Chael Sonnen is in Jorge Masvidal’s territory for UFC 299 fight week.

The biggest MMA event of the weekend will go down in Miami, Fla., on Saturday night, featuring a big-time title fight rematch between the bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera. In town to fulfill his usual media obligations as an analyst, the three-time UFC title challenger Sonnen is currently kept in isolation for safety purposes.

According to Sonnen, Miami native and fellow multi-time UFC title challenger, Masvidal, has put him on a hit list that’s led to some threats of an unspecified nature.

“I am at a separate location than everybody else with two security guards because I have been threatened by Jorge Masvidal,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “I gotta tell you, I went into the tough guy business very early so that I would never have to worry about the very situation that I find myself in right now. There’s guys out there that I would have to worry about, but there’s extremely few and I’m never going to run into one of them outside of a cage because no man would be that foolish — is why a young Chael Sonnen was inspired to learn at some point how to defend himself. Yet here I am with two guys that will not allow me to leave my own room.”

Sonnen, a former middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight competitor, noted that the security precautions weren’t his choice before making some comparisons to his time in Brazil during his rivalries with Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva. “The American Gangster,” 46, retired from active competition after a second-round TKO loss to Lyoto Machida in June 2019.

Masvidal, 39, retired after a fourth consecutive defeat at welterweight when on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against Gilbert Burns. The fight coincidentally came at the UFC’s last Miami show before this weekend, UFC 287 in April 2023.

In that period, Masvidal has closed his assault case with bitter rival Colby Covington and let it be known he’s coming out of retirement in 2024. Ideally, “Gamebred” would like a boxing match with either Sonnen or the last man he defeated, Nate Diaz, which came at UFC 244 via third-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage) in November 2019. In the case of Sonnen specifically, Masvidal recently expressed his strong disdain for Sonnen when he highlighted his past use of PEDs amongst various other insults.

Sonnen has shown no indication of wanting to unretire, but Masvidal has certainly demanded his attention if this week is anything to go by.

“I don’t think Jorge Masvidal would do anything, but I’m not certain. I’m not positive,” Sonnen said with a laugh. “There’s a part of me that also knows he would. He’s done it before, but I don’t fully know how we got here. I know why I am not happy with Jorge Masvidal. Because he went on Ariel’s show and said that he was not happy with me. I know why I’m bothered by Mavidal, but I don’t know why he’s bothered with me.

“It’s a very hard thing to imagine. Could you imagine not liking Chael? I’m a charming guy. Charismatic guy. Loyalty and honor and respect. You could apply all of those things to me and Masvidal finds that the Chael charm is not quite as powerful as some. Therefore, I sit before you in a secluded room with my own pool and hot tub.”

TOP STORIES

Odd. ‘Hilarious’: Pros react to Cédric Doumbé losing first fight in freaky fashion

Three? Sean O’Malley open to Chito Vera trilogy after UFC 299, Vera threatens to ‘take his head off’

Friendship. Francis Ngannou reveals he was $ 200K in debt to Kamaru Usman before final UFC fight

Assessment. Junior dos Santos wants Francis Ngannou to beat Anthony Joshua, but sees Renan Ferreira as ‘more skilled’ in MMA

Winners. PFL Europe results, live stream: Doumbé vs. Chamsoudinov

Prediction. Matt Brown: If Francis Ngannou lands same punch that dropped Tyson Fury, ‘I don’t think Joshua gets back up’

Update. UFC extends Venum apparel partnership through 2029

Plan. Jailton Almeida to call for Tom Aspinall title fight with win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 301

War. Benoit Saint Denis’ coach reflects on remarkable road to Dustin Poirier fight

Challengers. Sean O’Malley ‘100 percent’ will fight Merab Dvalishvili on short notice at UFC 299 if needed

VIDEO STEW

Between the Links.

UFC 299 Pre-fight presser staredowns.

UFC 299 Pre-fight presser.

O’Malley vs. Vera 2 predictions.

Joshua vs. Ngannou pre-show.

Embedded 4.

UFC Connected: Kevin Holland.

Best of Poirier.

One last time for Janet Todd.

Highlights of ONE Fight Night 20 fighters.

O’Malley fight camp.

Behind Burns’ fight week.

Pereira and Seagal…

MORNING MUSIC

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Wild PFL highlights.

Travel.

When in Miami.

Countdown.

Friendly.

Quote.

This does not feel like a PFL event.

Yikes.

Lol.

Mamba.

The afro is taking on a life of its own.

Diamond.

That would have been fun.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chepe Mariscal (15-6-1) vs. Morgan Charriere (19-9-1); UFC Vegas 90, April 6

Manel Kape (19-6) vs. Matheus Nicolau (19-3-1); UFC Vegas 91, April 27

FINAL THOUGHTS

This has become such a hilariously one-sided beef that I never would have expected. I get why Jorge would be upset by or about Chael and what have you, but how much he said about him was the surprising part. As much as I’d love to, I don’t think we’ll see any Chael comebacks.

Happy Friday, gang. Crazy day and weekend of action. Enjoy and I’ll see you Monday. Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

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Michael ‘Venom’ Page reveals positive discussions with UFC that led him to sign with the promotion.

During his career, Page has been one of the bigger names outside of the UFC but this weekend he will make his first walk for the promotion. He will take on Kevin Holland on the main card of UFC 299 in Miami, Florida – a big name and a big spot for someone making their debut. 

Michael Venom Page plots title win after UFC 299

Spending the majority of his career at Bellator, Michael Venom Page revealed that the UFC had actually reached out before he had officially become a free agent. 

“Interestingly enough, their first reach out was kind of a mistake on their part, because it kind of showed their interest,” Michael Venom Page told assembled media ahead of UFC 299. “Basically, when I did my bare-knuckle fight, and I announced I was going my bare-knuckle fight, people reached out, ‘Does that mean he’s a free agent?’ Obviously the UFC reached out like, ‘Is he a free agent?’ So we’re like, oh, somebody’s interested, huh?”

Now 36, Page is entering the tail end of his career and will need to make his time with the promotion count. The Englishman’s sights are set firmly at the top and fully expects to reach the welterweight title. 

“I don’t do things just to make up numbers,” Page said. “We’re here for the belt. I’m here to get the bling. Getting to the top is key, which is why I start with somebody the likes of Kevin Holland. It needs to be that type of challenge. I don’t have time to try to build myself up, and I don’t need to. That was a conversation that I had with the UFC. They were equally in agreement with that and I think they’ve shown their intentions by giving me Kevin Holland first.”

According to Page, the UFC appreciate the marketability of the London Shootfighters’ striker and is aligned with his goals. 

“The reason I got a fighter of this standard, this level is their intentions align with mine of wanting to be at the top,” Michael Venom Page continued. “I always say the added value I think I bring is I’m very capable of marketing myself without anybody. I’m very good, I’m very aware of how to utilize certain spaces to help market myself, and I think they understand me with a title and my brain, and how to market as well, it’s great for everybody, all parties involved. So definitely, this win will put me up there.”

How far will Michael Venom Page go in the UFC?

LowKickMMA.com

UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

At the UFC 299 official weigh-ins, all 28 fighters on Saturday’s fight card will step on the scale early Friday morning in Miami. Watch a live stream of the official weigh-ins above.

In the main event, bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera can weigh no more than 135 pounds, the maximum allowed for their bantamweight title fight.

In the co-main event, Dustin Poirier and Benoit Saint Denis are limited to 156 pounds for their non-title lightweight fight.

The UFC 299 official weigh-ins will start at 9 p.m. ET, and the video is above.

The UFC 299 ceremonial weigh-ins will be at 5 p.m. ET.

Check out UFC 299 weigh-in results below.

Main card (ESPN+PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera

Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis

Kevin Holland vs. Michael Page

Gilbert Burns vs. Jack Della Maddalena

Petr Yan vs. Song Yadong

Prelims (ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida

Katlyn Cerminara vs. Maycee Barber

Mateusz Gamrot vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Pedro Munhoz vs. Kyler Phillips

Prelims (ESPN/ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)

Ion Cutelaba vs. Philipe Lins

Michel Pereira vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

Robelis Despaigne vs. Josh Parisian

CJ Vergara vs. Assu Almabayev

Joanne Wood vs. Maryna Moroz

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Joshua vs. Ngannou live stream online will feature some of the early action from Knockout Chaos at the Freedom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday afternoon.

The portion for this card as of follows:

Jack McGann vs. Louis Greene

Roman Fury vs. Martin Svarc

Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Christian Lopez Flores

Andrii Novytski vs. Juan Torres

After this portion of the card, the event will turn into a pay-per-view on DAZN and PPV.com at 1 p.m. ET. The event will be headlined by a colossal showdown between Anthony Joshua and former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.

Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 knockouts) has reeled off three straight wins, including two knockouts. He dispatched Otto Wallin via fifth-round knockout this past December.

Francis Ngannou (0-1) knocked down Tyson Fury in his first pro boxing fight this past October but fell short via split decision. Ngannou is a former UFC heavyweight champion and is currently signed with the PFL for mixed martial arts.

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Predictions
| BJPenn.com

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