Martial Arts News

UFC 312 will have a pair of championship bouts at the top of the bill.

Advertisement

Dricus Du Plessis will defend his middleweight crown in a rematch with Sean Strickland in the evening’s main event, while Weili Zhang will face Tatiana Suarez in a strawweight title bout in the co-headliner. The pairings were announced during the UFC 310 broadcast on Saturday night.

UFC 312 takes place on Feb. 8 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. The main card will air on pay-per-view via ESPN+.

Du Plessis captured 185-pound gold with a split-decision victory over Strickland in their first meeting at UFC 297. “Stillknocks” defended the strap this past August, when he submitted Israel Adesanya in the fourth round of their main event clash at UFC 307. The 30-year-old South African is 8-0 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

After falling to Du Plessis, Strickland returned to the win column with a split verdict against Paulo Costa at UFC 302 this…

Seattle, you ready? 👀

We're coming to @ClimateArena for #UFCSeattle!

Presale begins Thursday, January 9 ➡️ https://t.co/Lk2ne0yFXU pic.twitter.com/ckylEH9375

— UFC (@ufc) December 7, 2024

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Seattle is now official.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Saturday that it will host a card in “The Emerald City” on Feb. 22. It will be the UFC’s fourth trip to Seattle and the first since 2013, when Demetrious Johnson defended his flyweight crown against John Moraga in the UFC on Fox 8 headliner.

UFC Seattle takes place at Climate Pledge Arena and doesn’t yet have an official headliner. However, a handful of bouts have been reported for the event, including: Anthony Hernandez vs. Brendan Allen at middleweight; Edson Barboza vs. Steve Garcia at featherweight; Ketlen Vieira vs. Macy Chiasson at bantamweight; Jean Silva vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan at featherweight; Ion Cutelaba vs. Ib…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship's final pay-per-view event of the year is set after the UFC 310 weigh-ins.

Headlining the mixed martial arts promotion's return to Las Vegas is a flyweight championship fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Octagon newcomer Kai Asakura. Both men successfully made the weight, which wasn't a given as Asakura had previously been fighting at bantamweight. One fighter missed weight, as Bryan Battle checked in four pounds heavy for his welterweight contest against Randy Brown. While Anthony Smith initially weighed in 1.5 pounds heavy, he returned within the additional hour period to reach 205.5 pounds. Battle's match is expected to continue, and he is to receive an undisclosed percentage fine from his purse.

Advertisement

Pantoja (28-5) is on an impressive six-fight win streak that saw him claim the 125-pound title. "The Cannibal" has made two successful defenses of the belt against Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg since…

#UFC311 just keeps getting BETTER 😮‍💨

Jan 18 can't come soon enough! pic.twitter.com/jbiVNLdpRu

— UFC (@ufc) December 5, 2024 Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Renato “Money” Moicano is getting his wish, just a little later than he expected.

Advertisement

The organization released the full bout listing and order for UFC 311 on Thursday, which is taking place on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Many of the matchups had already been announced or reported, including its headliner of Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan rematching for the lightweight strap, and its co-main attraction of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov with bantamweight gold on the line. Of note, the promotion revealed that on the main card, Beneil Dariush (22-6-1) would be throwing down with Moicano (20-5-1) in the lightweight division. Additionally, Tagir Ulanbekov and Clayton Carpenter will serve as the flyweight curtain jerker.

Dariush wi…

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.

Advertisement

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.” 😅

Advertisement

🎥 @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.

Advertisement

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.”

Advertisement

🎥 @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.

Advertisement

“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…

🗣️ Petr Yan: “I don’t know what’s going on with [Sean O’Malley]. He’s out for 9-12 months, maybe he got pregnant.” 😭😭

🎥 @arielhelwani #UFC #MMA

Advertisement

pic.twitter.com/IAI5XFsiOB — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 3, 2024

Petr Yan is plotting a rematch against Sean O'Malley.

O’Malley earned a title shot with a hard-fought split decision win over Yan at UFC 280 in 2022. “Suga” went on to knock out Aljamain Sterling to win the bantamweight title at UFC 292 the next year. O’Malley has since defended his title against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 this past March before losing it against Merab Dvalishvili via a lopsided decision at UFC 306 in September.

While Yan is eyeing a rematch against O’Malley, the Russian is worried about the former champ’s lack of activity. Yan jokingly wondered if the gaps of over nine months between O’Malley’s bouts means the former champ is pregnant.

“I would lean towards a rematch with Sean…

Jean Silva (14-2) will take on Melsik Baghdasaryan (8-2) at a UFC event on Feb. 22.

The featherweight matchup was first reported by Ag.Fight. The card doesn’t have an official location but is expected to be held in Seattle.

Silva has enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity since making his Octagon debut this past January. The Brazilian is unbeaten since 2018 and earned his contract with a unanimous decision win over Kevin Vallejos on Dana White's Contender Series last year. “Lord” has since racked a three-fight knockout streak, leaving behind Westin Wilson, Charles Jourdain and Drew Dober in his wake. Silva most recently made a two-week turnaround, also moving up to lightweight to earn a doctor-stoppage win over Dober at UFC Denver in July.

Meanwhile, Baghdasaryan is 3-1 since his graduating from the Contender Series in 2020. “The Gun” last fought in July 2023, earning a unanimous decision win over Tucker Lutz that saw him bounce back from a submission loss ag…