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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sergei Pavlovich is taking full responsibility for his loss to Alexander Volkov this past weekend at UFC Saudi Arabia.

The former UFC title challenger lost a lopsided decision in his first fight back after falling to Tom Aspinall by knockout back in November 2023. There was some underlying bad blood between the former teammates with Pavlovich actually shoving Volkov after he approached him to shake hands following the three round fight.

Late Sunday night, Pavlovich addressed his performance for the first time.

“It wasn’t my day; nothing went according to plan,” Pavlovich wrote on Instagram. “I was ready for anything, but I was too focused on getting a knockout and took too many unnecessary hits. The result was a loss by points. This was very emotional and tough for me, especially knowing that I didn’t meet your expectations.

“Thank you all for your support! I promise to come back stronger and wiser.”

It was a tough outing for Pavlovich as he struggled to get inside on the taller, longer Volkov for the majority of the fight. He continuously swung with big, heavy punches as he noted but never really hurt Volkov during the three round fight.

In return, Volkov continuously circled around the outside of the octagon and stabbed at his former training partner with a nasty lead jab that busted up Pavlovich’s nose and left him bloody by the end of the fight.

The disappointing performance cost Pavlovich his second loss in a row, which has never happened to him before during his career.

The 32-year-old Russia now attempts to pick up the pieces and get back on track when he eventually makes his next appearance in the UFC.

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Amid the controversy that surrounds his name in the boxing world, Ryan Garcia is hoping to continue fighting in a different sport, and he has the perfect opponent in mind.

Garcia skyrocketed to new heights in his popularity over recent years, and recently scored the biggest win of his career to cap it off, though that has since changed. The California native originally took Devin Haney’s undefeated record before later failing a drug test and getting his victory overuled to a no contest.

Alongside the victory being scratched off, Ryan Garcia now faces a one year ban from boxing. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Garcia has his sights set on a big career move.

The 25-year-old wants to see his ongoing social media feud with Sean O’Malley unfold into something more. While talking to TMZ Sports, the boxer spoke of his plans in the near future.

“I’m retiring for a year so they don’t get the satisfaction for suspending me because it’s bull[sh*t],” Garcia said. “I never took steroid in my life.”

Garcia later called out UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley for a fight either inside the octagon or in the bare knuckle boxing ring.

“I like Suga Sean because he defended me, but if he really wants to run it in the UFC, I’ll run it. Or bare knuckle. Sh*t, I’m ready to fight anybody at this point.”

Related: Sean O’Malley responds to ‘stupid’ and ‘delusional’ Ryan Garcia UFC call out

Sean O’Malley has had a lot to say about Ryan Garcia during his rollercoaster year.

While it is unclear what’s next for the rising boxing star, all signs are suggesting that O’Malley will be stepping into the octagon again later this year.

Although nothing has been confirmed, the general consensus is that ‘Suga’ will put his bantamweight strap on the line for the second time against the well-deserved title contender Merab Dvalishvili.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ian Machado Garry is just days away from his return at UFC 303 and he’s still not all that intrigued by his upcoming fight against Michael “Venom” Page.

After campaigning for weeks to land a fight against three-time UFC title challenger Colby Covington on June 29, the matchup never actually came together. Instead, Garry was offered a showdown against Page, the longtime Bellator standout who won his UFC debut against Kevin Holland this past March.

While Page has plenty of credentials outside of the UFC, Garry hoped he would get a higher ranked opponent that would put him on the cusp of title contention.

“I’m still not interested in it,” Garry said about the fight with Page on The MMA Hour. “I have no interest in it. I’ve told you. Here’s the way I look at it: I’m undefeated, I’ve beaten everybody put in front of me in the best way I believe I can and I go out there and I get my hand raised any way, shape and form possible. That is my job. When I do that, I fight up because my goal is to be the world champion.

“I’m looking at the guys above me. There’s six or seven guys ahead of me. There’s Gilbert [Burns], there’s Shavkat [Rakhmonov], there’s Jack Della Maddalena, there’s Colby [Covington], there’s [Kamaru] Usman, Belal [Muhammad] and Leon [Edwards]. All I’ve done in my career is win. I deserve to fight one of those guys. I have to fight one of those guys because that is my projection. I’m on a projection to be one of the world champions. I’m on a projection to be one of the biggest stars the sport’s ever seen. I have no interest in fighting below me. I’ve already fought [No.] 15 in the world, 10 in the world, 8 in the world, why on Earth would I want to fight No. 13? I still have no interest in fighting Michael. I have no interest in fighting him.”

Admitting his lack of excitement over the upcoming fight might seem like Garry is setting himself up for disaster because Page has more overall experience and he’s earned his reputation as a lethal striker.

As much as he may not be hyping up his UFC 303 opponent, Garry promises he’s left nothing to chance in his preparation and he plans to execute his game plan come Saturday night.

“When I say it to you, I kind of want to realign my focus and everything like that,” Garry explained. “The shift of energies for me and the shift of focus is when I get that belt wrapped around my waist, I’m going to be fighting whoever the people believe is the next best guy worthy of that title shot. Whether he’s [ranked No.] 1, whether he’s 2, whether he’s 6, whether he’s 9 in the world and I want to put on them shows.

“So this is the first time I’m stepping into an octagon with that championship mentality of ‘I am better than you, I am going to prove it’ and that is all my job is, is to go out there and prove that there’s a reason you’re ranked below me. There’s a reason I’m ranked higher than you and now it’s to go out there and completely outclass ‘MVP’ in any way, shape and form necessary to get my hand raised.”

Garry’s assessment about Page isn’t all that different from many of the fighters who called him out when he was still competing in Bellator. The narrative built around the British born-striker is that he was protected from facing more elite competition and allowed to pad his record with highlight-reel victories over opponents who probably shouldn’t have been in the cage with him.

When it came time for Page to face stiffer opponents, he suffered a brutal knockout to Douglas Lima in 2019 (later avenging that loss via a narrow decision in 2021), fell in a lackluster decision loss to Logan Storley and then won on the scorecareds in other fights including his UFC debut against Holland.

“MVP was used and utilized in a very smart way by Bellator,” Garry said. “We understand this kid’s talented. We understand this kid can talk and he can sell fights. They gave him a very easy run of opponents to go out there and build his brand and build his promotion, He was knocking out people he should have knocked out. He was beating people he should have beaten.

“But when you look at him against Paul Daley, when you look at him against former Cage Warriors champion Ross Houston, when you look at him against Logan Storley, a three-time NCAA champion, when you look at him twice against Douglas Lima and Kevin Holland, sure he’s looked great because he’s a great fighter and he has a great specific talent, which is that point-kickboxing karate style that’s awkward and irritating. But he’s not been able to finish these guys or dominate them in the way that he should.”

Garry promises that he’s going to give Page a rude awakening come Saturday night, reminding him there are levels to this game and he’s no longer facing bums just waiting to get knocked out.

“Now he’s here,” Garry said about Page. “Now he’s fighting someone 11 years younger than him. Someone who’s far more talented in every facet of the game than he ever wished he could be. It’s my job to go out there and show there’s a reason I’m this highly ranked. There’s a reason why everyone talks about me from before my Cage Warriors debut. There’s a reason why people in MMA knew who I was. It’s because of the talent and the hard work that I have.

“Saturday night, June 29, I’m going to go out there and prove to the world against the biggest opponent that I’ve fought, the biggest name that I’ve fought on the biggest card I’ve ever fought on.”

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Fair enough
| BJPenn.com

UFC

In addition, Sandor Martín has been pegged as mandatory title challenger with Gary Antuanne Russell scoring the winner of that fight.

It’s been a busy day for the World Boxing Council (WBC).

Devin Haney has officially vacated the super lightweight title and will now be referred to as “champion in recess.” Taking over the throne is former interim champion Alberto Puello, with Sandor Martín becoming mandatory title challenger. Gary Antuanne Russell is expected to (eventually) face the winner of Puello vs. Martin.

WBC released a statement on Haney and Co. on Monday:

WBC Superlight World Champion, Devin Haney, requested to be placed in the state of Champion in the Recess. The WBC Governing Board unanimously accepted the request of Champion Haney and declared him World Champion in WBC Recess. At the same time, the WBC Board of Government declared the current Interim World Champion Alberto Puello as WBC Super Lightweight World Champion.

In accordance with its Rules and Regulations, the WBC will order the period of free negotiations for the mandatory defense of the title of Champion Puello against the number one challenger and mandatory contender Sandor Martín.

Gary Antuanne Russell has requested that the WBC Board consider granting him an immediate revenge against the now champion Puello in light of Russell’s very competitive and closed defeat by divided decision. After a careful review, the WBC has granted an indirect revenge that will allow Russell to fight against the winner of the now ordered fight between Champion Puello and Sandor Martin.

Puello defeated Russell earlier this month in Las Vegas.

Haney has spent the last several weeks mired in the Ryan Garcia drama, which started with a weigh ins disaster, continued with an upset loss, and concluded with a failed drug test. “The Dream” later threatened legal action against Garcia and plans to take up to a year off from boxing to deal with his current situation.

A timeline for Puello vs. Martin has yet to be determined.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts