Paul Daley won’t be appearing at Gamebred Boxing 4, while Manel Kape was livid following the cancellation of his fight with Alex Perez at UFC San Antonio. It’s your Sunday MMA Quick Hits — let’s go!
Paul Daley out of Gamebred Boxing 4
Gamebred Boxing 4 is a killer night of boxing put together by Jorge Masvidal, who seems ready to tap into the MMA audience’s interest in the sweet science. While the likes of Jake Paul and KSI have been labelled “disruptors” for courting MMA fighters as boxing opponents, Masvidal is one of the sport’s biggest stars — and, having reached a non-exclusive deal with UFC Fight Pass to carry the event on April 1, has matched up some of the biggest names in UFC history.
Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens and Vitor Belfort vs. Jacare Souza are among the bouts expected, while former UFC and WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis faces boxing legend Roy Jones Jr.
One name that won’t be taking part, however, is Paul Daley. Originally announced for the Milwaukee-based event, visa issues have seen “Semtex” pulled from the card.
“Paul Daley is not on the card, and that’s because we had visa issues with the timing and stuff,” Masvidal told MMA Junkie Radio recently. “Paul Daley can have a visa to come here, but every time you’re working for a new company, like XYZ company. Now he’s going to fight for a new company, so we’d have to get him a visa. We weren’t able to quite figure that out, but that’s somebody we’re very, very interested in and will push hard to have on our cards. I’ve always liked Daley’s style. I actually got to compete against him myself, so it’d be fun.”
In place of Daley, Joe Riggs is stepping up on short notice to face Markus Perez at the event.
More than a million bucks per fight? Costa’s manager/girlfriend makes bold claim
Earlier this week, multiple outlets reported the news that Paulo Costa had signed a new deal with the UFC.
Now, his manager and partner Tamara Alves says that Costa is among the highest-paid athletes in the company.
“Paulo went from being one of the most devalued athletes to one of the most valued athletes in the UFC,” Alves told Ag. Fight recently. “I have no doubt that Paulo is the highest-paid Brazilian athlete in the organization today. I don’t know if you know any Brazilian athlete that is paid more than a million dollars per fight. I don’t, especially in non-title fights.”
“Your DNA is an abomination”
Manel Kape went scorched earth after Alex Perez pulled out of the pair’s fight at UFC San Antonio with the event already underway.
A coward will always be a coward pic.twitter.com/Ko4uMKBh4L
— マネル・ケイプ Manel Kape (@ManelKape) March 26, 2023
Cancellations happen all the time in MMA, though Perez has had worst luck than most. Still, Kape had better hope he’s not on the other side of this any time soon, or those words may come back to haunt him.
Perez’s camp gives their side
Perez teammate Vince Morales gave his side of what happened on Saturday.
“Not my place to talk about what happened with Alex. Scary stuff but hopefully it eases everyone’s minds that by the time the EMTs got there, he was together and speaking okay,” Morales wrote on social media. “Watch the slander.”
Not my place to talk about what happened with Alex. Scary stuff but hopefully it eases everyone's minds that by the time the EMTs got there, he was together and speaking okay. Watch the slander.
— Vince Morales (@vandetta135) March 25, 2023
Scorecard Snafu
While ref Frank Collazo was for some reason allowed to serve as a judge at UFC San Antonio following an embarrassing showing as a ref at Fury FC 76 a day prior, it was actually veteran official Dan Miragliotta turning in a puzzling 30-27 in the Andrea “KGB” Lee vs. Maycee Barber fight.
Barber picked up a contentious split decision win, and while there was a solid argument to her winning 29-28, not a single media outlet scored the fight 30-27 for Barber, per MMA Decisions.
Three media outlets actually scored the fight 30-27 for Lee. Miragliotta appears to be the only person watching (at least that we can actually verify) to score all three rounds for Barber, however.
Carla Esparza announces she’s pregnant
Congrats to former two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza, who announced Saturday that she’s pregnant.
So we’ve been keeping a little secret for the last 14 weeks… we’re expecting! Baby Cookie Monster 🍪 Grand Entrance September 2023 🥰💙💗💙💗
Excited for this next chapter… and hoping to make my return early to mid 2024😉👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/rdYp9f2rh5— Carla Esparza (@CarlaEsparza1) March 26, 2023
Once “Baby Cookie Monster” arrives, Esparza is aiming at a 2024 return. The strawweight was submitted by Weili Zhang in November, snapping a six-fight win streak — and costing her the title as well.
