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After getting knocked out for the first time in his career in the main event of UFC 308 by Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway’s featherweight career appears to be over for good, as he recently confirmed he’ll be making the move to the UFC lightweight division. Is it the right move for the current “BMF” champion?

On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel reacts to Holloway’s full-time lightweight jump, discuss who he could face next at 155, and if a third meeting with Dustin Poirier is the fight to make. Additionally, topics include Brandon Moreno’s sensational performance at UFC Edmonton and what’s next for the former two-time champ, other standout moments from this past Saturday’s card, Rakhmonov wanting a fight with Kamaru Usman for the interim welterweight title at UFC 310, if the UFC should just wait for Belal Muhammad to heal up, UFC Vegas 100 this Saturday headlined by Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates, and much more.

Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee and Eurosport’s Marcel Dorff.

Watch the show live at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT in the video above.

If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.

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Michael Chandler has been out of action for almost two years, having last fought Dustin Poirier in November 2022. Outside of TUF 31, he’s spent most of this time waiting for Conor McGregor, but after the upheaval around UFC 303, he finally moved on to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 309.

Following his razor-close split decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300, Oliveira is currently the #2 ranked UFC lightweight in the world. So, defeating him should put Chandler in line for a title shot.

Chandler fought frequently in the UFC since his debut against Dan Hooker. It appears he wants to compensate for the two-year hiatus by fighting as many high-profile names as possible before 2025.

Chandler recently appeared on the SHAK MMA YouTube channel for an interview. When asked if he would fight McGregor or Makhachev after a win over Oliveira, “Iron” stated that getting the UFC lightweight title is his priority. He also feels the need to settle the rivalry with “The Notorious” which began with TUF 31.

“The title is the number one goal but there is some unfinished business. Chandler vs. McGregor TUF 31, it needs, that chapter needs to close to some point. Conor wants that fight. He’s talked about it openly in public, in interviews. Obviously, I want that fight. I’m not focused on it right now. I’m focused on Charles, but it’ll be interesting you know. Because you also got to remember, Islam is fighting probably in January, could be late January. He’s gonna go into Ramadan in February, all of March, won’t be able to go till training camp, won’t be able to fight till June July. I’m not trying to wait till June or July. So, Conor could sneak in there, we could see Chandler vs. Oliveira, Chandler vs. Conor, Chandler vs. Islam, Chandler vs. Max. The craziest four or five fight-run in a 12-month period that anyone’s ever seen.”

Besides Makhachev and McGregor, “Iron” is also interested in fighting former UFC featherweight champion and the reigning BMF champion Max Holloway in 2025. Fans have been eagerly waiting to see this fight too, as both fighters boast an aggressive, fearless, and striking-heavy fighting style.

It’ll be interesting to see how many superfights Chandler can be a part of before the end of 2025. For now, he needs to focus on beating Oliveira, who already holds a TKO win over him.

• READ MORE: Dana White & Jon Jones Share Contradictory Answers On If Aspinall Fight Will Happen After UFC 309

Continue Reading Michael Chandler Targets ‘Craziest’ Fight Run Against Makhachev, Holloway & McGregor at MMA News.

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The UFC Vegas 100 weigh-in video features 24 fighters stepping on the scale Friday morning in Las Vegas. Watch a live stream of the official weigh-ins above courtesy of Ag. Fight.

In the main event, Neil Magny and Carlos Prates have to hit the welterweight limit of 171 pounds for the non-title fight. Magny seeks to extend his record for the most wins by a welterweight in UFC history, with his number currently standing at 22.

Prates can complete a spectacular 2024 campaign that already includes three wins this year. He has finished all of his opponents during that stretch, with each performance earning him a $ 50,000 bonus.

Ricky Turcios and Benardo Sopaj have to hit the 136-pound limit for the non-title bantamweight fight in the penultimate bout of the evening.

The UFC Vegas 100 official weigh-in video begins at 12 p.m. ET.

Check out UFC Vegas 100 weigh-in results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET)

Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates

Ricky Turcios vs. Benardo Sopaj

Gerald Meerschaert vs. Reinier de Ridder

Luana Pinheiro vs. Gillian Robertson

Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Dusko Todorovic

Preliminary Card (ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET)

Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Denise Gomes

Gaston Bolanos vs. Cortavious Romious

Elizeu Zaleski vs. Zach Scroggin

Matthew Semelsberger vs. Charlie Radtke

Cody Stamann vs. Da’Mon Blackshear

Tresean Gore vs. Antonio Trocoli

Melissa Mullins vs. Klaudia Sygula

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has all the respect in the world for light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira, but if the UFC were to book a matchup between the two titleholders, du Plessis can see a real world where he stops Pereira with strikes.

“If I’m talking about just the standup exchanges—I’m not fighting a kickboxing fight, I’m fighting an MMA fight,” du Plessis told Submission Radio. “And in a kickboxing fight, You need to be able to land combos, you need to land massive punches the whole time, get a guy rocked, you get an eight count, you have all those variables. Where in MMA, I don’t care who you are. If I catch you clean with those small gloves, you’re going to go down and I am going to catch you eventually.”

Du Plessis captured the middleweight title with a decision win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297 this past January, and then stopped Israel Adesanya in his first title defense at UFC 305 the following August. At light heavyweight, Pereira has put together a Fighter of the Year campaign with knockout wins over Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree.

The South African champion understands he has his work cut out for him, but after watching Pereira’s win over Rountree, du Plessis saw some things he could capitalize on.

“Now, I said it with with Izzy—he said, I’m too slow, I wouldn’t be able to catch him. Well, yeah,” du Plessis said. “I made a post recently saying maybe it’s not pretty, but damn, it’s effective because I will catch you eventually. And then it’s then it’s a whole different story because I’m not engaging in a kickboxing fight. I’m punching and I’m kicking, but it’s not a kickboxing fight. It’s an MMA fight, and when I put those together, it’s a different fight.

“So I honestly believe that with a guy like Alex Pereira, he has power. I have a lot of power too. The man is… yeah [he has] crisp striking. His striking is incredible. That’s why he has the kickboxing résumé. … But we saw with [the] Khalil Rountree fight, we saw a lot of things that [Rountree had] a lot of success [with] in those first two rounds. He really did.”

Watch du Plessis’ interview with Submission Radio below.

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Pound-for-pound
| BJPenn.com

Sorry, Tom Aspinall, you’re not getting “Bones.”

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion Jon Jones makes his long-awaited return to the octagon at UFC 309 next weekend (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024) against former Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic from inside the most iconic arena in the world, Madison Square Garden in New York City.

While Jones has Miocic in front of him next week, it seems like the entire mixed martial arts (MMA) world wants to know if “Bones” will fight the current interim Heavyweight champion, Aspinall.

Well, we finally have an answer (that everyone already knew): Probably not.

“More than likely not,” Jones told Kevin Iole when asked if he would fight Aspinall if victorious at UFC 309. “I feel like Tom Aspinall is, I don’t want to say nobody, but he just hasn’t proven anything. He hasn’t done anything. I understand he won his belt against Sergei [Pavlovich], and Sergei just got slaughtered by someone else, so it’s like, I’m not here to gamble someone else making a name off of me. I’m here to compete against the guys where when we look back, you know, 10 years from now, you’ll be like, ‘Jon Jones fought this guy and that guy, this legend, and that champion and this champion.”

Aspinall has indeed proven himself against half of the current Top 10 Heavyweights. In fact, he has finished three of the top five fighters in the 265 lb division, with Ciryl Gane being the only one he hasn’t faced yet.

If Jones does continue to fight after UFC 309 instead of retiring, the current UFC Light Heavyweight champion is the only fighter who interests him.

“If there were to be a fight of a guy that’s still on our UFC roster, that would be not only financially worth it but also legacy worth it- it would be Alex Pereira,” Jones said. “We’re both 37 years old. Right now, I weigh about 235. I’m an incredibly light Heavyweight. I think Pereira walks around at 240. I think that fight would go much farther on my legacy than a young man who’s cool today and may be gone tomorrow.

A fight between Jones and Alex Pereira would undoubtedly be absolutely massive, especially for the casual audience, but a fight with Aspinall would be equally as big—if promoted correctly.

It looks like poor Aspinall will miss fighting the best fighter ever.

Bummer.

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