Former two time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has weighed heavily on UFC 303’s main event this weekend, predicting a chilling outcome.
The Last Stylebender as Adesanya is known is the current Light Heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira’s biggest rival throughout their combat sports careers.
With Pereira currently up 3-1 in their series across kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA), Adesanya got the most recent laugh when he scored a second round knockout (watch highlights) over Pereira to snatch back the 185-pound crown in April 2023.
Therefore, sending Pereira up to 205 pounds where he’s made history.
Although Pereira heads into this upcoming Jiri Prochazka rematch with a second round technical knockout of the Czech (watch highlights) on his resume, Adesanya, expects a different outcome than we saw in November 2023.
“I’m going to go Jiri because we’re the chosen few,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel (h/t MMA Fighting). “But also, I think he might have learned from his mistake because people don’t understand, and it also makes things interesting — if [Prochazka beats Pereira] then it’s a trifecta, a trilogy, yeah.
“And I won’t be the only guy to knock this guy out,” he concluded.
“I’m going to go Jiri, and I’m going to go by third-round, or fourth-round finish.”
Pereira and Prochazka have both earned finish victories since their first fight.
At UFC 300, they won their respective bouts against Jamahal Hill and Aleksandar Rakic, setting up this short-notice sequel.
Ultimately, Adesanya expects the rematch element of the match up to be a big factor, but the short notice is the biggest.
“The approach from both fighters will be different because they both know what could happen — Alex knows he can get taken down and controlled, and Jiri knows he can get knocked out,” Adesanya said.
“But also, Alex knows he can get touched and hurt by Jiri. … [It will be a] more calculated [fight], slower because also they are taking this on short notice. They’re both relatively fit, but again, five-round fit, that’s the one. I know it’s short notice, but five-round fit, that’s crazy.
“Someone’s going to die — that’s going to be the mindset, either he finishes me, or I finish him,” he continued. “That’s the mindset you have to have if you’re taking a short notice fight, five rounds. Because holding on for five rounds, if you’re not fit, it’s a bad time. Bad as hell. So you have to go in there and just be like, either he dies, or I die.”
Tag: kickboxing
-
-
Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr and his family are grieving over a terrible loss after their son, DeAndre Jones, took his own life on June 22 at the age of 32.
“Unfortunately, my son DeAndre took his life on Saturday,” the former boxing champion and Olympic silver medalist wrote on both Twitter and Instagram.
“I’m so thankful that God allowed me to come home Friday night to spend the last night of his life with me and the family.”
“I know a lot of people are going through tough times right now, but nothing is worth taking your own life,” Jones continued.
“God gives it and God should be the one to take it away. Please respect our privacy while my family and I process this loss. Thank you for the love and support.”
In addition to Jones Jr., DeAndre is survived by his mother Natlyn and brothers Roy III and DeShaun Jones. -
Season 03 of the Dambe Warriors League will continue this Sunday with Circuit Fight CF13 at Ado Bayero Square, Sabon Gari, Kano State.
According to the organizers, the gates would be thrown open at exactly 3pm as fights will begin at 4pm.
Three fights in each of the three weight classes have been primed into the occasion to liven up the atmosphere.
However, a potential banana skin lurks around in the heavyweight division for back to back champion Dogo Maitakwasara who faces the dangerous and undefeated Tarasa.
Last season’s runner-up Ali Kanin Bello could fancy a win over Dutse to help his ranking position while Dogo Shamsu should be wary of newly promoted Yansanda who pulled off one of the biggest upsets this season with an opening day defeat of Maitakwasara.
Elsewhere in the middleweight, Shaaban’s undefeated status will come under scrutiny against Dogo Messi, Ramadan collide with Dan Nigeria while Yasanda squares up to Zazu.
The main fight in the lightweight class pits Yar Mage against Nasarawa while two fighters – Kudawa and Kurma – who tasted defeat in Circuit Fight 12 in Minna will challenge each other for a chance to return to the win column.
Chindo who sustained an injury in the Minna contest is still being monitored ahead of his fight with Zanyyanu.
The streets of Kano is expected to be buzzing with economic and social activity surrounding Circuit Fight 13, a tribute to the commerce that follows DAMBE WARRIORS LEAGUE in every community they visit.
Whether in Minna, Kano, Nassarawa, Kaduna, Abuja, Katsina, or Lagos, young Nigerian men look up to these Warriors as what they can become with hard work and dedication.
And the fans look out onto the sand with a sense of pride as they watch a thousand-year-old Nigerian tradition continue with honor and glory.
DAMBE WARRIORS LEAGUE is fueled by Bet9ja, Hero Hunter Power Bikes, Infinite Energy Drinks, Malay Energy Drinks, Optimus by Afrinvest, Hypo, Power Oil, Pop Cola, and Aiico.
These partners are thrilled with improved venues and continuous production quality upgrades the League has brought to Season 03 and are excited at what is to come in Kano on 26 June 2024.
Catch-up on all the Circuit Fight 13 action with a live broadcast on the Dambe Warriors YouTube channel, Facebook and AIT. -
UFC welterweight contender Micheal ‘Venom’ Page is looking ahead of his next fight with Ian Machado for a possible clash with number one ranked Kamaru Usman.
Page spoke with Chamatkar Sandhu in an interview about the path he sees to UFC gold which started at UFC 299 with a win over Kevin Holland.
MVP sees the Ian Garry fight on June 29th at UFC 303 as the perfect springboard to the top of the division.
“He’s an Irish guy that’s doing he’s doing really well … he’s [ranked] 7th, which is my lucky number,” Page said. “So that’s that’s another reason why I was like, ‘Yep. I want that.’ And it propels me into the top 5. So it’s exactly where I wanna be. I don’t wanna waste any time.”
From there Page believes he’s one more fight away from earning a title shot on home turf in England.
“If I wanna bring it back to the UK, there will most likely be one more fight,” he said.
“And then they usually do a show in March or something. So if I can get one more fight by the end of the year, that’d be perfect. Perfect way to sign off the year.”
“Finish Ian. Maybe ask for Usman. You know? Get a big fight next. He’s No. 1 ranked. Like I said, there’s no point wasting time. Let’s jump up. Let’s go. Usman, if he’s happy to go, we go. Get that win, and then there’s no debate after that. It’s like no, I deserve the belt.”
The former Welterweight champion Usman ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ last stepped into the cage in 2023 when he replaced an injured Paulo Costa, to face Khamzat Chimaev in a middleweight bout at UFC 294.
Usman lost the fight via majority decision in what was his middleweight MMA debut.
Usman’s possible fight with Page could still take some time to come to fruition, but the Briton is so sure of his plans on beating his next opponent, Garry?
“I’ve got about ten different ways to hurt this guy, and they’re all horrible,” he said with a smile. “So he can pick.”
For insight into his lethal capabilities inside the octagon, Page referenced how he took care of business in his first UFC fight against the top rated Holland.
“You know, Kevin Holland as a first fight, for anybody, it’s a crazy first fight,” Page said. “People saw what I did there. I know my ability. I’m comfortable with anybody up there. So I’m just looking to just get up there as quickly as possible.”
“You can see [my] popularity has gone up. You see the respect level. Especially after that first fight and how I handled Kevin, who is an amazing athlete, high level. He’s come straight back, broke someone’s arm. He’s a tough competitor.”
‘Get Ready For 25 Minutes Of Pain’
“The way I handled him, they saw the frustration in his eyes and how he struggled to handle me,” he continued. “I think there’s loads of respect. But it’s interesting, I’ve been telling you guys this for a long time, you guys just don’t listen. Before, I was ‘crushing cans,’ and now everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you can actually fight.’” -
Lone survivor Adeshina Zainab has failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympic boxing tournament following her split decision (1-4) points defeat to Kaivo-Oja Pihla of Finland in the women’s 50kg today in Bangkok.
The latest loss confirms a comprehensive failure of all four Nigerian pugilists at the 2nd World Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament in Thailand.
Team Nigeria’s preparations had been dogged by controversy with the boxers reportedly paying their way to the Thai qualifying.
The curtain draws on the tournament today. -
Nigerian Mbata Patricia’s dream of participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Boxing Tournament has come to an end.
She suffered a points decision quarterfinal loss to Mexican Ortiz Citlalli Vanessa today in the women’s 75kg class at the ongoing 2nd World Boxing Olympic Qualification Series in Bangkok, Thailand.
The defeat now leaves Zainab Adeshina as the country’s only boxer in the qualifying.
Adeshina will take on Kaivo-Oja Pihla from Finland in the women’s 50kg quarterfinal (From 12:30pm Nigeria Time). -
Enterprising Nigerian boxers Patricia Mbata and Zainab Adeshina are one win away from qualifying for the women’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Adeshina dismantled Jordanian Hannan Nasser by split decision today to progress to the quarter finals of the women’s 50kg class at the ongoing Boxing Road to Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
One more win tomorrow for Adeshina will land her the ticket to the Olympics.
Earlier today UK based pugilist Mbata took down Brazil’s Vivianne Pareira 4-1 in the round of 16 stage.
The split decision win in the 75kg class, means Mbata needs one more victory in the quarter final to qualify for the Paris Games.
Both Mbata and Adeshina are the two remaining Nigerian boxers in the Thai qualifying.
The qualification series ends tomorrow 2nd June.Follow the K£L£CHI B£RNARD(@woramangra on IG, YouTube and X) channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaT5EQ735fLt6ercZb0X
-
Enterprising Nigerian boxers Patricia Mbata and Zainab Adeshina are one win away from qualifying for the women’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The UK based pugilist Mbata took down Brazil’s Vivianne Pareira 4-1 earlier today in the round of 16 stage at the ongoing Boxing Road to Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
The split decision win in the 75kg class, means Mbata needs one more victory in the quarter final to qualify for the Paris Games.Elsewhere in the women’s 50kg category, another Nigerian Adeshina dismantled Jordanian Hannan Nasser by split decision to progress to the quarter finals.
One more win for Adeshina will land her the ticket to the Olympics.
Both Mbata and Adeshina are the two remaining Nigerian boxers in the Thai qualifying.
The qualification series ends tomorrow 2nd June. -
One of two remaining Nigerian boxers Zainab Adeshina at the 2nd World Qualification series in Bangkok Thailand has inched closer to the Paris 2024 Games.
Earlier today Zainab put up a flawless performance to dismantle Liberian Grace Fanbhulleh via unanimous decision 5-0 to make the round of 16 of the qualifying.
Another Nigerian Patricia Mbata will square up to Brazil’s Viviane Pereira in the women’s 50kg round of 16 tomorrow
Qualification for the semifinals will earn the remaining Nigerian pugilists slots in the women’s 2024 Olympic Boxing Tournament in Paris, France.
The Boxing Road to Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifying in Thailand concludes on 2nd June 2024. -
Two remaining Nigerian boxers have been saddled with the responsibility of picking the country’s tickets to this year’s Olympics after yesterday’s failures at the qualifying tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ifeanyi Onyekwere suffererd a point decision defeat against Dmytro Lovchynskyi of Ukraine in the Men’s +92kg (Super-heavyweight) round of 32 while Blessing Oraekwe slumped to a unanimous points (0-5) loss to Ani Hovsepyan of Armenia in the round 32 of the women’s 66Kg.
Picking up the Nigerian battle for Olympic tickets at the 2nd World qualification series in Bangkok are Zainab Adeshina and Patricia Mbata.
Adeshina will face Liberian Grace Fanhbulleh in the round of 32 of the women’s 50kg class tomorrow while Mbata squares up to Brazil’s Viviane Pereira in the women’s 75kg round of 16 on June 1st.
Boxing’s Road to Paris 2024 concludes on 2nd June 2024.