Author: mmafighting
Amanda Lemos agreed to face Mackenzie Dern at UFC 298 after original foe Tatiana Suarez withdrew with a knee injury, and she still wants to take on Suarez after Saturday’s pay-per-view event in California. Lemos lamented the fact that Suarez is once again dealing with knee injuries, something that has already forced the undefeated wrestler to stay out of action for many years of her prime. She hopes that the UFC decides to re-book the match for UFC 301, which is expected to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 4. “[Suarez] suffers too many injuries, unfortunately,” Lemos…
Alexander Volkanovski teased that a permanent move to lightweight could be in his future, and if he’s victorious against Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 298 to retain his featherweight title, UFC lead commentator Jon Anik can see it happening immediately. “I think because he’s throwing those comments out into the universe even before the fight, it stands to reason that if he can beat Ilia Topuria, just given the way a lot of people talk about this title defense and how hard it’s going to be, I think this would be a nice capstone on his featherweight…
Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria have completed the talking phase of the build-up to UFC 298’s championship main event. Now there’s only one thing left to do. Volkanovski puts his featherweight title on the line for sixth time when he faces the undefeated Topuria on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif. On Friday, both men hit the scale and faced off one final time at the UFC 298 ceremonial weigh-in. The final staredown was intense, yet still respectful. Topuria was asked about his final thoughts before stepping into the octagon for a UFC world championship for the first time. “I’m ready,” Topuria…
Vicente Luque will now face Joaquin Buckley in the co-main event of UFC Atlantic City on March 30, multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting. UFC CEO Dana White originally announced that Luque (22-9-1) would be competing against Sean Brady that night at the Boardwalk Hall, however the welterweight match was never a done deal since Brady was still recovering from an injury when offered the bout. This will be Luque’s third attempt to compete after back-to-back matches failed to come to fruition. Most recently, Ian Machado Garry withdrew from their Dec. 16 clash at UFC…
UFC 298 will be capped off by a fascinating championship bout between longtime featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski and the hungry, undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria, and you can watch the cold open for the UFC’s return to Anaheim below. In the main event, Volkanovski seeks his sixth title defense against rising star Topuria. Volkanovski enters the contest following a losing 2023 campaign that saw lose twice to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, including a first-round stoppage in their second meeting at UFC 294 in October. Volkanovski did successfully defend his 145-pound strap with a sensational showing over Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290…
UFC 298 is coming fast with a card that is flying completely under the radar, event with a spectacular main event for the UFC featherweight title between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria. Join MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck for a special pre pay-per-view edition of Heck of a Morning, as he answers all of your UFC 298 questions, reacts to Thursday’s press confernce, along with getting your thoughts about the stakes of some of the other big fights on Saturday’s pay-per-view card. Additionally, viewer questions include what the main event for UFC 300 will be, the fighter who has the most…
Marcos Rogerio de Lima wants another go-round with Derrick Lewis and is confident the “The Black Beast” won’t be able to replicate his performance at UFC 291. De Lima, who now faces last-minute fill-in Junior Tafa at UFC 298 after Junior replaced his brother Justin Tafa for Saturday’s card, said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast that he still needs to rematch Lewis after losing the first match in just 33 seconds in July 2023, and he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he beats Lewis nine times out of 10. “I was in my best shape that…
Finally, UFC delivers a good one! After a smattering of cards from the world’s leading MMA promotion to start the year, UFC 298 is the first great event of the year (unless you’re counting Dogfight Wild Tournament Second Impact). Headlined by a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria, there are also a host of other great matchups as the UFC season begins in earnest. As always, all odds are courtesy of our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook. Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Straight Bets Alexander Volkanovski -125 I did a full write-up on this fight…
Alexander Volkanovski is back at featherweight and ready to defend his title again. The reigning champion successfully hit the scale at Friday’s official weigh-ins for UFC 298, coming in at 144.5 pounds. Undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria also weighed in at 144.5 pounds, bringing them both one step closer to clashing inside the octagon. All 10 main card participants made weight, including middleweight contenders Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa, rivals Geoff Neal and Ian Machado Garry, and No. 1 bantamweight contender candidates Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo. If there was any drama, it came from the preliminary portion of the card,…
UFC 298 is now down to 11 fights. During the UFC’s official weigh-in show, it was announced that Justin Tafa suffered an undisclosed injury during fight week, which has cancelled his scheduled heavyweight bout with Marcos Rogerio de Lima. The bout was slated to take place on the ESPN preliminary card. The scratch comes ahead of an important fight for Tafa as he had the opportunity to enter the promotion’s heavyweight rankings. Tafa is unbeaten in his past four appearances, including first-round knockout wins over Austen Lane, Parker Porter, and Harry Hunsucker. The 30-year-old was slated to make his ninth…