It’s International Fight Week, so we’re doing something special. We launched a 1v1 game type in Verdict Tournaments that you can learn about here.
Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones squash their beef
What happened: Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones met at a Las Vegas casino and squashed their beef, putting their rivalry to an end. “Izzy” posted a video of him and Jones hanging out in his first-ever post on Instagram’s Threads.
Is the beef really squashed? That’s what it looks like. Adesanya and Jones showed love for each other on Instagram after meeting. They’ve inspired each other and are the two kings of this sport.
The UFC plans on giving Mexican champions custom belts
Why is this happening: The Mexican market has always been important to Dana White because of the history of combat sports in Mexico. With three Mexican-born fighters holding UFC championships, this is the perfect time to strike.
Who’s making the belts? There’s an artist in Mexico that’s customized a lot of White’s collector’s edition shoes. He’ll be customizing 1-of-1 belts for all Mexican UFC champions and already has done so for Yair Rodriguez.
Cedric Doumbe will make his PFL debut in Paris this September
Who is Cedric Doumbe? He’s a two-time GLORY welterweight champion and is regarded as one of the greatest kickboxers of his generation. He made his MMA debut in 2021 and has a professional record of 4-0, with all fights ending by TKO.
When is his debut? He’ll headline a PFL Europe event on September 30 in front of a hometown crowd in Paris, France. His opponent is still to be announced.
Logan Paul pitched a fight in the UFC on the undercard of Musk vs. Zuckerberg
The pitch: Logan Paul pitched to “executives” that he’ll fight for free on the undercard of the potential fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. He said he’d fight Paddy Pimblett with the money going towards a charity.
Is this a real thing? Logan Paul has competed in several boxing matches and is performing as a wrestler in the WWE. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him tick another box. With the Prime partnership with the UFC, anything is possible.
Alistair Overeem officially retires from combat sports
Why now? Alistair Overeem has decided to focus on his health instead of competing as a fighter. He went from eating horse meat during his career to becoming a vegetarian in his retirement. His physique has drastically changed.
Overeem’s new take on meat: He thinks it’s bad and it negatively affects your health. He went from eating horse meat to promoting vegetarianism.
Georges St-Pierre is returning to competition after 6 years
Where’s he competing? Georges St-Pierre will compete in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition at a UFC Fight Pass Invitational grappling event in December. The opponent isn’t announced yet, but you can expect it to be someone popular.
What’s he coming back for? He’s getting the itch to compete and believes this is a great avenue for retired fighters to compete again.
Dana White says there’s a chance Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler will happen in 2023
What did he say? Regardless of what the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says, Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler can still happen in 2023. He also confirmed that McGregor is still not in the USADA testing pool.
Does he need an exemption? If he wants to fight in 2023, then absolutely and positively, yes. Now that White confirmed he’s still not in the testing pool, McGregor can only fight this year with an exemption granted by the UFC.
If you’ve made it up to here, thanks for reading. OverUnder drops every Friday at 8 a.m. ET.
Verdict is the mixed martial arts platform for fan engagement. Available on iOS and Android. Verdict’s mission is to increase engagement of the MMA viewing experience. Primarily, using innovative data collection methods that are shared with the community. We’re increasing transparency within the MMA community and its thoughts by aggregating crowd-sourced data and sharing it back. By leveraging a user focused design, we’re bringing fight data to the community’s finger tips.
