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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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The UFC 309 fight card is almost complete.

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones squares off against former UFC champion Stipe Miocic in the main event. UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall serves as a backup for the two legends.

The co-main event features former UFC champion Charles Oliveira in a rematch against Michael Chandler, who gave up on his quest to face Conor McGregor. Oliveira defeated Chandler via second-round TKO at UFC 262 on May 15, 2021.

Here is the UFC 309 main card, which is televised exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view, below:

Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler

Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva

Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig

Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders

The only fight still to be finalized is the top preliminary bout that was scheduled to feature Mauricio Ruffy, who still needs an opponent. The UFC 309 prelims will possibly feature eight fights.

Mauricio Ruffy vs. TBD

Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov

Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee

Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson

David Onama vs. Lucas Almeida

Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj

Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott

Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura

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Rafael dos Anjos turned 40 this past Saturday, but a knee injury suffered during his UFC 308 welterweight bout with Geoff Neal cut his celebration short in Abu Dhabi.

On a three-fight losing skid now and winless for almost two years, the former UFC lightweight champion laments the fact he could have to go under the knife and delay his return to the cage, although he’s still unsure of what was the injury suffered at UFC 308.

“I think it was on my second kick thrown, me and Neal kicked at the same time and I felt a big snap, a big pop behind my knee,” dos Anjos said in a video posted on his social media. “Throughout my whole UFC career, it’s my second time being hospitalized after the fight and it makes me realize how blessed I am. It’s a very tough sport, and going to the hospital only twice in your whole career is a good number.”

Dos Anjos had to undergo post-fight surgery back in August of 2010, when he tapped against Clay Guida after fracturing his jaw. The Brazilian veteran, now 21-15 under the UFC banner and 7-9 since losing his title in 2016, said he’s not ending his career just yet.

“Definitely it was not how I want to celebrate my 40th birthday, it was a tough loss,” dos Anjos wrote on a separate post. “Time to heal up, enjoy the family. I’m not done yet, I’ll be back soon. God bless you all.”

Neal rebounded from back-to-back defeats to Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry with his win over dos Anjos, boosting his octagon record to 8-4 with key stoppage victories over Vicente Luque, Mike Perry and Niko Price. He also owns a decision win over current champion Belal Muhammad from when the two fought in 2019.

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And STILL!!!
| BJPenn.com