The Hall at Live Casino

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Francis Ngannou has no interest in boxing Jake Paul. Paul defeated Mike Tyson via unanimous decision in an eight-round headliner during Friday night’s Paul vs. Tyson event on Netflix. The fight was not one fans will go back and re-watch, but it did earn the 58-year-old a big payday. After the bout, Ngannou reacted to Paul’s win on Twitter, jokingly saying he would slap Paul next time he sees him, while Paul responded that maybe current UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones is “the better heavyweight after all.” Next time I see this @jakepaul guy I'm gonna give him 2 or 3 slaps — Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) November 16, 2024 Clout chasing doesn’t suit you legend. Maybe Jon Jones is the better heavyweight after all https://t.co/XvQ3ZLkaaJ— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) November 16, 2024 Ngannou was asked about his interest in a fight with Paul, and the PFL Superfights champ shrugged it off. “No, no, no, no, c’mon, don’t be silly,” Ngannou told TMZ. “Maybe if we put [Jake and Logan Paul] in the cage, maybe there’s something to do there. C’mon, like respect me a little bit.” Ngannou made his return to MMA in October, where he quickly dispatched of surging heavyweight Renan Ferreira in the main event of PFL Battle of the Giants. Both Ngannou and Paul have executive roles within the PFL, and have supported each other over the past couple of years publicly. The former UFC heavyweight champion is continuing his defense of Paul in regards to the blowback the fight between the 27-year-old and Tyson has received. “Remember, we are doing entertainment, and they were on Netflix,” Ngannou said. “If you subscribe to Netflix, you go there for entertainment, and if this is not entertainment, I don’t know what you are looking for. ... It was entertaining, whether you like it or not. There was a curiosity to see like, man, Mike Tyson at his age, can he stand? They did entertain. So it’s working food for him, for them. “I mean, obviously, they’re breaking the system. A lot of people will not be happy. It’s more like a freelancer that doesn’t belong to any institution, and then people [don’t] like it. ... “Every time you go against institutions, you’re going to expect a hit, but that doesn’t mean you’re doing wrong.”

Anthony Hernandez | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Anthony Hernandez and Brendan Allen will soon meet again inside the cage. MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin confirmed with sources with knowledge of the matchup that Hernandez (13-2, 1 NC) is expected to fight Allen (24-6) at a UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 22 with a location still to be confirmed. The news was first reported by MMA Mania. Hernandez and Allen are currently No. 9 and No. 12 at middleweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. The two first fought in January 2018 at an LFA event in Lake Charles, La. Hernandez defeated Allen by unanimous decision to claim a vacant middleweight title. From there, Hernandez moved on to Dana White’s Contender Series and then the UFC, while Allen eventually won the LFA middleweight title and successfully defended it before making his own UFC jump through Contender Series. Hernandez has won six straight fights, most recently bludgeoning Michel Pereira in the UFC Vegas 99 main event. He is unbeaten since losing by TKO to Kevin Holland in May 2020. Allen recently saw his impressive win streak snapped when he lost a unanimous decision to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Paris. Prior to that setback, Allen sneaked into title contention with seven straight victories.

Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Dana White | Photo via Elon Musk’s Twitter Jon Jones and other UFC stars wore Fighting Nerds glasses at the UFC APEX when Carlos Prates flattened Neil Magny at the UFC Vegas 100 main event. Seven days later, Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk was the one rocking the apparel following Mauricio Ruffy’s dominant win over James Llontop at UFC 309. Musk was sitting cageside at Madison Square Garden right next to president-elect Donald Trump and UFC CEO Dana White when Ruffy walked out to his fight, and had a big smile on his face after the entertaining 15-minute clash. “It was very cool [that Musk wore the glasses], and even cooler to see them in person,” Ruffy told MMA Fighting. “The impression I had is that they were there to watch my fight, because I went in to fight right after they arrived. They sat there, and it was a great fight. I almost finished [Llontop] twice, and it was a very exciting fight.” “When I jumped on the cage and saw Elon Musk and Donald Trump… I told Trump I was very happy he won [the election], and told Elon Musk it was cool to have him there. He clapped and smiled, and said something to me that I didn’t understand. But I was very happy to see them there. No words, man.” Guess who? pic.twitter.com/ExzlBOGSBz— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2024 Fighting Nerds leader Pablo Sucupira was the brains behind the idea to wear “nerd glasses” after MMA fights, and it has become a thing for the team in the UFC with Ruffy, Prates, Caio Borralho, Jean Silva, Thiago Moises and Bruna Brasil. “I remember when he came to the gym with that idea and asked for our thoughts on it, and Caio said it didn’t look cool,” Ruffy said with a laugh. “Pablo insisted, said it would be good. I liked it more than others. Some agreed, others didn’t, and now everybody is talking about the glasses. People asked me for glasses everywhere I go. I’m happy it became a thing, and it goes to show how good Pablo is.” Ruffy is now 2-0 in the UFC after the unanimous decision victory and said the fact Llontop missed weight for a catchweight bout helped him survive for 15 minutes. Ruffy said that members of Llontop’s team told him backstage after UFC 309 that the fighter weighed around 198 pounds during the match, gaining 32 pounds since the official weigh-ins on Friday morning. “32 pounds, I think that’s why he wasn’t knocked out,” Ruffy said. “That’s why I don’t see it as a perfect victory for me, because I wanted to knock him out. Every time I go in there, I want the knockout. It didn’t happen this time, but I think people liked it.” Now riding a six-fight winning streak with 10 knockouts in 11 professional MMA victories, Ruffy hopes to face Benoit Saint Denis or King Green next inside the octagon. “I’m very excited for a fight with Saint Denis,” Ruffy said. “I think that would be such a cool fight. Some people are advising me to go slow and whatnot, but everything I’ve been through in my life and career earns me that opportunity. The hype is nice, people are talking, and Saint Denis is coming off two losses, so it’s an interesting fight. Another fight that would also be very interesting is Bobby Green. “I’d love to fight any of those two names. I’m hoping the UFC will send me a good name and we’ll fight soon. I’m taking a break now, but already thinking about fights.”

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Bantamweights Ricky Turcios and Bernardo Sopai are being rescheduled for a fight at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles after they were originally set to meet at the UFC Vegas 100 card on Nov. 9. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday. The fight originally scheduled for November was scrapped after Turcios suffered a medical issue that forced him off the card after the weigh-ins. Now the matchup is being rescheduled for the first UFC pay-per-view in 2025. Both fighters are looking to rebound from recent losses after Turcios fell to highly touted prospect Raul Rosas Jr. back in June while Sopai suffered a loss to Vinicius Oliveira back in March in his octagon debut. The bantamweights join a UFC 311 card that’s still awaiting word on a main event, although rumors have swirled that lightweight champion Islam Makhachev could potentially return to defend his title against Arman Tsaruykan but nothing is set in stone just yet. UFC 311 also serves as the promotion’s first event at the new state-of-the-art Intuit Dome, which serves as home to the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024 Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul definitely won’t go down as the fight of the year, but it is almost certainly going to end up as the most watched combat sports event in 2024. On Tuesday, Netflix revealed that Tyson vs. Paul topped out at over 108 million viewers for the boxing event. Meanwhile, the co-main event between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano becomes the single-most watched professional women’s sports event in the history of the United States with 47 million average minute audience as well as an estimated 74 million live viewers globally. Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson makes history with over 108 Million LIVE global viewers!It’s the most-streamed global sporting event ever and Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 2 is the most-watched professional women’s sports event in US history. pic.twitter.com/QN1P5EWUEc— Netflix (@netflix) November 19, 2024 The Tyson vs. Paul fight peaked with 65 million concurrent streams, which set a new record as the most streamed global sports event in history. There were 38 million concurrent streams in the United States alone. According to TVision — a company that measures TV viewing — 56 percent of all U.S. TV viewing between 12am and 1am EST was tuned into the Tyson vs. Paul fight. The event was also No. 1 overall on Netflix for the week with 46.6 million views (total hours viewed/runtime) through Sunday night. It’s a remarkable number for a fight that saw Tyson return to action as a professional boxer for the first time in nearly 20 years. The 58-year-old former heavyweight champion ultimately went eight rounds with Paul before losing a unanimous decision. Paul constantly touted the selling power of the fight after he announced plans to face Tyson with Netflix signing on as the streaming partner for the event. Rather that doing pay-per-view, Tyson vs. Paul was available at no extra charge for Netflix subscribers. Based on the most recent financial disclosure from the streaming giant, Netflix boasts 282 million global subscribers. That means over one-third of all Netflix subscribers tuned in to watch the Tyson vs. Paul fight. Paul’s Most Valuable Promotion’s also announced the final live gate figures for the event held at AT&T Stadium just outside Dallas with total revenue reaching $18,117,072, which sets a new record for combat sports events in Texas. The event is also now the second-biggest live gate for any boxing or MMA event outside of Las Vegas.