CombatSports.org

Easiest fight
| BJPenn.com

Tom Aspinall is about to become a fighting (interim) champion.

UFC 304 will mark the return of arguably Heavyweight’s finest fighter on July 27, 2024. Unfortunately for the interim titleholder, Aspinall, he’ll be defending against perennial top contender, Curtis Blaydes, rather than unifying his belt with the undisputed champion, Jon Jones’.

Instead of fighting the Brit, Jones’ previously scheduled legacy title fight against former two-time champion, Stipe Miocic, is expected to get rebooked. Miocic, 41, believes the fight could happen around the same time as it was supposed to last year in November. Most of the community, including UFC Bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley, have been on the fence about the match up since it fell through and Aspinall became the interim champion.

“It’s hard to deny the activity,” O’Malley said on his TimboSugar Show. “Tom Aspinall, he’s in it. This game is f—king just … two, three years you don’t fight, you ain’t s—t. That’s just how it’s looked at.

“I don’t know why, I just picture Jon Jones smoking Stipe,” he concluded. “In my head, that’s just always how it starts and plays out.”

When it comes to activity levels, Jones’ Heavyweight debut saw him earn a first round guillotine over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023 (watch highlights). The fight was only Jones’ second of the decade after previously earning a unanimous decision against Dominick Reyes in his final Light Heavyweight title defense,

Miocic has also only fought twice since 2019, going 1-1 with his last fight resulting in a second round knockout against Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021. Aspinall, on the other hand, joined UFC in 2020 and is 7-1 since then (14-3 overall). His lone loss came in 15 seconds against Blaydes when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in July 2022 (watch highlights).

MMAmania.com – All Posts

submitted by /u/idcman999 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Logan Paul plans to hold those accountable who he claims have been spreading misinformation about his Prime Hydration drinks, and the court battle begins with boxer Ryan Garcia.

On Thursday, Paul revealed that his company has filed a defamation and libel lawsuit against Garcia in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas for statements he made about Prime in recent months. Paul accompanied the front page of the lawsuit with a statement where he fired back against the barrage of attacks that Prime has endured.

“I’ve had to spend the last couple months dismantling ridiculous claims about Prime, and it’s become obvious — Prime is under attack. Why?” Paul wrote. “We’re a threat. Prime is the most disruptive beverage in history and our competitors feel the pressure. It’s likely that we’ve been targeted as the victim of a smear campaign.

“Clout chasers know they can use PRIME’s goodwill for attention & views. People don’t like me or KSI. That’s fine. But if you don’t like Prime, don’t drink it. No need to lie about the facts in an attempt to stay relevant.”

Paul launched Prime alongside KSI, his former boxing rival turned friend, and the brand quickly exploded, with sales surpassing $ 1.3 billion at the end of 2023. Just recently, Prime surpassed Gatorade as the most sold hydration drink in Walmart stores.

With that fame and fortune has also come criticism, especially after a lawsuit was filed against Prime in 2023 that alleged the drink contained per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS), which are known as “forever chemicals” that don’t break down in the body and can cause health issues if enough accumulates over time. Paul took aim at a TikTok influencer who highlighted the lawsuit on social media and he threatened legal action.

While that influencer may eventually face his own day in court, Paul’s legal team has already gone after Garcia. After laying out reasons why Prime hydration has been so successful, he took direct aim at Garcia with the lawsuit filed against him.

“Today we begin to hold those accountable who’ve damaged our brand for attention while we correct the narrative,” Paul wrote. “We’re here to stay and will continue to change the world of hydration with bold flavors and creative innovation.

“P.S. Ryan Garcia thinks the Earth is flat. P.S.S. Ryan Garcia tested positive for [performance enhancing drugs].”

The latter statement from Paul referenced Garcia’s recent drug-testing woes after he tested positive for Ostarine, a banned anabolic agent, following his win over Devin Haney.

In the lawsuit, Garcia is identified as a professional boxer with “a history of stirring up controversy to promote his fights and personal brand, including by attacking other high-profile individuals and brands.” The lawsuit also claims that Garcia was previously on good terms with Prime but “he decided to embark on a campaign of spreading lies about Prime, its hydration drink and one of Prime’s owners, Logan Paul”

Over the past few months, Garcia has gone on a very public campaign against Prime, calling it “nasty” and went as far as claiming “I drank Prime and I tested positive for Ostarine” in a deleted tweet after his positive drug test.

The terms of the lawsuit were not disclosed but Prime likely seeks damages as a result of the defamation claims against Garcia.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Conor McGregor would love to see Justin Gaethje trade in his four-ounce gloves for a pair of hand wraps.

In April, the Irish megastar shocked everyone when he revealed that he was now a part owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, one of the fastest-growing brands in all of combat sports. Bringing his name to the bustling world of bare knuckle boxing, there’s no telling what could happen or who could show up inside the squared circle.

During a recent interview with TheMACLife ahead of his highly anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 303 on June 29, the former two-division champion suggested that the BKFC could give new life to MMA fighters looking for a change of pace.

Conor McGregor would rather see fighters go to BKFC than another MMA promotion

During the conversation, ‘Mystic Mac’ suggested that a move from the cage to the ring for former BMF titleholder Justin Gaethje would be a very exciting sight to see.

“We’ve seen former UFC champions or UFC veterans move to other mixed martial arts promotions,” McGregor said. “We’ve seen them fight MMA all their career and now they still fight MMA. It doesn’t pop for me. Now let’s take Justin Gaethje, who is a UFC veteran, former BMF holder, interim belt holder — take him, let’s put him in bare knuckle. That’s exciting. That’s really, really exciting.

“Now let’s take him and put him in another MMA organization, not so [exciting].”

From the start, the BKFC has bolstered its name on the back of current and former MMA stars including Luke Rockhold, Chad Mendes, Eddie Alvarez, Thiago Alves, Michael ‘Venom’ Page, and, of course, its biggest name of all, ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry.

It looks as though another former UFC champion could be toeing the line before long.

Hall of Famer ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler was recently spotted alongside BKFC founder and president David Feldman, leading to immediate speculation that the ex-welterweight champion could be knuckling up against the likes of Mike Perry before long.

LowKickMMA.com

submitted by /u/thiswasnotyettaken [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

New unified heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk expects to rematch Tyson Fury in October, but first he’ll take on an acting role alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Usyk has joined the cast of The Smashing Machine, the upcoming biopic focusing on two-time UFC tournament champion Mark Kerr with Johnson leading the way as the troubled fighter, who struggled with drug addiction throughout his career. According to IMDB, Usyk is cast as PRIDE FC legend Igor Vovchanchyn, who defeated Kerr back in 1999 before the results of the fight were overturned due to illegal knee strikes leading to the finish.

Vovchanchyn was a mainstay throughout the rise of PRIDE, where he clashed with some of the best heavyweights in the sport.

Usyk joins a growing cast that includes Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt, who plays Kerr’s longtime girlfriend and now ex-wife Dawn Staples, as well as Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader, who portrays UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman.

The Smashing Machine is based upon a 2002 documentary of the same name that followed Kerr during a comeback attempt while he was competing in PRIDE. The film showed Kerr’s struggles with drug addiction, particularly with pain medication, as he attempted to resurrect his career in Japan.

Ultimately, Kerr’s struggles continued and it was Coleman — his friend and mentor — who went onto become the first ever PRIDE Grand Prix champion after knocking out Vovchanchyn in the finals back in 2000.

The upcoming film is being produced by independent studio A24 with Benny Safdie directing in his first solo project after previously partnering with his brother Josh Safdie on films like Uncut Gems, which starred Adam Sandler.

Production on The Smashing Machine is already underway, with the film expected to land in theaters sometime in 2025.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

The welterweight title will be on the line in the UFC 304 main event on July 27.  Second-ranked contender Belal Muhammad takes on titleholder Leon Edwards at Co-op Arena in Manchester, England and thinks the champion has a ‘weak mentality.’  

“I think, when you look at stylistically the reasons why they thought Colby [Covington] would be a bad matchup for him, it was cardio, it was pressure, it was take him down, keeping volume in his face and I do all those better than Colby.  I do those better than [Kamaru] Usman,” Muhammad told MMAFighting.  “Usman, in that third fight, he wasn’t the same Usman.  People can say whatever they want.  I think he came back too soon after that head kick.  The second fight it was volume, pressure and it was breaking Leon.    

“Leon is easily broken.  I think that’s when you see in between rounds his coaches, his team, they’re not giving him advice.  They’re not telling him, ‘Stay on the outside jab.  No.  They’re like, ‘You’re looking beautiful Leon.  You’re a beast Leon.  Don’t let him bully you.’  They have to give him those words, those motivational speeches because he’s got weak mentality.  He’s not strong enough to go in there and figure it out on his own.”      

The title fight is a rematch.  The two first met in the UFC Fight Night 187 main event in March 2021.  The match ended seconds into the second round after an accidental eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue and the bout was ruled a no contest.  This time around, Muhammad plans to ‘make it look easy.’

“I’m the best, MMA fighter, complete MMA fighter there is in this division,” Muhammad said.  “I honestly think it’s going to be one of the easiest matches I’ve ever had.  I think that I’m going to go in there and I’m going to walk through him and I’m going to make it look easy.”          

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

submitted by /u/TheBigRedHalfrican [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dustin Poirier is moving on from the Conor McGregor rivalry.

The UFC stars have engaged in a trio of high-profile bouts spanning a decade, with their first meeting taking place at UFC 178 in September 2014. McGregor handily defeated Poirier as part of his rise to two-division champion and global superstar, but Poirier won their two most recent meetings at UFC 257 and UFC 264.

McGregor has repeatedly stated that he still feels he has business to settle with Poirier, but with Poirier set to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 302 on June 1 and Conor McGregor returning to action at UFC 303, it seems unlikely that they’ll square off again. And that’s just fine with Poirier.

“I think that ship has sailed,” Poirier told ESPN. “All I want is the UFC lightweight championship.”

Since defeating McGregor a second time, Poirier has alternated wins and losses in marquee matchups. Poirier’s next fight after McGregor was a failed bid to defeat then-lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, but he rebounded with a submission of Chandler. He then lost a rematch to Justin Gaethje for the “BMF” belt before defeating top prospect Benoit Saint Denis in his most recent outing at UFC 299 to earn a shot at Makhachev.

For McGregor, the UFC 264 loss was extraordinarily costly as he broke his leg in the fight and has not competed since. When he steps into the cage to fight Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29, it will have been almost three years on the shelf for “The Notorious.”

McGregor was less than gracious in defeat when the third Poirier fight ended in injury. In his post-fight interview, he angrily made threatening remarks about Poirier and his wife, Jolie, saying, “In your sleep, you’re getting it.”

Suffice to say, that kind of talk likely hasn’t helped McGregor’s chances of making it a Poirier tetralogy happen.

“I don’t feel the need to fight him again at all,” Poirier said. “I don’t need that [bad] energy in my life.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts