Martial Arts News

After taking some time off, Brandon Moreno came back looking rejuvenated at UFC Edmonton.

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The former flyweight king outstruck Amir Albazi for the better part of five rounds in a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph in Saturday’s headliner at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Albazi, who lost for the first time in six Octagon appearances, was unable to match his Mexican opponent during exchanges on the feet, and he was also unable to ground “Assassin Baby.”

For Moreno, it was a much-needed return to the win column after back-to-back losses. Those struggles prompted him to announce in March that he would be taking a break from MMA to allow his body and mind to rest.

“What can I say? I feel just amazing, All the vibes, all the environment around my training camp was on point. It was just perfect. I wanted to show that in my performance tonight, and I feel I did it,” Moreno said at the post-fight press conference.

“I felt so connected,…

Nothing is set in stone at this point in time, but Brandon Gibson is treating the UFC 309 fight camp like it’s going to be Jon Jones’ last dance.

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Jones will defend his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic in the UFC 309 headliner on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. “Bones” has indicated on more than one occasion that this could be his final mixed martial arts bout. Gibson, who is one of Jones’ longtime coaches in Albuquerque, New Mexico, isn’t taking anything for granted.

“I think physically, mentally, he could go in there and have five or six more great performances,” Gibson told MMAFighting.com. “There’s nothing left for Jon to prove. I think he really wants this fight with Stipe. I think this fight will help solidify Jon’s status as that great heavyweight champion but it’s not something we talk about every night at the gym. We’re definitely all eyes on Nov. 16. But each time I go to a practice, I’m approaching it as this is my las…

Those planning on watching the final four preliminary bouts for UFC 309 will have multiple viewing options.

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In addition to ESPN+ and ESPNEWS, the featured preliminary card at UFC 309 will also air on FX and Hulu. The promotion announced the options during the UFC Edmonton broadcast on Saturday night. Typically, the main preliminary card for a pay-per-view is only broadcast on ESPN+ and one of the ESPN channels. Like ESPN, both FX and Hulu are owned by The Walt Disney Company.UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

The featured UFC 309 preliminary card is topped by a light heavyweight clash between Nikita Krylov and Azamat Murzakanov. The other three bouts are as follows: Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop at lightweight; Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee at bantamweight and Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson at lightweight. Meanwhile, the five-bout early preliminary draw will air exclusively on ESPN+.

UFC 309 takes place …

Belal Muhammad says an interim title fight at #UFC310 doesn’t make sense, but doesn’t mind it:

“Interim title bro? It’s 6 weeks, not 6 months that I’m off.”

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🎥 @remembertheshow #UFC #MMA

pic.twitter.com/NKIbl1onkK

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 2, 2024

Belal Muhammad believes an interim title fight doesn’t make sense in his absence.

Muhammad was scheduled to defend his welterweight strap against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. However, “Remember the Name” was forced out of the event due to an infection in his foot that caused severe swelling in one of his toes.

Rakhmonov has since been looking for a replacement opponent for a potential interim title fight at UFC 310. While Ian Garry had been calling out Rakhmonov, the Irishman was recently booked against Joaquin Buckley for a headlining bout at UFC Tampa on Dec. 14. That leaves former champ Kamaru…

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It’s unlikely that Max Holloway will compete at featherweight again.

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After going 0-3 against Alexander Volkanovski in their title fight trilogy, Holloway wasn’t in featherweight title conversations until recently. However, the title picture changed with Ilia Topuria’s knockout win over Volkanovski at UFC 298 this past February.

Meanwhile, Holloway went on score an iconic knockout win over Justin Gaethje for the BMF title in a lightweight matchup at UFC 300 in April, securing himself a featherweight gold bid. The former champ challenged “El Matador” at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. While Holloway was seemingly getting ahead on the scorecards, Topuria handed “Blessed” his first career KO loss in the third round.

Holloway expressed interest in moving up to 155 pounds immediately afterward. The Hawaiian has now confirmed that he is moving up to lightweight for good. While Holloway had a nice weight cut for…

Jasmine Jasudavicius, Dustin Stoltzfus, Charles Jourdain and Youssef Zalal each garnered $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses for their work at UFC Edmonton.

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Jasudavicius secured her third straight Octagon triumph, as she submitted Ariane Lipski with a brabo choke at the 2:28 mark of Round 3 in a featured women’s flyweight bout.

Also on the main card, Stoltzfus got the better of a brief-but-violent exchange with Marc-Andre Barriault to emerge with a knockout victory 4:28 into the opening stanza at middleweight. It was the first KO victory for Stolzfus in more than five years.

Elsewhere, Jourdain dispatched Victor Henry with a guillotine choke 3:43 into the second frame of their preliminary bantamweight showdown. It was the first time Henry had been finished in his professional career.

Finally, Zalal continued his resurgence with a quick finish of Jack Shore in a featherweight pairing. The Factory X product floored his opponent wi…

Brandon Moreno still stands head and shoulders above the vast majority of the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.

The two-time champion kept his head moving, trusted his jab and ducked into power punches, as he outstruck Amir Albazi to a unanimous decision in the UFC Fight Night 246 headliner on Saturday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. All three judges scored it for Moreno (22-8-2, 10-5-2 UFC): 49-46, 50-45 and 50-45.

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In his first fight since June 3, 2023, Albazi (17-2, 5-1 UFC) was out of his depth. Moreno brought all his weapons to bear in the 25-minute battle, hammering away at the Fight Ready rep with probing jabs, crisp combinations and repeated left hooks around the guard. He staggered Albazi with a head kick in the second round and a left hook off the break in the fifth. The moments in between saw Moreno put copious amounts of damage on “The Prince,” opening multiple cuts around his right eye. Quite simply, he could do no…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Canada Saturday at 5 p.m. ET with UFC Edmonton. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 246. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Horth (-205), Petrovic (+170)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Gibson (-198), Anheliger (+164)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING P…

Aiemann Zahabi now bears the look of a legitimate threat in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division.

Economical standup and bulletproof takedown defense carried the Tristar Gym representative to a unanimous decision over onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Pedro Munhoz in the featured UFC Fight Night 246 prelim on Saturday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Zahabi (12-2, 6-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 marks from the cageside judiciary.

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Munhoz (20-10, 10-10 UFC) forced the Canadian onto the back foot but walked into heavy fire while doing so. Zahabi cut loose with two and three jabs at a time, fired right hands over the top and targeted the body whenever the mood arose. Munhoz stayed aggressive from beginning to end, but by the time it was over, visible damage had accumulated around both of the American Top Team-trained Brazilian’s eyes and his counterpart had built a nice lead on the scoreca…

Jhonata Diniz’s latest fight camp won’t go to waste.

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Diniz was scheduled to meet fellow knockout artist Derrick Lewis at UFC Edmonton in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on Saturday. However, Lewis was forced to withdraw due to a “medical issue” not involving his weight cut.UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

While Diniz couldn’t find a replacement opponent for UFC Edmonton, he won’t have to wait much longer. It was announced during the UFC Edmonton broadcast that the Brazilian will take on Polish veteran Marcin Tybura at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Tybura is 3-2 in his last five bouts and coming off a submission win over Serghei Spivac. Meanwhile, Diniz is coming off a unanimous decision win over Karl Williams, which is the only time he has gone the distance in his eight career wins.

A heavyweight bout pitting Derrick Lewis against Jhonata Diniz has been removed from the UFC Edmonton lineup.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Saturday that a “medical issue” that wasn’t related to his weight cut forced Lewis to withdraw from the event. No further details were provided.

Lewis made weight on Friday morning, tipping the scales at 266 pounds for his matchup with Diniz. However, “The Black Beast” did not attend the ceremonial weigh-ins later that day, leading to speculation that the former heavyweight title challenger might not be able to fight.

UFC Edmonton will proceed with 13 bouts. A women’s flyweight clash between Ariane Lipski and Jasmine Jasudavicius has been elevated to the main card. The card is headlined by a flyweight showdown between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi.

One of the UFC’s most popular fighters and the promotion’s all-time knockout leader, Lewis has been victorious in two of his last three Oc…

Merab Dvalishvili claims Umar Nurmagomedov refused to accept a fight against Yadong Song.

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Dvalishvili won the bantamweight title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 this past September. Nurmagomedov has since been calling for a title shot against Dvalishvili, who instead wants a rematch against “Suga.”

In the meantime, Nurmagomedov was reportedly close to finalizing a potential title eliminator with Chinese contender Song at UFC Tampa in December. However, Nurmagomedov recently announced that the matchup is off because “Kung Fu Kid” is injured.

Dvalishvili has now countered Nurmagomedov’s claim, accusing the undefeated Dagestani of ducking Song. The Georgian champ has always maintained that Nurmagomedov receives favored treatement from the UFC due to his relationship with cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili reiterated that even if Nurmagomedov gets the next title shot, he is undeserving of it.

“Don’t…