The UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier has kept his calm in responding to Beneil Dariush’s retirement proposal. The former title contender, Poirier got back to winning ways after his failed quest for the title at UFC 269 against Charles Oliviera. In the subsequent appearance, the Diamond exchanged blows with the Iron, Michael Chandler before submitting him via rare naked choke in round 3. With that win, Poirier is once again vying for the title shot and he could be just one triumph away from that. His peer, Dariush is also impatiently knocking at the door for the championship fight. The Iranian-born American suggested a fight for the no.1 contender between him and the Diamond, but Poirier seems to be least interested in that proposal. Following Poirier’s dismissive response, Dariush took a dig at the Louisianan urging him to retire from the sport if he is only after the esteemed names in the division. Dariush clearly didn’t like Poirier’s attitude in this regard. But unlike Dariush, Poirier has avoided exchanging stern phrases with the former as he complimented Dariush for his advice. He even offered to send his branded hot sauce over to him, with free shipping on the Diamond. “Thanks for the advice Benny!” Poirier said. “Not sure if you’re into hot sauce or not but if you are free Shipping on me!” Dariush is on an eight-win streak in the octagon with his most recent victory coming over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280. The 33-year-old is also on the brink of that title shot which he richly deserves.

Australian heavyweight Demsey McKean said that Anthony Joshua had been in talks with potential opponents. After suffering back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk, it has been more than two years since Joshua last claimed victory. According to reports, the 33-year-old plans to return to the ring shortly in an effort to restart his career. McKean, an unbeaten Australian southpaw with 14 knockouts, is prepared to be that man. "We are one of the frontrunners for a possible opponent for Anthony Joshua," he told Sky Sports. "I could be (the man to retire Joshua) and I am very confident I can do that. But don't get me wrong, there is still more fights for AJ. If he loses to me, a top-10 heavyweight as well, that shouldn't be the end.” The Australian's promoter, Angelo Di Carlo, commented on a potential match between Joshua and McKean by saying, "We are in contact with our promotional partner Eddie Hearn regarding Demsey's next fight. "We have stated unequivocally that we are prepared for major battles and would be more than happy to face AJ in either Australia or England.” Demsey currently holds positions 10 in the WBO and 11 in the IBF. He is well positioned for a major bout in 2023, whether it be against AJ or someone else.

Errol Spence Jr., the undisputed welterweight champion, is reportedly planning his next fight, but it will not be in his usual weight class. According to ESPN's Mike Coppinger, the three-belt champion is finalizing a junior middleweight match against Keith Thurman for an April PBC on PPV event. Spence is the WBA, WBC, and IBF welterweight champion. WBA president Gilberto Mendoza told Coppinger that he gave Spence permission to fight outside the division without relinquishing his belt. Mendoza also stated that Spence will have 60 days after the Thurman fight to finalize a deal for a highly anticipated undisputed welterweight championship fight against WBO titleholder Terence Crawford. Last year, they were negotiating before the anticipated unification match fell through. Mendoza stated that if Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) is unable to reach an agreement with Crawford, he will be forced to defend his 147-pound title against the winner of the postponed WBA "regular" title fight between Vergil Ortiz and Eimantas Stanionis. Spence could also choose to move up to the junior middleweight division and compete at 154 pounds indefinitely, according to Coppinger. Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) returned to the ring in February and defeated Mario Barrios by unanimous decision. It was his first fight since losing a split decision to Manny Pacquiao in July of this year. The former unified welterweight champion is 34 years old.

Amanda Serrano, the unified 126-pound champion, will seek to be the undisputed champion at the same weight when she faces Erika 'Dinamita' Cruz of Mexico in a war between Puerto Rico and Mexico on Saturday, February 4 at the Hulu theater in Madison Square Garden, with the motivation of adding a golden page to Puerto Rican professional boxing's achievements. Serrano will defend her featherweight belts from the World Boxing Organization, the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council, and the International Boxing Organization in this historic clash. Cruz, for her part, will seek to become Mexico's first female undisputed champion, setting up a historic scenario for both boxers in their respective countries' legendary rivalry. “This is the second time in 140 years that women's boxing is the main attraction at Madison Square Garden,” said Serrano, who will be taking part in her sixteenth (16) world title fight since she debuted in March 2009. “I always admire the great Mexican and Mexican champions for their courage and dedication and just thinking that I will face a Mexican world champion in the most important fight of my career is something incredible. I always say that God's timing is perfect. “I am very focused on training because I know there will be a lot of action that night. Erika is coming to give everything and so will I. I'm looking to guarantee a victory in style so that my flag moves from side to side throughout the Garden and throughout Puerto Rico. “The fight with Katie Taylor was very exciting and many analysts saw it as the fight of the year for both women and men. Because of Erika's style, I believe that there will be another bell-to-bell war that I promise you that it will meet all expectations. What better than having the possibility of facing Katie Taylor again in a duel of undisputed champions in the near future."

Former Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee has extended his contract with the organisation. Bellator revealed in a press release on Tuesday that it had renewed McKee's multi-year deal. McKee will participate in the upcoming Lightweight World Grand Prix competition, according to Scott Coker, president of Bellator. Before renewing his agreement with Bellator, McKee still had two matches left on his previous contract. He considered joining the UFC to compete against great fighters like Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski. Just a few weeks ago, McKee most recently competed at the Bellator-Rizin cross-promotional event. In his second bout as a lightweight, he defeated Roberto de Souza by unanimous decision. After losing a featherweight title rematch to Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire last April, McKee opted for a move to 155lbs. He won his lightweight debut against Spike Carlyle last October.

A significant adjustment was made to the opening UFC event of 2023 on Monday. Because Kelvin Gastelum was unable to attend the card due to a mouth injury, UFC Vegas 67 has sacrificed one-half of the main event. Sean Strickland reportedly offered to compete in his replacement versus Nassourdine Imavov on Saturday in Las Vegas as a consequence. The fight will continue to run five rounds however now will be fought at light heavyweight, which was previously scheduled at middleweight. In response to reports, a dejected Gastelum wrote a post on Twitter in which he said sorry to all concerned individuals. “I’m extremely disappointed, to say the least,” Gastelum wrote. “This not how I wanted to start 2023. I worked my ass off & battled through a lot of adversary and was ready to put on a hell of a show this weekend. I apologize to Imavov, his camp as well as @ufc and all the fans.” Strickland wants to turn things around after losing by a razor-thin decision against Jared Cannonier in the main event at UFC Fight Night 216 in December. As a result of being beaten out by current UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira in July, he is currently on a two-fight losing skid. Strickland was riding a six-fight winning streak before the two losses. Imavov has won three straight matches. The 25-year-old Dagestan-born athlete with a base in France defeated compatriot potential Edmen Shahbazyan in the second round at UFC 268 in November after beating Heinisch in July. Joaquin Buckley was most recently thrashed by Imavov at UFC Fight Night 209 in September. When he takes on Strickland on Saturday, he hopes to extend his existing three-fight undefeated streak. Gastelum was forced to sit out the whole of 2022 because of several injuries that prevented him from competing, so the bout change is terrible news for him. The most recent encounter for the former interim middleweight title challenger in the UFC occurred in 2021, a loss to Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision. In his last six fights, Gastelum has underperformed consistently with a 1-5 record.

Diego Sanchez is switching to bare-knuckle fights after mixed martial arts. The former Ultimate Fighter season 1 contestant and UFC old hand have signed a contract to become a part of the BKFC lineup. On February 17 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he will compete in the co-main event of KnuckleMania 3 against professional boxer Austin Trout. From November of last year, there have been speculations that Diego Sanchez will square up with a former boxing world champion in a bare-knuckle boxing contest. The contest, however, had not yet been set in stone since Jerome O'Connell, the athletic commissioner for New Mexico, had declined to grant Sanchez the go-ahead to fight because of worries about his mental condition. But after receiving a 3-1 vote from the NMAC just the other day, Sanchez has ultimately been given the all-clear to earn his BKFC debut following several neurological examinations. Nolan Kings, an MMA writer, announced the news first on his own Twitter account, posting: "Diego Sanchez vs. Austin Trout was green-lighted at a New Mexico Athletic Commission (NMAC) meeting earlier today on a 3-1 vote. After some initial concerns, Sanchez provided additional medical testing and received approval for the #BKFC bout." After leaving the UFC, Sanchez briefly considered engaging in a bare-knuckle fight, but he eventually decided against it and accepted a contract with Eagle FC. Nevertheless, Eagle FC hasn't sponsored any events in the United States ever since the previous event in March 2021, when Sanchez dropped a close decision to Kevin Lee in his debut. On BKFC's largest card of the year, Sanchez will therefore step into bare-knuckle action with a star clash. After signing a contract with the organization in late 2022, multi-time boxing champion Trout will also be staging his BKFC debut. Trout has fought some legendary boxers throughout his journey, notably Miguel Cotto in 2012 and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Jermell, and Jermall Charlo. It will be interesting to observe whether Diego Sanchez can find his composure and get back into the game with his upcoming fight.

The Queensberry Promotions owner Frank Warren has ruled out the fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in 2023. Warren has been associated with Fury promoting most of his fights since the Gypsy King's introduction at the world boxing stage. Fury was close to sealing the deal with the local rival, Anthony Joshua last year but the negotiations fell apart after the latter decided to take time out of the ring. Warren argued that the Joshua fight is off the chart as of now for numerous reasons. First, his client and the WBC titlist, Tyson Fury has already notified him of what he wants next and that’s definitely not Joshua. Secondly, Joshua is on look for a new training team and is yet to make a decision on it. AJ further informed that he needed a couple of tune-up fights before he can vouch for the bigger fish in the division. And with that said, it’s apparent that Fury will need to probe into other options for his next outing. “No, and I’ll tell you why we can’t see it,” said Warren when asked if Fury will fight Anthony Joshua in 2023. “Tyson has told me what fights he wants. That’s number one, and number two, they don’t want the fight.” “More importantly, he [Joshua] doesn’t even have a trainer. He didn’t have a trainer then, so why do we waste our time?” The Gypsy King has signalled for a fight with the IBF, WBA, WBO and Ring Magazine champ, Oleksander Usyk for a unification bout and it seems like, the British heavyweight will get his wish fulfilled soon.

The UFC Flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko is not happy with her activity schedule in the promotion as she is uncertain when she will be making her return to the octagon. Shevchenko has fought just once in the previous year where she successfully defended her flyweight title against Taila Santos at UFC 275. It was by no means a walk in the park for the “Bullet” as she had to sweat it out to keep the belt with her. The Brazilian Santos immediately shouted for a rematch but had to be complacent with a bout against Erin Blanchfield. With Santos out of the picture, the Kyrgyz fighter is left with no substantial fighter at her disposal against which she can show her talent. Shevchenko expressed her disappointment in a short interview with UFC writer E. Spencer Kyte, quoting that she is surprised that nobody is willing to share the octagon with her. “I want to fight frequently, but I realize this is a problem for the UFC to find opponents in order for me to fight frequently. My understanding is that everyone would love to fight for a title, so what’s happening with you girls? Why so quiet?” questioned the Bullet. If Shevchenko doesn’t get any flyweight for her return soon, the UFC could match her against strawweight champ, Zhang Weili who showed keen interest in fighting the bullet for a super fight.

Michael Bisping thinks Jake Paul's anticipated entry into martial arts and calling out Nate Diaz is only a publicity stunt. With aspirations to compete in MMA, "The Problem Child" just signed with the PFL. Paul issued a challenge to Diaz to face him in a two-fight series that would first take place in a boxing ring and then in a cage under MMA rules. Paul and Diaz have publicly traded insults in the past, and now that Diaz is a free agent after UFC 279 in September, the chances of a fight between the two are growing. “It’s the same old story, isn’t it?” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Same old story because Nate Diaz fought almost all of his fights at 155 and a few at 170, but he’s a lightweight generally.” “He’s a lightweight. Jake Paul weighs over 200 pounds and I’ve been through this, it’s every single time I talk about it. He’s bigger, he’s stronger, he’s faster, he’s a boxer, and he wants to go first because he’ll probably knock Nate Diaz out or beat him in the very least in a boxing fight.” Since November, when Bisping weighed in on rumours of a prospective Paul-Diaz battle, he has maintained the same opinion of the contest and predicted that Diaz would not fare well. MMA veteran had a mixed record in the UFC, going 4-3 in irregular appearances since 2015, including his most recent submission victory against Tony Ferguson in the fourth round. Regardless of the outcome of a fight with Paul, Bisping believes that Diaz is the most recent opponent that Paul has picked primarily on name recognition and possible draw power rather than the need to establish a credible martial arts resume. "When two people fight, the promoter arranges a lot of things,” Bisping said. “Press. Interviews. Hotel. Airport. Flights. Pickups. All the rest of it. There’s nothing to stop that promoter messing with that opponent big time and if Jake Paul’s the promoter, he can arrange you don’t get picked up from the airport on time." “They’re giving interviews in the middle of the night. Their PR schedule is just absolutely through the roof. Just lots of little things that would mess with the opponents."

Last year, the World Boxing Council announced a four-man elimination tournament to find a new mandatory challenger to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Former unified champion Andy Ruiz defeated Luis Ortiz in round twelve of the first stage. And Wilder, a former World Boxing Council champion, destroyed Robert Helenius in one round. Ruiz and Wilder will now face off in a final world title eliminator according to Bronze Bomber's trainer. He said "It's down to the mystery opponent and Andy Ruiz Jr. Since AJ had made up his mind and does not want to fight Deontay right now, we're down to Andy Ruiz and the mystery guy. The mystery fighter is not as guaranteed to happen as the Ruiz fight. If you're looking at it from the business perspective, it's most likely going to be the mandatory shot, Ruiz," Scott told Best Sports Betting Canada. “It's looking like Ruiz, but in this game there's no telling as Deontay is big-time boxing. When you're bigtime boxing, and as sad or as unfortunate it may sound to some people, mandatories don't mean nothing. Fighters have stepped aside to make big, big fights happen. “This goes on in boxing, it's what the fans want or what makes business sense for the fighters and their team. It's likely to be Ruiz but if not there are other negotiations going on as well.” The next fight for Wilder is expected to take place in March or April. "We could be going in March or early April but it really depends. The only thing I can say at the moment is Ruiz is mandated but Deontay is big-time boxing," Scott said. “And when you have a big-time boxer like Deontay and a mandatory going on at the same time - and there's another bigger fighter - step a side happens some time, you never know. Business is willing to be made to make bigger fights happen."

Anthony Joshua has reportedly chosen Derrick James, the former unified heavyweight world champion, as his next trainer as he prepares to return to action in April. Following back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, the 33-year-old British star is looking to regain confidence as he pursues a third world title reign in 2023. Following a brief stint with the Californian trainer, who was in Joshua's corner for his second defeat to Usyk in Saudi Arabia last August, AJ appears set to part ways with him. According to rumors, Joshua has agreed to a new partnership with James after trial sessions in the United States in recent months. Prior to his partnership with Garcia, Joshua had considered teaming up with James, but now he looks set to become a stablemate of unified and undisputed world champions Errol Spence Jr and Jermell Charlo. Eddie Hearn is believed to have scheduled Joshua's return to the ring on April 1 after a six-month break. Despite the British public's strong desire for AJ vs Dillian Whyte, Australian heavyweight Demsey McKean has been proposed as Joshua's next opponent. McKean has previously sparred with Joshua and is climbing the heavyweight rankings after improving to 22-0 in October. Hearn, who also promotes McKean, sees no issues with the IBF Intercontinental champion's ambition, refusing to rule out a fight with AJ. He said: “Yeah, look he’s 22-0, he’s top 10 in the world, what more have you got to do? He’s yet to fight one of those elite guys but that’s what happens, you build your record, you learn in the game, you build yourself up the rankings and then you fight one of the elite guys, that’s the natural step next. Can Joshua become a World Champion in 2023?