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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

LAS VEGAS — Gervonta Davis got one over on Frank Martin in their first faceoff ahead of their much-anticipated boxing match.

Davis (29-0) is scheduled to defend his WBA lightweight title against Martin (18-0) on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. On Wednesday, the two met for the event’s pre-fight press conference that was relatively uneventful until the faceoffs at the end.

“Tank” quickly got in Martin’s face and the pair spent a few minutes jawing back and forth, with Davis repeating that he is “going to touch you up” while Martin replied that they’ll see on Saturday. Tension continued to build as the faceoff prolonged, culminating in a moment at the end where Davis feinted, drawing out a flinch from “The Ghost.” Davis then laughed dismissively at the challenger as he and his team walked off.

Check out the entire incident above.

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what’s the hold up?
| BJPenn.com

Good luck finding a “Plan B” on two weeks’ notice.

The buildup for UFC 303 is like riding Space Mountain at Disneyworld: You’ll go up, down, and all around but remain in the dark until the very end.

Conor McGregor is supposed to be fighting fellow TUF coach Michael Chandler in the welterweight main event on June 29 in Las Vegas. But the fight is currently “in limbo,” according to MMA insider Ariel Helwani, and matchmakers are scrambling “to figure out a Plan B.”

“The positivity that I talked about exactly one week ago today is nowhere to be found,” Helwani said on The MMA Hour. “I would say this fight is very much in limbo. I would say that it’s hanging on, and I would say the UFC is working very, very hard right now to figure out a Plan B. The Plan B could be someone stepping in to fight Chandler. The Plan C could be a whole new fight. If you look at the roster, if you look at who’s available, if you look at the champions who have just fought or who are scheduled to fight, there aren’t a ton of options. There really aren’t.”

Or McGregor could be trying his very best Ryan Garcia impression.

“The press conference was supposed to be like two weeks ago, and the press conference got crazy,” UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns said on YouTube. “I think, in my opinion, Conor McGregor is pulling up the Ryan Garcia card. You know, trying to act a little bit crazy. We saw a picture of this guy in the hospital. I do think if he had any type of injury and he was in the hospital, for sure the guy is not going to do any post that he’s in the hospital hanging out. I think he’s bluffing. I think he’s good, the fight’s going to happen and just making people overthinking, maybe play with the odds like Ryan Garcia did.”

McGregor and Chandler are deadlocked on the moneyline.

No question UFC CEO Dana White will be hard at work to keep this fight intact, considering there’s a $ 20 million gate on the line. I’m sure that comes as little comfort to McGregor fans who already paid for flights and hotels ahead of UFC 303 but you know what they say about feelings and rich asses.

Expect more UFC 303 fight card updates in the coming days.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler at UFC 303 is in dire straights.

Last week, the UFC 303 main event was thrown into turmoil when a planned Dublin press conference for the event was postponed last minute without explanation. That immediately raised concerns that the long-anticipated fight between McGregor and Chandler was suddenly in jeopardy, and reports soon circulated that the promotion was looking into alternate plans for their International Fight Week headliner.

But after a few days of tense speculation, and no official announcement from the UFC, it appeared things were back on track and McGregor would be fighting Chandler on June 29 in Las Vegas. And while officially that is still the case, it’s looking more and more unlikely, per a report from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour.

“On Monday of last week, I would say optimism level was not very high,” Helwani said. “There was some concern, there was some doubt, there were road blocks. I came on this show on Wednesday and said optimism was high. There was great positivity, all those words I used. It felt like we had dodged a bullet, it felt like we had turned a corner.

“On Tuesday, I reported that the UFC was sending out feelers, they were reaching out to fighters and managers to see who could possibly be available to either replace the fight — meaning two new fighters — or step in and replace one of the fighters involved to fight on this card. Obviously the fighter we’re talking about is Conor McGregor, because if not, why would Chandler be ready to go on a plane to Dublin?

“So I said that it seemed we were all good, and by Wednesday, no feelers were being thrown out, no one was talking about this, really. It seemed as though all systems were a go.

“Yesterday morning I started to hear — as I continued to check in because I know there’s a lot of anxiety, a lot of doubt, a lot of concern about this because it’s such a big fight and because no one involved are speaking about this publicly, Chandler did the one interview and I think that squashed some concern, but no one is really talking about this — and I found out, via multiple sources, that they are reaching out to people again. They are reaching out to managers, they are reaching out to fighters, as potential replacements, as a new fight, as backups, as someone stepping in for McGregor, or just as insurance. Just in case. All these things are in play.

“One step further, here we are, Wednesday, 1:15, the positivity that I talked about exactly one week ago today is nowhere to be found. I would say this fight is very much in limbo. I would say it’s hanging on and the UFC is working very, very hard right now to figure out a Plan B. The Plan B could be someone stepping in to fight Chandler, the Plan C could be a whole new fight.”

While there is still no official word on what the obstacles are for this fight, MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin was also able to confirm with sources that the fight is indeed in jeopardy due to an issue with McGregor and that the promotion is looking into all its options. But with UFC 303 just a few weeks away, it’s unclear what replacements are available on this timeline.

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After securing her third-straight win inside the Octagon, rising fan favorite Ailin Perez is ready for her first main event.

Perez moved her overall record to 10-2 at UFC 302, securing a unanimous decision victory over Joselyne Edwards.

With her popularity rising, ‘Fiona’ thinks it’s about time she gets a headlining spot on one of the promotion’s future cards—and she has a pretty big name in mind for her opponent.

“What I want is to fight in a five-round main event, with a preference to be against Kayla Harrison,” Perez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “We want that fight because she’s the best fighter in the division and the person with the biggest name after me.

“Sorry girls, whether you like it or not, Ailin Perez is making waves on all platforms.”

Considering Perez is yet to break into the bantamweight top 15 while Harrison is sitting securely at No. 4, it’s safe to say that the Buenos Aires native has a lot of work to do before standing across the Octagon from the two-time Olympic Gold medalist.

However, ‘Fiona’ does have another name in mind—that being No. 10 ranked contender Norma Dumont. She even has the perfect way to market the fight to the UFC’s testosterone-fueled audience.

“Yeah, because if they give me Norma, I’ll fight her five rounds, no problem,” Perez said regarding a five-round bout being her priority. “That’s the war of the asses, and she’s been running for a while, so if she wants to fight, I’m down. She’s not booked, and neither am I, so let’s go.

… But yeah, ideally, I would like for it to be against Kayla Harrison or Norma Dumont, so I can kick her ass five rounds.”

Ailin Perez insists she is ready for the next step up in competition

After coming up short in her UFC debut against Stephanie Egger at featherweight, Ailin Perez has secured three wins in a row at 135, besting Ashlee Evans-Smith, Lucie Pudilova, and the aforementioned Joselyne Edwards.

Perhaps it’s time for Perez to take that next step up the ladder.

“I feel I can fight in a main event now,” Perez said. “I have the conditioning, and I’ve found the balance in this weight cut. I know how to cut the weight without suffering too much. When someone is confident they’re going to be world champion, they’re going to grab whatever opportunity, kill it, and come out on top.”

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In the early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, when the sport was in its infancy, one of the first fan favorites to emerge was heavyweight brawler David “Tank” Abbott.  

Abbott made his promotional debut at UFC 6 in July 1995, in a featured open weight, eight-man tournament.  The tournament had no weight classes, or weight limits. The matches had no rounds. No judges were used. There was a 30-minute time limit in the finals and, if necessary, a five-minute overtime.

Abbott annihilated John Matua in just 20 seconds to advance to the semifinals.  He finished “The Polar Bear” Paul Varelans in under two minutes and punched his way to the finals.  Advancing on the other side of the basket and facing Abbott in the finals was “The Russian Bear” Oleg Taktarov.  The fight lasted nearly 18 minutes with Taktarov submitting Abbott for the tournament title.  Abbott blames the loss on referee John McCarthy.

“I would have won that fight if ‘Big’ John McCarthy wouldn’t have stuck his melon in-between us and break us up,” Abbott said on the Joe Rogan Podcast.  “He broke this fight up.  There were no rules.  Why did he do that?”

Abbott had top position after fending off a guillotine choke attempt early in the fight.  “Why did he break us up,” Abbott continued.  “He’s corrupt and he’s a crook.”  Abbott went on to accuse McCarthy of disliking him and trying to get him kicked out of the fight promotion.  McCarthy responded to Abbott’s comments on the Weighing In podcast.       

“When it comes to Tank, alcohol had a lot to do with swaying what he even remembers,” said McCarthy.  “He always believed that I hated him.  I’ve never hated Tank.  That was not the case.  There were times were I got pissed off at Tank.”

“He was drunk all the time,” McCarthy continued.  “He told Joe that I stood him up and I’m the reason he lost fight fight (against Taktarov).  This is the whole thing, the rules.  Tank is responsible for certain rules.  UFC 6, he’s the reason I said you can’t fishhook because he’s sticking his fingers in Oleg Takarov’s mouth trying to pull his lips apart.  So I was like, you can’t do that.  The only thing you can do to defend it is bite.  You can’t bite.  You can’t do the fishhook.  So he was responsible for that.  That was his first show.  I had to come up with the rules.  You can’t do that.  It doesn’t look good.    

“The show before, that [Royce] Gracie versus [Ken] Shamrock, if you go back and watch it, it was 36 minutes total.  31 minutes before we stopped it the first time and gave them a minute rest and a five-minute overtime.  The first 31 minutes was on the ground.  At the time, I was not allowed to stand people up, and I liked it that way.  I didn’t have to make any decisions.  It was real simple.  But because of that fight at UFC 6 they wanted me to stand people up.  And I was trying not to stand people up. They were like, ‘No.  No. You’ve got to stand people up.  If they’re just laying there, they’e got to get into action.'”

“I stood them up one time in an 18-minute fight… because he was blowing snot bubbles on the chest of Oleg Takarov,” McCarthy explained.  

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

It appears Israel Adesanya is preparing for his return to the octagon.

The former UFC middleweight champion is expected to challenge rival, and new champion Dricus du Plessis for the championship later this year. Although nothing has been announced officially, the promotion is reportedly targeting UFC 305 on Aug. 18 in Perth, Western Australia.

On his YouTube channel, “The Last Stylebender” discussed the potential return, showed some of the new elements to his strength and conditioning program, and also revealed his new mindset when it comes to his fighting career.

“How excited am I to get back in the octagon? I’m excited,” Adesanya said. “I’m excited, it’s been a year — almost a year, like 11 months by the time I get back in the octagon. People are like, ‘Oh, I hope you get the belt back, I hope you get the belt back,’ I have belts. I don’t need any more belts. I’m coming for heads. That’s what I want to do.

“Just a few that I have to touch, and take.”

In his most recent outing, Adesanya lost the middleweight title to Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 293 this past September — his second loss in his past three fights. After losing the title to multi-time opponent Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in November 2022, the 35-year-old got revenge with a brutal knockout win over Pereira five months later at UFC at UFC 287.

Du Plessis has won nine straight, including capturing middleweight gold at UFC 297 in January, defeating Strickland via split decision.

Adesanya’s approach to his return has been a patient one, and promises that when he steps back inside the octagon, he will do so in an emphatic way.

“I’m excited to come back, but everything comes at its own time,” Adesnaya said. “So right now it’s just the time for training, chilling, working, relaxing, healing. And then when it’s time, time for killing.”

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