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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Mark Coleman is going to be OK.

The UFC Hall of Famer and former heavyweight champion issued a statement of gratitude through his daughter Kenzie’s Facebook on Friday after surviving a harrowing near-death experience while saving his parents from a house fire. Coleman had initially been intubated and sedated due to smoke inhalation that damaged his lungs, and early fears Tuesday morning were that the incident may be fatal, however the 59-year-old MMA pioneer overcame the odds to be alert, responsive, and breathing on his own by Thursday.

Coleman’s complete message can be read below.

Mark the hammer Coleman here. I want to first thank my higher power above without him this isn’t possible. Next I want to thank each and every one of you for the prayers, support, and generosity. I always knew I had the best fans around. What you have done for me and my family is truly remarkable. I also want to thank the doctors, nurses and hospital staff who saved my life. I can’t wait to take you all along with me during my recovery journey. You are all now apart of hammer house.

I’m blessed and grateful my parents and I are walking out of this alive. I encourage you to do the things you want to do, better yourself, and cherish every moment. Tomorrow is not promised. Also, it breaks my heart to say this but rest in peace to my special dog hammer. If you followed me before all of this you knew he was my sidekick and best friend. We spent every day together and I will miss him so much.

As always…sober is cool, carnivore diet, 9 ancestral tenets. Hammer house if 4 life. Are you in now? Don’t ever count the hammer out. I love you all

Coleman was awoken by his dog, Hammer, early Tuesday morning to find his parents’ home engulfed in flames. The former UFC champion was able to rescue both of his parents from the burning building, however he succumbed to smoke inhalation after venturing back inside the property to save Hammer, and was subsequently life-flighted from the scene.

Tragically, Hammer did not survive.

Coleman’s two daughters, Kenzie and Morgan, launched a GoFundMe on their father’s behalf to help pay for medical costs as Coleman continues to recover from his injuries. That GoFundMe has thus far raised more than $ 111,000 of support for the ex-champ.

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Set to make his return to the Octagon next month against Cody Brundage, unbeaten uber-prospect, Bo Nickal claims he’s happy to see fans’ unrest at his placement on the main card of a massive UFC 300 event – ahead of names including former champions, Charles Oliveira, Jiri Prochazka, Holly Holm, and Cody Garbrandt.

Nickal, a two-fight Octagon veteran having competed twice on Dana White’s Contender Series, most recently improved to 5-0 as a professional during International Fight Week back in July at UFC 290,  turning in a blistering first round knockout win over Val Woodburn.

And taking on Brundage next month at UFC 300, Nickal has received mass criticizm for his placement on the monumental card – usurping a host of future Hall of Famers and ex-championship winners to land on the high-profile main card, which features three title bouts. 

Reacting to fan outcry and speculation from pundits in the sport, Nickal claimed he was happy to see such reaction to his placement on UFC 300 – claiming more people want to see him compete on the flagship event.

Bo Nickal reacts to fan outrage over UFC 300 placement

“I like that it makes people mad,” Bo Nickal said on his YouTube channel. “I should go to their job and when they get a raise I should be like, ‘Boo, you don’t deserve it you bum.’”

“At the end of the day, the decision was made because I probably sell more,” More people wanna see me. They want to sell more pay-per-views so they put me on the pay-per-view. It doesn’t really affect me, I get paid the same.” 

In his first outing under the banner of the Dana White-led organization, Nickal, a decorated amateur wrestler would land a first round triangle choke submission win over the recently retired, Jamie Pickett – with his bow coming on the undercard of UFC 285, which featured the massive comeback of heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.

Who wins at UFC 300 next month: Bo Nickal or Cody Brundage?

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Check out the UFC Vegas 88: Tai Tuivasa vs Marcin Tybura Official Weigh-Ins Photo Gallery featuring Tai Tuivasa, Marcin Tybura, and all the fighters as they weigh in.

Check the photo gallery out below.

View the 20 images of this gallery on the original article

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC 300 lineup is, from start to finish, one of the best cards the promotion has ever put together. During Saturday’s UFC 299 event, the main card was revealed and it included the middleweight matchup between Bo Nickal and Cody Brundage — which didn’t sit well with a large number of MMA fans. But when you really look at the construction of the main card, it’s not a bad choice for a few reasons.

On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses Nickal getting the main card bump for the historic card, and why it’s actually a good call when you really look at it. Additionally, listener questions include UFC fighter pay, the ongoing lawsuit against the UFC, Saturday’s UFC Vegas 88 event, what constitutes a star that has negotiating power in the UFC, matchmaking for Kevin Holland and Benoit Saint Denis following UFC 299, and much more.

You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces.

If you miss it live, audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kayla Harrison had a harsh introduction to life in the UFC.

The face of the PFL since she began her MMA career in 2018, Harrison knew she would be in for an adjustment when she changed promotions, but unfortunately things went worse than expected for the two-time Olympic gold medalist in her first official outing with the promotion. At a UFC 300 Fan Q&A hosted by the UFC this past weekend, she was confronted by very unruly fans.

“The culture is very different,” Harrison, who makes her promotional debut against Holly Holm at UFC 300, told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I just did my first UFC Q&A last week. … Eye-opening. …

“It was a fan Q&A. At one point there was a fan who came up and spoke to Arman [Tsarukyan] in Russian, and Arman was getting booed the whole time. We have talked about it, we’re fine, but the guy basically asked him how many times would — he asked him a really inappropriate question about me. And Arman answered it.”

Harrison said that she and Tsarukyan, who is her teammate at American Top Team, cleared the air afterward, noting Tsarukyan also dealt with a number of extremely disrespectful fans during the event. All in all, it was not the best first exposure to the promotion’s fan base, and one that hit especially close to home for Harrison.

“I look like an idiot,” Harrison said. “I’m up on the stage laughing, and Megan Olivi says, ‘Would you care to translate it?’ And Arman’s like, ‘No, stupid question. Move on.’ And then next day, I’m tagged in all these Russian outlets with the translation of what he asked.

“It’s disheartening. It’s disrespectful. I’m a two-time Olympic champion, I’m a world champion, I’m a mother, I’m an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, I wrote a book, I have a foundation. So in that sense, it was disrespectful that someone would ask that question. But more than that, you would never hear a female get asked, ‘How many times would you have sex with Alex Pereira?’ We don’t sexualize men like that. So it was disheartening.”

In recent years, unfortunate UFC fan interactions have seemingly increased, with UFC commentator Jon Anik suggesting earlier this year that the toxic fanbase might ultimately drive him from the sport (Anik would later walk those comments back). Harrison is of a different mind, saying that she intends to do what she can to change the culture to something better for future fighters.

“At first I was super embarrassed and shocked by it, but then I was like, f*** it, I’m just going to keep being me, and I’m going to say something about it when the time is right, because I feel like that’s wrong,” Harrison said. “I want to help change the landscape of the sport. Not just for me, but for future female fighters. And it was on International Women’s Day, to boot! It was frustrating.”

“It’s just a different beast. And I think too, I’m realizing this is a different beast. This is the big show, and fans love you or hate you, but you’re going to get a lot more eyes in this space.”

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Here we go
| BJPenn.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) once again calls upon the Heavyweights to helm tomorrow’s (Sat., March 16, 2024) ESPN+ “Fight Night” at the APEX, which sees struggling Aussie slugger Tai Tuivasa battle stalwart veteran Marcin Tybura.

Our usual main card guy ran into the desert screaming something about “Lisan al Gaib,” so prediction duty falls to me.

Before we dive into both the main event and the co-feature pitting Ultimate Fighter (TUF) winner Bryan Battle against rising Contender Series graduate Ange Loosa, take a peek at our “Prelims” breakdowns here and here, plus the odds and betting props courtesy of DraftKings here and the inimitable Andrew Richardson’s analysis of the remaining main card bouts here.

265 lbs.: Tai Tuivasa vs. Marcin Tybura

Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa

Record: 15-6 | Age: 30 | Betting line: -118
Wins: 14 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 1 DEC | Losses: 3 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 1 DEC
Height: 6’2” | Reach: 75” | Stance: Southpaw
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 3.98 | Striking accuracy: 49%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 4.98 | Striking Defense: 43%
Takedown Average: 0.00 (0% accuracy)| Takedown Defense: 54%
Current Ranking: No. 9 | Last fight: Submission loss to Alexander Volkov

Marcin “Tybur” Tybura

Record: 24-8 | Age: 38| Betting line: -102
Wins: 8 KO/TKO, 7 SUB, 9 DEC | Losses: 5 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 3 DEC
Height: 6’3” | Reach: 78” | Stance: Orthodox
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 3.55 | Striking accuracy: 48%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 3.35 | Striking Defense: 55%
Takedown Average: 1.39 (33% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 79%
Current Ranking: No. 10 | Last fight: Knockout loss to Tom Aspinall

Tybura’s UFC tenure is, in a lot of ways, quite laudable. He was 1-4 and on the brink of being cut at one point, but quietly clawed his way up the ranks with seven wins in eight fights before understandably falling short against Aspinall.

The keys to his success are a pair of rare qualities among Heavyweights: well-roundedness and a strong gas tank. Against the sub-elite, he strikes well enough to beat the wrestlers and wrestles well enough to beat the strikers. Beating him generally requires either capitalizing on his leaden footwork to potshot or just straight-up bulldozing him with pure power.

Assuming Tuivasa has any shred of confidence left after this string of disastrous losses, he fits the latter category. Though he’s never quite developed into the Mark Hunt 2.0 we dreamed of, his hands are as heavy if not heavier than those of Tybura’s past conquerors like Shamil Abdurakhimov and Augusto Sakai. Tybura surviving long enough to weaponize his gas tank is far easier said than done.

At the same time, Tuivasa has a history of collapsing against dogged grapplers, most notably the glacial Blagoy Ivanov and front-running Serghei Spivac. Tybura has made a career out of dragging explosive threats into deep water and drowning them, from sluggers like Greg Hardy and Walt Harris to fellow wrestler Alexandr Romanov.

These two’s strengths perfectly slot into one another’s weaknesses; it’s as much a coin flip as the odds suggest. I do, however, have to lean towards Tuivasa. Tybura lacks both the elusiveness that Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov used to defuse Tuivasa and the raw horsepower that Sergei Pavlovich used to blow him away, giving Tuivasa little reason not to put the pedal to the metal right off the bat.

Plus, while Tybura’s grappling is a threat, Tuivasa has given up a mere two takedowns since the Spivac debacle and successfully got out from underneath the gargantuan Derrick Lewis both times.

If Tybura can stretch things out until around the midway point of the second round, he’s golden. I just don’t see him avoiding Tuivasa’s onslaught for that long.

Prediction: Tuivasa def. Tybura by first-round knockout

170 lbs.: Bryan Battle vs. Ange Loosa

Bryan “Pooh Bear” Battle

Record: 10-2 | Age: 29 | Betting line: -185
Wins: 3 KO/TKO, 5 SUB, 2 DEC | Losses: 0 KO/TKO, 5 1 SUB, 1 DEC
Height: 6’1” | Reach: 77” | Stance: Orthodox
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 4.52 | Striking accuracy: 54%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 3.73 | Striking Defense: 42%
Takedown Average: 0.94 (25% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 45%
Current Ranking: Unranked | Last fight: Submission win over AJ Fletcher

Ange “The Last Ninja” Loosa

Record: 10-3 | Age: 30 | Betting line: +154
Wins: 5 KO/TKO, 1 SUB, 4 DEC | Losses: 0 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 3 DEC
Height: 5’10” | Reach: 74” | Stance: Orthodox
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 6.32 | Striking accuracy: 46%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 6.88 | Striking Defense: 51%
Takedown Average: 2.25 (45% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 100%
Current Ranking: Unranked | Last fight: Decision win over Rhys McKee

To be frank, this shouldn’t be a co-main event. This is a main card opener or a featured Prelim at best.

Taken on its own merits, though, it’s a damn good matchup. Both of these men have feasted from the bottom of the Welterweight barrel for long enough, and having bounced back from rough defeats, it’s time to put their improvements to the test.

The bookies weren’t wrong to make Battle a moderate favorite. Loosa had all sorts of trouble with the similarly rangy Mounir Lazzez and Battle is adept at using that reach, whether by potshotting heavier hitters like Tresean Gore or punishing aggressors like Gabe Green with counters as they step in.

That said, I’m feeling the upset. Loosa’s hands are far sharper than anything Battle’s faced in the Octagon, he’s got the gas tank to land triple-digit strikes, and he’s proven inordinately difficult to finish despite the best efforts of monsters like Jack Della Maddalena. He has also become an increasingly adept wrestler of late, and though Battle did keep out-wrestle AJ Fletcher, it’s hard to forget the ease with which Rinat Fakhretdinov but him through the wringer.

Loosa’s edge in speed and firepower, combined with his output and grappling, just give him too many weapons. Battle won’t go away easy, but expect Loosa to land the heavier blows and land a few clutch takedowns to edge out a firefight.

Prediction: Loosa def. Battle by split decision

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 88 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 88 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive here. For the updated and finalized “Tuivasa vs. Tybura” fight card and ESPN+ line up click here.

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