MMA
UFC fighter Brandon Royval’s five-year commitment outside the Octagon
Published
1 month agoon
Royval has been serving his community for half a decade.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight recently revealed that
he has been volunteering for five years at the Denver Dream Center,
a non-profit organization that helps youth from troubled
backgrounds rebuild their lives.
Brandon Royval's Denver Dream Center volunteer work before UFC
329
Royval feels privileged to have built personal relationships with
less-fortunate kids and watched them grow into young adults. The
former title challenger said in the
UFC 329 “Embedded†video series:
“The Dream Center is – we pick up the kids in the local area,
normally the lower-income area. We bring them, feed them, just
create relationships, and check up on everybody… Five years I've
been a volunteer there. And it's cool cause most of the kids are in
middle school or high school. So I've watched them become young
adults and handle adversity. So it's been really cool and a real
privilege.â€
Bryan Sederwall, the pastor at the Denver Dream Center, says Royval
has been consistent for the past five years. Sederwall claims “Raw
Dawg†always keeps his commitments to kids, even if he has a fight
coming up.
Royval (17-9) is set to collide with Lone'er
Kavanagh in a flyweight matchup at UFC 329, which goes down at
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 11. He will look to
rebound from back-to-back losses against Joshua Van
and Manel Kape.
Meanwhile, Kavanagh (10-1) is coming off a unanimous decision win
over former champion Brandon
Moreno that saw him bounce back from his first professional
loss.
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MMA
Islam Makhachev's coach picks apart Ian Machado Garry's 'killer instinct' criticism from Dana White
Published
9 hours agoon
August 18, 2026
Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCUFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev's longtime coach believes Ian Machado Garry didn't need ‘killer instinct' at UFC 330.
UFC welterweight champ Islam Makhachev defended his title unanimously against Ian Machado Garry last weekend at UFC 330. After becoming the UFC's latest two-division champ, Makhachev put on another impressive performance to stop Garry's meteoric rise.
Garry's pattern of showing respect for Makhachev throughout their fight led UFC CEO Dana White to question his ‘killer instinct'. During the UFC 330 post-fight press conference, White criticized Garry's last-fight pace, saying if he had a ‘killer instinct', he could've had Makhachev in a lot of trouble.
But Makhachev's longtime coach doesn't believe a ‘killer instinct' would've made the difference at UFC 330.
Islam Makhachev's longtime coach questions Dana White's ‘killer instinct' criticism
In a recent interview with Parimach Online Casino, Islam Makhachev's longtime coach Javier Mendez reacted to White's post-fight criticism of Garry.
“I think every fighter is different,†Mendez said of Garry's lack of ‘killer instinct' against Makhachev.
“I have so many fighters that, if they have that killer instinct, they usually tighten up. They try too hard, whereas if they have a relaxed time, like what he did, it kind of throws you off guard. That's what he did at the very beginning. He came out, shook everybody's hands, shook all the coaches' hands. I've never had that happen to me.
“He was smiling like he had this in the bag, and for me, that got me right away. I went, ‘Oh, he's really confident here. Very, very confident.' What Dana took one way, I took as super, super confident,†Makhachev's longtime coach continued on Garry. “I felt he was telling us goodbye, ‘Thank you, guys, but I'm winning this.' That's what I felt. He came out with that attitude too. I don't think it had anything to do with what Dana said. I think that's just for him to motivate himself, and I think he did fantastic.†(h/t MMA Junkie)
Garry earned recent wins over Belal Muhammad and Carlos Prates before the loss to Makhachev. The 28-year-old has plenty of time to potentially get another shot at UFC gold.
Will Ian Machado Garry fight for a UFC welterweight title again? Let us know your thoughts on his future in the comments!
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
MMA
Anthony Smith pleads not guilty to four felony charges in Nebraska
Published
9 hours agoon
August 18, 2026
Smith has pleaded not guilty to four felony charges stemming
from a July domestic incident in Nebraska.
Court records confirmed
Smith’s plea, resulting in the cancellation of an arraignment
scheduled for Aug. 17. The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title
challenger is now due back in court for a status hearing Sept. 21
in Sarpy County.
Former UFC title challenger Anthony Smith faces four felony
charges stemming from an alleged July domestic incident in Gretna,
Nebraska
Smith faces one Class 2 felony count involving an attempted Class 1
offense, a terroristic-threats charge and two counts of
first-degree false imprisonment, all classified as Class 3A
felonies. A Class 2 felony in Nebraska can carry a prison term of
one to 50 years, while Class 3A felonies carry up to three years of
imprisonment and 18 months of post-release supervision.
Prosecutors allege that Smith became involved in an altercation
with his wife at a Gretna, Nebraska, bar on July 26. They claim
Smith threatened to kill his wife, forced her into his vehicle and
later attempted to strike her with the vehicle after she exited it.
His wife was not physically injured, according to prosecutors’
account.
Smith has not publicly addressed the allegations. His wife, Mikhala
Renee Newman, previously offered a different characterization of
the incident, saying Smith was experiencing a mental health crisis
and that she had sought help to protect him from himself.
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