Author: Dan Hiergesell

Japanese pro wrestler Katsuya Kitamura saw his MMA debut go up in flames earlier today (Sat., Nov. 20, 2021) at RIZIN 32 from Okinawa, Japan, when Kitamura was choked out by heavyweight counterpart Bobby Ologun in the second round.

Kitamura, who is one massive individual, competed under the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) banner from 2015-2019. He then moved to a career in bodybuilding before testing his luck in an exhibition kickboxing match against K1 fighter Rukiya Anpo. Kitamura brought some unique experience into the ring on Saturday, but none of it really helped him against Ologun.

In Round 2, Ologun was able to gain the upper hand on the ground and take Kitamura’s back along the ropes. Kitamura seemed exhausted and it allowed Ologun to sneak his arm under the chin and implement a tight death squeeze. It only took a few seconds and Kitamura was tapping in defeat.

Check out the highlights below:

Ketlen Vieira is entering the biggest fight of her MMA career later tonight (Sat., Nov. 20, 2021) at UFC Vegas 43 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, when the Brazilian contender takes on former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate in the main event. If Vieira is able to defeat Tate she will position herself for a possible title shot heading into next year.

This will be Vieira’s first UFC main event since entering the promotion back in 2016. Luckily, “Fenomeno” will have her chance to make the biggest impact possible as she meets a former champion in Tate with substantial household name value. Tate, despite fighting just once in the past five years due to retirement, remains one of the most popular female fighters in the sport today. It’s a massive spot for Vieira to say the least.

“I was very happy with her return because she’s a great athlete,” Vieira told MMA Fighting. “I found her retirement to be premature but I believe she had her plans, and I was very happy she’s back, another great athlete returning to the UFC. She performed really well, it’s not easy to come back with a win after such a long time away.

“One of my main goals in the UFC, aside from being champion, is to fight the best.”

Vieira, 30, has lost two out of her last three UFC appearances after going 4-0 to start her promotional career. In order to get back on track and work her way towards her first UFC title shot Vieira will need a win over “Cupcake” this weekend in Las Vegas. If she’s able to do that Vieira could line herself up to fight the winner of Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena, which goes down next month at UFC 269.

“If that’s what God wants, I’ll be ready,” Vieira said. “I do believe a victory could put me in this position. That’s one of the reasons why I gave everything I got in this camp and came well-prepared.

“All I can guarantee is I’m ready to fight five rounds. It was a wonderful camp where I had to overcome a lot every single day and believe in myself. I was put at test and went through the worst possible scenario ahead of this fight. The only thing I can tell you is that I’m going for the victory at all times. She wants to become champion again and so do I. It’s going to be a very tough fight for both of us.”

As for the fight itself, Vieira has a really good chance of defeating Tate in her main event debut. Tate may have big-fight experience, but “Fenomeno” is bigger, longer, and possesses really good takedown defense. If she finds herself in control on the feet it may be tough for Tate to turn the tides.

“She’s an extremely experienced athlete that has been though all types of adverse situations,” Vieira said. “Long fights, comeback fights, so nothing I present to her will be new to her, right? That’s the reason why I’m so focused and so confident in the training I’ve done, in what my coaches told me. I’ll listen to my corners and feel the fight. It’s going to be a big fight.”

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 43 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET.

The proposed boxing match between Mike Tyson and Logan Paul is still in the works, but “Iron Mike” seems ready to unleash all hell on the social media influencer.

It’s not a classic clash of combat starts but Tyson and Paul are expected to meet sometime in early 2022 in what would be one of the biggest PPV events of the year. Paul is one of the more popular figures on social media today and Tyson is one of the greatest boxers in the history of the world. A meeting between the two should do upwards of one million PPV buys, which is what Paul pulled in opposite Floyd Mayweather Jr. for their exhibition match earlier this year.

In typical Paul fashion, the brash 26-year-old has been talking a little bit of trash towards Tyson. Paul has referred to the former heavyweight king as “old” and someone that he could certainly defeat. While Tyson is well past his prime and no longer the feared striker that he once was “Iron Mike” is still an absolute brickhouse at 55 years of age.

Tyson, who fought Roy Jones Jr. to a draw in his return to boxing back in Nov. 2020, recently posted the below training clip (via Fight Hype) to let the world know his intentions heading into next year. If Paul finds himself on the wrong end of any of these combinations he could taste his first knockout defeat at the hands of an “old man.”

What do you think, fight fans? Is this training session enough proof to believe that Tyson will finish Paul if they meet next year?

Let us know in the comments below!

Miesha Tate may be in the minority, but the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion believes Julianna Pena has a good chance of defeating Amanda Nunes next month at UFC 269.

Tate, who will compete in her own main event this weekend at UFC Vegas 43 (details HERE), is one of the more respected female fighters in the sport. Not only has she already fought Nunes for the 135-pound title, but “Cupcake” also coached Pena on The Ultimate Fighter all the way back in 2013. She’s familiar with both fighters and understands what to look for when reviewing the matchup on paper.

According to Tate, Pena has a unique advantage over Nunes that some of her previous opponents don’t share. That would be the wrestling and top game of Pena. Tate believes “The Venezuelan Vixen” will be able to give the champion different looks and force her to fight out of her comfort zone.

“Yes, of course I like it,” said Tate when asked about Pena’s chances of defeating Nunes (via AG Fight). “Amanda is a tough fight for anyone. She’s the Mount Everest of the division, she’s the one that everybody’s like: ‘Can I do it (beat her)?’ But I think if anyone in the division can do that right now it’s Juli. She definitely has the best chance. I trained with her, she is very tough, she doesn’t give up. And she has the ability to put this fight in places where we haven’t really seen Amanda get tested in years. We’ve seen what she can do to people who try to stand up with her. We haven’t seen, lately, what she’s going to do when someone tests her on the ground.

“And Juli has the cardio to do that, she has the motivation to do that, she has the tenacity. She has everything she needs to put Amanda in uncomfortable positions. And there’s another thing, I think when you’ve been champion for a really long time and you’ve barely missed a second of a fight, what happens when you’re under someone you didn’t think you’d be, for a few minutes or a round? What happens in that frame of mind? Those are the intangibles that people are probably not taking into account and that I take for granted when I see someone like Juli fighting someone like Amanda.”

Pena, 32, is coming off a dominant submission win over the highly-respected Sara McMann this past January. She may be just 2-2 in her last four trips to the Octagon, but Pena sports a 6-2 overall record under the UFC banner since 2013 and has always had the potential to fight for a world title.

All of that said, Pena is going up against the greatest female fighter of all time. What Nunes has done to her competition over the past six years is nothing short of spectacular. She has defeated the likes of Cris Cyborg, Valentina Shevchenko, Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm, and Tate. Pena will have to unleash the fight of her life to outsmart “Lioness” at UFC 269 and pull off one of the biggest title fight upsets in recent memory.

Former UFC fighter Diego Sanchez is currently battling COVID-19 and he’s here to confirm the severity of the virus.

Sanchez, who parted ways with UFC earlier this year after a storied career with the promotion, took to social media on Friday to reveal he has contracted the coronavirus. While Sanchez is as tough as they come and one of the most brutal fighters in the history of the sport, “Nightmare” held little back when explaining some of the symptoms he’s been dealing with. Despite being a professional athlete in relatively good health Sanchez seems to be experiencing some difficulties with his COVID-19 recovery.

“Shitting, coughing, pukin, constant hot cold fevers, pain in every joint, migraines, 5 days no sleep and constantly short of breath. My boy @luisbaboon warned me I had no idea it was this evil!!! @ColbyCovMMA was talkin that shit saying it’s just a common cold. Prayers for all the sick.”

Sanchez later revealed in a reply to a fan that he would be heading to urgent care to receive “regeneron” treatment.

“Going to urgent care to get regeneron you should too.”

This could not have come at a worse time for Sanchez as he tries to find his next landing spot in combat sports. While the former UFC fighter has a bunch of options at his disposal it’s already been rumored that Sanchez is in talks with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) to fight former UFC knockout artist Mike Perry.

Sanchez, 39, last fought at UFC 253 when he lost to welterweight contender Jake Matthews via unanimous decision. The former UFC title challenger did go 3-2 in his last five trips to the Octagon, but still found himself on the free agent market after a nasty split from the promotion. Sanchez will have to heal up and take the proper precautions to defeat COVID-19 before he makes his next move in fighting.

Stick with Mania for more news on Sanchez’s recovery.

Michael Chiesa will have a chance to rebound in a big way tomorrow night (Sat., Nov. 20, 2021) at UFC Vegas 43 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, when “Maverick” takes on undefeated welterweight contender Sean Brady in the co-main event. It will be the first time Chiesa is coming off a loss after moving back up to 170 pounds in 2018.

Chiesa, 33, was closing in on a title shot earlier this year after going 4-0 following his departure from the lightweight division three years ago. Unfortunately, Chiesa was unable to get past red-hot contender Vicente Luque at UFC 265 this past August and ended up losing via first-round submission. It was a disappointing defeat to say the least, especially given Chiesa’s welterweight trajectory entering the fight.

“I just got to his back so fast and just, my mind was like, ‘Go for the finish, go for the finish, put a stamp on this fight.’ And that’s a big gamble when you’re going against the guy as tough as Vicente Luque,” Chiesa said on The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting). “We know how durable he is. And I just thought, in the heat of the moment, I had that mental lapse — like, I’m going to be the guy to finish him and solidify my spot. And the gamble almost paid off. We’d be having a different conversation right now if the gamble paid off, which I was very close to cashing out.

“But it didn’t pay off, and that’s something that I have to live with. So now it’s all about the road to get back into that position, and it starts with Sean Brady.”

The road back for Chiesa does in fact begin this weekend against Brady, who has produced an impressive 4-0 record since his UFC debut back in 2019. While Brady isn’t a household name that’s going to put Chiesa over if he wins he’s still a serious test at 170 pounds. If Chiesa is able to hand Brady his first professional loss it will go a long way for “Maverick” and his climb back up the 170-pound ladder.

“Look, when you get on a nice little win streak in the UFC, the more fights you win, the more political it gets,” Chiesa said. “And coming up short, I’m not here to lobby for different matchups or say yes to this guy, say no to that guy. I’ve never said no to a fight in my entire nine-year tenure with UFC. When they call, I say yes. So when they called with Sean Brady, there was no hesitation to fight this guy. And the good thing is, being in the position I’m in with what I’m doing outside of the octagon, all the analyst work and stuff, I already have the drop on him.

“I already have the notes on him in my phone from when I was studying his fights for the desk show. So I knew what I was getting into and I know what I’m getting into on Saturday, so I’m really excited for this matchup. There was no hesitation to take this fight. I want to test myself against a guy like Sean Brady, especially after how things went in my last fight. I got submitted. I’m a submission specialist. I’ve got to go out there and right that wrong. And I feel like I can do that by going out and fighting a guy like Sean Brady.”

What do you think, Maniacs? Can Chiesa be the first fighter to defeat Brady? If so, what does a win do for his title aspirations entering 2022?

Sound off!

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 43 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET.