The UFC’s International Fight Week has its marquee event.
On Saturday, the promotion officially announced via press release that UFC 303 is scheduled to take place on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as part of its 12th Annual International Fight Week. The festivities also include this year’s UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the two-day UFC X fan event, which takes place on June 28 and June 29.
No fights have been made official for UFC 303, though one major name was tentatively tied to the pay-per-view event.
Former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor recently announced that he would take on longtime rival Michael Chandler in a middleweight bout on June 29, but according to Chandler and UFC CEO Dana White, that date was never set in stone and plans for McGregor remain in limbo. White has said he hopes McGregor will fight before the end of the year, possibly in the fall.
This is the second UFC pay-per-view scheduled to take place in June, with UFC 302 set for Prudential Center in Newark, N.J on June 1. The promotion also heads to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a Fight Night event one week before UFC 303.
Former lightweight title chaser, Nate Diaz has sights now fixed on a return to the Octagon at UFC 306 on September 14. at the Las Vegas Sphere – targeting a comeback to active competition on Mexican Independence Day later this year.
Diaz, a former undisputed lightweight title challenger and Ultimate Fighter winner, had been linked continually with a return at a massive UFC 300 card in April, however, despite his intentions to fight on the monumental card, revealed a return the card would come to fruition.
Sidelined from the Octagon since he headlined UFC 279 back in September 2022, Diaz exited his promotional contract with a win, landing a rallying stoppage over former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson – with a fourth round guillotine choke in an impromptu welterweight showdown.
Making a brief move to professional boxing in the time since, last August, Diaz suffered a decision loss to the outspoken, Jake Paul – over the course of 10 rounds in Texas.
And linked with a comeback fight against long-time foe, Dustin Poirier, as well as former duel-weight champion and two-time opponent, Conor McGregor, Diaz has laid out a marker for his immediate fighting plans.
Nate Diaz targets UFC 306 return, Las Vegas Sphere fight
Confirming their debut and apparent once-off outing at the Las Vegas Sphere later this year, the promotion is set to bring a UFC 306 pay-per-view card in September – which Stockton veteran Diaz appears to want a part of.
“I’ll be here f*ck 300,” Nate Diaz posted on his official X account, accompanied by an image of the Las Vegas Phere draped in the Mexico flag.
I’ll be here fuck 300 pic.twitter.com/CEcskGli7F
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) February 25, 2024
Who would you like to see Nate Diaz fight in a potential UFC 306 comeback?
Sean Strickland would love the opportunity to face Jake Paul in the boxing ring, but it seems highly unlikely that will ever happen — at least not while he’s under UFC contract.
The former middleweight champion got into a war of words with Paul recently following a sparring match where he battered a social influencer named Sneako, which caught the attention of the 8-1 boxer. Paul made a $ 1 million offer to fly Strickland down to his training camp in Puerto Rico for a fight, but that idea was shot down rather quickly.
Strickland claimed he asked the UFC for permission to accept the challenge but that UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell shot him down, and added that Paul “sells no fights.”
UFC legend Randy Couture, who has often butted heads with his former employer, wishes that the promotion would at least entertain the idea about the matchup, but he knows even with potential financial gain on the line, it’s highly unlikely they’d sign off on the deal.
“Probably not,” Couture told MMA Fighting about the UFC allowing Strickland to fight Paul. “It depends. If Sean Strickland took the tactic like Conor McGregor did and brought them in to benefit and make money off this endeavor, maybe there’s a negotiation to be had. I think your assessment is probably accurate, they’re probably never going to let that happen.”
The UFC served as a promoter alongside McGregor back in 2017 when he fought Floyd Mayweather in one of the biggest boxing pay-per-views of all-time. It’s doubtful that Strickland and Paul could pull anywhere near those types of numbers, but it’s still a fight people would pay to see.
As far as the matchup goes, Couture cautions Strickland that despite his vast overall experience advantage in combat sports, Paul has proven to be a capable boxer through the first nine fights of his career.
Now if Strickland was allowed to endure a full training camp where he only focused on boxing rather than MMA, Couture expects that would definitely even up the score.
“I think Jake has shown he has skills, that he can back up the rhetoric and the talk,” Couture said. “Obviously, he’s beaten some very, very good guys. I think Sean Strickland has a very strong striking background. He brings that to every single MMA match. We saw what he did against [Israel] Adesanya and the way he solved the problem there. Give him time to have a good, full camp in boxing, and I think he would do very, very well against Jake Paul.
“It would be a very interesting matchup. Jake’s maybe a little bigger, maybe a little stronger, but I think they’re very similar in size. Whereas Nate Diaz, in my opinion, wasn’t big enough. He didn’t have the ass, frankly, to bring the power to match Jake Paul in the matchup. I kind of thought Anderson Silva would do better against Jake Paul because he’s got a very strong striking background as well.”
Couture commends Paul for backing up everything he says in the ring, which has led to him becoming one of the most talked about names in combat sports, whether anybody likes it or not.
That being said, Couture would love to see Strickland get the chance to land that fight — and earn a hefty seven-figure payday in the process.
“You can’t take away anything from Jake Paul and what he’s doing in the ring,” Couture said. “Strickland has earned his right to be here. I think it would be an interesting matchup and a lot of eyeballs would tune into watching those two get after it.”
Couture also addressed the sparring session between Strickland and the social influencer, which took place in the same gym that bears Couture’s name in Las Vegas.
Paul blasted Strickland for beating up an inexperienced opponent, but also took a shot at the former UFC champion for hammering away with punches but not actually earning a knockdown during the session.
For his part, Couture defended Strickland’s decision to engage in the sparring match and he saw nothing wrong with the way everything unfolded.
“This kid that [Strickland] beat up, I don’t even know who this kid was but he talks a lot of smack and that’s something Jake is familiar with,” Couture said. “I thought that was a justified beating in the boxing ring. He wasn’t teeing off on him, and Jake’s criticism was, ‘You couldn’t even knock down a guy that isn’t a fighter.’ I don’t think Strickland was trying to knock him down.
“If he wanted to knock him out or knock him down, I think he would have. I think he was teaching him a lesson and dragging it out as long as he needed to, to get the point across. That’s how I saw that whole thing.”
Sean O’Malley has long shared a desire to one day step into the boxing ring and compete with some of the world’s best, but he may now have that chance without having to leave the octagon.
‘Sugar’ has cemented himself as one of the most notable stars in the sport and hopes to continue his rise to stardom in the future. With a title defense opportunity on the way and a potential champion vs. champion matchup against Ilia Topuria, the bantamweight king has many options ahead of him, including a wild crossover fight.
In a post on social media, Ryan Garcia pleaded with Dana White to allow him to enter the octagon in hopes of securing a blockbuster clash against Sean O’Malley.
“I’d fight Sean O’Malley in the UFC that’s it,” Garcia stated in a post online. “But Dana, you’d have to cut me that real check.”
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A post shared by Ryan Garcia (@kingryan)
Ryan Garcia isn’t the only boxer who has had a problem with the UFC champion in the past. Both Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis have been linked with possible fights with the 29-year-old in the past.
As expected, O’Malley was quick to respond to the callout, welcoming the meeting with Garcia but claiming he would easily murder his potential opponent if the matchup ever does get sanctioned.
@sugasean on Instagram
Despite his interest in the fight, Sean O’Malley will first have to get past the always-dangerous Marlon Vera when the two collide next month.
Related: Sean O’Malley doesn’t think ‘Chito’ Vera rematch at UFC 299 will last long
While ‘Chito’ is only riding a one-fight win streak, his history with the titleholder earned him his first chance at UFC gold. The pair met back in 2020 when the Ecuadorian came away with his hands raised after an injury led to O’Malley suffering his first defeat in MMA.
Now, the champion is keen to avenge his single loss in the sport and will get that chance when he locks horns with Marlon Vera at UFC 299 on March 9.
Photo by David S.Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images
Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria was celebrated at the Real Madrid soccer match on Sunday after he became the first fighter from Spain to capture a UFC title.
Just over a week after he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the 145-pound title, Topuria was honored at the game inside the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid with a packed house in attendance for the match between Real Madrid and Sevilla.
HISTORIA
TOPURIA x REAL MADRID
ESPAÑA!!!!! pic.twitter.com/BtYsIUdbAJ
— Peski (@YRPesquera) February 25, 2024
Topuria walked out with the UFC title on his shoulder as he met with the players on the pitch before conducting the honorary kickoff to start the game.
It’s the latest recognition that Topuria’s star power only continues to grow in the wake of his victory over Volkanovski to become champion. With a perfect 15-0 record with 13 finishes along the way, Topuria appears primed to become one of the UFC’s next major superstars.
@UFC featherweight world champion @Topuriailia took the ceremonial kick-off at #RealMadridSevillaFC! pic.twitter.com/nqrzobTc9F
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) February 25, 2024
If the celebration at the Real Madrid game on Sunday wasn’t enough, Topuria may receive an even more raucous reception for his first title defense.
On Saturday night just after the UFC Mexico City card ended, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed plans for the promotion to take a card to Spain sooner rather than later.
“I would love to go to Spain so we’ve got to figure that out,” White said. “We’ll start grinding and try to make that happen but the answer is yes, I want to do that and I want to do that this year.”
That’s probably welcome news for Topuria, especially after the reception he received at the Real Madrid game. Now it’s possible he’ll get the chance to return home to Spain again for his first title defense later this year.
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