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Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall respects what light heavyweight titleholder Alex Pereira has been able to accomplish, but he’s be more than happy to welcome “Poatan” to the heavyweight division.  

Pereira has indicated that he’d like to move up the the heavyweight following his last two fights.  “I think that’s (a move to heavyweight) in my future. I said that last time I was here. I said it a lot but there didn’t seem to be too much interest in the organization, but I’m here. I’m available, and I do think that’s in my future” Pereira said following his knockout win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 last weekend.  

“As we’ve seen with me, I’m not shying away from anybody. So, if the UFC wants to do that, I’m more than happy to do it. But, as an elite level fighter myself, you can’t help but be impressed with what Alex Pereira has done over the past couple of years,” Aspinall told TalkSPORT MMA.   

“This time a few years ago, nobody knew who he was and now he’s one of the biggest stars in MMA, one of the best fighters in UFC history. I’ve really respected what he’s done. Does that mean I don’t want to fight him.  No.  I absolutely want to fight him.  I’m sure there will be a time and a place for it. I’m not jumping ahead of things right now, fighting Curtis Blaydes now, and if that’s what the UFC wants to do one day, then we’ll absolutely do it,” Aspinall continued.  

Aspinall puts his interim belt on the line in the UFC 304 co-main event in Manchester, England on July 27 against Blaydes.  “Razor” is ranked fourth in the weight class and holds a win over Aspinall.  Seconds into their UFC Fight Night 208 main event bout in July 2022, Aspinall suffered a knee and was unable to continue.  Blaydes was declared the winner via TKO.  The bout lasted 15 seconds.  

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Corner Duties
| BJPenn.com

“There’s gonna be no f*cking Americans left in the UFC.”

Sean Strickland hasn’t been fond of the influx of international talent in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The former Middleweight champion sits atop the rankings in one of the promotion’s most culturally diverse divisions. In his last 14 bouts, Strickland has battled only two of his fellow Americans since November 2017.

It’s nothing new for the 185-pound division to have international talent rule the roost. Most obviously, Brazil’s Anderson Silva etched his name into the history books as one of the most dominant champions in mixed martial arts (MMA) history during his record 16-fight winning streak and 10 title defenses in UFC (Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold). In between Silva and Strickland, there were only two of 10 title reigns that belonged to Americans. The outspoken “Tarzan” would like to see his countrymen step up.

“At one point, there’s gonna be no f*cking Americans left in the UFC,” Strickland told MMA Mania. “We’re all gonna be watching Dagestanis and Russians, Brazilians fighting. No one’s gonna give a f*ck. So, that’s what I think about that, you know. Let’s make the UFC American again.”

Strickland, 33, lost his title to South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis in a closely contested split decision at UFC 297 in January 2024 (watch highlights). He rebounded to get back in the win column with a five-round split decision over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 last month (June 1, 2024).

With the win and close nature of his du Plessis loss, Strickland believes he deserves his rematch for gold and is planning to wait for it no matter what. Sorry, Robert Whittaker, your fellow former champion is not budging on that one. Meanwhile, du Plessis will make his first title defense against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 next month (Sat., Aug. 17, 2024).

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Fighters from the United States and across the world shared their celebrations of the July 4 holiday with more than a few American flag themed posts on social media.

Typically producing fireworks in the ring or cage, fighters were happy to put down the gloves for the day and enjoy the Independence Day holiday.

Here’s how fighters from all over the globe recognized the yearly red-white-and-blue inspired holiday.

As President Bill Pullman famously once said, “today, we celebrate our Independence Day!”

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Off the back of his second title fight loss to the incumbent, Alex Pereira over the course of last weekend at UFC 303, former light heavyweight champion, Jiri Prochazka and his team are once more mulling over a potential drop to the middleweight limit for his return to action.

Headlining the promotion’s International Fight Week card on short-notice at UFC 303 at the end of last month, Prochazka was felled for the second time in less than a year by the above-mentioned, Pereira – who dispatched him with a thunderous second round high-kick knockout win in Las Vegas.

And now boasting a 1-2 record in the promotion following an impressive four-fight unbeaten rise of finishes to begin his Octagon tenure, Prochazka claimed he would need to seriously “evolve” in his time away from competition, or consider retiring from combat sports.

“Hello everyone, thank you for all your support,” Jiri Prochazka said. “Thanks to you Alex (Pereira) for the fight, it was better. Only one thing goes on my mind: that I need to evolve, to the next level, or don’t fight again.”

“So it’s very simple,” Jiri Prochazka continued. “To be the strongest, this is the way. Thank you, see you in the gym. 

Jiri Prochazka backed to consider middleweight drop

And discussing his student’s future following UFC 303, Prochazka’s coach, Martin Karaivanov considered a middleweight limit drop for the Czech star in his immediate return to action.

“Personally speaking, I see [middleweight] as a potential restart and a positive step,” Karaivanov told TN CZ Sport. “He (Jiri Prochazka) is also still at an age where he can cut weight to [185 pounds] relatively well. We will definitely talk about it, It won’t be my decision, but a team decision. A middleweight [move] would make sense because it would be a new start, something new to focus one. A return to light heavyweight would make sense if and when it starts becoming difficult for him to cut weight to middleweight.”

How do you think Jiri Prochazka can perform at the middleweight limit?

LowKickMMA.com

Jiří Procházka was unable to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title in a rematch with Alex Pereira this past weekend in Las Vegas.

Despite believing that he had made some significant adjustments for his approach this time around, UFC 303 was a far more one-sided affair than their previous encounter last November.

Though it is true that Procházka was having success in the first fight until he was stopped in the second round, he was seemingly fighting a losing battle mostly due to the damage that was done to his leg early on in the fight.

The same thing happened on Saturday night but Pereira was able to find a home for his devastating left hook even earlier on this occasion, before finishing the fight at the start of the second round with a head kick.

Firas Zahabi Criticizes Jiří Procházka For Being Happy To Strike With Alex Pereira

The highly-regarded MMA coach Firas Zahabi gave his breakdown of the fight during a recent video on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel.

He was very critical of the approach that Procházka came into the rematch with because there wasn’t enough emphasis placed on switching things up on Pereira.

Zahabi referenced how there is a stark difference in the amount of MMA experience that both men have, with Procházka coming into the main event with 36 pro fights compared to Pereira’s 13.

The former coach of Georges St-Pierre couldn’t understand why the challenger wouldn’t look to take advantage of this by trying to take the former world champion kickboxing out of his comfort zone.

“You’d think Jiří would have like 10 more years under his belt in wrestling and still he didn’t even fathom a takedown. He tried one little clinch, he didn’t even knock on that door. Very disappointing strategy by Jiří. Jiří was just seemingly happy to strike and I will tell you, within the first minute of round one, “Poatan” had landed like four kicks and you could tell he was already hurting Jiří’s leg.

“Jiří’s game plan and performance, I think that was his worst approach to a fight ever, he’s ever had. I heard he was like three days in a cave somewhere meditating, thinking about this fight, how he’s going to approach it. Unfortunately for him it really didn’t work.”

• Read More: Daniel Cormier On State Of The UFC LHW Division Now Compared To Five Years Ago: ‘How Long Can Alex Pereira Reign…’

Continue Reading Georges St-Pierre’s Coach Labels Jiří Procházka’s UFC 303 Performance As ‘Worst Approach To A Fight Ever’ at MMA News.

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The full Social Knockout 3 card from Dubai has been revealed with ex-UFC title challenger Darren Till competing in the co-main event as he returns to action for the first time in nearly two years.

Till was a late addition to the card after he was originally scheduled to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the July 20 event that was originally headlined by Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. When that fight was postponed due to Tyson’s health issues, retired UFC fighter Uriah Hall took his spot and now he faces Chavez in July as part of the card featuring Paul against BKFC superstar Mike Perry.

So now Till travels to Dubai where he faces 2-2-1 MMA fighter Moh Mutie in a boxing match as part of the social infleuncer heavy lineup.

The main event pits Shero against Mo Vlogs in a title fight while popular influencer boxer Salt Papi makes his return to action on the card against Dawood Savage.

The entire event goes down from the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai with the card airing live on Ex-Sports.tv for $ 9.99.

Here’s the full card for Social Knockout 3:

MAIN EVENT: 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

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