CombatSports.org

Less than a month out from a monumental UFC 300 card, event headliner, Alex Pereira still remains a distinct betting favorite to beat incoming foe, Jamahal Hill – and successfully retain his light heavyweight crown as part of one of the biggest event’s of Octagon history.

Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight champion, returns to the Octagon next month in the main event of UFC 300, taking on Dana White’s Contender Series alum, Hill in his first attempted defense of his title at 205 pounds.

Last time out, the GLORY Kickboxing Hall of Fame inductee landed his second promotional title with a blistering second round TKO win over former champion, Jiri Prochazka, felling the Czech Republic native with a stoppage at UFC 295 last November at Madison Square Garden.

For Hill, the Illinois native has yet to make his comeback since he defeated Alex Pereira’s compatriot, close friend and teammate, Glover Teixeira last January on enemy territory in Brazil.

Alex Pereira remains favorite to beat Jamahal Hill at UFC 300

And entering his first fight since suffered a ruptured achilles last summer, Hill is closing as a sizeable +130 betting underdog to beat the incumbent -155 betting favorite, Alex Pereira atop the T-Mobile Arena card at UFC 300. 

Fans hoping to splash some cash on some of the biggest UFC next matches can check out all the latest odds on future fight cards and fast-approaching clashes over at Sportsbet.io – with punters and bettors receiving live up to date odds for each fight on many incoming cards. 

First lifting Octagon gold back in 2021, Sao Paulo striking sensation, Alex Pereira turned in a come-from-behind win over arch-rival, Israel Adesanya at Madison Square Garden fighting through adversity to prevent the bout seeing a judge’s scorecard, with a late fifth round TKO win over the City Kickboxing staple. 

Casting his line in light heavyweight waters soon after his thunderous second round KO loss to the Nigerian-Kiwi last April, Pereira bested another former Octagon gold holder in the form of Jan Blachowicz in a narrow decision win last July at UFC 291 – setting up his title charge against Prochazka. 

Despite suffering a catastophic ankle injury during a pick-up basketball game with UFC alums and fellow fighters last summer ahead of UFC 290 during International Fight Week, the above-mentioned Hill will still enter his fight with Pereira in the midst of an eye-catching four fight winning run.

With his sole loss in that timeframe coming in the form of a nasty armbar submission loss to Paul Craig, Hill has since enjoyed wins over the likes of Jimmy Crute, Johnny Walker, and Thiago Santos – finishing Pereira’s compatriots with a pair of knockout wins. 

And despite headlining the promotion’s monumentla UFC 300 card next month, Hill couldn’t help but reveal the showdown against Pereira came in rather surprising and hasty fashion.

“I found out for sure, for sure that it was locked in since I’ve been in here,” Jamahal Hill said during an interview at UFC 298. “When I got to the venue, we talked about it, and I agreed to it yesterday [Friday].”

“Look, ‘Sweet Dreams’ is not gonna lie to the people, I ain’t lie to you guys,” Jamahal Hill explained. “I told you what I knew – partially. …Everybody wants to be on [UFC] 300, but realistically, it didn’t really come on my radar, it didn’t really happen until yesterday, I’m not evern going to lie, yesterday.”

Who wins at UFC 300 next month: Alex Pereira or Jamahal Hill?

LowKickMMA.com

UFC

submitted by /u/SokoudjouFan [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Even without the tools available in MMA, oddsmakers believe Jorge Masvidal is a superior threat to Nate Diaz.

Masvidal has opened as a significant favorite to beat Diaz in a boxing match announced on Wednesday. The ex-UFC stars will meet in a 10-round bout on June 1 at KIA Forum in Los Angeles. The bout airs on Fanmio for $ 79.99 with an early price of $ 49.99.

In the current line, Masvidal is a -375 favorite, meaning a $ 100 bet would return a profit of about $ 26. The implied odds give the two-time UFC welterweight title challenger about a 79 percent chance of winning.

In contrast, Diaz is a +275 underdog, meaning a $ 100 bet would return a profit of about $ 275. The one-time lightweight title challenger has about a 27 percent chance of winning, according to the betting line.

Masvidal has not competed since a decision loss to Gilbert Burns 11 months ago at UFC 287. Diaz, meanwhile, competed in the boxing ring, losing a decision to Jake Paul this past August.

Despite Diaz’s superior ring experience on paper, bookmakers could be giving Masvidal the nod based on their first meeting, a fight for the then-new “BMF” belt at UFC 244. Masvidal dominated the early action, opening a cut that prompted the cageside doctor to call off the fight after the third round.

Diaz and Masvidal agreed on a rematch, but the fight never came to fruition. With both now out of the UFC, they have agreed to co-promote the boxing match, which likely will be counterprogrammed by UFC 302 and a world championship boxing match featuring Artur Beterbiev.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

For two days Mark Coleman has been sedated in the hospital being treated for smoke inhalation after saving his parents from a house fire.  “Hammer” awoke on Thursday and told the story of what happened.  

In the video, Coleman embraces his daughters, Morgan and Kenzie, and emotionally recounts what took place before he was airlifted to a Toledo hospital in critical condition.   

“I’m the happiest man in the world,” Coleman said in the video. “Sweet God, I’m so lucky. I can’t believe my parents are alive.  They shouldn’t be here.  I had to make a decision, Wes. Because I got out of my room and went to the door and it was already horrible. I couldn’t breathe. I almost had to go outside and I went back in and got them. I can’t believe I got them but I couldn’t find Hammer” (the dog).

Great news to start the day.

Per his Facebook page, Mark Coleman is responsive, talking and laughing with his family.

Mark says "I'm the happiest man in the world!", as he recalls saving his parents lives.

(h/t @JMurrayMMA) pic.twitter.com/qgG9s2XKrt

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) March 14, 2024

A GoFundMe was set up by Coleman’s daughters to raise money for the expense of his medical treatment.  Coleman was the inaugural UFC heavyweight champion.  He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in both the “pioneer” and “fight” categories.  

Coleman last fought in 2010 after losing to Randy Couture in the first Hall of Famer vs. Hall of Famer bout in the promotion’s history.  He officially announced his retirement in 2013.   

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

UFC

submitted by /u/SokoudjouFan [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Marvin Vettori has been forced out of his upcoming matchup against Brendan Allen on April 6 due to undisclosed reasons. As a result, the UFC is now searching for a new main event to headline the upcoming card taking place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

UFC officials confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Thursday.

Allen hinted at the news on Instagram calling himself the new No. 5 middleweight in the world and asking if anyone ranked ahead of him was available for a fight. He tagged Jared Cannonier, Sean Strickland, Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya as potential opponents.

Based on Allen’s post, and the UFC searching for a new main event, it doesn’t appear that he’s expected to stay on the April 6 card, unless a new opponent in secured rather quickly; the event is only three weeks away.

Allen is on an impressive six-fight winning streak in the middleweight division, including four straight submission finishes over names such as Paul Craig, Bruno Silva and Andre Muniz.

Allen has called for higher ranked opposition, hoping he could get into title contention sooner rather than later. Vettori previously fought for the middleweight belt and holds a spot in the rankings.

Unfortunately with Vettori out, Allen will have to wait and see what the UFC finds for him next.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Real Men
| BJPenn.com

A lot of us were laughing when Sean O’Malley teased a transition to boxing … but maybe the joke’s on us?

“Suga” is being hailed for his exceptional hands in the wake of his UFC 299 performance against Marlon Vera, a five-round drubbing that avenged a previous loss to “Chito” back in summer 2020. In fact, famed boxing trainer Teddy Atlas suggests O’Malley could hold his own — and even defeat — boxers competing on the pro circuit.

Maybe the bookies got it wrong.

“I’m not gonna call him a striker,” Atlas said on YouTube (transcribed by MMA News). “I think he would beat a lot of pro fighters… Yeah, he would beat a lot of pro boxers. He’s that good a boxer, his legs are that good, his striking ability, his combinations are that technically sound and pure, his hands are that fast, his ring IQ is that high, his vision is that clear. He’s a tremendous counter-puncher; a pure counter-puncher… He’s got a long jab and he uses that to set up punches. He knows range really well. He controls range really well, not only with his feet, but even with getting full length on his punches.”

Sounds like this assessment wasn’t that far off.

O’Malley, 29, is expected to return to the Octagon at some point later this year to defend his 135-pound title against No. 1-ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili, where takedown defense — not knockout power — is likely to be the deciding fact. “The Machine” has been known to make mincemeat out of bantamweight strikers.

There’s also that Ilia Topuria super fight; however, that seems to be fading from view as time drags on, so all we can do is sit and wait for matchmakers to do their thing.

MMAmania.com – All Posts