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There’s a massive pay disparity in Saturday night’s HBO Boxing championship main event between WBO super lightweight champion Terence Crawford and Hank Lundy.

There’s a huge day of boxing in store for Saturday, capped off with the New York City debut of WBO super lightweight (140 lbs) Terence Crawford (27-0, 19 KOs), as he looks for a successful title defense against “Hammerin'”Hank Lundy (26-5-1, 13 KOs) in the HBO World Championship Boxing main event at the Madison Square Garden Theater.

Also on the card is undefeated Puerto Rican lightweight (135 lbs) prospect Felix Verdejo (19-0, 14 KOs), who will go up against Brazil’s William Silva (23-0, 14 KOs) in the co-main event. ESPN’s Dan Rafael has the fight purses for the card, which sees Crawford making well more than his opponent.

Purses for Saturday’s #boxing card at MSG Theater: Crawford $1.21M, Lundy $150k, Verdejo $125k, Silva $50k. #CrawfordLundy #VerdejoSilva

— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) February 26, 2016

Crawford has certainly come a long way from making $6,500 on the untelevised HBO undercard just four years ago. “Bud” rose to $125,000 for his short-notice, upset win over Breidis Prescott in March 2013. His payday rose to $200,000 for a decision win over Andrey Klimov that October, and that’s the last time Crawford has fought in a state with disclosed salaries. Presumably he hit the jackpot after beating Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014’s Fight of the Year.

For Lundy, his December 2014 loss to Crawford-vanquished Thomas Dulorme saw him earn a $100,000 purse. This isn’t particularly surprising, as Lundy is a heavy underdog and this is not a major HBO Boxing card. Crawford and Verdejo are the main draws for separate reasons, as Crawford is the champion while Verdejo will have the Puerto Rican fanbase cheering him on.

HBO’s World Championship Boxing airs live on Saturday night at 10 PM ET/PT.

A solid UK prospect takes on a solid aging Shooto veteran for UFC Fight Night 84 in London at the O2 Arena in a matchup that should be quick.

An unlikely grappling matchup between welterweights keeps the audience awake this February 27, 2016 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom.

The Match Up

Welterweight Tom Breese 9-0 vs. Keita Nakamura 31-6-2

The Odds

Welterweight Tom Breese -1165 vs. Keita Nakamura +750

3 Things You Should Know

1. Breese is the rare English breed, oozing tons of potential, and training at a high quality North American gym.

At 24 years of age, Breese is progressing exactly as you’d want a blue chip prospect to progress. His matchmaking has been a little “soft” you might say, but that’s exactly what you want your prospects to do. Could the UFC be more consistent with this process? Of course. But when it happens, you breathe a sigh of relief knowing full well that a Charles Oliveira is on the other side. Breese is drawing Nakamura, who is no Bryan Barberena. But he’s no Francisco Trevino either. I think.

2. Nakamura has been around for ages. He’s been competent for ages too.

Nakamura has always been the unique breed of quiet competence. He’s not great at any one thing, but unlike most of jack of all trade types who are rough around the edges, Nakamura is quite slick. This tends to be the case with a lot of Shooto veterans. Because coaching never emphasized transition fighting, and phase shifting, each skill is honed in a vacuum. As a result, their skills are polished even if their philosophy isn’t.

3. It’s an awful matchup for Nakamura, but he’ll command Breese’s respect on the ground if it goes there.

Breese is dangerous on the feet not due to what he throws, but due to what he doesn’t throw. As in, his feints, size, and speed allow him to force reactions out of his opponent. When that happens, he can put together a good string of punches, or fight his way into the clinch where he can get top control with surprising efficiency. Once there, he’s top heavy the way Manny Gambruyan is top heavy, but without all that inertia on top.

Nakamura isn’t a fish out of water on the ground. He’s been swimming in competition for over a decade, with plenty of outside experience in straight jiu jitsu against the world’s best. He’s quick at identifying openings and pouncing on them with ease and craft.

The real issue for Nakamura is how he manages to deal with the vertical pugilism. He’s quite technical, able to shoot in with punches with craft. But his movement is of the molasses variety, and Breese’s size advantage will take full advantage of this.

Prediction

This just isn’t an interesting fight except as a proxy for Breese’s development. Nakamura needs to be fighting Mike Pyle and Chris Lytle. Not Tom Breese, who will probably be fighting someone much higher on the totem pole in another year and half. Tom Breese by RNC, round 2.

Michael Bisping has never been afraid of a little trash talk, and definitely sent some Anderson Silva’s way at the UFC Fight Night weigh-ins today.

The heat between Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva was ramped up today at the weigh-ins for their UFC Fight Night headliner in London. After having an odd confrontation during their faceoff, Bisping got on the mic and really put it on Anderson:

“This man is a cheat. This man is a fraud. And I will make you pay for your mistakes tomorrow night my friend. All the needles in your ass, all the steroids will not help you, you p*ssy.”

He is of course referring to Silva’s suspension for positive drug tests following a bout with Nick Diaz early last year.

At the media day yesterday, Silva wouldn’t shake Bisping’s hand, which seemed to get a rise out of the British fighter. Today after they both successfully made weight, Bisping again offered his hand. Anderson seemed distracted and didn’t take it. He then seemed to realize what was happening and offered his hand, but Bisping pulled his away and started jawing at him.

You can check out the video of the confrontation above.

The Three Amigos are back with their 50th episode which features: a special guest host, two exciting fighters and the latest installment of the Weight List.

Welcome to your weekly dose of Three Amigos Podcast fun. This episode is loaded with great content, courtesy of our special guests, UFC middleweight contender, Gegard Mousasi and featherweight contender, Bubba Jenkins. We’ve also got the 17th installment of the Weight List with George Lockhart and our own Iain Kidd. As a special bonus of our landmark 50^th episode, we’ve brought along UFC welterweight and rockstar media dude, Mike “the Truth” Jackson as our first ever guest host.

Here is a summary of each interview segment, complete with the time stamps for when each interview or special segment begins. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as we enjoyed recording it.

This week’s installment of the Weight List (segment starts at the 45:40 mark of the audio) focuses on:

One topic only this week, the dangerous weight cut of Dada 5000 and the likely culprit that contributed to his health crisis and subsequent hospitalization following his fight with Kimbo Slice on last weekend’s Bellator card.

If you have a question you’d like to submit to The Weight List Mailbag, please e-mail [email protected] or shoot him a tweet @iainkidd. You can also drop your question off on our Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/threeamigospodcast

UFC middleweight contender, Gegard Mousasi (interview starts at the 1:08:05 mark of the audio), stopped by to discuss:

-How the loss to Uriah Hall has affected him
-Id he’s made any changes in training
-What he knows of Leites (weaknesses)
-Training with Rico Verhoeven
-Thoughts on Ronda Rousey’s suicide comments
-If the UFC could benefit from a staff psychologist
-“Tainted supplement” excuses for failed drug tests
-Thoughts on RIZIN event
-Fights booked solely for entertainment value
-Free agency
-Reebok
-Judging issues and open scoring idea
-Motivation after over a decade in the sport

Bellator featherweight contender, Bubba Jenkins (interview starts at the 1:24:25 mark of the audio), sat in with the Amigos to discuss:

-How much time in a training camp is sufficient to perform optimally
-Thoughts on Yamauchi’s claims of being the best in the division
-How he assesses his career thus far
-Unique distinction of being a wrestling standout at not 1, but 2 powerhouse universities
-Thoughts on last weekend’s Bellator 149 card
-If he’s interested in fighting in RIZIN
-Rematch with Karakhanyan
-Spirituality
-Advice for other collegiate wrestlers looking to take the plunge into MMA
-1 change he would make for the betterment/advancement of the sport
-Role with TipAFighter

The hosts discussed:

–Rafael dos Anjos off UFC 196 due to injury
–Nate Diaz replacing dos Anjos against Conor McGregor
-The amazeballs Mystic Mac/Stockton Smoker press conference from Wednesday afternoon
-The aftermath from Bellator 149
-Dada 5000 health crisis
-Shamrock/Gracie disaster
-Thoughts on UFC Pittsburgh
-Mike Jackson’s backstage adventures at Bellator 149
-WSOF holding an event in a rec center with a volleyball game going on simultaneously
-68-year-old-woman fought and was viciously KOd
-Wandy wanting warmup fight before facing Fedor on a future RIZIN card
-Staff predictions update (Stephie still in the lead)
-Predictions for this weekend’s UFC and Bellator cards
-Mookie’s refusal to sleep without his trusty “binky’

You can check out the show here or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you’re looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we’re under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Podcast.

Exclusive interview with “The Count,” who talked with MMAmania.com about his high profile headliner with “The Spider” in London, England this Saturday (Feb. 27, 2016), as well as a potential title shot being on the line, his legacy, retirement and much more!

In just about 24 hours, No. 6-ranked middleweight contender Michael Bisping will cut the chitter chatter and throw hands with former 185-pound ruler Anderson Silva in the main event of the Fight Pass-exclusive UFC Fight Night 84 card, which takes place inside of O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday night (Feb. 27, 2016).

“The Count” has held court in the Top 10 of the division for several years, but as the story goes, he never earned a title shot against then champion and destructive force, Silva. But after the Brit thought long and hard about challenging a previous abuser of steroids, he simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity to face a legend.

Bisping marches into his tussle with “The Spider” having won his last two contests, including hos most recent win over former 185-pound title challenger Thales Leites, while the social media savvy Brazilian returns to the Octagon from a 12-month suspension for a failed drug test.

With their long-awaited tilt set to take place shortly, MMA Mania caught up with Bisping to talk about his training camp, the psychological part of facing Silva, this being a legacy fight and more.

After your fight was announced, when did you begin training camp?

Bisping: It actually worked out quite well because after the 2nd of January, it was actually eight weeks out from my fight. Typically, a fight camp is eight weeks. To be honest, eight weeks is too long. I only give myself an eight-week camp, but five or six weeks into it, I’m ready to go.

Heading into your 25th Octagon appearance, and a very important one at that, have you done anything extra like bring in a nutritionist?

MB: I have enlisted the help of a nutritionist for this camp, Dan Gardener, simply because it is a big fight and I want to do everything I can to ensure victory. I felt it couldn’t hurt to bring in a nutritionist, who can give his thoughts as well. For this camp, I’ve written out a schedule that’s lighter in volume than as what some other training camps have been.

What about movement training? We’ve seen featherweight champion Conor McGregor put an emphasis on that.

MB: Another word that’s been used throughout the history of fighting is agility. I’ve always done agility training. He hasn’t exactly reinvented the wheel here. People have been doing agility in fighting forever; since the 1700s. I’ve hired a flexibility coach to work on my range of motion.

For a fighter like you, who’s 12 years into their pro career, what has kept you competing at a high level?

MB: I’m as hungry as I was day one. For me, what it’s all about is trying to calm down. I would train and get worked up, but my mind gets manic. The way I train, I always want to go a million miles an hour. What I’m trying to do is get my body at maximum output, but my mind is still in first or second gear.

Moving on to your bout with Anderson, can you describe what makes him such a great fighter, not just inside the Octagon, but out of it as well? The intangibles.

MB: I believe people have been just so terrified of him in the past. He did beat Nick Diaz, but I still thought he looked beatable. The reason for that was Nick wasn’t intimidated … he wasn’t scared.

People have froze in the past. When you look at the fight with Vitor Belfort, he was just standing right in front of him. It was a beautiful shot. He fell into the trap.

When I look at Anderson, I see a very beatable fighter. He’s not the fastest, and he’s not the most powerful, but he’s very, very precise and accurate. Anderson hasn’t fought anyone with my footwork, my speed and my pace. I think I’m capable of taking him down as well.

So there’s quite a bit of mental preparation you have to do when facing a fighter the caliber of Anderson?

MB: Of course, it’s the oldest cliche in the world. Fighting is 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental, but it really is. It plays such a huge part in this. I’m a very emotional guy and sometimes those emotions have gotten the best of me. Jason Parillo is working very well with me on that side of things.

Going into this fight, there will be critics who say that you’re catching Anderson at the tail end of his career. Do you think that’s justified?

MB: I’m getting him at a good time. You can’t deny the facts. This isn’t him after a 10-fight win streak.

Being that this was a fight that many — including you — thought would happen years ago, are you approaching it with any added pressure? Will it define your UFC legacy?

MB: Certainly, this is a legacy fight. Anderson will probably be remembered as the Muhammad Ali of UFC, if you will. Of course, I’d want to fight him and when I beat him this will be a fight that people talk about down the line. There’s still a lot of life in this dog.

Would you ever consider competing in any other organization other than UFC?

MB: I have no intentions of competing with any other organization. Listen, at the end of the day, money talks and that’s what we’re all here for, but I’ve always been happy with the way UFC has treated me. Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta] have been exceptional with me … above and beyond.

Before we go, do you believe a win on Saturday will earn you a title shot and have you discussed this possibility with Dana?

MB: After I beat Anderson I will have won four of my last five, my only loss being to the current champion [Luke Rockhold]. There were mitigating circumstances in that fight. He headbutted me in the first round and then blood was getting in my eye. It was a real pain in the ass.

I said to Dana White when we discussed the Anderson Silva fight, ‘please, I want my shot at the title.’ He said, ‘well let’s just see what happens with Anderson and we’ll discuss it after that.’

For more UFC Fight Night 84 news and notes, including up-to-the-minute live results and play-by-play, click here and here.