Author: Scott Polacek

Holly Holm Says Floyd Mayweather Jr. Could Make Transition to MMA

Holly Holm made the transition from boxing to mixed martial arts, and she believes Floyd Mayweather Jr. could do the same. 
“I’m sure he won’t mind putting in the work if he decided to do something with MMA,” she said on TMZ Live, via a Thursday s…

Holly Holm made the transition from boxing to mixed martial arts, and she believes Floyd Mayweather Jr. could do the same. 

“I’m sure he won’t mind putting in the work if he decided to do something with MMA,” she said on TMZ Live, via a Thursday story from TMZ Sports.

TMZ explained Holm—who famously knocked out then-undefeated Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in 2015—won 18 title fights during her time in boxing before she transitioned to UFC.

Mayweather has never fought a professional MMA fight after compiling a 50-0 record in the boxing ring, but there is a natural connection considering his most recent bout came against career UFC fighter Conor McGregor—who was fighting a professional boxing match for the first time.

UFC President Dana White previously said his company was talking about a possible deal with Mayweather, per ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto, but Money offered a rebuttal during an interview with FightHype (h/t MMA Weekly).

“I never said I was going to fight in the UFC,” he said. “I didn’t say that. I said if I wanted to and what I could do. I’m not going to do it, though.”

McGregor seemingly didn’t take too kindly to that and appeared to direct an NSFW tweet Mayweather’s way, calling him a p—y.

Their boxing match, which Mayweather won via a 10th-round technical knockout, drew the second-most pay-per-view buys ever at 4.3 million, per Brian Campbell of CBSSports.com. A potential rematch in the Octagon figures to attract millions of viewers as well.

Holm seems to think Mayweather would be up for the challenge.

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Conor McGregor Tweets ‘P—y’ Shortly After Floyd Mayweather Denies UFC Interest

Conor McGregor lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the boxing ring but appeared to take the fight to social media Wednesday with a tweet seemingly directed at Mayweather.
McGregor followed with an image with his two UFC belts:

McGregor’s tweets appea…

Conor McGregor lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the boxing ring but appeared to take the fight to social media Wednesday with a tweet seemingly directed at Mayweather.

McGregor followed with an image with his two UFC belts:

McGregor’s tweets appeared to be in response to Mayweather’s denial he is going to fight in UFC during an interview with FightHype.

“I never said I was going to fight in the UFC. I didn’t say that,” Mayweather said (h/t MMA Weekly). “I said if I wanted to and what I could do. I’m not going to do it though.”

Money’s comments come after UFC President Dana White said his MMA promotion was discussing a potential deal with the undefeated boxer, per ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto.

This isn’t the first time the notion of Mayweather fighting in the UFC has emerged. He said during a live stream on Instagram on Dec. 12, via Fight Hype, the company offered a “three- or four-fight deal in the Octagon [to] make a billion dollars.”

That may seem like an enormous amount of money, but Mayweather is a significant draw in the combat sports world. Brian Campbell of CBS Sports reported Showtime Sports confirmed the August boxing match between Money and McGregor drew 4.3 million pay-per-view buys—the second-most of all-time behind only the fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

It is not difficult to envision a rematch between Mayweather and McGregor in the Octagon drawing millions of viewers, and Tuesday’s tweets would only add to the storyline. It would also represent a flipping of the script with Mayweather competing in an unfamiliar setting after McGregor’s first professional boxing match came against the 50-0 fighter.

Despite notable early punches from McGregor, Mayweather ultimately seized control of their August clash in the middle portion and won via technical knockout in the 10th round.

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Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor Final Showtime PPV Buys Rank 2nd All Time

The August bout between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor brought in a head-turning number of viewers.
On Thursday, Brian Campbell of CBS Sports reported Showtime Sports confirmed there were 4.3 million pay-per-view buys for the fight between one of …

The August bout between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor brought in a head-turning number of viewers.

On Thursday, Brian Campbell of CBS Sports reported Showtime Sports confirmed there were 4.3 million pay-per-view buys for the fight between one of the all-time great boxers in Mayweather and career MMA fighter McGregor.

According to Campbell, the total was the second-highest in history, falling short of only the 4.6 million pay-per-view buys for the 2015 fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

That Mayweather is involved in the two best-selling pay-per-view boxing matches is no surprise considering his role as the best fighter of a generation. He emerged from the fight against McGregor in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena with a 10th-round technical knockout, which pushed his sparkling record to 50-0 in his career.

McGregor hung tough in the early going of his first professional boxing match and even landed a notable uppercut on Mayweather. However, Money seized control by the middle rounds and unleashed an offensive barrage in the 10th round to win the fight.

While McGregor lost the fight and was overmatched, he also performed admirably against such a formidable foe, suggesting his foray into boxing will last more than one fight.

Pacquiao recently said he was open to negotiations with McGregor for an April fight, per the Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo).

It likely wouldn’t sell as many pay-per-views as their respective bouts with Mayweather considering the undefeated boxer wouldn’t be involved and the novelty of McGregor trying boxing would have worn off, but it would involve two of the biggest names in combat sports.

 

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Daniel Cormier to Defend Light Heavyweight Belt vs. Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220

The UFC announced Wednesday that Daniel Cormier will put his light heavyweight belt on the line against Volkan Ozdemir. 
The fight is scheduled for UFC 220 on Jan. 20 at TD Garden in Boston.
Cormier was reinstated as the light heavyweight champion…

The UFC announced Wednesday that Daniel Cormier will put his light heavyweight belt on the line against Volkan Ozdemir. 

The fight is scheduled for UFC 220 on Jan. 20 at TD Garden in Boston.

Cormier was reinstated as the light heavyweight champion in September after Jon Jones tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs following his victory over Cormier at UFC 214.

There were doubts about whether this matchup would happen seeing how Oezdemir was “arrested on second-degree felony charges for aggravated battery with serious bodily injury,” per MMA Fighting.

The MMA Fighting report detailed the incident, noting Kevin Cohen alleged Oezdemir knocked him out near a Florida bar.

“Cohen claims the run-in caused him to lose consciousness for roughly 14 minutes, be treated for concussion symptoms at a local hospital, and be given multiple staples for lacerations,” MMA Fighting wrote, although Oezdemir’s attorney said his client wasn’t the aggressor in the incident.

Now that the fight is scheduled, Oezdemir figures to pose a daunting challenge to Cormier with a 15-1-0 record.

The No. 2-ranked light heavyweight also fought at UFC 214 and handled Jimi Manuwa in a first-round knockout to continue his streak of dominance.

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Colby Covington: Fabricio Werdum Sucker Punched Me, Issued Death Threat

MMA fighter Colby Covington said Monday his altercation with fellow fighter Fabricio Werdum started because of a sucker punch.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani (via Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting), Covingt…

MMA fighter Colby Covington said Monday his altercation with fellow fighter Fabricio Werdum started because of a sucker punch.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani (via Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting), Covington said he was trash talking with Tyron Woodley on Twitter when Werdum caught him by surprise with a punch.

“All of a sudden I get hit in the face from the side,” Covington said. “I’m like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?’ I’m a little concussed, like a little bit messed up in the head. Like, whoa, what just happened? All this heat-of-the-moment type stuff. I look up and it’s Fabricio Werdum and he’s still coming at me with his coach Rafael Cordeiro and they’re acting like they’re gonna jump me.”

The incident occurred in Australia, and Covington said Werdum and Cordeiro each threatened to kill him.

             

This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.

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Urijah Faber Says He’d Consider Ending Retirement for TJ Dillashaw Fight

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber may be on the comeback trail.
On Tuesday, TMZ Sports noted Faber would “consider coming out of retirement to fight TJ Dillashaw.” However, Faber clarified he isn’t looking to “jump the line” because “the fight for TJ is C…

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber may be on the comeback trail.

On Tuesday, TMZ Sports noted Faber would “consider coming out of retirement to fight TJ Dillashaw.” However, Faber clarified he isn’t looking to “jump the line” because “the fight for TJ is Cody [Garbrandt].”

According to TMZ, Faber is friends with Garbrandt and doesn’t want to prevent him from “getting a chance to avenge his loss from UFC 217.”

Faber’s comments come after Dillashaw knocked Garbrandt out in the second round of their bantamweight title fight at UFC 217 in Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The 31-year-old Dillashaw would represent a difficult fight for Faber, 38, considering the former has won seven of his last eight matches and has momentum on his side following Saturday’s fight. His only loss in that span came by split decision in a tightly contested battle against Dominick Cruz at UFC Fight Night 81 in Boston.

Faber hasn’t fought since he beat Brad Pickett in December 2016.

Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com noted Faber was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as part of its 2017 class in July after “he became the face of the WEC, and lighter weight classes as a whole, as a 145-pound champion.”

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