Martial Arts News

The possibility of Conor McGregor competing at UFC 300 now seems like a long shot at best.

Advertisement

During an appearance on "The MMA Hour,” SBG Ireland head trainer John Kavanagh revealed that McGregor’s Octagon return has been delayed yet again.

“We were hoping for April. That was the hope. That was what we were told. And now it seems to be the summertime,” Kavanagh said.

“I don’t know [why]. That’s literally what we were having a bit of a back and forward [about] today.”

April is the expected month for UFC 300, which will likely be one of the promotion’s biggest events to date. McGregor re-entered the drug testing pool in October, which would align with an April return, and the former UFC two-division champion also targeted that timeframe for his first fight since breaking his leg in July 2021.

McGregor coached on “The Ultimate Fighter 31” opposite Michael Chandler, and the two were initially supposed to meet at some point in 2023. McGregor …

It might not happen anytime soon, but the odds slightly favor Jon Jones in a potential bout against newly-crowned interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

Advertisement

According to online oddsmaker BetOnline, Jones is listed as a -140 favorite against Aspinall, who is a +120 underdog. That is a stark contrast to odds for Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, where “Bones” is a far more significant favorite at -400.

In the case of Jones vs. Aspinall, the fight must take place by Aug. 31, 2024 for any betting action to be valid, and odds are subject to change based on various circumstances.

The far more likely option is that Jones will defend his heavyweight crown against Miocic next year once he heals from a torn pectoral suffered in training. Jones has targeted Miocic, who owns the all-time record for title defenses at heavyweight, as a legacy fight, and UFC CEO Dana White has been adamant that the promotion will rebook the bout at a later date.

Aspinall clai…

Bellator MMA’s final event of 2023 will proceed without a pair of its originally scheduled preliminary matchups.

Advertisement

The California-based promotion announced on Monday that a flyweight bout between Juliana Velasquez and Paula Cristina dos Santos Silva and a heavyweight clash pitting Daniel James against Ali Isaev have both been canceled. As a result, the card will move forward with 16 fights.

Bellator 301 takes place on Friday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago and is headlined by a welterweight championship showdown between Yaroslav Amosov and Jason Jackson. In the co-main event, Sergio Pettis and Patrick Mix will square off in a bantamweight title unification bout. The main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims begin on the Bellator YouTube channel and Pluto TV beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

Velasquez, 38, is coming off back-to-back losses to Liz Carmouche in flyweight title bouts, the most recent of which occurred this pas…

To the naked eye, it appeared that Jiri Prochazka deserved a little more time to recover against Alex Pereira in the UFC 295 main event.

Advertisement

Prochazka was hurt by a short left hook from his foe in the second stanza, which prompted the Czech Republic native to shoot for a takedown. From there, Pereira transitioned to a series of hard elbows to the side of the head, and Prochazka toppled backward to the canvas with his Brazilian foe on top of him.

At that point, veteran official Marc Goddard had seen enough, and he waved off the light heavyweight title bout at the 4:08 mark of Round 2. Prochazka still appeared to be scrambling to defend himself in that moment, but it was to no avail — because the call had already been made. While many observers thought the ending came early, Prochazka did his best to put an end to the stoppage controversy in a video on Instagram.

“Hello everyone, I just want to say to all of you thank you for your support,” Prochaz…

The lineup for Rizin Fighting Federation’s traditional New Year’s Eve card continues to grow, as the Japanese promotion recently announced three new additions to the lineup.

Advertisement

Two of those bouts — Tsuyoshi Kamiyama vs. Mikio Ueda and Shinobu Ota vs. Ryusei Ashizawa — will be contested under MMA rules, while the third —Rukiya Anpo vs. Minoru Kimura — is a kickboxing affair.

Rizin 45 takes place on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and features a bantamweight title tilt pitting reigning champ Juan Archuleta against Kai Asakura. The event will also see Kyoji Horiguchi square off against Makoto Takahasi for the flyweight crown.

Kamiyama has been victorious in eight of his 10 professional outings — all under the Rizin banner. Most recently, “Sudario” defeated Dong Hwan Lim via third-round technical knockout at Rizin Landmark Vol. 6 on Oct. 1. All but one of his triumphs have come by way of KO or TKO.

Ueda has won two straight b…

[embedded content]

Dana White has doubled down on rebooking Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic even after Tom Aspinall won the interim heavyweight title against Sergei Pavlovich on Saturday.

Advertisement

While Jones and Miocic were originally scheduled to headline UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden, “Bones” was forced off the card due to a torn pectoral tendon. An interim title fight between Aspinall and Pavlovich was put together at the last minute, with White claiming that it would have been disrespectful to offer an interim fight to Miocic.

Aspinall went on score a massive first-round KO win over Pavlovich, with Jones praising the newly-crowned interim champ. Many fans and pundits believe Aspinall and Pavlovich should have been fighting for the undisputed title to begin with, as Jones’ recovery is likely to take a while.

However, White has previously stated that he plans on rebooking the Jones vs. Miocic fight, with the winner potentially facing the interim champ…

Sergei Pavlovich seems to be coping well with his failed bid for interim heavyweight gold against Tom Aspinall.

Advertisement

Pavlovich and Aspinall were booked to co-headline UFC 295 on less than three weeks’ notice at Madison Square Garden after the originally scheduled main event title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic fell through. Pavlovich was also supposed to be the backup for Jones vs. Miocic, which many believed could give him a slight edge over Aspinall.

Instead, Aspinall put Pavlovich to sleep 69 seconds into the fight to become the interim UFC heavyweight champ. The defeat marked the end of a six-fight first-round KO streak for the Russian.

Pavlovich has now issued an official statement on Telegram addressing the loss while also providing a health update. The 31-year-old appears to be an absolute sport in the aftermath of his first failed gold bid.

“I didn't suffer any damage to my health, I'm fine,” Pavlovich wrote. “Tom turned ou…

[embedded content]

Israel Adesanya doesn’t seem very interested in Alex Pereira’s light heavyweight title shot offer.

Advertisement

Pereira won the vacant light heavyweight strap with a second-round knockout win over former champ Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 on Saturday. “Poatan” called out Adesanya in his post-fight interview, urging the Nigerian-born Kiwi to move up to 205 pounds.

“I know that I’m not going to do what he did to me and make me fight three times to fight him at middleweight,” Pereira said in his post-fight interview. “I know it’s a guy we have a lot of history. I want to make this fight happen. Adesanya, come to daddy.”

“The Last Stylebender” responded with a meme of his UFC 287 KO win over Pereira with the Brazilian dressed up as Elsa from the Disney movie “Frozen.”

“Let it gooo,” Adesanya wrote.

Adesanya lost his middleweight strap to Sean Strickland in a shocking upset at UFC 293 in September. Adesanya has since stated that he i…

Jan Blachowicz took issue with Alex Pereira issuing a callout to Israel Adesanya after his title win at UFC 295 over the weekend.

Advertisement

Pereira took on Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York with the vacant light heavyweight title on the line. The Brazilian scored a second-round TKO win over Prochazka to become the fastest double champ in UFC history, taking just seven fights to win titles in two weight classes.

Pereira then went on to call out Adesanya, inviting his longtime rival to the light heavyweight division. In addition to two kickboxing victories over his rival, “Poatan” also dethroned Adesanya at UFC 281 last November before getting knocked out by “The Last Stylebender” earlier this year.

Regardless of the history, Blachowicz wasn’t happy with Pereira’s callout and voiced his thoughts on social media.

“[Alex Pereira] I know you're a slimy one,” Blachowicz wrote. “Calling out Izzy. Great performanc…

Two-time light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes will return to action against the surging Carlos Ulberg at UFC 297.

The promotion announced the booking during the UFC 295 broadcast on Saturday night. UFC 297 takes place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Jan. 20 and is headlined by a middleweight championship clash pitting Sean Strickland against Dricus Du Plessis.

Reyes is in the midst of a four-bout skid that dates back to a competitive championship loss to Jon Jones at UFC 247 in February 2020. More recently, “The Devastator” suffered a first-round KO defeat to Ryan Spann at UFC 281.

Ulberg, meanwhile, has quietly been building momentum at 205 pounds. The City Kickboxing representative has won his last five Octagon appearances, including a third-round submission of Da Woon Jung in his last outing at UFC 293.

Alex Pereira believes he has what it takes to motivate Israel Adesanya.

Advertisement

After claiming the vacant light heavyweight title with a second-round stoppage of Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 295 headliner, “Poatan” called for his longtime rival to meet him at 205 pounds.

“I know that I’m not going to do what he did to me and make me fight three times to fight him at middleweight,” Pereira said in the Octagon. “I know it’s a guy we have a lot of history. I want to make this fight happen. Adesanya, come to daddy.”

Adesanya last appeared at UFC 293, where he relinquished the middleweight crown in a surprising unanimous decision loss to Sean Strickland. Not long after, “The Last Stylebender” hinted that he might take an extended break from MMA. Pereira’s callout didn’t seem to have much of an effect on the City Kickboxing stalwart, as he simply responded by trolling his rival on social media.

Let it gooooo 🎶 pic.twitter.com/gv9ZYliKwH Read more

Tom Aspinall didn’t leave much for Jon Jones to dissect at UFC 295.

Advertisement

The Englishman claimed interim gold in emphatic fashion, as he knocked out Sergei Pavlovich 69 seconds into Round 1 of their co-main event bout at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Jones took to social media to praise Aspinall following the victory. ‘

“Tom congratulations on the interim heavyweight championship belt! That was an awesome performance!” Jones wrote.

Tom congratulations on the interim heavyweight championship belt! That was an awesome performance!

— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 12, 2023

It’s not the first time Jones, the regining heavyweight king ,has praised Aspinall, and the the Team Kaobon product appreciates the accolades. But he’d like one more thing from the man known as “Bones.”

“I’ve seen Jon talking nice stuff about me on a podcast, as well. It’s really nice,” Aspinall said at Saturday’s post-fight press conferen…