Category Archives: Mmafighting.com

Benoit Saint Denis had a huge opportunity in front of him at UFC 299, and he wasn’t going to let anything stop him from taking it, including a brutal fight camp, as well as a staph infection.

Dustin Poirier ended up knocking Saint Denis out in Round 2 of the March co-main event in an incredible battle. As Saint Denis prepares to headline Saturday’s UFC Paris event in front of his home crowd, he reflected on the lessons learned from challenging one of the greatest lightweights of all time.

“I learned a lot,” Saint Denis told MMA Fighting. “First, I learned that you have to underestimate nobody, especially top fighters like that, and you can’t go out there not being healthy. That’s huge. But, despite that, I learned a lot. Nothing comes by mistake, I believe if I had this staph infection this late into my camp, it’s because I was stressed and I took no pleasure in my training camp.

“I had a lot of stuff, new stuff to manage that I was not used to. When you become somebody in the sport, you then have the shoulders of a CEO because you have all the staff and the management around you, a lot of people and you deal with the new stuff that is difficult to when it’s brand new. It takes time to have that experience. I believe being at the top is also a [tough] experience, and being able to manage your schedule and to still enjoy the process of being a fighter. It’s the most important thing and to make the people that are with you proud of your performance, and to have people with you that you want to make proud of the performance you are gonna deliver.

“So this is important. We made a lot of adjustments and I’m really happy now. And I took pleasure in training and I will take pleasure in my fight.”

Saint Denis revealed his staph infection following the loss, which led to a horrible weight cut, and just a bad fight week in general. Deep down, Saint Denis considered withdrawing, but after weighing his options, he felt either way could be potentially disrespectful to Poirier; face him at less than 100 percent, but still have the chance to score the biggest win of his career, or feel like “The Diamond” wasted weeks and weeks of training to not fight.

“It was disrespectful to go out there against a guy of this level being in such a bad condition,” Saint Denis said. “But it was also disrespectful to call the fight [off] during fight week [for a fight] the guy has been preparing hard for. It was a dilemma for me and it had been bringing a lot of stress during the fight week to not know what to do. It was a hard situation.

“You know, I believe guys like Khabib [Nurmagomedov], and top [teams] that they have a lot of experience. They have called a lot of fights during the fight week because of a bad cut, or because of a staph infection. And yeah, it was hard for me because me and my team, we are coming, not out of nowhere, but I was the first guy of my team to co-headline such an event and to be at this level though. We don’t have experience with those kind of opportunities. So Tuesday [of fight week] we [made] the decision to go through and to do whatever I can in the condition that [I was] in.

“It was a difficult, it was bad times but I think like I said, it doesn’t come by accident. I have been through this situation because I had a lack of professionalism in managing my stuff [with] my weight, and a lot of stuff that I had to professionalize. .. It was a huge fight, huge opportunity for me, but it was a training camp where I was al almost in depression. So I believe if you [want to perform], you want to have huge performance, you have to be happy to do what you love, and and then be happy to deliver the best performance you can to everybody.”

With hindsight being what it is, the lessons learned outweighed the results from UFC 299. Poirier went on to challenge for the lightweight title, coming up short in a Fight of the Year contender at UFC 302 in June.

Saint Denis didn’t let that get him down, and in the end, the story of that loss is an important chapter in the “God of War” story.

“I cannot have regrets because it’s a lesson,” Saint Denis said. “All the stuff that went bad [before the fight I had to manage], but I have absolutely no regrets because I was lucky enough that the fight went well for me for as long as it went. So I’m a lucky man.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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

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

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

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

What we need from you

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

Today’s UFC in-5 game

Thursday’s UFC in-5 game

Wednesday’s game

Tuesday’s 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.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Renato Moicano and Benoit Saint Denis are ready to shine in the City of Light.

Saturday’s UFC Paris headliners successfully made weight for their lightweight bout at Friday’s official weigh-ins, with both fighters making use of the one-pound allowance and coming in at 156 pounds.

Moicano currently holds the No. 12 spot at lightweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with Saint Denis close behind at No. 14. This is the first main event for Saint Denis, who hails from France.

The official weigh-ins mostly went off without a hitch, with the exception of preliminary bantamweight fighter Ailin Perez. The Argentinian standout weighed in at 136.5 pounds, 0.5 pounds over the limit, and looked awful on the scale. She was visibly shaking and had to be helped to the back after her weight was registered.

The UFC has confirmed that Perez’s bout with Darya Zheleznyakova proceeds as a catchweight with Perez forfeiting 20 percent of her purse as penalty.

See official UFC Paris weigh-in results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET)

Renato Moicano (156) vs. Benoit Saint Denis (156)

Nassourdine Imavov (186) vs. Brendan Allen (186)

William Gomis (146) vs. Joanderson Brito (146)

Kevin Jousset (169) vs. Bryan Battle (170)

Morgan Charriere (146) vs. Gabriel Miranda (146)

Fares Ziam (156) vs. Matt Frevola (156)

Preliminary Card (ESPN+ at 12 p.m. ET)

Ion Cutelaba (205) vs. Ivan Erslan (206)

Oumar Sy (205) vs. Da Un Jung (205)

Ludovit Klein (155) vs. Roosevelt Roberts (155)

Taylor Lapilus (136) vs. Vince Morales (135)

Darya Zheleznyakova (135) vs. Ailin Perez (136.5)*

Daniel Barez (125) vs. Victor Altamirano (126)

Nora Cornolle (136) vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti (135)

Bolaji Oki (156) vs. Chris Duncan (156)

*Perez missed weight. Her bout with Darya Zheleznyakova proceeds as a catchweight with Perez forfeiting 20 percent of her purse as penalty.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Ailin Perez is in bad shape a day before fight night.

The bantamweight contender not only missed weight by half a pound at Friday’s official weigh-ins for UFC Paris, she was visibly distressed and shaking as she stepped to the scale.

See video of Perez’s weigh-in below, courtesy of La Sueur.

Perez’s official weight was 136.5 pounds, which is over the limit even including the one-pound allowance for a non-title fight. Her opponent Darya Zheleznyakova successfully made weight at 135 pounds.

It is not yet known if the bout will proceed at a catchweight and, if so, how much of Perez’ purse will be forfeited as penalty. Given how Perez was trembling, her status for Saturday’s show at Accor Arena could also be in question.

This is the Perez’s first time missing weight in her 12-fight pro career. The Argentinian fighter has won three straight fights since dropping her UFC debut to Stephanie Egger in a featherweight bout, and is currently the No. 15 bantamweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Irene Aldana is still recovering from the horrific gash she suffered during a fight against Norma Dumont at UFC 306.

On Thursday, the veteran bantamweight fighter revealed that the stitches to close the gruesome wound have been removed as she continues to heal up from arguably the worst cut in UFC history.

“The already removed the stitches,” Aldana wrote on Instagram.

Aldana has been posting regular updates to show how she’s healing after photos and videos from the night of her fight showed off the ghastly cut, which required medical attention after her fight.

The cut happened from a clash of heads, but somehow Aldana still managed to continue until the final horn ended the fight. She ultimately lost a unanimous decision to Dumont.

Given the size and depth of the cut, Aldana will almost certainly undergo plastic surgery to deal with the scarring left behind as well as to prevent that same gash from opening again in the future.

It’s still remarkable how much Aldana has healed in less than two weeks after enduring the enormous cut across her forehead.

There’s no timeline on when Aldana may be able to return to action, although it’s likely not any time soon as she continues to heal from the cut.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

At the UFC Paris official weigh-ins, all 28 fighters on Saturday’s fight card step on the scale early Friday morning in Paris. Watch the ceremonial weigh-ins above, courtesy of UFC.

In the main event, Benoit Saint Denis and Renato Moicano square off in a duel of lightweight fan favorites. Both are known for exciting fights and thrilling finishes, and could see themselves take one step closer to a title shot with an impressive performance at Accor Arena. Saint Denis currently sits at No. 14 at 155 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with the more experienced Moicano two spots ahead at No. 12.

The headliners can weigh no more than 156 pounds, the maximum limit for a non-title lightweight bout.

In the co-main event, Nassourdine Imavov and Brendan Allen can weigh no more than 186 pounds, the maximum limit for a non-title middleweight bout. Imavov is MMA Fighting’s No. 7-ranked middleweight, just ahead of Allen, who is tied for the No. 8 spot.

UFC Paris official weigh-ins are set to begin at 3 a.m. ET.

Ceremonial weigh-ins take place at 12 p.m. ET and can be watched above.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET)

Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint Denis

Nassourdine Imavov vs. Brendan Allen

William Gomis vs. Joanderson Brito

Kevin Jousset vs. Bryan Battle

Morgan Charriere vs. Gabriel Miranda

Fares Ziam vs. Matt Frevola

Preliminary Card (ESPN+ at 12 p.m. ET)

Ion Cutelaba vs. Ivan Erslan

Oumar Sy vs. Da Un Jung

Ludovit Klein vs. Roosevelt Roberts

Taylor Lapilus vs. Vince Morales

Darya Zheleznyakova vs. Ailin Perez

Daniel Barez vs. Victor Altamirano

Nora Cornolle vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti

Bolaji Oki vs. Chris Duncan

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Kevin Lee is willing to take the road less traveled to get back into the UFC, or a major MMA promotion — which included offering to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series.

As Lee said in a past interview with Anik & Florian, the UFC denied his request, and now, the one-time interim UFC lightweight title challenger has two fights on the books. First up, his MMA return this Saturday when he faces Thiago Oliveira at Lights Out Championship 17 in his home state of Michigan. The bout marks Lee’s first fight since a 55-second stoppage loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov at UFC Vegas 76 in July 2023.

When asked why the Contender Series thought didn’t come to fruition, Lee still seemed a bit surprised.

“I think it [made] sense,” Lee told MMA Fighting. “I don’t know exactly what the problem is. I honestly don’t know. It’s not the numbers, right? I’ve heard Dana kind of brag about Belal Muhammad when he wrapped the belt around him and he bragged that he got more views than any other champion — and it was like 20 million views or something. But my brother [former fighter-turned-famous food vlogger Keith Lee] did a small video for me getting ready for my last fight in the APEX and, keep this in mind, this is a prelim APEX card fight, and my brother did a post and he got 12 million views compared to a champion that did 20 million views and Dana’s bragging about it, so I don’t think that’s the issue.

“I don’t think the issue is me not willing to show up and put on great fights because that’s all I’ve ever done. Honestly I can’t point to what the issue is. I don’t know. I offered to do that fight. I think it would have been big. I think it would have been great for Dana White’s Contender Series, but the offer is off the table at this point. I offered it. They said no, we’ll move on. No sweat off my brow.”

Lee now heads back to the regional MMA scene to face Oliveira, and less than two months later, the 32-year-old debuts for Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA promotion in Biloxi, Miss., at their eighth event, where he fights Saul Almeida.

For “The Motown Phenom,” the booking with Almeida happened quickly, and he couldn’t say yes fast enough.

“Anybody who is a professional fighter knows having that date really sets the training in motion,” Lee explained. “It really kind of gives you a sense of purpose almost. I’ve been fighting for a long, long time, so it’s not like I’m hung up on fighting for the UFC. That’s where I built my career and I feel like I’ve given a lot to the company, but if that’s not what’s next, then that’s not what’s next. I’ll fight somewhere else.

“And that’s what I’m going to do and maybe it is a part of it that I got to show my worth to them still. It’s a little crazy to say that at this point in my career given how much I’ve actually done for the company. But I think I’m very opinionated, and I think that may have rubbed Dana the wrong [way] a few times. I made some comments about the APEX, and I guess that may be [something that bothered him]. But listen, this is what I do. This is part of being me. If people ask me a question, I give them a true and honest answer. And at the same time, I’ve never done anybody wrong in this industry — from media guys, to publicists, the PR, everybody in the backstage of the UFC, I feel like everybody I’ve touched, I’ve done right. So at the end of the day I hold my head up, we fight this next fight on Saturday.”

The journey back to where Lee feels he belongs in the current pantheon of the sport begins this weekend. On paper, Lee would certainly be a heavy favorite against the 30-fight pro in Oliveira, but that doesn’t mean there’s a lot of weight on his shoulders in regards to where the result may take him.

“A little more relaxed, but at the same time, there’s still a ton of pressure when I go back home and I’m not a world champion,” Lee said. “Yeah, sure, I fought for a belt, but I’m not a world champion. So I feel like I still have a lot left to prove, and yeah there’s a ton of pressure. With experience comes a little bit more relaxation. With experience comes like, ‘OK, I just know how these feelings go, and I know how to control them.’ But there’s a ton of pressure and I’m definitely feeling it for this fight.

“I’m going to whoop his ass. I’m going to show there’s levels to the fight game, and at the end of the day, I’m going to show that I’m back and I’m healthy, and I’m ready to compete at 155 pounds. I know this fight is at 170, but that’s because of the short notice. I’m coming back, I’m ready to compete at 155 pounds, and [show] I can still compete with the best of the 155 pounders.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Being released from the UFC feels like a gut-punch to most fighters but Vince Morales took it as a personal challenge.

While he amassed a respectable record in the promotion, Morales was also sort of learning on the job as he competed against some of the best fighters in the world. When he got his walking papers after two straight losses, Morales didn’t get upset as much as he got fired up.

“I’m a stubborn bastard,” Morales told MMA Fighting. “I don’t like thinking that because I’m not in the UFC or because they say I’m not good enough that I can’t hang and I can’t do what I love. I just kind of doubled down on myself and I think it’s showing.

“I’ve been enjoying it more. When I was in the UFC, I think I was spending a lot of time trying not to lose the fight and now I’m in there to fight and just so happens a win takes care of itself.”

Morales definitely stayed busy during his brief hiatus from the UFC. He fought five times over 15 months while putting together a perfect 5-0 record including four finishes.

That said, Morales admits it wasn’t easy finding quality opponents at first because he had so much UFC experience that he’s not a pushover for anybody. Morales says he accepted nine different opponents at one point before finally getting somebody to sign on the dotted line.

“I was like how the hell are we going to do this?” Morales said. “I was telling my managers and they were like ‘just remain calm, keep focusing on what I’m doing’ and they’ll take care of that stuff. I’m like my bills say otherwise, we need to get to work!

“Thankfully, I got tough fights. It doesn’t make sense for me to go out there and fight winnable fights. I want to fight some tough fights that I don’t know what’s going to happen. Like I’m going to hit you and we’re going to see who can hit harder. That excites me. That keeps me going.”

Following an impressive submission win with a rare Peruvian necktie to beat fellow UFC veteran Hunter Azure in August, Morales kept a close eye on potential opportunities ahead.

He was open for business if PFL or another major organization came calling but Morales always had returning to the UFC at the top of his wish list.

“I think maybe right after my fight with Hunter [Azure] I was looking at upcoming cards and I can’t remember where I saw it but I saw Taylor Lapilus vs. TBA [at UFC Paris],” Morales said. “I was like I’ll keep that in mind.

“I didn’t think about it again but then on Tuesday morning before sparring I opened up Twitter and Tyson Nam, who I’m good friends with, he shared a post saying he wants to step in to fight Taylor Lapilus because they were still looking for an opponent. I told him we could Roshambo for it and the winner goes. I was just kind of jokingly poking fun because that’s where my mind was stepping in for these [short notice fights].”

It wasn’t long after that exchange with Nam that Morales got a call from his manager with news.

“My manager Facetime’s me, which I thought was a little weird at first,” Morales said. “After sparring as I was pulling into my garage, he’s like ‘what’s up Vince, how you doing?’ I was like ‘good, how are you … it’s weird you’re not right to the point.’

“He said ‘how’s your weight?’ I was like ‘weight’s always good, don’t worry about the weight, why what do you got?’ He said ‘how do you feel about Paris?’ I said ‘UFC?’ and he said ‘yeah’ and I told him shut up. I didn’t believe him at first.”

Morales confessed that the Facetime call was supposed to catch him either getting emotional or erupting with excitement that he was back in the UFC but neither of those things happened.

Instead, he immediately shifted his focus towards Lapilus and winning in his return to the UFC because that was suddenly all that mattered to him.

“I realized he Facetime’d me to get a reaction but I was locked and I was only thinking about the fight and the opponent,” Morales said. “I had to reach back in and pull some of the feelings for it because I’m not too focused on that until after I beat this dude up.

“That’s my primary goal right now. Great, I’m back. We can think about that later. I’m here now and I want to go fight this dude.”

A lot of attention is going to be paid to Morales coming back to the UFC but he’s not really getting lost in that too much ahead of his fight.

More than anything, Morales just wants to show that he’s a better fighter now than he was before so he prefers to think of this as a fresh start that just so happens to be in the biggest MMA promotion on the planet.

“I think a bunch of people want to focus on ‘Vince is back in the UFC’ and I’m not looking at like that,” Morales said. “I’m looking it like I’m here now. Mentally, physically, I’m just a much better MMA fighter now.

“I didn’t want to point fingers or anything on the losses or whether I thought I won, it was in my control to do better and I didn’t. So I focused on getting better and being better. I think that propelled me along with leadership from [my head coach] John Wood. He’s the man. He’s really helped me. We didn’t start over but we started with a new base line once we got cut and just realized where we needed to fix things and things have been fixed.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

A high-stakes light heavyweight matchup is set for the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden.

The promotion announced that Nikita Krylov and Azamat Murzakanov are set to fight at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at the world-renowned arena in New York.

Krylov returns for the first time in nearly two years. In his most recent outing, the 32-year-old finished Ryan Spann in the first round at UFC Las Vegas in March 2023. Prior to that, Krylov earned a unanimous decision against Volkan Oezdemir, and finished two-time title challenger Alexander Gustafsson.

Murzakanov is 14-0 as a pro fighter, including a 4-0 start to his UFC tenure. The 35-year-old recently stopped Alonzo Menifield in the second round at UFC Abu Dhabi in August. “The Professional” also holds octagon wins over Dustin Jacoby, Devin Clark, and Tafon Nchukwi.

UFC 309 is headlined by a heavyweight title fight as champion Jon Jones defends against former champion Stipe Miocic.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Michael Chandler won’t face Conor McGregor in 2024, and UFC Paris headliner Renato Moicano is “surprised” that the former Bellator champion has given up on waiting for UFC’s biggest star.

Chandler called for a fight with “The Notorious” after knocking out Tony Ferguson in May 2022, and was given the opportunity after losing his following bout, a submission defeat to Dustin Poirier six months later. The duo coached a season of The Ultimate Fighter, and finally set a date to face off at UFC 303 earlier this year, but when McGregor was forced off of that card by an injury, they ultimately went in opposite directions.

It’s still unclear when McGregor returns, but Chandler re-enters the cage on Nov. 16 for a rematch with Charles Oliveira at UFC 307 in New York.

“I’m surprised [Chandler] didn’t continue waiting,” Moicano said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “This guy is too dumb, man. You’re raising a bet that has everything to go wrong. McGregor is MMA’s biggest troll right now. He has no incentive to fight. What’s the incentive for Conor McGregor to fight? He makes more money outside of fighting. His purse is nothing compared to what this guy makes with his business. Right now he’s using the UFC more like a marketing agency because everybody talks about him when he says he’s going to fight, and he’s done it again and again.

“I was surprised that Chandler gave up on waiting because he’s spent so much time — it’s like what you invest money on something and doesn’t know if it’s worth waiting or going all in. ‘Damn, should I keep trying? I’ve invested so much money and time that if I go out, I lose everything.’”

In the end, Moicano feels Chandler has “done the right thing” by moving on from a fight with McGregor—at least for the time being—and agreeing to face a popular name like Oliveira, who returns to action following a split decision defeat to Arman Tsarukyan.

“I think he was so invested on this fight that it was hard for him to pull out, but he saw it was for the best,” Moicano said. “And he’s also gotten a big fight, too. Oliveira is coming off a loss but he’s a former champion, a likable guy, very popular too. I think it could have gone worse for Chandler, fighting someone tougher and not that popular.”

Moicano is too invested on his upcoming bout—a UFC Paris main event clash with local lightweight Benoit Saint Denis this Saturday in France—to break down a rematch between “do Bronx” and Chandler. He wonders how the American will look two years removed from his latest fight.

“I hope Charles wins,” Moicano said. “I like to watch Charles fight, and I like his personality. Maybe Charles is the favorite, but I don’t know. It’s been so long we’ve seen Chandler fight. Chandler is dangerous early, and Charles gets hit a lot in the beginning. We’ve seen him get hit and continue going for it, but he can take it, too. If this fight goes to later rounds, I think Charles’ chances increase. I’m on the fence on this one, but I hope Charles wins.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts