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Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight veteran Dan Hooker won't be rushing his return to the Octagon this time around.

Hooker (23-12) was slated to face Bobby Green (31-14) in the co-main event of the recently concluded UFC Fight Night event in Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, the Kiwi was forced to withdraw from the bout merely 10 days ahead of the scheduled date after breaking his arm during one of his final sparring sessions.

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According to Hooker, this is the same arm that went under the knife following a hard-fought split-decision win against Jalin Turner at UFC 290 in July.

“It’s the exact same spot... Speaking with the surgeon, it just never healed properly. It actually never healed. It never set into place and by the time that I realized that it’s not healing, I was too deep in,” Hooker said on the MMA Hour. “I was too close to the fight, everything was booked, so I was just kind of going out of my way to protect it and not let it get hurt.”…

One Championship might want to take a closer look at Carlo Bumina-ang. The Team Lakay rep wiped out Ilyas Dursun with a sensational one-punch knockout in the first round of their ONE Friday Fights 44 bantamweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Dursun (2-1, 0-1 ONE) met his end just 23 seconds into Round 1.

The 29-year-old Bumina-ang (3-0, 3-0 ONE) sat down the Amir Team product with a counter right hook, gave chase and uncorked a devastating straight left. The concussive blow rendered Dursun unconscious in an instant and left him draped over the ropes. Somewhere, Wanderlei Silva smiled and Quinton Jackson shuddered.

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Bumina-ang has finished two of his first three opponents in less than a minute.

Meanwhile, Kak’s Fight Club export Babar Ali leaned on repeated takedowns, suffocating top control and heavy ground-and-pound, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Fritz Biagtan in a three-round flyweight attract…

The upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship card in Canada has taken a huge hit.

According to his UFC 297 opponent Aleksandar Rakic (14-3) on social media this Thursday, Jan Blachowicz (29-10-1) has been forced out of their light heavyweight matchup. The two were expecting to face off on Jan. 20 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Blachowicz expressed his disappointment about the surgery-requiring shoulder injury he sustained in a post on Instagram, while Rakic was quick to call out another opponent in hopes of staying on the lineup next month.

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“It wasn’t supposed to be this way,” a crestfallen Blachowicz wrote. “It’s hard to express how I feel because it’s a mixture of anger and sadness. Withdrawing from a fight due to injury is one of the most difficult decisions a fighter can make. However, sometimes there is no other option, especially when you are competing in the TOP 5 and want to put on a show at the highest level.”

The Polish fighter contin…

1⃣WEEK OUT

The Biggest Night In European MMA finally goes down in Dublin🏆💰

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[ 🇮🇪 #PFLDublin l 🗓 Fri Dec 8 l 🏟 @3ArenaDublinl 📺 LIVE on @DAZNMMA ] pic.twitter.com/DBnlyWEYMN — PFL (@PFLMMA) December 1, 2023 The Professional Fighters League returns for its final event of the year as it wraps up its European league's first season.

PFL Europe 4 will feature four finals and is headlined by a featherweight clash between Nathan Kelly and Dimitry Solimeis. All finalists made weight, with Frans Mlambo vs. Khurshed Kakhorov at bantamweight, John Mitchell vs. Jakub Kaszuba at lightweight, Dakota Ditcheva vs. Valentina Scatizzi at flyweight and Simeon Powell vs. Jakob Nedoh at light heavyweight.

The lone fighter to miss weight was Andreeas Binder. The would-be lightweight came in 5.7 pounds over the 155-pound limit at 161.7 pounds. This forced the cancellation of his fight against Daniele Scatizzi.

PFL Europe 4 will …

ONE Championship is coming to you LIVE from Qatar 🇶🇦 for the first time on March 1 with FIVE World Championship fights! Who do YOU want to see headline this historic card? 🏆✨#ONE166 | March 1 at 3:30PM AST🎟️ Early bird tickets:https://t.co/Wcx1ykvL1Jhttps://t.co/9mAnyrbScE… pic.twitter.com/GVsiv2aQRd

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 7, 2023 One Championship will be breaking new ground in 2024 in the Middle East.

Per the organization on Thursday, ONE will be running ONE 166: Qatar on March 1. The event at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar, will bring five separate championship bouts across their four disciplines. The league has not yet stated which titles will be on the line, but that belts will be up for grabs through their MMA, muay thai, kickboxing and submission grappling disciplines. No fights have currently been announced.

Abdulaziz Ali Al Mawlawi, the chief marketing and promotion officer for Qatar Tourism, spok…

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship has not had its fill of its flagship reality show just yet.

According to the organization on Thursday, the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” is on deck. Season 32, which will feature featherweights and middleweights, has opened casting. Unlike past seasons, tryouts will entirely be done remotely, with no physical sessions until the finalists are picked. Prospective competitors can apply through this link. The show will air sometime in June 2024 on ESPN and ESPN+, with the date still to be determined. The coaches of the teams have not been selected yet.

This season will follow one that ran from May to August, with teams captained by Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, for bantamweights and lightweights. The theme of Season 31 placed former UFC fighters against prospects, and veterans ran the table to the semifinals with the exception of Rico DiSciullo—who lost in the semis to Cody Gibson. Seven of the eight quar…

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

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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.

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“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.

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“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

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.