Athletes
UFC Athletes Visit Muhammad Ali Center In Louisville
Jared Cannonier And Dominick Reyes Attend Museum Dedicated To Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali In Louisville, Kentucky
Ahead of UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Imavov in Louisville, Kentucky, middleweight Jared Cannonier and light heavyweight Dominick Reyes were treated to a tour of the Muhammad Ali Center, a museum honoring the legendary boxer and humanitarian in his hometown.
The athletes were joined by WWE Superstars Austin Theory and Grayson Waller, also known as the tag team A-Town Down Under.
The Muhammad Ali Center is a non-profit museum with numerous displays and information about Ali’s life. From his childhood in Kentucky and ascension to heavyweight champion of the world, the museum is more than 96,000 square feet. Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali founded the museum in 2005.
Cannonier and Reyes were treated to a tour of the facility as well as a short film which covered Ali’s life before being shown several pieces of archived memorabilia. Some of the pieces shown included a Christmas card sent to Ali from George Foreman ahead of their legendary fight in Zaire and one of the robes Ali wore to the ring early in his career.
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“I thought it was pretty informative,” Cannonier said. “A lot of things I didn't know about him. A lot of things that I did know, but got more in depth detail about it, and I got to see all of the cool memorabilia, all the cool things that he done. A bunch of cool stories about his life before boxing, during boxing, his activism and his humanitarianism. So it was really informative. We got a lot of good information. A lot of good energy from this place.”
Coincidentally, this week is the Ali Festival in Louisville. During the first week of June, the Center commemorates Ali’s passing (which occurred on June 3, 2016) to “celebrate his worldwide impact and love for Louisville. The celebration includes various events including music, history, community service and family activities.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Imavov takes place on June 8 and is the promotion’s second trip to the city, the first coming back in March 2011. It is also UFC’s third trip to the state of Kentucky overall.
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Imavov took place live from KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky on June 8, 2024. See the final Prelims & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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