Martial Arts News

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At this point in his career, Stephen Thompson isn’t a fighter who’s accustomed to being on the prelims.

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Barring a late change, that will be the case at UFC 307, when “Wonderboy” squares off against Joaquin Buckley in a welterweight bout at the Delta Center in Utah on Oct. 5. As it currently stands, Thompson vs. Buckley is slated to be the evening’s featured preliminary bout on ESPNEWS and ESPN+. For pay-per-view events, the promotion typically offers at least one marquee fight on the earlier portion of the card.

“I’m so used to being on the main card, but hey, wherever the UFC puts us, we’re going to go out there and put on a show no matter what. We’re going to show everybody that we deserved to be there,” Thompson recently told Bodog Canada. “We should have been on the main card. But yeah, a little weird at this point knowing what kind of a fight this is going to be. You would figure that they’d want to have all eyes on it.

UF…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Manel Kape will lock horns with Bruno Silva at UFC on ESPN 63.

Ag.Fight was first to report the flyweight pairing. UFC on ESPN 63 takes place on Dec. 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, and also includes a strawweight rematch between Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas. A headliner has not been confirmed for the card.

Kape last appeared at UFC 304, where he suffered a unanimous decison loss to Muhammad Mokaev on July 27. That snapped a four-bout promotional winning streak for the ex-Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight king.

After going winless in his first three UFC bouts, Silva has emerged as a person of interest in the flyweight division thanks to a four-fight finishing streak. In his last outing, “Bulldog” scored a second-round TKO of Cody Durden at UFC on ESPN 60 on July 20.

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While Jamahal Hill believes Khalil Rountree possesses some traits that could give Alex Pereira problems, he ultimately expects the Brazilian to emerge victorious in the UFC 307 headliner.

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Pereira will defend his light heavyweight crown against Rountree on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City Utah. Rountree will take a five-bout winning streak into his championship opportunity, but he has yet to fight beyond the third round during his promotional tenure.

“It’s gonna be a knockout, 100% it’s gonna be a knockout. Khalil doesn’t have a five-round gas tank and he’s gassed at paces that were much slower than the pace that he’s gonna have to fight with Alex,” Hill recently told Aljamain Sterling on the Weekly Scraps podcast.

“Alex is gonna come out slow. He’s gonna come out and take his time… Although he does look like he just wants to feel out, he’s a lot more forward-imposing than he looks.”

However, Hill says that Rountr…

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Ali Abdelaziz isn’t happy that Magomed Ankalaev was bypassed for a light heavyweight title shot at UFC 307.

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Ankalaev is 10-0-1 with one no contest in his last 12 Octagon appearances, but the Dagestani standout won’t be facing reigning champion Alex Pereira at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Instead, that opportunity went to Khalil Rountree, who has won five straight in UFC competition but also recently failed a drug test.

“Certain fighters have a long road to the title, like Khabib [Nurmagomedov], like Kamaru Usman, like Islam Makhachev. But when they get there, they become dominant,” Abdelaziz recently told ESPN. “Listen, the UFC has different views about what they want to do with Alex Pereira. They want him for Utah. Magomed Ankalaev will fight in Abu Dhabi, in his market he fights in. Magomed has a new deal he’s very happy with. He deserves a title shot.”

UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN…

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According to John Wood, Khalil Rountree came pretty close to calling it quits before his career could really pick up momentum.

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“I think, it was you know, third or fourth fight, he was talking to me about wanting to retire and going to construction,” the Syndicate MMA coach recently said on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, I think I got this good construction job. It’s gonna pay money.’ I said ‘Whoa, whoa, bro, no no no.’ I was like, ‘Just give me a year. Give me a year and I promise you do whatever I’ll support you after that. Just give me a hard year.’ And you know, through that process, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ came.”

It was still a bumpy road for Rountree after appearing on Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as he had inconsistent results for the first five years of his UFC tenure. That led to him considering retirement again in late 2019 before eventually having a change of heart and extending his contract…

Reinier de Ridder didn’t take long to get his first Ultimate Fighting Championship opponent.

The former ONE Championship two-division title holder will square off against Gerald Meerschaert in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 247 on Nov. 9. UFC op Eurosport NL was first to report the booking. UFC Fight Night 247 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and does not currently have a headliner in place.

De Ridder began his professional career with 17 consecutive triumphs, a run that included a 7-0 start to his ONE tenure. He bested Aung La N Sang on two different occasions to become a two-division champion but would lose both belts to Anatoly Malykhin in technical knockout defeats. “The Dutch Knight” fought outside the ONE banner for the first time since 2018 on July 27, when he defeated Magomedmurad Khasaev via first-round TKO at UAE Warriors 51.

A veteran of 54 professional outings, Meerschaert has finished 29 of his 37 career triumphs by way of sub…

A bantamweight clash pitting Petr Yan against Deiveson Figueiredo will likely serve as the main event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event in Macau on Nov. 23.

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The booking was initially reported by Leo Guimaraes on social media. The UFC Fight Nightevent takes place at Galaxy Arena in Macau, China.

A former bantamweight champion, Yan snapped a three-bout skid in his most recent Octagon appearance when he outpointed Yadong Song at UFC 299 on March 9. The 31-year-old Russian owns other notable victories over the likes of Cory Sandhagen, Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson during his promotional tenure.

Figueiredo, meanwhile, has found success at 135 pounds after two championship reigns in the UFC’s flyweight division. Since moving to bantamweight, the 36-year-old Brazilian has bested Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera in succession. While Figeuiredo was mentioned by newly-crowned champ Merab Dvalishvili as a …

Kevin Vallejos wants to avenge the lone career defeat that delayed his Ultimate Fighting Championship signing.

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Vallejos earned a UFC contract on Tuesday with a first-round technical knockout win over the previously undefeated Cam Teague at Dana White's Contender Series. However, this wasn’t the Argentine prospect’s first appearance on the Contender Series. Vallejos suffered his only pro loss via unanimous decision against streaking UFC featherweight Jean Silva in September 2023. Vallejos then racked up consecutive stoppage wins on the regional circuit to earn another shot on the Contender Series, where he made a strong impression. While “El Chino” is ready to fight anybody the UFC offers for his debut, he wants his shot at redemption against Silva at some point.

“I’m an employee of this company and I will fight wherever they ask me to… There’s a revenge that I think I should get and I want that,” Vallejos said during a post-fight media scrum. “Bu…

As the days count down to the biggest Professional Fighters League event of 2024, there’s another teaser trailer to excite the combat sports universe. #PFLSuperFights #BraceForImpact pic.twitter.com/h3yVn2FfuX

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) September 25, 2024

As the days count down to the biggest Professional Fighters League event of 2024, there’s another teaser trailer to excite the combat sports universe.

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In a newly released video, its main event of the “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view on Oct. 19 is highlighted, with no words needed as the impact of former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Francis Ngannou and PFL heavyweight champ Renan Ferreira draws the attention of spectators and helicopters as they tear through the streets leading towards their clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It will be a historic night for the PFL, with Ngannou’s promotional debut and a stacked main card. The co-main event will …

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Brendan Allen is hopeful of a middleweight title shot if he gets past his next opponent.

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Allen will go to enemy territory to co-headline UFC Fight Night 243 against French contender Nassourdine Imavov at the Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday. While Allen acknowledged Imavov’s striking speed, “All in” believes he is a better fighter overall.

“One attribute that definitely stands out for him is, he’s fast. I just think I’m better,” Allen recently told TMZ Sports. “I’m sure he probably thinks he’s better than me. I just think I’m better than him everywhere. I don’t think he’s fought anyone like me that possesses the skills that I possess and the athletic abilities that I have, the experience. I don’t think he’s fought anyone with all those things lumped in one. I know he’s probably thinking he’s gonna come out here and run through me and beat me up or whatever, that’s fine. Lot of people have thought that before and lot of people hav…

Renato Carneiro believes Paddy Pimblett is deserving of at least “some respect.”

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Carneiro is slated to headline UFC Fight Night 243 against Frenchman Benoit St. Denis at the Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday. The Brazilian recently revealed that the two most prominent potential opponents in his mind going forward are Pimblett and Dan Hooker.

Pimblett has consistently expressed interest in fighting “Moicano,” regardless of the outcome the latter’s clash against St. Denis. Meanwhile, Carneiro first called out Hooker after “The Hangman” and Israel Adesanya picked Jalin Turner to beat “Moicano” at UFC 300. Carneiro made “The Tarantula” pay for a failed walk-off KO attempt, coming from behind to submit him in the second stanza.

While Hooker had agreed to fight Carneiro, the Kiwi ended up fighting Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 this past August, earning an upset split-decision win. However, Carneiro didn’t see Hooker winning that fight. “Moicano” is mor…

Diego Lopes recently laid down his immediate career plans.

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Lopes is coming off a unanimous decision win over Brian Ortega at UFC 306 that saw the Brazilian enter the featherweight title picture. It was Lopes’ fifth consecutive win — including three finishes — after coming up on the short side of a unanimous decision against Movsar Evloev in his UFC debut.

Meanwhile, Evloev has offered Lopes a rematch after originally scheduled opponent Aljamain Sterling pulled out of their UFC 307 matchup set for Oct. 5. However, having fought Evloev on short notice once, Lopes is unwilling to do it again unless the UFC guarantees Lopes a title shot with a potential win over the undefeated Russian.

“The only possibility this fight happens is if the UFC really says, ‘OK, you fight him and win, and you’re next for the belt,’” Lopes recently told MMAFighting.com. “That’s the only way this fight happens at the moment, and I want a full camp. It’s very easy for h…