Fox Sports Australia’s Nick Walshaw brings you all the latest news and views in Aussie and global MMA in his weekly column, The Takedown.
AUSTRALIA’S Jimmy Crute insists he is finally ready to “eat the soul” of tough American Alonzo Menifield at UFC 290 – a huge show also featuring Alexander Volkanovski and Robert Whittaker — before then earning himself a Sydney blockbuster just nine weeks later.
Among the nation’s most exciting title prospects, Crute has outlined his plan to fight at both International Fight Week in Las Vegas this July and then again at UFC 293 in Sydney come September.
Currently ranked No.14 in the light heavyweight division, the Melbourne striker is pushing for the big double after taking up with a new head coach, Sammy Hayward, who he describes as “the best kept secret in MMA”.
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Speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, Crute stressed he was ready for the Meinfield rematch after both men fought to a majority draw at UFC 284 back in February.
Despite being dropped twice early and almost finished in the Perth bout, Crute courageously fought back to eventually earn a 28/27 win on one judge’s scorecard.
Two more scored the bout a draw however, with Menifield crucially deducted a point in the third round for illegally grabbing at the fence.
Asked about fighting the rematch at UFC 290 — and just nine weeks before Sydney’s hyped UFC 293 card — Crute insisted he was already planning to appear on “two of this year’s biggest cards”.
“I’m going to run through this guy and then fight again in Sydney,” the 27-year-old insisted. “I’m ready to take over.”
Quizzed on his February bout with Menifield, his first fight back after more than a year out with injury, Crute continued: “While I’m proud I didn’t take the easy way out, I didn’t perform well.
“So I know he hits really hard.
“And that I can just monster him from the beginning; I have to wear him down.
“But the first fight also gives me a lot of confidence because I know if push comes to shove, and we’re both taken to our limits, I’m prepared to dig deeper than him.
“I know that for a fact. I’ve felt it.”
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Asked about the fence grab penalty in the third, he continued: “I also look at (his) three fence grabs and 20 punches to the back of the head before that.
“Alonzo, he was just surviving in there, man.
“And credit to him. He fought well.
“He fought better than I did that night.
“But he still couldn’t put me away.
“And if there is no time limit in that fight, I eat his soul.”
Instead, Crute now gets the rematch, where for the first time in his career he will have Coach Hayward in his corner.
But as for asking the UFC if a win there will catapult him onto UFC 290 in Sydney?
“We’re lucky enough to be in a business where your actions speak louder than your words,” Crute said.
“So I can sit here and tell you I want to fight on that Sydney card all I like.
“Or I can go out there at UFC 290 and put on the performance of a lifetime against Alonzo Menifield.
“And that’s what I plan to do.
“I want to fight on what will be two of this year’s biggest cards, and I’ll show that with my performance.”
Asked about his new trainer, he added: “Sammy really is the best kept secret in MMA, and soon everyone is going to know that.”
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MULLARKEY: PADDY THE BADDY WON’T FIGHT ME
JAMIE Mullarkey says his pursuit of English cult figure Paddy Pimblett may have to be delayed given the popular UFC fighter “will want an easier fight, a tune up or two before he comes in with the hard hitters”.
Already on a run of consecutive wins, Mullarkey is now looking to make it three straight when he faces Muhammad Naimov at a UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas this Sunday (AEST).
The Central Coast lightweight has been forced to endure an 11th hour change of opponent after Guram Kutateladze withdrew due to visa issues, but the Australian remains unfazed, stressing “nothing has changed, I’m ready to go to war”.
After his most recent win at UFC 284 in Perth, Mullarkey called out Paddy the Baddy, however the Englishman is now nursing an injury.
So as for calling him out again Sunday?
“Ah, I dunno,” Mullarkey laughed this week from his Las Vegas training camp. “I’ve heard he’s injured and won’t be back until the end of the year.
“And while I’m not looking this weekend’s fight, my plan is to win, have a quick turnaround and then fight again on the Sydney show in September.
“And I don’t think Paddy is the type of opponent who will want to do that.
“He won’t want to fight me in front of my home crowd.
“That’s too tough a fight.
“I think he’ll want an easier fight, a tune up fight or two before he comes in with the hard hitters.
“But I still see us fighting in the future for sure. Our paths will cross at some point.
“I think another two good wins puts me around the top 15. I’m chasing stellar performances.”
Asked if that meant he was chasing a finish of Naimov this Sunday, Mullarkey continued: “Definitely. I want to finish this fight.
“I’ve just been fighting more patiently lately — especially in my most recent fight – and learning to apply pressure in a composed, calculated way.
“But when I do that and see an opening in this fight, I’m going for it.”
So as for his thoughts on the late change?
“Nothing has changed,” said the fighter who spent this entire camp training with UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski and head coach Joe Lopez at their Freestyle Fighting Gym in Windang.
“I know I’m prepared and I trust in my ability.
“We’ve watched a little bit of tape, just to get the looks, what he likes to do, and we can see the weapons he has, what I need to be aware of.
“But it doesn’t matter who is in front of me. Nothing has changed.
“I’m ready to go to war.”
Mullarkey added that while Naimov may bring “more offensive grappling”, he welcomed that.
“Because we’ve been grappling at Freestyle like there’s no tomorrow,” he said.
“There’s just a high energy down there.”
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KIWI LOSES EVERYTHING BUT MOUTHGUARD
KAI Kara-France has been forced into some emergency fight week shopping after arriving in Las Vegas for his UFC headliner with nothing but a mouthguard.
Set to headline against Amir Albazi at the UFC Apex this Sunday, Kara-France jetted into the world’s fight capital earlier this week, only to learn his bags were still in San Francisco.
But what he did have?
“The one thing I carry on me is my mouthguard,” he told The Takedown with a laugh. “And that’s because I don’t need anything else.
“I’m a seasoned veteran who grew up in this sport and I’m ready to put on a clinic this weekend.”
The popular New Zealander headlines against Albazi – the now England-based flyweight who, born in Iraq, has won five straight, including all four appearances in the UFC.
“And I’ve spent 12 weeks thinking about him,” KKF insisted.
“This guy is hungry. Has momentum. And I love that.
“I love when guys have hype because then when I go out there and stop them, I take all of it.”
Pushed on his rival’s record, he continued: “I’ve fought guys like him before — these wrestlers, these grapplers who haven’t lost.
“I’ve fought them all.
“And when seeing my record, they think ‘this guy can be beaten’.
“But I’m fighting the very best. And I’ve done this before.
“That’s why recently (on social media) I posted ‘first of many’ … because I feel I’m doing what I should be which is fighting the best guys in the world.”
VOLK v LOGAN PAUL
AUSTRALIA’S Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya are currently in Puerto Rico, where vision has emerged of them training with Logan Paul.
Earlier this week, Paul released video on his Instagram stories that showed the WWE star rolling with both UFC middleweight champ Adesanya and Aussie featherweight king Volkanovski.
Speaking with Takedown this week, two trainer partners of the pair — Jamie Mullarkey and Kai Kara-France — both confirmed the star duo had travelled to Puerto Rico for the meet up with Team Paul.
While Logan Paul recently re-signed with WWE, the popular American YouTuber has expressed interest in switching to MMA at some point, as has his younger brother Jake, who is scheduled to box UFC legend Nate Diaz in August.
Volkanovski, meanwhile, defends his UFC strap next up in a unification bout against interim champion Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 in July. Adesanya is also booked to headline September’s UFC 293 event in Sydney.
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ROBERT Whittaker and Jimmy Crute are already planning how best to help each other prepare for their huge UFC 290 showdowns in Las Vegas.
Having already trained together several times in the past, Crute is now hopeful of heading to Whittaker’s sprawling Sydney gym some time in the next few weeks.
The pair are two of five Australians fighting at International Fight Week – along with Alexander Volkanovski, Jack Della Maddalena and Shannon Ross.
“If this card doesn’t prove the calibre of fighters we’re producing here now in Australia, mate, nothing will,” Crute said.
“We’re taking over the biggest fight show of the year. One of the biggest fight shows ever.
“This card, it’s crazy. And it’s full of Aussies.
“To me, it shows how much the sport has evolved here.
“And for somebody who has been involved for such a long time, it’s really cool to see and be part of.”