CombatSports.org

UFC

submitted by /u/ToronoRapture
[link] [comments]
MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dustin Poirier was watching UFC 308 and the thrilling event gave him some ideas for his next fight.

First and foremost, Poirier is interested in a fight with either featherweight champion Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway, a declaration he made on social media following the conclusion of Saturday’s UFC event in Abu Dhabi.

Topuria defended his title in stunning fashion with a third-round knockout of Holloway—a feat that made him the first fighter ever to finish Holloway via strikes—and afterwards suggested he would rematch Alexander Volkanovski, who was present to step into the cage and congratulate the featherweight king.

However, Topuria has made it clear he intends to move to lightweight in the future and Poirier wants to be on the list of potential opponents.

“I want Max or Topuria,” Poirier wrote on social media, later adding, “He’s a great boxer, let’s throw them things” presumably still talking about Topuria.

Poirier also mentioned the possibility of fighting Holloway, an opponent he holds two wins over in a pair of memorable contests. The fan favorites first fought at UFC 143 in 2012, when Holloway was just five fights into his pro career, and it was Poirier who walked out with a first-round submission win.

They rematched seven years later at UFC 236, that time for an interim lightweight title. Poirier again emerged victorious, winning a unanimous decision over Holloway in one of the best fights of 2019.

Poirier is coming off of a fifth-round submission loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, a result that left him with plenty of options but no clear path back to a title shot. It appears that “The Diamond” has a few ideas to ensure that he remains near the top of the marquee.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

submitted by /u/Tricky-Platform-9173 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Derek Brunson will return to Brazil for a grappling match with Rodolfo Vieira in the main event of ADXC 7, the company announced Friday. The event will take place Nov. 17 in Rio de Janeiro.

Brunson is a veteran of 33 MMA bouts with 24 wins, five of those coming by way of submission. His final UFC victory was a rear-naked choke against Darren Till in 2023. Now under contract with the PFL, the jiu-jitsu black belt fought once in Brazil, defeating Lyoto Machida by first-round knockout in Sao Paulo back in 2017.

Vieira is a decorated jiu-jitsu player with five IBJJF world championships and one ADCC gold medal won throughout his legendary career. Vieira collected nine of his 10 MMA wins by way of submission, tapping his past two opponents in the UFC with arm-triangle chokes.

ADXC 7 will also feature former K-1 HERO’s lightweight champion Gesias Cavalcante, a veteran of 37 MMA fights and multiple grappling matches, taking on Piter Frank, who submitted Rafael Domingos at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 7 this past May.

Check the current line-up below.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Rematch?
| BJPenn.com

Whittaker provided some good news and some bad news after suffering a grisly injury at the hands of Chimaev in Abu Dhabi.

Jawbreaker? Not quite.

Robert Whittaker suffered a grisly submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event of UFC 308 on Saturday night (watch the highlights here).

The Australian’s gameplan was clear: survive the initial “Borz” blitz and then take the fight to Khamzat in the later rounds. Unfortunately, he never managed to get past the first — Chimaev’s grappling was too strong and he took Whittaker’s back, locking up a face crank that had “The Reaper” tapping quick.

You don’t normally see taps to face cranks — the (questionable) general consensus is they’re painful but not really a finishing move. But between Chimaev’s tight squeeze and his arm positioning, he seriously f—ed up Whittaker’s mouth. Photos came out soon after the fight showing half of the former champion’s teeth caved backwards into his mouth.

“As soon as that happened, I picked up the phone and I called the truck,” UFC CEO Dana White said of the submission at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference. “They’re like, ‘Yeah, his jaw popped.’ … When you do that, it splits and the teeth get all messed up. Rob has that right now.”

So pretty much everyone from White to orthopedic sports surgeons thought Whitaker’s mandible had been broken, possible in multiple places. Fortunately, we can now update you straight from “The Reaper’s” own mangled mouth: his jaw is in one piece. His teeth? That’s another story.

“It’s a tough gig sometimes but that’s the business,” Whittaker wrote in an Instagram statement. “Big congratulations to Khamzat, he was the better man tonight and that’s all there is to it. I felt great, everything was on point and I was ready. My jaw is good, but my teeth were moved in. It’s a good excuse to fix them properly now haha.”

Some fans and media have suggested the injury should push Whittaker towards retirement, but the 33 year old sounds nowhere near done.

“I’m disappointed, but I come back better from every setback and every challenge so this is no different,” he wrote. “I want to thank my team and everyone who supported me to get here. Time to go spend time with the family for a bit. Be back soon.”

MMAmania.com – All Posts

submitted by /u/TheBigRedHalfrican
[link] [comments]
MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

For “Shara Bullet,” practice makes perfect.

Shara Magomedov didn’t just improve his UFC record to 4-0 on Saturday, he executed a never-before-seen finish when he knocked out Armen Petrosyan with back-to-back spinning backfists in the UFC 308 main card opener.

It was the biggest moment of Magomedov’s brief run with the promotion and he elaborated on the career-best performance at the evening’s post-fight press conference.

“I used to practice this technique since my career in Muay Thai,” Magomedov said via a Russian translator. “In MMA, I was unable to throw it because I know people are going to wrestle me, but this time I fought a high-level striker and it became a chess match and I was able to surprise him in this chess match.”

Magomedov’s UFC victories now include Petrosyan, Michal Oleksiejczuk, Antonio Trocoli, and Bruno Silva. Overall, he is 15-0, with 12 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

In his post-fight interview, Magomedov declared himself the best striker in the middleweight division and called for a fight with two-time UFC champion Israel Adesanya. According to Magomedov, his pursuit of Adesanya dates back to their kickboxing days.

“I used to chase Israel Adesanya when he fought kickboxing in China and I was fighting kickboxing in China, too,” Magomedov said. “Now that he’s switched to MMA and now that I’m here, I’m ready to capture all the land. I’m ready to fight him and if the possibility presents itself, I’m ready to fight him in Macau, Saudi Arabia, it doesn’t matter.”

“I’m in no rush, I’m not driving in front of the train, you know?” Magomedov later added. “The only way for Israel Adesanya to avoid the fight with me is to retire.”

When the UFC updates its rankings Tuesday, there’s an outside shot the undefeated Magomedov ends up with a number next to his name. If he doesn’t, he has a few names in mind to keep climbing the list should the Adesanya bout fail to materialize.

“Of course, I would like to fight Israel Adesanya to prove that I’m the best striker in the division,” Magomedov said. “Also, I would like to fight Marvin Vettori to prove that my wrestling is good. Those two names really excite me. Besides them, guys like Kevin Holland, Michel Pereira. Our middleweight division is full of predators and sharks, but pirates, there’s only one: it’s me.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Ilia Topuria faced an unexpected moment in his fight with Max Holloway on Saturday night. Topuria made history at UFC 308, becoming the first fighter ever to finish Holloway, cementing his place as a top featherweight contender.

This victory extended Topuria’s undefeated record to 16-0, building on his previous win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, where he claimed the featherweight title by knockout.

Surprising Moment

Before the fight, Topuria had expressed his intent to engage Holloway in a slugfest, planning to point to the ground and call for a toe-to-toe battle. Holloway had initially doubted that Topuria would follow through, yet when the moment came, it was Holloway who didn’t engage.

“That surprised me,” Topuria admitted. “I pointed to the ground, and he didn’t stop in the middle of the octagon. He started with some bullsh*t like that. You called yourself the bull, and you said, ‘I’m the bull, and ‘The Matador’ is running from me.’ But you never see a bull doing this. It surprised me a little, so I had to adjust the game plan. But at the end of the day, I got the knockout.”

Continue Reading Ilia Topuria Reveals The One Thing That Surprised him About Max Holloway Fight at MMA News.

MMA News