We’re deep into UFC 308 fight week, meaning it was recently time for the fighters set to be in action on October 26 to take to the stage and answer some questions.
Setting the stage for the UFC 308 headliners will be crucial five-round contest at 185 pounds, with former kingpin Robert Whittaker looking to blemish the thus-far perfect professional record of Khamzat Chimaev.
Also on pay-per-view will be top light heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev, who will look to finally secure a shot at Alex Pereira by getting the better of Aleksandar Rakić. That’s in addition to rising featherweight Lerone Murphy, who returns following a main event win over Edson Barboza to do battle with Dan Ige.
The UFC 308 main card will open with Shara Magomedov making his third walk to the Octagon in quick succession. “Bullet” will look to continue his winning start to life in the UFC against a fellow kickboxing specialist in Armen Petrosyan.
As is customary during major fight weeks, the athletes took to the stage on Thursday for the pre-fight press conference.
At 33-years old, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has accumulated a lifetime’s worth of experience inside the Octagon. This accumulation of fights at the highest level is one of his strongest attributes and it will be key to his next outing this Saturday.
In the co-main event of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, Whittaker faces the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev after the pairing were initially matched up earlier this year. Chimaev withdraw from their planned main event in Saudi Arabia but Whittaker chose to stay on the card.
With his most destructive performance in quite some time, “The Reaper” stopped replacement opponent Ikram Aliskerov in under two minutes. Chimaev presents a very different threat but it’s one that a former rival of his believes that Whittaker can come through.
Many expect that the veteran will have the advantage in the later rounds due to the differences in styles between the two men. We haven’t seen Chimaev get tested over five rounds whereas Whittaker has been the full 25-minute distance plenty of times.
In his breakdowns and picks for the fights this weekend, former champ Israel Adesanya sided with Whittaker to get the win by overcoming a tough start to the fight against the aggressive and explosive Chimaev.
Adesanya has shared the Octagon with Whittaker on two previous occasions and believes that with his win over Aliskerov, he reminded people just how good he is.
“I just think, again, Rob is just a guy not to be f***** with. I mean, look at his last fight. So hopefully people remember who he is now so I think Rob will do it again, maybe not as early, definitely not as early. I don’t think so, I just think he’ll catch him later on but he has to weather the storm man. He has to survive. He has to survive till he can’t and let me see, I’m gonna go Rob with this one with a late finish, round four.”
On November 9 at the UFC Apex, Gerald Meerschaert draws the task of welcoming Reinier de Ridder to the Octagon. The former two-weight titleholder in ONE Championship was recently announced to have signed with the promotion, making this one of the more highly anticipated debuts of the year.
For the veteran Meerschaert, coming up against opponents that have got hype behind them and playing the role of the underdog or party spoiler is nothing new. The 36-year old submission specialist is no stranger to taking on guys that are on the rise and he doesn’t mind that.
The result may not have gone his way but he was the third UFC opponent of Khamzat Chimaev during the absolute peak of the massive amounts of excitement around him. When looking at this fight, rather than him being set up to lose to “The Dutch Knight”, he believes that the UFC benefits from either outcome.
Unlike the Chimaev fight where a loss would have derailed an incredibly exciting addition to the roster, Meerschaert told James Lynch in a recent interview for Inside Fighting that if he goes out there and beats de Ridder, it’s a great look for the promotion.
If he loses to his fellow grappling ace, then the UFC has a new contender that it can push towards big things in the middleweight division. Putting this fight together means that the promotion can’t lose regardless of the outcome.
“I can see both sides of that because if he wins and they want to invest in him, there’s someone there that you get fresh into the mix but on the same hand, I could see them giving him to me just on the, I do like to derail hype trains. Obviously I didn’t with Chimaev but how great for them to have their guy who’s a submission guy beat ONE FC’s double champ so they can be like, ‘See, our guys are better!’ They can play off either way of that, I don’t know if that’s the reason why. There’s certainly tougher match-ups they could have given him to your point but either way, I’m here.”
With a five-fight win streak since returning to the welterweight division, Joaquin Buckley now finds himself ranked inside the top 10 at 170-pounds. His latest win was also his biggest, stopping Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 307 to climb to the #9-spot.
In order for Buckley to get within reach of a title shot, he will need another big name on his resume but that’s not possible if he can’t make this line up for him. In a recent interview with Inside Fighting, Buckley was asked who he thinks would accept a fight with him that’s currently above him in the rankings.
He struggled to think of too many examples, picking out three names in the end with one of them being the current champion.
“Accept a fight? That’s a hard one. I believe the ones that are true fighters and true martial artists who would love to step into the cage with me are JDM (Jack Della Maddalena), is one of them… Damn, that’s kinda crazy, when I really start to think about it. Ian Garry probably… Belal Muhammad, that’s it bro. That’s it. When you talk about really wanna step in the cage with me, I don’t think there’s a lot of dudes that went to step in there with me.”
“Gilbert don’t want to step in there with me, Leon Edwards wouldn’t want to step in there with me, Colby Covington wouldn’t want to step in there with me. We see Usman didn’t want that work. Sean Brady blocked me from Instagram so he definitely don’t want to get the work. There’s not a lot of guys that’s willing to step in that cage with me, I’ll tell you that.”
At UFC 309 in New York, Michael Chandler will make his long awaited return to the Octagon where he’s in search of revenge. After waiting for his fight with Conor McGregor to materialize for so long, he’s happy with how things worked out even though he’s not fighting “The Mac”.
Instead, “Iron” Mike has the opportunity to put himself right back in the title picture by beating Charles Oliveira in a rematch of their first meeting over three years ago.
After Chandler’s big win over Dan Hooker on his UFC debut, he and “Do Bronx” put on a crazy fight at UFC 262 which saw the Brazilian stop him in the second round to win the lightweight title that was left behind by Khabib Nurmagomedov in retirement.
One contender at 155-pounds that has been very critical of Chandler’s all-action fighting style is Arman Tsarukyan, who appears to be gearing up for a rematch with the champion, Islam Makhachev, early next year. He’s made it clear that he’s not the biggest fan of the former Bellator star and doesn’t respect him as a top fighter in the division.
Tsarukyan is coming off of a hard fought win over Oliveira last time out at UFC 300 to solidify his status as the number one contender in the division. When looking at the upcoming co-main event at Madison Square Garden in an interview with MMA Junkie, it’s no surprise that he’s picking his former opponent to win in convincing fashion and earn the next shot at the belt.
“Michael Chandler going to lose for sure. He’s number one easy fight for Charles Oliveira, he’s going to choke him out or knock him out. Easy money for Oliveira so so happy for him and after the fight, Oliveira is going to be the next after me so I’m going to fight with Islam and after that fight, for sure he’s going to fight for the title because he has a big name, he was the champion and the UFC loves him.”
UFC light heavyweight contender Aleksandar Rakić believes upcoming opponent Magomed Ankalaev will be an easier puzzle to crack than his previous foe.
Rakić made his return from a lengthy stint on the sidelines this past April at UFC 300. In what marked his first outing since tearing his ACL opposite Jan Błachowicz at the Apex, the Austrian contender did battle with Jiří Procházka.
While “Rocket” got off to a strong start against the former champion, he faded in round two and was ultimately stopped by way of TKO inside T-Mobile Arena.
Despite that setback, Rakić has seemingly found himself in another title eliminator this weekend at UFC 308, where Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena will play host to his crucial clash opposite Ankalaev.
During his appearance at UFC 308 media day on Wednesday, Rakić previewed his second assignment of the year.
Interestingly, despite the Russian being labeled a nightmare opponent for striking specialists like Rakić, the 32-year-old Vienna native suggested that the Ankalaev matchup is more favorable for him than his UFC 300 task.
“What makes me really happy is that the UFC gave me Ankalaev,” Rakić said. “I honestly believe that if I didn’t put a good fight at UFC 300 — it doesn’t matter the result, I would never get that fight.
“When I got the fight against Ankalaev, the name, I immediately said yes because he’s number two-ranked behind Jiří Procházka, who lost twice to Pereira, so this is the best matchup for me,” he continued. “Stylistically, it’s going to be a better matchup for me than Jiří Procházka.”
Rakić will look to prove as much by getting the better of Ankalaev, who enters Saturday’s pay-per-view in the Middle East riding an unbeaten run stretching 12 fights and coming off a brutal knockout of Johnny Walker in this year’s very first main event.
PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis has claimed that there isn’t a UFC event in 2024 that generated the kind of viewership his promotion’s latest pay-per-view did.
With those two making their long-awaited returns to the cage in addition to Bellator gold being on the line between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards, not to mention an exciting clash between Paul Hughes and AJ McKee, the Oct. 19 event was highly anticipated.
On that note, Davis recently conducted a Town Hall-style interview with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck. The PFL chief took questions on a variety of topics from the mixed martial arts community, including some centered around the latest action inside the SmartCage.
When discussing how the event this past Saturday night performed, Davis made some bold claims. The PFL founder said his promotion’s research has shown that Battle of the Giants outperformed every event the UFC has put on this year in terms of viewership.
“I can’t answer the first question (how many PPV buys?). The second question (did it meet projected goals?), yes it did,” Davis said. “I actually made a post an hour ago…we actually provided eight viewership goals that we put out. Almost everything on this event, I put out one hour ago. What you will see is pretty astounding global audience numbers for this event.
“This event, by our research, beat every viewership number of every UFC event this year, and was very, very close to ‘Ring of Fire’ (Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk)…the biggest boxing event in five years,” Davis continued. “Overall, the same global viewership metrics of ‘Ring of Fire’. That was really something that was our stretch goal, and that’s what we achieved.”
As many pointed out in the comments below the PFL founder’s post on social media, the graphic doesn’t include viewership via pay-per-view on ESPN and DAZN and instead focuses on social media figures.
Rare in sports for excellence on global scale – we did it with PFL Super Fight: Battle of the Giants
But Davis went on to explain why a changing landscape in the broadcast and media realm means PPV buys are no longer the be-all and end-all when determining the success of an event in terms of global viewership.
“Right now, economics flow a very different way. In the sports world, it used to be just PPV buys. But now, money is made many different ways,” Davis stated. “Sponsorship, social media, host fees; there’s an economical bundle that is very different now. So there’s many metrics that matter.”
That falls significantly short of @ufc numbers throughout the year, with one example being numerous posts during April’s UFC 300 event. Of note was a video of Max Holloway’s buzzer-beating KO of Justin Gaethje, which surpassed 7.8 million views.
Unlike that card, this occasion sees gold on the line. Championship stakes on Oct. 26 will come at featherweight, with reigning kingpin Ilia Topuria putting his belt on the line for the first time against legendary fan favorite Max Holloway.
Before “El Matador” looks to cement his grip on the 145-pound crown, former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker will look to bring himself back into a title matchup by blemishing the perfect record of Khamzat Chimaev.
Elsewhere on the main card, Magomed Ankalaev and Aleksandar Rakić collide for the likely right to challenge Alex Pereira, Dan Ige becomes the latest looking to take Lerone Murphy’s ‘O’, and Shara Magomedov keeps up his high level of activity inside the Octagon.
The event will be available exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view on Saturday, October 26, 2024. The main card begins at 2 PM ET, while the preliminary card kicks off at 10 AM ET.
Ahead of it, a number of UFC 308 fighters appeared for the open workouts at the Yas Mall in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Check out a highlights package posted by the UFC on X below:
We came. We saw. We put on a show! 🤩#UFC308 open workouts are COMPLETE!
Ilia Topuria takes serious exception to Max Holloway’s self-crowning as the UFC’s best boxer.
“El Matador” is slated to put his featherweight title on the line for the first time this weekend against Holloway in the headliner of UFC 308, set to take place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
We're back in Abu Dhabi for #UFC308 and these fights are MUST-SEE 😮💨
The lead-up to this much-anticipated clash has been marked by passionate rhetoric between Topuria and Holloway in interviews and across social media. The tension has largely centered on the debate over who is truly the superior fighter, with the undefeated Georgian-Spaniard asserting his ambition to become the first to knock out “Blessed” inside the Octagon.
During the media day interaction ahead of UFC 308 on Wednesday, “El Matador” was asked for his thoughts on Holloway’s persistent claims of being the “best boxer in the UFC,” a title the Hawaiian notably proclaimed after his dominant victory over Calvin Kattar at a Fight Night event in January 2021.
Topuria promptly dismissed the reigning BMF titleholder’s claims, stating that while he acknowledges Holloway’s striking abilities and the experience he brings to the table, he remains confident in his own skills.
“In reality, he’s a good striker,” Topuria said. “It’s not only boxer, but calling himself the best boxer in the UFC is kind of a shame because he’s not the best boxer in the UFC, but he’s a good striker. He has a lot of experience. He’s very patient inside the Octagon.
“But everyone is good when they can develop their style in the Octagon, and someone is not putting pressure on him. So, on Saturday night, he’s going to feel something that he’s never felt with any other opponents that he had in the past. The pressure he’s going to feel with me is going to be completely different.”
Topuria claimed the featherweight title in a stunning upset against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 earlier this year. He currently boasts a perfect 7-0 record in the UFC, with five of those victories coming by way of finish.
Meanwhile, “Blessed” is coming off a thrilling last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 in April, securing the BMF title. UFC 308 will be Holloway’s third attempt to reclaim the 145-pound crown. He boasts a 22-7 record in the Octagon, with 11 of those victories coming by way of knockout.
Max Holloway is just days away from his highly anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 308, where he will face Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title. As the fight draws near, Holloway has dismissed Topuria’s attempts at trash talk, comparing the rising contender to Conor McGregor, who became famous for his pre-fight bravado and ability to back it up once the cage door closed.
Topuria has made bold statements about Holloway, but the former champion remains unfazed. One particular claim from Topuria was his promise to initiate a throwdown in the center of the Octagon within the first 10 seconds of the fight. Holloway, however, isn’t convinced that Topuria will follow through on this promise.
Copycat Accusations
Holloway didn’t hold back when criticizing Topuria’s approach, calling him a “copycat” of McGregor.
“It just makes no sense,” Holloway said. “To me, I don’t think he deserves it—you’ve got to earn that right. I don’t think he deserves it. I mean, you guys know who he’s copying. This guy is a copycat down to his tattoos, to his aura, to the way he approaches fights.”
Holloway went on to say, “I think the moment needs to be earned, and he’s just trying to steal stuff. He’s already trying to steal one person’s aura, and now he’s trying to steal someone else’s thing.”
Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker are on a collision course this Saturday night when they meet in the UFC 308 co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Heading into the fight, Chimaev is confident in his ability to take Whittaker to the ground using his wrestling skills—and do so with ease. He envisions this tactic playing out throughout the fight.
Takedown Advantage
“Who has stopped my takedowns?” Chimaev told MMA Junkie. “Nobody. So, I don’t think this guy will be any different. Kamaru Usman was a great champ, and he took everyone down. But I took him down. I dominated him easily in the rounds. What’s going to be different with a taekwondo or karate guy compared to Usman, who’s been a wrestler? He was a professional wrestler before.”
Chimaev hasn’t fought since his victory over former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman last October at UFC 294, as health issues slowed him down. Before that, he also scored a win against Gilbert Burns.
Despite the long layoff, Chimaev assures fans that he will come out strong, as they’ve come to expect from him, even in this five-round bout.
A recently retired UFC fighter believes the promotion could cash in big time by having reigning light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira challenge his heavyweight counterpart, Jon Jones.
The possibility of Jones facing Pereira was barely a topic when the former debuted at heavyweight by winning the then-vacant title back in March 2023. At the time, “Poatan” occupied the throne at 185 pounds.
But since the end of his middleweight reign the following month, Pereira has moved up to light heavyweight and marked himself as one of the promotion’s leading stars by achieving two-division glory.
And a string of three straight title defenses in 2023 has left many calling for the Brazilian kickboxing specialist to move up again in pursuit of a historic achievement — championship glory in three separate weight classes.
Though Pereira was dismissive of an immediate heavyweight jump in the aftermath of his victory over Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 earlier this month, many are hoping for the promotion to push for it should Jones keep hold of his gold beyond next month’s Madison Square Garden event.
During a recent episode of MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast, former UFC welterweight Matt Brown touched on the topic and was firm in his belief when it comes to the magnitude of the potential clash.
“I don’t doubt this could be as big as any Conor fight,” Brown said. “This could be promoted to the max. They could do it (International) Fight Week or one of the gigantic cards maybe at the Sphere, something crazy. This could be enormous. Jon’s a smart guy. He’s here for the money now, I think. Legacy and money and Alex is going to bring that. It could be promoted as much as you want to promote. This could be the money fight. It’s heavyweight, too. Heavyweight fights always bring a stigma to them that those lighter fights just don’t bring.
“Conor obviously brought the trash talk and all the antics, the funny stuff and the cool stuff, there’s a certain aura when Conor comes into the cage,” Brown continued. “But there’s a different aura that can be sold here when Jon Jones, the greatest of all-time, who just beat the greatest heavyweight of all-time — assuming that happens — fighting another guy trying to do the biggest thing of all-time, (become) a three-weight world champion. I can’t think of a bigger fight outside of Conor, but I think it could be as big as any Conor fight.”
The bout has evidently been discussed internally, with UFC CEO Dana White revealing earlier this year that color commentator Joe Rogan has been pushing for “Poatan” and “Bones” to be matched up.
Dana White says Alex Pereira vs Jon Jones could "possibly" happen and says Joe Rogan has been pushing him to make that fight 👀
The manager of Islam Makhachev believes Dana White’s attempt to downplay the UFC lightweight champion’s status as pound-for-pound best is entirely down to his efforts to promote Jon Jones.
“Bones,” a former light heavyweight kingpin who captured the heavyweight gold in his divisional debut last year, is set to make his long-awaited return to defend the belt in the UFC 309 main event next month.
Among White’s claims is the suggestion that the rankings panel have massively messed up by putting Makhachev in the pound-for-pound top spot over Jones.
“Listen, it’s the reason why Dana White is the pound-for-pound greatest promoter on this planet,” Abdelaziz explained. “Jon Jones is fighting next month. He’s fighting a guy (in Stipe Miocic), he’s probably going to be -800 against. (This is) the best way to promote this fight, to promote Jon Jones.
“Dana never promoted Jon Jones for some reason. But now he’s on Jon Jones’ wagon. Guess what? This promotes Jon Jones, too,” Abdelaziz continued. “He can say he’s the greatest of all time. Islam Makhachev right now currently is the pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the world by far. It’s not even second place. But Dana’s Dana. People think he’s talking gospel.”
White isn’t along in disagreeing with Abdelaziz’s take.
Makhachev’s expected next challenger, in-form Russian-Armenian contender Arman Tsarukyan, also put Jones above the lightweight champ while discussing the pound-for-pound order in a recent interview with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn.
Arman Tsarukyan sides with Dana White on UFC's pound-for-pound debate.
“(Islam Makhachev) doesn’t deserve it. I agree the No. 1 pound-for-pound is Jon Jones.”
The UFC roster tracking accounts reported that following this weekend’s UFC Fight Night at the Apex in Las Vegas, Jake Hadley has been cut from the roster. The Brit was looking to make it back-to-back wins at bantamweight but came up short.
His original opponent, Brady Hiestand, withdrew from the bout on fight week and was replaced by Cameron Smotherman who came in for his UFC debut. “White Kong” ended his run in the promotion with a record of 3-4 and this news wasn’t going to slip past a former rival of his.
Despite some pleasant exchanges between them on social media in more recent times, the feud between UK flyweights Hadley and Muhammad Mokaev has gone on for a long time at this stage. This came to ahead in the UFC when they shared the card with one another at UFC 286 in March of last year.
Both men are no longer with the promotion after Mokaev’s contract wasn’t re-signed, leading him to return to his former promotion of Brave CF. After seeing the news of Hadley’s UFC departure, Mokaev looked to get the last laugh.
Hadley responded, telling his long-time rival to finally set the fight up between them by getting Brave CF to reach out to him now that he is no longer under contract with the UFC.
This followed a previous exchange where Hadley offered to step in and replace Raul Rosas Jr. who was set to grapple Mokaev at ADXC 6 this Friday. “The Punisher” will now face Brazil’s Rogerio Bontorin at the event instead.
Let's make the fight happen then get brave to message me big man or try summat on road vs me now then I promise u will be dead
If Brave CF are able to get Hadley to sign so they can make the fight, this would be a great bout for them to put together that would generate some serious interest. Hadley also shared the following post on social media after the PFL’s Dan Hardy commented on the news of his recent release.
Dan Hardy likes the look of Jake Hadley being a free agent! 👀
The five-rounder in Abu Dhabi marks the undefeated fighter’s first outing in over a year. That’s after numerous illnesses and injuries kept him out following a win over Kamaru Usman in his return to 185 pounds.
“Borz” went back up in weight after a debacle on the scale that saw him come in well over the welterweight limit for a subsequently canceled 2022 pay-per-view headliner against Nate Diaz.
While many welcomed that change and believe the door is now shut on a 170-pound future for the Chechen star, Sonnen sees things differently, as he explained during a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel.
Sonnen touched on the coaching change Chimaev has made to his camp, which he believes will be nothing but beneficial. But “The American Gangster” remains unsure if “Borz” can overcome what he sees as a size disadvantage in the middleweight division.
“If Chimaev is returning to the coach he had when he was 17, you’re going to see one of the best versions of Chimaev that you’ve seen before,” Sonnen said. “But that’s still Robert effing Whittaker. He will beat your ass. He will keep you on your feet and he will begin to bludgeon you.
“I’m also not sold on Chimaev’s size. I know some of you are. You’re saying that he’s pulling pretty hard to get down to 185 and 170 is long behind him. I’m getting other information, and I do know that he considered a title fight all the way at 170 (recently),” Sonnen continued. “I’m just not sold on how big he is at 185. I know how big Whittaker is at 185. I supported the concept of Whittaker going up to 205.”
In his last outing, Chimaev emerged victorious from a 185-pound contest. He was, however, facing a former welterweight champ in Usman who was making his debut in the division.
With that in mind, plenty of questions still surround his prospects of finding success in the higher weight class. And given the level of competition he’s set to face at UFC 308 this Saturday, it stands to reason that they will be answered soon enough.
Following his decisive win over Brian Ortega at UFC 306, Diego Lopes called to be the backup fighter in Abu Dhabi this weekend. In the main event, Ilia Topuria puts his featherweight title on the line for the first time at UFC 308 when he takes on the former champion, Max Holloway.
It’s undoubtedly one of the biggest fights of the year so having another top contender on location and ready to make weight just in case is always a great plan B to have in the back pocket. This is especially true when you have someone like Lopes who as we saw earlier this year at UFC 303, is always down to step in there and fight whatever the circumstances are.
The Brazilian is currently riding a five-fight win streak so is seemingly just one win away from earning his title shot but in the case that something unfortunate happens, that could come as soon as just three days time.
However, despite calling for and receiving this opportunity, Lopes doesn’t have his fingers crossed that one man has to withdraw so that he can fight for the title on October 26. Just like all the fight fans around the world, the #3-ranked contender is stoked to watch this incredible match-up take place at the Etihad Arena.
He spoke in an interview with MMA Junkie that though he’s taking all the steps that he needs to take during fight week, he’s excited to watch it go down on Saturday night even if he isn’t involved.
“I’m waiting for everything bro but I’m so excited too to watch the fight. I hope on Friday morning, everything is okay, the guys stay healthy for the fight on Saturday night. I’m so excited for this fight.”
Lopes followed up, stating that though he wants to watch that fight take place this weekend, that will not get in the way of him taking the fight if the UFC pick up the phone.
“Yeah, I hope it is. I hope it is but if UFC need me, I’m waiting.”
It’s safe to say that interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is not too confident that the winner of Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will face him to unify the belts following UFC 309. The two veterans are set to collide at Madison Square Garden where it’s expected that both men will retire after the fight.
That leaves Aspinall likely looking at an upcoming clash between top contenders as his next opponent once he’s promoted to being the full champion. At UFC 310 on December 7, former interim champion Ciryl Gane will make his return to the Octagon to face off with Alexander Volkov in a rematch.
Gane was dominant in their first meeting back in 2021 but a lot has changed since then, especially when you look at both men’s activity. The Frenchman hasn’t fought since September of last year where he stopped Serghei Spivac in Paris to bounce back from his loss to Jones earlier that year.
As for Aspinall’s former opponent in Volkov, he’s won four in a row since losing to the Brit with his latest victory over Sergei Pavlovich coming this past June. In a recent interview with CasinoHawks, Aspinall previewed the fight.
He believes that the recent form and activity of the Russian will make this fight far more competitive than their initial meeting at the Apex three years ago.
“I think it’s a 50-50 fight. I know they fought before, and it was an absolute stinker—the first one was terrible. Since I fought Volkov, he’s improved a lot. He’s changed his training situation, and Gane has been inactive. Gane seems to fight once a year against opponents who suit him quite well. It’s hard to say; Volkov has been very active. I think he fought four or five times since we fought a couple of years ago, which is a lot for an elite heavyweight. I still think it’s a close fight, though, because I believe Gane is very good and smart, but I think it’ll be a lot closer than the last one, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Volkov pulled it off.”
Yair Rodríguez revealed in a recent interview with MMA Junkie that despite his hopes of returning before the end of the year, it looks like the UFC has plans for him in the first quarter of 2025. “El Pantera” last competed in February where he was submitted by Brian Ortega in Mexico City.
According to Rodríguez, there could be plans for the Octagon to go back to the same place one year later which opens up discussions about who he could possibly face in and around February. UFC 312 is set for the same month in Sydney, Australia which Alexander Volkanovski hopes to be a part of so it could end up being a big month for the featherweight division.
We also have Aljamain Sterling and Movsar Evloev being rescheduled for UFC 310 and that leaves a couple names that Rodríguez is yet to meet inside the Octagon who could make sense for this time frame.
Whilst in attendance in Abu Dhabi for UFC fight week, the Mexican star named two potential options that have come up in previous conversations.
“I always look to be fighting somebody that is in front of me or somebody that push me to fight for the title again. Names that have been mentioned to me in the past is Diego Lopes, who’s attending the event as well, and Arnold Allen and we’ll see how that goes. I’m just waiting to hear back from the UFC and whatever they want, I’m here to fight.”
Former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos is back up at welterweight this weekend when he faces Geoff Neal at UFC 308. After initially making the move up to 170-pounds back in 2017, “RDA” has returned to 155 on several occasions but that appears to have come to an end.
At UFC 299 earlier this year, Dos Anjos faced Mateusz Gamrot in a fight that could have propelled him up the lightweight rankings with a win. Considering the stakes that were hanging in the balance, the Brazilian said in a recent interview with Home of Fight that it made sense to take.
After coming up short against Gamrot, Dos Anjos intends on spending the rest of his days in the UFC as a certified welterweight. When he first went up a weight class, it was due to the brutal weight cuts that he was having to go through in order to hit 155-pounds.
During the interview, the former champ revealed that he was having to cut nearly 30 pounds earlier this year in Miami in order to fight in his former division once again.
Securing a win over the #10-ranked Neal in Abu Dhabi this weekend will be the justification that Dos Anjos needs in order to remain at welterweight.
“Just try to make weight is hell man. I’m 195 right now three weeks away from the fight and I’m in good shape, you know. I’m not in a bad shape and I’m not fat, I’m in a good shape and it’s just too hard man. My last lightweight camp, the whole camp like even on the fight week, I was 185, I couldn’t get below that. The lightest that I got during the fight camp was 184 and man, I’m 39-years old, I have the title before and that’s not what I want for my life.”
Though many fans are clamoring for him to run it back with Dustin Poirier, UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker doesn’t appear completely interested in “The Diamond.”
Following a tough stretch of results, Hooker has firmly bounced back in recent times. He most recently returned to title contention by upsetting the odds to outpoint the highly regarded Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 this past August.
With that result in Perth, Australia, “The Hangman” could be one win away from a possible title shot. And because of that, Hooker isn’t looking to face a contender on their “way out the door.”
Following his latest win, the City Kickboxing standout initially pointed to a rematch with multi-time title challenger Poirier as a desired next fight. But that interest has seemingly dissipated, as Hooker revealed during an appearance on Tuesday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned.
While acknowledging other options such as a first-time clash with Justin Gaethje, Hooker showed a surprising lack of interest in a second dance opposite Poirier.
The New Zealander cited Poirier’s planned retirement in 2025 as the reason behind his reservations when it comes to that fight, stating that he’s not keen on doing battle with somebody who has one foot into retirement.
“I’ve had a lot of the guys in the top five say my name,” Hooker said. “Arman (Tsarukyan) mentioned it for an interim title. Gaethje mentioned my name. Poirier, obviously, mentioned my name. I’m keen on any of those fights. … Dustin, I don’t know.
He laid his gloves down in his last fight, then he’s coming out and he’s saying he’ll do another one but like, as a retirement fight. I don’t know. I’m not really interested in kicking someone on the way out the door,” Hooker continued. “Gaethje, that’s obviously a fight fan’s dream, that right there. Someone new, there’s something there that fans have wanted to see for a very long time and finally kind of makes sense.”
“The Diamond” originally looked set to hang up the gloves following his failed title bid opposite Islam Makhachev this past June, but he’s since recommitted to the continuation of his fighting career for the time being.
And Poirier could even be set for two more outings should the Louisiana-held UFC event at which he hopes to retire not be scheduled until the second half of 2025.
For now, it would appear fans can cut Hooker from their speculation when it comes to Poirier’s final foe/s. That is, unless “The Diamond’s” pitch for a BMF tournament comes to fruition…
The coach of newly crowned PFL Super Fights Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou believes Renan Ferreira made a critical error in the lead-up to their clash this past weekend.
During an appearance on Tuesday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned, coach Eric Nicksick reflected on his man’s performance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Xtreme Couture trainer spoke about the mindset Ngannou entered the cage with, explaining how it became more dangerous after Ferreira’s antics during their faceoff at the ceremonial weigh-ins the previous night.
“I just felt like there was a certain way about Francis, and especially after the faceoff,” Nicksick said. “I felt like Renan f*cked up by head-butting him and getting in his face, because it really took Francis to a different place. It really did. I’ve never really seen Francis, not necessarily mad, but it lit a fire under his ass in a different way.
“I’m thankful for Renan doing that, you know?” Nicksick continued. “When he did that, I looked over at Dewey (Cooper) and was like, ‘Yeah, dude. This is perfect. Thanks.’”
“The Predator” recently praised “Problema” in a social media post, branding him an “incredible competitor.” The Brazilian entered the contest off the back of a title-winning PFL campaign in 2023 and rapid knockout of Bellator kingpin Ryan Bader this past February.
This journey wouldn’t be complete without me thanking @renan_problema_mma for being a great sport, an incredible competitor, and for pushing me to go the extra mile every day in the past months—even though you kicked the hell out of my leg! 💪😉#BattleOfTheGiants@pflmmapic.twitter.com/22YHPIOUmo
Rising UFC middleweight contender Caio Borralho claims that talks are ongoing with the promotion regarding a potential showdown with former two-time champion Israel Adesanya.
Adesanya returned to action close to a year on from his defeat to Sean Strickland this past August. After being shockingly unseated from the throne by “Tarzan,” the Nigerian-New Zealander was looking to achieve three-time status at the expense of Dricus Du Plessis.
“The Last Stylebender” was quick to dismiss any suggestion of a possible retirement in the aftermath, and it appears that his next outing could mark his third straight Down Under.
It was recently announced that UFC 312 will mark the organization’s return to the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney — the venue in which Adesanya lost to Strickland last year. And should Borralho get his wish, the ex-champ will get his chance for redemption in the city opposite him in 2025.
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie‘s Mike Bohn, the #5-ranked contender claimed discussions are ongoing with the UFC over sharing the cage with Adesanya at next year’s second pay-per-view.
Borralho sought to explain why the matchup makes sense and also attempted to dismiss rival Nassourdine Imavov’s claim to the next shot at using Adesanya’s name to rise the ranks.
“I want to fight Izzy. We are in talks with UFC, but nothing confirmed yet,” Borralho said. “But that’s the fight we want. I think that’s the fight that makes sense. Adesanya already fought all the guys from (the) top five. Just me and Imavov he didn’t fight, but Imavov didn’t (have) a good fight last time, so I think they’re thinking about me. Let’s see what the UFC wants.”
Having climbed into title contention, Borralho is certainly due a major fight next time out. And he’s made no secret over which longtime star in the middleweight division he wants to face en route to the gold.
His domination in the Octagon continues 👊@BorralhoCaio now has the second longest active UFC win streak in the middleweight division with his 7th consecutive win (Du Plessis, 8). pic.twitter.com/51ayNuJWyx
Max Holloway may still have unfinished business to settle in the UFC’s lightweight division.
Holloway is gearing up to challenge reigning featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 308, set to take place this Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Holloway stunned the MMA world with a last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 in April, making a strong argument for a shot at the lightweight title. However, divisional champion Islam Makhachev hadn’t considered the new BMF titleholder as a potential challenger at the time.
That said, Makhachev seems open to the idea — if “Blessed” can convincingly take down Topuria in their upcoming bout.
Pulled off one of the best KOs in UFC history to win the BMF title 💪@BlessedMMA is coming back for the featherweight throne at #UFC308
During a recent interview with Demetrious Johnson, Holloway discussed his choice to return to the featherweight division following his victory over Gaethje. The Hawaiian revealed that his return to 145 pounds might be a short-term decision and that he could potentially face Makhachev next year.
“Blessed” stated that going up against Makhachev would be akin to facing UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, calling it a significant opportunity that could further elevate his already storied career.
“You’ve got to do great things,” Holloway said. “We had that fight booked with Khabib a while back. They call Islam the Khabib 2.0, so I want all the taste. I want all the smoke. It’d be an honor to fight that guy and try to etch my name in the history book. First thing’s first is Ilia. If I had my choice, why not? Why not be able to fight Islam?
“Islam never ever wanted to fight me even when I was saying I was coming up to [155 pounds]. After fighting the guy that he was supposed to fight next, he still was saying, I don’t know why I would fight him. But then, recently, his tone changed, and he was like, Oh yeah if I can get past Topuria, he’d be open to fighting me. I was like, OK, that’s all we needed. We just needed that little crack in the door. I’ll squeeze my way through the rest; don’t worry about it.”
Makhachev is riding high after his third successful lightweight title defense, having secured a submission victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June. The Dagestani is anticipated to face Arman Tsarukyan, likely at UFC 311 next year, although no official announcement has been made by the promotion as of yet.
“The Punisher” will now take on former UFC fighter Rogerio Bontorin in the main event of the grappling card, as recently confirmed by the Brazilian’s manager, Stefano Sartori, on social media.
Meanwhile, Bontorin was part of the UFC from 2019 to 2022. He fought a total of six times, securing victories over Magomed Bibulatov and Raulian Paiva before enduring a challenging four-fight losing skid that included defeats against Ray Borg, Kai Kara-France, and Brandon Royval.
Bontorin’s latest fight took place at a RIZIN event in October 2023, and he currently boasts a professional record of 17-5, with 11 of those victories achieved via submission.
Donald Cerrone has sparked mixed reactions from fans after announcing his intentions to return to the sport for two more fights despite retiring in 2022. Cerrone, who was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023, hopes to bring his total career fights to 50.
Following his retirement, Cerrone openly admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), including testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), since he was no longer subject to USADA testing. He noted that the treatments made him feel younger. However, his decision to return to competition after using PEDs has drawn criticism, including from Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen.
Cerrone Criticized
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to retire, take a bunch of steroids, and then come back and fight again,” Eblen said during a post-fight news conference (via MMA Junkie). “It’s not a good look, man.”
Eblen went on to blame Conor McGregor for setting a precedent by using PEDs while outside of the USADA testing pool, only to return to fighting.
“I think Conor paved the way, and he’s influencing a lot of people to do it,” Eblen said. “People are trying to fight past their prime using these substances, and it’s just not natural. It’s not good. Your brain doesn’t heal from steroids, so all that CTE just adds up. I’m very against steroids and against people fighting past their prime.”
