CombatSports.org

Francis Ngannou’s days as an MMA fighter aren’t over yet.

The former UFC heavyweight champion and PFL fighter was in London on Monday for a press conference to promote his upcoming boxing match with Anthony Joshua, which takes place March 8. Following the presser, Ngannou spoke to DAZN and declared that he still plans to return to MMA competition sometime in the future.

“It’s a combination,” Ngannou said when asked to choose between MMA and boxing. “I’m a guy who fights, I mean, I don’t really like to get hit, but I like to hit people. Anytime when there’s some good person to hit in a big fight, ring me up, I will come and try to hit and not get hit. That’s what matters.

“At this point, I’m not done with MMA. I can tell you that I’m not done with MMA, because I still believe that there’s still some great fights out there that I can still offer fans. My MMA fans were my base, who also helped me to get to this position, so I’m still thinking about how to work with that community.”

Ngannou has not fought in MMA since successfully defending the UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022. What followed was a 12-month stretch of inactivity that ended with he and the UFC unable to come to terms on a new contract. He then relinquished the title, becoming a free agent, and later signed with the PFL as both an executive (including being named chairman of the PFL Africa project) and a fighter, though he has yet to fight for the league.

In Ngannou’s absence, Jon Jones defeated Gane for a vacant title at UFC 285. Ngannou and Jones have publicly discussed fighting each other for years, and they continued to snipe at each other following Ngannou’s departure from the promotion. Despite their history and the magnitude of that potential matchup, Ngannou still favors a rematch against undefeated heavyweight boxing star Tyson Fury, who Ngannou lost a narrow split decision to this past October.

“Rematch against Fury,” Ngannou said when asked if he’d rather fight Jones or Fury. “Rematch against Fury, because I have a taste of unfinished business. I wasn’t mad after the decision, but I still have this feeling of injustice. When you feel something wasn’t right, wasn’t just, I still have that feeling. I won the fight. I believe that I won the fight. … That doesn’t matter at this point, but still I have that feeling and I really think I can do better.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Statement
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Anthony Joshua will not be intimidated.

“AJ” came face-to-face with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou at the conclusion of their kickoff press conference earlier today in London (watch it here), held in advance of their pay-per-view (PPV) boxing showdown on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Check out their staredown video embedded above.

“Every fight leads to somewhere,” Joshua said. ”This fight is my everything: my soul, my spirit, my mind, my body. Right now I’m not thinking about any championship belts. My main focus is Francis and getting through an intensive, focused training camp, because how I train is how I fight. I won’t say too much, but he brings two arms, a body, like every other fighter does. But it’s just his mind is different to everyone. Everyone has their own unique… like, they’re unique in their own way.”

Defeating Ngannou could lead to the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk.

“In terms of the frame and the make-up of someone, he’s seen people like me, I’ve seen people like him many times before, but it’s just his mind that I have to conquer in the ring,” Joshua continued. “You have to take someone’s soul, you have to take their spirit. And I’m looking forward to the challenge for sure. And that’s it really, it’s going to be good. It’s going to be explosive, but [there are] many ways to skin a cat. I can counter punch, he can counter punch, we can both box as he’s proven himself to. We can both trade [punches] and it’s going to be a good, good fight.”

For more boxing news and notes click here.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

submitted by /u/LurksOften [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira wants to stay busy in 2024.

A day after Magomed Ankalaev dismantled Johnny Walker in the main event of UFC Vegas 84 to insert himself in the title conversation, “Poatan” took on social media to say that former titleholder Jamahal Hill is next in line, but reassuring Ankalaev that he won’t need to wait much longer.

“People, let’s focus on what matters, which is Jamahal,” Pereira wrote in Portuguese, “and then I’ll focus on breaking another record and doing two title defenses in the least amount of time.”

The UFC has yet to reveal a date for Pereira’s return. That won’t be any time soon if Hill is next, however, since the ex-champion is currently recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

The current record for shortest championship turnaround belongs to Ronda Rousey, who knocked out Sara McMann at UFC 170, just 56 days after defending her bantamweight gold with an armbar victory over Miesha Tate at UFC 168.

Hill hasn’t fought since beating Pereira’s teammate Glover Teixeira for the vacant title in January 2022. The title went vacant for months before “Poatan” challenged ex-champ Jiri Prochazka for it at Madison Square Garden, winning via knockout.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

The UFC’s slated debut event in Saudi Arabia – scheduled to take place on March 2. in Riyadh has reportedly been postponed until June later this year, amid links to a comeback fight for Russian favorite and undisputed lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev in the same month.

As per an initial report from Ariel Helwani as per Saudi Royal Court adviser, Turki Alalshikh, the promotion’s expected landing in the Middle East on March 2. will no longer occur on that date – due to a lack of star power on the proposed ‘Fight Night’ billed card, and is now instead targeted to take place in early June. 

Currently without a headlining bout tied to the Kingdom Arena card in Riyadh, notable fights currently slated for the event include a flyweight fight between the unbeaten, Muhammad Mokaev and former title challenger, Alex Perez, as well as a heavyweight bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Shamil Gaziev. 

At the time of publication, it’s currently unknown if the current scheduled fights will be rescheduled for the proposed June event in the Middle East, or if they will remain intact and move to a different card promoted by the organization — instead of UFC Saudi Arabia.

UFC Saudi Arabia set for postponement until June

Developments of the UFC Saudi Arabia debut come of the back of recent confirmation from pound-for-pound number one, the above-mentioned, Makhachev, that he would like to compete in June – potentially in a title fight against former interim champion and current symbolic BMF gold holder, Justin Gaethje.

Laying out plans for his next three fights, the American Kickboxing Academy staple confirmed how he plans to fight in June, before then competing in November – in a lightweight title fight rematch against either former foes, Charles Oliveira or Arman Tsarukyan, before fighting “anybody” in February of 2025. 

Who do you expect to headline a UFC Saudi Arabia event in June?

LowKickMMA.com

submitted by /u/saif4u [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Colby Covington suffered a one-sided loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 296 after promising he would vanquish the Brit in impressive fashion to claim the welterweight title

Not only that but Covington ratcheted up his usual trash talk to an abhorrent level when he went as far as insulting Edwards’ deceased father, who was murdered when the future UFC champion was just 13 years old. Despite doing his best to rattle Edwards and force him to fight emotionally, it was Covington who just couldn’t pull the trigger before losing a five-round decision in his third failed attempt at becoming an undisputed UFC champion.

“Colby talked so much s***,” UFC color commentator Joe Rogan said about the fight on his podcast. “it was f***** up [what he said about Leon’s dad].

“That’s Colby. He’s the master at getting under people’s skin but I think in that fight it backfired. He didn’t look good.”

Rather than let Covington’s despicable insults get to him, Edwards came out in dominant fashion and never allowed the former NCAA All-American wrestler to get anything going.

Edwards largely stood on the outside like a sniper throwing shots at Covington, who was stuck against the cage, struggling to react to the offensive onslaught coming after him.

As bad as Covington performed that night, Rogan says that Edwards really deserves the credit for that performance.

Because Edwards has developed a reputation as such a nasty striker on the feet, Covington just couldn’t get anything going during the five-round fight.

“I was impressed with Leon,” Rogan said. “I think that the problem in that Colby fight is Leon. He was so dangerous. He was so sharp. He is so technical on his feet.”

If Rogan was going to offer one criticism about Edwards’ performance, it’s that the 32-year-old Jamaican born fighter kept engaging in grappling exchanges with Covington.

At first, Edwards may have been shooting takedowns just to prove to Covington that he could do it but over time, he allowed the former Oregon State wrestler to get more comfortable on the ground and that was really his only path to victory.

The strategy didn’t necessarily backfire but Rogan knows the only danger Edwards really faced in that fight were mostly self-inflicted wounds.

“[Leon Edward’s] grappling is very good,” Rogan said. “I think that’s where the tactical errors were made. That’s what I was critiquing at the fight. I was like I don’t think he fought the smartest way because I think he could have avoided those exchanges and he had this massive advantage in the standup.

“He still won the fight handily but at the end when Colby’s on top of him, at the very end of the fight, that doesn’t look good.”

That said, Rogan acknowledged that Edwards won the fight and there was no question about that. He just wishes Edwards would have stuck to his striking where he was picking Covington apart for the majority of the 25 minutes they spent in the cage together.

“He won 100 percent,” Rogan said. “He looked great and on the feet, he is so sharp. So sharp. He’s sharp as f***.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

submitted by /u/SokoudjouFan [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts