Welcome to MMA News Today, a daily feature running down the most interesting stories in the world of mixed martial arts. For July 9, 2024, we’re taking a look at:
- Masvidal put on twice as many pounds as Diaz after making weight
- Fans aren’t buying Walker’s dinosaur theory
- Vakhitov says Pereira is defensively vulnerable
Nate Diaz & Jorge Masvidal Fight Day Weigh-Ins Show Drastic Difference
With the California State Athletic Commission looking to cut down on excessive weight cutting in combat sports, the fight nights weights for the recent Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal boxing match were released.
The most noteworthy result shows that Jorge Masvidal made a staggering near 30-pound gain between weighing in and showing up on fight night.
After hitting 175.2 pounds on Friday, he then weighed in at 204.1 pounds, which is a 16 percent increase in body weight.
Diaz, who won the fight via majority decision, gained 14.6 pounds after coming in on Saturday at 190.2, meaning that he put on half as much weight as his opponent.
Masvidal competed at both 155 and 170 pounds during his tenure in the UFC. By the time he stepped inside the ring this past weekend, he was closer to the light heavyweight mark.
Johnny Walker Receives Pushback After Posting Dinosaur Extinction Theory
It’s an understatement to call Brazil’s Johnny Walker one of the most unpredictable characters in MMA today.
He recently gathered some attention on social media after he responded to an Instagram post from MMA great Georges St-Pierre.
“GSP” shared a video about the dinosaurs and how they were made extinct and largely wiped off the face of the earth by an asteroid.
Walker, in the replies to the post, provided his own theory about how it wasn’t an asteroid that killed them off, but perhaps humans did it instead…
“Sorry champ but i am not sure about it anymore! I don’t believe that a asteroid ☄️ extinguished the dinosaurs 🦖 , it may be the men , take a look at some saints around the world like the flat of Russia that have a dragon and a guy that probably kill lots of it , and Brasil also have a saint , and lots of other cultures have history about some hero that killed a dragon = Dino 🦖! I’m just saying, history always change and the winner of some war tells his side of the truth ! We never know the actually real truth”
It didn’t take too long before fans took notice of his comment and gave their sceptical reactions to his take.
The Last Man To Defeat Alex Pereira In Kickboxing Breaks Down His Weaknesses As A Striker
Alex Pereira has been on an incredible upwards trajectory since making the switch to MMA, but what some fight fans might not know is that he suffered a defeat in his final kickboxing fight.
After losing a split decision the first time around, Artem Vakhitov got the better of “Poatan” in the rematch before Pereira made the decision to leave Glory behind to really pursue MMA.
Vakhitov, who has also been trying his hand at MMA as of late, spoke in a recent interview with MMA Fighting about where he believes Pereira is vulnerable, having been one of the few to outstrike him.
He said that the UFC light heavyweight champion’s greatest strength is also his greatest weakness,but the issue many of his MMA opponents have is that they’re not confident enough to try and exploit it.
“His biggest weakness is that he is all attack, he has no defense,” Vakhitov said. “Because of his lack of defense, he is open to taking a lot of punches to the head if he’s facing a skilled striker. You saw that in his second fight with Adesanya. He got caught because he leaves a lot of openings for people who know what they are doing.
“These other guys haven’t done well against Alex because their striking isn’t at a high enough level. They aren’t confident against him and they think he’s unbeatable, so in their heart they are already defeated before the fight starts,” Vakhitov continued. “But I have beaten him before in pure striking competition, and I am sure I’ll do it again if we can get our trilogy match in the UFC.”
Read more on the story here.
For more MMA news, check out:
- Chael Sonnen Has Advice For Michael Chandler On Rumored Islam Makhachev Fight Offer: ‘Don’t Make That Mistake…’
- Marc Goddard Claims MMA Judging Is Better Than It’s Ever Been: ‘Despite What People Think…’
- Israel Adesanya Explains How He’ll Deal With Dricus Du Plessis’ ‘Uniqueness’ At UFC 305
