Author: Dan Hiergesell

Fight fans witnessed a combat rarity yesterday (Fri., Apr. 29, 2022) at BKFC 24’s ceremonial weigh ins when Lorenzo Hunt mashed an actual tomato in the face of MMA veteran Joe Riggs.

Hunt and Riggs will meet for the undisputed BKFC light heavyweight championship later tonight at BKFC 24 live on FITE TV from inside Pacific Steel and Recycling Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Montana. Despite their impending title fight the two light heavyweights couldn’t hold themselves back at the ceremonial faceoffs.

Hunt brought a tomato on stage with him as he whipped his glasses off and stepped forward for a staredown. He took a bite of the tomato as Riggs looked at him and murmured something under his breath. That’s when Hunt took the tomato and smashed it directly in Riggs’ face. Riggs exploded with fury and tried his best to push through security to get to Hunt, who thought the entire ordeal was hilarious.

We’ve seen some pretty insane altercations at weigh ins and faceoffs throughout the years in combat sports, but this was quite unique. Bringing a tomato on stage, casually eating it, and then mushing it through your opponent’s face is simply on another level. It also makes for a great pre-fight photo.

We’ll have to wait and see if Hunt can hit Riggs in the face with his bare knuckles later tonight at BKFC 24 and retain his light heavyweight title.

Stick with Mania for BKFC 24 results and highlights.

Marlon Vera will enter the biggest fight of his combat career later tonight (Sat., Apr. 30, 2022) at UFC Vegas 53 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, when “Chito” meets Rob Font in a pivotal bantamweight main event.

While Vera has become a mainstay in the UFC’s jam-packed bantamweight division this will be the first time he will be headlining a UFC event. “Chito” has made nearly 20 trips to the Octagon throughout his career, but this weekend will be special. Vera will be breaking down barriers as the first Ecuadorian fighter to be featured in a UFC main event.

“Of course, this is huge for me,” Vera told MMA Junkie. “This is a golden opportunity for me and this is something I’m taking very seriously.

“The work continues. After my last fight, I returned to the gym and I stayed focused. I stayed ready and learned new things. I knew something big was coming up and it did. All the work – everything is where it’s supposed to be and I feel good. This weekend, I know I’m going to put away Font.”

Vera, 29, is coming off the biggest performance of his career when he finished former UFC champion Frankie Edgar will one of the craziest front kick knockouts you will ever see (watch the fight replay HERE). The outing helped remind fight fans that Vera is a force to be reckoned with as one of the more promising contenders at 135 pounds today. It was also his ninth finish out of his last 10 UFC victories, proving that he’s one of the best finishers around.

That said, you’re only as good as your last fight so it’s important that Vera rides this momentum and puts on a memorable performance opposite Font this weekend at UFC Vegas 53. Vera will have more pressure put on him than ever before, but with the support of his fan base and home country of Ecuador “Chito” believes he’ll continue to climb the ranks.

“The support has always been there and people have always been loyal to my work and they’re always connected,” Vera said. “What’s happening is that each time it grows more and more. It’s more people who join the support, more people who follow my fights and that can only help me. The bigger the energy, the better and the more sure of myself I feel in there. But yeah, people have always been supporting me.”

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 53 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 53 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Font vs. Vera” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ lineup click here.

Stephen Thompson has seen the Diaz Bat-signal flying high in the combat sky and he’s ready to answer the call.

The past few months have been exceedingly difficult for Nate Diaz as he tries to lock down his next trip to the Octagon. Diaz has many potential matchups at his disposal — including a trilogy bout with Conor McGregor and a grudge match with Dustin Poirier — but the Stockton native hasn’t been able to finalize a deal. Diaz only has one fight left on his current UFC contract so the promotion is taking a cautious and calculated approach to his next fight.

Despite the issues Diaz has been having with UFC that hasn’t stopped the veteran fighter from hitting social media and calling out anyone who’s interested in fighter. While many fighters have answered the call there is one that makes for an interesting choice. That would be former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson.

“Wonderboy” took to social media earlier this week to kindly issue a challenge to both Nate and Nick Diaz. Neither Diaz has yet to reply, but it’s an interesting proposal from one of the best strikers the Octagon has ever seen.

“I’m down to fight @nickdiaz209 or @NateDiaz209! I have nothing but respect for both of those guys and I’m ready to go. Who wouldn’t love good striking battle?!”

It’s unknown at this time what UFC has planned for Nate Diaz, but this wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Thompson is the type of fighter that would stand and deliver alongside Diaz while offering almost zero threat of a takedown. He’s a household name and another fighter competing at 170 pounds that is sort of in limbo as the current title picture plays itself out.

As for Nick Diaz, it is unknown at this time when he might be making his return to the cage. It’s rumored to take place sometime in 2022, but considering Diaz struggled in his return fight against Robbie Lawler last September maybe fighting “Wonderboy” isn’t the best idea out there.

Either way, it’s nice to see Thompson putting his name out there. He’s not the type of guy that’s going to bad mouth a fighter during a callout so this is as blunt as he’s ever going to get.

What do you think, Maniacs? Should UFC book “Wonderboy” against one of the Diaz brothers?

Sound off!

Zabit Magomedsharipov is coming to a hospital near you.

The Russian fighter is one of the most promising contenders in the UFC’s growing featherweight division, but he hasn’t competed in quite some time. In fact, the last time fight fans saw Magomedsharipov compete he knocked off Calvin Kattar in a Fight of the Night performance back in 2019. The victory pushed Zabit’s undefeated UFC record to 6-0.

Fight fans have been waiting for Magomedsharipov to return to the Octagon ever since, but he never made it back to the cage. Due in part to an issue with is immune system and overall lack of drive to return to fighting, Zabit has been sidelined for well over two years.

Fight fans were given a sign of hope earlier this year when it was revealed that Magomedsharipov was returning to training. However, Zabit leaked some surprising news this past week that he’s putting his fighting career on hold (yet again) to head into the medical field.

This is according to Sportskeeda, who reported the news earlier this week. Magomedsharipov, who has been pretty quiet over the years regarding his future in MMA, posted the following message to Instagram as well:

“The medical world of Makhachkala will soon have a new name,” he wrote.

In addition to the post, MMA reporter Ariel Helwani discussed Zabit’s declining interest in fighting during a recent episode of The MMA Hour. According to Helwani, religion played a role in Magomedsharipov making a decision to step away from the fight game.

“From what I was told, he had almost like this moral religious dilemma that he was dealing with,” reported Helwani (h/t Bloody Elbow). “He’s very religious and I think he reached a point where he just didn’t wanna do it anymore. Now, his brother fights and he corners his brother, which I think is very interesting, but obviously everyone is different.”

Magomedsharipov, 31, produced an overall MMA record of 18-1 from 2012-2019. After defeating the likes of Kattar, Jeremy Stephens, and Brandon Davis inside of the Octagon, the former ACB featherweight champion was pegged a future title contender in the UFC’s 145-pound division. Not to mention the four post-fight bonuses he won in just six UFC appearances.

For now, we’ll never know what Magomedsharipov would have been able to accomplish as he climbed the UFC featherweight rankings. At least he’s doing something better with his life than inflicting pain for pay.

Many people were so surprised to see Khamzat Chimaev look human in his matchup against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 that they’re beginning to blame Darren Till.

Chimaev, who remains the biggest rising star in combat sports today, didn’t get the finish he was looking for against “Durinho” just a few weeks ago. The undefeated Chechen fighter was a massive favorite after decimating his opposition over his first four UFC appearances and many expected “Borz” to do the same to Burns. However, Burns was a huge step up in competition and gave Chimaev a true run for his money. Chimaev still will won the fight by unanimous decision, but some see it as a bit of a loss.

When it comes to momentum and carrying an aura of invincibility Chimaev certainly lost a little pizzazz in his bout with Burns. It should only help him become a better fighter in the long run, but now the welterweight contender finds the need to defend his performance against all naysayers.

The most recent notion to hit the MMA airwaves is that Till, who has become a close friend and main training partner for Khamzat, created a negative impact on Chimaev’s fight camp. The two spent a lot of time together over the past few months and have become brothers in the fight game. Till is one of the better strikers in the UFC today and has certainly helped Chimaev fine-tune some of his skills along the way. The same can be said about Chimaev helping Till get himself in order.

Chimaev, who has made no excuses for not finishing Burns at UFC 273, doesn’t believe for one second that Till was a distraction for his camp.

“There is no bad influence. It’s all good. How could it be if he [Darren Till] helped with a training camp?,” said Chimaev during an appearance on the Hustle MMA YouTube channel. “Nothing has changed. I just messed up in the fight and that’s it. That’s the only reason. I was emotional. To be honest, it was a good lesson and I’m happy with the outcome.”

Chimaev, 27, remains on the cusp of a UFC welterweight title shot. The promotion is already targeting a potential clash with Colby Covington later this year on ABC. If “Borz” is able to win that matchup he’ll certainly punch his ticket for a future date with current UFC welterweight king Kamaru Usman.

As for Till, he’ll likely be in Khamzat’s corner the entire time. The two have formed quite a friendship and only seem to be having a positive effect on one another.

Jake Paul got roasted earlier today (Fri., Apr. 29, 2022) during a Q&A in advance of Katie Taylor’s women’s lightweight title fight with Amanda Serrano this weekend live on DAZN in New York City.

Paul, who is serving as Serrano’s promoter for this event, has been catching flak all week in front of cameras. Just the other day he got into it with Taylor’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, and traded words over his own boxing career. Hearn told Paul to his face that he’ll “never get close to being a world-class fighter” and the social media star had to sit still and eat it. It was quite spectacular.

On Friday, Paul joined Hearn on stage for a Q&A open to media members and boxing fans. The 25-year-old promoter was instantly trolled once the questioning began and put himself in the crosshairs of hungry boxing enthusiasts. From not knowing the names of rising prospects to getting trolled to place another side bet for Saturday’s match up, Paul simply seemed out of place.

One person asked, “Who cut your hair? Who’s your barber?”

Another pulled off the ultimate troll job and asked, “Do you suffer from imposter syndrome?” Of course, Paul didn’t know what this was.

You can check out the full Q&A and all the banter in the above video player courtesy of MMA Fighting.

Taylor vs. Serrano will go down tomorrow night (Sat., Apr. 30, 2022) live on DAZN from inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. Up for grabs will be Taylor’s WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring female lightweight titles. It will be the first female fight to headline a boxing card at MSG and one of the most important clashes in the history of women’s boxing.

MMAmania will have LIVE coverage of the main event right here. The main card broadcast kicks off on DAZN at 7:30 p.m. ET, while Taylor and Serrano are expected to make their ring walks around 10:15 p.m. ET.