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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Conor McGregor is as big, if not bigger, presence in pop culture as he is in the world of MMA. Look through his media clippings online, and you’re just as likely to see a picture of him on the red carpet as in the octagon.

That’s the net result of a lot of hard work, McGregor told TNT Sports. But he said people shouldn’t think that because he does so many things outside fighting that he is transitioning out of it.

Just the opposite.

“Look at Mike Tyson now, he’s fighting Jake Paul,” McGregor said. “He fought Roy Jones also. So there you go, that’s an older guy. When he was fighting Roy Jones Jr., something that really stuck out to me was [that Mike Tyson] was asked — Roy Jones, also an aged guy, retired for so long — ‘Why?’ Recalibrate your competition.

“There’s a reason that in jiu-jitsu tournaments there’s like the veteran division and all this. So I don’t really feel like I could ever call it a day to it until I’m laid out flat, and that’s it. In a box and going down into the ground – that’s when I’ll call it a day. So, something that really struck me with Mike Tyson was he was asked in an interview around the Roy Jones Jr. fight, what do you think Cus D’Amato, who was his mentor and coach, what do you think Cus D’Amato would say to you after all these years. ‘Why come back now?’ And what Tyson said really struck me. He said, what Cus would say to me is, ‘What took you so long?’

“And that really hit me. It’s almost like people get weighted down with the pressure of life, uncertainty, you see a lot of people in their post-fight, even most recent with Dustin [Poirier] and [Alexander] Volkanovski, many fighters … even Georges St-Pierre when he originally retired. It’s like a weight, something atop them, and they allow it to just take them right out of the game.”

From the perspective of many outsiders, McGregor’s behavior outside the cage has done nothing to dispel the notion that fighting is no longer his priority and may never be. Persistent troubles with law enforcement and a series of thriving business adventures have raised logical questions about whether he will ever get back to the form that allowed him to capture titles in two separate divisions and become the UFC’s biggest star.

A lot of people think they know the answer to what’s next for “The Notorious.” He assures them they don’t.

“I’m aware that [pressure of life] is present, that feeling and that thing, whatever it is,” he continued. “But I’m also aware that rest, recuperation, recalibration — I’m not going to be 40-odd and looking at the 19-year-old wonder kid from f****** wherever he’s from, even though they might be calling me out. Look at all my potential opponents I have. I have gangs of opponents, literally, that I have history with — trilogies, secondary fights, fresh fights even.

“These are all similar age to me. So if these people are similar age to me, and I have an audience’s interest, which I do, who’s to say these fights won’t take place whenever they’ll take place? Do you get me? It’s to the grave, my man. It’s to the motherf****** grave.”

In the near future, it’s to the rest of 2024 and the confirmation of a UFC booking he said is closer than many might think. Whether that’s at UFC 303 as has been reported, or even a pair of dates before year’s end, McGregor said fans will see him compete sooner than later.

“A few fights left on my contract,” he said. “Hopefully this year, we can do this. It’s still first quarter of 2024, so there’s a lot of time left. I’m confident in that, and the talks are ongoing. After that, I would wish to be a part of the UFC, so let’s see how it goes.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Logan Paul battled through personal demons once his mental health took a nose dive amid a controversial crypto-based game he launched that eventually led to lawsuits and accusations that he defrauded users out of millions of dollars.

CryptoZoo, a game the social influencer turned WWE superstar infamously backed and advertised which allowed users to buy “egg NFTs” that Paul claimed would hatch and “earn you money,” ended up as one of the worst mistakes of Paul’s career. A deep dive investigation by popular YouTuber Coffeezilla revealed numerous problems with the game and a class-action lawsuit was subsequently filed by users against Paul and his partners.

That put Paul in a difficult spot as he tried to explain what went wrong, but that didn’t pay back fans who invested in the game. Paul ended up in a dangerous headspace as a result.

“It was the scam allegations,” Paul told Graham Bensinger on his YouTube channel. “The pit of despair I was in over Christmas time was caused by a YouTuber accusing me of scamming.”

Paul told a story about how he flew to Denmark to meet then girlfriend Nina Agdal’s family in December 2022, but the trip ended abruptly due to struggles with his mental health.

“I had a bit of a mental breakdown one night and I was in a pretty dark spot,” Paul said. “For the first time in my life, I was having suicidal thoughts.

“I’ll never kill myself, ever, but the fact that my brain got to that spot and I’m imaginative and I can see things pretty vividly in my head — ut’s why I like creating videos, I can see the final product before I put it on the screen. I was seeing some dark f****** s****. Some dark s***. I was spiraling. I’m just crying, sobbing.”

Agdal, who is now engaged to be married to Paul, did her best to pull him back from the edge. Paul said what ultimately helped him come out of his downward spiral was taking some of the anti-anxiety medication she was previously prescribed.

Paul admits it was an incredibly difficult situation, especially given the public persona he’s cultivated after becoming famous by making comedic videos on Vine and then YouTube.

“I felt weak, which is uncommon for me,” Paul said. “I’m supposed to be the leader. [I know I’m human] but I feel like I have a responsibility to be tough.”

When the investigation into his crypto game was first released, Paul lashed out at the creator behind the video, but he eventually figured out that he was the person in the wrong.

It left him in a vulnerable position, because Paul claims he trusted his longtime manager to help hire the right people to create the crypto game that ended up nearly destroying his reputation.

“I’m seeing this, I know me, I’m not a scammer,” Paul said. “I would never scam anyone. A, I don’t have to, and also, B, I’m hyper-cognizant that I’m only in the position that I’m in because of my fans.

“I made this game with the purest of intentions, but the people that we put in place to create it — this guy named Eddie [Ibanez] and an advisor we had named Jake [Greenbaum] — both turned out to be lying scumbags.”

Back in January, Paul announced a buyback program that he funded to help return money to those people who invested in the failed CryptoZoo game. At the same time, Paul filed a lawsuit against those former business partners he accused of “fraud and deceit.”

Following all of Paul’s revelations in Bensinger’s recent interview, Paul actually blasted Bensinger, claiming that Bensinger’s documentary was pitched to him as a project that was going to land on Apple TV, but the whole thing ended up on YouTube instead.

“I gave you everything I have,” Paul said when speaking to Bensinger on TMZ. “I opened up to you, I was vulnerable. I let you into my house on Christmas because I thought the show would go to Apple, but instead you plastered it on your personal YouTube channel after five months of filming.”

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Return to Perth
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Asses will be tested.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently announced the upcoming UFC 305 pay-per-view (PPV) event for this August in Perth, Western Australia.

Hide the quokkas.

Any fight card staged “Down Under” usually features the best and brightest stars from that region, including former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (UFC 293) and ex-featherweight titleholder Alex Volkanovski (UFC 284).

Not surprisingly, “The Last Stylebender” is “ready to go” for UFC 305 and New Zealand Herald claims UFC is exploring a Dricus Du Plessis title fight for the headlining act.

Assuming “Stillknocks” doesn’t need another summer vacation.

“Israel will be fighting for the title next,” head coach Eugene Bareman told Christopher Reive. “The date, I’m not sure. Give us a date and we’ll take it. We’re sitting ready to go. Israel’s pretty adamant that he has to fight for the title. It’s not up to Du Plessis. If that was the case, I wish Israel as a champion had those sorts of choices. The truth is, he probably didn’t.”

This (bad) decision proves otherwise.

The sportsbooks have already set odds for a potential Adesanya vs. Du Plessis title fight and the bout opened as a pick ‘em at -110 apiece. Nothing is official at this time, but UFC 305 seems like a no-brainer, at least in terms of future matchmaking.

Stay tuned.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alexander Shabliy already began his training camp to prepare for a May 17 showdown with Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, but he has growing concerns about whether or not the fight is actually happening.

Despite a prominent announcement from the promotion, Shabliy says he still hasn’t received a bout agreement for the fight, much less any conversation with Bellator’s new owners at the PFL about the potential terms for the matchup. Beyond the title, Shabliy also views his fight with Nurmagomedov as the de facto finals to the Bellator lightweight grand prix that never concluded before the company sold to PFL just before the end of 2023.

The winner of that tournament was not only supposed to be crowned as the Bellator lightweight grand prix champion, but there was a $ 1 million prize also up for grabs.

“I’ve been doing training camp in my hometown and now I’m flying out to my main camp,” Shabliy told MMA Fighting through a translator. “We’re going to be working hard. The only problem right now is I’m not fully sure the fight is actually going to happen. Because the fight was announced, it’s been on the official [homepage] of Bellator, but they still haven’t sent me the contract.

“I hope it’s happening, but as of now, it still hasn’t been finalized.”

Currently riding a nine-fight win streak, including a victory over ex-Bellator lightweight champion Patricky Pitbull in his last outing, Shabliy was very excited for the opportunity to cap off the tournament with a chance to become Bellator champion and earn life-changing money.

He claims there’s been radio silence from PFL since the announcement about his fight was made, which only leaves him confused about what’s actually happening behind the scenes.

“Of course, it’s disappointing because the fight is announced but the contract is not there,” Shabliy said. “I don’t know whether they’re going to follow through on all the conditions. It should be the grand prix, it should be good prize money. I hope the league is following through on a promised grand prix outcome.

“Right now, I did the interview last week and we still didn’t receive any answer. We haven’t received the finalized contract. Even my manager is in touch with Mike Kogan and there are still certain questions they do not answer to us in the air. So yes, I am disappointed about that.”

Shabliy previously stated that he wanted PFL to honor the terms of the Bellator lightweight grand prix, which meant paying out the $ 1 million prize to the eventual winner. He expected saying that so publicly would pry an answer out of the promotion, but he says he still hasn’t heard anything.

With the fight less than two months away, Shabliy will still act in good faith by preparing for a clash with Nurmagomedov, but he hopes PFL will reach out sooner rather than later.

“I was hoping somebody was going to reach out after that [interview], but as of now, I haven’t heard from anybody,” Shabliy said. “I’m still very uncertain. I don’t know how PFL is trying and announcing they might want to sign up [Conor] McGregor or Jon Jones, but they’re still not following through with the obligations of the current people that they have on their roster. I hope they really take care of that.”

“Of course I get distracted by the whole situation because I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Yes, it’s a great fight. I’m looking forward to fighting Usman Nurmagomedov. It’s been a great fight in the making and the whole grand prix had been going great for me. But right now, there is a lot of uncertainty, even what’s going to happen after this fight.”

When PFL bought Bellator, much of the same team involved with the promotion were brought over to maintain stability under the new ownership structure.

Unfortunately, Shabliy hasn’t felt the same level of trust with the new leadership as he once had with the previous owners at Bellator.

“Within Bellator, it was going great,” Shabliy said. “When we were sitting down with Mike Kogan, when you sit down and shake hands, you knew the outcome. If Mike said something, he followed through. Now with PFL, we don’t whether our guarantees are going to be provided.

“After the fight, let’s say we finish the fight, now [I’m] Bellator champion — it’s a big story back in Bellator, but what’s going to be happening now? The person is going to win the belt and then are we going to fight the champion of the PFL? What’s coming next for us? It’s still unclear. So I hope they are going to provide us answers.”

Shabliy doesn’t plan on slowing down because he’s maintaining confidence that PFL will eventually follow through with promises made by the previous Bellator regime.

He’d rather just stay focused on training and preparing to become Bellator lightweight champion, but he can’t ignore the reality of the situation where there are still just too many unknowns ahead of him.

“My goal is to become a champion and also to get that million dollars with the belt,” Shabliy said. “Because, again, my understanding is if one league buys out another league, they have to also go through with all the obligations that they purchased with that league. So I do hope they are going to follow through and they’re going to make it right by us with that fight.”

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