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Chael Sonnen is going to end his combat sports retirement.

To the surprise of everyone, it was announced yesterday that three-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title challenger, Sonnen, is set to box against his biggest rival, Anderson Silva. The match will officially be an exhibition and take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil next month (Sat., June 15, 2024).

Sonnen, 47, retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) after a second round technical knockout loss to Lyoto Machida at Bellator 222 in January 2019. The Silva trilogy will be his debut as a boxer and won’t be his last time in action.

“He offered to do MMA rules,” Sonnen said on Good Guy / Bad Guy. “According to them, Anderson said for Chael to pick the ruleset and it was just a situation where I’ve always wanted to box.

“I’ve got this thing coming up with Jorge Masvidal in October,” he continued. “That thing’s been coming up ever since ESPN sequestered me in Miami at [UFC] 299 to try to protect me from Jorge Masvidal. There was nothing that hurt my ego more than me being the one that’s being locked down. I’ve known this Masvidal thing was coming and then when do you let the cat out of the bag? Masvidal vs. [Nate] Diaz, I don’t want to step on Diaz’s toes, he’s got that fight, but allegedly they moved that fight closer to the [Jake] Paul [vs. Mike] Tyson fight.

“I got Jorge in my sights,” Sonnen concluded. “Anderson, as badly as I want to beat him and as much as I am going to go out there and beat him, it’s all a step in the process. When I get in there with Masvidal, it’s going to be eight rounds and they are going to have the 10 or the 12-ounce gloves, a little bit different situation.”

Sonnen and Masvidal have recently thrown verbal jabs at each other, catching the fight community somewhat off guard. Before they can have a boxing match as Sonnen alludes to, Masvidal will battle Diaz on July 7, 2024. Masvidal, 39, will also be ending his retirement when he takes on Diaz.

Everyone wants a piece of the Conor McGregor pie. Yes, even Joaquin Buckley.

Summer is set to host a hot stretch of mixed martial arts (MMA) action this year. Amongst all the great match ups on tap is the long-awaited return of “The Notorious” McGregor who hasn’t fought since July 2021.

McGregor, 35, will be welcomed back to the Octagon at UFC 303 by former three-time Bellator Lightweight champion, Michael Chandler, in a Welterweight affair. Despite currently riding a two-fight losing streak, a win accompanied by McGregor’s name value can always warrant a title shot in the eyes of UFC CEO, Dana White, and that’s exactly what the Irishman hopes for. Whether it’s against the 170-pound champion, Leon Edwards, or for the Baddest Motherf—ker (BMF) title, the former Featherweight and Lightweight titleholder wants more gold.

“Leon Edwards, Nate Diaz almost knocked him out,” McGregor said in a Duelbits live stream. “Had him out on his feet. If that fight kept going on, Leon’s unconscious. Also, [Donald] Cerrone went the distance with him.

“I’m looking at all these belts,” he continued. “The Lightweight world title, although I’ve held that. How excited would I be to cut that weight again after winning it already? I already held the belt. I’d be excited about the bad motherf—ker title and I’d be excited about the Welterweight title, but you know, we’ll see what happens. I take things as they come. There should be a McGregor belt, a money belt, or something. All of these things were created off the back of me.”

Edwards, 32, is all for the thought of a McGregor fight. He’ll defend his title in a rematch against Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 one month after McGregor’s fight (July 27, 2024). Should they both get the job done in their respective bouts, a clash at Madison Square Garden in New York City later in the year sounds perfect to “Rocky.”

“That would be good,” Edwards said of a McGregor fight on The MMA Hour. “Yeah, 100 percent, why not? I feel like let’s give him an opportunity to become a three-division world champion. It gives me an opportunity to take out a guy like Conor McGregor. New York, that would be perfect. That’s the fight. He’s got to take out Michael, I take out ‘You Don’t Remember His Name,’ and we’ll go from there (laughs). Let’s go. That’s the fight. It should happen.”

Tom Aspinall has been patient.

Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) interim Heavyweight champion has been hoping to collide with undisputed titleholder, Jon Jones, since he claimed his crown at UFC 295 this past November 2023. However, Aspinall will instead have to face a familiar face first in the first UFC interim title defense in 11 years.

Aspinall, 31, will rematch Curtis Blaydes in UFC 304’s co-main event in Manchester, England on July 27, 2024. After that, the two titles in the land of giants must be unified, believes Aspinall.

“My confidence has grown loads since then. Just everything’s better,” Aspinall told talkSPORT. “I’m a new version of myself than I was when I fought him last time. I think he’s improved as well so whole new fight this time.

“I’m over it at this point,” he added about Jones. “I’m fighting Curtis Blaydes. It’s a tough fight and I’m preparing for Curtis so Jon Jones and all the rest of the politics are pretty irrelevant to me right now. Focused on him and nothing else. If I win this one, which I believe I will, the next fight has to be for undisputed [gold]. Definitely. I’ll wait it out if I have to after this one. Right now, that doesn’t exist.”

Aspinall vs. Blaydes 1 resulted in the only UFC loss of Aspinall’s career (7-1, 14-3 overall) when he suffered a 15-second technical knockout loss (watch highlights) via torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Aspinall has since scored sub-80-second finishes over Marcin Tybura (watch highlights) and Sergei Pavlovich (watch highlights).

Meanwhile, Jones is expected to be rebooked against former two-time champion, Stipe Miocic, who he was originally scheduled to fight at UFC 295 until he tore his pectoral muscle.