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Alex Perez is back, except according to him, he never left.

Saturday evening, Perez knocked out Matheus Nicolau in the main event of UFC Vegas 91. It was arguably the best performance of Perez’s career, and it came at the perfect time as the Team Oyama fighter had lost three in a row heading into the fight. And for Perez, this was just proof of what he’s been saying all along: He never fell off.

“It just shows I’m still here,” Perez said at the post-fight press conference. “I never went anywhere. I think the division kind of did. Obviously coming off all those fights being cancelled and my last three fights not going the way I wanted them to, but thank God for my team and my friends and family for pushing me in the right direction. I showed the division that I’m back in it.”

Perez challenged for the UFC title back in 2020, but was quickly submitted by champion Deiveson Figueiredo. That set off his three-fight losing skid over the next few years, but perhaps even worse, it started a tremendously unlucky run for Perez in making it into the cage. After that loss, Perez had nine separate fights fall apart for a variety of reasons, and of course when he managed to make it to the cage, he ended up losing. But while most fighters might lose confidence during such a trying time, Perez credits his team for making sure he never lost focus.

“Honestly, I had to change a lot of mental things,” Perez said. “Don’t get me wrong, when the fights started canceling and stuff like that, I felt like, ‘Damn, what’s going on?’ I felt sad and stuff, but at the end of the day, like I tell people, just because something is going bad in your life doesn’t mean life stops. I have a son, I have my bills to pay. I have to keep grinding.

“My boy … was like, ‘Stuff those feelings way deep down until it’s time to come out.’ [Laughs.] I just kind of kept moving forward and listened to my team. … All these guys that stuck with me by my side and told me, ‘Hey, you’re one of the best in the world.’ I spar with these guys nonstop, I train with these guys, and I can hang with these guys. … Confidence, I still had it. It was just showing the world that I still had it and I think I did that tonight.”

The win certainly did that and put him back into the thick of things in the title hunt. Currently ranked No. 8 in the UFC flyweight rankings, Perez will move up after beating the No. 5-ranked Nicolau, meaning one or two wins could get him another shot at gold. But perhaps even most importantly, it may have earned Perez a little credit with his friends back home.

“All my friends always call me ‘Pillow Hands,’ so now they can’t call me that anymore,” Perez said with a laugh. “My buddy … was calling me ‘A.S.P. — Alex Sleeping Pill Perez.’ Not because I was putting people to sleep, but because I was putting him to sleep every time he would commentate my fights, because I was taking people down. So it just shows I am evolving. … It showed off tonight and we’re going to keep working and go from there.”

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Michael Chandler is giving credit where it’s due to Conor McGregor’s business savvy ahead of their main event at UFC 303, but he plans to put McGregor down to the canvas.

It was announced during Saturday’s BKFC KnuckleMania 4 event that McGregor, in conjunction with his McGregor Sports and Entertainment promotion, has become a co-owner of BKFC. The announcement sent shockwaves among the viewers in the arena and watching at home, and even had Chandler give a reaction on Twitter Saturday night.

“Conor out here making moves,” Chandler wrote. “Hate it or love it, the dude is making stuff happen. With that being said, I KO him within 10 [minutes] on June 29 at UFC 303.”

The fight between McGregor and Chandler has been in the works since before they were announced as coaches on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter. After well over a year of wondering when — or even if — it’s going to happen, UFC CEO Dana White made the announcement at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference earlier this month.

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Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) held ‘Knucklemania 4’ on Saturday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. “King Of Violence” Mike Perry faced long-time rival and UFC veteran Thiago Alves in the main event, but perhaps the biggest news of the night came from former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor.  

McGregor announced that he and McGregor Sports & Entertainment are now an owner in the bare knuckle fight promotion.  McGregor broke the news via social media video. 

“Conor McGregor and McGregor Sports & Entertainment is now an owner of @bareknucklefc,” McGregor captioned the video announcement.  

 “What’s up KnuckleMania.  ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor here.  Ladies and gentlemen, the huge announcement that I have for you today is Conor McGregor, myself, and McGregor Sports & Entertainment is now an owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship,” McGregor said in the video.  “Welcome to the big leagues.”

View the original article to see embedded media.

Aside from purchase stake in fight promotions, McGregor is scheduled to return to the octagon on June 29 against Michael Chandler in the UFC 303 main event.  McGregor last fought in July 2021, losing to Dustin Poirier after suffering a broken leg in the final seconds of the opening round.  

UFC 303 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during International Fight Week.  The fight will take place in the welterweight division.  

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UFC

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) brought brutality, as always.

Mick Terrill scored his first BKFC title defense last night at KnuckleMania 4 (Sat., April 27, 2024) when he stopped two-division champion Lorenzo Hunt via TKO due to a dislocated elbow.

The co-main event fight lasted less than a round and was quite chaotic. With 20 seconds left in the round, Terrill landed a heavy uppercut, which sent Hunt to the floor. However, Hunt landed with his arm behind his back, which caused an elbow dislocation, ending the title fight.

Watch the video highlights below:

Terrill, 40, is now riding a four-fight winning streak, all ending in stoppages. The Britsh fighter offered to rematch Hunt in his post-fight interview but is also open to matchups with Mark Hunt and Ben Rothwell.

Speaking of Rothwell, he knocked out Todd Duffee in less than 60 seconds in the ‘featured fight.’

Rothwell dropped Duffee 20 seconds into the fight with a nasty punch. Duffee got back to his feet, and seconds later, Rothwell dropped him again, to which Duffee told the referee he could not continue. Duffee kept pointing to his shoulder saying he got a stinger, but no specific injury was revealed.

Watch the video highlights below:

Rothwell, 42, is now 3-0 in BKFC with three stoppage wins. After his win, he called for a BKFC Heavyweight title fight, which he will probably receive.

With how Duffee’s BKFC experience went, it’ll probably be one and done for the 38-year-old.

For complete BKFC KnuckleMania 4 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

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BKFC president David Feldman and Conor McGregor teaming up was not on a lot of people’s bingo cards in 2024, but that’s what happened on Saturday.

Speaking on the BKFC KnuckleMania 4 broadcast, Feldman threw to a video package of McGregor announcing that he, in conjunction with his McGregor Sports and Entertainment promotion, is now a co-owner of BKFC. Speaking with the media at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles after the event, Feldman gave his reaction to UFC’s biggest star entering the fray.

“He’s now an owner of BKFC with us and we’re going to take this motherf*cking thing all the way to the top now,” Feldman said at the post-fight press conference.

McGregor attended BKFC 41 in April 2023 and had a viral staredown with promotional star Mike Perry following Perry’s knockout win over Luke Rockhold. According to Feldman, that’s when the talks for McGregor to come over in an executive role began.

“He came to our event — in two days it will be a year [ago] — in Denver,” Feldman explained. “He jumped in the ring, he called out Mike Perry in fun, and one thing led to another. We partnered with his beer, for his Irish stout, and they became a sponsor of us. He fell in love with this.

“We had some unbelievable conversations, some great ideas already exchanging. It was funny, I was telling my wife, ‘I was dying for Conor McGregor to call me and now the guy won’t stop calling me.’ It’s unbelievable. But he is so excited about this thing. I really think it takes it to the next level.”

McGregor is preparing to face Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 303 on June 29 in Las Vegas, which serves as the former two-division UFC champion’s first fight since suffering a brutal leg injury in his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.

With “The Notorious” getting ready to give the UFC an even bigger bump with his long-awaited return, Feldman was asked about UFC CEO Dana White, and how White may react to the news of McGregor taking on a promotional role with a different fight promotion.

“Listen, Dana White has a juggernaut with the UFC,” Feldman said. “Conor McGregor certainly moves the needle for them, but [White]’s very successful without [McGregor] — not that he’s fighting for us. I’m just saying, but as him promoting our product for us? Who knows? You’re probably a little mad, your No. 1 star is going to talk about a different company, so you’re probably not very happy about it. But he’s not worried about us.”

“Not yet,” Feldman added.

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Making brief history overnight, former WWE star, Charly Arnolt became the first female Octagon announcer at UFC Vegas 91 – in rather impromptu fashion, replacing a hoarse veteran caller, Joe Martinez for a moment during last night’s broadcast.

Returning to schedule for the first time since this month’s historical UFC 300 card a the T-Mobile Arena, the Dana White-led promotion hosted UFC Vegas 91 from the Apex facility, with a reworked flyweight clash taking headlining honors.

And himself retuning in place of veteran fan-favorite, Bruce Buffer, former WEC announcer, Martinez was forced to sit out momentarily during the main card of UFC Vegas 91 – having featured as part of Ryan Garcia’s massive upset win over world champion, Devin Haney last week in ‘Sin City’.

Afforded the opportunity to make Octagon history as Martinez fell ill with throat issues, the above-mentioned roving reporter, Arnolt featured inside the cage to announce the winner of Karine SIlva vs. Ariane da Silva – before introducing both Ryan Spann and Bogdan Guskov for co-main event honors. 

Charly Arnolt makes Octagon history at UFC Vegas 91

Commenting on her history-making role, Arnolt – who usually handles roving reporting duties for the UFC, admitted she almost turned down the impromptu opportunity to stand in for Martinez.

“I’m going to put up a video tomorrow talking about how everything went down tonight because, just to be honest, I almost said no to doing the announcements,” Charly Arnolt posted. “I almost said no, and now I’ve made history, that is so f*cking cool!”

Returning to form in time for the night’s main event, Martinez introduced both pre and post-fight for Matheus Nicolau’s reshuffled pairing with former title challenger, Alex Perez.

Turning in a blistering victory over the Brazilian to win his first fight in over four years, Lemoore native, Perez fired through with a massive second round KO win – eanring himself a Performance of the Night bonus and once more launching himself into championship contention. 

What did you make of Charly Arnolt’s history-making showing at UFC Vegas 91?

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