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At UFC Fight Night 149 in 2019, we witnessed a clash between the then-debutant Arman Tsarukyan and Islam Makhachev, where the future champion and future contender faced off for the very first time. The Dagestani fighter clinched the victory that night after a hard-fought battle. Now, five years after their initial clash, both these fighters are once again at the pinnacle of the sport in the UFC’s most stacked division. Interestingly, years after their initial clash, Makhachev has come forward to acknowledge Tsarukyan’s strength. What did he say? Well, stay tuned as we are back with another episode of MMA roundup.

From Islam Makhachev’s confession, we will move on to Kamaru Usman, who reacted to Joaquin Buckely’s callout after his UFC Tampa win. Then, we will move on to Jon Jones, who brutally trolled Colby Covington for his loss against Buckley. Finally, we will conclude this segment with a piece of information about the implementation of AI in the upcoming Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight. So without any further ado let’s get started.

Islam Makhachev confesses to underestimating Arman Tsarukyan in their first encounter

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Islam Makhachev defeated Arman Tsarukyan by way of a unanimous decision back in 2019. It was the promotional debut for the Armenian, who was just 22 years old at that time. However, despite facing a tough Dagestani in his first UFC fight, Tsarukyan showcased tremendous will against Makahchev. Years after their initial encounter, Islam Makahchev confessed that he brutally underestimated the Amremian in their initial encounter but he won’t make the same mistake again.

While having a conversation with Daniel Cormier at ESPN, Islam Makhachev explained that while his initial clash with Alexander Volkanovski was the toughest fight of his career, Arman Tsarukyan did push him to his limits, “No, man, just watch the fight with [Alexander] Volkanovski… It was one of the hardest fights, of course, but it’s not the toughest because the five rounds with Volkanovski, it was crazy. It was heart rate more than 200, it’s going, you know?”

He further added, “But maybe I was underestimating [Tsarukyan] because he was short notice, nobody knows him and he doesn’t have a name. And I never watched his fights and he did well in that fight, but I like to finish all the questions.” Islam Makhachev is looking for a finish at UFC 311, however, will Tsarukyan let that happen? We will have to wait and watch. Regardless, for now, let us move on to Kamaru Usman, who had something to say about Joaquin Buckley following the latter’s callout of him last weekend.

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Is Kamaru Usman the 'hot chick at the bar' of the welterweight division, or just avoiding fights?

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Kamaru Usman responds to Joaquin Buckley’s random callout

After defeating Colby Covington at UFC Tampa, Joaquin Buckley wasted no time as he called out the notable stars of the welterweight division including Kamaru Usman, Leon Edwards, and Belal Muhammad. “I think it’s Kamaru Usman, baby,” Buckley declared. “Let’s go.”  Buckley is on a six-fight winning streak and it appears that ‘New Mansa’ is looking to throw hands against the higher-ups of the welterweight division. Responding to the callout, Usman took to his ‘Pound-4-Pound’ podcast with Henry Cejudo to call out the entire division.

USA Today via Reuters

The former welterweight champion gave a hilarious response, “I feel like the hot chick at the bar, everybody wants a piece. It’s almost like no one’s listening to what I’m saying. No one’s getting what I’m saying. I don’t care who it is. Shavkat [Rakhmonov], Belal, Ian [Machado Garry], Buckley, ‘JDM’ [Jack Della Maddalena], I don’t care who it is. One thing that I won’t do because I’ve done it for so long and too much, which is partially why I’m having to take this layoff, is compete when I’m not ready. When I am healthy, I don’t care who it is.”

Interestingly, Kamaru Usman was in attendance at Amalie Arena, when Buckley defeated Covington. Regardless, there are rumors that the former welterweight champion will be clashing against Jack Della Maddalena next year. For now, let us move on to Colby Covington who was brutally trolled by heavyweight champion Jon Jones for his defeat.

Jon Jones tears apart Colby Covington after UFC Tampa defeat

The former interim welterweight champion of the world, Colby Covington was brutalized at UFC Tampa as Joaquin Buckley took ‘Chaos’ into deep waters. Buckley left Covington bloodied as he clinched the victory via TKO by way of doctor stoppage.  After the loss, Covington claimed that he took the fight on short notice and was not ready to fight as he was busy campaigning for Donald Trump. This excuse by the former interim welterweight champion of the world irked the current heavyweight champion of the world, Jon Jones, who has his own longstanding beef with ‘Chaos’.

‘Bones’ took to his X handle to add a rather sarcastic comment on Covington’s comment, “Big shoutout to Colby Covington for skipping training to get President Trump ‘ready’—we all appreciate the sacrifice. At least he got to see me win.” Immediately after this, a fan came forward, claiming that Covington makes more excuses than anyone else. Jones responded by saying, “That’s what I find the most hilarious, listening to what he’s gonna come up with next after getting his a** whooped.”

Colby Covington’s fate within the division may have been shaken by this loss. Many fight analysts believe that the California native is in the twilight of his career. From MMA, let’s now take a look at the world of boxing, where Turki Alalshikh has an innovative way of changing the sport of boxing forever.

Turki Alalshikh announces the use of AI for Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury fight

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Turki Alalshikh’s recent announcement to us AI as judges for the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury fight could be the turning point for the entire combat sports community and if this succeeds, the MMA world might witness a revolution as lopsided judging will be avoided completely. Posting his announcement on X, Alalshikh emphasized, “For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight. Free from bias and human error brought to you by The Ring.”

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He further added, “This groundbreaking experiment, which won’t impact the official results, debuts during the biggest fight of the century, #Usyk2Fury, on December 21. Don’t miss history in the making.” Fury vs. Usyk II is happening this week on December 21st. The AI-driven judging system should work perfectly, especially considering the immense stakes involved, particularly Usyk’s three belts.

Do you believe that the introduction of AI into judging works better for sports? State your thoughts in the comments below.

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Is Kamaru Usman the 'hot chick at the bar' of the welterweight division, or just avoiding fights?