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The BIGGEST NIGHT in European MMA history 🤩

💥 @SMOOTH_MMA vs @jakob_mma💥 @dakotadofficial vs Valentina Scatizzi💥 John Mitchell vs @kielbasaFL💥 @FransMlambo vs Khurshed Kakhorov

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The @PFLEurope Championship is live this Friday on @DAZNmma #ad 🍿 — ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) December 7, 2023

Frans Mlambo fought back the urge to retire several times in his career and is just now starting to reap the fruits of his labor.

Fighting out of Straight Blast Gym in Ireland, which is also home to Ultimate Fighting Championship superstar Conor McGregor, Mlambo’s mixed martial arts career hasn’t been a smooth ride. Apart from going back and forth in his early career, “The Zulu Irishman” even considered retirement at times due to a lack of opportunities.

“Throughout the years there’s actually been a few times where that’s happened. I’ve thought, ‘This sport is flipping stupid. I’m working too hard and not getting the returns…

Brandon Moreno will serve as the backup fighter for the flyweight championship bout set for the UFC 296 co-main event.

Alexandre Pantoja will defend his 125-pound belt against Brandon Royval on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Should anything go awry with either athlete, Moreno will be available to serve as replacement. Multiple outlets confirmed Moreno’s status following an initial report from Eurosport Nederland.

Moreno relinquished the flyweight strap to Pantoja via split decision at UFC 290 in a “Fight of the Year” candidate. “The Assassin Baby” is expected to face Amir Albazi in a five-round, co-main event at UFC Mexico City on Feb. 24. That could change, however, if he is called upon at UFC 296.

Pantoja previously faced Royval at UFC on ESPN 29, winning via second-round rear-naked choke in August 2021. Royval has won three straight fights since that defeat to secure a shot at flyweight gold.

Josh Emmett will get to remain on the UFC 296 card after all.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion announced Wednesday that Bryce Mitchell will replace the injured Giga Chikadze and face Emmett in a featherweight bout on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Chikadze was forced to withdraw from the event after suffering a torn groin in training.

Mitchell was successful in his first appearance of 2023, as he outpointed Dan Ige at UFC Fight Night 228 on Sept. 23. “Thug Nasty” has lost just once in a 17 professional outings — a second-round submission defeat to Ilia Topuria at UFC 282.

Emmett, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back losses against Ilia Topuria and Yair Rodriguez in his last two Octagon appearances.

UFC 296 is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. Emmett vs. Mitchell is currently slated for the preliminary draw, which airs on ESPN2 and ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Trainer Diego Lima says Charles Oliveira has a date in mind for his rematch against reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

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“My plan was to start talks with the UFC [Wednesday], but [Ian] Garry just arrived, so possibly [Thursday] we will have a meeting to decide. Charles wants that rematch with Makhachev in March [at UFC 299] before Ramadan, so that will be our main focus,” Lima said. “But if the UFC wants us to wait for Ramadan, we will do it. We are not in a hurry. The most important thing for us is to have Charles face Islam next.”

Lima has also considered the possibility of a rumored card in Brazil, which according to American Top Team trainer Marcos da Matta will be announced for May 4 in Rio de Janeiro.

"It´s gonna be a chess match. Fighting in March would be our priority, but for sure one of Charles’ dreams is to fight for the belt in front of his home fans. The UFC already announced [Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera 2] as title f…

A flyweight clash pitting Muhammad Mokaev against Alex Perez is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural visit to Saudia Arabia.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following an initial announcement from Perez’s management, Iridium Sports Agency. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to be held at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, on March 2. A headliner for the card has not been announced.

With victories in his first five promotional appearances, the 23-year-old Mokaev is one of the rising stars in the UFC’s flyweight division. In his last outing, “The Punisher” submitted former title challenger Tim Elliott with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their matchup at UFC 294. Mokaev has won four of his five UFC fights by way of submission.

Perez hasn’t competed since suffering a first-round submission defeat against current 125-pound champ Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 277 in July 2022. That was preceded by a title…

A flyweight clash pitting Muhammad Mokaev against Alex Perez is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural visit to Saudi Arabia.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following an initial announcement from Perez’s management, Iridium Sports Agency. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to be held at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 2. A headliner for the card has not been announced.

With victories in his first five promotional appearances, the 23-year-old Mokaev is one of the rising stars in the UFC’s flyweight division. In his last outing, “The Punisher” submitted former title challenger Tim Elliott with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their matchup at UFC 294. Mokaev has won four of his five UFC fights by way of submission.

Perez hasn’t competed since suffering a first-round submission defeat against current 125-pound champ Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 277 in July 2022. That was preceded by a title f…

Molly McCann is headed to the strawweight division for a rematch against Diana Belbita at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 3.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Wednesday. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight duel between Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov.

McCann and Belbita initially squared off in a 125-pound contest at UFC on ESPN 6, where “Meatball” captured a unanimous decision triumph in October 2019. The 33-year-old Liverpool, England, native is 6-5 in the Octagon and is coming off back-to-back losses against Erin Blanchfield and Julija Stoliarenko.

Belbita dropped to strawweight after losing her first two UFC appearances at 125 pounds. She has since gone 2-2 in the promotion, including a unanimous decision loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 229 on Oct. 7.

Raul Rosas Jr. believes that while Sean O'Malley brings a lot of attention to the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division, there is also a downside to his championship reign.

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O’Malley (17-1) won the title with a highlight-reel knockout win over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August. “Sugar” is now set to defend his strap at UFC 299 in March in a rematch against Marlon Vera (21-8-1), who handed the champ his lone professional loss in 2020. The booking happened mainly based on the history between the two, even though Sterling’s teammate Merab Dvalishvili, who is on a nine-fight win streak, is widely considered to be the rightful contender.

While “El Nino Problema” (8-1) acknowledged the attention O’Malley’s stardom brings to the division, he believes “Sugar” might hold up the title shots of rightful contenders who are tough stylistic matchups for him.

“The truth is that there are a lot of tough styles for him that are in title co…

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida believes his next fight should be against interim champ Tom Aspinall.

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Aspinall scored a Round 1 knockout win over Russian standout Sergei Pavlovich in a short-notice interim title booking at UFC 295 on Nov. 11. A week prior, Almeida earned a lopsided decision win over Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 231 and proceeded to call out former interim champ Ciryl Gane in the aftermath of that victory.

While “Malhadinho” is still interested in a clash against Gane, he believes his next outing might be against Aspinall after he recently heard the Brit mention his name in an interview. While Aspinall is arguably one of the most agile and speedy heavyweights to step inside the Octagon, Almeida believes he can match up with the interim champ in that aspect.

“Against Ciryl Gane would be ideal, but Tom Aspinall already spoke to the media or whoever and is already talking about a fight wit…

Brandon Royval believes Youssef Zalal is one of the best bantamweights at Factory X who just hasn’t gotten his share of recognition yet.

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Royval (15-6) is currently gearing up to challenge Alexandre Pantoja (26-5) for the Ultimate Fighting Championshipflyweight title in the co-main event at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “Raw Dawg” has been training with elite bantamweight contenders like Chris Gutierrez and Jonathan Martinez at the Factory X gym in Colorado. However, Royval claims former UFC fighter Youssef Zalal is probably the best of the lot.

“Being on the rise with some of these guys is – like I genuinely don’t think I’d be where I’m at without having the best 135ers around me. And that’s including Youssef Zalal. Youssef Zalal is probably better than all of us, it's just that he’s not getting his opportunity yet,” Pantoja told Sportskeeda MMA.

Zalal was released by the UFC on the back of an 0-3-1 streak which star…

Alexander Volkanovski is eager to remind the world of his greatness when he defends the featherweight strap against Ilia Topuria at UFC 298.

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Volkanovski will look to return to the win column against Topuria on Feb.17 after his second failed bid at earning double-champ status against lightweight king Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 in October. “The Great” stepped up on short notice as a replacement for Charles Oliveira and went on to suffer a brutal Round 1 head-kick knockout loss.

Volkanovski was on a collision course with Topuria before stepping up for the double-champ bid. In the meantime, the undefeated Spanish standout opted to wait for his title shot. “El Matador” even uploaded a theatrical video implying he will maintain his undefeated record against Volkanovski.

Volkanovski believes his last loss against Makhachev is being perceived as a sign of weakness by some, and the Australian icon wants to shut them up. “The Great” discussed that per…

Amanda Serrano remains steadfast in her demand for women to compete under the same rules as men in the sport of boxing.

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Serrano, who is also signed to compete for Professional Fighters League in its Super Fight Division, has now vacated her World Boxing Council strap in protest against the organization not allowing women to compete under the same rules as women.

While men typically compete for 12 three-minute rounds, women’s bouts are for 10 two-minute rounds. Serrano is among a long list of female boxers demanding the choice to compete under the same rules as men.

The WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine title holder beat Danila Ramos via a lopsided decision in October, which was the first time a women’s title bout was stipulated for 12 three-minute rounds since 2007. However, Serrano’s WBC title was not on the line, as the organization refused to sanction the fight. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman compared the difference in stipulation t…