Blog

UFC Fight Night, Sept. 23 … per Dana White

No. 6 Rafael Fiziev vs. No. 6 Mateusz Gamrot

Advertisement

No. 12 Bryce Mitchell vs. No. 13 Dan Ige pic.twitter.com/4UMaMUr2hR — Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 27, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship appears to have locked in the main and co-main attractions for its late September Fight Night show.

Per the UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN on Thursday, the promotion has established its top two fights for the UFC Fight Night card on Sept. 23. Atop the event likely staged inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas will be a lightweight affair between Rafael Fiziev (12-2) and Mateusz Gamrot (22-2, 1 NC). In the co-featured attraction, featherweights Bryce Mitchell (15-1) and Dan Ige (17-6) will get to finally settle a beef that has gone on for years.

Fiziev saw his six-fight win streak come to a screeching halt in March when Justin Gaethje outworked him over three thrilling rounds. That …

An all-action Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight rumble is coming to the cage in mid-October.

MMAJunkie first broke the news on Thursday that Sodiq Yusuff (13-2) and Edson Barboza (23-11) were planning on throwing down at the untitled UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 14. The fight card is expected to be held inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and there is no headliner or much of its billing announced as of yet. This featherweight matchup has since been confirmed by Yusuff on Twitter shortly after its announcement.

This will be Yusuff’s first appearance in 2023, after a successful 2022 campaign that saw him pick up a decision win over Alex Caceres and then tap out Don Shainis in 30 seconds almost seven months later. After seven outings in the Octagon thus far, Yusuff has lost just one time, taking top contender Arnold Allen to the scorecards and coming up short. On his way up the 145-pound ladder, he beat the likes of Andre Fili, Gabriel Benitez and Sheymon Mo…

Patricky Freire was not disappointed by the last-minute change to the Bellator MMA x Rizin 2 main event.

Advertisement

On Tuesday night, it was announced that Rizin lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza would replace A.J. McKee in the grand prix bout, which will serve as the headliner for the Bellator portion of Saturday’s card at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

"The most important thing for me is to fight and advance in that grand prix and I’m glad Satoshi, the current Rizin champion, agreed to step in and face me on such short notice for both of us. I was told about A.J. McKee’s (medical issue) on Monday morning. He just told Bellator on Sunday. He was probably trying his best to recover until the last minute, but unfortunately it was not possible.”

Freire acknowledged that he will have to make some tactical changes against a new foe.

"Satoshi is a totally different opponent,” Freire said. “I did my whol…

Patricio Freire is a late addition to this weekend’s Super Rizin 2 event, as the Bellator featherweight champion will face Japanese kickboxing specialist Chihiro Suzuki in a 154-pound catchweight affair.

Advertisement

The pairing was announced during a press conference late on Tuesday night. Super Rizin 2 is part of a joint event with Bellator, but in this case, both promotions will have separate cards under their respective rules. Freire vs. Suzuki will take place in a ring under Rizin rules.

Freire is making a quick turnaround following an unsuccessful foray to 135 pounds, where he dropped a five-round verdict to Sergio Pettis in a title bout at Bellator 297 on June 16. That snapped a three-bout winning streak for “Pitbull,” who was coming off successive victories over A.J. McKee, Adam Borics and Kleber Koike Erbst.

Suzuki owns a 10-3 record in MMA. He had been victorious in his last five appearances under the Rizin banner before suffering a submission l…

Bellator MMA’s lightweight grand prix has undergone a significant change-up just days before the final quarterfinal was set to take place.

Advertisement

The promotion announced on Tuesday that Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza will repace A.J. McKee and face Patricky Freire in the 155-pound bracket. McKee, the ex-Bellator featherweight king, was forced to withdraw from the event due to a medical issue.

“This is a situation where medically A.J. cannot continue into our quarterfinals,” Coker said at a press conference. “He will be our first alternate. You never know what’s going to happen in the future.”

Satoshi has won six of his last seven professional outings, most recently outpointing Spike Carlyle in a non-title bout at Rizin 42 on May 6. His lone defeat came via unanimous decision at the hands of McKee at the Bellator vs. Rizin event last December.

Freire, meanwhile, relinquished Bellator’s lightweight crown …

Vicente Luque’s headlining bout against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 51 will proceed as planned after the welterweight was cleared to compete at a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing on Tuesday.

Advertisement

During that meeting, the NSAC revealed that Luque suffered a brain hemorrhage in relation to a technical knockout loss to Geoff Neal at UFC on ESPN 40 in August 2022. NSAC executive Jeff Mullen initially confirmed the news to MMAjunkie.com.

“He suffered a brain bleed [a year ago],” Mullen said. “He had a suspension of one year. He had to bring before the commission clearance from a neurosurgeon and a neurologist independently who recommended he be licensed. We have that material. … I have faith in our doctors.”

Luque’s license was unanimously approved by the commission. If he fights again in Nevada after his Aug. 12 matchup with dos Anjos, he will likely have to submit to additional testing to confirm he is still healthy enough to compete. Read more about Vicente Luque Cleared to Fight After Suffering Brain Hemorrhage in KO Loss

Charles Oliveira claims that he wasn’t in the right mindset heading into his lightweight title bout against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280.

Advertisement

In an interview with Brazilian outlet AgFight, Oliveira admitted that his mentality was affected by the tension surrounding the fight, which Makhachev won via second-round submission in October 2022. Part of that was due to statements made by Khabib Nurmagomedov expressing extreme confidence in his protege. Those, Oliveira says, caused him to “get too involved” in wanting to make a statement against his opponent.

“Do Bronx” has vowed that he won’t get distracted by outside comments before his rematch with Makhachev at UFC 294.

“I said some things for that fight that I shouldn't have said. That wasn't me. I ended up getting too emotionally involved,” Oliveira said. “I’ll never say I'm going to kill someone, curse or anything like that. And at times I ended up saying this about Islam: 'Oh, I'm going to kill th…

It appears that Molly McCann’s time as a UFC flyweight has run its course.

Advertisement

The popular English fighter indicated that a move to strawweight is imminent in a social media post on Monday. McCann is coming off a first-round submission loss to Julija Stoliarenko in the UFC Fight Night 224 co-main event on Saturday.

“If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to always overcome adversity and this is no different,” McCann wrote. “20 months ago I was sitting in this same position, [back to back] losses and ready to pack it in. Then a boss run and my world changed forever.

“We have one more adjustment to make and I believe that will make all the difference in the world, the smallest in the division makes it tough when the opponents are so much bigger. So for me it’s time to drop down and face the girls who are the same size!”

McCann has competed primarily at 125 pounds during her tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion, compiling a 6-5 record alo…

And just like that... I get to smoke an insurrectionist. #TruthVsMiletichhttps://t.co/RZSSrWGFuN pic.twitter.com/V0jtYvX92E

— Mike Jackson, Esq. (@TheTruthJackson) July 24, 2023

UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich will return to mixed martial arts at 55 years old when he faces four-time Octagon vet Mike Jackson at a Caged Aggression event in October.

Advertisement

The promotion recently announced the bout, which is part of a two-night event and takes place at the River Center in Davenport, Iowa. According to a release, “this confrontation between the two fighters encapsulates the broader societal divisions and political conflicts prevalent in today’s world.” The bad blood between the two apparently stems from Jackson’s reaction to Miletich’s participation during the now-infamous protests at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Miletich, a former UFC welterweight champion, hasn’t competed professionally in MMA since Dec. 11, 2008, when he d…

London has been a popular destination for the Ultimate Fighting Championship in recent months.

The latest visit occurred this past Saturday, as UFC Fight Night 224 took place at the O2 Arena and saw Tom Aspinall make a triumphant return with a first-round technical knockout of Marcin Tybura in the evening’s main event. According to UFC senior vice president Dave Shaw, the event was an all-around success — and maybe a little bit less hectic than the previous visit.

Advertisement

“The trip was great. It feels like home. We’ve been here four times in the last 18 months,” Shaw said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “For us, coming off of [the UFC 286] pay-per-view in March, where it was a very intense week – big week, lots going on, big card, Dana [White] and the whole crew, everyone here – it felt a little bit more manageable. But it felt like home. We’ve been in The O2 so many times now. I think for our crews, for the teams, it was fairly straightforward. Re…

Tom Aspinall put the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division on notice Saturday.

Advertisement

In his first fight in a year, the Englishman blitzed Marcin Tybura for a 73-second technical knockout victory in the UFC Fight Night 224 headliner at the O2 Arena in London. Aspinall’s blend of skill and athleticism was on full display, and he appears to be a difficult matchup for most anyone in the weight class. That includes Jon Jones, who Aspinall hasn’t been shy about mentioning as a desired opponent.

“I think I match up well,” Aspinall said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “It’s a dream fight of mine. I think I’m young and I’m fresh. I’ve not got loads of miles on the clock. I’m big. I can do everything well. I’m fast, I’m strong, I’m heavy, which is unlike a lot of his opponents who he’s fought in the past. I just think I bring something different to him, and I think he knows that, as well.”

Aspinall’s callout drew Jones’ attention, a…

EASY WORK for @AspinallMMA 👀

He gets the finish in the first round! #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/TtKd6uUR3f

— UFC (@ufc) July 22, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses following the UFC Fight Night 224 card.

Tom Aspinall impressed in his return from injury as the heavyweight contender quickly ran through Marcin Tybura. Aspinall's slicing elbows and powerful punches put away Tybura in slightly over a minute. The impressive TKO win was enough for the British fighter to earn a Performance of the Night bonus and take home an extra $50,000. The fight was officially stopped at 1:13 of the first round.

The other Performance of the Night bonus went to Paul Craig. After a rough first round, "Bearjew" managed to put away Andre Muniz with a series of brutal elbows. Finally, Fight of the Night went to Danny Roberts and Jonny Parsons, which earned both fighters an extra $50,000. Parsons wound up fin…

Tom Aspinall didn’t miss a beat.

Almost a year to the day since he suffered a knee injury in a loss to Curtis Blaydes, Aspinall returned to form with a first-round technical knockout victory against Marcin Tybura in the UFC Fight Night 224 headliner at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday. The heavyweight bout was called off just 73 seconds after it began.

Advertisement

“This is a whole new version of me. I’m not going to say that I’m back… I’m just different now than what I was last year,” Aspinall said. “My mind’s different. My body’s different. I’m going all the way.”

Aspinall didn’t give Tybura (24-8, 11-7 UFC) a chance to get going. The Englishman rattled his foe with a head kick at the outset of the fight, and then showcased his speed and mobility by making the Pole swing at air. Shortly thereafter, Aspinall (13-3, 6-1 UFC) stopped Tybura in his tracks with a step-in elbow before dropping him with a right hand. From there, the Team Kaobon standout unleash…

Sherdog's live UFC Fight Night 224 coverage will begin Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Filho (-125), Barez (+105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

Advertisement

Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Brasil (-150), Bannon (+130)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result …

JONNY PARSONS WITH SECONDS LEFT IN THE ROUND 😲 #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/DUn027uR21

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 22, 2023

Syndicate MMA product Jonny Parsons outdueled English veteran Danny Roberts during a wild second-round brawl for a technical knockout victory in the featured welterweight prelim at UFC Fight Night 224 in London on Saturday. Parsons brought the show to a close at the 4:57 mark of Round 2 for his sixth straight win. Roberts has lost three straight fights dating back to May 2022.

Advertisement

Roberts (18-8, 7-7 UFC started well, using his reach and superior boxing to get the better of Parsons (9-3, 1-0 UFC) in the opening stanza. That changed in the second period when Parsons clipped his foe with a clean right to the jaw. From there, Roberts threw caution to the wind — to his detriment. Parsons had Roberts reeling with a series of knees and uppercuts against the fence, forcing “Hot Chocolate” to shoot for a takedown …

[embedded content] The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to England is set after the official weigh-ins took place.

All 30 fighters on the UFC Fight Night 224 card successfully made weight, including heavyweight headliners Tom Aspinall and Marcin Tybura. It will be the local combatant that will be the heavier man in the cage on Saturday, as Aspinall checked in 12 pounds higher than Tybura. Both men are signed up for five potential rounds of action.

Advertisement

This marks the first fight for Aspinall (12-3) since suffering a knee injury just 15 seconds into his encounter with Curtis Blaydes last year. Almost exactly one year later, Aspinall will look to return to the form that had him undefeated inside the Octagon. Prior to the setback, the English heavyweight had wreckedAlexander Volkov, Sergey Spivak and Andrei Arlovski in the span of about 13 months. Aspinall officially weighed 258 pounds, the heaviest in his UFC career to date.

This marks the second …

After weathering an early storm, a comeback late in the round secured the TKO win for Mick Stanton. He retains the CW Middleweight Title 🏆 what an incredible fight by both competitors 👏#CW157 pic.twitter.com/xIqxgm55It

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) July 21, 2023 Cage Warriors Fighting Championship mainstay Mick Stanton now knows the sweet taste of revenge.

For as long as it lasted, the CW 157 headliner was a slugfest starring Stanton (12-7, 9-5 CW) and James Webb (9-5-1, 8-5-1 CW) with the middleweight championship on the line. In their first clash, Webb defeated Stanton by unanimous decision. This time, the match was far, but much was more intense. Webb rocked his adversary right out of the gate with powerful strikes, keeping Stanton guessing until dropping him with a powerful body shot. Stanton recovered quickly enough and fired back with a vengeance. Thanks to a series of quick fists and a well-timed uppercut, Stanton rebounded and dropped…

[embedded content] The Legacy Fighting Alliance returns for its second event of July.

Headlining the nine-fight LFA 163 card is featherweight championship collision for the vacant belt between Elijah Johns and Javier Garcia. Both participants made weight for the five-round bout. However, there were three main card weight misses, as Johnny Hopper, Matheus Pereira and Angel Alvarez all came in heavy for their respective bouts.

Advertisement

An LFA mainstay, Johns (9-2) bounced back from a 2021 split decision defeat to Bruno Souza by defeating Brandon Phillips and Masuto Kawana both by unanimous decision. Winner of seven of his last eight appearances, the Dallas native stepped on the scale weighing 144.6 pounds.

Meanwhile, Garcia (10-5) has won three of his last four after also losing on the scorecards to the aforementioned Souza. Recent victories over Leandro Gomes and Albert Morales earned "El Mariachi" a shot at championship gold. The 31-year-old officially weig…

[embedded content] A Ultimate Fighting Championship vet has grown his team in Brazil beyond his wildest dreams.

Back in 2009 when he was still on the roster, UFC vet Cristiano Marcello decided he would move on from his original institution of Chute Boxe. Rather than join up with another team – he did train occasionally with Team Alpha Male in California, as coach Urijah Faber was also his trainer on his season of “The Ultimate Fighter” – the Rio de Janeiro native formed his own team and called it CM System. Over the years, it has drawn notable competitors like Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, Matheus Scheffel and Geraldo Coelho de Lima Neto, among others. Speaking with Sherdog on Thursday, Marcello had an announcement to make: his team had purchased the facilities of American Top Team in Curitiba, Brazil, and he claims that he now runs the largest training center in the country.

Advertisement

“I’m so glad I started the team in 2009 when I was still competing in UFC and …

Cory Sandhagen will now fight Rob Font at a catchweight in the main event of UFC Nashville on Aug. 5, sources told ESPN. Five-round fight.

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) July 20, 2023 A few injuries to top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship contenders have resulted in some significant card switches.

Per ESPN on Thursday, Rob Font (20-6) has been tapped as the replacement for the injured Umar Nurmagomedov for UFC Nashville. The Aug. 5 headliner now set as a 140-pound catchweight affair, it will play out between Font and Cory Sandhagen (16-4) over the course of five rounds. Font was initially planning on facing Yadong Song at UFC 292 two weeks later, but an injury to Song allows for Font to take this matchup on short notice.

In April, Font bounced back from a two-decision skid to Jose Aldo and Marlon Vera by clocking Adrian Yanez in the first round at UFC 287. Prior to the pair of five-round defeats to Aldo and Vera, the Boston native …

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 1:55 to reflect a dispute about the veracity of the fighter's confirmation of the grappling match.

One of the greatest fighters of all time is going to change disciplines to take on one of the best grapplers to ever compete in MMA.

Advertisement

According to FloGrappling on Thursday, former Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division champion Georges St. Pierre has an opponent for his grappling debut in December. At Fight Pass Invitation 6, which will likely be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, St. Pierre will ply his trade against Brazilian submission icon Demian Maia. The rules will likely be submission-only, with special overtime provisions that will be announced at a later date. News of this pairing, one that will headline the Dec. 14 event airing on UFC Fight Pass, was confirmed by Maia on social media.

Every now and then, something comes up that still does really motivate you.Grappling @…

[embedded content] One Championship is planning on ramping up its stateside presence next year in a big way.

The Singapore-based organization announced on Thursday that it planned on running four fight cards in the U.S. in 2024. Putting on bouts across multiple different disciplines, the league was able to travel to Colorado this past May with its various rule sets and weigh-in procedures approved by the Colorado Combative Sports Commission. No date or locations have been provided, other than that the events will air on Amazon Prime.

One head Chatri Sityodtong included a statement in the release, saying, “I am thrilled to announced that One Championship is coming back to the U.S. with four massive events in 2024. When we made our historic U.S. debut with One Fight Night 10 on Prime Video, I was blown away by the support we received from our fans in the U.S.”

This follows the April agreement One made with Amazon Prime to extend their broadcasting contract for sev…

The Rematch is 🔛

📺 Watch Mick Stanton 🆚 James Webb 𝗜𝗜 headline #CW157 tomorrow night on @UFCFightPass! pic.twitter.com/wzMjXu2yUB

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) July 20, 2023 Both Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be putting on 15-fight showcases in London this weekend.

Advertisement

The Cage Warriors middleweight championship will be on the line in the CW 157 main event. Reigning titleholder Mick Stanton will put his belt up for grabs against challenger James Webb in a highly anticipated rematch. Both men made weight, as did the rest of the card, with the exception of Tom Mearns (150.4). The would-be featherweight came in 4.4 pounds heavy for his fight against Bailey Gilbert, and has been fined a hefty 50% of his purse.

Stanton (11-7) claimed the title in his last fight, a unanimous decision win over Will Currie. The Liverpool native has won five of his last six fights, with the lon…

Abu Dhabi we're back and we're bringing a STACKED card with us!!@DanaWhite just announced the first three fights for #UFC294 in October 🔥

[ Tickets on sales this week | @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/9mgcbIwbB8

— UFC (@ufc) July 20, 2023

Advertisement

Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira are going to run it back after all.

UFC president Dana White announced on Wednesday evening that a lightweight championship rematch between Makhachev and Oliveira will headline UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21. Additionally, Paulo Costa will meet Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight, while Nassourdine Imavov will face Ikram Aliskerov in another 185-pound bout. Costa and Alikerov were initially slated to face each other at UFC 291 before the new fights were revealed.

Makhachev and Oliveira first squared off at UFC 280, with the Dagestani claiming the vacant 155-pound belt with a second-round submission triumph. Makhache…