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Don’t expect to see Poatan vs. Borz anytime soon.

There’s been some chatter swirling around a potential fight between recently crowned UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira and the perpetually hyped Khamzat Chimaev. However, according to someone very close to the champ all the talk about this fight is just that: talk.

Glover Teixeira was on The MMA Hour this week, where he discussed what’s next for his friend and student.

“This fight is all talk,” he said regarding the Pereira vs. Chimaev rumours (ht MMA Fighting). “I usually don’t get into talk that doesn’t make any sense, but to light heavyweight, this guy says he accepted it. I remember Alex calling Jorge and saying, ‘Hey Jorge, let’s fight in Brazil.’

“I said, ‘What are you doing? You fight in Brazil? Your legs are hurt. You kicked so much, your shins are hurt. You haven’t recovered. Just chill for a while.’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, but this guy’s talking, I’ll fight him at 205. I don’t want to cut the weight.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you can’t cut the weight.’ Alex is a very strong mind.”

Teixeira went on to say that he would prefer Pereira rematches Israel Adesanya, who he beat for the title last month. Teixeira did, however, concede that Pereira might struggle to stay at middleweight for much longer, since he finds it so hard to cut down to that weight.

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We are down a fight at UFC Orlando. 

Tracy Cortez vs. Amanda Ribas is off of UFC Orlando.

The UFC announced the flyweight fight was canceled after ‘a medical issue’ forced Cortez to withdraw following the official weigh-ins on Friday morning. Both women successfully weighed in at 125 pounds.

“Due to a medical issue with Tracy Cortez, her flyweight bout with Amanda Ribas has been removed from this weekend’s event,” the promotion announced in an update.

There is no word on the condition of Cortez at the time of this writing.

Cortez is 5-0 under the UFC banner. The Contender Series alum competed at bantamweight for her first two Octagon appearances, defeating Vanessa Melo and Stephanie Egger by unanimous decision. She returned to flyweight and earned two more wins against Justine Kish and Melissa Gatto at UFC Vegas 24 and UFC 274, respectively.

Ribas was hoping to return to the win column after losing a split decision to Katlyn Chookagian at UFC Vegas 54 this past May. The Brazilian fighter has alternated between wins and losses in her past four appearances at strawweight and flyweight.

With Cortez vs. Ribas off, UFC Orlando moves forward with 14 fights. The event is headlined by Stephen Thompson and Kevin Holland.

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Brendan Schaub thinks Khamzat Chimaev would ‘mop the floor’ with Alex Pereira. The champ disagrees, and he’s willing to bet on it.

Brendan Schaub got the attention of UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira. The former heavyweight turned comedian and podcaster had this to say about “Poatan” and a potential fight with undefeated Khamzat Chimaev.

“Khamzat tweeted out, ‘I’ll fight at 185. I’ll be your champ’ Now, if the UFC wanted Khamzat to be that big of a superstar at ’70 and ’85, your next fight is gonna be Khamzat vs. Alex Pereira,” Schaub said 0n his show (quotes via MMA Fighting).

“Khamzat beats the shit out of him. He mops the floor with him. Again, I’m not taking anything away from Alex, it’s all about matchups and styles and that’s a complete nightmare for him.”

Pereira, of course, disagrees, but he’s willing to put a hefty sum of money into it. As he said through his coach Plinio Cruz in a recent appearance on The MMA Hour:

“No. 1, if needed, [I’ll] fight Chimaev at light heavyweight, not a problem for [me],” Cruz said on behalf of his fighter. “No. 2, Brendan Schaub, I think he was running his mouth.

“Brendan was talking a lot of crap that Chimaev would run [me] over, and blah, blah, blah, and said he would be able to take [me] down in 30 seconds. Here’s the deal, he’ll fight Chimaev in Rio [at UFC 283] — regardless if he’s injured or not — at 205, and he proposes to do a bet with Schaub since he wants to run his mouth.

“$ 50,000 if he beats Chimaev,” Pereira said. “We both [put up the money], and the $ 50,000 from both sides we donate to kids in need.

Pereira also wants to prove that he can go against a wrestler of Chimaev’s caliber.

“Also, $ 50,000 more that he won’t take it down in 30 seconds — and we double that up [also] to donate to the charity. [This isn’t just] for Schaub, but to Chimaev, too. If he wants to jump on the bet train, let’s bet. We donate to the charity.

“A lot of kids are hungry these days. They wanted to run their mouth, their managers can call my manager, we’ll make an agreement. Christmas is coming, let’s feed the kids.”

Schaub, from his end, is willing to partake.

Pereira (7-1) impressively won the undisputed 185-pound title after just four fights in the UFC (eight in MMA) by defeating Israel Adesanya via fifth-round TKO at UFC 281. Likewise, Chimaev (12-0) made waves in his two-year UFC run. He last saw action at UFC 279 when he defeated Kevin Holland via submission in less than half a round.

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Teixeira took something of a leap of faith, when he turned down a chance to face Ankalaev for the vacant light heavyweight title on short notice.

Daniel Cormier isn’t a stranger to taking big fights on relatively short notice. Back in 2018, Dana White showed up on ESPN to announce that DC would be defending his heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis, in just three weeks time. Even with a bad back, Cormier defeated the ‘Black Beast’ to retain his belt.

But that doesn’t mean that the former champ turned broadcast booth talking head wouldn’t hesitate for just any fight the UFC offered. In a recent segment on ESPN, Cormier gave his support to former light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira’s decision to pass on a short notice fight with Magomed Ankalaev, noting that he would have done the same if the UFC had asked him to fight Stipe Miocic without a proper camp.

“I believe that, honestly, I would do the same thing if I was Glover,” Cormier explained (transcript via MMA Fighting). “It’s different. When I was fighting, they told me, as the champ, would you fight Derrick Lewis on three weeks’ notice? Knowing the matchup, I said, sure. Stipe Miocic, I would not have fought on three weeks’ notice, because it’s a different matchup. When I had to fight [Anthony] ‘Rumble’ Johnson for the vacant title, God rest his soul, sure, I’ll fight ‘Rumble’ Johnson. When they said Dan Henderson on a few weeks’ — six weeks, five weeks, whatever, I wasn’t in camp — sure, because I know the matchup.”

Beyond simple time to prepare and the difficulty of the fight, Cormier also noted that while Ankalaev has been impressive in his Octagon career, he has yet to really define himself as a high profile opponent. The Brazilian would be risking what may be his last chance at gold against someone who, to Cormier’s way of thinking, fans just aren’t very familiar with.

“I don’t disagree with Glover,” Cormier added. “If I was in the same situation, with Ankalaev, too many unknowns for a guy that isn’t necessarily known to the general public, who isn’t a guy that everyone recognizes as a top contender, because Magomed has not been in the game long enough and he has not stood across the octagon from the people that make you as recognizable as you need to be in order to be viewed in that way.

“Think about this, Sean O’Malley now has stood across the octagon from Petr Yan. Sean O’Malley already had a name built in. But now you have the visual of him in there against a former champion, doing very well. So you can sell him as a legit title contender. The biggest name we’ve seen [Ankalaev] in there with is Anthony Smith. No knock on Anthony, but it’s not like being in there with Dan Henderson and all those guys that I fought—Josh Barnett, [Antonio] ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, Frank Mir—before I ultimately got to a championship fight. You need those guys to elevate you to that point, and I don’t think Glover sees him in that light.”

Instead of fighting for gold on December 10th, Teixeira has opted to wait as former champion Jan Blachowicz takes on Ankalaev for Jiri Prochazka’s vacated title. Given the expectations that injury will keep Prochazka sidelined for the better part of 2023, it could easily be that Teixeira will once again be the top contender for the strap when the dust settles at UFC 282. Nothing is ever guaranteed, however, especially not in the UFC. Hopefully for Teixeira, this gamble pays off.

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Flyweight Matheus Nicolau gave some thoughts on his upcoming bout against Matt Schnell at UFC Orlando on December 3.

Flyweight contender Matheus Nicolau isn’t exactly expecting an easy fight at UFC Orlando, but the 29-year-old sounds highly confident he’ll get the win. Paired up against Matt Schnell, the Brazilian has respect for his opponent’s strengths, while feeling like he has what it takes to overcome yet another challenge.

In an interview with Ag Fight, Nicolau analyzed Schell’s skills, praising both his striking and grappling. He’s also sure that he’s prepared for anything ‘Danger’ can bring to the Octagon.

“Matt Schnell is a very well-rounded guy,” Nicolau explained, “just like most guys in the flyweight division and the lighter divisions, too, where athletes are more versatile. It’s hard to see a guy who’s really good at one thing and then lacking in another. Everyone’s very well-rounded and Schnell is not different. He has a good karate background, actually. He started out in karate.”

“He has developed a good grappling game, too.” Nicolau said. “His record shows that, he has some submission wins. He’s dangerous, but I’m ready. Wherever he makes a mistake against me, be it on the feet or on the ground, I’m going to capitalize. Wherever he makes a mistake, I’m going to capitalize on it and get the win.”

Currently on a three-fight winning streak, Nicolau (17-2) has already defeated David Dvorak, Tim Elliott and Manel Kape since rejoining the UFC, back in March 2021. The 29-year-old’s latest loss took place in his last Octagon fight prior to being released, back in July 2018, when he got knocked out by Dustin Ortiz.

Nicolau is expected to take on Schnell at UFC on ESPN 42, in Orlando, Florida, on December 3. The card is scheduled to be headlined by welterweights Stephen Thompson and Kevin Holland.

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The former UFC lightweight champion is moving on from the thrice failed matchup. 

Rafael dos Anjos is closing the door on lightweight—for now.

The former UFC champion has spent most of his career down at 155 lbs, but decided to return to welterweight for his next appearance. Following his fifth-round KO loss to Rafael Fiziev at UFC Vegas 58 this past July, RDA concluded that a chance at another championship opportunity was slim to none, so he shifted his focus to fights that would ‘motivate’ him. And his upcoming opponent—Bryan Barberena—does exactly that.

“I’m happy with that matchup,” said Dos Anjos at his pre-fight press conference. “He’s coming in on a [three-fight] winning streak. He’s a guy that fights forward. He’s the type of fight that I like. Being three rounds, I think of my last eight fights, seven of them were five rounds, if I’m not wrong. It was good, a little break, too, fighting three rounds. Preparation is a little easier, too. I’m happy with that matchup.”

For the next phase of his career, Dos Anjos appears content with his decision to move up from lightweight to welterweight permanently. That said, there are still some fights that the Brazilian would drop down for, should they become available.

“Just for some very specific fights that I have in mind, I would [drop down to lightweight] again,” said Dos Anjos. “But I don’t have plans to win the title in that division anymore, I’ll be honest with you. A couple of guys that if it’s in a good momentum for me, in my personal life as well, I’ll take the fight.

“As of now, I have Bryan Barberena this Saturday and I’m staying at welterweight,” continued Dos Anjos.

A fight that comes to mind for Dos Anjos was against Islam Makhachev, the newly crowned UFC lightweight champion. The two men were scheduled to fight thrice at UFC 254, UFC Vegas 14, and UFC 267, but each time the bout canceled.

Despite missing out on Makhachev, the Nova União product is fine with never standing across the Octagon from the AKA star.

“We were scheduled to fight a couple of times, but I got injured,” said Dos Anjos. “He pulled out on fight week, as well. We had a chance to fight at welterweight. He threw his name out there. I accepted the fight, he didn’t take it [and] Renato Moicano took it. But I wouldn’t be sad [if we never fought].”

UFC Fight Night: Holland vs. Thompson goes down on Sat., Dec. 3, at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

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Having been in there with the man himself, Kevin Holland sees endless possibilities for Khamzat Chimaev.

If there’s one person who can speak about the Khamzat Chimaev hype, it would be Kevin Holland. “Trailblazer” (a.k.a ‘Big Mouth’) felt Chimaev’s skillset firsthand when the two locked horns at UFC 279. Holland ended up losing the fight via submission in less than half a round.

Speaking about Chimaev’s next options, Holland says “sky’s the limit.”

“Timing is everything,” Holland told CBS Sports (H/T MMA Fighting). “With the right fights at the right times, the dude matches up. I feel like Colby [Covington] might be too small to take it to him.

“But that being said, if Colby can take it to rounds three, four, and five, it could be a different story. [Chimaev] against [Kamaru] Usman, I think that would be the best fight, but maybe Usman’s not the same after Leon [Edwards]. I think the sky’s the limit.

Chimaev’s been jumping between welterweight and middleweight, but his UFC 279 weight miss may make him more suitable at a heavier weight class. But whatever decision he decides to make, Holland says it’s all warranted.

“At middleweight, depends on who he’s fighting. If he’s fighting certain guys, it might not be as easy. I think that the champ is a really good fight for him right now. Is he deserving of the championship fight right now at 185? No.

“Moreso at 170 pounds? Yes. He missed weight in his last fight so maybe he has to win one more before he gets there. The kid can do whatever the f–k he wants to do. And quite frankly, I think he could do a lot.”

Chimaev (12-0) has yet to book his next fight, but his name’s been attached to newly-crowned middleweight champion Alex Pereira as of late. Holland, meanwhile, is coming off a short-lived retirement to headline UFC Orlando this weekend against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. But according to him, ‘favoritism’ from the company brass could urge him to turn his back on the sport again.

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Jake Paul has opened up as a strong betting favorite over Paddy Pimblett in possible boxing bout.

YouTube star turned prize fighter, Jake Paul, has been going back and forth with UFC lightweight, Paddy Pimblett, on social media. Since Pimblett is firmly planted in his UFC contract, Paul offered “The Baddy” $ 1,000,000 if he can beat Jake in a sparring match comprised of five three-minute rounds.

However, on the off chance an actual boxing match between the two ever gets sanctioned, betting odds have been released for Paul vs. Pimblett.

The oddsmakers are strongly favoring Paul over the smaller man in Pimblett in this hypothetical tilt. Of course we are talking about ‘smaller’ in terms of fight weight. We all know how Pimblett likes to balloon up after his UFC contests.

Jake is being listed with a -250 moneyline, and a $ 100 bet at those odds stands to see a total profit of $ 40. Known much more for his grappling than his striking, Pimblett is positioned with a +170 underdog line. Dropping a hundred bucks on “The Baddie” could possibly enjoy a total payout of $ 270.

**The website states that the fight must take place before June 30, 2023 for action, be boxing only with any gloves, and the winner must be declared at ringside.

For those wondering how this fight could ever happen with Pimblett firmly under UFC contract? The precedent has been set for the UFC to cross-promote one of their fighters in a boxing bout. See Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather.

Still, that situation was very different from this one, and it’s really hard to see Dana White doing any sort of boxing business with Jake Paul.

The 19-3 Pimblett remains unbeaten in his UFC run, and is currently booked against Jared Gordon for UFC 282 on December 10th. As for Paul, he is coming off of the biggest win of career after defeating Anderson Silva by way of unanimous decision back in October.

Everyone and their mothers seem to be calling out Jake Paul, and the celebrity pugilist seems to be calling out everyone and their mothers as well. I think it’s safe to say that nobody really knows who will be the next man to stand across from him in the ring, but the chances of it being “The Baddie” appear to be rather low.

Check out the betting odds for Jake Paul vs. Paddy Pimblett, courtesy of Sportsbetting.ag:

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It seems Kevin Holland was ‘super serious’ about his brief retirement

Kevin Holland’s retirement from MMA did not last long, but according to the UFC welterweight, that decision was—at the moment—very much for real. Further, it seems that walking away from the sport in the hours after he faces Stephen Thompson in the main event of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 42 fight card remains a viable option for the 30-year-old.

Following his loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279, Holland wrote on social media, “Had a good run 30 in a little over a month got paid I’m out.”

Then in early October, he doubled down on that claim, saying, “So I’m retired. I’m officially retired. I’m retired from fighting. I had a good fight, good payday, I had a good run. I see some of the people online (saying) ‘obviously he realizes he’ll never get the belt’ and my little psychedelic trip, that means I was wrong. I can’t be wrong on a psychedelic trip. I’ve lost coming out to Young Boy. That was my last hope, never losing coming out to Young Boy. Times are rough for your boy.

“But I’m really, really happy on the green side. Unless something super-duper magical pops up, yeah, I’m pretty happy with the way things are.”

The next day, something super-duper magical popped up. The UFC offered him the chance to face Stephen Thompson in the main event of the Florida fight card.

Holland spoke about his brief retirement in the lead-up to Saturday’s fight card.

“(My retirement) was serious as hell—super serious,” Holland said during the UFC Orlando media day. “It’s still on the table. If I wake up Sunday morning after beating ‘Wonderboy’ and you guys have Chimaev fighting for a 185-pound world title, and he’s never won a fight at ‘85 in the top 15, I’m retired. I understand business is business, but favoritism is favoritism. The kid missed weight. I had to step up to fight him after he missed weight and make the fight happen. I shouldn’t had to do that, but I did what I had to do. I did what I was supposed to do for a company man,.

“So I’m sitting here telling you guys now, certain things have to go certain ways. If they don’t go certain ways with we don’t get what we were promised, the things we talked about aren’t honored, you might as well give me my resignation papers and let me go home and f—ing smoke weed and play video games for the rest of my life. Open up a twitch, see how I do.”

The UFC initially booked Holland opposite Daniel Rodriguez in a 180-pound catchweight fight at UFC 279. However, when Chimaev came in at 178.5 pounds for his scheduled welterweight fight opposite Nate Diaz, the UFC moved several fighters around. One of the fights that came out of the mess was Holland vs. Chimaev at 180 pounds.

When asked if he was referring to promises made during negotiations for the Chimaev fight, Holland replied, “I said what I said and you know what I mean.”

The 30-year-old welterweight added that there are a lot of things he sees in the sport he feels are unfair. However, the thing that drew the most ire from Holland is that the athletes’ opportunities seem to be based more on favoritism than merit.

“There’s just certain things that just don’t make sense,” Holland said. “At the end of the day, if we’re here and we’re here to be fair and we’re here to be even, everyone should have a fair chance. We’re fighters. We fight for what we want. We should be able to fight for what we want. We should be able to get the same things if we’re fighting the same way. That’s just how I feel. But I’m not here to b-tch, I’m not here to complain. I’m just here to do what I feel like is right and if I feel like something’s not right, I will move the f—k around, because that’s what I do.”

“I’ve always felt like this, added Holland. “But at the end of the day, I’m gonna do what I’m supposed to do as a company man. But that being said, you can only work for somewhere for so long before you start to feel some type of way and I always feel some type of way, I just keep my mouth shut.”

Holland vs. Thompson headlines UFC on ESPN 42 from Amway Center in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, December 3.

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Santiago Ponzinibbio is ready and willing to defend his fellow Argentinian Lionel Messi against Canelo Alvarez if that’s what it comes down to.

UFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio is ready to defend his country’s honor, no matter the sport. Following recent comments from Canelo Alvarez, who criticized Lionel Messi’s celebration after beating Mexico’s side in the World Cup, the MMA fighter seems to have taken the boxer’s threats personally.

Although Canelo’s tweet has been deleted, it was up long enough for many people to see it, Ponzinibbio included. After Alvarez told Messi that he should “ask God that I don’t find him,” the ATT talent was ready to step up and take on the Super Middleweight champion to defend Messi and his home country of Argentina.

“I was pissed,” Ponzinibbio told MMA Fighting about Canelo’s message. “No point threatening Messi. Everybody knows Messi’s career. If [Alvarez] doesn’t know he shouldn’t say a thing. It’s normal for players to throw jerseys on the ground, they are all sweaty, but he didn’t do anything disrespectful. Everybody that knows Messi knows he’s an impeccable athlete and a very respectful person,”

“[Messi] had an excellent match,” Ponzinibbio continued. “I was upset. Brother, if you want to fight, I’m ready, but leave Messi be. You mess with Messi, you mess with the entire Argentina. Don’t bother the kid.”

Currently in a losing skid, Ponzinibbio (28-6) dropped a couple of split decisions to Michel Pereira and Geoff Neal in his last two outings. The 36-year-old’s most recent win took place in June 2021, when he defeated Miguel Baeza via unanimous decision.

At the moment, Ponzinibbio is expected to take on former champion Robbie Lawler, at UFC 282, on December 10, in Las Vegas. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout for the vacant title, between former title-holder Jan Blachowicz and rising contender Magomed Ankalaev.

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