Joe Rogan sees Francis Ngannou’s exit as a “big loss” for UFC

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou signing with the PFL? That’s a “big loss” for the UFC, according to one of its highest-profile, longest serving employees.

Joe Rogan, longtime color commentator (and interviewer prior to that) for the company, said just that on a recent episode of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

“It’s a big loss in my mind, like, him going over to the PFL,” Rogan said on a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience (h/t MMA Junkie). “It bums me out. I understand it. I’m happy he’s going to get paid, I’m happy he’s going to get to box, but I loved watching this guy fight in the UFC. He was a f*cking monster. He was so good, and he is so good. It’s going to be interesting. I just don’t know who they’re going to have him fight.”

No opponent — in boxing or MMA — has been announced for Ngannou as of yet.

Claressa Shields not done with MMA yet

One of the PFL’s big signings from years past, Claressa Shields, isn’t done with MMA just yet. The world champion boxer has been focusing on the “sweet science” of late, but told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour this past week that she remains in talks with the league for another fight after starting her run at 1-1.

“I would like to do MMA again,” Shields said on the show (h/t MMA Fighting). “We are in talks with PFL now to try to see what the plan is, but I would like to be given the right amount of time to train and to learn the craft of MMA, to have me a solid team behind me, because I’ve just been winging it. I went to JacksonWink and I trained with them, and they were a great team. I did a lot of jiu-jitsu training, a lot of wrestling. But it just was like, you get a 30-minute session, a 45-minute session — you don’t really get like the full [experience]. Like, I go to the gym and I don’t train less than three hours for boxing, and I’ve been doing boxing for 17 years.

“So I feel like in MMA, I want to have that same kind of routine in order for me to just learn those arts, because I’m far behind the other girls, but my boxing gives me a little lift. But if I can’t be on my feet, then we have to figure out something else,” Shields continued. “So I just want to learn those arts to where it can give me a better chance at winning. I’m not afraid to do MMA. I’ve already done it. I just want to — I like to win. I like to win fights.

Greg Hardy suffers KO loss at TCL boxing event

Former UFC heavyweight Greg Hardy has hit another setback in his post-UFC career. Competing at a Team Combat League boxing event over the weekend, Hardy was knocked out by Alexander Flores, a professional boxer with an 18-3-1 record.

TCL bouts don’t count towards professional records, so Hardy remains 2-0 as a boxer, and is 2-1 in Team Combat League. But the loss follows another rough KO defeat Hardy suffered in BKFC earlier this year.

Greg Hardy just got KO’d again 😳pic.twitter.com/suNlaAlcnQ

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) June 3, 2023

KSW Colosseum 2 had this crazy knockout from bottom

Striking off your back is not supposed to work, right? We did a full story on this that you can read, but it’s worth a second look. Kudos to former boxer Krzysztof Głowacki for pulling off the move of the weekend.

30 years of watching MMA don’t know if I’ve ever seen this before https://t.co/WzxJTBptha

— Erik Magraken (@erikmagraken) June 3, 2023

You get an Apex show and YOU get an Apex show, and…

The #UFC has applied for five more event permits from Nevada, as follows…

UFC Apex: Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Oct. 7, Nov. 18

T-Mobile Arena: Dec. 16 pic.twitter.com/y96THKBred

— Nolan King (@mma_kings) June 1, 2023

There are no words, so we’ll finish with this:

The post Sunday MMA Quick Hits: Joe Rogan Calls Ngannou Departure “Big Loss” for UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

With the exception of a handful of women’s boxing stars (including Holly Holm, Amanda Serrano, Heather Hardy, and Claressa Shields), nary a boxer has stepped into the cage despite a constant stream of traffic going the other way. Male boxers especially have declined to make the jump to MMA — but former WBO Cruiserweight champ Krzysztof Głowacki is the exception to that rule, and he both showed up and showed out at KSW Colosseum 2 on Saturday.

The event took place at the PGE Narodowy, with 50,000 fans reportedly in attendance.

Despite being taken down and mounted in the opening round of his fight with Patryk Tołkaczewski, Glowacki proved he’s a dangerous striker even off his back. While mounted, Glowacki covered up, surviving a bit of ground n’ pound before unleashing a perfectly placed left hand that landed flush on the chin.

Tołkaczewski slumped forward, already out as Glowacki reversed position and landed one more strike before the ref dove in. Check out the full scene below.

KNOCKED OUT from FULL MOUNT! 🤯

Former WBO cruiserweight champ 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Głowacki is dangerous from anywhere!!

XTB #KSWColosseum2 pic.twitter.com/7pZI71yaPX

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) June 3, 2023

That’s an impressive debut for the boxer, who put together a 32-4 record in the ring.

The post Watch: Former WBO Champ Krzysztof Głowacki Knocks Out Opponent While Mounted at KSW Colosseum 2 appeared first on Cageside Press.