The UFC is looking to get on the road more often in 2025.

For the past several years, a major talking point among MMA fans has been the rise of the UFC APEX. Built in 2019, the APEX became one of the UFC’s primary event venues during the COVID-19 pandemic as promotion continued to put on shows during the lockdown. However even after the lockdowns ended, the APEX remains a fixture of the UFC rotation to the dislike of some fans. But that may be changing soon.

This past Saturday, UFC Edmonton took place and per the promotion it broke the record for highest-grossing UFC Fight Night event in North American history. This comes on the heels of similar performances when the promotion visited other locations like Denver and Louisville earlier this year, and speaking with reporters after the event, UFC Vice President David Shaw told reporters that this continued success will lead to some changes for how often the UFC goes on the road in 2025.

“Yeah, there will be [more events on the road],” Shaw said. “There will be an increased number of events outside of the APEX relative to this year as we get into the 2025 schedule.”

This weekend marks the UFC’s 100th event in the APEX and will be the promotion’s 17th trip there this year. The promotion also used the APEX 17 times in 2023, down from the 21 times they held events there in 2022.

But while Shaw envisions a world where the UFC relies less heavily on the APEX, he also made it clear that things will not return to the pre-COVID era where every show was somewhere different.

“It’s tough for us to anticipate what two or three years down the road looks like, but it makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons,” Shaw explained. “There’s a lot of fighters in Vegas, it’s easy for us operationally, it’s simple from a budgetary perspective. The rigor and the pressure and how laborious it can be to be on the road… It’s tough.

“So I think having home games and being in the APEX where we can just turn off the lights and lock the door, it makes a lot of sense for us. So will we ever get back to pre-COVID or no APEX? I don’t think so. But I think we’re going to find the right balance for us.”

And according to Shaw, more road shows does not just mean more opportunity for American fans to attend events. With the UFC’s media rights deal ending next year, Shaw says that more international trips is part of the promotion’s longterm planning as well.

“Are there more plans? Yes. We’re going to be back in the U.K. next year,” Shaw said “… Then as we get through next year which is sort of the last year of our current media deal in the U.S. and we start to plan out what we want to do in 2026 and beyond in terms of the number of international events we can have, the intention is to be able to go back to Europe more often.”

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Don’t expect Stipe Miocic to lose any sleep over the criticism that he’s getting a fight against Jon Jones at UFC 309 after a three-plus year long absence while interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is left waiting in the wings.

Never mind the fact that Miocic was booked for this same exact fight almost exactly one year ago until a torn pectoral muscle knocked Jones off the card, but the former heavyweight champion reminds anybody complaining that he’s not the matchmaker. As much as Miocic has always wanted the fight against Jones, it’s still up to the UFC to book these fights and that’s completely out of his control.

“It wasn’t my choice,” Miocic told MMA Fighting. “It’s a fight I wanted, and the UFC gave it to me. They didn’t have to. They gave it to me.”

Of course, Aspinall would surely disagree after he’s amassed an impressive 8-1 resume in the UFC with all of his wins coming by knockout or submission inside two rounds.

Perhaps the biggest difference with Miocic is the legacy he’s built as arguably the greatest heavyweight in UFC history after breaking the record for the most title defenses in the division (three total). Miocic takes nothing away from Aspinall, but he ultimately believes his fight against Jones just means more to the sport.

“I believe so [there’s a reason why it’s happening],” Miocic said. “I believe people want to see that. I think a lot more people want to see the fight than him fight Aspinall.

“[Tom Aspinall is] tough. He hits hard. Big boy. It’s what people want, he knocks people out.”

Beyond Aspinall lurking around the corner, Miocic also faces a growing narrative that he’s destined to lose with his last fight coming all the way back in 2021 when he suffered a knockout to Francis Ngannou.

While Miocic pushed for a trilogy against Ngannou right away with the heavyweights tied at one win a piece, the UFC never ended up booking the fight. Ngannou only fought for the UFC one more time before suffering a torn ACL in his knee and then leaving the promotion in free agency.

That’s when attention shifted towards Jones after he repeatedly called for the chance to face Miocic with hopes of cementing his status as the greatest fighter in the history of the sport.

Miocic understands the task he’s undertaking with a fight against Jones after such a long layoff but don’t expect him to lay down and play dead just because some loud voices in the sport are saying he can’t win. The 42-year-old Cleveland native admits there’s a time when hearing that might have bothered him, but these days he just doesn’t pay attention to what anybody says much less let it get to him.

“I don’t listen to anything on the outside,” Miocic said. “I used to when I was younger, when I started I was like why would you say that? How dare you? I was real sensitive. I literally stopped caring anymore. I don’t care what anyone says. I really don’t care.”

Perhaps the other biggest storyline surrounding the UFC 309 main event are the persistent rumors that win, lose or draw, there’s a word where both Miocic and Jones call it a career afterwards.

Jones hasn’t exactly hidden the fact that he’s got nothing left to prove, and he’s hinted at retirement numerous times when addressing his future after facing Miocic on Nov. 16.

Meanwhile, Miocic hasn’t said nearly as much because he just doesn’t really engage on social media and he rarely grants interviews leading up to his fights.

So where exactly does he stand on this whole retirement talk after facing Jones?

“I think every fight, I’m always preparing for my last one,” Miocic said. “I always thought about retiring after my first UFC fight. I say that all the time. Who wants to get beat up for 10 weeks, 12 weeks, come back and do it again?

“I love what I do and it’s fun. So we’ll see but right now my task at hand is Jon. That’s all I care about. That’s what I’m thinking about.”

That said, Miocic clearly envisions winning, and he couldn’t fathom a much better way to end his career than becoming the first person to legitimately beat Jon Jones.

“When I do beat him, it’s going to be great,” Miocic said. “100 percent [that would be a great exclamation point on the career].”

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Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul is almost upon us, and the takes are starting to fly.

On Nov. 15, Tyson and Paul face off in an eight-round boxing match broadcast live on Netflix that figures to be one of the biggest combat sports events of the year. The fight was originally supposed to take place in July until the 58-year-old Tyson suffered a medical issue, delaying the event.

The incident led many to question whether this fight should even take place given the 30 year age difference between Paul and Tyson, but for at least one combat luminary, that age gap is the thing that makes the fight interesting.

Speaking with TMZ Sports over the weekend, Paul’s former opponent Tyron Woodley said he believes the bout is actually close, because of Tyson’s advanced age.

“It’s a very even fight, to be honest,” Woodley said. “It’s even because of the age of Mike Tyson. I think it’s an even fight because of the age of Mike Tyson. He’s completely, obviously, out of his prime. In his prime most of his fights were almost attempted murder, so literally Jake wouldn’t have stood a chance. Nobody would even commission or sanction a fight between him and Mike Tyson.”

While Tyson certainly was one of the most feared fighters on the planet in his prime, that was almost 35 years ago. Tyson has no competed professionally since 2005 and was last seen in the ring four years ago for an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr.

Meanwhile, Paul has had 10 professional boxing bouts in the at time, winning six of them by knockout, including a devastating finish of Tyron Woodley in their rematch in 2021. Most recently, Paul stopped BKFC star Mike Perry back in July. That was just the latest instance of what Woodley says is Paul choosing his opponents wisely.

“Jake’s always on a win-win situation,” Woodley said. “He’s fighting guys that if he loses, ‘He lost to this guy. You lost to Tyron, you lost to Anderson Silva, you lost to [Nate] Diaz.’ So he’s always in a position where if he wins he goes up, if he loses it’s like, OK, he took a risk, he took a chance.”

Paul does not appear to be taking much of a chance this time around as he’s currently a considerable betting favorite over Tyson. Still, as the old adage goes, anything can happen in the ring and so come fight night, Woodley intends to be ringside to find out exactly what happens.

“I like the fight. I’ll be at the fight,” Woodley said. “I was originally fighting on the card. We couldn’t find a formidable opponent that made sense. So now it’s just to support the event and be a part of a big event in combat sports.”

Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul takes place on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

TOP STORIES

ICYMI. Michael “Venom” Page and Carlos Condit threw down on the Polaris mats and it was fun! | Live Blog | Highlights

Back At It. Brandon Moreno put on a vintage performance to snap a two-fight skid at UFC Edmonton. | Live Blog | Highlights | Pros React

Decisions. Belal Muhammad gives his side of the story regarding his withdrawal from UFC 310.

The End? Coach Brandon Gibson is preparing Jon Jones for what could be the last fight of his legendary career.

Limits. Even Alex Pereira can’t save the UFC 310 main event.

Missed Fists. One of the most disturbing KOs of 2024. Viewer discretion is advised.

HUZZAH. The Ultimate Fighter is back!

Happy Trails. All-time wrestling great David Taylor went out in style.

VIDEO STEW

UFC Edmonton post-fight show.

Coach Brandon Gibson and Damon Martin.

Classic.

Never forget your first.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

On to the Next One. Matches to make after UFC Edmonton.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Amir Albazi.

Michael Chandler appears to be in great shape.

One of many tributes to a beloved member of the UFC family.

It’s real out there.

Iron Arse.

Late, but worth it.

Six out of nine ain’t bad!

That’s, like, $ 1 million CAD.

Just kidding!

Truth.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Marcin Tybura (25-9) vs. Jhonata Diniz (8-0); UFC 309, Nov. 16

Ian Machado Garry (15-0) vs. Joaquin Buckley (20-6); UFC Tampa, Dec. 14

FINAL THOUGHTS

I guess I could always be wrong, but I truly have no idea why there are people out there who think Tyson vs. Paul could be close. This is a thing that shouldn’t even be sanctioned and will probably make us all very sad. But if you’re one of the believers, let me know why you think so in the comments. — Meshew

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

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Think you can figure out which UFC fighter we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out.

We’re back for another day of the SB Nation UFC in-5 daily trivia game, and we’re switching to a system of a new article each day for the game.

We tried using a single article for the game, updated with the latest game each day, but it was creating a bit of an unwieldy experience in the comments. So, we’ll have the current day’s game plus the previous three days in each new article. That way, you can catch up if you miss a day.

Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game!

What we need from you

1. Play the game
2. Share your result in the comments and on social media
3. Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below)

Today’s UFC in-5 game

Sunday’s UFC in-5 game

Saturday’s UFC in-5 game

Friday’s UFC in-5 game

The goal of the game is to guess the correct random UFC fighter player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED FIGHTERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. It will be a mix of well-known players and some “that guys” that we haven’t thought of in some time. The game will appear in slot #3 of the MMA Fighting layout each morning, with occasional movement later in the day.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media.

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Alex Pereira defended his UFC light heavyweight title with a fourth-round knockout over Khalil Rountree almost a month ago, and he’s still feeling the effects of the win.

“Poatan” said on an appearance on the Brazilian podcast Podpah that his hand still hurts from the fight, which took place at at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City.

“That fourth round, I was throwing jabs and hurting my hand,” Pereira said. “I swear. I was thinking, ‘My hand must be broken.’ It still hurts. Not all the time, no, but if I squeeze here, it hurts.”

Pereira went 3-0 in 2024 with a trio of knockouts, the first two over Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka, and has now won five in a row since moving up to 205 pounds.

“I saw that the jabs were working and thought, ‘I have to hurt him,’” Pereira said. “But then I hit him right there in the [forehead], one of the hardest parts [of the body], and it kept hurting [laughs].”

The UFC is yet to announce the next move for Pereira. Despite rumors, the Brazilian star is not an option to headline UFC 310 after recent news of Belal Muhammad’s withdrawal from the Dec. 7 main event.

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Serhiy Sidey was happy to walk away from UFC Edmonton with a victory, although he didn’t think he was going to when the final horn sounded.

Sidey faced Garrett Armfield in a preliminary bantamweight bout on Saturday’s Fight Night card at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada. After three rounds, Sidey was awarded the split decision win, which much of the MMA community didn’t agree with.

“That was a very close fight,” Sidey said in his post-fight scrum. “First two rounds, very close, I might’ve edged those out. Lost that third round. When the judges were scoring the scorecards, personally, I thought I lost. I’ll be honest.

“I’ve got to re-watch that fight. I know I hurt him bad in the first two rounds, had some very close submissions, I got a split decision win today.”

Armfield, as expected, wasn’t thrilled with the two judges that scored it for Sidey, going as far to joke in a since-deleted tweet that someone should “investigate these judges” and tagging UFC CEO Dana White and Donald Trump. He later made it clear that he wasn’t serious.

Despite the controversy, Sidey officially has a UFC victory on his résumé. After earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series with a controversial knockout win against Ramon Taveras, the UFC rebooked the pairing at UFC 297, and Taveras earned a split decision victory.

For Sidey, he’ll chalk off Saturday’s fight with Armfield as a win and a lot of valuable lessons learned sharing the cage with someone he respects.

“Garrett came out and that was the hardest fight I’ve ever had, I think,” Sidey said. “He mixed up his wrestling really well and good boxing, the strongest 135er I’ve ever fought, for sure. That dude had some crazy strength.

“A lot of things I can learn from this fight. I want to come back stronger.”

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The fact that Kyle Redfearn wanted to keep fighting after the doctor stopped his bout at BKFC 68 says a lot about his toughness.

On Saturday, Redfearn faced Danny Moir in a preliminary bout at BKFC 68 in Newcastle, England. Though Redfearn found success early in the bout, Moir was able to overcome a few difficult moments and turned up the punishment in the second round.

With 10 seconds left in Round 2, the damage to Redfearn’s face piled up so much that the doctor had to take a look. After seeing the brutality staring back at him, he had no choice but to stop the fight.

Check out the absolutely gnarly image of Redfears face in the video below.

Moir improves to 2-0 in BKFC promotional bouts. The Tyne and Wear fighter earned a decision victory over John Ferguson at BKFC’s Prospect Series fight card in June. Moir also has 28 pro boxing bouts to his name.

Redfearn is a veteran of 16 pro MMA bouts, and competed for the first time since a boxing match in 2017.

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Herb Dean wants to have a conversation with Joe Rogan, and the rest of the UFC 306 broadcast team after the UFC’s event at Sphere.

The veteran referee was the third man in the octagon for the main event between new bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley. In the closing rounds, Dean repeatedly told Dvalishvili to work more on the ground while in top position. Rogan called Dean’s tactics “insane,” and was quite critical of Dean down the stretch. While speaking on JAXXON Podcast, Dean reacted to the situation, and knew when he started getting negative comments flung his way on social media it came from commentary criticism.

“I’m not sure if I totally understand that myself,” Dean said. “I think the analysts who started it — and I don’t want to be critiquing those guys, or have an adversarial relationship because, first of all, they say a lot of good things about me, and they have over the years.

“I would like to talk to them… the commentators. I can tell it was the commentators before I even heard that it was because on social media, I was getting a lot of the same thing. … I see a bunch of grown men saying somebody else’s opinion, must’ve been something the analysts said, and it was.”

Dvalishvili ultimately won the fight, and the title via unanimous decision in a bout that the MMA community won’t have on their Fight of the Year lists. Dean was also part of a couple of other strange moments in the bout — including Dvalishvili yelling at O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch seconds into the contest, along with telling Dvalishvili to stop kissing O’Malley’s back prior to the end of a round.

But it was Rogan’s comments from the commentary booth, more so, that got Dean most of the negative attention after UFC 306.

“They’re saying that I shouldn’t be telling the guys to work,” Dean explained. “This is something I’ve always done. Our sport, there’s rules that are there for safety. There’s rules that are there for fairness, we have rules that are there to build our sport. To make our sport what it’s supposed to be. To make our sport more exciting. …

“Most of the coaches can say my pre-fight instructions with me because I say the same thing. I tell them about things we have problems with. Most of them know the rules… but to this stuff, two things that are the most important things before I intervene: The biggest intervention is when I’m going to start your fight. So you always hear me say, ‘Fight back. Fight back.’ That lets them know so it’s not a surprise to them. … The next thing I’m going to say is, I’m going to say ‘work.’ And that means that I’m about to take your position away. Because in this sport we have position, and a position can lead to a fight being finished, but when I say ‘work,’ that means what I’m looking for is not just busy work, I’m looking for effort to finish the fight.

“Instead a bunch of [tapping] punches, where you could do a full five-minute round with this and not change, I’m expecting you to posture, throw bigger shots. Instead of trying to hold on, I’m expending you to spend energy advancing position, passing guard, or if you’re up against the fence, putting energy into a takedown. Something that’s going to bring the fight to a conclusion.”

For newer fans learning the nuances of the wild sport that is MMA, Dean lays it out as simple as possible as to why he issues warnings for these types of scenarios.

“If you have a superior position, if you’re not using it to win the fight, you’re using it to hide from your opponent to burn time,” Dean said. “That’s not what we want our sport to look like, I don’t think.”

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Max Holloway’s featherweight run appears to be over.

“Blessed” recently challenged for the UFC’s 145-pound title at UFC 308 and was knocked out for the first time in his career by Ilia Topuria. While Holloway teased a move up in weight at the post-fight press conference, he has since announced he’s planning a full-time move to the lightweight division.

“Maybe this is like my phoenix moment, you know, from the ashes,” Holloway said on his YouTube channel. “We’re reborn. So we’re on to bigger, better stuff and walking through a new door, and starting a new chapter, and I’m a big believer in never say never, and the big question right now is, ‘Was that your last fight at 145?’

“You guys saw me kind of touch upon it at the press conference and I can honestly say I think I’m done with 145. Your boy, like I said, we’re only getting older. I’ve done 33 [fights], this cut was easy, bro… but it takes a toll cutting weight, period, at whatever weight you are. Like I said, I had to give up ramen for my [featherweight] camps, so I’m done with that. I don’t ever want to give up ramen again. 155, here we come and 155 is where I want to stay.”

Holloway has competed at lightweight in the UFC twice, first losing a close decision to Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title at UFC 236 in April 2019, and earlier this year knocking out Justin Gaethje in the final second of their “BMF” title fight at UFC 300.

The 32-year-old owns many of the featherweight division’s top accolades, but for him, it’s about fan-friendly matchups, and starting a new journey in his already Hall of Fame career.

“This is a new chapter,” Holloway said. “This is where we start. This is where we begin, and I’m super excited for it. I cannot wait. Like I said, never say never, but I can honestly look you guys in the eyes and tell you guys I’m probably not ever going back to [145].

“I loved what I did, I did what I did, I did what I had to do there, I worked my way back, I clawed my way back up to the championship fight multiple times there. I was the champion, I defended at that weight, now it’s time to move on the next chapter and 155, there’s a bunch of fun fights that I cannot wait to take. We’re going to take some time off, we’re going to relax, heal, I owe my wife some downtime and some trips. So that’s all we’re going to do, but when I do make the return, it’s going to be at 155 and we are there to stay.”

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Brandon Moreno’s UFC Edmonton performance was certainly championship caliber, but the two-time champ isn’t sure it will be enough to get him a title shot next.

Moreno dismantled Amir Albazi over five rounds in the main event of Saturday’s card at Rogers Place to snap a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win. “The Assassin Baby” said he will gladly fight the winner of the upcoming flyweight title fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura if the UFC offers it, but the 30-year-old believes he still may have work to do.

“I don’t know, hopefully [I fight for the belt next],” Moreno said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “I want to be honest with myself, I think, maybe, I have to fight one more time before the title. But I don’t know what the UFC is thinking right now. Maybe they got so impressed with the performance tonight and say, ‘Maybe he can get the title next.’ I know [Brandon] Royval is there. Kai Kara-France is trying to get the opportunity for the title next. So, I don’t know. I’ll be ready for whatever.”

Moreno has fought Pantoja on three different occasions and come up short in all of them — including their most recent bout when he lost the title to the current champ at UFC 290 in July 2023. Moreno went on to face Brandon Royval for the second time in the main event of UFC Mexico City in February, when he again found himself on the wrong end of a split decision.

The exciting flyweight fighter has plenty of options in front of him, including potential third meetings with Royval and another top 125-pound contender.

“I can get [a rematch] with Royval,” Moreno said. “I don’t want to fight with Kai again because I fought him twice and I beat him, but if I have to do that [I will]. Tatsuro Taira is there. Kai Asakura, let’s see what happens there against Pantoja. If he loses, that can be the next one.

“I don’t know, let’s see what happens.”

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