Author: Dan Hiergesell

Israel Adesanya is coming off arguably his biggest career victory to date after stopping Alex Pereira via second-round knockout at UFC 287 to win back his undisputed UFC middleweight title. What makes Adesanya’s performance even more special is the fact that he trained for that exact situation.

This most recent fight with Pereira was not an easy task for “Last Stylebender.” Pereira had beaten Adesanya twice before inside of the kickboxing ring and was coming off a shocking knockout win over the Nigerian fighter at UFC 281 in Nov. 2022. Adesanya was trying to overcome a 0-3 deficit against “Poatan” and few believed he’d be able to ward off the powerful strikes of the champion.

Luckily for Adesanya, he was able to walk through everything Pereira had to offer in the early going of their UFC 287 rematch. It allowed Adesanya the opportunity to lure Pereira along the cage and properly time one of the greatest counter combinations the UFC has ever seen. Adesanya’s onslaught left Pereira motionless on the canvas as “Last Stylebender” hoisted his 185-pound title once again.

A few days after his victory Adesanya had a chance to break down his sensational knockout performance. According to the new champion, he played a little “rope-a-dope” in order to set a trap for Pereira.

“I wanted him to get comfortable,” said Adesanya in a video posted to Twitter (shown above). “He thinks I’m a punching bag now. ‘Oh, I can just tee off on him.’ I’m not these other guys that you fight with, bro. I’m not these other f—king blood clots.”

Adesanya, who is now 13-2 as a member of the UFC roster, has cleared out just about everyone there is in the middleweight division. With Pereira taking his talents to light heavyweight it’s unknown at this time who “Last Stylebender” will meet next. It could be a trilogy bout with Robert Whittaker or a massive fight opposite undefeated Chechen contender, Khamzat Chimaev.

Either way, Adesanya seems dialed in and more confident than ever after disposing of Pereira and putting an end to his own personal boogeyman.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Contender Series alum, Karl Roberson, was reportedly arrested this week in Neptune, N.J., on charges of burglary, theft, criminal mischief, possession of controlled dangerous substance, and several weapons offenses.

This is according to a report by arresting officer, Detective Ryan Jackson of the Howell Township Police Department, which was obtained by combat sports reporter, Ben Davis. The police report can be seen below:

“The second suspect, Karl Roberson (32/m/Neptune), was arrested during a motor vehicle stop in Neptune. He was driving a vehicle that investigation revealed had been connected to the burglary. Following his arrest, a search warrant was conducted on the vehicle. During the search officers found a defaced 9mm handgun with an extended magazine, several packages of suspected “crack cocaine,” marijuana and items related to the burglary. Roberson was charged with burglary, theft, criminal mischief, possession of controlled dangerous substance and several weapons offenses,” read the report.

This is all the information we have at this time. It’s unknown which burglary Roberson is being linked to and what sort of prison time the former UFC fighter might face. Roberson will have his opportunity to prove his innocence before being found guilty on a multitude of serious charges.

Roberson, 32, was once a very promising UFC prospect. The former professional kickboxer made a huge splash on Contender Series back in July 2017 with a 15-second knockout win over current UFC light heavyweight contender Ryan Spann. Roberson made good on his UFC debut by defeating middleweight veteran Darren Stewart with a first-round submission in Nov. 2017 before the wheels started to fall off.

The Neptune native produced a dismal 3-6 record over his next nine Octagon outings. He lost his last four UFC appearances by way of knockout or submission before his release from the promotion in July 2022. Roberson has not competed professionally in any fashion since then.

Stick with Mania for more details on Roberson’s recent arrest.

Kevin Holland is known to be a fighter willing to scrap with anyone Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) puts in his way, but “Trailblazer” has issued a warning to welterweight upstart, Ian Garry, to stay far, far away.

Holland, who floats between 170 and 185 pounds, returned to the UFC win column after a knockout win over Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 287 (watch HERE). The man known as “Trailblazer” spent most of that fight week getting into pre-fight altercations with Jorge Masvidal, but when the lights turned on Holland laid waste to Ponzinibbio to stop the bleeding from back-to-back losses to Khamzat Chimaev and Stephen Thompson.

Fresh off a win Holland is already looking to get back into action. While the UFC mercenary is willing to go to war with just about anybody Holland is leaning towards a matchup with welterweight veteran Michael Chiesa, who was originally expected to fight Li Jingliang at UFC 287 before the fight fell apart.

“I think May would be really quick, but I think that I would be rightfully so ready for a Chiesa fight if he wanted to step in there in May,” Holland told MMA Junkie Radio. “If not, we could do it after May, or whoever they have lined up for me, whenever they want me to go. It really doesn’t matter. If I get to go soon, awesome. If not, I could wait until slightly after July.”

“… Chiesa was just hot on the mind because he had a chance to fight on the card, didn’t get a chance to fight on the card. I never know what another man’s making, I never know what another man’s doing, I never know if another man has plans with his money that he’s potentially about to make, but I can at least offer a man a chance to get his show money by whooping his f—king ass. So, that’s the least I can do.”

Another possible opponent for Holland might be Garry, but the Irish sensation is already booked to fight Daniel Rodriguez at UFC on ABC 4 this coming May. Garry has called out Holland in the past and it seems like an exciting matchup on paper. However, Holland isn’t sold that “The Future” is ready for the step up in competition.

“I seen Ian Garry called my name,” Holland said. “I think the dude is on a hell of a trajectory. I think he’s doing great things. I think he’s on the way to the top, and if he feels that I’m a name that he needs to help himself to the top, I think he should stay far the f*ck away, because he likes to strike and he does get dropped with a left hook. If you’ve seen my left hook these days, like I said, newfound relationship. It hurts. And the right hand, by time he’s ready to fight, will be crisp.

“I just don’t think it’s a smart fight for Ian Garry right this second. Like I said, maybe one day he’ll be a titleholder and I’ll be a BMF holder, and we can clash it up for big dollars or something like that.”

What do you think, fight fans? Does a Holland vs. Garry matchup wet your beak?

Sound off!

It may be hard to believe but Jon Anik and Colby Covington are still on good terms after “Chaos” launched an ugly tirade against the UFC play-by-play announcer threatening to orphan his children.

The situation turned awry when Anik came to the rescue of streaking contender Belal Muhammad last month after “Remember the Name” was passed over for a title shot in favor of Covington. Many members of the mixed martial arts (MMA) community were outraged because Covington hasn’t defeated anyone other than Jorge Masvidal since 2020 while Muhammad is riding a nine-fight unbeaten streak.

Needless to say, Covington was not happy to hear Anik’s support for Muhammad, who Covington considers to be a “racist.” The outspoken welterweight veteran delivered an unprovoked verbal assault on Anik that caused massive ripples around the MMA community. The disdain for Covington was at an all-time high.

“Jon Anik, dude, I don’t want your kids to grow up without a dad,” Covington told MMA Fighting last month. “Just realize you live in Boca [Raton], I live in Miami, motherf—ker. You’re not too far from me. So you better shut your f—king mouth. You poke the bear? Now you get the bear that comes after you.”

Until now, Anik has remained silent about the situation. The long-time UFC announcer ended up discussing the incident with Covington in private and says the too don’t have any lasting issues. That said, Anik was surprised to hear Covington drag his children into the conversation.

“I think you can argue he crossed the line, but I never felt particularly threatened,” said Anik during a recent interview with Morning Kombat. “More so I felt the support from Jorge Masvidal and Jamahal Hill and a lot of other athletes, and I certainly appreciate that. I don’t know that you need to inject anybody’s kids into the equation, and there will come a point in time on Snapchat or somewhere else where my 11-year-old daughter is going to come across that clip and there will be some explaining to do. But by and large, Colby and I are good.

“We have addressed it privately. We didn’t talk, we messaged each other. And it’s interesting because I’ve tried not to lean into it, right? I just leaned into it a little bit there, but for me, ultimately there were two parts of that navigation when he said what he said. First of all, what did I say that has upset the high-profile professional athlete? I’ve got to figure that out.

“Did I say something? Did I analytically go a little bit too far with my editorialization of the welterweight championship pecking order?” Anik continued. “Right? So once I realized that, eh, seems like his beef is really just that I gave Belal Muhammad a platform, and I didn’t really say anything that sensational, then you can address what he had said. And if I’m being honest, it was Colby in character for me. When I first saw the clip I thought nothing of it, and then my phone got pretty noisy and I thought more of it as the day went on.”

While it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Anik would offer forgiveness to Covington this early on that is exactly what has happened. It’s a testament to how professional and respected Anik is, but more importantly it shows that most people around the MMA community look at Covington as a gimmick. In fact, Anik feels like Covington’s actions were more in line with WWE than UFC and that he needs to watch who he puts around him.

“This was the first time that I can recall that it felt very WWE to me, as a UFC play-by-play guy,” Anik said.

“Certainly, I’ve been more off-put by maybe some of Colby’s cronies, who are like, ‘You don’t have to worry about him, but now maybe it’s me.’ But there have been high-profile athletes that have taken issue with what I have said, and I try to bury the hatchet and either stand by what I said or apologize. But there’s not a show that goes by that someone is not upset with something, fighter or coach. It’s the world in which we live.

“But what I wrote to Colby was, I just need to know that I still your respect enough to do my job,” Anik added. “Because I don’t need him to go to the fight meeting, but I need him to allow me to call the fight.”

What say you, Maniacs? Can we all forgive Covington like Anik has?

Let’s discuss below!

The upcoming boxing match between Jake Paul and Nate Diaz scheduled for Aug. 5 in Dallas, Tex., has produced mixed reviews and for good reason. It’s a fun matchup on paper, but is Diaz really the best possible choice for Paul?

Paul, who already has one foot out the boxing door in advance to his anticipated MMA debut, is still trying to prove that he’s a professional fighter inside of the ring. His recent grudge match with Tommy Fury this past February was supposed to cement his status as just that, but “Problem Child” was defeated by Fury via split decision and ended up tasting his first pro loss.

Many thought Paul was going to finally compete against fellow social media sensation, KSI, but he has opted to welcome Diaz to the squared circle. Combat enthusiast and former UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping, believes that Paul is looking for another opportunity against someone who isn’t a real boxer.

“You do learn more from your losses more than what you do your victories but he’s not talking about that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “He’s saying, ‘Listen, everyone just thinks I’m vulnerable.’ Well, you were clearly showing that when you first went up against a professional boxer, not a basketballer, not a wrestler, not a past his prime MMA guy, this was a boxer. He was young, a novice boxer, and you got beat fair and square. So you are more vulnerable, but it’s not the best thing that’s happened to your career.

“Now you’re saying your team wanted you to take an easy fight like KSI. Well, yeah that would be the natural thing to do because you are a YouTuber yourself. Make a s*** ton of money. I’m not hating. It’s just all this talk about taking on [Saul] ‘Canelo’ [Alvarez] and being one of the greatest boxers that ever lived. He stepped up against Tommy and he got his ass kicked. Let’s be honest. Maybe not kicked, he got beat bloody fair and square.”

While some have been impressed by Paul’s evolution as a boxer Bisping still isn’t sold on “Problem Child” being the real deal. The UFC color commentator would like to see Paul capture a win over someone other than an aging veteran from another sport before giving his props.

“Nate Diaz, this will be a fun fight,” Bisping said. “Nate Diaz is no walk in the park. Very, very tough. Extremely hard to finish. Granted, he’s not a boxer, he’s almost 40 years old. He’s got a great submission game, you can’t use that. But the hands of Nate Diaz, they’re good. You can’t deny that.

“Listen, I’m not hating on Jake Paul, but this is the pattern, this is the flow. It’s an almost 40 non-boxer. It’s a guy who’s a submission specialist with decent hands. He’s much smaller. Diaz is very tall, he’s not a small man by any stretch of the imagination. But he did fight the majority of his career as a lightweight, okay? So it is going to be very interesting to see how it goes down.”

Billy Quarantillo is entering the biggest fight of his career to date when he meets Brazilian veteran Edson Barboza tomorrow night (Sat., April 15, 2023) at UFC Kansas City live on ESPN and ESPN+ from inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The featherweight matchup will serve as the co-main, which will be the highest billing for Quarantillo so far in his UFC career.

Quarantillo, 34, has quickly turned into one of the biggest fan favorites on the UFC roster. The former Contender Series winner often takes a beating before dishing it out, but that has produced countless Fight of the Night candidates when Quarantillo steps inside of the Octagon. It’s not the greatest method of victory, but Quarantillo’s efforts have allowed him to stand out in a jam-packed featherweight division.

That said, this weekend will be Quarantillo’s most dangerous test yet. Barboza is one of the most seasoned strikers on the UFC roster today and a veteran who has done it all inside of the cage. It will be up to Quarantillo to rise to the occasion again and prove he’s a top 15 talent.

“This is easily the toughest opponent I’ve ever fought. This is the biggest fight of my career,” Quarantillo told reporters during UFC Kansas City’s media day earlier this week. “This fight has the potential to do the most for my career, get me to that next level, get me even bigger names down the road, that top-15 ranking. So obviously I’m super excited about this one.”

“It’s definitely intimidating watching his highlight reel, and it’s a highlight reel I’ve watched as a fan,” he added.

While Quarantillo already holds victories over the likes of Alexander Hernandez, Gabriel Benitez, and Spike Carlyle, none of those fighters will increase his UFC stock quite like Barboza would. And even though Barboza is just 2-5 in his last seven trips to the Octagon a victory over him will put Quarantillo on an entirely new career level.

“I think it’s going to put my name up there, more mainstream, with a lot more casual fans,” said Quarantillo. “Being the co-main event, if I can go out there and get a huge finish, it puts me into that next level of UFC fighter where – I always joke about, there’s like that row of UFC fighters, and they go by the row and it’s like, ‘I know this guy, this guy, this guy.’ Hopefully I can get invited to that row after this fight, and that’s where it puts me.”

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