Blog

[embedded content]

While Max Holloway is the UFC’s BMF champ, he is strongly against unnecessary violence outside of the Octagon.

Advertisement

Holloway recently spoke out against gun violence, which has recently been rampant in his home state of Hawaii. When asked about a shooting in West Oahu, the former featherweight champ urged Hawaiians to put down the guns and find other ways to solve their issues.

Holloway noted that settling beefs with fist fights is better than using guns. “Blessed” also suggests people to go to the gym or play shooting games instead of taking up real guns.

“It sucks, man. Put the guns down, boys. Put ‘em down,” Holloway told Hawaiian outlet KHON2. “If you guys got a problem, do it the old-school way. Go to the boxing gym, put on some gloves and punch each other and then shake hands and be on with it. I remember when we was growing up, street fights, I wouldn’t say do it, but shooting someone is something different. At the end of …

Belal Muhammad is getting some well-deserved recognition.

Advertisement

Muhammad’s hometown of Chicago recently honored him by officially declaring Sept. 20, 2024 “Belal Muhammad Day.” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made the announcement in a ceremony at the Harold Washington Library Center on Friday.

😳👏September 20th is now “Belal Muhammad’s day” in his hometown Chicago.

Via. IG @bullyb170 ▫️ pic.twitter.com/tuR06VJ4ef — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) September 20, 2024

Johnson also wrote on his Instagram Stories about the Bogan High School and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate.

"Proud to congratulate UFC Champion [Belal Muhammad]! First Palestinian-American (and Chicago Public Schools grad) from the South Side of Chicago to win the title,” Johnson wrote.

“Remember the Name” also uploaded an Instagram post regarding the honor, reminding everyone to now “remember the date.”

The honor comes after M…

Raul Rosas Jr. recently elaborated on his UFC 306 bonus request, which faced widespread criticism.

Advertisement

Rosas took on veteran Qileng Aori in the first preliminary fight at UFC 306 on Sept 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The 19-year-old went on to earn a unanimous decision over Aori in what was seen as a lukewarm affair.

However, fans were surprised to see Rosas ask for a bonus for his performance in his post-fight Octagon interview. “El Nino Problema” has since explained his bizarre call for a bonus at UFC 306. To begin with, Rosas admits that he called for a bonus in heat of the moment out of habit, having earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses for all three of his previous UFC wins.

While Rosas admits that he didn’t deserve a bonus for his win over “Mongolian Murderer,” the Mexican prospect had some reasoning to justify getting one. Rosas takes the credit for attracting fans early on in the card.

“It was just the heat of the moment,” Ro…

إصابة ولا أقوى لعبدالله القحطاني 😳

بث مباشر الآن على قناة إم بي سي أكشن ومنصة شاهد!#نصنع_التاريخ #السعودية pic.twitter.com/1eY6TMgYI2

— PFL MENA (@PFLMENA) September 20, 2024 When it comes to MMA, nothing is ever guaranteed.

Advertisement

Bantamweights, featherweights, lightweights and welterweights were on display on Friday, along with a few showcase matchups with one featuring a rising amateur prospect. The Professional Fighters League completed its four-division playoffs of its Middle East, North Africa (MENA) series, setting the four finals bouts that had their fair share of intrigue. Both victors in the main and co-headlining spots crashed the party at PFL MENA 3 with upset wins.

The main attraction of the 10-fight show came at 145 pounds, as the favored Abdullah Al-Qahtani (9-2, 4-1 PFL) suffered his first defeat under the PFL banner in arguably the biggest fight of his career. “The Reaper” had the crowd on his side, and the…

حدث الميزان لوزن الفيثرويت لنزالات مرحلة نصف النهائي لبطولة #PFLMENA

عبدالله القحطاني: 145.4 رطلاًعبدالرحمن الحياصات: 145.9 رطلاً

Advertisement

20 سبتمبر | 📍 بوليفارد سيتي، الرياض | التذاكر متوفرة عبر https://t.co/F2H6Q4rdSt 🔗 | بث مباشر على قنوات SSC وإم بي سي أكشن ومنصة شاهد!… pic.twitter.com/GhcIwPQWHP — PFL MENA (@PFLMENA) September 19, 2024 The Professional Fighters League's Middle East and North Africa series continues this week as the playoff fights are now official.

The PFL MENA 3 main event is a featherweight semifinal match between Abdullah Al-Qahtani and Abdalrahman Alhyasat. It is one of eight playoff fights in the featherweight, welterweight, lightweight and bantamweight divisions. All fighters on the card successfully made weight.

Al-Qahtani (9-1) will look to provide the first loss on the record of Alhyasat (4-0). "The Reaper" is riding a four-fight win streak and previously finished Yazeed Hasanain via TKO. …

[embedded content]

Aljamain Sterling has been forced to pull out of a proposed featherweight booking against Movsar Evloev at UFC 307.

Advertisement

The ex-bantamweight champion announced the news via YouTube on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, I have to break the news I will not be competing in Salt Lake City at UFC 307,” Sterling said. “In sparring, I had an injury not requiring surgery, but I was advised by the UFC medical staff that I will not be able to properly compete in this short of a turnaround.

“I did the stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I can, as best as I can with the [UFC Performance Institute] team here, and unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now. I apologize to Movsar and his team. We’ve been talking and I was really looking forward to punching this guy in his face.”

While Sterling did not specify the nature of the injury, MMAFighting.com is reporting that an elbow issue caused “Funkmaster” to withdraw from the event. S…

Said Nurmagomedov will square off against Daniel Santos in a bantamweight bout at UFC 308.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Wednesday. UFC 308 takes place on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight championship tilt pitting Ilia Topuria against Max Holloway.

Nurmagomedov has been victorious in five of his last six Octagon appearances dating back to 2020. Most recently, the 32-year-old Dagestani rebounded from a loss to Jonathan Martinez by submitting Muin Gafurov in the opening stanza at UFC 294. Nurmagomedov was slated to face Montel Jackson at UFC Saudi Arabia in June before withdrawing from the contest.

After dropping his promotional debut to Julio Arce, Santos has scored back-to-back triumphs over John Castaneda and Johnny Munoz in UFC competition. The fight vs. Nurmagomedov will mark the Brazilian’s first appearance since June 2023.

[embedded content]

Herb Dean’s activity in the UFC 306 main event didn’t go unnoticed by Aljamain Sterling.

Advertisement

The UFC 306 main event clash between Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili on Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas started off bizarrely, though that wasn’t necessarily due to Dean. Dvalishvili suddenly stopped fighting in the opening seconds, frantically pointing at O’Malley coach Tim Welch in the corner.

Dean issued a stern warning to Dvalishvili for taking the liberty to stop the action by himself. Meanwhile, Welch, who has a history of shouting instructions to O’Malley’s opponents, also received a warning for excessive coaching. However, Dean began attracting attention, including those of the commentators, thank to his repeated intervention as the fight progressed.

Despite a lopsided grappling display from Dvalishvili, Dean inexplicably kept calling for more action, threatening to stand them up even as “The Machine” kept working continu…

[embedded content]

Head coach John Wood is rallying hard behind new bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili.

Advertisement

Dvalishvili dethroned Sean O'Malley via unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Leading up to the fight, Dvalishvili had already shown some disregard for bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov.

“The Machine” claimed Nurmagomedov’s name was pushed into the title picture off of only one notable win due to his relation to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Regardless, immediately after Dvalishvili’s title win, Joe Rogan asked him about potentially fighting Nurmagomedov, who was also shown on the big screen while attending UFC 306.

Dvalishvili refused to immediately plot his next move, claiming he needed to soak in the moment. The Georgian then went on to call out former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo at the post-fight press conference.

Wood is now backing Dvalishvili’s call to fight Figueiredo ov…

Max Holloway believes that the UFC was "shelling" Ilia Topuria away from him 😳

"I believe that the UFC made me fight every other contender at 145 except for [Ilia] for a reason...

Advertisement

I'm gonna prove come October 26th why the UFC was shelling him away from me."

🎥 YT /… pic.twitter.com/GXuCr2znT1

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 17, 2024

Max Holloway believes the UFC was protecting Ilia Topuria from him and he plans to show why in their upcoming matchup.

Holloway will challenge Topuria for the featherweight title in the main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Topuria earned the belt with a second-round knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 this past February. Many believe it Volkanovski’s short return timeline from a knockout loss against Islam Makhachev in October 2023 that affected his performance in that bout.

But Holloway doesn’t want to take anything …

[embedded content]

Khamzat Chimaev claims to have drastically changed his training approach leading up to his upcoming fight.

Advertisement

Chimaev’s seemingly promising UFC career has not fully lived up to its expectations after being plagued a lack of activity in recent years. The Chechen-born Swede is infamous for his massive weight miss for a scheduled fight against Nate Diaz in September 2022 in addition to multiple withdrawals.

Most recently, Chimaev was scheduled to headline UFC Saudi Arabia against Robert Whittaker this past June. However, “Borz” pulled out with less than two weeks to go after becoming violently ill. Chimaev was replaced on nine days’ notice by Ikram Aliskerov, who suffered a first-round knockout loss against Whittaker.

The booking between Whittaker and Chimaev is now rescheduled for UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Chimaev revealed that he has reunited with his first wrestling coach, Salim Noutsalkhanov, going…

[embedded content]

Merab Dvalishvili claims Sean O'Malley only hurt him to the body due to the food he had before their fight.

Dvalishvili challenged O’Malley for the bantamweight title in the main event at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. It was grappling-heavy domination from the Georgian for the majority of the fight until the final round, when Dvalishvili appared to be hurt by a teep to the body from “Suga,” immediately dropping his hands low. However, “The Machine” was able to coast his way to unanimous decision victory from there.

Dvalishvili now claims that O’Malley only hurt him to the body because of some unfamiliar food he had the night before. Dvalishvili claims his stomach was already hurting after having the food and the pain returned when O’Malley kicked his belly in that final minute.

“John Wood gave me some – they give you a bag – and I ate that yogurt or something sweet,” Dvalishvili said in an interview with Daniel Cormier. “Once …

Talisson Teixeira handled his business and inspired immediate intrigue.

Advertisement

The Team Mineiro prospect was one of four hopefuls to sign an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract during Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he cut down Arthur Lopes with punches in the first round of their heavyweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The monstrous 6-foot-7 Teixeira (7-0, 1-0 DWCS) slammed the door 1:57 into Round 1.

Lopes (6-2, 0-1 DWCS) closed the distance behind wild hooks from both hands but failed to connect with anything at full force. Teixeira stayed composed under duress, rolled with punches and set up a surgical strike. He backed up Lopes with a knee, then sent him crashing to the canvas with a laser-guided right cross. Teixeira followed with a standing-to-ground hammerfist before referee Gary Copeland could arrive on the scene.

The 24-year-old Teixeira has finished all seven of his opponents inside one round.

Bant…

A potential strawweight title eliminator is on tap for UFC 310, as Virna Jandiroba will lock horns with Tatiana Suarez on Dec. 7.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from Ag.Fight. UFC 310 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card does not currently have a main event, but it is also expected to include a light heavyweight scrap between Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes. Suarez and Jandiroba were initially slated to meet last year before the Brazilian withdrew from their bout due to a knee injury.

A former Invicta FC title holder, Jandiroba will take a four-bout winning streak into the matchup with Suarez. Most recently, “Carcara” earned a second-round submission victory against ex-title challenger Amanda Lemos in the UFC on ESPN 60 headliner on July 20. Jandiroba has also earned wins over Lupita Godinez, Marina Rodriguez and Angela Hill during her current winning streak.

Suarez, meanwhile, is undefeated in 10 p…

Sherdog’s live coverage of DWCS 2024: Week 6 will begin Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

Round 1 Keith Peterson will officiate this lightweight affair. Hassanzada comes out firing overhands and kicks. The Afghan fighter is also spamming spinning attacks. Hassanzada shoots behind all that aggression and Mantello defends again the fence. He angles out and tags Hassanzada with a body shot after another failed spinning backfist. Mantello stalks and pressures with punches. A straight left lands for Hassanzada. Hassanzada throws a straight to the body and Hassanzada shoots for another takedown, driving his foe into the fence. He connects his hands and carries Mantello to the center of the cage before slamming him to the mat. Hassanzada is in his foe’s full guard. He punches the body and creates space for a short elbow. Mantello scoots to the fence in a seated position. Hassanzada maintains good pressure from above. Mantello nearly gives up his back as he attempts to return to his feet.…

Professional Fighters League heavyweight Daniel James has been suspended 10 months after testing postive for a banned substance.

According to a statement from USADA, James tested positive for bis-(4-cyanophenyl) methanol — a metabolite of letrozole — in an out-of-competition sample collected on May 8. Letrozole, which is listed in the class of hormone and metabolic modulators, is primarily used to treat breast cancer in women but can also be used to prevent unwanted side effects from steroid use.

A positive test for letrozole typically comes with a 12-month sanction, but James was given a reduced suspension for his full and complete cooperation, according to USADA. As a result, he will be able to return to active competition on March 8, 2025. James has twice failed drug tests while competing under the Bellator MMA banner, including one instance that led to his November 2022 victory over Tyrell Fortune being overturned to a no contest.

James made his PFL d…

A Bellator middleweight championship rematch pitting Johnny Eblen against Fabian Edwards has been added to the main card of Professional Fighters League’s upcoming pay-per-view.

Advertisement

The promotion announced the bout, which was originally supposed to headline Bellator Champions Series London last weekend, on Tuesday. While Eblen vs. Edwards 2 will take place under the PFL banner, the Bellator 185-pound strap will still be on the line, according to a release.

"Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact" takes place on Oct. 19 at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is headlined by a heavyweight clash between ex-UFC champ Francis Ngannou and 2023 PFL king Renan Ferreira. In the co-main event, Bellator featherweight title holder Cristiane Justino will face two-division PFL champ Larissa Pacheco at 145 pounds. The main card airs at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT will be available on pay-per-view via ESPN+.

Eblen initially defended his 185-pound belt against E…

[embedded content]

Sean O'Malley is taking a hiatus from the sport after his recent title loss against Merab Dvalishvili.

Advertisement

O’Malley put his bantamweight title on the line against Dvalishvili in the main event at UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept. 14. Outside of a last round flurry of teeps to the body that had Dvalishvili visibly hurt, O’Malley was largely on the wrong side of a one-sided beatdown for five rounds. Arguably one of the biggest current stars in the promotion, “Suga” was seen apologizing to Dana White as the scorecards were announced unanimously in favor of Dvalishvili.

O’Malley recently revealed that he will be taking a short hiatus from the sport to fully heal up from injuries. O’Malley won the title with a knockout of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August 2023. He immediately set up a rematch against Marlon Vera, where he defended his title via a dominant unanimous decision at UFC 299 this past March. By then, Dvalishvili, w…

[embedded content]

If a polygraph test is to be believed, Ilia Topuria might not be feeling as invincible as he claims to be.

Advertisement

Topuria recently entered a polygraph test challenge with his brother, recently signed UFC featherweight Aleksandre Topuria. The first question the featherweight champ asked Aleksandre was if he thinks he can win a potential matchup between the two.

“The question is quite deep. If you had to be my opponent one day, I would have no doubt that I would beat you,” Aleksandre answered on Ilia’s YouTube channel.

And the polygraph went green, signaling a correct answer. Aleksandre then asked Ilia if he has ever felt invincible enough to think that he can beat any UFC fighter.

“Have you ever felt so invincible that you thought you could beat any UFC fighter?” Aleksandre said.

“El Matador” answered in the affirmative, setting off red lights on the polygraph, signaling a lie. However, the Georgian-Spanish champ continued to…

Tim Welch reveals what he told Merab Dvalishvili at the beginning of the fight:

"What I said to Merab was 'Merab you need to be patient', and that's when he freaked out."

Advertisement

🎥 YT / @TimwelchMT #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/i8tXVVqqRl — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 16, 2024

Tim Welch recently revealed what he told Merab Dvalishvili to evoke an unprecedented reaction at the beginning of his UFC 306 title fight against Sean O'Malley.

Dvalishvili challenged Welch’s longtime friend and pupil O’Malley in the main event at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The opening seconds of the fight had a bizarre sequence, as Dvalishvili stopped fighting while frantically pointing at Welch in O’Malley’s corner.

Referee Herb Dean sternly admonished Dvalishvili for stopping the fight while also issuing Welch a warning for excessive coaching. Dvalishvili’s reaction was not completely unjustified considering W…

[embedded content]

Ilia Topuria’s recent comments have led Max Holloway to doubt his fight IQ.

Holloway will challenge Topuria for the featherweight title in the main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. While “Blessed” was seemingly removed from the featherweight title picture until recently, when a historic BMF title win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 this past April earned him an immediate gold bid.

After putting a lopsided beatdown on Gaethje throughout the fight, Holloway pointed to the ground to stand and trade in the final seconds and knocked “The Highlight” out cold. The former featherweight champ’s iconic gesture of pointing to ground has already become a part of MMA folklore and will undoubtedly go down in the history books.

Topuria recently said that he might be the one pointing at the ground to coax Holloway into a slugfest at UFC 308. The Georgian-Spaniard also vowed to knock Holloway out in the first round if the Hawaiian …

An unforgettable day for Georgia, Georgian sport and Georgian people 🇬🇪❤

7-8AM, thousands of people in the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia, paralyzed capital city, and #AndNew UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili! 👑

Advertisement

What a time to be alive as a Georgian! 🇬🇪

🎥 Setanta… pic.twitter.com/yiL6SLBewR

— Giorgi Kokiashvili 🇬🇪 (@iHeartGeorgius1) September 15, 2024 Merab Dvalishvili’s championship triumph drew a crowd in his native Georgia.

A video posted by Setanta Sports showed a throng of fans gathered in the streets of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, to watch Dvalishvili claim the bantamweight throne with a unanimous decision triumph over Sean O'Malley in the main event of UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

According to Setanta Sports’ Giorgi Kokiashvili, the throng exceeded 10,000 people. Dvalishvili, who hails from the capital, has garnered 11 consecutive victories in UFC competition. In ad…

All 10 athletes slated to compete on Week 6 of Dana White's Contender Series made weight on Monday.

The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a bantamweight clash between Aaron Tau (135.5) and Elijah Smith (136). The card airs on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

New Zealand’s Tau has compiled an 8-0 professional mark while competing primarily in the Xtreme Fighting Championships promotion. The City Kickboxing representative has finished six of his eight triumphs inside the distance.

A native of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Smith has already won two fights in 2024. Most recently, he scored a first-round stoppage of Josh Walker at Fury FC 92 on June 16. The Team Victory product owns a 6-1 professional mark overall.

Contender Series Weigh-in Results:Aaron Tau (135.5) vs. Elijah Smith (136)Talisson Teixeira (259) vs. Arthur Guilherme Lopes Pereira (218)Benjamin Bennett (171) vs. Joey Hart (170.5)Yura Naito (186…

[embedded content]

Coach Javier Mendez believes Umar Nurmagomedov would have finished Sean O'Malley had he been in the same positions as Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306.

Advertisement

O’Malley put his bantamweight title on the line against Dvalishvili in the main event at UFC 306 at the Las Vegas Sphere on Saturday. For the majority of the fight, Dvalishvili thoroughly dominated O’Malley on the ground to earn a unanimous decision win.

Mendez believes Nurmagomedov is a better submission artist than the newly-crowned champ. According to the American Kickboxing Academy head coach, Nurmagomedov would have likely submitted O’Malley had he taken the Montana native down like Dvalishvili did.

“It would have played out different,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “It wouldn’t have been the same. I’m sure on the ground it would have been bad for O’Malley. But he might have got finished on the ground with Umar. Had Umar been able to take him to the ground, more than likely…