MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 17: Tyron Woodley speaks during the press conference for Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua at The Fillmore Miami Beach on December 17, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images for Netflix)Getty Images for Netflix
Dana
White was left bemused by Max Kellerman's explanation of his
role in the Tyson
Fury-Anthony
Joshua saga.
Fury and Joshua are scheduled to meet Dec. 11 at Principality
Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, with the bout set to stream on Netflix.
The matchup was announced by the streaming juggernaut as a
collaboration between Turki Alalshikh and White's Zuffa Boxing.
However, Joshua's camp and Eddie Hearn seemingly aren't on
board.
Dana White disputes Max Kellerman's description of his role in
Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua
Kellerman claimed during the Zuffa Boxing 11 broadcast that White's
involvement isn't as a promoter but rather in an assisting role to
Alalshikh.
“Dana White's involvement in the fight, so people know, is purely
in assisting Turki Alalshikh, who has been the engine behind just
about every big fight in boxing over the last handful of years,â€
Kellerman said. “He's assisting Turki in a personal capacity, not
as a promoter.â€
White was subsequently asked about Kellerman's comments, and the
Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO revealed that he had no idea
what the analyst-commentator was talking about.
“I don't know where that came from,†White said. “That was weird.
We're promoting the fight right now. I've said 150,000 times I
don't know if I've ever known anybody who's more full of f*cking
shit than Eddie Hearn.â€
Hearn has previously emphasized that White should not be involved
in the fight, while Netflix's announcement identified the UFC boss
as a key part of the event. A press conference for Fury-Joshua is
expected to take place Wednesday, Sept. 30, although White wasn't
forthcoming about whether he plans to attend.
“I guess I'll leave that as a surprise,†White said.
Sean
Strickland says a rematch is close to being finalized with
Nassourdine
Imavov.
Rumors have been circulating about the next
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title fight, with
Strickland and Imavov potentially set to run it back. With the
UFC's annual December numbered event in Las Vegas still without a
headliner, Strickland claims that the finer details are being
ironed out before the bout can be confirmed.
Strickland says pay talks are the final hurdle before the
Imavov rematch is locked in
According to the two-time champion, the two sides are discussing
pay before the booking becomes official for UFC 335.
Strickland also took a dig at Imavov, suggesting that the Frenchman
isn't a major draw.
“We’re discussing pay now,†Strickland wrote on X. “Once that
detail is squared its locked in. The issue is no one cares about
the fake Frenchman. We’re almost there.â€
Strickland defeated Khamzat
Chimaev in a major upset to win the middleweight title for the
second time this past June. Imavov, whose most recent loss came
against Strickland in 2023, has since mounted a five-fight winning
streak against elite opposition, including victories over Caio
Borralho and Israel
Adesanya in UFC Fight Night headliners.
We’re discussing pay now. Once that detail
is squared its locked in. The issue is no one cares about the fake
Frenchman. We’re almost there 👊
#JesuisCharlie https://t.co/s7Bq48W9Pb
— Sean
Strickland (@SStricklandMMA)
September 27, 2026
Paul Felder has seen a lot while working for the UFC, but he's never seen anything like what happened this past weekend.
On Saturday, Felder was on the call for UFC Vegas 121, headlined by a five-round bantamweight fight between Raul Rosas Jr. and Raoni Barcelos that ended up being one of the scariest moments in UFC history.
In the fifth round, Barcelos appeared to suffer some sort of medical episode while Rosas was working on a takedown, going unconscious despite seemingly not suffering any major blow to cause it. Rosas stepped off from Barcelos, who was quickly attended to by the on-site medical team, but the Brazilian fighter remained unconscious for several minutes.
Eventually, Barcelos was removed on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital. A few hours later, Barcelos' coach provided an update saying that Barcelos is conscious, lucid, and mobile, and it seems like he will ultimately be OK. That's great news, especially as, while sitting cageside when it all happened, Felder was not sure that would be the case.
“His neck was all clinched up, and he was unconscious,†Felder said on the Believe You Me podcast. “And it looked like he was — I thought he had a heart attack, off the bat. Then they came in, and they checked his pulse, which was terrifying to see. I have never seen somebody that was KO'd, where they come in and the first thing they did, the doctor put his fingers right on Raoni's pulse. I was like, ‘Oh, this is really bad.'
“He was just not getting up, and then I'm thinking, is it a stroke? Is it a heart attack? But if they weren't doing CPR and his pulse was at least there and present, and he's breathing, probably not a heart attack. …
“That was by far the scariest thing I've had — I've seen some nasty knockouts, guys out for a while, but they come to. To see somebody where the doctors are checking your pulse, it just kind of really puts it in perspective, too, what this sport is at its roots.â€
There are still no details about what happened with Barcelos, though that information will likely come out in the coming days. But for Felder, unless all the tests say that what happened was some terrible fluke, he hopes Barcelos won't press his luck and continue fighting after this.
“They should give Raoni, like, another five [hundred thousand] on top of [the Fight of the Night bonus] for whatever, because that might be it for him,†Felder said. “I think, no matter what, I'd love to see him retire. Hey, your body gave out on you to some degree. Unless it comes back that it was just some fluke thing, but to get rushed to the trauma center, and you're 39? …
“There's still just so many questions out there on what really went down, and if they even know. That's the scarier part: what if they can't even pinpoint what exactly caused that? You've got to be done with combat sports. And if so, what a career this guy's had. At 39, what a resurgence he's had.
“Thoughts and prayers to his family. I really hope he's OK. It was really sad to see.â€
Update. Raoni Barcelos' coach shares medical update after scary UFC Vegas 121 fight ending.
Know Your Role. Max Kellerman claims he knows Dana White's role for Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua; White responds.
BKFC. Darren Till: ‘I don't give two f*cks about Tommy Fury,' pleads with BKFC to make Mike Perry fight.
Nuance. Justin Gaethje: Ilia Topuria ‘didn't quit on the stool' at UFC White House.
Opinion. Mailbag: Banning oblique kicks would be extremely silly.
UFC Vegas 121 highlights.
Israel Adesanya trains with Volk and Ruffy.
More adventures with Max Holloway and Korean Zombie.
Mike Heck on Submission Radio.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Sean Strickland confirms Nassourdine Imavov is next.
Honestly, it's a fun bit.
Josh Hokit choked out a fan.
Uh oh. That could be a problem.
Lesser known mma movie recs and thoughts?
I watched Beatdown last night having forgotten it existed (starring Bisping, Bobby lashley, Mike swick, Heath herring and Danny trejo) and it was almost so bad it was good, but the constant cuts they needed for anyone to get more than a single line of dialogue out were brutal.
Even danny trejo didn’t bother to try to act in it. Lol. Honestly by the 20 minute mark I was fighting my cat and on my phone more than watching… but the trailers included 3 other old mma movies I’d never even heard of (and since forgot the name of lol).
Ive gotten into collecting physical media and figure i might as well devote a section of my dvds to low budget mma movies… So what are some hidden gems or just plain awful movies starring mma fighters people have seen?
Rec 3ReplyRead 24 replies
I've been watching MMA since 2002, and Saturday night was easily one of the scariest moments of my fandom. There have only been a few times in 24 years that I've thought, “Oh no, this is it,†and the Raoni Barcelos situation was one of them. Super happy he's OK (or, at least, not as bad as it could be) , and like Felder, I hope I never see him fight again.
Where does Raul Rosas Jr. go from here?
We’re still waiting on specifics about exactly what happened to Raoni Barcelos and what it means for his future, but for the time being, his team and the UFC are saying he’s OK – or, at least, not in immediate danger. That is obviously great news, and hopefully it stays that way.
But, putting that aside for the time being, what about Rosas? The UFC obviously wants to push him and he’s coming off the best performance of his career and a pretty impressive comeback win. He called for someone in the Top 7. Does he get that?
Who do you give him?
Closes in 2 days • 77 total votes
Rec 2ReplyRead 33 replies
If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKLee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and like us on Facebook.