Tag Archives: Khabib Nurmagomedov

BADOU JACK MAKES BIG MOVES IN DUBAI

(Photo Credit: Badou Jack Instagram)
 
Two-Division World Champion Makes Whirlwind Trip that Featured Invitation to Participate in Dubai Fitness Challenge,
Meeting Khabib Nurmagomedov & More
LAS VEGAS (November 12, 2018) – Two-division boxing champion Badou Jack continued to show that he is truly a champion of the entire world as he made an exciting trip to Dubai that included an invitation to participate in the Dubai Fitness Challenge, a meeting with UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov and much more.
With an invitation from Dubai Tourism, Jack participated in the initiative that encourages UAE nationals, residents and visitors to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, for 30 consecutive days. A public event gave Jack a chance to further spread his positive messages.
“It was such an honor to be invited to this event that was part of an unforgettable trip,” said Jack. “I’m very thankful to the city of Dubai for letting me talk to people about the importance of staying active. It’s important for me to be able to make an impact all over the world and this was a great opportunity.”
In addition to that invitation, Jack visited with UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov, fresh off his victory over Conor McGregor last month. The two world champions, who both practice the Muslim faith, met for the first time and discussed a variety of topics, while also touring a local boxing/MMA gym and posing with Jack’s championship belts.
“It was an awesome experience to get to talk with another champion and competitor like Khabib,” said Jack. “I’m a big fan of what he’s able to do in the ring and as a fellow ambassador for the Muslim faith. It was really a fun time talking to him while we were both in Dubai.”
As part of the trip, Jack spoke with Men’s Health Middle East for an article that will run inside the magazine and detail more of the numerous endeavors Jack is currently pursuing both inside and outside of the ring. Jack’s time in Dubai also saw him invited by GQ Middle East as a special guest to the launch event ahead of their inaugural issue.
“I love taking these trips around the world to experience a variety of cultures and also continue to build my brand and give back anywhere that I can make a difference,” said Jack. “Whether it’s Ripper Nutrition, the Badou Jack Foundation or my boxing career, I’m proud to use my platform. I have a lot of goals and dreams in the sport of boxing, but also outside of it. Making these kinds of connections is going to aid me long past my boxing career.”
With more and more recognition being laid upon Jack year after year, the groundswell of worldwide support for “The Ripper” is rising as he prepares to return to the ring in early 2019. Keep an eye out for more news from Jack, including charity events for the upcoming holiday season.

Fight Talk Unlimited DOUBLE Episode

Tonight, Tom, Tony and Rich recapped the last two weeks of action in combat sports. Listen to the whole broadcast to catch up on all the major news and events that you missed and what’s coming up this weekend, too.

 

FNU Combat Sports Show: McGregor Goes Berserk, UFC 223 Card Suffers, Event Recaps and Previews

This week’s show features Tom, Tony and Rich chatting about the circus atmosphere surrounding UFC 223, starting with Conor McGregor’s hand cart throwing incident. We also recap the past week’s boxing and MMA events, and we even briefly discuss Ronda Rousey’s Wrestlemania performance and the news that Brock Lesnar recently signed an extension to stay with the WWE. Listen to the broadcast below:

FNU COMBAT SPORTS SHOW: Lou Duva Tribute Show, Psychic Tom Padgett absolutely crushes UFC 209 Predictions, Garcia vs. Thurman Recap and Analysis

Tony Penecale (left) and Lou Duva (right) at the Brockton, Massachusetts dedication of the Rocky Marciano statue.

Our show this week was dedicated to Lou Duva (above right with our co-host Tony Penecale). Lou died earlier this week at the ripe old age of 1994. He was a great friend to Rocky Marciano, a promoter of 19 world champions, and a man who had all his irons in the one fire that lit his life: boxing. The promoter/trainer/manager/legend appeared on the FNU Combat Sports show years back, but unfortunately the audio is grainy and spotty. If you listen closely the gems our talk contains outweigh the difficult spots to hear.

The full Lou Duva interview is here:

http://hosts.blogtalkradio.com/fightnewsunlimited/2009/07/03/joey-giambra-the-uncrowned-champion

I’m also posting a couple specific remastered clips here:

 

 

 

 

 

Tom, Tony and Rich also recap Garcia vs. Thurman, The latest on Mayweather vs. McGregor, UFC 209 and the many controversies attached, GSP’s dark warning about weight cutting, and Tony Bellew’s shocking upset of David Haye.

 

Here’s the tape:  (THE TAPE DOESN’T LIE)

 

FNU Combat Sports Show: UFC, Bellator and Boxing Recaps/Previews; Dana The Drama Queen; Muhammad Ali Jr. Detained at Florida Airport; Transgender Wrestler Wins Women’s Wrestling Title in Texas

Tom, Rich and Tony recap the major combat sports events from last week, including a major heavyweight showdown between Deontay Wilder and Gerald Washington, a successful title defense by Liam McGeary last Friday at a Dublin, Ireland Bellator show, and a superb comeback by Jarrett Hurd over Tony Harrison. We also look forward to the inaugural women’s featherweight title bout in Bellator tomorrow night and a star-studded UFC 209 fight card including two of the most anticipated co-main events in recent UFC history. Stephen Thompson gets his rematch with UFC Welterweight Champ Tyron Woodley in the main event while Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson fight for a shot to face Conor McGregor for the lightweight title in the co-main event. We also discuss GSP’s comeback fight against Michael Bisping, a transgender female on her way to becoming a male winning a Texas women’s wrestling title, and Muhammad Ali’s son being detained at a Florida airport in early February. Check out our first Full FNU Combat Sports Show hosted on YouTube:

UFC 209: Woodley vs. Wonderboy and Khabib vs. Ferguson Preview and Prediction

By: Rich Bergeron

UFC 209 is fast approaching with two dynamic fights headlining the card, including a highly anticipated rematch closing the show. Fans are itching for a solid fight card to watch after multiple disappointing Pay-Per-View events left them wanting more in recent months. This is a card that could definitely deliver the action-packed, adrenaline-filled spectacle fans have come to expect for the price of admission. Here are my previews and predictions for the two blockbuster fights at the top of the bill.

Stephen Thompson (13-1-1) gets another crack at the welterweight title against Tyron Woodley (16-3-1) in the main event. Even the odds makers (Check out the M88 sportsbook for more betting info) have a tough time predicting how this highly charged rematch will go. Woodley comes in as the slight underdog at +110 to Thompson’s -140.

Still, the Champion came close to finishing the first fight in the fourth round. Rather than continue with his powerful ground and pound approach against the in-trouble Thompson, Woodley switched to a failed choke attempt instead. Thompson was able to weather the storm and eke out the draw, but he also won three out of the five rounds on the scorecard. The experts who set the betting lines are obviously conscious of this and factoring it into their calculations.

Can Woodley put himself in position to get the knockout win this time or will Thompson make the right adjustments to win every round this time?

Prediction: Stephen Thompson made one glaring mistake in the first fight that led to Woodley having a huge chance to win by knockout. Woodley picked his spots and made the fight competitive, but with both fighters knowing so much about each other now he may not be able to repeat or improve upon his performance in the first fight. Meanwhile, Thompson is a skilled tactician, and he will focus on cage control this time around. He will use distance striking, superb defense, and constant movement to keep Woodley from doing any major damage this time around. Woodley of course has a chance to quiet all his doubters with one punch, but Thompson is the type of fighter who may not give the champ a chance to land that shot.

THOMPSON WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

The co-main event will set the stage for Conor MacGregor’s return to the UFC cage. The Irish superstar will eventually face the winner of UFC 209’s co-main event: Khabib Nurmagomedov (24-0) vs. Tony Ferguson (22-3). This fight could potentially upstage the main event, despite the fact that Khabib is a -205 favorite to Ferguson’s +165 odds to win. Both fighters have enough momentum going for them to earn a title shot without fighting each other, but that doesn’t make this bout any less exciting on paper. Ferguson is 12-1 in the UFC with his only loss coming against Khabib’s last opponent: Michael Johnson. Ferguson lost to Johnson in 2012 by unanimous decision while Khabib submitted Johnson via Kimura in the third round of their UFC 205 clash last November.

Both fighters have equally imposing strengths. Khabib smothers many of his opponents with crisp wrestling skills to match his more than capable striking and submission ability. Sambo and judo are also staples of Nurmagomedov’s intense approach to cage fighting. He is so well rounded that he has an equal number (8) of submission, decision and T/KO wins, and all of his decision wins are unanimous.

Ferguson is on a nine-fight win streak. He is more of a volume striker, and he used excellent boxing to impose his will on the opponents he’s dominated so far. He is also well rounded like Nurmagomedov and can use that superb striking to secure submissions on stunned opponents. He has 8 submissions to go with 9 T/KOs and five decisions.

PREDICTION: Ferguson may be on a tremendous run right now, but Khabib’s absolutely dominated every opponent he ever faced in his MMA career. McGregor may actually be rooting for a tie in this fight so he can have some extra time to negotiate a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. while these two contenders are setting up an inevitable rematch. However, ties are rare enough in the UFC that one here is far fetched to imagine. It’s much more likely that this fight ends up with one fighter on the canvas, out cold or too dazed to continue. All signs point to that fighter being Ferguson, leaving MacGregor with the prospect of having to prove his mettle by beating a man nobody’s been able to beat before. Of course, anything can happen in that cage and anyone can have a bad night at the office, but perfection is hard to argue with.

NURMAGOMEDOV BY 2nd Round TKO

WSOF30: BRANCH VS. STARKS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLEHEADER LINEUP RECEIVES FIVE PRELIMINARY BOUTS

PRELIMINARY FIGHT CARD TO STREAM LIVE ON
WSOF.COM PRIOR TO FOUR-FIGHT, LIVE NBCSN TELECAST

LAS VEGAS (March 21, 2016) –World Series of Fighting (WSOF.com) announced today the addition of five preliminary card bouts to its highly-anticipated WSOF30: Branch vs. Starks world championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) doubleheader event at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 2, live on NBCSN at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.

Topping the undercard bill that will stream live, in its entirety on an embeddable video player on WSOF.com, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, will be a welterweight (170 pounds) collision between Abubakar Nurmagomedov (11-1-1) and Matt “The Thunder From Down Under” Frincu (7-1).

The adopted brother and training partner of superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov, the 26-year-old Abubakar, who hails from Dagestan, Russia is riding a three-fight win streak, while Frincu of Tempe, Ariz. via Queensland, Australia will put a five-fight win streak on the line.

Nurmagomedov boasts an impressive 82 percent finish rate, while Frincu has earned six of his seven professional wins to date by way of (T)KO or submission.

In lightweight (155 pounds) preliminary card action, undefeated knockout artist Steve “Thunderbeast” Kozola (6-0) will make his World Series of Fighting debut against fellow fast-rising star Gil Guardado (5-1).

On fire since his professional debut victory in July 2013, Kozola of San Diego, Calif. via Chicago, Ill. comes to World Series of Fighting after producing back-to-back, devastating KO victories – each with a furious onslaught of punches – under the promotion of Bellator.

On January 16, 2015, Kozola scored a second round (1:25) KO on Jonathan Rivera at Bellator 132 and, on March 15, 2015, he scored a first round (2:22) KO on Ian Butler at Bellator 137.

Guardado of Las Vegas will look to notch his third consecutive win after two dominant performances inside the World Series of Fighting decagon cage.

The 30-year-old Xtreme Couture prodigy submitted Pete Martin with a guillotine choke in the first round (3:31) of action at WSOF22 on August 1, 2015, and closed out the year with a unanimous decision victory over Giga Chikadze at WSOF26 on December 18.

In a flyweight (125 pounds) scrap, Carlos Garcia (1-1) of San Bernardino, Calif. will make his professional debut against Jason Pacheco (1-0) of Las Vegas.

Adam Aquaviva (4-2) of Las Vegas will face off with Andres Ponce (3-2) of Tempe in a bantamweight tilt and, in the opening preliminary card matchup, Jeff Roman (1-2-1) of Las Vegas will square off with Nick Salantri (0-1) at welterweight.

A sixth, middleweight (185 pounds) preliminary fight featuring Clinton Williams(7-3) of Las Vegas will be announced soon.

Priced from $20, tickets for WSOF30: Branch vs. Starks, are available for purchase online at WSOF.com and AXS.com.

Doors at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will open for the event at 4 p.m. PT, and the first preliminary bout will begin at 5 p.m.

In the main event, reigning World Series of Fighting middleweight champion David Branch (17-3), the league’s first-ever, two-division title holder, will put his coveted crown on the line against top contender Clifford Starks (13-2).

In the co-main event, superstar Jon Fitch (27-7-1, 1 NC) will battle recent World Series of Fighting one-night, eight-man tournament runner-up Joao “The Brazilian Samurai” Zeferino (20-7) with the vacant World Series of Fighting welterweight championship at stake.

Elsewhere on the four-fight, live NBCSN telecast, submission expert Vinny “Pezao” Magalhaes (13-7) will square off with Jake “The Honey Bear” Heun(9-4) in a light heavyweight (205 pounds) contest, while World Series of Fighting newcomer and knockout artist Abu “Gladiator” Azaitar (11-1-1) will lock horns with Danny “Dee1” Davis, Jr. (11-10-1) at welterweight.