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On the second episode of UFC 306 Embedded, bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and his coach predict a knockout of Merab Dvalishvili, Daniel Zellhuber takes a few swings at the golf range, Brian Ortega sneaks in some Fortnite, Dvalishvili pushes himself in training, plus more.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Merab Dvalishvili understands how the game works.

MMA is a sport that’s built on wins and losses almost as much as popularity and hype. Some fighters like UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley find fame quicker than most and those athletes get a bigger push from a promotion like the UFC while others have to work twice as hard to get noticed.

Put Dvalishvili into that latter category after he had to rattle off 10 wins in a row including three victories over former UFC champions to finally get his own chance at winning a title. He’s not bitter about the road he had to travel to get here but Dvalishvili knows it’s going to mean that much more when he finally puts that gold belt around his waist.

“I will be so proud,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting. “Because I know I don’t get nothing handed to me. I had to work for everything that I got and I will be very proud. I’m already proud of myself and I know and all the true MMA fans know. I’m here and fighting hard. I don’t have pressure or anything. It will be special for me. But first I have to win this fight.

“This is a tough challenge for me. Sean O’Malley is a good fighter and that’s why I always wanted to fight him. I want to win this fight and I want to be organic. I don’t want to overthink. I don’t want to be cocky. First I have to win this fight and after we can talk. One thing is for sure, I’m working hard and I’m very hungry.”

In the days and weeks leading up to the fight, Dvalishvili has displayed a lot of confidence that he’s going to become champion but he’s also acknowledged that O’Malley isn’t just going to roll over and play dead.

On the flipside, O’Malley has continuously promised that he’s going to deliver a first-round knockout and Dvalishvili says he’s heard over and over again how he’s going to get dispatched just like Aljamain Sterling.

O’Malley finished Sterling inside two rounds to win the UFC title but Dvalishvili reminds the always outspoken and colorful champion that as much as he values his friend and teammates, they’re not the same fighters.

“That’s their problem — they are too cocky,” Dvalishvili said. “Even Sean told me during the faceoff [at a promotional shoot for UFC 306], he told me ‘what’s going to be different between you and Aljo? I’m going to knock you out the same thing.’ First of all, you don’t knock Aljo out. Yes, you dropped him and Marc Goddard stopped the fight early. Second of all, every fight is different. If you fought Aljo 10 more times, I believe he will beat you nine times. Same thing with me.

“Don’t underestimate me. I’m a fighter. I’m here. Hard work got me here and you’ve got to show me respect. If you don’t show me respect, see what I did against Petr Yan? I’m going to do the same thing against Sean O’Malley. Same thing, [Yan] didn’t show me respect and I’m going to be rude. I’m going to make him humble. I don’t like these bully people. I don’t like these people who look over you. They look on top, they think they are better than you but we are the same. We’re fighters. Maybe I’m even better than him so we will find out soon.”

On paper the UFC 306 main event looks like the classic “striker versus grappler” matchup with O’Malley preferring to stay on his feet to deliver punches and Dvalishvili employing a high-paced wrestling based offense that suffocates his opponents.

But Dvalishvili believes deep down inside that his own striking arsenal is being vastly underrated by O’Malley and his camp heading into the fight. In fact, Dvalishvili made quite a bold prediction about how that’s going to come back to bite them.

“I want to knock Sean O’Malley out,” Dvalishvili declared. “I will knock him out. You guys will be surprised. Watch this fight and you guys will see. I know people think I’m a grappler. You guys will see. I’m going to show different skills. I’m going to knock him out. I’m going to outstrike him. You guys will see. I’m going to f*ck the shit out of him, too. You will see.”

Of course, Dvalishvili isn’t going to reveal his full strategy for the fight but he’s been working tirelessly to ensure he has a few new toys to play with come Saturday night and that includes “Mexican style” boxing to surprise O’Malley on the feet.

Maybe it’s just mental warfare to make O’Malley forget about the way Dvalishvili goes for takedowns like he’s mashing the same button over and over again in a game of Mortal Kombat.

Then again, Dvalishvili might just believe that O’Malley’s hubris really will come back to bite him.

“One thing is for sure, I’m working hard and I’m very hungry,” Dvalishvili said. “I’m going to surprise a lot of people. I’m telling you I’m looking for the knockout and don’t be surprised if I knock him out.”

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Prediction
| BJPenn.com

Boxing megastar Canelo Alvarez returns to MGM Grand to battle Brooklyn brawler Edgar Berlanga in a super middleweight title fight that runs head-to-head with UFC 306 at The Sphere! Who wins the battle of Mexican Independence Day pay-per-view (PPV) events? We’ll find out this weekend in Las Vegas!

Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga super middleweight title fight goes down this Sat. night (Sept. 14, 2024) LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This weekend’s boxing spectacle, carrying a price tag of $ 89.99, also features the championship title fight between Erislandy Lara (c) and Danny Garcia in the co-main event, as well as Caleb Plant vs. Trevor McCumby for the WBA interim super middleweight title.

Here’s the complete Canelo vs. Berlanga fight card and PPV lineup:

Canelo vs. Berlanga DAZN PPV Main Card (8 p.m. ET):

168 lbs.: Canelo Alvarez (c) vs. Edgar Berlanga for WBC, WBA, WBO, Ring Magazine titles
160 lbs.: Erislandy Lara vs. Danny Garcia for Lara’s WBA world middleweight title
168 lbs.: Caleb Plant vs. Trevor McCumby for WBA interim super middleweight title
140 lbs.: Rolando Romero vs. Manuel Jaimes (super lightweight)

Note: Main event ring walks expected at or around 11 p.m. ET.

Canelo vs. Berlanga YouTube Prelims Card (6 p.m. ET):

126 lbs.: Stephen Fulton vs. Carlos Castro
147 lbs.: Roman Villa vs. Ricardo Salas
130 lbs.: Jonathan Lopez vs. Ricky Medina
175 lbs.: Lawrence King vs. Vaughn Williams
160 lbs.: Yoenli Hernandez vs. Jose Charles
168 lbs.: Bek Nurmaganbet vs. Joshua Conley

“I feel like right now, it’s my time,” Berlanga told TMZ Sports. “Everything is destined for me, for this moment, for this opportunity that I got, the time, everything is just — I’m destined right now to make history, September 14 and to become a legend that day, and to take over the sport of boxing and become the face.”

“I feel like he did what he had to do in the sport of boxing, he a legend, but I think right now it’s my time,” Berlanga continued. “I feel like right now is our time to come over and just take over. It needs a new face at 168, you know what I’m saying.”

To order Canelo vs. Berlanga on DAZN PPV click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Demetrious Johnson won’t be fighting in MMA anymore and he didn’t fight the tears after announcing his retirement.

“Mighty Mouse” officially called it a wrap on his illustrious career this past Friday at ONE 168 in Denver, hanging up the gloves after 15 years as a pro, 11 UFC flyweight title defenses, and another title reign for ONE Championship.

The 38-year-old could hardly keep it together while delivering his retirement speech and the waterworks were flowing backstage, too. On Monday, Johnson released an all-access, behind-the-scenes look at his emotional farewell.

Watch the video below.

Following his in-cage moment, Johnson recorded an exclusive testimonial for his YouTube channel, and it wasn’t long before he was crying all over again.

“I didn’t think it was going to be that emotional, to be honest with you,” Johnson said. “I think it’s always good not preparing a speech because I feel when you prepare a speech, you focus on reading the words and getting your thoughts out. But I think when you speak from the heart and you feel the energy of the crowd, you see your wife, you see your kids, you see f*cking [coach Matt Hume], it’s just f*cking hard, you know?

“It’s not hard, it’s just a big chapter of my life that for so long I’ve dedicated to martial arts. I’m going to continue to do martial arts… a couple of guys that I talked to, Urijah Faber, he said, ‘There’s only a short amount of time you get to be a professional athlete and be able to compete at the highest level.’ It’s not that I can’t train anymore and I can’t fight and I can’t do it, but I feel there has to come a point in time when an athlete is like, when is enough enough? For me, I felt like it was that moment.”

Johnson composed himself and elaborated more on his reasons for retirement, but was soon in tears again after meeting up with his coach and longtime friend Matt Hume.

“He’s like a father to me,” Johnson said of Hume. “You’ve always been amazing. … You’ve just always been there, not as a coach, but as a father and mentor.”

“I feel like I am to you,” Hume said before embracing Johnson.

The retirement festivities started earlier in the night for Johnson as his family put together a tribute video, which included UFC stars Israel Adesanya, Sean O’Malley, and Aljamain Sterling, BKFC star Mike Perry, Bibiano Fernandes, Tyron Woodley, as well as Johnson’s loved ones and training partners.

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Kayla Harrison recently opened up about her lingering rivalry with Amanda Nunes, voicing her wish for the Brazilian to come out of retirement. One of the MMA world’s most tantalizing “what if” matchups has long centered around a potential showdown between Harrison and Nunes. Harrison, a two-time Olympic judo gold medalist, spent the majority of […]

Continue Reading Kayla Harrison on Amanda Nunes Rift: ‘Don’t Play With My Homies!’ at MMA News.

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