Not too long ago, Alex Pereira immersed himself in the rich fighting culture of Japan. He sparred with sumo wrestlers and even trained with RIZIN FF fighters. But now, the former light heavyweight champion’s coach, Plinio Cruz, was spotted in the land of the rising sun. Why? We’ll find that out in today’s episode of EssentiallySports’ MMA News Roundup.

After that, we’ll take a look at the message that Arman Tsarukyan has for Ilia Topuria. And finally, we’ll learn about the newest update for UFC’s systems. Yes, that’s all about artificial intelligence. So, without any further ado, let’s dive right into it!

Alex Pereira’s coach is training a RIZIN star 

Taking to X, Alex Pereira’s coach and translator shared two pictures of himself in the streets of Japan. But the reason he was in the country of Judo and Jiu-Jitsu was because he had to train the rising RIZIN star, King Edokpolo. Yes, Cruz also had a picture of himself along with the heavyweight mixed martial artist in the post. In the captions, he wrote, “I’m back in Osaka training @rizin_PR Japan’s biggest Heavyweight prospect @kingedokpolo.”

Edokpolo, unlike the man with the hands of stone, is a fairly new face in the world of mixed martial arts. He began his journey in 2023 with a kickboxing bout and won that via a unanimous decision. In 2024, he entered RIZIN 49 and won his debut bout with a first-round KO. In his second fight in RIZIN, Edokpolo secured another KO win in the second round. Now, with guidance from Plinio Cruz, the Japanese heavyweight fighter can expect to rise even higher.

Now, it’s time for us to take a look at the UFC’s lightweight division. After all, Arman Tsarukyan has added a bit more fuel to his ongoing beef with the lightweight champion of the world. So, what did he say?

Arman Tsarukyan sends a crafty message to Ilia Topuria

‘Ahalkalakets’ recently took to Instagram and shared some visuals of himself from his recent training session. In the caption, the Armenian lightweight contender wrote, “still training … and the duck is still a ducking ….” And the exciting part? Tsarukyan was training at Alicante, Spain. Yes, that’s the same place where Ilia Topuria currently resides with his family. But Topuria isn’t really interested in fighting Tsarukyan.

The Spaniard claimed that Tsarukyan had already missed his chance to fight for the championship title when he pulled out of UFC 311 because of an apparent back injury. Soon after Topuria’s statement went viral, Tsarukyan took shots at the champion and started calling him a duck. But the question is, will there be a rise in the drama if Tsarukyan and Topuria happen to cross paths in Alicante?

But do you know that Dana White has welcomed artificial intelligence to further enhance live streaming events? So, what is it all about.

Dana White finally gets AI incorporated into UFC’s systems

Fast Company recently revealed that the UFC is employing the Insights Engine generative AI platform to give fight insights to the fans through broadcast and social media. The senior vice president of research and development at the fight promotion, Alon Cohen, said, “It drives storylines that are at the core of the most important product that UFC makes.” The system is built on IBM’s WatsonX AI platform and is powered by Granite’s large language models. It analyzes the data during a live event and then converts it into graphics, statistics, and commentary for the fans. 

Cohen continued, “Everybody who is in a proactive role at work has a long hopper of things they wish they could get to. You’ve got to give them time and resources. You have to make sure that the tone, from the very top, is that it is safe for you to fail.” But the UFC head honcho is yet to bring in AI to correct the rankings. 

What do you think of Plinio Cruz’s time in Japan? Do you think Tsarukyan will ever get a chance to prove himself against ‘El Matador’? What are your thoughts on UFC welcoming artificial intelligence into its systems?