Beterbiev vs. Bivol Preview

The undisputed light heavyweight championship will be on the line for the first time in the four-belt era on Saturday, October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. WBC, WBO, and IBF champion Artur Beterbiev will battle WBA champion Dmitry Bivol  to crown the best light heavyweight in the world. 

Beterbiev (20- 0, 20 KO) retained the titles in his last two fights with TKO’s over Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith. He has held at least one light heavyweight belt since 2017 and since then has successfully defended a title eight times.

The Russian fighter does not talk about his game plan before fights. "You know, in all my past fights, I have never revealed these things" he said. "Why do I need to tell you these things now?

"Everyone asks this. It is a little secret in our team.”

Beterbiev continued, "We have some different scenarios to do and to prepare for.

"We are thinking about how it is going to go in the beginning, the middle and the end of the fight.

"We always try to discuss different scenarios, prepare for different scenarios, but we never tell journalists.

"We will keep quiet too.I want to win the fight, yes, but do not tell anyone. When someone does trash talk, I just smile."

Even though he is on the verge of such a historic fight, Beterbiev prefers to only let his hands do the talking. "I have never done trash talk in my boxing career and I don't want to start now, you know," he said.

Beterbiev concluded, "It is not my style. Maybe it comes from when I was an amateur, because I remember when I was an amateur there was a period where the head coach of the national team would not let us do interviews after a fight.

"They did not want us to talk with the journalists during the tournament.

"After the tournament, yes, but not during the tournament.

"Maybe it comes from there. I don't know, I understand it is good for promo and everything."

Bivol (23-0, 12 KO) has been the WBA titleholder since 2017 since being promoted to regular champion from interim champion. He has defended the belt 12 times and most recently defeated Malik Zinad by sixth round TKO in June. 

The Russian fighter talked about getting to such a pivotal moment in his career. “It’s like I did everything right in my life. Because this is my goal. This is my dream and the dream could come true. Of course it will show me that I was doing right,” Bivol said.

He continued, “The main thing is that I realise my potential. I have a plan, I want to reach this goal and all of it - that people will recognise me, people will remember me, I will get some belts, it’s just a bonus.”

Bivol knows he is in for a battle against Beterbiev. “I feel amazing before the most important fight of my life,” Bivol said. “Just look at his record to see why he's a really dangerous fighter. It's proven that he's one of the most dangerous opponents. He has the skills. He's not only just a good puncher. He's a really good and smart fighter. He has experience and a boxing IQ. He has three belts for a reason. For his age, he has really good conditioning. I just need to be myself and improve on my skills. You can't prepare to get punched, you have to prepare not to get punched.”

The 33-year-old is focused on doing what he feels he does best. “I will try to do all of my best,” said Bivol. “If I can try to finish the fight, of course I will use the opportunity. In my head, I am always thinking about how to win this fight and how to make everything perfect. I am not thinking about the knockout, to be honest.”

The biggest win of Bivol’s career came in 2022 and was a surprise to many where he dominated pound for pound great Canelo Alvarez. With a win on Saturday, he will have options and many people would like Canelo to be one of those potential fights. How does Bivol feel? “To be honest, I don't have any plans as to who I will fight next,” said Bivol. “I don't know if the rematch would be worse for Canelo. I'm not thinking about Canelo. I waited a year and a half and it was only talk and no action or negotiations. It's a closed subject. I'm busy with Beterbiev. We'll see what happens after.”

Also on the card is a battle for the IBF cruiserweight title as champion Jai Opetaia will defend his belt against former IBO cruiserweight champion Jack Massey. 

Opetaia (25-0, 19 KO) won the belt in surprising fashion with a dominant victory over Maris Breidis. He has defended the belt three times and most recently defeated Breidis again by unanimous decision in May.

The Australian fighter talked about his opponent on Saturday. “He’s good, man. We’re not taking him lightly at all; he’s a good, tough opponent. At the press conference he was saying he has a big amateur pedigree, so he’s been around the sport for a long time. He’s good. He’s a tough opponent. But styles make fights,” said Opetaia.

“There’s pressure in every fight. I’ve had pressure in every single fight of my pro career; it’s been a stepping stone to get where we want to go, and we’re still very far from our final destination. We’re always under pressure.”

The champion continued, “These underdog boys remind me of myself. I was in their shoes; no one knew who I was. I went from fighting at the Music Hall in Brisbane [in Australia] to fighting for a world title. They’re dangerous, so I take every fight very serious.

“Everything we have is earned every day. It can easily be taken away from us in one bad day. We don’t fucking prepare properly for a fight, and we fall short, everything will be taken away from us. We’ve gotta win it before we go in there, so we’re doing all the hard work that needs to be done.”

The pundits have criticized Opetaia for not having been pushed to the brink yet. He responded, “I’m comfortable being uncomfortable. We’re always chasing pain in the gym.”

Opetaia commented when asked about potentially fighting someone with a name such a Beterbiev or Bivol, considering other cruiserweight champions are not eager to fight him. “You’re always looking at that carrot at the end of the tunnel, and now he’s in the way of it. So, we must remove him from there and keep heading towards that carrot. Until then, he’s stopping us from getting there,” said Opetaia.

Massey (22-2, 12 KO) has won two straight since losing via unanimous decision to former heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in 2023. He won the vacant IBO belt in 2021 but would never go on to defend the title. 

The British fighter talked about facing Opetaia. “Watching him, you can't take it away from him that he's a very good fighter,” Massey said. “He looks good. But if you look at who he's fought, it's only really been Breidis twice, hasn't it? Coming to the back end of his career.

“But you can't take away the fact that when you watch him fighting, you can see that he's a very, very good fighter. You can't go in there underestimating him thinking he's only fought over-the-hill fighters. You can tell he's a good fighter and he's very good at what he does.”

Massey continued to talk about the champion. “That’s why he gets a lot of critics,” he said. “Because obviously a lot of people buy into him. They like him. They like his style and how he is outside the ring. Obviously, that also brings critics on board to come to the table and say, ‘Well, who's he actually fought?’ so he's got to prove himself a little bit more. 

“But people get excited, don't they? They hear the sparring stories and they watch him fight and stuff and start putting labels on him to be the next this and that. So, time will tell when Jack Massey gets in with him.”

Massey has the chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets of 2024 if he can find a way to defeat Opetaia. So far, no other fighter has been able to outbox Opetaia, so if Massey wants to win he will need to take the fight to the champion.

The rest of the undercard:

Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke

Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Kamil Szeremeta

Skye Nicolson vs. Raven Chapman — for Nicolson’s WBC featherweight title

Ben Whittaker vs. Liam Cameron

Mohammaed Alakel vs. Jesus Gonzalez

Marco Maric vs. Christian Lopez Flores

UFC Vegas 98 Preview

The UFC is returning to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, October 12 for UFC Vegas 98. The main event will be in the flyweight division between former title challenger #1 Brandon Royval and rising phenom #5 Tatsuro Taira.

Royval rebounded from his title loss in 2023 with a split decision victory over two-time champion Brandon Moreno in February. The fight was a rematch in which Royval was able to avenge his loss to Moreno back in 2020. Royval is 4-1 in his last five fights and his only losses in the UFC have come to Moreno and current champion Alexandre Pantoja. 

Oddsmakers have Royval as the underdog in this fight. How does he feel about that? “When I saw that I’m like, am I seeing something wrong or whatever. I’m one of the most underrated dudes in the flyweight division, I’ve been thinking that for years and I also think Taira might be one of the most overrated guys in this division right now, and no disrespect on him. I’ve trained with him, he seems like a very nice kid and I’m not trying to be disrespectful. I do believe he’ll be a champion one day but I think he’s overrated and I think I’m underrated,” Royval said. 

Royval explained why he feels he is on a different level than Taira. “I’ve trained with him a lot of times and, like I said, the kid’s good I just think there’s levels to this sport and right now I’m at a different level than he is,” Royval said. “It’s unfortunate that we have to meet up (at this time) because I would love to help that kid win a belt but as of right now it’s my time and afterwards I wanna help him win a belt.”

Aside from Moreno, Royval has key wins over Matheus Nicolau, Matt Schnell, Rogerio Bontorin, Kai Kara-France and Tim Elliott. While he does sit as the #1 contender at Flyweight, he will need a convincing win on Saturday for his next fight to be a second title shot. He has already lost emphatically to champion Pantoja twice and right now a third fight between the two is not a draw. Royval can change all of that with a dynamic win over an undefeated contender in Taira.

Taira is coming off a TKO victory over former title challenger Alex Perez in which the fight was ruled a TKO after Perez injured his knee. He is 16-0 and is 6-0 in the UFC but he will the face the toughest challenge of his career on Saturday. 

The 24-year-old spoke about the fight on Saturday. “Brandon Royval is very aggressive and a very good fighter, but I really want to show the fans and everyone in MMA that there is a new challenger in this flyweight champion contention. I want to get a big win and show it to all the fans,” Taira said. 

Taira talked about becoming a champion. “I have to become a champion to see (what it takes), but by champion, I mean the world’s best. My dream is to definitely become the UFC champion and keep defending it to a point where everyone thinks that I am the world’s best fighter. Once I get there, I should have the pride of being the best fighter in the world.”

The Japanese fighter sits at number five in the rankings and many pundits believe his rise up the rankings has come too quickly. How does he feel? “I wouldn’t say (my rise up the division is happening) fast, but I would say it’s a good pace,” Taira said. “It’s been working well so far. I’m ranked No. 5 now and I definitely want to show the fans that I belong here and also I belong as a champion soon and become a very strong champion.”

Taira is trying to take a low-key approach into the biggest fight in his short UFC career. “If I start thinking of losing and stuff, I do get kind of scared,” Taira said. “But once the fight is coming and I start focusing, I don’t really even think about my record. I just really focus on the fight. That’s how much I love MMA. I just want to keep winning.”

The rest of the main card: 

Middleweightv- Brad Tavares vs. Park Jun-yong

Welterweight - Chidi Njokuani vs. Jared Gooden

Lightweight - Grant Dawson vs. Rafa García

Welterweight - Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono

Middleweight - Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Josh Fremd

ESPN+ Prelims: 

Flyweight - C.J. Vergara vs. Ramazan Temirov

Featherweight - Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini

Welterweight - Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Price

Heavyweight - Junior Tafa vs. Sean Sharaf

Women's Strawweight - Julia Polastri vs. Cory McKenna

Bantamweight - Daniel Argueta vs. Cody Haddon

Flyweight - Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha

UFC 307 Preview

The UFC is invading the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday October 5th for UFC 307. The main event will be for the light heavyweight title as champion Alex Pereira defends his belt against #8 Khlail Rountree Jr.

Pereira is a two-time champion, and he is coming off a second round TKO in a rematch over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 in June. He is looking to defend the title for the third time in 2024 and will be fighting in his fourth title fight in less than a year. He won the vacant belt in the first fight against Prochazka at UFC 295 in November 2023.

The Brazilian responded to the critics saying Rountree was undeserving of a title shot. “He does deserve it,” Pereira said. “The same happened with me. He kind of jumped on the rankings, but is due to the work that he puts in. I put the work like that too, keep beating some guys and then the opportunity presents.”

After Pereira’s last win, rumors started of him either moving back down to middleweight where he once held the title, or moving up to heavyweight to become a three-weight champion. He made it clear which weight he is most comfortable at. “I would choose to defend my belt,” Pereira said. “Because it takes a planned work to cut down in weight, and it takes planned work to move up as well, but it’s perfect for this division.”

MMA fans are clamoring for Pereira to fight current heavyweight champion Jon Jones as he is widely considered the greatest MMA fighter of all-time. Pereira responded, “He’s made it pretty clear that he’s only doing one more fight and retiring,” Pereira said. “And I’m not even part of this division, so I would be far from doing that fight. And I have an open mind, so training and learning from him is something I would absolutely do.”

Pereira has respect for Rountree but is confident he can do what it takes to remain a champion. “Khalil is a strong, dangerous guy. Someone who is hungry, who has a dream,” Pereira said. “But, I will use my fight IQ and my experience. I always put pressure on my opponents and if they’re not ready for it, they break. It doesn’t matter if its by decision, knockout, or submission. My goal is to remain champion.”

No other fighter has achieved what Pereira has in such a short amount of time. He will be fighting just his 10th fight in the UFC and it will be his sixth fight for a title. He made his debut less than three years ago and has already achieved hall of fame status. If he can defeat Rountree, there will be plenty of light heavyweights waiting for their shot at him. Despite what Pereira says about fighting at heavyweight, it is too early to rule out that move just yet.

Rountree has won five straight fights with four coming by TKO. He most recently defeated former title challenger Anthony Smith by third round TKO in December. After an inconsistent start to his UFC career, he now finds himself in the biggest fight of his life under the brightest lights. How does he feel?

“It’s definitely just a testament to hard work, dedication, staying focused and keeping the vision alive,” Rountree said. “Now I’m here and it just feels good. I’m glad I’m here. I see the work it took to get here, and I’m prepared.”

The 34-year-old feels confident that he is a challenge that Pereira has yet to see. “I’m a unique challenge because I’m a unique fighter and I bring a different skillset to the challenge,” Rountree said. “I think my style matches up perfectly, I think my style gives me a high chance of winning, and not to really compare to the other guys, but it’s my time.”

Rountree believes UFC fans will be pleased on Saturday night. “This is a super exciting fight for the fans,” Rountree said. “You couldn’t ask for a better matchup in this division. Two guys, predominantly strikers, heavy hitters, we’re at the top of the mountain. This is like a Mortal Kombat level… I don’t think any fan will be disappointed.”

While the pundits have convinced UFC fans and Pereira that Rountree will change his game plan and wrestle, Rountree has made the promise he will not change who he is as a fighter. “From my end, I’ve said it before, I want to go out there and give the fans what they expect to see from me. And I don’t think that fans really expect to see me wrestle. So, I want to do this in the most exciting way possible. I want to give the fans the most exciting fight.

“And who knows where it goes. But what I can say with confidence is that whatever happens and whatever fight this turns out to be, it’s going to be highly entertaining,” Rountree said.

Rountree is 9-5-1 in the UFC with his biggest win to date coming over Smith. He has proven when he is focused is he is one of the most dangerous light heavyweights in the world, but in the fights he has lost he has been criticized of not showing up. He will need to channel the most extreme versions of when he has been great to shock the world on Saturday.

The co-main event of UFC 307 will be for the women’s bantamweight title between champion Raquel Pennington and former champion Julianna Pena.

Pennington will be making her first defense of the title since winning the belt in her last fight with unanimous decision victory over Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC 297. She has been fighting in the UFC since 2014 and challenged for the title in 2018 unsuccessfully against all-time great Amanda Nunes. The champion now will fight the fight she has coveted the most.

“This is a fight that wasn’t just an eight-week camp for me — this is a fight that has been on my mind for 11 years,” Pennington said.

She continued, “It’s a fight I’ve wanted for a long time and I don’t understand how it hasn’t happened,” said Pennington. “I always asked, and she was either injured or didn’t want to fight me.

"It just never made sense to me,” she added. “I was always like, ‘Make her sign on the damn line! I want this fight!”

Pennington has talked about staying focused before facing the outspoken Pena. “It’s just exciting for it to actually happen, but I’m also the type of person where this is just competition,” said Pennington, who has never been one to get drawn into social media squabbles or engage in trash talking. “At the end of the day, she can run her mouth — we all know she’s gonna run her mouth; I don’t think she ever gets sick of hearing herself talk — but I’m gonna get my hand raised, defend my title successfully, and then shake her hand…or at least try.”

The 36-year-old continued speaking about her long journey to becoming a champion. “Listen, to make it simple: I am genuinely, genuinely proud of myself,” she said, beaming. “I was never handed a single thing. I have always worked from the bottom up and always been the underdog, and to be where I’m at, achieving things for myself as an athlete, as a person, changing my family’s life, building a legacy that I have for myself that I get to pass on to my daughter; I am just so proud of myself.

“When you get into fighting, the ultimate goal is to get into the UFC and stay in the UFC. I’ve been in the UFC now for 11 years; that’s not something easy to do. On top of that, I’ve fought the best of the best. The next goal is that we all want to be world champion, so we’re already the top one percent of people that do this stuff, and to break down who actually fights for a world title, most athletes don’t ever get that opportunity.

“Some athletes — hell, I was one of them: I fought for the world title the first time and I failed,” she added, referencing her UFC 224 loss at the hands of Nunes in Rio de Janeiro. “It’s not an easy journey.

Pena has not fought since losing the title in a rematch against Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 in 2022. She talked about taking the time off.

“I would say the biggest thing that I hate about taking this amount of time off is that the fans have forgotten you and they don't remember you anymore,” said Pena. “So I feel like I have to climb back up and claw my way back up just to remind everybody, hello, I'm still here and I am who I say I am. And you're going to have to be reminded. And that's my job to remind them. But sometimes I just wish I wouldn't have to remind them.”

Pena continued, “There's always those people that talk about ring rust and all that stuff, and there's got to be some truth to that, but I have constantly had these breaks, whether it be injuries or pregnancy or things that have kept me out of the sport for years on end,” she said. “And then, when I come back, all is well again. So I don't ever look at it like, ‘Oh my gosh, I haven't competed in two years. What am I going to do?’ I'm like, this is just the way that it is. And when I get there, I'll do what I know how to do instinctually, and everything will be fine, and the chips are going to fall how they fall. But, I don't look at it like, ‘Ah, panic, ring rust.’ I just look at it as, yeah, I had to take the time off and that's just the way that it is. And I'm not going to think too much about it or broadcast it or highlight it because, at the end of the day, I know I can fight and when that cage door closes, I'm going to give them hell or die trying and everybody knows that.”

The former champion is willing to do what it takes to once again be at the top. “I've always been the underdog,” she said. “I'll take that slot. You go ahead and label me whatever you want. When that cage door closes, I am willing to die to get my hand raised. And I don't think that Raquel has as much of that desire that I have, as much of that hunger and that want, and that competitiveness that I do.”

The previous championship experience has made Pena confident. “I might not have that official title, but, for me, in my head, walking around and going everywhere, I am the champion, and I feel that way.”

The rest of the main card:

Bantamweight - #10 José Aldo vs.  #11 Mario Bautista

Women's Bantamweight - #2 Ketlen Vieira vs. #3 Kayla Harrison

Middleweight - #10 Roman Dolidze vs. #15 Kevin Holland

ESPN+ Prelims:

Welterweight - #9 Stephen Thompson vs. #11 Joaquin Buckley

Women's Strawweight - #6 Marina Rodriguez vs. #14 Iasmin Lucindo

Lightweight - Austin Hubbard vs. Alexander Hernandez

Middleweight - César Almeida vs. Ihor Potieria

Early Prelims ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass:

Light Heavyweight - Ryan Spann vs. Ovince Saint Preux

Women's Strawweight - Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Pennington

Welterweight - Court McGee vs. Tim Means

Joshua vs. Dubois Preview

Wembley Stadium in London, England will host a powerful heavyweight title fight on Saturday, September 21. English fighters Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua will do battle for Dubios’ IBF heavyweight belt.

Dubois (21-2, 20 KO) has looked impressive since coming up short in a title fight with Oleksandr Usyk a little over a year ago. He has won two straight by TKO over Jarrell Miller and most recently he defeated Filip Hrgovic in June for the interim IBF title. Dubois was later promoted to IBF champion after Usyk vacated the belt.

The 27-year-old knows he has something to prove against a worthy challenger such as Joshua. “I was down and now I’m coming back up. There’s a deeper meaning to it than just me and AJ in the ring. Everything’s on the line. Who’s got the stronger will, who’s really conquered their demons and who’s really ready to move forward and I believe that’s me and I’m ready to go out there and show it,” Dubois said.

Dubois is looking for a big result on Saturday. “I aim to knock him out. That’s the programme. That’s the mindset, that’s the intention coming into this fight. I’m going to focus my whole life into destroying it and just being a good destroyer, a good conqueror,” Dubois said.

Despite the criticism of Dubios’ durability, he vows to prove his critics wrong. "Don't wait. Go out there. Smash him.

"Go through them. Go through whatever I have to go through… No retreat, no surrender. And go out there and perform like a warrior,” said Dubois.

As it stands today, Hrgovic is Dubois’ biggest win. When he has faced top level competition, he has come up short. A win over a former champion such as Joshua will be the start he needs to entering him into the conversation of elite heavyweight boxers.

Joshua is a former two-time unified world champion having held the WBA (super), IBF, and WBO titles while holding the IBO title during his reign as well. He is currently on a four-fight winning streak since losing the titles to Usyk in 2021 and then falling short in a rematch in 2022. He most recently defeated former MMA champion Francis Ngannou by a devastating second round KO in March.

The 34-year-old has faced questions on where he is at in his career as he will turn 35 years old less than a month from Saturday. How much time does he feel he has left? “Loads,” he said. “It’s not the physical side; I’m strong as an Ox; I’m good. I’m fit, very fit. I’m pushing myself further. It’s just if I’m mentally hungry enough to do it, how long am I mentally ready to go into battle.”

The boxing community is talking about Joshua facing the winner of a rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury which is set to take place in December. Joshua commented, “Daniel Dubois is a big enough challenge as it is. Not thinking about Usyk, I am 100 per cent focused on the job at hand. I haven't had many distractions this time around and I am able to focus solely on Daniel Dubois. It's been a blessing,” said Joshua.

Joshua hopes to take the momentum of his last win into the fight on Saturday. “When you win, you’re on a high and you want to experience that. When you lose, you get low and it takes time to get balanced again. After the Ngannou fight, everything was good, you’re riding that wave. Hopefully we do that on Saturday as well. I’ve given Daniel respect in order to get the victory, Joshua said.

The former champion is one of the most popular British boxers of all-time and remains amongst the most popular today. As he faces a fellow Brit who will perform under the bright lights of Wembley stadium, Joshua talked about his popularity and whether Dubois owes him anything. “The only thing he owes me is a punch and that’s it,” he said. “I don’t want anything else from him. I don’t want his respect or anything else. I have to earn it if I want it. Everything I’ve done in the past, we have to draw a line under because I can’t take that with me on Saturday night. In that moment, [what happens in the ring] is all that matters.”

Joshua has key wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph parker, Alexander Povetkin, Andy Ruiz Jr, Kubrat Pulev and Otto Wallin. For years he was linked to a unification fight with Deontay Wilder and a fight with fellow countryman Tyson Fury. Wilder has stated recently that he still wants a fight with Joshua despite the opinion that he should retire after going 1-4 in his last five fights while being KO’d badly in three of them. A Joshua win on Saturday and a Fury win in December could result in the fans finally seeing the two generational British heavyweights squaring off.

While fans may still be clamoring for a Joshua vs. Fury showdown, Dubois is also expected to face the winner of Usyk and Fury should he defeat Joshua. Dubois challenged Usyk for the titles in 2023 and while he was stopped by Usyk in the ninth round, it did not come without controversy. Dubois dropped Usyk in the fifth round with what initially looked to be a clean body shot but was ruled a low-blow by the referee. Usyk was given over eight minutes to recover, and the rest is history. With that said, both Dubois and Joshua are worthy of a fight wit either Usyk or Fury.

The undercard:

Hamzah Sheeraz -1000 vs. Tyler Denny +600, middleweights

Anthony Cacace -235 vs. Josh Warrington +185, junior lightweights

Joshua Buatsi -270 vs. Willy Hutchinson +215, light heavyweights

Josh Kelly -200 vs. Ishmael Davis +160, middleweights

Mark Chamberlain -1400 vs. Josh Padley +800, lightweights

UFC 306 Preview

The UFC is invading the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, September 14th for UFC 306. The card will be the promotion’s second “Noche UFC” celebrating Mexican Independence Day. The main event will be for the bantamweight title between champion Sean O’Malley and #1 Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley was able to avenge his only loss in his last fight at UFC 299, where he defeated rival Marlon Vera by unanimous decision. The fight was one-sided, and O’Malley proved that he will not be an easy champion to dethrone. The 29-year-old has become one of the biggest stars of the UFC and with a win, he would catapult to the next level of popularity in MMA.

"I think you have to want to be a star, and when I was in middle school, I did," O'Malley said. "There are other guys who could be superstars, I just don't think they want to be. Conor McGregor wanted to be a superstar. [UFC featherweight champion] Ilia Topuria wants to be a superstar. You have to have the skills and the highlights, all that -- but you've got to want it, too."

The champion is confident he will produce a highlight reel result on Saturday. "I truly believe I'm gonna put his lights out very early," O'Malley says. "I find people's chin. That's what I'm saying. I do. I'm going to find Merab's chin. He has a huge head. I could try not to hit him and probably still accidentally hit him."

While O’Malley is riding high with confidence, he is aware how dangerous Dvalishvili can be. "He's ranked No. 1. He's on a 10-fight win streak," O’Malley said. "The only reason he's never fought for a title or was never the champion is because Aljamain Sterling was there. He’s as dangerous as it gets. Cardio machine. He doesn't get tired. He's been rocked a few times, but he's got a good chin.

“He got rocked hard from Marlon Moraes and ended up finishing him. So he's very durable. He's got good cardio. He's obviously skilled. He's on a 10-fight win streak. He's very, very dangerous.”

There have been talks of O’Malley moving up to 145 pounds to challenge for the title with a win on Saturday. He will have plenty of options and he has even entertained the idea of a boxing super-fight. "There's only one way to find out: Give me that check," O'Malley said. "I don't know. The only thing that stays the same is change itself. I'm constantly changing, my mindset is constantly changing. Right now, my mindset is to be the greatest fighter of all time. I go out there, win a fight, box, make $100 million? My mindset might not be that anymore. Right now, I'm focused on fighting."

Dvalishvili has won 10 straight fights and defeated two former champions in his last two contests. He earned unanimous decision victories over Henry Cejudo and Petr Yan to earn his spot in a title fight. The Georgian fighter is being driven by bad blood with O’Malley.

"O'Malley, he tried to be bully," Dvalishvili said. "He tried to talk s*** but he don't know that - that doesn't work [on] me. I'm gonna beat him more because of that. He's been bullying, disrespectful to me. I won't be sad when I will beat him.

"He's good, but he's lucky... I wish fight was tomorrow."

He continued, "O'Malley, you better show up. If you don't show up, I'm gonna fight your coach Tim," Dvalishvili warned team O'Malley.”

The 33-year-old may want to win convincingly but he understands it will not come easy. “This is a tough challenge for me. Sean O’Malley is a good fighter and that’s why I always wanted to fight him. I want to win this fight and I want to be organic. I don’t want to overthink. I don’t want to be cocky. First I have to win this fight and after we can talk. One thing is for sure, I’m working hard and I’m very hungry,” said Dvalishvili.

While the challenger is known for his grappling-heavy style, he wants to prove his critics wrong. “I want to knock Sean O’Malley out,” Dvalishvili said. “I will knock him out. You guys will be surprised. Watch this fight and you guys will see. I know people think I’m a grappler. You guys will see. I’m going to show different skills. I’m going to knock him out. I’m going to outstrike him. You guys will see. I’m going to f*ck the shit out of him, too. You will see.”

He concluded, “One thing is for sure, I’m working hard and I’m very hungry,” Dvalishvili said. “I’m going to surprise a lot of people. I’m telling you I’m looking for the knockout and don’t be surprised if I knock him out.”

The co-main event of the evening will also be for a title. Mexican champion Alexa Grasso will defend the women’s flyweight title in a trilogy match against former champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Grasso shocked the world by defeating Shevchenko at UFC 285 with a fourth round submission after Shevchenko had defended the belt seven times. The two fought to a split draw in the second fight a year ago, leaving the winner of the rubber match to be crowned as the best flyweight in the world.

This will be the first women’s trilogy fight in the UFC. Grasso commented on making history. “It means a lot,” Grasso said. “It’s showing how hard I’m working. I love to put everything I have in every single fight, and this is the result of all these years of hard work.”

The 31-year-old has her mind on a big fight if she defeats Shevchenko on Saturday. ''Weili Zhang is my dream fight," Grasso said. "It will be one of my biggest fights to date. She is strong, powerful, and well-rounded. She is a great fighter and I even heard she would love to test herself at 125, so I would love to welcome her.''

While she does have a dream fight, she commented on her current rival. “It’s like a love-hate relationship between me and Valentina. I have been watching her career since I was very young. She has been a role model for all the women and has done so much for the sport – not just for the women but for the men also. It’s pretty cool to be able to be on the same level as her,” said Grasso.

“We did The Ultimate Fighter and had two really cool fights together. The second fight was a hell of a fight, just imagine what the third fight would be like! We are both very professional and have been working so hard every day. To be the first female Mexican champion is huge for me. I’m proud of all the work I have done. The day of the fight will be different in there because we are going to kill each other. But, it is cool to have such a competitor in Valentina,” Grasso continued.

There have been talks of Grasso moving up to become a two-weight champion, but she had to put those conversations on pause. “I would love to be a two weight-world champion, it is such a big question and goal for me,” Grasso said. “However, I have friends in the upper weight classes such as Loopy Godinez in the strawweight division and Irene Aldana in the bantamweight division, and our team's goal is to all be champions in each of our weight classes, so I would have to pause that dream for now.''

Grasso knows what this fight at the Sphere means to her country. “It’s going to be very cool and beautiful,” Grasso said. “I went and saw the Sphere with all the Mexican graphics and everything. It’s a great promotion with everything they’re doing. Like you said, no other country has had this opportunity. This speaks on all the great work all the Mexican fighters are doing.”

Shevchenko won the flyweight title in 2018 and held the belt until losing to Grasso in 2023. She was one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and could return to that status with a win over Grasso on Saturday. Although, the former champion believes she won the last fight.

“Our previous fight, I won that fight and only because of an interesting decision of one judge, it went to the draw decision,” Shevchenko said. “If you ask the world of martial arts, everyone who understands fighting, all the judges and everything, they definitely saw me win in the fight. I think it's good for everyone and you see me winning on the second fight, so it's kind of like stick to the same game plan, do the same thing, be myself and win the fight.”

Despite her thoughts on her last fight, Shevchenko knows she is on the path back to the title. “True supporters, they understand the truth and they’re with you, no matter what,” Shevchenko said. “A champion's mindset is to follow your way, follow your path in this world and if you know your path and what you have to do, it's easy because no matter what's happening around you, every time you are going to stick to one plan.”

She continued, “I've been in martial arts all my life already, 31 years in training,” Shevchenko said. “For me, martial arts is more than just a fight, it's more than just a show; it's my life, it's my lifestyle and I respect my opponents. I respect everyone.”

The former champion is not thinking about who she will fight next. “A huge mistake of many fighters, they start to plan like five years, ten years ahead, but if you think about five years, it's a long time. Five years ago is 2019, which is when I first had my belt. If I were to look back and see what is going to happen in five years, I never would have imagined what is going to happen. Let's focus on what is waiting for us in the near future,” Shevchenko said.

Aside from Grasso, the only other fighter to defeat Shevchenko in the UFC is all-time great Amanda Nunes. Shevchenko fought Nunes twice at bantamweight and lost the second fight for the title by a razor thin split decision. There were always rumors of a third fight with Nunes, who has since retired. A large portion of UFC fans still have hopes that a fight with Nunes could happen because it is the only fight that could intrigue Nunes enough to come out of retirement.

Shevchenko has already achieved hall of fame status with key wins in her career over Holly Holm, Julianna Pena, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche and Jessica Andrade. Completing the trilogy against Grasso with a win will return her back to the top of the women’s pound for pound list.

The rest of the main card:

Featherweight - #3 Brian Ortega vs. #13 Diego Lopes

Lightweight - Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics

Flyweight - Ronaldo Rodríguez vs. Ode' Osbourne

ESPN+ Prelims:

Women's Bantamweight  - #5 Irene Aldana vs. #8 Norma Dumont

Lightweight - Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres

Women's Strawweight - Yazmin Jauregui  vs. Ketlen Souza

Flyweight - Édgar Cháirez vs. Joshua Van

Early Prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass:

Bantamweight - Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aori Qileng

Alvarez vs. Berlanga Preview

The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will host a dynamic night of title fights on Saturday, September 14th. The main event is a battle between pound for pound great Canelo Alvarez as he defends his WBC, WBO, and WBA Super middleweight titles against Edgar Berlanga.

Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Jaimie Munguia to defend his titles in May. The win was his fourth straight victory and defense of the belts after unsuccessfully challenging Dmitry Bivol for the WBA (Super) light heavyweight title in 2022. The loss was just the second defeat of his career with the first coming to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013.

The Mexican fighter has held titles in four weight classes and has unified titles in three divisions. He is the only fighter to become undisputed champion at super middleweight. Despite all his accomplishments Alvarez believes he has something to prove against a new challenger.

"I always take my fights seriously and train 100% no matter who is in there. I always have the same mentality," Alvarez said.

"I will show everybody I'm still the best."

The 34-year-old is confident he will finish the fight on Saturday. “I’m knocking him out in eight rounds, or less,” Canelo said. “He’s a good fighter, he’s strong, but he’s nothing new to me. I have a lot of experience, and he’s going to feel it on Saturday.”

Not only has Alvarez been successful in the ring, he also has achieved elite financial status becoming one of the biggest draws in a boxing era. He has been linked to a fight with the biggest draw in MMA history Conor McGregor. Canelo commented, “Easy money. [I’ll knock him out] at the time I want. One round, two rounds, three rounds, whatever I want,” he said.

When it is all said and done, Alvarez will go down as one of the best boxers in the history of the sport. At 34 years old he is on the back end of his career, but there are still plenty of fighters out there wanting to challenge the champion.  The name at the top of that list is undefeated David Benavidez who currently holds the WBC interim light heavyweight belt and is a former WBC super-middleweight champion. Critics believe if Alvarez never faces Benavidez, it will tarnish his legacy.

During his hall of fame career Alvarez has key wins over Jermell Charlo, Gennady Golovkin (twice), Caleb Plant, Billy Joe Saunders, Sergey Kovalev, Daniel Jacobs, Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, Shane Mosley and Kermit Cintron.

Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO) is coming off a sixth round TKO of Padraig McCrory in February giving him his first finish since 2020. The 27-year-old expects a big result against Alvarez. “I’m going to knock him out in the sixth round,” Berlanga said. “When it’s time to shine, I always come through. This is war.”

It is a bold prediction from Berlanga as Canelo has never been knocked down, let alone stopped in the ring. Berlanga is ready to prove everyone wrong. "There are a lot of doubters out there, people who don't believe in me, but Saturday night I'm going to make them believers," Berlanga said.

"There is fire in my blood and veins to go out there and perform.

"This is the top of the mountain, it doesn't get any bigger, and now it's about me becoming great and putting my last name in the history books forever."

Berlanga is a bigger fighter than Alvarez and he commented on Alvarezs’ abilities in a fight where he is at a size disadvantage. “I see him throwing shots at people’s arms,” Berlanga said. “He started doing that when he started fighting bigger fighters, break the arms down so in the later rounds he can just start connecting. That’s his method all the time, he did it to Munguia. He’ll hit you in the arms, then hit you, hit you, and then he’ll switch it up. That’s how he dropped Munguia. But that jab is his kryptonite. Bivol threw at least like 60 jabs a round.”

This will be the biggest fight of Berlanga’s career and with a win he could produce one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Canelo holds a rematch clause in the contract in the event of a defeat. Canelo has not yet avenged a loss and rematching a young lion who shocked the world would make for a great storyline in a second fight.

The Undercard:

Erislandy Lara vs. Danny Garcia for Lara’s WBA “super” middleweight title.

Caleb Plant vs. Trevor McCumby for the vacant WBA interim super middleweight title

Rolando Romero vs. Manuel Jaimes

Stephen Fulton vs. Carlos Castro

The main card can be seen on Prime PPV at 8:00 pm ET

UFC Vegas 97 Preview

The UFC is returning to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for on Saturday, September 7th for UFC Vegas 97. The main event will be in the welterweight division between former title challenger #6 Gilbert Burns and #8 Sean Brady.

Burns is trying to rebound from two straight losses having most recently lost by KO to rising contender Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 in March. The other loss was by unanimous decision to now champion Belal Muhammad. Since challenging for the title in 2021 he has gone 3-3 and needs a win on Saturday to remain considered a top contender at 170 pounds.

Despite being inconsistent lately, Burns believes he can go on one more title run. “Whenever I’m at my best, even at training or in a fight, I still feel like I can beat so many guys out there,” Burns said. “I still have a lot of fight in me.”

A title run could result in a rematch with current champion Muhammad, a loss that Burns wants to avenge. “I want that rematch back,” Burns says. “That’s the one that was very hard for me to swallow. … I hope when I make it back to the title, he’s the one holding [the belt], and we’ll make that rematch.”

The 38-year-old talked about Brady who is known for his powerful wrestling. “I hope we’ll grapple. I think we’re gonna grapple,” says Burns, a former world-class submission grappler before putting his full energy behind his MMA career. “I’m gonna look for grappling. I’m gonna look for takedowns. … We might avoid each other, and it might be a battle on the feet, but maybe I get a good takedown; maybe he gets a takedown and we’ll grapple. I’m excited to see. I still think strongly that we’re gonna grapple.”

The Brazilian is confident but knows it will not be easy to defeat Brady. “I believe I’m gonna beat Sean Brady. I don’t think it’s gonna be easy,” Burns said. “I think I might get in trouble a little bit; I might put him in trouble a little bit. But I do believe, at the end of the night, I’m gonna win that fight.”

Burns has his sights set on a few contenders with a win over Brady. “I’m looking forward to a No. 1 contender fight,” he says, “so we’ve got Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman, or Colby Covington. Those are the guys I’m looking forward to after I beat Sean Brady, to fight one of these guys and earn a title shot with a win over these guys.”

Since his UFC debut in 2014, Burns has collected 15 wins with key victories over Jorge Masvidal, Neil Magny, Stephen Thompson, Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia. The welterweight division has evolved since he last fought for the title, so a title run would take convincing wins by Burns. It all starts on Saturday with a win over Brady, a prospect on the rise who has only been defeated once in his career by the champion Muhammad.

Brady rebounded well from his TKO loss to Muhammad by defeating Kelvin Gastelum via third round submission in December. The 31-year-old is 6-1 in the UFC and has reflected on his only loss to the current champion by calling out the fans.

“I don’t understand the fraud checked thing. First of all, Twitter f*****g sucks. It’s a cesspool full of miserable, miserable people, it’s insane. These people on there are nuts. You’d never say anything that these guys say to your face, they are some dork in their mom’s basement, just eating Cheetos. I got fraud-checked, Joey (Pyfer) got fraud-checked, a bunch of other guys got fraud-checked. What is fraud-checked by a fighter who is in the top-10, top-15? I don’t understand it,” Sean Brady said.

He continued, “That is frustrating to see. It is never other fighters who say it. I don’t understand the fraud-checked thing. But, I guess I got fraud-checked by the UFC champion. Thanks, bro.”

Brady talked about his gameplan against Burns. “Gilbert, amazing jiu-jitsu,” Brady said. “Obviously he’s won (world championships) and everything like that, but that was a long time ago, and that was in the gi. Gi and no-gi is completely different, and MMA jiu-jitsu is completely different, as well.

“I think he’s got great submissions. I’m sure he’s great on bottom, but I definitely think I have better jiu-jitsu, and I’m looking to test it.”

Despite his confidence, Brady has respect for Burns. “I was kind of asking for Gilbert,” Brady said. “I was asking for a lot of guys, but Gilbert was definitely one of them. I respect Gilbert. He’s an amazing fighter, and he’s done amazing things. He’s fought for the belt, and he had a competitive fight with some of the best guys. He had a great fight going with Jack until it didn’t go his way. He’s a great fighter and a competitor, and I’m just looking forward to testing myself against him. I think it’s my first true veteran fight that I’m going to get to test myself against somebody who’s been there, done that.”

Aside from Gastgelum, Brady has a key win over Michael Chiesa. But a win over Burns would be the biggest of his career and would announce his presence into the title conversation at welterweight. The division has seen the emergence of new contenders in the top 10 and Brady could solidify his position on that list with a dominant performance against Burns.

The rest of the main card:

Women's Flyweight - #6 Jéssica Andrade vs. #8 Natália Silva

Featherweight - Steve Garcia vs. Kyle Nelson

Bantamweight - #11 Matt Schnell vs. #15 Cody Durden

Lightweight - Trevor Peek vs. Yanal Ashmouz

Lightweight - Rong Zhu vs. Chris Padilla

ESPN+ Prelims:

Featherweight - Isaac Dulgarian vs. Brendon Marotte

Flyweight - Felipe dos Santos vs. André Lima

Featherweight - Yi Zha vs. Gabriel Santos

Women's Strawweight - Jaqueline Amorim vs. Vanessa Demopoulos

Middleweight - Andre Petroski vs. Dylan Budka

Featherweight - Žygimantas Ramaška vs. Nathan Fletcher

Pacheco vs. Sulecki Preview

The Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California will host a dynamic fight in the super middleweight division on Saturday, August 31. Undefeated prospect Diego Pacheco will battle former title challenger Maciej Sulecki.

Pacheco (21-0, 17 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Shawn McCalman in April, but the decision put an end to his nine-fight finish streak. The 23-year-old was ranked as the top amateur middleweight in North America prior to turning pro in 2018 at 19 years old.

The Los Angeles native is ready to leave everything in the ring. “Maciej is a veteran, he’s been in some tough fights and he’s fought some good champions,” said Pacheco. “I’m just looking forward to adding him to my resume. He’s another guy that’s looking to take this away from me, but I’ve put the work in, I have God on my side and that’s all that matters… There’s nothing that can stop me.

“Maciej has had harder fights than my other opponents. He’s boxed some great fighters and he’s fought for a world [WBO] title and he’s beaten a lot of good fighters too. So, we won’t know until I’m in the ring with him if he’s my toughest fight but I’m treating this fight like it’s my last fight and I’m ready for the best of him.”

While Sulecki has faced two former champions, Pacheco believes he will be his toughest test. “I’m a special fighter,” explained Pacheco. “All respect to Jacobs and Andrade but I think stylistically I’m more of a power puncher; I’m a better counter-puncher, I just have it all. I can work inside and go to the body, I can outbox my opponents and frustrate them and get them to open up. It’s just a matter of how the fight goes; I’m ready for whatever he brings and I believe I’ll get the knockout.

“I don’t like to do too much studying, because you can study, and study, and study, and then on fight night you meet something completely different. I prefer to adjust when I’m in there, so we’ll see what he brings on Saturday.”

Sulecki is known for his ability to take punishment so Pacheco will have his hands full if he chooses to take the fight to him. If he can finish the veteran, he will catch the attention of the rest of the division and be primed for a title eliminator fight.

While Sulecki has been criticized by the pundits for fighting middle competition since losing a title fight in 2019, the Polish fighter believes he has more than enough experience to stop Pacheco in his tracks.

“Diego Pacheco hasn’t been tested in big fights, big challenges. He’s the guy you need to be cautious about. He’s the guy who makes mistakes, and we have to capitalize on those mistakes,” said Sulecki. “He’s not been tested yet.”

The 35-year-old continued, “He’s a young, strong fighter with ambition, but he hasn’t been in the ring with such an experienced fighter as me,” said Sulecki. “Up to now, he’s been fighting the opponents from the second and third leagues. However, I can say he’s good and we’ll see how he’ll undergo a very serious test from me.”

Sulecki (31-2, 12 KO) thinks his proven experience fighting top contenders and champions will be too much for Pacheco to handle. “I’m sure I have self-discipline. Great skills, a tough jaw, huge character, and the will to fight,” said Sulecki.

While Sulecki has wins over Hugo Centeno Jr, Jack Culcay and Gabriel Rosado; a win over Pacheco would be a strong reminder why he challenged for a title. A victory over a top ten surging contender could put Sulecki in a prime position for another title eliminator fight.

The fight can be seen on DAZN Worldwide and main ring walks start at 11:00pm ET

UFC Vegas 96 Preview

The UFC is heading back to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, August 24th for UFC Vegas 96. The main event will be in the middleweight division between former title challenger #5 Jared Cannonier vs. rising contender #12 Caio Borralho.

Cannonier is trying to rebound from a fourth round TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov in June in what was a great back and forth fight. Cannonier is 7-3 in his last 10 fights and has proven he is a tough matchup for anyone in the middleweight division.

The 40-year-old talked about his last loss and what at the time to him felt like an early stoppage. “No, it doesn’t hurt anymore; the pain has subsided,” Cannonier said. “Time heals all wounds, as they say, and, on top of that, I guess I got a bit of closure when they rescheduled Imavov to fight Brendan Allen.”

He continued, “These things happen and we move on,” said Cannonier. “I just moved on. I’m not gonna sit on that and feel bad for — you said 11 weeks? Imagine carrying that weight around!”

While pundits believe this was too quick of a turnaround for Cannonier, he commented. “I definitely wanted a quick turnaround; I didn’t want to sit and wait too long,” said Cannonier.  “Another six months would have been fine, but I did not want to do that.

“This is the quickest turnaround I’ve ever had. It’s a relatively short notice fight for me. It’s my inaugural short notice, against a hungry, young, up-and-coming guy who wants it bad and who has called me out on a few occasions in the past, and I’m more than happy to meet him in the cage and give him a proper greeting.”

Cannonier talked about his opponent on Saturday. “I do take it as a compliment — him wanting to test himself, one warrior to another,” Cannonier said. “I can definitely tip my hat to that; it’s very admirable and I’m all for it.”

“He called me out and we get to go in there and fight now,” continued Cannonier. “I don’t mean it like, ‘He called me out, so now we’re gonna fight!’ That’s high school s***, bro! We’re too many levels above that.”

“This is a job and, as a man, I can appreciate the way he approached it.”

Cannonier is looking forward to a great fight. “It’s gonna feel so good to have gone through this last year, go through this whole thing,” acknowledged Cannonier. “It’s gonna be real good to go out there and compete, to perform, to engage in some fisticuffs; do some martial arts at a very high level and ultimately get my hand raised.

“It’s gonna feel real good.”

Sitting at #5 in the rankings puts Cannonier in great position to stay in the title conversation with a win on Saturday. He has key victories in his career over David Branch, Anderson Silva, Jack Hermansson, Kelvin Gastelum, Derek Brunson, Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori. This will be his second straight fight where he is facing a fighter below him in the rankings, but he can prove his critics wrong and show that he is not a steppingstone.

Borralho’s only loss was back in 2015 and he is coming off a KO victory over Paul Craig at UFC 301 in May. The Brazilian is 6-0 in the UFC and is looking for the biggest win of his career on Saturday.

The 31-year-old is confident no matter what version of Cannonier shows up to the fight. “I think it can go either way (decision or finish),” Borralho said. “It just depends on how prepared he is and how much he wants it. At 40 years old, let’s see how much he wants to stay in the position that he is and to go again for the belt and something like that.

“I’m prepared. I worked my ass off for this fight, and I think I deserve this victory. Let’s just see how prepared he’s going to come, and see how prepared he comes for me. I’m going to push the pace, I’m going to make the rhythm high at all times and let’s see how he behaves in the fight. It all depends on him and if he came very well-prepared. … I’m prepared to knock him out or finish him because I have the ground game, and he doesn’t have that much, so let’s see how Jared comes.”

Despite his confidence, Borralho knows a win over Cannonier will not come easily. “I think he’s a very experienced guy, very explosive and has power in his hands,” Borralho said. “He knows how to take the fight where he wants it to go. Definitely an experienced guy. He’s faced a lot of tough opponents. All respect to Jared, but it’s my time now.”

The rest of the main card:

Women's Strawweight- #9 Angela Hill vs.  #11Tabatha Ricci

Middleweight Ryan Loder vs. Robert Valentin Frey

Featherweight Kaan Ofli vs. Mairon Santos

Welterweight - #12 Neil Magny vs. Michael Morales

Middleweight Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Gerald Meerschaert

ESPN+ Prelims:

Lightweight Dennis Buzukja vs. Francis Marshall

Middleweight Zachary Reese vs. José Daniel Medina

Lightweight Viacheslav Borshchev vs. James Llontop

Women's Bantamweight Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Josiane Nunes

Featherweight Zygimantas Ramaska vs. Nathan Fletcher

Women's Flyweight Wang Cong vs. Victoria Leonardo

UFC 305 Preview

The UFC is invading the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on Saturday, August 17th for UFC 305. The main event will be a heated battle for the middleweight championship between champion Dricus du Plessis and former two-time champion Israel Adesanya.

Du Plessis controversially won the title in his last fight by split decision over Sean Strickland at UFC 297. While the result has been debated, Du Plessis proved that he could endure a back-and-forth fight over five rounds. He has not lost a fight since 2018 and is 7-0 in the UFC.

UFC fans and critics have talked about what it means for Adesanya’s legacy to become a three-time champion. Du Plessis commented, “With a guy like Adesanya, he’s seen it all and achieved it all so now you can go ‘Well, now you’re the first three-time UFC champion’ but that just means he lost the belt twice,” said the champion.

“It’s not an achievement, it’s just a record that is on record, it’s not an achievement for a person but what is there left for the man in this sport?”

While the champion downplayed his challenger, he does have respect for him. “His career can’t be argued,” Du Plessis said. “He’s one of the greatest fighters ever. Not in the middleweight division, not in the UFC, but in MMA, one of the best to ever do it. While he’s still in the organization, I’m holding the belt, which makes it pretty evident that there’s something special [about me] and there’s something different.”

He continued, “There’s definitely that extra motivation defending this title, and in a fight of this magnitude. It’s not my first headliner. My previous one I was a contender. As a champion it makes no difference. But the magnitude of this fight, myself vs Adesanya, this fight’s been in the making for almost two years.”

Du Plessis and Adesanya have had a public display of bad blood between one another, but Du Plessis responded that it might be one-sided.

“It’s never, ever personal,” Du Plessis said. “It never has been, and it never will be. There’s nothing that can be said, there’s nothing that can be done that’s going to have an effect on me, mentally or emotionally. It’s strictly business when I get in there. I go out there and I’m mentally unbreakable. That’s my biggest attribute. I go out there and I see it for what it is. There’s no insult, there’s nothing anybody can say. He’s obviously emotional going in, but I’m not.”

The champion went on to say, “When it’s a press conference, I answer the question that’s given to me, and if my opponent is treating me with respect, then I will return the favor. But if you’re going to try to push me around, bully me on that mic, I will do to you exactly what I will do in the fight: I will not allow it. I think that is a big key for me and a big weapon that I have is to be able to shut down anything that happened previously, anything that happens outside the Octagon and focusing on the task at hand, and that’s winning the fight.”

Du Plessis believes he is a bad matchup for Adesanya. “When it comes to the way I fight, every fight is different. It’s unorthodox, but when I’m doing it, I know exactly why I’m doing it. And what I’m doing. It’s hard to figure that out, because to find somebody to imitate my style, which I’ve heard is a very weird style, is really hard to do. What makes myself different is I don’t try to fight like anybody else. I don’t try to adhere to the norm of this is how you should look, because that’s the critique I’ve been getting for my whole UFC career, that it doesn’t look right. A gorilla on roller skates is what somebody said.”

The South African fighter concluded with a prediction, “I know his prediction was a first-round knockout,” Du Plessis said. “In that case, he needs to come forward and make it a dog fight, which I doubt and which I would love. If that Izzy shows up, this fight’s not going past round two. If the Izzy shows up that we’ve been seeing, I’ll be able to get him out of there in three rounds, for sure.”

Adesanya’s last fight was a title loss to Strickland at UFC 293 last September. Many pundits believe the loss is one of the biggest title fight upsets of all-time. Despite being on the receiving end of what is considered a bad loss, Adesanya has put together a hall of fame career. He now has the chance to become just the second fighter in UFC history to become a three-time champion in the same division, along side Hall of Fame Randy Couture

The former champion admitted that after the loss to Strickland he needed a break. While he led many fans and critics to believe it would be longer than a year, he explained why.  "I had to go and get my body right, get my mind right ... I was the most active champion in UFC history, five fights in 18 months, it takes a toll on the body and the mind. So it was just good to remove myself from all of that and just live the Izzy life,’ Adesanya said.

"I'm human at the end of the day, and there is only so much I can do and there is only so much I can put my body through. So I needed to take a break and let my body heal."

Adesanya wants to convince everyone that he is fully back. "[I'm] coming for heads. Belts gather up dust, they rust," Adesanya said. "But taking away someone's name, being a loss on their record that sticks, that's what I'm doing. So I'm taking these guys out while I'm still here and I can feel like 'I beat that guy'."

He concluded by saying he is not focused on making history or winning the title, but rather he is focused on the champion himself. "It would be history, I guess, but I'm not really what I'm focused on, I'm focused on Dricus," he said. "I just have to focus on Dricus because if I focus on him, everything else follows, everything else follows.

"I don't focus on the belt, I don't focus on the accolades, I just focus on taking his head off and the rest will follow."

UFC President Dana White confirmed that the winner of this fight will have a rematch with former champion Sean Strickland. “Sean Strickland right now is the No. 1-ranked Middleweight in the world and the answer is yes,” White said.

Adesanya responded by saying, "Oh, really? Oh nice," Adesanya said. "OK, cool. That's nice, I didn't think the UFC would announce it like that but I thought maybe [Robert] Whittaker vs. Khamzat [Chimaev]."

"I have to think about it, I like it. I don't mind it, I like it. Cool."

The rest of the main card:

#4 Kai Kara France vs. #7 Steve Erceg

Lightweight - #5 Mateusz Gamrot vs. #11 Dan Hooker

Heavyweight - #10 Tai Tuivasa vs. #12 Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Welterweight - Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates

The ESPN+ Prelims:

Heavyweight - Junior Tafa vs. Valter Walker

Featherweight - Joshua Culibao vs. Ricardo Ramos

Women's Flyweight - Casey O'Neill vs. Luana Santos

Featherweight - Jack Jenkins vs. Herbert Burns

Early Prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass:

Lightweight - Tom Nolan vs. Alex Reyes

Welterweight - Song Kenan vs. Ricky Glenn

Flyweight - Stewart Nicoll vs. Jesús Santos Aguilar

UFC Vegas 95 Preview

The UFC is heading back to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, August 10th for UFC Vegas 95. The main event will be a rematch in the heavyweight division between #8 Marcin Tybura and #9 Sergey Spivak. The two first fought in 2020 where Tybura won by unanimous decision.

The victory against Spivak sparked a five-fight winning streak for Tybura and he is 8-2 in his last 10 fights. He most recently defeated Tai Tuivasa by first round submission in March. That win was a big rebound from a first round TKO loss to current interim champion Tom Aspinall in 2023.

The Polish fighter discussed why he accepted a rematch with Spivak. "It's always excitement when the UFC calls, offers you a fight," Tybura said. "I've been here long and have lots of fights but is still the same. I know how UFC was a big dream for me, so when I get the call, I'm always excited. Sure, I rather fight somebody that gets me closer to the top, but I feel like you can gain something in every fight."

Even with a win on Saturday, Tybura is not thinking about title contention yet. "I've been in fights where I've been really close to getting there, and I didn't manage to do it, so right now I'm just trying to focus on the fight," Tybura said. "That's what I'm doing. It's like my fight with Tom Aspinall, which was two fights ago. Right now, it's like looking for some answers that I don't know yet and look to see to be a top five fighter."

Tybura talked about what will be different this time around against Spivak. “He for sure (improved),” Tybura said. “I saw a couple of his fights, and he had a very good performance using his skills, throwing his takedowns, making submissions. I can see he gained some weight, muscles mostly, so he’s more power, more strong. For sure, he’s a different fighter.”

The 38-year-old has been fighting in the UFC since 2016 and will be fighting for the 20th time since his debut. Aside from Spivak and Tuivasa, he has key victories over Blagoy Ivanov, Alexander Romanov, Walt Harris, Ben Rothwell, Stefan Struve and Andrei Arlovksi. A win on Saturday will position him nicely for a top five fight.

Spivak is trying to rebound from a second round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane last September. He is 7-3 in his last 10 fights and like Tybura could be 4-1 in his last five fights with a win on Saturday.

How does he feel about rematching with Tybura? “This is actually the first rematch of my career, so it’s not like I’ve felt this before. But I don’t think about it in any certain way. We’re just close to each other in the rankings, so it is just set for us to fight again. I’m going to come out, I’m going to fight. It’s just a sport. That’s the way I feel,” Spivak said.

He continued, “I wasn’t as experienced back then as I was now. I was very, very young. but I don’t want to look for excuses. He won. He won fair and square, and he did a great job back then. I think he still does a good job now. He’s a great fighter, so we’ll see what happens. But yeah, obviously it’s going to be a very different fight.”

The 29-year-old has been fighting in the UFC since 2019 and has key wins over Tai Tuivasa, Augusto Sakai and Derrick Lewis. If he emerges victorious from the rematch with Tybura he can look forward to another top five fight and prove he belongs in the title contention conversation.

The rest of the main card:

Bantamweight - Chris Gutiérrez vs. Quang Le

Welterweight - Danny Barlow vs. Nikolay Veretennikov

Featherweight - Damon Jackson vs. Chepe Mariscal

Women's Bantamweight - #12 Yana Santos vs. #14 Chelsea Chandler

Bantamweight - Toshiomi Kazama vs. Charalampos Grigoriou

ESPN+ Prelims:

Women's Bantamweight - #8 Karol Rosa vs. #11 Pannie Kianzad

Heavyweight - Jhonata Diniz vs. Karl Williams

Featherweight - Youssef Zalal vs. Jarno Errens

Women's Strawweight - Stephanie Luciano vs. Talita Alencar

Lopez vs. Leo Preview

The Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico will host a dynamic title fight on Saturday, August 10th. IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez will defend his title against former WBO junior featherweight champion Angelo Leo.

Lopez (30-2, 17 KO) has won 13 straight fights and won the IBF title in 2022 with a majority decision victory over Josh Warrington. He has defended the title three times and most recently defeated Reiya Abe in March by 8th round TKO.

The champion is ready for a battle with Leo. “We’ve been training hard as we get ready to finish camp. This has been one of my best training camps, and we will finish strong.” Lopez said. “Like all Mexicans, I do my job in the ring, and I like to throw punches. I don’t mind getting hit in order to hit. We work to be able to do all of that in the ring.  If we have to move around, we’ll do that. If we have to brawl, we can brawl. If the fight ends early, we can end it early. I do my job. I prepare for that. And I’m happy that people like my work.”

Lopez talked about his opponent and the challenge he brings to the fight. “We know that Angelo Leo is a good fighter who comes forward throwing lots of punches. He doesn’t stop in there. So, I think we’re going to need a lot of stamina, and we’re going to need to throw a lot of punches. We’re going to be smart but also aggressive. It’s going to be a good fight. It will be a good test for both of us. I don’t plan on letting go of my title. It’s going to be a great clash.”

He continued, “Making the fourth defense of my title is a great achievement for me. I never imagined it, but here we are. And we’re looking forward to big challenges because big fights are coming. Perhaps unifications. Maybe Naoya Inoue? Definitely something big.”

Leo has won four straight fights since losing the WBO junior featherweight title by unanimous decision to Stephen Fulton in 2021. He most recently defeated Eduardo Baez by unanimous decision in April. Leo will have the advantage and added pressure of fighting in his hometown of Albuquerque.

“World title fight here in my hometown of Albuquerque,” Leo stated on social media. “I couldn’t ask for more.”

The 30-year-old talked about the importance of this fight. “I want to make history and win another title in another division. Winning, I will be one of three to win multiple titles in different weights,” Leo said.

Leo confidently talked about what type of fight he will have with the champion. “I know he can box a little and then will come forward to try to turn fight into slugfest, we have prepped for him and know what to expect and make the adjustments if needed. “Says Leo. “I also know he hasn’t faced a fighter like me before.”

The main card can be seen on ESPN+ starting at 6:30 p.m. ET

Crawford vs. Madrimov Preview

For the first time ever BMO stadium in Los Angeles, California will host a boxing event on Saturday, August 3rd. The main event will feature the best pound for pound boxer in the world Terence Crawford as he challenges Israil Madrimov for the WBA “super” junior middleweight title and for the vacant WBO interim junior middleweight title.

Crawford (40-0, 31 KO) has held multiple world championships in three weight classes and is one of only three boxers in history to become an undisputed champion in two weight classes during the four-belt era. He most recently defeated Errol Spence Jr. by ninth round TKO to retain the WBO welterweight title and win the WBA “super”, WBC and IBF titles.

Despite being the favorite in this fight, many pundits are commenting on how much bigger Madrimov is than Crawford. The challenger commented, “He bigger than me. Everybody bigger than me, but come fight time I always had the ability to show that I was stronger. Bigger don’t mean stronger. It’s just his body type. I’m very lean, my muscle is very compact. That don’t have nothing to do with the ability and skills come fight time,” said Crawford.

At 36 years old, Crawford has continued to silence his critics. How does he feel heading into this fight? “I’m feeling great. I’m ready to fight but all my people always try to remind me to enjoy the moment because one day it’s all going to be gone, so embrace it while you can,” Crawford said.

He continued, “Like I always say everything happens for a reason,” Crawford continues, “and for that reason God didn’t bless me then, but he blessed me now when I’m more mature and can handle everything that comes my way. Who knows where I would have been had I got everything that I wanted when he was younger and immature.”

In his career, Crawford has had 15 title defenses and he has not had a fight go to a decision since 2016. Aside from Spence, he has had key victories over Shawn Porter, Kell Brook, Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez Jr, Julius Indongo, Felix Diaz, Viktor Postol, Thomas Dulorme, Ray Beltran, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Ricky Burns. There is a reported super-fight in the works with all-time great Canelo Alvarez, but Crawford will need to stay focused on Madrimov and not look ahead to a seven-figure payday.

Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KO) is coming off a fifth round TKO in March over Magomed Kurbanov to win the vacant WBA “super” junior middleweight title. The 29-year-old has ignored the hype about size heading into this fight and knows he has to be at the top of his game against Crawford.

“Our training has been good and I’m feeling great,” Madrimov said. “I want to make a good game plan and it will be a great fight on Saturday. I don’t think this fight is about the size, it’s about the experience and knowledge he can use. This division is my division and I’m the champion, I have to defend the belt.”

The champion he has prepared well to defend a title in this weight class, even if it is against an all-timer like Crawford. "This is my weight and I was fighting at an even higher weight class than 154 pounds as an amateur, so I feel comfortable and strong at this weight," Madrimov said. "People can say whatever they want [about experience], but I'm not paying too much attention to it. I've had good fights against the right opponents to prepare me for this fight versus Crawford. Also, with all the international experience as an amateur, along with the professional fights, I'm well prepared for this moment. I'm at my peak."]

He concluded, "In one moment I can change my life and my family's life, and my friends' lives," Madrimov said. "I will be ready because it is an opportunity for me, my family and my country."

The main event can be seen on ESPN+ PPV

UFC Abu Dhabi Preview

The UFC is heading back to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, August 3rd for UFC on ABC 7. The main event will be a bantamweight title eliminator between #2 Corey Sandhagen vs. #10 Umar Nurmagomedov.

The two fighters were originally scheduled to fight a year ago in a headliner, but Nurmagomedov withdrew from the event due to a shoulder injury. Rob Font stepped in for Nurmagomedov and Sandhagen won the fight by unanimous decision.

Sandhagen has won three straight since unsuccessfully challenging for the interim title against Petr Yan at UFC 267. The 32-year-old has waited patiently for his title shot and has been a top contender at 135 pounds since 2019. A win on Saturday will make him undeniably the next challenger for the bantamweight title. He would face the winner of champion Sean O ‘Malley and #1 contender Merab Dvalishvili who are scheduled to fight in September at UFC 306.

Despite his recent winning streak, Sandhagen felt he had to go through an evolution before this fight with Nurmagomedov. “Umar brought the best out of me in this fight camp,” Sandhagen said. “I've never worked so many hours to learn more and more and more and more. Of course, that, paired with the physical piece and then the mental piece and just all of it, I've already pushed myself harder than I've ever had to push myself, which is great. (I’m) super grateful for that.

“I feel like I unlocked some new things inside of myself.”

Sandhagen has responded as of late to the criticism of his last fight being accused of fighting a “safe fight.”

“I feel like the sport has gotten really big in the last few years, and there's still so much beauty that isn't like tapped into and understood by the fan base,” he said. “Instead of just complaining about people bitching online and just being s**tty online or whatever, I'll help them understand a little bit better of how awesome this art can be and how it is an art. It's not just full drama and two chimpanzees fighting each other. It's not that. It's a beautiful piece of art that these guys spend their entire lives trying to do.”

After putting in the work during his fight camp, Sandhagen feels he is going to surprise everyone on Saturday, including Nurmagomedov. “One of my favorite pieces of martial arts is just solving the puzzle,” he said. “I find a lot of joy and a lot of fun with that, and fans find it interesting to watch. I think it's going to be very impressive on my end, and it's going to catch you off guard with the way that I feel like I've learned to dismantle that style.”

He concluded, “I'm really grateful that I get to fight with Umar,” he said. “(He) pushed me to be better than I feel like I've ever been.”

Aside from Front, Sandhagen has key wins over Marlon Vera, Song Yadong, Frankie Edgar, Marlon Moraes, Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker. His only losses in the UFC have come to former champions Aljamain Sterling, T.J. Dillashaw and Petr Yan. If he can defeat Nurmagomedov on Saturday, a fight with either O’Malley or Dvalishvili will be an exciting title fight for Sandhagen and UFC fans.

Nurmagomedov is undefeated and is 5-0 in the UFC. He most recently defeated Bezkat Almakhan in March. Sandhagen represents a step up in challenge for the 28-year-old but also a golden opportunity to jump the line and fight for a title.

The 28-year-old has confirmed this is in fact a title eliminator fight for him. "In one moment I can change my life and my family's life, and my friends' lives," Madrimov said. "I will be ready because it is an opportunity for me, my family and my country."

Nurmagomedov commented on current bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley. “I just want to beat him. I just want to take his belt. But personally, for him, I don’t know nothing.”

For Sandhagen a shot at the undisputed title will have been a long time coming should it happen. For Nurmagomedov, if he wins on Saturday, he will have beaten the contender his critics say are missing from his resume.

The rest of the main card:

Middleweight - Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk

Bantamweight - #4 Marlon Vera vs. #6 Deiveson Figueiredo

Welterweight - Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Chiesa

Women's Strawweight - #7 Mackenzie Dern vs. #10 Loopy Godinez

Lightweight - Joel Álvarez vs. Elves Brener

Prelims on ESPN+:

Light Heavyweight - Azamat Murzakanov vs. Alonzo Menifield

Lightweight - Mohammad Yahya vs. Kauê Fernandes

Heavyweight - Shamil Gaziev vs. Don'Tale Mayes

Lightweight - Guram Kutateladze vs. Jordan Vucenic

Women's Strawweight - Victoria Dudakova vs. Sam Hughes

Lightweight - Jai Herbert vs. Rolando Bedoya

Middleweight - Sedriques Dumas vs. Denis Tiuliulin

UFC 304 Preview

The UFC will be invading the Co Op Arena in Manchester, England for UFC 304 on a night that features two title fights and a list of native heroes. The main event will be a rematch for the welterweight title between English champion Leon Edwards and #2 Belal Muhammad.

The two originally fought in 2021 but after just 18 seconds into the second round the fight was ruled a no contest due to an accidental eye poke leaving Muhammad not able to continue. Since then, Edwards has won four straight including becoming champion and two successful title defenses.

The champion most recently defended the belt at UFC 296 with a unanimous decision victory over three-time title challenger Colby Covington. Edwards won the title at UFC 278 with one of the most devastating knockouts and come from behind wins in championship history against Kamaru Usman.

Is Edwards feeling the pressure of having the home field advantage? 'I feel like [fighting on home soil] helps my confidence a lot,' says Edwards. 'I like being around my friends and my family, especially fight week. So to be able to have them all there as normal. Like when I'm fighting in Vegas, not everyone can come, you know? So to be just an hour away from my house and have all my friends and everyone there, I think it's extra motivation.”

After a feeling out process in the firs round of their first fight, Edwards feels he is prepared for the type of pressure Muhammad will bring a second time around. “It's just about my experience, you know. I fight at a high level, and have done for a long time now. And going off the back to back camps, I fought Usman twice, and then Colby, and then him, and they're all wrestlers, you know? So I feel like going off the back of those camps has helped me to go into this camp. You know how to approach it and the game plan.”

Edwards addressed the rumors of moving up to middleweight to become a double champion. “I wanna become double champ. I love to move up. I wanna defend my belt as many times as possible first and then look to move up. I wanna go down one of the best welterweights to ever do it. So if I had to do that, you need to get a second belt and beat all the records, you know?”

While Edwards knows there are big fights if he moves up, he is focused on defending his title. “I don’t think there’s really any big money fights right now in the welterweight division,” Edwards said. “Just tough opponents in the division, but there’s no big star that would add more value. Shavkat [Rakhmonov] obviously is a good talent. Everyone’s going on about him. Obviously, Ian Garry, we trained together before. So, there’s a story behind that as well.

“I’m focused on Belal right now. Go out there, take care of business next weekend and after that let’s see where the cookie crumbles.”

The last time Edwards lost a fight was in his first meeting with Usman back in 2015. Since then, he has gone 12-0-1 and is in the prime of his career at 32 years old. The first fight with Muhammad did not tell much of a story, but Edwards had good first round in the fight. However, both fighters have improved since that meeting so Edwards will need to be at the top of his game if he wants to remain the champion.

Is he confident?

“I’m gonna definitely finish,” Edwards said. “I feel like he’s there for it. I feel like he’s tailor-made for me, the way he fights. I’m going for the finish, for sure.

“[Vicente] Luque ain’t the Luque from back in the day, you know? [Stephen] ‘Wonderboy’ [Thompson] ain’t the ‘Wonderboy’ — ‘Wonderboy’s’ 41 now? 40 years old. These are not me. I’m a young 32-year-old and going into my prime, full of confidence, just became champion by knocking out the pound-for-pound No. 1. It’s two different mentalities and two different kind of guys you’re going against. He has improved a little bit, but they’re not me. I feel that is the difference. He knows it, and when we go out there, I’ll show it.”

Since the no contest against Edwards, Muhammad has won five straight fights including wins over former title challengers Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia. He has been calling for a rematch with Edwards and the 36-year-old will finally get his wish under the brightest lights and in hostile territory.

Muhammad has not had anything positive to say about Edwards and it has continued into the fight on Saturday. “Yeah I don’t think Leon has any fans if I’m being honest. Like how can you be a fan of the guy? He’s not loud, he doesn’t talk, he doesn’t tweet, he doesn’t promote himself, he just has the belt,” Muhammad said.

Despite Edwards’ criticism of his opponents since their fight, Muhammad believes he has improved. “I fought the striker, the grappler, the wrestler, the knockout artists,” Muhammad said. “Every single one of those camps, I’ve learned something new from each guy and I've gotten better every single camp, so I've just been nothing but in the gym, grinding hard every single day for this one moment, for this one match.”

Muhammad explained how taking the title from Edwards would be an added bonus to becoming champion. “But now that it's Leon Edwards, it just makes it that much better because it's the guy that I disliked, the guy that I hate, and a guy that, when we were supposed to fight back then, it was supposed to be a small show on the (UFC) Apex,” Muhammad said. “Nobody was there. Now we're fighting on the biggest stage in his home country in front of a huge crowd, and it's going to be that much more epic when I beat him.”

Edwards responded to Muhammad’s large claims of what he will do in the fight. “I feel like that’s why he’s been talking a lot of s*** since the fight got made about what he's going to do and how easy the fight's going to be and blah, blah, blah,” Edwards said. “I don't know what he's doing. The way he talks, like he's going to take me down and look at my coach and then let me back up. It's like, mate, shut up. Everything that you say you’re going to do, you’ve never done. None of it has ever happened in your career. So I feel like, let him talk. He has to back it up on fight night, and I think we both know what's going to happen now. I’m excited to finish him and put an end to it.”

The challenger has gained considerable confidence since training with former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. “It benefits me everywhere,” Muhammad said. “Physically, mentally, spiritually, it just puts me on another level. I said it before and people were making fun of me like, ‘Oh, get off his jock blah blah blah.’ Training with him and getting advice from him is worth 20-30-40-50 days with anybody else. Just being able to feel his strength, feel his pressure, feel his knowledge too that he gives you. And to have him give me advice and what he thinks I should be doing for this fight and breaking down Leon. And telling me what he thinks the game plan should be. The knowledge is endless. Because to me I think he is the GOAT of the MMA world and the UFC. And just like a brother that could message and ask. And anytime I send a question he’ll respond. It’s just literally priceless to have that guy in my life.”

The Chicago native continued, “There’s no hidden juice, no secret with them. Their team is just all about hard work,” Muhammad said. “It’s just about overworking. When Khabib gets there, it’s twice the overwork and twice the push. It’s a different level. And I think that’s why you see a lot of those guys mentally strong because they’ve been through the hardest things in their camps, they’ve been through the hardest parts, the hardest scenarios in all their practices. And then he continues to push you on and if you don’t like it, he’ll just tell you to leave. You’re not strong enough to be a part of it, then you can just leave. There’s no sugarcoating. There’s no, ‘Let me give you a couple of softballs,’ in their gym. They’re all killers, they’re all beasts. And anytime I get a chance to work with them or train with them, I level up.”

If Muhammad can emerge victorious it will certainly shake things up in the welterweight division as there are several contenders who all believe they have earned their title shot. However, it would be difficult to deny Edwards his rematch after two dominant title defenses prior to this fight.

The co-main event will also be for a title as English champion Tom Aspinall will defend his interim heavyweight title in a rematch #4 Curtis Blaydes. The two originally met in a headliner in 2022 but the fight only lasted 15 seconds after Aspinall suffered a knee injury giving Blaydes the TKO win.

Aspinall won the interim title in his last fight with a quick KO of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November. The unfortunate loss to Blaydes has been his only loss in his last 11 fights. The 31-year-old believes the winner of the rematch determines who the best heavyweight in the world truly is.

"Let's make no mistake, this fight is for the best heavyweight - the #1 heavyweight in the world," Aspinall said. "Regardless of titles, which one's the undisputed, and which one's the interim, and all that kind of stuff.... the real people, the real fans, the real guys know this fight defines who is the best heavyweight in the world."

"Jon Jones and Stipe are doing their thing. They've got a title, fair play, whatever. But, this is the number one guy in the world fight," Aspinall added.

While Aspinall believes this fight is for the title of the best, he does not believe a fight with undisputed champion Jon Jones will materialize. "No. It's not gonna happen, mate," Aspinall said. "It's not happening. I'm not bothered about it.

"I'm not saying that I wouldn't like it and absolutely love that fight. I think I made it pretty obvious that that's the fight that I wanted. That's the one, of course, but I don't know. Can I swear on this thing? I'm shooting in the dark with that one. I was gonna say something else, but I'm shooting in the dark. There's nothing going on with that."

Blaydes is known as one of the best wrestlers in the heavyweight division, but Aspinall has prepared for the grappling if the fight makes it there this time around. That’s probably where I spent the most of this camp is on my back with guys on top of me,” Aspinall said. “It’s not been a very, Curtis Blaydes is not a very comfortable guy to train for. Do you know what I mean, you’re getting up off your back. See the way I work it is I work it with multiple training partners so I’ll be starting on bottom, I get them off, the energy that it takes to get a big guy off is, you know, you expend a lot of energy.

“Then I restart on my back with a fresh partner, like it’s exhausting man, it’s just exhausting training for this guy and I’ve done everything I can so we’ll see on Saturday how it goes.”

Since joining the UFC Blaydes has had a long road to his first title shot. That journey has included impressive win streaks that were halted by devastating losses. He most recently defeated rising contender Jailton Almeida by second round KO in March rebounding well from a bad TKO loss to Pavlovich close to a year earlier.

The 33-year-old has arguably been one win away from a title shot three different times in his career, he can erase the heartbreak with a win over Aspinall on Saturday. He commented on the criticism he has faced after suffering bad KO losses.

“I wish people would take that into account when they judge or critique heavyweight,” Blaydes said. “Like, ‘Oh, he got knocked out! He’s a bum!’ No, it’s heavyweight. If you watch [Sean] O’Malley against [Chito] Vera on [UFC] 299, if that was heavyweight, it wouldn’t have went five rounds. I promise you. The way O’Malley was hitting Vera, that’s not going past two rounds. Just because they don’t hit as hard.

“It’s not that we’re not as skilled. It’s that we have to be a little more skilled, I think, in order to strike. That’s why I like to wrestle. This is a dangerous game at heavyweight.”

Blaydes has kept a positive mindset about his losses in the UFC. “People are like, ‘Blaydes has a glass jaw.’ I got knocked out by Derrick Lewis, Sergei caught me but I wasn’t asleep, and [Francis] Ngannou, but again, I wasn’t asleep,” Blaydes said. “Three heavy, heavy hitters. And I ate one from Mark Hunt, a real overhand — I ate that. I don’t think I have a glass jaw. I just think it’s heavyweight and we all hit hard.

“It’s almost a different sport when you compare it to other weight classes, the things you can get away with. You can flick out a lazy, inside leg kick [at other weight classes] and if you get hit with a hook, it’s not the end of the world. Not at heavyweight. That’s what happened to [Alexander] Volkov. He flicked out a lazy one with Derrick [Lewis] at the end of the fight, gets knocked out.”

While remaining positive, Blaydes has been able to recognize his mistakes but see the success he was having in fights he has lost. “People at home are like, ‘Blaydes is a bum, his hands are ass.’ I’m like, did you watch the first round?” Blaydes said. “I was piecing him up. Yeah, he caught me. He knew, ‘This guy is way too fast, I’m just going to stand here and if I get him, I get him,’ and he got me. I hate that.

“People probably view him as a better striker than me just because he got me with an uppercut. It wasn’t the most skillful thing in the world. I almost view it as I knocked myself out because I shot into an uppercut, which only makes it worse.”

Blaydes knows what his strongest asset is. “I wear it like a badge of honor,” Blaydes said. “A lot of people want to talk smack, ‘Oh, he wants to wrestle.’ You get in there, you stand in there with a heavy-hitting heavyweight and you know you only get one ‘you zigged where you should have zagged’ and it’s over. Let’s see if you wrestle or not, at least for a little bit.”

Both Blaydes and Aspinall are going to bring a fight, and one will leave Manchester with a belt.  However, whether either of them want to admit it, they are waiting on the champion Jon Jones who is expected to defend the undisputed belt against former two-time champion Stipe Miocic. Does Blaydes agree with Aspinall that their fight is for the best heavyweight in the world?

“Yes, this is the real belt in my mind. In my mind, Jones vs. Stipe is just their retirement fight,” Blaydes said. “Not to be rude, but they’re both one or two fights away (from retirement). More than likely, this is their get-the-bag-get-out fight, which is fine. That’s how I view it.”

A Blaydes win will shake up things in the heavyweight division, but it is unlikely he or the UFC will want him to wait around on the winner of Jones and Miocic. Could there be a rematch with Pavlovich looming?

The rest of the main card:

Lightweight - #15 Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett

Middleweight - Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues

Featherweight - #6 Arnold Allen vs. #10 Giga Chikadze

ESPN+ Prelims:

Featherweight - Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda

Women's Strawweight - Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil

Bantamweight - Jake Hadley vs. Caolan Loughran

Light Heavyweight - Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio

Early Prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass

Welterweight - Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons

Flyweight - Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape

Welterweight - Sam Patterson vs. Kiefer Crosbie

Heavyweight - Mick Parkin vs. Lukasz Brzeski

Women's Straweight - Shauna Bannon vs. Alice Ardelean

Joyce vs. Chisora Preview

The O2 Arena in London, England will host a dynamic heavyweight fight on Saturday, July 27. Former WBO interim heavyweight champion Joe Joyce will face battle tested veteran and former title challenger Derek Chisora.

Joyce (16-2, 15 KO) will be battling in his hometown to prove he is worthy of another shot at a title. He defeated Kash Ali by 10th round KO in his last fight which was a big rebound after losing badly by TKO in his two previous fights to Zhilei Zhang.

The London native knows he cannot take title contention for granted. "I've been so, so close two times," Joyce said. "Once with the WBA, then with the WBO. Only in heavyweight boxing [that] Dubois got elevated straight away with the IBF and I was like, 'What's going on?' I just have to beat whoever is in front of me now and pray I will get the opportunities I deserve."

The 38-year-old talked about what could be next with a defeat of Chisora. “Get through Chisora, and I’m still up there, I’m still ready, and I’m coming for everybody,” Joyce said. “Parker, that would be a good fight, a rematch. Any of the top boys really. Joshua can get it. Dubois can get it. All of them can get it. Fury and Usyk! I’m coming for everyone. Getting that heavyweight title that’s what I’m still in the sport for. I got to the top level in the amateurs and got a silver medal [at the Olympics], and arguably – this is in the past – it should have been gold. I’ve had my setbacks, but I’m still here, I’m still live, and I’m still ‘The Juggernaut.”

Joyce has wins over former WBO champion Joseph Parker and former title challenger Daniel Dubois. Both victories give him great marks on his resume so despite two bad losses recently and his age, he can solidify his place in the title picture with a win on Saturday.

Chisora (34-13, 23 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Gerald Washington last August. He is 5-5 in his last 10 fights but at 40 years old has fought a who’s who of the heavyweight division. Will Saturday be his last fight?

“It’s a sad day for me that on Saturday. It’s hard to explain because I love the O2 so much and what a way to go out, at the O2 fighting Joe Joyce,” said Chisora.

He continued, “It’s going to be unbelievable. Don’t even sit down, just stay stand up because I’m going to come and find my man,” he said.

Joyce is just about the only heavyweight Chisora has not fought. “It’s been a long time. It’s been a lot of years. I was going to fight him a lot earlier,” he said.

“I was very surprised when the fight was announced for me to actually fight Chisora so I jumped at the opportunity. I think our styles will mesh very well. I’m coming for all the action and all the glory.”

Chisora is not going out quietly and had choice words for Joyce. ‘Compared to everybody I’ve boxed, I don’t lose sleep over you bro, so I’m not bothered. You’re nothing.”

Chisora is also a British fighter who has had many memorable battles in the country he grew up in. In his storied career he has fought the likes of Tyson Fury (thrice), Joseph Parker (twice), Oleksandr Usyk, Dillian Whyte, David Haye and Vitali Klitschko. He has key victories over Kubrat Pulev, Artur Szpilka, Carlos Takam, Kevin Johnson and Danny Williams. Despite the key wins thus far, Joyce could represent the biggest win of his long career.

UFC Denver Preview

The UFC is invading the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Saturday July 13 for an action-packed card of fights. The main event will be in the women’s flyweight division between former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and #11 Tracy Cortez. Namajunas was originally scheduled to battle rising contender Maycee Barber, but Barber had to withdraw from the fight due to ongoing health issues.

Namajunas is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Amanda Ribas in March. The win was a big rebound after losing two straight fights in which she lost the strawweight title and her flyweight debut. Namajunas was excited to fight Barber after a not so friendly back and forth on social media.

“It’s just been a few interactions that I’ve had with her, or on social media a long time ago, just like silly stuff,” Namajunas said. “She posted a picture of me with my training partners and X’d out all of their faces and then circled my face and was like, ‘I’m coming for you next.’ I’m just like, ‘OK.’

The 32-year-old continued, “She always tries to say that by beating my training partners, [she thinks], ‘I know that broke her.’ You don’t know what could break me, because there’s a lot more that has to break me. I don’t have anything personal against her, but the competitor inside of me, it’s like, yeah, I really wanted to show her what’s up.”

Despite her intrigue in fighting Barber, she knows Cortez will not be an easy fight. “Definitely, fighting Maycee was super exciting at the time,” Namajunas said. “I was a little disappointed to find out the news, but now that it’s Tracy, it’s just different. I’m just as excited.

“I went through that process of being like, ‘Oh, man,’ and then as soon as they were working on Tracy, it took me a second, but once I made that transition, it took me a day to process it, and it was like, ‘Alright, this is what we’re doing.”

The former champion believes that a win over Cortez puts her in the title conversation at 125 pounds. “I’d say I’m right in that title contention talks [with a win],” Namajunas said. “God willing, I’m healthy, I’m in shape and I’m ready to go with a win and whatever opportunities they want to give me. I could see myself fighting for the belt really soon. So it’s just a matter of doing my job and fighting to the best of my abilities. And anything’s possible.”

Namajunas has already had a hall of fame worthy career, but a title in a second weight class can solidify her position as one of the greatest women’s fighters of all-time. In her storied career she has key victories over Zhang Weili (twice), Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jędrzejczyk (twice), Michelle Waterson, Tecia Torres, Paige VanZant, and Angela Hill.

Cortez has won 11 straight fights since losing her pro debut and is 5-0 in the UFC. She most recently defeated Jasmine Jasudavicius by unanimous decision in September. She will undoubtedly be facing the toughest test of her career on Saturday.

The 30-year-old talked about why she took this fight with Namajunas. “I’m a gamer,” Cortez said. “I’m not one to ever shy down from a challenge. I’m not ever one to say no to great opportunities. This is how the greats are made. This is how legends are made. To fight a former world champ, and have a call – I felt extremely blessed and jumped on it.”

Cortez continued, “I’m going to be blunt: It’s just a learning experience for me, this is all new to me. I’ve never taken a short-notice (fight), let alone against a former world champ. But I’m confident within myself and my skills. It was just everything else around me that I had to figure out. Everything went really smooth, actually incredibly smooth. I think I stressed myself out more than I should have.”

Despite the respect she has for Namajunas, Cortez believes she is the toughest fight Namajunas could have had at flyweight. “Who doesn’t love Rose? She’s an incredible person, but unfortunately, we are in the fighting business,” Cortez said. “She wants to move up to 125 and we’re going to face each other. Whether it’s now or down the road, it just happens to be now. I have nothing bad to say about Rose and if anything, I’m excited for this challenge and I’m grateful she took this fight with me.

“I want to say I’m a true 125er. Sh*t, I could even fight at 135 but I’m a real flyweight and I don’t think she’s yet to face someone like myself, and vice versa. I’ve never faced a former world champion, so it’s putting both of us in a good test.”

If Cortez wins on Saturday what is next for Cortez? “I really want to fight for the belt,” Cortez said. “I know there’s a lot of people ahead of me still. I know winning this fight, where it could move me to. And the performance I put on Saturday, I know everything that comes with it. If I get the opportunity and they grant me the opportunity to fight at the Sphere, I think it would be incredible history. Two Mexican women on Mexican Independence Day fighting on the biggest sport event ever. I think that would just be incredible. That’s something I never imaged and I feel like it’s just arm’s length. That is what I’m striving for, but at the end of the day, long-term goal, I am fighting for the belt.”

The rest of the main card:

170 lbs.: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov

155 lbs.: Drew Dober vs. Jean Silva

170 lbs.: Gabriel Bonfim vs. Ange Loosa

145 lbs.: Julian Erosa vs. Christian Rodriguez

185 lbs.: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cody Brundage

ESPN+ Prelims:

125 lbs.: Charles Johnson vs. Joshua Van

125 lbs.: Fatima Kline vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius

135 lbs.: Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Montel Jackson

125 lbs.: Luana Santos vs. Mariya Agapova

185 lbs.: Josh Fremd vs. Andre Petroski

170 lbs.: Evan Elder vs. Darrius Flowers

UFC on ABC 6 Preview

The UFC is invading the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 22 for UFC on ABC 6. The main event will be in the middleweight division between former champion #3 Robert Whittaker and rising prospect Ikram Aliskerov.

Whittaker was originally scheduled to face heavily hyped contender Khamzat Chimaev, but Chimaev withdrew from the fight due to illness. The winner of the fight was expected to be on the short list to challenge for the middleweight title, but what can be expected now? Does a win over an unranked opponent gain Whittaker a title shot or does it merely win the respect of the fans?

After rebounding well in his last fight against Paulo Costa, Whittaker reminded the middleweight division that he is still a threat to win back the title he once held. Whittaker won the title in 2017 with an impressive win over Yoel Romero, but he technically never defended the title after Romero missed weight in their rematch, making it a non-title fight. Whittaker won a disputed split decision in the non-title fight.  He would then go on to lose the belt to Israel Adesanya in 2019.

Whittaker discussed not fighting Chimaev and preparing Aliskerov. “It was a stressful couple of hours while we were trying to find a new opponent, but once we got that locked in, it’s much the same,” Whittaker said.

“It’s another fight week, he brings the same level of threat as anybody else that I’ve had to fight. Let’s see what happens.”

The New Zealander continued, “As soon as I found out my opponent, I watched some fights to get an idea of what he’s going to bring to the table. In a lot of respects, he’s more dangerous than Chimaev, especially mentally wise because he has nothing to lose and everything to gain really. It’s a dangerous fight.

“He’s a strong, tough guy and he was ready to fight last week, so I expect nothing but a test, a war, a slugfest.”

Will Whittaker call for another scheduled fight with Chimaev? “I don’t really have a wish list of fights. They just happen. I just wish him all the best with his health.

“What we do is a job, a career, a sport. Outside of the octagon we’re just people and I wish him only the best.”

Whittaker discussed where he is at in his career in relation to another title shot. “You know what, I’m really enjoying my career thus far,” Whittaker said.

“It’s an exciting time to be a middleweight. I feel like I’m making a lot of ground and I’m really starting to hit my best strides now. Every day is a treat.”

While Chimaev is considered the most dangerous fighter in the middleweight division, Whittaker knows he will not have an easy fight on Saturday. “He wants to take my head off no less than Chimaev did,” Whittaker said.

“I train to beat everyone. Chimaev, Ikram, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to get in there and put on my best fight. I’m going to leave it all there.

“I’m going to go in there and hunt Ikram for 25 minutes, got to war, put on a slugfest and try and take his head off, then go home and spend time with my family. That’s all that matters for me.

“I having geared up ready to go make it an absolute slugfest, a war of a fight for 25 minutes.

“I know that with the approach of being the hunter in this fight, it’s not going to last that long. I’m going to hurt him and I’m going to hurt him until he can’t take anymore.”

With a win Whittaker will cement his place in the top three of the division for now. Ahead of him in the line is a fight between champion Dricus du Plessis and former champion Adesanya. Former champ Sean Strickland is coming off a win and expected to be in line ahead of Whittaker as well.

Aside from Costa and Romero, Whittaker has key wins in his career over Marvin Vettori, Kelvin Gastelum, Jared Connonier, Darren Till, Ronaldo Souza, Derek Brunson, Uriah Hall and Brad Tavares.

Aliskerov is 2-0 in the UFC and is coming off an impressive first round TKO victory over Warlley Alves at UFC 294. He will be facing the toughest test of his career on Saturday but could send a shockwave through the middleweight division with a win.

The Dagestani fighter commented on accepting this fight on short notice. "This is what we do,We’re fighters. This is our sport. This is our life. I even put it on my Instagram, ‘Anyone, anywhere, at any time.’ It’s the type of motto I live by and you have to live by it if you want to fight on the top level. I was ready for this. I don’t care if it was five rounds or 10 rounds, you have to be ready for anything being thrown your way and that’s what I live by,” Aliskerov said.

He believes he was meant to have this fight. "The way I was speaking to Ali, my manager, is the way it sounded is the UFC kind of expected me to have this fight. They think I’m ready, that I’m that level of an opponent that I should be accepting this fight. I think that’s great. It makes me think that the UFC values me. They know what I’m worth. They know what I’m capable of, so I think it’s right that I’m a tougher matchup.”

The 31-year-old commented on Whittaker’s claim that he did not know who he was until saying yes to the fight. “I think he was lying,” Aliskerov said. “I’m sure he rewatched my fight with Khamzat a million times because he was preparing for him. I think [he’ll remember my name]. He’ll have to fight me for five rounds. After I took the fight, I called Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. He said, ‘You can’t miss these chances. You have to fly here, sweat for two-three days.’ We discussed [the fight], but I won’t get into it.”

While he accepted the fight on short notice, Aliskerov was already in camp expecting to fight Atonio Trocolio on June 15. Despite the step up in competition, physically speaking Aliskerov should not be impacted by saying yes to a big fight on short notice. A convincing win could catapult Aliskerov into the top 10 and put him in position to be fighting in a title eliminator.

The rest of the main card:

Heavyweight - #3 Sergei Pavlovich vs. #5 Alexander Volkov

Middleweight - Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez

Middleweight - Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Antonio Trocoli

Light Heavyweight - #7 Johnny Walker vs. #9 Volkan Oezdemir

ESPN + Prelims:

Lightweight - Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon

Featherweight - Muhammad Naimov vs. Felipe Lima

Welterweight - Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby

Bantamweight - Kang Kyung-ho vs. Muin Gafurov

Light Heavyweight - Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Brendson Ribeiro

Bantamweight - Xiao Long vs. Lee Chang-ho

UFC 302 Preview

The UFC will be returning to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday, June 1 for UFC 302. The main event will be for the lightweight title as champion Islam Makhachev will defend against former interim champion #4 Dustin Poirier.

Makhachev has won 13 straight fights and is coming off two successful title defenses against former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. He most recently defeated Volkanovski by a devastating first round KO at UFC 294 in October.

The champion confidently reflected on Poirier’s first title shot back in 2019 against his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov. “Honestly, he’s the same,” Makhachev said. “Maybe [he’s older]. He doesn’t believe he can beat me. His coach doesn’t believe he can beat me. I know I can make this fight easy.

“I will finish him. Because I am on a different level. I am the best fighter in the world right now.”

Makhachev does not believe Poirier has the skills to defeat him. “Honestly, my style is the worst style for him,” Makhachev said. “He can beat some strikers. He’s one of the best strikers in this game, but we’re not strikers. We’re MMA fighters. My skills are on a different level.

“I can strike with him, but I told you guys, if I want to make this fight easy, I know the way and everybody [else] know the way. Always when his opponent pressure him, take him down, he has the same problems always.”

Despite the confidence, Makhachev does have respect for the legacy that Poirier has built. “I hope he [doesn’t] retire after this fight,” Makhachev said of Poirier. “I think he’s one of the biggest names in the sport. That’s why I respect him. I respect him because he has a lot of crazy fights in this sport. Just happy to beat someone who has a big name like Dustin. For the legacy, it’s going to be maybe the biggest name on my list.”

The 32-year-old commented on the rumors that he will be moving to welterweight with a win on Saturday. “Honestly, I think it's my opinion, (I’m) almost done with my division because who is going to be next? Just Arman (Tsarukyan),” he said. “I already beat (him), and, in my division, I don't have some interesting fight (or) too exciting fights for me. We have Dustin right now. This guy is a legend. It's a very good fight for my legacy. I will finish him, and I just will wait for the next go.”

Makhachev wants to put on a show in Newark. “Fans always want to see the finish,” he said. “It's what I will try to do in beating Dustin Poirier.”

Poirier is coming off a second round KO of Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299 in March. The win was a big rebound after being KO’d in a rematch with Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt in 2023. The 35-year-old has twice challenged for the lightweight title but lost by third round submission in both attempts.

Does he believe the third time’s the charm? "I can definitely win this fight," Poirier said.  "If I touch his chin, he'll go down.  He'll find that out on Saturday.  Maybe that's something he doesn't need to believe.  Maybe he needs to be positive and confident walking into this, which he should be, but if you don't think I have a chance to win you're lying to yourself."

"Over the years, if there's anything I've learned fighting is like the media, my opponents, their camps, the critics don't matter.  It's in my hands," Poirier continued.  "I'm the only guy who has the opportunity to make this happen, or whatever decisions I make under those lights on Saturday, I'm the guy in the driver's seat.  All these other guys talking are passengers, or in the backseat.  I steer where this goes."

Poirier commented on the rumors that this could be his final fight. "It could be (my last fight). It could be. I haven't made like an official decision yet, but it could be," he said. "I've said this over and over again. I still have a lot of tread on the tired. I can beat these guys. I can beat these young guys. I just did it. I still feel good. My body feels good, but it's just like how much do I want to give to this sport because you don't ride for free."

The only thing missing from Poirier’s resume is being undisputed champion. He commented,

“I have a UFC title, that says ‘world champion’ with my name on it, in my living room,” Poirier said. “I hold that belt up high because Max [Holloway], when I beat him for that belt, was on a 12-fight win streak. He was the current featherweight champion at the time. So it’s not like I pulled the name out of a hat and beat somebody for an interim title because the champ couldn’t fight.”

“It’s up there, but it’s not undisputed,” Poirier adds. “That’s the last spot. What else can I do in this sport?”

He concluded, “It’s not about the money. It’s not about the Hall of Fame, any records. It’s about me accomplishing something,” said Poirier of his motivation. “It’s not about business; it’s a personal thing that, I think if I can get it done, I can look back and say, ‘You know, I’m content. I’m proud of everything I did. I set a goal out as a kid that knew nothing about what I was walking into, but I kept walking about picking myself up, and I got it done.”

Poirier has been fighting in the UFC since 2011 and has key victories over Micheal Chandler, Conor McGregor (twice), Dan Hooker, Max Holloway (twice), Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller and Bobby Green. Despite all of the success, a win over Makhachev who is heavily favored would be the biggest victory of his hall of fame career.

The co-main event of the evening will be in the middleweight division between former champion #1 Sean Strickland and former title challenger #7 Paulo Costa.

Strickland is trying to rebound from a loss in his first title defense against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 in January. Strickland lost a controversial split decision in a fight that many people thought he won. Strickland won the title with a unanimous decision victory over middleweight great Israel Adesanya in the biggest upset of 2023.

The former champion commented on his last fight and why he took a fight with Costa.  At the end of the day, I know I won my last fight,” he said. “I got f***ed… I mean, obviously, I want the title fight, but, at the end of the day, I'm a fighter. I'm a prize fighter. So, you give me money, I fight, but that's what I want. That needs to happen.”

Strickland expects a brutal battle with Costa. “I think we're in a war,” Strickland said. “I think it's going to be a five-round war. We'll see how his cardio holds up. I know he has an issue with that. Hopefully he f***ing trained hard and he's doing the right things and preparing for our death match.”

With a win at UFC 302 it would be fair to say Strickland’s next fight should be for the title. There have been talks of du Plessis making his first title defense against Adesanya, but with a convincing win over Costa it would be difficult to deny Strickland his shot.

Costa is trying to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 in February. The Brazilian is 1-2 since losing a title fight to Adesanya back in 2020, but he feels the best he has felt in recent years.

“After (my last) fight, I was feeling good with no injuries. I didn’t hurt, so why not?” Costa said. “Why not keep the process, not lose all the work I did for that fight and just keep the progress, keep the work? So we did that and we had a great match. First, it was against Cannonier and then it changed for Strickland. So why not? I’m feeling good, in shape and we’ve got this great opportunity.”

The 33-year-old talked about the title picture and where a win over Strickland puts him. “I think once he already beat (Israel) Adesanya, if Adesanya beat Dricus (Du Plessis), I think and if Sean beats me, he’s going to be the next. But let’s see. You never know. I have a beef with Adesanya, as well, and against Chimaev. Anything can happen. Let’s see Saturday. I think who delivers better is going to step in front. It depends how the fight is going to be. If I knock out him in great style Saturday. If the fight in Saudi Arabia is not so good, we can be in front. It depends on how we’re going to perform.”

A victory over Strickland will remind the middleweight division and the MMA world why Costa was once the most hyped fighter at 185 pounds and challenged for the middleweight title.

The rest of the main card:

Middleweight - #15 Kevin Holland vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk

Welterweight - Niko Price vs. Alex Morono

Welterweight - Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

ESPN+ Prelims:

Middleweight - César Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov

Heavyweight - #7 Jailton Almeida vs. #13 Alexander Romanov

Lightweight - Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki

Welterweight - Philip Rowe vs. Jake Matthews

ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims:

Welterweight - Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez

Women's Bantamweight - Ailín Pérez vs. Joselyne Edwards

Flyweight - Mitch Raposo vs. André Lima

Navarrete vs. Berinchyk Preview

The vacant WBO lightweight title will be on the line at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California on Saturday May 18. Former three division champion Emanuel Navarrete will battle undefeated Denys Berinchyk.

Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KO) is trying to win a title in his fourth weight class after scoring a majority draw to defend the WBO junior lightweight title in his last fight against Robson Conceicao. He is also the former WBO featherweight and WBO junior featherweight champion. The 29-year-old has already achieved plenty with nine total title defenses, but a win on Saturday will put him in pound for pound status.

The Mexican fighter had to have hand surgery after his last fight but is ready to prove he has recovered and is ready for big fights at 135 pounds. “We've worked hard to get here,” Navarrete said. “We'll be looking for those fights, without a doubt. There is a desire for those high-level fights. I feel like I need that in my career and that last vote of confidence and acceptance. Those fights will give me that. My work speaks for itself. I feel good, calm, strong, and confident.”

Navarrete commented on his last fight. “We know that I have some deficiencies in my last fight. My hand did hurt, and that's a fact, but that's OK,” said Navarrete. “Some things held me back, but it's OK. I am 100 percent now. And I am going to be like before, only a new Vaquero, and a new hand. With a more ferocious mentality, I am going to put myself in the best position at 135 pounds.”

Despite his confidence, Navarrete knows he is in for a tough fight on Saturday. “He's dangerous,” said Navarrete. “He's going to come with a lot of hunger and we are going to have to try and take care of that.”

Berinchyk (18-0, 9 KO) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Anthony Yigit last August. The 35-year-old Ukrainian had an extensive amateur career, winning a silver medal in the 2011 World Championships and silver in the 2012 Olympic games.

Amid his first major title fight, Berinchyk is fighting for more than himself. “[Navarrete] is a strong and experienced opponent,” Berinchyk said. “We are highly motivated and working hard to bring the title to Ukraine. The world can’t forget about our country’s struggle, so our victory in the ring is of great importance not just for my career and Ukrainian boxing, but also for the people of Ukraine. We do our best to make the world stand with Ukraine!”

He is excited to be joining his fellow Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in a title fight on the same night. “It’s the first time in Ukrainian history when two compatriots, two brothers are fighting for the world titles,” he said proudly. “Big day for Ukrainian boxing.”

Berinchyk is grateful for the opportunity to fight for a title. “I’m here and I have a possibility to fight for the world title first of all because of Ukrainian defenders,” clearly appreciative of his fellow Ukrainian’s efforts. “These are the one’s who gave me an opportunity to arrange a safe training camp and prepare myself for the upcoming fight.”

The main card can be seen at 9:00pm ET on ESPN+