Dan Argueta, Josh Fremd, and Jared Gooden have some explaining to do.
The three fighters competing at UFC Vegas 98 all failed to make weight at Friday morning’s official weigh-ins, with Argueta (138.5) missing by 2.5 pounds, Fremd (186) by 3 pounds, and Gooden (172.5) by 1.5 pounds. Their respective opponents Cody Haddon, Abdul Razak Alhassan, and Chidi Njokuani all successfully made weight.
Officials later announced that all three bouts will proceed as catchweights, with Fremd forfeiting 30 percent of his purse as penalty, and Argueta and Gooden both forfeiting 20 percent.
The misses are a particularly bad look for Fremd and Gooden, both of whom have been tripped up by the scale in the past.
For the second time in his UFC career, Fremd weighed in three pounds over the limit. He also came in at 189 pounds for a middleweight bout against Jamie Pickett at UFC Vegas 78 in August 2013, later going on to defeat Pickett by unanimous decision.
Gooden has now missed weight three times as a UFC fighter. Most recently, he came in six pounds over the limit for a fight with Carlston Harris in March 2023, though on that occasion he had accepted the bout on less than a week’s notice. He is 0-2 after failing to make weight.
In more positive news, flyweight headliners Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira successfully weighed in for Saturday’s main event, with both registering at 125.5 pounds. Royval is currently tied for the No. 2 spot in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with the undefeated Taira at No. 8. Whoever leaves UFC Vegas 98 with a win might also put themselves in pole position for a shot at flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.
See official UFC Vegas 98 weigh-in results below.
Main Card (ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET)
Brandon Royval (125.5) vs. Tatsuro Taira (125.5)
Brad Tavares (185) vs. Jun Yong Park (185.5)
Chidi Njokuani (170.5) vs. Jared Gooden (172.5)*
Grant Dawson (156) vs. Rafa Garcia (154.5)
Daniel Rodriguez (170) vs. Alex Morono (170.5)
Abdul Razak Alhassan (186) vs. Josh Fremd (189)**
Preliminary Card (ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET)
CJ Vergara (126) vs. Ramazan Temirov (125.5)
Jonathan Pearce (145) vs. Pat Sabatini (145)
Themba Gorimbo (170.5) vs. Niko Price (170.5)
Julia Polastri (115) vs. Cory McKenna (115)
Junior Tafa (241) vs. Sean Sharaf (252)
Dan Argueta (138.5)*** vs. Cody Haddon (135)
Clayton Carpenter (125.5) vs. Lucas Rocha (125.5)
*Gooden missed weight. His bout with Chidi Njokuani proceeds at a catchweight with Gooden forfeiting 20 percent of his purse as penalty
**Fremd missed weight. His bout with Abdul Razal Alhassan proceeds at a catchweight with Fremd forfeiting 30 percent of his purse as penalty
***Argueta missed weight. His bout with Cody Haddon proceeds at a catchweight with Argueta forfeiting 20 percent of his purse as penalty
Brandon Royval | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The UFC Vegas 98 weigh-in video features 26 fighters stepping on the scale Friday morning in Las Vegas. Watch a live stream of the official weigh-ins above, courtesy of Ag. Fight.
In the main event, Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira have to hit the flyweight limit of 126 pounds for the non-title fight.
Royval has won four of his past five fights, while Taira has never suffered a professional loss (16-0 overall, 6-0 in the UFC).
The UFC Vegas 98 official weigh-ins begin at 12 p.m. ET.
Just hours before she defeated Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307, her former employers at PFL posted a message on Twitter mocking Harrison’s one and only loss when she fell to Larissa Pacheco by decision back in 2022. The viral tweet got plenty of attention with Pacheco saying the move was “uncalled for” and UFC CEO Dana White laughing it off while adding “when you’re losing as much money as they are, f*cking go for it.”
For her part, Harrison saw the tweet but she refused to take the bait and engage in some kind of war of words with her former promoters.
“I operate from a place of gratitude, and I grew up in that organization,” Harrison told MMA Fighting. “I was able to financially provide for my family. I have financial abundance. I grew so much there. I’m grateful for what I believe I helped build over there. I feel like I was a big part of that, and I take pride in that.
“But I just don’t have time for that kind of negativity and those digs. I don’t care. I’m staying in my lane. I’m doing my thing. I’m chasing my dreams. If anybody has a problem with that, I’ve said it very clearly before — they can go f*ck themselves. I don’t have anything to say. You want to talk shit about me losing a fight? Go ahead.”
The night @lpacchec shocked the world
2x Division PFL World champion Larissa Pacheco returns on October 19th against @criscyborg
[ #PFLSuperFights | #BraceForImpact | Sat, Oct 19th | 4PM ET ] pic.twitter.com/LbA5BA0WKL
— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 5, 2024
Since leaving PFL in free agency and signing with UFC, Harrison has largely avoided taking shots at the organization she called home for the first 17 fights of her career.
Meanwhile, PFL co-founder Donn Davis has continually claimed Harrison left the organization because she was running away from potential fights against Pacheco and Cris Cyborg — despite the fact that Harrison actually holds two wins over Pacheco from previous encounters.
Regardless, Harrison won’t suddenly start bashing PFL just because the promotion has decided to use her name in an attempt to promote an upcoming fight between Pacheco and Cyborg on Oct. 19.
“That’s why I don’t have to say anything,” Harrison explained. “Because those choices speak for themselves. I’m not going to go low. I’m not going to talk shit. I’m not going to say a bunch of stuff that I could say and air a bunch [of dirty laundry]. I’m not going to do that because there’s no point.
“That’s not who I am as a person. That’s not the kind of business that I want to do. That’s not what I want to be known for. So I’ll just keep my head down, work hard, you want to talk shit about me? Go ahead. I helped build that company.”
As far as her decision to change promotions, Harrison is confident now more than ever she made the right choice.
“I have no doubts,” Harrison said. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
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
Play the game
Share your result in the comments and on social media
Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below)
Today’s UFC in-5 game
Thursday’s UFC in-5 game
Wednesday’s UFC in-5 game
Tuesday’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.
There are a lot of different metrics to measure the success or failure of a combat sports promotion but perhaps one of the biggest indicators comes down to ticket sales. For BKFC, that might be the most telling sign that the bare-knuckle outfit has surpassed almost every other competitor out there.
With a debut card scheduled in Spain on Saturday, BKFC is embarking on a massive stretch of events that likely culminates with the organization going to Philadelphia for the first time ever in December. While organizations like the UFC proudly tout the live gate after an event, ticket sales for other promotions are rarely ever talked about.
BKFC founder and president David Feldman has a feeling he knows why.
“The UFC sells tickets,” Feldman explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “The big, big boxing matches, they sell tickets. The smaller ones, the mid-ones don’t. The mid-MMA companies, they’re not selling tickets. Obviously the smaller [MMA promotions] are, they’re selling 1,000 tickets. Not really selling.”
When to BKFC, Feldman proudly talks about the promotion’s ticket sales because those numbers of steadily increased ever since the first show launched back in 2018.
There have been a number of sellouts over the years with BKFC 63 in Sturgis, S.D. setting a new record with 15,000 in attendance for a card headlined by strawweight women’s champion Britain Hart.
Feldman admits BKFC’s ability to sell tickets has become one of his proudest achievements, especially when it comes to drumming up more interest in potential investors looking to bet on a combat sports promotion.
“It’s actually my pitch to investors,” Feldman said. “I go ‘listen, we’re actually one of the only promotions in the world that sells tickets.’
“We just sold 5,400 tickets this past weekend. We’re projected to sell 6,700 tickets in Spain and then Denver, we’ll probably do 4,000 tickets there and then we’re doing Poland in December, Montana, All these shows coming up, they should really be a minimum of 4,000 tickets sold. Actually sold and that’s a big deal right now in combat sports because they’re not all sold. A lot of them are papered up.”
“Papered up” means tickets being given away for free to fill an arena, which happens quite often in combat sports.
Feldman admits there was definitely a time when BKFC gave away more tickets than the organization sold but that’s just not the case any longer.
“I won’t lie to you — I might have lied to you five years ago and said we sold 3,000 tickets when we only sold 1,000,” Feldman said. “But now we’re actually selling all our tickets.
“We might give away three or four percent of our tickets right now but we’re selling it all.”
With ticket sales on the rise, a new broadcast deal in place with DAZN and Conor McGregor on board as a co-owner now, Feldman expects 2024 to be the biggest year yet for BKFC and he’s anticipating an even bigger 2025.
“We thought we were out of business 10 different times and we just found a way to make it happen and make it work,” Feldman said. “I don’t see any end in sight. I think we got a really great shot right now of knocking on the No. 1’s door.”
Belal Muhammad is preparing for his first title defense with the reigning UFC welterweight champion most likely returning in December.
That’s according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz, who confirmed that Muhammad is training and ready to fight before the end of the year.
“Belal is ready to go in December,” Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting. “No problem. We’re ready to go, but the UFC has to announce. I can’t be announcing a fight on your podcast. Most likely you’re going to see for sure Belal in December. Against who, where, when, this is a Dana White question.
“It can be Shavkat [Rakhmonov]. It can be [Kamaru] Usman. It can be whatever the UFC wants. I said if you’re the champ, you have to defend the title against [whoever] they’re going to give you. It doesn’t matter who.”
If December happens, Muhammad would almost certainly fight at UFC 310, which is scheduled on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
As far as potential opponents, Muhammad has seemingly singled out undefeated contender Shavkat Rakhmonov as his most likely challenge, although he’s definitely engaged in a war of words with former champion Kamaru Usman as well.
Abdelaziz actually manages both Muhammad and Usman and he expects that fight to happen at some point in the future, but it’s just unclear if that’s the one that happens next.
“Kamaru is one of my best friends, my brother, Belal is my brother, I love both of these guys,” Abdelaziz said. “At the end of the day, two alpha males. Kamaru hold this crown for a long time, Belal has earned the crown. He’s the king now. Kamaru believes he can still be the king. I think these guys don’t respect each other too much, to be honest with you.
“You can pretty much see these guys fight in the future for sure. I think one of the biggest fights in the welterweight division is Kamaru vs. Belal. It’s not even close. Nobody even close. Belal needs big names to certify himself as one of the greatest welterweights of all time. He needs Kamaru Usman. Kamaru is the king of the welterweight division. Dana White says he’s the greatest of all-time. When these two guys fight, it will be one of the biggest fights in the welterweight division at the time.”
For his part, Abdelaziz promises that he’s not going to get involved in the war of words between two of his fighters. He’s been here before. Abdelaziz says his only job is making sure the fighters stay healthy, they get everything they need from him, and both end up with bigger bank accounts when it’s all over.
“They will fight,” Abdelaziz said. “At the end of the day, they’re two grown men. They both want the same thing. I’m in the middle of this and my job is when they both fight I’m going to make sure they make a whole bunch of money and they got everything they need.
“Look, Marlon Moraes fought Henry Cejudo. Kamaru fought Gilbert [Burns]. Justin Gaethje fought Khabib [Nurmagomedov], all for the title, and I stay neutral. I will remain the same.”
Whether it’s Rakhmonov or Usman, Abdelaziz says that Muhammad isn’t going to back down from any challenges thrown his way. He waited so long to get his title shot that his manager believes Muhammad is very anxious to begin his championship reign.
“Belal will fight anybody, too, don’t get it twisted,” Abdelaziz said. “Belal is not afraid of any man on this planet. He’s the champ for a reason. Kamaru also is not afraid of anybody. I’m sure Shavkat is not afraid of anybody. When you come to these top five guys, nobody can say these guys are afraid or ducking anybody.
“The guy who’s been ducking people for years and he never fights is Colby Covington. He only fights when it’s convenient for him. That’s the only guy I can say ducks people. Not anybody else.”
A number of veterans have been removed from the UFC roster including one-time interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux.
The full list of names removed from the roster also includes Brian Kelleher, Ricky Glenn, Victor Altamirano, Da Woon Jung, Kaynan Kruschewsky, Brianna Fortino, Victoria Leonardo, Karl Williams, Danyelle Wolf and Jarno Errens.
The fighters removed from the roster were either released or their contracts came to an end and the UFC opted not to re-sign them to a new promotional contract at this time. The changes were first noted by the UFC Roster Tracker on Twitter.
For Saint Preux, his UFC run comes to an end after he spent the past 11 plus years with the UFC after he first made a name for himself in Strikeforce. The former University of Tennessee football player faced a laundry list of top fighters over the years and scored victories over many of them including a head kick knockout over current Bellator champion Corey Anderson and a pair of wins against UFC Hall of Famer Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
In 2016, Saint Preux welcomed Jon Jones back to the octagon following more than a year long layoff in an interim light heavyweight title fight but he ultimately lost a unanimous decision after five rounds.
In his most recent fight, Saint Pruex suffeed a submission loss to Ryan Spann in the final bout on his contract, which precipitated his exit from the UFC.
Meanwhile, Kelleher is another notable name on the list after he spent the past seven years in the UFC while competing in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Always willing to take on whatever challenge thrown his way, Kelleher took on many top fighters during his run with the UFC but his time with the organization came to a close after four straight losses including fights against Umar Nurmagomedov and former champion Cody Garbrandt.
The fighters removed from the roster are now free to sign with any organization.
Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree battled in Salt Lake City | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Anderson Silva was proud of his “friend” Alex Pereira and “little brother” Khalil Rountree after UFC 307.
“The Spider” saw himself involved in the light heavyweight title bout after a 2015 clip went viral of Silva predicting his teammate Rountree, 2-0 in the sport at the time, would one day become middleweight champion. His title shot came this past weekend in Salt Lake City as a light heavyweight, facing another former training partner of Silva in “Poatan”, and the Brazilian ultimately won by fourth-round knockout.
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Silva, who reigned as UFC’s best 185-pounder for years — and even had Pereira in his corner for his clash with Israel Adesanya —, used his social media to give props to both fighters after the “Fight of the Night” war in Utah.
“I could say countless things about this incredible battle between these two giants,” Silva wrote. “In my opinion, the perfect world would be not seeing my brother and my friend fighting. But on the other hand, that’s how the sport is. Alex, you were impeccable, on an incredible rise. Congratulations, my friend.
“As for my little brother Khalil, I am so proud of you, my brother. Thank you so much for being part of my life. Those who know your story know who you truly are: you are a giant. You walk away from this battle as a winner because you showed that fighting at a high level is not for just anyone. Congratulations to both of you. May God bless you both.
“Khalil, don’t forget that only a few like us have the courage to fight the good fight. Strength and honor today and always!”
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Carlos Prates | Photo by Colin Murty/AFP via Getty Images
Neil Magny and Carlos Prates will collide in a welterweight battle of generations in the main event of UFC Vegas 100 at the UFC APEX on Nov. 9, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting.
A veteran of 33 octagon appearances, Magny (29-12) enters the cage looking to rebound from a first-round stoppage defeat to Michael Morales in August, alternating wins and losses for over two years.
The 37-year-old fighter last won in January of 2024, a third-round stoppage against Mike Malott, and holds victories against the likes of Robbie Lawler, Jingliang Li, Carlos Condit, Hector Lombard and Johny Hendricks throughout his UFC career.
With a record of 20-6 in the sport and riding a 12-fight winning streak with 11 finishes, Prates has impressed so far under the UFC banner with three bonus-winning stoppages over Trevin Giles, Charles Radtke and Jingliang Li in 2024.
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