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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira has doubled down on a return to middleweight as he sent a message to Dricus du Plessis. Of course, “Poatan” has to defend his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree first at UFC 307 on Oct. 5, but if he is successful — or even if he isn’t — will Pereira make that huge weight cut one more time to fight du Plessis?

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee react to Pereira’s challenge to du Plessis, discuss the likelihood that it happens, why the callout of the middleweight champ with Jon Jones likely getting ready to face Stipe Miocic with Jones’ already-expressed interest in that matchup, what a betting line for a potential Pereira vs. du Plessis fight would look like, who would win, and more.

If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.

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Sean O’Malley will defend his UFC bantamweight championship against Merab Dvalishvili on September 14, 2024. Riyadh Season Noche UFC is the most expensive UFC event ever and it’ll go toe-to-toe with a boxing event featuring Canelo Álvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga.

While UFC 306 is booked for the Las Vegas Sphere, Álvarez will defend one of his super middleweight titles against Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena. The date and timings of the boxing and MMA bouts will clash, and fans can’t help but anticipate which event will be a bigger commercial success.

According to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s coach, O’Malley won’t be able to outsell Álvarez in PPV terms despite the UFC calling its event a celebration of Mexican heritage…

Javier Mendez Blames Prices And Sean O’Malley Not Being As Popular As Conor McGregor For Underwhelming Noche UFC Sales

Nurmagomedov’s coach discussed whether O’Malley is a big enough draw to compete with Álvarez directly on the Javier Mendez Podcast recently. He outright highlighted the boxer’s massive following in Mexico and how “Suga” is yet to achieve Conor McGregor’s levels of stardom.

“That’s mexican’s day for pay-per-view, it’s always been that way for as long as I remember. And Canelo being the biggest superstar in Mexico fighting on that night, I think on a pay-per-view level, it’s going to be difficult to compete. On top of that, if you look at the prices.”

The Mexican Independence Day is September 16, and unsurprisingly, sporting events around the date have usually been headlined by the most popular Mexican athletes. Mendez called Álvarez the biggest star in Mexico and predicted that his fight could generate more revenue than Riyadh Season Noche UFC.

Mendez didn’t put all the blame on O’Malley, though. Despite the recent price drop, the cheapest tickets for Riyadh Season Noche UFC cost over $ 700. In contrast, the cheapest tickets to Canelo vs. Berlanga are $ 400 at the time of writing.

According to Nurmagomedov’s coach, unless someone’s a huge MMA fan, they would consider watching one of the biggest names in boxing history for a lesser price.

“I don’t think that O’Malley’s a huge star yet. I think he can be, and I, but I don’t think he’s Conor-ish. I don’t think he’s, honestly speaking, where he needs to be yet. I mean, he’s got all the charismatic personality. He’s got the fighting style. But I just don’t think he has that he has that, the people that can propel him into that next level.”

Mendez admitted that “Suga” has the personality and fighting style to be a much bigger star in the future. However, he’s more interested in the winner of the UFC 306 main event defending their belt against Umar Nurmagomedov, who potentially secured a title shot by defeating Cory Sandhagen recently.

As of now, around 1,700 Riyadh Season Noche UFC tickets remain to be sold and Dana White expects a sell-out and a record $ 21 million gate.

• READ MORE: Tyron Woodley Reveals How Nate Diaz Backtrack Led To Dana White Feud

Continue Reading Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Coach Doesn’t Consider Sean O’Malley ‘A Huge Star Yet’ To Sell More PPVs Than Canelo at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

It was a night for the underdogs on the latest episode of Contender Series.

On Tuesday night, the fourth episode of season eight of Contender Series took place in Las Vegas at the UFC APEX. After five fights, three underdogs managed to get their hands raised, including Yuneisy Duben, who delivered one of the best knockouts in Contender Series history. At the end of the night, UFC CEO Dana White rewarded all the underdogs with UFC contracts, along with the two other winners, signing five new fighters to UFC.

Ko upsets Cavalcanti

In the featured fight of the evening, Seok Hyun Ko took on Igor Cavalcanti in a welterweight contest, showing well-rounded skills to win a unanimous decision.

A +240 underdog heading into the bout, Ko survived Cavalcanti’s big haymakers and mixed his skills well, scoring takedowns and landing clean shots on the feet, wearing Cavalcanti down for three rounds. In the end, Seok Hyun Ko won a wide unanimous decision and impressed White enough to earn a UFC contract.

Santos outboxes Currie

It wasn’t the most exciting performance, but Djorden Santos kept his win streak alive against Will Currie.

Santos was a sizable underdog in his middleweight matchup with Currie but certainly didn’t look it, defending takedowns and working Currie over with his superior boxing and pressure. As the fight went on, Santos wasn’t able to secure a finish, but nonetheless picked up a wide unanimous decision win and White rewarded Santos for the big upset win with a UFC contract.

Bashi submits Ramos

Austin Bashi entered Contender Series as one of the best prospects of the season, and the 22-year-old looked every bit of that, scoring a submission finish over Dorian Ramos.

Already 12-0 in his young MMA career, Bashi is one of the new breed of fighters who has been training in all aspects of MMA since he was a child, and he showed all of those skills, working combinations on the feet to then transitioning into the grappling. Ramos fended Bashi off as best he could, but simply had no answer for the BJJ prowess of Bashi and eventually gave up the choke in the second round. Given how hyped he is, it’s unsurprising that Bashi was awarded a contract.

Duben starches Clark

Yuneisy Duben delivered one of the most impressive knockouts in Contender Series history over Shannon Clark.

A massive +800 underdog coming into this matchup of two undefeated fighters, Duben came out with fire, repeatedly tagging Clark as the Canadian fighter charged blindly in. That proved to be disastrous for Clark, as a little over a minute into the fight, Duben timed a perfect overhand right that starched Clark stiff as a board and had White telling her she was in before they even got to the end of the show. Then, when the time for contracts did arrive, White brought Duben with him and lauded her with praise for her great performance.

Salkilld outworks Young

In the opening fight of the evening, Quillan Salkilld won a hard-fought scrap over Gauge Young.

Both Salkilld and Young are only 24 years old and they showed that youthful enthusiasm trying to earn a UFC contract, but it was Salkilld’s great kicks and wrestling ability which allowed him to control the action for most of the fight. So competitive was the fight that White even went into the cage to tell both Salkilld and Young they have a bright future in the sport, though ultimately only Salkilld received a contract.

Check out the DWCS results below.

Seok Hyun Ko def. Igor Cavalcanti via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Djorden Santos def. Will Currie via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Austin Bashi def. Dorian Ramos via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 2, 3:15

Yuneisy Duben def. Shannon Clark via knockout (punch) — Round 1, 1:13

Quillan Salkilld def. Gauge Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jon Jones is the greatest fighter of all time, at least so says the UFC.

On Tuesday night during the latest episode of Contender Series, the world’s leading MMA promotion unveiled a new trailer, not promoting their next pay-per-view or event, but one strictly promoting heavyweight champion Jon Jones as the greatest fighter to ever compete in MMA.

The video shows a number of Jones’s best career highlights, interspersed with his impressive statistical accomplishments — including 15 championship wins, eight wins over UFC champions, most wins in UFC light heavyweight history (20), among others — all with voiceover from Dana White, Jon Anik, and others proclaiming Jones to be the greatest fighter in history.

The video is the latest salvo from White who recently became somewhat of a meme for his insistence that Jones is not only the greatest ever and his ire at the fact Jones is not the current top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC’s own rankings. Over the past several weeks, White’s argued with reporters over the meaning of “pound-for-pound” and Jones’s place on the current list. White even previously promised he had something prepared for those who disagreed with him, so during the Contender Series post-fight press conference on Tuesday evening, he had a smug response for those in attendance.

“Did you guys read the stats?” White said. “He recently just beat the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. I hope you guys read that stat. You know what is f*cking great about technology? We’re not far away from A.I. actually doing these rankings and it will be a great f*cking day when A.I. starts doing this shit. So I’m really excited about that.”

Jones is currently ranked No. 3 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings and No. 8 in the MMA Fighting Global pound-for-pound rankings. He most recently competed back at UFC 285 in March of 2023, where he submitted Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes to claim the vacant heavyweight title. Though not yet official, Jones is expected to defend his belt against former champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 which takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

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No regrets
| BJPenn.com

It’s that time of year again!

Contender Series keeps rolling on for 10 straight weeks of mixed martial arts (MMA) action. Week four goes down tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, in front of UFC CEO, Dana White, as well as his cadre of matchmakers.

As has become standard for the program of late, four of five fighters got UFC contracts last week.

In the main event this evening, Korea’s Seok Hyun Ko (10-2) takes on Igor Cavalcanti (9-0), who has a 100 percent finish rate with seven knockouts. The co-main event sees Middleweights clash as London’s Will Currie (12-3) takes on Djorden Santos (9-1). The “Featured” bout has the best prospect in North America, Austin Bashi (12-0), fighting short-notice opponent, Dorian Ramos (8-2). A pair of undefeated women’s Flyweights clash as Shannon Clark (5-0) takes on Yuneisy Duben (4-0), and Welterweight finishers kick off the card as Gauge Young (8-1) fights Quillan Salkilld (6-1).

‘Contender Series’ Quick Results:

Seok Hyun Ko vs. Igor Cavalcanti
Djorden Santos defeats Djorden Santos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Austin Bashi defeats Dorian Ramos via submission (rear-naked choke) Round 2, 3:15
Yuneisy Duben defeats Yuneisy Duben via knockout (punch) Round 1, 1:113
Quillan Salkilld defeats Gauge Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

‘Contender Series’ Highlights & Results:

170 lbs:. Seok Hyun Ko vs. Igor Cavalcanti
185:. Djorden Santos defeats Djorden Santos via unanimous decision

145:. Austin Bashi defeats Dorian Ramos via submission

125:. Yuneisy Duben defeats Yuneisy Duben via knockout

155:. Quillan Salkilld defeats Gauge Young via unanimous decision

For more Contender Series news and notes, be sure to hit up our comprehensive archive right here.

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