Walker vows to ‘come back better’ from UFC Vegas 84 knockout loss, hopes Magomed Ankalaev wins title

Speed. Alex Pereira plans on fighting Jamahal Hill, breaking Ronda Rousey’s record next

VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

UFC 297 Embedded 1.

Official Strickland vs. Du Plessis preview.

Canada’s best.

Throwback.

The War Room: Strickland vs. Du Plessis.

LISTEN UP

On To the Next One. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alex K. Lee discuss the matches to make after UFC Vegas 84.

MORNING MUSIC

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Onward.

New era.

Rush.

Who is that?

Impressive, to say the least.

Business…

There it is, lol.

Khabib.

Can you tell she’s Fairtex?

Hunter.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mohammed Usman (11-2) vs. Chris Barnett (23-8); UFC Vegas 88, March 23

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think both Volk and Ilia are pretty tough matchups for O’Malley. At the same time, I think we all will underestimate how well he’d do against either.

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

Former two-weight UFC champion, Conor McGregor has hit out at incoming foe, Michael Chandler ahead of their expected June tangle during International Fight Week – claiming that lifting titles inside the Octagon is far greater the experience than lifting weights outside of it.

McGregor, a former undisputed lightweight and featherweight champion under the banner of the promotion, struck gold in both divisions back in 2015 and then 2016, turning in knockout victories over both Jose Aldo, and Eddie Alvarez, respectively.

As for Chandler, the former three-time Bellator MMA lightweight champion, failed in his sole bid so far to land lightweight gold since his 2021 debut in the Dana White-led promotion, competing for vacant spoils in the following year.

And despite a massive opening round against Brazilian favorite, Charles Oliveira, Chandler was stopped with a huge rallying KO in the early goings of the second round in the vacant lightweight title affair.

Conor McGregor mocks Michael Chandler’s Octagon tenure

Revealing on New Year’s Eve how he is set to fight Chandler on June 29. during International Fight Week in a much-anticipated return to the UFC, McGregor has since poked fun at Chandler’s stature – all while claiming that championship belts lofted inside the Octagon are worth more than weight plates lifted overhead.

“I can bench press ten (Michael) Chandlers,” Conor McGregor posted on his official X account tonight. 

“Lifting belts > Lifting weights,” Conor McGregor posted.

Without a victory since 2020, McGregor’s most recent win came at the welterweight limit against former title challenger and Hall of Fame inductee, Donald Cerrone, stopping the veteran with a blistering 40-second kncokout win.

And ahead of his proposed June fight with chandler, the Missouri veteran has warned McGregor that he plans to “break” his jaw and leave him career-less following their summer showdown. 

“It’s going to be a big car, it’s going to be fun, and I finish Conor (McGregor) within the first two rounds and after that probably end his career,” Michael Chandler said. “There’s just to much more than what people thing about on the surface level. I want battlegrounds of epic proportions, I want to stand in the cage with that man, I want to break that man’s will, I want to break his jaw.

Who wins in a June grudge match: Conor McGregor or Michael Chandler?

LowKickMMA.com

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Johnny Walker hopes to see his nemesis win the UFC light heavyweight title next.

The Brazilian talent came up short in a rematch with Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC Vegas 84 this past Saturday in Las Vegas, losing via second-round knockout, and said he’s now hoping to see the Russian talent claim the gold.

“It is what it is,” Walker said on a social media post. “We fight the best in the world, I’m one of the best in the world. I’m gonna face the best in the world. Could be me, could be him. He have a better night than me, congratulations to him, Magomed Ankalaev. Hope he get the belt now.”

Walker’s countryman Alex Pereira currently holds the 205-pound championship in the UFC, and Ankalaev called for his shot following Saturday’s main event bout at the UFC APEX.

As for his return, Walker said he’s feeling good, “just a little scratch on my nose” after the stoppage defeat. The SBG Ireland product said he will re-watch the bout “to see what I did wrong” and fix his mistakes before his next assignment.

“And I’m gonna keep grinding, keep going forward and keep going upward,” Walker said. “Thank everybody for the support. I’m gonna take a few days off and come back to the gym, come back better.”

The defeat dropped Walker’s octagon record to 7-5 with one no-contest, snapping a three-fight winning streak over Ion Cutelaba, Paul Craig and Anthony Smith.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

On Saturday, December 16 during the UFC 296 end-of-year pay-per-view, Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis came to blows in the crowd ahead of their bout.

The two are set to meet at UFC 297 this weekend and the anticipation is beginning to build for Strickland’s first title defense. The animosity between the middleweights has grown stronger each week following comments by ‘Stillknocks’ during the promotion’s seasonal press conference.

While sitting down with Chris Curtis for an overdue episode of their podcast The Man Dance, Sean Strickland discussed his brawl with Dricus Du Plessis. He revealed a wild conversation he had with the South African after the incident.

“I actually talked to Dricus after that. And I was like, ‘Dricus.’ Because I like the guy. Me and him are going to have a f***ing war, we’re going to have a f***ing death match.”

“There is no other way that ends, you know. Someone’s getting knocked the f*** out,” Strickland said about his UFC 297 headliner. “So I actually sent him a f***ing message and I was like, ‘Dude, listen, Dricus. We’re going to try and murder each other but if you bring that sh** up again, I will f***ing stab you.'”

“I’m not saying I don’t want to fight you, Dricus. I’m not saying you’re not a good fighter. I’m just saying that that’s a line that when crossed, it transcends fighting.”

“If I go to Canada and you bring that up, well guess what? I’m going to go to jail, they’re going to deport me, and we spent eight weeks of training for no f***ing reason.”

Related: Dricus Du Plessis asked about pressing charges against Sean Strickland after UFC 296 brawl

Strickland then detailed his thought process during the scuffle and revealed he attempted to bite Du Plessis before stopping himself from doing so.

“I knew where it would get broken up, so I was like, the best thing I could do is 12-6 elbows to the back of the head. If I wanted to do the most damage.”

“And this is f***ed up bro, this is really f***ed up… If you look in the video right at the very end, I went to go bite… The reason why I didn’t fully commit as I did it, I was like, ‘Sean, there’s no coming back from this.'”

Check out what Sean Strickland had to say about his ongoing feud with Dricus Du Plessis in the video below.

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

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Monday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time.

1:05 p.m. ET: Boxing champ Anthony Joshua talks about his upcoming fight with Francis Ngannou and more.

1:20 p.m.: Reaction to the Joshua vs. Ngannou press conference and the weekend of combat sports action including UFC Vegas 84 and more.

2 p.m.: Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiří Procházka talks his UFC 300 fight with Aleksandar Rakic.

2:30 p.m.: UFC middleweight title challenger Dricus du Plessis previews his UFC 297 title fight against champ Sean Strickland.

3 p.m.: Former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno talks about his new rematch with Brandon Royval at UFC Mexico City.

3:30 p.m.: Best bets for UFC 297 and more from the Parlay Boys.

For the latest episodes of The MMA Hour, subscribe on Spotify or iTunes.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Matchmaking
| BJPenn.com

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Francis Ngannou is officially 0-1 since leaving the UFC, yet “The Predator” just keeps winning.

When it was announced that Ngannou was pursuing free agency outside of the Octagon, his decision was met with a fair amount of criticism. He was accused of ducking Jon Jones, ruining his legacy, and, of course, fumbling the bag. Then, he signed an absolutely massive contract with Professional Fighters League (PFL), knocked down Tyson Fury, and made many millions of dollars in the process. Oh yeah, another big Saudi Arabian paycheck awaits when he squares off versus Anthony Joshua in March.

Ngannou is on course to make unheard of money for an MMA fighter (outside of Conor McGregor, at least). That’s not bad for a former sand miner, and there certainly isn’t a fumbled bag in sight.

In fact, Ngannou’s business savvy and willingness to bet on himself are now the subject of a new Harvard Business School case study. According to its author, Harvard professor Anita Elberse, Ngannou’s manager Marquel Martin was instrumental in making it happen — the very same manager that UFC threatened to sue!

Francis Ngannou reacted to the case study announcement by tweeting, “The business of sport” accompanied by a sunglasses and chess emoji.

If and when excerpts from the study and financial numbers release online, expect to find them right here.

Insomnia

Horrendous news. Here’s wishing all the best to Ryan Curtis’ recovery.

Saudi Arabia turning down UFC Apex-esque fights and forcing the card to be delayed is already the funniest story of the year.

A flash from the past!

Bahamondes vs. Giagos reads like a fun and competitive “Prelim” fight to me.

Made possible by impressive hip mobility:

Merab Dvalishvili is honestly one of the most entertaining fighters on social media.

Sean Strickland may not watch tape, but based on the Israel Adesanya fight, his coaches and team sure do!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

MMA fighting looked a little different 24 years ago.

Even as a longtime jiu-jitsu guy, I think face-kicking one’s way out of an armbar should be legal. Let go!

Are you looking forward to Beterbiev vs. Bivol?

Random Land

So, this guy just casually has the ability to fly? Incredible athleticism.

Midnight Music: Hip-hop, 2023

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts