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The upcoming UFC Atlantic City card on March 30 needs a new main event.

The welterweight showdown between Sean Brady and Vicente Luque has been scrapped from the card with no word yet on a potential replacement for the UFC’s return to New Jersey.

Multiple sources confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday following an initial report from Harry Mac on Twitter

Despite the announcement that was made about the fight serving as the main event, sources told MMA Fighting that Brady never actually signed a bout agreement as he was still dealing with an injury following his recent win over Kelvin Gastelum.

Brady addressed the situation on Instagram.

“For everybody who keeps asking me about March 30 unfortunately I will not be fighting Vicente Luque,” Brady wrote. “I just need a little bit more time to let a nagging injury completely heal up. I will be ready to go end of April early May if he does not get into opponent, we can rebook.”

With Brady still injured, he will be unable to compete in March and there’s no word yet if Luque will remain on the card against a new opponent or not. Brady hails from nearby Philadelphia so he was a local attraction as the UFC returns to Atlantic City for the first time in nearly six years.

The co-main event on the card features a potential No. 1 contender’s fight at flyweight as New Jersey native Erin Blanchfield clashes with Manon Fiorot. It’s unclear if that fight might get bumped up to the main event slot or if the UFC will attempt to book a new matchup instead.

The UFC Atlantic City card takes place at the Boardwalk Hall on March 30

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The New Cowboy
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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Jim Miller is a special fighter.

He may be a journeyman or a legend depending on who you ask, but the New Jersey native has been around the block and back. He came close to scoring a title shot way back in 2011, and though that opportunity never materialized, Miller stuck around to put on amazing fights and rack up numerous longevity records. In the process, he battled through Lyme disease and picked up a bunch of finishes.

Miller also holds the unique honor of fighting (and winning) at both UFC 100 and UFC 200. He’s hoping to keep the streak alive this coming April opposite Bobby Green at UFC 300, and Miller put forth a special request to accompany the potential last bout of his Octagon career.

He wanted to be announced by Bruce Buffer as Jim F—king Miller! Alas, Buffer is not game and explained as much during an appearance on The Schmozone.

“I don’t like cursing in my job,” Buffer explained. “I respect Jim’s wishes. At this point, the answer is no. I’d go for Jim Friggin Miller maybe.”

That doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as well, but there is still some hope for “A-10” to get a special announcement of some kind at UFC 300. Jon Anik did not quit his commentary gig after last week’s controversy, and he replied on Instagram that “There is always the official weigh-in.”

Insomnia

I’m going to need the science behind this strategy explained to me.

Umar Nurmagomedov has a fight booked. Any guesses on the opponent?

Matt Frevola looking to rebound against rising contender Elves Brenner — SIGN ME UP FOR LIGHTWEIGHT VIOLENCE!

What kind of negotiating could White and Feldman be up to? Lending Perry out to save UFC 300? Sending Tony Ferguson to his eventual retirement home?

Given that Chatri was just dunking on Japanese fighters while trying to sell tickets in Japan, I wouldn’t be too worried if I was RIZIN either.

Speaking of, Takeru took some insane damage at the hands (and shins) of Superlek.

I cannot help but feel Georges St. Pierre was a paleontologist in another life.

Hire Glover Teixeira as official UFC Portuguese-to-English translator this instant.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Heavyweights who are too tall to make sense are the most fun, even if they rarely end up taking titles in MMA. Never forget Stefan Struve handed Stipe Miocic his first loss!

Right hand dropped while jabbing …

An impressive high kick from fairly close quarters.

Random Land

The need for speed.

Midnight Music: Prog, 1971

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

On paper, Cory Sandhagen knew fighting Umar Nurmagomedov really made no sense.

When the bout was announced as a main event of the UFC Nashville card this past August, Sandhagen was already cemented near the top of the bantamweight division. Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, was only four fights into his UFC career and didn’t hold a significant win over anybody ranked in the top 15 in the world.

Still, Sandhagen signed to take the fight and it was Nurmagomedov who ultimately dropped off the card due to injury. Now, months removed from that situation, Sandhagen admits he wasn’t all that enthusiastic about taking the fight against the 16-0 prospect, and it doesn’t appear to be a matchup he’s seeking to re-book any time soon.

“The Umar one was a little bit of a tough one,” Sandhagen explained on The MMA Hour. “I was playing ball for the UFC, giving him a shot when he’s only four fights into his career and the guy pulls out of more fights than he’s been in. That’s just the truth of the matter.

“When you’re talking like, ‘Hey, I make a lot of money for these fights, these fights are really important and he pulls out of a lot of fights,’ that’s a little bit of a tough sell for me — and also, he’s way, way down in the rankings. I’ve been in the top five for the last three or four years of my career, and Umar is just entering in and I’m on a three-fight win streak, so it was a tough sell, but I played ball with him. I’m not fighting him next. Good luck in his next one.”

After suffering a shoulder injury that prevented him competing against Sandhagen, Nurmagomedov revealed on Tuesday that the UFC found him an opponent for his return. Obviously, the promotion didn’t attempt to re-book the same fight again, especially with Sandhagen still at least three to four months away from competing after he underwent two different surgeries on his own arm.

With hopes to fight for the bantamweight title in the near future, Sandhagen really has no interest in revisiting Nurmagomedov as a potential opponent, although he has a pretty good idea why that bout was scheduled in the first place.

“There’s famous guy leverage,” Sandhagen said while addressing Nurmagomedov. “I won’t beat around the bush, there’s famous guy leverage. I’m trying to acquire some famous guy leverage. I think maybe I should start hanging out with rappers and maybe making myself look less like a normal dude than I do already.

“Maybe that will be my 2024 rebrand. I’ll get some tattoos on my face, I’ll color [my hair] and I’ll start hanging out with some rappers. It’s just the nature of the sport.”

Of course the “famous guy leverage” concerning Nurmagomedov centers around his last name, which he shares with his cousin, former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. He also trains alongside reigning UFC lightweight king Islam Makhachev after both were students under Khabib’s father, the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.

Sandhagen doesn’t fault his former opponent for taking every advantage available to him because fame drives interest, and like it or not, that matters to the UFC.

That’s why Sandhagen has been trying to increase his presence on social media and launched his own website, with hopes that he’ll start earning a little more attention outside the cage.

“This is where sport and entertainment mix,” Sandhagen said. “A lot of people watch sports for the beauty of it and then a lot of people watch for the drama of it. It’s easier to understand drama than it is to understand beauty. So that’s just the nature of everything.

“[Umar] has famous guy leverage, good on him. I’m going to try to scoop up some of that famous leverage this year so that there’s no question, ‘Cory fights for the belt next.’ I’m not going to act crazy or do anything like that. I’ll still be myself, but that’s a piece of the social media stuff and all of the side games you’ve got to play inside the big adventure.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is shaping up to be one of the biggest fights in heavyweight boxing history.

On Saturday, February 17, the long-awaited title unification clash will go down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as Fury, the reigning WBC heavyweight titleholder, squares off with Usky who sits as the current WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight world champion.

To get fight fans hyped up for their epic battle, Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, released a cinematic trailer inspired by some of Hollywood’s biggest motion pictures, including Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean.

“The long-awaited undisputed heavyweight battle #RingOfFire between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is set to unfold,” Alalshikh wrote on X. “Let’s get ready to RUUUUUMBLLEEEEEEE.”

Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk: Someone’s ‘O’ Has Got to Go

Both fighters go into the highly anticipated showdown with undefeated records. ‘The Gypsy King’ is 34-0 with 24 of his victories coming by way of knockout. Usyk is 21-0 with 14 wins via KO. The Ukrainian sensation rides into Riyadh fresh off back-to-back wins against Anthony Joshua and a ninth-round finish of Daniel Dubois in his last three outings.

Tyson Fury will be making his first appearance in the ring since narrowly escaping with a split decision win over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in October.

LowKickMMA.com

UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is set to be one for the ages.

It’s only fitting that the promotion for the titanic heavyweight championship contest, which takes place Feb. 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is appropriately cinematic — and that’s exactly how the fight is framed in a newly released trailer for the matchup.

Watch the epic clip below, which was released on social media by Saudi adviser Turki Alalshikh.

In the trailer, Fury and Usyk are presented as rivals in a Western setting (including a cameo from Fury’s father John), but that’s only the beginning. The scene soon transitions to homages to films such as Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean, with each change upping the stakes of what is one of 2024’s most highly anticipated boxing matchups. Fury and Usyk are even depicted as larger-than-life cartoons, which might not be far off from what fans will see when they step into the ring this February.

Fury and Usyk both enter their duel without a loss, with Fury coming off of a narrow split decision win over former UFC champion Francis Ngannou. While Fury has to prove he can bounce back from that near-upset, the stakes are even higher for Usyk, who brings multiple world titles to the bout in the hopes that he will take Fury’s WBC belt to claim undisputed status at heavyweight.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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