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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Carla Esparza is ready to hang up the gloves.

MMA Fighting confirmed with sources with knowledge of the matchup that Esparza and Tecia Pennington are set to face off at UFC 307, which is expected to take place at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5. MMA Junkie was first to report the strawweight bout.

Esparza, a two-time champion at 115 pounds, announced Friday that this is to be the final fight of her 15-year career.

The Oct. 5 matchup is actually a rematch from 2014, when Esparza defeated Pennington (then Torres) via majority decision in an exhibition bout to advance to The Ultimate Fighter 20 semifinals. Esparza went on to win that season’s tournament and become the UFC’s inaugural strawweight champion.

Esparza (19-7) has not fought since a loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 281 in November 2022, which ended her brief second reign as strawweight champion. The following March, Esparza announced that she was pregnant and she gave birth this past September.

Among Esparza’s career highlights are a who’s who of notable wins, including Rose Namajunas (twice), Yan Xiaonan, Marina Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson-Gomez, and Alexa Grasso.

Also a proud mom, Pennington (13-7) recently returned from a long layoff after giving birth in June 2023. She lost a split decision to Tabatha Ricci in her most recent outing.

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Ashamed
| BJPenn.com

With the UFC Abu Dhabi early (and official) weigh ins already in the books, the promotion will send all 26 fighters back to the stage for the ceremonial festivities, popping off LIVE at 10 a.m. ET in the embedded video above. This marks the final stop before the “Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov” MMA event on ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN+ tomorrow (Sat., Aug. 3, 2024) at Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Get complete UFC Abu Dhabi early weigh-in results right here.

“Umar is a unique fighter,” Sandhagen told reporters at the UFC Abu Dhabi media day. “Stylistically, he’s a really tough fight. I had to work in a lot of overtime hours in order to make sure I was prepared for this fight. But the rankings, him coming up, the odds, the bettors, I couldn’t honestly give a sh*t less. I’m focused on what I’m going to do Saturday, and that’s executing underneath the lights, and I can’t wait for that peace because it’s weird that people are counting me out for this one, but I just can’t wait to prove all those people wrong.”

“No one’s seen me defensively wrestle ever almost except the situation with (Aljamain) Sterling,” Sandhagen continued. “That’s what we’ll call that loss, a situation. The situation with Sterling — and that was what, four years ago? I was two years into my career. I’m six, seven years into my career now and still no one’s really seen it. So, just another element that I get to show to people, and man, I’m excited for this one just to show how great I am because Umar is going to bring out the best in me, and he already has in this camp, and I’m pumped for it. I can’t wait to watch myself fight.”

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Abu Dhabi fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ preliminary card matchups, which are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance on ABC/ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Abu Dhabi news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here, here, and here. For the updated and finalized “Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov” fight card and ABC/ESPN+ lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has PFL 7 results for the Goltsov vs. Johnson fight card and more from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday night.

In the main event, Denis Goltsov and Tim Johnson will clash in a heavyweight contest.

Flyweights Dakota Ditcheva and Jena Bishop will square off in the co-main event.

Check out PFL 7 results below.

Main Card (9 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN+)

Denis Goltsov vs. Tim Johnson

Dakota Ditcheva vs. Jena Bishop

Oleg Popov vs. Linton Vassell

Liz Carmouche vs. Taila Santos

Preliminary Card (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Tyrell Fortune vs. Sergey Bilostenniy

Alexei Pergande vs. Daniel Boehle

Cody Law vs. Zachary Hicks

Sergio Cossio vs. Dedrek Sanders

Jaleel Willis vs. Anthony Ivy

Kevin Pease vs. Nick Meck

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UFC president Dana White has made his stance clear on a potential boxing fight of Alex Pereira vs. Jake Paul. Poatan’ Pereira is the UFC light heavyweight champion and ‘The Problem Child’ Jake Paul is a professional boxer and YouTube star.

Alex Pereira vs. Jake Paul

A fight rumor between Alex Pereira and Jake Paul had been circulating as of late. After ‘The Problem Child’ knocked out BKFC and UFC athlete Mike Perry in a boxing match, then Jake Paul called out the UFC champion ‘Poatan.’ He even phoned the Brazilian striker while in the ring and Pereira agreed to the matchup.

However, a showdown between the two seems unlikely. The UFC typically does not allow active fighters to compete outside of the organization even in blockbuster boxing fights. Francis Ngannou, heavyweight champion, was hoping to work with the UFC on a boxing career but they were not receptive, and the Cameroonian athlete is not alone. Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather in 2017 was the only exception, a very rare moment in how the UFC acts.

Originally, Pereira did intend to have a boxing career. But with a late start into combat sports, the Brazilian instead chose to become a kickboxer. Since then he has earned two division titles in both GLORY Kickboxing and the UFC. ‘Poatan’ is well known and feared for his knockout power.

On facing Alex Pereira, ‘The Problem Child’ said:

“Alex Pereira, you said you want to box, I’m the king of this. Come over, we can make it happen. I want you Alex Pereira. I just beat a BKFC champion. I beat multiple UFC champions. He said he wants to box. Alex Pereira, after Mike Tyson, let’s make it happen.”

“These guys aren’t their own bosses. I want all the smoke, but at the end of the day, will Dana [White] let him out? That’s too bit of a risk if I could embarrass his No. 1 most praised fighter right now.” [H/t MMAFighting]

Since becoming a professional boxer, the YouTube star Paul has defeated fighters such as Ben Askren, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, and Nate Diaz, plus has a lone loss to Tommy Fury.

Dana White Responds to Jake Paul

When asked about a potential Paul vs. Pereira fight, in an interview with TNT Sports, he laughed it off. Dana White added:

“I haven’t even talked to Perry in a long time and I didn’t even know Jake Paul was fighting. I was on vacation in Italy, I had no idea. There’s all these stories that were written, it’s ridiculous. I stopped paying attention to Jake Paul when he lost to Fury, you know what I mean. It’s like when he fought somebody that was his age and actually boxed, he lost and I’m not s******* on the kid, I don’t even think about him anymore.

“It doesn’t even cross my mind. I have no beef with him. ‘They’re trying to get me assassinated’. Nobody’s trying to get you assassinated especially, listen, I respect Perry. Smaller, older, I mean it’s the same blueprint that they’re fighting older, smaller guys that, it’s just I literally don’t even think about him anymore. It’s all b*******.” [H/t MMANews]

Dana White, UFC president, seems like he is not taking the Jake Paul boxing career seriously nor is he paying attention to it. Tommy Fuy, the brother of heavyweight king Tyson Fury, gave Paul his first career loss in boxing. Tommy Fury is not known for his boxing game nor is he highly respected or ranked in boxing, he is best known as a reality TV star. However, Jake paul continues to sell fights and will eventually compete in MMA with the PFL.

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UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov takes place on Saturday, and MMA News is here to bring you the final faceoffs from the ceremonial weigh-ins!

After staging its return to Manchester, England, for the UFC 304 pay-per-view last weekend, MMA’s leading promotion has remained on the road for a card inside the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Before returning to the venue for its annual numbered event this October, the UFC will put on a Fight Night event topped by elite bantamweight contenders Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov. The former interim title challenger and his undefeated Russian opponent will be looking to stake their claims for a shot at the winner of Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili.

Saturday’s co-headliner, meanwhile, will see another unbeaten name back in action as Sharabutdin Magomedov looks to make it three from three in the UFC at the expense of Michał Oleksiejczuk.

Before that, a second crucial contest at 135 pounds will go down. Making the walk for the first time since his defeat to O’Malley in their UFC 299 title fight, Marlon Vera will look to revive his championship ambitions before stalling the two-weight goals of ex-flyweight kingpin Deiveson Figueiredo.

Elsewhere on the lineup, the likes of former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and strawweight submission specialist Mackenzie Dern are among those set to be in action.

Ahead of the event, all 26 fighters successfully made weight. With that, all that remains on Friday is for the athletes to face off one final time at the UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi ceremonial weigh-ins!

Check out a stream via the official UFC YouTube channel below, commencing at 10 AM ET.

UFC Fight Night Ceremonial Weigh-In Live Stream

Continue Reading UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov Ceremonial Weigh-In Live Stream at MMA News.

MMA News

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts