MMAKO’s Zain Bando returns to the proverbial newsdesk to kickoff the first full week in July with all of the latest headlines in combat sports.
Although there wasn’t a UFC event to look forward to Saturday night, with the promotion taking its lone summer break (which will restart with a July 13 UFC Denver card and last until UFC 306 on Sept. 14) boxing took center stage, as did non-fight-related news surrounding a rising superstar.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
UFC News: Sean O’Malley Teases Next Fight: ‘Hoping For The Sphere In Vegas’
Things continue to go from bad to worse for 25-year-old Ryan Garcia. After a then-upset of Devin Haney in April, Garcia, who had the win overturned to a No Contest, spiraled out of control. Thursday, it was revealed Garcia had been expelled from competing under the jurisdiction of the WBC after a series of racial slurs were seen across ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
Garcia has since apologized for his words, some of which could be considered offensive to various minority groups. He certainly doesn’t appear to be back in the good graces of fans either, or his family.
The WBC released a statement announcing the ban, making its stance abundently clear – offensive language in any form, including specifically-targeted remarks, won’t be tolerated.
Ryan Garcia Called Out by UFC 303 Star for Sphere Showdown with ‘No Takedowns’
“Exercising my authority as president of the WBC, I am hereby expelling Ryan Garcia from any activity with our organization,” Mauricio Sulaiman wrote. “We reject any form of discrimination. I fear for Ryan’s well being as he has declined multiple attempts for our help with mental health and substance abuse.”
Garcia initially claimed he was going to rehab to get further treatment, but it appears those plans have changed drastically. A video surfaced Sunday from Happy Punch that Garcia is becoming his brother Sean’s head coach moving forward.
Ryan Garcia says he’s skipping rehab and is now his brother’s full-time head coach pic.twitter.com/rtiH7ZxP2R
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) July 7, 2024
How long this professional relationship between the two brothers will last remains to be seen, but what seems obvious is that Garcia doesn’t seem to care how he acts, how he is perceived, and whether or not he is looking out for his best interests.
At press time, Garcia’s fighting future is grim to say the least.
Boxing News: Ryan Garcia Reacts to Suspension, Devin Haney Win Overturned
As mentioned above, there was no UFC card to culminate a crowded Saturday night in combat sports. Instead, professional boxing served as the main course, as a sold-out Honda Center saw two old UFC rivals go toe-to-toe.
In a hard fought 10-round affair, Nate Diaz edged Jorge Masvidal by majority decision, doing enough to win on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
Although both Diaz and Masvidal may be considered old according to some, it goes to show that crossing over in combat sports is alive and well. Simply put, it would be hard pressed to believe that Diaz and Masvidal have fought their last fights considering how recently both were in the UFC and competing at the highest level of the sport.
Only time will tell if a trilogy happens, as the score is tied 1-1. The win for Diaz was his first combat-related victory since Sept. 2022, while Masvidal last competed in boxing nearly 20 years ago.
Boxing News: Nate Diaz Outlasts Jorge Masvidal in Majority Decision Win
Dana White did an exclusive interview with FOX News, which was released Sunday morning and touched on several topics, including the UFC’s decision to walk away from a would-be massive deal with HBO in 2007.
At the time, fights were distributed on Spike TV and Pay-Per-View for a then-price of $49.99 in HD. White has been vocal over the years about how HBO’s production of major boxing events, while considered the gold standard, was not what he envisioned an at-home broadcast looking like.
White said the meeting with HBO was so bad that there was a verbal spat almost immediately between White and executives after the deal had already been signed. Ari Emmanuel, who now has a hand in the UFC given his role as part of its ownership group, was able to relinquish the UFC away from HBO.
“I believe if we had let HBO do what they wanted to do, it would have hurt us and hurt our brand,” White said. “It would have made it stale and old and like boxing was.”
The UFC then remained on Spike for another four years before airing its first linear broadcast on FOX in Nov. 2011. Today, weekly fights can be seen on ESPN’s family of networks, ESPN+ and ESPN+ Pay-Per-View.
If the UFC had gone to HBO, the sport may look different than it does today, but that’s only up for debate and what could have been.
The combat sports calendar gets back into high gear this coming weekend, culminating with a main event between Rose Namajunas and Tracy Cortez. The following weekend will see Jake Paul box Mike Perry before the UFC closes out the month of July with UFC 304 from Manchester, England, which is headlined by two title fights.
• Fanmio Takes Heat for Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal Outage, Fans Upset
• Conor McGregor Wins Disgustingly Massive Bet On Nate Diaz vs Jorge Masvidal
• UFC News: Sean O’Malley Teases Next Fight: ‘Hoping For The Sphere In Vegas’
• UFC 304: Bobby Green Legally Changes His Name, Paddy Pimblett’s Witty Response
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