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Francis Ngannou’s impressive performance against Tyson Fury this past Saturday has drawn well-deserved praise from the MMA community.

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Even former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira, who typically maintains a low profile, published a video in Portuguese on his Instagram account while watching the fight with teammate Alex Pereira. Ngannou dropped Fury in the third round but would go on to lose a contentious split decision against “The Gypsy King.”

“Francis Ngannou… damn, my brother! It surprised me, surprised the world and shut up these boxing guys, who don't know s—t about fighting,” Texeira said. “Because they make a lot of money, they think they're the real deal and an MMA fighter won't have a chance.

“Who [really] doesn’t have a chance is a boxing fighter who comes to fight in MMA rules, like James Toney did against Randy Couture. MMA fighters are the gladiators of the new generation. Nobody trains like us.”

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 in 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 – A…

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.

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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 especia…

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 …

Francis Ngannou is well aware of how these things work.

While the former UFC heavyweight champion did everything in his power to outduel Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut on Saturday in Saudia Arabia, he knew that if the fight went the distance, the scorecards weren’t likely going to be in his favor. That proved to be the case, as Fury emerged with a hard-fought split decision their non-title bout.

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However, Ngannou says Fury knows who really won that fight.

“If he was being honest, he would say I won that fight,” Ngannou said in a post-fight interview with ESPN. “I won that fight. There’s no question about it.

“Even before getting here, I knew if this fight gets to a decision, I’m not winning – not because I didn’t do good, (but) because I’m the new guy in the house. I come here and I just want to kick into people’s business. There’s a structure of business out there and you need to do a lot to destroy it. I wasn’t just expecting to wi…

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All the gears finally seem to be shifting in the right direction for Conor McGregor’s return to action.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest superstar has been inactive since July 2021, rehabbing a broken leg sustained in his trilogy clash against Dustin Poirier. The Irishman was also absent from the United States Anti-Doping Agency testing pool since the third quarter of 2021 until recently.

After months of back and forth with the USADA over a six-month testing window stipulation, McGregor (22-6) finally re-entered the testing pool on Oct. 8, which makes him eligible to compete in April 2024. The Dublin native has also now submitted his first test samples as per online records. Both blood and urine were seemingly collected, as there were a total of three samples taken, although the date of collection wasn’t specified.

McGregor re-entering the pool was soon followed by the news that the UFC-USADA partnership would conc…

Stipe Miocic claims he wasn’t offered an alternative fight when scheduled opponent Jon Jones pulled out of UFC 295.

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Jones (27-1) was slated to defend his heavyweight title against Miocic (20-4) in the main event at UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden. However, “Bones” was forced out of the card after sustaining a pectoral muscle tear during a grappling session hardly two weeks away from fight night.

An interim heavyweight title matchup between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich has been added to the card as the co-main event. Meanwhile, the original co-main, a light heavyweight title clash between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira, has been bumped up to the main-event slot.

While Jones was forced out of the card due to an injury, Miocic saw himself removed due to no fault of his own. The former UFC heavyweight champ, who hasn’t fought since losing his strap to Francis Ngannou in March 2021, was expectedly disheartened upon hearing the ne…

The UFC 295 lineup has undergone yet another change with two weeks to go before fight night.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight veteran Matt Schnell (16-7) had been scheduled to take on the surging Steve Erceg (10-1) on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden. However, “Danger” will no longer be competing on the card due to undisclosed reasons and has been replaced by Brazilian prospect Alessandro Costa (13-3). The change in booking was first reported by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes on Saturday.

Schnell hasn’t fought since last December when he suffered a second-round knockout loss against Matheus Nicolau at UFC on ESPN 42. The Louisiana native has won only two of his last six, though all the losses have come against elite competition. Meanwhile, Erceg made his promotional debut in June on the back of an eight-fight winning streak, which the Australian extended to nine with a unanimous decision win over David Dvorak.

Erceg’s new …

LeBron James was among a long list of athletes who believe Francis Ngannou was robbed of a decision win against Tyson Fury in their boxing match on Saturday night.

Ngannou was a +800 underdog going into his pro boxing debut against the WBC heavyweight champion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The former UFC heavyweight champ put on a spectacular performance, knocking Fury down in the third round of an otherwise evenly-contested battle. “The Predator” eventually came up on the short side of a split decision, which many believe should have gone the other way.

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James, among others, was unhappy with the outcome of the fight and voiced his displeasure on social media.

Exactly why i don't watch boxing! C'mon man! 🤦🏾‍♂️

— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 28, 2023 Former UFC superstar Nate Diaz also minced no words while weighing in on the outcome of the fight.

Tyson Fury lost and the boxing commentary biased af dumb…

The Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, saw a unique combat sports spectacle on Saturday night.

On the one side was lineal UFC champion Francis Ngannou, who won the title by knocking out Stipe Miocic in Round 2, then successfully defended it against interim champion Ciryl Gane. He was making his pro boxing debut against undisputed heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who had never lost in his career, most recently knocking out Derek Chisora in the 10th round in December 2022. Would Ngannou's frightful punching power, the most devastating that the heavyweight division and perhaps all of MMA has ever seen, give him a chance against the supremely talented Fury, a 6-foot-9, 270-plus pound goliath with the ring movement and footwork of a skilled light heavyweight? It was a tantalizing matchup, calling to mind the famous showdown between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, another instance where a top MMA striker and champion has challenged a legendary boxer. However, Fury was sti…

Sanjeet Budhwar Defends his Belt and how!🥊🥊🔥🔥🔥🔥.#MFN13 #Winner #TitleBelt pic.twitter.com/U6ZvziY8bV

— Matrix Fight Night (@mfn_mma) October 28, 2023

Featherweight champion Sanjeet Budhwar (10-2) recorded his first title defense via split decision against Shyam Anand (4-2) in the Matrix Fight Night 13 main event at the Noida Indoor Stadium, Uttar Pradesh, India, on Saturday.

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The main event lived up to expectations with both fighters putting on a display of grit and will. In the end, Budhwar managed to secure a split-decision victory that could have very well come down to his performance in the final frame of the bout.

In the co-main event, welterweight champion Darkhanbek Ergeshev (11-2) secured an impressive submission win at the 2:26 mark of the very first frame against Jason Solomon (9-4). Ergeshev's forward pressure and cage control allowed him to eventually take the fight to the ground. Once in mount, Ergeshev w…

play-by-play and round-by-round scoring kicks off Saturday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. ET with results of the undercard. Full PBP and virtual scoring from three unofficial judges will commence as business picks up for the main event.

Alcibiade Duran vs. Jack McGann The Official Result Jack McGann def. Alcibiade Duran via TKO R2 0:37

Carlos Takam vs. Martin Bakole The Official Result Martin Bakole def. Carlos Takam via TKO R4 2:15

Moses Itauma vs. Istvan Bernath The Official Result Moses Itauma def. Istvan Bernath via TKO R1 1:53

Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Junior Anthony Wright The Official Result Arslanbek Makhmudov def. Junior Anthony Wright via TKO R1 1:10

Joseph Parker vs. Simon Kean The Official Result Joseph Parker def. Simon Kean via KO R3 2:04

Fabio Wardley vs. David Adeleye The Official Result

Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou Round 1 Sherdog Scores Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Lev Pisarsky scores the round:Scottie Smith scor…

Rizin Fighting Federation’s annual New Year’s Eve extravaganza will include a pair of championship bouts.

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The Japanese promotion recently announced that Juan Archuleta will face Kai Asakura for the bantamweight crown, while Kyoji Horiguchi will square off against Makoto Takahashi in a rematch for the flyweight strap at Rizin 45 on Dec. 31.

Rizin 45 takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and will also include a featherweight scrap pitting Kleber Koike Erbst against Yutaka Saito and a flyweight showdown between Hiromasa Ougikubo and John Dodson.

A former Bellator 135-pound title holder, Archuleta claimed Rizin gold with a three-round verdict against Ougikubo at Super Rizin 2 on July 30. “The Spaniard” has won four straight contests — including three under the Rizin banner.

Asakura, meanwhile, has been victorious in four of his last five Rizin appearances. Most recently, the 29-year-old Japan Top Team representative scored a…

WOW. Daniel Frunza cracks Haris Talund?i? with a brutal elbow and gets the finish with 1 second left in the fight. Crazy ending in the LFA main event. #LFA170 pic.twitter.com/bQa4BKN3QN

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 28, 2023

Romanian welterweight Daniel Frunza (7-2) secured his seventh professional victory with an emphatic knockout in the last second of his bout against Bosnia's Haris Talundzic (6-2) in the Legacy Fighting Alliance 170 170 main event at the Dobson Arena in Vail, Colorado, on Friday night.

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The fight was competitive right up until the finish. Talundzic managed to keep the fight close with his cage control and grappling pressure. Round 3 also saw the Bosnian control Frunza on the side of the cage for a considerable amount of time before being separated by the referee due to inaction.

With barely a few seconds left in the final round, Frunza managed to land a thudding right elbow on Talundzic that lef…

#ANDSTILL! @dannimccormack puts Karolina Wojcik to sleep and retains the Invicta FC Strawweight Championship! #InvictaFC54 pic.twitter.com/PsBXHAWAgX

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) October 28, 2023 Danni McCormack is still the Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight champion.

The Invicta FC 54 main event saw McCormack take on challenger Karolina Wojcik. It was a closely contested fight on the feet over the first three rounds, with McCormack (8-2) walking forward and Wojcik (11-4) countering well with punches. However, the fourth frame would see McCormack get a takedown, secure the back of Wojcik and sink in a rear-naked choke. The tap officially came at 1:22 of Round 4.

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The co-main event was a pivotal flyweight scrap between Kristina Williams and Dee Begley. The first two rounds were largely contested on the feet, with Williams (7-4) having a clear striking advantage. Begley (4-3) would have her best moments in the…