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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Anthony Smith is setting the record straight on what exactly is going on with him and Alex Pereira.

“Lionheart” is unlikely to receive another UFC title shot soon, which is one reason why he’s confused that the reigning light heavyweight champion keeps bringing him up. The most recent verbal volley between the two saw Pereira issue a $ 50,000 grappling challenge to Smith, which Smith gladly accepted following his win over Vitor Petrino at UFC 301 this past weekend.

In Smith’s role as an analyst, he recently pointed out that Pereira, a former kickboxing star, has found incredible success in MMA despite his still-developing grappling. That led to much back-and-forth between Smith and Pereira — and Pereira’s fans — and Smith wants to make it clear that he’s simply taking what the champ is giving him.

“Here’s another thing I catch a lot of shit about,” Smith said on The MMA Hour. “Everywhere, ‘Oh, of course Anthony wants to grapple Alex Pereira. Of course he only wants to do one part of mixed martial arts.’ Because it wasn’t my f*cking idea. It wasn’t my f*cking idea. Every single time grappling has been brought up with Alex Pereira, he f*cking brought it up. I’ve never challenged him to anything, not even a fight, because I haven’t been in a position where I can confidently call him out. The answer to whatever the f*ck he wants to do is yes.

“If he wants to fight, box, kickbox, wrestle, f*cking thumb wrestle, checkers, chess, Halo on Xbox, I don’t give a f*ck. Whatever he wants to do, the answer is yes. But I’m not the one who keeps challenging him. If he wants to grapple, yes, I will absolutely do that. I would choose that over everything that I just said, that would be the most fun for me, for sure. But I’m not the one who keeps bringing it up.”

Pereira was in attendance at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro to witness Smith’s fight firsthand. As Smith entered the cage, “Poatan” pretended to be asleep and shared video of his gag on social media.

Though Smith didn’t notice Pereira’s antics live, he did watch the video later and he admits he found it amusing.

“It’s weird,” Smith said. “I don’t come at him. I’ve never come for him like that. Of course, you have the title belt in my division, so when people say, ‘What’s your goal?’ I want to fight the champion. I want to fight Alex Pereira. But he goes out of his way to pick at me, which is fine. It doesn’t bother me, I think it’s awesome actually, it’s kind of a lot of fun because he has a sense of humor.

“Like I’ve always said, he’s not this guy that’s just a serial killer mindset. He’s got a sense of humor, he’s funny, he has a really good pulse on social media and he does a good job of molding and weaving in and out of media stuff. He’s very, very intelligent, so I enjoy that part of it. It’s just weird to me.”

Smith’s win at UFC 301 not only made him the first fighter to defeat Petrino, it was Smith’s first win ever in Brazil. He previously fought in Belém in February 2018, when he suffered a knockout loss to Thiago Santos that prompted a move up to light heavyweight that changed Smith’s career.

He’s since fought the best of the best at 205 pounds, once challenging Jon Jones for UFC gold, and he’s approaching the latter stages of his career with patience and appreciation. Surprisingly, it’s a philosophy that he picked up from Pereira’s close friend and coach, Glover Teixeira.

“Glover gave me a lot of life advice, a lot of career advice,” Smith said. “That’s what he did. He just threw himself 100 percent into every single fight and just took one at a time. And he just put enough ‘one-at-a-times’ together and he found himself in a title fight.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

The hate grows
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Conor McGregor’s massive return to the Octagon has been building up for nearly three years, but you wouldn’t have known it by the lackluster fight poster Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) released for the Irishman’s upcoming clash with Michael Chandler.

McGregor, who has been sidelined since suffering a broken leg at the hands of Dustin Poirier all the way back in July 2021, is scheduled to fight Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29 from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is expected to be one of the highest grossing gates in UFC history as the biggest MMA superstar of all time returns from a three-year layoff.

All things considered, you would think that the UFC marketing and design team would come up with a better poster for UFC 303 than the garbage that spilled onto social media on Wednesday night. McGregor’s comeback fight will be one of the biggest moments in UFC history, let alone in 2024. It deserves a more memorable fight poster than something you’d see for an Alex Perez vs. Matheus Nicolau UFC Apex card.

The shocking results can be seen above. Let us know what you think of the official McGregor vs. Chandler fight poster.

Insomnia

Ryan Garcia is halfway there!

Sean O’Malley wants all the smoke Conor McGregor can dish out.

This has to be one of the most ridiculous fight posters of all time. Check the bottom right section for Adrien “If I Show Up” Broner.

A huge flyweight clash has been booked for UFC 304. Thoughts?

This is a pretty one-sided breakdown…

Do you think Chael Sonnen was really asked to be the backup fighter for Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz 2?

Anthony Smith continues to callout Alex Pereira to a $ 50K grappling match.

Is this the next matchup to make in the UFC’s flyweight division?

Fair game?

It’s crazy to think that at one time Frankie Edgar could have fought at the same weight as Islam Makhachev.

Do you think Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson will ever compete in MMA?

Dustin Poirier wasn’t impressed with Islam Makhachev’s punching machine power.

Sean O’Malley won’t let anyone forget that he KO’d Aljamain Sterling.

And Sterling quickly fired back…

Did Mike Perry miss out on a prime opportunity?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

This was a wild KO from the world of boxing.

Here’s another MMA fan edit for the win!

Check out Robelis Despaigne’s last four fights wrapped into a 50-second clip.

Does this count as a slip, rip, or neither?

Random Land

No way this is as good as the original, right?

Take your base!

Until next time, sleep well Maniacs!

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape face off in a presumptive flyweight title eliminator bout this summer.

On Wednesday, MMA Fighting confirmed with sources that Mokaev and Kape will fight at UFC 304 in Manchester on July 27. Home of Fight was first to report the news and Mokaev confirmed the report via his social media.

One of the brightest prospects in all of MMA, Mokaev is still only 23 years old but already the No. 9-ranked flyweight in the MMA Global Rankings. Unbeaten in his professional career, the Dagestani-born English fighter is 6-0 in the UFC, with four wins coming via submission. Most recently he took a unanimous decision over Alex Perez at UFC Vegas 87.

One of the most exciting fighters in the flyweight division, Kape has been a staple of the top 10 for years and currently rides a four-fight win streak inside the octagon. Most recently though, Kape’s battles have been as much about getting to the cage as fighting in it, as “Starboy” missed weight for a scheduled fight against Matheus Nicolau at UFC Vegas 84, then withdrew from the re-booking a few months later for unknown reasons.

UFC 304 does not currently have a main or co-main event, though rumors suggest that UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards and UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall are both likely to defend their titles in their home country.

Damon Martin contributed to this report.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has hit out at past foe, current division titleholder, Sean O’Malley – claiming the Montana native is cherrypicking his fights, as he struggles to land a date for a rumored clash with Merab Dvalishvili.

Sterling, a former undisputed bantamweight champion, made his featherweight divisional debut with aplomb last month at UFC 300 – turning in a dominant unanimous decision win over perennial contender, Calvin Kattar.

The outing came as Uniondale native, Sterling’s first since he dropped bantamweight spoils against O’Malley back in August of last year, courtesy of a second round KO defeat.

And fresh from a similarly one-sided decision win of his own against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 back in March, O’Malley has been heavily linked with a pairing against the surging number one contender, Dvalishvili – a close friend and training partner of Sterling.

Replying to Dvalishvili’s claims that he would beat O’Malley and then his head coach, Tim Welch – the champion warned him that he would beat the Georgian’s best friend, in a sneering jibe at Sterling.

Aljamain Sterling rips arch-rival, Sean O’Malley

Drawing a fiery response from Serra-Longo MMA staple, Sterling – the ex-champion urged O’Malley to actually fight a top contender next, before labelling a “sorry” titleholder.

“You’re a sorry champion,” Aljamain Sterling posted on his official X account in response to Sean O’Malley. “Keep bragging about a handicapped fight to give you the best odds to win. You’re not a real man, my guy. ‘Don’t try to duck the number one contender again to fight number 15 this time or some other pointless lame fight.” 

As for a return to the Octagon, Sterling has been linked with a main event clash against the surging Russian grappler, Movsar Evloev in what would come as his sophomore outing at the featherweight limit.

What are your thoughts on Aljamain Sterling’s take on Sean O’Malley?

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