Latest news with #UFC303
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Conor McGregor punches partygoer to the ground in Ibiza dancefloor altercation
Footage obtained by The Sun appears to show the Dubliner punching the person twice in the incident in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The 36-year-old is seen in conversation with a man before putting his arm around his shoulders and then hitting him with his left hand while holding a drink in his right. The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion then takes another shot as the man stumbles to leave the reveller on the floor. According to reports, McGregor carried on partying at the venue while the man who had been punched was removed from the venue by security. The incident followed a hectic day partying by McGregor who had earlier been pictured dancing with former glamour model Katie Price. Wearing red shorts, a cap and sunglasses while puffing on a cigar, McGregor and Price celebrated at a daytime party at Wayne Lineker's famous O Beach club. Price posted a picture of the pair on her Instagram page with the caption: 'You legend', after McGregor tagged her in his own story and said: 'Forever.' The MMA star was also seen hanging out with Spurs football star Kevin Dansom who posted a picture of the fighter on his Instagram. McGregor was in a previous altercation in Ibiza when he stamped on a fan's hat after a teenager threw it towards him as he celebrated his 34th birthday in July 2022. And in 2019, the former MMA fighter punched a 50-year-old man in the Marble Arch pub in Dublin, after the customer declined a shot of McGregor's own-brand whiskey. ADVERTISEMENT The fighter had been offering customers shots of his whiskey, Proper No. Twelve at the pub in April that year. Desmond Keogh, who was seated at the bar, had refused the offer when he was suddenly punched by McGregor, who was fined €1,000 over the incident. In an interview with ESPN in August 2019, McGregor acknowledged he was 'in the wrong' and that the altercation was 'not who I am'. "That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did," McGregor said at the time "I tried to make amends and I made amends back then. But it doesn't matter. I was in the wrong. "I must come here before you and take accountability and take responsibility. I owe it to the people that have been supporting me." McGregor later bought the pub and now plans to redevelop the site as apartments. McGregor, who has not fought since he broke his leg in a bout against Dustin Poirier in the summer of 2021, was scheduled to make his long-awaited return to the octagon in June 2024 against Michael Chandler at UFC 303. However, the bout was scrapped after McGregor injured his toe in training.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
I know what I'm capable of: Jamahal Hill eyes title shot with Rountree clash on June 22
Two and a half years ago, Jamahal Hill made UFC history. He became the first graduate of Dana White's Contender Series (DWCS) to win a championship, claiming a unanimous decision victory over veteran Glover Teixeira. Hill, who debuted in the UFC in 2020, quickly built a reputation as a knockout artist. Before earning his maiden title shot, he delivered four first-round knockouts in five fights, showcasing his raw power and ruthless finishing ability. 'The first time I won the title; it was like a dream come true. To be a part of the UFC in itself was a dream, but to go in and get the job done is a different feeling. It was the result of years of hard work I put in,' Hill tells Sportstar. 'The Dana White Contender Series is a good initiative. You get picked up if you're a top prospect based on your recent form. If you show up and perform, you get a platform to showcase what you're capable of,' he adds. But his reign was short-lived. In his first title defence, Hill faced Alex Pereira and suffered a brutal first-round knockout. Pereira needed just one perfectly-timed left hook to end the bout and strip Hill of the belt. Things didn't improve. A knee injury forced Hill to pull out of UFC 303, and on his return earlier this year, he was knocked out again — this time by Jiri Prochazka. Still, Hill remains unfazed. 'Everything is part and parcel of the game. You win some, you lose some. If a fight doesn't go my way, I keep my head down and train to get better. I know what I'm capable of achieving. You just have to learn from your mistakes and grow,' said Hill. Now, he has a clear target in mind: redemption. A dominant win over Khalil Rountree Jr. on June 22 could put him right back in the title mix. That's all he's focused on. 'Right now, my only assignment is to go there and defeat Rountree. I want to go and express myself, and I believe everything else will follow accordingly. I feel I've had a pretty good build-up to the fight, and I want to dominate,' concluded Hill. UFC Fight Night: Hill vs Rountree Jr. Fight card Main event: Jamahal Hill vs Khalil Rountree Jr. Main Cards: Rafael Fiziev vs Ignacio Bahamondes Curtis Blaydes vs Rizvan Kuniev Tofiq Musayev vs Myktybek Orolbai Nazim Sadykhov vs Nikolas Motta Muhammad Naimov vs Bogdan Grad Prelim Matches: SeokHyun Ko vs Oban Elliott Ismail Naurdiev vs JunYong Park Daria Zhelezniakova vs Melissa Mullins Irina Alekseeva vs Klaudia Sygula Tagir Ulanbekov vs Azat Maksum Hamdy Abdelwahab vs Mohammed Usman Streaming/telecast information Watch UFC- Fight Night - Hill vs. Rountree Jr. on 22nd June 2025 at 12:30 AM IST LIVE On Sony Sports Ten 1 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (Tamil & Telugu) Related Topics MMA / UFC
USA Today
07-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC 316: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer odds, picks and predictions
UFC 316: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer odds, picks and predictions In a 3-round middleweight bout on the main card, Kelvin Gastelum and Joe Pyfer meet Saturday at UFC 316 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The main event is expected to start approximately at 11:15 p.m. ET. The early prelims are slated to begin at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN+ / Disney+) with the prelims scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (ESPN / ESPN+ / Disney+) and the main card set for 10 p.m. ET (Pay-Per-View). Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's UFC odds around the UFC 316: Gastelum vs. Pyfer odds, and make our expert UFC picks and predictions. Records: Gastelum (20-9-0) | Pyfer (13-3-0) Gastelum last fought almost a year ago when he claimed a unanimous-decision victory against Daniel Rodriguez June 22, 2024. It was a nice bounceback for Gastelum as he suffered a submission loss to Sean Brady Dec. 2, 2023. Gastelum is 3-6 in his past 9 fights dating back to April 2019 when he lost a title bout to Israel Adesanya at UFC 236. Pyfer also hasn't fought since last June when he picked up a Round 1 KO/TKO victory over Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 303, rebounding from a unanimous-decision setback to Jack Hermansson in a Fight Night main event in February 2024. Pyfer is 5-1 in his last 6 bouts since July 2022. The veteran Gastelum heads into this fight as a big underdog. He gives away 4 inches in reach and is 5 years older than Pyfer. The significant strikes landed per minute is basically even with Gastelum at 3.74 and Pyfer at 3.72. Gastelum has a 46.66% significant strikes accuracy percentage, while Pyfer is at 41.95%. The 28-year-old Pyfer has managed a 1.45 takedown average, while Gastelum checks in at 1.10 in the category. On submission average, Pyfer has a 0.87 mark in the category, while Gastelum has posted just a 0.10 mark in that area. UFC 316: Gastelum vs. Pyfer odds Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:46 a.m. ET. Fight result (2-way line) : Gastelum +310 (bet $100 to win $310) | Pyfer -400 (bet $400 to win $100) : Gastelum +310 (bet $100 to win $310) | Pyfer -400 (bet $400 to win $100) Total Rounds: 2.5 Rounds (Over -135 | Under +100) 2.5 Rounds (Over -135 | Under +100) Will the fight go the distance? (Yes -105 | No -130) UFC 316: Gastelum vs. Pyfer picks and predictions Backing Pyfer (-400) will cost 4 times the potential return. That's way too much risk for a singular bet. Even if you were to toss the -400 into a multi-leg parlay, it chips away a lot of value from your betslip. Pyfer is a punching machine and is tremendous in finding ways to get the knockout. On the flip side, Gastelum is on the downside of his career, dropping 6 of the past 9 bouts (as mentioned). While Gastelum hasn't been knocked out in his career, going 6-0 via the method, eating punches at a rapid rate, whether he is knocked out or not, will leave a bad taste in the mouths of the judges. Backing PYFER BY DECISION/TECHNICAL DECISION (+150) at plus-money is a much better value on the 7-way method of victory line. Play our free daily Pick'em Challenge and win! Play now! OVER 2.5 ROUNDS (-135) is a strong play, as Gastelum has the chops as a veteran to hang around even if he is eating punches and falling behind on points in the eyes of the judges. Pyfer should be able to do much more to get in favor of the judges. For distance, that's neither here nor there, however. He can win via KO/TKO, and via submission, but Gastelum's defense is solid, and his veteran leadership will at least help him hang around to let the judges decide. YES (-105): FIGHT TO GO THE DISTANCE is a good play at near even-money. Visit MMA Junkie for more fight news and analysis. For more sports betting picks and tips, check out and BetFTW. Follow Daniel Dobish on Twitter/X. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter/X and us on Facebook.
Time of India
03-06-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
'Let's not talk about Jon Jones anymore' - Tom Aspinall shuts down comparisons to Michael Chandler's wait for Conor McGregor
Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall (Photo via Getty Images) & Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) The long wait for Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall's heavyweight unification bout has led to the rise of several claims, speculation, and rumors, which also involve the current heavyweight champion's retirement plans. The interim champion, too, believes that Bones is now retired, as expressed through his posts on X, which highlight the fighter's best life. While such speculation amuses UFC fans and the community, the latest addition to this list is the comparison drawn between Aspinall and Michael Chandler , who waited for a long period to get a fight booked against Conor McGregor . The English fighter was quick to respond to this comparison in his recent interview. Tom Aspinall reveals his future plans within the UFC, expresses his desire to fight the top contenders of the division Michael Chandler took a two-year break after losing to Dustin Poirier in November 2022 before finally agreeing to fight the Irish fighter Conor McGregor at UFC 303 in June 2024. The bout was a supposed comeback for the Notorious as well after his loss to Poirier at UFC 264. McGregor even suffered a leg injury during the fight. After a long hiatus of almost 3 years, fans were excited for the Irish fighter's comeback. However, much to the fans' dismay, the bout got cancelled owing to a toe injury suffered by McGregor. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like USDJPY đang đi lên không? IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Ever since, the fighter has shown no signs of stepping back into the ring. Regardless of what went down in the lightweight division, the situation for Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones within the heavyweight division is quite different, as revealed by the interim champion in his recent interview with ESPN MMA. 'I've seen a lot of people comparing me to Michael Chandler. He waited a long time for Conor McGregor.' The fighter stated, 'I'm not waiting for one fight. I'm not trying to fight one guy. I'm trying to fight ALL the guys.' Aspinall has set his ambitions quite high and seems to have gotten over the no-response situation of Jon Jones, 'I'm trying to be THE guy at heavyweight who takes out everybody. It doesn't matter who it is, Ciryl Gane, Volkov rematch, Almeida, Derrick Lewis, Brock Lesnar. Whoever it is, I don't care. I wanna fight everybody, and I wanna fight as much as possible, get some excitement back in this division.' 'Let's not talk about Jon Jones anymore.' Owing to the retirement speculations of Bones, Aspinall further stated, 'I'm the active guy. I'm gonna fight somebody, and that's gonna be announced pretty soon.' Also read: UFC Fans get divided as new training video of middleweight fighter Khamzat Chimaev goes viral ahead of the title bout at UFC 319 The UFC has not yet announced the next course of action within the heavyweight division. Meanwhile, the petition to strip Jon Jones of his title has gained more and more momentum with each passing day. The petition is just a few signatures away from hitting the 200,000 milestone.
USA Today
27-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Merab Dvalishvili assures toe injury won't impact UFC 316 title fight vs. Sean O'Malley
Merab Dvalishvili assures toe injury won't impact UFC 316 title fight vs. Sean O'Malley Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili says his toe injury is of no concern heading into UFC 316. Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) runs things back with Sean O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the June 7 main event from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Just weeks before his title fight, Dvalishvili shared a video showing off a severely bruised pinky toe, raising speculation that it could be broken. "Toe is good," Dvalishvili affirmed on the "Believe You Me" podcast. "Like I said, if something, I can cut it off, but I don't need to cut it off (laughs). It's good. It doesn't bother me." "The Machine" was asked about Conor McGregor withdrawing from his return fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 last June due to a broken pinky toe, but the champion tried to refrain from taking any shots at him. "I don't want to comment about Conor McGregor's toe because I don't know the exact pain or situation, but I still have nine other toes, and it's fine," Dvalishvili said. Dvalishvili admitted that it could be hard to get up for a second fight with O'Malley after dominating him in their first encounter last September. He does, however, plan to fine tune a few things for their rematch. "Not a big change, but maybe more striking," Dvalishvili said. "It was my first title fight, and I was more focused on winning the fight, and I was the underdog and I didn't care what people were going to say. Now, I'm going to be more focused to show a good fight, and I'm going to show more striking."
