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      I was a security guard for Anthony Joshua’s legendary fight with Wladimir Klitschko… it helped inspire my MMA career

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      WHEN Simeon Powell rocked up to Anthony Joshua’s fight with Wladimir Klitschko, little did he know the effect it would have on his life. The then-teenager – who had just started training in Muay Thai – arrived at the 90,000-seater to work a security shift.
      Wladimir Klitschko was beaten by Anthony Joshua in 2017Credit: Getty Images – Getty
      MMA star Simeon Powell was inspired by Joshua’s win over KlitschkoCredit: PFL
      What Powell did not know is that he would have a front row seat – for free – to watch one of the most dramatic and thrilling fights of recent years.
      He told SunSport: “It was crazy! Definitely didn’t do my job properly that day.”
      Joshua climbed up from the canvas to sensationally knock Klitschko into retirement after 11 classic rounds.
      Powell – an MMA hopeful at the time – watched in amazement with the inspiration to one day follow in AJ’s heavyweight heroics.
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      He said: “It gave me chills, I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.
      “It was crazy, the production, the atmosphere, I was like, ‘This is what I want.’” 
      Light-heavyweight Powell, now 24, made his professional MMA debut in 2021 and has since raced to an unbeaten 9-0 record.
      He was last year signed to the Professional Fighters League, a rivalling promotion to the UFC.
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      And this year, he entered the three-stage knockout PFL Europe tournament and returns in the final this Friday in Dublin.
      A win will bag him $100,000 and a spot in the PFL’s global season next year, where he can times his earnings by TEN in the $1m season.
      Powell takes on Jakob Nedoh at Dublin’s 3Arena and does so with more than just money and a title awaiting him.
      He said: “I feel like this is the fight which is going to elevate me. How I’m gonna get the job done, I feel like it’s my, ‘I’m him moment.’ 
      “This fight will be what gives me that global respect in a sense.”
      Impa Kasanganay, 29, took this year’s PFL light-heavyweight crown by winning his two qualifying bouts and the subseuqent semi and finale fights.
      And Powell was a keen viewer with his eyes on the $1m world championship prize.
      He said: “It was a great performance, Impa is a nice guy, nice story but I’m a competitor at the end of the day and I definitely feel like I can compete with them boys. 
      “I feel like I definitely could have won it this year as well. It’s always been the dream since day one to be world champion.”
      Simeon Powell now has his eyes on the $1m PFL prizeCredit: PFL More

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      Ebanie Bridges already planning for retirement after going into business with Conor McGregor for ‘rest of her career’

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      EBANIE BRIDGES already has a plan in place for retirement after going into business with Conor McGregor. The IBF bantamweight champion returns on Saturday in San Francisco, defending her belt against Miyo Yoshida.
      Conor McGregor pictured with Ebanie BridgesCredit: Instagram @ebaniebridges
      Bridges is sponsored by McGregor’s Forged Irish StoutCredit: Twitter
      The boxing champ is friends with UFC legend McGregorCredit: Twitter
      And she will do so sponsored by McGregor’s Forged Irish Stout.
      Bridges has formed a partnership with the brand and the UFC legend himself.
      She told Lucky Block: “Obviously, mine and his collaboration is a little bit deeper.
      “I’m a face for Forged Stout now. I can learn a lot from him as well for when I finish boxing – and what he’s doing in business, I think is really inspiring.
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      ‌“It was natural and we’ll be working together for the remainder of my career. We work really well together.
      “I’m great for his brand and he’s great for my brand, and we get along really well.”
      Bridges, 37, was due to face Avril Mathie, 36, in what she dubbed the “Battle of the Boobs” but her Aussie rival pulled out.
      Meanwhile McGregor, 35, has been out since July 2021 when he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier, 34, in the first round.
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      But he is now set to return next year against Michael Chandler, 37, with the Irishman preparing for the bout.
      Bridges revealed: “I don’t know who it will be but I know he’s training. I’ve seen clips of him training and he’s busy in the gym.
      “I don’t know if he puts it on his socials. I don’t really look at his social pages to be fair, but I’ve obviously seen some of his training stuff that he’s done.”
      Bridges is the bantamweight world championCredit: Alamy
      Bridges returns in San FranciscoCredit: PA
      McGregor poses with pal BridgesCredit: Sportsfile More

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      Ex-UFC champ left with horror facial injuries after losing brutal bare-knuckle fight to ‘king of violence’ Mike Perry

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      EX-UFC champion Eddie Alvarez was left with horror facial injuries after brutal bare-knuckle boxing defeat to Mike Perry. The pair of former MMA stars headlined a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event in Salt Lake City, Utah.
      Eddie Alvarez was left with horror facial injuries after defeat to Mike Perry
      Alvarez showed off his battle scars post fight
      And the two put on a hellacious show for two rounds until Alvarez’s corner pulled him out of the bout.
      The American’s left eye was so badly swollen he could not continue any longer.
      Alvarez, 39, showed off the extent of his battle scars in the post-fight press conference, sporting a severely swollen and bruised face.
      Perry, 32, was also marked up as he celebrated his vicious victory.
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      He roared: “I like to get hit a little bit sometimes. I like that s***. It makes me feel alive.
      “I work on the head movement but the last one ended so easily, I just wanted to have a battle so I let him get some shots off. I had a great time.
      “Eddie Alvarez is a hell of a competitor. Who owns combat sports now? The king of violence! ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry!”
      Perry, who left the UFC in 2021 after four losses in five fights, is now unbeaten in his four BKFC bouts.
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      And he called out Conor McGregor, 35, and Darren Till, 30, after extending his record to 4-0 with exposed fists.
      Perry said: “Conor McGregor would be a great matchup.
      “I just beat somebody he fought for a world title. Who’s bigger than that? There’s no one bigger than Conor McGregor except me.
      “These boxers don’t want to take the gloves off. Darren Till said he doesn’t want to do it with no gloves.
      “Who wants to fight Platinum Mike Perry with no gloves?”
      Mike Perry beat Eddie Alvarez in two roundsCredit: Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship More

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      Jake Paul sensationally backed to BEAT Nate Diaz in MMA fight by ex-UFC star amid £10m rematch offer

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      JAKE PAUL has been backed to sensationally BEAT Nate Diaz in MMA by ex-UFC star Matt Brown. The YouTuber-turned boxer this year signed for the Professional Fighters League, a competing promotion to the UFC.
      Jake Paul beat Nate Diaz over ten roundsCredit: GETTY
      Paul, 26, is coming off the back of a ten-round points win over ex-UFC star Diaz, 38, in August.
      And both the American and the PFL have proposed a rematch in the cage and offered up to £10million.
      But Diaz has seemed uninterested and Brown insisted he has reason to.
      He told MMAFighting: “Jake Paul, I’m going to pick him to win. I’m going to pick him to beat Nate Diaz in MMA.
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      “We already know he can outbox him. When was the last time you saw Nate Diaz take someone down?
      “But I don’t think he’ll be able to take him down, even if he tries to [take him down].
      “He’s way, way undersized. Jake Paul is so much bigger than him. I don’t know what weight it will be at, probably 185.
      “Nate’s not a great wrestler, it’s going to end up staying on the feet. What difference would it be [from their boxing match] if it stays on the feet?”
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      Ex-high school wrestler Paul has called to fight Diaz in his MMA debut and Brown believes the styles clash favours the American well.
      He said: “First, Nate rarely throws elbows. Really doesn’t throw kicks a whole lot. He’s primarily an MMA boxer.
      “His MMA style is he pressures you, he outboxes you and pressures you until you take him down or grab hold of him, which, that’s what he wants. Now he can do his jiu-jitsu game. It’s just a bad matchup.
      “I wouldn’t pick very many people to be able to do that, but I don’t think Nate will be able to take [Paul] down and we already know what’s going to happen on the feet.
      “Jake will train for kicks and elbows and knees and all that stuff and they might have a little effect.
      “But I don’t see Nate finishing him with a kick or even really chopping him down or elbowing him. It’s just not his style.”
      Matt Brown backed Jake Paul to beat Nate Diaz in MMACredit: Getty More

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      Dana White blasts KSI’s ‘LYING’ team over Misfits PPV buys in X-rated rant on ‘horrible’ shows

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      DANA WHITE has blasted Misfits Boxing’s claim that their PRIME card did over a million pay-per-view buys.The influencer boxing promotion – which was founded by internet sensation KSI – put on a stacked card for its Manchester card in October.
      KSI locked horns with Tommy Fury on the Misfits Prime cardCredit: GETTY
      Logan Paul co-main evented the show. -which reportedly did 1.4 million pay-per-view buysCredit: GETTY
      UFC president Dana White has emphatically rubbished that rumoured numberCredit: GETTY
      KSI topped the bill against Tommy Fury, while Logan Paul faced Dillon Danis in a co-main event grudge match.
      It was claimed that a whopping 1.4 million people parted with their hard-earned cash to watch the social media stars do battle, a number veteran promoter White doesn’t buy for a second.
      The UFC Chief Executive told the Nelk Boys: “I haven’t heard about anybody selling a lot of pay-per-views lately.
      “Let me tell you how hard it is to sell 1.3 million pay-per-view buys.
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      “And if you did sell 1.3 million – if you sold 700,000 pay-per-view buys – they’d put putting on fights f***ing 10 times a year.
      “When you hear those kinds of numbers fly around the pay-per-view world, they’re lying motherf*****s. Don’t ever believe that s**t.”
      Despite the glaringly obvious lack of skill and technique, the influencer boxing scene has caught on like wildfire among Gen Zers.
      And White, like many others, can’t understand for the life of him why.
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      Dana White insists Misfits would be doing cards every week if they really did 1.4m buysCredit: Getty
      He said: “Anybody who’s been on any of these f***ing horrible boxing shows.
      “And I like Logan [Paul] and some of these guys that are involved in this s**t, if you come out and you say you did 1.3 million pay-per-view buys on your event, you’re lying through your f***ing teeth.
      “Lying through your teeth.”
      The MMA mogul added: “The amount of money you’d f***ing make, they’d be doing pay-per-views all the f***ing time.
      “Let me tell you what, every pay-per-view distributor out there would want them, and Showtime wouldn’t have went out of business.”
      It didn’t take long for White’s comments to come to the attention of KSI’s manager and Misfits co-president Mams Taylor.
      And he didn’t hold back in his response to the UFC supremo, writing on X: “I know all the REAL numbers for every event.
      “Don’t play w[ith] me or I’ll go Fofty on EVERYONE!!”
      KSI’s manager Mams Taylor hit out at Dana White after learning of his rant More

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      Conor McGregor was smart not to fight me… I would have destroyed him and he’s a QUITTER, says bitter sparring rival

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      PAULIE MALIGNAGGI has issued another stinging attack on bitter sparring rival Conor McGregor. The former boxing world champion entered McGregor’s training camp in 2017 before his crossover bout with Floyd Mayweather.
      Paulie Malignaggi infamously sparred Conor McGregorCredit: @TheNotoriousMMA

      They sparred twice in the UFC’s Las Vegas base, over eight and then 12 rounds.
      And it was the second of session that is remembered infamously, as images and footage of the spar leaked.
      It included a disputed knockdown of Malignaggi, which caused the American to storm out the camp.
      The two have continued to feud ever since and now Malignaggi has claimed McGregor was wise not to accept a grudge match with him.
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      He told Action Network: “I’m a better trash talker than McGregor, that’s one of the reasons he did not fight me. I would have trashed him in the press conferences and the fight.
      “It would have ended all of the hysteria around him because I would have destroyed him in the trash talking and in the ring.
      “I would have ruined the whole aura around him. He was smart not to pull the trigger on a fight with me.”
      Malignaggi, 43, always insisted he was pushed to the ground by McGregor, who went on to lose in ten rounds to Mayweather.
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      It has kept the feud alive but a boxing bout slipped away with McGregor remaining in the UFC octagon.
      Although Malignaggi said the 35-year-old is now a “punching bag” and compared his career to heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua.
      He said: “McGregor was lucky to achieve what he achieved in his career, physically and talent wise he’s up there, but just because you can do a bunch of high kicks from a Jean Claude Van Dam movie, doesn’t mean you’re a fighter; you need guts, you need a willingness to succeed, you need a willingness to enter the trenches and if you don’t have that, you’re going to fade.
      ‘We’ve talked about AJ losing that edge, but McGregor is on a different level. McGregor will quit on you, he does quit.
      “AJ does not take as many risks anymore but at least he’s not quitting. McGregor is an outright quitter.
      “He is a fighter that was not as good as advertised, there was great marketing behind him.
      “And the money he’s made now isn’t helping, so you’ve got a problem – all he’s going to do is continue to be a punching bag.
      “If you’re a punching bag in your twenties, you’ll definitely be a punching bag in your thirties.”
      Malignaggi claimed he was pushed down by McGregorCredit: @TheNotoriousMMA More

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      MMA fans in stitches as Jake Paul puts on gloves to watch fights before calling out Nate Diaz to rematch

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      JAKE PAUL had fans in stitches after putting on a pair of MMA gloves while watching and commentating on fights. The YouTuber-turned boxer featured in the live broadcast of the Professional Fighters League final.
      Jake Paul commentating on Larissa Pacheco’s win over Marina Mokhnatkina
      And he was being interviewed while reigning PFL champion Larissa Pacheco beat Marina Mokhnatkina for the featherweight title.
      But out of nowhere Paul – talking from his £13million Puerto Rico mansion – whacked on a pair of gloves to commentate on the bout.
      It left fans hilariously confused as one said: “Why the f*** is Jake Paul wearing his gloves on stream.”
      Another added: “Jake Paul putting on his PFL gloves whilst watching the fight has big shadow boxing in front of the mirror during the ad breaks energy.”
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      One said: “As much as I don’t like Jake Paul he is really smart for putting on the pfl gloves during his interview.”
      Paul this year signed with the PFL, a rival promotion to the UFC.
      The promotion consists of qualification and knockout stages.
      Stars have two regular season bouts where points are earned per method of victory with the top four in each division progressing.
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      From there it is win-or-go-home, culminating in a series of finale fights where a title belt and $1million prize cheque is on the line.
      But the PFL are next year launching a “super-fight” series – away from the season – which will play host to Paul’s MMA debut.
      The American is coming off an August win over ex-UFC star Nate Diaz, 38, and he offered to rematch in MMA.
      But Paul, 26, claims Diaz, 38, has turned down a £10million offer to fight in the cage and took another swipe at his rival.
      He said: “He didn’t want all that smoke. He’s making excuses.”
      Jake Paul wants to rematch Nate Diaz in MMACredit: Reuters More

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      Watch Muhammad Ali’s MMA star grandson Biaggio score brutal KO to leave opponent face down

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      MUHAMMAD ALI’S grandson scored a brutal knockout which left his opponent face down. Amateur MMA prospect Biaggio Ali Walsh faced Joel Lopez on the undercard of the Professional Fighters League 2024 final.
      Muhammad Ali’ grandson Biaggio knocked out Joel LopezCredit: Scott Taetsch / PFL

      And in what could be his last bout before turning pro, the American closed out the show in stunning style.
      A big looping right hook in the second round dropped Lopez and sparked a follow up in strikes from Biaggio.
      The referee was rightfully quick to step in and intervene as Biaggio recorded his sixth knockout in as many fights.
      Prior to the bout in Washington, DC, he hinted that it could be his final as an amateur.
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      And after the fight, 25-year-old Biaggio said: “There’s so much going on in my mind right now.
      “I’m still an amateur so I’m still getting used to just everything. To get this kind of experience as an amateur is insane.
      “I’m super blessed and grateful. I don’t know, I’ll sit down with my coach and see what happens.
      “But I’ll definitely announce soon, so everybody will know.”
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      The PFL in which Biaggio is signed to is made up of qualification and knockout stages.
      Stars have two regular season bouts where points are earned per method of victory with the top four in each division progressing.
      From there it is win-or-go-home, culminating in a series of finale fights where a title belt and $1million prize cheque is on the line.
      Biaggio went 6-1 in the 2024 final and it could pave the way for the former football prospect to enter the lightweight season next year.
      Biaggio Ali Walsh celebrating his winCredit: Scott Taetsch / PFL More