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The long-awaited heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will play out in its entirety later today (Sat., May 18, 2024) at Ring of Fire live on DAZN PPV from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as fight fans wait in anticipation.

With all four major heavyweight titles up for grabs this will be a historic main event. The winner of Fury vs. Usyk will crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion of boxing since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield back in 1999. Add in the $ 150 million guaranteed fight purse and you have one of the biggest, most important fight cards in years.

The only problem for fight fans is knowing when to tune in to see the main event go down live. Ring of Fire’s “Prelims” offer some good action as well, but hardcore and casual boxing fans will want to know exactly when Fury and Usyk will make their respective walks to the ring, especially since the event is taking place in another time zone half way across the world.

With the PPV card beginning at 12 p.m. ET earlier today, Fury vs. Usyk is not expected to start until around 5:30 p.m. ET tonight. Boxing cards are always difficult to predict given their lengthy ring walks and delayed start times, but the heavyweight main event should fall somewhere closer to the evening hours here in the U.S. It will come after a seven-fight undercard plays out so be sure to stick with Mania for any relevant updates.

For complete Fury vs. Usyk results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Edson Barboza still has it.

The Brazilian striker has made a habit of having to fend off young and hungry challengers, a trend that continues Saturday when he takes on the undefeated Lerone Murphy in UFC Vegas 92’s main event. There’s no question that Murphy is one to watch in the ever-competitive featherweight division, but how will he fare against his most accomplished opponent yet?

Murphy’s six-fight unbeaten run in the UFC has flown slightly under the radar, in part because of inactivity due to injuries and Murphy lacking that signature name on his hit list. If he puts on an impressive performance against Barboza, expect Murphy to be the next British star to enter the title picture.

Also on the main card, the welterweight division heats up with matchups featuring Khaos Williams vs. Carlston Harris and Themba Gorimbo vs. Ramiz Brahimaj, Adrian Yanez welcomes Vinicius Salvador back to the bantamweight division, and Luana Pinheiro takes on strawweight lifer Angela Hill.

What: UFC Vegas 92

Where: UFC APEX in Las Vegas

When: Saturday, May 18. The seven-fight preliminary card begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by a five-fight main card at 7 p.m. ET also on ESPN+.

Odds: DraftKings Sportsbook

Edson Barboza vs. Lerone Murphy

Edson Barboza rarely loses striking duels, so you know what that means: Lerone Murphy, it’s time to mix the martial arts!

While I’m normally loathe to encourage such churlish behavior (#KeepTheMartialArtsApart), Murphy has title aspirations that should take priority over proving his kickboxing credentials. We all know Murphy can strike, but why take a chance against a man who has left a trail of bodies behind at lightweight and featherweight? Go D-1, not K-1, Mr. Murphy.

The path to victory for Barboza? Same as it ever was. Keep it on the feet, stuff those takedowns, and put his opponent through the wood chipper. As fun as it has been to watch Barboza all these years, it can’t be fun for his opponents. Not only will he tear you apart for 15 to 25 minutes, at any point during that time he might also land a strike that puts you on a highlight reel forever. Barboza rules.

At 38, the clock has to be ticking on the Brazilian fan favorite, and Murphy is primed to capitalize on any decline in Barboza’s game. Murphy will show off his entire repertoire in his first-ever headlining assignment for the UFC and walk out with a convincing decision win.

Pick: Murphy

Khaos Williams vs. Carlston Harris

This might seem like an odd choice for a penultimate fight, but I’m glad Khaos Williams and Carlston Harris are getting their chance to shine. They’re both solid pieces in the welterweight division, and while I wouldn’t bet on either man becoming a contender in their own right, they’re legitimate tests for anyone with title aspirations.

Williams enters Saturday having won three of four fights, with his past two outings ending in split calls. He has a tendency to be too patient as he looks for the perfect counter, which can lead to his opponents racking up points as time ticks away. When he finds his openings though, Williams lets loose with entertaining flurries and connects with serious power.

Harris looks to make it three straight wins if he can get the better of Williams. “Moçambique” does a lot of his work from the outside, but won’t hesitate to mix in a takedown attempt if Williams tries to rush him. He’s deadly on the ground and capable of catching submissions out of nowhere.

I lean towards Williams’ knockout potential in this matchup as Harris can only avoid him for so long. Williams catches him in the second round and takes him out.

Pick: Williams

Themba Gorimbo vs. Ramiz Brahimaj

Truthfully, there’s no telling what to expect from Ramiz Brahimaj in his first fight since February 2022. The 31-year-old has been sidelined for a lengthy stretch due to a scary neck injury and just walking back into the octagon is in itself an achievement worthy of applause.

What we do know is that Themba Gorimbo has a ton of hype behind him, both because of his inspiring story and his well-reported association with Hollywood megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He hasn’t been doing too badly in the cage either.

Even though he made his pro debut in 2013, Gorimbo is only scraping the surface of his abilities. We know he has a relentless attitude, plus some pop in that right hand, but one gets the sense that he’s still making it up as he goes. His improvisational talents should be enough to get him past Brahimaj, though he has to be careful not to be tripped up by Brahimaj’s dangerous submission game.

The long layoff has me convinced that Brahimaj will start slow, and that won’t do against a fired-up Gorimbo. Both fighters have overcome a lot to get here — Gorimbo’s coach just lost his mother — so either way someone is primed to deliver an inspired performance. It’s Gorimbo’s turn this time.

Pick: Gorimbo

Adrian Yanez vs. Vinicius Salvador

Vinicius Salvador is fun to watch, isn’t he? Now imagine if his swashbuckling style actually translated into wins.

Look, I’m not a stick in the mud. I like a good time as much as anyone. I’m a fun guy. But at some point, all that showboating and bebopping has to add up to something substantial. That just hasn’t happened for Salvador yet, though perhaps moving back to a more comfortable weight of 135 pounds will serve him well. Maybe he’s the bantamweight Michel Pereira?

I hesitate to put Salvador at that level, and definitely don’t feel confident picking him over Adrian Yanez. It’s true that Yanez hasn’t lived up to some of his early hype, but at 30 years old there’s still plenty of time for him to elevate his game. He has some of the sharpest hands in the division and it’s easy to see how some defensive improvements could make him a contender.

Fortunately for Yanez, that won’t matter much against Salvador, who has his own issues with keeping his hands up. Salvador will do his best to go viral with some striking silliness, but once Yanez finds his rhythm, it’s Salvador who will end up on the wrong end of a meme.

Yanez by knockout.

Pick: Yanez

Luana Pinheiro vs. Angela Hill

Luana Pinheiro’s past two fights have taught us a lot about her. The judo expert is a solid athlete who can out-muscle her opponents more often than not, but when it comes to the more adept strikers in the division, she can look like a fish out of water. Michelle Waterson-Gomez couldn’t quite take advantage of Pinheiro’s standup shortcomings; Amanda Ribas did so emphatically.

This puts Pinheiro in a tough spot against Angela Hill, MMA Fighting’s No. 12-ranked strawweight. “Overkill” has seen it all in this division and while a lesser experienced Hill could occasionally be overwhelmed by physicality, that version is long gone. In her place is the hardened vet we see before us today, a fighter that has rounded out her game in all aspects, shoring up her defensive grappling to keep the fight exactly where she wants it.

Even if Pinheiro can judo throw Hill around, keeping her grounded is another story entirely. It’s more likely that Hill frustrates Pinheiro with her scrappiness off her back before pulling away on the feet in rounds 2 and 3. Pinheiro is too tough to be the one that snaps Hill’s decision streak, but she’ll fall on the cards all the same.

Pick: Hill

Preliminaries

Tom Nolan def. Victor Martinez

Oumar Sy def. Tuco Tokkos

Melissa Gatto def. Tamires Vidal

Abus Magomedov def. Warlley Alves

Ariane Carnelossi def. Piera Rodriguez

Kleydson Rodrigues def. Alatengheili

Vanessa Demopoulos def. Emily Ducote

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul has been 2024’s most polarizing fight from the moment it was first announced.

But don’t count Tyson Fury among those opposing the Netflix showdown. Far from it.

“Only fighters who are not getting paid and not getting laid, they’re the fighters who are jealous people, negative people who are not making any money and are not set to gain anything from this fight featuring Jake Paul and Mike Tyson,” Fury said recently on The MMA Hour. “I think is fantastic. I think I think it’s created a lot of money.

“One, for Texas, selling out all them tickets, and that means drinks, alcohol, food and beverage, everything for the local area, big influx in dollars being spent in the local area. And then you’ve got obviously all of Mike’s teams are being fed and all of Jake’s teams being fed out of it, so there’s a lot of mouths being fed, a lot of peoples’ rents are being paid, so I don’t know what’s to be negative about it. I’m over the moon for it. Looking forward to it. I get to see the legend Mike Tyson back in the ring in my era. Fantastic. I already saw one, him against Roy Jones, it was fantastic. So I get to see him again live and exclusive as an adult? What a treat.”

Fury, 35, is boxing’s reigning WBC heavyweight champion. He faces Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday in a long-awaited unification match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the winner will be crowned as boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999. Fury also happens to be named after Tyson.

Much has been made about Tyson’s age, as the boxing Hall of Famer will be 58 years old by the time he fights the 27-year-old Paul on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The bout will be contested over eight two-minute rounds and count on both Tyson and Paul’s professional records. Tyson has not competed since a 2020 exhibition bout against fellow Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. and has not won professionally since 2003. Paul, on the hand, has been active over the past several years, beating UFC stars Nate Diaz, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley (x2), and Ben Askren in pro boxing contests. Paul most recently scored first-round knockouts of journeymen boxers Andre August and Ryan Bourland.

While many within the pugilistic world have been critical or dismissive of what Paul — and to a lesser extent, his brother Logan — are doing in the sport, Fury sees things differently.

“Him and his brother have done fantastic,” Fury said. “I know we’ve got a rivalry going on with Tommy [Fury] and that, but I’ve got to speak it how I see it — Jake and Logan have done absolutely fantastic for themselves, from becoming young kids to being multimillionaires and YouTubers and wrestlers and boxers and everything else, and entertaining. So I know they’ve got a lot of haters and stuff, however I’m not one of them. I’m a fan and I support it.

“I support people going in there making lots of millions of dollars out of boxing, my sport. And it only makes it better for young people who don’t get paid, because more people will see the fight and be interested in it, and then you know what? I’m going to watch a young kid who I don’t even know [on the card], it might be a good fight, so more eyes to the game are better.”

Tyson is currently slotted as a betting underdog against Paul, and many prominent figures within boxing have expressed concern for Tyson’s health and safety, most notably three-time Fury opponent Deontay Wilder. Regardless, Fury still believes in his childhood hero.

“Listen, if Mike Tyson hits anybody, I don’t care if he’s 90, he’s going to knock them out cold, isn’t he?” Fury said. “He’s ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. He’s the baddest man on the planet. And Jake Paul, obviously he’s very experienced now, he’s had a lot of tough fights, he’s had a lot of good fights, and he’s probably a quarter of the man’s age.

“But obviously I have to back Mike Tyson. I’m named after the legend and I back him, as he always back me. I’m backing Mike for the knockout. Come on, Mike.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

With 24 octagon appearances, Angela Hill is one of the most active female UFC fighters of all-time, yet Luana Pinheiro more than confident heading into their strawweight clash on Saturday at UFC Vegas 92.

Pinheiro suffered her first UFC defeat this past November at the UFC APEX, when a third-round TKO to Amanda Ribas snapped a three-fight win streak over the likes of Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Randa Markos. She, however, is in no rush to get the job done.

“Angela is very experienced and has fought everybody already so she’s a very, very smart athlete,” Pinheiro told MMA Fighting. “She knows how to fight despite being tired. She’s fearless, she just doesn’t give a damn. She survives on the feet and survives on the ground. She’s very tough. She has many losses, but those losses were to tough opponents.”

Hill was only 1-0 in the sport when she competed on The Ultimate Fighter in 2014 and then joined the UFC. Since then, Hill has dropped 13 of her 24 UFC contests, however only two of those defeats came via stoppage. Otherwise, “Overkill” has gone the distance in 20 UFC matches against future and former champions Jessica Andrade as well as contenders.

“I was able to see many holes in her striking and grappling,” Pinheiro said. “She knows how to fight despite being tired and I’ve worked really hard to fight smart. I can’t go in there trying to end the fight right away because she seems to be nearly dying but then survives. I’ve worked on my patience a lot to know when to jump on the opportunities.”

“The more you fight, the more experience you got,” she continued. “’I can’t try to kill her because she survives well. I’m there to fight there rounds and put my game at full display. If the knockout or submission comes, it will come naturally.”

Pinheiro said she was originally offered a spot on UFC 301 on May 4 but asked for a longer break between her fight and Matheus Nicolau’s. Nicolau is her coach and boyfriend, and recently headlined a UFC card the week prior to the pay-per-view show in Rio de Janeiro.

Pinheiro also celebrated the fact that UFC CEO Dana White said the promotion will likely go back on the road more often rather than sticking to the UFC APEX for future Fight Night cards, and she hopes to go 3-0 this year.

“I don’t know if the UFC will allow that, but I want to stay active,” said Pinheiro, who has only fought once outside the APEX since joining the promotion. “When you stay ready for a fight and win and have no injuries, you’re back in the gym two or three weeks later and can start a new training camp and keep the knowledge of the previous camp. It would be great if I had two more fights this year.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Prediction
| BJPenn.com

The biggest boxing card of the year is finally here as Ring of Fire gets underway today (Sat., May 18, 2024) live on DAZN PPV from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with heavyweights Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk colliding in a massive main event.

It seems like this undisputed heavyweight title fight has been years in the making, but fight fans finally made it. Fury and Usyk will duke it out for all four major heavyweight belts and give boxing its first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis accomplished the rare feat back in 1999. That’s incredible to think about, but another reason why Saturday’s $ 150 million superfight between “Gypsy King” and “The Cat” is such a hyped event.

Before the PPV main card gets underway beginning at 12 p.m. ET, the official Ring of Fire “Prelims” undercard will play out LIVE and FREE via YouTube starting at 10 a.m. ET. The official stream can be seen in the above video player.

The Ring of Fire “Prelims” undercard will feature the below matchups:

Daniel Lapin vs. Octavio Pudivitr
Isaac Lowe vs. Hasibullah Ahmadi

For complete Fury vs. Usyk results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts