Mma and Boxing Blog

Mma and boxing crossover fights are a serious topic of discussion these days. When talks of the UFC and boxing’s biggest stars in a potential match up surfaced back in 2015 several other conversations followed. The major fights in discussion now are Tyson Fury vs Stipe Miocic, Amanda Nunes vs Claressa Shields, Jorge Masvidal vs Canelo Alvarez, Henry Cejudo vs Vasyl Lomanchenko and of course Floyd Maywether vs Conor Mcgregor for the second time because pay per view sales were through the roof the first time around. The only one crossover fight I see potentially happening in 2020 is Amanda Nunes vs Claressa Shields. Amanda Nunes is a two division champion in the UFC holding both the Bantamweight and Featherweight Women’s UFC Championship titles. Amanda Nunes is also known for being a vicious knockout artist when it comes to her stand up striking. Claressa Shields is an undefeated boxer that has held multiple titles in three different divisions and has won two gold medals at the olympics in 2012 and 2016. Claressa Shields has done several interviews stating that she is up for the fight with Amanda Nunes and has recently begun training with UFC Lightweight Champion Jon Jones. Dana White, president of the UFC, was interviewed and stated that he was in talks with Claressa Shields and is very interested in a possible fight between Amanda Nunes vs Claressa Shields. Boxing’s biggest stars fighting mma bouts and the biggest stars of MMA in boxing bouts. As mma becomes more mainstream I believe the boxing world is beginning to recognize the earning potential in these possible crossover fights. The conversation will continue, the money will be discussed and the contracts will be signed.

Paul Felder and Dan Hooker fought to a hard 5 round decision with Dan Hooker coming out victorious at this past weekend’s UFC Fight Night 168 in Auckland, New Zealand. This leaves a lot of questions to be asked on what possible fights can be made for Dan Hooker in the incredibly stacked UFC Lightweight division. Dan Hooker was sitting at number 7 in the UFC rankings prior to winning against Paul Felder who was at number 6. Dan Hooker called out Justin Gaethje in his post win octagon interview. Justin Gaethje is ranked number 4 in the UFC rankings and speculation is that he is sitting out for a possible fight with Conor Mcgregor. Dan Hooker in another interview post fight said that his only two options at this point are Justin Gaethje or Dustin Porier. Dustin Porier, ranked number 2 in the UFC rankings last fought on September 7, 2019 against Khabib Nurmagomedov in which he lost via rear naked choke in 2:06 of round number 3. Dustin Porier also has expressed interest on social media and in interviews that Conor Mcgregor should be his next opponent. That leaves Donald Cerrone, ranked number 5 in the UFC rankings and Kevin Lee, ranked number 8 as possible opponents. Donald Cerrone lost to Conor Mcgregor via TKO 00:40 round 1 at UFC 246 on January 18, 2020. Kevin Lee had an incredible finish against Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244 on November 2, 2019 winning via head kick KO 2:47 round 1. Kevin Lee won in spectacular fashion against an undefeated fighter in Gregor Gilespie, who prior to fighting Kevin Lee was running through everyone. Dan Hooker and Kevin Lee both come to fight every time they step into the octagon. This fight match up screams fight of the night. Let’s just hope the fan’s and matchmakers make it happen!  

The result of this fight was something that nearly all boxing enthusiasts would have never guessed, Tyson Fury wins via TKO in round 7. The first fight on December 1, 2018 was ruled a draw, when in reality Tyson Fury won 10 of 12 rounds but the 2 knockdowns in the fight that Wilder landed were enough to sway the judges to call it even and set up the rematch. This time around the outcome was thought to have been a repeat of the first fight with Tyson Fury coming out victorious via decision or Deontay Wilder landing that knockout punch that he is infamously known for. Tyson Fury in the interviews leading up to the fight would be quoted several times confidently expressing that he is going to finish this fight and not leave it in the hands of the judges. Tyson Fury did exactly that! The moment round 1 started to the moment the team of Deontay Wilder threw in the towel, Tyson Fury constantly pressured Wilder and ultimately “bullied the bully”. Tyson Fury was superior in all aspects of fighting. He was the more technically skilled fighter, showed more grittiness, and showed he could end a fight with strikes fighting probably the hardest hitting heavyweight ever to grace the ring in heavyweight prize fighting history. More impressive is how easy Tyson Fury made it look. Tyson Fury secured himself as an all time great with this victory and will go down as one of the best boxers to come out of the UK. Whats next for Tyson Fury? Are we going to see a trilogy fight between these two men, or will boxing make the fans happy and put together the biggest fight possible, Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua. Only time will tell but for boxing fans around the world, this is a great time to be a fan!