Bruno Silva is still mad at Chris Weidman for what happened in their fight, and hopes to get a chance to meet him inside the cage again.
Weidman was awarded the TKO victory over “Blindado” at UFC Atlantic City this past March, a result that was later overturned to a technical decision when replay showed that Silva went down due to eye pokes, not punches. Silva filed an appeal to overturn it to a no-contest instead, but the commission denied his request.
“We were asking for this fight,” Silva said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “When I go to bed at night, he’s the opponent I hate the most. I’ve fought many people, I have more than 30 MMA fights, but every time I think of him and Cormier, I feel anger.”
“[Weidman] is fighting a month after me, and my focus is on knocking this guy [Naurdiev], and then then I’m calling him out on the mic,” Silva said. “I could ask for other opponents, but I like to deal with things my way. He’s fighting next month, and I have a score to settle with him. It’s personal. I’ll ask the UFC, and I hope they send him my way. He’s not on a great run, but he has a big name. He’s a former champion, and it brings good media. If we both win, maybe that’s interesting for the UFC. I want that fight back. But if that’s something that’s gonna slow me down, f*ck that dude.”
Days after the controversial bout, Weidman said Silva overreacted to the eye pokes and celebrated getting back to the win column following a two-fight skid. Silva, on the other hand, has now lost three straight in the UFC with previous defeats to Brendan Allen and Shara Magomedov.
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“My biggest mistake was that I respected Chris Weidman too much, and I’ll live with that for the rest of my life,” Silva said. “He deserved no respect. Even [coach Andre] Dida said I respected him way too much. The fight was over, we spoke in the locker room because I didn’t want any bad vibe. And then he grabs the mic and starts talking crap, him and Cormier. My God. Cormier, talk about an insufferable person.”
Months later, Combat Sports Anti-Doping announced that Silva received a six-month suspension but what was a “likely unintentional” anti-doping violation for a metabolite of drostanolone. Silva had already been suspended before, a two-year ban imposed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in 2020.
Very interesting… 2nd failure in his career… likely im told that could be from microdosing anabolics as well ♂️! https://t.co/zpeDIZ9oVk
“And when the doping [news] came, brother, what am I going to say?” Silva continued. “Let’s suppose you don’t know me and hear I tested positive. How am I going to defend myself? The full story is out there, but people only read the headline. The crap he said, that pisses me off, but how am I going to say anything? He already doesn’t respect anybody, and now I’m [testing] positive. I stayed quiet.
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“Life will get back at him, like it did when he made fun of Anderson Silva and then broke his leg. He reaps what he sows. Unfortunately, I didn’t beat him. If I knock him out, then there’s no more argument. But he defeated me that way and I can’t say anything. It bothers me a lot, man. Sometimes I can’t believe people can be so disrespectful, but there’s always bad people out there.”
“Blindado” admitted that a longer suspension would have led to his retirement from the sport, and thanked the UFC and the in-house doping agency for “being on my side and believing me.” Silva remained active during the suspension, competing in three grappling matches and an amateur boxing bout in his gym in Curitiba, Brazil, and now turns his focus back to the UFC.
“I feel light going into this fight,” Silva said. “I’ve left wins and losses in the past and nothing will interfere. I’m surrounded by good people, and I’m ready to be back. If someone asks me how motivated I am, I say motivation is bullsh*t. What I feel right now is freedom to go there and fight. I have nothing to prove to anyone. My only goal is to go there and submit him, beat the crap out of him, knock him out, or win by points. I’m not coming back from Abu Dhabi without the win, and my team happy on the plane.”
Tom Cleverley’s Hornets have lost four straight on the road, scoring only one goal and conceding 11, with three of those coming in a tame derby defeat by Luton on Saturday.
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On paper there looks to be only one outcome – but since when was the Championship ever that predictable?
At the other end of the table there are two huge games on Tuesday as Cardiff host Portsmouth while Queens Park Rangers welcome Coventry.
Rangers are still only a point behind the fourth-bottom Sky Blues who have lost four of their past five games and taken just three points from a possible 21 on the road dating back to the start of April.
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The away team have, however, won three of the past four encounters between the sides, with City winning 3-0 and 3-1 on their last two visits to west London.
Oxford and Derby came up from League One together last season and are level on points in the top half of the Championship as they prepare to face each other at the Kassam on Tuesday.
Francis Ngannou reminded the MMA world he’s still a dangerous man.
After more than two years away from the sport, the former UFC heavyweight champion returned to the cage this past Saturday in the main event of PFL: Battle of the Giants, where he stopped Renan Ferreira in the first round of their contest. Remember, although out of the UFC, Ngannou left as champion. His successful comeback certainly makes things interesting, not only for the PFL, but for the heavyweight landscape in general.
So, is it safe to say that Ngannou is still the beat heavyweight in MMA today? What should be next for him?
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MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George react to Ngannou’s big win in his PFL debut.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Samuel attempted to play through his illness but left the game in the second quarter due to the breathing issues.
Shanahan told reporters on Monday he was not sure how long the 28-year-old will be out.
Samuel is just the latest in a string of injury woes plaguing the Niners.
Tight end George Kittle has a sprained foot and is considered day to day, while wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and MCL. Reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey has yet to play this season due to Achilles tendinitis, though he should return soon:
LAS VEGAS – Asu Almabayev beat Matheus Nicolau with a unanimous decision Saturday to close out the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 245 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Almabayev, who won for the 17th straight time.
Asu Almabayev def. Matheus Nicolau
Asu Almabayev
Result:Asu Almabayev def. Matheus Nicolau via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Updated records: Almabayev (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC), Nicolau (19-6-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC) Key stats: Almabayev has had more than 26 minutes of total control time over the 45 minutes of his past three decision wins. But after landing 15 combined takedowns his past two fights, he had just one against Nicolau.
“I’m happy. It’s not easy to win the fight. Every opponent’s doing hard work and coming here to fight and to win, so I’m very happy that I won. (The game plan) was just to win. I wanted to wrestle, but (Nicolau) is tough – he’s No. 7 in the rankings. During the fight, I changed the game plan a little.”
Almabayev on Nicoalu’s takedown defense
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 19: (L-R) Matheus Nicolau of Brazil punches Asu Almabayev of Kazakstan in a flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
“I was not surprised (at his takedown defense) because every fighter knows that I’ll try to take them down. After the first and second, I saw that (he was good at stopping me). What can I do? So I tried to improve the positions all the time.”
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Almabayev on what he wants next
May 4, 2024; Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BRAZIL; Alexandre Pantoja (red gloves) fights against Steve Erceg (blue gloves) during UFC 301 at Rio Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports
“I will come back home and we’ll watch the fight again. We need to learn all the time. Give me one chance for the belt (against champion Alexandre Pantoja).”
To hear more from Almabayev, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
Francis Ngannou left no doubt that he’s still one of the best heavyweights in the world. The question is what will he do for his next act?
After a resounding knockout of Renan Ferreira in the PFL Battle of the Giants main event, Ngannou appears to have numerous options ahead of him once again, with the MMA community welcoming him back with open arms and the boxing world still beckoning. Whatever the former UFC champion decides to do for his next fight, you can be sure everyone will be watching.
On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss the possibilities for Ngannou after his emotional return to the cage. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for UFC Vegas 99 winner Anthony Hernandez following a dominant win over Michel Pereira, bantamweight veteran Rob Font after a streak-busting performance, plus main card winners Charles Johnson, Cameron Smotherman, Darren Elkins, and more.
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