Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol | Photo by Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing/Getty Images
The Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol fight card shows the seven fights that will make up Saturday’s event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Beterbiev puts his WBC, IBF, and WBO light heavyweight titles on the line against WBA champion Bivol, with the winner walking out as the undisputed champion of the 175-pound division. The two were originally scheduled to fight in June 1, but Beterbiev withdrew due to an injury and Bivol went on to defeat replacement Malik Zinad instead to keep the unification bout alive.
Beterbiev, a native of Dagestan who fights out of Quebec, Canada, is 20-0 as a pro with all of his wins coming by way of knockout. He faces his toughest challenge yet in the favored Bivol, also undefeated at 23-0.
After winning an interim WBA title in 2016, Bivol has won 14 consecutive title fights, most famously scoring a unanimous decision over Canelo Alvarez in May 2022.
In Saturday’s co-main event, Chris Eubank Jr. fights Kamil Szeremeta. Also on the card, WBC featherweight champion Skye Nicolson defends her title against Raven Chapman, and viral boxing sensation Ben Whittaker takes on Liam Cameron in a light heavyweight bout.
See the full Beterbiev vs. Bivol card below.
Main Event (ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)
Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol — for the IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA light heavyweight titles
Undercard (DAZN at 12 p.m. ET)
Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Kamil Szeremeta
Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke
Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey — for Opetaia’s IBF cruiserweight title
Ben Whittaker vs. Liam Cameron
Skye Nicolson vs. Raven Chapman — for Nicolson’s WBC featherweight title
Tatsuro Taira | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC 307 is in the books which means it’s time to head back to the APEX!
UFC Vegas 98 takes place this Saturday, headlined by a flyweight contest between former title challenger Brandon Royval and rising super-prospect Tatsuro Taira, and No Bets Barred is back to break the whole card down.
This week, host Jed Meshew is joined by former professional fighter Billy Ward of Action Network to dive into all the UFC action this weekend. Topics discussed include Royval’s chances at denying the wunderkind Taira, just how past his prime is Brad Tavares, and the possible return of heavyweight overs? All that, plus, Jed unveils his newest gimmick: The Climb.
Tune in for episode 103 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.
Brandon Royval got an offer to face Kai Asakura at UFC 305 in Perth, but he ultimately turned it down.
Now, Royval will face Tatsuro Taira in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 98 fight card at the UFC APEX. “Raw Dawg” says the fight with the former RIZIN bantamweight champion excited him, but if he was going to make the 10,000-mile trek, it needed to be worth his while.
“They offered me that fight in Australia,” Royval told MMA Fighting. “I asked them for more money, I asked for a handful of stuff, and they said no. And then I asked them for one of any of those things, and they said no. And I was like, all right, well, then I’m not gonna go f*cking fight some dude, not in the UFC, for not much money, all the way across the [world] where I’m not getting any sleep. I’m not getting any of this, I’m not getting a guaranteed title shot, I’m not getting any more money.
“I got to bring my whole team out there if I’m going to go out there because I need to get my Arcadian rhythm in cycle. So it’s like I got to fly out my whole team and guys that look like Kai Asakura. So it was one of those [things where] financially [it] doesn’t make sense to me. And then it also, like, the risk doesn’t [exceed] the reward. If I go out there and lose, I just lost somebody without a ranking, and if I go out there and win, they’re not guaranteeing me a title shot or anything. So there was really no reward in that.”
The 32-year-old Royval is set to make his 10th octagon appearance, and does so in his second consecutive Fight Night headliner. In December Royval came up short in his first opportunity at UFC gold, losing a unanimous decision to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 296. With his future unknown following the loss, Royval jumped on the opportunity to face past opponent Brandon Moreno on short notice in the main event of UFC Mexico City, and went on to get the victory via split decision.
With well over four years in the promotion, and being the UFC’s current top-ranked 125-pounder, Royval has learned, and understood, that when you’re in that position, the juice needs to be worth the squeeze — even for a fan-friendly fight against Asakura.
“Dude, I think of myself like, bro, I’m a prostitute for sure,” Royval explained. “I put my body on the line for money. But it’s at this point [that] I f*cking earned my No. 1 spot. I fought my ass off. I’m No. 1 in the world. So I’m an expensive prostitute. I’m not a cheap ass prostitute anymore. I’m not just selling my body to anybody who we’ll take it.
“I f*cking I got a price on me, and I’m not just f*cking anybody, you know what I’m saying? I still believe in my heart of hearts I’m the most exciting fighter in the flyweight division. Anytime my fights haven’t been exciting, It wasn’t because of me.”
Asakura signed with the UFC earlier this year following a stoppage win over former Bellator champ Juan Archuleta at RIZIN 45 this past New Year’s Eve. The 30-year-old has still yet to make his promotional debut.
Should he defeat Taira on Saturday, Royval would love to get his chance to avenge the loss to the champion. But if not, he would love to face Asakura, and maybe do so if the UFC returns to Japan in 2025.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Royval said. “I want to fight for a belt. But that being said is like, if they’re not gonna give me a belt and it’s like, I think I have a win over the whole top five of the division, I don’t know what else you guys want, motherf*cker.
“But damn, yeah, I kinda wanna fight Kai Asakura in Japan. Japan is a dream. Kai Asakura is sick. That gets me out of bed, and I want to fight for a f*cking belt. If they want to hype Kai, then I want to take that.”
Nate Diaz appears to like the idea of a “BMF” title tournament, but he doesn’t like all of the names.
In a recent interview with Sirius XM, Dustin Poirier expressed interest in a one-night tournament for the belt, which would also feature past opponents Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker, and current titleholder Max Holloway.
Diaz agrees that Holloway and Hooker belong in the mix, but he doesn’t feel Poirier or Gaethje do, which he stated in an Instagram story.
“Dana White, Dan and Max are eligible for my belt but get the other two nerds out of there, they don’t fit the description,” Diaz wrote.
White was asked about the concept following Tuesday’s Dana White Contender Series Season 8, Week 9 event at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and the UFC CEO thought it was intriguing.
“Sounds fun,” White said. “Never thought about it but yeah, I love it.”
Since fighting out his UFC contract, Diaz has competed twice in the boxing ring — losing a decision to Jake Paul in August 2023, and defeating Jorge Masvidal via majority decision in July. Diaz and Masvidal battled for the inaugural BMF title in November 2019 in the main event of UFC 244, where Masvidal earned the win via doctor’s stoppage TKO.
With plenty of time on his hands as he awaits his next fight, the former featherweight champion has kept himself busy filming another “Old Man Volk” sketch that was uploaded Tuesday by sponsor Sportsbet.com.au. Volkanovski’s aged character now finds himself invested in an independent pasta sauce business, with an old rival still breathing down his neck.
Watch the video below.
In the sketch, Volkanovski, who turned a spry 36 in September, makes several cheeky references to his fighting career, at one point telling a customer that wants to pay by card that “he never taps” and then assuring another that he plans to continue fighting (though this is actually a segue into his ongoing beef with neighbor Beverly, last seen terrorizing Volkanovski in the original Old Man Volk clip.)
Volkanovski has gotten plenty of mileage out of his comedic character, even showing up as Old Man Volk at a press conference ahead of his fight with Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 this past February. That bout didn’t go so well for Volkanovski, as he suffered his first loss at 145 pounds and lost his featherweight title to Topuria via knockout.
Let’s hope for Volkanovski’s sake that this time the skit is a more positive omen.
Alex Pereira and Artem Vakhitov may be fierce rivals when it comes to combat sports, but there’s nothing but respect between them outside the ring.
On Tuesday night, Vakhitov scored a first-round knockout on Contender Series but UFC CEO Dana White was on the fence about whether or not to sign him to a contract. After attending the UFC APEX show to watch Vakhitov’s performance, Pereira actually put in a good word for the former GLORY Kickboxing champion and he was signed to a contract.
Following the event, Pereira and Vakhitov ran into each other backstage and chatted through translators.
“To be honest, I’m very happy see you winning,” Vakhitov told Pereira. “I love what’s happening with you right now over here. So just keep doing it, keep winning, I’ll be watching this. I’ll be focused on myself. Hopefully after a few more defenses, it will happen so that we’ll meet each other again.”
(Video courtesy of Vakhitov’s manager Andrey Busygin)
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While both fighters were competing in GLORY, Pereira defeated Vakhitov by split decision in their first encounter before the Russian got his revenge with a majority decision in the rematch. That fight served as Pereira’s final appearance in GLORY before signing with the UFC where he’s gone on to become a two-division champion in short order.
After Vakhitov decided to make a full-time transition to MMA, he exchanged more than a few messages with Pereira through interviews and over social media.
No matter what was said, Vakhitov promised it was never anything personal but just about business.
“Nothing but respect,” Vakhitov said. “All love and it’s just sports. That’s all it is.”
The fighters shook hands and shared a hug, with Pereira giving Vakhitov a few parting words with a laugh between everybody involved after he gave his former opponent the extra nod he needed to get into the UFC.
“You owe me one,” Pereira said.
Vakhitov joins the UFC with a 3-1 record in his MMA career with all of his wins coming by first-round knockout.
Dana White with Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Dricus du Plessis may not get his wish after all.
Du Plessis is the UFC’s first South African champion and even before he won the middleweight title, “Stillknocks” talked about bringing a UFC event to the continent. The talk only ramped up after claiming the title from Sean Strickland at UFC 297.
Everything reached a peak when ahead of du Plessis’s title defense against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, UFC CEO Dana White promised that if the champion retained his title, the promotion would bring an event to South Africa next. Well, du Plessis did his job, submitting Adesanya in the fourth round of their fight, but he may not get what was promised.
“You know how bad I want this,” White told reporters after the most recent episode of Contender Series. “I’ve been trying to get this thing done. The arena situation there is tough. It’s tough to pull off. So that’s been the challenge with Africa as a whole. We’re trying to figure it out.
“The place that we would have to do it at is outdoors, and you know how I feel about that. So I’ve been trying to figure out the weather and one of the big things that I’ve been hearing out there is that wind is a big problem. We’ve done it a couple times, but anything that could affect the outcome of the fight makes me not even want to try. And it’s anything, from wind, rain, bugs, too much humidity. A lot of things can interfere with the fight.”
White has flirted with the idea of a UFC Africa card for years, dating back to the “Three African Kings” era when Adesanya, Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman all held UFC titles. The event never came to fruition though and now du Plessis is the promotion’s only African champion.
But while the future of UFC Africa remains in question for now, there’s one thing that is certain: du Plessis’s next opponent.
Despite a surge of new contenders in the middleweight division, and an upcoming bout between former champion Robert Whittaker and the highly popular Khamzat Chimaev set to take place at UFC 308, White confirmed that a Strickland rematch is next up for du Plessis, wherever the fight ends up happening.
“Yes, [Strickland is still next],” White said.
Du Plessis and Strickland fought for the middleweight title back at UFC 297 in January, with the South African winning a close split decision to take the belt. Since then, Strickland won a split decision over Paulo Costa to maintain his spot atop the middleweight contender rankings.
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!
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Play the game
Share your result in the comments and on social media
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Today’s UFC in-5 game
Tuesday’s UFC in-5 game
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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.
Artem Vakhitov punches Alex Pereira in GLORY Kickboxing | James Law/GLORY Kickboxing
Artem Vakhitov has an opportunity to earn a UFC contract when he competes on The Contender Series on Oct. 8, but even before he sets foot in the octagon for the first time, he’s got light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira’s attention.
The former rivals who met twice in GLORY with Vakhitov holding the final win over Pereira before he left the promotion to sign with the UFC have already engaged in a war of words. With Vakhitov making his transition into MMA — with a 2-1 record, which is almost identical to Pereira when he joined the UFC roster — he’ll have plenty of eyes on him when he fights next Tuesday night.
While he still has to perform and impress the UFC executives in attendance to guarantee himself a contract, Vakhitov knows Pereira is already looking over his shoulder.
“I didn’t ask for any attention from him but he already knows he lost to me two times,” Vakhitov said about Pereira when speaking to MMA Fighting. “It’s worrying him a little bit.
“For sure for fans around the world, it’s very interesting. Let’s see for the future. I think we can do it.”
Much like Pereira signing with the UFC largely due to his wins over then champion Israel Adesanya in kickboxing, Vakhitov knows he’s got a leg up on the competition when it comes to a fast rise up the ranks.
Add to that, the 33-year-old Russian doesn’t believe there are many strikers even close to Pereira’s level on the feet, which is another reason why he wants to shake things up with his arrival.
“You see now that he is very easily beating all the guys now,” Vakhitov said. “For sure, they really needed some guy who can beat him in that striking style. I guess we will see who is the best striker very soon.”
Because he shares so much history with Pereira thanks to those back-to-back fights in 2021, Vakhitov competes on The Contender Series with a much brighter spotlight on him than the average prospect.
That might intimidate some fighters but don’t count Vakhitov among them.
“I’m not getting any pressure,” Vakhitov said. “I just have it in my own way. My aim and my focus is only on Dana White’s Contender Series for sure. If I will get Pereira in the future, I will show a great fight and let’s hope that will be meet soon in the octagon.
“I was thinking that I could get in the UFC directly without Dana White’s Contender Series but anyway it’s a very good chance for me. A great opportunity to get there. I will take this chance and for sure I will only show great fights in the future. I think it’s a very good opportunity for me.”
Beyond his training at home in Russia, Vakhitov has also spent significant time training at Kill Cliff FC in Florida, the same gym that houses notable UFC fighters such as Shavkat Rakhmonov, Gilbert Burns and Michael Chandler.
Making the move from kickboxing to MMA is never easy but Vakhitov believes he’s learned a lot already and he’s still adding more and more weapons to his arsenal everyday.
“From the beginning, I was starting to work on defense from takedowns, about things to help me defend from guys on the ground,” Vakhitov said. “I’ve got a few camps in Moscow and here in [Florida] so I’m already experienced and a lot of high level guys are training with us.
“It for sure helped me with the experience and I’m getting more into this stuff. It looks like the transition is going well and we are still working on it. Continuing to work on it.”
Assuming he wins next Tuesday and UFC CEO Dana White offers him a contract, Vakhitov doesn’t expect that he’ll just get handed a fight against Pereira right away.
Vakhitov has no problem earning the chance to face his old foe again but until then he’ll keep rooting for Pereira to hold onto his title — just like he did in his latest defense over Khalil Rountree at UFC 307.
“For sure [rooting] for Alex to win, it’s all I can wish for him,” Vakhitov said. “Just continue to win and I hope we will meet very soon. He just has to wait for me.”
The plaintiffs in one of the two UFC antitrust lawsuits filed a massive brief on Monday outlining details of a new settlement agreement reached with TKO Group Holdings — the majority owners of the MMA promotion — with 56 fighters writing letters of support.
On Sept. 26, the UFC and the fighters involved in the lawsuit agreed to a new $ 375 million settlement to close out litigation that first started all the way back in 2014. An initial settlement agreement for $ 335 million to settle both antitrust lawsuits — the first covering fighters from 2010 to 2017 and the second for fighters from 2017 to the present — was denied by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Boulware from Nevada.
The new settlement agreement only covers the first lawsuit with the two sides in the second lawsuit still working towards a potential trial date. In the brief, the plaintiffs lay out a detailed breakdown why this settlement is so beneficial for the fighters, especially those in desperate need of financial relief now rather than potentially waiting several more years for a trial and possible appeals to play out in court.
Among the fighters writing letters of support was Spencer Fisher, who was declared permanently disabled and unable to work from the damage done in a career spent as a professional fighter including 17 fights over 12 years in the UFC.
“While fighting for the UFC, I suffered many significant injuries including broken hands, torn shoulder, torn retina, fused neck, bulging discs, a plastic buckle in my right eye, and many concussions,” Fisher wrote. “I had a right hip replacement in 2021 and am facing a left hip replacement in the near future. I have had two spinal taps that show the presence of the Tau protein which is a positive indicator of dementia. I struggle with problem solving and rationalization skills and get confused easily. I rely on my amazing wife Emily to function in daily living skills. I fear that during my career I have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) and am noticing symptoms common with TBI and CTE including depression, mood swings, and irritability. To date, no treatment for CTE has been found. I have been diagnosed permanently disabled by an independent neurologist. I also suffer bouts of vertigo. I experience memory loss and endure frequent headaches.
“This would truly be life-changing money for me and for other members of the class. These funds would ease the burden on my spouse Emily and allow me to obtain healthcare I need and assist my family in paying for basic life necessities. The sad reality is that funds years from now may be of no use to me. I desperately need these funds now.”
UFC Hall of Famer Wanderlei Silva, who spent six years with the promotion after making a name for himself in PRIDE FC in Japan, revealed that he believes he’s dealing with serious brain damage as a result of his fighting career.
With his health compromised, Silva is hoping that the financial relief provided by the lawsuit settlement will help him and his family.
“While fighting for the UFC, I suffered many significant injuries, including concussions,” Silva wrote. “I fear that during my career I have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) and am noticing symptoms common with TBI and CTE including depression, mood swings, and irritability…. I suffer from sleep apnea and have difficulty sleeping and breathing. That I can recall, I have had four surgeries on my nose, 1 on my face, 2 on my left knee, 1 on my right knee and 1 on my elbow.
“These funds would also allow me to obtain the healthcare I need and keep a roof over my head and food on my table. The sad reality is that funds years from now may be of no use to me. I can use and enjoy.”
Cung Le, who was one of the founding members of the antitrust lawsuit filed against the UFC in 2014, admitted that he’s nearing bankruptcy and he’s needed to rely on friends to help support him in recent years.
“Due to the strain of my current health limiting my everyday activity from working consistently, I’ve been relying on a friend who, through God’s provision, has generously sponsored my essential needs, including food and shelter, while I await the settlement of this case,” Le stated. “Without this support, I would likely need to file bankruptcy and apply for disability to manage my basic living and healthcare needs.”
Former interim UFC heavyweight champion Shane Carwin wrote in his letter of support that he’s been unable to maintain employment with his engineering degree due to health issues that continue to haunt him long after his fighting career was over.
“Despite having a degree in engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, I have been unable to maintain adequate focus to hold down an engineering job,” Carwin wrote. “I face serious challenges in meeting basic everyday expenses for food, shelter, and transportation and in basic life skills necessary to function.
“These funds would also allow me to obtain the healthcare I need and keep a roof over my head and food on my table. The sad reality is that funds years from now may be of no use to me. I desperately need these funds now.”
Additional fighters providing letters of support for the UFC antitrust lawsuit settlement include Nate Quarry, Ross Pearson, Joe Stevenson, Cat Zingano, Gray Maynard, Matt Brown, Nate Marquardt, Jon Fitch, Chris Leben, Sage Northcutt and many more.
As far as the financial compensation many of the fighters would receive, the brief filed by the plaintiffs laid out the benefits to this settlement, particularly with the increase in funds as part of this new agreement.
“The $ 375 million all cash recovery provides a swift and significant payment to the Class against the delay, costs, and risks of a trial and appeals. As discussed above, Plaintiffs had initially proposed to allocate 75% of the Prior Settlement to the Le Class (75% of $ 335 million is $ 251.25 million), and thus this Settlement would increase the amount going to the Le Class by $ 123.75 million. Plaintiffs subsequently proposed to allocate 90% of the Prior Settlement to the Le Class (90% of $ 335 million is $ 301.5 million), and in that light, this Settlement involves $ 73.5 million more for the Le Class.
“Under the Settlement, Le Class members would recover (on average), after all fees and costs are deducted, $ 250,000. Thirty-five Class members would net over $ 1 million; nearly 100 fighters would net over $ 500,000; more than 200 fighters would recover over $ 250,000; over 500 fighters would net in excess of $ 100,000; and nearly 800 would recover over $ 50,000. By any reasonable measure, the Settlement, if approved, would put “life changing” cash into the hands of the families of several hundred fighters now.”
When the judge previously issued his denial, he stated 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.
Under the terms of this new agreement, the $ 375 million payment only goes to the fighters involved in the first lawsuit while litigation in the second lawsuit continues.
It remains to be seen if the judge will sign off on the new agreement or not.
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