CombatSports.org

submitted by /u/russbam24
[link] [comments]
MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The United States is sending one of its best-ever wrestling teams to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, and a 20-year-old phenom could be the biggest favorite to capture gold.

Already crowned as the youngest American to ever win a wrestling World Championship when she was only 18, Amit Elor seeks to add to her long list of accolades when she sets foot on the mat as the top-ranked athlete at 68 kg. Winning at the Olympics would make Elor the youngest woman wrestler to ever capture gold.

If she had been born one day earlier (her birthday is Jan. 1, 2004), Elor could’ve potentially represented America at the 2020 Olympics, but more time and experience now has her on the precipice of an Olympic gold medal. The weight of those expectations could crush a young athlete, but Elor has been waiting for this moment her entire life.

“I don’t know if you call it imposter syndrome, but I’ve gone and I’ve won so many big competitions, but I don’t really feel very different,” Elor told MMA Fighting. “I think some people might say that’s what contributes to an athlete being consistent and continuing to be successful. I don’t feel too different even after the titles that I have earned.

“I think that helps me stay driven towards the next goal, the next competition. I don’t think I can feel too different after a competition. Not yet at least. We’ll see how the Olympics go.”

Just because she’s favored to win doesn’t mean Elor is taking anything for granted headed into her first Olympic match, which takes place Monday.

Wrestling can be a completely unpredictable sport, and one wrong move could mean the difference between a pin or being pinned. Elor understands that her status as a two-time World Champion puts a big target on her back, which is why she’s making sure there are no shortcuts taken in preparation for any Olympic matches.

“Those two World Championships have really helped me,” Elor said. “I have a lot more experience and I’m able to handle the pressure better, and I’m used to being on that world stage. But however, the Olympics is once every four years and there is a lot of pressure with that. But I tell myself I can’t be so focused on the fact that it’s once every four years because if I get so focused on the stress of the situation, I might not be able to perform in the first place.

“I tell myself, why stress over [something when] I can’t change the situation? I just have to go out there and do my very best. I think that helps me clear out some of the pressure. You do see a lot of upsets at the Olympics. You have previous world champions go in and they don’t even medal. It’s different. I think everyone has a different mentality going into the Olympics, even if it’s the same brackets, the same wrestlers, but there’s something different about it because of that pressure.”

Wrestling at 68 kg. in 2024 puts Elor in elite company when it comes to the U.S. team as she takes over the weight class once ruled by Tamyra Mensah-Stock, who claimed the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics. Mensah-Stock opted to sign with WWE to pursue a career in professional wrestling after the Olympics, which opened the door for Elor to take over after winning the World Championships at 72 kg.

Elor hasn’t skipped a beat in her new weight class, and she takes her role seriously as she seeks to carry on the legacy that Mensah-Stock left behind.

“I feel like I have a huge responsibility being in this weight class,” Elor said. “To carry over the role and the power that Tamyra had for all of us. She has been, just like Helen [Maroulis], a huge role model for me.

“So it’s crazy to be in her spot. It feels like it’s a huge responsibility to go out there and represent at that weight for her.”

While she’s favored to win, Elor is still the youngest member of the American wrestling team — joined by fellow 20-year-old Kennedy Blades, who is four months older — but she has plenty of people looking out for her.

She counts one-time UFC title challenger and Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann as her head coach, and there’s plenty of experienced medal winners surrounding Elor on the team. That means there’s been no shortage of wisdom being shared with Elor as she embarks on her mission for gold.

“I say throughout the past two years, I received butt-loads of advice,” Elor said with a laugh. “I’ve been on World teams with Helen, with Tamyra before she moved to WWE, and Adeline Gray. Just being on the same teams with them, traveling with them, being around them for weeks and weeks, I’ve received a lot of advice.

“Not just that, but observing them from the side and seeing how they carry themselves and how they train and what they did to prepare. Just witnessing that has helped me, and I’ve learned a lot from that.”

If there’s a downside to her immense success in wrestling at such a young age, it’s that Elor rarely gets the chance to just be a regular 20-year-old.

While most people her age are a year or two into college, going to parties and just enjoying their youth, Elor sacrificed all of that for the chance at setting records that may never be broken. There are times when Elor wishes she could just act her age, but then she remembers why she started wrestling in the first place.

“There’s times that I go to practice and I ask myself, why am I doing this?” Elor said. “Because there’s just so many other things that I wish I had time to do. But at the same time, I tell myself nothing is more worth it than embracing the grind and the preparation for this.

“I know that feeling after a big competition when you really had to dig down deep to get through everything, the preparation, the competition itself, and you just feel so proud of yourself, and you’re like, ‘I’m so happy I did that. I’m so glad I didn’t give up and I pushed through.’”

Elor kicks off her Olympics run on Monday when she faces No. 1 ranked Buse Cavusoglu Tosun from Turkey, who she pinned in just 44 seconds when they met in the quarterfinals of the World Championships in 2022. Watch that match below:

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Statement
| BJPenn.com

UFC

‘Chito’ suggested he hadn’t given his body enough time to recover after a tough loss to Sean O’Malley earlier this year.

Did Marlon Vera return to the octagon a bit too soon after taking a hellacious beating at the hands of Sean O’Malley back in March?

That’s a question “Chito” is asking himself after losing to Deiveson Figueiredo via decision on the undercard of UFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov. Figueiredo became the first fighter to ever knock Vera down in the UFC (watch the highlights where), which could just be a testament to the former flyweight champion’s power at bantamweight. But in a statement posted on social media after the event, Vera suggested the damage he took five months earlier played a part.

“I fail at myself last night,” Vera wrote on Instagram. “I thought I was ready, I felt good in the gym, but at the end maybe I come back too quick after a hard title fight.”

O’Malley outstruck Vera 232 to 89 in their five round title fight at UFC 299, earning 50-45, 50-45, 50-44 scores from the judges. Vera’s durability carried him to the final bell, but at what cost? The O’Malley fight clearly took a toll on “Chito,” one that he hopes will wear off with more time.

“Life doesn’t end here,” he continued. “I still dream about big things, I just need time to let go and reset. Thank you Abu Dhabi for your love to my family for always being by my side, and Ecuador, thank you for always lifting me up like you did in the past. Shukrahn Abu Dhabi! I’ll be back re-born.”

Vera is just 31 years old, so hopefully an extended break is all that’s needed for him to reset and re-establish himself at the top of the bantamweight division. But it’s an important reminder that fighters can only take so much damage before their body starts to betray them.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

submitted by /u/New-Ad5084 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

A Muay Thai fighter in Japan gets bonus points for creativity after unleashing a rare rolling thunder kick to earn a knockout this past weekend.

Taimu Hisai delivered the spectacular finish in his fight against Chuut Seryvanthong, which capped off the Knock Out 2024 Vol. 3 card.

The finish came during a first-round exchange where Seryvanthong pressed forward, looking to close the distance, and Hisai reacted with the rolling thunder kick, which landed flush and sent his opponent crashing to the canvas in a heap.

The unbelievable kick flattened Seryvanthong and immediately ended the fight, prompting Hisai to jump onto the ropes and celebrate his handiwork.

The rolling thunder kick pops up rarely in fights, such as when Justin Gaethje threw the maneuver against Dustin Poirier in the UFC, but that didn’t end in a knockout.

This time around, Hisai likely capped off whatever career highlight reel he’s putting together with the stunning knockout in spectacular fashion.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Two top MMA analysts aren’t buying what UFC CEO Dana White is selling when it comes to some of his post-fight remarks at UFC 304.

UFC 304 in Manchester last month featured two impressive title wins, capped off by Belal Muhammad’s upset victory over Leon Edwards in the main event. UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall retained his belt with a wild finish to Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event.

While the top of the card delivered plenty of storylines, UFC 304 featured seven consecutive decisions, a streak snapped by Paddy Pimblett’s submission of King Green on the main card. The UFC 304 fights began in the middle of the night in Manchester, leading to some low-output showings in the Octagon.

After UFC 304, White appeared to dismiss that the unideal fight times had an impact on the event quality. This was despite some fight fans in attendance falling asleep at the venue as the matchups played out.

Dana White Questioned For Scathing Post-UFC 304 Comments

During a recent episode of Weighing In, ‘Big’ John McCarthy picked apart White’s disgruntled post-UFC 304 comments.

“When you’re pointing one finger forward, there’s three coming back at you Josh and you got to look at those and you gotta say well, we did put these fighters in a position where they were fighting at 3 o’clock in the morning, 4 o’clock in the morning, 5 o’clock in the morning,” McCarthy said of White. “No one works out at those times, no one fights at those times. It is an unusual situation and even if you try to prepare for it, it’s odd. It’s just an odd time for you, your body doesn’t feel the same, you don’t feel like you’re on top of things.” (h/t MMANews)

McCarthy’s co-host, former UFC standout Josh Thomson, didn’t hold back in his criticism of White’s post-event remarks.

“You kind of offset both parties by doing this,” Thomson said of White. “What happens is when you go to another country and they’re there five days before, some of them get there seven days before, some of the staff, and sometimes that’s not good. But, what I’m saying though is that now you’ve asked them to stay awake during the night so they can be awake during the night…

“So, the ones that come from the states that work for the UFC, their body clock is trying to change to get adjusted to the UK time when in fact they can’t because their show is at 5 in the morning,” Thomson continued on White. “Then, the fighters that are there, they’re getting all screwed up because they’re having to fight when they’re normally sleeping. So you really kind of messed up both sides of this equation. You messed it up for the people that work for the promotion and some of the fighters that came over having to fight.”

White has shown zero intentions of modifying future UK event start times after UFC 304. Aspinall and others pleaded with White and the UFC matchmakers to change the event schedule ahead of UFC 304, to no avail.

LowKickMMA.com

UFC

submitted by /u/Sad-Range7489 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts