Day: 5. Januar 2025

A strawweight showdown pitting Yazmin Jauregui against Dione Barbosa is on tap for UFC on ESPN 64.

Both fighters confirmed the pairing on social media following an initial report from Ag.Fight. UFC on ESPN 64 takes place on March 29 at CDMX in Mexico City and also includes a middleweight bout between Joe Pyfer and Kelvin Gastelum. A headliner has not been announced for the card.

Jauregui has dropped two of her last three promotional appearances. Most recently, the 25-year-old Tijuana, Mexico, native suffered a first-round submission defeat to Ketlen Souza at UFC 306 this past September.

Barbosa, meanwhile, had a four-bout professional winning streak snapped in her last outing, when she fell to Miranda Maverick via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 60 this past July.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first card of 2025 has undergone a couple of changes a little less than a week before the event.

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Jacobe Smith will make his Octagon debut on short notice against Preston Parsons at UFC Vegas 101 — also known as UFC Fight Night 249 — on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Smith is a replacement for Andreas Gustafsson, who withdrew from the event for undisclosed reasons. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the new booking.

Meanwhile, Joe Solecki will replace Yanal Ashmouz and face Nurullo Aliev in a lightweight bout on the same card. Both Aliev and Solecki confirmed the booking via social media. UFC Vegas 101 is headlined by a strawweight rematch between Amanda Ribas and Mackenzie Dern.

A former wrestler at Oklahoma State University, Smith has kicked off his professional tenure with nine straight triumphs — seven by KO or TKO. He earned a UFC contract with a second-round stoppage of Christien Savoie on D…

Matt Hamill began the new year with a very special moment.

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Hamill, the first deaf athlete to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, revealed on social media that he was able to hear his family for the first time with the assistance of special digital hearing aids.

“I just got the most powerful digital hearing aids ever made,” Hamill recently wrote on Instagram. “For the first time in 41 years, I can finally hear my kids’ voices, the sounds of people walking and laughing. I finally heard my mom’s voice and she cried. I’m looking forward to hearing my brother Pat’s voice too. I only hope he doesn’t have a voice like a foghorn. This is awesome, although I know it will take time to adapt to all of this. Happy New Year!”

The now 48-year-old Hamill compiled a 13-8 record over the course of a professional MMA career that began in 2005. He appeared on Season 3 of the “The Ultimate Fighter” and went on to have a 15-bout tenure in the Las Vega…

👏🦅Umar Nurmagomedov calls himself ‘Just Eagle’ and Khabib ‘Old Eagle’:

“I think on January 18th, I will deserve this name - Eagle. No more young, just Eagle.”😁

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🎥 @akajav ▫️ pic.twitter.com/0UavJ9Neo8 — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) January 4, 2025

Umar Nurmagomedov wants to follow in the footsteps of cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov in every aspect.

Umar challenges Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. Undefeated like his cousin Khabib, Umar now looks to become a UFC champ like “The Eagle” and even potentially take over his moniker.

While he is yet to have an official nickname, Umar is popularly known as “Young Eagle” because of his relation to Khabib and their similar styles. However, Khabib seemingly declared that Umar can no longer be called “Young Eagle” after the latter turned 29 this past weekend. When their lo…