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‘You’re not Conor’: Islam Makhachev’s camp responds to Ian Garry’s big claim

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‘You’re not Conor’: Islam Makhachev’s camp responds to Ian Garry’s big claim
Ian
Garry’s recent comments comparing himself to Conor
McGregor haven't gone over well with Islam
Makhachev’s camp.

After “The Future” compared his upcoming fight in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship against Makhachev to McGregor’s
iconic featherweight championship victory over Jose Aldo,
Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, responded with a series of
sharp posts on social media.

Ali Abdelaziz addresses Ian Garry's McGregor comparison ahead
of UFC 330

Garry recently claimed that defeating Makhachev at UFC
330 would elevate him to the top of the sport, comparing the
opportunity to McGregor’s featherweight title win over Aldo in
2015.

Abdelaziz, however, dismissed those comparisons and questioned the
Irishman’s accomplishments inside the Octagon.

“I’ve been listening to Islam’s opponent talking,†Abdelaziz wrote
on X. “Here are the facts: He’s 2-1 in his last three fights. He
was almost knocked out by Prates and got saved by the bell. He has
10 wins in the UFC, and eight of them came by decision. Somebody
needs to give this young man a reality check, because he’s about to
get smashed.â€

Abdelaziz followed with another post highlighting Makhachev’s
accolades.

“Islam Makhachev’s last 10 fights? Eight of them ended in
finishes,†the manager posted. “Three of those wins came against
world champions. The rest were against top-five and Top-15
contenders. That’s the reality. You only got this fight because you
know how to talk. On Aug. 14, the talking stops. Then we’ll see
what’s real.â€

Abdelaziz also rejected Garry’s comparisons to McGregor.

“And he keeps bringing his name up, comparing himself to Conor,†he
added. “First of all, you're not Conor. You'll never be Conor. You
might actually be a better person than him, because I think Conor
has done a lot of things I don't respect. Just be who you are.
Don't try to be somebody else.â€

Makhachev is scheduled to defend his welterweight title against
Garry in the UFC 330 main event on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena
in Philadelphia. A win for the Russian not only marks his first
title defense at 170 pounds but would also see him break Anderson
Silva's record for longest win streak in UFC history.

Series of tweets from Ali Abdelaziz on Ian Machado Garry
by u/DavidSeries in
MMA

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MMA

Recently injured PFL star Dakota Ditcheva wants to box for MVP

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Recently injured PFL star Dakota Ditcheva wants to box for MVP
Dakota
Ditcheva’s latest victory came at a cost.

The unbeaten
Professional Fighters League star revealed that she broke both
hands during her recent unanimous decision victory over Denise
Kielholtz at
PFL New York. While she's likely set for another stint on the
sidelines, the Manchester native has revealed her interest in
competing in boxing.

Dakota Ditcheva suffers multiple hand breaks yet again, eyes
boxing bout

Ditcheva, who improved to 16-0 with the win, said she first noticed
the damage early in the second round but kept the injury to herself throughout the remainder
of the fight. She opened up about her latest hand injury in a
recently released YouTube video.

“Breaking news, I am injured again,†Ditcheva said. “I broke my
hands in the fight. I could feel it from the moment I started the
second round. I didn't tell my corner. I didn't tell anybody. I
didn't show it this time and I didn't tell anybody until I got out
of the cage.â€

Ditcheva is now wearing splints while she waits to learn whether
surgery will be necessary. The latest injury also stems from a
previous issue with her hands.

The 27-year-old previously broke both hands and elected to have
surgery on only one of them. She explained that doctors had warned
her the untreated fracture could break again if she continued
fighting without surgery. Ditcheva clarified that she did not
suffer two entirely new fractures, explaining that one of her
previous breaks held up while another finger was damaged during the
fight.

The injury comes after Ditcheva returned from a year-long absence
to defeat former kickboxing champion Kielholtz by unanimous
decision. Although she couldn’t find the stoppage, Ditcheva
controlled the contest and reaffirmed her status as one of the
faces of the PFL.

Despite the setback, Ditcheva remains interested in expanding her
combat sports endeavors. She has expressed interest in boxing for

Most Valuable Promotions, which recently merged with the PFL.
In an X clip posted by MVP, Ditcheva said that she's
“interested.â€


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Reinier de Ridder rips training at former gym after move to ATT

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Reinier de Ridder rips training at former gym after move to ATT
Reinier
de Ridder has changed camps ahead of his permanent move up to
light heavyweight in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The Dutchman is scheduled to take on Roman
Dolidze at 205 pounds next, on Aug. 22 at Golden 1 Center in
Sacramento, California. He recently revealed that he has parted
ways with
Kill Cliff FC and joined another Florida gym,
American Top Team, ahead of his UFC light heavyweight
debut.

Reinier de Ridder explains why he left Kill Cliff FC for
American Top Team

The former One
Championship two-division titleholder explains that while he
really enjoyed the atmosphere at Kill Cliff FC, the level of
training has allegedly not been up to mark in the last couple of
months. One of de Ridder's favorite coaches, Aung La N
Sang, recently opened his own gym, which limited his time at
Kill Cliff FC.

He also claims that head coach Henri Hooft has not been around much
over the last couple of months due to personal reasons and that
many top fighters allegedly left Kill Cliff FC as the level of
training declined.

“I did switch up my camp,†de Ridder told Full Mount MMA. “So, I've
been at ATT this camp, which is a big change. I've been able to
work with a lot of high-level guys, which is cool – coaches and
training partners… Some stuff was just not good at Kill Cliff the
last six months. Henri had some personal stuff. He had been out of
the gym for a couple of months. And Aung La, my guy I like to work
with a lot, he opened his own gym. So, he hadn't been at Kill Cliff
much. And a lot of big guys left because just the content of the
classes was not that good. So, it was time to make a change,
unfortunately. Cause I really liked them, really liked the
atmosphere, liked everything there.â€

After getting off to a sensational start in the UFC, going 4-0 with
wins over Bo Nickal and
Robert
Whittaker, de Ridder (21-4) suffered consecutive losses to
Brendan
Allen and Caio
Borralho, prompting the move up to light heavyweight. He's
looking to return to winning ways at
UFC Sacramento.

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MMA

Merab Dvalishvili spars with Mark Zuckerberg in the middle of a lake

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Merab Dvalishvili spars with Mark Zuckerberg in the middle of a lake
Mark Zuckerberg is a die-hard mixed martial arts fan.

Zuckerberg recently sparred with Merab
Dvalishvili on a floating platform in the middle of a lake. The
Meta CEO has been training for a few years now, evidenced by his
light sparring session with the former
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight king, wherein he
landed some jabs, body kicks and even a takedown.

Merab Dvalishvili puts Mark Zuckerberg’s MMA training to the
test on a floating platform

Zuckerberg has developed strong friendships with several MMA
fighters, training with the likes of Alex
Pereira, Alexander
Volkanovski and Israel
Adesanya, in addition to Dvalishvili. During their recent
mid-lake sparring session, Zuckerberg even kicked Dvalishvili off
the barge, before the Georgian returned the favor by throwing the
American billionaire into the lake.

Zuckerberg has become increasingly involved with MMA, especially
the UFC, over the past few years. He initially started training jiu
jitsu during the pandemic and even won a gold and a silver at BJJ
Tour Silicon Valley in 2023. Zuckerberg's coach at the time, Dave
Camarillo, who once trained elites like Cain
Velasquez, called the tech mogul one of his best students.

Meanwhile, Dvalishvili looked to defend his UFC bantamweight title
for the fourth time in a year when he put it on the line in a
rematch against Petr Yan last
December. Yan outclassed Dvalishvili on the night, taking their
rivalry to 1-1. While there's no official confirmation from the UFC
as yet, both fighters have indicated that they're gearing up for a
trilogy bout next.

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