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Boston Celtics head coach shares his takeaways from MMA

Published

3 months ago

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Boston Celtics head coach shares his takeaways from MMA
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla believes there are
correlations between mixed martial arts and basketball.

Mazzulla, who's attended several
Ultimate Fighting Championship events, was recently seen
training MMA with esteemed coach Eric Nicksick at
Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. He has revealed that he looks up
MMA gyms to train at while traveling through different cities
during the NBA season.

Joe Mazzulla uses MMA coaching practices in the NBA

Mazzulla believes MMA helps him build a fighter mentality, which is
required while taking on rival NBA teams in enemy territories.

“I think it just keeps you fresh, mentally and physically, so that
when I’m helping the team, I have a little bit of that fighter
mentality,†Mazzulla told Ariel Helwani. “It just helps grow a
little bit of an edge, and every little bit helps.â€

Mazzulla is also taking specific inputs from Nicksick about
communicating with athletes. He believes there are similarities
between MMA and basketball in terms of coaches communicating with
the players and is learning Nicksick's techniques of in-game
communication amidst all the chaos.

“The thing that's interesting in the in-fight communication,â€
Mazzulla added. “I think communication can be distracting. I ask
Eric a lot about what his communication is during the round…
There’s a timeout component in communication, but also in-game
communication… I think one of the hardest things in coaching is
to relay, in a simple way, what you see to the players so that they
can see it simply and execute. I think Eric does a great job of
that.â€


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MMA

Petr Yan says hes figured out Merab Dvalishvili before UFC 333

Published

6 hours ago

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October 25, 2026

By

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

18 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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MMA

Alexander Volkanovski stops Movsar Evloev with barrage of shots to defend title in UFC 333 main event

Published

20 hours ago

on

October 24, 2026

By

Alexander Volkanovski stops Movsar Evloev with barrage of shots to defend title in UFC 333 main event

Alexander Volkanovski is still the greatest after his latest title defense as he ended Movsar Evloev's undefeated run with a second-round stoppage in the UFC 333 main event.

As usual, Volkanovski showed off tremendous takedown defense and immaculate striking as he picked Evloev apart on the feet. Finally in the second round, Volkanovski put together a combination of punches that put Evloev down and the Australian finished with a barrage of shots on the ground.

The end came at 4:54 in the second round.

“He's a great figher,†Volkanovski said after his latest title defefnse. “He was undefeated for a reason but I just said I'm the right guy for that job. I knew the ref would have to stop it when he covered up like that.

“I'm choosing to do this. I said if I didn't take too much damage, we probably keep going so maybe we keep going. I feel the love and it's paid off now. The love around the world is incredible.â€

After tasting defeat for the first time, Evloev was understandably upset but he paid homage to Volkanovski on a job well done.

“It was a terrible fight,†Evloev said. “He's a good one. Older, stronger, better, he's truly a legend. I'm grateful for this opportunity to be here. Alex, great champion, I'm happy to be here to share the cage with him.â€

Volkanovski started fast with a series of inside leg kicks and then peppering Evloev with a series of stiff jabs. Evloev then exploded forward with a takedown but Volkanovski bounced back up almost immediately.

Volkanovski continued with his forward pressure before countering another takedown as kept working on the feet. Evloev was undeterred though, as he kept battling to drag the champion to the ground.

Evloev grabbed onto the body lock to open round two and literally dragged Volkanovski to the canvas but the champion reversed positions to land on top. From there, Volkanovski laned some ground and pound before Evloev escaped back to his feet.

Volkanovski then uncorked a well-timed overhand right that seemingly wobbled Evloev momentarily.

Late in the round, Volkanovski connected with a nasty combination of punches that had Evloev turning away to avoid the damage as a cut opened up on the head.

Evloev eventually faded as he fell to the ground following a blistering left hand from Volkanovski and the champion took full advantage of the opening. With Evloev hurt, Volkanovski just unleashed a barrage of shots to finish the fight.

That makes three straight wins for Volkanovski in championship fights and his seond straight title defense since reclaiming the featherweight belt. He obviously indicated that he plans to continue fighting and it's soon going to be difficult not to declare Volkanovski as the greatest featherweight of all-time, if he hasn't already taken that crown.

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