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Kwon Won Il stops Chen Rui after crazy war at ONE: Unbreakable II (results & highlights)

(James Goyder is the owner/editor of AsianMMA.com)

Throughout the years, there have been some big matches between fighters from Japan and Korea. But few have produced as much drama as the bantamweight bout between Kwon Won Il and Chen Rui at ONE: Unbreakable II. The event took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and was broadcast on delay on Friday.

Kwon and Rui started trading punches right from the opening bell and both men’s faces were immediately marked up.

Kwon decided to switch things up and repeatedly shot for takedowns, eventually putting Rui on his back. As the Chinese fighter got to his feet, the Korean took his back and almost immediately moved into mount.

Once he secured the position, Kwon exploded with a flurry of punches. Rui kept moving his head to ensure that some of them missed, but enough shots landed to leave the referee with a decision to make.

He decided to let the action continue and was vindicated when Rui eventually succeeded in pushing off the cage with his feet and standing up. There were only seconds remaining in the round, but the damage that Kwon had done to the Chinese fighter’s face was already extensive.

There was no let up at the start of the second stanza with both men throwing heavy leather. Kwon was mixing up punches to the body and head and even landed a spinning back elbow, while Rui looked in desperation mode, planting his feet and swinging full force

The Korean’s strategy proved more successful and his superior accuracy was starting to tell. But Rui seemed to possess an iron chin and a remarkable capacity to take his opponents best punches and keep firing back.

The body work from Kwon would prove to be a good investment. After an embrace at the start of the third, he went to work with punches downstairs and upstairs and one of the former finally took the life out of Rui.

A left hand to the body at the 0:33 mark finished the fight with Rui collapsing to the canvass. The Korean improved to 10-3, while his opponent dropped to 9-2.

It was the first time Kwon had registered back to back wins in his ONE Championship career. After the fight, he called out John Lineker, although given the fireworks that this fight produced matchmakers might be tempted to put together an immediate rematch.

In heavyweight action, Mauro Cerilli (14-4) gave Abdulbasir Vagabov (12-2) a ONE Championship debut to forget. He snapped the Russian’s ten-fight winning streak with a low kick and punches in the second round doing the damage.

In the other heavyweight fight on the card, Oumar Kane (2-0) finished Alain Ngalani (4-6-0-1) late in the opening round. The Senegalese star only needed one takedown to finish his fellow African with ground and pound.

ONE: Unbreakable II results

Mauro Cerilli def. Abdulbasir Vagabov via TKO (Low kick and punches) at 0:36 of round two
Daichi Takenaka def. Ivanildo Delfino via Submission (Rear-naked choke) at 2:55 of round three
Kwon Won Il def. Chen Rui via KO (Punch) at 0:31 of round three
Kickboxing: Beybulat Isaev def. Mihajlo Kecojevic via KO (Punch) at 1:22 of round one
Sovannahry Em def. Choi Jeong Yun via TKO (Punches) at 2:51 of round two
Omar Kane def. Alain Ngalani via TKO (Punches) at 4:32 of round one

ONE: Unbreakable II fight highlights

(Video courtesy of ONE Championship)

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/kwon-won-il-stops-chen-rui-after-crazy-war-at-one-unbreakable-ii-results-highlights

Knockout Radio featuring Din Thomas and Bare Knuckle Boxer Britain Hart

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/knockout-radio-featuring-din-thomas-and-bare-knuckle-boxer-britain-hart

Paradigm Sports boss Audie Attar shuts down ‘shady characters’ over Pacquiao-McGregor talk

Anyone ruling out a potential boxing clash between Conor McGregor and Manny Pacquiao may want to pump the brakes just a little.

In the aftermath of McGregor’s second-round TKO defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, the Irishman admitted that he wasn’t sure how things would pan out for his mooted clash with the Filipino as he told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during the post-fight press conference that the fight was close to being signed.

“I’ll see what happens. I don’t know what will happen,” he said at the time. “That Manny fight was happening. That was as good as done, so I don’t know.”

The following day, news emerged stating that Pacquiao was no longer interested in the McGregor matchup, with the president of Manny Pacquiao promotions Sean Gibbons reportedly telling U.K. newspaper The Sun, “I think the demand for the fight is not there presently.”

But on Saturday night Audie Attar, who manages both Pacquiao and McGregor, posted a statement to his social media making clear that his company, Paradigm Sports, is the only organization actively representing Pacquiao’s interests, and took aim at some of the rumors and statements that have been linked to the Pacquiao camp in recent days.

“The boxing industry has a history of shady characters being involved. These individuals introduce confusion and spread false rumors solely for their own interests. Unfortunately, this only ends up hurting the fighters.

“It has come to our attention that some of these individuals are once again spreading false and inaccurate rumors that are self-serving without the authority of Senator Pacquiao or Paradigm Sports.

“Senator Pacquiao engaged Paradigm Sports as his exclusive representatives last year because he wants to close out the final chapters of his historic boxing career in a meaningful way.

“No one outside of Paradigm Sports is involved in any way with the management of Senator Pacquiao’s boxing career at this time. Anyone falsely representing themselves as Senator Pacquiao’s manager or representative as it relates to his remaining fight career may face legal repercussions.

“Paradigm Sports has a reputation in the combat sports industry for operating with integrity, professionalism, and transparency fighting for our clients, and we look forward to producing an incredible event with Senator Pacquiao in early 2021.

“I am working closely with Senator Pacquiao and his legal team in Manila on plans for his next fight. We will be sharing the details of this event in the coming weeks.”

pic.twitter.com/nvvg7ZvODw

— Audie A. Attar (@AudieAttar) January 31, 2021

The statement certainly raises a few questions. Is this simply a case of Attar shutting down previous representatives trying to muddy the waters? Could this mean that the suggestion of waning interest in a Pacquiao-McGregor bout is inaccurate? If so, does this mean we could still see a Pacquiao-McGregor boxing match in 2021, as McGregor suggested in the lead-up to UFC 257?

With fans across boxing and MMA eagerly awaiting news on both Pacquiao’s and McGregor’s respective futures, it would appear that all options remain open and, with Pacquiao not being quoted as saying he’s no longer interested in a bout with the Dubliner, a matchup between the two may still be a possibility.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/manny-pacquiao-vs-conor-mcgregor-manager-audie-attar-hits-out-at-shady-characters-social-media

Dustin Poirier relishes target after Conor McGregor win, will step back until best option emerges

Dustin Poirier isn’t looking to fast play anything with his fighting career after scoring a signature victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 257.

Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 UFC) redeemed one of the most noteworthy losses of his career in his rematch with McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) earlier this month. He scored a second-round TKO of the former two-division champion on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, and now the future appears to be very bright for him.

In the aftermath of the fight, Poirier has been the center of attention in the lightweight division. McGregor’s team has expressed interest in a rematch, Nate Diaz said he wants to reschedule their scratched matchup from UFC 230 in November 2018. Michael Chandler has pitched the idea of a vacant lightweight title bout, as has Charles Oliveira. And Tony Ferguson also wants a piece of “The Diamond.”

Poirier said he enjoys everyone is coming for him, and he’s well aware that he’s currently the man at 155 pounds.

“I’ve got a target on my back,” Poirier told MMA Junkie on Sunday. “(I’m a former) interim world champion, I just knocked out Conor McGregor, and now I’m No. 1 and the only person above me, (Khabib Nurmagomedov), might never fight again. People want to climb that ladder, and in order to do that, you’ve got to beat the guys at the top. You’ve got to beat the next guys in line, so I understand why the target is on my back, and I wear it proudly.

“I am the uncrowned lightweight champ. If Khabib’s out, I am the best in the division. Former interim world champion, former title challenger. I just took out a two-division former world champion. I am the champ. I know that.”

The only thing that differentiates Poirier’s word from the reality of the situation is that he doesn’t have ownership of the UFC lightweight title. That still belongs to Nurmagomedov, who seemingly has closed the door on making a return to the octagon after retiring from MMA following his title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October.

UFC president Dana White said post-fight at UFC 257 he likes the idea of a vacant title bout between Poirier and Chandler, a former Bellator champion who made a memorable debut the same night against Dan Hooker before Poirier stopped McGregor. Poirier immediately shot that down after the fight, citing his opinion Chandler hasn’t done enough under the UFC banner to warrant the opportunity.

Poirier thinks Oliveira, who is riding an eight-fight winning streak in the division, is a different story, though. But if the UFC doesn’t want to move forward with more sensible options, Poirier said he’ll pull himself out of the equation.

“I want to be the world champion, and Charles is a guy that’s paid his dues,” Poirier said. “He’s earned where he’s at, no doubt about it. Let him and Chandler fight for the belt. If they want Chandler in there for the title, and he’s calling for the title. Let them fight for the belt. I’ll take a step back and just watch.”

The possibility of a trilogy fight with McGregor is something Poirier doesn’t rule out either, he said. The perks of that fight are obvious, from exposure to financial gain. Despite his team coming out in favor of a third matchup, McGregor hasn’t said anything beyond his immediate post-fight comments, when he said it was something of interest.

What Poirier does know, however, is that he hasn’t been contacted directly about anything. And until then, nothing is real.

“It’s tough to call,” Poirier said. “I don’t know what they’re saying behind closed doors. And I haven’t been reached out yet by the UFC or by Conor’s management about the trilogy fight. So I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I haven’t been reached out to the UFC about anything.”

So until the UFC brings Poirier a matchup he deems worth his time and energy, he’s not jumping to push for anything definitive. All that’s on his mind now is the immediate plan of taking his wife, Jolie, and daughter, Parker, on vacation.

“The future is bright, for sure,” Poirier said. “I haven’t even really thought about it that far. Might go on a snow trip with my wife and my daughter in a couple of weeks. That’s what next.”