Chael Sonnen will join the world in watching the highly anticipated showdown between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

The UFC 309 heavyweight title fight at Madison Square Garden in NYC has fans buzzing about who will emerge as the greatest heavyweight of all time.Jones is heavily favored to win, but Miocic, a former UFC heavyweight champion, is eager to prove his doubters wrong.

Unlike Jones’ swift submission of Ciryl Gane to capture the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285, Sonnen believes Jones might face a much tougher challenge in Miocic.

“Well, Stipe’s old, but not much older than Jon,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “I won’t argue with you if you tell me that Stipe is old by fighter standards, but I would argue if you told me Jon was young. Do you believe that Jon can just take Stipe down whenever he wants? If you do believe that, remember, that’s something Daniel Cormier couldn’t do. In one of their fights, there were two takedowns, and Stipe got them both. I’m just reminding you: Do you believe that Jon can just take Stipe down?”

Sonnen also believes the stand-up advantage lies with Miocic, who he thinks has more power in his strikes than Jones.

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen Reveals The Two Things Stipe Miocic Has Two Things Going For Him Against Jon Jones at MMA News.

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Bryan Caraway, a former UFC veteran, is back in hot water after he failed to appear at a pre-trial conference hearing in Washington state over an insurance fraud case that launched all the way back in 2021.

The criminal investigations unit posted the latest update to the “most wanted list” with Caraway at the very top after he failed to appear at a recent hearing in the case. Caraway was previously placed on the most wanted list after the investigation first launched but he eventually reached out to schedule an arraignment hearing.

Here’s the update from the office of the insurance commissioner in Washington state.

“Caraway failed to appear for Pre-Trial Conference after being charged with Forgery, False Statement on Vehicle Application Certificate of Title, False Claims or Proof in excess of $ 1500, and Attempted Theft.”

Caraway was initially charged after he allegedly stole an ATV from his ex-girlfriend and fellow UFC veteran Miesha Tate and then filed a fraudulent insurance claim over the vehicle.

“According to the investigation, Caraway reported the theft of a 2015 Polaris RZR all-terrain vehicle from his property in Richland in December 2018,” the insurance commission wrote in a statement released back in 2021. “He bought a policy for it from GEICO on Dec. 21 and filed the claim on Dec. 24. He told GEICO that he bought the vehicle and contents, including helmets, a battery charger and spare tire, for $ 18,500 and provided a title showing his ex-girlfriend gifted it to him in January 2018.

“The investigation showed evidence that Caraway forged the title and that the vehicle was not in fact stolen but was owned by and in possession of the ex-girlfriend. Caraway withdrew the claim and GEICO referred the case to Kreidler’s CIU (criminal investigation unit) as required by state law.”

If Caraway is convicted, he faces potential jail time and fines.

The now 40-year-old former bantamweight contender last fought in the UFC in 2018 when he suffered a knockout loss to Pedro Munhoz. He fought only one time after exiting the UFC with Caraway picking up a win in Battlefield FC in 2019.

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Alexandr Romanov’s UFC future is up in the air despite coming off of a win in his most recent fight.

At this past Saturday’s UFC Edmonton event, Romanov scored a unanimous decision win over Rodrigo Nascimento. The bout was the last of the heavyweight veteran’s UFC contract and, as of now, he has not re-signed with the promotion. His departure from the active roster was first reported by UFC Roster Tracker.

MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin confirmed with officials that Romanov is no longer signed to the UFC. This news does not preclude Romanov returning to the promotion with a new contract, but as of now he is free to sign with any promotion.

Romanov (18-3) has competed 10 times for the UFC, compiling a 7-3 record during that stretch. The 33-year-old Moldovan surged up the rankings with a 5-0 start to his octagon career, which included finishes in four of those fights. He holds notable wins over Blagoy Ivanov, Juan Espino, and Marcos Rogerio de Lima, but is just 2-3 in his past five fights.

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Interview
| BJPenn.com

Nate Diaz had a playful street spar with a fan asking him to sign some UFC gloves. It was definitely a better experience than some Nick Diaz fans got recently.

The Diaz brothers are an interesting pair, and while the two certainly have their similarities, they’re definitely their own men when it comes to how they handle fan interactions.

The elder legend Nick Diaz has never gotten comfortable in the public eye and has had title shots canceled after no-showing press conferences and media obligations. To this day Nick has a well-earned reputation for being extremely unreliable when it comes to appearances, be it a sponsored meet and greet or jiu jitsu seminar. Even when it comes to his fights these days, there’s serious questions surrounding whether he’ll show up.

So it should be no surprise that the reluctant star’s $ 209 Cameos aren’t the best. But Nick is now being accused of straight up scamming his fans, recording multiple Cameos that were just several seconds of a black screen so he could collect payment.

Compare that to Nick’s younger brother Nate Diaz, who recently gave the full interactive experience to a fan looking to get some UFC gloves signed.

“This dude pulled up on me to sign these gloves so I made him fight me,” Nate wrote on his Instagram stories.

While there’s plenty of sports memorabilia opportunists going around looking to get stuff signed just so they can sell it, this fan knows his stuff: he throws Shara Magomedov’s double bullet at Diaz before eating a playful jab to the face from Nate.

“He lost tho,” Nate added in a second Story showing him taking down the fan, who was clearly having a great time. “Shoutout to the homie, he was down to fight.”

As far as value goes, we’d say Nate clearly beats out Nick for a positive fan interaction, at least these days. It’s really all about catching them at the right moment, though. We’ve heard lovely things about Nick from people who meet him outside the context of celebrity meetups. And Nate is definitely willing to punk you or pop you if the vibes are off.

So just be chill if you’re gonna interact with the Diaz brothers. Unless you pay one of them $ 209 for a blank Cameo. Then you have a right to be less chill.

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Usman Nurmagomedov is already Bellator’s best, and if his coach is to be believed, his ceiling is much, much higher.

Recently, Nurmagomedov said he’s targeting a move to the UFC in the future, to follow in the footsteps of cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov and current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, two of his training partners. In an interview with Red Corner MMA, Usman’s coach Javier Mendez was asked if he sees the fighter surpassing Khabib and Makhachev’s accomplishments and he answered with glowing praise for the Bellator lightweight titleholder.

“As far as passing the torch, I see Usman as being pound-for-pound the greatest fighter, myself,” Mendez said. “He’s got all the attributes. He’s the most talented I’ve ever trained. In regards whether he ever goes to UFC or not, I don’t know if it’s going to matter as long as he keeps showing people how great he is. So, to me, if at one point he never goes, great. He’s still going to be regarded as one of the great ones. He will, you watch.

“He will be regarded as one of the great ones because what he does in that cage is like nobody, I’ve never seen anybody do the transitions, the movement that he does.”

Nurmagomedov is yet to be defeated in 18 pro bouts and has rarely been threatened in the cage, with his most recent win being a methodical unanimous decision nod over Alexander Shabliy this past September. He has successfully defended his Bellator championship twice (this does not include title fight win over Brent Primus that was overturned to a no-contest when Nurmagomedov later tested positive for a banned substance, which was attributed to a prescription drug).

In Mendez’s eyes, Nurmagomedov is nowhere near his prime and no matter where he ends up fighting for the rest of his career, he believes Dagestan native has the potential to be a legend.

“He’s unbelievable, and he’s only 26, he’s only getting better,” Mendez said. “Let’s see what happens, but you never know. He may be a PFL fighter, a Bellator fighter the rest of his career and, for me, I’m happy about that because he’ll be a successful one. So wherever he goes it’s going to be a success.”

TOP STORIES

Deal With It. Stipe Miocic couldn’t care less about any criticism of his fight with Jon Jones at UFC 309.

Mailbag. Did Brandon Moreno deserve a bonus at UFC Edmonton? Did Rose Namajunas make a tactical error? What’s the ceiling for Erin Blanchfield? Jed Meshew has got you covered.

Trilogy. Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway have both talked about it, is it time for one last dance?

Healing. Khalil Rountree Jr. is looking much better a month after his brutal loss to Alex Pereira.

WTF. Referee completely off the ball as fighter is rendered unconscious by a Von Flue choke.

VIDEO STEW

Angela Hill and Jessica Penne react to UFC Edmonton.

Good Guy/Bad Guy.

Epilogue.

Celebrate UFC Vegas 100 as the MMA Gods intended.

I guess you could get hyped for UFC 309, too, by watching Jon Jones bulldoze a dude. Whatever.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

Severe MMA. Looking ahead to Irish star Ian Machado Garry’s pivotal matchup with Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Poatan.

Getting feisty.

Menacing.

Now’s the time on Sprockets when we dance.

Calling his shot.

Yup, this is still happening.

Not to victim blame here, but you order something from a Diaz brother…

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nate Landwehr (18-5) vs. Doo Ho Choi (15-4-1); UFC 310, Dec. 7

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you’re reading this and you’re in the U.S., make sure you vote today!

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

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