Author: mmafighting
Alexandre Pantoja knew he had superior grappling so that’s exactly what he used to beat Brandon Royval in the UFC 296 co-main event. Again and again, the reigning UFC flyweight champion dragged the fight down to the ground where he constantly threatened with submissions over all five rounds. While Royval resisted the finish, he just couldn’t mount much offense and he spent the majority of the fight stuck on his back or fending off the high level grappling coming from Pantoja. In the end, the judges scored the fight 50-45, 50-45 and 49-47 with Pantoja getting the nod by unanimous…
Things didn’t appear to be trending the right way between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis when the middleweight champ mimicked shooting Du Plessis. Seconds after that, Strickland leaped over seats to attack Du Plessis – but not before appearing to ask people in between them to get out of the way. That gesture tickled several fighters who reacted to the brief brawl, which resulted in Strickland being escorted out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Other fighters questioned why Strickland and Du Plessis were placed so close to each other in the audience. Check out other reactions from…
Paddy Pimblett nearly scored an early finish but ultimately settled for a suffocating unanimous decision victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 296. It looked like the always outspoken Liverpool native might deliver a knockout after the put Ferguson down early in the opening round and unloaded a barrage of shots on the ground. Ferguson scrambled to survive but then spent the better part of the next 10 minutes stuck underneath Pimblett as he stayed on top and cruised to victory. When it was over, all three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Pimblett, who remains undefeated in the UFC> “An…
This is the UFC 296 live blog for Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell, the main card featherweight fight on Saturday in Las Vegas. At the beginning of the year, Emmett had the world in front of him, with a scheduled interim title fight against Yair Rodriguez as his next fight. Unfortunately for Emmett, that was the best things got for him as Rodriguez submitted him in February, and then he took a one-sided beating from Ilia Topuria in June to follow it up. At 38 years old and on a two-fight losing skid, Emmett is in desperate need of a…
Cody Garbrandt added another devastating knockout to his resume after he laid waste to Brian Kelleher in the first round at UFC 296. The former bantamweight champion came out guns blazing as soon as the fight got started and he showcased fast, blistering power on the feet during several exchanges. Just before he delivered the finish, Garbrandt tagged Kelleher with a stiff right hand that wobbled the New York native. Garbrandt surged ahead and unloaded another brutal right hand that blasted Kelleher and sent him face first to the canvas as the referee rushed in to stop the fight. The…
Tagir Ulanbekov got some advice from former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov before he set foot in the cage on Saturday night and he executed the game plan to perfection. After nearly securing a submission in the first round as well, Ulanbekov eventually latched onto a nasty rear-naked choke that forced Cody Durden to tap out in the featured early prelim at UFC 296. The end came at 4:25 in the second round with Ulanbekov securing his second win in a row while moving to 4-1 in the UFC overall. “Today Khabib sent me a voice message and he actually…
Lucas Almeida believes his UFC 296 clash with Andre Fili will be the moment for some changing of the guard in the featherweight division. The former Jungle Fight lightweight champion is just 2-0 under the UFC banner, and 14-2 overall in his career, and looks to make the most of his match with 20-time octagon veteran Fili this Saturday at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena to build his name in the organization. “I’m coming to show what I got,” Almeida said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “He’s already shown what he had, and it’s my turn now. This guy has…
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval full fight video is available ahead of UFC 296’s championship rematch between two of the sport’s top flyweights. Pantoja, 33, and Royval, 31, are set to collide for the UFC flyweight title on Dec. 16 in the co-main event of UFC 296. The two 125-pounders previously met in Aug. 21, 2021, on the main card of UFC Vegas 34, with Pantoja defeating Royval via second-round rear-naked choke. Pantoja (26-5) has won four straight bouts en route to capturing the UFC flyweight title with a split decision over Brandon Moreno this past July at UFC 290.…
UFC welterweight Sean Brady not only believes Colby Covington will defeat Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 296 to capture the welterweight title, but he’s also rooting for his fellow countryman to get it done. “I have Colby,” Brady said recently on The MMA Hour. “I feel like Americans don’t support their own. I feel like all these other countries — we have guys from Uzbekistan in our gym, these guys fight, and our teammate just [won] a fight on short notice, he’s from Uzbekistan. He went home and met his president and had a parade and all…
Vicente Luque was scheduled to face rising welterweight prospect Ian Machado Garry just hours before UFC champion Leon Edwards puts his title on the line against Colby Covington in the main event of UFC 296, and he doesn’t expect changes at the top of the weight class. Luque said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca that he’s glad to see the title finally being defended, even though he feels Covington shouldn’t be the one standing across the cage from the champion at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “I think Leon wins,” Luque said. “I think Leon is a very well-rounded…