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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum may not understand the mixed martial arts game as a whole, but he revealed head coach — and avid MMA fan — Joe Mazzulla uses pivotal moments from UFC bouts to motivate the team.

After beating the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night to go up 3-0 in the NBA Finals, Tatum spoke with members of the media and explained how Mazzulla’s UFC fandom and knowledge has helped the team during a historic playoff run.

“Joe does a great job of showing us clips and things from other sports,” Tatum said following the Celtics’ Game 3 win. “He’s a big UFC fan, and he’s showing us fights of people that — I don’t know the terminology of UFC — but put them in a choke hold and shit.

“Like, they’re about to tap out, and you just see the guy, or the woman, who is winning relaxing because they feel like they’re about to win, then [they] give the other person life. I’m just trying to translate that to the game of basketball: The closer you are to winning, the closer they are to surviving.

“[He’s] basically trying to remind us that we still got a long way to go, still have to play the right way, we still got to win, and that they’re not going to quit. We should expect the best from them from here on out.”

Mazzulla is a jiu-jitsu practitioner in his own right, and has been seen visiting and learning from known names in the MMA space, including Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick.

Prior to the Celtics’ win on Wednesday night in Dallas, Mazzulla was asked about which specific fights he shows his team — and it might be easier to ask him which fights he hasn’t — but cited one specific example using Alex Pereira’s most recent viral knockout in the main event of UFC 300.

“There’s a lot of [fights I show the players], usually every single fight,” Mazzulla said. “I think it was [UFC] 302, the guy gets hit in the nuts … complains to the referee and gets distracted, and then gets choked out in the next round, so he lost his focus.

“You see Pereira gets hit in the nuts [then] looks at the referee, and knocks [Jamahal Hill] out five seconds later. So it’s the approach to what happens to you and how you handle it — the closer you are to beating someone, the closer you are to getting your ass kicked.”

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When bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr. fought on Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2022, he was 17-years old.  He defeated Mando Gutierrez and earned a contract to fight in the big show.  

Rosas Jr. made his octagon debut three months later, after turning 18, at UFC 282.  He submitted Jay Perrin in the first round and remained an undefeated fighter.  That would change in his next fight.  In April 2023, at UFC 287, Rosas suffered his first career defeat losing via unanimous decision against Christian Rodriguez. 

He rebounded from the loss with back-to-back finishes, including a second-round submission win over Ricky Turcios at UFC Louisville last weekend.  Back on a win streak, the Mexican teenager wants to etch his name in the record books.  

Rosas aspires to be the youngest fighter to be crowned UFC champion.  Current heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones holds the record for being the youngest champion in UFC history.  At 19, Rosas believes that record is realistically within his grasps. 

“I think it (the record) has always been there.  I did take that loss, and it did set me back a little bit but I knew I was going to be back,” Rosas said during an appearance on The MMA Hour. 

“It depends,” Rosas answered when asked how old he expects to be when he gets a UFC title shot.  “Let me see.  If I get another fight this year, I’m thinking if I win, if I don’t get at Top 15 next, I think winning the next fight will get me a Top 15 and then fighting like three fights in the Top 15.  So, I think two or three years it will take me.”    

In three years, Rosas Jr. will be 22-years old.  Jones was 23 years, 242 days old when he finished Mauricio “Shogun” Rua with strikes in the UFC 128 main event in March 2011 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.        

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After a night out that ended in a drunken fall on the sidewalk, Fury is back in the gym preparing for a December 21st rematch against Oleksandr Usyk.

Tyson Fury may have let loose over the past weekend, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost his focus on an upcoming rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

Fury was caught on camera enjoying a few too many drinks down at the pub on Friday (June 7th, 2024) — to the point where bouncers had to oh-so-gently escort him out. He then promptly fell over and faceplanted on the sidewalk.

Nothing to be concerned about, according to his team! Fury was just having a well-deserved night off after two long back-to-back training camps. And now he’s back in the gym recording a new Instagram video for fans.

“Hey, guys, Tyson Fury here,” the former boxing champion said after throwing a few combos at a heavy bag. “Back into it as you can see. Counting down the days until I can get my redemption on Usyk. December 21st is gonna be my time.”

“I’ve done everything in boxing, but I haven’t come back from a loss,” he added. “I’m relishing the chance to come back and redeem myself. December 21st, it’s on me. Undisputed, here we come!”

Fury lost a split decision to Usyk in their first clash on May 18th, but many saw the beating Oleksandr put on Tyson in the 9th as the defining moment of the bout. He’s now an underdog in their rematch set to go down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the end of the year.

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The grind is one of my favorite aspects of this sport. I got thinking this week – who the f#&k had to grind the longest to get to UFC Gold? Put this together in case you are curious! submitted by /u/Agreeable-Pop-535 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Anderson Silva is a grandfather who just recently celebrated his 49th birthday, but that doesn’t mean he’s done fighting.

As he prepares to face old foe Chael Sonnen in a five-round exhibition boxing match on Saturday, the UFC Hall of Famer clarified that while this fight serves as his final appearance competing in his native Brazil, he still has other plans as far as his combat sports career is concerned. Though the matchup was promoted as his “grand finale,” Silva confirmed that’s only regarding fights in Brazil, but he’s not even considering retirement right now.

“No, I’m not retiring,” Silva said on The MMA Hour. “I’m just [doing] my last fight in Brazil.

“I’m a little sad — I’m so happy but a little sad because this event is very closed, it’s not for everybody. I’m excited, but a lot of fans called me and talked to me and send the messages, ‘Why don’t you [put this on] for everybody? Open for the public.’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, guys, I don’t have control over that situation.’ I think the whole team are working hard to make it a good show. I’m so excited. I’m so happy.”

The VIP style event featuring Silva vs. Sonnen and three other fights isn’t being held in a massive stadium or aren,a but rather a small, intimate gathering with a very limited amount of fans in attendance.

The card is also only airing in Brazil and won’t be made available internationally.

Silva admits he’s not sure why the promoters chose to make the fight such an exclusive affair, but he’s happy to go out in style against Sonnen in his final appearance in Brazil.

“It’s very, very restricted people, only VIP people,” Silva said. “I’m so happy. I’m so excited because I love fighting. I have the opportunity to fight again with Chael, to give a good show, this big gift to my fans in Brazil and that’s my last fight in Brazil.

“It’s a very private event. I don’t know why but I’m so happy.”

The fight on Saturday is also Silva’s first action since he lost a unanimous decision to Jake Paul back in October 2022. Despite the result that night, Silva says he never considered walking away from the sport due to the loss, and if anything, he believes more people need to show Paul respect for the career he’s building as a boxer.

“No, definitely not. Why [would I retire after that fight]?” Silva said. “No, definitely not. Everybody talking about because Jake only fights with the old guys.

“Jake has my respect. Because Jake continues to train everyday. The guy is working hard. After my fight with Jake, Jake stopped the fight and he’s doing a lot of things, and he goes inside the trailer to edit his own videos. Why people don’t respect this kid? The people need to respect because the guy has been successful [in his job]. The people don’t have a garage to do the same start talking bullshit. That’s the problem. I respect him a lot because the kid changed the whole game in this area. I’m so happy because I’m part of that. It doesn’t matter the result that I lost because I know how much I’m working hard and I know Jake is working hard too, and I know how hard Jake is working to make something different in this new game. I respect that a lot.”

As far as what comes next, Silva declined to reveal much, although he confirmed talks are already underway with Saudi Arabia serving as a possible landing spot for a future fight. He has an opponent who has been offered to him, but Silva says it’s too early to release the name because contracts still aren’t signed so something could potentially change.

“I started to negotiate my next fight,” Silva said. “We’ll see. Maybe in Saudi [Arabia]. I’m just waiting for the situation to become more clear.”

“I don’t have a dream opponent. Maybe Roy [Jones Jr. one day], but it’s not [him]. It’s a different guy, but it’s a good challenge for me. But I can’t talk about it because I don’t have permission to talk about that and I’m waiting for the contract and everything.”

Lately, Silva has focused only on boxing, and it doesn’t sound as if MMA is really an option right now, although he admits there are still plenty of offers out there for him to return to the sport.

“Sometimes people call me, the different people in Japan call me to fight in Japan,” Silva said. “My last MMA fight came in Japan. I train everyday, but I’m just waiting. I don’t know. There’s a lot of negotiations with my team.”

Silva won’t say much for now, but it looks as if Sonnen is just his first fight back to a busier schedule after a year-and-a-half layoff.

“I’m just waiting,” Silva said. “The guys talk with my team and negotiate with my team and I’m just waiting. We’ll see.”

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Undisputed middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis is all ears to a future title defense against the unbeaten, Khamzat Chimaev should he win next weekend at UFC Fight Night Saudi Arabia – however, is less than keen on fighting ex-champion, Robert Whittaker again if he beats the Chechen this month.

du Plessis, the current undisputed middleweight kingpin, headlined UFC 297 back in January in Canada, landing the divisional crown in a controversial, and much debated split decision win over Sean Strickland.

The victory kept the Pretoria native’s perfect promotional run in check since his 2020 debut with the organization to boot.

And linked with a summer comeback fight, du Plessis recently revealed he had agreed to defend his crown next in a rescheduled title fight with former two-time champion, Israel Adesanya – with the duo linked to a UFC 305 battle in Perth as soon as August.

Dricus du Plessis eyes Khamzat Chimaev title fight

Sharing his thoughts on other contenders whom may present themselves to him in the future, du Plessis welcomed the chance to face off with Chimaev – as soon as he beats Whittaker as the prepare to fight next weekend in Riyadh.

“Should he (Khamzat Chimaev) beat (Robert) Whittaker, I would love to fight Khamzat,” Dricus du Plessis told Fight Wave. “In my opinion, should Whittaker beat Khamzat, I don’t think it warrants him a title shot. Honestly [I] would love to see him and (Sean) Strickland fight it out for [a] number one contender fight.”

“I was willing to fight Strickland, Khamzat, (Israel) Adesanya,” Dricus du Plessis continued. “I’m champion. I have to fight who they [the UFC] give me. I want to fight the best guy. Strickland fans were like, ‘Fight him again.’ I said, ‘Guys, I will fight him again.’ I don’t make that decision [when].” 

Would you like to see Dricus du Plessis fight Khamzat Chimaev this year?

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The grind is one of my favorite aspects of this sport. I got thinking this week – who the f#&k had to grind the longest to get to UFC Gold? Put this together in case you are curious! submitted by /u/Agreeable-Pop-535 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts