A prominent name on the European regional MMA scene will now be making his UFC debut — and that means one UFC titleholder won’t be the only one in his family in the Octagon. Aleksandre Topuria, the brother of UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria, will be making his UFC debut at UFC 312 on Feb. […]
A prominent name on the European regional MMA scene will now be making his UFC debut — and that means one UFC titleholder won’t be the only one in his family in the Octagon.
Aleksandre Topuria, the brother of UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria, will be making his UFC debut at UFC 312 on Feb. 8 in Australia. He will be taking on Cody Haddon in a bantamweight clash Down Under.
The news was first revealed by Spanish reporter Álvaro Colmenero on X.
According to sources, the fight between Aleksandre Topuria and Cody Haddon is now official after the signing of contracts. It will take place at UFC 312, on February 9, in Sydney (Australia).
Ilia Topuria’s Brother To Make UFC Debut At UFC 312
The younger Topuria brother is 5-1. He made his professional MMA debut in 2015 but took a layoff of over six years from the sport following a loss to Ivo Ivanov at the end of that year.
“El Cazador” has won three straight, all by way of first-round finishes, to earn his path on to the sport’s biggest stage.
Haddon, meanwhile, submitted Billy Brand earlier this year on Dana White’s Contender Series before making his UFC debut in October, taking a decision over Dan Argueta.
Aleksandre’s brother, Ilia Topuria, has taken up plenty of the MMA headlines of late. He’s notably teased a move up to lightweight and squashed a rumored bout between him and Conor McGregor.
The Global Fight League (GFL) dropped a major announcement ahead of the promotion’s launch in 2025. GFL founder Darren Owen revealed on The Ariel Helwani show on Wednesday that the promotion have signed a huge amount of fighters to their roster with many being former UFC veterans. GFL looks to stand out from other promotions […]
GFL looks to stand out from other promotions by running 15 events next year that will see fighters being drafted to different teams before they compete in a season format. Many of the new signings announced by Owen will be familiar to fight fans with well-known names and former UFC champions like Luke Rockhold, Tyron Woodley, Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis and Frank Mir among many, many others.
The announcement has been met with mixed reactions thus far with some fans taking issue with the team-based format and some of the talent that has joined the promotion. Many of the noteworthy names are fighters towards the end of their careers or in some cases, former competitors that had already announced their retirements.
Not to mention fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Fabricio Werdum who at 48 and 47-years old, recently revealed that they suffered from irreversible brain damage in the antitrust lawsuit against the UFC that has now been settled.
Fight fans gave their response on social media to the catalogue of names that the GFL have signed with six teams drafting 20 fighters from a pool of 300 at the start of the season.
“Bro please read all the names on this list. This is gonna be like the washed fighter Olympics”
Bro please read all the names on this list. This is gonna be like the washed fighter Olympicshttps://t.co/s8s12gYMEk
The newly created Global Fight League (GFL) has announced a lengthy list of signings ahead of its launch in 2025, including multiple former champions from the UFC and other organizations. After years of preparation, the GFL is set to stage events for the first time next April, as the promotion looks to succeed in the […]
The newly created Global Fight League (GFL) has announced a lengthy list of signings ahead of its launch in 2025, including multiple former champions from the UFC and other organizations.
After years of preparation, the GFL is set to stage events for the first time next April, as the promotion looks to succeed in the fight game with a team-based format and season structure.
15 cards are planned up until August, after which two playoff events and one final will take place before the year’s end. GFL founder Darren Owen outlined that and more during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned.
Perhaps most notably, he revealed some of the major names who have put pen to paper on deals with the GFL and will be in the mix for the inaugural draft on Jan. 24, when six city teams will select 20 fighters (two in each of the 10 divisions) from a pool of 300 athletes.
Among them are former UFC champions Luke Rockhold, Tyron Woodley, Fabrício Werdum, Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis, Frank Mir, Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski, and Renan Barão, in addition to high-profile veterans like Alexander Gustafsson, Gegard Mousasi, Aleksei Oleinik, Kevin Lee, Thiago Santos, Jeremy Stephens, Hector Lombard and Jimmie Rivera.
Elsewhere, a number of other comebacks have raised skeptical eyebrows, including the latest return from retirement for ex-WSOF champ Marlon Moraes, who most recently hung up the gloves after a brief stint in the PFL extended his losing skid to seven straight fights.
For the full list of names confirmed by Owen and those on the GFL website, see below:
Heavyweight (265lbs)
Alan Belcher (18-8)
Aleksandr Maslov (11-1)
Aleksei Oleinik (61-18-1)
Andrei Arlovski (34-24)
Fabrício Werdum (24-9)
Frank Mir (16-11)
Greg Hardy (7-5)
Guto Inocente (11-6)*
Junior dos Santos (21-10)
Oli Thompson (18-9)
Philipe Lins (18-5)
Robelis Despaigne (5-2)
Roggers Souza (15-8)
Stuart Austin (18-9)
Tanner Boser (21-10)
Image: UFC.com
Light Heavyweight (225lbs)
Alexander Gustafsson (18-8)
Cleiton Silva (16-4)
Emiliano Sordi (23-10)
Ilir Latifi (16-9, 1 NC)*
Rafael Carvalho (17-8)
Thiago Santos (22-13, 1 NC)*
Image: UFC.com
Middleweight (200lbs)
Gegard Mousasi (49-9)
Chauncey Foxworth (19-10)
Glaico Franca (23-8)
Hector Lombard (34-10)
Jozef Wittner (16-4)
Kyle Daukaus (15-4)
Luke Rockhold (16-6)
Markus Perez (14-6)
Phil Hawes (15-4)
Wanderlei Silva (35-14)
Image: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Welterweight (180lbs)
Abubakar Nurmagomedov (17-4)
Austin Tweedy (11-4)
Benson Henderson (30-12)
Dominick Meriweather (8-1)
Francisco Trinaldo (32-14)
Jordan Mein (31-14)
Julio Spadaccini (8-3)
Michael Irizarry (14-5)
Rousimar Palhares (19-11-1)
Ruan Machado (7-2)
Tyron Woodley (19-7)
Image: UFC/YouTube
Lightweight (165lbs)
Amirkhon Alikhuzhaev (11-4)
Anthony Pettis (25-14)
Ayinda Octave (5-0)
Ayton De Paepe (12-4)
Charles Rosa (14-8)
Feruz Usmonov (4-1)
Gabriel Souza Galindo (9-1)*
Jefferson Pontes (6-1)
Jeremy Stephens (29-21)
John Makdessi (18-9)
Kevin Lee (20-8)
Killys motta (15-4)
Lucas Martins (22-7)
Mohamed Tarek Mohey (9-4)
Oscar Ownsworth (8-3)
Raimundo Batista (18-3)
Sidney Outlaw (19-6)
Stephen Beaumont (11-3)
Will Brooks (26-5)
William Lima (6-3)
Yan Cabral (15-3)
Image: PFL MMA
Featherweight (155lbs)
Alexsandro Cangaty (10-4)
Andre Harrison (22-3-1)
Claudeci Brito (11-4)
Deberson Batista (12-4)
Lance Palmer (22-5)
Lucas Martins (22-7)*
Marcel Adur (16-5)
Marcelo Dias (14-6)
Marlon Moraes (23-13)
Patrizio de Souza (18-6)
Renan Oliveira (11-2)
Image: PFL MMA
Bantamweight (145lbs)
Andre Soukhamthath (14-10)*
Andre Harrison (22-3-1)*
Bubba Jenkins (21-9)*
Cameron Else (11-6)*
Denis Palancica (10-1)
Diego Teixeira (7-4)
Jimmie Rivera (23-5)
Marciano Ferreira (13-3)
Omar Arteaga (11-1)
Pedro Carvalho (13-10)*
Renan Barão (34-0)
Image: UFC.com
Women’s Bantamweight (140lbs)
Alexa Conners (8-5)
Kalindra Faria (19-10-1)
Pannie Kianzad (16-9)
Tonya Evinger (19-8-1)
Women’s Flyweight (130lbs)
Chiara Penco (9-5)
Karolina Owczarz (5-3)*
Miao Ding (18-8)
Women’s Strawweight (120lbs)
Bi Nguyen (6-9)
Silvania Monteiro (11-4)
Image: UFC.com
*Fighter’s weight class for the 2025 draft not yet disclosed on the GFL website
While the chances of a team-based format succeeding in MMA have been doubted by plenty of analysts in the media space, Owen explained to Helwani why he’s confident of it working.
“We’re able to create unique storylines that have never existed in the sport,” Owen said. “That’s one thing we keep hearing. Everyone loves the sport of MMA but the storylines are often not there. What this brings is the talking points, the, ‘OK, are these two fighters going to be teammates or are they going to be potentially fighting?’ And different strategies that come in, different betting elements that come in.
“The No. 1 driver in sports fandom proven is cheering for your favorite team. Favorite teams have never really existed in the sport of MMA. So we’re just creating what already exists and you see it across all the major professional leagues in the world, and this is just the implementation of that team-based league model for the third most popular sport in the world.”
Fighter contracts with the GFL will be exclusive and include a rare 50/50 revenue split. The promotion is also promising to contribute eight percent of each athlete’s purse into a retirement fund and two toward insurance.
“Whatever revenue we receive, whether it’s media rights deals, sponsorships, ticket sales, all of that, 50% goes into the fighter revenue pool from that specific event and then those fighters that are on that event are the ones who share in that revenue percentage.
“Athletes get paid either or — whatever is greater — their guaranteed amount or their revenue share percentage. So someone might have a $50,000 guaranteed purse and they earn 1% revenue share, but if there’s $10 million in that revenue pool for that event, then they’re going to receive $100,000 instead of what they were thinking was $50,000.”
A lot seemingly still needs to come together before the GFL’s launch in 2025, including a broadcast deal before events are staged in April.
Owen confirmed talks are set to take place regarding that in January, and if no agreement is made with an outside entity, he told Helwani the organization is prepared to create its own platform to stream on.
A former MMA fighter assaulted two Irish police officers as they attempted to deal with a collision on Dublin’s M50 motorway on Thursday evening. The martial artist in his late 20s is currently unnamed and has spent time in hospital for minor injuries that they suffered as officers attempted to subdue him. He is alleged […]
A former MMA fighter assaulted two Irish police officers as they attempted to deal with a collision on Dublin’s M50 motorway on Thursday evening. The martial artist in his late 20s is currently unnamed and has spent time in hospital for minor injuries that they suffered as officers attempted to subdue him.
He is alleged to have punched one of the officers whilst attempting to bite them all whilst being in the middle of busy traffic. The female office tried to calm down and reason with the man who threatened to attack her. After her male colleague got involved, the former fighter repeatedly punched him in the head.
The Garda Representative Association’s Mark Ferris gave a statement on the assault after speaking to both of the officers who have since been discharged from hospital.
“While actively patrolling the M50 they came across a single vehicle road traffic accident. In an effort to prevent the male occupant of the car running into oncoming traffic, the female Garda bravely tried to confront the highly-agitated man in the midst of heavy motorway traffic.
“Even under the threat of serious assault, the female officer tried to reason with the agitated driver when he suddenly began to attack her. Her male colleague then tried to assist her, and he also received multiple punches to the head, and had part of his personal protective gear ripped from his body.
“He told me that he didn’t know which was more dangerous; the vicious assault or the prospect of being hit by a passing car. As the confrontation escalated, the driver even made attempts to bite both officers. It was only with considerable difficulty that he was eventually subdued and a greater disaster averted.”
Ferris went on to talk about the increasing amount of assaults on the Irish police, calling for greater attention from the government. He claimed that the police currently have “less of a voice” than other public service fields despite the growing risk that they face. No arrests have been made at this time and an investigation is currently underway.
An axe-wielding burglar picked the wrong church to mess with on Thanksgiving after he attempted to break in by smashing a window. After hearing the security alarm go off, Pastor Nick Neves went to investigate and the two men got into a confrontation in Antioch. Though Neves would’ve preferred to have helped the man rather […]
An axe-wielding burglar picked the wrong church to mess with on Thanksgiving after he attempted to break in by smashing a window. After hearing the security alarm go off, Pastor Nick Neves went to investigate and the two men got into a confrontation in Antioch.
Though Neves would’ve preferred to have helped the man rather than having to confront him, he did just that and with a background of training in martial arts, he was able to deal with the burglar without needing to injure him.
“I shouted at him to stop, and that the police were on their way, and he ran and I grabbed a hold of him and we ended up wrestling in the parking lot of the church,” Neves told NBC News. “I was able to pin him to the ground and he got up and try to get away several times, but basically just trying to wear him out because I knew I could outlast him.”
It reportedly look between 12-15 minutes of wrestling before the burglar exhausted himself and the police arrived. Neves told NBC that he likes to keep fit and has previously trained in multiple martial arts like kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. He described his experience as being “very helpful” so that he could “grapple with this gentleman without having to do much harm to him.”
The thief has not yet been publicly identified despite the images that have been released on social media.
(Antioch Police Department on Facebook)
Neves is proud of the service that his church is able to provide for those in need having recently provided groceries for 130 families. He described the confrontation as “ironic”.
“If he had come a couple of days earlier, he would have been blessed and get some food and be cared for but he decided instead to smash windows and desecrate property and do something that’s going to hurt the ministries.”
A long-time member of Neves’ Family First Church remarked that he was incredibly happy to find out that their “very tough” pastor wasn’t injured in the incident and that “we’re very grateful to God that he’s our pastor and not our enemy.”
A mixed martial arts fighter has admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm after being accused of repeatedly punching his neighbour. Damien Forgie, 36, went 3-0 as a professional MMA fighter between 2010 and 2012. He most notably captured a rear-naked choke submission win over Cihan Kocer at Cage Warriors 41. The Englishman hasn’t competed since defeating […]
A mixed martial arts fighter has admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm after being accused of repeatedly punching his neighbour.
Damien Forgie, 36, went 3-0 as a professional MMA fighter between 2010 and 2012. He most notably captured a rear-naked choke submission win over Cihan Kocer at Cage Warriors 41.
The Englishman hasn’t competed since defeating Paul Rocha by way of kimura at Shock n’ Awe 11, having had fights for Cage Warriors canceled in both 2014 and 2015.
Image: David Lethaby
Per a report from KentOnline, Forgie brutally assaulted his neighbour, Billy Stokes, near their homes in Gravesend, England this past April, leaving him with facial fractures. The fighter is said to have landed “at least 10 blows” after jumping a fence to attack Stokes.
In October, Forgie appeared in court and admitted to the assault. He was bailed and a pre-sentencing report was ordered to be carried out. A motive for the attack was not revealed during the hearing.
During a recent appearance at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on Nov. 19, Deputy District Judge Nicola Fleck heard that the report had not been completed in time.
The incident, which lasted 32 seconds and saw Forgie pin his neighbour to the ground before punching him, was deemed to severe by Judge Fleck to be heard in the lower court. As a result, the case has been sent to Maidstone Crown Court, where the fighter will be sentenced.
According to sources, the fight between Aleksandre Topuria and Cody Haddon is now official after the signing of contracts. It will take place at UFC 312, on February 9, in Sydney (Australia).
According to sources, the fight between Aleksandre Topuria and Cody Haddon is now official after the signing of contracts. It will take place at UFC 312, on February 9, in Sydney (Australia).
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