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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele got deep to close her interview with UFC CEO Dana White by asking him about his dream during a sitdown on her video podcast, The Sage Steele Show.

Problem was, Steele mixed up White with another bald, pugnacious UFC personality in Joe Rogan.

It took a second for White to realize what had happened, and a nanosecond for Steele to try to cover her tracks. But even that quick a recovery was too late — the hilarious mistake was there forever for the internet to enjoy.

Check out the moment in the video clip below.

“What’s Joe Rogan’s dream?” Steele asked, getting comfy in her interview chair.

“Joe Rogan’s dream?” White responded.

“Joe Rogan … Dana White,” replied Steele, patting the UFC exec on the knee. “What’s Dana White’s dream?”

“Did you just think I was Joe Rogan?” White said after an incredulous look.

“I did … I totally did,” said Steele.

“She just called me f****** Joe Rogan!” pounced White, looking off-screen at a person, presumably on his staff, whose eyes were undoubtedly wide. “You thought I was f****** Joe Rogan! I was bald before Joe Rogan was ever bald! I just did a two-hour podcast, flew here from Vegas, and she thought she was interviewing Joe Rogan!”

White cackled as Steele’s blood pressure went through the roof.

“Jesus,” the ex-ESPN anchor said as White delighted in the gotcha.

The moment was heavy in irony considering the rant White unleashed during the same interview about his utter hatred of media and their non-fact-checking ways.

The first rule in journalism — get the subject’s name right.

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Johnny Eblen likes his chances in a mixed martial arts (MMA) version of March Madness.

The Middleweight division has been constantly evolving over the past year. It’s been a rotating door of champions in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) since Israel Adesanya fell to Alex Pereira in late 2022 (watch highlights). Adesanya reclaimed the title a few months later (watch highlights) before he dropped it to Sean Strickland, who lost it to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in January 2024 (watch highlights).

However, it’s been stable outside of UFC in promotions like Bellator and Professional Fighters League (PFL), which has the undefeated 15-0 Eblen as the titleholder. In the world of basketball, the annual tradition of the March Madness tournament is underway in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). Presented with the idea of an MMA version from ESPN, Eblen revealed how he thinks it would play out.

“That would be sick, sign me up!” Eblen responded. “I blow through ‘Izzy’ in the elite eight. I beat [Robert] Whittaker in a FOTN (Fight of the Night) banger during the final four. It’s me and my homie Sean in the final. That would be epic!”

Eblen recently made his PFL debut when he battled the 2023 Light Heavyweight season champion, Impa Kasanganay, at PFL vs. Bellator last month (Feb. 24, 2024). “The Human Cheat Code” had to overcome some adversity in round two when cracked with big punches from the former UFC Welterweight hopeful. Ultimately, Eblen rallied to get the job done via a split decision win.

Unfortunately for Eblen, he’ll miss out on PFL’s seasonal format in 2024, as the promotion doesn’t do a tournament for the Middleweight division. After Fabian Edwards’ unanimous decision over Aaron Jeffery at Bellator Belfast this past weekend (March 22, 2024), we can likely expect a title fight rematch between the Brit and Eblen. The champion successfully defended his title against Edwards via a third round knockout at Bellator 299 in September 2023 (watch highlights).

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC is heading to Atlantic City, baby!

After back-to-back weeks in the world’s most famous APEX, the world’s leading MMA promotion hits the road this Saturday for UFC Atlantic City, headlined by a presumptive women’s flyweight title eliminator bout between Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot. So as always, the No Bets Barred boys are here with a full breakdown of the fights this weekend.

Conner Burks and Jed Meshew open the show with a brief recap of their winning weeks at UFC Vegas 89 before diving into the 14-fight card with Saturday. Will Erin Blanchfield keep rolling against Manon Fiorot? Does Vicente Luque still have enough in the tank to get past Joaquin Buckley? Can Chris Weidman stave of Father Time for one last, great moment? All this and more are discussed on this week’s episode.

Tune in for episode 83 of No Bets Barred.

New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

The UFC is heading to Atlantic City, baby!

After back-to-back weeks in the world’s most famous APEX, the world’s leading MMA promotion hits the road this Saturday for UFC Atlantic City, headlined by a presumptive women’s flyweight title eliminator bout between Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot. So as always, the No Bets Barred boys are here with a full breakdown of the fights this weekend.

Conner Burks and Jed Meshew open the show with a brief recap of their winning weeks at UFC Vegas 89 before diving into the 14-fight card with Saturday. Will Erin Blanchfield keep rolling against Manon Fiorot? Does Vicente Luque still have enough in the tank to get past Joaquin Buckley? Can Chris Weidman stave of Father Time for one last, great moment? All this and more are discussed on this week’s episode.

Tune in for episode 83 of No Bets Barred.

New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Former undisputed lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira has been sharp and on-point ahead of his UFC 300 title-eliminator against Arman Tsarukyan next month, with the Brazilian receiving plaudits for his striking prowess in new training footage released.

Oliveira, the current number one ranked lightweight contender, has been out of action since last June, successfully returning to the winner’s enclosure with an emphatic win over common-foe, Beneil Dariush with a first round ground strikes TKO win.

And as for Armenian contender, Tsarukyan, the surging contender himself turned in a similarly blistering win over Iranian veteran, Dariush in his last walk, atop a UFC Fight Night Austin card in December.

Charles Oliveira prepares for UFC 300 return

Both opening and remaining a notable betting underdog to beat Tsarukyan next month on the main card of UFC 300, Oliveira is closing the distance with the bookies – including with some of the best blockchain-based casino brands – with the promotion set to return to ‘Sin City’ for its next pay-per-view card in Las Vegas in the form of the massive spectacle in Nevada.

Seeing a division-best unbeaten run come to a staggering end back in October of 2022, Charles Oliveira was submitted by current champion, Islam Makhachev in the pair’s long-anticipated vacant title fight, succumbing to a second round arm-triangle choke submission loss.

And slated to fight his Russian rival a year later at UFC 294 last annum, just weeks out from the bout, the Sao Paulo finisher was forced to withdraw after he suffered a notable laceration on his right eyebrow during a sparring session. 

With his loss to Makhachev, Charles Oliveira’s stunning finishing streak in championship fights also came to an end, following a knockout win over Michael Chandler, as well as a pair of back-to-back submissions of former interim titleholding duo, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje. 

Maintaining his confidence in beating Charles Oliveira and earning his own respective rematch with Makhachev later this yeat – who himself is welcoming the chance to fight Poirier in a June comeback, Tsarukyan claimed the Brazilian was not overly “special”.

“Charles (Oliveira) is good at one thing: taking his opponent’s back and choking him out from that position,” Arman Tsarukayn said. “He has long limbs, so he’s good at taking the back, locking the triangle, and finishing the submission. But overall, he’s nothing special.”

“He has some tricks when pulling guard, but nothing extraordinary,” Arman Tsarukyan explained. “He’s got a great back-mount game where he chokes everybody out. This morning, we worked on these types of situations – what I should do if I get caught in that position. We’re working on it, but we shouldn’t let this happen in the fight.”

However, in new training footage on the pads this week, Charles Oliveira – who is yet to bleach his head traditionally ahead of his fighting return at UFC 300, appears to be in razor-sharp condition and has turned up his ever-evolving striking arsenal once more under the watchful eye of Chute Boxe coach, Diego Lima – who has guided the promotion’s most prolific finisher to lightweight spoils previously with aplomb. 

LowKickMMA.com

UFC