Martial Arts News

Curtis Blaydes believes his well-rounded skillset will overwhelm Jailton Almeida in their UFC 299 clash at Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday.

Blaydes (17-4) was originally scheduled to headline UFC Sao Paolo opposite Almeida this past November before an injury forced him out of the contest. “Razor” was replaced by Derrick Lewis, who was smothered by Almeida (20-2) for five rounds en route to dropping a lopsided decision. However, Almeida’s performance didn’t impress Blaydes, who compared the Brazilian to former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Demian Maia.

Advertisement

“He did what I thought he would do, take him down,” Blaydes said during the UFC 299 media day. “I didn’t think he’d want to hang out on the feet at all. He hasn’t really shown anything with footwork and hands. He’s a traditional jiu-jitsu guy. He’s like a heavyweight version of Demian Maia. Don’t have hands, just wants to grapple.”

When asked which fighter he compares himself to, Bla…

Yadong Song is hoping for a callout if Marlon Vera beats Sean O'Malley in the main event at UFC 299 on Saturday.

O’Malley (17-1) will put his bantamweight title on the line against Vera (23-8) and is looking to avenge a technical knockout loss dating back to 2020. Vera’s win over O’Malley saw him bounce back from a “Fight of the Night” unanimous decision loss to Song, which “Chito” firmly believes he won.

Advertisement

While Song believes O’Malley will successfully defend his strap Saturday, he hopes to hear “and new," which might put him in line for a title shot next.

“I like Sean [O’Malley] you know,” Song said at media day. “I like his style, he’s smart and he definitely will win the fight. But I hope ‘Chito’ win, you know. If he wins, he may call me out because he always complain [about] our first match because he thought he won the fight. But three judges: they say I won the fight. He always complains about that. But I hope he does his best to win and call m…

Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera bump into each other and talk trash at the UFC hotel pic.twitter.com/yw0B0GSpR6

— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) March 6, 2024

Marlon Vera says he is ready for everything Sean O'Malley has to throw at him leading into their UFC 299 rematch.

Advertisement

Vera (23-8) will challenge O’Malley (17-1) for the bantamweight title in the main event at UFC 299 on Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami. During media day, O’Malley informed reporters about direct messages he exchanged with Vera and prompted them to press “Chito” for more information.

When asked, Vera didn’t divulge the exact texts but gave an overview of what transpired.

“He was just trying to get to my head. The text wasn’t weird. He’s a weirdo, so I’m like, I’m not going to engage with you on [in] a conversation. That’s why I sent a selfie back smiling.”

Vera is well aware of O’Malley’s mind games and is seemingly prepared to trade barbs with “S…

[embedded content]

Israel Adesanya gave his predictions for every fight on the UFC 299 main card, barring one.

Advertisement

The UFC 299 main card will be opened by bantamweight contender Yadong Song (21-7) and former champ Petr Yan (16-5) at Kaseya Center in Miami this weekend. Yadong is riding a two-fight winning streak and is 5-1 in his last six outings. Meanwhile, Yan is on a three-fight skid, albeit all against the highest level of competition. While some consider Yan a slow starter, Adesanya believes “No Mercy” will come out all guns blazing for a three-rounder and emerge victorious.

“I like Yan, I like Song Yadong but I like Yan and I’m a fan of his style,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “But I just don’t see him losing four in a row. I’m going to go Yan by UD [unanimous decision]. Three Rounds? He might come out different, like just crazy… It’s a three-round, it’s the first fight of the pay-per-view... So I think Yan is gonna come out crazy with t…

Two championship fights will top the card for a Bellator MMA event in Paris on May 17.

Advertisement

Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight crown against Alexandr Shabily in the evening’s main event, while Patrick Mix will face Magomed Magomedov in a bantamweight championship clash in the co-headliner. The promotion on Wednesday announced the featured bouts for the event, which will be entitled Bellator Champions Series Paris.

Bellator Champions Series Paris takes place at Accor Arena in Paris and also includes two other main card matchups: a middleweight No. 1 contender’s bout between Gregory Babene and Costello van Steenis and a heavyweight showdown pitting Slim Trabelsi against Louie Sutherland. Additionally, Mansour Barnaoui will lock horns with Yusuke Yachi in a preliminary lightweight contest.

Nurmagomedov is undefeated in 18 professional outings. His last bout, which was initially a unanimous decision win against Brent Primus at Bellator 300, …

[embedded content]

The main event of PFL Europe is official, as both Cedric Doumbe and Baissangour Chamsoudinov hit their contracted marks at Wednesday’s weigh-ins.

Advertisement

Doumbe tipped the scales at 170.2 pounds, while Chamsoudinov checked in at 170.4 pounds for the welterweight feature.

PFL Europe 1 takes place on Thursday at Accor Arena in Paris. The card airs on DAZN in Europe, while the event’s main card will stream via the PFL YouTube channel in the United States beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT.

A former Glory Kickboxing welterweight champion, Doumbe has compiled a 5-0 mark in MMA. In his PFL debut, “The Best” scored a nine-second knockout of Jordan Zebo this past September. All five of his professional triumphs have come via knockout or technical knockout.

The 22-year-old Chamsoudinov, who trains at the MMA Factory, has kicked off his pro tenure with seven consecutive victories. In his last outing, “Baki” scored a second-round …

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber will return to action for the first time since December 2019 when he headlines A1 Combat 21 on May 25.

Advertisement

The promotion, which is run by Faber himself, announced the news on Tuesday. An opponent for Faber will be revealed at a later date. A1 Combat 20 will be held at the Visalia Convention Center in California.

A former World Extreme Cagefighting champion and a multi-time UFC title challenger, the 44-year-old Faber hasn’t competed in MMA since suffering a knockout loss against Petr Yan at UFC 245 on Dec. 14, 2019. However, “The California Kid” has taken part in wrestling and grappling matches since then.

Faber previously ended a two-and-a-half year retirement in 2019, when he returned to score a 46-second TKO of Ricky Simon at UFC Fight Night 155 in July 2019. Faber owns a 35-11 career mark in MMA since beginning his professional tenure in 2003.

Abu Dhabi, we'll see you soon! 👀

🗓️: AUG 3 SAT#UFCAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/PZA4etmDUP

— UFC (@ufc) March 6, 2024

Advertisement

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to Abu Dhabi this summer.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Wednesday that it will hold a Fight Night event at Etihad Arena on Aug. 3. No bouts were announced for the card.

In recent years, the UFC has typically held a pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi in October. The most recent of these was UFC 294, which saw Islam Makhachev retain his lightweight crown with a knockout of Alexander Volkanovski on Oct. 24. It is unclear if this event will be lone UFC offering in the country for 2024.

This will mark the first Fight Night event to be held in the United Arab Emirates since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the UFC held 11 cards — eight Fight Nights and three pay-per-views — in Abu Dhabi durin…

Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov will seemingly have their fight rebooked, as both parties have informally accepted the matchup.

Advertisement

Sandhagen and Nurmagomedov were originally scheduled to fight this past August before an injury forced the Dagestani to withdraw from the bout. Sandhagen went on put on a masterclass against Rob Font en route to a dominant decision victory in the UFC on ESPN 50 main event. Sandhagen has since been recovering from surgery for a torn tricep he suffered in the outing.

Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov returned to the Octagon last weekend, picking up a lopsided decision victory over Bekzat Almakhan at UFC Fight Night 238. The undefeated Dagestani contender subsequently called for a rebooking with Sandhagen.

Currently riding a three-fight winning streak, which includes a win over current No. 1 contender Marlon Vera, Sandhagen was originally rallying for a title shot upon his return. However, “Sandman” has now verbally accepted…

[embedded content]

Dustin Poirier had to have some profound conversations with himself going into his UFC 299 clash against Benoit St. Denis.

Advertisement

After extending his finish streak to five with a brutal-head kick knockout over Matt Frevola, St. Denis aimed high with a callout of Poirier. While “The Diamond” was initially dismissive of the callout, he was taken by surprise when the UFC offered him the fight.

As one of the biggest stars of the sport, Poirier had to seriously consider why he would accept the booking against a dangerous up-and-comer. While he almost knew all along that he would accept the booking, Poirier found motivation in the need to test himself.

“I was more surprised when they offered it to me,” he told ESPN. “I thought it was gonna be another legend in the fight game or a former champion, something you know that’s gonna be big. Not that this isn’t big. That’s why I flipped it you know. Personally I had to flip it, like ‘What’s my…

[embedded content]

Tim Welch admittedly accepts most of the blame for Sean O'Malley’s lone career loss against Marlon Vera. But the ankle wraps his fighter wore in the bout also share some of the responsibility.

Advertisement

O’Malley suffered a stoppage loss against Vera in 2020 after a leg kick from “Chito” compromised his lead leg. “Sugar” refuses to acknowledge the loss to this day, dismissing the kick as a fluke strike that damaged his peroneal nerve.

O’Malley’s coach, however, believes other factors contributed to the damaged nerve. According to Welch, minutes before the fight, O’Malley had complained twice about his ankle wraps being too tight. While they made small adjustments, Welch believes they were still too tight, which stopped the blood flow to O’Malley’s leg.

“I got to take a lot of the blame on this,” Welch said on his YouTube channel channel. “One of the UFC people wrapped his ankles, and a couple times – ‘Sugar’ usually never complains abo…

Vinicius Oliveira has revealed Instagram DM’s with Umar Nurmagomedov following their victories at #UFCVegas87. 👀

Is this a fight you’d be interested in? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/ZiTgxsvP4m

— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) March 5, 2024

Advertisement

Vinicius Oliveira and Umar Nurmagomedov are seemingly set on a collision course, according to a series of direct messages between the two that were recently shared by the Brazilian.

Oliveira made his promotional debut last weekend at UFC Fight Night 238, bagging $100,000 in bonus money (“Performance of The Night” and “Fight of the Night”) for his flying-knee knockout of fellow newcomer Bernardo Sopai. Nurmagomedov extended his unbeaten streak on the same card with a decision win over Bekzat Almakhan after surviving an early scare.

Oliveira subsequently called out Nurmagomedov for his sophomore UFC outing, labeling the Dagestani an easy fight after watching his clash against Almakhan. “Lok Dog” ha…