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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Marcus Buchecha is one of the hottest free agents in all mixed martial arts after tapping out Amir Aliakbari in under four minutes at this past Friday’s ONE 169 in Thailand. He completed his deal with the Asian promotion on a high, and now he wants biggest challenges.

The 13-time jiu-jitsu world champion is now 5-1 in MMA with a 100 percent finishing rate and could have a chance to avenge his sole loss in thew sport against “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane, who captured the ONE heavyweight title on the same night, but he’s still unsure on what his next move will be.

“That was the last fight of my contract, and now I’m free, I can do anything I want,” Buchecha said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I’m already talking to my manager Ali Abdelaziz and we will make that decision. I don’t have anything decided just yet, but we’re already talking and deciding the next steps. I really don’t know what will happen, but things are way different now compared to last week. I was coming off a loss, and now I’m coming off a good win, so I’m in a better position now to make a decision.”

Buchecha said Abdelaziz is already “in conversations with a lot of people” regarding his future, but a decision hasn’t been made.

“He’s doing his job,” Buchecha said. “I think his phone is probably ringing right now, people are reaching out to him.”

Buchecha openly complained of lack of offers for over a year before his clash with Aliakbari was made for Nov. 8, but said he won’t close doors on possibly re-signing with the organization.

“To be honest with you, I want to talk to everybody,” Buchecha said. “If [ONE] wants to have a conversation with me, we will talk, but I don’t know what I want to do yet, you know? I had six fights with ONE, my entire MMA career was at ONE, so I honestly want to think about the next step of my career with calm.”

All of Buchecha’s MMA wins came via first-round finish with four submissions and one TKO stoppage, adding to his combat sports legacy. In the grappling world, the American Top Team heavyweight has won two ADCC gold medals and six IBJJF absolute world championship titles, plus seven titles in his weight class.

About to turn 35 years old early next year, Buchecha said his decision will be based on “challenge,” not money.

“The financial aspect is always interesting, of course,” Buchecha said. “But if there’s something I don’t want to do or organization I don’t want to sign with, no money in the world would convince me to sign. I have my values and my principles, and if I have grudges with an organization or something like that, and I don’t want to sign [with them], money won’t be a reason for me to sign.”

“I’m driven by challenges,” he continued. “Many people told me during fight week that I’ve won 13 world titles [in jiu-jitsu] and didn’t need to be fighting MMA, but I’m still here, fighting. I want new challenges, I want to test myself more and more. I’m not getting any younger, so I have to do it sooner than later. I don’t want to waste any more time on the sidelines, because I’m not young anymore.”

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Mega Fight?
| BJPenn.com

Jon Jones will be wearing custom fight trunks for UFC 309.

“Bones” defends his heavyweight strap against former 265-pound titleholder Stipe Miocic atop Sat. night’s (Nov. 16, 2024) pay-per-view (PPV) card inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, a five-round showdown that could lead the winner to this impatient opponent.

Or perhaps even retirement.

“I’m so excited about these,” Jones told UFC. “It’s got the lion and my favorite bible verse, the cross, my last name. Philippians 4:13, my mom used to recite it to me all the time, my late mother. ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.’ I believe it, sincerely in my heart that with God, all things are possible. This is my superpower. My relationship, my faith, God has brought me through so many battles. Not only in the Octagon, but in life.”

God also chose Jones to be undefeated, which makes Steve Mazzagatti the Devil.

Jones, 37, is returning from a major pectoral injury, one that has kept him sidelined since defeating Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title at UFC 285 back in early 2023. As for Miocic, 42, he’s been patiently waiting for his combat sports comeback since falling to Francis Ngannou in March 2021.

For the rest of the UFC 309 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Featherweights Edson Barboza and Steve Garcia are set to clash at the upcoming UFC Fight Night event scheduled on Feb. 22 with a location for the card still to be determined.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

A 36-fight veteran with 14 years spent in the UFC, Barboza has a reputation as one of the nastiest strikers on the entire roster. When the Brazilian returns in early 2025, he’s looking to get back on a winning track after coming up short in a Fight of the Night against Lerone Murphy back in May.

That was actually Barboza’s third consecutive fight to earn him a bonus after he also picked up a Fight of the Night for his battle with Sodiq Yusuff as well as a Performance of the Night for his knockout over Billy Quarantillo.

Meanwhile, Garcia has been on a tear with wins in his past five fights in a row while finishing every single opponent by knockout. The Jackson-Winklejohn fighter has been tearing through his competition, which included a first-round finish over Kyle Nelson in a short-notice bout he took in September.

Garcia now looks to add a veteran like Barboza to his resume when the featherweights meet in February.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Daniel Cormier is set to call the UFC 309 main event where two of his greatest rivals meet with the heavyweight title on the line.

Jon Jones returns to action to face Stipe Miocic in a long-awaited showdown between two all-time greats to cap off the event from Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight was originally scheduled for November 2023 but Jones suffered a torn pectoral muscle that delayed the fight for a year.

While Cormier is no stranger to calling fights involving some of his former opponents, Saturday’s main event is particularly interesting considering Jones and Miocic were arguably the toughest challenges he faced during his Hall of Fame career. He faced them a combined five times during his career so Cormier certainly knows Jones and Miocic better than most.

Cormier is joined on the broadcast by play-by-plan man Jon Anik and comedian/podcaster Joe Rogan as the three-man booth calling UFC 309.

Megan Olivi is set to serve as the in-arena reporter for the event with Din Thomas providing analysis throughout the event.

UFC officials confirmed the broadcast team to MMA Fighting on Tuesday. MMA Junkie was the first to break the news.

UFC 309 also features a five-round co-main event when former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira takes on Michael Chandler in a rematch. In their previous encounter, Oliviera survived a near finish in the opening round and then put Chandler away in the second round to claim the vacant 155-pound title.

Now they meet again just over three years later with the winner almost certainly jumping right back into title contention in the lightweight division.

The UFC 309 pay-per-view main card kicks off at 10 p.m. ET with the prelims set to begin at 6 p.m. ET with 13 total fights scheduled from New York.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Former UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso may be out of the octagon for a while.

On Monday event, Grasso revealed via her Instagram account that she broke her leg training while posting a photo with a crutch and with her leg in a boot.

Grasso didn’t reveal a timetable for recovery, or when she could return to competition.

The 31-year-old recently lost the women’s 125-pound championship in a lopsided decision against Valentina Shevchenko in their trilogy bout at UFC 306 in September. It was Grasso’s first loss in five years — a controversial decision loss in her final strawweight bout against Carla Esparza in September 2019.

After winning her next four fights, Grasso got her first opportunity to fight for a UFC title, and she came through with a stunning upset win, submitting Shevchenko at UFC 285 in March 2023. They would compete in a rematch at Noche UFC six months later and fought to a split draw in one of the best fights of the year.

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