Author: mmafighting
UFC 299 is in the books, but the UFC machine keeps right on rolling. There are four weeks of fights leading up to the highly anticipated UFC 300, and that starts this Saturday with UFC Vegas 88, headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura. No need to stand on ceremony here, this is not a great fight card, but that’s the price we pay for UFC 299 and UFC 300. Plus, there are still plenty of opportunities to get some action down, so let’s get to it. As always, all odds are courtesy of our friends…
Tai Tuivasa returns to the UFC octagon this Saturday to face Marcin Tybura in the main event of UFC Vegas 88, which takes place at the APEX. Following a memorable UFC 299 event, can “Bam Bam” provide some more fireworks and avoid a four-fight losing streak, or will Tybura be the one who gets back in the win column? MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and José Youngs previews this weekend’s Fight Night event for the UFC, the headliner between Tuivasa and Tybura, and discuss what is at stake for both fighters in the matchup. Additionally, they’ll talk the co-main…
Steve Erceg is the surprise winner of the Alexandre Pantoja sweepstakes. UFC announced Friday that Erceg — not Muhammad Mokaev, Brandon Royval, or any of the other usual flyweight suspects — will be the one challenging Pantoja for a UFC belt on May 4 when the promotion returns to Rio de Janeiro for UFC 301. The announcement comes just three bouts into Erceg’s octagon career, fresh off a March win over Matt Schnell, and ignited plenty of reaction from the mild-mannered 27-year-old’s fellow fighters. Check out reaction to the announcement below, including an incredulous response from Mokaev, who had been…
Alexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight title at UFC 301 in a five-round contest against rising prospect Steve Erceg, the UFC announced Friday. MMA Fighting has learned that both fighters have agreed to the matchup, but have yet to sign bout agreements. Pantoja (27-5) won and defended the 125-pound championship in 2023 with wins over Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval, boosting his current winning streak to five. Erceg (12-1) has won three straight bouts since joining the UFC in 2023, capped off by a vicious knockout of Matt Schnell this past March. “He’s a tough opponent,” Pantoja said on UFC…
Once again, Chris Curtis steps in to save the day. On Thursday, news broke that Marvin Vettori was forced out of his planned main event bout against Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 90 on April 6, and that the UFC was looking for a replacement to step in. Twenty-four hours later, the No. 14 ranked UFC middleweight Chris Curtis is stepping in, per the UFC. Multiple sources with knowledge of the booking also confirmed the bout to MMA Fighting. This will be the second time Curtis has stepped in on short notice to face Allen. At UFC Vegas 44, Curtis…
Conor McGregor appears to be a little frustrated with how his return to the UFC is going. It’s been nearly three years since MMA fans last saw McGregor in the octagon, when he snapped his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. After a long recovery process, McGregor was teased to be returning in 2023, even coaching The Ultimate Fighter opposite Michael Chandler, setting up a rumored fight between the two in December. It never happened. Nor did the rumors of that same fight happening in January, nor will it happen at UFC 300. Most recently, McGregor claimed he will…
Mark Coleman is going to be OK. The UFC Hall of Famer and former heavyweight champion issued a statement of gratitude through his daughter Kenzie’s Facebook on Friday after surviving a harrowing near-death experience while saving his parents from a house fire. Coleman had initially been intubated and sedated due to smoke inhalation that damaged his lungs, and early fears Tuesday morning were that the incident may be fatal, however the 59-year-old MMA pioneer overcame the odds to be alert, responsive, and breathing on his own by Thursday. Coleman’s complete message can be read below. Mark the hammer Coleman here.…
Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura are good to go for Saturday night. Both Tuivasa and Tybura successfully hit the scale for the UFC Vegas 88 main event at Friday’s official weigh-ins, coming in at 265.5 pounds and 247 pounds respectively. Tuivasa, the No. 8 ranked heavyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, looks to get back on track after suffering three consecutive defeats since finding himself on the verge of title contention just a few years ago. Likewise, Tybura, ranked No. 9 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, is also hoping to rebound after being demolished by Tom Aspinall last…
Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images The UFC 300 lineup is, from start to finish, one of the best cards the promotion has ever put together. During Saturday’s UFC 299 event, the main card was revealed and it included the middleweight matchup between Bo Nickal and Cody Brundage — which didn’t sit well with a large number of MMA fans. But when you really look at the construction of the main card, it’s not a bad choice for a few reasons. On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses Nickal getting the main card bump…
Kayla Harrison had a harsh introduction to life in the UFC. The face of the PFL since she began her MMA career in 2018, Harrison knew she would be in for an adjustment when she changed promotions, but unfortunately things went worse than expected for the two-time Olympic gold medalist in her first official outing with the promotion. At a UFC 300 Fan Q&A hosted by the UFC this past weekend, she was confronted by very unruly fans. “The culture is very different,” Harrison, who makes her promotional debut against Holly Holm at UFC 300, told Ariel Helwani on The…