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Robert Whittaker is ready to reclaim the middleweight title.

On Wednesday, UFC CEO Dana White announced a slew of fights for the promotion’s debut event in Saudi Arabia, including a middleweight main event between Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev. And according to Whittaker, this fight is not just a main event, but a title eliminator bout.

“It’s going to be a contender fight, five-round main event,” Whittaker said on the MMArcade podcast. “I do understand the task at hand. It’s going to be hard. I’m going to be grinding my ass off this camp. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a good thing, after last fight I didn’t have any injuries. The body is good. They offered me the fight. I fought four or five weeks ago at this point, I’m ready. Just give me another one.

“I’m in a great headspace to take another hard fight. I’m looking forward to it. Every hard fight pushes my skills to the next level, and this gets me in line to get the belt back. That’s the goal, isn’t it?”

The former undisputed UFC middleweight champion, Whittaker lost his title to Israel Adesanya back in 2019 and then came up short in their rematch in 2022. Most recently, Whittaker took a unanimous decision victory over Paulo Costa at UFC 298, putting himself back in the title conversation. However, even Whittaker was surprised by this turn of events, as he says he was anticipating returning at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.

“Obviously it’s a bit of a shock because it comes out of nowhere,” Whittaker said. “I would have assumed UFC was going to hold me in the ranks for the Australia card in August, which is kind of what I was preparing for. But I’m happy UFC have given me this boon. This is my path to the title. This is the way I earn money for my kids. To be able to do that so close — like I’ve said in other episodes, I want to increase my activity. God willing and my body’s healthy, there’s no reason I shouldn’t take this fight. What else am I going to be doing?

“Also, the fact that the fight is in Saudi Arabia, that’s the first time the UFC has been there. So I am pumped to be part of that history. I’ve done that a few times now, and it all gets notched into my legacy. So I have direction now. I have energy, momentum.”

While Whittaker has some momentum now, so does Chimaev.

“Borz” established himself as a budding star in the UFC when he fought three times in two months back in 2020, and since then he’s added four more wins to his UFC résumé. Most recently, Chimaev won a majority decision over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, putting himself on the cusp of title contention. And on top of the title implications, that run of success in the UFC is why Whittaker is so excited for this fight.

“I understand he’s a hard fighter,” Whittaker said. “He likes to grapple a lot. He uses his reach and range to good effectiveness. He’s got knockout power. But honestly, he likes to play the villain against his opponents, but he’s an honorable fighter. We’re going to get in there and have an honest fight. We’re both going to leave it in there. He’s not a quitter, I’m not a quitter. So I’m looking forward to really making history in Saudi Arabia.”

UFC Saudi Arabia takes place on June 22 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

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Payton Talbott wants to be his own man.

This past Saturday, Talbott picked up the second win of his UFC career, finishing Cameron Saaiman on the main card of UFC Vegas 89. It was one of the best performances of Talbott’s young career and only increased comparisons between he and another famous Contender Series alum, UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley. But Talbott doesn’t see it.

“I hate that s***,” Talbott said this week on The MMA Hour. “People just do it all the time. I’ve said in a couple interviews, I don’t like being compared to him because I don’t think we fight very similar. I think we have some similarities. I get it. We have the hair, we have the long one-twos, and we do some movement things well. But if you were to see me and him fight, it would be a very different stylistic fight. I would be pushing the pace, I’d be trying to be up in his face and make it a dogfight, and he would be drawing out reactions, and feinting me, and technically trying to outclass me.”

O’Malley famously entered the UFC after a knockout win on the first season of Contender Series and is thus far one of only two graduates from the show to win UFC titles (Jamahal Hill being the other). And while most people would be flattered at being placed in such illustrious company, Talbott wants to forge his own path.

“Exactly,” Talbott said at the suggestion that he simply doesn’t want to be compared to anyone. “That’s mainly what it is. Sean’s a cool guy, so it doesn’t really piss me off too much, but it could be anyone. I don’t want to be compared.”

While he’s not interested in being compared to O’Malley, there is another athlete known for his flamboyant style and colorful hair that Talbott wouldn’t mind being compared to: Dennis Rodman.

Talbott is a big fan of the five-time NBA champion and noted him as an inspiration.

“That dude’s tight. Who doesn’t like Dennis Rodman?” Talbott said. “He’s himself in any scenario. He doesn’t care what people are going to say. He’s a little bit of a jester when it comes to getting a reaction out of people, and he’s really good at it. And he’s just 100 percent himself, unapologetically. That’s what I dig.

“I don’t care if you’re the most awful person or a terrible villain, as long as you’re 100 percent yourself and you’re true to that — I would rather people hate me for being who I am than to just feel indifferent about me. Indifference is the worst fate of all. I’d rather be hated by 90 percent of people and loved by 10.”

At the moment, there’s not a lot of hate for Talbott, who is one of the most promising prospects in one of the best weight classes in the UFC. Now 2-0 in the promotion and beginning to make a name for himself, Talbott hopes for a summer return, hopefully in front of a crowd of fans instead of at the UFC APEX.

“I’d like to fight late summer,” Talbott said. “I’d like to give myself a little month to decompress and then I want to fine-tune some things in the practice room and really drill some stuff.

“I have a lot of fans that want to go see me in person,” Talbott continued. “Amongst my group of people and the fight community.”

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Kayla Harrison is in pursuit of (more) greatness.

UFC 300 is littered with some of the best mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters on Earth from top to bottom. Amongst the line up will be the surprise newcomer, Harrison, who jumps ship from a near-full 17-fight career (16-1) in Professional Fighters League (PFL).

Harrison, 33, became an immediate hot prospect to watch upon her debut in June 2018. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in Judo went on to win two Lightweight seasons in PFL, which made her a two-time champion and winner of $ 2 million in prize money. She’ll debut in the 135-pound Bantamweight division with her UFC arrival when she takes on Holly Holm. After an expected successful outcome, Harrison plans to add even more gold to her collection.

“This is an argument I’ve had with Henry [Cejudo] like a bazillion times about how he’s the greatest combat athlete all-time,” Harrison told UFC. “I said, ‘Henry, honey, I’m coming for you. You have one Olympic [medal]. Just one. What’re you gonna do with one?’

“[I’m gonna] come over here real quick to the UFC, win a belt, maybe win another belt real quick,” she continued. “Defend it, and be two-time UFC champion, and then I am — and a world champion, and a Pan Am (American) champion, and a Pan Am Games champion, anyways … I will be undisputed, the greatest combat athlete of all time.”

Harrison’s road to a UFC title theoretically would be pretty short, considering the current landscape of the division. If she were to get past the perennial contender and former champion, Holm, it would make her only the third to do so in a non-title fight.

To checkout the latest and greatest UFC 300 fight card and rumors click here.

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Vince McMahon, former executive chairman over TKO Group Holdings and WWE founder, has sold off more stock in the company he left.

Financial filings through the Securities and Exchanges Commission show McMahon, 78, sold just under 3.5 million shares of stock and received “approximately $ 100 million” for the sale.

This is the third time McMahon has sold off a portion of his stock in TKO Group Holdings, the merged company between WWE and UFC. His first sale in 2023 netted around $ 670 million, and a second sale finalized in March paid out $ 408 million.

This latest transaction brings McMahon to over $ 1.17 billion earned in stock sales from his holdings in TKO.

Based on the financial disclosure, McMahon still holds over 11.5 million shares of TKO stock, which is valued at just under $ 1 billion based on current stock prices. That’s a drastic downsizing for the ex-WWE chief, who was one of the largest shareholders in TKO when the company first formed.

Endeavor, the talent agency that previously purchased the UFC for just over $ 4 billion in 2016, completed a transaction to take over ownership of the WWE. The agency maintained a 51 percent controlling stock in the company, and the other 49 percent belonged to existing WWE shareholders, including McMahon.

Ari Emanuel oversees TKO Group Holdings as CEO, and ultimately, the buck stops with him for any major company decisions.

McMahon’s latest stock sale comes after he cut ties with WWE following a lawsuit filed by a former employee containing disturbing allegations of sexual assault, sex trafficking and other abuses the employee claims she suffered while working for the pro-wrestling mogul.

Following McMahon’s exit, TKO Group Holdings president Mark Shapiro addressed the former exec’s stock sales.

“He’ll do whatever he’s going to do, and we’re all on the sideline,” Shapiro said of McMahon. “We’ll have a look, we’ll see. We have no idea on timing. We’re not having any discussion with him. He’s given us no point of view on his motive, or his plans to sell or not sell, or if he does, how much. So, we’re going to wait around and find out just like you.”

The latest sale was completed with an unnamed bank purchasing McMahon’s stock between March 5 and March 25.

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Like anybody, Sean O’Malley doesn’t play games when it comes to his family’s security. This is evident by his reaction to a recent home security scare that was a little too close for comfort.

Speaking on the TimboSugarShow podcast, O’Malley gave viewers a breakdown of the events that led to his dramatic response. ‘Suga’ would even go as far as citing a recent incident that may be to blame for him responding in such a way, and it honestly does explain why O’Malley would be on such high alert.

“I was walking around my property a couple of nights ago because I saw this car outside,” O’Malley began (H/T MMA Fighting). “Walking around with my pistol loaded, ready. I was in a mindset—My family was at my house. It’s not a game. I don’t know if someone’s trying to give me something.”

“Chito’s house got broken into. I don’t want someone trying to steal my s***. They think, ‘Oh, he’s rich, he’s got money, he’s got s***.’ I will f******—You get in a mindset. Someone’s like, ‘I’m ready to die.’ I’m ready to kill. So I was just walking around out there with my AR, I’m walking around with my pistol.”

Sean O’Malley opens up about the struggle for his life to remain private

Sean O’Malley’s life couldn’t seem to be heading in any better direction. There has been a lot of scrutiny of the ‘Suga Show’ hype train, but O’Malley has proven himself at every hurdle and even rectified his only MMA loss with his recent victory over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in their rematch at UFC 299. Yet, according to’ Suga’, the glory comes at a price, and it is definitely starting to get under his skin.

“People keep finding my f****** house,” Sean O’Malley huffed. “It’s f****** annoying. I want to put a sign way out there on the road that says: ‘If you pass this line, you could be shot.’ Something. And it’s fans. They like me, that doesn’t mean you can f****** come to my house. Don’t come to my house even if you like me and you want to give me a gift, don’t come to my f****** house.”

“I had security come put crazy security cameras in, motions, light, all that,” O’Malley continued. “Just high-end s***, s*** was f****** expensive. Worth it.”

‘Suga’ even mentioned a time when a crazy fan drove to his house, parked, and then proceeded to walk up to his front door (all while wearing a “Bane mask” from the Batman movies).

What are your thoughts about Sean O’Malley and his privacy concerns, and what do you recommend he do about it?

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