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Card Info
Airing on ESPN+ @ Tuesday 10.01.2024 at 08:00 PM
Main Card:
Division
Fighters
Featherweight
Robbie Ring vs. Alberto Montes
Middleweight
Abdellah Er-Ramy vs. Torrez Finney
Bantamweight
David Martinez vs. Xavier Franklin
Light Heavyweight
Diyar Nurgozhay vs. Bartosz Szewczyk
Welterweight
Christien Savoie vs. Jacobe Smith
Fight card order and start times may be inaccurate.
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Alex Munoz | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Alexander Munoz is making the tough decision to hang up his UFC gloves.
The lightweight competitor announced Monday via social media he is stepping away from competition due to an accumulation of injuries.
See Munoz’s message to UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby below.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Alexander Munoz (@alexandermunoz55)
Munoz, 34, was victorious in his most recent fight, scoring a unanimous decision win over Carl Deaton III at a UFC APEX event on July 15, 2023. It was his first win in the UFC after back-to-back defeats to Luis Pena and Nasrat Haqparast.
After expressing his gratitude to Shelby, UFC CEO Dana White, and the organization, Munoz went in to detail on his reasons for retirement.
“In the past six years, I’ve endured multiple injuries that have tested me both mentally and physically,” Munoz wrote. “These included but certainly weren’t limited to two full knee reconstructions on my left knee, a torn PCL in my right knee and, more recently, two weeks before my last fight I suffered a tear in my right elbow, a separated AC joint in my right shoulder, and I tore 75 percent of my lat all at once during a sparring accident as I prepared for my last fight.
“Despite this, I didn’t pull out and fought through these challenges, throwing punches only with my left hand, I was grateful to secure a win. Shortly after recovering from those injuries, I suffered two additional tears in my knee while sparring.”
Though Munoz didn’t expressly say he is retiring for good, given the extent of his injuries and he and his wife’s plans to start a family it’s safe to assume Munoz won’t be making any more walks to the cage.
Munoz closed his statement saying he’d like to free up a spot for another fighter to have the chance to prove themselves.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I have decided to step away from the UFC roster,” Munoz wrote. “I want to give the next guy his chance while I still have the ability to enjoy a healthy future with my family.”
In addition to his three UFC appearances, Munoz is perhaps best remembered for his 2018 Contender Series appearance, where he won a unanimous decision over one-handed fighter Nick Newell. He was just the second fighter to defeat Newell in 16 pro bouts at the time.
Munoz’s pro career record sits at 7-2.
Read more from Munoz’s Instagram caption below.
“The last 30 years of competition have taught me more than I ever could have imagined. The highs, the lows, the victories, and the setbacks—all of it has shaped me into the person I am today. I’m incredibly grateful for the knowledge I’ve gained along the way, and even more grateful for the opportunity to pass it on to the next generation.
“It’s time to give back, to share what I’ve learned, and to help others on their own journeys. Thanks for all the love and support along the way.”
Photo by Alejandro Salazar/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Julianna Pena, has been working overtime to discredit former PFL titleholder, Kayla Harrison, as a legitimate title contender. Part of that protracted smear campaign includes accusations of steroid abuse.
Maybe it’s just one of many excuses to downplay an “inevitable” ass whooping.
“I think that Julianna, if she wins this fight against Raquel, is probably going to try and be inactive and push to have Amanda come back,” Harrison told CBS Sports. “She’s trying to avoid the inevitable. I wouldn’t want to fight me either, I get it. She’s calling out Amanda, she’s saying I’m on steroids.”
Nunes retired last June, citing nerve damage in her legs.
Pena, 35, challenges Raquel Pennington for the bantamweight belt in the UFC 307 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event this weekend in Salt Lake City, not long after Harrison locks horns with Brazilian bruiser Ketlen Vieira — a battle that is likely to determine the next 135-pound title challenger.
Harrison is the odds-on betting favorite for UFC 307.
“Julianna doesn’t have a win over someone in the Top 15 right now,” Harrison continued. “What has she been doing? She’s had two years off, coming off a loss. Now she’s going to fight for the title, she’s been blessed with this gift. Her time is coming, and more importantly my time is coming. I’ll be prepared for when it does, and I hope she is too.”
Pena has not competed since getting trounced by Nunes back in summer 2022.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 307 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 307: “Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 307 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Michael Bisping says a thief tried to steal his wife Rebecca’s purse while vacationing in Paris.
The former UFC middleweight champion and color commentator says he was eating breakfast with his wife when someone ran up and stole Rebecca’s bag, before trying to take off. Bisping says ended up catching the individual, and explained what happened.
Check out Bisping’s wild story in the video below.
Some little shit snatched Rebecca’s bag. Not on my watch pic.twitter.com/P41yBNs2V2
— michael (@bisping) October 1, 2024
“I chase after him, get a hold of him, he had the bag already hidden like a towel,” Bisping said. “Got the bag off him. He didn’t speak a word of English, obviously. Didn’t do anything to him, got the bag back. He was shitting his pants, poor guy. … Anyway, I let him go, turned around, boom, just gave him a nice kick up the ass.”
Bisping remained in Paris after calling the action of this past Saturday’s UFC Paris fight card, capped off by Renato Moicano’s second-round TKO win over Benoit Saint Denis.
If Israel Adesanya had his way, he’ll be fighting sooner rather than later.
The former middleweight champion returned after nearly a year layoff in August at UFC 305 in Perth, where he was submitted by Dricus du Plessis in the fourth round. “The Last Stylebender” has now lost two straight, and three of four, but none of that seems to matter. Adesanya is enjoying himself as a fighter, and wants to keep having fun, competitive battles. In fact, Adesanya says he’d be willing to fight again before the end of the year.
“Even though I don’t have the belt, they still got my name in their mouth,” Adesanya said on The Adam Carolla Show. “I’m still Israel Adesanya. For me, I’ll let them call me out, or whatever. At the moment, I want to fight one more time before the end of this year, or early next year. But I don’t know yet. I’m just training, building off where we left off, and I’ll get the call at some point with a few options. I’m sure Dana [White] will hit me up at some point.”
Adesanya was one of the most active champions in UFC history during his title run, but would eventually drop the middleweight belt to longtime rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in November 2022. Five months later, Adesanya regained the belt with the 2023 Knockout of the Year against Pereira at UFC 287.
The reign didn’t last long as Sean Strickland stunned the MMA community with a lopsided decision victory at UFC 293 in September 2023, a result that led to Adesanya taking a step back from competition.
He returned against rival du Plessis, and while Adesanya was competitive, it didn’t go his way, and moments before the finishing sequence from du Plessis is where Adesanya believes it all slipped away.
“It was just a moment in the fight where, it was my footwork,” Adesanya explained. “I did something and I slipped. And then I pointed to the ground and was like, ‘It wasn’t you, it was the ground,’ and in that moment, I shouldn’t have pointed to the ground. … He jumped on that.
“Look, this is the game. I messed up, my bad, but I wasn’t really attached to the outcome. I just wanted to show off. I wanted to actually be in a fight, and it was a good fight. I enjoyed myself.”
Adesanya is taking the loss in stride, and it has only enhanced his hunger to get back in the octagon.
“I can’t wait to do it again,” Adesanya said. “Against who? We’ll find out.”
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