CombatSports.org

Leon Edwards has outlined his hopes of trying to become a two-weight world champion if he’s able to keep hold of the welterweight title this Saturday at UFC 304.

His third title defense comes in Manchester against Belal Muhammad but whilst “Rocky” has plans to go up, the champion at the weight class below may have something to say about that.

Lightweight king Islam Makhachev also wants a shot at champ-champ status in the near future and Edwards has been open to that idea in the past.

Despite Makhachev being considered by many to be the most in-form fighter in the world right now, the welterweight champion’s coach believes that he isn’t a big threat to Edwards’ title.

Dave Lovell Questions If Islam Makhachev Would Be Able To Cause Leon Edwards Problems

During an interview with Submission Radio, Team Renegade’s Dave Lovell spoke about how he sees a fight between Makhachev and his fighter playing out.

Lovell doesn’t believe that the lightweight champion is a major concern to Edwards for a few different reasons.

As he points out, “Rocky” is very used to fighting the top grapplers in his weight class at this point and has proven to be very effective against them.

With Makhachev moving up in weight there will be a clear size difference between the two men and that gives Lovell confidence that “Rocky” would be too big and too skilled should the fight ever happen.

“Would he be big enough? Would he have the same effect that he has at his weight now? I don’t think so. Has he met a sharp shooter like Leon? No he hasn’t. Again, what can Islam bring to Leon? Size wise, Leon’s physically bigger than him, outreaches him.

“So again, he’s going to resort to what he knows which is his wrestling so it’s just unfortunate that you look at the last guys Leon fought. Usman twice, Colby, all wrestlers. Now Belal, wrestler. So, Islam is not known for his striking. They’re known for their wrestling and basically, Leon’s improving, people don’t understand.”

• Read More: Jon Jones Told He ‘Cannot Do Anything But Acknowledge That Victory’ If Tom Aspinall Defeats Curtis Blaydes At UFC 304

Continue Reading Leon Edwards’ Coach Dismisses Makhachev’s Chances In Potential Super Fight: ‘Islam Is Not Known For His Striking…’ at MMA News.

MMA News

UFC

submitted by /u/SexyBeefer [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kayla Harrison doesn’t care for Julianna Peña or her unfounded accusations.

Known as one of the most brash fighters in all of women’s MMA, Peña once again grabbed headlines for what she said outside of the cage recently instead of her performances inside of it, this time accusing Harrison of using performance-enhancing drugs. Peña offered little in the way of evidence to support her claim but remained adamant that there was “no question” Harrison used PEDs, if not now than previously in her career. And unsurprisingly, Harrison didn’t take kindly to those aspersions.

“It pisses me off,” Harrison said Monday on The MMA Hour. “Number one, it pisses me off because never once have I tested positive for anything, ever, in the history of my very long drug-testing career. And number two, don’t f*cking say things like that if you don’t have hard evidence. That’s a serious thing to talk about, to me. I take cheating very seriously.

“I have always competed clean, I carry myself to a high standard, and I know that I haven’t always competed against people who were clean, but I’m not going to throw accusations out just because I feel like I think they’re not clean. That’s bullshit. And I think it’s bullshit because she’s just building in an excuse for when I whoop her ass.

“So I’m annoyed by it, and at the same time, what a compliment. I’m 100 percent natty and you all think I’m on steroids. Because God forbid anyone ever work hard and be disciplined and have a great team around them and have results from that. God forbid anyone train from the time they were six years until until the time they’re 34 years old and develop a physique that was built to beat the shit out of people. God forbid someone believe in themselves and work hard and succeed. It’s f*cked up. She’s got to be cheating!”

Of all the fighters to accuse of taking PEDs, Harrison is uniquely well-prepared to defend herself from the claims. A two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, Harrison has been competing and submitting to drug tests for over two decades, explaining that she first signed up with USADA 22 years ago.

“Twelve [years old]. I was in middle school,” Harrison said when asked about her drug-testing history. “I remember it vividly because they went to my middle school and I was actually home sick that day. I was in the top five on the national roster for judo, and once you enter the top five, you automatically go into USADA’s drug testing pool.

“I’ve never failed a single test, never had anything. I think I’ve had — not a failed test but where you miss [the tester], they come and you’re not [there], I’ve had maybe two or three of those my whole life. There was a point where I was getting drug-tested — because you also get drug tested in competition by WADA when you compete on the international circuit — there was a point, I think in December of 2015 before the Olympics, where I got drug tested in China, drug tested in Korea, drug tested in Japan, then I came home and got drug tested. So I got drug tested four times in the span of one month.”

And while Peña may view her accusations as simply fight promotion, for Harrison, it’s more than that.

“It pisses me off because I’ve worked really hard my whole life an to be an athlete and to be a competitor,” Harrison said. “In my mind, we are held to a different standard. I would never make false accusations, because what I say, the public takes in and now is going to spew out because Julianna Pena says I’m on steroids. So to me, I’m not ever going to say something about someone unless I know it’s true, because I’m in the spotlight and people listen to what I say. To me it just shows no class.”

One day, Harrison may get the opportunity to make Peña pay for her words. The two-time PFL champion made her UFC debut back in April, submitting Holly Holm at UFC 300. The win immediately inserted Harrison into the bantamweight title picture, which is where her sights are currently set. And should she get there, Harrison knows that it will be entirely due to her own hard work.

“I just don’t care anymore,” Harrison said. “I know the truth and I’m happy with everything I’ve accomplished and I’m going to accomplish. And I’ll never fail a drug test. You know why? Because I don’t f*cking cheat.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Just days after Mike Perry was easily beaten in the boxing ring, his opponent Jake Paul decided to propose an offer to him.

Perry has been on a tear since leaving the UFC for bare knuckle boxing over three years ago. The self-proclaimed ‘King of Violence’ became the face of BKFC during that time, but his stature in combat sports took a hit last time out.

Taking on the Jake Paul challenge as many MMA fighters did before him, Mike Perry agreed to meet Jake between the ropes but it didn’t take long for the surging boxer to take the initiative.

The YouTube star put on a flawless display before finishing Perry in the sixth round. BKFC shareholder Conor McGregor didn’t like what he saw from his prized asset, thus telling ‘Platinum’ that he no longer has a home in his company.

“Hey, Mike, you’re released,” McGregor said on X. “You can go and compete in your smelly, dirty boxing championship thing, the smell of it, good luck. You’re fired.”

Hey Mike youre released and you can go and compete in your smelly dirty boxing championship thing, the smell of it, good luck. You’re fired. @bareknucklefc

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 21, 2024

Mike Perry has since responded to Conor McGregor, insisting he too owns a part of the company and cannot be fired. 

Related: Mike Perry reacts to Conor McGregor saying he’s fired from BKFC: ‘He can’t fire me’

Though, if Perry ever wanted to part ways with BKFC and venture into something new, Jake Paul may have just provided that opportunity. Shortly after getting his hand raised against the UFC veteran, the influencer sent a proposal to the Michigan native.

“Mike Perry, as you got fired by Conor McGregor from BKFC, we will hire you at Betr into a partnership and give you some sort of role.”

“We’ll figure out what that’s going to be. Betr has a job for you, Mike Perry.”

“We can maybe start a podcast with him or something; we’ll figure it out.”

Listen to what Jake Paul had to say about Mike Perry and more below.

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

UFC

submitted by /u/Weekly_Bug [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Terence Crawford could still have his biggest fight ahead of him.

Forty fights into his undefeated boxing career, Crawford doesn’t have much left to prove. This Saturday at a Riyadh Season event in Los Angeles, he moves up to the super welterweight division to fight Israil Madrimov for a vacant WBA title — and after that, he may just move up a couple more weight classes for the right opponent.

That opponent? The great Canelo Alvarez.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Crawford was asked what weight class he’d be willing to take on the larger Canelo at, and he didn’t hesitate to give a number.

“One hundred sixty-eight [pounds],” Crawford said. “If that’s the fight in front of me, then yes.”

Crawford, 36, has spent the majority of his career competing anywhere from 135 to 147 pounds, capturing titles in three divisions along the way, and he targets another with his move to 154 pounds against Madrimov. Jumping up to 168 pounds for a bout with Canelo, 34, would be the heaviest Crawford has ever weighed for a fight, by far.

Undefeated welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis also looms as a potential opponent after recently defeating David Avanesyan to retain his IBF title, which was promoted from interim status due to Crawford (since stripped of his share of the IBF title) being expected to rematch Errol Spence Jr. at some point in the future rather than face Ennis.

Unfortunately for Ennis, Crawford would prefer a matchup with Canelo, with the understanding that it would likely require the involvement of Riyadh Season promoter Turki Alalshikh.

“Being where I’m at right now, I’m looking at the fight that makes the most sense. and that’s not ‘Boots,’” Crawford said. “Canelo’s going to bring way more to my legacy, way more to my bank account, because at the end of the day when boxing is done with, what will we have? I want to have a legacy that’s something that people talk about for the ages, and not only that, I want to have a bank account that lasts as well.”

“I think it would be everybody’s choice. Canelo would have to agree, I would have to agree, Turki would have to agree because he’s the one that’s dishing out the money, so a lot of moving parts got to be involved in that fight.”

As for Spence, who Crawford defeated by ninth-round TKO in July 2023, Crawford is still waiting for the call to make their rematch official.

“I didn’t hear anything from Team Spence or his handlers after the fight, so everything just kind of went cold turkey,” Crawford said.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

He can get the smoke!
| BJPenn.com

Sour grapes?

Michael Bisping wants to remind you “there are weight classes in combat sports for a reason.”

I guess “The Count” — a former light heavyweight — forgot he ducked Yoel Romero to book himself a title fight against a puffed-up welterweight back in late 2018. Perhaps losing to Georges St-Pierre by way of submission has since soured the retired ex-champ, or maybe he just hates celebrity boxer Jake Paul.

Understandable, when you consider how many times “El Gallo” has whooped former UFC fighters.

That includes Paul’s sixth-round technical knockout victory over Mike Perry last weekend in Tampa, a fight Bisping predicted would end in favor of “Platinum.”

Oops.

“Jake Paul, I think he’s made a tremendous mistake here,” Bisping said on YouTube ahead of the “Fear No Man” pay-per-view (PPV) event. “[Perry is] a real fighter. He’s gonna get in shape, he’s not afraid to mix it up. He’s gonna go right at Jake Paul. Not the way Nate Diaz did. He’s gonna go forward with close, tight, sharp, powerful hooks. He’s gonna be in shape. The man has got a chin and the fire still burns. Mike Perry’s a brawler, man. Mike Perry’s gonna get in his face. Mike Perry, if this fight actually does go down, will destroy Jake Paul. You heard it here first.”

Perry did go right at Paul and was in shape … and got smoked anyway.

Not surprisingly, a bitter Bisping changed his tune immediately after the fight, now insisting the bout should have never taken place to begin with.

“Coming into this fight, I think myself, I think the whole fight community, everyone was behind Mike Perry, but the reality was he was too small,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “There are weight classes in boxing, in combat sports for a reason. It was only until the fight started — when I saw them both with their shirts off and just the gloves and the shoes on and the shorts — that I realized just the discrepancy in the size. Jake Paul was about twice the size of him. The weight difference (was) going to be insane.”

I’m assuming Bisping missed their shirtless face off.

If Paul was “twice the size” of Perry he would stand 11’8” and weight over 400 pounds. That’s not quite as silly as Conor McGregor claiming Nate Diaz was “three times the size” of “Notorious” at both UFC 196 and UFC 202, but it’s up there.

I guess MMA math isn’t just for UFC records anymore.

“Well done to Jake Paul if that’s what you want to see,” Bisping continued. “That was a farce. That was ridiculous. That fight should have never even taken place in the first place because it was a sh*t show. Jake Paul was by far the bigger guy and, as I’ve said, there are weight classes for a reason. Jake Paul grinds my gears. Let’s be honest: He does because of all the sh*t talk, of how great that he thinks he is. Then he cherry picks these opponents that are way smaller and less experienced.”

Bisping, now 45, had a fantastic, hall-of-fame career and was an important part of building the UFC brand in Europe. Why someone with his accolades is continually bothered by the antics of Paul is puzzling, unless “The Count” is hoping to score his own fight against “El Gallo” after missing the boat back in early 2021.

MMAmania.com – All Posts