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The full incident between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at #UFC296 tonight.

Bring on #UFC297 in January! pic.twitter.com/HQt0Uj1jiv

— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023

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Gilbert Burns recently shared some insider information about the cagedside brawl between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 296.

Strickland will defend his middleweight strap against Du Plessis at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto. The bad blood started during a seasonal press conference to promote their fight, where Du Plessis brought up Strickland’s abusive childhood. The two were seated close to each other while in attendance at UFC 296 the next day, which also led to speculation about the brawl being staged.

However, Burns, who along with his family had a first row seat to the whole episode, claims the scuffle was real. Before leaping over chairs to attack Du Plessis, Strickland could be seen asking Burns’ wife and child to move. “Du…

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Aljamain Sterling rolled the dice on the supposed star power of Sean O'Malley but came away unimpressed.

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Sterling (23-4) lost his strap to O’Malley (17-1) via second-round knockout in the main event at UFC 292 in August, for which he received a share of the pay-per-view sales, and those figures were apparently disappointing. Without revealing the exact figure, Sterling said on his YouTube channel:

“I got the pay-per-view numbers, and me and her were going through it, and I’m just like, ‘These are the numbers that this guy was trying to say he’s this big pay-per-view star?' I’m just like, ‘Oh my God.’ When I saw the numbers, I literally said to her, ‘If I had any idea this is what the numbers would have been, if I could have predicted that this is what it would have been, my ass would have waited and taken my vacation then.'”

Sterling’s clash against O’Malley came three months after a successful title defense against Henry C…

Andre Petroski will square off against Jacob Malkoun in a middleweight showdown at UFC Atlantic City on March 30.

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Petroski announced the pairing via social media. The UFC Fight Night event takes place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey and features a women’s flyweight scrap pitting Erin Blanchfield against Manon Fiorot.

Petroski last appeared at UFC Fight Night 230 on Oct. 14, when he suffered a first-round technical knockout loss against Michel Pereira. That snapped a five-bout promotional winning streak for the 32-year-old Renzo Gracie Philly product.

Malkoun, meanwhile, has lost two of his last three bouts under the UFC banner. In his lone outing of 2023, the 28-year-old Australian suffered a disqualification defeat at UFC Fight Night 228 when he landed an illegal elbow against Cody Brundage 4:15 into the opening stanza of their Sept. 23 encounter.

Dricus Du Plessis claims to have no hard feelings for Sean Strickland after their recent scuffle.

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“Stillknocks” is slated to challenge Strickland for the middleweight title in the main event at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto. The two initially got into a war of words during the UFC’s seasonal press conference in Las Vegas, which was held to promote upcoming events. Strickland and Du Plessis were seemingly seated too close for comfort a day later while in attendance at UFC 296, which resulted in a physical altercation between the two fighters. After a verbal exchange, Strickland was seen jumping over chairs to attack Du Plessis before being separated by security and escorted out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Du Plessis claims to harbor no ill feelings for Strickland, as he did what any “real man” in his position would have.

“For me, I was completely calm about – I wasn’t angry. I was having fun, and the security was like, ‘You need to c…

While Ian Garry might have been a target of ridicule leading up to UFC 296, the Irishman believes most of the online hate he received wasn’t real.

Garry has attracted a lot of attention recently for everything ranging from his relationship with his wife to his questionable gym etiquette. As a result, Garry was one of the most eagerly-awaited fighters at UFC 296 media day ahead of his proposed clash with Vicente Luque. However, “The Future” failed to show up to the session and was pulled from the bout a day after due to pneumonia. While Garry inevitably faced a lot of online hate, he believes most of it was fake. The former Cage Warriors champion thanked his true fans in a post on Instagram.

“Fight week didn’t go as planned,” Garry wrote. “Influenza developed into pneumonia as I dropped weight and for the first time in my career I was pulled by the UFC doctor. Flying home I met so many fans who flew out specifically to see me. F—k. This is not how I wanted to m…

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Deontay Wilder is at peace with his decision loss to Joseph Parker on the Day of Reckoning card this past weekend weekend.

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“The Bronze Bomber” appeared somewhat complacent throughout the build-up to the fight, and he went on drop scorecards of 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108 in a significant upset. Asked about his plans for the future, Wilder hinted that he might be nearing retirement.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said during his post-fight interview in the ring. “We have a little bit more left, but I’ve done a great job with managing my money, investing and I’m a happy fighter. We go ahead and do what we do, and we go home and live and spread love to the family and all our loved ones, and then on to the next. I’m a warrior, so I’ll be back soon. And if not, then it’s been an enjoyment. It is been a pleasure and I appreciate everybody for the love and the support that they’ve been giving me for over the years.”

A 2008 Olympic b…

Mayra Bueno Silva and Raquel Pennington will square off at UFC 297 for the women’s bantamweight crown, which was left vacant when Amanda Nunes retired in June.

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Silva was so excited when she heard the announcement that she was initially confused about her opponent, as she at first thought she would be facing former champ Julianna Pena at the Jan. 20 event.

“At first I thought it was going to be Julianna, so we started watching all of Julianna’s fights after dinner,” Silva recently told MMAFighting.com. “A week later, I found out it was against Raquel. I didn’t even think about it, I thought it was Julianna because we were planning for that, right? I was super happy, already studying for Julianna, and then, ‘No, no, no, it’s Raquel.’ I was so excited [to fight for the UFC title], I didn’t even ask who the opponent was.”

While Silva would have preferred Pena as an opponent for marquee value, she believes Pennington will be the tougher fight. Read more about Mayra Bueno Silva Would Have Preferred to Face Julianna Pena at UFC 297

While Joe Rogan acknowledges the caliber of talent in promotions like the Professional Fighters League and Bellator, he believes they are wasting their time competing outside the UFC.

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While the UFC remains the largest MMA promotion in the world, the PFL recently acquired Bellator and laid claim to industry co-leader status by virtue of the newly-enhanced roster. However, Rogan believes most promotions are still a long way from catching the UFC when it comes to viewer interest.

“No disrespect to the other organizations, there’s very good fighters in the other organizations, but I often feel like they’re wasting their career,” he said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “Because I see these elite fighters that are fighting in Bellator or PFL, and I’m like, ‘Hey, guys, no one’s watching.’ I mean, some people are watching. You’re getting a little bit of a fanbase. I don’t want to disrespect. But, there’s a reality. There’s the XFL and there’s the CF…

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Anthony Joshua hasn’t shut the door on a Deontay Wilder matchup despite “The Bronze Bomber’s” lopsided loss to Joseph Parker at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, over the weekend.

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Wilder dropped scorecards of 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108 on the same card that Joshua stopped Otto Wallin in the fifth round. While many expected that result might jeopardize a potential Wilder vs. Joshua bout, the Englishman isn’t ruling out the possibility.

“I’m not too sure what can happen from here, but I’m sure from a fan perspective they’ll be more annoyed. For me I always understand how this game is. You never know,” Joshua said at the post-fight press conference. “This is elite level boxing. Wilder just came up short but he’ll live to fight another day.”

Me and him can still get it on, we can still get it cracking. I believe I’m a massive threat. I still think Wilder is a threat, and I still think it does amazing numbers if you g…

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The time away from fighting is starting to irk Conor McGregor.

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The former UFC two-division champion vented about his lack of activity in an interview with Talk Sport Boxing over the weekend. McGregor coached opposite Michael Chandler on Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter” earlier this year, but thus far, a date hasn’t been announced for their fight.

“Give me something,” McGregor said. “It was supposed to be April, [and before that] it was supposed to be December. They never treated anyone – no one has ever been treated [like this] for all the figures I’ve brought in this game.

“I sell more than all of them combined. I see more than all of them combined. No one in the history of the fight game has ever been treated the way I’m getting treated – to what I came through, to what I bring … I’m waiting, I’m waiting and I’m waiting. My patience is wearing thin.”

McGregor’s manager, Audie Attar, revealed that the fighter’s tea…

The road to recovery is just beginning for Jan Blachowicz.

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The former light heavyweight champion was forced to withdraw from a rematch against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 297 due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. As it turns out, the Polish star will need to undergo two separate procedures.

“First shoulder operated on,” Blachowicz wrote Saturday on social media. “Unfortunately, there was too much work to do with one, so they couldn’t fix both at once. Another surgery soon. I’ll have to wait a little bit longer to come back.”

First shoulder operated on. Unfortunately, there was too much work to do with one, so they couldn't fix both at once. Another surgery soon. I'll have to wait a little longer to come back.

I wish you all Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/RDIIxDSBgm

— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) December 23, 2023

A timeline for Blachowicz’s return is unknown, and he did not give a date for his sec…

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It appears Israel Adesanya’s hiatus will come to an end in the near future.

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In a recent interview with iFL TV, the former UFC middleweight champion addressed his next Octagon appearance, indicating that it could be on the horizon.

“Me right now, I’m taking my time,” Adesanya said. “My last few fights, I had four fights in 14 months as a champion in the UFC. That’s unheard of. I was the most active champion, not fighter, champion in the league. So life has forced me to take some time off and I will, but you will see me soon.

“I said 2027 and the retards out there actually thought I meant that, but you’ll see.”

Adesanya is coming off an upset loss to Sean Strickland in a 185-pound title bout at UFC 293 this past September. In the aftermath of that defeat, “The Last Stylebender” suggested that he wouldn’t be back in action "for a long time.”

Adesanya went undefeated in his first 12 UFC middleweight appearances befo…

A bantamweight clash pitting Rinya Nakamura against Brady Hiestand is on tap for UFC 298.

Heistand’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, initially announced the contest and it was later confirmed by both athletes on social media. UFC 298 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on Feb. 17 and is headlied by a featherweight championship showdown between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.

Nakamura is undefeated in eight professional appearances. The 28-year-old Saitama, Japan, native won the Road to UFC tournament with a trio of first-round finishes before outpointing Fernie Garcia in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 225 on Aug. 26.

A cast member on Season 29 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Hiestand has won back-to-back bouts after falling to Ricky Turcios in the finale of the reality show at UFC on ESPN 30. Since then, “Bam Bam” has scored triumphs over Fernie Garcia and Batgerel Dana within the Las Vegas-based promotion.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first offering of 2024 will have a slightly different look than originally anticipated after changes to multiple bouts on the card.

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Yana Santos has withdrawn from a proposed bantamweight booking against Norma Dumont after suffering a broken nose. MMAjunkie.com confirmed Santos’ exit after the fighter announced the injury on social media. It is currently unknown if Dumont will remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

Elsewhere, Matthew Semelsberger will replace Bassil Hafez and lock horns with Preston Parsons in a welterweight scrap. Parsons confirmed the new pairing on social media. The reason for Hafez’s withdrawal is currently unknown. Semelsberger has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a third-round TKO defeat against Uros Medic in his most recent outing at UFC 291. Parsons suffered a split-decision setback against Trevin Giles at UFC on ESPN 43 in his lone bout of 2023.

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A women's strawweight meeting between Mexico’s Yazmin Jauregui and Iowa native Sam Hughes has been added to the UFC Mexico card.

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The booking was first reported by ESPN Deportes on Friday.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is set to return to Mexico City on Feb. 24 at Mexico City Arena. This will mark the promotion's return to the country after four-and-a-half years.

Jauregui joined the UFC in August 2021 with an 8-0 record and has since gone 2-1. Following her Round 2 technical knockout victory against Istela Nunes in 2022, the Mexican suffered the first loss of her professional career after being knocked out within 20 seconds of her bout against Denise Gomes at UFC 290 in July this year.

Meanwhile, Hughes is coming off a unanimous decision victory against Jaqueline Amorim in their fight at UFC 287 in April. Currently 3-4 under the promotional banner, Hughes will look to make a statement against a much younger opponent in Jauregui. Read more about Yazmin Jauregui vs. Sam Hughes Added to UFC Mexico Card

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division should have a clear contender when the dust settles.

Per the UFC on Thursday, Erin Blanchfield (12-1) and Manon Fiorot (11-1) will throw down in a pivotal women’s flyweight pairing on March 30. It has not yet been determined if this matchup will serve as the headliner for the unnumbered UFC on ESPN card that will take place at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is the first bout announced on its lineup thus far.

Since a contentious split decision setback at Invicta FC 34 fellow future UFC fighter Tracy Cortez, Blanchfield has not looked back, rattling off nine straight wins. Her streak includes six in a row in the Octagon, dispatching the likes of J.J. Aldrich, Molly McCann and Jessica Andrade—all by submission—as she worked her way up the divisional ladder. Most recently, “Cold Blooded” captured a unanimous verdict over former title challenger Taila Santos.

While Blanchfield has strung toge…

[embedded content] Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez will get a chance to settle the score in a few months.

The news was first announced by Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White on social media on Thursday night. The five-round co-main event will take place at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City on Feb. 24 at UFC Fight Night 237.

Ortega (15-3, 1 NC) and Rodriguez (19-4, 1 NC) first crossed paths in UFC Long Island in July 2022, where “T-City” sustained a fight-ending shoulder injury a little after four minutes into the opening frame. As a result, Rodriguez was awarded a victory, which spurred him into an interim title opportunity. Since their meeting, “El Pantera” has competed twice, while Ortega has been out of action entirely, ensuring a full recovery for his shoulder.

Following his win over Ortega, Rodriguez went on to claim interim featherweight strap by tapping Josh Emmett with a triangle choke at UFC 284. The Mexican standout fell short of unifying …

Another banger added to #UFC298 🔥@RobWhittakerMMA vs @BorrachinhaMMA official for February 17th! pic.twitter.com/HN1FRyNDLJ

— UFC (@ufc) December 22, 2023

UFC 298 is shaping up to be a treat for mixed martial arts fans with the addition of two riveting matchups.

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According to an announcement made by Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White on Thursday, UFC 298 will feature former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (24-7) taking on Paulo Costa (14-2) while rising Irish star Ian Garry (13-0) will face his first Top 10 opponent in No. 8 ranked welterweight Geoff Neal (15-5).

Whittaker has gone 1-2 in his last three Octagon appearances, most recently suffering a Round 2 technical knockout against Dricus Du Plessis in their meeting at UFC 290. The former champion will look to make a return to winning ways if he hopes to earn another shot at the middleweight title.

Meanwhile, Costa last appeared inside the …

The first fights for #UFC300 are OFFICIAL 🚨@Jiri_BJP vs @Rakic_UFC@NoBickal vs @CodyBrundage185 pic.twitter.com/lFMQDz4PFR

— UFC (@ufc) December 22, 2023

Fans now have a list of confirmed matchups for the historic UFC 300 pay-per-view, set to go down April. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White took to social media on Thursday to reveal a trio of fights that will be featured on the much-anticipated card.

Former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka (29-4) will take on Aleksandar Rakic (14-3), former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (23-4) will debut at featherweight against Calvin Kattar (23-7) and Bo Nickal (5-0) will toe the line with Factory X product Cody Brundage (10-5).

Prochazka is coming off a Round 2 technical knockout loss against Alex Pereira in their vacant light heavyweight title meeting at UFC 295. Rakic, on the other hand, will return to the …

They needed all five rounds. No one expected less.

Tawanchai P.K. Saenchaimuaythaigym retained his undisputed One Championship featherweight muay thai title with a unanimous decision over Superbon Singha Mawynn in the ONE Friday Fights 46 headliner on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. All three ringside judges scored it for the defending champion.

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Superbon leaned on a well-honed counter game that was equal parts craft and power, drawing a number of respectful smiles out of his opponent. Tawanchai answered with thunderous kicks to the body and lead leg, maintained a steady pace and seemed to pull away in the championship rounds. Thudding push kicks to the midsection kept Superbon off-balance, even as the two men neutralized one another in other areas. Tawanchai proved superior in terms of output when it mattered most, turning back the challenger with a series of kicks to all levels and occasional close-range elbows in the fifth …

Despite his record-tying streak of Octagon futility, Tony Ferguson has no intention of hanging up his gloves.

Ferguson (25-10) suffered a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Paddy Pimblett on Saturday at UFC 296. It was his seventh straight loss in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, tying B.J. Penn for the longest such streak in the promotion’s history.

In spite of that streak, which includes several lopsided beatdowns and one chilling knockout via front kick, and despite UFC CEO expressing his wish that Ferguson would retire, a defiant “El Cucuy” this week expressed his disinclination to call it quits. The 39-year-old Californian this week wrote an Instagram post that read in part, “Not retiring casuals.”

Prior to his current skid, Ferguson (25-10) was riding the longest winning streak at lightweight and was considered the main threat to former champ Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2019. However, despite multiple attempts the matchup always fell thro…

While Belal Muhammad is the most logical opponent for Leon Edwards’ next title defense, the champ’s coach Dave Lovell would prefer Gilbert Burns.

Edwards (22-3) defended his strap in a dominant decision win against Colby Covington (17-4) at UFC 296 last weekend. Many believe Muhammad, who is unbeaten in his last outings, deserved the shot over Covington, who hadn’t fought since March 2022.

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While Muhammad weighed in as the backup fighter for UFC 296, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White wasn't clear about Muhammad receiving the next welterweight title shot during his post-fight comments.

Interestingly, Edwards’ coach Lovell would like for his pupil to face Gilbert Burns, whom Muhammad defeated via an emphatic decision in May. While Lovell knows it’s unlikely to come about, he believes “Durinho” presents a more marketable fight than Muhammad, who has often been criticized for being a decision fighter.

“Dana didn’t announce that it would b…

Aljamain Sterling recently opened up further on what kept him out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas last Saturday at UFC 296.

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As Sterling and his team rolled up for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s final pay-per-view of 2023, they were told that there were no tickets. The former bantamweight champ immediately brought the situation to light on social media.

Sorry to the fans asking to take pictures while we were stuck outside. Just a bit annoyed that we found out our tickets were pulled, after arriving to the arena. #UFC296 pic.twitter.com/d5VY10YmGG

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) December 17, 2023 Asked about Sterling’s ticket mishap, UFC president CEO Dana White said that “Funk Master” might have tried to acquire tickets through a sponsor and he had no idea why they might have been pulled. Sterling subsequently responded to White’s comments on his YouTube channel.

“I’m not trying to fan the flames; I thin…

Alexandre Pantoja may have closed out his rivalry with Brandon Royval for good, but he claims there is no enmity there.

Pantoja (27-5) successfully defended his flyweight strap against Royval (15-7) via unanimous decision in a lopsided grappling-heavy affair at UFC 296 last weekend. This marked Pantoja’s second win over Royval after a submission in 2021, from which “Raw Dawg” bounced back with three consecutive wins to earn a shot at the title.

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While Pantoja is happy to have defended his strap for the first time, he feels for Royval as he understands the profundity of a loss. In an appearance on "The MMA Hour," Pantoja said:

“He’s a very nice kid. He worked so hard to [get] to that moment. Maybe people think I’m [full of] s*** right now, but I’m very sad for Royval. He worked so hard for that moment. I know it’s not just about Royval, he has a lot of people on his side. I lost a couple times and when I lose, my family loses with me, my kids lose wit…