UFC Singapore Preview

The UFC is making a return visit to Singapore for the sixth time on Saturday, August 26th at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang. The main event will be a featherweight battle between former champion Max Holloway vs. two-time title challenger Chan Sung Jung.

Holloway is coming off a dominant unanimous decision victory over surging contender Arnold Allen in April. The win was the third in his last four fights with the loss coming in a third fight against champion Alexander Volkanovski.

The former champion won 13 straight fights between 2014 and 2019, he defended the belt three times, and is one of the most durable fighters in the history of the UFC. The 31-year-old will not be making his first trip to Singapore, in fact his winning streak started in the country with a TKO win in 2014. Holloway remembers this experience.

“It wasn’t just another fight,” he said, reflecting on his first trip to Singapore. “I was down two fights. You’re fighting a new guy making his debut, and it doesn’t look good if you lose, so, at the end of the day, I knew I had to do something — not only win, but put a mark on it, and that’s what I did. That started everything back in 2014.

“We’re here now, years later — I’m only 31, turn 32 at the end of the year,” he added, laughing. “People keep forgetting and I gotta keep reminding people. I’m a veteran in a lot of you guys’ eyes because I’ve been here for a minute, but another long run is on my mind.”

Many critics believed that Holloway’s chin would finally be tested in his last fight, but just like he has done many times before, he reminded the pundits to never sleep on him. “I knew what I was capable of. My team knew what I was capable of. That Arnold fight — that ‘Still Here’ fight — was just a reminder,” said Holloway. “Everyone was telling me that Arnold is the one that is going to crack my chin, and this is it, ‘Max shouldn’t be fighting,’ and blah blah blah.

“I went out there and did my thing.”

The Hawaiian fighter plans on making the same kind of statement on Saturday. “We go out there, fight ‘The Korean Zombie,’ put another stamp on it, and make myself undeniable,” he added. “The last one was to remind everybody that we’re still here, and this motivation is undeniable. Nothing but love for ‘The Korean Zombie,’ who was another guy I used to watch growing up, just like Aldo.”

“I thought we were gonna fight way earlier, but things didn’t pan out — they never do,” Holloway said, chasing his quip with a chortle. “But Mother Time found a way, we’re here now, and what better place to be. I can’t wait. He’s a legend in every sense, and I get to fight him in Asia. I’m excited.”

The same critics that thought Holloway would lose his last fight are saying he does not deserve a fourth fight with Volkanovski. Holloway responded by saying, “I know I have some history with the champ, but it’s not like I’m holding this No. 2 in the world or whatever it is — it’s not like I’m holding this position and not fighting, for years,” he said, a little frustration tinging his words. “I could see how people would be mad if I were sitting around and crying for a title shot — ‘I’m owed this! I’m owed that!’ — but I’m fighting contenders, I’m fighting tough guys.’

He concluded, “Before I got to fight the champ for a third time, I had to fight top contenders that you guys thought were gonna take me out. I got it, things didn’t go my way, I fought another contender because I want to be the best.

“I could start fighting down the line and being like ‘Let me fight the 10 and below guys, and let the champ fight 1-10,’ but no — this is the guy I’ve gotta fight to get the title shot, so this is what I gotta do.”

“My goal is to go out here and be undeniable — put a stamp on it, mail it in, and let everybody know,” he said. “I can’t wait to be out there.

Aside from the losses to Volkanovski, Holloway is arguably the best featherweight of all-time. The first two fights with the current champ were incredibly close, and both could have been scored for Holloway. The problem he is facing now is that Volkanovski may have distanced himself a bit in the last fight between the two. Of the three fights, Volkanovski looked the most dominant of the two fighters in the third fight and there was no doubt that he was the winner. However, if Holloway continues to dominate contenders, it will be difficult to argue a fourth fight with Volkanovski.

Aside from Allen, Holloway has key victories in his career over Yair Rodriguez, Calvin Kattar, Frankie Edgar, Brian Ortega, Jose Aldo (twice), Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas, Jeremy Stephens, Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson. A win over Volkanovski could put a stamp on his hall of fame status, but he must first get by Jung in Singapore.

Chan Sung Jung otherwise known as The Korean Zombie, has not fought since UFC 273, 16 months ago. In that fight he challenged Volkanovski for the title but was completely dominated by the champion losing by fourth round TKO. He is 3-3 in his last six fights but in the victories he has looked dominant.

The 36-year-old was brutally honest about his last loss for the title.  “The Volkanovski fight was a a big fight so losing like that was hurtful. I had to take a break, to reassess. I watched the fight and if I (ever) fight like this again I will not continue my career,” said Jung.

The Korean Zombie is feeling revitalized by a fight with Holloway. “He’s a fighter I have wanted to fight my entire career. As he mentioned in his interview, we’ve been in the top ten for many years (and) Max and I are exciting fighters so him and me inside the octagon cannot be boring.”

The former title challenger feels great heading into Singapore. “Before every fight I believe I am in the best shape but before this fight it’s true. I’m in the best shape of my entire career both physically and mentally.”

While he has respect for Holloway, Jung knows what a victory over the former champion would do for his storied run in the UFC. “Max is one of the best fighters out of all the division, he’s a former champion and in the pound for pound ranking. Getting a win over such a legendary fighter would be a huge boost to my career.”

The Korean Zombie is already a legend in the sport of MMA and has key victories over Dan Ige, Frankie Edgar, Renato Moicano, Dennis Bermudez, Dustin Poirier, Mark Hominick and Leonard Garcia. A win over Holloway at this point would be the biggest victory of his career and could potentially be the boost he needs to go on one last improbable run at the title.

The Rest of the Main Card:

Light Heavyweight - #8 Anthony Smith vs. #10 Ryan Spann

Featherweight - #9 Giga Chikadzevs. #15 Alex Caceres

Bantamweight - Rinya Nakamura vs. Fernie Garcia

Women's Flyweight - #3 Erin Blanchfield vs. #4 Taila Santos

Heavyweight - Junior Tafa vs. Parker Porter

ESPN + Prelims:

Heavyweight - Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Łukasz Brzeski

Bantamweight - Toshiomi Kazama vs. Garrett Armfield

Middleweight - Chidi Njokuani vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk

Welterweight - Song Kenan vs. Rolando Bedoya

Welterweight - Billy Goff vs. Yusaku Kinoshita

Women's Flyweight - Liang Na vs. JJ Aldrich

Featherweight - Choi Seung-woo vs. Jarno Errens

UFC 292 Preview

The UFC will be invading the TD Garden Arena in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday August 19th for UFC 292. The main event will be for the bantamweight title between underappreciated champion Aljamain Sterling and fan-favorite #2 Sean O’Malley.

Sterling is coming off a split decision victory over future hall of famer Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 in May. The win was his third straight title defense, a UFC bantamweight record and his ninth straight win overall. The champion has not been shy about the distaste he has for his next opponent.

“I want to smash this guy’s face,” Sterling said. “I want to smash the ugly mole rat. When I take this man down, that naked mole rat is getting smashed. I want him to pay for everything that he’s said – all the trash talk, all his Dana White privilege. I ain’t have none of that, and I can’t wait to take it out on him.”

Despite what he may think about O’Malley as a person, as a fighter Sterling is not looking beyond him. “Based on accolades, O’Malley is on the longer list of accomplishments, I mean the only guy he beat by split decision is Petr Yan,” Sterling said. “Everybody else is out of the UFC. So, it’s a tough test. The guy in front of you is always the toughest competition so, I’m not overlooking him by any means. He’s long. He’s rangy. I made sure I brought some great training partners to get the looks and do the same mannerisms he does in the octagon.”

The 34-year-old has predicted a convincing victory. “My prediction, I think second-round TKO,” Sterling said. “But if he gives me his neck – he’s got that little daddy long neck out there so, if he leaves that out there, I’m going to strangle his ass.”

A win over O’Malley could be Sterling’s final fight at bantamweight. “This is more than likely my last fight at 135,” Sterling said. “There’s a 99 percent chance it’s my last. If I win this, for sure, I’m out of here.”

Since he became champion in 2021, Sterling has not taken the UFC fan-base by storm. It started with him winning the title over Petr Yan by DQ after Yan landed an illegal knee to Sterling’s head. This resulted in plenty of arm-chair-quarterback opinions about whether Sterling was injured by the knee or could have continued. From that moment on his legitimacy as a champion has been heavily questioned.

Sterling responded to his critics by neutralizing Yan’s offense in the rematch and winning the fight by using his superb wrestling. He used that same grappling in his next defense against TJ Dillashaw and then again against Cejudo. Sterling’s wrestling and ability to transition from takedowns to submission attempts could spell major trouble for O’Malley.

O’Malley is coming off a split decision win over Yan at UFC 280 last October. The win was a much-debated victory as the fight could have gone either way, but it was enough to earn O’Malley the title shot. He has not lost a fight since 2020, the first of his career to Marlon Vera.

The challenger plans to silence his critics on Saturday with a dynamic finish. “I don’t really care what people say. It doesn’t really affect me. I kind of like being the underdog, being doubted. Going into this fight, I don’t have much pressure. He’s the bantamweight GOAT,” Sean O’Malley said at UFC 292 media day. “He’s on a nine-fight winning streak and he’s saying I haven’t earned the shot. How stupid will he looked when I go out there and knock him out, not even have earned being in that position, and putting his lights out. It makes him look real stupid.”

O’Malley commented on Sterling moving up to featherweight with a victory. “Yeah, I go out there and knock him out and he goes up to 145, boom, I carry on what he was doing in the division, taking people out. He goes out there and wins and moves up to 145, I’m the last person to fight for the belt. I’m the champ either way. I like this situation. It’s a win-win for me,” O’Malley said.

The 28-year-old answered questions about who he would like to fight next if he becomes champion. “If you asked me what fight is bigger, me versus ‘Chito’ rematch, or me versus Merab? I’m pretty sure we could all agree on which one is bigger,” O’Malley said.

“I’m in the fight business. I’ve been saying that. I’ve never been afraid to say that. This is a business to me. Who makes more money — me versus Merab or me versus ‘Chito?’ It’s very simple to me.”

Marlon “Chito” Vera is also fighting on the card and owns O’Malley’s only defeat. Merab Dvalishvili is Sterling’s teammate and is on his own nine fight winning streak. “The rematch needs to happen,” O’Malley said. “Everyone, even ‘Chito’ himself truly knows that wasn’t a win.

“I’ve always wanted to get that one back, and they’re like, ‘Why don’t you rematch him right away?’ I’ll do it when the time is right.”

Vera faces long-running contender Pedro Munhoz and many believe the battle has fight of the night potential. What does O’Malley think? “God, I want to be like, ‘Yeah, it will be exciting,’ but for some reason, I feel like it’s going to be so boring,” O’Malley said. “I feel like it’s going to be Pedro kind of not wanting to engage on the outside, trying to kick his legs. ‘Chito,’ we saw his last performance against Cory [Sandhagen]. There’s a possibility it could be a very exciting fight. I feel like it might be really boring.”

O’Malley concluded, “I’m hoping ‘Chito’ wins. Me versus ‘Chito’ rematch in December, Vegas, title defense. That sounds wonderful. I love that. So ideally ‘Chito.’”

Sterling’s wrestling will play a factor in this fight if O’Malley cannot utilize his length and striking from the outside like he did against Yan. His speed and accuracy could stun the champion and turn the fight in his favor, but getting at him early will be the key to victory.

The co-main event of the evening will be for the women’s strawweight title between champion Zhang Weili and #5 Amanda Lemos.

Weili won the title for the second time in her career after defeating Carla Esparza by second round submission in her last fight at UFC 281. She is 2-2 in her last four but has looked impressive in two straight victories, one of which sent former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk into retirement.

The champion has respect for Lemos. “Lemos is good,” Zhang said. “I admit she’s a very good fighter, and she’s very aggressive. Her fighting style, she is a hard hitter, a hard kicker, she has knockout power but so do I.”

The Chinese fighter wants to prove why she is a great champion. “What I want to showcase more in this fight is to fight like water,” Zhang said. “I can fight very flowing, smooth and shapeless. I can be water and just wrap her up. Even if she makes any tiny mistake, I can catch it and finish her.”

A win over Lemos could mean a potential fight with Chinese contender Yan Xiaonan, but the champion is not looking beyond Lemos. “Let’s see what happens in this fight,” she said when asked about Yan. “Now I’m only focusing on this fight on this Saturday. This is what I’m focusing on right now.”

Lemos has won two straight fights having most recently defeated Marina Rodriguez by third round TKO last November. The Brazilian fighter is ready to shock the world. “People may not be talking about it now, but they will be talking about it after,” Lemos said. “Because it’s going to be a war. And it’s going to be historic. … The more they forget (about me), the more motivation I have to go out there and get the title. On Saturday, they will know who Amanda Lemos is.”

The 36-year-old knows she is in for a tough fight but is confident she can become the new champion. “Every fight I’ve had, I’ve always imagined I was actually fighting a champion,” Lemos said. “I’m in a good place. My head is in a good place, and I’m ready to bring a belt home. … Weili is coming very strong. A complete athlete and very strong coming up, but I’m going to show that I’m stronger and on Saturday I’m going to show who is actually the strongest in the division.”

The rest of the main card:

Welterweight - #13 Ian Machado Garry vs. #11 Neil Magny

Bantamweight - Da'Mon Blackshear vs. Mario Bautista

Bantamweight - #6 Marlon Vera vs. #10 Pedro Munhoz

ESPN + Prelims:

Middleweight - Chris Weidman vs. Brad Tavares

Middleweight - Gregory Rodrigues vs. Denis Tiuliulin

Lightweight - Austin Hubbard vs. Kurt Holobaugh [c]

Bantamweight - Brad Katona vs. Cody Gibson

ESPN + Early Prelims:

Middleweight - Andre Petroski vs. Gerald Meerschaert

Women's Flyweight - #13 Andrea Lee vs. Natália Silva

Women's Flyweight - Karine Silva vs. Maryna Moroz

Navarrete vs. Valdez Preview

The WBO junior lightweight title will be on the line Saturday August 12th in Glendale, Arizona at the Desert Diamond Arena. Champion Emanual Navarrete will be defending the title for the first time against former two-time champion Oscar Valdez.

The two were originally scheduled to fight for the vacant belt in February but Valdez was forced to pull out of the fight in December. He was replaced by Liam Wilson on short notice. Wilson fought a brilliant fight for the first five rounds against Navarrete, scoring a knockdown in the fourth round.   But Navarrete came on strong in the eighth and ninth rounds winning by TKO to become champion in one of the best comebacks of the last five years.

The victory over Wilson made 28-year-old Navarrete a three-weight world champion, having also held the WBO featherweight and junior featherweight titles. Navarrete is excited to get the biggest win of his career over a fellow Mexican fighter. “Personally, I would feel complete. What is missing in my career is a victory against a rival like Valdez,” said Navarrete. “It would fill me with pride to be able to carry out such an iconic fight between Mexicans and win.”

He commented on the type of fight Valdez will bring to the ring, “I know that talking about me is talking about a lot of blows and an attractive fight. Now, with Valdez, it will be twice as spectacular. It’s going to be twice as attractive. Valdez is a fighter who has no reverse.

“We always see him going forward, throwing blows. This time, he says he’s going to blow my head off. Well, we’ll see, right? Good, all good. Very fast.”

Many pundits believe Valdez represents the biggest challenge of Navarrete’s career. To this point he has key victories over Joet Gonzalez, Christopher Diaz, Ruben Villa, Juan Miguel Elorde, and Isaac Dogboe.

Valdez is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Adam Lopez in May. Prior to that he suffered the first loss of his career in 2022 for the WBC and WBO super featherweight titles to Shakur Stevenson. He also held the WBO featherweight title from 2016 to 2019.

The 31-year-old is ready to prove that he deserves to be champion once again. “This is my chance to come back from my loss to Shakur Stevenson, when I lost my title and my undefeated record,” Valdez said. “It’s something very personal that I have. I want to come back and make a statement.

“I want to show that losing your undefeated record it doesn’t mean the end of your career.”

The Mexican fighter has a clear mindset heading into what he believes can be a career defining fight. “I always visualize myself as the best,” insisted Valdez. “It’s not that I’m arrogant and think that I’m better than anyone else. The reason I think like that is because I know the work I put in during training. I can’t train the way I do, waking up early and running the mountains the way I do, staying on my diet.

“I train the way I train to tell myself that I’m number one. I would never train this way just to tell myself that I’m the second best. I will always train this way to win and make a statement that I am the best at 130 pounds.”

Valdez has key victories in his career over Robson Conceição, Miguel Berchelt, Jayson Velez and Scott Quigg. A win for either fighter on Saturday will help define a legacy as one of the greatest Mexican champions of all-time.

UFC Vegas 78 Preview

The UFC will be returning to the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday August 12 for UFC Vegas 78. The main event will be a welterweight battle between #9 Vicente Luque and #10 Rafael Dos Anjos.

Luque is trying to rebound from two straight losses which put an end to a four-fight winning streak. He is coming off a devastating third round KO to Geoff Neal last August, the worst loss of his career. The 31-year-old is looking forward to coming back strong against what he believes is the perfect opponent.

“Man, that was like the perfect fight. I couldn’t pick a better fight. It was crazy how it happened. At a point when I didn’t have a fight I just wanted to have an idea who I was fighting against. At least have a verbal agreement so I could start focusing on someone,” Luque explained. “Me and Ali were talking about who I was going to get next and looking at the division. I am coming off two losses but I’m still in the top 10 in the UFC. So I want to move forward and get into the mix and into the top part of the division. I wanted a fight that would move me up and we weren’t sure who it would be. Then, Ali called me and said Rafael dos Anjos.”

Luque is predicting a big result against Dos Anjos. “It’s hard to tell, I’ve been trying to predict things and I never get it right. When I’m in there, I’m never really trying to finish my opponent. But, whenever I see an opportunity I go for it,” Luque said. “In a five-round fight that presents itself many times. I will go after it and if he can withstand it, then it will be a long fight. Knowing RDA’s durability and his experience, it won’t be an easy fight, but I do believe I can finish him. I do believe I have the skills to finish him whether it’s on the ground or in striking.”

To summarize, Luque believes a win on Saturday puts his name back in the title conversation. “A win over him is going to put me back in the mix… It is a great moment for me to get a big win and get back into the mix. Get back into the talks of guys who could soon be fighting for the title,” Luque said.

There will be plenty of mutual respect between Brazilian fighters on Saturday.

“This bout against Rafael is very important for me,” Luque said. “Before I joined the UFC, I already followed his career. I’m a fan of his. As a Brazilian, I see him as a good example. It’s an honor to be facing him. I expect a tough and highly contested bout that’s full of action. It’s our nature. I’m more likely to get finishes against my opponents by submission or knockout. Rafael has more wins by decision. As a former champ, he’s fought at a very high level for several years.

“In his fights, he attacks equally on the feet or on the ground,” he added. “We’re both true and complete MMA fighters. I bring danger no matter where the fight goes. I could see myself winning early if I connect well near the start, but considering his experience level, I expect him to be able to defend well. The plan is to get a finish before the final buzzer—in a decisive fashion—so it won’t go to the judges.”

Dos Anjos is coming off a second round submission win over Bryan Barbarena in December. The former lightweight champion is 3-1 in his last four fights and is looking to find new life at welterweight. He is looking forward to starting a run with a big win over his fellow Brazilian.

"I know Vicente, we’ve fought on the same card before, but we don’t have any relationship, we’re not friends, and that’s work, and I’m really glad that the fight is going to happen this Saturday,” said Dos Anjos.

The 38-year-old continued, “Here I am fighting another contender, a tough guy, younger than me,” he acknowledged.

“I feel that I have a lot in my tank, in a polite way, my lightweight days are over. I want to compete at my best and my best is 170, and of course it’s hard not to think about the belt. I‘m a very competitive guy and I like to win. Being a former champion and former title contender in this division - I’ve fought for the title before in this division - it’s a method of winning, I have a tough challenge this weekend.

"Vicente Luque is a tough guy, but once past him, if I keep winning, a title shot will happen. I’m a former champion.

“I think the wait is shorter, it’s a matter of opportunity. If the opportunity knocks on my door. You know how this game works, so many things can change in a day, in a half-day. People get hurt and other guys are ready to go. My goal is to be ready, like I always do. Live a good lifestyle.

The Brazilian fighter confidently concluded, "If I get the call to fight a champion, get the luck, I’ve fought a champion before, and I went the distance, I got four weeks' notice. I have a lot in my tank and I’m just happy to be competing again this Saturday.

“I fought everybody, tough guys. The level I’ve been through is pretty high. It’s not the number of fights, it’s the level of competition, I think that people think I’m a BMF (Bad mother-f*****). I don't think I meet the right requirements to fight for the BMF [title].

"I’m a former champion, I had a belt. Guys who fight for a BMF, guys who never had a title.”

In his storied career Dos Anjos has key victories over Renato Moicano, Paul Felder, Kevin Lee, Robbie Lawler, Neil Magny, Tarec Saffiedine, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz and Benson Henderson.

The rest of the main card:

Featherweight- Cub Swanson vs. Hakeem Dawodu

Light Heavyweight - #13 Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. #14 (HW)Chris Daukaus

Women's Strawweight - Polyana Viana vs. Iasmin Lucindo

Middleweight - A.J. Dobson vs. Tafon Nchukwi

Middleweight - Josh Fremd vs. Jamie Pickett

ESPN+ Prelims:

Bantamweight - JP Buys vs. Marcus McGhee

Lightweight - Terrance McKinney vs. Mike Breeden

Featherweight - Francis Marshall vs. Isaac Dulgarian

Heavyweight - Josh Parisian vs. Martin Buday

Women's Strawweight - Jaqueline Amorim vs. Montserrat Ruiz

Bantamweight - Da'Mon Blackshear vs. Jose Johnson

Women's Flyweight - Juliana Miller vs. Luana Santos

Sandhagen vs. Font Preview

The UFC is heading back to Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday August 5 for UFC on ESPN 50. The main event will be a fight between two bantamweights with potential title implications as former interim title challenger Corey Sandhagen will face battle-tested veteran #7 Rob Font.

Sandhagen was scheduled to fight Umar Nurmagomedov, but Nurmagomedov was forced to withdraw from the fight in July due to a shoulder injury. Font will step in on short notice but the fight will be fought at a catchweight of 140 pounds. Despite the bout being fought at a catchweight, this will most certainly be a bantamweight showcase and the winner could be next in line to challenge for the title.

Sandhagen is riding two straight wins into the fight, a TKO of Song Yadong and a split decision victory over Marlon Vera. He has rebounded well since losing a unanimous decision to Petr Yan at UFC 267 for the interim title.

The 31-year-old responded to fighting a new opponent on Saturday. “I feel like the amateur days in MMA really prepare you for the kind of s–t show that this sport can sometimes feel like it is,” said Sandhagen.  “As far as things just not going to plan for reasons that are kind of no one’s fault.”

Sandhagen spoke about the kind of stakes a win over his original opponent meant for him. “[The Nurmagomedov fight was] bringing a No. 1 contender spot to me that was offered to me by the UFC if I took the Umar fight,” Sandhagen explained, “because no one else wanted to fight him.”

The former title challenger will need to put that aside because he does understand how dangerous his new opponent is. “Fighting Rob Font is a different type of challenge because Rob is super seasoned,” Sandhagen said. “And he’s had his ups and downs and his fair share of adversity in the UFC, which I think brings out the best in people.

“So Rob does pose different challenges, but I want to beat Rob just as bad as I wanted to beat Umar. And that’s how I feel about every single person that I face.”

Sandhagen concluded, “I do like that I’m switching from Umar to Font and then not Font to Umar because I am super familiar with fighting this type of person,” he said. “I’ve been doing it for a really long time now. It’s a style that I feel like I have a lot of really good and familiar answers with. So the matchup itself, as far as Rob goes as martial arts style, [I’m] extremely familiar with and very comfortable fighting that type of person on two weeks’ notice.”

Sandhagen has proven that he can hang with the best bantamweights in the world. His only bad loss in the UFC was a first round submission defeat to current champion Aljamain Sterling back in 2020. If he wants to avenge the loss he cannot look beyond Rob Font who has proven he is perfectly comfortable stepping in on short notice and fighting as the underdog.

Font is 7-3 in his last 10 fights and is coming off a devastating TKO victory over Adrian Yanez at UFC 287. The 36-year-old made his UFC debut in 2014 and he has key victories over Cody Garbrandt, Marlon Moraes, Ricky Simon, Sergio Pettis, Thomas Almeida and Matt Schnell.

Font knows what a win on Saturday means for him. “I am looking to get a huge win against Cory so I can get closer to a title match,” said Font. “It won’t be easy, but I am riding the momentum of a huge win over Adrian Yanez last time.”

The Boston native talked about losing two in a row before defeating Yanez. “There were all these doubts and the naysayers didn’t help. You cannot imagine how huge that win over Yanez was while receiving Performance of the Night and the bonus. That was sweet,” he added.

Font is planning on bringing a fan-pleasing fight to the octagon with Sandhagen. “I am super motivated," he exclaimed. “It is a huge fight with a lot of upside for me. The UFC knows I am going to put on a show and I am going to bring it, and look for a finish.”

He concluded, “This is going to be a tricky fight,” said Font. “Cory is smart and has very good footwork. Furthermore, he is explosive with good combinations.”

“I am good at that too and I hope to make the most out of my reach advantage on him. The good thing about Cory is I don’t think I need to chase him around the cage.”

The rest of the main card:

Women's Strawweight - #5 Jéssica Andrade vs. #10 Tatiana Suarez

Light Heavyweight - #15 Dustin Jacoby vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu

Featherweight - Diego Lopes vs. Gavin Tucker

Light Heavyweight - Tanner Boser vs. Aleksa Camur

Lightweight - Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Ľudovít Klein

ESPN Prelims:

Featherweight - Billy Quarantillo vs. Damon Jackson

Bantamweight - Kyler Phillips vs. Raoni Barcelos

Welterweight - Jeremiah Wells vs. Carlston Harris

Flyweight - Cody Durden vs. Jake Hadley

Flyweight  - Ode' Osbourne vs. Assu Almabayev

Holm vs. Bueno Silva

The UFC is heading back to the Apex for UFC Vegas 77 on Saturday July 15. The main event will be a women’s bantamweight fight with title implications. Former champion #3 Holly Holm will battle rising contender #10 Mayra Bueno Silva.

Holm is 3-1 in her last four fights since challenging Amanda Nunes for the title in 2019. Her only loss during that stretch was a controversial split decision to Ketlen Vieira in 2022. She is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Yana Santos in March.

Amanda Nunes vacated the title in June to focus on retirement after another successful title defense at UFC 289. Does Holm think she will be fighting for the vacant title with a win on Saturday? “I don’t see why I wouldn’t (fight for the belt), we’re No. 1, 2 and 3,” Holm said. “I’ve already had this fight scheduled before a lot of the shake up in the division, but my focus is still on Saturday night because that’s all I’m promised right now because I need to get past that. My focus needs to be present that night and see where we go from there.”

Holm became champion in 2015 with a KO victory over Ronda Rousey in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. The 41-year-old would go on to lose the belt in her next fight to Miesha Tate at UFC 196. Rousey is widely considered the most popular women’s fighter of all-time and there have been talks of her making a return to the UFC now that the belt is vacant. Would Holm fight her again?

“You know, I don’t know if she will really come back. Who knows if it is just talk? I know she is a very competitive person, there’s a reason why she was an Olympian and a reason why she was a champion for so long,” Holly Holm said. “So, I would absolutely revisit that fight at either weight (135 or 145), I don’t think it is an advantage or disadvantage depending on the weight. I think either one. We will see if she comes back, I know she has been pretty busy with her life and whatever she wants to do, more power to her. But, if she comes back that would be great to fight again.”

The talks amongst the analysts and pundits are that former champion Julianna Pena and former title challenger Raquel Pennington will fight for the vacant title. Holm has two victories over Pennignton and has never fought Pena. However, she sits behind them in the rankings at #3 so she will likely have to wait in line. First things first, she will need to take care of business on Saturday and if she does, she could very likely fight the winner of Pena and Pennington for the title.

Bueno Silva has won three straight fights and most recently defeated Lina Lansberg by second round submission in February. She is 5-2-1 in the UFC and will be facing her toughest test on Saturday.

The Brazilian fighter does not believe in Pena vs. Pennington and thinks she should be fighting for the title with a win over Holm. "You want to watch this fight?" Bueno Silva asked a reporter. "No, no, no. Nobody wants to watch this fight. Nobody! ... I believe I need to knock out (Holm). She needs to knock out me, too. If (one of us wins) a good fight, I think (we're) next. Because nobody wants to watch Julianna Peña and Raquel Pennington, sorry."

The 31-year-old has put together a solid gameplan for the fight. “I want to hurt her,” Silva said. “I want to hurt her for four rounds and then in the fifth round, I knock out Holly.”

She continued, “I need to knock her out, and she needs to knock me out, too,” Silva said. “When someone wins a good fight, I think they’re next, because nobody wants to watch Julianna Peña vs. Raquel Pennington, sorry.”

The rest of the main card:

Middleweight - Albert Duraev vs. Park Jun-yong

Women's Featherweight - #13 Norma Dumont vs. #15 Chelsea Chandler

Lightweight - Ottman Azaitar vs. Francisco Prado

Lightweight - Terrance McKinney vs. Nazim Sadykhov

ESPN+ Prelims:

Featherweight - Tucker Lutz vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan

Women's Strawweight - Viktoriia Dudakova vs. Istela Nunes

Featherweight - Austin Lingo vs. Melquizael Costa

Welterweight - #14 Jack Della Maddalena vs. Bassil Hafez

Lightweight - Evan Elder vs. Genaro Valdez

Flyweight - Tyson Nam vs. Azat Maksum

Lightweight - Alexander Munoz vs. Carl Deaton III

Women's Bantamweight - Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Ailín Pérez

UFC 290 Preview

The UFC is heading back to the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday July 8 for one of the best fight cards of 2023. UFC 290 will feature two title fights, a title eliminator, and a preliminary card with legends and rising stars.

The main event will be for the featherweight title between pound for pound champion Alexander Volkanovski and interim champion Yair Rodriguez. Volkanovski is trying to rebound from a unanimous decision loss at UFC 284 in which he challenged Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title. Many fans and critics believe Volkanovski won the fight and should be a double champion. Despite the loss he willl still have the opportunity to prove that he is the featherweight king.

Does Volkanovski think he should be double-champ? “Obviously, it was a close fight,” says Volkanovski. “I finished very strong. We thought we did enough. A lot of people thought we did enough. It is what it is, and we’ve got to move on, but it definitely was frustrating.”

Has the champion moved on from his first loss since 2013? “It’s been hard,” says Volkanovski. “It was a big title fight, and I wanted that moment in Australia. It was a David-vs.-Goliath type of story. It was shaping up to be a perfect ending. I just didn’t get my hand raised.”

Prior to the his last fight the champion had won 22 straight fights which included three wins over Max Holloway who is considered one of the greatest featherweights of all-time. What does he think about his next opponent?

“Yair is very dangerous, and it’s the biggest fight of his life,” says Volkanovski, who, at 34, has shown no signs of slowing down. “But I’m planning on having this belt for a very long time.”

While there have been talks of a Makhachev rematch, Volkanovski is focused on UFC 290.

“There are a lot of exciting fights in my future,” says Volkanovski. “I want that lightweight title, and there are so many contenders in that stacked division. But all my plans are useless if I don’t get the win this weekend.

“I’m 100% focused on Yair. He’s dangerous, but I’m going to show why I’m the number-one guy. I’m coming for records, starting with the pound-for-pound number one.”

The 34-year-old concluded, “I’m fighting for my legacy,” says Volkanovski. “I’m fighting for people to remember my name. I’m going to keep moving forward until I’m in the conversation as the best of all time.”

Aside from his wins over Holloway, Volkanovski has key victories over Brian Ortega, Chan Sung Jung, Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes and Darren Elkins. A win over Rodriguez will likely determine if we see a rematch with Makhachev. If Volkanovski loses on Saturday we could see an immediate rematch with Rodriguez as he has held the featherweight title since 2019.

Rodriguez won the interim title in his last fight at UFC 284 with a second round submission in a dominant win over Josh Emmett. The 30-year-old has only lost twice since 2017, but has only fought seven times during that period. Should he become champion, his critics will definitely be questioning his activity.

The Mexican fighter is confident he can defeat Volkanovski. "I think he has holes in his game," Rodriguez said. "I've been watching his fights, and I've been finding a couple of things he always does. I'm going to capitalize on those things he does.”

Rodriguez believed he should have been granted a title shot after his victory over former title challenger Brian Ortega, but he explained why he took an interim title fight against Emmett. "Honestly, I felt it would have been the best thing to go straight to the champion," said Rodriguez, who gave the best performance of his illustrious career in submitting Emmett in the fourth round. "With all due respect to my opponent, Josh, I always knew that I could beat him. That's why I didn't want to take that fight and wanted to go straight to fighting the current champion.

"But the UFC offered it to me and this is what I had to do to get the fight I really wanted, so I accepted the fight with Josh Emmett. But I always knew I could beat him and I just did what I had trained to do.”

It is believed  that Rodriguez will pose a different kind of challenge to Volkanovski because of his Taekwondo background and his unique striking style. But Volkanovski stated that he is not afraid to stand and strike with Rodriguez.  “It’s all about getting good guys in that are gonna give me as many different looks as they can, unpredictable looks. I’ve got a 11-time Taekwondo world champion, Carl Van Roon… throwing tornado kicks and you name it at me… just giving me as many looks to keep me on my toes,” said Volkanovski.

“The fighter Yair is now compared to when he fought someone like Dan Hooker or even Frankie Edgar… completely different fighter. Way better at certain ranges. I think he was better at one range early in his days. Now he’s just as dangerous in every range. So that’s something that excites me. I can’t wait to go out there and systematically break him down, and show people that even the most unpredictable, awkward, and hardest guys to sort of train for, even I can shut them down.”

The champion concluded, “Everyone knows that I love to take people out of their own game as well. I really like challenging people and showing people how wide my skill set is, how well rounded I really am. The Taekwondo challenge excites me. I can’t wait to throw some spinning heel kicks, and Taekwondo Volk’s gonna come for Yair, you know, really beat him at his own game.”

The co-main event will be for the flyweight title as two-time champion Brandon Moreno will defend his title against #2 Alexandre Pantoja. Pantoja has two victories over Moreno before he became champion.

Moreno claimed the title for the second time in his last fight at UFC 283 with a third round TKO over Deiveson Figueiredo in their fourth hard fought battle. Moreno believes the rivalry with Figueiredo has made a better fighter. “I always answer the same. I’m very grateful with Deiveson for what we did in the UFC and MMA, for our careers and the history of the sport, but of course, I feel happy at the same time to fight with another guy. I felt this kinda fresh air when I fought Kai Kara-France in Dallas and this one is the same. I feel very good,” said Moreno.

While Moreno has lost to Pantoja twice, once on The Ultimate Fighter and again three years later, he does not believe there is a personal rivalry.

“Sorry if I’m not this guy who talks sh*t on social media or tries to make some drama, but at the end that works for me,” Moreno said. “The people love what I’m doing because it’s real, it’s natural. It’s nothing personal against Pantoja.

“For sure, there’s a competitive part of myself knowing he beat me twice in the past. It gives me a different flavor. But at the same time, I’m thinking about the opportunity, if you beat Alexandre Pantoja at the T-Mobile Arena, International Fight Week – man, your legacy. I’m just very focused on that last goal, to win my second, first title defense.”

Aside from two wins over Figueiredo, Moreno has key victories over Kai Kara-France (twice), Brandon Royal and Jussier Formiga. A win over Pantoja will truly mark his dominance in the flyweight division.

Pantoja has won three straight fights and most recently defeated former title challenger Alex Perez by first round submission at UFC 277. He is 4-2 in his last six fights and has key victories over Brandon Royal, Manel Cape, Matt Schnell and Willson Reis. Most importantly he has the victory over Moreno in 2018.

The Brazilian fighter is expecting a different fight this time around with Moreno. “That’s a different opponent for me,” Pantoja said. “One thing is, I’m excited to see how much me and Moreno evolved. Everyone talking about much he evolved about his last fight with me. That’s what I want to see, you know? Because I’m training at American Top Team for five years. I never leave out of the gym. I’m training a lot, and I’ve evolved a lot. I want to see how much I evolved with the one guy I fight before.

“That’s a good thing for me, and maybe that’s more energy for Moreno because he lost to me twice. Maybe he’s keeping this in his head. But for me, this is good because I know if I lose to someone twice, I’m going to make a difference. This makes me very alert with that and so prepared for that fight.”

He concluded, “I think that word ‘deserve,'” Pantoja said. “I deserve to fight for the belt. That’s nice fighting with Moreno, one guy that I respect a lot. One of the guys who learns a lot when he loses.

“… I’m expecting the best Moreno. I’m here for that, to fight with the best. I really want to fight with the prime Moreno, with his best skills, his mindset different.”

The rest of the UFC 290 card:

#2 Robert Whittaker (-400) vs. #5 Dricus Du Plessis (+300)
#11 Jalin Turner (-255) vs. #12 Dan Hooker (+215)

Bo Nickel vs. Val Woodburn

Robbie Lawler (+220) vs. Niko Price (-260)
#14 Jack Della Maddalena (-900) vs. Josiah Harrell (+600)
Yazmin Jauregui (-400) vs. Denise Gomes (+320)
#14 Jimmy Crute (-120) Vs. Alonzo Menifield (+100)
Vitor Petrino (-280) vs. Marcin Prachnio (+235)
Cameron Saaiman (-500) vs. Terrence Mitchell (+370)
Shannon Ross (+125) vs. Jesus Santos Aguilar (-145)
Kamuela Kirk (+130) vs. Esteban Ribovics (-150)

Ennis vs. Villa Preview

The Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City will play host to a title fight for the interim IBF welterweight belt. Undefeated champion Jaron Ennis will defend against hungry Columbian contender Roiman Villa.

Ennis (30-0-1, 27 KO) is coming off his unanimous decision victory over Karen Chukhadzhian to win the vacant belt in January. The win was just his second decision victory in his last 25 fights. Other than a no contest due to an accidental head clash, Ennis has been storming through welterweights in dominating fashion.

There have been heavy talks that the Philadelphia native will challenge the winner of Erol Spence and Terence Crawford, should he defeat Villa on Saturday. Ennis believes he is next in line. “I’m definitely the next guy waiting,” Ennis said. “You’ve got [Vergil] Ortiz, you’ve got [Eimantas] Stanionis, they’re right there, too. The young guys are here. If we can’t fight Crawford or Spence, I’ll take Stanionis, Ortiz, or even the older guys, Keith Thurman and [Yordenis] Ugas. It doesn’t really matter.” 

Ennis is ready to prove why he is the next great welterweight champion. “What will separate me from the younger guys is my skills and my ability all around,” Ennis said. “I feel like my style is fan-friendly. Everybody always wants to see me fight. I fight both ways — orthodox and southpaw. I’ve got power, I’ve got speed from the inside. I box, I do everything. I’m like a variety pack. Any chip you want, I’ve got it. I feel like everybody wants to see that, so I feel like I’ve got a little advantage over those other guys.” 

While he does have key victories over former title challenger Thomas Dulorme and former champion Sergey Lipinets, Ennis has yet to prove he is ready to mix it up with the pound for pound greats at 147 pounds. However with another dominant KO victory on Saturday, he will be difficult to deny.

Villa (26-1, 24 KO) is coming off a majority decision win over Rashidi Ellis in January. The only blemish on his record is a split decision loss back in 2019 to Marcos Villasana.

The 30-year-old is confident he can shock the heavy favorite Ennis. “I like it because he’s such an overwhelming favorite that I feel like people have me flying under the radar, and that’s just the way I like it,” said Villa.

Villa enjoys being the underdog. “There are no big men. So I’m going to be ready to be up for the challenge, and he’s a quality fighter, but I’m looking forward to showing the fans what I’m capable of,” said Villa.

He concluded that he is not scared like Ennis’ last opponent. “I’m going to pull off the upset. You couldn’t pay me even 10 million dollars to fight scared like that because what happened in the fight is that clearly fear paralyzes the best of them,” Villa said of Karen Chukhadzhian.

“If you allow yourself to be paralyzed by fear, then that’s it,” said Villa. I can promise you that there is not a single ounce of me that’s willing to fight like that. I’m the total opposite.”

The fight can be seen on Showtime starting at 9pm ET

UFC on ESPN 48 Preview (Strickland vs. Magomedov)

The UFC will be hosting another hard-hitting event at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday July 1st. The main event will be in the middleweight division between #7 Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov.

Strickland is coming off an impressive and dominant unanimous decision victory over Nassourdine Imavov in a light heavyweight bout in January. Strickland jumped in on short notice and much to the surprise of many pundits, he put an end to his two fight losing streak against an opponent many thought was on the rise to a title shot.

The 32-year-old is 7-2 in his last nine fights and he explained why he took a fight against an unranked opponent. “If the money is right, I’ll fight anybody,” Strickland said. “I would like to fight f—kin’ ‘Izzy.’ I think Whittaker is gonna f—k Dricus up. I think we all know that.”

He continued, “I had no idea who the f*ck he was,” Strickland said. “So I’ve been hounding the UFC to fight, I even offered to do 205, but Mick (Maynard) didn’t want me to f*ck up the rankings because there are a lot of 205ers I’d f*ck up. So I had a conversation with Mick, and he pretty much offered me a couple of ranked guys. I said yes to them, they said no.

“So I had a choice: I either wait eight f*cking months or I f*cking fight. The money was right and here we are. I mean, we all fight for money. If the dollar is right, I will f*cking do it. We came to good terms and good pay, and here we are fighting Abus.”

Strickland continued to not spare words about champion Israel Adesanya and middleweight contenders. “It’s kind of embarrassing that Dricus gets a potential shot, but ‘Izzy’ the Chinese — true Chinese — they probably want to bring a real African back to the championship. Can you guys believe that s—t? Is that real when he says look at the color of my skin? Did that really happen? Is that real? This f—king clown, this f—king loser, bro. They need to revoke your black card, bro. I don’t even look at you like a black man. I look at you like the f—king Chinese.”

Despite his title hopes, Strickland as usual took a fun-loving approach to commenting on his current opponent. “This is a fun fight, man,” Strickland said of him vs. Adesanya. “Like, you take Abus. Who the f—k is Abus? Let’s just say Abus knocks me the f—k out and he becomes the champion. Who the f—k is Abus? Do you really want Abus as a champion contender? Does that guy even speak english? A little bit? Well, there we go. I don’t know, man. I barely speak f—king english. Man can’t fight during f—king Ramadan and s—t.”

“I deserve a shot,” he said. “Let’s make it happen. Worst case scenario, me and ‘Izzy’ are gonna fight in the f—king parking lot because that s—t needs to happen.”

The last time Strickland looked into the future at a potential title shot with Adesanya, he was finished badly by Alex Pereira at UFC 276. Strickland has become somewhat of a fan favorite due to his brash trash talk and attempts at being humorous on the mic. So if he can manage to get by Saturday’s fight and follow that with a win, the build up to a fight between he and whoever is champion will be entertaining, especially if it still Adesanya.

Magomedov is coming off a brutal first round TKO victory over Dustin Stoltfzus last September. The win was his eighth in his last 10 fights and it marked a highly successful UFC debut for him. 

The 32-year-old did not back down from giving his true thoughts on Strickland. "My advice for Strickland is he has to be quiet. He has to take care of himself, take care of his survival," Magomedov said. "If he wants to talk, we can talk after the fight. But in the fight, we have to fight. It's not a talk show, you know?”

A fight with Strickland is the kind of showcase Magomedov needs to solidify his position as a contender. Both he and Strickland represent “new blood” or a new challenge to the middleweight title so a convincing win could work wonders for either fighters title hopes. 

The Rest of the Main Card:

Lightweight - #12 Damir Ismagulov vs. #15 Grant Dawson

Welterweight - Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales

Women’s Flyweight - Ariane Lipski vs. Melissa Gatto

Lightweight - Ismael Bonfim vs. Benot Saint-Dennis

Middleweight - Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Brunno Ferreria

ESPN + Prelims:

Welterweight - Kevin Lee vs. Rinat Fakhretdin

Featherweight. - Joanderson Brito vs. Westin Wilson

Women’s Featherweight - #6 Yana Santos vs. #9 Karol Rosa

Lightweight - Guram Kutateladze vs. Elves Brenner

Women’s Flyweight. - Ivana Petrovic vs. Luana Carolina

Heavyweight - #14 Alexander Romanov vs. #15 Blagoy Ivanov

UFC Jacksonville Preview (Emmett vs. Topuria)

The UFC will be returning to the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday June 24. The main event will have title implications in the featherweight division between #5 Josh Emmett and #9 Ilia Topuria.

Emmett will be trying to rebound from a second round submission loss to Yair Rodriguez at UFC 284 in February, in which he challenged for the interim title. Prior to the loss he had won five straight fights that included victories over Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige.

The 38-year-old will need to make a big statement on Saturday if he wants to remain in the title conversation at 145 pounds. Where does Emmett feel he is at in his career and on his search for a title shot?

“I don’t look and I don’t fight like a 38-year-old. I got into this sport later than a lot of people. I have the best team around me, and I have everything dialed in to a tee; it just wasn’t my night,” Emmett said. "I give it up to Yair. (Alexander) Volkanovski and him are going to fight July 8, I wish them the best — they’re both good people — and I just have to move on, get back to what’s the next task at hand, and that’s June 24.

“With a big statement, a big win, I feel like I’m right back in the mix.”

How does Emmett feel about Topuria? “The UFC is looking to build him up, but I’ve fought a lot of guys that are similar to him, his style. He’s really good. He’s a really good fighter, young, confident, but he’s never fought anyone close to me. There is nobody that is even close to my abilities.”

Topuria is undefeated and has five wins in the UFC. He most recently defeated Bryce Mitchell by second round submission at UFC 282 in December. The 26-year-old is facing his toughest challenge in Emmett, and he will enter his name in the title conversation with a win on Saturday.

Topuria believes a win over Emmett represents a title shot. "What's going to happen is that I'm the next guy in line," Topuria told CBS Sports. "Once I shine on Saturday night, I'm going to beat Josh Emmett and I'm the next guy in line without any doubt. Who else deserves to fight for the championship more than me?”

While he is confident, Topuria knows that Emmett will be a tough challenge. "He doesn't really have many weaknesses. That's why he's one of the best fighters in the world. But I know that he can't match my level of skill inside the cage," Topuria said. "As always, the new generation always brings something new. The level of my fight game is much better than his. This is the way I feel.”

Does Topuria think the spotlight is on him and this fight? "I really feel that especially after my last fight. When I beat Bryce Mitchell, it started to become more huge," Topuria said. "I feel good about that.”

The rest of the main card:

Women’s Flyweight - Amanda Ribas vs. Maybe Barber

Middleweight - Cody Bundrage vs. Sedriques Dumas

Featherweight - David Onama vs. Gabriel Santos

Middleweight - #13 Brendan Allen vs. Bruno Silva

ESPN + Prelims:

Welterweight - #11 Neil Magny vs. Philip Rowe

Flyweight - Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Joshua Van

Heavyweight-  Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa

Welterweight - Randy Brown vs. Wellington Turman

Lightweight - Mateusz Rebecki vs. Loik Radzhabov

Women’s Strawweight - Tabatha Ricci vs. Gillian Robertson

Lightweight - Trevor Peek vs. Jose Mariscal

Featherweight - Jamall Emmers vs. Jack Jenkins

Flyweight - Tatsuro vs. Kleydson Rodrigues

Taylor vs. Lopez Preview

The Hulu Theatre in Madison Square Garden will host a dynamic title fight on Saturday June 10.  Josh Taylor will defend his WBO junior welterweight title against former champion Teofimo Lopez.

Taylor (19-0, 13 KO) is coming off a split decision victory over Jack Catterall in February 2022 to defend his titles. The win was his fourth successful title defense since becoming a champion in 2019. With the most recent win Taylor has made it clear that he is on track to becoming the unified junior welterweight champion, but he must first get by a fighter who has something to prove.

The champion is ready to take on the fight no matter where it goes. "The way I think he's going to fight, we'll put him out of there early," Taylor told Sky Sports. "But if it goes the other way, which I think it might do as well, it'll be a boxing match, a clever boxing match but nothing that I'm going to be surprised with.

The Scottish fighter is ready for the skills that Lopez possesses. "I've watched him quite a bit in the lead up to this fight and I think I know what I'm expecting. But whatever he brings, I'm more than ready for.

He continued, "Having said that, the fighter that beat Lomachenko is the version of Teofimo Lopez that I'm preparing for; a very good fighter.”

The 32-year-old is ready to prove what type of champion he really is. "Having said that, the fighter that beat Lomachenko is the version of Teofimo Lopez that I'm preparing for; a very good fighter.”

Lopez is coming off a split decision victory over Sandor Martin in December 2022. He is the former IBF, WBA (Super), and WBO lightweight champion. Since losing his titles in 2021, he has won two straight fights and is looking to prove to the world that he is still the champion we witnessed back in 2019.

The 25-year-old believes he has what it takes to defeat Taylor. “This guy, no one has really called out Josh Taylor. Who knows why, maybe because he beat everybody already,” Lopez said, before talking directly to the champion. “So for me, I’m here. I’m here to come in there and take everything that you’ve got.”

Lopez addressed the pundits who have written him off as a champion. “For me, I think it’s just really the best version of me that I have yet to see in myself,” Lopez said. “I questioned myself because I know I’m greater and every true artist always does that.”

He concluded, “So when it comes to Josh Taylor, junior welterweight, he is the guy and that’s the guy you’ve got to beat to be the greatest, right?” Lopez said. “So this is what we aim for all the time.”

The fight can be seen on ESPN +

UFC 289 Preview

The UFC will be invading the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Saturday June 10th for UFC 289. The main event will be for the women’s bantamweight title between women’s pound for pound champion Amanda Nunes and #5 Irene Aldana. The main event was originally scheduled to be a trilogy fight between Nunes and former champion Julianna Pena, but Pena was forced to withdraw due to injury. Aldana willingly stepped in to offer a new challenge to to Nunes.

35-year-old Aldana has won two straight fights and most recently defeated Macy Chiasson by TKO at UFC 279 in September, giving her two consecutive TKO victories in dominant fashion. The Mexican fighter is 7-4 in the UFC with all four losses coming by decision.

The challenger knows what type of challenge she is up against at UFC 289. “For me, she is the greatest of all time, for me, she is,” Aldana said. “That’s why it makes it even more great for me to be able to have this opportunity against her, to beat one of the greatest.”

Aldana has respect for Nunes, but she has grand plans for the fight. “I respect her, and it’s an honor for me, but as much as I respect her, for me, I’m coming with a mentality of winning,” Aldana said. “It’s not kill or die. For me, it’s kill or kill. That’s it.”

There have been constant talks of Nunes retiring even before this fight because she really has nothing left to prove. Aldana is not worried about what Nunes might do next. “I don’t know what’s on her mind,” Aldana said. “I don’t know if she wants to retire or not. We’ll never know how the other fighter is going to come mentally, but I’m expecting her best version.

“I’m thinking that if she’s going to retire that she’s going to want to retire as a champion, so I’m not taking it in the easy way. I’m expecting her best version and that’s it.”

Aside from Chiasson, Aldana has key victories in her career over Yana Kunitskaya, Ketlen Vieira and Bethe Correia. In order to defeat Nunes she will need to do what Pena did in their first meeting, and that is withstand the power of Nunes and shock her in the earlier rounds. The Mexican fighter brings a different type of boxing and a great left hook that Nunes has not seen in quite some time.

Nunes has only lost once since 2014, and that was to Pena in their first meeting in 2021. She dominated Pena in the rematch at UFC 277 winning by unanimous decision. She currently sits as a double champion in the UFC also holding the featherweight belt, and she is one of only four fighters in history to simultaneously hold two belts. She has done just about everything a fighter can do in their career and has already cemented her legacy as one of the greatest fighters of all-time.

The 35-year-old has not had much to say about Aldana, but has stated the trilogy fight with Pena still could happen. She confidently explained why. “I’ll fight her again after this, no problem at all,” Nunes said. “She makes me better. This is MMA. If she sticks with her style, I’m sorry, you’re going to be gone soon.

“I’m evolving all the time. Yeah, I can strike. I can wrestle you. My wrestling is better than yours. My ground is better than yours. If you attack anything, I can defend. I’m stronger. So I’m better than you everywhere. You’re gone.”

Is Nunes looking beyond Aldana, or is she still motivated? “I am,” said Nunes, who was quick to add “I’m motivated— if it was Julianna too, I would have been too. Because to compete is what makes me excited. So no matter who steps in front of me, that makes me excited.”

Nunes is widely considered the greatest women’s fighter of all-time. She certainly has made a  strong argument for the title of women’s GOAT. Aside from being a double-champ, she has key victories in her career over Megan Anderson, Germaine de Randamie (twice), Holly Holm, Cris Cyborg, Raquel Pennington, Valentina Shevchenko (twice), Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Sara McMann.

The co-main event of the evening will be in the lightweight division and will have major title implications in the lightweight division. Former champion Charles Oliveira will battle worthy contender #4 Beneil Dariush.

Oliveira is trying to rebound from his last fight where he was submitted in the second round by Islam Makhachev to lose the title at UFC 280 last October. Prior to the fight he was on an 11 fight winning streak which included wins over Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson, Kevin Lee, Jim Miller and Clay Guida.

Does Oliveira believe the winner of his fight will be the next to challenge for the title? “Surely,” Oliveira said. “Whoever wins this fight this Saturday is going to go for the title. I’m next. I’m in line for it.”

The former champion has a new mindset on how to get back to the top. “When (my manager) Diego (Lima) told us about the fight, he said, ‘Hey, I have a new challenge for you,” Oliveira said. “There’s a new step that you need to take on your way to the top.’ When I came here, every single time it was cold. It was snowing. Things are changing. It’s nice. It’s warm. It’s beautiful out. Things are changing. Thing are different. This is a new moment. This is a new Charles. Things are going to start changing as well, back to the top.

Dariush is currently on an eight fight winning streak and most recently defeated Mateusz Gamrot by unanimous decision at UFC 280. During the streak he also has key victories over Tony Ferguson, Carlos Diego Ferreira, Drew Dober and Thiago Moises.

The 34-year-old has been fighting in the UFC and is 16-4-1 during that time. He is one of the more under appreciated fighters in the UFC and especially in the ultra competitive lightweight division. Does he think he will get a title shot with a win over Oliveira?

“For the first time, I was told that I’m getting the title shot if I win this fight,” says Dariush. “That’s the first time I’ve ever been told that. Otherwise, I’d be thinking about other fights—like what would happen to the winner of Dustin Poirier and Justin Garthje, or even Conor McGregor’s fight—but I’m not worried about any of that now. I know what I have to do.”

Dariush understands the challenge Oliveira will bring to the octagon at UFC 289. “Charles is absolutely amazing,” says Dariush, who was originally supposed to fight Oliveira in May, but the fight was postponed due to an Oliveira injury. “I think he’s one of the best fighters of all time. I learn so much watching him. He has overcome so many challenges. Look at the obstacles he overcame as champion.”

Despite the respect, Dariush is confident. “I don’t see Charles doing anything I can’t handle,” says Dariush. “Once we’re in the Octagon, people will see the difference. I’m not walking in with any fear. That’s the opposite of faith. I’m entering with the faith that I can overcome him.”

The rest of the main card:

Welterweight - Mike Malott vs. Adam Fugitt

Featherweight - #!3 Dan Ice vs. Nate Landwehr

Middleweight - Marc- Andre Barriault vs. Eryk Anders

ESPN + Prelims:

Middleweight - #11 Nassourdine Imavov vs. #14 Chris Curtis

Women's Flyweight - #15 Miranda Maverick vs. jasmine Jasudavicius

Bantamweight - Aimenn Zhabi vs. Aori Qileng

Featherweight - Kyle Nelson vs. Blake Bilder

Early Prelims:

Flyweight - #10 David Dvorak vs. Stephen Erceg

Women's Strawweight - Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira

Haney vs. Lomachenko

The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will host one of the most anticipated fights of 2023. The undisputed lightweight championship will be on the line as champion Devin Haney will defend the crown against former champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Haney (29-0, 15 KO) is coming off a successful title defense in a rematch against George Kambosos Jr. in October. The win was his second straight unanimous decision win over Kambosos and his sixth straight fight won by unanimous decision. Haney’s last finish came back in 2019 against Zaur Abdullaev where he won his first major title.

The 24-year-old was calling for a fight with Lomachenko back in 2019, but was dismissed by Lomachenko who was the champion at the time. Haney will finally have the chance to prove that was the fight to make. "He was No. 1 pound-for-pound and I'm going to get there eventually," said Haney, "I got into this business to be the best and to do that, you have to fight the best. I have been trying to fight him for a long time and now this is my opportunity.”

Much has been discussed about the size difference between Haney and Lomachenko, but the champion is not buying into the talk. "I don't really see it like I'm so much bigger than him," Haney said. "He beat [Masayoshi] Nakatani, who is bigger than me. Me and Ortiz are the same size. There was someone else [bigger than me that he beat] but I can't remember the name, but all of this, 'Oh, Haney's so much bigger than Lomachenko,' I don't think it's a factor.”

"Size shouldn't matter. The best fighter will win and that will be me.”

Haney’s main mission is to prove he is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. "There's a lot of talk, 'I want to fight this guy,' or 'I'll do this to that guy when I fight him,' but it's just talk," Haney said. "Until you get in there and fight, you don't know. You know, I've been saying this for a long time. I want all of these guys because I believe I'm the best and I know what I need to do to prove it. Loma took this fight and now I have my opportunity to prove what I've been saying and feeling for a long time.”

Aside from Kambosos, Haney has key victories in his career over Joseph Diaz Jr, Jorge Linares and Yuriorkis Gamboa. A win over Lomachenko will gain Haney the respect he deserves as a must see masterful pound for pound boxing champion.

Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jamaine Ortiz in October. He is 3-0 since losing the WBA and WBO titles back in 2020. The 35-year-old is a former three weight world champion having also held titles at featherweight and junior lightweight.

Despite not having a title heading into this fight, Lomachenko is considered one of the greatest and most-skilled fighters of all-time. The Ukrainian fighter became a champion in just his third professional fight and has defended a title 10 times.

Many of the pundits believe that Lomachenko is on the wrong side of 30 to go on a another championship run. The former champion is not concerned about what is being said of the fight. “It’s more pressure for Haney, not me,” said Lomachenko to Top Rank recently. “I already lose, I’m underdog, I’m old boxer.”

Lomachenko finally gets to fight for an undisputed title, but this time as the underdog. Does he care about the odds? “No, I’m not surprised. I understand why people are talking about underdog from my side. I don’t care. I just want to prove who I am,” said Lomachenko.

The main card can be seen on ESPN+ PPV

UFC on ABC 4 Preview (Rozenstruick vs. Almeida)

The UFC will be invading the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina for UFC on ABC 4. The main event will be a high stakes fight in the heavyweight division between long-running contender Jairzinho Rozenstruick and rising prospect Jailton Almeida.

Rozenstruick rebounded from a two fight losing streak in his last fight with a first round KO of Chris Daukuas in December. The 35-year-old entered 2020 as an undefeated fighter in the UFC, but since then he has gone 3-4. However, he is one big win away from getting back in the title conversation at heavyweight. Almeida represents the victory Rozenstruick needs to remind everyone of the title threat he was back in 2020.

The Surinamese fighter stated that he expected a higher fight in the rankings but the UFC thought Almeida was the next best fight for him.  “First of all, we didn’t want to do the fight.” Rozenstruik said of his thoughts on the fight.

“Cause me and my team discussed right away, we come off a good win, we want to fight someone higher in the rankings. And the UFC really wanted the fight, so the fights happening.” Jairzinho expressed that he wasn’t shying away from a fight with Almeida specifically, and he that didn’t feel like the UFC owed him anything for fighting a lower ranked opponent and added, “It’s not like I’m doing the company a favor but that’s how it is. You’re looking forward in life, right? You want to go forward.”

Despite what Rozenstruick wanted, he is ready to use a victory on Saturday to move forward in the rankings. “So, I see this as the bigger picture: win this fight, get me ready and then go forward with a higher ranked opponent.”

While he is looking forward, Rozenstruick is well aware of the dangers that Almeida brings to the cage on Saturday.  “I definitely think there’s going to be a size difference- Maybe not. Because maybe he cuts a lot of weight to go to light heavyweight.” Rozenstruik said.

Rozenstruick has key wins over Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Andre Arlovski. If he wants to make one more run at a title shot, it starts with a win in Charlotte over Almeida.

Almeida has not lost since 2018 and is 4-0 in the UFC. He most recently defeated Shamil Abdurakhimov by second round TKO in January at UFC 283. Rozenstruick represents the biggest challenge of his career thus far.

The Brazlilian fighter learned a valuable lesson after his first loss and is on a new path. "In 2018, after my last loss, it kind of clicked," Almeida said. "I realized changes had to be made in my game, and I think we've been able to perfect it. The grappling was always about control with some ground-and-pound and looking for submissions. I've watched a lot of the Dagestani wrestlers like Khabib [Nurmagomedov], [Islam] Makhachev and [Khamzat] Chimaev. They have a style that appeals a lot to me.

"I'm always watching them and trying to learn from them. I've been able to incorporate some of the things that they do, which we don't generally do in Brazil, into my game. As I've gotten comfortable with them, we've begun to see results.”

The 31-year-old is ready to prove himself in his first main event. "It's great to get the spotlight from a fight with such a big audience and spotlight on it, but I still have to perform," he said. "They put you in position but it's up to the fighter to take advantage. I have my plan and I know my job and I'm going to go out and execute it.”

Almeida talked about what type of fight he is expecting against Rozenstruick. “I don’t think there’s any pressure,” Almeida said. “I’m always ready for the full length of the fight. For this one, I’ve trained everything for five rounds. I guess the style is just more effective than most.

“We are very finish oriented, so that’s what we’re always looking for. Doesn’t matter if it’s the first round, the fifth round, whenever I get a chance to do it. No added pressure, something that I just go with the flow.”

A win on Saturday will put Almeida’s name in the title conversation. While he stands at 6’3, Almeida represents a smaller type of heavyweight typically fighting around 225 pounds, not to mention he is in the prime of his career at only 31 years old. He is a threat on the feet and on the ground so with a win on Saturday he could shake things up in the top five of the heavyweight division.

The rest of the main card:

Light Heavyweight - #5 Anthony Smith vs. #7 Johnny walker

Welterweight - Daniel Rodriguez vs. Ian Garry

Light Heavyweight - Carlos Ulberg vs. Ihor Potieria

Welterweight - Alex Morono vs. Tim Means

ESPN + Prelims:

Welterweight - Matt Brown vs. Court McGee

Heavyweight - Karl Williams vs. Chase Sherman

Bantamweight - Cody Stamann vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade

Women’s FLyweight - Kim Ji-Yeon vs. Many Bohm

Welterweight  - Bryan Battle vs.  Gabriel Green

Women’s Bantamweight - Jessica - Rose Clark vs. Tainara Lisboa

Alvarez vs. Ryder Preview

Jalisco, Mexico will play host to a boxing homecoming of the ages on Saturday May 6th.  Jalisco born Canelo Alvarez is returning home to defend his pound for pound status and his undisputed super middleweight title against John Ryder.

Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KO) most recently won by unanimous decision victory in a trilogy fight against Gennady Golovkin in September. The victory put an end to the rivalry making Canelo’s record against his Russian foe 2-0-1. He looks to defend the undisputed crown for the second time against Ryder.

The champion wants nothing more than put on a show at home in front of his fans. “I’m doing it because I love it. I like challenges,” Álvarez told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday. “I want to leave a great legacy that motivates others to beat it.”

Alvarez had a message for his critics who think he has fallen off from being the face of boxing. “I’m still here, I’m still here,” the 32-year-old said. “I lost with one of the best fighters at 175. And I’m still here. I’m still the face of boxing, for sure. The numbers talk, and that’s it. ,,,

“I’m here for a long time and I’m going to show everybody.”

How will Canelo win on Saturday?  “Just being sensible,” he said. “… We all know what he’s got, the aura that surrounds him. But … not letting the fans get in my head, just staying focused.”

Alvarez is without a doubt one of the greatest fighters of all-time. A win over Ryder will remind everyone of this fact. The questions is, what is next? He has repeatedly said he wants a rematch with Dmitry Bivol and would also like to defend at super middleweight against David Benavidez and or David Morrell.

Aside from two wins over Golovkin, Alvarez has key wins over Caleb Plant, Billy Joe Saunders, Avni Yildirim, Callum Smith, Sergey Kovalev, Daniel Jacobs, Rocky Fielding, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Liam Smith, Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, Josesito Lopez, Shane Mosley, Kermit Cintron and Alfonso Gomez.

Ryder (32-5, 18 KO) is the former interim WBA super middleweight and the interim WBO super middleweight champion. He most recently defeated Zach Parker by fifth round TKO in November for the interim WBO title.

The British fighter is not intimidated by challenging Alvarez in Mexico. “I’ve been lucky enough to go to the arena in Guadalajara. I’ve seen the venue, seen the changing rooms, seen the pitch. I’m taking myself there every night so there’s going to be no shock,” said Ryder.

Ryder is ready to seize the moment. “I’m actually buzzing. Biggest night of my career so far. I’ve had big fights in the past but nothing compares to this.” Ryder pauses and then, with a cheeky cackle, he adds: “But, if you think this is big, wait until the rematch.”

While he might be confident, Ryder has studied what type of fight he might have with Alvarez. “I’ve trained for the best Canelo, and I want him to be at his best, but it’s hard to say [if his finest days are behind him]. That loss to Bivol obviously took a lot out of him and he had that great year in 2021 when he unified the super-middleweight division [after fighting four times in 11 months].

“That took a lot out of him too, with back-to-back camps, and the fight with Golovkin was not a vintage performance. He got the job done, but since then he’s had surgery. So we need to wait and see what he’s got left.”

Aside from Parker, Ryder’s biggest win was a split decision win over Daniel Jacobs in 2022. This fight with Canelo is without a doubt the biggest of his career and he has the chance to prove that he is worthy of being mentioned as one of the best super middleweights in the world.

UFC 288 Preview

The UFC will be invading the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday May 6th for UFC 288. The main event will be for the bantamweight title between champion Aljamain Sterling and former two-division champion Henry Cejudo.

Cejudo is coming out of retirement at 36 years old to reclaim the title that he relinquished when retiring, but never lost to any bantamweight contender. The former bantamweight champion was also the former flyweight champion and is one of only four fighters in UFC history to hold two belts at one time.

Despite not having fought since 2020, Cejudo is confident heading into the clash with Sterling on Saturday. When asked about the level of difficulty he will face coming back to fight the champion, Cejudo was confident. “It’s easy money. I watched these guys after coaching some of the best in the world – Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Zhang Weili, Deiveson Figueiredo, Jiri Prochazka – and I started to understand my talent a little bit better,” said Cejudo.

“I know there is a window, I know there is a gap where I really do have to say goodbye. I’m 36 years old, I’m 36 years young, and I feel good. I feel really good.”

Cejudo continued, “Yeah, I’ve been retired for three years. But really, I’ve been retired for two because this whole last year I’ve been training,” Cejudo explained. “This whole last year I’ve been studying. Those last two years I’ve been training (with) the best in the world, and it’s just the accumulation of knowledge. … I may grow a gut, I may like fried chicken like Daniel Cormier, but I can compete with anybody, and I believe I’m the greatest competitor of all time.”

The man they call “Triple C” confidently concluded, “Not only am I looking to beat Aljamain Sterling, but I’m looking to dominate him,” Cejudo said. “He ain’t going past three rounds.”

Cejudo has key wins in his career over Dominck Cruz, Marlon Moraes, TJ Dillashaw, Demetrious Johnson, Sergio Pettis, Wilson Reis and Jussier Formiga. He is already considered one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all-time, but coming back to become a two-time champion at the age of 36 will solidify his reputation as one of the best fighters in the history of the sport.

Sterling is coming off a second straight title defense with the last being a second round TKO over former champion TJ Dillashaw at UFC 280 in October. The win was the champions eighth consecutive and was the kind of victory he needed to prove he deserves to be considered bantamweight elite.

Despite his success, Sterling still enters the fight against Cejudo as the underdog. But the champion has not wasted time thinking about the odds or why he is disrespected by his critics. "Honestly, I really don't know," Sterling said. "I couldn't give you an honest answer. I think the excuses only started after the first Yan fight. That was also my first title fight. That showing, if I'm being honest, wasn't an accurate depiction of everything I'd done leading up to that title shot. If you've never seen Aljamain Sterling fight, and that was your first time watching because you're a casual, which is OK... I get why those casual fans are like that because it's the first and only ever appearance you've seen of me. They think Yan must be this monster if the hype said, 'Sterling is this, this, and this, and this guy kind of just did whatever he wanted, then rematch! No way he loses to this guy'. You got to the rematch, and it's close, but not really. It's really not close,” said Sterling.

"You almost have to figure a way to cope with your warped perception of reality because you're not a die-hard fan. You don't understand what I've done or have watched my previous fights to understand my entire game. Maybe I'm just too analytical with it. It just makes it easier to make things sit. I'm going to give you the option to go back and watch my previous fights leading up to it (the first Yan fight) and see how I even got there. I guarantee you that tune will change.”

The New York native will be fighting in his own backyard in Newark and will have the added advantage of fighting at home, or will it be a distraction? Sterling is ready to represent his town with pride.

Three champions from Long Island and we never had an opportunity to have a homecoming like this,” says Sterling. “I know Weidman fought predominantly in Las Vegas as the champion, and Matt Serra, I think he had the rematch with GSP in Montreal. Al (Iaquinta) fought on 24-hours’ notice against Khabib at the Barclays Center, but we never had anyone with the belt, defending it on their home turf.”

The champion continued, “I do know what this means and I do know what the crowd is going to look like, sound like,” he adds with a smile, seated in the basement of his home, a little more than a week out from returning to action. “It’s not every day you get to defend a world title pretty much on your home turf, have the home crowd advantage.”

“I’m just hoping Long Island shows out, New York shows out, the Tri-State area shows out and boos the crap out of this man when he walks into the arena.”

Sterling concluded,  “This is it — this is what dreams are made of,” he adds. “It’s not every day you have this opportunity and that gives me perspective, gives me a reality check of what it all means to me. It’s another fight, but it’s going to be a special one; something I’m definitely not going to forget for years to come.”

A win over Cejudo would mean quite a few things for Sterling. First, he would break the record for bantamweight wins in the UFC with 14. Secondly, he would be the first bantamweight champion in history to defend the belt three times. This would solidify Sterling’s place as one of the best bantamweights in history and could silence many of the pundits.

Aside from Dillashaw, Sterling has key victories in his career over Petr Yan, Cory Sandhagen, Pedro Munoz, Jimmie Rivera and Renan Barao. Cejudo represents the type of fighter that has entered the octagon many times against Sterling but has come up short. He is a forward-moving wrestler who relies on heavy pressure, but Sterling seems to be built for that kind of fight. The winner of this fight could come down to who can control the later rounds.

The co-main event of the evening will have major title implications in the welterweight division. #4 Belal Muhammad will take on former title challenger #5 Gilbert Burns. UFC President Dana White stated during the UFC press conference on Thursday that the winner will be the best to challenge the winner of welterweight champion Leon Edwards and Colby Covington.

Muhammad has not lost a fight since 2019 and the only non win was a no contest against the champion Leon Edwards in 2021. He most recently defeated Sean Brady by second round TKO at UFC 280 in October.

The 34-year-old has key victories in his career over Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia. A win over Burns means the biggest of Muhammad’s career and a chance at the welterweight title.

Burns has won two straight fights since losing one of the best fights of 2022 to Khamzat Chimaev. He jumped into this fight with Muhammad on short notice after defeating Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287 just over a month ago.

The 36-year-old challenged for the title in 2021, but with a win on Saturday over a surging contender he has the opportunity to be a two-time title challenger. Aside from Masvidal, Burns has key victories over Neil Magny, Stephen Thompson, Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and Gunnar Nelson.

The rest of the main card:

Strawweight - #4 Jessica Andrade vs. #6 Yan Xiaonan

Featherweight - #10 Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes

Featherweight - Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain

ESPN + Prelims:

Lightweight - #14 Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola

Light Heavyweight - Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Devin Clark

Welterweight - Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya

Strawweight - #5 Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba

UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims:

Heavyweight - Braxton Smith vs. Parker Porter

Middleweight - Phil Hawes vs. Ikram Aliskerov

Middleweight - Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro

UFC ESPN 81 (Preview) Song vs. Simon

The UFC is heading back to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday April 29th for UFC on ESPN 81. The main event will be a high stakes fight in the bantamweight division between #8 Song Yadong and #10 Ricky Simon.

Song is trying to rebound from a TKO doctor stoppage loss in his last fight against Corey Sandhagen in September. The loss put an end to a three fight winning streak but was only his second loss in his last 13 fights. What did Song learn from the loss?

“Actually, I don’t learn a lot from that fight because I was cut early and it wasn’t my plan,” said Song. “My plan was to push him harder after the second round, but I got cut early in the second round, so I couldn’t take him down, couldn’t kick because I couldn’t see him.”

“A lot of people think the cut was bothering me, but my right eye was worse — the orbital bone was broken, so I could see three Cory’s in front of me. I had to cover my right eye and use my left eye; I could barely see.’

He concluded “Before the fifth round started, I told myself, ‘Protect yourself, protect your eye, and just keep going; this is your last chance to beat this guy.”

Song knows what he is up against in Simon. “I’ve definitely been watching his fights,” Song said of Simon, who sits at No. 10 in the rankings. “He fought with Urijah and (since) that fight, he’s been improving a lot. His striking is getting better and I think he’s stronger.

“He’s powerful and a very dangerous guy. Fighting him is not easy.”

How will Song defeat Simon? “He’s a wrestler — he likes to take people down — but his ground control is not that good,” he offered. “If he takes me down, I can get up, for sure.

“So I think (I just have to) give him some heavy punches, defend the takedown, or take him down. It’s just the details; I have tools to use against him.”

Song has key victories in his career over Marlon Moraes, Julio Arce, Casey Kenney and Marlon Vera. A win over Simon will put the 25-year-old back into the title conversation.

Simon has won five straight fights and most recently defeated Jack Shore by second round submission last July. The 30-year-old was once considered a top prospect at bantamweight but suffered two straight losses to Urijah Faber and Rob Font respectfully. Since then he has reminded everyone that he certainly is a title contender.

The 30-year-old knows that he faces a tough opponent on Saturday. “He’s a great fighter, explosive fighter, but I don’t think he mixes it up as well as I do,” Simon said. “I don’t think anyone in the bantamweight division mixes it up as well as I do. So I have plenty of confidence going into this one.”

Simon is not looking too far into the future and is focused on Song. “I haven’t put too much thought on who’s next, because I’m honed in right now,” Simon said. “I’m focused on beating up Song.”

Aside from Shore, Simon has key victories over Raphael Assuncao, Brian Kelleher, Ray Borg and Merab Dvalishvili. A win over Song will be the biggest of his career and will remind the bantamweight top 10 that Simon will not be forgotten again as a contender for the title.

The Rest of the Main Card:

Middleweight - Caio Borralho vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

Middleweight - Rodolfo Vieira vs. Cody Bundrage

Featherweight - Julian Erosa vs. Fernando Padilla

Heavyweight - Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Waldo Cortes - Acosta

Welterweight - Joshua Quinlan vs. Trey Waters

ESPN 2 Prelims:

Heavyweight - Martin Buday vs. Jake Collier

Flyweight - Cody Durden vs.  Charles Johnson

Women’s Bantamweight - Stephanie Egger vs. Irina Alekseeva

Catchweight (140 lb) Journey Newsome vs. Marcus McGhee

Women’s Bantamweight - Hailey Cowan vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth

Davis vs. Garcia Preview

One of the most anticipated fights of 2023 is going down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 22. The fight will be taking place at a catchweight of 136 pounds between WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis and former WBC interim lightweight champion Ryan Garcia.

Davis (28-0, 26 KO) is coming off an eight round TKO of Hector Garcia in January to retain the WBA regular lightweight title for the fourth time. The 28-year-old has been a three weight world champion, but Garcia represents the biggest win of his career.

The Baltimore native knows what is at stake on Saturday. “This means everything,” Davis said. “We are putting everything on the line. Coming from where I come from, this is big. I witnessed Floyd Mayweather and all the top guys fight in Las Vegas. This is the top-level. I’m ready.

“My first goal was to win a belt. I never thought I would be in Las Vegas having a big fight. This is a dream come true. I won’t let my people down.”

Davis addressed the heavy back and forth of trash-talk between the two fighters. “I think he’s trying to hype himself to get into the fight when he talks about knocking me out in two rounds,” Davis said. “I don’t think he really believes that.”

There was an attempt to make the fight a winner take all purse, but Davis says Garcia’s camp would not commit. “I'm definitely trying to make it official,” said Davis. “His advisor called begging that we don't make that happen. He was scared.”

Davis has key victories in his career over Isaac Cruz, Mario Barrios, Leo Santa Cruz, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Liam Walsh and Jose Pedraza. A win on Saturday will set up the champion for bigger paydays and set him apart as one of the best pound for pound boxers on Earth, in any weight class.

Garcia (23-0, 19 KO) is coming off a sixth round KO of Javier Fortuna in July. The 24-year-old will be facing the toughest challenge of his young career on Saturday. A win will put him among the boxing elite, but a loss will put the California native in a precarious position for big money fights despite entering the fight undefeated.

Garcia represents the new generation of fighter who is known more by a larger audience as a social media influencer and less as a professional boxer. So every loss counts against his popularity as an influencer and not as much as a professional boxing title threat.

Despite what the boxing world thought should happen, Garcia wanted this fight with Davis. “I had a mission, and I had a vision to fight Gervonta Davis, and to bring the fans what they really wanted to see,” Garcia said. “I made it happen. That’s what I’m happy about more than anything in life right now.”

Garcia knows what a win over Davis means for his future. “This one feels like it counts,” Garcia said. “The other ones don’t feel like they count. Because, after I win, it’s, ‘Are you going to fight Gervonta or not?’ Now, I’m fighting Gervonta. So, this one, you can’t say nothing after. Now, I’m in the driver’s seat. You can’t say anything now. There’s nothing left to say. All you have to do is accept that this man is on the road to greatness and let’s enjoy the ride.”

The Main Card can be seen on Showtime PPV

UFC Vegas 71 Preview (Blaydes vs. Pavlovich)

The UFC is heading back to the Apex in Lax Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 71 on Saturday April 22. The main event will be a heavyweight fight with major title implications between #3 Sergei Pavlovich and #4 Curtis Blaydes.

Pavlovich has won five straight fights and most recently defeated Tai Tuivasa by first round KO in December. His only professional loss came in 2018 where he lost by TKO to Alistair Overeem, since then he has tallied five straight finishes in dominant fashion.

The 30-year-old is looking to seize the biggest moment of his career. “I think it’s going to be a great show,” Pavlovich said. “I think it’s going to be a great fight. There’s going to be two fighters in there that are not willing to back down. Nobody is trying to give the other person a chance. Everyone is fighting for the same goal. So I think it’s going to be a fun fight, it’s going to be an interesting fight, and everyone who tunes in is going to see a show.”

While the talks of the winner of this fight could earn a heavyweight title shot, the Russian fighter is not looking that far into the future. “I don’t really think ahead this moment,” Pavlovich said. “I’m only thinking about and concentrating on the fight ahead of me.”

Pavlovich believes he knows how to defeat Blaydes. “Patience will be key,” says Pavlovich. “I can’t foresee the future, but I don’t think this will end in the first round. Curtis knows the stakes, too. There is a potential title shot on the line.”

Aside from Tuivasa, Pavlovich has key victories over Derrick Lewis, Shamil Abdurakhimov and Maurice Greene. Blaydes represents the biggest of win his career and it would be hard to deny him a title shot, especially if he can win in devastating fashion.

Blaydes has won three straight fights and most recently defeated Tom Aspinall by TKO in July, after Aspinall suffered a knee injury. Blaydes has twice in his career potentially been one win away from earning that elusive title shot, a win over Pavlovich puts him in that same position.

Blaydes has come up short in key fights against Derrick Lewis and former champion Francis Ngannou. A win on Saturday puts the Chicago born fighter in a prime position to call for a title shot. But does Blaydes think he will be next in line?

“I know what I’m working toward,” Blaydes said. “If I win, I’ll wait. I’ll wait for a title shot. I don’t care who it is. If it’s Jon (Jones), if it’s Stipe (Miocic), if they bring in Brock Lesnar, I’ll wait.”

Does Blaydes thinks he matches up well with current heavyweight champion Jon Jones? “The wrestling I present, it’s a problem,” Blaydes said. “If you don’t think so, then you don’t really understand MMA. The ability for me to take the fight from on the feet to the ground when I want to puts more mental pressure on my opponents that have to think about it. Even if I don’t actually shoot, you know it’s an option and it’s something for you to think about. I use that and I think I can use that against Jon.”

Blaydes concluded, “I’m not in this for glory,” Blaydes said. “That’s not what wakes me up and gets me working out in the morning. I’m here for money. And I know if I get the belt, I get more money. Whoever I have to fight to get the belt, I really don’t care who it is. It’d help, obviously, if it was Jon. It helps my legacy, but it’s not the end-all, be-all for me.”

Aside from Aspinall, Blaydes has key victories in his career over Jairzinho Rozenstruick, Alexander Volkov, Junior Dos Santos, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt and Alexey Oleynik. A win on Saturday will finally prove he can get over the championship hump and be the next fighter to challenge for the heavyweight title.

The Rest of the Main Card:

Middleweight - Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva

Lightweight  - Bobby Green vs. Jared Gordon

Strawweight - Iasmin Lucindo vs. Brogan Walker-Sanchez

Welterweight - Jeremiah Wells vs. Matthew Semelsberger

ESPN + Prelims:

Lightweight -  Ricky Glenn vs. Christos Giagos

Bantamweight - Rani Yahya vs. Montel Jackson

Women’ Featherweight - #9 Karol Rosa vs. #13 Norma Dumont

Heavyweight - Mohammas Usman vs. Junior Tafa

Featherweight - Francis Marshall vs. William Gomis

Women’s Flyweight - Priscila Cachoeira vs. Karine Silva

Bantamweight  - Brady Heistand vs. Danaa Batgerel

UFC Kansas City Preview (Holloway vs. Allen

The T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, MO will play host to UFC on ESPN 44 Saturday April 15th. The main event will be in the featherweight division between former champion #2 Max Holloway and rising contender #4 Arnold Allen.

Holloway is trying to rebound from unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 276 for the title. The defeat was his third consecutive to the current champion, but a win on Saturday keeps Holloway in firm position to stay in the title conversation.

Holloway recently commented on Volkanovski.  "Yes, I do believe I am a better fighter than Alexander Volkanovki," Holloway said. "If I didn't believe I was a better fighter than him, then why I am fighting in the same weight class as the guy? Ask anybody. Ask anybody who has lost to anybody, 'Do you think you are a better fighter than this guy?' Of course, they are going to say yes, because once we start saying no, once you get the acceptance that this guy might be better than me, then you don't belong, and you should retire. Guys don't understand that.”

The former champion does not care about whether he is considered a contender or a gatekeeper. He is focused on his opponent in Kansas City.  “We’ll see what happens,” says Holloway. “First thing first, I’ve got a tall task in front of me with Arnold Allen. He has that crazy win streak, he’s super athletic and he’s super hungry. I can’t overlook this guy. You start overlooking a guy, you fumble the bag. I’m not going to fumble the bag.”

Holloway is preparing for anything to happen, not just what we have seen out of Allen in his last few fights. “It’s hard to use any of his fights,” says Holloway. “He fights like once a year—he always seems to get hurt, then comes back like a different fighter. I can go off some things he might do—I know he’s a very well-rounded mixed martial artist. There are a lot of questions going into this fight, and we’ll get the answers on Saturday.”

A win by Holloway would put him in the unfortunate position of waiting on the winner of the next featherweight title fight between Volkanovski and interim champion Yair Rodriguez. A fourth fight with Volkanovski is a hard sell in the current state of the featherweight division. A loss would put him in the even more unfortunate position as the featherweight division’s stepping stone.

Allen has won 12 straight fights and most recently defeated Calvin Kattar by TKO after Kattar suffered a knee injury. The win was the biggest of his career but there was much left to be desired, hence why Holloway isn’t using that fight to prepare for Allen.

The 29-year-old has nothing but respect for Holloway. “(Max is an) ex-champion, one of the greatest featherweights of all time,” Allen said. “His resume is nothing short of inspiring. He’s done all the things I want to do, and he’s set the path for the things I want to do too.”

The English fighter went on to say,  “He’s rarely in a boring fight,” Allen said. The way he fights is going to bring the best out of myself. I’m looking forward to it. … It’s never a thought about trying to be the guy to put him down. It’s never the thought, whoever you’re fighting. You’re always thinking about the five rounds and doing the distance. Obviously the goal is always to try to finish, but the thought is to go five rounds.”

A thirteenth straight win over a future hall of famer will put Allen in a great position to challenge for the title. He has great power but Holloway has proven to have one of the best chins in the UFC. Will Allen finally crack the code, or will he become another fighter to be outworked by Holloway?

The rest of the main card:

Featherweight - #14 Edson Barboza vs. Billy Quarantillo

Light Heavyweight - #13 Dustin Jacoby vs. #15 Azamat Murzakanov

Light Heavyweight - Ion Cutelaba vs.Tanner Boser

Bantamweight - #9 Pedro Munhoz vs. #13 Chris Gutierrez

Lightweight - Clay Guida vs. Rafa Garcia

ESPN + Prelims:

Featherweight - TJ Brown vs. Bill Algeo
Flyweight - #4 Brandon Royval vs. #5 Matheus Nicolau
Light Heavyweight - Zak Cummings vs. Ed Herman
Strawweight - Piera Rodriguez vs. Gillian Robertson
Lightweight - Lando Vannata vs. Daniel Zellhuber
Strawweight - Bruna Brasil vs. Denise Gomes
Bantamweight - Gaston Bolanos vs. Aaron Phillips
Women’s Bantamweight - Joselyne Edwards vs. Lucie Pudilova