Tag: Cesar Almeida

Dylan Budka makes UFC debut vs. Cesar Almeida on short notice

The UFC Fight Night on April 6 has faced a change as Dylan Budka replaces Josh Fremd against Cesar Almeida.

Two Dana White’s Contender Series standouts will debut against one another in the UFC.

With [autotag]Josh Fremd[/autotag] out, [autotag]Dylan Budka[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) steps in on less than one month’s notice to fight former Glory Kickboxing standout [autotag]Cesar Almeida[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at a UFC Fight Night event April 6 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. It is unclear why Fremd withdrew.

Budka, 24, is a former LFA title challenger who did enough to earn a UFC contract after his performance on DWCS. Budka defeated Chad Hanekom by unanimous decision in a fairly uneventful bout, but UFC CEO Dana White attributed the low excitement level to the opposition. Budka has three finishes in seven pro fights.

Almeida, 35, defeated Lucas Fernando on DWCS in August to earn his UFC deal. Despite his striking prowess, Almeida showed off an educated ground game that wowed White. Almeida was scheduled to debut vs. Christian Leroy Duncan in November, but withdrew due to an infection.

With the change, the UFC Fight Night lineup for April 6 includes:

  • Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen
  • Norma Dumont vs. Germaine de Randamie
  • Alexander Hernandez vs. Damon Jackson
  • Heili Alateng vs. Victor Hugo
  • Charlie Campbell vs. Trevor Peek
  • Lukasz Brzeski vs. Valter Walker
  • Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Christos Giagos
  • Nora Cornolle vs. Melissa Mullins
  • Cynthia Calvillo vs. Piera Rodriguez
  • Dan Argueta vs. Jean Matsumoto
  • Court McGee vs. Alex Morono
  • Morgan Charriere vs. Jose Marsical
  • Cesar Almeida vs. Dylan Budka

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for the UFC Fight Night event April 6.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 15-21)

Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 15-21.

Uros Medic, Christian Leroy Duncan get new UFC Fight Night 232 opponents days before event

The UFC matchmakers have been hard at work with multiple replacements needed during fight week.

UFC Fight Night 232 has encountered two fight week changes thus far, and it’s only Tuesday.

With [autotag]Cesar Almeida[/autotag] and [autotag]Jonny Parsons[/autotag] out of Saturday’s event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, [autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag] and [autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag] have new opponents.

Three people with knowledge of the changes recently informed MMA Junkie of them but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Almeida (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who withdrew due to an infection, has been replaced by [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag] (11-8 MMA, 1-3 UFC) and will fight Duncan (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout on the preliminary card. The pairing was first reported by Vestnik MMA.

Tiuliulin looks to snap a two-fight skid. He most recently competed in August when he was quickly finished with strikes by Gregory Rodrigues. Duncan is a former Cage Warriors middleweight champion who will look to bounce back from his first career loss, a unanimous decision dropped vs. Armen Petrosyan in June.

Parsons is out for an undisclosed reason. He’s been replaced by promotional newcomer [autotag]Myktybek Orolbai Uulu[/autotag] (11-1-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who will fight Medic (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout on the main card. The matchup was first reported by MMA Orbit.

Uulu is an LFA standout with 10 finishes (six knockouts and four submissions) in 11 victories. Medic rides a two-fight winning streak into the matchup with TKO finishes of Omar Morales and Matthew Semelsberger.

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With the changes, the UFC Fight Night 232 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)

  • Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig
  • Jake Matthews vs. Michael Morales
  • Chase Hooper vs. Jordan Leavitt
  • Nick Aguirre vs. Payton Talbott
  • Luana Pinheiro vs. Amanda Ribas
  • Uros Medic vs. Myktybek Orolbai Uulu

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 2 p.m. ET)

  • Joanderson Brito vs. Jonathan Pearce
  • Chad Anheliger vs. Jose Johnson
  • Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Denis Tiuliulin
  • Caio Machado vs. Mick Parkin
  • Lucas Alexander vs. Jeka Saragih
  • Ailin Perez vs. Lucie Pudilova
  • Nikolas Motta vs. Trey Ogden
  • Rafael Estevam vs. Charles Johnson

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.

Fresh Ink: Meet the 30 fighters the UFC signed in August 2023

Find out who joined the UFC in August and learn more about them here.

The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.

Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, “Dana White’s Contender Series” signees, or rare straight-up additions. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.

“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.

Check out the August 2023 list below.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Aug. 14-20)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by a promotion from Aug. 14-20.

Dana White says he signed 35-year-old DWCS 57 winner Cesar Almeida ‘out of respect’

Dana White doesn’t often sign older fighters, but he saw something in Cesar Almeida.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] doesn’t often sign older fighters, but he saw something in [autotag]Cesar Almeida[/autotag].

Former Glory kickboxer Almeida (4-0) earned a UFC contract Tuesday when he defeated Lucas Fernando (9-2) at Dana White’s Contender Series 57.

White usually eyes younger talent, but respects the resume the 35-year-old Almeida came in with.

“The last guy is the other guy you would question (why he got a contract),” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “I’m not looking for 35-year-old contenders. But 47 wins in kickboxing with 27 knockouts. Now he’s 4-0 in MMA with three knockouts.

“If you look at the fact that he came from a kickboxing background and look at what he overcame tonight – he was down on the ground, he was in the bottom position, he got back up – he fought a hell of a fight for a guy who’s 35 and has fought his whole career in kickboxing. So out of respect, I’m giving this kid a shot.”

When asked how the UFC plans on moving forward with Almeida, White said he thinks the Brazilian is ready to jump right into the mix at middleweight.

“Here’s the thing about him: He was in some bad positions tonight that a guy with 50 something kickboxing fights you’d think would be in big trouble,” White said. “(He was) totally composed like a vet and a pro, took his time, worked his way out of positions, never freaked out, never panicked. First of all, he’s not a guy at his age that you sit on and try to move around (with the matchmaking).

“You bring him in and you throw him in there. He’s got the experience. He looked damn well-rounded tonight to me. We’ll see what he’s got when he gets in the UFC. I’m not looking for 35-year-old contenders, but you have to respect the man, his resume and what he did here tonight. So he’s going to get a shot.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 57.

DWCS 57 winner Cesar Almeida inspired by Alex Pereira’s success in MMA

Cesar Almeida hopes to follow in the footsteps of former kickboxing foe Alex Pereira.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Cesar Almeida[/autotag] hopes to follow in the footsteps of former kickboxing foe [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag].

Former Glory kickboxer Almeida (4-0) earned a UFC contract Tuesday when he defeated Lucas Fernando (9-2) at Dana White’s Contender Series 57.

Almeida fought Pereira three times in kickboxing – winning once, and losing twice. Pereira was able to make waves in MMA in a short period of time, becoming UFC champion after just three octagon wins – and Almeida takes inspiration from his fast rise.

“I fought him three times. They were very tough fights, and to see him come this far and become the person he is, is obviously something that says I can do it too, and I’m here now,” Almeida told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter. “You keep working at it and obviously it serves as an inspiration. You look up to him and say, ‘I can do it, too.'”

Almeida thinks continuing his history with Pereira in MMA would make for a great storyline in the UFC, but knows he still has work to do.

“First time I fought him was 2013, 2014 so about next year, it’s going to be 10 years,” Almeida said. “Wouldn’t it be great for that to happen? It would be very interesting. It’s not the time for me to think about that now. I just got here. I need to get my wins. But he did mention that he would come back to middleweight to fight (Israel) Adesanya so why not? Wouldn’t it be great to have the (rematch) in Brazil?”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 57.

Dana White’s Contender Series 57: Grading the winners

MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the performances of the five winners from Dana White’s Contender Series 57.

Week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series (2023) took place Tuesday in Las Vegas, and we’re grading the winners from the five fight card, which streamed on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex.

With a simple but digestible format that has had the MMA fanbase responding, this series has shown to have legs in multiple ways while serving as a crockpot for contenders the UFC matchmakers can use for future events. With that trend in mind, I once again will be taking a look at the winning fighters, regardless of whether or not they won a UFC contract, and grading their performances in regard to their probability of returning to a UFC stage.

Dana White’s Contender Series 57 results: All winners get contracts, including 35-year-old kickboxing standout

Season 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series debuts Tuesday, and MMA Junkie will have live results from on-site at the UFC Apex.

LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie was on scene and reported from Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series 57 event.

Dana White’s Contender Series cards see prospects fighting for the opportunity to sign a UFC deal, with UFC president Dana White on hand to make the decisions.

The debut episode of Season 7 saw 10 fighters compete for their shot at a contract at the UFC Apex. The series continues every Tuesday through Oct. 10, with 90 of the 100 athletes revealed.

Although there were four decisions across the five fights, White elected to sign all the winners, including former Glory Kickboxing standout [autotag]Cesar Almeida[/autotag]. Also signed was Australia’s [autotag]Tom Nolan[/autotag], who secured a nasty first-round knockout.

Heavyweight [autotag]Caio Machado[/autotag], bantamweight [autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag], and flyweight [autotag]Kevin Borjas[/autotag] also received UFC deals for their unanimous decision wins.

The full DWCS 57 results include:

  • Cesar Almeida def. Lucas Fernando via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)
  • Tom Nolan def. Bogdan Grad via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:23
  • Caio Machado def. Kevin Szaflarski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Payton Talbott def. Reyes Cortez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Kevin Borjas def. Victor Dias via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)