Author: Dan Hiergesell

Alex Oliveira has an unusual message for Niko Price heading into their welterweight scrap later tonight (Sat., Oct. 2, 2021) at UFC Vegas 38 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. That message is to get a vasectomy.

Oliveira, father of 11, learned earlier this week that Price is expecting his sixth child. Having six kids is certainly a tall task, but fathering 11 little rascals is nearly impossible. That’s why Oliveira is lending some advice to Price before it’s too late.

“I’d tell him, ’If you can get a vasectomy already, do it, brother,’” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “I was sexist. ‘Will it continue the same way after surgery?’ And I got 11. If I had done surgery before, I would have gotten only four or five [kids].

“That’s my advise for him, man. Know the truth. Get the surgery done already, because it seems that condoms can’t stop us.”

Children aside, Oliveira desperately needs a win Saturday to gain some momentum heading into 2021. The Brazilian “Cowboy” has lost five out of his last seven trips to the Octagon, including back-to-back submission loses to Shavkat Rakhmonov and Randy Costa. Oliveira needed to make adjustments in camp to ensure he’s ready for a wild fighter like Price and able to capture his first win in over 14 months.

“He’s very versatile, a tough guy that can take a beating,” said Oliveira when asked about Price. “He’s the type of guy that you have to stay alert at all times and in shape, and put pressure at all times. My camp was very medieval. You can expect anything from him so I had to train everything for him. I’m ready for a war.”

The welterweight scrap between Oliveira and Price is already being pegged as the odds-on-favorite to win Fight of the Night at UFC Vegas 38. Both guys seem to bring it every time they step inside of the cage and Saturday should be no different.

“I’m on this journey for a long time,” Oliveira said. “I know we can’t disappoint. I’m going there to give them what they want and have my hands raised. That’s what I need at the moment. I always put pressure over myself, but highs and lows do exist.

“I’ve studied him completely, I know he has won by knockout off his back, with upkicks and unexpected strikes. I’m well-trained, I’m focused. He’s the type of fighter that will try to finish me, take me down and keep me there and win round after round, but the only way you’ll win round after round is if I stand still. I’m hungry, man. I’m here for a fight.”

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 38 fight card HERE, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

Perennial UFC light heavyweight contender Thiago Santos believes Jake Paul has proven to be a sloppy fighter inside of the ring.

Santos, who meets Johnny Walker later tonight (Sat., Oct. 2, 2021) at UFC Vegas 38 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, recently discussed Paul’s success as a fighter and how he has looked in a pair of boxing gloves. Santos isn’t a renowned boxer in his own right, but he’s one of the more respected strikers in MMA today.

Like many, Santos doesn’t think Paul is showing enough inside of the ring. Even against a world-class fighter like former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who Paul defeated via split decision this past August, the social media star simply lacks the experience to really shine through.

“[Jake Paul] is gaining experience, conquering victories, but what I saw in his last fight against Tyron Woodley, he looks like a beginner,” said Santos (via MMA Fighting). “He doesn’t even know how to walk in the ring, he makes gross mistakes. Woodley had the obligation to beat him. And he had the opportunity to do so.”

While Paul is looking to eventually fight the likes of Canelo Alvarez inside of the ring Santos believes the 24-year-old star would have trouble even with an aging fighter like Anderson Silva, who has sparked his own boxing crossover. If Paul was ever to fight the former UFC middleweight king Santos believes it would end in a knockout.

“Jake Paul doesn’t have enough level to face a professional athlete even if it’s not a boxer, but a professional MMA athlete that trains everything, that trains boxing for years,” he said. “He’ll get knocked out. If he fights Anderson Silva, I think he gets knocked out.”

Despite being 4-0 inside of the boxing ring Paul hasn’t really faced any dangerous strikers. Woodley does have power in his hands, but he’s not a boxer by any stretch of the imagination. Santos believes this is by design as Paul handpicks opponents to avoid any real trouble.

“He knows what he’s doing,” said Santos. “He’s handpicking the right opponents, he’s setting a career plan for him, but he’ll have to fight a real fighter eventually, someone that puts him in his place. But I don’t think that’s going to happen now.

“He knows who he chooses [to box]. A guy like that will never choose me. I doubt it. No way, he won’t do that.”

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 38 fight card HERE, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

Vitor Belfort is defending his recent TKO win over an aging Evander Holyfield in a boxing match staged last month on behalf of Triller Fight Club.

Holyfield, who stepped in on a week’s notice to replace Oscar De La Hoya, looked absolutely washed in his matchup with “Phenom.” The former world heavyweight champion is obviously one of the best boxers of all time, but he’s 58 years old and had not competed in over 10 years before the fight.

It was a grotesque display of matchmaking to say the least, which is why the PPV card was moved from California to Florida after a refusal to sanction the bout.

Belfort, who stepped away from UFC back in 2018, is certainly no spry chicken. But he’s much younger than Holyfield, has been more active over the past decade than Holyfield, and had been training for months for his matchup with De La Hoya. It seemed unfair to watch “Phenom” batter Holyfield the way he did.

However, as lopsided as the Triller boxing fight looked Belfort doesn’t believe it was an egregious matchup. Instead, the former UFC champion is defending his main event showcase with Holyfield and the events that occurred in the ring.

“He (Holyfield) tried to rip my head off, he knocked himself out at one point and got such a cross that he fell to the canvas by himself,” Belfort told AG Fight. “If I don’t dodge my head would be rolling on the floor. Then people criticize that I was very, very roasted. I’m not worried about that. I beat the most powerful heavyweight in history, who beat Mike Tyson. Unfortunately, the ‘haters’ will be there to criticize you. If I fight a guy over 50 is it worth it? If I win they will criticize. The animal was too strong, he is a horse and he was boxing well and I was very precise. Nobody talks about my accuracy, how good I was. They talk about how bad he was. He wasn’t bad, I demolished him.”

“I was cautious, I started slowly, but when he came up with it, I had my time,” added Belfort. “When you smell blood, it’s time to hunt. It would be unnecessary (if the referee lets it go on longer), given his age. He took a lot of uppercut blow to the chin. The first one got really strong. Then there were other blows. But as many people think they are the other’s head, so let it die. It’s part of it.”

What do you think, fight fans? Let us know in the comments below!

One of the most anticipated fight cards of the year just got an official fight poster.

UFC 268, which is expected to take place on Nov. 6 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, will feature a main event rematch between reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and rival Colby Covington. The two first met back at UFC 245 which saw Usman capture a TKO win in one of the best welterweight title fights ever.

Adding to the UFC 268 mix will be a co-main event rematch between UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and former titleholder Zhang Weili. The two women collided earlier this year at UFC 261. Namajunas ended up shocking the MMA world again with a first-round head kick finish over the Chinese champion to take her belt. The rematch is expected to produce even more fireworks.

Of course, the action doesn’t stop there. UFC 268 will feature an array of high-profile talent and barn-burner matchups. The list is long, but the fight card is expected to showcase the likes of Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler, Sean Strickland vs. Luke Rockhold, Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera, and Al Iaquinta vs. Bobby Green.

The official UFC 268 fight poster can be seen below courtesy of UFC:

UFC

For more UFC 268 fight card news click here.

Kevin Holland is not only looking to end a two-fight losing streak tomorrow night (Sat., Oct. 2, 2021) when he meets Kyle Daukaus at UFC Vegas 38 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, but “Trailblazer” is hoping to show vast improvements in his game.

While Holland is known for his wild striking and high-finish rate the middleweight contender has been outmatched on the mat over his last two contests. Holland had won five-straight before running into the likes of Marvin Vettori and Derek Brunson, who utilized takedowns in bunches to subdue “Trailblazer.”

Holland made it a point to work on his wrestling over the past five months to give himself the best opportunity to climb the 185-pound ranks.

“Me, personally, I thought I was good at wrestling before I got outwrestled by (Derek) Brunson and (Marvin) Vettori. So, hopefully, it got better,” Holland told reporters earlier this week (h/t Sportskeeda). “I mean, at the end of the day, Dana White told me to go fix some things. So, I mean, if the boss tells you to do something, you do what the boss tells you to do if you want to keep collecting a check, right?”

Holland, 28, remains one of the more promising talents in the middleweight division. If he’s able to fix his wrestling and display that inside of the cage it will only lead to more high—profile matchups for the one they call “Big Mouth.” More matchups will lead to more paychecks, which is what seems to fuel Holland these days.

After all, “Trailblazer” doesn’t want to end up like former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, who he says is “broke as a f—k.”

“So, I mean, I know they’re all gonna say I kissed them booty cheeks after this on the interviews and stuff like that, but I really don’t care. I do what I’m supposed to do, so I can continue to get paid. That way I don’t have to be like Luke Rockhold – retiring and then coming back because I’m broke as a f—k. You know what I mean? So, yeah.”

Luckily, Holland and Rockhold compete in the same weight class so there’s a chance the two meet down the line. Rockhold is expected to make his middleweight return against surging contender Sean Strickland at UFC 268 this November.

As for Holland, he’ll have his hands full with Daukaus in the co-main event this weekend at UFC Vegas 38.

For complete UFC Vegas 38 fight card news click here.

Dan Hooker is quickly becoming one of the biggest fan favorites in the sport of MMA today. After battling through visa issues for his eventual win over Nasrat Haqparast last weekend UFC 266 “The Hangman” has stepped up on short notice to fight lightweight phenom Islam Makhachev at UFC 267 on Oct. 30 in Abu Dhabi.

Makhachev, who has won his last eight trips to the Octagon and reminds many of Khabib Nurmagomedov, was originally expected to fight former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. An injury knocked RDA out of the fight earlier this week allowing Hooker to step up, play company man, and take his shot at one of the toughest outs in the division.

“I knew that RDA had pulled out after my fight, and I could feel there was no one else,” Hooker told The Mac Life. “Tony Ferguson is being Tony Ferguson, Beneil (Dariush) is signed to Ali (Abdelaziz), as well – I didn’t think he would take the fight, either. So I knew I was the only real option. They called me up, and I’m a happy man. I’ll see you in Abu Dhabi.”

Luckily for Hooker, UFC is offering up some extra money for the short-notice fight. After all, Hooker was scheduled to fly back to New Zealand following his decision win over Haqparast at UFC 266 before filling in for RDA. The extended time away from New Zealand has left Hooker in a state of limbo when it comes to returning home, but he’s satisfied with what UFC has offered for his services.

“Now it’s indefinite,” Hooker said about returning to New Zealand. “It’s not like stupid money (the UFC is paying him). It’s money to justify what they’re asking me to do. They’re asking me to pretty much leave my country and so with that, I need enough to set up a life here for however long, because there are Kiwis that have been stuck in New Zealand for a couple of years now. So it’s all well and good being like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take the risk,’ but not being able to go home for a couple of years, that’s daunting to a lot of people.”

Hooker, who is 1-2 in his last three UFC appearances, is already a massive betting underdog against Makhachev. It’s going to be a tough test for “Hangman,” especially on a few weeks notice, but Hooker is one of the most game fighters on the UFC roster today. He’s also one of the most well-rounded fighters Makhachev has ever faced.

“He’s got a bit of the Khabib mystique, it’s rubbed off on him,” Hooker said. “His last few performances have been like fairly dominant. I’ve trained with Drew, and the way he fought Drew was pretty decisive. Even his last fight, he came out there, and it was a pretty dominant fight. There’s definite skill there, but I would love to be the first one to get out there and just make him look human, because I know we all are.”

“I’ve been in the gym with these guys,” he continued. “They all bleed, they all get tired, they all get injured, they all get hurt, and I know I can put anyone’s light’s out. So to everyone else, he’s kind of a mysterious character that’s got a lot of mystique and invincibility. To me, he’s just another body.”

For more UFC 267 fight card news click here.