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USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC Baku: Nazim Sadykhov on what it means to have 'banger' fight at home vs. Nikolas Motta
UFC Baku: Nazim Sadykhov on what it means to have 'banger' fight at home vs. Nikolas Motta Nazim Sadykhov is excited to put on a show for his home country of Azerbaijan. Sadykhov (10-1-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC) takes on Nikolas Motta (15-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in a lightweight bout on June 21 at UFC on ABC 8 from Baku Crystal Hall in Baku. It's a long trip for Sadykhov from Las Vegas, but he wasn't about to pass up the chance to partake in the UFC's debut show in Azerbaijan, and have his loved ones in attendance. "We're going back to the motherland," Sadykhov told MMA Junkie and other reporters during a scrum. "This is where the history of my family started, so we're going back to the motherland. It's just so important for myself, my family, my people. It wouldn't matter if it was on another planet: I would travel. I would make this fight happen regardless." Sadykhov will take on a furious striker in Motta. The Brazilian is perhaps not the type of opponent who will propel Sadykhov up the rankings, but it's a matchup he expected. "It's a banger," Sadykhov said. "I have much more tools than him, but it's a banger. He's tough. He's training in Thailand now. He was here in Vegas, but he's training in Thailand now. I'm sure I'm going to be fighting the sharpest version of Nikolas Motta, and that's who we're preparing for. He was the CFFC champion. "I literally fought on the same card as him. We've been seeing each other at the (UFC Performance Institute) and stuff, but it was kind of like, 'Hi ... bye,' just because we probably both understood that eventually we might get matched up – and it came sooner than myself or him maybe expected. But anyways, it's going to be a good fight."
USA Today
19-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Kyoji Horiguchi's UFC return delayed, Tagir Ulanbekov gets new opponent in Baku
Kyoji Horiguchi's UFC return delayed, Tagir Ulanbekov gets new opponent in Baku Kyoji Horiguchi will have to wait a bit longer to make his return to the UFC cage. The former UFC flyweight title challenger, former RIZIN champion and former Bellator champion Horiguchi is out of his scheduled octagon comeback fight against Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC on ABC 8 for undisclosed reasons. Replacing him against Ulanbekov (16-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on the June 21 card at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan (ABC, ESPN, ESPN+) will be Azat Maksum (15-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC). Two people with knowledge of the situation verified the new matchup to MMA Junkie following an initial report from Red Corner MMA. Ulanbekov, 33, is riding a three-fight winning streak in the flyweight division, including two by finish. Maksum, 30, meanwhile, will attempt to rebound from his first career loss against Charles Johnson after starting his career with 15 consecutive victories. The latest UFC on ABC 8 lineup now includes:
USA Today
09-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Jamahal Hill details 'weird' interaction with Khalil Rountree ahead of UFC Azerbaijan
Jamahal Hill details 'weird' interaction with Khalil Rountree ahead of UFC Azerbaijan Jamahal Hill's only recent interaction with opponent Khalil Rountree was an awkward one. Light heavyweights Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) and Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) square off June 21 in the UFC on ABC 8 headliner at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku. The former title challengers had a recent run-in at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas which threw off Hill. "The only time that we did have an interaction, it was weird – but we don't really talk," Hill told The Schmo. "I was in the PI. I say what's up to anybody. I'll say hi to anybody. Then I walked into the locker room and he's just like, 'Man, you really don't like me, do you?' I was like, what? 'You really don't like me?' I was like, 'I don't even know you. We haven't even had a conversation.' "We haven't had anything. It's almost like he's got to build me up as this villain or this person that he hates in his head to fight, which is fine with me. But whenever you start putting the energy off to the UFC staff and sh*t like that, like, 'Oh, we can't be around each other or something's going to happen,' you're not going to do sh*t. So what's the point of that? It's weird to me." Both fighters will look to rebound from stoppage losses. Hill was finished by Jiri Prochazka via TKO at UFC 311 in January, whereas Rountree is coming off a TKO to Alex Pereira in their title fight at UFC 307 last October.
