CombatSports.org

Juan Archuleta is no longer the RIZIN bantamweight title after coming in at 140.65 pounds for Sunday’s co-main event bout with Kai Asakura in Saitama, Japan. It’s still unclear if the bout will proceed as a catchweight.

RIZIN rules state that an overweight athlete is incapable of winning, as a victory in the ring would be automatically overturned to no-contest. Should both fighters agree to still face off on Dec. 31, Asakura would be the only competing for the now vacant belt since he came in under the 61kg (134.4lbs) limit at 134.2 pounds.

“Sorry this happened, nothing I can do about getting sick,” Archuleta posted on social media following the weigh-ins. “I did my best to make weight and still step on the scale knowing I was going to have my title taken away. But I don’t want my fans who pay hard working money to miss this fight. So I did my best and came up short.”

Both Kyoji Horiguchi and Makoto Shinryu made weight for the main event, a rematch for the vacant flyweight 57kg (125.6lbs) title. Horiguchi is a former bantamweight champion in RIZIN and Bellator, while Shinryu looks for his third simultaneous gold as he’s the 125-pound titleholder at DEEP and Cage Fury FC.

RIZIN 45 will air live on FITE.tv. Check the complete weigh-in results below.

Main Card

Kyoji Horiguchi (125) vs. Makoto Takahashi (125.6)
Juan Archuleta (140.6) vs. Kai Asakura (134.2)
Kleber Koike (145.2) vs. Yutaka Saito (145.1)
Ren Hiramoto (145.3) vs. Ya-Man (145.1)
Seika Izawa (107.2) vs. Miyuu Yamamoto (107.6)
Tsuyoshi Sudario (262.1) vs. Mikio Ueda (243.6)
Hiromasa Ougikubo (125.4) vs. John Dodson (125.5)
Yuki Motoya (134.4) vs. Vince Morales (133.9)
Shinobu Ota (134.4) vs. Ryusei Ashizawa (134.4)
Kota Miura (143) vs. Kouzi (143.1)
Igor Tanabe (169.5) vs. Shinsho Anzai (169.5)
Jo Arai (125.3) vs. Hiroya (124.8)
Yuta Kubo (153.8) vs. Rukiya Anpo (153.9)

Preliminary Card

Satoshi Yamasu (144.9) vs. Suguru Nii (145.1)
Tatsuki Shinotsuka (132.1) vs. Daichi Tomizawa (131.8) — kickboxing
Ryujin Nasukawa (118.7) vs. Jongmin Shin (118.6)
Yushi (133.6) vs. Joe Hiramoto (133.8)

MMA Fighting – All Posts

In the span of a year, Alex Pereira claimed both the UFC middleweight and light heavyweight world championships, establishing himself as one of the greatest fighters in the promotion’s 30-year history. Perhaps even more impressive is that ‘Poatan’ accomplished that feat after just seven fights in the UFC and 11 overall.

But not even one of combat sports’ most accomplished strikers is immune to the woes of love.

Days after touring The City of Love and pranking his girlfriend with a fake marriage proposal, the ‘Brazilian Boogeyman’ has appeared to cut ties with Merle, a TV presenter and interviewer at Fightology whom he once introduced as a “special person” during a romantic helicopter ride.

Per multiple reports, Pereira and Merle have unfollowed one another on Instagram, even going so far as to delete pictures of each other on their social media platforms. Merle’s profile once read, “Mrs. Poatan” but that is also long gone.

Neither party has formally announced or addressed the breakup, but the writing is clearly on the wall.

Is Alex Pereira Headed to UFC 300?

Alex Pereira’s latest bit of drama comes as rumors continue to swirl about his potential involvement with UFC 300 on April 13. ‘Poatan’ shared a cryptic message online that immediately had fans concluding he would seek a third world championship at the promotion’s next milestone event, though Pereira has since clarified that his confusing mathematical equation had nothing to do with the fight game.

“Well, [I] fought at middleweight and then [I] had to listen to [my] body to go up and fight at light heavyweight,” Alex Pereira told The Mac Life through an translator. “[I’m] a fighter, bro, [I’m] willing to fight. [I’ll] fight anybody, anywhere. But this kind of thing (a heavyweight move at UFC 300) – [I have] the height and [am] basically the size of a heavyweight.

“But this is the kind of thing that has to be programmed, put some work in, it’s not something to just jump in on an adventure like that,” Alex Pereira continued. “[I] want to make [the move] the right way. [I] can definitely fight at heavyweight – maybe someday for the future. But it’s gotta be something [that’s] well-planned. So, right now, [I’m] focused on [my] light heavyweight reign.” 

Are you disappointed to hear that Alex Pereira won’t go for the heavyweight crown at UFC 300?

LowKickMMA.com

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Conor McGregor teased on social media that his next UFC fight will be announced Jan. 1, 2024.

The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion was originally expected to face Michael Chandler after both athletes coached on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, but it remains to be seen if Chandler will be standing across the octagon after the delay.

McGregor hasn’t fought since 2021, when he suffered two stoppage defeats to Dustin Poirier. The Irishman suffered a leg break in his his most recent match, forcing him to undergo surgery and months of rehabilitation. McGregor hasn’t won a UFC bout since his 40-second knockout over Donald Cerrone in January 2020.

“The Notorious” left the USADA testing pool during his recovery time, requiring six months of additional testing upon his return to testing before being eligible to re-enter the octagon. USADA, however, will no longer oversee UFC’s drug tests as of January 2024.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Stop It!
| BJPenn.com

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Former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling is turning a new chapter in his career. After three successful title defenses at 135-pounds, Sterling came up short opposite Sean O’Malley, getting dropped and finished early in the second round. Rather than continue to deplete himself with a harsh cut to Bantamweight, Sterling will try his hand at Featherweight.

He’s scheduled to meet veteran contender Calvin Katter at UFC 300 in April.

Four months away from the fight, Sterling is starting the process of ramping up his training and getting back into fighting form. However, “Funkmaster” admitted recently that he’s not off to a smooth start, as he still has to lose much of the weight he gained in the aftermath of the O’Malley loss.

“I do wonder how much I’m going to blow up to after the fight,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel (via MMAJunkie). “Whenever I make 135, I’m almost – just about the last five years, I’ve pretty much always hit 180. Like your body is holding on to everything, blowing back up, so I do wonder if I’m going to do the same thing. I got a sweet tooth and even though I’m not only eating candies and chocolates, it almost feels like a bottomless pit.

“Like you can’t help yourself. You’re telling yourself to stop eating, but somehow your hands are still moving towards the fridge, your legs are still walking towards the fridge, your fingers are dialing DoorDash and Uber Eats. Somehow you’re still ordering food when you know you don’t want anything. It’s like a sickness.”

Truthfully, disordered eating is extremely common amongst MMA fighters. Weight cutting is not a healthy process; it necessitates long periods of caloric deficit and very much resembles starvation. After the cut and fight, the body is eager to retain weight and store fat, resulting in the major weight gain and the endless desire to consume that Sterling describes.

There’s another element to Sterling’s struggles, however. After the loss, Sterling admits that he spent a lot of time drinking and smoking hookah, which do not prepare the body well for combat. He’s also still adjusting to sparring longer, taller opponents. Historically, striking at range has been a big part of the “Funkmaster” strategy, but some adjustments will need to be made when Sterling is the one faced with a reach disadvantage.

“Right now I’m just tired,” Sterling said. “I do one to two rounds of striking, and I’m exhausted. Also (I’m) moving around and trying to do what I do when I’m lighter. Those eight to nine weeks of drinking every single day and hookah non-stop, staying up late at night, it definitely took a toll on my lungs, so I still feel like I’m battling back from and trying to gain all that. We sparred, and I felt like I had a relatively solid day except when I went with Julian Erosa.

“I did some good stuff, but there’s still some things I’m having trouble with because of the height difference. (He’s 6-foot-1) and fights at 145. There’s going to be some things I need to figure out where I was closer to being the tallest guy at bantamweight. Now you got Sean Woodson, you got Julian Erosa, you got some of these guys who are just like trees, so I’ve got to figure out the game with that. Taking them down, being able to maintain control for longer periods of time, working the threshold and understanding all of that.”

The fortunate part of all this is that Sterling still has a ton of time to prepare. True fight camps don’t usually start until about eight weeks prior to the contest, so Sterling still has about two months to shed some weight and get his lungs working properly before he really has to put his nose to the grindstone.

Insomnia

Forget the shadowboxing in public, Takeru was putting a beating on his training partner!

This is the best Karate Combat advertisement I’ve ever seen. Now I really want to go to an event!

Beautiful technique, incredible form.

For anyone unimpressed by UFC 5, this may be a project to keep an eye on.

It’s genuinely incredible that Kamaru Usman has been able to accomplish so much with knees that barely function. Unreal toughness!

Maybe not a popular choice nowadays, but I’m going Randy Couture. Won the Light Heavyweight belt twice + a unification bout, then won the Heavyweight belt three times AND defended it thrice. Better than the rest!

Kenny Bayless has more than earned retirement.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Landed perfectly with six consecutive punches!

Shaaban absolutely emptied the tank en route to a brutal finish.

The last great Jon Jones performance at 205 pounds.

Random Land

Some impressive home engineering.

Midnight Music: Grunge, 1991

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Highly touted UFC prospect Bo Nickal is utilizing A.I. to formulate a game plan for his highly anticipated return to the Octagon.

After scoring decisive victories in his first two appearances with the promotion, the three-time NCAA Division I National Champion will face his toughest test yet when he meets South Carolina native Cody Brundage at UFC 300 on April 13.

Looking to get a leg up on the competition, Nickal revealed that he is using ChatGPT to help learn more about his opponent and come up with a plan of action for when the two men tussle inside the cage.

“I’ll go into ChatGPT, and you have to ask it the right questions,” Nickal told Joe Rogan during a recent episode of the UFC commentator’s popular podcast. “But I’ll say, ‘Hey, formulate a game plan for this type of fighter. I’m a wrestler at middleweight, this that, blah, blah, blah, and I’m going to fight this guy — give me the perfect gameplan for him.’ It’s not like ‘boom,’ easy, you kind of have to prod it a little bit, but it’ll get closer” (h/t MMA Mania).

The impact of ChatGPT on sports betting and fantasy sports is significant as it can help to predict the outcome of the game, generate insights and recommendations on player selection, analyze sports data and identify patterns and trends, and generate real-time analysis and commentary during live events.

It’s only a matter of time before the tool becomes reliable enough for athletes and teams to compile data on their opponents to estimate their best possible path to victory. Like something out of the hit film Moneyball, but with all of the human elements essentially eliminated from the equation.

“I would say, ‘Formulate a gameplan for a wrestler against a striker in an MMA fight under these rules,’ and then I would ask it more detailed questions from there,” Nickal continued. “It’s given me good information, so we’ll see where it can go. In five years, it’ll probably be able to download video of somebody and tell you every one of their weaknesses.”

Bo Nickal was recently announced at the UFC’s 2023 Rookie of the Year following back-to-back finishes on Dana White’s Contender Series followed by two impressive wins over Jamie Pickett and Val Woodburn. He’ll look to carry that momentum into 2024 as part of the promotion’s next big milestone event this spring.

Nickal was also named the LowKick MMA Prospect of the Year for 2023.

LowKickMMA.com

Since the announcement of UFC 300, fans have been matching up potential timelines for the event with Conor McGregor’s seemingly imminent return.

The Irishman has been out of action since suffering a sickening leg break at UFC 264 during his trilogy with Dustin Poirier. He has since been linked with a return, with UFC 300 being touted as a possible destination but that could now be in doubt.

According to Chael Sonnen, the promotion won’t offer McGregor the headlining slot on their historic pay-per-view in April. The slot will instead be held for one of possibly several title fights to feature on the card.

“You know why Conor McGregor, the world’s biggest star, will not be fighting at UFC 300? Do you know the answer as to why? [It] has nothing to do with USADA, has nothing to do with Michael Chandler, has nothing to do with Conor and his training. Do you know why? Because it’s not a title fight.”

“UFC 300 will be capped off with a world title. Likely on that card, there’s going to be three world titles but the last fight of the night will be a championship match. So if you put Conor on the card, it means he can’t be the main event.”

“If you took your biggest star and you placed him anywhere on a card but the main event, you have demoted your biggest star. That is why he can’t fight at UFC 300.”

Related: Michael Chandler vs. Conor McGregor will take place in 2024, UFC 300 the target claims ‘Iron’

The uncertainty surrounding Conor McGregor’s return to the octagon continues to grow, but one thing that he isn’t short on is willing opponents.

Michael Chandler has been angling for a fight against ‘The Notorious’ for the majority of 2023. ‘Iron’ believes his division rival is trying to wait him out in hopes of getting a much easier fight.

Another viable option for McGregor is a fourth outing against long-term rival Dustin Poirier. Both men agreed to the clash, with their eyes set on a UFC 300 spectacle.

Check out Chael Sonnen’s views on UFC 300 and Conor McGregor’s potential absence from the card in the video below.

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