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Contrary to popular belief, Michael Page claims a fight against Stephen Thompson could be “boring.”

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Page made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 299 on March 9 against Kevin Holland. “Venom” completely outclassed the American on the feet over the course of three rounds, also putting on a show with his signature showboating. While he believes he could have gotten the finish, Page thinks he has done enough to draw potential opponents rather than him having to chase anyone.

At the moment, Page doesn’t have a particular opponent in mind.

“Nobody specific,” he told Sportsnet “I don’t care to call anybody’s name. I feel like I put a spotlight on myself, there will be people that are drawn to me. I want that challenge, so let’s go from there.”

Page’s performance against Holland immediately gave rise to talks of a booking with fellow elite striker Stephen Thompson. However, Page claims that a clash between the two could lead to an…

Gilbert Burns has issued a statement addressing his loss to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299.

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After surviving an early onslaught from Maddalena, Burns took his Australian foe down towards the end of the first and spent almost the entirety of the second round in top control. While Maddalena was visibly inflicting damage in every striking exchange, Burns landed a takedown in the third as well. Having won the first two frames on two of the judges’ scorecards, “Durinho” seemed to be on the way to a decision win if he could just stay on top of the Australian. However, Maddalena got back to his feet with a desperate scramble and landed a massive knee before unleashing a flurry to get the finish with less than a minute and a half left.

Burns has now addressed the loss, blaming it on a mistake he made in the fight. “Durinho” also didn’t take anything away from Maddalena’s victory and gave him due credit.

“Felt great in there! Put on a great training c…

Merab Dvalishvili sounds confident that Sean O'Malley won’t get a double-champ bid before fighting him.

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Dvalishvili extended his winning streak to 10 with a dominant decision win over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 last month. “The Machine” was logically expected to be the opponent for Sean O’Malley’s first title defense before “Sugar” called out Marlon Vera.

O’Malley put on a striking clinic to defend his strap against “Chito” via unanimous decision at UFC 299 on March 9, avenging the lone professional loss of his career. Awaiting his long-deserved title shot next, Dvalishvili, who was sitting cage side, expected O’Malley to call him out. However, “The Machine” was “mad” to hear O’Malley call out featherweight champion Ilia Topuria instead.

While O’Malley is plotting a double-champ bid against Topuria, “El Matador” has dismissed the callout until “Sugar” defends his strap against Dvalishvili. “The Machine” believes the…

Dylan Budka will make his short-notice Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against fellow newcomer Cesar Almeida on April 6.

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Almeida was originally scheduled to face Josh Fremd in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 240 on April 6 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. However, Budka has now stepped in on three weeks’ notice for Fremd, who was forced out due to an injury. The change was first reported by MMAjunkie.com.

Fremd also provided an update on his Instagram Stories, although he didn’t specify the injury. The 30-year-old fighter hopes to avoid surgery and make a return this summer.

“For the [three people] who follow my career: Unfortunately I had to pull [out] from my fight April 6. Been trying to work through an injury to make it to the fight,” Fremd wrote. “I’ve had a series of things out of my control happen, which really aggravated this injury to the point I can't train at full clip [right now]. Hoping to avoid surgery, hit PT really …

Mark Coleman saved both his parents from a raging house fire, then went back in for the dog. He had to be lifeflighted to the hospital.

If anyone can beat back death itself, it's Mark.

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We were close to doing a book and it would have been a fascinating ride. A big, badass life. pic.twitter.com/Ll7ILAP995 — Jonathan Snowden (@JESnowden) March 12, 2024

Mark Coleman is fighting for his life after saving his parents from a fire at their home in Fremont, Ohio, on Tuesday.

According to an Instagram post from his daughter, Morgan Coleman, the UFC Hall of Famer was airlifted to a local hospital, where he is currently in critical condition due to smoke inhalation.

“As many know, our dad was involved in a house fire early this morning along with his parents and beloved dog, hammer,” Morgan Coleman wrote. “He managed to carry both of his parents out of the house but despite his best efforts was not able to save [our dog] Hamm…

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Valentina Shevchenko doesn’t want the weight of Mexican Independence Day bearing down on her trilogy clash with Alexa Grasso.

Shevchenko and Grasso will serve as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 32,” which features a middleweight and featherweight cast. The two are expected to clash for the third time sometime after the series concludes, potentially at UFC 306 on Sept. 14, when Dana White has vowed to put on a one-of-kind spectacle at The Sphere in Las Vegas in celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Having already fought Grasso once on a Noche UFC card last year, Shevchenko wants to have something celebrating her home country of Kyrgyzstan in the trilogy fight.

“I think more fair it’s gonna be one for her, one for me,” Shevchenko said during a promotional press conference for “TUF 32.” “We fought on Mexican Independence Day before. Now we have to find out something with Kyrgyzstan. Even now, I was briefly looking for the [TUF] fighters.…

A light heavyweight clash pitting Anthony Smith against Vitor Petrino has been added to the UFC 301 lineup.

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Multliple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from Laerte Viana. UFC 301 takes place on May 4 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. A headliner for the event has not been announced.

A former 205-pound title challenger, Smith has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, the 35-year-old “Lionheart” suffered a third-round technical knockout defeat against Khalil Rountree at UFC Fight Night 233 on Dec. 9.

The 26-year-old Petrino is undefeated in 11 professional outings — including four fights under the UFC banner. The Dana White's Contender Series alum was victorious in his first bout of 2024, a three-round verdict over Tyson Pedro at UFC Fight Night 238 on March 2.

#Madonna's "Celebration" tour has been a smash hit, earning rave reviews and leaving fans breathless.

To mark the tour's grand finale, the star is throwing a FREE concert for fans in Rio de Janeiro. Click below for details. (📸: MEGA) https://t.co/PmryIpnSZM pic.twitter.com/ylNQ3aQFy3

— Q Magazine (@QMagazine) March 11, 2024

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A high-profile concert could potentially take attention away from the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming pay-per-view in Rio de Janeiro.

While it has yet to be confirmed, there are multiple reports that pop star Madonna will perform a massive show at Copacabana Beach on May 4 — the same day as UFC 301. Because the show will be free with an estimated audience of more than 1 million people, it has already made a significant impact in Brazil, with thousands of fans reserving hotels and making plans to attend even before the show was confirmed.

That scheduling conflict is just the latest p…

As if his impressive UFC 299 victory over Benoit St. Denis wasn’t message enough, Dustin Poirier had a few words for UFC CEO Dana White in the immediate aftermath of the win.

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When an unranked St. Denis called out Poirier last November, “The Diamond” was initially dismissive of the callout. Poirier was taken by surprise when the Ultimate Fighting Championship called him up with the offer and had to find inner motivation to accept the fight.

An underdog going into his UFC 299 clash against “God of War,” Poirier struggled in wrestling exchanges in the opening. However, Louisiana’s finest came from behind to shut St. Denis lights out with a right hook in the second round.

Having already made a statement with the nature of his win, “The Diamond” then walked over to the UFC head honcho to share a few words. While it initially seemed like Poirier was talking to former U.S. President Donald Trump, Poirier revealed that his message was for White.

…

Cedric Doumbe recently suffered the first professional loss of his mixed martial arts career against Baissangour Chamsoudinov due to an odd mishap.

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When the decorated kickboxer complained about an issue with his foot in the third round of his PFL Europe main event bout, referee Marc Goddard asked him to continue. Doumbe was addressing the issue a second time, this time to his opponent, when Goddard called a stop to the contest, declaring Chamsoudinov the winner via injury stoppage.

Sharing his side of things, Doumbe revealed that there was a splinter in his foot during the fight. The Frenchman was initially unable to explain the issue to Goddard, as he wasn't aware of the English term for the word “splinter.” Doumbe then made eye contact with his fellow French opponent, who could see his discomfort. When Doumbe told Chamsoudinov about the splinter, “Baki” explained it to Goddard but it was already too late.

“At first, if you see the footage, I…

𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗼! 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆!

𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Heavyweights and Women’s Flyweights kick off the 2024 #PFLRegularSeason LIVE from the @BoeingCenterSA

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For more information and tickets 👇🎟️ https://t.co/dkByVDhUe4 pic.twitter.com/fb8Am2bMjJ — PFL (@PFLMMA) March 11, 2024

Professional Fighters League has unveiled full fight cards for each of its first three regular season events.

The lineups will feature some familiar faces — and plenty of new ones — on the heels of the company’s purchase of Bellator MMA last year. PFL announced the events in a release on Monday.

“The Professional Fighters League is excited to return to regular season action this April with three hard-hitting and crowd-pleasing events,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray in a release. “The PFL’s extensive roster of world-class fighters, which now includes Bellator stars, means the toughest test in MMA, the PFL regular season, just got tougher.” 

PFL 1 is headl…

While Ilia Topuria is eyeing another belt before defending his featherweight title, he has advised Sean O'Malley to defend the bantamweight strap once more before making a double-champ bid.

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O’Malley successfully defended his bantamweight title for the first time with a dominant unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera in the main event at UFC 299 on Saturday. Going into the fight, “Suga” had been rallying for a clash against Topuria if he defeated Vera.

O’Malley reiterated his callout in his post-fight Octagon interview while also keeping the door open for another bantamweight title defense against Merab Dvalishvili if the UFC wants to go in that direction.

“I want Illia. Baby, give me Illia… He’s a scary f—-ng dude. Illia excites me, going up a weight class excites me but I’m honestly here for whatever,” O’Malley said. If you guys want me to knockout Merab, I’ll do that too, but Illia is the exciting fight for the people.”

Dvalishvili, …

Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jack Della Maddalena might have a pivotal welterweight matchup in the works in the near future.

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Della Maddalena called out Rakhmonov for a title eliminator after his third-round stoppage win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 on Saturday.


“There’s some scary people in this division, and I’m the f—-ing scariest,” the Australian said in his post-fight interview. Shavkat Rakhmonov, I think me and you could make a hell of a title eliminator. One of the best in the business, let’s go.”

Della Maddalena has been victorious in his first seven Octagon appearances. With the title picture at 170 pounds somewhat murky at the moment, a showdown with Rakhmonov could be ideal. The undefeated Kazakh also expressed interest in the matchup while issuing a solemn warning on X.

“I respect your courage and confidence Jack, but you will face the same fate as my previous opponents,” Rakhmonov wrote.

I respect your …

Dustin Poirier has seemingly altered the lightweight title picture with his victory over Benoit St. Denis in the UFC 299 co-main event on Saturday.

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The lightweight contender was an underdog going into his clash against an unranked St. Denis. After surviving high pace and pressure from the Frenchman in the opening frame, Poirier came from behind to score a brutal knockout in the second round.

Having bounced back from a knockout loss against Justin Gaethje in perfect fashion, Poirier called for a title shot against Islam Makhachev in June.

Islam in June 😤

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) March 10, 2024

Makhachev, meanwhile, was impressed by Poirier’s performance and praised him on social media.

Very impressive Dustin 👏🏻💎

— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) March 10, 2024

Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, later claimed on social media that the reigning lightweight champ “would be gam…

Allycia Hellen Rodrigues wants to run things back with Stamp Fairtex after successfully defending her ONE Championship women’s atomweight muay thai world title against Cristina Morales.

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Rodrigues picked up a unanimous decision win over the Spanish standout in the co-main event at One on Prime Video 20 on International Women’s Day at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand on March 9. Rodrigues subsequently called for a rematch against reigning ONE women’s atomweight world champion Fairtex, who she defeated for the muay thai title in 2020. Rodrigues is also open to a clash against Phetjeeja, who unified the ONE women’s atomweight kickboxing title against Janet Todd in the evening’s main event.

“I’m expecting to fight against Phetjeeja or Stamp Fairtex, if she comes back to muay thai,” Rodrigues said at the post-fight press conference. ‌

Phetjeeja also expressed double-champ aspirations after the event and has her eyes on Rodrigues’ muay thai ti…

Phetjeeja OrMeekhun is eyeing another title after successfully unifying the ONE Championship women’s atomweight kickboxing title with a victory over Janet Todd in the main event at One on Prime Video 20.

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Phetjeeja picked up an emphatic unanimous decision win over Todd, who announced her retirement after the defeat. Phetjeeja was happy to have shared the ring with Todd in her final fight.

“It's such an honor to fight Janet Todd in her retirement fight,” Phetjeeja said at the post-fight press conference. “I’m very happy that I was part of her last fight so she can remember me, and I can remember her. It’s a historic moment for both of us.”

Having extended her promotional winning streak to six with the victory over Todd, Phetjeeja is now looking for double champ glory. The former Thailand National boxing team representative is plotting a clash against ONE women’s atomweight muay thai champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues, who successfully defended …

If it seems like Benoit St. Denis faded in the second round of his fight at UFC 299, there may have been a good reason for that.

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After a dominant opening stanza, St. Denis suffered a knockout loss against Dustin Poirier at the 2:32 mark of Round 2 in Saturday’s co-main event at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Afterward, the “God of War” took to Instagram to reveal that antibiotics may have hindered his performance as the fight progressed.

“Unfortunately this evening I was not able to fully express myself,” St. Denis wrote (via Google Translate). “My body didn’t respond after a week of antibiotics to fight an infection.

“Throughout I was present, but my body was absent. It did not react as usual. I only had one round to give you.”

Heading into the bout, St. Denis appeared to have a sore on his head, which led to speculation that the Frenchman may have been dealing with a staph infection. While St. Denis did not give specifics on the nature of his …

If it seems like Benoit St. Denis faded in the second round of his fight at UFC 299, there may have been a good reason for that.

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After a dominant opening stanza, St. Denis suffered a knockout loss against Dustin Poirier at the 2:32 mark of Round 2 in Saturday’s co-main event at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Afterward, the “God of War” took to Instagram to reveal that antibiotics may have hindered his performance as the fight progressed.

“Unfortunately this evening I was not able to fully express myself,” St. Denis wrote (via Google Translate). “My body didn’t respond after a week of antibiotics to fight an infection.

“Throughout I was present, but my body was absent. It did not react as usual. I only had one round to give you.”

Heading into the bout, St. Denis appeared to have a sore on his head, which led to speculation that the Frenchman may have been dealing with a staph infection. While St. Denis did not give specifics on the nature of his …

There was one thing missing from Sean O'Malley’s lopsided victory over Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 main event.

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“Something about not getting the finish doesn’t sit right with me,” O’Malley said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “It was just  like, ‘f—k.’ But I also haven’t watched it. Once I watch it back, I think I’ll get a little bit more excited. I aways want to get that finish.”

To be fair, nobody has finished Vera in 33 professional fights. Still, there was plenty to like about O’Malley’s performance outside of that, as he avenged a previous loss to “Chito” with a striking masterclass over 25 dominant minutes.

“I knew I was better than this guy for three and a half years,” O’Malley said. “I knew the first fight was a fluke. I proved that, and it felt good.”

At the conclusion of the event, UFC CEO Dana White praised O’Malley, calling the Arizona native the biggest star in bantamweight history. Meanwhile, O’Malley himself was i…

Based on his own lofty standards, UFC 299 wasn’t the typical Dustin Poirier fight.

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After all, the American Top Team product has faced Conor McGregor three times, fought for undisputed lightweight gold twice and headlined numerous cards over the course of his career. While Benoit St. Denis entered UFC 299 as a rising star on a five-bout finishing streak, he didn’t necessarily fit the profile of the usual Poirier opponent.

“It was kind of a timing thing and the situation of the lightweight division. There wasn’t any big names to fight,” Poirier explained at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I wanted to fight, especially coming off a loss. Nothing was big that they could put together.

“But this guy is on a streak and has a lot of momentum. When they offered it to me, that’s why we did it. There was nothing else at the time, and I honor what I do, man. Eddie Alvarez gave me a shot when he was a former champion and I was an up-and-comer…

When it comes to the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s bantamweight division, it didn’t get any bigger than UFC 299.

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That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White, who began Saturday’s post-fight press conference by praising Miami as a host city.

“The gate was $14.14 million. It was a sellout, 19,165 people. The highest-grossing event ever at the arena,” White said. “We broke our own record, and it is the fourth-highest grossing UFC event of all-time. Miami is on fire. This place is unbelievable. What they’ve done in this state and in this city in the last 10 years is phenomenal.”

In the evening’s featured bout, Sean O'Malley made his first successful bantamweight title defense with a lopsided five-round verdict against Marlon Vera at the Kaseya Center. About the only thing missing from the performance for “Suga” was a finish of his Ecuadorean rival. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, however. O’Malley bloodied and battered his opponent, o…

According to Kyler Phillips, bantamweights from the MMA Lab won’t avoid fighting one another if the situation calls for it.

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Phillips took on veteran Pedro Munhoz on the UFC 299 preliminary card at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday. “Matrix” put on a striking clinic to earn a unanimous decision victory, extending his winning streak to three and his promotional record to 6-1.

Phillips trains at the MMA Lab in Phoenix, which is home to a number of talented bantamweight fighters, including reigning champ Sean O’Malley. Top bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili had previously irked UFC CEO Dana White by refusing a title shot during the reign of good friend and Serra-Longo Fight Team training partner Aljamain Sterling. However, Phillips claims that MMA Lab bantamweights are not averse to the idea of competing against each other. Phillips also notes that with the sheer number of surging bantamweight prospects training at the gym, some of them wil…

Joanna Jedrzejczyk will become the second female fighter ever to be inducted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Fame when she enters the Modern Era wing this summer.

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It was announced during the UFC 299 broadcast that Jedrzejczyk will join Ronda Rousey in the Hall of Fame during the International Fight Week in June. Jedrzejczyk was also in attendance at the Kaseya Center in Miami for the event, supporting fellow polish fighter Mateusz Gamrot, who picked up a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Rafael dos Anjos.

“Joanna is one of the greatest athletes in combat sports history,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a release. “Joanna is an amazing person who has been an incredible champion, ambassador, and role model for women’s MMA, as well as an absolute killer inside the Octagon. She fought the best of the best in her division and never backed down from an opponent. Joanna is one of the toughest athletes we’ve ever seen, and it will be an hon…