Author: Dan Hiergesell

Jorge Masvidal and Kevin Holland reportedly found themselves in another altercation Friday morning in advance to UFC 287 this Saturday night (Sat., April 8, 2023) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida.

Earlier this week, “Gamebred” and “Trailblazer” had to be separated during an altercation in a hotel lobby. The two fighters were screaming at one another as security and team members stepped in. Luckily, things didn’t escalate because Masvidal and Holland are two of the biggest names on Saturday’s card in Miami.

On Friday morning, Masvidal and Holland reportedly crossed paths again outside of the official weigh ins (results HERE). Holland’s manager, Oren Hodak, informed TMZ that Holland told Masvidal, “Sup, baby girl” — which apparently enraged “Gamebred.” Hodak also revealed those are the words that caused the two fighters to initially get into it earlier this week at the hotel.

Luckily, TMZ was able to obtain video footage from Friday morning that shows Masvidal being held back in rage. If it was indeed Holland who caused this scene again then he’s out of camera. Check it out below:

If you’re a Masvidal fan this is a little concerning considering “Gamebred” is entering one of the most important fights of his career. The veteran contender has lost his last three trips to the Octagon so a fourth this weekend against Gilbert Burns would be devastating. Not to mention Masvidal is fighting in front of his hometown of Miami for the first time in a very long time.

The pressure is on. We’ll see if these pre-fight distractions are in fact distractions when “Gamebred” takes centerstage on Saturday night.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 287 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

Fight fans rarely see the jovial side of UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira, but the Brazilian knockout artist actually cracked a smile earlier this week courtesy of long-time training partner and former UFC light heavyweight champion, Glover Teixeira.

Pereira, who made his UFC debut less than two years ago, in entering his first official middleweight title defense tomorrow night (Sat., April 8, 2023) at UFC 287 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida. “Poaton” will meet former titleholder Israel Adesanya in a rematch for the undisputed 185-pound crown.

As usual, Pereira is all business entering his fifth appearance inside of the Octagon. The former two-division GLORY champion is known for his stone cold demeanor ahead of fights, but Pereira has been a little extra-dialed in this week ahead of his grudge match with “Last Stylebender.”

Luckily, Teixeira has been by Pereira’s side trying to lighten the mood along the way. Teixeira has been friends and training partners with “Poaton” for quite some time and has watched his UFC rise firsthand. During a recent makeup session backstage, Teixeira surprised Pereira by taking over artistic duties and doing a little brush work.

Check it out below courtesy of UFC:

You can count Pereira’s fight week smiles on one hand so be thankful this one was caught on camera. The reigning UFC middleweight champion will look to keep his focus this weekend in Miami and he tries to put an end to his rivalry with Adesanya and prove he’s a champion that can last at 185 pounds.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 287 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

There is still a vast collection of people around the mixed martial arts (MMA) community that don’t understand why Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White is hellbent on giving Colby Covington the next welterweight title shot. This includes welterweight contenders, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns, who will fight each other in the co-main event tomorrow night (Sat., April 8, 2023) at UFC 287 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida.

White cemented Covington as the next UFC welterweight title challenger after “Chaos” showed up to UFC 286 in London last month and weighed in as a back up. Despite a significant portion of the MMA community complaining about Covington stepping back into the cage to a title shot White remans adamant that he’ll get the next crack at current champion Leon Edwards.

This hasn’t sat well with some of the members of the UFC’s welterweight division. The likes of Burns, Belal Muhammad, and even Khamzat Chimaev, have done more over the past year or so to deserve a title shot more than Covington. That said, White is unwilling to give it to anyone else at this time, whether it makes more sense or not.

During Thursday’s UFC 287 pre-fight press conference (watch HERE), White was once again asked if Covington would in fact get the next welterweight title shot. As the UFC president began to answer Masvidal and Burns, who were on stage as well, started to boo. It showed their level of disappointment that their co-main event fight this weekend at UFC 287 would not be a No. 1 contender’s bout at 170 pounds.

As usual, White shrugged it off and remained steadfast. Check it out below:

“When’s the last time he finished somebody?” asked Masvidal.

All of this said, it would be hard for UFC not to book Edwards vs. Masvidal if “Gamebred” was able to win in spectacular fashion this weekend in his own backyard. With the history that “Rocky” and Masvidal share it would be nearly impossible for the promotion not to strike while the iron is hot.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 287 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

It looks like UFC 289 already has a main event in place for the promotion’s return to Canada.

According to UFC president Dana White (via TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter), a women’s bantamweight trilogy bout between reigning UFC champion Amanda Nunes and former titleholder Julianna Pena will headline the event, which will take place on June 10 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Rogers Arena.

This may not be the fight that fans were hoping to headline UFC’s long-awaited return to Canada, but the matchup had to happen at some point. Pena shocked the mixed martial arts (MMA) universe back at UFC 269 in Dec. 2021 for their first meeting when she submitted Nunes to win the title. The loss snapped a legendary 12-fight win streak for “Lioness.”

UFC gave Nunes some time to recover after her first defeat since 2014 and ended up booking the rematch for UFC 277 in July 2022. Nunes completely dominated the reboot and ended up defeating Pena via unanimous decision. That victory gave “Lioness” back her champ-champ status as she is still UFC’s reigning women’s featherweight titleholder.

While this is a big opportunity for Pena to stay in the limelight and give herself another chance to win UFC gold it is undoubtedly a more important fight for Nunes. The long-time women’s bantamweight queen is already one of the top 3 greatest female fighters of all time, but a win over Pena again would solidify her status as G.O.AT.

The UFC 289 current fight card lineup is as follows:

135 lbs.: Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena 3
170 lbs.: Stephen Thompson vs. Michel Pereira
125 lbs.: Miranda Maverick vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
185 lbs.: Eryk Anders vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
115 lbs.: Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira
145 lbs.: Blake Bilder vs. Kyle Nelson
125 lbs.: Matt Schnell vs. David Dvorak
145 lbs.: Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr

Stick with Mania for more UFC 289 fight card news.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will make its long-awaited return to Canada this June, but it won’t go down from Calgary, Alberta.

Instead, the promotion will return to the Great White North and stage UFC 289 on June 10 from inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. It will mark the first event for UFC north of the border in nearly four years. Oddly enough, Vancouver was the last stop in Canada for the promotion when Justin Gaethje headlined an event opposite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in Sept. 2019.

Despite reports that the next event could take place in Calgary an announcement was made Friday afternoon that puts UFC 289 on target for Vancouver. UFC president Dana White broke the news via Instagram. Check it out below:

While the UFC 289 fight card remains a work in the progress the following bouts are expected to take place:

170 lbs.: Stephen Thompson vs. Michel Pereira
125 lbs.: Miranda Maverick vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
185 lbs.: Eryk Anders vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
115 lbs.: Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira
145 lbs.: Blake Bilder vs. Kyle Nelson
125 lbs.: Matt Schnell vs. David Dvorak
145 lbs.: Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr

Stick with Mania for more UFC 289 fight card news.

Dana White is all business leading into UFC 287 tomorrow night (Sat., April 8, 2023) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Fla., which is why the UFC president shut down questions about Jorge Masvidal’s hotel altercation with Kevin Holland at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference (watch HERE).

Earlier this week, Masvidal and Holland crossed paths in a hotel lobby and things quickly took a turn for the worse. Fight fans aren’t aware of any significant beef between “Gamebred” and “Trailblazer,” but the two fighters were clearly ready to throw down. Luckily, security was in place before the incident escalated and Masvidal or Holland did something that would have ruined this weekend’s card.

On Thursday, MMA reporters were eager to get a statement from both Masvidal and Holland during UFC 287’s pre-fight press conference.

“Absolutely nothing,” said Masvidal when asked what happened between himself and Holland. “There’s nothing to talk about there. Just some d—k riding, clout chasing bitch. Ain’t nothing to talk about.”

“That’s not what you were saying yesterday,” Holland replied. “Watch your f—king mouth.”

That’s when White stepped in to put a stop to the questioning. Before Masvidal and Holland got worked up on stage White dismissed any further questioning about their hotel altercation earlier this week, suggesting the press conference only be about UFC 287’s matchups.

“Guys, come on, these two aren’t even fighting,” White said. “Knock it off. Do you have a question about the fight who these guys are fighting or do you just want to start s—t in here? What’s your question?”

While it’s somewhat understandable that White would want to keep things calm during UFC’s return to Miami he may have missed out on a prime opportunity to create some extra buzz around this weekend’s event. Masvidal and Holland are two of the biggest names on the card so it would have made sense to at least discuss their surprise hotel altercation.

Fortunately, fight fans will get to see both men compete tomorrow night on ESPN+ PPV. All the talking and pre-fight incidents will take a backseat for real Octagon action.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 287 fight card and PPV lineup click here.