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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tom Aspinall is still looking forward to having a big year.

The UFC’s interim heavyweight champion awaits his next booking and with UFC CEO Dana White teasing a return to England in 2024, it only makes sense to include Aspinall in those plans. Should that return come in the form of a pay-per-view card, Aspinall and fellow Englishman Leon Edwards, the current welterweight champion, could book bouts to headline the event.

Answering fan questions on his YouTube channel, Aspinall responded to a question about the possibility of Manchester in July. If he has the inside scoop, he’s keeping it close to the vest for now.

“I cannot confirm or deny because I will be getting told off if I do either, but I’m hearing strong rumors and I’m in talks right now with the UFC about what’s going to happen, what’s going to be the next step, stuff like that,” Aspinall said. “Nothing that I can announce yet, nothing set in stone yet, but we’re moving in the right direction with it all.”

Aspinall had one of the best campaigns of any fighter in 2023, returning from a knee injury to defeat Marcin Tybura, and then capturing a vacant interim title by knocking Sergei Pavlovich out at UFC 295. Undisputed champion Jon Jones is currently inactive as he recovers from injury and awaits a bout with Stipe Miocic, leaving Aspinall’s dance card open.

When Aspinall suffered his injury, it was just 15 seconds into a bout with Curtis Blaydes, so the two naturally have unfinished business. Blaydes just finished the streaking Jailton Almeida with strikes at UFC 299, so a rematch with Aspinall is a distinct possibility, one that Aspinall is ready for.

“I’d like to fight Curtis Blaydes because when I fought him I got injured and that means that technically he wins and I don’t like that,” Aspionall said. “I want to be the winner, not Curtis Blaydes, so all respect to Curtis and everything. Like him, good guy, professionally I owe him a beating, so that’s what I want to do next.”

As highly anticipated as that rematch would be, it is still Aspinall’s second choice. Since winning the interim belt, Aspinall has campaigned to face Jones in a unification bout, to no avail.

Asked about where his confidence levels are for a hypothetical Jones fight, Aspinall admitted that he’s afraid of Jones, but that that fear only motivates him further.

“I’m obviously confident that I could beat Jon Jones because I want to fight him,” Aspinall said. “I’m not making it a secret that I want to fight him. I’ve done everything I can until this point. Do I fear him? Absolutely. I fear all of my opponents. These guys are the best in the world, absolute best in the world. Absolutely I fear him, that fuels me. So I want to prove that I’m the best in the world. I want to fight Jon Jones, obviously, but he doesn’t, so there’s not a lot I can do about that.”

Aspinall and Jones were recently face to face at an event in Birmingham, England, and Aspinall had the chance to size Jones up and ask him directly for a fight. The matchup remains in limbo and Aspinall later said he’d be “very, very surprised” if they ever fight.

At this point, Aspinall is resigned to that fact.

“No, I don’t think Jon wants to fight,” Aspinall said. “Obviously, I want it. I can’t do anymore. I’ve bitched about him, I’ve cried about him, I’ve said good stuff to him, said bad stuff to him, I’ve asked him about fighting to his face, it’s still not going on. I’ve asked the UFC to fight him, it’s still not going on, so I don’t know what else I can do at this point. But I want the fight, obviously.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot are one step closer to flyweight gold.

The 125-pound contenders successfully hit the mark at Friday’s official weigh-ins for UFC Atlantic City, with Fiorot stepping to the scale first at 125.25 pounds and Blanchfield immediately following at 125 pounds on the dot.

Both women seek a title shot in the near future. Blanchfield is No. 3 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with Fiorot close behind at No. 5.

Watch footage of the ceremonial weigh-ins above, scheduled to go live at 4 p.m. ET.

In the co-main event, No. 13-ranked welterweight Vicente Luque defends his spot against knockout artist Joaquin Buckley. Luque and Buckley both successfully made weight at 170 pounds.

Also of note, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman hit the mark at 186 pounds, as did opponent Bruno Silva. Weidman, who began his pro fighting career with New Jersey’s Ring of Combat promotion, looks to snap out of a 1-4 slump.

One fighter missed weight for Saturday’s card at Boardwalk Hall, featherweight Julio Arce. Competing in his first fight since November 2022, Arce came in a pound over the 145-pound limit (including the one-pound allowance for a non-title fight). He attempted to weigh in a second time at the end of the official two-hour weigh-in window, but reportedly came in even heavier at 147.25 pounds.

Arce’s bout against Herbert Burns will proceed as scheduled with Arce forfeiting 20 percent of his purse as penalty.

This is the second time that Arce has missed weight in his UFC career. He was half a pound over the bantamweight limit for a fight with Daniel Santos in April 2022.

See UFC Atlantic City official weigh-in results below.

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

Erin Blanchfield (125) vs. Manon Fiorot (125.25)

Vicente Luque (170) vs. Joaquin Buckley (170)

Chris Weidman (186) vs. Bruno Silva (186)

Nursulton Ruziboev (185) vs. Sedriques Dumas (185)

Bill Algeo (146) vs. Kyle Nelson (145)

Chidi Njokuani (170) vs. Rhys McKee (170.25)

Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

Nate Landwehr (145.25) vs. Jamall Emmers (145)

Virna Jandiroba (115) vs. Loopy Godinez (115)

Julio Arce (147.25)* vs. Herbert Burns (145)

Dennis Buzukja (145.25) vs. Connor Matthews (145)

Ibo Aslan (205) vs. Anton Turkalj (205)

Viktoriya Dudakova (125) vs. Melissa Gatto (125)

Andre Petroski (186) vs. Jacob Malkoun (185)

Angel Pacheco (135) vs. Caolan Loughran (135)

*Arce missed weight. His bout with Herbert Burns proceeds as a catchweight with Arce forfeiting 20 percent of his purse as penalty

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Wow
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just over 24 hours away from its upcoming UFC Atlantic City mixed martial arts (MMA) event, headlined by a 125-pound showdown between Top 5 flyweight contenders Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot. The action gets underway this Sat. night (March 30, 2024) on ESPN and ESPN+ from inside Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and also features a 170-pound co-headliner between welterweight warriors Vicente Luque and Joaquin Buckley.

Before the ESPN and ESPN+ live streams gets underway this weekend in “The Garden State,” which includes the middleweight showdown pitting Chris Weidman opposite Bruno Silva, all 28 fighters must hit the scale to prove themselves worthy. Note: New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (SACB) affords a one-pound allowance in non-title fights.

The UFC Atlantic City weigh ins will stream LIVE in the embedded video player above beginning promptly at 9 a.m. ET (6 a.m. PT). We’ll also have real-time text updates for the “Blanchfield vs. Fiorot” weigh ins listed below, updated as they happen. Remember too that staredowns will commence at the conclusion of today’s weigh ins (roughly 11 a.m. ET).

Complete UFC Atlantic City weigh ins text results below:

UFC Atlantic City Main Card on ESPN/ESPN+:

125 lbs.: Erin Blanchfield (125) vs. Manon Fiorot (125.25)
170 lbs.: Vicente Luque (170) vs. Joaquin Buckley (170)
185 lbs.: Chris Weidman (186) vs. Bruno Silva (186)
185 lbs.: Nursulton Ruziboev (185) vs. Sedriques Dumas (185)
145 lbs.: Bill Algeo (146) vs. Kyle Nelson (145)
185 lbs.: Chidi Njokuani (170.25) vs. Rhys McKee (170)

UFC Atlantic City ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN2/ESPN+:

145 lbs.: Nate Landwehr (145.25) vs. Jamall Emmers (145)
115 lbs.: Virna Jandiroba (115) vs. Loopy Godinez (115)
145 lbs.: Julio Arce () vs. Herbert Burns (145)
145 lbs.: Dennis Buzukja (145.25) vs. Connor Matthews (145)
205 lbs.: Ibo Aslan (205) vs. Anton Turkalj (205)
125 lbs.: Victoria Dudakova (125) vs. Melissa Gatto (125)
135 lbs.: Angel Pacheco (135) vs. Caolan Loughran (135)
185 lbs.: Andre Petroski (186) vs. Jacob Malkoun ()

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Atlantic City fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Atlantic City news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Blanchfield vs. Fiorot” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ line up click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Georges St-Pierre has Jon Jones at the top of his GOAT list – for now.

When discussions are had about the best MMA fighters of all time, St-Pierre and Jones are typically at the front of the conversation alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, Fedor Emelianenko, and others. St-Pierre, though, himself has said on multiple occasions that pound-for-pound talk is somewhat frivolous.

That said, on the aptly named Pound 4 Pound podcast, St-Pierre was again asked for his opinion on who is MMA’s greatest, and he didn’t shy away from praising the UFC’s reigning heavyweight champion.

“In terms of where we are now, I think it’s hard to find someone better than Jon Jones,” St-Pierre said. “Jon Jones is so good. Jon Jones is extremely talented, but he’s also extremely tough. People have no idea how tough he is. I’ve trained with him, I’ve seen him going through the grind. He’s so freaking tough. I remember the fight that he had with Vitor Belfort, I think his arm got dislocated, and he fought even with a dislocated arm. Even one of his fights, his toe was broken.

“Most of the time when you have a guy that is very talented, it doesn’t come with toughness. Jon Jones is the full package. He’s got everything. Elite striker, elite grappler, [and] he’s good everywhere.

“Of course, there’s things that people will say, ‘He did this, he did that,’ but in terms of who’s the best, he came back, beat Ciryl Gane the way he did. It’s hard to have an argument.”

Though Jones is currently the UFC’s top-ranked heavyweight, he cemented his legacy with his work at 205 pounds, where held a title for over 1500 days, knocking off a litany of legends and dangerous challengers.

Jones is also yet to be practically defeated in a professional fight, with his lone setback a disqualification for illegal strikes in a 2009 fight against Matt Hamill that he was dominating.

Jones ran through Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023 to claim a vacant heavyweight title and strengthen his case to be considered the GOAT. He has a history of outside-of-the-cage issues including failed drug tests and several regrettable run-ins with the law, but his fight night performances have rarely disappointed.

To give context to just how difficult it is to declare a fighter to be the best ever, St-Pierre brought up Royce Gracie, the MMA pioneer that influenced St-Pierre and an entire generation of martial artists. Gracie’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu expertise made him invincible in the early days of the UFC, but the business was constantly evolving.

Evolution is the reason St-Pierre is confident even Jones will be surpassed someday.

“For me, the best, the one that made the difference for me because he inspired me was Royce Gracie,” he said. “Do I think Royce Gracie would have done well nowadays in the octagon? No, I don’t. I think the best pound-for-pound in that regard is not even born yet, because things will start getting better. Records are made to beaten.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Former two-division UFC champion, Conor McGregor may have made his Hollywood debut just last week in the form of a lead antagonist role on a remake of cult classic, Road House – however, the Dubliner has now thrown his name and acting chops into the proverbial ring to star in a sequel to the 2023 horror/comedy, Cocaine Bear. 

McGregor, a former undisputed lightweight and featherweight champion under the banner of the UFC, has been sidelined since he fractured his left tibia and fibula in a first round doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in the pair’s trilogy rubber match back in 2021.

And expected to make his return to the Octagon this summer in a grudge fight with former lightweight title chaser, Michael Chandler, ex-two-weight champion, McGregor confirmed along with the North American contender that the UFC have given the pair a greenlight to fight each other in a summer return – potentially as soon as June.

Starring alongside award-winning actor, Jake Gyllenhaal, McGregor, who portrayed the character Knox – featured as a lead antagonist in Road House – which released globally on Amazon Prime last week, to both praise and criticizm from fans and viewers.

Conor McGregor hits back at Joe Rogan

And just a week removed from his debut in Hollywood, McGregor informed his social media followers that he was sitting down for the night to watch last year’s flick, Cocaine Bear  – before suggesting he feature in a sequel of the Elizabeth Banks-directed movie.

“Where the f*ck is my cocaine you f*cking stupid bear?” Conor McGregor said in a voice note posted on his official X account – with the caption, “Cocaine Bear 2” who’s ready for it?”

And responding to recent claims from Joe Rogan that he was “crazy” to suggest acting was more difficult than fighting – with the veteran commentator questioning if he would rather act or fight arch-rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov again, McGregor posted several photos of himself in Russia with a live bear, dressed in a tootoo dress, before claiming the Russian would not return to fight him again.

“Hey @joerogan I kidnapped Khabib’s bear and put in a tootoo and shot it in the back of the head and he still won’t come back,” Conor McGregor posted on his X account.”

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