Category Archives: Mmafighting.com

LOS ANGELES — The anticipated build towards Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga ratcheted up another notch on Tuesday as the fighters came face-to-face for the second time following a press conference in Los Angeles. This time around, Canelo and Berlanga were engaged in a back-and-forth war of words as they jawed at each other during the customary faceoff.

When they weren’t talking, the fighters were staring daggers through each other as they prepare to meet in a pivotal matchup scheduled for Sept. 14 with the fight taking place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

You can also watch the highlights from the Canelo vs. Berlanga press conference below:

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Chris Gutierrez is going from one stiff challenge to another.

The UFC has announced a handful of late changes to this Saturday’s UFC Vegas 95 event, including Gutierrez getting a new opponent with the withdrawal of Javid Basharat. Stepping in for Basharat is undefeated octagon newcomer Quang Le.

The reason for Basharat’s withdrawal was not disclosed.

Gutierrez (20-6-2) looks to rebound from a decision loss to Song Yadong in the main event of a Fight Night card this past December. “El Guapo” is 1-2 since seeing an eight-fight unbeaten streak end in 2022, a run that had him on the cusp of a top-10 ranking.

Quang was expected to fight Aaron Tau on the Contender Series this upcoming season, but now heads straight to the UFC on less than a week’s notice. “Bang” is 8-0 since turning pro in 2021, with all but one of his fights taking place under the LFA banner.

Also debuting as a replacement is past Contender Series contestant Nikolay Veretennikov (12-4). He steps in for Uros Medic to fight Danny Barlow (8-0) at 170 pounds.

Two other bouts have also been removed from Saturday’s card.

Allan Nascimento was forced to withdraw from a flyweight fight with Jafel Filho due to an illness, and Jonny Parsons has also been removed from a welterweight bout with Yusaku Kinoshita. Both fights are cancelled.

UFC Vegas 95 is headlined by a heavyweight rematch between Marcin Tybura and Serghei Spivac.

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Cuban born heavyweight Mijain Lopez just set a record at the Olympics that may never be broken.

The 41-year-old Greco-Roman wrestler wrapped up a fifth consecutive gold medal at 130kg on Tuesday in Paris, an achievement that set several records for the legendary grappler. He defeated fellow Cuban born wrestler Yasmani Acosta Fernandez, a representative of Chile. Fernandez previously left his home country because he knew he may never get the chance to make an Olympic team with Lopez still competing.

Despite his prudent decision, Fernandez still came up short, with Lopez winning the match in a shutout via a 6-0 score.

Lopez becomes the first person in Olympic wrestling history to win five gold medals. He’s also the first athlete in any sport to win the same event five times.

With his win, Lopez also ties Germany’s Wilfried Dietrich for the most medals ever won in wrestling with five total.

Lopez is also the oldest Olympic wrestling medalist ever at 41, just a couple of weeks shy of his 42nd birthday.

In addition to his remarkable run at the Olympics, Lopez is also a five-time World Champion and three-time silver medalist at the World Championships of wrestling.

Following the match and his historic win, Lopez removed his shoes and left them in the center of the mat, which is a wrestler’s way of retiring from the sport.

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The UFC’s annual pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi has an incredible main event with Ilia Topuria defending his featherweight title against BMF champion Max Holloway at UFC 308. With plans for that matchup expected to take place earlier in October at UFC 307, that leaves a glaring hole in the headline spot for that card.

On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck reacts to Dana White announcing Topuria vs. Holloway as the main event for the Oct. 26 card, Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev as the co-main event, and other bouts announced and confirmed. Additionally, topics include what will now headline UFC 307 on Oct. 5, if the promotion would go to Arman Tsarukyan fighting for the interim lightweight title with Islam Makhachev injured, Dana White’s recent comments about Tom Aspinall, and much more.

You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces.

If you miss it live, audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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Jared Cannonier and Caio Borralho have been summoned to headline at the APEX.

The UFC announced Tuesday that Cannonier vs. Borralho is the main event of UFC Vegas 96, which takes place Aug. 24 at UFC APEX in Las Vegas. This matchup pits MMA Fighting’s No. 7-ranked middleweight Cannonier against a fighter yet to to be beaten inside the octagon.

Cannonier (17-7) is coming off of a controversial fourth-round TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Louisville this past June. The loss snapped a win streak for the one-time title challenger, following back-to-back wins over Marvin Vettori and Sean Strickland.

This is Cannonier’s fourth straight main event booking, with three of those four appearances taking place at the APEX.

Borralho (16-1, 1 NC) headlines in the UFC for the first time after several co-main event outings at Fight Night events. He is 6-0 in the UFC, with his most recent win being a second-round knockout of veteran Paul Craig.

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Dana White didn’t know about Jake Paul calling out UFC champion Alex Pereira after his recent win, because he just doesn’t follow what Paul is doing these days.

In the past, the UFC CEO repeatedly allowed himself to get sucked into verbal battles with Paul through interviews and social media, but White eventually decided he has no interest in giving his attention to something that has no impact on his business. While he’s not been a fan of Paul boxing his longtime friend, 58-year-old Mike Tyson, White has done his best to avoid taking unnecessary shots at the 27-year-old Paul in recent months.

White promises his stance regarding Paul hasn’t changed, which is why he didn’t address the Pereira callout, much less tune in to watch him fight UFC veteran Mike Perry, who Paul defeated via sixth-round knockout.

“Let me tell you something about the Jake Paul thing, the media just eats all his bullshit and they actually print it,” White told TNT Sports. “It’s the weirdest thing ever. Not only did I not tell Perry if he won, he’d get in the UFC, I haven’t even talked to Perry in a long time. I didn’t even know Jake Paul was fighting. I was on vacation in Italy, I had no idea. There’s all these stories that were written, it’s ridiculous.

“I stopped paying attention to Jake Paul when he lost to [Tommy] Fury. When he fought somebody that was his age and actually boxed, he lost.”

Of course, Paul rarely misses an opportunity to take shots at White, especially when calling out UFC athletes under exclusive contract that he knows won’t be able to fight him.

That’s been the case for years whenever Paul called for a fight against Conor McGregor and nothing much has changed when it comes to Pereira, who is the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion.

Still, White doesn’t feel like opening Pandora’s box again to take unnecessary jabs at Paul just to start another war of words.

But the same criticism White had about Paul’s boxing career in the past still stands true in the present.

“I’m not shitting on the kid,” White said. “I don’t even think about him anymore. It doesn’t even cross my mind. I have no beef with him. [He said,] ‘They’re trying to get me assassinated!’ Nobody’s trying to get you assassinated.

“I respect Perry. Smaller, older, it’s the same blueprint — fighting older, smaller guys. I literally don’t ever even think about him anymore. It’s all bullshit.”

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CM Punk calls himself the best in the world, but during his latest promo on Monday Night Raw, the two-time UFC fighter paid tribute to a friend and teammate who earned the same moniker recently.

Following his match at WWE SummerSlam in Cleveland this past weekend, Punk (real name Phil Brooks) showed up at Raw in Baltimore to address his growing rivalry with Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins. Before he got going, Punk shouted out his friend and teammate Belal Muhammad for winning the UFC welterweight title with a dominant victory over Leon Edwards at UFC 304.

“I just want to take a real quick minute to shout out, give some flowers to my good friend, my teammate, my brother Belal Muhammad,” Punk said in the ring. “He won the UFC welterweight title. It’s been a busy week, I didn’t forget. Congratulations. I love seeing good things happen to good people. I love watching hard work pay off.”

During his brief MMA career, Punk trained primarily under head coach Duke Roufus at his gym in Milwaukee. That’s also where Muhammad frequently worked while he was making his way up the rankings in the UFC’s welterweight division.

Obviously that friendship stuck long after Punk left fighting and went back to professional wrestling. Watch his shoutout to Muhammad for the upset win above.

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UFC bantamweight Ramon Taveras is lucky to be alive.

Over the weekend, Taveras revealed he was very nearly the victim of a drive-by shooting in his hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., while leaving his mother’s house this past Monday. Taveras even released video of the harrowing incident from the house’s security camera.

“It’s unfortunate that I even have to make a post like this, but I cannot let this be swept under the rug.

“Monday, July 29, 2024, at 10:05 pm, a group of armed men drove up on me at my mother’s house and tried to take my life. By the grace of God, I made it out with no injuries and was able to grab my own firearm and return fire in self-defense. This city is unforgiving, and it’s worse that JSO [Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office] does nothing to correct the problem. I lost my brother in 2019 due to gun violence, and his killers are yet to be caught. Now I find myself almost in the same situation.

“JSO did the bare minimum for my brother and is now doing the same for me. They assumed I was targeted due to “gang violence” or a problem I caused. I don’t bother anyone, I stay in my own lane, I focus on my career and family. Even after explaining this, they continued to insinuate that I was involved in something that brought this outcome upon myself.

“Nobody is perfect, and everyone has a past. However, I have changed significantly from who I was ten years ago. For such an incident to occur out of nowhere is alarming. It makes me view my life and family through an entirely different lens. This is a daily reality in my city; I am not the first, nor will I be the last. I am tired of remaining silent about my brother’s case, and I refuse to let this incident slide either. Many other families in my city have endured similar situations, crying out for justice just as my family is.

“My family feels unsafe, and I fear for my children, who nearly lost their father the person striving to change their lives. It is tragic that I have so much love for my city, yet I am compelled to leave. I will use this situation to speak out against the ineffectiveness of JSO and their disregard for the less fortunate parts of the city. They seem indifferent to whether lives are lost or at risk. I am sick of it! This could have been a memorial post; I could have lost my life just like my brother, or somebody else could have lost theirs trying to take mine. I am done being silent. I ask for your support in spreading this message as far as we can.

“I am blessed and happy to be alive, but I’m leaving Duval.”

The video shows Taveras leaving the house and walking to a vehicle, when a car on the street nearby opens fire multiple times. Taveras takes cover behind the car until the assailants drive off, at which point Taveras appears to stand, draw a gun of his own and return fire.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond when MMA Fighting reached out for comment.

Taveras joined the UFC in 2023 after two outings on the Contender Series. In his first go-round, Taveras missed weight for the contest and then lost to Serhiy Sidey via first-round TKO in a highly controversial stoppage. After that, Taveras was given another chance later in the season and scored a 29-second finish over Cortavious Romious to earn his spot in the UFC. Taveras made his UFC debut in January in a rematch against Sidey, and again he missed weight, though this time Taveras did win a split decision. He was scheduled to face Caolan Loughran at UFC 304 but an injury forced him out of the card.

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Magomed Umalatov now faces Neiman Gracie in the PFL welterweight semifinals at PFL 9 after original opponent Don Madge withdrew from the Aug. 23 event due to an injury, the promotion announced.

Gracie was originally slated to face Luca Poclit in a 170-pound alternate bout on the same card. With Gracie out, Poclit instead fights Eric Alequin.

PFL 9 takes place at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., and airs live on ESPN.

Gracie (13-5) did not initially make it the playoffs after going 1-1 in the PFL regular season. He defeated Madge via decision in June after losing an April match to Goiti Yamauchi.

Umalatov (16-0) has won seven fights in a row since joining PFL in 2021. He beat Andrey Koreshkov and Brennan Ward in this year’s welterweight regular season.

PFL also announced that Maxwell Djantou Nana and Shido Boris Esperanca are set to compete against yet-to-be-announced opponents on the preliminary portion of the card.

Check out the updated PFL 9 fight card below.

Main Card

• Brendan Loughnane vs. Kai Kamaka
• Magomed Umalatov vs. Neiman Gracie
• Gabriel Braga vs. Timur Khizriev
• Shamil Musaev vs. Murad Ramazanov

Preliminary Card

• Ray Cooper III vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov
• Eric Alequin vs. Luca Poclit
• Tyler Diamond vs. Enrique Barzola
• Brahyan Zurcher vs. James Gallagher
• Jesse Stirn vs. Jose Perez
• Maxwell Djantou Nana vs. TBD
• Shido Boris Esperanca vs. TBD

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Conor McGregor is never going to let the beef die.

The former two-division UFC champion exploded on social media Monday after U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump named Khabib Nurmagomedov as his favorite fighter during an interview with gaming streamer Adin Ross. In a barrage of angry posts, McGregor called the former Republican nominee’s answer a “shocking” and “campaign ending decision” that “won’t go unnoticed on the [UFC] roster,” arguing that Trump should’ve picked an American fighter rather than the Dagestan-born former lightweight champion.

McGregor’s entire meltdown can be seen below.

McGregor, 36, and Nurmagomedov, 35, of course have plenty of history with one another.

The two former champs collided in an October 2018 grudge match at UFC 229 that remains the biggest pay-per-view event in MMA history, drawing more than 2 million buys. After an ugly lead-up that included McGregor infamously smashing a bus window with a dolly, Nurmagomedov dominated the Irishman en route to a fourth-round submission stoppage.

Afterward, with the bad blood still simmering, Nurmagomedov leapt over the cage and ignited a wild brawl with McGregor’s cornermen and team.

While Nurmagomedov retired in 2020 as an undefeated UFC champion, McGregor ostensibly continues to fight on. The controversial Irishman has dropped two of his three bouts in the years since the Nurmagomedov loss, and recently withdrew from a scheduled contest against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 after suffering a broken pinky toe.

Chandler continues to wait on the sidelines for the McGregor bout, which is expected to be re-booked in late 2024. So unsurprisingly, the American couldn’t help but chime in Monday.

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