Author: Dan Hiergesell

Belal Muhammad is hoping to defeat Gilbert Burns on short notice next month at UFC 288 and capture a moment reminiscent of Nate Diaz earning his shot at Conor McGregor.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Muhammad and Burns would meet in a five-round co-main event at UFC 288 on May 6 from inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The co-headliner for the card was originally expected to be a lightweight clash between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush, but that has since been moved to UFC 289 due to an injury suffered by “Do Bronx.”

By stepping up on short notice Muhammad and Burns are not only saving UFC 288’s main card — which will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between current champion Aljamain Sterling and a returning Henry Cejudo — but they are putting themselves in a position to fight for a title next. Muhammad is unbeaten in his last nine trips to the Octagon while “Durinho” is riding a two-fight win streak, including a recent decision win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287 just a few weeks ago.

After booking his short-notice clash with Burns the man known as “Remember the Name” discussed the matchup and what it means for his career. Muhammad, who has become one of the most overlooked contenders in the sport today, is hoping for a “Nate Diaz moment” at UFC 288.

“It’s my Nate Diaz moment. The Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor. This guy’s taking everything I worked for,” said Muhammad during a recent episode of Remember the Show (via MMA Junkie). “I wanted the Khamzat [Chimaev] fight, they gave it to Gilbert. I wanted the Masvidal fight, they gave it to Gilbert. Now they’re talking about Gilbert fighting for a title…You want to give him everything that I want? I’m going to have to take it from him.”

It’s unknown at this time if a win for Muhammad would be enough to put him ahead of Colby Covington for the next UFC welterweight title shot, but he has to try. Burns is one of the most well-rounded and dangerous fighters at 170 pounds today. A win over him should be enough for Muhammad to score his first shot at UFC gold, but he’ll have to dominate UFC 288’s co-main event to get it.

For more UFC 288 fight card news and coverage click here.

Liz Carmouche retained her Bellator women’s flyweight title last night (Fri., April 21, 2023) at Bellator 294 live on Showtime from inside Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contender ended up stopping DeAnna Bennett with a come-from-behind submission in the fourth round.

This was not an easy fight for Carmouche. While Bennett missed weight on Thursday and was ineligible to win the title she still put up one hell of a fight. In fact, Bennett was in full control on the scorecards entering the fourth round. She had used takedowns, top control, and pressure along the fence to earn an early edge over the champion. That’s when Carmouche flipped a switch and took over.

The reigning Bellator women’s flyweight champion was able to gain top control and hit Bennett with some heavy elbows. Bennett was trying to break free, but she allowed Carmouche to sink in a tight arm-triangle choke. Carmouche didn’t squeeze. Instead, she waited Bennett out and slowly took her breath away. Bennett had nothing left to do but tap.

Check out the video highlights below courtesy of Bellator/Showtime:

Carmouche, who turned 39 this past February, is now 6-0 as a member of the Bellator roster. The former UFC fighter has looked downright unstoppable until tonight, but even now she pulls out the victory. This is also her fourth-straight finish and second-straight women’s flyweight title defense. Pretty impressive stuff yet again from “Girl-Rilla.”

For complete Bellator 294 results and coverage click here.

All hell broke loose earlier tonight (Sat., April 21, 2023) at Misfits Boxing Series 6 live on DAZN from New Orleans, La., when Chase DeMoor was disqualified for blatant illegal strikes on an already downed opponent.

The incident occurred at the start of the card so it was incredible promotion for the rest of the night. DeMoor, a social media influencer and TV personality trying his hardest to be a professional boxer, was matched up against Stevie Knight, another wannabe combat athlete. DeMoor seemed like the better conditioned athlete and more powerful puncher from the opening bell.

After some early exchanges DeMoor began to overwhelm Knight along the ropes. He ended up landing a vicious combination that sent Knight crashing to the canvas. Unfortunately, DeMoor didn’t stop there. Maybe he thought he was making his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut or had a flashback to an early childhood street fight, but DeMoor unloaded strikes while Knight was unconscious on the canvas. It goes without saying, but that is a big no-no in the sport of boxing.

As expected, the referee, ringside officials, and team members instantly rushed in to pull DeMoor off of Knight. The two teams then started to go at one another in the ring. It was a chaotic scene to say the least.

You can check it out in the above video player courtesy of DAZN

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For complete Misfits Boxing Series 6 results and coverage click here.

A middleweight matchup between former UFC champion Robert Whittaker and streaking contender Dricus Du Plessis has been booked for UFC 290 on July 8 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is according to a recent social media post by UFC president, Dana White. Per White, the winner of Whittaker vs. Du Plessis will get the next title shot against current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya later this year at an event currently being targeted for Sydney, Australia.

White’s announcement can be seen below:

Whittaker, 32, has been the best middleweight on the planet not named Adesanya over the past five years. The former 185-pound champion has lost twice to Adesanya, but Whittaker is 12-0 in the division outside of those matchups. He’s coming off a dominant decision win over Marvin Vettori in Sept. 2022 and would offer another great challenge for “Last Stylebender” if he can get past Du Plessis this July.

Du Plessis, 29, has taken the UFC by storm since his debut back in 2020. The South-African fighter hasn’t wiped the floor with the competition, but Du Plessis remains undefeated inside the Octagon with a 5-0 record. That includes stoppages over Derek Brunson, Darren Till, and Trevin Giles. A victory over Whittaker would be more than enough for “Stillknocks” to lock down his first official UFC title shot.

Thoughts on this matchup?

For more UFC 290 fight card news click here.

The long-awaited matchup between top lightweight fighters Gervonta Davis (28-0, 26 KO) and Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KO) will finally unfold tomorrow night (Sat., April 22, 2023) live on Showtime and DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will serve as the main event of the evening.

While this fight will not be for Davis’ WBA (Regular) lightweight title it will be one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year. Garcia, who has been climbing the lightweight ranks over the past few years, has been hot on Davis’ tail. The young striker is hoping to prove he’s more than just talk when he steps inside of the ring against “Tank” this weekend for undoubtedly his biggest test to date.

Davis, on the other hand, is trying to prolong years of dominance at the lightweight level. The 28-year-old champion is coming off three-straight title defenses over Hector Garcia, Rolando Romero, and Isaac Cruz. Before that, the former Team Mayweather product scored knockout wins over Leon Santa Cruz and Mario Barrios. He’s one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the sport today.

Ahead of this weekend’s main event, Davis and Garcia came face-to-face for one final staredown during Friday’s official weigh ins. As expected, things got heated when the two lightweights squared off. Check it out below:

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of the Davis vs. Garcia main event. The PPV main card broadcast kicks off on Showtime PPV at 8 p.m. ET, while Davis and Garcia will likely make their ring walks around 11 p.m. ET.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran, Ray Borg, has been dropped by his management team, Dominance MMA, following the cancelation of his fight with Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator 295 tomorrow night (Sat., April 22, 2023) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Early Friday, it was announced that Borg was removed from the card for undisclosed reasons. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter was expecting to make his Bellator MMA debut and return to 125 pounds. It was unknown at the time why Borg was scratched just one day out from the event.

It was later revealed that Borg was forced to withdraw from the fight due to weight management issues. If you’ve ever followed Borg’s career you already know this is the same reason why he was released from UFC back in 2020. “The Tazmexican Devil” had missed weight four times under the UFC banner and would have failed a fifth time if his final fight scheduled for Aug. 2020 actually transpired (Borg withdrew for weight management issues).

As if things couldn’t possibly get worse for the 29-year-old his management team dropped him quicker than a hot potato after finding out his Bellator 295 withdrawal had to do with his weight cut. Bellator MMA also cut Borg from the roster before he had a chance to compete once.

Dominance MMA released the following statement (via John Morgan):

“Effective immediately, Dominance MMA will no longer serve as representation for Ray Borg.

We would like to apologize to Bellator MMA, American Top Team and Kyoji Horiguchi for the unprofessionalism displayed this week that has forced us to make this decision. All parties involved did their best to make this fight happen, including the late offer to book the matchup at 135 pounds, and we thank everyone involved for those efforts.

Unfortunately, Mr. Borg was not willing or able to make that weight, resulting in unnecessary complications for all involved. Given the circumstances, as well as our own embarrassment, we can no longer in good faith represent our now former client but wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

What say you, Maniacs? Is this the last time we’ll see or hear of Ray Borg?

Let’s discuss!

MMAmania.com will deliver coverage of Bellator 295 tomorrow evening on Showtime right HERE. To check out the latest Bellator MMA-related news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive right here.

See you then!