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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gabriel Silva, son of UFC legend Anderson Silva, returns to the boxing ring Saturday to challenge Anthony Taylor for the Misfits light heavyweight title at X Series 17 in Dublin, Ireland, and dreams of the day he will hold world titles as well.

Silva has been victorious in three boxing matches so far between both professional and exhibition contests, and wants to “expand” his father’s name to a different sport after “The Spider’s” historic success in mixed martial arts.

“That’s my final goal, to be world champion [in boxing],” Silva told MMA Fighting. “I’ve trained with world champions before, I’ve tested myself against world champions, and I know I have what it takes to be a world champion one day. That’s the final goal, to fight for world titles in this sport and bring our name to the sport of boxing and not only in MMA, to kind of expand it to other horizons.”

Silva grew up watching his father defend the UFC middleweight title — and was in the arena for many of his wins — but doesn’t plan on starting a career in mixed martial arts.

“Growing up with my father and my family, I’ve always had this martial arts mindset and knew a bit of everything,” Silva said. “I’ve fought kickboxing and Muay Thai, I plan on competing in jiu-jitsu at some point, and maybe fight MMA as well, but not like starting a career. Just for the experience, really. I’ve trained MMA and followed many of my father’s camps, and legends like [Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira] ‘Minotauro’. I think it would be kind of stupid not to be part of this world as well. I think it’s really interesting, but my focus is on boxing.”

Silva said sharing the ring once with WBO and IBF middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0) and WBO Global super welterweight champion Slawa Spomer (19-0) at Brickhouse Boxing Club has given him the confidence to pursue gold.

“[Alimkhanuly] is a tough guy, very skilled, and it was good training,” Silva said. “We did six tough rounds, so it was great experience. I’ve also sparred with champions from Germany as well, Slawa Spomer, who’s also very tough. We did good sparring at Brickhouse in North Hollywood. I have great training at the gym, very high-level athletes, so you can get experience from all of them.”

Silva revealed that Misfits considered holding an event in Brazil earlier this year and tried to add “The Spider” to the card as well, but it didn’t come to fruition. The UFC veteran ended up competing in an exhibition match against Chael Sonnen at Spaten Fight Night in June, and Kalyl Silva was featured on the card. Gabriel was approached with an offer to be on the card, but the deal wasn’t closed.

Silva leaves the door open to possibly share a card with his father one day, and has one familiar name in mind his dream match for “The Spider” in boxing.

“Fighting is air for my father, he can’t live without it,” Silva said. “There are several opponents, but the one I personally would like to see is Roy Jones Jr. They are both super technical and it would be super cool to watch despite the age. I think it would be very interesting. That’s a fight [Anderson] has asked for so long and it never happened.”

For now, the 27-year-old Silva focuses on clinching his first title belt in the world of boxing live on DAZN PPV, and respects Taylor as an opponent. The five-fight Bellator veteran, who once faced Tommy Fury in boxing, is undertaking a quick turnaround after defending his Misfits belt earlier this month with a second-round stoppage of Samuel Ericsson.

“He has kind of adjusted a few things in his game,” Silva said. “He was doing more clinch work before, and ended up finishing the guy. He has changed a bit, coming more aggressive, but we’re ready for this. I have the best coach, I’m training at the best gym, so we’re ready for whatever comes.”

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Deserving?
| BJPenn.com

Rising welterweight contender, Carlos Prates, continues his ascension up the stacked 170-pound division by defeating Li Jingliang at UFC 305 via second-round knockout (see it again here), improving his win streak to 10 straight, which includes three straight inside the Octagon.

While Prates still isn’t racked in the Top 15, “The Nightmare” has his sights set on another entertaining striker in the division. Posting via his Instagram account, Prates says Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) matchmakers have offered him a fight against Michael Page — who is currently ranked No. 13.

The problem, however, is that “Venom” seemingly doesn’t answer his phone to accept the bout.

“I found out that the company wants to give me Michael Venom Page, but he doesn’t answer the phone,” he said via Instagram. “You must be having nightmares by now! Hey brother, sign this contract!”

Page, the former Bellator MMA welterweight title contender, is coming off a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303. Prior to that defeat, “Venom” made a successful UFC debut by defeating Kevin Holland at UFC 299.

A fight between these two strikers would be a treat for fight fans around the globe, and since Page — who is ranked — is coming off a loss and Prates — who is not ranked — is on a hot streak, it kind of makes sense.

Now, the only thing that remains to be seen is if “MVP” accepts the alleged phone calls that are coming his way by the UFC higher ups. Should this fight come to pass, how do you see it playing out?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall have been ramping things up on social media as of late, with shots being taken on both sides. Does that mean we are any closer to getting this UFC heavyweight title unification bout than we were at the beginning of this year?

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew take a look at the week that has been in the Jones vs. Aspinall rivalry, and discuss Aspinall calling Jones the “fight dodging” champion at the beginning of the week, Jones’ NSFW response to his comments, Aspinall throwing shade at Jones’ past failed drug tests, Jones saying he would whip Aspinall’s ass in a fight, who is winning the beef thus far, Dana White’s optimism he can get the fight done, if Jones vs. Aspinall will at least be on the books by this time next year, and more.

If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.

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Francis Marshall is living the dream of being a UFC fighter after competing four times inside the Octagon as a member of the lightweight roster.

His latest appearance saw him bounce back from consecutive defeats by besting Dennis Buzukja on short notice this past weekend at the UFC Apex.

Though Marshall is focused on keeping this dream going by continuing to pick up wins and evolve as a martial artist, he does have another pursuit and passion.

The 25-year-old doesn’t carry the nickname “Fire” just because that’s what he always looks to bring when stepping inside the cage.

Alongside his MMA career, Marshall works as a firefighter, though for obvious reasons, that’s currently on hold because of his fight career.

Francis Marshall Talks About The Rewarding Nature Of Being A Fire Fighter

In a recent interview with MMA News, Marshall spoke about his love for being a firefighter where getting to help others is incredibly rewarding for him.

Competing as a professional athlete has become a career option for him at this stage in his life so his other job has had to be left in the background for the time being.

That being said, it isn’t something that he plans on leaving behind for good depending on what happens during his MMA journey.

The 155-pound fighter said that being there for others in their most desperate time of need isn’t something he takes for granted, even if he’s competing at the highest level in MMA.

“Right now, I’m on the leave of absence from work so I’m training full-time. I got to see where my future goes. Obviously, I would love to fight forever and then see what happens after that but I mean, it’s a great career. It’s a great job, it’s great to help people like that. It was always like, you’re going to someone’s house on the worst day of their life like nobody wants that. So you kind of go there with the respect of that, with the courtesy, like you don’t wanna ruin their day anymore than it is. You’re going there to help so whatever that homeowner or that resident needs in that time, that’s what we’re kinda there for.”

Read also: Undefeated UFC Contender Targets Michael ‘Venom’ Page Having Emulated Him In The Past: “I Know The Way To Knock The Guy Out”

Continue Reading UFC Fighter Francis Marshall Opens Up About Career As Fire Fighter: ‘You’re Going Into Someone’s House On The Worst Day Of Their Life!’ [Exclusive] at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Misfits Boxing’s latest weigh-ins saw some mixing of the martial arts ahead of Saturday’s boxing event in Ireland.

Love Island star George Fensom couldn’t wait another day to get his hands on opponent HSTikkyTokky, instead deciding to attempt a takedown on the influencer at Friday’s official Misfits Boxing 17 weigh-ins.

Watch footage of the altercation below.

HSTikkyTokky got under Fensom’s skin when he accused him of being too nervous to speak. Shorly after, Fensom ducked down for a single leg that HSTikkyTokky successfully stuffed (with plenty of security rushing in to break up the altercation). It took some time for the boxers to be broken up and at one point HSTikkyTokky could be heard shouting, “Get off me!”

Afterwards, HSTikkyTokky and Fensom were given a brief moment to address each other.

“Shoot or be shot,” Fensom said, prompting HSTikkyTokky to try to push past security.

“His name’s ‘Gorgeous’ George Fensom, but this is a fight, not some f*cking beauty pageant,” HSTikkyTokky said. “Weird guy.

“I’ll do you in the first 60 seconds of this fight. No talking, no running. I’m going to do you, straight up.”

HSTikkyTokky and Fensom are both making their boxing debuts. The bout is a four-round exhibition.

Misfits Boxing 17 takes place at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday. In the main event, former Premier League standout Danny Simpson takes on influencer Danny Aarons.

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