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Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been one of the biggest success stories in recent years of the sport. The Brit arrived in the promotion with bags of potential but quickly rose up the rankings with many now seeing him as the best heavyweight in the division.

In a recent interview with SafestCasinoSites, Aspinall was asked whether there is someone else on the roster that he points to as a one to watch. A rising prospect who like Aspinall, could continue to prove himself as an elite competitor with each step up in competition.

The interim champion has made it clear on multiple occasions that the heavyweight division is his focus and though he sees it as nearly a different sport to the rest of MMA, Aspinall does like to try and learn things from other fighters in lower weight classes.

This led him to giving the answer of the undefeated bantamweight contender, Payton Talbott, who debuted in the Octagon just under a year ago. In that time, the Contender Series alum has recorded three finishes at 135-pounds.

His destructive display against Cameron Saaiman was incredibly impressive considering how highly people regard both men. Talbott then followed that up with a 19-second knockout against Yanis Ghemmouri at UFC 303.

Aspinall hasn’t done a deep dive on the 26-year old but he likes what he has seen so far.

“It’s difficult to say really. I only keep up with the heavyweights really, keep an eye on the heavyweights because obviously it’s my division. But there’s a guy, I believe he’s a featherweight, maybe a bantamweight called Payton Talbott. I’ve seen him, he looks incredible. I don’t know him personally at all, never met him or anything like that, so I’m not biassed on his side, but I’ve seen him a couple of times in the UFC and he looks like the real deal, relatively untested at this point, he’s only just got into the UFC. I don’t think he’s fought anyone ranked or anything like that, but he looks really good from what I’ve seen. One to watch.”

Continue Reading Tom Aspinall Names Undefeated UFC Bantamweight As His One To Watch at MMA News.

In the biggest fight of his career to date, Ciryl Gane suffered his biggest setback when he was submitted by Jon Jones at UFC 285. “Bon Gamin” has come back from adversity in the past but he recently revealed how this one defeat affected him.

Gane’s only other loss came to Francis Ngannou in a closely contested fight before he rebounded with a win over Tai Tuivasa. With the task of welcoming Jones back the Octagon for his highly anticipated heavyweight debut, the pressure was on.

After lots of talk about how “Bones” would look at heavyweight and deal with the elusive footwork and speed of the Frenchman, the fight lasted just over two minutes.

A simple mistake from Gane was all it took for Jones to lock up a guillotine choke and stand tall at the top of the heavyweight division. In a recent video posted on the UFC’s YouTube channel, the former interim champion spoke about the aftermath of that fight.

He said that suffering a significant loss in that way really set him back but it allowed him to come back even stronger with a rejuvenated motivation to improve. Fighters and coaches often say that you learn much more from a loss than you do a win and this proved to be the case for the 34-year old.

Gane says the difficult defeat has pushed him to work harder and place more emphasis on the finer details.

“After the fight with Jon Jones, I felt that people turn really crazy… [The loss] has helped me to grow a little bit more. At first, because in my sport, to loss like that, this is too much pain. And with the people, the media and everything, it was really hard. But I stay strong. I kept my positivity every time. I work hard but I was flawless, like, win after win, win after win and something like that [the loss], ‘Okay, I must train harder than that. I must do more.’ Now, I’m focused on the little things [that are] really important to grow up.”

Continue Reading Ciryl Gane Explains Positive Impact Jon Jones Loss Has Had On His Career at MMA News.

UFC commentator Jon Anik recently graced the Pound 4 Pound podcast with his presence as the modern day voice of the MMA leader covered a whole host of topics alongside former champion Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman.

At one point in the episode, the topic of Anik’s top three knockouts that he has called in his career was brought up where his usual answers for this specific question weren’t necessarily going to cut it considering the company he was in.

The commentator kicked off his list with a pick for Usman that in fairness, is deserving of being on the list considering the knockout and the magnitude of his victory over Jorge Masvidal back in 2021.

“Can I just go number three, Kamaru Usman against Jorge Masvidal. If anybody knows the circumstances surrounding that and certainly the pedestal that we all put ‘Gamebred’ on as far as his boxing is concerned, we’ll put that top three.”

Anik also said that Cejudo’s knockout over TJ Dillashaw could enter at the second spot but this is where his efforts to play to the crowd came to an end. Anik paused for a moment before revealing what would usually take top billing in his list.

Anyone who has heard him talk about his favorite moments sat cage side will know that Leon Edwards’ head kick knockout over Usman at UFC 278 is the gold standard. He made reference to that and how he would avoid picking it on this occasion, despite Usman agreeing with him.

“On these airwaves, I don’t know that I go Leon Edwards over Kamaru Usman in the top slot…”

In the end, Anik eventually went with a different shocking title win to cap off his list by giving a shout out to the two biggest victories over Rose Namajunas’ career.

“I think number one, it’s gotta be ‘Thug’ Rose against Joanna J?drzejczyk and then she f****** head kicked Zhang Weili too.”

Check out the full podcast below:

Continue Reading VIDEO: Jon Anik References Leon Edwards’ Title-Winning Knockout On Kamaru Usman’s Podcast at MMA News.

Conor McGregor’s mounting exasperation over the uncertainty surrounding his UFC comeback recently erupted into a fiery social media tirade against Belal Muhammad.

McGregor has been inactive for over three years, with his last appearance coming in July 2021, when he suffered a broken leg during his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. “The Notorious” was originally set to make his highly anticipated return to the Octagon against TUF 31 rival coach Michael Chandler in a welterweight showdown at UFC 303 this past June.

However, the eagerly awaited match was delayed when the former two-division UFC titleholder broke his toe during his fight camp, ultimately leading to its complete cancellation. In the meantime, Chandler has redirected his focus and is now scheduled to clash with Charles Oliveira in a rematch at UFC 309 next month.

McGregor previously expressed a desire to step into the Octagon before the year concludes; however, UFC CEO Dana White has dashed those hopes, suggesting a return in 2025 instead. Frustrated by the situation, “The Notorious” vented his displeasure and hinted at discussions with Turki Alalshikh to explore potential fight negotiations on his behalf.

McGregor Rips Muhammad While Fuming About UFC Return Uncertainty

McGregor recently took to X to express his bitterness over the persistent delays hindering his comeback in a now-deleted tweet. In the same post, he confidently declared that he would easily dispatch Muhammad if they ever squared off, lamenting the fact that “Remember the Name” has yet to secure a single knockdown in his UFC career.

“Love to crush my left hook into Belal’s temple and take down the triple crown,” McGregor tweeted. “I’d do it easily and fast! I’d cave his skull heavy! The hurdles I face getting back to the octagon are just harrowing. I am so sad over my June 29th fight cancelation. To think this bum is now a UFC champion with zero knockdowns on his resume or whatever is so bad. The UFC’s most abysmal zero revenue generating fight in modern history.”

Muhammad also found himself on the receiving end of a social media onslaught from UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who ridiculed him for his lack of knockdowns in his 19-fight UFC career.

• Read More: ‘If This Is True…’ – Fans React As Conor McGregor Names New Opponent, Date, Location For His UFC Comeback

Continue Reading McGregor Rants About UFC Return, Targets Belal Muhammad at MMA News.