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Pereira considering training with Adesanya if octagon bout no longer possible

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If he cannot get another fight against Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira is open to the possibility of welcoming the rival as a training partner in the octagon.

Pereira has always been vocal about wanting another match against Adesanya in the future. After winning the light heavyweight belt at UFC 295, the fighter reiterated his callout to Adesanya, who was still on his layoff at that time. Pereira tried to lure the fighter out of his break, but the callouts received no positive response from “The Last Style Bender.”

Finally, after a series of repeated calls for a challenge, “Poatan” gave up his pursuit of a trilogy against the New Zealander. Of course, he is not entirely saying “no” to the possibility of meeting Adesanya again inside the cage. Yet, according to Pereira, in case that fight is really not happening, he would like to change their relationship to fellow trainers. 

In his recent interview on The MMA Hour, the light heavyweight champ explained that both of their experiences could help each other in their respective MMA paths.

“(I) feel that it’s over, but anything can happen. If he (Adesanya) shows interest and the organization shows interest, (I) will do that fight. But at this point… (I) think it’s over,” Pereira said via a translator. “Even to a point (I) think (we) could both train together, if it comes down to that. (I) feel that if that ever happened, Israel is a very experienced guy, (I’m) a very experienced guy… similar styles of high-level striking, different aspects of the game that one could add to the other.”

Pereira is currently booked to defend his belt against its previous owner, Jamahal Hill, in the main event of UFC 300 on April 13. Meanwhile, Adesanya, who is now back in training, remains free but is in a mutual agreement with middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis for a future fight. With their path now completely separated, Pereira said that he is entirely certain of the suggestion to train with Adesanya.

“If it comes down to a fight, that would be good, but it’s not something (I’m) holding on to anymore,” Pereira added. “100 percent (I would train with him). Just because (I) don’t feel (we’ll) fight no more… If (I) can be absolutely sure that (we) will never face each other in the Octagon again, why not?”

Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury boxing rematch, MMA fight reportedly in talks

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A rematch between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury could happen soon. Even more, if Paul wins, the two could reportedly face each other for the third time to compete in an MMA match.

Paul is now preparing to face his next boxing match on March 2 in Puerto Rico, where he will meet Ryan Bourland. The bout was finalized after the YouTuber-turned-boxer defeated Andre August through a first-round knockout last December. And while he still has to win the upcoming fight, Paul is already being offered a new deal.

According to Nakisa Bidaria (via ESPN), Paul’s business partner, a deal was presented to Paul to box with Fury again. This is a huge opportunity for Paul since Fury is the lone boxer who left a loss mark on his record. The two first fought in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, in February last year, with Fury winning via a split decision despite being knocked down in the final round. This snapped Paul’s six-fight winning streak, albeit he made a remarkable bounce back after defeating Nate Diaz and August afterward.

The offer for the rematch is still pending, but the report claims it is complemented by an assurance of another fight in the MMA cage of PFL if an agreement is reached. This means Fury will be Paul’s first MMA opponent in case the deal is finalized, as “Problem Child” is expected to make his debut in the sport this year. PFL is also determined to push the MMA bout, with PFL chairman Donn Davis saying the promotion is willing to pay Fury $15 to $20 million for the two fights.

Check out Hayabusa Boxing Gloves if you’re interested in joining boxing or would like to pursue a career in boxing.

Moreno: Facing Pantoja at UFC 301 in May is ‘kind of soon’ after Mexico City fight

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Brandon Moreno is more than willing to face Alexandre Pantoja in his next outing, but he thinks that having it in May after his fight this weekend will just be too “soon.”

Moreno will be headlining the UFC Mexico City event against Brandon Royval this Saturday. The fighter is not entirely excited about the fight, especially since Royval only replaced his original opponent, Amir Albazi. Additionally, it will only be a rematch after Moreno defeated Royval back in 2020. Yet, the fighter knows that he still has to win this match again in order “to make a statement and keep (his) name there for the flyweight championship in the future.”

In case he wins this fight, “The Assassin Baby” could move forward to the title shot to challenge the flyweight champ for the gold. However, he doesn’t think he would be able to accept a fight as soon as May.

To recall, UFC recently announced that it will be returning to Rio de Janeiro on May 4. The names joining the card remain unknown, but Pantoja shared his interest in entering the event. The fighter even promised that he would defend his belt again on his home soil and asked CEO Dana White to grant him his “wish.”

Now that a UFC event in Brazil is confirmed, Pantoja is highly likely to join the card, which means he would need a challenger. Moreno is the biggest name for that position, but this will only give him two months to prepare.

“I mean, I don’t know nothing about May. It’s kind of soon, you know?” Moreno said on ESPN MMA. “I just wanna win and see what happens next. This sport is kind of hard with injuries and all this stuff. I just wanna win and see how I feel, how my body feels after the match, and see what happens.”

For Moreno, the perfect time for him to fight again will be at UFC’s Mexican Independence weekend event, which will be held in the Sphere in Las Vegas in September. However, this will, of course, oppose Pantoja’s plan to have his next fight in Brazil. According to Moreno, nonetheless, there’s still a chance that he could join the Rio event if he comes out of the cage barely unscathed this weekend.

“That (Noche UFC at the Sphere) makes more sense to me,” Moreno said. “If you talk about May, it’s kind of soon. And Noche UFC is September, so that’s amazing. I’d have enough time to rest a little with my body and start with the new preparation. I’m always in the gym, so it doesn’t matter, but the thing is, with May, it’s my body. But, hey, if I finish the fight in the first round, knockout first minute, and my body is good, let’s go.”

Ngannou’s MMA return timeline still unknown despite accepting Ferreira vs. Bader winner as next opponent

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PFL finally confirmed that the winner of the Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader fight this weekend will welcome back Francis Ngannou in his MMA comeback. And while the MMA legend already agreed with the arrangement, he said that the timeline of his return remains uncertain.

This Thursday, PFL CEO Peter Murray shared the news in a statement. This echoed earlier reports, with both Ferreira and Bader hoping to face Ngannou in the future and PFL Founder and Chairman Donn Davis agreeing with the idea.

“The PFL is excited to announce Francis Ngannou’s return to MMA in the PFL PPV division will be against the winner of the PFL Champion vs. Bellator Champion heavyweight superfight between Renan Ferreira and Ryan Bader,” Murray said. “Francis is a true combat sports icon with a global fan base and appeal. We, along with the rest of the MMA world, will be watching to see who his first opponent will be, Ferreira or Bader.”

Ngannou is receptive to the match, saying it makes sense due to both fighter’s champion status.

“(That’s) my potential opponent because I think the winner of this is going to be the guy I fight in my MMA return when I return,” Ngannou said on SportsCenter. “… First of all, both are champions. They’re going to be champ-champ. So I think there wasn’t a better way to find an opponent for me, since I’m a champion myself, just in case you have forgotten.”

Despite agreeing with PFL’s plan, Ngannou said that when he would come back to the cage remains unknown. To recall, the fighter is preparing for his second boxing match, which will be against Anthony Joshua. Additionally, Ngannou is hoping to rematch Tyson Fury, and the boxing star is planning the same. With all this, Ngannou said that his MMA return will all depend on how his upcoming boxing fight will end up.

“It’s my intention to return to (MMA). When exactly? I think all depends on March 8. Everything depends on March 8,” Ngannou said. “… I haven’t finished my MMA career. I just wanted to chase my dream in boxing. Obviously, I can enjoy both and combine whenever the opportunity is there. I’m not done with MMA. I have an intention to come back and fight and put on some shows.

“… That doesn’t change anything. I think on March 8, whatever happens, the fight is happening. … I take out Anthony Joshua on March 8. Then, I have an opportunity for the undisputed right away to fight. I think it’s a great opportunity not to miss out.”

Sterling admits Topuria is ‘not an easy fight’

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Former bantamweight champ Alajamain Sterling is now officially a featherweight fighter. However, the class weight recently faced a major change after Ilia Topuria was crowned as the new champ. With this, Sterling knows that stealing the belt in this new division won’t be easy for him.

Sterling will make his featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 on April 13. The shift in the division happened after the “Funk Master” lost the belt to Sean O’Malley. However, before he made the decision, Alexander Volkanovski was still reigning the division. Then, a huge change happened when “El Matador” stole the gold from the Australian fighter at UFC 298.

With this, Sterling knows that the division that he entered is no longer the one he expected when he made the jump. And by assessing the new champ, the 34-year-old has to admit that he will be a tough fight.

“I think he (Topuria) could be champ for quite some time if he wants to. That’s a hard style of fight. I mean, what do you do?” Sterling said on the recent episode of his The Weekly Scraps podcast. Ilia can actually wrestle… It’s a tough matchup for anybody. Even for me, if I had the opportunity to fight him.”

Currently, Topuria is eying Conor McGregor, noting that he’s not interested in the top contenders of his division and that he wants some new faces. For Sterling, he’s one of the new ones who might interest the champ, but in the end, he knows that this fight would be a huge challenge.

“Say I finish Calvin Kattar, make a big statement, they want something new, want something fresh, the Brian Ortega/Yair (Rodríguez) fight isn’t that great; maybe they throw me in there,” Sterling added. “I’m looking at it like, I got my work cut out for me. That’s not an easy fight. That’s just being as honest as it is. I know I can punch, but it’s not how hard you can hit. Sometimes you’ve gotta be able to take that back.”

Sandhagen changes mind over rebooking Nurmagomedov bout: ‘I’m still open to Umar’

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Cory Sandhagen said he’s willing to get his fight against Umar Nurmagomedov to be rebooked on a few conditions.

Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov were originally scheduled to meet in August last year, but Nurmagomedov withdrew due to an injury. As such, the fighter was placed by Rob Font, whom Sandhagen defeated via a unanimous decision. After that, “Sandman” expressed a lack of interest in the idea of getting the Nurmagomedov bout to be rebooked.

“If you want to talk about a fair circumstance, I think that is pretty fair,” Sandhagen said last November. “If we were on the same plane, going into that last one before he pulled out, which we weren’t, but I took the fight because I wanted a No. 1 contender fight.

“If we were on the same plane then and then I just racked a win against another really tough guy, with a first-round injury and still dominated, I don’t really see us being on the same plane anymore. I think that he needs one or two more wins, I think him getting hurt was a bummer for him because I don’t really know how many other guys are going to step up.”

Interestingly, the No. 3 bantamweight recently said that he could reconsider the fight if it would be a No. 1 contender fight. Additionally, Sandhagen believes the fellow fighter has to prove it in his upcoming March 2 match against Bekzat Almakhan.

“…When I talked to the UFC initially, and they brought that up, I was pretty much like, ‘Hey, just give me a little time to think and sit with that one,’ because if that’s what you guys are telling me is going to be for the title next, then absolutely,” Sandhagen shared in his recent interview with MMA on SiriusXM. “But if that’s not going to be the situation, then the rankings matter a little bit – or at least they kind of do.

“Where I stand with Umar now is if he gets a good win on March 2, and he looks good, and he does awesome, and they don’t give me the title shot next, do me and Umar at International Fight Week,” Sandhagen said. “Obviously there’s a lot of things that need to have happened before that happens, but I’m still open to Umar.”

Luckily for Sandhagen, Marlon Vera, who is set to challenge bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley at UFC 299, is eyeing him. According to “Chito,” if he wins, he wants to defend the gold against Sandhagen in a rematch.

“I will ask for Sandhagen because he beat me,” Vera said. “That’s the only reason I will choose that fight,” said Vera last month. “…I want to kick Cory’s ass. I know his dorky ass is crying about it, but it’s not my fault no one gives a f*ck about him.”

‘Let’s do Merab… That fight’s next’: O’Malley changes mind over Topuria callout after backlash

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Sean O’Malley has finally stopped pushing his callout to make Ilia Topuria his next opponent. As admitted by the bantamweight king, the decision came after “a lot of pushback,” claiming that he was avoiding Merab Dvalishvili, who was anointed recently as his No. 1 contender.

“Sugar” started calling out Topuria even before his UFC 298 title win over Alexander Volkanovski. O’Malley was hoping to make a champ vs. champ fight between him and the Spanish fighter, only for the suggestion to be repeatedly turned down by “El Matador.” After that, UFC announced that it was giving the title shot to Dvalishvili, who defeated Henry Cejudo in a main card bout of UFC 298. Yet, this didn’t stop O’Malley’s interest in Topuria.

Needless to say, fans do not like this plan.

In his recent post on his YouTube channel, the bantamweight champ addressed the matter and announced that he officially accepted “The Machine” as his next challenger.

“Let me start with this: Initially, I was calling for Ilia. I wanted the Ilia fight. It excites me, but I also thought the fans would get excited about it. I got a lot of pushback saying, ‘You’re ducking Merab, Merab is next,’ so Merab is next,” O’Malley said. “Let’s do Merab. I’m telling you guys: I knock Merab out.”

Despite that, O’Malley is still not giving up on his hopes that he’ll soon meet Topuria in the cage. For now, the champ noted that he’ll shift his focus to Dvalishvili, whom he believes improved a lot as a fighter.

“The Ilia fight can happen someday,” O’Malley said. “Ilia keeps doing his thing, I keep doing my thing, that’s a big fight someday. I just want to fight for the people, I want to make the biggest fights possible, and I’ll give credit to Merab. Merab has improved not just fighting but on social. He’s doing a really good job building himself up, being himself, being a goofy ugly ass, and he’s doing a good job. So that fight’s next.”

If he’s to be asked, O’Malley believes that a fight against the Georgian talent would be easy. Based on his assessment of the fighter’s recent fight and his performance against former champ Alajamain Sterling, he sees an easy win over Dvalishvili.

“I rewatched Henry vs. Aljo after I was there, and I told you I’m knocking Aljo out. All you guys said, ‘No way, you’re not knocking Aljo out; he’s gonna take you down and kill you.’ Here we go again,” O’Malley said.

“When I fight Merab, I’m knocking that dude out. He’s sloppy. I’m accurate. I’m too fast. I’m too sharp. I’m telling you, boys: I put Merab’s lights out worse than Aljo. Aljo was a TKO. Merab, I’m putting him to sleep, turning his nose straight.”

Pereira entertains idea of Ankalaev fight ‘to prove some people wrong’

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Alex Pereira is not dismissing a chance to face Magomed Ankalaev. For the champ, however, the only reason he’s considering it is to prove claims that the fighter could defeat him.

Pereira still has to make his first title defense against former light heavyweight champ Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 on April 13. Yet, different fighters in his division are already eyeing him, including Ankalaev, who defeated Johnny Walker via KO at UFC Fight Night 234 last month. After his win, the Russian fighter demanded a title shot, saying he intentionally made his latest win without using wrestling to send a message to Pereira. In his callout, the fighter underscored his winning streak to explain why he deserved the shot instead of Hill. 

“I could’ve come out today and wrestled Johnny Walker,” Ankalaev said in January. “I could’ve taken him down right away and won with my ground-and-pound on the ground. Instead, I wanted to send a message. I wanted to stand up and knock him out, and that’s what I did.

“The math works out. I’m more deserving of the belt because I have 10 victories, and six of them knockouts. Jamahal Hill has eight fights total in the UFC, so it’s just clear I’m a more deserving contender than Jamahal Hill.”

With his continuous win, some are starting to believe that the No. 3 light heavyweight fighter could be Pereira’s weakness. Yet, Pereira believes otherwise. Although Ankalaev is still not on his list, the champ expressed interest in the match just to dismiss doubts about his capability.

“Magomed Ankalaev would be a good fight because it would be good to prove some people wrong,” said Pereira on The MMA Hour.

According to the champ, Ankalaev is not even on his top 3 light heavyweight contender list. For Pereira, if he were asked to rank the class weight, he would be on top, followed by Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka, and Hill. With this, “Poatan” is confident that he can easily defeat Ankalaev in case they meet inside the cage.

“People say he’s the guy to beat me, this and that,” Pereira continued. “At some point, I want to prove myself and prove to everybody, shut everybody’s mouth about my ground game.”

Pereira confirms inking 8-fight deal with UFC

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Alex Pereira is happy with how UFC is treating him, and part of that is the new deal her received from the promotion. According to the light-heavyweight champ, he just signed an eight-fight contract last Friday.

Pereira will be defending his gold against its former owner, Jamahal Hill, on April 13 at UFC 300. This will mark his first title defense for the belt and his comeback after appearing in the octagon last November against Jiří Procházka. This, nonetheless, is not the only good news for the Brazilian.

As “Poatan” shared, he finally signed a contract with the promotion last week. According to the fighter, the long-term contract became possible through his character, which was witnessed by the promotion in his past fights.

“Starting this fight, there’s eight more,” Pereira said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour. “My relationship with the UFC is very good. I’m very grateful how the UFC and my management team get together. They’ve been doing great things together. I think the UFC also appreciates who I am because I’m a composed guy, I’m focused, and I deliver.”

His first fight was originally scheduled for UFC 301, which will be in Brazil. According to the fighter, nonetheless, UFC called his team to offer an earlier date, which they accepted. Of course, knowing the past injury of his opponent, Pereira couldn’t but wonder how it would work out for Hill. “Sweet Dreams” already dismissed concerns about this, and if that really is the case, Pereira said he’s ready to fight.

“I didn’t know it was such a long recovery for that,” Pereira said. “People have been speculating. Even for the card in Brazil. We’ve known for a while now we were fighting in Brazil, and it was like, ‘Is he going to be ready?’ But we’ve got a little bit more than a month for the fight. If he feels he’s ready and he’s trained, then let’s do it.”

Masvidal still hoping for BMF fight vs. Gaethje ‘at some point’

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Jorge Masvidal is still not giving up on his aspirations to soon have a BMF vs. BMF fight against Justin Gaethje in the future.

Recently, “Gamebred” announced that he was coming out of his retirement, making fans anticipate his comeback to the MMA industry. However, recent reports claim that it would instead be in a boxing ring against Nate Diaz. While there are still no official announcements about it, the fighter is entertaining other possibilities. That includes another BMF fight against Gaethje, who currently holds the title and preparing for his next BMF fight versus Max Holloway at UFC 300.

UFC held its first BMF match against Masvidal and Diaz at UFC 244, with the former winning the belt. However, after he received his fourth consecutive loss in April 2023, the fighter retired. Months after that, nonetheless, UFC decided to set up its second BMF bout. With Masvidal no longer in the scene, Gaethje and Dustin Poirier fought for the title, and “The Highlight” won it. Now that he is unretired, the 39-year-old is hoping to get the chance to fight for the said title belt again versus Gaethje.

For Masvidal, the fight just makes sense, especially since he views the younger fighter as a powerful one. Despite that, in case it is pushed, he is certain that he’ll give Gaethje a major injury inside the cage. Of course, that is still far from the future, given his career’s current position, but Masvidal is hopeful.

“There never was no talk about (defending the BMF title), at least for me,” Masvidal told LowKick MMA. But I think now, the temperature on that theme has changed,” Masvidal said. “Justin’s very good. The guy that he beat to get that belt is a f**king stud, a killer in Dustin Poirier.

“But I just feel like, man, if you put BMF against BMF, you put me against Gaethje in there, I will break his f**king eye orbital, and I will f**king chop him up,” Masvidal continued. “So, hopefully, that can happen at some point.”

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