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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jake Paul ripped Conor McGregor for his latest comments.

On Friday, McGregor took part in a live stream hosted by online gambling site Duelbits, where he fielded questions from fans and commented on a number of different topics, ranging from his “Top-5 MMA GOATS” to UFC champions Belal Muhammad and Ilia Topuria to Paul’s upcoming fight with Mike Tyson.

With regard to the latter, McGregor was unkind to Paul saying “I hope Mike rattles the little dope! No one gives a f*ck about him!” And that seems to have struck a nerve with Paul.

On Saturday, Paul responded to McGregor’s rant, saying “Conor McGregor’s crash out needs to be studied” while mocking “Notorious” with a video imitating McGregor’s manic actions and not-so-subtly adding an increasing amount of white powder to his own face.

Paul and McGregor have taken shots at each other over the years, with Paul repeatedly trying to set up a fight with the former two-division UFC champion. Paul faces former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson in an eight-round boxing match on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.

Meanwhile, McGregor has not competed since shattering his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July of 2021. He is expected to make his return in early 2025.

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UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kevin Lee knows he has to take the long road back to prominence, but he still has lofty plans for his career.

The one-time UFC interim title challenger makes his MMA return this Saturday at Lights Out Championship 17, with big goals still in mind; one of which, is earning a fight with current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

“I want to fight for a world title,” Lee told MMA Fighting. “I just want to fight the best guys. Am I hung up on the organizations? Not really. I want to fight the best guys and the guys that really will give me a challenge, who people feel are unbeatable.

“I think it’s a shame I never got to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov. It’s a shame if I don’t ever get to fight Islam in his career. I think I pose threats for those guys that not a lot of other lightweights do, and I think a lot of people would, would agree with that. So it’d be kind of a shame if they go their whole careers and not fight a wrestler like me.”

“Motown Phenom” faces Thiago Oliveira in his home state of Michigan on Saturday. It’s Lee’s first bout since a 55-second submission loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov at UFC Vegas 96 in July 2023, which signaled the end to Lee’s second stint with the UFC.

The 32-year-old went 11-8 in 19 octagon appearances, which included a spot in an interim lightweight title fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 217 in October 2017, when he lost via third-round submission. Since then, Lee is 3-5 over his past eight bouts, which includes an absolutely brutal knockout win over Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244 in November 2019, and a victory over Diego Sanchez for Eagle FC in his bridge-fight between UFC stints.

With so much experience, and more lessons learned than he can imagine, Lee is excited and humbled to hit the reset button and live up to the limitless potential he entered the sport with.

“It feels like at the start of my career again — which in itself has a little bit of excitement to it,” Lee said. “It almost feels like a second chance, it feels like a chance to do it all over again. It’s interesting. I don’t see many people going down this path either, I don’t think a lot of guys, when they get to a certain level, that they’re willing to put their balls on the line. I’ve seen it happen over and over and over again with different guys, and I just don’t model myself after anybody.

“I’m going to do what I feel is in my heart to do, and it’s in my heart to fight and this is the fight that’s in front of me. This is the opportunity that God’s presented me and I’m going to make the most out of it.”

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A fair goal
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Vince McMahon could have been $ 4 billion richer had he purchased Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) way back in the day, but the former WWE CEO believed professional cage fighting didn’t fit his business model.

In case you missed it, McMahon is no longer part of WWE. Earlier this year, McMahon stepped away from his role with the professional wrestling organization after getting wrapped up in sexual assault allegations. The reports got pretty ugly and it wasn’t the first time McMahon encountered issues in the public. As a result, the billionaire owner walked away.

Earlier this month, a new documentary focused on McMahon and his rise and fall as WWE CEO hit Netflix. The limited series covers a variety of topics, but one of considerable interest to fight fans was WWE’s potential purchase of UFC all the way back in 2001. Vince’s son, Shane McMahon, tried convincing his father to purchase UFC when it was being sold for a few millions dollars. The younger McMahon believed WWE’s business model at that time would have easily integrated UFC. He called it a “plug and play” acquisition.

“At the time, the UFC had gotten into some financial problems and came to us and said would you like to purchase the UFC,” said Shane during the Netflix documentary (h/t Talksport).

“I was like, ‘This is cool!’ I said, ‘Dad, let’s just go for this one.’

“I felt we could really grow that brand because it is tailor made to what we already do. We had a production team, a live events team, a merchandise team, we have all of it just ready to go. For me, it was plug and play.”

Unfortunately, the elder McMahon wanted no part of purchasing UFC. For McMahon, WWE was vastly different than UFC and allowed the company to do more with their talent long-term. In regards to UFC, McMahon didn’t believe it fit WWE’s business model and thought the fighters offered little longevity to the business.

“When it was presented in terms of buying UFC, I didn’t like that business model,” said McMahon. “Our business model was that we created characters, much like Disney or someone else, and we can then use them forever. As opposed to a boxer/UFC [fighter]. Once you’re beat, once you’re hurt, your career is over. We’re in showbusiness and that is a sport.”

“Ten years later, the UFC was sold for a lot of money,” he added. “And Shane, I think, wants to take credit for the idea of buying UFC. Shane really thought that was the way to go. So, if that’s the way to go, ‘Shane, you take your money and put it in. It wouldn’t work because it would’ve taken a huge investment and Shane only had a little bit, so that’s not a good investment.”

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Renato Moicano was never a fan of Benoit Saint Denis getting a fight against Dustin Poirier because based on rankings and experience, the matchup just didn’t make much sense.

In reality, Saint Denis appeared to be a star on the rise, especially with the UFC looking for marketable fighters coming out of Europe and he made a good accounting for himself before ultimately suffering a second-round knockout loss. Now six months later it’s Moicano who got the call to face Saint Denis in his home country as the main event for UFC Paris on Saturday.

Much like the Poirier fight, Moicano knew the agenda the UFC had in mind before the ink on the contract was dry.

“You’re going to force me to say things that UFC don’t like,” Moicano said when speaking to MMA Fighting. “But I think it’s that — UFC likes Benoit Saint Denis. UFC wants to push Benoit Saint Denis and that’s the truth. He went into the UFC with very good performances. He beat his opponents in a very good fashion but he didn’t face big names. To fight against Dustin Poirier, that’s not an easy fight to get. How many people fight Dustin Poirier? Poirier fought [Conor] McGregor, he fought you name it, in the 155 division he fought everybody, he’s a legend.

“100 percent if you win against Dustin Poirier, you’re in a title shot conversation. That’s why Poirier after Benoit Saint Denis fought for the belt. So 100 percent, they’re trying to push Benoit Saint Denis and I’m not even mad at that.”

As a well-known fan of making money, Moicano can’t fault the UFC for investing in a talented prospect like Saint Denis with hopes that he could become a draw across Europe.

With Conor McGregor missing in action since 2021 and European champions like Leon Edwards no longer holding titles, the UFC needs new names to promote and Saint Denis certainly fits that bill.

“It’s just business,” Moicano said. “I know Europe is a huge market. They don’t have many European fighters doing very well and Benoit Saint Denis is a dangerous fighter. He’s an aggressive fighter and the UFC likes him. He’s young. He’s European. Good marketing, he can make good money for the UFC

“But guess what? UFC called the wrong guy because I’m going over there and I’m beating him.”

Another reason why Moicano knows that Saint Denis is getting a big push from the UFC came after he got the call for the fight to serve as the main event in Paris on Saturday.

On paper, multi-time heavyweight title challenger Ciryl Gane is a more established name with a bigger following but he wasn’t booked for UFC Paris. Instead, he was originally scheduled to clash with Alexander Volkov at UFC 308 until that fight was recently scrapped due to injury.

Meanwhile, Saint Denis is only seven fights into his UFC career but with a fan-friendly style and the French crowd behind him, he’s got that ‘it’ factor that the organization loves.

“I was expecting to see Ciryl Gane,” Moicano said. “We have to ask why Ciryl Gane is not fighting in France and [he was fighting in Abu Dhabi]. That doesn’t make any sense to me. The only sense is they want to build [Saint Denis] up, build him back and right now like you said, a lot of people were paying attention to [my fight at] UFC 300.

“But again, I take my hat off to the UFC because the UFC is the best in the business for a reason. But I will have to prove them wrong again, it’s not the first time.”

Truth be told, Moicano says he’s been doubted his entire life and that even includes his parents telling him to give up on fighting when he was trying to make his way in the sport.

“All my fights throughout my career, I was always the underdog,” Moicano said. “Not only that, being an athlete, everyday I wake up and my father and my mother said ‘you’re not going to make it, give it up, try to find a job.’ I said no, one day they’re going to see. Same thing I feel with the UFC.

“I will push, I will do my best, I will get wins and one day the UFC will have to promote me the way I want to. And to be honest and to be fair, of course on my side I think they are trying to push Benoit Saint Denis but it’s France, main event, the fight is abroad, it’s going to have a lot of cameras, a lot of attention, so I just have to win and be myself and do what I do.”

Whether the spotlight shines brightest on Saint Denis or not, Moicano knows his job remains the same.

He may not have the crowd on his side and the odds say he’s not expected to win but that won’t stop Moicano from doing everything possible to notch his fourth straight win in the UFC>

“I’m going over there and I’m winning,” Moicano said. “I’m doing everything that I need to do to be ready for Sept. 28. I’m not trying to spar really hard and win every round at the gym. I’m not killing myself the way I used to do. I am training very hard, very diligently, but I’m training the way I need to, to be on my peak performance Sept. 28. I’m not f*cking giving up.

“I’m going over there to bring the heat, to bring the show and to win. That’s the truth. I want to win. I want the bonus and I want the double checks.”

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