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Anthony Pettis’ coach Duke Rufous said that he sees Nate Diaz’ usual mental warfare backfiring when he faces ‘Showtime’ in the cage at UFC 241. Via MMAJunkie.com:
“Let’s do a little history of Anthony Pettis: Guys who trash talk in Anthony’s face, he’s whipped their asses,” Roufus said. “One of those bad beatings was Donald Cerrone, a lot of pre-fight trash talk. How did that end? Most recently Michael Chiesa, how did that fight end? Anthony fairs very well when people want to test his moxy, and he’s very motivated.”
Pettis and Diaz have a long history, with some clashes at events and near-brawls, as the Diaz brothers are known for. There has also been plenty of trash talk exchanged on both sides. That’s why Pettis won’t have to dig too deep to find that extra motivation.
“He’s been motivated for this fight for years, and it’s going to be a barnburner,” Roufus said. “Not an easy fight, but we didn’t get into this fight to hand-pick bums and beat the can of the week. Everyone counted Anthony out when he fought ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, and that’s what’s up. Not only did beat ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, he was the first one to knock him out in 87 fights.”
Pettis’ knockout of Stephen Thompson was indeed a spectacular comeback KO. Pettis, while he has had issues historically with fighters that are able to pressure him, does have the dynamism to pull ridiculous finishes out of thin air, or change the course of a fight with something out of an action movie. His clash with Diaz is scheduled for a card that already features the Cormier vs. Miocic rematch and the long-awaited showdown between middleweight musclemen Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa. August 17th will be a night to remember.
Insomnia
Gnarly- watch and see how swollen Alexander Volkanovski’s foot got
Slips, Rips, and KO Clips. This is what Midnight Mania is about. Thanks, Josh Emmett.
Bull and matador
Day5 2-2 half-pinoy #ozeki #Takayasu (R) can absorb #Chiyotairyu’s strong #tachiai, it’s what he does next that counts. #Natsubasho #sumo pic.twitter.com/vwH0T1vMJZ
— SumoSoul (@TheSumoSoul) May 16, 2019
The human body can only move in so many ways
Day5 great view of that #kakenage with #Takagenji and #Yutakayama. Again, sometimes you don’t know if you are throwing or being thrown until one of you hits the dirt. Love it. #Sumo #natsubasho pic.twitter.com/3s056F0clC
— SumoSoul (@TheSumoSoul) May 16, 2019
If I’m reading this correctly, this is a brother-on-brother bout.
Day5 Mercurial 4-0 #Toyonoshima is at top of #juryo and still top of his game after all he’s been thru. Foe is youngest bro #Wakatakakage. #Sumo #natsubasho pic.twitter.com/PE1ILP5C3P
— SumoSoul (@TheSumoSoul) May 16, 2019
I’ve never seen this one before
RayRod747 comes through with the Douglas Lima thunder
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