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Over the last few months, popular rapper 50 Cent has been getting chummy with Bellator MMA president Scott Coker, attending events and teasing a partnership. And if you follow him on social media, you’ll notice every post ending with his catchphrase, “get the strap.”

Now it seems the two will go hand-in-hand, as the boisterous rapper declared during a recent social media post he sold the rights to the catchphrase to the Viacom-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion for a whopping $1 million.

It’s no “Just Do It,” but it seems the catchphrase will be splashed across some Bellator MMA apparel pretty soon. While some may relate “get the strap” to getting a gun, now that MMA is involved it could take on the meaning of capturing a world title.

Furthermore, 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, chimed in on Bellator’s recent deal with DAZN, which means more business opportunities between the three.

No word yet on whether or not 50 Cent actually follows through on his challenge toward Quinton Jackson.

Johny Hendricks becomes the second ex-UFC champion to announce retirement within a span of a week.

On Monday, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans announced his retirement from MMA, after a 14-year professional run. Two days later, another ex-champion has followed suit.

Speaking to MMAJunkie Radio, Johny Hendricks made his declaration of retirement, stating he intends to focus on coaching varsity wrestling.

“I’m done. I’m retiring. I’m getting out of the MMA world,” Hendricks said. “I’ve been thinking about this long and hard for a while. I’m going to get back to my roots. I’m going to start coaching at All Saints (Episcopal School in Fort Worth, Texas).”

“I coached a little bit of high school last year, but I’m going to make the move over to All Saints and start doing those things.”

The 34-year-old Hendricks, who has gone 1-5 in his last six fights, said he came up with this decision during these past seven months of layoff and getting to spend time with his family.

“One of the things that’s nice is being home the last seven months, spending time with the kids, not worrying about what I needed to do,” Hendricks said. “I looked at my wife and said, ‘Do we really want to do this? I know I’m the one who has to do it, but do we want to do it? Do we want to go through the grind that I used to do, be gone for long periods of time, put my family second, do those kids of things?’ Right now, I can’t really say that.

“I made this decision two weeks ago, but I prayed about it and wanted to make sure I was going to be OK with it.”

Hendricks (18-8, with nine wins by stoppage), last saw action at UFC 217 in November, where he was defeated by Paulo Henrique Costa via second-round TKO.

“I respect the guy as a fighter. I respect him as a man, but it’s time to man up and get this thing done.” 

Although T.J. Dillashaw is booked to fight ex-teammate Cody Garbrandt in an immediate rematch at UFC 227, the two-time bantamweight champion was originally teased to fight pound-for-pound No. 1 and reigning flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson earlier this year.

That bout fell through for undisclosed reasons, but Dillashaw is adamant about getting the fight booked as soon as possible, preferably after his rematch with ‘No love’ in August.

Speaking to TMZ Sports in a recent interview, 32-year-old Dillashaw accused ‘Mighty Mouse’ of ducking him because he’s afraid of a true challenge.

“It was a fight that already made sense. The fans wanted it. I wanted it. The UFC wanted it. It’s all about him manning up and accepting the challenge. He’s got a target on his back. I respect the guy as a fighter. I respect him as a man, but it’s time to man up and get this thing done,” Dillashaw said, per MMA Weekly.

“I do believe so,” Dillashaw replied when asked if Johnson was ducking him. “I believe that he’s comfortable where he’s at. He’s comfortable fighting the guys he’s fighting. I think I bring a real threat. I bring a real threat to the table that he’s not willing to accept.”

Dillashaw and Johnson are both scheduled to fight on the same card at UFC 227, with Dillashaw headlining against Garbrandt and ‘DJ’ defending his flyweight title against Henry Cejudo in a co-headlining championship rematch. If both men win their respective bouts, expect Dillashaw to ramp up the trash talk in order to secure a superfight with Johnson.

The UFC 227 pay-per-view takes place on August 4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Before Stipe Miocic attempts to defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight title against Daniel Cormier at the upcoming UFC 226 pay-per-view (PPV) event on July 7, 2018, take a look back at one of Stipe’s most dominant wins.

Back in 2016, Stipe was tasked with defending his belt against Alistair Overeem in what would be his first title defense after knocking out Fabricio Werdum four months prior to capture the division belt. Going into the fight, Overeem had tons of championship experience behind him but had yet to taste UFC gold.

And he left Cleveland, Ohio that night empty-handed, as Miocic weathered one early knockdown and getting rocked again in the first couple of minutes to mount a comeback for the ages. Indeed, Miocic clipped Overeem and proceeded to knock him out with 30 second left in the opening frame in what was a truly devastating finish.

Since then, Stipe has defend his belt twice more but will now face one of his biggest challenges to date against the current Light Heavyweight champion and former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner in a much-anticipated superfight.

To get up-to-speed with the latest UFC 226 fight card click here.