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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Mauricio Ruffy just had one hell of a debut at UFC 301.

On Saturday night at the Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Ruffy faced Jamie Mullarkey in a preliminary lightweight bout, and “One Shot” didn’t quite live up to his nickname, but he did show out, bludgeoning Mullarkey around the cage en route to a first-round stoppage.

Ruffy looked good early, lighting Mullarkey up with his dynamic striking attack and earning comparisons to a young Conor McGregor from the commentary team. A pair of nasty right hands stung Mullarkey near the end of the round and then the onslaught truly began with a flying knee and a series of punches the finally crumbled with just 18 seconds left in the round.

The win moves the 30-year-old Ruffy to 10-1 in his MMA career, and following the victory he sent a warning to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, telling the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world that a new king was coming for him.

Check out Ruffy’s highlight reel finish below.

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Despite holding three victories over fellow former featherweight champion, Max Holloway, Australian favorite, Alexander Volkanovski has welcomed the chance to fight the Hawaiian for a fourth time – particularly now the latter holds the symbolic BMF title.

Volkanovski, a former undisputed featherweight champion and a prior pound-for-pound number one under the banner of the promotion, has been sidelined since he took main event honors at UFC 298 back in February in Anaheim.

And dropping his first loss at 145lbs since his move to the Dana White-led organization, Volkanovski’s impressive title run at featherweight was halted in blistering fashion by the unbeaten, Ilia Topuria – who finished the New South Wales native with a stunning second round KO.

As for Holloway, the former featherweight kingpin most recently featured at UFC 300 last month, scoring a brutal fifth round highlight-reel knockout win over Justin Gaethje to win the previously noted BMF belt.

Alexander Volkanovski welcomes BMF clash with Max Holloway

Weighing up potential title fights against both champions, Islam Makhachev, and Ilia Topuria, respectively – Holloway may have a chance to fight Volkanovski in the future for a fourth time – given his recent BMF title acquisition.

“Would I fight him (Max Holloway) a fourth time? I mean, now that he’s got a BMF [title] we might have to do this, you know what I mean?” Alexander Volkanovski told Australian outlet, Main Event TV on Fox Sports. “I was always thinking, ‘How could you do it [a fourth fight]?’ But maybe there is that something there – I mean, there’s a BMF [title] now.” 

“Maybe it’s like, for me – it’s 3-0, how can you get yourself out of bed for that?” Alexander Volkanovski explained. “A BMF [title] is something I haven’t touched before, so you know? Maybe we can do that, you know? So we’ll see what happens.” 

Would you like to see Alexander Volkanovski face Max Holloway for a fourth time?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alexandre Pantoja has been waiting a long time to come home.

The flyweight champion defends his title in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro this Saturday, when he fights Steve Erceg in the main event of UFC 301. Pantoja has not fought in Brazil since 2013, a little over three years before he joined the UFC roster.

Ahead of fight night, Pantoja was asked about sharing a card with the legendary Jose Aldo and whether he is prepared to take over Aldo’s mantle as “The King of Rio.”

“Brazil is the real world,” Pantoja said. “Here is the most beautiful city on the planet, Rio de Janeiro. I love to come here and that’s a special moment for me, having Jose Aldo on the same card. I hope Jose Aldo doesn’t stop fighting. I love watching him. I learned so much from him. I had the opportunity to train with Jose Aldo at Nova União like 10 years ago. This was very special for me, a young kid watching Jose Aldo, Renan Barao, and so many good fighters. I remember watching Jose Aldo training and he beat everyone in training. It doesn’t matter how many opponents he had in the same training, he killed everyone.

“I learned a lot with Aldo, and now at ATT, American Top Team, I learn a lot about defending takedowns, and Jose Aldo is one of the best to do that. I feel that connection and I want to prove how good I amm and then show to Jose Aldo I’m ready to be the King of Rio too.”

When the UFC visited Rio in January 2023, Pantoja was in attendance, but only as a backup for the flyweight title main event between then-champion Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. The bout proceeded as scheduled, with Moreno defeating Figueiredo to regain the championship and win his four-fight series with his rival.

Pantoja then defeated Moreno at UFC 290 and followed that up with a successful title defense against Brandon Royval. Now, it’s his time to be in the spotlight.

“I never imagined this happening,” Pantoja said. “Last year, I’m here to see Moreno and Deiveson, I’m a backup guy to that fight. I think, ‘Maybe this is happening. Maybe God has something good for me.’ But now it’s better because you see my name on the banner, I’m in the main event — that’s so cool. I never dreamed of that because nobody can dream of that. Be a champion and back to your city to fight for the title? That’s a very good opportunity.

“The energy from the crowd is so amazing. I expect to give back all the energy. I want everybody to smile after my fight.”

It’s no secret that UFC 301 is lacking in star power, with several of the promotion’s most popular Brazilian fighters having recently been booked to stack the UFC 299 and UFC 300 cards. That has led to a somewhat lukewarm reception to Pantoja headlining against Erceg, a rising contender who made his UFC debut less than a year ago.

Pantoja welcomes a fresh challenge, especially since it has allowed him to headline at home.

“That’s a good name,” Pantoja said of Erceg. “I called the UFC to fight in Brazil, that’s my wish after I defended my belt with Royval. I’ve never fought in Brazil for the UFC, and now back to Rio like a champ, on top of the world, that’s so cool or me and for everyone helping me to come to that place. Super excited for that.

“I already beat all the guys at the front of the line. Royval, Moreno, Amir [Albazi] has an injury. I think Erceg is very lucky, but his luck is going to finish on May 4 because he’s fighting me.”

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The live results from tonight’s UFC 301 from Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil begin at 6 p.m. ET on MMAWeekly.com.  

The event is headlined by flyweight title bout between champion Alexandre Pantoja and tenth-ranked Steve Erceg.  In the co-main event, former two-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo returns from retirement to take on Jonathan Martinez in a bantamweight bout.

UFC 301 Start Times:

• Early Preliminary Card begins at 6 p.m. ET

• Preliminary Card begins at 8 p.m. ET

• Main Card begins at 10 p.m. ET

UFC 301 Live Results and Analytics

UFC 301 Official Results

Main Card (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg
• Jose Aldo vs. Jonathan Martinez
• Vitor Petrino vs. Anthony Smith
• Michel Pereira vs. Ihor Potieria
• Caio Borralho vs. Paul Craig

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

• Joanderson Brito vs. Jack Shore
• Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Iasmin Lucindo
• Elves Brener vs. Myktybek Orolbai
• William Gomis vs. Jean Silva

Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)

• Drakkar Klose vs. Joaquim Silva
• Jamie Mullarkey vs. Mauricio Ruffy
• Dione Barbosa vs. Ernesta Kareckaite
• Ismael Bonfim vs. Vinc Pichel
• Kevin Borjas vs. Alessandro Costa

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gable Steveson has been released from WWE.

The 2020 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling exits the promotion after he opted to explore a future in professional wrestling rather than MMA following his historic run in Tokyo that ended with a viral finish following a last-second score that allowed him to claim the championship.

Souces close to WWE confirmed his release to MMA Fighting on Saturday following an initial report from wrestling insider Dave Meltzer.

At 21, Steveson was already an NCAA champion at the University of Minnesota but he decided to take a stab at the Olympics following a delayed start to the games due to the global pandemic. Steveson ran roughshod through the heavyweight division in the United States to qualify for the Olympics.

He continued his dominant run at the Olympic games where he didn’t allow a single point during his first three matches, blanking his opponents with a combined 23-0 score. In the finals, Steveson took out 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Geno Petriashvili in thrilling fashion to capture gold and become the youngest American to ever achieve that feat.

Following his run at the Olympics, Steveson contemplated a future in either professional wrestling or MMA thanks to his deep ties to the sport, which included training with former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

Ultimately, Steveson decided to test the waters at WWE where he was signed to an exclusive contract but he still discussed eventually making the move to MMA one day in the future.

“I would love to fight,” Steveson told MMA Fighting in 2021. “I’m not scared of fighting. I’m not scared of getting punched. I’m not scared of going out there and losing in front of a big crowd or winning in front of a big crowd. It doesn’t matter to me. I go out there to entertain people and for me, myself, to do something I love. I mean I love fighting and I love WWE. I love both.”

While he made brief appearances on WWE television over the next couple of years, Steveson never became a full time performer outside of a few sporadic matches on television.

With his release from WWE, Steveson could now potentially make the move into MMA, which is something he continuously teased even when he was training to become a pro wrestler. Most recently, Steveson worked out at Kill Cliff MMA in Florida, the same team responsible for fighters like Shavkat Rakhmonov, Gilbert Burns and Michael Chandler.

In fact, Steveson helped Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson brush up on his wrestling ahead of his recent win over Ray Cooper III.

There’s no word if Steveson plans to explore a future in MMA following his release from WWE but the path is now clear for that to happen if he chooses.

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