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While Dana White may not be in support of Donald Cerrone returning to the UFC octagon Paige VanZant is the complete opposite.

Cerrone recently announced he’s ending his MMA retirement and hopes to get two more bouts in the UFC — to get his UFC/WEC total to 50 promotional appearances. VanZant has known Cerrone for well over a decade, and looking at the landscape, and options for potential opponents, VanZant says she’ll be tuning in for any fight “Cowboy” is involved in.”

“Oh, absolutely, he’s ‘Cowboy,’” VanZant told MMA Fighting. “One, he will forever be a draw, be a trailblazer, one of the greatest of all-time. I think there’s some incredible matchups for him in the UFC. As a fan of his, and knowing him as a person, it’s extremely exciting.”

VanZant is preparing to make her second appearance for Power Slap Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi during UFC 308 fight week. “12 Gauge” faces Chelsea Dodson at the event as she looks to improve her Slap record to 2-0 following a unanimous decision win in her debut in June.

If the last name Dodson seems familiar, that’s because it is, as she is the wife of multi-time UFC title challenger, and current BKFC flyweight champion John Dodson. Coincidentally enough, VanZant was always a fan of Dodson in the cage and ring, and their paths have crossed in a friendly way many times — including when they first met visiting Cerrone.

While VanZant has had many great interactions with Dodson, she isn’t sure if she’s met his wife prior to their Power Slap bout.

“No, I don’t think so,” VanZant said. “I was such a fan of John’s in the UFC. I went and trained at Donald Cerrone’s house, on his ranch, when I was 18 years old, and I was fortunate enough to train at [Jackson-Wink], and [John] was there. He couldn’t have been more friendly and nice. I think I just talked to him in passing.

“Of course, being in the UFC world, and now the BKFC world, it’s just a cool experience to see these worlds colliding.”

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Robert Whittaker won’t walk into the cage Saturday expecting Khamzat Chimaev to gas out early in their five-round middleweight clash in the co-main event of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.

Chimaev was victorious in all seven of his octagon appearances so far with five dominant finishes, but has clearly slowed down in both fights that went the distance, against Gilbert Burns and a last-minute replacement Kamaru Usman. Whittaker, however, is 9-1 in fights that have gone the distance since moving up to middleweight in 2014.

“I am expecting him to come out hard and aggressive from the first second to the last, and I have prepared accordingly for that,” Whittaker said during the UFC 308 media day. “I’ve prepared for the hardest fight of my life, to start extremely hard, like sprinting for the first five to 10 minutes, but also drag it out to five minutes. I’m ready to sprint for 25 minutes if so. I’m coming in for war.”

“He’s had such success with his really hard starting fighting approach,” he added. “Regardless whether he gassed or not, he still won those fights pretty handily, and then it was due to the amount of dominance he had in those first rounds. I’m expecting the best version of himself. I’m expecting a guy that comes out hard and a guy that will last. I’m prepared for it. I’ve trained for it. I’m not going to train thinking that if I get out of the first round it’s game over. I’m preparing for the best version he can offer me, a super soldier. I’ve done that.”

The UFC opted to book Whittaker vs. Chimaev as a five-rounder even with no belt attached, and the former 185-pound champion said he was not the one making the request.

“Why would I do that? Five rounds is so much harder than three rounds,” Whittaker said with a laugh. “I know I’ve had a lot of them, but they’re not fun. It kind of just worked out this way. But I don’t know. I’m in the fight game. If you want me to fight for three rounds, five rounds, 10 rounds, I’m going to train for it, prepare for it, and I’ll turn up.”

Whittaker doesn’t not rule out finishing Chimaev early, though, like he’s done to Ikram Aliskerov, who stepped in as a replacement for the Chechen fighter back in June.

“I look to go into this fight hunting, much like I planned to last fight,” Whittaker said. “I look to do again this fight. I’m the hunter in this fight. I’m the predator and I’m gonna be looking for him.”

Whittaker hopes to re-insert himself in the title conversation with a victory Saturday, his third since losing to future champion Dricus Du Plessis. The UFC is set to return to Australia on February 8, and the New Zealander could be part of the card.

“Since the Dricus loss I had a bit of a wake up call,” Whittaker said. “I made some changes. Inside, outside the gym. We just sat down and we ripped in. We worked hard, we worked harder than ever, and you can see the results of that work show itself in every fight this year. Every fight I’ve gotten better. I’ve started to back myself more, the confidence I take in the victories that I’ve had. I’m coming into this fight, all cylinders firing.”

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Knock on wood?

Khamzat Chimaev finally makes his highly-anticipated return to active competition in UFC 308’s pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event this weekend (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024) against No. 3-ranked Middleweight, Robert Whittaker, from inside Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Ever since this Middleweight mega-fight was announced earlier this year, there have been legitimate concerns about whether Chimaev will make the walk to the Octagon — he has a rich history of withdrawing from important fights. Plus, “Borz” and Whittaker were supposed to clash in Saudi Arabia this past summer, but health issues torpedoed it.

Well, there is (more) good news because ESPN MMA posted a clip of Chimaev looking, “strong and healthy.” Check it out below:

Unfortunately, the mixed martial arts (MMA) world will not know if Chimaev will make it to fight until the cage locks behind him on Saturday, mainly because the hardest part of the process is still to come: the dreaded weight cut. So, let’s knock on wood and hope Chimaev doesn’t walk under any ladders.

For what it’s worth, Chimaev is coming off a ho-hum decision win over former Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, at UFC 294 back in Oct. 2023 and has been perfect inside the Octagon thus far (7-0).

Whittaker, meanwhile, has been on a roll since losing to now-champion Dricus Du Plessis … and he is hunting for Chimaev to secure another coveted 185-pound title shot.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 308 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET (simulcast on ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 2 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 308: “Topuria vs. Holloway” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones might not be likely, but it is possible, at least so says PFL Chairman Donn Davis.

This past weekend, Ngannou made his long-awaited return to MMA, stopping Renan Ferreira in the main event of PFL Superfights: Battle of the Giants. The bout was Ngannou’s first fight for the PFL and vaulted “The Predator” back into the MMA Fighting Global Rankings to the No. 2 spot at heavyweight. It also re-ignited talk of the now-lost Ngannou vs. Jon Jones superfight that captivated fan imaginations for years. But for the PFL Chairman, that matchup may not be as lost as many believe.

“I’m a pretty optimistic guy,” Davis told MMA Fighting during a Town Hall on Wednesday. “I’m a realist from a business standpoint, but I’m always optimistic. Even Jon Jones’s Tweets struck me as very interesting. … That’s a lot different than the last three years. That’s a lot different than the last three years between those two guys.

“So for me, I’m an optimistic, can-do guy. To me, it hasn’t happened in the past but the future is the future.”

Ngannou and Jones teased a possible fight with each other for over a year when both men were in the UFC, but the bout never came to fruition. After Ngannou left the promotion in 2023 to sign with the PFL, Jones then finally made his move up to heavyweight, claiming the vacant UFC title by beating Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.

But despite now fighting for different promotions, the heat between Ngannou and Jones never fully dissipated, with the two even having an impromptu face off at a PFL event last year. And though UFC CEO Dana White is staunchly opposed to co-promotion and has repeatedly dismissed the idea of working with the PFL for this, Davis thinks the odds are better than you might think.

“If I was a betting person, if you gave me even odds, no,” Davis said. “Even odds are is it likely? Is that a good bet? No. But if you gave me four to one? I would take those odds. I would take that bet. So do I think it’s possible? Yes. Likely? No.

“And do I think, since it’s the biggest fight that could ever be made in MMA in perhaps the last or next decade, that’s why I think it’s possible. Because it’s so big and it’s so thrilling. And sometimes people say, ‘What the eff. We’re going to find a way to do it. Let’s find a way to do it.’ So that’s why I think it’s possible.”

And while a co-promotion between the UFC and PFL does seem extremely unlikely, there is one thing that can always change the equation: money. Dana White is notoriously opposed to MMA fighters crossing over into boxing, but famously allowed Conor McGregor to do so against Floyd Mayweather for one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

Something similar could happen here, Davis suggests, especially with the the involvment of Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia. Alalshikh has invested heavily in combat sports over the past few years, and already has relationships with both promotions, and has shown a desire to make the biggest fights possible. Given that, Davis believes that anything is possible.

“I have a ton of respect for Dana,” Davis said. “He built the entire industry. Does he want to be part of the biggest fight in 10 years, that he made happen? Turki is the biggest man in combat sports. Could he make the biggest fight happen? Sure. I just think there’s a lot of cool stuff that could happen here. I’m the least important guy here. Turki and Dana are the most important guys here. I’m just the guy that said yes.”

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