Author: Dan Hiergesell

Miesha Tate ultimately came up short in her main event clash with Ketlen Vieira at UFC Vegas 43 earlier this month and the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion is still paying for it.

Tate, who is trying to fight her way back to a title after a five-year hiatus from MMA, lost a close fight opposite Vieira just one week ago. “Cupcake” showed off improved standup in her five-round clash with Vieira, but the Brazilian contender was too strong down the stretch and really did on number on Tate’s face.

One week after the loss and Tate is still pretty busted up. In fact, the former UFC champion decided to remove her own stitches this week and bypass a visit to the doctor’s office. Luckily, Tate posted the removal on her YouTube channel. It can be seen in the above video player. The official description can be seen below:

“Who needs a doctor!? Healing up quick and ready to get back at it but first these stitches have to come out!”

“I think there’s no point in going to the doctor to remove these, but I’m also kind of crazy,” said Tate in the video.

Tate, 35, is now 1-1 since returning from retirement earlier this year. The long-time contender will always be a few big wins away from a title shot so there remains a light at the end of the tunnel for “Cupcake.” But before she gets back on the horse Tate will need to heal up and make sure she didn’t remove her stitches too early.

For complete UFC Vegas 43 results and coverage click here.

If all goes as planned former UFC champion Conor McGregor will be back to sparring by April. At that time, his return to the Octagon will be “imminent.”

McGregor, who seriously injured his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 this past July, has been working tirelessly to heal himself up and get back into competition. “Notorious” has done everything he’s been required to do in his recovery and then some, including bulking up during his time off.

While McGregor has struggled of late to find some sort of consistency inside of the cage he remains the highest-selling fighter in the sport today. His return will not only give him the chance to compete and right his wrongs inside of the Octagon, but it will create financial success for his opponents and UFC as a whole.

During a Twitter Q&A on Saturday the Irish fighter answered a slew of questions regarding his recovery, eventual return to action, and overall mental state as he plots his revenge on the entire UFC lightweight division.

“The fibula is fully healed. The medial side of the tibia is developing nice callous also. It is just patience now for it to form down through the bone to the lateral side of the tibia where the larger break occurred. It’s getting there. Patience will win this race for me!”

“I will be full mixed martial arts sparring by April. Easily! By then a return will be imminent. But I must be patient. I will beat this!”

While fighters often have trouble returning from an injury like McGregor’s the former UFC champion is excited to put his reconstructed leg to the test.

“I cannot wait to wrap this steel bar in my leg across the neck of a future opponent! I am counting down by the seconds until I get to launch this weapon.”

McGregor, 33, is just 2-3 inside of the Octagon over his last five appearances. Of course, his latest trip to the cage ended in injury so it’s hard to count that loss like the others. Still, McGregor will have to prove himself all over again when he returns sometime in 2022. At that point he will be looking to fight for another lightweight world title and finish the final two fights on his current UFC contract.

“I have two fights left on my contract. I’d love to be with the UFC for life. I am the UFC! We shall see.”

Justin Gaethje did enough in his spectacular fight with Michael Chandler at UFC 268 to earn the next UFC lightweight title shot over the streaking Islam Makhachev. Despite what anyone else says, “Highlight” has earned his right to fight for the belt once again.

Unfortunately, Gaethje needed to put himself through hell against Chandler to earn that right. Prior to his fight with Chandler it looked like Makhachev was going to get the next shot at lightweight gold after he destroyed Dan Hooker via submission at UFC 267. Even Makhachev’s former teammate, Daniel Cormier, called for the Russian to get the next shot, but Gaethje wasn’t having it.

“It’s got me in trouble many times in my life but I consider myself a straight shooter,” Gaethje told MMA Fighting. “When I see something, I speak to it. When I saw that happen that night, I said what I thought and I was unhappy.

“If DC was in my shoes and someone was trying to pass him up, take money off his table, take food away from his family, he would have said the same thing.”

Luckily for Gaethje, he was able to turn the attention back on him after his win over Chandler earlier this month. It now looks like Makhachev will have to wait for his first shot at UFC gold, which is something Cormier echoed after Gaethje’s win.

“I got respect for what [Cormier] tried to do,” Gaethje said. “But again, not even DC can challenge the f—king integrity of what I just did.”

Assuming Gaethje does in fact get the next title shot it will come against the winner of Charles Oliviera vs. Dustin Poirier. The two lightweights will collide at UFC 269 this December in what will be Oliveira’s first title defense since winning the 155-pound strap against Chandler this past May.

If Gaethje is able to win the belt from either man he is more than willing to grant Makhachev the first title shot. In fact, it’s something that “Highlight” is looking forward to.

“I’ll let him go first if he gets his spot,” Gaethje said about offering Makhachev the first shot if he wins the title. “I’ll beat one of these guys [Charles Oliveira or Dustin Poirier] and then I’ll allow him to go first. F*ck yeah, I’m looking forward to that.”

Gaethje, who is easily one of the most exciting and barbaric fighters in the sport today, issued a quick message to Makhachev as well. Despite the Russian fighter winning his last nine trips to the Octagon “Highlight” believes a matchup between the two would be absolute war.

“War is coming,” Gaethje said. “He has to know one thing, f—king war is coming. So bring it.”

Paul Felder is currently enjoying a life of commentary, but the former UFC lightweight contender would consider a return to fighting under two different scenarios.

Felder, who stepped away from MMA this past May, believes he is physically fit to return to fighting if he wanted to give it another go. However, “Irish Dragon” doesn’t feel the fire to compete like he used to, which is why he retired from the sport after back-to-back losses to Dan Hooker and Rafael dos Anjos in 2020.

Still, Felder is a fighter at heart and one that isn’t completely shutting the door on a possible return. A lot of things will have to fall into place for Felder to step back inside of the Octagon, but there are two scenarios that could end his retirement and give fans one more fight involving “Irish Dragon.”

“There’s like two scenarios,” Felder told MMA Junkie. “Obviously the ‘money fight. For some reason if Conor (McGregor) just hates my guts again and wants to fight me, OK sure. I’ll throw on the old MMA gloves to get back in there to change my life and teach him a lesson, but other than that, no. The other one was – Sean Brady actually texted me the other day and he’s like, ‘Would you come back out of retirement for a fight at the Wells Fargo with all of us?’

“Now we’ve got eight Philly guys or at least close to it (in the UFC). (Andre) Petroski, the Daukaus brothers, Jeremiah Wells, (Pat) Sabatini, Brady, Bill Algeo is from the Pennsylvania area, right outside of Philly. That would be tough to turn down, but I don’t know when they’re coming back to the Wells Fargo and who would I fight – I don’t know.”

While Felder has long expressed his desire to compete against McGregor that scenario is extremely unlikely. Felder is an inactive fighter and McGregor is looking to score a title shot when he returns from injury. They couldn’t be further apart on the spectrum of potential opponents.

However, the second scenario is certainly a possibility. With so many Philadelphia fighters making their UFC push in 2021 – including Sean Brady, Chris Daukaus, and Pat Sabatini — there’s a good chance the promotion books an event for “The City of Brotherly Love” sometime next year. If that happens it could attract Felder to give it one more go inside of the cage.

That said, “Irish Dragon” is happy exactly where he is. He’s become one of the more respectable and consistent commentators UFC has to offer and continues to build on his promising career in broadcast journalism. It’s one of the main reasons why Felder was able to walk away from fighting earlier this year.

“It’s one of the reasons I was able to retire early,” Felder said. “I have five more fights at least physically in me, I just – it’s not there in the fire, it’s not in the belly anymore, so it was time. It’s been a great four years, and I feel like I’m just getting started with that and getting back to the acting eventually a little more as well hopefully.”

Fight fans will witness a new combat sports entity later tonight (Sat., Nov. 27, 2021) as Triller’s inaugural Triad Combat event goes down live on FITE TV pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The PPV main card will feature a slew of former UFC fighters, including former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

This isn’t your ordinary boxing event under Triller. Instead, the promotion is rolling out Triad Combat in effort to level the playing field between boxers and MMA fighters. The new ruleset will allow a plethora of clinches, punches, and other small nuances like standing on an opponents lead foot. You can check out the full breakdown of rules HERE.

The main event of the evening will feature Mir going up against two-time boxing world title challenger Kubrat Pulev. In co-main event action, former UFC and Bellator MMA heavyweight contender Matt Mitrione will test his luck opposite boxing knockout specialist Alexander Flores. Also, former UFC welterweight contender Mike Perry will be back in action when he squares off against veteran boxer Michael Seals.

With no other major combat events scheduled for this weekend fight fans can’t miss the inaugural Triad Combat fight card. Check out the official viewing options and start times below:

Start Time

• Sat., Nov. 27, 2021 from inside Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas
• Main card begins at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT

Online Viewing

• Triad Combat PPV main card can be viewed through FITE TV. The PPV will cost $19.99.

Television Viewing

• Triad Combat PPV main card can be viewed via the FITE TV app. Click HERE for full details on how to watch using your Smart TV, Chromecast, and/or Amazon Fire TV.

Mobile Viewing

• Triad Combat PPV main card will be accessible through the FITE TV app. Click HERE for full details on how to watch using your mobile device.

Main Card

• Kubrat Pulev vs. Frank Mir
• Matt Mitrione vs. Alexander Flores
• Mike Perry vs. Michael Seals
• Derek Campos vs. Brian Vera
• Albert Tumenov vs. Scott Simon
• Steven Graham vs. Harry Gigliotti
• Alexa Culp vs. Angelina Hoffschneider

Stay tuned to Mania as we deliver results and highlights for tonight’s Triad Combat event.

Two of the hottest lightweight fighters in the world today will collide in a main event early next year as Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev are expected to headline a UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 26.

This is according to a recent report by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. The lightweight bout will be contested over five rounds and serve as the main event for the upcoming UFC Fight Night card this February. No other details have been shared at this time.

Dariush, 32, has quietly been destroying the competition at 155 pounds since getting upset by Alexander Hernandez back in 2018. The veteran contender has now won his last seven trips to the Octagon, including recent victories over Tony Ferguson, Carlos Diego Ferreira, and Scott Holtzman. Dariush has never looked better and has the grappling chops to thwart some of Makhachev’s wrestling attacks. It’s an interesting matchup to say the least and one that could launch Dariush into a title shot if he pulls off a decisive performance.

Makhachev, 30, has been an unstoppable force since getting finished by Adriano Martins in his only loss six years ago. The Russian contender has racked off nine-straight wins inside of the Octagon and has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The only thing left for Makhachev to do is to win the title. A victory over Dariush will surely earn him the next shot at UFC gold, especially since Justin Gaethje just stole it away with his UFC 268 performance.

Stick with Mania for more news on UFC Fight Night: ‘Dariush vs. Makhachev.’