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Tom Aspinall will be the backup for this fall’s undisputed heavyweight title scrap between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Thus far, the UFC has not officially confirmed when or even if Jones vs. Miocic is going to happen, but all signs point toward the long-awaited legacy clash going down at UFC 309 when the promotion makes its annual pit spot at Madison Square Garden on November 9.

Expected to face the winner, or whichever one who doesn’t immediately retire, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall revealed in a video on his YouTube channel that he has spoken to the UFC about being the official backup for ‘Bones’ vs. Miocic in case either one can’t make the walk come fight night.

“Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, New York City. As I said, this fight hasn’t been confirmed. But after my last fight against Curtis Blaydes there was some talk about me being the back-up fighter. The UFC spoke to me directly about that, I said, ‘I’m in!’ Somebody pulls out, I’m in. One day notice, ten day notice, ten weeks notice, one hour notice, I’ll be prepared for that date” (h/t Sportskeeda).

Tom Aspinall Happy to send Jon Jones into retirement, one way or another

Originally, Jones and Miocic were scheduled to fight at UFC 295 last year, but a pectoral injury forced ‘Bones’ out of the bout. That prompted the promotion to introduce an interim belt at the event. Aspinall captured the temporary title with a quick-fire finish of Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event.

He’s since become the first fighter in more than a decade to defend an interim title, dispatching Curtis Blaydes 60 seconds into their UFC 304 co-main event in Manchester.

Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee we’ll ever see Jones vs. Aspinall with ‘Bones’ continuously teasing retirement on social media. If Jones does decide to pack it in later this year, that’s perfectly fine with Aspinall. He’ll just go down as the fighter who retired Jon Jones without ever having to actually fight him.

“[Jones] was praying that I would lose that fight against Curtis Blaydes,” Aspinall said on the Believe You Me podcast with Michael Bisping. “Because there is nowhere that you can publicly find him saying he would fight me. It doesn’t exist… Since I won that fight, he’s gone completely quiet… I will retire Jon Jones without even fighting him.”

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UFC 306’s co-main event has its official contingency plan.

Top flyweight contender Manon Fiorot is set to serve as the backup fighter for the trilogy bout between UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and former champ Valentina Shevchenko, which takes place Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Sources close to the situation confirmed the news to MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin on Friday.

Fiorot’s coach Aldric Cassata previously told Boxemag.com of Fiorot’s opportunity but the move is now official.

Fiorot, 34, is MMA Fighting’s No. 3 ranked female flyweight in the world and No. 4 ranked women’s pound-for-pound fighter. The French contender is a perfect 7-0 under the UFC umbrella, a run punctuated by impressive wins over top talents Erin Blanchfield, Rose Namajunas, Katlyn Cerminara, Jennifer Maia, and Mayra Bueno Silva.

Grasso and Shevhchenko are set to meet for a third consecutive time in a rivalry that first began in March 2023 with Grasso’s stunning upset of Shevchenko via fourth-round submission. The two then met in a rematch this past September, which ended with Grasso retaining the belt via a controversial split draw at the inaugural Noche UFC show.

Grasso and Shevchenko subsequently coached opposite one another on the recent season of The Ultimate Fighter 32, which decides its winners this Saturday at UFC Vegas 96.

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The fighters competing on Saturday’s UFC Vegas 96 fight card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas officially weighed in on Friday, including co-main event fighters Tabatha Ricci and Angela Hill.  

Hill (17-13) will enter the fight ranked ninth in the division and coming off back-to-back wins.  Ricci (10-2) is ranked eleventh and has won five of her last six fights.  She’s coming off a win over Tecia Pennington in May.  

UFC Vegas 96 Co-Main Event Weigh-In Video

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Caio Borralho got his wish as he will face one-time UFC title challenger Jared Cannonier in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 96 fight card at the APEX. If Borralho can pick up another big win this weekend, is he a legitimate threat to Dricus du Plessis and the middleweight title?

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Eric Jackman preview the UFC’s upcoming Fight Night event, along with the middleweight headliner between Cannonier and Borralho, what the latter gains with a win, and the chances Cannonier can pull off the upset. Additionally, they’ll discuss the co-main event between Tabatha Ricci and Angela Hill, other names to watch out for on the card, the #TUF finale fights, answer your questions, and much more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 96 preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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Too Much Waiting
| BJPenn.com

The 2024 Professional Fighters League (PFL) playoffs continue TONIGHT (Fri., Aug. 23, 2024) inside The Anthem in Washington, D.C., with Welterweights and Featherweight talent taking center stage. Headlining the event is a 145-pound matchup between Brendan Loughnane taking on Kai Kamaka III. In the co-main event, Magomed Umalatov will battle Neiman Gracie in Welterweight action.

The event will stream on ESPN+ and ESPN for United States-based viewers, while international mixed martial arts (MMA) fans can catch the action via DAZN starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.

PFL Washington D.C. Quick Results:

145 lbs.: Brendan Loughnane vs. Kai Kamaka III
170 lbs.: Magomed Umalatov vs. Neiman Gracie
145 lbs.: Gabriel Braga vs. Timur Khizriev
170 lbs.: Shamel Musaev vs. Murad Ramazanov
170 lbs.: Ray Cooper III vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov
145 lbs.: Tyler Diamond vs. Enrique Barzola
265 lbs.: Maxwell Djantou Nana vs. Kent Mafileo
170 lbs.: Shido Boris Esperanca vs. Tyler Hill
145 lbs.: Jesse Stirn vs. Jose Perez

For all the latest PFL news and notes click here.

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. is giving up a sizable amount of weight to John Gotti III.

This Saturday, Mayweather and Gotti rematch each other in an exhibition boxing match at Arena CDMX in Mexico City; and while Mayweather may have the edge in experience and skill, he is giving up a lot of size.

In their first matchup in June of 2023, Gotti tipped the scales at 181 pounds, while Mayweather refused to weigh in. This time around, Mayweather deigned to step on the scales, albeit fully clothed, coming in at 160.38 pounds, and with Gotti again coming in at 181 pounds, that means the 47-year-old boxing legend is giving up over 20 pounds of weight come Saturday night.

Mayweather and Gotti’s first matchup was one of the more chaotic scenes in recent combat sports history. After five rounds of action that predominantly featured Mayweather showboating and taunting, Gotti became frustrated and began trash-talking Mayweather, with things escalating between the two to the point that referee Kenny Bayless stopped the bout due to the trash talk. That encited a brawl between the two fighters and their corners. Order was eventually restored and Gotti was initially suspended for six months for the fiasco, though that was later reversed.

But despite the rough history between the two, things went down smoothly at the weigh-ins on Friday. After both fighters made their marks, they shared one final faceoff without issue. Now the only thing left is for the two of them to settle their differences a bit more definitively this Saturday.

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