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Muhammad Mokaev believes Tom Aspinall’s father, Andy Aspinall, can hold his own against ranked UFC fighters.

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Mokaev and Aspinall will share a card in their hometown of Manchester, England, at UFC 304 on July 27 as the promotion returns to the city after nearly eight years. While Mokaev takes on Manel Kape in a flyweight matchup, Aspinall will put his interim heavyweight title on the line against Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event at the Co-op Live Arena.

As two elite MMA fighters hailing from the same region, Mokaev and Aspinall go back a long way. Mokaev was training in Wigan when he first met Aspinall and his father Andy, who were coaching at a different gym. Mokaev revealed that “Honey Badger” was working security at a pub then and would give him a ride home after practice for several years.

“Yeah, I met Tom Aspinall, he was coaching the kids session… And then his father was coaching adult session next session… And once…

Sean Strickland believes his unhinged rants could be the only impediment on the road to his next middleweight title shot.

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Strickland dethroned Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at UFC 293 in September 2023 in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Strickland’s short-lived title reign came to an end via a split-decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 this past January. Strickland has since bounced back with a split-decision win over Paulo Costa last month, which many believe should have been scored unanimously in favor of “Tarzan.”

Meanwhile, Du Plessis puts his title on the line against Adesanya in the main event at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. Strickland is now adamant on fighting the winner of that bout next instead of a title eliminator against Robert Whittaker. “Bobby Knuckles” rebounded from a stoppage loss against Du Plessis with a unanimous decision win over Costa followed by a knockout over surging newcomer Ikram Al…

A couple of highly-touted prospects will be in action at the Professional Fighters League playoff event on Aug. 16.

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Biaggio Ali Walsh will face Korey Taylor in a lightweight showcase bout on the evening’s main card, while Jordan Oliver will lock horns with Braydon Akeo in a preliminary contest at featherweight. MMAjunkie.com was first to report Ali Walsh vs. Taylor, while BJPenn.com initially brought word of Oliver vs. Akeo. Sherdog.com subsequently confirmed both bookings with a promotion official.

The grandson of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, Ali Walsh compiled a 6-1 record as amateur, with five of his victories coming under the PFL banner. He made his pro debut at the PFL vs. Bellator Champs event in February, earning a unanimous decision triumph against Emmanuel Palacio.

Taylor, meanwhile, owns a 4-0 professional mark and has finished all of his opponents inside of a round on the regional circuit.

Oliver was a two-time NCAA national …

One of the main highlights of UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver was Jean Silva moving up a weight class to score his third knockout in six months against Drew Dober, a victory that came just two weeks after “Lord” finished Charles Jourdain at UFC 303.

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In an interview with Ag.Fight shortly after the bout, Jean revealed that the UFC had already nominated a veteran in the Top 15 to be his next opponent.

“Unfortunately, I still can't say anything, just that it will be at featherweight,” said the Fighting Nerds member.

Silva also promised that if the UFC needs him to step up again in the coming weeks, he will be available. His lone condition would be that the short-notice fight would take place at 155 pounds.

“My plan this year is to have three more fights at featherweight, but if the UFC asks me, exceptionally, to face a striker at lightweight, that could be a possibility,” Silva said. “But my focus is on my division.”

In a separate interview with …

Sean O'Malley's selection as “Fighter of the Year” at the recent ESPY awards was heavily criticized by the Brazilian media.

On his weekly podcast, "Papo de Luta", UFC Fight Pass Brazil commentator Carlos Barreto, said he did not understand the reasons for O'Malley to surpass the achievements of UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

“I'm not discussing the quality of O'Malley, who is undoubtedly talented and a great fighter, in addition to being very popular in the U.S. What must be taken into question here are the facts. In the period in question, O'Malley knocked out [Aljamain Sterling] and beat ‘Chito’ Vera on points, while ‘Poatan’ knocked out Jiri [Prochazka] twice, Jamahal Hill once and beat Blachowicz on points, becoming double champion,” Barreto said.

“If the award went to the greatest American fighter of the year, that would be fine, but here it is a global award. Unfortunately, it even takes away the credibility of the award.”

Recently inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame, Wanderlei Silva participated this week on the Combate Podcast, Mundo da Luta, and spoke of his desire to do a “real” boxing challenge.

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Silva expressed disappointment with the recent duel between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, an exhibition that ended in a draw.

“It is a new range of entertainment that is opening up,” Silva said. “What I can say is this: when Wanderlei Silva has an exhibition fight, you will see what a real exhibition is. It has to be real. If I had the opportunity to beat up Chael Sonnen, what do you think I would do? I was going to beat Sonnen up, the guys had to give me that opportunity (laughs). I'm not his friend, I'm just an acquaintance.”

While the Pride Fighting Championships veteran had some intense moments with Sonnen on the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” in 2014, he makes it clear that he now has a good relationship with the American.

"He's a nice guy. I l…

Khamzat Chimaev has a date in mind for his next Octagon appearance, and he wants the stakes to be significant for that fight.

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Chimaev hasn’t competed since October 2023, when he took a majority decision over former welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman in his middleweight debut at UFC 294. “Borz” was scheduled to face Robert Whittaker at UFC on ABC 6 in Saudi Arabia on June 22 before a severe illness forced Chechen-born Swede to withdraw from the event.

While a victory in that fight would have likely placed Chimaev near the top of the contender’s queue at 185 pounds, he still believes he should have an opportunity to challenge for middleweight gold in his next bout. Barring any unforeseen setbacks, Chimaev expects that will be at UFC 308 on Oct. 26.

“Most likely [my return will happen] in October in Abu Dhabi,” Chimaev told Match TV. “[The opponent is] unknown so far. I would like to fight for the title.

“I have seven fights, seven victor…

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Belal Muhammad is grateful to have renowned nutrition coach Ian Larios in camp for his upcoming title fight against Leon Edwards.

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Muhammad gets his long overdue title shot against Edwards in the main event at UFC 304 on July 27 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. Representing the closely-knit Chicago Fight Team, Muhammad couldn’t have asked for a more motivating group of individuals with which to train.

Muhammad’s team pushes him for that last extra bit of effort, which he believes will bear fruit when he potentially goes into deep water against Edwards. As a fresh addition to the team, Larios is no different.

“The thing about my team is we’re a small group, we’re all like family,” Muhammad recently told Helen Yee. “When one of us have a fight, we all have a fight. And one of us needs to be pushed, we all push each other… There’s a lot of people that’ll quit after you hit your stairs, your legs are tired, you’re …

Santiago Ponzinibbio has seemingly lost some faith in judges’ scorecards after his split-decision loss against Muslim Salikhov on Saturday.

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Ponzinibbio met Salikhov in the welterweight co-main event at UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver, Colorado. “The Argentine Dagger” came up on the short side of a controversial split decision after technical striking affair that was somewhat lacking in action.

Ponzinibbio slammed the decision, as he believes he did enough to get his hand raised. With three of his last four losses coming via split decision, Ponzinibbio is starting to believe that his only way to victory is a finish.

“We think we won the fight,” the 37-year-old said in a video on Instagram (translation via MMAjunkie.com). “We at least had two clear rounds. In many MMA places that specialize in this, most people gave me two rounds and some even three. But oh well. Whenever we go to the judges, this is how it goes for me. If I don’t knock my opponent ou…

Rose Namajunas recently weighed in on arguably the most memorable moment of her latest win over Tracy Cortez.

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Namajunas faced Cortez, who replaced Maycee Barber on short notice, in the main event at UFC on ESPN 59 at the Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday. Namajunas landed the crisper strikes and even got the better of Cortez in most grappling exchanges to earn a unanimous decision victory. However, the most memorable moment of the fight was arguably when Namajunas dropped Cortez with a left hook in the opening frame, which also sent one of the latter’s fake eyelashes flying.

Rose Namajunas done knocked down & punched the eyelash off Tracy Cortez damn face 🤣🤣🤣🤣 #UFCDenver pic.twitter.com/5WOPqcprpj

— JrRanks (@RealJrRanks) July 14, 2024 While Namajunas didn’t recognize it during the fight, zoomed in clips of Cortez sporting one fake eyelash after the other went flying have since flooded the internet. “Thug” made light o…

Tom Aspinall is drawing from traditional gypsy fighting to prepare for his upcoming title defense.

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Aspinall puts his interim heavyweight title on the line against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 on July 27 in front of a home crowd at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. Aspinall claims to have some gypsy roots, which he is resorting to in preparation for UFC 304.

“Honey Badger” picked up a few tricks shown by Irish traveling bare knuckle boxing legend Big Joe Joyce in the 2011 documentary “Knuckle,” which is about the secretive world of Irish traveling bare knuckle boxing shot over a period of 12 years.

Drawing from that, Aspinall now shadowboxes early in the morning with rings of hay bales wrapped around his hands. Aspinall also dips his knuckles in petrol for twenty minutes as the sun is coming up, which allegedly makes them rock hard.

“Have you ever seen the documentary Knuckle? It’s a documentary about traveling communities in the…

Former UFC flyweight title challenger Jennifer Maia will move up to 135 pounds for a showdown against Mayra Cantuaria at Invicta FC 56 on Aug. 9.

The all-women’s promotion announced the headlining bout on Tuesday. Invicta FC 56 takes place at the Stockyards Event Center in Denver and will also see former strawweight title holder Valesca Machado face Yulia Ostroverkhova in the co-main event. The Invicta FC 56 main card will air on CBS Sports Network at 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. MT, while prelims stream on the Invicta Facebook page and YouTube channel at 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT.

Five other bouts were confirmed for the card: Riley Martinez vs. Kelly Jennifer Ottoni at featherweight; Kate Bacik vs. Paula Cristina dos Santos Silva at flyweight; Flor Hernandez vs. Ana Palacios at atomweight; Ailed Zubieta vs. Giulliany Perea at atomweight and Ali Pellegrini vs. Marissa Ellis at featherweight.

A former Invicta flyweight queen, Maia returns to the organization following a 6…