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“I’m not worried about that. I know that I’m the next in line.”

Charles Oliveira is one of the Lightweight division’s perennial elites in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The former champion was supposed to get his title fight rematch against the current champion and successor, Islam Makhachev, at UFC 294 in October 2023. Unfortunately for Oliveira, he suffered a nasty cut over his eye in training, resulting in his withdrawal from the bout.

Oliveira, 34, still expects to be next in line for Makhachev after his fight against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 next month (Sat., April 13, 2024). However, talk has recently heated up between the champion and former interim titleholder, Dustin Poirier, wanting to fight each other in June 2024.

“I don’t even think about that, to be honest,” Oliveira told MMA Mania. “This is information that comes from the internet, and people talk a lot on the internet. I’m not worried about that. I know that I’m the next in line. So, that it’s.”

If that title fight were to be made, it would delay things for the next contender, who will come out of UFC 300. Whether or not that remains the Oliveira vs. Tsarukyan winner or whoever walks away with the Baddest Motherf—ker (BMF) title between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway.

Ultimately, Oliveira isn’t worried about the winner of that bout stealing his opportunity either.

“Man, Holloway is a really nice guy, and he moves a lot,” Oliveira said. “He has a type of game that he moves a lot, but Gaethje also has a strong hand. If Holloway gives the opportunity, Gaethje for sure will win this fight. Both are very good.”

Oliveira has to get through Tsarukyan before that desired rematch, and the rising contender is confident he’ll be no match for his Brazilian counterpart. In theory, if Oliveira had his title shot locked up, there would have been no real reason for him to take the Tsarukyan fight. He just would have had to sit on the shelf for far longer than he’d prefer, last fighting at UFC 289 when he earned a first round technical knockout over Beneil Dariush in June 2023 (watch highlights).

“If I was going to wait for the title, I would fight only at the end of the year, and I don’t like to wait too much to fight,” Oliveira said. “I would be waiting for one year almost. So, that’s why I accepted this challenge.

“For sure, he (Tsarukyan) needs to be a confident guy,” he continued. “He needs to be focused. He deserves all the respect in the world, but I’m not worried about what he’s thinking. I’m just focused on what I’m gonna do inside the cage.”

To checkout the latest and greatest UFC 300 fight card and rumors click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Former UFC champions Luke Rockhold and Tyron Woodley are set to spend the next six weeks coaching a group of up-and-coming fighters in an Ultimate Fighter-type reality series for upstart promotion Hardcore FC.

Promotion officials posted about coaching assignments for Rockhold and Woodley, and multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans also confirmed to MMA Fighting the fighters’ involvement in the upcoming reality program. The series is called HFC Fight Show reality and films in the United Arab Emirates over the next six weeks.

Not much else is known about the series, outside of Rockhold and Woodley serving as coaches. Despite both Rockhold and Woodley spending years in the UFC, neither previously coached a season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Now, they’ll get their chance as part of the new reality series for Hardcore, a promotion originally based out of Russia.

At this time, it’s expected Rockhold and Woodley will only serve as coaches, and there are no plans for them to fight each other, which is different from the typical Ultimate Fighter format used by the UFC.

Following a brief retirement, Rockhold announced plans to fight again after securing his release from the UFC. He engaged in a lone bare-knuckle fight against Mike Perry back in 2023, but after suffering several broken teeth, he ultimately decided it would be his only appearance in BKFC.

As for Woodley, the former UFC welterweight champion most recently competed in 2021, when he suffered a knockout loss to Jake Paul in a rematch after their first bout ended in a split decision. He teased a potential return to boxing after calling out social influencer KSI for a fight, but nothing materialized.

Now Woodley puts his coaching hat on to share the stage with Rockhold in the new reality series for Hardcore FC.

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It might be hard to believe now, but John Dodson’s current bare-knuckle boxing run almost didn’t even come to fruition. What started as a deed for a family member has evolved over the years, and now sees him headlining a card this weekend with a title in the mix.

The 39-year-old UFC vet currently holds the BKFC Flyweight Championship, which he earned with a first-round stoppage of JR Ridge last year. He has previously stopped two other fighters under bare-knuckle boxing rules and is scheduled to put his belt on the line against standout Dominican Republic pro boxer Dagoberto Aguero this Friday.

John Dodson talks BKFC journey

Knowing all of that, you might be shocked about what happened when he was first asked about competing in fighting sans the gloves.

“To be honest with you? I said no,” Dodson said in a recent interview. “I told them absolutely not.”

The visuals of bare-knuckle boxing were off-putting for Dodson. While he has seen the studies that suggest bare-knuckle boxing, albeit still a dangerous sport, could have a lower rate of concussions than other forms of combat, nasty “skin on skin, bone to face” contact in matches gives him pause to this day.

“I still have that sense that ‘I don’t want to do this,’” Dodson joked. “Every time I’m at a BKFC event, I’m hearing people get hit in the back and it sounds so painful, man!”

Brotherly Love

So what brought Dodson into BKFC? Stepping up for a family member and showing brotherly love, believe it or not.

It was John’s brother, Eric who first expressed interest in competing for BKFC. John said his brother, known as the “Thuggy Bear,” went to a tryout hosted by the promotion and earned an opportunity to compete. However, fights kept falling through. John wanted to give his brother a shot at competing in BKFC, so he accepted a fight when they came to his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and made sure his Eric would get on the undercard.

“Ultimately I had to do my brother a solid,” Dodson said. “Be a good big brother and put on a hell of a show.”

Both of the Dodson brothers have found success since then. Dodson won his BKFC debut in just 40 seconds, putting away fellow UFC alum Ryan Benoit. “Thuggy Bear” picked up his last victory just a couple of months back. While he may have hesitancy about bare-knuckle fights, Dodson believes he’s in a period of his career that he is truly loving.

A Post-UFC Dodson

Four years removed from the end of his UFC run, a time in the promotion that lasted nearly a decade and included two different title fights against Demetrious Johnson, Dodson says he’s simply having fun. The pressure of being in the top MMA promotion is gone, allowing him to do so much more.

“When I was in UFC at 135 [pounds], I was still trying to secure a job and I wasn’t having fun anymore … I was playing the safe game, I wanted to ensure I had a next fight scheduled. Once those next fights stopped coming through, I had to change up my mentality. Back into having fun, making sure I can go and do what I always love.”

When his UFC career initially came to an end, Dodson remembers feeling lost. “Oh s***, I need to get a real job,” he remembers thinking. But it wouldn’t end up being the end of the road for him. What helped him regain focus was coaching at United Fit, where the Nobody’s Villains MMA team trains. Coaching is something that he wants to do even after his time as a fighter has come to an end.

“I always love coaching my team. Those guys keep me motivated … They push me to a new limit. When I was let go from the UFC, I needed something else to motivate me. I keep on training their guys, making sure that they can get better. And not only that, it helps me put the best foot forward.”

Dodson says he wants to keep competing to set an example for his students: “I don’t want to sit there and be telling them, ‘Hey you guys should do this, this is how you really become a champion’ without ever being one at all.”

While competing in bare-knuckle boxing, Dodson is no doubt still fully in the MMA world. He has been balancing his time as of late in between BKFC and Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN. He won his RIZIN debut in late 2022, stopping veteran talent Hideo Tokoro. He had a three-fight winning streak in MMA snapped late last year when 2021 RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix winner Hiromasa Ougikubo beat him on scorecards. While nothing has been announced, he hopes to return to Japan sometime soon.

Not Afraid of Aguero

Friday will be a different challenge compared to previous BKFC fights that Dodson has been in. He has previously faced MMA fighters under bare-knuckle rules or fighters like former champ Ridge, who have experience strictly in BKFC. But this weekend he’ll be facing a talent who comes from a more traditional boxing background. 

Aguero made his BKFC debut last year with a third-round win over Chance Wilson. He had a 17-fight pro boxing record before then, mainly building up wins in the Dominican Republic. He switched over to bare-knuckle competition after suffering a pair of losses, dropping a decision to Aram Avagyan and getting stopped by former Rey Vargas opponent Azat Hovhannisyan.

The different matchup doesn’t bother Dodson, as he seems to have the same confident mindset no matter who is across from him.

“I mean, he can have as many experiences all he wants,” he said. “15-2 doesn’t mean anything to me when it comes to being the more dynamic striker. I’ve solidified myself being one of the most dangerous strikers and one of the most decorated ones out of all of them.”

If the story about Dodson coming around on competing for BKFC didn’t prove that he’s still a changing and transforming fighter, a glance at his career makes a solid case as well. When looking at his success recently, it’s clear that he is having one of the strongest runs of his entire career. Before his close loss in RIZIN just a few months ago, he had a six-fight stretch of victories between MMA and bare-knuckle boxing, a run that hasn’t been seen since the start of his UFC campaign. Dodson competed a total of four times last year, a level of activity that was last seen more than a decade ago in his career.

A win this weekend would continue Dodson’s recent career resurgence and keep his champion status. And who knows, maybe it will keep him in the bare-knuckle sport that he still has second thoughts about for one more fight.

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One-time UFC title challenger Taila Santos will have a new opponent for her PFL debut.

The promotion revealed on Tuesday that with Denise Kielholtz out, Santos will now face another Bellator veteran in Ilara Joanne in her opening regular season matchup at PFL San Antonio on April 4.

The event will feature the heavyweight and women’s flyweight divisions as fighters look to take a step closer towards a world title and a $ 1 million grand prize.

Additionally, former World Series of Fighting — the PFL’s prior promotional name — heavyweight champion Blagoy Ivanov returns to the now revamped company for his first fight following his eight-fight UFC stint. Ivanov steps in for 2023 finalist Bruno Cappelozza to face Sergei Bilostenniy in a regular-season tilt.

The PFL also announced that the scheduled Kaytlin Neil vs. Veta Arteaga bout will no longer take place on the card, and that the event will now feature a bantamweight showcase bout between Ty Johnson and Bryce Meredith.

PFL San Antonio will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Ante Delija and Valentin Moldavsky.

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In the second bout on the UFC Vegas 89 fight card last weekend, flyweight Igor Severino was disqualified after biting Andre Lima in the second round.  Severino was released by the fight promotion and faces possible disciplinary action from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.  

Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping reacted to the incident and called Severino’s actions ‘disgusting.’  

“That is insane,” Bisping said on the Believe You Me podcast.  “He’s a skilled mixed martial artist.  He was looking good.  Apparently, he was undefeated.  They both were.  I don’t know much about where he’s from in Brazil, but I’m assuming that it’s a tough part of town.”

“You’ve got to be a certain type of person to resort to biting someone.  He wasn’t even getting his ass kicked.  He wasn’t even getting choked out,” Bisping continued.  “If you think of gentlemanly conduct, like fair game in the boxing, in the jiu-jitsu world.  They’ll fight with their fists and when someone hits the floor you don’t follow them down.”

“Who in their right minds, even on the streets in a street fight, unless you’re going to get murdered and then you do what you can.  Unless the guy comes to your house and is really trying to do something bad then whatever you can find.  

“If you’re getting into a one on one fight and you resort to biting the guy.  I’m sorry.  That’s disgusting.  Utterly disgusting,” Bisping said.  ”   

With the disqualification,  Severino suffered his first career loss, but he lost more than just a fight.  He lost respect; respect for his opponent, the rules, and the sport.  

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