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Yakovlev sinks deep front head lock guillotine for win
Mustaev 'kicks' off UFC St. Petersburg with a knockout!
Conor McGregor takes part in amateur boxing exhibition vs. ammy Michael McGrane in Dublin
Poster released for UFC on ESPN+ 10 on 5/18 in Rochester
Angela Magana's first public words after coma
Brendan Schaub not impressed with UFC 236 double paywall and poor stream
“Did anyone else have problems with ESPN+? So, I have all the family around. We got food and everything. Everyone ready? Here we go. Click. It goes, ‘This service does not work on this device.’ I’m like, ‘Ok, well, that’s not good.’ Try doing it again. Nothing. Try doing it from my phone. Nothing. ESPN, UFC, I’m trying to give you $80. And then finally I went, ‘Yo, if I don’t figure this out in five minutes… I’m going to turn to the dark side and have to illegally stream this.’ I must’ve got 2,000 DMs with different links. When I clicked on that link, that thing was better quality than I had on my f@$%ing… Than ever! What’s best for the fighters, what’s best for ‘Stylebender’ and Kelvin Gastelum and Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier, is getting as many eyeballs on this thing as possible. Not limiting, making people pay behind two paywalls so you’re getting this very small number of diehards that are going to tune into this thing. That’s not the best thing for the fighters. You’ve just lost so many casual fans.” h/t BJPENN.COM • Watch
Joseph Benavidez: 'Clear as day' that UFC is shuttering men's flyweight
Benavidez, who rematches Jussier Formiga at UFC on ESPN 4 for the #1 flyweight contender spot: “That makes me feel good, but it’s like that initial fix of, like, ‘oh cool.' Like, that’s right now, I’m fighting for a No. 1 contender fight, a title fight might be after it. Even if there is a title fight, which I think there will be, I mean, if Henry loses, he’s still going to be like ‘I’m the ’25 champ, you’re not getting rid of me,’ he has to defend it. But then, I kind of look at the state of the rest of the division, like, it’s getting set up for failure and being dissolved, because, there’s no one to defend it with after that. Me and Formiga are up there; who am I going to defend it against after that? Me and Formiga are out there as the No. 1 contenders to fight Henry, but Henry wins, I win, who are we going to fight after that, each other? I know some other guys that were just called and were like ‘hey, you’re a ’35-pounder now.’ And they were just so happy to not get cut that they were just like ‘OK, I’ll do it,’ so that’s what it looks like. It’s clear as day, like, everything is getting dissolved, but it’s not over until it’s over. I’m sure everything is almost dead until it’s not. We’re doing everything we can to revive it but it definitely doesn’t look good.” h/t MMA Junkie
Brandon Vera: ONE could do Vitor Belfort vs. Roy Jones Jr
ONE heavyweight world champ Brandon Vera is currently gearing up for a showdown with light heavyweight and middleweight champ Aung La N Sang in October, and discussed recent signee Vitor Belfort vs. Roy Jones Jr. in a special-rules boxing match: “I think that’s really, really cool. ONE Championship, being the largest sports media company in Asia, it’s perfect. It’s the perfect event, it’s the perfect people. Everything is too aligned for that not to happen. Roy Jones has shown interest and 'The Phenom', man, when he’s in shape, when his hands are flying… He was our best hope for a professional boxer in the MMA world for a long time. It would be very, very interesting to see what happens. I think they can do it. I’ve never put anything past these guys, and I never doubt anyone at ONE Championship anymore. They just make things happen. I believe it could happen.” h/t BJPENN.COM
CM Punk reacts to detractor of his placing 3rd of 3 in BJJ event
Female MMA fighter in Brazil beats up man for indecent exposure
Bantamweight Joyce 'Princess Fiona' Vieira was doing a photoshoot on a Rio beach when a man approached: "When I looked at him, he was the way he was, pants down, standing. On the way people passed by all the time. Children, inclusive. He kept masturbating and said 'why, did not you like it? Come here.' Usually people who are caught doing this always deny, 'no, no'. He no. He continued." He kicked him so hard her shins are bruised, and the man made the mistake of hitting back: "The punch made me even more angry. I wanted to kill him from so much knocking. But killing can not, right? I wanted to grind him up." Note: Image is a recreation. h/t Correio 24 (Brazilian Portuguese language) • Follow Vieira on Instagram
Khabib Nurmagomedov: UFC needs to pay more attention to Russian fighters
“It seems to me that after the event in Moscow there were all the same people, all the same media that were. UFC fans are watching, but I know that most people don’t even know that they are doing UFC in Russia. 20 April, Magomed Mustafaev will fight with a new guy [Rafael Fiziev], no one even knows about this fight. Or Oleinik vs. Overeem. Why not show or promote it? On the first event Taisumov, Khabilov, Omari Ahkmedov fought. Taisumov has five victories in a row. Khabilov has several wins. But they didn’t even participate in any media events or promotion. Krylov participated, who returned after being fired. Petr Yan participated who was conducting the second fight in the UFC. I think the UFC should have a different policy. UFC need to pay attention to our fighters.” h/t BJPENN.com • Watch fan Q&A at M-1 Apeha event
Michael Bisping's son will be wrestling in college
Carlson Gracie Sr to be honored with a statue in Rio
A group of ex-students came together and decided to try to get a bronze statue of Carson Gracie Sr built and installed next to the iconic gym in Rio and after a decade it was finally approved. Brazilian artist Edgar Duvivier started work on the statue with no upfront payment. It is expected to be installed on 8/12, when he celebrated his birthday. A crowdfunding effort is underway to raise approximately $20,000. h/t MMA Fighting
Anderson Silva critical of ex-coach who attacked former student
Coach Diogenes Assahida attacked a former student of his, Ulisses Teodoro, for switching gyms and wearing a tee from his new gym while walking past the old one. Anderson Silva, who was cornered by Assahida in the past, offered a respectful criticism: “I never had any problem with any of my coaches, I’ve always respected them. I have [Rogerio] Camoes, master [Luiz] Dorea and master [Ricardo] De La Riva as second fathers for me because they are always helping me, always showing me the path to go to get to where I want. That’s an isolated fact, it’s sad, because when you’re titled a master you have to give the example no matter if your student leaves the gym or not, if he continues or not. He has to follow his own path. The moment you open a gym, and you pass your knowledge forward, you can’t stop this student from creating his own path. Unfortunately, each person has his own views and opinions about it. It’s an unfortunate fact.” h/t MMA Fighting
Roy Borg vows to quit MMA if he misses weight again
Angela Magana moving, to a degree
Bellator strawweight Angela Magana, 35, is in a coma at University Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she lives, following complications from emergency surgery. At 4:13 p.m. ET on 4/17, her coach Gabriel Lamastus texted that her condition has improved: “I just talked to the Dr and there has been an improvement. She is moving her hands and toes, and blinking her eyes.” h/t MMA Junkie
UFC fighter mistakenly gets blood taken by non-USADA group
Robert Whittaker: I could give Jon Jones a run
"He’s kind of cleaned out his division ... we’ll have to wait and see. I’m gonna fight Adesanya, then I’ll be a little free myself. I’ll definitely move up, not down. But if he’s looking for opponents, that’s a fight, that’s a great fight. I think I could just give him a run for his money. I surprise a lot of people and I’m full of tricks, and I think the intensity I bring into a fight is something that a lot of people aren’t prepared for. But he’s a great fighter, he’s super, super dangerous. I’m under no illusion how hard it would be, and yeah, I think it would be fun.” Listen to Submission Radio
Angela Magana's coach posts positive update
Brave champ Al-Selwady: Trash talk is a 'sign of weakness'
"I see that [Luan 'Miau' Santiago] likes to talk a lot, saying that he's hungry for the championship. But I'm not your average champion. I don't feel like I did everything I wanted to do. I'm still hungry, hungrier than every other fighter. Even though I'm the champion, I'm hungry to stay as champion. Luan thinks he's going to finish me, and that actually makes me very happy. I love when my opponents think they're stronger than me, and are so confident. To me, that's a weakness they're showing me. It always feels great fighting in my hometown [of Jordan on Friday at Brave 23], this is where I started my career. It's always a great atmosphere, as my friends and family are here too. I'm coming back home to defend my title in front of my people, and this is a very special night for me. First, because I don't ever want to lose, I always want to win. Friday night will be special because I've had the longest fight camp ever. I didn't stop training from my last fight in November."
