CombatSports.org

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

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jorge Masvidal is out to prove a point with his Nate Diaz rematch.

“I want to murder this guy,” Masvidal said Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “And it’s nothing personal with him, but I want to beat the f****** brakes off him. He always said that the referee saved me. I don’t think anybody with common sense would agree. So I think this fight right here puts an end to all that bulls***.”

Masvidal, 39, and Diaz, 38, are set to meet in a 10-round, 175-pound professional boxing match on June 1 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. The duo previously fought in November 2019 at UFC 244, with Masvidal defeating Diaz via third-round TKO to claim the promotion’s inaugural BMF belt after a cageside doctor halted the contest due to cuts. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani broke news of the rematch on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour.

Masvidal and Diaz have both competed once before in professional boxing. The former earned a majority decision victory over Joseph Benjamin back in 2005, while the latter made his in-ring debut in a August 2023 decision loss to Jake Paul. Masvidal retired from combat sports this past April following a loss to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287, but now returns to boxing following a near 19-year hiatus from the sport. The bout will be carried on pay-per-view by Fanmio for $ 79.99, with an early price of $ 49.99 available until April 12.

“I’m going to be in the best shape of my life,” Masvidal said. “I know he’s going to be in the best shape of his life — it’s not like he’s fighting Jake Paul and he’s coming up off the couch. He knows that if he’s not in shape, I’m going to make him look bad and I’ll get him out of there in two rounds. He knows with me you’ve got to die every day in the gym to maybe step in that ring and have a fighting chance.

“Because I don’t play that s***, man. I’m trying to kill this motherf*****, and he knows it personally. He has the scars to prove it. He sees them things every day in the mirror when he looks at it and knows, ‘This guy is going to try to f****** kill me, bro.’ So Nate, get your ass in shape because I’m coming to break your f****** face, brother.”

Masvidal remains under UFC contract but received clearance from the promotion to box Diaz. “Gamebred” said he has been preparing for his return to the sweet science for the past seven or eight weeks in Las Vegas and intends to complete the rest of his camp there. The switch between disciplines has been motivating, he said, and he aims to prove once again that he is the superior and meaner fighter between the two UFC veterans.

“I feel great, I’m in a great place right now. This deal has been amazing for many reasons, and it’s also allowed me to f****** be able to just completely and utterly focus on my training and nothing else,” Masvidal said.

“I’m going to hurt this guy, man.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Update
| BJPenn.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is less than a month away from the upcoming UFC Vegas 90 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, topped by the middleweight mashup between Marvin Vettori and Brendan Allen, who collide on Sat., April 6, 2024 at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Now they have an official poster.

This marks the first appearance for Vettori (19-7-1) since his unanimous decision loss to Jared Cannonier last June, a five-round drubbing that kept the rough-and-tumble “Italian Dream” stuck at No. 5 in the official 185-pound rankings.

That’s two places above the No. 7-ranked Allen (23-5), who’s been nothing short of electric over the last two years. “All In” is the winner of six straight, including last November’s submission victory over Paul Craig at APEX.

“He hasn’t beaten anybody good. He doesn’t finish anybody,” Allen told Middle Easy. “Is he tough? Hell yeah, I’ll give him that. He’s tough, he’s got a great mindset, but I’m going to walk him like a dog. Technically, I’m way superior. I’m going to show him exactly that on fight night. I’m too technically good. If it’s got to be gritty and he wants to make it a fight, I can do that too. His only hope is to catch me, but he’s delusional. He is a legit delusional person. This is the same guy who thinks he f*cking smashed Izzy. Izzy schooled you twice.”

“I’m going to finish him,” Allen continued. “I’ve fought guys that have knocked people out, that ain’t been dropped and this and that. Guys that ain’t been submitted, I submit them. Just because he hasn’t been finished means nothing to me. He hasn’t fought me. He hasn’t fought anyone like me. I’m going out there to put him away. My goal is to outclass him and then put him away. I’m coming to prove a point. I’m proving it to myself that I am just that damn good.”

UFC

UFC Vegas 90 will be co-headlined by the bantamweight showdown pitting Norma Dumont against former champion Germaine de Randamie.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Cory Sandhagen has some harsh words for Marlon Vera.

This past weekend, successfully defended his UFC bantamweight title, dominating “Chito” Vera for 25 minutes at UFC 299. Given that it was widely believed that Vera got the title shot due to his rivalry with O’Malley and not because he was the most deserving challenger, the one-sided nature of the fight was a tough look, and Sandhagen didn’t pull any punches when breaking down the fight on his YouTube channel.

“Chito obviously had no business being in the cage with O’Malley,” Sandhagen said. “Really tough showing by Chito. Awesome performance by O’Malley. You’ve got to give the guy all the credit in the world even though he was fighting like a homeless-looking Chito. …

“I’m going to try to spend this whole breakdown not s******* on Chito the whole time, but it’s probably going to turn into me s******* on Chito the whole time. That fight really frustrated me because it was one, unbelievably uncompetitive. Two, I feel like a dummy for thinking Chito was going to do better because that’s almost literally what all of his fights look like unless he gets some type of knockout. And three, I just think it’s not that cool that Chito even got that opportunity to begin with, because like I said, that’s what we all should have seen coming. I don’t know why I bought into the Chito hype. That was really stupid of me.”

Sandhagen also has his own history with Vera, dominating the Ecuadorian over five rounds just a year ago. And in his breakdown of the fight, Sandhagen likens what O’Malley did with what he did to stymie Vera’s offense.

“O’Malley won almost the same kind of way I beat Chito, except he hit Chito a lot harder and he hit Chito a lot more,” Sandhagen said. “So good on him for doing that. Instead of overwhelming Chito with [wrestling] shots and stuff like that, he started overwhelming Chito with a ton of feints. Didn’t give him the same look every single time. … O’Malley kept it super dynamic the entire time, didn’t give him the same look too many times in a row, and that’s why he won.”

Sandhagen went into further detail about some of the specific things O’Malley did well in the fight, before ending his video addressing the bantamweight title picture and the fact that following UFC 299, O’Malley called for a champ vs. champ fight against featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.

“Good on O’Malley,” Sandhagen said. “Congrats to the champ. I don’t know who he’s going to fight next. Hopefully he doesn’t leave the division and then start going for double-champ status. I think that’s kind of whack right now. But we’ll see what the UFC decides.”

Whoever O’Malley fights next, it seems unlikely that it will be Sandhagen, who instead appears to be targeting a fight with rising contender Umar Nurmagomedov.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

The countdown to UFC 300 has begun!

On Saturday, April 13, the Las Vegas-based promotion will present its next big landmark event, UFC 300, live from the familiar confines of T-Mobile Arena in Sin City. To get fans hyped for one of the biggest fight cards in MMA history, Ultimate Fighting Championship has released an epic trailer featuring the card’s biggest names.

In the main event of the evening, reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will put his gold on the line against former titleholder Jamahal Hill. It will be Hill’s first time competing since he won the belt with a dominant performance against Glover Teixeira in January 2023. ‘Sweet Dreams’ was forced to vacate the title after sustaining an Achilles injury last summer, never having the opportunity to defend his crown.

That ultimately led to a clash between Pereira and former champion Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 to crown a new king of the division. ‘Poatan’ came out on top, scoring yet another highlight-reel knockout in the second round of their co-main event.

Strawweight champion Zhang Weili returns in the uFC 300 co-Main Event

In the UFC 300 co-headliner, strawweight world champion Zhang Weili puts it all on the line against Yan Xiaonan in a battle between two of China’s finest imports. Reclaiming the title with a second-round submission of Carla Esparza, at UFC 292, Zhang is fresh off an absolutely dominant performance against Amanda Lemos in her last outing.

She’ll look to deliver a similar result against Yan, a 17-3 fighter with noteworthy wins against Mackenzie Dern and Jessica Andrade in her last two outings.

And what is being touted as the people’s main event, BMF titleholder Justin Gaethje puts his bragging rights belt on the line against former featherweight champion Max Holloway in a battle between two of the greatest strikers in all of mixed martial arts.

Check out the full UFC 300 card below:

Main Card (ESPN+ PPV)

• Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill
• Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan
• Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway
• Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage
• Charles Oliveira vs. Armen Tsarukyan

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)

• Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
• Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
• Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison
• Sodiq Yusuff vs. Diego Lopes
• Jalin Turner vs. Renato Moicano
• Jessica Andrade vs. Marina Rodriguez
• Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
• Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt

LowKickMMA.com

The news that influencer-turned professional boxers Jake Paul will faces former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in July has been met with mixed reactions.  

Tyson will enter the ring at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on July 20 against Paul at 58-years old, 31 years older than his opponent.  He retired from boxing 19 years ago in 2005 after quitting before the start of the seventh round against Kevin McBride. He had an exhibition bout against Corey Sanders in 2006, but was inactive until 2020 when he returned in an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr.

Despite Tyson’s age and inactivity, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell believes the fight will be over as soon as Tyson lands a shot on Paul.  Paul opened as the betting odds favorite when the fight was announced.

“If Tyson takes a dive it’s he’s (Paul) the favorite, but when Tyson hits him, it’s over,” Liddell told TMZ Sports.  “By the way, the last thing to go is power.  The last thing to go is power.  He hits him, it’s over.    

“You’ve seen Mike.  He still hits,” said Liddell.  “Keep covered up man,” he advised Paul.  

Paul is coming off a first-round knockout win over Ryan Bourland.  He began his boxing career taking on fellowing influencers and retired UFC fighters.  Three of his last four opponents have been boxers, although Bourland had only fought twice in the last six years

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

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

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal are running things back.

The two UFC veterans are set to rematch in a 10-round pay-per-view boxing match on June 1 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani broke the news Wednesday on The MMA Hour. The bout will be contested at 175 pounds and mark Masvidal’s second professional boxing bout following a 2005 win over Joseph Benjamin. Diaz previously made his in-ring debut in a August 2023 decision loss to Jake Paul.

The bout will be carried on pay-per-view by Fanmio for $ 79.99, with an early price of $ 49.99 available until April 12, and presented by the fighters’ two promotional arms, Diaz’s Real Fight Inc. and Masvidal’s Gamebred Boxing Promotions. Diaz and Masvidal previously fought in November 2019 at UFC 244, with Masvidal defeating Diaz via third-round TKO to claim the inaugural BMF belt after a cageside doctor halted the contest due to cuts.

“Nate’s a dead man walking,” Masvidal said in a statement given to MMA Fighting. “I can’t wait to prove that last time was no fluke. He got saved by the referee. Now we are boxing, which he says is his forte, but he’s got no shot at beating me. I’m not going to give him an inch in that ring to even breathe. If he thought our MMA match was bad, this is going to be much worse. I’m going to drown him. I want to put away any talk that him and I are the same, or that the referee saved the day. All of that talk ends June 1.”

Diaz (21-13 MMA) exited the UFC off a win over Tony Ferguson in 2022 following a 15-year run with the company that saw him emerge as a global superstar. Over that time, Diaz served as a pioneer of the lightweight division and defeated the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller, Donald Cerrone, Gray Maynard, and Takanori Gomi.

Masvidal (35-17 MMA) also blossomed into a superstar over his 10-year UFC run, challenging twice for the UFC welterweight title and earning the fastest knockout in UFC history with his five-second flying knee of Ben Askren in June 2019 at UFC 239. Masvidal retired from combat sports this past April following a decision loss to Gilbert Burns, but now returns from the sidelines to make his debut in the sweet science against his one-time foe.

MMA Fighting – All Posts