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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

There could be more to Sean O’Malley’s knockout win over Aljamain Sterling than previously thought.

At UFC 292, O’Malley challenged Sterling for the bantamweight title and delivered one of the best performances of his career, stopping Sterling with strikes early in the second round. In the aftermath, Sterling put the loss down to him trying to have an exciting fight instead of focusing on winning, but perhaps it was also due to some gamesmanship by O’Malley’s team.

On Wednesday, new footage from O’Malley’s knockout emerged showing his head coach Tim Welch calling to Sterling during the the fight, telling Sterling, “Aljo, you’ve got to go!” moments before the now-former champ charged in and got caught with the punch that set up the end of the fight.

Speaking to opposing fighters during a bout is not illegal, and if a coach is able to convince an opposing fighter to act foolishly, that would obviously be a great outcome for his fighter.

However, Sterling disputes that anything of the sort happened on this occasion.

“Lol people try to make anything out of nonsense. Short answer. Not at all.”

“Exactly. These posts trying to highlight that are comical. I should probably sell waist-belt trainers and get them to buy into that too”

Of course, when it comes to Sterling and O’Malley, things can never be so simple. Sterling’s teammate, and O’Malley’s next opponent, Merab Dvalishvili jumped in to the conversation to add in his two cents on the champion and his coach, which then kicked off a sprawling exchange between Sterling, Welch, and O’Malley.

“I will smash O’Malley inside the cage and then smash his coach outside of the cage.”

“Are you that mad I said your nose is big brother?”

“Bro dont even fight anymore and be talking shit, clout chasing. That shit might get both ya cheeks clapped Ya Diddy. Let your fighter talk shit, you don’t scrap anymore Jimmy neutron.”

“I never talked shit? Stating facts and talking shit are different.”

“Cap. You talked hella shit during my fight with Sean. The ref had to tell you to stfu multiple times. I wanted to slap you in between rounds and I regret not taking the fine for that. You should know better as a former fighter and a current coach. You constantly talk shit about merab. Let Sean talk shit, you don’t need to be chiming in on the shit talk unless you want the problems as well. It’s that simple bro.”

“I always say good things about merab because I know how dangerous he is , I was asked in a interview what we are gonna target and his nose is one of the things, and I don’t mind a little dust up here and there. All good fun.”

“Dust ups are cool for the FIGHTERS BRO. Not the coach. You crossed the line multiple times which is why Merab said he will fight you too. Same shit when we almost fought Cejudo’s team. They were talking shit as if they were fighting. You making yourself fair game. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Ima smash your best friend after I beat you. Oh wait nvm already did.”

“You held [Henry Cejudo] for 15 min. 0 smashing.”

“You’re a sorry ass champion. 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 1 contender again to fight number 15 this time or some other pointless lame fight.”

“Congrats to him on that night. If he lost to me after handicapping the fight, I would’ve been pretty sad for him. This is why I was never offered a rematch clause for BEFORE I signed the contract and even after the fight. Facts are facts lil bro. Stay in ya lane.”

And for what it’s worth, Welch himself doesn’t believe the his talking to Sterling played any part on O’Malley winning the bantamweight title.

“Sugar’s Accuracy and ability to punch backwards won him that fight, me blabbing my lips had nothing to do with it.”

There’s still obviously a lot of bad blood between the two camps surrounding a fight that happened almost a year ago, particularly as since then, Sterling moved up to 145 pounds and scored a big win over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300, while O’Malley defended the bantamweight title against rival Marlon Vera at UFC 299. Fortunately, the parties will get a chance to finally settle up later this year when O’Malley and Dvalishvili finally square off.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Conor McGregor is back — and so is Michael Chandler.

The biggest star in the history of MMA finally makes his return to the sport when he faces Chandler in a five-round, 170-pound main event battle at UFC 303, which takes place during International Fight Week on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

And though the event is still almost two months away, the UFC is already giving it the promotional push you’d expect, releasing the event’s official fight poster on Wednesday, showing both fighters staring straight ahead and screaming.

The poster drop comes not even a week after UFC revealed the UFC 302 fight poster, which speaks to the enormity of McGregor’s return as far as fan interest goes.

UFC 303 will be McGregor’s first fight nearly three years. “Notorious” last competed at UFC 264, where he shattered his leg during his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier.

Meanwhile, Chandler most recently fought two years ago, also losing to Dustin Poirier, though he did not suffer a catastrophic injury like McGregor. Instead, Chandler has been sitting on the sidelines waiting to settle up with McGregor after the two served opposite one another as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 31.

UFC 303’s fight card is not finished yet, but a number of matchups for the event have already been announced, including a light heavyweight bout between former champion Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr., a women’s bantamweight fight between Mayra Bueno Silva and Macy Chiasson, a middleweight matchup Joe Pyfer and Marc-Andre Barriault, and a featherweight bout between Cub Swanson and Andre Fili.

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Following their inaugural event later this year, reports have surfaced suggesting that the UFC will never return for a second event at the Las Vegas Sphere.

UFC 306 is set to be a historic event in the sport of mixed martial arts. The pay-per-view will take place at the coveted Las Vegas Sphere and is expected to be one of the most unique events in the sport’s history.

Although the event at the Sphere could be an innovative new addition to the UFC going forward, it may be a one and done for the promotion. The idea of only hosting one card at the venue was discussed during the recent TKO earnings call.

“It wasn’t necessarily built for UFC events. And it will be a one and done. We will do it one and done. “

“That’s what Dana White has told us and he’s going to make it extra special.”

Despite being at the pinnacle of combat sports, the UFC are always trying to find ways to extend the gap between themselves and their competitors.

Listen to the brief clip from the TKO earnings call below.

The Sphere will be a ONE TIME show for the UFC

via // the TKO earnings call pic.twitter.com/1z3tRG39ue

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) May 8, 2024

Related: Sean O’Malley eyeing the Sphere for next fight

Who will be competing at UFC 306?

UFC 306 will take place on September 14 and will be the organisation’s debut event at the Las Vegas Sphere. The PPV will be held in celebration for the upcoming Mexican Independence Day, which begins just days later.

At this time, no bout has been confirmed for the fight card but there have been some huge rumored matchups.

Conor McGregor is making his long-awaited return to the octagon when he faces Michael Chandler on June 29. Ideally, the Irishman wants to make quick work of his tough opponent and make a splash at the Las Vegas Sphere–with Nate Diaz a potential opponent for that date.

Alongside ‘The Notorious’, another rumored clash for the event is Sean O’Malley putting his title on the line for the second time. ‘Suga’ will take on the hard-working Merab Dvalishvili, if the rumors do come to fruition.

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

Striker vs Grappler
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UFC

Robelis Despaigne might be the most intriguing prospect in the Heavyweight division.

After a lengthy and successful career as a Taekwondo black belt, including the acquisition of an Olympic bronze medal, Cuba’s Despaigne made the transition to mixed martial arts (MMA) in June 2022. “The Big Boy” has had an absurdly quick career thus far, racking up five wins with no losses and his last four fights lasting a combined 37 seconds with knockout finishes.

Despaigne, 35, targets victory No. 6 when he fights Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC St. Louis this weekend (Sat., May 11, 2024). The Cuban believes the win will continue his quick momentum and ultimately culminate in a title fight sooner rather than later.

“Look, if all goes according to plan, I think that by the beginning of next year, I’ll be fighting for the UFC Heavyweight title, or at least the interim,” Despaigne told MMA Junkie.

Before Despaigne can challenge for gold, he’ll have to, obviously, get past Cortes-Acosta, but the top of the heap still needs sorting. Undisputed champion, Jon Jones, has yet to defend his title and is expected to do so against former titlist, Stipe Miocic, upon his return later this year. Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall holds the interim strap, which presumably will grant him a shot at the winner.

From Despaigne’s viewpoint, he expects Aspinall to be the one who comes out on top at the end of the day. That’s until he gets his shot, of course.

“That is a close fight, but if it’s a matter of momentum, I think that Aspinall can pull it off and win the crown,” Despaigne said. “But we know the quality that Jon Jones has, so he can always surprise.

“For me, that would be a dream to be champion of the UFC, and it would make me proud,” he concluded.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC St. Louis fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC St. Louis news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Lewis vs. Nascimento” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 301 is in the book so it’s on to St. Louis!

The worldwide leader in MMA heads to the Gateway Arch this Saturday with 13 fights, capped off by a heavyweight slugfest between Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento and the No Bets Barred boys are back to break down all the action.

Co-hosts Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a brief recap of UFC 301 and celebrate Jose Aldo’s terrific win before diving into this week’s card. Can Derrick Lewis become a Saint in the City that bears his name? Did Joaquin Buckley bite off more than he can chew against Nursulton Ruziboev? Can Robelis Despaigne continue to live up to “Lock of the Millenia” vibes? And Jed reveals his latest bit of nonsense: The Sharknado Bet.

All this and a lot more are discussed on this week’s episode.

Tune in for episode 87 of No Bets Barred.

New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.

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