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Makhachev was expected to defend his lightweight title in Abu Dhabi this October. That may not happen due to a ligament tear in his hand.

Islam Makhachev is suffering from a hand injury that may keep him from an expected October fight date in Abu Dhabi.

While nothing has officially been announced, reports have Makhachev penciled in to fight Arman Tsarukyan on the UFC’s annual pay-per-view in the United Arab Emirates. But we’ll have to see whether a ligament tear in his hand heals quickly enough.

“After the fight my fist hurt a lot, a lot of things hurt,” Makhachev told Ushatayka in a new interview. “We’ll take time, everything is healing little by little. But my hand continues to bother me. An MRI recently confirmed that I have a partial ligament tear. let’s see if I can recover. If not, I may even have to have surgery.”

“Well, it is questionable,” he said of the Abu Dhabi show. “We haven’t talked about the fight yet. I am doing rehabilitation every day now and we’ll see how the hand goes.”

If not October, Islam still wants to compete before the start of 2025. He’d previously asked to fight on the UFC’s upcoming November event at Madison Square Garden.

“I really want to perform before the end of the year,” he said. “I plan to, too. So far I haven’t even thought about not performing. But I want to come in shape, prepared, so that nothing bothers me. Before the last fight, there were also a lot of minor injuries, everything accumulated. And I want to give my body time to recover.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Two championship belts will be on the line when RIZIN returns to Saitama Super Arena on Sept. 29, the promotion announced Sunday.

Lightweight king Roberto Satoshi defends his 155-pound title for the first time since April 17, 2022, when he faces Brazilian knockout artist Luiz Gustavo in the main event of RIZIN 48 in Saitama, Japan. In the co-main event, Naoki Inoue battles Soo Chul Kim for the bantamweight title Kai Asakura recently vacated to sign with the UFC.

Satoshi (16-3) went 2-2 in non-title fights since the night he tapped out Johnny Case, finishing veteran Keita Nakamura in his most recent appearance. Gustavo (14-2) earned his long-awaited shot at the belt after winning four in a row with a pair of knockouts.

Inoue (17-4) won seven of nine with four finishes since joining RIZIN in 2020, a contrast to his 1-2 run as a UFC fighter. Kim (22-7-1), a veteran of Road FC and ONE Championship, gets his crack at gold after going 4-0 in his past four bouts. He knocked out Taichi Nakajima in his most recent RIZIN appearance.

RIZIN 48 also features the return of RIZIN and DEEP Jewels atomweight champion Seika Izawa, who faces two-time championship contender Kanna Asakura in a non-title affair. Kyohei Hagiwara vs. Ryo Takagi is also officially announced for the card.

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Those who are not fans of Belal Muhammad must have felt justified upon seeing UFC CEO Dana White’s mood at the UFC 304 post-fight press conference immediately following his title win.

Muhammad toppled Leon Edwards in the card’s main event via unanimous decision to capture the UFC welterweight championship. Though he was able to get his shots in on the feet, perhaps his best work came with his strong wrestling background.

“Remember the Name” constantly pressured Edwards, bringing him to the fence on multiple occasions to score takedowns. Muhammad controlled Edwards in a way no one had ever seen before, though Edwards landed nasty elbows in the fight’s closing seconds that could have troubled Muhammad had the fight had more time.

Muhammad’s wrestling-heavy offense has led to him being negatively received by many fans, and it appeared from the moment White wrapped the belt around his waist in the Octagon that the UFC CEO was not impressed.

“It wasn’t a barnburner,” White said matter-of-factly at the press conference.

Dana White Says Belal Muhammad Gameplan Was ‘What You Would Expect’

After that comment, a reporter followed up by asking White if Edwards’ performance — along with others on the card — were compromised by a late start time. The card aired in its usual pay-per-view slot, so the pay-per-view did not begin until 3:10 AM in England after being delayed by 10 minutes due to the prelims running over time.

It should be worth noting that the decision to not move the start time to something more UK-friendly is widely believed to have been an ESPN decision, not UFC’s. Although the extent to which the promotion could have forced alternative plans has been widely debated.

White declined to comment on that matter, suggesting to reporters in Manchester that they’d have to ask Edwards himself about his performance.

The UFC did, however, suggest that he was not surprised by Muhammad’s gameplan given his training time with former undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“I know Belal has been training with Khabib,” White said. “So his performance is…what you would expect.”

Muhammad and Edwards were competing in a rematch from their initial 2021 battle that ended in a no contest after the former was hit with a bad eye poke.

Both men were on big unbeaten runs. UFC 304 marked “Rocky’s” first loss since his first fight with Kamaru Usman in December 2015. Muhammad, meanwhile, has not lost since a defeat at the hands of Geoff Neal in January 2019.

• Read More: 4 Positives & 3 Negatives From UFC 304: Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad 2

Continue Reading Dana White Gives Muted Reaction To Belal Muhammad’s Title Win At UFC 304: ‘Wasn’t A Barnburner’ at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MANCHESTER, England — UFC featherweight Nathaniel Woods talks to the media backstage at UFC 304, including the motivation he feels fighting for his daughter, how it was going up against veteran Daniel Pineda, why he wants a rematch with Muhammad Naimov, and more.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Watch the UFC 304 highlights video and recap from Saturday’s UFC 304 main event between Leon Edwards vs Belal Mahammad.

UFC 304 took place on Saturday, July 27th, at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.

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