It appears Dana White has once again momentarily halted the launch of Zuffa Boxing.

During White’s time on “Fight Island” in October, the UFC president hinted at a boxing match being in the works, claiming that COVID-19 has actually been a blessing for Zuffa Boxing.

However, speaking to TSN on Thursday, White pumped the brakes on any potential plans of a launch, shutting down prior rumors of him working with Claressa Shields, who’s now part of the PFL roster.

“Never did I say that I was doing anything, but I’ve been looking and kicking the tires of boxing for the last couple of  years,” White said. “The reason you’ve never seen me do anything is because that’s how screwed up and broken it is. That’s what a mess it is. Yeah, I’m not doing anything anytime soon.”

White, who recently questioned the integrity of boxing after a fight between Floyd Mayweather and YouTube sensation Logan Paul was booked, has been vocal towards the “broken model” of boxing and his intentions of fixing it for over three years now. However, it doesn’t seem like White will be moving into the boxing world anytime soon.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/dana-white-puts-a-pause-on-zuffa-boxing-plans-im-not-doing-anything-anytime-soon

As a pandemic plagued 2020 winds down, UFC president Dana White met with the media to not only address UFC 256 – the promotion’s final pay-per-view event of the year – but he also addressed plans for vaccines and COVID-19 moving forward, when he would put fights on for crowds again, the antitrust lawsuit the UFC is embroiled in, and many more UFC hot topics.

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UFC 256: Figueiredo vs. Moreno weigh-in face-offs video

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/dana-white-reacts-to-fighter-vaccines-and-antitrust-lawsuit-in-full-ufc-256-scrum

Jae Woong Kim bounced back from the first defeat of his ONE Championship career in style. The Korean stopped seasoned veteran Tetsuya Yamada in the second round at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

There were three MMA fights on the card at ONE: Big Bang II, which was broadcast on Friday. Featherweights Yamada and Kim were both looking to bounce back from defeats, but it was the Korean who seized the initiative.

He came out looking to land the right hand as Yamada tried to circle out and score with low kicks. The Japanese southpaw tried to secure a body lock as Kim narrowly missed with a spinning back fist on the break.

Yamada wanted to get the fight down, but it was Kim who ended up in top position. He postured up and threw down punches and hammer fists, opening a cut above the Japanese fighter’s right eye.

The Tiger Muay Thai representative eventually escaped and got back to his feet only to try and lock in a standing guillotine. Yamada got the fight to the floor and tried to transition to an armbar, but Kim escaped and the referee paused the action to allow the doctor to inspect the cut.

Yamada jumped guard at the start of the second and ended up on his back with Kim kicking his legs. The referee allowed him to get back up, but the Korean executed a trip and landed in top position where he threw down punches from inside his opponent’s guard.

Kim got back to his feet and the referee allowed Yamada to return to a standing position, briefly pausing the action to allow him to adjust his cup. The Korean immediately produced a text book trip and unleashed a barrage of ground and pound to finish the fight.

The end came at the 4:39 mark and the Korean was immediately overcome with emotion. He improves to 11-4, while Yamada drops to 26-8-2.

Earlier in the night, Tyler McGuire (12-2) comprehensively outwrestled Agilan Thani (10-5) to earn a unanimous decision win in a battle between former welterweight contenders. Meanwhile, Chen Rui (9-1) needed just 1:56 to knock out Ali Motamed (7-5) in their bantamweight battle.

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ONE: Big Bang II results

• Muay Thai: Jonathan Haggerty def. Taiki Naito via Decision (Unanimous)  
• Kickboxing: Nieky Holzken def. Elliot Compton via KO (Liver Shot) at 1:36 of R1 
• Kim Jae Woong def. Tetsuya Yamada via TKO (Punches) at 4:39 of R2 
• Kickboxing: Rade Opacic def. Errol Zimmerman via TKO (Spinning Heel Kick) at 1:35 of R2
• Tyler McGuire def. Agilan Thani via Decision (Unanimous)
• Chen Rui def. Ali Motamed via TKO (Punches) at 1:56 of R1

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/jae-woong-kim-stops-tetsuya-yamada-at-one-big-bang-ii

All the pre-fight activities are in the books for UFC 256 following Friday’s official weigh-in and fighter faceoff.

Everyone made weight for Saturday’s card, which takes place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+. That includes headliners Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Brandon Moreno (18-5-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC), who meet for the flyweight belt.

At the conclusion of weigh-ins, the athletes from all 10 bouts on the card came face-to-face for a final staredown. There was a mix of high intensity and friendliness across the board.

Check out the faceoff highlights in the video above, and a photo gallery from all of Friday’s happenings below.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-256-official-weigh-in-highlights-faceoffs-and-photo-gallery

The final Bellator event of 2020 went down on Thursday with Bellator 254, which took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and aired on CBS Sports Network following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Juliana Velasquez (11-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) forced a changing of the guard in the promotion’s final bout of the year. The Brazilian unseated inaugural Bellator flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (11-1 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) from her spot atop the division with a unanimous decision victory.

It wasn’t the most eventful of nights, but Velasquez managed to halt Macfarlane’s defense streak at four, meaning no champ in company history has still ever reached five consecutive defenses.

For more on the numbers, check below for all the post-event facts to come out of Bellator 254.

Event stats

Betting favorites went 3-0 on the main card.

Betting favorites improved to 13-2 in Bellator main events this year.

Total fight time for the three-bout main card was 48:37.

Juliana Velasquez def. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

Juliana Velasquez and Scott Coker

Velasquez became the second Bellator flyweight champion.

Velasquez’s six-fight Bellator winning streak in flyweight competition is the longest active streak in the division.

Velasquez’s six victories in Bellator flyweight competition are tied with Denise Kielholtz for second most in divisional history behind Macfarlane (10).

Macfarlane’s 11-fight winning streak was snapped for the first defeat of her career.

Magomed Magomedov def. Matheus Mattos

Matheus Mattos (12-2-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) suffered the first decision loss of his career.

Linton Vassell def. Ronny Markes

Linton Vassell (20-8 MMA, 9-5 BMMA) improved to 2-1 since he moved up to heavyweight in March 2019.

Vassell has earned 16 of his 20 career victories by stoppage. That includes six of his nine Bellator wins.

Vassell has earned both of his Bellator heavyweight victories by knockout.

Ronny Markes (19-8 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) fell to 1-3 in his past four fights dating back to June 2018.

Markes has suffered seven of his eight loses by stoppage.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/bellator-254-post-event-facts-juliana-velasquez-prevents-championship-history