Category Archives: Mmafighting.com

Mike Tyson appears ready to go for next month’s blockbuster return to the boxing ring against Jake Paul.

The former heavyweight champion faces Paul Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, headlining an event that streams on Netflix for subscribers. The bout was initially scheduled for July, but Tyson withdrew after suffering a medical emergency.

With a lot of questions about the 58-year-old Tyson’s age, and overall health, “Iron” made an attempt to thwart some of the negative press with a pad melting training session, which he posted on Instagram.

Tyson hasn’t competed in a pro boxing match in nearly 20 years, losing a technical knockout to Kevin McBride in June 2005 after not answering the bell in Round 7. Tyson returned for an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020, and fought to a no-decision after going the full eight, two-minute rounds.

After suffering his first loss to Tommy Fury in February 2023, Paul bounced back with four straight knockout victories. In his most recent outing, Paul stopped BKFC star Mike Perry in the sixth round in July.

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Chad Johnson and James Harrison have some unique Super Bowl plans.

According to their chatter on social media, the former NFL stars expect to meet in an exhibition fight under MMA rules sometime prior to the upcoming Super Bowl LIX, which takes place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9.

Johnson, the flashy wide receiver who built his reputation with the Cincinnati Bengals, was first to tease the bout via a tweet on Wednesday.

“I’m fighting James Harrison in a exhibition MMA format three-round bout in New Orleans before Super Bowl, I’m so excited,” Johnson wrote.

Rather than shoot down the rumor, Harrison appeared to confirm Johnson’s announcement, replaying in a quote tweet, “It’s five rounds, [Johnson.]”

That reply led to a back-and-forth between the retired football players, with Johnson saying the number of rounds won’t matter because he’s predicting a first-round finish, and Harrison saying that Johnson won’t be able to stand when the fight is over.

Johnson, 46, went on to tout his MMA skills, boasting that he will submit Harrison with a guillotine choke using “a collection of grappling techniques and strategies where his strength won’t matter.” A one-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Harrison (also 46) would likely enter any contest against Johnson with a considerable size advantage.

Should the bout come to fruition, it would mark Johnson’s second foray into combat sports. He competed in an exhibition boxing bout against Brian Maxwell on June 6, 2021, on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul undercard. Though Johnson fared well for the most part, he was knocked down in closing moments of the four-round exhibition bout. Due to the fight being an exhibition, no official winner was announced.

Harrison was a fearsome linebacker during his 15-year pro career and a key member of the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl champion teams in 2006 and 2009. In 2023, Harrison was inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Honor.

No date has been announced for Johnson vs. Harrison and it sounds like the athletes themselves are still sorting out the details.

In related news, current Las Vegas Raiders star and diehard UFC fan Maxx Crosby, 27, also expressed an interest in mixing the martial arts in an interview with TMZ.

“All my guys, all my teammates are like, 100 percent, they already expect me to do it,” Crosby said. “I’m like, shit, I haven’t even thought about it that much. I love fighting. I box damn near every single day, so we’ll see.

“I love it. I truly love it, so we’ll see. If my heart desires it and I want to go in there, shit, I might. I’m not ever putting anything out the window. You live one life, so I’m going to do everything I put my heart to.”

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Alex Pereira and Raquel Pennington put their championships on the line Saturday in Salt Lake City.

The main and co-main event of UFC 307 are set to go with Pereira (205) and Pennington (135) both successfully making weight for their respective title defenses at Friday’s official weigh-ins. Pereira faces Khalil Rountree Jr., who also weighed in at 205 pounds, and Pennington takes on Julianna Peña in a long-awaited grudge match. Peña stepped to the scale at 134.5 pounds.

See weigh-in video for the top-2 fights below.

Possibly awaiting the winner of the bantamweight title fight is former PFL star Kayla Harrison, who weighed in at 136 pounds for her main card bout against Ketlen Vieira (136). After starting her career in the lightweight division, Harrison has now successfully hit the bantamweight mark twice, though both times she has used the one-pound allowance for a non-title fight.

Should Harrison defeat Vieira and earn a title shot, she will need to make 135 pounds or lower to be eligible for a championship opportunity.

All 24 fighters competing on Saturday’s card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City successfully made weight, including two-time strawweight champion Carla Esparza who has announced she will retire following her fight with Tecia Pennington.

Check out UFC 307 official weigh-in results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET)

Alex Pereira (205) vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (205)

Raquel Pennington (135) vs. Julianna Peña (134.5)

Jose Aldo (136) vs. Mario Bautista (136)

Ketlen Vieira (136) vs. Kayla Harrison (136)

Roman Dolidze (185.5) vs. Kevin Holland (185.5)

Preliminary Card (ESPNEWS/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Stephen Thompson (171) vs. Joaquin Buckley (170.5)

Marina Rodriguez (115.5) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (116)

Cesar Almeida (185.5) vs. Ihor Potieria (185.5)

Austin Hubbard (156) vs. Alexander Hernandez (156)

Early Prelims (ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Ryan Spann (205.5) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (205.5)

Carla Esparza (115.5) vs. Tecia Pennington (115)

Court McGee (170) vs. Tim Means (171)

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Dricus du Plessis vanquished his greatest rival at UFC 305 and now has a number of options ahead of him.

This past August, the middleweight champion scored a dramatic fourth-round submission of Israel Adesanya to put their feud on ice (for now), and has since been tied to a number of potential title challengers, including the winner of the UFC 308 clash between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev, a rematch with Sean Strickland, or even a superfight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

Du Plessis’ coach Morne Visser told Submission Radio they are expecting a rematch, but it’s actually one with Whittaker, who du Plessis defeated at UFC 290. Strickland has been resolute in claiming he deserves another crack at du Plessis after dropping the title to him via a narrow split decision in their first meeting, but Visser thinks Strickland is still one win away.

“I had a conversation actually yesterday with Dricus,” Visser said (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “I said to him, ‘There’s only one thing for certain at this stage, only one thing, and that’s that we’ve got to be ready to fight in Sydney in February.’ My opinion is Sean’s overselling it. He’s just had one win after Dricus, that was against [Paulo] Costa. Whittaker had two, and I think he’s going to go for number three now.

“So, my honest opinion is that next for us in line will be Whittaker in Sydney in February. I think he’s going to beat Khamzat, and I honestly think that they’re going to give him the shot.”

Chimaev is undefeated in 13 pro bouts, though his goal of becoming a champion at middleweight and welterweight has been stifled by grueling stretches of inactivity. When he steps into the cage to fight Whittaker on Oct. 26, it will be just his fourth fight since 2020.

Despite the buzz still swirling around Chimaev, Visser isn’t convinced he has the skills to beat the former UFC champion just yet.

“Rob’s a fast learner,” Visser said. “He learns out of his mistakes. He’s dead honest to himself. That’s very, very important in this sport. If you bullshit yourself, you’re in big, big shit. Even with Dricus, I mean, you guys haven’t seen the Dricus that I coach. People are really, really in shit the day when that Dricus rocks up in a fight night. The same thing goes for Rob. I think that Khamzat—I mean, that fight against [Kamaru] Usman, who’s a genuine welterweight, was way too close for me. His standup is, in my opinion, suspect, his wrestling, he couldn’t do anything with Usman. Rob’s standup is phenomenal. His wrestling and his ground work’s awesome. I honestly think Khamzat’s out of his league here. He’s got to go back to welter where he maybe stands a chance to become something or become a champion.

“At this stage, I honestly think it’s Rob. Rob beats Khamzat and I don’t think it’s going to be on points. He’s going to grind him. Rob’s a tough dude and he’s smart and he’s got a smart team behind him.”

One other matchup possibility Visser discussed was another fight with Adesanya. The loss to du Plessis put Adesanya on the first losing streak of his MMA career and he’s now lost three of his past four fights, but Adesanya’s performance against du Plessis, the intensity of their rivalry, and Adesanya’s Nigerian roots could still make for a compelling championship bout.

“I think that we will fight Izzy, and Dana is talking about it,” Visser said. “I think that the rematch that will be given to Izzy will be against Dricus, which makes the most sense to Africans in South Africa. I honestly think that we’re going to get the rematch against Izzy sometime next year in 2025.

“Also, you guys saw the Izzy that came out fighting for Dricus, and you saw the Izzy that went to fight Sean. The Izzy that faced Dricus came out to fight Dricus. Sean’s got no chance against that Izzy. That guy, he was the best version of Izzy I’ve ever seen. So if the UFC gives him the rematch, awesome, but I think that Izzy shouldn’t waste his time with shit like that. I think we all saw he’s a lot superior fighter with that Dricus fight.”

As for Pereira, Visser claims a bout with the Brazilian knockout artist was discussed on the evening of UFC 305 after du Plessis defeated Adesanya. However, they’re more interested in moving up to challenge Pereira for the light heavyweight title than seeing him drop back down to 185 pounds to challenge du Plessis.

Pereira recently stated his current plan is to remain at 205 pounds, so the point is moot for now. Should he and du Plessis ever face off, Visser is confident his fighter would come out on top—and not necessarily via the path most would expect.

“With wrestling and grappling, same as standup, it’s not something you can fix within six months or a year,” Visser said. “When you’re under pressure, your subconscious mind puts you back in what you know, and he knows kind of nothing when it comes to the wrestling and the grappling area. And that’s not where we want to fight him. We want to fight him where he’s good at.

“Dricus won’t be interested in fighting him on the floor. We would want to fight him in standup and in his standup game there’s a lot of flaws. I’ve seen him. He hates going backwards. He hates it. He hates it when you give him punishment. He hates it when you’re in control of the fight and that’s the way Dricus fights. He doesn’t want to fight. It’s not going to be we’re going to be on our back foot and give him his way. That’s the only time that he’s good. I’ve seen him on his back foot where he’s really, really shit. … This game, Dricus has been working at it forever. There’s no way you can fix becoming a wrestler or a grappler or a standup fighter within six months or a year. It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t happen like that.”

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If there’s one thing the UFC can credibly claim, it’s that for the better part of the past 25 years, it’s given its fans almost every big fight they could ask for.

Almost.

No, this isn’t another article about dream matchups we wish Uncle Dana had moved heaven and earth to make happen, these are fights that the organization was one step away from making a reality were it not for a few mischievous spoilers.

With UFC 307 on Saturday seemingly designed to set up Alex Pereira and Kayla Harrison for more high-profile bouts, we figured now is a good time to look back at times when the dominoes didn’t fall in the UFC’s favor, and potentially great fights were lost forever in the chaos vortex that is MMA.

Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison

What happened? Julianna Peña def. Amanda Nunes — UFC 269 (Dec. 11, 2021)

OK, technically this one could still happen, but assuming it doesn’t, our best shot at seeing it was a few years ago.

Amanda Nunes had run through the competition at 145 and 135 pounds, including legendary featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. There wasn’t much left for her to accomplish in the UFC, so eyes searched elsewhere for a viable challenger and lo and behold, there was two-time Olympic judo champion Kayla Harrison tearing it up in the PFL SmartCage. Even better, she was approaching free agency at the end of 2021 and all Nunes had to do was run through Julianna Peña—viewed as little more than a mandatory challenger—to set up a superfight.

Whoops.

Peña submitted Nunes at UFC 269 to cap off a once-in-a-lifetime performance, Harrison reacted to the loss in real time and re-signed with the PFL, and Nunes went on to stomp Peña in the rematch nine months later before retiring in 2023.

Maybe Harrison can still wow us enough to bring “The Lioness” out of her den?

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

What happened?: Justin Gaethje def. Tony Ferguson — UFC 249 (May 9, 2020)

By the time Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson squared off for an interim lightweight title in 2020, most fans had probably given up on the highly touted Ferguson-Khabib Nurmagomedov fight ever happening. But it would have if Ferguson beat Gaethje, for reals this time!

Simply put, Nurmagomedov and Ferguson were the two best lightweights in the world for much of the 2010s (sorry, Conor), and the UFC tried and tried and tried to get them into the cage, to no avail. So much misfortune befell this matchup that at one point we had to write a feature called Timeline of Destruction to recap it all. Dana White even promised they’d fight at UFC 249, which went about as well as most of his other promises.

Sure enough, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Nurmagomedov from traveling, so Gaethje stepped in as his replacement and thoroughly drubbed Ferguson. This wasn’t just the final nail in the coffin for Tony-Khabib, it was the start of Ferguson’s seemingly interminable losing streak that goes on to this day.

Randy Couture vs. Mirko Cro Cop

What happened?: Gabriel Gonzaga def. Mirko Cro Cop — UFC 70 (April 21, 2007)

The original heartbreaker.

With each passing day, it becomes more difficult to explain to newer fans just how tantalizing it was to imagine the stars of PRIDE crossing over to battle the UFC’s best in the 2000s. And one of the most intriguing possible matchups was PRIDE’s heavyweight knockout machine Mirko Cro Cop going toe-to-toe with “Captain America” himself, Randy Couture.

Cro Cop’s path to a title shot went through Gabriel Gonzaga, a talented but untested contender in just his ninth pro bout. Everyone expected Cro Cop to kick Gonzaga to the curb and set his sights on the UFC heavyweight title.

Someone got kicked, alright.

In one of the best knockouts ever, Gonzaga head-kicked the bejeezus out of a man known for head kicks, and staked his own claim to Couture’s title, albeit an unsuccessful one. Eight years later, Cro Cop earned a measure of revenge over Gonzaga with a third-round TKO in their rematch, but the Couture fight remained the one that got away.

Rafael dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

What happened?: Nate Diaz def. Conor McGregor — UFC 196 (March 5, 2016)

We all remember the broken foot that forced then-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos out of UFC 196, which set up the 2016 Conor McGregor-Nate Diaz feud that sent combat sports hurtling uncontrollably into the chortling void that it is today. But could the timeline have corrected itself if McGregor had just beaten Diaz in their first fight?

Keep in mind, dos Anjos was later scheduled to defend his title against Eddie Alvarez at a UFC Fight Night on July 7, with McGregor rematching Diaz at UFC 200 on July 9. It’s safe to say that dos Anjos vs. McGregor would have headlined UFC 200 were it not for McGregor demanding his chance to avenge the Diaz loss (in reality, McGregor vs. Diaz 2 landed on UFC 202, for reasons that are hardly worth rehashing).

What we ended up getting was dos Anjos dropping the belt to Alvarez, Alvarez dropping the belt to McGregor, McGregor booking a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr., a bunch more weirdness after that and now Jake Paul is boxing Mike Tyson next month.

Michael Bisping vs. Yoel Romero

What happened?: Robert Whittaker def. Yoel Romero — UFC 213 (July 8, 2017) and Georges St-Pierre def. Michael Bisping — UFC 217 (Nov. 4, 2017)

Michael Bisping became middleweight champion with a shocking first-round knockout of Luke Rockhold (on short-notice, no less) and then proceeded to defend his title against a 46-year-old Dan Henderson. The wonky matchmaking could be forgiven due to Henderson’s popularity and the history between the two, but after Bisping escaped with a narrow decision win, fans were eager to see him take on a hungry challenger like Gegard Mousasi, Robert Whittaker, or Yoel Romero.

It was Romero that whet the appetite the most as the Cuban juggernaut built up a healthy rivalry with the champ, capped off by this unforgettable moment:

Unfortunately, a lingering knee injury kept Bisping out for months after the Henderson fight, so Whittaker and Romero were booked to battle for an interim belt at UFC 213. Whittaker beat Romero, and then Bisping lost at UFC 217 to a returning Georges St-Pierre, who likely had no intention of sticking around after capturing his second UFC belt.

That was the disappointing end of Bisping vs. Romero, and to this day there are still fans sour it never happened because they’re convinced Romero would have mashed Bisping into British pudding.

Wait, I think I hear one of those fans now.

Jed Meshew: DASTARDLY, SKULLDUGGEROUS, CHICANERY!!!

One of the great travesties in modern MMA is that Yoel Romero will never be recognized as even an interim champion. This is a man who, for at least a couple of years, was the best middleweight alive and wasn’t given his chance to prove it. When he finally did, the judges robbed him (I believe Romero beat Whittaker the first time around in a very close fight, but there is no debate he deserved to win the rematch at UFC 225).

In a world where MMA was even marginally meritocratic, Bisping wouldn’t have been allowed to do his backyard nonsense of calling his own title challengers, and I truly cannot imagine a worse fight for “The Count” than Romero would have been. They’d still be mopping up the pieces today.

Aljamain Sterling vs. Jose Aldo

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

What happened?: Merab Dvalishvili def. Jose Aldo — UFC 278 (Aug. 20, 2022)

It’s a stretch to say that Aljamain Sterling and Jose Aldo were on a collision course, but it’s not a stretch at all to say that fight should have happened instead of Sterling defending his bantamweight title against a one-shouldered T.J. Dillashaw. A one-shouldered T.J. Dillashaw coming off of a knee injury, a controversial decision win over Cory Sandhagen, and a drug suspension.

I’m still so, so, so angry about this.

Aldo, one of the five greatest fighters of all time, was right there. The featherweight GOAT was coming off of three straight wins over ranked 135ers and deserved one more chance to become UFC champion. For whatever reason, the matchmakers felt that they just had to do Sterling vs. Dillashaw (how’d that one turn out, guys?), so that was booked for UFC 280 and Aldo had to fight Sterling’s buddy Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278.

Dvalishvili won a dreary decision, a result so uninspiring that Aldo said “f*ck it I’m going to take a couple of boxing matches” before returning to the UFC earlier this year.

Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira or Tom Aspinall

What happened?: Stipe Miocic def. Jon Jones – UFC 309 (Nov. 16, 2024)

Oops, sorry that one hasn’t happened yet. My bad.

Honorable mentions:

Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva (in PRIDE)

This one doesn’t count because we eventually got to see “The Iceman” and “The Axe Murderer” throw down at UFC 79, and it totally ruled, but there was an insane amount of buzz when these two first entered each other’s orbits in 2003.

PRIDE set up an eight-man tournament to manufacture a Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva final, but Rampage Jackson had other plans. He knocked Liddell out in the semifinals to set up an epic rivalry with Silva and also scared then-UFC commissioner Dana White from venturing to other promotions with his fighters.

Frankie Edgar vs. Anthony Pettis

UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar vs. WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis wasn’t exactly the most hyped matchup of 2010. Still, it feels weird these two lifers never fought after it seemed like a guarantee they would.

Pettis was hot off of a Fight of the Year-win over Benson Henderson, capped off by the “Showtime Kick” that had Pettis on the cusp of superstardom. As luck would have it, his shot at UFC gold would have to wait as Edgar and Gray Maynard fought to a draw at UFC 125 and their rematch didn’t take place until UFC 136. Pettis couldn’t keep waiting, so he booked a fight with veteran Clay Guida.

Guida wrestled Pettis into oblivion, forcing Pettis to battle his way back to contention. Ironically, Henderson—the man Pettis beat in the last-ever WEC event—went on to defeat Edgar for the title instead. Pettis eventually defeated his rival again to become UFC champion, but Edgar had dropped to featherweight by then so this intriguing pairing was gone for good.

Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg

Unquestionably one of the most talked-about fights that never happened, Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg doesn’t make the cut due to the fact that you can’t pin down one result to change that would have sealed the deal.

It always felt like so much bluster between these two, with Rousey challenging Cyborg to make an impossible cut down to 135 pounds and Cyborg attempting to coax Rousey into a catchweight bout that Rousey had no incentive to take. Maybe you can blame Holly Holm for derailing Rousey at UFC 193, but Cyborg was yet to make her UFC debut and Rousey wasn’t waiting for her even if she had escaped Holm.

Jon Jones vs. Anthony Johnson

Once upon a time, Jon Jones was supposed to fight Anthony Johnson at UFC 187. A month before that May 2015 event, the light heavyweight champion was involved in a hit-and-run where he crashed into a car containing a pregnant woman, and was subsequently stripped of his title and suspended. That resulted in Johnson fighting for a vacant title at UFC 187, where he came up short.

So why doesn’t this make the list? Because the fighter Johnson lost to was Daniel Cormier.

The Jones-Cormier rivalry was always going to define that era of the 205-pound division, so while it’s fun to imagine how Jones would have fared against Johnson’s fearsome punching power, fans ended up getting the fight they really wanted anyway.

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At the UFC 307 official weigh-ins, all 24 fighters on Saturday’s UFC fight card step on the scale Friday evening in Salt Lake City. Watch MMA Fighting’s live stream of the official weigh-ins above.

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. meet in the main event and can weigh no more than 205 pounds, the maximum limit for a light heavyweight championship bout.

The UFC 307 official weigh-in video begins at 11 a.m. ET, and the video is above.

The UFC 307 ceremonial weigh-ins will be at 6 p.m. ET.

Check out UFC 307 weigh-in results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET)

Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Peña

Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista

Ketlen Vieira vs. Kayla Harrison

Roman Dolidze vs. Kevin Holland

Preliminary Card (ESPNEWS/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Stephen Thompson vs. Joaquin Buckley

Marina Rodriguez vs. Iasmin Lucindo

Cesar Almeida vs. Ihor Potieria

Austin Hubbard vs. Alexander Hernandez

Early Prelims (ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Ryan Spann vs. Ovince Saint Preux

Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Pennington

Court McGee vs. Tim Means

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There were more than a few curious looks when it was announced that light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira would defend his title next against Khalil Rountree at UFC 307.

The assumption was Magomed Ankalaev was the clear cut No. 1 contender at 205 pounds but he ended up booked against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 instead. As disappointing as it was for the Russian currently riding a 12-fight unbeaten streak to get that news, his manager has been assured that one more win gets him a chance at becoming UFC champion.

“Listen, I’m happy for Khalil,” Ankalaev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting. “It’s funny how Magomed Ankalaev is now rooting for Alex Pereira. At the end of the day, it’s the UFC’s decision. It wasn’t my decision. It wasn’t Ankalaev’s decision. But I know I’ve been told, Ankalaev do what he has to do, Alex Pereira do what he has to do, and both of them will fight next.

“I don’t think Alex is ducking him. I think it’s the UFC’s decision. I don’t think Alex is the guy ducking people. I have respect for him and his team. He just became a big star and [the UFC] knows, you know, the fans know, Magomed Ankalaev is the hardest and toughest fight for Alex Pereira. Let’s be real. It’s OK. Because if you’re the best in the world, if you want us to beat Rakic, we’ll beat Rakic. Now [Pereira] has do his job and beat Khalil Rountree. It’s not an easy task. I don’t think it’s an easy fight. Magomed Ankalaev has to beat Rakic and these two guys will fight and people will get the best two light heavyweights in the world right now. No. 1, Magomed Ankalaev, No. 2 is Alex Pereira. This is my opinion.”

Leading into UFC 307 fight week, Pereira teased his interest in potentially returning to his old stomping grounds at middleweight with hopes that he could challenge current champion Dricus du Plessis. There’s also been talks about Pereira possibly testing himself at heavyweight in the future against names like Tom Aspinall or maybe even Jon Jones.

While he initially spurred on those rumors, Pereira actually shut down talks about changing weight classes on Wednesday when asked about his plans after UFC 307.

“I would choose to defend my belt,” Pereira said during media day. “Because it takes a planned work to cut down in weight, and it takes planned work to move up as well, but it’s perfect for this division.”

That’s exactly what Ankalaev surely wanted to hear but it’s apparently what the UFC already told his manager.

“I’m not concerned about [Pereira moving weight classes] at all,” Abdelaziz said. “I have conversations behind closed doors and Magomed Ankalaev needs to go out there and show why he should fight for the title and he will get his title shot.”

There’s any number of reasons why the UFC opted to go with Rountree right now but it was Pereira who speculated that Ankalaev’s “boring style” cost him the chance to fight for the title.

Both Ankalaev and his manager have now noted that when it comes to finishes in the UFC, he’s got just as many as Pereira so it’s difficult to understand how he’s not been as entertaining.

“Nobody can say Magomed Ankalaev is boring because he has six knockouts in the UFC,” Abdelaziz said. “Pereira has six knockouts. [Ankalev] fought everybody but it’s OK. It’s no problem. It’s no hard feelings. It’s no complaining, no crying. We’ll just keep going.”

The way Abdelaziz sees it, Ankalaev is just going to have to keep proving himself until it’s undeniable that he’s the best light heavyweight in the sport.

That may require him to extend his unbeaten streak to 13 in a row with his upcoming fight at UFC 308 but Abdelaziz truly believes Ankalaev will eventually become UFC champion in 2025.

“Khabib Nurmagomedov [won] 10 fights, Kamaru Usman [won] 10 fights [to get a title shot], these type of guys they have a long road to get to the UFC [title],” Abdelaziz said. “When they get there, they stay there. Kamaru stayed there. Islam [Makhachev] is staying there. Khabib stayed there. Belal [Muhammad], too, is one of these guys. He takes a long road and now we’re going to see if he’s going to stay there.

“It’s OK. it’s just making it more tougher and makes it more better, it makes you have something to prove. It’s no problem for him fighting Khalil Rountree. Did Khalil Rountree deserve it over Ankalaev? Absolutely not but it’s a business.”

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Tecia Pennington doesn’t have a lot of love for MMA judges.

This Saturday, Pennington faces Carla Esparza on the undercard of UFC 307. The bout is the final of Esparza’s storied career but for Pennington it’s equally as important as “The Tiny Tornado” is currently on a two-fight losing streak, dropping split decisions to Mackenzie Dern and Tabatha Ricci, which have Pennington with her back against the wall.

“The split decisions have hurt me,” Pennington told reporters at UFC 307 Media Day. “It’s hurt more, the loss, than anything, getting punched or kicked by these girls or whatnot. I truly believed I won those last two fights.”

Pennington has been a fixture of the strawweight top-15 since entering the UFC of of The Ultimate Fighter in 2014. But despite notable wins over the likes of Angela Hill and Michelle Waterson-Gomez, “The Tiny Tornardo” has been unable to even earn a title shot. Now at 35 years old, time is running out for Pennington to make a title run, which she blames, in part, on the judging in her fights.

“I’m still getting at it. I feel like I’ve got one more good run in me,” Pennington said. “I feel like I can make it happen for myself too. I have the skill…

“Honestly, it’s the judges who keep f*cking me, if I’m being honest,” Pennington said. “I go back and I’m like, I don’t know who the judges were but do they go home and rewatch that fight and they’re like, ‘Man, I took away opportunity from this girl. I took away money from this girl. That sucks. I wish I could have done something different.’

“I kind of wish we had universal [open scoring] where they tell you the score after [each round] like Invicta does it. That would be awesome because then as an athlete, I know.”

Universal scoring has been a topic of discussion in MMA for years, with Invicta FC even implementing it on a trial basis in 2020. However, there’s been no major push for universal scoring to make it into the UFC and it won’t be in effect Saturday when Pennington faces off with Esparza. Fortunately for Pennington, she does not believe she’ll need it.

“I think she’s going to be the same old Carla,” Pennington said. “Same thing, coming in with some [punches], going for the takedown, try to catch my leg and take me down that way. I’m not saying she’s not going to take me down, she might. But I’ll get right back up, I’ll stuff a lot of her takedowns, I’ll use my movement. The key to her winning is holding me down, but I don’t see that happening. There’s not been a girl who has been able to do that. I’ve been able to get up and do what I want to do.”

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PFL co-founder Donn Davis continues to claim that Kayla Harrison went to the UFC to avoid fights with Larissa Pacheco and Cris Cyborg.

After a past interview where Davis compared one of the PFL’s biggest stars in the history of the promotion to Kevin Durant, as opposed to a LeBron James, following Harrison’s departure for the UFC earlier this year, Davis doubled down on those comments when Din Thomas said he had some “choice words” when addressing the two-time Olympic champion.

“Choice words, I wouldn’t describe it,” Davis said on Sirius XM’s MMA Today. “We brought Kayla into MMA from the Olympics. Developed her into a [17-1] star, two-time champion, and one of the greatest women [fighters], top-five in the sport today. Nothing but pride for that, and nothing but respect for Kayla. As a competitor, to build the company, I want every great fighter here. I want every fighter here. … So I’m disappointed we couldn’t keep Kayla here for, what I think, are the two biggest fights of her legacy, [and] career — avenging Pacheco and winning the championship, and beating Cyborg, who’s the greatest ever.

“I think those are the two toughest fights ahead of Kayla. I don’t like that she ran from those. I don’t like that, and that she ran to a brand to validate herself. I think so highly of Kayla Harrison, she doesn’t need a brand to validate her. She’s that great. Some fighters need a brand to validate them. Some employees need a validation of a brand, some people need to wear clothes or jewelry to validate them. And other people are so strong that their actual actions and accomplishments validate themselves. That’s how highly I think of her, so that disappointed me.”

Harrison decimated former champion Holly Holm in her octagon debut at April’s UFC 300 event, and she faces Ketlen Vieira this Saturday at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City. The only MMA loss for Harrison came via decision to Pacheco at the PFL World Championships card in November 2022. Harrison had already defeated Pacheco twice before their trilogy fight.

Cyborg and Pacheco battle it out in their own matchup at the PFL’s PPV card on Oct. 19 in Saudi Arabia.

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It was a tale of two faceoffs to end the UFC 307 pre-fight press conference. Main event fighters staying stoic while the co-main event competitors could cut glass with the stares they were giving each other.

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira showed no emotion as he came face-to-face with unlikely challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. on Thursday. Pereira looked as intimidating as ever, but he didn’t get too aggressive during the faceoff, while Rountree just kept looking ahead as he prepares for the biggest opportunity of his career.

That was vastly different from the co-main event where Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña were staring holes through each other during a tense moment with matchmaker Sean Shelby keeping a close eye on things.

Nothing was said during the faceoff, but the look from each fighter was worth a thousand words.

For Pennington, the showdown serves as a culmination of a fight she’s wanted for the past 11 years after she counted Pena as one of her roommates on The Ultimate Fighter season 18. As for Pena, she hopes to reclaim the title she lost in her last appearance back in 2022 when she suffered a one-sided defeat to Amanda Nunes.

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