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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Light heavyweight prospect Raffael Cerqueira is heading straight to UFC after losing two potential opponents for a Contender Series card in September, the promotion announced. Cerqueira now faces Ibo Aslan at UFC 308, which takes place Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi.

A teammate of Jailton Almeida at Brazil’s Galpão da Luta, Cerqueira (11-0) was previously paired up against Uran Satybaldiev at DWCS on Sept. 10, however Satybaldiev eventually withdrew and was replaced by Patryk Grabowski, who later stepped down as well. Cerqueira was then expected to fight Francesco Mazzeo before the promotion changed plans and signed him for UFC 308.

Aslan (13-1) returns to the octagon following a Fight of the Night victory in March, which saw him knock out Anton Turkalj in the third round of their UFC Atlantic City bout. “The Last Ottoman” is currently riding a five-fight finishing streak that includes a first-round knockout over Paulo Renato Jr. at DWCS in august of 2023.

Cerqueira has been calling for a UFC shot since late 2023. In a December interview with MMA Fighting, he asked UFC CEO Dana White and matchmaker Mick Maynard, “What else do I need to do to prove my worth and show I’m ready to fight in the world’s biggest organization?”

“Every fighter says they deserve to be in the UFC, but I’m proving it,” Cerqueira said at the time. “If you watch my fights, they’re not taking long. … I’m just waiting Mick and Dana White to look at me and give me an opportunity to show my value in the world’s biggest organization so I can make history in the UFC.”

UFC 308 takes place at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena and features Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway in a five-round battle for the featherweight title as the headlining attraction. Check out the updated lineup below.

• Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway
• Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev
• Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic
• Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige
• Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos
• Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
• Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira
• Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
• Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira
• Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki

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MMA teams led by former UFC champions Frank Mir and Henry Cejudo will go toe to toe at the United Fight League 5 on August 30, 2024, at The Gila River Wild Horse Pass Casino in Arizona. The sold-out event will be streamed on Kick and Rumble for free as well.

Mir and Cejudo coach UFL’s Team Las Vegas and Team Phoenix, respectively. Although the fighting rules are the same, the state-inspired teams and the team-based scoring system in the promotion are like a breath of fresh air in MMA. It is also the first and only combat sports league to provide health insurance to fighters.

Here’s how the UFL aims to set a new standard for combat sports promotions through its newly introduced scoring system…

Frank Mir Explains How Relying On Stars Like Conor McGregor Produces Inconsistent Results For The UFC

Mir appeared on the talkSPORT MMA YouTube channel to discuss UFL 5’s format and innovative scoring system. Including Las Vegas and Phoenix, UFL will have a total of eight teams with Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson confirmed to lead Team Florida and Southern California, respectively.

Here’s how teams will score points at UFL 5:

• Finishing a fight in the first round grants 4 points in a standard bout and 6 points in the main event.
• Finishing a fight in the second round grants 3 points in a standard bout and 5 points in the main event.
• Finishing a fight in the third round grants 2 points in a standard bout and 4 points in the main event.
• Finishing a main event fight in the fourth round grants 3 points.
• Finishing a main event fight in the fifth round grants 2 points.
• A decision win grants 1 point in a standard bout as well as the main event.

In case there’s a tie after all the fights, the team with the least cage time will get the nod, bragging rights, and $ 50,000.

As per Mir, this is how the UFL aims to tackle the problem of being overly dependent on a limited number of stars. He claimed that the UFC benefitted heavily from Conor McGregor but the promotion will always produce fewer numbers when he isn’t fighting.

“It made sense to me because I was like, you know, it sucks because when fighters come and go. You know, he’s like, Conor is a phenomenal example. Conor moved the needle like no other fighter, but when he’s not on the card, or he’s not part of there, everybody suffers. He doesn’t know, not as many people are going to view the fights because he’s not fighting. And so, I was like, how can we get around that. And I always watch college wrestling and seen how, here in the States, you can have a guy from Iowa, you know, wrestling Penn State, Minnesota, and Ohio, and all these powerhouses of wrestling that have long traditions and they have, you know, a car stadium, it fills up 60,000 people.”

The two-time UFC heavyweight champ also stated how this isn’t an issue in wrestling. For instance, team-based college wrestling events in the United States attract thousands of viewers constantly despite the absence of huge names. Mir believes that a team-based setting helps them build loyal fans who care more about a team’s progress instead of just wanting to see one fighter.

It is too early to predict how commercially successful UFL’s new format will be in the long run. For now, fans can enjoy Team Phoenix vs. Team Las Vegas which features a bantamweight championship main event bout between Hunter Azure and Vince Morales.

ALSO READ: Shavkat Rakhmonov Trusts UFC’s Meritocracy To Prevent Conor McGregor Title Shot Hijack, Reveals Belal Muhammad Turned Down UFC 307 Date

Continue Reading ‘Everybody Suffers’ – Frank Mir Explains How UFL Could Get Past The Conor McGregor Effect Seen In The UFC at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Torrez Finney hopes the third time is the charm when it comes to getting into the UFC.

On Thursday, following an initial post from Finney, MMA Fighting confirmed “The Punisher” will face Abdellah Er-Remy on episode eight of Contender Series, which takes place on Oct. 1.

This will be Finney’s third time on the show and second this season. In 2023, Finney scored a submission win over Yuri Panferov but failed to receive a contract offer. He tried again earlier this month on the second episode of the current Contender Series season, defeating Cam Rowston by unanimous decision, but once again UFC CEO Dana White declined to extend an offer and instead berated Finney for his performance in a clip that garnered headlines for its harshness.

“Finney, now you were here last year and my recommendation to you was to go out and get some experience,” White said after the event. “You’re young, you’re obviously talented, you’re now 9-0, [but] you got one fight. You went out in one year and fought one fight. I’m always brutally honest with this stuff, you’d get absolutely decimated in the UFC with the performance that you put on tonight. Your performance last year was better than this performance. You’re 25 years old, kid. You’re obviously a talented athlete. Go out and get three or four fights this year, then come back to us and talk about the UFC.

“You gassed out tonight. You had a tough time getting through three rounds. You’re not ready for the UFC. When I said go out and get some experience, I didn’t mean one fight. I meant get some fights. We’ll see you soon.”

After White’s rant, Finney revealed that part of the reason he did not compete more often after his first attempt at Contender Series was that he was supposed to take part in the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter until a series of events got in the way. White actually addressed this at the most recent episode of Contender Series, acknowledging that perhaps he was too harsh on Finney.

“So what happened was, I guess he got picked to do The Ultimate Fighter, and then they told him he couldn’t fight for X amount of months, and then he ended up not getting picked,” White said. “I didn’t know that until tonight. He had a rough year.”

Finney is currently 9-0 in his MMA career with seven stoppage wins. Er-Ramy is 7-1 and most recently competed at PFL Europe in 2023, where he scored a first-round TKO win.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gabriel Silva, son of UFC legend Anderson Silva, returns to the boxing ring Saturday to challenge Anthony Taylor for the Misfits light heavyweight title at X Series 17 in Dublin, Ireland, and dreams of the day he will hold world titles as well.

Silva has been victorious in three boxing matches so far between both professional and exhibition contests, and wants to “expand” his father’s name to a different sport after “The Spider’s” historic success in mixed martial arts.

“That’s my final goal, to be world champion [in boxing],” Silva told MMA Fighting. “I’ve trained with world champions before, I’ve tested myself against world champions, and I know I have what it takes to be a world champion one day. That’s the final goal, to fight for world titles in this sport and bring our name to the sport of boxing and not only in MMA, to kind of expand it to other horizons.”

Silva grew up watching his father defend the UFC middleweight title — and was in the arena for many of his wins — but doesn’t plan on starting a career in mixed martial arts.

“Growing up with my father and my family, I’ve always had this martial arts mindset and knew a bit of everything,” Silva said. “I’ve fought kickboxing and Muay Thai, I plan on competing in jiu-jitsu at some point, and maybe fight MMA as well, but not like starting a career. Just for the experience, really. I’ve trained MMA and followed many of my father’s camps, and legends like [Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira] ‘Minotauro’. I think it would be kind of stupid not to be part of this world as well. I think it’s really interesting, but my focus is on boxing.”

Silva said sharing the ring once with WBO and IBF middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0) and WBO Global super welterweight champion Slawa Spomer (19-0) at Brickhouse Boxing Club has given him the confidence to pursue gold.

“[Alimkhanuly] is a tough guy, very skilled, and it was good training,” Silva said. “We did six tough rounds, so it was great experience. I’ve also sparred with champions from Germany as well, Slawa Spomer, who’s also very tough. We did good sparring at Brickhouse in North Hollywood. I have great training at the gym, very high-level athletes, so you can get experience from all of them.”

Silva revealed that Misfits considered holding an event in Brazil earlier this year and tried to add “The Spider” to the card as well, but it didn’t come to fruition. The UFC veteran ended up competing in an exhibition match against Chael Sonnen at Spaten Fight Night in June, and Kalyl Silva was featured on the card. Gabriel was approached with an offer to be on the card, but the deal wasn’t closed.

Silva leaves the door open to possibly share a card with his father one day, and has one familiar name in mind his dream match for “The Spider” in boxing.

“Fighting is air for my father, he can’t live without it,” Silva said. “There are several opponents, but the one I personally would like to see is Roy Jones Jr. They are both super technical and it would be super cool to watch despite the age. I think it would be very interesting. That’s a fight [Anderson] has asked for so long and it never happened.”

For now, the 27-year-old Silva focuses on clinching his first title belt in the world of boxing live on DAZN PPV, and respects Taylor as an opponent. The five-fight Bellator veteran, who once faced Tommy Fury in boxing, is undertaking a quick turnaround after defending his Misfits belt earlier this month with a second-round stoppage of Samuel Ericsson.

“He has kind of adjusted a few things in his game,” Silva said. “He was doing more clinch work before, and ended up finishing the guy. He has changed a bit, coming more aggressive, but we’re ready for this. I have the best coach, I’m training at the best gym, so we’re ready for whatever comes.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Deserving?
| BJPenn.com

Rising welterweight contender, Carlos Prates, continues his ascension up the stacked 170-pound division by defeating Li Jingliang at UFC 305 via second-round knockout (see it again here), improving his win streak to 10 straight, which includes three straight inside the Octagon.

While Prates still isn’t racked in the Top 15, “The Nightmare” has his sights set on another entertaining striker in the division. Posting via his Instagram account, Prates says Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) matchmakers have offered him a fight against Michael Page — who is currently ranked No. 13.

The problem, however, is that “Venom” seemingly doesn’t answer his phone to accept the bout.

“I found out that the company wants to give me Michael Venom Page, but he doesn’t answer the phone,” he said via Instagram. “You must be having nightmares by now! Hey brother, sign this contract!”

Page, the former Bellator MMA welterweight title contender, is coming off a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303. Prior to that defeat, “Venom” made a successful UFC debut by defeating Kevin Holland at UFC 299.

A fight between these two strikers would be a treat for fight fans around the globe, and since Page — who is ranked — is coming off a loss and Prates — who is not ranked — is on a hot streak, it kind of makes sense.

Now, the only thing that remains to be seen is if “MVP” accepts the alleged phone calls that are coming his way by the UFC higher ups. Should this fight come to pass, how do you see it playing out?

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