Mike Perry will make his return to the bareknuckle boxing ring tomorrow night (Sat., April 27, 2024) at BKFC “KnuckleMania 4” live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, Calif., as “Platinum” takes on fellow UFC veteran Thiago Alves in an exciting — and extremely violent — main event.

Luckily, the bareknuckle carnage won’t stop there. The BKFC heavyweight title will be up for grabs as well, as current champion Mick Terrell meets Lorenzo Hunt in co-main event action. Also, former UFC heavyweight contender Ben Rothwell takes on Todd Duffee in a heavyweight clash rescheduled from a broken matchup back in December.

On Friday, all fighters took to the stage for official weigh ins for “KnuckleMania 4.” You can check out the LIVE video stream HERE and some of the final faceoffs from the top fighters below:

Mike Perry vs. Thiago Alves

Mick Terrell vs. Lorenzo Hunt

Ben Rothwell vs. Todd Duffee

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For the complete BKFC: “KnuckleMania 4” fight card and DAZN PPV lineup click here.

One of the biggest bareknuckle boxing cards of the year will unfold this weekend (Sat., April 27, 2024) when BKFC “KnuckleMania 4” airs live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, Calif., as violent brawler Mike Perry puts his undefeated Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) record on the line against fellow UFC veteran Thiago Alves in the main event.

Adding to the PPV card mix will be a heavyweight title fight between current BKFC champion Mick Terrill and former BKFC cruiserweight king Lorenzo Hunt. Not to mention an undercard clash between UFC heavyweight veterans Ben Rothwell and Todd Duffee, which was expected to go down this past December at BKFC 56 only to fall through at the last second.

Before Saturday’s massive “KnuckleMania 4” PPV card gets underway, fighters will step on the scales Friday for official weigh ins. Afterwards, some of the biggest names will come face-to-face for one final — and often overly tense — staredown.

The BKFC “KnuckleMania 4” official weigh ins stream will air LIVE and FREE in the above video player beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Follow along as Mania provides streaming updates and final faceoffs.

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For the complete BKFC: “KnuckleMania 4” fight card and DAZN PPV lineup click here.

Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon is such a big deal that even Jose Aldo is rooting for “Notorious” to capture victory.

It was announced earlier this month that McGregor will finally step foot back inside of the Octagon at UFC 303 on June 29 from Las Vegas, Nevada. The former UFC double champion will be making his return against fellow lightweight contender Michael Chandler, although the fight is expected to take place at 170 pounds. It will be the first time McGregor is competing since suffered a nasty leg break at the hands of Dustin Poirier back at UFC 264 in July 2021.

Given McGregor’s popularity and ability to sell pay-per-views, his clash with Chandler at UFC 303 is expected to be the biggest fight of the year. It may not be the greatest card of 2024, but there’s a good chance McGregor’s comeback fight breaks UFC’s all-time gate record, especially since it’s going down on International Fight Week.

With just two months remaining before UFC 303 sets sail the anticipation has begun to grow. Fight fans, fellows UFC fighters, and even some of McGregor’s biggest rivals are counting the days before he returns to the brightest stage in combat sports. This includes Aldo, who is one of the biggest rivals in McGregor’s UFC career. The two have since buried the hatchet, which is why Aldo is pulling for “Notorious” in his comeback fight.

“I have great expectations for that fight,” Aldo recently told MMA Junkie. “And as I always say, I always root for the guys who I fought and the guys who have beaten me because, you know, that just proves that I lost to the best and I lost to champions.

“So I hope that he can go in there and be the Conor of old, and be aggressive, and go in there to finish the fight, and not leave it to the judges. But you know, I expect great things from that fight.”

McGregor, who has been busy breaking Hollywood records during his time off, has not competed professionally in almost three years. That is a serious red flag for anyone expecting the former UFC champion to return to old form at UFC 303, but if any fighter could pull off the impossible it would be “Mystic Mac.”

Fighters have to worry about many things during training camp and the week leading up to their fight, but fending off a crazed stalker should not be one of them. Just ask UFC women’s flyweight contender, Amanda Ribas, who found out the hard way at UFC Vegas 89 last month that “being a fan” can mean something totally different to someone else.

Ribas, who is one of the most popular female fighters on the UFC roster today, recently headlined UFC Vegas 89 this past March against former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas. It was Ribas’ return to flyweight and a big opportunity for her to capture a win over a former champion and push herself closer towards title contention. On paper, it was her biggest fight to date.

Unfortunately, Ribas had to deal with some outside distractions during fight week in Las Vegas. Unlike some fighters who might have bad beef with their opponent or struggle to make weight, Ribas was forced to handle her own personal stalker. One who pretended to be married to her and pretty much harassed her the entire week leading up to UFC Vegas 89.

“I don’t remember his name, but he was a bit of a crazy guy,” Ribas recently told Ag. Fight. “On the first day, I arrived at the hotel — usually the fans are there for us to sign something, take a picture — but this citizen was a little crazy. He kept screaming, ‘Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.’ That same day, the guy at the front desk called my room and said, ‘Amanda, Alex is here wanting to go upstairs.’ Except that Alex is the name of my manager. I said, ‘Hey, the sensei is here now’. He went and said a crazy last name, I said, ‘I don’t know.’ I thought that was kind of weird.

“The next day, when we arrived again at the reception, the young man was waiting. But he said he wanted to talk to me, and I said I couldn’t at the moment. He spoke to my father, handed him a letter, a bracelet and a teddy bear. So far, so normal, because it’s something that happens. I even like it, I love to get gifts. Then I read in the letter that he was in love with me as a man since 2020, that he met me in Abu Dhabi. We went to do some research. This young man, on his social network, it was written that I was his wife, that he lived in such and such a country and was going to move to [my hometown] Varginha [Minas Gerais, Brazil]. There was a picture of a teddy bear, everyone in my family, saying, ‘This is Marcelo, this is Arthur, this is Mirelly, this is Amanda, my wife’. I had some crazy business.”

The fight week weirdness did not stop there. According to Ribas, her stalker even managed to sneak his way past security and get into the UFC Performance Institute. Once again, he started telling people that Ribas was his wife. This eventually made its way to Ribas’ manager, Alex Davis, who informed UFC and was able to get security to shadow Ribas for 24 hours a day.

“The other day, this citizen managed to get into the P.I., I don’t know how, and he was telling people that I was his wife,” Ribas laughed. “[My manager] Alex [Davis] found out about it first, then he told me. Then he notified the UFC and they left a security guard with me 24 hours a day to be even more protected. It seems that they found out that he is a fighter, and he couldn’t fight in an event because he had taken a sword (laughs).”

Ribas, 30, ended up losing her main event fight to Namajunas via unanimous decision. It’s not the way she wanted to start her 2024 campaign, but at least her fight week stalker has since disappeared.

“To finish this week that I started single, I went ‘dating,’ I got ‘engaged’ and ‘married,’ I ‘separated,’ too,” joked Ribas. “Because they researched and saw that he had posted on his social networks that he is traveling to another city, that we were separated, but that he wished me all the luck in the world (laughs). It was the most unexpected ‘relationship’ I’ve ever had.”

After a rare week off during which the combat sports world recuperated from UFC 300, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to its Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, this weekend (Sat., April 27, 2024) for UFC Vegas 91. In the main event, No. 5-ranked Flyweight, Matheus Nicolau, takes on former Flyweight title challenger and No. 8-seeded, Alex Perez.

UFC Vegas 91 is a very weak card regarding name value and stakes; however, it has some fun and exciting fights. So, before it airs on ESPN/ESPN+, let’s checkout some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of showtime.

APEX Stats

UFC Vegas 91 will be the 98th UFC event to take place at the now-infamous UFC Apex facility. However, it will be the 91st “Fight Night,” as seven pay-per-view (PPV) events took place in the building during the pandemic several years ago.

‘Cursed’ Perez To The Rescue

UFC Vegas 91 was initially supposed to be headlined by Nicolau versus Manel Kape; however, bad luck hit Kape again, withdrawing from the fight and marking the ninth such incident in his Octagon tenure. Perez stepped in to save the card, which is ironic because he has had several canceled fights, too.

Rare Headliners

If you’ve been watching UFC for the past few years, you’ve probably noticed the 125-pound division doesn’t get much love in terms of main event opportunities. Nicolau vs. Perez is the third non-title Flyweight main event since 2017. The other two were Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi and Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval.

Main Event Noob

After nine fights in the organization, Nicolau will headline his first-ever UFC card. The 31-year-old Brazilian has a 7-2 record inside the Octagon.

Perez competes in his second UFC main event, with his first being UFC 255 against Deiveson Figueiredo.

Gotta Get A Win

Both fighters in the main event are coming off losses. Nicolau was last in action against the aforementioned Royval, where he got knocked out in the first round with a nasty knee (watch highlights). Perez competed just eight weeks ago at UFC Vegas 87 against Muhammad Mokaev, dropping a unanimous decision.

Fightings Twins

After an eight-month layoff, Ryan Spann returns to action this weekend in the co-main event. In his last outing, he lost a super close split decision to Anthony Smith at UFC Singapore, to go down 0-2 in the rivalry.

Well, “Superman” has the chance to defeat Smith’s evil twin brother at UFC Vegas 91. Just kidding, it’s just Bogdan Guskov, who is coming off an impressive first round knockout win (watch highlights).

Second Shot

In Guskov’s third fight in UFC, he will have a second chance to get inside the Light Heavyweight Top 15. The fighter from Uzbekistan had an opportunity to crack the Top 10 in his UFC debut against Volkan Oezdemir, but fell short as he was finished in the first round. Guskov rebounded in his second UFC fight and now gets an opportunity against No. 11-seeded Spann.

Ranked Brazil Vs. Brazil

UFC 301 goes down next week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And instead of having two Top 15-ranked female Flyweights, Ariane Lipski and Karine Silva, fight there for whatever reason, they are fighting at UFC Vegas 91 in the “Featured Bout.” Lipski is ranked No. 12, while Silva sits in the No. 13 position.

Lipski is riding a three-fight win streak and is coming off a submission win over Casey O’Neil (watch highlights). Silva is riding an eight-fight win streak and is undefeated (2-0) in UFC.

New Year, New Fighter

Oh, and Lipski will no longer use that last name or her “Queen of Violence” nickname.

The 30-year-old Brazilian will now go by Ariane Da Silva, taking her husband’s surname. She has also dropped “violence” from her nickname and will now be known as “The Queen.”

So, she is now Ariane “The Queen” Da Silva. Get it right!

Souza Returns

Speaking of Silva, one of her previous opponents, Ketlen Souza, returns to action after a 10-month layoff because of a nasty knee injury. Indeed, back at UFC Vegas 74, Silva caught Souza in a kneebar and shredded her fellow Brazilian’s knee (watch highlights).

Souza is a former Invicta FC Flyweight champion with a record of 13-4.

Welcome To UFC!

Three fighters are making their UFC debut this weekend at UFC Vegas 91:

• Jhonata Diniz (6-0) is fighting Austen Lane. Diniz is coming off a contract-winning performance on season seven of Contender Series against Eduardo Neves. Diniz is the latest accomplished kickboxer to transition to mixed martial arts (MMA). The Brazilian holds a 100 percent finish rate.
• James Llontop (14-2) takes on fellow newcomer Chris Padilla (13-6). Llontop also comes from season seven of Contender Series, where he defeated Malik Lewis via unanimous decision. Llontop holds a 57 percent finish rate and is fighting out of Peru. Padilla has an 85 percent finish rate and is riding a three-fight finish streak, including a win over former UFC fighter Justin Jaynes. Padilla was also featured on MMAmania.com’s “Prospect of the Month.”

Finishers

Seven fighters competing on UFC Vegas 91 hold a 100 percent finish rates:

• Guskov: 15 finishes
• Silva: 17 finishes
• Lane: 12 finishes
• Diniz: 6 finishes
• David Onama: 11 finishes
• Uros Medic: 12 finishes
• Nia Liang: 19 finishes

Welcome Back, ‘Thud’

It was kind of strange when Austin Hubbard was released from UFC back in 2022. While his record inside the Octagon wasn’t the best (3-5), he fought tough competition, and he was just too good to be on the regional scene.

Hubbard reached The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 32, but lost to Kurt Holobaugh via triangle choke. Despite this loss, he remained signed.

He faces Michal Figlak.

UFC Vegas 91 Fight Leader

The fighter with the most career fights competing at UFC Vegas 91 is Tim Means (50).

UFC Vegas 91 Fight Rookie

The fighter with the least amount of career fights competing at UFC Vegas 91 is Diniz (6).

UFC Vegas 91 Knockout King

The fighter with the most amount of career knockouts competing at UFC Vegas 91 is Means (20).

UFC Vegas 91 Submission Savant

The fighter with the most amount of career submissions competing at UFC Vegas 91 is Rani Yahya (21).

Winners And Losers

Seventeen fighters are coming off wins, nine are coming off losses.

Multi-Divisions

Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:

• Two Heavyweight fights
• One Light Heavyweight fight
• One Welterweight fight
• Three Lightweight fights
• Two Featherweight fights
• One Bantamweight fight
• One Flyweight fight
• One women’s Strawweight fight
• One women’s Flyweight fight

Beta Dog

According to DraftKings, UFC Vegas 91’s “biggest” underdog is Na Liang at +400.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 91 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 91: “Nicolau vs. Perez” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.