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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Francis Ngannou is back at it again.

The former UFC heavyweight champion is set to face two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua later this year in a blockbuster 10-round boxing match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An official date for the bout has yet to be announced, however a kickoff press conference is already slated for January 15 in London.

It’s yet another massive coup for Ngannou, who made his professional boxing debut with a stunning performance against Tyson Fury this past October. Despite being universally counted out for the bout, Ngannou gave Fury one of the toughest tests of his boxing career, dropping the lineal heavyweight king in the third round before ultimately losing a controversial split decision. Ngannou’s longtime representative Marquel Martin told MMA Fighting in November that “The Predator” earned “multiples upon multiples upon multiples” more for the Fury bout than he did as UFC heavyweight champion.

Now Ngannou is set for another monster payday in his second sport. Check out reaction to Friday’s news and the Joshua vs. Ngannou announcement below.

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Ben Askren may be the latest of the handful of former MMA stars who want to return to the cage, and unsurprisingly, he seemingly has a name and date in mind.

With UFC 300 fast approaching, a plethora of big-name talent both past and present have shown interest in competing at the historic event. The milestone pay-per-view promises to showcase some of the sports’ very best competitors, but the news surrounding the card has been held to a minimum.

After Jorge Masvidal teased his comeback from retirement, Ben Askren was quick to throw his name into the hat to be his potential opponent. ‘Funky’ spoke with Daniel Cormier about ‘Gamebred’s announcement.

“I mean, probably because he ain’t got no more money. That’s my best guess,” Askren said about Masvidal’s possible return. “I bet it’s going to be in boxing or something, I bet it’s not going to be in the UFC. That’s my guess.”

Continuing, Ben Askren claimed if the offer was there to fight Jorge Masvidal, he would jump at the opportunity.

“If Dana called me and said Ben, Jorge Masvidal, UFC 300, International [Fight Week], I don’t give a damn, I’m out of retirement. I’ll fight him, I don’t care.”

Related: Jorge Masvidal announces his return from retirement

“He’ll never say yes to that unless maybe he loses some more money or something. But it would be great, I would love to… I don’t want to be begging and groveling for it.”

“I mean, it’s unlikely to happen. So, it’s like, if someone calls me and says it’s going to happen, okay, I’m there. If they don’t, I’m just going to live my life.”

“I’m ready, I stay in shape. I’m wrestling a lot. I don’t strike much. I don’t strike at all, I just wrestle. But I’m in good shape, [if] he wants to fight, great. But I’m not going to campaign for it.”

Check out Ben Askren state his interest in a potential Jorge Masvidal rematch in the video below.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Francis Ngannou’s meteoric boxing career continues with a showdown against former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia, according to a new report.

Veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani announced the fight Friday, citing Saudi royal advisor Turki AlAlShikh. A press conference is expected to announce the fight’s date, but Helwani said AlAlShikh has confirmed both sides have signed a deal to make official a 10-round heavyweight fight for later this year in Riyadh.

The booking comes three days after Joshua’s co-promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, said discussions were underway for an “absolutely colossal” fight between Joshua and Ngannou; the matchup was one of three possibilities that included Joshua facing the winner of an upcoming title unifier between champs Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua, the former WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champ, continued his comeback tour this past month, outpointing Otto Walin as the co-headliner opposite Deontay Wilder on the Day of Reckoning card in Saudi Arabia. The win upped Joshua’s current streak to three after a pair of setbacks to Usyk. Expectations were high for Wilder to face Joshua if victorious, but the ex-champ was upset by Joseph Parker.

For former UFC heavyweight champ Ngannou, the booking is another big coup that comes three months after a near-upset of Fury in his professional boxing debut. Written off prior to the fight, Ngannou shocked the boxing world by pushing Fury to his limit, even knocking the champ down at one point before losing via split decision.

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Rematch booked
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland was a recent guest on This Past Weekend with Theo Von, discussing his childhood trauma and some of the unconscionable horrors he faced growing up with an abusive father.

UFC 297 opponent Dricus Du Plessis shared his reaction on YouTube.

“It is what it is. I’m glad he cried and he got it out, it’s the end of that,” Du Plessis said (transcribed by MMA News). “I think we give him a lot more credit than he deserves in terms of mindset. I don’t think he thinks about anything. I think he goes out there and he fights, he fights the way Sean Strickland fights. He always has and he’s an incredible fighter. I have a lot of respect for him as a fighter.”

Strickland also told Food Truck Diaries with Brendan Schaub that Americans need to “bring back alcoholism” so that soft, entitled children could “get hit by their dads a little bit more” and grow bigger testicles by way of “alcoholic rage beating.”

I’m not sure if “Tarzan” can figure out which side he’s on.

“Do I think he’s a hypocrite? 100 percent,” Du Plessis continued. “Obviously, you know, childhood trauma is something you can’t help but you know, if you know what it feels like to be the one on the receiving end of such trauma, don’t inflict it on others because that’s exactly what he does. So yes, I mean I feel bad for him. I don’t think any kid deserves that ever.”

Strickland will make his first middleweight title defense when he locks horns with Du Plessis atop the UFC 297 pay-per-view (PPV) card, recently made official for Sat., Jan. 20, 2024 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

“I think he’s used to being the bully and he’s not used to being bullied,” Du Plessis said. “I don’t have to hammer on that. I already won that fight. I won that press conference and I don’t want to keep hammering on the same thing. He cried on Theo Von’s podcast, I guess it was terrible and like I said, no kid deserves that.”

For the rest of the UFC 297 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts