Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamal Hill shared his thoughts on a potential bout between current belt holder Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev.
"I think Ankalaev will be the next challenger. Ancalaev's standup is a problem for Pereira. Pereira doesn't fight well against left-handers. Magomed can also use wrestling and grappling, and he can punch and is comfortable on the feet. I would probably favor Ankalaev in this fight," - quotes the American Middle Easy.
Recall that on April 13 in the main event of UFC 300, Hill unsuccessfully returned to the octagon after a serious injury and a long downtime, losing to Pereira by knockout in the first round.
Max Holloway, former UFC featherweight champion, has responded to all those who think he's on the decline right now.
"The problem is these guys have seen me grow up. Coming into the UFC, I was 20 years old, and a lot of people think I'm about 42 years old like Daniel Cormier. But I'm actually a young guy. Especially after the trilogy with Wolf. The first two fights went okay, and the third fight made everybody say, "Oh, he's done." Brother, that was Wolf's night. He was on a roll. It is what it is, and now they're doing MMA math because Elijah was able to knock out Wolf. Even Elijah is doing MMA math, "I beat the guy that beat you." Bro, that's not how it works. I lost to Dustin Puryear and Justin Gaethje sent him to knockout. Can I say now that I beat Dustin? No. Styles make fights," Middle Easy quoted Holloway as saying.
Today it was reported online that two UFC lightweights, Arman Tsarukyan and Benoit Saint-Denis, would have a grappling bout. However, it was later revealed that this bout would not take place. According to Saint-Denis, it was Tsarukyan who withdrew from the confrontation.
"Arman, once again you opened your mouth in vain. Besides lying, you're also disappointing the fans. I can't wait to meet you in the octagon to strangle you," St. Denis wrote on his social media.
As previously reported, the Tsarukyan-Saint-Denis bout was supposed to be the main event of the ADXC 4 tournament on May 18, which will take place in Paris.
Anthony Smith, former UFC bantamweight title challenger, is surprised by Alex Pereira's success in the bantamweight division.
"I'm not retracting what I said. How does this guy keep winning? It's a no-brainer! He has a very limited arsenal. He's very dangerous in one aspect and very average in everything else. I'm not trying to belittle him. On the contrary - I'm amazed at what he's been able to accomplish. It's impressive. Plus, Pereira has improved his grappling. He defended against Blachowicz. But if Magomed Ankalaev had been in the same position, the fight would have been over in the first round. Ankalaev wouldn't have let him out. I can name more welterweights who would have finished Pereira. And Blachowicz didn't take his chance," MMA Fighting quoted Smith as saying.
On the night of April 28, Las Vegas will host the UFC On ESPN55 tournament. On the eve of the event all its participants have passed the mandatory weigh-in procedure. Here are the results:
Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Anthony Smith said that the promotion's former middleweight champion Shawn Strickland has impressed him a lot in their joint workouts.
Rafael Cordeiro, the coach of UFC ranked American lightweight Beneil Dariush, told why his ward put his career on pause.
Dariush suffered two first-round knockout losses in 2023 - in May to Charles Oliveira and in December to Arman Tsarukian.
"Last year turned out to be very difficult for Beneil. He was knocked out twice and knocked down three times. Plus, he was knocked out once in the gym. All in all, he's suffered head trauma five times in one year. He's still relatively young, so I've asked him to take a break and rest.
My concern for him is not as a trainer, but as a father. He's won eight of his last 10 fights, but there are people advising him to end his career. That's absurd, very disrespectful to Beneil. Let's see what will be the right fights when he fully recovers," MMA Fighting quotes the specialist as saying.
Top American heavyweight Curtis Blades has expressed his willingness to fight interim division champion Brit Tom Aspinall at UFC 304, scheduled for July 27 in Manchester.
"I'm hopeful, but I'm not expecting anything. It would be cool to fight him. That fight makes sense. All I have to do is prepare. By July, I'll be ready. There are times when a fight makes sense, but they do something else instead. I wouldn't be surprised if the UFC invites Brock Lesnar to Manchester. I'll be upset, but it won't be a surprise. A fight in England? I don't really care. I like England, even though the ventilation sucks there. They don't have it for some reason. I don't know why," - quotes the words of Blades MMA Fighting.
Recall that the first fight between Blades and Aspinall took place in the summer of 2022. Then Tom capitulated at 15 seconds because of a knee injury.
Arman Tsarukyan, a top UFC lightweight, gave his prediction for the upcoming fight between Michael Chandler and the organization's former champion in two weight categories Conor McGregor. Arman considers the Irishman as the favorite for this fight.
"Chandler never turns his brain on. He always fights for the fans. Michael will try to knock out McGregor because he is very dangerous in the first round. If the fight gets to the second or third round, Chandler will lose. In my opinion, Conor is more resilient and more intelligent," Tsarukyan said on the air of the podcast Believe You Me.
Let's remind that the showdown between Chandler and McGregor will take place on June 29 in Las Vegas and will headline UFC 303.
Michael Bisping, former UFC middleweight champion and current commentator and analyst, spoke out about Arman Tsarukyan refusing to fight Islam Makhachev on June 1.
"If someone says bad things to you, just ignore them all. Because you have earned the right to fight for the belt. It's not a case where you were given an opportunity and you're like, "Oh, you gotta take it!" No! You earned it. You're a title contender. You beat Dariush, you beat Oliveira, you gave Makhachev a tough fight. You have great skills. I absolutely agree with you - it's a huge opportunity. So you need to have a full training camp," Bisping said on the Believe You Me podcast.
