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The opening matches of the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 event are free to watch right here.

UFC’s sixth Fight Pass Invitational grappling event kicks off tonight (Sun., March 3, 2024) at 9 p.m. ET and features some pretty heavy hitters.

Craig Jones and Rafael Lovato are headlining the card in an Absolute class match-up. In the co-main, Nicky Rodriguez takes on Roberto Jimenez (also at Absolute). And to round things out, Nicholas Meregali vs. Matheus Diniz is also looking good.

All you need to tune into the main card action is a UFC Fight Pass account. But, if you want a little taste of what’s to come, you can get that on YouTube, where UFC is streaming some of the opening matches.

Checkout the full card below, and make sure to check out MMAmania.com’s live results and highlights from the event.

Absolute: Craig Jones vs. Rafael Lovato
Absolute: Nicky Rodriguez vs. Roberto Jimenez
Absolute: Nicholas Meregali vs. Matheus Diniz
215 pounds.: Mason Fowler vs. Pedro Marinho
Absolute: Victor Hugo vs. Roosevelt Sousa
175 pounds.: Ronaldo Junior vs. Kody Steele
185 pounds.: Jay Rodriguez vs. Mateo Cardona
125 pounds.: Gigi Canuto vs. Denise Gomes
165 pounds.: Ben Eddy vs. Shane Shapiro
145 pounds: Raquel Canuto vs. Karol Rosa

For the latest and greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu news and notes click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

With UFC 299 less than a week away, the countdown is on until Sean O’Malley makes his first defense of the UFC bantamweight title against Marlon “Chito” Vera.

Watch the UFC 298 Countdown video above.

O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) faces Vera (23-8-1) in a long-awaited rematch on March 9 at the Kaseya Center in Miami in the main event of UFC 299. Vera previously defeated O’Malley via first-round TKO in August 2020 at UFC 252. That result remains the lone loss on O’Malley’s professional MMA record.

O’Malley, 29, captured the UFC bantamweight title in August 2023 with a second-round knockout of longtime champion Aljamain Sterling. That victory capped off a six-fight unbeaten streak that also saw “Sugar” capture a decision win over Petr Yan, plus knockouts of Raulian Paiva, Kris Moutinho, and Thomas Almeida.

Vera, 31, has won five of his past six bouts heading into his first UFC title opportunity. Included in that run are highlight-reel knockouts of Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz, as well as decisions over Rob Font and Pedro Munhoz.

UFC 298 Countdown previews O’Malley vs. Vera 2 as well as two other featured fights on Saturday’s card, Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis and Kevin Holland vs. Michael Page.

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Francis Ngannou believes he has the power to knock out anyone, including Anthony Joshua.

On Friday, March 8, the former UFC heavyweight champion returns to the boxing ring five months removed from his critically acclaimed showing against WBC titleholder Tyson Fury in October. Though he came up short, suffering a razor-close and highly contestable split decision, Ngannou’s performance was good enough to land him in the No. 10 spot on the WBC rankings.

Returning to Riyadh, Ngannou will face top-ranked contender Anthony Joshua in a bout appropriately dubbed Knockout Chaos.

Speaking with Andy Scott of Sky Sports days before their highly anticipated scrap at Kingdom Arena, Ngannou shared some insight into his training camp and how he’s feeling before once again strapping on the eight-ounce gloves.

“I’m feeling good. Very excited,” Ngannou said. “I finished my training yesterday. It’s been a tough eight weeks to get here and feeling like you’ve done everything that you should have done is amazing. I can’t wait for the fight now.”

Ngannou’s performance against Tyson Fury was nothing short of spectacular. Going into the contest as a massive underdog, ‘The Predator’ had no problem standing and trading with ‘The Gypsy King’ for 10 rounds, and even scored a knockdown against the P4P great in the third round.

Asked how he plans to prepare for Joshua in contrast to how he trained for the Fury fight, Ngannou said:

“Tyson Fury is very slick. He has a lot of footwork and a lot of body movement, but at the end of the day, I think it’s the same. When you train for Tyson Fury, the same thing goes with Anthony Joshua. You just have to note his power punch, but I think it’s basically the same. Good footwork, step back. All that stuff.”

When it comes to power, few hit harder than Francis Ngannou. Between 2015 and 2022, he scored 12 victories under the UFC banner with 11 of them coming by way of knockout, including wins over former world champions Andrei Arlovski, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, and Stipe Miocic.

“I believe if I land on anybody, I’ll knock him out,” Ngannou added. “The question is, how to land? That’s the hardest thing. Everyone in this division… Almost everybody here can knock everyone out, but you learn how to carry that power and that energy from the first round to the fifth round and 10 rounds and still be able to hit somebody hard or knock somebody out after all the fatigue and everything. It’s a chess game.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Nine-fight UFC veteran Jamie Pickett has called it a career.

Pickett faced Eryk Anders in the featured prelim of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 87 event at the UFC APEX, where he dropped a unanimous decision. During his walkout, UFC play-by-play announcer Jon Anik revealed that Pickett would be making the walk to the octagon — or any cage — for the final time, as he was set to retire.

Following his fifth consecutive loss, Pickett confirmed his desire to close the book on his MMA career during his post-fight media scrum.

“I got a 6-year-old, I got kids who count on me, my little girls,” Pickett said. “I want to be a positive role model in their lives. I want to show them, I want to help guide them through life, navigate through the world — but I can’t do it if I’m messed up from fighting.

“My body’s just not holding up. And I love the sport, I’m very appreciative the UFC for letting me fight out my contract. And if they came right now and told me they’d give more another two contracts, the answer would still be the same.”

Pickett said he came into the sport a little too late in his life and got banged up a bit too much along the way. The 35-year-old ends his career with a 13-11 pro record. He went 2-7 in the UFC after earning a contract on his third attempt on the promotion’s Contender Series.

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A flyweight bout with massive implications in the division was featured on Saturday’s UFC Vegas 87 fight card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.  

Seventh-ranked Alex Perez took on eighth-ranked Muhammad Mokaev in a fight that would determine which one moved on to contender status.  Former title challenger Perez entered the bout coming off back-to-back losses to Alexandre Pantoja and Deiveson Figueiredo.  Mokaev made the walk to the octagon sporing an undefeated record.  

Mokaev connected first with a leg kick.  He pressed forward with an uppercut.  Perez came up short with a combination.  Mokaev connected with another leg kick.  Both men were throwing punches to end the fight.  They clinched and Mokaev looked to get the fight to the ground.  Perez defended the attempt.  Mokaev looked for another takedown and Perez again countered it.  Perez landed a right hand and Mokaev worked to get the fight to the ground.  He eventually did with just under a minute remaining.  Mokaev delivered a series of left hands.  Mokaev closed the round strong and it was likely enough to win the round.  

Mokaev quickly looked for a takedown.  Perez remained standing but Mokaev kept the pressure on.  They separated and Mokaev stumbled to the canvas.  Perez connected with a leg kick as Mokaev worked to stand.  Perez pressed forward and landed a left hand.  Mokaev tried to get Perez down but Perez defended the attempt.  Mokaev continued to look for a takedown before separating.  Mokaev landed to the body.  Perez closed the distance and clinched.  Perez stuffed another takedown attempt.  

The second round was difficult to score and the fight may have been even heading into the final frame.  

Mokaev landed a right hand early in the last round.  Perez pressured Mokaev.  Mokaev dropped down looking for a takedown but Perez defended it.  Mokaev briefly got Perez down but Perez quickly got to his feet.  Mokaev elevated Perez and slammed him to the canvas.  Perez worked his way to his feet.  Perez defended another takedown attempt and pressed forward.  Perez has defended double-digit takedown attempts.  They separated with 75 seconds left on the clock.  Mokaev dropped down for a takedown and Perez shook off the attempt.  

The fight went the distance and the judges scored the bout for Mokaev.  All three scorecards read 29-28.  

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Tafa brothers substitution circle is complete.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Justin Tafa will now face Karl Williams at UFC Vegas 89, which takes place March 23 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. Tafa replaces his brother Junior Tafa after Junior previously replaced Justin on just 24 hours’ notice at UFC 298 in February to face Marcos Rogerio de Lima. MMA Mania was first to report the switch.

Justin Tafa suffered an undisclosed injury during UFC 298 fight week ahead of his scheduled matchup with de Lima before his younger brother stepped up and was stopped in the bout. The elder Tafa is unbeaten in has past four outings, including three first-round knockout victories.

Williams enters the bout on a six-fight win streak, including victories in his first two promotional appearances against Lukasz Bzreski and Chase Sherman.

UFC Vegas 89 will be headlined by a women’s flyweight bout between former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and Amanda Ribas.

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