Day: 4. Dezember 2024

First PPV of 2025 is a BANGER 🔥@MAKHACHEVMMA vs @ArmanUFC 2@MerabDvalishvil vs @UNmgdv #UFC311 at the @IntuitDome | 🎟️: https://t.co/dX45J0Cwpw pic.twitter.com/QE3Evz1uQr

— UFC (@ufc) December 5, 2024

Two title bouts will top the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to the City of Angels.

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Dana White announced on Wednesday night that UFC 311 will be headlined by a lightweight championship clash between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. In the co-main event, Merab Dvalishvili will defend his bantamweight crown against Umar Nurmagomedov. UFC 311 takes place on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+.

Makchev and Tsarukyan initially squared off at UFC Fight Night 149, with Makhachev winning via unanimous decision in the April 2019 bout. That was just part of an ongoing 14-fight winning streak for Makhachev, who captured the lightweight strap with a second-round submission of Char…

The rematch between Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas is getting a little bit more prominent placement on the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship schedule.

The strawweight bout, which was originally slated for the co-main event at UFC Tampa on Dec. 7, will now instead serve as the headliner for UFC Fight Night on Jan. 11. Multiple outlets confirmed the change following an initial report from MMA Mania. Ribas defeated Dern via unanimous decision in their first meeting at UFC Fight Night 161 on Oct. 12, 2019.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Dern snapped a two-bout skid in her last outing, when she took a three-round verdict over Lupita Godinez at UFC on ABC 7 on Aug. 3. The 31-year-old RVCA representative owns victories over the likes of Angela Hill, Tecia Pennington and Virna Jandiroba during her promotional tenure.

Ribas has competed at both strawweight and flyweight in the UFC. The Brazilian is coming off a five-round defeat to Rose Namajunas at 125…

Turki Alalshikh hints at potentially trying to make Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones happen 👀

“In MMA, all the time we want to do the biggest things… we need to send Dana White to the moon.” 😅

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🎥 @DAZNBoxing #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/SqJqqUtOGj — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 3, 2024

All hope isn’t lost when it comes to making arguably the biggest heavyweight fight in MMA.

When Jon Jones initially announced his plan to return to action at heavyweight, the most anticipated fight was a showdown against then UFC heavyweight king Francis Ngannou. However, a lengthy contract dispute with the UFC eventually led to Ngannou’s exit from the promotion in January 2023. The Cameroonian-Frenchman went on to join rival promotion Professional Fighters League, where he was also allowed to compete in boxing.

Meanwhile, Jones went on to win the vacant title with an easy submission win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023…

As revealed this week on the Brazilian podcast Mundo da Luta, Rickson Gracie, currently fighting Parkinson's disease, will not be present in son Kron Gracie’s corner for his return to the Octagon at UFC 310.

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Gracie will square off against Bryce Mitchell in a featherweight pairing on the main card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“I'm very hopeful that he will have a good fight,” Rickson said. “I want him to win, but now I'm giving him space and we have a certain understanding. And now he has space to decide his life in the best way. I pray for him, but now I’m going to stay at home and watch.”

However, Sherdog has learned that Helio Gracie’s grandson will have a strong team around him when he enters the Ocagon. In addition to training partner Nate Diaz, Kron will have the support of Sergio Zveiter, Rickson's best friend — the only one present for all of his fights.

“Rickson is like a brother to me. I was present in …

Shavkat Rakhmonov says he made Ian Garry tap during their sparring sessions 😳

“I wonder why they didn’t release the other part of the sparring.”

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🎥 @arielhelwani #UFC #MMA #UFC310pic.twitter.com/5h2LtBLH93 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 3, 2024

Shavkat Rakhmonov allegedly tapped out Ian Garry in sparring.

Rakhmonov and Garry will co-headline UFC 310 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The undefeated welterweights have previously trained together at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. While “Nomad” continues to train there, Garry has since relocated to Chute Boxe Diego Lima in Brazil.

Leading up to the fight, Garry released old sparring footage with Rakhmonov where the Irishman seemed to be faring well. The Kazakh has since accused Garry of releasing only those parts of the footage where he looked good. Rakhmonov recently claimed to have choked Garry during the same session.

According to…

American Top Team coach Marcus “Parrumpa” da Matta arrived in Las Vegas on Sunday with Alexandre Pantoja, who will defend his flyweight title against Kai Asakura in the UFC 310 main event on Saturday night.

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“We arrived on the Sunday before the fight to start the fight week well-rested and already getting used to the Vegas atmosphere. Pantoja´s weight is better than in the last fight, although he is much stronger,” the coach revealed.

“Parrumpa” claims that Pantoja just completed one of the best camps of his MMA career to date.

“Pantoja is (extremely popular) at ATT. Even the girls who do the cleaning were thrilled and excited when he became champion,” da Matta said. “When he goes to fight, all the lightweights line up to help him. This camp was one of the best we’ve ever done.”

The Brazilian coach, who is a black belt under the legendary master Carlson Gracie, does not shy away from talking about the tactics planned to neutralize the dangero…