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Bryce Mitchell accuses UFC of match-Fixing, claims Makhachev, Volkanovski fight was ‘Rigged as f*ck’

Bryce Mitchell claims Makhachev Volkanovski fight was rigged UFC UFC featherweight contender, Bryce Mitchell has claimed February’s undisputed lightweight title fight between division champion, Islam Makhachev, and featherweight kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski was “rigged as f*ck” – slapping match-fixing accusations on the organization. Mitchell, who most recently featured at UFC 282 back in December of last year, slumping to his first professional mixed martial arts […]

UFC featherweight contender, Bryce Mitchell has claimed February’s undisputed lightweight title fight between division champion, Islam Makhachev, and featherweight kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski was “rigged as f*ck” – slapping match-fixing accusations on the organization.

Mitchell, who most recently featured at UFC 282 back in December of last year, slumping to his first professional mixed martial arts loss with a second round arm-triangle submission loss to surging division contender, Ilia Topuria.

Currently boasting the #11 rank in the official featherweight pile, Mitchell is scheduled to return to the Octagon at UFC 288 in May at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey – taking on Jonathan Pearce.

Bryce Mitchell claims Islam Makhachev, Alexander Volkanovski was “rigged”

Sharing his thoughts on February’s undisputed lightweight title fight between Makhachev and Volkanovski, outspoken grappler, Mitchell claimed the fight was most definitely rigged.

“That fight [Islam Makahchev vs. Alexander Volkanovski] was rigged as f*ck,” Bryce Mitchell said during an interview on Fanatics View. “But he [Makhachev] brings in all that money from the Middle East. When you’re bringing in that kind of oil money and all that Middle Eastern money, bro… Like, all the rich people in the world, they’re all from the Middle East.”

“I guess they just f*ckin’ paid the judges to – I don’t know,” Bryce Mitchell explained.

Fighting to a competitive, back-and-forth decision win over New South Wales favorite, Volkanovski in Perth, Australia – Makhachev managed to successfully defend his championship, however, Mitchell claims the featherweight champion should have landed a judging win.

“I know Alexander Volkanovski won a decision,” Bryce MItchell explained. “I don’t think nothing, I know he won and I know that sh*t was rigged, and I’m not f*cking stupid. You can’t tell me that sh*t wasn’t rigged. I’m not buying it.”

“You can pay them judges whatever you want to pay ‘em,” Bryce Mitchell said. “I know Alexander Volkanovski won that fight.”

Kamaru Usman continues slide further down pound for pound rankings following UFC 286 decision loss

Kamaru Usman, who was once the UFC pound-for-pound number one fighter, has once again dropped down the ladder with the conclusion of his trilogy against Leon Edwards. With all the marbles on the line at UFC 286, Usman had made it clear that Edwards capitalizing on a mistake he made in their rematch would not […]

Kamaru Usman, who was once the UFC pound-for-pound number one fighter, has once again dropped down the ladder with the conclusion of his trilogy against Leon Edwards.

With all the marbles on the line at UFC 286, Usman had made it clear that Edwards capitalizing on a mistake he made in their rematch would not be repeated, but ‘Rocky’ once again found a way to win.

Although there may have been several referee interventions against Edwards, including a point deduction after a fence grab, the Jamaican-born welterweight remained composed and clearly out-pointed Kamaru Usman over five rounds, winning by majority decision.

Kamaru Usman slips down the UFC pound-for-pound pile

This, just the second loss of Usman’s UFC career, steered him down three spots in the P4P rankings, taking him from #5 to #8.

Undisputed bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (#7), newly crowned middleweight champion Alex Pereira (#6), and former champion Israel Adesanya (#5) all moved up ahead of the Kamaru Usman.

Pereira will defend his title for the first time at UFC 287 in Miami, Florida. This will be his fourth time exchanging blows with ‘The last stylebender’ in combat sports, and it will surely have a major influence on the next P4P update.

Sterling will go head-to-head with former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 288, as Cejudo returns following a three-year layoff.

While Jon Jones is set to face Stipe Miocic this summer, it is unlikely any result removes him from his P4P #1 status, a ranking he has been familiar with throughout his UFC career.

It is up to Alexander Volkanovski (#2), who will be returning to featherweight to fight interim champion Yair Rodriguez later this year, to put any kind of pressure on Jones’ position.

P4P #3 Islam Makhachev may have struggled immensely in his first championship defence, but he will have to remain consistent as Edwards crawls his way up the rankings.

Edwards is expected to hold his second title defence against Colby Covington as per Dana White.

Justin Gaethje calls for Charles Oliveira rematch next following UFC 286 win: ‘I fought like a complete idiot’

Former interim UFC lightweight champion, Justin Gaethje has called for a rematch with either former undisputed champion, Charles Oliveira, or fellow former interim division titleholder, Dustin Poirier in his Octagon return – claiming he fought like a “complete idiot” during his title outing with the Brazilian. Gaethje, the current #3 ranked lightweight contender, co-headlined UFC […]

Gaethje, the current #3 ranked lightweight contender, co-headlined UFC 288 last weekend in London, England – returning to the winner’s enclosure with a majority decision win over Tiger Muay Thai striker, Rafael Fiziev.

Battling with the striking expert over the course of three rounds, Gaethje managed to turn around a deficit with an impressive third round display against Fiziev – bloodying the #6 ranked challenger with a barrage of shots on the feet.

Prior to his win over Fiziev, the ONX Labs staple and Trevor Wittman student challenged for undisputed lightweight championship honors against the above-mentioned, Oliviera back in May of last year.

Starting brightly against the Sao Paulo native, Gaethje landed multiple knockdowns on Oliveira – before he was submitted by the promotion’s most prolific submission ace with a first round rear-naked choke.

Justin Gaethje eyes future rematch with Charles Oliveira

Weighing up his future fighting plans off the back of his win over Fiziev, Gaethje admitted that he would rather not fight friend, Beneil Dariush in the future – but welcomed a pair of rematches against either Oliveira, or Poirier next.

“The loser of the (Charles) Oliveira and (Beneil) Dariush fight – I’d rather not fight Dariush – I love that dude,” Justin Gaethje told assembled reporters following UFC 286. “I think he’s going to beat Oliveira.”

“I fought like a complete idiot when I fought Oliveira, so I’d love to have that fight back,” Justin Gaethje explained. “But Dustin (Poirier) is just as good an option.”

Minting himself as the interim lightweight champion back in May 2020, Gaethje defeated former interim gold holder, Tony Ferguson with an eventual fifth round knockout.

Set for his own Octagon return in May, Oliveira is slated to co-headline UFC 288 in Newark, New Jersey — taking on Kings MMA staple, Beneil Dariush over the course of three rounds in a potential title-eliminator.

Sean O’Malley confirms summer Octagon return, claims he will fight for UFC championship in July

Surging UFC bantamweight contender, Sean O’Malley has claimed that he will be making his Octagon comeback as soon as this summer – explaining how he will find himself in a July title fight under the promotion’s banner. O’Malley, who was the number one ranked division contender up until last weekend – dropped to #2 in […]

O’Malley, who was the number one ranked division contender up until last weekend – dropped to #2 in the official bantamweight rankings following UFC Las Vegas, with Georgian grappler, Merab Dvalishvili knocking him from his perch with a decision win over common-foe, Petr Yan.

Himself dispatching former undisputed and interim bantamweight titleholder, Yan in Abu Dhabi, UAE in October of last year, O’Malley secured a close, unanimous decision win over the Dudinka native on ‘Fight Island’.

The Montana native had maintained that following his win over Yan, he would only fight in a championship outing for the promotion next, however, the UFC have since booked an undisputed outing between titleholder, Aljamain Sterling, and the returning, Henry Cejudo on May 6. in Newark, New Jersey.

Offering to feature as a backup fight at UFC 288 at the Prudential Center, O’Malley was rebuffed by the aforenoted, Cejudo – who urged Dvalishvili to remain on stand-by for the title outing – claiming Sterling would likely withdraw from the New Jersey pay-per-view.

Sean O’Malley adamant he will fight for UFC championship in July

However, according to Sean O’Malley – the Dana White’s Contender Series alum remains hopeful and confident of securing his own championship fight this summer regardless of Cejudo’s denial.

“I will be fighting in July for a title,” Sean O’Malley tweeted.

I will be fighting in July for a title

— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) March 16, 2023

In the midst of a five-fight undefeated run, in between an official ‘No Contest’ against Pedro Munhoz, O’Malley landed consecutive stoppage wins over Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho, and Raulian Paiva.

In his sole professional loss, O’Malley suffered a first round TKO loss to surging division challenger and upcoming UFC Fight Night San Antonio headliner, Marlon Vera.

Aljamain Sterling floats $50,000,000 payday to fight teammate Merab Dvalishvili in UFC title clash

Undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has floated a payday in the region of $50,000,000 to even consider fighting his training partner and Serra-Longo MMA teammate, Merab Dvalishvili in the future – after the Georgia native called for Dana White to slap $50,000,000,000 to see the duo share the Octagon. Sterling, the current undisputed bantamweight […]

Sterling, the current undisputed bantamweight champion, is slated to return to active competition at UFC 288 in May, headlining at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Attempting to secure his third consecutive successful bantamweight title defense, Uniondale native, Aljamain Sterling takes main event honors against former duel-weight champion, Henry Cejudo – welcoming the Olympic gold medalist back from a three-year retirement from the sport.

As for Dvalishvili, the Tbilisi native headlined UFC Las Vegas last weekend against former undisputed champion, Petr Yan – turning in a dominant unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) victory over the Russian over the course of five rounds.

Denying the opportunity to fight teammate, Sterling if presented to him by the UFC – Dvalishvili claimed he would need a fee in the region of a cool $10,000,000,000 to fight the champion, after he was issued a warning by UFC leader, Dana White.

Aljamain Sterling talks a potential fight with teammate, Merab Dvalishvili

Now sharing his thoughts on a clamored-for fight with the newly minted number one contender, Dvalishvili, Sterling claimed a $50,000,000 payday may make him consider a matchup.

“It’s his (Dana White’s) business, so I know he’s going to make the matchups the fans want to see – I know the fans would love to see that,” Aljamain Sterling told Barstool Sports of a fight with Merab Dvalishvili. “We do more than enough in the [training] room with each other, you know. Merab (Dvalishvili) is a great dude, he’ll take his shirt off for anybody – he doesn’t have to know you. He’s just that type of guy.”

“To have that relationship with him and just throw it away for, what, $500,000?” Aljamain Sterling explained. “We never talked about that. And for us to fight for that type of money just doesn’t make any sense. Now, if we were talking about NFL money – these guys can actually – these guys make $50,000,000 for like one or two years. That’s life-changing money. Why would we ever cross that type of line, to do something that’s not even going to last us – something that could set us up financially for the rest of our lives? That’s just not worth it for me.”

In his most recent Octagon outing, Sterling stopped former two-time bantamweight champion, T.J. Dillashaw with a second round TKO back in October of last year in the co-main event of UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Henry Cejudo calls for Merab Dvalishvili title fight at UFC 288, expects Aljamain Sterling to withdraw

Former two-weight UFC champion, Henry Cejudo has pleaded with promotional president, Dana White to install surging contender, Merab Dvalishvili into his planned May 8. title fight return at UFC 288 – claiming current undisputed champion, Aljamain Sterling will likely withdraw from their fight. Cejudo, a former undisputed flyweight and bantamweight champion under the promotion’s banner, […]

Cejudo, a former undisputed flyweight and bantamweight champion under the promotion’s banner, is scheduled to snap his three-year retirement on May 8. at UFC 288 in Newark, New Jersey – booking an undisputed title fight against the above-mentioned Uniondale native, Sterling.

The Los Angeles-born wrestler co-headlined most recently in a bantamweight title defense against former gold holder, Dominick Cruz – retiring after scoring a buzzer-beating second round TKO victory.

As for Sterling, the Serra-Longo MMA staple managed to lodge his second successful defense of the bantamweight title at UFC 280 back in October on ‘Fight Island’ – dispatching common-foe, T.J. Dillashaw with a one-sided series of second round ground strikes.

Henry Cejudo calls for Merab Dvalishvili to feature at UFC 288

Slated to headline in New Jersey in two month’s time, Cejudo reveals he has his doubts regarding Sterling’s ability to meet the UFC 288 date – calling for a fight with the above-mentioned, Dvalishvili off the back of his dominant win over Petr Yan last night.

“Dear @danawhite I want @merab.dvalishvili as a back up,” Henry Cejudo posted on his official Instagram account. “Let me show you what I can do. #andnew. I’m over here watching the number two and number three contenders and I’ve got a feeling that Aljamain (Sterling) is more likely to back out of this fight. So, that being said, why don’t you give me Merab?”

Dear @danawhite I want @MerabDvalishvil as a back up. Let me show you what I can do. #andnew pic.twitter.com/PJPjRXfOee

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) March 12, 2023

Catching wind of Cejudo’s calls, the current #1 ranked bantamweight contender, Sean O’Malley offered to serve as an official backup fighter at UFC 288, however, the former urged him to take a back seat for the time being.

“I’ll be ready, bud,” Sean O’Malley replied to Henry Cejudo.

“Trust me, you won’t be ready!” Henry Cejudo wrote. “Take your time get your nails done and your hair did. And watch me work.”