Thai standout Topnoi Kiwram celebrated his Road to UFC victory in Singapore today a little differently than most high-level athletes – with a cigarette.
After his unanimous decision win over Yuma Horiuchi, he lit one up, part of his standard post-fight ritual.
Asked about his habit in the post-fight interview, he nonchalantly remarked he smokes “every day, bro.”
“Who cares?” were the 29-year-old’s sentiments towards the reporter’s fascination with the fact, bewildered as to why it was considered a big deal.
Topnoi, now 8-3 in his professional mixed martial arts career, will progress to the second round of the Bantamweight Road To UFC feeder tournament, to be held later in the year.
Check out the headlines as they happened with John Hyon Ko’s live coverage of Road To UFC episodes 3 & 4
The AllStar MMA roundup
- UFC 275: Propping You Up – Manpreet Jhass and John Stargaryen give you their best prop bets for the weekend ahead
- Road to UFC: Min Woo Kim left without an opponent in opening round of tournament
- Opinion: Are UFC fighters entertainers? An insider’s view by Roxanne Modafferi
- UFC 275: “If either of us are caught lacking, someone’s going to sleep” Josh Culibao on Seung Woo Choi at UFC 275
The best of the rest
- Oscar De La Hoya glad he didn’t come back to fight Vitor Belfort: ‘I dodged a bullet there’ – MMAFighing.com
- Alan Belcher reveals UFC stopped him from boxing on a Roy Jones Jr. card in 2006: ‘Dana White thought it was a stupid idea’ – MMAFighting.com
- Daniel Cormier advises UFC champ Glover Teixeira to hold out on retirement. Here’s why – MMAJunkie.com
- Valentina Shevchenko “would love” to fight Miesha Tate if ‘Cupcake’ beats Lauren Murphy at UFC 276 – BJPenn.com
- Daniel Cormier denies commentary ‘bias’, says Joe Rogan helped him brush off critics – MMAMania.com
The call
Australian UFC veteran Damien Brown shares who he’s backing for UFC 275 this weekend in Singapore:
“Zhang Weili by stoppage, [Manel] Kape by Decision, and [Jiri] Prochazka by KO.”
Take each prop singly, or try your hand with a parlay on crypto sports book Cloudbet:
Main event odds update
Catch The AllStar’s Best Bets of UFC 275, curated by our resident handicapper Garrett Kerman, for more wagering tips
The morning view
UFC 275 Embedded continues with episode 4
Dana White teases a Chandler vs McGregor fight
UFC veteran Channel Sonnen gives his breakdown of this weekend’s main event
Refresh yourself with some of Jiri Prochazka’s wild finishes.
The soapbox
Khabib fires back at Tony for once
Khamzat Chimaev and Belal Muhammad are keen to scrap in October
Highly touted UFC prospects Jeff Molina and Muhammad Mokaev are hungry for a brawl
MMA reporter/analyst Luke Thomas shares his pessimism over a potential fighters union
Dana White gives his take on MMA in the Olympics
Done deals
- Tabatha Ricci vs Cheyenne Vlismas is slated for October 1st (per Ag. Fight/Alex Behunin)
- Alexander Pantoja vs Alex Perez is booked for UFC 277 on July 30 – Perez’ original opponent, Askar Askarov, withdrew from the bout earlier this week
- Ricky Simon vs Jack Shore is booked for July 16 (per UFC announcement)
The Last Word
Here’s my tip for Singapore this weekend: Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili will end up stealing the show. Again.
The pair have already set the precedent after their first performance at UFC 248 outshone the highly anticipated, though in the end lacklustre, middleweight title clash between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero.
On this day in MMA…
On June 10, 2017, MMA veteran Mark Hunt knocked out Derrick Lewis in the fourth round of their main event brawl at UFC Fight Night 110 in Auckland, New Zealand.
That knockout – which left Lewis considering retirement – would earn Hunt the final victory of his career, as he’d go on to lose his next three bouts straight and eventually be released from the promotion.
