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“Get my picture on the poster, goddamn it.”

NASHVILLE, TN — Taila Santos is confused by the PFL Nashville fight card lineup this weekend (Fri., Aug. 2, 2024).

2024 led the one-time UFC flyweight title challenger to new pastures when she signed with the PFL to participate in its seasonal tournament. PFL acquired one of the best fighters on the planet with the surprise addition of Santos, making her one of the favorites to become a millionaire champion.

Now one fight away from the finals, Santos is essentially competing in the finals before the finals when she battles the reigning Bellator champion Liz Carmouche. As two of the very best 125-pound fighters on the planet, Santos doesn’t understand how the matchup is opening this weekend’s main card. Sorry, Tim Johnson and Denis Goltsov.

“If you look at the whole context, How are we not in the main event or co-main at least?” Santos told MMA Mania. “Get my picture on the poster, goddamn it. That’s one of the big things is not having the picture on the poster. Kind of bums me out.”

Santos’ biggest fight undeniably came in her lone UFC title bid opposite the then-champion Valentina Shevchenko. Despite losing a split decision, Santos performed better than almost anyone else against “The Bullet” at the time, winning in the minds of several throughout the community.

Against the streaking nine-fight unbeaten Carmouche (22-7), Santos (19-3) believes she’ll have an equally difficult challenge awaiting her.

“Liz is one of the most interesting opponents in the tournament and someone I’ve always wanted to fight,” Santos said. “She’s a very important icon in women’s MMA and our recent history. At the end of the day, I’m here to win the whole thing. I prepared for everybody, I prepared for the best there are and she’s probably one of the best in the tournament. So, come Friday night, we’re gonna have to get that done.

“I think if you think about throughout my entire career, it’s probably gonna be Liz and Shevchenko up there. The two are easily the most accomplished and [best] fighters I’ve fought.”

For all the latest PFL news and notes click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dan Ige is getting back to work.

The veteran UFC featherweight is expected to meet Lerone Murphy in a re-booked battle of ranked contenders on Oct. 26 at UFC 308, sources close to the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck on Wednesday.

Ige vs. Murphy was previously scheduled for UFC Vegas 86 in February, however Murphy withdrew due to injury and Ige instead knocked out Andre Fili in the first round.

Ige (18-8) was then booked to face Joanderson Brito — and then replacement opponent Chepe Mariscal — on July 20 at UFC Vegas 94, but was memorably pulled from that contest to fight Diego Lopes on just hours’ notice at UFC 303. Competing as a last-second replacement for Brian Ortega at a 165-pound catchweight, Ige lost to Lopes via decision.

He now gets thrown back into the fire against Murphy (14-0-1), an undefeated contender who captured a Fight of the Night victory over Edson Barboza in his most recent outing in May, which also doubled as Murphy’s first UFC main event. A 33-year-old Englishman, Murphy has won six consecutive UFC bouts since making his promotional debut with a split draw against Zubaira Tukhugov in 2019.

UFC 308 takes place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Dricus Du Plessis plans to beat Israel Adesanya on his feet.

On Saturday, August 17 (Sunday for those in Australia), ‘Stillknocks’ will head to The Land Down Under to defend the middleweight crown against two-time champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.

It will be Du Plessis’ first time competing since his title-winning performance against Sean Strickland—the same man who handed ‘The Last Stylebender’ a five-round shellacking nearly a year ago.

With fight night a few short weeks away, Du Plessis’ coach at the CIT Performance Institute, Morne Visser, recently offered some insight into how his fighter plans to approach their long-awaited clash and dispelled any rumors that ‘DDP’ may rely on a wrestle-heavy approach against the New Zealander.

“We’ll fight Izzy wherever it is that Izzy wants to take it,” Visser said during an appearance on EFC Engaged. “We are 100% where we need to be. They think that Dricus is going to shoot and take him down. No way. We want to beat him on the feet.”

Finishing 19 of his 21 career wins, Du Plessis has 10 submissions and nine knockouts to his credit, proving without a shadow of a doubt that no matter where the fight goes, he’s capable of scoring a highlight-reel stoppage.

‘Poatan’ backs Adesanya to defeat Dricus Du Plessis

Of course, that’ll be much easier said than done against the ‘Stylebender’ who’s only been stopped once in his mixed martial arts career, that coming against current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

But despite their multi-promotional rivalry, ‘Poatan’ is still backing Adesanya to come out on top and reclaim the middleweight strap for a history-making third time in Perth.

“I don’t see Adesanya losing,” Pereira said on his YouTube channel. “Just because he said that about me, doesn’t mean I’ll say it back. It’s what I think. I don’t think he loses this fight. I hope he wins because he has a beautiful story. I think he has to continue his story. He isn’t a young guy.”

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UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sean O’Malley will have to overcome the odds to keep his bantamweight title.

UFC recently announced O’Malley will defend his bantamweight title against top contender Merab Dvalishvili at the upcoming UFC 306 event, which takes place on Sep. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. And when he does so, O’Malley will be a betting underdog for the first time as champion.

According to DraftKings, O’Malley is a +130 underdog, with the comeback on Dvalishvili at -155. This implies as a 43.5 percent chance of victory for O’Malley and means a $ 100 bet on O’Malley would provide a return of $ 230 should “Suga” retain his belt.

O’Malley won the bantamweight title one year ago, stopping Aljamain Sterling in the second round at UFC 292. Earlier this year he made his first successful defense of the belt, winning a dominant unanimous decision over rival Marlon Vera at UFC 299.

Dvalishvili is currently on a 10-fight winning streak and very likely would’ve challenged for the title sooner had it not previously been held Sterling, who is his longtime friend and training partner. Most recently, Dvalishvili defeated former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298.

Oddsmaker BetOnline.ag released odds for the rest of the UFC 306 fight card, including the women’s flyweight title trilogy bout between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. In their rematch at the original Noche UFC, the two women fought to a split draw, with Grasso retaining the title. As expected, the oddsmakers again have the fight as a razor thin contest, with Grasso a very slight favorite over Shevchenko at -115 to -105.

In the featured fight of the evening, former two-time featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega looks to finally settle his business with rising contender Diego Lopes, and oddsmakers currently have “T-City” as a slight underdog at +130 to the -150 on Lopes.

Check out the full list of odds for UFC 306 below.

Sean O’Malley +130
Merab Dvalishvili -155

Alexa Grasso -115
Valentina Shevchenko -105

Brian Ortega +130
Diego Lopes -150

Irene Aldana +100
Norma Dumont -120

Aoriqileng +350
Raul Rosas Jr -450

Esteban Ribovics +150
Daniel Zellhuber -175

Ignacio Bahamondes -170
Manuel Torres +145

Kevin Borjas +101
Edgar Chairez -121

Ketlen Souza +305
Yazmin Jauregui -370

Ode Osbourne +135
Ronaldo Rodriguez -155

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Conor McGregor has been suspended from driving for two years and managed to narrowly avoid a 5-month prison sentence for his actions behind the wheel.

When he’s not competing inside the cage, the Irishman is often finding some way to stay in the headlines. As reports surfaced this week, ‘The Notorious’ has captured the front pages once again — though not for positive reasons.

On Tuesday, Conor McGregor was summoned to the Blanchardstown District Court where he faced Judge David McHugh. McGregor was struck with a two-year driving ban, a €5,000 fine, and a suspended five-month jail sentence, under the condition he keeps the peace for his two-year non-driving spell.

In March of 2022, McGregor was detained following an incident that almost caused a crash on the Dublin streets. The UFC star sped through traffic and ran red lights, forcing police to set chase and hit speeds of 99/mph in order to catch him. It was later described as “appalling” behavior by Judge David McHugh.

As stated by news and media outlet the Irish Mirror, Judge McHugh spoke out against McGregor’s actions on the road.

“An appalling series of breaches of the road traffic rules,” Judge McHugh said. “And an appalling episode of dangerous driving.” [h/t Irish Mirror]

Watch as he leaves the Blanchardstown District Court below.

Conor McGregor leaves Blanchardstown District Court after narrowly avoiding jail for an “appalling” series of dangerous driving incidents.

McGregor received a five-month suspended sentence, fines totalling €5,000 and a two-year road ban.

Read more: https://t.co/kleHC3OAyI pic.twitter.com/OrgkGbUPBK

— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) July 31, 2024

Related: Khabib Nurmagomedov’s $ 800k car collection seized, Conor McGregor responds

Each time Conor McGregor’s UFC return receives promising news, something seems to get in the way.

McGregor has left fans in limbo and has made the entire combat sports world unsure of if or when he will return to action again.

If the superstar does make the walk to the octagon in the future, it will likely be against former Bellator champion and UFC fan-favorite Michael Chandler.

The pair have been exchanging words back and forth for over a year. Both men have expressed their interest in rescheduling their bout some time soon — which was originally set to take place at UFC 303 last month.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts