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Note to self: Don’t pick a fight with a former World’s Strongest Man. Even if you bring a friend along.

For most of the 2010s, Eddie Hall was one of the elite strongman competitors in the world, winning U.K.’s Strongest Man six times in a row, culminating in winning the 2017 World’s Strongest Man title. Since retiring from strongman competition, Hall has bounced around a number of things, dipping his toe into boxing for a match against fellow World’s Strongest Man winner Thor Bjornsson (“The Mountain” won by unanimous decision) and training with UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

Given this, it was only a matter of time until Hall found his way into the cage, and “The Beast” did so in spectacular fashion on Friday, headlining the debut event for World Freak Fight League in a 2-on-1 matchup with The Neffati Brothers at King George’s Hall in Blackburn, England. And in the end, the former World’s Strongest Man proved too much for the two men to handle.

After a tepid start to the bout where the two men darted around the cage avoiding “The Beast,” the brothers finally got the gumption to attack Hall.

It was not a wise decision.

Hall picked up one of the brothers who was attempting a single-leg takedown and executed a pro-wrestling style powerbomb, tossing him like a child into a swimming pool. When he got up to resume his attack, Hall then showed off some of that boxing work with a picture-perfect right hook to turn the lights out and force the referee to stop the bout.

Check out the full highlight below.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Phil De Fries is riding quite the win streak.

The KSW heavyweight champion retained his title with a dominant unanimous decision win over fellow former UFC competitor Augusto Sakai in the co-main event of KSW 95 on Friday in Olsztyn, Poland.

Sakai came out and thwarted De Fries’ wrestling heavy game plan in the opening round, but that didn’t last long. After dropping the first round, the 38-year-old De Fries swept the scorecards the rest of the way to earn a trio of 49-46 scores.

De Fries is now 11-0 under the KSW banner, including an incredible 10 title defenses. While dominant in his title defense against Sakai, it was the first decision win for De Fries since KSW 50 in September 2019, when he retained via split decision over Luis Henrique.

The bout served as Sakai’s first since parting ways with UFC. In his final octagon appearance, Sakai earned a decision victory against Don’Tale Mayes at UFC Vegas 70 in February 2023.

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Sweet Style
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC 303 is still a few weeks away, but it’s already been a serious rollercoaster for main event athletes Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler.

Just a few days ago, McGregor canceled all upcoming media obligations at the lsat minute, abruptly undoing a sold-out presser in Dublin, Ireland. “Obstacles outside of our control” were the official (and vague) excuse from “The Notorious,” but other rumors quickly surfaced of an alleged a minor injury. A day later, UFC “feelers” were sent out in search of a possible new main event options, and full blown panic initiated. Chandler didn’t help matters by abandoning his fight camp in Florida to return home to Nashville, and UFC CEO Dana White refused to address the issue directly.

Nobody was happy about the lack of clarity.

Just as all signs were pointing towards cancellation, veteran MMA reporter Ariel Helwani announced “great positivity” that the fight would happen as scheduled. A wide-smiling McGregor posted a flexing photo on Instagram, generating a bit more optimism. Now, the ball is really rolling, and Chandler himself is confirming the fight will go on as planned.

“The fight is happening,” Chander said on The Pivot Podcast. “Where we are right now, yeah, there’s a lot of speculation but the fight is on. June 29th, it’s happening.”

Max Holloway can rest easy.

It’s been the better part of three years since McGregor was last seen in the Octagon, the result of a brutal leg break suffered in his last bout versus Dustin Poirier. Chandler’s last appearance also resulted in a loss to “The Diamond,” who choked out Chandler in the third round of a wild brawl about 19 months ago.

Insomnia

I make no guess as to who wins, but a knockout feels promised.

Movsar Evloev wants to fight anyone, and Diego Lopes wants a second shot at Evloev. I see no problem here?

A UFC veteran since October 2016, Marc Diakiese ends his UFC career with an 8-7 record.

According to Muay Thai legend Liam Harrison, One Championship screwed him over on weigh-in day and has refused to admit its mistake.

I haven’t seen the end result, but Alex Pereira would appear to be a man of many talents.

Shavkat Rakhmonov only posts like once a month and always from the most majestic locale you’ve ever seen.

Cory Sandhagen with a bit of motivation.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Incredible power of this hook, but what a shocking reaction!

The most unique head kick KO I can remember posting.

Mike Perry really has built up a fun bare knuckle highlight reel in a short time.

Random Land

Nature in art, art in nature.

Midnight Music: Punk, 1981

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jared Cannonier has become the forgotten man in the UFC middleweight title picture — despite winning two straight and four of five — as he returns to the octagon for the first time in a year in the main event of UFC Louisville in a five-round matchup against Nassourdine Imavov. If Cannonier can pick up another win, is he in the championship conversation in the loaded 185-pound division?

Ahead of Saturday’s Fight Night event, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and Alexander K. Lee preview the promotion’s return to Derby City, along with the Cannonier vs. Imavov headliner and the stakes attached to it. Additionally, they’ll discuss Dominick Reyes’ return after a long layoff to face Dustin Jacoby in the co-main event, 19-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. looking to make it two straight when he meets Ricky Turcios, the quality of the event as a whole, and much more.

Catch the UFC Louisville preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

OKTAGON MMA has steadily been building its reputation as one of MMA’s most exciting promotions, and this week, the organization takes another giant step forward with OKTAGON 58.

The 10-fight card will take place on Saturday, 8 June, inside Prague’s Eden football stadium. It will mark the company’s first event in an open-air football stadium, making it the perfect time for those who have yet to check out an OKTAGON event to do so. The card is available to be purchased at OKTAGON TV and will also be live on DAZN in all markets apart from CZ/SK, as well as RMC Sport in France.

A Highly Anticipated Main Event

Headlining the card is a rematch over four years in the making, which sees Czech fighter Karel Vémola, who fought six times under the UFC banner, putting his light heavyweight title on the line against the Slovakian Attila Vegh.

The pair first met at OKTAGON 15, with Vegh, the former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion, ending the contest in the opening round after landing a heavy overhand right that sent Vémola crashing to the canvas and silenced his fervent fan-base.  

Vegh has not graced an MMA cage since that night in Prague, while Vémola dusted himself off to become one of OKTAGON’s most successful fighters, capturing a middleweight title en route to becoming the light heavyweight champion.

Now Vémola has the chance to avenge that devastating loss to Vegh in front of his home fans. The fact that he has confirmed that this will be the final fight of his career adds an extra dimension to the contest.

Who Wants To Win A Million Euros?

Saturday night’s card will feature two of the Tipsport Gamechanger 2 Lightweight Quarterfinals. All four men competing on the night will battle it out for a place in the semi-finals, and the competition’s overall winner will pocket a cool one million euros.

The first quarterfinal bout will see Spain’s Acoidan Duque taking on Chechen-born Austrian Mago Machaev. Duque did not overly impressive in the opening round, which saw him earn a split-decision victory over Germany’s Marcel Grabinski.

The Spaniard will square off against Machaev, one of the most intriguing prospects in the European scene. The 24-year-old Austrian has been competing in the pro ranks since 2017 and booked his quarterfinal spot with a third-round TKO victory over UFC veteran Makwan Amirkhani.

The second quarterfinal between Poland’s Mateusz Legierski and the UK’s Akonne Wanliss has the potential to be the fight of the night. Legierski is undefeated in the OKTAGON cage and was the former lightweight champion before leaving the promotion in 2020.

Since his return, he has chalked up four straight wins and is one of the favourites to walk away with the one million euro. However, this week, he is up against a rising star with a wicked stand-up game and all the confidence in the world.

Wanliss may have a somewhat polarizing personality. However, the former exotic dancer is serious about his craft and turned heads with his opening-round knockout victory over Sweden’s Sahil Siraj at OKTAGON 56.

A Pair Of Pivotal Welterweight Clashes

The night’s co-main event will see OKTAGON’s former welterweight David Kozma champion square off against Romania’s Ion Surdu. The Czech has not fought in ten months but looks in great shape though he will need to be at his best to get past Surdu’s dangerous striking game. The Romanian is a known KO artist and will relish the chance to compete on what will be the biggest stage of his career.

The winner of this bout will be in line for a shot at the vacant title, and will take on the victor of the night’s earlier welterweight clash between Brazil’s Leandro Silva and Georgia’s Amiran Gogoladze.

 OKTAGON 58: VÉMOLA VS. VÉGH 2 Full Fight Card

• Light Heavyweight Championship: Karlos Vemola vs. Attila Vegh
• Welterweight: David Kozma vs. Ion Surdu: Welterweight
• Middleweight: David Zawada vs. Marek Mazuch
• Lightweight: Jaroslav Pokorny vs. Shem Rock
• Lightweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final: Mateusz Legierski vs. Akonne Wanliss
• Catchweight 195 lbs: Milos Petrasek vs. Kamil Wojciechowski
• Lightweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final: Acoidan Duque vs. Mago Machaev
• Welterweight: Leandro Silva vs. Amiran Gogoladze
• Featherweight: Deniz Ilbay vs. Denis Tripsansky
• Lightweight: Attila Korkmaz vs. Makwan Amirkhani

LowKickMMA.com

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts