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Myktybek Orolbai is a beast of nature.

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The Kyrgyz mixed martial artist’s second-favorite sport is just as challenging as MMA — if not more. Orolbai recently revealed that his other love is the traditional sport of Kok Boru. Generated among nomadic Asian tribes, Kok Boru is known as Kokpar in Kazakhstan and Buzkashi in Afghanistan, where it is also the national sport. Also played by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Uyghurs and other tribes, the sport consists of two teams on horseback wrestling to carry a goat carcass to the other team’s goal post. The competition is usually fierce, and players cover themselves with thick gear to avoid opponents’ whips and shoes.

While it is believed that a skilful Kok Boru player is usually in his 40s, the 26-year-old Orolbai already claims to be champion of the sport.

“Kyrgyz sport that’s called Kok Boru… It’s on horseback – Kok Boru. I love that sport… There a lot of horses… You take a goat’s carcass on yo…

Tom Aspinall believes activity will be a factor in the upcoming rematch between Ciryl Gane (12-2) and Alexander Volkov (38-10).

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Gane and Volkov will run it back at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The two initially met back in 2021, when the Frenchman outpointed Volkov in a lackluster unanimous decision.

However, Aspinall believes things might play out differently this time. While Volkov bounced back from the Gane loss with a decision win over Marcin Tybura, he went on suffer a submission loss against Aspinall immediately afterwards. But “Drago” has since racked up four consecutive wins — including three finishes — within a span of two years. The Russian is fresh off a lopsided unanimous decision win over former training partner Sergei Pavlovich this past June.

Meanwhile, Gane has gone 3-2, alternating between wins and losses since his victory over Volkov. “Bon Gamin” hasn’t fought since a technical knockout win over Serg…

Dustin Poirier retweeted a tweet thanking him for knocking out Conor McGregor after he was found liable for sexual assault#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/CENfSL8ZEr

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 22, 2024

The verdict in Conor McGregor’s civil lawsuit has incited some strong reactions from several prominent figures in the combat sports community.

The Dublin High Court on Friday found McGregor liable for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand in 2018. While Hand had claimed that McGregor and James Lawrence raped her that night, the court didn’t find Lawrence liable for sexual assault. “Notorious” has been ordered to pay 248,603.60 euros ($259,025) to Hand in damages. The former UFC two-division champ was not found guilty of any charges, as it was civil lawsuit. Breaking his silence on the topic, McGregor has vowed to appeal the decision.

Former foes Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, who have never been on the best of terms with McGr…

BREAKING: Nikita Hand speaks outside court. pic.twitter.com/H1K4eit8Ug

— Paul Healy (@Healyhack) November 22, 2024 A jury has found Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor liable for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand in 2018.

The trial of McGregor has come to an end, with the Dublin High Court finding that McGregor assaulted Hand during their 2018 encounter. She testified earlier that both he and another man, James Lawrence, raped her at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin on Dec. 9, 2018. The jury did not find that Lawrence had assaulted her. As a result of the civil case decision, according to the Irish Mirror and RTE, “Notorious” has been ordered to pay 248,603.60 euros ($259,025) to Hand in damages.

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McGregor denied all accusations of harmful contact, claiming any activity was consensual when describing the acts he believed she had consented to. Hand relayed a number of injuries including bruising all over her b…

Heading full steam into Saturday night 😮‍💨@PetrYanUFC comes in at 135.5 pounds for #UFCMacau

[ Live SATURDAY on @ESPNPlus | 6amET/3amPT ] pic.twitter.com/SNXMcSZS4H

— UFC (@ufc) November 22, 2024 The Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its return to China with a 13-fight Fight Night card.

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All 26 fighters on the card made weight for UFC Fight Night 248. That includes the two former champions in the main event, Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo, who both came in under 136 pounds. The card will move on as planned, with all fights streaming from the Galaxy Arena in Macau.

A former 135-pound champion, Yan (17-5) is looking to show he still is a danger to all fighters in the division. "No Mercy" rebounded from a three-fight skid by winning a decision over Yadong Song in his last outing. The 31-year-old Russian stepped on the scale at 135.5 pounds.

Meanwhile, Figueiredo (24-3-1) has looked great since moving to banta…

A few years later, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is trying again with an interesting lightweight tilt.

On Thursday, Fight Bananas brought to light the rebooking between Grant Dawson (22-2-1) and Diego Ferreira (19-5) for Jan. 18. The two 155ers will come to blows at UFC 311 inside of the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The pairing has since been confirmed by Dawson on his Instagram on Thursday. This will be the second attempt to put this bout together, as the two were previously booked for UFC Fight Night 193 in 2021 only for a Ferreira injury to scuttle the matchup.

Dawson bounced back from his first loss in years in a big way, outworking Joe Solecki and stopping Rafa Garcia in 2024. The defeat, a 33-second knockout to Bobby Green, put an end to a nine-fight unbeaten streak in the Octagon that included victories over names like Jared Gordon and Julian Erosa. With an 82% finish rate in tow, “KGD” worked his way to the promotion in 2017 as part of the first season of …

2nd generation fighter Taisei Sakuraba set to make his MMA debut in RIZIN, 31 December 2024. He brings a judo black belt background along with the amateur and catch wrestling lineage of his father, Kazushi. #RIZIN @KS_SAKU39 @rizin_PR pic.twitter.com/vR9ZdXKHfm

— Sᴛoo Fᴜʟᴛᴏɴ (@_StewartFulton) July 29, 2024 A Sakuraba will be competing in MMA again very soon.

In preparation for the Rizin 49 Decade event on Dec. 31, Rizin Fighting Federation sent out a press release announcing a trio of new matchups for the show at the Saitama Super Arena. Most notable of the three is the debut of Taisei Sakuraba (0-0), son of MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba. He will be competing at 155 pounds, and his first bout in a ring will be against longtime vet Yusuke Yachi (27-14).

Sakuraba first began training while a teenager, studying judo until it blossomed into full-bore MMA practice. The youngster made his way on the scene in 2023, appearing at Quintet 4 and tapp…

A matchup of bantamweight prospects has been added to the UFC 311 card.

Ricky Turcios (11-3) will trade leather with Bernardo Sopai (12-4) at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The matchup was first reported by Damon Martin. Turcios and Sopai were originally scheduled to headline UFC Vegas 100 in November but an injury forced Turcios out after weighing in for the contest.

Turcios has fought only four times in the UFC since his debut in 2021, going 2-2. “Pretty” most recently suffered a submission loss against Raul Rosas Jr. in his Octagon return after a hiatus of over a year and a half this past June.

Meanwhile, Albania’s Sopai came into the UFC as a highly-touted prospect with a near 100% finish rate. However, his UFC debut was foiled by Vinicius Oliveira with a vicious flying knee this past March.

🚨 Eddie Alvarez x Jeremy Stephens at BKFC Knucklemania V on Jan. 25 at Wells Fargo Center in Philly, per @arielhelwani pic.twitter.com/y0VlDAxOFL

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) November 19, 2024

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship stars will meet in a bare knuckle clash in January 2025.

Former UFC lightweights Eddie Alvarez (30-8) and Jeremy Stephens (29-21) are set to clash at BKFC Knucklemania 5 on Jan. 25 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The matchup was first reported by Ariel Helwani.

Stephens exited the UFC with a five-fight winless streak in 2021. “Lil’ Heathen” went on to compete in the Professional Fighters League’s 2022 Season, where he came up short in the semi-finals. Stephens then competed in a couple of boxing matches before signing with the BKFC last year. The 38-year-old has since picked up consecutive victories over Jimmie Rivera and most recently Bobby Taylor in September.

Meanwhile, Alvarez had a…

Shamil Gaziev will fight Thomas Petersen at #UFCSaudiArabia on February 1st. (first rep. @realkevink) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2025 pic.twitter.com/RwiLww3qD0

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) November 20, 2024

A heavyweight matchup has been announced for UFC Saudi Arabia.

Shamil Gaziev is set to meet Thomas Petersen at a UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 1 at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Gaziev (13-1) made his promotional debut as an undefeated prospect at UFC 296 last year, where he knocked out Martin Buday. The Bahraini then faced a steep climb in competition against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who handed him his first career loss by rendering him unable to continue beyond the fourth stanza. Gaziev has since bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Don'Tale Mayes in August.

Meanwhile, Petersen (9-2) earned his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract with a keylock submission win over Chandler Cole on the Dana Whit…

🚨Rematch!🚨

Brendan Allen will fight Anthony Hernandez on February 22, 2025, per sources

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The UFC event is eyed for Seattle pic.twitter.com/w1HMRZPycp — Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) November 19, 2024

Brendan Allen is set to trade leather against Anthony Hernandez in February 2025.

The middleweight prospects will meet in a rematch on Feb. 22, likely in Seattle. The matchup was first reported by Alex Behunin.

They first met in the LFA 32 main event in 2018 where “All in” dropped a unanimous decision against Hernandez. Hernandez (13-2) got a spot on Dana White’s Contender Series immediately after and a subsequent Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. While Hernandez went 1-2 to start his UFC journey, “Fluffy” has since completely turned his career around. Hernandez is currently on a spectacular six-fight winning streak with five finishes, leaving behind the likes of Marc-Andre Barriault, Roman Kopylov and M…

Dana White is NOT happy with the updated pound-for-pound rankings after Jon Jones' win at #UFC309

"I have to get rid of these CLOWNS!!"#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/8ORJpjmVvS

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 19, 2024

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Dana White is so angry about the Ultimate Fighting Championship rankings system that he might change it for good.

The UFC rankings are decided by the votes of a panel of media members whom White has been criticizing for years. The UFC head honcho’s primary grouse seemingly is Jon Jones (28-1) not topping the pound-for-pound list.

Jones refused to unify his heavyweight title against interim champ Tom Aspinall (15-3) and chose to fight Stipe Miocic (20-5), who was inactive for three years. However, White thoroughly defended “Bones,” also rallying for him to be branded the P4P king. Jones successfully defended his strap with a third-round technical knockout over Miocic at UFC 309 in New York l…