NBA star Steph Curry gifts UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov game-worn jersey following win

Khabib meets Steph CurryKhabib Nurmagomedov was gifted a signed jersey from NBA icon Steph Curry. The former UFC lightweight world champion was courtside at…

Khabib meets Steph Curry

Khabib Nurmagomedov was gifted a signed jersey from NBA icon Steph Curry.

The former UFC lightweight world champion was courtside at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as Curry and the Golden State Warriors secured a 120-105 win over the Raptors. During the game, ‘The Eagle’ couldn’t help, but marvel at seeing the four-time NBA champion in action.

“It’s different experience to watch live one of the best NBA player in the world,” Nurmagomedov wrote on X along with a photo of Curry on the court.

Following the game, the two engaged in a brief conversation before Curry handed his game-worn jersey to ‘The Eagle’ with his autograph and a message. “To Khabib, all love champ,” the two-time MVP wrote.

Curry tallied a team-leading 25 points, six rebounds, and six assists to lead Golden State to victory. Though the team had a rough start to the 2023/2024 season, the Warriors have now won 11 of their last 13 games. They’ll be back on the court on Saturday, March 2 for a meeting with the Eastern Conference’s top dogs, the Boston Celtics.

Khabib Nurmagomedov Plans to remain happily retired

Khabib Nurmagomedov is considered to be one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the history of the sport. Going 29-0 in his career, ‘The Eagle’ captured the UFC lightweight title, defending it three times against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje before laying down his gloves and riding off into retirement in 2020.

Despite repeated efforts by the UFC to draw him back in with fat stacks of cash, ‘The Eagle’ has remained adamant that he is retired and will be staying that way.

NFL, NBA, UFC Push for DMCA Law Changes in Letter to US Patent and Trademark Office

Multiple major sports leagues reportedly have joined forces in the fight against illegal livestreaming. According to Umar Shakir of The Verge, the NFL, NBA…

Multiple major sports leagues reportedly have joined forces in the fight against illegal livestreaming. According to Umar Shakir of The Verge, the NFL, NBA…

Conor McGregor Says Heat Mascot Is ‘Good’ After Hospital Trip from NBA Finals Skit

Conor McGregor said the Miami Heat mascot is doing fine after getting knocked out by the UFC superstar during a halftime skit. “The mascot is good. It was a…

Conor McGregor said the Miami Heat mascot is doing fine after getting knocked out by the UFC superstar during a halftime skit. “The mascot is good. It was a…

Kamaru Usman Responds To Colby Covington Ripping NBA Players

Due to the protest of Jacob Blake’s death in Wisconsin earlier this month, professional athletes from the NBA and MLB have since gone on strike and are unwilling to budge. They want justice, and there have already been so many issues this year with this kind of thing. It started out by the Milwaukee Bucks […]

Due to the protest of Jacob Blake’s death in Wisconsin earlier this month, professional athletes from the NBA and MLB have since gone on strike and are unwilling to budge. They want justice, and there have already been so many issues this year with this kind of thing.

It started out by the Milwaukee Bucks refusing to play their playoff game against Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, which has led to every NBA game being postponed. Now there are also baseball games being postponed due to the protest.

Former interim UFC Welterweight Champion Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington had some choice words for these athletes, or ‘snowflakes’ as he’d call them:

“Oh wow, you postponed your games?! Wanna prove you’re really about change? Quit your multi million dollar jobs and soft privileged lives playing a kids game, take a massive pay cut and perform the toughest job in America. Become cops!!!!”

UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman then interjected with a statement of his own:

“I really wish someone would just break your jaw already…”

If Covington wins his next fight against Tyron Woodley and Usman wins his next fight with Gilbert Burns, we may get to see these two go at it again. What a treat that would be, everyone wants to see this fight again. They’re the two best welterweights in the sport, and their first fight was insane.

It’s so unfortunate that we finally got sports back, and now this happens. At least us MMA fans didn’t have to wait more than two months without fights, but all of these sports started their seasons late. The chaos needs to end, we should all be working together in order for it to.

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ also uploaded this video yesterday regarding what’s been going on, sharing his thoughts on the matter.

Six Ways UFC 229 Was Promoted Wrong

We are midway through the biggest fight week in MMA history. UFC 229 is just days away but does it feel like it should be bigger? Does it feel like it should have been promoted differently? UFC President Dana White has gone on the record and stated this is the biggest fight in the promotion’s […]

The post Six Ways UFC 229 Was Promoted Wrong appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

We are midway through the biggest fight week in MMA history.

UFC 229 is just days away but does it feel like it should be bigger? Does it feel like it should have been promoted differently?

UFC President Dana White has gone on the record and stated this is the biggest fight in the promotion’s history. The outspoken executive is predicting a record-demolishing three million PPV buys. Many other media outlets have echoed that very sentiment, albeit to a lesser extent. Any time you have the sport’s most recognizable star coming back after a two-year hiatus, it’s going to make headlines, and for good reason.

But honestly, doesn’t it feel like UFC 229 should be bigger than it has been thus far? We here at LowkickMMA think so, and that’s why we broke down six ways the UFC could have perhaps promoted the event better.

Check them out here:

Dana White Overestimated McGregor’s Appeal

Is it possible that White was wrongly banking on Conor McGregor and the entire country of Ireland?

We all know that the Irish fans travel well, probably better than just about any other group of people. Especially McGregor’s crazy passionate fans. I’m sure there will be a massive cheering section at the sold-out T-Mobile Arena for one Conor McGregor, but how many of those fans will be from the Emerald Isle across the pond?

McGregor’s appeal may have taken a big blow as it came to the casual fan when he tried his hand at the sweeter science of combat sports. His loss to Floyd Mayweather isn’t going to sway his believers. When all is said and done, UFC 229 will probably do monster numbers.

But you can only wonder what Conor’s appeal would be if he were the 1 in 50-1.

The post Six Ways UFC 229 Was Promoted Wrong appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

‘He’s a F–king Monster’: Tim Duncan’s Kickboxing Trainer Opens Up

There’s something striking about watching a 7-footer kickbox. Even more so when that 7-footer is perhaps the greatest power forward in NBA history, Tim Duncan. (Fine, fine, he’s listed at 6’11” and mostly played center, but you get the point.)
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There’s something striking about watching a 7-footer kickbox. Even more so when that 7-footer is perhaps the greatest power forward in NBA history, Tim Duncan. (Fine, fine, he’s listed at 6’11” and mostly played center, but you get the point.)

Jason Echols of Echols Fitness in San Antonio recently posted a video on Facebook of him and the Spurs legend kickboxing—a clip that quickly accumulated nearly 200,000 views.

To find out what it’s like to fight one of the greatest basketball players ever to live, we asked Echols himself, who’s been training Duncan for nearly a decade. Echols spoke to Bleacher Report about how he began working with Duncan, whether The Big Fundamental is as vanilla as he is stereotyped to be and what it’s like to watch the recent retiree fight another Spurs legendThe General, David Robinson. 

       

Bleacher Report: How did you meet Tim Duncan and how did you become his trainer?

Jason Echols: One other guy I knew had a fitness gym going, and we were both martial artists. Therefore, we had a little martial arts training circle happening where guys were coming in and out. Tim was just a friend of a friend, and he popped in and we just hit it off. We continued training, and the rest is history. That was 2008 or 2009. It’s been a while.

      

B/R: What was your first impression of him?

JE: When he walked in the door, I could see that he was very hungry to learn martial arts, and his movement, his absorption of the martial arts was just phenomenal. You could really see the athleticism that existed in him already. It caught onto these movements, and he was able to absorb them better and pick it up better than the average person because of his athleticism. His size…it’s incredible to watch him move. Now the world is seeing it.

 

        

B/R: He’s much bigger than the average kickboxer. How does that affect how you train him and how he goes about his training regimen?

JE: I’m 5’10”, so to be in front of someone of that size, it takes more physical energy to train a beast like that. It’s hard holding the mitts for him, hard getting hit by him. Even though he’s lugging on me and not executing full power, just to take a wallop from his leg, it’s quite an impact.

      

B/R: Did you have any expectations when you met him about what he might be like?

JE: I was never a sports fan other than UFC and kickboxing. I was never into basketball or football or anything. Being in San Antonio, it’s hard to not know who Tim Duncan is. When he walked in, he was always the quiet guy in the public eye; I believe I saw a different side of him, because he’s a roaring lion in martial arts.

He’s an animal. It’s a different thing than what you see out on the court. The more intense the training gets, the more calm he becomes, which you’ve seen on the court. The way he executes the movements, he’s a f–king monster.

      

B/R: Any stories from training with him?

JE: One time, I tore my bicep just trying to move with him at a higher-level pace. He’s so big and his elbows are like spears and his bones are really sharp. Just interacting and punching with him, I hit him with a right hook and his elbow caught the inside of my bicep and tore it right off, just from moving around. Whatever pace I’m at, he sets it. The roaring lion is his passion to learn, his passion to pick up the movements. He’s really, really passionate and into the idea of martial arts. It’s cool to watch.

        

B/R: What is he like as a person, having worked with him for a long time?

JE: The public has an opinion on him, and mine is a little bit different. He’s known as the good, quiet guy. I get to see his passion, and he’s incredibly funny. He’s a super humorous guy. We laugh our asses off a lot when we’re training. I think he’s actually a better person than the public even thinks he is.

One time he came in and said, “Stephen Jackson wants to spar with me.” I asked, “Who’s Stephen Jackson?” We both started laughing ’cause it was a sports player I clearly should’ve known, but because I didn’t, we both started cracking up and laughing. I don’t know much about the NBA, and I think he delights in that. The dude’s hilarious.

       

B/R: What has surprised you about working with him?

JE: His passion. His ability to want to learn and continue learning. We play a little game called violent chess. His intensity and strategical thinking—being in front of someone like that is extremely intimidating because of his size. I think most of all, his athleticism and size has surprised me the most. He’s a roaring lion, and I can see his passion—he has to turn it down a bit. If I hold up the mitts, he could just let it go and tear my arm off.

      

B/R: What do you remember from the first time fighting him?

JE: I remember being very ready to run. I would stick and run. He figured out my game and worked his way around it. I’ve had some very rough gos in front of him. When he wasn’t playing in the offseason, we would turn it up quite a bit. It was very surprising to me how aggressive and intense he was.

       

B/R: Where does he rank among the guys you’ve trained?

JE: He’s my No. 1 student by far. Again, his athleticism and size and competitive spirit and his exposure to being an athlete. I jokingly said to someone else that it could be a cupcake-baking contest and he would win because he’s just good at whatever he does. The sophistication level of him absorbing the martial arts that we have is very, very high. It’s hard for him to catch up with his capabilities.

       

B/R: When you tell people that you train Tim Duncan, what is their reaction?

JE: Excitement. People get excited. They really like it. I’ve been in San Antonio most of my life, so most of the people that I speak to know me or know of me. It’s really an exciting deal to say I train Tim.

I don’t know if you know this, but I’ve had the pleasure of working with David Robinson, too, and he’s another incredibly humongous, crazy amazing guy that’s been coming through. It’s neat to say I’ve had the Twin Towers come through Echols Fitness.

       

B/R: If David Robinson and Tim Duncan square off, who would win?

JE: They’ve done a bit of it already. David is at a level where he’s not as advanced as Tim is. He started more recently than Tim, but to watch those two guys move around together is definitely a spectacular sight to see. Maybe the public will see [that] in the coming days. You never know.

        

B/R: What is it like to see that happen?

JE: I sat next to David Robinson’s son, Justin [a 6’9″ redshirt sophomore with the Duke basketball team], and we sat there with our mouths hanging open. It was bizarre. They’re freaking enormous. We were in shock. Tim would turn around and wait for us to say something coach-like, but I was stunned. There was nothing I could say. They are both so humongous.

       

B/R: If Tim Duncan or David Robinson wanted to get into MMA, would they would be able to compete?

JE: [Duncan] would be a legit competitor. For sure. He has a desire to learn and compete. He has the heart for it. He most definitely would be a competitor. I would highly encourage him not to. Being a retired Spurs player, I wouldn’t want him going out there and getting punched and kicked by some of those guys, but Tim would be a competitor. David would learn to become one. They are both competitive guys and not used to losing.

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