With Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall both recently claiming that they’ve been speaking to the UFC about what’s next, the conversation regarding the promotion’s two heavyweight champions isn’t going anywhere just yet. The debate as to whether Jones is avoiding a title unification with the interim champion dominated the talking points both before and after […]
With Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall both recently claiming that they’ve been speaking to the UFC about what’s next, the conversation regarding the promotion’s two heavyweight champions isn’t going anywhere just yet. The debate as to whether Jones is avoiding a title unification with the interim champion dominated the talking points both before and after UFC 309.
For many fans, the key reason that they want to see this fight instead of Jones against Alex Pereira, which is certainly the direction that “Bones” has been leaning, is because of the match-up itself. Whilst the heavyweight champion taking on the light heavyweight champion would be a huge fight, Aspinall presents different problems.
Pereira is an incredibly dangerous striker but as Dana White said himself, going up to heavyweight to face an elite grappler like Jones is a huge ask even for “Poatan” who has defied expectations throughout his entire run in the UFC. In a recent interview with Inside Fighting, Jones’s coach Brandon Gibson spoke about the match-up with Aspinall.
He believes that Aspinall’s greatest strength, his ability to finish fights so quickly, also creates question marks which may not have existed with previous opponents that they have beaten in the past. Those same unanswered questions aren’t there with Pereira, even if a fight between him and Jones would create other problems instead.
“He’s had a great heavyweight career so far. I think there’s still a lot of unknowns which could be a benefit to Tom but also a lot of those unknowns could be a big benefit to us like how is he going to do in deep water? How is he going to do in later rounds? There’ll probably be a lot of pressure on him to try to start fast so with all that said, Tom’s not a match-up, like we have respect for all of these great opponents and champions but I think Jon has solved a lot more complex problems.”
With Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall both recently claiming that they’ve been speaking to the UFC about what’s next, the conversation regarding the promotion’s two heavyweight champions isn’t going anywhere just yet. The debate as to whether Jones is avoiding a title unification with the interim champion dominated the talking points both before and after […]
With Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall both recently claiming that they’ve been speaking to the UFC about what’s next, the conversation regarding the promotion’s two heavyweight champions isn’t going anywhere just yet. The debate as to whether Jones is avoiding a title unification with the interim champion dominated the talking points both before and after UFC 309.
For many fans, the key reason that they want to see this fight instead of Jones against Alex Pereira, which is certainly the direction that “Bones” has been leaning, is because of the match-up itself. Whilst the heavyweight champion taking on the light heavyweight champion would be a huge fight, Aspinall presents different problems.
Pereira is an incredibly dangerous striker but as Dana White said himself, going up to heavyweight to face an elite grappler like Jones is a huge ask even for “Poatan” who has defied expectations throughout his entire run in the UFC. In a recent interview with Inside Fighting, Jones’s coach Brandon Gibson spoke about the match-up with Aspinall.
He believes that Aspinall’s greatest strength, his ability to finish fights so quickly, also creates question marks which may not have existed with previous opponents that they have beaten in the past. Those same unanswered questions aren’t there with Pereira, even if a fight between him and Jones would create other problems instead.
“He’s had a great heavyweight career so far. I think there’s still a lot of unknowns which could be a benefit to Tom but also a lot of those unknowns could be a big benefit to us like how is he going to do in deep water? How is he going to do in later rounds? There’ll probably be a lot of pressure on him to try to start fast so with all that said, Tom’s not a match-up, like we have respect for all of these great opponents and champions but I think Jon has solved a lot more complex problems.”
After watching Paul beat up Mike Tyson and call out Conor McGregor, ‘Rampage’ Jackson wants to teach ‘The Problem Child’ a lesson in the cage. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is past his fighting pr…
Photo by Jun Sato/WireImage
After watching Paul beat up Mike Tyson and call out Conor McGregor, ‘Rampage’ Jackson wants to teach ‘The Problem Child’ a lesson in the cage.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is past his fighting prime, but is he far enough past his fighting prime to land a bout with Jake Paul?
That’s the question we’re asking ourselves as the former PRIDE FC middleweight UFC light heavyweight champion throws his name into the hat of potential future Paul opponents. The 46-year-old took to X (formerly Twitter) and challenged the YouTuber-turned-boxer over his decision to fight Mike Tyson and … disrespect of Conor McGregor?
The day after he beat an elderly Tyson via decision in a sideshow boxing match that left everyone feeling gross, the 227 pound Paul turned his attention to the former UFC featherweight champion McGregor.
“Dear Conor, I know you told my team you would fight me at 170lbs,” Paul tweeted. “That’s never happening. But let’s run it in MMA. No weight class. Just like how it used to be done. But you won’t.”
Yo @jakepaul watch how you talk to MMA royalty,I’ll fight you in MMA no weight class for no pay. That’s a great deal.. but i bet YOU won’t. Stop disrespecting people in my fucken sport homie. You fighting Tyson was your last straw.. go back to boxing wrestlers. pic.twitter.com/9w83xf3mtl
“Yo Jake Paul, watch how you talk to MMA royalty,” Jackson replied. “I’ll fight you in MMA no weight class for no pay. That’s a great deal … but i bet YOU won’t. Stop disrespecting people in my f—in’ sport, homie. You fighting Tyson was [the] last straw. Go back to boxing wrestlers.”
“Rampage” was once one of the baddest men in the sport of MMA, but that was back in the early 2000s, over twenty years ago. He hasn’t fought in nearly five years, and showed up for his last bout looking slow and ‘hippo’ fat. He does look a lot better on his Jaxxon Podcast, but if there’s one thing the Jake Paul circus should have taught y’all by now, it’s that the clock doesn’t turn backwards.
When someone commented that Jackson didn’t have the gas tank to beat Paul, Jackson joked back that the fight would have to be three rounds, but that would be enough.
Rampage Jackson suggests Jake Paul’s viral KOs are staged
“I can get my cardio good enough to beat the f— out that kid,” he said. As for all the suggestions that Paul pays big bucks so his opponents take dives? “Not enough money in the world for me to throw a fight to that guy.”
“Dude is one of the most famous people in the states right now,” Rampage tweeted. “He doesn’t need me for s—. I’m just sick of him picking his own opponents in lopsided fights.”
We have bad news for “Rampage” — if he did happen to be the next winner of the Jake Paul Sandbagging Sweepstakes, it would be another perfect example of Paul picking a lopsided fight.
Funny enough, Quinton checks a lot of the boxes Paul looks for when picking his opponents. Former UFC champion? Check. Over the hill? Check. Questionable cardio? Check. Knockout power in his prime that is now gone? Check. Popularity? Check. If Jake Paul wasn’t coming off the biggest fight of his career against Mike Tyson, we’d say Jackson had a pretty good chance of getting a call from Most Valuable Promotions.
As it stands, Paul’s manager Nakisa Bidarian is looking for a grand slam level opponent. A Conor McGregor level opponent.
“I do believe, and I have said this on record, [McGregor] is the only fight today in the world that could garner the same kind of attention that Jake Paul and Mike Tyson did,” he said on a recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. “I believe there is bigger money fights for Jake Paul, like a Canelo [Alvarez], like a Gervonta Davis because the U.S. will eat that up and the pay-per-view dollars will be massive. But in terms of hitting every corner of the world, every geography, every language, every creed, every religion, that [McGregor] fight would do that.”
Unfortunately for Bidarian and Paul, McGregor is under contract with UFC for two more fights … or as Paul would call it, he’s being held ‘hostage’ for two more fights.
UFC fighters beating up streamers and social media stars is a trend that has continued to be a talking point throughout 2024. Whilst New Zealand’s Dan Hooker may be one of the kinder fighters to dish out one of these beatings, it can’t be forgotten that “The Hangman” is a trained killer that makes his […]
UFC fighters beating up streamers and social media stars is a trend that has continued to be a talking point throughout 2024. Whilst New Zealand’s Dan Hooker may be one of the kinder fighters to dish out one of these beatings, it can’t be forgotten that “The Hangman” is a trained killer that makes his living inside the Octagon.
When looking at reoccurring viral patterns, streamer IShowSpeed tends to take things to new levels by taking what others do and elevating them to even more outrageous standards. This meant that during his recent trip to New Zealand, his “IRL stream” wouldn’t have been complete without a stop off at the home of some of the best mixed martial artists on the planet, Auckland’s City Kickboxing.
A social media clip taken from his stream shows Speed boxing with the UFC lightweight contender who in a real contest, would have forced the referee to step in multiple times even if he was taking it easy.
Unlike some of the other instances of this trend that seemingly generated more negativity than anything else, the reaction to this clip was slightly different. That’s partly down to Hooker clearly not being someone that is doing this to try and really hurt his opponent and because Speed, across multiple sports, has shown a lot of courage and natural athletic ability which often leaves people impressed rather than scratching their heads.
Fans reacted via social media with many giving Speed some compliments even if he was totally outclassed as you would expect.
“Speed doesn’t even look that bad for someone with zero training”
Speed doesn’t even look that bad for someone with zero training
Former MMA referee John McCarthy did not mince his words when analyzing UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler’s latest setback inside the Octagon. Chandler returned from a two-year layoff earlier this month, running it back with former champion Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of the UFC 309 pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden. After an unsuccessful […]
Former MMA referee John McCarthy did not mince his words when analyzing UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler’s latest setback inside the Octagon.
After an unsuccessful wait to share the cage with Conor McGregor, “Iron” finally moved on and set his sights on redemption opposite “Do Bronx,” who previously knocked him out in 2021.
With the result, Chandler has now lost two straight and four of his six UFC fights. And that’s left one prominent figure in the sport giving a grim outlook on the 38-year-old’s status on MMA’s biggest stage.
During an episode of his Weighing In podcast alongside former UFC fighter Josh Thomson, McCarthy reflected on Chandler’s convincing defeat to Oliveira, which saw the Brazilian experience little adversity until a late surge from the American in round five.
The former referee and Bellator commentator compared him with another veteran fighter in Tony Ferguson, who has lost eight straight since his last victory in 2019.
“Michael Chandler has hit Tony Ferguson status. Just being honest,” McCarthy said. “Who’s he going to beat? He looked slow at times. You want to talk about looking slow, you cannot look slow in the lightweight division. You’re gonna die. And he got outwrestled by a jiu-jitsu guy.
“Michael Chandler got crushed. I mean, just crushed,” McCarthy continued. “The two years (away) showed that not only did Michael Chandler not improve as a fighter, but he declined, and he watched his career start to expire. … I like Michael Chandler as a person, and I think he’s great for the sport…(but) he’s calling out Conor McGregor after losing again — what the hell?! You can’t do that!”
Should Chandler get his wish in 2025, he may be departing the 155-pound division next time out.
Oliveira, meanwhile, has his eyes on regaining the ultimate prize. He’s widely expected to challenge the winner of Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan’s championship rematch, which is reportedly in the works for UFC 311 in Los Angeles early next year.
A clash between two former UFC light heavyweight champions was recently announced during the post-fight show following the Fight Night event in Macau. After the fact that Jamahal Hill will be facing Ji?í Procházka at UFC 311 was seemingly accidently said on the broadcast, it was later reported all over social media. With Magomed Ankalaev […]
A clash between two former UFC light heavyweight champions was recently announced during the post-fight show following the Fight Night event in Macau. After the fact that Jamahal Hill will be facing Ji?í Procházka at UFC 311 was seemingly accidently said on the broadcast, it was later reported all over social media.
With Magomed Ankalaev finally being in position to face Alex Pereira for the title, that leaves the #2 and #3-ranked contenders in the division free to settle a score that has existed for a long time. On January 18 in California, Hill and Procházka will finally put this chapter of their careers behind them.
When Hill defeated Glover Teixeira to become champion, it was because Procházka had vacated the title due to a significant injury. With Hill defending his title against the returning champion set to be the next fight, the same pattern repeated itself with “Sweet Dreams” giving the title up which was then won by Alex Pereira at UFC 295 last November.
Since then, “Poatan” has finished both men in consecutive fights meaning that a long-awaited match-up between them makes total sense for the division right now. With the news coming out sooner that expected, Hill did not confirm in his recent interview with Inside Fighting that this would be his next fight though he has teased it multiple times.
“Yeah we should, there’s gonna be an announcement soon. It’s gonna be announced soon, it’s a good one, it’s a good one.”
When Hill was asked whether he could provide any hints as to which fight it might be, he said that this contest is long overdue which essentially gives the game away without saying the name of his next opponent.
“It’s been a long time, it’s been a long time coming.”
Hill was then asked whether the fight he’s signed for is the one that all the fans expect it to be and though the former champion didn’t want to sign off on this, he made it pretty clear that it’s a big, highly anticipated bout.
“I don’t know which fight y’all think it’s going to be but I know y’all won’t be disappointed by it.”
(@ElonovMMA) 
(@sugacoatedwave)