The Algorithm Age

Former heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder returned to winning ways with a low-key comeback victory, stopping the overmatched Tyrrell Herndon in the seventh round in Kansas. Wilder dropped his fellow American in the second round, scored another knockdown in the sixth, and closed the show with two chopping right hands a round later, prompting the referee to wave it off. After a torrid few years - three defeats in his previous four bouts, most recently a punishing loss to Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia - Wilder registered his first win since October 2022. But while it was a dominant performance, it was far from vintage Bronze Bomber. Once the most feared puncher in the division and perhaps the greatest one-shot finisher of all time, the old Wilder would likely have dispatched Herndon earlier and to more fanfare. With a sparse crowd at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita and no major television broadcast, it was a modest setting for a fighter who once shook arenas an...

Former heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder returned to winning ways with a low-key comeback victory, stopping the overmatched Tyrrell Herndon in the seventh round in Kansas. Wilder dropped his fellow American in the second round, scored another knockdown in the sixth, and closed the show with two chopping right hands a round later, prompting the referee to wave it off. After a torrid few years - three defeats in his previous four bouts, most recently a punishing loss to Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia - Wilder registered his first win since October 2022. But while it was a dominant performance, it was far from vintage Bronze Bomber. Once the most feared puncher in the division and perhaps the greatest one-shot finisher of all time, the old Wilder would likely have dispatched Herndon earlier and to more fanfare. With a sparse crowd at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita and no major television broadcast, it was a modest setting for a fighter who once shook arenas an...

This is how one of the ‘great’ fighting careers ends : at 2am in Azerbaijan, 11 minutes into a press conference, with UFC president Dana White only making the revelation when prompted by a journalist. Jon Jones is gone. Is it too strong to say “good riddance”? Some might never back down from arguing that the American is the most fearsome fighter to have ever walked the planet . Jones is, after all, a former two-time light-heavyweight champion, was never beaten outside of an unfortunate disqualification, and boasts a ridiculous resume including wins over multiple greats: Daniel Cormier (twice), “Shogun” Rua, “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, and Stipe Miocic – to name just some. Now 37, Jones became the youngest-ever UFC champion by collecting gold aged 23. Later, in the final stanza of a storied career, he claimed two-weight champion status, adding the heavyweight belt to his crammed cabinet in 2023. What a shame, then, t...

This is how one of the ‘great’ fighting careers ends : at 2am in Azerbaijan, 11 minutes into a press conference, with UFC president Dana White only making the revelation when prompted by a journalist. Jon Jones is gone. Is it too strong to say “good riddance”? Some might never back down from arguing that the American is the most fearsome fighter to have ever walked the planet . Jones is, after all, a former two-time light-heavyweight champion, was never beaten outside of an unfortunate disqualification, and boasts a ridiculous resume including wins over multiple greats: Daniel Cormier (twice), “Shogun” Rua, “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, and Stipe Miocic – to name just some. Now 37, Jones became the youngest-ever UFC champion by collecting gold aged 23. Later, in the final stanza of a storied career, he claimed two-weight champion status, adding the heavyweight belt to his crammed cabinet in 2023. What a shame, then, t...