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Urijah Faber is still under UFC contract despite last fighting in the octagon in 2019, but he’s keeping a few doors open in case potential challenges come his way in the future.

Faber competed this past Friday in Abu Dhabi, defeating Bibiano Fernandes via decision in a grappling match in the main event of ADXC 5. He told MMA Fighting that fighting under MMA rules may not be his No. 1 choice at the moment, but he won’t rule it out either.

“I stay in the drug [testing] pool just because I don’t do drugs and you never know if an opportunity presents itself, but I likely will not be doing MMA [again]. But you never know,” Faber said. “I don’t think I’d want to do bare-knuckle, but you never know. I think I will do combat jiu-jitsu because I feel like that’s the new age, that’s where things are going. My style, Team Alpha BJJ is about staying safe and being dangerous. My jiu-jitsu is real-world applicable, MMA applicable, and it’s the stuff that works for fights. I want to keep building on that and keep showcasing that.

“So MMA, maybe not, but combat jiu-jitsu, yes. More of this grappling, yes.”

Asked if he’d be open to competing again in the UFC since he’s still under contract, the 45-year-old veteran said “it’d have to be the right scenario.” The same applies to bare-knuckle matches. Faber returned from retirement in July 2019 and walked through rising prospect Ricky Simon in 46 seconds, but hasn’t fought in MMA since losing a stoppage to Petr Yan that same year.

“I’ve had some good offers money-wise for bare-knuckle, but I’m not trying to fight world champion boxers in bare-knuckle,” Faber said. “You know, I’ve got kids, I don’t want to break cheekbones and that kind of stuff, lose teeth. But if they had an interesting matchup, my boy Conor McGregor is now an owner there, so he could probably find an opponent for me. I’m just competing. At [age] 45, I want to keep testing myself and keep staying active as an athlete. It’s my passion. That’s what I’ve done my whole life.”

Faber’s former opponent Jose Aldo tested himself in boxing ring after taking some time off from MMA, and then recently returned to the UFC with a vintage performance in May, dominating Jonathan Martinez. Aldo ultimately re-signed with the UFC and now faces Mario Bautista in October, but Faber, who memorably lost to Aldo for the WEC title back in 2010, would be interested in facing his fellow veteran in the boxing ring in the future.

“Chad Mendes and I both fought Jose Aldo and he was our toughest fight, so I’d prefer not to get beat up by Aldo at this point in my life,” Faber said with a laugh. “I would do a boxing match against him. I think they offered me something not too long ago, before he signed back with the UFC, but it was not the kind of offer that was super intriguing. And I talked to Aldo before about bare-knuckle. He has no desire of doing bare-knuckle. But I would do a boxing match with Jose Aldo.

“I love boxing. I love pure boxing. I love pure wrestling. I love pure jiu-jitsu. I love blending it together. I would not want to do a kickboxing match with Jose Aldo, that’s for damn sure,” Faber continued with another laugh. “I learned my lesson. Google ‘Urijah Faber’s leg,’ and if you don’t know what we’re talking about, you’ll know.”

Photo via ADXC

For now, Faber continues to focus on grappling matches like his contest with Fernandes. He’s now riding a two-match win streak, having beat Jeff Glover in combat jiu-jitsu as well.

“Bibiano and I are very alike and like to push ourselves,” said Faber, who fought an inexperienced Fernandes in MMA back in 2006. “I consider myself a world-class jiu-jitsu player. I mean, there’s no secret about that. Throughout the years, I’ve competed and pushed myself with guys like [Rubens] Charles ‘Cobrinha’ and Jeff Glover. All the heavy hitters of my era, I try to get my hands on them and roll throughout my whole career. And I’ve had a big focus on jiu-jitsu since I stopped fighting.

“I love to compete and I don’t have time to go to tournaments and do everything else, so taking the cream of the crop and showcasing my skill set is something that I really cherish. Being able to get paid for vacation, but go do something that I love and kind of spread the knowledge that I have and showcase what I’ve been working on is a great feeling.

“I don’t think that a lot of people know how into jiu-jitsu I am,” Faber continued. “I have my whole system, Team Alpha BJJ, my guys know it, my students know it, and it’s unique. It’s very unique. It’s a lot of scrambling, a lot of wrestling, a lot of jiu-jitsu, so I was happy to be able to showcase it. It makes things easy when you know what you’re doing.

“When I turned 45 this year, I was like, man, stay young by being with young intentions, and that’s competing, testing myself, putting challenges out there, getting out of your comfort zone. I’m coming over to the other side of the world to go against a world champion and put it out there for the world to see as a 45-year-old man, it’s exciting to be able to do that still. For me to grow as a mixed martial artist and test with the things that I’m working, it’s really cool to be able to do that.”

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Days after Merab Dvalishvili finally landed Sean O’Malley as his next opponent, he got together with the bantamweight champ for a photoshoot to begin promoting UFC 306.

The card taking place at the Sphere in Las Vegas has been teased as the most expensive event in UFC history, so it stands to reason why the promotion is going to put a lot of marketing muscle into making UFC 306 the biggest and best show possible. Part of the photoshoot involved Dvalishvili coming face-to-face with O’Malley for a staredown, but the two rivals barely got within a foot of each other before the trash talk started.

UFC eventually released a clip showing Dvalishvili arguing with O’Malley while a stunned Alexa Grasso watched in the background, but it turns out cameras didn’t get rolling soon enough to catch everything.

“We were just doing a faceoff,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting. “They wanted us to face off without conversation. But of course, once I saw Sean, he was making fun of me. He was joking, ‘Welcome to the big show,’ and he said, ‘Oh, have you ever been in the main event?’ He was [talking to] me with sarcasm.

“I said, ‘Yes, of course, I’ve been in the main event before. Remember when I beat the shit out of Petr Yan?’ He didn’t like that. He [said], ‘Welcome to the big show. I’ve been here.’”

The war of words eventually led to Dvalishvili taking aim at O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch, who injected himself into the rivalry after getting into a spat with former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling on social media. The initial incident erupted after video captured during O’Malley’s title fight win showed Welch shouting instructions at Sterling from the side of the cage.

Sterling then accused Welch of talking so much trash from the corner that the referee had to tell him to stay quiet.

The back-and-forth saw Dvalishvili promise to slap Welch when they finally run into each other, and that only amplified the bad blood between the two camps.

Dvalishvili says what UFC captured on film was his confrontation with O’Malley over Welch, which was after the trash talk between them had already began. As much as Dvalishvili wants to beat O’Malley and take his title at UFC 306, he promises his biggest issue lies with Welch more than anybody else.

“I have a problem with his coach, Tim,” Dvalishvili said. “He was very disrespectful to me and he was doing stupid [stuff] and not respectful [things]. Any real coach should never do that, whatever he was doing. Try do the same thing in basketball or let’s try to do the same thing in a football game. They will give you a disqualification. Only the UFC can you get out of this. Coach your guy, coach your fighter. Don’t be disrespectful to the opponent. What kind of people does this? Only a snake person does this.

“Even now he’s talking on his podcast, like making fun of my height, making fun of my nose, even now he some fans said some stupid things. Nothing is real. He’s making up some stories about me, which is not true. He deserves [me] to smack his face. That’s what I told Sean O’Malley. ‘Hey Sean, tell your coach to shut his mouth,’ because I was so pissed when I saw all these videos, how he does stupid things, how he talks stupid. I told him to shut his mouth.”

After Dvalishvili vowed to settle things with Welch when they run into each other, O’Malley amped up his chatter by telling Dvalishvili that Welch would welcome that fight, especially with a significant size advantage on his side.

That’s when Dvalishvili reminded O’Malley that he wasn’t trying to lure Welch into the cage to meet him in the UFC.

“He said, ‘Oh, you should fight him.’ Bro, I’m talking a street fight,” Dvalishvili said. “You think I’m going to go in the cage and I’m going to have a referee and I’m going to have rules there? I’m talking about when I see him, I’m going to smack his face. [O’Malley] said, ‘He’s bigger than you, that’s why we have weight classes.’ I don’t give a shit. I’m talking about man to man. I’m very pissed off. He deserves [me] to smack his face.

“He’s not a real coach. He’s not a real man. That’s what I’m talking about. He’s not a fighter. I’m not going to go in the cage with him. He’s never going to be in the UFC or in my weight class especially. I’m not going to do jiu-jitsu rounds with him. I’m talking about a street fight. That’s all I was trying [to say], but then Sean O’Malley was acting stupid [saying] there’s weight classes. This guy is so stupid. What are you talking about? Where did you grow up? Who raised you? Who are you? What the f*ck are you talking about?”

As irate as he was in the moment, Dvalishvili says he never intended for the situation with O’Malley to turn so volatile, but he’s not going to back down from a challenge — even one coming from his opponent’s head coach.

“I don’t like drama,” Dvalishvili said. “I’m a professional fighter and I’m going to focus on this fight. If I see Tim somewhere, of course I’m going to smack his face. That’s all. That was it. That’s what I told Sean O’Malley.

“Tim deserves to get smacked, for sure. But me and Sean O’Malley, we’re going to fight in the cage with the rules, UFC octagon, and we’re going to fight for the UFC belt. That’s done. I’m not going to talk to Tim because he don’t deserve to have a conversation. He deserves only a smack in his face. He already talks too much. He already disrespected me, he already disrespected my team, he already disrespected MMA. He deserves to get [smacked].”

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Serghei Spivac is ready for anybody, including Jailton Almeida.

On Saturday, Spivac scored the eighth win of his UFC career, submitting Marcin Tybura with an armbar in the main event of UFC Vegas 95. The win avenged an earlier loss to Tybura and moves “Polar Bear” up in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings at heavyweight. Still, only 29 years old and now back in the winning column, Spivac knows there are plenty of opportunities awaiting him up the ladder.

“I’ll definitely take a break,” Spivac said in his post-fight press conference. “I’ll heal up. But when people ask me what’s next, it’s very hard for me to say because a lot of things can change in the heavyweight division really quickly. So it’s good for me when the UFC says who is next as opposed to me having to choose. I understand that tournaments happen every single Saturday, every single week, so I’ll wait and we’ll see what’s next.”

“What’s next” may be fairly straightforward. In his post-fight speech on Saturday, Tybura called for a matchup with anybody ranked above him, and No. 7-ranked Jailton Almeida quickly answered the call.

“Spivak, do you want someone above you in the rankings? Im here!! #7 vs #8 . I want to fight Bro! Happy you get the finish early, so, we can fight soon!”

Almeida suffered his first loss in the UFC earlier this year when he got knocked out by Curtis Blaydes at UFC 299, but rebounded with a submission victory over Alexandr Romanov at UFC 302. A matchup between Almeida and Spivac would figure to be a grappler’s delight, and never one to be overly loquacious, Spivac had a very direct response to Almeida’s call out when asked about it.

“Let him train,” Spivac said.

A couple of times on the evening, Spivac made it clear he does not wish to call out anyone specifically as he tries to be respectful at all times, but is willing to fight whoever the UFC deigns to give him. The only thing he would request is a timeline. Spivac and his partner are set to have their first child in just a couple of weeks, so he wants to take some time before returning before 2025.

“End of the year would be great,” Spivac said. “I would come back at the end of the year, as long as I stay healthy.”

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The overwhelming expectations for the U.S. men’s freestyle wrestling team came to a disappointing end at the 2024 Olympics following a loss by Kyle Snyder in his bronze medal match at 97kg.

Snyder fell to Iranian Amirali Azarpira by a score of 4-1, which was the first time the former Ohio State wrestler failed to win a medal during competition at the Olympics or the World Championships of wrestling. The 28-year-old athlete, who won gold back in 2016, struggled to gain any momentum after a cut opened on his forehead during an early exchange, which led to multiple stoppages throughout the match so doctors could tend to the gash.

Snyder’s loss ended the U.S. men’s freestyle competition in 2024 with a lackluster showing after all six weight classes were represented with high hopes for multiple gold medal wins.

Instead, the U.S. men’s freestyle team has to go home licking their wounds after failing to win a gold medal for the first time in 56 years and only capturing three total medals in 2024 after winning five in 2020.

The outstanding performance at the Tokyo games, which actually took place in 2021 due to the global pandemic, put the Americans at the top of the sport. Gold medal wins by Gable Steveson at 125kg and David Taylor at 86kg plus claiming medals in five out of the six weight classes had many believing that the U.S. team could do even better in 2024.

“I truly believe we can bring back six gold medals in men’s freestyle, which would be pretty remarkable,” Taylor told MMA Fighting prior to the Olympics after his career ended with a pair of losses to Penn State standout Aaron Brooks at the U.S. Olympic team trials. “This team is prepared.”

Taylor passed the torch to Brooks, who was a four-time NCAA champion, but he ultimately left Paris with a bronze medal after a stunning upset in the semifinals against Magomed Ramazanov from Bulgaria.

Out of the three medals won by the United States, only Spencer Lee managed to make it to the finals in his weight class at 57kg but he suffered a tough loss to Rei Higuchi from Japan.

Kyle Dake joined Brooks as the other bronze medal winner from the U.S. men’s freestyle team after he battled back from early struggles to beat Hetik Cabolov from Serbia. Still, Dake definitely wanted to claim Olympic gold after he was heavily favored to make the final match in 2020 and 2024 but he suffered upset losses both years.

Of course, the U.S. team didn’t have Steveson this time around after he opted to bow out of wrestling to first sign with WWE and then trying his hand at football after inking a deal to join the Buffalo Bills. Steveson’s replacement Mason Parris suffered a loss in the opening round at 125kg and then didn’t get pulled back into the repechage rounds, which ended his hopes for at least capturing a bronze medal.

There’s no doubt that the U.S. men’s freestyle team leaves Paris with a lot of work to do before returning for the World Championships and then hoping for a much better result when the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028.

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Serghei Spivac might want to be careful what he wishes for.

The Moldovan heavyweight kept his winning ways rolling as he scored his fourth victory in five fights with a quick first-round armbar submission of Marcin Tybura in Saturday’s UFC Vegas 95 main event. Making the moment sweeter for Spivac was that he avenged a loss to Tybura from February 2020, when Spivac was competing in just his third UFC fight.

Fighters on social media were impressed with Spivac’s finishing acumen, especially considering Tybura had never been submitted before. Afterwards, Spivac called for a fight with any heavyweight ranked above him. One answered.

Heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida responded to Spivac’s open challenge, writing, “[Spivac], do you want someone above you in the rankings? I’m here. #7 vs. #8. I want to fight, bro!

“Happy you get the finish early so we can fight soon!”

See more social media reactions from the MMA community below.

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Serghei Spivac closed the show with a big finish, but finishes were few and far between at the UFC’s latest visit to the APEX.

The dearth of memorable moments resulted in the UFC handing out one less bonus than usual, with Spivac, Youssef Zalal and Toshiomi Kazama all earning $ 50,000 Performance of the Night bonuses.

No Fight of the Night was awarded for Saturday’s event.

Spivac avenged a February 2020 loss to Marcin Tybura in the heavyweight headliner, needing less than two minutes to secure an armbar that forced Tybura to tap out for the first time in his 13-year career. The win gave Spivac his fourth in his past four outings and afterwards, he called for the UFC to match him up with an opponent that will keep him climbing the rankings.

This is Spivac’s second Performance of the Night bonus. He also received one for a first-round submission of Derrick Lewis this past February.

Zalal and Kazama both scored the first bonuses of their UFC careers.

Now 2-0 in his second stint with the promotion, Zalal scored a slick submission of Jarno Errens to net the $ 50,000 bonus.

Kazama, who was coming off of consecutive first-round losses, authored a thrilling comeback win over Charalampos Grigoriou, finishing him with a rear-naked choke in Round 2.

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Angelo Leo just shut the door on the Knockout of the Year conversation.

With one perfectly placed left hand, Leo (25-1, 12 KOs) left Luis Alberto “Venado” Lopez (30-3, 17 Kos) laid out on the canvas and claimed Lopez’s IBF featherweight title at a boxing event Saturday.

Watch the absurdly nasty KO blow below.

The finishing punch landed a minute into the 10th round with both boxers coming forward. Leo slipped a jab while letting his left hand hook fly and connected with maximum impact on Lopez’s chin. Lopez immediately dropped to the mat, almost completely devoid of movement.

Referee Ernie Sharif stepped in to administer the standard 10-count, but it was obvious that Lopez would not be recovering from the devastating strike.

In the video above, Lopez can be seen attempting to get up under his own power, but stumbling as his attendees attempt to bring him a stool.

Leo, who was fighting in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., claims his second world title after previously holding the WBO super-bantamweight belt.

Watch more angles of the unbelievable knockout and Leo’s post-fight interview below.

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Serghei Spivac bounced back in the win column impressively as he became the first fighter to ever submit Marcin Tybura in the main event of UFC Vegas 95 — while getting back one of his early UFC losses in the process. Following the quick submission win, where does Spivac go, and was it enough to save one of the toughest-to-watch fight cards of the year?

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Eric Jackman react to Saturday’s Fight Night event at the APEX, Spivac’s tremendous performance, and Jailton Almeida calling him out post-fight. Additionally, topics include whether or not the event was the UFC’s worst of the year, the bright spots on the card including Youssef Zalal, the awful scorecard in Danny Barlow’s split decision win over Nikolay Veretennikov, and much more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 95 post-fight show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your pods.

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This is the UFC Vegas 95 live blog for Marcin Tybura vs. Serghei Spivac, the main event heavyweight rematch on Saturday at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

A former M-1 heavyweight champion, Tybura has been a staple of the UFC’s heavyweight division since 2016, amassing a 12-7 record in the organization, with notable wins over Andrei Arlovski, Ben Rothwell, and a host of others. Most recently, Tybura submitted Tai Tuivasa in March to move up to No. 8 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, and he looks to make it two in a row against Spivac.

Currently ranked No. 10, Spivac is still only 29 years old and on a terrific run since losing to Tybura in 2020. Since then, Spivac is 6-2 with his losses coming against interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. He hopes to avenge his previous loss to Tybura as he tries to work his way to a title shot.

Check out the UFC Vegas 95 main event live blog below.

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It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Toshiomi Kazama vs. Charalampos Grigoriou got pretty wild in the second round.

The bantamweight bout was the opening main card bout at UFC Vegas 95 on Saturday at the APEX. After Kazama delivered a wrestling and grappling-heavy first round — taking his opponent’s back for much of the stanza — Grigoriou came out on fire in Round 2, dropping Kazama and delivering huge ground-and-pound, but Kazama was able to survive.

He didn’t just survive, he secured a beautiful triangle choke, forcing Grigoriou to submit to cap off the wild fight.

Check out the closing moments in the video below.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:55 into Round 2.

Kazama was potentially fighting for his job on the UFC roster as he entered the fight as a massive underdog. The 27-year-old was stopped in both of his octagon appearances prior to the biggest win of his career.

Grigoriou is now 0-2 as a UFC fighter after earning a contract on the Contender Series.

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