Author: Robert Smith

If you’ve followed MMA closely over the years, you may well have noticed that the sport has an almost bizarre number of connections to the poker world. Terrence Chan may be the first person who comes to mind when you think of this connection, because he essentially emerged on the pro poker and MMA scenes around the same time. But he is by no means the only connection.

About a decade ago, two pro poker players known as “RasZi” (LexVelduis) and “ElkY” (Bertrand Grospellier) put on an MMA exhibition as a sort of extravagant bet. It was a one-off event in which RasZi dropped ElkY in a matter of minutes, but it helped to build an early bridge between poker and MMA. And in the time since, several prominent figures have crossed the lines more regularly.

In 2019, a trio of MMA figures (commentator Bruce Buffer, Johnny Walker, and Daniel Cormier) became brand ambassadors for the PokerStars network – more or less forming an official bond between PokerStars and UFC. And in the meantime, MMA overlord Dana White has reportedly had so much success at the card tables that he’s been banned from Las Vegas casinos for winning too much. Granted, White’s winnings supposedly come mostly from blackjack, but it’s a safe bet a guy winning that much knows his way around a poker table also.

So what exactly is behind the consistent connection between these and other MMA figures and the world of poker? It may well be coincidence, for the most part. But there are also some particular explanations that make sense.

Vegas Culture

It might be as simple as Las Vegas being a sort of home base for UFC. Fighters and others connected to the sport are constantly in close proximity to the Las Vegas poker rooms, which — it goes without saying — are among the best in the world. Even if most actual MMA fights in town take place at UFC apex, venues like the Aria, Bellagio, Wynn, and more are never too far away. Indeed it’s a good bet that fighters and their teams stay at these resorts, directly above legendary gaming floors and poker rooms, quite frequently. Poker is simply part of the culture in the de facto hometown of MMA.

Competitive Release

Part of the draw of poker to MMA figures (and vice versa) may also be the simple fact that the game provides a competitive release. The kinds of people who get involved in something like mixed martial arts are not merely competitive in the octagon, but rather are competitive by nature. As is the case with athletes in many other sports, they often seek out additional ways of releasing that competitive energy when they aren’t fighting. It’s why we see so many athletes take up golf in their spare time, and may well have something to do with why plenty play poker as well.

Similar Skillsets

Poker may feed the competitive energy of a pro fighter, but it also requires some similar skills. Again, this likely explains why a lot of athletes in general turn to things like poker and golf. People in sports have to learn to focus on a task at hand, operate strategically, read opponents, and develop short memories for good and bad outcomes. The best poker players, meanwhile, thrive on the same skills. In this sense the game is often just a natural fit for an athlete, whether from MMA or elsewhere.

A Celebrity Thing

Finally, it may also just be a celebrity thing! MMA fighters have developed more and more of a presence in mainstream celebrity culture over the years — and will likely trend even further in that direction given the emergence of influencer personalities like Jake Paul in fighting circles. It’s a vague point, but celebrities simply seem to enjoy showing up at poker tables now and then. Or perhaps it’s just that we tend to notice when they do. Whatever the case, it’s not out of the question that the more recognizable MMA fighters become, the more we’ll see them playing poker.

Again, there’s undoubtedly some coincidence at hand also. But given all of the above, it’s not so surprising that we have seen and will continue to see plenty of crossover between MMA and poker.

There have been plenty of concerns regarding the weight gain of Jon Jones lately. It is because the fighter is at 252 lbs right now. Obviously, it comes with tons of negative feedback appointing them.

Jon Jones has recently responded to the negative feedback which focuses on his speed and movement at the current 252 lbs.

Jones vacated his promotions of 205 lbs title back in August 2020. He did it back then because of failed negotiations for the heavyweight fight with Francis Ngannou.

And with such current weight, Dana White confirmed that he is going to reserve Bones against the winner of UFC 260.

FYI, the upcoming UFC 260 event involves Francis Ngannou vs Stipe Miocic 2. Although there have been many speculations regarding the future of the fight, Jon Jones recently shared that he has not finished the terms yet with the UFC official parties. The new heavyweight agreement might still be far from the conclusions. But for those who follow the rodeo of the respective fighter, he has teased his fans with the photos of his transformation.

Jon Jones answered the negative comments about his weight with the photos of his training to the later. In his most recent social media post, it looked like he was training with coach Mike Winklejohn. Some fans commented that Bones is slowing down. Some of them even said that he had such poor movement in the most recent video. Of course, it raises the speculations amongst the fans. Some of the fans might not agree that Bones is having a bad time.

But as expected from the tough fighter in the world of fighting. Jon Jones didn’t get triggered. in social media, Twitter, he responded to those negative comments with positive attitudes. He is focusing on the statement of optimism.

Here is the status quoted from his real Twitter Account:

“ I feel like I move pretty good for a fat boy, I believe I’ll be moving at my all-time best once I actually get in shape. “

As we know, it has been a long time since Jon Jones made an appearance inside the Octagon. His last appearance was in UFC 247 where he won over Dominick Reyes with the unanimous decision. Bones is holding twenty career UFC wins. The victory strike has been prominent for him. Will he get back in his own shape and make the win again? 

Now that the Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, Dana White has proposed his next plan for the UFC. He wants to organize the UFC event in Texas as soon as possible. So, what does it mean then?

Simply thought, it gives the opportunities for the avid UFC fans to come to the venue to see their fighters fight in the octagon. And by the lifted restrictions, we could expect the full crowd in the venue at Texas.

In 2020, we rarely saw the sport events, including the UFC.

The UFC itself hasn’t done the show in the US in nearly a year. But with the recent changes on the Covid-19 restrictions, it doesn’t matter anymore. The UFC President Dana White has announced his interests to hold the UFC event in Texas on the nearest date as possible.

He stated this interest back in the UFC 259 pre fight news conference.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has recently lifted the Covid-19 restrictions, opening the opportunities for the crowd to strive again. That includes removing the capacity limits for sport facilities. As confirmed, Dana White started making calls to make sure that the city is up for the next UFC event. Although Dallas has had cold feet, Houston takes over to conduct the UFC promotion.

After the beginning of the pandemic, we know that there are many crowds who need to stay at home and view their favorite fighters at home. But if you’re in Texas, you have this great news. Dana White clearly described the event as a “full crowd”. That means you can reserve your tickets to be the attendees of the venue where the next UFC fight takes place.

Although the date is not yet available, Dana White stated that he would go in the next two or three weeks. The UFC officials are ready to roll as the first organizer to hold the sports event in Texas.

If things go smoothly, we can expect that the next UFC 260 on March 27 will come to Texas instead of Las Vegas. And perhaps the other scenario can be relevant to the UFC 261 that will take place on April 24.

White said that he was ready to move the UFC 260 to Texas. In fact, he wanted to move the UFC 259 to Texas if we can. As mentioned, he would be the first and go first.

There is a good reason why the UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedvoc has been done with the expectation to face Tony Ferguson in any way.

If you have been following the news of the two, you know that this pair has been up and down with tons of possibilities. There are too many attempts that have failed.

UFC 254 is the peak of the impossible since Khabib will defend his 155-pound championship against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. The bout will take place on October 24, in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Before the confirmation of the UFC 254, Khabib organizers have scheduled the fighter to fight against Ferguson in April 2020. In total, UFC has made five attempts in the past five years. And all of these attempts came with zilch results.

The latest attempt was a failure because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And no one can even control that.

As the true fans of the UFC, we could agree that it has been the most difficult plan to execute in the UFC history. In an exclusive interview, Khabib himself stated that the possibility of the fight against Tony Ferguson is over.

For those who are expecting that this bout is happening, you need to stop waiting and embrace the interesting things coming out from the top fighters in the future. Ferguson lost to Gaethje back then, which adds another reason that the fight between Khabib vs Ferguson won’t likely to happen.

Khabib stated that someone was going to beat the strongest person. He added that one day someone must go down and the day would come. That message implied to Tony Ferguson. He added that Tony Ferguson was finished. Just like other fighters. Tony will come back, but eventually he will lose again. Khabib also said that when he took the damage, he would never go the same again.

Ferguson lost through TKO to Gaethje in the fifth round. While Khabib does not see the possibility in preceding the fight with Ferguson, the other sides have different thoughts. Through the formal interviews, UFC president Dana While said that he would book the matchup a sixth time if the factors were rooting. Of course, we would hear great news if the possibility is not over yet.

As long as it is sensible, the bout will likely to happen. But it won’t be likely if Khabib wins in UFC 254. Still, the window of opportunity has never closed.

Back then in January 2020, Conor McGregor started the year with the victory against Donald Cerrone. The respective fighter put down his opponent in less than a minute.

Most folks believe that 2020 is going to be the new yearly season for the fighter. But who knew that the pandemic took over all of the sport events. Pandemic has indeed changed everything so that we must hold our willingness to watch Conor on screen a little bit.

But recently, the UFC Officials have made the announcement that there was a high possibility that Conor McGregor would return again at the end of 2020.

In the UFC 256, the officials confirmed that Kamaru Usman had pulled out of the bout against Gilbert Burns. It is because the injury that has yet to be recovered 100%. He needs more time because the impact from the fighting with Jorge Masvidal in the early 2020 has yet to be finished. Currently, the UFC 256 has no headliner to show. It will take place in December 12th.

Many people have been speculating about how the UFC 256 Vacant card will be going on. The UFC 256 seems to have an alternative on the card.

Let’s not forget about the co-main event. In this category, Amanda Nunes will defend her featherweight title against Megan Anderson. It is also possible for the UFC to make this as the main event.

But it is also possible that McGregor will fill the slot. After all, the UFC fans won’t be bothered with the changes of the new main event for the night. The UFC has the tradition to put the championship bouts as the main event of the card. But there’s a possibility that UFC will also make the main event without a title or championship fight. And here is where McGregor enters in the plan of the officials.

This possibility shows up for a good reason. John Kavanagh, McGregor’s coach, implied that McGregor could fill in the main event for the UFC 256 card. Although it was just a cryptic tweet, the public has been open to the possibility as well.

But don’t keep your hope too high yet because the situation of McGregor is still unsure. He has a bunch of plans. Let’s not overlook that he also supposedly took on Manny Pacquiao in the boxing match. The most possible opponent is Dustin Poirier. We know that the possibility of this fighting has been up and down because of several factors. It is highly possible that the UFC 256 card will feature Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier.

The undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov came up with the prediction on his own. The upcoming UFC 254 is getting near. In the fight card, Khabib will take on the interim champion Justin Gaethje.

This fight card is the most expected match to see this year because it involves the best two fighters in the lightweight division. Experts and fans agree that Gaethje will be the toughest opponent to defeat. Nurmagomedov will need to have a good strategy to make Gaethje down.

But it is indeed true that Khabib only sees the winning sides in him. He would use tons of opportunities to make the victory of the fight. Khabib will do as usual. He would strive for the take downs until attaining his opponent position where he wanted.

In the mass medium, Khabib emphasized that he was going to try wrestling with Gaethje. Obviously, Gaethje will defend the takedowns for a long time. Then, Khabib will try the next attempts, and so on.

But as expected by the UFC fans, it is not only about wrestling. Of course, Khabib will box and kick with Gaethje. The showdown will be the mixture of the wrestling, kick, and box.

Let’s not overlook the fact that Khabib is one of the most prominent grapplers in UFC MMA. The grappling will be one of his aces. But taking down the beast like Gaethje won’t be easy for Khabib. But the word “hard” is far from impossible. With years of experience and ample set of skills, Khabib can use this opportunity to achieve such great results. For Khabib, Gaethje is not someone to look down. He has great defense both up and down. And when Khabib grapples him, and wrestles him, the defense will be tiresome. Both Gaethje and Khabib know how to wrestle and exhaust their opponent’s energy.

Gaethje, on the other hand, has wrestled almost in his entire career. But again, the years of experience are different. So, when they both wrestle on the ground, it will be a tough battle. The one who depletes his energy first will be prone to losing. Gaethje is a good wrestler. It is obvious. But when it comes to the years of experience, one can vouch for Nurmagomedov more.

Gaethje knows how to defend when wrestling. So, it is safe to say that when Khabib takes him to the ground, he would not easily give up. Khabib would attack in the first two rounds.

Khabib predicted that he could gain the victory in the third round. It is because Gaethje’s state is not so good when wrestling with Khabib.

Khabib also emphasized his fight IQ. Khabib stated that he had much better IQ than his opponent. Gaethje is a strong fighter who likes to fight his opponent to the earth. He is savage. But Khabib once again said that his fighting IQ was better than Gaethje.

If things go as Khabib’s plan, then we can see such significant results in the third round of the UFC 254 main fight. I guess we just need to wait to see it by ourselves.

Recently, folks have been stunned with the saying from Justin Gaethje. He stated that anybody could go to sleep. In the upcoming UFC 254, he planned to beat Khabib into submission.

The interim of the UFC lightweight champion made this confident statement in the front of reporters. He implied that he would stop Khabib at UFC 254. While it is indeed a bold statement, it is not surprising for the huge number of the UFC fans.

The date is getting closer and closer. On October 24th, we are going to see the moment of truth of UFC 254 that involves the two best fighters in their class: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje. The undefeated champion will take on the interim champ in such the most anticipated UFC event this year.

Gaethje recently spoke to the media about his plan on stopping Nurmagomedov. It of course changed how the experts and sport lovers expected to see the big fight in UFC 254. Gaethje also added that he had gathered his confidence and he was sure to be able to make the reigning champion lose in the upcoming big event.

As quoted from the mess medium, his confidence is arguably the biggest factor when paired with the skills set and power he has. Let’s not forget the fact that Gaethje is accompanied by the incredible coach who is ready to help him out.

Gaethje also doesn’t care if he wins or loses. He would try his best to make his family proud and happy with his performance. And the end result does not really matter for him. But when we see his statement like this. It is indeed a huge factor which makes him brave and fearless. It is what makes Gaethje a dangerous opponent for Khabib. And when Gaethje is determined, it is not going to be an easy win for Khabib.

The 28-0 Dagestani indeed has such impeccable records. But this number does not seem to make Gaetjhe intimidated. On the contrary, Gaethje feels boosted. He said “anybody can go to sleep”. It is a bold statement because it implies that Khabib is just like the other fighters who are able to sleep.

For those who have been following Gaethje for a while, you’d agree that this fighter will focus on wrestling until making Khabib submission. He had wrestled his whole life. And he had wrestled tons of opponents in his entire career. It is not surprising that he would just do the same to win over Khabib.

It is safe to assume that we are going to witness the huge part of wrestling in the UFC 254 octagon. And you will never get any other chance like this if not to watch Khabib vs Gaethje in the upcoming UFC 254.

So, Gaethje will look for the opportunity when Khabib touches the mat. He wants to punish him with the wrestling part. Curious for the end result? Don’t miss the opportunity to watch UFC 254. reserve your watching option now!

There was an awkward UFC experience in the media day interview. The UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov snapped at a journalist who was asking about his father during the UFC 254 media day interview.

The media slated the journalist question as impolite. Some folks slated it as insensitive. But to a certain extent, we could agree that asking about someone’s deceased father over the public medium is pretty much inappropriate, no matter what the reason is.

In the upcoming 254, the Russian fighter will defend his UFC lightweight title. The contender of the UFC 254 lightweight title match has been confirmed as Justin Gaethje. The bout will take place in three weeks.

Khabib Nurmagomedov lost his father due to the complications from the Covid-19 diagnosis. The legendary trainer passed away when he was 57 years old. Just like what many other people have known, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov is a renowned UFC legend. His passing has made the UFC verse mourn. Many UFC fighters and the fans send their condolences for the beloved father of the lightweight titleholder.

We had received this sad news back then in the Summer, but some people still seem to bother Khabib with unpleasant questions. A journalist asked Khabib about the challenges of training without his father. It seemed that the topic really bothered him. Then, he couldn’t hold it anymore and spit it out in front of the journalist.

During the UFC 254 Virtual media day, he said that he didn’t understand why the journalist kept asking him that question. He wondered what the journalist was thinking when asking this sort of question.

“I don’t understand when people ask me “how difficult is it for you to train without your father?” Khabib added.

Well, just like normal people who have just lost his father, it would have been pretty hard for everyone to live their life without their father.

In this case, Khabib was the only natural person. He snapped at someone who impolitely asked him about how he deals after his father’s passing. But we think that Khabib was doing a great thing back then. Although he snapped, he still showed his class as a professional. So, he answered “What do you think; do you have your father? If something happened to him, what do you think, it is going to be difficult for you or easy? I am human too, of course, it is very difficult.”

Khabib didn’t swear or brought that matter up to a worse level.

He could hold his anger and answered the impolite journalist with the most appropriate answer. At least there will be something for the journalist so that they won’t make the same mistake in the future.

On the same day of the interview, Khabib confirmed that the upcoming fight wouldn’t be a chess match. He’d like to finish the bout quickly. So, he’d expect that it could finish in the third or fourth round after making Gaethje tired.