Latest news with #AlexPereira
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Next fights for Tom Aspinall, Alex Pereira, Merab Dvalishvili announced in wave of UFC news
Several of the UFC's biggest names have their next marching orders. UFC CEO Dana White on Tuesday announced a quartet of big-time bouts for the second half of the year, including a trio of matchups for UFC 320 on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira 2 for the UFC light heavyweight title, Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen for the UFC bantamweight title, and Jiri Prochazka vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. in a battle of light heavyweight top contenders. White also announced the first official defense of Tom Aspinall's undisputed UFC heavyweight championship, as the ferocious Brit collides against Ciryl Gane on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi at UFC 321. Pereira gets his Ankalaev rematch Between his star power and the somewhat controversial decision that ripped the light heavyweight belt out of his hands, there was little doubt Pereira would get a rematch. He's now set to step into the Octagon seven months after his first meeting with Ankalaev. While some had "Poaton" winning on their score cards, there's no denying Pereira looked listless (by his standards) at UFC 313. He has since revealed he nearly pulled out of the fight with injuries, which UFC commentator Joe Rogan claimed were a broken hand and norovirus. There was also the fact that it was his fourth title defense in the span of a year. Seven months will represent the longest layoff between fights in Pereira's UFC career, though Ankalaev's chances aren't to be discounted. The Russian has a game that could prove to Pereira's kryptonite, especially considering he won the belt despite going 0-for-12 in takedown attempts, which many thought was his only path to victory. That Prochazka vs. Rountree fight also sure looks like it will decide who gets the next crack at Ankalaev should he survive another go-round with Pereira. The future will be a little less clear if Pereira wins, as he's already beaten both of them convincingly (twice, in the case of Prochazka). Dvalishvili's quest to clear out 135 continues If Sandhagen can't surprise Dvalishvili, the UFC might be fresh out of ideas on how to unseat the relentless Georgian. In the span of six fights, Dvalishvili has beaten Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, Sean O'Malley, Umar Nurmagomedov and the non-hair dye version of O'Malley. That's an absurd list, and it's not like these fights have been close despite all but the last one going to decision. Nearly every bout has seen Dvalishvili torturing a beleaguered opponent in the final rounds. Dvalishvili is also jumping back in only four months after the second O'Malley fight, so he's showing he has as little trouble with fatigue between fights as he does during them. Sandhagen, fourth on the UFC's official bantamweight rankings, earned the title shot with a dominant showing over Deiveson Figueiredo. He has promised to be aggressive against Dvalishvili, unlike certain other fighters. Of course, that's easier said than done. Aspinall's reign begins with a rare contender he hasn't already beaten Tom Aspinall's reign as heavyweight champion began about as anticlimactically as possible, thanks entirely to Jon Jones' approach to decision-making, and now he gets his first defense against one of the few guys at the top of the heavyweight rankings Aspinall hasn't already steamrolled. Gane is undefeated in his career except for his title shots against Jones and Francis Ngannou. He gets his chance third against a fighter who has looked even better as a UFC heavyweight than those guys. An Oct. 25 fight date means Aspinall will have gone around 15 months between fights, and that might be the only reason to bet against him. He has long been earmarked as a potential superstar for the UFC, and now he gets to finally act on that potential in Abu Dhabi.
Forbes
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Dana White Announces 3 Huge UFC 320 Fights, Including 2 Title Bouts
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JULY 17: UFC President and CEO Dana White hosts the UFC 318 press ... More conference at Smoothie King Center on July 17, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC) Tuesday, July 22 was one of those days for UFC CEO Dana White. The face of the biggest MMA organization in the world dropped one of those fight info bombs. White announced four enormous fights for October that could reconstruct the championship landscape in the UFC. Let's start with UFC 320, which is set for Las Vegas on October 4. There are three huge fights confirmed. In the main event, reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev will rematch former two-division champion Alex Pereira. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 08: Alex Pereira of Brazil ties up with Magomed Ankalaev of Russia in a ... More light heavyweight title fight during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena on March 08, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by) Ankalaev dethroned Pereira in a disputed decision at UFC 313 in March. The Brazilian gets a chance to win back his title before potentially making a move up to heavyweight. More on that division in a minute. The champion is riding an 12-fight win streak in the UFC. His only career loss came via submission in the final second of his UFC debut. The first fight with Pereira was razor-close, with Ankalaev using his grappling edge to edge out the win. In the co-main event of the Vegas card, reigning UFC men's bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will attempt to log his third successful title defense in the calendar year when he takes on Cory Sandhagen. Dvalishvili's strength of schedule has been unbelievable throughout his career. He's already arguably the best bantamweight in UFC history. But if he knocks off Sandhagen, he has to silence any critic that suggests he's not atop the mountain when it comes to 135-pounders. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 07: Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia reacts after his submission victory ... More against Sean O'Malley in the UFC bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 316 event at Prudential Center on June 07, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC) Dvalishvili is on a 10-fight win streak with victories over Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, and Sean O'Malley (twice). No one in bantamweight history has a better case for sustained excellence, especially when you consider the variety of styles he's dominated. A win over Sandhagen would make him a front runner for Fighter of the Year. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 06: Cory Sandhagen is seen on stage during a Q&A session prior to the UFC ... More 316 ceremonial weigh-in at Prudential Center on June 06, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC) Sandhagen is a longtime contender who has never had his opportunity to fight for the title. He's getting his opportunity on October 4, and it is coming on what's shaping up to be a massive card. Here is a look at White's announcement: As if that wasn't enough, White also announced Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Jiri Prochazka on the main card. That fight could easily be a co-main event of a pay-per-view. On this card, it'll probably be a step down. The winner could be in a position to challenge for the title at 205 pounds. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 09: Khalil Rountree Jr. reacts after his knockout against Anthony Smith ... More in a light heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on December 09, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) If Pereira wins, he'll probably move up and vacate the title. If he loses, the winner of Rountree–Prochazka would have as strong of a case as anyone besides No. 3 Carlos Ulberg for the title. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 29: Jiri Prochazka of the Czech Republic enters the octagon in the UFC ... More light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 303 event at T-Mobile Arena on June 29, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) That's a healthy day's worth of major UFC announcements, but there was one more. White also announced the main event for UFC 321 on October 20 in Abu Dhabi. Newly crowned undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will make his first title defense against Ciryl Gane. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 11: Tom Aspinall of England reacts to defeating Sergei Pavlovich of ... More Russia by TKO in the interim UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 295 event at Madison Square Garden on November 11, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) While this matchup doesn't jump out as a mouthwatering fight, it is good to see the heavyweight title back in the mix with some clarity around it and the champion. Aspinall is finally getting a chance to move on with his life and to prove he's a legit world champion. Gane has struggled to look world-class for years.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Next fights for Tom Aspinall, Alex Pereira, Merab Dvalishvili announced in wave of UFC news
Several of the UFC's biggest names have their next marching orders. UFC CEO Dana White on Tuesday announced a quartet of big-time matchups for the second half of the year, including a trio of matchups for UFC 320 on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira 2 for the UFC light heavyweight title, Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen for the UFC bantamweight title, and Jiri Prochazka vs. Khalil Rountree in a battle of light heavyweight top contenders. White also announced the first official defense of Tom Aspinall's undisputed UFC heavyweight championship, as the ferocious Brit collides against Ciryl Gane on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi at UFC 321. More on this story in a moment.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
You know who's winning some fights right now? The old people. Saturday was another example
You know what this is? The elders putting their foot down. There's this stat that came into popular conversation in MMA a couple of years back, concerning the age of Dramatic Fall Off (or DFO) in the fight game. Champions who are 35 or older, especially at the lighter weights it was shown — and especially in the UFC — tend to fall off precipitously at that age. The proof of this was well documented. Younger competitors have been flushing the old birds out with duck calls or whatever and shooting them in flight. (With the obvious exception being Jon Jones, who doesn't respond to duck calls.) This stat was particularly true until it wasn't. That's because recently the old guard has gotten real, real stubborn, whether in the UFC or the boxing ring. Alex Pereira has done his best work north of 35, realizing a twilight windfall of cash. Valentina Shevchenko fended off Manon Fiorot at 37 years old at UFC 315. Alexandre Pantoja looked the best he ever has at 35 years young in his title defense against Kai Kara-France at UFC 317. Last week, 39-year-old Katie Taylor defeated Amanda Serrano for a third time at Madison Square Garden, bringing the greatest rivalry in women's boxing history to a close. Perhaps the most understated compliment we could pay her afterward was, 'She didn't look her age.' And this weekend? Why, this weekend was a veritable geriatric renaissance! An old-fashioned blue-hair revival! Older fighters showed up like it was early bird dinner at the Golden Corral and laid waste to the youth without regret nor conscience. Out in London, it was 38-year-old Oleksandr Usyk straight outclassing Daniel Dubois with counters and speed and in-ring acumen. The left he dropped Dubois with to end the fight in the fifth round was a masterclass of fast-twitch muscle memory and instinct, generated from a well harnessed source of power. 'Thirty-eight is a young guy, remember!' Usyk yelled into the microphone afterward, winning over Earl Court's finest quadragenarians. 'Thirty-eight is only the start!' What an icon. Only the start? That must explain why Manny Pacquiao, returning to the boxing ring at 46 years old to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title on Saturday night, gave 'El Azteca' all he wanted. The fight ended in a majority draw (!!), yet it was Pacquaio pulling away in the later rounds. He was out-foxing, out-quicking, and out-gunning a fighter who was 16 years younger. Scenes, baby, scenes! And think about that for a minute. When Barrios was born in 1995, Pacquiao already had facial hair and a driver's license. By comparison, when Pacquaio came into the world, 'The Dukes of Hazzard' was the hottest show on television. Maybe the DFO line is moving. If we thought that Terence 'Bud' Crawford, who turns 38 in September, might be a little long in the tooth for his epic boxing match with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez scheduled for that same month, we might think again. If the trend continues, Crawford — who was alive in the 1980s — could very well be in a sweet spot. 'Athletes are extending their prime performance age more so than ever before,' Most Valuable Promotions CEO Nakisa Bidarian posted on social media after the dust settled in the Pacquiao fight Saturday night. 'Plus they have experience.' Bidarian ain't wrong. Experience is having a freaking day. It was true at UFC 318 out in New Orleans, too. At 39 years old, Michael Johnson was a five-to-one underdog in his fight with 26-year-old Daniel Zellhuber, the Mexican brawler who put on the Fight of the Year against Esteban Ribovics at the Sphere last fall. When they showed Johnson in the promo before the fight, he was talking about 'making another name,' which sounded like rocking chair babble for a guy whose points are no longer all that lucid. So, what did Johnson do? He went out there and lit up Zellhuber for two of the three rounds, hurting him on occasion, dropping him, schooling him in the ways of 'experience.' And in the main event, when 36-year-old Dustin Poirier stood in the pocket and fired shots against 33-year-old Max Holloway, there was no sense of a dramatic drop off. There was only the bittersweet feeling that it was all coming to an end. That the Bayou-born Poirier was going out on his own terms, one last time into the breach, right in the heart of New Orleans, whether he won or lost. It's good to get out gracefully. It's rare to get out gracefully. Yet next to some of his counterparts, Poirier was still a proverbial spring chicken. Not that the young aren't holding their own if you pan back. Dakota Ditcheva, the 26-year-old phenom at PFL, reminded everyone why she's the hottest name outside the UFC down in South Africa, defeating Sumiko Inaba from pillar-to-post (even through a broken hand). Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez, 25, unified the WBC and WBO super flyweight titles by stopping Phumelele Cafu in the 10th. Ilia Topuria has done more by the age of 27 than some of the most decorated fighters of our generation did in their entire careers. But give it up to the mainstays, the veterans, the graying distinguished fighters who right now are defiantly staying relevant. Looking at you, Beneil Dariush. The gray on the temple is as menacing an omen as any cauliflower ear in the industry. Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson is the oldest fighter in the UFC at 42, and even though he lost to Gabriel Bonfim on the scorecards, he didn't really lose. Jim Miller may go on forever. And there's no telling how old Myktybek Orolbai is — the program says he's 27, but let's just say there's a museum of natural history out there somewhere missing a warrior from its exhibit of prehistoric man. Older, wiser, meaner. Usyk, Pacquiao, Johnson. Either the young guys are dropping off, or these guys are refusing to.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Speculation Grows Alex Pereira Moving to UFC Heavyweight Division: 5 Perfect Debut Opponents, Including Derrick Lewis
Could Alex Pereira be headed to heavyweight? In a recent post on Instagram, the former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion revealed his current weight was 243 pounds. While he has always been large for both 185 and 205 pounds, it is still surprising that he is at such a high weight. With no clear path back to the Octagon, he could just be enjoying the time in between fights and will start dropping weight if a scrap gets booked. Or, as some fans online are suggesting, he may be preparing his body for a move to heavyweight. It is something he has suggested he would be open to in the past, and it would offer him the chance to be the first person in UFC history to win titles in three divisions. If such a scenario did come to pass, let's look at three perfect opponents for his heavyweight debut. Derrick Lewis After a pair of recent wins, Derrick Lewis is right back in the thick of the top 10 at heavyweight. He is one of the most popular fighters in division history, so a matchup with Pereira could headline a major event. Possibly for a new heavyweight BMF title. While Pereira is a way more skilled striker, Lewis is, arguably, the hardest puncher in UFC history. All he would need is one good shot to put the former two-division champ to sleep. Also Read: Tom Aspinall The fight many fans would love to see is the new undisputed heavyweight king, Tom Aspinall, versus Pereira. They are probably the two most skilled fighters who weigh 205 pounds or more. Watching the chess match of how the Englishman deals with the Brazilian's striking, and how 'Poatan' combats the heavyweight athleticism and grappling, is must-see television. Also Read: Jailton Almeida Jailton Almeida is maybe the best grappler at heavyweight. If he can get by Alexander Volkov in October, he could be in line for a title fight next. But if he loses, a clash with a debuting Alex Pereira would make sense. It would be a classic striker versus grappler clash between two high-level Brazilian fighters. Also Read: Alexander Volkov If Volkov beats Almeida at UFC 321, a title fight is also likely in his future. However, if he falls, the visual of Pereira taking on the 6-foot-7 heavyweight star is fascinating. 'Poatan' often has the range advantage over his foes. How does he deal with the shoe being on the other foot and his foe having heavyweight power? Also Read: Francis Ngannou This is an absolute longshot, but there have been a lot of rumblings about former champion Francis Ngannou making a return to the UFC. One has to wonder if his PFL contract ends soon. The company bringing him back in a super-fight with Pereira would be a big money fight between two scary strikers who go about knocking out foes out in very different ways. Also Read: Related Headlines 'Can't Just Trade Everybody': Phillies Owner John Middleton Opens Up About Deadline Approach 'All-Time Low': Pirates Reporter Reveals Why Bryan Reynolds Won't Be Traded at Deadline '1 Percent Chance': Pirates Reporter Shares Bleak Take on Paul Skenes Extension Prospects Yankees Expected 'To Get After It' Before Trade Deadline: 6 Blockbuster Trade Targets, Including Chris Sale
