Author: mmafighting
Francis Ngannou’s freakish power put a scare in Tyson Fury, and his coach is confident that he can put Anthony Joshua down for the count. Coach Dewey Cooper is predicting a knockout win this Friday for Ngannou, who faces heavyweight boxing star Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This will be just the second boxing match for the former UFC champion and current PFL fighter, but Cooper saw enough in Ngannou’s near upset of Fury this past October to call his shot. Ngannou lost a split decision to Fury, but scored the lone knockdown of the bout in Round 3,…
Devin Haney has watched his upcoming opponent, Ryan Garcia, express interest in a UFC fight with Sean O’Malley. But when asked if Garcia would ever have a chance in the octagon with O’Malley, Haney’s answer was quick and honest. “F*** no,” Haney said on The MMA Hour. Haney and Garcia meet in the boxing ring on April 20 in a highly anticipated matchup at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. While Haney confidently picked O’Malley in an MMA fight, he would pick Garcia with the same confidence in a fight against the UFC bantamweight champion in the squared circle. “Sean is…
Brandon Royval doesn’t think much of Muhammad Mokaev. In February, Royval took home a split decision win over former champion Brandon Moreno at UFC Mexico City. Immediately afterward, Royvall called for another shot at UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja next. But there are some issues. For one, Pantoja just beat Royval in December, winning a dominant unanimous decision, and for another, rising contender Muhammad Mokaev. This past weekend, Mokaev scored a lackluster unanimous decision win over Alex Perez at UFC Vegas 87 and he also called for a title shot against Pantoja. And unsurprisingly, Royval was not impressed by the…
UFC Vegas 87 is in the books, which means it’s on to the biggest combat sports weekend of the year! On Friday, Francis Ngannou faces off against Anthony Joshua in a boxing match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And then on Saturday, UFC 299 takes place, a fight card that has some wondering if it’s even better than UFC 300. It’s a big weekend coming up and some critical stuff just happened, so let’s talk about it. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, King of the APEX Was Gamziev’s L a matter of too much too soon (main event in second appearance)? Or did Bigi…
Francis Ngannou’s transition to boxing may have started as a side hustle, but as he readies to face Anthony Joshua on Friday, that mission statement has shifted to something more. “I will definitely still do some MMA fights, but I’m not leaving boxing,” Ngannou said Monday at the event’s grand arrivals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “Remember, at the beginning, it was boxing. I wasn’t aware of MMA. And for more than a decade, it was all about boxing, dreaming about boxing. And then even when the opportunity came around [in MMA], it was, for me, an opportunity to shine, to…
Former interim UFC lightweight champ Dustin Poirier has two fights apiece with Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje, so he’s very qualified to opine on the result of the “BMF” title bout at UFC 300. Holloway and Gaethje are two of the main attractions for the April 13 pay-per-view event. Poirier initially targeted the banner fight card but wound up signing on for a showdown with Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299. Poirier didn’t expect former featherweight kingpin Holloway and ex-interim lightweight champ Gaethje would ever fight. “I’m surprised,” he said recently on The MMA Hour. “I thought Gaethje was going…
The UFC returned to the APEX for one last stop on the road to Miami and UFC 299, and in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 87, Jairzinho Rozenstruik outclassed Shamil Gaziev and earned a fourth-round referee stoppage TKO. Is it now time to book the fight for “Bigi Boi” that fans have been asking to see for years with Derrick Lewis? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what’s next for Rozenstruik from a matchmaking perspective following his bounce back victory. Additionally, future matchups are discussed…
Jake Paul is staying busy in 2024. Coming off of an uneventful knockout win of Ryan Bourland this past Saturday in Puerto Rico, Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) has already announced the next Most Valuable Promotions event date and potentially his next walk to the ring. “We’re baaaaaaaacck… Friday April 26th,” Paul wrote on social media. It is not yet known if Paul will box on that card himself. The tweet may also be a new date for Amanda Serrano’s next fight. Saturday’s card was to be headlined by Serrano defending her featherweight titles in her home country against Nina Meinke,…
The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Monday’s show, which begins at a special early start time of 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT / 5 p.m. UK time. 12 p.m. ET: We recap the busy combat sports weekend. 12:20 p.m.: Curtis Blaydes previews his UFC 299 bout against Jailton Almeida. 12:40 p.m.: Jairzinho Rozenstruik looks back on his main event win over Shamil Gaziev. 1 p.m.: Brandon Royval returns after upsetting Brandon Moreno at UFC Mexico City. 1:30 p.m.: Francis Ngannou’s longtime coach Dewey Cooper previews Friday’s big matchup against…
UFC 299 fight week is upon us. The road to UFC 300 began as soon as we turned the calendar to 2024, and the PPV lineup has only increased in quality with each month. UFC 299 will see the promotion return to Miami, Fla. for the first time since April of last year and it’s such a loaded card that the community has made arguments it’s better than the historic upcoming April date. Occupying the spotlight in the Sunshine State will be none other than the bantamweight division and its budding superstar champion Sean O’Malley. The main event will see…