Is Demetrious Johnson ready to make a definitive decision about the future of his fighting career?

Over the past 16 months, the reigning ONE Championship flyweight champion has been mulling retirement or possibly coming back for one more fight but he hasn’t said for certain which will happen. Johnson’s main focus lately has been competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments, building his YouTube channel and continuing to expand his businesses outside the sport.

He said just recently that he wasn’t “officially retired” but admitted that MMA “is not on my mind right now.”

ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong can’t say with any certainty what Johnson is planning but he supports whatever decision the 38-year-old veteran makes.

“I talked to DJ nine months ago, six months ago and a month ago and I said hey, the ball’s in your court,” Sityodtong told MMA Fighting. “Whatever you want to do, we’ll support it. Nine months ago, he called me ‘hey Chatri, I want to make a run at gi jiu-jitsu, I want to try and compete in brown belt Worlds Masters.’ He obviously won that world championship. He just competed in the black belt Masters last weekend and got to the quarterfinals, which is unbelievable.

“I mean think about his resume as a martial artist. He’s an elite striker, an elite wrestler, an elite jiu-jitsu competitor and obviously the GOAT of mixed martial arts. But he is 38 and he’s literally not sparred in 18 months. I’m not pushing him or anything but the ball’s in his court. DJ’s in Denver. So let’s see what he says.”

On Friday, ONE Championship lands in Denver for ONE 168, which is the Singapore based promotion’s third card in the United States with a fourth planned in Atlanta in November.

Johnson is expected to attend the event as a special guest and Sityodtong teased that perhaps the former UFC champion will address his future during the show.

“I think DJ’s in Denver for a reason,” Sityodtong said. “I think people have got to ask him why he’s in Denver. Maybe DJ’s going to announce the biggest fight ever or maybe he’s going to retire. I don’t know but let’s see.”

Johnson has stated that for him to return to fighting, he would have to be enticed by the right opportunity.

Considering the long list of accomplishments that Johnson already has on his resume, Sityodtong understands why “Mighty Mouse” isn’t really interested in just facing the next person in line for his flyweight title.

That’s why Sityodtong believes it really comes down to finding a particular opponent that would draw Johnson’s interest enough for him to fight again.

“It has to be a very big, big fight that would move the needle,” Sityodtong said. “I don’t think he could just take a regular fight, a regular title defense. It would have to be something very special. Something unique.

“Something like the special rules fight he did with Rodtang [Jitmuangno], something crazy like that, that would get him adrenaline and goosebumps and ready to go.”

On the flipside, Sityodtong can’t argue with Johnson if he ultimately decides to call it a career and retire with the record setting resume he’s already built since first debuting back in 2006.

Johnson remains the longest reigning champion across any division in the UFC with 11 consecutive title defenses and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his accomplishments.

He’s also claimed the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix title and then became ONE flyweight champion with a stunning knockout over Adriano Moraes to avenge his own loss to the Brazilian from the previous year. Johnson has done just about everything he’s ever wanted so Sityodtong understands if he just wants to hang up his gloves for good.

“The thing is he’s been there, done that,” Sityodtong said. “In the two largest organizations in the world, he’s been there, done that. He’s conquered the mountain of UFC and he’s conquered the mountain of ONE. The only person to do so, which is just incredible.

“He’s almost like those old Ronin warriors that would travel the world fighting anybody to prove that they’re the best. He is very special. We all know DJ is very special.”

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Are we ready to see more champion vs. champion fights?

The vast majority of the community seems to say no. The “superfight era” came and went with double champions like Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo, and Amanda Nunes. More recent attempts saw featherweight’s Alexander Volkanovski try to make history against Islam Makhachev but came up short in both efforts last year. Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira now finds himself with a world of possibilities after speedrunning his way to two-division champion status, albeit not simultaneously like the others.

Pereira, 37, surprised the MMA world this week by continuing to tease a pursuit of the middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. The latter recently successfully defended his title for the first time with a fourth-round face crank against Pereira’s old rival Israel Adesanya last month. That win was the initial launching point for “Poatan” to tease a 185-pound return.

Amongst those anti-middleweight Pereira is one of his fellow former divisional champions Michael Bisping, who understands what the motive could be behind such a matchup. That doesn’t make him a fan of the idea, though.

“I don’t like it. Simple as that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Maybe Alex Pereira’s just messing around because even though he’s a serious son of a b*tch, he’s got a sense of humor. He’s very stoic, but I’m telling you, he’s a sarcastic guy and I get it. Maybe he’s trolling, but maybe he’s not. Maybe he’s trying to make the most money he can, take on the toughest opponents, and retire with millions and millions and millions of dollars in the bank. He’s probably going to do that anyway, but still.”

The timing of Pereira’s tease is odd as he’s got his next defense lined up against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 on Oct. 5. After that, there’s a ready and waiting Magomed Ankalaev in — or atop — the contender line, assuming he can get through Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 at the end of October.

At a glance, it’s an oversight on the Brazilian striker’s part, which Bisping finds a risky game to play.

“He’s got people to fight already,” Bisping said. “He’s fighting Khalil Rountree. You cannot look past ‘Killer’ Khalil Rountree. He’s the kickboxer killer. He really is. Think about this: He beat Gokhan Saki, very good kickboxer that came to MMA. Dustin Jacoby, very good Glory Kickboxer that came to MMA. Could he do the same to Alex Pereira? I don’t know. It’s a tough ask, but I tell you what, don’t underestimate the man.”

“After that [if he wins], he’s gotta fight Magomed Ankalaev. He ain’t happy about this. He’s going absolutely mental online. … He might have a point. We want to see great champions — and Alex Pereira is a great champion make no mistake — we want to see them take on all comers in their division. Also, prove that they can beat all these different types of styles. Magomed Ankalaev on paper is a very, very tough stylistic matchup because of the Dagestani wrestling. If you look at Pereira, he’s had kind of a favorable path. I’m not talking sh*t, I’m just talking facts.”

Luckily for Bisping and detractors of the clash, Du Plessis doesn’t sound keen on the idea of defending against Pereira because of the excuses he’d expect to come after a win. Therefore, he and his coach have already expressed that they’d prefer the fight to see him challenge Pereira at 205 pounds if it does happen.

Ultimately, the prospect of Pereira vs. Du Plessis isn’t likely for 2024 as UFC 307 is around the corner and Du Plessis is expected to rematch another former champion, Sean Strickland, in his next title defense.

For Bisping’s money, that’s probably a better distance to keep for Pereira anyway.

“If Pereira can’t take the best shot from ‘Izzy’ at 185, he probably can’t take the best shot from Dricus at 185 either,” Bisping said. “It means the stock’s gonna drop, simple as that, and it’s going to affect his buying power going forward. Just going down to 185 doesn’t make the most sense for him. Been there, done it, got the T-shirt.

“Go to heavyweight if you truly want to become a three-division champion. What an achievement that would be.”

TOP STORIES

Answers. UFC mailbag: Jon Jones, Belal Muhammad, and the meritocracy of title contention

Reaction. Matt Brown scoffs at Jon Jones’ legacy becoming tainted if he doesn’t fight Tom Aspinall

Delay. Sabah Homasi still waiting on full payment for medical bills from Bellator fight in Sept. 2023

Legals. Ex-UFC fighter Casey Kenney pleads not guilty, released on bond awaiting trial in January

Options. Dana White reacts to Alex Pereira wanting to drop back down to middleweight

Hit. UFC Vegas 97 loses Ovince Saint Preux vs. Ryan Spann due to illness

Legacy. Fight legend Rickson Gracie’s life story being adapted into a feature film

Postitive. PFL heavyweight, ex-UFC fighter Blagoy Ivanov suspended 22 months for failed drug test

LET’S WATCH

MMA Fighting’s 2024 UFC Fantasy Draft.

Dana White’s Post-Contender Series Scrum.

Not just grapplers.

Contender Series highlights.

Burns’ Fight Week.

Chimaev training.

MORNING MUSIC

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

This month’s full playlist:

SOCIAL SCROLL DOWN

A pick-off!

Oh, Jon…

Good company.

Kai looms.

Nomad.

Hacked.

The circus is alive.

Work it out.

The tease.

Troll mode.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Cody Haddon (7-1) vs. Dan Argueta (9-2); UFC Vegas 98, Oct. 12

Joselyne Edwards (13-6) vs. Tamires Vidal (7-3); UFC Vegas 99, Oct. 19

Rayanne Dos Santos (14-8) vs. Alice Ardelean (9-6); UFC Vegas 99, Oct. 19

FINAL THOUGHTS

The matchup between Alex and “DDP” would be fun but it’s completely unnecessary. Let these guys defend and if they’re still champs after five defenses, let’s talk.

Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

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Howdy, y’all. Hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend (or just a regular weekend if you’re not in the United States or Canada). We’re in the middle of a pretty down period right now as we wait to get to UFC 306, aka Noche UFC, so let’s answer a real grab bag of questions including Jones Jones vs. Tom Aspinall, unfortunate UFC title challengers, and UFC’s broadcasting future.

Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall

“Being unbiased, how would you see a matchup between Aspinall vs Jones going? How’d they both come out of their corners, who takes the center first, does Jones circle away while Aspinall chases him/cuts him off, etc. I’d really like to hear how you imagine it goes/ends? Thanks.”

As the founder of the #GaslightJonJones and #ChickensArentGOATs movement, I am one of the leading voices on calling out Jones for his ridiculous focus on this Stipe Miocic fight. I, like ever other rational fan, would like to see the champion unify his title with the interim champion and fight someone who isn’t a 42-year-old retired fighter who has not fought in three years and hasn’t won a fight since the Trump administration. Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall is the fight we should get and it’s the one I want to see, because I have no idea what happens!

For as much of a “Jon Jones hater” as I may be, I have never once disputed the man’s abilities. Simply put, he is one of the most talented fighters to compete in MMA. He’s probably the best clinch fighter in MMA history, and if he chose to do it more often, the same might be said of his top position game. My only real issue with Jones over the past few years of his career (prior to the ridiculous current stuff) is that he somehow got it in his head he should be a long-range kickboxer when that’s actually what he’s worst at.

If young Jon Jones fought Thiago Santos, he would have tackled him and obliterated him on the floor instead of almost losing a bad kickboxing match to a guy without working knees. But that Jones was absent for most of his second light heavyweight title run. Granted, it came back against Ciryl Gane, but was that a one-time thing? We have no idea. Jones is absolutely capable of coming out, tackling Aspinall to the ground, and elbowing his face off. But he’s also just as likely to come out and say,z “I will avoid engaging at all costs with oblique kicks and jabs and — oh shit, where did that right hand come from, why am I looking up at the lights?”

And on the other side of the matchup, we really have no clue how good Aspinall is. He’s obviously very good, but this is like when Francis Ngannou took heavyweight by storm: He was colding people so quickly, the only thing we really knew was he was big, athletic, and hit super hard. Aspinall is not a defensive genius but hasn’t had to be because his offense is so overwhelming. But how does he look if Jones can take his punches and make him fight for longer than 60 seconds? This could easily be a Miocic vs. Ngannou 1 situation all over again.

That’s why this is the fight that needs to happen. Jones is going to slaughter Miocic in almost embarrassing fashion. Maybe in his prime, Stipe could have presented a challenge, but Cleveland’s finest is 42 years old, inactive, and hasn’t looked really good since the first Francis fight back in 2018 (yes, he beat Daniel Cormier twice — after getting slept — but Cormier was also an old man at that point). But against Aspinall, anything could happen.

In the dark, I’d pick Aspinall to beat Jones, but it wouldn’t be confidently. How could it be when he’s facing an all-time great? But Jones is also older, inactive, coming off an injury, and has never been his best against fighters who can match his size and physicality. Aspinall is big, athletic, fast, and hits harder. Best guess is this would look like the Dominick Reyes fight, where Aspinall is simply faster than Jones and Jones doesn’t want to engage for fear of getting clubbed.

More Jon Jones

“Which would be a worse title run? Bisping ducking Whittaker and Romero to fight Hendo and GSP or Jones ducking Aspinall for Stipe?”

I think both are bad yet simultaneously explicable.

Here is where I will defend Jon Jones just a little bit: At the time of the original fight booking, Jones vs. Miocic wasn’t completely absurd. Was it still a little dumb considering what Sergei Pavlovich was doing? Yes. But there’s a bit of precedent for a former champion getting a shot at the new champ, particularly when it’s two Hall of Famers. (Granted, the fight would have made the most sense for the vacant belt instead of Gane, but alas.)

The issue is that Jones vs. Miocic had a sell-by date that was almost up, and when Jones got hurt, the expiration passed by a lot. It’s like if you have some ground beef in the fridge that’s just on the edge and then you decide to go out of town for the weekend instead of making hamburgers that night. You don’t come back on Monday and fire up the grill. When that fight fell through and an interim champion was crowned, it should have been it.

Along these lines, I can also accept Michael Bisping’s title run. The Georges St-Pierre matchup falls under the same lines as the Jones-Miocic fight, only we didn’t wait two years for it, so it gets a pass (even though everyone knew GSP was retiring afterward). It’s the Dan Henderson title defense that’s truly indefensible. That being said, I was actually in support of it at the time because I wanted Henderson to get a belt and figured Yoel Romero would eventually get the title. I now regret this greatly as Romero was 100 percent the best middleweight on Earth for a period of time and people who weren’t there won’t know it now.

So on paper, Bisping’s is probably worse, but that’s not factoring in one very important thing: Jones’s title is hogwash.

Like him or not, Michael Bisping won the undisputed title fair and square by knocking out the champion. Jones won his heavyweight belt by submitting a guy who lost to the champion. It’s not the same. Bisping may have tarnished the belt a bit by fighting people outside the line of contenders, but he started with the true title. Jones didn’t win the lineal belt and now isn’t fighting the guy who would legitimize his title. I think that’s worse, but I won’t die on this hill.

Neither of them is the worst though. Germaine de Randamie winning the featherweight title by beating Holly Holm (and cheating during the fight) only to then refuse to fight Cris Cyborg and thus be stripped, that’s the worst title reign in UFC history.

Belal Muhammad

“Is Belal’s choice of Kamaru Usman over Shavkat Rakhmonov the lamest championship choice ever? Much worse than Bisping-Henderson was to me.”

Along these lines, let’s talk about the current welterweight champion.

The entire Belal vs. Shavkat thing is a case of poor communication and really poor PR. Belal Muhammad has not chosen Kamaru Usman over Shavkat Rakhmonov. He’s just doing a really, really bad job of managing this situation.

After Muhammad won the title at UFC 304, UFC officials were quick to throw out Usman as a possible opponent. Is this silly? Of course. But it’s in line with the above-mentioned instances of trying to squeeze the last bit of juice they can out of former champions. That isn’t Muhammad’s fault, that’s on UFC. What is Muhammad’s fault is how he’s responded to what’s transpired.

Reportedly, UFC asked him to make a quick turnaround to fight Shavkat in October and he said no. That’s entirely reasonable! He just won the title and UFC asked him to turn around in two months to defend. Even they won’t be mad about him saying no to that. It’s not a reasonable request. But then when Shavkat put this out in the streets, Muhammad’s response wasn’t, “Yeah man, I turned down the date, not you. We can go in December or sometime next year, just not in eight weeks.” Instead, he got mad and tried to dismiss Shavkat, poorly.

Ultimately, Muhammad isn’t ducking Shavkat. They’re going to fight, probably in December. But by handling it this way, Belal introduced a silly narrative that didn’t need to be there, which is made all the worse by his run up to the title, where he made it known he was willing to fight anyone at any time. If you change your energy, even for very good reasons, you’re inviting this sort of stuff in. It’s just terrible brand management from him.

Fantasy matchmaking

“Top 5 matchups you’d make in the current UFC roster that isn’t currently booked?”

These need no explanation.

1. Dricus du Plessis vs. Jiri Prochazka
2. Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall
3. Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez
5. Robelis Despaigne vs. Chris Barnett

TV rights and PPV

“Do you ever see the UFC signing a deal with a major network and make the current PPV events free?”

Yes, but not for some time. And also, that might be disastrous for the fan viewing experience.

Though it’s been the standard for UFC since it’s beginning, the pay-per-view model is near the end of its life cycle. It’s a dinosaur in terms of the content wars, and as UFC continues to bump the price, the cliff races every faster toward us. In the not-too-distant future, it simply won’t be the most profitable option.

Now, that day is still a long way off, in part because UFC seems intent on keeping it that way. But aside from the broad bend of market forces pushing pay-per-views to extinction, I think there are two key things that will help speed the process along for the UFC.

First is that UFC and WWE are now in the same company, and with that comes shared information. Given how WWE’s popularity has exploded over the past several years, at some point someone at TKO is going to attempt to unify the business models under the assumption that what works for one will work for the other.

Second, eventually someone is going to godfather offer them out of pay-per-view. Live sports are the cash cow of the modern media landscape. It’s why every NFL/NBA/NHL/Premier League/any other league contract is always massive when it comes up for grabs. Live sports are a foundational part of viewership and subscriptions. If, say, Netflix decides to make a push for live sports, why would they add a pay-per-views model into their current platform? Just buy UFC rights outright and stream big events and small ones the same way WWE does with Paramount. UFC won’t care so long as it gets paid.

All that being said, that’s probably a bad outcome for us, the viewers. While the pay-per-view model is onerous on our wallets, it may honestly be the last line of defense from every UFC event turning into an APEX show. When UFC got all that guaranteed money from ESPN, the quality of their standard product dropped off dramatically, as they replaced good, mid-level talent with Contender Series labor on cheap contracts. What happens if they don’t even have to sell pay-per-views anymore? I don’t know, but at some point I think we’re going to find out.

Thanks for reading, and thank you for everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer my favorite ones! Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Almost exactly one year after his most recent appearance in Bellator MMA, Sabah Homasi is still waiting on the company to pay him back for medical bills after injuries sustained in his battle against Levan Chokheli.

Homasi first spoke publicly about the situation on social media in April, writing, “Any fighters that got caught up in the PFL/Bellator merger that have not been reimbursed for surgeries and hospitalization from a fight or is it just me?”

Multiple sources told MMA Fighting that Homasi is still awaiting the full payment on those medical bills, with around $ 12,000 still owned plus interest out of the $ 32,000 bill he absorbed in expenses.

PFL has not responded to MMA Fighting’s request for a statement regarding Homasi’s ongoing situation.

“I fractured my orbital. Went from the venue to the hospital so they knew everything that was wrong,” Homasi told MMA Mania back in April. “They asked me if I was going to do surgery in Ireland and I said, ‘No. I’m going to fly home and do surgery with my doctors back home.’

“I came home, we saw my doctor. I have a date for surgery, right? Next thing you know, they call my doctor and ask him if he can postpone surgery for two [to] three weeks. I said, ‘Absolutely not. I have to go and operate.’”

When addressing the situation after Homasi went public with the medical bills that remain unpaid, PFL co-owner Donn Davis stated that responsibility fell on Paramount, who owned Bellator prior to selling to PFL in late 2023.

“That was Paramount not paying,” Davis told the Weighing In podcast. “We worked to get him paid. All [that] happened before we bought it. We’re trying to stay low-key because that’s who we are. Paramount didn’t pay. We’re working to get somebody who owes him to pay him.

“A lot of these fighters and managers don’t even understand what they don’t understand. Those aren’t our bills. Those are the old company’s bills.”

Things may get even stickier in the near future as Paramount is currently set to be sold to Skydance Media in a massive $ 8 billion deal for the entertainment company.

In recent years, Paramount has struggled to maintain its grip on the entertainment market after the company was hit hard in the wake of duel strikes from writers and actors that brought production to a halt for several months. Paramount’s streaming service Paramount+ has also failed to gain as much traction as competitors, with 71.2 million users compared to Max from Warner Bros. Discovery with 99.6 million subscribers as of May, with all streamers still playing catch-up to Netflix’s more than 277 million subscribers worldwide.

Sadly, while Paramount found a lifeline with the sale expected to Skydance Global, Homasi is still stuck waiting for payment for his medical bills with no indication on when he’ll get reimbursed.

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UFC Vegas 99’s official 11-fight lineup is set.

UFC officials on Wednesday announced the promotion’s full Oct. 19 fight card, which is headlined by a five-round bout between middleweight contenders Michel Pereira and Anthony Hernandez. Longtime flyweight contender Matheus Nicolau takes on top up-and-comer Asu Almabayev in the co-main event.

Pereira (31-11, 2 NC) has won eight consecutive UFC bouts and is a perfect 3-0 with three first-round stoppages since moving up back to 185 pounds. He needed just 54 seconds to submit Ihor Potieria with a guillotine choke in his most recent bout in May. All three of his recent middleweight victories earned Pereira post-fight UFC bonuses.

Hernandez (12-2, 1 NC) also rides his own hot streak into the bout, having won five straight with four stoppages and two post-fight bonuses. “Fluffy” submitted Roman Kopylov with a second-round rear-naked choke in his latest octagon appearance this past February.

UFC Vegas 99 takes place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

Check out the official UFC Vegas 99 fight card below.

• Michel Pereira vs. Anthony Hernandez
• Matheus Nicolau vs. Asu Almabayev
• Darren Elkins vs. Daniel Pineda
• Rob Font vs. Kyler Phillips
• Brady Hiestand vs. Jake Hadley
• Brad Katona vs. Jean Matsumoto
• Joselyne Edwards vs. Tamires Vidal
• Charles Johnson vs. Sumudaerji
• Jessica Penne vs. Elise Reed
• Austen Lane vs. Robelis Despaigne
• Rayanne Santos vs. Alice Ardelean

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UFC Vegas 97 is down a bout.

Promotion officials announced Wednesday that Ovince Saint Preux has been removed from his light heavyweight matchup against Ryan Spann due to illness. As a result, the card is expected to proceed forward with a 12-fight lineup.

A one-time UFC interim title challenger, Saint Preux (27-17) had fallen on hard times in recent years but rebounded to win two of his past three octagon appearances, sandwiching split decisions over Mauricio Rua and Kennedy Nzechukwu between a 49-second knockout loss to Philipe Lins.

Spann (21-10) remains in the midst of a tough run of his own. The 33-year-old Contender Series product has dropped three straight bouts at the hands of Nikita Krylov, Anthony Smith, and Bogdan Guskov, the last of which ended via second-round knockout.

UFC Vegas 97 takes place Sept. 7 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. A welterweight matchup between one-time title challenger Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady headlines the event.

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Belal Muhammad wants Demetrious Johnson to put his money where his mouth is.

The reigning UFC welterweight champion and Johnson, the GOAT of the flyweight division, recently butted heads over Muhammad disagreeing with Johnson’s prediction that Leon Edwards would defeat Muhammad at UFC 304 this past July. Muhammad went on to win a one-sided decision over Edwards to claim the 170-pound title.

Johnson was hardly apologetic after Muhammad criticized his analysis, comparing his high-level experience to that of seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady to explain why he has more credibility than Muhammad. During Johnson’s reign as UFC flyweight champion, he successfully defended his title 11 consecutive times, a promotional record.

Muhammad has since responded to Johnson’s comments via social media, challenging “Mighty Mouse” to make picks for UFC 306 to see who truly knows what they’re talking about when it comes to breaking down fights.

“I didn’t say you suck at fighting,” Muhammad wrote. “I said you suck at analyzing and picking fights.

“I challenge you to a pick-off for the Sphere card. We pick all the fights and loser makes a public apology.”

UFC 306, which takes place Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas, is scheduled to be a 10-fight card. The lineup is headlined by bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley defending his title against Merab Dvalishvili, with flyweight champion Alexa Grasso meeting Valentina Shevchenko in a trilogy bout in the co-main event.

There appears to be no genuine animosity between Muhammad and Johnson, so the welterweight champion is likely just finding ways to stay busy as he considers his options for his first title defense.

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Rickson Gracie never fought in the UFC, but he maintains one of the most legendary reputations in mixed martial arts with his famous last name.

Now his life story is being adapted into a feature film.

Breathe: A Life in Flow, Gracie’s autobiography released in 2021, has been acquired by a group of filmmakers including Adam Rifkin, Brad Wyman, and Michael P.J. Gerstein’s FutureIII Entertainment. Wyman is the best known producer out of the three filmmakers after previously working on the Oscar winning feature Monster starring Charlize Theron, and the Pamela Anderson comic book adaptation Barb Wire.

Deadline first reported the news on Tuesday.

The son of Brazilian jiu-jitsu co-creator Helio Gracie, Rickson followed in his father’s footsteps as a top-notch grappler who received his black belt when he was only 18 years old.

While his family became synonymous with the launch of UFC, thanks largely to the involvement of his brother Rorion Gracie and half-brother Royce Gracie, Rickson never competed for the promotion but was still widely considered the best fighter of the family.

Gracie famously touted his undefeated record and claimed he won more than 450 fights during his career, although those numbers have been heavily disputed. As far as what’s proven from his brief MMA career, Gracie held a perfect 11-0 record, which included a pair of wins over Nobuhiko Takada in PRIDE Fighting Championships.

Gracie also won a pair of Vale Tudo Japan tournaments — which were similar in format to early UFC events — where he fought three opponents in one night to claim the title.

“It has been a long time coming for a movie based upon my life,” Gracie told Deadline. “But what’s most important to me, beyond everything else, is that anyone who watches it, will gain some sort of positive perspective or understanding in their lives. That’s my ultimate hope and goal for this project.”

The producers behind the project are currently scouting for directors and a writer to adapt Gracie’s book into a feature length film script. Gerstein, who has spent 24 years as part of Gracie’s jiu-jitsu academy, wants to develop a character driven story that “goes beyond the memoir.”

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PFL heavyweight and ex-UFC fighter Blagoy Ivanov won’t be allowed to compete again until 2026 after he was suspended 22 months by USADA for a failed drug test.

USADA officials announced the suspension on Wednesday as a violation of PFL’s anti-doping policy for fighters.

“Ivanov, 37, tested positive for an anabolic agent as the result of an out-of-competition sample collected on March 28, 2024,” USADA official stated. “His urine sample was analyzed using a specialized test that differentiates between anabolic androgenic steroids naturally produced by the body and prohibited anabolic agents of external origin.

“Ivanov received a reduction to the default period of ineligibility for his full and complete cooperation. Ivanov’s 22-month period of ineligibility began on March 28, 2024, the date his positive sample was collected.”

Based on the timeline of his suspension, Ivanov would be eligible to compete again in January 2026.

A 27-fight veteran, Ivanov signed with PFL after the conclusion of his UFC contract in 2023. He made his debut back in April but dropped a decision to Sergei Bilostenniy, which served as his third loss in a row, giving him a 1-5 record in his past six fights overall.

PFL has not addressed if Ivanov will remain on the roster during his suspension.

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Ex-UFC fighter Casey Kenney has been released on $ 10,000 bond after pleading not guilty to a variety of charges related to an alleged domestic violence incident that took place in July.

Kenney was released following an arraignment hearing in Maricopa County Court in Arizona this past Thursday. A representative from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to MMA Fighting that Kenney was released from custody after paying his $ 10,000 bond as ordered by the court.

With Kenney pleading not guilty, his next court date involves a pre-trial conference scheduled on Oct. 15, with a trial date tentatively set for Jan. 23, 2025.

Kenney was arrested in August following allegations of domestic violence and an investigation by police that ended with the veteran fighter being charged. He currently faces numerous charges including kidnapping, which is a class 2 felony, and several misdemeanors as well.

Based on the minutes from his recent hearing, there was no probable cause found for the aggravated assault charge for impeding breathing “as no facts alleged to support that alleged victim’s breathing was ever impaired,” but there was probable cause found on all the other allegations.

A probable cause statement obtained by MMA Fighting revealed the details that led to Kenney’s arrest:

“Between the dates of 7-21-2024 at approximately 11:00 p.m. and 7-22-24 at approximately 12:14 a.m. while at the single family residence located at [address redacted], [suspect] Casey Kenney committed kidnapping, aggravated assault by strangulation and assault against [victim] Jasmine Mendez by repeatedly striking, slapping, biting, headbutting and choking [victim] Jasmine for several hours resulting in abrasions to Jasmine’s lip and discoloration to Jasmine’s arms and petechiae to Jasmine’s neck.

“Furthermore, during the 13 hours at Casey Kenney’s residence, Jasmine was incapable of escaping the residence due to Casey routinely grabbing hold of Jasmine and holding her in place during her attempts while threatening to cause more physical harm. Casey Kenney advised Jasmine Mendez that if anyone shows up he will shoot them and if her mother shows up he will shoot her in the head. Jasmine Mendez stated she desires prosecution in this matter at this time.”

With Kenney awaiting trial, the judge also issued a number of conditions for his continued release, including that he cannot have any contact whatsoever with the alleged victim even if the alleged victim contacts him first. Contact with the alleged victim could lead to a violation of the “no victim contact” order, which could constitute aggravated harassment, a class 6 felony in Arizona.

Kenney was also ordered not to have any contact with the arresting officers in his case, he’s not allowed to possess any drugs without a valid prescription, he cannot possess or consume alcohol, he’s not allowed to possess any weapons including firearms, and he has to submit to fingerprinting and DNA testing or his release may be revoked.

Assuming Kenney follows those terms, he will remain free awaiting his trial scheduled in January.

The veteran bantamweight, who last fought in 2021, was also released from the UFC roster after his initial arrest in August.

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