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The Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk feud has been “Reignited.”

Both pugilists were on hand today to help launch the kickoff press conference for their Dec. 21 rematch in Riyadh, with Usyk putting his WBO, WBC and WBA heavyweight titles up for grabs. The Ukrainian “Cat” defeated “The Gypsy King” in their first meeting last May.

Fury remains a betting underdog for their second showdown.

Moving forward with the Fury rematch cost Usyk the IFB title because it prevented him from facing mandatory title challenger Filip Hrgovic. That said, a second fight against Fury is likely to prove far more lucrative than a bout against the Croatian.

Check out the “Reignited” press conference video highlights below:

“We’ve got to put that [loss] behind us, what happened in the fight,” Fury said. “I have to be a little bit more focused and a little bit more smart to get the victory. I always end up knocking them out in the rematch. Whoever I’ve faced more than once, I’ve ended up knocking them out in the rematch. I believe it’s my time this time. I believe that all things that happen, negative or positive, are lessons.”

We’ll find out on Dec. 21 in Riyadh.

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Both Magomedov and Bisping are blind in one eye, and ‘Bullet’ wants to become the second such fighter to win a title at 185 pounds.

One-eyed fighters unite!

Shara “Bullet” Magomedov is somewhat unique in the world of MMA: he is blind in one eye, yet has still managed to make it to the top of the sport. He competes in the UFC’s middleweight division where he’s 3-0 (14-0 MMA) and an exciting prospect.

He takes on Armen Petrosyan this weekend at UFC 308, and paid homage to one-eyed fight pioneer Michael Bisping during today’s UFC 308 media day event. Bisping won the 185 pound belt despite having to lie on the medicals to even make it into the cage. Magomedov can get cleared without sneaking about — in the Middle East at least — but still sees “The Count” as an inspiration.

“When it comes to Bisping, yes he is a motivation because he’s somebody who has went down this path already,” Magomedov said. “He’s laid down the path and he should set an example for me. So it’s much easier to follow somebody’s path as opposed to wander around in the dark.”

“I think the way he is a motivator for me and for other people is he said that everything is possible. The most important thing is not to let your hands down and keep on going forward and keep on chasing your dream, and then it’s possible.”

“Bullet” has been extremely active, but wasn’t sure if he’d be able to technically beat the record for most fights in a year (5). He did say he wanted to fight on the UFC’s upcoming Macau and Saudi Arabia cards.

As for those who might try to take advantage of his limited vision in the cage?

“I have 19 fights in my career, and every opponent has tried to take advantage of that,” Shara said. “And it didn’t go their way.”

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LIVE: Check out the UFC 308 media day video stream TODAY (Weds., Oct. 23, 2024) at 4:15 a.m. ET in the embedded video above to watch the Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway-led media extravaganza in “Pirate Coast” held in advance of the upcoming UFC 308 pay-per-view (PPV) on Sat. night (Oct. 26) inside Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Today’s UFC 308 media day is also expected to feature a bevy of main card attractions, including Robert Whittaker, Khamzat Chimaev, Magomed Ankalaev, Aleksandar Rakic, and Shara Magomedov, among others.

Check out the complete UFC 308 media day lineup below:

Ilia Topuria – UFC featherweight champion

Max Holloway – No. 2 UFC featherweight

Robert Whittaker – No. 3 UFC middleweight

Khamzat Chimaev – No. 12 UFC middleweight

Lerone Murphy – No. 12 UFC featherweight

Dan Ige – No. 14 UFC featherweight

Magomed Ankalaev – No. 2 UFC light heavyweight

Aleksandar Rakic – No. 5 UFC light heavyweight

Shara Magomedov – UFC middleweight

Armen Petrosyan – UFC middleweight

UFC 308 media day lineup subject to change.

“Look, I don’t want to take credit from Max Holloway because he demonstrates that he is a very good fighter with a lot of experience,” Topuria told Kevin Iole. “But, at the same time, he’s never faced anyone like me — never, ever. The moment that I take him down — if that happens — if I don’t knock him out before, I don’t think he’ll be able to stop my submissions.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 308 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the UFC 308 PPV main card start time at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

To checkout the complete UFC 308 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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Ilia Topuria wants to make Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history … by 2027?

UFC’s newly-minted Featherweight kingpin makes his highly-anticipated, first-ever title defense against Baddest Motherf—ker (BMF), Max Holloway, at UFC 308 this weekend (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024) from inside Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

While Topuria focuses on this weekend’s incredibly tough 145-pound fight against “Blessed,” the undefeated fighter has his eyes set on UFC history. Indeed, UFC on TNT Sports asked Topuria earier today (Tues., Oct. 22, 2024) what he thinks he will achieve in three years’ time.

“Probably a three-weight champion,” Topuria said. “Yeah, that’s my goal. You’re not going to see me in the Welterweight division like this: skinny. You’re going to see my different.

“That’s the goal,” he added. “Move up to the Lightweight division, get that belt, and then move up to the Welterweight division.”

An endless amount of fighters have claimed that they will be the ones to win three belts, from Raul Rosas Jr. to Tresean Gore (remember him) to Israel Adesanya; however, none have done it … yet.

To be real, there is only one fighter who has a real chance of achieving it sooner rather than later: current Light Heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, who has claimed the Middleweight title and is only missing the Heavyweight belt.

Of course, there are outliers like Islam Makhachev, who has all of the talent in the world and might only need an opportunity to obtain multiple belts. In addition, Conor McGregor — who seemingly might never fight again — is UFC’s golden goose and can get a title shot in a third division coming off 405,935 losses if need be.

That’s called “privilege.”

Nevertheless, who knows where Topuria falls into any or all of these buckets, but if he does decimate Holloway as he predicts, the path to UFC history could come soon.

Wear a helmet.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 308 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the UFC 308 PPV main card start time at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

To checkout the complete UFC 308 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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Alex Pereira continues to lay waste to the light heavyweight division.

But despite his reign of 205-pound terror, punctuated by three straight knockouts, detractors are convinced that “Poatan” has the ground game of a newborn calf. That begs the question, why doesn’t someone just take Pereira to the ground and submit him?

Because it’s not as easy as it looks, according to Aleksandar Rakic.

“He did great things in the light heavyweight division,” Rakic told MMA Junkie. “He’s the most active champion we have right now in the UFC. He beat some really good names. I think the most important thing with Alex is to mix it up. Of course, everyone says, ‘Go wrestle him. Go grapple him.’ But, of course, he trains wrestling and grappling, as well, and he knows some defense and how to defend a takedown. It would not be so easy like the people would be thinking it would be… So with Alex, you need to be conditioned and very ready and you need to mix things up.”

Rakic could be next in line for a crack at the 205-pound crown.

That would require an upset victory over No. 1-ranked light heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev when they go to war at the upcoming UFC 308 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for this Sat. night (Oct. 26, 2024) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

For much more on that upcoming showdown click here.

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Belal Muhammad is not content with just one UFC belt.

That’s why the current welterweight titleholder is planning a jump to middleweight, where the current crop of “bums” can “Remember the Name.” That said, Muhammad still has a couple of big names to deal with at 170 pounds, ranging from Jack Della Maddalena to Ian Garry, among others.

And let’s not forget this former champ.

“Maybe one or two more fights [at welterweight], I think then I could start talking about middleweight and could start talking about double champ status,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “When you look at the guys I’ve fought — what do I have? Six or seven wins in the Top 10, Top 15 of my division right now, so I’ve already fought all these guys even before getting to the title. So now that I’m at the champion status, it’s like, well okay, now I probably only got a couple more left before I can start talking about the bums at 185.”

Muhammad is not the only fighter berating the bums at middleweight.

There’s really no point in playing matchmaker until Muhammad proves he can overcome undefeated welterweight title challenger Shavkat Rakhmonov. The pair are expected to headline the upcoming UFC 310 end-of-year pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sat., Dec. 7, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

To see who else is fighting at UFC 310 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!

Ilia Topuria is just days away from the biggest fight of his career, the UFC 308 main event Featherweight title fight opposite Max Holloway scheduled for this weekend (Sat., Oct., 26, 2024) inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabib, United Arab Emirates. Despite that serious challenge on his doorstep, Topuria is plenty willing to discuss other future plans.

Recently, Topuria has found himself beefing with the Nurmagomedov fight team. When the Spanish knockout artist talked about his eventual goal of moving to 155-pounds and challenging champion Islam Makhachev, he instead landed in a feud with that entire team! Bellator Lightweight kingpin Usman Nurmagomedov, as well as former UFC fighter Abubakar Nurmagomedov, were quick to lash out online, and Topuria has largely invited the conflict. It even led to his recent war of words with Belal Muhammad!

In a recent interview, Topuria elaborated further on his feelings about that camp and its leader, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“Look, one thing I respect about Khabib, the guy is really super respectful,” Topuria began. “He never says anything about anybody, people talk a lot, he never says anything … I’ve mentioned Islam and all the cousins come out. They’ve never knocked anyone out, they get caught using steroids, they’re super cheaters, and suddenly they jump. The only thing it tells me is that they have a damaged nervous system from taking so many steroids, because that’s the first thing that gets damaged.

“Threatening a fighter with ‘When we see each other I am going to hit you.’ I dedicate my life to fighting. Let them be a little more creative. I don’t know what to say. Their best is Islam.”

It’s difficult to say whether or not a Topuria vs. Makhachev fight will materialize. “El Matador” is still a fairly new champion with plenty of challengers even if he retains against Holloway, whereas Makhachev could fight for Welterweight gold in the near future given his own defenses. Unless Umar Nurmagomedov jumps up a weight class or there’s a run-in at the UFC PI, it seems likely this feud remains online for the time being.

Insomnia

It’s good to hear a fan being wildly creepy in a male fighter’s DMs for a change. Equality!

I cannot wait to see the wrestling exchanges in Whittaker vs. Khamzat.

This feels like it should be an alternate location in the next UFC game.

UFC doesn’t really have a history of refusing their athletes the ability to compete in BJJ. Anti-Mokaev bias?

Anthony Hernandez has a bunch of neat looks to his game. The spinning heel kick to the thigh also looked painful!

Kicking off the fence is a weird way to defend the ten-finger guillotine, but it’s proven to work of a few times now.

Russian bear wrestling!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Listening to fighter’s break down their own fights is always interesting.

Asahisa seems like such a nightmare to strike with, such unusual angles and little marching steps in these kick combinations.

This beating lasted a long time …

Random Land

Children’s stories win the day.

Midnight Music: Hip-hop, today!

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

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UFC 310 just lost a pivotal No. 1 contender eliminator match …

MMAmania.com has confirmed with sources that No. 1-seeded women’s Strawweight, Tatiana Suarez, is out of her upcoming fight against No. 3-ranked Virna Jandiroba, which was scheduled for UFC 310 on Dec. 7, 2024, inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

MMA Melotto first reported the bad news. Sources also informed MMAmania.com that Suarez is dealing with, “a health issue,” but she, “won’t be out for a long time.”

Suarez vs. Jandriroba was a very important fight for the 115-pound division — the winner would be next in line to challenge Strawweight champion, Weili Zhang.

It is unknown at this time if Jandrioba will stay on UFC 310 or if the Brazilian — who is coming off a submission win over Amanda Lemos (watch highlights) — will get tossed right into a title fight because of the cancelation.

Suarez, 33, has had absolutely terrible luck over the past five years. After defeating Nina Nunes in 2019, she had a two-year hiatus but then shredded her knee before UFC 266, which left her sidelined for 3.5 years.

The undefeated fighter returned in impressive fashion at UFC Vegas 70, submitting Montana De La Rosa and then, six months later, tapping Jessica Andrade in the second round (watch highlights). However, the injury bug bit her again as she pulled out of a fight against Lemos earlier this year at UFC 298 and has not been seen since.

Hopefully, she doesn’t turn into one of the biggest MMA “what-ifs.”

To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.

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Current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who also held gold at 205 pounds, will make his Octagon return against former division titleholder Stipe Miocic when they hook ‘em up atop the UFC 309 pay-per-view (PPV) event, locked and loaded for Sat., Nov. 16, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Now they have an official poster.

Jones and Miocic were expected to collide at UFC 295 roughly one year back; however, “Bones” tore his pectoral muscle and was forced to withdraw. That started the epic run of Alex Pereira, who filled in for the UFC 295 main event and smashed Jiri Prochazka to win the 205-pound strap — one of four title fights over the next 11 months.

He’s even teased a fight with Jones.

UFC 309 will also feature the lightweight rematch between former 155-pound champions Charles Oliveira (UFC) and Michael Chandler (Bellator MMA). In addition, Bo Nickal returns against the rough-and-tumble Paul Craig, while veteran middleweights Chris Weidman and Eryk Anders do work at 185 pounds.

For the rest of the UFC 309 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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Cris Cyborg cemented her mixed martial arts (MMA) legacy as the best female fighter in sport, winning her fifth title in as many promotions this past weekend (Oct. 19, 2024), defeating Larissa Pacheco after five grueling rounds at Professional Fighters Leagues (PFL) “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (highlights here).

It was a fight the Brazilian striker had been longing for since she hadn’t competed in a whole year following PFL’s acquisition of Bellator MMA in late 2023.

“It took a long time to fight,” Cyborg said during the post-fight press conference (via MMA Junkie). “My last time, I fought one year ago. I wanted to fight more times, for me to defend my title, because I want to complete 20 years in my career.”

While Cyborg hasn’t had the chance to earn her sixth defense of Bellator’s women’s Featherweight title, adding another championship to her resume is a nice consolation prize. Still, she does have plans to defend that belt before she walks away from the fight game to focus on motherhood.

“This year is 19 and I want to go to my next chapter of my life and have a kid,” she added. “Next plan, I’d like to defend my title as soon as possible.”

After making her professional debut in May 2005 with a loss, Cyborg went on to amass a highly-impressive 28-2-1 record, winning multiple titles along the way during the near two-decade span. And while she admits she’s been in tough battles throughout her storied combat career, her latest blood-soaked brawl was special given her age and significance of the bout.

“Every one is really hard for me, but this one was nice because I’m 39 years old – 39 and fighting for the title,” Cyborg concluded. “For me, it means a lot. I think this is special for me to be PFL champion with a PFL belt.”

Cyborg is currently riding an eight-fight win streak and since she’s won a belt in every major professional organization, there really isn’t much else for her to prove to herself … or anyone else for that matter.

As far as what could realistically be next for the feared striker now that she’s taken out PFL’s 145-pound queenpin, a showdown against Sara Collins could be in order, though it’s safe to say that fight won’t go down until sometime 2025 if at all.

For PFL: “Battle of the Giants” results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.

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