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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Patchy Mix didn’t have a lot to gain in his rematch against Magomed Magomedov considering he choked out the Russian bantamweight less than two years ago. Still, Mix didn’t blink when that’s the matchup Bellator offered to him but he had to gut out a hard-fought split decision to retain his title in their second encounter in May.

Looking back on the fight, the reigning 135-pound champion admits that he probably approached Magomedov with the wrong strategy while his opponent made exactly the changes necessary to ensure he didn’t suffer another submission loss. That resulted in the perfect storm for Mix to endure a battle through 25 consecutive minutes but in the end, he still got the job done.

“I feel like he studied me pretty decently and came up with a good game plan and I don’t think I fought him necessarily in the correct way,” Mix explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I was just trying to walk him down, using standup the entire time. I felt like I should have been going for takedowns more at the beginning of the fight. But I felt like I outstruck him last time so well that I didn’t need to change my game plan.

“So it was good adjustments on his part but I’m glad I could adjust on the fly myself. I’m a submission specialist, just like the first fight I almost choked him out like three times before I strangled him unconscious. He just stayed away from where I’m great at. I’m just going to make some adjustments. I’m not going to let nobody get off the hook no more and just stand with them the whole time. I’m going to mix it up more, force the grappling exchanges. It doesn’t matter who I fight.”

With two wins over Magomedov now, Mix has dispatched one of his biggest remaining challengers on the Bellator roster and it’s possible he’s looking at even more rematches in the future.

While he mentioned veteran Leandro Higo as a potential next opponent after his latest win, Mix knows another top contender is likely Raufeon Stots, who he dispatched with a brutal knockout in just 80 seconds when they clashed back in August 2023.

Mix insists he’ll never turn down a fight if Bellator comes calling and that goes for old foes or new opposition but ideally, he would love to face an entirely different kind of challenge for his next.

The kind of challenge a UFC Hall of Famer would represent.

“Jose Aldo is a free agent,” Mix said. “I saw that he recently finished his deal over there in the UFC. So if he’s going to sign with anyone, I’d love for PFL or Bellator to snatch him up. He just fought a guy at [135 pounds] in Jonathan Martinez and I think I’m a whole different animal than that kid.

“To the legend, much respect, but I think I match up well with him. I don’t think he’s ever been submitted except for maybe his first ever fight. That kind of excites me, something like that.”

At 37, Aldo returned from a brief retirement and dismantled Martinez at UFC 301 in April with that fight serving as the final bout on his current contract with the promotion. Aldo made it clear afterward that he wants to keep fighting but he wasn’t sure exactly what he would do next, especially after dabbling in boxing over the past couple of years.

With the UFC bantamweight title picture rather filled up right now as champion Sean O’Malley prepares to battle Merab Dvalishvili later this year and Cory Sandhagen clashing with Umar Nurmagomedov in a No. 1 contender’s fight in August, Aldo could be at least a year or more from sniffing another shot at gold.

But if he decided to join the roster at Bellator, Aldo could potentially slide right into a title fight against Mix and the reigning champion welcomes that opportunity.

“My mouth waters thinking about that shit,” Mix said. “They need a big fight for that guy. There’s other ones for him but he’s at [135] and outside of his promotion, in the world I am the top ranked bantamweight. Outside of his promotion and inside of his promotion, I believe, but I know for a fact outside of it. I’m the most highly touted guy. So if he’s going to stick to doing MMA and he’s going to go anywhere, I would love to be the guy that welcomes him to the show. It fits. He’s a legend and I respect him.

“This guy paved the road. I remember being in high school watching him fight some of the craziest fights.”

Prior to the split decision against Magomedov in their rematch, Mix had looked unstoppable while rattling off six straight wins including five finishes by knockout or submission. Because his most recent fight was a little too close for comfort, Mix really wants to return to form when he competes again and he couldn’t think of a better person to bring that out of him than Aldo.

“I’m sure he’s chasing big challenges,” Mix said. “He just fought Martinez, who was also on a seven fight win streak himself. He rocked the shit out of Martinez, he did really well. He had a dope ass takedown in the third round, hit the double leg on him. It was a rebrand a coming of age, kind of like reminiscent of the old Jose Aldo at that Rio card. It was cool to watch.

“But I would want to finish that guy. I have such a sour taste in my mouth that I just went to a decision. In that third round, I should have never let go of that guillotine and I should have strangled him unconscious. I’m beating my head in for it.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Perfect opponent
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Salahdine Parnasse is living his best life as a staple of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW).

KSW’s Lightweight and Featherweight champion has been about as valuable of an asset as the promotion could ask for. Parnasse, 26, is one of the best fighters outside of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), continually trying to make history as evidenced by his recent attempt at grabbing the Welterweight title in December 2023.

Unfortunately for Parnasse (20-2), he fell short against that division’s champion, Adrian Bartosiński, via a unanimous decision. He’s since rebounded with a stellar title defense of his Lightweight crown when he scored a first round head kick knockout of Valeriu Mircea this past April 2024. To make things sweeter, Parnasse also extended his deal with KSW after a rather disappointing bid from UFC, according to his coach and manager, Stéphane Chaufourier.

“The seesaw is huge,” Chaufourier told RMC Sport. “You should know that I won’t give figures but we had very, very good proposals. We earn two and a half times what we used to earn. So it’s just huge. It’s largely in the six figures, yes, of course. The UFC was between 20 and 30 times less.”

The future can get even brighter for the French Moroccan, who has plenty more he can achieve after the great experience he’s gained in a short span. Parnasse next looks forward to KSW’s collaborative efforts with RIZIN Fighting Federation. Therefore, a possible champion vs. champion clash against RIZIN Featherweight champion, Chihiro Suzuki, is of interest.

Ultimately, Parnasse just wants to keep taking on the best he can be offered, and make good money in the process.

“I want to fight the best, that’s normal, so I’ll end up facing the best fighters,” Parnasse said. “I’ve never chosen a fight in my life, I’ve always fought to make a living. Basically, I worked as a plumber at the town hall of Aubervilliers, and at the same time, I played sports. I continue in this way except that now I don’t have to continue working and I also do this sport to support myself.

“It’s my personal life,” he continued. “It’s a combat sport, it’s a difficult sport and I was still working at the town hall three years ago when I was trying to find stability. Now if I go back to the UFC, I’ll have to work again (laughs) so… But it’s the truth, it’s a truth. Whereas now I can live fully from my sport and I’m very happy, very happy like that. I’m ready to face any opponent I’m offered.”

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Raul Rosas Jr. became the youngest fighter in UFC history when he made his debut at age 18, and now that he’s months away from climbing out of his teen years, he’s realizing the gains his body has made.

The 19-year-old bantamweight phenom submitted Ricky Turcios in the featured bout of UFC Louisville earlier this month to improve to 3-1 inside the octagon. One thing that was noticeable about Rosas was his body frame getting bigger, and more muscular.

Rosas has noticed that change himself, and he understands that the time will eventually come for a move up to featherweight.

“I’ve gotten bigger and I’ve noticed it because of my weight going up and up and up, and the weight cut getting a little more rough,” Rosas said on The MMA Hour. “I’ve just been working out, but I think it’s mainly that my body is growing. My age, I’m getting older and I’m growing, so I think it’s just going to keep happening.

“The question is, is how long can I stay at [135]? I want to stay at ‘35 until I get the belt, but we’ll see what happens. … It’s inevitable that I will have to move up to 145, the question is how long can I stay at 135 for.”

The bout with Turcios was one of the most heated on the Fight Night slate, which was clear during their final faceoff following weigh-ins, as well as the opening seconds of the fight.

When the referee got them going, Rosas went for a glove touch, but Turcios threw a kick at his opponent instead — leading to the crowd really turning on Turcios, and cheering much louder for Rosas.

“I think he was just emotional,” Rosas said. “When you fight me., there’s a lot of pressure with people watching and stuff, and I think that was making him act a little weird.

“In the faceoffs, I could just feel [the] pressure [on him]. He was tensed up and was a little more different than usual because of the pressure and everything.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Dana White offered an update on when fans can expect to see Jon Jones back inside the Octagon.

Sort of…

After sitting on the sidelines for nearly three years, ‘Bones’ returned to action at UFC 285 and quickly dispatched No. 1 ranked Ciryl Gane to claim the vacant heavyweight title. Jones has not defended the title since. In the weeks leading up to his anticipated scrap with former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic in November 2023, Jones suffered a pectoral tear, forcing him out of the fight.

In the time since, the UFC has established an interim heavyweight champion in Tom Aspinall, but Jones has remained adamant that he will fight Miocic before potentially settling some business with the UK-based star.

When exactly Jones returns for his superfight with Miocic remains a mystery. Recently, both fighters have indicated that their rebooked bout will go down this November when the UFC heads back to Madison Square Garden.

Asked for a more official update during an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, White revealed that we would see Jones “soon,” and added that the champ’s return would happen sometime in the summer or the fall.

“He’s doing well,” White told Jim Rome when asked for an update on Jones. “We’ll see him soon. We’ll either see him in the summer or the fall.”

Essentially, White is telling us that ‘Bones’ will fight sometime before 2024 comes to a close. When and where is anyone’s guess.

Tom Aspinall Happy to Hold Down the Heavyweight Fort While Jon Jones heals up

In the meantime, Tom Aspinall will become the first fighter in more than a decade to defend an interim belt when he puts his temporary title on the line against Curtis Blaydes in Manchester on July 27.

Aspinall lobbied hard for a fight with Jones before opting to move on, recognizing that his dream fight would likely never happen with ‘Bones’ already toying with the idea of retirement following his next fight.

Still, that hasn’t stopped ‘Bones’ from running off at the mouth on social media, discrediting Aspinall’s status as a UFC champion and his star power outside of the UK.

LowKickMMA.com

Jake Paul will fight on July 20 as previously planned.  The influencer-turned-boxer takes on “Platinum” Mike Perry in a boxing match in Tampa, Fla.  Paul was scheduled to faced Mike Tyson on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas but a medical issued forced Tyson to push the bout back until Nov. 15.  Paul now has a new opponent and the event has a new location.  

Most Valuable Promotions and DAZN made the announcement on Tuesday, and Paul shared the announcement on his social media accounts.

Jake Paul vs Mike Perry – Sat, July 20th

After the rescheduling of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson to Friday, November 15th, Jake Paul has decided to take an interim fight to prepare for “Iron Mike” by taking on the Bare Knuckle Champion and MMA Star, Platinum Mike Perry – FEAR NO MAN… pic.twitter.com/9phFVzlkMK

— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) June 18, 2024

“After the rescheduling of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson to Friday, November 15th, Jake Paul has decided to take an interim fight to prepare for “Iron Mike” by taking on the Bare Knuckle Champion and MMA Star, Platinum Mike Perry – FEAR NO MAN – Saturday July 20th, from Tampa Florida, live on DAZN pay-per-view,” read a statement by MVP.   

“Amanda Serrano, the Unified Featherweight Champion will also be fighting in the co-main event, taking on a Top-10 IBF, WBO and WBA ranked Stevie Morgan who comes in with a 14-1 record with 13 KOs. Also on the card is a rematch of the best fight in Most Valuable Prospects history! Tony Aguilar (12-0-1, 4 KOs) will take on Corey Marksman (9-0-1, 7 KOs) after the two faced off in a WAR that resulted in a draw on Most Valuable Prospects 5 in February 2024.”

Paul is coming off a first-round knockout win over Ryan Bourland in March. He’s 9-1 in his professional boxing career.  Perry rejuvenated his career after leaving the UFC in 2021.  He was signed by Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and is undefeated in the fight promotion with wins over former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Luke Rockhold.  Perry last fought in April, stopping Thiago Alves in the first round.    

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts