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Nathaniel Wood continued his quiet climb up the UFC featherweight ranks—but Daniel Pineda made things interesting, as he always seems to do.

In the top preliminary bout of UFC 304 on Saturday in Manchester, England, “The Prospect” entered as a prohibitive four-to-one favorite and, for a few minutes at least, fought like it. Wood (20-6; 8-3 UFC) got out to a hot start, nailing Pineda (28-16, 3 NC; 5-7, 1 NC UFC) with a front kick to the body that folded him in half. “The Pit” managed to snare Wood in his guard as the Englishman swarmed to finish, buying himself time to recover. Pineda did a good job working his way back from the near finish, sweeping Wood and landing some hard ground shots as the round expired. Wood picked the gauntlet right back up in Round 2, hurting Pineda with a pinpoint punch that left him blinking and pawing at his right eye. Again, Pineda plied his veteran savvy and toughness to ride out the storm and recover, but Woo…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to England this weekend with a pay-per-view event, although local fans will have to deal with quite the late start time.

Two title fights are now set for the top of the UFC 304 card. The main event will see Leon Edwards attempting to defend his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad. Meanwhile, the co-main event will see interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall go up against the last man to defeat him, Curtis Blaydes. All four title fight participants made weight, as did the rest of the card with the exception of would-be bantamweight Jake Hadley, who came in at 137 pounds for his fight against Caolan Loughran. Hadley will be fined 20% of his purse as a result.

Edwards (22-3, 1 NC) previously fought Muhammad to a no contest after an accidental eye poke stopped the fight early into Round 2. "Rocky" had been fully in control up to that point and will look to get a definitive win in the rematch. Since …

#NocheUFC from @SphereVegas on September 14th!!!! Fight Club Pre sale Monday. pic.twitter.com/jABnXWAUPw

— UFC (@ufc) July 26, 2024 The 20 participants for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s extravaganza at The Sphere have all been selected.

On Sept. 14, the promotion will stage UFC 306, also known as “Noche UFC,” at The Sphere in Las Vegas. This venue with a reported 18,600 seats will serve as the one-off location for a pay-per-view card headlined by Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight throne. On Friday, the organization announced the full, ordered lineup of all 10 matches, with remade pairing between Brian Ortega (16-3, 1 NC) and Diego Lopes (25-6) in the “featured fight of the night” slot.

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Ortega and Lopes were originally slated to compete at UFC 303, but a fight week snafu involving Ortega’s weight ballooned into an issue with Ortega’s health. The bout, once set for featherweight and then 15…

#NocheUFC from @SphereVegas on September 14th!!!! Fight Club Pre sale Monday. pic.twitter.com/jABnXWAUPw

— UFC (@ufc) July 26, 2024 An even 20% of the Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts on Mexican Independence Day will be for gold.

The organization formalized the entire lineup of UFC 306 on Friday, announcing on video the complete 10-fight billing. Serving as the main event will be a bantamweight championship battle between Sean O'Malley (18-1, 1 NC) and Merab Dvalishvili (17-4), in a fight long-since rumored to be headlining this show. The co-main attraction will come at 125 pounds as Alexa Grasso (16-3-1) puts her belt on the line against ex-flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko (23-4-1) in their trilogy match. This gala event will go down at The Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept. 14.

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135-pound champ O’Malley has amassed a seven-fight unbeaten streak since his lone career loss, a knockout to Marlon Vera in 2020. As he wo…

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! The Ultimate Fighting Championship has no interest in letting one of its young stars test free agency.

Ahead of UFC 304, lightweight Paddy Pimblett mentioned repeatedly that he was nearing the end of his current UFC deal, with the final fight of it coming on Saturday. The 29-year-old opined that he would get re-signed, expecting that the promotion will hold onto him tightly. According to manager Graham Boylan on Friday—also the promoter of Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, where Pimblett competed before joining the UFC—his new contract is in place with the promotion. The terms were not disclosed, other than Boylan remarking that his athlete was “handsomely rewarded.” Pimblett also mentioned on Episode 5 of “UFC 304 Embedded” that he will remain under contract with the company.

“The Baddy has signed a new deal with [the] UFC,” Boylan wrote on social media, “he’s very happy to see his value has be…

A day before the official announcement, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is shifting things around for its card at the Sphere.

On Friday, MMA Fighting first reported that Michel Pereira (31-11, 2 NC) vs. Anthony Hernandez (12-2, 1 NC) would no longer be taking place at UFC 306—which will have all 10 of its bouts set in stone on Saturday. Instead, for currently undisclosed reasons, the middleweights will do battle a month later at the main attraction of a newly announced UFC Fight Night show on Oct. 19. They are expected to compete for five rounds inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Fluffy” has since confirmed the rescheduled booking on his Instagram Stories, while remarking that it would be taking place around his birthday of Oct. 18.

The high-flying Pereira will come into this pairing on an eight-fight win streak, as the victor of three in a row since relocating himself to the 185-pound division. At this new weight class, the Brazilian has dispatched three foes…

Sumit Bhyan was in no mood for warm welcomes.

The Warrior’s Cove MMA export spoiled the ONE Championship debut of Will Drewitt, as he rode a hyperactive bottom game to a split decision in their three-round ONE Friday Fights 72 lightweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Two of the ringside judges struck scorecards for Bhyan (2-1, 1-1 ONE), who rebounded from his Nov. 23 technical knockout loss to Matheus Pereira.

Drewitt (0-1, 0-1 ONE) employed takedowns and top control but failed to consolidate those efforts with meaningful damage. Bhyan attacked with elbows off his back and a variety of submissions. He did his best work in Round 2, where he threatened Drewitt with a triangle armbar and a kimura that undoubtedly drew the attention of those entrusted with tallying points. Bhyan conceded a takedown inside the first 20 seconds of the third round but answered with elbow strikes from mission control and managed to dodge the occasional b…

[embedded content] UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship is willing to open its pocketbooks a little more for the most exciting results on Saturday.

Ahead of UFC 300 in April, MMA Junkie raised the question at the pre-fight press conference of if the UFC would offer $300,000 bonus checks for the victors. The organization agreed on the spot, and the triumphant headliner Max Holloway ended up an additional $600,000 richer at night’s end for his spectacular knockout of Justin Gaethje. Since then, pay-per-view event press conferences have seen this type of request repeat, and the promotion has obliged to a degree—granting additional “Performance of the Night” checks at UFC 303.

At the UFC 304 pre-fight press conference, media did not have to ask. Instead, main card participant Bobby Green brought it up.

“Uncle Dana, let’s spice it up a little bit,” Green remarked, joined by cheers from …

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Curtis Blaydes laid down his gameplan to show Alex Pereira what time it is in a potential matchup.

Pereira (11-2) has won the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight and light heavyweight title and defended the latter three times in less than three years of his debut with the promotion. The Brazilian’s unprecedented rise to stardom has led to talks of a potential move up to heavyweight to chase three-division glory. Watching Pereira spar heavyweight boxers like Australia’s Demsey McKean and China’s Zhilei Zhang led many to believe that “Poatan” can hold his own against heavyweights.

However, Blaydes (18-4) strongly warned Pereira against a move up to heavyweight. “Razor” explained that his strategy against Pereira would be to immediately shoot for a takedown, which he believes he can get at will. Blaydes believes Pereira is also well aware of that and is seeking specific fights at heavyweight instead of random matchups. According to Blaydes, wh…

Team Mokaev and Team Kape got into a scuffle at the fighters' hotel in Manchester. This comes amid numerous reports about their conflict earlier this year at the UFC PI#UFC304 #UFCManchester pic.twitter.com/3aCBCrzMvo

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) July 24, 2024 UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

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Two of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most talented flyweights can’t seem to understand that they aren’t allowed to fight until the cage door closes.

On Wednesday during UFC 304 fight week, the teams of Manel Kape (19-6) and Muhammad Mokaev (12-0, 1 NC) threw down inside of the fighters’ hotel in Manchester, England. This is not the first time the two entourages reportedly scrapped, as UFC featherweight Jean Silva claimed that a scuffle erupted at the UFC Performance Institute earlier in the month. Per MMA Fighting, Kape later suggested that rumors of that encounter might have been gr…

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Caolan Loughran is not buying into the hype behind Payton Talbott.

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Going into his upcoming UFC 304 clash against Jake Hadley (10-3), Loughran (9-1) questioned the hype behind fellow bantamweight prospect Talbott (9-0). While the Irishman acknowledges Talbott’s skillset, he has noticed certain shortcomings in the latter’s game. Loughran claims that while all rising stars in history had their ground game doubted initially, Talbott’s grappling actually got exposed in his debut against Nick Aguirre. Talbott was outgrappled by Aguirre in the first round before coming back to score a third-round stoppage win in his first UFC outing in November 2023.

“Talbott is a good fighter – 100 percent a good fighter. Fair play to him going well, but [expletive] man, cool the jets,” Loughran said at the UFC 304 media day. “I watched his debut. Whenever the Mac [Conor McGregor] was coming up, people were saying when he fights a grappler, he’ll get …

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Bobby Green is unhappy about his custom shorts rebuff, while UFC 304 opponent Paddy Pimblett is his own.

Green (32-15) faces Pimblett (21-3) at UFC 304 this weekend in the latter’s home turf of Manchester, England. The two have long been engaged in a feud, which Pimblett claims started with Green secretly recording him while they were in attendance at UFC San Diego in August 2022.

While Green admits that he likely started the beef, he had his reasons. “King” believes he and Pimblett have had a contrasting career trajectory where he had to fight for his dues while “The Baddy” had things handed to him on a silver platter. According to Green, Pimblett doesn’t realize how privileged he is and acts spoiled. Green claims Pimblett caught his attention when he started talking brash, as he let his initial success get to his head.

“I’ve earned my spot. I’ve been here for so long. I think I’m here 12 years now fighting… I call him the spoiled kid,…