Category: MMA

Video: Lany Silva walks off after ridiculous head kick knockout to win LFA title

Lany Silva created a career highlight with a vicious walk-off head kick to capture the LFA strawweight title.

[autotag]Lany Silva [/autotag] will soon be a household name if she keeps creating highlights like this one.

At LFA 201 at Ginasio de Povilho in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Silva (7-1) added a highlight to her reel that will be replayed for the remainder of her career. Facing Rose Conceicao in the main event the for the LFA women’s straweight title, Silva ended the fight abruptly at 2:54 of Round 5.

The fight was Conceicao’s first attempt at defending the title she won by defeating Elaine Lopes at LFA 162 in July 2023. Silva recorded the third stoppage of her 8-fight MMA career by landing a brutal left head kick in the final round.

It was a swift kick that immediately put Conceicao’s lights out. Silva walked toward her opponent to observe the wreckage she just caused, and then walked off to begin her title celebration.

Check out video of the finish below (via X):

 

Dana White’s greed is the only reason Bryce Mitchell still has a job

Dana White knows Nazis buy sneakers, too.

Dana White, the person, couldn’t disagree more with one of his UFC fighters ranting on a podcast about what a good guy Hitler was (fact check: Hitler was very bad).

Dana White, the fight promoter, seemed nearly giddy about it all. And make no mistake, White is first and foremost a promoter before he is a decent person.

It’s why he’s continued his relationship with Conor McGregor despite the Irishman’s notoriously long rap sheet, and why he rushed to sign Greg Hardy after the NFL told him to kick rocks after a horrific domestic assault case, and why Colby Covington has managed to stick around so long.

So when Bryce Mitchell started espousing pro-Hitler takes that White called the “dumbest and most ignorant [expletive]” he’s ever heard, no one should’ve expected the UFC boss to actually do anything about it. That has never been his way.

Nope. White is going to do what he’s always done. Hide behind a three-year-old’s understanding of free speech, book Mitchell a fight a soon as possible and watch the money roll in from people he can convince to watch a Nazi-lover get his head bashed in.

That is not hyperbole. It is precisely what happened.

Take a look at White’s comments and see for yourself. After a long prepared statement denouncing Hitler and the atrocities of World War II, the first thing White says it that it’ll be settled in the Octagon.

Warning: NSFW Language

“I’ve heard a lot of dumb, ignorant [expletive] in my day, but this one’s probably the worst. When you talk about Hitler, who’s responsible for the death of 6 million Jews, and he tried to completely eliminate a race of people. World War II was the deadliest war in history: 15 million military deaths, 45 million civilians and 25 million soldiers were killed in World War II. Second of all, Hitler is one of the most disgusting and evil human beings to ever walk the face of the earth, and anyone who even tries to take an opposing position is a moron. That’s the problem with the internet and social media. You provide a platform for a lot of dumb, ignorant people.”

So, will Mitchell face any discipline?

“Well, that’s the beautiful thing about this business: For all of you that hate Bryce Mitchell, you get to hopefully see him get his ass whooped on global television. What do you want me to say about it? You know where I am with free speech.”

For the millionth or so time, that is not what free speech means. While White may be cozy with those who occupy the top levels of the U.S. government, his company can punish any employee for making disgusting comments without violating the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Let’s be very clear: White is willfully using this moment to line his pockets even more. He has clearly mastered the mental gymnastics required to do so. If you want to send him a real message about harboring Hitler fanboys in his company, don’t tune in to Mitchell’s next fight. No matter how bad you want to see a Nazi-lover get his face punched in — and, seriously, the pull is strong — stay away.

The only thing that happens if people watch Mitchell’s next fight is that he’s nearly guaranteed to get another real soon, win or lose.

UFC loves its villains, after all, even if Mitchell may now be a hero to a certain subset of despicable humans.

White is almost too transparent with this one. He’s going to use our rage to fuel his bank account. Don’t let him. Don’t acknowledge him. Don’t give him any semblance of a victory here. After all, nothing could insult White as much as bad TV ratings and an empty wallet.

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Dan Hardy: Knockout loss to Anthony Joshua won’t affect Francis Ngannou as a brand or fighter

Dan Hardy expects Francis Ngannou’s boxing experience to serve him well against Renan Ferreira.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – [autotag]Dan Hardy[/autotag] expects [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]’s boxing experience to serve him well against [autotag]Renan Ferreira[/autotag].

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou (17-3) takes on Ferreira (13-3) in Saturday’s PFL: Battle of the Giants (DAZN/ESPN+) main event at The Mayadeen.

Since parting ways with the UFC, Ngannou boxed twice – a controversial decision loss to Tyson Fury, followed by a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in March. Despite Ngannou coming off the first knockout loss of his combat sports career, Hardy says the skills he acquired as a boxer will benefit him against the taller and rangier Ferreira.

“I don’t really think it affected Ngannou as a brand in any way,” Hardy told MMA Junkie. “So, I don’t necessarily think it will affect him as a fighter in any way, if that makes sense. I think that the time he’s spent in boxing, it will make him a better MMA fighter. …It allows people to manage range better. They’re able to step into range to land punches, but not crowd themselves and go into a clinch, and that’s going to be really, really valuable for him in this fight.

“Because I would say that he needs to be close to Renan Ferreira to get inside his reach. I don’t know if he wants to waste too much energy grappling with him. I think we will see some wrestling and grappling out of Ngannou. Ferreira’s huge, he’s a sizable individual. Just to take him down and control him is going to be a massive amount of energy expended. So, I think Ngannou being able to stay in the pocket and box is going to be very useful for him in this fight.”

Ngannou returns to MMA for the first time since successfully defending his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.

Tommy Fury challenges Jake Paul to MMA fight after training with UFC champ Tom Aspinall

If Jake Paul needs a debut opponent in the PFL, a familiar foe is willing to step up.

If [autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag] needs a debut opponent in mixed martial arts, a familiar foe is willing to step up.

Paul intends to make his MMA debut after partnering with PFL. CEO Peter Murray expects “The Problem Child” to enter the cage in 2025.

Paul’s lone loss in boxing came by split decision to [autotag]Tommy Fury[/autotag] in February 2023. Fury spent some time training MMA with UFC interim heavyweight champion [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] and would love nothing more than to beat Paul in MMA, too.

“Jake Paul’s in the PFL, isn’t he? I’m going to smash his face in when I get good at MMA,” Fury said on his YouTube channel. “I’ll beat him in boxing and the cage. Big useless prick. I reckon a year-and-a-half to two years of training until I’ll beat him in a fight, no problem, in the cage.

“He’s got the funds, he’s got the best trainers in the world, he’s got the best sparring in the world. So he’s doing all right. But no match for me. I swear to you, next time I fight him, I’ll knock him out. In MMA, I just want to give him a big fat (knee). All elbows, no fists.”

Since losing to Fury in the ring, Paul (10-1) rebounded with four consecutive wins, most recently a TKO of Mike Perry in July. He takes on 58-year-old boxing legend Mike Tyson (50-6-2) on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

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Australian MMA fighter Casey O’Neill did a Raygun celebration after a win at UFC 305

This is for sure a Raygun tribute.

Although Raygun the Australian Olympic breaker has gotten too much criticism and has been mocked for her performance in Paris, this one feels more like a tribute.

MMA fighter Casey O’Neill is from Australia, and after she won in a bout over Luana Santos at Saturday’s UFC 305, O’Neill delivered the perfect celebration: a very clear tribute to Raygun, with her doing the famous rolling back-and-forth on the ground and a little kangaroo hop. Yep, that’s for sure The Raygun.

This is so, so good and delightful, and I hope Raygun sees it and smiles. Here’s a look at that moment:

Video: Who did the UFC leave off this best title fight head-kick KO list?

Holly Holm and Valentina Shevchenko might have something to say about being left off a recent best-of list put out by the UFC.

Holly Holm and Valentina Shevchenko might have something to say about being left off a recent best-of list put out by the UFC.

The promotion earlier this week published a compilation video of “legendary head shot KOs for UFC gold.” The description with the video on YouTube said: “With pressure at an all time high, relive the greatest head kick KOs that secured these top fighters UFC gold.”

The list includes Leon Edwards’ welterweight title-winning finish of Kamaru Usman. Edwards will try for his third title defense at UFC 304 on Saturday against Belal Muhammad. You’ll also see Anderson Silva shut down Vitor Belfort, Alex Pereira stop Jiri Prochazak, Georges St-Pierre wipe out Matt Hughes, Rose Namajunas’ finish of Zhang Weili and Amanda Nunes’ finish of Holly Holm.

But what about Holm’s finish of Ronda Rousey? Or Valentina Shevchenko’s finish of Jessica Eye? Hmmm …

Take a look at the video above to see the UFC’s list.

How to buy tickets to UFC 303 in Las Vegas

Catch all the UFC action in person this Saturday in Las Vegas. Limited tickets remain for as little as $246.

UFC 303 will be running it back in Las Vegas this weekend.

Ultimate fighting returns to T-Mobile Arena and will be headlined by light heavyweights Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka.

The fight is a promising bout that replaces another. Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler was originally scheduled to headline 303’s card. But after McGregor suffered an injury during training, we have a switch.

SHOP: UFC 303 tickets

Pereira and Prochazka did battle at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden for the then-vacant UFC light heavyweight title. Pereira took it with a TKO.

In addition to Pereira and Prochazka, Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes will fight while Carlos Ulberg will now face former contender Anthony Smith.

You won’t want to miss all this UFC action, and limited tickets still remain for as little as $246.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop UFC 303 tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/0eQ0LNP”]

How to buy tickets to UFC 303 in Las Vegas

Catch all the UFC action in person this Saturday in Las Vegas. Limited tickets remain for as little as $246.

UFC 303 will be running it back in Las Vegas this weekend.

Ultimate fighting returns to T-Mobile Arena and will be headlined by light heavyweights Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka.

The fight is a promising bout that replaces another. Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler was originally scheduled to headline 303’s card. But after McGregor suffered an injury during training, we have a switch.

SHOP: UFC 303 tickets

Pereira and Prochazka did battle at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden for the then-vacant UFC light heavyweight title. Pereira took it with a TKO.

In addition to Pereira and Prochazka, Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes will fight while Carlos Ulberg will now face former contender Anthony Smith.

You won’t want to miss all this UFC action, and limited tickets still remain for as little as $246.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop UFC 303 tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/0eQ0LNP”]

MMA heavyweight avoids TKO by kicking opponent square in the beans

Justice was served in the end, but hoooooo boy things looked grim for a minute.

MMA is a violent, occasionally beautiful sport. At its best, it pairs two elite athletes in a chess match of concussive strikes and savvy grappling. At its worst, it’s a slopfest where an overmatched opponent can save himself with stupid technique or illegal strikes.

On Thursday, the Professional Fighters League gave us the latter.

In a battle between heavyweights Tim Johnson and Danilo Marques, Johnson uncorked a massive left hand that sent his opponent sprawling to the canvas. He was unable to follow up, however, because Marques blasted a kick right to his cup at the exact same moment. Marques shook off the cobwebs and assumed he’d won, only to be reassured by the referee that, no, none of that was even remotely legal.

Johnson needed about three minutes of stoppage time to shake off the foul Despite the setback, he still managed to rally. Moments later, he dropped Marques en route to a first round TKO.

After the fight, Johnson discussed his roller coaster win.

“That hurt. That was definitely the worst groin strike I’ve ever had,” Johnson told former fighter turned interviewer Dan Hardy. “I didn’t know. I just heard everyone booing. So I was like ‘I’m sorry guys, I just got kicked in the groin. I’m trying.’ Then I found out they were booing at Danilo so, whatever.”

Johnson improved to 17-9 — and 1-0 in the PFL — with the win.

Derrick Lewis had the cheekiest celebration after beating Rodrigo Nascimento in UFC on ESPN 56 main event

Derrick Lewis is out here mooning the crowd at UFC on ESPN 56.

There was a moon over UFC on ESPN 56 Saturday night.

Derrick Lewis came in against Rodrigo Nascimento for a battle of heavyweights and emerged with a knockout in the third round of their fight, but it was Lewis’s celebration that rightfully made headlines everywhere.

Lewis stripped off his shorts and fanned Nascimento with them. Then, when the fight was over, he briefly … well, removed his briefs to show the crowd an NSFW sight. He also took off his protective cup at some point and tossed into the audience.

Here are those moments that everyone is talking about after this one:

Wild!