Author: Dan Hiergesell

It’s not too often a MMA fighter is forced to have a testicle removed due to training, but here we are.

On Thursday, Professional Fighters League (PFL) lightweight Christian Lohsen took to social media to reveal that he suffered an accident in training that required one testicle to be surgically removed. According to Lohsen, he absorbed a knee to the groin that ruptured his family jewel and forced him to the emergency room.

Check out Lohsen’s post below:

“So last night was rough,” wrote Lohsen. “In a training accident I got my left testicle ruptured by a knee which led to it getting surgically removed. Thank you to everyone last night that helped me get to the hospital. I’m fine home resting, surgery went well. Doc said I won’t lose testosterone or ability to have kids from this. If I lose the other one, however, it’s a different story, so from now on, if you hit me in my last testicle, we aren’t friends.”

Lohsen, 26, is a talented fighter currently competing in PFL’s lightweight division. He has produced a 9-2 record since turning professional back in 2017. Despite suffering a decision loss to J.J. Okanovich on Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2019 Lohsen rebounded to win his next two fights, including a decision win over Jonas Flok in his PFL debut this past August.

Many have questioned the fighting future of Frankie Edgar following his knockout loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 268 earlier this month. While some believe that it may be time for the former UFC lightweight champion to hang it up MMA analyst Chael Sonnen thinks Edgar showed us enough in his loss to continue fighting.

Edgar, who was already coming off a disastrous knockout loss to Cory Sandhagen back in February, was in control during his matchup with Vera last weekend. The veteran’s pace, precision, and top game allowed him to jump out ahead of Vera on the scorecards and line himself up for a key decision win. However, Vera found a window of opportunity to land a brutal front kick to Edgar’s face with just over a minute left to stop the former champion.

Considering Edgar is now 40 years of age and coming off back-to-back knockout defeats the MMA community has wondered if “The Answer” should call it quits. Sonnen has been one of Edgar’s biggest supporters over the years — even calling Frankie his favorite fighter — and believes that the veteran showed enough in his matchup against Vera to ward off the retirement talk for now.

“Frankie won every bit of that fight,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “Frankie won every exchange, every round, and every minute of that fight. He lost one second of it – one second, and boom: kicked in the mouth, falls down, fight gets stopped. That’s a hard way to go out. Frankie definitely proved to us he could still do this.

“He definitely proved to us he still trains, he’s still in great shape, he’s got the speed, he’s got the power, he’s got the range. His boxing was on point digging to the body. Frankie looked great. He lost one second. We don’t know if we’re going to see a future Hall of Famer, a former champion of the world again because he lost one second of a 13 and a half minute fight? Man, that’s tough.”

There’s really no telling what Edgar might decide to do moving forward. If a future win doesn’t land him back in title contention then he could decide to walk away. Either way, it’s a decision that is completely up to the former UFC champion.

“Very tough conversation: Are we there yet with Frankie?” Sonnen said. “I hope not. I do have a hard time answering the second part of the question: If this isn’t it for Frankie, I must also be able to submit for you then, what is next? I’ve never felt that Frankie, my favorite fighter, has done a very good job of steering his career. He does not get the game – he does not play the media.

“He is a blue collar, straight-up competitor. Shake hands before, shake hands after, walk away and live with the result. That’s the wrestler in him. I hope he breaks from that ideology because nobody can answer the question of what is next for Frankie, what should be next for Frankie, what makes sense to keep Frankie around and have him go out and try one more time, better than Frankie.”

What say you, Maniacs? Did you see enough out of Edgar at UFC 268 to see him keep fighting? Should he?

Sound off!

Now that Jorge Masvidal has withdrawn from his scheduled matchup with rival Leon Edwards at UFC 269 this December the focus has turned to a potential clash between “Rocky” and undefeated phenom Khamzat Chimaev.

Edwards, who hasn’t lost in the UFC’s welterweight division since dropping a decision to Kamaru Usman back in 2015, is hoping to hold out for a rematch with the champion sometime early next year. The matchup with Masvidal was supposed to seal the deal for Edwards, but he believes he’s already done enough to lock down his first UFC title shot against Usman.

While Edwards is one of the only other contenders left that Usman hasn’t defended his title against there are rumblings of a potential clash between “Rocky” and Chimaev. The two were already scheduled to meet at UFC Vegas 21 earlier this year, but “Borz” was forced to withdraw due to his battle with COVID-19. The matchup was never rescheduled and both welterweights have gone their separate ways since.

However, it seems as if Masvidal’s recent withdrawal has opened a window of opportunity for Edwards and Chimaev to schedule another fight. Edwards doesn’t seem too thrilled about the idea, but Chimaev is coming off another dominant win inside of the Octagon and would be a great feather in the cap of “Rocky.”

Earlier this week, betting odds were released for a potential clash between Edwards and Chimaev (h/t Low Kick MMA). Surprisingly, “Rocky” is a +150 underdog against the undefeated youngster. Chimaev, on the other hand, is already a -175 favorite over Edwards. Those odds may seem a little lopsided considering Edwards’ current win streak, but it’s a testament of how good Chimaev seems to be.

As of now, Edwards wants nothing to do with this matchup. But considering UFC found a way to schedule it once before it’s possible that a little extra cash will convince “Rocky” to sign on the dotted line again.

Kamaru Usman captured his fifth-straight title defense last night (Sat., Nov. 6, 2021) at UFC 268 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, when the UFC welterweight champion edged out Colby Covington in their long-awaited rematch via unanimous decision (highlights HERE).

In addition to the welterweight headliner, UFC 268 spit out some of the best action of the year. From the “Prelims” to the stacked PPV card, fight fans got a little bit of everything from UFC’s return to New York City. Check them out below and let us know your favorite:

• Rose Namajunas retained her UFC women’s strawweight title by winning a close split decision over former champion Zhang Weili (watch it HERE)
• Undefeated Irish sensation Ian Garry scored a massive knockout win in his Octagon debut with a first-round finish over Jordan Williams (highlights HERE)
• Heavyweight journeyman Chris Barnett spoiled Gian Villante’s final UFC appearance with a wild spinning wheel kick TKO stoppage
• Former GLORY double champ Alex Pereira, who is also known for being the only man to ever knockout Israel Adesanya, made a huge UFC debut with a second-round flying knee TKO over Andreas Michailidis
• Nassourdine Imavov punched his ticket to the middleweight top 15 with a bloody TKO finish over contender Edmen Shahbazyan (see it HERE)

• Middleweight newcomer Chris Curtis stunned the oddsmakers by upsetting the very powerful Phil Hawes with a first-round TKO finish
• Bobby Green reminded the lightweight division just how good he is with a first-round TKO stoppage over former title challenger Al Iaquinta (watch HERE)
• Lightweight contenders Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler went toe-to-toe in an epic three-round war, which saw “Highlight” escape with the unanimous decision (highlights HERE)
• Bantamweight contender Marlon Vera scored the biggest win of his MMA career with a blistering third-round front kick KO over former UFC champion Frankie Edgar

In order to sift through the action and see which fighters took home an extra $50,000, we take a closer look at the official UFC 268 bonus winners below:

Fight of the Night: Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler

Performance of the Night: Marlon Vera

Performance of the Night: Alex Pereira

Performance of the Night: Chris Barnett

Performance of the Night: Bobby Green

For complete UFC 268 results and coverage click here.

Kamaru Usman had to walk through fire yet again in his rematch with Colby Covington last night (Sat., Nov. 6, 2021) at UFC 268 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, but the undisputed UFC welterweight champion managed to implement his power and outlast “Chaos” to earn the unanimous decision win.

Both fighters showed patience in the early going. Colby was switching stances quite a bit before leaping in for a takedown attempt and briefly bringing the action to the canvas. Usman returned favor with his own takedown later in the frame but “Chaos” quickly returned to his feet. Usman did the most damage in the second with solid strikes and more takedown defense. Covington’s patience started to cost him and it allowed the champion to unload a collection of heavy punches that knocked “Chaos” down twice. A desperate takedown attempt saved Covington from getting stopped.

Covington was able to land a nice combination to begin the third. Usman still found his shots along the way but “Chaos” seemed to regain some momentum as he caught the champion with more strikes towards the end of the frame. Covington also looked to have taken Usman down for the first time but it wasn’t ruled so. The fourth round saw Covington come out aggressive and sting Usman with hard punches and jabs. Usman returned fire and the two welterweights exchanged heavy leather in the center of the cage. Covington seemed to pull ahead a little bit towards the end of the round as Usman wobbled at the bell.

The fifth and final round saw Covington land brutal uppercuts that had Usman hurt. Usman returned favor with a stiff jab and counter hooks to keep “Chaos” off his tail. Covington did all he could to get inside and make it a dirty fight, but Usman was able to limit the damage and keep his welterweight title when the final bell sounded.

Check out the video highlights below courtesy of UFC/ESPN:

For complete UFC 268 results and coverage click here.

Canelo Alvarez became boxing’s undisputed super middleweight champion last night (Sat., Nov. 6, 2021) live on Showtime PPV and FITE TV from inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, when the pound-for-pound star finished Caleb Plant via TKO in the 11th round. As a result, Canelo walked away with the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, IBF and The Ring super middleweight titles.

While Plant did well in the early going to keep things close Canelo once again pulled away from his foe late into the fight. It happened in the 11th round as Canelo landed a nasty left hook and then peppered Plant with two uppercuts. Plant fell between the ropes but eventually returned to his feet. That’s when Canelo landed the final shots and put Plant down for good.

Check out the late finish below:

For complete ‘Canelo vs. Plant’ results and coverage click here.