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VIDEO: The Violent One Nominees – September
The dust settles on yet another month of blood, sweat and outrageous performances as we return for Septembers edition of The Violent One.
Standing out from the rest is not an easy task in Mixed Martial Arts. Winning your fight is just one part of the battle, getting your fight seen amongst a wider audience is another battle on it’s own, particularly with regional shows which don’t tend to receive the same limelight as the mainstream promotions get.
This months was a hard choice but we managed to select four nominees for you, the fans, to vote for and decide a winner. Dom Wooding looks to become the first athlete to win two awards with his title winning performance over Nathan Fletcher but UK flyweight prospect Lewis McGrillen is looking to cause an upset with his catastrophic KO of Charlie Falco on Celtic Gladiator.
You can see the nominees and vote using the poll in the link below.
The Violent One is a monthly showcase which shines a light on athletes who have made waves in the MMA community through their actions in the cage. Each month four athletes are selected and you, the fans, vote on who is crowned our King or Queen of violence!
News
SEAN OâMALLEY GETS THE ALL CLEAR TO BOX BY UFC
The whirlwind surrounding Ryan Garciaâs victory over Devin Haney last weekend is just beginning to settle down but it seems the controversial boxer is intent on staying in the headlines as he eyes UFC champion, Sean O’Malley.
The bizarre lead up to the fight with Haney was plagued with erratic behaviour on Garciaâs part, rumours of a mental breakdown, signs of alcohol and drug issues, and generally controversial behaviour. Garcia missed weight by 3.2lbs, and appeared to chug a beer on the scales during the weigh ins.Â
Entering the fight as an underdog, Garcia surprised everybody by dropping Haney three times and emerging victorious by majority decision. After the fight, Garcia insisted he drank and smoked every day in the build up to the fight and still picked up the win. This shocking turn of events has now opened up a variety of possible lucrative match ups for Garcia going forward, and it seems one MMA superstar wants a piece of that action.Â
The UFC hasnât sanctioned a boxing crossover bout since Conor McGregor faced Floyd Mayweather back in 2017. âSugaâ Sean OâMalley has long campaigned for the opportunity to test his striking skills against Garcia, and this week on his podcast The Timbo Sugar Show, he insisted that the UFC have already given him the green light to seek out some opportunities in the boxing ring:Â
âA boxing fightâs possible for sure. Iâm not there yet. Iâve still got to become bigger. Two more f*cking sick performances, then weâre talking about being able to do it.
OâMalley continued: âThey told me âYou can do a boxing fight, 100 percent, if it makes us enough moneyâ. The option is there, it just has to be able to make enough money. But Ryan being a f*cking freak like that, you need two A-sides to make a f*cking Floyd v Conor fightâ.Â
Ryan Garcia tweeted an image of himself and OâMalley this week with the caption: âRAINBOW CACA BRAIN. WANTS TO BOX. BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOWâÂ
RAINBOW CACA BRAIN
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 22, 2024
WANTS TO BOX
BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW pic.twitter.com/GGrvV7ZSCH
Sean OâMalley became the UFCâs bantamweight champion when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last August. He then defended the belt and avenged the only loss on his record when he dominated Marlon Vera over five rounds at UFC 299 in March.
News
ALEX PEREIRA REJECTS FIGHT WITH MAGOMED ANKALAEV
The next step in the fascinating UFC journey of Alex Pereira remains to be seen. âPoatanâ pulled off a sensational knockout finish over Jamahal Hill in the first round of their main event bout at UFC 300 to defend his light heavyweight belt.Â
In his post-fight interview, the Brazilian called for the opportunity to compete at heavyweight at UFC 301 which takes place in Rio De Janeiro in just a couple of weeks. UFC president Dana White seemed unenthusiastic about that idea, however, and it seems now that the dust has settled after 300, Pereira is a little more willing to take his time before signing up for his next fight.Â
In an interview with MMA Fightingâs Trocacao Franca podcast, Pereira was asked if heâd rather defend his 205lb title again or test the waters in the heavyweight division. He responded:Â
“Itâs hard to answer that. I havenât thought too much about it yet. If itâs a longer period of time, Iâd obviously rather defend my belt. If it takes too long and I fight at heavyweight and there are injuries, when am I going to defend my belt? I donât want to hold up the division.Â
I was imagining the best-case scenario when I called for a heavyweight fight at UFC 301, but I have two broken toes. Both feet are f*cked. Itâs complicated. I donât want to hold up the light heavyweight division. A cool scenario would have been fighting at heavyweight at 301 and then giving the opportunity to someone to fight for the light heavyweight belt next. I think that would have been coolâ.Â
205lb contender Magomed Ankalaev has called for a fight with Pereira on the UFCâs October pay-per-view card in Abu Dhabi, but âPoatanâ brushed that idea off instantly, saying:Â
âI donât want to fight at the end of the year. I want to fight sooner, so maybe that shows he wonât be ready. I donât know why he said that. This guy is complicatedâ.
If Pereira manages to get another win under his belt and is ready to go again before the end of the year, he said he would much rather compete on the Madison Square Garden event in November, which is closer to his current home in Danbury.
“It makes total senseâ he said. âWait one more month and Iâm fighting at home? Itâs so much betterâ.
Interviews
âThis Is A Stage I Have To Challenge Onâ â Masaaki Noiri Signs With ONE Championship
ONE Championshipâs striking roster has continued to flourish in 2024, and it got even stronger this week with the announcement of another elite kickboxer putting pen to paper in the worldâs largest martial arts organization. Japanese megastar Masaaki Noiri has officially inked a deal with ONE, and heâs set to add further depth to the stand-up ranks.Â
Noiri is a former two-division K-1 World Champion and Grand Prix Champion, and heâs also a former WBC Japanese Muay Thai Champion.
Fighting in ONE will allow him to switch between the two sports whenever he wants, and this is an exciting prospect for the 30-year-old.
âAs ONE officially announced, I have signed a contract with ONE Championship, the highest stage for striking. If I want to pursue being the strongest in the world that I believe in, this is a stage I have to challenge on,â Noiri said.Â
“I believe ONE is the ultimate stage for striking, so I wanted to challenge myself in that ring. I’m pursuing to be the strongest in the world through martial arts, so I chose this path to test if the current Masaaki Noiri can make it in ONE.”
It would be remiss of ONEâs hottest new signing not to have World Title ambitions as he embarks on his new journey.
However, along with gold, Noiriâs looking to show the world what strikers from his country can do, and he hopes a world-class compatriot can help him in that mission.
“[My plan is] to definitely win the ONE world title,â Noiri said.Â
âNot just me, but together with Takeru Segawa. And we’ll prove the strength of Japanese fighters to the world.â
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