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Islam Makhachev has no issues stepping into the Octagon with Conor McGregor.

Well, it sounds like Makhachev’s best buddy, former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion, Daniel Cormier, might finally be getting through to the Lightweight kingpin. “D.C.” has been stating in recent months that Makhachev needs to beat big stars to become a big star, and his next match up against Dustin Poirier can help contribute to that at UFC 302 next month (Sat., June 1, 2024).

What comes after Poirier? Arman Tsarukyan is the obvious choice as the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds. However, at the end of the same month that Makhachev next competes, “The Notorious” McGregor returns from his lengthy layoff when he’ll try to get back in the win column against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29, 2024. Should McGregor ever get offered to Makhachev, he wouldn’t decline it no matter how meritocratically illogical it may be.

“People have to be stupid to say no,” Makhachev said on Pound 4 Pound (h/t MMA Junkie). “Of course, I will fight with him.

“This guy not same,” he continued. “I don’t want to, like, make him look bad, but everybody know this guy not same. Before, yeah, for sure. When he was fighting with Khabib [Nurmagomedov], he was in a good shape. He [was] a high-level fighter. But right now, too much alcohol, too much whiskey.”

Makhachev, 32, has expressed his interest in fighting at Madison Square Garden in New York City. If that dream became a reality, Makhachev would fight in November when the promotion visits the iconic arena annually. The champion admits an October Abu Dhabi return is also possible for his second fight of 2024. He added one last note, saying he’d fight sooner than that if UFC happened to offer him McGregor in August or September.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Mike Tyson may be almost 30 years older than Jake Paul, but with that experience, comes a little wisdom when it comes to the fight game — and that includes trash talking.

Just days after a fairly tame encounter between the fighters who meet in the ring on July 20, Tyson and Paul reconvened for a second press conference on Thursday and this one featured a whole lot more animosity. Rather than hugging and paying each other compliments, Tyson struck the first salvo when he noted how big Paul has gotten in his preparation to fight at heavyweight.

Well, Tyson actually questioned how much work Paul’s been doing, at least judging by his size.

“I don’t know if he’s in his prime. He’s fat,” Tyson said with a raucous crowd cheering him on. “He should be lean and mean. He’s fat and funky. I saw him with his shirt off the other day, he’s fat. Did you start training already?”

Paul, who actually encouraged the crowd to chat “F*ck Jake Paul” at him several times during the press conference, fired back with a reminder from Tyson’s first professional loss and arguably one of the biggest upsets in sports history.

“Buster Douglas was fat, am I right?” Paul shouted. “I’m going to end you quicker than he did.”

There was no anger in Tyson’s voice when he responded but rather a chuckle and a laugh that Paul actually compared himself to a former boxing champion.

“I know but you’re no Buster Douglas,” Tyson said.

The back-and-forth continued with a constant loud ovation from the audience in attendance with Tyson hyping up the crowd with every answer.

At one point, the former undisputed heavyweight king questioned the references to Paul’s power after he demolished his past two opponents in the first round. As quickly as Paul scored knockouts in those fights, Tyson didn’t seem all that impressed.

In fact, Tyson rattled off several names from Paul’s past who he didn’t finish and yet none of them have his size, power or pedigree.

“He couldn’t even knock out [Nate] Diaz,” Tyson said. “[Nate] Diaz is 40 pounds. He’s going to knock me out? Anderson Silva, he couldn’t even knock out the little guys? How’s he going to knock me out?

“Who did he knock out? Little children. He never knocked out a real man, come on. He didn’t knock out Tommy Fury. I’m going to f*ck Jake up. How am I going to lose if he couldn’t beat Tommy Fury?”

Answering that challenge, Paul didn’t offer up excuses or denials regarding his past fights where he couldn’t put his opponents away but he promised that wouldn’t be the case when he sets foot in the ring with Tyson.

“Look, he’s right. I can’t stand here and say I did those things but what I promise to the people on July 20, Mike will be put to sleep and he will feel my power,” Paul said. “I will go down as the man who put Tyson to sleep for the last time.”

While Tyson was much more vocal this time around, Paul had some lines cooked up in response, although it’s safe to say he didn’t go over with the audience quite as much as his opponent.

“I respect Mike, he’s a legend,” Paul shouted. “But it’s time, it’s my time now. There’s a reason why I have the same birthday as Cus D’Amato, because I’m going to teach you how to f*cking box, Mike.”

Invoking Tyson’s late trainer didn’t get under his skin as Paul surely hoped it would but it did make the one-time “baddest man on the planet” laugh again.

“I can’t even get mad at this guy,” Tyson said. “Because everybody knows this guy is talking out of his ass.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

On Saturday afternoon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk face off in a highly-anticipated boxing match set to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion in nearly 25 years. So for a fight of this magnitude, MMA Fighting’s José Youngs, Eric Jackman, and Jed Meshew join forces to preview the epic clash.

Was Tyson Fury’s poor performance against Francis Ngannou a one time thing or has “The Gypsy King” lost a step? Can Usyk cement himself as an all-time great and take the top pound-for-pound spot with a win over Fury? And how will this fight affect the legacies of both men, particularly with Anthony Joshua waiting in the wings?

All this and more is answered as the MMA Fighting crew breaks down the biggest boxing fight of the year.

Catch the Fury vs. Usyk 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.

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Following his UFC 300 win over Jim Miller, lightweight Bobby Green called out Paddy Pimblett, and UFC matchmakers put the fight together for UFC 304 in Manchester, England.  

“Paddy, how dare you.  You slimy, sugary little snake.  How dare you say my name,” Green said in his UFC 300 post-fight interview.  “I’m coming after you.  July, I’m coming to your backyard with your people, and kick your a**.”

UFC CEO Dana White announced the lightweight fight on Thursday via a video posted to social media.  “Also on the (UFC 304) fight card, Bobby Green versus Paddy Pimblett.  A fight they were both asking for, so we gave it to them,” White said.

After Green called out Pimblett, “The Baddy” responded saying Green needed him because of his popularity.  

“Everybody wants a slice of the Baddy. Bobby Green screamed my name on the mic after it. Didn’t surprise me,” Pimblett said on his YouTube channel. “He might be ranked but he’s got no followers and he needs me. Just like everyone else, they want to fight me because they know I’m the boy. Bobby Green’s an option. If Bobby Green wants to fight, I’m there.”

Green (32–15–1, 1 NC) has won three of his last four fights and is ranked 15th in the lightweight division.  Pimblett (21-3) will enter the bout on a seven-fight winning streak.  He’s coming off a one-sided unanimous decision win over Tony Ferguson in his last outing.  

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Themba Gorimbo is fighting for more than himself on Saturday.

This Saturday, Gorimbo takes on Ramiz Brahimaj on the main card of UFC Vegas 92, where he looks to extend his current two-fight winning streak. And this weekend, Gorimbo has plenty of extra motivation, as a pair of personal incidents are fueling his efforts.

“I was trying to do this building of the library, and what happened is someone scammed me,” Gorimbo told Aaron Bronsteter. “So I didn’t end up doing that. Someone scammed me. I lost $ 5,000 from the person that said they were going to buy the shorts. They sent me a proof of payment that was fake. A guy from England. They wanted me to send the kit to them. Luckily, because they sent money to somebody in Zimbabwe … and that guy gave me the money, we had already bought some stuff for the building of the library, and a few days later, the guy told me the money had not cleared his bank account. It was a scam.

“So I ended up losing money because I had to pay back the money to the guy who already bought stuff to start the building of the library. But now I’m going to do it after this fight with my own money. It is what it is. It’s life. It happens. You learn. Sometimes expensive lessons.”

A native of Zimbabwe, Gorimbo rose to prominence under the patronage of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson after getting his first UFC win and revealing that he only had $ 7 in his bank account. Since then, Gorimbo has been open about pursuing charitable endeavors back home in Africa, which this library was supposed to be part of. But despite this setback, “The Answer” is not deterred.

“I’m going to win in spectacular fashion on Saturday, I’m going to get a Performance of the Night bonus and I’m going to do it myself,” Gorimbo added.

And if this wasn’t enough on his plate already, another unfortunate incident befell Gorimbo on fight week when his coach’s mother passed away just hours before the UFC Vegas 92 media day. Speaking at that event on Wednesday, Gorimbo was overcome by emotion.

“All I know is I’m going to win in spectacular fashion for my coach, whose mother just died two hours ago,” Gorimbo said, breaking down in tears. “He’s been here with me for eight weeks. He tells me his mother is sick with cancer. He never told me it was that bad. I just said to him, ‘OK man, after the fight, we’ll go back to South Africa together.’ I didn’t have a plan to go there, but I was going to go with him to see his mother.

“His mother just died like three hours, two hours ago. I’m going to win for him. … He sacrificed the past eight weeks of his life. Obviously I pay him to be here with me, helping me get better with my wrestling and stuff, but I cannot bring his mother back.”

UFC Vegas 92 takes place this Saturday at the UFC Apex, kicking off at 4 p.m. ET.

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Belal Reacts
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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Jack Marshman is making his way back to combat sports — but “The Hammer” won’t be competing in mixed martial arts (MMA). Instead, Marshman will be ditching his gloves after signing a multi-fight contract with BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle Fighting Series.

“The addition of Marshman is just a small sign of things to come. We are only getting bigger, badder and better,” said BYB’s European Director of Operations and former BKB co-founder, Jim Freeman. “I’m ecstatic about the opportunity to work with Greg [Bloom] and the [BYB] team to continue to grow BYB and the sport of bare knuckle across the globe.”

Freeman and his team from BKB merged with BYB Extreme earlier this month. Expect “The Hammer” to make his debut for the bare knuckle promotion at some point this summer.

Marshman, 34, compiled a 23-10 record in MMA, also competing for Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and BAMMA across the pond. The Welsh slugger was last seen dropping a unanimous decision to Sean Strickland at UFC Vegas 12.

BYB Extreme returns on June 14 with “Brawl in Duval” in Jacksonville, Florida.

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