Rumors

Prediction: Mazzulla’s first national television appearance after the Celtics finish off the Mavericks will have some sort of UFC theme. “Joe does a great job of showing us clips and things from different sports,” offered Jayson Tatum, who led the Celtics in scoring with 31 points. (Jaylen Brown, by the way, scored 30 points. In other words, the Tatum-Brown debate lay in ruins on this night, with the tandem combining for those 61 points.) “He’s a big UFC fan,” Tatum said of Mazzulla. “And you know, showing us fights of people that, I don’t know the terminology of UFC, but put them in a chokehold and s— … You just see the guy or the woman who is winning relaxing because they feel like they are about to win, and then, you know, you give the other person life.”

New York Times

Clutch Points: Nuggets guard Jamal Murray got tapped out by UFC Champion Alexander Volkanovski 🤣🥋 (via @alexvolkanovski/ YT) pic.twitter.com/pQDM6uU5zb

Twitter

Appearing on the NBA Rookie Life with Ryan Hollins podcast, James Johnson said he could beat UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones in a match. Lest anyone think Johnson is dangerous cocky, he concedes that he would need a year of training before taking on Jones. "I think I could beat him for real,” Johnson told Hollins. "With a year of training defense, I just need ground defense. I’ve been punching and kicking since I was five, six years old.”

Sports Illustrated

It was a Sunday afternoon in early July, and Jamal Murray had been in Las Vegas for a few days — enough time for the city to wear out anyone. “I’m a little hung over,” he said, smiling in apology as he tried — unsuccessfully — to remember some details of the post-championship interactions he’d had with Denver Nuggets fans. Murray, the Nuggets’ star point guard, was less than a month removed from helping the franchise win its first N.B.A. championship. He had spent the previous night feting his friend Alexander Volkanovski, U.F.C.’s featherweight champion, after Volkanovski won U.F.C. 290 to remain undefeated in the 145-pound weight class. Murray had joined him for several hours before the fight and had been struck by how at ease Volkanovski was. The fighter had been happy to laugh and joke with Murray despite an important bout awaiting him later that evening.

New York Times

“This is like a championship belt for him, right?” Murray said. “He was just so loose about it. It kind of brought me back to, like, I don’t have to take my routine as serious as long as I know how to flip a switch, turn it on and bring it when I need it.”

New York Times

Murray befriended Volkanovski during a visit to Australia last August. They shot a video together, with each one going through the other’s training routines. Murray hit a heavy bag. Volkanovski shot some free throws. There are superficial differences between the two — Murray is nearly a foot taller than the 5-foot-6 Volkanovski, and Volkanovski is eight years older — but in Murray, Volkanovski saw someone who shared the work ethic and discipline on which he prided himself. Volkanovski instantly took to Murray. “I’m a Nuggets guy now purely because of our connection,” Volkanovski said in late July, a few weeks after Murray joined him for U.F.C. 290. Their friendship grew at a challenging time for Murray.

New York Times

About four weeks later, he joined Volkanovski for his own championship bout. There, Murray saw a different style of preparation than the one he’d employed during the season. “I’ll definitely have my moment throughout my car ride, ‘There’s no way that they’re taking this belt away from me.’ But I’m usually pretty chill,” Volkanovski said. “I’m happy to have a little laugh.” Volkanovski said he wondered if the violent nature of mixed martial arts might have made Murray more interested in his relaxed demeanor before the fight. “Probably he could look at that, I mean, like, ‘This guy’s about to go to war and he literally treats it as, like, you know, this is his job, he knows he’ll be fine,’” Volkanovski said. “‘He’s obviously confident in his preparation and all that.’”

New York Times

theScore: Volk celebrated his win partying with Jamal Murray and Shaq last night. 😅 (🎥: @MarkHuntgoat )

Twitter

As the fights took place at the center of the Octagon this past weekend at UFC San Antonio, a fun little wrestling exchange was happening backstage. In an Instagram video he uploaded, former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold engaged in a playful tussle with NBA great Tim Duncan.

bloodyelbow.com

“He’s still strong as f–k. Aren’t you supposed to be retired?” Rockhold was heard saying. Rockhold’s striking coach Jason Parillo became the next target, who then gave Duncan a light smack on the head before running off laughing.

bloodyelbow.com

One of those people seems to be comedian Andrew Schulz. In a recent episode of his podcast, Schulz had now-former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya as his guest. Obviously, the topic of conversation centered around fighting, so at one point, the host decided to throw some massive shade on Kyrie: “Oh, I would beat the s**t out of Kyrie,” said Schulz. “Easy. That’s easy. That’s easy. No, that’s easy. That’s easy. KD that’d be more difficult obviously because he’s 7-feet tall.”

Clutch Points

Unfiltered Media : Andrew Schultz said on an interview with Israel Adesanya that “he’d beat the sh*t out of Kyrie Irving in a fight”

Twitter

UFC fighter Ryan Spann trains at the gym owned by ex-NBA star Deron Williams ... and the light heavyweight contender once sparred with the hooper -- AND GOT HIS BUTT KICKED!! "Deron whooped my ass one day. I'm dead serious. You can call him and ask him," Spann told TMZ Sports.

TMZ.com

Context? We talked to the 30-year-old, 6'5", 205 lb. fighter just days before he's set to face 6th ranked LHW, Anthony Smith ... and we asked the 11th ranked fighter if he ever rolled around with 6'3" Williams at their gym, Fortis MMA in Dallas. "I was training for a fight, and coach was like, 'Deron, get in.' And, I already knew he hooped, and I knew who he was, but I never got to go with him," Ryan said, "I think it was my 2nd or my 3rd round with a fresh body, and you put Deron in, I was like, 'Oh s**t, nice, I get a round off.' Little did I know Deron used to wrestle. And, he was about 230 at the time."

TMZ.com