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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Diego Lopes expects Brian Ortega to make it to the octagon with no hiccups on Sept. 14 at UFC 306 despite all the drama that unfolded hours prior to their scheduled June bout.

Lopes and Ortega agreed to face each other in a featherweight showdown on short notice at UFC 303 after the card suffered major hits, most notably the cancellation of Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, but the bout was then moved to 155 pounds hours before official weigh-ins after Ortega had issues cutting weight.

In an unprecedented move, Dan Ige ultimately replaced Ortega just hours before the fight, facing Lopes in a 165-pound catchweight after Ortega fell ill. Lopes defeated Ige via decision for his fourth straight UFC win, and asked the promotion to retry the Ortega fight.

Both fighters have now agreed to meet in a featherweight contest next month at the Sphere, and the Brazilian is confident that Ortega will make weight and stay healthy.

“I have no fear,” Lopes told MMA Fighting. “He’s always had a hard time to make 145, but he always makes weight. It didn’t work out last time, unfortunately, but I understand it. We had two weeks [notice], he weighed over 176 pounds. We knew something like that could happen so we even offered to fight at 155, but the UFC said no. But I have no fear [about Ortega missing weight now]. I’m cool, I’m focused on my work and focused on evolving every single day, to go there and do a good job.”

Lopes said he was “caught by surprise” with the offer to fight Ige on just hours’ notice and that it felt like “going to the gym on sparring day and randomly sparring someone.”

It was an experience that taught him important lessons.

“I proved something to myself, that I’m ready for any situation in a fight,” Lopes said. “They changed the weight, changed the opponent on late notice, and that showed I have a strong mind to be prepared for any adversity.”

Lopes and Ortega will have full camps to prepare for each other this time around, and the Mexico-based athlete sees similarities between them in the boxing and grappling departments.

“The idea is always the same — walk forward and go for the finish as fast as possible,” Lopes said. “I know that doing a good work in the Ortega fight and beating him emphatically could elevate me in the rankings and my name will be strong to fight for the belt in the future.

“I don’t know if I’ll go straight for the belt [with a win at UFC 306], but my name will definitely be on the table if something happens. If the UFC has any last-minute changes, my name will be on the table, just like it was when they had to replace the co-main event at UFC 303. We can say a chance [for the belt] won’t be that far.”

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Amid the never-ending rumors, Ronda Rousey has shut down any chance of her returning to the UFC.

The former UFC women’s bantamweight queen suffered her first loss inside the octagon nine years ago. A year later, ‘Rowdy’ was knocked out by Amanda Nunes — which will likely serve as her final ever outing in the sport.

Despite reports suggesting otherwise, Ronda Rousey has confirmed that she will never return to the UFC. According to Rousey, her body will no longer hold up at the highest level of combat.

“Every couple of years or months, the same rumor comes out,” Rousey said while addressing her return. “It’s nice to feel missed, I guess.”

“But yeah, it’s not happening.im just not neurologically fit to compete anymore at the highest level. I just can’t.”

“You just get to a level where the neurological injuries you take accumulate over time, they don’t get better.”

Rousey attributes her inability to continue fighting to the damage she’s endured over the years.

“When I got into MMA, I had already had dozens of concussions that I trained through. Like, not even stopped for. So that was about a decade of having concussion symptoms more often than not.”

“So, when I got into MMA, it was really, I was playing a game of zero errors. It got to the point where I was fighting more often than anybody. I had more outside of fighting responsibilities than anybody.”

Related: Ronda Rousey apologizes to Sandy Hook victims 11 years after posting controversial video

“It just got to be that lighter and lighter hits were hurting me more and more and more. It got to a point where I couldn’t take a jab without getting dazed, without getting concussion symptoms.”

“It just got to a point where it just wasn’t safe for me to fight anymore. I just couldn’t continue to fight at that higher level.”

Ronda Rousey revealed that she wanted to retire much earlier, but felt she owed women’s MMA more.

“I wanted to retire undefeated, I was trying to find a way out already.”

“But, it was all dependent on me. What I learned from pro wrestling is that, retiring undefeated would have been such a selfish goal to be able to accomplish.”

“I would have taken all of that equity with me and no one would have respected the rest of the women that I left behind.”

Watch Ronda Rousey’s interview below.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

There’s a new nominee for the 2024 knockout of the year.

On Saturday, KSW returned to action at Arena Jaskolka in Tarnow, Poland with KSW 97. In a flyweight main card matchup, 20-year-old Wiktoria Czyzewska faced Erianny Castaneda. Just two minutes into the bout, Czyzewska uncorked an incredible left hook, right high kick combination that knocked Castaneda out cold on her feet before crashing to the canvas.

Watch the unbelievable finish in the video below.

Czyzewska improved her pro MMA record to 4-1, with all wins coming via first-round finish. “Chicatoro” began 2024 by bouncing back from her lone pro loss and delivering a first-round body kick knockout victory over Petra Castkova at KSW 91 in February. She has now competed in the KSW cage in her past four contests.

Castaneda competed in her promotional debut in the bout, with her pro record now moving to 4-5. She entered the contest coming off of a stoppage victory for Jungle Fight in April.

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Injury?
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Pereira knows how to fight, and he knows how to swap a tire off a rim with nothing more than a hammer and metal rod.

Alex Pereira has had a wild ride to the top of the UFC, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots.

As a youth he dropped out of school at 12 to work in a tire repair shop in Brazil and spent years of his life doing back breaking auto work and slipping into alcoholism. Kickboxing led him away from drinking and poverty — he went pro in 2013 and was a Glory champion by 2017. In 2020 he put his full efforts towards MMA, and by 2022 he’d won his first UFC title.

Now he’s the UFC light heavyweight champion … but the dude still knows how to wrangle a quick rim job.

In a new video shared through his Instagram stories, “Poatan” returned to Villa Nova Borracharia in Sao Paulo where he used to work. He didn’t hesitate to step in and get his hands dirty, swapping some tires off their rims with the less than optimal tools at hand.

Alex Pereira’s next task in the cage will be a light heavyweight title defense against Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event of UFC 307 this October 5th in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s a bit of an odd opponent given Rountree is ranked No. 8 at 205, and No. 2 ranked Magomed Ankalaev is still waiting for his shot. In a recent interview on his YouTube channel, Pereira put the blame for that solely on Ankalaev.

“I’ve always wanted to fight against Ankalaev and I’ve made it clear,” he said “But Ankalaev didn’t want to fight me. I don’t know the reason, if it was the location, if he didn’t want to fight.”

“He isn’t the champion, he can’t pick anything,” Pereira continued. “[UFC 307] is the opportunity that showed up and he didn’t want it. He has his reasoning, I don’t know what it is. But I came here to tell you I’m not scared of anyone.”

“Everyone knows my history and everything I’ve done, not only in MMA, but in kickboxing as well. It’s obvious that I want to fight this guy. I think he has made things difficult, but we’ll meet eventually.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts