Author: mmafighting
UFC 300 is expected to deliver a loaded lineup for the promotion’s historic April event. Following one of the most chaotic years in recent memory, the UFC will bring UFC 300 to its home base of Las Vegas on April 13. UFC CEO Dana White has promised one of the most stacked, and perhaps, unpredictable lineups in company history. With four title fights already on the books for the first quarter of the year, including Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title, and Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Raquel Pennington for the vacant women’s bantamweight title at UFC…
A heavyweight bout between Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura has been moved back one month, UFC CEO Dana White announced on Friday. White confirmed Tuivasa vs. Tybura will now take place at a UFC Fight Night event scheduled for March 16 at UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The fight originally was scheduled for UFC 298, which takes place Feb. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Fla. Tuivasa, the No. 8 ranked heavyweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, is in the midst of a three-fight skid, suffering on knockout losses to Sergei Pavlovich and Ciryl Gane in addition to a submission…
Mario Bautista wants to be a UFC champion, and he knows what it takes to get there after spending the past decade training alongside current bantamweight king Sean O’Malley. Long before they were two of the top fighters in the 135-pound division, Bautista and O’Malley were new arrivals in Arizona with dreams of just reaching heights like competing in the UFC. All these years later, O’Malley now stands as the best bantamweight in the sport, while Bautista rides a five-fight win streak with a chance to join the top 15 rankings with his upcoming fight against Ricky Simon at UFC…
The UFC is back for the first time in 2024 as they return to the APEX for UFC Vegas 84, and a high-stakes main event in the light heavyweight division takes place between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker as they compete for the second time. Could a title shot against Alex Pereira be next for the winner of the scheduled five-round matchup? MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and Eric Jackman preview Saturday’s card, the Anakalev vs. Walker headliner, and discuss what is at stake for both guys. Additionally, they’ll talk the co-main event between Manel Kape and Matheus Nicolau,…
After nearly a month off, the UFC is back! UFC Vegas 84 takes place on Saturday as the first fight card of 2024. Headlined by a light heavyweight rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker, this weekend’s card features 12 matchups with a mix of high stakes and high-upside prospect debuts. Let’s dive into the best bets for Saturday. As always, all odds are courtesy of our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook. Photo by Louis Grasse/PXimages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Straight Bets Jim Miller -148 If you think I’m betting against Jim Miller three months before UFC 300, you must be…
The UFC Vegas 84 co-main event between Manel Kape and Matheus Nicolau has been cancelled after Kape’s weight miss, officials from the UFC and Nevada Athletic Commission confirmed to MMA Fighting on Friday. Kape was 3.5 pounds over the limit for a non-title flyweight fight, which is 126 pounds. The UFC official said it’s unclear at the moment whether the bout will be rescheduled to a later date. Initially, MMA Fighting reported the bout would proceed as a catchweight fight with Kape forfeiting 25 percent of his purse to Nicolau. But instead, the bout has been cancelled. Kape and Nicolau…
Rose Namajunas is sticking around at flyweight. After a disappointing debut in the division this past September, Namajunas (11-6) is set to meet Amanda Ribas (12-4) in a 125-pound bout that serves as the main event of a UFC card on March 23. That event is expected to take place at UFC APEX in Las Vegas. MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz and Mike Heck confirmed the matchup, following an initial report by MMA Hoje. Namajunas recently made the move to 125 pounds after an eight-year run in the UFC that saw her twice win the 115-pound belt. However, she fell short…
Manel Kape wasn’t close to making weight for his first fight of 2024. The flyweight contender weighed in at 129.5 pounds – 3.5 pounds over the division limit for a non-title fight – at Friday’s official weigh-ins for UFC Vegas 84. Kape is scheduled to rematch Matheus Nicolau in Saturday’s co-main event. Nicolau successfully weighed in at 126 pounds. It has not yet been announced whether the bout will proceed as scheduled and, if so, what percentage of Kape’s purse will be forfeited as penalty. The two first fought in March 2021 at UFC Vegas 21, where Nicolau defeated Kape…
Joshua Van may be considered one of the top prospects in the UFC flyweight division, but his journey to discover the sport of MMA was anything but conventional. The 22-year-old fighter grew up in Myanmar before his family eventually relocated to the United States before he could even speak the language. As he attempted to adapt to his new surroundings, Van often found himself the victim of bullying and kids just picking on him in general, which in turn led to him lashing out. “After I moved to the United States, I didn’t speak English or nothing and I was…
At the UFC Vegas 84 weigh-ins, all 24 fighters on Saturday’s fight card in Las Vegas will step on the scale Friday. MMA Fighting has live video of the official weigh-ins, courtesy of Ag Fight. In the main event, Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker can weigh no more than 206 pounds, the maximum allowed for their non-title light heavyweight rematch. Watch weigh-ins from the top two fights below. The #UFCVegas84 main event is official @AnkalaevM weighs in at 204.5 lbs pic.twitter.com/XXK55PJPUC— UFC (@ufc) January 12, 2024 First to the scale in 2024 @JohnnyWalker weighs in at 205.5 lbs for #UFCVegas84…