Blog

Rising Ultimate Fighting Championship talent Carlos Prates has already earned a place on the marquee.

Per MMA Fighting on Thursday, the promotion has pulled Prates (20-6) from his welterweight pairing with Randy Brown at UFC 309. Instead, the surging Brazilian will collide with grizzled veteran Neil Magny (29-12) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 247, also known as UFC Vegas 100. An excited Prates has since confirmed the matchup on his Instagram page.

Fan-favorite Magny has alternated wins and losses in his last eight, staving off tough outs Mike Malott and Daniel Rodriguez while coming up short to elite threats in the division like Shavkat Rakhmonov and Gilbert Burns. Most recently, the 37-year-old saw his brief bit of momentum from the Malott victory dry up when Michael Morales punched him out in the first round. Magny, who now goes by the nickname of “The Haitian Sensation,” holds a litany of records at 170 pounds including the most appearances (33), the most …

Artem Vakhitov, the last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, just got a UFC contract 👀

Dana White says he gave him the contract because Alex Pereira said he deserves it 🤝 #DWCS #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/8FhySR8MhE

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 9, 2024

Advertisement

Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira helped rival Artem Vakhitov get into the UFC.

Vakhitov (3-1) earned a first-round technical knockout over Islem Masraf at DWCS 2024: Week 9 on Tuesday. However, UFC CEO Dana White contemplated before giving Vakhitov a contract as he did not expect the amount of clinching that transpired. White called on his biggest star and Vakhitov’s former foe in Pereira, who was sitting cageside, for his opinion.

“This was an interesting fight, more clinching than I expected. And you obviously got the job done, you got the finish. And I actually called Alex back with me to talk about this fig…

The woman many feel is the WMMA GOAT might be plotting a return.

Amanda Nunes (23-5) recently hinted that she might be coming out of retirement in a message to Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White. “The Lioness” asked the UFC head honcho to “Call me” in a video posted on Instagram.

White reacted to Nunes’ message at the DWCS 2024: Week 9 post-fight press conference.

“She looks good. She looks great. Looks like she’s still in shape. So, you know where her head’s at. And I love that about her. There’s a lot of things I love about her, I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next. I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”

Nunes’ legendary championship run came to an end via a shock upset submission loss against Julianna Pena (12-5) at UFC 269 in 2021. Nunes reclaimed her belt via a one-sided unanimous decision over Pena in their rematch at UFC 277 the next year. They were slated to meet …

Kody Steele found the on-off switch.

The undefeated Syndicate MMA prospect was one of four hopefuls to secure an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 9 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he took out Chasen Blair with punches in the second round of their lightweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Steele (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) brought it to a close 4:07 into Round 2.

Advertisement

Blair (6-3, 0-1 DWCS) went tit for tat with the Texan and held his own for a time. Steele applied merciless pressure, let fly with heavy punching bursts and put visible damage on his opponent across the first five minutes. Blair appeared to turn the tide in the first half of the second round, where he operated behind an effective counter game, basic one-twos and intermittent leg kicks. Steele was unimpressed and undeterred. He pressed forward with supreme confidence and connected with a sweeping left hook the liver that felled Blair at the base of the cage. …

Daniel Cormier reveals that the Alex Pereira camp let the UFC know that they may pull out of #UFC307 before heading to Salt Lake City. This would have resulted in Pennington vs Pena being the main-event.

“The UFC said to him ‘That would suck, but let us know how it goes. We have… pic.twitter.com/d2hgrsTg6z

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 7, 2024

Advertisement

The UFC 307 main event was close to being postponed.

Alex Pereira (12-2) put his light heavyweight title on the line against Khalil Rountree (13-6) in the main event at UFC 307 at Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 5. While Rountree took Rounds 1 and 2 on the official scorecards, Pereira put on a striking clinic as the fight progressed to earn a fourth-round technical knockout victory.

Pereira subsequently revealed that aside from a tough test against Rountree, he also had a grueling camp. “Poatan” dealt with visa issues, a fever that needed antibiotics and linger…

It has been a long time, to be honest. How are you doing with drugs? Are you still on steroids? https://t.co/Da50uyFXoL

— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) October 3, 2024

Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight king Ilia Topuria is rallying hard for a double champ bid against lightweight champ Islam Makhachev.

Advertisement

Topuria (15-0) has recently been exchanging words with Makhachev (26-1) and his team. The feud started with a Q&A session where Topuria said he would get the better of Makhachev in a street fight but would rather do it inside the Octagon to avoid paying the Dagestani’s medical bills. Makhachev’s teammate Usman Nurmagomedov fired back at Topuria, who took a dig the Bellator MMA lightweight champ’s recent drug testing failure. Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Tagir Ulanbekov from the Dagestani crew also chimed in to defend their teammates.

In an interview with Match TV, Makhachev warned Topuria about crossing person…

Michael “Venom” Page versus Carlos Condit has been booked for Polaris 30 on Nov. 2, per promotion officials.

MVP has been working on his grappling as of late and this popped up as a good test. pic.twitter.com/hqB2ivO259

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 7, 2024

Michael Page and Carlos Condit will meet in a grappling match at Polaris 30.

The grappling bout will headline the European promotion’s next event on Nov. 2 in London. The matchup was first reported by Ariel Helwani.

Known for his flashy striking, Page (22-3) will debut in pure grappling against Condit (32-14), who comes from a jiu-jitsu background.

“MVP” made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 299 in March when the 37-year-old earned a unanimous decision over Kevin Holland. The Brit has since dropped a unanimous decision against undefeated Ian Garry at UFC 303 in June.

Meanwhile, Condit, 40, retired from the sport following a unanimous d…

Top Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title challenger Kayla Harrison’s body is not reacting well to her weight cuts.

According to an interview with TMZ on Monday, recent victor Harrison (18-1) admitted that a week before UFC 307, she was forced to go to the hospital. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, who competed at 172 pounds in the games and 155 pounds while in Professional Fighters League, has struggled greatly to reach the 136-pound cap. Despite the issues, Harrison still defeated Ketlen Vieira on the scorecards to likely claim a shot at 135-pound gold. It was not all sunshine and rainbows for the judoka.

Advertisement

“I’m still learning, I’m still growing,” the 34-year-old told TMZ. “I feel like there’s a lot of room for improvement for me, it definitely wasn’t my best night in the cage. There are a lot of things that happened…I don’t like to make excuses, but I had to go to the hospital the week before, I was peeing blood and there was…

An ex-Bellator MMA champ wants to make a statement against a rising Ultimate Fighting Championship star.

Former two-time Bellator bantamweight king and current Combate commentator Eduardo Dantas will be shifting gears soon to go over to the realm of grappling. The 35-year-old will face Umar Nurmagomedov in a no-gi featherweight grappling contest at ADXC 7 on Oct. 25 at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. While he was considering continuing his MMA career, according to an interview with Sherdog, he received an offer he could not refuse.

Advertisement

“I was getting ready to take an MMA fight in December when the promoter of ADXC made me that proposal to face Nurmagomedov, so I just had to stop my boxing and muay thai preparation to focus on my jiu-jitsu training,” revealed Dantas.

According to the Nova Uniao representative, the confrontation of a classical Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a top Dagestani wrestler like Umar was his biggest mot…

[embedded content] The penultimate episode of Dana White's Contender Series is good to go after a brief scare on the scales.

After one fighter needed an extra hour to get to his proper marks, all 10 combatants for Week 9 of DWCS is official. The show that posts up in its usual location of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Tuesday night saw Anthony Drilich briefly come in heavy for his flyweight match with Sean Gauci. After initially hitting 127 pounds, he returned an hour later to reach the 126-pound cap, and all systems are go.

Advertisement

The ninth edition of the 2024 season will be headlined by a light heavyweight collision between power-punching Frenchman Islem Masraf (204.5) and former Glory kickboxing great Artem Vakhitov (205.5). The Tuesday card, as always, kicks off at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ESPN+.

Just three bouts listed on his pro resume, Masraf made a splash in Ares FC in 2023, tapping Azamat Aboukhanov in the second round. A pair of first-round knocko…

"I studied him a lot. I knew it was going to be a tough fight."

Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) speaks on the challenges he encountered during his third successful title defense.

Results, Interviews & More ➡️: https://t.co/ZYfGe6jwVs

— UFC News (@UFCNews) October 6, 2024 Alex Pereira needs a vacation to heal up from some nagging injuries.

Pereira (12-2) defended his light heavyweight title for the third time by dispatching Khalil Rountree (13-6) in the main event at UFC 307 on Saturday. By staving off three challengers in the span of 175 days, Pereira broke Ronda Rousey’s record (189 days) for the quickest time between three straight defenses. After a tough camp and some reaggravated injuries, the most active champion on the roster currently is ready to take some rest after his win over “The War Horse.”

In addition to a much-needed vacation, Pereira also plans on travelling around the world during…

[embedded content] Light heavyweight king Alex Pereira is less interested in moving back down to claim his old belt than seeking opportunities elsewhere.

Pereira (12-2) put his 205-pound title on the line against Khalil Rountree (13-6, 1 NC) in the main event at UFC 307. “Poatan” successfully defended his throne for the third time with a fourth-round technical knockout over Rountree. When speaking about his options going forward, the Brazilian threw cold water on relocating back down to 185 pounds because of training partner Sean Strickland.

Pereira had initially made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at middleweight, where he went on to defeat former Glory kickboxing foe Israel Adesanya to win the belt before losing it in their rematch. Leading up to UFC 307, the Brazilian expressed interest in moving down to middleweight to challenge reigning champ Dricus Du Plessis, who defended his throne against Adesanya via submission at UFC 305. Pereira earlier said he w…

Alex Pereira just brings a different kind of savagery to the cage, and only a select few can withstand it.

The Brazilian juggernaut retained his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title, as he stopped Khalil Rountree with a hailstorm of punches in the fourth round of their UFC 307 headliner on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Pereira (12-2, 9-1 UFC) brought it to a close 4:32 into Round 4.

Advertisement

Rountree (13-6, 9-6 UFC) held his own—for a time. The Syndicate MMA rep buckled Pereira’s knees with a counter right hand in the second round and fought fire with fire against one of the most feared men in the sport. However, the high work rate and the damage he absorbed took their toll, and by the end of the third round, the tide had shifted. Pereira tore into the Los Angeles native with clean punches to the head, low kicks and knee strikes, opened multiple cuts and showered the canvas and surrounding area with blood. His f…

Sherdog's live UFC 307 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

Advertisement

BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Means (-225), McGee (+185)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Pennington (-180), Esparza (+150)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:T…

[embedded content] UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

It's now official, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's light heavyweight and women's bantamweight titles will be on the line at UFC 307.

Advertisement

The 12-fight card's main event will see Alex Pereira put his light heavyweight championship on the line against Khalil Rountree, while the co-main event sees Raquel Pennington look to make her first bantamweight title defense against former champion Julianna Pena. All four title fight participants, along with the rest of the card, made weight.

Since losing the middleweight championship back to Israel Adesanya, Pereira (11-2) has looked great at light heavyweight. "Poatan" is currently on a four-fight win streak that includes two TKO wins over Jiri Prochazka, plus victories over Jan Blachowicz and Jamahal Hill. The Brazilian officially stepped on the scale at 205 pounds on the dot.

Meanwhile, Rountree (13-5, 1 NC) c…

[embedded content] The Brazilians surveyed largely predicted that Alex Pereira will violently defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship crown on Saturday.UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

Advertisement

In the main attraction of UFC 307, Pereira (11-2) will look to keep an iron grip on his light heavyweight strap against Khalil Rountree (13-5, 1 NC). Claiming the throne in 2023 by crushing Jiri Prochazka, Pereira mercilessly turned away former champs Jamahal Hill and a rebounding Prochazka in 2024 thus far. Sherdog polled several former or current Brazilian greats, including training partners and trainers alike, who weighed in on the matchup. Results were strongly in favor of their countryman to prevail.

Cesar Almeida, UFC fighter and training partner of Pereira: “In addition to having fought with Alex three times in kickboxing, I spent the last two months training with him almost every day in MMA. Khalil has a very still muay t…

It’s veteran-on-veteran violence as two longtime favorites with over 30 fights apiece come to blows in the Ultimate Fighting Championship cage this November.

According to MMA Fighting on Wednesday night, Jim Miller (37-18, 1 NC) will throw down with Damon Jackson (23-7-1, 1 NC) at UFC 309. The two lightweights—with Jackson coming up from 145 pounds—will compete on Nov. 16 inside of Madison Square Garden in New York. Both Miller and Jackson have since confirmed this pairing on their respective Instagram pages shortly after news broke late Wednesday.

Miller, 41, saw his two-fight finish streak come to a halt in April when he fell short to Bobby Green on the scorecards. Before the loss, the New Jersey native crushed Jesse Butler with one punch in 2023 and landed a face crank submission on Gabriel Benitez in January. Now known as “A-10,” Miller holds the UFC records for the most wins (26) and most appearances (44), while also celebrating the second-most finishes (18) an…

Rorion Gracie is asking for help for his first-ever student, who also played a role in the birth of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

One day after using social media to celebrate the birthday of his father, Hélio Gracie, who if he were alive would have turned 111 years old on Oct. 1, Rorion created a post seeking assistance for American Richard Bresler. Bressler rented a house with Gracie, where the Brazilian started teaching classes in the garage. That marked the beginning of the project that would lead to the promotion of jiu-jitsu in America and the creation of the UFC.

Advertisement

“The story of jiu-jitsu in the U.S. started almost half a century ago when my first student, Richard Bresler, agreed to rent a small house with me in Hermosa Beach, California, where the famous “Garage Days” happened,” Gracie wrote on Instagram. His enthusiasm for jiu-jitsu was such that he could not stop talking about it. At his restaurant in the Hawthorne Mall, and elsewhere,…

👊Mario Bautista eyes a future rematch with Cory Sandhagen:

"If things go well and I keep moving up, I wouldn't want to move past Cory Sandhagen especially since it was my debut fight and I've worked all this way just to get back here and he's still in front of me...

Advertisement

It… pic.twitter.com/9GZfUjlhLl — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 1, 2024

Mario Bautista wants to avenge his loss against Cory Sandhagen at some point.

Bautista suffered a first-round submission loss against Sandhagen in his UFC debut back in 2019. However, Baustista has since racked up an 8-1 promotional record, which includes a current six-fight winning streak.

Bautista is now scheduled to face arguably his toughest test since Sandhagen in Jose Aldo on the UFC 307 main card on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. If he gets past Aldo and maintains his upward climb, Bautista would like to run it back with “The Sandman” before e…

Austin Hubbard is loving training closer to home for his upcoming fight.

Advertisement

Hubbard takes on Alexander Hernandez in a lightweight matchup on the preliminary card at UFC 307 on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Previously a member of the Elevation Fight Team in Aurora, Colorado, Hubbard recently shifted to the Valle Flow Striking Academy in Bensenville, Illinois.

Hubbard had no bad blood with his previous gym, and the move was primarily inspired by the birth of his daughter, Charlie Jo, this past May. While Hubbard still has to drive an hour and half each side from his home in Dixon, Illinois, “Thud” likes being closer to his family.

“It was too hard to go out to Colorado for this camp and be gone for seven, eight weeks. So, I've been home, and I've been training at Valle Flow Striking in Chicago,” Hubbard told UFC.com.

“I love Elevation. They've been great for me and my career and obviously they've contributed to a lot of m…

Raquel Pennington and Julianna Pena have a difference of opinions about training at elevation.

Advertisement

Pennington puts her women’s bantamweight title on the line against Pena in the co-main event at UFC 307 on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is more than 4,000 feet above sea level. Fighters have been known to arrive a few weeks in advance for bouts in Utah to get accustomed to the elevation, including light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira, who defends his title against Khalil Rountree in the main event at UFC 307.

However, Pena doesn’t think that’s necessary. “The Venezuelan Vixen” only arrived in Salt Lake City on Monday for her title bid. Having fought in Colorado and Utah, both of which are at high altitude, Pena doesn’t think she’ll need much time for acclimation. According to former champ, if one is fit enough, the altitude should barely be a concern.

“We are leaving on Monday,” Pena told MMAjunkie.com. “I have fought in…

[embedded content]

Dana White isn’t a fan of UFC fighters crossing over to boxing.

Advertisement

After criticizing the boxing model for years, White recently teased a venture into the Sweet Science with “guns blazing” in 2025. This somehow led one of the UFC’s biggest current superstars, Alex Pereira, to believe that White’s boxing venture will start with him.

Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree in the main event at UFC 307on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. If successful, the former Glory Kickboxing champ will set a promotional record with three UFC title defenses in a span of 175 days. While Pereira has a chance to become a three-sport champion if he steps into the squared circle, White likes the scope of what more he can achieve in the UFC.

Although White will delve in pugilism in the near future, he is not a fan of crossover fights. The UFC head honcho prefers that all combat artists stay in their respe…

Former strawweight champion Emily Ducote will square off against Yulia Ostroverkhova in the Invicta FC 58 headliner on Nov. 6.

Advertisement

The promotion recently announced the booking. Alejandra Lara vs. Viviane Pereira was originally scheduled to be the evening’s main event, but the bout has been canceled due to illness, according to a release.

Invicta FC 58 takes place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City and will see Kate Bacik meet DeAnna Bennett in a flyweight affair. Four other bouts have also been confirmed for the card: Saori Oshima vs. Ana Palacios at atomweight; Shanna Young vs. Amanda Torres at flyweight; Zurina Turrey vs. Joy Pendell at featherweight and Magdalena Czaban vs. Hope Holmes at atomweight.

Ductoe vacated her Invicta title to fight in the UFC, where she went 2-3 from July 2022 to May 2024. Prior to that, “Gordinha” went 4-1 under the Invicta banner, including a second-round stoppage of Alesha Zappitella in her last promotional appearan…

Jacobe Smith lived up to the blue-chip billing.

The undefeated Fortis MMA prospect was one of five hopefuls to ink an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he put away Christien Savoie with sustained ground-and-pound in the second round of their welterweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Smith (9-0, 1-0 DWCS) drew the curtain 2:55 into Round 2.

Advertisement

Savoie (10-2-1, 0-1 DWCS) was simply out of his depth. A onetime NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University, Smith executed multiple takedowns, battered his overmatched counterpart from various positions and hacked open multiple cuts, one of them across the bridge of his nose. He powered the Savoie to the canvas one final time early in the middle stanza, stayed busy and prompted the stoppage with a sustained burst of elbows. Light heavyweight Diyar Nurgozhay, featherweight Alberto Montes, middleweight Torrez Finney and ba…