#gerald-meerschaert

#gerald-meerschaert

"I do hate him," Morales told Alvaro Colemenoro. "We don't have a very good vibe. But at the end of the day, he's still a fighter. I'm not gonna get overconfident if I had to prepare myself to fight him... That fight is gonna be intense if it happens... I think that if I were to fight him, it would be the first time that I would fight in a very aggressive way."

The Michael Morales fight was the weird one, because I fell. I wasn't out, but I fell and [my head] got swollen very big, next day bigger. And then the swelling went off and I was good for a week or so.

I'm just gonna be a dad and a coach. I run a gym. Not looking to coach fighters because that s-t is nerve-wracking, watching your guy go through that. I just want to coach jiu-jitsu, soccer moms, working stiffs and things like that.

I think they should keep [the BMF title]. But the only thing about the BMF title, you gotta run it tournament-wise, open weight class. Any person that wants to sign up for it, you can fight for it. But you can fight heavyweight, you can fight flyweight, it don't matter... But you really prove that you're the baddest motherf--er.

Muhammad Mokaev has seemingly been invited back to the UFC, but not to compete in MMA. Mokaev (15-0) recently won the under-65 kilogram title at the English Senior Wrestling Championships in freestyle wrestling. Mokaev claims he has now been offered to fight jiu-jitsu ace Mikey Musumeci for a UFC BJJ title. "I have been offered to compete against Mikey Mussumeci for the UFC BJJ belt. What do you think guys?" Mokaev wrote on X.

De Ridder was a sizeable favorite going into the fight, and the odds seemed justified as "The Dutch Knight" dominated Allen in the opening stanza. However, Allen took over in the latter rounds and unleashed severe punishment on the feet, forcing De Ridder's corner to throw in the towel before the final round.

"Everybody has an opinion on who should fight whom in the welterweight division," Garry said on Instagram. "Here's mine: Carlos Prates vs. Michael Morales. Because it's two power heavy hitters, and I want to see who comes out on top. I doubt Morales would take it, because the truth is, Carles Prates hits harder. I kind of want to see Prates vs. JDM too. But I'm gonna match Jack Della Maddalena vs. Kamaru Usman... And finally, the world title fight at welterweight. I want to see the champion Islam Makhachev defend his belt against the No. 1 contender in the world, Ian Machado Garry."

Ranked #10 in the weight class per the UFC's official rankings (Valter Walker himself is at #14), Tybura is 2-2 in his last four bouts and coming off a loss to Ante Delija. The Polish star, a former M-1 heavyweight champ, will hit a decade with the UFC as of April, and has shared the octagon with some of the best, including Fabricio Werdum, Andre Arlovski, Derrick Lewis, Alexander Volkov, and current UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

"I have my own opinion on this, but it's not right to talk about the UFC being a PFL fighter. In one year, Usman has grown a lot," Khabib told Team Gorilla Fighting. "I'm fighting with him myself, I'm working personally. And from the outside, he's at least on the same level as them [Ilia and Arman]. A year ago I would have said we still have to wait, but now he's already at that level. Time will show."

Last Thursday, Ed Soares, manager of UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, made it clear in an exclusive interview with Sherdog.com that his athlete's next move has not yet been decided. He then analyzed all the possibilities, whether at light heavywweight - Khamzat Chimaev or Carlos Ulberg - or in a possible move to heavyweight against the likes of Jon Jones or Ciryl Gane.

"But I had a real issue for five years, around COVID, when I got sepsis, I fell into a hole... I had a problem with addiction, drugs and alcohol, it was rough, five years of it. The longest I was sober within those five years was two weeks, and those weeks were usually before fights. I'd slow down two weeks before the fight, come to the fight underprepared, out of shape; it was rough. It's crazy I stayed in the rankings the whole time."

The past is the past, let's write a new story, and I'll certainly be going after him with the same determination as the first time. I'll definitely be looking to secure my place in the rankings with another victory. Fans can expect a great war that will propel me up the division's rankings. As always, I'll go in to finish from the start, but if it lasts, I hope to win all three rounds.