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Almost five years after their first showdown for the inaugural BMF belt, Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz are rumored to be competing once more. Masvidal battered Diaz en route to a third-round doctor’s stoppage back in 2019, but there’s always been unfinished business between the duo. This time around, Diaz and Masvidal are rumored to be competing in the ring in Las Vegas, Nevada sometime in March 2024, though details have yet to fully materialize since the initial announcement last week.

Longtime UFC veteran and analyst Chael Sonnen is hoping the news never crystalizes.

According to Sonnen, a Diaz vs. Masvidal rematch is, quite simply, a bad idea and doesn’t expect it to be profitable. In fact, he expects that it will cost somebody a whole lot of money.

“This is amongst — if not the worst — idea I have heard in a meaningful period of time, unless your goal is like Brewster’s Millions to see how fast you can [run] out of money,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel (via MMAFighting). “The only thing that has kept [boxing] alive is that you keep finding a bigger fool who is willing to lose money.”

Sonnen doesn’t like any part of the match up outside of the names involved. He deems boxing a worse decision than an MMA rematch, and he also thinks competing against UFC 300 — by holding the bout in Las Vegas in March — is also setting them up for trouble. With so many signs pointing towards failure in his opinion, Sonnen has serious concerns about who is financing the bout.

“That’s my one big question, who is promoting this,” Sonnen asked. “Who is putting this event on? The information [being reported] is these boys were going to box, it was going to be in March, and it was going to be in Vegas — and that is mistake, mistake, mistake. Anything in life is baseball rules … if you get three strikes, get out, whatever it is.

“The [report] that I read had three points, all three were a disaster. Baseball, get out.

“My fear is that Nate, and/or Jorge, is putting their money in, and I don’t want them losing their money. I don’t want them doing this. I don’t know that they are, I’m just suggesting on this piece of information that I got.”

If the bout does go down as rumored, will you tune in?

Insomnia

This is … not a good UFC 297 poster.

Signing posters directly across from your opponent while in the midst of the weight cut is at least a little awkward.

Artur Beterbiev has one of the most insane workout regiments in modern combat sports.

I read this tweet thinking it was an overreaction or exaggeration, but watch the clip and tell me you’re not wondering the same thing …

I will always tune in to see both Paul Craig and “Huggy Bear” Chris Barnett.

Surely one of the craziest moments of 2023:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

These videos make me laugh every time.

Will Dricus Du Plessis’ grappling come into play against Sean Strickland? His ability to mangle Robert Whittaker in roughly 60 seconds of top position was kind of shocking.

Rustam Khabilov had a gift for picking people up and dropping them on their head.

Random Land

Octopi are basically aliens.

Midnight Music: A request from the inbox, specifically an homage for the anniversary of the death of Cranberries front-woman Dolores O’Riordan … How could I say no to “Zombie?”

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

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Stamp Fairtex has her first ONE Championship title defense set.

The promotion announced on Tuesday that Fairtex will defend her newly won atomweight title against Denice Zamboanga at ONE 166, which takes place March 1 at Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.

Fairtex captured the vacant championship with a third-round stoppage win over Seo Hee Ham at ONE Fight Night 14 in September. The 26-year-old rising star has won three straight bouts, and is 11-2 throughout her tenure with the promotion.

Zamboanga, a former training partner of Faritex, enters her championship opportunity on the heels of back-to-back decision wins over Heqin Lin and Julie Mezabarba. Prior to that, the 27-year-old had dropped consecutive decisions to Ham, which are the only two losses of her pro career.

ONE 166 will be headlined by a title fight rematch between Anatoly Malykhin and Reinier de Ridder, while Jarred Brooks defends his strawweight title against Joshua Pacio.

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Former interim lightweight champion, Justin Gaethje is slated for his return to the Octagon at UFC 300 in pursuit of his first defense of the symbolic BMF title, taking on former featherweight gold holder, Max Holloway in April – in a much-anticipated pairing.

Gaethje, the current number two ranked lightweight contender, most recently headlined UFC 291 back in July in Salt Lake City, Utah – landing a hellacious second round KO win over common-foe, Dustin Poirier in the pair’s rematch, courtesy of a brutal high-kick stoppage.

As for Holloway, the former undisputed featherweight champion and record-setting striker, is in the midst of an impressive two-fight winning run – most recently stopping Chan Sung Jung with a brutal third round KO win of his own in the main event of UFC Singapore back in August.

Justin Gaethje takes on Max Holloway at UFC 300

News of Justin Gaethje’s return in a BMF championship fight against Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April was confirmed tonight on social media by promotional CEO, Dana White. 

A former interim lightweight champion, Gaethje landed the title back in 2020 against fellow former interim gold holder, Tony Ferguson, stopping the Oxnard veteran with a fifth round TKO in Jacksonville, Florida.

Hawaiian striking sensation, Holloway will make his first venture at the lightweight limit since 2019, losing an interim title fight in a bid to become a two-weight champion in his rematch with the above-mentioned, Poirier.

Furthermore, also added to an ever-developing UFC 300 card, a lightweight scrap between recent UFC Vegas 84 winner, Jim Miller, who takes on the returning Bobby Green in a reworked bout. 

UFC 300 also features an undisputed strawweight championship fight between Chinese stars, defending gold holder, Zhang Weili, and challenger, Yan Xiaonan. 

Who wins BMF gold at UFC 300 in April: Justin Gaethje or Max Holloway?

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UFC 300 continues to grow into one of the most stacked cards of all time. While fans believe the event still lacks a significant undisputed title presence to cap off the proceedings, Dana White has just announced a bombshell of a matchup.

Many have been clamoring to get a fight at the April pay-per-view and one man that has gotten his wish is Jim Miller. ‘A1’ will meet Bobby Green as he hopes to build on his two-fight win streak, but that isn’t the only fight that’s been added to UFC 300.

Taking to social media to make the announcement, Dana White presented fans with one of the most exciting bouts possible. Alongside the aforementioned Jim Miller clash, the UFC CEO revealed Justin Gaethje would be putting his BMF title on the line against Max Holloway in a five-round affair.

“Alright guys, I got two more fights for you for UFC 300,” White said in a short video posted to social media. “Jim Miller, 40 years old, is the all-time leader in UFC wins at 26. He’s got the most UFC finishes in lightweight history at 16 and he’s tied for most submissions in UFC lightweight history with Charles Oliveira at 10.”

“He is attempting to break into the top 15 in one of the nastiest divisions in the sport. And he will be facing the guy that fights anyone, anytime, anywhere, Bobby Green.”

“Another fight. 50 wins between them. 34 finishes. Two of the best strikers in the sport. Two of the most durable fighters in the sport. Two of the most aggressive guys in the sport. Gaethje destroys all guys with leg kicks and power in both hands.”

“Max is regarded by many to be the best boxer in the UFC and has made many top 10 guys look like they don’t even belong in there with him.”

Related: Javier Mendez reacts to Khabib Nurmagomedov fighting at UFC 300 rumors

Dana White then revealed the fan-favorite fight would be a 25-minute brawl for Justin Gaethje’s recently acquired BMF belt.

“Two of the all-time greats in their division. And this fight will be five rounds for the BMF title.”

Watch Dana White’s fight announcements in the brief clip below.

BREAKING NEWS:#UFC300 will have Jim Miller vs Bobby Green and Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway for the BMF Title at Lightweight pic.twitter.com/Cx1rbuWKfo

— danawhite (@danawhite) January 17, 2024

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The poster for the second UFC pay-per-view card of 2024 has now been revealed, with a featherweight title fight set for Anaheim, Calif., on Feb. 17.

The featherweight title is on the line with champ Alexander Volkanovski defending against Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 298, which takes place at Honda Center and airs on ESPN+ pay-per-view.

A featured middleweight bout pits ex-champ Robert Whittaker against Paulo Costa after the two were scheduled to meet at UFC 294. Additionally, welterweight rivals Ian Machado Garry against Geoff Neal in a bout rescheduled from their originally scheduled meeting at UFC 292. And former two-division champion Henry Cejudo faces off with top contender Merab Dvalishvili.

Check out the UFC 298 poster below.

Below is the current fight card:

Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria

Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa

Ian Machado Garry vs. Geoff Neal

Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili

Anthony Hernandez vs. Ikram Aliskerov

Preliminary Card (8 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+)

Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos

Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa

AJ Dobson vs. Tresean Gore

Early Prelims (6 p.m. ET on ESPN+)

Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro

Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick

Oban Elliott vs. Val Woodburn

Yusaku Kinoshita vs. Danny Barlow

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