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Parting ways with the Ultimate Fighting Championship was a carefully considered decision for former heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou.

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Ngannou left the promotion at the beginning of the year after contract negotiations spanning over a year fell through. While the major bone of contention between the two parties was Ngannou wanting to compete in crossover boxing matches, “The Predator” also had other demands. The Cameroonian had touched upon important issues like like health insurance for fighters, a fighter advocate at board meetings and a new sponsorship deal.

At the end, Ngannou was absolutely sure about exiting the UFC when he did. The 37-year-old went on to secure a multi-fight deal with the surging rivals of the UFC, the Professional Fighters League. He later secured a boxing match against Fury, which went down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 28, reportedly resulting in a payday of more than $10 million for the former sand mine worker. “The Pr…

While Tyson Fury believes his victory over Francis Ngannou was well deserved, “The Gypsy King” can’t help but give his opponent due credit.

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Ngannou was a +800 underdog going into his boxing clash against Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 28. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king took Fury to a hard-fought decision, even scoring the lone knockdown of the bout in round 3. However, Ngannou ended up on the short side of a split decision that a majority of fans and pundits believe should have gone the other way.

Fury has now admitted that Ngannou gave him the toughest test in the past 10 years of his career. The WBC champ claims he didn’t underestimate Ngannou in any way but had a lack of material to research when it came to the Cameroonian’s boxing.

However, “The Gypsy King” believes he outboxed Ngannou throughout the fight, barring the third round knockdown.

“No, didn’t underestimate him… We didn’t know how good he…

LuizClaudio submits himself while attempting a leg lock at FMS Fight Night 2🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/l90YByWN4X

— Matysek (@Matysek88) October 30, 2023

A regional MMA event in Brazil on Saturday featured an extraordinary finish that fans may never see again.

At FMS: Fight Night 2 in Curitiba on Saturday, Yabna Ferreira N'Tchala and Luiz Claudio Bezerra Filho met in a preliminary lightweight bout which ended less than half a round when Filho effectively tapped himself out. The Curitiba native was scrambling hard for a heel hook when he got his legs entangled between N'Tchala's. “Black Panther” had to merely sit up to catch “Luizinho” in an awkward kneebar, forcing an immediate tap at 1:54 of the opening frame.

Footage of the bizarre submission has since been doing rounds on social media. The win put N'tchala back on the win column after the 26-year-old suffered his first professional loss against Yazid Chouchane at UAE Warriors 35 – Afri…

Cody Brundage will get in one more Octagon appearance before the end of the year.

Brundage (9-5) has been booked to welcome undefeated promotional debutant Zachary Reese (6-0) in a middleweight contest at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming fight night in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 2. The matchup was first reported on Monday by Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. It will be the fourth fight of 2023 for the 29-year-old Factory X product, who will look to even up his record for the year after following up back-to-back losses to Rodolfo Vieira and Sedriques Dumas in April and June with a disqualification win over Jacob Malkoun at UFC Fight Night 228 last month. Brundage’s overall UFC record currently sits at 3-4 since joining the promotion in September 2021, a year after his unsuccessful appearance on Dana White's Contender Series.

Meanwhile, Reese earned his UFC contract with a first-round submission win over Eli Aronov on the Contender Series in August. The Hou…

While Jorge Masvidal appears to be all-in on promoting bare-knuckle fights, he claims we will never see him compete in one.

The 38-year-old hung up his MMA gloves for good following a decision loss against Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 in April, the fourth setback in a row for the former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title challenger and inaugural BMF champ. “Gamebred” will remain closely involved with the sport, however, as his eponymous promotion, Gamebred Fighting Championship, has put on boxing as well as MMA events—both of the bare-knuckle variety—since its debut in June of 2021.

Gamebred FC’s events have usually featured well-known names, including numerous UFC veterans; its latest card on Sept. 8 was headlined by former heavyweight champs Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum in a rematch of their first meeting at UFC 90 a decade and a half ago, with dos Santos prevailing to go 2-0 against “Vai Cavalo.” The league is set to put on its next show …

Options abound for Francis Ngannou following his near miss against Tyson Fury over the weekend.

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During a Monday appearance on "The MMA Hour," Ngannou discussed some of the possibilities that he could pursue after falling to Fury via split decision this past Saturday in Saudia Arabia. Perhaps the most intriguing of those is a mixed martial arts bout against boxing heavyweight Deontay Wilder, a former WBC champion who went 0-2-1 against Fury. The former UFC champion confirmed that there have been talks regarding such a fight against Wilder.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Ngannou said. “In fact, we have spoken about that. That has been in the discussions. So that’s something that can potentially happen. Nothing is set, but it’s been something been coming to my attention, so that’s something that makes sense. He’s really serious about MMA. …

“It’s going to be a different beast for him. Unlike this time that I was the one experiencing the mountain,…

Tyson Fury disputes the notion that he didn’t take Francis Ngannou seriously heading into their fight this past Saturday.

The former UFC champion surprised the boxing world when he pushed Fury to the limit in losing a 10-round split decision in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. It was Ngannou’s debut in the Sweet Science, while Fury is regarded as the best heavyweight boxer in the world.

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“Listen, usually when you get the media saying it’s a mismatch, it’s not worth watching and all that, usually you’re in for a tough night,” Fury recently told Boxing King Media. “If I wasn’t training as hard as I did, I probably wouldn’t have gotten through that fight.”

It was Fury’s first professional appearance since December 2022, and he believes that might have affected his performance.

“I felt my timing was quite off,” Fury said. “I’ve been out of the ring for nearly a year – a little bit of ring rust, but it was what it was. It was far from one of my best performance…

Coach Eric Nicksick believes Francis Ngannou broke the proverbial four-minute mile barrier for MMA fighters with his showing against Tyson Fury on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Ngannou dropped the WBC heavyweight champ in Round 3 before taking him to a tightly-contested split decision. While Ngannou came up on the short side of the controversial split decision, “The Predator” was definitely the biggest winner of the night, being hailed as the new lineal heavyweight champ by fans and pundits alike.

Nicksick believes the former UFC heavyweight champ’s performance has set a new benchmark for MMA fighters looking to venture into pugilism. For Nicksick, it was the second shocking performance from one of his pupils in recent times after Sean Strickland’s massive upset win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 last month.

In the immediate aftermath of Ngannou’s clash on Saturday, Nicksick contacted Strickland with the proposal of a potential move to b…

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Dricus Du Plessis doesn't sound keen on losing his place in the queue of middleweight title challengers, but he isn’t too worried, either.

In an Oct. 26 interview on Fox West Texas, the Ultimate Fighting Championship 185-pound standout discussed Khamzat Chimaev’s showing against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294. Chimaev (13-0) dominated former welterweight champ Usman in the opening frame, earning 10-8 scores from all three official judges, but significantly lessened his output in the later rounds, fearing he had broken his right hand. “Borz” walked away with a closely contested majority decision and what was subsequently reported to be torn hand ligament.

Du Plessis was a particularly interested observer of that fight, since UFC CEO Dana White had indicated that the winner would get the next shot at middleweight champ Sean Strickland, who dethroned Israel Adesanya last month at UFC 293. Strickland’s upset win over Adesanya was especially shocking b…

UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland wouldn’t advise anyone to take up fighting as a career.

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Strickland, who is in known to speak his mind without hesitation on a variety of uncomfortable topics, recently touched upon the controversial topic of UFC fighter pay. Strickland joined UFC Hall of Famer Don Frye and “Extra Rounds” host T.J. DeSantis on a live broadcast for Professional Bull Riders (PBR), which is owned by the UFC parent company Endeavor.

Strickland started by asking Frye about the UFC fighter pay during his time, which was revealed to be $50,000 for tourney winners and $500 for everyone else. The middleweight champ then went on a long rant explaining why he advised a parent against letting his son take up fighting professionally.

“I was like, ‘You see the Contender [Series fighters], what do you think they make?’ And he goes, ‘I don’t know.’ I go, ‘They make [$5,000] and [$5,000]. If they lose, they make [$5,000].’ And he goes, ‘D…

As it turns out, Khamzat Chimaev did not break his hand at UFC 294.

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Chimaev’s manager, Majdi Shammas, told ESPN that the middleweight suffered a torn ligament in his victory over Kamaru Usman on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi. As a result, Chimaev will wear a brace on his hand for the next four weeks but is hoping to avoid surgery.

Chimaev defeated Usman via majority decision in the UFC 294 co-main event, a victory that will presumably give him a shot to face reigning middleweight champion Sean Strickland at a later date. After the victory, “Borz” revealed that he injured his hand in the opening stanza against Usman. At the time, Chimaev thought it was broken.

"First round, I think I broke my hand and finger," Chimaev said after the bout. "I couldn't punch hard with right hand. My right hand is a big weapon. When you can't use it, it's hard to work.”

Shortly after Chimaev’s victory, Strickland said that he felt that the Chechen-born Swede ”doe…

By pushing Tyson Fury to the limit, Francis Ngannou may have opened the door to a whole new world on Saturday night.

While Ngannou lost a split decision to the man regarded as the best heavyweight on the planet, many observers believed “The Predator” deserved to get the nod on the scorecards. With that in mind, Ngannou would seemingly have plenty of options for future fights in the Sweet Science, where paydays often exceed those offered in mixed martial arts. For now at least, Ngannou still plans on being a double-threat in combat sports.

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“I can do both. Nothing can stop me from doing both,” Ngannou said in a post-fight interview with ESPN. “If I have the skill for both of them, why not? As for right now, I have a deal with PFL, and I’m intending to fight MMA again. I still love it. I might do some MMA fight, but I’m still going to do boxing. I never intend to just step over and do one fight and go out. That wasn’t the plan at all, never. The plan is …