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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC’s light heavyweight division finally gets back on track this Saturday night. What better way for it to do so than the UFC 300 main event?

Everyone loved the coined “golden age” of MMA, which is generally agreed upon as the time we saw the 205-pound title hot-potato’d around from legend to legend from 2007 to 2011. That was, of course, until that pesky Jon Jones fella came along and decided he’d just beat everybody for the following nine years. Talk about an unmatched level of arrogance.

All jokes aside, Jones’ eventual departure from the division in 2020 threw the title landscape into an absurdly comical tailspin. It’s once again been a revolving door of champions atop 205, but not necessarily in the same manner as pre-Jones, thanks to scoring disasters and the injury bug taking out two of the recent five champions. One of those was Dana White Contender Series alum Jamahal Hill, who challenges the current champion, Alex Pereira in the historic headliner this weekend.

When Hill became the champion with a unanimous decision win over Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 in January of last year, Pereira was the middleweight title holder, gearing up to have a rematch with his rival Israel Adesanya. The fourth overall combat sports clash for the pair of legendary strikers was Adesnya’s redemptive moment, as he snatched back his title with a crazy second-round knockout. “The Last Stylebender” has aided Hill with some tips in preparation for the matchup, and believes the tools are in place to reclaim the belt he never lost.

“Two of my friends, two of my peoples,” Adesanya started on his YouTube channel. “This fight, Alex is gonna try and kick Jamahal’s legs. I don’t think that’s a f****** secret. That’s his thing. Jamahal knows this.

“Jamahal just — I don’t think is scared. Jamahal has got knockout power, scary knockout power, as well. Alex can get knocked out. Something Jamahal said which I felt — I don’t know if it was overlooked or not — but he said, look, who is someone Alex Pereira has just outclassed in a fight? Not just knocked out, but like outclassed in a fight until he knocks them out.

“This is the reason why when I was fighting him, the fourth time, and people were like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna be 0-4 against him,’” he continued. “Nah, I can beat this guy. First time, I thought I beat him. Second time, I was beating him until he caught me. Third time, I was beatin’ his ass then he got me. I’m like, I know how to beat this guy. Jamahal made that point, saying he’s beatable and we all know this. I’ve proven it.”

Thanks to the history between Adesanya and Pereira, there probably aren’t any other fighters better to ask for advice to help against the opposing competitor. They’ve felt practically every strike in each’s toolboxes at this point, and for Adesanya, the leg kick of Pereira is one he specifically finds to be the tricky one needing evasion.

Although Hill is the betting underdog against “Poatan,” he’s been nearly flawless in his 14-fight career with only a single loss (12-1, 1 NC). More often than not, “Sweet Dreams” hasn’t needed to drag out fights as his striking acumen is well-capable of putting opponents away. With five rounds of fight ahead of him, Hill is no stranger in MMA, having gone to championship rounds on three occasions, twice in his most recent appearances.

Pereira’s lone championship-round experience came when he claimed 185-pound gold off Adesanya in round five of their UFC 281 clash in November 2022. Ultimately, Adesanya doesn’t expect the light heavyweight title tilt to make it that far.

“Five rounds, so it’s gonna be a slow start in the first round. They’re gonna figure each other out, get some shots off,” Adesanya said. “Alex is going to be throwing the leg kick, and Jamahal will be finding his jab and trying to get his fist to Alex’s head. Not just the chin. Remember with Johnny Walker, bro. That was probably a (puts fist to forehead). Bro, he shuts people off. F***, that was insane.

“I’m gonna go Jamahal by KO. I think it’s gonna be in the first two and a half [rounds].”

TOP STORIES

Matchups. Holly Holm compares Kayla Harrison to Ronda Rousey ahead of UFC 300: ‘They are two very different fighters’

Drama. Ciryl Gane claps back at Tom Aspinall for ducking claims: ‘Stop tripping’

Anticipation. UFC 300: 5 burning questions before UFC’s tricentennial celebration

Action. ‘This is Sparta!’: Looking at UFC 300 through the lens of the iconic film ‘300’

Change. Ex-Bellator champion Patricky Pitbull considering move to featherweight after 2024 PFL season

Beef. Paul Hughes talks long-awaited free agency, grudge match with ‘absolute shitebag’ Paddy Pimblett

Refresh. Laura Sanko: Kayla Harrison joining UFC is exactly what women’s MMA needs right now

Train. Nate Landwehr knew he was going to ‘break’ Jamall Emmers, wants top-15 opponent next

Promise. Jamahal Hill warns Alex Pereira if ‘he grabs me, he’s f****** done,’ says when ‘on top of you, I f*** you up’

VIDEO STEW

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck previews UFc 300 with Jon Anik.

Fighter vs. Writer with Laura Sanko.

Between the Links (with yours truly).

Sound & Pound.

Embedded 2.

Highlights from all UFC 300 fighters.

The condensed history of the UFC.

Free fights.

It is also PFL fight week…

Holloway All Access.

Final days.

LISTEN UP

Heck of a Morning. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses if Jamahal Hill has the most to lose at UFC 300.

MORNING MUSIC

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Paulo wants his fight.

Art.

The real poster.

Sigs.

They came through.

Countdown.

Meeting.

Sure.

Next up?

Nice jacket.

Whoops.

This and the Leites fight were two of my all-time most frustrating MMA viewing experiences.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rin Nakai (26-2-1) vs. Aoi Kuriyama (7-5-1); Deep Jewels 45, May 26

Jailton Almeida (20-3) vs. Alexandr Romanov (17-2); UFC 302, June 1

Roman Kopylov (12-3) vs. Cesar Almeida (5-0); UFC 302, June 1

FINAL THOUGHTS

Was the Sean Strickland fight too short to be considered an outclassing from Pereira? I’d probably say so, but now I’m curious.

I know it’s a bit of a default bit of text placed here every single day. I do truly mean it when I say thanks for reading, though. There are several other ways that you could start off your days, and if you frequently do it here, I appreciate it. Even if it isn’t frequent, you are appreciated. See you tomorrow?

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kayla Harrison (16-1) may not be the UFC 300 main event, but her debut is definitely one of the most talked-about moments for the historic event on Saturday.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo has already conquered the PFL several times over. Now, she attempts to do the same in the UFC, and she’ll be tested at a level unlike anything she’s faced before in fighting.

Not only is she be cutting to 135 pounds for the first time after fighting almost her entire career at 155 pounds. But she also kicks off her UFC career with a showdown against a former champion in Holly Holm.

Nothing will be handed to the 33-year-old Harrison. But UFC color commentator and analyst Laura Sanko believes her UFC arrival is exactly what women’s MMA needs right now.

“That’s the story of Kayla Harrison coming to the UFC,” Sanko said on The Fighter vs. The Writer when asked about her most anticipated fight. “I cannot overstate how big of a fan I am of her in terms of not just her fighting, but her as a human being. She’s just an awesome person.

“The bantamweight division needs someone like Kayla Harrison to come in here and shake it up, and quite frankly, women’s MMA in the UFC right now needs a little bit of a breath of fresh air. Hopefully, she can come out here and make that insanely difficult cut and not have it affect her too much in the fight, and make good on, I think, the idea of what a lot of people have for her for what she can do in the UFC.”

Bantamweight is not only the first UFC women’s division, but it was once considered a marquee weight class, largely thanks to the star power of Ronda Rousey. Since Rousey’s exit, Amanda Nunes headlined numerous cards but wasn’t the same magnetic draw as her predecessor.

Lately, the bantamweight division has largely been stagnant; the belt remained vacant for several months following Nunes’ retirement. Now, division vet Raquel Pennington holds the belt, but there’s not a whole lot of new and exciting faces waiting to greet her for promotable fights. That changes if Harrison can tear through an established veteran and former champion such as Holm.

Beyond her fight skills, Sanko also believes that Harrison possesses another ability that’s sorely been missed since Rousey made headlines every single time she had a microphone in front of her face.

“I was working the desk last weekend, and before the fights, that was the point we were all thinking about — this Germaine de Randamie-Norma Dumont fight, the winner here could be a real injection of life, especially Germaine de Randamie,” Sanko explained. “Having her come back, former champion, had only ever lost to Amanda Nunes, and it just didn’t quite play out in those terms. Now, we look to Kayla Harrison.

“What I love about Kayla, not only is she capable of going out there and running through people like we’ve seen her do, she’s excellent on the mic. There’s a lack of that in women’s MMA. I’m not a big fan of the vile level of s*** talk that we’ve seen become popular lately. I hate that. But I do think that you have to be able to seize the moment when you have a microphone. It’s part of the business now. A lot of times the female fighters tend to be really respectful, which is awesome, but it doesn’t always build the biggest fights. You put Julianna Pena and Kayla Harrison, we are already seeing it on Twitter, those two are going to build a fight if that’s what’s in the stars for them.”

Harrison’s heavily hyped debut doesn’t mean she’s guaranteed anything, especially going up against a perennial contender like Holm in her first UFC fight. Still, Sanko can’t wait to see what Harrison can do on the largest stage in combat sports, and she might be most excited about one particular weapon that she’ll finally have at her disposal.

“What I’m excited to see because I saw it one time where she popped over to Invicta, I called that fight, and she had one fight at 145 in Invicta where she was allowed to use elbows,” Sanko said. “She can’t use elbows in PFL.

“I’m telling you what, what she did to that poor woman in Invicta when she was finally able to use elbows when she got on top, [her opponent] looked like she took a hatchet to the face. I’m excited to see Kayla Harrison with elbows.”

The stakes couldn’t be any higher for Harrison, who’s often said she wants to go down as the greatest fighter in the history of the sport. Reaching the top of that mountain requires a move to the UFC.

“I think Kayla Harrison actually has a lot to lose if she comes out here and performs poorly,” Sanko said. “Like where do you go? If you don’t look good at 135 or she misses weight, there is no 145. So it’s certainly high stakes for her.

“Can she find Holly in that big pay-per-view sized octagon? With Holly’s incredible footwork and ability to stay elusive, that could be a real problem for Kayla. This is a very tough test right out of the gate for her to be facing a former champion and someone who has the footwork. That could really give her some problems.”

Listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday with audio only versions of the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Respect
| BJPenn.com

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight king Islam Makhachev isn’t impressed with the Lightweight booking between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway at UFC 300. Makhachev labeled the bout useless on social media, and his team has also questioned the promotion’s decision, which is holding up a possible title contender in Gaethje.

Makhachev has struggled to get a title defense booked in 2024. He wants to fight three times this year, but nothing has materialized. As a result of top contenders Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, and Arman Tsarukyan all being booked at UFC 300, he’s turned to Dustin Poirier as a possible option for his planned June return to action. Maybe if Gaethje had passed on the “Blessed” showdown, it would be him fighting the Russian in June?

It’s certainly a risk fighting Holloway.

For his part, however, the Hawaiian takes issue with Makhachev’s critique. According to Holloway, there’s been ample time for Makhachev to return to action since his knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski in October 2023. Holloway points out that the Australian managed to get back in the cage in February, and he’s the guy who got knocked out!

“I saw Islam talk about, ‘oh, this fight makes no sense and blah, blah, blah’. I’m like brother, you should’ve fought Justin in February,” Holloway said on the MIGHTYcast with Demetrious Johnson (via Sports Keeda). “Why did the guy you knocked out turn around so fast and fight in February? I mean, you were healthy. You should’ve turned around and came [back in] February. Everybody knows you can’t fight in Ramadan and that’s why they couldn’t do the fight on 300 with Leon [Edwards] or he couldn’t get another fight, but he’s complaining like ‘I can’t get fights’.”

He continued, “I’m like it’s because you’re only fighting around the times you want to fight. It’s not you can’t get fights. You’re just not taking the fights that are offered because of certain things that are going on. If he really wanted to fight, I thought he would’ve turned around and fought in February. It made no sense to make the guy who just got a brutal knockout to turn around and fight in February.”

Given Holloway’s propensity for fighting often and Lightweight title goals, perhaps it could be Holloway filling in two months from now if he’s victorious at UFC 300.

Insomnia

What are your favorite of the special UFC 300 fight shorts?

21 gun salute to “The Pleasure Man,” whose UFC fights were certainly amusing at the very least.

Cesar Almeida is getting a big step up in competition after his recent knockout win (watch here), but it’s a good style match up for the pro kickboxer!

Ominous words from UFC Flyweight Cody Durden …

There is only one Jiri Prochazka.

A look into the Islam Makhachev training camp:

In case you needed further convincing that Jim Miller is a legend!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Anything can happen late in a fight when both guys are feeling it!

Kayla Harrison has to win this weekend to redeem Judo from this display.

A rather violent KO from the Brazilian regional scene:

Random Land

Some photos from yesterday’s eclipse!

Midnight Music: Indie, 2007

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The long-percolating fight between Ian Machado Garry and Colby Covington is closer to reality – or so says Garry.

The Irish welterweight on Tuesday gave fans an update on his mission to fight and end the former interim champ’s career, claiming a contract is on the table – if Covington would sign.

“I just want to let everyone know, I have agreed to fight Colby Covington,” said Garry, noting the time of his video at 1:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday. “There’s a date in place – Colby still hasn’t signed the contract.”

Garry did not mention the date of the proposed fight, and a request for comment to his reps wasn’t immediately returned. He previously said negotiations were ongoing to put the welterweight grudge match together.

Garry intensified his campaign to fight Covington after a split decision win over Geoff Neal at UFC 298, prompting Covington to issue a list of racy demands in response. The two traded shots over the internet, but nothing appeared to materialize.

Covington was not immediately reachable for comment. The 36-year-old MMA heel and Donald Trump devotee is five months removed from his third failed bid to capture the undisputed belt, suffering a unanimous decision loss to current champ Leon Edwards at UFC 296. In the wake of his loss, he called for a fight with two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson, but that fight failed to materialize.

In a recent exclusive with MMA Fighting, Garry said he would go to Covington’s backyard in South Florida to make the fight happen. The Irish star sought to make “Chaos” answer for insults against he and his family, not to mention his position in the sport.

“I want to fight him because of the following he has, the respect on his name as one of the better fighters in this division and has been for a long time,” Garry said. “I want to fight him because of all the s*** that he has talked about me and my family, and I’m going to make sure that he regrets every word he’s said. But I also know that even if it was the best Colby Covington we ever seen, he would never stand a chance against me. No matter how good Colby Covington ever could be or would be, he would never be able to beat me. I’m too elite. I’m too fast. I’m too technically brilliant. He just doesn’t stand a chance.

“I don’t think the guy deserves any respect in the world, to be honest with you. The s*** he talks … I’ll step into that octagon, and I’ll retire him. That’s my goal. My whole goal to when I fight Colby Covington is that he never puts on MMA gloves ever again.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts