Day: 20. Januar 2025

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According to Alex Pereira, he got exactly what he asked for at UFC 313.

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It was announced on Saturday that Pereira will defend his light heavyweight crown against Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 313 headliner on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While Pereira has been accused of avoiding the fight by his opponent, he claims that he requested to face the Dagestani light heavyweight.

“I did say that I wanted to take a break, but I started training again. I started feeling good. I started seeing my evolution,” Pereira told ESPN through a translator. “So I called my managers right away and I said, ‘I want to fight. I want to fight in March. I want to fight Ankalaev.’ I know he keeps saying that I’m a just an employee of the UFC, I fight whenever they want, but I asked for him. I told them when I want to fight.”

Ankalaev will enter the bout on a 13-bout unbeaten streak in UFC competition. The 32-year-old is coming off a unanim…

It wasn’t necessarily evident during his performance in the Octagon, but Merab Dvalishvili endured his fair share of difficulties leading up to his first bantamweight title defense.

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After relying on his relentless pace to pull away from Umar Nurmagomedov for a unanimous decision triumph in the UFC 311 headliner at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Saturday night, Dvalishvili revealed some of the ailments that limited his training. While Nurmagomedov revealed that he might have broken his hand in the opening stanza, “The Machine” claims to have dealt with with plenty of adversity of his own.

“I broke my back in training camp and it was some days I cannot get up from the bed,” Dvalishvili said at the post-fight press conference. “I was laid down and I don’t have a training camp and I don’t have a Khabib Nurmagomedov to help me to train. Some days the [UFC Performance Institute] was closed. It was Christmas and it was New Year’s and weekends and it ha…

Umar Nurmagomedov is seemingly undeterred by his loss against Merab Dvalishvili.

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Nurmagomedov challenged Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in the co-main event at UFC 311 this past Saturday. While the challenger did well in the first two rounds, Dvalishvili took over as the fight got into deeper waters. “The Machine” eventually defended his strap via unanimous decision in a bout that received “Fight of the Night” honors. Speaking of his loss against Dvalishvili, Nurmagomedov stated that doesn’t have any excuses. However, the Dagestani also feels like he didn’t completely lose the fight.

“There are no excuses,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram. “InshaAllah i will become the champion .The rest is not important. Praise Allah in any situation. And I don't think I've lost this battle If even the whole world will convince me otherwise.”

Nurmagomedov losing his undefeated record was the only setback for the Dagestani contingent at UFC 311. Nurma…

Arman Tsarukyan is ready to put in the work to get back into the UFC lightweight title picture.

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Tsarukyan earned his gold bid against Islam Makhachev with a split-decision win over former champ Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 last year. “Ahalkalakets” was scheduled to challenge Makhachev in the main event at UFC 311 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles this past Saturday. However, Tsarukyan pulled out on the day of the weigh-ins due to a back injury.

Renato "Money" Moicano, who was originally supposed to fight Beneil Dariush on the same card, got a last-minute title shot against Makhachev. While “Moicano” tagged Makhachev a couple of times, the champ eventually made quick work of the Brazilian with a brabo choke in the first round.

UFC CEO Dana White didn’t seem too happy with Tsarukyan and clarified that the Russian won’t be receiving the next title shot at lightweight. And Tsarukyan isn’t complaining. The lightweight contender is ready to fight his…