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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Lyoto Machida is interested in facing Luke Rockhold under Karate Combat rules, if the pay is right.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion responded to a callout from Rockhold, who knocked out Joe Schilling in the main event of Karate Combat 45 this past Saturday in Dubai.

“‘The Dragon’ is already breathing fire,” Machida said on Instagram. “‘The Dragon’ is already breathing fire since they announced this challenge. Now, get to the right numbers, let’s get a date, and see when we’re having this dog fight.”

Rockhold met Machida under the UFC banner in 2015, submitting the Brazilian to earn a title shot at middleweight king Chris Weidman. Machida hasn’t competed since completing his Bellator deal with a loss to Fabian Edwards in 2022.

Rockhold last fought in the UFC in August 2022, losing a decision to Paulo Costa, and then suffered a TKO defeat to Mike Perry under bare-knuckle boxing rules in 2023. The win over Shilling was his first since a second-round stoppage of David Branch back in 2017.

“There’s only one man I wanna fight in this pit, and that’s Lyoto Machida,” Rockhold said in his post-fight interview in Dubai. “And you’re lucky because they don’t allow elbows, so no more f****** nightmares about the elbows. Bring it. Let’s see what you got, let’s see what your paychecks look like. Bring out that checkbook. Lyoto, I know you need a payday, motherf*****. Come get it.”

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Israel Adesanya has nothing, but respect for longtime rival Alex Pereira.

Pereira’s fans, on the other hand, not so much. Or as ‘The Last Stylebender’ likes to call them — “Poatards.”

Adesanya’s iconic rivalry with the reigning UFC light heavyweight world champion started all the way back in 2016 under the GLORY Kickboxing banner. There, Pereira scored back-to-back wins over Adesanya — one, a questionable unanimous decision and the other, an absolutely brutal third-round KO.

They picked up right where they left off inside the Octagon, with ‘Poatan’ finishing Adesanya in the fifth round of their UFC 281 headliner to claim the 185-pound crown.

Looking back on their legendary scraps during a recent appearance on Demetrious Johnson’s YouTube channel, Adesanya couldn’t help but vent his frustration over “casual” MMA fans who continue to ignore the success he had against Pereira despite holding a 1-3 record against the Brazilian.

“People, they’re so f*cking stupid,” Adesanya said. “In this first fight in China, I thought I won. These casuals don’t. These plebs don’t. I thought I won. Even he thought he won until he got his hand raised. The second time, I’m beating his ass and he gets me. Again in New York [at UFC 281], I’m beating him. Rocked him. Took him down, beat him, and he gets me.” 

Adesanya finally broke through five months removed from his third-straight loss to Pereira, retaking his middleweight title at UFC 287.

“I just knew that I can beat this guy,” Adesanya added. “It wasn’t about proving it to anyone else. I can beat this guy, so that last Miami one, I was in a different place. I had to tap into some darkness for that camp. People who knew me, I was different. Ain’t no way this motherf*cker is about to beat me four times. It’s about the story. So now I’ve beat him once. How ironic. I beat him once, but watch this. If I fight him again and knock him out, what are they going to say? ‘It’s 3-2. Now it’s best out of seven.’

“I’m 34. I’ve only got a certain amount of fights left. Why am I gonna fight the same guy however many times? I just want to prove it to myself.”

Israel Adesanya is grateful for the time he spent competing against Alex Pereira

Content to leave their series where it stands, Alex Pereira made the move to light heavyweight, earning a split-decision victory over former 205-pound champ Jan Blachowicz. That win set the stage for his world title clash with Jiri Prochazka. In November, the two warriors stepped under the main event spotlight at UFC 295 inside the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden.

There, ‘Poatan’ delivered another highlight-reel-worthy knockout, finishing Prochazka in the second round to claim his second world title in a year.

“He’s a special fighter,” Adesanya said of Pereira. “He’s a special human being. What he’s done in this game — in fighting and what he’s done for his life as well, I’ll always respect him. I’m grateful for those moments because, for me, it taught me so much about myself and where I can go.”

Pereira is fresh off his first successful defense of the light heavyweight belt, dispatching Jamahal Hill in the opening round of their UFC 300 headliner on April 13.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Justin Gaethje plans to return to the octagon, but he’s not going to rush things.

Gaethje was on the wrong end of a brutal last-second knockout against Max Holloway in the BMF title fight at UFC 300 earlier this month. “The Highlight” also suffered a broken nose early in the fight, and was on the receiving end of more than 180 significant strikes — 62 of those to the head — in the losing effort. When asked about a UFC return, the former interim lightweight champion couldn’t answer that question, but he knows he’ll spend most of the rest of 2024 away from contact in the gym before he’ll start planning his next move.

“Metaphorically, I could be ready tomorrow, but physically, I do want to take care of myself,” Gaethje told MMA Hangout. “I do think that repeated concussions, with me going to sleep like that, me receiving that shot, it would be foolish for me to jump back into training anytime before 180 days.

“I could do cardio, I can stay in shape, that’s what I want to try and do — especially [with] the older I get, the harder it is to get back to the best shape of my life, so I want to stay active. Obviously the physical contact is going to be limited for quite some time, just because I want to preserve myself. … I think six months, at least, before I get back to taking shots. But that doesn’t say that I wont be training the whole time.”

Gaethje, in most people’s eyes, was the No. 1 contender for Islam Makhachev’s lightweight title prior to putting his BMF title on the line against Holloway on the historic card. With arguably the most competitive division in the sport only getting deeper, Gaethje may have a lot of work to do to get back into that championship discussion.

Although, if Dustin Poirier can pull off a big upset against Makhachev in the main event of UFC 302 on June 1, perhaps Gaethje could land a third meeting with Poirier to settle their two-fight tie. But again, MMA is the Wild West, and a lot can change over time.

“It’s a crazy game,” Gaethje said. “We’ll see how that Dustin [and] Makhachev fight goes. Crazy game.”

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Fresh off his UFC 300 TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic, former light heavyweight titleholder Jiri Prochazka wants a rematch against champion Alex Pereira.  Prochazka and Pereira fought for the vacant title at UFC 295 in November 2023.  Pereira finished Prochazka in the second round, but Prochazka believes it was an ‘early stoppage.’

Following his UFC 300 win over Rakic, Prochazka called for a title shot.  “I want to face the champion,” he said in his post-fight interview.  Headlining the UFC 300 event, Pereira successfully defended the title by knocking out former champion Jamahal Hill in the first round.    

“Like I spoke after the fight, I’m looking for the title fight, for Alex Pereira,” Prochazka said during an interview with Michael Bisping.  “I was able to and am still able to take the fight in Brazil.  I will see.  Now it’s on the UFC…  Let’s see if it will be necessary to fight someone else before the title fight.  I will do that, but I think I deserve it.”

Prochazka called for a title shot in his UFC 300 octagon interview, during the post-fight press conference and in interviews since the April 13 event.  However, he has not spoken to the fight promotion. 

“I told that to interviews.  Not to the UFC, but I told that to (my) manager who is in contact with the UFC with Hunter Campbell and Dana White too,” Prochazka said.

“I’m just saying that I’m prepared.  I’m prepared like in two weeks in Brazil.  I’m prepared in the summer to take that fight.  And that’s it,” Prochazka said.    

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Islam Makhachev could see himself fighting Max Holloway at some point down the line, but not in the immediate future.

The UFC lightweight champion is currently booked to headline UFC 302 on June 1 against Dustin Poirier. Holloway delivered a highlight-reel, buzzer-beater knockout of Justin Gaethje earlier this month at UFC 300 and certainly has a case to get a lightweight title opportunity, but Makhachev doesn’t have the new BMF titleholder on his radar at the moment.

“If he beats a couple more guys in my division, we can fight,” Makhachev told the New York Post. “I don’t want to give him chance now because I have some contenders who I have to beat. Now I have Dustin, after we’ll have Arman [Tsarukyan]. I think I’ll have some [work] in my division, he has [work] in his division.

“Maybe if he wins his next fight. Maybe [if] he beats [Ilia] Topuria, and I finish all of my two fights, maybe.”

Makhachev captured the title when he stopped Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in October 2022, then defended it twice against then featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, winning a decision at UFC 284 in MMA Fighting’s 2023 Fight of the Year, and then delivering a thunderous head kick knockout eight months later at UFC 294.

After facing Volkanovski twice, Makhachev thinks it’s only fair he gets his opportunity at champ-champ status before facing another former featherweight champion for his title.

“My dream fight, I have to fight for the next division, 170,” Makhachev said. “I have to fight Leon Edwards.

“I already give some chances from the 145 [division], it’s why I need my chance for the second belt.”

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Arman Responds
| BJPenn.com

Longtime featherweight contender Edson Barboza will defend his spot in the division Top 15 when he collides with undefeated English sensation Lerone Murphy atop the upcoming UFC Vegas 92 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, recently made official for Sat., May 18, 2024 at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Now they have an official poster, which fans are praising for its “old school boxing” style.

UFC

Barboza (24-11) is currently riding a two-fight win streak. After obliterating Billy Quarantillo with a vicious knee at UFC Kansas City, the Brazilian took home a unanimous decision victory over Sodiq Yusuff at UFC Vegas 81 last fall.

As for Murphy (13-0-1), six years younger than Barboza at 32, he debuted with a draw opposite Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC 242, then rattled off five straight wins, including last summer’s decision nod over Joshua Culibao at UFC London.

UFC Vegas 92 will also feature the strawweight showdown pitting Angela Hill against Luana Pinheiro. Elsewhere on the card, Warlley Alves and Abus Magomedov collide at middleweight, while Tim Elliott and Tatsuro Taira hook ‘em up at 125 pounds.

Expect more UFC Vegas 92 fight card announcements in the coming days.

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