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Brandon Royval had a good reason for withdrawing from his proposed main event clash against Manel Kape on March 1.

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In a video on his YouTube channel, the UFC flyweight revealed that he suffered two separate concussion in relatively close proximity. As a result, he decided that best move for his overall wellness would be to withdraw from the UFC Vegas 103 headliner. It wasn’t an easy call considering that his fight against Kape could have been a title eliminator.

“First and foremost, I’ve fought so many times injured. I’ve fought with broken hands, torn labrums, torn MCLs, all that, and for a lot less money and not as meaningful of events. Pulling out of a main event for the No. 1 spot was definitely a hard decision to make,” Royval said.

“Maybe a couple months back, I had a concussion. Nothing too crazy; I was just playing it safe, playing it smart. A couple weeks later, when I recovered, I accepted this fight, which was awe…

A flyweight clash pitting Brandon Moreno against Steve Erceg will serve as the main event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming card in Mexico City.

The bout was announced during the UFC 312 broadcast this past Saturday. UFC on ESPN 64 takes place on March 29 at Arena CDMX in Mexico City and is also expected to included a middleweight showdown between Kelvin Gastelum and Joe Pyfer. Erceg had originally been booked to face Alsu Almabayev at UFC Vegas 103 on March 1 before the promotion changed course.

A two-time flyweight champion, Moreno snapped a two-bout losing streak in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 246, when he defeated Amir Albazi via unanimous decision on Nov. 2. The 31-year-old Tijuana, Mexico, native owns other notable victories over the likes of Deiveson Figueiredo (twice), Kai Kara-France (twice), Brandon Royval and Jussier Formiga during his Octagon tenure.

Erceg, meanwhile, began his UFC career with successive triumphs over Da…

Taking our talents BACK to South Beach 🌴#UFC314 is coming to Miami on April 12!

Learn more 👉 https://t.co/bQgsUaur3q pic.twitter.com/3M5NUEqCXH

— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2025

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As expected, UFC 314 is headed to South Florida.

During the UFC 312 broadcast on Saturday night, the Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed that UFC 314 will take place on April 12 at the Kasey Center in Miami. A headliner was not announced for the card.

This will mark the third consecutive year the Octagon has touched down in Miami for a pay-per-view event. In 2023, UFC 287 saw Israel Adesanya reclaim middleweight gold with a knockout of Alex Pereira and last year, Sean O'Malley defended the bantamweight crown with a dominant victory against Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 headliner.

While no fights have been officially revealed for the event, a few pairings have been reported by various outlets, including: Virna Jandiroba vs. Xiaonan Yan at st…

Sean Strickland is taking his loss against Dricus Du Plessis in stride.

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Strickland challenged Du Plessis in a middleweight title rematch at UFC 312 this past weekend in Australia. Du Plessis defended his title via a lopsided unanimous decision, also leaving Strickland with a shattered nose. Addressing his injury, Strickland said that his nose is so badly broken that it was easy to reset.

“Hey, what up, guys? We’ve been here once or twice. I’m so grateful for you guys’ support. You guys are so awesome, win or lose, you guys always ride and I appreciate you,” Strickland said on Instagram. “Dricus, f—king hats off, hell of a fight, broke my nose in six places. The silver lining is my nose is so broken it’s really easy to reset, so that was a new experience.”

Strickland further thanked his fans who continue to support him while urging them to take inspiration from him during difficult times.

“I’ll be quick. I get so many messages from fans,…

Belal Muhammad reacts to "racist clown" Sean Strickland's loss to Dricus du Plessis:

"He wants people to say that 'he's crazy, he's nuts'. He's not. He's just a racist little clown that's hiding in the body of a fighter. He's a coward."

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🎥 @bullyb170 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/MfjDlhTHQP — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 9, 2025

Belal Muhammad has no sympathy for Sean Strickland after his loss against Dricus Du Plessis.

Strickland tried to reclaim the middleweight title in a rematch against Du Plessis at UFC 312 in Sydney this past weekend. While Strickland lost his title via split decision in their initial encounter, he suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss in their rematch at UFC 312.

Known for expressing his unhinged opinions, Strickland was already beefing with Muhammad over Islamophobic comments. The welterweight champ repeatedly called Strickland undeserving of a rematch against Du Plessis. And …

Weili Zhang currently has no peers when it comes to the strawweight division.

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“Magnum” proved that yet again in the UFC 312 co-headliner, as she dominated Tatiana Suarez en route to a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph in Sydney on Saturday night. Heading into the bout, Suarez was tabbed as a favorite by oddsmakers in large part due to her wrestling prowess. Someone forget to tell Zhang, as she stuffed 14 of her opponent’s 15 takedowns while also outstriking Suarez by a considerable margin on the feet.

To hear her tell it, the Chinese standout will never grow tired of cleaning out her division — perhaps because there’s always more to learn.

“I think the biggest opponent to me is myself, so [even] if I stay in strawweight, if I fight different styles of opponent, I can still learn a lot from that,” Zhang said. “Eventually, to improve myself, that’s my ultimate goal. I see all my opponents as my teachers. I will learn from them and just make my…

In the moments after closing the book on his rivalry with Sean Strickland for good, Dricus Du Plessis grabbed the microphone and stared across the Octagon.

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“Is there no one else?” he yelled. “Is there no one else?”

The message was clear: The reigning middleweight champion hadn’t forgotten about Alex Pereira’s callout following his victory over Israel Adesanya last year. Since Pereira was in Strickland’s corner in the UFC 312 main event in Sydney on Saturday night, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Despite that intriguing bit of theater, Du Plessis realizes there’s a natural order to things, and that means clearing out the remaining challenges in his own division. That includes a future showdown with Khamzat Chimaev, who is the No. 1 contender in waiting following his brutal submission of Robert Whittaker this past August. Pereira, meanwhile, has business of his own to attend to — a UFC 313 title defense against Magomed Ankalaev.

“I have t…

Khamzat Chimaev has an ongoing million rubles (approximately $10,000) challenge at his gym.

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The middleweight contender claims he hasn’t been submitted for a long time, even in practice. While he admittedly offers some vulnerable positions while training with youngsters, Chimaev takes it to another level during serious sessions. “Borz” has an open challenge offering a million rubles to anyone who can submit him in the gym.

Chimaev also said that his teammate Abubakar Vagaev is the one who has come the closest to submitting him in recent times. The Chechen-born Swede was in Vagaev’s corner when he dethroned Albert Tumenov via unanimous decision to win the welterweight title at ACA 183 on Saturday.

“Anyone who submits me during training gets a million rubles from me,” Chimaev told media at the post-fight press conference after ACA 183 via Home of Fight). “It hasn’t happened in a long time. When I’m fooling around with young guys, I give up my ne…

It was a night for fresh faces to shine when it came to post-fight bonuses at UFC 312.

That included towering newcomer Tallison Teixeira, who took home a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for making short work of Justin Tafa in a featured heavyweight affair at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday night. The 6-foot-8 Teixeira stunned his foe with a knee to the body and an elbow to the face, bringing an abrupt end to their bout just 35 seconds into Round 1.

Meanwhile, an even quicker finish propelled Quillan Salkilld to a $50,000 “Peformance of the Night” bonus in the opening fight of the evening. The Aussie needed just 19 seconds to wallop Anshul Jubli with a right hand behind the ear in their lightweight encounter, getting his UFC career off to a memorable start in process.

Finally, Zhu Rong and Kody Steele garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for a spirited preliminary lightweight slugfest. The combatants collaborated on a “Rou…

In a rivalry full of close rounds and tiny adjustments, Dricus Du Plessis once again proved he has Sean Strickland’s number.

The main event of UFC 312 on Saturday in Sydney featured du Plessis (23-2) and Strickland (29-7) in a rematch of their meeting just over a year ago at UFC 297, where the South African captured the title in a closely contested split decision. With five rounds’ worth of first-hand experience about one another’s skills, the champ and challenger picked up more or less where they left off in their first go-round last year, with a few added wrinkles. Du Plessis was notably aggressive in the early going, working to keep Strickland from getting into a rhythm and chaining his formidable jab by throwing out a variety of techniques including body punches and spinning back kicks. “Tarzan,” for his part, stuck with what brought him to the pinnacle of the division in the first place: crisp, patient boxing defined by the relentless jab and well-timed right crosses. …

Sherdog's live UFC 312 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Salkilld (-575), Jubli (+425)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Jousset (-258), Micallef (+210)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Steele (-218), Rong (…

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A “Little Mosquito” is starting to make a big buzz in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division.

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In the featured preliminary bout of UFC 312 on Saturday in Sydney, Gabriel Santos (12-2) survived an early scare, showed off a complete MMA skill set and earned a dominant finish over Jack Jenkins (13-4, 1 NC). A measured kickboxing match turned wild in a hurry when Jenkins uncorked a head kick that floored “Mosquitinho.” Jenkins swarmed for the finish as the crowd exploded, but Santos recovered his wits and ensnared Jenkins in a deep triangle choke. It looked for a few tense moments as if Jenkins was going to be forced to tap or take a nap, but he managed to extricate his neck, only to have Santos switch to an armbar. Jenkins fought that off as well, and made it back to his feet, but Santos dragged him back down and finished the frame in top position. Santos wasted little time in bringing things back to the canvas in …