Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo revealed that he was offered a bout with Dominick Cruz at UFC 301.
"I was originally offered a bout with Dominick Cruz. Obviously that would have been good for me, for Dominick, for all the fans and media that have been pushing for this fight for so long. But Jonathan Martinez is a very difficult opponent and the important thing for me is that I look at every fight as a fight with the best and as the biggest challenge. That hasn't changed," - quotes Aldo MMA Junkie.
Recall, his next fight Jose Aldo will hold at UFC 301 against Jonathan Martinez.
The other day, Marlon Vera, former UFC flyweight title challenger, announced that he would like to fight former promotion's featherweight champion Peter Yan this November in New York City. Today, Yang responded to "Cheeto's" challenge.
"Let's be honest, if we had fought before, you would have never made it to a title fight. Everything has its time, and the time for your flogging will come soon," Yang wrote on his social networks.
Recall, in his last fight, Marlon Vera lost by unanimous decision to current flyweight champion Sean O'Malley. As for Yang, he defeated Chinese fighter Song Yadong at UFC 299, which took place on March 10.
Terence Crawford, former absolute world champion in two weight classes, has spoken out about his upcoming fight with Israil Madrimov, WBA light middleweight champion of the world.
"I want to leave behind a legacy like I've never had before. Madrimov is very talented and strong, but I've fought guys who are talented and strong. He has good footwork, but I've fought guys with good footwork. He's elusive. But I've fought guys who are elusive. The main thing is for me to dictate the pace, do what I want to do in the ring and deprive him of what he wants to do," BoxingScene quoted Crawford as saying.
WBA light middleweight champion Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) made his first statement since the announcement of his bout against three-division conqueror Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs).
"Terence Crawford is my favorite fighter. I love his style. A lot of respect to him, but on August 3, I'll be ready. There's no doubt or hesitation. As soon as I heard the news that I was going to fight Crawford, I was very excited. I'm not Errol Spence. I'm Israil Madrimov. This is my division," - quotes the words of Madrimov Boxing Scene.
Recall that the fight between Madrimov and Crawford will take place on August 3 in Los Angeles, USA.
Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo said that in the upcoming fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler his sympathies will be on the side of the star Irishman.
The meeting between these fighters will be the main event of UFC 303, which will take place on June 29 in Las Vegas, USA.
"I always root for the guys I've fought and the guys who beat me because it proves that I lost to the best. I hope he can be the same old Conor, be aggressive and finish the fight .... I expect a lot from this fight," - quotes Aldo Championship Rounds.
Recall that in December 2015, Aldo lost to McGregor by knockout in 13 seconds.
American UFC lightweight veteran Michael Chandler compared the division's champion Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan, the top-ranked fighter in the category.
"Of course, Arman knocked out Dariush, he's good in the parterre. You saw it in the fight against Oliveira. Tsarukyan is strong. But Islam has mashed up a lot of guys. He has a great calling in life, he believes he fights for more than just himself. He fights for the whole country, he fights for Khabib's legacy, Khabib's father's legacy. That's much more important and special. It instills fear in his opponents," Chandler said on The MMA Hour show.
We will remind, on June 1 at the UFC 302 tournament in Newark, USA, Makhachev will have a fight against Dustin Puryear.
UFC flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg believes former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is capable of earning an early victory over Hamzat Chimaev.
The Australian and the UAE-born Chechen will fight on June 22 in the main event of the UFC's debut event in Saudi Arabia.
"The outcome of the fight will depend on Whittaker's performance. If Robert fights like he did against Paulo Costa, he will emerge victorious. I think Whittaker has a good wrestling defense. He also has better standup defense than Hamzat. Robert will beat Chimaev and finish him in the late rounds," Erceg told MMA News.
Popular American boxer Ryan Garcia claims that he has begun negotiations for a fight with UFC lightweight champion Sean O'Malley.
"We have started negotiations with Sean O'Malley for a boxing fight. And there's another opportunity for me to do a fight in August. The Saudis are going to hold an event in Los Angeles in August, I could fight there with Isaac Cruz," - quotes the words of the boxer Michael Benson.
Recall that last weekend Garcia unexpectedly won by majority decision in a fight with Devin Haney. At the same time Ryan did not get the WBC belt in the first welterweight, as he failed the weigh-in before the fight.
Authoritative American trainer Teddy Atlas reacted to the appointment of a fight between former unified heavyweight world champion Andy Ruiz and Jarrell Miller.
It was announced the day before that the Mexican and the American will fight on August 3 in Los Angeles, USA.
"The problem is that Ruiz has no incentive to improve his life because he's already been through this process during which he messed up. You can never get through to a boxer if he doesn't want to.
Miller lost early in his last fight against Dubois. I think Jarrell will have a chance if only Ruiz is a shadow of himself. I don't see how Miller can get back to a winning streak if he's been put together with such a high level fighter," Boxing Scene quoted Atlas as saying.
Arman Tsarukyan, the number one ranked lightweight in the UFC, reacted to the words of Islam Makhachev, the champion in the same division, regarding the disruption of their rematch.
Earlier, the Dagestani said that it's not the first time the Armenian fighter refuses to fight him.
"This is not true. The truth is that you want to fight me on short notice to get an advantage. But that's not going to happen again. When was the last time you fought twice in six weeks?" - wrote Tsarukyan on social network X.
Recall that on April 13 at UFC 300, Tsarukyan defeated Charles Oliveira by split decision of the judges before turning down an offer to fight Makhachev in June.
