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UFC mega star Conor McGregor is supposed to be promoting the new season of TUF, which premieres tonight (May 30) on ESPN. Instead, the former UFC lightweight champion is at war with his fellow combatants on Twitter.

Yet again.

“This guy woke up, did a bump, and started tweeting,” welterweight veteran Matt Brown wrote.

McGregor and Brown have been at odds on social media over the past few days, which started with an argument over the promotion’s official record for most knockouts. “The Immortal” is within striking distance after laying waste to Court McGee at UFC Charlotte.

In a follow-up interview, Brown dismissed the idea of McGregor having any legitimate shot at setting the all-time mark and referred to the power-punching Irishman as a coked-up bum. Not surprisingly, that didn’t sit well with “Notorious,” who took aim at Brown’s past drug use in a now-deleted tweet.

“Matt Brown, heroin addict,” McGregor wrote, before continuing his assault.

“Former user vs. current coke addict,” Brown replied. “Let’s go!”

ESPN inadvertently got Alexander Volkanovski involved in the conversation by tweeting a fantasy matchup between “The Great” — who is the current featherweight champion and No. 2-ranked fighter at pound-for-pound — and McGregor, who previously held titles at both 145 and 155 pounds.

“The UFC P4P Number 1 (ye right) needs weighing scales and specific divisions to compete against me,” McGregor tweeted. “So who’s really who and what’s what? The BMF title, the baddest jackasses in the sauna title. Little bums. Little one division, never champion bums! Nothin bad about ya’s!”

McGregor is referring to the BMF headliner between lightweight rivals Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, booked for UFC 291 on July 29 in Salt Lake City. Poirier is 2-1 against “Notorious” but Gaethje — despite his best efforts — has yet to fight the former champion.

McGregor, who turns 35 in just a few weeks, has not competed since breaking his leg against Poirier at UFC 264. He’s expected to make his Octagon return against Chandler at some point later this year, but his USADA procrastination continues to delay their pay-per-view (PPV) grudge match.

For much more on McGregor’s coaching gig on TUF 31 click here.

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Event: UFC Vegas 74: “Kara-France vs. Albazi”
Date: Sat., June 3, 2023
Location: UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcast: ESPN/ESPN+
Start Time: 6 p.m. ET Prelims | 9 p.m. ET Main Card

UFC Vegas 74 Main Event On ESPN/ESPN+:

125 lbs.: Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi

UFC Vegas 74 Main Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (9 p.m. ET):

145 lbs.: Alex Caceres vs. Daniel Pineda
155 lbs.: Jared Gordon vs. Jim Miller
125 lbs.: Tim Elliott vs. Victor Altamirano
125 lbs.: Karine Silva vs. Ketlen Souza
155 lbs.: Jamie Mullarkey vs. Muhammad Naimov (not Guram Kutateladze)

UFC Vegas 74 Prelims Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (6 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Elizeu Zaleski vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov
135 lbs.: John Castaneda vs. Muin Gafurov
265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski vs. Don’Tale Mayes
135 lbs.: Johnny Munoz vs. Daniel Santos
115 lbs.: Jinh Yu Frey vs. Elise Reed
135 lbs.: Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Luan Lacerda
205 lbs.: Maxim Grishin vs. Philipe Lins

*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 74 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For more upcoming UFC events click here.

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Jamie Mullarkey has a new opponent.

MMAmania.com confirmed today (Mon, May 29, 2023) with multiple sources that Mullarkey (16-5) will face UFC newcomer Muhammad Naimov (8-2) on five days notice this weekend at UFC Vegas 74 from inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Mullarkey was scheduled to face Guram Kutateladze; however, the fight got scrapped due to an undisclosed reason.

Mullarkey, 28, is coming off back-to-back wins over UFC veteran Michael Johnson and Francisco Prado and will be looking to win three straight for the first time inside the promotion.

Naimov, 28, is the latest fighter from Tajikistan to be signed to the UFC. (There are now four Tajikistan fighters in the promotion) “Hillman” will also be moving up a weight class for his debut, as all of his other fights prior were at Featherweight. He is riding a three-fight win steak, with two wins being by stoppage. Naimov also competed on season four of Dana White’s Contender Series, dropping a unanimous decision to Collin Anglin in the co-main event.

The full UFC Vegas 74 lineup can be seen below:

• 125 lbs.: Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi
• 145 lbs.: Alex Caceres vs. Daniel Pineda
• 155 lbs.: Jared Gordon vs. Jim Miller
• 125 lbs.: Tim Elliott vs. Victor Altamirano
• 125 lbs.: Karine Silva vs. Ketlen Souza
• 170 lbs.: Elizeu Zaleski vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov
• 155 lbs.: Jamie Mullarkey vs. Muhammad Naimov
• 135 lbs.: John Castaneda vs. Mateus Mendonca
• 265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski vs. Don’Tale Mayes
• 135 lbs.: Johnny Munoz vs. Daniel Santos
• 115 lbs.: Jinh Yu Frey vs. Elise Reed
• 135 lbs.: Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Luan Lacerda
• 205 lbs.: Maxim Grishin vs. Philipe Lins

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 74 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 9 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 74: “Kara-France vs. Albazi” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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Matt Brown isn’t afraid to say how he feels about Conor McGregor after their recent interaction.

At UFC Charlotte earlier this month (May 13, 2023), Brown, 42, continued turning back the clock by putting away his fellow veteran Welterweight, Court McGee, with a first round one-punch knockout (watch highlights). The win was a significant one for the “Immortal,” as Brown (24-19) is now tied with Heavyweight contender, Derrick Lewis, for the most knockouts in UFC history at 13.

Keeping his eye on the action, McGregor was impressed and motivated by the stoppage, declaring that he’ll once day pass up the pair of heavy hitters and make the record his. This prompted a response from Brown on Twitter, saying, “I’ll fight you for it.”

“With Conor, I just want the red panty night, right? That’s all I give a f—k about,” Brown told Believe You Me. “He’s a nobody, to be honest, in my opinion,” Brown said. “He was amazing, I give him all the props for all that he did. At this point, he’s a bum.

“You can headline that, and it won’t be bulls—t,” he continued. “Conor, I think he’s lost like four or his last five. He hasn’t f—king done nothing. Everything you see, it’s him drinking or getting coked up, or he’s juiced out of his mind. That’s f—king bum life to me. All that money don’t make you not a bum. You’re still a bum to me, bro. When you step in the cage, you’re still a f—king bum to me.”

McGregor is about to be featured on The Ultimate Fighter 31 (TUF) as a coach this week (Tues., May 30, 2023) opposite Michael Chandler. Later in 2023, the pair are expected to fight in a Welterweight match up. First, “The Notorious” needs to get back in the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool, which requires six months of testing before he’s able to compete.

It’s unlikely that a Brown vs. McGregor fight ever happens at this stage, but there’s no doubt it would have a strong chance of delivering a knockout in either direction.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will return to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Florida for the upcoming UFC Jacksonville mixed martial arts (MMA) event, locked and loaded for Sat., June 24, 2023 airing on both ABC and ESPN+ beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Emmett (18-3) is looking to rebound from his submission loss to Yair Rodriguez at UFC 284 earlier this year in Perth. Falling to “El Pantera” snapped a five-fight win streak for the “Fighting Falmer.” As for Topuria (13-0), he’s a perfect 5-0 since joining UFC in late 2020 and was recently seen submitting Bryce Mitchell at UFC 282 in Las Vegas.

“Josh Emmett has nothing to lose,” Topuria told ESPN Deportes. “He’s fighting a superstar. He’ll be proud to share the cage with me for the rest of his life. He’ll tell his kids that he was there with me one time. He’s perfect to be finished in the first round. His style matches with mine in a way that I will shine that night. My only concern is that he shows up on the night of the fight.”

Also throwing down at UFC Jacksonville on June 24 all be flyweight phenom Maycee Barber and Brazilian bruiser Amanda Ribas. Elsewhere on the card, longtime welterweight veteran Neil Magny collides with 170-pound “Fresh Prince” Phil Rowe.

UFC

See the rest of the UFC Jacksonville fight card and ABC lineup right here.

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UFC lightweight contender Renato Moicano, currently ranked No. 13 at 155 pounds, tried to do his Twitch followers a favor last weekend by streaming the GLORY 86 kickboxing event, which aired live and free on the promotion’s YouTube channel. Unfortunately that was a clear violation of the platform’s terms and conditions, leading to a swift and unceremonious ban on the baffled Brazilian.

“Just got banned from Twitch for watching GLORY kickboxing that was live on YouTube,” Moicano wrote on Twitter. “Crazy. Shit was live and free. No UFC today just wanted to watch some fights!!! Help me to get unbanned ossss.”

Here are the GLORY 86 kickboxing results from last weekend in Germany:

Petchpanomrung def. Ahmad Chikh Mousa by unanimous decision – retains GLORY featherweight title
Sofian Laidouni def. Benjamin Adegbuyi by unanimous decision
Bahram Rajabzadeh def. Luis Tavares by KO
Enriko Kehl def. Guerric Billet by unanimous decision
Sarah Moussaddak def. Giuliana Cosnard by unanimous decision
Chico Kwasi def. Robin Ciric by unanimous decision
Juri de Sousa def. Joilton Lutterbach by unanimous decision
Uku Jurjendal def. Mantas Rimdeika by KO

Badr Hari returns against James McSweeney at GLORY 88 in September.

The 34 year-old Moicano (17-5-1) is coming off a submission victory over Brad Riddell last fall and was expected to headline against Arman Tsarukyan atop the UFC Vegas 72 card back in April, but a late knee injury booted him from the bout.

No word yet on when Moicano will make his UFC return.

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The UFC president wants to make it clear that everything is fine between Chimaev and the promotion, despite ‘Borz’ continuing to sit on the sideline for over half a year.

Don’t believe the media when they tell you there’s something strange going on with Khamzat Chimaev and the UFC.

That’s the resounding message Dana White is sending in a new Instagram post that takes aim at this very site and our very factual reporting. We reported earlier this week that “Borz” was in the middle of a serious social media shakeup: the Chechen fighter recently unfollowed everyone on Twitter except UAE MMA pioneer Tam Khan and accused human trafficker Andrew Tate.

Yes, that lengthy list of Twitter unfollows included all UFC brass and official UFC accounts: president Dana White, matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, etc. etc.. Even Darren Till was de-twitted.

White must have seen the story and looked into it, but he didn’t look into it right. He posted a screenshot of Khamzat’s Instagram followers, which remain normal, and not his Twitter followers, which is what we were talking about. Then he claimed we got it wrong.

“This is the ‘media.’ I could literally do this every day with almost every story that’s written,” White declared. “Everything these people write is total and absolute bulls—t.”

Hey, we know Dana White is more of an Instagram guy these days, so we understand how he got things twisted. It’s okay. We forgive him for the mistake he made, and for the wild accusations against us.

White added an Instagram story showing a video chat with Khamzat Chimaev to prove they’re still friendly. “So f—in tired of the FAKE NEWS,” he wrote over a screenshot. “Don’t believe ANY of this BULLS—.”

That bull would be the insinuation that there is a growing rift between the UFC and Khamzat Chimaev. And look, we’re not the ones jumping to conclusions regarding their relationship. We’ve just been pointing out that Chimaev hasn’t fought since September 2022, which is 8 months ago. He still has no fight lined up right now, and may not until the UFC returns to Abu Dhabi in October.

We’ve watched him go into a couple of different camps in preparation for a fight: in Dubai, and in Thailand. He seems ready to fight! So what’s the deal? In a recent interview, White suggested Chimaev had ‘personal stuff’ preventing him from fighting.

“That’s on him,” White told TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter. “He’s got stuff going on in his personal life. That’s not because we’re not getting a fight.”

“I have no problems with fights,” Chimaev tweeted in response. “If they gave me a fight, I would have fought a long time ago, I did so many training camps and not one fight, the problem is definitely not with me, prepared in Dubai then to Thailand, why do I train so much if there is no fight? I don’t understand.”

So what are we supposed to make of this situation? Why has the UFC left one of its hottest rising stars on the sideline for nearly a year? Why are they saying it’s on him that he has no fight? What is going on? These are questions we’re going to continue asking until the UFC goes ahead and gets “Borz” a fight. Hopefully before October in Abu Dhabi, but we have our doubts.

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Israel Adesanya’s coach explains why they’re not excited about a third fight with Robert Whittaker.

Israel Adesanya will fight Robert Whittaker next if “The Reaper” beats Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290, but his team will not be happy about it.

That’s the general gist we’re getting from multiple interviews with Adesanya and his coach Eugene Bareman. With Adesanya set to defend his middleweight title in Sydney this September, Whittaker vs. Du Plessis on July 8th has become a likely No. 1 contender match. One that “The Last Stylebender” expects Whittaker to win, derailing a grudge match with Du Plessis.

“I’d say Rob can probably get him out of there in the second round, or just beat him up for three rounds,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel (via MMA Fighting). “Dricus’ only chance — I don’t like to say there’s no way, because there’s always a way — but he can’t outlast Rob. I think Rob will be faster than him, fitter than him, so he might just have to make it ugly. But Rob can also fight ugly as well, so we’ll see.”

“Honestly, 70 [percent chance Whittaker wins], but I really want Dricus.”

Adesanya and Whittaker have already fought twice before, with Adesanya going 2-0 over the former middleweight champion. According to Israel’s coach Eugene Bareman, their reluctance to do a third fight has to do with Whittaker’s lack of accolades following the second defeat.

“We’ve fought him, and he’s basically been in the ring one time since then.” Bareman said in an interview with Sky Sports New Zealand. “Whereas we’ve just been tracking on, so like, I don’t know.”

“We are who we are. Just put the opponent in front of us, and then we’ll fight. I mean, our preference is not to fight Robert again because we’ve obviously already beaten Robert twice, and he hasn’t really done anything since that loss to warrant fighting again. So our preference would be the South African. But then the South African has to cross the line, and obviously, he has a very tough opponent.”

Whittaker is a big -390 favorite over Du Plessis, who is a +280 dog. So the odds are certainly pointing towards a third Adesanya vs. Whittaker fight. On his YouTube channel, Izzy said that wouldn’t bother him.

“I think there’s another story there,” he said. “It’s in a new city in Australia, another stadium, I’m sure. This one, it will be a nice day. I like it in Sydney. It will be a sunshiny day.”

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One would have to move up and the other would have to move down, but Li Jingliang vs. Chan Sung Jung would definitely appeal to Asian UFC fans.

Is “The Leech” planning a move down to lightweight?

Chinese fighter Li Jingliang has seen his popularity grow over the past few years with fans in North America. Unfortunately he continues to struggle at welterweight, trading wins and losses over the past three years. Sure, that last split decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 279 was kinda bunk, but it’s nothing but an L on your record.

Maybe that’s why “The Leech” made an interesting suggestion to the press during this weekend’s Road To UFC tournament in Shanghai, China. According to Korean martial arts magazine Rank 5 (via SCMP reporter Hyon Ko), Jingliang called out “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, saying he’s willing to cut down to 155 pounds to make the fight happen. Jung competes at featherweight, so he’d have to move up a weight class to make it happen as well.

At first glance, there’s a lot of moving parts that need to shift into place to make Jung vs. Jingliang happen. The biggest piece is “The Korean Zombie” moving up to lightweight. But after being soundly defeated by Alexander Volkanovski in his last fight, Jung finds himself in featherweight purgatory: better than most of the division, but out of the title picture until Volk is dethroned. And that could take a while.

Then there’s “The Leech” … is Li only looking at 155 as a one-time thing to make a Korea vs. China fight happen? Or is this something he’s eyeballing more and more as he gets his nutrition and cuts more dialed in? It would be interesting to see how a lightweight “Leech” would do in the UFC. We also hope this is a sign he’s got a spine issue under control.

As it stands, “The Korean Zombie” has not responded to Li Jingliang’s suggestion. The last we heard, Jung is still recovering from serious shoulder surgery. He did, however, take the time to respond to Max Holloway’s callout back in April. The UFC is looking to return to Singapore in August … could we see Jung vs. Holloway headline that card? Or should Li Jingliang prepare for a summer of serious dieting?

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Belal Muhammad doesn’t have a fight booked, but he traveled to get some extra coaching at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) anyway.

“Remember the Name” — who trains out of Chicago, Illinois — recently visited the world-renowned mixed martial arts (MMA) gym in San Jose, Calif., to keep sharp. While he was in town, he got to work with former UFC Heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, who recently had his attempted murder trial postponed.

Velasquez wasn’t the only fighter Muhammad got to train with. Former Lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and former Heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier, also made appearances at their long-time gym for wrestling practice.

Unfortunately, all we got was a picture of them and no footage:

This wasn’t the first time the current No. 1-ranked Welterweight contender has worked with AKA — he trained with Nurmagomedov before his UFC 280 fight with Sean Brady (watch highlights).

Muhammad is coming off a unanimous decision win over former Welterweight title challenger, Gilbert Burns, at UFC 288 earlier this month. The win earned him a title shot; however, he has to wait for Leon Edwards and Colby Covington to fight later this year … if Muhammad doesn’t steal his title shot beforehand.

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