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Boxing superstar Ryan Garcia is clearly in a bad way.

Fortune and fame are great, but it’s become more than apparent that “King” has some issues to sort through. It’s difficult to even describe his last six months as a rise and fall, because even in the lead up to his high-profile victory over Devin Haney — since overturned to a “No Contest” — there were plenty of troubling signs of substance abuse and general mental health concerns.

Chugging a beer at weigh-ins is not the sign of an athlete with his head on straight.

On Thursday, the suspended boxer shot himself in the foot once more with a wildly racist and uncomfortable rant, in which Garcia used the N word repeatedly and tackled subjects like George Floyd and pedophilia. Subsequently, he was quickly expelled from the WBC, though there could be longer term consequences for his words as well.

Since then, Garcia has issued a lengthy apology. Simultaneously, he “takes all responsibility” while also claiming to be “misunderstood.” Really, the entire apology is a strange jumble of words (read in full below), but the most important bit came in a separate social media post that read, “I’m going to rehab, btw.”

“I take all responsibility for my words. I’m misunderstood, I just got a lot of trauma. And It’s been a tough couple of months as everyone can tell but I AM SORRY. I struggle with substance abuse and it hard for me with everything going on. I actually love black people no cap which is why I’m actually said I offended all my black family and friends. This sucks but all I can do is be better and stop using stupid words and letting some people in my circle hype me up. Sorry everyone that I offended. I still stand on stopping black on black crime And that I hate pedo’s so that will always remain something I stand on.”

While that was the main apology, Garcia continued to rant on social media afterward. Primarily, he complained about other boxers saying questionably racist phrases, like Tim Bradley calling him a “zoo animal” or Devin Haney’s claim that he’ll “never lose to a white boy.”

Certainly, there’s room for off-color trash talk in combat sports, but Garcia found and crossed the line. Hopefully, he’s telling the truth about his planned rehab stint and can get the help he needs.

Insomnia

Being able to fight often is an overlooked benefit to effortlessly knocking out all your opposition.

Rear naked choke will always be king, but I expect d’arce to rise above armbar on a long enough timeline.

Some interesting wrestling from Bantamweight prospect Rei Tsuruya:

A technical dive into lead hand feinting and movement from the open stance:

Based solely on this clip, I’m thinking Portuguese and Czech don’t have a ton of crossover.

Heavyweight Jon Jones moving some weight and getting his cardio in:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Kholmirzaev was able to transition belly down so quickly because his opponent failed to put pressure into him and stack. Slick!

Right low kick and jump knee is an underrated double threat.

A trade of right hands, but Aoyagi closed the door with his left hook afterward.

Random Land

Views from above.

Midnight Music: Soul, 1972

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting will have Social Knockout 3 results and more the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Saturday morning.

Former UFC veteran Darren Till will compete in his first combat sports fight since departing the UFC when he takes on MMA veteran Moh Mutie in one of the featured fights on the main card. Till hasn’t fought since losing to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 282 on Dec. 10, 2022.

Salt Papi is also slated to fight on the main card when he squares off against Dawood Savage. Papi defeated Amadeusz Ferrari via third-round TKO in his last outing at Misfits Boxing 14 this past May.

Check out Social Knockout 3 results below.

Main card (EX-Sports App at 10 a.m. ET)

Shero vs. Mo Vlogs

Darren Till vs. Moh Mutie

Erali Boykobilov vs. Abdu Rozik

Salt Papi vs. Dawood Savage

Hamad Zai vs. Adam Eddine

Adnan Sultan vs. Fox the G

Nikita Ionin vs. Farren

Tyson vs. Gio Basurto

Tamara vs. Barber Bee

Botvinkov vs. Jake Purdy

Michael Noku vs. El Gwapito

Meziadi vs. Aminov

Issa vs. Ally

V Bharany vs. Komsan

Boyi Ajay vs. Tony Curtis

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Former undisputed strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk may have officially called time on his career in combat sports – as well as received an induction into the UFC Hall of Fame, however, if a symbolic BMF championship was introduced for female competitors, she would definitely make a comeback.

Jedrzejczyk, a former undisputed strawweight champion under the banner of the promotion, received her induction into the Modern Wing of the promotion’s Hall of Fame last weekend during International Fight Week, following a storied career in mixed martial arts.

Competing for the final time two years ago in Singapore, Jedrzejczyk suffered a stunning second round spinning back-fist knockout loss to current 115lbs champion, Zhang Weili – in the pair’s rematch clash.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk calls for female BMF title fight

Enjoying a stunning career during her pomp, Polish striking sensation, Jedrzejczyk has admitted on numerous occasions she would love to make a return to fighting – and would do so most definitely for a BMF title outing.

“I would love to [fight],” Joanna Jedrzejczyk told Cageside Press. “But I don’t have a name in my head. I don’t know – whoever. I’m not afraid to fight anybody, that’s the thing. Of course, when they brought my name [up as a BMF contender], I texted Hunter (Campbell) right away.”

“I was like, ‘So, Hunter, what do you thin about me fighting for the female BMF belt?” Joanna Jedrzejczyk explained. “And he was like, ‘No, you don’t need more titles.’ if they [the UFC] create the BMF for women, I want to be the first [to fight for it]. I would come out of my retirement to fight for the BMF belt. Let’s go.”

Ending her career boasting a 16-5 professional record, Jedrzejczyk claimed the strawweight title with a blistering knockout win over inaugural champion, Carla Esparza back in 2015, before racking up consecutive successful title defenses against Jessica Penna, Valerie Letourneau, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and former champion, Jessica Andrade.

In her most recent win, Jedrzejczyk landed a unanimous decision win over Michelle Waterson in the main event of UFC Fight Night Tampa back in 2019 – with the latter calling time on her own career over the course of last weekend at UFC 303.

Would you like to see Joanna Jedrzejczyk compete for a woman’s BMF title?

LowKickMMA.com

During a recent appearance on the Today Show Australia, Israel Adesanya took the moment to congratulate a former opponent on his recent victory.

Robert Whittaker produced back-to-back wins when he stopped Ikram Aliskerov in the late-notice main event of UFC Fight Night Saudi Arabia on June 22.

“The Reaper” is now back into the title picture after getting Aliskerov out of there in the first round to build on his decision victory against Paulo Costa at UFC 298 this past February.

Adesanya and Whittaker have met two times inside the Octagon, with “The Last Stylebender” coming out on top on both occasions.

While reacting to footage of his iconic UFC 243 walkout in Melbourne, the Nigerian-New Zealander took a second to praise his Australian peer.

“I was fighting the local hero, Rob Whittaker, who just actually had a great win a week or two weeks ago, but I was fighting him here.

“It was beautiful. Robbie’s that guy. We fought twice. We always have history but it was good to see him back in the win column, and he’s coming for me, so I got to stay ready.”

Israel Adesanya Says Dricus Du Plessis Feud Is About Respecting ‘The Guys Who Came Before You’

If Adesanya’s fight with Whittaker — which pitted Australia and New Zealand up against one another — was a big deal, it has nothing on the grudge match that is on deck for UFC 305.

“The Last Stylebender” is set to finally go up against the current middleweight world champion, South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis, and it’s safe to say that they don’t see eye-to-eye.

Much of the tension between them stems from comments made by Du Plessis about how him winning the middleweight title and bringing it back to Africa would make him the first true African champion because he still lives and trains out of the continent.

Adesanya spoke about this during his recent TV appearance, stating that the lack of respect being shown to the people that came before the current champion is where he feels his next opponent crossed the line.

“For me, it’s you have to honor the guys who came before you. He’s the guy saying, ‘I’m the real African champion,’ but look, you wouldn’t have been able to do what you’re doing at home in South Africa if myself, Francis Ngannou, and Kamaru (Usman) didn’t pave the way for you. So you have to respect your elders and I’ll make sure I do that to him.”

Du Plessis and Adesanya will headline the UFC 305 pay-per-view event in Perth, Australia, on August 17. The bout comes almost a year on from the latter’s most recent appearance, an upset loss to Sean Strickland in Sydney.

• Read More: Robert Whittaker Has Sympathy For Referees In MMA Despite Bad High-Profile Calls: ‘Nobody Talks About A Ref Doing A Good Job…’ (Exclusive)

Continue Reading Israel Adesanya Has Kind Words For Robert Whittaker After His Big Win Over Ikram Aliskerov: ‘Robbie’s That Guy!’ at MMA News.

MMA News

Former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski took some time off following his knockout loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 in February.  Back to training, “The Great” looks to the future.

Topuria is expected to defend the 145-pound belt against former titleholder Max Holloway later this year.  In the meantime, Volkanovski would like to take on some big names in the lightweight division while he waits for a featherweight title shot. 

“For me right now, what excites me?” Volkanovski said on Israel Adesanya’s YouTube channel.  “The things that excite me in featherweight, it’s just the belt – obviously the rematch and the belt? That’s big. I’m still that competitor where, ‘All right, this is my division. I’m getting it back. I want that win back’ – things like that. So it’s going to be there. But then at lightweight, let’s have some fun while we’re waiting. I think they’re probably going to do Max and Ilia September.

“I told the UFC I didn’t want to fight till later in the year. I really committed to that in my head. Now I’ve started training, I’m like, ‘I wish I didn’t tell them that.’ So I did that, but that’s fair. I did say, ‘Look, I don’t want to wait too long, either.’ I’m in a position now where if they do that and they want me to fight in bloody March or something, or April, I was like, ‘Oh, well, all right, I’m going to fight a lightweight. Give me exciting fights.’”

While waiting to see how Topuria and Holloway plays out, Volkanovski wants to fight a couple of top lightweights.  During the interview, Volkanovski mentioned two names in the 155-pound weight class that he’s be excited to face.

“I want an exciting fighter like a Charles Oliveira,” Volkanovski said. “I did call out [Dustin] Poirier after that. He’s a great dude. We get along. I think he’s a good man and he’s obviously a big, fun fight. There’s still history there with mutual opponents. He used to fight at featherweight, things like that, and obviously a big name, fun fight, that would be. So that’s exciting.

“Charles Oliveira, there’s a lot of exciting fights that I would love to do while I’m waiting as well. So yeah – just whatever excites me. The belt excites me. Ilia, obviously, rematch excites me. So that’s the main thing in the featherweight. I wouldn’t just fight anyone in featherweight because my next fight’s for the title, and that’s that.”

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

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal live round-by-round updates for one of the most anticipated boxing fights of the year at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The main event is expected to begin around 12 a.m. ET on DAZN and PPV.com pay-per-view. Check out our Diaz vs. Masvidal results page to find out what happened on the undercard.

Nate Diaz (0-1) will try to bounce back from his unanimous decision loss to Jake Paul this past August in his professional boxing debut.

Jorge Masvidal (1-0) hasn’t had a pro boxing fight since 2005. He defeated Joseph Benjamin via majority decision. He hasn’t competed since losing his final UFC fight to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 via unanimous decision on April 2023.

Check out the Diaz vs. Masvidal live blog below:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Round 9:

Round 10:

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

One-time UFC title challenger Darren Till is set for his return to action.

In his first fight since parting ways with the UFC, Till will compete in four-round cruiserweight matchup against Moh Mutie on the main card of Saturday’s Social Knockout 3 boxing event at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. On Friday, Till and Mutie went face-to-face at the event’s ceremonial weigh-ins, where the energy levels were off the charts for both competitors.

Check out their final faceoff below.

Till weighed in at 199.5 pounds, while Motie hit the scale at 200.2 pounds.

Till steps into combat for his first bout since a stoppage loss to current UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis at UFC 282 in December 2022. “The Gorilla” made 12 octagon appearances, going 6-5-1, but dropped three straight, and five of six before moving on from the company. The 31-year-old fought for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 228 in September 2018, suffering a second-round TKO loss to Tyron Woodley.

Mutie is a five-fight pro MMA veteran, and enters the bout unbeaten in his past two appearances — a draw and a first-round TKO stoppage victory for Middle East Fighting Championship — and has also competed three times for UAE Warriors.

Social Knockout 3 will stream on Ex-Sports.TV for $ 9.99.

MMA Fighting – All Posts