Author: mmafighting
Damir Hadzovic hasn’t had much luck getting back in the octagon. The UFC announced Wednesday that Hadzovic has been removed from his lightweight bout with Bolaji Oki, which is scheduled for Saturday at UFC Vegas 86 event. Taking Hadzovic’s place is recent Contender Series competitor Timothy Cuamba. A reason for the change was not mentioned by officials, but Hadzovic posted to his social media that the withdrawal is visa-related. “Unfortunately my fight is cancelled due to slow work-visa processing,” Hadzovic wrote. “Can’t even tell you how disappointed I am feeling, just bad luck, man. Hoping to get a new fight…
Sean O’Malley’s longtime coach is not impressed with the growth he’s seen from Marlon Vera since “Chito” stopped O’Malley with a first-round knockout in August 2020. Now the UFC bantamweight champion, O’Malley makes the first defense of his title in a rematch against Vera on March 9 in the main event of UFC 299. O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch stopped by The MMA Hour on Wednesday to preview the matchup. “I don’t think [he’s improved] a ton. I don’t think his confidence is going to be high,” Welch said of Vera. “And the way he showed up against Cory Sandhagen, he…
UFC 300 still needs a main event, but it doesn’t look like Tom Aspinall will be involved. Despite rumors swirling that Aspinall could be matched up with UFC light heavyweight king Alex Pereira, the 30-year-old interim heavyweight champion said he hasn’t been approached about the fight. That said, Aspinall adds he’s staying ready just in case he’s called to headline the historic card on April 13, because he would definitely like to fight sooner rather than later. “On my end, I’ve heard nothing so far,” Aspinall said on his TikTok channel. “As I’ve said plenty of times before, I’m not…
Benoit Saint Denis has had a top opponent in his sights for a while and while he ended up with Dustin Poirier, it took plenty of work to get there. A five-round lightweight matchup between Saint Denis and former interim UFC champion Poirier has been announced for UFC 299 on March 9 in Miami, but the bout only became official this month. In January, UFC CEO Dana White informally announced the matchup, which led to some confusion when Poirier recently tweeted that the fight was off. Within hours of Poirier’s tweet, the bout was publicly confirmed by the UFC, and…
Dricus du Plessis may not headline UFC 300 after all. The reigning UFC middleweight champion said this week that a date for his first title defense remains undetermined as he continues to deal with bumps and bruises suffered in his split decision victory over Sean Strickland this past January at UFC 297. “I have no idea [when it’ll be],” Du Plessis told South African radio station Jacaranda FM. “For me, right now, we are still busy with some scans and seeing what we can do in terms of after the fight, some injuries, can we fight soon, is that a…
Conor McGregor’s lon- awaited return to the UFC will have to wait a little longer. Despite McGregor announcing plans to face Michael Chandler on June 29 at the annual International Fight Week card in Las Vegas, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that no date has actually been set for the highly anticipated matchup. In fact, White says he’s now targeting late 2024 for the matchup after McGregor and Chandler first clashed as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter in early 2023. “Eventually,” White told The Pat McAfee Show when asked about McGregor vs. Chandler. “Hopefully this year. There is no date.…
Tyson Fury only sees more big fights on the horizon. “The Gypsy King” is scheduled to kick off his 2024 campaign on May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when he takes on WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year. The bout was rescheduled from Feb. 17 due to Fury suffering a cut in training. Not only does Fury, currently the WBC heavyweight titleholder, plan to beat Usyk and claim undisputed champion status, he expects to face Usyk again in an immediate rematch. He stated his plans for the…
Sean O’Malley plans to beat the best to become the best. One potential opponent in O’Malley’s path to all-time greatness is top featherweight contender Ilia Topuria. “El Matador” challenges Alexander Volkanovski for the 145-pound title at UFC 298 on Feb. 17, and if Topuria is victorious, he already has a number of options ahead of him, including O’Malley. The UFC bantamweight champion has previously mentioned wanting a future fight with Topuria, and while O’Malley has taken plenty of digs at him, he also has a ton of respect for the man who could soon be the featherweight division’s new king.…
Alexander Volkanovski wasn’t his usual self ahead of his second fight with Islam Makhachev. The UFC featherweight champion couldn’t have predicted that a rematch with the promotion’s lightweight champion would be in the cards for UFC 297, but Volkanovski was called upon on 11 days’ notice to save this past October’s main event when a Charles Oliveira injury forced the Brazilian to withdraw from the Makhachev fight. Volkanovski went on to lose in the first round after being knocked out by a dramatic head kick, raising questions as to whether the short notice had a deleterious effect on his performance.…
The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Wednesday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time. 1 p.m. ET: All your questions are answered in the latest edition of On The Nose. 2 p.m.: Benoit Saint Denis reflects on the craziness of the past week and previews his UFC 299 showdown against Dustin Poirier. 2:30 p.m.: Randy Brown looks back on his first-round knockout of Muslim Salikhov at UFC Vegas 85. 3 p.m.: Corey Anderson previews his Bellator 302 main event against Karl Moore…