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Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has signed to box former two-time unified world heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua in March.  The event takes place in Saudi Arabia.  

Ngannou left the UFC after failing to come to terns on a new contract.  Part of the contract negotiation and hangup was Ngannou’s desire to have the ability to do boxing matches.  He inked a deal to box heavyweight champion Tyson Fury last October after parting ways with the mixed martial arts promotion.  The fight went the distance.    

Ngannou not only went the distance, he knocked Fury down early in the bout.  Ngannou maintains to this day that he won the fight and the decision was a ‘robbery.’  As a result of his boxing debut performance, Ngannou was ranked inside the Top 10 of the WBC rankings.  

With his second boxing opponent booked, Ngannou faces Joshua and former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier believes “The Predator” gets the job done.

“Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou is going to be a fun fight only happening, though, because of the way Ngannou competed against Tyson Fury,” Cormier said on his YouTube Channel.  “Who is going to be better than he was when he fought the lineal heavyweight champion in his first professional fight.”

“I believe it’s going to be a better, more manageable fight for Francis Ngannou because of the way Anthony Joshua approaches fights.  Anthony Joshua does not want to get knocked out,” Cormier continued.  “If you asked me this six months ago, I’d have said no chance.  You ask me today, I think Francis has a chance and I think Francis is going to get it done.”    

Joshua opened as a heavy favorite by oddsmakers, but Ngannou finding success against top boxers in the world was also a long shot.  

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Tom Aspinall is apparently willing to wait an eternity to fight Jon Jones.

A matchup between the two UFC heavyweight titleholders — Aspinall won an interim belt at UFC 295, while Jones is officially recognized as the undisputed champion — has become a hot topic as we head into 2024, with Aspinall recently campaigning to fight either Jones or Stipe Miocic this year.

Jones and Miocic were supposed to fight at UFC 295, but Jones was forced to withdraw due to a pectoral injury and a heavyweight bout between Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich took its place on the card. Aspinall defeated Pavlovich by first-round knockout to claim a vacant interim title.

Unfortunately for Aspinall, UFC CEO Dana White has insisted that the Jones-Miocic pairing will be re-booked whenever Jones is healthy enough to compete again, meaning that Aspinall’s recent attempts to justify a meeting with either man are likely to fall on deaf ears.

On Monday, Aspinall shared a humorous video on TikTok, in which he used a filter to show himself aging as he waits decades for a fight with Jones.

Aspinall currently reigns as the No. 1 heavyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, but it appears that he won’t get the chance to claim that spot on the UFC’s list anytime soon.

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Jon Jones went back under the knife on Monday for elbow surgery, but he said his recovery isn’t expected to further delay his UFC return.

Originally scheduled to defend his heavyweight title this past November at UFC 295, Jones dropped out of his fight against Stipe Miocic after suffering a torn pectoral muscle in training. He had surgery to repair the damage done and plans to fight this summer once healthy.

Since Jones was already required to heal up his pectoral muscle, he opted to get some much-needed work on his elbow. He said his recovery and rehabilitation ultimately coincided with the time he already needed before he could fight.

“Back out here in California with Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache, this time instead of doing a pec repair, we are working on my left elbow,” Jones revealed on Instagram. “I’m actually about one hour off the table. We had a two-hour surgery shaving down some bone spurs. The good news is it’s about a 10-week healing process, and I’m out for months anyway, because of this pec surgery, so I thought I’d just kill two birds and get this elbow taken care of once and for all.

“I appreciate all the support. Your boy’s back in the sling, back on this recovery journey. Still on this recovery journey. Sometimes you have to take a small step back in order to move forward, and I’m patient. I appreciate you guys support, your love and your positive energy, and I will be back. Love you all.”

Dr. Neal ElAttrache is regarded as one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the world. He’s performed surgeries on numerous high-profile athletes, including UFC superstar Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Francis Ngannou, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, multi-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and baseball star Shohei Ohtani.

ElAttrache also performed the surgery to repair the torn pectoral muscle that Jones suffered in training.

Once healthy again, Jones is expected to defend his heavyweight title against former champion Stipe Miocic in a high-profile matchup after their previous fight was cancelled. In the mean time, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been banging the drum for his chance to skip over Miocic and face Jones, but UFC CEO Dana White has shot down that idea.

As of now, Jones hasn’t set an exact timetable for his return, but it’s expected he’ll be cleared to compete some time in mid-2024.

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Conor McGregor is never one to keep quiet on issues he has problems with and he has done that once again during a rant on social media.

‘The Notorious’ has teased his return to the octagon in recent weeks and looks set to be competing later this year. Despite never failing a test, many believe the Irishman gained an unnatural amount of muscle in his absence, but he is now pointing fingers elsewhere regarding steroid use.

In response to a post by Umar Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor took aim at the bantamweight’s family for their use of illegal substances. According to McGregor, four of Umar’s family have been caught using steroids in the fight game.

“Your younger brother popped for steroids,” McGregor claimed on social media. “That’s 4 now out of your family caught on steroids while fighting.”

McGregor is referring to Umar Nurmagomedov’s younger brother Usman. The undefeated lightweight has been on a tear under the Bellator banner since signing for the promotion three years ago.

After proving his worth early in his Bellator career, Usman was given a title opportunity against the veteran Patricky Pitbull. He took his chance with both hands, dominating the champion and scoring a unanimous decision.

Related: Islam Makhachev gives timeline for his UFC return

The 25-year-old would then deliver one of the best knockouts of 2023 in his first defense since capturing gold. Midway through the opening round, the Russian would land a beautifully executed question mark kick, knocking out former UFC champion Benson Henderson and retaining his title.

Usman Nurmagomedov was caught using illegal substances and subsequently fined $ 50,000 and suspended for six months following his one-sided win over Brent Primus—which has now been overturned to a no-contest.

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A post shared by Usman Nurmagomedov (@usman_nurmagomedov)

Surprisingly, another member of the Nurmagomedov camp to be caught using illegal substances was Islam Makhachev.

The current lightweight king was once flagged for his use of a drug called meldonium. While he has denied the accusations in the past, Makhachev is one of the four men alongside the aforementioned Usman Nurmagomedov whom Conor McGregor is referencing.

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Update
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Things could have gotten a little chaotic between Ian Machado Garry and Sean Strickland inside the UFC Performance Institute (P.I.) last month (December 2023).

Both Garry and Strickland have easily attracted enemies throughout their careers, but recently got on each other’s bad sides. The current UFC Middleweight champion, Strickland, aimed at Garry (along with the rest of the internet) after a book published by Garry’s wife, How to be a WAG, resurfaced online.

When both attended the UFC P.I. during recent trips to Las Vegas, tension built when the pair were in the same room as Strickland noted on social media right after the encounter. According to Garry, it was more of a passing-by than anything else.

“I wouldn’t say it was a scene,” Garry said on The MMA Hour. “It was more of a glance, and him being shuffled into a lift, and that was it. And he had a little snicker on his face, and I shouted something at him — I don’t know what I shouted at him, but I shouted something at him before I even had a chance to think.

“My body went straight into fight mode, and then the doors closed,” he concluded. “There was nothing much to it, to be honest.”

Garry and Strickland have sent a handful of verbal volleys each other’s way since this mini-rivalry kicked off, but haven’t had a proper conversation on the matter, which is what Garry would have liked had he the chance.

“I would have f—king talked to him, for sure,” Garry said. “I don’t know. See, this is the thing, I’m not going to start throwing hands with the bloke, because I’m a better person than that, and I would like to be above all the s—t that was said, and just sit there and be to him, ‘I feel sorry for you, man. I feel sorry for you — I feel sorry that all this s—t has you that hurt that you’re attacking everybody else.’ I feel like that’s what I’d like to say — what I would have said, I don’t know.”

Before the No. 10-ranked UFC Welterweight contender, Garry, gets back in action against Geoff Neal at UFC 299 on March 9, 2024, Strickland will defend his title against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 next weekend (Sat., Jan. 20, 2024).

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