UFC 300 Preview

The UFC is making history at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 13th for UFC 300. The event is loaded with three championship fights,10 former champions, and several top contender battles. The main event will be for the light heavyweight belt between current champion Alex Pereira and former champion Jamahal Hill.

Pereira won the vacant belt in his last fight with a second round TKO of Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. He will be fighting in just his eighth UFC event, but it will be his fourth time battling in a title fight during his short time with the UFC. He is the former middleweight champion but is now looking for his first successful title defense in the UFC.

The Brazilian’s rise in the UFC has been unlike any we have seen in history. It only took him three fights in the UFC to earn his first title shot and just one win at light heavyweight before being granted a shot at the belt. Pereira’s legacy will be solidified if he can successfully defend the title on Saturday.

Pundits are still questioning whether Hill will be 100 percent for this fight after rupturing his Achilles tendon in July which caused him to vacate the title. Pereira is not making that a major concern. “I’m not really thinking too much about his time off and injury,” Pereira said. “I’d like to think that if he’s here, and he accepted the fight, it’s because he’s 100 percent. He knows what kind of responsibility this is, and he knows who he’ll be fighting. In my mind, he’s good, and I’m going to do my part.”

Pereira knows the importance of defending the title. “That’s my job, and I tried to do it the best I could,” Pereira said of his middleweight title defense loss. “I tried to defend the belt, but I lost. I’m not the first person this happens to. I’m changing my mentality, and I’m someone that’s very realistic. I know I can lose, but in my mind, I’m here to fight and win.”

Is Pereira feeling the pressure of headlining such a historical event? "If you stop and think about it, some fighters come from the regional circuit, they're fighting in their own countries on a smaller scale, then they go to the big shows and they feel a difference," he said. "I fought in front of more than 30,000 people when I was in Glory, which is the biggest kickboxing organization in the world. I don't think I've fought in front of that many people in the UFC, and the level of opponents I fought in Glory, I fought the all-time bests in my weight classes.

"Putting all of that together made me very, very seasoned when I got to the UFC. There were no jitters—nothing. I was prepared."

Pereira respects Hill’s abilities. "He's a former champion," Pereira said of his UFC 300 opponent. "He's well-rounded. In terms of striking, I think our levels are a bit far apart, but he's a very strong guy, and he hits hard.”

The champion is optimistic about fighting again soon if everything goes according to plan on Saturday. "I can definitely, absolutely fight at UFC 301," he said. "Everything will be fine, as long as I don't have injuries. If I leave this fight [with Hill] injury free, I'll use this training camp to fight on that card against anybody the UFC puts in front of me."

You would think at 36 years old Pereira would show signs of slowing down, but he continues to defy the odds. How long does he plan on fighting? "What motivates me is to keep writing history," he said. "That motivation never ends.

"People say, 'When will it end?' It will end when I can't fight anymore. As long as I can keep fighting, I'll keep going."

Hill has not fought since the beginning of 2023 where he won the vacant title at UFC 283 by unanimous decision over former champion Glover Texeira. The 32-year-old is 6-1-1 in the UFC and will now have the chance to win back the belt that he never defended.

Despite being a former champion, Hill has noticed a level of disrespect at his chances of winning from the MMA world. "There's some annoyance, there's a chip there. I want to go in and show who I truly am at my peak form. I believe at my peak form, there's nobody close to me. I'm not going to talk you to death, I'm not going to try and convince you of anything. I'll just show it,” Hill said.

He continued, "That's the reason why I stepped aside, for business to continue as usual. The show must go on, and I'm not exempt from that. I'm not a hater. I want to see people accomplish their goals. I want to see everybody make it, fulfilling their dreams.

"The division progressing only benefits me. I'm excited to see these new guys coming in, I'm excited to see these guys reinventing themselves. We're in for some great times: 205 hit the lottery. We have very solid talents and very solid fights upcoming in this division."

What is Hill’s prediction? "Domination. It's what I come with every time. One thing I've stood for the entire time I've stepped in this game, the entire time I've been active fighting, is domination."

The co-main event will be an all China battle for the strawweight title between champion Zhang Weili and #1 contender Yan Xiaonan.

Weili is a two-time champion and has defended the belt twice. She first won the belt back in 2019 with a first round TKO over Jessica Andrade in China. She would successfully defend the belt one time in one of the greatest fights of all-time against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248. After losing the belt at UFC 261 in 2021, Weili would work her way back to another title shot at UFC 281, where she became a two-time champion via a second-round submission of Carla Esparza. She has already solidified her position as one of the greatest female champions of all-time and a win on Saturday gets her closer to Hall of Fame status.

How does the champion feel about an all China title fight? “This is another fight for me, but on the other hand, this also means so much for the MMA sport’s development and growth in China,” Weili said.

Weili has respect for her opponent on Saturday. “I see that Xiaonan has grown a lot,” Weili said. “especially in her strength, as well as her grappling, on the ground, everything.”

Xiaonan is 8-2 in the UFC and most recently defeated former champion Jessica Andrade by first round KO last May at UFC 288. Since making her UFC debut in 2017, she has gained wins over Angela Hill, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Claudia Gadelha, and Mackenzie Dern. She can now shock the world with her biggest win on Saturday.

How does Xiaonan feel about fighting her fellow Chinese fighter? “There are still more people supporting her,” Xiaonan said. “But I have my family, my friends and my coaching team supporting me. All my people will support me. To me, that’s enough.”

The 34-year-old knows she has to be at her best against Weili. “Weili is a great fighter. Every fight, she shows that to everybody,” Xiaonan said. “But I also believe I’m a good fighter. I think I will show you guys the best version of myself.”

A third title fight will be featured at UFC 300. BMF champion Justin Gaethje will defend his BMF title against former featherweight champion and all-time great Max Holloway. The fight will be fought at lightweight where Gaethje has fought most of his career. For Holloway out of his 32 fights will only be fighting at lightweight for the sixth time as he spent most of his career fighting at 145 pounds.

Gaethje won the title last July at UFC 291 with a second-round knockout in a rematch with lightweight contender Dustoin Poirier. The former interim lightweight champion has won two straight fights since unsuccessfully challenging for the lightweight title at UFC 274 in 2022.

The 35-year-old instantly became a fan-favorite with his calculated brawling style and he showcased his skills in key victories over Rafael Fiziev, Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson, Donald Cerrone and Edson Barboza.

Gaethje has big plans if he wins on Saturday. “I know with a win here, I fight for the (lightweight) belt,” Gaethje said. “I know with a loss here, that all goes away. That’s what I’m fighting for.”

He continued, “I’m a quarter-mile at a time kind of guy,” Gaethje said. “I do not look too far ahead. Honestly, I have no clue what the future holds. I don’t usually plan on being alive the day after my fights, so hopefully I’m there on Sunday.

“… I don’t play what-ifs, but you don’t pass up a championship opportunity. I do want my time (off). I do think June would probably be impossible for me, as every time I fight is a traumatic life experience. I need to go home and unwind, take care of my body, take care of my head. But I have coaches and a manager who ultimately make those decisions, so if they say, ‘Go,’ I go.”

Max Holloway has won two straight fights having most recently defeated Chan Sung Jung via third round KO in August. The former champion defended the featherweight title three times and had three epic battles with Alexander Volkanovski, however coming up short in all three. He challenged for the interim lightweight title back in 2019 but lost a unanimous decision to Dustin Poirier.

The MMA world is wondering if Holloway will stay at lightweight or bid for another featherweight title shot. “We’ll see what happens,” Holloway said. “In this sport, having options is always good. First thing’s first is Justin Gaethje. But there is a fun fight down there, and that man keeps talking, and I keep hearing him. My only advice to (Topuria) is when the contract comes up, sign the dotted line. Don’t make any excuses.”

While Holloway is keeping his options open, it seems he has his eyes set on a featherweight title fight with newly crowned champion Ilia Topuria. “Questionable, I’d say,” Holloway said when asked about his opinion on Topuria. “Questionable. That guy, everyone keeps asking me what do I think of Topuria – and I think he’s questionable.

“I’d fight him, but you go ask him that question about me. At the end of the day, UFC, I always want to fight for that title. I always want to do this. A lot of contenders they gave me. They gave me a lot of up-and-coming contenders, and there’s one that didn’t come up toward my way. You can ask UFC about that. You can ask him the question.”

Holloway made his UFC debut in 2012 and since then he has collected key victories over Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo (twice), Brian Ortega, Frankie Edgar, Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez and Arnold Allen. He is already a hall of famer, so with a win over Gaethje what else is left other than one more title shot?

The rest of the main card:

Lightweight - #1 Charles Oliveira vs. #4 Arman Tsarukyan

Middleweight - Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage

ESPN/ESPN+ Prelims:

Light Heavyweight - #2 Jiří Procházka vs. #5 Aleksandar Rakić

Featherweight - #8 Calvin Kattar vs. #2 (BW) Aljamain Sterling

Women's Bantamweight - #5 Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison

Featherweight - #13 Sodiq Yusuff vs. Diego Lopes

ESPN/ESPN+ Early Prelims:

Lightweight- #10 Jalin Turner vs. #13 Renato Moicano

Women's Strawweight - #4 Jéssica Andrade vs. #6 Marina Rodriguez

Lightweight #14 Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller

Bantamweight - #8 Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt

UFC On ESPN 54 Preview

The UFC is invading the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday March 30th. The main event will be in the women’s flyweight division between #2 Erin Blanchfiled and #3 Manon Fiorot, with the winner most likely being the next to challenge for the flyweight title.

Blanchfield is 6-0 in the UFC and she most recently defeated former title challenger Taila Santos by unanimous decision in August. The only loss of her career came back in 2019 by split decision before she entered the UFC.

Does Blanchfield feel this fight will earn her a title shot? “I feel like it definitely should be (a title eliminator),” Blanchfield said. “I’m No. 2, she’s No. 3. The only two girls ahead of us are the girls that have been fighting for the title. So when I win Saturday, I feel like I’m definitely a lock for the title.

“I think you could definitely argue this is like my third No. 1 contender fight. I’m just gaining experience every time. I’m 24 years old fighting super tough girls. I feel like I’m getting so much better from it, and when I do get that title shot, and win that championship, I’ll definitely be a champ.”

How does Blanchfield feel she matches up with Fiorot? “I don’t know (if she’s my toughest test),” Blanchfield said. Every fight is obviously super tough. Everyone in the top five is super tough. We’ve both beat former champions. My last fight was with Taila Santos who some people thought beat Valentina (Shevchenko). We’ve both had tough fights. I think my road’s been a little bit tougher.

“Our records are very similar. She’s long and rangy. I’ve had months to strategize for that and I feel super prepared for this fight and I’m excited to show it off on Saturday.”

Fiorot is also 6-0 in the UFC and most recently defeated former champion Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision in September. She also has win sover former title challengers Katlyn Chookagian, Jennifer Maia, and Mayra Bueno Silva.

Does the French Fighter believe she is next in line for a title shot with a win on Saturday? “You know, obviously, I already deserve two times the title shot, but you know life goes on, sometimes injuries [happen.] That’s the way it is. Of course, I know and I believe the next fight will be the title and I know they have to make the trilogy for the third fight before. I’ll wait: no problem; but the next one is [for] the title,” Fiorot said.

What does Fiorot think of Blanchfield? “No, to be honest it’s not the roughest and the hardest fight for me in my MMA career,” said Fiorot. “Because she didn’t have the same kind of opponents that I had. I had very rough opponent[s], these three last ones were very strong. I have beaten a [former] champ, Rose, who is an amazing fighter so I don’t think it’ll be the hardest.”

While Fiorot is confident, Blanchfield cannot be taken lightly. She has shown in her last two fights that she not only durable, but fully capable of keeping the same frenetic pace for five rounds. Fiorot has proven she has finishing ability, but in order to defeat Blanchfield she will need to be able to deal with constant pressure, something she has not seen in her last five fights.

The Rest of the main card:

Welterweight - #11Vicente Luquevs.Joaquin Buckley

Middleweight - Chris Weidmanvs.Bruno Silva

Middleweight - Nursulton Ruziboevvs.Sedriques Dumas

Featherweight - Bill Algeovs.Kyle Nelson

Welterweight - Chidi Njokuanivs.Rhys McKee

ESPN + Prelims:

Featherweight - Nate Landwehrvs.Jamall Emmers

Women's Strawweight - Virna Jandirobavs.Loopy Godinez

Catchweight - (147.25 lb)Julio Arcevs.Herbert Burns

Featherweight - Dennis Buzukjavs.Connor Matthews

Light HeavyweightIbo - Aslanvs.Anton Turkalj

Women's Flyweight - Viktoriia Dudakovavs.Melissa Gatto

Middleweight - Andre Petroskivs.Jacob Malkoun

Bantamweight - Angel Pachecovs.Caolán Loughran

Tszyu vs. Fundora Preview

The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will host a quintet of title fights on Saturday, March 30th. In the main event, WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu will defend his title against former WBC interim champion Sebastian Fundora. The fight will also be for the vacant WBC title.

The main event was originally scheduled to be Tszyu to face former champion Keith Thurman at a catchweight of 155 pounds, but Thurman was forced to withdraw due to injury. Fundora will step in on short notice to fight for the titles.

Tsyzyu (24-0, 17 KO) retained the title for the first time in his last fight against with a unanimous decision victory over Brian Mendoza in October. Tszyu became interim champion last March with a ninth round TKO of former champion Tony Harrison and then defended that title in June with a first round KO of Carlos Ocampo. He was promoted to regular champion shortly before the fight with Mendoza.

The Australian fighter is motivated by the change in opponent. "It's a different feel, this fight. I wouldn't say it's a feeling of anger but it has just been built up and it's time to prove," Tszyu said. "I'm literally firing right now and I feel different. I think it just came from the news that Thurman is out.

"Before, I was too relaxed. Now, I'm not. I haven't felt this way in a long time."

The 29-year-old continued, "A lot of growth is happening. I'm going from training camp to training camp to training camp," Tszyu said. "Four fights in 12 months and that pays off. I'm getting better and better each time. I'm learning new things in the game. I'm just willing to test myself out every time.

"I think it's quite obvious -- [Fundora] is tall. But he uses his uppercuts to his advantage and they are quite long. A lot of people have the same gameplan to just get inside because he is so tall. But they also underestimate my skills."

Tszyu was prepared for Thurman but feels like he knows how to defeat Fundora. "Compared to Thurman, of course, it's a completely different gameplan," Tszyu said. "I know what to do with southpaws and I know how to fight tall guys. It's all about adjustments and even though we haven't had much time, they have been made. In one day, two hours. It was one session.

"I'm going to hurt him bad. That's the plan. Someone in the crowd is going to catch a head flying. That's the plan."

The champion has only fought outside of Australia once and he will be taking his talents under the bright lights of Las Vegas for the first time. There have been talks that with a win, he could be matched up with pound for pound great Terence Crawford. What does he think?

"[Crawford] is an opportunity to become a great, for sure," Tszyu said. "This is the first opportunity to do things that no one else does and to save the show [and] to still start this historic card. Once the opportunity arises for Crawford, that's going to be a war.”

He concluded, "I guess you could say I feel right at home [fighting in Las Vegas for the first time]. This is business, I get to relax later."

Fundora will be trying to rebound from a seventh round KO loss to Brian Mendoza last April, where he lost the WBC junior middleweight title. The 26-year-old commented on his first career loss. “I got a reminder – you can’t play boxing. You cannot play boxing,” Fundora said.

He continued, “You cannot make these mistakes. Small, little mistakes, you cannot make ’em because if you do, you pay for it, and that’s what I got in that fight.”

Fundora has an aggressive style that is fan pleasing, but he must fight a smarter fight against Tszyu. He believes he has made the necessary changes in his training. “What I like the most about myself right now is using my brain more,” he said. “I’m a smarter fighter. I’ve gone back to the basics.”

While he has taken the fight on short notice, Fundora believes he is ready to shock the world. “This opportunity is a big surprise, but it is a good surprise. The way I was training we would be ready for what I would say anybody. The fast that we get this fight now, I would say everything is lined up right.”

Tszyu is considered by many in the boxing world to be a future star, but Fundora can spoil that on Saturday. Fundora poses a new threat unlike any Tszyu has seen thus far, standing at 6’5. He was using his range well in the earlier part of the Mendoza fight but like he said, he got sloppy. If he can keep Tszyu from getting inside and avoid his power shots, he could cause problems for the champion.

Also on the main card is a fight for the WBA junior welterweight title. Champion Rolando Romero will defend against former title challenger Isaac Cruz.

Romero won the vacant title in his last fight with a ninth round TKO of Ismael Barroso last May. The victory was a big rebound from the first loss of his career where he suffered a sixth round TKO at the hands of Gervonta Davis.

Romero is not impressed with his challenger. “He’s not that unique,” Romero said. “I fight guys like him all the time. This has probably been the easiest time I’ve ever had finding sparring in my life. He can be replicated; I can’t. My style goes hand in hand with my personality – it’s unique.”

The talk of this fight has been how will Romero handle the pressure of Cruz. Romero responded to Cruz and his critics. “If you want to come right at me and get cracked, go for it,” Romero said. “He can do all that stuff with the small guys he fights, but I’m a big fighter and I hit harder than anyone at the weight class. I’m always here to go for the knockout and to go for the kill. I’m not here to just touch you – I want to pop you.

“I’m gonna knock him out. He’s gonna come forward and I’m gonna stop him. He gets hit with everything, so it could be any kind of punch.”

Cruz battled Davis to hard fought decision loss back in 2021. Many pundits believe he has more valuable experience than Romero. The champion is ready to put an end to the talk. “All I am doing right now is getting ready to shut his mouth, punch by punch,” Cruz said. “With every punch, he is going to talk a little less.”

Since losing to Davis, Cruz has won three straight fights. He most recently defeated Giovanni Cabrera by split decision in July. The Mexican fighter knows he has something to prove on Saturday. “All I can do is prove to everyone why I am deserving of this shot to be a world champion and why I should be in the biggest fights,” Cruz said.

Cruz will be fighting at 140 pounds for the first time in his career. How does he feel? “This is huge motivation,” he said. “It’s a great source of happiness for me. I’m channeling that into really training hard so I can make a great impression at 140 pounds.”

“All I can do is prove to everyone why I am deserving of this shot to be a world champion and why I should be in the biggest fights.”

While Cruz has predicted a knockout, he is ready for any kind of fight. “I’m ready for all 12 rounds, for whatever is going to happen,” he said. “… I’m really happy to be part of the first ever broadcast of Prime Video with PBC. It’s going to be really exciting.”

Two other title fights will be on the undercard on Saturday. Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA middleweight title against Michael Zerafa and Brian Mendoza will defend his interim WBC junior middleweight title against Serhii Bohachuck.

UFC Vegas 89 Preview

The UFC is returning to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, March 23rd for UFC Vegas 89. The main event will be in the women’s flyweight division between #8 Amanda Ribas and former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.

Since the beginning of 2021 Ribas has gone 3-3 but most recently defeated Luana Pinheiro by TKO in November for one of the best knockouts of 2023. The Brazilian has struggled to call a weight class home but will once again make the return to flyweight after an impressive victory at strawweight in her last fight.

Ribas is prepared to put on a show in her first main event. “Since the first time that I signed a UFC poster, I was imaging my face there,” Ribas said. “Yesterday I signed with my face, and since the first day at camp I was like, ‘OK, the time is now. You are doing the main event. So let’s go.’

“I’m prepared for all – to do five rounds, to the end or the beginning. I’m training to do a war and do a really good fight for the fans to enjoy and say this is worth being a main event.”

The 30-year-old expects to fight a championship level Namajunas. “I always put in my mind that I will fight the best Rose Namajunas ever,” Ribas said. “I’m training for the best in her. If something comes not like this, I’m prepared.”

While Ribas has traded fights at strawweight and flyweight, she wants to continue to look for the best opportunities regardless of weight class. “I really enjoyed last year where I did three fights,” Ribas said. “I hope I can do three fights this year, too, inside the octagon, and I hope if I win, God will bless me with that, I can do a top five and maybe go to the belt.”

What is missing from Ribas’ record is a marquee victory, and that is exactly what Namajunas represents. If she wants to continue to look for the best opportunities, a win over Namajunas will create a path for Ribas to go on a title run, at flyweight or strawweight.

Namajunas is trying to rebound from two straight losses. She made her flyweight debut in September but lost a unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot. That fight followed a split decision loss to Carla Esparza at UFC 274 where she lost the strawweight title.

The 31-year-old believes fighting at flyweight is the best weight class for her moving forward. “I just think health-wise, to me, it is just not a healthy thing to do at this point,” Namajunas said. “I know that I could keep pushing through it, my mind got a lot stronger with cutting the weight but I could tell my body was not liking that as much. I could tell from my last strawweight fight, my eyes were sunken in and it’s hard to see myself like that. Even though the will gets stronger, the flesh gets weaker so to me, I’m all about health and wellness, even though we are about to go and fight, I want to preserve as much as possible.”

Namajunas has goals of adding even more to her championship resume. “Becoming two-division champion this year would be awesome. But I know that’s a very steep mountain to climb, and I know I have had some setbacks so I obviously I got to be realistic, but I do believe that is very realistic, and anything, God willing that is what is going to happen. I just have to take care business of this weekend,” Namajunas said.

Despite her current losing streak, Namajunas is one of the greatest women’s fighters of all-time. She has two wins over current strawweight champion Zhang Weili, two wins over former champion and hall of famer Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Andrade, Michelle Waterson, Tecia Torres and Paige VanZant. With a win over Ribas, she could be just one more win away from a flyweight title shot.

The rest of the main card:

Heavyweight - Justin Tafa vs. Karl Williams

Middleweight - Edmen Shahbazyan vs. A.J. Dobson

Bantamweight - Payton Talbott vs. Cameron Saaiman

Featherweight - Billy Quarantillo vs. Youssef Zalal

Featherweight - Fernando Padilla vs. Luis Pajuelo

ESPN+ Prelims:

Lightweight - Kurt Holobaugh vs. Trey Ogden

Featherweight - Ricardo Ramos vs. Julian Erosa

Bantamweight - Miles Johns vs. Cody Gibson

Featherweight - Jarno Errens vs. Steven Nguyen

Women's Bantamweight - Montserrat Rendon vs. Darya Zheleznyakova

Flyweight - Igor Severino vs. André Lima

Heavyweight - Mohammed Usman vs. Mick Parkin

UFC Vegas 88 Preview

The UFC is returning to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday March 16th for UFC Vegas 88. The main event will be in the heavyweight division between fan-favorite #9 Tai Tuivasa vs. battle-tested veteran #10 Marcin Tybura.

Tuivasa is trying to rebound from three straight losses having most recently lost by second round submission to Alexander Volkov in September at UFC 293. Prior to the losing streak he won five straight and was on the verge of a title shot. His title shot hopes were halted when he lost a main event to Ciryl Gane by third round KO in one of the best fights of 2022.

While no fight is ever easy, the 30-year-old will not have a new set of challenges against Tybura. They were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 298, but the fight was moved because Tuivasa had to have surgery due to a torn meniscus. Does this put added pressure on him as he tries to end his losing streak?

“There’s always pressure, but it’s no pressure I haven’t seen before. I’ve been here before in my life and infighting. My preparation has been good, so I’m relying on that. Marcin has been around for a long time – I’ve watched him for many years. He’s very experienced. I’m not going to be able to bring anything that he hasn’t seen before. I know his plan is to try to drag me through the rounds and then try to wear me down, I suppose. But this is the heavyweight division and I want to come down and come hard and try to get this job done,” said Tuivasa.

Has Tuivasa had enough time to recover from surgery?  “Yeah, it feels good, I’ve got a good team around me and we’ve been doing everything we can to get it sweet, so I’m confident and confident in my team. The knee’s all good it just is what it is, I’m getting old and fat but get better looking every day. Like I said I feel good, I’m confident in my team I’ve got a good team around me, a lot of old school mixed with new school, and just everyone from the area so it’s good to be home training at home around familiar faces and I get to do my daddy duties as well.”

This is not new ground for Tuivasa as he has been on a three-fight losing streak before. After the first losing streak he then reeled off five straight victories with the biggest win coming against Derrick Lewis. The Australian had a promising start in the UFC and while he is still 8-6, he needs to make a statement on Saturday. Tuivasa is known as a stand-and-bang fighter and in his 20-fight career, has only been to a decision twice. It is unlikely he goes 25 minutes with Tybura, but his best chance at scoring a signature knockout will come earlier in the fight.

Tybura is 7-2 in his last nine fights but is trying to rebound from a first round TKO loss to Tom Aspinall in July. How does he feel about the fight being moved? “When the fight was moving it was a little bit hard because you already the camp and you’re just a little bit tired and you’re waiting for the final days, and it’s rescheduled,” Tybura said. “So that’s a little bit damaged to the camp schedule. But it was cool. It’s always nice to see your face on the fight posters. I agreed because I know there was some problems with Tai there.”

The 38-year-old respects the power of Tuivasa. “I think Tai is an exciting fighter,” Tybura said. “Fans love him. For sure the first thing that comes to mind is his heavy hands. He’s strong. He tries to finish. He’s dangerous every second of the fight. That’s pretty much it. That’s how I would describe him.”

Does Tybura think cardio will come into play, which is not Tuivasa’s strongest asset? “I don’t mind the cardio-wise going 25 minutes. I’ve been doing this before and I’m pretty sure about my cardio. But my approach is always go for the finish. Try to finish the fight. I’m hoping to get that done.”

Tybura has proven that he can go 25 minutes but does he have the ability to finish the fight? If he chooses to test the power of Tuivasa for longer than the first two minutes of the fight, this battle has the potential to be fight of the year.

The rest of the main card:

Welterweight - Bryan Battle vs. Ange Loosa

Light Heavyweight - Ovince Saint Preux vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu

Women's Bantamweight - #6 Pannie Kianzad vs. #10 Macy Chiasson

Middleweight - Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bryan Barberena

Featherweight - Christian Rodriguez vs. Isaac Dulgarian

ESPN + Prelims:

Lightweight - Thiago Moisés vs. Mitch Ramirez

Lightweight - Natan Levy vs. Mike Davis

Women's Bantamweight - #13 Josiane Nunes vs. #14 Chelsea Chandler

Flyweight - Jafel Filho vs. Ode' Osbourne

Featherweight - Joshua Culibao vs. Danny Silva

Women's Strawweight - Cory McKenna vs. Jaqueline Amorin

Bantamweight - Charalampos Grigoriou vs. Chad Anheliger

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