MMA fans have seen many knockouts that end in awkward landings, but very few see an opponent fall into the splits. That’s what happened on Saturday.
In the lightweight main event of JCK Fight Night 91 in Fuzhou, China, Kai Lu absolutely obliterated opponent Askhat Akimov with a sensational uppercut that sent Akimov into the splits position while unconscious. After a (probably unnecessary) follow-up shot from Lu, the referee finally stepped in to stop the fight at 64 seconds of the opening round.
Check out the nasty finish of the fight in the video below.
This uppercut KO by Kai “Lukas” Lu this morning at JCK. Oh my lord #JCKFightNight91 pic.twitter.com/ssAZod1w8D
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) August 31, 2024
The victory put Lu back on track after losing a decision two months prior at JCK’s Bounty Challenge event. Lu previously competed on Road to UFC in hopes of securing a contract with the world’s biggest fight promotion. After getting a second-round finish in his first fight in the tournament, Lu was knocked out in 42 seconds by Jeong Yeong Le in October 2022.
Five months later, Lu got a second chance, and was knocked out again in the first round, this time by Kaiwen Li in May 2023.
Dustin Poirier has had an illustrious UFC career despite never winning an undisputed championship. He’s fought for the title three times, but came up short against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira, and Islam Makhachev. He did become the interim UFC lightweight kingpin by beating Max Holloway, though.
Colby Covington has had a similar run in the UFC welterweight division. He won the interim title by beating Rafael dos Anjos but is 0-3 in undisputed title fights against the likes of Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards.
Although both Covington and Poirier have still been adamant about fighting for titles, rumors suggest that they might meet in the Octagon soon. Here’s why Michael Bisping and award-winning broadcaster Adam Catterall are big fans of the matchup…
Michael Bisping Excited To See Dustin Poirier vs. Colby Covington As The UFC 309 Co-Main Event Under Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic
Bisping and Catterall discussed the potential matchup between Poirier and Covington on the Michael Bisping Podcast YouTube channel recently. As soon as ‘The Count’ brought up the rumors, Catterall couldn’t hide his excitement.
“He’s [Colby Covington] got his opportunities. He’s not getting that opportunity again, anytime soon. He needs something big. He needs something juicy. He needs something to get himself up for it. Dustin Poirier is that name. A legend of the game. A guy that has been there, done it, got the T-shirt. You’ve just mentioned beef. Bit of bad blood. Dustin Poirier’s mates with Jorge Masvidal, he needs to get that one back for his pal, don’t he?”
The radio and TV presenter also highlighted that “The Diamond” is friends with Jorge Masvidal. The latter fought Covington in March 2022 after their long-time friendship turned bitter. Masvidal and “Chaos” have even had physical altercations outside the UFC, and their rivalry is as personal as it gets.
So, fighting Covington is a great way for Poirier to avenge Masvidal’s loss. He’s admitted to not liking the former interim UFC welterweight champion as well, and Bisping is very excited to see this beef getting settled inside the Octagon.
It’s unlikely for both Poirier and Covington to get title shots in their divisions now. However, as two of the biggest stars in the UFC, their fight can easily generate all the hype in the world. Bisping credited Covington for being an excellent promoter who can easily capitalize on the real resentment with his opponent this time around.
“Listen, Colby, say what you want about him. The man’s a promotion machine. With all like the personal stuff that they can go to, They would blow that fight up, like crazy. I’d want to see it.”
If the rumors are true, Poirier vs. Covington will be scheduled for UFC 309, the card expected to feature Jones vs. Miocic as the main event. It is safe to assume that tons of fans will tune in to watch the fight regardless of when it happens, though.
Read More: Jake Paul Tries To Broker Multi-Million Dollar Payday For “Bones” To Fight Tom Aspinall: ‘Jon Jones Doesn’t Dodge Anyone’
Continue Reading ‘Mates With Jorge Masvidal’ – MMA Analyst Explains Why Rumored Dustin Poirier vs. Colby Covington Fight Makes Perfect Sense at MMA News.
Shara Magomedov looks to stay undefeated when he takes on Armen Petrosyan at UFC 308.
The middleweight matchup was one of several officially announced by UFC on Monday, joining previously confirmed bouts Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki and Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira. In addition, MMA Fighting confirmed bantamweights Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo have also joined the Oct. 26 event.
Red Corner MMA first reported the news of Magomedov vs. Petrosyan, while Ag Fight first reported Basharat vs. Hugo.
Magomedov debuted in the UFC in 2023 with plenty of hype behind him and despite some inconsistency in his performances, he’s seen his hand raised in his first three appearances for the promotion. Most recently, “Shara Bullet” earned a unanimous decision nod over Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC Abu Dhabi this past August to improve his record to 14-0.
Petrosyan makes his second appearance of 2024 after suffering a first-round submission loss to Rodolfo Vieira at a UFC APEX event in February. The Russian-Armenian standout is now 3-2 since being signed off of the Contender Series in 2021, with wins over Christian Leroy Duncan, AJ Dobson, and Gregory Rodrigues.
Basharat and Hugo are both unbeaten in the UFC since joining the organization off Contender Series. Basharat has won all three of his octagon appearances, while Hugo was victorious in his promotional debut this past April.
UFC 308 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and airs exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view. The event is headlined by featherweight champion Ilia Topuria defending against “BMF” champion Max Holloway.
Damon Martin and Guilherme Cruz contributed to this report.
Jessica Andrade celebrates her UFC 237 title win alongside Gilliard Parana | Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Jessica Andrade has filed a lawsuit in the United States against former coach and manager Gilliard Parana, accusing the leader of Parana Vale Tudo of embezzlement.
The former UFC strawweight champion began working with Parana as her coach and manager at age 21, a relationship that spanned from 2012 to 2024. She accuses him of stealing a total of $ 2 million. Parana, who denied the accusations in a statement issued to MMA Fighting, returned to Brazil shortly after Andrade announced their split. He has since announced his retirement as an MMA coach and manager.
Andrade currently lives in Las Vegas and trains alongside Karol Rosa, Jessica Delboni, and Denise Gomes, who also left PRVT earlier this year. Andrade has won her past two UFC fights with Matheus Naccache as her new head coach. She’s set to return to the cage this Saturday, Sept. 7, in a co-headlining battle against Natalia Silva at UFC Vegas 97.
“We have a lawsuit going about TransferWise and the money that was transferred to other people I’ve never seen in my life,” Andrade told MMA Fighting. “That happened when he was taking care of my finances, and I had no access to anything. At one point he said, ‘Jessica, look, let me handle this for you, you don’t have to worry about any of this.’ And as always, I trusted him. He removed my access to the account. He said, ‘You don’t need to look at your accounts, you’ll have a monthly salary.’ I was making good money in the beginning, but in the end I don’t know how [that money ran out].
“He said I was shopping too much on Amazon, but with the investigation and all that, [we saw that] I made $ 2 million and spent $ 10,000 on Amazon. Where did the rest of the money go? It makes no sense, and it’s being investigated now, and we’ll find out where every penny went. I’ll just wait for now. I’m preparing for this fight [on Saturday], and as soon as it’s over, I’ll look at this lawsuit again and keep it moving
“The lawsuit is moving in the United States and he’s in Brazil, so I don’t know how it’s going to work. He was quite smart, he left before things happened.”
Andrade has fought 27 times under the UFC banner, dating back to her debut as a bantamweight in 2013. Losing $ 2 million has changed her plans for the future.
“I could be thinking about retiring now, right?” Andrade said. “In fact, I’ll have to keep fighting to make that money again and have a normal life. But it’s all good, God knows of all things. Sometimes we have to go down so we can get back up better. I’m ready to receive what God has for my life. God won’t ever let me give up.”
Andrade said her finances are now under control and she’s not struggling for cash. The 32-year-old Brazilian has won her past two UFC bouts, knocking out Mackenzie Dern and then earning a split decision over Marina Rodriguez.
“I can sleep at night knowing I’ve done good things to everybody, never did anything bad to anyone,” Andrade said. “What he’s taken from me, that’s all he’s ever going to have, because he’s lost all his athletes, he’s lost everything. The only thing he still has is the gym in Curitiba, which he opened with my money, and that’s all he’s going to have for the rest of his life.”
Parana denied all accusations to MMA Fighting and said his words will proven during the investigation.
“Anyone who has a brain and knows how to do math will see that she really doesn’t spend her money on just a few purchases on Amazon,” Parana said in a statement to MMA Fighting. “She has a lot of expenses, and there are so many that she even gets lost in the calculations. Jessica is not incapable. Jessica is not a 15-year-old girl. And Jessica is not illiterate. Jessica was never forbidden from going to the bank, from calling the bank and from finding out how her accounts were.
“Jessica always had full access to her things and was always intelligent enough to know everything that happened in her financial life. And I was never the guy who took care of her financial life. I was just her advisor when she needed it and asked for it. But all of this will be proven if there is a coherent investigation. May justice be served and may the wrongdoer pay, because lying to the authorities and lying to have a trial go your favor is also a crime. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
Parana’s statement to MMA Fighting can be seen below.
It was never like the way she’s insinuating, that I stole a single cent from her, much less the amount she’s talking about, which is completely baseless.
Anyone who has a brain and knows how to do math will see that she really doesn’t spend her money on just a few purchases on Amazon. She has a lot of expenses, and there are so many that she even gets lost in the calculations. Jessica is not incapable. Jessica is not a 15-year-old girl. And Jessica is not illiterate. Jessica was never forbidden from going to the bank, from calling the bank and from finding out how her accounts were. Jessica always had full access to her things and was always intelligent enough to know everything that happened in her financial life. And I was never the guy who took care of her financial life. I was just her advisor when she needed it and asked for it. But all of this will be proven if there is a coherent investigation. May justice be served and may the wrongdoer pay, because lying to the authorities and lying to have a trial go your favor is also a crime. Let’s wait and see what happens.
Another important thing to mention is that she says I have lost everything, that I only have a gym in Curitiba left which I bought with her money. This is absurd and very petulant of her to say this because I have always worked. I’m 44. When I met Jéssica Andrade, I had a nice car, I had a gym, I had a job. In all the years that she was with me, I always had other athletes. In fact, in the last few years, I have had four fighters simultaneously in the UFC. She’s talking as if I had no resources other than the payments she made me, and she doesn’t even mention the payments she made me. From her narrative I had no salary, I had no other jobs, no other athletes, and everything I bought in my life I stole from her. These are things that make no sense for her to talk about. And I didn’t even have the gym in Curitiba left because that’s my nephew’s gym, Bruno, who worked for her for a long time. It’s really becoming a persecution, her trying to defame me. I was — I don’t know if I still am, but I was — a very well-known guy in my work as a head coach and team leader, and I always worked hard representing fighters. I had four athletes in the UFC and I always earned a lot from them because I delivered on my promises. Certainly, if I bought anything, if I have any assets, it’s thanks to my work as a whole, nothing coming from the wrong thing.
I suspect that Jessica in 2023 — which is the year these accusations that were made by her occurred — she didn’t earn $ 2 million, as she’s saying she was robbed. It could be something close to that — unless she fought Conor McGregor and no one found out. All of you, media, fans, and herself, I think that after she sees my response here, if she sits at home and starts to remember everything she spent, she will have an idea that this calculation she is doing is not adding up.
And I always told Jessica that when she stopped fighting, got injured or retired, I would stop working as a head coach because I am already very tired of this kind of talk, with people I helped reach the top, it always causes problems. After I announced my retirement, it is obvious that most of them would leave as well since I would no longer be in charge of the work done as I always did. So when these problems with Jessica happened, I announced my retirement and I was not joking, I was not lying. It is obvious that the other athletes would leave, and I did not go after them, I did not care about keeping them on the team. Each one went their own way and I am sure that I fulfilled everything I promised everyone. I got everyone out of bad situations and left everyone well, whether with a contract with the UFC or another promotion, or working in a better place.
I made a UFC champion, an Invicta FC champion, and now Mairon [Santos] won TUF, a guy I worked with for six, seven years. I did great things in the fight business and didn’t steal from anyone. I worked hard as coach and manager, and I did very well in my career. If I were to go on about everything I remember here I’d spend a day talking about it because there’s a lot to talk about, but I hope I don’t need to talk about these things anymore.
Former two-division champion Conor McGregor has not competed in more than three years and as of this writing, has no immediate plans to make his Octagon return. That may explain why “Notorious” is taking a back seat to reigning bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, who had no idea how much money he was going to make as 135-pound titleholder.
“O’Malley is the biggest star in our sport right now,” retired middleweight and current UFC analyst Chael Sonnen said on his YouTube channel (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “And ‘Red Panty Night’ is still real. Conor’s not in the sport, he’s not even licensed. Conor could not walk in and fight tonight if he wanted to. I’m just sharing with you, who’s in the sport, it’s one of those things. Conor has no more of a claim to this sport right now than [Georges] St-Pierre or Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. In fact, St-Pierre and Khabib have attended more UFCs in the last year than Conor.”
McGregor was scheduled to return from his lengthy hiatus, extended by way of broken leg (and broken relationships), atop the UFC 303 pay-per-view (PPV) card last June. Unfortunately, another injury prevented his “Notorious” comeback and his current timeline appears to be 2025 … or never, depending on who you ask.
During his absence, O’Malley competed five times and captured the bantamweight crown.
“I feel that O’Malley, as the biggest star, who’s the hardest working guy outside of the cage that division has ever seen, Top 5 in the sports history — he might be No. 1 — he is a Top 5 in history of the hardest working guys outside of the cage,” Sonnen continued. “For him to have landed this rocket ship in this position and whoever gets in the passenger seat and now you’re telling me [the oddsmakers] believe that he’s two-and-a-half times more likely to lose than he is to win and even if he wins he draws into a guy with a similar disastrous style? That is a lot for a young man to take on, but that seems to be exactly where O’Malley does his best work. That seems to be, when that house is on fire, and he’s right on the edge and people aren’t believing him and he’s got to stay sharp and if he’s not sharp he’s going to fall into a bed of needles, that seems to be where Sean O’Malley performs his finest.”
We’ll find out when “Suga” fights Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at The Sphere.
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