The Inoue vs. Doheny fight card features a five-fight event headlined by pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue defending his IBF, WBC, and WBO super bantamweight titles against former champ TJ Doheny in a 12-round boxing match at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) is widely considered one of the top talents in all of boxing. The 31-year-old Japanese fighter most recently defended his belts with a sixth-round knockout of Luis Nery this past May. A four-division champion, Inoue is the first boxer in modern history to become the undisputed super bantamweight champion and one of only three male boxers in the four-belt era to become undisputed champ in two different weight classes.
Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs) is a former IBF super bantamweight champion hailing from Ireland. The 37-year-old has struggled to find consistency since dropping his title in 2019, stringing together a 5-4 record over nine bouts, but turned his fortunes around to win three straight fights over Kazuki Nakajima, Japhethlee Llamido, and Bryl Bayogos over the past 15 months.
Inoue vs. Doheny takes place Tuesday, September 3, and airs live on ESPN+.
Catch live Inoue vs. Doheny results and a main event live blog on MMA Fighting.
An updated Inoue vs. Doheny fight card and weigh-in results can be found below.
Fight Card (5:45 a.m. ET, ESPN+)
Naoya Inoue (122) vs. TJ Doheny (121.5) — 12 rounds, IBF/WBC/WBO super bantamweight title
Yoshiki Takei (117.75) vs. Daigo Higa (117.75) — 12 rounds, WBO bantamweight title
Jin Sasaki (146.25) vs. Qamil Balla (147) — 12 rounds, welterweight
Ismael Barroso (139.75) vs. Andy Hiraoka (139.75) — 12 rounds, junior welterweight
Belal Muhammad may have been the underdog heading into his title fight against Leon Edwards at UFC 304, but he quickly proved his championship mettle.
After waiting more than a year to fight for UFC gold, Muhammad made the most of his opportunity with a stunning performance to dethrone Edwards and claim the welterweight title. As much as it seemed like the odds were stacked against Muhammad heading into the fight, one of his former foes had a lot of faith that he would become champion.
Gilbert Burns, the last person to face Muhammad prior to his title fight, wasn’t surprised by the result. He says he predicted the UFC 304 upset well before it happened.
“I kind of saw that coming,” Burns told MMA Fighting. “Especially [because] Leon is a great fighter, but whenever he was saying, ‘I’m going to knock this guy out’ — bro, it’s hard to knock Belal out. The guy has a chin. Leon Edwards in the last, I don’t know, 10 fights, he has maybe one knockout against Kamaru [Usman]. Other than that, he doesn’t knock people out.
“On technique, striking-wise, Leon Edwards is very, very good, but putting everything together with the pace, with the volume, staying in your face with takedowns, dirty boxing, especially doing the camp with Islam [Makhachev] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov], I kind of felt that was the path for Belal to win — and he did exactly what he had to.”
At the end of the day, Burns was one of only a few who foresaw Muhammad’s impressive performance. He expected Edwards to put up a better fight than he did that night in Manchester, England, but ultimately Muhammad left no doubt about his mettle, largely dominating the fight both on the feet and with his grappling across five rounds to become UFC champion.
“I wasn’t impressed — I knew what he was doing,” Burns said. “He had a long layoff preparing for this fight and I think he was feeding off the [fact that] UFC made him wait, Leon made him wait. He was fed up from that. He was very hungry. He worked super hard. You saw he was in amazing shape.
“I just thought Leon would do a little bit better job defending, but I still [expected to see] Belal overwhelming him with work. Belal looked very good in becoming champion. People cannot deny him anymore.”
Immediately after his win, Muhammad started looking toward the future, laying out plans to defend his title against the biggest and best challenges UFC can throw at him.
Despite living in the “money fight” era where picking popular opponents sometimes trumps more worthy contenders, Muhammad made it clear that he wants to be a fighting champion who takes out the top contenders in his welterweight division.
That list potentially starts with undefeated wrecking machine Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Burns appreciates that Muhammad recognized that right away.
“He’s a good champion,” Burns said. “I think he’s doing a good thing facing Shavkat [Rakhmonov], the toughest competition out there, whoever is the No. 1 [ranked contender]. I like what he’s doing.”
Because UFC has already mapped out the rest of the schedule for 2024, there’s a good chance Muhammad won’t fight again this year. All of the remaining major pay-per-view cards are effectively booked aside from an official confirmation regarding Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November, and then the year-end card at UFC 310 on Dec. 7.
If Muhammad doesn’t defend his title in 2024, Burns likes the idea of a true No. 1 contender emerging with Rakhmonov potentially facing another top-ranked welterweight.
“In the whole division, I think [Rakhmonov is] the guy that deserves it the most, but I know he was going to fight Jack Della Maddalena,” Burns said. “That was a good fight, but Jack still has an injury on his arm, he had a couple operations making the arm good. But if Belal is not ready this year, I think Shavkat should do one more this year, maybe [against] Jack or maybe Ian Garry. I think those are the guys at the top. Kamaru is there but it’s three losses [in a row], he kind of doesn’t necessarily deserve it right now. Colby [Covington is there, too], but he’s not doing anything. Leon, I don’t think he deserves a rematch right now.
“Shavkat against Jack or Ian Garry would make a lot of sense to be next. Shavkat could be next if Belal is ready to go in Abu Dhabi or in Salt Lake City, but if he has to postpone due to these injuries, Shavkat might do one more to get it so we have a clear No. 1 contender.”
Shavkat Rakhmonov understands that Conor McGregor returning is big box office, but he still feels he’s the no-brainer option to get the next UFC welterweight title shot — even if the former two-division champion delivers in his comeback fight.
Rakhmonov appears to be the likely No. 1 contender for the 170-pound championship, which is currently around the waist of Belal Muhammad following the now-champ’s win over Leon Edwards at UFC 304. “Nomad” told MMA Fighting that he was offered a title shot against Muhammad at UFC 307 in October, and agreed to it, but claims Muhammad declined due to the timing of the fight.
Should McGregor return to fight Michael Chandler—which was initially scheduled as a welterweight bout to take place at UFC 303 in June—before Rakhmonov puts pen to paper on a contract to fight Muhammad, McGregor’s star power could potentially make things murky, as history suggests. Regardless, Rakhmonov believes the UFC will stick to their word.
“To be honest, I don’t even think about when’s Conor going to fight, [and] when he’s going to be ready,” Rakhmonov told MMA Fighting. “I don’t think about all that. He’s been getting ready to fight for a long time but wasn’t able to do that yet. So, in my head, I don’t really think about him [maybe] winning this one fight in three years. [Is that] going to do something?
“I understand he’s a big star but in my head, I don’t see it being possible, I believe UFC is the best and the most fair organization, so I believe they’re going to do everything right.”
The 29-year-old Rakhmonov has finishes all 18 of his opponents, including the six fighters he’s faced in the UFC. In his most recent outing, the No. 3-ranked welterweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings became the first fighter to submit Stephen Thompson at UFC 292 this past December.
While Rakhmonov doesn’t think McGregor has a case to jump the line over him should timing work out in the Irish superstar’s favor, he admits that a fight with McGregor would certainly interest him should it be offered — although, it’s not something he’s chasing.
“So yeah, who don’t wanna fight Conor right now?” Rakhmonov said. “But to be honest, I don’t even think about it for me. The most important thing is to win the belt, and that’s my focus.”
Caio Borralho (right) tries to finish Jared Cannonier (left) | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Caio Borralho scored the biggest win of his MMA career in the main event of UFC Vegas 96, coming close to a knockout over one-time title contender Jared Cannonier and then called for a shot at UFC middleweight king Dricus du Plessis.
Borralho realizes it’s highly unlikely that he’s next in line for the belt with Sean Strickland as the probable contender to rematch du Plessis in the near future, but feels that his callout served its purpose despite not guaranteeing him an opportunity.
“This is the third time I call him out,” Borralho said. “Last time I called him out he went on Twitter and said something like, ‘Win two more and we’ll talk.’ I think this is my third or fourth win since then. He has already beaten Strickland, [Israel] Adesanya and [Robert] Whittaker, and the other guys ranked ahead of me have fights booked now.
“I knew maybe I wouldn’t go straight for Dricus, but it would make more noise. And I’m sure that if Strickland gets hurt, my name will be in the conversation for a short notice after this callout. He has already beaten the others. If [Robert] Whittaker beats [Khamzat] Chimaev, [the UFC] will probably call me instead of him.”
Borralho has won seven in a row since joining the UFC, adding to his two victories on Dana White’s Contender Series, and said UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell told him after UFC Vegas 96 that he “probably needs one more fight” before earning a shot at gold.
“[Campbell] was super happy [with my performance],” Borralho said. “He said, ‘In the top 5 of this sport, you can’t be a guy that quits, that throws caution to the wind and fights reckless, and you showed that today. You showed quality and heart, and we’ll see what we have for you. I don’t know if it’s going to be Dricus, but I’ll find a fun fight for you, and then you’ll go for the belt.’ I’m anxious to see which fun fight is that.”
“I hope it’s Adesanya — respectfully, I’m planting that seed little by little,” he continued. “There’s also Jiri Prochazka cutting down [to middleweight], but I don’t know if it interests me as much as a fight with Adesanya, for example. For now all I want is to rest and take some time off. I fought three months ago and again now, so my body needs a quick break, but I’m anxious to see what the UFC has in mind.”
Adesanya came up short in his attempt to regain the UFC middleweight title for the third time earlier this month, losing via submission to du Plessis at UFC 305 and dropping to 1-3 in his past four appearances. “The Last Stylebender” was 11-0 as a middleweight prior to this stretch, with his only recent loss coming in a 205-pound title match against Jan Blachowicz.
“I know it’s a good fight style-wise for me,” Borralho said. “Like it or not, I have wrestling and jiu-jitsu, and we know Adesanya’s weaknesses. He was dominant champion for so long and has a huge fanbase, he’s gigantic in the sport, one of the biggest stars in the UFC, so imagine fighting this guy. And I’m truly confident that I can win. I can take him to deep waters, especially now that he’s not performing the way he used to when he was in his prime. I think this fight makes total sense, and I’d be very confident going into it.”
Borralho has extra confidence after stopping Paul Craig with punches in May and following it up with a decision nod over Cannonier, and feels he would have gotten the knockout at UFC APEX if he had just stopped hitting Cannonier at the right time.
“The knockout was meant to come, but I think [the referee] didn’t want to risk it after his last fight was stopped too early,” Borralho said, referring to Cannonier’s controversial TKO defeat to Nassourdine Imavov. “If I had raised my hands after the knockdown and walked away, I think he would have stopped it. Truth is, I woke him up. I put him to sleep and then woke him up by hitting him [laughs]. But it was an incredible performance. Everybody saw the knockout and saw that I have cardio for five rounds. Even my biggest haters on Earth saw I have cardio and knockout power for five rounds.”
On Saturday, the promotion headed to Edmonton for a BKFC Prospect Series event at River Cree Resort & Casino. In a light heavyweight contest, Kayden Giroux earned a 10-second TKO victory over opponent Trevor Bozniak — but that’s not the big story.
Giroux dropped Bozniak with a right hand, but when Bozniak hit the mat, his right ankle looked like it shattered — his foot turned in a different direction. The fight was obviously stopped, but Bozniak somehow snapped it back into place, even began walking on it.
Check out the crazy ending to the fight in the video below.
How did he just snap his foot back like nothing happened #BKFCEDMONTON | STREAMING FREE on BKFC App NOW! pic.twitter.com/szyFJXeDmB
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) September 1, 2024
Despite Bozniak becoming a self miracle healer, the fight remained over, giving the Canadian Giroux his first BKFC victory. Giroux competed in a modified rules boxing match in May, earning a third-round stoppage.
Bozniak, also a Canadian fighter, was making his BKFC debut in the contest. Luckily for him, the injury wasn’t as bad as it initially looked.
The ONE Championship star and former UFC flyweight champion recently competed as a black belt at the 2024 IBJJF World Masters Jiu Jitsu Championship in Las Vegas, and he shared footage of his grappling exploits on his YouTube channel.
In his third match of the day, “Mighty Mouse” scored a decision win over Takuto Kako. Afterward, he went went out of his way to console his sullen opponent.
Watch a clip of that interaction below.
Demetrious Johnson consoles his opponent after beating him in a Jiu Jitsu tournament:
“There’s next year man. This is for fun, your life’s not gonna change. You’re gonna go home, keep on training, have a beautiful wife, kids, go back to work. This is for fun, there’s more to… pic.twitter.com/xe2EemMjSh
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 30, 2024
“It’s still good,” Johnson said. “There’s next year. This is for fun. Your life’s not going to change. You’re going to go home, keep on training, have a beautiful wife, kids, go back to work. This is for fun. There’s more to life than winning, I promise.”
Johnson knows a thing or two about the highs and lows of combat sports. During his six-year reign as UFC flyweight champion, he defended his title 11 consecutive times before dropping it in a rematch with Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, and then went on to star for ONE Championship.
In his first bid at winning ONE’s flyweight title, he was knocked out by Adriano Moraes — who also competed at the IBJJF World Masters Jiu Jitsu Championship — but rebounded with back-to-back victories over his Brazilian rival.
As for how his grappling tournament ended, Johnson made it to the quarterfinals before being submitted by Tomoya Yanagisawa.
Watch Johnson’s video chronicle of his jiu-jitsu competition experience below.
Shavkat Rakhmonov | Photo by Brooke Sutton/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Shavkat Rakhmonov and Belal Muhammad continue their war of words.
At UFC 304, Muhammad claimed the UFC welterweight title with a five-round domination of rival Leon Edwards. Following his win, many assumed Rakhmonov would be first in line to face the newly crowned champion, and Rakhmonov recently revealed he was in fact offered a title shot in October that Muhammad declined, with Rakhmonov then suggesting Muhammad wasn’t living up to his declaration that he’d be an active champion.
In response, on Saturday, Muhammad fired back at Rakhmonov, saying that the undefeated Kazakh fighter has not fought in 2024 and so should have to fight former champion Kamaru Usman in a No. 1 contender matchup. And as you can imagine, Rakmonov doesn’t think much of that idea.
On Sunday, Rakhmonov responded to Muhammad, pointing out that “Remember the Name” seems to have forgotten that he himself earned a crack at the belt despite a 14-month layoff.
Do you have a case of selective memory, or did you just forget that you didn’t fight for 14 months before challenging for the belt? https://t.co/BKLdRzZvhy
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) September 1, 2024
“Do you have a case of selective memory, or did you just forget that you didn’t fight for 14 months before challenging for the belt?”
Ultimately, it seems like these two will eventually settle their differences inside the cage, as Muhammad himself recently joked that the UFC only seems interested in that matchup next. Nonetheless, the welterweight champion isn’t going to let Rakhmonov have the last laugh in this, and so promptly fired back by suggesting he’s not even been engaging with the real Rakhmonov.
Selective memory ? Who’s tweeting for you bro there’s no translation for that in Kazakh https://t.co/cdgcXvNDYk pic.twitter.com/aKJOTnI4jq
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) September 1, 2024
“Selective memory ? Who’s tweeting for you bro there’s no translation for that in Kazakh.”
If these two are going to end up fighting each other though, it may not be this year. With the UFC schedule nearly complete for the rest of 2024, the only remaining opportunities for the matchup would be at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 in Madison Square Garden in New York City, or UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. UFC 309 is widely believed to be headlined by the long-awaited matchup between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, while UFC 310 still lacks a main event.
Jessica Andrade fought Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the UFC title in 2017. | Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Jessica Andrade looks to stop Natalia Silva’s rise in the flyweight division when they meet in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 97 on Sept. 7, and she wants gold next.
The former UFC strawweight champion told MMA Fighting that she plans to call for a shot at a belt if victorious next week in Las Vegas regardless of weight class, and made her case for the creation of a women’s BMF title.
“I’ve been talking to Joanna [Jedrzejczyk] and she said she’d come back. If it’s for this [BMF] belt, she would come back,” Andrade said. “I think that would be a good fight. Joanna, or maybe Angela Hill, who never walks away from a fight and is always there fighting everyone. Or Valentina [Shevchenko]. Any of those girls would be great, but I think it would be special if it’s Joanna. It would be better.”
No female UFC athlete has more wins (17) and finishes (9) in the octagon than Andrade. Her long list of victims includes Rose Namajunas, Mackenzie Dern, Amanda Lemos, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
Andrade fought Jedrzejczyk in her first shot at the strawweight title in 2017, losing via decision, but came back to win the belt two years later by stopping Namajunas. Andrade also challenged Shevchenko for the 125-pound title in 2021, losing via second-round knockout.
Jedrzejczyk’s win over Andrade was her final title defense before losing back-to-back fights against Namajunas. The Polish star then returned to the win column with a 2018 decision over Tecia Pennington, and moved up in weight to challenge Shevchenko for the vacant flyweight title but lost by unanimous decision.
Jedrzejczyk’s final shot at UFC gold came in 2020, when she dropped a legendary split decision to 115-pound champion Zhang Weili in one of the greatest fights in MMA history. Jedrzejczyk retired from MMA in 2022 following a knockout loss to Zhang in the rematch.
“[Jedrzejczyk] said she would fight at 125, not at 115, and that would be even better for me because I feel great in this division as well,” Andrade said. “I wouldn’t be too affected by the weight loss or any of that. I think we would put on a show and do an incredible fight, and I would get that one back.”
Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Michael Chandler thinks there could finally be light at the end of the tunnel.
For nearly two years, Chandler has chased a fight with former two-division champion Conor McGregor, with nothing yet to show for it. The two were scheduled to fight at UFC 303 back in June, but McGregor ultimately withdrew due to a toe injury and the bout has yet to be rebooked.
But that could be changing soon as on Sunday, Chandler teased via his Instagram that a fight is in the works.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Michael Chandler (@mikechandlermma)
“Wheels in motion to bite down on that mouthpiece again… Bet on yourself, always.
“Walk On.
“See you at the top!”
Though Chandler doesn’t name McGregor outright, it’s likely any fight booking for the former Bellator lightweight champion will be against “Notorious.” Chandler has not shown any recent indication that he’s ready to move on to another opponent and both UFC CEO Dana White and Conor McGregor recently teased upcoming fight news for the the Irish superstar. That being said, it’s unclear if the fight will take place this year as White previously shot down the idea of McGregor competing in 2024.
McGregor has not competed in over three years. He last set foot in the octagon at UFC 264, where he suffered a catastrophic leg injury in his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier. Chandler’s most recent opponent was also Poirier, losing via submission at UFC 281.
Slaughter to Prevail frontman Alex Terrible — real name Aleksandr Shikolai — is putting down his microphone and preparing to throw hands after signing to fight with BKFC.
The Russian-born deathcore singer is expected to debut with the bare-knuckle fighting promotion before the end of the year, with plans to turn his attention to training after his band wraps up its current tour in September. He announced the news via Full Send MMA, with BKFC officials confirming the news to MMA Fighting.
“I’m just a musician, I’m not a fighter, I’m not a sportsman, or some shit,” Terrible said. “I’m just a regular dude who grew up in the streets. You call it in the hood. In Russia, if you grow up in a village, it is the hood. Then I found a boxing gym, I found myself in this f*cking boxing, a new passion.”
While nothing is set in stone just yet, Terrible is currently expected to make his BKFC debut in December.
The 30-year-old singer, who first rose to prominence making cover songs on YouTube, mentioned a social influencer turned fighter as a potential first opponent, but no deal has been struck just yet to make it official.
“We don’t know the opponent yet. I heard about one name, Bryce Hall,” Terrible said. “I really don’t care who it’s going to be.
“I just want to fight and I have nothing to lose because I’m a musician. If they put me against a fighter and if I knock him out, good. If he knocks me out, I don’t f*cking care. I just want to put on a good fight and show what I have in my heart. That’s it.”
His band Slaughter to Prevail is one of the fastest rising heavy metal outfits in the industry right now, with more than 1.1 million average listeners per month on Spotify.
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