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Tom Aspinall DOESN'T think Francis Ngannou's next opponent, Renan Ferreira, is elite 😬

"The guy [Francis] is fighting fought a friend of mine... and [my friend] just destroyed him within a minute or two...

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The elite guys are not in PFL... it's difficult to say [Francis] is the… pic.twitter.com/myiQcQD218 — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 14, 2024

Tom Aspinall finds it hard to label Francis Ngannou the best heavyweight in MMA.

Ngannou left the UFC as the reigning heavyweight champ in January 2023 after a failed contract negotiation with the Las Vegas-based promotion. “The Predator” was unable to come to terms with the UFC due to a few key stipulations, which included the allowance to compete in boxing simultaneously and health insurance for fighters.

The UFC heavyweight title picture has been in limbo after former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones won the vacant heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in Marc…

Dana White ISN'T happy with the latest UFC rankings update and says he has a meeting this week to try and fix the rankings 😬

"The morons strike again. Khalil Rountree fights that bad ass fight against Pereira, and the morons keep him at #8.

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Literally this week I have a meeting… pic.twitter.com/lDPvQMyF3L — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 15, 2024

Dana White is disappointed, to say the least, when it comes to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s latest rankings.

While White has voiced his displeasure with the rankings in the recent past, it was mostly in regards to Jon Jones’ standing in the pound-for-pound poll. Lightweight champ Islam Makhachev is the currently the promotion’s pound-for-pound No. 1 after having defended his title three times in less than two years. However, White insists that Jones, who is essentially undefeated, should top the rankings despite having not fought since March 2023, which w…

Conor McGregor is advising Sean O'Malley to train at his gym.

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While McGregor and O’Malley have beefed in the recent past, “Notorious” has seemingly risen above that. Despite having traded several barbs with “Suga,” the Irishman is now inviting him to train in Ireland.

O’Malley lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili via a lopsided decision at UFC 306 in September. Currently recovering from a hip surgery he underwent after UFC 306, O’Malley is rallying for a rematch against “The Machine” sometime next year. And McGregor believes O’Malley can regain his title by training with him at the SBG Ireland headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, under the tutelage of head coach John Kavanagh. The former double champ is also ready to set up the trip for O’Malley and his long-time coach, Tim Welch.

“Sean is a fighting legend! UFC champion and an incredible superstar! I would love, love, love to see, and I can set it up fully, [for] himself and his lon…

A welterweight bout pitting Bryan Battle against Randy Brown has been added to the UFC 310 lineup.

Battle’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, announced the booking on Monday. UFC 310 takes place on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight championship tilt between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov. In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight belt against Kai Asakura.

Battle, who won “The Ultimate Fighter 29,” has lost just once in eight Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Butcher” defeated Kevin Jousset via second-round technical knockout at UFC Paris on Sept. 28. Battle has finished all but one of his six victories in UFC competition.

An 18-time UFC veteran, Brown has been victorious in seven of his last eight outings within the Las Vegas-based promotion — with his only loss during that period coming at the hands of Jack Della Maddalena. “Rude Boy” is coming off a three-round verdict ove…

The final Dana White's Contender Series event of 2024 is now official, as all 10 fighters slated to compete at Week 10 hit their contracted marks at weigh-ins on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN+ at at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a middleweight showdown between Nick Klein (186) and Heraldo Souza (185).

Known as “The Amish Hammer,” Klein is coming off a 2-0 campaign in 2023 that saw him earn submission wins over Cory Simpson and Collin Huckbody. He owns a 5-1 career mark overall and has finished four of his five triumphs inside the distance.

Brazil’s Souza is unbeaten in his last six outings dating back to January 2022. In his first appearance of 2024, “Savage” stopped Andre Fischer 1:37 into the opening stanza of their May 11 bout.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Nick Klein (186) vs. Heraldo Souza (185)Luis Gurule (125.5) vs. Nick Piccininni (125.5)Yadier Del Valle (1…

What it's all about on October 1️⃣9️⃣th

Everything you need to know about the PFL Super Fights Belt 🏆

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[ #PFLSuperFights | #BraceForImpact | Sat, Oct 19th | 4PM ET | BUY NOW https://t.co/kWyJTEGRvW] pic.twitter.com/q0QVTefMDs — PFL (@PFLMMA) October 14, 2024

Some special championship hardware will be on the line at Professional Fighters League’s “Battle of the Giants” event this weekend.

The organization unveiled its special PFL Superfights World Championship belt, which will be at stake in the card’s two featured bouts — Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira and Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco. According to a video released by the organization, the 12.5-pound belt will feature 10 sides, a tribute to the SmartCage, and side plates celebrating each PFL division, all “culminating in a design that embodies the spirited magnitude of PFL Super Fights.”

PFL “Battle of the Giants” takes place at the Mayadeen in R…

Chris Barnett will replace Justin Tafa and square off against Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC 308.

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The promotion announced the new heavyweight booking during the UFC Vegas 98 broadcast on Saturday night. A reason for Tafa’s withdrawal was not given. Barnett was originally slated to fight at UFC Vegas 98 but was unable to compete due to Hurricane Milton.

UFC 308 takes place on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.

The 38-year-old Barnett will be making his first Octagon appearance since September 2022 after having multiple bouts fall through over the course of the past two years. In his last outing, “Huggy Bear” scored a second-round TKO victory against Jake Collier at UFC 279. Barnett is 2-2 during his UFC tenure overall.

After competing 11 times at 205 pounds in the Las Vegas-based promotion, Nzechukwu will move to heavyweight for the first time. The…

In most cases, Brandon Royval is someone who doesn’t hesitate to offer praise for his flyweight peers.

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That includes Tatsuro Taira, who gave “Raw Dawg” all he could handle in the UFC Vegas 98 headliner on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. While Taira spent the better part of two rounds attached to Royval’s back, the Factory X product was able to do enough quality work on the feet to earn a split-decision triumph. Though Royval has expected great things from Taira, he didn’t necessarily anticipate the struggles he would have to endure against the Japanese standout to get his hand raised.

“I didn’t expect any of that s—t. I thought I was gonna cruise through him, honestly,” Royval said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I give that kid a lot of respect. I give that kid a lot of praise. I 100% believe that he’s gonna be a champion one day. I said that before this fight took place. I said that before I even knew we were gonna fight…

Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira put on a show in the UFC Vegas 98 main event, and the flyweight contenders were compensated appropriately for their efforts.

Royval and Taira received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their back-and-forth battle at the UFC Apex on Saturday night. Royval was able to survive his opponent’s grappling and imposed his will during striking exchanges to emerge with a split-decision triumph in what will likely go down as one of the year’s best bouts.

Elsewhere, Octagon newcomer Ramazonbek Temirov made strong first impression, flooring C.J. Vergara three times en route to a technical knockout at the 2:50 mark of Round 1 in their flyweight pairing. That was more than enough to secure a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check for the Uzbekistan native.

Finally, Clayton Carpenter claimed the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award thanks to a second-round submission of Lucas Rocha in a preliminary flyweigh…

Brandon Royval showed he still warrants consideration as one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight elite.

The resilient Factory X standout called upon superior standup, bulletproof submission defense and a seemingly endless gas tank to outlast Tatsuro Taira to a five-round split decision in the UFC Fight Night 244 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three member of the judiciary struck 48-47 scorecards: Sal D’Amato for Taira, Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy for Royval.

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Taira (16-1, 6-1 UFC) was stellar in the grappling exchanges through four rounds, as he advanced to the back on multiple occasions, secured his position with body triangles, applied his ground-and-pound and threatened the neck. Royval (17-7, 7-3 UFC) answered on the feet, where he connected with surgical combinations and the occasional knee. He had Taira on the proverbial ropes early in the third round, as he sent two-, three- and four-punch volleys crashing…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to its homebase of Las Vegas Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with UFC Vegas 98. The event is also known as UFC Fight Night 244. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Carpenter (-192), Rocha (+160)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Haddon (-185), Argueta (+154)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Devin Tejada scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round…

Ramazonbek Temirov throws the kind of heat that keeps others awake at night.

The Uzbekistani prospect announced his arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division with some serious pizzazz, as he cut down C.J. Vergara with punches in the featured UFC Fight Night 244 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Vergara (12-6-1, 3-4 UFC) met his end 2:50 into Round 1.

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Temirov (16-2-1, 1-0 UFC) tested the waters with a couple spinning back kicks to the body while darting in and out with power punches. He floored Vergara with a left hook, gave chase with follow-up punches and dropped the Pete Spratt protégé a second time with a clubbing right over the top. Temirov kept his foot on the accelerator, allowed his opponent to stand and brought it to a close with a wicked left hook to the body.

The 27-year-old Temirov now finds himself on a 10-fight winning streak.

Meanwhile, former Cage Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Pat …

Two title fights will get top billing at UFC 310 on Dec. 7.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday that a welterweight title tilt between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov will serve as the evening’s main event, whileAlexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight crown against Kai Asakura in the co-headliner. UFC 310 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and marks the promotion’s final pay-per-view offering of 2024.

White also confirmed that a welterweight clash pitting Nick Diaz against Vicente Luque and a heavyweight showdown between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov have been rebooked for the event.

Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 11 Octagon appearances dating back to April 13, 2019. He claimed 170-pound gold with a unanimous decision triumph against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 on July 27. “Remember the Name” also owns notable wins over the likes of Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, Luque, Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia, to name a few.

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[embedded content] Micael Galvao and Amit Elor met backstage at a jiu-jitsu championship event in San Francisco in 2017, unaware of the future in store for the two of them.

Recently turning 21 years of age, Galvao has established himself as a major player in the jiu-jitsu scene. After conquering the so-called “Super Grand Slam”—victories in the Brazilian, Pan American, European and World Championships events—the youngster has ambitions that rival his ample skills. Galvao, also an ADCC champion, revealed to Combate’s Mundo da Luta podcast last Monday that he is considering representing his home country in the Olympics. Galvao’s girlfriend, Elor, won the Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2024 games at 68 kg (150 pounds), and he would like to match her accomplishment in 2028.

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“I have this desire to compete in the Olympic games, and I believe that wrestling would be the easiest path,” Galvao claimed. “I tried to see if it would be possible …

Our #UFCVegas98 main event is official ✅@BrandonRoyval hits the scale at 125.5lbs

[ Live TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus| 7pmET/4pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/21p2aAky9a

— UFC (@ufc) October 11, 2024 Editor's note: The article was updated at 2:15 p.m. ET to reflect the cancelation of one bout.

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After an electric pay-per-view event in Salt Lake City, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UFC Apex for UFC Fight Night 244.

Headlining the 12-fight card is a five-round flyweight contest between former title challenger Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira. Both mixed martial artists came in under the 126-pound limit. However, the rest of the card wasn't nearly as professional. Three fighters missed weight: Jared Gooden came in 1.5 pounds over the welterweight limit for his fight against Chidi Njokuani, Josh Fremd hit the scales in three pounds overweight for his middleweight fight against Abdul Razak Alhassan and Dan Argueta clocke…

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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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“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…