Author: Dan Hiergesell

Now that Conor McGregor has officially signed to meet Dustin Poirier in a trilogy bout at UFC 264 this July he’s able to determine the proper game plan to get his revenge on “Diamond.”

Earlier this year, Poirier evened the score with McGregor in a rematch at UFC 257. McGregor had finished Poirier at featherweight six years prior but a re-invented lightweight version of “Diamond” was too much for the Irishman to handle. Poirier ended up destroying McGregor with calf kicks before finishing him with strikes in the second round (see it HERE).

McGregor had big plans for his 2021 campaign and may have overlooked Poirier back in January. Having already defeated Poirier so many years ago “Notorious” didn’t do a good enough job to prepare for Poirier’s skill set and toughness at 155 pounds. McGregor will likely not make the same mistake twice which is why the trilogy bout should offer the best action out of all three fights.

With more time to prepare for the third bout McGregor is confident that he can come back, prove he’s a better fighter than Poirier, and reclaim the momentum he lost in his last trip to the Octagon. In fact, McGregor is already predicting a finish over “Diamond” at UFC 264, but it’s not the typical “Mystic Mac” premonition that we’re used to hearing.

“The prediction is in! I’m going to win the trilogy fight via A Front Kick to the nose. Round number 4. His Nose needs straightenin and I’m Rhinoplasty,” wrote McGregor via Instagram.

While McGregor is usually pretty good with his pre-fight predictions this one is a little out there. For starters, McGregor has never finished a fight beyond the second round. It’s very unlikely that he maintains his stamina over the course of 15 minutes to finish Poirier in the fourth frame. In addition, a front kick is not something we see too often from “Notorious.” That’s not to say the talented striker can’t incorporate that into his arsenal for the trilogy, but his bread and butter stills resides with his left hand.

All of that said, it’s good to see McGregor’s confidence still high after getting put out by Poirier just three months ago. McGregor has enough money to retire 10 times overs so to see him focused and already calling his shots is a welcomed sight, especially for fight fans looking forward to seeing the trilogy.

What say you, Maniacs? Is this an accurate prediction from “Mystic Mac?” If not, how do you see the trilogy ending?

Sound off!

We are just one week away from Jake Paul’s boxing match with Ben Askren and the trash talk has hit an all-time high.

Paul, who blew the roof off the combat sports world with a blistering one-punch KO finish over Nate Robinson back in Nov. 2020, is warning Askren that he’ll suffer the same fate when the two meet on Apr. 17 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Paul and Askren have already come face-to-face during a pre-fight press conference last month and that nearly ended in a brawl (watch the replay HERE). They do not like each other and have been jawing back-and-forth ever since their boxing match was announced. Paul has been the catalyst, but “Funky” is a savvy veteran capable of landing some punches on the microphone, too.

Earlier this week, Paul took the bad blood to an entirely new level by involving Askren’s family. In a warning to Askren’s kids, Paul claims he’s going to leave “Funky” in a pool of blood when they meet next weekend on PPV.

“You think this is a f—king game, you think is a fun payday, you think this is a way to get clout and you might be right,” said Paul in a video message shown on a recent episode of Logan Paul’s podcast. “I promise April 17 will be the worst day of your f—king life. Just as I asked Nate Robinson’s kids not to watch the fight, I will ask your kids to do the same. So, Ben Askren’s kids, wife, please don’t watch this because your dad will be bloodied, unconscious on the f—king canvas (on) April 17. I don’t want you to see that.

“I mean, you already saw him get knocked out in five seconds by Masvidal,” Paul continued. “Your kids are probably going to school getting made fun of because their dad got knocked out in five seconds. Then, he’s going to get knocked out by Jake Paul. So, please leave them out of this.

“You f—ked up, Ben by taking this fight. April 17, I promised my team, my family, my brother who is there right next to you right now, I promise to make you go down as history as the world’s worst UFC fighter. You are dumb as f—k, bro,” Paul concluded. “April 17 I will show the world how big of a bitch you are. I will make you my bitch. I f—king promise that.”

Despite having a limited combat sports background Paul is a sizeable favorite to defeat Askren next weekend in Atlanta. That’s because Paul has dedicated himself to the art of boxing over the past few years and Askren is more known for his grappling. The former UFC fighter has been improving his own striking game over the past few months, but it may not be enough to get past the bigger, younger, and more brash Paul.

Jorge Masvidal has a number of fights at his disposal. The welterweight contender is currently lined up for a title fight rematch with current UFC champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 261, but “Gamebred” is already planting seeds for future matchups inside of the Octagon.

Earlier this week, Masvidal guaranteed that he would run things back with Nate Diaz in a “BMF” rematch. Masvidal is also interested in a clash with streaking welterweight contender Leon Edwards, but “Gamebred” has a stipulation for that grudge match.

Remember, Masvidal and Edwards share some history. Back in 2019, Edwards interrupted an interview that Masvidal was conducting at UFC London. The two welterweights eventually came face-to-face and Masvidal wasted no time dishing out his infamous “three piece and soda” during a backstage melee (see it HERE).

“Who’s that? Oh, wait, that’s the dude that interrupted our interview,” said Masvidal earlier this week during a virtual fan Q&A on ESPN+. “I already dealt with that individual. In his fights, he pokes eyes last I heard. So it’s whatever.

“Win a fight and I’ll be here, man.”

Edwards, who is riding an eight-fight win streak in one of the most stacked divisions in UFC, is coming off a no contest against Belal Muhammad back at UFC Vegas 21. It was Edwards’ first trip to the Octagon in over 600 days. Unfortunately, the main event ended in the second round after Edwards landed a brutal eye poke on Muhammad (watch it HERE). It wasn’t done on purpose, but the incident now leaves Edwards without a win since July 2019.

If Masvidal is able to defeat Usman later this month it would likely lead to a trilogy bout, or even a grudge match with welterweight contender Colby Covington. It may be some time before “Gamebred” and Edwards finally settle their beef inside of the cage.

That said, Edwards could make things a lot more interesting if he’s able to knock off Nate Diaz in a historic five-round co-main event at UFC 262 next month.

Fight fans got to see a ridiculous highlight-reel finish on Friday when Paul Capaldo scored a perfect spin kick knockout at Cage Fury Fighting Championship 95 in Philadelphia.

Capaldo, who came into the fight undefeated, was matched up against rising youngster Chris Vasil. After two back-and-forth rounds it was Capaldo who landed the most meaningful strike of the fight. In the third, Capaldo blasted Vasil with a vicious body kick. He then followed it up with a perfectly-timed spin kick that leveled Vasil and stopped him in his tracks. A few unnecessary insurance shots were added before the referee stepped in.

The finish, which can be seen above courtesy of UFC Fight Pass, is reminiscent of Uriah Hall’s infamous spin kick knockout over Adam Cella on The Ultimate Fighter (check it out HERE).

Capaldo, 24, is currently 6-0 in his professional MMA career. The Nick Catone MMA product has now scored three knockout wins with two of them coming in the third round. Capaldo looked considerably dangerous on the feet in this fight and should be a name to watch here in 2021.

Miesha Tate is hoping that her return to fighting leads to another surge in UFC’s women’s bantamweight division. After all, her last pass through the roster led to a 135-pound title back in 2016.

Tate, who ended her five-year retirement late last month, will make her return to the Octagon against Marion Reneau this July. It will be a massive opportunity for Tate to prove she’s still one of the best fighters in the world, despite not competing since a decision loss to Raquel Pennington in Nov. 2016.

Tate, who is still just 34 years of age, was more or less forced away from the sport when she retired so many years ago. There were too many obstacles to overcome in her personal life in order to continue her UFC career. With all of those things now worked out “Cupcake” is free to resume her fighting ways without any distractions.

“I was really burnt out,” Tate told MMA Fighting after announcing her return to fighting. “I was kind of in a dark place to be honest the latter part of my career.

“A lot of the things in my personal life really caught up to me. There’s only so much somebody can take and so I just needed to step away so I could regroup.”

Tate’s last Octagon appearance came against the aforementioned Pennington. It was the final straw that broke the camel’s back and forced Tate to re-evaluate her UFC career and overall mental health. She eventually retired, but it allowed the veteran fighter to assess her value outside of just being a fighter.

“I mean mental health is no joke,” Tate said. “To be in a place of depression — depression is something that can consume every piece of you and sometimes you feel like there’s no way out of it. I think it’s important, or at least it was for me, to be brutally honest with myself and really address and soul search. After that fight, I went on a road trip. I just took time for myself to answer questions. Why was I feeling this way? Where was my head? How could I make it better? That’s really what I needed time to do. I needed time to self-reflect. I needed time to regroup. I needed time to make myself whole again and happy in life.

“That was kind of a scary moment because I don’t know what else I was besides a fighter. That’s also scary. I feel like some people hold on too long to their careers because it’s all we know. That’s it.”

Despite the fact that most retired fighters come back to score a big payday Tate is not here to make bank. It helps to get paid to do what she loves, but “Cupcake” is giving up a cushy job with ONE Championship to make her return to UFC. Her comeback is for everything expect financial security.

“When I’m making this comeback, I’m not doing it because I have no other options,” Tate said. “I’m not doing it because I’m hurting for money. In fact, I’m walking away from a six-figure job to fight and probably going to have to win three fights to make more than I would with my job at ONE Championship. Win three fights.

“So it’s never been about that. It’s never been about money for me. That’s not the No. 1 motivating factor. Yeah, I’d be lying if I said money’s not great. Nobody doesn’t like money. That certainly sweetens the pot. I have a family now, too, so I want to provide for my family and do all the great things but those are not my driving factors.”

With money being a non-factor Tate is ready to hit the ground running and capitalize on her chance to fight her way back to a title shot. Tate already lost to current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes back in 2016. She’s hoping her second stint in UFC will lead to a rematch with “Lioness,” who has become an unstoppable force since winning the title off Tate.

“My driving factors are again boiling this down to basics,” Tate said. “When I first started doing this, this was not the cool thing to do. Women’s MMA was not cool. It was frowned upon. We made little to no money, pennies on the dollar, fighting for breadcrumbs but when you love something, you can’t put a price on that.

“That’s where I’m at. I feel time is of the essence and now is the time for me to come back and show what I’m really capable of. I feel like there was so much I left on the table when I walked away. So much I left on the table but I needed to do that. I needed to answer those questions. I needed to get out of that awful head space. I think I’ve done that and that’s why I’m here and I’m ready to make that comeback. I’m ready to make that second surge at my career.”

What say you, Maniacs? Can Tate fight her way back to another UFC title shot?

Let’s hear it!

The UFC headliners keep piling up as heavyweight contenders Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov will meet in a main event clash at UFC’s upcoming event on June 26, per a recent report by ESPN.

It is unknown at this time where the June 26 event will take place, but the winner of Gane vs. Volkov could line themselves up next for a shot at UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Gane, 30, is coming off a fairy lackluster win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik this past February, but has still won his first five trips to the Octagon. The powerful French heavyweight has evolved each and every time he’s stepped inside of the cage and could easily lock down a title shot with an impressive finish over Volkov.

Volkov, 32, is riding a two-fight win streak with recent stoppages over Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris. The towering Russian contender is just 3-2 over his last five Octagon appearances, but remains 7-2 overall since his UFC debut back in 2016. If “Drago” is able to hand Gane his first pro loss it could result in a heavyweight title shot for the veteran fighter. At the very least, Volkov would find himself in a No. 1 contender’s bout.

Stick with Mania for more news on UFC’s upcoming June 26 card.