Stipe Miocic is targeting a trilogy with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou — Fightful has you covered on this story and all of the other news in the world of combat sports.
Stipe Miocic wants Francis Ngannou trilogy
When Stipe Miocic lost to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260, it was very unclear as to what Miocic's next career move would be after the knockout loss.
Well now, all of the talk of Miocic potentially retiring can be put to bed as he has now outlined his plans for his next fight.
Miocic wants a trilogy with the current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
When speaking to the Pat McAfee show, Miocic opened up about his performance against Ngannou and what he would like next in the UFC.
When speaking about his performance at UFC 260, Miocic said "I felt good. I gave him the first round, but I wasn’t worried because he’s usually stronger in the first round, I felt him gassing a little bit. He was still good, but I was like okay we still have four more rounds to go. Then, I hit him with that right hand and hesitated for a split second and got caught with that hook, what are you going to do, it sucks.”
Miocic is clearly very disappointed with the way the fight went down but he has made it clear that he wants to fight Ngannou again and regain the UFC heavyweight title.
Although a title shot next for Miocic seems unlikely because it seems like the UFC is moving in the direction of Ngannou's first defense to be against Derrick Lewis, Miocic still wants his belt back.
He said, "yeah, I want to get back what’s mine."
Would you be interested in seeing a trilogy between Ngannou and Miocic?
Dan Hardy frustrated at the names who are being linked to fighting Nick Diaz
For the last few years, Dan Hardy has been very keen on a return to the Octagon after he was forced to retire many years ago due to a wrongly diagnosed heart condition.
One of the fights which Hardy has been very vocal about wanting in the last few years is the former UFC welterweight title challenger Nick Diaz.
At the UFC 261 post-fight press conference this past weekend, Dana White revealed that Nick Diaz wants to fight again in the UFC and he is willing to give him that opportunity.
Some of the names who have been linked to fighting Diaz so far are fighters such as Jorge Masvidal and Khamzat Chimaev.
Hardy expressed his frustrations about Diaz's potential opponents on Twitter.
See the Tweet below.
The amount of @nickdiaz209 related posts that I’ve been tagged in in recent days, is crazy!
— Dan Hardy (@danhardymma) April 28, 2021
It’s the perfect fight for both of us to step back in there.
You know that he won’t get matched favorably though... he’ll be used to build someone else up, which is a real shame.
Donald Cerrone send a warning to Diego Sanchez
Next weekend Diego Sanchez will compete in the final fight of his career against his former teammate Donald Cerrone.
The build-up to the fight has had quite a lot of bad blood. The bad blood stems from Sanchez's conduct towards Cerrone when he left Jackson Wink MMA.
In a video which Cerrone posted to his YouTube channel, he sends a very threatening message to Sanchez ahead of their fight next weekend.
In the video, Cerrone said "The things he says right now leading into the fight I don’t care about because they’re just him hyping himself. It’s the things he said when I left Jackson’s, those are the things that piss me off. Like, he went to these restaurants and these places we had pictures signed and he ripped em all off and videoed it and made a big deal. So yeah, he did a bunch of under-the-belt things, said a bunch of bullshit so it’s like, alright motherfucker, now you’ve got to eat your words. I’ll see you May 8 and I’ll beat the fuck out of you."
Cerrone also revealed that there will not be any glove touch between the two and he is coming to seriously hurt Sanchez.
He said "There won’t be any touching gloves, any joking around with him, nothing. F***ing, I’m coming to hurt him. That’s my whole goal here. Every kick, every punch, every knee, I want to break bones and hurt him bad. I want this to be his last hoorah. He thinks he’s coming in, ‘Ah, we’re gonna have a great fight with a legend and we’re gonna make fireworks.’ Bruh, you’re not riding off into the sunset. I’m gonna fucking beat the shit out of you and drag you behind my horse and you’re done, you’re out of here."
Cerrone concluded by saying "I want everything cruel and malicious intentions when I fight him. Yeah, he fucked up. Like, I want to beat his ass so bad that just before the ref stops it, I step back and let him recover and then beat his ass to that point again. That’s what I want to do. Like fucking really beat his ass bad. Hurt him.”
Colbey Northcutt says that her brother, Sage is still suffering from complications from COVID-19
Colbey Northcutt, who is the sister of current ONE and former UFC fighter Sage Northcutt has given an update on her brother after he tested positive for COVID-19 a while ago.
Northcutt explained how her brother got very sick from COVID-19 and still has to see specialists after getting rid of the virus.
Check out the video below to see what Northcutt had to say.
Colbey Northcutt, sister of Sage, said at ONE Championship media day this week that Sage got “very, very sick” with COVID-19, still has complications and has to see a specialist every week.
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) April 28, 2021
Scary stuff. Hope Sage gets well very soon! pic.twitter.com/DbgfXEjlSQ
Eddie Alvarez no longer interested in boxing Oscar De La Hoya
A few weeks ago, former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez revealed that he and his team were in talks to fight Oscar De La Hoya in a boxing match.
However, since Alvarez watched the Triller event where Jake Paul fought Ben Askren, he no longer has any interest in boxing.
When speaking at the ONE on TNT IV media day, Alvarez said "I would say it’s a dead issue for right now. Honestly, the whole boxing-MMA thing when I watched it with Ben (Askren) and basically what I watched is a bunch of MMA fighters in the realm of boxing, who had the heart, the courage, were able to have the humility to put themselves on the line in form and skill that they’re not professionals in and go and put it out there."
Alvarez also went on to say "I have yet to see a boxer come do that in the MMA realm. It’s really kind of bothering me and it put me off. I’d like to see the courage on the boxing side for a guy to step into the MMA realm.”
Alvarez also explained that the people who beat Frank Mir and Ben Askren did not beat them in a fight but did beat them in a match.
He said "It’s boxing. It’s not a fight. MMA is a fight, it’s everything. So whoever beat Ben Askren, whoever beat Frank Mir, they didn’t beat them in a fight. They beat them in boxing.”
Do you agree with Alvarez's comments?
Jake Paul believes that he is "a better striker than 99.9%" of MMA fighters
Since Jake Paul's most previous knockout win over former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren, he has continued to call out MMA fighters to fight him in the boxing ring.
Paul has now revealed that he believes that he is "a better striker than 99.9%" of MMA fighters.
During an interview with ESPN, Paul said "I think, combining the two worlds, the biggest pay-per-view of all time was Floyd vs. Conor. That’s boxing vs. MMA, so why not keep with that model? I believe I’m a better striker than 99.9% of these MMA guys."
Paul also went on to say "When we’re matching up from a skill, experience level, it’s even. It’s who wants it more, really, in the fight. You know, if I’m going up against these world champion boxers, who have been doing it since they were six years old, it’s just an unfair advantage."
Paul also revealed that even though as of right now he is only calling out MMA fighters, in the future he does want to fight some real boxers.
Paul said "I do want to fight boxers. There are people who I am going back and forth with about potential fights. But, I think the MMA community vs. the boxing community and, sort of, that overlap, and the people I want to knock out happen to be MMA fighters."
What MMA fighters or boxers would you like to see fight Jake Paul?
Curtis Millender plans to "punish" Rory MacDonald at PFL 2
At PFL 2, Rory MacDonald was originally scheduled to fight David Michaud but Michaud was forced to withdraw from the bout.
MacDonald's new opponent is UFC and Bellator veteran Curtis Millender.
In an interview with BjPenn.com, Millender revealed that this is a bucket list fight for him and he plans to "punish" and "hurt" MacDonald when they fight.
Millender said "I thought I would end up fighting for Bellator again. I was hoping to get that Joe Schilling fight. It’s a bucket list fight for me. However, Rory MacDonald is the ultimate bucket list fight for me. My friend sent me an interview I did like seven or eight years ago, where the person asked me who my dream fight is and the person I said was Rory MacDonald and I get the chance.”
Although Millender believes that fighting MacDonald is very cool, he has revealed that the real reason why he signed with PFL was because he has a chance of winning $1 million.
Millender explained "Fighting him is cool, but the million dollars is why I agreed to sign with PFL. I can also right a lot of wrongs if I beat him. I know I’m one of the top welterweights in the world still. I’m looking to get some more respect on my name. It’s also frustrating to see guys like Kevin Holland and Max Griffin headline and be the co-main event of a UFC show when I beat both of those guys. Like how am I not there? I deserve to be considered one of the best and that’s what I plan to prove."
Millender also revealed that he is coming to "hurt" and "punish" MacDonald.
He said "I have to hurt him. If I can’t finish him, I will punish him for 15 minutes."
Giga Chikadze excited to fight Cub Swanson
This upcoming weekend at UFC Fight Night Reyes vs Prochazka, Giga Chikadze will face the toughest test of his career yet against MMA veteran Cub Swanson.
In an interview with BjPenn.com Chikadze expressed his excitement ahead of the bout.
Chikadze said "I’m super excited, this is the biggest fight of my career, he’s a big name. I’m just really excited to fight. I was hoping to get someone in the top-15 and since I know Cub and have trained with him, I didn’t push for the fight, we also have a lot of mutual friends. The UFC offered us the fight and he’s a well-known guy so I took the fight. I also can’t fight anyone anymore, I’m not fighting behind, I need to fight ahead and make my way up the ranks. I was offered a few people in the top-15 and they all declined.”
Although Chikadze has a lot of respect for Swanson, he has revealed that he believes he will knock him out cold.
Chikadze said "I will knock Cub Swanson out cold, though, I see that happening. He will try and strike for a bit, go for a level change, I’ll stuff it and he’ll strike again. Cub will then try for the takedown again and I’ll counter with something big and put him out. I’m a much different fighter now than I was years ago as I’ve been training my ground game with Beneil Dariush and several others."
Chikadze also went on to say that he is expecting to be very active in 2021 and win the featherweight title late this year or in early 2022.
He said "100 percent. The last time Cub lost he was top-10, he has two wins since then. A win puts him in a good spot to fight a top-10 opponent. I can start calling out big names when I knockout Cub, I can call people out and they will have to accept. I will be in the top five at least by the end of this year. If I stay active, I know I can be the champion by the end of this year or early next.”
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