Martial Arts News

[embedded content] Several fighters ahead of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Brazil appear to have forgotten their weight classes.

The UFC Fight Night 231 main event will see heavyweight prospect Jailton Almeida take on former title challenger Derrick Lewis. Both men weighed under the limit, with Lewis coming in 29 pounds heavier than the 236-pound Brazilian. However, four undercard fighters missed weight. Ismael Bonfim came in 3.5 pounds over the lightweight limit for his fight against Vinc Pichel, who also came in a pound heavy. Additionally, Victor Hugo Silva and Eduarda Moura both came in heavy for their respective bouts. All fighters have been fined a percentage of their purses.

Almeida (19-2) is undefeated since entering the UFC. His first main event opportunity saw him submit Jairzinho Rozenstruik with a rear-naked choke after just 3:43. Lewis (27-11, 1 NC) is coming off a quick 33-second win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima that snapped a three-figh…

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Jamahal Hill believes Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira have different ways of winning their UFC 295 matchup.

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Hill (12-1) will officially become a former Ultimate Fighting Championship king the moment Pereira vs. Prochazka kicks off inside the Octagon on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. While “Sweet Dreams” put on an incredible performance against Glover Teixeira (33-9) at UFC 283 to claim the vacant heavyweight title, the Michigan native ruptured his Achilles tendon back in July while playing a game of pickup basketball.

Considering how Prochazka was quick to let the division move on when he suffered a disastrous shoulder injury while holding the belt, Hill took the same route and verbally relinquished his title with the assurance that he would receive a title shot on his return regardless of the circumstances.

While Pereira and Prochazka gear up for their upcoming title bout, Hill is not only focused on …

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Beneil Dariush aims not to let his most recent setback deter him from realizing his full potential as a mixed martial artist.

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Dariush (22-5) had his inspiring eight-fight winning streak snapped against former champion Charles Oliveira (34-9). In a bout that served as a title eliminator, “Benny” suffered a devastating Round 1 technical loss.

However, Dariush isn’t one to dwell on his losses and obsess over his mistakes.

“You know, the best way I can explain is it that I was off that night. It wasn't my best performance and Charles had a great performance,” Dariush told ESPN’s Marc Raimondi. “I really don't have any other excuses besides that. I don't think I performed to the best of my abilities and I think he fought really well. So, congrats to him and that's it. I don't really know what else to tell you, unfortunately. And as far as what I take away from it is just, came home and said ‘I'm going to spend some time with my …

Let’s go!🇧🇷 https://t.co/X1thtJaXX3

— Felipinho Bunes (@BunesFelipinho) November 3, 2023 A flyweight clash has been added to the first Ultimate Fighting Championship card of 2024.

Brazil's Felipe Bunes (13-6) will make his UFC debut against Denys Bondar (14-4) on an event that will also feature former heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta. The news of this flyweight pairing was first reported by Eurosport.NL, and confirmed by Bunes in a subsequent social media post. The currently unnamed UFC Fight Night event will play out inside of the UFC Apex on Jan. 13.

Bunes was initially set to make his organizational debut against Zhalgas Zhumagulov in June at UFC on ESPN 47. However, the former Legacy Fighting Alliance champ was barred from competing after testing positive for metabolic modulator GW1516. Bunes was suspended for six months and fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The bout will mark Bunes' return to co…

Updates to #UFCSP: https://t.co/CfeeUQxFo4

— UFC News (@UFCNews) November 3, 2023 The scales proved a greater threat than expected for UFC Fight Night 231 on Friday morning.

Ahead of the UFC Sao Paulo event on Nov. 4, in the promotion’s return to the Brazilian city for the first time since late 2019, four fighters initially missed weight. A rarity in combat sports, both Ismael Bonfim (159.5) and Vinc Pichel (157) came in heavy for their lightweight match. While Pichel returned to hit his proper marks at 155.5 pounds, Bonfim declined to continue cutting weight, and the fight has been canceled. Additionally, Victor Hugo Silva clocked in at 138.5 pounds ahead of his bantamweight battle with Daniel Marcos (136), and the organization announced it scrubbed that bout from the lineup as well.

Eduarda Moura exceeded the strawweight cap by 3.5 pounds prior to her matchup with Montserrat Ruiz (114), and Moura has received a 30% fine as the fight …

J.Butler out. Lucas Alexander in, will fight Jeka Saragih at #UFCVegas82 on November 18th. #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/J5Mr06VTw6

— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) November 1, 2023

Indonesian standout Jeka Asparido Saragih will debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Nov. 18.

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Saragih (13-3) was originally scheduled to make his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 232 against lightweight newcomer Jesse Butler (12-5), who was coming off a first-round knockout loss to Jim Miller in his first Octagon appearance back in June. However, the promotion announced last week that Saragih was in need of a new opponent after Butler was forced to pull out due to an injury.

While there were brief talks of a clash between Saragih and Charlie Campbell, that potential matchup also fell through. However, the Indonesian has finally found himself an opponent two weeks ahead of his scheduled debut.

Saragih…

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Jailton Almeida believes one half of the UFC 295 co-main event has a clear edge over the other.

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Sergei Pavlovich (18-1) will take on fellow surging contender Tom Aspinall (13-3) at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 11 for the interim heavyweight title. The replacement bout was announced a little more than two weeks before Jon Jones’ scheduled title defense against Stipe Miocic fell through, as “Bones” suffered a torn pectoral muscle in training.

While Aspinall is a slight -130 favorite on some sportsbooks in the evenly-matched booking, Almeida (19-2) sees Pavlovich having an advantage. It is worth noting that the Russian was originally supposed to weigh-in as the backup for the title fight between Jones and Miocic.

Keeping that in mind, Almeida believes Pavlovich will have an edge as he was already in a title-fight mindset as opposed to his English opponent, who was just training as usual.

“Jones’ injury open…

The Future @iangarryMMA has arrived to Chute Boxe Academy to prep for UFC 296 🇧🇷 @betr⚡️ pic.twitter.com/zRVr4IUR6I

— betr ⚡️Combat (@betrcombat) October 31, 2023

Ian Garry recently revealed that he has been removed from Leon Edwards’ Team Renegade gym in Birmingham, England.

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While Garry (13-0) has trained in several gyms throughout his career, his recent squads have been Kill Cliff FC (formerly Sanford MMA) in Florida and Edwards’ Team Renegade. However, the undefeated welterweight prospect was recently booted from Team Renegade. Something he isn’t very happy about. According to Garry, Edwards (21-3) and his coach Dave Lovell were concerned about training with another ranked contender inside the gym.

“Leon and his head coach had an issue with me training on the mats and recently have asked me not to train there, because ‘Leon doesn’t want any insecurities or doubts on his own mats, within the gym,’ which I don’t fu…

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Francis Ngannou (17-3) may not return to full mixed martial arts anytime soon.

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Ngannou parted ways with the UFC earlier this year after failed contract negotiations. “The Predator” subsequently bagged a lucrative deal with Professional Fighters League that gave him equity in the company, a seat on its athlete advisory board and made him chairman of PFL Africa.

Ngannou also secured a boxing super fight against lineal heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, which went down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 28. To the surprise of many around the world, the Cameroonian took the WBC champ to a controversial split decision, even knocking down “The Gypsy King” in Round 3.

PFL founder Donn Davis has now suggested that the Cameroonian is unlikely to return to “pure” MMA in the immediate future simply due to a lack of interesting opponents. Prior to his UFC exit, Ngannou was expec…

The seventh event of Rizin Fighting Federation’s Landmark series has some last-minute lineup modifications.

Former Eagles Fighting Championship flyweight ace Mehman Mamedov (6-6) was scheduled to take on Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Justin Scoggins at Rizin Landmark 7, which goes down at National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 4. However, promotional debutant Ferit Goktepe (1-1) has now stepped up on short notice to replace Scoggins after the American pulled out due to a “medical condition that needed immediate treatment.” The change was announced via press release.

In his most recent outing, Goktepe, 25, scored a decision win over Ibragim Moussa last November to be crowned Baku Open Prix 2022 bantamweight champion.

Mamedov, 35, saw his promotional debut foiled by a first-round knockout loss to Motonobu Tezuka last October. The Azerbaijani has since rebounded with a knockout of his own over Yusaku Nakamura back in April.

Paul Felder (17-6) has taken another step towards coming out of retirement.

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After confirming a return to the UFC’s drug testing pool in September, the Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor turned commentator has now submitted his first test samples. The news was reported this week by Damon Martin of MMA Fighting.

Felder hasn’t fought since dropping a split verdict against Rafael dos Anjos in November 2020. It was the Philadelphia native’s second split decision loss in a row, and “The Irish Dragon” announced his retirement while on commentary duty during a UFC Fight Night broadcast in May 2021, citing the lack of a drive to compete anymore.

However, an iconic clash of veterans Max Holloway and Chan Sung Jung at “UFC Singapore” in August got Felder thinking about a possible return to the Octagon. The 38-year-old wrote on social media in the aftermath of the fight, “@KoreanZombieMMA got me wanting to go once more… damn you zombie. Seeing hi…

While it might seem like Joshua Silveira has enjoyed a rapid rise to stardom in Professional Fighters League that isn’t really the case.

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Silveira will face Impa Kasanganay in the light heavyweight final at the PFL Championships on Nov. 24 at the Anthem in Washington, D.C. As the son of American Top Team coach Marcus “Conan” Silveira, the former Legacy Fighting Alliance two-division champion has been embedded in the sport from a very young age.

“This is a lifetime of work,” Silveira said during a PFL media day session. “This goes back all the way to career day in elementary school. I was saying cagefighting before MMA was even a phrase. ‘Vale Tudo,’ that’s what I was telling people back in the day. Anything goes, that’s what I want to be. It went from being kind of silly to people to becoming ‘Holy s—t, this guy is actually doing it.’”

Before he became a prospect to watch, Silveira was working hard in the gym, doing what he could to assist the m…