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Aspen Ladd Replaces Julia Budd, Faces Kayla Harrison at PFL Championships

For the second time, a proposed booking between Kayla Harrison and Julia Budd has fallen through.

As a result, Aspen Ladd will step in a face Harrison at the 2023 PFL Championships on Nov. 24. According to a release from the PFL, the bout was changed because “Budd refused to fulfill her contractual obligation.” Further specifics were not given. While Harrison vs. Budd was to slated to take place at featherweight, the new pairing will be contested at a 150-pound catchweight. Harrison was previously scheduled to face Budd during the 2022 PFL season before the ex-Bellator champ withdrew from the bout.

Ladd has been in training as an alternate, according to the release. The 28-year-old Folsom, California, native signed with the PFL following a 4-3 stint in the UFC that included numerous issues making weight. Ladd competed in the 2023 PFL season at featherweight, where she dropped a majority decision to Olena Kolesnyk in April before scoring a first-ro…

Cris ‘Cyborg’ Returns to Boxing, Meets Kelsey Wickstrum in California on Jan. 19

Cristiane Justino’s next combat sports appearance will be in the Sweet Science.

“Cyborg” will face Kelsey Wickstrum in a six-round boxing match at 154 pounds on Jan. 19 at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. ESPN was first to report the booking.

Justino has two boxing matches — one professional and one exhibition — under her belt already. In her official pro debut, the Brazilian defeated Gabrielle Holloway via unanimous decision this past December. The 36-year-old Wickstrum, meanwhile, is 2-0 as a pro boxer with one knockout.

Justino, who is currently Bellator’s reigning featherweight champion, returned to MMA on Oct. 7, when she defeated Cat Zingano via first-round technical knockout at Bellator 300. “Cyborg” has held belts in Bellator, the UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta FC over the course of an MMA career that began in 2005.

Her next move in MMA is unclear with Bellator facing an uncertain future. The California-based…

TKO Executives Address Saudi Arabia’s Investment In Professional Fighters League

From the TKO Group Holdings Earnings Call:

Competition is good. Not only do we have over 600 fighters, we have the premier fighters.

I mean, ultimately, you're trying to get to the UFC, which is akin to the XFL trying to ultimately get their players into the NFL.

Those are… pic.twitter.com/0M47DYFYCo

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 7, 2023

Executives of TKO Group Holdings — the result of the merger between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment – claim to have no issues with competitors of the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization.

During the merger’s first earnings call, TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro recently addressed Saudi Arabia’s investment into the Professional Fighters League, a direct competitor to the UFC. Saudi Arabia, which is emerging as a global player in sports and entertainment, recently invested $100 million in the Professional Figh…

Jake Paul Booked Against Pro Boxer Andre August on Dec. 15

YouTube personality-turned-fighter Jake Paul will square off against Andre August in his next professional boxing match on Dec. 15.

The bout will be contested over eight rounds at cruiserweight (200 pounds) and takes place at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando. While most of Paul’s fights have been available via pay-per-view, this one will be part of the DAZN subscription package.

August, who owns a 10-1-1 mark in boxing with five knockouts, is the most experienced opponent Paul has faced to date. “The Problem Child” has made his name primarily by facing mixed martial artists thus far in his career.

“I’m a professional boxer and I want to be world champion, so I need to pursue the path towards greatness against people who have been boxing their whole life,” Paul said in a release. “So far, my entire boxing career has been on pay-per-view, but now it’s about more than business. Now I want to build my experience in the ring against seasoned fighte…

Dan Hooker Unhappy with Five-Round Stipulation for UFC Austin Co-Main Event

Dan Hooker isn’t looking forward to five rounds against Bobby Green for a co-main event.

Hooker initially expected that his bout against Green, which is slated for UFC on ESPN 52 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 2, whould be the event’s headliner. Instead, the fight will be the co-main event but is still scheduled for five rounds. The Kiwi is not happy with losing out on all the benefits that come with being in the evening’s featured bout.

“That pissed me right off,” Hooker told the NZ Herald. “It’s a funny one. You call up anyone and ask, ‘You want to do twice as much work for the same money?’ No, brother. After three I’m going home. The main event is five rounds. You can’t chuck it to co-main and still keep the five rounds. It’s just not a thing. It’s a sport of risk versus reward. You give me the main event and everything that comes with that. With winning a main event comes bigger opportunities and you get a lot more exposure — I l…

Chael Sonnen Launches Online Tirade on Jorge Masvidal; Masvidal Responds

Two of MMA’s most quotable trash talkers have recently taken aim at one another.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship contenders Chael Sonnen and Jorge Masvidal are in a war of words following their recent appearances on “The MMA Hour.” The roots of the conflict trace back to last week, when Sonnen got into a shouting match with host Ariel Helwani, with Helwani lauding Francis Ngannou’s success outside the UFC and Sonnen accusing the journalist of having a bias against the promotion. On a subsequent episode, Masvidal sided with Helwani while ridiculing Sonnen.

One of the most renowned trash talkers and heels in the history of the sport, Sonnen didn’t let Masvidal’s dig go unanswered. The 46-year-old went on a relentless online tirade, bringing up Masvidal’s history with Colby Covington, whom Masvidal assaulted in the street last March, two weeks after losing to him in lopsided fashion at UFC 272. Sonnen wrote:

“Jorge if you wanna scrap. You h…

Poirier Claims to Have Accepted Short-Notice UFC 294 Booking Offer Against Makhachev

While Alexander Volkanovski was lauded for stepping up on short notice to face Islam Makhachev for the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title at UFC 294, it seems he was not the only contender who accepted the offer.

The promotion was left scrambling after Makhachev’s scheduled opponent, Charles Oliveira, pulled out due to a severe cut suffered in sparring on Oct. 10, just 11 days before the fight. The next day, it was announced that Oliveira had been replaced by featherweight champ Volkanovski, but in the meantime, the UFC had apparently been weighing its options, as former interim lightweight champ Dustin Poirier (29-8) claims he received a call from UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell around the same time asking if he could make weight on short notice. According to “The Diamond,” he agreed and was very excited at the possibility, though Campbell didn’t give him any assurances. Poirier never received the call back as he believes t…

Yadong Song vs. Chris Gutierrez to Headline UFC Shanghai on Dec. 9

A bantamweight clash pitting Yadong Song against Chris Gutierrez will serve as the main event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming card in Shanghai, China.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from MagicM_MMABets on social media. UFC Fight Night 233 takes place at Shanghai Indoor Stadium on Dec. 9 and also includes a middleweight showdown between Andre Muniz and Jun Yong Park as well as a flyweight matchup between Tatsuro Taira and Carlos Hernandez.

A native of Tianjin, China, the 25-year-old Song has won four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, the “Kung Fu Kid” defeated Ricky Simon via fifth-round technical knockout in the UFC on ESPN 45 headliner on April 29.

Gutierrez, meanwhile, is 8-1-1 in his last 10 UFC outings. The Factory X standout has split his first two fights of 2023, dropping a unanimous verdict to Pedro Munhoz at UFC on ESPN 44 before outpointing Heili Alateng at UFC Fight Night 230.

UFC Parts Ways with Former Flyweight Title Challenger Taila Santos

One of the top female flyweights in the world is no longer on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster.

Ex-title challenger Taila Santos has been released by the Las Vegas-based promotion on the heels of back-to-back losses. Multiple outlets confirmed the news following after it was initially shared by UFC Roster Tracker on social media. According to MMAjunkie.com, Santo had “a couple of fights” left on her contract when she was cut.

A competitor on the Brazilian edition of Dana White’s in 2018, Santos compiled a 4-3 mark in UFC competition. The Astra Fight Team product won four straight bouts from 2020 to 2021 to earn a title shot, and she was extremely competitive in dropping a split verdict against then champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 275. Most recently, the 30-year-old Brazilian suffered a unanimous decision defeat against Erin Blanchfield at UFC Fight Night 225 this past August.

Santos owns a 19-3 career mark that includes wins over the likes o…

Sean O’Malley Believes ‘Scared’ Marlon Vera Got Lucky in Their First Fight

Sean O'Malley has doubled down on his stance of not accepting his lone professional loss.

The UFC bantamweight champion suffered his only pro defeat against Marlon Vera back in 2020, a loss he refuses to accept to this day. Vera hurt O’Malley’s lead leg with a low kick in the opening frame and followed it up with vicious ground-and-pound to earn a TKO victory. According to O’Malley, the kick damaged his peroneal nerve by fluke.

O’Malley is now scheduled to defend his title against Vera in a rematch in the main event of UFC 299 in March. “Sugar” refuses to believe that Vera will be able to damage his nerve again, but he is willing to accept even the first loss if history is repeated.

O’Malley, who sounds extremely confident going into the rematch, believes Vera is scared becaue the Ecuadorian knows the first win was a “fluke.”

“Like, it doesn’t happen that much. And if it happens again, then I’ll never — I’ll say, ‘Alright, I lost twice.…

Jiri Prochazka Wants UFC to Bring Back ‘No Time Limit’ Fights

Jiri Prochazka is not a fan of fights going to the judges’ scorecards.

According to Prochazka, with three different judges scoring the fight there are too many variables at play in arriving at the result. “BJP” would rather have two fighters simply go to battle with no time limits or no judges like in the early days of the UFC.

“I think the fights, especially in the UFC, can’t end for the points. Because for the points everytime there is a referee [judge], one referee is for him, one referee is for him and tell me, who wins. I think the best time for fighting was when that’s end for like no time limit…Bring it back,” Prochazka said recently on "The MMA Hour.”

If fights were to go on longer, Prochazka might have a slight advantage thanks to his past experience in Rizin Fighting Federation. The Czech was a light heavyweight champ in the Japanese promotion, which prior to 2018 had a rule set that featured a 10-minute first round followed by two …

Jorge Masvidal Issues Warning to Colby Covington After Striking Plea Deal

Jorge Masvidal claims he is not done with Colby Covington despite having reached a plea deal in a criminal case that dates to March 2022.

Masvidal was accused of attacking Covington outside a Miami steakhouse hardly a fortnight removed from their UFC 272 clash, which “Chaos” won via unanimous decision. On Monday, “Gamebred” pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge as part of a plea deal to have two felony charges of battery and criminal mischief dropped.

While Masvidal is relieved that the lawsuit is finally over, he claimed his saga with Covington is not done during a recent appearance on "The MMA Hour.”

“I don’t know when, but me and Colby are going to see each other at some point, whether it’s in a f—ing cage or I don’t know where the f—k it’s going to be,” Masvidal said. “We’re going to see each other. For him lying on my name, for him pressing charges, for everything he’s done, we are going to see each other. It’s going to be fun…

PFL Releases 2021 Lightweight Champ Raush Manfio

Raush Manfio is no longer part of the Professional Fighters League roster.

The 2021 lightweight champion announced his release via social media on Monday.

“I would like to announce that I’m no longer part of the PFL, but also thank [PFL] for all these years with the promotion,” Manfio wrote (translation via MMAFighting.com). “We came in from the front door and left with my head held high knowing it wasn’t the way we wanted to end this season, but the year isn’t over yet.”

Manfio’s PFL tenure comes to a close in disappointing fashion. In his last appearance, Manfio dropped a unanimous decision to longtime friend and training partner Natan Schulte at PFL 6 on June 23. The bout was criticized for its lack of activity, which resulted in both Manfio and Schulte being suspended by the organization. Additionally, Schulte was removed from the postseason, with Shane Burgos taking his place.

Manfio enjoyed his fair share of success in the PFL, …

Sean O’Malley-Marlon Vera Rematch Booked to Headline UFC 299 in March

The stakes will be much greater when Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera run it back.

UFC CEO Dana White announced Monday that O’Malley, the promotion’s reigning bantamweight champion, will lock horns with Vera in a rematch atop the UFC 299 lineup in March. An exact date and venue for the event were not confirmed.

O’Malley suffered his lone professional defeat to Vera at UFC 252 in August 2020. In that bout, “Sugar” was hindered by an apparent ankle injury before losing to Vera via first-round technical knockout. The MMA Lab standout has since rebounded to go unbeaten in his next six promotional appearances, culminating in a second-round TKO of Aljamain Sterling to claim 135-pound gold at UFC 292 this past August.

Vera has won five of his last six fights in UFC competition — with a split-decision defeat against Corey Sandhagen the only blemish on his ledger during that time. In addition to besting O’Malley, Vera owns notable wins over the likes of Pedro Munhoz, …

Alexander Volkanovski to Face Ilia Topuria in UFC 298 Main Event

While it won’t come quite as early as he wanted, Alexander Volkanovski will still get a relatively quick return to the Octagon.

The reigning featherweight king will defend his belt against Ilia Topuria in the UFC 298 headliner, UFC CEO Dana White announced on Monday. A date and venue for the event are currently unknown, though the card will take place sometime in February.

Volkanovski is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Islam Makhachev in his second bid to become a two-division champion at UFC 294 this past October. The City Kickboxing accepted the bout on short notice when Makhachev’s original foe, Charles Oliveira, was unable to compete after suffering a cut in training. An emotional Volkanovski requested a quick return in the aftermath of the defeat, targeting UFC 297 in January. Instead, his first 145-pound title defense since July — a third-round TKO of Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 — will occur the following month.

Topuria, meanwhile, has been v…

Sean Strickland to Defend Middleweight Title vs. Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297

Sean Strickland’s first middleweight title defense won’t come against Khamzat Chimaev as originally anticipated.

UFC CEO Dana White announced Monday that Strickland will face Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event. While Chimaev defeated Kamaru Usman in what was billed as a title eliminator at UFC 294 on Oct. 21, “Borz” might not be ready to compete in January after suffering a torn ligament in his hand during the bout.

UFC 297 takes place on Jan. 20 in Toronto and will also see Raquel Pennington square off against Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant women’s bantamweight title.

Du Plessis was initially supposed to face then-champion Israel Adesanya in a grudge match at UFC 293, but the South African standout was not healthy enough to fight at the event. That opened the door for Strickland, who took a surprising five-round verdict against “The Last Stylebender” to claim 185-pound gold in Sydney on Sept. 9. Strickland has won nine of his las…

Only Title Shot Makes Sense for Belal Muhammad, Claims Manager

The owner of one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s longest-ever unbeaten streaks without a title shot is ready to press the issue.

Welterweight contender Belal Muhammad (23-3, 1 NC) will only fight for the title next even if he has to wait for it, according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz, who recently spoke to MMA Fighting about his client’s long climb up the 170-pound ladder. Undefeated in his last 10 outings, with nine wins and a no contest against current champ Leon Edwards, and ranked No. 2 on the welterweight ladder, Muhammad has long been rallying for a shot at the title. While many consider “Remember the Name” to be most deserving of the next chance at the belt, the promotion has passed him over repeatedly, most recently in favor of Colby Covington, who is scheduled to challenge Edwards at UFC 296 on Dec. 16.

While Covington hasn’t fought since a decision win over Jorge Masvidal in March 2022, Muhammad has competed three times since the…

Jorge Masvidal Reaches Plea Deal, Felony Charges Dropped in Colby Covington Case

Jorge Masvidal reached a plea deal with prosecutors on Monday to have two felony charges dropped in relation to his attack on Colby Covington on March 2022.

According to a report from MMAjunkie.com, Masvidal pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge in Miami-Dade County (Fla.) court as part of the plea agreement. Masvidal, who was in attendance alonside his attorney, Saam Zanganeh, was sentenced to time served and court costs. Time served includes previous appearances at police stations and court hearings.

More significantly for Masvidal, two felony charges of battery and criminal mischief were dropped. The former UFC welterweight contender had faced up to 15 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for the felony charges. The guilty verdict for the misdemeanor battery charge will remain on Masvidal’s criminal record. Covington was reportedly given the option to be in court, but he was not present on Monday.

Masvidal attacked Covington out…

Islam Makhachev Doubts Conor McGregor Will Earn a Lightweight Title Shot

Islam Makhachev doesn’t see Conor McGregor earning himself a legitimate title shot upon his return.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight and featherweight titleholder McGregor (22-6) has been out of action since 2021, nursing a broken leg he suffered in his trilogy clash against Dustin Poirier. The Irish star recently made a return to the UFC’s drug-testing pool after months of back-and-forth with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which would make his return possible next April.

Despite having dropped three of his last four, McGregor has remained a popular callout for elite lightweight contenders, including former champ Charles Oliveira. However, current lightweight champ Makhachev (25-1) isn’t interested in fighting McGregor unless “Notorious” deserves a title shot, which he doubts will happen.

Makhachev believes the climb up the rankings will not be easy for McGregor, who is currently expected to fight Michael Chan…

Former MMA Fighter Subdues Knife-Wielding Attacker in Viral Video

Whoa JavierBaez in Miami got attacked by some random with a knife but shows why wrestling is important to know pic.twitter.com/zxVcE2T3AW

— TerranceMcKinney (@twrecks155) November 3, 2023

Retired MMA fighter Javier Baez recently stopped a knife attack with his bare hands—and made it look effortless.

Baez was attacked by a knife-wielding stranger in the parking lot of his apartment complex in Cutler Bay, Fla., last Wednesday. The 34-year-old deftly avoided an attack before slamming his attacker to the pavement and locking in an arm-triangle choke. The knife can then be seen falling out of the hands of the assailant, identified as 50-year-old Omar Marrero.

Miami-Dade police subsequently arrested Marrero who now faces two felony charges. Baez told multiple news outlets that the attacker had aggressively approached his car with a 14-inch knife before brandishing another foot-long knife to attack him. From there it was all…

Dana White Refutes Rumors of Makhachev-Oliveira 2 Headlining UFC 297 in January

It appears Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira won’t have their rematch at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first pay-per-view card of next year.

While yet to be announced, UFC 297 is being targeted for Jan. 20 in Toronto. Per a recent report from Ariel Helwani, Oliveira (34-9) would attempt to reclaim the lightweight strap against Makhachev (25-1) in the main event of the night. However, Helwani’s report has been dismissed by UFC CEO Dana White who told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, “Anything is possible, it’s whenever both are ready.” Helwani’s report was also dismissed as “fake news” by Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, who told Okamoto that the champ will be ready to fight on March 9.

Makhachev dropped Oliveira before submitting him to win the vacant strap at UFC 280 last October. The Dagestani has since defended his title twice against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, first via a closely contested decision in February followed by a hi…

Tye Ruotolo Addresses Possibility of Facing Twin Brother in ONE Championship

Tye and Kade Ruotolo have been going to war on the grappling mats ever since they began training in the sport at age 3.

The twin brothers are currently undefeated under the ONE Championship banner while wreaking havoc in separate weight classes. The possibility of the Ruotolos facing each other in a grappling match in ONE has been a hot topic of conversation among fans of late.

Furthermore, with Tye recently securing the inaugural welterweight submission grappling championship against Magomed Abdulkadirov, the interest in a fantasy matchup between two champion brothers is bound to increase.

Tye addressed the possibility while speaking to media following ONE on Prime Video 16.

“My brother and I are always open to fighting each other because we do it every day,” he said. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary. Currently, I have three wins over my brother, which is funny because most of the time he was beating me, but I caught him in the end ev…

Jonathan Haggerty Reflects on Title-Winning Performance Against Fabricio Andrade

Reigning ONE bantamweight muay thai champion Jonathan Haggerty has finally achieved one of his primary goals as a combat sports athlete with his latest outing against mixed martial arts champion Fabricio Andrade.

Haggerty (20-4) impressively secured the vacant bantamweight kickboxing title via Round 2 knockout in a champion vs. champion main event clash against Andrade (29-1) at ONE on Prime Video 16 and is now a two-sport world champion.

While most fans expected the fight to be a back-and-forth affair, things seemed quite different inside the ring. Interestingly, as per Haggerty's post-fight comments, the Englishman isn't shocked by the outcome of the bout.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” he said. “I was going in for the knockout. I was saying all week that he’d be getting knocked out. I feel like he knew himself that he was going to be stopped and beat but he was just putting up a front and showing face which is what you have to do as a fighter.…

Jailton Almeida Targets Showdown with Ex-Title Challenger Ciryl Gane

Jailton Almeida called out heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane after a lopsided decision win over Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 231 on Saturday.

Almeida (20-2) was a heavy favorite going into his headlining clash against the feared knockout artist in the UFC’s return to Sao Paulo, Brazil after four years. Unsurprisingly, “Malhadinho” used a grappling-heavy approach to completely nullify Lewis’ (27-12) offense, notching a new heavyweight control time record of over 21 minutes.

However, Almeida’s performance raised certain concerns in the commentary booth, particularly for Michael Bisping. Bisping and Brendan Fitzgerald felt Almeida could have looked harder for a finish, with the referee having to call for activity in a thoroughly lopsided fight. Meanwhile, Dominick Cruz repeatedly gave credit to Almeida’s composure and for not risking giving away any positions against Lewis.

Almeida himself felt he had put on a show. However, he also claims t…

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