TheNewsGuru

Tag: UFC

  • DJ Cuppy says “yes” to British boxer boyfriend [VIDEO]

    DJ Cuppy says “yes” to British boxer boyfriend [VIDEO]

    Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, popularly known as DJ Cuppy has said “yes” to her British boxer boyfriend, Ryan Taylor.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Taylor proposed to DJ Cuppy on stage while at a Gumball award night in Abu Dhabi.

    This is coming days after her billionaire father, Femi Otedola prayed for her to find a man who really loves her.

    Taylor engaged DJ Cuppy on stage while at a Gumball award night in Abu Dhabi.

    Watch engagement video below:

     

  • Kamaru Usman reacts after losing UFC welterweight title

    Kamaru Usman reacts after losing UFC welterweight title

    Nigerian-American mixed martial artist, Kamaru Usman has reacted after losing his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title to British Leon Edwards.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Usman’s defeat in the fifth round is coming hours after Nigeria-born Briton, Anthony Joshua was defeated by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in a heavyweight boxing clash.

    Edwards delivered a fatal knockout kick to send Usman, who had led the fight by points, landing on the floor in the final minute of the fight.

    UFC commentator, Joe Rogan said the kick was potentially the best he has seen in the UFC.

    Before this fight, Usman had never been knocked out by an opponent, and he led the fight by points, but Edwards rode his luck to defeat the Nigerian Nightmare.

    Taking to Twitter shortly after the defeat, Usman tweeted that he will be back with a vengeance while conceding that champs do lose sometimes.

    “Champs f$ck up sometimes… but we bounce back and come with vengeance,” Usman tweted.

    Discussing his KO win over Usman and reflecting on his path to becoming the UFC
    welterweight champion, Edwards said, “That’s how it was meant to go. I was meant to have a harder path”.

    TNG reports that the 30-year-old Jamaican-born British fighter looked to be headed for a defeat on the judges’ scorecards. But then faked a jab with his left hand and then landed a left-foot kick to the head that sparked the 35-year-old Nigerian to claim the belt.

    “They all doubted me, they all said I couldn’t do it – look at me now!” Edwards roared in his post-fight interview in the cage.

    Edwards is only the second British fighter to hold a UFC title, following in the footsteps of Michael Bisping, who won the middleweight title in 2016.

    On a streak of 15 wins in the UFC coming into the bout, Usman struggled in the first round. Edwards, whom he beat in their only previous meeting in 2015, shocked him by taking him down to the mat for the first time in his UFC career.

    Edwards threatened to finish the fight with a rear naked choke but Usman, who was making his sixth title defence, survived. He came roaring back in the second round as Edwards appeared to stumble early on.

    The 35-year-old Usman then returned to the kind of suffocating wrestling that has been the bedrock of his fighting style since he turned pro in 2012.

    He backed his opponent up to the fence and took him down at will. He dominated Edwards and looked like he would retain the belt again until the challenger starched him with that kick with just 56 seconds left in the fight.

    “I’m from the trenches, I’m built like this, I battle until the battle is done. I’ve been down my whole life, and look at me now!” an elated Edwards said.

  • BREAKING: Usman loses UFC title hours after Joshua’s defeat

    BREAKING: Usman loses UFC title hours after Joshua’s defeat

    Nigerian-American mixed martial artist, Kamaru Usman on Sunday morning lost his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title to Leon Edwards hours after Anthony Joshua was defeated in a heavyweight boxing clash.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Edwards, who had been written off in the fight against Usman, delivered one of the iconic moments in UFC history to send the Nigerian-American landing on the floor with a knockout kick to his head.

    The shock defeat of the “Nigerian Nightmare” made it a double loss for Nigeria, coming barely hours after Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk beat Nigerian-born Briton, Anthony Joshua with a split points decision to retain his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight boxing belts in Jeddah.

    The fight in Saudi Arabia was a rematch of the one in London in September, which Usyk won after a unanimous decision to take the belts from Joshua.

    TNG reports Usman lost his UFC welterweight crown when he was sensationally knocked out by Edwards in the final minute of the fight in what has been described as revenge for the Briton who seven years prior lost to the Nigerian.

    ALSO READ || Kamaru Usman reacts after losing UFC welterweight title

    Before this fight, Usman had never been knocked out by an opponent, and he led the fight by points, but Edwards rode his luck to defeat the Nigerian Nightmare.

  • Nigeria’s UFC champion, Usman lands Black Panther movie role

    Nigeria’s UFC champion, Usman lands Black Panther movie role

    Nigeria’s UFC welterweight  World champion, Kamaru Usman landed his first movie role after doing exploits in martial art.

    Usman has been given a role in the next series of “Black Panther” a movie from Disney and Marvel Studios.

    The Movie will be premiered in America on the 11th of November 2022 with Usman’s face pasted on the movie posters.

    Usman is a huge fan of the comic book superhero, and dating back to 2018, has shown interest in being a part of upcoming flicks.

    MMA Junkie confirmed the news of Usman’s involvement through manager Ali Abdelaziz after UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier mentioned it during the UFC 277 weigh-in show on Saturday morning on ESPN+.

    The first “Black Panther” film was released in 2018 and starred the late Chadwick Boseman, who played King T’Challa and his alter ego the Black Panther. The franchise will continue without Boseman, who died in 2020. Disney and Marvel have confirmed that the character T’Challa won’t be recast in the “Wakanda Forever” sequel.

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the first sequel to 2018’s Black Panther, which crushed expectations by grossing a remarkable $1.3bn and earning a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars.

    Aside from whatever battles Usman takes part in on the movie screens, the Welterweight king is currently lined up to defend his belt vs. Leon Edwards at UFC 278 on August 20. If he’s victorious there, Usman has also expressed interest in jumping up to 205 lbs. and taking a crack at Jiri Prochazka in the light-heavyweight.

    Usman’s heroics in UFC has earned him the nickname Nigerian Nightmare.

    Usman was born on the 11th of May 1987 to a Nigerian parent in Auchi, Edo state of Nigeria.

    Kamarudeen Usman is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler, and graduated folkstyle wrestler.

    He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is the current UFC Welterweight Champion

  • Israel Adesanya beats Cannonier, retains UFC middleweight title

    Nigerian born UFC fighter Israel Adesanya has retained his middleweight title with an effortless victory over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276.  He  defeated his opponent  via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45) to retain the UFC middleweight championship.

    Adesanya unified the middleweight title with his first win over Robert Whittaker in 2019 with the only blotch on his record since his defeat by then light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz two years later. Cannonier, meanwhile, had won five of his previous six fights with victories over Kelvin Gastelum and Derek Brunson securing his shot at the title.

    In his post match interview, Adesanya revealed that his opponent had a good game but met a stiffer opposition in him.

    “He had an excellent gameplan; it was really hard to get my follow-ups going, my second phases going,” reflected the champion before calling out bitter rival Alex Pereira who holds two wins over the champion, albeit in the kickboxing ranks. “You know who’s next,” continued Adesanya. “The first time, I told you, was an error on my part. Next time I put you on skates, you’re going to be frozen.”

    The UFC fighter who is popularly known as Izzy defeated Robert Whittaker and unified UFC titles available in his category in 2022.

    He has successfully defended his title four times since then. On an otherwise perfect record for Adesanya (22-1), his only loss was during his unsuccessful step up to light heavyweight, losing to then-champion Jan Blachowicz

    Israel Mobolaji Odunayo Oluwafemi Temitayo Owolabi Adesanya is a Nigerian-born New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines

  • Why I don’t touch gloves before UFC fights – Israel Adesanya

    Why I don’t touch gloves before UFC fights – Israel Adesanya

    UFC champion, Israel Adesanya has explained the reason why he doesn’t touch opponents’ gloves at the start of every fight.

    Middleweight Adesanya usually puts his hand on top of his opponent’s fist instead of touching gloves. ‘The Last Stylebender’ said this is a strategic way to not give his opponent any indication of his range before the fight starts.

    “I don’t touch gloves, when the fight starts I don’t touch gloves,” Adesanya said on ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson. “That’s the first point of contact, you establish the range right away. I don’t want to touch gloves, I’ll establish the range my own way, I don’t want to give them an inch at all.

    Adesanya defended his title at UFC 271 in February by outpointing former champion Robert Whittaker in their rematch.

    According to Mirror, the build-up to the rematch was very different to their first fight, with Whittaker admitting he acted “out of character” by trying to rile Adesanya up before the title bout.

     

  • Dabiri-Erewa hails Adesanya for retaining UFC Middleweight title

    Dabiri-Erewa hails Adesanya for retaining UFC Middleweight title

    Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has hailed Israel Adesanya for retaining the Unified Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight Category in a three sets win.

    Dabiri-Erewa congratulated Adesanya’ on Sunday in a statement signed by Mr Gabriel Odu, Media Public Relations and Protocol Officer of the commission in Abuja.

    Recall that Adesanya retained his title, beating Robert Whittaker in a unanimous decision of 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 at the Toyota Sports Centre, Houston-Texas, USA.

    The NiDCOM boss congratulated Adesanya for the giant strides in defeating his arch opponent, Whittaker for the second time to retain the title.

    She described Adesanya’s performance as a true reflection of the resilience, passion, dedication and commitment of Nigerians both at home and in diaspora.

    She urged him to sustain the momentum and win more laurels for Nigeria.

    Adesanya took on Robert Whittaker in 2019 in Melbourne, Australia through a knock-out.

    Saturday’s fight was Adesanya’s Fourth Title Defence after defeats against Yoel Romero, Paolo Costa and Marvin Vettori, respectively.

  • I Thought I would Defeat Israel Adesanya To Claim The UFC Middleweight Belt – Whitetaker

    I Thought I would Defeat Israel Adesanya To Claim The UFC Middleweight Belt – Whitetaker

    Nigerian born Israel Adesanya retained his middleweight title at UFC 271 in Houston, Texas by defeating Australian, Robert Whittaker on Sunday

    The reigning UFC middleweight champion won via a unanimous decision after five rounds in his fourth consecutive title defense in front of 6,000 fans packed into the Toyota Center

    The final scorecards read 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 with Adesanya moving to 22-1 in his career with the victory.

    ISRAEL ADESANYA VS ROBERT WHITETAKER

     

    Adesanya outlanded Whittaker 79-59 in significant strikes, according to UFC Stats. But Whittaker landed more significant strikes to the head, 38-36, with Adesanya outlanding Whittaker in strikes to the legs, 29-13. Whittaker landed four takedowns, which matched Marvin Vettori for the most by any opposing fighter against Adesanya in the UFC, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

    Coming in, ESPN had Adesanya ranked No. 2 and Whittaker ranked No. 9 on its MMA pound-for-pound rankings. At middleweight, Adesanya was No. 1 and Whittaker No. 2.

    I thought I had defeated Israel Adesanya -Robert Whitetaker

    Robert Whittaker has regretted his defeat to Israel Adesanya in their UFC 271 encounter.

    Whittaker came into the challenge to regain the middleweight championship he lost to Adesanya in 2019.

    But he came up short as Adesanya retained the title via unanimous decision in the highly competitive fight.

    Adesanya’s jabs and heavy leg kicks piled up points as he took the decision by scores of 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46.

    The win over Whittaker was Adesanya’s fourth defense of the middleweight championship since winning the belt in the first meeting with Whittaker.

    For Whittaker, who had a three-fight winning streak snapped, the loss was a tough pill to swallow.

    https://punchng.com/breaking-israel-adesanya-beats-whittaker-to-retain-ufc-middleweight-belt/?utm_source=top-story&utm_medium=web

    MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 6: in their middleweight title bout during the UFC 243 event at Marvel Stadium on October 6, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

    “Yeah, I did [think I won the fight],” Whittaker said.

    “I know I started off rocky in the first round but I felt like I took everyone after that. It is what it is. As they say, don’t leave it in the hands of the judges. I’m gutted. I’m gutted. I thought I did enough.”

  • UFC 271: Israel Adesanya retains middleweight title after Whittaker win

    UFC 271: Israel Adesanya retains middleweight title after Whittaker win

    Israel Adesanya has defeated Robert Whittaker with a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) in the main event of UFC 271 on Saturday night at Toyota Center.

    Sunday’s result was a far cry from their first meeting, when Adesanya secured a second-round KO of Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019.

    “I knew he was gonna bring everything because last time I took everything away from him,” Adesanya said. “And he had nothing to lose. Like I said, I’m the champ. If you want it, come get it.”

    Adesanya started brightly in the opening round when he repeatedly chopped away at Whittaker’s leg with low kicks and sat him down with a laser straight left.

    While it briefly seemed as though a rout might be underway, Whittaker displayed his resolve over the course of the fight, attacking with left jabs and left hooks while effectively blending in takedowns and clinch work.

    Although “The Reaper” couldn’t keep Adesanya down for any significant period of time, the different aspects of his offence were enough to make the fight interesting.

    “I know I started off rocky in the first round, but I feel like I took every round after that,” Whittaker said. “I’m happy that I fought my heart out and I left it here. I thought I did enough (to win).”

    In the end, Adesanya saw off the fight with his varied striking and cage control, as he continued his assault on Whittaker’s legs throughout the contest while blending other attacks when the opportunity arose.

    Adesanya having taken Whittaker off his way is now targeting a June fight against Jared Cannonier, who defeated Derek Brunson in one of the earlier fights before his own headline contest.

  • UFC championship: Edo govt writes Kamaru Usman to congratulate him

    UFC championship: Edo govt writes Kamaru Usman to congratulate him

    Edo State Government has sent a warm congratulatory letter to Kamaru Usman who successfully defended his welterweight title against his American challenger, Colby Covington.

    The 34 years old Auchi born Usman nocked down his challenger twice in the second round in the title fight which took place at the world famous Madison Square Garden, New York, United States in the early hours of Sunday.

    In the letter from the office of the Deputy Governor, Edo State Government described the reigning UFC welterweight champion as a shining star and a true reflection of what the Nigerian youth should represent.

    “You are a true role model for the Nigerian youths and we want the Nigerian youths to emulate you by bringing glory and honour to the nation rather than engage in cyber crime, drug and other vices”, the letter said.

    The state government commended Usman for keeping to his promise to “give back to the society that made him by being a role model to the younger generation.”

    “We are ready to receive you again and again whenever you are in Nigeria. You are a true patriot and our ambassador of sports, we are proud of you and indeed, Nigerians are proud of you. Be assured that we shall continue to pray for you to get to the zenith. We are looking forward to partnering with you in discovering and nurturing young talents in the area of kick boxing, ” the letter stressed.

    The Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman, also known as ‘the Nigerian Nightmare’ who hails from Auchi, Edo State joined the UFC in 2015 and he has remained unbeaten after 19 title fights. His first fight with Covington in 2019 ended in a knockout in the 5th round. The one of early hours of Sunday was their second meet where the three judges unanimously gave it to Usman as the winner.