Author: Dan Hiergesell

As fight fans gear up for UFC’s return this weekend with UFC Vega 46 they were treated to an early knockout special compliments of ONE Championship: Heavy Hitters in Singapore on Friday.

The incident occurred during a kickboxing match between Giannis Stoforidis and Beybulat Isaev on the main card. Stoforidis was making his ONE Championship debut and going up against a streaking knockout artist in Isaev so expectations were relatively curbed for the 32-year-old Greek fighter.

That said, Stoforidis quickly flipped the script and impressed everyone from the cageside commentators to the fans watching around the world. Moments into the first round both light heavyweights launched heavy left hooks that connected flush. Stoforidis was able to eat the shot and stay conscious as he tumbled to the ground, but Isaev was instantly put out and crashed to the canvas in a heap. The whole fight lasted just 31 seconds.

Check out the finish above courtesy of ONE Championship.

While this isn’t quite as rare as two simultaneous knockouts it’s still pretty unique. Isaev is a devastating knockout artist so for Stoforidis to eat the shot and still score his own finish speaks levels to his ability. It’s safe to say Stoforidis made a memorable debut in his first ONE Championship fight.

Henry Cejudo wanted to make history with a title shot against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 272, but UFC president Dana White had different plans.

After Max Holloway withdrew from his trilogy bout with Volkanovski a collection of UFC fighters reached out for the opportunity to fill in. Cejudo was one of those fighters and did his best to try to get White’s attention. After all, Cejudo is a former UFC double champ at flyweight and bantamweight. A win over Volkanovski at featherweight would have resulted in “Triple C” becoming the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in three separate weight classes.

That type of history-chasing moment is something that UFC usually likes to exploit, but the promotion wasn’t willing to give Cejudo a title shot considering he’s been retired since May 2020. Instead, the title shot went to perennial contender Chan Sung Jung, who will now meet Volkanovski for the featherweight strap at UFC 273 this coming April.

White, who has never seemed interested in welcoming Cejudo back to the mix with a title shot, recently explained his decision to overlook the former champion when searching for Holloway’s replacement.

“I can tell you this: The ‘Korean Zombie’ (Chan Sung Jung) has been here fighting,” White told BT Sport. “This guy’s retired. He’s been off for how many years now, and he wants to come in and fight Alexander Volkanovski? You’ve got guys like the Zombie, Josh Emmett, Giga (Chikadze) who’s fighting this weekend. You’ve got these guys that are in here doing it three times a year and working their way up. For Cejudo to retire and then just think he should be able to come in and jump into any weight division and take on the champion, it’s not how it works.”

Cejudo, who has become one of the more outspoken fighters on social media today, wasted little time responding to White’s comments. “Triple C” posted the following message to Twitter Friday afternoon.

“So if I had blonde hair and blue eyes or if I was a Canadian with a accent, maybe you would give it to me? I defend both my belts unlike GPS. I left on top and retired on that Monday to give the rest of the division’S a chance. You are plain out scared that I will win,” wrote Cejudo.

As of now Cejudo still plans to make his Octagon return in 2022 one way or another. It would have been pretty cool to see him do it against Volkanovski and try to win his third title, but it seems like “Triple C” has to get back in the good graces of the boss before that happens.

A gruesome finger injury has knocked former NFL star Greg Hardy out of his heavyweight clash with Sergey Spivak next weekend at UFC 270.

Hardy, who was originally expected to fight Aleksei Oleinik before Spivak stepped in on short notice earlier this week, took to social media on Friday to reveal a nasty finger injury. The heavyweight contender didn’t explain how he suffered the injury outside of saying he had just snapped it back into place.

“New date who dis,” Hardy wrote on Instagram. “Gotta keep it light even though I’m kinda sick about it. Putting on a show on the biggest card of the year was my 2022 dream and now I gotta wait. Sorry to all my fans and haters and to my opponent. I wanted this one bad I even took a short-notice change with no question.”

Hardy, 33, was hoping to make a big return to the spotlight in 2022 after dropping consecutive knockout defeats to Marcin Tybura and Tai Tuivasa. A victory over Spivak would have gave Hardy some breathing room in an evolving heavyweight division, but now he’ll have to wait a little longer to start his comeback campaign and finish out his current UFC contract.

UFC 270 is set to take place on Jan. 22 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with a heavyweight title fight between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane serving as the main event.

For more UFC 270 fight card news click here.

The proposed boxing superfight between reigning heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and UFC heavyweight king Francis Ngannou officially has odds.

Earlier this week, Fury took to social media and offered to fight Ngannou inside of the boxing ring with boxing rules, but MMA gloves would be used. Ngannou has long wanted to test his luck inside of the boxing ring so this seemed like the perfect scenario for him, as well as Fury who is quickly cleaning out the heavyweight ranks.

This isn’t the first time the two heavyweights have shared headlines. Back in 2020, Ngannou stated that he was ready to test the top-tier of heavyweights in boxing, which included the likes of Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Deontay Wilder. Fury was quick to respond saying that “Predator” would be “easy work.” Almost two years later and the two heavyweights are still taking their shots at one another.

While a potential boxing match between Fury and Ngannou would be sure to draw massive attention from all corners of the combat sports world it’s far from happening. Fury has a few fighters waiting for their chance to take his heavyweight crown and Ngannou is still under contract with UFC. Not to mention Ngannou’s upcoming title unification bout with interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 later this month. If Ngannou were to lose to Gane it would certainly curb the appeal of a superfight with Fury.

All of that said, we’re in a world of what-ifs and oddsmakers have a field day with this type of stuff. That’s why betting odds have already dropped for a potential clash between Fury and Ngannou. Check them out below courtesy of Bet Online:

Tyson Fury: -600

Francis Ngannou: +400

In addition, odds have been released for whether or not the heavyweight superfight will even take place.

No: -400

Yes: +250

A lot of things need to happen in order for this boxing match to line up and actually come to fruition in 2022, but crazier things have happened. Ngannou clearly has the power to hang around with anybody in the world, but Fury’s technical prowess, movement, and length could be a big challenge for the UFC champion.

What do you think, fight fans? Do we see Fury vs. Ngannou in 2022? If so, should Ngannou be a 4-1 underdog to win?

Sound off!

Some people believe that Khamzat Chimaev is on the path to becoming the undisputed UFC welterweight champion and teammate Alexander Gustafsson is one of them.

Chimaev, who is 4-0 under the UFC banner since making his debut in July 2020, has taken the combat sports world by storm during his short stint with the biggest MMA promotion around. While Chimaev still has some competition to get through in the stacked welterweight division he has absolutely demolished all adversaries to date. This includes his recent first-round submission finish over Li Jingliang at UFC 267 this past October.

It’s clear that Khamzat is special, but with killers like Colby Covington, Leon Edwards, Jorge Masvidal, and Gilbert Burns standing in his way of a potential title shot, “Borz” still has some proving to do. If he’s able to get through some of those contenders and score a shot at UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Gustafsson believes Chimaev would put “Nigerian Nightmare” to sleep.

“I think he’d put Kamaru Usman to sleep honestly,” Gustafsson told ESPN earlier this week. “I think if he just touches his chin, it’s a big chance that Usman goes to sleep. I like Kamaru Usman, he’s a great champ and he’s just been breaking records and like you know, it’s a pleasure to see him fight because he’s a very good technical, you know I love his jab and his wrestling and you can see that he’s on top, Kamaru Usman. But I just can’t see him take Khamzat’s punches.”

Chimaev, who has also competed at middleweight throughout his MMA career, certainly packs a punch. He slept Gerald Meerschaert with one punch just over a year ago and holds six career knockouts through just 10 total wins. That’s not to say Chimaev would obliterate Usman with a single blow, but the track record is certainly there.

Gustafsson, who has been training with Chimaev for years, believes the 27-year-old contender is simply wired differently. “Mauler,” who is a three-time UFC title challenger in his own right, doesn’t know if he’s seen anyone who dedicates themselves to the game quite like Chimaev does.

“I met a lot of MMA athletes and fighters and all that, and he stands out for sure, because of his dedication,” said Gustafsson. “Because of how he out-trains everybody. There’s nobody that trains like him, nobody. I haven’t seen it and I have been around the world seeing fighters train and having their camps and training for a fight. This guy just doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t feel any pain, just goes through it.”

Only time will tell how long Chimaev can keep up his dominance, but you better believe he’s going to get tested in his next couple of fights.

What do you think, Maniacs? Does Chimaev have the ability to put Usman to sleep?

Let us know in the comments below!

Robert Whittaker is ready to prove he’s a different fighter and it starts with his upcoming rematch with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 on Feb. 12 from Houston, Texas.

The first time Whittaker met Adesanya it came back in 2019 at UFC 243. Whittaker was the undisputed UFC middleweight champion at that time and had produced a perfect 8-0 record at 185 pounds since moving up from welterweight five years prior. Adesanya, who was rising the ranks quicker than anyone we’ve seen before, ended up defeating Whittaker with a second-round knockout and walked away with the title. “Last Stylebender” hasn’t relinquished it ever since.

With the rematch just one month away Whittaker is reflecting once again on what went wrong in his first meeting with Adesanya. It’s possible that Adesanya is simply the better fighter, but Whittaker believes his own ego was the biggest reason he lost his title over two years ago.

“Other opponents have tried (to get in my head like Adesanya did),” Whittaker told MMA Junkie. “I think it was a whole host of different things that got into my own head, and there was a lot of things on my end – it’s the way I handled them and the way I took them that made it worse.

“I think (Adesanya) even mentioned it – that my ego was something that affected me. As much as I don’t want to acknowledge my opponent for insight, my ego probably was a big thing, was a big part of why my head space wasn’t where it should’ve been for that fight – why I was letting the debate between Australia and New Zealand get to me, why I was letting all these little things get to me. It showed. The results of that showed in the way I was behaving, in the way I put the fight together and the way I was fighting in the moment. I’ve acknowledged all of that and you can see obviously I’ve come to terms with all of that and I’m a different fighter now than I was then.”

Whittaker, who has gone 3-0 since his loss to Adesanya back at UFC 243, seems to be in a better head space heading into his rematch with the champ. The former middleweight king has had plenty of time to reassess his mistakes and make the necessary changes to reclaim UFC gold in a matter of weeks.

“The only time I feel as an athlete you can correct yourself, you can do better, you can get better, is when you acknowledge your mistakes,” Whittaker said. “That’s what I’ve been doing since that first loss (to Adesanya). And every fight since that loss, I’ve been putting things together, acknowledging what I could do better, what I did wrong, what I could change, and it’s all led me to here. I’m very excited to get in there and put my skills to the test again.”

As far as a prediction for the fight, Whittaker believes a calmer approach will allow him to land better shots than he did in the first fight. It will also prevent him from getting countered by Adesanya, who many consider to be one of the very best strikers in all of MMA.

“Getting hit in the face – definitely that one (was my biggest mistake),” Whittaker said. “(But) probably my recklessness – I was recklessly charging in. I was falling into every one of his baits, every one of his traps, and just stubbornly trying to press forward, trying to press the attack, (and) rip his head off. That’s what was going through my head, and it didn’t work. It didn’t work. That’s not how I usually fight. You don’t see me fight like that in a lot of my other fights, forever.

“I have addressed it. I’ve reflected on it, and we’re going to try to get in there and do something different this next time.”

For complete UFC 271 fight card news click here.