Category Archives: Mmamania.com

Event: Bellator San Diego: “Nurmagomedov vs. Shabily”
Date: Sat., Sept. 7, 2024
Location: Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California
How To Watch: MAX (watch here) and on DAZN (U.K.)

Bellator San Diego Main Event:

155 lbs.: Champion Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0) vs. Alexander Shabliy (23-3)

Bellator San Diego Main Card:

170 lbs.: Lorenz Larkin (26-8) vs. Levan Chokheli (13-2)
185 lbs.: Douglas Lima (33-11) vs. Aaron Jeffery (14-5)
155 lbs.: Yancy Medeiros (12-8) vs. Jora Ayvazyan (14-1)
125 lbs.: Mackenzie Stiller (6-0) vs. Sumiko Inaba (7-1)

Bellator San Diego ‘Prelims’ Under Card:

185 lbs.: Jordan Newman (6-0) vs. Imamshafi Aliev (9-0)
170 lbs.: Masayuki Kikuiri (9-2-1) vs. Herman Terrado (15-6-1)
125 lbs.: Bryce Meredith (6-0) vs. John MaCalolooy (4-1)
265 lbs.: Josh Hokit (1-0) vs. Sean Rose (2-2)
115 lbs.: Aysia Cortez (3-0) vs. Ashley Thiner (4-1)

For all the latest Bellator MMA news and notes click here.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

O’Malley is the big star headlining the UFC’s massive Sphere show, but Sterling believes his record is as suspect as Jake Paul’s.

Aljamain Sterling is throwing shade at Sean O’Malley weeks out from “Suga’s” toughest fight ever as he defends his bantamweight belt against Merab Dvalishvili at Riyadh Season Noche UFC on September 14th.

“Funkmaster” has had a chip on his shoulder over O’Malley since the young YouTube star knocked him out in their UFC 292 showdown back in August 2023. According to the former UFC 135 pound champ, it has to do with the route O’Malley took to get to the belt, which he likened to influencer boxer and notorious sandbagger Jake Paul. Aljo explained the gripe with Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick on his Verse Us podcast.

“I want to see the best of the best compete, no excuses,” Sterling said. “Now, enter O’Malley. He fights one ranked guy and gets a title shot — a split decision albeit. This is not me hating. This is just calling a spade a spade.”

Sterling brought up how the UFC pressured him to defend his title against Sean O’Malley just three months after he defended against Henry Cejudo. He suggested the whole thing was a plot by the promotion to give “Suga” the best chance of winning the belt against a stylistically difficult champion.

“For me, as a competitor, I can never respect that as a man,” he said. “As a man, as a competitor. It’s like the Jake Paul route. Stacking the deck so that you get these highlights or you get these favorable match-ups and these wins to look as good as you do.”

He also flamed “Suga” for having his first title defense against Marlon “Chito” Vera, who is the only man to defeat O’Malley in MMA — a dubiously controversial win earned off injuring Sean’s leg early in their fight.

“You get an easier title defense against a guy you’re clearly worlds better than. Stylistically, the guy’s not going to try and take you down. He can’t take you down because he has no wrestling ability, and he’s ranked six. He didn’t even deserve to be in there.”

Sterling went on to criticize O’Malley’s record further on X (formerly Twitter).

“I’ve always liked Sean’s style since his DWCS fight where I first saw him,” Aljo wrote. “Even complimented him on the JRE podcast. He’s very good. But facts are facts … O’Malley resume in order (all unranked): Ware, Soukhamthath, Quinonez, Wineland, Chito (weird tko), Almeida, Moutinho, Paiva. Ranked: Munhoz (NC eye poke), Yan by split also, then me, then skips #2 Merab for Chito.”

He responded to the haters who suggested his own run was nothing to write home about.

“Try looking at my resume before you come at me bro lol,” he wrote. “I’ve fought all the killers at 135 when they were ALL red hot! 3 unranked opponents my UFC career. Watch ya tone and add respect when you talk about my run.”

Whatever you think of O’Malley’s past record, there’ll be no more easy fights for him so long as he holds the bantamweight belt. Merab Dvalishvili is the best 135er in the world without a title, and then if “Suga” wins on September 14th at UFC 306 he has to fight Umar Nurmagomedov next.

It’s killers in the division all the way down to No. 10 ranked Jose Aldo, so time will tell if O’Malley has what it takes to cement his position as a worthy champion in the UFC.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

When Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards to win the Welterweight crown, “The Bully” revealed some grand aspirations. Muhammad announced his intentions of defending the title often, taking on all comers, and jumping up to 185-pounds to dethrone Dricus Du Plessis.

According to most fight fans, the most logical next contender is Shavkat Rakhmonov. The undefeated Kazakh talent has finished all his opponents, and he’s riding a six-fight win streak opposite quality opposition like Geoff Neal and Stephen Thompson. There are other good options like Ian Garry and Jack Della Maddalena, but Muhammad has spent most of his time online talking trash with Kamaru Usman. The former Welterweight kingpin is a great fighter, but he’s lost three in a row and shouldn’t be considered until back in the win column.

Rakhmonov is frustrated. “Nomad” is actively campaigning for his title shot, and based on his recent social media post, it’s not going very well.

He wrote, “After all the talk about being an active champion, truth is Belal isn’t even ready to defend his title this year.”

At the moment, the Welterweight title picture is very up in the air. It could simply be that UFC already has plans for their December pay-per-view (PPV) and needs Muhammad to defend in January, regardless of whether the planned opponent is Usman or Rakhmonov.

Insomnia

This throwback photo of future Polish champions Jan Blachowicz and Joanna Jedrzejczyk is my favorite social media thing I’ve seen in weeks.

Pannie Kianzad lost three in a row to solid competition, but she was still ranked in the Bantamweight Top 15. A somewhat surprising cut?

Take a look at the full undercard for UFC Vegas 98:

Who should Israel Adesanya fight in his return? I think a reasonable step back — like a Brendan Allen or so — would make the most sense.

Demetrious Johnson takes us inside the world of Street Beefs:

Stop sending Ben Askren your Laura Sanko fan mail!

Luke Rockhold and Craig Jones are enjoying that post-competition glow.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I always enjoy when a fighter too lanky for overhands still has a good overhand.

A close range onslaught produces a nasty cut and stoppage victory.

Ducked directly into a full power knee …

Random Land

After and before Korean BBQ.

Midnight Music: Rock, 1973

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Ilia Topuria is pretty darn good.

The undefeated 15-0 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight champion has risen to superstardom just as he anticipated. While all have fallen before him, Topuria still has plenty left to accomplish at age 27.

Regarding his technical prowess and overall skillset, “El Matador” is one of the planet’s more dangerous and complete fighters. For longtime UFC commentator, Joe Rogan, there’s not much, if anything, Topuria does wrong.

“One of the things that is phenomenal about him is his technique,” Rogan said on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast (h/t MMA Junkie). “His technique is perfect. There’s no fat in his technique. There’s no wasted movements, so when an opportunity presents itself, everything is so fast because the technique is so streamlined.

“Look at how he hits the pads, and when you watch how he hits pads — [Floyd] Mayweather is a great example of that, as well,” he concluded. “Some of the best hands in the sport. Current UFC featherweight champion and knocked out [Alexander] Volkanovski, who is maybe the greatest of all time.”

Match ups in mixed martial arts (MMA) don’t get much better than Topuria’s first title defense. He’ll take on the former Featherweight champion and current Baddest Motherf*cker (BMF) champion in UFC 308’s main event on Oct. 26, 2024.

Rogan, who is also a big Holloway fan, surely can’t wait for the likely epic clash

“See how he’s moving his head when a guy throws punches? Slipping just slightly? The speed, man,” Rogan said. “The f*cking speed of that. Look at the hand speed. F*cking incredible. If you know how difficult that is to do and do it that fast. I mean, these are like five, six punches a second and just phenomenal technique.”

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Cris Cyborg will finally get her chance to make her long-awaited Professional Fighters League (PFL) debut on Oct. 29, 2024 when she goes toe-to-toe with the promotion’s reigning women’s featherweight champion, Larissa Pacheco, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It will by Cyborg’s first-fight since dismantling Cat Zingano at Bellator 300 in Oct. 2023 (see it again here), while Pacheco was last seen defeating Marina Mokhnatkina at the finals of the 2023 PFL tournament.

For Pacheco — who is on a 10-fight win streak — facing Cyborg is a huge challenge and would catapult her career, but admits that facing her was never exactly a “dream” because she knew the chances of them ever facing one another were slim since they could never really get in the same organization.

“[This fight] is not a dream for me, it’s not something I’ve looked up to my entire career because she wasn’t even in the PFL until this year,” Pacheco said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “But a friend of mine reminded me that she told me, seven years ago, that she was a fan of Cyborg, and I told her we’d be fighting one day. And it’s happening now.”

Pacheco — who has two big wins over Kayla Harrison — says she knows if she defeats Cyborg the excuses are sure to come up, but it’s something she says won’t bother her since opinions are everywhere. All she knows is that fight fans are in for a treat when the two aggressive strikers throw down.

“We have an idea of how the fight will play out, but we never know for sure,” she continued. “We have a similar style, we’re both aggressive and walk forward the entire time, no turning back. For some people, it’s like a lottery. Who goes down first? I don’t know, it’s hard to say, but all I know is that we’ll both give our all in there. Cris has an unique style and will do everything she can to win, so it’s going to be a historic fight.”

Headlining the “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) fight card will be a heavyweight showdown between PFL champion, Renan Ferreira, and former UFC 265-pound title holder, Francis Ngannou, who will also be making his debut for the promotion.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

White denied the UFC was competing with Canelo Alvarez over Mexican Independence Day weekend, instead pointing to a business dispute with MGM over use of the T-Mobile Arena.

The UFC is going head to head with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day weekend, but the real battle isn’t taking place in the ring or cage, it’s in backrooms between White and MGM executives that manage the T-Mobile Arena.

UFC CEO Dana White spoke on the situation following a Contender Series event on Tuesday (watch highlights from the event here), cooling down rising temperatures between his promotion and Al Haymon, who is promoting Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga on September 14th at T-Mobile. That’s the same night the UFC holds Riyadh Season Noche UFC at the Sphere featuring Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili.

“I don’t think it’s a battle,” White said. “Listen. I said props to Al Heyman, he slid right in there before we were even done with the weekend and took the date from us without MGM telling us. So [MGM Resorts president] Bill Hornbuckle is trying to trying to fix this whole thing. That’s why he gave me the Sphere this year. And I’m sure we’ll get it figured out.”

White made sure to make a distinction between the MGM execs he liked and the MGM execs who are ‘douchebags.’

“When I say MGM, it’s the guys who run [T-Mobile Arena] who have been literally disrespecting us since day one of the relationship. So now Bill Hornbuckle, the guy who runs MGM, had to get in the middle of this thing and try to fix it. That’s how I ended up at the Sphere. It’s a one and done. We’ll be back with MGM, and hopefully Bill can figure this thing out between us and the f—ing guys that run the arena.”

Asked who would have the bigger gate between Noche UFC and the Canelo fight, White shrugged.

“MGM’s guaranteeing the gate for that [Canelo] fight,” he said. “Yeah, they’re guaranteeing the gate. So why would they not go on that date if MGM is gonna put up all the money?”

“Extra kick in the balls? Yeah. That’s what they do. This is what these guys have done for the last however many years. It’s f—ing crazy. There’s a documentary coming out. I lay this s— all out in the documentary. You’ll hear every little detail of what has happened with us in the MGM over the last 23 years. It’s f—ing crazy. You’ll be like, what?”

“I just think that the guy who runs the the arena has been a complete douchebag to us for 23 years. That’s what I think.”

“Hayman and Canelo are just doing their thing,” White concluded. “Props to them. Good for them that you guys could actually slide in and steal the date from us that easily without a phone call, without anything. Good for you. I would too if that’s what I could do. Right? But that’s just a sliver of the disrespect that these guys at the arena have shown us over the last however many years. It’s crazy.”

The whole situation calls into question the UFC’s continued use of the T-Mobile Arena, which is the venue they’ve used for almost every major Las Vegas event since 2017.

“You know, our our deal will be up eventually and we’ll have to figure that out,” White said. “But that’s what I keep telling you, Bill Hornbuckle is in the middle of this thing trying to figure it out and make it better.”

Well Godspeed to you, Bill Hornbuckle. Can’t wait to see the documentary.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It doesn’t seem like Merab Dvalishvili is ever going to be one of UFC CEO Dana White’s favorite employees.

The surging Bantamweight contender is less than three weeks away from the biggest fight of his life, a 25-minute title clash opposite Sean O’Malley that headlines the UFC 306 fight card from inside the Las Vegas Sphere. White has invested a ton of money into the event, and one half of his main event can’t stop doing weird s—t.

A week ago, White buried Dvalishvili for getting cut in training camp and then posting about it online. Seven days later, it’s time for those stitches to come out, and “The Machine” has taken matters into his own hands with a massive pair of scissors. What could go wrong?!?

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s episode of Contenders Series, White was asked about Dvalishvili’s latest antics online. This time, White couldn’t really muster any anger. Instead, the baffled CEO largely laughed it off. “Isn’t he awesome,” White replied when asked about the video of Dvalishvili removing his own stitches. “I think he’s just f—king with me now to be honest with you.”

“Do what you want,” White continued after admitting that he hadn’t spoken to Dvalishvili. “Did you ever see the scissors they take stitches out with? They’re tiny, and they have that thing on there so you don’t cut yourself. They can slide ‘em up under the stitches, you don’t cut yourself. This dude had like f—king bush shears that he was using, trim your bushes with that gardeners use. Whatever, good for him.”

Ultimately, as long as Dvalishvili makes it to fight night, all’s well that ends well?

Insomnia

The Ruotolo brothers are splitting their CJI money.

Demetrious Johnson rolling with top-notch grappler and fellow One Championship athlete, Mikey Musumeci.

Two nice examples of Jack Della Maddalena throwing multiple combinations with the same hand:

Is the shoulder roll on the rise in MMA? Ilia Topuria uses it well, and he’s a new champion likely to terrorize the Featherweight ranks for years to come.

I enjoyed Darren Stewart’s UFC career and wish him “The Dentist” the best in retirement.

Henry Cejudo thinks Bo Nickal would beat Israel Adesanya RIGHT NOW … which would be quite the jump.

There’s less than three weeks for UFC to move almost 3000 tickets for The Sphere. Think it sells out?

Two excellent Featherweight grapplers collide — think we get a kickboxing match?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

This cage side view of Randy Costa’s knockout over Jason Knight is NASTY!

1-2 same side high kick is a beautiful response to a clean body kick landing.

This uppercut was perfectly timed.

Random Land

Street art on the go.

Midnight Music: Soul, 1974

Anecdote of the week: This didn’t quite feel relevant enough to include in the main story section, but I thought I’d share a quick story down here at the bottom. After winning a fight in Tampa and getting a bit busted up in the process, the local ER put a single staple on the top of my head. The woman who stapled my skin together was ex-military and transitioning into civilian care. She advised that it wouldn’t hurt at all and that I could remove the staple myself in about a week, no need to return to a hospital.

Neither statement turned out to be particularly true. A week or so later, I’m sitting on the floor of my bathroom with my girlfriend (now wife), who’s prying on that staple with a pair of tweezers, pliers, and an iPhone flashlight. As she tries to wiggle it free, I can feel my entire scalp moving left and right with her yanks. I eventually am able to detach one half via brute force and then smoothly slide the other hook out.

The cut doesn’t open significantly in the process, so I suppose the tech was right in the end?

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

MMAmania.com – All Posts

Max Holloway is a rare breed.

The Hawaiian all-time great looked like all hope was lost to regain his once-held Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight title after three losses to his fellow former champion, Alexander Volkanovski. That all changed at UFC 300 when Holloway returned to the Lightweight division and dispatched Justin Gaethje with arguably his greatest career performance.

Holloway, 32, picked apart the perennial 155-pound contender and former interim champion over five rounds before a maddening last-second knockout to gain the Baddest Motherf*cker (BMF) championship (watch highlights). The upset win has led Holloway back to a chance for Featherweight gold as he’ll challenge the champion, Ilia Topuria, at UFC 308 on Oct. 26, 2024. Once again, “Blessed” promises to deliver fireworks.

“Everybody thought UFC 300 was amazing. Wait until they get to see the outcome of UFC 308, it’s going to be a good one,” Holloway said on his YouTube channel (h/t MMA Fighting).

“I can’t wait,” he continued. “I’ve been going hard over the last few years trying to regain my throne. A lot of people laughed, but we’ll see who gets the last laugh come October 26.”

Should Holloway get the job done at UFC 308, not only would he become a two-time UFC champion, but he’d add the first blemish to the resume of the flawless 15-0 “Matador” Topuria. Despite having accomplished as much as he already has in his 33-fight career (26-7), the legend is taking things as seriously as ever going forward.

“Never, ever give up,” Holloway said. “A lot of people said I wouldn’t be in this position, I wouldn’t be able to be fighting for the Featherweight title again. And I’m here, and I can’t wait to get it going. Camp is just starting, we’re buckling down, and I’m excited.

“I think this fight is the most anticipated fight in all of this year,” he continued. “A lot of people were looking forward to UFC 300, especially because of with who was on that card, but being [on] UFC 308, me and Ilia, main-eventing, I think this is one of the most anticipated fights of this year and I can’t wait to go out there and show the world.”

MMAmania.com – All Posts

UFC 306, scheduled for Sept. 13 inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, is fast-approaching.

The Riyadh Season Noche UFC event — quite a mouthful — is headlined by a Bantamweight title clash between champion Sean O’Malley and veteran contender Merab Dvalishvili. In addition to being a stellar clash of styles and elite 135-pounders, the fight has plenty of history. O’Malley knocked out Dvalishvili’s team mate and best buddy, Aljamain Sterling, to win the Bantamweight crown (watch here), while Dvalishvili has been calling for a clash with “Suga” for literal years now.

The feud has only grown harsher over the years. Dvalishvili is ready to swing on O’Malley’s head coach, Tim Welch, in addition to the champion, while O’Malley has been adding fuel to the fire by getting nationalistic with the trash talk. Perhaps all that bad blood has O’Malley feeling particularly violent, because his prediction for the bout is getting downright nasty.

“Left hand to the chopper,” O’Malley responded when asked how the fight would go. “Brutally. I know I’m going to hurt him at one point, but then it could turn into a brutal KO. Just an absolute, not a good weight cut, not a good camp, and he just gets slept bad. Like that [Li Jingliang] where it’s just five or six punches just add up and the last one puts him into the canvas snoring, nose crooked, cat screaming MEOW!”

Nobody is surprised that O’Malley expects to win on the feet, but it remains to be seen if he can handle the wrestling of Dvalishvili. “The Machine” has won a ridiculous 10 fights in a row, taking down just about everyone in the process, including Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo.

There’s also the recent element of a cut above the eye Dvalishvili suffered in training. The Georgian talent made the “next-level stupid” decision of posting himself getting stitches, revealing the target to O’Malley. If his eye is busted open early, that could make for a very difficult night of trying to close the distance against the rangy kickboxer.

We’ll find out in just a few weeks whether O’Malley’s prediction is accurate.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

McGregor believes his SBG Ireland teammate and fellow ‘Mac’ has what it takes to cut a bloody swathe through the UFC.

Conor McGregor is throwing his weight behind Danni “Mac” McCormack after her Road to UFC win last weekend.

You may not have even known there were two Road to UFC events on the 23rd of August, given how little the UFC promotes the international prospects tournament in North America. The show typically focuses on Asian talent, but there was an exception: Irish women’s flyweight McCormack, who defeated Qihui Yan via dominant decision.

“I wanted a finish but at least there’s lots of blood and let’s f—in’ fight,” she said after the win. “Because swear to God, that’s who I am. And I don’t know why I’m not already in the UFC because that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 10 fights. That’s who I am whether I win or lose, I f—in’ fight.”

“That’s why I’m playing this game, I don’t care about money, I’m here because I want to get in, get dirty, see who’s f—ing better and get some blood going.”

That interview led SBG Ireland teammate Conor McGregor to call on UFC CEO Dana White to sign another “Mac.”

“THIS IS A PROMO!” McGregor wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “In at the drop of a hat to beat and maul the much bigger girl. Finishing with a call out of the UFC’s current strawweight champion who is from the same region as her just beaten opponent. Magic! IRISH GOER WAR CRY!”

“Dana White announce her signing brother this is magic!”

McCormack is 9-2 as a pro and finished her amateur MMA career at 5-3. UFC matchmakers are aware of her, and after they told her to get some finishes she went and submitted Karolina Wojcik in her previous fight.

That’s probably what got her this last second opportunity on Road to UFC, but will the UFC overlook the lack of a stoppage given how blood and guts “Mac” was (and always is)? We certainly hope so.

UPDATE – It sounds like UFC matchmakers have said nah to Danni:

“No contract has been offered even after Friday night,” McCormack wrote on Instagram. “I have been told to stay ready for a short notic opportunity. If you think I should be signed let it be heard. DENY ME NO LONGER! In the meantime you will find me straight back in camp ready for anyone.”

MMAmania.com – All Posts