MMA

KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV bumped into Prince Naseem Hamed in Mecca during Ramadan.The UFC legend took to Instagram to share the photo with his 28.1million followers.

Khabib, 32, clasped hands with the boxing icon in what appeared to look like a hotel dining room.
The Russian was wearing a black t-shirt and black trousers while the former British world champ was in a traditional Islamic white jubba.
Khabib, a Sunni Muslim, wrote: “Accidentally met a legend in Mecca. Nice to meet you Brother.”
Mecca is the holiest place in Islam with Muslims making a hajj pilgrimage to the Saudi city at least once in their lives.
Nurmagomedov retired from UFC last October following his win over Justin Gaethje.
That took his pro MMA tally to 29-0 and defended his world lightweight belt.
But his father Abdulmanap passed away earlier in 2020.
And the unbeaten star decided to stop fighting with his dad not there to support and train him.
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UFC president Dana White wants to try and convince the brilliant battler to reverse his decision and return to the franchise.
Prince Naseem, meanwhile, competed across bantamweight, super-bantamweight and featherweight between 1992 and 2002.
The Sheffield-born star, 47, held the WBO, IBF, IBO and lineal featherweight titles and retired with a 36-1 record.
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CONOR McGREGOR branded Floyd Mayweather ’embarrassing’ after his brawl with Logan and Jake Paul while 50 Cent joined in to mock his one-time pal.All hell broke loose in Miami as Mayweather and Logan came face-to-face for the first time at a press conference to promote their June 6 exhibition.
Floyd Mayweather after his brawl with the Paul brothersCredit: AP
Conor McGregor slammed Floyd Mayweather onlineCredit: PA:Press Association

But it was younger brother Jake, 24, who caused a mass melee after stealing the boxing legend’s hat.
Both the Pauls were involved in a scuffle with Mayweather and his security entourage.
Mayweather, 44, was irate afterwards and could be heard screaming ‘I’ll kill that motherf***er’.
But not everyone was so convinced as McGregor, 32, beaten by the American in 2017, mocked his former opponent for ‘running around acting the tough guy’.
He posted on Instagram: “What the f*** is Floyd at?
“The kid curled up, didn’t fight back once, and Floyd is still running around acting the tough guy.
“The kid actually just pulled this shambles of a situation Floyd is in out of the drain for him. He should thank him. It’s embarrassing!
“Pro to pro it’s embarrassing. He will not scratch 10m for this fight and he knows it. It was cancelled once already.

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“The world is watching this on Twitter. He’d fight a half decent pro and command 20m upwards, yet its this s***.
“Whatever way you spin this, it’s sad. Fight someone for real, on your record, or f*** off mate. Slap head.”
Rapper 50 Cent – once a valued member of Mayweather’s team until their 2012 fallout – is always quick to goad his former best friend.
And the recording artist – real name Curtis Jackson – decided to poke fun at Mayweather’s rumoured hair transplant.
Suggesting Mayweather was fuming that Paul had exposed his new barnet, 50 Cent tweeted: “WTF going on, on champ head. I heard he had his pubic hairs put on his face. Lol.
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BEN ASKREN told former training partner Belal Muhammad he would lose to Jake Paul BEFORE their fight if the YouTuber ‘had any boxing ability’. Askren, who was two years retired, agreed to the boxing match despite his renowned grappling and limited striking style.
Jake Paul knocked out Ben Askren in round oneCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Belal Muhammad trained with Ben AskrenCredit: Getty
And he was very open before the fight that should Paul have a certain degree of skill, he would win.
So the social media star’s first-round knockout was not a surprise, certainly not for Muhammad, who has trained with Askren before.
He said: “It does more harm to boxing than anything, the whole show was a joke. Everybody in MMA knows Ben does not box.
“I’ve trained with Ben and I know that he does not box and he even admitted that if Jake Paul has any type of boxing ability he’s going to lose.
“And just judging by the way Ben showed up at weigh-in, he looked super out of shape, he didn’t care about that fight.
“These guys are Youtubers, they can’t fight real fighters, so they have to keep fighting guys that can’t strike. If you want to keep those paydays coming in you have to keep winning.
“Now you’ve got nerds and trolls online that think these guys are actually real fighters.
“That’s the only thing that’s annoying about it. You’ve got these guys, these little freaking nerds, that think these guys are monsters now.”
Jake Paul entered elite company
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Paul, 24, moved to 3-0 with his third straight KO, following up on his wins over online rival ‘AnEsonGib’ and ex-NBA player Nate Robinson.
The American now wants to keep his rivalry with the UFC alive by fighting another MMA opponent.
Ex-champions Daniel Cormier, 42, and Tyron Woodley, 39, are among the names to have called out Paul.
But No12 ranked welterweight Muhammad has warned against crossing over from the UFC to the boxing ring unless money is the sole motivation.
He said: “It’s a different game, they’re using 12oz gloves so the Pauls will be able to take more punches but they’re not going to be knocking out any real strikers.
“He may be able to last, he has so much money that he can bring in the best trainers and if he’s really taking it seriously you can train enough to last two eight-minute rounds with a UFC fighter in a boxing ring.
“But it’s not really worth it if you’re a UFC fighter unless you’re just doing it for the money.
“You saw Ben Askren smiling at the end because he knew this cheque would put his kids through private school.”

This interview was in association with Unikrn, who have launched a new virtual UFC betting product for MMA fans.

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UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has issued a chilling warning to Jake Paul after the YouTuber’s recent Twitter taunt.Social media star-turned-boxer Paul mocked Usman by tweeting a picture of him with his daughter at Disneyworld after Africa’s first UFC champion revealed he wouldn’t fight the former Disney actor.
Jake Paul mocked Kamaru Usman on Twitter late last monthCredit: Getty
I understand you think this is a game which is probably why you don’t realize that this is how people Truly get hurt. I don’t play fighting and I can change your life in the worst way. https://t.co/Zch2xlDA9b— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) May 5, 2021

The Nigerian Nightmare took a few days to respond to the taunt but nonetheless didn’t take kindly to it.
He tweeted: “I understand you think this is a game which is probably why you don’t realize that this is how people truly get hurt.
“I don’t play fighting and I can change your life in the worst way.”
Along with the picture of Usman and his daughter Samirah, Paul – who was cageside for the 170lb champ’s vicious knockout of Jorge Masvidal last month – wrote: “So let’s get this straight:
“1. Usman calls me out to fight on TMZ sports interview.
“2. I quickly accept the challenge to fight and will give him biggest pay day of career ($10m+)
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How Jake Paul stacks up against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru UsmanCredit: SUNSPORT
“3. Usman then backs out of fight because I’m “a Disney kid”
“4. Usman visits Disney world.”
Paul, 24, is still buzzing from his brutal first-round knockout of former UFC star Ben Askren last month, a victory that stretched his undefeated pro record to 3-0.
The Problem Child is hoping to fight again this year and has set his sights on throwing down with some big-name MMA fighters.
He told ESPN: “This all started with me having a list of people I wanted to fight.
Jake Paul brutally knocked out former UFC star Ben Askren late last monthCredit: Getty

“It started with a YouTuber and then it was a real athlete and then all of a sudden it was to fight an MMA athlete.
“Nate Diaz and I got into beef on Twitter and so the people on that list are mainly MMA fighters.
“It’s whatever gets people interested and combining the two worlds… the biggest pay-per-view of all time was Floyd vs Conor, boxing vs MMA, so why not keep with that model?
“I believe I’m a better striker than 99.9 per cent of these MMA guys so when we’re matching up form a kill and experience level it’s even and it’s who wants it more in the fight.
“If I’m going against these world champion boxers who have been doing it since they were six years old its an unfair advantage.
“I do want to fight boxers, there are boxers I’m going back and forth with about potential fights but the people I want to knock out are MMA fighters.
“[Tyron Woodley] would be a good opponent, Nate Diaz would be a good opponent, Conor McGregor would be a good opponent.”
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JAKE PAUL is eyeing a $100million Conor McGregor fight in 2022 and predicts it will sell THREE MILLION pay-per-views. Paul first called out the former two-weight UFC champion last December and claimed he had a $50m offer waiting to go.
Jake Paul is eyeing a $100m Conor McGregor fight in 2022Credit: ryan@ryanloco.com
Jake Paul predicts a fight with Conor McGregor will sell 3m PPVsCredit: Getty
But disaster struck for McGregor, 32, as one month later he was beaten in two rounds by Dustin Poirier, also 32, on his return.
Paul, 24, has since moved to 3-0 in his career and in April knocked out retired UFC welterweight Ben Askren in a fight he claimed sold 1.5m PPVs.
With his stock higher than ever, the YouTuber believes he is in line for a 50/50 split with McGregor when predicting his earnings for the fight.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, Paul said: “Fifty million for sure. I think right now we’re at the same level of draw in the combat sports world.
“Doing the pay-per-view numbers that we just did, and I sort of carried that event on my back, when we went into that fight, Ben Askren had 500,000 followers.
“No one really knew who he was besides the UFC fans. So it’s like if you put in a name like Jake Paul and Conor McGregor together, it’s a massive event.
“It sells three millions pay-per-views easily at $75, so whatever the maths is there.”
If Paul’s prediction prevailed, the fight would rank as the third highest PPV in boxing history.

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Floyd Mayweather’s historic 2015 win over Manny Pacquiao, 42, still tops the list with 4.6m sold.
And McGregor’s 2017 defeat to Mayweather, 44, comes second in the box office charts with 4.4m PPVs.
But Paul’s projection would surpass the boxing legend’s 2007 win against Oscar De La Hoya, 48, which amassed 2.4m buys.
The internet sensation is already in talks for his next fight and wants to keep his rivalry with the UFC going with another MMA opponent.
But it will not be against McGregor, who headlines UFC 264 on July 10 in an immediate rematch with Poirier.
It leaves Paul hoping to lure the Irishman – who lost his boxing debut to Mayweather – back to the ring next year.
Ben Askren was knocked out by Jake Paul in round oneCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Conor McGregor was beaten by Floyd Mayweather in 2017Credit: Getty Images – Getty
He said: “Potentially, it’s very, very realistic for sure. I think it depends on how he does against Dustin on July 10.”
McGregor has been the UFC’s top attraction and a global sporting icon since he burst on to the world scene in 2013.
Paul, a social media megastar, had already lived half his life on camera but has still enjoyed a meteoric rise in the fight game since his 2020 debut.
He first beat online rival ‘AnEsonGib’ and followed it up with two brutal KOs against ex-NBA player Nate Robinson and then Askren, both 36.
But he has made just as many headlines outside the ring, due to his unwavering confidence and newly adopted persona as boxing villain.
Paul’s hotstreak is so great, he is confident his current popularity surpasses McGregor’s.
Jake Paul entered elite company
He explained: “I’m more talked about than Conor McGregor at this moment.
“Kamaru Usman is going back and forth on Twitter with McGregor and the tweets are getting a lot of engagement.
“But then he tweets about me and it’s one of his number one tweets ever.
“There’s just more buzz around my name right now and Conor just got knocked out, had one of the most embarrassing losses of his career.
“I’ve had two highlight knockouts in a row on two massive pay-per-views. I’m just letting the numbers speak right now.”
Conor McGregor was knocked out by Dustin PoirierCredit: Getty
Jake Paul celebrates his win over Ben AskrenCredit: Getty
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