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From visa complications to crippling back pain, Tom Aspinall had a lot going on in the lead up to his short-notice interim title fight against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295.

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While Pavlovich was supposed to be the backup for the originally scheduled title clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, Aspinall stepped up on less than three weeks’ notice when that fight fell through. The Brit recently revealed that he couldn’t even train for most of whatever little time he had due to severe backache.

Aspinall shared footage of when his back suddenly stiffened up during training due to no apparent reason. Unable to train or even walk for a couple of days after, Aspinall revealed on "The MMA Hour” that he considered pulling out of the fight.

“I just wanted to get one good spar under my belt before we basically leave and travel to the U.S.” Aspinall said. “This was in the fourth round of sparring. Never experienced anything like it before. I just had a c…

Dustin Poirier believes that the version of Charles Oliveira he faced can dethrone Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Islam Makhachev.

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Oliveira was coming off finishes of Michael Chandler, Poirier and Justin Gaethje when he was submitted by Makhachev in the second round of their title bout at UFC 280 in October 2022. The Brazilian bounced back with a first-round KO over Beneil Dariush at UFC 289 in June, securing a rematch against Makhachev.

Oliveira was 12 days away from having a chance to avenge his loss against Makhachev at UFC 294 when a gruesome cut suffered in sparring forced him out of the fight. Oliveira was replaced by featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski, who went on to suffer a brutal first-round KO loss.

Poirier believes “do Bronx” has what it takes to defeat the Dagestani champ if they run it back. According to the Louisiana native, Oliveira didn’t show up at his best when he lost the strap to Makhachev at UFC 2…

Leon Edwards claims there is no one exciting enough left for him at welterweight after his upcoming title defense against Colby Covington at UFC 296 on Dec. 16.

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Edwards dethroned Kamaru Usman in a shocking upset at UFC 278 before defending the belt via decision in a rematch at UFC 286 in March. While many expected Belal Muhammad to get his long due title shot next, Dana White was adamant on giving it to Covington, who hasn’t fought since a decision win over Jorge Masvidal in March 2022.

If he defeats Covington at UFC 296, Edwards is no longer interested in defending his title at 170 pounds. “Rocky” recently told Sky Sports that he is eyeing double-champ glory with a middleweight title shot in his next outing.

Edwards will be keenly watching the upcoming UFC 297 title fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis, both of whom he considers to be good matchups.

"One hundred percent, definitely [moving up to challenge the middleweight cha…

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Paddy Pimblett claims the ongoing feud between Leon Edwards and Ian Garry has already been settled inside the gym.

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Garry recently revealed that he was no longer welcome at Edwards’ Team Renegade, which has been one of his two major training homes along with Kill Cliff FC in South Florida. “The Future” called Edwards a “b—ch” for allegedly throwing him out of the gym to avoid “doubts and insecurities.” Meanwhile, Team Renegade said that the decision was primarily due to Garry’s nomadic nature, which wasn’t in line with the gym’s vision.

Pimblett has now added fuel to the fire by dropping a massive gym rumor. While discussing potential opponents for Edwards during a recent interview, Pimblett agreed that Shavkat Rakhmonov could go on to challenge “Rocky” if he gets past Stephen Thompson at UFC 296. However, Pimblett dismissed Garry’s name, claiming that debate has allegedly been settled with “The Future” getting knocked out by Edwa…

Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker will attempt to settle some unfinished business in the headliner of an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Jan. 13.

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John Kavanagh, Walker’s coach, announced the pairing on"The MMA Hour," and it was later confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. The card hasn’t been announced by the Las Vegas-based promotion, so it doesn’t have an official location or venue as of yet.

The first meeting between Ankalaev and Walker ended in controversial fashion at UFC 294. After Ankalaev landed an illegal knee on his opponent in the opening stanza, a cageside physician was called in to examine Walker. After a series of questions, the fight was waved off — much to the displeasure of both combatants.

It was the second straight disappointing outcome for Ankalaev, who battled Jan Blachowicz to a majority draw with the vacant light heavyweight title on the line at UFC 282. As a result, the belt remained vacant, and both Ankalaev and Blacho…

The possibility of Conor McGregor competing at UFC 300 now seems like a long shot at best.

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During an appearance on "The MMA Hour,” SBG Ireland head trainer John Kavanagh revealed that McGregor’s Octagon return has been delayed yet again.

“We were hoping for April. That was the hope. That was what we were told. And now it seems to be the summertime,” Kavanagh said.

“I don’t know [why]. That’s literally what we were having a bit of a back and forward [about] today.”

April is the expected month for UFC 300, which will likely be one of the promotion’s biggest events to date. McGregor re-entered the drug testing pool in October, which would align with an April return, and the former UFC two-division champion also targeted that timeframe for his first fight since breaking his leg in July 2021.

McGregor coached on “The Ultimate Fighter 31” opposite Michael Chandler, and the two were initially supposed to meet at some point in 2023. McGregor …

It might not happen anytime soon, but the odds slightly favor Jon Jones in a potential bout against newly-crowned interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

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According to online oddsmaker BetOnline, Jones is listed as a -140 favorite against Aspinall, who is a +120 underdog. That is a stark contrast to odds for Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, where “Bones” is a far more significant favorite at -400.

In the case of Jones vs. Aspinall, the fight must take place by Aug. 31, 2024 for any betting action to be valid, and odds are subject to change based on various circumstances.

The far more likely option is that Jones will defend his heavyweight crown against Miocic next year once he heals from a torn pectoral suffered in training. Jones has targeted Miocic, who owns the all-time record for title defenses at heavyweight, as a legacy fight, and UFC CEO Dana White has been adamant that the promotion will rebook the bout at a later date.

Aspinall clai…

Bellator MMA’s final event of 2023 will proceed without a pair of its originally scheduled preliminary matchups.

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The California-based promotion announced on Monday that a flyweight bout between Juliana Velasquez and Paula Cristina dos Santos Silva and a heavyweight clash pitting Daniel James against Ali Isaev have both been canceled. As a result, the card will move forward with 16 fights.

Bellator 301 takes place on Friday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago and is headlined by a welterweight championship showdown between Yaroslav Amosov and Jason Jackson. In the co-main event, Sergio Pettis and Patrick Mix will square off in a bantamweight title unification bout. The main card airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while prelims begin on the Bellator YouTube channel and Pluto TV beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

Velasquez, 38, is coming off back-to-back losses to Liz Carmouche in flyweight title bouts, the most recent of which occurred this pas…

To the naked eye, it appeared that Jiri Prochazka deserved a little more time to recover against Alex Pereira in the UFC 295 main event.

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Prochazka was hurt by a short left hook from his foe in the second stanza, which prompted the Czech Republic native to shoot for a takedown. From there, Pereira transitioned to a series of hard elbows to the side of the head, and Prochazka toppled backward to the canvas with his Brazilian foe on top of him.

At that point, veteran official Marc Goddard had seen enough, and he waved off the light heavyweight title bout at the 4:08 mark of Round 2. Prochazka still appeared to be scrambling to defend himself in that moment, but it was to no avail — because the call had already been made. While many observers thought the ending came early, Prochazka did his best to put an end to the stoppage controversy in a video on Instagram.

“Hello everyone, I just want to say to all of you thank you for your support,” Prochaz…

The lineup for Rizin Fighting Federation’s traditional New Year’s Eve card continues to grow, as the Japanese promotion recently announced three new additions to the lineup.

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Two of those bouts — Tsuyoshi Kamiyama vs. Mikio Ueda and Shinobu Ota vs. Ryusei Ashizawa — will be contested under MMA rules, while the third —Rukiya Anpo vs. Minoru Kimura — is a kickboxing affair.

Rizin 45 takes place on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and features a bantamweight title tilt pitting reigning champ Juan Archuleta against Kai Asakura. The event will also see Kyoji Horiguchi square off against Makoto Takahasi for the flyweight crown.

Kamiyama has been victorious in eight of his 10 professional outings — all under the Rizin banner. Most recently, “Sudario” defeated Dong Hwan Lim via third-round technical knockout at Rizin Landmark Vol. 6 on Oct. 1. All but one of his triumphs have come by way of KO or TKO.

Ueda has won two straight b…

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Dana White has doubled down on rebooking Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic even after Tom Aspinall won the interim heavyweight title against Sergei Pavlovich on Saturday.

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While Jones and Miocic were originally scheduled to headline UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden, “Bones” was forced off the card due to a torn pectoral tendon. An interim title fight between Aspinall and Pavlovich was put together at the last minute, with White claiming that it would have been disrespectful to offer an interim fight to Miocic.

Aspinall went on score a massive first-round KO win over Pavlovich, with Jones praising the newly-crowned interim champ. Many fans and pundits believe Aspinall and Pavlovich should have been fighting for the undisputed title to begin with, as Jones’ recovery is likely to take a while.

However, White has previously stated that he plans on rebooking the Jones vs. Miocic fight, with the winner potentially facing the interim champ…

Sergei Pavlovich seems to be coping well with his failed bid for interim heavyweight gold against Tom Aspinall.

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Pavlovich and Aspinall were booked to co-headline UFC 295 on less than three weeks’ notice at Madison Square Garden after the originally scheduled main event title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic fell through. Pavlovich was also supposed to be the backup for Jones vs. Miocic, which many believed could give him a slight edge over Aspinall.

Instead, Aspinall put Pavlovich to sleep 69 seconds into the fight to become the interim UFC heavyweight champ. The defeat marked the end of a six-fight first-round KO streak for the Russian.

Pavlovich has now issued an official statement on Telegram addressing the loss while also providing a health update. The 31-year-old appears to be an absolute sport in the aftermath of his first failed gold bid.

“I didn't suffer any damage to my health, I'm fine,” Pavlovich wrote. “Tom turned ou…

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Israel Adesanya doesn’t seem very interested in Alex Pereira’s light heavyweight title shot offer.

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Pereira won the vacant light heavyweight strap with a second-round knockout win over former champ Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 on Saturday. “Poatan” called out Adesanya in his post-fight interview, urging the Nigerian-born Kiwi to move up to 205 pounds.

“I know that I’m not going to do what he did to me and make me fight three times to fight him at middleweight,” Pereira said in his post-fight interview. “I know it’s a guy we have a lot of history. I want to make this fight happen. Adesanya, come to daddy.”

“The Last Stylebender” responded with a meme of his UFC 287 KO win over Pereira with the Brazilian dressed up as Elsa from the Disney movie “Frozen.”

“Let it gooo,” Adesanya wrote.

Adesanya lost his middleweight strap to Sean Strickland in a shocking upset at UFC 293 in September. Adesanya has since stated that he i…

Jan Blachowicz took issue with Alex Pereira issuing a callout to Israel Adesanya after his title win at UFC 295 over the weekend.

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Pereira took on Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York with the vacant light heavyweight title on the line. The Brazilian scored a second-round TKO win over Prochazka to become the fastest double champ in UFC history, taking just seven fights to win titles in two weight classes.

Pereira then went on to call out Adesanya, inviting his longtime rival to the light heavyweight division. In addition to two kickboxing victories over his rival, “Poatan” also dethroned Adesanya at UFC 281 last November before getting knocked out by “The Last Stylebender” earlier this year.

Regardless of the history, Blachowicz wasn’t happy with Pereira’s callout and voiced his thoughts on social media.

“[Alex Pereira] I know you're a slimy one,” Blachowicz wrote. “Calling out Izzy. Great performanc…

Two-time light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes will return to action against the surging Carlos Ulberg at UFC 297.

The promotion announced the booking during the UFC 295 broadcast on Saturday night. UFC 297 takes place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Jan. 20 and is headlined by a middleweight championship clash pitting Sean Strickland against Dricus Du Plessis.

Reyes is in the midst of a four-bout skid that dates back to a competitive championship loss to Jon Jones at UFC 247 in February 2020. More recently, “The Devastator” suffered a first-round KO defeat to Ryan Spann at UFC 281.

Ulberg, meanwhile, has quietly been building momentum at 205 pounds. The City Kickboxing representative has won his last five Octagon appearances, including a third-round submission of Da Woon Jung in his last outing at UFC 293.

Alex Pereira believes he has what it takes to motivate Israel Adesanya.

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After claiming the vacant light heavyweight title with a second-round stoppage of Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 295 headliner, “Poatan” called for his longtime rival to meet him at 205 pounds.

“I know that I’m not going to do what he did to me and make me fight three times to fight him at middleweight,” Pereira said in the Octagon. “I know it’s a guy we have a lot of history. I want to make this fight happen. Adesanya, come to daddy.”

Adesanya last appeared at UFC 293, where he relinquished the middleweight crown in a surprising unanimous decision loss to Sean Strickland. Not long after, “The Last Stylebender” hinted that he might take an extended break from MMA. Pereira’s callout didn’t seem to have much of an effect on the City Kickboxing stalwart, as he simply responded by trolling his rival on social media.

Let it gooooo 🎶 pic.twitter.com/gv9ZYliKwH Read more about Alex Pereira Calls Israel Adesanya’s Self-Imposed Hiatus ‘A Waste of Talent’

Tom Aspinall didn’t leave much for Jon Jones to dissect at UFC 295.

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The Englishman claimed interim gold in emphatic fashion, as he knocked out Sergei Pavlovich 69 seconds into Round 1 of their co-main event bout at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Jones took to social media to praise Aspinall following the victory. ‘

“Tom congratulations on the interim heavyweight championship belt! That was an awesome performance!” Jones wrote.

Tom congratulations on the interim heavyweight championship belt! That was an awesome performance!

— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 12, 2023

It’s not the first time Jones, the regining heavyweight king ,has praised Aspinall, and the the Team Kaobon product appreciates the accolades. But he’d like one more thing from the man known as “Bones.”

“I’ve seen Jon talking nice stuff about me on a podcast, as well. It’s really nice,” Aspinall said at Saturday’s post-fight press conferen…

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Benoit St. Denis is eyeing a who’s who of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s lightweight division after a spectacular knockout win over Matt Frevola.

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Saint-Denis (13-1) took on Frevola (11-4) on the UFC 295 main card at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday. “God of War” floored the New York native 1:31 in the opening frame into with a shin-to-chin left head kick before following up with some ground-and-pound that was hardly necessary before referee Mike Beltran stepped in.

St. Denis claims he was on the lookout for striking opportunities while on the break from scrambles.

“I knew he was not going to exchange too much in the scrambles with me,” the Frenchman said in his post-fight Octagon interview. “… I knew that he doesn’t win the scrambles, there’s going to be opportunities after the scramble.”

St. Denis also put elite lightweight contenders on notice, which included cageside guests Dustin Poirier and Just…

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John Castaneda showed nothing but respect for Adrian Yanez while calling him out in his UFC 295 post-fight interview.

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“Sexi Mexi” defeated South Korean veteran Kyung Ho Kang (19-10) via unanimous decision in a 138-pound catchweight bout on the UFC 295 preliminary card at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night. Castaneda, 31, was almost too polite to call anyone out after his victory but ultimately issued a respectful challenge to Yanez (16-5). The Minnesota native believes a potential booking against Yanez is an intriguing stylistic matchup.

“I’m not gonna call people out but if I were to call somebody out, I really really would love a fight with Adrian Yanez,” Castaneda said during a post-fight media session. “Not because it’s like a disrespect thing, but stylistically I think we can put on a banger. Absolutely… A little hopeful callout.”

Castaneda improved his Ultimate Fighting Championship record to 4-2 with …

Julianna Pena claims the winner of the upcoming title fight between Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva will only be “belt warming” until she returns to action.

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Pennington (15-8) and Silva (10-2) will clash in the co-main event at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto with the vacant women’s bantamweight title on the line. For many, the booking came as a slight surprise due to the absence of Pena (11-5), who has been the only other woman besides Amanda Nunes to sit on the 135-pound throne in recent years.

Pena famously submitted Nunes at UFC 269 in 2021 in one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport before losing the strap via a lopsided decision in a rematch the following year. “The Venezuelan Vixen” was then scheduled to face Nunes in a trilogy clash at UFC 289 this past June but had to pull out due to an undisclosed injury. “The Lioness” recorded yet another dominant decision win over short-notice replacement Irene…

Khabib Nurmagomedov claims he has never fought with money as his primary motivation.

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Nurmagomedov, 35, hung up his gloves at his peak in 2020, retiring as a champ with a perfect 29-0 record. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king recently hinted that he has received multiple million-dollar payday offers to bring him out of retirement.

While Nurmagomedov admits it isn’t easy to turn down that kind of big money, “The Eagle” refuses to budge from his decision, one he claims he will never regret.

“When you’re the best fighter in the world, when you’re strong enough, when you have money, when you’re famous, it’s very hard to say no to all these things,” he told Daniel Cormier on UFC Fight Pass’ "Ultimate 30” countdown (transcription via MMAFighting.com). “It’s very hard. It’s not easy. It’s not easy [to] just say no to $20, $30, $40 million dollars. But for myself, it’s not everything. This is not most important. It was not an e…

UFC 295 was one of the most memorable events of the year, and its top performers were compensated accordingly.

The Las Vegas-based promotion handed out seven $50,000 bonuses following Saturday’s card at Madison Square Garden in New York. Of those, five main-card fighters received “Performance of the Night” honors: Alex Pereira, Tom Aspinall, Jessica Andrade, Benoit St. Denis and Diego Lopes.

Pereira became the ninth two-division champion in promotion history by virtue of his second-round knockout of Jiri Prochazka in the evening’s light heavyweight headliner, while Aspinall captured interim heavyweight gold with a 69-second shellacking of Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event.

Earlier, Andrade set a UFC women’s record with four knockdowns in a second-round stoppage of Mackenzie Dern in a featured strawweight affair; St. Denis secured his fifth straight finish with a head-kick KO of Matt Frevola and Lopes knocked out Pat Sabatini 90 seconds into their main-card op…

Alex Pereira made certain history will remember him.

The surgical Brazilian kickboxer struck gold in a second Ultimate Fighting Championship weight class when he vanquished Jiri Prochazka with a volley of second-round elbows and walked away with the vacant light heavyweight title in the UFC 295 headliner on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Prochazka (29-4-1, 3-1 UFC) checked out 4:08 into Round 2.

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Now the first man to have won UFC championships at 185 and 205 pounds, Pereira weaved in and out of danger. Prochazka secured a takedown and enjoyed some significant control time in the second half of the first round, having chosen to move the action to the floor after the Brazilian tore into his lead leg with a series of punishing kicks. Pereira (9-2, 6-1 UFC) stayed calm under duress, eventually returned to an upright position and extended the fight. Prochazka appeared to have him reeling with a few overhand rights in Round 2, but his aggre…

Sherdog's live UFC 295 coverage will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Emmers (-258), Buzukja (+210)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Van (-218), Borjas (+180)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Castaneda (-142), Kang (…