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TBS will premiere Dana White's slap fighting league on January 11. Competitors will slap each other across the jaw as hard as they can in an attempt to knock each other out. This type of spectacle is not new; slap fighting has been around for a few years. However, the UFC President is giving the sport  unprecedented exposure and legitimacy. White is obviously attempting to entice an MMA audience to his new venture. This is made clearer by the news that former UFC middleweight champion Forest Griffin has been cast in a role on the show. Griffin told TMZ in an interview that he was in charge of ensuring that competitors did not sustain more than an acceptable amount of brain damage. Griffin said, explaining what he was hoping to prevent. “You’ve taken the first trauma and when your head hits the ground, bang bang, both sides of your brain actually bounce against your skull. We want to prevent that and make it just the initial impact and have that be what causes you or not causes you to win or lose the competition.” Brains bouncing off the inside of the skull pose a significant risk. This motion is what causes brain bleeds, which have claimed the lives of several MMA fighters and boxers, including Tim Hague, Joao Carvalho, and Dwight Ritchie. However, movement is not the only risk combat athletes take with their brains. When the brain is forced to rotate, within the skull, it can cause a number of symptoms which, we often refer to as a 'concussion'. A mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI, is the technical term for this. MTBIs cause the release of a protein called tau in the brain. This protein causes brain decay throughout the body. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is caused by this process (CTE). CTE can cause dementia, depression, and a higher risk of suicide.

With no opponents on the horizon, Allstars Training Center head coach Andreas Michael suggests Khamzat Chimaev fight at middleweight next. Michael proposed a title fight against Alex Pereira, who won the middleweight title by TKOing Israel Adesanya in the fifth round at UFC 281. The Swedish trainer believes it will be a "amazing fight" and that Khamzat, who has previously struggled to make welterweight, will have no trouble making weight. “We’re having a good camp here and we’re gonna do it again. We’re going to go to heavyweight,” Michael joked during a recent vlog in Dubai. “Middleweight [is where I really want to see him next]. For the belt. I would like that. That’s an amazing fight [with Alex Pereira]. We can fight at [welterweight] no problem. It’s no problem at all. It’s just good preparation and good warning for if we’re gonna go drop down in weight then we need time and it’s done. Not this five weeks or four weeks preparation thing because it’s not doable in that time.” “Right now he’s like [196 pounds]. He can make weight like tomorrow. [Middleweight], it’s no problem. Even if everyone thinks that he’s [300 pounds now],” he added. Chimaev is expected to return to welterweight in the near future, as Pereira is expected to rematch Israel Adesanya before taking on any other challengers. Chimaev's most recent fight was at UFC 279, where he submitted Kevin Holland in the first round. With a professional record of 12-0, he is currently ranked third in the UFC welterweight rankings (6-0 UFC).

Anthony Joshua has had a difficult few years, but he is more determined than ever to win world titles in 2023. Joshua has only fought twice in the last two years, losing his first fight by unanimous decision to Oleksandr Usyk, and despite looking better in the rematch, 'AJ' was defeated again, this time by split decision. This puts Joshua in an unusual position, as his next fight may not be for a heavyweight world title belt for the first time since 2015. “I lost a fight this year which took me out of the championship title race,” Joshua told a news reporting outlet. “So when you’re constantly fighting for championships after championships you’re constantly in the race for a long time. “When I lost, I was finally out of the race and overcoming that was a new beginning, something I’ve been used to, being in the title race for seven years and then finally realising that this isn’t my norm anymore. “It’s challenging to overcome that. “I’ve always been a competitor, a challenge to me is just another obstacle that I can get over, and for some, I feel like it’s easier to knock them down and keep them down. “But as a competitor, it’s just something that you look at as another challenge that I can overcome. “It’s going to take work, being in that race I’m used to being in that competitor’s mindset, but I’m overcoming it for sure.” In terms of what comes next, Joshua has hinted that he wants the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk, which is scheduled for the first quarter of next year. 'AJ' stated that he wants to win a world title again, and given that all of the belts are currently held by Usyk or Fury, he would need to defeat one of them. “The opportunities are always there for me, there are big opportunities to fight. “I’ll fight whoever’s ready, I’m ready and we’ll get cracking in the New Year. I want to be consistent, be fit to fight, and everything comes off the back of that. “I’m dying for the world championship, 100%. That’s all my heart and soul is leading towards.” Having said that, there is a long line of heavyweight contenders after Fury and Usyk battle for the undisputed world heavyweight championship. The more likely options for the Olympic gold medalist are a rematch with Whyte, a fight against former Fury foe Otto Wallin, or even a potentially extremely lucrative clash with Wilder, so, as Joshua says, there are still 'big opportunities' out there for him.

According to jail records, boxing world champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis was arrested in Florida on a domestic violence charge on Tuesday. According to records, the 28-year-old boxing champion was booked into Broward County jail on a battery charge. The arrest and alleged domestic violence incident were not immediately disclosed. Davis has a history of domestic violence arrests. In 2020, he was caught on video grabbing his ex-girlfriend and his child's mother by the throat during a charity basketball game at the University of Miami. Davis turned himself in to police a few days after the video went viral on Twitter and was charged with simple battery domestic violence. According to the arrest report at the time, the victim suffered injuries to her lip and jaw. Davis will face Hector Luis Garcia on January 7 in Washington, DC. It's unclear whether his arrest on Tuesday will have an impact on the match. The Baltimore native has won world titles in three weight classes, including the WBA lightweight title since 2019. He is still undefeated after more than nine years of professional boxing, with 27 wins and zero losses.

UFC commentator Jon Anik has been narrating Dustin Poirier’s fights for the last 10 years. After an outstanding display in his last meeting in the octagon with Michael Chandler, Jon Anik has fallen short of words as he was all praise for former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier. In three rounds of action, Poirier and Chandler delivered a thrilling show as they scuffled. Finally, "The Diamond" was able to defeat "Iron" via submission, and the match was named the "Fight of the Night" for the occasion. Anik lauded Poirier's explosive display at UFC 281, saying that he doesn't need to capture the lightweight title to establish himself as one of the all-time greats. Although the former interim champion was unsuccessful twice in his bid to emerge as the undisputed UFC lightweight champion, Anik's opinion of the American has still not changed. The UFC commentator expressed his admiration for "The Diamond" by saying: "Dustin Poirier is incredible, and I don’t think he needs an undisputed UFC lightweight championship to prove any sort of greatness. This was a difficult matchup [for Poirier] in a lot of respects. Michael Chandler’s explosivity is a problem for a lot of people, and maybe if Chandler makes a little bit of a different decision at times in this fight, the narrative flips." Anik went on to mention Poirier's resilience and determination in the battle with Chandler. “Dustin Poirier’s ability to recognize when he’s hurt, bite down on the mouthpiece, and then, obviously, his skill set is such that he is able to submit a guy in this setting, his ability to rise to the occasion...Huge night for Poirier in proving that his UFC body of work counts for a whole lot, and obviously I have buckets of respect for Chandler in defeat.” Throughout his career, Dustin Poirier fought against the best of the division and fought with determination and passion. In his career, he has gained victories against notable names which include Michael Chandler, Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker, Eddie Alvarez, Max Holloway, and Anthony Pettis. However, he was a worthy candidate to hold the UFC gold strap, but he couldn’t succeed due to the superb grappling of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. All such achievement makes him one of the most respected fighters in the sport.

The reports are being circulated regarding a vital welterweight matchup between Sean Brady and Michael Pereira that has been scheduled for the UFC Fight Night event. Both of them agreed to a showdown for a UFC event on March 25th, 2023, which is set to be held at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. However, the main card of the event is not yet finalized, and more fights are expected to be announced in the coming week, this reported bout becomes the sixth fight announced on the card. The official contract is yet to be signed by both of the candidates. Following a speech issued by Pereira to Brazilian broadcaster PVT on Monday, the information was verified. Following his first professional mixed martial arts appearance in 2014, Sean Brady has maintained a 15-1 record. Since signing with the UFC in 2019, Brady is 5-1 with two submission wins and three decision wins which includes some notable names like Michael Chiesa and Jake Matthews. The No. 8 welterweight will be looking to back up the lone loss of his campaign, a second-round TKO setback to Belal Muhammad at UFC 280 Abu Dhabi. While Michael Pereira who made his MMA debut in 2011, has significantly far more experienced in the cage as evidenced by his 28-11-2 record. Pereira resides currently on #14 in the welterweight division and has amassed a record of 6-2 since joining UFC in 2019. His five-fight win streak will be at stake when he faces the American sensation at the UFC Fight Night event on March 25th. In his last outing back in May 2022, he defeated an Argentinian Santiago Ponzinibbio by a split decision and received a Fight of the Night bonus. The latest UFC Fight Night lineup now includes: Holly Holm vs. Yana Kunitskaya Sean Brady vs. Michel Pereira Manel Kape vs. Alex Perez Maycee Barber vs. Andrea Lee Albert Duraev vs. Chidi Njokuani Daniel Da Silva vs. CJ Vergara

The former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has given the details of his time in jail for the first time since coming out of detention last month. The UFC legend Velasquez had remained in the headline for the most part of 2022 for all the wrong reasons. In February, Velasquez was arrested after his alleged attempt to kill his child’s molester, Harry Goularte. Velasquez shot a bullet at Goularte which escaped him but found the shoulder of his Dad who was sitting beside him in the car. After the scene, Police arrived and took Velasquez in the custody for charges of attempted murder. The 40-year-old remained in jail for 8 months before finally securing his bail for $1 million. The former heavyweight champ has spoken for the first time narrating his story in the lock-up. “They had me in protective custody. It was very low-key. Only a few people that I was able to kind of hang out with and I guess the good thing about it is you got a lot of alone time with yourself and the bad thing about it was you got a lot of alone time with yourself.” Velasquez said while talking at K100 w/ Konnan & Disco podcast. Velasquez participated at last month’s AAA Worldwide event after not competing since 2019. “It was crazy man… Probably the worst I’ve ever felt physically, mentally doing something… I feel like there was such a standstill, my body and my mind.” Velasquez’s case is hanging in the balance as he is called upon in the next hearing that is due on January 2023.

After cleaning the super featherweight, Shakur Stevenson is sorting out the fighters for his debut match in the lightweight division and believes Jamaine Ortiz could be a perfect candidate for it. Stevenson is considered one of the top rising prospects in the boxing world at the moment. The Southpaw has been ruthless so far as he has gone undefeated in all his 19 outings in the ring. Stevenson was last seen in action in September where he cruised to a unanimous decision victory over Robson Conceicao. But had to relinquish his WBC and WBO Super featherweight titles as he failed to make weight before the bout. After the fight, Stevenson announced that he would no longer be fighting at 130 and would make a move to 135. Stevenson has been eyeing big fishes at the lightweight but hasn’t been successful in doing so. “We already looked for some tope guys at lightweight and actually they turned me down already,” Stevenson said. “Guys like Isaac Cruz turned me down, that’s a top guy that fought Tank. It’s real weird that they would turn down a guy that never fought one fight at 135.” Stevenson wants to get going straight away at this new weight. So, for that, he has his eyes set on Jamaine Ortiz. Ortiz last fought Vasiliy Lomachenko where he gave the hard time to the former pound-for-pound no.1. Stevenson believes that Ortiz will have no problem accepting this fight. Ortiz has yet to give any verdict on it but if the right offer comes his way, he will happily accept this offer.

Boxing icon Roy Jones Jr. has advised Anthony Joshua on a future fight against Deontay Wilder. Anthony Joshua is currently looking to return to winning ways, and a potential fight against Deontay Wilder has sparked his attention. It's important to note that Oleksandr Usyk has defeated the Brit in back-to-back decisions. Roy Jones Jr. thinks Anthony Joshua shouldn't fight Deontay Wilder after two straight defeats, despite the boxing world's desire to see them square off. : Jones Jr. said during a recent interview with iD Boxing: “He can’t go into a Deontay Wilder fight after losing two fights to Usyk. That doesn’t make any sense at all. Now if you find someone who isn’t quite the puncher that Wilder is, get yourself back and back to winning." Roy Jones Jr. added: “But if you’re coming off two losses to against Usyk with the confidence being down already if Wilder hits you, you don’t know. That’s going to be crazy. Wilder is a phenomenal heavyweight. Against Wilder, you’ve got to be mistake-proof, you make a mistake with Wilder, and it could be over.”

Antônio "Bigfoot" Silva, a former contender for the heavyweight belt in the UFC, will attempt to win his first MMA match in seven years. In March 2005, at the age of 43, Silva made his professional MMA debut. He entered the UFC after stints in Strikeforce and Elite XC with victories over fighters like Alistair Overeem, Travis Browne, and Soa Palelei. Silva has enjoyed some measure of success in MMA, but lately, his career has crumbled. His most recent kickboxing match was in September, and he has lost seven straight MMA matches. Six of Silva's seven defeats during this losing streak have been by knockout. His most recent loss was to Oleg Popov at MMA Series 53 back in June, when he was struck viciously and the match was over. Silva had been scheduled to make his MMA comeback at Eagle FC 44 earlier this year, but he pulled out of the main event matchup with Tyrone Spong. Sergei Kharitonov took his place and eventually won the match. Silva recently confirmed his return to MMA in Brave CF in an Instagram post. “Hi everyone, now it’s official, I signed the contract to fight on March 9th in the Brave organization against Haim Gozali,” Silva said. “I’m so excited for that, and I’ll see you soon Haim.” It's unknown if Silva plans to retire from MMA after this bout or if he'll keep competing. It's also unclear whether Silva's comeback is just an effort to conclude his career on a high note.

UFC #1 ranked in women’s flyweight division Manon Fiorot is edging closer to an octagon comeback with an eye on the gold strap, currently in hands of Valentina Shevchenko, after her knee surgery went successful and is still in the rehabilitation stage. The Frenchwoman has been a phenomenon inside the octagon. Manon Fiorot is unblemished in the competition after suffering her first defeat in 2018 and she hopes to keep up her winning streak. Under UFC’s umbrella, Fiorot has won all five of her fights with two victories recorded as TKO and three via decision. In her last outing, Manon Fiorot clashed with a notorious and tricky warrior Kalyn Chookagian in October 2022. Although with the win over Chookagian, the Frenchwoman topped the division ranking which made a strong case to challenge the current champion, Valentina Shevchenko. Shevchenko even said earlier that Fiorot is among the names she has her sights on next. Fiorot is still optimistic that the most anticipated fight with Shevchenko will take by the end of the year 2023 or in 2024 keeping in mind Shevchenko’s wish for the fight in the first quarter of 2023. “I see the interview (with Shevchenko) and, for me, it’s normal,” Fiorot told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “I’m the No. 1 contender (in the UFC rankings), so we need to talk about myself when we talk about the belt. I don’t know what’s happened, I don’t know if Valentina knows when she talked about that if I’m injured. If she takes a fight now in a few weeks, it’s normal, because I come back in summer. We have to see this fight in 2023, but for now, if she takes another fight, I will fight someone else in July or August and then at the end of the year, we will see.” Fiorot has already declared that she has no specific request regarding her next opponent. But she only asks for a five-round main event bout as it would be a tremendous learning opportunity for her in preparation as she strives to become champion. Manon Fiorot mentioned a prospective encounter with Rose Namajunas when talking about what comes after her surgery as reports about the fan favorite's potential switch to flyweight started to circulate. "Waiting for Valentina [Shevchenko] is not an option for me because I really want to fight in August and in my mindset, I say to everyone [that] I beat Valentina, so if I say that, I can win against anybody in the division... I heard two weeks ago that Rose wants to [move] up in the flyweight division. I'm the number one contender, if she [does] come [to my weight class], she has to fight me.’’

Rose Namajunas will mark her reintroduction to combat sports since dropping her strawweight championship at UFC 274 months ago when she competes against Gillian Robertson in a grappling clash the next week on December 30th at the main event of FURY 6. The event will be held at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. Thug Rose's last outing didn’t go according to her plan. She stepped into the cage for the strawweight title defense against Carla Esparza at UFC 274 on May 07, 2022. When the two fought a second time, the grapple-heavy fighter Esparza was able to carry out her strategy and captured the title. The match is deemed the most terrible title fight in the history of the promotion. Namajunas was originally slated to make her FURY grappling debut in December 2021 at FURY 3 against the sensational Danielle Kelly of the ONE championship, but her former foe Carla Esparza, unfortunately, became her replacement owing to COVID-19 protocols. “Competing in grappling was one of a few different goals I had for myself before I were to compete in fighting again,” Namajunas said in a statement. “I’m very grateful for this opportunity to compete for FURY grappling. I’m very excited.” Rose Namajunas's grappling showdown won’t be an easy one as her opponent Gillian Robertson holds a record for most submission wins in the UFC women’s history. Although Robertson has had very little fortune in the cage than her next competitor, she has displayed the capability to conclude fights and is an expert in the application of a rear-naked choke submission. Gillian Robertson defeated Mariya Agapova with a horrific finish during their fight on September 17 in her final attendance at the promotion. Mariya was left unconscious after she refused to tap out to rear naked choke attempt by the Canadian. The fight resulted in the favor of Gillian Robertson via technical submission. “It’s great to be back with FURY for another extremely high-profile card,” Robertson said. “I am thankful for the opportunity to share the mat with such a notable opponent like Rose Namajunas.”