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Darren Till couldn’t believe what he was watching on Saturday in his combat sports return.

The one-time UFC title challenger competed for the first time since December 2022 when he made his boxing debut in a four-round exhibition match against Mohammad Mutie at Social Knockout 3. While Till ultimately emerged victorious, that wasn’t the biggest story. Instead, a bizarre scene unfolded after Mutie complained of a punch to the back of the head midway through the second round, leading to a chaotic brawl overtaking the ring.

“Mate, you’re an MMA fighter and you’re a fighter. This shit happens,” Till said Monday on The MMA Hour. “You’re rolling around on the floor for 20 minutes? Like, paramedics in there? And I’m just looking in disbelief, I’m like, ‘Is this really happening in my return?’ I just couldn’t believe it. I just think he just wanted a way out. He just felt my power in there, he knew I was finding my range, I was probably going to knock him out in that round. That’s what I was thinking in my head. And then, yeah, get the win off that, and then hell ensued.”

Till, 31, confirmed he inadvertently hit Mutie in back the head during a punching exchange but remains baffled by the scene that followed.

After rolling around in seeming distress in the center of the ring, Mutie stood up and aggressively charged at Till. The Liverpudlian flicked out a left hand to keep Mutie at bay, and things quickly devolved from there, with both teams rushing into the ring and kicking off a wild fracas. At one point, Mutie even wrestled Till to the canvas with a single-leg takedown. The contest was ultimately called a second-round TKO in Till’s favor.

“I’m just chilling. I’m just watching him on the floor, just like rolling around. I’m like, this guy’s not a fighter, he’s just a coward,” Till recounted. “And then he comes over to me, he’s like, ‘I wanted to fight, the ref didn’t let me fight.’ I was like, ‘Mate, save it.’

“I said, ‘I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear excuses. Just jog on. See you later.’ And then he started shouting stuff and that. I said, ‘Mate, look, I think you’re a coward.’ And then I think he thought that, like, people were going to hold him back. He ran at me, and as he ran at me, I just went back to the striking days.”

According to Till, both the promoter of the event and the local police in Dubai called Mutie “a disgrace” for the debacle. Till said someone even kicked him amid the craziness and he’s not happy about it, but at the end of the day, all that matters is he emerged unscathed.

After accepting the bout on a lark as a means to get his wet feet in boxing and jump back into action after his July 20 bout with Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. fell through, Till is choosing to look at his viral debut through the lens of all press being good press in the fight game.

“You know what? The guy probably did us a favor, because look online,” Till said. “The whole world is talking about it, so it’s a good thing. It’s not a bad thing. Darren Till is always in the middle of some shite.

“But shit happens, mate. I’ve been brawls all my life. I’ve been amongst the chaos all my life. So look, it’s just another day in the office. Got the first [boxing] win … and now all these big fights, what I’ve been campaigning for, they’re going to come. So all in all, mate, bit of a mad week, last-minute fight, all good.”

Among those potentially big fights, Till continued to call out Mike Perry and Jake Paul. He also floated fellow UFC veterans Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal as possible opponents for his next outing in the sweet science.

Notably, Diaz and Masvidal met in the boxing ring on Saturday as well, with Diaz winning a 10-round majority decision. That fight was Masvidal’s first boxing match since 2005.

Of course, Till has his own history with Masvidal, having previously suffered a knockout loss to “Gamebred” in the UFC back in 2019.

But regardless of where he goes from here, there’s one name Till surely won’t be facing in his next boxing venture — and that’s the “coward” Mutie himself.

“There was a definitive winner, mate. The guy was rolling around for 20 minutes on the floor,” Till said when asked about a rematch. “He’s had his five minutes of fame. That was just a get-me-out-quick thing. He was never, ever going to win the fight. He was never going to do anything. He knows that as well. Even before the fight, he knew that.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kamaru Usman doesn’t think Nate Diaz has any business competing for UFC title.

Though that may seem obvious to most fight fans, the possibility was raised by Diaz himself after he defeated Jorge Masvidal in a boxing match in Anaheim, Calif., this past Saturday. Diaz called for a rematch with either Jake Paul or UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards, the latter of which is a suggestion Usman balks at.

On his Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman argued that Diaz belongs nowhere near a legitimate title shot at this stage of his career.

“Nate Diaz is on completely tail end of his career,” Usman said. “Yes, of course, he’s made a great name for himself, big shout-out to Nate Diaz for still having that notoriety to be able to go out there and still get paychecks like this, because he’s getting all these good fights on the outside.

“But come on, to say Nate Diaz is going to come back in and walk into fighting world-class mixed martial arts fighters right now in the UFC, come on. That’s absurd. That’s crazy.”

Usman’s co-host Henry Cejudo asked him if he believes Diaz is no longer the contender he once was, and Usman didn’t equivocate with his answer.

“No,” Usman said. “He was. And don’t get me wrong, shout-out to Nate Diaz, Nate Diaz can still fight. But he’s not a world-class fighter. Are you crazy? Are you crazy? Throw Nate Diaz in there with Shavkat Rakhmonov. Throw Nate Diaz in there with myself. Throw Nate Diaz in there with [Jack Della Maddalena]. Throw Nate Diaz in there with Justin Gaethje. Come on.”

Cejudo argued that Diaz’s name value and history with Edwards would at least have the matchmakers considering the possibility. Diaz fought Edwards at UFC 263 in June 2021, and though Edwards dominated the majority of the bout, a late strike from Edwards had the future champion visibly wobbled. It’s a moment that has become an indelible part of Diaz lore.

However, Usman isn’t convinced that the oft-repeated highlight should matter when appraising a potential matchup.

“Nate landed a sneaky punch after Leon beat the dog crap out of him for four and a half rounds,” Usman said. “At the end of the day, he landed it, it was an incredible punch, but that does not warrant him — because of that, he had one moment in the fight, we’re going to give him a title shot just because? Get serious.”

Usman made sure to praise Diaz for his durability, longevity, and drawing power, but stopped short of agreeing with the notion that Diaz should simply skip any of the contender lines in the UFC.

If Diaz is still looking for big names to fight, Usman likes the idea of Diaz following up on Paul’s previous big-money offer to fight him inside PFL, or a Conor McGregor trilogy bout that has loomed for years since their memorable two-fight series in 2016.

“Nate Diaz, PFL and Jake Paul will offer you $ 15 million to go into MMA and fight him in MMA. I’m taking that, Nate Diaz,” Usman said. “That, I think he actually wins that fight like that. Shout-out to Nate Diaz, I think he actually wins a fight like that.”

“If Nate Diaz decides, hey, I don’t want to just go take $ 15 million — if that’s the number — to fight Jake Paul in mixed martial arts, the Conor McGregor fight’s still there,” Usman added. “That’s a huge one.”

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Heavy heart
| BJPenn.com

Bobby Green really wants to be king.

Unfortunately for the No. 15-ranked lightweight, the monarchy ended with George III back in 1783, so unless he somehow infiltrates England’s royal family, the only way for Green to be legally recognized as “King” is to change his name.

Mission accomplished.

“I know I worked so hard at Bobby Green but the point was to show you go from nothing to a King,” Green posted on social media, along with a series of legal documents and the hashtag #kingarmy.

Opponent Paddy Pimblett wasted no time mocking the newly-crowned King.

“This mushroom has actually changed his name to King,” Pimblett wrote. “So you can officially call me the Kingslayer on July 28th.”

“The Baddy” looks to settle their longstanding score at UFC 304.

Pimblett (21-3) is undefeated in five trips to the Octagon and was last seen capturing a unanimous decision victory over the fading Tony Ferguson at UFC 296. As for Green (32-15-1, 1 NC), he rebounded from a knockout loss to Jalin Turner to outpoint Jim Miller at UFC 300 back in April.

For the current UFC 304 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Aljamain Sterling is changing courses.

Earlier this year, Sterling made his featherweight debut, taking a dominant unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. The win earned Sterling a place in the featherweight top 10, and afterward, “The Funk Master” looked to fast track himself to a title shot with a fight against undefeated contender Movsar Evloev. However, Sterling and Evloev seem to be at odds over the possible matchup, and so now Sterling is shifting his focus to one of the hottest names in the 145-pound division: Diego Lopes.

“Stay tuned. Hopefully we’ll have some fight news for you guys. I’m thinking about Aljamain Sterling vs. Diego Lopes as The Sphere,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “That has a nice ring to it.

“Movsar, I don’t know what the hell he’s doing. I gave him a date, he hasn’t accepted yet. He started making all these excuses. Either you want to fight on my terms or I’ll go fight somebody else. So, Diego Lopes, if you oblige, let’s make it happen at The Sphere, September 14. Let’s get it!”

MMA Fighting’s 2023 Rookie of the Year, Lopes took UFC by storm after impressing in his short-notice octagon debut against Evloev. He then scored three first-round finishes in his next three fights, including an impressive win over Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 300.

Most recently, Lopes again grabbed headlines when he accepted a fight with Brian Ortega on short notice for UFC 303, and then fought Dan Ige on just a few hours notice when Ortega pulled out on fight day. Lopes not only won the fight, but he also won the favor of UFC CEO Dana White, who suggested he “will do anything” Lopes and Ige want after fighting under those circumstances.

Last week, Lopes called for a fight with former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, if the Brian Ortega matchup could not be re-booked for the planned UFC 306 card at The Sphere in Las Vegas. But with Volkanovski insisting his next 145-pound fight will be for the title, perhaps Lopes will settle for a different former champion instead.

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Andrew Tate still has some fight left in him.

On Saturday night, Tate was introduced as one of the lead sponsors for the Social Knockout 3 card in Dubai — the same event where ex-UFC star Darren Till made his pro boxing debut, followed promptly by an all-out brawl when his opponent disagreed with the ruling.

Awaiting trial for a slew of criminal charges in Romania, Tate could not attend the event in person. Instead, he delivered a video message to fans in attendance, teasing his potential return to the ring.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by TK Fight Night (@tkfightnight)

“My name is Andrew Tate, the Top G and you’ve probably realized by now that the show is sponsored by Cobratate.com,” Tate said.

“Unfortunately I cannot be at the event in person, I am still being constrained by the system but I am watching remotely from here in Bucharest, Romania and the show looks fantastic. I want to give a huge congratulations to Tam Khan [promoter] and I want to wish a lot of luck to all of the fighters who are fighting tonight, give it your all. I’m thinking of course you’re going to see me at a future Social Knockout event.

“But do you want to see me in the crowd or do you want to see me in the ring to see what moves I have left? I’m not too old yet, they haven’t damaged me that much yet, I’ve got a few moves left so stay tuned. Once again, congratulations to everybody and I can’t wait to be there in person” (h/t Bloody Elbow).

Social Knockout 4 ‘Will be the return’ of Andrew Tate

TK Fight Night, the account that shared the video on Instagram, also captioned the click revealing that Social Knockout 4 will feature “the return” of Andrew Tate.

“Social Knockout 4 will be the return of the Top G himself…. You think this event went viral? Just wait for the next!”

No announcements have been made regarding the date or location of SK4.

Andrew Tate has not competed in kickboxing since 2020 when he scored a second-round TKO against Cosmin Lingurar at KO Masters 8 in Bucharest. Overall, Tate has a record of 76-9-1, though that has been the subject of some dispute given the poor record-keeping of kickboxing bouts in the UK and Europe.

He only has one mixed martial arts fight under his belt, a 2010 knockout of Shane Kavanagh at Ultimate Warrior Challenge 13 in Essex, England.

LowKickMMA.com

Wasting no time following his impressive performance against Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night, Nate Diaz was spotted smoking weed backstage to celebrate.

Diaz is unapologetically himself and has been throughout the years in combat sports. The 39-year-old is a vivid marijuana smoker and even has his own CBD oil company called GAME UP Nutrition, alongside his brother Nick Diaz. Unfortunately for his Nick, marijuana was once an illegal substance and smoking it cost him the best years of his career after he was banned from competing for 5 years back in 2015.

Luckily for Nate Diaz, cannabis has since been legalised in the state of California, so he can smoke freely. That was the case for the UFC veteran after his decision victory over Jorge Masvidal. 

Nate was spotted backstage alongside his team, enjoying the fruits of his labor. Check it out below.

Pre parrting after the Diaz fight pic.twitter.com/yKF0YPLtAx

— Jake Shields (@jakeshieldsajj) July 7, 2024

Despite entering the fight as a slight underdog, Nate Diaz proved he can still put on high-level displays.

Both Diaz and Jorge Masvidal performed to their best and put on a memorable showing for viewers. The clash arguably exceeded expectations and did a great job in capturing headlines despite Darren Till’s post-fight brawl earlier that night.

Related: Darren Till involved in huge brawl after unfortunate end to boxing debut

What’s next for Nate Diaz?

Diaz’s win now puts him in a good position for his next career move.

While he has a number of options, the BMF title challenger has plans on returning to the UFC. 

A future meeting with the welterweight champion Leon Edwards is the ideal matchup for Nate Diaz, but there’s another potential option for him.

After revealing he wants to return to the octagon, the aging star put a target on his back. One man who looks keen on welcoming the vet back is three-time UFC title contender Dustin Poirier.

‘The Diamond’ confirmed his interest in running their canceled matchup back on social media.

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