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Khamzat Chimaev says he has been guaranteed a shot at middleweight gold ahead of UFC 297 later this month. 

While Chimaev’s career may not have panned out exactly how man saw, the 29-year-old is still undefeated and Is not far off getting his shot at UFC gold. For a while, Chimaev winning the welterweight title, but weight issues has forced ‘Borz’ to seek for a title at 185lbs. 

That shot may come against the reigning middleweight champion, Strickland, who Chimaev seems confident of beating. 

Chimaev is undoubtably physically talented but also sees his faith as a massive part of his success. In fact, Chimaev claims that those who compete against Muslim fighters should ‘be afraid’. 

“I don’t know, man,” Khamzat Chimaev said during a recent interview with Mohammed Hijab. “He has to be afraid. Inshallah we fight with everyone, so the fights in the cage is not that big thing. If we can make some people happy who is going through hard times and all Muslims watching us and me and Khabib, all the Muslim fighters, Belal, we know all of the kids, our kids they’re watching, they want to be like us. (H/T MiddleEasy)

“They [fighters competing against Muslims] should be afraid of us,” Chimaev continued. “We fight not just for us like they do, we fight for all Muslims.”

Khamzat Chimaev confident of title shot being next

The middleweight divison is wide open at the moment as there is several fighters who could realistically end up as champion by 2024. However, Chimaev sees only himself being in that discussion and is suyre that he will fight for, and win, UFC gold next. 

“A hundred percent,” Chimaev said. “He [Sean Strickland] has good fighter who he’s fighting with, Du Plessis, and if he wins against this guy for sure we’re gonna fight 100 percent. They promised for me that fight, so now we’re gonna wait who’s winning the fight and then take the belt.”

Strickland and Du Plessis are set to square-off in the main event of UFC 297 on January 21 and settle their bubbling feud. 

Who wins, Sean Strickland or Khamzat Chimaev? 

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

There has always been an intrigue to watching an undefeated fighter compete. It is more uncommon in MMA than in boxing to see a fighter go far into their career undefeated. Unlike boxing where you see top boxers get to 20 something and O before they fight top ranked opponents, high level MMA fighters often fight each other early in their careers. It’s very rare to see an MMA fighter go 20-0 for this reason.

The fighter who holds the all-time undefeated record in MMA is Khabib Nurmagomedov who went 29-0 in his career before retiring from the sport at 32 years of age.

We recently saw Bellator champ Yaroslav Amosov lose his undefeated record and his Bellator welterweight title against Jason Jackson at Bellator 301 in November. Amaslov was a remarkable 27-0 going into the fight.

Below is the list of my top 15 undefeated MMA fighters, including a writeup on each athlete.

15. Lerone Murphy (13-0-1)

Lerone Murphy is one of the new waves of top British talent in MMA. He made his pro debut in March of 2016. Murphy went 8-0, with all his fights in his native England, before making his UFC debut.

The British featherweight made his UFC debut at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi in September of 2019 fighting Russian veteran Zubaira Tukhugov to a hard-fought draw. Murphy returned in July of 2020 with a first round TKO over Ricardo Ramos.

Murphy is coming off his fifth straight UFC victory over Joshua Culibao in July of 2023 and is now 5-0-1 in the UFC. Murphy is currently ranked No. 15 in the UFC featherweight division.

The 32-year-old will face his first ranked opponent in February when he takes on No. 13 ranked Dan Ige.

14. Tatsuro Taira (15-0)

Tatsuro Taira is widely considered Japan’s best hope to become a UFC champion. He made his pro debut in August of 2018 for the Shooto organization in Japan. He amassed a 10-0 record before making his UFC debut, including winning a Shooto flyweight title.

Taira made his UFC debut in May of 2022 defeating Carlos Candalario by unanimous decision. In his next two fights, he won by submission, winning two straight performance bonuses. He is coming off a second round TKO victory over Carlos Hernandez on December 9^th.

The 23-year-old is now 5-0 in the UFC and is currently ranked No. 15 in the UFC flyweight division.

13. Azamat Murzakanov (13-0)

Murzakonov made his pro debut in February of 2010 and won via KO in just 10 seconds. He didn’t return to MMA until 2015 and had a lot of success on the regional scene. In November of 2019 Murzakanov won a four-man, single night, open weight tournament for Brave Combat Federation.

In August of 2021, the light heavyweight impressed Dana White with a first round TKO over Matheus Scheffel on Dana White’s Contender Series, earning him a UFC contract.

Murzakanov made his UFC debut in March of 2022 with a third round flying knee knockout of Tafon Nchukwi that earned him a performance of the night bonus. He returned in August of 2022 and defeated Devin Clark by TKO.

In his last UFC fight in April of 2023, Murzakanov beat his first ranked opponent in Dustin Jacoby, by unanimous decision.

The 34-year-old is 3-0 in the UFC and is currently ranked No. 13 in the UFC light heavyweight division.

12. Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0)

The cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Umar Nurmagomedov is also an undefeated MMA fighter. He made his pro debut in December of 2016 for the Fight Nights Global promotion in Russia. Nurmagomedov went 10-0 on the regional scene in Russia including winning the Federation of MMA Samara and Gorilla Fighting Championships bantamweight titles.

Nurmagomedov went 2-0 in the PFL with single fights for the promotion in 2018 and 2019.

He made his UFC debut in January of 2021 with a second-round rear naked choke victory over Sergey Morozov, earning a performance of the night bonus. He returned in March of 2022 with a second-round rear naked choke over Brian Kelleher. In his last fight in January of 2023, Nurmagomedov knocked out Raoni Barcelos near the end of the first round, earning him his second performance bonus in the UFC.

The 28-year-old is now 4-0 in the UFC and is ranked No. 14 in the stacked UFC bantamweight division.

11. Movlid Khaybulaev (21-0-1)

Movlid Khaybulaev is the only PFL champion on this list. He made his pro debut in October of 2011. He amassed a 13-0 record mainly fighting in Russia before making his PFL debut. He had eight fights for the Fight Nights Global promotion, and he had one fight in ONE Championship in February of 2017 where he defeated Herbert Burns by unanimous decision.

Khaybulaev made his PFL debut in May of 2019 with a ten second flying knee knockout over Damon Jackson. In his next fight in the 2019 PFL regular season, he fought to a majority draw with Andre Harrison.

In his 2019 PFL quarterfinal bout, Khaybulaev originally lost by TKO to Daniel Pineda; however, the bout was overturned to a no contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after Pineda tested positive for a banned substance.

The PFL did not have a season in 2020 due to COVID and Khaybulaev had one fight that year for the UAE Warriors promotion in Abu Dhabi. He won by first round rear naked choke.

Khaybulaev returned to the PFL in April of 2021 with a victory over Lazar Stojadinovic. In his second regular season fight Khaybulaev defeated the 2018 and 2019 PFL featherweight season winner Lance Palmer by unanimous decision. In August of 2021, Khaybulaev beat Brendan Loughnane by split decision in the season’s semifinals. In October of 2021, Khaybulaev defeated Chris Wade by five-round unanimous decision to win the 2021 PFL Featherweight season title and the one-million-dollar prize.

After sitting out the 2022 PFL season due to injury, Khaybulaev won his two regular season fights in 2023 against Ryoji Kudo and Tyler Diamond, respectively. Unfortunately, the Russian featherweight had to withdraw from the season’s playoff round due to an undisclosed injury.

The 33-year-old is 7-0-1 with one no contest inside the PFL. Khaybulaev is in rare company to have an undefeated MMA record with over 20 fights.

10. Muhammad Mokaev (11-0)

After an extensive amateur career that saw him go undefeated with over 20 documented fights, Muhammad Mokaev made his pro debut for the Brave Combat Federation in August of 2020. Mokaev went 4-0 for Brave CF and 6-0 overall before making his UFC debut.

Mokaev defeated Cody Durden by guillotine choke only 58 seconds into the fight in front of his home country fans in London, England. He earned a $ 50,000 performance bonus for his quick submission victory.

Mokaev is currently 5-0 in the UFC with his most notable win coming in his last fight against perennial ranked flyweight Tim Elliot at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, in October. Mokaev earned his second performance of the night bonus with his third-round arm-triangle choke over the former UFC title challenger.

The 23-year-old is currently ranked No. 8 in the UFC flyweight division. He is scheduled to fight former UFC title challenger and the No. 7 ranked Alex Perez on March 2^nd in Saudi Arabia.

9. Anatoly Malykhin (13-0)

Malykhin made his pro debut in September of 2016 and went 8-0 in his native Russia before signing with the top Asian promotion ONE Championship. Malykhin had four submissions and four knockouts in his eight fights in his home country, which included two fights in the Fight Nights Global promotion.

Malykhin made his ONE Championship debut in March of 2021 in Singapore. He defeated Brazilian Alexandre Machado by first round TKO. Malykhin won the ONE interim heavyweight title in February of 2022 with a second round TKO over undefeated Belarussian heavyweight Kirill Grishenko. In his next fight in December of 2022, Malykhin dropped down to light heavyweight to fight fellow undefeated fighter Reinier de Ridder for the ONE light heavyweight title. The Russian became a ONE double champ defeating his Dutch opponent by first round TKO. De Ridder was 16-0 at the time.

In his last fight, Malykhin fought Arjan Bhular in a ONE heavyweight unification bout in June of 2023. He defeated Bhular by third round TKO.

The 35-year-old ONE Championship heavyweight and light heavyweight champ is now 13-0 with 13 finishes and 5-0 in ONE.

Malykhin is scheduled to defend his ONE Championship light heavyweight title in a rematch against Reiner de Riddler in March.

8. Ian Machado Garry (13-0)

Before making his UFC debut, Ian Machado Garry built a 7-0 record with all his fights coming in the UK based Cage Warriors organization. In his seventh pro fight he won the Cage Warriors welterweight title.

Machado Garry made his UFC debut at Madison Square Garden in New York where he scored a first round knockout victory over Jordan Williams at UFC 268.

The charismatic Irishman defeated his first ranked UFC opponent in highlight real fashion when he dropped Daniel Rodriguez with a head kick followed by ground punches for the first round TKO victory. The first-round stoppage earned him a performance of the night bonus.

In his last fight, Garry defeated the then No. 11 ranked Neil Magny by unanimous decision at UFC 292 in August.

The 26-year-old is now 6-0 in the UFC and is ranked No. 10 in the UFC welterweight division. He is scheduled to fight the No. 8 ranked Geoff Neal in February at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California.

7. Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0)

Like his older brother Umar who was featured earlier on this list, the younger Nurmagomedov is also an undefeated MMA fighter who hopes to follow in cousin Khabib’s footsteps. He made his pro debut in March of 2017. Usman has fought for the Federation of MMA Samara and Gorilla Fighting Championships in Russia and Brave CF and UAE Warriors in the Middle East.

Nurmagomedov was 11-0 when he made his Bellator debut in April of 2021. He went 4-0 in Bellator before fighting Patricky Pitbull for the Bellator lightweight title in November of 2022. Nurmagomedov won by unanimous decision after five hard fought rounds against his more experienced Brazilian opponent.

He returned in March of 2023 to defend his title against former UFC lightweight champ and Bellator title contender Benson Henderson. The young Dagestani fighter defeated Henderson by first round rear naked choke submission.

Nurmagomedov headlined the Bellator 300 card, which featured three title fights, in October of 2023. He defeated Brent Primus by unanimous decision; however, the fight was later overturned to a no contest when Nurmagomedov failed a drug test due to a banned substance in a prescription medication.

The 25-year-old is now 6-0 in Bellator with one no contest and is the current Bellator lightweight champion.

6. Movsar Evloev (17-0)

Movsar Evloev made his pro debut in November of 2014 for the M-1 Challenge organization in his native Russia. He went 10-0 for the promotion including winning and defending the organizations bantamweight title.

Evloev moved up to featherweight when he made his UFC debut in April of 2019 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Evloev defeated Seung Woo Choi by unanimous decision.

Evloev is now 7-0 in the UFC with notable victories over Nik Lentz, Hakeem Dawodu, Dan Ige and Diego Lopes. His last fight against Lopes earned fight of the night at UFC 288 in May of 2023.

The 29-year-old is currently ranked No. 9 in the UFC featherweight division and is scheduled to face his highest ranked opponent to date in No. 3 Arnold Allen at UFC 298 on January 20^th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A win over Allen could put Evloev in line for a UFC featherweight title shot.

5. Johnny Eblen (14-0)

Johnny Eblen made his pro debut in July of 2017 and went 4-0 for the Missouri based Shamrock FC promotion, with all four first round finishes.

The former University of Missouri wrestler made his Bellator debut in March of 2019. He racked up six straight victories in Bellator before fighting top contender John Salter in March of 2022 where he won a unanimous decision. This set up a title shot in June of 2022 against Gegard Mousasi, who at the time was widely considered one of the best middleweights in the world. Eblen won a dominant unanimous decision to become the Bellator middleweight champion.

Eblen successfully defended his title against Anatoly Tokov in February of 2023. Eblen last defended his title against Fabian Edwards, the younger brother of UFC welterweight champ Leon Edwards, at Bellator 299 in September. Eblen won by third round knockout in front of a raucous crowd in Dublin, Ireland.

The 32-year-old is now 10-0 in Bellator and the Bellator middleweight champion. He is arguably one of the top five 185 pounders in MMA.

4. Ilia Topuria (14-0)

Ilia Topuria made his pro debut in April of 2015 in his home country of Spain. Fighting out of Spain, by way of Georgia, Topuria went 7-0 on the regional scene including two first round victories for the Brave CF organization in 2019.

Topuria made his UFC debut in October of 2020 defeating Youssef Zalal by unanimous decision. He returned two months later in December of 2020 and defeated Damon Jackson by first round KO.

Topuria returned to the octagon in July of 2021 at UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3, where he defeated Ryan Hall by first round KO. Topuria moved up to lightweight for his next fight against British fighter Jai Herbert in March of 2022 on Herbert’s home soil in London, England. Topuria won by second round KO and earned his first UFC performance bonus. He returned in December of 2022 and became the first man to finish Bryce Mitchell, winning the fight by second round arm-triangle choke and earning his second straight performance bonus.

In his last fight, Topuria fought in his first UFC main event when he took on previous featherweight title challenger Josh Emmett on the UFC on ABC 5 card in Jacksonville, Florida this past June. Topuria won a dominant five round unanimous decision.

Topuria is scheduled to fight Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight title at UFC 298 in February in Anaheim, California. With a victory over one of the top pound for pound fighters, Topuria would undoubtedly be the top undefeated fighter in the sport.

The 26-year-old is 6-0 in the UFC and is currently the No. 5 ranked UFC featherweight.

3. Tatiana Suarez (11-0)

Tatiana Suarez is by far the top undefeated female fighter. As mentioned in the opening, it is common for high level MMA fighters to fight each other early in their careers – this is more so the case with female MMA fighters. Fun fact, female MMA legends, Amanda Nunes, Cris Cyborg and Weili Zhang all lost their first pro MMA bouts.

Suarez made her pro debut in July of 2014. The former two-time freestyle wrestling world championships bronze medalist went 3-0 for the California based Gladiator Challenge organization.

Suarez was a participant on the Ultimate Fighter season 23 and went on to win the season, defeating Amanda Cooper by first round submission in the finale in July of 2016, earning a performance of the night for her efforts.

Suarez has defeated three fighters who are either current or former UFC champs including defeating the current UFC flyweight champ and the No. 1 UFC women’s pound for pound fighter Alexa Grasso. Suarez defeated Grasso by first round rear naked choke in May of 2018. She returned in September of 2018 and defeated former strawweight champ Carla Esparza by third round TKO.

After defeating Nina Nunes at UFC 238 in June of 2019, Suarez suffered injury problems that kept her out of the octagon for nearly four years.

Suarez made her return in February of 2023 in a flyweight bout, defeating Montana de la Rosa by second round guillotine choke. In August, she returned to strawweight to defeat former champ Jessica Andrade by second round guillotine choke. She earned back-to-back performance bonuses in her last wo UFC fights.

Suarez is currently ranked No. 3 in the UFC women’s strawweight division. The 33-year-old is scheduled to face recent title challenger and current No. 4 ranked Amanda Lemos in February at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California.

2. Shvkat Rakhmonov (18-0)

Shavkat Rakhmonov made his pro debut in October of 2014 for the Russian based M-1 Challenge promotion. Rakhmonov went 7-0 for the M-1 Challenge promotion including winning their welterweight championship and defending it one time. Rakhmonov went 5-0 for the Kazakhstan Mixed Martial Arts Federation where he won the KZMMAF welterweight title and defended it once.

Rakhmonov was 12-0 with 12 finishes when he made his UFC debut in October of 2020 at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi. Rakhmonov beat Alex Oliveira by first round guillotine choke. He returned in June of 2021 and defeated Michel Prazeres by second round rear naked choke. In his next fight, Rakhmonov earned his first KO in the UFC with a first round spinning hook kick followed by ground strikes versus Carlston Harris in February of 2022.

In June of 2022, Rakhmonov fought his first ranked opponent in the UFC and defeated Neil Magny by second round guillotine choke. In March of 2023 Rakhmonov fought his first top 10 opponent in Geoff Neal. In his only UFC fight to go past the second round, Rakhmonov defeated Neal by rear naked choke with less than a minute to go in the fight. The pair won fight of the night. Rakhmonov got another step up in competition when he fought Stephen Thompson at UFC 296 in December. Rakhmonov became the first man to submit “Wonderboy”, winning by rear naked choke in the second round.

The 29-year-old is now 6-0 in the UFC and 18-0 overall. He has won all 18 of his fights by knockout or submission. He has the record for the longest finishing streak in UFC welterweight division history with six finishes. The native of Kazakhstan is currently the No. 3 ranked welterweight in the UFC.

1. Khamzat Chimaev (13-0)

Khamzat Chimaev made his pro debut in May of 2018. After winning his first two fights in smaller promotions in Sweden, Chimaev signed to fight for the Brave CF promotion where he went 4-0 with four finishes. Chimaev fought tough competition in Brave CF where his opponents had a combined record of 25-3.

The Chechnya born Chimaev made his UFC debut on July 15, 2020 in Abu Dhabi. He took a short notice fight and fought in the middleweight division against British fighter John Phillips. Chimaev dominated the first round with ground and pound and won the fight in the second round by D’Arce choke. Chimaev returned just 10 days later in a welterweight fight against Irish fighter Rhys McKee. Chimaev earned his second straight performance bonus and broke the record for quickest turnaround between wins in the modern UFC era. Chimaev defeated McKee by first round TKO. He returned in September of 2020 as he fought middleweight veteran Gerald Meerschaert in what appeared to be a step up in competition. This time the fight didn’t hit the ground as Chimaev landed the knockout punch standing, just 17 seconds into the fight. This win set another UFC modern era record for Chimaev as he earned the quickest three fight win streak at 66 days.

After taking over a year off, Chimaev returned in October of 2021 at UFC 267 to fight his first ranked opponent in Chinese welterweight Li Jingliang who was ranked No. 11 at the time. Chimaev steamrolled Jingliang, winning by first round rear naked choke.

Chimaev had barely had a punch landed on him in his first four UFC fights until he fought Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 in April of 2022. The former title challenger Burns was ranked No. 2 in the UFC welterweight division at the time. Chimaev showed he could take some punishment as well as dish it out as he defeated Burns by unanimous decision in a fight of the year candidate for 2022. The pair won the fight of the night and for Chimaev this was five performance bonuses in five fights in the UFC.

Chimaev was scheduled to headline UFC 279 against Nate Diaz in September of 2022. After missing weight for the welterweight fight, Chimaev ended up fighting Kevin Holland in a 180-pound catchweight fight in the co-main event. Chimaev dominated Holland and won by first round D’Arce choke.

After another year off action, Chimaev was scheduled to fight middleweight Paulo Costa in the co-main event of UFC 294 in October in Abu Dhabi; however, Costa had to withdraw due to injury. Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman stepped up on short notice to fight Chimaev. Khamzat won by majority decision.

The 29-year-old Chimaev is now 7-0 in the UFC and currently ranked No. 9 in the UFC middleweight division. Before making the move back to middleweight, Chimaev was ranked No. 3 at UFC welterweight.

Honorable Mentions

Honorable mentions go out to the following fighters:

Michael Morales (16-0, 4-0 UFC), Azamat Kerefov (17-0, 6-0 ACA), Javid Basharat (14-0, 3-0 UFC), Daniel Marcos (15-0, 2-0 UFC), Timur Khizriev (14-0, 3-0 Bellator), Magomed Umalatov (14-0, 5-0 PFL), Islam Omarov (14-0, 7-0 ACA), Azat Maksum (17-0, 1-0 UFC), Seika Izawa (12-0, 7-0 Rizin), Aliaskhab Khizriev (14-0, 1-0 UFC), Dakota Ditcheva (10-0, 5-0 PFL)

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Demetrious Johnson knows there were a lot of moving parts involved in his move to ONE Championship, but it doesn’t sound like Joe Rogan was one of them.

Following the news that Johnson was traded for Ben Askren in a historic October 2018 deal that sent “Mighty Mouse” from the UFC to ONE, rumors emerged that Rogan had a hand in convincing then-UFC president Dana White to make the deal. During an appearance on the JAXXON podcast, Johnson was asked about the rumor and he clarified the situation after having spoken with Rogan.

“See, I talked to Joe Rogan and Joe Rogan said, ‘Naw, I had nothing to do with it,’” Johnson said. “When I heard that Joe Rogan convinced Dana White to do it, it was [that Rogan said] ‘Dude, just why not? Just get Ben Askren to see what’s going to happen. If you plan on getting rid of the division, do it.’ Even though Joe Rogan’s one of my biggest fans and he believes in my skill set, I think at the time that it was Dana White—sometimes when I go back and I look at videos of Dana White promoting me, I felt like he did a good job. He was like, ‘This guy’s amazing.’ And there were some videos of him s****** on me as well, I think he’s s*** on everybody.

“At the same time, I just wasn’t selling in the States. I just think the flyweight division wasn’t as popular as it is today, but you look at why is it popular today, you have social media, Instagram, all that stuff just blows up, it goes viral. Can you imagine in 2023 I throw a motherf***** up and armbar him right now? When I blasted Adriano [Moraes] the second time with the knee, stock went through the roof. When I did the Rodtang [Jitmuangnon] fight, stock went through the roof. My brand has never been, my skill set when I fight has never been, ‘Oh, this guy’s garbage.’ I’ve always shown up and fought I just think at the time when I fought [in the UFC] it just wasn’t ready for the viewership.”

The trade arguably worked out for both sides. Johnson has become one of the faces of ONE, coming out on top in a memorable championship trilogy with Adriano Moraes and winning a mixed rules clash with Muay Thai star Rodtang. Askren, a former ONE and Bellator champion, wasn’t as successful in the UFC, with his lone win being a controversial submission of Robbie Lawler, but in a roundabout way he bolstered the UFC’s fortunes when he lost to Jorge Masvidal via five-second flying knee knockout — a highlight that elevated Masvidal’s drawing power to new heights.

If Johnson stayed with the UFC, it’s unclear what more the parties could have accomplished together. Johnson built an unimpeachable resume at 125 pounds, racking up 11 straight title defenses, and scoring wins over Henry Cejudo, Joseph Benavidez, Kyoji Horiguchi, and several other notable names.

However, Johnson never emerged as a top draw for the UFC and it benefited both sides to go their separate ways.

“When I was going into that final fight with Henry Cejudo, the time where the UFC was at with the flyweight division, I’ve already defeated everybody,” Johnson said. “I just did my 11 consecutive title defenses and I was going to fight Henry Cejudo. So it’s another rematch. I had a rematch with John Dodson, a rematch with Joseph Benavidez, now it’s coming to the rematch with Henry Cejudo. So I’ve already gone through the whole division and now I’m about to fight Henry Cejudo the second time. … They would never let a flyweight at my time make $ 500,000. That was like the standard pay for a mixed martial artist, for the champion. If you became champion, it was like, you got that five bills plus pay-per-view points.

“For me, they would never give that to me and when I lost to Henry Cejudo [my then-management and I] were talking and we were like, ‘What are you going to do, bro?’ I was like, ‘You know, I want to see if they’re going to let me go.’ Because at the time they were talking about getting rid of that division, ‘I’m going to scrap it, it don’t make no money.’ So I was like, ‘Alright, let me see if I can get out of my contract.’ They were able to make it happen and they traded me for Ben Askren and I think it was the best division that I ever did in my mixed martial arts career.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Second surgery
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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

The original BMF rivalry continues.

According to a first report from influencer boxing outfit Happy Punch, Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz will face off a second time. The rematch will take place in the boxing ring, and it’s targeted for a yet-to-be-announced date in March from Las Vegas, Nevada. Per the announcement, UFC has granted Masvidal permission to box the Stockton slugger. Unlike Diaz, “Gamebred” is still under UFC contract.

Given Masvidal’s recent “unretired” announcement, the timing makes a lot of sense. Oh, and Jake Paul spilled the beans about a week ago.

Masvidal and Diaz met in the cage in November 2019 as part of the inaugural BMF title fight. Masvidal was dominant through three rounds, knocking down Diaz early and largely battering him from top position. Diaz is known for his late-fight rallies, but he wouldn’t get the chance due to a cut stoppage that left some feeling unsatisfied with the outcome.

Close to five years later, it looks like round two is approaching. Both men have struggled since the first contest. Masvidal wouldn’t win another time in professional MMA, losing four straight to end his Octagon career. Diaz, meanwhile, fought twice in the cage since then, losing to Leon Edwards but stopping Tony Ferguson. Most recently, he suffered a decision loss to Paul in his professional boxing debut (and won anyway).

Stay tuned for further details.

Insomnia

Readers may or may not have noticed, but Instagram posts have not been working for the last week or so. This does not make my job easier. Fortunately, the powers that be have fixed the scenario, so we are BACK!

Now, learn more about fighting from the great Cory Sandhagen:

An important anniversary for the fight fan community.

A pair of stats that demonstrate the unrelenting march of time and the ridiculousness of UFC rankings.

This type of angle cut finish is so great against opponents with powerful hips.

Ludovit Klein is an underrated technician, and Joel Alvarez fights are always fun. Sounds like a scrap!

Paul Craig is a UFC champion in my heart.

Ilia Topuria and Kamaru Usman respectfully getting after it!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

That’s a bad, bad sound for the brain.

One of the best times to throw the spinning backfist is after a missed kick.

Ocampo ate like six knockout-worthy blows en route to the end.

Random Land

How do rock climbers and alpinists sleep on steep walls without ledges? See below.

Midnight Music: I’m going to be checking out the albums on THIS LIST that I haven’t heard previously, so there’s your musical spoiler for the week.

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

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Francis Ngannou plans to test the chin of Anthony Joshua.

2024 kicked things off with a bang last week as it was announced that Ngannou will face Joshua in a 10-round heavyweight boxing match expected to take place in March in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bout was announced two weeks after Joshua put on a showcase performance against Otto Wallin on the same evening his then-planned next opponent, Deontay Wilder, suffered a surprising upset loss to Joseph Parker, ruining that long-awaited matchup. And according to Ngannou, that’s when he got his shot at Joshua.

“That’s when I stepped in,” Ngannou said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I watched the Wilder fight and then after that I watched the Joshua fight, and I was like, there’s an opportunity here. So I made a tweet first and then received a call. [Laughs.]”

While Ngannou was not in attendance for the event, he did watch the matchups intently as he hopes to face both men eventually. And while he was impressed with Joshua’s performance, he also believes he can offer up a lot more resistance than Wallin did.

“He looked amazing. Respect to him, congratulations to him,” Ngannou said of Joshua. “He was doing his job properly, his speed there, everything. He was sharp, very sharp. But on the other hand, I think there wasn’t a response in front of him. I think I will have a better response in front of him that will put him not in such a comfortable position. Things will change. It’s going to be different. I will not just stay there and look at him. It’s going to be different. I’m going to throw some bombs out there for him to deal with. I think he’s going to be mindful of what he’s doing.”

That’s a lot of confidence for a man with only one professional boxing match under his belt, but Ngannou has reason to feel that way. Last October, Ngannou made his boxing debut against lineal boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, and though he lost a controversial split decision, the former UFC heavyweight champion also dramatically exceeded expectations, out-boxing Fury for stretches of the fight and even dropping “The Gypsy King” in the third round.

After that bout, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, who had been critical of Ngannou’s chances against Fury beforehand, gave the former UFC champion his props but claimed he would be “easy work” for Joshua. Now the two are set to find out, and Ngannou has his own take on how the fight might play out.

“Eddie is a promoter,” Ngannou said. “That’s a routine for him. He says the same thing all the time, just bot about Francis Ngannou but somebody else. That’s just what he does. The date is set. It’s two months from now, and if any of them think they’re going to have easy money, that’s too bad for them.

“If AJ takes the punch that Fury took, I don’t guarantee that he’s standing up. I’ve heard that he doesn’t have a chin. I’m going to find out. [Laughs.]”

That being said, Ngannou has no ill will towards Joshua. The two are bonded by their African heritage (Ngannou is from Cameroon and Joshua is of Nigerian descent) and once he’s defeated Joshua, Ngannou suggests that perhaps they can run things back on African soil.

“At the end of the day, it’s great stuff for both of us,” Ngannou said. “He could be my brother and I’d still fight him because it elevates us both, it elevates the sport, it elevates the continent. It’s not about a fight. You are not fighting somebody because you hate him, you fight him because it’s a challenge and the fight always elevates both fighters.

“Eddie Hearn said a lot of s***, but one thing he said that makes sense is maybe a potential rematch in Africa with Joshua. I think that sounds cool. We will call that Black Excellence.”

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Former two-time undisputed welterweight title challenger, Jorge Masvidal is reportedly slated to make his first outing in professional boxing later this year – taking on fellow UFC alum, Nate Diaz in the pair’s rematch, this time in the squared circle, in a March clash in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Masvidal, a former two-time undisputed welterweight title challenger under the banner of the UFC and the promotion’s inaugural symbolic BMF titleholder, called time on his mixed martial arts career back in April, suffering a fourth consecutive decision loss in a unanimous decision defeat to Gilbert Burns.

As for Diaz, The Ultimate Fighter victor departed the UFC back in November 2022 after landing a fourth round guillotine choke submission win over former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson earlier that year.

Making a professional boxing debut back in August, Stockton veteran, Diaz suffered a unanimous decision loss to professional boxer, Jake Paul in Texas, suffering a final round knockdown to boot.

Jorge Masvidal reportedly set to fight Nate Diaz in March boxing rematch

And with speculation rife regarding a potential return to combat sports for Masvidal – who confirmed he would be calling time on his retirement earlier this month, reports have revealed late tonight that the Floridian will take on Diaz in a boxing clash in March.

“BREAKING: Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal boxing match confirmed,” Happy Punch posted on their official X account. “March in Las Vegas. The UFC has given the green light, sources tell Happy Punch.” 

Sharing the Octagon at UFC 244 back in November 2019, Masvidal landed the symbolic BMF title in the championship’s inaugural outing, turning in a fourth round doctor’s stoppage TKO win over Diaz at Madison Square Garden. 

At the time of publication, an official venue, weight class, or round-limit for a reported rematch between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz has yet to be determined. 

Who wins in a March professional boxing rematch: Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz?

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