Wanderlei Silva is entering politics in his native Brazil, Tom Aspinall gave us all an update on his leg injury, suffered last month at UFC London, and Conor McGregor is making his big screen debut. Just not in a movie that really needed to be remade. All that in more in this instalment of our Sunday MMA Quick Hits!
Broken, not broken, broken again
Anthony Smith could be heard telling his corner that he believed he’d broken his leg during his UFC 277 fight with Magomed Ankalaev last Saturday.
Following the bout, UFC President Dana White said Smith had been examined, with the result negative. “No fracture” was the word back from the UFC’s end.
On Monday, speaking to Ariel Helwani, “Lionheart” confirmed that yes, his leg — specifically his ankle — was broken, and would require surgery.
Anthony Smith suffered a broken left ankle Saturday night in his fight against Magomed Ankalaev, Smith tells me this evening. It will require surgery.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 2, 2022
White also addressed the matter following Tuesday’s edition of the Contender Series. Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press, White clarified that “He did break his leg. His leg was broken. They ended up finding the fracture and I guess it was in a weird place. Hard to find. He was sitting there questioning himself like, ‘What the hell is wrong with me? I feel like my leg is broken. I know my body.’ And all this stuff. I just wanted to tell you guys that because sometimes it makes it look like, ‘Oh, he’s trying to get out of the fight. He’s claiming he broke his leg.’
“The way I looked at it he got kicked so f*cking hard he thought his leg was broken, you know what I mean? Which you can imagine, too. But he legitimately has a bad break in his leg that is going to need surgery. For him, I wanted to put that out there because I was the one that said it wasn’t broken.”
Who’s to Blame for Jake Paul MSG Boxing Match Falling Through?
Jake Paul was supposed to be in a boxing match at MSG in New York on Saturday. As you know by now, it didn’t happen.
Is anyone at all surprised to see the Jake Paul Circus Sideshow (TM, apologies to Jim Rose) derailing?
Paul was supposed to fight Tommy Fury on August 6. Due to Fury’s alleged family ties to Irish gangster Daniel Kinahan, that match was scrapped. Next came Paul vs. Hasim Rahman Jr., but that fight — and the entire event — was waved off as well.
According to Paul’s camp, Rahman Jr. is to blame, as he wanted to change the contracted weight of the fight from 200 pounds, to 215. Paul’s promoter, MVP (Most Valuable Promotions), issued a lengthy statement on the matter.
Rahman admits that he couldn’t make weight — but was shocked to see the event cancelled a week in advance, noting that he wasn’t even given the chance to get close to the contracted weight. He posted a video statement saying just that. He was willing to cut as much as he could, pay a fine, or even compete for free.
There’s two ways to look at this: one, Paul is the A-side. He’s the draw. If he doesn’t show up, the PPV doesn’t sell, with apologies to an actual boxing champ in Amanda Serrano, who was to compete on the undercard. So if Rahman came in too heavy, and the commission scrapped the fight, it would cost everyone involved a whole lot of coin.
On the other hand, why not accept a higher weight? After all, Paul walks around higher than 200 pounds. But then again, he’s made a career of beating up undersized opponents, so not taking a bout with someone out-weighing him is rather on point for the Youtube celebrity.
Also — for a show hosted at MSG, perhaps the most famous arena on the planet, you’d think a back-up might have been worth investing in. Or a short-notice opponent. Anderson Silva, anyone? The legend fought Daniel Cormier on what, a day’s notice? Massively outsized, we might add. At his age now, probably not a good idea, but there’s no doubt someone would have taken the match.
Tom Aspinall Reveals Extent of Leg Injury Suffered at UFC London Last Month
Ahead of surgery on his injured knee, Tom Aspinall revealed the extent of the injury he incurred at UFC London last month.
“I’m in London right now and I’m absolutely starving because I can’t eat before surgery,” Aspinall stated in a video posted to social media. “I have suffered a torn MCL, a torn meniscus, and some ACL damage. So I’m going to get that fixed today, but just a quick message just to say thank you for all the support. I really appreciate it. I’ve had so much love since the accident, and I’ll see everybody on the other side. Peace out.”
Star Turn for Conor McGregor?
Well, he’s already a star, but how about a Hollywood star? Conor McGregor has joined the cast of the new Road House remake, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. No word on what role he’s playing, but the updated version of the Patrick Swayze classic will feature Gyllenhaal as a former UFC fighter turned bouncer.
A wholly unnecessary remake, we might add. It’s being put together by MGM, now owned by Amazon Studios.
Does anybody just make new, original concept movies anymore?
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 3, 2022
Axe Murderer Running for Congress
Well, that’s a headline that writes itself. Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva is running for a seat in Brazilian congress.
Silva, 46, announced the news on social media this past Thursday. The UFC and Pride legend has not competed since a loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Bellator 206 in 2018.
“I made this decision because a lot of people complain about our country, a lot of people say that nothing works here, that nothing works. To change this scenario, I am making myself available as a candidate for Federal Deputy for Paraná,” a statement accompanying the announced read in Portuguese. “Our state has never had a famous sportsman representing us and I want to be that person.”
