Category Archives: Mmamania.com

Marlon “Chito” Vera has a controversial question for Sean O’Malley after their UFC 299 rematch this past weekend (March 9, 2024).

Four years after their initial encounter that saw Vera best O’Malley via a first round technical knockout, “Sugar” scored redemption against his Ecuadorian counterpart. The pair battled a full five rounds in their sequel, which saw O’Malley win all five rounds en route to a redemptive unanimous decision (watch highlights).

Performance-wise, it doesn’t get much better than that for a first title defense in the case of Bantamweight’s O’Malley. However, Vera has curiously raised a controversial question for his rival.

“Who braid your hair @SugaSeanMMA you where grease to the bone I wonder how much gel they use ?” Vera tweeted.

“Send pic of your face,” quote tweeted O’Malley in response.

The loss for Vera was his second in his past three fights. To earn his first career title shot, he won a unanimous decision over fellow perennial contender, Pedro Munhoz, at UFC 292 in August 2023 — the same night O’Malley won the title against Aljamain Sterling (watch highlights).

Although the series is now tied at one win-a-piece between O’Malley and Vera, a trilogy bout is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Challengers aplenty are lining up to take on the champion with the No. 1-ranked Merab Dvalishvili leading the charge. Outside of the 135-pound division, O’Malley still likes the idea of challenging for Featherweight gold against Ilia Topuria … or taking a cross-sport boxing match.

For complete UFC 299 results and play-by-play, click HERE.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is less than a month away from the upcoming UFC Vegas 90 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, topped by the middleweight mashup between Marvin Vettori and Brendan Allen, who collide on Sat., April 6, 2024 at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Now they have an official poster.

This marks the first appearance for Vettori (19-7-1) since his unanimous decision loss to Jared Cannonier last June, a five-round drubbing that kept the rough-and-tumble “Italian Dream” stuck at No. 5 in the official 185-pound rankings.

That’s two places above the No. 7-ranked Allen (23-5), who’s been nothing short of electric over the last two years. “All In” is the winner of six straight, including last November’s submission victory over Paul Craig at APEX.

“He hasn’t beaten anybody good. He doesn’t finish anybody,” Allen told Middle Easy. “Is he tough? Hell yeah, I’ll give him that. He’s tough, he’s got a great mindset, but I’m going to walk him like a dog. Technically, I’m way superior. I’m going to show him exactly that on fight night. I’m too technically good. If it’s got to be gritty and he wants to make it a fight, I can do that too. His only hope is to catch me, but he’s delusional. He is a legit delusional person. This is the same guy who thinks he f*cking smashed Izzy. Izzy schooled you twice.”

“I’m going to finish him,” Allen continued. “I’ve fought guys that have knocked people out, that ain’t been dropped and this and that. Guys that ain’t been submitted, I submit them. Just because he hasn’t been finished means nothing to me. He hasn’t fought me. He hasn’t fought anyone like me. I’m going out there to put him away. My goal is to outclass him and then put him away. I’m coming to prove a point. I’m proving it to myself that I am just that damn good.”

UFC

UFC Vegas 90 will be co-headlined by the bantamweight showdown pitting Norma Dumont against former champion Germaine de Randamie.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is doing some spring cleaning.

The promotion recently parted ways with nearly a dozen fighters, according to MMA Fighting, including 34 year-old welterweight Abubakar Nurmagomedov. The Dagestani bruiser is the cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov but failed to match “The Eagle’s” success, finishing with a UFC record of 2-2.

That includes his decision loss to Elizeu Zaleski at UFC Vegas 74.

Nurmagomedov was among eight fighters who were released from the promotion or not re-signed after their contracts expired. The rest of the list include Mike Breeden, Fernie Garcia, Luis Saldana, Denys Bondar, Daniel Lacerda, and Mateus Mendonca. The remaining three fighters, Mark O. Madsen, Jamie Pickett, and Tyson Pedro, recently informed UFC of their decision to retire from mixed martial arts (MMA).

Hopefully nobody gets robbed in the process.

Retired fighters who decide to make a comeback at a later date will have to first satisfy any remaining bouts on their current UFC contracts, unless the promotion grants them an unconditional release. The remaining athletes are free to pursue opportunities elsewhere effective immediately.

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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It’s been a crappy week for Marlon Vera.

Vera came up short in the main event of UFC 299 on Saturday (March 9, 2024) from Miami, Florida. Not only did he leave the cage without the title, but champion Sean O’Malley mostly used his face as a speed bag (watch highlights), landing dozens and dozens of nasty shots in a master class performance. It was a rough night at the office, to say the least, but Vera’s misfortunes don’t end there.

On Instagram, “Chito” posted a picture of a busted front door, revealing his home had been burglarized while he was away fighting in Miami. Vera wrote, “The f—king a—hole that broke into my home, I’m gonna find you.”

“The context is last night there was a robbery,” Vera also wrote online (via LowKickMMA). “They broke into our house. Though they are material things, they are things that have been bought with a lot of effort and hard work. But hey, these types of things happen and the truth is tonight will be a good one.”

Unfortunately, Vera is not the first fighter to have his home broken into while away on business. Last year, former UFC interim Heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane was robbed while fighting in Paris, losing an estimated six-figures in the break-in. Robberies like this have become an issue for athletes beyond MMA as well — part of the danger of having one’s location known far and wide months ahead of time.

After the loss at UFC 299, Vera faces a long road ahead to return to the title picture. He’s now lost two of his last three, and both five-round defeats saw “Chito” struggle to win a round. Nevertheless, he’s vowed to return for the belt.

Insomnia

I have a difficult time understanding why Cedric Doumbe should have a loss on his record because someone wore boots into the cage.

Am I crazy in think Michael Page is a bad match up for Ian Garry? I could also see it playing out like Darren Till vs. Stephen Thompson (boring).

A Lightweight showdown of jiu-jitsu black belts:

Tim Elliott has been around the Flyweight block!

Daniel Lacerda’s historic 0-5 (1) UFC run will not be forgotten.

Two of Dustin Poirier’s rivals were thrilled to see him victorious at UFC 299 — pretty cool!

A throwback boxing match between current boxing greats:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

As mentioned, the finish is indeed very cool, but the transition from initial takedown exchange into triangle choke made me rewind three times to understand what happened.

Quick lead leg high kick sneaks right over the hands:

Circled him right into the elbow — nasty!

Random Land

The engine appears ready to explode.

Midnight Music: Alternative, 1989

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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Marlon “Chito” Vera’s first career Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title fight didn’t go as planned.

UFC 299 was a moment of truth for both Vera and his Bantamweight rival, the champion, Sean O’Malley. Since Vera’s first round technical knockout of O’Malley in August 2020, “Sugar” went on to become their division’s champion and ultimately led to a rematch this past weekend (March 9, 2024).

O’Malley, 29, got redemption for his lone career defeat (18-1, 1 no contest) when he picked apart the Ecuadorian en route to a unanimous decision title defense (watch highlights). Vera, 31, will now go back to the drawing board, and that means facing another talented opponent in the deep 135-pound ranks. Former champion, Henry Cejudo, likes the idea of that being him, should UFC offer the option.

“Sean’s f—king good, man,” Cejudo said on his Pound 4 Pound podcast (h/t MMA Junkie). “When it comes to striking, he’s got good fakes. Everything that he was doing before, now he’s a lot tighter. His distance was better. He was able to really pick Chito apart like you wouldn’t believe. I’m a bit disappointed with Chito.

“I’m thinking Chito’s going to at least fight him, at least attempt a takedown, but Chito never attempted anything,” he continued. “Flat-footed, never faked, never used all that — like, he was pretty much just missing. He kind of pulled the same card when he fought Cory Sandhagen, just fought in the last 10 seconds of the fifth round.”

Cejudo, 37, will also look to rebound in his next fight after a tough unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 last month (Feb. 17, 2024). The Olympic gold medalist wrestler mentioned ahead of his defeat how his career would likely end with a second consecutive setback. However, the sour taste is just too much for him to leave in place.

When it comes to Vera, Cejudo is confused about where his current mentality is after the aforementioned Sandhagen loss that came via a one-sided split decision in March 2023.

“I don’t know where this dude’s head is, but the only thing that I could say, there could be a potential fight with me and Chito,” Cejudo said. “I think because of the ranking. I don’t mind it. I’m still trying to get that Brandon Moreno fight, but Chito, especially the way he’s performing, he just decides to fight in the last minute of every five-round fight. I just don’t know where his head’s at.

“I don’t know if it’s that pressure that gets to him,” he continued. “But either way, man, the dude had no tactical fighting, never attempted a takedown, never attempted to really cover the distance and just bring the fight, was reacting to Sean O’Malley, to all his fakes. I’d never seen somebody twitch so damn much, and that was like the biggest thing.”

For complete UFC 299 results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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Mark Coleman is being hailed as a “hero.”

The former UFC heavyweight champion helped his parents escape a deadly fire early Tues. morning in Fremont, Ohio, but succumbed to smoke inhalation after returning to retrieve the family dog. Coleman was promptly air lifted to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition.

The dog did not survive, according to a report from WTOL11.

“I’m a very firm believer in the Power of Prayer,” former UFC heavyweight Wes Sims wrote on Facebook. “I sent family and some friends a few pictures of Mark Coleman’s current condition. I know Mark if he could talk he’d say ‘film this shit Wes, we are going viral!’ Mark’s parents’ house burnt down last night. Mark saved both Dan and Connie Foos Coleman and went back for ‘Hammer’ his dog. He was life flighted to Toledo and is currently intubated and sedated. I swear to GOD he’s one of the toughest individuals ever created, been through so much — a movie at this point could not give his life work justice! Please [pray] and share! Life is precious!”

The fire reportedly started in the kitchen but the exact cause remains unknown.

Coleman, 59, finished his career in the same place it began, inside the Octagon, losing by way of submission to fellow elder statesman Randy Couture at UFC 109 back in early 2010. The former Olympic wrestler holds wins over Mauricio Rua, Stephan Bonnar and Igor Vovchanchyn, just to name a few.

“The Hammer” joined the UFC Hall of Fame back in early 2008.

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Jack Della Maddalena has arrived.

The red-hot welterweight prospect has now won 17 straight fights, which includes his technical knockout victory over former 170-pound title challenger Gilbert Burns as part of the UFC 299 pay-per-view (PPV) card last weekend in Miami.

Watch the video highlights here.

His performance was good enough to land Maddalena at No. 5 in the updated UFC rankings. As a result, Burns dropped two places to No. 6. Elsewhere on the chart, Michael Page debuted at No. 13 by styling on welterweight veteran Kevin Holland.

That’s not all.

Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:

Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.

Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Leon Edwards
4. Alex Pereira
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Sean O’Malley +2
7. Charles Oliveira -1
8. Alexander Volkanovski -1
9. Dricus Du Plessis
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Israel Adesanya
12. Tom Aspinall
13. Sean Strickland
14. Max Holloway
15. Aljamain Sterling

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Matheus Nicolau
6. Manel Kape
7. Muhammad Mokaev
8. Alex Perez
9. Tim Elliott
10. Steve Erceg
11. Matt Schnell
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Tatsuro Taira
14. Su Mudaerji +1
15. David Dvorak -1

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Aljamain Sterling
3. Cory Sandhagen
4. Petr Yan
5. Marlon Vera
6. Henry Cejudo
7. Song Yadong
8. Deiveson Figueiredo
9. Rob Font
10. Umar Nurmagomedov
11. Dominick Cruz +1
12. Kyler Phillips *NR
13. Mario Bautista +1
14. Jonathan Martinez -3
15. Pedro Munhoz -2

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Ilia Topuria

1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Movsar Evloev
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Calvin Kattar
9. Giga Chikadze
10. Bryce Mitchell
11. Edson Barboza
12. Dan Ige
13. Sodiq Yusuff
14. Lerone Murphy
15. Alex Caceres

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Charles Oliveira
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Arman Tsarukyan
5. Mateusz Gamrot +1
6. Michael Chandler -1
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Dan Hooker +1
10. Jalin Turner -1
11. Benoit Saint-Denis +1
12. Rafael dos Anjos -1
13. Renato Moicano
14. Bobby Green
15. Drew Dober

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Colby Covington +1
5. Jack Della Maddalena +6
6. Gilbert Burns -2
7. Ian Machado Garry -1
8. Sean Brady -1
9. Stephen Thompson -1
10. Geoff Neal -1
11. Vicente Luque -1
12. Neil Magny
13. Michael Page *NR
14. Kevin Holland -1
15. Michael Chiesa -1

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Dricus Du Plessis

1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Brendan Allen
8. Nassourdine Imavov
9. (T) Roman Dolidze
9. (T) Jack Hermansson
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Anthony Hernandez +1
13. Paul Craig -1
14. Chris Curtis
15. Caio Borralho

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Alex Pereira

1. Jamahal Hill
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Anthony Smith
11. Ryan Spann
12. Alonzo Menifield
13. Azamat Murzakanov
14. Dominick Reyes
15. Dustin Jacoby

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Jailton Almeida
8. Serghei Spivac
9. Tai Tuivasa
10. Marcin Tybura
11. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
12. Derrick Lewis -1
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Julianna Pena
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Raquel Pennington
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Amanda Lemos
13. Ketlen Vieira
14. Irene Aldana
15. Maycee Barber *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Yan Xiaonan
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Virna Jandiroba
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Luana Pinheiro
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Tabatha Ricci
12. Angela Hill
13. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
14. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
15. Gillian Robertson

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Maycee Barber +2
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Katlyn Cerminara -2
7. Natalia Silva
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Viviane Araújo
10. Tracy Cortez
11. Ariane Lipski
12. Karine Silva
13. Casey O’Neill
14. Miranda Maverick
15. Jasmine Jasudavicius

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Raquel Pennington

1. Julianna Pena
2. Mayra Bueno Silva
3. Ketlen Vieira
4. Irene Aldana
5. Holly Holm
6. Pannie Kianzad
7. Yana Santos
8. Miesha Tate
9. Karol Rosa
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Norma Dumont
12. Julia Avila
13. Josiane Nunes
14. Chelsea Chandler
15. Melissa Dixon

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the heavyweight division, following the UFC Vegas 88: “Tuivasa vs. Tybura” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for this Sat. night (March 14, 2024) at APEX in Las Vegas.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.

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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Sean O’Malley is in the midst of his UFC 299 victory lap.

Having put on a master class against the absurdly durable Marlon Vera (watch highlights), O’Malley is doing the usual tour of podcasts and television appearances to talk about his performance, boxing Floyd Mayweather, and all his other future fight plans. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, “Suga” went in a surprising direction with his post-fight media: roasting former champion Henry Cejudo.

The two have traded verbal blows in the past, but they’ve never been booked to fight. Furthermore, now that Cejudo has lost two straight, he’s fairly removed from the Bantamweight title picture, opting to call for a Brandon Moreno grudge match rather than challenge another ranked 135-pound contender.

Despite the circumstances, McAfee brought up “Triple C,” and O’Malley couldn’t help but unload some hate.

“That was a long time ago, when Henry did that,” O’Malley began, referencing a previous run-in with Cejudo. “That was a little bit more when he was relevant. Henry has got to be the number one dumbest, shortest champion that has ever lived. He’s so stupid! Every time he talks, I think he’s getting dumber. Dude is so stupid, and I cannot believe he won a championship belt.

“He talks and he talks, says some of the dumbest s—t ever. But yeah, that was a long time age, he’s really dumb and short — whatever.”

At this point, the chances of O’Malley and Cejudo ever colliding in the Octagon seem very slim. The only way anything comes of this beef is if one of these two men — who both live and train around Phoenix, Arizona — drives to the other’s training room and throws down!

Maybe “Suga” could knock out another UFC champion in the gym?

Insomnia

Dustin Poirier deserves all his flowers after the awesome Benoit Saint Denis knockout.

We’ve seen enough randoms get low kicked by professional fighters. Who’s going to be the first idiot fan to volunteer for a Jon Jones oblique kick?!?

Shavkat Rakhmonov is ice cold.

A pair of very skilled Bantamweight veterans with very different styles will throw down!

Jon Anik was right, these people suck. You know with 100% certainty that if any of them happened across Arman Tsarukyan randomly on the street, they’d compliment his last win and ask for a selfie.

There’s only two people (that I can think of) it could be …

Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson got its own terrible SNL joke — a special honor.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Never saw it coming …

Here’s one way to end a round in emphatic fashion!

This is probably the best spinning back kick KO I’ve ever seen. It reminds me of Renan Barao!

Random Land

This guy reacted to the most terrifying kind of accident like I react to traffic.

Midnight Music: Folk, 2003

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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Dustin Poirier wants to be an undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion before he calls it a career.

UFC 299 was yet another memorable night in the always-entertaining career of the elite Lightweight veteran, Poirier. Tasked with surging French contender, Benoit Saint Denis, Poirier walked through the fire and came out on top via a vintage second round knockout (watch highlights) this past weekend (March 9, 2024).

The win got Poirier back in the win column after a tough second round knockout loss of his own against Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 in July 2023 (watch highlights). Despite it only being a one-fight winning “streak,” Poirier has caught the attention of the Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, for a potential collision in June 2024.

“I do think it could happen,” Poirier said on The MMA Hour. “I really believed that I was one big win away. One good finish. It doesn’t matter the opponent. I just need to look good. Just with my career in the UFC and how many times I’ve beaten top guys and stuff, I always feel like I’m one big win away from it at any time in my career — at least the last few years.

“I didn’t take any damage in this fight,” he continued. “Yeah, I’d be okay with June. I actually went into this fight with a couple injuries from camp. My ribs — f—king [Mateusz] Gamrot f—ked busted my ribs up like, almost three weeks ago, and it’s been bothering me really bad ever since.

“No, [June wouldn’t be a problem],” Poirier concluded.

A title fight next would be Poirier’s third crack at undisputed gold after failed bids opposite Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira in September 2019 and December 2021. Timing could ultimately line up perfectly for Poirier to get his shot as Makhachev wants to defend sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, the other top contenders at 155 pounds will be sorted at UFC 300 with Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan next month (Sat., April 13, 2024).

For complete UFC 299 results and play-by-play, click HERE.

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Not quite the “billionaire” he was expected to become, but certainly better than any MMA fighter before him.

Nearly eight years ago we told you Conor McGregor was money … we just had no idea how much.

The former whiskey mogul is now among the 50 highest-paid athletes of all time, according to a new list from Sportico, raking in roughly $ 555 million in inflation-adjusted earnings in the years following his Octagon debut at UFC on Fuel TV 9 more than a decade ago.

That may explain all those “Notorious” lawsuits.

McGregor placed 50th behind NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, tied for 48th with $ 560 million apiece. The only combat sports athlete to crack the Top 10 is retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who generated more than $ 1.48 billion across his career.

Assuming he cashed all those crumpled checks.

“For so long, in my mid-to-late 20s when I started to acquire wealth and acquire money, I was fascinated with materialistic things, I would buy myself cars, watches,” McGregor told Tony Robbins. “I switched off of that. I realized I was spending things on material items and not things on myself, on my being, on my fitness, on my health. [LeBron James] spent $ 1.5 million a year annually on himself — physical therapists, masseuse, nutritionists, trainers, all of that. I spent $ 0.”

He did, however, get a shiny new super yacht.

McGregor, 35, could add to his total if and when he returns to UFC, where former “Ultimate Fighter” coach Michael Chandler patiently awaits. “Notorious” remains the promotion’s top pay-per-view (PPV) draw but has remained inactive in the years following his UFC 264 leg break in Las Vegas.

See you this fall?

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