On Monday, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship announced its upcoming BKFC 67 card, which takes place on Oct. 12 at Marbella Arena in Marbella, Spain, will feature a high-profile amateur encounter between two sizable MMA personalities: Ben Davis and Oscar Willis.
⚔️ Baddest Man In The Game ⚔️
Let’s take the gloves off this time pic.twitter.com/ps005BnJXA
— Ben Davis (@BenTheBaneDavis) August 26, 2024
An rising name in combat sports for his work in the commentary booth for several promotions and as on-air talent for DAZN and Misfits Boxing, “The Bane” has also tried his hand across several fighting disciplines, losing to Brad Boulton in a grappling match in May of 2023, and then losing to Gabriel Silva — Anderson Silva’s son — in a boxing match at Misfits 9 this past September. Most recently, Davis made his Karate Combat debut, winning by unanimous decision.
“This is easily the craziest thing I’ve ever done,” Davis told MMA Fighting. “Odds of me getting slept again are high, but f*ck it, we ball. I’ve done my best to do things different, and I feel I’ve checked nearly every big box. BJJ, boxing, karate, and now bare-knuckle. I believe this all ends with an MMA debut next.
“My ultimate goals are related to my broadcasting career, but while I’m young and able, I feel it’s important to walk it as much as I talk it.”
Davis faces a big challenge in Willis, who is best known as the face of The Mac Life, but also made his MMA debut in 2022, winning a unanimous decision at Tuff-N-Uff: Fight for Our Troops 11. This will also be Willis’s first fight since then and his bare-knuckle debut, but he felt the timing and opponent made sense.
“BKFC felt like the right promotion, Bane felt like the right opponent, and a bull fighting arena in Spain felt like the right venue,” Willis told MMA Fighting. “There’s no beef here, I get on well with him, but all’s fair in love and war — and I’ll bring both for Ben in October.”
BKFC 67 is set to be headlined by a battle for the vacant lightweight title between Franco Tenaglia and Tony Soto.
UFC and Strikeforce veteran Benji Radach has died at the age of 45.
Reports about his passing were first posted by family members on Facebook, including from Radach’s stepmother and brother. Additional sources confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Monday.
The cause of death has not been revealed at this time.
A stalwart of the fight game dating back to his MMA debut in 2001, Radach was always considered a tough out no matter who he faced over the years.
Following a perfect 10-0 start to his career, Radach signed to the UFC in 2002, where he fought three times and amassed a 1-1 record with one no contest. Radach actually scored a knockout in his debut, however the win was overturned after the Louisiana Athletic Commission deemed that he was holding onto the cage prior to the finish.
Radach picked up his first official UFC win with a decision over Matt Serra’s younger brother Nick Serra before suffering a loss to Sean Sherk and departing the promotion.
He eventually landed in the IFL in 2007, where he fought six times in a single calendar year while amassing an impressive 5-1 record, including wins over Brian Foster, Gerald Harris, and Bristol Marunde.
Radach also fought in Elite XC, where he scored a knockout win over Murilo Rua — the older brother of UFC Hall of Famer Mauricio Rua — before eventually competing in Strikeforce against the likes of Ovince Saint Preux and Scott Smith.
His final fight came in 2015 when he suffered a loss to Ben Reiter in Bellator.
Outside of fighting, Radach also famously stopped a robbery back in 2004 when an assailant attempted to hold up the restaurant at gunpoint while he was having breakfast with fellow UFC veteran Dennis Hallman. Radach intervened by tackling the robber, wrestling the gun away from him, and ultimately delivering a punch that fractured his jaw and left him unconscious as they awaited for police to arrive.
That’s the message the 48-year-old athlete passed along when addressing the end of the WWE run he’s been on since 2018. Lashley’s past six years in WWE included several title reigns, but the company recently shifted his online profile to the alumni section of its website, signaling that he was no longer part of the active roster.
While his time with the professional wrestling leader may be over, Lashley revealed in a recent interview that he’s open to any and all possibilities as far as his career is concerned — and that includes a potential return to combat sports.
“I’m doing it all,” Lashley told The Bo and Them Show in Dallas. “I look at it this way — first of all, YOLO, you only live once but I have a lot of gas in the tank. I’m in great shape. I feel good. I’m motivated. I’m rested.
“Wrestling, yes. Boxing, yes, MMA, yes. Acting, yes. Everything, yes. But I have a lot of different things going on right now.”
Of course, Lashley is best known for his pro wrestling career after first rising to prominence in WWE back in 2005. He continued wrestling in various promotions after leaving WWE in 2008 before making the decision to test out MMA.
With an amateur wrestling background that included a trio of NAIA national championships, Lashley wasted no time making an impact in MMA, compiling a perfect 5-0 record to start his career. He then signed with Strikeforce and picked up a win over UFC veteran Wes Sims in his debut, but fell to UFC veteran Chad Griggs in his second bout with the promotion.
Lashley continued fighting MMA over the years, which eventually led to signing with Bellator in 2014, where he amassed another perfect 5-0 record in five appearances.
Lashley ultimately put fighting on hold in 2018 when he got the opportunity to return to WWE, but he sounds ready to strap on the gloves again, although a different sport may get his attention this time around.
“A boxing company called me and offered me a legit matchup,” Lashley revealed. “So we’re in talks with them, so I’ve been training boxing. I love boxing. MMA is a possibility. Just depending on [what offers come].”
Even if he does cross over into boxing or possibly return to MMA, Lashley isn’t giving up on professional wrestling either. He’s now a free agent after leaving WWE, and Lashley is open for business.
“Wrestling, I still want to wrestle,” Lashley said. “I love wrestling and the fans write me everyday, ‘When are you coming back? Where are you going? I don’t care where you go, we want to be there for you.’ So, I love the fans.”
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Khabib Nurmagomedov was one of UFC’s coldest, most calculating fighters whenever he competed, but the buildup to his showdown against Conor McGregor had him ready for blood.
The intense rivalry between the lightweights culminated at UFC 229 in 2018 when Nurmagomedov dominated the fight before submitting McGregor in the fourth round. Even leading up to the event, Nurmagomedov was seething with anger and just waiting for the chance to get his hands on McGregor after months of ugly trash talk that included insults aimed at Nurmagomedov and his family.
It turns out, Nurmagomedov even had a message for UFC CEO Dana White just before the action started.
“It was like we just signed the contract, and it was like I prayed to God, just close the cage and me and him be alone,” Nurmagomedov revealed on the Inspire Me podcast. “This is what I really, really wanted at this time. Because you never know, someone can get injured, something can happen. You never know. I was preparing for this fight and I was waiting for this moment. I was very happy.
“I remember when I come inside the cage, when the cage closed, I remember I looked at Dana [White] and I said, ‘Today, you cannot protect him.’ Dana asked me what? I said, ‘Today, you cannot protect him.’ He didn’t hear me. It’s OK, after the fight [we’ll] talk.”
Nurmagomedov ultimately made his dream come true. He nearly scored a knockout against McGregor on the feet before eventually locking in the fight-ending submission in the fourth round. McGregor famously told Nurmagomedov mid-fight that the lead-up was just business, but Nurmagomedov obviously felt it was much more personal.
In fact, Nurmagomedov barely had time to celebrate before leaping out of the cage to go after McGregor’s coaches and teammates, who also were involved in the trash talk leading up to UFC 229. A brawl erupted in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, with security and police swarming the scene to break up the melee before things ended up spilling into the crowd.
This is the angle everyone needs to see #UFC229
31s Khabib jumps over cage 37s Conor tries to jump over cage, but 2 security grab him 38s Khabib corner guy runs around cage 39s Khabib corner guy jumps cage (w/ wig) 41s Conor punches him on top of cage 42s Khabib guy punches back pic.twitter.com/mWRfZhcjcg
— Tim (@TimDdnb) October 7, 2018
Looking back now, Nurmagomedov says he just had some unfinished business he had to settle when choking out McGregor just didn’t seem like enough.
“It was a very emotional time, but at the same time, it was my feeling — I really wanted to bite someone’s heart,” Nurmagomedov said. “Do you have that feeling in your life? I just tried to bite his heart.
“Maybe you can feel this. I am ‘The Eagle,’ and when the eagle is hungry, it’s not good. He has to hunt. That’s why.”
The post-fight brawl obviously didn’t make White very happy, but Nurmagomedov felt like UFC had to know the volatile situation was just a powder keg waiting to explode.
UFC used every incident between Nurmagomedov and McGregor to build up the fight, so the undefeated Russian was just following through on the promises he made when it came to his disdain towards the former two-division champion.
“When the promotion promotes this fight, they have to expect something,” Nurmagomedov said. “When they know me, when they know all my team, when they know we don’t play. We compete, we don’t play. You cannot play MMA. You can play soccer. You can play American football, you can play hockey. But you cannot play MMA. You have to fight. This is a fighting game.
“A lot of people said it was a very strange or weird or something like this, but it was my decision.”
Following that fight against McGregor, Nurmagomedov ultimately fought just twice more before calling it a career in 2020 after promising his mother that he would hang up his gloves for good.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped McGregor from constantly jabbing at Nurmagomedov through interviews or social media as he continuously tries to goad his former opponent into a comeback.
The unfortunate news for McGregor is that his trash talk is apparently falling on deaf ears now, because Nurmagomedov doesn’t pay attention to any of it.
“I feel like what happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” Nurmagomedov joked when addressing his rivalry with McGregor. “I just don’t think about this.
“It was so many moments in my life happened for a reason. It was not my plan. This happened, it happened. I just don’t think about this. A lot of people remind me about this situation, but my mind is different in other ways.”
Magomed Ankalaev | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Magomed Ankalaev faces Aleksandar Rakic just three weeks after Alex Pereira defends his UFC light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree at UFC 307, and he isn’t happy to see Pereira claim he turned down a shot at gold.
Pereira recently posted a video on his YouTube channel claiming that he expected to face Ankalaev next, but the Russian “didn’t want to fight me.” It didn’t take long for Ankalaev to take to social media to refute the claims and say he was never offered the opportunity.
“@AlexPereiraUFC you are a liar. You said I turned fire down against you @DanaWhite, @MickMaynard2 never offer me a fight against you. I’m gonna make you eat your word after I handle my business.”
@AlexPereiraUFC you are a liar. You said I turned fire down against you. @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 never offer me a fight against you. I’m gonna make you eat your word after I handle my business.
— Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) August 26, 2024
Pereira vs. Rountree headlines UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, while Ankalaev draws Rakic on Oct. 26 at UFC 208 in Abu Dhabi.
In his video, Pereira claimed he “always wanted to fight against Ankalaev” after defending his 205-pound belt with a knockout over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 300, however the one-time title challenger “has made things difficult.”
“I don’t know the reason, if it was the location, if he didn’t want to fight,” Pereira said of Ankalaev. “He isn’t the champion, he can’t pick anything. It’s the opportunity that shows up and he didn’t want it. He has his reasoning, I don’t know what it is. But I came here to tell you I’m not scared of anyone. Everyone knows my history and everything I’ve done, not only in MMA, but in kickboxing as well. It’s obvious that I want to fight this guy.”
Caio Borralho made a statement on Saturday night when he defeated Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Vegas 96, and did so without using his high-level grappling chops. After the win, Borralho called out middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.
Did he waste the callout, potentially taking another big fight off the table?
On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses what could be next for the surging middleweight contender after winning his first UFC main event. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Tabatha Ricci after defeating Angela Hill in the co-main event, TUF 32 winners Ryan Loder and Mairon Santos following their stoppage victories, Michael Morales after his impressive first-round finish of Neil Magny, Gerald Meerschaert following his record-breaking win against Edmen Shahbazyan, and more.
Audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
Joaquin Buckley returns at UFC 307 against Stephen Thompson, but his most interesting interaction that week may actually happen when he runs into Daniel Cormier.
Back in May, Buckley scored a unanimous decision win over Nursulton Ruziboev in front of a hometown crowd in St. Louis. Afterward, he decided to use his post-fight interview to call out UFC superstar Conor McGregor rather than anybody ahead of him in the welterweight rankings. Cormier was one of many within the MMA community to skewer the decision as a waste Buckley’s microphone time, especially with UFC CEO Dana White emphatically shutting down the request just minutes later at the post-fight press conference.
That led to Buckley firing a shot at Cormier and other commentators for criticizing him, proclaiming, “Ya mommas raised some hoes.” Cormier then unleashed an expletive filled tirade aimed at Buckley for daring to mention his mother, who died in 2022.
Months have passed since the altercation, but Buckley finally has a chance to see Cormier in person when he fights in Salt Lake City, as the Hall of Famer and former two-division UFC champion is expected to serve as part of the broadcast team for UFC 307.
“I’ve been praying to the MMA gods that I run into DC,” Buckley told MMA Fighting. “I’m the type [of] person, I’m a fan of Daniel Cormier and all the things that he’s done in his MMA career. If you’re talking about from Strikeforce to coming into the UFC and dominating and end up winning two straps in the UFC, because of how difficult that is and holding them simultaneously at one time, I’ve got to respect it.
“But at the end of the day, it’s like as fighters, I believe that for me, the things that I’m trying to do, I feel like DC could have helped me with trying to go where I’m trying to go instead of trying to diminish me or break me down.”
Buckley says his biggest issue with Cormier came down to the decision to criticize his callout rather than praise what Buckley did well in the fight, which counted as his fourth win in a row since moving to the welterweight division.
Because Cormier has such a massive audience as one of the primary voices for major UFC broadcasts, he commands a lot of attention whenever he says anything. That’s why Buckley was initially upset at Cormier in the aftermath of his win.
“Somebody like him has such a massive voice and a massive platform, any negative thing that he puts out there on me, there’s a lot of fans that are going to have backlash on me and not kind of see my point of view,” Buckley said. “Because he knew where I was coming from, but regardless, he went to a different direction and took it. That was his choice.”
During fight week, the athletes competing on a card typically sit down for a meeting with the broadcast team to discuss training, preparation, and the upcoming battle ahead.
Those encounters have led to some interesting discussions in the past, but Buckley isn’t looking to start trouble with Cormier just because they exchanged words over social media.
That said, the 30-year-old contender welcomes the chance to get in some time with Cormier on the mats, but not in some confrontational way as if he’s going to start throwing punches as soon as they lock eyes with each other.
“Now at the end of the day, we’re all fighters though, right?” Buckley said. “I will be blessed to get that work with DC because if I can’t really talk it out with you, then we can work it out. Does that make sense? I feel like me and DC, I would love to see DC, but it’s not on some personal [level] like, ‘As soon as I see DC, I’m fitting to swing on him.’ No, because I ain’t about that.
“If DC wants to make it like that, which I highly doubt, but at the end of the day, we can always get this work in as martial artists and hash it out.”
With his full focus on “Wonderboy” and the chance to take another step forward in his pursuit of UFC gold, Buckley isn’t stressing much about a potential encounter with Cormier, but he does hope they get a chance to talk.
Buckley maintains he’s not holding a grudge or just waiting for the chance to unload on Cormier when they run into each other in Utah. Instead, Buckley would love to turn a negative past with Cormier into a positive future.
“Ain’t no beef on my end,” Buckley said. “I like to [break] balls, too. My thing is, just like at the end of the day, we’re all just having fun, we’re all just talking stuff. But we can really figure this stuff out if there’s an issue or a misunderstanding.”
Caio Borralho may have called out Dricus du Plessis following his UFC Vegas 96 win, but he expects the UFC middleweight title to change hands before he gets his shot at the belt.
“I got [Sean] Strickland winning this fight, maybe, because I think Strickland won the last one, but maybe he left a little bit inside the octagon that he could do a little bit more,” Borralho said Saturday at UFC Vegas 96’s post-fight press conference. “But MMA is crazy. I always bet against Dricus and he always wins, so I’m not betting on the next one.
“Let those guys kill themselves and I’m the next one [to challenge for the title].”
Du Plessis and Strickland are expected to meet in a rematch for the UFC middleweight title next following du Plessis’ successful title defense over Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. Du Plessis and Strickland previously met in January at UFC 293, where du Plessis stole away Strickland’s belt with a razor-thin split decision win.
Borralho, 31, has great interest in the outcome of that rematch following his victory over Jared Cannonier on Saturday night.
Borralho pushed his undefeated UFC record to 7-0 at UFC Vegas 96 by putting together the finest performance of his octagon career in his first UFC main event. Despite being known largely as a grappler, Borralho outstruck Cannonier in an all-standup affair and even nearly knocked out the one-time title challenger with a thunderous salvo of punches in the fifth round. The judges ultimately scored the bout unanimously in his favor (49-45, 49-45, 48-46), and Borralho left the UFC APEX proud of the statement he made to the division.
“I wasn’t there to grapple. I was there to bring fire and be comfortable in the danger, because Jared’s a very dangerous opponent,” Borralho said.
“My jab was was on point, my calf kicks were on point, and I just did the job. I almost got the finish. I think the ref should have finished it, should have stopped the fight [in the fifth round] because Jared was [hurt] very bad, but it is what it is. I’m very thankful to be there [for] 25 minutes with one of the best in the world — and tell me one guy that did that to Jared. Tell me. There’s no one that did that to Jared the way I did it.”
An integral member of Brazil’s fast-rising Fighting Nerds team, Borralho overcame a nasty cut below his right eye at UFC Vegas 96 to gut out a win in the final rounds. He said post-fight that he one day hopes to be compared to MMA legends like Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones by being considered “one of the most intelligent guys that ever stepped into the octagon.” After gradually working his way up the UFC ladder since debuting with back-to-back appearances on the promotion’s Contender Series in 2021, Borralho believes he’s finally on the doorstep of proving that he and his team belong alongside MMA’s elite.
“I think [this win] takes me to one of the best in the world,” Borralho said. “Like, I’m top five right now. At least, I deserve a top-five spot on Tuesday. And I think I proved myself as one of the best in the division — that I can strike. That I cannot only grapple, I can strike. I have the grappling, I have the wrestling, I have the durability, I have the chin, I have the power.
“I think I showed everyone that tonight, and it’s just going to take me to my belt. The mantra of this training camp was to show the new champ arrived, and I think I showed that a little bit. If I’m not the next one [to fight for the title], at least when there’s a conversation about who’s the next one, my name is going to be around there. I know that.”
That being said, Borralho also made it clear that he’s not interested in slowing down. After racking up seven wins over his first 28 months under UFC contract, Borralho is more than happy to continue adding to his résumé while du Plessis and Strickland handle business.
“I want a title shot, that’s for sure, but I’m a company man,” Borralho said.
“Whoever Hunter [Campbell] and Dana [White] send me to fight, if they’re people above me or something like that, like the fight that I deserve, the fight that’s going to put me even more close to the belt, I’m going to take it, because I’m the company man.”
Wang Cong broke a record in her octagon debut at UFC Vegas 96 and now she’s getting a much deserved bonus for her efforts.
The Road to the UFC veteran made quite a splash in her first UFC fight after she demolished Victoria Leonardo with a brutal knockout just 62 seconds into the opening round. The rapid-fire knockout helped Wang earn the fastest finish for any debuting flyweight in UFC history and the second fastest knockout in the entire history of the UFC women’s flyweight division.
That’s why she was a little disappointed to learn that her stunning finish didn’t come along with a $ 50,000 bonus at the end of the night.
“Wake up and find out there is no [Performance of the Night],” Wang wrote on Instagram. “Next fight you will see more spectacular finish UFC. Don’t play with Joker again!”
While he wasn’t in attendance at the event at the UFC APEX on Saturday, White definitely caught up to watch the fights and he responded to Wang by informing her that she would get the $ 50,000 bonus she definitely deserved.
“I was out of town and watched the fight at Mystique Boston on TV,” White wrote to Wang. “You looked AMAZING. I’m adding another [Performance of the Night] bonus for you. Congrats you get $ 50K”
This isn’t the first time that White has decided to hand out a bonus when he wasn’t in the building to determine who gets the extra cash at the end of the night. Thankfully for Wang, the UFC CEO saw her handiwork and determined she definitely should have left with an extra $ 50,000 in her pocket.
The win moved Wang to 6-0 in her MMA career and she also boasts an impressive resume in kickboxing, which includes a 2015 win over former UFC champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Diego Lopes expects Brian Ortega to make it to the octagon with no hiccups on Sept. 14 at UFC 306 despite all the drama that unfolded hours prior to their scheduled June bout.
Lopes and Ortega agreed to face each other in a featherweight showdown on short notice at UFC 303 after the card suffered major hits, most notably the cancellation of Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, but the bout was then moved to 155 pounds hours before official weigh-ins after Ortega had issues cutting weight.
In an unprecedented move, Dan Ige ultimately replaced Ortega just hours before the fight, facing Lopes in a 165-pound catchweight after Ortega fell ill. Lopes defeated Ige via decision for his fourth straight UFC win, and asked the promotion to retry the Ortega fight.
Both fighters have now agreed to meet in a featherweight contest next month at the Sphere, and the Brazilian is confident that Ortega will make weight and stay healthy.
“I have no fear,” Lopes told MMA Fighting. “He’s always had a hard time to make 145, but he always makes weight. It didn’t work out last time, unfortunately, but I understand it. We had two weeks [notice], he weighed over 176 pounds. We knew something like that could happen so we even offered to fight at 155, but the UFC said no. But I have no fear [about Ortega missing weight now]. I’m cool, I’m focused on my work and focused on evolving every single day, to go there and do a good job.”
Lopes said he was “caught by surprise” with the offer to fight Ige on just hours’ notice and that it felt like “going to the gym on sparring day and randomly sparring someone.”
It was an experience that taught him important lessons.
“I proved something to myself, that I’m ready for any situation in a fight,” Lopes said. “They changed the weight, changed the opponent on late notice, and that showed I have a strong mind to be prepared for any adversity.”
Lopes and Ortega will have full camps to prepare for each other this time around, and the Mexico-based athlete sees similarities between them in the boxing and grappling departments.
“The idea is always the same — walk forward and go for the finish as fast as possible,” Lopes said. “I know that doing a good work in the Ortega fight and beating him emphatically could elevate me in the rankings and my name will be strong to fight for the belt in the future.
“I don’t know if I’ll go straight for the belt [with a win at UFC 306], but my name will definitely be on the table if something happens. If the UFC has any last-minute changes, my name will be on the table, just like it was when they had to replace the co-main event at UFC 303. We can say a chance [for the belt] won’t be that far.”
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