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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Maybe Jon Jones isn’t retiring after all.

Over the last several months, the reigning undisputed UFC heavyweight world champion has dropped hints that he could retire once his anticipated clash with two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic is in the books. However, ‘Bones’ seemingly left the door open after responding to a fan who asked the consensus GOAT if his next fight would be his last.

“Honestly, it’s hard to say right now, I’m gonna base a lot of that on my next performance,” Jones wrote on X. “The options are looking crazy right now.”

In all likelihood, the truly “crazy” option for Jon Jones is a fight with reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Returning to the Octagon at UFC 303, ‘Poatan’ delivered another highlight-reel finish in the evening’s main event, knocking out Jiri Prochazka in the opening moments of the second round with a perfectly timed head kick.

Speaking on the epic finish during the UFC 303 post-fight press conference, CEO Dana White seemed much more open to the idea of letting Pereira move up to heavyweight in pursuit of something no fighter has ever done before — winning a UFC championship in three different divisions.

“I know that’s what people want to see,” White said when asked about letting Pereira move up a weight class for the second time in his career.

Jones previously suggested on social media that a fight between himself and Pereira would be “the biggest fight in MMA history.” After Saturday’s happening in Las Vegas, he might be right.

If Jon Jones sticks around to fight alex pereira, where does that leave tom Aspinall?

Jones has been out of action since tearing his pectoral muscle in October. Weeks later, the promotion crowned an interim heavyweight champion when Tom Aspinall KO’d Sergei Pavlovich 69 seconds into their UFC 295 co-main event at MSG.

Traditionally, the undisputed champ would unify his belt with that of the interim titleholder upon return. However, this is not one of those situations.

Instead, Jones will put his undisputed title on the line against Miocic, as originally intended, prompting Aspinall to become the first fighter in more than a decade to defend an interim belt. He’ll do so at UFC 304 on July 27 when he meets the only man to hold a victory over him inside the Octagon, Curtis Blaydes.

If Jones and Aspinall succeed in settling their business with Miocic and Blaydes, it should lead to a unification clash between the two top stars. Unfortunately, it feels like that’s the last thing on Jones’ mind, especially after Pereira’s insane performance against Prochazka.

If Jon Jones ultimately pursues a superfight with ‘Poatan’ after Miocic, the question we’re left with is, where does that leave Tom Aspinall?

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Michael Chandler has been sidelined since November 2022.  In January of 2023, he signed a deal to coach The Ultimate Fighter 31 opposite former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor.  The two were expected to fight at the conclusion of the season which aired last summer.  

The two were booked to headline UFC 303 on June 29, but McGregor was forced out of the fight due to a broken toe.  With a timeframe for McGregor’s return uncertain, Chandler has been offered a fight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in October.  Before that, he’d like to face McGregor in September.  

“I’ve been offered @MAKHACHEVMMA in October – but if @TheNotoriousMMA little pinky toe is ready by Sept, let’s do sphere. Biggest sporting event in history of sports,” Chandler tweeted on Monday.  

I’ve been offered @MAKHACHEVMMA in October – but if @TheNotoriousMMA little pinky toe is ready by Sept, let’s do sphere. Biggest sporting event in history of sports!!!! @RiyadhSeason #ufc306 pic.twitter.com/STUUFns2Hp

— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) July 2, 2024

McGregor has been out of action since his trilogy fight loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.  He suffered a broken leg in the fight and will attempt a comeback after more than three years away from competition when he eventually steps foot back inside the octagon again.   

Makhachev defeated Poirier in his last outing at UFC 302 on June 1.  He has successfully defended the title three times and hasn’t lost a fight since 2015.    

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Despite his impressive run, Alex Pereira remains a betting underdog against four of his next possible opponents.

On Saturday, Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight title for the second time, knocking out Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 303. In the aftermath, the question turned to who “Poatan” will face next, and whether or not he might make the move up to heavyweight to try and become the first three-division champion in UFC history.

Well, if he does, oddsmakers don’t like his chances.

On Sunday, Sportsbetting.ag released odds for hypothetical matchups between UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, and Pereira is a sizable underdog in both. Check out the odds below.

Alex Pereira (+500) vs. Jon Jones (-800)

Alex Pereira (+300) vs. Tom Aspinall (-400)

For reference, a bettor placing $ 100 on Pereira would return $ 500 plus the initial wager in the event Pereira beat Jones. These odds suggest Pereira has a 25-percent chance to beat Aspinall, while only a 16.7 percent chance to defeat Jones.

Sportsbetting.ag also included a line for a possible trilogy matchup between Pereira and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, and once again, Pereira comes in as the underdog, though in this instance oddsmakers give him a 39-percent chance to win.

Alex Pereira (+155) vs. Israel Adesanya (-185)

It’s unclear at this time who Pereira will fight next, though UFC CEO Dana White did suggest after UFC 303 that he’s not quite ready to see “Poatan” move up to heavyweight. Instead a matchup with former light heavyweight title challenger Magomed Ankalaev may loom.

Keeping with the theme, Pereira already sits as a betting underdog in that one as well, with oddsmakers giving him a 32.3-percent chance to defend his light heavyweight title again.

Alex Pereira (+210) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (-250)

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Darren Till will step into the boxing ring this weekend.

Multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting that the one-time UFC title challenger faces multi-time UAE Warriors veteran Moh Mutie at Social Knockout 3 following an announcement by the promoter. The event takes place this Saturday at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.

Social Knockout founder Tom Khan confirmed to MMA Fighting that the bout will be four rounds in the cruiserweight division.

Till is set for his first bout since parting ways with the UFC after dropping three straight, and five of six inside the octagon. The 31-year-old was stopped by current UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in his final promotional appearance at UFC 282 in December 2022. Till was announced to face Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. on the original date for Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson on July 20 before the event was moved. Paul remains on the card to fight Mike Perry, while Chavez now faces Uriah Hall.

Mutie is a five-fight pro MMA veteran. In his past two bouts, “The Palestinian Gorilla” fought to a draw and then earned a first-round TKO stoppage victory for Middle East Fighting Championship.

The third promotional event featuring social influencers battling it out will stream on Ex-Sports.TV for $ 9.99.

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Rising welterweight Ian Machado Garry defeated Michael “Venom” Page in a bout that kicked off Saturday’s UFC 303 main card.  Garry extended his unbeaten streak to 15 consecutive fights, but former interim welterweight titleholder Colby Covington was not impressed.  

“Fighting cans from the Indian casino leagues. Oh, big, big deal. You know, anybody could be 15 and 0 fighting a bunch of 15 bums.  Even Dana White himself, you know, said what he thought of the performance. He thought it was a draw. He didn’t think there should have been a winner,” Covington said during an appearance on Submission Radio.

“I feel bad for the fans. The fans got robbed of, you know, a pay-per-view opener That’s supposed to be the opener pay-per-view?  That was pathetic.  That guy’s fighting the number 14 guy in the world and barely scraping by. I think he lost the fight. So, I feel bad for the fans. They got robbed. But it just shows how much of a bum he is,” Covington continued.

Covington and Garry have a long-standing feud that began with a callout and Covington hurling insults and allegations toward Garry’s wife, Layla.  They’ve gone back and forth on social media, insulted each other in interviews but the fight promotion couldn’t secure a fight between the two.  Covington considers Garry to be a ‘Conor McGregor wannabe’ and doesn’t think “The Future” has star power.  

“I’m like, oh yeah, I want to be on a Conor McGregor card. He was willing to do whatever he wanted to be on the Conor McGregor card because his name is Conor McGregor. He’s the Conor Gregor wannabe.  He did all this, pulled all these strings to get on the card and then Conor left him at the altar.  I thought it was pretty funny,”Covington said.  

“I thought he was a star. I thought Ian Garry was a big name. What happened? Like they had their co-main events fall through like 6 or 7 times. There was a guy that was already on the card. Why couldn’t he get bumped up to co-main event,” continued Covington.  “I guess that shows us what UFC thinks about the guy, that the guy’s an absolute nobody, and he’s a bum, and he has no reason to talk about anything.”  

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Title shot
| BJPenn.com

Michael Chandler is in a very unique situation.

The former three-time Bellator Lightweight champion, Chandler, has been sidelined since November 2022. However, that’s not due to injury, but the patience towards a promised match up against Conor McGregor.

Chandler, 38, was supposed to finally collide with the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight and Lightweight titlist at UFC 303 this past weekend (June 29, 2024). Unfortunately, a broken pinky toe led to “The Notorious’” withdrawal from the bout, making it the first time to pull out of a scheduled mixed martial arts (MMA) fight for the Irishman. Chandler now claims he’s been offered a UFC Lightweight title shot against the champion, Islam Makhachev, as a presumed consolation for his patience.

Instead of just flat-out moving on for the rare opportunity, “Iron” refuses to fully drop the prospect of his McGregor “red panty night.”

“I’ve been offered @MAKHACHEVMMA in October – but if @TheNotoriousMMA little pinky toe is ready by Sept, let’s do sphere,” Chandler tweeted. “Biggest sporting event in history of sports!!!! @RiyadhSeason #ufc306

“Good old fashioned passionate American @MizzouWrestling beats sambo all day. @MAKHACHEVMMA,” he added.

The last time Chandler fought he lost by third round rear-naked choke against Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 (watch highlights). The loss made him 1-3 in his last four (23-8 overall). Poirier, coincidentally, was the most recent to challenge Makhachev, falling short in round five when Makhachev locked in a tight d’arce choke (watch highlights).

Makhachev and Poirier briefly bantered today (Mon., July 1, 2024) when the latter teased his interest in a rematch if needed because of No. 1-ranked contender, Arman Tsarukyan’s, recent suspension. Said suspension would be the only logical roadblock for the top contender being the next challenger for Makhachev.

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