We’re back, baby!

That’s right, Season 8 of Contender Series is in the books, with 42 new signees joining the UFC roster in what has become the promotion’s single biggest recruitment tool. Now, 42 is fewer than last seasons’ 47 signees, but it’s still a massive influx of talent, and with all these new bright-eyed and bushy-tailed prospects joining the world’s biggest MMA promotion, it’s once again time to separate the wheat from the chaff, the future contenders from the card fillers.

Last season, I separated Contender Series signees into nine different buckets based on their potential, with 10 of the 47 signees being identified as top-tier prospects. And frankly, I did pretty damn well. The collective records of those 10 top-tier prospects is 16-2 in the promotion, with one of those losses being a controversial split decision.

But this year we’re going to do things a little bit differently: instead of nine buckets of nebulous quality, we’re going to simplify things and treat this like an draft board. Prospects are rated by what round of a fictional MMA draft I’d select them in. The rough rubric is as follows:

• Blue Chips: Elite prospects, with the potential to become top-5 fighters in their weight classes, challenge for a title, or even become champion.
• Round 1: Great prospects. Good shot at becoming ranked one day and may even fight for a title.
• Round 2: Good prospects. They’re missing something so they probably won’t challenge for a title, but they have a reasonable shot at earning a ranking.
• Round 3-4: Solid prospects. They lack major upside but can be Day 1 contributors and become a staple of their division for years to come. Maybe they even find their way to a ranking.
• Day 3: Acceptable prospects. Fighters who fill out cards and may stick around for a bit but don’t make much of an impact. Everyone once in a while someone from here might exceed expectations but it’s pretty rare.
• Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA): They did not get a contract but showed flashes of something that suggests they may get signed in the future.

So without further ado, let’s break down the 2024 Contender Series prospect class!

Undrafted Free Agents

An Tuan Ho, Michael Aswell, Jack Duffy, Nick Piccininni, Gauge Young, Igor Cavalcanti, Otar Tanzilov, Aaron Tau, Rose Conciecao, Sean Gauci, Julieta Martinez, Mohamed Ado

Not everyone that goes on Contender Series ends up getting signed, especially as Dana White’s criteria can be a bit inconsistent at times. Plenty of fighters deliver good performances but get snubbed, while other fighters were simply put in there against elite prospects and fell short.

This season there were, frankly, a lot of fighters who flashed enough that I am confident they will at least get another shot on Contender Series, if they don’t get signed to the UFC in a short-notice replacement type of situation. So instead of list all of those fighters (it’s a pretty long list) these 12 fighters represent the best of the bunch.

The most notable names here are both from Week 10: Nick Piccininni and Julieta Martinez. Piccininni fought twice this season, winning his first outing by split decision but not impressing Dana White enough. He then lost in the final episode, but I fully expect Piccininni to fight in the UFC soon. He’s a two-time NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State and has the support of Daniel Cormier. He won’t set the world on fire, but he can be Cody Stamann 2.0.

As for Martinez, she is only 20 years old and dazzled in her Contender Series performance, but White declined to sign her because she is “too young” and “too small.” Instead, White wants her to continue developing outside of the UFC, and honestly, it’s not a terrible idea. Martinez would be a first rounder if she received a contract, but perhaps if she goes back for another year of development, we’re talking about a top-10 pick.

DAY 3

Bruno Lopes, Contavious Romious, Rizvan Kuniev, Andreas Gustafsson, Bogdan Grad, Andrey Pulyaev, Djorden Santos, Seok Hyun Ko, Ahmad Hassanzada, Nick Klein

There’s not a lot to say about this crop of fighters. Each of them won on the show, and did enough to catch White’s attention, but they did not jump off the page as prospects to get excited about. But hey, plenty of uninspiring fighters have made a career in the UFC, winning more than they lose and hanging around.

If you’re looking for possible risers from this group, Rizvan Kuniev actually holds a win over Renan Ferreira in PFL that was overturned to a no-contest after he popped for all the PEDs. The Dagestani is a reasonable fighter, and given how bad heavyweight is, I could see a Shamil Gaziev-like run where he’s on the border of a ranking and in a main event, but don’t envision a lot of long-term success.

If I was putting money down, I’d bet on Bogdan Grad to be the guy who exceeds expectations from this group. Grad’s only career loss is to Tom Nolan on Contender Series last year (a prospect I was very high on) and while he isn’t great at anything, he’s an aggressive scrapper in the vein of Nate Landwehr, so he might carve out a fun career.

Round 3-4

Jose Miguel Delgado, Marco Tulio, Kevin Christian, Daniel Frunza, Torrez Finney, Alberto Montes, Artem Vakhitov, Yadier DelValle, Luis Gurule

This group right here, these are the workhorses. Most of them are a little too old to be a real high-upside prospect, but most of them are ready to jump in and contribute right away, and perhaps a few will event surprise us. Either way, I expect most of this group will hang around the UFC for some time, and there are a few notable standouts from this group.

The first is Torrez Finney who became the first man to win three times on Contender Series after two wins this season. Finney is young and had a few very good traits, but it’s hard to like the long-term ceiling for a 5-foot-8 middleweight, and the man is built like William Knight, so I don’t think he’s making 170.

Next is Alberto Montes who is my favorite fighter from this group. Montes is extremely fun, a bit chaotic (the man attempted a Peruvian necktie), and sort of fights like Charles Oliveira, without the restraint. The issue is that Montes is 30 years old which doesn’t leave him a lot of time in a premium weight class like featherweight, but I could see a Carlos Prates run out of him.

And finally there’s the matter of Artem Vakhitov. Vakhitov is the former GLORY Kickboxing champion who notably holds a win over Alex Pereira and even had Pereira lobby for him to get signed, but I have serious doubts about his ability to transition to MMA the way Pereira did. They just don’t have the same sort of game and Vakhitov has not shown much aptitude for the various parts of MMA thus far.

In all honesty, Vakhitov should probably be in the Day 3 group, but given his story, the UFC may be very selective about his matchmaking so I settled here.

Round 2

Malcolm Wellmaker, Yuneisy Duben, Quillan Salkilld, Nicolle Caliari, Tallison Teixeira, Danylo Voievodkin, Alexia Thainara, Diyar Nurgozhay, Islam Dulatov, Kody Steele, Jonathan Micallef

Now we’re finally into the real prospects here. I firmly believe the people in this group are going to be UFC staples for years to come, and for most of them, there’s just one big issue holding them back from being top prospects. For instance, Wellmaker and Duben are a bit too old to be great prospects, and Teixeira and Voievodkin are great bets to be long-term heavyweights, but lack an A+ trait that is required to be elite in that weight class. Still, this is a collection of talent that could have a number of fighters overachieve from.

As far as best bets to overachieve from this group and become fixtures of the top of their divisions two names stand out: Alexia Thainara and Kody Steele.

Thainara is a plus-athlete with good wrestling and the right mentality, she’s just raw. But at only 26 years old, she just beat the undefeated LFA champion and there’s plenty of time for her to rise up in the strawweight division if she can simply add tools to her game. Working with the Ribas family is a good start, and she’s got a real shot at becoming something.

Steele, on the other hand, is already close to a finished product. The 29-year-old Syndicate MMA product had a ton of hype heading into this season as a wily grappler who can also throw hands. Well, he showed all of that and plus-athleticism which means he’s almost guaranteed for a long UFC career. My only concern is that 29 is a late start for lightweight , where it can take years for fighters to make headway in the stacked weight class. Still, the floor is very high and there’s legitimate ceiling as well. Kody might be the “Steele” of the second round…

Round 1

Now we’re really into the top of the talent pool. The nine prospects below are my best bets to have long lasting, meaningful UFC careers, and given that, instead of the broad grouping, I opted to give each of them a one-sentence breakdown.

Navajo Stirling — City Kickboxing standout who can immediately compete at 205 pounds | shades of Rory MacDonald

Jacobe Smith — 3X All-American wrestler, great athlete who needs time | hints of Jon Jones

Elijah Smith — Explosive grappling but needs a killer instinct | gentler A.J. McKee

Josias Musasa — Fast, powerful, and aggressive but a bit one-note | bantamweight Derrick Lewis

Ateba Gautier — Big fella carved out of wood, extremely raw | next gen Melvin Manhoef

Mansour Abdul-Malik — All the physical gifts in the world | shades of Joaquin Buckley

Cody Haddon — Tight, polished boxer and BJJ black belt | a hint of Ilia Topuria

David Martinez — Fun, dynamic, and well-rounded, but lacks a superpower | a touch of Jonathan Martinez

Mario Pinto — Big man who THUDS without throwing hard | shades of Alex Pereira

Coincidentally, the order this group is listed in is roughly the order I’d draft them in, with Navajo Stiling being the one I’m highest one while Mario Pinto is the fighter most likely to be more of a Round 2 talent. But still, look at the way the big man can floor someone without trying.

Blue Chips

On every draft board, there are Round 1 prospects and then there are Blue Chip guys. These guys are as close to guaranteed successes as possible. Not just good contributors, these guys are STARS. People you can build a franchise around. And this year there are three of them.

Kevin Vallejos

I adore Kevin Vallejos. The 22-year-old Argentinian is an exceptional talent who narrowly missed out on earning a UFC contract last season of Contender Series, because he lost to Jean Silva. Silva was one of my favorite prospects that season and has looked sensational in the UFC this year, already knocking on the door of a ranking. And this kid gave him all he could hand despite being barely of drinking age.

Vallejos has slick, devastating striking with nasty combinations and great body work. Coincidentally, my favorite comparison for him is Jean Silva, and if he continues to improve as he ages, the sky is the limit for this kid.

Austin Bashi

Austin Bashi is an exceptional prospect. Just 23 years old, and already sporting an undefeated 13-0 record, Bashi hasn’t just been beating cans. He has wins over legitimate opposition and has been largely dominant in his career thus far.

The Michigan native is a fantastic athlete and a former IBJJF No-Gi world champion at the brown belt level. His striking game is still in development, but he’s got solid kicks already and he’s willing to mix things up. The best comparison I have for him is either Henry Cejudo or Aaron Pico, which should tell you a lot about how high this kid can climb.

Lone’er Kavanagh

Lone’er Kavanagh is one of the better prospects to ever come through Contender Series. Only 25 years old, Kavanagh is immediately ready to jump into the deep end of the flyweight division. He is a very good athlete with remarkable polish given his age. He’s poised under fire, has a slick, diversified striking game, and nasty power, especially for a flyweight.

As far as a comparison, the best one I have is a flyweight Rafael Fiziev, and that’s essentially talking about who Kavanagh is today. Give him a few more years of development and who knows where this young man might end up. Personally, I’m excited to find out.

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Dana White has taken his praise of Jon Jones to new heights.

Jones will defend the UFC heavyweight title for the first time Nov. 16 at UFC 309 against Stipe Miocic in the main event at Madison Square Garden. White has spent the better part of 2024 standing his ground about Jones being the best ever, and the current No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the promotion despite not competing since winning his second divisional title at UFC 285 in March 2023.

Now, White says Jones’ greatness extends beyond the UFC and MMA, but to all of combat sports — and beyond,

“I think he’s the greatest combat sports fighter of all time,” White said on Outta Pocket With RGIII. “I think he’s the greatest fighter of all time. Big back and forth with me and the media right now about Jon Jones over all of this stuff, but Jon Jones is probably the baddest dude to ever walk the face of the Earth. Even the guys I love like Ali and Tyson, and a lot of the great heavyweights that’s existed throughout the history of combat sports, Jon Jones can do it all.

“Jon Jones will grab you, maul you, elbow you, he can do everything.”

Jones, the multi-time light heavyweight champion, never lost the belt in a fight during his 205 pound run. He was either stripped, or vacated the championship — the latter happening in 2020 following a controversial decision win against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020. “Bones” spent over three years building up his body for heavyweight before his long-awaited return, where he submitted Ciryl Gane in the first round at UFC 285 to win the vacant title.

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Max Holloway doesn’t mind trading verbal jabs with his opponents, but he doesn’t operate under the “when they go low, you go lower” mantra.

In the leadup to UFC 308, Holloway sat down for a face-to-face interview with opponent Ilia Topuria where they went back and forth for nearly 20 minutes in a heated exchange. At one point, Holloway told him to “speak” as Topuria was seemingly stumbling over his words and the former featherweight champion later revealed that he received criticism as if he was mocking the Georgian fighter for struggling with his English, which is obviously not his first language.

“I need to clear this up,” Holloway told MMA Fighting when addressing the situation. “A lot of people was giving me heat for teasing him how he spoke English. I wasn’t teasing that he was speaking English. I know he speaks like five languages. I speak one language and I have a hard time speaking English. I have a hard time saying names. I understand how hard speaking one language is. I wasn’t teasing his language.

“What I was teasing was that he sounded so scripted and then every time he went off of his scripted words, he started mumbling or he would say ‘shut the f*ck up, motherf*cker.’ I’m like brother, you’re so scripted right now. That’s why I teased him. I’m like speak. Stop using your scripted lines.”

It turns out that was Holloway’s biggest annoyance because he believes Topuria was effectively reading from a script during many of the verbal exchanges.

While Holloway doesn’t spent much time trash talking his opponents, he’s not going to knock a guy for the way he speaks English but he’s not opposed to getting frustrated when he feels like he’s hearing rehearsed lines meant to insult him.

“It wasn’t that deep,” Holloway said. “I was calling him out. You could tell. Watch the interview. Everything he was saying was scripted. As soon as it wasn’t scripted, or he didn’t know what to say, he didn’t have an answer for it, he’d either say ‘shut the eff up, mother effer’ or he would start stumbling. That’s why I was teasing him.

“I don’t talk very good English and this is my only language. Stop attacking me about that.”

Truth be told, Holloway can’t wait to put the talking behind him and just get into the octagon to battle with Topuria as he attempts to reclaim the UFC featherweight title.

He hasn’t sat on top of the 145-pound division for nearly five years after falling to Alexander Volkanovski back in 2019 and then losing a pair of rematches to the Australian.

Meanwhile, Topuria vanquished Volkanovski in impressive fashion back in February, ultimately scoring a second round knockout to win the title. That fight came just under four months removed from Volkanovski suffering a brutal head kick knockout loss to Islam Makhachev and an argument could be made that he rushed back too soon for the showdown against Topuria.

For his part, Holloway doesn’t want to live in a world filled with what ifs because Volkanovski made the decision to fight and Topuria beat him. End of story.

“At the end of the day, we can be like ‘if he did this, if he did that,’ at the end of the day his team, Alex has a great team around him, they thought that he was ready and they went out there and fought,” Holloway said. “Even if he was compromised, Ilia went out there and did his thing. He landed the shot that ended the fight. That’s a hard thing to do. He’s still got to do that part.

“We can say he said, she said and all this kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, Ilia did what he did. He showed up to the fight, Alex showed up to the fight, and he was just on the winning side. You can’t take nothing away from the guy. I’m not going to. He’s a dangerous man and I can’t wait to go out there and share the octagon with him and prove a lot of these naysayers wrong.”

When it comes to his hopes to reclaim the title on Saturday, Holloway admits it would be a remarkably important moment for his career, especially considering what he endured through those three losses to Volkanovski.

Becoming a two-time UFC featherweight champion might not end up as the biggest accomplishment of his career, but Holloway knows it would be pretty special.

“It would mean a lot, especially with the way my career went,” Holloway said. “After that third fight with [Alexander] Volkanovski, a lot of people were saying I should change weight classes or all together, I should just retire because it’s never, ever going to happen.

“I guess a couple of years later we’re here and we’re days away and we get to find out who has the last laugh Oct. 26. I can’t wait for the opportunity.”

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The light heavyweight division might crown a new No. 1 contender at UFC 308 when Magomed Ankalaev faces Aleksandar Rakic, but recently retired UFC veteran Matt Brown believes 205-pound champion Alex Pereira should hold out hope for another option instead.

As much as Ankalaev appears to be the rightful challenger with a 12-fight unbeaten streak, Pereira has options available to him after defending his belt three times in 2024, which included stepping up when the UFC needed him on a couple different occasions. Because Pereira likely has enough sway right now to call his shot for what comes next, Brown says the Brazilian champion should just wait a few weeks to see if Jon Jones gets through Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 and find out of that’s a fight that could be available for him.

“You wait,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Everybody’s correct. The person that loses in all of this unfortunately is Ankalaev. He’s done all the right things, especially if he goes out and beats Rakic, does all the right things and he gets f*cked and it’s not even a big name or anything. But yeah, if you’re Alex Pereira, you don’t need to give a f*ck about Ankalaev’s life. You’re dealing with your own shit.

“You absolutely go up to heavyweight, 100 percent. There’s never been a three-weight champion so be the first or shoot for those stars. You can always come back and fight Ankalaev later. Absolutely go for it.”

Having already conquered the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, Pereira has teased his interest in potentially moving to heavyweight but admitted after his most recent win over Khalil Rountree Jr. that the process would take some time.

Despite his height and large frame, Pereira still needs to add some more size and muscle to deal with much bigger opponents but a chance to tangle with arguably the greatest fighter of all-time might be too tempting to resist.

On the flipside, Jones has teased that his fight against Miocic could be the final appearance of his career. Still, Brown can’t help but wonder if the potential for a matchup against Pereira might just be exactly the kind of opportunity that keeps the reigning UFC heavyweight champion around for a little while longer.

“I don’t doubt this could be as big as any Conor [McGregor] fight,” Brown said. “This could be promoted to the max. They could do it [International] Fight Week or one of the gigantic cards maybe at the Sphere, something crazy. This could be enormous. Jon’s a smart guy. He’s here for the money now, I think. Legacy and money and Alex is going to bring that. It could be promoted as much as you want to promote. This could be the money fight. It’s heavyweight, too. Heavyweight fights always bring a stigma to them that those lighter fights just don’t bring. Like Conor obviously brought the trash talk and all the antics, the funny stuff and the cool stuff, there’s a certain aura when Conor comes into the cage.

“But there’s a different aura that can be sold here when Jon Jones, the greatest of all-time, who just beat the greatest heavyweight of all-time — assuming that happens — fighting another guy trying to do the biggest thing of all-time, [become] a three-weight world champion. I can’t think of a bigger fight outside of Conor, but I think it could be as big as any Conor fight.”

With Jones scheduled to fight Miocic in November, Brown pitched the idea that Pereira should be front and center for that matchup to start building towards an eventual showdown next year.

Pereira staring a hole through Jones might not materialize into a fight but Brown feels like it’s too enticing of an opportunity to pass on given the current landscape in the UFC.

“Be there at [Madison Square Garden] and whatever happens, happens. As long as Jon wins, we can set this up,” Brown said. “Usually when the main event ends, we all turn it off or people start leaving the stadium. Alex Pereira walks in there, people might turn around and go back to their seat.

“If Jon goes out there and wins, the stars have f*cking aligned perfectly to have a super explosion. Again, I think it could be the biggest fight since Conor. I think it could match Conor’s [fights]. How much fun could you have with the promoting of this? So many routes you could take. So many angles you could take. What two perfect guys to be promoting, too. I love listening to Jon Jones talk shit. He’s so stoic with it, serious and Alex is the perfect rival to it. The perfect guy to talk back. The press conferences, everything about this just says money in the bag.”

That said, Brown heavily favors Jones to win should that fight actually happen but perhaps an even bigger obstacle to that potential matchup awaits at UFC 309.

“Realistically though, it’s hard to think that Jon Jones make this a pretty easy fight [with Alex Pereira],” Brown said. “Take him down, elbow his face, get your money, go home, probably not a scratch on you. It’s hard to believe that’s not how this ends.

“Jon Jones has got to get through Stipe first. Let’s not forget that. Stipe is not a walkover. Stipe is not an easy fight. He’s got to get through him first. [Jon Jones] hasn’t been tested like that at heavyweight. Don’t discount Stipe shocking everybody and being like “f*ck your Jon Jones-Alex Pereira fight.’”

Listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday with audio only versions of the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio

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Merab Dvalishvili already convincingly beat Sean O’Malley. But if they fight again, Dvalishvili is confident he can do even better.

It took five rounds for Dvalishvili to best O’Malley and win the bantamweight championship this past September at UFC 306. While O’Malley has disputed the result, he spent the majority of the contest defending against Dvalishvili’s relentless wrestling, so there was little controversy surrounding the scoring.

Dvalishvili’s first title defense is yet to be booked, though he and O’Malley have both spoken about the possibility of an immediate rematch. The champion gave his reasoning for a second O’Malley fight on an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show.

“I’m in, 100 percent,” Dvalishvili said. “When I saw the first time he wants to do rematch, I said let’s fight in November. Even though I’m here, I’m working with UFC, I can fight him—I know he’s not ready now, but that’s why I told him let’s fight in November. We already fought, and I know his game, his power, everything, no problem. I can fight him back and now I will not kiss him, I will finish him, and I will take care of him. I go easy on him the first time, so now this time I will destroy him.”

O’Malley is unlikely to return to action soon, with the fighter recently announcing that hip surgery could keep him sidelined until summer 2025. At best, he hopes to be back in March.

Should they eventually rematch, Dvalishvili vowed to not take it easy on O’Malley and promised a finish.

“Actually, I wanted to finish him fifth round, but [referee] Herb Dean, when I took [O’Malley] down, I was waiting,” Dvalishvili said. “Sean was supposed to move and I either choke him or punch him hard and try to finish him, Herb Dean told me to work and I let go. I changed the position and he told me again, ‘You’ve got to work,’ and then I let go, what should I do, and I let him get up. Then I took a long time to take him down again in the fifth round, otherwise I was going to finish him fifth round, but Herb Dean made me let go.”

“This time, I’m going to try finish him early. I was trying to finish him fifth round, but it doesn’t work out that way. This time, I will finish him early. Now he’s saying he wants to finish me or he will do better, OK, that’s interesting me more if he will do it. If people are interested, I’m in.”

A Dvalishvili-O’Malley rematch became more likely following rumors that undefeated contender Umar Nurmagomedov is in talks to fight Song Yadong rather than challenge for the title. Nurmagomedov was in attendance at UFC 306 seemingly to build to a matchup, but Dvalishvil’s team has been reluctant to anoint Nurmagomedov as the No. 1 option, a situation that has generated criticism.

Dvalishvili wants it to be clear that he will fight Nurmagomedov or anyone else if that’s what the matchmakers call for.

“I have no problem,” Dvalishvili said. “Whoever the UFC will offer me, I will fight. I never choose my opponent, and I’m going to continue same. I never have an option like this to say I’m going to fight him or him, I was never in this situation before and I don’t think any different now.”

TOP STORIES

Sigh. Tatiana Suarez is out of her UFC 310 fight against Virna Jandiroba.

Giant. Francis Ngannou’s coach Eric Nicksick breaks down the heavyweight star’s PFL debut.

Rankings. Does Ngannou regain the No. 1 spot at heavyweight after his win?

Spoiler? Is Max Holloway about to bring an abrupt end to Ilia Topuria’s title reign?

Imitation Game. Conor McGregor calls out Ilia Topuria for biting his style.

Tapes. Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad are both saying they had a physical confrontation that was filmed, but is yet to be released.

Air Khamzat. Khamzat Chimaev shows off his hops on the first episode of UFC 308 Embedded.

Hate. Bruno “Blindado” Silva really, really, really cannot stand Chris Weidman.

Why Not? ONE Championship fighter “wins” boxing match with extremely illegal head kick.

VIDEO STEW

Mike Heck chats with Coach Nicksick.

Get to know the slappers.

“Mighty Mouse” breaks down Saturday’s main event.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

Severe MMA. Sean Sheehan and Graeme McDonnell break down PFL Battle of the Giants and take a victory lap over Paul Hughes’ impressive performance.

Anik & Florian. Jon Anik and Kenny Florian chat with Daniel Cormier and Dan Ige, plus coaches Eric Nicksick and Ray Longo.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Back to the ring?

PFL has a star in Paul Hughes.

Hard work, but someone’s gotta do it.

Underground.

Why not?

Ageless.

Pain.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Are there any UFC champions right now properly building up their rightful contenders? Dvalishvili is playing coy with all the Nurmagomedov talk, Julianna Peña is trolling Kayla Harrison, Ilia Topuria is feuding with Belal Muhammad (?) and barely hyping up the fight that’s just days away, and let’s not even get started on Jon Jones.

These folks at the top have earned their spots, but all of this anti-promotion gets exhausting after a while.

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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Kamaru Usman is teasing the release of his interview with Belal Muhammad, as long as the UFC champion holds up his end of the bargain.

Muhammad, on his own podcast, recently said that an appearance on Usman and Henry Cejudo’s Pound 4 Pound show went off the rails and that he “verbally broke down Usman” before Usman “tried to get physical.”

According to Usman, Muhammad was one of several guests on that episode, which was recorded in Las Vegas, and he wanted to show respect to the current welterweight titleholder by having him on. He didn’t explain exactly what Muhammad meant by his comments, but said there are plans to release the footage if Muhammad still holds the belt after he fights Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 on Dec. 7.

“In typical Belal fashion, of course, Belal did Belal,” Usman said on his podcast. “So the interview didn’t go as planned. It wasn’t that great of an interview anyways, it wasn’t even that long, but it went the way that it went. That was the biggest moment of his life because that’s all that he seems to want to talk about. I haven’t mentioned it all, because it wasn’t that eventful, but that’s all he seems to want to talk about all the time.

“We hear you, fans, and we will definitely drop the interview if we get really, really low on content, I mean, why not? To be honest, it’s the biggest moment of his life, that’s why he talks about it every second. And if we do drop the interview, it will be the second-biggest moment of his life because it gives him relevance, it gives him a little bit of clout. ‘Look, I was able to maybe tangle with the champ a little bit,’ which wasn’t that eventful. But if he’s able to get through Shavkat Rakhmonov, and we run super, super low on content, why not?”

MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin recently spoke to Muhammad, who said he enjoyed meeting Usman face to face, though he didn’t reveal exactly what went down between them.

“I love anybody that I’m going to get a rise out of because you can tell he takes it personally,” Muhammad said. “He takes everything personally. You’re a champion and you lost your belt, now you’re on a losing streak, now you’ve got that guy that’s better than you, the guy that has the belt, the guy that’s in your division on top and he’s on your podcast that you invited him to.

“Some people, their egos are too big. They can’t sit there and be a professional about it. I think with him, it’s like he’s so used to going back and forth with Colby [Covington], who’s not really good at talking. He’s just stupid, he’s not clever with anything. So when you’ve got somebody that’s intelligent that can treat you and make you look dumb, it’s like, ‘Dang, he got the belt and he got me with words?’ I need to do something to change the rhythm of this whole thing.”

Muhammad and Usman are no strangers to conflict, with Muhammad naming Usman as a potential challenger after defeating Leon Edwards for the welterweight title at UFC 304. Though Usman has lost three straight—including a pair of title fight losses to Edwards—he was a decorated champion in his own right, having successfully defended the 170-pound belt five consecutive times.

However, the UFC eventually announced that the undefeated Rakhmonov would be Muhammad’s first challenger, and it’s a matchup that has Usman intrigued—and ready to face the winner.

“It’s a tremendous fight and I guess rightfully so that’s the fight to make because Shavkat’s a new face,” Usman said. “A guy that’s 18-0, 18 finishes, and has really done the work that you need him to do with the opponents that you put in front of him. So that fight makes sense. We’ve been waiting just for an announcement, just so we can get some movement in that welterweight division and now it seems like we’re finally going to be able to get some clarity.

“As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve got my eye on them. Either one of them, I’ve got my eye on them. Because at some point, either one of them is going to have to come have a conversation with me and I won’t be doing the talking. I’ll be doing the talking in a different way.”

As far as Muhammad is concerned, he still looks forward to the possibility of fighting Usman in the future.

“I hope he does go out there and he fights one of these guys and gets a win because he is a big name in the division, he is a former champion that people look up to and think he’s one of the best to ever do it at welterweight,” Muhammad told MMA Fighting. “For sure, I love fights with build-up like that where I can go back and forth with somebody, making fun of them. There is something there, right?”

Regarding the podcast controversy, Muhammad added, “I think Usman buried it in his backyard or something like that. Somebody needs to dig it up and post it, I don’t know where they’re going with it.”

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Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic have accomplished a lot in their UFC careers, which is a pivotal feature of the UFC 309 poster.

The UFC dropped the new poster on Monday, which features headliners Jones, the heavyweight champion, and former titleholder and challenger Stipe Miocic. The event takes place Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Check out the poster below.

The matchup was initially set for UFC 295 this past November, but Jones withdrew due to injury. “Bones” makes his first appearance in 20 months since capturing the heavyweight strap with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 285 in March 2023.

The layoff is even longer for Miocic, who returns to the octagon for the first time since losing the heavyweight title to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021. Miocic seeks his first win in over four years.

In the co-main event, Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler meet for the second time in a five-round lightweight contest.

Check out the current UFC 309 lineup below.

Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – heavyweight title fight

Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler

Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva

Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig

Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders

Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov

Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee

Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson

Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj

Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott

Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura

Charlie Campbell vs. Mauricio Ruffy

Lucas Almeida vs. David Onama

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Top ranked strawweight contender Tatiana Suarez will have to wait until 2025 to make her return after she was forced out of her upcoming fight against Virna Jandiroba, which was scheduled for UFC 310 on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas.

Sources told MMA Fighting on Monday that Suarez is dealing with a health issue that will prevent her from competing in December in what was expected to be a No. 1 contender’s bout at 115 pounds. MMA Melotto first reported the news.

It’s an unfortunate setback for Suarez, who has long been considered a popular pick as a future champion in the UFC but health problems have continued to plague her career. After she dispatched Nina Nunes back in 2019, Suarez appeared on the cusp of title contention but injuries kept her sidelined for more than three years.

When she finally returned to action, Suarez jumped right back into the deep end of the waters with a submission win over Montana De La Rosa at flyweight and then finishing former UFC champion Jessica Andrade to earn a Performance of the Night bonus back in August 2023.

Suarez was then scheduled to face Amanda Lemos in February but an injury knocked her out of that matchup before she was then set to clash with Jandiroba in December.

Sadly now that fight has also been cancelled.

There’s no word yet on how long Suarez is expected to be sidelined after falling out of her upcoming fight in December. It’s unclear if Jandiroba plans to remain on the UFC 310 card against a new opponent or potentially wait for a future date to compete again.

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Francis Ngannou left no doubt that he’s still one of the best heavyweights in the world. The question is what will he do for his next act?

After a resounding knockout of Renan Ferreira in the PFL Battle of the Giants main event, Ngannou appears to have numerous options ahead of him once again, with the MMA community welcoming him back with open arms and the boxing world still beckoning. Whatever the former UFC champion decides to do for his next fight, you can be sure everyone will be watching.

On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss the possibilities for Ngannou after his emotional return to the cage. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for UFC Vegas 99 winner Anthony Hernandez following a dominant win over Michel Pereira, bantamweight veteran Rob Font after a streak-busting performance, plus main card winners Charles Johnson, Cameron Smotherman, Darren Elkins, and more.

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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ONE Championship prospect Idris Abdurashitov scored a vicious head kick knockout over the weekend but there was only one problem — he did it in a boxing match.

The unbelievable footage that surfaced from the weekend shows Abdurashitov engaged in a boxing match with Bagher Faraji, an Iranian boxer with a 1-3 record overall, when the head kick is delivered to end the fight.

It was a wild exchange with Abdurashitov uncorking the head kick at the end of the sequence and Faraji immediately crumbling to the canvas after.

Abdurashitov was disqualified for his actions, but that didn’t stop him from posting the clip on his Instagram page to highlight the knockout.

The abysmal decision to throw the head kick adds a rather significant black mark on what was starting out as a promising résumé in MMA for Abdurashitov after he went 4-0 to start his career, including a stoppage in in his ONE Championship debut in September.

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