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Belal Muhammad’s long-awaited title shot will have to keep waiting—if Colby Covington has anything to say about it.

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Former interim champ Covington (17-3) is set to challenge Leon Edwards (21-3, 1 NC) for the welterweight title on Saturday in his first outing since March 2022. While many considered the 23-3 Muhammad to be the rightful next challenger thanks to his 10-fight unbeaten streak, the promotion elected to award the title shot to the brash “Chaos.” Edwards himself has called the challenger’s credentials into question as well, pointing out that the last three opponents Covington beat are no longer in the UFC.

Covington fired back at Wednesday’s press conference, referring to Muhammad as a “racist” and “race baiter.”

“No, who wants to fight a racist?” Covington said. “I mean could you imagine if I said someone earned something off the color of their skin? That’s absolutely despicable. It’s disgusting. That guy hasn’t des…

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After missing out on seeing Ian Garry at the UFC 296 pre-fight presser, fans have now been robbed altogether of his clash against Vicente Luque.

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Garry (13-0) was originally scheduled to trade leather with former Kill Cliff FC teammate Luque (22-9) at UFC 296 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “The Future” has now pulled out of the matchup due to pneumonia and flu, which was confirmed by Dana White after Chael Sonnen initially broke the news. White said on Instagram:

“Alright guys, I know it's out there, there is some speculation that Ian Garry and Luque is off. It is true. Ian Garry started with the flu that turned into pneumonia. So that fight is off and is not happening. It is true.”

That illness was also the reason for Garry’s absence from Wednesday’s pre-fight media scrum, which was highly anticipated by fans due to the recent drama surrounding the Irishman. Garry is engaged in an online feud with Sean Str…

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Former Strikeforce lightweight king Josh Thomson believes Justin Gaethje can give 155-pound Ultimate Fighting Championship ruler Islam Makhachev a run for his money.

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Makhachev (25-1) recently expressed interest in taking on a new opponent in Gaethje (25- 4) instead of rematches against Charles Oliveira or Arman Tsarukyan. Thomson believes “The Highlight” is the toughest fight in the division for Makhachev, owing to the intricacies of their contrasting styles.

Thomson noted that while Gaethje is notorious for avoiding wrestling, Makhachev’s wrestling isn’t very conventional. The Dagestani, self-admittedly, likes to work on sweeps and trips from the clinch, where Gaethje can be very dangerous on the break.

“I believe right now out of all of them, the hardest fight for him is Justin Gaethje. You say ‘no’ because of the wrestling, and I understand why you say no,” Thomson said on the “Weighing In” podcast. “But I say this: Isl…

Stephen Thompson doesn’t see a clear path to victory for Colby Covington in his upcoming welterweight title challenge against Leon Edwards.

Covington (17-3) is scheduled to headline UFC 296 on Saturday opposite the champion at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Thompson (17-6) recently explained why he believes “Rocky” (21-3) will successfully retain his strap against Covington.

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This is Covington’s third and probably last opportunity to become undisputed champ, having come up short against former ruler Kamaru Usman via technical knockout in 2019 and then a unanimous decision in 2021. Meanwhile, Edwards dethroned Usman with a last-minute comeback upset in August 2022 before convincingly defending his strap via a decision in a rematch this past March.

Looking at both of their performances against Usman, Thompson believes Edwards will have a size advantage over Covington. He further noted that while “Chaos” struggled to wrestle Usman on both occasions, Edwa…

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Ahead of his high-profile assignment at UFC 296, Bryce Mitchell is still haunted by his lone career loss.

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Mitchell (16-1), who takes on longtime featherweight contender Josh Emmett in the top prelim bout this Saturday in Las Vegas, suffered his first and thus far only professional defeat just over a year ago, when he faced Ilia Topuria at UFC 282. The Georgian by way of Spain dominated Mitchell on the way to a second-round submission win. “Thug Nasty” not only believes he could have put on a better showing but that it was the worst performance of his career.

“I want that one all day, because that was my worst performance of all time,” the 29-year-old recently told Michael Bisping.. “Even my backyard fights, I’ve never had a fight that bad. I’ve never fought that bad, I’ve never folded like that, I’ve never been able to not breathe and not move like that and, man, it just makes me mad. I know I could do better, but I don’t think …

For all the new fans of Robelis Despaigne. He was just signed to the UFC at 4-0 with all first round knockout. 6’7 Cuban Olympian with a 87 inch reach. Here’s my client warming up like a middleweight pic.twitter.com/7WjaYJeEkC

— AJ Ariosa (@AjAriosa) December 4, 2023

While Robelis Despaigne was initially apprehensive about dabbling in mixed martial arts, it did not take him long to get signed with the world’s top promotion once he did.

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Despaigne (4-0) scored a four-second knockout win over Miles Banks at Fury FC 84 in Houston on Dec. 3. This was the fourth consecutive knockout for “The Bad Boy” in as many outings, with the last three coming in a total fight time of 19 seconds. In an unprecedented move, Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmaker Mick Maynard signed Despaigne within minutes of his win over Banks, which was also announced live on the broadcast. Speaking about the surreal experience, Despaigne recently told…

One prominent cast member has been confirmed for Season 2 of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.”

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ONE flyweight (135-pound) submission grappling champion Mikey Musumeci will be one of 10 competitors on the reality show, which will premiere Dec. 28 on Netflix in Asia. According to a release, Musumeci, along with nine other candidates, “will take part in a series of high-stakes competitions involving both business and physical challenges.”

The winner of the show will receive a one-year, quarter million dollar job offer to work at ONE’s headquarters in Singapore under promotion CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong.

“The first season of ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition’ was a huge success, ranking in the Top 10 on Netflix in multiple countries and trending on Netflix all around the world,” Sityodtong stated in a release. “Our new crop of candidates will face the toughest ‘Apprentice’ season ever. I can’t wait to showcase this season…

Tatiana Suarez will lock horns with Amanda Lemos at UFC 298 on Feb. 17.

The promotion announced the strawweight bout in a release on Tuesday. UFC 298 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.

After being sidelined by injuries for more than three years, Suarez has enjoyed a successful return to action in 2023. The Milennia MMA product kicked off her campaign with a submission of Montana De La Rosa at UFC Fight Night 220 and then re-established herself as a title contender by tapping out Jessica Andrade in the second round of their encounter at UFC on ESPN 50. Suarez is 10-0 since beginning her professional tenure in 2014.

Lemos, meanwhile, is coming off a failed championship bid at UFC 292, where she dropped a five-round decision to reigning strawweight queen Weili Zhang. Prior to that, the 36-year-old Brazilian secured finishes of Michelle …

Two key matchups have been booked for UFC 299, as Jailton Almeida will face Curtis Blaydes at heavyweight, while Mateusz Gamrot will meet Rafael dos Anjos at lightweight.

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The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed the bouts on Tuesday. UFC 299 takes place on March 9 and is headlined by a bantamweight title tilt pitting Sean O’Malley against Marlon Vera.

Almeida and Blaydes were initially supposed to lock horns at UFC Fight Night 231 in Sao Paulo, but Blaydes was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury. Instead, Almeida cruised to a five-round verdict against Derrick Lewis in the card’s new main event. “Maladinho” has won 15 consecutive fights, a streak that includes six triumphs in UFC competition.

Blaydes last appeared at UFC Fight Night 222 this past April, when he had a three-bout winning streak snapped in a first-round technical knockout loss to Sergei Pavlovich. “Razor” is 12-4 in the Octagon, with victories over the likes of Tom As…

ONE Championship is teaming up with @SkySports, Europe's leading sports broadcaster, on an exclusive partnership to air the world's largest martial arts organization in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 and Ireland 🇮🇪

The partnership kicks off with #ONEFightNight18 on January 13 at 1AM… pic.twitter.com/tF9PqXeSsy

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 12, 2023

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ONE Championship has partnered with Sky Sports to broadcast its events — along with ancillary programming — to viewers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Singapore-based promotion announced the agreement on Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The partnership will begin with One on Prime Video 18 on Jan. 12. The card takes place at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and is headlined by a 135-pound kickboxing title bout between Superlek Kiatmoo9 and Elias Mahmoudi. Additionally, UFC veteran John Lineker will compete in muay thai against Liam H…

Veteran official Herb Dean will be the third man in the cage when Leon Edwards and Colby Covington square off for the welterweight crown at UFC 296.

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The Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday approved referee and judging assignments for the two championship bouts atop Saturday’s card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dean, who has officiated Edwards’ last four fights, will be paid $2,600 for his work. Dean also oversaw Covington’s last Octagon appearance, a five-round verdict over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272.

Meanwhile, Derek Cleary, Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee will serve as cageside judges for the UFC 296 headliner. They will earn $2,300 apiece. Lee submitted a 48-46 tally for Edwards in the Englishman’s majority decision triumph against Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 this past March.

Marc Goddard will referee the flyweight title bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval in the UFC 296 co-main event. Like Dean, Goddard will be paid $2,6…

A heavyweight clash pitting Tai Tuivasa against Marcin Tybura is on tap for UFC 298.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announced the booking. UFC 298 takes place on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and is headlined by a featherweight championship bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.

Tuivasa is in the midst of a three-fight skid in which he has been finished by Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich and Ciryl Gane. Prior to that, the affable Aussie won five straight contests from October 2020 to February 2022, stopping all of his opponents by knockout or technical knockout. “Bam Bam” is 8-6 over the course of his UFC tenure and 14-6 as a professional overall.

Tybura, meanwhile, is coming off a first-round technical knockout defeat to current interim heavweight king Tom Aspinall at UFC Fight Night 224 on July 22. Prior to that, the 38-year-old Pole had been victorious in seven of his previous eight Octagon appearances. Hi…

Ilia Topuria believes he’ll dominate Alexander Volkanovksi in their upcoming featherweight title fight.

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Topuria released a theatrical trailer predicting victory right after his booking against Volkanovksi was announced for UFC 298 on Feb. 17. While “El Matador” has been on a collision course with Volkanovski for a while now, the matchup was slightly delayed when “The Great” stepped in a for a short notice rematch against lightweight champ Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 this past October.

Volkanovski went on to suffer a head kick knockout in the first round and later attributed the loss to accepting the fight on short notice. The featherweight champ believes people have somewhat forgotten who he really is due to the manner of his last loss, but he has vowed to give Topuria a a lesson in humility in their fight.

Meanwhile, Topuria’s confidence is on a whole new level. While “El Matador” doesn’t exactly see any holes in Volkanovski’s game, he beli…

With less than a week to go before their headlining clash at UFC 296, Leon Edwards still can’t make sense of how Colby Covington got a title shot.

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Edwards successfully defended his belt in a rematch against Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 in March. While Belal Muhammad was widely considered to be next in line for the title shot, Dana White dropped Covington’s name in the post-fight media scrum. Despite protests from Muhammad, widespread media criticism and Covington having not fought since March 2022, White adamantly insisted on “Chaos” getting the shot.

Edwards recently reiterated his disapproval of Covington’s gold bid, noting most of his recent wins came against fighters who are no longer in the UFC. With no other possible reasoning for the move, Edwards has only one explanation: Covington enjoys “Dana White privilege.”

“I couldn’t tell you. That’s what the UFC, that’s what everyone [wants]. I don’t know, I don’t know what the excuse is,” Edwards s…

Paddy Pimblett would like to see upcoming opponent Tony Ferguson return to the win column — just not at his expense.

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Pimblett is scheduled to return to action at UFC 296 on Saturday after being shelved for a year due to an injury that that was aggravated in his last fight against Jared Gooden and needed surgery. “The Baddy” is unbeaten in his last six outings, including four in the UFC. Ferguson, by contrast, has lost six straight.

While Ferguson was once touted to be the only threat to former lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov, “El Cucuy” hasn’t appeared to be the same fighter since a lopsided beating against Justin Gaethje in 2020.

Pimblett is also a fan of Ferguson and wants the former interim champ to register one more win before hanging up his gloves. However, the 28-year-old Liverpudlian can’t let it happen in their upcoming clash on Dec. 16.

“I really respect Tony Ferguson. He’s one of the Top 5 lightweights of all time. Who w…

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Shavkat Rakhmonov has had a tough time getting fights against Top 10 fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and he plans to make the most of his showcase this Saturday.

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Rakhmonov (17-0) is slated to meet two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be headlined by the division’s current titleholder, Leon Edwards, defending his welterweight strap against Colby Covington. While Rakhmonov sits at No. 5 in the UFC’s official rankings, a win over Thompson could catapult him into title contention considering the Kazakh has finished all 17 of his professional MMA fights.

Rakhmonov believes he is ready to fight for the title and is expecting to do so soon, though he is yet to have a conversation with the UFC in that regard.“Nomad” said on The MMA Hour:

“No, I didn’t have this conversation or any promises, but all I want to say is that I’m …

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While some are wondering whether this Saturday represents Colby Covington’s last, best chance at an undisputed title, he already has his sights set on two-division glory.

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship interim welterweight titleholder Covington (17-3), who challenges Leon Edwards (21-3, 1 NC) in the main event of UFC 296 on Saturday in Las Vegas, has been vocal about his plans for the near future. Despite not having fought since last March and despite two of his last four outings being title losses, “Chaos” earned himself another shot against Edwards, thanks in part to his penchant for incendiary statements.

While Covington is a slight underdog going into this week’s matchup, he has already disclosed his next target: UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland. While Strickland is notorious for expressing his unhinged opinions on a variety of controversial topics, Covington claims to see through Strickland’s public persona, an…

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As he is known to do, Dana White is hinting at big things in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s future.

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In this particular case, the UFC CEO recently indicated on the Full Send podcast that a superfight is in the works for the Las Vegas-based promotion. Other than confirming that said bout didn’t involve Conor McGregor, White wouldn’t reveal any further details.

“We’re talking about one right now, actually, that just popped up a few days ago,” White said. “I can’t talk about it until we get everybody... well, every fight that you would consider a ‘superfight’ would involve McGregor but this one isn’t, no.”

That led to speculation that UFC Hall of Famer Georges St. Pierre might be part of White’s plans. The former two-division champion hasn’t competed since 2017, when he submitted Michael Bisping at UFC 217 to claim middleweight gold. St. Pierre officially announced his retirement from MMA in 2019.

St. Pierre quickl…

Kevin Holland would prefer Michael Page on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster but admits that he can’t really blame “Venom” if he signs with the Professional Fighters League.

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The Bellator veteran has generated his fair share of attention since announcing his free agency in July. Page was subsequently spotted at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi in October, with Dana White confirming mutual interest between the fighter and promotion. However, Page didn't close the door on potentially signing with the PFL, either.

Most recenlty, “MVP” was seen in attendance at PFL Europe 4 at the 3Arena in Dublin on Friday. The 36-year-old squared off with French star Cedric Doumbe, leading to speculation of a potential deal in the works.

According to Holland, Page would be choosing money over legacy if he signs with the PFL instead of the UFC. However, “Trailblazer” admits that he can’t exactly blame Page for prioritizing money considering the name of the game is …

Beneil Dariush is wondering if he can still compete at the sport’s highest level after a knockout loss to Arman Tsarukyan in the main event at UFC on ESPN 52 on Dec. 2.

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It was the second consecutive knockout loss for the Kings MMA product, who fell to former champ Charles Oliveira in the opening round of their clash at UFC 289 in June. However, Dariush revealed that there is a significant difference in his mindset in aftermath of the two losses.

“Remember how I told you guys I just didn’t feel like I showed up that fight [against Oliveira]?” Dariush told Submission Radio. “No matter how I looked at it, I was like, ‘Man maybe I did something wrong in camp, I’m gonna go back and fix it.’ So that was my focus, I’m gonna go back and fix my camp and everything will be better.

“So I went in back into camp and just tried to do everything the best that I can and I had a really good camp for this fight. Great weight cut, great conditioning, everything…

Jan Blachowicz will admittedly need some time to regain his famed “Polish Power” as he awaits a shoulder surgery that has him sidelined.

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The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ was scheduled to fight Aleksandar Rakic in a rematch at UFC 297 in January but was forced out of the matchup due the injury. While it was initially assumed that the injury happened in camp, Blachowicz revealed that it had been building up for a while.

“I feel it for like three years, something like this,” Blachowicz told BJPenn.com. “I feel pain in my shoulders, but I accept the pain. Last three months, two months, I started losing my power, my strength. Forty percent goes, I tried and do something with physiotherapy and doctors, and they tried to fix it but every training was worse.

“When I did wrestling, I’d hold someone and they’d just grab my hand and open it like this, too easy. We did an MRI on both shoulders because I feel pain in both …

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Kevin Jousset wants to blitz his way into the welterweight rankings after his win over Kenan Song at UFC Fight Night 233 on Saturday.

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The Kiwi earned an emphatic decision win over Song in his sophomore outing after a first-round submission victory over Keifer Crosbie in his debut at UFC 293 in September. Jousset subsequently aimed high by calling out welterweight veteran Daniel Rodriguez, who will complete a USADA suspension early next year.

“I saw ‘D-Rod’ got cleared from USADA. I like his style. I feel he’s a very good fighter. He seems to be a good guy, as well,” Joussett said in a post-fight media scrum. “I don’t know the guy personally, but I would love to test my skills against this guy potentially. I know he’s much higher than me in the rankings, but who knows. If the UFC is interested in this fight, let’s do it.”

Jousset also acknowledged the need of certain im…

Belal Muhammad will be ready to step in should anything go awry with the UFC 296 main event.

Muhammad confirmed to MMAjunkie.com on Sunday that he will serve as the backup fighter for the welterweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“They just hit me up Friday, asked me if I’m willing to weigh in for next week,” Muhammad said. “I think obviously they know Colby and Leon are the two most inactive welterweights in the division. Neither of these guys likes to fight. They’re both good at running. So just to be on the safe side, they called the dude that always steps up whenever needed.”

Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 10 Octagon appearances, including a five-round verdict over Gilbert Burns in his lone bout of 2023 at UFC 288. “Remember the Name” faced Edwards at UFC Fight Night 187 in March 2021, but the contest ended 18 seconds into Round 2 due to an accidental eye poke.

A potential bantamweight title eliminator between Henry Cejudo and Merab Dvalishvili has been booked for UFC 298.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing after Cejudo initially announced the bout on his YouTube channel Sunday. UFC 298 takes place on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.

Cejudo returned from a three-year retirement at UFC 288 this past May, where he dropped a split decision to Aljamain Sterling in a bantamweight championship clash. The Olympic gold medalist had been unbeaten in six previous Octagon appearances from 2017 to 2020. “The Messenger” owns notable wins over the likes of Dominick Cruz, Marlon Moraes, T.J. Dillashaw, Demetrious Johnson, Sergio Pettis and Jussier Formiga, to name a few.

Dvalishvili will take a nine-fight promotional winning streak into the matchup with Cejudo. In his last outing, “The Machine” ou…