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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Strikeforce and BKFC veteran Lumumba Sayers has been arrested on murder charges after he allegedly gunned down a man to avenge his son’s death.

According to an arrest affidavit first obtained by Denver7 on Monday, Sayers was arrested this past Saturday after he allegedly approached a man at a child’s birthday party and shot him in the head. The incident took place at Pioneer Park in Commerce City.

Sayers is currently in custody in Adams County, Colo. on first-degree murder and felony menacing charges and he’s being held on $ 1 million bond, per court records obtained by MMA Fighting. His next court hearing is scheduled on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. local time.

The victim later identified as Malcolm Watson, 28, is believed to be a friend of a man who was previously accused of killing Sayers’ son in a shooting that took place in August 2023. A suspect named Tyrell Braxton was later arrested in connection with the killing of Sayers’ son but charges were eventually dismissed.

The arrest affidavit involving Sayers states that “this murder was probably in retaliation or revenge” but doesn’t detail a further connection between Watson and Braxton.

According to the report, Watson was at a birthday party when a witness claimed that Sayers walked up and shot him “in the head at close range.” Sayers allegedly went back to Watson’s body and attempted to shoot him a second time but his gun “jammed.”

Witnesses claimed that Sayers then took some keys from Watson’s pocket and allegedly attempted to plant a gun near his body.

Sayers was reportedly despondent following the death of his son after they both worked tirelessly together on a program to help at-risk youths to avoid violence in the community.

The now 46-year-old veteran fought as recently as March when he competed at a BKFC event in Denver. In his MMA career, Sayers is best known for his time spent with Strikeforce where he fought a number of notable names including Anthony Smith, Derek Brunson and Scott Smith.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dana White officially raised the stakes for Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305.

The UFC CEO revealed Tuesday night that if du Plessis successfully defends his UFC middleweight title against Israel Adesanya on Saturday at UFC 305, the promotion will take its next 185-pound title fight to du Plessis’ home country of South Africa.

“You have one of these situations where, both guys, everything is on the line, especially because they dislike each other so much,” White said. “And if [du Plessus] can beat Izzy and bring that belt back to South Africa, obviously we’ll do an event there. And if Izzy can retain and win the title, it’s huge for him and his legacy — not retain, but regain.”

UFC 305 takes place August 18 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Du Plessis, 30, captured the UFC middleweight title in January with a split decision win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297. The first South African champion in promotional history, du Plessis holds a perfect 7-0 record in the octagon, earning stoppage wins over the likes of Robert Whittaker, Darren Till, and Derek Brunson, among others.

Adesanya, 35, is a two-time former UFC middleweight champion. “The Last Stylebender” was expected to face du Plessis in late 2023, however du Plessis was unable to make the date and Adesanya instead fought Strickland, losing in a shocking and one-sided upset. Adesanya’s 12-fight win streak at 185 pounds to kick off his UFC career was the second-longest streak in UFC middleweight history, second only to MMA legend Anderson Silva.

Du Plessis and Adesanya have traded barbs for more than a year at this point, becoming fierce rivals over du Plessis’ argument over what constitutes a “true African champion.”

Given the history between the two men, White expects a rocky week in Perth.

“I’m sure [there’s tension]. [It’s a] big fight,” White said. “Every time guys hate each other like this, the fight usually ends up sucking, but I have a really good feeling this one won’t. You’re talking about, if you’re looking at what Israel Adesanya has achieved in his life, not just here but in kickboxing too, and Dricus, he brings it, man. He comes.”

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Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor will not be returning to the octagon this year.  UFC CEO Dana White revealed the news on Tuesday during the Dana White’s Contender Series post-fight press conference in Las Vegas.  

White and McGregor spoke over the weekend and White stated, “He wants to fight.”  White also divulged that McGregor will not be back in action this year.    

“He won’t fight this year,” he said.  

McGregor was scheduled to face Michael Chandler in the UFC 303 main event on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but was forced out of the bout due to a toe injury.  The matchup was expected to be rebooked for December, but that’s not happening.      

The McGregor and Chandler fight has been in the making since they coached The Ultimate Fighter 31 as opposing coaches last year.  It’s unclear whether McGregor will still face Chandler when he does fight again.  Chandler seemed to have moved on from the McGregor bout in a recent interview calling for a rematch against former champion Charles Oliveira.   

McGregor has been out of action since breaking his leg in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.  McGregor last tasted victory in January 2020, defeating Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via technical knockout in just 40 seconds.     

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It doesn’t sound like the UFC is willing to walk back their decision to let flyweight contender Mokaev walk.

Dana White is not bring Muhammad Mokaev back into the UFC, not even for a free fight.

Mokaev made the unusual offer of fighting for free after it became clear the UFC was serious about not re-signing him after his contract ended at UFC 304. The young flyweight contender had spent the week brawling with opponent Manel Kape all over Manchester. But when it became time to actually fight in the cage, Mokaev used his wrestling to neutralize Kape for 15 uneventful minutes.

Following the event, UFC CEO Dana White said Mokaev was welcome to go sign with the PFL, as the UFC wasn’t interested in dealing with him any more. And following last night’s return of the Contender Series, White confirmed there’d be no change in those plans.

“Nobody’s gonna fight for free,” White said of Mokaev’s hail mary offer. “People can talk all the s— they want about how we pay, but nobody’s fighting free.”

“It is what it is,” he continued. “I always say this: this is an opportunity to be here and to perform in front of the entire world. And [Mokaev] is just a guy that did everything wrong and pissed these guys off.”

“I wasn’t involved in any of the stuff that happened with him, but the matchmakers and Hunter [Campbell] were. And they weren’t happy with him. They weren’t happy with the way he acted. They weren’t happy with a lot of things he did and said.”

“I guess you can look back now and regret it,” White concluded. “But you did it. You did it, and you put yourself in this position.”

Mokaev leaves the UFC with a perfect 7-0 record. It’s unclear at this moment where he’ll go next, but one thing is for sure: it won’t be to the PFL.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

One of the greatest jiu-jitsu competitors of all-time is attempting a unique challenge when Gabi Garcia battles Craig Jones in an intergender grappling match Saturday at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational in Las Vegas.

Garcia, a four-time ADCC gold medalist and six-time IBJJF world champion, has teased the idea of battling a decorated male grappler for many years now, but the reward was never worth the risk. Now, Garcia says she’s banking good money to enter the match for the first time against a male competitor.

“He’s revolutionizing the game with this idea,” Garcia told MMA Fighting of Jones. “And for me, it’s good marketing. It’s more than fighting a man. The American audience has never really liked me, you know? I’ve always dealt with hate. And for the first time in my career, I feel 99 percent of the people are on my side. [Laughs.] This is entertainment. If my mom, my grandmother, my aunt sits down to watch a jiu-jitsu tournament, they won’t understand the rules. But if you put Gabi against a man, people want to watch that.”

Garcia expects to be lighter than Jones on Saturday — she said she was standing on a chair when she faced off with Jones for a face-to-face interview that recently went viral in the grappling community. Garcia has a great relationship with Jones, but won’t go easy on him.

“I’ve trained with Craig a few times and he hasn’t submitted me,” Garcia said. “I’m lighter now because I was cutting weight for a MMA fight [in May], so he’s probably heavier than me, but I’m strong. And I’ve told him already, ‘Craig, I have no responsibilities here. I’m going there to beat you and shock the world.’ But reality is, men are stronger.”

The “superfight” will be contested over three five-minute rounds, which Garcia feels favors her opponent. She would’ve rather met in a 15-minute contests with no breaks, but is down for whatever on Saturday.

“The truth is, I don’t think I’ll submit him because he’s really good, but don’t expect me to go easy on him,” Garcia said. “It’s been a long time. … He’s pissing me off for so long I want to smash him. He calls me all the time, he posts about me all the time. Give me a break, Craig! [Laughs.] If I get to a good position, I’ll control the match instead of exposing myself [to a submission] for nothing, of course.

“But I’ll fight as I was taught by my master,” she continued. “Unlike the way Americans grapple, jiu-jitsu was made for us to dominate the opponent. That’s why we pass the guard, we sweep, we get to side control and mount. There’s nothing an opponent can do with me on the mount, he’s completely dominated. I’ll go like a snake, slowly move to get the position and not let him escape. It’s hard to catch him, but I’ll give him a hard time. He’s saying he’ll secure the submission and let me go. That won’t happen, honey. I’ll smash you. I’ll try my best, and we’ll fight for real.”

Garcia said she and Jones received offers from Asia and the United States to face off before, but she only truly considered the idea when Jones mentioned his intentions behind CJI. On top of the money paid to all competitors — on the same weekend ADCC holds it’s traditional show in Las Vegas — Craig told Garcia he’ll be making donations to Rio Grande do Sul, her home state in Brazil that has struggled for months due to floods.

“Craig is one of the most genuine people I know,” Garcia said. “He texted me saying he would donate out of his pocket to Rio Grande do Sul. I agreed as soon as he told me the profits would be donated to charity.”

Garcia said she will give her entire purse to her parents and family members who were affected by the floods, and that’s a lot considering the rumors surrounding her purse.

“I’ve seen people post all kinds of numbers, from $ 100,000 to $ 1 million,” Garcia said with a laugh. “I can’t say how much it is because my contract doesn’t allow me to, but it’s more than $ 200,000. But I’ve already doubled that with sponsors — or tripled, I think.

“This match is going out of the grappling bubble. All of my sponsors are unrelated to jiu-jitsu. The only sponsor I gave from the fight world is Nate Diaz’s Represent. And I was scared that my [clothing] line wouldn’t do well, but it almost sold out in two days.”

According to Garcia, the decision to be on CJI instead of competing at the 2024 ADCC cost her an induction to the promotion’s Hall of Fame. A member of the IBJJF Hall of Fame, Garcia still plans on competing on the ADCC mat again in the future, but stands by her call.

“It wasn’t an easy decision because this is the first time the ADCC has an absolute division for women, which was a dream of mine,” Garcia said. “That and the Hall of Fame, which they took from me, but I never fought for medals in my career. I love challenges. I was always judged throughout my career, I was always the circus clown. The ADCC will be there, I want to fight the absolute champion one day, but we’ll see what happens.”

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Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus Du Plessis will be a middleweight title match for the ages, says UFC commentator Jon Anik. The UFC 305 main event is set to be a bad-blood showdown between the current champion facing the former king of the division.

Jon Anik Talks Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya

South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis is on an impressive nine-fight win streak with his most recent bout being a title win against Sean Strickland. Along the way to UFC gold, ‘Stillknocks’ has also defeated Derek Brunson, Darren Till, and Robert Whittaker, among others.

‘The Last Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya, the Nigerian-Kiwi athlete, captured the UFC middleweight title by knockout against Robert Whittaker in 2019. he was able to defend this throne in five bouts overall. Lost and won the crown to Alex Pereira before losing it to Strickland.

Adesanya is from Nigeria originally and grew up in New Zealand. Along the way to UFC 305, he has taken great offense to Dricus Du Plessis calling himself an African champion. While Du Plessis is from South Africa, Adesanya says that Du Plessis is not African due to his heritage of being a white guy.

This bad blood has likely inspired and given a flair to Adesanya says UFC commentator Jon Anik, who will be in the booth at UFC 305. Breaking down the match with Submission Radio, Anik explained:

Now, that’s just the nature, I think, of MMA, and a lot of Championship-level athletes would tell you that if you need that extra motivation at that level, then maybe you should find a different sport. But my gosh, you can be sure that this has unleashed the best type of beast when it comes to Israel’s preparation.

And yeah, on the other side, Israel Adesanya is fighting a dude who’s just like a truck and not a human being who just seemingly won’t be denied because maybe he’s more like a machine than a man. You know, Du Plessis is a fascinating champion. I also think that the nature of this matchup is gonna have him just completely locked in. I’m getting excited just talking to you about it. This is the first time I’m really talking about UFC 305, so when you set it up, I’m just getting all this energy.

It’s just going to be an electric MMA atmosphere when you have an MMA championship matchup like this, with friction and skill upon skill. It just doesn’t get any better.

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