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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira defended his UFC light heavyweight belt with a hard-fought TKO victory over Khalil Rountree earlier this month in Salt Lake City, and making weight for the title bout required hours of sweat and hard work.

“Poatan”, a former UFC middleweight champion, posted a video on his YouTube channel showing behind the scenes footage of the final days of cutting weight for the bout, and then going all the way up to 228.2 pounds upon arrival at the Delta Center.

The video shows Pereira doing the face paint before the final face-off and relaxing on fight day, watching his teammate Cesar Almeida secure his second UFC win on the same card, defeating Ihor Potieria via decision, and his post-fight celebration.

Check the video below.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Francis Ngannou was ready to walk away from fighting after the tragic loss of his 15-month-old son Kobe, but then the former UFC heavyweight champion realized that the tragedy could lead to a deeper meaning.

Ngannou makes his promotional debut this Saturday in the main event of the PFL’s Battle of the Giants pay-per-view card against dangerous knockout artist Renan Ferreira. “The Predator” suffered the heartbreaking loss in April following a two-fight run in the boxing ring. After admitting he thought about hanging up the gloves — which would be completely understandable — Ngannou wants the loss to serve a higher purpose.

“[My purpose is] to make this fight meaningful,” Ngannou told MMA Fighting. “This fight was most likely not to happen. I was most likely not to fight this year, or never. But I want to make a purpose of things that happen. Give it a purpose.

“Instead of using it as an excuse of giving up, maybe use it as a purpose to continue, give it more sense, give it more reason, make things more meaningful, more impactful. I’m saying that about the loss of my son. After that, I really considered dropping everything, and one of the only reasons why I didn’t do that was because thinking about it, he would’ve been like he was the one taking me out, making me quit, which is not a responsibility that, I think, of his to carry. That is my responsibility.”

Ngannou competes in the MMA cage for the first time in nearly three years. In his most recent mixed martial arts appearance, Ngannou successfully defended the UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022. The 38-year-old went on and made the decision to leave the UFC and sign with PFL, before getting two massive opportunities in the boxing ring against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. After losing both, Ngannou is now set for his first walk to the PFL Smart Cage to battle for the PFL Superfight heavyweight title.

With a heavy heart, and a newfound motivation, Ngannou plans to make Kobe proud no matter how the chips fall on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

“The only thing I can do is make a purpose of his existence, or of this loss,” Ngannou said. “You know, make it make some sense, trying to write his name in a better way for him to be remembered.”

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Matchmaking
| BJPenn.com

The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing spectacle is one month away.

Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) today released the official trailer for the Nov. 15 fight card, which airs live from inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In addition to Paul vs. Tyson, super lightweight world champion Katie Taylor will defend her undisputed strap unified featherweight titleholder Amanda Serrano in the 10-round co-main event.

“Mike wanted this, Mike wanted it to be a pro fight,” Paul said during the kickoff press conference. “He wants the war. I respect that. I respect him for taking this fight, for stepping up, to try to put an end to me. Because that’s what all these fighters have been trying to do, is end the YouTuber — and if Mike can do that, then he’s a hero.”

“This is what I was born to do, to move up into this weight class, and I’m going to show Mike who has more power because he’s underestimating me,” Paul continued. “I think everyone else is underestimating me and I believe I hit harder. I’m scared, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not about the fear stopping me. It’s about going into it even though I am scared, and that’s what true bravery is.”

Also on the main card will be the 12-round championship showdown for the WBC welterweight title between reigning champion Mario Barrios and top contender Abel Ramos, as well as a six-round super middleweight fight between India’s number one boxer Neeraj Goyat opposite Brazilian bruiser Whindersson Nunes.

For the current Nov. 15 fight card and Netflix lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dana White, once again, is not happy with his own UFC rankings panel.

The UFC CEO has had an issue with the rankings panel for several months in regards to Jon Jones not being ranked the top pound-for-pound fighter despite not competing in well over 18 months. Additionally, White slammed his panel for having Max Holloway ranked seven spots behind Justin Gaethje in the lightweight rankings after Holloway knocked out the former interim champ to win the BMF title at UFC 300, and has been pushing for A.I. to take things over.

In the latest ripping of the panel, White used Khalil Rountree being ranked No. 8 after giving Alex Pereira a run for his money at UFC 307 earlier this month before getting knocked out in the fourth round.

“The morons strike again,” White said in an Instagram story. “Khalil Rountree fights that bad ass fight against Pereira, and the morons rank him No. 8 — keep him at No. 8.

“Literally this week, I have a meeting to try to fix the rankings, and get all these no-nothing motherf*ckers out of it. So hopefully this week I get this fixed.”

White will hopefully provide more details on his plans following Tuesday’s DWCS Season 8, Week 10 card.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tony Ferguson isn’t hanging up the gloves just yet.

A former UFC interim lightweight champion, the past few years have been especially unkind to Ferguson. “El Cucuy” is currently on an eight-fight losing streak and has not won a bout since 2020. Most recently, Ferguson was submitted by Michael Chiesa at UFC Abu Dhabi back in August, after which he laid one glove down in the cage and teased a possible retirement. But that is no longer the case.

“I only put half the f*cking glove in there, and I got it back, so that just tells me I’ve got both pairs of gloves,” Ferguson said on Demetrious Johnson’s YouTube channel. “So yep. We’re going to probably take the rest of this season, figure things out hard, and we’re coming back either January or February. Stayed tuned.”

One of the more popular fighters in the sport, Ferguson’s calamitous run in recent years has led to increasing calls for his retirement from fans and fellow fighters. But despite his bad run, Ferguson is simply not ready to walk away from the sport he loves and has a plan to change things up moving forward.

“F*ck no I’m not retiring,” Ferguson said. “I’m too old to retire. I’m 40 years old. I’m halfway to 80, I’ve been competing since I was five years old in multiple sports. I wrestled in college, I’ve done all the other stuff, and you know what? It’s not like I don’t know anything else. I do. I’m still able to compete. When somebody is able to run or sprint faster than me then maybe I will start to consider it. But what I really need is to find that coaching, that discipline around other people, being uncomfortable in practice so that way you’re not miserable in the fight… That’s where we’re at right now.”

As for when he’ll return and who it might be again, Ferguson doesn’t have any specific plans at the moment. Instead, he plans to called up UFC CEO Dana White sometime next year and let him figure it out.

“I’m not in any rush for anything,” Ferguson said. “Usually I have little ailments or booboos, hurt, broken. I’m fully recovered from my surgeries. I had two surgeries in January and I fought — not saying I rushed it… The way I’m moving is pretty good. So instead of getting excited and jumping at anything I want, I make the phone call to Dana and tell him, ‘Look, I’m looking for a fight,’ and then they give me one.”

TOP STORIES

Roundtable. Is this the most important event in PFL history? The MMA Fighting team discusses.

New belts. PFL reveals some new special belts for its upcoming superfights this weekend.

Retirement. Charles Oliveira has some different ideas about retirement for Tony Ferguson.

Signing. ONE double champ Reinier de Ridder says signing with the UFC was a bigger deal than his world titles.

Not impressed? Jamahal Hill defends mock-yawning at Alex Pereira’s UFC 307 performance.

VIDEO STEW

Reinier de Ridder interview.

Rampage backing Mike Tyson over Jake Paul.

One of the best fights you’ll ever see is now free to watch. Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje. Do it.

This is a really cool interview with Francis Ngannou.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Countdown.

Preparation.

We are all Megan Anderson.

Winner.

Training.

Kings.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Bryan Battle (11-2) vs. Randy Brown (19-5), UFC 310, Dec. 7.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Since AK, didn’t say it yesterday: hope everyone who got the day off for Indigenous People’s Day had a good one. Now it’s full tilt forward towards PFL Superfights: Ngannou vs. Ferreira. Should be fun.

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

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