Brandon Royval | Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Brandon Royval is back in action.
Royval is expected to face riding contender Tatsuro Taira in the main event of the upcoming UFC Vegas 98 card, which takes place at UFC Apex on Oct. 12. The matchup was first announced by UFC commentator John Gooden during the UFC 304 weigh-in show and later confirmed to MMA Fighting by sources close to the situation.
Currently the No. 4 flyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, Royval (16-7) challenged Alexandre Pantoja for the title this past December, losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a split decision win over two-time champion Brandon Moreno in their UFC Mexico City main event clash.
The No. 9-ranked Taira is widely viewed as one of the best prospects in all of MMA. The 24-year-old Japanese fighter has a perfect 16-0 resume, with six wins in the UFC, including four finishes. Most recently Taira defeated one-time title challenger Alex Perez in their main event matchup in June when Perez suffered a knee injury during a takedown from Taira.
A number of other matchup for the card have already been announced including a bantamweight fight between former champion Cody Garbrandt and Miles Johns and a lightweight tilt between Grant Dawson and Rafa Garcia.
Umar Nurmagomedov and Bekzat Almakhan | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Umar Nurmagomedov believes he has some of the best grappling and wrestling in the UFC bantamweight division, but if he wants to be the best, he knows there’s at least one person who could also challenge for that moniker.
Top-ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili averages nearly seven takedowns for every 15 minutes he spends in the octagon, and that’s likely a strategy he’ll employ when he battles Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight title at UFC 306 on Sept. 14. Dvalishvili enters the fight coming off of 10 straight wins after making a steady ascension up the rankings at 135 pounds.
As impressive as Dvalishvili has been during that run, Nurmagomedov believes the 33-year-old should have faced a tougher challenge when Dvalishvili beat Henry Cejudo via decision in his most recent outing in February.
“I don’t know why Cejudo showed a very bad fight [against Dvalishvili],” Nurmagomedov told MMA Fighting. “I think he went down because of age, three years without a fight, but I think if they [would have fought] when Cejudo was in his prime, I think it’s going to be a different result.”
That being said, Nurmagomedov has been impressed by Dvalishvili in recent years, especially the way he employs his wrestling and grappling in all of his fights. Dvalishvili’s ability to showcase relentless pressure while spamming takedowns has allowed him to take out several top-ranked opponents, including a lopsided win over ex-champion Petr Yan.
While his attention is focused on Cory Sandhagen in their main event fight at UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday, Nurmagomedov always keeps a close eye on potential competition.
“Right now, Merab is doing very well,” Nurmagomedov said. “His wrestling is very good. You don’t know when he’s going for a takedown or when he’s going to punch you. He mixes both very good. But with me, I don’t know how he’s going to do because I have good wrestling too. I can strike. I can give him one leg all day and he won’t take me down. We’re going to see.
“It’s going to make sense [for us to fight] if he beats O’Malley. Right now we have a contender fight with me and Cory.”
Nurmagomedov believes a win over Sandhagen makes him the No. 1 contender in the division, and he welcomes the chance to face Dvalishvili if the Georgian wrestler becomes champion.
The only problem is Nurmagomedov isn’t convinced Dvalishvili gets through Sean O’Malley when they meet in the UFC 306 main event. One thing Nurmagomedov knows for certain, however, is that Dvalishvili needs to pour everything into that fight because he may not get another chance like that again.
“If Merab loses, he’s never going to fight for the title again,” Nurmagomedov said. “He’s 34 or 35, and I don’t know many times or how many years he has to fight for a win streak to fight for the title. But I want a fight with him. I don’t care. Him or O’Malley or someone else, I want to fight with everyone.
“[O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili is] difficult for a prediction. It’s like, who’s going to do his job? If Merab will do his job with takedowns, hold him, dominate on the ground, he’s going to win. If O’Malley doesn’t let him come close and he uses his boxing and kicks, he’s going to win. It depends on who is going to prepare better. I can’t say 100 percent who is going to win. O’Malley’s fight with Aljamain Sterling, everybody thought it was going to be an easy fight for Aljamain. Everybody was waiting on how he was going to choke [O’Malley], but O’Malley knocked him out. That’s why it’s difficult. It’s a very good fight for fans and for me too.”
If Dvalishvili gets the job done, Nurmagomedov anticipates an intriguing fight between the two best wrestlers in the division, but he shows no fear matching his takedowns against anyone in the UFC.
“I think this question is open,” Nurmagomedov said. “We’ll know this when I fight with Merab. Because he has a lot of takedowns in his fights and I have many takedowns in my fights. We’re going to see. I hope we’re going to check this. I hope I’m going to fight with Merab and we’re going to know who is best.”
Nurmagomedov also praised O’Malley for the job he’s done as champion by knocking out Sterling to win the belt and then dominating Marlon Vera in his first title defense.
While O’Malley hasn’t exactly been kind in return, Nurmagomedov can’t help but give the the champ his flowers for proving himself time and time again in the octagon.
“He’s a good fighter,” Nurmagomedov said of O’Malley. “He shows this with Petr Yan and he showed this with ‘Chito’ Vera too. He’s a good striker. For bantamweight, he’s tall and he has good technique. He deserves to be champion.
“He beat these guys. We can’t say it was a very close fight and he won because judges made a mistake. He’s dominating and he’s fighting good. I think he’s the champion.”
UFC and the fighters involved in a pair of antitrust lawsuits reached a settlement agreement that seemingly shut the door on any potential trial, but that all changed on Tuesday.
Judge Richard Boulware issued a judgment denying the settlement agreement while simultaneously setting a trial date in October, despite both parties anticipating the end of the court case. The two separate lawsuits — one filed by fighters including Cung Le and Nate Quarry in 2014 that covered UFC athletes from 2010 to 2017, and a second lawsuit filed by fighters such as Kajan Johnson that covered athletes from 2017 to the present — joined together for the settlement, but that may no longer be the case.
Following news that Boulware denied the settlement agreement, UFC issued a statement addressing the decision after originally agreeing to pay $ 335 million to settle both lawsuits.
“We obviously disagree with this ruling and believe it disregards the expertise of counsel from both sides, as well as that of an accomplished and expert mediator — all of whom have decades of experience in antitrust case law,” UFC officials said in the statement. “It prevents the athletes from receiving what they have argued is in their best interest and unwinds an extensively negotiated settlement that, in the plaintiffs’ counsel’s own words, ‘would far surpass the typical antitrust class action settlement’ and ‘is an excellent result for the Settlement Classes by all traditional measures.’
“Additionally, by taking the unusual step of denying the settlement at this preliminary approval stage, the Judge is also denying the athletes their right to be heard during this pivotal moment in the case. As we have said throughout this process, we believe strongly in the merits of our cases and are evaluating all our options — including, without limitation, an appeal — and have initiated discussions with plaintiffs’ counsel who have expressed a willingness to engage in separate settlement discussions for the Le and Johnson cases.
TKO Group Holdings — the parent company to UFC — also filed a financial disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the decision.
Read the statement below:
“On July 30, 2024, following the court’s hearings on the parties’ submission to approve their agreement to settle all claims asserted in both class action lawsuits (Le and Johnson) for an aggregate amount of $ 335 million payable by the Company and its subsidiaries in installments over an agreed-upon period of time, the court issued its ruling and denied the motion for preliminary approval of the settlement agreement. The court has not issued an opinion explaining its reasoning at this time, but the court has scheduled a status conference for August 19, 2024 and a new tentative trial date for Le for October 28, 2024.
“The Company is evaluating all of its options, including, without limitation, an appeal, and has also initiated discussions with plaintiffs’ counsel, who have expressed a willingness to engage in separate settlement discussions for the Le and Johnson cases. A motion to dismiss the complaint in Johnson remains pending and no trial date has been set.”
Boulware had previously expressed concerns that he objected to the settlement because the agreed upon payout seemed low and the fighters represented in the second lawsuit — covering athletes from 2017 to the present — could object to arbitration and class-action waiver clauses in existing contracts.
Now the stage is set for a potential trial unless UFC and the fighters involved in the lawsuits can potentially come to some sort of new agreement to settle the case.
Eric Cramer, the lead attorney representing the fighters, told Boulware prior to the ruling that he hoped the settlement agreement would be approved because the risk involved going to trial could end in UFC’s favor, which means the athletes wouldn’t get paid anything.
A jury trial in an antitrust lawsuit such as this one has to end in an unanimous verdict, and even if the fighters won, UFC would inevitably file an appeal that could tie up the case for years before the athletes would see any potential money.
After the judge ultimately disagreed and denied the settlement agreement, Cramer issued a statement to MMA Fighting regarding the ruling.
”Plaintiffs respect the Court’s ruling rejecting the proposed global resolution of the Le and Johnson cases, and accordingly will be moving forward full speed on all fronts as directed by the Court,” Cramer said. “We now plan on ramping up preparations in Le for the imminent trial, and also will begin pressing forward with discovery in Johnson. At the same time, with the interests of our clients and the classes at the forefront, we are also open to reengaging with the UFC to see whether the parties could reach a settlement building off of the momentum achieved in the prior settlement, but working to satisfy the Court’s expressed concerns with that resolution.
“In particular, to eliminate several of the issues expressed by the Court regarding the prior proposed combined settlement of Le and Johnson, Plaintiffs believe the best path forward, if a new settlement becomes a possibility, is to attempt to resolve the two cases separately, focusing first on the Le case given its imminent trial date, and using the progress made to date as a jumping off point for further discussions. Thus, while Plaintiffs’ focus will be on preparing for trial, we are keeping an open mind with respect to a potential new resolution. At root, Plaintiffs want nothing more and nothing less than justice for the professional MMA fighters we have represented for more than ten years in the most efficient and effective way possible.”
Judge Boulware is expected to issue his full ruling regarding his decision to deny the settlement agreement in the coming days. For now, UFC and the fighters are expected to go back to court in August for a status conference, where a new trial date will be officially determined unless a new settlement is reached by then.
Hamdy Abdelwahab just received another drug suspension.
On Wednesday, UFC’s anti-doping program announced Abdelwahab has accepted a six-month sanction for exogenous testosterone relating to multiple samples taken this year.
Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) revealed Abdelwahab failed three separate tests this year on March 23, May 3, and May 23. However, since Abdelwahab was not informed of the first failure, and the third failure was deemed to be a product of residual amounts, all three incidents were treated as one violation.
This is not the first issue Abdelwahab has had with drug testing. In 2022, the Egyptian fighter received a two-year ban from USADA for testing positive for the anabolic agent metenolone and its metabolite in two drug screenings ahead of his UFC debut, along with a tampering violation for failing to disclose his banned substance prior to joining the USADA program.
In contrast to his 2022 failure, after being notified of his failure, Abdelwahab was able to provide evidence of a tainted dietary supplement. Normally this would result in only a three-month suspension, however since he was still under suspension from his 2022 violation at the time, the sanction doubled to six months.
Abdelwahab’s previous suspension ended on July 30, however his new suspension now means “The Hammer” will now be ineligible to compete until Jan. 30, 2025.
Umar Nurmagomedov | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The UFC is back in Abu Dhabi.
This Saturday, the UFC returns to the UAE with a banger of a Fight Night card, headlined by a bantamweight bout between Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen and the No Bets Barred boys are back with a full breakdown of the event.
Co-hosts Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a brief discussion of UFC 304 and both of their winning weeks before diving into UFC Abu Dhabi. Can Nurmagomedov live up to his familial name or will Sandhagen reestablish himself as the top contender at bantamweight? Can Chito Vera rebound with a win against former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo? Is Shara Bullet actually good?
All that plus some boxing talk and even a brief chat about Olympic wrestling on this week’s episode.
Tune in for episode 96 of No Bets Barred.
New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.
The veteran UFC featherweight is expected to meet Lerone Murphy in a re-booked battle of ranked contenders on Oct. 26 at UFC 308, sources close to the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck on Wednesday.
Ige vs. Murphy was previously scheduled for UFC Vegas 86 in February, however Murphy withdrew due to injury and Ige instead knocked out Andre Fili in the first round.
Ige (18-8) was then booked to face Joanderson Brito — and then replacement opponent Chepe Mariscal — on July 20 at UFC Vegas 94,but was memorably pulled from that contest to fight Diego Lopes on just hours’ notice at UFC 303. Competing as a last-second replacement for Brian Ortega at a 165-pound catchweight, Ige lost to Lopes via decision.
He now gets thrown back into the fire against Murphy (14-0-1), an undefeated contender who captured a Fight of the Night victory over Edson Barboza in his most recent outing in May, which also doubled as Murphy’s first UFC main event. A 33-year-old Englishman, Murphy has won six consecutive UFC bouts since making his promotional debut with a split draw against Zubaira Tukhugov in 2019.
UFC 308 takes place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Sean O’Malley will have to overcome the odds to keep his bantamweight title.
UFC recently announced O’Malley will defend his bantamweight title against top contender Merab Dvalishvili at the upcoming UFC 306 event, which takes place on Sep. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. And when he does so, O’Malley will be a betting underdog for the first time as champion.
According to DraftKings, O’Malley is a +130 underdog, with the comeback on Dvalishvili at -155. This implies as a 43.5 percent chance of victory for O’Malley and means a $ 100 bet on O’Malley would provide a return of $ 230 should “Suga” retain his belt.
O’Malley won the bantamweight title one year ago, stopping Aljamain Sterling in the second round at UFC 292. Earlier this year he made his first successful defense of the belt, winning a dominant unanimous decision over rival Marlon Vera at UFC 299.
Dvalishvili is currently on a 10-fight winning streak and very likely would’ve challenged for the title sooner had it not previously been held Sterling, who is his longtime friend and training partner. Most recently, Dvalishvili defeated former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298.
Oddsmaker BetOnline.ag released odds for the rest of the UFC 306 fight card, including the women’s flyweight title trilogy bout between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. In their rematch at the original Noche UFC, the two women fought to a split draw, with Grasso retaining the title. As expected, the oddsmakers again have the fight as a razor thin contest, with Grasso a very slight favorite over Shevchenko at -115 to -105.
In the featured fight of the evening, former two-time featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega looks to finally settle his business with rising contender Diego Lopes, and oddsmakers currently have “T-City” as a slight underdog at +130 to the -150 on Lopes.
Check out the full list of odds for UFC 306 below.
Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley | Photo by Paul Rutherford/Getty Images
The rivalry between Sean O’Malley and teammates Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili continues to ramp up.
O’Malley and Sterling have a long history culminating in O’Malley’s stoppage victory over “The Funk Master” to claim the bantamweight title at UFC 292. Now that rivalry has carried through to Sterling’s friend and teammate Dvalishvili, who challenges O’Malley for the belt in the main event of UFC 306.
As that fight draws near, tensions between the two camps resurfaced, boiling over earlier this week when O’Malley and Dvalishvili got into a heated exchange of words during the first promotional event for the fight. The dust-up centered around a previous argument between O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch and the fighters. Dvalishvili raised the issue once again on Tuesday, leading O’Malley to fire back.
Speaking with The MMA Hour on Wednesday, Sterling supported his teammate 100 percent, saying that Welch needs to stay out of things between the fighters.
“Merab just is who he is, and if something bothers him or something annoys him, he’s going to call you out on it,” Sterling said. “I think that’s all he was doing, was making it known how he felt. Like dude, your coach is your coach, your coach shouldn’t be getting involved in things like this and talking shit to the fighters. I commented that, and Tim Welch, for the second time, said he wasn’t talking shit, but there is evidence that we saw which is what got us annoyed.
“Like yo, are you the coach or are you the fighter? Because if you want to be the fighter and start talking shit the same way Henry Cejudo’s camp was going, you make things a little bit different when interactions are involved. So I just told him simply, yo, we don’t hate you or anything, but understand your place in the game. I’m not saying that to be disrespectful or this badass tough guy, but there are consequences for things that are being said.
“If you’re going to sit here and talk shit, when there’s a street beef or interaction that occurs, you’re now part of the mess. So you do your job, make sure these guys get to the fight, and don’t be the one instigating because you might be the one to get your face [punched].”
Welch is a former professional fighter who amassed a 14-6 record and is best known for competing on season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter, where he was eliminated in the entry round of the show. Despite not achieving the heights of Dvalishvili though, Welch was a lightweight during his professional career, prompting O’Malley to admonish Dvalishvili with “there are weight classes for a reason” during their altercation. But Sterling gives that no credence.
“I know O’Malley is sitting here, ‘I wish you would fight him, there’s weight classes for a reason,’ but if we want to speak facts, Tim Welch wishes he could do half of what Merab and I have accomplished,” Sterling said. “Wishes. So weight classes are not [all that matters]. There’s a skill difference between the three of us and I think he understands that. Whether it’s a street fight, cage fight, it doesn’t matter. I’m not even trying to take it there. Let’s just call it what it is. If you’re trying to sit there and say, ‘I wish you would see what will happen,’ OK. If your coach is really about that life, have him get froggy and leap. It’s that simple.
“We’re trying to be professional. We’re trying to get to the fight because that’s the only way we paid, but if they want to make it something else, we can make it something else.”
But while there’s an awful lot of drama now bubbling up, Sterling insists he doesn’t want that. All Sterling wants is for his friend get the same opportunity he gave to O’Malley a year ago. And if O’Malley and his team can keep things respectful come fight week, there shouldn’t be any problems.
“We’ll see how Merab is feeling, we’ll see what’s actually being said, if there’s ill will or animosity behind it,” Sterling said. “At the end of the day we’re all chasing the same dream. Merab is trying to become a UFC champion the same way I gave Sean O’Malley an opportunity. O’Malley tried to do all these things to avoid giving Merab, the rightful contender, an opportunity and decided to fight ‘Chito’ [Marlon Vera] instead. So there’s a lot of things that just rub us the wrong way as competitors, as someone who wants to be the best.
“When it comes to fight week, we show respect always. But when people try to disrespect us, just know we’re going to say something. I think that’s all it comes down to.
“I do hope they come into fight week and it’s respectful. If there’s anyone talking shit, it’s simply Merab and O’Malley. I’m not even going to be talking shit to O’Malley. I like the guy. I’ve always liked the guy. I think he’s a great talent and I just want to see a good, fair fight.”
UFC 306 takes place on Sep. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Give Cory Sandhagen a couple of cold Steve-weisers and a hell yeah after his open workout ahead of UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
The veteran bantamweight contender put on a show for the crowd in attendance, but he wasn’t flashing any of the moves he’s used to pull off some highlight reel knockouts during his career. Instead, Sandhagen decided to get the attention of the WWE by using a couple of famous finishers to entertain the audience.
WWE moves in the Octagon?! Cory Sandhagen’s #UFCAbuDhabi open workout was entertaining @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/oqXE3P8IKB
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 31, 2024
A new video posted by the UFC shows Sandhagen first going for the Pedigree — the finishing maneuver made famous by current WWE chief content officer Paul Levesque, better known by his stage name “Triple H.”
From there, Sandhagen pulled off the Stone Cold stunner, which was the move that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin used so frequently to dispatch his opponents in WWE.
A consummate martial artist, Sandhagen may just have a career waiting for him in professional wrestling if he keeps pulling off moves like this.
Of course, first things first, Sandhagen has to get through Umar Nurmagomedov on Saturday as the bantamweight clash in a potential No. 1 contender’s fight with the winner possibly moving onto face the champion after Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili meet in September at UFC 306.
The judge overseeing the UFC antitrust lawsuit — a case that first launched back in 2014 — has denied the preliminary approval for a settlement and reset a tentative date for trial on Oct. 28.
On Tuesday, Judge Richard Boulware denied the planned settlement after the UFC agreed to pay out $ 335 million to close out two separate antitrust lawsuits filed by fighters. A separate written order detailing Boulware’s decision is set to be issued in the coming days but for now the antitrust lawsuit is moving ahead to trial with a status conference next scheduled on Aug. 19, which is where the exact trial date would be determined.
The judge previously stated in court that he objected to the settlement because the agreed upon payout seemed low and that the fighters represented in the second lawsuit — covering athletes from 2017 to the present — could object to arbitration and class action waiver clauses in existing contracts.
It’s a staggering decision handed down by the court after attorneys for the fighters argued that the agreed upon settlement would provide immediate financial relief for many athletes who desperately needed the money. The attorneys also admitted in court that sending this case to trial could result in a loss, which means the fighters involved in the case would receive nothing at all.
“The reality is the claim has little value,” Eric Cramer, an attorney for the fighters told the judge during a hearing about the proposed settlement. “They should take – they’d be better off both taking the money, getting the injunctive relief.
“The world where that doesn’t happen is not in that fighter’s interests because I would tell that fighter if they were in my office, ‘You’re likely to lose. You’re likely to get nothing.’”
In order to win at trial, the plaintiffs aka the fighters have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt and secure a unanimous jury verdict. Even if that happens, the UFC would undoubtedly file an appeal that could tie up the case for years before any payment would ever be made to the fighters.
If the UFC lost and all appeals were denied, the promotion could have been forced to pay out billions but even the attorneys for the fighters didn’t want to risk going to trial and potentially losing.
“There are thousands of people out there who could really use that money … and if this settlement doesn’t happen and we are forced to take this case to trial, we will, and lose, that would be devastating for a lot of people,” Cramer told the judge during the hearing in July. “And a lot of money would come out of the pockets of a lot of people.”
The antitrust lawsuit combined two separate cases with fighters represented from 2010 to 2017, which was initially filed by athletes such as Cung Le, Nate Quarry and others and then a second lawsuit that covered fighters from 2017 to the present, which was led by fighters such as Kajan Johnson.
The initial antitrust lawsuit filed back in 2014 argued that the UFC engaged “in a scheme to acquire and maintain monopsony power in the market for elite professional MMA fighter services.” The fighters claimed UFC achieved that goal through three key elements: exclusive contracts, coercion, and acquisitions that eliminated potential competitors.
After reaching a settlement agreement back in March, both the owners at the UFC and the attorneys representing the fighters celebrated the agreed upon payment with some athletes set to receive more than $ 1 million and around 500 more getting at least $ 100,000.
TKO Group Holdings — the parent company to the UFC — also seemed more than happy with the settlement with funds to pay out the $ 335 million already earmarked in a financial disclosure filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We’re pleased to have this matter resolved without introducing any further changes to UFC’s existing business operations,” TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said during a financial call back in May. “The long-form settlement agreement is expected to be filed shortly with the court for approval.”
With the judge denying the preliminary settlement agreement and putting the case back on the court docket with a new trial date, the UFC and the fighters could go back to the negotiating table to try and reach a new settlement agreement.
The UFC could also potentially seek to settle both cases separately, but it remains to be seen if that happens or not. Even if a new settlement agreement is reached, the court still needs to sign off to actually close out the lawsuits.
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