UFC

RASHAD COULTER is the ex-UFC and Bellator heavyweight who crossed over to boxing on a mission to revive his career.
Coulter faces cruiserweight replacement Hasim Rahman Jr on Saturday on the undercard of Mike Tyson’s comeback against Roy Jones Jr.

Rashad Coulter is the ex-UFC and Bellator heavyweight who crossed over to boxingCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Coulter in training camp ahead of his fight on Mike Tyson’s undercard Credit: Twitter / @rashad_coulter

Before his fighting career, he played American Football for 17 years.
But in 2010 his good friend Muhammed Lawal – known as ‘King Mo’ – introduced Coulter to Muay Thai.
Within a year of training he made his MMA debut, winning by knockout.
After five fights on the local circuit in Texas, Coulter was given his first big break with a stoppage win against Jeremiah O’Neal under the Bellator banner.

It didn’t go unnoticed, as three victories and two years later the heavy-hitter was signed by the UFC.
But he suffered a disastrous start in MMA’s elite, losing three on the spin, all by knockout.
His fourth and final fight for the UFC did see him successful outpointing Hu Yaozong in a light-heavyweight fight, which he missed weight for.

Coulter had four fights in the UFC but only one once Credit: Getty Images – Getty

The American’s last MMA fight was in 2019Credit: Getty Images – Getty

It spelled the end of the road for his time in the octagon, but the 38-year-old had one more MMA bout, losing to Isaac Villanueva last year.

Despite his up and down career in the cage, Coulter is unbeaten in his four boxing matches.
He made his debut in the ring six years ago, winning on the cards, but has since stopped his other three opponents.
Coulter was due to face Viddal Riley, also unbeaten in four bouts, this weekend but the 23-year-old Londoner has pulled out injured.
Instead, he will fight Rahman Jr, who is 9-0 and the son of Hasim Sr, the man who knocked out Lennox Lewis in 2001.
Coulter grew up watching his next opponent’s dad, and will now share the ring with his son.
He said to MMA Island: “I’m blessed to still be on the card.
“Hasim is a skilled dude who has grown up around boxing, so it’s a new opponent but the same plan.

Coulter was meant to fight Viddal Riley Credit: Twitter / @rashad_coulter

YouTuber Jake Paul pictured with Coulter’s new opponent Hasim Rahman Jr Credit: https://twitter.com/_HasimRahmanJr/status/1314032111276290049

Rahman Sr famously knocked out Lennox Lewis Credit: Reuters
“I know he is southpaw and he switches but my job is to fight my fight and not let him dictate the pace.
“He is tough and has a good record, I have never ran from a fight and this will be great. I grew up watching his pops so this will be fun.
“But again this is strictly business.”
With the mass attention surrounding this weekend’s event, Coulter is looking to capitalise on the hype train and book a ticket back into the UFC.
He told BJ Penn.com: “For me, it opens up more boxing doors and in MMA, it could open up bigger MMA fights like me even going back to the UFC.
“It is a big platform for me.
“My heart is always in MMA, the UFC is a great promotion and I would love to be back in the UFC.
“There are several fights at 205 I want in the UFC. If I go finish Viddal, it will open more doors in MMA.”

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CONOR McGREGOR and Manny Pacquiao will ‘definitely’ fight next year, according to the man who manages the pair.
Audie Attar represents the pair of superstars with his Paradigm SM company.

Conor McGregor is set to fight Manny Pacquiao next year, according to their shared promoterCredit: Getty Images – Getty

And he reckons fans will not be waiting long before they step into the ring together.
McGregor will make his UFC comeback against Dustin Poirier on January 23.
But after that, attention may well turn to the veteran Filipino.
Attar told Bloomberg TV: “As it relates to Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor, Conor has a fight on January 23 against Dustin Poirier.

“He will be handling business against Dustin first.
“Conor has come out and said he wants to fight Manny, [and] Manny has come out and said he wants to fight Conor.
“As I stated publicly before, we have had conversations.
“So, that is a fight we are definitely going to make because both fighters want it and there seems to be an interest from the fans all around the world.”

Pacquiao has not fought since beating Keith Thurman in July 2019 for the WBA welterweight world titleCredit: EPA

How McGregor and Pacquiao stack up ahead of their proposed fight

McGregor famously fought Floyd Mayweather as he switched across from MMA to boxing in August 2017.
Since then he has competed in the UFC twice – losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018 and then beating Donald Cerrone this January.
But talk of a mega bout with Pacquiao intensified when the eight-weight world champion joined Paradigm in October, making negotiations much simpler.
The 41-year-old, who is a Senator of the Philippines, currently holds WBA welterweight title thanks to his record-breaking victory over Keith Thurman in July last year, his 71st and most-recent bout.
And McGregor could face off with Pacquiao in the Middle East but Mayweather’s uncle Jeff thinks the Irishman would be knocked out inside round one.
He suggested his nephew toyed with McGregor for their ten-round showdown and said: “I think Floyd could have knocked Conor McGregor out anytime he wanted to.
“Just like they were talking about him [McGregor] fighting Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao wouldn’t play with his a**. He’d knock him out in one round.
“Any other fighter other than Floyd would knock Conor McGregor out in one or two rounds.”

Audie Attar represents both McGregor and Pacquiao with Paradigm SMCredit: Instagram @audieattar

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CONOR McGREGOR fought better than Manny Pacquiao did against Floyd Mayweather, according to ex-UFC star Chael Sonnen.
Pacquiao was outboxed over 12 rounds against Mayweather in 2015 in the richest fight in boxing history.

Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao over 12 rounds in 2015 Credit: AFP – Getty

Conor McGregor lost to Mayweather in 2017 Credit: AP:Associated Press

Former UFC champion McGregor was then unsuccessful against the American legend two years later, as he was stopped in round ten.
But Sonnen reckons PacMan ‘did much worse’ in his attempt to beat Mayweather when compared to McGregor’s effort.
And the former UFC title challenger even backed The Notorious to fight Pacquiao, having already shared the ring with Mayweather.
He explained: “Pacquiao did much worse with Floyd than Conor did.

“If that’s the only thing we have to compare it to, then let’s do the fight. Manny Pacquiao? One of the best ever?
“All of those things are true but he’s already done it once and he did it with Floyd, who’s better than Pacquiao.
“I’m just saying, we don’t how good Conor is.”
McGregor, 32, made his boxing debut the night he fought Mayweather, 43, who went on to retire a perfect 50-0.

The Irishman did win some of the early rounds and ended the fight having landed 111 punches.
In contrast, Filipino icon Pacquiao, 41, only scored with 81 shots, despite having two more rounds to do so.
But Mayweather had not boxed for two years before facing McGregor, and claimed press ups and sit ups were his sole training methods before the bout.
McGregor has vowed to return to the ring and believes he will even win a world title in boxing.
It looked as though he could have even faced Pacquiao after revealing the pair were in talks.
Instead, he is now in line for a UFC return having signed to rematch Dustin Poirier – who he beat in 2014 – in a January 23 headliner.
But McGregor did reveal he will use the fight against southpaw Poirier, 31, in preparation for fellow left-hander Pacquiao.

Correct. Southpaw box style. Continue to sharpen my MMA skills with some tough competition, while leading into my Manny bout preparation.It’s not easy going between both sports and then coming back to the one sport again.Just want to keep sharp guys, that’s all. It’s only fair. https://t.co/PnjHb4VP9j
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 13, 2020

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TERENCE CRAWFORD admitted he would face Conor McGregor as ‘money talks’ and said the UFC star is ‘not a real good wrestler’.
Crawford, who defends his WBO welterweight title against Kell Brook, was subject to talks with McGregor earlier this year.

Terence Crawford admitted he would face Conor McGregor as ‘money talks’Credit: Mikey Williams

Crawford said McGregor is ‘not a real good wrestler’Credit: Rex Features

His promoter Bob Arum wanted to speak with UFC boss about a pair of crossover fights, one in the boxing ring and the other inside the octagon.
But Crawford, 33, who wrestled during high school, would be willing to make the move over to MMA to challenge McGregor, 32, if the cash was right.
He told TMZ Sports: “They put that money up, hell yeah I’ll go over there and fight him.
“Conor is a big talent in the Octagon, and I’m a big talent in the boxing ring. Money talks.

“To keep it real, Conor’s not a real good wrestler. He may kick the s*** out of you.
“You gotta worry about them kicks to the head and them elbows more than him grabbing you.
“It’d be other things that you’d be having to worry about other than wrestling you.”
Crawford had never before shown an interest in switching to the UFC before Arum announced plans to negotiate a deal with White.

Despite the idea, the promoters appeared to have never discussed the two-fight proposal.
White did help promote McGregor’s lucrative boxing debut in 2017 which he lost in ten rounds against Floyd Mayweather.
White himself is still in talks with 43-year-old Mayweather, who is contemplating a comeback.
McGregor’s also appears to have a future in the boxing business having revealed talks to fight Manny Pacquaio, 41.
For now, he is instead plotting a return to the UFC to rematch Dustin Poirier – who he beat in 2014 – with the duo offered a headliner in January.
Afterwards, McGregor wants to fight Pacquaio, and will use his bout against southpaw Poirier, 31, to prepare for left-hander PacMan.

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DANA WHITE has been forced to shelve ZUFFA Boxing’s inaugural event amid challenges posed by coronavirus, reports say.
The UFC president has long planned to make a move into the boxing business as a promoter.

Dana White has been forced to shelve ZUFFA Boxing’s inaugural eventCredit: Getty Images – Getty

And according to Journal de Montreal, White planned to stage the Claressa Shields vs Marie-Eve ​​Dicaire title fight on December 11 in Las Vegas.
But, the proposal has now been axed due to problems caused by the Covid-19 crisis, The Athletic state.
And no rescheduling date has emerged either in a blow to Shields and other women champions like Amanda Serrano.
Before the UFC allowed Conor McGregor to fight boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in 2017, White first revealed plans to launch ZUFFA Boxing.

ZUFFA is an American sports promotion company owned by his close friends Frank and Lorenzo Ferttita.
The Ferttita brothers sold the UFC to WME-IMG – now known as Endeavor – for $4.4BILLION in 2016.
But White still wanted to launch a boxing promotion with ZUFFA and has been working on the scheme ever since.

Despite several hurdles since announcing the plan three years ago, the UFC boss told BT Sports his jump into boxing seems imminent.

He said in September: “I peaked under the hood a lot there for the last year.
“Looked at different things and I said, ‘I don’t know man, I don’t know if this is fixable.’
“Funny enough, since the pandemic I’ve been looking at other options too.
“And we’ll probably have something to announce here soon. When it’s time, I’ll let you know, I’m not ready yet.

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