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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Michael Chandler won’t face Conor McGregor in 2024, and UFC Paris headliner Renato Moicano is “surprised” that the former Bellator champion has given up on waiting for UFC’s biggest star.

Chandler called for a fight with “The Notorious” after knocking out Tony Ferguson in May 2022, and was given the opportunity after losing his following bout, a submission defeat to Dustin Poirier six months later. The duo coached a season of The Ultimate Fighter, and finally set a date to face off at UFC 303 earlier this year, but when McGregor was forced off of that card by an injury, they ultimately went in opposite directions.

It’s still unclear when McGregor returns, but Chandler re-enters the cage on Nov. 16 for a rematch with Charles Oliveira at UFC 307 in New York.

“I’m surprised [Chandler] didn’t continue waiting,” Moicano said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “This guy is too dumb, man. You’re raising a bet that has everything to go wrong. McGregor is MMA’s biggest troll right now. He has no incentive to fight. What’s the incentive for Conor McGregor to fight? He makes more money outside of fighting. His purse is nothing compared to what this guy makes with his business. Right now he’s using the UFC more like a marketing agency because everybody talks about him when he says he’s going to fight, and he’s done it again and again.

“I was surprised that Chandler gave up on waiting because he’s spent so much time — it’s like what you invest money on something and doesn’t know if it’s worth waiting or going all in. ‘Damn, should I keep trying? I’ve invested so much money and time that if I go out, I lose everything.’”

In the end, Moicano feels Chandler has “done the right thing” by moving on from a fight with McGregor—at least for the time being—and agreeing to face a popular name like Oliveira, who returns to action following a split decision defeat to Arman Tsarukyan.

“I think he was so invested on this fight that it was hard for him to pull out, but he saw it was for the best,” Moicano said. “And he’s also gotten a big fight, too. Oliveira is coming off a loss but he’s a former champion, a likable guy, very popular too. I think it could have gone worse for Chandler, fighting someone tougher and not that popular.”

Moicano is too invested on his upcoming bout—a UFC Paris main event clash with local lightweight Benoit Saint Denis this Saturday in France—to break down a rematch between “do Bronx” and Chandler. He wonders how the American will look two years removed from his latest fight.

“I hope Charles wins,” Moicano said. “I like to watch Charles fight, and I like his personality. Maybe Charles is the favorite, but I don’t know. It’s been so long we’ve seen Chandler fight. Chandler is dangerous early, and Charles gets hit a lot in the beginning. We’ve seen him get hit and continue going for it, but he can take it, too. If this fight goes to later rounds, I think Charles’ chances increase. I’m on the fence on this one, but I hope Charles wins.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a well-known fan of UFC and frequent practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu so when it came time to show off some new technology at the annual Connect conference he called on former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno to help him out.

Moreno posted a video of his appearance alongside Zuckerberg on stage on Wednesday where the billionaire MMA enthusiast revealed some new and improved technology coming to Meta’s artificial intelligence powered Ray-Ban smart glasses.

Part of a new update coming soon is real-time AI-powered software where users can speak to each other in different languages and translations will come across in a speaker implanted in the glasses.

As a demonstration, Moreno spoke in Spanish, which was then translated into English for Zuckerberg to ask him about his recovery from a knee injury after he suffered a torn ACL in training.

Zuckerberg then responded in English and that was translated back into Spanish for Moreno.

“What a crazy experience today,” Moreno wrote about his appearance on Instagram. “I had the opportunity to try the new updates from the Ray-Ban Meta [smart glasses] live translation with Mark Zuckerberg at Connect 2024.”

Here’s how Meta described the update coming to the Ray-Ban smart glasses:

Soon, your glasses will be able to translate speech in real time. When you’re talking to someone speaking Spanish, French, or Italian, you’ll hear what they say in English through the glasses’ open-ear speakers. Not only is this great for traveling, it should help break down language barriers and bring people closer together. We plan to add support for more languages in the future to make this feature even more useful.

Meta didn’t reveal how soon the software update would be available to users but Tech Crunch described the live-translation technology as the “holy grail for established hardware firm and startups alike.”

For now, at least, Moreno got a taste of how it works from his conversation with Zuckerberg at the Connect conference.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Brendan Allen believes he deserves more respect — especially from those involved with compiling the official UFC rankings.

Allen meets Nassourdine Imavov in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC Paris event. According to the UFC rankings, Allen is ranked No. 8 despite being on a seven-fight win streak inside the octagon — which is four spots below Imavov, a winner of two straight.

“Yeah, it’s crazy, man, I’m the only guy on the win streak that I’m on that falls places in the rankings,” Allen told MMA Fighting. “When guys above me are on losses, or consecutive losses — I don’t even know, but I know there are losses — so it’s just whatever. Like, it’s kind of comical at this point.

“I don’t even know who’s on the board panel, but if anyone told me they were on the rankings [panel], I would never have a conversation with them, ever. I’d literally tell them go f*ck themselves.”

Allen is currently one spot behind Imavov in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings — which encompasses all MMA promotions, and not just the UFC.

With a lot of chatter about upcoming middleweight fights, and the stakes that surround them, the fight between Allen and Imavov doesn’t seem to be in the same conversations. After seeing fighters like Belal Muhammad and Merab Dvalishvili play the long game, become undeniable, and then cash in on their world championship opportunities, “All In” believes his time will come — but that doesn’t mean it’s not a little bit frustrating.

“I think for me, it’s just I don’t have the followers that a lot of these other guys have,” Allen explained. “I don’t have the time, nor the want to do what Americans have to do in order to get those followers. I’m not willing to go out here and act crazy. I’m not willing to go out here and f*cking troll everyone, because it’s everywhere we go. Everywhere I go, I’m going to end up having a problem with someone because everyone gets [upset] about anything you say. So I don’t want have a problem with someone everywhere I’ve got to go, especially if I bring my wife with me, or if I bring my kids with me.

“I just try to mind my business and stick to myself and let my fighting do the talking because at the end of the day, the person off [the top of] my head that I could think of that did that was Robbie Lawler and he’s one of the most loved people in the sport right now — he was, and still is — by the company, by the fans. He’s one of the most respected and loved guys. So I feel like if I stay true to myself, then everything that I’m hoping for will hopefully come.

“I just wish I could get the money without the fame kind of thing. I don’t know, I’m just… sometimes, I just don’t think I’m built for that life.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Oh boy
| BJPenn.com

Event: PFL “Battle of the Giants”
Date: Sat., Oct. 19, 2024
Location: Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
How To Watch: ESPN+ PPV in the U.S. and DAZN worldwide

Battle of the Giants Main Event:

265 lbs.: Francis Ngannou (17-3) vs. Champion Renan Ferreira (13-3, 3 NC)

Battle of the Giants Main Card (4 p.m. ET):

145 lbs.: Cris “Cyborg” (27-2) vs. Larissa Pacheco (23-4)
185 lbs.: Champion Johnny Eblen (15-0) vs. Fabian Edwards (13-3)
145 lbs.: Husein Kadimagomaev (11-1-0, 1 NC) vs Zafar Mohsen (13-4)
155 lbs.: AJ McKee (22-1) vs. Paul Hughes (12-1)

Battle of the Giants Prelims Card (1:30 p.m. ET):

135 lbs.: Raufeon Stots (20-2) vs Marcos Breno (15-3)
155 lbs.: Makkasharip Zaynukov (15-4) vs Dedrek Sanders (9-4)
145 lbs.: Ibragim Ibragimov (7-0) vs Nacho Campos (5-0)
185 lbs.: Mostafa Nada (9-3) vs Ahmed Sami (11-4-0, 1 NC)
145 lbs.: Youssef Al Housani (4-1) vs Taha Bendaoud (3-0)

For all the latest PFL news and notes click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts