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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kamaru Usman is teasing the release of his interview with Belal Muhammad, as long as the UFC champion holds up his end of the bargain.

Muhammad, on his own podcast, recently said that an appearance on Usman and Henry Cejudo’s Pound 4 Pound show went off the rails and that he “verbally broke down Usman” before Usman “tried to get physical.”

According to Usman, Muhammad was one of several guests on that episode, which was recorded in Las Vegas, and he wanted to show respect to the current welterweight titleholder by having him on. He didn’t explain exactly what Muhammad meant by his comments, but said there are plans to release the footage if Muhammad still holds the belt after he fights Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 on Dec. 7.

“In typical Belal fashion, of course, Belal did Belal,” Usman said on his podcast. “So the interview didn’t go as planned. It wasn’t that great of an interview anyways, it wasn’t even that long, but it went the way that it went. That was the biggest moment of his life because that’s all that he seems to want to talk about. I haven’t mentioned it all, because it wasn’t that eventful, but that’s all he seems to want to talk about all the time.

“We hear you, fans, and we will definitely drop the interview if we get really, really low on content, I mean, why not? To be honest, it’s the biggest moment of his life, that’s why he talks about it every second. And if we do drop the interview, it will be the second-biggest moment of his life because it gives him relevance, it gives him a little bit of clout. ‘Look, I was able to maybe tangle with the champ a little bit,’ which wasn’t that eventful. But if he’s able to get through Shavkat Rakhmonov, and we run super, super low on content, why not?”

MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin recently spoke to Muhammad, who said he enjoyed meeting Usman face to face, though he didn’t reveal exactly what went down between them.

“I love anybody that I’m going to get a rise out of because you can tell he takes it personally,” Muhammad said. “He takes everything personally. You’re a champion and you lost your belt, now you’re on a losing streak, now you’ve got that guy that’s better than you, the guy that has the belt, the guy that’s in your division on top and he’s on your podcast that you invited him to.

“Some people, their egos are too big. They can’t sit there and be a professional about it. I think with him, it’s like he’s so used to going back and forth with Colby [Covington], who’s not really good at talking. He’s just stupid, he’s not clever with anything. So when you’ve got somebody that’s intelligent that can treat you and make you look dumb, it’s like, ‘Dang, he got the belt and he got me with words?’ I need to do something to change the rhythm of this whole thing.”

Muhammad and Usman are no strangers to conflict, with Muhammad naming Usman as a potential challenger after defeating Leon Edwards for the welterweight title at UFC 304. Though Usman has lost three straight—including a pair of title fight losses to Edwards—he was a decorated champion in his own right, having successfully defended the 170-pound belt five consecutive times.

However, the UFC eventually announced that the undefeated Rakhmonov would be Muhammad’s first challenger, and it’s a matchup that has Usman intrigued—and ready to face the winner.

“It’s a tremendous fight and I guess rightfully so that’s the fight to make because Shavkat’s a new face,” Usman said. “A guy that’s 18-0, 18 finishes, and has really done the work that you need him to do with the opponents that you put in front of him. So that fight makes sense. We’ve been waiting just for an announcement, just so we can get some movement in that welterweight division and now it seems like we’re finally going to be able to get some clarity.

“As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve got my eye on them. Either one of them, I’ve got my eye on them. Because at some point, either one of them is going to have to come have a conversation with me and I won’t be doing the talking. I’ll be doing the talking in a different way.”

As far as Muhammad is concerned, he still looks forward to the possibility of fighting Usman in the future.

“I hope he does go out there and he fights one of these guys and gets a win because he is a big name in the division, he is a former champion that people look up to and think he’s one of the best to ever do it at welterweight,” Muhammad told MMA Fighting. “For sure, I love fights with build-up like that where I can go back and forth with somebody, making fun of them. There is something there, right?”

Regarding the podcast controversy, Muhammad added, “I think Usman buried it in his backyard or something like that. Somebody needs to dig it up and post it, I don’t know where they’re going with it.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic have accomplished a lot in their UFC careers, which is a pivotal feature of the UFC 309 poster.

The UFC dropped the new poster on Monday, which features headliners Jones, the heavyweight champion, and former titleholder and challenger Stipe Miocic. The event takes place Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Check out the poster below.

The matchup was initially set for UFC 295 this past November, but Jones withdrew due to injury. “Bones” makes his first appearance in 20 months since capturing the heavyweight strap with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 285 in March 2023.

The layoff is even longer for Miocic, who returns to the octagon for the first time since losing the heavyweight title to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021. Miocic seeks his first win in over four years.

In the co-main event, Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler meet for the second time in a five-round lightweight contest.

Check out the current UFC 309 lineup below.

Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – heavyweight title fight

Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler

Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva

Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig

Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders

Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov

Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee

Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson

Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj

Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott

Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura

Charlie Campbell vs. Mauricio Ruffy

Lucas Almeida vs. David Onama

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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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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Top ranked strawweight contender Tatiana Suarez will have to wait until 2025 to make her return after she was forced out of her upcoming fight against Virna Jandiroba, which was scheduled for UFC 310 on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas.

Sources told MMA Fighting on Monday that Suarez is dealing with a health issue that will prevent her from competing in December in what was expected to be a No. 1 contender’s bout at 115 pounds. MMA Melotto first reported the news.

It’s an unfortunate setback for Suarez, who has long been considered a popular pick as a future champion in the UFC but health problems have continued to plague her career. After she dispatched Nina Nunes back in 2019, Suarez appeared on the cusp of title contention but injuries kept her sidelined for more than three years.

When she finally returned to action, Suarez jumped right back into the deep end of the waters with a submission win over Montana De La Rosa at flyweight and then finishing former UFC champion Jessica Andrade to earn a Performance of the Night bonus back in August 2023.

Suarez was then scheduled to face Amanda Lemos in February but an injury knocked her out of that matchup before she was then set to clash with Jandiroba in December.

Sadly now that fight has also been cancelled.

There’s no word yet on how long Suarez is expected to be sidelined after falling out of her upcoming fight in December. It’s unclear if Jandiroba plans to remain on the UFC 310 card against a new opponent or potentially wait for a future date to compete again.

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