Fighters Only’s social media editor, Paul Browne, picks out his highlights from the past month on MMA social media.
IRISH STOUT MEETS HEAVYWEIGHT MYTH
As Tyson stands shoulder to shoulder with McGregor, it feels like the crossover episode nobody knew they needed. Tyson points. Conor clenches. Somewhere between the gesture and the grin is 60 years of fight history compressed into one frame. One man defined intimidation before social media existed. The other turned it into an export. Two combat icons sizing each other up in a Dublin pub that’s quietly become a pilgrimage site for fight royalty.
PANTOJA DOESN’T WAIT FOR PERMISSION
Six days. That’s the gap between a shredded elbow on December 7 and Alexandre back in the gym on December 13, moving clean and posting clips that feel like a warning. This is how champions process damage, while their competitors disappear into ice baths and timelines. Durability at the elite level isn’t about avoiding injury; it’s about how you refuse to let it define you.
This is what happens when a callout meets a brick wall. Joaquin Buckley emptied the clip, called his shot, and promised violence in capital letters. Shavkat Rakhmonov didn’t flinch. He dismissed it. In a division where noise often moves faster than merit, Shavkat reminding everyone that silence is still the most intimidating response might be the most on-brand thing he’s ever done.
Alex Pereira stands next to Dana and offers a throwaway line that lands heavy. Whether it’s politics, schedules or Pereira just enjoying the internet doing laps around him, it still feels effortless. Somewhere in the middle of the joke and the posturing is that Pereira doesn’t need to explain himself. He shows up, KO’s people, and jogs on.
Ciryl Gane posted a calm, holiday-season grind update alongside Tai Tuivasa. No date. No opponent. Just work. Then Tom Aspinall dropped into the comments like a medical report written in rage. No clearance. Surgery pending. And apparently, all thanks to Gane’s disgusting fingernails. It’s equal parts soap opera and slow-burn rivalry, and somehow, they both came out looking exactly like themselves. One’s gliding. One’s plotting revenge from the operating table.
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