CombatSports.org

WrestleMania 40 weekend is upon us as the two-day extravaganza will invade Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday (April 6, 2024) and Sunday (April 7, 2024). The pay-per-view (PPV) event will feature the highly-anticipated return of The Rock, who will team up with Roman Reigns to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in opening night’s main event. On night two, Reigns will defend the Universal Championship against Rhodes in a singles match.

What’s Hot:

Finally, The Rock has made his way back to WWE. For the time being, at least. Many were surprised when The Rock (a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson) decided to return to the WWE universe after enjoying a pretty successful run as a Hollywood box office star. Sure, he had some flops along the way, more noticeably Black Adam, which didn’t exactly sit well with major Hollywood execs, saying Johnson’s ego was to blame for the $ 400 million catastrophe. And since DCEU was trying to climb out of Marvel’s shadow at a time when Iron Man, Thor and Captain America were on hiatus — a perfect time to strike — the debacle was highlighted a bit more. Granted, The Rock still got his and was paid handsomely for his efforts — hopefully he didn’t take a front-end pay cut for potential back-end profits — but the flop pretty much ended any hopes of the character to resurface down the line. And when you couple Henry Cavill’s exit as Superman — who made a late cameo in Black Adam to tease and eventual showdown — the chances of seeing The Rock put on the black tights again for the DC Universe are pretty slim.

That brings us to present day. Is The Rock hurting for cash? No. Is he struggling to get movie roles? No. He is still a mega-star, flush with cash and is still getting roles and will continue to do so. That said, he is back to his old stomping grounds and will compete for the first time in eight years, last taking part in a match at WrestleMania 32. In January of this year, The Rock was appointed to the Board of Directors of TKO Group Holdings, which was the beginning of his comeback trail. Not being content with sitting at that table, he wanted to sit at the “head of the table.” Indeed, The Rock was out to silence “The Tribal Chief,” Roman Reigns (who is also his cousin) to prove who the real leader of “The Bloodline is. But, that matchup went to dust (more on that later) and the two forces will now team up to face Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. In Night 2’s main event, Rhodes will attempt to get revenge on Reigns, who defeated him last year. After winning the Royal Rumble earlier this year, Rhodes earned the title fight, which is the reason many were not too thrilled to see The Rock try to squeeze his way into the mix.

Original Card Vs. Actual Card:

The original plan was to have The Rock face Reigns for the Universal Championship, but after fans lashed out at WWE because of matchmakers throwing Rhodes by the wayside, robbing him of a championship rematch that was rightfully his, Triple H and the rest of the top brass had to reverse course and switch up the entire event. That prompted The Rock to go full heel, slamming all of the “Cody Crybabies,” as well as “The American Nightmare” himself. That is how The Rock/Reigns vs. Rhodes/Rollins tag team match came to be. If The Rock and Reigns prove victorious, they will have the right in implement “Tribal Rules” for the following night’s championship fight between Reigns and Rhodes, which means anything will go. Still, the flip of the script allowed to The Rock to go back to his heel ways which, to be honest, has been entertaining to see.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look:

In Night 1’s co-main event, Rhea Ripley will put her women’s World Championship on the line against former champion, Becky Lynch. The two women have a bitter beef that has been going on for some time, almost coming to blows on a recent appearance on The MMA Hour.

Plus, Logan Paul returns to defend his United States title in a triple threat match against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. And for those of you who haven’t been following along for Paul’s wrestling adventure, you would be surprised because the kid is a natural— just look at the picture! Also, there will be a massive six-team tag match between champions The Judgment Day vs. DIY vs. Awesome Truth vs. The New Day vs. New Catch Republic vs. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. That promises to be wild!

Who Needs A Win Badly:

The longest-reigning intercontinental champion, Gunther, will look to extend his streak — which has been going strong since 2022 — when he puts his strap on the line against Sami Zayn, who at one time was an honorary Uso, hanging with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline. That brought him a ton of the spotlight, but as a solo artist, Zayn hasn’t been doing much. He needs this win … badly.

Interest Level: 8/10

WrestleMania is always a good time. Sure, it runs a bit long and the two nights can sometimes feel like overkill, but if you are a wrestling fanatic this is the weekend you have been waiting for all year. And when you add The Rock’s star power to the event, it only magnifies it. Many are waiting to see just how the whole dynamic with Reigns plays out, so don’t be too surprised to see someone get double-crossed. Furthermore, there are hopes that other former stars (like John Cena and Stone Cold Steve Austin) make surprise appearances, so that adds an entirely different level of intrigue to the event.

Will The Rock stick around and continue to make television appearances on the regular like he has the previous two months? That is highly doubtful because he still has some obligations in Hollywood to handle. That’s why there could be a potential amount of record-breaking viewers for this event, as it could very well be the last time The Rock competes (at least for a while). For now, wrestling fans will enjoy it while they can.

Full Wrestlemania 40 Fight Card:

Night One

• The Rock and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes Seth Rollins
• Women’s World Championship Match: Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch
• Intercontinental Championship Match: Champion Gunther vs. Sami Zayn
• 6-Pack Ladder Match for Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: Champions The Judgment Day vs DIY vs. Awesome Truth vs. The New Day vs. New Catch Republic vs. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller
• Jade Cargill, Naomi, and Bianca Belair vs. Damage CTRL
• Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio
• Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso

Night Two

• WWE Undisputed Universal Championship: Champion Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes
• World Heavyweight Championship: Champion Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre
• WWE’s Women’s Championship: Champion IYO SKY vs. Bayley
• United States Triple Threat match: Champion Logan Paul vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
• LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
• Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits vs. Final Testament in a six-man tag team Philadelphia street fight

For more WWE WrestleMania 40-related coverage click HERE.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

submitted by /u/cpseybold1 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Brendan Allen has little to gain and a lot to lose tonight.

When the UFC Vegas 90 main event was initially drawn up, Allen had the opportunity to climb up the rankings with a win over originally scheduled opponent Marvin Vettori. Currently, Vettori is No. 7 at middleweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, two spots higher than No. 9 Allen.

An injury forced Vettori out and in walked the unranked Chris Curtis, who just so happens to be the last fighter to hand Allen a loss. Allen has won six straight fights since Curtis finished him with strikes in December 2021, a run that has him closing in on a title shot at 185 pounds. A second loss to Curtis wouldn’t bar Allen from ever challenging for UFC gold, but it would harshly derail the most promising run of his career.

As for Curtis, he has a habit of causing disruption when it’s least expected, so stuffing Allen’s championship dreams would be perfectly on brand for him.

What: UFC Vegas 90

Where: UFC APEX in Las Vegas

When: Saturday, April 6. The seven-fight preliminary card begins at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by a five-fight main card at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Brendan Allen vs. Chris Curtis

Obviously, Brendan Allen and Chris Curtis aren’t the same fighters they were when they first fought. The question is how much have they changed. More importantly, has Allen improved in a meaningful way to avoid Curtis clipping him again?

Having fought Curtis once already can only be beneficial to Allen because much like Curtis’ training partner Sean Strickland, “The Action Man” is a difficult puzzle to figure out at first. He had Allen completely befuddled in their first meeting and once Allen’s grappling was neutralized, it was only matter of time until Curtis lit him up.

Unsurprisingly, given his recent run of finishes, Allen is at his best when he’s pressuring and finding openings for takedowns and power punches. A traditional striking battle favors Curtis, a veteran with a reputation for out-thinking his foes in the standup. Allen can’t bully Curtis, so he has to find the right balance between aggression and patience. Too aggressive, Curtis can hurt him with counters; too patient, Curtis picks him apart.

The rematch being 25 minutes adds an important wrinkle. Both fighters shouldn’t have an issue going the distance having both completed several five-rounders in their pre-UFC days, but Allen’s grappling-heavy style could be difficult to maintain as the fight wears on. Allen can make a statement by excelling in the championship rounds.

That’s what I expect to happen in this rematch. Allen again scores with his grappling early and makes it a point to stay in the shorter Curtis’ face at all times. It’s going to be a grueling, punishing five rounds for Allen, but he’ll give better than he gets to earn a decision.

Pick: Allen

Alexander Hernandez vs. Damon Jackson

Readers, you’re smarter than me. Answer me this: What exactly is Alexander Hernandez doing at featherweight? Let me know in the comments below, please.

I ask because he hasn’t looked great in two appearances at 145 pounds (a TKO loss to Billy Quarantillo and a decision loss to Bill Algeo), and on Friday he made a mess of things at the scale, first weighing in at 150 pounds and then coming in at 147.5 pounds on his second attempt. At least he tried.

Damon Jackson is known for getting into dogfights, which aren’t always to Hernandez’s liking. We know Hernandez can reach down deep to gut out wins, but he’s at his best when he has room to flow and utilize his athleticism. On paper, Jackson is tailor-made to outpace and out-ugly Hernandez.

It’s amazing to think Hernandez is just over a year removed from winning a thrilling decision over Jim Miller. Just stay at lightweight! I don’t get it.

Pick: Jackson

Morgan Charriere vs. Chepe Mariscal

Morgan Charriere is an absolute assassin when he gets going. The Frenchman came over from Cage Warriors with a healthy amount of hype behind him and for good reason. He’s a readymade featherweight contender, with plenty of quality experience and an entertaining striking style.

On the other side, Chepe Mariscal has already earned the reputation of a wild man after 15 minutes of chaos in his UFC debut against Trevor Peek, but that evaluation does him a disservice. He’s highly technical and well-rounded and he’s faced a comparable level of competition to that of Charriere.

Charriere gets the edge in my book due to his superior defense and movement. Mariscal might be able to walk Charriere down, but it’s more likely that Charriere’s evasiveness frustrates Marichal into making a mistake. After feeling him out in the first round, Charriere turns it up in Round 2 for the finish.

Pick: Charriere

Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Christos Giagos

Like a lot of tall fighters, Ignacio Bahamondes has a herky-jerky style that can be both exhilarating and confounding to watch. When it works, it’s plenty effective though, and I don’t see Christos Giagos slowing him down.

Giagos has taken on a glass cannon quality over the past few years, which is great for fans, not so great for his career prospects. He’s a threat to finish on the feet or on the ground if he can get on the offensive, which is a big if in this matchup. Bahamondes’ reach advantage is tough to get past and Giagos doesn’t have the speed or agility to navigate it.

I have Bahamondes stinging Giagos with his striking and finishing via submission.

Pick: Bahamondes

Trevor Peek vs. Charlie Campbell

Trevor Peek and Charlie Campbell have barely been in the game for five years, but it feels like we know what to expect from them already, doesn’t it?

Campbell has the makings of a legit prospect at 155 pounds. He has impressive physical tools and is light on his feet, plus he hits like a truck once he lets his hands go. There’s a lot of seasoning to be added before he’s anywhere close to a finished product, but he’s being put in a position to succeed.

I’m probably underselling Peek when I say that he has the potential to be a consistent bonus collector for years to come. Maybe there’s more to meets the eye with his fighting style, but it’s hard to look past the wild lunges and home-run swings when judging his technique. He could be Lyoto Machida in the gym. It’s impossible to tell based on what we see on fight night.

So give me Campbell via knockout after surviving a rabid rush from Peek to open the contest.

Pick: Campbell

Preliminaries

Alex Morono def. Court McGee

Valter Walker def. Lukasz Brzeski

Germaine de Randamie def. Norma Dumont

Victor Hugo def. Pedro Falcao

Dan Argueta def. Jean Matsumoto

Cesar Almeida def. Dylan Budka

Nora Cornolle def. Melissa Mullins

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey has revealed who she believes is the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all-time – landing on Russian heavyweight icon, Fedor Emelianenko, claiming the era of the PRIDE FC great “had it all”.

Rousey, a former undisputed bantamweight champion under the banner of the UFC and the now-defunct, Strikeforce promotion, called time on her mixed martial arts career following a hellacious first round knockout loss to Amanda Nunes back in 2016. 

Linked with a massive return to the Octagon in the time since, grappling ace, Rousey saw a potential comeback hit the skids with UFC boss, Dana White confirming how the Californian would likely never compete in mixed martial arts again.

Ronda Rousey brands Fedor Emelianenko the GOAT

Furthermore, chances of a return to combat sports for Rousey were cast into certain doubt earlier this week, with the former bantamweight queen revealing a slew of repeated concussions and other neurological injuries compiled during her sports tenure.

However, labelling herself as the greatest fighter of all-time – to much criticizm, Rousey has listed former Bellator MMA heavyweight, and PRIDE FC legend, Emelianenko as the best fighter to ever compete in mixed martial arts.

“I think Fedor (Emelianenko), dude, his time had it all,” Ronda Rousey told TalkSPORT. “He had a relationship with Judo, too. I am a big nerd for Judo, and Sambo is basically Russian Judo.” 

“I’ve got to say, too, his [Emelianenko] versus (Mirko Cro Cop) is my favorite MMA match of all-time,” Ronda Rousey explained. 

Prior to her 2016 knockout loss to Brazilian icon, Nunes in her return to the Octagon, Rousey saw her undefeated record come to a crashing halt in the form of a brutal high-kick KO defeat to Holly Holm in the pair’s bantamweight title grudge fight in Australia the year prior.

Recognized as arguably the greatest heavyweight fighter of all-time, Russian veteran, Emelianenko called time on his combat sports career back in February of last year, dropping a first round knockout loss to Ryan Bader in the pair’s Bellator MMA heavyweight championship rematch.

Do you agree with Ronda Rousey’s thoughts on the GOAT discussion?

LowKickMMA.com

submitted by /u/I_love_Basketball232 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

With UFC and WWE now operating under the same umbrella as TKO Group Holdings, it’s impossible to avoid questions about the two organizations promoting some sort of crossover event.

Michael Chandler recently appeared on an episode of Monday Night Raw to call out Conor McGregor. Weeks later, Rey Mysterio Jr. helped hype up the UFC Mexico City card and attended as a guest of the promotion. But Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s chief content officer and current head of creative, doesn’t really see more of a talent exchange happening any time soon.

“I don’t know. That sport is so difficult,” Levesque said on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast. “Even there’s some guys that work for us that have strong amateur backgrounds, amateur wrestling, Chad Gable or whatever, but that’s a whole different world when somebody starts punching and kicking at you too.

“There’s so many factors to that, so [it’d be difficult] for me to say, ‘I think this person from our world would do good because they seem like they’re tough.’”

It didn’t take long for Paul to raise his hand to volunteer as a WWE superstar who could potentially cross over to the UFC.

Paul has hinted at possibly fighting for several years, especially after boxing against names like Floyd Mayweather and Dillon Danis. He also comes from a wrestling background, where he placed fifth in the state in his native Ohio during his senior year at Westlake High.

“Send me,” Paul said. “I wrestled. I wrestle now. I would do it. I would totally do it. For the right dance partner, yeah, I would love to do a UFC fight. Now that you guys are partners, I think at the right time, it could make a lot of sense.”

As enticing as that offer may be, Levesque didn’t seem all that interested in sending his performers to the UFC any more than UFC CEO Dana White wants to sacrifice one of the top names from his roster to go take a stab at WWE.

Despite the business relationship UFC and WWE now share, Levesque knows the two companies are still miles apart as far as what they actually do and promote.

“While there’s similarities to what we do because it’s combat-centric, we couldn’t be any more different,” Levesque explained. “I remember having a conversation with Dana a long time ago. We were at the ESPYs on the red carpet and [UFC] had just done the China Performance Institute, they just made this massive investment there. It had just come out and we were talking, I said, ‘Hey, congratulations on the China stuff.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, I know it’s an awesome time right now. I just have to get the Chinese girl to win on Saturday,’ because they had a pay-per-view. He’s like, ‘If she wins, it’s awesome. If she doesn’t, it’s like I’m doomed.’ I was like, that’s the beauty of what we do — I know she wins in our sport!

“It’s different. There’s such a difference in what we do. It’s hard to blend the two, except for when it works. But they almost have to be separate. Like Brock [Lesnar] wasn’t actively fighting while he was [in WWE] doing this. I think you sort of have to be all-in on one or the other. Tough to do both.”

So it seems highly unlikely that Jon Jones will march down to the ring to challenge Cody Rhodes any time soon. It’s also rather doubtful that Roman Reigns will attempt to assert himself into the UFC heavyweight title picture.

That being said, Levesque promised there are still going to be opportunities for UFC and WWE to work together, just not how some fans might think when the word crossover gets tossed in the conversation.

“I think that’s all on the table to do, but their athletes are pretty busy, ours are pretty busy,” Levesque said. “Like Chandler coming on ours or Rey Mysterio was at a fight a little while ago for UFC and did some stuff with them, I think you’ll see stuff like that.

“I think you’ll also see us going into markets with combined events. So maybe it’s a Friday and there’s a Smackdown, and then Saturday there’s a UFC fight, and then Sunday there’s something WWE. Where you go into a region and just sort of take over. So we’re looking at experiences like that and different ways to combine the two.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

submitted by /u/I_love_Basketball232 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Norma Dumont hit the 136-pound mark to make weight for a bantamweight bout for the first time in her UFC career, possibly clearing her path for bigger matchups moving forward.

Dumont moved up to featherweight after missing weight early in her UFC career, then found success in the division, beating five of her six opponents. But she was determined to cut back down to 135 pounds following the dissolution of featherweight after Amanda Nunes’ retirement, and now hopes UFC matchmakers can continue giving her key fights.

To start with, Dumont battles Germaine de Randamie this Saturday at UFC Vegas 90, welcoming the former titleholder back to the UFC after a three-and-a-half year layoff.

“The excuse [other UFC contenders] had was they wouldn’t fight me at featherweight,” Dumont said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “The UFC tried to book me against Irene [Aldana], [Holly] Holm, Miesha [Tate], [Pannie] Kianzad, all these girls, and the answer was always the same: We won’t fight at featherweight. And we had the same problem now, their excuse was they didn’t believe I would make weight.”

While Dumont successfully made weight Friday in Las Vegas, she doesn’t expect it to end her matchmaking woes. In fact, Dumont expects things to only get worse once she beats de Randamie, thus making her a “high-risk, low-reward” matchup for top bantamweights.

“UFC already wants to book me against top-five fighters, but they don’t accept it,” Dumont said. “Their excuse is they don’t think I will make weight, but [Holly] Holm agreed to fight Kayla [Harrison]. Kianzad said the same thing and then agreed to fight Macy [Chiasson], who didn’t make weight [twice]. I think it’s just excuses. They would have accepted it if it was an easy fight.”

A win on Saturday puts Dumont on a four-fight hot streak, and the Brazilian isn’t ruling out issuing a challenge to 135-pound champion Raquel Pennington after the victory.

“The conversation we had with the UFC is that making weight and having a good performance, the UFC will pressure top-five fighters to accept this,” Dumont said. “If they don’t accept it, there’s not much I can do, then give me a title shot already.

“I want to fight for the title,” she continued. “Pennington has the belt and she’s tough, but she intimidates absolutely nobody. Any top-five [contender] can beat her. She’s not like Amanda [Nunes], who was a tougher fight, so everybody wants to put their hands on this title shot as soon as possible. They won’t stop and fight a super tough opponent who is moving down in weight and is ranked No. 11. I understand that, but that’s not my problem. UFC has to figure this out with them. Bring them [to me] just like they brought Germaine.

“We had a deal with the UFC that I would have fought Amanda in December at featherweight, so [I will call out] Raquel Pennington. If she’s not next for me, I know there are others chasing this chance for the belt. Honestly, just give me any of them, no problem. But I want Pennington. Simple.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Top 5
| BJPenn.com

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Jamahal Hill is just eight days away from the biggest fight of his professional career. The former champion is returning after nearly a year away due to a nasty Achilles tear against the current Light Heavyweight kingpin, Alex Pereira. The duo will meet in the main event of UFC 300, which is scheduled for next weekend (Sat. April 13, 2024) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It’s a significant challenge for Hill, but that hasn’t stopped Hill from looking to the future. In a recent interview with GiveMeSport, Hill eyed a Heavyweight move and particularly a match up against current interim kingpin Tom Aspinall. He doesn’t see size or power as an issue.

“I usually walk around maybe like 240 [pounds],” Hill said. “I’m 240 right now, bro. Bro, I’m trying to tell you, bro, I’m a big boy. I’m a big dog. It’s possible. It’s possible, bro.”

He continued “What the f—k is a power advantage? The game is, it doesn’t matter who is more powerful. What it comes down to is who’s going to hit who first, but we both got power. You can be a thousand times more powerful than me. I hit you first. What does that mean? That’s game.”

The latter part if particularly interesting given his upcoming match up against “Poatan.” Pereira is one of the most powerful hitters in the sport, but Hill doesn’t seem to think too much of that trait.

We’ll see if it comes into play next weekend.

Insomnia

Montel Jackson is ready for a step up in competition against Said Nurmagomedov.

It’s pretty cool that Diego Lopes has become a big enough star to merit his own UFC 300 promotion.

In case you missed it, today’s UFC weigh-ins were an absolute disaster.

Once again, it’s absolutely remarkable what Kamaru Usman has accomplished with barely functional knees.

Mike Perry sparring footage is a pillar of this column, and I’m very much looking forward to his bout versus Thiago Alves.

Demian Maia is the king of the most high-percentage submission? Makes sense to me.

Rafael dos Anjos is one of a kind.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I remember seeing this knockout and thinking Jordan Mein would be a future champion.

The little limp at the end of the video makes it a 10/10 clip.

North-south chokes are difficult to master but when done right …

Random Land

Anyone in the real estate market?

Midnight Music: Kurt Cobain passed 30 years ago today. One of the greats!

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts