mma

Amanda Nunes Retires After Win At UFC 289

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Amanda Nunes is one of the greatest MMA fighters to ever grace the sport. Nunes, also known as “Lioness”, holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a brown belt in Judo. However, she began her career with a loss. Appearing at Prime: MMA Championship 2 in 2006, she submitted just 36 seconds into her fight with Ana Maria. Despite this, she would go on to win her next six fights before suffering a TKO to Alexia Davis in her bantamweight debut in 2011. She went 1-1 in her next two fights before being invited to make her UFC debut at UFC 163 in Rio. She scored a TKO on Shelia Graf in the first round.

Nunes would stay with the UFC, going 1-1 in her next two fights before beginning an 11-fight winning streak. In 2016, at UFC 200, Nunes won her first title shot to become the women’s bantamweight champion. In 2018, she knocked out Cris Cyborg to also become the women’s featherweight champion. She deliver a total of nine combined title defenses before losing the bantamweight title to Julianna Peña in December 2021. However, she won it back in a rematch in July 2022.

Nunes Retires A Two-Belt Legend

Nunes’ fight at UFC 289 in Vancouver was supposed to be a trilogy decider against Peña. However, injury forced Peña to withdraw and the UFC replaced her with Irene Aldana. Aldana (14-6) has been with the UFC since 2016 and earned her first title shot after winning four of her last five fights. The fight was brutal and lengthy, going the full five rounds. However, while not finding the knockout, Nunes dominated the fight. She defended her title with a unanimous decision victory, her second such victory in as many fights.

However, then came the news that no one wanted to believe – Nunes retired from MMA. “Double champion forever,” Nunes said. “This is the perfect night to retire.” Furthermore, when asked how she wanted to be remembered, she gave a similar answer. “The greatest of all time,” Nunes said. “I did everything. I broke a lot of records.” She also revealed that she had planned to retire as soon as she signed on for the fight. “I just didn’t want to focus on that,” Nunes said. “Focus on my fight. I don’t want to keep talking about retiring all the time.” Nunes will now return to her home country of Brazil for a long break and recovery period before figuring out what she wants to do next.

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Jake Paul To Star In Combat Sports Film

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Jake Paul began his on-screen life as a Disney Channel star. He was one of the stars of Bizaardvark until he was fired midway through the production of the show’s second season. Paul then transitioned to YouTube content, following in the footsteps of his older brother Logan. This led to the creation of the content house “Team 10”, a Billboard-charting single with Gucci Mane, and just so much drama.

Now Paul is better known for his pursuits of professional boxing success. 6-1 in his young career, he had earned praise for having strong potential as a boxer. However, his detractors also point to a lack of legitimate boxing opponents. Jake has one fight against an actual “boxer” and it’s the one loss of his career. However, Paul has now revealed that he’s looking to make a return to his on-screen roots.

Paul To Star In And Produce Combat Sports Film

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – FEBRUARY 26: Jake Paul looks on during the Cruiserweight Title fight between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury at the Diriyah Arena on February 26, 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

Paul will make his feature film debut in an untitled “combat sports drama” that he will also produce. Also attached are Mandalay Pictures and Wonder Street. The former of these also produced Air, the 2023 film about the start of the Air Jordan brand. As mentioned, Paul will executive produce alongside business partner Nakisa Bidarian. There is no word yet on a release date, writer, or director for the film. Production will likely be delayed as the WGA continues to strike. Furthermore, SAG-AFTRA and the DGA are expected to follow them in the coming weeks.

The film is reportedly about “a small-town youth rising to international fame through combat sports.” The story mirrors Paul’s, who grew up in northeast Ohio before seeking fame and fortune in Los Angeles. “I’m thrilled to be partnering with Mandalay Pictures and Wonder Street on my first feature film project,” Paul said in a press release. “I couldn’t be more excited to work with such talented and experienced teams. As someone who has always believed in pushing boundaries and taking risks, I can’t wait to bring this unique story and my brand to the big screen. This is just the beginning of an exciting new chapter in my career.”

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Logan Paul Choked Out By Israel Adesanya: Watch

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Logan Paul is someone who has gone through various phases of his fighting career. Overall, he started out as a YouTuber turned boxer who fought KSI in the ring. Subsequently, he fought KSI again and lost. However, he was somehow able to get himself yet another fight, against Floyd Mayweather. In the midst of this, Paul has become a mogul in the sports drink world thanks to his KSI-assisted venture, Prime. Needless to say, Logan is doing very well for himself, despite what the haters say.

Now, it would appear as though Logan Paul would like to enter a new realm of combat sports. Of course, we are talking about none other than MMA. The UFC is one of the biggest entities in the world at this point, and even his brother Jake has expressed interest in it. In fact, according to TMZ, Logan Paul teamed up with Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski for a training session in Puerto Rico. That is where Logan resides right now, and he got some pointers from some legends.

Read More: Logan Paul Sends Warning Shot At Tommy Fury

Logan Paul Trains With Izzy

In the video up above, you can actually see that it was quite the gauntlet for Logan Paul. He got to spar with Adesanya, who was quick to put him in a chokehold. Although Paul tried his hardest to get out of it, he simply couldn’t. He eventually tapped out and conceded. However, he did note that he was almost able to get out of the trap. No matter what, it is impressive that Paul would still have the bravery to go out there and get in some reps with someone who is a legend.

Legendary Training Sesh

Moving forward, there is no telling what Logan’s plans may be in MMA. It would probably take a long time for Dana White to let him fight against his combatants. Regardless, it is always fun to go out and try something new. Let us know what you think about Logan’s efforts, in the comments section down below.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Read More: Logan Paul Renews WWE Contract

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Ben Askren Admits He Underestimated Jake Paul

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Is Jake Paul a good boxer? It’s a debate that still ranges in sports circles. Despite being 6-1 in his career, Paul’s record comes with a lot of caveats. His first two fights came against a YouTube and a retired NBA player. Then there came a pair of fights against retired MMA star Tyron Woodley. However, Woodley was making his pro boxing debut in the first of those two fights. That has been a common theme with Paul’s opponents. Even those who have experience as fighters (Woodley, Ben Askren, and Anderson Silva), none of them were seasoned boxers.

This became even more evident when Paul took on boxer Tommy Fury. It marked the first defeat of Paul’s career and showed that he had a long way to go against fighters who had made their career in the ring. However, that hasn’t stopped Paul, who is set to fight former UFC star Nate Diaz in August. Furthermore, Paul has been adamant about getting a chance to fight Conor McGregor in the future. Now, former Paul victim Ben Askren has opened up about his fight with Paul.

Ben Askren Underestimated Paul

Askren opened up about his fight with Paul on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. “I didn’t think Jake Paul would beat Tyron [Woodley] or Anderson Silva. So yeah, I kind of think so. It sounded like fun [to box him] and I hoped he sucked. We didn’t know at that point! At that point, he only boxed a comedian or something and a basketball player. So we didn’t know nothing. I thought, ‘Oh, hopefully, this dude’s just a bum. He’s gonna try and hit me hard for a round, he’s gonna get tired, then I’m gonna beat him up.’ We didn’t know he was any good.”

Furthermore, Askren advocated for Paul to get the chance to fight Conor McGregor. “I think McGregor times Jake Paul makes everyone a lot of money and I think if he beats up Nate Diaz it makes a lot of sense. I don’t know what Conor’s contract is or what his relationship is with UFC where he can go get it done but I think a lot of people buy that fight. There’s a lot of casual fans who just want to see a boxing match and you know what, Jake Paul’s actually not bad at boxing, and maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better potentially, but he did beat Tyron, he did beat Anderson Silva.”

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Dricus Du Plessis Doubles Down After Israel Adesanya Backlash

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Dricus Du Plessis has been fighting for a decade, but only recently made the jump to the UFC. 14-2 in the EFC Africa and KSW promotions, he is 5-0 since his UFC debut at Fight Night 178. While he is yet to get a title fight, it only feels like a matter of time.

However, Du Plessis has been making headlines for different reasons in recent days. At UFC 285 in March, where Du Plessis defeated Derek Brunson, the South African fighter made comments about how he and Cameron Saaiman were “African fighters” and that he would plans on taking a belt “back to the continent”. This earned the ire of the Nigerian-born, and current UFC title holder, Israel Adesanya. Adesanya, the reigning middleweight champion, expressed his desire to punish Du Plessis in the Octagon.

Du Plessis Responds to Adesanya, Fuels Fight Speculation

MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 8: Israel Adesanya celebrates his victory over Alex Pereira in their middleweight fight during the UFC 287 event on April 8, 2023, at the Kaseya Center in Miami, FL. (Photo by Alejandro Salazar/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“I never said it wasn’t my intention,” Du Plessis told Submission Radio. “It wasn’t my intention because that’s not what I said, there was no intention involved. It was look at the facts what I said. I’ve never said the words ‘more African’ in my life. I didn’t say they were not African. I stated facts asI am the only one in title contention ever born in Africa, live in Africa, reside in Africa, and train there every single day. That was my statement. Some people say I’m backpedaling, I never backpedaled. I’m sticking with that because that is the facts. I don’t care how it came across, I care about what the fact is and what I said and that’s what I said.”

He continued, directly addressing Adesanya. “It seems to have struck a nerve with Israel Adesanya,” he continued. “It seems like he likes to be whatever fits him best considering nationalities. He’s referred to himself as a Kiwi, he’s referred to himself as Chinese, he’s referred to himself as a Nigerian. At the end of the day, he’s born in Africa, he is African but he does not reside here and that is the fact. That is what makes me and him different.” The comments have fuelled the potential for a title fight between the two men at UFC 293 in September. However, that is somewhat in doubt, given Du Plessis’ current plan to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. This is a developing story and you’ll find any updates here at HotNewHipHop.

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Ben Askren Calls Jon Jones A Hypocrite

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The beef between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou has really hit the fire in recent days. It all began when Jones called out Ngannou over his “baddest man on the planet” after Ngannou announced he had signed with the PFL. Ngannou responded, prompting Jones to tweet more barbs about the Cameroonian fighter.

The following day, Ngannou responded in more depth, saying that he would be more than open to fighting Jones. Furthermore, he claimed that his desire to fight Jones had been stymied by the UFC. “He came with strings attached. That’s what I would say. Jon Jones fight was coming with strings attached which was the thing that I couldn’t take it just like that,” Ngannou told TMZ.

Ben Askren Joins The Conversation

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 17: Ben Askren enters the ring against Ben Askren for their cruiserweight bout during Triller Fight Club at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 17, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for Triller)

Ben Askren is a formidable fighter in his own right. 19-2 in his MMA career, he is a well-respected figure in the scene. He weighed in on the beef, going as far as to call out Jones. “Why I thought, ‘Wow, this is really weird, almost hypocritical,’ is Jon chose to be inactive for three years,” Askren said on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. “He chose not to fight. I don’t care what Jon does, (but) he chose not to fight for three years. Francis is in the UFC pretty much the entirety of that three years, and we’ve seen other people go up weight classes.” He continued. “‘The Stylebender’ (Adesanya) did it and lost to Jan (Blachowicz) and went back to 185. So, we’ve seen other people do it.

“He had plenty of opportunity to fight Francis Ngannou, so now Francis Ngannou wants to say, ‘I’m the baddest man on the planet.’ I think he should be able to. Can Jon argue he is also? Sure. But Jon can’t say, ‘You can’t do it.’ Because Jon didn’t fight him for three years. “I would choose Jon. I think Jon likely is the best guy,” Askren said. “So my point of contention is, Jon was inactive while Francis was in the UFC and the champion. Jon could have said, ‘Let’s fight because I want to prove I am, without a shadow of a doubt, the baddest dude,’ and it didn’t happen. Francis can still leave, they never fought, and if he wants to say it for a little while, he can say it. I’m not mad at him.”

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Joe Rogan Sparks Beef Between Tyson Fury And Jon Jones

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In the boxing ring, there are few fighters better than Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury. The 34-year-old currently holds multiple heavyweight belts and a 33-0-1 career record. However, Fury caught a stray on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience while Rogan was discussing the recent beef between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou.

“You want to talk about who’s the baddest man on the planet?” Rogan asked. “If Jon Jones and Tyson Fury are locked into a room, I’m pushing all of my chips on black. [Fury] doesn’t have a fucking chance in hell of making it out of that room.” Fury previously appeared on Rogan’s show in 2018.

Fury Responds, Jones Weighs In

However, Fury didn’t take kindly to Rogan’s shot, issuing a profanity-laden response soon after. “I heard Joe Rogan say something about me,” Fury fumed, “and I’ve been off all the social media and didn’t reply to that little pussy, little fucking midget, bald-headed midget. I heard him say that Jon Jones could fuck me up if we were in the room together. I don’t think so. Not a man born from a mother could fuck me up, in a room, on our own. Whatever happens in that room, I’d be walking out. Not a fucking problem.” Furthermore, Fury is currently trying to set up a fight for the undisputed heavyweight title with Oleksandr Usyk. This came about after Usyk responded to Fury’s claims that there was no one willing to fight him.

However, Fury’s response soon caught the attention of Jon Jones himself. “Hey Tyson, it seems like Joe may have struck a nerve,” Jones said on Twitter. “I’ll admit there’s no one touching you in that ring right now, but let’s not let that confuse you with what would happen if you stepped foot in my cage.” Furthermore, Jones issued a challenge to Fury in a follow-up tweet. “If you ever want to put some of those questions you got going on to rest, give Dana a call. I’ll help you out.” Who do you think would win in a fight between Fury and Jones? Let us know in the comments.

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Francis Ngannou Wants Jon Jones Fight

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Jon Jones versus Francis Ngannou is the dream heavyweight MMA fight for many fans. After Jones made his heavyweight debut at UFC 285, winning the vacant weight class title in the process, fans hoped that a showdown with Ngannou.

However, it seemingly wasn’t to be. Ngannou, the former heavyweight champion, has been out of contract with the UFC since December. Furthermore, he recently signed with the rival Professional Fighters League, with a 2024 debut in mind. But while the chances of a fight may be down, they are certainly not out. The two fighters traded tweets after Jones made comments about Ngannou’s decision to sign with the PFL. Now Ngannou is eager to back up his call to action.

Ngannou Eager For Cross-Promotion Fight

Speaking with TMZ, Ngannou reiterated his desire to fight Jones. “I’d be on board. Listen, first of all, I always claim for this Jon Jones fight, I always wanted Jon Jones fight and then it seem like they didn’t want to make this Jon Jones fight happen.” Neither man has ever shied away from the idea of a fight. However, the UFC has never appeared eager to make it happen. Jones relinquished the light heavyweight belt in 2020 in order to focus on a potential fight with Ngannou. Despite this, the fight never materialized as Dana White appeared reluctant to match Jones’ asking price.

Additionally, Ngannou claimed that the UFC had withheld a fight with Jones to try and get Ngannou to sign a new contract. “Until they wanna use Jon Jones as leverage to play me and that wasn’t something that was going to happen. The Jon Jones fight wasn’t just coming as a fight,” Francis said, adding … “He came with strings attached. That’s what I would say. Jon Jones fight was coming with strings attached which was the thing that I couldn’t take it just like that.” Ngannou has previously claimed that the UFC’s refusal to provide health insurance and better sponsorship coverage is what led to him leaving the promotion. However, maybe Ngannou’s persistence will be enough to finally convince the UFC to let Jones step into the Octagon with him.

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Jon Jones And Francis Ngannou Beef After PFL Announcement

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Jon Jones is one of the most successful, and controversial, active MMA fighters. He is 27-1 in a UFC career that stretches back to 2008. However, his career has been overshadowed by a number of drug scandals that have seen him stripped of his titles on three occasions. However, his skill is unmatched. He held the UFC light heavyweight title from 2011 until voluntarily vacating it in 2020. After not fighting for three years, all Jones did was debut in the heavyweight division in March 2023 and take that vacant title.

Meanwhile, Francis Ngannou is one of the most formidable stars in MMA. Debuting five years after Jones, Ngnnou became a perennial title contender in the heavyweight division. He finally won the belt in 2021 and successfully defended it in 2022 before the expiration of his contract forced him to vacate the belt. However, Ngannou’s career is set to continue elsewhere after it was announced he was signing with the Professional Fighters League.

Jones and Ngnnou Beef On Twitter

Jones and Ngannou have never fought professionally, but the outspoken shared his thoughts on Twitter after news of Ngannou’s new contract. “Calling yourself the baddest man on the planet from across the street, who does that? Lol,” Jones wrote. It was clearly a jab at Ngannou, who quickly responded.

“Then cross the street,” Ngannou wrote on his own account. The PFL is a new promotion that is set to rival the UFC. While it has been beset by some early problems, there is a chance that it could become a legitimate contender. The signing of talent like Ngnnou is a massive step towards achieving that. However, Jones doesn’t appear to agree, based on his response to Ngannou.

“My man wins on Super Bowl, transferred to a top arena football league, and then claims to be better than Brady. That’s what I’m hearing right now,” Jones wrote. However, it’s unclear if this beef will progress beyond words. While both fighters now share a division, Ngannou’s move away from the UFC drastically lowers the likelihood that they two will meet in the ring. However, who do you think would come out on top if they were to square off? Let us know in the comments below. This could become a developing story, so be sure to check HotNewHipHop for any updates.

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Conor McGregor Shaves Off His Iconic Beard

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Conor McGregor is someone that fans want to hear from right now, at least when it pertains to getting into the Octagon. It has been a very long time since we’ve seen him fight. Overall, this is due to the fact that he broke his ankle in half in his last fight. However, he seems to be doing just fine right now. Additionally, he has been teasing a fight with Michael Chandler. Unfortunately for fans, this fight has not been officially announced when it comes to a date and time. That said, fans are still hopeful it will get done.

Overall, Conor McGregor is one of the biggest stars that the UFC has ever seen. Having said that, it would certainly help the promotion if he could get back out there. Regardless, Dana White likes to take his time with things, so fans should come to expect these delays. In the meantime, however, McGregor has been enjoying his time as a father. For instance, according to TMZ, he was in Los Angeles this week with his youngest son Rian. Rian turned two years old, and Conor was happy to celebrate the occasion.

Conor McGregor Reveals His New Look

Moreover, in the TMZ video above, Conor McGregor was sporting an interesting new look. Typically, you can find the UFC fighter with a beard. It has been his signature look for a very long time. Very seldom does he actually shave the thing off and go with a smooth face. Well, for his latest trip out to Los Angeles, he opted to change things up. The beard is now gone, and you can probably thank the L.A. heat for that.

Whether or not this has any bearing on his abilities in the ring, remains to be seen. However, we imagine that it will not. Now, fans just want to know when he will be fighting Chandler. It’s a question a lot of people have been asking, and even Conor himself is probably curious. Let us know if you think McGregor would win, in the comments section below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news from the sports world.

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