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Shore (17-3) made his UFC debut in 2019 at only 24 years of age. He was a highly-touted, undefeated Cage Warriors bantamweight champion. Along with Mason Jones and Cory McKenna, he was the face of the new generation of Whales MMA. He stayed undefeated until July of 2022, when Ricky Simón submitted him. A move to featherweight saw him go 1-2 with back-to-back losses in 2024. Without yet knowing he was retiring, the removal from the UFC roster came as a surprise, because a lot of fans still felt like he had great potential despite the recent results.

Now 29, turning 30 in February, Shore wrote in his Instagram post that fighting was his sole focus during his 20s, but that isn’t the case anymore. He added “I always promised myself when I was [mentally] checked out I would retire from the sport rather than the sport retire me”, a mature mentality a lot of fans wish more fighters would adopt.

Jack Shore, who trained at his father’s gym (Shore Mixed Martial Arts), will now make a full time move to coaching to help foster the next generation of Welsh fighters.

The post Jack Shore Retires from Competition, Moves to Coaching appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I felt like he thought I’m still the same how as I was in the old first run of the UFC,” Zalal told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“This version will kill the Youssef 1.0.”

Zalal (16-5-1) went 3-3-1 in his first run in the UFC including at decision loss to current UFC featherweight champ Ilia Topuria. In his second stint with the promotion he’s come out firing with a three-fight win streak.

“This is what I expected. This is the pressure I put on myself. I feel like before I’m like oh I just want to win. Winning is cool, but performing is better. This is the difference between you being good and you being an elite,” he said.

“They only talk about you when you (get) finishes.”

The goal now for Zalal is continuing the win streak, but also see his face on a poster in 2025.

“Man I’ve been calling all these guys. I called (Edson) Barboza, I called Alex Caceres, I called all those guys. My goal is headline a card in 2025. I’m on the path of doing that,” he said.

The difference between Zalal 1.0 and this new version?

“How can I keep this clear? I’m not a dumbass anymore to be honest,” he told Cageside Press.

“What I meant to do to really slow things down and really focus. Everything is with purpose. My word this year was precision and I feel like I’ve been very precise about my things.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Youssef Zalal above.

The post Youssef Zalal Touts New Version Of Himself appeared first on Cageside Press.

Shore, a former Cage Warriors bantamweight champ, was 1-1 since his return to 145lbs. As for Zalal, he’d won his first two fights back in the UFC, having returned earlier this year for a second stint with the promotion. Wins over Billy Quarantillo and Jarno Errens followed.

The fight got off to a hot start with Zalal showing off his kickboxing a Jack looking aggressive and sharp. Shore managed to wrestle Zalal to the ground and landed a cheeky knee fully utilizing the new ruleset. Zalal moved back up and forced his opponent back into the cage but was not able to find the takedown. Once back to space Zalal thru a long, delayed knee up the middle that narrowly missed and ripped to the body.   Youseff landed a takedown attempt of his own and with the fight on the ground Zalal threated a guillotine before transitioning to the back. It seemed like there wasn’t enough time left. But by the end of the round, Youssef was squeezing the choke that looked surprisingly close to being in.

The second round began with Youssef landing at will. Punches from all different angles. Jack looked uncomfortable and changed his level looking to close the distance a bit. Zalal thrust a knee up the middle that connected flush with Shore’s chin. Jack crumpled back to the canvas. Zalal leaped on the head and arm triangle, seizing the moment. Seconds later, Shore, cringing from the pressure of the choke, was frantically tapping on the back of Zalal.

“Holy smokes!” Zalal exclaimed in his post-fight interview as he watched the knee connect on the big screen. Youssef admired his handy and was extremely ecstatic. Zalal reflexted about how his second stint in the UFC has been amazing and how seeing one if his previous opponents do well (UFC Featherweight Champion, Illia Topuria) has given him confidence as reentered the UFC.

Official Result: Youssef Zalal def. Jack Shore by submission (arm triangle), 0:59, Round 2

The post Youssef Zalal Lands Nasty Knee, Submits Shore appeared first on Cageside Press.

The fight will see Welsh star Jack Shore (17-2) take on Youssef Zalal (15-5-1) at the Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta on November 2, 2024.

News of the pairing was first noted by ESPN, the UFC’s broadcast partner, by way of their bout listing for the event.

A former Cage Warriors bantamweight champ, Shore arrived in the UFC in 2019 and won his first five fights inside the octagon. He’d then drop a fight to Ricky Simon and make the decision to return to bantamweight, where he had competed earlier in his career. Shore is 1-1 since, with a victory over Makwan Amirkhani, and most recently, a TKO loss at the hands of Brazilian Joanderson Brito.

Zalal is on his second stint with the UFC, and has won his first two fights back. Both fights ended with “The Moroccan Devil” locking up rear-naked chokes, on Billy Quarantillo and Jarno Errens, respectively.

UFC Edmonton is headlined by ex-flyweight champ Brandon Moreno taking on 125lb contender Amir Albazi, while Rose Namajunas meets Erin Blanchfield in a women’s flyweight co-main event. Derrick Lewis is also set to feature on the card, which includes the following reported match-ups:

• Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi
• Erin Blanchfield vs. Rose Namajunas
• Derrick Lewis vs. Jhonata Diniz
• Caio Machado vs. Brendson Ribeiro
• Marc-André Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
• Mike Malott vs. Trevin Giles
• Ariane da Silva vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
• Aiemann Zahabi vs. Pedro Munhoz
• Charles Jourdain vs. Victor Henry
• Alexander Romanov vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
• Serhiy Sidey vs. Garrett Armfield
• Chad Anheliger vs. Cody Gibson
• Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Ivana Petrović
• Jack Shore vs. Youssef Zalal

The post Jack Shore vs. Youssef Zalal Added to UFC Edmonton appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Frustrating would be if an interruption happened that wasn’t because I wanted it to,” Brito told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“But that was a contingency. I hit to hurt and I kept hurting and the fight was stopped there.

Brito (17-3-1) injured Shore on his shin with a kick which cause the leg to bleed bad enough for the ref to stop the fight and bring a doctor in. Once the doctor got a look, due to fears of a broken leg, the fight was called.

This victory makes it five in a row for the featherweight and it’s something he’ll use to get a big fight next.

“I’ve been on a roll at the moment, whether they like it or not, I’ve been on a roll,” he said.

“I’ve had five quick wins, both the grappling and the striking guys. I’ve been outclassing all of them showing that, whether they like it or not, I’m on another level in the division.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Joanderon Brito above. 

Translated via Captions.

The post Joanderson Brito Looks To Use Win Streak To Get Big Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

To start the fight, Brito came out landing some heavy calf kicks, immediately cornering his opponent against the cage. Shore utilized lateral movement and popped out a couple of punch combinations attempting to avoid the leg kicks. But it was only successful momentarily, as another leg kick that Shore attempted to check caused him to lose his footing and the two men quickly ended up in the clinch against the cage.

Midway through the round, Joanderson was driving Shore against the cage before disengaging and swinging a couple of hooks and again landing with that venomous leg kick. Shore initiated the clinch to slow his opponent down, before moving him against the cage. Brito was able to reverse the position, to which Shore replied with an unsuccessful takedown attempt. With half a minute left in the round, Shore was looking for a body lock takedown as both men continued to grapple for control in the clinch till the close of the opening round.

Brito began the second round exactly like the one before it, extremely aggressively, moving in a throwing a thudding calf kick, among other strikes. Joanderson struck right into the clinch and utilized a body lock to briefly takedown his opponent before Shore popped right back up. Seconds later, and the two were in space engaging. Brito was spamming the low calf kick visibly eating up that leg and Shore was continuing to look to get his hands going before the two again collided and clinched against the cage.

Shore’s lead leg was bleeding heavily as he was grappling and again defending the takedown against the cage with two minutes left to go in the round. With 1:25 seconds left in the second Shore’s shin was pressed against the cage, right in front of the commentary booth. Shore’s shin was mangled and gushing blood against the chain link. The ref stepped in and decided to have the cage side physician look at the wound. After inspecting the gash, the ringside physician would opt to stop the fight.

Later in the broadcast, UFC officials would clarify that concern over a possible broken leg had led to the doctor’s decision to wave off the bout.

Official Result: Joanderson Brito def. Jack Shore by TKO (doctor stoppage), Round 2, 1:25

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In his last outing, Shore tasted defeat for the first time in his 17 fight career with that resulting in him wanting to move up a weight class from bantamweight. With Shore always being one of the more promising prospects at 135, it was going to be interesting to see where he would fit in at featherweight.

With that being said, the performance he put on against the Finnish, Amirkhani, was a promising one for his run in the division.

It could be argued that he could’ve fought a ranked opponent, but because of it being his featherweight debut, it was questionable if he’d look like a natural 145lber.

Shore though feels as though he fit in well and didn’t feel small against Amirkhani, he said: “I felt like a featherweight I felt solid, when we locked up I didn’t feel out strengthened or out sized. I committed to this fully last August so I’ve still got a lot of time yet to grow into the weight class.

“But I don’t want to come full circle and end up doing at featherweight what I was doing at bantamweight and cutting a sh*tload of weight and depleting myself I want to have that middle ground where I can cut a little bit of weight so that I’m not undersized but I still want to keep it sensible so that I’ve got that speed and endurance, because I do feel like I’ve got some of the best cardio in the UFC…” Shore said.

Jack Shore wasn’t the only one who was fighting this training camp though. The 28-year-old opened up about his fathers fight against cancer which began during this camp.

“It’s been a tough camp, you know with my old man going through (what he’s going through), he’s such a strong out there character, we’re used to him not missing a session in the gym and on our case constantly so for him to have to be absent at times because of the treatment he’s had to have, I mean he’s literally finished chemo (chemotherapy) two weeks ago, he had a week of rest and it’s fight week.

“At the beginning when I got offered the fight I didn’t want to take it because of the time scale.” Shore said.

The Welsh prospect though did take the fight and made his entire family proud and will now take time out to look after his father.

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Jack Shore above.

The post UFC 286: Jack Shore Opens Up About ‘Tough Camp’ Following Win Over Amirkhani appeared first on Cageside Press.

Jack “Tank” Shore had come up short against Ricky Simon last time out, as the Welsh fighter was submitted in the second round. Amirkhani was 1-4 in his last five fights, and was competing in London’s O2 Arena for the third straight occasion.

The fight saw Shore competing as a featherweight for the first time since 2017, prior to his UFC run.

The bout was fairly stagnant through one, as Shore controlled his opponent against the cage but was unable to cause any damage or advance positions. Amirkhani managed to take down and control Shore for the second half of the round, likely winning the first frame despite causing little damage to his opponent.

Amirkhani began to grow sluggish as the second round waned on, as Shore poured on numerous significant strikes, wobbling his opponent more than once. Amirkhani’s gas tank left a lot to be desired, leading the way for Shore to secure a takedown, and smoothly transition into mount before finishing the fight via rear-naked choke.

Shore acknowledged his move up to featherweight following an impressive divisional debut.

“I wanted that gas tank to push on in the second and third round. It paid off,” Shore said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.

The Welshman moves to 17-1, and will look to fight someone in the top 15 his next time out.

“Mr. Finland” meanwhile falls to 17-9, and has much to figure out following a fifth loss in his last six bouts.

Official Result: Jack Shore def. Makwan Amirkhani via submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 2, 4:27

The post UFC 286: Jack Shore Returns to Form at 145, Stops Makwan Amirkhani appeared first on Cageside Press.

“The last probably three or four weight cuts have been really tough. There’s no secret I always look like death on when I’m up on the scale. My old man and my other coaches have probably been at me for about 12-18 months to consider the move,” Shore told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.

“It’s easy to forget about a tough weight cut when you’re winning all the time, and I think the fact that I lost I felt like I didn’t…I don’t want to blame the loss on the weight cut. That’d be unfair to my opponent, but I felt like I didn’t carry in what I do in the gym into the cage.”

Shore (16-1) went to work getting a full work up of his body to figure out the best way to handle weight cuts. He ultimately chose to move up after seeing the results.

“They kind of looked at me stupid as if to say ‘You keep cutting all this weight something’s going to go wrong.’ I feel like I’ve said this 100 times, but if something happens in the cage I know what I signed up for, but if something drastic happens in the bath or in the sauna beforehand then that’s not what I signed up for,” he said.

The possibility of hurting himself worse in the weight cut than in the cage was what pushed Shore to give 145-pounds a try.

“I just thought let’s give it a go. I didn’t want to kind of jump into it like right just go up a weight and not cut any weight. I wanted to do it properly, spent good four months before Christmas putting on some lean mass and some muscle,” said Shore.

Shore said wanted to step into the cage as a legit featherweight and not a blown-up bantamweight.

Meanwhile Shore is happy to be fighting closer to home this time around. He last fought in New York in 2022 before taking time off to move up to featherweight.

“Nice to be local again not have to go to New York or Vegas. Nice little three-hour drive. I feel if i’ve got to pick between this one and the last one I would have picked this one anyway. Big pay-per-view card, main event, massive co-main, so I think a lot of eye will be on this one. Good to be back in London,” he said.

No longer undefeated Shore comes into UFC 286 with a more relaxed mindset no longer having to worry about his record or the pressure that comes with it.

“It’s nice to be undefeated and all that, but the pressure does mount a little bit. It feels like I got a monkey off my back. I can go out there now and just focus on this fight. I know what it’s like to lose, I’ve experienced it, I’ve felt it. The heart break and all that of it,” said Shore.

“Life goes on and it’s nice to be able to just focus on this fight now and go out there and get after it.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Jack Shore above. He takes on Makwan Amirkhani at UFC 286 on Saturday at The O2 Arena.

The post UFC 286: Jack Shore Details Move To Featherweight, ‘Not A Blown-Up Bantamweight’ appeared first on Cageside Press.

Jack Shore Suffers “Serious” Knee Injury

Welsh bantamweight Jack Shore has been forced out of his fight with Kyler Phillips due to a knee injury. The bout was to take place on November 19; the promotion is expected to seek a replacement for Shore.

Shore himself broke the news on his Instagram story this past week.

“Unfortunately I am out of my upcoming fight due to a serious knee injury,” Shore wrote. “Gonna be sidelined for likely the rest of the year as this one is gonna take a bit of time to get right!”

Disclosed UFC 278 Salaries Are Depressing

The new UFC welterweight champion made just $350,000 (discounting any PPV points), multiple fighters made just $10,000, and some big names were grossly underpaid at UFC 278.

It’s 2022. No one in the UFC should be making $10,000 to show, $10,000 to win. No one. No excuses. You might as well go flip burgers at that point.

MMA Fighting acquired the disclosed purses from the August PPV event via a FOIA request.

Some lowlights: Harry Hunsucker, in his third UFC fight, was paid $12,000 to appear on a PPV main card.

Paulo Costa, a former title challenger, made just $65,000 to show, $65,000 to win. He’s a main event level fighter, or in this case, co-main event.

A.J. Fletcher and Daniel Lacerda made just $10,000 each. When you deduct manager’s fees, gym costs, taxes, and miscellaneous expenses, they’re left with a bag of chips and a can of coke under today’s inflation. Victor Altamirano, who won on the Contender Series, also was on a 10/10 deal, but he at least won his fight.

Here’s a wild concept: no one in the UFC should be making less than $20,000 per fight. This event made over $4.2 million dollars at the gate alone, more than double athlete salaries. On top of that, the UFC rakes in PPV dollars and sponsorship money. It actually feels pretty gross seeing these numbers with that in mind.

Main Card

Leon Edwards ($350,000 + no win bonus = $350,000) def. Kamaru Usman ($500,000)
Paulo Costa ($65,000 + $65,000 win bonus = $130,000) def. Luke Rockhold ($200,000)
Merab Dvalishvili ($99,000 + $99,000 win bonus = $198,000) def. Jose Aldo ($400,000)
Lucie Pudilova ($23,000 + $23,000 win bonus = $46,000) def. Wu Yanan ($20,000)
Tyson Pedro ($43,000 + $43,000 win bonus = $86,000) def. Harry Hunsucker ($12,000)

Preliminary Card

Marcin Tybura ($120,000 + $120,000 win bonus = $240,000) def. Alexandr Romanov ($36,000)
Jared Gordon ($47,000 + $47,000 win bonus = $94,000) def. Leonardo Santos ($44,000)
Sean Woodson ($24,000) vs. Luis Saldana ($14,000)
Ange Loosa ($12,000 + $12,000 win bonus = $24,000) def. A.J. Fletcher ($10,000)

Early Preliminaries

Amir Albazi ($16,000 + $16,000 win bonus = $32,000) def. Francisco Figueiredo ($14,000)
Aoriqileng ($12,000 + $12,000 win bonus = $24,000) def. Jay Perrin ($12,000)
Victor Altamirano ($10,000 + $10,000 win bonus = $20,000) def. Daniel Lacerda ($10,000)

Paulo Costa Says Khamzat Chimaev Fights Smaller Opponents So He Can Bully Them

UFC middleweight Paulo Costa got into it with Khamzat Chimaev at the UFC Performance Institute this week — and he’s not about to stay quiet when it comes to “Borz.”

Speaking to The Mac Life, Costa accused Chimaev of targeting smaller opponents.

“I know you just want to fight small guys, short guys, shy guys like Burns,” Costa told the website. “Guys who you can beat and be a bully, but I’m not. I’m a big one, I’m the biggest middleweight in the UFC so you cannot bully me. When you show up, I will be here, ready for you because you are a ‘Gourmet Chechen,’ you are a fake gangster so that’s it.

“I know this guy don’t want this fight. He will try and fight somebody else who has no grappling, no jiu-jitsu, no wrestling. I have nothing more to say about that guy. I’m fresh, I can fight him with just one hand because it’s broken, but I don’t care man.”

Death of Queen Elizabeth II Postpones Shields Boxing Match

Boxing champ Claressa Shields, who also competes in MMA under the PFL banner, has seen her bout with Savannah Marshall postponed due to death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen, 96, passed away Thursday, and the entire United Kingdom has entered an official mourning period.

Elizabeth served as Queen for over 70 years, ascending to the throne at just 25. Shields vs. Marshall now has a new provisional date of October 15, per a report by ESPN.

“Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II was an iconic and unrivaled leader for our nation and an inspiration for women all over the world,” British promoter Ben Shalom of Boxxer said in a statement. “Her leadership and her strength of character showed that there were no limits to what women can accomplish.”

Ciryl Gane Out Until 2023

Tai Tuivasa apparently has a very hard head.

French heavyweight Ciryl Gane, who knocked Tuivasa out in the third round of the pair’s UFC Paris main event just over a week ago, will be out until 2023 with a broken hand. Gane injured the appendage during the bout.

On the plus side, “Bon Gamin” says he’ll use the time off to heal up some other injuries as well.

So I'll be out of action for a few months guys, to heal my hand that broke during the fight with Tai. I will use that time to heal some other injuries as well and come back stronger than ever in 2023 💪🏽

I'm coming back for that belt, and I'm not going ANYWHERE 👑 pic.twitter.com/V1VvLZtBVk

— Ciryl Gane (@ciryl_gane) September 9, 2022

UFC Paris recap

The latest Cageside Live recapped UFC Paris, featuring one of the best heavyweight fights in recent memory.

The post Sunday MMA Quick Hits: Ciryl Gane Out with Broken Hand, Costa Says Chimaev Bullying Smaller Foes appeared first on Cageside Press.