2025-02-19 00:00 - Martial Arts Kleinanzeigen™

Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena, Shevchenko vs. Fiorot Top UFC 315 Lineup in Montreal

Two championship bouts will get featured billing at UFC 315.

UFC CEO Dana White announced on Wednesday night that the May 10 card will be headlined by a welterweight championship tilt between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight strap against Manon Fiorot. UFC 315 takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

While Shavkat Rakhmonov was expected to be the next title challenger at 170 pounds, White revealed that the Kazakhstan native suffered an injury and was unable to compete. That led to Della Maddalena being pulled from his original booking: the UFC London headliner against Leon Edwards on March 22.

Muhammad will return to action for the first time since capturing the welterweight crown with a five-round verdict against Edwards in the UFC 304 main event this past July. “Remember the Name” is in the midst of an 11-fight unbeaten streak in the Octagon that…

Topuria Vacates Featherweight Belt, Volkanovski-Lopes Title Fight Headlines UFC 314

Ilia Topuria’s reign at 145 pounds will be short lived.

UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday night that Topuria will vacate the featherweight title as he transitions to 155 pounds. As a result, Alexander Volkanovski will face Diego Lopes for the vacant 145-pound belt in the UFC 314 main event. Topuria captured the belt with a second-round knockout of Volkanovski at UFC 298 and defended the title with a third-round stoppage of Max Holloway at UFC 308 this past October. UFC 314 takes place on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

According to White, a fight for Topuria will be announced soon.

Volkanovski has not competed since the aforementioned loss to Topuria. Prior to that, the 36-year-old Aussie had an impressive run at 145 pounds, accumulating 12 consecutive victories and five successful title defenses along the way. However, he did suffer a pair of losses against Islam Makhachev at lightweight in a bid to become a two-division champ…

Sean Brady Steps in to Face Leon Edwards in New UFC London Main Event

Sean Brady will fill the spot vacated by Jack Della Maddalena when he meets Leon Edwards in the UFC London headliner.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the new welterweight bout on Wednesday night. Maddalena was tabbed to challenge Belal Muhammad for the welterweight crown at UFC 315, clearing the way for Brady to step in against Edwards. UFC London — also known as UFC Fight Night 255 — takes place at the O2 Arena and also includes a light heavyweight showdown between Jan Blachowicz and Carlos Ulberg.

Brady has been victorious in seven of his eight Octagon appearances, with his lone setback coming at the hands of Muhammad in October 2022. The Renzo Gracie Philly product has since rebounded to post back-to-back triumphs against Kelvin Gastelum and Gilbert Burns.

Edwards will return to action for the first time since relinquishing the 170-pound strap to Muhammad in a unanimous decision defeat at UFC 304 this past July. Prior to that, “Rocky” had gone u…

UFC 314 Gets Michael Chandler-Paddy Pimblett Co-Main, Patricio Freire Debut

The UFC 314 card will have plenty of depth.

In the evening’s co-headliner, Michael Chandler will lock horns with Paddy Pimblett in a five-round, non-title affair. Meanwhile, former Bellator featherweight champ Patricio Freire will make his promotional debut against Yair Rodriguez in another featured clash. UFC CEO Dana White announced the pairings on Wednesday night. UFC 314 takes place at the Kaseya Center in Miami on April 12 and is headlined by a showdown for the vacant featherweight title between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.

Multiple other bouts, some previously reported, were also confirmed for UFC 314: Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates at welterweight; Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes at light heavyweight; Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson at featherweight; Xiaonan Yan vs. Virna Jandiroba at strawweight; Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper at lightweight; Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa at featherweight; Sedriques Dumas vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk at middlewe…

Dricus Du Plessis Ridicules Belal Muhammad’s Double-Champ Aspirations

Dricus du Plessis reacts to Belal Muhammad saying he sucks:

“Has he ever finished anyone?… the UFC doesn’t even like Belal Muhammad…

He’s definitely better on Twitter than he is in fights.” 👀🍿

🎥 @arielhelwani #UFC #MMA

pic.twitter.com/klzBNQYrG9 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 18, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis is downplaying a potential clash against Belal Muhammad.

Muhammad recently teased a move up to middleweight to challenge Du Plessis for the title. “Remember the Name” also slammed the entire division —with the exception of Khamzat Chimaev — citing Du Plessis’ title defence against Sean Strickland at UFC 312 earlier this month.

Responding to Muhammad’s comments, Du Plessis brought up the lack of finishes on the welterweight champ’s record. The South African also noted that Muhammad has yet to defend his title since winning it against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July 2024. Du Plessis is confiden…

Dan Hooker Expects Teammates Volkanovski, Kara-France to Return at UFC 314

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While Dan Hooker would have liked to fight on the same card as his City Kickboxing teammates, he won’t mind sitting cageside for their return.

Alexander Volkanovski is expected to challenge Ilia Topuria in a featherweight title rematch at UFC 314 on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Hooker believes their teammate, Kai Kara-France, is also likely to be on the same card. The Topuria-Volkanovski rematch has not been confirmed by the promotion.

Meanwhile, “The Hangman” will take on Justin Gaethje in fan favorite matchup at UFC 313 on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While the Kiwi would have liked to fight on the same card as his teammates, he doesn’t mind getting done with his assignment earlier.

“I'm pretty sure Alex and Kai will be on the same card,” Hooker told ESPN Australia. “I would've liked for all the three of us to be fighting in April together, but I got chucked on a little earlier. But hey,…

Eric Nicksick Admits That Publicly Criticizing Sean Strickland Was a Mistake

Eric Nicksick is owning up to his mistake.

Nicksick recently admitted that criticizing friend and pupil Strickland in public was the wrong decision. Strickland received a lot of criticism in general for his lopsided unanimous decision title loss against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312 earlier this month. Nicksick later called Strickland’s effort uninspiring after failing to motivate the former champ to push harder until the end of the fight.

However, UFC veterans like Daniel Cormier and Matt Brown didn’t approve of Nicksick publicly denouncing Strickland. While recently commenting on the issue, Brown noted that there might be a lot more to the whole thing than is visible to the public eye. Regardless, Brown thinks the relationship between a coach and fighter is too personal for their differences to be publicly exposed.

Responding to Brown’s comments, Nicksick admitted to having a made a mistake. While the Xtreme Couture head coach says his real …