Author: mmafighting
Following a one-sided unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera at UFC 299 to retain the bantamweight title, Sean O’Malley said his top choice is a champ vs. champ bout with UFC featherweight champ Ilia Topuria in Spain. Will “Sugar” get his wish, or will he face No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili? MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and guest host Jed Meshew discuss where O’Malley goes from his impressive victory, and they also give their thoughts on what could be next for Vera. Future matchups are also discussed for Dustin Poirier and Benoit Saint Denis after Poirier’s show-stealing knockout victory, Michael Page…
The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Monday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time. 1 p.m. ET: Recapping the weekend of combat sports. 2 p.m.: Michael Page talks about his UFC 299 debut against Kevin Holland. 2:30 p.m.: UFC lightweight star Dustin Poirier reflects on his UFC 299 win over Benoit Saint Denis. 3 p.m.: UFC bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley talks his first title defense against Chito Vera at UFC 299. 3:45 p.m.: PFL star Cedric Doumbé breaks down his controversial loss…
Sean O’Malley’s reign as the UFC bantamweight champion will continue beyond UFC 299. The “Sugar Show” was in full effect for the second consecutive time as a main event attraction this past Saturday night. In front of a raucous Miami, Fla., crowd, O’Malley had the opportunity to get back the lone loss of his 20-fight career (18-1, 1 NC) when tasked with Marlon “Chito” Vera. Vera played spoiler for the rising superstar O’Malley and his flawless record in August 2020. Unfortunately for Ecuador’s finest, he was unable to replicate his first-round TKO performance and instead lost a one-sided unanimous decision…
Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the most dominant champ in UFC strawweight history, has received her due in the UFC Hall of Fame. The promotion announced Jedrzejczyk’s induction into the HOF on Saturday during the UFC 299 event in Miami. The ex-champ’s addition arrives almost two years after she announced her retirement following a knockout loss to current champ Zhang Weili in a rematch at UFC 275. Weili was one-half of Jedrzejczyk’s most famous contribution to UFC lore, a spectacular five-round battle at UFC 248 that ended in a split decision loss (and massive hematoma) for the ex-champ. The two won MMA Fighting’s…
A battle of top-shelf UFC welterweights Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jack Della Maddalena appears to be possible, at least in theory. Rakhmonov on Sunday welcomed a callout from Maddalena at UFC 299, where the Aussie standout delivered a come-from-behind stoppage of Gilbert Burns. “I respect your courage and confidence Jack, but you will face the same fate as my previous opponents,” he wrote on X. I respect your courage and confidence Jack, but you will face the same fate as my previous opponents— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) March 10, 2024 Rakhmonov, 29, is currently ranked No. 3 in the promotion’s rankings…
Ilia Topuria was impressed by Sean O’Malley’s dominant performance against Marlon Vera at UFC 299, but he believes the bantamweight champion has another hurdle to leap over before moving up to challenge for the 145-pound title. O’Malley retained the bantamweight belt with a scorecard-sweeping unanimous decision on Saturday night in Miami. Speaking with Joe Rogan following his victory, he called for a fight against Topuria as his top choice, but he also said that if the UFC preferred that “Sugar” defend his 135-pound belt against No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili next, he would be fine with that option. Topuria reacted…
Dana White wasn’t surprised to see Anthony Joshua lay waste to Francis Ngannou, which is part of the reason why he never wants to see MMA fighters crossing over to boxing. Just one day before UFC 299 in Miami, Ngannou suffered a brutal knockout loss in his fight with Joshua. The ex-UFC champ suffering two knockdowns before a final right hand put him away for good. The fight ended in dramatically different fashion than Ngannou’s first boxing match, where he knocked down lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and ultimately took him to a razor-close decision. This time around, Ngannou looked…
Cory Sandhagen has accepted the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov’s callout, but he’s added a date, location, and event to put it all together. Following his impressive decision win over Bekzat Almakhan at UFC Vegas 87 earlier this month, Nurmagomedov called for the UFC to rebook his scheduled matchup with Sandhagen — which was slated to headline UFC Nashville this past August before Nurmagomedov suffered an injury that forced him out of the fight. Sandhagen went on to dominate Rob Font instead, and now after recovering from an injury, the one-time interim title challenger wants Nurmagomedov at UFC 303 on June 29,…
UFC lightweight standout Benoit Saint Denis said he was on borrowed time for his pivotal UFC 299 meeting with Dustin Poirier. In a statement posted to Instagram after a second-round knockout loss, Saint Denis said he underwent antibiotic treatment for an infection prior to the fight. As a result, he wrote that his body “didn’t respond” as normal during this past Saturday’s bout. “Unfortunately this evening, I was not able to fully express myself,” Saint Denis wrote (via Google translate). “My body didn’t respond after a week of antibiotics to fight an infection. “Throughout I was present, but my body…
Following months of matchmaking, the UFC 300 card is now finalized, including the bout order for the pay-per-view main card and the prelims. Before everything was settled, the promotion added one more matchup that was announced during UFC 299: Renato Moicano faces Jalin Turner in a lightweight bout that serves as the final fight booked for the historic event on April 13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. UFC CEO Dana White said the bout order was only determined recently, with company settling on a lineup and sticking to it – at the risk of constant changes until the event…