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Michael Chandler is looking sharp as he trains ahead of his expected return at UFC 309 in just six days, where he will face UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira for the second time.

For Chandler, this fight represents a huge opportunity to claim the UFC championship—possibly his last chance—after pivoting from a potential mega-fight with Conor McGregor to this title bout against his old rival. In his last five fights, Chandler is 2-3, with his most recent victory coming by way of a knockout against Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 in May 2022, which earned him Performance of the Night honors. Later that year, he was awarded Fight of the Night after a hard-fought bout with Dustin Poirier at UFC 281, where he ultimately lost by submission.

Chandler recently shared a clip of his training, where he looks sharper than ever. With peak conditioning and a determined mindset, Chandler is ready to pursue his goal of holding the UFC lightweight title in less than a week. He captioned the post, “Keep it simple. Keep it devastating. #ufc309 @henrihooft.”

For Chandler, he has a tall task in front of him, as oddsmakers have him as a sizeable underdog. He is a +200 dog against the worthy champion at -250.

Continue Reading Michael Chandler Looks Sharp In UFC 309 Training Footage at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Think you can figure out which UFC fighter we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out.

We’re back for another day of the SB Nation UFC in-5 daily trivia game, and we’re switching to a system of a new article each day for the game.

We tried using a single article for the game, updated with the latest game each day, but it was creating a bit of an unwieldy experience in the comments. So, we’ll have the current day’s game plus the previous three days in each new article. That way, you can catch up if you miss a day.

Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game!

What we need from you

1. Play the game
2. Share your result in the comments and on social media
3. Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below)

Today’s UFC in-5 game

Saturday’s UFC in-5 game

Friday’s UFC in-5 game

Thursday’s UFC in-5 game

The goal of the game is to guess the correct random UFC fighter player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED FIGHTERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. It will be a mix of well-known players and some “that guys” that we haven’t thought of in some time. The game will appear in slot #3 of the MMA Fighting layout each morning, with occasional movement later in the day.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Carlos Prates added yet another highlight reel knockout to his resume, but this time he took out a 30-plus fight UFC veteran in Neil Magny.

In his first main event at UFC Vegas 100, Prates staved off some early takedown attempts, and then delivered a brutal left hook that bounced off the top of Magny’s head and sent him crashing face first down to the canvas. The referee rushed in to stop the fight with the end coming a 4:50 in the opening round.

The win moved Prates to 4-0 in the UFC with all four fights happening in 2024 and all four ending by knockout.

“Feeling awesome,” Prates said afterwards. “This year was so far the best year of my life, of my career. It’s a lot of hard work. I can’t explain how happy I am right now.”

The sky appears to be the limit for Prates, who showed patience dealing with a true veteran of the game in Magny before setting up his devastating finish.

When the action got started, it took almost no time for Magny to look for a takedown but Prates resisted and then he actually scored a reversal as the welterweights fell to the floor. Rather than playing too long on the ground, Prates backed out to get the fight back to the feet but Magny was quick to close the distance again in an attempt to employ his grappling.

When Prates finally shrugged him off, the Brazilian uncorked a lightning quick right hand that put Magny down on the canvas in a flash and that was essentially the beginning of the end.

With Magny on wobbly legs, Prates was charging forward and looking for the punches that would prevent this fight from seeing a second round. Magny did his best to survive as he desperately tried to grab onto a leg but he was backing up against the cage without anywhere to escape Prates’ wrath.

Prates measured up his shots and began unloading but just as Magny attempted to duck out of the way, he got clipped with the left hook that bounced off his head. A split second later, Magny was unconscious on the ground with the referee waving off the fight.

It was another impressive showing for Prates, who only has four fights in the UFC, but he’s already earning quite a reputation thus far. With this win, Prates has almost guaranteed himself another marquee matchup and he definitely has some ideas in mind for what comes next.

“To be honest, I think the perfect fight would be in Australia because I have a daughter there,” Prates revealed. “Fight there in Australia against Jack Della Maddalena. All respect to this guy.

“I don’t know if it’s too far away because we have the rankings and things like that but against Jack Della Maddalena it would be amazing but also I think it would be a really good fight against Geoff Neal.”

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Bonus Report
| BJPenn.com

Last night (Sat., Nov. 9, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 100. Despite the round numbers involved, UFC never intended for the 100th warehouse event to be a special show. The original fight card was perfectly typical by modern Apex standards, but then the card was ravaged by injuries. The co-main was canceled twice, and the rest of the card underwent significant adjustments as well. Despite all the upheaval, there still ended up being a solid amount of fun fights and quick finishes throughout the evening.

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 100’s best performances and techniques:

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Prates Exceeds The Hype

Carlos Prates was downright clinical in his dissection of Neil Magny. Magny deserves some props for fighting aggressively and blending his combos into clinch work into takedowns, but at no point did the Brazilian Muay Thai expert appear bothered. There was a distinct moment midway through the first where Prates shoved Magny off him, zoned in, and decided to knock out his opponent.

The fight didn’t last another two minutes.

It sure feels like Prates has ungodly power. His glancing blows floored Magny. Even the fight-finishing left hand seemed to just barely touch the temple. Magny has stood in there with plenty of hard-hitters, but it took a prime Santiago Ponzinibbio five rounds to actually put him out cold, let alone face-plant him in the first.

Prates is legit! If Jack Della Maddalena is willing to accept the callout, that’s one of the absolute best match ups possible at 170-pounds.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

RDR Strangles GM3 … BUT!

Reinier de Ridder vs. Gerald Meerschaert was a fun fight. The first round was a very classic instance of two BJJ dudes deciding to slug it out. De Ridder has a seriously awkward style of bizarro Dutch kickboxing, in which his utter lack of any defensive movement saw him touched up for most of the round despite a sharp jab. Out of nowhere, he finished the round by badly flooring “GM3” with a lovely series of strikes, evening up the score.

The rest of the fight was an active grappling match, and it ended with a de Ridder submission. On paper, that sounds like a really strong debut, one that inspires confidence in de Ridder’s chances moving forward. Unfortunately for the former One double champ, I’m not so sure that’s the case.

De Ridder made a lot of errors here. He’s worryingly hittable, and his wrestling doesn’t appear calibrated to the UFC cage. He was attempting bad takedowns and falling off top position too often, and “GM3” actually looked like the faster man in round one. How often does that happen?!?

“The Dutch Knight” will surely put on more fun fights, but I don’t think anyone is expecting a run up the ranks after this debut.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

A Standout Middleweight Debut

Mansur Abdul-Malik might be a name to remember moving forward.

At 27 years of age, Abdul-Malik made his UFC debut last night at just 6-0, having beaten absolutely nobody of note in his regional career. That didn’t stop him from absolutely trucking the fairly experienced and plenty competent Dusko Todorovic, however. The power and athleticism differential was absolutely stark. It was immediately clear that Todorovic could not afford to trade with his opponent at all.

Todorovic couldn’t get anything going. The first time he tried to press forward, he got dropped! He actually scored a decent position while attacking a leg lock, but Abdul-Malik casually stepped over the top and retained top position anyway, ignoring his foe’s good work all while slamming home audible ground strikes. When Todorovic scrambled back to his feet, a massive knee floored him a second time in short fashion.

That’s a hell of a first impression.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Short-Notice Smackdown

Debuting on short-notice against Elizeu Zaleski is a really tall task.

Ask Benoit Saint-Denis! The Lightweight contender’s introduction to UFC competition was an absolute pummeling at the hands, feet, and knees of Zaleski … and Saint-Denis has since proven to be quite a talent! The jury is still out on Zachary Scroggin’s ceiling, but his undefeated record disappeared in a flash as soon as Zaleski unleashed a flurry along the fence.

While it’s a hard way to join the UFC roster, at least Scroggin should get a more reasonable match up next. As for Zaleski, he did his job well, and the slugfest vs. Nicholas Dalby should be rebooked ASAP!

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Additional Thoughts

• Charles Radtke defeats Mathew Semelsberger via first-round knockout: This fight lasted just a few exchanges, which is what happens when a sharp boxer with knockout power takes on a fading brawler who only knows how to trade. Radtke walked Semelsberger into the fence immediately and dinged him with his trademark left hook. Immediately, Semelsberger was hurt, and Radtke followed up with combos until Semelsberger fell to the floor, face-first.
• Da’Mon Blackshear defeats Cody Stamann via first-round rear naked choke (highlights): I think this is the best Blackshear has looked in his six-fight UFC career. Historically, Blackshear is best known for his chain wrestling and quality top game, but it was his stand up that really shined here. Stamann entered with his back against the wall and fought with aggression — he looked quite sharp for a moment actually! — but Blackshear’s size advantage was massive. He was looking to time knees from the first bell, and a jump knee knifed through the guard about midway through the round. A right hand follow up floored Stamann, and Blackshear aggressively attacked the neck until a strangle opened up.
• Tresean Gore defeats Antonio Trocoli via first-round guillotine (highlights): Gore’s guillotine is downright nasty. This fight barely lasted a minute, and Gore won just about every second with an early powerful takedown. When Trocoli worked back to his feet and tried to return the favor, Gore showed off great submission chaining by using a standard guillotine threat to adjust to a power guillotine. He forced the strangle standing, his second standing guillotine in a row! Just 4-2 as a professional after the win, Gore has some clear potential if he can compete consistently into 2025.
• Melissa Mullins defeats Klaudia Sygula via second-round knockout (highlights): Sygula entered this fight as a relatively short-notice replacement who hadn’t fought in 14 months. The two threw down at a competitive clip for a couple minutes, but as soon as Mullins scored a takedown, the tone shifted dramatically. She immediately began doing real damage, and when the bell saved Sygula, Mullins went right back to the wrestling in round two to force a stoppage.

For complete UFC Vegas 100 results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Watch Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vs. Karen Chukhadzhian 2 full fight video highlights from their main event showdown Saturday night, courtesy of multiple outlets.

Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian took place Nov. 9 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (33-0) and Karen Chukhadzhian (24-3) squared off in the the main event clash. The fight aired live on pay-per-view on DAZN.

Official decision: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis def. Karen Chukhadzhian via unanimous decision (119-107, 117-109, 116-110)

Catch all the video highlights below.

For more on Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian, check out the live blog from Bad Left Hook.

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