UFC CEO, Dana White has again echoed prior claims that former undisputed heavyweight champion and promotional alum, Francis Ngannou turned down the chance to fight current divison titleholder, Jon Jones during their time with the organization – despite their apparent best efforts.
Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight gold holder, made his second outing in professional boxing earlier this year in Saudi Arabia – suffering a stunning second round KO loss to former two-time world champion, Anthony Joshua.
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports
Making a professional boxing debut last year in Riyadh, former UFC star, Ngannou forced former WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury the distance in his boxing debut, dropping a controversial split decision loss.
Mandatory Credit: Patrick T. Fallon – AFP
Departing the White-led organization in January of last year amid a contract dispute, Batié native, Ngannou has since signed to fight with the PFL (Professional Fighters League) – and has been tipped to make his debut in a clash against Brazilian contender, Renan Ferreira.
Dana White talks failed Francis Ngannou – Jon Jones fight
Sharing his latest thoughts on Ngannou’s failed fight with Rochester native, Jones – amid continued links to an eventual showdown, UFC boss, White claimed the Cameroon knockout star simply had no interest in fighting the former pound-for-pound number one.
“We [the UFC] did everything we in our power to try and make that Jon Jones fight [with Francis Ngannou],” Dana White said during an interview with Shannon Sharpe. “And it is what it is.”
“Not only is Jon Jones not afraid of Francis, Jon Jones is the baddest fighter to ever live, in any combat sport,” White continued. “If you look at – Jon Jones is undefeated in the UFC – he’s got one loss on his record. He lost to Steve Mazzagatti. Do you know who that is? He’s the worst referee to ever f*cking ref any fight. [Jones] never lost, and he went through murderer’s row.”
Do you think Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones would ever fight in the future?
Shara Magomedov | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Shara Magomedov will have quite a story to tell about his sophomore UFC appearance.
On Wednesday, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Magomedov is longer facing Joilton Lutterbach at Saturday’s UFC Saudi Arabia card for undisclosed reasons. Replacing Lutterbach is Antonio Trocoli, who steps in on three days’ notice and serves as Magomedov’s third different scheduled opponent for the event.
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Following the announcement, Loiterbach revealed on Instagram that he was pulled from the fight because of “a substance found in my urine.”
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Trocoli was slated to face Ikram Aliskerov at this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 93 event, but the bout was scratched after Aliskerov stepped in for Khamzat Chimaev to face Robert Whittaker in the main event of the promotion’s first trip to Saudi Arabia. After nearly two years on the roster, and now four scheduled bookings, Trocoli makes his UFC debut riding a four-fight unbeaten streak.
Magomedov is 12-0 as a pro with 10 knockouts. In his octagon debut, “Bullet” earned a unanimous decision victory over Bruno Silva at UFC 294 this past October.
On Saturday, the UFC will hold the fight promotion’s debut event in Saudi Arabia. A middleweight bout between former champion Robert Whittaker and Ikram Aliskerov. Whittaker was originally slated to face 11th-ranked Khamzat Chimaev in the headlining bout but Chimaev was forced to withdrawal due to illness.
Whittaker (25-7) will enter the fight coming off a decision win over Paulo Costa at UFC 298 in February. Aliskerov (15-1) is riding a seven-fight winning streak with his only career loss coming to Chimaev. Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes Whittaker is going to
“He (Aliskerov) already fought Khamzat and lost to Khamzat by knockout. But, good wrestler,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Rob, he was ready to wrestle for this fight anyway, so the wrestling is going to be f***ing top tier in this fight I think.”
“I like this fight. It’s a banger of a fight,” Adesanya continued. “But also, this guy (Aliskerov), who did he last beat? Warlley Alves. Big step up in competition, though, against Rob. Rob, a former champion, still on a hunt, still dangerous. I’m picking Rob in this fight. I think Rob’s going to beat the brakes off this guy.”
“We haven’t seen him (Aliskerov) against competition like this yet. I just know how good Rob is, so I’m going to go Rob probably (round) three or four (by) TKO.”
Adesanya hasn’t fought since losing the title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 last September. He recently inked a bout agreement to fight champion Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 305 main event on Aug. 18 in Perth, Australia. He’ll have the opportunity to become a three-time middleweight titleholder.
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Jake Paul and Mike Perry won’t meet in the ring until July 20, but they wasted no time getting into a verbal war during a shared video conference on The MMA Hour on Wednesday.
The scheduled eight-round fight at cruiserweight (up to 200 pounds) has Perry putting on 10-ounce gloves to do battle against Paul after he’s spent the last few years crushing his opposition in bare-knuckle fighting at BKFC. Despite his overall experience edge across bare-knuckle and MMA, Perry still sits as a decided underdog heading into the fight.
Even so, he’s more than ready to see what Paul has for him.
“I know Mike Tyson says everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face but I like getting punched in my face,” Perry said. “So my plan is coming together nicely.”
Paul could only laugh at that statement, especially the part about enjoying getting punched in the face because he doesn’t really see that as the point of high-level boxing.
“That’s because you’re a f*cking idiot,” Paul fired back. “What makes me good at fighting is I don’t like getting punched in the face and I practice not to. That’s what I’m going to teach you in the sport of boxing, you little bitch.
“This is not bare-knuckle. Not a bunch of old MMA fighters just running around punching each other bare-knuckle like some f*cking hooligans. I’ll show you a real sport.”
The fight between Paul and Perry comes a few years after they actually engaged in a sparring match when Paul was preparing for an upcoming bout and he asked “The King of Violence” to go a few rounds in the ring.
At that stage, Paul was still early in his boxing career, but he often referenced that session as a way to build confidence as a professional fighter.
“I was still just learning boxing, probably in my second year of boxing,” Paul said. “Worked him all five rounds when I was [at the gym] and now it’s going to be even crazier July 20. That’s why I know I’m going to be able to knock him out because I’m just a completely, completely different fighter. I already beat his ass in sparring and made him my son and he’s even admitting that. He’s saying he has a plan but we don’t believe it. We just don’t believe it and on July 20, I’m going to show the world the sparring session live.
“You know what happened. OK, Mike, you know what happened. I don’t need to sit here and talk about it.”
Perry has a much different recollection, especially considering that the sparring actually lasted for six rounds rather than the five that Paul referenced.
“First of all, it seems I hit him hard enough because he was ducking and running that whole six rounds,” Perry said. “So it seems when I made him duck into my uppercut, he must have forgot that last round. Because he had an eight-round fight coming up and they told me after the fifth going into the sixth, ‘Hey Mike, this will be the last round.’ Rounds 1 and 2, he hit me with a good sniper right hand. I smiled in his face and kept putting the pressure on him. The next four rounds was me smothering him and punching him in his face and making him duck into my uppercuts. So he must have forgot that sixth round.
“He quit on the sparring early because he knew where it was headed. Rounds 7 and 8, that’s where I’m looking to put him on the plate, put his head on the skillet.”
On paper, Perry is one of the toughest challenges of Paul’s entire career considering he’s been tearing through opposition in bare-knuckle fighting. Unlike some of Paul’s previous opponents, Perry is still very much in the prime of his career at 32.
Paul’s previous wins over MMA stars came against fighters who were either not primarily known as strikers like a pair of encounters with ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley, or he took on an older legend like Anderson Silva, who was 47 when Paul defeated him in boxing.
None of that seems to bother Paul, who explained why he took the risk of this upcoming fight with a previously scheduled showdown against Mike Tyson moved to Nov. 15.
“I’m on a tear,” Paul said. “I’m not slowing down for anybody. If people want to delay fights, I’ve got to get my experience in the ring. I love fighting. I love going under the bright lights and I love putting on shows for the fans and I will become champion but to do that, I need experience. Mike Tyson is an absolute killer and I do want to face another absolute killer.
“Don’t get it wrong, I think Mike Perry’s funny and stuff, it’s entertaining but he is a savage and I do respect him as a fighter … hopefully, Mike Perry can last and give me a good eight rounds but we’ll see what happens. I don’t think he has what it takes to last that long.”
Perry promised that his purpose in taking the fight isn’t necessarily built around ruining Paul’s plans to move forward with his matchup against Tyson, but he does want to expose the 9-1 boxer as a fraud in the ring.
“You’ve been fighting these cab drivers and these f*cking fat pieces of shit,” Perry shouted. “You think that you’re going to do anything to a real f*cking man like me, you lost your mind. If you punch me in my face, I will smile and hit you back multiple times.
“He’s tricked the world into thinking he’s fantastic. I’ve been doing this shit a long time and I took the hard long road. I’m looking to show everybody what a real fighter is.”
Paul scoffed at that remark and asked that Perry’s prediction ends up as part of his highlight reel after they’re finished on July 20.
“Everyone clip that once I beat his ass and then take this edit and then go to the clip of me knocking him the f*ck out,” Paul said. “Scene.”
It’s safe to say, Perry doesn’t buy into Paul’s power, much less the suggestion that he’s going to score a knockout.
“Bro, you ain’t knocking out nothing,” Perry said. “You soft as baby shit.”
Because Magomed Ankalaeft the title picture, amirite!?!
Anthony Smith loves talking about Alex Pereira.
That continues to annoy “stupid” UFC fans who only read sensational headlines (like this one). But that won’t stop “Lionheart” from shooting his shot with a victory over Carlos Ulberg as part of the UFC 303 pay-per-view (PPV) event on June 29 in Las Vegas.
“I’m not really thinking about that,” Smith told Michael Bisping, before thinking about it. “I’m just worried about Carlos Ulberg. He’s a tall task. He’s really good at what he does. He’s young, he’s hungry, he’s got a big opportunity in front of him, and I got to remember that when these guys fight me, I’m their world title fight, and they’re trying to make a name off me and I gotta make sure that doesn’t happen. If I cut a promo on Alex Pereira right afterward, that [title shot] lines up.”
Pereira also competes at UFC 303 and like Smith, will be stepping up on short notice (thanks to this debacle). “Poatan” defends the light heavyweight title opposite former champion Jiri Prochazka in the five-round headliner (and UFC 295 rematch).
Just another day at the office for the “fairly normal dude.”
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