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While Stipe Miocic empathizes with Tom Aspinall’s situation, he isn’t taking the blame for holding up the heavyweight division.

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Miocic was originally scheduled to challenge Jon Jones for the heavyweight title at UFC 295 in November 2023 before “Bones” pulled out of the event due to an injury. A last-minute interim title fight between Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich was booked to help save the card, and Aspinall knocked out his Russian foe in the opening stanza.

With no timeline in sight for Jones’ return, Aspinall initially called for the champ to be stripped off his title. While Aspinall later called for a title unification clash against Jones, “Bones” remains adamant on fighting Miocic when he returns. Both Miocic and Jones have hinted that they might ride off into the sunset after their potential fight, robbing Aspinall of the chance to fighting “Bones” for undisputed gold. Meanwhile, Aspinall is now slated to defend his interim …

Shavkat Rakhmonov was blatantly dismissive while responding to a callout from Ian Garry.

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Garry recently took to social media to suggest a matchup between the undefeated welterweight contenders at the end of 2024.

“December 2024, undefeated vs. undefeated, Garry wrote on Instagram. “Let’s make this happen! [Shavkat Rakhmonov].”

While Rakhmonov did not shut down a potential clash, he mocked Garry’s finishing rate in comparison to his own. The Kazakh contender believes Garry will be no match for him if the fight comes to fruition.UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! “100% finish rate VS 53% finish rate,” Rakhmonov wrote on X. “It won’t even be close if it happens [Ian Garry].”

100% finish rate VS 53% finish rate. It won’t even be close if it happens @iangarryMMA https://t.co/nJaglUmnBp

— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) July 21, 2024

Rakhmonov has finished all 18 of his caree…

At the very least, flyweight Nathan Maness wants an explanation if his contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship isn’t renewed.

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Maness completed his UFC contract with a unanimous decision win over Jimmy Flick last month. While “Mayhem” was expecting to hear from the UFC about a renewal, there has been radio silence since then.

“Honestly, we haven’t really heard anything,” Maness told MMAjunkie.com. “We sent out a couple of different messages. We gave them a couple of weeks after the fight and then we sent out a couple feelers, but we can’t even really get a response. Your guess is as good as mine.”

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! Maness’ win over Flick put him on a two-fight winning streak, improving his overall promotional record to 5-2. Maness’ only two losses in the UFC have come against elite Dagestani prospects Tagir Ulanbekov and Umar Nurmagomedov. While Maness believes he has done enough to get…

Steve Garcia is doing everything he can to ensure all of his fights are appointment viewing.

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The Jackson-Wink MMA product dispatched Seung Woo Choi via first-round technical knockout in the UFC on ESPN 60 co-main event at the UFC Apex on Saturday nght, his fourth consecutive triumph via KO or TKO. It’s nothing new for “Mean Machine,” who has finished 13 of his 16 career triumphs in that same fashion.

“It’s just another one on my cap. It’s another [notch],” Garcia said at the post-fight press conference. “I’m blessed. I’m just trying to get more. Every single time I come in there, I want you guys to tune in. I want you guys to see Steve Garcia and just be like, ‘This guy’s bringing it, so let’s watch.’”

Garcia entered Saturday’s fight with a lot on his mind, so it was something of a relief to perform the way he did.

“It’s been a great ending to a long camp,” he said. “It’s my brother’s birthday so I got to get a ‘W’ on his birthday. I want to…

After an uneven beginning to her Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure, Virna Jandiroba has emerged as a serious title contender over the course of the past two years.

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The former Invicta FC strawweight queen earned her fourth straight victory on Saturday night, as she submitted ex-title challenger Amanda Lemos with an armbar in the second round of the UFC on ESPN 60 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Jandiroba outgrappled and outscrambled her opponent for the majority of the contest before securing the fight-ending maneuver late in Round 2.

“She’s a fantastic striker. But on top of just being very technical and very good striker, she’s a knockout artist. So I had to be extremely careful with that because I know that any wrong movement could be the end,” Jandiroba said through a translator at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Luckily we were able to put everything in place, get the fight to the ground and work the way it did. She’s a …

Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight prospect Hyder Amil did not always plan on becoming a fighter.

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Amil scored his second UFC win on Saturday, besting Jeong Yeong Lee via first-round TKO at UFC on ESPN 60. “The Hurricane” subsequently shared how he got into combat sports after being raised to become an “intellectual” and an artist.

The only male in the family growing up, Amil initially started training martial arts to protect his sisters and mother. Amil’s natural athletic abilities soon attracted people’s attention, who then introduced him to several sports. Amil, who claims to have a knack for anything art related, “blames” his friends for getting him into sports and MMA.

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! “I was just myself, my two sisters and my mom. So, I wanted to learn martial arts originally, what motivated me to stay in it was to protect them,” Amil said during a post-fight media scrum. “Becau…

Trey Ogden has called for an “easy” opponent in Chase Hooper after his win over Loik Radzhabov atUFC on ESPN 60.

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Ogden dominated Radzhabov on the ground for three rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Ogden subsequently called out Hooper, who “Shamurai” believes is overrated. According to the Marathon MMA head coach, Hooper is not a “scary” opponent.

“I want to fight Chase Hooper. I keep calling this dude out. I’ve been calling him out for three fights,” Ogden said during a post-fight media scrum. “I think he is overrated. I don’t think he’s that good. And I want to pick some of that low-hanging fruit… I’ll smash him easily. He’s not a scary dude, for a change.”

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! Hooper has scored seven of 14 career wins via submission so far in addition to making a name for himself by competing in UFC Fight Pass Invitational grappling tourn…

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Tom Aspinall believes he can get the better the Alexander Volkov yet again in a potential rematch.

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Aspinall is slated to defend his interim heavyweight title in a rematch against Curtis Blaydes in the main event at UFC 304 on Saturday in Manchester, England. Meanwhile, Volkov is fresh off a unanimous decision win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Abu Dhabi last month. While a clash between Volkov and Ciryl Gane is reportedly in the works for UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi in October, “Drago” claimed to have not received a contract for the bout a week ago.

Meanwhile, lineal champ Jon Jones is currently sidelined with injury and slated to fight former champ Stipe Miocic upon his return. With Miocic having not fought in over three years, Volkov considers the Jones vs. Miocic matchup more of a fantasy fight rather than a real title fight. Volkov recently called for rematch against Aspinall, with a potential win putting him in a title unification bou…

Hyder Amil’s furious offensive onslaught paid off handsomely at UFC on ESPN 60.

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The El Nino Training Center export earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for overwhelming Jeong Yeong Lee in a featured featherweight contest at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. Amil managed to land a total of 42 significant strikes en route to a stoppage victory just 65 seconds into the opening stanza. It was one of four performance bonuses handed out by the promotion after the event.

Elsewhere, Virna Jandiroba garnered a $50,000 check for her victory over former title challenger Amanda Lemos in the evening’s strawweight headliner. Jandiroba outgrappled her opponent throughout the fight before eliciting a tap with an armbar at the 4:48 mark of Round 2.

Meanwhile, Steve Garcia took home an additional $50,000 by adding Seung Woo Choi to his list of recent victims in the featherweight co-main event. “Mean Machine” stopped his foe at the 1:36 mark of Round…

Virna Jandiroba is becoming impossible to ignore in the Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title picture.

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In the main event of UFC on ESPN 60, Jandiroba (21-3, 7-3 UFC) soundly outgrappled Amanda Lemos (14-4-1, 8-4 UFC) for just under two rounds before cinching up the fight-ending armbar. The former Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight titleholder wasted little time in bringing the fight into her wheelhouse, shooting a double-leg takedown early in Round 1. Aided by Lemos jumping on a guillotine attempt, “Carcara” extracted her head from the choke, then settled into Lemos’s half guard, where “Amandinha” bucked and swept to top position. Jandiroba countered with a kneebar attempt, which Lemos escaped, but the resulting scramble ended with the jiu-jitsu ace in back control, where she rode out the rest of the frame. Round 2 got off to a better start for Lemos, who kept her countrywoman at arm’s length and touched her with clean punches fo…

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 60 coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Petersen (+110), Usman (-115)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Carolina (-115), Pudilova (-105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPO…

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Cody Gibson may have placed his job as a history teacher on hold for now, but he clearly isn’t done schooling people.

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In the top prelim of UFC on ESPN 60 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Gibson (20-10) overwhelmed Brian Kelleher (24-16) on the feet as well as on the canvas on his way to a first-round submission win. Gibson jumped on “Boom” right away, rocking him with a right hand in the opening seconds of the fight, and never let up. Kelleher tried valiantly to rally, but Gibson never gave him a moment’s peace, hurting him with punches and long kicks at range and mugging him up close with knees. Kelleher jumped on a guillotine attempt late in the round, but Gibson kicked out of it immediately, moved to half guard and locked up an arm-triangle choke. Kelleher tapped out in seconds, putting the stamp on a dominant performance for Gibson. The win brought Gibson’s record in the organization to 2-5 across multiple s…