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L’ascension fulgurante de J. D. Vance dans l’arène politique américaine J. D. Vance est devenu une figure incontournable de la politique américaine, particulièrement depuis sa nomination en tant que vice-président américain sous Donald Trump. Issu d’un milieu modeste, son parcours incroyable a captivé l’attention des médias et des électeurs. Son livre, « Hillbilly Elegy », a joué […] L’article Thomas Snégaroff analyse l’irrésistible ascension de J. D. Vance, le vice-président américain que Donald Trump se voit contraint d’intégrer est apparu en premier sur Les dernières News.

Alexander Volkanovski’s second reign as featherweight champion has no shortage of challengers and Jorge Masvidal doubts he can fend them all off. In the main event of UFC 325 on Jan. 31, Volkanovski defends his title against Diego Lopes, the man he beat to capture a vacant title this past April. Though Volkanovski won a clear-cut decision in their first meeting, the younger Lopes had his moments, and even if Volkanovski is victorious again, there is a healthy lineup of contenders waiting to pounce. Masvidal broke down the impending threat of two of Volkanovski’s potential challengers, the undefeated Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy (9-0-1 in the UFC), and why he thinks these opponents could end up defining Volkanovski’s legacy. “Eventually, what I see in my mind playing out is Movsar and Murphy for the title,” Masvidal said on his Death Row MMA podcast. “I don’t know when that’s going to happen, but that’s a hundred percent going to happen at some point. “I don’t think Volk beats either of those two guys, to tell you the truth. I think Movsar will be too much with the wrestling in a different way. I know he did amazing against Islam [Makhachev] with the wrestling, Volk, so that’s saying a lot, but I think Movsar could find a way to get to his legs and make it a dog fight. He has a different pace than Islam. He’s not as technical, I think, as Islam, he’s not as savvy as Islam, but he’s got more of a motor than Islam. He’ll put up more attempts and that could cost you.” Evloev’s title charge has been held back by injuries (the 31-year-old failed to log an in-cage appearance in 2025) and a lack of splashy in-cage moments. All nine of Evloev’s UFC wins have come by way of decision and despite some entertaining performances, he’s yet to make a no-doubt case for himself in the eyes of the matchmakers. Murphy was in a similar situation until this past August, when he delivered a Knockout of the Year candidate in a win over former Bellator star Aaron Pico at UFC 319. However, Murphy was passed over for a title shot in favor of a Volkanovski-Lopes rematch (Lopes knocked out top contender Jean Silva in September to stay in the mix). That might have been a fortuitous outcome for Volkanovski. “I think Murphy vs. Volk, I also see Volk getting got,” Masvidal said. “I see Murphy right now getting him. Volk can’t control this guy. I don’t think he’ll be able take him down and hold him down. I’d be surprised if he was able to take him down, hold him down, I’d be thoroughly surprised. “And on the feet, this guy’s way bigger, longer, crazy style of striking, explosive, and still very basic. He doesn’t do dumb things and get himself hurt or put himself in harm’s way. So I go with Murphy for the title against Volk, too.” Masvidal also sees considerable upside in Volkanovski facing off against the likes of Lopes, Evloev, and Murphy. Should the 37-year-old manage to add three more successful title defenses to his already shining list of accomplishments, Masvidal would consider him the GOAT at 145 pounds—and possibly at any weight class. “If Volk can pull this gauntlet off, greatest f*cking featherweight that ever lived, maybe fighter that ever lived as well,” Masvidal said. “If he could beat those next two dudes right there, that’s interdimensional shit. Another level of greatness.”

Dan Hooker isn’t interested in deescalating his war of words with Paddy Pimblett. The UFC lightweights have verbally been at each other’s throats in recent weeks, taking deeply personal shots at each other through interviews. Pimblett started the feud, saying, “Dan Hooker couldn’t grapple a f*cking rapist off his ma,” and Hooker replied by questioning Pimblett for being friendly to his face in an earlier meeting only to change his attitude. In doing so, Hooker referenced Ricky, a friend of Pimblett’s who died by suicide. Pimblett accused Hooker of crossing the line, but in Hooker’s opinion, he was simply matching fire with fire. “F*ck around and find out, brother,” Hooker told Combat TV, confirming that the mention of Pimblett’s friend was a deliberate attempt to rattle him. “That’s all you can say about that, f*ck around and find out. You want to take it there? There’s shit you don’t talk about as fighters. He can say whatever he wanted, he tried to get a reaction, he f*cking got one. You go low, I go lower.” While a future fight could develop, Pimblett and Hooker are currently occupied. Pimblett fights Justin Gaethje for an interim lightweight title in the main event of UFC 324 this Saturday in Las Vegas, while Hooker is scheduled to take on Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 325 the following weekend. If the two are ever matched up, don’t expect Hooker to back down. “The Hangman” admitted Pimblett’s comments affected him and that they won’t be squashing the beef anytime soon as far as he’s concerned. “You want to say some horrible shit like that, yeah, I’m going to think of the most horrible shit I can possibly and I’m going to bring that shit up, too,” Hooker said. “He genuinely pissed me off. He genuinely got under my skin and he got a reaction. He wanted to piss me off, he pissed me off. I wanted to say something so the feeling’s mutual. I want to kick your head in the next time I see you, now you want to kick my head in back. Now the feeling is mutual. I’ve got no intention of making up, there’s no coming back from that.”

Bo Nickal continues to raise questions about his combat sports career even when he doesn’t compete. It was Nickal’s absence at this past Saturday’s RAF 5 event that has once again put the three-time NCAA Division-I wrestling National Champion under the microscope as he was originally scheduled to face Yoel Romero in the evening’s co-main event. However, Romero missed weight for the contest (the official number wasn’t revealed, but Nickal said Romero missed by seven pounds), and Nickal declined to face him. Romero instead went on to lose via tech fall to Stephen Buchanan in an openweight match. It was the second time an RAF bout between Nickal and Romero fell through and even though it was Romero who missed weight, Nickal has felt some of the backlash of choosing not to stay on the card. On Submission Radio, former fighter and veteran analyst Kenny Florian gave his take on whether it was wise for Nickal to pass on the opportunity to wrestle Romero. “It’s tough because I’m not quite sure what the perspective is from Nickal and why he decided not to,” Florian said. “Is he competing because he’s trying to get better as a martial artist, a fighter, a wrestler, whatever it is, and kind of doing it for fun? Is he doing it because he’s trying to notch yet another win and help the perception of him as an athlete, as a competitor, and perhaps he was concerned that if he did lose, especially against a guy in Yoel Romero who is an elite, elite wrestler, did he feel that he was going to hurt his brand even more? “I don’t know. It’s a little bit of a concern because, again, this is not a mixed martial arts fight that’s going to go down on his record and I still think if he lost, people would not see it so negatively. I don’t know. I think that when he lost [to Reinier de Ridder] that kind of was a big blow to his ego and his momentum as well. I don’t know, maybe that was on the back of his mind. He didn’t want to deal with the criticism. But yeah, the way I would approach that, if I am a current UFC fighter, I’m doing that to just get better at my craft. I’m not taking a wrestling match so seriously. “You’re going against a guy in Yoel Romero, yes, he’s older, but this is a guy who accomplished more in wrestling that Nickal did on the international, on the global circuit. When you’re talking about the Olympics, world championships, all that stuff, no shame in losing to someone like Yoel Romero, but I don’t know.” Following an outstanding collegiate wrestling career, Nickal transitioned to MMA and found immediate success, finishing his first two amateur fights and first five pro fights in the first round, including appearances in the UFC and Dana White’s Contender Series. His hype train hit a snag when he won a forgettable decision over Paul Craig and then nearly derailed completely when he was finished by the more experienced Reinier de Ridder to suffer his first loss. Despite Nickal’s recent hurdles, Florian still considers him championship material, so long as he can refine the rougher edges of his game. “What’s his ceiling like?” Florian said. “I still think he has a ton of potential. I think he’s a phenomenal athlete. One does not achieve what he did in NCAA wrestling at the Division-I level unless you’re a phenomenal athlete. You wouldn’t achieve that if you didn’t have an incredible mindset and all those things that go with it. I think he can apply that same kind of approach to mixed martial arts, but I am concerned when I hear certain things that he says and maybe certain decisions that he makes. I’m concerned with the ego piece because you will be humbled in training. “I don’t care what kind of athlete you are, what your background is, if you’re a world champion in this or that, mixed martial arts is such a vast ocean. There’s so many things that can be exposed in your game and if you’re afraid of doing striking or bringing in a certain training partner or not wanting to look bad in training, then that’s a concern. That is a…