2023 ended with Kyoji Horiguchi capturing the RIZIN Flyweight belt. Coming into 2024, who do you rate as the best mens flyweight in the world?
In no particular order, likely options are:
Demetrius Johnson*. ONE Champion
Alexandre Pantoja. UFC Champion
Kyoji Horiguchi. RIZIN Champion
Adriano Moraes*. Former ONE Champion
Brandon Moreno. Former UFC Champion
If you think it's not one of these 5, youre welcome to suggest someone else.
Also interesting to note that Kyoji, Moraes and Pantoja all train together at American Top Team in FL.
ONEs Flyweight division is contested at 135lbs with a hydration test. Whilst not a perfect comparison, it is intended that 135lbs whilst passing a hydration test is equivalent to 125lbs the traditional way
Tom Aspinall | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Tom Aspinall believes he deserves to fight Jon Jones instead of Stipe Miocic.
This past November, UFC heavyweight champion Jones was supposed to defend his title against Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 295. Unfortunately, Jones was forced out of the fight due to injury, and instead, Apinall stepped in on short notice to face Sergei Pavlovich for an interim title, while the UFC planned to rebook Jones and Miocic at a later date. Aspinall ended up winning the interim belt with a 69-second knockout, and while the UFC seems to still be on board with Jones defending against Miocic, it sounds like Aspinall is getting a bit impatient.
On Thursday, Aspinall took to social media to decry the idea of Miocic getting to fight for a title despite his long layoff.
To Aspinall’s point, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira first competed for the promotion in November of 2021, eight months after Miocic’s most recent fight, and has since fought seven times, winning both the UFC light heavyweight and middleweight titles.
But Aspinall didn’t stop there. Though the UFC has yet to officially announce a fight between Jones and Miocic, UFC CEO Dana White did previously declare that Aspinall would not get the opportunity to fight either Jones or Miocic next, and Aspinall is none too pleased.
Surely if you’re interim champ, your next fight should be to fight for undisputed? Come on
— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024
Stipe is one of my favourites. Loads of respect to him his Résumé is far superior to mine rn. That being said the UFC has never been about this. It’s about who’s the best right now, and I believe that’s me and it’s only right I get to prove it #freeaspinall
— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024
“Surely if you’re interim champ, your next fight should be to fight for undisputed? Come on
“Stipe is one of my favorites. Loads of respect to him his résumé is far superior to mine [right now]. That being said the UFC has never been about this. It’s about who’s the best right now, and I believe that’s me and it’s only right I get to prove it #freeaspinall”
Widely considered the most accomplished heavyweight in UFC history, Miocic has not fought since getting knocked out by Francis Ngannou in March 2021 and holds no wins over currently ranked UFC heavyweights. In contrast, Aspinall has four wins over currently ranked top-10 heavyweights, all by first-round finish.
This is not the first time Aspinall has spoken out about his current situation. Not long after winning the title, the interim champion suggested Jones should be stripped of his belt due to injury, as has happened with several recent champions. Jones, of course, did not like this idea much and, at least for the time being, it seems like he is still set on facing Miocic sometime in 2024.
***UPDATE***
Aspinall continued to post about the possible fight between Jones and Miocic, again calling into question the reasonableness of Miocic getting a title shot given the circumstances.
Final fun fact: Since stipe last won a fight (Aug ‘20) , I have blown my knee out, went thru the rehab process and had a year off, also had 7 UFC fights, including 4 wins vs top 10 ranked opponents and won the interim title on 2 weeks notice
— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024
Absolutely, Stipe has a great Resume and is a legend in his own right. So has Tony Furgeson. Maybe we should give him a shot at the undisputed title next too?
— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024
“Final fun fact:
“Since Stipe last won a fight (Aug ‘20) , I have blown my knee out, went [through] the rehab process and had a year off, also had 7 UFC fights, including 4 wins vs top 10 ranked opponents and won the interim title on 2 weeks notice
“Absolutely, Stipe has a great resume and is a legend in his own right. So has Tony [Ferguson]. Maybe we should give him a shot at the undisputed title next too?”
Ilia Topuria is one seemingly of the most confident fighters on the UFC roster and for good reason. The European has a perfect 14-0 record inside the cage and will be the next man to try and pry the title away from Alexander Volkanovski’s grasp.
‘El Matador’ has been a revelation inside the octagon of late, winning each of his six fights under the UFC banner. After handing Bryce Mitchell his first defeat, the 26-year-old put on a clinic against Josh Emmett to earn a title opportunity.
While he isn’t looking past the champion, Ilia Topuria has set plans into motion about a possible future fight against Conor McGregor. During a recent social media exchange with Sean O’Malley, the featherweight revealed his ideal next few matchups while dismissing any potential bout against ‘Suga’.
“I offered to fight you but the UFC told me that you are only good for fighting in teenagers’ places because that’s your only fan base.”
“Our fight will never happen,” Topuria bluntly said to O’Malley. “After fighting Volk, I will fight Conor and you will come as a fanboy.”
“After seeing your PPV numbers, the only thing I can offer you is that you fight in the preliminaries of my card.”
I offered to fight you but the UFC told me that you are only good for fighting in teenagers' places, because that’s your only fan base .Our fight will never happen. After fighting Volk I will fight Conor. and you will come as a fan boy. After seeing your ppv numbers the only… https://t.co/bb0F5uAIq1
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) January 4, 2024
Related: Ilia Topuria: ‘I’m going to beat Volkanovski and then fight legendary former champion’
Topuria was visibly worked up with Sean O’Malley’s initial comments. The bantamweight champion insisted the Georgian was his Eddie Alvarez—which references Conor McGregor’s flawless performance against Alvarez at UFC 206.
Although he was once the champion of the division, McGregor hasn’t competed at featherweight since 2015. If the reports are true, ‘The Notorious’ will return to combat later this year at 185 lbs, sensationally making it the fourth weight the Irishman has fought at inside the octagon.
If Ilia Topuria is to get the fight of his dreams, he will need to bypass the always-dangerous Alexander Volkanovski. The pair are set to headline the promotion’s venture to Anaheim, California for UFC 298 on February 17.
Who among MMA fighters who came from a predominantly BJJ, Wrestling and/or Judo background was able to become the most effective and capable striker in MMA? And for the reverse, which MMA fighter, coming from a predominantly boxing, muay thai or other striking background, became the most effective in takedowns, top control and submissions?
Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ben Askren is ready to join Jorge Masvidal in un-retirement.
On Monday, Masvidal kicked off the new year by announcing he is ending his eight-month retirement. At the moment, there are no details on the when Masvidal will return. But whenever it happens, Askren said he’d be happy to un-retire and fight him again, particularly if the UFC needs a big fight for its upcoming UFC 300 show.
“Listen, if Dana called me and said, ‘Jorge Masvidal, UFC 300,’ I don’t give a damn – I’m out of retirement,” Askren said on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. “I’ll fight him. I don’t care. I would love to.”
Askren played a pivotal role in Masvidal’s ascension to superstardom when he was on the receiving end of Masvidal’s famous flying-knee knockout at UFC 239. The two had a heated rivalry heading into the fight, and since then, Askren has repeatedly suggested he’d like another crack at “Gamebred.”
With UFC 300 still in need of big fights, an Askren-Masvidal rematch could make sense, but there would be a number of hurdles to jump through. First, both men have been retired from the sport and out of the anti-doping testing pool, so they would need to receive exemptions from the promotion to compete at UFC 300. And even if they got them, Askren remains skeptical Masvidal would agree to the matchup.
“But he’ll never say yes to that, unless he loses some more money or something,” Askren said. “But it would be great. I would love to. It’s one of those things. … I don’t want to be begging and groveling for it. It’s unlikely to happen. So it’s like, if someone calls me and says it’s going to happen, OK, I’m there. If they don’t, I’m just going to live my life.”
Following their fight, Masvidal went on to win the BMF title by beating Nate Diaz. He then twice challenged for the UFC welterweight title and retired this past April after losing to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287. Since then, he’s been focused on his own fight promotion, Gamebred MMA.
Askren, meanwhile, fought just once more, losing to Demian Maia in 2019 before hanging up his MMA gloves. Despite his long layoff, he’s said he’s still in good enough shape to take a fight with Masvidal on just a few months’ notice.
“I’m ready,” he said. “I stay in shape. I’m wrestling a lot. I don’t strike much — I don’t strike at all, I just wrestle. But I’m in good shape. If he wants to fight, great. But I’m not going to campaign for it.”
UFC bantamweight titleholder Sean O’Malley wants to defeat Ilia Topuria (not Alexander Volkanovski) and join the promotion’s coveted “champ champ” club.
That would require “Suga” to defeat Marlon Vera when they rematch atop the UFC 299 pay-per-view (PPV) in March. In addition, Topuria still has to dethrone featherweight kingpin Alex Volkanovski when they collide in the UFC 298 headliner next month in Anaheim.
Unfortunately, the UFC 292 PPV flop leaves no room for O’Malley on any of “El Matador’s” upcoming fight cards, unless “Suga” agrees to compete on the ESPN “Prelims.”
“I offered to fight you but the UFC told me that you are only good for fighting in teenagers’ places, because that’s your only fan base,” Topuria wrote on Twitter. “Our fight will never happen. After fighting Volk I will fight Conor [McGregor] and you will come as a fan boy. After seeing your PPV numbers the only thing I can offer you is that you fight in the preliminaries of my card.”
Topuria (14-0) is currently ranked No. 5 at 145 pounds and punched his ticket to a featherweight title shot by boxing up Josh Emmett at UFC Jacksonville last June.
The pursuit of UFC titles in two separate weight classes is no longer the flex it used to be, according to some disgruntled fighters. Whether or not O’Malley will be permitted to compete against Topuria may depend on how quickly they clean out their respective divisions.
Assuming they’re both champions by the time UFC 298 and UFC 299 have wrapped.
Ilia Topuria | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ilia Topuria plans to beat Alexander Volkanovski and then challenge another big name, but it won’t be Sean O’Malley.
O’Malley hinted on social media that a future clash could take place between he and Topuria, with both men scheduled for title fights in the coming months. “Sugar” goes for the first defense of his bantamweight title when he takes on rival Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 in March, while Topuria challenges longtime featherweight champion Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February.
“Ilia’s my Eddie,” O’Malley wrote, seemingly alluding to Conor McGregor famously becoming a two-division champion by defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 and suggesting that he will achieve the same glory by beating Topuria for a second belt in the future.
Topuria wasn’t having it, replying that O’Malley isn’t on his level and that he expects to fight McGregor instead.
“I offered to fight you but the UFC told me that you are only good for fighting in teenagers’ places, because that’s your only fan base,” Topuria wrote on social media. “Our fight will never happen. After fighting Volk I will fight Conor and you will come as a fan boy. After seeing your PPV numbers the only thing I can offer you is that you fight in the preliminaries of my card.”
Ilia Topuria says a fight against Sean O’Malley “will never happen” pic.twitter.com/bNXer2MgQo
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) January 4, 2024
O’Malley won the bantamweight belt with a second-round TKO of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 this past August, reaching champion status to further build his growing popularity. He faces a tall task in Vera, who defeated O’Malley at UFC 252 in a bout that also saw O’Malley suffer a minor foot injury.
If O’Malley wants a piece of Topuria, he’ll have to hope that Topuria gets past Volkanovski at UFC 298. Volkanovski seeks the sixth consecutive defense of his featherweight title, with the undefeated Topuria presenting a legitimate threat to end his reign.
As for Topuria’s callout of McGregor, it would likely require Topuria to move up to 155 pounds (something he’s successfully done once in the UFC already) and somehow garner the attention of “The Notorious.” McGregor already has plans for 2024 as he recently announced that he is fighting Michael Chandler on June 29.
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