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Cory Sandhagen understands Marlon Vera’s frustration after UFC 299.

Sandhagen drew the ire of Vera in March following Vera’s blowout loss to UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley at UFC 299. In a video on his YouTube channel, Sandhagen was critical of his past opponent’s performance to the point where he proclaimed that Vera “obviously had no business being in the cage with O’Malley.” That criticism drew a pointed response from Vera, and Sandhagen can understand why.

“I went a little hard on ‘Chito,’” Sandhagen acknowledged recently on The MMA Hour.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have gone that hard on ‘Chito,’ but I was kind of upset, honestly, that night. If I’m being real candid, I was a little upset.”

Despite being ranked lower than many UFC bantamweight contenders, Vera was awarded the shot at O’Malley because of his past history with the champion. Vera previously defeated O’Malley via first-round knockout in August 2020 and was the first name on O’Malley’s lips after the Montana native captured the UFC bantamweight title.

History did not repeat itself in the rematch, however. O’Malley battered Vera from pillar to post to win a lopsided decision at UFC 299 and secure the first defense of his belt. Afterward, Sandhagen called Vera’s performance “unbelievably uncompetitive” and said he felt “like a dummy” for thinking the “homeless-looking” challenger would’ve put up somewhat of a fight.

“Dude, I just fought. Dude, it didn’t [go] my way, and you make your whole f*cking douchebag YouTube videos?” Vera ranted against Sandhagen on The MMA Hour after UFC 299. “Dude, stick to fighting.

“You’re not a f*cking influencer. You look like a f*cking idiot, but I get it. … Everybody wants to do the [podcasts], and now we see … they become like school teachers now.”

Looking back on the situation, Sandhagen acknowledges there was more behind his criticism than just a bad performance.

After dominating Vera in his own five-round decision in March 2023, everything about Vera’s opportunity and eventual showing just left a bad taste in Sandhagen’s mouth.

“One, I didn’t really dig the fact that he was the one fighting for the title,” Sandhagen said. “Granted, I was hurt, but it still didn’t feel right to me. And that’s not his fault either. I’ll give him a little bit of credit for that, where that’s not necessarily his fault, because if someone asks you to fight for a title, you don’t say no.

“But just watching how the fight went also — and again, I’m trying not to go hard on ‘Chito’ because that’s not my style — but I was like, ‘Man, you’re literally fighting a replica of me, essentially, who does things a little bit differently. But same build, same style almost — and you went in and you fought almost the exact same [as you did against me]. Like, which improvements did you make? Why didn’t you at least attempt a takedown? Why didn’t you at least do things a little bit differently than when you fought me? Like, did you learn anything from our fight?’

“And so that upset me,” Sandhagen continued. “Like, it upsets me when people, I don’t feel like — I’m trying not to go hard — it upsets me when people don’t come in better than there were before, because it just means that they’re just, I don’t know what they’re doing.”

Sandhagen returns from a year-long injury layoff on August 3 in a pivotal matchup against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Abu Dhabi.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Oleksandr Usyk came razor-close to knocking out Tyson Fury in the ninth round of Saturday’s blockbuster heavyweight unification bout.

Rather than allowing Usyk to continue teeing off on a badly hurt Fury, however, referee Mark Nelson ultimately stepped in between the fighters and gave Fury a standing 10-count. Shortly after Fury answered the count, the bell rang to end the round and give Fury another 60 seconds to recover.

In the end, Usyk eked out a split decision victory to become boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999, which is why Usyk didn’t spend too much time lamenting Nelson’s decision to save Fury from a possible knockout.

“I don’t think about it,” Usyk said at the event’s post-fight press conference. “Because we are the winner. I don’t think about it. Because we have the win. No knockout, no problem. But [now] it’s a big drama.”

Nothing came easy for Usyk over 12 rounds after a fast start gave way to Fury storming back and taking a lead on the scorecards. The momentum shifted again in Round 9 after Usyk earned a 10-8 score for the credited knockdown, but Fury refused to fade away.

After the decision was announced, Fury proclaimed that he deserved the victory, but he’ll ultimately bide his time until he can cash in on his automatic rematch later this year.

For his part, Usyk didn’t feel like dissecting the scorecards, especially since, much like Fury, he’s confident in his victory.

“No, I don’t worry,” Usyk said. “I don’t know why. Because I believe that I won. I do good work. I don’t worry.”

As far as the rematch goes, Fury has already called for the fight to get booked in October, which was a timeline the fighters mentioned even before setting foot in the ring.

No matter who walked away with the win, the losing boxer had a contractually obligated rematch as part of the agreement to book the fight. Fury can still potentially pass on a rematch next because it’s now his decision to make.

Just don’t expect Usyk to lose any sleep waiting on Fury to decide what he wants.

“I don’t think about boxing now,” Usyk said. “Please, because my start was September 2023, it’s nine months I worked. I missed happy New Year, I missed [my son’s birthday]. I missed my [other son’s birthday]. I missed [my daughter’s birthday]. I missed the birth of my daughter. I missed all of my family holidays. Time training, training, training, my focus was only this fight.

“Now, I’m happy. I want to go back home, go to my church, pray, I want to say Jesus thank you. Because for me and my country, it’s a big opportunity. I’m grateful for [all those who] pray for me because it’s many people, a lot of many people, thank you so much.”

Usyk also became emotional while remembering his father, who died shortly after his gold-medal winning performance at the 2012 Olympic Games.

That clip can be watched below.

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Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk fought to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in a quarter century on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fury entered the bout as the WBC and lineal champion. Usyk had the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.  The last undisputed heavyweight champion was Lennox Lewis.      

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UFC

UFC 303 has lost its co-main event.

Yesterday (Sat., May 18, 2024), during UFC Vegas 92, Khalil Rountree Jr. took to his Instagram to deliver some devasting news: He has been temporarily suspended because of a banned substance and is out of his upcoming fight against Jamahal Hill, which was supposed to be the co-main event of the huge Conor McGregor return card in June.

“I’m gutted to deliver this news to you all but I will not be fighting at UFC 303 due to consuming a banned substance,” Rountree wrote. “I did not do this intentionally and I am doing everything I can to get this situation taken care of. I was using a personalized, tailored supplement service from a company that I trusted who understood my limitations in what I can and cannot take.

“They accidentally sent a blended supplement to me that contained [a] banned substance called DHEA (which is prohibited at all times under the UFC anti-doping policy). Only after I consumed it was its ingredients brought to my attention.”

According to Mayo Clinic, “Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a hormone that your body naturally produces in the adrenal gland. DHEA helps produce other hormones, including testosterone and estrogen.”

While the body produces DHEA, there is a synthetic form that can be abused as a performance-enhancing drug.

Rountree contacted the UFC as soon as he found out about the mishap.

“I immediately contacted senior vice president of anti-doping compliance Jeff Novitzky and UFC vice president of anti-doping compliance Donna Marcolini upon receiving that information to inform them of this matter,” Rountree wrote. “I’ve provided them with all of the information to show that this was not a matter of cheating or to enhance performance. Although DHEA is non-performance enhancing, it is a banned substance therefore I am under temporary suspension.

“My sincerest apologies to you all and to Jamahal for this unfortunate series of events. This is a huge loss and an even bigger lesson,” Rountree concluded.

There is no information yet as to what Rountree’s suspension will look like; however, being pulled from the biggest fight of his life might be the most brutal and most significant blow.

The 34-year-old is riding a five-fight win streak, with four of those wins coming from TKO.

For the latest UFC 303 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tyson Fury has scored plenty of dramatic knockouts — and he may have authored another one, if only he knew he needed it.

That’s according to Fury himself, who fell short on the scorecards against Oleksandr Usyk in their dramatic heavyweight championship unification bout Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, dropping a split decision to take the first loss of his career. With the loss, Fury relinquished his WBC title to Usyk, who is now boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion, with the big four belts now in his trophy case.

Usyk nearly finished Fury in the ninth round, the climax of a thrilling 12-round affair that could have gone either way on the scorecards. Though the fight was closely contested, Fury’s team was confident their boxer was up heading into the final round. Had Fury known he was behind, he vows he would’ve chased a knockout.

“I always say it’s about getting paid and getting laid,” Fury said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “We did that tonight. I thank Oleksandr for the good fight. It was a close fight, you know? I believe I thought I did enough, but I’m not a judge. I can’t judge a fight while I’m boxing it. If they would have said to me in the last round or whatever, ‘You’re down, go out and try and finish him,’ I would have done that. But everyone in the corner believed we were up. All I had to do was just keep boxing, do what I was doing, and I thought we were getting it. But it was what it was. I’m not going to cry about spilled milk.

“I’ve had plenty of victories and I gave God the glory. I’ve had this one loss in a close, close fight with a good man like Usyk, and it was what it was. I tried my best in there. I was having a lot of fun actually. I don’t know if it looked like it, but I was playing around, hands behind my back, and I was enjoying it. He’s a good fighter, Oleksandr, I was catching him and he was catching me, and it was a good fight, so I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did getting punched in the face.”

In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Fury suggested that the judges may have leaned towards Usyk due to the Ukrainian having to deal with the emotional toll of the ongoing war in his home country. He made sure to give credit to Usyk for his performance and later elaborated on what rounds he felt he could have won.

“Say I won five of the first six, and then the next six I won a few as well,” Fury said. “It was close, I don’t know. I tried my best and it was what it was, coming up short. One of the judges had me winning and the other two didn’t, so I can’t complain about it.”

Due to a rematch clause in the bout agreement, it’s expected that the next fight for Fury and Usyk will be an immediate sequel. Both boxers were amenable to running it back when asked about the clause.

Fury posed a possible October date, but doesn’t sound like he’s in a rush to make it official anytime soon.

“We’ve just had the fight,” Fury said. “If you can see my face, I’m pretty busted up and he’s gone to the hospital with a broken jaw and he’s busted too. We punched the f*ck out of each other for 12 rounds there, so we’re going to go home, eat some food, drink a few beers, spend some family time, walk my dog, and me and Frank [Warren will talk] about what’s going to happen in the future.”

It’s unclear the extent to which Usyk may be injured, but Queensbury Promotions boss Frank Warren also mentioned that Usyk was reportedly taken to the hospital to get a CT scan on his jaw, only for Usyk to then appear at the event’s post-fight press conference.

Now that Fury has tasted defeat for the first time, the 35-year-old Englishman finds himself in unfamiliar territory. He plans to take some time to rest and recover, but expects to continue fighting as long as his future dance partners are as entertaining as Usyk.

“I ain’t boxing here because I’ve got no money,” Fury said. “I’m boxing because I love it. Do you understand? I’m 36 in a few months and I’ve been boxing since I’ve been a child. Where does it all end? Do you have a hundred fights and brain damage and a wheelchair? I’m not sure. The one thing is, all the time I’m still loving the game and I was having fun in there. I was really enjoying myself, then I continue to do it. When I can’t do that anymore, I’ll pack it up.”

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