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Could MVP vs. Garry become the new co-main at UFC 303?

Ian Machado Garry and Michael ‘Venom’ Page are both looking for opponents to fight this summer, so why not each other?

Garry had hoped to fight Colby Covington in the co-main of UFC 303 (aka the Conor McGregor comeback card). Covington is still recovering from a broken foot, so Ian is now casting a wider net that includes the ‘low-ranked’ “MVP.” And Page has been down to scrap from the beginning.

“That’d be a great match,” Page said in a new interview with Sky Sports. “And I knew the UK card was coming up, so I was like, oh, that’d be a great fight. They said ‘Colby’s already taken that fight, so that’s not really a thing. But we’ll look for somebody else for the same time.’ So in my head I was like yeah, I already knew I was gonna be fighting in Manchester, but I was just waiting for an opponent.”

“Colby’s got some kind of issue. I didn’t actually look into exactly what that was, but he can’t make the fight. They’re like, ‘Would you still wanna take the [Ian Garry fight]?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah. Yeah. Let’s just put it on the UK card because it just makes sense, you know?’ Straight away, accepted.”

But don’t get it twisted, Page is ready for UFC 303 if that’s when the fight has to happen.

“I don’t actually care when the fight is,” he said. “I can do it next week. I can do it the week after. I don’t mind. I’m just saying it made more sense for the UK. He’s Irish. I’m English. On the UK card, it’s gonna be a big card. It’d be a great fight.”

“I think he likes to hang on the back of people’s coattails. So he sees Conor McGregor and gets excited. Whereas, I don’t care. Like, I I don’t care for stuff like being on a Conor McGregor show. There’s loads of eyes and I don’t care when I fight. I like to create my own light.”

So what’s the status on a potential Garry vs. Page fight at UFC 303?

“I’ve accepted the fight, so we’re just waiting,” Page said. “He’s accepted it? He’s accepted it. He says he’s accepted it.”

But has the UFC accepted it?

“I’ve just said I’m happy to fight,” he clarified. “But there’s been no offer.”

Let’s hope the UFC takes Garry and Page up on their offer because UFC 303 is looking light under the main event. With Khalil Rountree out of his co-main against Jamahal Hill, the next biggest fight on the card is … Joe Pyfer vs. Marc-Andre Barriault? Eugh, sad. Get “Future” vs. “Venom” on there now!

TKO president Mark Shapiro envisions a future where fans who subscribe to the new ESPN flagship streaming package get UFC PPVs for free.

The big streaming companies are in the middle of a knock down drag out war to determine who will end up on top, and UFC fans could benefit greatly from the conflict.

Sports is already being touted as the answer to the retention problem many streaming services have, and many leagues are making big money as rights deals are being renewed at record levels. The UFC’s deal with ESPN expires in 2025, and who knows where the combat sports promotion could end up after that.

We could see bigger moves than just a switch in the streaming service that sells us pay-per-view events. Mark Shapiro, the president of UFC’s parent company TKO, spoke at the JP Morgan Technology, Media and Communications Conference, and he shared a vision where a streaming service (like ESPN’s new ‘flagship’ platform) offers UFC PPVs to you for no extra charge if you sign up to their service.

“If I, for example, was launching direct-to-consumer flagship ESPN, I might think about just buying out the pay-per-view and putting it right on that flagship channel,” Shapiro said (via MMA Fighting). “Like you can only get it, just like ESPN+, if you have flagship.

“If you’re trying to launch ESPN flagship and whatever they might call it — that’s the working title — and you’re trying to charge $29, $39.99, whatever it might be, what better than to have a monthly ‘pay-per-view’ that sits exclusive to that platform?” he suggested. “Now we haven’t had those conversations with ESPN. But that’s just an example of the kind of flexibility that we’re going to bring to the conversations.”

ESPN previously bought the rights to exclusively sell UFC PPVs through ESPN+ in the United States, so they’re clearly open to these kinds of unique ideas being pushed by TKO execs. And they need the new ESPN ‘flagship’ streaming service to arrive with a bang so it isn’t dubbed a lemon out of the gate.

What better way to do that than with ‘free’ pay-per-views?

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC Bantamweight kingpin Sean O’Malley may triple his fight purse income from social media income, but perhaps that’s actually more dangerous than stepping into the cage?

In a new episode of his TimboSugarShow podcast, O’Malley talked about a recent incident during a Twitch streaming center. According to “Suga,” he was the victim of a “Swatting” incident, in which a false call to the police is made against an unsuspecting person. Swatting is both illegal and dangerous, as armed officers are sent into what they believe to be dangerous situations.

“Went home, I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna stream today,’” O’Malley explained (via LowKickMMA). “Streaming, about an hour and a half in I see a f—king cop fly down my road. I feel like instantly I kinda knew because I’ve heard about Adin [Ross] and the big streamers getting swatted. People find out where they’re at and they call the cops, say something happened that obviously didn’t happen and then they’re f—king getting swatted.”

“So, I peek out my head out the window to see if maybe it’s something else. But then they’re on the intercom and I see a bunch of cops and they’re like, ‘Walk out with your hands up.’ So I f—king walk out, hands up. I was like, ‘I’m just gonna listen. I could get shot.’” I was like, ‘Okay if I just listen to them, I’ll be alright.’ But you never know, someone sneezes, pulls the trigger. I got f—king shotguns pointed at me. ARs from like four different cops pointed at me. I was like I’m just gonna listen and walk back.”

After O’Malley surrendered himself to the police, he was cuffed and put in the back of a cop car. Fortunately, another set of officers arrived and recognized O’Malley, letting him go. O’Malley also revealed that whoever made the call said there was an active shooter in the building, as well as dead bodies.

“No. They didn’t have me get on the ground,” O’Malley continued. “I just turned around, walked backward with my hands up, put me in handcuffs. Put me in the cop car. I just used it as a meditation because moments like those bring you into the present moment so much. I was sitting in the back of that cop car in handcuffs and I was like, ‘Dude, that’s crazy. I had freedom five minutes ago. Now I have none. Zero.’

“They said I killed my parents or something like that, and they thought there was an active shooter inside … Someone called the cops and said there’s an active shooter, and two dead people in the house or something.”

In the cage, O’Malley most recently defeated Marlon Vera via dominant five-round decision, avenging the only loss of his professional career. Next up for “Suga” should be a showdown opposite streaking contender Merab Dvalishvili, potentially at The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Insomnia

Joilton Lutterbach (38-10) is an ACB and PFL veteran with a bunch of kickboxing matches on his record as well. He also lost to Clay Collard in a Lightweight bout in 2011 …

Dana White loves to talk Power Slap numbers but I have yet to meet a living, breathing Power Slap fan in my real life.

Another claim that PFL cannot afford to actually book its fighters …

This thread full of rare Sumo throws is absolutely worth a click through:

Jon Jones loves DMing people weird messages.

Belal Muhammad wasn’t impressed by Themba Gorimbo’s recent post-fight speech.

Lerone Murphy with the throwback picture of his future opponent!

Boxing politics are so silly.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Interesting angle on this elbow KO:

Torrez Finney is a name to keep an eye out for on this summer’s season of Contenders Series.

Yeah, it doesn’t appear the third round was super necessary here …

Random Land

Like a house of cards:

Midnight Music: Soul, 1964

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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.”