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Too Much Waiting
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Floyd Mayweather Jr. is pulling out all the stops for his first official fight in Mexico City, Mexico, and that includes riding around town in a bulletproof tank.

In case you don’t know, Mayweather will make his return to the boxing ring this weekend in a rematch against John Gotti III. This will be a reboot from their initial exhibition boxing match back in June 2023, which ended in excessive trash talking and an all-out brawl inside of the ring. Boxing fans have been awaiting Mayweather’s return to action ever since.

Luckily, they won’t have to wait any longer as “Money” meets Gotti live on DAZN PPV this Saturday night (Aug. 24, 2024) from inside Arena CDMX. Believe it or not, this will be the first time in Mayweather’s near-30 year career that he is fighting on Mexican soil. That’s pretty incredible to believe.

While Mexico City isn’t the safest place in the world due to ongoing issues with local cartels it’s especially dangerous for someone like Mayweather. Not only because Mayweather carries an insane amount of cash with him wherever he goes, but also because “Money” has defeated some of Mexico’s most popular boxers. This includes Canelo Alvarez, Oscar De La Hoya, and Juan Manuel Marquez. Needless to say, the undefeated boxer didn’t know what to expect when he traveled south of the border.

In effort to move throughout Mexico City in peace, Mayweather rode around in a massive bulletproof tank. The millionaire boxer has been known to purchase some pretty wild cars over the years, but this one takes the cake. Check out the footage below:

Of course, fight fans had a lot to say about Mayweather’s bulletproof whip. Check out some of the hilarious reaction below and don’t miss Mayweather’s rematch with Gotti this weekend in Mexico City:

“Not even Donald trump ask for that much”

“No wonder why he already needs more money”

“I mean almost everyone in Mexico hates him so”

“Floyd won’t be talking his normal shit in Mexico”

“I bet he can’t spell bulletproof”

“Hope they got his step stool”

“Floyd taking no chances”

“The cartel could still get em if they wanted to”

“Traveling in a tank, but transitioning between locations at a snails pace and waving at fans. Pure retardation.”

For more boxing news and notes click here.

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Timur Khizriev has never lost in 16 professional MMA bouts, but Gabriel Braga vows to make him taste defeat for the very first time on Friday at PFL 9.

Braga reached the 145-pound finals in 2023 and came up short against Jesus Pinedo, suffering his only loss in the sport, and climbed back to the playoffs after back-to-back stoppages over Justin Gonzales and Bubba Jenkins earlier this year.

“Everybody is undefeated until they lose one day, and now is his turn,” Braga said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I’m always fighting tough opponents so it’s nothing new to me. I’m 100 percent ready, both mentally and physically. I’m ready to put on another show in there and get the win.”

Khizriev went 3-0 in Bellator, including a victory over former title contender Daniel Weichel, before winning twice under the PFL banner this year. Despite his unbeaten resume, Braga said he sees holes in his game.

“I’m the type of athlete that sees flaws in every fighter,” Braga said. “No one is perfect, everybody makes mistakes. He tends to get to positions and gain time and make it all to the end and we definitely trained focusing on that and the techniques he does to make sure we can put on a spectacle in there.”

“Sometimes he stands and trades as well,” he continued. “But I believe he will definitely want to grapple with me once he feels my pressure on the feet. I’ll be ready for that game and box him all night.”

Braga said that the experience of competing in the 2023 championship final got him better prepared to perform under pressure and deliver exciting performances, and he feels ready to “chase the belt this year.”

Brendan Loughnane and Kai Kamaka III will be competing for the other spot in the final in the main event of PFL 9 at The Anthem, and Braga admits he would rather face Loughnane for gold. Loughnane won the PFL 2022 season championship, and has stopped Pedro Carvalho and Justin Gonzales so far this year.

“It’s a good fight with two good fighters,” Braga said. “Brendan is fast, but Kamaka is very resilient, a brawler. But I think Brendan wins. I’ll win my fight, and I would like to fight him in the final.”

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Tom Aspinall will be the backup for this fall’s undisputed heavyweight title scrap between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Thus far, the UFC has not officially confirmed when or even if Jones vs. Miocic is going to happen, but all signs point toward the long-awaited legacy clash going down at UFC 309 when the promotion makes its annual pit spot at Madison Square Garden on November 9.

Expected to face the winner, or whichever one who doesn’t immediately retire, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall revealed in a video on his YouTube channel that he has spoken to the UFC about being the official backup for ‘Bones’ vs. Miocic in case either one can’t make the walk come fight night.

“Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, New York City. As I said, this fight hasn’t been confirmed. But after my last fight against Curtis Blaydes there was some talk about me being the back-up fighter. The UFC spoke to me directly about that, I said, ‘I’m in!’ Somebody pulls out, I’m in. One day notice, ten day notice, ten weeks notice, one hour notice, I’ll be prepared for that date” (h/t Sportskeeda).

Tom Aspinall Happy to send Jon Jones into retirement, one way or another

Originally, Jones and Miocic were scheduled to fight at UFC 295 last year, but a pectoral injury forced ‘Bones’ out of the bout. That prompted the promotion to introduce an interim belt at the event. Aspinall captured the temporary title with a quick-fire finish of Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event.

He’s since become the first fighter in more than a decade to defend an interim title, dispatching Curtis Blaydes 60 seconds into their UFC 304 co-main event in Manchester.

Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee we’ll ever see Jones vs. Aspinall with ‘Bones’ continuously teasing retirement on social media. If Jones does decide to pack it in later this year, that’s perfectly fine with Aspinall. He’ll just go down as the fighter who retired Jon Jones without ever having to actually fight him.

“[Jones] was praying that I would lose that fight against Curtis Blaydes,” Aspinall said on the Believe You Me podcast with Michael Bisping. “Because there is nowhere that you can publicly find him saying he would fight me. It doesn’t exist… Since I won that fight, he’s gone completely quiet… I will retire Jon Jones without even fighting him.”

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UFC 306’s co-main event has its official contingency plan.

Top flyweight contender Manon Fiorot is set to serve as the backup fighter for the trilogy bout between UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and former champ Valentina Shevchenko, which takes place Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Sources close to the situation confirmed the news to MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin on Friday.

Fiorot’s coach Aldric Cassata previously told Boxemag.com of Fiorot’s opportunity but the move is now official.

Fiorot, 34, is MMA Fighting’s No. 3 ranked female flyweight in the world and No. 4 ranked women’s pound-for-pound fighter. The French contender is a perfect 7-0 under the UFC umbrella, a run punctuated by impressive wins over top talents Erin Blanchfield, Rose Namajunas, Katlyn Cerminara, Jennifer Maia, and Mayra Bueno Silva.

Grasso and Shevhchenko are set to meet for a third consecutive time in a rivalry that first began in March 2023 with Grasso’s stunning upset of Shevchenko via fourth-round submission. The two then met in a rematch this past September, which ended with Grasso retaining the belt via a controversial split draw at the inaugural Noche UFC show.

Grasso and Shevchenko subsequently coached opposite one another on the recent season of The Ultimate Fighter 32, which decides its winners this Saturday at UFC Vegas 96.

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The fighters competing on Saturday’s UFC Vegas 96 fight card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas officially weighed in on Friday, including co-main event fighters Tabatha Ricci and Angela Hill.  

Hill (17-13) will enter the fight ranked ninth in the division and coming off back-to-back wins.  Ricci (10-2) is ranked eleventh and has won five of her last six fights.  She’s coming off a win over Tecia Pennington in May.  

UFC Vegas 96 Co-Main Event Weigh-In Video

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Caio Borralho got his wish as he will face one-time UFC title challenger Jared Cannonier in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 96 fight card at the APEX. If Borralho can pick up another big win this weekend, is he a legitimate threat to Dricus du Plessis and the middleweight title?

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Eric Jackman preview the UFC’s upcoming Fight Night event, along with the middleweight headliner between Cannonier and Borralho, what the latter gains with a win, and the chances Cannonier can pull off the upset. Additionally, they’ll discuss the co-main event between Tabatha Ricci and Angela Hill, other names to watch out for on the card, the #TUF finale fights, answer your questions, and much more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 96 preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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