Latest news with #post-UFC
USA Today
31-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Taylor Lapilus books first PFL fight on home soil after parting ways with UFC
Taylor Lapilus already has his first post-UFC fight booked. Lapilus (21-4), who recently parted ways with the UFC after not re-signing a new deal, has inked a multi-fight contract with the PFL. He meets PFL MENA bantamweight winner Ali Taleb (12-1) May 24 at Accor Arena in Paris, France, promotion officials announced Monday. PFL Europe Paris streams on DAZN in France, the U.K. and Ireland. North American broadcast plans are not yet finalized. Lapilus leaves the UFC for the second time off of a win. In his second UFC stint, the 32-year-old went 3-1, most recently defeating Vince Morales by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 243 this past September in Paris. Sweden's Taleb won the PFL MENA bantamweight tournament after defeating Nawras Abzakh by unanimous decision, followed by first-round knockouts of Jalal Al Daaja and Rachid Haz. With the addition, the PFL Europe Paris lineup currently includes:
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Andrei Arlovski set for first post-UFC bout at DBX 1
Andrei Arlovski has booked his first fight since exiting the UFC in July. The former UFC heavyweight champion will compete against Terrance Hodges, debuting under the Dirty Boxing banner at DBX 1 on March 22. The event takes place at The Hangar at Regatta Harbour in Miami and is headlined by Yoel Romero vs. Ras Hylton. The promotion offically announced the matchup Wednesday. Arlovski, 46, competed in his final UFC bout at UFC 303, losing a split decision to Martin Buday. After his fourth consecutive loss, UFC CEO Dana White announced his UFC run had come to an end after a total of 41 fights with the promotion. "The Pitbull" was also recently drafted to GFL's Team Los Angeles to continue his MMA career. At DBX 1, Arlovski will compete in four-ounce gloves, with a ruleset that allows for elbows and situational ground and pound. Hodges, 40, began his professional MMA career in 2015 and has competed in boxing, muay Thai, and kickboxing. The latter has produced the most success, with a 3-2 record, per Tapology. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dirty Boxing Championship (@dirtyboxing) With the addition, the current DBX 1 lineup includes: Yoel Romero vs. Ras Hylton Andrei Arlovski vs. Terrance Hodges Ulysses Diaz vs. Brian Maxwell Mike Breeden vs. Eric Moon Maurice Greene vs. Rakim Cleveland Bubba Jenkins vs. Gabriel Macario Alexander Schenk vs. Tristan Gallichan Robinson Perez vs. Oluwale Bambgbose Claudia Zamora vs. Kat Nelson Diego Romo vs. Sean Hotusing Corey Jackson vs. Marcellus Wallace Guilherme Bastos vs. Gabriel Morales This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Andrei Arlovski set for first post-UFC bout at DBX 1
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
MMA legend Jason 'Mayhem' Miller opens up about downward spiral, homelessness — and turning around his life
Jason "Mayhem" Miller has fought just as many battles outside the cage as he has inside of it. The former UFC middleweight was once one of the bigger names in MMA, a fan-favorite personality, host of MTV's popular "Bully Beatdown" reality series and coach opposite UFC legend Michael Bisping on the 14th season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Miller debuted in the UFC in 2005 then ventured around the globe, competing in the WEC, DREAM and Strikeforce before returning for a second UFC stint in 2011. By 2012, however, Miller found himself released from his contract after losing back-to-back UFC bouts. Miller dealt with several arrests of varying degrees in his post-UFC life, making him for a time appear destined to become one of the sadder career arcs in MMA history. It wasn't until September 2023 that the outspoken "Mayhem" found his moment of clarity, realizing that all of the trouble and antics he continued to get mired in were taking him down a road from which there'd eventually be no return. "This is tough times right here, bud," Miller acknowledged Wednesday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show," pointing back to the Instagram post that initiated his turnaround. "At this point, OK, some fan had challenged me to a grappling match in a five-star hotel, and I choked him out in front of the bouncers. I was really on some ruckus, OK? And I had just had enough. I had enough. And that's when I checked myself into an inpatient [rehab] and went for the whole ride, and I just cleaned up my act, put on a spiffy jacket and started smiling to Ariel Helwani in my head. And now, here, a couple years later, here we are." Now fully retired from MMA, Miller last fought in a bizarre appearance for Italian promotion Venator FC in 2016. After initially being scheduled to face Luke Barnatt for the promotion's middleweight championship, Miller infamously missed weight by 23 pounds and instead fought Mattia Schiavolin in a light heavyweight affair, losing via second-round rear-naked choke submission. Troubles continued for Miller after that brief MMA return. His situation worsened to the point that he even became homeless for a time. Miller still follows and coaches MMA today, but he also works alongside comedian and podcaster Adam Carolla on "The Adam Carolla Show," which airs weekdays on various podcast networks. Miller acknowledged that the Monday-to-Friday nature of the job has given him a sense of peace and structure. "My life was just wandering around downtown skid row, I'm getting hunted for my suitcase," Miller said. "If you want to talk [about] an AA story, like, that's it right there. I just slept on a mattress in the middle of the street. Just living feral, like an animal. I'll just straight up say it: a monster. Just living like a [monster]. Choking blue belts out at The Montage [Hotel]. I don't know, man. I had enough. "I determined to climb up out of it and get rid of, like, the old-styled 'Mayhem' and then bring a brand new 'Mayhem.' And what the hell? I got a job." At the worst of his homelessness, Miller recalled turning that way of life into something straight out of a movie. "It was kind of like the Buddha sort of thing where you just abandon all things, personal possessions. I went full 'Fight Club,' dude," Miller said. "If I would have found a run-down old house, I would have took it over — and, well, actually I did do that at one point in my life. I just had a crazy run-down house, just like a million 'Mayhem monkeys' [fans of Miller] inside of it. It was really bizarre. That's the only time the cops stopped harassing me, actually. "People would dap me up, but I looked like a maniac," he added. "Even if they did recognize me, I don't think they'd come straight up to me." Fortunately, Miller is now "a couple years" sober. Since that moment of clarity in 2023, his life has been on an upward swing in a way he hopes gives hope to others who are struggling with their inner demons. "I've gotten myself together, and I'm living proof that you can do it," he said. "It's not easy. If it was easy, everybody would just fall into it. And it's easy to fall into that [kind of life], so I think the judgment with people that, they see some bad stuff on the internet — you don't realize how easy it is with the right combination of toxic people and the classic 'bad friends,' and you get caught up in a wave of negativity, where it feels like positivity. But I really feel great [now], and I feel like I can start to pull up my fellow man." While Miller has transformed his path into one of MMA's survival stories, other icons of his era unfortunately haven't been as lucky, so he tries to help however he can. This past week, former two-division UFC champion BJ Penn made headlines for posting some extremely troubling videos to his Instagram account. Likewise, other beloved veterans such as Nick Diaz have raised alarm bells with their outside-the-cage disturbances. Diaz was scheduled to take on Vicente Luque in October 2024 until a video of him in a questionable condition outside on a sidewalk surfaced online. From his experience, Miller knows nothing can necessarily be done for his fellow MMA alums, at least not until they want to do something themselves — if they can. "Somebody gave me a note that, 'Hey, look, he's getting it together,'" Miller said of Diaz. "So, you know, that's what I got. I don't know. Again, it's very sensitive to talk about these guys' journey, because I have a lot of empathy for it because it's easy, like I said, to fall into this darkness, and people do not understand how — if you're a C-level celebrity, it's super easy, where a lot of people will glob onto you and like drag you this direction, that direction. It's super easy to fall into, let alone huge superstar champions like Nick Diaz and BJ Penn. So it's hard for me to like come off without sounding negative about these guys' experience right now. But right now, look, we see that it's not going perfect. Both camps had told me that they're on the right path to get back together. "I learned from coaching professional fighters here in Los Angeles that it's like herding cats — and not just regular cats, OK? Jungle kitties with giant biceps and traps [who] just are slicing and dicing. So you have to herd these cats gently. No champion fighter is just going to roll up, 'Mayhem, I need your help.' No, no one's going to do that. They're fighters, OK? We're all tough. Where the big part of my problem was that I'm so independent and beastly, I could not ask for help from anyone. "When I finally, finally did, I immediately took to it like mixed martial arts — where, 'Oh, I get it. Oh, I get my discipline back. I get to focus on a goal.' It made it specific. I made it a game for myself, where, 'OK, I can win this game.' But until guys get to the point where they want to reach out and ask — no one asks the corner to throw the towel. I'll just give that metaphor. Nobody says, 'Hey, will you throw the towel?' No, no. Every guy who does the sport of mixed martial arts — even as a hobby — has a little bit of fire in them. Something that gets them determined and gets them up to meet the next bell."
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
MMA legend Jason 'Mayhem' Miller opens up about downward spiral, homelessness — and turning his life around
Jason "Mayhem" Miller has fought just as many battles outside the cage as he has inside of it. The former UFC middleweight was once one of the bigger names in MMA, a fan-favorite personality, host of MTV's popular "Bully Beatdown" reality series, and coach opposite UFC legend Michael Bisping on the 14th season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Miller debuted in the UFC in 2005 then ventured around the globe, competing in the WEC, DREAM, and Strikeforce before returning for a second UFC stint in 2011. By 2012, however, Miller found himself released from his contract after losing back-to-back UFC bouts. Miller dealt with several arrests of varying degrees in his post-UFC life, making him for a time appear destined to become one of the sadder career arcs in MMA history. It wasn't until September 2023 that the outspoken "Mayhem" found his moment of clarity, realizing that all of the trouble and antics he continued to get mired in were taking him down a road from which there'd eventually be no return. "This is tough times right here, bud," Miller acknowledged Wednesday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show," pointing back to the Instagram post that initiated his turnaround. "At this point, OK, some fan had challenged me to a grappling match in a five-star hotel and I choked him out in front of the bouncers. I was really on some ruckus, OK? And I had just had enough. I had enough. And that's when I checked myself into an inpatient [rehab] and went for the whole ride, and I just cleaned up my act, put on a spiffy jacket and started smiling to Ariel Helwani in my head. And now, here, a couple years later, here we are." Now fully retired from MMA, Miller last fought in a bizarre appearance for Italian promotion Venator FC in 2016. After initially being scheduled to face Luke Barnatt for the promotion's middleweight championship, Miller infamously missed weight by 23 pounds and instead fought Mattia Schiavolin in a light heavyweight affair, losing via second-round rear-naked choke submission. Troubles continued for Miller after that brief MMA return. His situation worsened to the point that he even became homeless for a time. Miller still follows and coaches MMA today, but he also works alongside comedian and podcaster Adam Carolla on "The Adam Carolla Show," which airs weekdays on various podcast networks. Miller acknowledged that the Monday-to-Friday nature of the job has given him a sense of peace and structure. "My life was just wandering around downtown skid row, I'm getting hunted for my suitcase," Miller said. "If you want to talk [about] an AA story, like, that's it right there. I just slept on a mattress in the middle of the street. Just living feral, like an animal. I'll just straight up say it: A monster. Just living like a [monster]. Choking blue belts out at The Montage [Hotel]. I don't know, man. I had enough. "I determined to climb up out of it and get rid of, like, the old-styled 'Mayhem' and then bring a brand new 'Mayhem.' And what the hell? I got a job." At the worst of his homelessness, Miller recalled turning that way of life into something straight out of a movie. "It was kind of like the Buddha sort of thing where you just abandon all things, personal possessions. I went full 'Fight Club,' dude," Miller said. "If I would have found a run-down old house, I would have took it over — and, well, actually I did do that at one point in my life. I just had a crazy run-down house, just like a million 'Mayhem monkeys' [fans of Miller] inside of it. It was really bizarre. That's the only time the cops stopped harassing me, actually. "People would dab me up, but I looked like a maniac," he added. "Even if they did recognize me, I don't think they'd come straight up to me." Fortunately, Miller is now "a couple years" sober. Since that moment of clarity in 2023, his life has been on an upward swing in a way he hopes gives hope to others who are struggling with their inner demons. "I've gotten myself together, and I'm living proof that you can do it," he said. "It's not easy. If it was easy, everybody would just fall into it. And it's easy to fall into that [kind of life], so I think the judgement with people that, they see some bad stuff on the internet — you don't realize how easy it is with the right combination of toxic people and the classic 'bad friends,' and you get caught up in a wave of negativity, where it feels like positivity. But I really feel great [now] and I feel like I can start to pull up my fellow man." While Miller has transformed his path into one of MMA's survival stories, other icons of his era unfortunately haven't been as lucky, so he tries to help however he can. This past week, former two-division UFC champion BJ Penn made headlines for posting some extremely troubling videos to his Instagram account. Likewise, other beloved veterans such as Nick Diaz have raised alarm bells with their outside-the-cage disturbances. Diaz was scheduled to take on Vicente Luque in October 2024 until a video of him in a questionable condition outside on a sidewalk surfaced online. From his experience, Miller knows nothing can necessarily be done for his fellow MMA alums, at least not until they want to do something themselves — if they can. "Somebody gave me a note that, 'Hey, look, he's getting it together,'" Miller said of Diaz. "So, you know, that's what I got. I don't know. Again, it's very sensitive to talk about these guys' journey, because I have a lot of empathy for it because it's easy, like I said, to fall into this darkness, and people do not understand how — if you're a C-level celebrity, it's super easy, where a lot of people will glob onto you and like drag you this direction, that direction. It's super easy to fall into, let alone huge superstar champions like Nick Diaz and BJ Penn. So it's hard for me to like come off without sounding negative about these guys' experience right now. But right now, look, we see that it's not going perfect. Both camps had told me that they're on the right path to get back together. "I learned from coaching professional fighters here in Los Angeles that it's like herding cats — and not just regular cats, OK? Jungle kitties with giant biceps and traps [who] just are slicing and dicing. So you have to herd these cats gently. No champion fighter is just going to roll up, 'Mayhem, I need your help.' No, no one's going to do that. They're fighters, OK? We're all tough. Where the big part of my problem was that I'm so independent and beastly, I could not ask for help from anyone. "When I finally, finally did, I immediately took to it like mixed martial arts — where, 'Oh, I get it. Oh, I get my discipline back. I get to focus on a goal.' It made it specific. I made it a game for myself, where, 'OK, I can win this game.' But until guys get to the point where they want to reach out and ask — no one asks the corner to throw the towel. I'll just give that metaphor. Nobody says, 'Hey, will you throw the towel?' No, no. Every guy who does the sport of mixed martial arts — even as a hobby — has a little bit of fire in them. Something that gets them determined and gets them up to meet the next bell."
USA Today
06-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Michael Chandler 'absolutely not' interested in BKFC: 'I've proven that I'm a tough guy'
Don't expect Michael Chandler to use BKFC as a post-UFC career. Chandler has been entertaining fans with his wars inside the cage dating back from his rivalry with Eddie Alvarez in Bellator, to his battles with Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier in the UFC. But unlike UFC veterans Alvarez, Mike Perry, and Jeremy Stephens, Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) has zero plans of eventually taking the gloves off to continue his fighting career. 'Absolutely not,' Chandler told MMA Junkie Radio on BKFC. 'I think I've proven that I'm a tough guy. I think I can say absolutely not without risking people saying, 'This guy's soft.' I don't think I need to fight bareknuckle to prove how tough I am. 'Just go type my name in on YouTube or on UFC Fight Pass and you can see that I'm no softie. I think there's a certain brand of guy that goes there while you're still in your prime and able to compete at the highest level in mixed martial arts, and I'm not one of those guys.' Chandler, 38, will look to get back on track after losing four of his past five, most recently a unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 309. The former UFC title challenger assures that when he's ready to call it a career, his final fight will be in the octagon. 'I will hang up the gloves for the last time at some point under the UFC and never fight again,' Chandler said. 'That will be the goal, and I will probably leave before people want me to leave, for sure. Right now, we're focused on the next fight and we'll see what it is. But I'm a fan of bareknuckle. I'm a fan of watching it.'
