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Tyson Fury had no desire to look at Oleksandr Usyk as the heavyweights faced off for the first time during fight week in Saudi Arabia.

Following the conclusion of the pre-fight press conference, Usyk stepped towards Fury with an icy stare as he glared at his opponent on Saturday night. In return, Fury just kept facing forward without ever locking eyes with Usyk.

The uncomfortably long staredown continued with the commentators just waiting for Fury to finally turn to face Usyk but it never happened.

Instead, Fury smiled, flexed, posed and even took his hat off at one point while mouthing the words to the song Hearts on Fire from the Rocky IV soundtrack that was blaring through the arena but he never even glanced Usyk’s direction.

That didn’t stop the undefeated Russian from staring a hole through Fury as he kept his eyes locked on the British born heavyweight. Usyk eventually faced towards the crowd and gave Fury one last look before he just turned and left the stage.

Addressing the faceoff afterward, Fury explained why he didn’t even glance at Usyk.

“He’s a scary-looking dude,” Fury said.

Given the way this faceoff unfolded, it will be interesting to see if Fury does something different at the official weigh-ins or if perhaps refusing to acknowledge Usyk is all part of his plan before they meet in the ring on Saturday night.

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Jake Paul is looking thick ahead of his showdown with ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson.

On Friday, July 20, ‘The Problem Child’ will make his 11th walk to the squared circle for a clash with the former undisputed heavyweight world champion inside the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The fight will broadcast live on Netflix around the world and will be backed by a stellar undercard that already includes the most anticipated rematch in boxing history and Darren Till’s long-awaited debut in the sweet science against legendary pugilist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Eight weeks away from what could very well become the most-watched fight of all time, Jake Paul shared a video of himself on social media, showing off his new heavyweight physique.

“I’m a natural-born heavyweight,” Paul said at the kickoff press conference. “This is what I was born to do: to move up into this weight class. I’m going to show Mike who has more power because he’s underestimating me. I think everyone else is underestimating me and I believe that I hit harder. I know it’s going to be tough. I know I’m going to have to fight through adversity.

“I know I might even go to the canvas. I’m scared, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not about the fear stopping me. It’s about going into it, even though I am scared. That’s what true bravery is.”

Jake Paul Accused of Using PEDs ahead of Tyson fight

Fight fans online were quick to call out Paul, particularly on the “natural” part, accusing the YouTube star of juicing ahead of his tussle with Tyson in The Lone Star State.

LowKickMMA.com

Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will get a chance to avenge his last loss when he faces Curtis Blaydes in the UFC 304 co-main event on July 27 in Manchester, England.  UFC CEO and President Dana White announced the match on Thursday in a video posted to social media.  

“The (UFC 304) co-main event will be interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, he will be facing Curtis Blaydes,” White said in the video announcement.  “This is a rematch from two years ago where Aspinall suffered an unfortunate knee injury.  Aspinall has 14 wins, all by finish, and all but one is in the very first round.  He faces Curtis Blaydes who recently stopped the surging Jailton Almeida at UFC 299.”

Aspinall (14-3) won the interim title by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 last November.  With champion Jon Jones expected to return from injury and take on former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic later this year, Aspinall isn’t waiting on the champion.  

Blaydes (18-4, 1 NC) is coming off a ‘Performance of the Night’ win over Almeida.  When Blaydes and Aspinall first met in the UFC Fight Night 208 main event, the fight barely got started before Aspinall fell to the canvas holding his knee.  Blaydes picked up the TKO win but the first fight only lasted 15 seconds.  If ever there was a fight that needed to be run back, it’s this one.    

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Cedric Doumbe and Jaleel Willis nearly started their fight 24 hours early after chaos erupted on stage at the Bellator Paris weigh-ins.

The welterweights didn’t even get a chance to engage in the customary faceoff before a physical altercation took place. As Doumbe set foot on the scale, Willis came over shouting and immediately shoved the former GLORY kickboxing champion.

Cooler heads prevailed but only momentarily as Doumbe then returned the favor with a shove to Willis after the fighters were finally brought together for the faceoff. Despite the simmering bad blood, one more attempt was made the bring the fighters together and it looked like tensions had calmed down enough for a quick staredown between the fighters.

With Dan Hardy between them, Doumbe and Willis were still jawing at each other, but it appeared the turmoil was over.

That changed in an instant after Willis ducked under the security team previously holding him back and he rushed at Doumbe and returned the shove from earlier. Security rushed in to keep the fighters separated before a full-on brawl could break out on stage.

Despite the ill will between the co-main event fighters, they re-joined Bellator commentator Chael Sonnen on stage a few moments later for an interview.

“F*ck the people’s favorite fighter,” Willis said about Doumbe after the faceoff. “This n**** delusional as f*ck. This man believes he can knock out Anthony Pettis. Are you serious right now? Ya’ll f*cking crazy. Putting hands on this man is the best thing I did all week.”

Doumbe and Willis look to settle their bad blood when the meet in the co-main event at Bellator Paris on Friday.

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Belal Muhammad gets his long-awaited title shot when he clashes with welterweight champion Leon Edwards in the main event for UFC 304 on July 27.

UFC CEO Dana White announced the fight via social media on Thursday.

Currently on a 10-fight unbeaten streak, Muhammad cemented himself as the No. 1 contender in the division by vanquishing Gilbert Burns in a short-notice fight this past May. That victory served as his fifth consecutive win over ranked opponents including Sean Brady, Vicente Luque, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Demian Maia.

The only blemish on Muhammad’s resume over the past four years came in a no-contest he suffered in a separate short-notice fight against Edwards back in 2021. On that night, Muhammad couldn’t continue following an accidental eye poke from Edwards that brought an abrupt end to the contest just seconds into the second round.

Now, Muhammad seeks to settle some unfinished business in a rematch at UFC 304.

As for Edwards, he looks for the third defense of his welterweight title after defeating Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington in consecutive fights. The 32-year-old champion from Birmingham, England, has a remarkable 13-fight unbeaten streak on his resume as he prepares for his return in April.

In his most recent fight, Edwards effectively blanked Covington for nearly 25 minutes before winning a one-sided unanimous decision.

Additionally, White revealed that Tom Aspinall will defend his newly won interim heavyweight title for the first time against Curtis Blaydes — the lone man to defeat him inside the octagon — in the co-main event.

White also announced that Bobby Green will get his wish and face Paddy Pimblett on the card at the new Co-Op Live arena, along with two other bouts MMA Fighting had previously confirmed — Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze, and Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape.

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Weird
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Perry claims he was MVP’s original option to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the Paul vs. Tyson undercard. MVP replied with their own version of events.

The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson undercard is coming together quickly as the event’s July 20th date approaches. In the co-main slot is the killer rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. Also fighting is Darren Till vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

One name you won’t see on the card, though, is ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry. As for why, there are differing accounts.

Perry himself says he was approached by Paul’s promotion MVP to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but the paycheck didn’t make sense.

“I was like, oh, I’m interested to be on the Mike Tyson Netflix card, to get that exposure against this certified professional boxer,” he said on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. “But the money.”

“Platinum” made a disclosed $ 600,000 to fight at the last BKFC KnuckleMania, plus undisclosed bonuses and pay-per-view points. He’s willing and able to fight outside BKFC, but has said he won’t do it for less money.

The two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, and MVP went with Darren Till vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in what certainly feels like a second choice.

Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian denied that was the case.

“No offer was made to Mike Perry,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “There was a discussion with his management prior to his last bare knuckle event with the plan to revisit after that fight. We expressed interest, but also highlighted the need to see factual data on Mike’s ability to sell tickets and PPV.”

“We did not revisit the discussion after his fight as by that point we had the entire Paul Tyson card confirmed.”

Bare Knuckle FC’s actual pay-per-view sales are somewhat mysterious. Gone are the days where reporters with access to cable PPV sales could extrapolate somewhat accurate estimates. With everything going through the internet, it’s a black box.

We know Perry gets tons of attention, and probably generates a lot of eyeballs for BKFC, but only on pirate streams? Bidarian wanted to know the answer to that, which is fair enough … but not super relevant when your event is being aired for free on Netflix.

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