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Tom Aspinall wants Stipe Miocic to take a lesson from the 46th President of the United States.

Despite extensive calls for UFC to scrap Miocic’s expected title challenge against UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, UFC CEO Dana White tripled down on his promotion’s plans to proceed with the bout this past week, arguing that Jones and Miocic “both deserve it” and that he’s “showing both of these guys the respect” of rebooking the matchup after it fell through in November 2023 at UFC 295 due to a Jones shoulder injury.

Aspinall instead stepped up at UFC 295 and captured the interim heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich. He then defended that interim belt at UFC 304 with a 60-second knockout of Curtis Blaydes, successfully avenging the only loss of his UFC career. Afterward, Aspinall made it clear to MMA Fighting that he’s only willing to fight in a title unification bout next — and at this point, he’s sick of waiting on Jones and Miocic.

“Get Stipe out of there,” Aspinall told TNT Sports on Friday. “Let’s be honest. The guy is 43 years old, he’s had a four-year layoff, and his last fight was a knockout loss. Granted, he’s an absolute legend in this sport. He’s the best heavyweight ever — like statistically, he’s the best heavyweight ever. But the guy needs to be pulled out of the race.

“The guy needs to be Joe Biden’d, mate. He’s too old. No one’s that interested anymore. And I respect Stipe a lot. Pull him out, stick me in. It’s right though, isn’t it? It is right.”

Miocic, 41, is actually set to turn 42 years old on August 19, but Aspinall’s point still stands. A two-time UFC heavyweight champion, Miocic has not fought since losing his title with a brutal second-round knockout loss at the hands of Francis Ngannou in March 2021.

For context, Alex Pereira’s UFC debut came in Nov. 2021, meaning the 2024 frontrunner for Fighter of the Year has competed nine times, captured two different divisional titles, and strung together a UFC Hall of Fame résumé in less than the 40 months since Miocic’s most recent octagon appearance.

Biden, of course, withdrew from the 2024 U.S. presidential race in July following a catastrophic debate performance against Republican nominee Donald Trump that prompted widespread questions about the 81-year-old’s mental fitness for another term.

Aspinall may simply be an Englishman dipping his toes into American politics, but he feels Miocic should take the hint and do the same for the upcoming title bout against UFC heavyweight champion Jones, which is expected to take place November in New York City.

“Get Joe Biden out of there,” Aspinall said. “Stick me in.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis will put his title on the line for the first time at UFC 305 on Aug. 18 against former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya.  

Du Plessis admittedly does not like Adesanya, and Adesanya feels the same way about “Stillknocks.”  After Du Plessis defeated former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, Adesanya entered the octagon and verbally insulted Du Plessis as the South African remained calm.  Considering his interaction with Adesanya after his win over Whittaker, Du Plessis was asked if he believes that he’s in Adesanya’s head leading up to their UFC 305 grudge-match.  

“If I’m in his head, I can’t tell you.  He feels the energy.  I can tell you that much,” Du Plessis told SHAK MMA.  “I made the statement that his fire is gone and I don’t believe that.  I think the fire is still there.  I just believe my fire is just, his fire is insignificant to mine.  

“The passion and fire that I have in me, the passion burning is overshadowing his.  That’s why I can’t even see his fire, and I can’t feel it because the fire burning inside of me is so intense,” Du Plessis continued.  “Do I think I’m in his head?  Maybe not, but I do know that he’s in his own head.  That’s for sure.”

UFC 305 takes place at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.  The event will mark the fight promotion’s third time hosting an event in Perth.  

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i am aware this card lost a few fights but they were more fights for hardcore fans anyway that will be hopefully be rebooked. and what kinda main event is this??? submitted by /u/AtmosphereVarious440 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kelly Ottoni runs a martial arts gym in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and wants to lead by example. That’s why she’s putting the gloves on at age 39 and taking on a tough challenge against PFL and Bellator veteran Jackie Cataline at Friday’s Invicta FC 56 event in Denver.

The former Jungle Fight bantamweight champion said her reasons for returning to MMA after more than two years away are to show the power of combat sports and change lives, not only her own. With more than 80 competitions under her belt in various forms of martial arts, from boxing to wrestling to jiu-jitsu to Muay Thai, Ottoni sees MMA with different eyes.

“Martial arts is a philosophy of life for me, but MMA is more about making money,” Ottoni told MMA Fighting. “It’s money to give me a better life as I get older, because I’m not only changing my life, I have other people around me who are as much of hustlers as I am and dream of better things in life, so I want to help the youth.

“You pay the price for a dream and work hard every day, and sometimes you still don’t achieve it and can’t have a good performance because you need a second job to pay bills. It’s hard to live as an athlete in Brazil. That’s extremely common in several sports, and that’s what I explain to my students. You have to dream and work hard to achieve it.”

Ottoni jokes she’s “quite an old hand” but her experience in martial arts is far greater than her 5-0 MMA record shows, and she feels “extremely happy and pressure-free” entering the Invicta FC cage for the first time. Open to fighting from anywhere from 135 to 155 pounds, she faces Cataline in a featherweight contest while looking for other great opportunities.

Her brother is Quemuel Ottoni, who has also held the Jungle Fight belt before. He was the first man to defeat future UFC and GLORY two-division champion Alex Pereira in MMA back in their Jungle Fight days, and is set to fight for a UFC contract against Kody Steele on the Sept. 10 card of the promotion’s Contender Series. She believes they could one day share a UFC card, but competing in the octagon isn’t her ultimate goal.

“I see Invicta FC as a door to other major promotions, but not only the UFC,” Ottoni said. “We have the PFL and Bellator. We have Larissa Pacheco as the current [PFL] champion. I’m not only thinking about the UFC. UFC is the World Cup and everybody knows that, but I want to make money. If I get to the World Cup, great, but I want to buy a house, I want to keep my NGO going. I’ll enter the door that opens for me.”

Cataline, her opponent Friday night, is 4-3 as a professional with two first-round finishes under the PFL Challenger Series banner. Ottoni, whose 5-0 record includes two first-round knockouts and one submission, says “it’s pretty clear” what Cataline will attempt to do.

“I’m sure she’s watched my fights and she will try to take me to the ground. That’s obvious,” Ottoni said. “There’s no other path for her, but she’s never fought anyone at my level. It’s about taking me down and holding me there, it’s about trying to stop someone that knows how to do jiu-jitsu.”

“The champion Alex ‘Poatan’ is showing the world what a striker can do, and that’s the thing I do best,” she continued. “My brother has always said I can beat these girls in MMA. I’ve always like to strike, I’ve always done jiu-jitsu and wrestling, but I’m kind of crazy. You cut me open? I’ll cut you back. That’s my style, you know? I’m a sniper looking for blood. I can’t walk backward. Hit me all you want, I’ll always smile at you and keep walking forward.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

No Power?
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will come face-to-face following a special pre-fight press conference on Sun., Aug. 18, 2024 at the inaugural Fanatics Fest inside Javits Center in New York City. Taking the stage alongside the Netflix headliners, scheduled to collide in a professionally-sanctioned boxing match later this year in Texas, will be hall-of-fame quarterback Peyton Manning, who won Super Bowl championships with both Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos.

Ex-gridiron great Ryan Clark will host the Aug. 18 presser while Manning is expected to just stand around being Peyton Manning.

“After eating Mike Perry as an appetizer, I’m ready to go for the main course on Friday, November 15,” Paul said. “To be fighting the biggest baddest boxer ever is a dream come true for me and it is going to be a nightmare for Mike Tyson. It’s cool to be featured at Fanatics Fest alongside some of the biggest names in sports and I look forward to delivering a show the fans won’t soon forget on Friday, November 15th.”

Paul vs. Tyson, previously scheduled for July 20, was temporarily postponed after Tyson suffered a medical emergency on a flight to Los Angeles (more on that here). That incident did no favors for event organizers, who were already getting slammed for booking “El Gallo” against a 58 year-old pugilist several years past his prime.

“When we launched Fanatics Fest earlier this year, our vision was to create a platform where sports legends and cultural icons could connect with fans in unprecedented ways,” said Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin. “Hosting the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson press conference at Fanatics Fest NYC is a testament to that vision. This event embodies the energy, excitement, and passion that we aim to bring to every Fanatics Fest experience.”

The Nov. 15 Netflix card will also feature the overdue rematch between undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor and unified featherweight titleholder Amanda Serrano. In addition, Neeraj Goyat will make his Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) debut against Brazilian bruiser Whindersson Nunes in a six-round super middleweight bout at 165 pounds.

Expect more “Paul vs. Tyson” fight card announcements in the coming weeks.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

i am aware this card lost a few fights but they were more fights for hardcore fans anyway that will be hopefully be rebooked. and what kinda main event is this??? submitted by /u/AtmosphereVarious440 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Oscar De La Hoya is the latest to go after Canelo Alvarez.

It seems like everyone has something to say about the boxing champion these days, with UFC CEO Dana White, UFC star Conor McGregor, and Saudi promoter Turki Alalshikh all taking shots at Alvarez ahead of his Sept. 14 super middleweight title fight against Edgar Berlanga. The general theme of the criticism is that Berlanga is not a desirable opponent and that Alvarez is avoiding more difficult—and presumably more lucrative—matchups.

De La Hoya and Alvarez have had a frosty relationship since Alvarez parted ways with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions stable in 2020, and the promoter took aim at his former business partner in his latest edition of “Clap Back Thursdays” on social media.

“So it turns out, I’m not the only one that thinks Canelo is an arrogant piece of shit,” De La Hoya said. “Turki Alalshikh recently revealed that Canelo refused to meet with him in person and isn’t entertaining any deals to be done with him.

“Why? Because he’s out-priced himself so much that the Saudis don’t even want to deal with him. And it’s all because he will do anything not to fight David Benavidez. Look, Turki is trying to make the best fights that everybody wants to see, and Canelo continues to take the fights that nobody wants to see.”

Alvarez has won four straight fights since a failed attempt to move up to light heavyweight and claim Dmitry Bivol’s WBA title. His wins during that stretch include a trilogy bout with Gennady Golovkin, plus super middleweight championship defenses against John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, and, most recently, Jaime Munguía.

According to De La Hoya and Alalshikh, Berlanga is the latest in a line of Alvarez opponents that they don’t see as moving the needle.

“That takes me to Edgar Berlanga, who is fighting Canelo on Sept. 14,” De La Hoya said. “Now, he claims he has a whole country behind him. Edgar, bro, you’re from Brooklyn. I think I’m more Puerto Rican than you are and I only lived there for six years. Puerto Rico doesn’t claim you, bro.”

De La Hoya then echoed McGregor’s sentiment that UFC 306, which takes place at Sphere in Las Vegas, will dwarf the Canelo vs. Berlanga event.

“As I said weeks ago, this fight will not do well on Sept. 14,” De La Hoya said. “Not only because the matchup is OK, but because they’re going up against the UFC’s debut at the Sphere in Las Vegas. That’s a spectacle that everyone and their mother has been waiting to see since it opened up about a year ago.

“And who is funding it and making it all happen? Turki Alalshikh. Canelo, you’re really making the wrong enemies. But you know what? F*ck you.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Terence Crawford is tired of Canelo Alvarez’s excuses.

Earlier this month, Crawford earned a big win over Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles to become a four-weight world champion and join a very elite list of fighters to have accomplished the impressive feat. Among them is Alvarez who has also carried gold in four different weight classes.

Crawford’s win over Madrimov appeared to perfectly set the stage for a clash between himself and Alvarez. Unfortunately, it looks like we are no closer to seeing their fight come to fruition after ‘Canelito’ dismissed the opportunity unless Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, is ready to pony up some serious dough.

While Alvarez and Alalshikh have been trading barbs back and forth on social media, Crawford has remained relatively quiet. Until now, that is. During a recent appearance on The PorterWay Podcast, ‘Bud’ snapped back at Alvarez by accusing the Mexican superstar of making excuses and fearing for his legacy.

“It makes me laugh, all Canelo is saying about size and how he won’t get no credit. But Canelo’s been fighting smaller guys his whole career. Canelo made his own catchweight for years. Canelo fought a smaller Floyd Mayweather, Amir Khan, Jermell Charlo. He has all these excuses why he doesn’t wanna fight me.

“He said I’m easy work. If I was easy work then you would take all that money. But still, he wants $ 150 million to fight me. That just lets me know I’m a threat to him. I’m a threat to him and I’m a threat to his legacy” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Alvarez gears up for upcoming title defense while Terence Crawford wonders what’s next

What’s next for Terence Crawford remains to be seen, but Alvarez already has his next bout book. Emanating from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, September 14, ‘Canelito’ will defend his WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titles against Edgar Berlanga.

Berlanga is 22-0 in his career with 17 of his victories coming by way of knockout. In 2022, he was slapped with a $ 10,000 fine and a six-month suspension from the New York State Athletic Commission for attempting to bite opponent Roamer Alexis Angulo on the shoulder.

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