Fantasy Fight Night

Bill Haney asked Eddie Hearn straight up about Shakur Stevenson 👀: Bill Haney: "I had to come and tell you, lay off a cap." Bill Haney: "Was it your fault that Shakur Stevenson fight didn't happen?" Eddie Hearn: "I don't know, Bill. I'm not gonna put the blame on anyone. All I know is, is that Devin and Shakur wanted that fight." Then Hearn shut down the signing talk: "No, no, no, listen." 🎥 via Ring Magazine

Katie Taylor says Claressa Shields is "so far ahead" of everyone, with one thing missing from her career. Taylor on Ring Champs: "Just the one thing that she's actually lacking… is that big one-on-one rival. And that's not her fault, of course." Shields loved it: "See Katie going to keep it real! And that's why I love her. Like she said not my fault!" 🔥

Ali Abdelaziz says the Abu Dhabi incident hits the whole team, Khabib Nurmagomedov included: "Of course this is going to affect everybody, affect Khabib, affect him, affect everybody." His focus right now isn't Usman Nurmagomedov's career: "But I'm not worried about his fighting career right now. I'm worried about his well-being, how he's going to recover from this." 👀

Alex Pereira TROLLED Josh Hokit from the front row at the UFC 334 presser, holding up insults on his phone 😂 🎥 via @ChampRDS

UFC 334 fight week incentive pay is out, per Jed I. Goodman. The top tiers: 4 fighters at $21K, 2 at the $32K challenger tier and 2 at the $42K champion tier. The rest range from $4K to $16K 💰

Josh Hokit was asked about the attack on Merab Dvalishvili, and he didn't hold back 😤: "I mean that's some coward sh*t, you know saying, like cowards hide in numbers." "If you're gonna confront someone one-on-one, you gonna slap someone, it's a one-on-one fade." "But I mean, you gonna have your whole team jump, that's some f*cking p*ssy sh*t." 🎥 via UFC

With Merab still held in Abu Dhabi, Chael Sonnen remembers the warning he got there for the wrestling championship in 2001: "If you were involved in an altercation in Abu Dhabi, you do six months in jail." And "involved" covers a lot: "You walk up to me, you punch me. I've done nothing. I'm a victim. I do six months in jail." 😳

OBSESSED WITH GRIT Israel Adesanya read a fan's YouTube comment out loud: "He became obsessed with grit instead of the puzzle of mixing arts. Became stiff, aimed at proving ruggedness." He admits he got caught up trying to "get jacked and just flatline dudes or prove how rugged I am." The fix: "My shit is style bending. Hit, don't get hit." 🔥

HE WON'T OUTLAST ME Shara Magomedov has never been booked for five rounds, and Israel Adesanya wants even more: "I want it to be seven rounds. If it's seven rounds, I can go seven rounds, like, full flat out." He's sure of one thing: "I can guarantee that he's not going to outlast me in this fight." 😤

74 TIMES A DAY Eddie Hearn on the WBA upholding Teofimo Lopez vs Jack Catterall: "Absolutely fantastic from the WBA." He says Catterall's manager "Sam Jones has messaged me 74 times a day for three months." But he doesn't expect Lopez to take the fight: "I think he's going to fight Ryan Garcia, and I think he's going to vacate the title, personally." 😂

THE ROAD TO UNDISPUTED Eddie Hearn calls Boots Ennis vs Josh Kelly "the road to undisputed." He expects the next step to be lined up before Feb. 27: "I would guess Fundora will be there on the night to get in the ring with the winner of that fight and announce the undisputed championship." 🔥

Daniel Cormier thought he and Josh Hokit were cool. Hokit sat down already in a mood: "Not good. Now I'm standing next to you." DC hit back, "Well, you said we weren't friends... I was going for you versus Jon Jones. And you're going to do this to me." 😳 Via @arielhelwani

Bilal Hasan on drums, martial arts, and being present #UFC334 Before he gets back in the cage, Bilal Hasan sits behind the drums with his musician friends: "I know we both understand martial arts... It's all art." When he plays, "time passes by so quick. I'm so present in the moment." His goal this year is to "tap into more things that make me present, more hobbies." 🥁

Josh Hokit's plan is to make it ugly and dictate the dance. Asked if he'll follow the Jon Jones blueprint, Hokit admits he can't play Gane's game: "He's going to try to dance around... I can't beat him at that game. We can't both be dancing around." His plan instead: "I got to make it ugly... I got to close the distance. I'm going to dictate the dance and I'm going to put the pressure. No hesitation."

Josh Hokit on his Uggs, a sponsor shoutout, and going for double champ. When a reporter says he's 6'1, Hokit laughs: "I'm like 6'4 with these Uggs on for real... and thugs be wearing Uggs. Uggs, where my sponsor at?" Then he gets serious: "Once I win the title. Yeah, I'm looking for double champ status... I want my name to go down with the greats... that's legacy."

Josh Hokit says winning the title would mean "Gotham is saved" What would becoming UFC heavyweight champion mean to him? "I think it would mean that Gotham is saved, the heavyweight division's saved, the future is born, the past will be put in a casket." He says the division hasn't had an active champion in a while, and "the money don't sleep, so I can't rest." 🦇

Paddy Pimblett picked Justin Gaethje over Ilia Topuria, and DC thought he was crazy: "I said to DC, I was like, 'I think Justin's going to beat him.' He's like, 'What?'... He was like, 'You're crazy.' I was like, 'Nah, serious.'" His reasoning: "No man is unbeatable. Everyone is beatable." 👀 Via Joe Rogan

Josh Hokit says DC's last three-rounder was at a buffet. Next up was Daniel Cormier, and this one actually landed with the room: "The last time DC has gone three rounds was at an all-you-could-eat buffet." He didn't wait for a reaction: "Boom, roasted." It finally got one: "A little chuckle."

🚨 Ilia Topuria says Usman Nurmagomedov has been detained in Abu Dhabi "Usman has reportedly been detained, along with the cowards who were with him... What a disgrace." No official word from UAE police, RAF or Usman's team yet 👀 Should the UFC step in? 👇

Merab Dvalishvili says he was jumped in Abu Dhabi "Usman and his buddies came up from behind and started punching me and my young friend... They kept kicking us when we were down like losers." No response from Usman's side yet 👀 Who's in the wrong?