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Abu Dhabi, we'll see you soon! 👀

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

— UFC (@ufc) March 6, 2024

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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.

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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…

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

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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…

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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.

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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

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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…

✈️ booked @MerabDvalishvil is headed to Miami tmrw for #UFC299 as the official title fight back up. Let's make it a pink panty night! #MiamiMerab pic.twitter.com/Eg0nwTyRFm

— KOreps (@ko_reps) March 6, 2024

If something goes awry ahead of UFC 299, Merab Dvalishvili could get his championship opportunity sooner than expected.

The bantamweight contender’s management announced on Tuesday evening that “The Machine” will serve as the back-up fighter for the bantamweight title headliner between reigning champion Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera. Dvalishvili will weigh in on Friday and be ready to step in if anything happens to either O’Malley or Vera.

Dvalishvili is currently on a 10-fight winning streak in UFC competition, with nine of those victories coming at 135 pounds. He cemented his status as the division’s No. 1 contender in waiting with a three-round verdict over Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 on Feb. 17. After the bout, UFC CEO Dana Whi…

Though all signs point to him competing in the fall at the earliest, Conor McGregor still has designs on competing at UFC 303 during International Fight Week.

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The former UFC two-division champion recently hosted a brief Q&A on his Instagram Stories, where he addressed his fighting plans and other topics. During that session, McGregor confirmed that he still wants to fight at UFC 303. The Dublin native announced on New Year’s Eve that he would face Michael Chandler on June 29 at 185 pounds, but UFC CEO Dana White later disputed that claim, instead targeting the fall for the Irish star’s return.

“Still holding hope for June 29,” McGregor wrote. “Lack of action on it, however, is now causing lack of enthusiasm. I need a decision soon. I am the most tested athlete under this new regime. Yet no date to fight.

“The game is a bit lackluster also at present, which isn’t helping. I hope these next few cards pop and I get a date. Eliminate distract…

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Gilbert Burns isn’t someone who likes to turn down fights.

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During a recent interview on Renato Carneiro’s YouTube channel, Burns was asked why he accepted a fight against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299Burns responded by explaining why he accepted the fight against Maddalena, who has been victorious in his first six UFC appearances.

“That was an offer from [matchmaker] Sean Shelby. I´m not a guy who turn down fights because of ranking,” Burns said. “My thing is I lost my last fight, and I need to get back in the win column.”

If Burns is able to emerge from UFC 299 with a clean bill of health, he would be interested in competing at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro on May 4.

“My goal is have a dominant performance, and if I don’t get hurt, [returning] to fight in my city would be excellent,” he said. “But of course that´s not my main goal right now. JDM is a tough guy and I´m 100% focused on him.”

Burns also discussed his…

Professional Fighters League and Bellator MMA events will have a broadcast home in Brazil for the foreseeable future.

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On Tuesday, PFL announced a multi-year media rights renewal with Globo to serve as its exclusive broadcast partner in Brazil. This includes both PFL and Bellator events as well as archival footage and original content. Globo is the leading media rights company in Brazil and one of the largest TV networks in the world.

According to a release, PFL and Bellator events will air on Combate platforms — which includes a pay TV channel, website, app and social networks — as well as being featured live on Globo’s free-to-air platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. PFL purchased Bellator in 2023 and will continue running the promotion as a separate entity, with its first event under new ownership set for March 22 in Belfast.

“The Professional Fighters League is thrilled to expand our partnership with Globo, the premium media co…

While Jailton Almeida is glad to be rebooked against Curtis Blaydes, he would have preferred the five-round stipulation of their original fight.

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Almeida and Blaydes were supposed to headline UFC Sao Paulo this past November before “Razor” was forced out with an injury. Blaydes was replaced on short notice by Derrick Lewis, who went on drop a lopsided decision against Almeida. Almeida and Blaydes have now been rebooked for UFC 299, which goes down on Saturday at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

While their main-event bout was for five rounds, the UFC 299 clash will be for three rounds, which Almeida believes favors his opponent.

“Nothing changes at all, he is the same fighter,” Almeida told BJPenn.com. “So the camp was the same too… This changes a lot, mainly because I think I have the gas tank for 10 rounds, and Blaydes in other fights gasses out in the [championship] rounds, so, I think three rounds is better for him, but the result will be the s…

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Gilbert Burns claims he labeled Belal Muhammad unworthy of a title shot mostly because he doesn’t like “Remember The Name” very much.

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A welterweight title shot has inexplicably evaded Muhammad, who is currently on a 10-fight unbeaten streak that includes a dominant decision win against Burns. Burns recently received some flak from Muhammad for stating that “Remember The Name” still doesn’t deserve a gold bid.

However, “Durinho” has now backtracked on his comments, even offering an apology to Muhammad. Burns blamed his comments on his dislike for Muhammad due to the latter running his mouth after their fight.

“I think Belal Muhammad deserves to fight for the title,” Burns recently said on Renato Carneiro’s YouTube channel. “For the numbers, you know. He deserves [it]. The guy has a crazy winning streak. Ten fights, I don’t know. I think he deserves [it].

“To be honest, I just have something that I’m like, ‘That guy beat…

Following in the footsteps of many new champions, Sean O'Malley is already eyeing two-division glory going into his first bantamweight title defense.

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“Sugar” is scheduled to defend his strap against Marlon Vera (23-8) in the main event at UFC 299 on March 9. The UFC bantamweight champ has already called out newly crowned featherweight champ Ilia Topuria as a next potential opponent. Furthermore, O’Malley claims that the UFC brass and his team have also discussed the possibility of a clash against “El Matador” at The Sphere in Las Vegas where the promotion is planning a one-of-a-kind event in September.

“I’ve kind of been putting this out there, I’ve text Dana, text Hunter multiple times, said it on podcasts, said it in interviews, Me vs. Ilia in September in Vegas at the Sphere, Mexican Independence Day, I got the Mexican flag right here. Let’s make it happen. I think that would be the next fight if all goes to plan,” O’Malley told ESPN.

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