Brandon Moreno | Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images
Brandon Moreno is ringing in the UFC’s return to Alberta.
The two-time men’s flyweight champion faces Amir Albazi in the main event of UFC Edmonton, which takes place at Rogers Place on Nov. 2. In the co-main event, top women’s flyweight contenders Erin Blanchfield and Rose Namajunas face off.
The UFC announced the full 13-fight card Wednesday via a press release.
Moreno vs. Albazi, which was previously announced, sees two contenders at a crossroads, with Moreno looking to bounce back following a pair of close split decision losses to Brandon Royval and Alexandre Pantoja, the former ending Moreno’s second reign as flyweight champion. On the other side, Albazi is coming off of a win over Kai Kara-France that extended his current streak to six, but it will be 17 months since his most recent fight when he steps into the cage in November.
Blanchfield is coming off of her first UFC loss. After winning six straight fights for the promotion, “Cold Blooded” dropped a unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot this past March. She takes on Namajunas, the two-time strawweight champion looking to earn a shot at flyweight gold with a third straight win.
This marks the UFC’s first visit to Edmonton since UFC 240 on July 27, 2019, when Max Holloway defeated Frankie Edgar in the main event.
See the current UFC Edmonton lineup below (bout order still to be finalized):
PFL co-founder Donn Davis is making big claims, even bigger than UFC CEO Dana White did about his debut at Sphere for UFC 306.
The PFL returns to pay-per-view on Oct. 19 for their PFL: Ngannou vs. Ferreira card headlined by Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira, with Cris Cyborg set to battle Larissa Pacheco in the co-main event. Davis claims that the card, which takes place in Saudi Arabia, is not only a better card than UFC 306, but it’s more of a financial undertaking as well.
“I think you have the most interesting men’s fight, and the most interesting women’s fight [of the year],” Davis told the New York Post. “So, first of all, I believe this is the biggest event possible in MMA because of the co-mains, this year in 2024, and that makes it, certainly, the biggest thing for PFL. The UFC is the bigger company, but we’re putting on the bigger event. So this is a big deal for us. Our No. 1 metric is putting on the highest quality MMA fight for fans in the world. We want to show fans that we can put on just as good, or better of a product than anyone else in the world. That’s metric No. 1.
“Metric No. 2, we want to do OK financially, just OK financially. The cost of this fight is astronomical. Dana White talks about his $ 20 million Sphere event, this is more. Fighters make more, the card here has more big fights coming. This cost to us is more than his cost to the Sphere.”
White, fresh off of the memorable spectacle that was UFC 306, was asked about Davis’ comments following Tuesday night’s Contender Series card. As expected, White had a good laugh at it.
“I didn’t even know who he was until you said it,” White responded. “Sounds like a good idea. Good for him. Good luck, hope it all works out.”
Aljamain Sterling has been forced out of his upcoming fight against Movsar Evloev at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5 after suffering an injury in training.
The former bantamweight champion, who is now competing at 145 pounds, revealed the news in a video posted to his YouTube channel on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, I have to break the news I will not be competing in Salt Lake City at UFC 307,” Sterling said. “In sparring, I had an injury not requiring surgery, but I was advised by the UFC medical staff that I will not be able to properly compete in this short of a turnaround.
“I did the stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I can, as best as I can with the [UFC Performance Institute] team here, and unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now. I apologize to Movsar and his team. We’ve been talking and I was really looking forward to punching this guy in his face.”
Sources confirmed to MMA Fighting that Sterling suffered an elbow injury that won’t require him to have surgery, but he wasn’t responding to treatment enough to risk fighting in October.
While it’s expected that Sterling could return before the end of the year, there’s no chance he would be able to fight at UFC 307.
As of now, the UFC hasn’t rebooked Evloev against a different opponent but Sterling hopes the fight could just be pushed back to a later date, although he won’t fault the undefeated Russian for moving on after their matchup was cancelled.
“Movsar, if you still really want to punch this handsome face, I put the challenge out to you to push the fight back and wait,” Sterling said. “Wait for daddy. I will be back soon. Possibly do this in December. That’s pretty much all I got.
“If you decide not to wait, I can respect that also because you’re trying to fight for a belt, as am I. The only way to do that is to go through each other.”
It’s an unfortunate loss for the UFC 307 card but obviously worse for Sterling after he hoped to beat Evloev and then position himself for a chance to potentially fight for the featherweight title. Now he’ll have to wait and see what the UFC decides regarding his next fight.
As for UFC 307, the card still moves forward with a pair of title fights at the top of the bill with Alex Pereira defending his light heavyweight championship against Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event while Raquel Pennington puts her bantamweight belt up for grabs facing former champion Julianna Pena.
Update: Evloev responded to the Sterling news on X.
I see Aljamain announced on his YouTube channel that he is out of the fight. I’ve been training for 4 months and would like to stay on this card and fight anybody, I’m not sure if the UFC can find someone to fight me but I worked really hard for this fight
Paddy Pimblett has a reputation for bulking up between fights and if you’ve ever wondered how, look no further than seeing him do his best Joey Chestnut impersonation.
The UFC lightweight contender’s latest vlog shows him taking a visit to Furusato in his native Liverpool, where he attempted to break the eatery’s chicken wing eating record, which stood at 37.
Watch Pimblett’s chomping challenge below.
Pimblett, currently 6-0 in the UFC, breezes through the first 20 before predictably hitting a wall, but he powers through and not only breaks the record, but pushes it to 47. And then he has dessert.
In his most recent fight, Pimblett scored a quick submission of veteran King Green to secure a spot in the top 15 of the UFC’s lightweight rankings. The former Cage Warriors champion has been creating buzz since joining the UFC in 2021, both for his brash personality and his tendency to pack on the pounds when he’s not in training camp.
“The Baddy” recently released a video where he revealed that he was walking around 42 pounds heavier than he weighed in at for his fight with Green at UFC 304.
Just moments after he became UFC welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad joked that he would eventually face Leon Edwards again but he would make him wait at least three years before it happens.
That timeframe referenced how long it took Muhammad to get a second crack at Edwards after their first encounter — which came together on short notice — ended in a no-contest due to a brutal eye poke. Muhammad went onto win five more fights before eventually dominating Edwards over five rounds to take the title at UFC 304 in July.
As much as he enjoyed throwing out the three-year window between fights, Muhammad knows there’s a chance he might cross paths with Edwards again but he’s not sure the former champion ever actually earns it.
“Skill wise, he has the skill to do it but it’s all about mentality,” Muhammad explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “Because you’ve seen it a lot with undefeated guys, when they get that one loss, a lot of guys don’t know how to take a loss. He hasn’t lost in eight years and he had this long streak. So it comes now from how does he come back from it mentally?
“Physically, yeah he has all the attributes, the skills to do it and when you’re looking at the lineup now, I beat a lot of these guys in the top 10 already. So there’s not a lot of guys you’re looking at ‘this guy is the clear No. 1 contender.’ So Leon could go out there and get one win and if it’s a huge win, there’s a possibility that he could get his name back in the mix.”
Edwards hasn’t booked a fight since losing his title, although he previously mentioned that he would like to compete again before the end of 2024.
The same goes for Muhammad, although he’s potentially circling a showdown against undefeated welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov but there’s still no official word if that fight is going to happen or not.
Regardless, Muhammad has no problem facing Edwards again if he earns his way back to another title shot, but he’s not convinced it happens.
Muhammad points directly to the circumstances surrounding their rematch in July as perhaps the biggest obstacle for Edwards to regain his confidence to make another run at becoming champion.
“That was your home soil, the crowd was there for you,” Muhammad said about the card in Manchester. “The fight was tailor-made for you. You were supposed to walk through me. You said it was going to be easy and walk through [me]. That’s embarrassing.
“Now he has to figure out what he wants to do with his life. If he still wants to chase it with that hunger inside him.”
Muhammad also has concerns about Edwards’ future with his team after he saw tensions rising during the fight as he continued to win round after round in the title fight.
Unlike Edwards’ stunning comeback knockout win over Kamaru Usman to become champion — which came after his coach Dave Lovell gave him a fiery speech between the fourth and fifth round — Muhammad didn’t see that same kind of motivation this time around.
“It just all comes back mentally,” Muhammad said. “I don’t know if him and his coach are going to have a breakup party now because they looked pretty bad in the corner. There’s a lot of turmoil there.
“So I feel like there’s going to be a lot of blame and a lot of embarrassment coming from that team. A lot just embarrassment from [Edwards].”
Ilia Topuria | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
With a new champion, the bantamweight division continues to move with a pair of thrilling matchups added to UFC 308.
The UFC announced Wednesday that Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo and Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos have been added to the upcoming Oct. 26 pay-per-view.
Basharat (12-0) and brother Javid have both made an impact since being signed off of Dana White’s Contender Series. The younger Basharat is 3-0 inside the octagon, with wins over Taylor Lapilus, Kleydson Rodrigues, and Da’Mon Blackshear.
He faces his stiffest test yet in the experienced Victor Hugo. Though Brazil’s Hugo only recently made his debut with a decision nod over Pedro Falcao, he had an extensive pro record prior to the UFC, with 25 wins in 29 pro bouts. Seventeen of those wins came by way of knockout or submission.
Said Nurmagomedov (18-3) has been a sleeper contender at 135 pounds, but his run to the top has been stifled by a pair of fight withdrawals. He has a chance to get back in the conversation when he fights Santos (11-2), who has rattled off back-to-back wins after dropping a decision to Julio Arce in his debut in April 2022.
UFC 308 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and airs exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view. The event is headlined by Ilia Topuria defending his featherweight title against “BMF” champion Max Holloway.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The return of Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA features a lot of familiar names — including a slew of UFC veterans.
Promotion officials revealed to MMA Fighting the lineup for Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA’s return to action at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Nov. 15 in Biloxi. In the main event, Randy Costa and Brandon Davis battle for the inaugural bantamweight title in a rematch from their first meeting at UFC 236, where Davis spoiled Costa’s UFC debut with a second-round submission win.
One-time interim UFC lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee is also set to make his Gamebred debut after signing with the organization as a free agent. His opponent is still undetermined at this time.
A battle between former UFC heavyweights Chase Sherman and Maurice Greene is an additional bout for the card
Other fights featured at the event include Alessio Sakara vs. Prince McLean, Jason Knight vs. Joshua Weems, and a New England regional champ vs. champ bout between Cage Titans champion Peter Barrett and CES titleholder Charles Rosa.
Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA is a promotion headed up by UFC star and original BMF champion Jorge Masvidal.
Check out the updated Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 8 fight card below.
Randy Costa vs. Brandon Davis – bantamweight title fight
A bit of UFC history was made as four more fighters earned their way into the UFC on the latest episode of Contender Series
On Tuesday night, the sixth episode of season eight of Contender Series took place in Las Vegas at the UFC APEX, and after five fights, UFC CEO Dana White awarded four of the five winners contracts into the UFC, including one to Elijah Smith, son of former two-time The Ultimate Fighter contestant Gilbert Smith. With Smith now in the UFC, he and his father become only the second father-son duo in the promotion’s history, following UFC after Hall of Famer Randy Couture and his son Ryan Couture.
Smith outlasts Tau
In the main event of the evening, 22-year-old Elijah Smith survived a strong final round from Aaron Tau to win a unanimous decision and a UFC contract.
The son of former two-time The Ultimate Fighter contestant Gilbert Smith, “Swift” looked great early, doing almost anything he wanted against the 31-year-old City Kickboxing product. But in the third round, Smith — who took the fight on short notice — began to fade and Tau turned it on, resulting in a knockdown dog fight as Smith refused to back down despite tiring. In the end, Tau won the third round battle but lost the war as Smith took home the decision win and the spot in the UFC.
WHAT A FIGHT
Who do you have coming out on top? #DWCS pic.twitter.com/VZ0YVLfy9Y
— UFC (@ufc) September 18, 2024
Teixeira crumbles Lopes
In the penultimate fight of the evening, Tallison Teixeira did what he was supposed to do and obliterated Arthur Lopes with a first-round knockout that earned him a spot in the UFC’s heavyweight division.
A monster of a man at 6-foot-7, the 24-year-old Teixeira showed why he was such a big betting favorite on the evening, setting the tone early with jabs and low kicks. Lopes proved game though, trying to drag Teixeira into a wild brawl, but “Xicao” didn’t bite and managed to find a clean right hand that floored his fellow Brazilian and moved him to 7-0 in his career.
ONE SHOT POWER
Tallison Teixeira adds another first round finish to his resume! #DWCS pic.twitter.com/4Ki9tZWxWi
— UFC (@ufc) September 18, 2024
Bennett ekes past Hart
In the welterweight contest of the evening, Benjamin Bennett eked out a split decision over Joey Hart that did not impress Dana White enough to merit a UFC contract.
With extensive experience in boxing and kickboxing, Bennett instead came in and used his wrestling early against Hart, repeatedly scoring takedowns and neutralizing the bigger fighter. Hart hung tough though and made the most of his moments on the feet when he could as the men went back-and-forth for the full fifteen. In the end the judges awarded Bennett for his control, but White did not award him a UFC contract.
Gautier overwhelms Naito
In the second fight of the evening, Ateba Gautier delivered a second-round TKO over Yura Naito to punch his ticket into the UFC.
Still only 22 years old, Ateba is still developing as a prospect and had to battle through getting taken down in the first round by Naito. However, once things restarted on the feet in the second round, the Cameroonian fighter’s speed and power were on full display, as he dropped Naito with big punches and then, after spending some time in Naito’s guard, finally was able to posture up and deliver vicious shots to secure the victory.
Ateba Gautier lo termina! #DWCS pic.twitter.com/LIawFxaqC7
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) September 18, 2024
Hassanzada rallies to submit Dylan Mantello
In the opening bout of the evening, Ahmad Hassanzada scored an impressive comeback submission over Dylan Mantello, and earned his place in the UFC.
After falling short in his first attempt on Contender Series back in 2022, Hassanzada looked like he might have again blown his gas tank with a torrid pace in the first round, as Mantello dropped him multiple times in the second and the Afghani fighter looked gassed heading into the final frame. But somehow Hassanzada rallied in the third round, pressing the action, scoring a takedown, and then locking on a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
Ahmad Hassanzada gets the third round submission
Was that enough to earn him a UFC contract? #DWCS pic.twitter.com/p4W30fw0Fg
— UFC (@ufc) September 18, 2024
Check out the DWCS results below.
Elijah Smith def. Aaron Tau via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Tallison Teixeira def. Arthur Lopes via knockout (punch) — R1, 1:57
Benjamin Bennett def. Joey Hart def. via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ateba Gautier def. Yura Naito via TKO (punches) — R2, 4:00
Ahmad Hassanzada def. Dylan Mantello via submission (rear-naked choke) — R3, 2:41
Dana White and Jon Jones | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Tom Aspinall will be at UFC 309, so says UFC CEO Dana White.
Over the weekend, the UFC officially announced UFC 309 will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and former champion Stipe Miocic. It’s a bout well over a year in the making and after hearing the news, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall made his case for serving as the backup fighter for the matchup. And apparently White agrees.
On Tuesday, the latest episode of Contender Series took place in Las Vegas and afterward, White spoke to reporters where he confirmed that Aspinall will get his wish for UFC 309.
“Yes,” White said when asked about Aspinall serving as backup. “Tom Aspinall is next in line for anything that happens after this fight.”
Of course, being the backup fighter does not necessarily guarantee Aspinall will get a shot at the undisputed belt if something happens to either Jones or Miocic before the event. After all, Jones and Miocic were first scheduled to face each other at UFC 295, with Sergei Pavlovich serving as backup fighter, but when Jones sustained an injury, the promotion postponed the bout entirely and called Aspinall to step in on short notice against Pavlovich for the interim title.
Hopefully nothing similar will happen this time, however, even if they fight does go through, Aspinall may not get his “dream fight” against Jones afterward as the heavyweight champion recently declared UFC 309 will “more than likely” be the final fight of his career. That flies in direct opposition to White’s previous contention that he believes Jones will fight Aspinall should he beat Miocic, but for now, White says he can’t worry about that.
“Why speak to him after this event?” White said when asked about Jones’s comments. “You’ve got to figure out what’s going to happen in this fight. See how this fight plays out and then we’ll go from there.”
UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Tatiana Suarez | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
A presumptive No. 1 contender bout is headed to Las Vegas.
Top-ranked UFC strawweight contender Tatiana Suarez (10-0) will face No. 3-ranked Virna Jandiroba (21-3) at UFC 310, which takes place on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena. Ag Fight was first to report the news which was later confirmed to MMA Fighting via multiple sources with knowledge of the booking.
A decorated wrestler before transitioning to MMA, Suarez won season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter and made an immediate impression in the UFC, winning her first five bouts in the promotion. A title shot seemed imminent but then Suarez was beset by injuries that kept her out of the cage for nearly four years. She finally returned to action in 2023, with wins over Montana de la Rosa and Jessica Andrade, and now hopes to cement her claim to a shot at 115-pound champion Weili Zhang.
A former Invicta strawweight champion, Jandiroba was handed a tough task in her UFC debut back in 2019, losing to former champion Carla Esparza. An up-and-down stint followed but recently the BJJ black belt seems to have found her stride, winning four fights in a row, all over ranked opposition.
UFC 310 does not currently have a main event scheduled.
Guilherme Cruz and Damon Martin contributed to this report.
File under: Mmafighting.com | Leave a comment »