'With every change comes trade-offs': Ted Cruz pushes new Muhammad Ali Act in hopes of unifying boxing

Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) is hoping a unified approach to boxing organizations will return the sport to the time when it was a source of national pride and childhood heroes.

Cruz recently championed the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act of 2026, an add-on to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000.

'We need more predictable pathways for matchmaking.'

Sponsored by Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.), the bill's goal is to strengthen organizations' ability to hold on to fighters, while establishing unified rules and medical procedures, including anti-doping programs.

The legislation — which passed through the House in March — demands that unified boxing organizations must implement drug testing programs, provide supplemental physicals for fighters over 40 years old, ensure that at least two ambulances are on site for matches, and allow boxers access to equipment and facilities fully operated by the UBO.

Effectively, if the legislation passes, it will allow boxing organizations to create fight leagues similar to those of other professional organizations, in which a boxer is locked in with regard to exclusivity and promotional rights.

The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, on the other hand, limited promotional contracts to 12 months and prevented organizations from being able to force boxers into granting future promotional rights as a condition for a mandatory title fight.

The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on Wednesday, which included support for and dissent from the new act and featured some of the biggest names in the sport.

Opposing the new rules was 11-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya. The boxing legend directly criticized noted adversary and UFC President Dana White, saying that White's Zuffa Boxing organization would likely be a beneficiary of the new rules. De La Hoya complained that Zuffa is "fully funded by Saudi Arabia" and claimed that such funding "reshaped another sport," referring to LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed competitor to the PGA Tour.

The former boxer said LIV Golf potentially losing Saudi backing should "serve as a warning" for American boxing. However, it should be noted that De Le Hoya accepted a $10 million purchase of boxing publication Ring magazine by a Saudi Arabian who invests in Zuffa Boxing.

De Le Hoya said in March that he now regrets the sale.

Nico Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali's grandson, also spoke in opposition to the legislation, saying that "the people controlling fighters should not also control the entire marketplace those fighters depend on."

Walsh claimed the new bill, in its current form, should not have his grandfather's name on it. According to Boxing Insider, he also cited Ali's history of speaking against the government and said that "silence is part of the system."

By contrast, Cruz praised the previous act but claimed that it was time for change.

The previous act was "meant to set basic guardrails without remaking the sport from Washington," Cruz said, "but with every change comes trade-offs."

"We need more predictable pathways for matchmaking and simplified rankings. I believe allowing for a more unified structure to take hold could help the sport compete more effectively against other combat sport competitors," he added.

Nick Khan, president of the WWE and executive at Zuffa Boxing, made the case that the new rules create a framework that "can do what major sports do — promote competition, develop talent, and enforce consistent standards under one roof."

Two of the biggest contentions to major fight organizations unifying in this manner have been fighter pay and health insurance. The legislation attempts to address these issues with insurance that covers fighters during their training period while simultaneously raising boxer minimum pay.

For example, according to Boxing Scene, California has a $100-per-round minimum pay, whereas the new legislation doubles that to $200 per round while guaranteeing a fight every six months.

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Dana White calls FBI immediately after suspicious betting suggests fixed fight

A typical UFC broadcast on ESPN is now shrouded in an alleged fight-fixing scandal.

The No. 1 broadcast for UFC "Fight Night: Garcia vs. Onama" was going as typically as any other event at the UFC Apex until the fourth-to-last fight took place.

The outcome of that fight, however, had UFC President Dana White immediately on the phone with federal authorities.

'Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money?'

It turns out that White already had his eye on the match between fighters Yadier del Valle and Isaac Dulgarian. Specifically, White and the UFC had already contacted Dulgarian after getting word of suspicious bets placed against the Kansas City, Missouri, native, who was a healthy favorite to win the fight.

"About one o'clock that day — we're with a company called IC360, and they are the best bet-monitoring company in the business — and they reached out to us and they told us that there was some unusual action going on with that fight," White told TMZ Sports.

White continued, "Do we know anything? We didn't, so what we did was we called the fighter and his lawyer and said, 'What's going on? There's some weird action going on in your [fight]. Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money? Has anybody approached you to, you know,' and the kid said, 'No, absolutely not. I'm going to kill this guy.'"

The UFC boss said he simply replied "OK" and let the fight happen. Dulgarian was a reported -250 favorite.

"The fight plays out, and first-round finish by rear-naked choke. Literally the first thing we did was call the FBI," White said.

As it turns out, the bet-monitoring system may have pointed to that exact outcome after an usual amount of money was put on the line.

The fight is available online, and viewers can watch as Dulgarian struggles to grapple with his Cuban opponent before eventually tapping to a rear-naked choke with 1:19 left in the first round.

IC360's co-founder, Scott Sadin, revealed that several factors pointed to a possible outcome in line with the unusual bets. Sadin said the company typically looks for "two strange things or more" that raise eyebrows in terms of fight betting. For this fight, Sadin said there was "significant [betting] line movement, not just on the outright winner of the fight but also when the fight would end in the first round."

"Something that at least warranted further investigation," Sadin told TMZ.

The betting expert explained that the total value of bets on the fight was higher than what was expected, as were the bets on Dulgarian to lose, as well as when and how he would lose. All of these factors likely pointed to a specific outcome that, if fulfilled, could signal that there was an agreement for the fight to end in that manner.

This is what caused White to "literally [walk] up from the octagon into my room in the back and [call] the FBI."

Dulgarian has not been charged with a crime, nor has he been proven to have rigged the fight. In White's Magic 8-Ball, though, the outlook is not so good.

"Fight-fixing is absolutely insane," White said. "... I'm not saying this kid's guilty. ... There's no proof that he's done this yet, but I can tell you this ... it definitely doesn't look good."

He added, "[Dulgarian] and his lawyer denied ... everything. ... We asked them all the questions."

Blaze News spoke to former UFC fighter T.J. Laramie, who was recently in Japan with his brother and fellow pro fighter, Tony Laramie.

T.J. revealed that before his brother won his fight on the Nov. 3 Rizin FF-Landmark Vol. 12 card, he was asked to rig the match.

"My brother actually got approached prior to his fight in Rizin this past weekend to throw the fight, essentially, and they were willing to compensate him minimum three times his fight purse," T.J. told Blaze News. Tony openly mocked the offer on social media, having lost only once in the last six years.

Older brother T.J. said with how prevalent betting is now, even on regional promotions, it likely would not take much for a fighter to say "yes" to an offer like that.

"We put in so much and get paid very little, so I could see why it would be enticing for certain people. Especially in these smaller shows, where there's less eyes on it and less on the line in general. I personally wouldn't do that, but I could certainly see why someone would," T.J. added.

Much as with recent NBA scandals, T.J. said the bets may not manifest in fight-fixing as much as they may come into play due to "insider information."

"Maybe someone in the camp knows about an injury or something compromising a fighter that no one else would know — and definitely not the oddsmakers," he said.

Tony is 11-3 overall. T.J. has a record of 16-3 and has won four fights in a row since he last fought in the UFC.

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Florida man trained in MMA beats up home intruder: 'Only God and my hands. That's it.'

A man defended his family's home when an intruder was found in the living room.

Henny Rojas was staying at his sister's house while she and her husband were in Miami last weekend; Rojas was there supervising his teenage nephew.

'Protect your family because the demon is outside.'

On Saturday morning, the teenager allegedly called his mother in a panic while trying to wake up his uncle, Rojas, to tell him there was a stranger in the living room.

"Uncle, uncle, wake up. Wake up!" Rojas recalled his nephew saying.

WPEC-TV reported that the man had forced his way into the home, but Rojas, who has allegedly trained in mixed martial arts for three years, met him with a pummeling.

"I'm prepared. It's not my first time," Rojas declared. "I don't feel [feel] any pain, nothing."

According to WPEC, witnesses reported that as the encounter escalated, Rojas used boxing, wrestling, and kicking techniques to subdue the suspect.

"I don't like guns. I don't [go] looking for a knife or nothing. Only God and and my hands. That's it," Rojas reiterated.

After police subdued the suspect, he said his intrusion into the home was a simple mistake.

The suspect, 31-year-old Austin Caresani, arrived in court with visible bruises all over his face; one of his eyes was swollen, while the other was black and purple.

Caresani told police he had been drinking at a nearby club and only accidentally entered the residence. He claimed he was actually trying to get a friend's house.

In court, Caresani invoked his right to remain silent before a judge revealed that he had been charged with home invasion. The suspect was reportedly still in jail as of Wednesday.

Rojas said he would not have changed a single thing about what happened that night, but provided parting words for the viewers at home.

"Protect your family because the demon is outside. A lot of crazy people. He don't believe in God. He only looking for damage," he said.

Rojas did not appear to have any formal MMA fighting history when his name was searched on multiple MMA athlete-tracking sites.

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Dana White shuts down absurd question about 'toxic masculinity' from CBS host who can't define it

UFC President Dana White defended his company, masculinity, and free speech in an interview on "60 Minutes."

CBS' Jon Wertheim asked White about everything from his relationship with President Donald Trump to the company's financial history, but it was the fight promoter's defense of his audience that served as a popular clip that circulated online.

'How can somebody be too masculine? Is that a possibility?'

The host referred to White describing the ongoing "wussification of America," which White quickly corrected.

"I think I said 'p***ification,' but yeah," White clarified.

This transitioned into Wertheim citing an apparent "cultural movement" dominated by males.

"It's a lot of guys. I mean, they call it 'the manosphere,' you're one of the leaders," he told White.

The UFC president retorted, saying that his audience was definitely male-dominated and masculine, too: "Eighteen- to 34-year-old males and growing," White stated. "We're global. We are definitely, unapologetically masculine."

Wertheim, though, questioned White with the liberal trope that successful male environments and activities are in danger of becoming too masculine. "Can this bubble over to too much? When you hear toxic masculinity?" Wertheim asked.

"Haha, what's that mean?" White asked back.

The host had no answer. "You tell me," Wertheim replied.

Flabbergasted, White continued, "You just said it! What's the definition of toxic? How can somebody be too masculine? Is that a possibility? Can you be too masculine? ... No."

"The answer is hell no," White said.

White's positions on many topics — and the 13-minute segment as a whole — were seemingly presented as an anomaly; an obscure, niche subset of sports that "60 Minutes" viewers may be blissfully unaware of. Among these topics was White's view of free speech, which he unapologetically defended.

In response to being asked if there were any scenario where a fighter's speech would get them into trouble with the company, White replied, "I'm a big believer in free speech, and unfortunately, probably the most important speech to protect is hate speech."

"I hate it," White said about cancel culture. "I don't like trying to destroy people's lives over doing something dumb."

(L-R) Canelo Alvarez, Dana White, and Terence Crawford on stage during Fanatics Fest NYC 2025 at Javits Center on June 22, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

In July, the UFC agreed to host an event at the White House in 2026, which was just one of the connecting points in Wertheim's presentation of White's relationship with President Trump.

The two talked about the early days of the UFC and its struggles when Trump was the only person who was willing to host an event at his venue, the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

"It was so bad at one point," White said about the company's finances. He said UFC owners Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta had even called him to say they could not keep the company going under the circumstances. However, White revealed he got a call the very next day that said, "F**k it, let's keep going."

Regarding his conversations with Trump, White said they are fairly simple.

"We don't talk politics ... we talk about goofy guy stuff that all guys talk about," White explained. "We talk about 'Rocky' movies, we talk about fights that have happened."

While much of the segment presented White and the sport as alien, some 20 years after its success boomed, CBS will soon have to come to terms with its popularity. In July, parent company Paramount acquired the rights to UFC broadcasts for $7.7 billion over seven years, per CNBC.

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Whitlock: Raja Jackson as the star of a degenerate 'Truman Show'

As new details emerge regarding Raja Jackson’s violent beatdown of Syko Stu during a wrestling match — where he landed 20+ punches to the wrestler as he knocked him out cold and put him in critical condition — some are excusing the behavior as simply “going too far.”

A.J. Mana, a wrestler who was at KnoxK Pro, was seen telling Jackson to give Stu “a receipt” and to “tag his s**t” before Raja’s run-in on Stu’s match.

Now he’s trying to defend what happened.

“He is there on business, or for business. Not to do business in the show, to promote the show. To promote me. To promote himself. It was a cross-collaborative agreement. Y’all want to suggest that somehow I would set up my own brother? Y’all want to push this f**king narrative that me, not the gimmick, the f**king human being,” Mana said on “The F Y’all Podcast with C.T. Fletcher.”

“Yes, he went too far. We don’t have to ascertain whether or not he went too far. I’m trying to absolve myself right now of these false allegations that I somehow — what was the term? I prompted the … attempted murder. An accessory to attempted to murder,” he continued.

“That’s a serious allegation,” he added.

“This is not the smartest group of people on the planet. This is a group of desperate people. And if you know anything about professional wrestling, this is the people at the bottom that eventually rise all the way to the top, may become Hulk Hogan, but they all start out desperate,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless.”

“And now that we’ve created this livestream world where everybody is out trying to get rich by turning their personal life into 'The Truman Show,' that all they see themselves is as a piece of content,” he says.

“And so when you watch these guys talk about this incident when A.J. Mana, he’s talking, ‘We were on business, I was doing my livestream, he’s doing his livestream, we’re trying to build a brand,’” he continues.

And that “brand” is a degenerate one.

“This is the world we’ve built. The more profane, the more degenerate, the more criminal, the more sexually deviant you are, the more valuable the system sees you. This media content system, it sees you as more valuable. It funnels you more attraction. It funnels you more views,” Whitlock says.

“I’m amazed, like this is what entertains people,” he says, adding, “This is what draws a massive audience.”

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MMA fighter unleashes rampage on wrestler in viral video

A disturbing video from a pro wrestling event in California shows the MMA-fighting son of UFC great Quinton “Rampage” Jackson attacking a wrestler in the ring to the point that he appeared unconscious.

Raja Jackson hopped into the ring to take down Syko Stu at KnokX Pro’s KnokXperience event on Saturday in Sun Valley. Stu had allegedly hit Jackson in the head with a can outside the venue earlier in the night, and Jackson saw his moment and took it.

Jackson’s father came to his defense in a post on X.

“I want to clear up the misinformation about my son Raja. I’ve been confirmed that the wrestler (Stewart Smith aka Syko Stu) is awake and stable,” Rampage Jackson wrote. “Raja was unexpectedly hit in the side of the head by him moments before Smith’s match, Raja was told that he could get his ‘payback’ in the ring. ... It was bad judgement, and a work that went wrong. Raja is a MMA fighter not a pro wrestler and had no business involved in an event like this.”

“I don’t condone my son’s actions AT ALL! He suffered a concussion from sparring only days ago and had no business doing anything remotely close to physical contact. As a father, im [sic] deeply concerned with his health AND the well being of Mr. Smith. That being said I’m very upset that any of this happened, but my main concern now is that Mr. Smith will make a speedy recovery. I apologize on his behalf and to KICK for the situation.”

“It looks bad,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock comments on “Jason Whitlock Harmony.” “This looks like another one of these black fatigue videos. Holy cow. What could have happened that would provoke Rampage’s son to hop into the ring and to pummel this man in this way?”

However, the incident was livestreamed to Jackson’s Kick account — where he was explaining what he was going to do to Stu beforehand to an audience.

“He’s a streamer on a stream, talking to an audience, and he’s trying to become famous. He’s trying to build up his stream. ... He’s getting gassed up for conflict because that’s what works in this new world we’ve created, this social media matrix,” Whitlock explains.

“This feels like a publicity stunt that went too far,” he says, “got out of hand.”

“You’d be shocked at what desperate people, unskilled people, unprepared people will do in pursuit of fortune and fame,” he adds.

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Trump's surprise specialist for UFC-White House event is not who you'd expect

UFC President Dana White revealed that President Donald Trump gave a special assignment to a member of his inner circle for the proposed UFC event at the White House.

White appeared on "CBS Mornings" on Tuesday to discuss a new merger with Paramount, parent company of CBS, when he was asked about a possible UFC event on White House grounds.

The POTUS and UFC reportedly agreed in early July to a future event on federal property, but now that the UFC will simulcast some of its broadcasts on live television, the hosts at CBS were keen to find out if the White House event was officially on the books.

'You have to tune in. It's a destination.'

"It is definitely going to happen," White told hosts, Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, and Nate Burleson.

After the UFC president expressed how proud he was of his company's new streaming deal, one of the hosts prompted him with rumors that a Trump confidant had been assigned to oversee the event.

"Word on the street is that Ivanka Trump is involved in this, is that true?" King asked.

White did not beat around the bush.

"When [Trump] called me and asked me to do it, he said, 'I want Ivanka in the middle of this,'" White revealed.

The promoter added, "So Ivanka reached out to me, and her and I started talking about the possibilities. Where it would be, and I put together all the renderings."

White said he had plans to show the president and Ivanka Trump all of the details when he meets with them at the end of August.

The 43-year-old first daughter may seem like an obscure choice to spearhead the event, but Ivanka has publicly shown that her family is deeply into martial arts. Boasting about the benefits jujitsu has provided her family, Ivanka even appeared in an ad for a martial arts gym in Miami Beach, Florida, in March.

While it remains unclear whether or not the event will air on CBS or on Paramount's streaming service Paramount+, White said it certainly sounded good to have the UFC live on CBS from the White House on the 250th birthday of the United States.

President Donald Trump watches the Ultimate Fighting Championship fight at the Kaseya Center on April 12, 2025, in Miami, Florida. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The recent $7.7 billion deal between the UFC and Paramount is coupled with a $1.6 billion deal between ESPN and the WWE; the UFC and WWE are both operated by TKO Group Holdings.

Both agreements move away from pay-per-view models and will give streaming app customers access to the marquee events, with some of those events broadcasted on traditional cable channels like CBS and ESPN.

"If you see where we started and where we came from, to be sitting here today having this conversation with you is one of the massive major milestones in my career and in the history of the sport," White told the CBS hosts.

Despite these moves, White said that he believes pay-per-view is still "very much alive."

"With these streaming services, it absolutely makes sense. ... Live sports, you have to watch live. You have to tune in. It's a destination," White concluded.

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MMA star's miracle faith awakening: Ben Askren finds Christ after defying death by surviving double lung transplant

Former UFC fighter Ben Askren’s toughest fight wasn’t inside a UFC cage — it was in a hospital bed, clinging to life after double lung failure from severe pneumonia. However, Askren turned to faith after waking up from a medically induced coma.

Askren, 41, is a former professional mixed martial artist, professional boxer, and Olympic wrestler.

'I woke up, and I just decided I was a Christian.'

In June, Askren was hospitalized in critical condition with a severe case of pneumonia and was placed on a ventilator. Askren underwent a successful double lung transplant. However, his condition was in dire shape because he lost 50 pounds over the span of 45 days.

After he woke up from a medically induced coma, Askren had a significant revelation about his faith.

Askren gave a stirring interview with FloWrestling last week, when he revealed that he became a Christian right after coming out of the coma.

Askren explained that he attended church with his wife, but he never felt the call to faith.

"I went with my wife to church for 15 years because that was part of the deal. I said, ‘Well, I’m not Christian, but I’ll support you.’ And it was really weird when I woke up, I’m like ‘I gotta do it.’ You know? So that was kind of weird," Askren said.

"I woke up, and I just decided I was a Christian. So that’s crazy," he declared.

The ex-UFC fighter revealed that he thought he was dead and was on the "other side" before his divine intervention.

"There was multiple times where they thought I was dead. Like I was dead, that’s the other side," Askren said in the video.

Askren previously stated that he lost his memory and "died four times."

“I don’t remember anything from May 28 to July 2, no recollection, no idea,” Askren said in an Instagram video filmed from his hospital bed on July 9. “No idea what happened. I just read through my wife’s journal, it’s like a movie, it’s ridiculous. I only died four times. The ticker stopped for about 20 seconds.”

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for Triller

The former Olympic wrestler thanked everyone who helped him in his time of need.

"[I have] so much gratitude for everyone who’s helped out," he continued. "So many people have donated money, watched our kids, donated food, a lot of friends come and hang out with me — just so much gratitude for being around me."

Askren thanked his wife in a social media post, "My wife has been generally amazing during the entirety of our marriage, but the last 2.5 months she has been out of this world taking care of our kids and me."

UFC boss Dana White financially supported Askren.

YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul donated $500,000 for Askren's double lung transplant, which reportedly was not covered by insurance and cost $2 million. Askren fought Paul in a crossover boxing match in April 2021, when Paul won via TKO in one minute and 59 seconds in the first round.

Askren said in July, "I’m more motivated than ever to get back and do what I can to help out the best I can to help out. I love you guys, I appreciate you guys. It’s been tough, not only on me, but my whole family and my close community.”

Askren had difficulty walking after his transplant but is slowly making progress with his rehab.

In 2019, Askren announced that he was retiring from MMA with a 19-2-1 record.

Askren captured back-to-back NCAA Division I national titles while wrestling for the University of Missouri and went on to represent Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

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UFC fighter Miesha Tate rejects transgender athletes being in women's sports 'in any form'

Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate opened up about her thoughts on men, or "transgender people," competing against women in their sports.

The veteran fighter had a near-five-year hiatus between 2016 and 2021 before returning to the octagon for a more steady schedule, averaging one fight per year since.

In a recent interview, Tate was asked about her opinion on whether or not women should be open to fighting transgender athletes.

'I just don't know if there's enough evidence, and some people will feel comfortable with the evidence. I don't.'

"I still think that there is not enough conclusive evidence to prove that it is safe for transgender people to compete against biological women," Tate told Esports Insider. "I just don't know if there's enough evidence, and some people will feel comfortable with the evidence. I don't."

On top of citing that women have to deal with menstruation and hormones when it comes to weight cutting and training, Tate said she did not think competition between men and women in MMA "can be 100% equal."

Tate then told the outlet flat out, "I don't support it."

Miesha Tate on the scale before UFC Fight Night on May 2, 2025, in Des Moines, Iowa. Photo by Randy Thomas/Getty Images

The athlete continued and affirmed that not only does she find the idea unfair, but that sports do not need to be "inclusive."

"I do not support men, in any form, competing in female sports. I just don't think that it's fair. I don't think that it's right. And sports are not inclusive. By their nature. By the nature of sport, it's a non-inclusive thing to do," she told Esports Insider.

Tate added, "So if you're not good enough, you just don't make it, and that's a hard lesson to learn, but it's a valuable one."

Before the idea of men in women's sports was a national issue, Tate, along with other female mixed martial arts fighters, stated her outright refusal to fight a male who claimed to be female in 2013.

The fighter in question was transgender athlete Fallon Fox, who at 36 years old began dominating women's MMA, including during a 2013 bout against opponent Ericka Newsome. Fox stopped Newsome with a brutal knee to the face, which some claimed resulted in a skull fracture, while others, including Fox, rejected the notion and said he has only ever caused a broken orbital bone against a woman. A broken orbital is a more frequent injury in MMA.

Fox stopped fighting after just two years, as women increasingly spoke out against him. This included the only woman to defeat Fox, UFC veteran Ashlee Evans-Smith.

After the fight, Evans-Smith told MMA Interviews the transgender athlete "did have an advantage" and should not be fighting against women.

Male-born MMA fighter Fallon Fox on November 13, 2013, in New York City. Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images

In her interview with Esports Insider, Tate called "biological males competing in female sports" potentially "unsafe," especially in contact sports.

Tate noted, "Sports are not meant to include everybody. I mean, if you wanna do a sport that includes everybody, then try pickleball. That's fine."

The 38-year-old also said she was against the idea of every child deserving a trophy, stating that it teaches children they might be good at something they are not.

"If they think they're equally as good at everything, because they always get a trophy for everything they do, they may not be able to distinguish the fact that, 'Oh, I am better at this. Let me go that way.' And then they play into their natural talents."

Tate last fought in the UFC in May, losing a unanimous decision to Yana Santos.

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UFC fighter vows never to fight in 's***hole' Mexico again

UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer vowed he would never fight in Mexico again. Then, after apparent backlash over the comments, Pyfer doubled down and said he will "stand firm" and never fight there again.

Pyfer, who was born in Vineland, New Jersey, was scheduled to fight veteran fighter Kelvin Gastelum in Mexico City on March 29th. However, Pyfer's experience preparing for the fight in Mexico led to him referring to the country as a "s***hole" that is rife with corruption.

'That's why I said Mexico is a s***hole and I'll never go back.'

Hours before "UFC on ESPN: Moreno vs. Erceg" in March, Pyfer revealed he became "super sick" and pulled out of the event, per MMA Junkie.

The fight was rescheduled for UFC 316 last Saturday. Pyfer explained exactly what occurred in Mexico during a June 4 press conference.

"Fourteen out of the 15 meals, I cooked. I didn't cook on the last day, and I got super sick and I was sick for weeks," Pyfer told reporters.

The fighter said that after losing 14 pounds in just seven hours and sleeping only one hour, he was very disheartened to see fans threaten and taunt him over his decision to pull out of the fight.

"That's why I said Mexico is a s***hole and I'll never go back. I won't fight there, but the people were nice. I have no problem with the people. It's just fighting there as a professional athlete makes no f**king sense to me. That's just my personal opinion."

Pyfer said that while in Mexico, his coaches and teammates were stopped by the police, who tried to shake them down "for cash that they didn't have."

Pyfer rhetorically asked why fans would take issue with his comments.

"Why anybody would dispute that it's not the best country; all we have to do is look at how many people have crossed the border in who knows how many f**king years, like, come on man. Don't act like it's such a great place. It's ran by gangs ... and law enforcement's paid off by gangs. It's not that great of a place."

Following a unanimous decision win over Gastelum at UFC 316 — in New Jersey — Pyfer slightly walked back his comments in a post-fight press conference.

"Ultimately, things did not go well, PR-wise, for me in Mexico," Pyfer admitted. The 28-year-old again stated that his remarks were never a commentary on Mexican culture or people, but reiterated his stance about fighting in the country.

"I should've rephrased it a lot kinder and I didn't, so it is what it is. But I do stand firm that I will never fight there again. It's too big of a risk for a bitch like me," Pyfer added.

Featherweight and former UFC fighter T.J. Laramie told Blaze News that preparing for fights in foreign countries can be painstaking, particularly regarding the available amenities.

"Just preparing for the amenities they may or may not have for the weight cut is the most crucial," Laramie said. "Some of these places have nothing."

Laramie explained that fighters even need to be aware of cultural differences in some countries. While in Japan for a fight, Laramie said he was kicked out of a sauna simply for having tattoos.

UFC's parent company, TKO Group Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether or not the company will change protocols (for safety or otherwise) with fighters while in Mexico or if it plans to host events there again.

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