{"id":56887,"date":"2025-05-25T14:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T13:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=56887"},"modified":"2025-06-27T16:26:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T15:26:13","slug":"moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/","title":{"rendered":"Moses Itauma Secures WBO\u2019s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Moses Itauma represents the latest chapter in the the boxing heavyweight story. The 20-year-old Slovakia-born fighter has been making noise since turning professional just two years ago. His impressive knockout power and technical skills caught the attention of boxing insiders early. The Ring Magazine even named him their Prospect of the Year, which doesn&rsquo;t happen by accident. Now, after another devastating performance in Glasgow, Itauma finds himself in a position that usually takes fighters years to achieve.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A devastating performance from Moses Itauma on DAZN &#128548; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/khkDBFccOB\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/khkDBFccOB<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ringmagazine\/status\/1926360474100080926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>May 24, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>The young heavyweight needed less than two minutes to demolish Mike Balogun at Glasgow&rsquo;s OVO Hydro. Balogun, a former American football linebacker with 21 wins and only two losses, came into the fight hungry and dangerous. At 41 years old, he represented exactly the kind of veteran spoiler who could derail a prospect&rsquo;s momentum. But Itauma treated him like a heavy bag during practice. The first knockdown came from a whizzing left hand that had Balogun breathing heavy and fighting for survival. The second round brought the end, with Itauma catching his opponent with a counter right that sent him crashing to the canvas for good.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Moses Itauma Takes The #1 Spot<\/h2><p>The knockout victory did more than just add another highlight to Itauma&rsquo;s reel. The WBO immediately elevated him to their number one ranked contender position, leapfrogging several established heavyweights who have been waiting years for such recognition. This move sparked heated debates among boxing fans.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Moses Itauma is now the WBO&rsquo;s #1 ranked heavyweight contender, WBO president Gustavo Olivieri has revealed. Joseph Parker owns the WBO &lsquo;interim&rsquo; belt and so will be their next mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/67pefHw2Ex\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/67pefHw2Ex<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ringmagazine\/status\/1926395720585629709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>May 24, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Itauma&rsquo;s rapid rise becomes even more impressive when fans consider his age and experience level. At 20, he&rsquo;s younger than most prospects even think about turning professional. His 12-0 record with 10 knockouts tells the story of a fighter who finishes opponents rather than going the distance. The win over Balogun followed his first-round knockout of Demsey McKean at the Usyk-Fury 2 card last December. These weren&rsquo;t gimmick fights against tomato cans either. Both opponents came with legitimate records and real knockout power of their own.<\/p><p>Critics argue that Itauma hasn&rsquo;t faced enough top-tier competition to deserve the number one ranking. They point out that fighters like Daniel Dubois, who demolished Anthony Joshua last September, represent the kind of elite opposition that separates prospects from genuine contenders. These skeptics have a point about the need for tougher tests. Facing someone like Fabio Wardley, Frazer Clarke, or Agit Kabayel would give fans a better sense of where Itauma truly stands among heavyweight contenders.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Moses Itauma Being Next In Line After Joseph Parker<\/h2><p>The WBO&rsquo;s decision creates an interesting scenario for the heavyweight title picture. Oleksandr Usyk holds the WBO championship while Joseph Parker owns the interim belt. This means Parker gets the next mandatory shot at Usyk. But Itauma&rsquo;s elevation to number one puts him directly in line for the winner of that fight. This timeline works perfectly for a young fighter who might benefit from another year of development before facing elite-level opposition.<\/p><p>Itauma&rsquo;s manager Francis Warren mentioned hopes of getting him back in the ring by July, which would keep the momentum rolling. Smart matchmaking over the next 12 months could prepare Itauma for the kind of step up in competition that awaits any legitimate title contender.His combination of youth, power, and technical ability represents everything boxing fans love about emerging talent. Whether he&rsquo;s ready for elite competition remains to be seen.<\/p><p><strong>(Image Credit: Ring Magazine &ndash; X)<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WBO shakes up heavyweight rankings as Moses Itauma climbs to #1 but Joseph Parker first to challenge Oleksandr Usyk!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1783],"tags":[2110,1987,1831],"class_list":["post-56887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mma","tag-joseph-parker","tag-moses-itauma","tag-oleksandr-usyk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Moses Itauma Secures WBO&rsquo;s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker - The Playoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WBO shakes up heavyweight rankings as Moses Itauma climbs to #1 but Joseph Parker first to challenge Oleksandr Usyk.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Moses Itauma Secures WBO&rsquo;s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker - The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WBO shakes up heavyweight rankings as Moses Itauma climbs to #1 but Joseph Parker first to challenge Oleksandr Usyk.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-27T16:26:13+01:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zaid Quraishi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zaid Quraishi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zaid Quraishi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd5901be00586ad6098d47c91b67e29\"},\"headline\":\"Moses Itauma Secures WBO\u2019s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-25T13:31:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-27T15:26:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/\"},\"wordCount\":588,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Joseph Parker\",\"Moses Itauma\",\"Oleksandr Usyk\"],\"articleSection\":[\"MMA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/\",\"name\":\"Moses Itauma Secures WBO\u2019s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker - The Playoffs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-25T13:31:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-27T15:26:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"WBO shakes up heavyweight rankings as Moses Itauma climbs to #1 but Joseph Parker first to challenge Oleksandr Usyk.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Moses Itauma Secures WBO\u2019s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\",\"name\":\"The Playoffs\",\"description\":\"Share passion for sports &amp; betting\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Playoffs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp\",\"width\":415,\"height\":280,\"caption\":\"The Playoffs\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/ThePlayoffsEN\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theplayoffs_en\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd5901be00586ad6098d47c91b67e29\",\"name\":\"Zaid Quraishi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45a2e87a611774e8e06036f2a9c83e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45a2e87a611774e8e06036f2a9c83e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zaid Quraishi\"},\"description\":\"I am a dedicated MMA and Boxing content writer at The Playoffs. I was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014, and since then, i have been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. My favorite aspect of working at The Playoffs is the creative freedom it provides. The diverse range of topics, from listicles and SEO to news articles, keeps me engaged and motivates me to continuously improve my skills! I aim to capture the excitement of the combat sports world in my writing, acting as the middleman between fighters and their die-hard fans. It is kind of like a referee, but with words!\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/zaid-quraishi-884927240?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/author\/zaid\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Moses Itauma Secures WBO&rsquo;s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker - The Playoffs","description":"WBO shakes up heavyweight rankings as Moses Itauma climbs to #1 but Joseph Parker first to challenge Oleksandr Usyk.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Moses Itauma Secures WBO&rsquo;s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker - The Playoffs","og_description":"WBO shakes up heavyweight rankings as Moses Itauma climbs to #1 but Joseph Parker first to challenge Oleksandr Usyk.","og_url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/","og_site_name":"The Playoffs","article_modified_time":"2025-06-27T15:26:13+00:00","author":"Zaid Quraishi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ThePlayoffsEN","twitter_site":"@ThePlayoffsEN","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zaid Quraishi","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/"},"author":{"name":"Zaid Quraishi","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd5901be00586ad6098d47c91b67e29"},"headline":"Moses Itauma Secures WBO\u2019s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker","datePublished":"2025-05-25T13:31:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-27T15:26:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/"},"wordCount":588,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"},"keywords":["Joseph Parker","Moses Itauma","Oleksandr Usyk"],"articleSection":["MMA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/","name":"Moses Itauma Secures WBO\u2019s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker - The Playoffs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-05-25T13:31:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-27T15:26:13+00:00","description":"WBO shakes up heavyweight rankings as Moses Itauma climbs to #1 but Joseph Parker first to challenge Oleksandr Usyk.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/moses-itauma-secures-wbos-top-spot-with-mike-balogun-win-sets-stage-for-mandatory-clash-after-joseph-parker\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Moses Itauma Secures WBO\u2019s Top Spot With Mike Balogun Win, Sets Stage For Mandatory Clash After Joseph Parker"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/","name":"The Playoffs","description":"Share passion for sports &amp; betting","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization","name":"The Playoffs","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp","width":415,"height":280,"caption":"The Playoffs"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/ThePlayoffsEN","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theplayoffs_en\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd5901be00586ad6098d47c91b67e29","name":"Zaid Quraishi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45a2e87a611774e8e06036f2a9c83e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45a2e87a611774e8e06036f2a9c83e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Zaid Quraishi"},"description":"I am a dedicated MMA and Boxing content writer at The Playoffs. I was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014, and since then, i have been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. My favorite aspect of working at The Playoffs is the creative freedom it provides. The diverse range of topics, from listicles and SEO to news articles, keeps me engaged and motivates me to continuously improve my skills! I aim to capture the excitement of the combat sports world in my writing, acting as the middleman between fighters and their die-hard fans. It is kind of like a referee, but with words!","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/zaid-quraishi-884927240?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app"],"url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/author\/zaid\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56887"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56892,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56887\/revisions\/56892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}