UFC 299 Preview

The UFC will be invading the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida on Saturday, March 9th for UFC 299. The main event will be a rematch for the bantamweight title between champion Sean O’Malley and the only fighter to defeat him, #5 Marlon Vera.

O’Malley won the title in his last fight in August at UFC 292 with a second round TKO of Aljamain Sterling. Vera defeated O’ Malley by first round TKO at UFC 252 in 2020, but the champion is no bothered by the loss.

“Yeah, that fight never necessarily bothered me,” O’Malley said. “Look where I’m at now. That fight plays out a different way, I win that fight, and then next fight I fight somebody I wasn’t ready for, and I lose, and my career completely plays out differently. So I go out there and knock out Thomas Almeida like seven times with a beautiful performance, so I’m just grateful for everything that’s happened, but yeah, that fight has never really bothered me. I’m excited to go out there and do what I was going to do in that first fight.”

While O’ Malley has been vocal about the loss to Vera not being real, he does respect the challenge that Vera will bring on Saturday. “His durability,” O’Malley commented on Vera. “He’s hard to put away. If you can’t put him away, you better be ready to go for 25 minutes, so I plan on a 25-minute war.”

But he still has the same opinion of the first fight. “If he were to beat me, he’d beat me once,” O’Malley said. “It’s that simple.”

Aside from his belief that he won the first fight, O’Malley knew that becoming champion would mean a rematch with Vera.  “There was more deserving opponents, but the biggest fight as far as pay-per-view, the storyline, it was Chito Vera, 100%”, O’Malley said.

“This fight is going to play out the way the first fight was about to play out.”

Vera is 5-2 since defeating O’Malley and most recently defeated Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision at UFC 292 in August. The two have no bad blood lost leading into this fight and Vera has not hesitated to voice his opinion of O’Malley.

“I get it. One of his main tools is getting in people’s heads,” Vera said. “Good luck with that. I’m going to f*** you up. I’m prepared for Saturday night. So he’s trying to start things. Yesterday, he asked me if I was ready to lose the fight. They didn’t catch my answer. I would have loved the camera to catch what I said back to him, but they only got one side. But that’s just one tool to the game. I’m ready for a fight. My mind is in the right place and I’m going to kick his ass.”

The Ecuadorian fighter continued, “I don’t give two f*cks about what he’s doing, who he talks for,” Vera said. “I focus [on] myself, I focus [on] my schedule, my training, my body, my mind and whatever he’s doing, I don’t give two f**ks about him or his life.”

Vera concluded, “I’m going to get in there and I’m going to drill a hole through his face. Then what? There’s no talking in there. I know his corner likes to [talk] when we’re in there, but I would love my corner to give me advice to win the fight. If my corner is more concerned about talking sh*t about my opponent and they don’t tell me what to do, I wouldn’t be with those people. But the whole circle: I mean it’s just like, it’s all a full rainbow in there, right? And we know what it stands for these days.”

The 31-year-old made his UFC debut in 2014 and is 15-7 having found the most success in his last 14 fights. Aside from Munhoz and O’Malley, he has key wins over Dominick Cruz, Rob Font and Frankie Edgar. He has never been finished and has fought five rounds only once, losing a split decision to top contender Corey Sandhagen. If Vera gets a second win over O’Malley, how soon does the UFC book a trilogy fight?

The Rest of the Main Card:

Lightweight - #3 Dustin Poirier vs. #12 Benoît Saint Denis

Welterweight - #13 Kevin Holland vs. Michael Page

Welterweight - #4 Gilbert Burns vs. #11 Jack Della Maddalena

Bantamweight - #4 Petr Yan vs. #7Song Yadong

ESPN+ Prelims:

Heavyweight - #5 Curtis Blaydes vs. - #7 Jailton Almeida

Women's Flyweight - #4 Katlyn Cerminara vs. #6 Maycee Barber

Lightweight - #6 Mateusz Gamrot vs. #11 Rafael dos Anjos

Bantamweight - #13 Pedro Munhoz vs. Kyler Phillips

ESPN + Early Prelims:

Light Heavyweight - Ion Cuțelaba vs. Philipe Lins

Middleweight - Michel Pereira vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk

Heavyweight - Robelis Despaigne vs. Josh Parisian

Catchweight (127 lb) - C.J. Vergara vs. Assu Almabayev

Women's Flyweight - Joanne Wood vs. Maryna Moroz

Joshua vs. Ngannou Preview

The Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will feature  a powerful night of boxing on Friday, March 8th. Former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will battle former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Joshua has won three straight fights since his departure from being a champion and he most recently defeated Otto Wallin by fifth round TKO in December. The 34-year-old had seven title defenses and key wins over Kubrat Pulev, Andy Ruiz Jr, Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, Wladimir Klitschko, Eric Molina and Charles Martin.

The former champion knows a potential fight with current WBC champion Tyson Fury could be on the horizon with a win. “All will be revealed,” Joshua commented.

He continued, “Just straight-out war, relentless, a good fight. That’s what everyone is here for, a good fight.”

The English fighter concluded, “I spar, I do my film study, all that type of stuff. I keep it professional.

“But on the night is on the night. That’s different. All that textbook stuff goes out the window. You’ve just got to be relentless, give it your best. It’s already written in the stars what’s going to happen, I’m just going to follow my destiny.”

Fury has a scheduled fight in May with the man who took Joshua’s WBA (super), IBF, WBO, IBO titles Oleksandr Usyk. While the boxing world has long awaited a showdown between Fury and Joshua as they are bitter rivals, Fury will have his hands full with Usyk. Joshua has lost to Usyk twice, so should Usyk defeat Fury will we see Joshua vs. Usyk 3?

While Joshua looked to be back to his old form in his last fight, many across the boxing world feel taking this fight with Ngannou was a bad move by on his part. Former super-middleweight champion Carl Froch who was trained with Joshua, does not see a positive outcome for his friend and mentor.

“If he hits AJ on the chin like [he did against Fury], AJ gets caught, he stays hurt, he takes ages to recover. He blew a gasket against Pulev. He was boxing, moving doing well then he needed four or five rounds off before he got the job done,” said Froch.

“He won’t have that time with Ngannou. Ngannou will put him on it, it’s only 10 round fight. It’s kind of like an exhibition, which is why it’s dangerous for AJ. He needs to go in there and get it won and earn his money, which is the only reason he’s doing it.

“AJ is trying to get this undisputed fight with the winner of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, but that’s still going to be there for him, so this is potentially a real bad move if it goes wrong for him, as it could be the end of his career.”

Francis Ngannou made his professional boxing debut last October against the best heavyweight of his generation Tyson Fury. He shocked the world by knocking down Fury in the third round of the fight, but Fury would go on to win a razor thin split-decision. Many pundits believe Ngannou won the fight.

It was argued that Ngannou would get outclassed having come from MMA against a technician like Fury, but he was not outmatched and proved he belongs among the top of the heavyweight ranks. Many questions were asked about the fight. Did Ngannou strike lighting or did Fury not take the fight seriously?  Ngannou now once again has the chance to use his punching power to shock the world twice against Joshua. There were many unknowns about how Ngannou would look in the ring against a fighter as skilled as Fury, so if he was taken lightly by Fury, Joshua will not make that same mistake.

Ngannou is confident heading into just his second pro fight against one of the best in the world. "Everything is a clue. I mean, every space that I have an opening, I'm going to hit. So, don't you worry about where is the key or the clue, so I'm not going to let any stone unturned and any opportunity unexplored,” said Ngannou.

While the Cameroonian fighter has appeared to be focused on Joshua, he also seems to have his sights set on a rematch with Fury, who interrupted the fight press conference on Wednesday. Directed at Fury, “You’re going to sleep in the [ring] again and I’m going to wipe the ring with your ass again,” Ngannou said. “You wiped the ring with your ass, that was the blood in the ring sticking to your pants.”

He concluded the back and forth by saying, “I tell you, your only chance is in the ring with the boxing rules,” Ngannou said. “When you step off of that ring, you better stay five meters away before you talk your s*** because if I lose it, you’re going to have a really bad time, my friend.

“Respect the fact that boxing is protecting us and the rules of boxing are protecting us because without that, you are nothing in front of me. I would beat you every day, twice on Sunday.”

A second heavyweight title fight will be showcased on the card. Interim WBO champion Zhilei Zhang will defend his title against former champion Joseph Parker.

Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KO) is coming off two straight wins over Joe Joyce in which he won and defended the WBO interim title. His last fight came against Joyce in September, and he had the most impressive performance of his career finishing Joyce in three rounds.

The Chinese Fighter believes this fight with Parker will lead to big things in the heavyweight division.  “The fight with Parker is one I have wanted for some time. We both had big years, and his win over [Deontay] Wilder was very impressive. Whoever wins deserves a title shot for sure,” said Zhang.

Zhang dominated Joe Joyce who dominated his current opponent Parker, but he does not believe that will matter come fight night. “Boxing doesn’t work in a way where if you beat someone who beat someone, then you are sure to beat the man that your former opponent beat,” he said. “It is all about styles, and there are a lot of examples of this through the history of boxing.”

The two previously met as amateurs where Zhang won on points, but he believes things have changes for both fighters. “I did beat him to the points,” he said. “I don’t have much to say because it was amateur boxing and I was about 28 and he was even younger. A lot has changed in 13 years. Our styles developed. Professional boxing is also a different sport.

“I’m happy we both got to the top through the years. I believe we will be performing to our best ability on March 8.”

Zhang has an idea of who he wants to fight should he defeat Parker. “Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are the two guys I would like to share the ring with most,” he said. “I think I’ve earned that right and if I beat Parker, I think I should have a big opportunity like that sooner than later.”

Parker has won four straight fights and his most recent unanimous decision win over former champion Deontay Wilder earned him comeback of the year in 2023. The 32-year-old is the former WBO champion and he defended the belt twice before he lost it to Joshua in 2018.

The New Zealander talked about facing the power of Zhang. “ I will have to be very focused and very alert because Zhang in bursts and throws good, sharp, combinations, said Parker.

“It’s all about being smart, not being predictable and showing just different things that we’ve been working on in camp.”

Parker vows to be at his best this time around against Zhang. “I’m going to give it everything I have, and whatever the result, I know I’ve done everything leading into this fight perfect, the eating, the resting, the training.

I have the right people around me and I’m ready to put on the performance of my life.”

Aside from Wilder, Parker has key wins over Derek Chisora (twice) and former champion Andy Ruiz Jr. The boxing world believes he is fighting the boogeyman of the heavyweight division on Friday, if he walks away with the win, it will be the biggest of his career.

The rest of the card:

Rey Vargas vs. Nick Ball, 12 rounds, for Vargas' WBC featherweight title

Israil Madrimov vs. Magomed Kurbanov, 12 rounds, for the vacant WBA "super" junior middleweight title

Mark Chamberlain vs. Gavin Gwynne, 12 rounds, lightweights

Justis Huni vs. Kevin Lerena, 10 rounds, heavyweights

Jack McGann vs. Louis Greene, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

Andrii Novytskyi vs. Juan Torres, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Christian Lopez, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Roman Fury vs. Martin Svarc, 4 rounds, cruiserweights

UFC Vegas 87 Preview

The UFC will be heading back to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, March 2nd for UFC Vegas 87. The main event will be in the heavyweight division between #12 Jairzinho Rozenstruick vs. undefeated prospect Shamil Gaziev.

Rozenstruick is trying to rebound from a first-round submission loss to Jailton Almeida last May. He is 3-5 since starting his UFC career 4-0. Despite his inconsistent record as of late, he will still be headlining his sixth card on Saturday.

The 35-year-old discussed how he used a 10-month layoff to improve the holes in his game. “(My layoff was) definitely relaxing and focusing on my skillset,” Rozenstruik said. “Especially taking some wrestling and jiu-jitsu classes. It became a habit, second nature and stuff like that. … In the beginning, it felt (annoying), but after a while of doing it, you’re going to start embracing it. I’m at that point.”

Rozenstruick commented on his opponent, “If the UFC selected the guy as a main event, then you know he’s a big deal,” Rozenstruik said. “He has a perfect record. You’ve got to give him his props. You’ve got to take him serious. 12-0. It’s not that he’s doing nothing. So this weekend, he’s going to get a test.”

“I’m very happy the UFC see the main event caliber in me. It’s definitely a big opportunity. I can’t wait to go in there this Saturday and do my thing. I definitely think they see me as a guy you can put there and get the job done. So I’m happy they recognize that. Now the day’s almost there for me to do my part.”

Rozenstruick has everything to lose in this fight, so he explained on what would be next for him with a win. “After this Saturday’s win, I’ll take a couple steps back,” Rozenstruik said. “I feel like in my UFC career I made a couple mistakes, a couple of missteps. I gave away a little bit of my power. So I’m focusing on getting all the puzzle pieces together. I’m finding the puzzle pieces already, so I already feel my real power again. I’m focusing on that. I want to get back close to July or August.”

The Surinamese fighter has key wins over Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski. He was on the verge of a title shot until he ran into former champion Francis Ngannou at UFC 249 in 2020. Since then he has been inconsistent, but in the heavyweight division you are two wins away from being mentioned as a title contender, so for Rozenstruick a run back at the title starts on Saturday.

Gaziev is coming off a second round TKO at UFC 296 in December over Martin Buday. He got his start in the UFC just one fight before that on Dana White’s Contender Series two months prior. In that short amount of time he has worked his way to a UFC main event.

The MMA pundits have been critical of this main event, but Gaziev has laughed it off. “Fans are different,” Gaziev said. “Some people understand, real fans, that it’s a good thing for our division to have new blood. But some people just trash talk. They just want to write something. They write. I don’t get serious with comments. So just my advice is to be happy there is a new fighter coming and making a big statement. As you saw in my UFC debut, just watch it and enjoy.”

The 34-year-old from Bahrain has his mind on big fights. “It’s not the place where I make decisions, (but) if you ask me, of course. I want to fight (for the title) as soon as possible. Big fights will get me to the UFC gold. If UFC will tell me to do another 10 fights to reach that, I’m ready to do (those) fights also.”

The rest of the main card:

Light Heavyweight - Vitor Petrino vs. Tyson Pedro

Flyweight - #7 Alex Perez vs. #8 Muhammad Mokaev

Bantamweight - #13 Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Bekzat Almakhan

Flyweight - #9 Matt Schnell vs. #12 Steve Erceg

ESPN+ Prelims:

Middleweight - Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett

Bantamweight - Aiemann Zahabi vs. Javid Basharat

Middleweight - Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Cláudio Ribeiro

Lightweight - Ľudovít Klein vs. AJ Cunningham

Lightweight - Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Loik Radzhabov

Lopez vs. Abe Preview

The Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York will play host to a dynamic title fight on Saturday, March 2nd. IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez will defend his belt against mandatory challenger Reiya Abe.

Lopez (29-2, 16 KO) will be defending the belt for the third time after winning it back in 2022 with a majority decision win over long-time champion Josh Warrington. He most recently defeated Joet Gonzalez by unanimous decision in September.

The Mexican fighter has studied his opponent and knows what he will need to do to remain champion. “He’s a very slippery fighter. He doesn’t really like to brawl. So, it’s going to be difficult to catch him in the early rounds. But we’ve got great sparring partners. You can tell by the black eye one of them left me. I think we’re doing a great job, and I expect to win this fight by knockout. My long-term goal is to fight the other champions and become a unified champion. I welcome a fight with whomever is next in line. Honestly, I want to unify the titles quickly and establish myself as a great champion and then move up to 130 pounds,” Lopez said.

Lopez is ready to put on a show for the fans.  “The fans know that I give everything in the ring. I always look for the fight. I always look to win by knockout. They know that I come here to fight. So, it’s going to be a real war. It’s going to be a bit complicated in the early rounds, but everyone knows that when I step in the ring, it’s always going to be a war,” he continued.

The 30-year-old knows big plans start with a win over Abe. “It’s been a grandiose year for me, ending with victories, important steps forward, getting myself closer to a unification fight,” he said. “The fight I have upcoming is a good fight, all fights are good but it’s nothing like these unification fights and that’s what I’m desiring to do. God willing, after that we can have a unification fight against anyone. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as it’s a good deal. We’re ready for everything, we don’t have any favorites, whoever is there, whoever wants to face me, so we can give a great fight.”

Lopez has proven in his last three fights he can make good on his promises of exciting fights and taking the fight to his opponents. Abe will be walking into hostile territory but Lopez cannot get comfortable in being the reigning champion, no title defenses will be easy fights moving forward.

Abe (25-3-1, 10 KO) defeated former world champion Kiko Martinez in his last fight by unanimous decision last April. He will be fighting outside of his home country of Japan for the very first time against Lopez.

The 30-year-old spoke about his first time fighting in the United States. "I am traveling a long way to fulfill my dream of becoming champion of the world. Lopez is a tough opponent, and I will give it my all to bring a world title home to Japan," Abe said.

Abe has won six straight since suffering the third loss of his career back in 2019. He stayed consistent with his gameplan to outpoint Martinez in his last fight, but it is likely he will not have that luxury with Lopez. He will have to do more than win on points and find a way to counter Lopezs’ aggressive style.

Also on the card is a fight for the vacant WBA featherweight title between undefeated prospects Otabek Kholmatov and Raymond Ford.

Kholmatov (11-0, 10 KO) is coming off a KO victory over Thomas Patrick Ward in March of 2023. The 25-year-old from Uzbekistan flew under the radar for nine fights, but in his last fight he traveled to Ward’s home and defeated him brutally. He now has a chance in his short professional career to become a champion.

Ford (14-1-1, 7 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over former champion Jessie Magdaleno last April. The 24-year-old is ready to prove to the world he has worked to become a champion. “He got a lot of holes in his game. I’m a go in there and dominate. That’s what I train to do. I’m not going in there looking for a close fight. I’m a completely outclass him and show him and the whole world that he’s not on my level,” said Ford.

ESPN+ 10:00pm ET

UFC Mexico Preview

The UFC is heading back to Mexico City on Saturday, February 24 for UFC on ESPN 95. The main event will be a high stakes flyweight fight between former champion #1 Brandon Moreno vs. #3 Brandon Royval.

The fight will be a rematch dating back to 2020 where Moreno won by first round TKO over Royval at UFC 255. Moreno was originally scheduled to fight #2 Amir Albazi, but Albazi withdrew from the fight for undisclosed reasons.

After defeating Royval in their first fight, Moreno would then go on to have a historic tetralogy with Deiveson Figueiredo. The two split wins and Moreno would become a two-time champion and in the process he became a fan favorite. In his last fight at UFC 290 in July, Moreno lost the belt by split decision to Alexandre Pantoja in a rematch for one of the best fights of 2023.

Moreno is trying to not only get back to a title fight but also change bad fortune in his home country.  “I feel a little bit frustrated, because obviously I want to put that on my legacy,” Moreno said. “Raise my hand in front of my people, in front of my Mexican flag. That’s it. It’s something that happened in the past, and I just try to turn the page. It’s frustrating, but I’ve been living with a lot of pressure since 2020, fighting for championships and rematches and the trilogies.”

Moreno has unsuccessfully fought in Mexico twice. He lost a unanimous decision to Sergio Pettis in 2017 and fought to a split-draw with Askar Askarov in 2019. He continued speaking about this fight in Mexico.

“I’m just trying to have fun in this one. At the same time, I understand the importance this fight has to my record right now. I’m focusing on Brandon Royval. I’m focusing on the challenge in front, and I’m ready.”

The former champion knows this fight with Royval will be different than the first fight. “It was a really quick fight – just one round,” Moreno said. “The only thoughts I have is that I was winning. He was throwing a lot. He was making a lot of distance. I wanted to take him down, and I was controlling him. That’s the only thing, but I understand his frustration. He really believes he can beat me. But I don’t care. I’m just ready to fight.”

Moreno is not overlooking Royval for another title fight. “Maybe (I’ll get a title shot),” Moreno said. “I don’t even know. I just want to be focused on Royval. A lot of people right now are asking me about Pantoja. I know it’s (media’s) job to ask about that and the future. But right now I’m very focused on Brandon Royval.”

Moreno has fought the who’s who of the flyweight division and with another win over Royval, it is hard to imagine where he goes next another than another title shot. Albazi would have been a new challenge for Moreno, so that fight could be rebooked with a Moreno win. But does Moreno need to take that fight? Albazi is 17-1 and 5-0 in the UFC, so his title apsirations are not going anywhere. But he does not necessarily need to go through Moreno to get to a title shot. He could just sit and wait, as could Moreno. However, Moreno is not known as a fighter to say no to a new challenge, so a rebooking of Moreno and Albazi could be seen in mid 2024.

Royval is trying to rebound from a unanimous decision title loss to Pantoja at UFC 296 in December. The 31-year-old is 5-3 in the UFC but can erase a bad loss from everyone’s memory with a convincing win over Moreno in his home country.

How does Royval feel about fighting Moreno in hostile territory on short notice?

“I’ve spent my whole life risking it all, and it’s paid off big for me,” Royval said. “I feel like this is another big risk, and another opportunity to step into a situation where everybody’s doubting me and the odds are stacked up against me. I’m going into enemy territory on short notice, and I’m the big underdog.

“It’s going to be me versus the world in there, and I’m ready to prove the world wrong. I’m going to get in there, do the job, ruin everybody’s night and then come back home to Denver.”

The Denver native reflected on his last loss for the title. “He clearly wanted to win the rounds, and not necessarily look for a finishing (blow),” Royval said. “I feel like I was diehard on my game plan that he was going to try to kill me (via knockout or submission) and that’s where I was going to beat him, by capitalizing on his mistakes. But he went quickly from him swinging big, to just trying to win rounds. He made that adjustment early on in the first round, and I should’ve made that adjustment right back.”

Royval believes he knows what Moreno’s approach to the fight will be. “The obvious game plan for (Moreno) is to try to shoot in for takedowns and wrestle his way to the win,” Royval said. “For me, it’s not letting him take me down, making him work hard the whole entire time, and if he gets me down on the mat, I’m going to sub him. And if he doesn’t get me down, I’m going to piece him up on my feet from a distance.”

Due to what happened in his last fight, Royval has a golden opportunity to show that he has improved on the holes that Pantoja exposed in his game. If he does this with a win over Moreno, he will find himself back in prime position to once again challenge for a title.

The co-main event of the evening will be another high-stake fight but in the featherweight division. Former title challengers #3 Yair Rodriguez and #4 Brian Ortega will also have a rematch dating back to 2022 where Rodriguez won by TKO after Ortega suffered a shoulder injury. The winner of this fight could jump to the front of the line to challenge newly crowned champion Ilia Topuria for the title.

Rodriguez is trying to rebound from a third round TKO loss for the title at UFC 290 to former champion Alexander Volkanovski. The Mexican fighter has not hesitated to voice his interest in fighting the new champion.

“I would love to f*ck him up,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t want to fight him, I want to f*ck him up. There’s a f*cking big difference on that, just to make that clear. And anywhere I f*cking see him, I’ll f*ck him up.

“… F*ck this b*tch. I don’t f*cking like him.”

Rodriguez has found himself in a not-so-friendly back and forth on social media with Topuria. “I don’t normally get into this kind of situation with nobody, I’m really respectful,” Rodriguez said. “But this f*cking guy, you know, I just don’t really like him. I don’t like him. I don’t have to f*cking like him. I want to f*ck him up. That’s what I want to do.”

Despite having a win over Ortega, Rodriguez explained why he is not thrilled to be fighting him a second time. “It’s always weird. I never wanted to fight the guy,” Rodriguez said. “This time is no different. I like his family, I like him. He’s Mexican, so it’s not the same feeling. It’s a job we have to do. Not something that I really wanted to do.”

Aside from Ortega, Rodriguez has key wins over Josh Emmett, Jeremy Stephens, Chan Sung Jung, B.J. Penn, Alex Caceres, and Dan Hooker. He made his UFC debut at 20 years old and was once considered a top prospect and now at 31 and a former title challenger, he can channel his energy on shocking the world one fight at a time. It all starts with a convincing win over Ortega on Saturday.

Ortega has not fought since the first fight with Rodriguez which gave him his second straight loss. He challenged for the featherweight title a second time at UFC 266 but lost a brutal unanimous decision to Alexander Volkanovski. He first fought for the title at UFC 231 in 2018 against Max Holloway but lost to Max Holloway by fourth round TKO.

The 33-year-old is 1-3 in his last four fights, but he believes he has learned from the losses and a long layoff. "It's been a hell of a year. I've learned a lot. It's taught me a lot," Ortega said. "The main lesson I think I learned is patience. I think a lot of us don't really spend a lot of time with ourselves, by ourselves, without distractions. That's what I was able to do these last 19 months or so.”

He continued, "It taught me a lot about myself, who I am, and man did I dig out some roots and just fix a lot of things about myself," Ortega continued. "To be alone with your own thoughts, it's not always the best. But then later on, it turned out to be good."

How does he feel about this rematch with Rodriguez? “My perspective on it is just a continuation of [the first] fight,” Ortega said.

“But it depends who you are, how you view the sport, incident, the fight — it’s either a rematch or a continuation. For me, it’s a continuation. We just started getting warmed up. We were very dry. We were still trying to feel each other out, got a hold of each other, hit each other a little bit, felt each other’s strength. It was still partially in that feel-out session. It’s gonna be just two rounds now of that feel-out session [when the fight begins.]”

Ortega has key wins over Chan Sung Jung, Frankie Edgar, Cub Swanson, Renato Moicano, and Clay Guida. Ortega needs a win, but a convincing win will erase his latest struggles. It is difficult for a fighter to be granted a third title shot, but a win on Saturday puts Ortega on that path.

The rest of the main card:

Lightweight - Daniel Zellhuber vs. Francisco Prado

Bantamweight - Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios

Women's Strawweight - Yazmin Jauregui vs. Sam Hughes

Lightweight - Manuel Torres vs. Chris Duncan

ESPN + Prelims:

Bantamweight - Cristian Quiñonez vs. Raoni Barcelos

Flyweight - Jesús Santos Aguilar vs. Mateus Mendonça

Flyweight - Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda

Lightweight - Claudio Puelles vs. Farès Ziam

Flyweight - Luis Rodriguez vs. Denys Bondar

Flyweight - Victor Altamirano vs. Felipe dos Santos

Featherweight - Erik Silva vs. Muhammad Naimov

UFC 298 Preview

The UFC will be invading the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday, February 17 for UFC 298. The main event will be for the featherweight title between champion Alexander Volkanovski vs. #3 Ilia Topuria.

Volkanovksi will be trying to rebound from a bad loss where he challenged Islam Makhachev for the lighweight title for the second time. In the first fight which took place at UFC 284 Makhachev won the fight by unanimous decision, while many fans argued the decision should have gone to Volkanovski. Makhachev was scheduled to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 294, but after Oliveira had to withdraw from the fight due to injury, Volkanovski stepped in on 10 days’ notice. The result was devastating for the featherweight champion as he lost by a brutal KO in the first round due to a head kick.

The champion is 13-2 in the UFC and before fighting Makhachev was widely considered the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world. He has defended the featherweight championship five times and has defeated all contenders in the division, including two wins over all-time great Max Holloway. He now faces Topuria who is slated to represent new blood in the division.

Volkanovski wants to make a statement on Saturday. "What's getting me excited is showing Ilia. I want him to understand and feel 'wow, he was levels ahead'," Volkanovski said.

"Believe it or not, I don't want a first-round finish. I want him to feel like he never stood a chance, and then I'll take him out."

The Australian fighter talked about rebounding from such a bad loss in his last fight. "I'm in a much better position because a lot of people are in the same position and feel uneasy but probably don't even know why. I know why," Volkanovski said.

"A lot of other fighters suffer a lot more than what you saw in me - it was just the timing of it.

"But I'm glad people got to see that because it was more awareness for other people."

The 35-year-old still believes he has something to prove. "I love when people doubt me. I'm not the underdog but I feel like I've always had an underdog mentality," said Volkanovski.

"I don't think it's just the doubters; it is bouncing back from that fight and showing Ilia, 'Hey, I don't care about your last 14 fights - that don't work with me'."

Aside from Holloway, Volkanovski has wins over Yair Rodriguez, Chan Sung Jung, Brian Ortega, Jose Also and Chad Mendes. Should he win on Saturday, what is next? Is it a move back to lightweight or does he take on more new blood in the featherweight division?

Topuria is undefeated and is coming off an impressive unanimous decision victory over long-time contender Josh Emmett in June. The 27-year-old is 6-0 in the UFC and now faces the toughest challenge of his career under the brightest lights. Is he ready?

“[It will be one of my easier fights] at the moment he is right now,” Topuria said. “Because he lost his last fight. He talked about his mental problems. I feel like he is not at his 100% right now. And me myself too, I feel I am way better than him anywhere, so…”

Topuria believes he has all the tools to defeat Volkanovski. “The strategy I bring to the fight, he won’t be able to solve it,” Topuria said. “A lot of fighters are punching hard, grappling hard, all that type of stuff, but no one has a strategy. No one comes in with the strategy that I have. That’s what separates me from rest of the fighters... I'm going to create opportunities. Of course, I'm going to wait for the right moment to create those opportunities, but I’m going to open spaces that I will be able to take advantage of.”

While he is confident, Topuria respects Volkanovski. “Oh yeah, he’s going to stay in the featherweight book for a while, that’s for sure,” Topuria said. “He will be remembered as one of the greatest in the featherweight division. He was a great champion.”

The Spanish fighter is known for his brash ego, so he was not shy about making a bold prediction. “I see myself knocking him out in the first round.” If Topuria wins it would for the time being represent a new era in the featherweight division. Would Volkanovski get an immediate rematch, or do we see another new title challenger?

The Rest of the Main Card:

Middleweight - #3 Robert Whittaker vs. #6 Paulo Costa

Welterweight - #8 Geoff Neal vs. #10 Ian Machado Gary

Bantamweight - #2 Merab Dvalishvili vs. #3 Henry Cejudo

Middleweight - #15 Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov

ESPN + Prelims:

#3 Amanda Lemos vs. #7 Mackenzie Dern - women’s strawweight

#15 Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa - heavyweight

Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera - bantamweight

Mingyang Zhang vs. Brendson Ribeiro - light heavyweight

Early Prelims:

Josh Quinlan vs. Danny Barlow - welterweight

Oban Elliott vs. Val Woodburn - welterweight

Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick - women’s flyweight

Foster vs. Nova Preview

The Theatre at Madison Square Garden will play host to a dynamic title fight on Friday, February 16. WBC junior lightweight champion O'Shaquie Foster will defend his title against ambitious contender Abraham Nova.

Foster (21-2, 12 KO) is coming off a 12th round TKO victory over Eduardo Hernandez in October to retain his belt in one of the best fights of 2023. He won the vacant title in February 2023 by unanimous decision over Rey Vargas. The 30-year-old has not lost since 2016 and is looking to leave his mark as a dominant champion with his second successful title defense.

In this fight Foster is living his dream. “It's always been my dream to fight at Madison Square Garden, and what better promoter to make this all happen than Top Rank?” Foster said. “As a kid, watching all the greats fight at MSG inspired me to want to be a part of the history that comes with fighting at such a legendary place. I'm ready to put on a show and keep proving that I'm the best fighter in the world."

The 30-year-old is ready to prove he has grown not only as a fighter, but as a champion. “The journey has been everything,” Foster said. “The ups and downs. Growing as a person. I’ve matured now, mentally and physically. Words can’t explain how I feel, but I’m ready.”

In his last fight, Foster proved he is technically one of the best in his division, but also proved he has the grit to tough out a win. “It was crazy [against Hernandez],” said Foster, who has now won 11 consecutive fights. “We shocked the world. And I’m here to do it again. Everybody calls me Shock, and we’re going to keep doing it.”

Foster has the fight he wanted. “We’ve been calling out Nova for years,” Foster said. “He knows it. His excuse was that my name wasn’t big enough. Funny how the tables turn. I’m ready, and I’m familiar with his style.”

“I did everything in the gym. We are prepared. Come Friday night, we will dominate and put on a show.”

Nova (23-1, 16 KO) has won two straight fights since losing by KO in 2022 to Robeisy Ramirez at featherweight. He most recently defeated Jonatan Romero by third round KO in July. He is now comfortable a new weight heading into his first title fight.

"I was a lot more dehydrated, a lot more frail," Nova said of the fight with Ramirez.

"I should have communicated and said these things, but I didn't. Because I'm a fighter and I take a lot of pain. And I have a very high tolerance for pain. So when I'm not feeling well, I don't like making excuses."

He continued, "You have to put your emotions to the side and you have to understand that if your body is not feeling well and you're not nutritionally, right, you have to hire a nutritionist, you have to eat correctly."

Nova explained the difference of fighting at junior lightweight. "I knocked a lot of dudes out. I was a big puncher. What slowed me down was the coming down in weight to 126lbs. I depleted myself and wasn't able to deliver those power shots and also received those power shots," Nova said.

He issued a fair warning to Foster, "I've always been a big puncher."

The fight can be seen at 9:30pm ET on ESPN+

UFC Vegas 86 Preview (Hermansson vs. Pyfer)

The UFC is heading back to The Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday February 10 for UFC Vegas 86. The main event will be in the middleweight division between #11 Jack Hermansson vs. surging prospect Joe Pyfer.

Hermansson is trying to rebound from a TKO loss to Roman Dolidze in 2022. The longtime top 10 middleweight contender is 3-4 in his last seven fights. Prior to the inconsistency he was on a four-fight winning streak and was in the conversation to challenge for the title. He must now find a way to rebound against a fighter on the rise.

The Swedish fighter talked about taking a fight with an unranked opponent. “I didn’t think too much about it because I was notified that it was gonna be a main event, as well, and that was kind of what was exciting about the fight for me; it didn’t matter that it was an up-and-comer,” Hermansson said. “I accepted the fight and I had him fresh in mind because I watched his fight with Abdul Razak Alhassan, so I knew who he was.

“But yeah — I accepted the fight and then I started to study Joe Pyfer.”

Hermansson’s critics are saying it is now or never if he wants to go on one last title run. The 35-year-old responded. “I just want to be able to push it as far as I can,” he said when asked about his goals and focus as a veteran in the sport coming off an extended stay on the sidelines. “I really enjoy this lifestyle and I love the sport of MMA, and I still feel like I have more to bring to the sport. Obviously, I have a dream, as many other fighters, of winning the UFC title.”

He continued, “With the ups and downs that I’ve had recently, I kind of shoved that a little to the side and am just focusing on the next fight. If I can come back with a win streak, I’m definitely keeping my eyes on that dream again. Right now, I’m just taking it one fight at a time, but I still have great ambitions and I feel like I still have a lot to do in the sport.”

Despite being underdog in this fight, Hermansson should not be slept on. “I just need to show everybody that it’s not that easy,” he said calmly. “I’m one of the best in the division, and it’s not gonna be easy for him to go in there with me.”

Hermansson made his UFC debut in 2016 and overall he is 10-6 with key wins over Chris Curtis, Edmen Shahbazyan, Kelvin Gastelum, Ronaoldo Souza and David Branch. A win over Pyfer will remind the middleweight division how dangerous he can be.

Pyfer’s rise started on Dana White’s contender series. Since then, he has won three straight fights all by impressive finishes. He most recently defeated Abdul Razak Alhassan by second round submission in October.

Pundits have questioned whether Pyfer is ready for a headlining spot so soon in his UFC career. “I wouldn’t describe it as being thrusted into a spot,” Pyfer said. “I think I’ve earned this spot. I’ve finished three fights, I’ve made sure I’m exciting, I say what I’m going to do, I go out there, and I back it up. I think I’m a draw – I’m becoming a draw, anyway. I think I’m a trending superstar, and I think if everything goes as I expect it to Saturday, I think I’m on that superstar level. On the way to that level.

“I deserve the fast track. I have a story, I have the charisma, I know how to speak, and I’m an absolute freakin’ unit.”

The 27-year-old does not care about who he fights in the top 15. “I don’t care about the ranking – No. 10 (in the UFC’s official rankings) doesn’t make him have extra fighting skills or extra cardio or a better chin to take these punches,” Pyfer said. “I’m just going to treat it like another fight, go out there and do my job and be exciting and talk my stuff.”

Is Pyfer overlooking Hermansson? “Jack, 35 years old, he’s been out a year, he got TKO’d by Roman Dolidze, who I think had an unimpressive boring fight,” Pyfer said. “I think Roman’s tough but I just, I don’t know. I might be overlooking the guy in some people’s eyes but I just don’t see him being able to hurt me, man.”

If Pyfer can win in spectacular fashion, he will catapult into the top 10 and prove to rest of the middleweight division that he is a real threat to challenge for the title. Fans have gravitated to a fast-rising superstar who takes the UFC by storm, so for Pyfer it will be no different. A win on Saturday will put the rest of the middleweight division on notice and have the fans clamoring to see Pyfer in more high-profile fights.

The Rest of the Main Card:

Featherweight #13 Dan Ige vs. Andre Fili

Middleweight Robert Bryczek vs. Ihor Potieria

Middleweight Brad Tavares vs. Gregory Rodrigues

Lightweight Michael Johnson vs. Darrius Flowers

Middleweight Rodolfo Vieira vs. Armen Petrosyan

ESPN + Prelims:

Welterweight - Trevin Giles vs. Carlos Prates

Lightweight - Bolaji Oki vs. Timothy Cuamba

Women's Strawweight - Loma Lookboonmee vs. Bruna Brasil

Light Heavyweight - Devin Clark vs. Marcin Prachnio

Welterweight - Max Griffin vs. Jeremiah Wells

Light Heavyweight - Zac Pauga vs. Bogdan Guskov

Featherweight - Fernie Garcia vs. Hyder Amil

Bantamweight - Daniel Marcos vs. Aori Qileng

Lopez vs. Ortiz Preview

The Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada will host a powerful title fight on Thursday, February 8th. WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez will defend his belt against Jamaine Ortiz.

Lopez has won three straight fights since falling victim to one of the biggest upset losses in 2021 for the unified lightweight titles to George Kambosos Jr. He became the unified lightweight champion in 2020 where he shocked many by dominating then pound for pound great Vasiliy Lomachenko.

The 26-year-old won the WBO title in his last fight by dominating former champion Josh Taylor from start to finish in June. He is now focused on his first title defense against Ortiz, but not looking into the future.

“Jamaine Ortiz, I’m not going to overlook him at all,” Lopez said. “Regardless of what the other side is doing, I got to stay focused on what I’m doing. It’s me versus me every time I go out there and fight; every time I go out there and train, I’m focusing on how do I beat myself.”

While Lopez remains focused on defeating Ortiz, his name has come up in high profile fights with the likes of Devin Haney and Terence Crawford. What does he think about those fights. “There are lots of people mentioning my name, but it's all strategic moves. I've had this before with George Kambosos, but now I have the experience. That's why it's great to have those L's on my record, it's great because it's not a loss, it's a learned lesson, because now I know why focus is important from a mentality point of view. My focus has only been on Ortiz, just last night I was film studying him," Lopez said.

He continued and provided the name that really intrigues him, "The talk about the other names is just nonsense for me right now. I'm blocking the noise. Do I want to face Haney and Crawford? Absolutely! But my first task is Ortiz. Crawford says he's just travelling this year and I wish him the best, but may we meet eventually. I don't want to name the names of who I want to fight because honestly, I'm bigger than all of them and they know it.  But I'm going to avenge that loss to Kambosos, I'm telling you that. If that presents itself in the ring. That man better have bodyguards."

Pundits have Lopez on upset alert, but with a convincing win he can set himself up nicely for a high-profile fight. But which of the marquee fights makes the most sense? With Haney being the WBC junior welterweight champion, a fight between he and Lopez is ideal. However, with Lopez being vocal about wanting to avenge his loss to Kambosos, it could make for a more intriguing matchup to fight fans.

Ortiz (17-1, 8 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Antonio Moran in September, to rebound from his loss to Lomachenko. His biggest win to date was over former champion Jamel Herring in 2022, but he will be fighting for his first major title on Thursday.

The 27-year-old is confident in challenging Lopez. “It’s a great fight, I’m excited for it,” Ortiz said. “It’s one of the best fights that can be made at 140-pounds and I’m ready to show the world I’m the best.

“He’s a good fighter, but like everybody, he’s got two hands. He’s a current world champion and I’m ready to take the reign off him.”

Ortiz respects the champion, but knows what he is capable of as the challenger. “I’m expecting the best version of Teofimo to enter the ring, but I’m going to beat him and make him look bad,” said Ortiz.

The Massachusetts native concluded, “I’m destined for greatness,” he said. “I’m destined to make history and it’s a big opportunity and I can’t let it down, I’m going to make the most out of it.

“I’m going to win. Everybody tune in, there’s going be fireworks, it’s going to be the Upset of The Year.”

The main card starts at 8:30 ET and can be seen on ESPN+

UFC Vegas 85 Preview (Dolidze vs. Imavov)

The UFC is heading back to the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday February 3 for UFC on ESPN 93. The main event will be a battle between middleweight contenders #8 Roman Dolidze and #11 Nassourdine Imavov.

Dolidze is trying to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to former title challenger Marvin Vettori at UFC 286 in March. Prior to the loss he was on a four-fight win streak with three straight KO’s. He is 6-2 in the UFC and is looking to break into the top five of the division with an impressive win on Saturday.

The Georgian fighter does night like to dig too deep into the rankings and make predictions. “If you remember how Sean (Strickland) got his title shot, he fought Nassourdine after he fought some guy outside the top 15, and he got a title shot,” said Dolidze. “That’s why I don’t like to make predictions and conversations like this. It will be what it will be. I’m ready for anything. That’s all.”

Dolidze continued, “In this organization, the rankings nowadays don’t do nothing. Look at Khamzat (Chimaev). Why is he in the top 15? Who did he fight? Why does he need to be here? Also, how they move some guys up and down. That’s why I don’t think rankings show anything. There is organization UFC, and UFC will decide what they want to see and what fights will sell more or less, and that’s more important, probably.”

The 35-year-old is focused on defeating Imavov. “What do you want me to say? Big words and say it’s No. 1 contender fight? No, I’m not that guy,” Dolidze said. “I’m sure there’s going to be somebody here to start talking like that. It’s a good, interesting fight. I think after this fight we can get a top-five opponent – definitely, we deserve. Let’s see what will happen. what happens, no one knows.”

Despite not wanting to think about rankings and #1 contender spots, Dolidze is prime for a top five matchup with a win over Imavov. He does have an impressive win over long-time contender Jack Hermansson, but a win on Saturday sets him up for another high profile fight like the battle he had with Vettori.

Imavov is trying to rebound from a loss to former champion Sean Strickland last January and then a no-contest to contender Chris Curtis in June. The fight with Curtis at UFC 289 was stopped due to an accidental clash of heads which left Curtis unable to continue.

The 28-year-old wants to move on from a bad year. “It’s true that 2023 was a pretty complicated year,” Imavov said. “But I gained a lot of experience and I want it to serve me well on Saturday and show how much better I’ve got during this year. It’s my second main event. Last time it was the first time I did five, five-minute rounds. It was like UFC and life gave me a second chance to shine, so I want to take this chance and shine on Saturday.”

The French Fighter knows big things will come with a win on Saturday. “The ranking is very important for me,” Imavov said. “Once you get into the top 10 or the top five, at any point you can fight for the belt. And the belt is my goal, my main focus. So I want to be there and be able to fight for the belt.”

The loss to Strickland was at light heavyweight but now that Imavov has moved back to middleweight, he can focus on a title run. He has impressive wins over Edmen Shahbazyan and viral fighter Joauquin Buckley, but he faces his toughest test on Saturday. A loss to Dolidze could push him out of the top 15.

The rest of the main card:

Lightweight - #13 Renato Moicano vs. #15 Drew Dober

Welterweight - Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov

Women's Flyweight - Viviane Araújo vs. Natália Silva

Middleweight - Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Makhmud Muradov

Welterweight - Gilbert Urbina vs. Charles Radtke

ESPN+ Prelims:

Women's Strawweight - Molly McCann vs. Diana Belbiţă

Flyweight - Azat Maksum vs. Charles Johnson

Welterweight - Themba Gorimbo vs. Pete Rodriguez

Featherweight - Lee Jeong-yeong vs. Blake Bilder

Women's Flyweight - Luana Carolina vs. Julija Stoliarenko

Lightweight - Landon Quiñones vs. Marquel Mederos

Heavyweight - Thomas Petersen vs. Jamal Pogues

Munguia vs. Ryder Preview

The Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona will host a high-stakes super middleweight fight on Saturday, January 25. Former WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia will battle former interim WBO super middleweight champion John Ryder.

Munguia (42-0, 33 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over former title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko in June. The win was what Munguia needed to convince the boxing world that he is once again a real threat, still at the young age of 27.

While Munguia defended the WBO junior middleweight title five times before moving up to middleweight, his competition was criticized, and his performances were questionable. In moments he proved he could be an exciting fighter who could display a tremendous amount of heart. This was none more evident than what he showed against Derevyanchenko in June.

New trainer Freddie Roach has been impressed with Munguia from the start. “He’s better than what I thought, for sure,” Roach said. “He’s a more complete fighter and so forth. You know, the comments about what he does well and what he doesn’t do well really doesn’t match up with what he is.”

Roach continued, “From day one, he’s done a lotta work,” Roach said. “He’s fun to work with. We’ve worked on combinations, changing his style, being more in an attack motion and not a counterpuncher. And he’s doing very well. The first thing I hear about the guy is that he has very, very poor defense.”

Trainer Freddie Roach concluded by explaining what Munguia does best. “And then I said, ‘What are these people talking about? He’s got great offense, and that right there is a good defense.’ It’s not like he goes in there with his hands down and starts swinging with [his opponent]. He’s a good boxer and he has good footwork and his combinations are very, very good. I know that because sometimes he hits me on the chin.”

Munguia could make waves with a dominant win over a fighter who went the distance with Canelo Alvarez. Ryder has proven that he is still tough as ever so Munguia will have his hands full, but a victory could set him up nicely for a fight with Alvarez. The boxing world is thirsting for an all-Mexican battle at super middleweight, but Munguia has business first in Phoenix.

Ryder (32-6, 18 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Alvarez in May for the undisputed super middleweight titles. While he was outmatched, he gained respect throughout the boxing world with his display of heart and will. Prior to the loss he had won four straight which included winning the interim WBO title and a split decision victory over former champion Daniel Jacobs.

Aside from being interim WBO champion, Ryder is also a former interim WBA super middleweight title holder but with the loss to Alvarez behind him, his biggest win could come on Saturday by playing the spoiler. The 35-year-old could see the big fights dwindle away with a loss to Munguia.

The British fighter knows what is at stake on Saturday. “I am sure that this fight can be a candidate for fight of the year for 2024,” said Ryder.

“He’s (Munguia has) got an unbelievable record, 42-0, and he’s got the carrot being dangled of the Canelo fight, like I had against Zach Parker. That adds pressure, you know that is potentially next, so you have to go out there and produce, so it’s down to him now. I’ve had my shot at Canelo, I doubt I’ll get another one if I beat Munguia, but that is the aim, to be in the biggest and best fights possible.”

Ryder continued by talking about what Munguia brings to the ring. “I think his record is not padded but he’s been well maneuvered, his last fight with Sergiy (Dereveyanchenko) he showed some vulnerabilities, he’s made a trainer change to Freddie Roach and that might be a good thing, it might not be, we’ll see. I know what he brings to the table, he throws a lot of shots, and he throws them with bad intentions, but that’s when I think I can capitalize on him.”

Ryder concluded by being optimistic after seeing Munguia’s last fight. “Sergiy gave him all the problems in the world last time,” Ryder has stated, “it came down to the last round and he put him over and the scorecards showed that. So, I hope the fight is judged fairly, I get a fair roll off the dice and that’s all I can ask for.”

The main card starts at 9 ET on DAZN.

UFC 297 Preview

The UFC will be invading the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Saturday, January 20 for UFC 297. The main event will be for the middleweight title as champion Sean Strickland will defend his belt for the first time against #2 Dricus du Plessis.

Strickland won the title in his last fight by unanimous decision over middleweight legend Israel Adesanya for the biggest upset of 2023. Strickland completely overwhelmed Adesanya and proved his fighting style is one to be respected and studied.

The title win was Strickland’s third straight victory after losing two straight heartbreakers in 2022. The 32-year-old has been one of the most active fighters in the UFC having fought six times since the beginning of 2022. Despite becoming known to all the fight casuals for his controversial political and social takes, the fight world has recognized his willingness as a warrior to take any fight against any fighter.

Strickland is 9-2 in his last 11 fights with the losses coming to light heavyweight champion and former middleweight champion Alex Pereira, and former title challenger Jared Cannonier. Aside from his title win over Adesanya, he has key victories over rising contender Brendan Allen and longtime top 10 fighter Jack Hermansson. The defining win during his run at a title shot was a short notice fight at light heavyweight against Nassourdine Imavov where he won unanimously, proving his willingness to step into the octagon and go to battle with anyone.

The champion has warned du Plessis to be ready to go to war.  "I genuinely like Dricus, but it's just like... here's the thing man, you know who I am, I will f****** kill you." Strickland said. ".... I'm the one guy who is okay with throwing away my life. And one day I hope that if the opportunity ever presents itself I f****** man up and I do it. And you know we're gonna have this interview and look back at it and like 'Oh yeah Sean wasn't f****** joking he really f****** threw away his life.' .... I'm okay dying as long as you die with me."

In the build up to this fight most fans assumed there was incredible bad blood between Strickland and du Plessis after Strickland jumped in the stands and attacked du Plessis at UFC 296. However, it seems Strickland was playing it up for the hype of the fight as the two have squashed the beef for now it seems. "He's a good dude," Strickland said of du Plessis.

"From my side, there's no bad blood at all," said the South African challenger. "I have a lot of respect for Sean as a fighter and even as a person."

The two could be seen having a friendly back and forth at the fighter hotel during one of the latest episodes of UFC Embedded.

Strickland commented further, "Did I look angry during that fight?" Strickland said with a laugh. "I was actually surprisingly happy the whole time. I wish I didn't like him more."

"You wouldn't expect that from the UFC middleweight champion of the world, but at the end of the day, we are still fighters," Du Plessis said. "We're still a very different breed of people, and when that happened, there wasn't even a thought process. It was just, here we go, it's fight or flight right now, and I always choose to fight. It was exciting."

Du Plessis has claimed that the skirmish in the stands did not change his mindset leading up to his first title fight. "At the end of the day, you can be the nicest guy in the world or the biggest a--hole in the world, I'm coming in there to kill you have if I have to," he said.

Strickland has once again found himself in hot water with the media before a big fight. This time after making “homophobic” comments in a back and forth exchange with a reporter at UFC media day on Wednesday. Other media members in the sports world have called for ESPN to act after considering Strickland’s comments to be unacceptable. I will not be sharing his comments and will let this story play out more before commenting on it.

As far the fight at UFC 297 goes, if Strickland gets his hand raised it will be interesting to see who he fights next. Adesanya’s name has come up despite the former champion claiming he will be taking an extended hiatus from the octagon. Should Strickland get out of this fight unphased with no injuries, the UFC could book a mega rematch with Adesanya at UFC 300. But if it is not Adesanya, then who is next?

Dricus du Plessis has won eight straight fights and is 6-0 in the UFC. His most impressive victory came in his last fight where he defeated former champion Robert Whittaker by second round TKO at UFC 290 in July. He also has wins over Derek Brunson, Darren Till and Brad Tavares.

The 30-year-old was intended to be the challenger to Adesanya at UFC 293 but could not make the date due to recovery from injury. With Adesanya’s announcement that he would be taking a break from fighting, du Plessis was the obvious choice to challenge Strickland.

The South African believes he will be more prepared for Strickland than Adesanya was. "With his style, there's things you need to make note of and I think that's the mistake that Adesanya made. He didn't take note of those things, he just saw a guy that is not on his level and he went out there and he wasn't prepared for the man that is Sean Strickland but I didn't make that mistake and believe me, I won't make that mistake. I am prepared,” said du Plessis.

Du Plessis plans to bring excitement to the fight. "I think he has his moments. I feel like it's almost dependant on the other fighter whether it's gonna be an exciting fight," Du Plessis said. "That's odds I don't like. Show me one boring fight I've had in my whole career and I'll owe you something... I don't possess the style for a boring fight; never have, never will.”

He continued, "What Sean Strickland does very well is manage his energy. That's why he doesn't have finishes, because he's a guy who — listen, if he breaks you, yeah he's gonna go for that finish. But the finish is not for him. He is there to win, he doesn't care about entertainment value," Du Plessis continued. "I hit a lot of pads, train a lot of slams, train a lot of submissions. When I'm hitting a pad, I'm not thinking about touching somebody, I'm thinking about knocking somebody out. I don't imagine fights in my mind going to the decision, where someone else decides if I win or not."

What du Plessis has is a pressure style that can counter Strickland’s own aggressive standup effectively. In Strickland’s last two losses he fought fighters in Cannonier and Pereira that moved forward against him throwing off Strickland’s preference to move forward. It will be easier said than done for du Plessis, but with two fighters’ willingness to brawl, we should be in store for an exciting main event.

The co-main event of the evening will be for the vacant women’s bantamweight title between former title challenger #2 Raquel Pennington and surging contender #3 Mayra Bueno Silva.

Pennington has won five straight fights and has gone 6-2 since unsuccessfully challenging for the title in 2018. The Ultimate Fighter season 18 winner has been fighting in the UFC since 2013 and has had a storied road to her second title shot.

Pennington will have added motivation in the lead up to this fight as Bueno Silva has not been shy about trash-talking the former title challenger, and it did not stop at Thursday’s UFC 297 Press Conference.

“Raquel, when you fight, everyone is sleeping,” Bueno Silva said.

The former title challenger responded, “Sleeping, really? You’re sitting here talking sh*t, but who have you fought?”

Pennington plans on doing the damage where it matters most. “You have so much time doing this (talking), but guess what? My fists will do the talking.”

With former champion Amanda Nunes out of the title picture, Pennington can rest easy that the `bantamweight throne is open for the taking. During their title fight back at UFC 224 in 2018, Pennington wanted to quit on the stool in between rounds four and five, while her corner was urging her to get back up and continue fighting. It was not a good look for Pennington and an episode like that can be psychologically damaging to a fighter, but the 35-year-old has stayed the course and now has a chance to win the title.

Bueno Silva has not lost in her last four fights, but her last fight originally a submission win over former champion Holly Holm, was ruled a no-contest after a positive drug test for Bueno Silva.

The Brazilian fighter is confident she will win the fight on Saturday in devastating fashion. "I will knock her out," Bueno Silva said. "I have trained hard. I don't have any knockouts in UFC, only submissions. I believe now is my time. I am ready to knock her out. She is very tough, I respect everything she did. But now is my moment."

The 32-year-old believes Pennington is not mentally tough enough to defeat her. "Do you remember when Raquel fight with Amanda? Raquel said, 'I'm done. I don't want anymore of this fight.' For this reason (I am so confident). She don't wanna fight. She doesn't like to fight," Bueno Silva said. "In the first round, when I punch her hard, she'll talk again, 'I don't wanna fight.' ... I think she don't have courage... She don't like to fight, I like to fight."

As a new era at women’s bantamweight begins, one fighter has the chance to remind everyone why she has been a top contender for the better part of a decade, the other gets to erase controversy and prove she belongs at the top. The best thing either fighter can do is win convincingly leaving no questions who the champion really is. The winner will have former champion Julianna Pena waiting in the wings for the next title shot.

The rest of the main card:

Welterweight - #13 Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott

Middleweight - #14 Chris Curtis vs. Marc-André Barriault

Featherweight- #4 Arnold Allen vs. #9 Movsar Evloev

ESPN+ Prelims:

Bantamweight - Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield

Featherweight- Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson

Bantamweight - Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras

Women's Strawweight - Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana

Early Prelims on ESPN+ and UFC FIGHT PASS

Welterweight - Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson

Women's Flyweight - Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira

Flyweight - Malcolm Gordon vs. Jimmy Flick

Beterbiev vs. Smith Preview

The WBC, WBO, and IBF light heavyweight titles will be on the line Saturday, January 13 in Quebec City, Canada. Undefeated powerhouse Artur Beterbiev will defend his belts against former super middleweight champion Callum Smith.

Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KO) is coming off an eight round TKO of Anthony Yarde a year ago to retain all three titles for the first time. The Russian fighter has left no questions to be asked in his last seven fights as he has dominated his competition.

What started as a traditional title fight has now become ugly due to controversy. Beterbiev has accused Smith’s team for leaking misinformation as it pertains to the drug testing for this fight.

“It has come to my attention that Callum intends to disseminate misleading information about my VADA testing program for this fight," Beterbiev said, "Let me be clear now: I am a clean athlete,” said Beterbiev.

"I have never tested positive for a banned substance throughout my amateur and professional career and I complied with all VADA requirements and protocols during the build-up to this fight.

"Any attempt to imply otherwise, through innuendo or suggestion is slanderous and libellous.

"This conduct is beyond acceptable trash talk in combat sports. Callum is already searching for excuses, looking for a way out. See you Saturday.”

This was all in result to an “atypical finding” in a test for Beterbiev in December. However, all tests following came back negative.

The challenger responded,

'It's not a passed test, it's not a failed test,' said Smith. 'The fight's still happening, that's the main thing. I'm not a scientist, I'm a fighter. 

'I'm here to beat him, take his belts, and go back home.’

Aside from Yarde, Beterbiev has key KO wins over Joe Smith Jr, Marcus Browne, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and Callum Johnson. A win over Smith will set the 38-year-old up for a unifying battle with WBA super and IBO light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.

Smith (29-1, 21 KO) has won two straight fights since losing a title fight to Canelo Alvarez in 2020. The 33-year-old English fighter is confident facing a fighter who has brutalized his opponents.

"He's a very good fighter, his record speaks for itself, but he's not invincible, he can be hit and he can be hurt, we've seen that," Smith said. "I believe he can be hurt and he can be put over. I know I can put him over and we have worked on that, I believe I can finish Artur Beterbiev.

"I don't watch him thinking I can't beat him. I believe the best version of me can beat him and I believe the timing is right on my side. We don't know if he's aging yet, but I just know that I'm in with a big puncher and because of that he keeps me more switched on.”

Despite the confidence, Smith is aware that he must fight his best fight or he could be like the rest of the fighters who have been on the receiving end of Beterbiev ko’s . "With this level of opponent, like Beterbiev, it could be done in seconds -- I know that. But it brings out the sharpness in me and gives me the fear factor to put into training and keep pushing.”

It took a loss for Smith to realize the changes he needed to make in training. "Canelo was clever and you do learn from fighting him. Afterwards I made changes in my camp and developed areas that I needed to," Smith said. "When you are champion you don't look at your faults so much, but losing can make you reflect and it has given me more drive and more determination to get back to where I was.”

Also featured on the card is a fight for the WBO bantamweight title. Champion Jason Moloney will defend his belt against Saul Sanchez.

Moloney (26-2, 19 KO) won the belt in his last fight by majority decision over Vincent Astrolabio in May. The victory was his fifth straight since being ko’d in a title fight by Naoya Inoue in 2020. The 33-year-old is looking to solidify his place among elite bantamweight champions.

Sanchez (20-2, 12 KO) has won two straight since losing a split decision to Eros Correa in 2022. The 26-year-old Los Angles native will be fighting for his first major title.

UFC Vegas 84 Preview

The UFC is returning to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for the first event of 2024 on Saturday, January 13th. The headliner for UFC Vegas 84 will be a rematch in the light heavyweight division between contenders #3 Magomed Ankalaev and #7 Johnny Walker.

The two originally met at UFC 294 in October and the fight was ruled a no-contest after Ankalaev landed an illegal knee leaving Walker unable to continue. The fight up to that point was a great battle so fans are in store for a repeat of the first two minutes of the previous fight, respectfully with a winner crowned this time around.

The no-contest for Ankalaev followed a draw at UFC 277 for the vacant light heavyweight title. Prior to his title shot, Ankalaev won nine straight fights and looked like the road to the belt would eventually go through him. He can jump right back to the front of the title line with a convincing win over Walker on Saturday.

The Dagestani fighter believes Walker was looking for a way out of the first fight. “After that shot, he was actually the one trying to tell me that was an illegal blow – so he was conscious enough and in his mind enough to say, ‘Hey dude, that was illegal,'” Ankalaev said. “And then when they stopped the fight all of a sudden he started playing this whole thing of like, ‘Oh, I can’t fight anymore’ or whatever. But I’m pretty sure that he was basically just trying to throw the fight because he seemed to be just fine.”

Ankalaev wants to win convincingly on Saturday. “I’m not looking for just coming out there and having my hand raised at the end of the fight,” Ankalaev said. “What I want to do is I want to make sure that I get there, I make a statement and the fight is going to be over way before the final bell.”

The 31-year-old knows another title shot starts with a win on Saturday. “I believe that 2024 is my year, and by the end of this year, you’ll see that the strap is around my waist,” Ankalaev said. “As the managers are telling me, it’s basically if I win this fight, there is nobody else who deserves the title run more than I do.”

Ankalaev suffered the draw for the title against former champion Jan Blachowicz and was not given another chance for the vacant title at UFC 283. Since then a new champion has been crowned due to the title once again being vacated. Ankalaev needs a major statement against Walker to jump the line over former champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka.

In his career, Ankalaev has key victories over Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, Volkan Oezdemir, Nikita Krylov, and Ion Cutelaba. Walker represents the biggest of his career because a loss pushes him outside of the top 5, but a win in devastating fashion will remind everyone of why he fought for the title.

Prior to the no-contest in the last fight, Walker was on a three-fight winning streak and was showing signs of being the championship prospect he was in 2019. He has reflected on the first fight with Ankalaev.

“I believe that 2024 is my year, and by the end of this year, you’ll see that the strap is around my waist,” Ankalaev said. “As the managers are telling me, it’s basically if I win this fight, there is nobody else who deserves the title run more than I do.”

The Brazilian continued, “I realize that I got the damage; if the fight kept going, I would be at a disadvantage,” Walker said. “But, at the time, you’re never going to [want to] stop the fight. If you have a broken arm, if you have a broken hand or broke whatever, feel pain, doesn’t matter. We’re always gonna try to fight because you don’t like to feel the damage; you don’t like to feel the damage sometimes.

“We don’t make smart decisions. We just want to fight, fighting to the death. We don’t give a f–k. This is us: fighters.”

Walker plans to fight smart and walk away with a victory. “I’m not worried about nothing – I have no emotion,” Walker said. “I have no hate against him. Because emotion can maybe play against you if you have hate, maybe you’re going to make a mistake. No, I’m going to be very technical, very aggressive at the right moment, without emotion. Like a robot. Like a machine. This is how you have to be so you don’t commit mistakes.”

After all of the speculation and criticism, Walker believes he has made the necessary changes since the first fight. “We know his pattern and what he likes to do, so we simulate these for many months, many weeks while sparring,” Walker said. “I’m ready for whatever he tries to do, if he takes me down, if he tries striking. I know his pattern and what he’s going to try to use against me. Nothing has changed much. Just prepare for the worst. I’m ready. Maybe I’ll put him down because you never saw him when he back is on the floor, his behavior.

“I’m pretty sure if any of my good shots land, he’s going to sleep. If I get his back, I’m going to make him sleep, too. I’m going to choke him. I always try to push and get the best of myself and to finish the fight as well. I don’t like the judges deciding the fight for me and too much hard work for someone to maybe make a wrong decision. I want to make sure I have the fight in my hands so I’m going to do my best to finish the fight.”

Walker has mentioned fighting for the title with a win on Saturday but he cannot look beyond Ankalaev. A win would be the biggest of his career, but a loss would remove him from title contention for the time being.

The rest of the main card:

Flyweight - #5 Matheus Nicolau vs. #6 Manel Kape

Lightweight - Jim Miller vs. Gabriel Benítez

Bantamweight - #13 Ricky Simón vs. Mario Bautista

Middleweight - Phil Hawes vs. Brunno Ferreira

ESPN+ Prelims:

Heavyweight - Andrei Arlovski vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta

Welterweight - Matthew Semelsberger vs. Preston Parsons

Bantamweight - Marcus McGhee vs. Gaston Bolanos

Bantamweight - Farid Basharat vs. Taylor Lapilus

Featherweight - Westin Wilson vs. Jean Silva

Lightweight Tom Nolan vs. Nikolas Motta

Flyweight Joshua Van vs. Felipe Bunes

Day of Reckoning Preview

The “Day of Reckoning” is coming to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, December 23rd. A powerful card of boxing will close out 2023 with a bang. The main event will be a high stakes heavyweight fight between former champion Anthony Joshua and surging contender Otto Wallin.

The co-main event will be another high-stakes heavyweight fight between former champions Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker. Also featured will be a heavyweight fight between former title challenger Daniel Dubois and undefeated contender Jarrell Miller. Starting the main card is fight for the WBA light heavyweight title between champion Dmitry Bivol and Lyndon Arthur.

Joshua is coming off a seventh round KO of Robert Helenius in August. The victory was his second straight win after losing two straight decisions to Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles. The former two-time unified champion is looking to fight for a title once again, and it starts with a convincing win over Wallin.

How does he feel about being a three-time champ? "It's everything," he said. "It is to become a three-time heavyweight champion. But it's also to become a dominant fighter, a better fighter. What that means is the championship will follow that."

"If I go in the ring and I dominate and I'm better than my opponent, naturally the championship will be around my waist. Because I'm just better. I'm destined for that."

Joshua has had to reinvent himself before, and he feels becoming a champion again will require the same mindset around change. "Now when I question myself, I say I'm going to put in the extra effort and whatever it needs to be the best version of a fighter I can be for the next coming years and I can look back and say I'm happy with the effort and the time put in," he reflected.

The English fighter concluded, "Let's make the most of this," Joshua tells himself. "Let's focus and let's put in the work we need to put in while we're on this journey.

"Because I don't want to look back and say I wish I would have done more, when I've got the opportunity to do more right now. It's right in front of me."

Wallin has won six straight fights since losing a unanimous decision to Tyson Fury in 2019 for the first and only loss of his career. He surprised many in that fight as he gave Tyson Fury all he could handle. Wallin most recently won a split decision over Murat Gassiev in September.

The Swedish fighter feels well prepared to defeat Joshua. “ I hurt Fury, I hurt Gassiev, I can hurt Joshua. We know each other pretty well from sparring, the amateurs,” said Wallin.

“I’ve watched pretty much all of his fights when they happen, and with this fight I watched Joshua’s fights against [Jermaine] Franklin, [Robert] Helenius, the two fights with [Oleksandr] Usyk, [Andy] Ruiz. Pretty much all the fights.

“I feel great, I feel confident in my team.”

The 33-year-old believes this fight with Joshua was a no-brainer. "It shouldn’t even be a question," Wallin Said. "Of course I'm confident, otherwise I wouldn't take this fight.

"I feel like I've shown in the past that I'm a good fighter. I gave Fury a very good fight, and I take pride in my work.

"I’ve been working very hard to come to this place where I'm at now, and I'm just here ready to take full advantage of this opportunity."

Wallin concluded, "I think, one, he hasn't really looked the same, and I've gotten better," he said.

"So I've worked very hard over the years to get to this place, so I feel like I'm getting better all the time. And I'm not sure that he is."

The co-main event will see the return of two former champions. Deontay Wilder rebounded from two bad losses to Tyson Fury, with a brutal first round KO of Robert Helenius 14 months ago. This card is set to be the launching pad for a long-awaited showdown between Wilder and Joshua. How does Wilder feel about that fight finally happening?

"I don't want to say he's 100% afraid, but I think he's 75%," said Wilder.

"Money hasn't been the issue. It comes with not having the heart, the will, the courage to step in the ring.

"I don't really just blame it on Joshua. I blame it on his handlers, on his promotion and his management."

"Not only do I feel Joshua is intimidated of me, but I feel his promoter is as well," he added. "That's why the fight hasn't happened."

Despite what the former WBC champion may feel about Joshua’s intentions, he knows what the fight means to boxing. "That's the biggest fight in the world,” he said.

"Now the moment has come where it's the closest that it's ever been in history right now. The closest that it's ever been.

"I'm excited to say that. I'm not 100 per cent sure that it's going to happen.

"There's a lot of things that have gone on, a lot of things that have been done.

Like Joshua has had to do, Wilder is in the process of reinventing himself since fighting Tyson Fury three straight fights. The time is now, as he turned 38 years old in October, but there is no doubt that a battle with Joshua will be heavily anticipated regardless of age or records.

Daniel Dubois vs. Jarrell Miller

Dubois (19-2, 18 KO) is coming off a ninth round KO loss in August to Oleksandr Usyk for the unified titles.

“This is the fight that I think I need at this stage. Let’s got for it. No ducking, no dodging in this game. I want to leave a legacy behind that’s remembered and make sure I finish what we started, said Dubois.

“100%, that’s what I like. That’s my cup of tea,” said Dubois about his liking the fact that Jarrell Miller will be standing directly in front of him on Saturday night, looking to slug it out.”

Miller (26-0, 22 KO) is coming off a sixth round TKO of Lucas Browne in March.

“I did my homework on him [Dubois], he's trained at Don Charles, I know all his sparring partners,” said Miller.

'There's no one that can mimic me. That is the worst mistake you can do, trying to find a 335 pound guy that can mimic a guy that throw any punches around.

'There's no person on the planet that does what I do. He brought in some guys, one was big, like really out of shape, he doesn't really have no heart. I don't think he can ever, you know, mimic my style, but you know.

“I feel like they had a big body in front of him and that's the best they can do.”

Dmitry Bivol vs. Lyndon Arthur for Bivol’s WBA Light heavyweight title

Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Gilberto Ramirez a year ago.

“Every time I get in the ring, I think like this is the best opponent that I will face, and this is the hardest fight of my career,” Bivol said. “It helps me to be focused and take my training campy seriously.

“Preparation for this fight has been good. I spent my time in Kyrgyzstan for my training camp. It was a nice time and I had good sparring. I had my last sparring on Monday before my fight on Saturday. Everything is good.”

Lyndon Arthur (23-1, 16 KO) has won four straight and most recently defeated Braian Nahuel Suarez by 10th round KO in September.

"The fight came as a bit of a shock, I thought I was going to be fighting in February, but then they offered me Bivol for Dec. 23 and I said 'Yeah, I'm up for it'," Arthur said. "Everyone knows how good Bivol is, I'm fully aware of what Bivol can do, but I just have to focus on being the best version of myself, not concentrating on him. I'm preparing for someone who is going to take me seriously, not overlook me. I'm not thinking about if they underestimate me."

The event starts at 11:00am ET and the main event ring walks will start at 5:45pm ET. The fights can be seen on ESPN+ PPV and DAZN PPV

UFC 296 Preview

The UFC will be returning to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 16th for the last event of 2023. The UFC 296 main event will be for the welterweight title between champion Leon Edwards and former interim title holder and title challenger Colby Covington.

Edwards is making his second title defense since winning the belt in 2022 with one of the best and most historic knockouts in title fight history over Kamaru Usman. The Jamaican fighter is 11-0-1 in his last 12 fights and has not lost since 2015. Despite all his accolades, Edwards will enter this fight as an underdog.

The champion commented on Covington being favored by the UFC for a title fight over other more deserving contenders. “I feel like the world knows that [he doesn’t deserve it],” Edwards said. “He got beat by Usman. He beat a guy in [Jorge] Masvidal that’s basically about to walk out the door, and then [he sat] out for two years and got a title shot. Turned down all the fights that were offered to him, all the [fighters] that called him out. He got Dana White privilege, alright. And that’s it, he hasn’t earned it. I think (Donald) Trump wants him to win. I don’t know. None of it matters, right? My whole career’s been the underdog going against the favorite.”

Edwards commented when asked again about Covington’s Dana White privilege. “I think no one in this room knows why he’s fighting for a title. But we’re here now,” Edwards said. “The only thing that matters, all that matters, is Saturday night, going out there and taking him out and focusing fully on that. Whether he deserves it or not, it doesn’t matter, because he’s fighting anyway for the belt.”

Covington is known for his ridiculous trash talk, but does it fuel Edwards? “I don’t hate him. I don’t know him like that to hate him. I hate the character he’s playing. I find it strange that a grown-ass man is walking around with another grown-ass man (Donald Trump) on his clothes. It’s just a weird thing. I don’t get it. Plus I’m from different parts of the world than him. That’s his thing? That’s his thing, right? Fair play to him.”

The 32-year-old responded to the idea that Covington represents his biggest challenge. “He’s not as good as everyone thinks,” Edwards said. “He’s a guy who’s been stopped before by TKO, choked out before, and taken down before. There are many ways that you can beat him. He’s just a normal fighter that’s more scrappy, basically. Me and my team have come up with a great game plan to neutralize what he’s good at. My aim is to go out there and take him out.”

He concluded by responding to Covington’s words. “It’s easy (to brush off), to be fair, because I think everyone knows he’s playing a character, right?” Edwards said. “It’s easier to take someone like that as a joke. That’s what I’m able to do, take it for what it is. He’s a clown and I’ll treat him as such.”

The one non-win Edwards has on his record in his last 12 fights is a no-contest to Belal Muhammad in 2021 after an accidental eye-poke. It is believed that Muhammad will be next to challenge for the title and will be weighing in as a backup for the title at UFC 296.

Edwards commented, “If I have to fight Belal, I’ll fight Belal. I’ve proven that I’m way better than him, anyway, just from that one round. If he’s next, I would happily engage in it and it’s fine. I believe that I’m going to fight them, anyway, so why not fight them all as a champion? Why not fight them all as a king, making money for it, making pay-per-views? Why not do it then? I want to fight them all anyway, so it doesn’t matter who’s next.”

Covington has not fought since March of 2022 where he won a unanimous decision against rival Jorge Masvidal. He challenged Usman for the title a second time in 2021, but he lost a unanimous decision. Does he think his time has finally come?

“I’ve already been anointed and celebrated as the people’s champion, as America’s champion, as the ‘King of Miami’, and most importantly, as Donald Trump’s favorite fighter,” said Covington. “Saturday night, I can finally be celebrated as undisputed champion. This is destiny, this is a long time coming. This is facing adversity and coming back stronger from it. Sometimes the path is harder, but it’s because the ceiling is higher.”

“I never wanted a participation trophy. I’m not the biggest, I’m not the strongest, but I am the nastiest. My body is a vessel. I’ve been delayed, but on Saturday night, I will not be denied.”

The 35-year-old was long considered the best welterweight in the world not named Kamaru Usman. They put on two great back and forth fights. Now that Edwards has dethroned Usman and is the reigning champion, will Covington change his approach?

“People pay their hard-earned money for these pay-per-views, and I want them to sit back and admire greatness,” said Covington. “I can promise you it’s going to be entertaining.”

Covington knows he has to be the one to take control of the fight. “I feel like I need to go to a different level that I haven't been to before and can't let the judge or referee be in control of my own destiny. I need to create my own destiny,” said Covington.

Edwards won a clear decision in his last fight, but Covington has not been shy about what he thinks he saw in the performance. “I would say the biggest challenge is the cheating he does in the octagon,” he added.

“If you watched the last fight he did against Usman in the UK, he had seven or eight fouls. There was a compilation on Twitter the other day, of him poking his eyes, grabbing the fence, and grabbing his gloves multiple times.

“These are facts, he's always looking for ways to bend the rules and cheat a little bit, so that's my biggest concern. I've prepared for it accordingly, and I hope I see the best version of Leon on Saturday night.”

The co-main event of the night will be in the flyweight division. Champion Alexandre Pantoja will be defending the title for the first time in a rematch against #2 Brandon Royval.

Pantoja won the belt at UFC 290 in July with a split decision victory over two-time champion Brandon Moreno. He defeated Royval by second round submission in 2021, a fight that Royval has longed to get back.

The Brazilian does not have bad blood ahead of a rematch with Royval, and is focused on humbly remaining champion. “All the time when I go to sleep, I say, ‘Thank you, God, for everything you give to me to live this life and be able to go to the octagon and make all my friends and parents happy,'” Pantoja said. “That’s a lot for me. I live like a dream. I don’t like to say a dream too much because I like to live – day-by-day. I work a lot to live that. I feel very glad to be this person who everyone goes to the fight to watch and make everybody happy.”

He concluded, “I’m keeping my feet on the ground,” Pantoja said. “My wife is very tough. After this fight, maybe I need to go make things with my family – maybe a vacation together. I think that’s what people need to understand about my history.

“(I’m) a family guy, humble guy. You’re never going to see some bullsh*t about me. I don’t like trash-talking. If you pay to watch my fights, you don’t pay to watch my life. I’m not a reality show. I’m a fighter. I make sure every time I go to the octagon, I’m going to make a big show. I’m going to make sure I’m valuing all the coins.”

Royval has wo three straight since going on a two-fight skid against the last two champions Moreno and Pantoja. He most recently defeated Matheus Nicolau by KO in April. The 31-year-old has grand aspirations if he becomes champion on Saturday. Does he see a third fight with Pantoja happening immediately?

“That was going to be my first callout,” Royval said. “Two out of three. I want to fight him immediately. I want to fight him at UFC 300. I want to fight him as quickly as possible and I want to end this right now. I want to end the discussion of who is the better fighter, because I know in my head that I’m way better and way more skilled than he is.

“That being said, who knows how this fight plays out. Who knows how much time either one of us are going to need, because basically we’re both kind of wild fighters. I do live in the chaos and I do see this as both of us dragging each other to hell.”

Despite a potential third fight with Pantoja, Royval has another rematch in mind. “I want to fight Moreno again,” Royval said. “If he beats [Amir] Albazi, I want that Moreno rematch right away.”

Pantoja was the first fighter to fight for the title other than Moreno and Deveison Figueiredo since 2020. Royval wants to bring more new blood to the division’s title fights. “I want to stay active as a champion,” Royval said. “It’s just to the point where the flyweight division’s been held up for so long that I don’t want to be a champion that sits back and waits. I want to go out there and run through the division as quickly as possible and move on to my next endeavor.

“I want to fight Moreno or Pantoja immediately after this fight. I think those are the proper callouts. I think those are what I want as a man to secure my legacy and secure what I already think that I’m a better fighter than both these guys. But I have a big fat ‘what if’ with Moreno and also if I beat Pantoja, it’s 1-1. I don’t want to end anybody with a tie. I want to end that s***. I want to put a nail in the coffin and let the whole world know I’m the better fighter.”

The rest of the main card:

Welterweight - #5 Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. #6 Stephen Thompson

Lightweight - Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett

ESPN+ Prelims:

Featherweight - #6 Josh Emmett vs. #10 Bryce Mitchell

Women's Bantamweight - #5 Irene Aldana vs. #9 Karol Rosa

Bantamweight Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher

Women's Flyweight - Casey O’Neill vs. Ariane Lipski

Early Prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass:

Light Heavyweight- #14 Alonzo Menifield vs. #15 Dustin Jacoby

Flyweight - Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Cody Durden

Featherweight - Andre Fili vs. Lucas Almeida

Heavyweight - Martin Buday vs. Shamil Gaziev

Welterweight - Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov

UFC ON ESPN+ 91 Preview

The UFC will be returning to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 9th for UFC on ESPN+ 91. The main event will be in the bantamweight division between #7 Song Yadong and #14 Chris Gutierrez. The event was supposed to be the UFC’s second visit to Shanghai, China, but the event was moved in November for undisclosed reasons.

Yadong is coming off a fifth round TKO over Ricky Simon in April for one of the better fights in 2023. The win was a big rebound after losing a fourth round TKO to Corey Sandhagen in 2022. The 26-year-old is 4-2 in his last six fights and is one win away from once again entering the title conversation at 135 pounds.

The Chinese fighter is confident heading into this fight with Gutierrez. “My last fight actually was kind of easy,” Song said. “I have some parts I have to work on, some details to make me feel great. I have more five-round experience. That made me feel more confident for this one.”

Yadong believes the fight will be an interesting stylistic matchup. “I think Chris is in a similar situation to me,” he said. “I think he will get nervous in the first round. It will change his style in this fight, I think.”

He respects Gutierrez, but does not feel he has the skills to defeat him. “Chris, he's a nice guy. He doesn’t talk s**t, but his skill is nothing special,” Song said. “He just kicks. Not like me. I’m well-rounded.”

Yadong knows he needs to keep winning and succinctly stated, “(I want to) be the champion,” he said. “That’s it.”

Aside from Simon, Yadong has key victories over Marlon Moraes, Julio Arce, Casey Kenney, and Marlon Vera. The fight with Sandhagen was definitely a title contender showcase, so Yadong will need to keep winning to remind everyone why he was ever mentioned in that conversation.

Gutierrez is also coming off a win to rebound from a loss. He most recently defeated Alateng Heili by unanimous decision in October. The 32-year-old is 8-1-1 in his last 10 fights with the only loss coming to long-time title contender Pedro Munhoz in April.

The Texas native is competing in his third fight in 2023 and is fighting in the first main evet of his career. How does he feel heading into his first headliner? "It's unchartered territory, for sure, because not many people get to do this," he said.

"It's a scary feeling almost in a way, but I know I'm here for a reason."

He continued with a realistic outlook on this opportunity. "I've seen people come and go in this fight game. And this fight game in general is so short. Within that time frame you've got to do as much as you can.

"One day you're here, the next you're not. One day you're fighting, the next you're not.

"I don't take it for granted. For me to be here as long as I have is a blessing.

"I try to be present where my feet are every day, and enjoy."

Gutierrez has a win over UFC legend Frankie Edgar, but Yadong represents the biggest win of his career and his arrival as a title contender at bantamweight. He is not a guy known for a calling out fighters, but with a victory he will be asked who he wants to fight in the top 5 of the rankings.

The co-main event of the night will be in the light heavyweight division between former title challenger #8 Anthony Smith and #11 Khalil Rountree Jr.

Smith is coming off a split decision victory over Ryan Spann in August, putting an end to his two-fight skid. Since fighting for the title in 2019, Smith is 5-4. The 35-year-old has been one of the busiest fighters in the UFC over the last five years and he has taken another fight on short notice inn facing Rountree.

He commented on competing in another short notice fight. “They wanted me to fight him in Austin, but there were like six days or something like that,” Smith said. “It was really short notice. I said I would take the fight but I couldn’t make 205 that fast. So I asked for a catchweight.

“Everyone was good with the catchweight, but Dana (White) isn’t a huge fan of catchweights. So he asked if I would make 205 this weekend, so he gave me an extra weekend to make the weight class. I said yeah.”

Does Smith think this fight is higher risk than reward once again fighting someone lower than him in the rankings? “The rankings are for people on Twitter and you guys,” Smith said. “We don’t really pay attention to that too much. To be honest, the UFC doesn’t really pay that much attention to it either. Rankings are like a marketing machine. It’s really easy to make people care about something more when there are numbers next to their names.

“The UFC understands how tough of a position I put myself in and how hard it is to come in on short notice and beat a guy like Khalil. And it’s even harder to look good doing it. So if you come in and you put yourself in these precarious positions and do hard things, I think you get rewarded for that.”

Smith made it clear why he wanted this fight. “I like doing crazy sh*t,” Smith said. “Taking a fight with Khalil Rountree on like 10 days’ notice is pretty crazy.”

Rountree has won four straight fights and most recently defeated former heavyweight title contender Chris Daukaus in August by first round TKO. The 33-year-old has been fighting in the UFC since 2016 and will be fighting his biggest fight on Saturday. With a win, he can solidify his place as a title contender in the light heavyweight division.

The former Ultimate Fighter finalist has a positive approach heading into the most important fight of his UFC career. “No matter what I did yesterday, I’m alive today and it’s just another day for me to just be better,” said Rountree Jr., explaining his approach to things as he readies for Saturday’s co-main event clash with Anthony Smith. “I can’t get hung up on what I did yesterday or last week or last month —it’s gone; it’s in the past.”

He continued, “This year has been a big year of growth for me,” following his fourth straight victory. “I changed my lifestyle. I moved back to Vegas, I made this a full-time thing, and with that adjustment and embracing this new lifestyle and mindset, I started to realize s*** happens and a lot of s*** happens that is out of my control.”

“Nothing is ever going to be perfect and lined up how I want it to look, and the only thing I can do is work hard,” he continued, laughing at the simple truth that is often difficult to accept. “Going through points where it’s like, ‘All right, I’m working hard’ only to get humbled by my coach where he’s like, ‘Sure, you worked hard yesterday, but today is still a brand new day.’

“I haven’t been able to sit down and be comfortable at all. This whole year has been non-stop work.”

Rountree was unphased by a location and opponent change for this fight. “(The people in my circle) say things to put it into perspective — ‘you’re fighting up, co-main, you don’t have to travel’ — and I’m like, ‘yeah, it’s all good,’ but it’s just another week of training and I know what that looks like — it’s f****** hard.

"I’m gonna do the same thing — show up, do my best, put on my best performance — but after that, there is still no break because I know something is going to come right after that, because that’s how things have been.”

The Rest of the Main Card:

Bantamweight - Tim Elliott vs. Su Mudaerji

Lightweight - Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jamie Mullarkey

Middleweight - Park Jun-yong vs. André Muniz

Welterweight - Song Kenan vs. Kevin Jousset

Prelims on ESPN+:

Flyweight - Park Hyun-sung vs. Shannon Ross

Lightweight - Steve Garcia vs. Melquizael Costa

Women's Bantamweight - Luana Santos vs. Stephanie Egger

Flyweight - Tatsuro Taira vs. Carlos Hernandez

Women's Strawweight - Rayanne dos Santos vs. Talita Alencar

UFC 295 Preview

The UFC is returning to Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, November 11 for UFC 295. The main event will be for the vacant light heavyweight title between former champion Jiri Prochazka vs. former middleweight champion Alex Pereira.

Prochazka has not fought since June of 2022 where he won the light heavyweight title with a fifth-round submission of Glover Texeira at UFC 275. The fight is widely considered one of the greatest title fights of all-time and the two were booked for a rematch at UFC 282. Prochazka was forced to withdraw from the fight a month before and vacated the title.

After a draw for the title at UFC 282 between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev; Jamahal Hill won the vacant title with a unanimous decision victory over Texeira at UFC 283. Hill then vacated the title due to injury leaving room for Pereira to step in to fight Prochazka who was inevitably going to fight for the title again once he was healthy.

It only took Prochazka two wins in the UFC to earn a title shot and he proved against Texeira that he can win a war. The Czech fighter never lost the belt, but does he feel like the real champion right now? “Yes, sure [I feel like the champ],” Prochazka said. “I have to take it like that, because it’s my mindset to direct it for this feeling, to show that I’m the champion.”

The Czech fighter has been pulled into a war of words with Hill, but tried to remain true to the sport. “For me, what I’m doing, what I’m saying, and everything, that’s my lifestyle,” he said, “That’s everything. I like to do that with everything, like there is nothing left. This is a my last moment. That’s why I like to have this hairstyle, live by the samurai [text]. It helps me to be 100 percent here and now and to speak in the truth, to myself and to others.”

Despite the trash talk, Prochazka remains focused on getting the belt back and perhaps one day defending against Hill. “I know that Jamal spoke about me, many bad things, many good things, doesn’t matter for me,” he said. “I like him, I like other guys in the division. I will just show that I am the best in the division.”

Prochazka talked about the struggles of recovering from injury. "There is a period of when you get injured, you have to accept what you are dealing with," he said. "And then you said, 'OK, I must remain calm and approach this the right way. And it's working. To fix it, to get back to where you were, or even better, to go from zero to 100, it's going to take work. It's a lot of hard work. When you realize that, you just can be calm, focus on what you need to do each day to be better and you'll see the results [eventually]."

The 31-year-old vows to be a better version of himself against Pereira. "I think that no, there is [no advantage for Pereira] because since that fight with Glover, I have totally changed myself and my style," Procházka said. "Maybe change isn't the right word; say upgrade. I've upgraded my style. It's something I've always done, yeah, trying between the fights to take a step up and evolve. That fight was, for me, a big fight and I have to be honest, I was disappointed with my performance."

He continued speaking about his performance in his last fight against Texeira. "I was so upset with my performance that I said to myself, 'I need to do something; I need to change something,'" he said. "I needed to do something with my style. That's why I say, Glover can coach Alex however he wants, but they can't expect which Jiří will be in the cage. I totally didn't control myself. In the fight with Glover, I wasn't focused for that fight and it's something I have to delete from my style."

Pereira is coming off a split decision victory over former champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 in July. The win was his UFC light heavyweight debut and it thrust him into the title picture. He also rebounded from a second round KO loss to Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title in his previous fight.

Pereira entered the UFC and much like Prochazka fought for a title in a short amount of time, as it only took him three wins in the UFC to fight for a belt. He will now have a new challenge and the potential to become one of the few fighters in UFC history to win titles in two divisions.

The former champion commented on Prochazka’s well known awkward style. “He’s definitely a hard opponent,” Pereira said. “Unpredictable, yes, but all the experience I have in fighting and kickboxing, I’m going to be using that in the fight.”

Pereira will also be leaning on his coach Glover Texeira for the preparation of this fight, after fighting five hard rounds with Prochazka. “It was definitely a hard fight,” Pereira said. “Glover was winning that fight to the moment he got submitted. Glover had all this experience, and it’s very important for me. I’m not going to think this fight is going to be easy because Glover already fought him, but with Glover and the experience he has, he’s already helped me. Regardless of whether for this fight or for the previous fight, he plays a big part of it.”

The 36-year-old believes this main event will be a fan favorite. “He’s an aggressive fighter, a lot of knockouts, me on the other hand, I’m also an aggressive fighter and try to control the fight the entire time,” said Pereira.

The Brazilian continued, “I think it’s going to be a very special fight for the fans, we’re going to give them a show.”

“Other fights tend to be a bit boring due to the match-up. This one we know due to the styles that it’s going to be an absolute show.”

The co-main event of the evening will be for the interim heavyweight title between #2 Sergei Pavlovich vs. #4 Tom Aspinall. The fight is taking place of the original main event for UFC 295 which was supposed to be for the heavyweight title between champion Jon Jones and former champion Stipe Miocic.

Fans were looking forward to a hall of fame matchup between Jones and Miocic, a fight that should have happened five years prior. With Jones pulling out due to injury and Miocic sitting out UFC 295, Pavlovich and Aspinall will battle for the right to become champion. But where does Miocic stand after an interim champion is crowned?

Pavlovich has won six straight fights and most recently defeated Curtis Blaydes by first round TKO in April. The Russian also has key KO wins over Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis. He believed this day would come and knew to stay ready for a title fight. “I kept in mind that I could change for somebody in the fight between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones,” said Pavlovich. “I expected that I would be one of them.

“In my mind, I was preparing for the title,” he added. “When I got the news I was going to be the backup for the fight, I was expecting for this to happen.”

Pavlovich continued to speak about why he believes he should be fighting for a title. "For me, I’m not surprised that I’m going to fight for the title because it’s supposed to happen,” offered Pavlovich, who posted four wins in 13 months after going without a fight in 2020 and 2021 as a result of injuries and travel issues. “I’ve been fighting for a long time, I’ve won six fights in a row, and if not this one, the next one was going to be for a title shot.”

The Russian fighter added, “After Curtis Blaydes, the UFC was saying the winner of this fight is going to have a title shot, so I was expecting it 100 percent after that fight,” continued the streaking contender, who dispatched Blaydes in May to run his record to 18-1 overall, with 15 of those victories coming by way of first-round stoppage. “There was a change in some plans, but I was thinking I was next in line.”

The preparation stayed the same regardless of the opponent. “First there is the mental preparation, and if you’re mentally ready, it doesn’t matter who you’re against,” added Pavlovich, who wrapped his camp at American Top Team in South Florida. “I was ready for the wrestling, the striking; I was ready to exchange with one of them at the last minute.

“As soon as I was mentally ready, all the other work is easy to do. It’s been 10 years of work in MMA and there is a lot of work done in order to get here.”

Aspinall is coming off a first round TKO victory over Marcin Tybura in July. He is 6-1 in the UFC with the loss coming by TKO due to a knee injury. In addition to Tybura, Aspinall has key wins over Alexander Volkov and Serghei Spivac.

The 30-year-old knows what kind of a challenge he is facing on Saturday. “I’m fighting the scariest guy in MMA in my opinion, in the worst circumstances possible without a training camp,” said Aspinall. “But I obviously think I can win. I’m not the kind of guy who shows up for money. I ain’t signing a contract and showing up if I don’t think I can win.”

But the English fighter is confident. “I truly, truly believe that I could win on Saturday night,” continued Aspinall. “I’m going to win on Saturday night. I’m an absolute winner, and I find a way to win, no matter what the circumstances [are]. The odds are definitely stacked against me, but it’ll be even better when I win the title on Saturday night. “

Aspinall aspired to fighting Jon Jones. “I would love to fight Jon Jones,” Aspinall said. “I want to test myself against that before this is all said and done. I would love to fight Jon Jones 100%.”

With Jones’ return questionable and the uncertainty of where Miocic fits into the title picture, both Pavlovich and Aspinall could bring new life to the heavyweight division. If Jones does come back, most fans want to see him fight former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is some sort of MMA heavyweight champion of the world battle. Miocic was clearly fighting Jones for his legacy, and while he has said he would have fought either Pavlovich or Aspinall at UFC 295, is a return to fight one of them something he really needs at all? The heavyweight division has always been an older fighters division, but the newly crowned interim champion at UFC 295 will bring new blood to the UFC’s heaviest division.

The rest of the main card:

Women's Strawweight - #7 Mackenzie Dern vs. #5 Jéssica Andrade

Lightweight - #14 Matt Frevola vs. Benoît Saint-Denis

Featherweight - Diego Lopes vs. Pat Sabatini

ESPN + Prelims:

Flyweight - #14 Steve Erceg vs. Alessandro Costa

Women's Strawweight - #10 Tabatha Ricci vs. #13 Loopy Godinez

Lightweight - Mateusz Rębecki vs. Roosevelt Roberts

Lightweight - Nazim Sadykhov vs. Viacheslav Borshchev

Early Prelims on ESPN + and UFC Fight Pass:

Lightweight - Jared Gordon vs Mark Madsen

Bantamweight - John Castañeda vs. Kang Kyung-ho

Flyweight - Joshua Van vs. Kevin Borjas

Featherweight- Dennis Buzukja vs.Jamall Emmers

UFC ESPN 89 Preview

The UFC is heading back to Sao Paulo, Brazil on Saturday, November 4 for UFC on ESPN 89. The main event will be a high stakes heavyweight battle between rising contender #9 Jailton Almeida vs. former title challenger and fan-favorite #10 Derrick Lewis. Curtis Blaydes was originally scheduled to fight Almeida but withdrew from the fight for undisclosed reasons.

Almeida has won 14 straight fights and is 5-0 in the UFC with five finishes. He most recently defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruick by first round submission in May. A sixth win in a row over an accomplished fighter such as Lewis will certainly enter the Brazilian fighter into the title conversation.

Champion Jon Jones was scheduled to defend the belt against former champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 but an injury to Jones has forced the fight to be called off. An interim fight between Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall has now been added to the event. This turn of events has made things interesting for title hopefuls in the heavyweight division such as Almeida.

Despite Jones being new to the heavyweight division, Almeida has dreamt of fighting him but now he perhaps has a different fight to look forward to. “I maybe do worry a little about not achieving my dream of fighting against Jon Jones,” Almeida said regarding Jones’ torn pectoral. “I’ve said it in interviews that my dream is to fight Jon Jones.

“However, I’m also happy for the opportunities to fight for the title that get opened up now. Jon Jones is out and now Tom Aspinall is fighting Sergei Pavlovich. If I beat Derrick Lewis on Saturday, I could be next or maybe they make me do one more. There’s a lot going on in the division, but it might open up opportunities.”

The 32-year-old thinks he could see a potential title opportunity sooner than later. "I want to be the [backup] for UFC 295," Almeida said.

While UFC 295 would be a quick turn around for Almeida, it could be possible. "If I get out of this fight with no injuries and do what I plan to do, why not?" Almeida said.

He continued, "I want to get a good win and then be remembered the following week," Almeida said. "I'd love to be an alternate for that fight. Things happen all the time. You saw what happened in Abu Dhabi just 10 days or so before that fight card. So I'll sign up if they need me. Opportunity comes sometimes when you least expect it, so the key is to be willing and be ready."

Almeida is prepared to deal with the added pressure of fighting in Brazil. "There's no pressure and the only change is really the vibe in the crowd," he said. "It's not really that different from how it was against Rozenstruik, because that was a high-profile fight. But I think what has changed, if anything, is that I'll have the crowd on my side in Brazil."

A win won’t come easy, but Almeida is ready for a war. "He's a knockout artist, he's a guy who's every well known in the U.S. and he's pretty much fought everyone," Almeida said of Lewis. "It would be very special for me."

Lewis is coming off a TKO over Marcos Rogerio de Lima in July which extended his UFC record for KO wins to 14. The victory was also a big rebound after Lewis lost three straight fights and many people were writing him off as the hard-hitting contender he once was.

The 38-year-old plans on being himself for this fight. “I shouldn’t have no problem defeating this guy,” Lewis continued. “I haven’t seen any video of him. My coaches have though, have talked about his ground game, his front kick — I need to watch out for that. But other than that, there’s not too much for me to worry about. I feel like I shouldn’t have no problem defeating this guy. Instead of waiting around for my opponent to do something, I’m going to go out there and do what I want to do,” said Lewis.

Lewis has been fighting in the UFC since 2014 and will go down as one of the most accomplished fighters in the UFC’s heavyweight division, despite never holding a title. He has key wins over Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Travis Browne, Marcin Tybura, Francis Ngannou, Alexander Volkov, Blagoy Ivanov, Ilir Latifi, Aleksei Oleinik and Curtis Blaydes. A win over Almeida will remind the heavyweight division that he is always a threat and he has yet to become a steppingstone.

The rest of the main card:

Welterweight - Gabriel Bonfim vs. Nicolas Dalby

Heavyweight - Rodrigo Nascimento vs. Don'Tale Mayes

Middleweight - Caio Borralho vs. Abus Magomedov

Middleweight - Rodolfo Vieira vs. Armen Petrosyan

Lightweight - Ismael Bonfim vs. Vinc Pichel

ESPN + Prelims:

Catchweight (165 lb) - Elves Brener vs. Kaynan Kruschewsky

Welterweight - Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

Bantamweight - Victor Hugo vs. Daniel Marcos

Light Heavyweight - Vitor Petrino vs. Modestas Bukauskas

Women's Strawweight - Angela Hill vs. Denise Gomes

Women's Strawweight - Eduarda Moura vs. Montserrat Ruiz

Lightweight - Kauê Fernandes vs. Marc Diakiese

UFC 294 Preview

The UFC is invading the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, October 21 for UFC 294. The main event will be a rematch for the lightweight title between champion Islam Makhachev and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Makhachev was originally scheduled for a rematch with former champion Charles Oliveira where the two previously met at UFC 280. Makhachev won by second round submission to win the title. Oliveira was forced to withdraw from UFC 294 due to injury, so Volkanovski has stepped in on 12 days’ notice for another chance to become a double champion.

Makhachev defeated Volkanovski by unanimous decision in his last fight in February at UFC 284. The decision was widely criticized as many fans and critics felt like Volkanovski won the fight. Despite the criticism of his victory, the win was Makhachev’s 12th straight and his first defense of the lightweight title.

The champion does not believe Volkanovski took this fight to win the belt. During the pre-fight press conference he said, "You don't need nothing, you just need money. Everybody knows why you come, tell the people how much more they [UFC] give you for the fight. Just make money, shut up, and go home."

He continued, "This fight everything is going to change. I want to finish him and finish all the talk about the last fight. Here everything is on my side."

The Dagestani fighter traveled to Volkanovski’s backard for their first fight and the Australian fans did not make the fight any easier on him. Now the tables have turned and Makhachev will have the home filed advantage.

Volkanovski is not worried. “He needs all the advantages he can get,” Volkanovski said. “That’s all he thinks about. I don’t need none of that. I’ve got these (hands) – that’s all I worry about. I rely on my skills – not crowds, not nothing.”

Volkanovski has stayed busy since the February loss to Makhachev. He defended the featherweight title against Yair Rodriguez winning by third round TKO at UFC 290 in July. The loss to Makhachev put an end to a 22 fight winning streak but even after the loss Volkanosvki has been widely considered the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world. His most recent win certainly helped his case, but a win over Makhachev will leave no doubt who the pound for pound king is.

The 35-year-old has a newfound confidence heading into this fight. “I’m so fresh because I didn’t have to worry about a fight camp. I didn’t have to physically and mentally exhaust myself,” said Volkanovski. “I get to go into this fresh, excited and almost have fun.”

Needless to say, the featherweight champion is excited to redeem himself. "I'm feeling good. I'm excited. That's one thing that I've taken out of all this whole thing, obviously, it's crazy. But man, it's gonna be fun. I don't think I've ever been this excited for a fight.

"Obviously you get excited, but you go through camp, and camp can be exhausting. Mentally and physically exhausting thinking about the fight the whole time. Now I don't have time for that. As soon as I heard about it I had a smile on my face and it hasn't gone away even until now."

With a win Volkanovski could become just the fifth double champion in UFC history. He has promised to stay active in both divisions should he become lightweight champion. It appears the fan-pleasing fights would be waiting for Volkanovski at lightweight if he holds the belt. Makhachev will likely call for a rematch unless he loses badly, but if Volkanovski has proven anything it is that he does not turn down fights. So, if he wins, we could be in store for one of the greatest trilogy fights in UFC history.

The co-main event of UFC 294 also experienced a fighter withdrawal due to injury. Surging middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev was originally scheduled to fight former title challenger Paulo Costa. But Costa had to undergo elbow surgery and former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has stepped in on 10 days notice. UFC president Dana White announced that this fight will serve as a title eliminator with the winner to be the next to challenge newly crowned champion Sean Strickland for the middleweight title.

Chimaev has not fought in over a year but is coming off a first round submission win over Kevin Holland at UFC 279. The win was not short of controversy and Chimaev did not prove that he is a championship caliber fighter yet, as the card needed to be shifted around due to his missing weight. Despite the mess that was UFC 279, the Russian fighter is 6-0 in the UFC and has wins at both welterweight and middleweight.

The 29-year-old was motivated by bad blood with Costa, but with Usman he has different thoughts on why he is squaring off with the former welterweight champion. “The guy comes just to make money,” Chimaev said. “It’s a lot of money put on that. I think he gets a lot of good money when somebody fights me. It’s different-level money. That’s why he’s here. Of course, he comes to win, everyone comes to a fight to win, but he already has an excuse and he’s getting paid, so I think that’s why he comes. Everyone here, a lot of guys talk about ‘My history, this belt, this s***,’ when somebody put the money out, millions—one day everyone will forget about that but the guy is going to have his money for his family. That’s why he’s here, I think.”

Many people believe that Chimaev would eventually challenge Usman for the welterweight title, and he commented on whether he is excited to be fighting Usman later after the welterweight championship has changed hands. “Of course, because since day one I get to the UFC, everyone spoke about Khamzat-Usman, Khamzat-Usman,” Chimaev said. “Our wrestling skills, our striking, all of these things. Usman is a fighter like me, but he’s the old version, I’m new, different. Like iPhones come out, like iPhone 5, I’m like, Pro, it’s different.”

Is the phenom thinking about a title shot? “I don’t think about this fight right now, I’m focused on Usman,” Chimaev said when asked about challenging Strickland. “They promised me, like I said, before Gilbert Burns, ‘If you win against this guy you’re going to fight for the title.’ Since then, wait two years, now I fight again [at UFC 279), but didn’t get the title, so I don’t know. I’m not after just a title, I go after all heads in the UFC. Smash somebody, make money, be happy. If I finish everyone, stop everyone, they have to give me all the belts.”

Usman is riding two straight losses to Leon Edwards into this fight. Before being shocked by Edwards in their second fight and losing a majority decision in the trilogy, Usman was one of the most dominant welterweights in UFC history. The 36-year-old was on a 19-fight winning streak before conceding the welterweight title at UFC 278.

The former champion thought taking this fight was a no-brainer. “I call my coaches and I’m like, ‘Hey guys, I’ve got an opportunity’. Nobody talked me out of it. I think they probably already kind of knew where I was leaning towards.

“For me, I'm in the season of just gratitude. You know, how often do you get an opportunity [like this],” Usman said.

The Nigerian went on to say, “I've been blessed with so many opportunities to be able to entertain the world, but for a highly anticipated fight like this that people care about. It's not many.

“There's a lot of fighters that fight. They have tons of fights in the UFC, and they're done. And people don't really remember, so being blessed with an opportunity like this to be able to go out and in the sense, I guess, shock the world even though it should be the other way around.

“It’s a blessing.”

There have long been talks of Usman moving up to middleweight, is now the time? “Fighters fight. So whether it’s middleweight or welterweight let's fight, if it makes sense of course," he added. "And I know a lot of people said, ‘Why would you take this fight, it doesn't make any sense for you. You're a welterweight, you’re at the top of the welterweight, why don’t you just stay there?’

“Well, like I said, that opportunity to be able to do something that's monumental. And fighters fight, we step in there and we lay it all on the line and we take big risks [for] big rewards.”

If Dana White keeps his word and this fight is in fact a title eliminator fight, there is thought dominating my mind. No one on Earth was saying a year ago that Kamaru Usman and Khamzat Chimaev would be facing off for a chance to fight Sean Strickland for the middleweight title. Regardless of who the winner is, if they are granted a title shot, the build up to that title fight will be fun to watch,

The Rest of the main card:

Light Heavyweight - #2 Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker

Middleweight - #11 Ikram Aliskerov vs. Warlley Alves

Bantamweight – Said Nurmagomedov vs. Muin Gafurov

ESPN + Prelims:

Flyweight - Tim Elliott vs. Muhammad Mokaev

Lightweight - Mohammad Yahya vs. Trevor Peek

Bantamweight - Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry

Middleweight - Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas

Catchweight (159.5 lb) - Mike Breeden vs. Anshul Jubli

Featherweight - Nathaniel Wood vs. Muhammad Naimov

Catchweight (116.6 lb) - Victoria Dudakova vs. Jinh Yu Frey

Middleweight - Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Bruno Silva