Latest news with #UFCFightNight253
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC 317
Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC 317 Brandon Royval and Manel Kape will square off in a potential title eliminator at UFC 317. Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape preview After their main event booking for UFC Fight Night 253 fell apart due to a Royval (17-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) injury, the fight now comes together again on the main card of UFC 317. Kape (21-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) remained in the headlining slot in March and faced replacement opponent Asu Almabayev. "Starboy" won the fight by third-round stoppage to record back-to-back wins. Kape has also won 6 of his last seven. Since falling short in his title opportunity against flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 296, Royval rebounded with back-to-back split decision wins over former champion Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira at UFC Fight Night 244. Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape odds According to DraftKings, Kape is a larger favorite than the previous booking for UFC Fight Night 253. Kape is now a sizable -298 favorite, when he was just -198. Royval is now a +240 underdog, who was previously listed at +164 going into the March booking. How to watch Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape at UFC 317
USA Today
02-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC suspends Douglas Silva de Andrade six months for positive drug test
The reason why the UFC pulled Douglas Silva de Andrade minutes after he hit the scale Feb. 28 in Las Vegas has now been revealed. Thursday, the promotion said the cancellation came when anti-doping program CSAD detected the presence of furosemide, a prohibited substance, from a Feb. 14 urine sample. As a result, he has been suspended six months. The notification just happened to come minutes after Silva de Andrade (29-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) weighed in for his March 1 fight vs. John Castaneda for UFC Fight Night 253. The bout was subsequently canceled for what the promotion said at the time was a lack of medical clearance. According to CSAD, Silva de Andrade submitted a supplement he was consuming to SMRTL labs. The container did not list furosemide but tested positive for the substance. An additional unopened container of the supplement returned the same positive test. Silva de Andrade, 39, has been on the UFC roster since 2014 and does not have history of failed drug tests. He will be eligible to return to competition Aug. 28, 2025.
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Manel Kape vs. Brandon Royval booked for UFC 317
There's movement at the top of the UFC flyweight division. Title contenders Manel Kape and Brandon Royval have been booked to meet at UFC 317 on June 28 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with two sources following a first report by Laerte Viana. This isn't the first time Kape (21-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and Royval (17-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) have signed a contract to fight each other. The two were initially set to meet at UFC Fight Night 253 on March 1, but Royval withdrew from the matchup due to a couple of concussions he suffered in training. Kape stayed on the card, and ended up fighting and stopping replacement Asu Almabayev in the main event. Kape is on a two-fight winning streak since his odd defeat to Muhammad Mokaev. He's 6-1 in his past seven UFC outings. Royval hasn't competed since October, when he defeated top prospect Tatsuro Taira in an exciting and competitive split decision. Prior to that, 'Raw Dog' had picked up arguably the biggest win of his career, outpointing former champion Brandon Moreno in Mexico. At the time of writing, there at no other fights currently confirmed for UFC 317.
USA Today
02-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC's Esteban Ribovics 'a bit bitter' over Nasrat Haqparast loss, sees future rematch
Esteban Ribovics is not too happy with how things went down in his last UFC fight, but feels he'll get an opportunity to redeem himself in the near future. Ribovics (14-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) came up short in a split decision against Nasrat Haqparast (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 253 in March. Although they won Fight of the Night and each fighter took home an extra $50,000 bonus, the Argentinian is not happy with the whole experience. 'I'm a bit bitter to have lost because losing is never good, but I know I trained hard, and I put on a show,' Ribovics told MMA Junkie in Spanish. 'It could've gone either way. He was maybe a bit superior in the judges' eyes, and you have to accept it. Fighting the decision and being upset at it, I'm not going to solve anything, so head held up high, and I'm going to come back stronger.' Many online thought Ribovics did enough to get the nod from the judges. Two of the judges gave 29-28 to Haqparast (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and one a 29-28 Ribovics way, resulting in the split decision. Nine out of the 11 media members that submitted scorecards on MMA Decisions saw the fight for Ribovics. 'It was very close,' Ribovics said. 'Maybe he did win. He might've connected with lets shots, but did more damage, so maybe that's what the judges' saw. I had a lot of volume, but they weren't that strong. I just have to learn from it.' Ribovics, 28, says everything leading up to the fight went basically well. However, he got very heavy after cut to lightweight and felt it during the fight, especially in the first round, which he lost. 'I felt good in the weight cut, but like I told you, the only thing is that I did feel heavy,' Ribovics said. 'With Daniel Zelluber, I stepped in the cage at 177 pounds. For this fight, I bounced back to 185. 'I need to see what happened in the recovery and why I got so heavy. I felt strong, but very heavy. It was only in the second round where I woke up, and I was able to get moving. So that was my only issue, I felt heavy.' Ribovics hopes to stay active and is already back in training. He hopes to return in June or July. As far as Haqparast, Ribovics wishes him well and believes he'll meet him again in the near future. 'I know this is not the only fight we'll have,' Ribovics said. 'We'll meet each other again. Nasrat, I'll see you soon, very soon.'
USA Today
01-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former UFC champ Henry Cejudo mulling retirement after 'the worst injury I've had'
Henry Cejudo is still dealing with the after effects of the eye injury sustained in his UFC Fight Night 253 loss to Song Yadong, and it has served as a wake-up call. Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) saw his main event with Song (22-8-1 MMA, 11-3-1 UFC) end in controversial fashion when an eye poke led to a lengthy break in the action late in the third round. The former two-division champion eventually continued and made it to the end of the frame, where he was unfit to keep fighting, resulting in a technical decision. Song was not deducted any points for his damaging fouls on Cejudo, which would've led to a draw on the scorecards. The eye pokers were not deemed intentional, either, which would've led to a no contest or disqualification win for Cejudo. Instead, he not only came out with a loss, but also lingering complications to his vision that have significantly altered his retirement timeline. 'I sound like a cry baby, but it's the worst injury I've had,' Cejudo told MMA Junkie. 'I actually got a second opinion. I went to Sean (O'Malley's) doctor. The other one, he said my eye would be good in a month, but every time I watch TV or I'm looking down, I still see double. It's been a month and it was a little pinkie that went inside (my eye) and I'm still not 100 percent. My doctor said it would be like another month. 'Korean Zombie' (Chan Sung Jung) has the same symptoms, and it was the reason he had to retire. I'm seeing double. When I put my eye a certain way, I'll see two feet. Luckily it's only when I lay down or I look down, but it took me like five days for my eye to stop seeing double when I got hurt. It's not the fact I couldn't see, but I was seeing two people. 'I never really saw the sport of mixed martial arts as kind of dangerous. I talked to my wife, and I think this could potentially be my last fight. One more and that's it. If I can run it back with Song, I would be happy with that. But if it's not Song, I would like anyone that the UFC's willing to give me. I want to be able to play with my kids. I want to be able to not f*cking lose an eye. That's kind of how I'm feeling right now to be quite honest with you.' Cejudo said he is in the process of filing an appeal and legal action with the Washington State Department of Licensing (WSDOL) over how he thinks referee Jason Herzog mishandled the situation on Feb. 22 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Whether that will lead to anything fruitful remains to be seen, but Cejudo said a satisfying outcome would be to have the result overturned to a no contest. Regardless of how it plays out, Cejudo said his priority is his health. The 38-year-old retired previously in May 2020, but for vastly different reasons. The eye injury has altered his reality and made him think differently about the consequence that can come with stepping in the octagon. Cejudo could minimize any additional health risks by simply hanging up the gloves now. However, he said that potential path is not one he could live comfortably with, but it's all dependent on whether his current situation actually improves. If the worst-case scenario occurs, though, then Cejudo will have seriously rethink the upside of ever stepping back in the octagon. 'I don't want to leave – I don't mind losing, but I don't want to leave getting hit in my freaking eye ball,' Cejudo said. 'It just can't end like that. And I'm grateful. I love Dana (White) and everybody. This isn't a shot at the UFC. They've given me a platform to really help out my family, to really put myself in a great position to where I can set myself up for the future. But at the same time, my health is No. 1 above everything. 'I'm not sure what the UFC has planned (for me). I definitely want to fight some time in the fall. Let my eye heal, they said another 30 days, but if it doesn't get better, I just don't know when I'll be back. I think this is the last one, and that's all she wrote.' To hear more from Cejudo, check out his complete appears on 'The Bohnfire' podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn.
