Author: Dan Hiergesell

Former MLB star Jose Canseco got knocked out earlier tonight (Fri., Feb. 5, 2021) during a boxing match at Barstool Sports’ ‘Rough N’ Rowdy’ 13.

Canseco, 56, was matched up against a 22-year-old Barstool Sports intern known as “Billy Football.” The two fighters did a good job at hyping up the bout with some pre-fight trash talk and actually backed it up when the action started.

Unfortunately for Canseco, the younger fighter landed the better shots as “Billy Football” put the former baseball player out in the very first round. Check out the highlight finish below:

This isn’t something we usually see on a combat sports weekend yet it still delivered some solid entertainment. Canseco is a former professional athlete who has participated in some celebrity boxing matches in the past, but he’s never looked this overmatched.

“Billy Football” for the win.

Dustin Poirier has taken his career to an entirely new level over the past few weeks. Not only did the lightweight contender hand Conor McGregor his first knockout loss (see it again here), score the biggest payday of his professional MMA career, and find the perfect platform to promote his Good Fight Foundation and budding hot sauce business, but “Diamond” is now starring in an upcoming Super Bowl LV commercial.

Poirier, who finished McGregor via second-round TKO at UFC 257 last month in front of 1.6 million fans worldwide, will be featured in a one-minute Super Bowl ad this coming Sunday. The commercial is for a mortgage company, Guaranteed Rate, and will also feature fellow UFC standout and former women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.

Check it out below:

Poirier, 32, has been one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster over the past five years but not necessarily a mainstream star. While “Diamond” still has a long ways to go before truly breaking out as a major sports celebrity it certainly helps to be featured on a lengthy Super Bowl LV commercial.

If Poirier can continue to increase his public notoriety and eventually score a trilogy bout with McGregor sometime this year it’s possible the UFC’s lightweight division will have the perennial leader it was looking for. With current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov unlikely to come out of retirement in 2021 Poirier is picking up all the pieces at the perfect time.

Heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury is in agreeance that Conor McGregor looked a little off in his recent TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 (see it again here). While Poirier can’t receive enough credit for is efforts in a rematch six years in the making Fury believes “Notorious” ultimately lost due to inactivity.

McGregor, who had previously beaten Poirier via knockout in a featherweight bout back in 2014, was making just his second Octagon appearance since a 2018 loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov. It was also his first bout at 155 pounds since his clash with “Eagle” and only his third overall lightweight fight under the UFC banner. He was expected to make a huge return to the division against a fighter he already defeated and make his push towards the undisputed lightweight title.

Unfortunately for McGregor, Poirier met him with damaging leg kicks early on and things only unraveled from there. McGregor didn’t seem to sting Poirier with his punches like he did in their first meeting and his movement was severely hampered after just a few minutes. Needless to say, “Notorious” didn’t look exactly the same, despite putting in one of his best camps ever.

Fury, along with most fight fans, recognized the dip in McGregor’s effectiveness inside of the cage. At 32 years of age and with a UFC career that has seen very little damage it’s difficult to imagine McGregor’s skills dipping due to natural regression. Instead, most believe McGregor suffered some sort of cage rust due to his overall inactivity over the past few years.

“Notorious” provided a similar outlook following his UFC 257 loss and now Fury is backing the former UFC champion up.

“He’s bang on right,” Fury said. “Conor McGregor fought in 2016, then he had two years out of the ring, and then he fought Khabib. And then he had another two years out of the ring, and then he fought Cerrone. And then he had another year out of the ring, and then he fought this guy, Poirier.

“Inactivity kills the cat. No doubt about it. When one man’s been active in fighting and sparring and in camps, and one man’s been on the couch, it’s no good. You lose your timing, you lose your distance, you lose it all. It’s all got to be gained back within camps and within fighting.

“If you had three fights on the bounce and you’ve never been in the ring for three years, the third one you’d be better, ten times better than you were the first time around.”

McGregor, who helped UFC 257 bring in 1.6 million PPV buys, doesn’t have many things to fight for these days. As a millionaire multiple times over with countless business ventures to tend to many believed McGregor’s focus would be skewed upon his return to the cage. Those pundits were proven wrong about the Irishman’s all-in preparation, but the final results did not match McGregor’s overall investment in his rematch with Poirier.

“I’ve always known it because I’m a boxing historian. I’ve always known about the inactivity,” Fury said. “Gerry Cooney when he fought Larry Holmes (in 1982), he was out of the ring for 18 months. And the timing wasn’t there, just wasn’t the same fighter as he should’ve been.”

While McGregor and Poirier have both expressed interest in a trilogy bout it’s unknown at this time if UFC is looking to put that together. Either way, we should see “Notorious” fight at least one more time this year, allowing the former UFC champion to right the ship.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) superstar Paige VanZant will make her awaited Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) debut later tonight (Fri., Feb. 5, 2021) at BKFC 16: “KnuckleMania” live on FITE.tv PPV from inside RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida. She will be matched up against Britain Hart in the PPV main event.

VanZant, 26, was one of the biggest female stars in UFC during her time in the promotion from 2014-2020. She wasn’t able to cash in on a title shot of any kind, but with wins over the likes of Bec Rawlings, Felice Herrig, and Rachael Ostovich, VanZant created quite the name for herself around the combat community. Participating on “Dancing with the Stars” only added to her overall popularity.

After leaving UFC behind last year to sign with BKFC VanZant has had plenty of time to prepare for his bare knuckle debut. While “12 Gauge” has serious experience in combat sports it’s going to be a different experience for her later tonight on PPV. She will no longer have the protection of UFC gloves or able to lean on her scrambling and submission skills. VanZant is going to find herself in a bloody fist fight and she will be tested at every turn.

Luckily, VanZant has put the necessary work in leading into her BKFC debut. The promotion was able to capture the pre-fight preparation through a three-episode series titled, “Road To KnuckleMania.” You can catch all three episodes below in advance to PVZ’s first bare-knuckle boxing match later tonight:

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire “KnuckleMania” fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the YouTube “Prelims” matches at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the FITE TV PPV main card at 9 p.m. ET.

For much more on BKFC and “KnuckleMania” click here.

Paige VanZant will be making her bare knuckle boxing debut this evening (Fri., Feb. 5, 2021) at BKFC 16: “KnuckleMania” live on FITE.tv PPV, but the former UFC star is already thinking about a potential career in professional wrestling.

VanZant, who fought in UFC as recent as last July, is hoping to create an even larger following as the newest member of the BKFC roster. “12 Gauge” enjoyed a somewhat meteoric rise to stardom early into her UFC career through memorable Octagon performances and a lucrative stint on “Dancing with the Stars,” but she’s looking to take her popularity to new heights in 2021.

It all starts with her BKFC debut later tonight at “KnuckleMania” when she squares off with bare knuckle veteran Britain Hart in the main event. If all goes well it could eventually put VanZant in line to make her long-awaited transition to professional wrestling, more specifically World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

“I get asked about WWE a lot and I do feel like it’s something I would be very good at because I kind of have the best of both worlds; I was a dancer where I was used to the entertainment and the showmanship side of it and the combat sports side obviously goes into the WWE,” said VanZant in a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet. “You know, I don’t think that it’s something that I could do both (Bare Knuckle FC and pro wrestling) at the same time. I feel like I would want to do that 100%, so maybe it’s something that after I’m done fighting in a cage and in a ring that maybe I’ll go over to there but the door is definitely open.”

This isn’t the first time VanZant has been linked to a potential career in WWE. The young star confirmed her interest all the way back in 2018, but wasn’t “ready to leave UFC” at that time. With UFC in the rearview and a high-profile stint with BKFC on the horizon VanZant is leaving the door open again for a potential WWE crossover.

“Communication is actually there sometimes so we’re able to communicate and show our interest with each other and once there’s a little bit more free time in my schedule I think that’s something that I would like to really pursue,” added VanZant.

For now, VanZant will be left to take care of business under the BKFC banner. She signed an exclusive deal with the promotion last August and is ready to prove her worth inside of the ring. Once that journey is completed it sounds like “12 Gauge” could follow in the footsteps of former UFC champion Ronda Rousey and make a transition to the WWE ring.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire “KnuckleMania” fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the YouTube “Prelims” matches at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the FITE TV PPV main card at 9 p.m. ET.

For much more on BKFC and “KnuckleMania” click here.

The bare knuckles will fly later tonight (Fri., Feb. 5, 2021) at BKFC 16: “KnuckleMania” live on FITE.tv PPV from inside RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida, as former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star Paige VanZant makes her promotional debut against Britain Hart in the main event.

VanZant, who was fighting under the UFC banner last summer, signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) back in August. While “12 Gauge” isn’t known to be a devastating puncher who’s going to take over the world of bare knuckle boxing she’s easily the biggest star to ever step foot inside of the BKFC ring. She will add legitimacy to the sport and open the door for more women looking to pursue a career in combat sports, but maybe not necessarily in MMA.

It’s a big debut to say the least and it all goes down later tonight on FITE.tv PPV. Details on how to watch BKFC 16: “KnuckleMania” can been seen HERE.

In advance to tonight’s knuckle-busting madness BKFC has released the final hype video for “KnuckleMania,” which can be seen in the above player. While most of the attention will be cast on VanZant as she makes her bare knuckle debut fight fans can’t forget about Hart, who has done this song and dance a few times now and has already proven to have worthy boxing.

Only time will tell if PVZ can make a smooth transition from the Octagon to the boxing ring and do so without gloves or protection for her hands. It’s going to be a serious change of direction, but one the 26-year-old seems ready to make.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire “KnuckleMania” fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the YouTube “Prelims” matches at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the FITE TV PPV main card at 9 p.m. ET.

For much more on BKFC and “KnuckleMania” click here.