Tag: UFC News

Former interim welterweight champion, Carlos Condit is set for his return to action — this time in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, taking on Michael Venom Page in a pairing at Polaris 30 at Fairfields Hall in Croyden, London next month.

Condit, a former interim welterweight titleholder under the banner of the UFC, called time on his storied mixed martial arts career back in 2021, most recently dropping a unanimous decision loss against Max Griffin.

A former and final WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) welterweight gold holder, Condit, who challenged former two-division champion, Georges St-Pierre in a championship unification bout at UFC 154, is slated to return in a grappling showdown with two-time Octagon feature, Michael Venom Page, according to a report from Ariel Helwani at Polaris 30 next month in England.

Carlos Condit books combat report in grappling clash with Michael Venom Page

“Michael ‘Venom’ Page versus Carlos Condit has been booked for Polaris 30 on November 2, per promotion officials,” Helwani posted on his X account. “MVP has been working on his grappling as of late and this popped up as a good test.”

Michael “Venom” Page versus Carlos Condit has been booked for Polaris 30 on Nov. 2, per promotion officials.

MVP has been working on his grappling as of late and this popped up as a good test. pic.twitter.com/hqB2ivO259

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 7, 2024

And as for former Bellator MMA superstar, Page, the Manchester native made his sophomore Octagon outing at UFC 303 back in June during International Fight Week, suffering a unanimous decision defeat against unbeaten Irish striker, Ian Garry in Las Vegas.

In his first outing under the UFC banner earlier this year back in March, London Shootfighters stalwart, Michael Venom Page, turned in a one-sided unanimous judging win of his own over recent UFC 307 feature, Kevin Holland.

For Condit, during his tenure in mixed martial arts, the vetern Albuquerque favorite landed thirteen separate submission victories — and bested the likes of Frank Trigg, John Alessio, Brock Larson, Hiromitsu Miura, Jake Ellenberger, Rory MacDonald, Dan Hardy, Nick Diaz, Martin Kampmann, Thiago Alves, and in his most recent win, Matt Brown.

After picking former multiple-fight foe, Alex Pereira to win at UFC 307 — which saw him go against recent predictions against the Brazilian, it seemed Israel Adesanya was more than happy to watch on as the former defended his title against Khalil Rountree over the weekend.

Pereira, a former middleweight champion — who won undisputed gold against Adesanya back in 2022 with a stunning rallying knockout at Madison Square Garden, managed to defend the 205 pound title for the third time in just seven months over the course of last weekend, stopping Rountree.

Battling against the Syndicate MMA staple in a hotly-contested opening pair of rounds, late in the third frame, Sao Paulo knockout star, Alex Pereira would push the pace and pressure against Rountree, bloodying him with a well-placed jab and knee before the buzzer sounded.

And in the fourth round, Pereira would force a stoppage — entering a stunning flow on the feet with precise striking to force a knockout win at the fence with a ghastly barrage of punches and knees, with referee, Marc Goddard calling a halt to the action.

Reacting to Pereira’s knockout win over Rountree during a sitdown with comedian, Andrew Schulz, Adesanya appeared happy to see his prior nemesis continue his stunning reign at the light heavyweight limit.

Israel Adesanya heaps praise on Alex Pereira after UFC 307 knockout

If Khalil (Rountree) knocks him (Alex Pereira) out, that would be amazing — but I think Alex knocks him out,” Israel Adesanya said on his YouTube channel as the duo stared down.

“Where’s the leg kick?” Adesanya asked of Pereira. “Find the leg kick — it’s the reach, it’s the leg reach; he can’t touch it — He’s got this now, but against the fence, he can’t get cocky or get comfortable, sh*t happens. Khalil is better early on, I think he has to [knock Pereira out] otherwise, ‘Poatan’ is going to get those leg kicks going again because the way he’s throwing those leg kicks is impressive and his hands are up, his hands are up more than most fights.”

“F*ck, Khalil is tough but he’s not tough enough — toughness gets you hurt — good on him, he lasted longer than I thought he would but at least someone else got him to the fourth round, that shows how good Khalil is,” Adesanya explained.

Off the back of a warning barb from the unbeaten Ilia Topuria, lightweight kingpin, Islam Makhachev has urged the Georgian-Spaniard to focus on defending his featherweight title first and foremost this month at UFC 308 before calling shots for a 155lbs move.

Topuria, the current undisputed featherweight gold holder, is slated to headline UFC 308 this month against former champion and current symbolic BMF gold holder, Max Holloway, attempting to defend his title at the first time of asking following his coronation earlier this annum.

Most recently headlining UFC 298 back in February, Topuria moved to 15-0 with a spectacular featherweight title victory against common-opponent, Alexander Volkanovski, handing the New South Wales technician with a brutal second round knockout in California.

And ahead of his title defense against Holloway in Abu Dhabi later this month, Topuria claimed that a potential fight with current pound-for-pound pacesetter could be on the cards in the future, suggesting the Russian is brash with his own verbal outbursts at time.

Max (Holloway) doesn’t even know what awaits him — in one round,” Ilia Topuria said during a live stream on his official Instagram. “They don’t know how I am, I’m at full throttle. Poor guy, really. I like him too much for what’s going to happen to him. Max really doesn’t have a chance. He’s not going to be able to exchange with me because he’s going to get what he really needs, to have his nose put back in its place.”

“Why not?” Ilia Topuria said of a potential lightweight move. “I’ve done it once. I could do it again. The truth is that of course I do [see a fight with Islam Makhachev in the future]. He’s a great fighter. Sometimes he talks too much, sometimes not. But we can always resolve it in the Octagon, not in the streets because I’ll have to pay for his medical bills.

Islam Makhachev talks potential super fight with Ilia Topuria

And reacting to Topuria’s recent claims, American Kickboxing Academy staple, Islam Makhachev claimed if the former was none too careful, he may be focusing on a lightweight move too quickly ahead of his matchup with Holloway — to his potential chagrin.

If (Ilia) Topuria continues in the same spirit, he may play himself out,” Islam Makhachev told Match TV. “Something may happen. So far, I have don’t seen anyone cross any personal boundaries, so far nothing like that has happened. He needs to focus on his weight class and defending his belt at least once.”

Islam Makhachev responded to Ilia Topuria's recent comments:

"If Topuria continues in the same spirit, he may play himself out. Something may happen. So far I have not seen anyone cross any personal boundaries, so far nothing like that has happened.

He needs to focus on his… pic.twitter.com/hbEwAjrj3b

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 7, 2024

Off the back of his stunning knockout win at UFC 307, Alex Pereira has a massive task ahead of him in the form of Magomed Ankalaev, according to Dominance MMA leader, Ali Abdelaziz — who is picking the Russian to dethrone the former with a vicious knockout of his own.

Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight gold holder, managed to turn in his third successful defense of the light heavyweight crown over the weekend at UFC 307, stopping challenger, Khalil Rountree with a brutal fourth round barrage against the fence — having bloodied and battered the chaser throughout the frame.

And with the victory, Sao Paulo star, Alex Pereira managed to turn in his third consecutive successful 205 pound title defense in just seven months, adding to prior knockout wins over both former champions, Jiri Prochazka, and Jamahal Hill at UFC 303 and UFC 300 earlier this annum, respectively.

Knockout in store for Alex Pereira against Magomedov Ankalaev according to Ali Abdelaziz

Weighing up a potential heavyweight move in the near future once more off the back of his latest title defense, Brazilian fan-favorite, Pereira has also been linked with an eventual pairing with surging challenger, Ankalaev — whom the above-mentioned, Abdelaziz claims will stop the former with a deadly finish.

“I didn’t know too much about Khalil (Rountree),” Ali Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “I think he was a 50-50 double fighter. Yesterday I became a fan of Khalil Rountree for life. Khalil Rountree dropped (Alex) Pereira two times. I believe (Magomed) Ankalaev has way more precision [in striking], he’s way smarter than both of them.”

“I believe Alex Pereira’s chin is a little bit better at light heavyweight [than at middleweight],” Abdelaziz explained. “But the man has been in so many wars and I believe his chin is not there [anymore]. It’s normal. It’s not a knock on him. I don’t think his chin is there 100 percent.”

Cory Sandhagen thinks Sean O’Malley is stalling.

Since coming up short against Umar Nurmagomedov in August, ‘Sandman’ has been looking to get right back into the swing of things. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of interesting fights to be had for the bantamweight division’s fourth-ranked contender.

During a recent interview with The Schmo, Sandhagen suggested that a long-awaited clash between himself and former 135-pound titleholder Sean O’Malley is the fight to make, but he’s not all that interested in waiting a year for ‘Sugar’ to lick his wounds and get back to work.

Cory Sandhagen wants to fight Sean O'Malley in March/April and doesn't know "why he wants such a long layoff"

"There's no question man. That's the only fight in the division that's like the most exciting fight."

@TheSchmo312 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/USF9BusUQP

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 7, 2024

“I told the UFC I wanted to come back in December, but there is no one to fight. [The UFC] are doing Figgy and Yan right now so those two guys are off the table now. I wouldn’t wait till July, I don’t know why he wants such a long lay-off, but that’s what happens when you have your first loss…

“They should do me and O’Malley in April or March for a big, big main event somewhere.”

Cory Sandhagen calls for O’Malley to ‘Quit Acting like a troll’

With fellow top-fivers Deiveson Figueiredo and Petr Yan scheduled for a scrap in November, O’Malley vs. Sandhagen makes a lot of sense, though it’s possible that O’Malley could walk straight into a rematch once he returns from surgery to repair a torn labrum.

If not, ‘Sandman’ wants O’Malley to stop ducking him and sign on the dotted line.

“Me and O’Malley is like the biggest fight you can make in the division outside of the title fight. Maybe even [the biggest] in the UFC that’s one of the best fights that the UFC can make. O’Malley I wish would just quit acting like a troll like he won the last fight, he got dominated… and fight me! What are you doing?”