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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tracy Cortez was not going to miss weight, come hell or high water.

After missing weight by a half-pound on her first attempt, Cortez was left with roughly 35 minutes in the two-hour weigh-in window to make the 126-pound non-title limit for her flyweight headliner against Rose Namajunas at UFC Denver. Approximately 20 minutes later, an emotional Cortez reemerged at 126 pounds with an impromptu haircut and a thick hunk of hair in her right hand, having lopped off the half-pound of hair to make weight.

Namajunas, a two-time former UFC strawweight champion, was first to the scales and weighed in at 124.75 pounds.

UFC Denver takes place July 13 at Ball Arena in Denver. Namajunas and Cortez face off in a five-round flyweight main event after Namajunas’ original opponent Maycee Barber withdrew due to health complications.

Namajunas, 32, is 1-1 in two appearances at 125 pounds since moving up from the strawweight division. She lost her divisional debut to Manon Fiorot but rebounded to defeat Amanda Ribas in March.

Cortez, 30, is undefeated in her five-fight UFC run. She defeated Jasmine Jasudavicius in her most recent octagon appearance this past September and also holds a notable win over UFC contender Erin Blanchfield dating back in her Invicta FC days.

Welterweight co-headliners Santiago Ponzinibbio and Muslim Salikhov both weighed in at 171 pounds to successfully make weight for their three-round battle.

Complete UFC Denver weigh-in results can be seen below.

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET)

Rose Namajunas (124.75) vs. Tracy Cortez (126)*

Santiago Ponzinibbio (171) vs. Muslim Salikhov (171)

Drew Dober (155) vs. Jean Silva (155)

Gabriel Bonfim (171) vs. Ange Loosa (170)

Julian Erosa (145.5) vs. Christian Rodriguez (145.5)

Abdul Razak Alhassan (185) vs. Cody Brundage (185.5)

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET)

Joshua Van (125) vs. Charles Johnson (125.5)

Jasmine Jasudavicius (125) vs. Fatima Kline (125)

Montel Jackson (135) vs. Da’Mon Blackshear (135.5)

Luana Santos (125) vs. Mariya Agapova (125)

Josh Fremd (186) vs. Andre Petroski (185.5)

Evan Elder (170) vs. Darrius Flowers (170)

*Cortez missed weigh by .5 pound on first attempt

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dustin Poirier has had himself quite the week on Twitter with impeccable timing, while Michael Chandler has been opportunistic as well — although, it apparently hasn’t gone over as well as his past opponent. The fans have seemed to turn on Chandler as of late, but why is that?

On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses the ongoing Poirier and Chandler beef, Chandler getting a lot of negativity amongst the MMA community, but not truly understanding why that is. Additionally, listener topics include Jon Jones’ future, Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov 2 being targeted for UFC 308 in October, Paddy Pimblett revealing his UFC 304 matchup is the final fight on his contract, Sean O’Malley winning the ESPY for Best UFC Fighter and the social media world being up in arms about it, and much more.

You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces.

If you miss it live, audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

During a light sparring session, Khamzat Chimaev didn’t toy around with his opponent Mikhail Litvin. Instead, Chimaev channeled his inner Sean Strickland by treating the Russian YouTuber like a seasoned mixed martial arts veteran.

‘Borz’ is known for his intense start to fights as he often pushes forward and looks to get off to a dominant start. This has worked for him on several occasions inside the UFC octagon, but his most recent opponent didnt expect it to happen to him.

Russian YouTube star Mikhail Litvin dared to be great by stepping inside the cage with Khamzat Chimaev. While he deserves credit for being braver than the majority of the human population, Litvin didn’t stand a chance once the spar got underway.

Chimaev rushed forward — almost ignoring the influencers attempt at a glove touch — and proceeded to show why he’s one of the most feared fighters on the UFC roster. 

The 30-year-old instantly began punishing the body and it didn’t take long before his opponent slumped to the canvas. After some vicious ground-and-pound, Chimaev’s coach was forced to step in.

Litvin looked in visible pain but that didn’t stop him from throwing himself back into the fire. After a brief moment of recovery, the YouTuber returned to action, though it didn’t take long for him to go down once again. Not long after, the UFC star dropped him for a third time, bringing an end to their sparring session.

Watch it all unfold below.

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Related: Sean Strickland beats down social media influencer in sparring

It’s unclear when Khamzat Chimaev will return to the octagon. The fan-favorite recently suffered another health scare and was forced to withdraw from his highly-anticipated clash against Robert Whittaker. 

Chimaev is now aiming to make his UFC comeback and has brushed aside any rumors of him potentially retiring from the sport. He last competed inside the octagon almost a year ago at UFC 194.

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The P4P debate
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ESPY winners are selected through online fan voting.

UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is the best UFC fighter of 2024, according to the annual ESPN “ESPY” Awards, beating out fellow cage fighters and UFC champions Alex Pereira (light heavyweight), Islam Makhachev (lightweight), and Zhang Weili (strawweight).

ESPY stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly.

Jon Jones edged out Israel Adesanya to claim last year’s top honor and in the 12 months since that achievement, O’Malley (18-1, 1 NC) captured the bantamweight title by stopping Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292, then defended the 135-pound strap with a decision win over Marlon Vera at UFC 299.

During that same timeframe, Pereira (11-2) went 4-0 with three knockouts, with all three finishes coming in light heavyweight title fights. That includes a pair of stunning, short-notice stoppages at UFC 300 and UFC 303.

Makhachev (26-1) racked up a pair of pay-per-view (PPV) title defenses at UFC 294 and UFC 302, both finishes, while Zhang (25-3) defended her 115-pound belt with a couple of decision wins at UFC 292 and UFC 300.

Terence Crawford won the 2024 ESPY Award for Best Boxer.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov have a No. 1 contender spot in their sights.

MMA Fighting confirmed with sources with knowledge of the matchup that Gane and Volkov have agreed to face one another in a heavyweight bout at UFC 308, which takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26. Contracts are still to be officially signed.

The news was first reported by Ag. Fight.

Gane (12-2) bounced back from a disappointing loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285 with a second-round TKO of Serghei Spivac at UFC Paris this past September. The loss to Jones was Gane’s second chance to become undisputed heavyweight champion after previously holding an interim belt. The Frenchman aims to move to the front of the title picture again if he can stop the streaking Volkov.

Since losing by submission to Tom Aspinall in March 2022, Volkov (38-10) has returned to form with four straight victories. He defeated fellow Russian Sergei Pavlovich via unanimous decision this past June to extend a run that also includes finishes of ranked heavyweights Tai Tuivasa, Alexandr Romanov, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Gane and Volkov are currently No. 5 and No. 7 respectively in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.

MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz and Mike Heck contributed to this report.

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Top UFC heavyweights are expected to run it back in the Middle East this coming October.

After returning to the Etihad Arena for UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov early next month, the mixed martial arts leader will be back in Abu Dhabi for its annual October pay-per-view there.

And the UFC 308 numbered event looks close to having its first major matchup confirmed, with Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight reporting that former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane (12-2) will run it back with seven-time UFC headliner Alexander Volkov (38-10) on October 26.

The pair previously collided in a UFC Fight Night main event at the Apex in June 2021, with Gane winning in lopsided fashion on the scorecards after five rounds.

Gane Ends Year Layoff Against Familiar Foe At UFC 308

When he makes his long-awaited return later this year, Gane will be tasked with stalling the resurgence of a longtime heavyweight veteran in Volkov.

The Frenchman hasn’t competed since the UFC Fight Night in Paris last September. For the second straight year, he recorded a main event knockout win in front of his home fans, this time at the expense of Serghei Spivac. That result marked a rebound performance six months on from a quick submission loss for Gane at the hands of Jon Jones in their vacant title fight.

According to reports, “Bon Gamin” turned down the chance to challenge for Tom Aspinall’s interim gold this month at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, owing to acting commitments. He’ll now also miss a France-held card for the first time, with Renato Moicano and Benoît Saint Denis headlining at Accor Arena on September 28 instead.

Volkov, meanwhile, is flying high having won five of six since his loss to Gane in 2021. And following a defeat to Aspinall the following year, the Russian has reeled off four consecutive triumphs, most recently outpointing his fellow countryman Sergei Pavlovich at the UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia last month.

“Drago” will now return to the Middle East looking for redemption opposite Gane.

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Continue Reading Report: Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov 2 Targeted For Abu Dhabi-Held UFC 308 at MMA News.

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