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Renato Moicano is never at a loss for words.

Just moments after he earned a victory at the UFC Fight Pass Invitation, the always outspoken Brazilian grabbed the microphone to deliver another of his viral post-fight interviews. This time around, Moicano decided after returning to his roots for a grappling match that perhaps he should next tackle one of the striking arts with a potential crossover into boxing.

“I love this shit but I was missing throwing some f*cking elbows in a motherf*cker today,” Moicano shouted. “No disrespect for Christian [Guzman], I am a UFC fighter, top 10 lightweight and today I was doing grappling. We’re MMA fighters, we can do it all. So that’s why next time, I want to fight boxing.

“That little dirthead Ryan Garcia, motherf*cking steroid abuser, my brother. If I go to boxing, I’m going to f*ck you up.”

Of course, Garcia has been in the headlines non-stop over the past few weeks — first for his impressive win over Devin Haney but then he got caught up in controversy after he tested positive for a banned substance that that threatens to void the results in the fight.

Garcia’s A-sample tested positive for ostarine — a banned anabolic agent that has popped up for a number of prominent UFC fighters over the years including Sean O’Malley, Kyler Phillips and Daniel Rodriguez — with the B-sample set for testing on May 22. Haney already filed a request with the New York State Athletic Commission to have the fight overturned to a disqualification win due to the positive drug test.

Garcia has denied all wrongdoing but the court of public opinion has already weighed in, which now includes Moicano taking aim at the 25-year-old boxer.

In addition to him putting Garcia on blast, Moicano also renewed his desire to face highly touted prospect Paddy Pimblett next, who caught a stray in closing from the veteran lightweight contender.

“Paddy Pimblett, easy money,” Moicano said. “Let’s f*cking go.”

It was brief but Moicano definitely got his point across as he awaits word on his next assignment from the UFC. Most recently, Moicano took out Jalin Turner in an impressive performance at UFC 300 to extend his winning streak to three overall.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

UFC commentator Joe Rogan offers an alternative to the current MMA ruleset. 

Despite his success in podcasting and comedy, Rogan has stuck around the sport for over two decades. The 56-year-old continues to commentate on American pay-per-view cards and has done an enormous amount of work in terms of promoting the sport.

Joe Rogan does have a particular soft spot for grappling and BJJ, holding a black belt himself the comedian has also been a major factor in the sports massive surge in popularity after discussing it at length during his podcast. 

This might be why he believes a rule change should be implemented in order to level the playing field between strikers and grapplers. Talking with the legend Royce Gracie on his podcast, the two discussed the current ruleset. 

Joe Rogan calls for change in ruleset

Rogan alleges that the current rules favour strikers over grapplers, citing round time and referee stand-ups as his reasoning. 

“The rules are set up much more for strikers than for wrestlers,” Joe Rogan said on his JRE MMA Show with UFC 1 victor, Royce Gracie. “I’ve been talking about this lately. Say you’re a jiu-jitsu guy and you’re fighting in the first round, and rounds are five minutes long and you take the guy down at four minutes and 30 seconds. You only have 30 seconds to work.” (H/T MMA Mania)

“I feel like if a fight should be… Even if you’re going to make it rounds, the fight is the fight. I don’t think someone should be able to get up. I don’t think people should stand you up, ever. I think once a guy takes you down, the fight is on the ground.

“If it’s boring for the audience, tough s—,” Rogan continued. “If you’re on the bottom, get up. And if you can’t get up, tough s—. And if the round ends and the new round begins, I think they should start you right back in the same place.”

Rogan would bring up the option of implementing the old Pride-style rounds that would last ten minutes. He had previously raised this argument during a podcast with Paul Felder

“Well, I think Pride had good rules with a 10-minute was better. I think 10 minutes is better”, Rogan said. “Especially if someone, like, works really hard. Again, 4 minutes 30 seconds you finally take the guy down, now you’re on top. And now you’re trying to set things up, but the bell rings. And then you start standing up again.” 

Do you agree with Joe Rogan? 

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jared Cannonier and Nassourdine Imavov are headlining in “Derby City.”

The UFC announced Wednesday that Cannonier (17-6) and Imavov (13-4, 1 NC) are set for the main event of UFC Louisville, which takes place at KFC Yum! Center on June 8. MMA Mania was first to report the matchup.

Cannonier currently holds the No. 5 spot in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, while Imavov sits at No. 11.

Wednesday’s announcement puts the capper on a lineup that currently has 13 other bouts scheduled to take place.

Cannonier continues to work his way back to another shot at the UFC middleweight title. He has won four of his past five bouts, including consecutive wins over Marvin Vettori and Sean Strickland. His lone loss during that stretch came at UFC 276 to then-champion Israel Adesanya.

Imavov picked up a much-needed win in his most recent outing at UFC Vegas 85, where he won a majority decision over Roman Dolidze. The French standout owns a UFC record of 5-2 (1 NC).

See the updated lineup for UFC Louisville below (bout order still to be finalized).

Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov

Dominick Reyes vs. Dustin Jacoby

Julian Marquez vs. Zachary Reese

Miguel Baeza vs. Punahele Soriano

Brad Katona vs. Jesse Butler

Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios

Charlie Radtke vs. Carlos Prates

Eduarda Moura vs. Denise Gomes

Brunno Ferreira vs. Dustin Stoltzfus

Andrea Lee vs. Montana De La Rosa

Rayanne dos Santos vs. Puja Tomar

John Castaneda vs. Daniel Marcos

Cody Stamann vs. Taylor Lapilus

Thiago Moises vs. Ludovit Klein

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Darren Till has big plans for his boxing career.

On Wednesday, news broke that Till will make his professional boxing debut on the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul event that takes place on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. Till will face former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and speaking Wednesday on The MMA Hour, Till explained that all of this came together unexpectedly but was something he simply could not turn down.

“The fight is one of the biggest of our generation,” Till said of the main event. “You’ve got Jake Paul, who is a huge, massive star — and big in the world of boxing now as well — and you’ve got one of the best fighters to ever fight in the world, Mike Tyson. … It’s a huge fight. It doesn’t get any bigger: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson.

“They literally just approached me with the fight, with the name, the promotion, the venue, and in my eyes, the exposure this event is going to bring to any fighter, I think as a fighter, you can’t turn an opportunity like this down.”

Chavez Jr. has 61 professional boxing bouts under his belt, but has not been active lately, most recently winning a unanimous decision over David Zegarra in 2021. Chavez Jr. does have some experience with fights of this nature though, as the 38-year-old fought Anderson Silva in 2021, losing a split decision to the MMA legend. And Till believes he’s going to deliver an even better performance than “The Spider” managed.

“I’m going to knock him flat out in two rounds,” Till said. “I’m just going to knock him out and flatline him. You don’t have to ask my why I’m confident, you don’t have to ask me about what he’s doing. I’m going to knock that man out in f*cking two rounds.

“Then I’m going to fight Jake Paul after it. And if Jake Paul’s not available, I’ll fight [Mike] Perry. I’ll fight anyone. Dillon Danis wants to fight me, so let’s go Dillon.”

Till most recently competed at UFC 282, getting submitted by Dricus du Plessis in the third round. Following that loss, “The Gorilla” was released from UFC to pursue other interests, and while there were near constant rumors about him making his way to BKFC to fight Mike Perry, Till has instead crafted a different course for his career, which he says starts in July.

“Now we begin. Now the journey starts,” Till said. “I’m going to bring influencer boxing to an end as soon as I knock Julio Cesar Chavez out. I’m going to bring it all to an end. I’m going to knock every single one of them out.”

So, come July, Till warns, Chavez Jr. better watch out, because he’s just the first to fall.

“I’m not going to disrespect a man who is a formidable opponent,” Till said. “He’s an ex-world champion. His dad’s a living legend. So it would be very wrong of me to disrespect him, but as I said, I’m not coming to f*cking make the numbers up in July. I’m coming to put on a show for everyone involved.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

TKO win
| BJPenn.com

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

In the south of Brazil, the Rio Grande do Sul state is currently experiencing severe flooding after continuously heavy rain fall. The region is expected to continue suffering flood conditions for the next month, which could displace up to half a million people.

Thankfully, at least one hero has intervened, as UFC Middleweight contender Michel Pereira was recently seen helping those affected. Today, more footage released of Pereira, as the Brazilian can be seen rescuing a large amount of dogs — likely trapped or abandoned — from dangerous conditions. In the clips above, Pereira is seen carrying a dog off a roof with a flash light in his mouth, carefully navigating his way to the deep waters. In another clip, Pereira is helping pull a boat containing half-a-dozen dogs through the flooded streets.

Pereira posted a couple times on social media to update the world on the struggles of Rio Grande do Sul.

Translated via Google Translate, the latter post reads, “These are some sad scenes. These are some cool stuff. But there are scenes that you and I need to see to understand how much Rio Grande do Sul needs us right now.

We’re several days into this seemingly never-ending struggle. The water stinks. Water hurts from being cold. Water makes everything difficult. But today alone, 26 dogs and 3 guinea pigs were rescued.

We’re here for you. Let’s get this out of here. Keep donating, keep supporting”

In the cage, “Demolidor” has been nothing short of spectacular. Pereira has won eight straight bouts, mostly in highlight reel fashion. He’s been particularly excellent since moving up to 185 lbs., stopping his last three opponents in less than four minutes combined.

Now ranked at No. 13, a Top 10 opponent is probably next for Michel Pereira whenever he returns to action.

Insomnia

What are the odds Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili ends up headlining the one-off UFC Sphere event?

Daniel Cormier has a chronic case of foot-in-mouth syndrome.

Jose Aldo has the greatest takedown defense of all time, and it’s not even close.

Championship hustle from Alexa Grasso.

Amir Albazi tried to big dog the Raw Dawg, and it didn’t work out.

Dan Ige wants all the ultra tough unranked Featherweights. BMF material!

Are you hype for Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

It took me a couple watches to see the shot that finished him.

Mike Trizano was a skilled Featherweight who put on some good fights! Thought his position on the UFC roster was deserved.

A strong sprawl and a head kick on the break — good tools for a kickboxer making the transition.

Random Land

The Simpsons!

Midnight Music: Swamp rock, 1985

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

From Joe Silva to Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, UFC matchmakers are notoriously tight-lipped — and essentially forbidden — from speaking out publicly about their work behind the scenes.

But a new video from TKO Group Holdings — the merged company between UFC and WWE — posted a brief clip on Wednesday with Maynard discussing what he’s looking for when scouting potential prospects. Maynard’s job beyond matching fights across several divisions (he splits those duties with Shelby), involves identifying up-and-coming fighters who are worth signing to UFC, The Ultimate Fighter, and the promotion’s Contender Series.

While there’s no exact checklist on what a fighter needs to achieve to get noticed, Maynard — whose actual title is UFC vice president of talent relations — lays out a pretty clear roadmap, one which includes an impressive résumé with plenty of knockouts or submissions.

“There’s so many aspects that Sean [Shelby] and I really concentrate on,” Maynard said. “Obviously, you’ve got to look at the record. You have to look at, are they finishing fights?

“Quite frankly, if they’re not finishing fights on the regional level, they’re not going to come into the biggest league in the world and finish people. That’s important.”

In addition to scouting fighters on regional shows across the globe, UFC has also started cultivating prospects locally after building Performance Institutes in China and Mexico.

The UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas has served as the gold standard for training, preparation, recovery, and rehabilitation ever since the facility first opened, and now the promotion is looking to duplicate and grow that success internationally.

“Even if you look at the level of talent now, I believe, from eight years ago, obviously the sport continues to evolve, we have the Performance Institute here in Vegas, one in Shanghai, China, just opened one on Mexico,” Maynard said.

“What it does for the region is unreal. I was just at the one in Mexico City and there was a lot of people trying out for the opportunity to get a scholarship from the Performance Institute.”

According to Maynard, the UFC scholarship sounds similar to what a student might receive attending college.

Fighters are provided with food, housing, and training in hopes that at least some of them eventually earn a spot on the UFC roster.

“They get a scholarship, they’re fed, they’re housed, they have world-class coaching, they have world-class physical therapy, world-class facilities,” Maynard said. “So after seeing the growth, especially in Mexico City, to be off the charts — obviously when you look for talent with us, we want them to be the best fighters in the world.”

For all the ways an athlete’s record and finishing rate matters to UFC matchmakers, Maynard admits there are still those rare instances when they really discover a diamond in the rough.

It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, UFC loves to pounce on those opportunities.

“Every now and again, you’ll get a Conor McGregor who has his personality that’s off the charts and you have a whole new animal,” Maynard said. “A superstar. All of those things combined, we take into account.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Demetrious Johnson was one of the UFC’s most dominant athletes when the promotion was still finding its footing in the world of social media.

‘Mighty Mouse’ is considered by many to be one of the P4P greatest fighters in the sport’s history, scoring 11 consecutive title defenses — a UFC record that may very well stand the test of time. But despite all of his accolades, Johnson never brought home the paychecks like that of other champions during his legendary run.

In fact, Johnson’s reign over the flyweight division was so significant that the promotion has even considered shutting it down altogether.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but Demetrious Johnson has since found a new home in ONE Championship. There, he reigns as the promotion’s current flyweight MMA titleholder and completed the first trilogy of his career, winning back-to-back bouts against former champion Adriano Moraes.

Looking back on his time with the UFC, Johnson spoke about the promotion’s early days on social media and pushing athletes to expand their individual brands online with a series of incentives.

“When Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook first came out, the UFC would bring us to the ‘Fighter Summit’ and say, ‘You guys need to build your brand. It’s free. It costs you nothing. The more people want to see you fight, the more money you’re going to make because you’re going to make money in pay-per-view points, etc., etc., if you become a champion, if you become a partner,’” Johnson said on his YouTube channel.

“The UFC was very good about doing that. Back then they would send you laptops. Back then they’d give you incentives, I think it was like quarterly. Whoever had the most traffic in their thing. First person would get $ 25,000. It would go like $ 12,000 then $ 5,000, maybe $ 1,000. They’d give us a lot of incentives to talk about the fights and boast it, and they kept on doing it for I think a year or two. Fast forward to what it is today, I think they’ve seen the payoff of them slowly investing in telling the fighters to do that” (h/t MMA Fighting).

Demetrious Johnson recalls how hard the UFC wanted to push Cain Velasquez

The UFC held Fighter Summits between 2009 and 2011, right around the time that Cain Velasquez rose to prominence and captured the heavyweight title with a stunning first-round knockout of Brock Lesnar at UFC 121.

“I’ll never forget at the UFC Fighter Summit they pulled a picture of Cain Velasquez and were like, ‘You see this man? This man is Mexican-American. We are trying to break into the Mexican market so we want this man to do very, very well. You need to follow this man’s footsteps and try to get your community behind you. That way, it brings more eyeballs to the sport,’” Johnson said.

“I always tell my friends and my wife, any check I can get without getting punched in the face is a good check. It’s a good check because I’m getting paid for not me being in the gym, training hard, and fighting, but by me being a personal persona and going to shake some hands, doing whatever it may be.”

LowKickMMA.com