UFC CEO Dana White recently announced several matchups for the October UFC 308 event that takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The fight card is headlined by featherweight tile bout between champion Ilia Topuria and former titleholder and ‘BMF’ belt holder Max Holloway.
The main card featured a middleweight bout between former champion Robert Whittaker and undefeated Khamzat Chimaev. The two were scheduled to meet at UFC on ABC 6 on June 22 but Chimaev was forced out of the bout due to illness. Whittaker instead faced Ikram Aliskerov and won by knockout in less than two minutes.
Whittaker revealed that he contacted the fight promotion requesting a fight with Chimaev be rebooked. He also explained why he wanted to fight “Borz.”
“I saw that there was an Abu Dhabi card in October, timeline fits perfectly, and I was like, ‘I’ll fight Chimaev again,’” Whittaker told the MMArcade podcast. “Let’s do it again. Just make sure he turns up (laughs). I look forward to hard fights, I look forward to these fights, and I know that if I beat Chimaev there is nothing in my way to getting my belt back.”
“Chimaev is a hard fight. He’s obviously a big draw, especially over there in Abu Dhabi. He’s done the welterweight thing. He’s done the middleweight thing,” Whittaker continued.
“So, he’s a draw, and I think the UFC, story-wise, wants to see Chimaev get a shot at the champion. They want to see Chimaev up the top of the ladder. They want to see him in that picture. But I love disrupting their plans. I love derailing their stories, and that’s why I took the fight. I asked for the fight. It wasn’t offered to me.”
The United States had an up and down day in wrestling action on Thursday with one athlete moving onto a gold medal match, but two more falling in the semifinals.
Former Iowa standout Spencer Lee continued his run at 57kg with another dominant performance as he shut down Gulomjon Abdullaev from Uzbekistan with a 14-4 win by technical superiority. While injuries stopped him from even attempting to make the 2020 Olympic team, Lee came storming back with his showing in Paris.
On Friday, Lee faces Rei Higuchi from Japan, who also won his match in lopsided fashion after he eliminated Aman Sehrawat from India with a 10-0 score by technical superiority.
While Lee has a chance at gold on Friday, two of his teammates from the U.S. weren’t as fortunate.
Four-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks, who eliminated 2020 Olympic gold medalist David Taylor to make the U.S. team, suffered a last-second loss in his match against Bulgaria’s Magomed Ramazanov.
Wow! Ramzanov emerges victorious against Aaron Brooks. We are proud of you, and we respect the great Aaron Brooks! pic.twitter.com/HPyx1ZyJz7
— DopamineO (@dopamineo_world) August 8, 2024
Brooks started strong and looked like he was in control but after giving up a two-point takedown, Ramazanov grabbed a leg and started twisting in an attempt to get another turn. While Brooks didn’t surrender the points, his foot was torqued backwards at the same time Ramazanov was pulling on his head.
A stall call from the referee saw the wrestlers stand up again but Brooks was clearly bothered with a potential injury to his back. The match continued with Brooks up 3-2 and he desperately tried to hold on for the win while grabbing onto Ramazanov’s foot during a takedown attempt.
Just before the horn sounded, Ramazanov worked his foot free and secured the takedown for two points and the win to defeat the American. A disappointing result for Brooks, who was favored to win in Paris, but he’ll still get a chance to claim a bronze medal on Friday.
The same goes for two-time Olympic medalist Helen Maroulis in what is almost certainly one of the final competitions of her career. After becoming the first woman to ever win gold for the United States in wrestling back in 2016, Maroulis followed that up with a bronze medal win in 2020.
She’ll go for bronze again on Friday after falling to Japanese phenom Tsugumi Sakurai, who took over the match after giving up points early but then shutting down the American the rest of the way. The final score was 10-4 with Sakurai moving onto the gold medal match.
Both Brooks and Maroulis will still wrestle for bronze while Lee attempts to become the first men’s team member from the United States to win gold after Amit Elor and Sarah Hildebrandt captured gold for the women’s team.
Photo by Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
UFC pay-per-view prices have increased four times since inking a broadcast deal with ESPN, and that’s led to even more piracy of events.
During a quarterly financial call on Thursday, TKO Group Holdings president Mark Shapiro acknowledged that ESPN controls the costs of the pay-per-views, which is the company’s right after signing a deal to include those premium events as part of the company’s broadcast rights deal with the UFC. Since striking that deal in 2019, ESPN has raised the prices of pay-per-views from $ 59.99 at launch to the current $ 79.99 cost, which started in 2023.
While the UFC constantly battles against piracy of those pay-per-view events, Shapiro mentioned that the increased cost almost certainly resulted in even higher numbers of pirated cards, which led to a conversation with ESPN about those rising prices.
“ESPN and Disney were very aggressive, if you will, on pricing the pay-per-views and they have full control over that, but they have control given what they’re paying us for those rights,” Shapiro said. “Over the period of our partnership, they probably went a little quicker and a little higher than we would have liked.
“We voiced that to them, especially in this era of piracy where we’re seeing our piracy numbers really jacked up and we think that’s driven by them pricing it too high. They were very receptive to that feedback.”
Shapiro revealed that executives from TKO sat down with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro to express concerns over the increased price of pay-per-views.
That led to new package deals where ESPN offered lower pricing on events where fans could purchase a card well ahead of time to save money versus purchasing a card on fight night or within a few days of an event, which is typical.
“We had a meeting in Las Vegas a few months ago with Jimmy Pitaro and Dana [White],” Shapiro said. “They took the price down, if you will, in terms of offering a new marketing promotion where if you buy by a certain date, well in advanced of the numbered fights, you are going to get a discount and then the price of course increases once you pass that date. They’re seeing good success with that.”
While live event revenue for the UFC has exploded in recent years, it doesn’t seem like pay-per-view sales have seen the same success..
That said, Shapiro believes the overall market for UFC pay-per-views is finally settling down again, which he expects to lead to increased revenue in the future.
“Like audiences in the live events where we’re selling out and breaking records and you see it all in the press release, and like the yield that we’re commanding, which in many cases specifically with WWE have been higher than we even planned for, we’re also sustaining our buys when it comes to pay-per-view,” Shapiro said. “So we feel really good about that.”
Since announcing an increase in cost for UFC pay-per-views at the end of 2022, ESPN has not changed the price for those events over the past 20 months.
ESPN maintains broadcast rights over the UFC until the end of 2025. The two sides are expected to begin negotiations on potentially reaching an agreement on a new deal early next year.
Alvarez signed to fight Berlanga in September, but he’s now found himself battling the UFC, Saudi Arabia, and Conor McGregor.
The Battle For Las Vegas is set with Canelo Alvarez on one side against the combined forces of UFC, Conor McGregor, and Saudi Arabia on the other.
The final showdown occurs September 14th on Mexican Independence Day weekend, where Alvarez goes head to head against the UFC. Canelo vs. Berlanga takes place in the T-Mobile Arena. UFC 306: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili (aka Riyadh Season Noche UFC) occurs down the street at the extremely expensive but spectacular Sphere.
You can expect a lot of skirmishes in the five weeks remaining before the shows take place. Already we have Conor McGregor declaring UFC will ‘run Canelo off the strip’ and Riyadh Season promoter Turki Alalshikh trying to tarnish Alvarez’s reputation.
So @Canelo responds to @TheNotoriousMMA about his tweet earlier today on him no longer being a draw. Here is what Canelo had to say to me. @FightsATW #CaneloBerlanga pic.twitter.com/6bjFSQwP1X
— Abraham Gonzalez (@abeG718) August 6, 2024
“I only target big fights at fair prices, so of course anyone who likes easy fights won’t like that,” Alalshikh tweeted on Wednesday. “And I know how [Alvarez] feels after losing to Bivol, so he’s been looking for easier fights ever since. Also, I’m not the one who’s afraid of fighting Benavidez or Crawford.”
“Therefore, I knew he was wasting our time and making excuses with big amounts of money that can’t be paid. So I’m continuing my way to make big fights that serve the boxing world, and he’s on his way to making easy show-only fights.”
Canelo, who had initially said his refusal to meet with Alalshikh had more to do with focusing on the upcoming Berlanga fight than anything else, responded to Turki’s message with laughing emojis. As for Conor McGregor’s comments?
“What’s happening is that he’s helping Dana White to sell for the UFC,” Alvarez said at a recent presser. “That’s why he’s saying that. But he knows he’s my son.”
Belal Muhammad promised to be a fighting champion, and now he’s keeping a close eye on all the potential contenders in the welterweight division.
After dispatching Leon Edwards to become champion at UFC 304, Muhammad immediately recognized fighters like Shavkat Rakhmonov as likely challengers to his title, although he admits that no one has been clearly defined as the No. 1 contender in the division. For once in his career, Muhammad no longer has to call anybody out, because with the UFC title around his waist, he goes from being the hunter to the hunted.
That being said, Muhammad happily discounts one familiar name who won’t make his list as a viable opponent — failed three-time UFC title challenger Colby Covington, who began chirping almost immediately after Muhammad won the belt in Manchester.
“It’s funny. He’s literally the biggest clown in the UFC,” Muhammad told MMA Fighting. “It’s embarrassing to see how he’s trying to grasp for any sort of attention and say anything. ‘Let me catch him outside.’ Bro, I wish I see you outside. Let’s see what you would do. I literally called him out since 2017 when I fought in Australia. This guy’s a coward.
“But that’s what he does. He shied away from that Ian Garry fight. He said it wasn’t worth his time. If he would have won that fight, his name could have been right back in the mix. So now he looks dumb. He’s a clown. I’m wondering what he’s going to do next. There’s nobody out there that I see him saying yes to. He’s going to wait and hope that Tony Ferguson comes back and fights one more fight and then he’s going to win that and say, ‘See I deserve to be in there, look what I just did to Tony Ferguson!’”
With a 2-3 record in his past five fights — and all three losses coming in title bouts — it’s tough to imagine Covington sliding back into another title shot without first earning several relevant wins. Covington’s most recent victory over a fighter on the current UFC roster came all the way back in 2018, when he defeated Rafael dos Anjos to win the interim belt.
Covington’s latest fight ended in disappointment after he dropped a tepid five-round decision to Edwards this past December. He hasn’t booked another matchup since.
Muhammad doesn’t even want to give oxygen to inflammatory trash talk that isn’t going to get Covington another chance to compete for UFC gold.
“There’s zero percent chance,” Muhammad said of Covington getting another title shot. “I said he sucked before the Leon Edwards fight and they gifted him the title shot. There’s nobody in the top five that he could beat. There’s nobody in there where I could see him and say, ‘Well, if he beats him, there’s a chance.’
“I don’t see him accepting any top-five fights and I definitely don’t see him beating any top fighters if he gets that chance.”
With Covington eliminated, Muhammad gave his thoughts on the contenders he considers legitimate in the welterweight division, beginning with Rakhmonov, who is undefeated with an 18-0 record and a perfect finishing rate in those 18 fights.
“He’s the boogeyman,” Muhammad said of Rakhmonov. “The guy that everyone thinks will dominate everybody. When I look at stylistically what I’ll be able to do to him and what I’ve seen, there’s nothing he shows me where I’m like, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to be afraid of this or that.’ He’s not a specialist anywhere. Obviously, he’s a specialist in finishing, but I’ve only been finished once in my life.”
While he has no problem accepting a fight against Rakhmonov if that’s what UFC wants, Muhammad would love to see Rakhmonov get another quality win on his record just to cement his spot as the No. 1 contender.
As impressive as Rakhmonov has been through his first six UFC fights, he hasn’t beaten a top-five ranked opponent yet.
“Even for myself, when you look at all the names I had to go through [to get a title shot],” Muhammad said. “Even after beating ‘Wonderboy,’ I still had to win four more fights to get there and I had to take a short-notice fight against Gilbert Burns. Alright, you’re just going to give it to him after [winning] the ‘Wonderboy’ fight? If him and [Kamaru] Usman fought, the winner would for sure deserve it.
“But when Leon won the title, there was a clear No. 1 contender. I was the clear No. 1 contender and they still gave it to Colby. But when I won the title, there’s not that clear No. 1 contender. Obviously, Shavkat makes the most sense just because he’s undefeated, but when I look at the résumé, he didn’t have to go through what I had to go through to get it. But it’s all up to the UFC now.”
Ideally, Muhammad would eventually like to add Kamaru Usman to his résumé as well, because Usman was the champion Muhammad was chasing when he started his long UFC winning streak. He never got that chance because Usman eventually lost the belt to Edwards, but Muhammad acknowledges that’s still a huge win he wants on his record.
“For me, that was the guy I was chasing for so long,” Muhammad said. “He was the champion up there and people were saying that he was the GOAT. He had that moment of Dana White saying he was the best welterweight to ever do it.
“For Leon to take that away from me and then me to go out there and dominate Leon, to do what Usman couldn’t do, and then Usman to say I stole his blueprint — for me, to have him on my résumé would be huge. For legacy and just to show the world, to show Dana White, what I would have done if I got that opportunity when I should have. I think legacy-wise, Usman has the biggest name for sure, but on three losses, it’s hard to give him the title shot.”
Whether it’s Rakhmonov, Usman, or someone else, Muhammad doesn’t really care who UFC throws at him for his first title defense. Muhammad also recognized fighters like Ian Machado Garry and Jack Della Maddalena as contenders on the rise, potentially only a fight or two from a title shot as well.
“Honestly, [Garry] knows how to win,” Muhammad said. “He figures it out. I think that’s a big quality to have, for you to just understand how to win and fight a certain way for every fighter. Him and Leon would honestly be a great fight next. I feel like that makes a lot of sense. Stylistically, it would end up being a good fight.
“[Della Maddalena is] definitely a tough matchup stylistically for any of those other guys in the division. But for myself, I see a path to beating him pretty easily. But I’m hoping that injury gets cleared up soon and we get to see him fight somebody.”
Right now, Muhammad targets a late 2024 or early 2025 return to action, and then Muhammad just wants UFC to start lining up challenges so he can knock them down.
“There’s not a guy in the division where I look at like, ‘Man, that’s a tough fight,’ or, ‘This is going to be difficult fight, let me shy away from this guy.’” Muhammad said. “There’s nobody that I shy away from.”
Former undisputed middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker claims it should be clear as day to fight fans that the UFC is angling toward a stunning heavyweight title fight between Tom Aspinall and Alex Pereira next – despite reservations from Dana White about a division leap for the Brazilian.
Aspinall, the current interim heavyweight champion, co-headlined UFC 304 just earlier this month in Manchester, landing a defense of his title with a stunning opening round knockout win over perennial contender, Curtis Blaydes – avenging his sole Octagon defeat in the process.
As for Alex Pereira, the former middleweight champion turned in his second defense of the light heavyweight crow3n at UFC 303 at the end of June, stopping two-time foe, Jiri Prochazka with a stunning second round high-kick knockout during International Fight Week.
Robert Whittaker plots Tom Aspinall fight for Alex Pereira
And while Whittaker is preparing for his own potential title-eliminator against the unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308, he believes with Magomed Ankalaev out of the picture in a clash with Aleksandar Rakic – the UFC is angling for a super fight between Aspinall and Pereira.
“(Alex) Pereira deserves a break, he took that second fight with what’s his name and won it in outstanding fashion and then his toe was broken, so he deserves a break,” Robert Whittaker said on the MMArcade podcast. I guess I can look at it like – UFC really don’t like (Magomed) Ankalaev. Like when he fought against (Jan) Blachowicz to that draw, they wre just like, ‘Cross his name out.’”
“They’re like, yeah, like he didn’t have great rapport after that fight, right?” Whittaker questioned. “So that or it’s actually as you said, Pereira needs some time out, Ankalaev doesn’t want to sit out forever. Or, bear with me here, they’re prepping him to fight (Tom) Aspinall.”
Who would win in a heavyweight super fight: Tom Aspinall or Alex Pereira?
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