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Salt Papi receives advice from former UFC champion on how to defeat 'creative' Tony …
Influencer boxing promotion Misfits will host a double main event on August 30th, when three former UFC fighters step inside the boxing ring. The final fight of the night in Manchester will see former UFC champion Luke Rockhold take on fellow former MMA fighter Darren Till, who recently praised Jake Paul. In the co-main event […]

Influencer boxing promotion Misfits will host a double main event on August 30th, when three former UFC fighters step inside the boxing ring.
The final fight of the night in Manchester will see former UFC champion Luke Rockhold take on fellow former MMA fighter Darren Till, who recently praised Jake Paul.
In the co-main event of Misfits 22, influencer-boxer Nathaniel Bustamante, better known as Salt Papi, will return to the ring as he takes on UFC veteran Tony Ferguson.
Ferguson, 41, will be the most experienced fighter that Salt Papi has faced, as the Filipino has now received advice from Rockhold ahead of the fight.

Luke Rockhold breaks down how Salt Papi can defeat Tony Ferguson
When Salt Papi competes against Ferguson, it will be his seventh outing under the Misfits banner, an organization partially run by former Logan Paul rival, KSI.
With an exhibition boxing record of 6-2, Salt Papi is considered to be one of the brightest stars in the influencer boxer scene. However, Ferguson will be a new test for the 31-year-old.
Ahead of the fight, Salt Papi was able to get some advice from Rockhold on how he can beat his fellow former-UFC star, Ferguson.
Rockhold told Salt Papi, [Use your] Jab, movement. Obviously, Tony’s got his crazy movement, so take your time. Take your time and flow. Find the rhythm.”
Although Rockhold said that Ferguson is ‘creative’, the former MMA middleweight champion added, “He doesn’t have the shoulders, do you know what I mean?”
The former UFC star then gave credit to Salt Papi by saying, “He’s got shoulders, he’s got looseness. That’s a difference in boxing.”
Although Rockhold said he ‘loves’ Ferguson, he seemingly leaned towards Salt Papi when asked for a prediction on the fight.
Tony Ferguson will be making his boxing debut in first post-UFC appearance
When Ferguson steps into the ring on August 30th, it will be his first time competing in a boxing match.
The former interim UFC lightweight title holder ended his run in the MMA organization with eight consecutive losses, having previously been undefeated for eight years.
As a UFC fighter, Ferguson was considered to be well-rounded in both striking and grappling aspects in his MMA career. His 25-11 MMA record includes 11 knockout and nine submission wins.
During his losing streak, Ferguson was able to achieve knockdowns over the likes of Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler with single-shot punches. Some fans may perceive this as a promising sign ahead of his boxing debut.
As for Salt Papi, five of his six wins have come by way of knockout. His last win came in November 2024, via stoppage.
College Sports
#B1GFirstServe
Story Links [embedded content] [embedded content] Opening Statement:CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER : Year four, wow! I can’t believe it. It’s gone fast. It’s my sixth season, headed into my sixth season at Rutgers, and it’s remarkable how much this program has really shifted over the past six seasons, and I’m really excited to be here to […]


Opening Statement:
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER : Year four, wow! I can’t believe it. It’s gone fast. It’s my sixth season, headed into my sixth season at Rutgers, and it’s remarkable how much this program has really shifted over the past six seasons, and I’m really excited to be here to obviously let Lexi and Kenzie talk about their experience this past spring as well as what the team is — what you’re going to be experiencing as a Rutgers team in the fall. Thank you all for being here and being part of this media day experience.
Q. Coach, I want to ask as you head into 2025 and continuing to build what you’re most looking forward to and wanted to showcase with this particular squad this year.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Yeah, this team last year was incredibly young. We started four freshmen, a couple of sophomores. We only graduated one key player. Obviously, she was a major contributor, but we feel like we’ve been able to definitely replace that position through the transfer portal. So I’m just excited that we’re able to use the experience that we had in unfortunately being defeated in some really tight matches last year, but actually having had the opportunity to play in those matches in the past, we’ve never really had that experience to go to five sets in so many matches that we did. Unfortunately, losing them at the end, I think came down to a little bit of inexperience and just team leadership as a whole, but obviously I gained the opportunity to learn, and the rest of my coaching staff to learn how to move forward and really get over the finish line in those matches. I think you’re going to see a bit of a different Rutgers team but also the same — it’s kind of hard to explain. We obviously have some new people in some key positions, but a lot of returners as well.
Q. I’ll ask the players what you’re looking forward to and what you want people to know as you go through summer workouts about what this 2025 Rutgers team is going to be like. KENZIE DYRSTAD: I just really want people to know that we are a very close-knit team and we’re working on fixing the little things and we’re really working on coming together and being able to play well with one another.
LEXI VISINTINE: I would say we’ve been working extremely hard in summer workouts and lift and practice and that we’re ready to compete and play against the best.
Q. Talk about Lauren Wilcock, a transfer, also a Master’s biomedical sciences major. How does that match with the volleyball training schedule?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: I’ll talk about the educational piece first. We have one of the best degree programs in biomedical sciences. I’ve learned a lot about that graduate program. But the dean of that program has had multiple athletes come through, so they know how to work with the schedules. Rutgers, being such a large institution, we offer a lot of classes at different times. One of the things we’re doing this year is shifting our practice block a little bit later in the day. We practiced earlier in the day in the past, but moving to a little bit later in the day. It’s always my goal to have local talent on the team. Lauren was in the ones pair at Washington. She was also in the ones pair before that at South Carolina and something that really stood out to me about her was she typically had a partner that was younger than her. So from a leadership standpoint, I thought she would be a wonderful add, help support our passing unit. And there’s been a transition for her obviously taking the game from outside to inside, just the speed, but I got to watch her do some training during camp last week, and I thought she really has meshed nicely. Q. Can I ask the players what that transition is like? Do you notice when someone has that primary beach background?
KENZIE DYRSTAD: Yeah, we mess around with Lauren, especially when we’re sitting kids at the camp was like, oh, isn’t that a carry though when she was setting, and she’s like, I’m working on it. So she’s definitely working on that. Obviously, setting in beach is a little bit different, but she’s working on that and then a few footwork things. And she said diving was a lot different. She got pretty bruised up the first couple weeks of open gym. But she’s meshed really nicely with us, and I’m super excited to be able to keep playing with her.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: I was joking with her because obviously Lexi has a really strong jump top spin serve and Lauren was like, well, I did it on the beach. I was like, that’s a free ball. We’ve got to be better at that. She was like, I just have to figure out how to hit the indoor ball a little bit harder.
Q. What is your mindset coming into the upcoming season?
KENZIE DYRSTAD: For me personally, my mindset is we get to play against the best of the best day in, day out. There’s not a lot of conferences where you get to say that you play top-25 teams back-to-back nights. Really just enjoying the moment and trying to remember that it’s so cool to be able to play some of the best athletes in the country and really focusing on that.
LEXI VISINTINE: I would say something similar. Going into my senior year, I really want to make this my best season and enjoy every moment.
Q. Coach, how do you determine playing time, and what are some factors considered for freshmen coming in?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Well, playing time. We train for about 25 days before our first game. Obviously, we have the opportunity to see these players on more of a year-round basis. Summer access would be wonderful, but we get to see them play a lot. We also were able to go on a foreign trip this year, so I got a little bit of an early insight. We were able to bring one of our freshmen, Imani Howell on that trip with us, so got to see how she meshed with the team. I think playing time comes from a few things. You can perform well in practice but can you replicate that in a game, and there’s certain players who can and there’s certain players who can’t. We learn that over time of just getting to know them and experiencing. It doesn’t mean that’s every night, but that definitely is something that goes into it. I think competitive personality, how you hold yourself under the pressure, under the big lights, the fans, how do you recover, are you taking care of your body correctly. So we play back-to-back nights sometimes, and are the players that are able to repeat their Friday night skill level on Saturday night. Then last but not least, obviously, experience. As you get older, you get more comfortable, so that goes into it as well. We haven’t really had that much opportunity to really have a lot of experienced players out there, so this will be the first year where I think we have a junior and senior class that is able to really hold their own and it’s not just all freshmen out there, freshmen and sophomores out there.
Q. For the players and coaches, how do you guys process game film? Do you watch the Big Ten Network? Do you listen without the sound? How do you take in a game?
KENZIE DYRSTAD: Usually, before games, we’ll break down film through volley metrics, so we’ll look at hitting tendencies, serving tendencies, all that type of stuff. We really break it down to what are people’s very specific tendencies so we can try and like help prevent what they’re really, really good at or things like that.
LEXI VISINTINE: Yeah, we usually take it in offense. We focus on that and scout their offense, and then their defense, which makes it easier to digest. Then we form a game plan about what we should do.
Q. How do you guys know when you watch the game? Do you watch broadcast? How do you watch the game?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: So I have this saying where I’m like, are we watching it as a player, are we scouting this, or are we watching this as a fan. It’s totally okay to watch games as a fan. They’re both from states that are big volleyball states and they might just want to turn on the television and watch the game as a fan. But it’s a very different mindset when you’re watching it to prepare for a team. I wouldn’t recommend that they just turn on BTN and just watch the game and say, hey, we’re prepped. No, it’s not like that. We’re on the road sometimes and we’ll turn it on at night just in the hotel when we’re eating dinner or whatever if it’s a game after hours. But when it comes to film breakdown, our technical director does an unbelievable job of creating small videos for the players. We break down practice film so they can see themselves playing. We break individual reps. This year — I think in the past having a young team we really force fed a lot of the scouting report to them, and they did a great job of memorizing set 1. We did a lot better job — won a ton of set 1s. We didn’t do a great job of being able to transition into when the other team made an adjustment in set 2, 3, 4. We almost needed to have a whole ‘nother practice to learn about that. So we are spending more time less team specific things and more about player tendencies, and so that’s an area they want to focus on this year. They do small group sessions. A lot of film.
Q. Coach, you alluded to the foreign travels that you guys had. I think this was the first time ever and for all three of you, tell us what that does for your program, chemistry, competition, et cetera.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Yeah, our main two donors who really helped fund that trip aren’t going to want to have their names announced, but we were very supported when it came from a donor relationship to really drive that trip. It was a goal of mine when I first was hired that I wanted to do that trip and wait for the right timing of it. We’ve had an opportunity actually to do this probably for the last three years but I wasn’t sure the team dynamic, everything was exactly where I wanted it to be that would really jump start the next season. I felt after this spring — actually after last fall of knowing we were retaining the majority of our team, having the opportunity to train for the extra 10 days before that trip and then go on that trip, the relationships, and then the growth from a player development that we were able to create. So again, yes, it was the first trip Rutgers has ever done. I was able to do a foreign trip with some of my previous institutions and I just saw how successful those seasons are. Actually one of the ways we got the trip pushed through is we had to do some research about the success of other programs on years after foreign trips. There really is a trend that’s related to that, so that was a driving factor for those donors to really push through that trip. But I had a wonderful time. I got to know my players a lot more on a personal level. My daughter was able to go, my mother was able to go, so they got to see that side of my life more. It was a lot of together time, but I was actually honestly — maybe you guys can explain how we got through that trip, but I was shocked how there really was no fighting. Everyone seemed to really still enjoy being around each other at the end of that trip, and that was pretty cool.
KENZIE DYRSTAD: Yeah, it was so cool to be able to experience new cultures, especially we have a girl on our team, Ema, she’s from Serbia, so to be able to experience her culture, her home, it was so cool. Just all the new experiences and being able to create new memories, especially with the new people, that just makes your team so much closer. It’s going to really translate to the court hopefully.
LEXI VISINTINE: I would just add that it was also interesting to see the different styles of play. I feel like every country had their unique way of playing. I think it was a great experience for us to grow.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: For a player like Lexi who is going into her senior year and potentially what’s next, do I stay playing volleyball, do I go into the workforce, what do I do. I think opening her eyes and kind of putting words in your mouth, but she had a wonderful foreign trip, and the doors that opened from just other teams getting to see her play and different countries that might not have been their first thought about a 5’10” outside hitter, they got to see how successful she was against really quality players. We played the U-21 Italian team and she had an unbelievable hitting percentage against them, so it was just really interesting. Q. What keeps you guys motivated when things get tough in volleyball?
LEXI VISINTINE: I would say there’s a lot of younger girls who looked up to us, and I think that’s the main thing that keeps me motivated, is playing for my younger self and playing for younger girls that would love to be in my shoes.
KENZIE DYRSTAD: For me, same thing as Lexi. Playing for younger me who loved the game. I still love the game. Really, just focusing on my joy for the game just really keeps me going.
Q. Caitlin, how has the House settlement impacted your team management? And for the players, is that a topic of conversation or are you discussing that? Is that on your mind of how the sport is growing and evolving?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Yeah, the House settlement is interesting. Obviously, I followed along the whole process for the past several years. I don’t know how much they’ve followed along the ins and outs of it. But I think a lot of coaches will say that’s not the reason they got into coaching originally was because of where we’re at now, but I do think after really trying to process and ask the questions as to why we got to this point, I understand. I see how much is on their plate and how much is on all the players’ plates in all different sports and how much they really do represent these institutions in such a high-quality way that it is only fair that they’re able to be compensated for their time and what they bring to the table. However, what they probably will realize is it’s a tough ask for every institution, not only Rutgers, but every institution. I was just talking to the head of our booster club, and she’s involved with the Women in Finance group at Rutgers, and they did an entire overview of how all the Big Ten teams would fare when it comes to paying out this amount of money year after year after year. The reality is it’s going to be tough for pretty much 98 percent of institutions. How that translates, I think Rutgers is doing a wonderful job of trying to keep the experience the same for all of out athletes regardless of what sport they play, and we’ve been able to be at a point where I have fought for the past several years when I took over this program so make sure that we were operationally funded the same way other teams in the Big Ten were, because in the past the volleyball program was not. And so in order to be successful we need to remain at that level. Obviously doing things like selling tickets for the first time ever in program history was a big deal, and that’s something that I pushed for for several years, and now I want to show that we have this fan base that’s able to generate some income back into the university, and it just shows how invested the region is in the sport of volleyball. Again, when it comes to player-to-player, those are individual conversations, and Rutgers is part of that mix for volleyball. Obviously, we’re going through some administrative changes, and we don’t need to get into that, but we’re going to figure out who’s leading the charge, and that is whoever that may be. Obviously, we’ve had wonderful interim athletic directors in the meantime, but whoever full-time leads the charge, they know that volleyball needs to be a priority sport because it is in this conference.
Q. Have you had conversations on the player level at all?
KENZIE DYRSTAD: I like to ask Caitlin questions about it. I see a lot of it, especially on Twitter I’ll see people post about it. Most of my conversations have just been asking Caitlin, what does this mean, what is this, stuff like that.
LEXI VISINTINE: Pretty much the same.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: It’s really important to me that I treat my players as if they are professional athletes because they basically are professional athletes. So I want to make sure that they’re part of their own process and that I’m as transparent as possible with the decisions I have to make and how it affects them. I don’t want to hide anything from them. Obviously there’s things they don’t need to be privy to that don’t affect them immediately, but I think it’s important that they’re aware of decisions that not only the NCAA is making, not only the ABCA is making, but also that Rutgers is making and I am making that will affect them in the near future.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about what went into your decision to bring Kenzie and Lexi to media days this year?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Sure. Well, Kenzie has been a captain for us. She was captain as a sophomore, which I think is really — maybe a rare thing. I don’t know how many teams have a sophomore captain. But she was our libero full-time last season. She has a ton of experience. But we have a family tree growing in the Dyrstad family, so it’s something she has really invested in this Rutgers process and growth process. She was one of the first true commits that I had for the class of 2023, and she opened the door for us in the Nebraska market, and now that’s growing exponentially year after year, the interest. I thought it was really important she represent this team and this program. Lexi is a really unique story where she came in as a walk-on, as a freshman, and I didn’t know exactly what role she would fill. She played more of a utility player, but she has taken every single bit of feedback that I have given her, that the rest of the staff has given her in great stride and now she is a player we can’t take off the court. So I felt like she really earned that honor to represent this team, and it just shows that just like this program that we’re trying to create as a whole, that sometimes it takes time to meet your goals. It doesn’t always happen overnight, but the reality is if you stick with something regularly, good things can happen.
Follow Rutgers women’s volleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.
– RU –
College Sports
U23 Worlds Sunday
The U23 Worlds wrapped with the USA women’s eight winning a repeat silver, and saw the US in the running in all the big sweep boats. The W8’s charge into second place gave the squad three medals on the weekend: gold in the men’s four, silver in the women’s eight, and silver in the light […]

The U23 Worlds wrapped with the USA women’s eight winning a repeat silver, and saw the US in the running in all the big sweep boats. The W8’s charge into second place gave the squad three medals on the weekend: gold in the men’s four, silver in the women’s eight, and silver in the light men’s single.
Head here to read our report on Saturday’s medals in the four and light single.
The US men’s eight also made the A Final, and took fifth in the last race of the regatta. In that final, Britain won a sixth straight gold medal while New Zealand–who had not fielded an eight in eight years–stormed through the pack for a silver ahead of Germany.
USA M8 in the A Final
In all, the US put five of its nine crews into the A Finals this year, and the men’s quad made the AB semis before taking 10th overall in the B Final. Two of the others–the men’s pair and double–made the C finals, while the light men’s double was the odd boat out in a seven boat field and did not advance from the heats.
W8+ Wins Silver – ‘Friendship Moves Boats’
Not only did the women’s eight win silver, with a patient start and firm command of the middle thousand, but they added a 19th year to the nation’s medal-winning streak in this event. Since the W8+ became part of the U23 program in 2006, the USA has made the podium every time, for 11 golds, 4 bronzes and now 4 silvers.
Four of the women in the boat returned from the crew that kept the streak going last year: stroke Joely Cherniss, seven seat Áine Ley, five seat Natalie Hoefer, and four seat Kathryn Serra all collected a second silver in Poznan to add to the one they won a year ago in St. Catherines.
“Friendship moves boats,” was how coxswain Honor Warburg summed up in the race talking to USRowing after the race.
“It is an honor to race such a fast field and we wouldn’t have wanted any other competition,” Warburg added, when row2k caught up with her. “Our word of the race week was from Coach Gia Doonan. She told us to be ruthless out there.
“Second in the world is such a privilege,” Warburg said, “and a wonderful closing for these women. Our support on land, our teammates who pushed us, the coaches who inspired and everyone who has represented the United States of America. This is a race to be proud of.”
USA W8
Warburg, who coxes at Stanford and raced here on her first US team, told row2k that the key to the race was the crew’s base speed.
“We knew we were a middle thousand crew, and our goal was to execute a lethal base rhythm. With confidence and composure we trusted one another, just thinking about the stroke we were on.
As the race unfolded, Great Britain got away early to claim a repeat gold, but the US crew moved relentlessly through the field, and overtook a fast starting Canada to grab the silver medal.
“All summer, this boat has been working on improving each practice by one percent,” said Warburg. “We talked about how this race is just an opportunity to put the training together and have fun with it. I think we did exactly that. I’m so incredibly proud to be a part of this year and this moment.”
Six seat Ella Wheeler, making her debut at this next level after wining two golds as a U19 national teamer, talked about how the boat gelled through selection camp and training.
“It has been such a great experience coming together as a crew and I think every time we got in the boat at practice and even through the racing here we got better,” Wheeler said. “As a boat, I think we are really proud of our performance in the final.
“For my first time at Under 23s, it was super exciting being in a boat that was so hardworking and being pushed by our coach, Gia Doonan, who was so inspiring and helped us all grow as rowers.”
Dartmouth College’s Áine Ley echoed those thoughts, telling USRowing:
“We’ve talked about putting the pieces together for the last few weeks. This group has come so far, and I’m so proud of all of us.”
Staying on the Pathway, to Win
The US has been putting more emphasis on developing national team talent over time with its Pathways program: this year, fourteen athletes made at least their second U23 team and a few, like Ella Wheeler in the W8, were moving up from successful U19 appearances. In Poznan, Wheeler aded a U23 silver to the back-to-back golds she won in the U19 four with in 2022 and 2023.
Sam Sullivan, who helped the men’s four win the USA’s first ever gold on Saturday, told row2k that his experience as a returning athlete played a role in winning this time around.
“Last year Wil Morton and I had the experience in the 8, where we left disappointed after not following up our performance in the heat,” Sullivan said. “This year, throughout the rounds, we made sure that we stayed within our boat and stuck to what we knew we were best at no matter who we lined up against.
Men’s 4, with Morton second from left, Sullivan third from left
“We knew that the US had never won the straight four, so there were no huge expectations on our shoulders,” Sullivan added.
“Overall it was a great experience. The team, with us, the 8, the quad and lightweight single, pushed each other throughout training together in OKC and we were lucky to have an amazing coaching and support staff behind the scenes to set us up to take the gold.”
Notes from the Course
More Driver’s Seat Alums – Coxswains who do the row2k ‘In the Driver’s Seat’ Interview keep popping up on national teams (coincidence? Probably.) We did run an updated version of Elenna Seguin’s column last week when we saw she would be driving the USA M8 this year, and then we spotted another familiar face as the regatta got underway: Rutgers coxswain Victoria Grieder. Victoria–whose interview from 2023 you can read here–was in Poznan coxing the Canadian women’s eight. Both she and Rutgers got a name-checked by Martin Cross on the commentary in the final, just as she was looking across at the the German eight to lock up Canada’s bronze medal on Sunday.
Grieder, on left, with her bronze medal winning CAN eight
Too Shallow For Tossing – one last consequence of the low water level that we mentioned in Saturday’s report? Lake Malta was not deep enough for the officials to okay a cox toss by the British men at the end of the regatta. For all of the great problem-solving that made the regatta happen despite the water level, there wasn’t a work-around for this one, so the Brits will just have to try winning again next year in Duisburg–which looked plenty inviting both for racing and cox-tossing in the coverage from the World University Games this past weekend.
Streaky Brits – The British won both eights again this year, and while that is “just” a two-in-a-row repeat for the women, then men now have a six year winning streak that runs all the way back to 2019 (math thanks to COVID, of course, since there was no 2020 event.) Six seat Harry Geffen has a streak of his own: this was his fourth gold in four tries at U23, and he also has the full “set” of sweep golds, winning in the pair in ’23 and the four in ’24, to go along with two wins in the eight.
GBR’s M8, with Geffen bottom right
But Five Still Beats Four – With Aurelia-Maxima Janzen’s dominating win in the single–by ten seconds–the Swiss sculler now has 5 straight U23 medals, so she is one up on Geffen. Janzen now joins the USA’s Kendall Chase, a Tokyo Olympian, as the second individual to win five U23 medals. Chase won her five–all gold–in just three years, doubling up in 2014-2016; Janzen collected hers by medalling every time she raced U23s, racking up 2 golds and 3 silvers, and of course, qualifying for the Paris Games along the way.
SUI’s Janzen
Professional Sports
Street fighter Death Sentence knocked out in first fight since threatening to 'swing on' Jon Jones
Street Fighter Death Sentence’s brief time in the win column ended this past weekend. The Streetbeefs star – real name Maraji Johnson – lost four fights in a row before training with UFC legend Demetrious Johnson, who coached him to a shock submission victory in May. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was there as he looked to make […]

Street Fighter Death Sentence’s brief time in the win column ended this past weekend.
The Streetbeefs star – real name Maraji Johnson – lost four fights in a row before training with UFC legend Demetrious Johnson, who coached him to a shock submission victory in May.
‘Mighty Mouse’ was there as he looked to make it two wins in a row against YouTuber Zach Cray.
However, Death Sentence fell to 1-5 despite enjoying some early success against his 22-year-old opponent.

Death Sentence loses latest fight
Demetrious Johnson‘s fighter threatened early with a deep rear-naked choke attempt.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t get the grip right, and his opponent was able to wriggle his way to freedom.
When the fight returned to the feet, Death Sentence threw punches relentlessly without landing a single strike.
It quickly became apparent that the viral sensation was totally gassed out from all his fruitless efforts.
Zach Cray dodged more of his labored punches before unleashing a flurry of punches to close the show when Death Sentence got trapped against the fence.
MORE BLOODY ELBOW NEWS
The referee stepped in to wave the fight off when Death Sentence dropped to the floor and lay motionless while ground strikes were raining down on him.
After realizing he’d lost, Death Sentence punched a wall and stormed out of the fight arena.
Johnson kept it classy as he stuck around to raise Zach Cray’s hand to confirm his big win.
Death Sentence called out Jon Jones
Death Sentence got a little carried away after recording his first Streetbeefs win earlier this year.
The brawler outlined his UFC dream in a message to Dana White after winning for the first time.
Death Sentence also called out Jon Jones, who is regarded as the greatest fighter in MMA history.
“If he was in this room right now, I would swing on him,” he said about Jones in June.
“F— it. Come to Charlotte, and we can spar. The reason I haven’t talked s— about Jon Jones recently is because I’m going to focus on my opposition. But if Jon Jones was in this room, I would swing on him.
“I could take him out. I don’t have a grudge against him anymore like I used to. I just wanted to beat his ass because I’m like, ‘Bro, I deserve what he’s got. I want it.’
“So, I don’t got no beef with Jon Jones no more. But again, if he was in this room and he wanted to run it, we can do that. It’s on him, though.”
College Sports
WWE Looks to Expand Its Audience With Netflix Docuseries WWE Unreal
Posted By: Ben Kerin on Jul 28, 2025 Netflix is set to take WWE behind the curtain with a new docuseries titled WWE Unreal, and according to the show’s director, the goal is to help the company grow its fanbase far beyond the wrestling world. Director Chris Weaver, who also works as a senior producer […]

Posted By: Ben Kerin on Jul 28, 2025

Netflix is set to take WWE behind the curtain with a new docuseries titled WWE Unreal, and according to the show’s director, the goal is to help the company grow its fanbase far beyond the wrestling world.
Director Chris Weaver, who also works as a senior producer with NFL Films, recently spoke with the Miami Herald about WWE’s ambitions for the series. He explained that WWE is looking to replicate the success of other Netflix sports documentaries such as Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Tour de France: Unchained, which helped bring those sports to new audiences.
“I think that was a goal for WWE, for sure,” said Weaver. “They’ve seen how these behind-the-scenes follow-doc-series on Netflix have propelled leagues and athletes and opened up to new audiences. And I think that was a major goal for them, like ‘Hey, let’s see if we can get more people to watch this thing and expand our footprint, expand our audience, our fan base.’”
“I know it’s been a polarizing discussion in the wrestling realm, but the next fan coming in is what we’re after. Bringing in new fans,” he added.
The first episode of WWE Unreal will premiere on July 29 and will cover the debut of Raw on Netflix, which took place on January 6, 2025, at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The series will consist of five episodes, each roughly 50 minutes in length, featuring in-depth coverage of major events including John Cena’s heel turn, the Royal Rumble, the Elimination Chamber, and a spotlight on WWE’s women’s division.
The full interview with Chris Weaver is available below:
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UFC spokesperson addresses if promotion will add new rule after fighter got dropped 8 times
A Dana White step-in was asked if the UFC will follow boxing’s example after UFC Abu Dhabi. The UFC’s return to the UAE had a handful of finishes. Most of the main card ended in decisions, like the main event between Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder, but the undercard surely delivered. In a featherweight […]

A Dana White step-in was asked if the UFC will follow boxing’s example after UFC Abu Dhabi.
The UFC’s return to the UAE had a handful of finishes. Most of the main card ended in decisions, like the main event between Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder, but the undercard surely delivered.
In a featherweight bout, Fortis MMA’s Steven Nguyen made history when he knocked down Mohammad Yahya 8 times—6 times, officially, setting a new knockdown record in the premier promotion.
Referee Jason Herzog was criticized for not stopping the fight sooner, with Yahya’s left eye swollen shut at the end of round 2. The fight was called off between rounds and luckily, Yahya received a positive health update afterwards.
Still, Yahya’s eye looked horrific and one has to wonder how much damage a fighter should be allowed to take in the Octagon before it’s stopped.

UFC exec on implementing 3-knockdown rule: ‘I don’t think so’
It varies on the promotion, but in the sports of boxing and kickboxing, there is a 3-knockdown rule that would automatically stop a fight if a fighter is dropped three times in one round. This is to protect fighters from too much damage.
UFC’s Yahya was dropped six times in a round and eight times overall and the fight wasn’t stopped until after round 2 had ended.
Post-fight, UFC executive Dave Shaw was asked if a three-knockdown rule should be implemented in the UFC.
“I don’t think so,” Shaw said at the UFC Abu Dhabi press conference.
MORE BLOODY ELBOW NEWS
“I mean, the record was five and I don’t want to make a judgment on that.
“We’ve got one fight that we’re commenting on. We should be looking at a wide body of discussion evidence.
“I think we’ve all seen some pretty incredible fights over the years that are three rounds, that are five rounds that have three, four, five knockdowns. And they’re wildly entertaining.
“Doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s an extensive amount of damage,” Shaw explained.
Other UFC fights that have had multiple knockdowns
The previous record for most knockdowns in a single UFC bout was held by Jeremy Stephens and Forrest Petz.
‘Lil Heathen’ Stephens chopped the legs of former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez with kicks, knocking him down five times at UFC 215 in 2017.
In 2022, the greatest female fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes, got revenge on her rival Julianna Pena with three knockdowns in one round.
Former UFC title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. had one of the best performances of his career against Eryk Anders in 2019, dropping the former football player four separate times across three rounds.
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