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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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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The light heavyweight division might crown a new No. 1 contender at UFC 308 when Magomed Ankalaev faces Aleksandar Rakic, but recently retired UFC veteran Matt Brown believes 205-pound champion Alex Pereira should hold out hope for another option instead.

As much as Ankalaev appears to be the rightful challenger with a 12-fight unbeaten streak, Pereira has options available to him after defending his belt three times in 2024, which included stepping up when the UFC needed him on a couple different occasions. Because Pereira likely has enough sway right now to call his shot for what comes next, Brown says the Brazilian champion should just wait a few weeks to see if Jon Jones gets through Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 and find out of that’s a fight that could be available for him.

“You wait,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Everybody’s correct. The person that loses in all of this unfortunately is Ankalaev. He’s done all the right things, especially if he goes out and beats Rakic, does all the right things and he gets f*cked and it’s not even a big name or anything. But yeah, if you’re Alex Pereira, you don’t need to give a f*ck about Ankalaev’s life. You’re dealing with your own shit.

“You absolutely go up to heavyweight, 100 percent. There’s never been a three-weight champion so be the first or shoot for those stars. You can always come back and fight Ankalaev later. Absolutely go for it.”

Having already conquered the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, Pereira has teased his interest in potentially moving to heavyweight but admitted after his most recent win over Khalil Rountree Jr. that the process would take some time.

Despite his height and large frame, Pereira still needs to add some more size and muscle to deal with much bigger opponents but a chance to tangle with arguably the greatest fighter of all-time might be too tempting to resist.

On the flipside, Jones has teased that his fight against Miocic could be the final appearance of his career. Still, Brown can’t help but wonder if the potential for a matchup against Pereira might just be exactly the kind of opportunity that keeps the reigning UFC heavyweight champion around for a little while longer.

“I don’t doubt this could be as big as any Conor [McGregor] fight,” Brown said. “This could be promoted to the max. They could do it [International] Fight Week or one of the gigantic cards maybe at the Sphere, something crazy. This could be enormous. Jon’s a smart guy. He’s here for the money now, I think. Legacy and money and Alex is going to bring that. It could be promoted as much as you want to promote. This could be the money fight. It’s heavyweight, too. Heavyweight fights always bring a stigma to them that those lighter fights just don’t bring. Like Conor obviously brought the trash talk and all the antics, the funny stuff and the cool stuff, there’s a certain aura when Conor comes into the cage.

“But there’s a different aura that can be sold here when Jon Jones, the greatest of all-time, who just beat the greatest heavyweight of all-time — assuming that happens — fighting another guy trying to do the biggest thing of all-time, [become] a three-weight world champion. I can’t think of a bigger fight outside of Conor, but I think it could be as big as any Conor fight.”

With Jones scheduled to fight Miocic in November, Brown pitched the idea that Pereira should be front and center for that matchup to start building towards an eventual showdown next year.

Pereira staring a hole through Jones might not materialize into a fight but Brown feels like it’s too enticing of an opportunity to pass on given the current landscape in the UFC.

“Be there at [Madison Square Garden] and whatever happens, happens. As long as Jon wins, we can set this up,” Brown said. “Usually when the main event ends, we all turn it off or people start leaving the stadium. Alex Pereira walks in there, people might turn around and go back to their seat.

“If Jon goes out there and wins, the stars have f*cking aligned perfectly to have a super explosion. Again, I think it could be the biggest fight since Conor. I think it could match Conor’s [fights]. How much fun could you have with the promoting of this? So many routes you could take. So many angles you could take. What two perfect guys to be promoting, too. I love listening to Jon Jones talk shit. He’s so stoic with it, serious and Alex is the perfect rival to it. The perfect guy to talk back. The press conferences, everything about this just says money in the bag.”

That said, Brown heavily favors Jones to win should that fight actually happen but perhaps an even bigger obstacle to that potential matchup awaits at UFC 309.

“Realistically though, it’s hard to think that Jon Jones make this a pretty easy fight [with Alex Pereira],” Brown said. “Take him down, elbow his face, get your money, go home, probably not a scratch on you. It’s hard to believe that’s not how this ends.

“Jon Jones has got to get through Stipe first. Let’s not forget that. Stipe is not a walkover. Stipe is not an easy fight. He’s got to get through him first. [Jon Jones] hasn’t been tested like that at heavyweight. Don’t discount Stipe shocking everybody and being like “f*ck your Jon Jones-Alex Pereira fight.’”

Listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday with audio only versions of the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Fight fans all around the world will be eagerly waiting the main event of UFC 308 this Saturday when Ilia Topuria looks to defend the featherweight belt against Max Holloway. One man that will be paying especially close attention is Alexander Volkanovski who will be in attendance at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

The former champion chose to take some time off instead of going into a rematch with Topuria after he lost the title in February. Having faced both men in the past, he’s now looking to fight for the belt once again following the result of the headliner on October 26.

However, along with only wanting to fight for gold next time out, Volkanovski has a specific date and location in mind for his return. The UFC recently announced that on February 9, the Octagon will return to Sydney, Australia.

Wanting a title fight on his home turf could be impacted by who comes out on top in the 145-pound title fight this weekend. In a recent YouTube video, Volkanovski said that Holloway reclaiming the gold may lead to an interim title fight due to the BMF belt that “Blessed” already holds.

The prospect of a fight between “The Great” and the backup fighter this weekend, Diego Lopes, has been spoken about in the past and would seemingly fit this card well based on Lopes’ previous statements.

“Obviously, I wanted Sydney right, I want to fight in Sydney. If Max wins, does he fight in Sydney? I think he does, I think he would fight in Sydney but is he going to do BMF? Is he going to do lightweight? I doubt he’s going to want to do a featherweight straight away. I reckon he’s going to want to do lightweight, I’m just trying to be realistic with this one. So does that open doors for an interim? Yeah, I think so because I want to fight in Sydney and obviously I did that when I was doing the lightweight thing. I let them boys, Josh Emmett and Yair do their interim fight so I’m sure that’s something we could do and while he does his thing and then we just fight whenever we can.”

Volkanovski also stated that his hopes of fighting in Sydney will likely go out the window if Topuria retains this weekend with bringing the belt back to Spain being a key priority for the UFC right now.

“If Ilia wins, does he fight in Sydney? No, let’s be real. He’s not going to fight in Sydney.”

Continue Reading Alexander Volkanovski Says Max Holloway Win At UFC 308 Could Lead To Interim Title Fight at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Merab Dvalishvili already convincingly beat Sean O’Malley. But if they fight again, Dvalishvili is confident he can do even better.

It took five rounds for Dvalishvili to best O’Malley and win the bantamweight championship this past September at UFC 306. While O’Malley has disputed the result, he spent the majority of the contest defending against Dvalishvili’s relentless wrestling, so there was little controversy surrounding the scoring.

Dvalishvili’s first title defense is yet to be booked, though he and O’Malley have both spoken about the possibility of an immediate rematch. The champion gave his reasoning for a second O’Malley fight on an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show.

“I’m in, 100 percent,” Dvalishvili said. “When I saw the first time he wants to do rematch, I said let’s fight in November. Even though I’m here, I’m working with UFC, I can fight him—I know he’s not ready now, but that’s why I told him let’s fight in November. We already fought, and I know his game, his power, everything, no problem. I can fight him back and now I will not kiss him, I will finish him, and I will take care of him. I go easy on him the first time, so now this time I will destroy him.”

O’Malley is unlikely to return to action soon, with the fighter recently announcing that hip surgery could keep him sidelined until summer 2025. At best, he hopes to be back in March.

Should they eventually rematch, Dvalishvili vowed to not take it easy on O’Malley and promised a finish.

“Actually, I wanted to finish him fifth round, but [referee] Herb Dean, when I took [O’Malley] down, I was waiting,” Dvalishvili said. “Sean was supposed to move and I either choke him or punch him hard and try to finish him, Herb Dean told me to work and I let go. I changed the position and he told me again, ‘You’ve got to work,’ and then I let go, what should I do, and I let him get up. Then I took a long time to take him down again in the fifth round, otherwise I was going to finish him fifth round, but Herb Dean made me let go.”

“This time, I’m going to try finish him early. I was trying to finish him fifth round, but it doesn’t work out that way. This time, I will finish him early. Now he’s saying he wants to finish me or he will do better, OK, that’s interesting me more if he will do it. If people are interested, I’m in.”

A Dvalishvili-O’Malley rematch became more likely following rumors that undefeated contender Umar Nurmagomedov is in talks to fight Song Yadong rather than challenge for the title. Nurmagomedov was in attendance at UFC 306 seemingly to build to a matchup, but Dvalishvil’s team has been reluctant to anoint Nurmagomedov as the No. 1 option, a situation that has generated criticism.

Dvalishvili wants it to be clear that he will fight Nurmagomedov or anyone else if that’s what the matchmakers call for.

“I have no problem,” Dvalishvili said. “Whoever the UFC will offer me, I will fight. I never choose my opponent, and I’m going to continue same. I never have an option like this to say I’m going to fight him or him, I was never in this situation before and I don’t think any different now.”

TOP STORIES

Sigh. Tatiana Suarez is out of her UFC 310 fight against Virna Jandiroba.

Giant. Francis Ngannou’s coach Eric Nicksick breaks down the heavyweight star’s PFL debut.

Rankings. Does Ngannou regain the No. 1 spot at heavyweight after his win?

Spoiler? Is Max Holloway about to bring an abrupt end to Ilia Topuria’s title reign?

Imitation Game. Conor McGregor calls out Ilia Topuria for biting his style.

Tapes. Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad are both saying they had a physical confrontation that was filmed, but is yet to be released.

Air Khamzat. Khamzat Chimaev shows off his hops on the first episode of UFC 308 Embedded.

Hate. Bruno “Blindado” Silva really, really, really cannot stand Chris Weidman.

Why Not? ONE Championship fighter “wins” boxing match with extremely illegal head kick.

VIDEO STEW

Mike Heck chats with Coach Nicksick.

Get to know the slappers.

“Mighty Mouse” breaks down Saturday’s main event.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

Severe MMA. Sean Sheehan and Graeme McDonnell break down PFL Battle of the Giants and take a victory lap over Paul Hughes’ impressive performance.

Anik & Florian. Jon Anik and Kenny Florian chat with Daniel Cormier and Dan Ige, plus coaches Eric Nicksick and Ray Longo.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Back to the ring?

PFL has a star in Paul Hughes.

Hard work, but someone’s gotta do it.

Underground.

Why not?

Ageless.

Pain.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Are there any UFC champions right now properly building up their rightful contenders? Dvalishvili is playing coy with all the Nurmagomedov talk, Julianna Peña is trolling Kayla Harrison, Ilia Topuria is feuding with Belal Muhammad (?) and barely hyping up the fight that’s just days away, and let’s not even get started on Jon Jones.

These folks at the top have earned their spots, but all of this anti-promotion gets exhausting after a while.

EXIT POLL

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

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Matchmaking
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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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