In recent remarks, Anderson Silva stated he was knocked out twice during the final round of practice before his fight against Jake Paul on Saturday. Silva said that he "misspoke" and blamed it on a language barrier because he is not a native English speaker in a prepared written statement provided by Showtime on Wednesday (via TMZ Sports). “After seeing the reports and concern for me, I’d like to clarify two important things,” Silva said. “One, I was NEVER knocked out in sparring. I misspoke in that interview as I sometimes do when interviewing in English and exaggerated the normal back-and-forth action that occurs in sparring. “Second, this sparring session I referenced was in early September. The interview with MMA Weekly was done on Sept. 13 and, for some reason, just released this week. So, it wasn’t recent. More importantly, my training camp has been great. I am fit and ready to fight, and the only knockout people should be worried about is the one I’m about to deliver to Jake Paul on Saturday night.” Silva, 47, will compete against YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul in the evening's main event at Glendale, Arizona's Desert Diamond Arena. On Showtime pay-per-view, the Most Valuable Promotions event will be shown at Showtime PPV.

T.J. Dillashaw is not going anywhere after failing to capture the bantamweight title at UFC 280. Dillashaw (17-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) was dominated and finished by bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (22-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) this past Saturday but was dealing with a serious shoulder injury that he concealed heading into it. The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion’s shoulder dislocated early in the fight, something that happened to him numerous times during camp. “Sparring was f*cking awesome,” Dillashaw told ESPN. “I was doing great in camp against high-level guys. The Juan Archuletas, the Cub Swansons, guys we were bringing in. I was on point, man. I really was looking really good. I was in insane shape. Because of the shoulder situation I had been working harder on my physical therapy and working on strengthening up my shoulder.” He continued, “The way I felt and the things that were going on, obviously it got worse the closer I got to the fight, but man, I was on point – because of me having one arm and that changed my game plan up, but I was so focused on the combos I can hit with my right hand and kicks that I felt amazing.” Dillashaw will likely require surgery to repair his shoulder, which would keep him out of action for at least a year. The 36-year-old has missed a lot of time due to shoulder and knee ailments over the previous two years, but he still plans to return. “I don’t feel that my ability has gone anywhere, maybe a little bit of want,” Dillashaw added. “This sport is a tough one, and then all the bullsh*t I go through here and there kills a little bit of the fire, but I think my competitive edge will always drive me. So I’m not done. You guys will see me again. There’s no way I’d go out like that, and if I come back, I’ll get back to the top.”

Raul Rosas Jr.'s UFC debut date and opponent are set just a few weeks after his 18th birthday. He will be facing Jay Perrin in a bantamweight bout. Both of them are managed by Iridium Sports Agency. Rosas Jr. and Jay Perrin will share the Octagon at UFC 282, a forthcoming pay-per-view event slated for December 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, according to an announcement from Iridium Sports Agency in a tweet. When Rosas Jr. made his debut on Dana White's Contender Series in September, there was a lot of buzz surrounding him. Rosas Jr., who was then 17 years old, needed parental clearance signatures and special commission authorization to compete as a minor. After being given the go-ahead to compete, Rosas Jr. easily destroyed Mando Gutierrez, 25, in a unanimous decision. After that, Dana White made a job offer. Rosas Jr. became the UFC's youngest fighter ever as a result. The now 18-year-old's record as a pro extended to 6-0 with the victory over Gutierrez. Rosas Jr. participated in regional competitions in Mexico before his DWCS appearance. Rosas Jr. declared he had great expectations for his UFC career and set his sights on becoming the organization's youngest champion before his much-anticipated arrival. “Everybody should not be surprised,” Rosas Jr. told Laura Sanko after Contender Series. “I’m the new king in here, so I’m coming for that belt now. “I’m gonna be champion when I’m 20. Respect to everybody, but I’m gonna be champion when I’m 20, or even earlier. Nobody is gonna stop me. All I see is gold, and I’m coming for that belt. Rosas Jr. is determined to make a life out of this big opportunity as he wants to pay his parents for the sacrifices, they have made for him. Raul Sr. and Oyuki were aware that their sons had a talent for combat sports and that living in the United States would not satisfy their children's desire to become professional fighters. Jessie and Raul Jr. required something that Clovis, New Mexico was unable to provide. “I’m very grateful for my parents because we lived in a small town – Clovis, New Mexico,” Raul Jr. said. “And we were comfortable. We had everything, and they left it all behind, so we could move forward in life. “At Clovis, we reached a point where we couldn’t grow in level (in MMA), so we moved to Santa Rosa, California. We left everything – family, everything. And we moved into a tiny apartment. We shared a living room between like five people, and there was a lot of us in the apartment. It was like 12 people. But thanks to my parents and their sacrifice, we’re here. And yeah, we get tired of eating Arroz and frijoles, and I told them jokingly, ‘Only rib-eye from now on.’ “But yeah, I want to help out my family to move forward, and so we can continue moving up.” Perrin is still without a UFC victory. At UFC Vegas 48 and UFC 278 respectively, Mario Bautista and Aoriqileng defeated the "Joker." The former Cage Titans FC bantamweight champion had won his previous two matches. UFC 282 is headlined by a light heavyweight championship rematch between Jiří Procházka and Glover Teixeira.

Even if Khamzat Chimaev is among the finest fighters in the world, his future in terms of weight divisions is still uncertain. Chimaev underwent a challenging weight cut for his UFC 279 main event matchup against Nate Diaz, but the bout had to be called off because Chimaev was 7.5 pounds over the welterweight non-title limit. Afterward, UFC President Dana White suggested Chimaev would likely be better off competing at middleweight, where he had previously competed. Every fighter in this combat sport faces a major issue of a weight cut and plans to switch the weight class in which they feel comfortable. Anthony Smith mentioned his struggle and stated that he harmed his body for years, reducing his weight to 185 pounds, before admitting he wasn't a middleweight. Smith thinks Chimaev would be better suited to give up welterweight and concentrate solely on middleweight because he's gone through the same hardships, which would make him an even more dangerous competitor. “Honestly, I think he should go to middleweight,” Smith said of Chimaev on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Because he’s only getting older. He’s still a pretty young guy. He’s only going to continue to get bigger, and by taking that off of his plate, he could grow technically and athletically so much faster without having to suck his body [down]. Despite Chimaev's prior attempts to reach the welterweight limit, including his fight with Gilbert Burns in May, further weight reduction may eventually harm him. Chimaev is also not undersized in comparison to other top-ranked middleweights, which is another plus. In contrast, Robert Whittaker, a former champion, is overshadowed by Chimaev by three inches in height and two inches more in reach. “Did you see the wrestling match between Chimaev and Jack Hermansson?” Smith remarked. “Did you see the size of that goddamn guy? Jack Hermansson is not a small middleweight and [Chimaev] was significantly larger. I would suspect that his entire training camp is focused on getting his weight down. That’s unfortunate.” Outside the need to lose weight to go up to 185 pounds, Smith sees a lot of opportunities for Chimaev, including the chance to capitalize on bigger, blockbuster fights. As the five-time defending champion, Israel Adesanya currently wields an iron grasp over the UFC middleweight division. Adesanya will challenge former GLORY champion Alex Pereira at UFC 281 for the championship in a contest between two of the greatest strikers to ever enter an octagon.

Jon Jones is still confident of making his long-awaited return to the octagon before the end of the year. Since his last light heavyweight title defense against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in early 2020, Jones hasn't competed. Later that year, after a high-profile argument with UFC president Dana White regarding his contract situation, Jones relinquished the 205-pound belt. Jones soon declared his willingness to compete at heavyweight. Ariel Helwani recently reported that UFC officials are targeting Jones's return for UFC 282 in December, either in a heavyweight title challenge against Francis Ngannou or in an interim title shot against former two-time champion Stipe Miocic. Since that time, Jones has been bulking up and declaring his intention to compete for the heavyweight title. Given the schedule and the fact that Ngannou is still recovering from knee surgery, Miocic seems to be the better option. Jones recently confirmed this by announcing on Twitter that he will be preparing to fight Miocic in December, though he acknowledges the fight is far from official. The light heavyweight title rematch between champion Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira is presently scheduled to be the main event of UFC 282, which takes place on December 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. If it happened, Miocic vs. Jones would probably be the main event of that fight. Jones may decide to challenge UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou at a later time even though he has stated that he intends to fight Miocic on December 10. This is because Ngannou's coach, Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture, said this past weekend that an unnamed UFC executive told him the organization would "1 million percent" like to make that fight in March 2023. “A UFC exec called and basically said, ‘Hey, what is your ideal timeline, and what is your ideal matchup?'” Nicksick told MMA Junkie Radio. “Does it matter what my opinion is? No, but it is nice that they called and asked. I said ideally I would want March, and ideally I would want Jon Jones. The person that called agreed 1 million percent that this is what (the UFC) would like, as well. That is what Francis would like. They’re calling to figure out timeline on injury and how long I would need to get him ready.” Since losing the heavyweight championship to Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021, Miocic has not engaged in the competition. But a year ago, the former champion declared that if he couldn't obtain a third fight with Ngannou, he'd be open to fighting Jones.

Manon Fiorot is hoping to face Alexa Grasso in order to get a shot at the title. Fiorot defeated former flyweight title contender Katelyn Chookagian by majority decision at UFC 280, giving her the greatest win of her career. As the main card opener of the biggest pay-per-view of the year, it was Fiorot's first significant performance and an experience she considers crucial as she moves up the flyweight rankings. “For sure a lot of pressure,” Fiorot told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “It was my first big card, on the main card too, against the No. 1 contender of the division. It was just my fifth fight in the UFC. So absolutely, a lot of pressure. I didn’t have the fight I expected, but the most important thing is I won, and now I’m prepared for the future. ... “Before the fight I knew Katelyn was very technical, has good footwork, and really, really good fight I.Q., but during the fight she was very frustrating to fight against because she disengaged a lot and she threw a lot, a lot of punches, but not efficient striking. She’d just throw and move, throw and move. So definitely it was very technical and difficult to fight in standup against Katelyn.” “Let me tell you, I never say no when the UFC team asks about an opponent,” Fiorot said. “Never. Two days before the fight, I never say no. I agree, I think [a fight with Alexa Grasso] is a good choice. Alexa, call us. She talked about the fight, she called for the winner of me and Katelyn, so I have to say yes. For sure I’d do this. I think she’s a good striker, and it’s a good fight for the fans and the division.” Just a week before to Fiorot's victory, Grasso also recently achieved a significant victory in a crucial situation by winning by unanimous decision against Viviane Araujo in the main event of UFC Vegas 62. Fiorot appears to be on the same page as Grasso, who later stated that she wanted to acquire a bit more experience before rushing into a title match with Shevchenko. Fiorot also stated that she wanted to be fully prepared to win the title when the time came. “I’m pretty sure right now Valentina has experience on me. I understand I just have five fights on the big stage in the UFC. I think one more is good for my career and my thinking about my fight I.Q.” With her win over Chookagian, Fiorot is now 10-1 in her MMA career, having gone undefeated since losing her pro debut, with a 5-0 record inside the UFC.

Islam Makhachev would defend the UFC lightweight title against Beneil Dariush if it were up to Javier Mendez. After defeating Charles Oliveira by second-round submission at UFC 280 last weekend, Makhachev turned his attention to the first defense of his title, which appears to be against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. In his post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White implied that Volkanovski will face another champion when he remarked, "it looks like Volkanovski is next." “Now who is actually, in my opinion, more deserving from a true professional sport-sport? But this not a true sport, this is an entertainment-sport,” said Mendez. “So, from a true sport, Dariush, he deserves it. He 100 percent deserves the next shot. But because this is an entertainment sport, the fans want to see Alex and Islam go for it because [it’s] the pound-for-pound king vs. the new king in the lightweight division. “Let’s see if the pound-for-pound king can take that lightweight title,” continued Mendez. “Which, hey, he’s the pound-for-pound for a reason, right? He’s cleared out his division and he keeps getting better and better. And what better way to have two guys that are actually going to be professional all the way through. They got a great camp. I’ve spoke nothing but highly about who they are as a camp and how they are as a team. And I still stick by what I say. I think they’re a great, great camp over there and they’re meeting another great camp. Let’s see how we can put it together and throw on a great fight for the fans.” Dariush might have to face one more opponent because Volkanovski is the following in line before getting his seemingly elusive chance to compete for the crown. Mendez observed on Saturday, though, that the Kings MMA product shouldn't have to. “Beneil really, really, really impressed me,” said Mendez. “I said, ‘Wow!’ I didn’t know the other guy. I’ve never seen the other guy at all, not one time. So I asked some of the guys around and I go, ‘Hey, what do you think?’ And they go, ‘Oh, Beneil can’t wrestle with this guy. This guy’s too good a wrestler. He’s something European — ADCC champ and he’s this champion. And I went, ‘Oh, wow.’ Then I saw Beneil and how great he performed and I saw what a champion heart he had and I said, ‘There’s your answer right there. There’s your next challenger.’” At UFC Vegas 49 in February, Makhachev was scheduled to face Dariush, but the latter had to withdraw due to an ankle injury. If Makhachev defeats Volkanovski, perhaps Darisuh and he will be able to share the Octagon in 2023.

On New Year's Eve, the top fighters from Bellator and Rizin will square off. Five athletes from Bellator and five from Rizin will face off against each other on December 31 in Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, according to the California-based promotion's announcement on Monday. The main card's five bouts will take place inside the Rizin ring. For the confirmed head-to-head bouts, with Bellator represented on the left side of the pairing and Rizin on the right, see below: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo (flyweight) Patrício Pitbull vs. Kleber Koike (featherweight) AJ McKee vs. Roberto Satoshi Souza (lightweight) Juan Archuleta vs. Soo Chul Kim (bantamweight) When those champions face off, there will be no belts on the line. The main event will be McKee-Satoshi, with Pitbull and Koike co-headlining the evening. McKee recently defeated Spike Carlyle by the decision to earn his first lightweight victory in Bellator, and Satoshi successfully defended his 155-pound title by arm-barring Johnny Case in the opening round, which was his fourth consecutive submission in RIZIN. Pitbull most recently faced Adam Borics to defend his Bellator featherweight title. On the other side, Koike defeated Juntarou Ushiku this past weekend to win the RIZIN championship. Juan Archuleta, a former Bellator champion, will face Soo Chul Kim, a two-division ROAD FC champion, on the main program. Kyoji Horiguchi, a former two-promotion king, will compete against RIZIN grand prize victor Hiromasa Ougikubo in the flyweight division upon his return. A fifth RIZIN vs. Bellator matchup is still yet to be announced. While Bellator and Rizin have previously collaborated on promotional events, this will be the first occasion for competitors from the two organizations to compete on the same card. The fights would be conducted per RIZIN rules, which permit knees to a grounded opponent and soccer kicks, it was announced at a press conference on Wednesday. In Japan, the event will be shown live, while in the United States, it will be tape-delayed.

At UFC 280 this past Saturday, "Funk Master" successfully dispatched of T.J. Dillashaw in the second round to retain his bantamweight title and maintain his top ranking in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. However, after the decisive victory, it was unclear who Sterling would face next. There are many contenders in the bantamweight class, and Sean O'Malley was focusing on a championship chance, but there is no assurance that "Sugar" will be given the opportunity, particularly following a close and contentious victory against former champion Petr Yan on Saturday. At the evening's post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White appeared more interested in challenging Sterling with Olympic gold medalist and former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo. “I like Dana on a personal level, outside of the cameras and everything, I like Dana,” Sterling said. “But some of the things he actually says are beyond me sometimes. You go on record, you say whoever wins [the O’Malley-Yan] fight is clearly getting the No. 1 shot because it makes sense. After the fight, everything completely changes and then you throw Henry ‘Cedoodoo’ in the mix and I’m just completely confused because this guy hasn’t fought in over two years. You don’t want to give him a [featherweight] title shot to go be triple champ, which I’m not opposed to because I think if anyone deserves it based on merit, it’s him. I’m not a hater by any means. But then the guy comes back after two years, fought at 125, fought twice maybe at ‘35, and he’s supposed to come back and get an immediate title shot after doing what? “So now it’s like I almost feel—and I could be completely wrong—I almost feel like they’re looking for a last hope of someone who can take out Aljamain Sterling. They’re hoping that they can make this narrative of the Olympic wrestling now. D-1 wasn’t good enough, now the Olympic wrestling might be good enough to take out the D-3 wrestler. But I can tell you one thing for certain, this ass-whooping is an equal opportunity employer. All races, all colours can get it. It really doesn’t matter. If it’s Henry, if it’s ‘Chito’ [Marlon Vera] from Ecuador, if it’s O’Malley with the colorful hair, Mr. Sugar T***, if it’s a rematch with Yan because we know the UFC likes to give title shots to people coming off of losses, if they want to give it to [Cory] Sandhagen, there’s plenty of options.” When asked who he'd like to face next, Sterling said he was interested in O'Malley, though he's not sure how O'Malley's near-miss and subsequent reaction will affect the matchmakers. “If I’m being honest, I haven’t even thought about it,” Sterling said. “I literally tweeted to O’Malley that I would have actually hung out with the guy. I felt bad for Yan, I did think he got robbed, I think O’Malley was a little shocked and perplexed at the decision as well. I think it kind of caught him off-guard, that was a split decision, I think it caught him even more off-guard that he won. “Now he knows what it feels like when I was in the same position [with Yan] and the difference is I actually knew I won the fight and he’s on the side where he won the fight and he doesn’t even know if he really won the fight until he goes back and watches it. While I knew, based on the strike count, that I freakin’ won the fight, so at the end of the day this is the most competitive division. People are going to try find any way to discredit me.” Sterling concurred that O'Malley had taken the required steps to establish himself as the top contender, including enhancing the appeal of a possible title match by developing his brand. “I think if anyone is the biggest fight maybe it’s O’Malley, in terms of name value, in terms of performance,” Sterling said. “I think he saw what I did to T.J., he saw what I did to Yan and any of these previous opponents that were in the top five, top 10. Remember, my third UFC fight I fought the No. 6 guy ranked in the world and since then I haven’t fought anyone that was unranked. So my resume speaks for itself.

Currently she is preparing for her upcoming battle with Karen Eizabeth Carabajal on October 29. Although Katie Taylor has one eye on the future as she wants to engage in some high-profile battles that draw lots of attention. The 36-year-old is eager to participate in more high-profile events after her mega-fight with Amanda Serrano in April, which Taylor won by a split decision at Madison Square Garden. Taylor stated that she wanted to "continue to make history in the sport and continue to win huge bouts and be part of these great battles" in an interview with The DAZN Boxing Show following the Carabajal match. A potential matchup with MMA champion Cris Cyborg is one of those fights. "I think she had a fight a few weeks ago, she was getting a bit of boxing experience under her belt I guess," Taylor said. "She is an MMA legend, she’s a lot bigger and heavier than me as well so that makes for an interesting fight. "I would be willing to step into the ring with her if that’s the fight people are interested in so that could be possibility." Last month, Cyborg faced Simone Silva in her debut professional boxing fight and defeated her by a unanimous decision. The popularity of Cyborg, who is best known for her stint in the UFC, would undoubtedly help Taylor check off the prerequisites for a "huge fight." A rematch with Serrano in 2023 is another option for Taylor. Serrano has moved back to super featherweight since their first encounter and is just one belt away from becoming the undisputed world champion in her weight division. Taylor is more than willing to fight Serrano again and thinks their rematch should take place in a stadium after drawing significant crowds at MSG. "You’ve seen how big the first fight was, imagine how big the rematch would be, especially if it was at Croke Park [in Dublin], 80,000 people, the atmosphere would be unmatched," Taylor said. "I was ready to take the immediate rematch, so hopefully it can happen again soon." Eddie Hearn, who is Taylor's promoter, has acknowledged that he needs to see more of Cyborg before he thinks about making her an opponent. “You’ve got Cris Cyborg,” he said during an appearance on The MMA Hour per talkSPORT. “There’s a lot of MMA fighters that are trying to make the transition.’’ “We are always up for discussing that and I think if those guys are not involved in any commercial contracts with anyone, it brings a different challenge.’’ “But Katie is very, very good and we need to see how Cris Cyborg looks because I want it to credible and I want it to be a real challenge.”

Even if Marlon Vera doesn't think Sean O'Malley defeated Petr Yan, he still feels like "Sugar" ought to be the next contender. At UFC 280's main bantamweight bout, O'Malley took on Yan and prevailed by split decision after three fiercely contested rounds. Vera doesn't quite agree with the accusations that the victory was a heist, but he also doesn't believe O'Malley came out on top. “A lot of people had 3-0 to Yan. I had 2-1 to Yan,” Vera said Monday on The MMA Hour. “The body language of O’Malley was a body language of, ‘I lost the fight.’ Then when they gave it to him, I thought it was a gift decision, but again, f*** it. The guy won the fight. Now he’s going to have a No. 1 next his name I guess, but I believe it was a gift. I believe he got the decision gifted, but we’ll see what happens with that. It was a close fight. Both guys hurt each other, and I think everything comes down to the takedowns and the control time.” “The level of there is pretty much the same. It’s who prepared better, who did enough reps, who put more time into it, and who can stay longer and didn’t catch up. So the guy can fight, but so can the rest of the whole division.” O'Malley's victory wasn't just the biggest of his career; it also had the potential to completely upend the bantamweight division. Before the fight, Dana White and O'Malley both predicted that a victory would give O'Malley the next title shot; but, following, White claimed that former champion Henry Cejudo might be the next in line. O'Malley would find it difficult to accept the result, and Vera doesn't share his opinion. “As a fight fan, anybody who beat the No. 1 contender should fight for the belt, right? That’s obvious,” Vera said. “O’Malley, it doesn’t matter what ranking he is, he beat No. 1, he should fight for the belt. But, the whole everybody thinks that was a gifted decision, everybody thinks he got a pass on that one, that can probably hurt what the UFC will do with him. “It’s the same thing that happened with the Song Yadong fight. I got robbed, they gave me the O’Malley fight, then they gave me the [Jose] Aldo fight. I advanced after a loss. So O’Malley got the decision gifted, maybe they do the same thing, they probably hold him a little bit, make somebody else do it. But we’ll see. Again, that’s up Dana and the UFC. We’ll see what they want to do.” In addition, if he had the option, Vera would like to benefit if O'Malley were to be overlooked. “I’m a selfish prick so I will say myself,” Vera said when asked who deserves the next title shot. “Maybe [I will get it]. I said it before this fight, that decision is up to Dana White and the UFC. We can say whatever we want, I can go crazy, I can waste all my energy, but that’s up to the UFC. They’re the ones that will decide that. They’re the ones that will pick the next title contender. I’m ready though. If they call me, I’ll happily do it. If they call me for a No. 1 contender, I’ll also happily do it. Vera last battled in August, defeating Dominick Cruz, a former two-time bantamweight champion, in the UFC San Diego main event.

Cromwell "Bullet" Gordon ignored the critics. Instead, the former professional boxer turned trainer kept his head down and worked hard to prepare Rolando "Rolly" Romero for his May 28 match against Gervonta Davis. As Davis delivered the decisive blow in the sixth round to halt the fight and damage Romero's record, the sold-out Barclays Center audience in Brooklyn celebrated heartily. Gordon is optimistic Romero will recover well despite having to start over and work on their faults. Gordon is hoping that a date will be set shortly for the highly regarded 135-pound contender to make his return to the ring. “We’re looking late this year, early next year,” said Gordon to BoxingScene.com Gordon recognizes no reason why Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) should take a step back before launching another ferocious push toward the leading spot in the division. Romero is motivated to exploit their setback as a slingshot into the public limelight. Gordon hopes Davis decides to revive his rivalry with Romero and give him an immediate rematch while a suitable opponent is being developed. Despite this, Gordon would welcome a high-stakes matchup versus fellow top competitor Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz because a sequel is uncertain. “We would like the rematch,” continued Gordon. “If we don’t get that, we’re looking at maybe someone that wants to fight us, which is not really a lot of people that want to fight Rolly. Pitbull is a willing and able opponent. I think that's a good fight. I think it’s a very, very good fight. I think it would sell as well.” Cruz's claim to fame is a widely publicized matchup against Davis, similar to Romero's. Both sides would meet in the center of the ring at the very end of the 2021 calendar year and engage in a full-scale battle. Cruz's chin stood up just fine despite Davis's reputation for having a lethal knockout power, but he ultimately lost a close but conclusive unanimous decision. Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs) has won back-to-back fights by way of stoppage after pushing the Baltimore native to the limit. Nevertheless, Gordon is unafraid of what Cruz brings to the table despite his heinous rampage. Gordon laughs evilly as he imagines Romero having little to no issue killing his victim given Cruz's come-forward technique of approach. “He’ll be an easier fight than Tank because you're gonna stand there and go toe-to-toe. Rolly’s hitting harder than these guys. If you're standing in front of Rolly you're just a punching bag.”