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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira defends his UFC light heavyweight title next against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, and admits he was as surprised as anyone with the booking.

Pereira said Saturday morning on his YouTube channel that he asked UFC to book him against Ankalaev after defending his belt against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 300, but the organization ultimately announced Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic for UFC 308, scheduled for Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi. UFC announced Pereira vs. Rountree days later.

“I’ve always wanted to fight against Ankalaev and I’ve made it clear, but Ankalaev didn’t want to fight me,” Pereira said. “I don’t know the reason, if it was the location, if he didn’t want to fight. He isn’t the champion, he can’t pick anything. It’s the opportunity that shows up and he didn’t want it. He has his reasoning, I don’t know what it is. But I came here to tell you I’m not scared of anyone. Everyone knows my history and everything I’ve done, not only in MMA, but in kickboxing as well. It’s obvious that I want to fight this guy.

“I think he has made things difficult, but we’ll meet eventually.”

Pereira is a decorated kickboxer and sees the narratives being spun that Ankalaev would be a much harder test than Rountree, given his wrestling skills. However, Pereira feels more than ready for the task after training alongside Glover Teixeira and his team in Danbury.

“My desire to fight against [Ankalaev] and show what I can do, I’ve already said it here,” Pereira said. “I don’t know if I’ll win, I don’t know if I’ll lose. I say that in all my fights. For those who watch me, I’m a realistic guy. You can win, you can lose. But I’m here with the conviction I will win this fight, and that’s it. That’s how I think, and things have been working out. I think he should watch out for Rakic. He is talking a lot about me, that he’s going to knock me out and all that, but I think he should watch out with this fight. It’s a very dangerous fight for him. Maintain focus on this fight, because he is getting a tough opponent.”

Pereira, who rose as a star in the UFC in a short time by winning belts in two different weight classes, admits he “was also a bit surprised when they offered” Rountree as his next challenger and “honestly thought it would be Ankalaev,” but it doesn’t matter now.

“A lot of people say he’s ranked No. 8, I don’t know, but they are saying it messed up the UFC rankings,” Pereira said, “but I think he’s showing work and it’s going to be a good fight for both of us, as we’re both strikers, but also for those watching. I thought it was Ankalaev, but I think the organization sees that he doesn’t deliver good fights.

“They’re doing all this for you guys, to please you guys. The same way how I wasn’t ranked and things happened very fast, look at what you guys get whenever I fight. So I think they are thinking the same thing for Khalil, giving him this opportunity regardless of the ranking. I think it will be a good fight.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Floyd Mayweather is adding to his bank account these days, but not doing much for his legacy.

The 47-year-old boxer displayed some of the skill that made him one of the best fighters of his generation in a lopsided performance against an overmatched John Gotti III in their rematch in Mexico on Saturday night. Mayweather mostly toyed with Gotti in almost every exchange, teeing off on his bigger opponent but not really putting together a string of punches that could’ve ended the fight.

Because the matchup was an exhibition, there was no winner, but if the scorecards were involved, Mayweather would have won in a shutout.

“Gotti is tough as nails,” Mayweather said after the fight. “We had to put on a show for the people. I want to thank Gotti for being a man of his word. We ran it back twice.”

In their first encounter, Mayweather came out guns blazing and looked to put away the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, but the fight ended in mayhem after Gotti was disqualified then went after Mayweather, with the ring quickly filling up with entourages from both fighters as security attempted to intervene.

It looked as if there might be a repeat performance of that scene on Saturday as the referee paused the action in the second round to issue a warning to Mayweather for punches to the back of the head. In Mayweather’s defense, Gotti was basically just lowering his head in every exchange whenever Mayweather threw a combination so the punches just naturally connected in a bad spot.

Gotti’s coaches actually got in the ring to cool him down and it appeared chaos might erupt again, but this time cooler heads prevailed. Suddenly, a new referee appeared in the ring to take over in one of the more bizarre moments in recent combat sports history.

The rest of the fight largely played out the same, with Mayweather popping Gotti with three- and four-punch combinations and then ducking out of the way before taking any damage in return. Gotti was also largely inactive, rarely throwing much of anything, and instead just trying to avoid the most punishing shots from Mayweather so he could survive all eight rounds.

There were a few fleeting moments where it looked as if Mayweather put some power behind his punches, but then he’d lay off again and let Gotti off the hook. Even when Gotti managed to back Mayweather into a corner or against the ropes, he just couldn’t produce much offense before the former multi-division champion slipped free again.

Every now and again, Mayweather let loose with the speed and accuracy that helped him build to a perfect 50-0 record before retiring, but that’s when Mayweather inevitably took his foot off the gas and let Gotti back in the fight just long enough to set him up for another combination of punches.

There was also a problem with the clock early in the fight, with a few rounds stretching well beyond the two-minute limit, but that really didn’t matter in the end. The final bell sounded and Mayweather embraced Gotti as the fighters seemingly put whatever bad blood existed between them to bed.

In the aftermath of the exhibition, Mayweather came face-to-face with another icon of the sport as Julio Cesar Chavez joined him in the ring after calling the card as part of the broadcast team. There were rumors swirling that perhaps Chavez might challenge Mayweather to a fight after he recently returned for an exhibition matchup of own.

While Mayweather has faced a long list of social influencers and MMA fighters during his run of exhibition bouts, he apparently draws the line at battling a boxer nearing senior citizen status at 62 years old.

“An unbelievable fighter,” Mayweather said about Chavez. “One of the best fighters. He beat my uncle Roger twice. I had to take my hat off to this legend.

“He’s older now and if I do an exhibition with him, it’s not going to look good for me. He’s one of the legends that I look up to. He paved the way for me and he does so much for the sport of boxing.”

A fight against Chavez may be off the table, but it’s tough to imagine Mayweather won’t keep cashing in with these exhibition bouts, especially if the packed arena in Mexico is any indication, because there’s still interest in seeing him strap on the gloves even if the results never actually matter.

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A middleweight bout between fifth-ranked contender Jared Cannonier and twelfth-ranked Caio Borralho headlined Saturdays UFC Vegas 96 event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.  

Cannonier entered the fight coming off a loss to Nassourdine Imavov and looking to get back in the win column.  Borralho was riding an impressive 13-fight winning streak.  He last tasted defeat nearly a decade ago in July 2015.

They touched gloves and Borralho landed first with a stiff jab.  Cannonier responded with a kick to the body.  Not a lot happened through the first minute of the fight.  Borralho accidentally poked Cannonier in the eye and Cannonier was given time to recover.  45 seconds later, the fight was restarted.  

Cannonier stepped in the pocket with a right hand.  Cannonier connected with a counter right hand.  Borralho answered with a hard leg kick.  He delivered another calf kick that briefly sat Cannonier down.  Cannonier quickly got to his feet.  Borralho began pressuring Cannonier in the final 90 seconds of the stanza.  Cannonier walked him down and connected with a combination.  They exchanged leg kicks and Cannonier pressed forward.  He landed a counter combination.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Borralho but it was competitive.

Cannonier came out in the second round pressuring Borralho.  He connected with a combination.  Borralho changed stances and delivered a leg kick.  Cannonier closed the distance with punches and landed on the inside.  Cannonier connected with a hard counter right hand.  Cannonier connected with another right hand.  Midway through the round, Cannonier was building momentum.  Cannonier was the more active fighter in the second frame.  Borralho continued to employ legs.  Cannonier connected with a combination.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Cannonier.  

Borralho connected with a hard right hand early in the third.  Cannonier landed a right hand followed by another.  Borralho responded with a leg kick.  Borralho found a home with his jab.  Cannonier was uncorking heavy shots but wasn’t landing.  Borralho stepped in the pocket with a combination.  He picked up the pace and Cannonier answered with a right hand.  Borralho connected with a combination that hurt Cannonier.  Cannonier retreated and Borralho kept the pressure on.  They exchanged as the bell sounded.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Borralho.  

Borralho landed his jab followed by a leg kick in the early going of the fourth.  He pressured Cannonier and continued to deliver leg kicks.  Cannonier landed a right hand and circled.  Cannonier worked to get on the inside.  Borralho landed a combination and Cannonier fired back with a big right hand.  Borralho was cut below his right eye.  Cannonier inched forward and landed a right hand.  Borralho connected with a left hand.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Cannonier in another competitive round.  

Borralho briefly looked for a takedown early in the final frame.  He pressured Cannonier and landed his jab.  Cannonier stepped in the pocked with a combination and Borralho reacted with a combination.  Cannonier missed with a right hand and Borralho countered with a right.  Borralho landed a left hand followed by a right that crumbled Cannonier.  Borralho followed Cannonier to the canvas and delivered punches from side control.  Borralho applied an arm-triangle choke but was on the wrong side.  Cannonier defended the submission attempt and got to his feet at the bell.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Borralho.  

The judges scored the fight for Borralho by unanimous decision.  The scorecards read 49-45, 49-45, and 48-46.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gerald Meerschaert snatched more than a place in UFC history on Saturday at UFC Vegas 96. He also earned an extra $ 50,000.

Meerschaert captured Performance of the Night honors for his exhilarating second-round submission of Edmen Shahbazyan, which also moved Meerschaert past legendary UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva for the most finishes in UFC middleweight history with 12. The extra cash marked the fifth post-fight bonus of Meerschaert’s lengthy UFC career.

UFC Vegas 96 took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

Joining Meerschaert on the bonus list were headliners Caio Borralho and Jared Cannonier, as well as fellow main card winner Michael Morales.

Borralho and Cannonier secured Fight of the Night honors for their back-and-forth five-round war, which Borralho won via unanimous decision, while Morales locked up the night’s other Performance of the Night bonus for his first-round knockout of Neil Magny.

All four bonus winners earned an additional $ 50,000 for their work.

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