Martial Arts News

As he awaits a light heavyweight title shot, Magomed Ankalaev has decided to take jabs at both Jon Jones and Alex Pereira on social media.

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Jones will put his heavyweight title on the line against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. While Jones has hinted that he might retire after UFC 309, he also made clear that he won’t fight interim champ Tom Aspinall even if he continues. “Bones” has his focus on light heavyweight champ Pereira instead and is willing to vacate the heavyweight title for that fight as well.

Meanwhile, a light heavyweight title shot has evaded Ankalaev despite the Dagestani being undefeated in his last 13 bouts. Ankalaev recently started rallying for bouts against Pereira and Jones while accusing both of ducking.

“Jones doesn’t want to fight Aspinall, Pereira is recovering and I’m hungry,” Ankalaev wrote on X. “I will beat Pereira and after that I can beat Jones.”

Jo…

Edson Barboza will lock horns with Steve Garcia at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 22.

MMAFighting.com was first to report the featherweight pairing. A location and headliner for the card have yet to be confirmed.

Barboza had a two-bout winning streak snapped in his most recent outing, as he dropped a five-round verdict against Lerone Murphy in the UFC Fight Night 241 headliner on May 18. Prior that, the 38-year-old Brazilian had earned back-to-back victories over Sodiq Yusuff and Billy Quarantillo. All told, Barboza has competed inside the Octagon 30 times.

Garcia has been on a roll of late, finishing his last five UFC opponents by knockout or technical knockout. “The Mean Machine is 2-0 thus far in 2024, with first-round stoppages of Seung Woo Choi and Kyle Nelson to his credit.

Alexa Grasso could be on the sidelines for a while.

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The former UFC flyweight queen revealed via social media that she suffered a broken leg in training, posting a picture on crutches while wearing a walking boot. Grasso did not provide a timetable for her recovery or return.

“But I’m fine,” she wrote (via translate). “Everything is healing…time will tell.”

The 31-year-old Lobo Gym MMA standout last appeared at UFC 306, where she relinquished the 125-pound belt to Valentina Shevchenko via unanimous decision in a trilogy bout on Sept. 14.

Grasso began her promotional tenure at 115 pounds before moving up to flyweight, where she claimed the title with a fourth-round submission of Shevchenko at UFC 285. The Mexico native retained the crown after battleing Shevchenko to a split draw in their rematch Noche UFC September 2023, setting the stage for their aforementioned third meeting earlier this year.

London, we are back in PRIME TIME 😍

Our #UFCLondon return is official for Saturday 22 March 🇬🇧

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Register your interest NOW ➡️ https://t.co/1aYbe1fzKJ pic.twitter.com/b21i6c2OXU — UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) November 12, 2024

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to London for an event early next year.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Tuesday that it will hold a card at the O2 Arena on March 2022. It will mark the 30th UFC event to be held in the United Kingdom. No bouts were confirmed for the event. It appears that it will be a UFC Fight Night rather than a pay-per-view.

Based on a social media post from the UFC, it seems likely that the event will be held in prime time locally, rather than at a time to accommodate viewers in the United States. That was an issue for the promotion’s most recent visit to England for UFC 304, as it took place early in the morning rather than at night.

The …

Stipe Miocic’s apologizes to Jon Jones after calling him a “b*tch”:

“Sorry if I hurt his feelings… I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to disrespect him. It was just the heat of the moment.”

🎥 @arielhelwani #UFC309pic.twitter.com/uA0OQ6xiJV — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 11, 2024

There’s a little bit of tension between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic just a few days before their championship clash.

Jones defends his heavyweight title against Miocic in the main event at UFC 309 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The two heavyweights have been respectful of each other throughout the build-up until recently. Miocic uncharacteristically called Jones a “b—h” in a recent episode of the UFC 309 Countdown show, which later caught the heavyweight champion’s attention.

The former light heavyweight champ felt disrespected and issued a warning to Miocic online. Jones also jokingly advised Miocic against hiring black training …

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Bo Nickal has nothing but praise for Khamzat Chimaev even though they could be on a collision course in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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Chimaev made a case for middleweight title contention with a first-round submission win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last month. The undefeated Chechen-born Swede has has relied on his elite grappling during his rise to prominence, but Nickal, a former three-time NCAA Division I champion, could be the answer to Chimaev’s suffocating style.

Nickal himself has also been impressed with Chimaev’s wrestling since he first saw “Borz” choke out John Phillips in Abu Dhabi in his UFC debut in 2020. However, the Penn State alum agrees that he could stylistically pose the toughest threat to Chimaev. Nickal is also aware that a potential matchup against Chimaev is a long way off.

UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

“I’ve been super impressed with him I think since t…

Jon Jones clarifies that the heavyweight title would not necessarily have to be at stake if he were to fight Alex Pereira and he has another belt in mind.

Full interview with the 🐐 coming soon... pic.twitter.com/R43YlfB9Ze

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) November 11, 2024

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Jon Jones remains more interested in a future fight against Alex Pereira than a heavyweight title unification bout with Tom Aspinall.

Jones was originally supposed to defend his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023 before he was forced out with an injury. Tom Aspinall went on to knockout Sergei Pavlovich in a short-notice interim title fight on the same card.

Despite Aspinall having defended his title since then, Jones has insisted on defending his strap against Miocic at UFC 309 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. And “Bones” seemingly won’t grant Aspinall a title unifier even after UFC 309. Whil…

🚨 First bout drop for Sydney 🚨

Who else do you want to see on the card!?

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✈️🎟️ #UFC312 | #FeelNewSydney | Feb 9 | Details at https://t.co/u5jz4l3fxF pic.twitter.com/kGmCzdBsrh — UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) November 11, 2024

Three new fights — each featuring an Australian — have been added to the UFC 312 card scheduled for February.

Jimmy Crute (12-4) will take on Marcin Prachnio (17-8) at light heavyweight in front of home fans at UFC 312 on Feb. 8 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. “The Brute” hasn’t won a fight since 2020, squeezing in a majority draw between three losses. Meanwhile, Poland’s Prachnio has alternated wins and losses since June 2021, most recently suffering a submission loss against Modestas Bukauskas at UFC 304 this past July.

Australian debutant Quillan Salkilld (7-1) will take on India’s Anshul Jubli (7-1) in a lightweight matchup on the same card. Salkilld earned his contract with…

Mike Tyson's trainer, two-time mixed martial arts coach of the year nominee Rafael Cordeiro, shares an amazing story involving @JonnyBones and @FabricioWerdum having a late-night grappling match in a Brazilian hotel room approximately 10 years ago. Via @alonsopvt #UFC309 pic.twitter.com/FNfcTTNMve

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) November 11, 2024

Jon Jones and Fabricio Werdum never crossed paths in the Octagon, but they did have a memorable late-night grappling session in a Brazilian hotel room many years ago.

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Both Jones and Werdum were in Goiania, the largest city in the Brazilian state of Goias, for an event in the area. Kings MMA trainer Rafael Cordeiro recalls inviting Jones to train with them earlier in the day, but “Bones” politely declined, saying he was there only to support his team.

Things apparently changed that evening after Cordeiro, Jones, Werdum and Wanderlei Silva went to dinner. After the meal, the group…

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[ #PFLWorldChampionship | Friday, Nov 29th | 3PM ET | ESPN+] pic.twitter.com/XW8SCCXZzc — PFL (@PFLMMA) November 11, 2024

The card for the upcoming PFL MENA Championships is now complete.

The Professional Fighters League on Monday unveiled the full lineup for the event, which in addition to four previously-announced title bouts, features a full slate of showcase fights.

Those showcase bouts are as follows: Mansour Barnaoui vs. Alfie Davis at lightweight; Slim Trabelsi vs. Abraham Bably at heavyweight; Jesus Pinedo vs. Jeremy Kennedy at featherweight; Asael Adjoudj vs. Jose Perez at featherweight and Costello van Steenis vs. Joao Dantas at middleweight.

PFL MENA takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Nov. 29 and will serve as a lead-in to the PFL World Championships at t…

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Daniel Cormier doesn’t think former foe Jon Jones is afraid of Tom Aspinall — or anyone else, for that matter.

Jones defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic in the main event at UFC 309 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Meanwhile, interim champ Aspinall will be the backup for the fight.

Aspinall might never get a title unification bout, with both Jones and Miocic having hinted at retirement after UFC 309. In case Jones chooses to continue, he has already dismissed a potential title unifier against Aspinall in favor of a matchup against light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira. According to Jones, “Honey Badger” is yet to earn his dues to fight a legend like him. Cormier doesn’t agree with Jones saying the interim champ is yet to earn his dues for a title fight.

“For Jon to say he’s a nobody — but is he really? He’s the world champ,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Honestly, that’s who he is. He is the No. 2 heavywei…

Carlos Prates tells Kamaru Usman what the UFC has planned for him 😂

Kamaru: “News to me!” 😭

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(h/t @MMAPROSPICK) #UFC #MMA

pic.twitter.com/unFCJZCU6T

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 10, 2024 Carlos Prates is aiming high after his victory over Neil Magny.

Prates took on Magny in his first main event at UFC Vegas 100 — also known as UFC Fight Night 247 — at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. “The Nightmare” made quick work of the veteran, dispatching him with a glancing left hand at the 4:50 mark of the opening frame.

Prates subsequently called out Jack Della Maddalena for a matchup at UFC 312, which goes down on Feb. 8 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. While Australia is home ground for Maddalena, Prates also loves the country because his daughter lives there. If that matchup doesn’t materialize yet, the Brazilian has his eyes set on another gatekeeper, Geoff Neal.

“Of course I w…