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Navajo Stirling recalls fighter having mental breakdown before DWCS bout

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Navajo Stirling recalls fighter having mental breakdown before DWCS bout
Navajo
Stirling saw a fighter in shambles right before his
Dana White's Contender Series bout.

Stirling earned his
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract with a knockout win on
Contender Series in 2024. He was sharing the locker room with
Quemuel
Ottoni, who was set to face Kody
Steele. Ottoni eventually didn't make the walk to the Octagon
and Stirling has now detailed what happened behind the scenes.

Navajo Stirling recalls Quemuel Ottoni's dramatic Dana White's
Contender Series fight-week incident

Stirling (10-0) recently revealed that Ottoni (12-4) was aggressive
towards Steele, and even other fighters, throughout fight week
until the weigh-ins. However, the Brazilian's nerves got the better
of him right before stepping out for his bout and he allegedly
started crying backstage, even ripping off his hand wraps multiple
times.

Cutman Brad Tate, who was in charge of wrapping Ottoni, refused to
repeat it after a point. The bout was eventually called off and
Steele won his contract in a later Contender Series outing.

“The guy that was on Contenders [Series] was probably the worst
one,†Stirling told Full Send MMA. “He was fighting Kody Steele. He
choked out Alex
Pereira back in the day. I was in the locker room with him… At
the weigh-ins, he is puffing his chest, he is even looking at me,
like, ‘You wanna go?' I'm like, ‘Bro, save it for tomorrow.' He's
staunching Kody Steele out at the weigh-ins. And I was thinking,
‘This is going to be a banger.' We get to the fight night and he
just started crying. He took his gloves off three or four times.
They had to re-wrap his hands. I think he had cutman Tate. The
cutman said, ‘F*ck this guy, I'm not wrapping his hands
anymore.'â€

Both Tate and Steele have confirmed Stirling's story about Ottoni,
who had choked out UFC superstar Pereira in the latter's
professional MMA debut in 2015. Ottoni and Pereira's careers have
taken contrasting trajectories since. While Pereira went on to
become a two-division champion, Ottoni is yet to make it out of the
regional scene. He has fought only once since the Contender Series
fiasco, suffering a first-round technical knockout loss.

Meanwhile, the undefeated Stirling already has five UFC wins to his
name. The Kiwi is now scheduled to face Jan
Blachowicz (29-11) on less than three weeks' notice at
UFC Belgrade in Serbia on Aug. 1.

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MMA

Tyson Fury calls for trilogy bout with Oleksandr Usyk after Anthony Joshua 'sh*t his pants'

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Tyson Fury calls for trilogy bout with Oleksandr Usyk after Anthony Joshua 'sh*t his pants'

Tyson Fury is now turning his attention back to Oleksandr Usyk after talks to fight Anthony Joshua have fizzled out yet again.

Recently, Fury slammed Matchroom's Eddie Hearn, who represents Joshua, for creating issues in making the bout come to fruition. Hearn is now threatening legal action against Zuffa Boxing's lead man Dana White and TKO after claiming both parties tried luring Joshua to fight Fury behind his back.

Fury uploaded a new video on social media, and it appears he is done with entertaining the Joshua bout yet again. This time, “The Gypsy King†wants a third chance against Usyk,

“So, it looks like AJ has [expletive] his pants yet again,†Fury said. “After 11 years, he's finally [expletive] his pants yet again. So, this would only lead me to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk. Oleksandr, you, his trainer, and his sensei, and you know he's a weak-minded piece of [expletive], and he would never fight ‘The Gypsy King,' which you've had the guts to do twice, and you know how difficult it is in there.

“Listen, you got the decisions last time. Fair play to you. Good luck to you, but let's do it again. Let's run it back in November. The ball is now in your court, Oleksandr. Do you want to fight me this year in 2026, or are you calling it quits? Let me know because I'm now looking for a new opponent.â€

Many question how much interest there would be in Usyk vs. Fury 3. Usyk has defeated Fury twice, and while both fights were competitive, there wasn't much controversy with the results. Usyk also vacated his heavyweight titles, but he isn't committing to retirement just yet.

What do you make of the latest holdup preventing Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua from fighting each other? Sound off in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria rematch under 'strong consideration,' UFC play-by-play ace Jon Anik believes

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Justin Gaethje vs. Ilia Topuria rematch under 'strong consideration,' UFC play-by-play ace Jon Anik believes

If Ilia Topuria gets an immediate rematch against Justin Gaethje, it would not surprise UFC commentator Jon Anik.

Topuria was battered in the first loss of his pro MMA career back in June. “El Matador†suffered a fourth-round TKO loss to Justin Gaethje via corner stoppage to conclude the UFC Freedom 250 broadcast. In the process, Topuria lost the UFC Lightweight Championship.

While Gaethje has said he doesn't think Topuria should get a rematch right away, does the UFC brass feel differently? In a video uploaded on the “Anik Bros†YouTube channel, Anik said he thinks there are real talks about a potential rematch between Gaethje and Topuria (via MMAFighting).

“I think there are internal conversations to potentially try to do Gaethje vs. Topuria 2,†Anik said. “A lot of people wonder aloud, ‘What is next for Ilia Topuria?' And there's certainly an obvious foundation for a fight between him and Paddy Pimblett. But if you have Ilia Topuria, as a fight promoter, would you not want to think about putting him back in a championship setting, given how big UFC Freedom 250 was?

“I think there's strong consideration there.â€

Gaethje has appeared to be more interested in getting a chance to avenge losses against Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira. At the moment, Oliveira doesn't have a fight booked, and Holloway is coming off the quick TKO win over Conor McGregor due to an injury.

“The Highlight†recently told SI that both of his hands are still injured and he won't be fighting again until 2027. That could leave the door open for Arman Tsarukyan to get a title fight if he's able to get past Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 on Sept. 19. If Tsarukyan falls short, it would be one less hurdle for Topuria to get a rematch.

Do you think UFC will book an immediate rematch between Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria, or do you see the promotion going in a different direction? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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Ex-UFC fan favorite Tony Ferguson booked for Misfits Boxing title defense in Miami on Sept. 26

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Ex-UFC fan favorite Tony Ferguson booked for Misfits Boxing title defense in Miami on Sept. 26

Tony Ferguson has his next bout set, and it'll be a title defense under the Misfits Boxing banner.

The promotion announced that “El Cucuy†is scheduled to face Kenzo Biyong inside the James L. Knight Center in Miami on Sept. 26. Ferguson's MF middleweight gold will be at stake. He captured the interim title when he defeated Salt Papi via third-round TKO back in 2025. Ferguson was promoted to main champion status when he later defeated Warren Spencer, and this will be his first attempt at a successful defense.

Ferguson has enjoyed success under the Misfits banner. His record with the promotion stands at 2-0. Ferguson's transition to the world of influencer boxing has been far more smooth than the latter part of his UFC run. “El Cucuy†made his UFC exit having lost eight fights in a row.

While some were calling for Ferguson to retire, the 42-year-old veteran has stuck around and now has a chance to win his third fight in a row. His upcoming opponent, Biyong, is a former pro soccer player looking to make his mark in the fight game. Doing so against someone as experienced as Ferguson is a tall task.

Ferguson recently told Bloody Elbow that during his UFC skid, both his legs were injured and even getting out of bed was painful. It also didn't help that Ferguson was going through mental stress.

“This was during the pandemic, around [the Gaethje fight]. I just did not prepare the same. When I prepared for Khabib we were not conditioning our shins and s—. I was preparing for sambo, I was going to throw this dude right on his f—ing back and embarrass him in his own sport.

“So they switch opponents up and my body took a f—ing healing. I wanted to go out there and demonstrate to people how f—ing tough we were as f—ing human beings. There was a lot that went on and a lot of mental weight that I thought I could handle.â€

Will you be watching Tony Ferguson's next Misfits Boxing match live, or will you see the highlights? Share your plans in the comments below?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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