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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

A battle between past UFC light heavyweight title challengers is expected to take place in December.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that a matchup between Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes is targeted for UFC 310, which is slated for Dec. 14 in Las Vegas. MMA Mania was first to report the booking.

Smith has dropped four of his past six bouts, including a loss to Roman Dolidze in his most recent appearance at UFC 303 in June. “Lionheart” began 2024 with a big upset win at UFC 301 in May, handing Vitor Petrino his first career loss with a first-round guillotine submission. Smith makes his 24th walk to the octagon, which includes a decision loss to Jon Jones in his lone title fight at UFC 235 in March 2019.

Reyes started off 2024 returning to the cage following a 19-month layoff, finishing Dustin Jacoby in the first round at UFC Louisville in June. The victory was Reyes’ first in nearly five years since stopping Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC Boston in October 2019. “The Devastator” then lost a controversial decision to Jones at UFC 247 in his first title opportunity in February 2020, before suffering brutal knockout losses against Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka, and Ryan Spann.

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i am aware this card lost a few fights but they were more fights for hardcore fans anyway that will be hopefully be rebooked. and what kinda main event is this??? submitted by /u/AtmosphereVarious440 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tom Aspinall wants Stipe Miocic to take a lesson from the 46th President of the United States.

Despite extensive calls for UFC to scrap Miocic’s expected title challenge against UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, UFC CEO Dana White tripled down on his promotion’s plans to proceed with the bout this past week, arguing that Jones and Miocic “both deserve it” and that he’s “showing both of these guys the respect” of rebooking the matchup after it fell through in November 2023 at UFC 295 due to a Jones shoulder injury.

Aspinall instead stepped up at UFC 295 and captured the interim heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich. He then defended that interim belt at UFC 304 with a 60-second knockout of Curtis Blaydes, successfully avenging the only loss of his UFC career. Afterward, Aspinall made it clear to MMA Fighting that he’s only willing to fight in a title unification bout next — and at this point, he’s sick of waiting on Jones and Miocic.

“Get Stipe out of there,” Aspinall told TNT Sports on Friday. “Let’s be honest. The guy is 43 years old, he’s had a four-year layoff, and his last fight was a knockout loss. Granted, he’s an absolute legend in this sport. He’s the best heavyweight ever — like statistically, he’s the best heavyweight ever. But the guy needs to be pulled out of the race.

“The guy needs to be Joe Biden’d, mate. He’s too old. No one’s that interested anymore. And I respect Stipe a lot. Pull him out, stick me in. It’s right though, isn’t it? It is right.”

Miocic, 41, is actually set to turn 42 years old on August 19, but Aspinall’s point still stands. A two-time UFC heavyweight champion, Miocic has not fought since losing his title with a brutal second-round knockout loss at the hands of Francis Ngannou in March 2021.

For context, Alex Pereira’s UFC debut came in Nov. 2021, meaning the 2024 frontrunner for Fighter of the Year has competed nine times, captured two different divisional titles, and strung together a UFC Hall of Fame résumé in less than the 40 months since Miocic’s most recent octagon appearance.

Biden, of course, withdrew from the 2024 U.S. presidential race in July following a catastrophic debate performance against Republican nominee Donald Trump that prompted widespread questions about the 81-year-old’s mental fitness for another term.

Aspinall may simply be an Englishman dipping his toes into American politics, but he feels Miocic should take the hint and do the same for the upcoming title bout against UFC heavyweight champion Jones, which is expected to take place November in New York City.

“Get Joe Biden out of there,” Aspinall said. “Stick me in.”

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Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis will put his title on the line for the first time at UFC 305 on Aug. 18 against former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya.  

Du Plessis admittedly does not like Adesanya, and Adesanya feels the same way about “Stillknocks.”  After Du Plessis defeated former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, Adesanya entered the octagon and verbally insulted Du Plessis as the South African remained calm.  Considering his interaction with Adesanya after his win over Whittaker, Du Plessis was asked if he believes that he’s in Adesanya’s head leading up to their UFC 305 grudge-match.  

“If I’m in his head, I can’t tell you.  He feels the energy.  I can tell you that much,” Du Plessis told SHAK MMA.  “I made the statement that his fire is gone and I don’t believe that.  I think the fire is still there.  I just believe my fire is just, his fire is insignificant to mine.  

“The passion and fire that I have in me, the passion burning is overshadowing his.  That’s why I can’t even see his fire, and I can’t feel it because the fire burning inside of me is so intense,” Du Plessis continued.  “Do I think I’m in his head?  Maybe not, but I do know that he’s in his own head.  That’s for sure.”

UFC 305 takes place at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.  The event will mark the fight promotion’s third time hosting an event in Perth.  

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i am aware this card lost a few fights but they were more fights for hardcore fans anyway that will be hopefully be rebooked. and what kinda main event is this??? submitted by /u/AtmosphereVarious440 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kelly Ottoni runs a martial arts gym in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and wants to lead by example. That’s why she’s putting the gloves on at age 39 and taking on a tough challenge against PFL and Bellator veteran Jackie Cataline at Friday’s Invicta FC 56 event in Denver.

The former Jungle Fight bantamweight champion said her reasons for returning to MMA after more than two years away are to show the power of combat sports and change lives, not only her own. With more than 80 competitions under her belt in various forms of martial arts, from boxing to wrestling to jiu-jitsu to Muay Thai, Ottoni sees MMA with different eyes.

“Martial arts is a philosophy of life for me, but MMA is more about making money,” Ottoni told MMA Fighting. “It’s money to give me a better life as I get older, because I’m not only changing my life, I have other people around me who are as much of hustlers as I am and dream of better things in life, so I want to help the youth.

“You pay the price for a dream and work hard every day, and sometimes you still don’t achieve it and can’t have a good performance because you need a second job to pay bills. It’s hard to live as an athlete in Brazil. That’s extremely common in several sports, and that’s what I explain to my students. You have to dream and work hard to achieve it.”

Ottoni jokes she’s “quite an old hand” but her experience in martial arts is far greater than her 5-0 MMA record shows, and she feels “extremely happy and pressure-free” entering the Invicta FC cage for the first time. Open to fighting from anywhere from 135 to 155 pounds, she faces Cataline in a featherweight contest while looking for other great opportunities.

Her brother is Quemuel Ottoni, who has also held the Jungle Fight belt before. He was the first man to defeat future UFC and GLORY two-division champion Alex Pereira in MMA back in their Jungle Fight days, and is set to fight for a UFC contract against Kody Steele on the Sept. 10 card of the promotion’s Contender Series. She believes they could one day share a UFC card, but competing in the octagon isn’t her ultimate goal.

“I see Invicta FC as a door to other major promotions, but not only the UFC,” Ottoni said. “We have the PFL and Bellator. We have Larissa Pacheco as the current [PFL] champion. I’m not only thinking about the UFC. UFC is the World Cup and everybody knows that, but I want to make money. If I get to the World Cup, great, but I want to buy a house, I want to keep my NGO going. I’ll enter the door that opens for me.”

Cataline, her opponent Friday night, is 4-3 as a professional with two first-round finishes under the PFL Challenger Series banner. Ottoni, whose 5-0 record includes two first-round knockouts and one submission, says “it’s pretty clear” what Cataline will attempt to do.

“I’m sure she’s watched my fights and she will try to take me to the ground. That’s obvious,” Ottoni said. “There’s no other path for her, but she’s never fought anyone at my level. It’s about taking me down and holding me there, it’s about trying to stop someone that knows how to do jiu-jitsu.”

“The champion Alex ‘Poatan’ is showing the world what a striker can do, and that’s the thing I do best,” she continued. “My brother has always said I can beat these girls in MMA. I’ve always like to strike, I’ve always done jiu-jitsu and wrestling, but I’m kind of crazy. You cut me open? I’ll cut you back. That’s my style, you know? I’m a sniper looking for blood. I can’t walk backward. Hit me all you want, I’ll always smile at you and keep walking forward.”

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