MMA News

Author: Kyle Dimond

  • Bo Nickal Says He Won’t Avoid Grappling With Paul Craig To Test His Own Jiu-Jitsu

    Bo Nickal Says He Won’t Avoid Grappling With Paul Craig To Test His Own Jiu-Jitsu

    Bo Nickal is back at UFC 309 where he looks to secure his fourth win inside the Octagon against his toughest opponent to date. The undefeated middleweight super prospect will be making the walk at Madison Square Garden to face off with a fellow specialist at 185-pounds.

    Whilst Nickal brings a wrestling pedigree to the table that very few can match, the same can be said for the jiu-jitsu skills of Scotland’s Paul Craig. Though both men have put a lot of work into rounding out their games, it’s clear that this is where both men excel.

    In 26 pro fights, Craig has finished half of them by submission and rather than having an approach like Charles Oliveira for example, many of those wins in the UFC have come off of his back when opponents try to land ground and pound from the top position.

    In a recent interview with Demetrious Johnson on The MightyCast, Nickal spoke about preparing for an opponent that is so dangerous in one specific area. Though he believes he’s been able to adapt to jiu-jitsu very quickly, he’s still very young in his MMA career.

    This doesn’t discourage him from wanting to test himself against a dangerous grappler Craig like who has submitted elite fighters in the Octagon in the past. In fact, it’s something that he looks forward to in this fight even though he believes he holds the striking advantage in this match-up.

    “I think that I have an advantage on the feet but I also think that it would be nice to be able to show my improvements on the ground in my jiu-jitsu game and to be able to compete against a guy like that and just kind of challenge myself, you know. I think that again, there’s problems that he poses and it’s definitely an unusual maybe unorthodox type of style, you don’t see many guys pulling guard anymore. You don’t see guys throwing up triangles and throwing up armbars but I feel prepared.” 

  • Michael Chiesa Offers Advice To Struggling Fighters After Nearly Retiring Before Recent Bounce Back Win

    Michael Chiesa Offers Advice To Struggling Fighters After Nearly Retiring Before Recent Bounce Back Win

    Before his last fight inside the Octagon in August, Michael Chiesa found himself in the worst patch of form of his career. The former winner of The Ultimate Fighter has overcome losses in the past and did suffer back-to-back defeats to Kevin Lee and Anthony Pettis once before.

    However, in three consecutive outings, he was without a win after being submitted by Vicente Luque and Kevin Holland with a decision loss to Sean Brady in between. Chiesa was able to get back in the win column in Abu Dhabi when he submitted Tony Ferguson in the first round.

    He’s now set to return at UFC 310 in search of a second win when he faces Max Griffin to keep his momentum pushing forward. In the build up to this fight, the commentator and desk analyst revealed that he seriously contemplated retirement during his losing streak.

    If he wasn’t able to compete at the highest level anymore, he would hang up the gloves and look to continue pursuing the avenues that he’s already started to go down in recent years. In an interview with Shakiel Mahjouri, Chiesa spoke about working with a sport psychologist and what his biggest takeaways from that were.

    When asked what advice he would pass on to struggling fighters that may find themselves in a similar position to the one that he was in, he spoke about the importance of having goals but focusing on the present rather than looking too far ahead.

    “I think the biggest thing that I would say is focus on being in the present moment. That is something that I struggled with. Looking too far ahead like I’m looking too far ahead at the title or I’m looking too far ahead at the fight and worrying about getting hurt or like just looking too far ahead and not being present. It’s very important to be present in the moment every single day with your training. It’s good to have goals but you don’t have to dwell on the future and what’s yet to come or what you want to happen. You set the goals and then you put them aside and just focus on being in the moment.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4mtUsvH4gs&t=301s

  • Carlos Prates Reflects On Dana White Comparing Him To Anderson Silva When He Signed To The UFC

    Carlos Prates Reflects On Dana White Comparing Him To Anderson Silva When He Signed To The UFC

    Brazil’s Carlos Prates is set to step into his first main event spotlight this weekend when he faces ranked welterweight Neil Magny at the UFC Apex. The Brazilian has been phenomenal since he arrived in the promotion and made an early impression.

    Prates was one of the highlights of last year’s season of the Contender Series where he stopped Mitch Ramirez in another big win for the Fighting Nerds team. The 31-year olds striking was so accurate and dangerous that his performance earned him a huge compliment from the boss.

    When Dana White announced that Prates would be joining the UFC’s welterweight roster, he compared him to one of the all-time greats by saying that his striking reminded him of a prime Anderson Silva. Since then, he has produced three wins inside the Octagon with finishes and performance of the night bonuses in each of them.

    In a recent interview with Kevin Iole, the rising welterweight contender was asked about what it was like to receive this kind of comparison and whether it added any additional pressure to his shoulders. For a Brazilian fighter to be compared to the former long-reigning middleweight champion, a compliment simply doesn’t get much bigger.

    However, Prates was able to take this in his stride and continue to do what he does best. He hopes that in many years when he’s created his own legacy in the sport, he will become a bench mark for fighters to be measured against like “The Spider” has been for so many.

    “It’s good, I don’t feel any pressure to be honest. I just step inside of the cage and try to do my best. I can win the fight but if I didn’t give my best, I’m not happy, you know. All the time I look to do my best and of course I hear about I look like Anderson Silva. It’s really nice but I’m working hard to maybe in five years or ten years, Dana White coming to another guy and say, ‘Hey, that guy looks like Carlos Prates in his prime.’”

  • Chael Sonnen Makes The Case For Why A Third Fight Between Max Holloway & Dustin Poirier Might Be Different   

    Chael Sonnen Makes The Case For Why A Third Fight Between Max Holloway & Dustin Poirier Might Be Different   

    Following his loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308, Max Holloway made an announcement about his career going forwards. The former featherweight champion has spent most of his time in the UFC competing at 145-pounds but no more.

    Before returning to the weight class to challenge Topuria for the title, “Blessed” defeated Justin Gaethje for the BMF title at lightweight and put in one of his best performances to date in the process. With Holloway announcing that lightweight is now his permanent home, this opens up some very exciting options for him.

    One fight that he already mentioned is a trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier which could serve as one of the final fights in the great career of “The Diamond”. Poirier already holds two wins over Holloway but that doesn’t stop Chael Sonnen from wanting to see them run it back one more time before Poirier retires.

    In a recent YouTube video, he made it clear that he wouldn’t usually be campaigning to see a third fight between two opponents where one of them is already two up in the series. However, Sonnen also made the case for why the third fight could be different than the previous two.

    Holloway’s first encounter with Poirier came in his UFC debut where he had just four pro fights under his belt at the time. The second time around at UFC 236, Poirier was able to break the Hawaiian’s incredible winning streak but this was Holloway’s first time moving up to 155-pounds and he didn’t look the same as he did at featherweight.

    With him now committing to lightweight, Sonnen thinks this makes the trilogy more interesting than before.

    “So let’s make a case for Max. Is Max better now than he was then? No. But, is Max different? Yeah, he definitely could be. Yeah, you bet your a** he could be different because one thing that is different is Max is not playing at 55 before he goes back to 45. He is done at 45, he has made that commitment, he has absolutely closed that book. That’s a big deal and you’ll never hear me act like 10 pounds is a lot but from 45 to 55, it is.”

  • Arrest Warrant Issued For Ex-UFC Fighter Accused Of Insurance Fraud

    An arrest warrant has been issued in Washington State for former UFC fighter Bryan Caraway for several felony charges. Caraway was scheduled to attend a pre-trial hearing on October 3 but did now attend court.

    He is being accused of insurance fraud after he reported the theft of an all-terrain vehicle from his home back in December of 2018. The WICO (Washington State Commissioner’s Office) report that after he bought the insurance policy on the vehicle, he filed a claim that it was stolen just six days later.

    “He told GEICO that he bought the vehicle and contents, including helmets, a battery charger and spare tire, for $18,500 and provided a title showing his ex-girlfriend gifted it to him in January 2018,” says the WICO. 

    “The investigation showed evidence that Caraway forged the title, and that the vehicle was not in fact stolen but was owned by and in possession of his ex-girlfriend. Caraway withdrew the claim, and GEICO referred the case to Kreidler’s CIU as required by state law.”

    Caraway was previously in a relationship with former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate which was ongoing when many fight fans were first introduced to him during his time on the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter. It’s worth stating that in 2021, there was a legal battle between Caraway and Tate over the possessions that they had accumulated together during their 10-year relationship.

    In particular, one of these assets was a Polaris RZR ATV all-terrain vehicle. It was claimed that Caraway allegedly stole the vehicle back from an ex-girlfriend that had taken it from his house, meaning that this appears to still be an on-going issue.

    The 40-year old fought ten times in the UFC, leaving the promotion after consecutive losses to Cody Stamann and Pedro Munhoz before having one fight outside the UFC in China before seemingly retiring.

  • Cody Garbrandt’s Next Opponent Believes He Can Force Him Out Of His Gameplan: ‘He’s A Little Bit Emotional’     

    Cody Garbrandt’s Next Opponent Believes He Can Force Him Out Of His Gameplan: ‘He’s A Little Bit Emotional’     

    UFC bantamweight Miles Johns is preparing to face the biggest name of his UFC run to date when he returns to the Apex this weekend. At UFC Vegas 100, he will take on the former 135-pound champion, Cody Garbrandt.

    Johns has been on a good run recently with three unanimous decision wins and a no contest against Dan Argueta in between. For his fight against Garbrandt, he intends on making use of the smaller Octagon inside the UFC facility.

    He wants to put pressure on “No Love” and is expecting the former champion to try and counter strike off the backfoot, using his speed and footwork to circle around the outside of the cage. However, Johns believes that he can disrupt this by playing on his opponent’s tendencies.

    We have seen a far more reserved version of Garbrandt in his recent fights with the likes of Deiveson Figueiredo, Brian Kelleher and Trevin Jones. When he was on his difficult run of results after losing the belt, he was more well known for getting into firefights but it wasn’t working in his favor.

    Therefore, Johns told MMA Junkie in a recent interview that he believes he can try to bait Garbrandt to stray from a more patient style if he is able to pressure him and play on his emotions. He wants to bring out the old version of the former champion who would often throw strategy out of the window and engage in a kill or be killed approach.

    “I’m expecting for him to crack back but I think that if I get him up against the wall and I start putting some heat on him, he’s not going to like that and I want to make it an exciting fight. I want a fight that the fans have fun watching and that they enjoy so we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, I also know he’s a little bit emotional so if he’s waiting a little bit and I tell him like, ‘Come on man, what we waiting on? Let’s get this thing popping.’ I think that he will oblige but we’ll see.”

  • Alexandre Pantoja Jokes That He’s Ready To Start Trash Talking Kai Asakura To Secure UFC 310 Main Event

    Alexandre Pantoja Jokes That He’s Ready To Start Trash Talking Kai Asakura To Secure UFC 310 Main Event

    It currently isn’t known whether a new fight will be scheduled for UFC 310 in December following the cancellation of the original main event. Belal Muhammad was set to make the first defense of his welterweight title against the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov in Las Vegas.

    With Muhammad withdrawing due to an injury, Rakhmonov is hoping to stay on the card in an interim title fight against the former champion, Kamaru Usman. There was also talk of whether the UFC would try to pull together a totally different main event but this doesn’t look to be an option following the update surrounding Alex Pereira.

    The promotion does of course already have a title fight booked for the card with flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja facing off with new arrival, Kai Asakura. The issue from the UFC’s perspective is likely that Asakura will be making his debut so will be a relatively unknown fighter to a lot of fans in the US and there’s a language barrier there also.

    With Pantoja not being the kind of champion who is going to sell the fight all by himself, it seems unlikely that they will be elevated into the main event. In a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri, Pantoja said that he’s ready to be the headliner if that’s what the UFC wants.

    He even jokingly remarked that he’s prepared to start calling out Asakura and going against who he is in order to start hyping up the card and generating headlines.

    “I’m ready for that, I’m ready to make my trash talk with Asakura and say he come from Japan, he don’t know, whatever you know. Whatever I need to say to him to make this show like everybody enjoy, you know. But you know about me, I’m not that guy. I’m not going to say anything. I say with my fists in the Octagon. I talking about that before, I’m another part of the coin. You have UFC is entertainment, of course, but I’m the good fighter. I’m fighter and I go for that.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiP_7FFUtvM&t=79s
  • Former Opponent Says Valentina Shevchenko May Struggle With One Aspect Of Fighting Manon Fiorot

    Former Opponent Says Valentina Shevchenko May Struggle With One Aspect Of Fighting Manon Fiorot

    Following the conclusion of her trilogy with Alexa Grasso, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is ready to move on to her next challenger. Fortunately for her, in the time between her first and final encounters with Grasso, a new contender has emerged at the top of the division that she is yet to face.

    French striker Manon Fiorot has won seven in a row since arriving in the UFC to mark her out as the clear and obvious next challenger for Shevchenko. In her last two fights, she beat Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield who faced off with one another this past weekend in Edmonton.

    After Blanchfield secured the decision win, she called out Grasso for a title eliminator whilst she waits for Fiorot to get her long deserved title shot. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Fiorot’s former opponent gave her thoughts on how she might fare against the champion.

    Blanchfield drew attention to the size of the challenger as an interesting problem for Shevchenko to try and solve with her efficient and varied toolbox. In what many will expect to be Fiorot’s striking versus Shevchenko’s grappling, the size difference between them could end up being a crucial factor in the fight.

    The champion may have previously competed as a bantamweight but she isn’t the biggest fighter in this weight class and that could be an issue for her because of how good Fiorot is at using this to her advantage.

    “I think Manon can use her size. I think she’s a very big flyweight and she knows how to use her range and like her length. I think Valentina is more like dynamic and has more skills so I’m curious how Valentina is going to deal with her size because I know in the past, let’s say with like Taila, I remember complaining about how big Taila is and I feel like Manon’s significantly bigger so yeah, I think it’s a good match-up and I’m curious to see how it goes.”   

  • Muhammad Mokaev’s Rumored Opponent For First Fight Post-UFC Exit Revealed

    Muhammad Mokaev’s Rumored Opponent For First Fight Post-UFC Exit Revealed

    Muhammad Mokaev is still yet to make his return to MMA following his controversial UFC departure earlier this year. The promotion chose not to re-sign him following his seventh consecutive win inside the Octagon over Manel Kape.

    Mokaev has since signed with Brave CF, the promotion where he had most of his early pro fights before joining the UFC back in 2022. Mokaev did recently make his competition return in a grappling match loss to Rogério Bontorin but now, there are rumours of a potential MMA opponent being lined up for him.

    Rather than Brave looking to attract a former UFC fighter or name that fans may be familiar with, recent reports from Вестник ММА on X suggest that Mokaev could be taking on a fighter that is seemingly on the same path that he was once on.

    The undefeated Asaf Chopurov has been very impressive during his six-fight pro career having fought on promotions like RCC in Russia and UAE Warriors. In six wins, he’s got five finishes with four of them coming in the first round.

    What makes the 22-year old so exciting is that like Mokaev in the early days of his pro career, Chopurov amassed so much experience during his amateur career that he’s already fighting at a high level despite being so young in his journey.

    As a former three-time Russian MMA and IMAAF world champion, Chopurov ended his amateur career with an overall record of 30-1. Mokaev, for reference, left behind arguably the most impressive amateur career to date at 22-0.

    Chopurov may not be a household name just yet but he’s an undefeated star on the rise who could become that in the near future. Facing Mokaev at this stage in his career could be a huge moment for the rising prospect.

  • Magomed Ankalaev Continues To Berate Alex Pereira: ‘Willing To Fight Everyone Short Notice But Me’

    Magomed Ankalaev Continues To Berate Alex Pereira: ‘Willing To Fight Everyone Short Notice But Me’

    When Belal Muhammad was announced to have withdrawn from his upcoming welterweight title defense at UFC 310, everyone had the same thought. If the UFC needed someone to step in and save the main event, there was only one name they could call.

    The biggest argument for Alex Pereira being the 2024 fighter of the year is that he has stepped up and delivered for the UFC when they needed him most on several occasions. “Poatan” has already saved two big cards in UFC 300 and UFC 303 but doing it again would have been unthinkable.

    It also appeared from his social media that his likely challenger, Magomed Ankalaev, was down to make a quick turnaround from UFC 308 to fight on December 7 in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, it now looks like Pereira’s last fight against Khalil Rountree in October will stop him from doing that.

    During a recent appearance on the Podpah podcast, Pereira revealed that he’s dealing with a hand injury after Rountree was able to withstand a lot of damage before being stopped in the fourth round.

    “In that 4th round, I was throwing jabs and it was hurting my hand man, I swear. I was thinking ‘my hand must be broken’. It still hurts today. It’s not that bad, but if I touch right here it hurts.”

    Though Pereira has fought through injuries in the past, “Poatan” faces a tough test in Ankalaev who he’ll surely want to be at his best for. This was echoed in Ankalaev’s response to the video on social media.

    The top light heavyweight contender replied to Pereira’s comments and claimed that the champion knows that he can’t risk it this time around unlike some of his previous fights.

    “Willing to fight everyone short notice but with me, he knows he have to be ready he’s not stupid”

  • MMA Analyst Urges Ilia Topuria To Stay At Featherweight: ‘Make Your Easy Money!’

    MMA Analyst Urges Ilia Topuria To Stay At Featherweight: ‘Make Your Easy Money!’

    UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria cemented his reign as the best in the weight class by defending the belt for the first time at UFC 308. After doing what he said he would do and becoming the first man to knock out Max Holloway, he’s becoming harder to deny.

    “El Matador” has got a proven track record at this stage for making his goals come true and if that’s going to continue being the case, we’re in for an all-time great UFC run. Having stopped two of the greatest champions in UFC history in back-to-back fights, the champion wants more belts.

    Topuria has spoken many times about his goal to not only move up to lightweight but to one day compete at welterweight also. Following his impressive display in Abu Dhabi, the intrigue of seeing him go up against the 155-pound king Islam Makhachev certainly increased.

    During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, Josh Thomson and “Big” John McCarthy discussed this fight and how they think it would play out. Thomson, who previously trained with Makhachev at AKA, does not think it would go well for Topuria.

    Instead, he believes that the 145-pound champion should stay in his weight class where several contenders await him. Considering how quickly he rose to the top of the division, following his likely rematch with Alexander Volkanovski next time out, there’s still other challenges like Diego Lopes or the winner of Movsar Evloev vs Aljamain Sterling for him to attend to.

    Thomson said that in his opinion, he thinks Topuria should stay put for the time being so that he can continue to beat opponents at his natural weight class before going for a second belt.

    “You’ve just dominated two of the best guys that have ever graced that weight class. If I was to say hey, make your easy money, and I’m not saying these guys are easy fights. They’re not easy fights but I’m saying they’re not going to get easier going up so why not just stay where you’re at, cash out as much as you possible can on these type fights, guys that you’re comfortable fighting. You’ve been training your whole life to fight at this weight class.”

  • UFC Legends Debate ESPN’s Top 10 List, Question Whether Khabib Deserves His Spot

    UFC Legends Debate ESPN’s Top 10 List, Question Whether Khabib Deserves His Spot

    Lists are always going to create discussion in regards to which options should or shouldn’t have made it onto the final version. This is no different with ESPN’s Top 10 men’s MMA fighters of the 21st century list.

    Unsurprisingly, the current UFC heavyweight champion and consensus greatest of all time, Jon Jones, takes the top spot with the usual cast following behind him. Welterweight great Georges St-Pierre is the runner-up with the long-time champion of the weight class above him, Anderson Silva, rounding out the top three.

    Dominant champions Demetrious Johnson and Khabib Nurmagomedov make up the top five whilst Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, BJ Penn and Kamaru Usman complete the full list.

    On a recent episode of the Jaxxon Podcast, two men who are in a great position to debate the list did just that as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Liddell spoke about who could have earned a spot that ultimately didn’t.

    Jackson, perhaps controversially, said that he isn’t sure whether the number five pick had enough fights at the highest level to be considered, especially when someone like Matt Hughes didn’t make the cut.

    “Nothing against Khabib, I just don’t think he fought enough fights. To be on there and to not have Matt Hughes on there, you know what I’m saying cus he was champion for a long time.”

    Liddell, who did make the cut, responded by agreeing with his former opponent’s take that Hughes deserves a mention. He also named one other great champion that would have undoubtedly been in contention, even if some of his best work was done before he arrived in the UFC.

    “If you look at the strength of opponents, you know. There’s some other guys in there, José Aldo. A beast man, for years. Those lists are lists man and all those guys are quality guys. It’s tough really.”

  • Heavyweight Contender Ranks His Top Four In The Weight Class, Excludes Tom Aspinall

    Heavyweight Contender Ranks His Top Four In The Weight Class, Excludes Tom Aspinall

    The heavyweight division has been one of the major talking points across the MMA world in 2024. Whether it’s the conversation surrounding Jon Jones’ upcoming UFC title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 or the recent PFL debut of Francis Ngannou.

    After Ngannou’s triumphant return to MMA last month where he stopped Renan Ferreira at PFL’s Battle of the Giants, this then prompted the question as to whether he’s still the best fighter in his weight class.

    The former UFC champion wasn’t beaten for his title because he vacated it when parting ways with the promotion at the start of last year. This debate becomes a lot more interesting because many fight fans would make the case for a UFC heavyweight other than Jones being the top guy in the promotion right now.

    Interim titleholder Tom Aspinall also has to be in the conversation which includes Ferreira to varying degrees based on who you ask. In a recent interview with Inside Fighting, one of the competitors in this weight class gave his thoughts on the top of the division.

    ONE Championship athlete Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida is a submission grappling icon who after going 4-1 in his transition to MMA, is finally back at ONE 169 to try and regain the momentum he had before suffering his first defeat last time out.

    He believes that despite the fact that we’ve only see him compete at heavyweight on just one occasion, the best is still “Bones”.

    “I think not putting Jon Jones as first one, I think it’s hard. I think for sure is the number one.”

    Almeida then ranked the rest of his top four but surprisingly didn’t include Aspinall in his current heavyweight Mount Rushmore. He instead picked the current ONE heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin, who also holds belts in ONE at light heavyweight and middleweight.

    “Number second I would say between Renan Ferreira and Francis and Anatoly. Those three guys are there. Francis just won the fight so I think he deserves to be still on the top position after that, Renan. He’s doing crazy things in this sport. He won the PFL tournament, he beat Ryan Bader from Bellator and just did the fight with Francis so I think he’s there too like number three. Number four, Anatoly, of course it’s hard to put like a rank like that but for sure these four guys I think would be my four favorites for sure.”

  • Beneil Dariush Contemplated Moving Divisions After Missing A Full Year For The First Time In His Career

    Beneil Dariush Contemplated Moving Divisions After Missing A Full Year For The First Time In His Career

    Beneil Dariush was originally hoping for a return before the end of the year but with the UFC schedule already looking secured for the remainder of 2024, he’s looking at an early outing in the new year. Though this kind of break isn’t necessarily anything new for fighters, especially if they’ve got injuries to attend to, it is for him.

    Since turning pro back in 2009, Dariush has fought at least once in each consecutive year. Whether he’s fighting twice a year like in 2023 or four times in his debut year with the promotion, the 35-year old has been a consistently active member of the roster.

    Alongside some setbacks outside of the cage to deal with, another issue for him is finding the right fights at this stage in his career. Dariush isn’t opposed to fighting rising contenders but at the #8-ranked lightweight, he can’t be giving his spot away for free either.

    One of the reasons that he’s now targeting January for his Octagon return is that it takes him a bit more time to prepare for competing at 155-pounds at this stage in his career. In a recent interview with Inside Fighting, he said that moving up a weight class so that he could fight more often and open up new opportunities was even a thought at one point because he wants to be as active as possible.

    “It’s been challenging and it’s just weird, you know. I understand you’ll have your ups and downs so I had my ups for a while and now I’m kinda down but like, just not to be able to fight has been weird. I enjoy it so much. I even considered going to 170 just so I can fight more often but I don’t think I’m done with 55 yet so I’ve been trying to really focus on recovery as far as the brain injuries and stuff like that. I want to make sure when I get back into the Octagon, I don’t have to worry about any of that stuff.”

  • Brandon Moreno Reveals What The ‘Break Point’ Was That Led Him To Taking A Hiatus

    Brandon Moreno Reveals What The ‘Break Point’ Was That Led Him To Taking A Hiatus

    Following his second consecutive loss inside the Octagon, Brandon Moreno announced that he would be taking some time off before coming back. The former UFC flyweight champion has fought in nothing but main events and title fights since December of 2020 when he first shared the cage with Deiveson Figueiredo.

    His recent performances haven’t necessarily been bad either, having lost split decisions to the current champion Alexandre Pantoja and top contender Brandon Royval. However, the former two-time flyweight titleholder felt that something wasn’t right.

    Though he admitted on media day that it was hard for him to not take a fight again just a few weeks after his defeat in February, Moreno stuck to his word and spent some quality time healing with his family. He’s now back this weekend to headline the UFC’s stop off in Edmonton where he faces Amir Albazi in a top five match-up.

    In a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri, Moreno spoke about what it was about his last fight that made him realize that he needed to step away for a while and how that has helped him to come back at his best.

    “In my mind, like trying to remember that moment in the fight like I wasn’t there, you know. My body was there and I was throwing punches, whatever, but my mind wasn’t there and that’s what made me feel very frustrated because I know I’m much better than the guy who fought last February so in that point, I think that’s the break point like, you know, I have to take a little step back. I have to take a little break. It wasn’t like a huge break but those months out of competition, out of thinking about my next fight, my next opponent, help me a lot to heal.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA23OT3MXHg&t=374s
  • Erin Blanchfield Explains How She Overcame One-Sided First UFC Loss

    Erin Blanchfield Explains How She Overcame One-Sided First UFC Loss

    Erin Blanchfield returns this weekend to try and get back on the right path following a tough result last time out. The #3-ranked flyweight faces Rose Namajunas in the co-main event in Edmonton on Saturday night.

    Following a six-fight winning streak inside the Octagon, many had high hopes that Blanchfield’s incredible rise would lead to her fighting for a title. The 25-year old came into her last fight against Manon Fiorot knowing that these were the stakes hanging over the fight.

    Her bout against the French striker showed that for how exciting the new contender is right now, she still has some key areas to work on. She was convincingly beaten by Fiorot who won every round on all three of the scorecards.

    Though losing any fight is always a difficult moment to overcome, Blanchfield told Shakiel Mahjouri in a recent interview that her mindset helps her to take lessons from these experiences and move forward. She said that approaching these setbacks in the same way that she would when she was competing as a kid helps to put them into perspective.

    We will find out this Saturday night whether she’s able to put those lessons into practice against the former two-time strawweight champion.

    “I feel like the last time I lost, I went on a huge winning streak like previous to this fight so I know I can, I’ve been training my whole life. I’ve won a lot, I’ve lost a lot as a kid so I feel like I’ve learned how to deal with losses pretty well and really how to grow from them and not like let them stunt you. I think some people kind of get into that rhythm. It’s still a sport at the end of the day and it’s still kind of like following that same mindset as like a kid like oh, you just get better, you just keep training and improve so once I was over the initial like sucking of losing, I was definitely ready to go back in the gym.”

  • Former PFL Champion Labels UFC Featherweight The Most Underrated Fighter In The UK

    Former PFL Champion Labels UFC Featherweight The Most Underrated Fighter In The UK

    Former PFL champion and upcoming finalist Brendan Loughnane has been around the UK MMA scene for a long time. The veteran has long been considered one of the most talented fighters in the region and he finally got his breakthrough when he signed with the PFL after fighting all over the world before that.

    During a recent episode of Uncaged by talkSPORT, Loughnane used his knowledge of the wide range of competitors to pick out a fighter that is set to return to the Octagon this weekend as his most underrated fighter from the UK. Wales’ Jack Shore is back in action on Saturday night when he heads to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

    “The Tank” will make his third appearance as a featherweight by taking on Youssef Zalal in a fight that has gone totally under the radar for most fight fans. Shore is looking to bounce back from a controversial loss last time out at UFC 301 where his fight with Joanderson Brito was stopped due to a cut on his shin.

    The 29-year old was 16-0 before being stopped by Ricky Simón in his final fight at 135-pounds and was attracting some hype off of his five fight win streak. Though Loughnane is reserving judgement on whether he can replicate that same level of success in the featherweight division, he believes Shore has all the skills he needs to compete at the highest level.

    “I think he’s the most underrated UK fighter right now, I really do, Jack Shore. I think he’s had a bit of bad luck but I think when he puts it together mate, like I don’t know about this move to featherweight…let’s just see, let’s just make an assumption after this fight but I really rate Jack and his team and I think he flies under the radar.”

  • Dricus Du Plessis Says Opponents Make The Same Mistake Against Khamzat Chimaev That They Make Against Him

    Dricus Du Plessis Says Opponents Make The Same Mistake Against Khamzat Chimaev That They Make Against Him

    Dricus Du Plessis is not backing down from the new big challenge that awaits him in the middleweight division. At UFC 308, Khamzat Chimaev delivered a statement performance to put himself into the title picture.

    The undefeated contender submitted former champion Robert Whittaker in the first round and in many people’s eyes, including Du Plessis’, he’s the most exciting option as the next title challenger.

    This is something that “Stillknocks” welcomes, as he recently made clear in his reaction to the fight in an interview. Even in his ruthless performance against “The Reaper” in Abu Dhabi, there’s a narrative that exists around Chimaev.

    Many believe that based on some of his previous fights, “Borz” is extremely dangerous in the opening round but his aggression and intensive grappling quickly drains his gas tank. In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Du Plessis was asked whether surviving the early stages of a fight with Chimaev would be his focus for a game plan.

    He made the point that fighters would often say the same thing about him until he proved in his last two title fights that he can maintain a consistent pace in the championship rounds. The South African champion said that approaching Chimaev with this mindset would put him at a disadvantage from the very start.

    “Yeah, I’ll be very careful in that sense. I think a lot of guys made that same mistake. I think Sean Strickland made that mistake with me, maybe even Israel. Saying, ‘Listen, get past round one and two with this guy and he’s going to be tired and that’s where you start gaining,’ but if you have a defensive mindset, you’re going to be on the back foot the whole time, especially with a offensive heavy fighter like Khamzat in the offensive wrestling stage and myself in the offensive everything stage.”   

  • Top Middleweight Contender Thinks He Has An Advantage Over Khamzat Chimaev Due To Previous Training Experience

    Top Middleweight Contender Thinks He Has An Advantage Over Khamzat Chimaev Due To Previous Training Experience

    Khamzat Chimaev presents a challenge to his fellow middleweight contenders that is unlike anything else they have faced in the division. We saw at UFC 294 last year that Kamaru Usman was able to make the fight competitive after weathering the early storm.

    The problem is that surviving the opening round against the aggressive grappling of the undefeated mauler is far easier than done. UFC 308 this past weekend was the best example of this to date.

    Despite all of his high level experience, former champion Robert Whittaker was unable to stop Chimaev from taking him down early on and submitting him, causing significant damage to his jaw in the process. The difficulty in preparing for someone like “Borz” is that not many people can match his skillset so fighting him comes with an element of battling the unexpected.

    This isn’t a concern for the #6-ranked contender at 185-pounds, Brazil’s Caio Borralho. Borralho previously spent some time in Sweden training with Chimaev for his bout against Nate Diaz that was scheduled for UFC 279 in 2022 but ended up with him facing Kevin Holland instead.

    Borralho isn’t trying to pursue a fight with his former training partner for this exact reason but he’s not opposed to squaring off with him in the future if it means that one of them leaves with the middleweight belt. In a recent interview with Submission Radio, he said that his previous experience training with Chimaev only helps him as both men continue to climb up the ranks.

    He believes that he has somewhat of a head start on figuring out how to beat him compared to the other top names in the division.

    “Yes, definitely. This is something that I’m ahead of all the fighters in because I know what to expect, I know what’s coming, I know how Khamzat works on his wrestling, his wall work and all this. I was with him for like one month so I was dealing with this every day, you know, so definitely I’m ahead of all the guys in the division about it.”

  • Carla Esparza Holds Firm On Retirement Despite Controversial UFC 307 Decision: ‘I’m Good With How I Left Things’

    Carla Esparza Holds Firm On Retirement Despite Controversial UFC 307 Decision: ‘I’m Good With How I Left Things’

    Former two-time strawweight champion Carla Esparza announced ahead of time that UFC 307 would be the final outing of her career. After losing the title to Weili Zhang at UFC 281 in November of 2022, she took a long break from her career in order to give birth to her first child.

    At the start of the month, she returned for one last dance, coming up against Tecia Pennington in Salt Lake City. Many felt that she deserved to get her hand raised following the final bell but this isn’t how the judges saw it.

    The fight was scored as a split decision in Pennington’s favor after judges Stephen Faragher and Dan Furse overruled Sal D’Amato. Faragher gave Esparza the opening round whilst Furse saw all three rounds for Pennington and the fans in Utah certainly let their thoughts on the scorecards be heard.

    Esparza obviously wouldn’t wanted to go out with a win but the controversial nature of her final bout hasn’t changed her decision to walk away at this stage. Regardless of the result, the former champion was still treated to a retirement video package from the UFC that capped off an emotional send off for her.

    In an interview with MMA Fighting looking back on how things ended, she said that though she didn’t quite get the storybook ending, it’s not something that’s going to keep her up at night.

    “It’s just hard. Even if I won in the first round via finish or lost a controversial decision, it’s hard to not want to go back no matter what the outcome was. I love fighting but that’s the last one for me regardless. I’m just glad I went out on a good note. It would have been much sweeter to go out with my hand raised but I’d say I’m good with how I left things.”

  • Rose Namajunas Doesn’t Believe She Deserves The Next Title Shot With Blanchfield Win

    Rose Namajunas Doesn’t Believe She Deserves The Next Title Shot With Blanchfield Win

    Rose Namajunas looks to make it three in a row this weekend when she returns in the co-main event of the UFC’s visit to Edmonton. The #5-ranked contender will take on one of the flyweight division’s most exciting talents in Erin Blanchfield who holds the #3-spot.

    With Blanchfield looking to rebound from the first loss of her UFC career last time out and Namajunas coming off of wins over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez, there are big stakes here but not for anything that “Thug” Rose believes will happen in the near future.

    On her flyweight debut in September last year, the former two-time strawweight champion was beaten by Manon Fiorot who then went on to dominate Blanchfield this past March. Despite her seven-fight win streak against some of the top names in the division, the French fighter is still yet to receive her title shot.

    That’s due to the trilogy of fights between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko that recently wrapped up at UFC 306 where Shevchenko regained the top spot. In a recent interview with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri, Namajunas said that even if she beats Blanchfield in impressive fashion this Saturday, she feels it would be wrong for her to get a shot at the belt before Fiorot.

    “I would still feel even with a good performance, well we could cross that bridge when get to it, but I feel like I’d still feel bad for some reason if I jumped her but you know, that’s just kind of, I don’t know. I am a person of integrity so I do feel like she deserves to be next in line. She’s been kind of waiting and although I do know that like I don’t know where her head is at, if she’s like saying no to offers than that’s not a thing to do either. Like if the UFC wants her to fight again then she should do that but ultimately, the UFC is kind of the judge of that and it’s up to me to have a really good performance as well to make that case.”   

  • Caio Borralho Calls For Whittaker In Sydney Or Backup Role For Next Title Fight   

    Caio Borralho Calls For Whittaker In Sydney Or Backup Role For Next Title Fight   

    As the #6-ranked contender in the middleweight division, there aren’t many fights that make sense for the surging Caio Borralho right now. The Brazilian called out a former champion following his win over Jared Cannonier but doesn’t look to have gotten anywhere with it just yet.

    With UFC 312 being announced for Sydney, Australia in February, his proposed fight against Israel Adesanya would make a lot of sense. It now looks like Alexander Volkanovski won’t be on the card so getting some big names from this region in meaningful fights is sure to be high on the UFC’s list of priorities.

    In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Borralho said that fighting Robert Whittaker on this card could be an option if the former champion has healed in time from his injuries that he suffered this past weekend at UFC 308.

    “I definitely think it’s a great fight, I’m a big fan of Rob, a big fan of what he has done in this sport. I think he’s a great guy, a nice guy, but definitely it’s a fight that I want if Adesanya doesn’t want to face me in the next fight, I think Robert Whittaker is the one that I want.”

    In the mean time, Borralho is happy to wait for the right fight and revealed that he’s already put his name into the mix to be the backup fighter for the next middleweight title fight. He believes that Sean Strickland will be next to challenge the champion, Dricus Du Plessis.

    That leaves Khamzat Chimaev who he’s trained with in the past so isn’t actively pursuing a fight with unless it means securing UFC gold. As a result, Borralho is open to the idea of staying ready in case the UFC needs someone to step in.

    “In fact, I told that to the UFC, I told that to Hunter, to Mick Maynard, that I can be the backup fighter. If they want me to be, I can be the backup fighter. I’m going to make weight and gonna wait. If something happens, I’ll be ready, I’ll be more than ready.”   

  • Sean O’Malley’s Coach Analyzes How He Would Fare Against Ilia Topuria

    Sean O’Malley’s Coach Analyzes How He Would Fare Against Ilia Topuria

    UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria is the man of the moment right now following his knockout win over Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308. In the past, there was a lot of people calling out “El Matador” but this has gone quiet following this recent performance.

    The new UFC star has now beaten two great former champions in back-to-back fights, finishing both Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski. It wasn’t that long ago that the champion of the weight class below was eyeing up a fight with him.

    Before Sean O’Malley lost his bantamweight belt to Merab Dvalishvili, who certainly isn’t going to fight Topuria, “Suga” had teased the idea of moving up in weight. Topuria appeared to welcome it but after what he did in Abu Dhabi at the weekend, O’Malley jokingly remarked that he’s no longer interested.

    Despite this, O’Malley’s long time coach Tim Welch believes that the 135-pounder could cause Topuria some issues due to the strengths be brings to the table. Many are looking at the featherweight champion and his undefeated record as an unbeatable fighter in this current form.

    Welch explained in a recent interview with Submission Radio why this is never the case and how O’Malley would be able to have success against him.

    “No, I don’t think it’s past. I mean, you never know what’s going to happen in the UFC. It’s not impossible that Volkanovski goes out there and beats Ilia Topuria. I mean, that’s possible so you never know and I do think stylistically, Sean could give Ilia problems. He really could but Ilia Topuria is a very, very scary fight.

    “That’s not a fight that you go in there and be like, ‘Oh yeah man we’re gonna…’, it’s like you make one mistake with Ilia Topuria and you’re going to be lights out, looking up at the ceiling or whatever but that’s a scary, scary fight. But I do believe that Sean, with his range and with his speed and with his, with his I mean, just his, his overall skill set, he could give Ilia problems. I do believe that.”

  • Dricus Du Plessis Picks His Preference Between Strickland Rematch Or Chimaev

    Dricus Du Plessis Picks His Preference Between Strickland Rematch Or Chimaev

    Since his submission win over Israel Adesanya in August, it’s looked like Dricus Du Plessis’ next defense of his middleweight title would be against a former foe. Sean Strickland has stuck to his guns that he’s the next in line for the title despite the actions of other contenders.

    The former champion was beaten by Du Plessis in January where he lost the belt via a split decision, rebounding with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302. Strickland getting his rematch looked like it was on the cards for early next year until the aftermath of UFC 308 this past weekend.

    In the co-main event, Khamzat Chimaev submitted former champion Robert Whittaker in the first round to maintain his undefeated record and earn his biggest win to date. As a result, “Borz” has shot up the middleweight rankings, climbing ten places. When you look back at both men’s performances, it’s clear to see who the fans are more excited in seeing challenge Du Plessis next time out.

    During a recent interview with Radioraps, the 185-pound king gave his thoughts on the current situation, stating which fight interests him more at this moment in time. Considering that he’s beaten Strickland before and Chimaev is one of the most talked about fighters in the world right now, his decision was an easy one.

    “I think we always knew that between Rob and Khamzat, if there was going to be something exceptional that happens, there might be a change in the title fight. We have no clarity on that but as a fan of the sport and as the middleweight champion of the world, that’s a fight that gets me more excited. You know, taking somebody’s 0.

    “I’ve beaten Strickland before and I know I’ll beat him again so now getting that Khamzat fight, that gets me excited. I think the whole world, the fans want to see it. The fans ultimately pay to watch the fights so the fight the world thinks is the best next fight, that’s what I want. So yeah, I think the Khamzat fight is 100% what I want, the UFC is going to do what they’re going to do.”  

  • Alexandre Pantoja Explains Why He Isn’t Interested In Moving Divisions

    Alexandre Pantoja Explains Why He Isn’t Interested In Moving Divisions

    Many UFC fighters are quick to talk about their desire to move up the weight classes in order to achieve success in multiple divisions. This is not a current priority or goal for UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.

    The Brazilian has already defended his title twice since beating Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 to finally realize his dream of holding the gold. Alongside successful defenses over Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg, Pantoja has already beaten other top contenders in Alex Perez and Manel Kape.

    This doesn’t leave the champion with an abundance of options for new challenges when you look at who’s at the top right now, hence why new star signing Kai Asakura will be going straight into a title fight at UFC 310 on December 7. Despite this, Pantoja does not have plans to move to bantamweight in the near future.

    In a recent interview with Sherdog, he said that in his opinion, the flyweight division has never been better when you look at the quality of fights and talent. He’s extremely happy where he is, especially whilst he’s on top.

    “Flyweight have the best moment ever. We have a lot of main events, a lot of best fights of the night, a lot of bonuses. All the flyweight fights, you make sure that the fight is going to be crazy. I’m super happy with that moment and when I look to the back, I see a lot of good challengers, especially guys coming into the top 10, top 15. New guys in the UFC, that’s crazy. You see Taira make a close fight with Royval. You see Asu (Almabayev) fight beautiful fight with Matheus Nicolau too. You have a lot of good names coming for that division and now, one more, Kai Asakura, is going to be great. I think that’s the best moment for flyweight in UFC.”

    Pantoja also said that his desire to move up to bantamweight depends on two things, a potential fight with Sean O’Malley or a rematch with Deiveson Figueiredo but neither are champions right now.