Blog

Another Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight title challenger might emerge in March.

On March 9, the organization will be running the pay-per-view card of UFC 299. MMA Mania broke the news on Wednesday that Katlyn Chookagian (18-5) will be making her comeback to the cage after nearly a year and a half off against Maycee Barber (13-2) at this show. Both women confirmed their involvement in this 125-pound contender pairing on their social media profiles, while also stating that it will go down in Miami, presumably at the Kaseya Center.

This will be the first appearance for Chookagian since an unsuccessful outing against Manon Fiorot at UFC 280 in October 2022. The New Jersey native fell short to Fiorot on the scorecards, which put a halt to a four-fight win streak—all by decision. In her run from 2020 to 2022 that restored her status as a top contender, she defeated Amanda Ribas, Jennifer Maia, Viviane Araujo and Cynthia Calvillo. In the last five years, Cho…

Ten days out!

The Champ @Leon_EdwardsMMA is ready to do battle at #UFC296! pic.twitter.com/ZEwGo2pyO6

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) December 6, 2023

Advertisement

Leon Edwards is unimpressed with Colby Covington’s recent performances.

Edwards (21-3) is scheduled to defend his strap against “Chaos” (17-3) in the UFC 296 headliner on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas. While Belal Muhammad was widely considered the rightful title contender, the promotion elected to give the shot to Covington, who hasn’t fought since a unanimous decision win over Jorge Masvidal in March 2022.

Covington’s last two wins before that came against Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler, which were both followed by title losses to Kamaru Usman. Based on Covington’s recent record, Edwards doesn’t see “Chaos” posing any threat to him on fight night. Instead, “Rocky” believes the Oregon native might be in for a total shock, having not beaten anyone in their pri…

Drakkar Klose believes he’d have Beneil Dariush’s spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight rankings by now if not for his loss to “Benny.”

Currently unranked at lightweight, Klose’s only loss in seven outings since 2017 came against Dariush (22-5) via a Round 2 knockout in 2020. The Fight Ready representative believes the loss impeded his rise up the lightweight rankings and admits to being haunted by it to this day. Considering the same, Klose is eager to get another opportunity to face off against Dariush.

Advertisement

“What I really want is that Beneil fight back,” Klose said on The MMA Hour. “You know what I mean, that haunts me every day. That he has that win over me. That should be my number next to my name that he has,”

In his most recent Octagon appearance, Klose (13-2) slammed his opponent Joe Solecki on the side of the head to escape an armbar, leading to the 13th slam KO in UFC history at UFC on ESPN 52 on Dec. 2. Meanwhile, Dariush …

What should be a banger at 145 pounds has been booked for the Apex in February.

The UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN announced on Wednesday night that “50K” Dan Ige (17-7) would be returning to the cage in February against the unbeaten Lerone Murphy (13-0-1). The two featherweights will toe the line, possibly with top-10 implications for the victor, inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. This Feb. 10 UFC Fight Night showdown has since been confirmed by both men on their respective Instagram pages.

Ige will be looking to re-enter the win column after a tough decision loss to Bryce Mitchell in September, albeit one that some observers thought Ige had done enough to win. The defeat put an end to a two-fight win streak for the Hawaiian, who punched out Damon Jackson in January and then outworked Nate Landwehr in June. Across his last 11 outings, the man known as “50K” has earned himself a pair of $50,000 bonuses with his knockouts of Gavin Tucker and the aforementioned Jack…

When Simeon Powell saw Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko go down at Wembley Stadium with 90,000 fans in attendance in April 2017, the then-teenager knew what he wanted in life.

Having just commenced dabbling in muay thai, Powell was on security duty for the heavyweight title clash. However, what he didn’t expect was to be in the front row as Joshua stopped the Ukrainian in the 11th frame.

Advertisement

“It gave me chills; I’ll remember it for the rest of my life,” Powell recently told The Sun. “It was crazy, the production, the atmosphere, I was like, ‘This is what I want.’”

“Smooth” turned pro in 2021 and has since racked up seven finishes in nine undefeated outings. Powell signed with the

Professional Fighters League, competing in the three-stage PFL Europe tournament with $100,000 up for grabs along with a chance to enter the $1 million global season. After a submission win over Mohamed Amine and a decision win over Daniel Ladero Gartner, Powell is s…

The BIGGEST NIGHT in European MMA history 🤩

💥 @SMOOTH_MMA vs @jakob_mma💥 @dakotadofficial vs Valentina Scatizzi💥 John Mitchell vs @kielbasaFL💥 @FransMlambo vs Khurshed Kakhorov

Advertisement

The @PFLEurope Championship is live this Friday on @DAZNmma #ad 🍿 — ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) December 7, 2023

Frans Mlambo fought back the urge to retire several times in his career and is just now starting to reap the fruits of his labor.

Fighting out of Straight Blast Gym in Ireland, which is also home to Ultimate Fighting Championship superstar Conor McGregor, Mlambo’s mixed martial arts career hasn’t been a smooth ride. Apart from going back and forth in his early career, “The Zulu Irishman” even considered retirement at times due to a lack of opportunities.

“Throughout the years there’s actually been a few times where that’s happened. I’ve thought, ‘This sport is flipping stupid. I’m working too hard and not getting the returns…

Brandon Moreno will serve as the backup fighter for the flyweight championship bout set for the UFC 296 co-main event.

Alexandre Pantoja will defend his 125-pound belt against Brandon Royval on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Should anything go awry with either athlete, Moreno will be available to serve as replacement. Multiple outlets confirmed Moreno’s status following an initial report from Eurosport Nederland.

Moreno relinquished the flyweight strap to Pantoja via split decision at UFC 290 in a “Fight of the Year” candidate. “The Assassin Baby” is expected to face Amir Albazi in a five-round, co-main event at UFC Mexico City on Feb. 24. That could change, however, if he is called upon at UFC 296.

Pantoja previously faced Royval at UFC on ESPN 29, winning via second-round rear-naked choke in August 2021. Royval has won three straight fights since that defeat to secure a shot at flyweight gold.

Josh Emmett will get to remain on the UFC 296 card after all.

Advertisement

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced Wednesday that Bryce Mitchell will replace the injured Giga Chikadze and face Emmett in a featherweight bout on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Chikadze was forced to withdraw from the event after suffering a torn groin in training.

Mitchell was successful in his first appearance of 2023, as he outpointed Dan Ige at UFC Fight Night 228 on Sept. 23. “Thug Nasty” has lost just once in a 17 professional outings — a second-round submission defeat to Ilia Topuria at UFC 282.

Emmett, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back losses against Ilia Topuria and Yair Rodriguez in his last two Octagon appearances.

UFC 296 is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. Emmett vs. Mitchell is currently slated for the preliminary draw, which airs on ESPN2 and ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Trainer Diego Lima says Charles Oliveira has a date in mind for his rematch against reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Advertisement

“My plan was to start talks with the UFC [Wednesday], but [Ian] Garry just arrived, so possibly [Thursday] we will have a meeting to decide. Charles wants that rematch with Makhachev in March [at UFC 299] before Ramadan, so that will be our main focus,” Lima said. “But if the UFC wants us to wait for Ramadan, we will do it. We are not in a hurry. The most important thing for us is to have Charles face Islam next.”

Lima has also considered the possibility of a rumored card in Brazil, which according to American Top Team trainer Marcos da Matta will be announced for May 4 in Rio de Janeiro.

"It´s gonna be a chess match. Fighting in March would be our priority, but for sure one of Charles’ dreams is to fight for the belt in front of his home fans. The UFC already announced [Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera 2] as title f…

A flyweight clash pitting Muhammad Mokaev against Alex Perez is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural visit to Saudia Arabia.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following an initial announcement from Perez’s management, Iridium Sports Agency. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to be held at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, on March 2. A headliner for the card has not been announced.

With victories in his first five promotional appearances, the 23-year-old Mokaev is one of the rising stars in the UFC’s flyweight division. In his last outing, “The Punisher” submitted former title challenger Tim Elliott with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their matchup at UFC 294. Mokaev has won four of his five UFC fights by way of submission.

Perez hasn’t competed since suffering a first-round submission defeat against current 125-pound champ Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 277 in July 2022. That was preceded by a title…

A flyweight clash pitting Muhammad Mokaev against Alex Perez is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural visit to Saudi Arabia.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following an initial announcement from Perez’s management, Iridium Sports Agency. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to be held at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 2. A headliner for the card has not been announced.

With victories in his first five promotional appearances, the 23-year-old Mokaev is one of the rising stars in the UFC’s flyweight division. In his last outing, “The Punisher” submitted former title challenger Tim Elliott with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their matchup at UFC 294. Mokaev has won four of his five UFC fights by way of submission.

Perez hasn’t competed since suffering a first-round submission defeat against current 125-pound champ Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 277 in July 2022. That was preceded by a title f…

Molly McCann is headed to the strawweight division for a rematch against Diana Belbita at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 3.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Wednesday. UFC Fight Night takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight duel between Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov.

McCann and Belbita initially squared off in a 125-pound contest at UFC on ESPN 6, where “Meatball” captured a unanimous decision triumph in October 2019. The 33-year-old Liverpool, England, native is 6-5 in the Octagon and is coming off back-to-back losses against Erin Blanchfield and Julija Stoliarenko.

Belbita dropped to strawweight after losing her first two UFC appearances at 125 pounds. She has since gone 2-2 in the promotion, including a unanimous decision loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 229 on Oct. 7.

Raul Rosas Jr. believes that while Sean O'Malley brings a lot of attention to the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division, there is also a downside to his championship reign.

Advertisement

O’Malley (17-1) won the title with a highlight-reel knockout win over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August. “Sugar” is now set to defend his strap at UFC 299 in March in a rematch against Marlon Vera (21-8-1), who handed the champ his lone professional loss in 2020. The booking happened mainly based on the history between the two, even though Sterling’s teammate Merab Dvalishvili, who is on a nine-fight win streak, is widely considered to be the rightful contender.

While “El Nino Problema” (8-1) acknowledged the attention O’Malley’s stardom brings to the division, he believes “Sugar” might hold up the title shots of rightful contenders who are tough stylistic matchups for him.

“The truth is that there are a lot of tough styles for him that are in title co…

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida believes his next fight should be against interim champ Tom Aspinall.

Advertisement

Aspinall scored a Round 1 knockout win over Russian standout Sergei Pavlovich in a short-notice interim title booking at UFC 295 on Nov. 11. A week prior, Almeida earned a lopsided decision win over Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 231 and proceeded to call out former interim champ Ciryl Gane in the aftermath of that victory.

While “Malhadinho” is still interested in a clash against Gane, he believes his next outing might be against Aspinall after he recently heard the Brit mention his name in an interview. While Aspinall is arguably one of the most agile and speedy heavyweights to step inside the Octagon, Almeida believes he can match up with the interim champ in that aspect.

“Against Ciryl Gane would be ideal, but Tom Aspinall already spoke to the media or whoever and is already talking about a fight wit…

Brandon Royval believes Youssef Zalal is one of the best bantamweights at Factory X who just hasn’t gotten his share of recognition yet.

Advertisement

Royval (15-6) is currently gearing up to challenge Alexandre Pantoja (26-5) for the Ultimate Fighting Championshipflyweight title in the co-main event at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “Raw Dawg” has been training with elite bantamweight contenders like Chris Gutierrez and Jonathan Martinez at the Factory X gym in Colorado. However, Royval claims former UFC fighter Youssef Zalal is probably the best of the lot.

“Being on the rise with some of these guys is – like I genuinely don’t think I’d be where I’m at without having the best 135ers around me. And that’s including Youssef Zalal. Youssef Zalal is probably better than all of us, it's just that he’s not getting his opportunity yet,” Pantoja told Sportskeeda MMA.

Zalal was released by the UFC on the back of an 0-3-1 streak which star…

Alexander Volkanovski is eager to remind the world of his greatness when he defends the featherweight strap against Ilia Topuria at UFC 298.

Advertisement

Volkanovski will look to return to the win column against Topuria on Feb.17 after his second failed bid at earning double-champ status against lightweight king Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 in October. “The Great” stepped up on short notice as a replacement for Charles Oliveira and went on to suffer a brutal Round 1 head-kick knockout loss.

Volkanovski was on a collision course with Topuria before stepping up for the double-champ bid. In the meantime, the undefeated Spanish standout opted to wait for his title shot. “El Matador” even uploaded a theatrical video implying he will maintain his undefeated record against Volkanovski.

Volkanovski believes his last loss against Makhachev is being perceived as a sign of weakness by some, and the Australian icon wants to shut them up. “The Great” discussed that per…

Amanda Serrano remains steadfast in her demand for women to compete under the same rules as men in the sport of boxing.

Advertisement

Serrano, who is also signed to compete for Professional Fighters League in its Super Fight Division, has now vacated her World Boxing Council strap in protest against the organization not allowing women to compete under the same rules as women.

While men typically compete for 12 three-minute rounds, women’s bouts are for 10 two-minute rounds. Serrano is among a long list of female boxers demanding the choice to compete under the same rules as men.

The WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine title holder beat Danila Ramos via a lopsided decision in October, which was the first time a women’s title bout was stipulated for 12 three-minute rounds since 2007. However, Serrano’s WBC title was not on the line, as the organization refused to sanction the fight. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman compared the difference in stipulation t…

UFC Fight Night 233 is down to 11 bouts following the cancellation of a 140-pound catchweight clash between Daniel Marcos and Carlos Vera.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report that visa issues for Marcos nixed the bout, which had only been recently added to the event. UFC Fight Night 233 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight showdown between Yadong Song and Chris Gutierrez.

Peru’s Marcos owns a 15-0 professional mark that includes wins over Saimon Oliveira and Davey Grant in his first two UFC appearances. He has finished eight of his career triumphs by knockout or technical knockout.

Vera was set to make his Octagon debut after winning his last four outings under the Fury FC banner. The 36-year-old is 11-3 over the course of a pro tenure that began in 2014.

While Rodolfo Bellato’s comeback victory over Ihor Potieria at UFC on ESPN 52 earned him a $50,000 bonus, 2023 didn’t start out so well for the Brazilian light heavyweight.

Advertisement

"If someone told me in February that 2023 would be the best year of my life, I would think it was some kind of [joke]. After all, I had lost to [Vitor] Petrino in September 2022 and my dream of going to UFC looked far away,” Bellato told Sherdog.com.

After a pair of victories under the Legacy Fighting Alliance banner earlier this year, Bellato got a second chance on Dana White’s Contender Series this past October. This time, he earned a UFC contract after scoring a technical knockout victory against Murtaza Talha Ali.

“A few weeks later, the UFC invited me to debut against Potieria, a guy who knocked out [Mauricio Rua] and had twice as many fights as I did. I knew it would be a war, but I decided that the only way he was going to beat me was to knock me out,” Bellato said. Read more about Rodolfo Bellato Thanked Referee Jacob Montalvo Following Victorious UFC Debut

Lipeng Zhang will square off against Maurice Abevi in a 170-pound tilt at ONE on Prime Video 18 on Jan. 12.

Promotion officials confirmed the booking to Sherdog.com. ONE on Prime Video 18 takes place at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok and features a 135-pound kickboxing title bout between Superlek Kiatmoo9 and Elias Mahmoudi. Additionally, UFC veteran John Lineker will compete in muay thai against Liam Harrison at 145 pounds.

Zhang has been victorious in three of his four appearances under the ONE banner. Most recently, the 33-year-old China native scored a first-round technical knockout win against Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE on Prime Video 15 on Oct. 6. “The Warrior” notably went 2-2 during a four-bout UFC stint from 2014 to 2015. Zhang is 25-3-1 since parting ways with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

After winning his first six professional outings on the regional circuit, Abevi split a pair of appearances with ONE in 2023. The Swiss fighter began his …

Further details have emerged regarding Jamahal Hill’s alleged assault of his brother in Michigan last month.

Advertisement

According to a police report initially obtained by MMAFighting.com, the former UFC light heavyweight champion and his brother, James, had a dispute stemming from an agreement Hill had for his brother’s wife to clean his vacant house for $300.

That reportedly progressed into “other family matters,” including James accusing Jamahal of not texting his daughter on Thanksgiving and “being disrespectful to women and abandoning his own daughter.” The situation allegedly escalated when Jamahal took off his shirt and got in James’ face before allegedly punching his brother.

The confrontation continued when James returned to his feet and his wife attempted to stand between the brothers. According to the police report, Jamahal “reached around James’ wife and punched James in the face once again causing him to fall and become dazed.” The report a…

Tim Elliott will take his next Ultimate Fighting Championship assignment on less than a week’s notice.

Advertisement

The former flyweight challenger will replace Allan Nascimento and lock horns with Su Mudaerji at UFC Fight Night 233 on Saturday. Elliott recently confirmed the news on social media. The new matchup was initially reported by Patrick McCorry, while Ag.Fight brought word of Nascimento’s withdrawal. Elliott vs. Mudaerji will be contested at bantamweight.

UFC Fight Night 233 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight scrap pitting Yadong Song against Chris Gutierrez. The main card airs on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Elliott will make a relatively quick turnaround after suffering a third-round submission defeat to Muhammad Mokaev at UFC 294 on Oct. 21. Prior to that, “The Ultimate Fighter 24” winner had been victorious in four of his previous fi…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship star Darren Till might grace the Karate Combat pit sometime next year, according to company president Asim Zaidi.

Advertisement

Till was granted his UFC release earlier this year on the heels of three consecutive losses. While “The Gorilla” revealed that he was still on good terms with the promotion, his future in MMA remains unclear.

A longtime muay thai practitioner, Till recently sounded dismissive of Karate Combat fighters, claiming he could beat anyone on the roster. The promotion’s 185-pound champ, Ross Levine, challenged Till in response, leading to the promotion courting the Liverpudlian regarding a title fight debut.

Zaidi recently revealed that Till’s title fight with Levine was originally being targeted for Karate Combat 43 on Dec. 15 in Las Vegas. However, that fell through and Levine will now defend his strap against UFC vet Sam Alvey. The card will be headlined by a rubber fight between former UFC champs…

Dan Hooker believes Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champ Islam Makhachev won’t risk having his throne challenged by Arman Tsarukyan.

Advertisement

Tsarukyan recently announced his arrival in the lightweight title picture with a spectacular knockout win over Beneil Dariush in the main event at UFC Austin on Dec. 2. “Ahalkalakets” subsequently called for a rematch against Makhachev, who defeated Tsarukyan in his UFC debut in 2019. UFC CEO Dana White also admitted that Tsarukyan’s win over Dariush complicates the question of the next title shot at lightweight, which was expected to be given to Charles Oliveira until now.

Hooker, a former opponent of Makhachev’s, said on "The MMA Hour” that he believes the champ will hang up his gloves before facing Tsarukyan. Hooker also thinks that Tsarukyan is too risky a stylistic matchup for Makhachev while not being a big draw.

“He ain’t gonna fight him. I guarantee he’ll retire,” Hooker said. “He’ll retire b…