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Anthony Joshua saw Ilia Topuria’s loss and cut himself off from everyone

Published

3 months ago

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Anthony Joshua saw Ilia Topuria’s loss and cut himself off from everyone
Anthony Joshua has started taking the fight game more seriously
since Ilia
Topuria's loss to Justin
Gaethje in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Topuria put his lightweight title on the line against interim
champion Gaethje at
UFC Freedom 250. While “El Matador” was a massive favorite
going into the bout and nearly finished it in the second round,
Gaethje piled on the damage in the subsequent frames, leading to a
corner stoppage before the final round. It marked the first defeat
of Topuria's professional career.

Some of Topuria's pre-fight antics and the eventual result of the
recent UFC lightweight championship fight have resonated with
Joshua.

Anthony Joshua explains how Ilia Topuria's loss to Justin
Gaethje changed his approach to boxing

Joshua notes that Topuria had celebrated the night before the fight
and had done so before previous bouts. While “AJ” doesn't want to
criticize the former two-division champion, the Brit had a massive
realization. Joshua has cut all unnecessary contact with people,
making himself inaccessible, since Topuria's first professional
loss. The Englishman notes that the fight business isn't all fun
and games.

“I think you’ve got to be in the fight game to truly know; it's not
lit,†Joshua told Combat Evolved. “It's not what people think it
is. It's not all fun and games. It’s a serious, serious job. Stay
away from people who just want to get lit and get upset when you
don't return calls and stuff. It's not personal. When I watched the
Ilia Topuria fight, I stopped replying to people after that.
Because I said, ‘Yo, it's not a joke.'â€

Dissecting Topuria's loss to Gaethje, Joshua further claimed that
nothing can be taken for granted in combat sports.

“I saw someone in Ilia who was destined to win,†he added. “The
stars were aligned for him to be victorious. I think Ilia had
beaten people that Justin had lost against; the odds were in his
favor. Not a bad thing, but I saw him celebrating before. He's
entitled to do what he wants, but I just took something from it and
I said, ‘Get back to being uncontactable, less accessible, because
the fight game is so serious.' You saw his face, what he went
through. It's not a joke.â€

Joshua (29-4) is set to return to action against Kristian Prenga
(20-1) on July 25 at Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia.

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MMA

Carlos Prates blasts ‘coward’ Islam Makhachev for UFC 336 withdrawal, vows to retire him

Published

7 hours ago

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October 25, 2026

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Carlos Prates blasts ‘coward’ Islam Makhachev for UFC 336 withdrawal, vows to retire him

Carlos Prates put Islam Makhachev on blast after the UFC announced his fight with Michael Morales for the interim belt on Jan. 30.

“The Nightmare†was in talks with the promotion to book a UFC 336 clash with the welterweight champion in Toronto, Canada, but will now face Morales after the Russian informed the UFC he wouldn't be ready to fight on that date.

Prates took to social media after UFC's official announcement on Saturday to criticize the champion.

“Islam Makhachev, I've been working toward my dream of becoming a champion for 17 years, and now you've postponed that,†Prates wrote in Portuguese. “I'm the No. 1. I knocked out two former champions, while Morales has only beaten Sean Brady.

“You told the UFC you wouldn't be ready to fight in three months. Brother, you don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't party, and you can't get ready for a fight in three months? Let me show you how it's done. On January 30, I'm going to knock out Michael Morales, and then I'll be back to retire you, you coward!â€

Prates is on a three-fight winning streak in the UFC, all by knockout, and has finished his opponents in all seven octagon victories. Morales, on the other hand, is unbeaten as a professional with 19 straight victories, seven of those under the UFC banner.

Makhachev took a shot at Prates by pointing out the fact he has recently beat Ian Machado Garry, the only man to defeat the Brazilian in the UFC.

“I just beat the guy who chased you around the octagon for five rounds,†Makhachev wrote. “Shut up and go train. You're not on my level. See you soon. #maybeâ€

“As soon as we find out who the real contender is, we'll be right back,†he added in separate tweets. “We have to now who is better who deserve.â€

UFC 336 will take place at the Scotiabank Arena and feature Joshua Van's flyweight title defense against Manel Kape as the headliner.

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MMA

Petr Yan says hes figured out Merab Dvalishvili before UFC 333

Published

8 hours ago

on

October 25, 2026

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Petr Yan says he's 'figured out' Merab Dvalishvili before UFC 333
Petr
Yan believes he has figured out Merab
Dvalishvili ahead of their trilogy bout.

Yan is scheduled to defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title against
Dvalishvili at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Their series
is tied 1-1, but Yan expects to replicate his commanding
performance in their rematch.

Petr Yan expects another dominant showing against Merab
Dvalishvili in UFC 333 title trilogy

Dvalishvili overwhelmed Yan with his wrestling to win their first
meeting by unanimous decision in 2023. Yan reversed the result in
their December 2025 title rematch, repeatedly defending takedowns
and landing effective strikes to reclaim the championship by
unanimous decision.

“No Mercy†expects another strong showing in their rubber
match.

“We definitely have enough information downloaded from the time we
spent together in the Octagon,†Yan said in a pre-fight interview.
“But the second victory, obviously, was very dominant. I've figured
him out and I'm gonna do whatever I can to this time bring the same
type of victory and even open new layers which we haven't seen
yet.â€

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MMA

Alexander Volkanovski explains why he’s a ‘nightmare matchup’ for Movsar Evloev

Published

20 hours ago

on

October 24, 2026

By

Alexander Volkanovski explains why he’s a ‘nightmare matchup’ for Movsar Evloev
Alexander
Volkanovski is confident he'll become the first fighter to
defeat Movsar
Evloev.

Volkanovski (28-4) will defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title against
Evloev (20-0) at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The champion
believes he presents a “nightmare†stylistic matchup for the
unbeaten Russian.

Alexander Volkanovski explains why Movsar Evloev’s grappling
may fail him in UFC 333 title fight

Ahead of their title clash, Volkanovski explained that Evloev
relies on his wrestling to escape difficult situations. The
Australian champion believes his own grappling skills will deny the
challenger that fallback option.

“I think it just doesn't end well for him,†Volkanovski said in a
pre-fight interview. “I don't mean it in any bad way. I just think
I'm the guy to take that zero from him. He's got incredible skill.
He is very effective with what he does… Every time he's had
problems, he could rely on that wrestling and grappling to get him
out of trouble. And you’ve got to respect that skill. But that
doesn't work with me. That's not a get out of jail free card with
me. When you're panicking, when you're freaking out, you don't get
to just grab hold of me and hang on to a leg or anything like that…
I just think that I'm a bit of a nightmare matchup for him.â€

Volkanovski has demonstrated his defensive wrestling in previous
appearances, including his competitive first bout against Islam
Makhachev, who tops the UFC's men's pound-for-pound rankings.
He has never been submitted in 32 professional fights.

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