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Jake Paul officially got his hand raised, but nobody gains more in a loss than Nate Diaz.

From the loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 202 (after choking him out first, of course) to the Leon Edwards fight, where all anyone talked about afterwards was how the future UFC Welterweight Champion almost got put away in the closing moments, no fighter has proven as capable of coming away stronger and more popular regardless of the outcome than the Pride of the 209.

It feels like that’s what happened on Saturday night as, even though Jake Paul got the unanimous decision in their 10 round main event clash, the most exciting part of the evening was that Nate was still flexing at the end.

And it didn’t seem like that would be the case. Jake was stitching Nate up from the opening round. Jake even knocked Nate down in Round 5. None of that mattered, though, because Nate was still standing at the end of Round 10.

That in and of itself was a victory. A moral victory for Nate Diaz fans, for MMA fans, and for Nate himself.

Nate Diaz knew the job was dangerous when he took it

I say that because I know how people felt about this fight. Not too many MMA fighters were coming out to say that Nate Diaz was going to win this fight. Plenty of folks from the boxing world were absolutely certain Nate wasn’t going to win this fight, from training partners to a promoter who was willing to speak knowing he wasn’t getting a piece of the action.

There was concern leading into the fight that Nate wasn’t taking things seriously. The training footage didn’t look great and his attitude towards promoting the event sure made it seem like Nate had no real intention to do anything other than clock in, clock out, and secure his bag.

Maybe that’s all he did but dammit if it didn’t feel like he was still out there giving people their money’s worth, proving once again who the real BMF is.

I mean, c’mon. Jake arrived in a tank and he wasn’t able to get Nate out of there inside the distance? And he calls himself a fighter…

But Jake accomplished what he needed to. On a night where Cory Sandhagen did the best be could to become the #1 contender to the UFC Bantamweight Championship (by default) and where the best punch of the entire night was probably the one Jose Ramirez threw at Tim Anderson (my White Sox have seen better days), Jake got the win he so badly needed.

And yes, Jake badly needed this win, or at least he needed it if the plan is to continue this boxing experiment he’s been on the last three years.

Jake Paul had to hit the reset button

In many ways, this fight felt like a restart to Jake’s career, with The Problem Child’s momentum stalling out, along with the interest of most casual observers, after the loss to Tommy Fury back in February. It was a close split decision loss, sure, but all anyone took away from it was that the kid who’s been using his YouTube money to play boxer lost to the first man he faced with real boxing experience.

The fight with Nate was both good and bad as a way to get back on track, good because it’s another high profile name to add to his list of accomplishments but bad because it looked like Jake couldn’t hack it against real competition so he went back to beating up on MMA fighters with no pro boxing experience again.

Saturday night was a victory but it was a Pyrrhic victory. If Jake is still dead set on making a career out of this and isn’t just using boxing as an avenue for selling potentially deadly energy drinks like his brother is, then he needs to get back in the ring quickly and he needs to get back in there with actual boxers.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a rematch with Tommy Fury (although he’ll have to wait for KSI to give Jake’s toy back first), trying to book Hasim Rahman, Jr. again, or someone else. If Jake Paul wants to be taken seriously, he needs to fight serious competition and, as much as I love Nate Diaz, he ain’t it.

MMA seems more like a distraction than a next step for Jake Paul

If they want to do their MMA fight next, that’s fine, even though I thought Nate Diaz wanted to go back to the UFC, but Jake better realize how much credibility he’d be giving up if he does that.

Nate Diaz gained a lot by taking a boxing fight when he could have stayed in MMA. His name is cemented as one of the toughest MMA fighters of all time. Jake still hasn’t really established himself anywhere in combat sports except as a novelty who’s starting to show hints of legitimate skill.

Making a sidestep to MMA could cause him to lose the progress he’s made in boxing. Plus, does he really think he can learn enough grappling and submission fighting to hang with the true king of the guillotine?

I don’t think so. If Jake Paul makes it into the PFL cage and flounders, he better call Saul and get his money back.

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Hot balls or not, Derrick Lewis knew that he needed to deliver at UFC 291. On a three fight skid, there was no question another loss may not only have knocked him out of the UFC rankings but could have seen him removed from the UFC entirely.

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But now, after having gone Beast Mode on Marco Rogério de Lima, blasting him with a flying knee in the opening seconds of the fight and finishing it a short time after, we’ve learned of an interesting predicament the heavyweight finds himself in:

Derrick Lewis has fought out his contract and is now a free agent.

The main question that came to mind when he revealed that information inside the cage after his victory was “How the hell did UFC let that happen?”

It’s hard to say goodbye when UFC wants it to be

I mean, there’s certainly a class of fighter where, if they choose to fight out their contract, UFC will let them. Typically, though, it’s going to be a class of fighter where the value in keeping them around is not perceived as being very high, or at least not high enough to justify paying them whatever they’ve been earning or whatever they’re asking for in a new contract.

That situation, for example, happened earlier this year when Ilir Latifi fought out his contract and chose to not re-sign with the UFC. Now, don’t get me wrong: I love me some “Sledgehammer.” However, I can understand that he had a very up and down career and, if he wasn’t interested in continuing to fight or fight at whatever terms UFC was willing to offer him, then there likely wasn’t much love lost in the promotion letting him walk.

These scenarios are rare, though, with the reason being the UFC doesn’t like letting fighters finish their contracts. They will almost always try to negotiate a new deal before the old expires and most fighters, knowing they aren’t likely to find anything better on the open market, choose not to test the waters and willingly re-sign. It’s one of the ways UFC manages to keep fighters locked up for so many years at a time.

But there are fighters who do want to reach the end of their contracts, either because they want to know their worth and see what offers they can get from other promoters, or because they just want to leave the UFC.

For every amicable split, there’s a Nate Diaz situation, where he went so far as to say he was being held hostage for months before UFC finally booked the last fight of his contract, one that was viewed as an execution before UFC was forced to play musical chairs with the UFC 279 lineup and inadvertently gave Nate the sendoff he deserved all along.

Or, more relevant to Derrick Lewis’s current situation, there’s what happened to Francis Ngannou. I won’t go through all the details, as we’ve done it to death on this site. You all know that Francis didn’t like the terms UFC presented to him and, as soon as he was able to get out, he did. He then signed a lucrative contract to compete for PFL next year while successfully inking a contract to fight Tyson Fury in a blockbuster boxing main event this October in Saudi Arabia.

Hate the situation all you want but you have to admit that Francis made out good. Daniel Cormier gave him props. Jon Jones even gave a rival promotion publicity just so he could get a faceoff with the foe he may or may not have been ducking for the last three years.

Jon missed out on his chance to make history with Francis but you know who could still do it?

Derrick Lewis.

Excuse me for a second while I blow on the “BE hates UFC” dog whistle…

Derrick Lewis is the answer to Francis Ngannou’s prayers

We all know that, while the PFL deal is great on paper, there are a lot of unknowns that could bust the whole thing, the biggest one being Ngannou’s first opponent. The plan is for Francis to compete on Payperview, which means, for the event to be successful, there’s a lot riding on who he fights and, while the PFL roster has some decent prospects on it, they’re all relative unknowns. They could sink a ton of money into promoting the winner of their heavyweight tournament as being the guy to face the former UFC Heavyweight Champion but it’s probably going to be a tough sell.

There’s been speculation about fighters like Fabricio Werdum or Junior dos Santos being available but neither of them have been relevant in years. KSW Heavyweight Champion Phil de Fries wants the opportunity, which could work if they stage the event somewhere in Europe. Otherwise, forget about it.

No, I think the answer to this question of who Francis should fight may be standing right in front of us. And he probably needs to put his pants back on.

Derrick Lewis has already said that his intention is to re-sign with the UFC but is that what he really wants? If he plans to stay with the UFC, why did he fight out his contract? Why didn’t he negotiate a new one before Saturday night?

Was there concern that he wouldn’t get good terms unless he could get a win first? He definitely came into the de Lima fight with a lot of pressure to perform and, while it ended up working out for him, what if it didn’t? Would he still want to re-sign? Would the UFC have even been interested in keeping him around? Are they interested in keeping him around now?

Common sense says that UFC will offer him a new contract. They know he’s a popular fighter with fans (and with the media, even as he likes to be jokingly combative with them) and, more times than not, he delivers inside the cage. You don’t set the record for most knockouts in UFC history by point fighting.

Don’t forget, though, that, for as much as UFC may like Derrick Lewis, he has been slipping down the card. The only reason he got on the pay-per-view portion of 291 was because of Stephen Thompson’s fight with Michel Pereira getting scratched after Michel missed weight and “Wonderboy” refused to fight at a catchweight (and didn’t get paid for it, which should be a crime).

Good thing that Derrick Lewis and his abs came to save the day but that doesn’t matter much. He’d likely get another ranked opponent in his next fight but that doesn’t mean he won’t still get buried in the prelims of some Apex show whenever it happens.

No fighter should lose sight of what really matters

What is Derrick Lewis fighting for? Is it pride? Money? That thing referred to as “legacy”? He says he can make another run to the title but how likely is that to happen? He’s already lost to Cyril Gane and Sergei Pavlovich in the last two years (plus others) so it seems unlikely he’ll be sniffing a championship anytime soon. The man is 38. How many more years does he want to keep doing this grind?

If he’s looking for pride and money and “legacy,” why not sign with PFL and face the lineal champion? Not only does Derrick Lewis have history with Francis, he has a win over the man. Derrick could be reasonably hyped up as being the one responsible for making Francis the monster he is today.

We could have had the chance to see the rematch happen in the UFC (it didn’t because UFC tried to force Francis into a quick turnaround after becoming champ and he didn’t bite) but now we could see it happen as the headliner of the first PFL pay-per-view. What a great way to celebrate what both men have accomplished in their careers.

Oh and did I mention the money? Remember how Francis got it written into his contract that whoever he faces is guaranteed to make at least $2 million? UFC isn’t going to offer Derrick Lewis that kind of money to fight. That sure would pay for a lot of whatever it is Derrick Lewis is eating now that he’s off the Popeye’s wagon.

Plus, it’s not like Derrick Lewis couldn’t sign with PFL, get the Francis megafight, and then go back to the UFC. That’s what Nate is planning to do after he boxes Jake Paul this Saturday and, while it’s possible UFC doesn’t take Derrick back, they probably will. Because who doesn’t love Derrick Lewis?

I’m saying all this being fully aware that the UFC will likely make things difficult for Derrick if he chooses to leave. One would assume a top priority right now is keeping all the heavyweights locked up so they aren’t able to chase the Ngannou payday. Maybe they’re taking a gamble and trusting that Derrick Lewis is loyal enough to do the right thing.

Just like they gambled that Dricus du Plessis could beat Robert Whittaker in July and then fight Israel Adesanya in September. Oh wait…

Hopefully, Derrick Lewis will recognize the right thing here as being what is, overall, the best option for him. And, while the right thing may very well be to stick with the one who brought him to the dance, he’d be crazy to not think through his options and consider that things might be greener and less sweaty elsewhere.

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As lame as UFC 291’s BMF gimmick is — and it is extremely lame — if any man deserves to hold the distinction as being the Baddest, it feels appropriate for that man to be Justin Gaethje.

Why? Because Justin Gaethje has been nothing but a bad motherf—ker for the entirety of his MMA career; from racking up a 17-0 record with 5 defenses of the World Series of Fighting Lightweight Championship; to his ballsy UFC debut against Michael Johnson, to his battles of attrition against Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier, and all the way through the run that saw him become interim UFC Lightweight Champion and a hallmark of the division.

All throughout, Justin Gaethje has proven to be one of the nastiest names to see standing on the other side of the Octagon because of his ability to absorb punishment while giving it right back tenfold.

As far as dogs staying in the fight go, Justin Gaethje is Top Dog. There is truly nothing that compares to him.

(RIP Sinéad)

Fighters weren’t feeling the elevation at UFC 291

Personally, it’s just a relief that Saturday’s UFC 291 went down as well as it did. The last time UFC was in Salt Lake City, at UFC 278, there were multiple decisions and a main event that saw Leon Edwards huffing and puffing before finding a way to blow Kamaru Usman’s house (and head) off with under a minute left in a five round fight.

This time, the card was mostly finishes. Bobby Green punished Tony Ferguson and possibly sent him into retirement with an arm-triangle choke. Derrick Lewis ran through Marcos Rogério de Lima so fast, he needed to take his shorts off just to cool down (or at least I hope that’s what was happening).

And the ultimate highlight came courtesy of “The Highlight,” rematching Poirier 5 years after their first fight, avenging a loss with a picture perfect head kick reminiscent of the kick Leon landed on Kamaru last August.

Maybe there is something magical about Salt Lake City. Maybe it’s moments like this that is why UFC returned to Utah so soon after their last visit.

Or maybe it was because Ari Emmanuel told Dana to bring the show back there because he’s friends with the owner of The Utah Jazz. I dunno. Hard to say.

Either way, that explains why Karl Malone got such good seats.

Oh and, speaking of Dana, where was he on Saturday? Was he really on vacation during UFC 291? He didn’t ditch his own company’s pay-per-view to go watch the Errol Spence-Terrence Crawford fight, did he? He wouldn’t dare violate the sanctity of the BMF Championship Belt that way, would he?

Justin Gaethje moves up slightly in the queue after UFC 291

Who’s to say? All that’s for certain is that Gaethje knocked out Poirier and won…a belt that might earn him a title shot?

Wait, didn’t he already win one of those? And then he fought for the lightweight championship in two of his next three fights and lost both times? And now he’s potentially waiting on the winner of the main event of UFC 294 in October between the man who is the protégé of the first champion he lost to against the second champion he lost to?

Um, yay for Justin Gaethje?

Also, does the BMF Championship Belt come with championship pay or pay-per-view points? Maybe he’d be better off waiting for Conor McGregor to get his USADA exemption…

I know everyone was excited for the Poirier rematch just for the guarantee that the fight would deliver (and it did) but we all knew there weren’t any stakes attached to it besides finding out whose late career resurgence was going to stall out first, right?

BMF is fun but still pointless

For me, it was more exciting seeing Alex Pereira get a (controversial) win over Jan Błachowicz at UFC 291, watching him inject some life into a chaotic light heavyweight division in the same way he injected life into an, at the time, lifeless middleweight division.

Don’t get me wrong, watching Justin Gaethje fight is always fun. It just didn’t feel like he was fighting for much here other than getting to jump in line for the belt ahead of Poirier for once. For all we know, Justin Gaethje will get his shot next year and Poirier will get the one after that. Nothing really changes as far as the weight class goes.

At least the action was fun while it lasted at UFC 291. Plus, we have a new BMF Champion Belt-holder. I look forward to seeing him never defend the belt, just like the last BMF Champion Belt-holder.

That’s what BMF’s do, right? Anoint themselves as such and then never make a serious effort to prove it? What a great gimmick. Thanks for making this totally necessary “title” fight, UFC!

Oh and see you in Dallas next week, Dana. You know what the real BMF fight is.

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If Yair Rodriguez is ‘El Pantera,’ then Alexander Volkanovski must look like a Cowboy from Hell.

No offense, UFC Hall of Famer Donald Cerrone.

There’s no question that, as the capstone of International Fight Week, UFC 290 delivered. On the one hand, it did so in the very literal sense of featuring top fighters from Australia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and elsewhere around the world. But, more importantly, it also brought the goods in terms of great action and greater moments.

Alexandre Pantoja captured the UFC Flyweight Championship in one of the most thrilling and competitive title fights in company history. Dricus du Plessis proved he truly is ready for the main event by passing through Robert Whittaker’s (Cemetery) gate. Bo Nickal kept the hype train going by getting the job done against a man who really meant it when he said he was “happy to be violent.” Talk about a Mouth for War.

Also, major props to Robbie Lawler for ending a legendary career with one more highlight reel knockout. Hopefully he’ll get to enter the fighter wing of the Hall of Fame sooner than later. Getting in for a fight is like getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for being Metallica’s fourth bass player.

All the interviews, expo meet-n-greets, media days, and undercard fights built up to the main event, a title unification between Volkanovski and Rodriguez. However, as impressive as Yair’s journey and story have been, it was hard to believe he was going to be the one to end the featherweight run of ‘The Great.’

Yair Rodriguez is great but not champion great

Although Yair’s story has been a fascinating one. The story of Mexico’s entry into elite MMA has been fun to watch, from Brandon Moreno’s exciting battles over the flyweight crown to Alexa Grasso toppling one of the most dominant female fighters the sport has ever seen, Mexican MMA has proven it can compete with the best the rest of the world has to offer.

It’d be unfair to not give credit for what Yair managed to accomplish this year when he defeated Josh Emmett at UFC 284 to become the interim champ. Still, we all know that belt was nothing more than a consolation prize.

The only reason that fight was for a title was because Volk was challenging for lightweight gold against Islam Mackhachev (and because billing an encounter as a “#1 Contender’s Fight” is apparently no longer good enough for the UFC). The only reason Yair was chosen to be part of that fight was because Max Holloway can only lose to Volkanovski so many times.

None of that is to say that Rodriguez isn’t a great fighter. He absolutely is, but it would seem farfetched to deem a fighter as championship caliber just by beating Emmett.

I mean, Ilia Topuria did that two weeks ago and he’s not holding a belt, although it does seem likely he’ll get the next crack at one. I guess beating Emmett is the key to success now. He must be so pleased knowing that.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t give Yair props for the custom championship belt he had made, as that did look pretty cool. It was also cool that Dana White, the man who stops MMA fighters from competing with brain issues while wearing a Power Slap t-shirt, agreed to have additional custom belts made, although it’s a bit weird that he said he was only doing it for the other Mexican champions.

Sure, it’s great to signify what they accomplished, but why doesn’t he give the option to all champions to get their giant Jostens rings classed up? Jon Jones could adorn his with all the dollars he won’t be getting for losing the Tyson Fury sweepstakes. Or Israel Adesanya can have his fitted with all the extra chromosomes he apparently thinks humans have.

Yair was game to meet the challenge of beating Volkanovski, but there’s a reason why the Aussie was one of the heaviest betting favorites on the card. He went over the underdog by shutting down Yair’s unique offense and putting him away with strikes inside of three rounds. It was as dominant a performance as we’ve been accustomed to seeing from the 145 pound legend.

Much like Team Chandler, Volkanovski shut out another challenge to once again reign as the undisputed best in the division, which makes the question of whether there’s a point in staying in the division even greater.

Volkanovski has outstanding business at 145 and 155

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with Volk wanting to stay at 145 and further cementing his legacy there. Right now, he stands two title defenses away from tying Jose Aldo’s UFC record. Chasing after and toppling that would be a great way to prove that he’s the best featherweight in the world. Why let people debate it when you have the ability to end the discussion?

Then again, the reason why it may not matter is because Volkanovski knows he can be the UFC Lightweight Champion. The fight against Machkachev was extremely close and the decision could have easily gone the other way. If Volk wants to pursue the rematch, and if he gets it, it’s very possible he gets the job done.

Personally, I don’t see why Volkanovski can’t do both. There’s a good chance Islam isn’t going anywhere so he should take the time to finish the job at featherweight while Islam is racking up more defenses at lightweight. Give it another year and the rematch will be guaranteed to be so much bigger and so much more exciting.

Volkanovski is no doubt living up to his nickname. He can walk the Walk, he can Drag opponents into whichever Waters will get the job done, and 5 Minutes Alone with him will leave most men Broken. It’s time to see how much longer his Domination can last before he’s truly ready for A New Level.

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If It’s true that he who laughs last laughs best, then Francis Ngannou must be shaking as uncontrollably as the average PRIME consumer right now.

Yes, the reports have confirmed that he did not, in fact, fumble the bag. He’s getting exactly what he wanted from the start: a heavyweight showdown with WBC and lineal champion Tyson Fury. The fight will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 28 and, while the number of rounds haven’t been confirmed yet, reports state that it will (mostly?) be pro rules, and Tyson Fury’s WBC Championship will not be on the line.

Opinions are starting to come out, some saying that the fight is a sham, a shameless cash grab being perpetrated by men with agendas only willing to make this happen as a means to defraud fans and scorn bigger rivals, or because other opportunities fell through.

And yeah, most of that is true. Doesn’t mean the fight won’t be a lot of fun, though.

Being a victim of circumstance isn’t always a bad thing

It’s crazy to think this is even happening. Talk of this fight started over a year ago, back when Francis Ngannou was still UFC Heavyweight Champion and Tyson Fury was on a collision course with Oleksandyr Usyk.

It is absolutely unfortunate that the unification fight with Usyk fell through but I’ll accept this as a consolation prize. If fights with Anthony Joshua or Andy Ruiz weren’t going to happen, then why not have a fun little detour, one that harkens back to the old-school “which style is best?” kind of fighting that many of us grew up on?

That’s right, Just Bleed Guy. We’re taking things back. 

The fact that both men agreed to a contest under professional rules, with judges and scoring, is proof that the intention isn’t just to pull a fast one on the paying public.

No need to hate the player or the game

I think it’s been explained well enough on the site why an exhibition would have been the worst outcome here, worse than the fight not happening. Nobody wants to see the two men considered to be the best/hardest punchers in their respective sports pawing at each other or engaging in other shenanigans. We’ve seen enough Floyd Mayweather bank robberies in recent years to know what a bad idea that would be.

Then again, Mayweather is a big part of the reason why a fight like this is possible, thanks to his efforts in making the fight with Conor McGregor happen (or Dana White getting Floyd onboard with the fight, whichever reality you choose to believe). Sure, you can say it was a farce but damn if it wasn’t an exciting one.

The only thing I don’t like is the fight being non-title. I mean, yeah, it’d be a joke to give a title shot to Francis when he’s never even had a pro bout, but I hate seeing champions compete without defending their belts.

That’s right. I’m saying Braun Strowman deserved a shot.

Plus, how crazy would it be if Francis found that one punch that puts Tyson away and he becomes the new king of boxing? That’d be some Rocky-level shit right there.

Oh, and, to any boxing “purists” out there who think this is damaging to the sport? Have you seen your sport lately? Yeah, you’ve gotten some good fights but you’re also getting plenty of nonsense too. Plus, it seems like there are more Tiktokkers and Instagrammers (Instagrammarians?) competing in the sport now than actual boxers.

The circus hasn’t come to town. It’s always been here. It never left. At least the event is only likely to be used to promote the sportswashing efforts of tyrants international, and not domestic.

Even DFW couldn’t stop Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury

It’s unfortunate that Dana’s plans to derail the fight didn’t pan out but it’s but it’s not like anybody actually thought Tyson was going to sign a UFC contract to fight Jon Jones, right? Was Dana going to offer him the Roman Coliseum too?

It’s unbelievable to think that Dana would have even been willing to deal with a personality like “The Gypsy King” considering the problems he still has with “The Notorious.”

I know, Dana. How dare us for calling out what you literally said and for expecting you’ll be able to get a fight booked that you’re currently airing an entire TV show to promote. Boo us.

At least you always deliver on the fights we want. Like Jones vs…..Stipe? Yay?

And the fact that PFL is not only okay with this but is celebrating the achievement on social media is astounding. They freely gave up any right to earn a cut of what could be the biggest pay-per-view of the year so that their new star attraction could live out his dream and make more money than he’s ever seen in his entire life.

I hope Francis is at least going to be repping PFL on his trunks. Or get them a discount on a canvas patch or something.

The end of Francis Ngannou’s UFC career showed what a cutthroat industry the sport of MMA, and specifically the UFC, can be. Boxing isn’t necessarily any better, but at least it’s still possible for the stars to align.

While the fight with Tyson Fury may not ultimately go the way Francis Ngannou wants it to, at least he can rest easy knowing that he really did get it done. He said he could do it, and he did. He proved all the doubters wrong. Some stories do have happy endings.

Make us proud, Francis. Just try not to make a total and complete mockery of our sport or anything, okay? Thanks.

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When the UFC’s Dana White is in carnival barker mode, nobody does it better. Or louder.

And he’s really going all out for this Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk “Battle of the Billionaires,” isn’t he? He claims everyone to be “dead serious” about staging a caged encounter between the two social media rivals. He thinks it would work great as a charity event, even though the only charities I could see being utilized would be ones supporting the poor accountants having to calculate all the ways these men would plan to profit from such a farce.

Not that it couldn’t be entertaining. I mean, I watched Celebrity Deathmatch back in the day, although I am in no way advocating for that here. That show was too well thought-out and the characters were too well-animated to work here.

I also hope, if it does happen, it goes better than when WWE did the same thing at Wrestlemania 23, which resulted in Vince McMahon getting his head shaved (at least he has that wonderful mustache now) and Donald Trump taking the worst Stone Cold Stunner ever. He no-sold that worse than he did Covid.

Seriously, how competitive does anyone expect a legit fight to be between two of the most public figures in the world? Does anyone honestly think they’d even make it to the fight? These are two of the smallest egos out there. Zuck had reps claim he didn’t pass out from a choke at a grappling tournament he competed in when we all know he totally did. And Elon gets in fights on Twitter every week, mostly with his employees.

If these two do actually go through with it, the outcome, win or lose, would probably make the aftermath of Floyd Mayweather vs. John Gotti III look like a toddler’s birthday party.

Gimmick fight? What gimmick fight?

All I know is, if the “fight” does happen, it won’t be a gimmick fight. Why, you ask? Because Dana White doesn’t do gimmick fights. Never has he done a gimmick fight. Never. Not ever.

It’d be like if Tyson Fury agrees to fight Jon Jones in the UFC. Nope. Wouldn’t be a gimmick.

If you don’t understand how that works, follow this handy guide:

Fury vs. Ngannou Jones, in a boxing ring = GIMMICK FIGHT

Fury vs. Jones in The Octagon™ (sponsored by PRIME™) = TOTALLY NOT A GIMMICK FIGHT AND SCREW YOU FOR EVER THINKING IT WAS

Make sense? No? Well, welcome to the big leagues. This ain’t no PFL where they make teammates fight each other and then get upset when the resulting fight sucks. UFC would never try to force something like that. Nope.

And, despite all this nonsense about gimmick fights that aren’t gimmick fights but are totally gimmick fights, you know what’s the most infuriating part of it all? There are actual, relevant fights happening in the UFC right now that are getting virtually no attention while all this absurdity gets the headlines.

The best in the world (that no one is paying attention to)

Last weekend saw the #3 ranked middleweight Jared Cannonier earn a dominant decision over #4 ranked Marvin Vettori. Both men have faced Israel Adesanya for the UFC Middleweight Championship and, while you can argue the futility of the fight when it’s unlikely either man is getting a rematch any time soon, it should be seen as a big deal when top ranked fighters compete. That should always be the case but, in the UFC, it’s not.

This past weekend, #9 ranked Ilia Topuria completely drubbed out #5 ranked Josh Emmett, a man who previously competed for the Interim UFC Featherweight Championship. The win should vault Ilia into the Top 5 and could be the signature win he needs to stake a claim at the winner of the UFC 290 headliner between Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez.

Ilia is a fighter Dana White should be going all over singing the praises of right now. Instead, he’s showing off the t-shirt he made for his new Anti-Fight Club.

It’s crazy too because the Emmett-Topuria Fight Night card was on ABC but it didn’t get the kind of treatment you would think a card airing on network television should receive.

There was no Embedded or pre-fight presser (apparently those are only good enough for pay-per-views). There was no special social media campaign for the event outside of the bare minimum they do for other Fight Night events.

Hell, it wasn’t even a Fight “Night,” since the main event aired at 4 in the afternoon. It’s okay, though. I’m sure there must have been something very important ABC was airing instead on Saturday night.

…what’s that? They were airing reruns of a Disney Plus show in prime time instead of a live fight card featuring top title contenders? Nice. Great job, UFC. Guess you don’t care how Disney treats you as long as the checks keep clearing.

What’s the endgame (besides complete and total collapse)?

I don’t want to think that UFC is intentionally sabotaging events to ensure no fighters get popular enough to challenge their business practices *COUGH* but it seemed like they were working harder on their social media to promote the next Power Slap event than anything that happened in the UFC that same day.

Oh and fun fact about the next Power Slap event for those who care, which is hopefully none of you: the main event is a Light Heavyweight Championship fight. The challenger, Wolverine, competed at Power Slap 1, winning the Heavyweight Championship. He then lost that championship at Power Slap 2. His punishment for losing? An immediate shot at the light heavyweight belt.

So, if you think UFC’s matchmaking is horrendous, just know it isn’t any better in the pro slaps world.

The longer these types of shenanigans go on for, the harder it is to tell what Dana’s MO truly is. Spending so many years legitimizing MMA just so he can while his time making pity plays to ruin Francis Ngannou’s chance at a boxing payday, or trying to cash in on another crossover fight while claiming you’re the reason the last big crossover fight happened.

It’s madness trying to make sense of it so I’m just going to stop trying and assume Dana White is lashing out because he wants Ari Emmanuel to pay attention to him again and not just focus on the new shiny toy in the box.

C’mon Andy, I mean Ari. UFC needs love too. Also, do you even care how much Dana White uses the UFC to promote Power Slap? You know you don’t own that one, right?

At least we can try and be hopeful this won’t be the norm going forward as UFC melts away into TKO Group. We’re still going to get great matchups promoted the way they should be, right?

Oh, UFC just announced we’re going to get a rematch between the top 2 women in UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings…headlining a Fight Night instead of a Payperview. Brilliant. Pizza Planet for everybody.

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When ‘The Lioness’ is ready to make a kill, you know she’s going straight for the throat.

And, on Saturday night at UFC 289, that’s what she did. UFC Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes put on a masterclass against challenger Irene Aldana. Everywhere the fight went, Nunes dominated with punches, kicks, and well-executed takedowns. It was as flawless a performance as one could hope to have in high level MMA.

And then, just like that, one of the most impressive careers in UFC history came to its conclusion as Nunes laid down both her bantamweight and UFC Featherweight Championships and announced her retirement.

I assume Anthony Smith is sweating a little less now about saying he was looking forward to her retirement.

Also, way to take away from Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva’s nth retirement announcement. What are the odds two such highly regarded cage warriors would choose to call it quits on the same night?

Then again, Bigfoot should have stopped fighting 8 knockouts ago.

Amanda Nunes the GWOAT?

So now that Amanda Nunes is officially done, the discussions can begin to determine how she stacks up to the all-time greats. How far up in the pantheon of UFC gods should she be placed?

The consensus seems to be unanimous: Amanda Nunes is the Greatest of All Time…

…among women.

Yes, that’s how most are phrasing it and, yes, you know where I’m going with this.

Call me a woke social justice snowflake who eats babies all you want, but why is Amanda only being compared to other female fighters when her resume, especially her championship runs, should be enough to distinguish her as one of, if not the, greatest fighter of all time, man or woman?

Oh and, if you don’t like the direction this is going in, just be glad I don’t point out how the UFC fabulously failed at promoting one of their proudest gay athletes during Pride Month. I guess Dana doesn’t want to piss off the Power Slap crowd.

Amanda Nunes is the GOAT and you know it

Honestly, it amazes me how much praise Dana White gave her on Saturday considering how long it took for her to get recognition to begin with.

She main evented UFC 200, choking out Miesha Tate to start her first championship reign, but she only got that opportunity because Conor McGregor felt like playing hardball and Jon Jones picked the wrong day to not hide from USADA.

After that, Amanda Nunes defended her championship against Ronda Rousey, who, of course, was the focus of all the promotional hype. It made for quite the awkward build since Ronda made all of one media appearance before getting crushed by Nunes in the main event of UFC 207.

It wasn’t until Amanda’s Champion vs. Champion clash against Cris Cyborg at UFC 232, which saw the UFC Featherweight Champion get her clock cleaned inside of a minute, that the now 2-division champion was treated like the legend she is. It’s to the point that Dana allowed Amanda to keep and defend the 145 lbs title despite making no serious efforts to ever build a division.

That’s what makes what Amanda accomplished so remarkable: not only was she a two division champion, she beat every champion either of those divisions ever had.

We’re talking Rousey, Holly Holm, Tate, Julianna Peña, Germaine de Randamie, and Cyborg. Nunes beat them all.

Hell, the Peña win made her the lineal UFC Flyweight Champion as well (not to mention she has two wins over longtime 125 champ Valentina Shevchenko).

That’s an incredible resume. Compare that to any male fighter and it’s hard to top.

P4P rankings just don’t get it

Every media source that maintains MMA rankings does a Pound-for-Pound (or Pound-4-Pound if you’re cool like me) list and every one of those sites, from MMAFighting to MMAJunkie to CBS to ESPN to FightMatrix, Tapology, and the UFC’s own rankings, segregate men and women into separate lists.

For pretty much all of those lists, as of right now…

Read the rest of the post on our Substack for FREE.

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Jump to

If anybody could take the song “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and turn it into a winning fight strategy, it would be Charles Oliveira.

The former UFC Lightweight Champion claimed that one of the key factors going into his co-main event clash with Beneil Dariush at Saturday night’s UFC 289 was his happiness level. Charles said he was excited to face his fellow contender and win by whatever means he could.

Well, if Saturday was how Charles Oliveira fights when he’s happy, I’d hate to see how he fights when he’s pissed off.

There’s no doubt that Charles had to fight some negative emotions to make it to The Rogers Arena in Vancouver, having last fought at UFC 280. In that main event, Charles suffered a one-sided beating at the hands of Islam Makhachev, losing the opportunity to regain the lightweight title he lost on the scale and not in the cage.

The night presented a rare moment of weakness for the Brazilian, who followed up a wild brawl with Michael Chandler to capture the championship with back-to-back rear naked chokes of former interim champs Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.

Charles had the division on lock until Makhachev came and snapped the chain, and Oliveira’s 11 fight win streak, in two.

To get back to Makhachev, the #1 ranked lightweight contender knew that, for as dominant a display the current champ put on him last October, he was going to need to do the same to the #4 ranked Dariush.

And, while dominant may not be the right word to use to describe Charles Oliveira’s victory, it was certainly quick and absolutely effective.

The fight has been a long time coming

Even though the fight was originally supposed to happen in 2020 (but didn’t) before being scheduled for UFC 288 (before then getting pushed back a month due to Charles Oliveira suffering an injury in training), it’s fortunate that the fight happened now if only because it felt like we got to see the best version of both fighters on display inside the cage.

Dariush came into the fight in a similar position as Charles was when he first challenged for the UFC title: riding an 8 fight win streak (and a decision of Tony Ferguson). The Iranian-born wrestler has been popular with fans due to his focus on his family, his faith, and his willingness to fight as many times as it takes to prove he’s deserving of a title shot, even at the expense of losing those very opportunities to bigger names.

A win over the former champ would have absolutely been enough to claim inheritance to the throne, and it looked like Beneil would use his wrestling to make that assertion, spending more than 2 minutes of the opening round throwing bombs from Oliveira’s guard.

But, just as he did against Chandler, Oliveira proved he can handle himself against an elite grappler, turning Dariush’s top control (the takedown was achieved because of Oliveira pulling guard) into a heel hook attempt. Then, once the fight got back to his feet, Oliveira reminded everyone how complete of a fighter he is, landing a head kick and multiple right hands to bring Dariush back down to the canvas to put his lights out.

It was another wild and ballsy performance by “Charlie from the Bronx” but it was the kind of fight he’s become known for throughout his career and especially since he joined the lightweight elite.

Charles Oliveira is ready to challenge again

There’s no question the win should earn Charles Oliveira a rematch with Makhachev. The fact that Dana White has been non-committal over whether the winner of this fight would get the next title shot is pretty insulting, especially since the only other options for the fight is either a rematch with UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski, who is busy preparing to defend that title next month at UFC 290, or the winner of the totally needed BMF title fight between Poirier and Gaethje at UFC 291.

Does Charles really need to campaign for the title fight against two men he’s already beaten, or one who just got his shot and wants another without even committing to make a permanent move up to lightweight?

Charles Oliveira has now beaten everyone else in the Top 5. The next choice for challenger is obvious.

Until Dana recognizes that, let’s just keep the happy vibes going.

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Two years ago, Dana White said the UFC needs to get back on the road full time, even going so far as to say that traveling again is “the right thing to do.”

So, if Dana believed that back then, and presumably believes it now, why the hell are we still getting Fight Nights at The Apex?

That’s the question after it was reported UFC had applied for five event licenses with the Nevada Athletic Commission for this fall, with only one being for a pay-per-view on December 16 at the T-Mobile Arena.

And the other Four? Yes, you guessed it: Four more blistering Fight Night events emanating from UFC HQ.

Oh and yes, there was a Fight Night at the Apex this weekend, thanks for asking. There was also an event there two weeks ago. There’s been an event at The Apex almost every month of this year so far and, with these additional licenses, that trend will continue on through the rest of the year.

The Apex has served as a home base for the promotion since emerging out of the Covid lockdowns. At its peak in 2021, The Apex hosted 72% of the UFC’s total fight cards, which is insane but was also understandable.

It was a different time then. People were actually allowed to work from home. Crazy, right?

Now, the point of this piece isn’t to crap on UFC or say they aren’t trying to get out, because they are. The percentage of fight cards being hosted at HQ has gone down quite a bit, with 50% of the fight cards in 2022 emanating from there and, right now in 2023, the number is hovering around 42%. With Fight Nights being announced for locales such as London and Sao Paulo, it’s very likely that number won’t hover much higher.

Still, 42% is a lot when the optimal percentage of shows that should be happening at The Apex is 0.

The benefits no longer outweigh the risks

Let’s be frank here: does anyone actually like The Apex? The only people who I assume do are Dana, Hunter Campbell, and the other C-Suiters since, if there’s one thing large companies love more than growth, it’s cost savings, and The Apex is nothing but cost savings.

As great as all those live gates must be, it also has to be pretty great not exceeding budgets to send an army of personnel and equipment across the map every weekend. It must be nice for the event staff who don’t have to worry about building and tearing down sets each week or setting up fighter accommodations from scratch. It must be wonderful having access to all the Performance Institute resources during fight week. From an economical standpoint, it makes all the sense in the world to keep doing it, especially if they put on a card only good enough to fill up the ESPN event quota, not arenas.

However, you know who it sucks for? The fans and the fighters.

The fans suffer because they aren’t getting the same quality viewing experience watching a card at The Apex vs. watching a card anywhere else. Not only are you not likely going to get a chance to be in attendance for the event (Dana barely tolerates having media there), the home viewing experience is tainted by how empty the venue is.

The main event from two weeks ago between MacKenzie Dern and Angela Hill was a terrific fight. That’s what makes it unfortunate that it happened in a room where it was so quiet at times you could hear a pin drop. Imagine how much more electrifying of a moment it would have been for Dern to win that fight in front of the same crowd Jailton Almeida had when he defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

I’ve heard people say they like that kind of atmosphere because it makes it easier to hear the coaches giving advice, which I guess is great if you’re into that sort of thing.

Personally, I’m not that sophisticated of a fan. I come for the punchy-punchy. Hearing the corners can be interesting but it also makes me feel like I’m watching The Ultimate Fighter. That’s not a good thing when the combatants are supposed to be top ranked fighters in the pinnacle of the sport.

Give UFC Fight Nights a chance to succeed

And that’s why The Apex sucks for the fighters. Just take a look at this weekend’s card, or don’t because how many of the fighters competing this weekend can you name without looking it up?

Did you know Andrei Arlovski is fighting this weekend? Did you?

Wait, did I? Why didn’t anyone tell me? I love that guy…

The main event is a quality contender’s fight between Kai-Kara France and Amir Albazi but, as far as the UFC promotional machine is concerned, the show is a bunch of fighters the UFC probably doesn’t care if you’re interested in seeing or not because, instead of traveling and competing in front of a local crowd, they’re literally competing in front of Dana’s office.

Instead of getting the chance to sell out arenas and promote their brands to the most dedicated and diehard of fans, fighters like France and Albazi had the chance to bleed in front of whichever UFC employees couldn’t get a flight to Detroit for the Claressa Shields fight.

Well, that’s assuming Dana doesn’t decide to kick everyone out for one of his rich friends, like he did for Mark Zuckerberg.

I’m waiting for the event where Elon Musk asks for special treatment. The main event will probably be Sean Strickland vs. a giant blue checkmark.

How are the fighters supposed to grow as entities within the sport when they have to compete in an atmosphere that makes it feel like no one cares enough to come watch them fight? How are they supposed to become draws when they aren’t being given the chance to fill an arena?

The answer to all that is likely because Dana doesn’t want them to, but eventually Dana is going to need to be mindful of how flippant he is towards legitimate concerns regarding the quality or lack of importance given to Fight Night cards. The more he says “if you don’t like the fights, don’t watch them,” the more likely fans will start heeding his advice.

Get out of The Apex, Dana. For the sake of the UFC, get out and don’t come back.

Jump to

Tuesday night saw the premiere of the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter and, if you’re wondering if you missed anything important or significant, you already know the answer is no. Of course you didn’t.

Don’t worry, Mick. I’ll try not to be too mean.

I should start by saying that, while I was aware of the UFC prior to the first season of TUF, I didn’t really begin following the sport until that season aired in 2005. The live finale that came after was an awe-inspiring moment that featured the fight Dana White still considers to be the most important fight in UFC history.

As far as the show itself goes, the first season was a lot of fun. It tried to balance the fights with the wackiness of reality television and, while your mileage will vary as far as how good of a job they did, it’s hard to deny that the show wasn’t successful, launching a franchise that is still going strong 18 years later and being the match that lit the UFC aflame and sent the promotion through the stratosphere.

Subsequent seasons of the show tried to maintain that same balance. Over time, they would bust out themes (redemption featuring former UFC fighters, rivalries between nations and gyms, Kimbo Slice) or play with changes to the format, such as fights to get into the house or that whole live season.

Remember the live season? When the show was as long and as painful to get through for the fighters as it was for the viewer? At least we got Michael Chiesa, Al Iaquinta, and Daron Cruickshank out of it.

Oh, and James Krause was there briefly too. Wonder whatever happened to him…

The more things change, the more they something something

When the show moved over from Spike TV to FX with the aforementioned live season, the look of the series began changing to move away from the reality show feel of earlier season and into what is more of a cinematic, sport-oriented presentation that put a bigger spotlight on the fighters’ lives outside the show.

Yes, there were still opportunities to allow bros to bang but the focus was placed on the contestants training for their fights, as well as the fights themselves, which have always been the main draw of the show.

There have been some gimmicks introduced into more recent seasons, like the one that crowned a new women’s champion, or the one that crowned another new women’s champion, or the one where everyone had a padded record, or the one where Demetrious Johnson was elevated from being one of the best fighters on the planet to being a game show grand prize, but the overall feel has remained the same.

Honestly, if I had to define TUF 31 in a single word, it would be “same” due to the fact that, despite the move from FX to ESPN and despite the fact the show appears to only be a once a year tradition now instead of the twice a year rotation TUF was on before the ESPN deal began, pretty much nothing has changed about how the show looks or feels.

If I had to define TUF 31 in two words, it would be “Kurt Holobaugh?” I may have glanced over the roster reveal and forgotten that the show was to feature a couple former UFC fighters.

The concept of a “veterans vs. prospects” season is not a bad one. It just would have been nice if UFC chose to promote that aspect of the show more instead of just being all “OMG IT’S CONOR MCGREGOR!”

It’s not like there was anything that happened between coaches McGregor and Michael Chandler on the show that we didn’t already see in the previews and trailers. Conor’s just doing the same schtick he always does. This isn’t even the first time he’s done it on TUF.

Mystic Mac can surely predict what a slog this season of TUF will be

The interactions between the coaches ring a little hollow right now anyway since we don’t know when (or if) the coaches are going to fight. Hopefully Dana is right that they’ll be able to get it nailed down before the show and/or year and/or universe is over.

And, hopefully, getting that squared away won’t involve any “exceptional circumstances.”

The focus of the show shouldn’t be on all that peripheral stuff anyway. The focus should be on the fights, and the fight on the premiere episode, between Roosevelt Roberts and Nate Jennerman? Well, it wasn’t much of a fight.

Seriously, Roberts knocked Jennerman out in seconds. Maybe this will be the start of a monster run for the former Dana White’s Contender Series winner, like Uriah Hall had on TUF 18. He’ll just need to avoid another disastrous career turn after the show ends, like Uriah Hall had after TUF 18.

I could go on about the little things on the show, like how the producers made sure to have one of the fighters mention that the house is stocked with Proper 12 whiskey (maybe they should send some bottles to the fighters Conor got kicked off the show), but the bottom line is this: if you’ve enjoyed watching TUF the last few seasons, you’ll probably enjoy this season as well because it so far resembles all the others.

However, if you feel the show has grown beyond stale, that the same tired format no longer entertains the way it once did, that the show no longer serves a purpose when UFC is constantly flooding the roster with new talent to fill the 40+ fight cards they do every year, when winning a contract after a months-long tournament no longer feels special when Dana hands out 4-5 contracts a week on DWCS (even sadder considering that some of the veterans on TUF 31 are former DWCS contract winners), then it doesn’t look like this new season is planning on doing anything to change your mind.

Well, at least the doors should be safe. Can’t imagine Conor trying to tear one to pieces wearing those fancy suits.

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However, the tenor of the discussion has changed over the years. There’s little question anymore of what might happen if, say, a boxer and a grappler were to fight. That question was answered in 1993 when Royce Gracie sat on top of Art Jimmerson as Art tapped out with his ungloved hand.

That happened three decades ago. Since then, the sport has evolved from disparate styles to a singular form of fighting, one that the marketing arm of a large MMA promotion may even consider to be the “ultimate” form of fighting.

MMA vs Boxing

But the striking arts are still going strong. Boxing this year has delivered in both awe-inspiring and stomach-churning ways. 

That’s a big part of the reason why stories about boxers and MMA fighters going at it, either literally or figuratively, still get us excited and still get us talking, even if the mystery of what might happen doesn’t seem as mystifying as it once did.

Or maybe that “excitement” is being overstated and every major website is just saying it for the purpose of generating content…

Hey! Let’s talk about some of the big MMA vs. boxer matchups in the news right now and see if we can figure out why we refuse to stop talking about them!

6. Jon Jones vs. Tyson Fury

This is what started the recent wave of this nonsense. All it took was Fury taking offense at some comments Joe Rogan made, probably while high, about who would or wouldn’t make it out of a locked room between two combat sports icons.

It didn’t take long after that for Fury to respond on social media. Then Jones responded. Then Fury responded to Jones’ response. Then Jones responded to Fury’s response to Jones’ response. Then Dana White responded to Fury’s response to Jones’ response response. Then Fury responded. Then I died a little inside.

We all know it’s a dumb argument to have as far as who would beat who. We all know that, in a boxing fight, it’s Fury, and if it’s any environment where takedowns and eye pokes and kicks to the knee are allowed, it’s Jones. There’s little point in arguing it.

The only part of this that’s amusing is Dana, the man who says UFC *doesn’t* do gimmick fights and that he made Mayweather/McGregor happen, offering to make the fight happen IF Fury is willing to do it in the UFC. Yeah, I’m sure the man who made $25 million for his last fight wants a contract with the company that shares 13% of its revenue with the fighters.

Hey Jon and Dana: How about, instead of trying to make a fight happen that we know isn’t happening, you go and get the fight with Stipe Miocic done? Can you do that? Sergei Pavlovich may not be willing to wait forever.

5. Conor McGregor vs. Canelo Alvarez

While we’re still waiting for official word that Conor is back in the USADA pool and that the Michael Chandler fight is actually going to happen, Conor has been busy in the boxing realm, going from Ryan Garcia’s dressing room after his loss to Gervonta Davis to ringside with Katie Taylor after her loss to Chantelle Cameron.

It was during a press event for Taylor’s fight that Conor said he’d fight Canelo “no problem.” Canelo, when asked for a response, said he could beat Conor “with one hand.” Conor then upped the ante by saying he could beat Canelo “with no hands.”

I have no idea how that would work but, if Conor throws in a broken ankle, I think we’ve got a deal.

4. Crawford/Spence vs. Poirier/Gaethje

This isn’t a battle of fighters but a battle of fights. Still, pretty awesome that, while we may not be getting a unified title fight at heavyweight (yet), we’re going to get one at welterweight between WBO Champion Terence Crawford and WBA, IBF, and WBC champion Errol Spence, Jr. The two have been circling each other for a while, with a November 2022 date falling through before it was announced the fight could happen on either June 17 or July 22. The fight has since been confirmed for going down on July 29.

That’s great. Only problem for some is that July 29 is also the date of UFC 291, the show being headlined by the BMF title fight between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.

I know UFC had the date first but this really creates a dilemma. How are fans supposed to spend their evening/money? Watching two of the Pound-for-pound best boxers in the world slug it out for divisional supremacy? Or watching two former interim champions crash into one another for the right to wear an expletive-laden paperweight?

Maybe we should be like Dana. Just attend one live but bring a TV to watch the other. Problem solved.

3. Francis Ngannou vs. Any ranked heavyweight

I know, I know. We’ve harped enough on Francis and his PFL deal. I’ve plonked out more than my fair share of words on the subject but I just wanted to reiterate something: the idea that Francis thinks he could get a fight with a top name like Fury or Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua is INSANE.

The athletic commissions are certainly not above making questionable decisions but it would seem pretty egregious on their part to sanction a pro boxing match between Ngannou, who has zero pro boxing experience, and any top ranked heavyweight. Probably anyone in the Top 15 would be a stretch.

Unless he’s willing to fight someone with a lesser name, like a Derek Chisora (who’d still be heavily favored to win), Francis’ boxing career is likely to stall out before it even gets started. 

Maybe he should be looking to do an exhibition. Commissions will let you do anything if you call it an exhibition. Just ask Floyd Mayweather.

2. Nate Diaz vs. Jake Paul

I just wanted to touch on this to mention that 1) This fight is actually happening and 2) It, as of this writing, is still happening. Not that I’m suggesting or hoping that something happens to cause the fight to fall apart but August is still a long way away.

Oh, did you hear that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the commission overseeing the fight, said they plan to drug test Nate for marijuana? And they still have a pretty strict THC threshold compared to other states?

Keep your fingers crossed.

1. Mark Coleman vs. All Celebrities

Seriously, what the hell is The Hammer doing? A “Celebrity” Boxing fight in October? He tried to get a slap fight with Tim Sylvia and now he’s pivoting to this? Who’s he going to fight? Patrick Stewart?

I’d suggest they make the Sylvia fight happen in a boxing ring but he doesn’t have a good track record against boxers.

Man, this sport is wild. Let’s just hope none of this is giving James Toney any ideas.

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If The World MMA Awards were to introduce a category for “Worst Promotion of an MMA fight,” the UFC 292 main event between UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling and top contender Sean O’Malley would be the early front runner.

I can’t say it’d win yet because it’s only May and Dana White is just getting warmed up.

There are two basic paths to fight promotion. One involves announcing a fight when it’s ready, then spending months leading up to the fight airing highlights and promos, explaining to the public who the combatants are, what makes them great, and why they are worth the price of ordering the Payperview.

The other path involves rushing the fight announcement out, prompting outrage from one, if not both, of the fighters involved, then dumping on the fighter(s) for complaining while the fighters go back and forth in the media over meaningless bullshit that only serves to make anyone with $80 in hand decide to stay home and watch Fast X as many times as needed to lose consciousness (my guess would be 1.5 times).

When it comes to Sterling vs. O’Malley, the UFC President has certainly made his choice on which path to take.

A long and winding road UFC 292 will be

Let’s break down the timeline of events:

On May 16, Dana announced a bevy of upcoming fights, including headliners for UFC 291 on July 29 and UFC 292 on August 19. While UFC 291 is being headlined by Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje in what is *totally* not a gimmick fight for a championship that is “super necessary,” UFC 292 is getting the Funkmaster General going to battle vs. Suga’s Rainbow Coalition.

Sorry. Military metaphors aren’t my thing. It’s clearly been a rough day at the office…

Immediately after the fight was announced, word came out from Sterling’s coach Ray Longo that he had no knowledge of the fight being set. This was then followed days later by Sterling saying that, while he’s verbally agreed to the date, he hasn’t signed on for it yet because he isn’t sure if he’ll be physically ready to compete by then.

Dana, as promoter of the biggest MMA organization in the world, then decided to pour gasoline on the fire at the UFC Vegas 73 post-fight presser by not only doubling down on the fight happening, but taking a shot at his own champion, saying Aljamain Sterling “can’t get out of his own way.”

All of this has forced Sterling to fight a two front war, one against Dana for not showing him enough respect (an accusation that Dana, of course, denied) and one against Sean O’Malley for not having the “discipline” to automatically agree to a three month turnaround when he’s still dealing with a nagging bicep injury and had Henry Cejudo wrapped around his legs over the course of 5 rounds less than a month ago.

So far, this fight has been the gift that keeps on vomiting all over itself before tripping onto a pile of broken glass. How can anyone get excited when this is just the beginning of the promotional push?

Neither champion nor challenger are above it

Sterling, to his credit, hasn’t done himself any favors, saying the day before the fight was announced that he could be open to defending in August (or even sooner). His messaging, though, has been consistent, that he’s hurt, that he would have liked the date to be pushed out more, and that whether he’s ready to go by August is dependent on more than just the business needs of the UFC.

But Aljamain is also acutely aware of how critical his title reign is viewed by a portion of the fanbase. To some, admitting he’s hurt could be viewed as an honest and refreshing take that demonstrates his unwillingness to bend just because he’s expected to compete whenever Dana wants him to. To others, he’s just preparing an excuse for his next fluke win.

O’Malley, for his part, is coming out of this looking like a clown (no offense to actual clowns), by suggesting Sterling can just rest an injury that takes at least 3-4 months to heal properly (with surgery) and still have time for a full training camp.

I don’t even know why O’Malley would want the fight under these circumstances. I get a title fight is a title fight and the record books won’t care if O’Malley won it by beating a physically compromised champion, but does he not think his reputation won’t take a hit if he’s campaigning to fight an injured champion? This is the man who had no problem sitting down when Cejudo wanted to jump the line and now he’s demanding his opportunity must happen in August? What’s it to him to wait an extra month or two if he still gets his shot either way?

Suga is also trying to goad Sterling by dragging Israel Adesanya’s name into this, claiming the UFC Middleweight Champion “fought four times in 12 months,” which isn’t true.

Adesanya’s last four fights, title defenses on February 12 and July 2 on last year, and the two Alex Pereira fights on November 12 and April 8 of this year, played out over 421 days or almost 14 months. The average amount of time between those fights was 140 days, or a little over 4.5 months.

If Sterling fights on August 19, it would be 106 days since he fought Cejudo on May 6, which is just under 3.5 months. That means Adesanya, on average, had a full month extra to prepare for his title fights than Sterling is being afforded here. So, the comparison doesn’t really work, does it? Not only has Sean proven to have questionable taste in fashion, he’s also not much of a math whiz either.

Well, that or he wants people to forget he’d be entering the fight having not fought in almost 10 months, or 302 days to be exact.

…what? I figured if he’s throwing numbers around, someone should crunch them. John Nash isn’t the only one around here who can do that.

And let’s not forget about Dana, the ringmaster general of this cavalcade of pathetic. Not only was he the one who announced the fight before all parties were fully onboard (likely to shake up the news cycle from some other big story that just got out), he was the one who chose to put his champion on blast for being “hard to work with,” something Francis Ngannou can easily relate to.

Dana White’s at the center of it all (as usual)

Dana also said that, if Aljamain is unable to make the date, then no big deal. They’ll just book an interim title fight or find something else to headline the card, as if Dana doesn’t already know the damage has been done. He’s put Aljamain in a situation where Aljo is screwed no matter what he does. He either sucks it up and accepts the fight or he pulls out and everyone craps on him because Dana already said the fight was happening and real fighters show up, right?

Real fighters, like TJ Dillashaw, right? Right?

It must make a champion feel good to have a promoter be so nonchalant about how they’re being booked. Dana doesn’t care if Aljamain fights or not because there’s going to be a fight for the bantamweight title on August 19 one way or another. It’s either going to be Sterling vs. O’Malley, or it’ll be O’Malley fighting for the Interim UFC Bantamweight Championship, probably against Cejudo. UFC’s ESPN PPV requirements are satisfied either way.

Henry might smell the rosiest in this pile of dirt for his willingness to step in if the fight falls out. But we all know he’s just taking an obvious opportunity to poke at the cracks and keep himself on Dana’s good side so that his next fight is, at worst, a number one contender’s match. Cejudo plays the game better than most, even though I’d probably focus a bit more on Brandon Moreno right now if I were him…

The worst part about all this is that Sterling vs. O’Malley should be a good fight. No matter how you feel about the champ, his last three fights have been great, so this one should be as well. It’ll be significant too because, if Sterling wins, he’ll set the record for most title defenses in the division.

Plus, we may get to see Merab Dvalishvili bust out this season’s winter wear. I hear tartan is in.

If UFC is supposed to be the place where the best fight the best, why isn’t it also a place where the promoters promote the best as being the best? Seems like, if Dana really wanted the focus to be on the fighters and the fights and not on this kind of drama, he’d keep all the focus where it needs to be and not feed into it as a way of making himself the subject of all the headlines.

Suggesting that a champion keep their mouth shut so that the company president doesn’t have to answer awkward questions at a press conference is not giving Sterling credit. Dana should have the discipline to know how best to represent his fighters to the media. If he doesn’t, I’m sure Suga Sean could teach him a thing or two.

Jump to

It’s safe to say the icy relationship now shared between Dana White and Francis Ngannou won’t thaw anytime soon.

That obviously shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. The UFC President can’t be happy living with the fact his heavyweight champion fought out his contract and then walked away from the promotion, eventually signing with PFL. It’s a move that’s provided a big boost to Ngannou in terms of future earning potential and other opportunities and It’s a move that doesn’t hurt UFC too much beyond the fact that another high profile fighter chose to leave rather than accept the restrictions that come with being under the thumb of the MMA leader.

For the UFC, it’s probably not going to be a big deal in the long run because, with certain exceptions, the company’s focus has always been on its brand versus any individual fighters. This means stars can come and go and the UFC will still keep chugging along. That is entirely by design.

But for PFL? That’s where the question marks are most striking.

Of course Dana White was going to talk about it

At the post-fight presser for UFC Vegas 73, Dana White, when he wasn’t throwing out benjamins to media members, tore into the Francis Ngannou’s deal, spewing obvious lies about the company releasing him (he fought out his contract and chose to not re-sign) as well as saying Francis didn’t want to fight Jones (he’s wanted that fight since at least 2019) or that he was inactive by choice and not due to injuries or contract tomfoolery.

Also, Dana’s aware his current heavyweight champion has only fought once in the last 3 years, right? Sure would have been cool for a media member to point that out…

Dana took shots at PFL as well, essentially referring to the business as one that’s been drumming up loads of investment capital so they can spend it and then have nothing to show for it.

And honestly? Dana’s right about that.

Yeah, it’s revisionist for him to say Francis doesn’t want to take risks and it is a bit silly to say UFC doesn’t do gimmick fights right after answering questions about bringing back the BMF belt, but it’s difficult to understand what the benefit for PFL will be with this current plan, which is to wait until 2024 to debut Francis while allowing him the rest of 2023 to pursue a boxing fight.

Francis Ngannou + boxing + ? = profit?

I know the obvious answer is that PFL needs time to launch the super fights division that Francis Ngannou is signed to. It takes time to build up Pay-per-view when those aren’t a regular component of your business.

Whenever that Pay-per-view happens, it won’t be PFL’s first foray, as they ended their 2022 season on ESPN+ PPV, headlined by the upset loss of their homegrown Ronda Rousey, Kayla Harrison, to division rival Larissa Pacheco. Official word from the promotion was that they were happy with how well it performed, because of course it was, but online reaction beforehand wasn’t great (reviews afterward were more pleasant) and Ray Sefo even said, “You’ve got to start somewhere” so that makes it seem like, to put a positive spin on it, they have room to grow.

And now their plan is to throw money at whichever high profile free agents they can get their hands on and hope that alone will be enough to take their business to the next level? Are they using the Affliction playbook now?

Francis having a deal where he can box is absolutely great for him but, for the business, it’s mind-boggling they would allow him to arrange and manage his own boxing career independent of them. I would have thought they would at least have said that Francis can box but with PFL as a co-promoter. That’s all he wanted from the UFC. But PFL is going to allow him to pursue whatever boxing opportunities he can get and they’ll have zero involvement? They’re okay not getting a piece of that action?

Is PFL really hoping Francis can secure a high profile match-up and that, win or lose, it will boost his profile enough to benefit his MMA career? Because I don’t want to be the bad guy to say this, but it’s probably not going to happen.

Sure, the top boxers have no problem jawing with Francis on Twitter or even going face to face with him (so long as a camera is present) but do we don’t really think a fight with Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua is going to materialize, do we? Fury’s too busy jawing with other MMA fighters he’ll never actually get in the ring with.

Francis said the fight with Deontay Wilder was close but then fell apart so it’s now up in the air when, or if, he even does box. So if Deontay really isn’t into the idea of a part boxing, part MMA rivalry with Francis, then why was he yapping? Just to get headlines and attention placed on himself? Yeah, probably.

Does Francis want to box if it’s not against a top ranked opponent? All he’s been chasing so far are the best heavyweights in the world, men who would be taking a massive risk putting their reputations on the line to face a man with zero pro boxing experience.

Is it still worth it to Francis if he doesn’t get a big fight? If his only realistic options are lesser ranked or unranked opponents (and I’m sure he can find someone since he does have name value), then is there still a point in doing it?

If he just wants to box, he could have found someone already and gotten that promotional train rolling but instead, we’re just here waiting and wondering.

He could spend the rest of the year chasing this dream, getting nowhere, and then PFL is left with a bigger task because, not only do they have to find someone worth a damn for Francis to fight, they also have to put their PR machine into overdrive to remind people of who he is and why we should pay $50 (or more) to see him fight someone other than Jon Jones.

Sure, but is Francis Ngannou a draw?

It might be a tough sell either way because, for as much as people are talking about Francis Ngannou now, he was only a modest PPV draw at best. That means the opponent will definitely matter and, if the only available options are guys like Fabricio Werdum and Junior dos Santos, former champions who haven’t been relevant in years, it will be quite the challenge to keep this from turning into a disaster.

And don’t assume Jake Paul will be enough. His boxing fight with Anderson Silva proved that his name alone doesn’t guarantee a massive buyrate and, if the intent is for him to make an honest go at MMA, PFL is going to have to be very deliberate with who they match him up with.

Hey, maybe they can find a boxer desperate enough for a payday to face Jake in MMA. Wouldn’t that be ironic?

I hope PFL has modest expectations about this super fight division. They should know to be prepared in case it doesn’t take off immediately and time is needed to build up fan interest. One would think they’ll be spending a lot of time between now and next year planning a strategy for how to establish and grow that business model and keep the ship afloat in case things don’t take off right away.

Or maybe they’ll just spend the time asking Middle East investors and Alex Rodriguez for more money. I don’t know. I’m not a business insider. I just watch a lot of Shark Tank.

PFL offered Francis the world and more to secure his services so they’re going to expect a lot in return. Time will tell if they signed the newest MMA superstar or just an employee who occasionally fights.

Francis clearly got what he wanted. Let’s see if PFL got the same.

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Wait, did he say “BMF champion”?

Dana’s not talking about that fake UFC championship that Nate Diaz willed into existence by proclaiming himself the “baddest motherfucker” on the planet,” is he? The championship that would have likely stayed a fantastical construct had Dana not decided to use it as justification for booking Nate against Masvidal in the main event of UFC 244, in what was a brilliant way to capitalize on the newfound fame Jorge had gained after knocking out Ben Askren at UFC 239?

The championship that Masidval won, had wrapped around his waist by Dwayne “The Friggin’ Rock” Johnson, and then never made any attempt to defend even though he’s totally been open to the idea?

We’re talking about that “BMF Champion,” correct?

So, you want to be a BMF?

What is it with Dana thinking that all Payperview headliners need championships? He’s gone from creating new championships to creating interim championships to creating fake championships and for what?

Fake championships don’t make a promotion look stronger. All they do is muddy up fights that are compelling without any added stakes and make the promotion look like an embarrassment to insiders and a joke to outsiders.

Although, as I think about it, I can definitely see the appeal of introducing more titles and more title fights. Shiny things are fun. Plus, there are a lot of fighters who are deserving of being recognized who may never get the chance to win or compete for a UFC Championship.

The BMF is great and all but why stop there? Why stop at a single fake belt when UFC could unveil even more fake belts to prop up events? How else can they guarantee fans keep tuning in?

So, I’ve put it on myself to help Dana out. Below are some of the ideas that I, along with the BE staff, have come up with for brand new UFC championships, as well as which matchups could be made to crown the inaugural champions. We think it’s important to demonstrate how great and not completely moronic and shameful and pathetic it is to roll out title belts that barely function as actual belts, let alone anything that holds honor and prestige.

Please share your suggestions for additional titles in the comments below as we celebrate what it really means to be a BMF…

BMF “Baddest MF’er”* Championship

First Fight: Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje

*Note: Aside from an initial acknowledgement of what “BMF” stands for, I will refrain from using additional course language in the rest of this column. I wouldn’t want to upset any kids who may have clicked on this by accident while trying to find out when the next Power Slap Payperview is taking place. Yippee-kai yay, Mr. Falcon…

If UFC has to crown a new BMF, booking Poirier/Gaethje 2 is probably as good a fight as they could have chosen. Both men have brutalized the lightweight division, notching up multiple wins against top ranked fighters, with both capturing interim championships in the process. In fact, since Dustin defeated Justin by 4^th round TKO back in 2018, the only loses either man has on their records came against former champions Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira.

These two men have very impressive resumes, which is why it’s so baffling that they need to have the “BMF” title attached to this fight. This fight sells itself. It’s apparent to anyone who follows the sport that the winner of this fight could easily lay claim to being the Baddest MF’er on the planet. Giving them an official title to go along with the win is just tacky.

I mean, who’s even going to wrap the belt around the winner’s waist? Do you think Bad Bunny will be available?

BMF “From Across the Street” Championship

First Fight: Francis Ngannou vs. Brock Lesnar

It’s a complete coincidence that Dana just happened to make this big announcement on the same day that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou made a big announcement of his own, right? I’m sure it had to be.

I would welcome the chance for Francis to make one last appearance in the UFC just to prove the grass is so much greener on the side that Jon Jones isn’t standing on.

And for his opponent? How about someone else who has famously frustrated Jon (and others) by not being willing or available to fight? As the old saying goes, “Nothing is certain in this world except for death, taxes, and the MMA media losing their minds every time Brock Lesnar’s WWE contract is about to end.”

SMF “Saddest MF’er” Championship

First Fight: Wanderlei Silva vs. Greg Hardy

Creating new, fake championships is the perfect way to give back to those who have given so much to the sport only to find themselves falling on hard times. I don’t think Pride legend Wanderlei Silva will be able to use the belt to pay back his gambling debts, but soccer fans will surely know who the real winner is (hint: it’s not Wanderlei).

As for Greg Hardy, the controversial figure who has been drummed out of both the NFL and the UFC, we shouldn’t feel too bad that he’s a Spectrum greeter at a Wal-Mart in Texas. Those guys can make up to $62,000 a year. Pretty nice. I bet he’s even getting health insurance too.

NMF “Nicest MF’er” Championship

First Fight: Stephan Thompson vs. Kevin Holland

Yeah, I know these two have already fought but it’d be hard to deny the first title shot to the man who is notoriously known as being one of the nicest guys in the UFC and the guy who seems to thwart multiple robbers a day before he even gets to the gym. At least we can be reasonably sure whoever wins will be happy to get the damn thing.

OMF “Oldest MF’er” Championship

First fight: Matt Brown vs. Glover Teixeira

I tend to get sore after a long day of being a keyboard warrior who may or may not still live in my parent’s basement, but Matt Brown is out here knocking guys out. At 42! That’s crazy!

And Glover? Who doesn’t love the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion? He said he was retiring after losing the UFC 283 main event and the 43-year-old is still planning to fight again against Anthony Smith.

…what’s that? It’s only a grappling match? Well, that’s still very impressive. I’m getting Rheumatoid Arthritis just thinking about it.

BMF “Bloodiest MF’er” Championship

First Fight: Just pick two BKFC fighters

A different kind of BMF but it’s fine. They all look like Hamburger Helper in the end anyway. We can just go with these two.

Hey, I don’t discriminate by gender. Or blood type.

UMF “Unluckiest MF’er” Championship

First Fight: Ray Borg vs. Tony Ferguson

This is for all the fighters who have shaped the MMA landscape with their inability to make it to Fight Night. They’ll finally get their moment in the Octagon.

Oh wait. Looks like Ray missed weight and will no longer be competing. But the show must go on…

…or maybe not. Tony is out too. He was getting ready to make the walk and he tripped over Petr Yan. What an unfortunate and predictable turn of events for these snakebitten men.

“Baddest Mother” Championship

First Fight: Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena

Since I keep hearing so many people brag online about being the “baddest mother,” what say we actually find out who the baddest mother really is?

And by “baddest”, I mean the best, as in the best fighting mom, not the “baddest,” as in the worst. Man, this slang is getting hard to keep straight.

For this fight, let’s go with the original main event of UFC 289. Billing the bout as a mom fight sure makes more sense than any other reason UFC had to book it.

OLMF “Overlooked MF’er” Championship

First Fight: Beneil Dariush vs. Arnold Allen

Y’know what? I’m just gonna skip this one.

FMF “Fakest MF’er” Championship

First Fight: Clay Guida vs. Jorge Masvidal

Hey look. Clay Guida is getting another chance to have an Octagon interview. Hopefully he can earn it the right way and not just by taking his gloves off.

As for Masvidal, we all know his retirement after losing to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 is fake. Colby Covington said so and he’d never lie about anything, or at least he wouldn’t according to Chael Sonnen.

DWP “Dana White Privilege” Championship

First Fight: Colby Covington vs. Michael Chandler

And speaking of Colby, few lately have benefited from the kindness of Dana White more than the top welterweight contender, who only needed to show up as an alternate at UFC 286 to be guaranteed a fight with Leon Edwards whether Leon wants it or not.

Colby was accused of having “Dana White Privilege” but is that really a thing? Not according to Michael Chandler, who earned a title shot in his second fight with the company after beating someone outside the top 5, has consistently been given top competition regardless of his win-loss record, and is currently set to co-star on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter ahead of a red panty night vs. Conor McGregor sometime later this year.

He earned all of that entirely on his own, right? Of course he did…

KoC “King of Cringe” Championship

First Fight: Henry Cejudo vs. Belal Muhammad

What? You thought Cejudo would be crowned “King of Cringe” by default? That’s not how it works. Fake titles are earned, not given.

No, to prove the might of his Twitter prowess, he must also prove he can hang with the top dog at /rMMA. That’s far easier said than done. Have you seen some of Belal’s art? Dude has serious “Check out my AMA” energy.

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Face-Punching Series

First fight: Joe Rogan vs. Aljamain Sterling

That’s right. I’m not limiting this to just MMA championships. If UFC’s crossover appeal is as big as Power Slap’s social media numbers, then let’s bring in all the heavy hitters of the fake championship world.

Jon Anik thinks Rogan deserves an Emmy but is the commentator/podcaster willing to fight for it? It’ll be tough, as his opponent is UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling who, according to many, is the greatest actor in the history of acting.

I mean, faking a head injury (after getting blasted with an illegal knee) to become champion and then defending the title in two highly contested bouts against former champions plus a blowout win against another former champion? Those are Ed Asner numbers right there…

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

First Fight: Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles

Because whoever wins the main event of Night of Champions must feel more legitimate than Jamahal Hill.

UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship

Next Fight: Amanda Nunes vs. Nobody

Oh snap, things got real all of a sudden.

But it’s a valid point, right? Why is Amanda allowed to walk around with two belts when every other double champion was forced to give up one of their titles? Why is Amanda still considered champion of a division that doesn’t exist? Women’s featherweight ceased to matter the moment Nunes knocked out Cris Cyborg and no real attempts have been made to make it matter in any way since.

Amanda said recently that she intends to keep defending the belt. Against who? Another bantamweight who jumped up because she knows she won’t get a championship opportunity any other way? Norma Dumont? Just end the charade already.

The Real BMF Championship

First Fight: Nate Diaz vs. All The Haters

And Nate wins because he’s Nate Diaz. Maybe there’d be none of this fake championship nonsense if he was allowed to keep the title that he created and not have it turned into a lousy publicity stunt.

Thanks a lot, UFC. Glory be to the one true BMF.

Jump to

Not since the day when LeBron James said “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach” has an athlete’s free agency ended in such a dramatically satisfying way.

Okay, comparing Francis Ngannou’s PFL signing to that of “King James” is an obvious exaggeration. Maybe it’s a little closer to Aaron Rodgers emerging from a dark room to announce the New York Jets trade that everybody already knew was happening.

Still, one would have to be blind to not see what a victory this is for the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Francis Ngannou’s unprecedented contract

How great is this deal for Francis Ngannou? Let me count the ways…

He netted himself a 2-3 fight contract with no champions clause that will pay him in the upper 7 or close to 8 figures per fight. 

He signed to fight beginning in 2024, joining the PFL’s Super Fight Division, where fighters will get to compete on Payperview and earn half the profits.

He’ll get the chance to box while under contract, allowing him more opportunities to branch out and promote his brand.

He’s going to be involved with PFL as more than just a fighter, being named Chairman of PFL Africa and acting as brand ambassador moving forward in what has been dubbed by PFL as a “strategic partnership.”

Damn. That’s quite the investment PFL is making in Francis. He even managed to get them to agree to pay his opponents $2 million.

He said he wanted to help other fighters get paid and, while it doesn’t sound like he got everything he asked for, such as health insurance for all fighters, it’s admirable he’s at least making an attempt to even the playing field.

Everyone kept pushing a narrative that Ngannou made a mistake

It’s quite remarkable this all came together considering how dire the situation was made out to be not so long ago.

Dana White claimed UFC offered Francis Ngannou one of the most fighter friendly deals this side of a Fedor Emelianenko. Francis said “Nah, I ain’t going to be your new Randy” and walked away.

The decision has not been a popular one. Dana was critical of it (no surprise). Former potential rival Jon Jones has said it was a mistake, as did Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen.

The thought that this actually was a mistake reverberated with each promotion that removed themselves from the Francis Ngannou Sweepstakes.

BKFC claims to have passed on him, saying he was asking for “unrealistic money” (Francis says he never talked to them).

ONE claims to have passed on him, saying they couldn’t get “fully aligned on non-financial matters” (Francis says he took the meeting to be polite and told them he was signing with PFL).

Bellator…well…let’s not talk about Bellator.

Now the narrative shifts to asking if it’s PFL that made a mistake

Of course, there’s no question PFL is taking a huge risk in making this kind of investment on Francis Ngannou. The promotion has, to this point, failed to make much noise in the MMA landscape.

When the biggest (almost) success the promotion has had so far is Kayla Harrison — at least until she lost — it’s hard to understand how they’ll be able to pay fighters like Ngannou or Jake Paul. It’s hard to understand how they’ll be able to put together Pay-per-view cards lucrative enough to withstand giving half the profits to the fighters.

Will the deal ultimately be beneficial to PFL to have Francis on the roster while letting him compete independently as a boxer? We don’t even know yet if Francis will be able to get a high profile boxing fight.

Is Tyson Fury still available? Deontay Wilder? Anthony Joshua?

…Andy Ruiz? Tommy Fury? Zuckles? Anybody?

There are no doubt a lot of unknowns, but for now let’s focus on what’s known, which is that in this “ultimate” variation of chicken, Ngannou didn’t swerve.

There are many questions that need to be answered, but those are for another day. Right now, the only question that needs an answer is: “Is Francis about to get paid?”

The answer is yes. Yes he is.

From his bout with Ciryl Gane and his attempts to complete his UFC contract, to how he handled his free agency, Francis Ngannou kept betting on himself. He took the path that not many would dare take, and by all accounts, it seems to all have paid off really well.

Don’t let the announcement of fake title fights distract from the fact that, if it bleeds green, The Predator absolutely can and will kill it.

Jump to

Okay. So let’s talk about influencer boxing.

Yes, we know. You, Mr. Dedicated MMA Fan, are one of simple pleasures. You like your fries hot and crispy, you like your Spring evenings cool and mild, and you like your MMA sites to talk about MMA and MMA only.

We get it. Trust me, we do. This weekend has been quite the eventful one for it between Gegard Mousasi losing to Fabian Edwards at Bellator 296 on Friday and Jailton Almeida tapping out Jairzinho Rosenstruik at UFC on ABC 4 on Saturday. I’m sure you’re just jazzed to read about all that.

But most people aren’t logging on to read up on any of that. They want to know about KSI’s win at the latest Misfits boxing event.

Was MF & DAZN: X Series 007 a mess of an event? Yes. Is the whole trend of influencer boxing, of allowing personalities with strong online presences and little to no combat sports backgrounds or training enter a boxing ring and wail on each other for our amusement both problematic and potentially damaging to the reputation and integrity of combat sports now and in the future? Of course it is.

Is this mess also, in a bit of a dirty guilty pleasure sort of way, highly entertaining? Damn right it is. I’m not ashamed to admit that.

Plus, it’s kind of hard to throw stones considering some of the fights we’ve seen happen in mainstream MMA promotions. I mean, you can’t be too upset to see two 400 pound YouTubers lace up gloves when Pride did Zuluzinho vs. Butterbean (among so many others), Bellator did Kimbo vs. DaDa 5000, and even UFC brought in CM Punk.

Influencer boxing is a circus but it’s a hot ticket right now. This is thanks in large part to its ringmaster, Oladije Ojatunji, better known professionally as KSI.

KSI is the ringmaster of this entire movement

KSI has been the spark that lit the fire of this movement, first with Joe Weller (another YouTuber) and then, more famously, with a series of fights against Logan Paul.

Those events also unleashed upon us Logan’s younger brother Jake, the man who is mostly responsible for the intermingling between that world and the world of MMA, something that is surely regrettable to any of you who are still reading and haven’t already rushed to the comments to bash a combat sports site for covering a combat sport.

What’s interesting about these three men, aside from the obvious fact that they’re all brilliantly milking this for all it’s worth, is they all have approached boxing with different aims and goals.

Logan is the one who’s had no real intention of making a name or a living through boxing. He was just looking to cash in when the money got good enough, which it did with the KSI fights as well as his exhibition with Floyd Mayweather.

Jake is the one who has been trying to become renown as a boxer, never mind the fact that the best way he’s been able to accomplish that so far has been by facing MMA fighters and losing to a reality star with a famous last name.

KSI, though, is the one who comes across like he actually wants to make a sport out of influencer boxing. Well, either that or he’s just allowing DAZN to use his name value to accomplish the same thing.

Either way, by starting these Misfits series of events with DAZN, KSI has made a lot of opportunities for online entertainers of all sorts to try and cash in the way he has.

Misfits Boxing 007: KSI vs Fournier

It’s worth noting that I’m saying all this being fully aware I don’t have the faintest clue who any of these people are. I don’t use Twitch. I don’t use Twitter (feel free to follow me, though). I mainly use YouTube to stream albums from 20 years ago and I don’t use TikTok because I don’t need the Chinese government getting my personal information. They probably already have it anyway.

I don’t know what a “Tennessee Thresher” is. I don’t know how you’re supposed to pronounce “ViruZz.”

All I know is there was a fight between a guy named Zuckles and a guy named Halal Ham and it wasn’t the worst fight I’ve ever seen.

That’s one of the saving graces of these Misfits shows is that they do appear to be trying to keep things professional. They have real boxing referees and judges. They compete in a ring and with a TV presentation that looks as good as most boxing cards. And they’re actually trying to book fights that are fair and competitive.

There were some bad fights on the show, but there were also some good ones too, and I’m not bothered by the fact that most of the fighters are throwing straight punches and looping overhands with reckless abandon because they’ve only been training for a month.

Teddy Atlas’s head would probably explode if he was forced to watch any of this, but I barely understand MMA boxing, let alone actual boxing, so this is right up my alley.

Now, the show didn’t end on the greatest of notes, as KSI defeated noted…somebody…Joe Fournier by knockout with what he claimed was a right hook but was actually a right forearm. That isn’t a good look for KSI, and the result should be overturned, but I doubt it matters much as his win and faceoff with Tommy Fury is all anybody is going to be talking about.

Wait, Tommy Fury? Oooh, Jake is gonna be soooo jealous…

I know this influencer boxing trend isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (or PRIME). To many, it’s a waste of time. To some, it’s the dying gasps of a sport that’s long been in decline (nevermind there have been some legit major boxing events lately).

But to others, it’s a fun escape, a chance to see some of the stars they look up to throw down in a whole new arena. It’s proof that, sometimes, we take combat sports way too seriously.

Seriously guys, lighten up. This is Celebrity Boxing for the Gen Z era. Don’t you all remember the thrill of seeing Danny Bonnaduce and Barry Williams go at it 20 years after they both stopped being relevant?

Wait, did I just date myself? Forgive me, for I am just an unfrozen caveman MMA beat writer.

Jump to

At One Fight Night 10 on Friday night, Demetrious Johnson put an end to one of the biggest rivalries in ONE Championship’s history.

After swapping knee knockouts (and the ONE Flyweight Championship) in two previous outings with Adriano Moraes, Demetrious put a cherry on top of the sundae that has been his stint in the Singapore-based promotion by winning a unanimous decision to retain his title and remain one of the best lighter weight fighters in the world.

That is, of course, no surprise to any long-term fan of MMA, considering the historic run he had as the inaugural UFC Flyweight Champion. You don’t need to prove much of anything to anyone after defending a championship 11 consecutive times over a period of 6 years.

At this point, it seems like the only person Demetrious Johnson is still trying to prove anything to is himself.

And, at 36 years old, it’s more pertinent than ever to understand what, if anything, he feels he has left to prove as an MMA fighter. It’s a question he needs to find an answer to because, if he doesn’t, the MMA media will surely keep asking about it.

The question of retirement looms now more than ever for Demetrious. It’s something he is well aware of. He even suggested in the lead-up to the Moraes rubber-match that the fight could very well be his last.

And yet, after the fight was over and he was confronted with the comments he had made previously (told you the MMA media would be on it), he still seemed unsure of what he was going to do.

However, he did propose a plan for making the decision. He would discuss it with his wife, obviously, but after that, Demetrious said he plans to consult with former MMA greats to get their take on the issue, to understand why they retired. The greats mentioned include Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Urijah Faber.

It’s an interesting idea considering that, in MMA, it’s still a rare thing to see a fighter choose to retire (even if it’s been happening a lot lately). Usually the choice is made for them, either from being bested by better competition or being bested by the promotion itself.

Demetrious Johnson to consult with fellow legends

MMA as a sport is generally not kind to its elders. That’s why the idea of Demetrious wanting to talk to fighters who were given the luxury of making that choice to walk away seems so fascinating, as if they may have the hindsight to predict Demetrious’ future in a way he himself is currently unable to.

So is there anything that can be learned by applying the Delphi Method to MMA? Anything that can be gleaned from the used tea leaves of those who have already walked this path?

Or is Demetrious just stalling on a question that he already knows the answer to?

St-Pierre, the longest reigning UFC Welterweight Champion in history, had a bit of a complicated break from MMA, initially walking away from the UFC in December 2013, citing personal reasons as well as a lack of adequate drug testing as being the main drivers behind his decision.

He did leave the door open for a return, which he made in 2017, defeating Michael Bisping to become the UFC Middleweight Champion, a distinction that was short lived after GSP expressed little desire to compete at middleweight again due to the health problems he experienced in preparing for the fight.

After a couple of fight rumors fizzled and died (most compelling was a potential lightweight showdown with Khabib), St-Pierre officially retired in 2019. The main reason he gave for doing so was that he wanted to leave when he was still “at the top and in good health.”

Georges said it “takes a lot of discipline to retire on top,” which is why it’s so hard for so many fighters to walk away. It’s tough watching a fighter like Anderson Silva spend years losing after having been the best for so long, or seeing Chuck Liddell struggle to stay away.

I mean, nobody wants to see Mark Coleman vs. Tim Slyvia in a slap fight. It makes us all sad knowing we live in a world where that’s even a possibility.

Demetrious Johnson is, of course, years away from even considering slapping to put food on the table. He’s still a world champion. He’s still one of the pound for pound best at what he does. He still likely has years of competitiveness left in him.

He doesn’t need to walk away yet, but neither did GSP at the time he did. GSP chose to walk away while still in peak form. Demetrious could choose to do the same, or he could, like many greats before him, choose to continue to ride the bus until the wheels fall off. Because it will happen sooner or later.

Priorities change

Khabib, the former UFC Lightweight Champion, has retired twice, first as a fighter in 2020 and then as a coach three years later. His reasons for retiring were much more personal, as his fighting career ended following the death of his father, and Khabib promised his mother he wouldn’t continue without him. After that, the focus became more and more about his family to where MMA no longer factored into the equation.

Priorities for many fighters change as they grow older. Most start off young and hungry, seeking professional glory and everything that comes with it. Then, once they get everything, they realize it’s the little things that matter the most.

They start families. They start businesses. They see there’s so much more to life than the daily grind in the gym and, once that window to the world gets thrown open, it becomes impossible to close. You stop being the center of the universe and, when that happens, things change.

Things had certainly changed for Faber at the point he retired in 2016. After a successful career in the UFC following a pioneering run as WEC Featherweight Champion, he felt he was losing passion for competing as life was starting to take him in other directions.

Faber is a unique case in that, while Khabib has (so far) stayed retired and GSP never officially retired prior to making his return in 2017, Faber did retire before deciding to come back, which he did in 2019. He competed twice, winning one and losing the other. He hasn’t fought since but there was talk last year about one more fight so, whether it happens or it doesn’t, it shows how hard it is to contain a truly competitive spirit.

And that’s at the heart of the dilemma for Demetrious Johnson. He looked good in the Moraes fight and it’s clear he still enjoys fighting and wants to keep doing it but he’s beginning to acknowledge that he needs to be thinking about life outside the cage as much as he trains for life inside of it. He needs to know what his plan is for when he stops because, like it or not, he’s going to have to stop.

He has a good life outside the cage. He has a family. He has businesses. He has championships and records and all sorts of accolades that even a potential late career slump, if he were to have one, couldn’t shake.

The game changes when you get this late into it. That’s the reality Henry Cejudo, the one who unseated Demetrious Johnson in the UFC, is now facing after his failed bid to knock off Aljamain Sterling at last Saturday’s UFC 288. He hasn’t retired but it has been acknowledged as a possibility now that he’s no longer directly in line to become champion. He doesn’t have the same desire to grind like he used to because of everything he now has outside of fighting.

To Henry, fighting is no longer worth that kind of risk.

Is the same true for Demetrious Johnson?

Whether he already knows the answer and is just looking for validation; whether he truly is conflicted and needs to hear the right voices to point him in the right direction; whether he’s just trying to get the MMA media to lay off on the retirement question, only he knows what matters most in this stage of his career.

And, whatever decision he makes, he’ll be no less mighty for having made it.

…wait, what’s that? Cejudo wants to keep fighting?

Screw it, then. DJ, go make that money.

Jump to

It really is something to see a crowd of fans in Newark, New Jersey boo a Long Island native succeeding on the biggest stage in the MMA world, but that just seems to be a day in the life of UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling.

Not since the days of Benson Henderson’s string of controversial decision wins has a champion been this successful and received this little respect.

It truly is baffling to me. I like to joke that Sterling is the Rodney Dangerfield of the UFC in that no one gives him any respect but Rodney was at least joking most of the time.

Aljamain Sterling, a victim of circumstance

Aljamain Sterling had to deal with some form of controversy from the moment he became champion and he just can’t seem to shake any of it off:

Winning the championship from Petyr Yan after being hit by a blatantly illegal knee strike and being unable to continue fighting (as if any fighter wants to win a title by faking a concussion…).

Rematching Yan in a 5 round fight where he performed very well and either deservedly won the decision in a competitive fight or masterminded a robbery with the number of scorecards in Yan’s favor.

Dominating the former champion TJ Dillashaw in a fight where, not only did Dillashaw’s shoulder pop out of the socket, it was revealed that Dillashaw entered the fight with the injury knowing full well he was compromised before a single punch was thrown.

Now that I think about it, maybe the Rodney comparison isn’t the right one. Maybe Sterling is more like Curly Howard of The Three Stooges.

He’s just a victim of circumstance.

He’s just a victim of an unending series of circumstances.

If you came into Sterling’s UFC 288 main event against Olympic gold medalist and former two division UFC champion Henry Cejudo with a less than positive opinion of the champion, then I’d imagine the fight itself did little to change that.

Cejudo came into the fight ready to reclaim the championship he never lost. He wanted to prove that he hadn’t missed any steps in the three years he’s spent away from active competition and, to his credit, he absolutely did that. He said he was going to bring the fight to The Funkmaster at UFC 288, and he did.

You could even say Cejudo made Sterling “bend the knee” the way he stuffed some of the champion’s takedown attempts.

You could say that, but the challenger’s Olympic caliber wrestling did not carry the night because, when Sterling was able to use his grappling, he used it well, taking Cejudo down a few times and even getting to Cejudo’s back at the end of the first round.

Sterling also excelled on the feet, landing loads of calf kicks to Cejudo’s lead leg and making use of his reach advantage to land punches that Cejudo could do little to counter against.

Still, it was a close fight, with the second and third rounds being particularly close, resulting in a split decision falling on the side of the defending champion.

That seems appropriate since all Sterling has done in the last two years he has spent as champion is split opinions.

It matters little now, as Aljamain Sterling has the win, the championship (he’s one of the winningest champions in UFC Bantamweight history), and what will likely be another lucrative main event in front of him in the form of “Suga” Sean O’Malley.

You can love Sterling, you can hate him, or you can really hate him, but you know who doesn’t have an opinion one way or another? The record books, the ones that will now say that Sterling has defended his championship three consecutive times, a feat that, amazingly, no other former bantamweight champion has been able to accomplish.

That’s quite the feat to defeat a former two division champion and make history in the process. 

Of course, you can try to discredit the win by saying that Cejudo should have won. You can say that Henry was rusty (so was Jon Jones, right?) or that he didn’t take the fight seriously enough (or too seriously) or whatever other excuse you want to use to continue to justify an irrational hatred for one of the best spoken representatives the sport has had in recent years.

You can say whatever you want. It won’t change what Aljamain Sterling has done. It won’t have any impact on what he does next.

There’s no need to cringe but it might be time to start showing some respect.

Jump to:

Bad Bunny is good business

There’s no question about it. Bad Bunny is good business.

The rapper is the most successful musician in the world right now. His last two albums made it to the top of the Billboard 200 music chart, becoming the first Spanish language albums to ever achieve that feat. He is the highest selling artist of 2022 and has been the most streamed artist on Spotify for the last three years running. He is a multi-time Grammy award winner.

He has been in commercials for everything, from Corona to Cheetos. And if you can look credible standing next to both Snoop Dogg and Chester the Cheetah, that’s saying something.

The man is everywhere and doing everything, and that includes being a professional wrestler. Bad Bunny got to cash in on his lifelong love for WWE and sports entertainment in 2021 when he not only got to perform at the Royal Rumble but competed in a tag team match at Wrestlemania 37. He even fit in a reign with the much ridiculed 24/7 Championship in between.

He appeared at the following year’s Royal Rumble, eliminating two wrestlers (choke on THAT, Drew Carey) before appearing at this year’s Wrestlemania 39, touted by WWE itself as being the “MOST SUCCESSFUL WRESTLEMANIA OF ALL TIME.”

Bad Bunny did not wrestle that night but his actions during the event, as well as on the following episode of Monday Night Raw, led to the proud Puerto Rican now being part of a match this Saturday at Backlash, emanating from San Juan, against Damian Priest.

Everything has built up to what should be a pretty special moment. A bona fide global sensation set to shine in front of his fellow countrymen and demonstrate to the world how powerful sports entertainment can be; when it’s used to tell meaningful stories featuring characters the audience has a genuine interest in and connection with.

Oh and the UFC has an event on Saturday too. It’s headlined by a fight between a champion most of the MMA fanbase hates against a former champion who has spent the last 3 years using retirement as a failed negotiating ploy, co-headlined by whoever Conor McGregor’s next stepping stone is going to be on his way to a welterweight title shot.

UFC could never attract a Bad Bunny

UFC absolutely sucks when it comes to making stars and, while WWE isn’t a whole lot better, they do have an ace up their sleeve that the MMA world has yet to properly take advantage of: celebrities.

Sure, UFC has featured all sorts of musicians, actors, athletes, and former heads of state on their broadcasts but, aside from Jake Gyllenhaal’s “inspired” display during UFC 285, the most you ever see of these personalities is them hanging out in the crowd, watching the festivities while making sure the interns running their social media accounts let all of their followers know where they are and how much money they have riding on the action.

By comparison, not only has WWE featured its own fair share of TV game show sidekicks and 80s fast food memes in non-wrestling roles, there have been quite a few famous folks who have laced up their boots and entered the squared circle as well.

Wrestlemania 39 itself featured social influencer/celebrity boxer Logan Paul in a losing effort against Seth FREAKIN’ Rollins (with an assist by potential Jake Paul opponent KSI dressed up like a giant energy drink) and Snoop Dogg himself getting an impromptu win over The Miz after a returning Shane McMahon tore his quad in the middle of the ring, as is tradition.

Quite a few combat sports athletes, mainly boxers, have made appearances for WWE, including Muhammad Ali Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfied, Floyd Mayweather, and Tyson Fury.

There aren’t any stars lining up to appear inside the Octagon, and it’s easy to see why.

I mean, just ask James Toney. Or CM Punk.

Or…Jose Canseco? I’m grasping at straws here.

It takes a lot of work to succeed in either MMA or pro wrestling (or both) but, when it comes to taking advantage of a celebrity’s status, WWE is much better suited for it than UFC considering that:

A) Match outcomes are predetermined, so everything can be planned out to make the celebrity look good in the end. UFC can’t make the same guarantees because nobody can make promises that a fight will play out in a certain way. Just ask James Krause what might happen if they tried to…

B) While the action is physically demanding, all moves are performed in coordination with the wrestlers, so anyone can participate in a way that is relatively safe and predictable. Imagine if, instead of interacting with John Cena, Dr. Ken was locked in a cage with Justin Gaethje.

C) UFC, despite some of their more questionable booking decisions (at least time has worked some of them out), is still a very technical sport meant to be taken seriously by its athletes since not doing so could result in serious injury. WWE, despite its own failings, is a place where a star can have a lot of fun no matter whether they’re just coming in for a clothesline (like Travis Kelce) or a full match.

I mean, have you ever seen the Wrestlemania 38 match between Sami Zayn and Johnny Knoxville? It was shlock but it was fun. You’re never going to see Colby Covington willingly tap out to a giant mouse trap.

That’s the difference between a UFC event and a WWE one. If fans are tuning in to UFC 288, it’s to see if Gilbert Burns can use his grappling to outwork Belal Muhammad or to see if Aljamain Sterling can defend his UFC Bantamweight Championship for the third time (and what excuse fans will cling to if he does).

If fans are tuning into Backlash, it’s to see what the next development will be in the story between Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. the Bloodline. Or to find out how Cody Rhodes expects to be able to vanquish Brock Lesnar after The Beast viciously attacked The American Nightmare following the latter’s defeat at the hands of Roman Reigns a month ago.

Both companies have the same endgame (getting their consumers to keep consuming) but focus on different ways of getting there. One is focused on skill and competition. The other is focused on narrative and performance.

One can guarantee to make you look like a Superstar while the other can’t even guarantee you’ll get a chance to talk if you lose (not unless you pretend to retire).

So, if you enjoy live events, have a project to promote, and are looking to get involved beyond wrapping a fake belt around someone’s waist or delivering commentary while probably high (I’m aware of the redundancy in saying “Snoop Dogg” and “probably high”), you know who you should be telling your agent to call.

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No MMA fighter has transcended the sport the way The Notorious One has. Who else could go from showing up at UFC 285 with Donnie Darko to giving a pep talk to Ryan Garcia immediately after his loss to Gervonta Davis to getting in the ring and facing off with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 41 main event winner Mike Perry on Saturday night?

And you know what? It felt pretty good to see—natural even.

For as controversial as bare knuckle boxing has been (and still is), founder David Feldman has put in a lot of work to build up BKFC as more than just some flash-in-the-pan combat sports nonsense that could only appeal to violence fetishists and whatever the modern day equivalent of the “Just Bleed” guy is.

Think of it as the Power Slap of 5 years ago.

And though your mileage may vary regarding how successful Feldman has been in convincing the world that the sport is safe or that they employ high quality talent and not just UFC castoffs and OnlyFans models, it does seem like their shows are getting bigger and more impressive.

Saturday’s BKFC 41 may have been the promotion’s biggest show to date. The event featured former UFC mainstays Ben Rothwell and Chris Camozzi shining in highlight reel fashion (it’s crazy to think I’d be into a title fight between Rothwell and Alan Belcher in 2023 but here we are), a 5-round war between former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez and former top UFC featherweight contender Chad Mendes, and a bloody main event that saw Perry, AKA “The Boogerman,” literally punch former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold’s teeth in.

The live crowd in Denver was very much into the card from start to finish, none more so than McGregor. He spent the night right behind Feldman, grinning from ear to ear as the carnage unfolded in front of him. He was so into the action, he was even shouting instructions during some of the fights, most notably during the Alvarez/Mendes matchup.

After Perry’s win, the Irishman was allowed to enter the ring, where he gave words of encouragement to Perry and offered support to the promotion while having a BKFC championship belt slung over his shoulder. You can’t get a more ringing endorsement than that. It really makes me wonder why McGregor doesn’t just split on the UFC and join the world of bare knuckle boxing.

I know that McGregor is loyal to the UFC and to Dana White. The UFC is the promotion that built him up and allowed him the platform to become the megastar he is today. They’ve given him leeway to do things that they won’t allow other fighters to do because they know how important he is and how much business he brings.

But UFC has tried to exert its control over McGregor before and, depending on what plans the two sides have for how best to use him in the last two fights of his current contract and beyond, they’ll likely try to do it again. While McGregor says he has no intention of going and fighting anywhere else, he is also the kind of person to fake a retirement (or multiple retirements) to get what he wants.

We still aren’t even clear on what McGregor’s immediate future is going to be. He’s supposed to fight Michael Chandler later this year after their upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter airs but no date has been given or even hinted at as far as when that fight will happen.

It hasn’t been made clear how soon McGregor will be eligible to fight considering he’s supposed to be in USADA’s drug testing program for six months prior to fighting and, aside from joking about it online, there’s been no confirmation that he’s back in the program. The UFC has the ability to offer an exemption to the requirement in “exceptional circumstances” but giving one to McGregor will cause quite a headache for Dana considering how that went the last time.

Meanwhile, the bigger question to ask here isn’t even whether McGregor will fight Chandler but whether anyone actually cares to see McGregor fight Chandler? Sure, it has the potential to be an exciting, all action matchup but it will be a main event between two fighters who have lost three out of their last four fights and grasping at whatever relevancy they still have.

What are they fighting for? There is no rivalry there besides what they have manufactured for ESPN. Chandler isn’t getting a title shot with a win. McGregor isn’t getting a title shot with a win (not unless Dana decides to give him the welterweight title opportunity he’s been asking for and screw over the Belal Muhammed-Gilbert Burns UFC 288 co-main event winner). It feels like a waste of McGregor’s drawing power if he isn’t being booked in big matchups that serve some greater purpose. So what’s the purpose behind this?

That’s not to say a fight with Perry would be any bigger but it sure would feel like it. Perry’s career has been rejuvenated by BKFC. He went from floundering as a UFC welterweight to beating the likes of Rockhold, Michael “Venom” Page, and THE “Let me bang, bro” guy.

“Platinum” is officially a free agent after the Rockhold win but it does sound like he wants to stay in BKFC and it appears he’s definitely down for a fight with McGregor. It would make quite the statement to have Conor come in and be the one to take out the golden boy of bare knuckle boxing.

Besides, if the McGregor-Chandler fight doesn’t happen, it’s not like it’d be the first time McGregor has done a season of the show and didn’t fight the opposing coach at the end of it.

And, if you question the futility in McGregor fighting Chandler, you have to question the futility of McGregor even fighting in MMA again. The fight with Chandler would be his first since the brutal leg break he suffered in his third fight with Dustin Poirier back at UFC 264 in July 2021.

We don’t know what kind of performance to expect out of McGregor when he returns. While the injury may be healed up, it’s very likely he won’t be the same fighter that he was when he left. He’s even said as much. That means the hopes for a banger may be nothing but a dream. McGregor could very well be in for a rough night if Chandler decides to forgo a slugfest and use his wrestling.

You know where McGregor doesn’t have to worry about takedowns or leg kicks or other moves that could cause his injury to be exploited or aggravated? Boxing. And, with the ruleset of bare knuckle boxing allowing for grabbing and clinching, and with the fact that most of the top names in the sport are his own contemporaries, it seems like an excellent landing spot if McGregor wants to continue his career in an environment that’s more favorable to the way he likes to fight.

I doubt that bare knuckle will ever become big enough to challenge the position of the UFC in the combat sports pantheon, especially with WME’s backing, but the show on Saturday did have the feel and energy of Spike TV era UFC (or, at the very least, MVT2 era Bellator). It felt as if the sport could be on the cusp of blowing up. All it needs is a bonafide star to put it over the top.

McGregor could be that star. No question he’d become the cornerstone of Feldman’s would-be empire should he decide to buy in. McGregor would have all the freedom to say what he wants, do what he wants, and promote what he wants. And Feldman would have the attraction he needs to get eyeballs on the product and convince everyone why he’s the cool new kid in town.

McGregor already teased us with the BKFC title belt. Maybe it’s time he puts an end to the foreplay and gets ready to knuckle up.

Table of Contents

There are many lessons the world of martial arts can teach us. For example, it’s never a good idea to ask Ilia Topuria to punch you in the stomach as hard as possible. Or, try to avoid grappling with Demetrious Johnson. He did win a fight by suplexing a man into an armbar, after all.

That being said, there is one lesson I never realized would become so important or so prevalent: always stay hydrated.

Seriously, what is up with Nate Diaz and water bottles? He threw a water bottle at Conor McGregor at the UFC 202 press conference and he threw water bottles at Khamzat Chimaev (or who he thought was Khamzat) before the UFC 279 presser that got canceled.

And now, this past weekend, he got into it with Chase DeMoor, a cast member on Netflix’s Too Hot to Handle, throwing a water bottle at him during a confrontation at an influencer boxing event.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Bruce Lee, when he famously said to “Be water,” intended for it to be taken in such a literal way.

And that wasn’t the extent of Nate’s stay in New Orleans last Friday. He was there to attend MF & DAZN: X Series 006, an event that featured 3-time NFL Pro Bowler Le’veon Bell defeating a YouTuber, to support his teammate Chris Avila. After the event (and after the incident with DeMoor) video was captured of Nate getting into a scuffle with an influencer named Rodney Petersen.

Petersen shares a resemblance to Logan Paul, brother of Jake Paul, who Nate Diaz is scheduled to fight in a blockbuster boxing headliner on August 5. While we don’t know for certain that the resemblance is what caused the fight to start, we know that it ended when Nate wrapped up a standing guillotine and dropped Petersen’s unconscious body in a Bourbon Street gutter.

Nate Diaz did what in New Orleans?

The video makes for a pretty chaotic scene but Nate seems to have a way of creating chaos wherever he goes, doesn’t he? He was part of Strikeforce’s infamous Nashville Brawl back in 2010. He slapped Khabib Nurmagomedov at a World Series of Fighting show back in 2015 in a moment he later said he regretted. 

He made a future Power Slapper spill his beer at the Jake Paul/Tyron Woodley rematch. There’s no end to what the man is capable of.

And that’s exactly why he keeps doing it: because he can, because it’s what he’s known for.

It’s what both Nate Diaz and his brother Nick are known for. They live the life of the “fighter,” where they don’t compete in martial arts for glory and legacy and championships (unless that championship happens to be handed to you by Dwayne Johnson).

Their whole thing is that you don’t fight as a career. You fight to live. You fight for survival. You fight because it’s what you’ve been doing since you Stockton slapped your way out of your mother’s womb. And then probably slapped the doctor too because he was looking at your Mom like a bitch.

This is the Skrap Pack philosophy and it’s one that has served the brothers and the members of their camp very well. It’s worked because, as silly as it can seem to still act like it’s you against the world when you’ve made millions of dollars from fighting and every word that escapes your mouth and/or fingers becomes a headline and you can do things like start your own fight promotion whenever you want, he does it in a way that feels genuine.

We’ve had fighters who come across as overly righteous but act in a completely different manner when they aren’t on the clock. We’ve had fighters who fashion their careers off of pro wrestlers and look like they spend hours talking to themselves in front of the mirror before they place themselves in front of a microphone.

Nate Diaz isn’t like that. He says he’s about this life and we believe it because his actions prove that he isn’t lying.

This is who Nate Diaz is

Nate Diaz has always been well-liked by the UFC faithful, from his promotional introduction in 2007 by winning the 5th season of The Ultimate Fighter to his two main events against McGregor, both of which surpassed one million Payperview buys and are on the short list of the most profitable events in UFC history, to Nate’s last UFC fight at UFC 279.

That was an event that was initially set up to bury the Pride of the 209 but, after some last minute shuffling due to Chimaev coming in overweight, turned into a celebration of the younger Diaz, giving him a fun match-up against Tony Ferguson that allowed him to shine on his way out, even getting the chance to flex for the crowd in a moment reminiscent of the classic ending to his fight against Kurt Pellegrino from early in his UFC tenure. It was a perfect bookend to a tumultuous relationship that propelled Nate forward into the world of boxing and the big showdown with Paul.

This issue with the Logan lookalike does little to slow that momentum down. Even if the New Orleans Police Department issued a warrant for Nate Diaz’s arrest, he is handling it appropriately, voluntarily turning himself in and cooperating completely with police.

The big question in light of these developments is whether Nate Diaz could go to jail over this or if this could put the fight with Paul in jeopardy.

Anything is possible but the answer to both of those questions is most likely no.

Sorry KSI.

Nate Diaz is innocent?

Nate is claiming his actions were performed in self defense and, while the first video that came out didn’t provide much context for what led to Petersen being choked unconscious, additional video came out that showed the lead up to the confrontation, where it looked like the fighting may have started elsewhere and may have been instigated by someone other than Nate. These additional events provide support to Nate’s claims and could lead to the counts of second-degree battery, a charge that could result in an 8-year prison sentence, being dropped.

We know this is a possibility because it’s happened before. In February 2021, Spencer Jones, a wide receiver for Oklahoma University, was attacked and badly injured by two brothers widely noted as having MMA training, Walker and Braden Brown. Video evidence showed the brothers were defending themselves in a situation that was instigated by Jones and his crew. The Norman Police Department investigated, and The Cleveland County District Attorney ultimately chose to not press charges, declaring the incident a “mutual combat situation.”

A “mutual combat situation”? Sounds like the definition of a Diaz brother brawl, doesn’t it?

Of course, even if criminal charges don’t go forward, there’s always the possibility the victim files a personal injury lawsuit, like the guy who was knocked out by former Diaz training partner Joe Schilling, (notice that Schilling also claimed “self defense”).

Petersen might be the kind of guy to pursue legal action but he might not be. He’s vowed revenge but more in the sense of a threat of physical retaliation than trying to get his hands on any of Nate’s CBD money.

Doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I mean, Colby Convington pressed charges against Jorge Masvidal when the only significant strike Mas was able to land in their UFC 272 clash came three weeks later outside an upscale steakhouse in Miami Beach.

Still, if Petersen does sue, he’s not guaranteed to win. And if he does have a case, the case would likely get settled before ever going to trial.

For Nate, it’d just be the price of doing business. And right now, business is good.

There were a lot of statements that were made on Saturday night, between Gervonta Davis proclaiming himself the new “face of boxing” after knocking out Ryan Garcia and Patchy Mix winning both a Bellator Grand Prix and an interim championship at the same time.

But when it comes to the Octagon, Pavlovich showed us that maybe there’s more to the UFC heavyweight division than just Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Sergei Pavlovich has been on a tear

Sergei Pavlovich (18-1, 6-1 UFC), since suffering his lone defeat against Alistair Overeem in his promotional debut, has gone on a tear of 6 straight knockout victories, setting a new record for consecutive first round knockouts, and placing him second in overall knockouts behind Chuck Liddell’s iconic run to and through the light heavyweight division.

That’s quite impressive, especially considering that Blaydes (17-4 (1), 12-4 (1) UFC) not only has a win over Overeem from the same year as Pavlovich’s loss, he has put away every other top contender he has faced except for Ngannou and Derrick Lewis.

As good a grappler as Blaydes is, he has a weakness for strong punchers, and, unfortunately for him, Pavlovich punches quite hard. The win has allowed Pavlovich to rise above the muck that is the middle of the heavyweight rank and file and make a clear assertion that he’s ready for a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

And, with how well he’s performed, it’s hard to deny that Pavlovich doesn’t deserve that opportunity. And I think he will get it.

I just hope he’s okay with an interim championship.

Sergei Pavlovich might have an asterisk in his future

We all know the fight being worked on for Jon Jones’ first title defense is against former champion Stipe Miocic. The two had been circling each other for years prior to Jones finally making his heavyweight debut at UFC 285 and capturing the vacant championship with a quick submission of former interim champ Cyril Gane. And, with Ngannou out of the picture (seriously, praying for that Deontay Wilder clash to happen), there’s no reason to believe that won’t be the fight that gets booked.

Well, unless issues around pay start popping up. We all know how much fun those can be.

If the fight does indeed happen at some point this year, either at Madison Square Garden or somewhere else, there will be a big question that will need to be answered afterward, namely “Now what?”

I ask that in the sense of, regardless of who wins, what are the odds that either Jones or Miocic will have any interest in sticking around to defend the championship after that fight?

For Jones, he’s only ever talked about facing three fighters at heavyweight: Miocic, Ngannou, and Brock Lesnar. With Ngannou not an option at the moment and with Brock out of reach (unless Jones wants to test out the new relationship between UFC and WWE), there’s not going to be anyone for him that’s worth defending his lofty status against if he beats Miocic.

Jones already teased the showdown as being his retirement fight. Unless it’s some negotiating tactic, there’s little reason to not believe he’s being serious.

And for Stipe? He hasn’t fought since he lost the title to Ngannou over two years ago. He seems very content living his life outside the UFC grind, only really showing interest in coming back to face either Ngannou or Jones. If he can get one but not the other, he may well choose to head back home and spend his days doing what he really loves: fighting fires and prank calling his wife.

That means we could very well find ourselves in a situation where we have a contender deserving of a title shot (Sergei Pavlovich) but no champion interested in defending against him.

You know what that means, right?

INTERIM CHAMPIONSHIP, BABY!!!!!!

Did you know that, while the UFC heavyweight division has a lush history of vacated championships, there have also been quite a few interim champions as well? The last time one was crowned was in 2021, when Gane defeated Lewis even though UFC could have booked Gane against Ngannou if they had just waited another month.

I do think it’s possible UFC can get the Jones/Miocic winner to face Pavlovich. However, I think we’re more likely headed towards a scenario where the Jones/Miocic winner announces their retirement, leading to Dana setting up an interim championship fight in the vain hope of getting the champion to come back and defend the title against the winner of that fight.

If that happens, Pavlovich will obviously be in that interim title fight. He’d likely face Gane, who will be in need of a big win to revitalize his career after getting embarrassed by Jones in March. It’s a fight that would feel as big as the men competing in it and, personally, I think Pavlovich wins that fight.

That’s right, I’m calling it now: Pavlovich will become the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion before either getting the chance to face the undisputed champion or being promoted to full champion after the undisputed champion leaves to face Bob Sapp and Rampage Jackson in a Hell in a Cell match or whatever other nonsense will manifest itself within the next year.

And boxing thinks MMA fans always get the fights we want…

No matter what happens in the next few months, it’s clear that Sergei Pavlovich is ready to step up and be the future of the heavyweight division. Hopefully he doesn’t have to wait too long for the future to get here.

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Dana White must have his tap shoes on because there has been a whole bunch of fight shuffling going on lately.

One day after it was announced that the main event for UFC’s August 29th Fight Night event between lightweights Arman Tsarukyan and Renato Moicano was being scrapped due to injury, it was announced that an even bigger lightweight fight was being pulled from the following weekend’s UFC 288, where Charles Oliveira was to clash with Beneil Dariush to determine who would likely be UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev’s next challenger.

The good news out of all that? While the UFC “solved” the August 29th show by plucking the co-main event of this weekend’s Pavlovich vs. Blaydes card and making it the new headliner (it’s okay, everyone is too hyped for Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia to notice), their fix for UFC 288 is a match made in heaven.

Or made on Twitter. Seems like there’s a lot going on there these days.

Burns demanded Dana White give him a title shot

Gilbert Burns, fresh off a decisive win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287 earlier this month, made it known he wanted a shot at the welterweight title. He’s well aware that Leon Edwards’ next defense of the UFC Welterweight Championship is going to come against Colby Covington. Masvidal’s loss and subsequent retirement all but guaranteed that.

At the 287 post fight press conference, Gilbert, being as smart and reasonable as he appears to be when he’s not making greasing allegations, didn’t lobby to simply wait in line. Instead, he asked to be the backup for the Edwards-Covington fight, noting that if he didn’t get a future title shot he’d be asking for his walking papers. Dana White was onboard with the request.

That all seemed well and good until the Oliveira-Dariush fight fell out and Gilbert decided to go online to push for that co-main event slot—even going so far as to call out Dustin Poirier, who has never fought at welterweight before.

Luckily for “Durinho,” he didn’t have to look that far afield. Instead he found his huckleberry in Belal Muhammad.

That’s right, after the #4 ranked welterweight (one rank ahead of Gilbert) had his own piece to say about Colby skipping to the front of the line, and after calling out anyone and everyone to get a fight that would secure his spot, he finally got the opportunity he was looking for.

Someone finally remembered the name.

Now, not only do Mohammad and Burns have the chance to clash on a major stage and prove once and for all who the better fighter is, they get to do it with zero guarantee that the winner will be rewarded with anything, much less a chance at UFC gold.

Will Burns/Muhammad save UFC 288?

First off, is adding Muhammad vs. Burns to next month’s PPV really “saving” that event? It seems pretty unlikely. 

It’s an event headlined by Aljamain Sterling defending the UFC Bantamweight Championship against Henry Cejudo. It’s a very controversial booking between two fighters who have stirred up a whole lot of controversy over the last few years. While a strong card would certainly bolster the buyrate, the main event is a polarizing fight that fans either want to see or couldn’t care less about. It’s doubtful the addition of a potential title eliminator is going to change anyone’s mind about whether or not they should order the whole card.

Second, how good do we expect the fight to be? UFC 288 is on May 6, which means Gilbert will be cutting weight twice in less than a month. While Belal hasn’t fought since October and has been itching to compete again, Ramadan literally just ended a couple days ago. That means he’s going to get back into camp to fight in two weeks after fasting for the last month?

And these guys agreed to go 5 rounds?

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In elite MMA, there’s a status that exists between the champion and the top challengers. It’s not quite a “gatekeeper” but more an “elite gatekeeper” in that they can beat everyone in the division except the champion.

Unfortunately for Max Holloway, that’s the position he holds in the UFC’s featherweight division. And a win over Arnold Allen at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Allen on Saturday night has done nothing to change that.

It’s not the worst position to be in per se. Holloway (24-7, 20-7 UFC), much like middleweight “elite gatekeeper” Robert Whittaker, is a former champion who represented the division well before running into a stronger, better equipped fighter.

Max Holloway’s path to the title is complicated

After losing to current champ Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway was granted an immediate rematch that he lost in a controversial split decision. He was then able to defend his position as top contender against Calvin Kattar and current interim UFC featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez to earn a third fight against Volkanovski, a rare opportunity after losing the first two.

The result of the third fight was the same as the first two but Holloway’s performance put his elite status into question, appearing slow and hesitant in a way he hadn’t looked since losing an Interim UFC lightweight championship fight back in 2019.

A main event against surging contender Allen (19-2, 10-1 UFC), who entered Saturday undefeated in his UFC career, would be one that, under normal circumstances, could have determined whether Holloway is ready for a title shot. It certainly could have meant as much if his British opponent had pulled off the upset.

Instead, for Holloway, the fight was to decide his place manning the gate to the throne, and, to his credit, he defended that position well. Expressing frustration beforehand in preparing for a fighter who has only competed 10 times in 8 years, Holloway used his range and quick combinations to chip away at Arnold over five rounds to win an impressive unanimous decision.

But, as important as the win may have been to Holloway keeping his place in the rankings, it did nothing to change his fate. It did nothing to move him closer to the championship.

The win will not get Holloway a fourth fight with Volkanovski, or at least not one for the featherweight belt.

Max Holloway has faith in a fourth fight with Volkanovski

Before Saturday’s main event in Kansas City went down, Max Holloway laughed at the notion he couldn’t get another crack at ‘The Great’ citing inspiration from Israel Adesanya’s knockout of Alex Pereira at UFC 287 as reason enough to be hopeful that he could find a way to “settle the score” and turn a miserable 0-3 slump into a slightly less miserable 1-3.

That 1 really makes all the difference for these guys, doesn’t it?

Adesanya got what he wanted but it was due to the unique nature of his rivalry with Pereira, one that spanned multiple sports, in addition to the fact that he was just coming off losing the title.

Holloway already got his immediate rematch. Then he was able to earn another crack. At this point, it would take a seismic shift within the division for ‘Blessed’ to get another shot.

Getting the fourth fight with Volk would be more surprising than Blink-182 playing Coachella.

Max Holloway never to be champ again? Say it ain’t so!

I’m not saying Max Holloway can’t get back to the featherweight title but it’s not likely to happen unless Volkanovski moves up in weight. Luckily, that very scenario may be what’s next after a unification match with Rodriguez happens at UFC 290.

If Volkanovski wins, he’ll be in a position where he can choose to continue his reign as featherweight champion, or he can go up to lightweight and challenge UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in a rematch of the UFC 284 clash that Volkanovski feels he won. Considering how adamant he was that the rematch was going to happen, it seems the latter option will ultimately be the more appealing one.

That would open the door for Holloway to vie for and reclaim the crown at featherweight. He’d be holding it knowing he wasn’t able to beat the previous champion but, hey, that didn’t stop Daniel Cormier from having a Hall of Fame career.

If Holloway’s goal in continuing to take fights against top contenders is to get back to the belt, then he may yet be able to do it. With a career as accomplished as his, and with his own lingering questions about giving 155 another try (Max, what’s your record against Dustin Poirier again?), there’s little reason to keep pushing as hard as he is if he doesn’t genuinely believe he can make the impossible possible.

It can be baffling to understand such a mentality but it’s also admirable. Holloway’s determination in the face of such odds shows what it means to truly be an elite fighter, ensuring that the gate to the title stays closed for everyone except himself.

And one day soon, all the small things he does to stay ahead of the pack may finally be enough to get him back to the rock show once again.

The now 2-time UFC middleweight champion said at the post fight press conference that the rivalry is “settled” but it doesn’t really feel like it is, does it?

The win was thrilling and surely a weight off the back of the man who has spent so many years establishing himself as the standard at 185, but what was one of the first things he did after scoring the KO?

He taunted his fallen foe, which itself isn’t too unusual (Tito Ortiz made doing so one of his signature moves), but then he went and taunted his foe’s son.

As Israel Adesanya explained, he intentionally spotted Pereira’s 12-year-old son in the crowd and flopped to the canvas in a move reminiscent of when the boy did the same following Izzy’s knockout loss to Pereira in kickboxing in 2017.

Adesanya was so worked up over being taunted by a KINDERGARTENER that he made the effort to return the favor years later.

Sure, you can argue he was letting go of pent-up emotion that he had been carrying all this time, and he did appear respectful after the fight, embracing Alex Pereira and even suggesting that they hangout in Brazil together.

But it does seem a bit odd to see him go from sharing uplifting messages inside the cage to joking about fighting the child of the man he just beat. These don’t seem like the actions of someone who is truly past the rivalry, does it?

Maybe Chael Sonnen was right and we’re seeing the official start of the Adesanya heel turn. Adesanya’s post fight actions were absolutely heelish, especially the way he said the rivalry is over when he’s still down 3-1 overall and the score in the UFC is tied 1-1.

Is that what a “settled” rivalry is supposed to look like?

That’s not how you end a proper pro wrestling storyline. To do it right, we need to see Pereira’s comeback. We need to see consequences come from Adesanya’s actions.

We need to see the heel get his comeuppance.

We need to see Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira 3 (or 5, if you prefer).

Israel Adesanya, for his part (and still playing the part of the heel), used the post-fight press conference to not just try and move on from Alex Pereira but to try and set up his next challenger at middleweight.

Sure, he didn’t say Dricus du Plessis by name but he did say he would “drag [unnamed fighter who is probably du Plessis’s] carcass across South Africa” for suggesting he’s a more authentic African than Izzy or former champions Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou.

The efforts by du Plessis to set himself up as the next contender are commendable but, with only a single Top-10 win to his name, it’s hard to make a strong argument for him as the next in line beyond the fact that Adesanya has beaten everyone ranked higher than him.

And yeah, Alex had the same strength of schedule before he got the shot at UFC 281 but don’t forget that, in addition to his past with the champion, he was also a two-division champion in one of the top kickboxing organizations in the world. That counts for something, right?

No offense, Extreme Fighting Championship. Hey, how’s Ruan Potts doing? Always wondered what happened to that guy…

If Adesanya is looking for a new challenge at middleweight, then du Plessis would fit the bill. He can take the fight and we can hope that he is genuinely motivated by it and doesn’t just phone it in like he did against Jared Cannonier.

However, if he’s not over Pereira like he claims he is, it seems the easy choice would be to take the bigger fight and face “Poatan” one more time to put it all to bed.

If UFC is giving us an Amanda Nunes-Julianna Pena trilogy bout that no one asked for, it would be crazy they wouldn’t at least try to make Adesanya-Pereira 3 happen.

Alex Pereira to light heavyweight? Doesn’t matter.

Of course, Alex Pereira’s time as a middleweight could be over, as he has since officially announced a move to light heavyweight. Pereira is big for 185 and would surely like to be done with large weight cuts. Plus, with his head coach Glover Teixeira no longer competing in the UFC, and with a light heavyweight division that could politely be described as “a mess,” Pereira’s path to a second championship is almost as clear as his path to the first one was.

But that doesn’t mean the rivalry is over.

Adesanya can stick around at 185 for now, but how much longer does he want to be there swatting at flies while avoiding bigger opportunities? Maybe he can make some money building up a “Battle for Africa” with du Plessis but, if he wins that fight, then what? He’s beaten everyone in the Top 5. He’s beaten almost half of the current Top 15. If he beats du Plessis, who after that is considered deserving of facing a fighter the caliber of Adesanya?

Outside of waiting to see if Jan Blachowicz is actually serious about trying to make the drop down, there isn’t anyone. There’s no challenges left at 185 for Izzy. He truly is “The Last Stylebender” of the middleweight division.

That means a move up to light heavyweight is not just likely, it’s inevitable. And, if Adesanya makes the move in the next year or two, what better way to start his path towards two-divisional glory than to see his old foe inside the cage one more time?

Or maybe it happens further down the line. What if Pereira becomes UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and Adesanya marches up the rankings to get a title shot in a role reversal of what Pereira did?

There would be so many questions that need answering: Who’s the better light heavyweight? Who’s the better fighter overall? What will be the defining moment of this rivalry?

What side will Pikachu take?

In a story that has transcended combat sports like no other, with the power to truly bring people together, it’d be a shame to see it end now.

Because it’s not just about Israel Adesanya’s story or Alex Pereira’s story.

It’s about their story, and it’s far from over.

Nobody ever said what’s supposed to happen after that. Maybe it should go “Fool me three times, shame on the peroneal nerve.”

But Israel Adesanya (24-2, 13-2 UFC) is no fool, and the fourth time proved to be the charm after he vanquished his boogeyman at UFC 287 on Saturday night, knocking out Alex Pereira (7-2, 4-1 UFC) and reclaiming the UFC middleweight championship.

It was definitely an eventful night. We saw the derailment of another Dana White hype train when Raul Rosas, Jr. dropped a unanimous decision to Christian Rodriguez. We saw Kevin Holland try to start a fight outside the cage before finishing one inside it against Santiago Ponzinibbio. And we saw Jorge Masvidal “unquestionably” ending his night and career after getting out-grappled and out-struck by Gilbert Burns.

All a prelude to one of the most unique rivalries in MMA, one that began years ago in an entirely different sport.

Adesanya, the Nigerian born New Zealander, fought 80 times in kickboxing over seven years, leaving that sport with a 75-5 record before moving to MMA full time. From there, he scored twelve straight wins as a middleweight, including winning and defending the UFC middleweight championship five times.

The high level kickboxer found a home for his style in the UFC. ‘The Last Stylebender’ was on track to having a run as legendary as Anderson Silva.

At least that was until an old foe came to town.

Pereira’s kickboxing resume isn’t as long as Adesanya’s but it ended on a much higher note, as the Brazilian captured both the Glory Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Championships before cashing in his chips in LFA and then the UFC.

In the course of both men’s kickboxing careers, they faced each other twice. The first fight in 2016 was a close three round fight that Izzy arguably should have won by decision but ‘Poatan’ was the one who had his hand raised.

Eleven months later, their paths crossed again. Adesanya tried to make sure to not leave it in the judge’s hands a second time, putting enough heat on the future Glory double champ to initiate a standing eight count in the second round before Pereira flattened him with a left hook in the third to end the fight.

In the UFC, Adesanya found the success that eluded him in kickboxing but his past found a way to catch up to him. At UFC 281, Pereira, who was on his way to losing a five round decision, caught the champion against the cage late and landed enough strikes to earn the stoppage and the championship.

The one accomplishment Adesanya had that was his own and Pereira managed to take that away from him.

At UFC 287, Izzy vowed to not make the same mistake again (again) and, for his legacy’s sake, he didn’t.

He had his 8 Mile moment. He had one shot and he captured it.

After a tense first round defined by leg and body kicks, the action opened up in Round 2. The damage from the kicks appeared to be paying dividends for Pereira late in the round, as a right blast to the calf led to a barrage of knees and punches with Adesanya trapped up against the cage.

But this time, Adesanya didn’t buckle. He blocked the strikes before countering with a right hook that stunned the champ. Then a second overhand put him on the canvas. The punches after were unnecessary because Pereira was out cold and Adesanya was the one finally getting his hand raised.

After all the time Adesanya spent getting to this moment, through all the ups and downs and after being taunted with, of all things, a Pikachu jacket, he finally accomplished what he, time and again, hadn’t been able to.

The story began with Adesanya standing tall and that is exactly how it ended, with a middleweight champion who is rejuvenated and appreciative of what it takes to be best in his class.

He may be “The Last Stylebender” but that doesn’t mean this is the last of his time on top. Not by a long shot.

You can’t fool someone four times. It just doesn’t happen.

Table of Contents

In between UFC 287 this past weekend and Wrestlemania 39 the weekend prior, there was one story that shook the combat sports world more than any other.

I’m talking, of course, about Mike Perry picking his nose and then wiping his finger on Luke Rockhold during the faceoff for their upcoming clash at BKFC 41.

I can’t even tell you how disgusting and out of line that was. I mean, Chael Sonnen was standing right there, which means his mom might have been watching. So classless. And Rockhold was wearing such a nice jacket too. If you haven’t seen the video to view it in all its splendor, imagine what it might look like if a snow leopard choked to death on a Persian rug.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the only thing going on, as it was also announced that Endeavor, parent company of the UFC, made a blockbuster deal to acquire a controlling stake in World Wrestling Entertainment, the biggest professional wrestling company in the world.

And, not only is Endeavor purchasing WWE, they plan to merge the company with the UFC into a single publicly traded company that, out of the gate, would be the largest provider of live sports entertainment in the world. The value of the company will be over $21 billion.

That is insane. Must be why so many UFC fighters are looking at this news and are already taking a victory lap.

While the reactions from fans have ranged from “I’m not shelling out $80 for a WWE Payperview” to “This will probably kill boxing and/or all life as we know it” (and, of course, the memes), the reaction from UFC fighters has been mostly positive.

Maybe a little too positive, if you ask me.

Of the more notable reactions on Twitter were Conor McGregor threatening to break the jaw of Paul Heyman, Bo Nickal wanting to fight the entire roster, and Belal Muhammad wishing for a Money in the Bank briefcase, as it may very well be a more successful path to a championship than hoping Dana will “Remember the Name.”

UFC-WWE crossover?

One of the first questions asked about the deal, after obvious ones like “What?” and “Really?” and “For HOW much?”, was “Will crossovers happen?” and, while that question will linger in the air for quite a while, at least one of the parties involved is open to it.

Nick Khan, current CEO and soon to be President of WWE, has welcomed the possibility of UFC fighters appearing on his programming in the future.

Notice, though, how most of the reactions are one way. All of the UFC fighters want into the WWE but there’s been little to no public chatter coming the other way. There’s a good chance it’s due to the overall secretive nature of pro wrestling’s biggest promotion, where the company and its workers are very careful about what they share publicly.

It’s also likely because most wrestlers are smart enough to know they’d stand no chance in a real cage match and aren’t going to be in a rush to call out anyone who talks as if they aren’t in on the joke.

And yet, all of these MMA fighters think they can just waltz into a WWE ring and own it like they do the Octagon.

Well, let me be the one to tell those fighters, in the immortal words of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson:

“Know your role, and SHUT YOUR MOUTH!”

I mean, please. If you don’t mind.

A lot of MMA fighters have thought about what’s next after their fighting days are done. Many of them have considered professional wrestling as an option.

Georges St-Pierre would “love” to work with WWE. Jon Jones said his transition to WWE is “inevitable.” Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to “[S]mash John Cena’s face.”

I, for one, hope Khabib doesn’t do that. I need Peacemaker Season 2.

So many fighters talk about pro wrestling like it’s something they can easily do just because they know how to fight for real, that it would be like a vacation where you speak some scripted lines, perform some choreographed moves, and get paid a lot because you’re on TV every week.

The reality of it is nowhere near that simple. Yeah, there’s weekly TV but the WWE circus is a traveling one, with a travel schedule that has been described by multiple wrestlers as “grueling.” Imagine trying to train and stay in peak condition when you have to be on the road 4-5 days a week year in and year out.

Most wrestlers manage it but are constantly banged up because of it. For being a “fake” sport, WWE Superstars deal with injuries all the time and perform knowing that one wrong move could end someone’s night or even their career.

We’ve seen torn muscles. We’ve seen broken limbs. We’ve seen snapped necks. Hard to call it a walk in the park when a simple jump could result in tearing a quad muscle.

If you want to know how “easy” it is to train for pro wrestling, talk to fighters like Tyron Woodley or Daniel Cormier. They’ll tell you it’s anything but.

You’re not the next Brock Lesnar

So many fighters talk about wrestling like it’d be a breeze. Maybe they think they’ll have a run like Ronda Rousey, who used her reputation to get a championship run where the only moves she had to use were a judo throw, some (faked) mounted punches, and an armbar (making sure not to lock in it, lest she get buried for injuring a co-worker because of the instincts she spent years developing as a judoka).

Or look at the best example of a crossover star in North American wrestling, Brock Lesnar. He ran through everyone in WWE, became a champion in the UFC, then went back to WWE and started running through everyone all over again. He got to end The Undertaker’s undefeated Wrestlemania streak!

The man literally has a t-shirt that says “ARRIVE. SUPPLEX. LEAVE” on it. That seems to be how many UFC fighters expect their WWE runs to go.

But most fighters aren’t Brock Lesnar or Ronda Rousey. Those two are generational talents who had the right combination of looks, natural charisma, and successful fighting credentials to go to WWE and succeed at the highest level.

You think just anybody can walk into Vince’s office, say “Nice mustache,” and get a rocket straight to the top of the bill?

No, it doesn’t work that way.

If you think the politics are bad in the UFC, they are so much worse in the WWE…

To read the rest of this editorial about UFC stars’ chances of making it in the WWE, head on over to Substack. Substack is the home of Bloody Elbow’s premium content. If you want to support the new Bloody Elbow, the best way to do it is by picking up a paid subscription. For just $50 a year you get all our premium articles sent directly to your email inbox. Paid subscribers also have access to the full archive of our Substack releases, including exclusive pieces by Karim Zidan, Jonathan Snowden and John S. Nash.

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