UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Middleweights Marvin Vettori and Brendan Allen will clash in the five-round main event at the upcoming UFC Fight Night card scheduled on April 6 with the event location still to be determined.

UFC officials announced the pairing on Wednesday.

A constant presence in the middleweight rankings, Vettori returns to action following a tough loss to Jared Cannonier in his last outing this past June. After falling to Israel Adesanya in a title fight back in 2021, Vettori has bounced back and forth between wins and losses in his past four appearances.

He’s earned wins over Roman Dolidze and Paulo Costa while dropping decisions to Cannonier and ex-UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Now Vettori attempts to get back on track while facing a streaking Allen, who has won his last six fights in a row.

During that run, Allen earned a number of impressive victories with five of the six fights ending via submission including wins over Paul Craig, Bruno Silva and Andre Muniz. Allen was seeking a higher ranked opponent with hopes that he could climb closer to title contention and Vettori definitely qualifies with the middleweights now set to meet in April.

Vettori vs. Allen is the first matchup confirmed for the April 6 card, which takes place one week before the historic UFC 300 event on April 13 in Las Vegas.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The MMA Hour is back in your life on Wednesday, and it will feature our annual awards show!

Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. GMT.

Below is the list of categories:

1. Knockout of the Year
2. Submission of the Year
3. Breakout Fighter of the Year
4. Most Improved Fighter of the Year
5. Coach of the Year
6. Event of the Year
7. Crowd of the Year
8. Walkout of the Year
9. Promo of the Year
10. Poster of the Year
11. Photo of the Year
12. Social User of the Year
13. Bad Beat of the Year
14. Underdog of the Year
15. Lock of the Year
16. Most Profitable Fighter of the Year
17. Comeback of the Year
18. Comeback Fighter of the Year
19. Upset of the Year
20. Rivalry of the Year
21. Story of the Year
22. Feel Good Moment of the Year
23. Round of the Year
24. Fight of the Year
25. Female Fighter of the Year
26. Male Fighter of the Year

For the latest episodes of The MMA Hour, subscribe on Spotify or iTunes.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Good for him
| BJPenn.com

Chimaev shared shocking photos of an unnamed illness that has kept the Chechen fighter from claiming his middleweight title shot.

Khamzat Chimaev has had a tough couple of months following his split decision win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 in October 2023.

The UFC had announced that Chimaev would become the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds should he defeat “The Nigerian Nightmare” in Abu Dhabi. Weeks later, they announced Dricus Du Plessis would fight Sean Strickland for the middleweight title next. A torn tendon in Chimaev’s hand was initially blamed, but the situation was apparently much worse.

Chimaev recently tweeted and then deleted a series of photos showing him looking very sick in a hospital. The images show red hives covering his entire body, a swollen face, and bloodshot eyes. In some of the pictures he is wearing a respirator.

“I was very sick, my hand was injured, so I couldn’t return right away, I wanted to tell all the fans, I want to see myself in battle more than all of you,” he wrote above the images. “I love this job, I will do and prove that I am the best, as always we do, and I will be back soon to training Insha’Allal.”

That post didn’t last long before getting deleted. In its place, Khamzat posted a new video where he’s looking much healthier.

“I’m coming back soon,” he says with a chuckle. “For my belts!”

This isn’t the first time Khamzat Chimaev has dealt with serious illness in the UFC. After a lengthy layoff in 2020-2021 due to Long COVID, an emotional “Borz” announced his retirement from the sport. That’s how bad his symptoms were at the time. After more medical intervention and patience, he returned to action in October 2021 to beat Li Jingliang, Gilbert Burns, and Kevin Holland.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Khamzat Chimaev’s absence from the first UFC middleweight title fight of 2024 makes all the sense in the world after the top contender took to Twitter on Tuesday night.

UFC 294 this past October saw not only the return of “Borz” in action for the first time since late 2022, but also his reinsertion into the 185-pound contender mix. The dominant undefeated 13-0 dynamo had been paired with one-time title challenger Paulo Costa before the Brazilian was dealt a nasty staph infection that led to his withdrawal. Instead, Chimaev went toe-to-toe with the former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and picked up a big majority decision victory.

Despite each fighter not being in the division’s official UFC rankings, the implications ahead of the fight were that the winner would challenge for the title, according to UFC CEO Dana White. However, Chimaev was reportedly not included in negotiations for the next title fight between the champion Sean Strickland and challenger Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 on Jan. 20, per Strickland’s manager Lance Spaude in a November interview. Chimaev confirmed shortly after his fight that he’d suffered a hand injury and that surgery was imminent. Last night on Twitter, the middleweight superstar further confirmed his hand injury with some hospital photos that also revealed he had an unknown sickness that prevented him from returning as quickly as hoped. He deleted the tweet shortly after posting.

Twitter: @KChimaev

“I was very sick, my hand was injured, so I couldn’t return right away,” Chimaev said via Twitter translate. “I want to tell all the fountains, I want to see myself in battle more than all of you. I love this job. I will do and prove that I am the best, as always we do, and I will be back soon to Insha’Allal training.”

Chimaev, 29, established himself as one of the world’s best welterweights in 2022 when he defeated Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision in what many considered the Fight of the Year. Ultimately, a large weight miss in his follow-up appearance opposite Kevin Holland in a 180-pound catchweight contest led him back to 185 pounds. Regardless of his large 7.5-pound weight miss for what was originally a Nate Diaz main event clash, Chimaev dominated Holland en route to a first-round d’arce choke.

TOP STORIES

Intense. Sean Strickland recounts horrific childhood trauma that led to attack at UFC 296, admits he ‘bit’ Dricus du Plessis

Odds. Conor McGregor opens as favorite in Michael Chandler matchup

Possibilities. Eddie Hearn: Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou would be ‘absolutely colossal’

Future. Top 10 Brazilian prospects to watch in 2024

Hopeful. Merab Dvalishvili ‘pretty sure’ Henry Cejudo win gets him title shot, but ‘nothing is guaranteed’

Sad. Andre Fili recounts going from death of dog to triumphant UFC 296 knockout

$ $ $ . Wall Street analyst predicts new UFC TV deal could be worth double current ESPN contract

Exhaustion. Alexandre Pantoja reveals he ‘almost blacked out’ during UFC 296 title defense

VIDEO STEW

Sound & Pound.

2023 Retirements.

Free fight.

Durinho fight camp.

The reality behind ONE Championship’s MMA.

MORNING MUSIC

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Matchmaking?

Sleepless St-Pierre.

Danger.

Johnny.

Madness.

Nope.

Well.

The troll.

All okay.

Diet Reaper.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Charles Johnson (13-6) vs. Azat Maksum (17-0); UFC Vegas 84, Feb. 3

FINAL THOUGHTS

Whatever Chimaev went through looks like an absolute nightmare. The guy has been through it health-wise since joining the UFC. Sheesh.

Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Amid speculation linking the duo to a long-overdue grudge match, potentially on a blockbuster UFC 300 card in April, former interim lightweight champion, Dustin Poirier has confirmed he will not be fighting long-time rival, Nate Diaz on the flagship card.

Poirier, the current number three ranked lightweight contender, has been sidelined since he headlined UFC 291 back in July, suffering a thunderous second round high-kick KO loss to Justin Gaethje in the pair’s symbolic BMF championship rematch.

As for Diaz, the former lightweight title challenger has been sidelined since he departed the promotion back in November 2022, exiting off the back of a stunning fourth round guillotine choke win over former interim champion, Tony Ferguson in an impromptu UFC 279 headliner.

And linked with a potential return as part of a UFC 300 pay-per-view card in April, Diaz, who claimed it would be “tight” to fight on the card, no current fighter on the roster made sense for him to take on his comeback. 

Dustin Poirier claims a fight with Nate Diaz will not occur at UFC 300

As far as Poirier is concerned, despite callouts issued to the Stockton native – as recent as last month, a fight with Diaz will not be materializing at UFC 300 next April.

“No it ain’t happening,” Dustin Poirier replied to a user on his official X account when asked if would be fighting Nate Diaz at UFC 300.

In his recent venture in combat sports, Diaz made a professional boxing debut against Jake Paul back in August – suffering a unanimous decision loss to the Ohio native over the course of 10 rounds. 

Do you expect Dustin Poirier and Nate DIaz to settle their differences in the future?

LowKickMMA.com