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— Fights (@FIGHTZSS) February 1, 2025 “The Sniper” has just bagged some huge game.

Capping of what was on paper an excellent offering from the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Riyadh, Saudi, Arabia, the two men in the main event made sure to leave a lasting impression. Riding the first losing streak of his career, Israel Adesanya (24-5, 13-5 UFC) looked to bounce back in his first non-championship headliner in years. Standing his way was rising French talent Nassourdine Imavov (16-4, 1 NC; 8-2, 1 NC UFC), a worthy test for the ex-champ but one many prognosticators expected he would surpass comfortably. That was not meant to be, as Imavov punched his ticket to massive opportunities by shocking “The Last Stylebender” in the second round, scoring the flash knockdown and forcing referee Marc Goddard to step in.

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As the fight began, Adesanya looked every bit of his former self, showing that at the …

Sherdog's live UFC Saudi Arabia coverage will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. ET. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 250. Round 1 Heavyweights kick off festivities at the anb Arena, where the unbeaten Abdelwahab (5-0, 0-0 UFC) returns to the cage for the first time since July 30, 2022 to lock horns with Pogues (11-4, 2-1 UFC). Chris Tognoni draws the officiating assignment. Glove touch gets us going. Abdelwahab takes the center of the cage and pushes his counterpart onto the back foot. They trade leg kicks, then exchange jabs. Not much action to start. Overhand right from Abdelwahab, followed by a takedown. Pogues builds a base to all fours and eats a series of punches and hammerfists. Pogues gets back to his feet, and they float into open space. Nice jab from the American. Abdelwahab already breathing heavily. The Egyptian scores with a leg kick, then eats a pair of jabs for his troubles. Two minutes to go. Pogues follows a one-two with a leg kick, then another. Abdelwah…

Outspoken Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters are having quite a week.

Former two-division champ Conor McGregor took to social media on Friday, attacking ex-foe Khabib Nurmagomedov while hurling racial slurs and other insults towards Nurmagomedov and his family. While the two had been going back and forth lately due to the performance of Usman Nurmagomedov over McGregor’s fellow countryman Paul Hughes, this briefly posted diatribe was deleted minutes after it went up.

“15 minutes I done [Jose] Aldo 15 seconds. Show yo wife n---a. Show yo kids n---a,” the Irishman wrote, with the screenshot of his post preserved by MMA Junkie. “Cousin f----n motherf----n hidin motherf----r. Show us you and your cousins kids together because we have kids here in Ireland that wanna smoke them in competition. Are they competing or what are you saying Ireland vs Dagestan? Where’s your offspring, we can’t wait to see them . The best of Dagestan offspring ? Dagestan, what do we think? Is…

The #UFCSaudiArabia main event is LOCKED IN ?@StyleBender weighs in at 185lbs!

[ Live TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus | 12pmET | @RiyadhSeason | #RiyadhSeason? ] pic.twitter.com/fpx1ucC6Fp

— UFC (@ufc) January 31, 2025 The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Saudia Arabia with 11 fights that are all official following the UFC Saudi Arabia weigh-ins.

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This includes an intriguing main event featuring Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov. Both middleweight headliners successfully made weight for the five-round fight. As for the rest of the card, all fighters made weight with the exception of Lucas Alexander. The would-be featherweight came in 2.5 pounds over the limit for his fight against Bogdan Grad. Alexander will be fined a percentage of his purse as a result.

This marks the first non-pay-per-view headlining fight for Adesanya (24-4) since 2018. "The Last Stylebender" is coming off the first back-to-back defeats in h…

Ultimate Fighting Championship tweener Kevin Holland is opting to move back down to the weight he claims will make him more disciplined.

Per an initial report by social media user realkevink on Tuesday, Holland’s (26-13, 1 NC) relocation to 170 pounds will have him squaring off against jiu-jitsu ace Gunnar Nelson (19-5-1) at UFC London. The two will battle it out at the O2 Arena in London on March 22, with confirmation of the pairing coming on Thursday from multiple outlets. Per those outlets, the fighters have verbally agreed but the contracts have not been signed.

Holland competed four times in 2024, winning just once after getting dropped by Michal Oleksiejczuk and snaring a limb-snapping armbar. A decision loss to Michael Page, a corner stoppage defeat against Roman Dolidze and a quick rear-naked choke setback to Reinier de Ridder put the Texan’s back against the wall. As a pro, “Trailblazer” still presents a dangerous finish rate of 85%, with each of his last s…

Despite his absurd comments, Ultimate Fighting Championship 145-pound contender Bryce Mitchell will still be on the roster going forward.

In the first episode of his “Arkansanity” podcast along with former UFC talent Roli Delgado on Friday, the Arkansan went on a tangent about Adolf Hitler and Germany in the early 1900s during a discussion of Elon Musk’s salute some considered reminiscent of a Nazi salute. His comments ranged from praising Hitler to complete Holocaust denial. Since then, UFC chief Dana White weighed in on what Mitchell had to say, and explained that Mitchell will face no punishment from his organization due to “free speech.”

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“I really don’t think that [Musk] was [hailing the Nazis], because I honestly think that was a good guy based upon my own research,” Mitchell spouted. “Not my public education—indoctrination—I really do think before Hitler got on meth, he was a guy to go fishing with. He fought for his country, he wanted to purif…

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Colby Thicknesse, who trains with ex-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, has agreed to face Aleksandre Topuria on short notice at UFC 312.

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Thicknesse is a replacement for Cody Haddon, who withdrew from the bantamweight pairing due to injury. The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed the change via social media on Wednesday. The booking contains added intrigue since Topuria is the older brother of current UFC 145-pound king Ilia Topuria, who knocked out Volkanovski to claim the featherweight throne at UFC 298. Ilia Topuria and Volkanovski are rumored to be scheduled for a rematch at UFC 314 in April.

“How good is this? I’m very excited for Colby,” Volkanovski said in a video on the UFC’s Instagram. “There’s not a more deserving person than Colby Thicknesse. He’s probably the hardest worker I know on the planet. He’s got heart. He’s got the discipline. No one’s more committed than this guy …. He’s been my main training partn…

Asu Almabayev will get a different matchup than originally anticipated at UFC Vegas 103.

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The promotion initially announced that Almabayev would lock horns with former flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg at the March 1 event. However, the Kazakhstan native will instead lock horns with Allan Nascimento on the same card. The new pairing was confirmed by UFC broadcast partner ESPN on its event page. Erceg has reportedly been moved to the UFC Mexico City card to face Brandon Moreno on March 29, but that booking has not been formally announced.

Almabaev has kicked off his promotiona tenure with four consecutive triumphs. He concluded a 3-0 2024 campaign with a three-round verdict over Matheus Nicolau at UFC Fight Night 245 this past October. The Brave Combat Federation veteran has won 17 straight professional outings dating back to September 2017.

After dropping his Octagon debut against Tagir Ulanbekov, Nascimento has rebounded to post back-to-…

🇮🇪🤔 Paul Hughes tells Khabib (referring to Conor Mcgregor):

"I am not like this other guy. I am my own man."🎥 @WillHarrisAOAF pic.twitter.com/bjJIkhgbyS

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) January 29, 2025

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Conor McGregor was not pleased with Paul Hughes after post-fight video showed “Big News” engaging in a respectful post-fight conversation with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Hughes squared off against Usman Nurmagomedov in the PFL Road to Dubai main event last Saturday, losing a closely-contested majority decision in a widely-praised lightweight title clash. In a video captured by Anatomy of a Fighter, Hughes appears to refer to McGregor while speaking with Khabib, who was in his cousin’s corner for the bout.

“I’m not like this other guy,” Hughes says. “I’m my own man.”

Shortly after the bout, McGregor praised Hughes’ performance, claiming that his countryman “dominated the fight” while trashing the Nurmagomedovs in a since…

Chase Hooper will look to add another veteran name to his ledger when he locks horns with Jim Miller at UFC 314.

The lightweight bout was first reported by McGregorRousey2 on X. UFC 314 takes place on April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami and also includes and women’s strawweight showdown between Virna Jandiroba and Xiaonan Yan.

The 25-year-old Hooper has won four straight in the Las Vegas-based promotion and is coming off a first-round submission of Clay Guida at UFC 310. “The Dream” has also bested the likes of Viascheslav Borshchev, Jordan Leavitt and Nick Fiore during his current winning streak.

Miller, who holds the record for most wins (27) and appearances (45) in UFC history, has won three of his last four outings. Most recently, the 41-year-old New Jersey native scored a first-round submission victory against Damon Jackson at UFC 309 last November.

Mauricio Ruffy is expecting a return to form against Bobby Green at UFC 313.

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At UFC 309, Ruffy defeated James Llontop via unanimous decision in his second Octagon appearance. It was the first time that the Brazilian had gone the distance in 11 professional victories. The Fighting Nerds standout vows that the result will be different against Green.

“Every time I fight, my goal is to finish my opponent,” Ruffy told Sherdog.com. “I tried to do that in my last fight, but it’s no secret to anyone that my opponent [missed weight] and I had to approach more cautiously — but always looking for the KO. With Bobby Green, it will be no different. My range and his [aggressive] style will be the perfect [combination] for me to finish that fight.”

However, Ruffy makes it clear that winning by any means — not just a knockout — is his main priority.

"I want to build up to the knockout with lots of patience, but he is such a tough opponent, so I don’t …

Merab got into ANOTHER altercation with a fan after Aljamain Sterling lost to Mosvar Evloev. 👀 #UFC310 pic.twitter.com/MBeKMmvQkZ

— InsideFighting (@InsideFighting_) December 8, 2024

Dennis Buzukja could face sanctions for scuffling with someone in the crowd at UFC 310.

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During a meeting on Tuesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission temporarily suspended the four-time UFC veteran for throwing punches at a man on his way back to the locker room after cornering Aljamain Sterling on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili was also seen being restrained during the altercation.

Dvalishvili later posted evidence that the fan had ties to Umar Nurmagomedov and his team, and he claimed that the incident was orchestrated by his UFC 311 opponent. The fan involved was later identified as Arman Tugaev. Dvalishvili would go on to retain his bantamweight title with a unanimous decisi…