Tag: Matheus Nicolau

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Topuria & Holloway heat up, Diaz-Masvidal press tour, KnuckleMania 4, more

On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses the back-and-forth between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway, the Diaz-Masvidal press tour, and more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:

  • Things between [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] and [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] are heating up. The UFC featherweight champion responded to Holloway’s callout at UFC 300, sparking a public back-and-forth between the two that’s rapidly turning into a rivalry and potentially a fight. Is this the fight to make? It’s certainly starting to draw a lot of interest.
  • “The Baddest Tour” promoting the upcoming boxing match between [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] and [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] has wrapped. The press tour stopped in Las Vegas, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, with MMA Junkie attending to two of the stops. So was the tour a success? Is there interest around the June 1 matchup? It’s a clash involving two major MMA names going head-to-head against the UFC 302 pay-per-view. 
  • The 2024 PFL season is fully underway, as all six divisions have had their first round bouts for their respective divisions. It’s an important year for the PFL, since this is the first season they host with the addition of the Bellator roster. What to make of the first three PFL events of 2024? Has it made the impact many expected in the MMA industry?
  • This upcoming Saturday, both BKFC’s KnuckleMania 4 and UFC on ESPN 55 will go down. It’s two different sports, but both share a similar crowd. So which event is drawing the most interest? As far as the fights themselves, who will reign supreme between [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] and [autotag]Thiago Alves[/autotag]? How important is [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag] for the UFC’s flyweight division? Plenty to preview between both cards.

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Manel Kape reveals rib injury caused UFC Fight Night 241 withdrawal vs. Matheus Nicolau

UFC flyweight standout Manel Kape simply can’t catch a break.

[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] can’t catch a break.

Kape (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on Tuesday pulled out of his UFC Fight Night 241 headliner vs. [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag] (19-4-1 MMA, 7-2) scheduled for April 27 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and was replaced by Alex Perez.

Kape and Nicolau were originally scheduled to run things back in January, but the fight was scrapped after Kape missed weight by 3.5 pounds.

In a social media post Wednesday morning, “Starboy” revealed that he broke his rib and required surgery.

“This is the first time I’ve ever pull out of a fight, I broke the cartilage of my rib and I couldn’t move for a week. On Thursday last week my surgery went extremely well. Bare in mind that all my fights that got cancelled in the past was due to my opponents. Where I came from we used to fight for free, I’m not bragging about I’m just being honest so don’t ever think I’m like some of you guys. ALLAH IS THE GREAT 🤲🏼 #notimeforbrokepeople #mytimeismoney.”

After four fights in 2021, Kape competed only once each in 2022 and 2023. Currently riding a four-fight winning streak, Kape has seen nine fights scrapped since joining the UFC roster in March 2020. Many of those fights were canceled because of his opponents, but it was Kape who withdrew from his past two scheduled bouts vs. Nicolau.

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Manel Kape out of UFC Fight Night 241 headliner vs. Matheus Nicolau, Alex Perez steps in as replacement

Alex Perez replaces Manel Kape to fight Matheus Nicolau in the main event of UFC Fight Night 241 on April 27.

[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag]’s 2024 return to the octagon has been delayed again.

The UFC flyweight contender is out of his bout against [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag], which was to serve as the headliner of a UFC Fight Night event on April 27 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Now, veteran [autotag]Alex Perez[/autotag] has been pulled from a scheduled matchup of his own to step in as a replacement to face Nicolau.

The news was announced by the promotion on Tuesday and later independently confirmed by MMA Junkie.

Kape (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Nicolau (19-4-1 MMA, 7-2) were originally supposed to rematch in January, but the fight was scrapped after Kape missed weight by 3.5 pounds. Kape has had many fight cancellations in the last couple of years, leaving him to fight only once in 2022 and once more in 2023.

Nicolau was the last fighter to defeat Kape, winning a split decision in March 2021. He looks to rebound from a loss to former title challenger Brandon Royval, which snapped the 31-year-old’s six-fight winning streak.

Replacing Kape, Perez (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) is also looking to bounce back from defeat. “Turbo” was scheduled to face Tagir Ulanbekov on June 15 before the shift to facing Nicolau. The former UFC title challenger is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Muhammad Mokaev in March. He’s currently on a three-fight losing streak, with his last win coming in 2020.

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Manel Kape vs. Matheus Nicolau 2 set to headline UFC Fight Night in April

Flyweight Manel Kape and Matheus Nicolau will run it back, this time headlining an April UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] and [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag] will run it back again, this time in a UFC Fight Night headliner.

The pair were previously booked for a rematch in January, and made it as far as an official faceoff, but the fight was scrapped after Kape (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) missed the flyweight limit by 3.5 pounds. Nicolau (19-4-1 MMA, 7-2) made weight and initially agreed to accept a percentage of Kape’s purse, but the fight did not proceed.

Now the flyweight contenders are set to meet again in the main event on April 27 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with two sources with knowledge of the matchup following a first report from MMA Mania.

Kape, 30, said an illness and antibiotics use led to the weight miss in January. In his statement on Instagram, he said he offered his entire purse to save the fight, but to no avail. “Starboy” has won four consecutive fights, with six cancelations occurring during that stretch.

Nicolau was the last fighter to defeat Kape, winning a split decision in March 2021. He will look to rebound from a loss to former title challenger Brandon Royval. Before that setback, the 31-year-old flyweight won six straight contests.

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With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup on April 27 includes:

  • Matheus Nicolau vs. Manel Kape
  • Ariane Lipski vs. Karine Silva
  • Joel Alvarez vs. Mateusz Rebecki
  • Jhonata Diniz vs. Austen Lane
  • Gabriel Benitez vs. Hayisaer Maheshate
  • Michal Figlak vs. Austin Hubbard
  • Caio Machado vs. Don’Tale Mayes
  • Gabe Green vs. James Llontop
  • Liang Na vs. Ivana Petrovic

Manel Kape vs. Matheus Nicolau scratched from UFC Fight Night 234 after big weight miss

The rematch between Manel Kape and Matheus Nicolau won’t happen at UFC Fight Night 234, after all.

The rematch between [autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] and [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag] won’t happen Saturday at UFC Fight Night 234, after all.

After Kape (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) missed weight by 3.5 pounds for his scheduled flyweight co-headliner against Nicolau (19-4-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, the bout was called off.

UFC officials announced the news Friday after it has previously claimed Nicolau had agreed to accept a 25 percent fine of Kape’s purse and the bout would go on.

The cancellation continues a difficult trend for Kape in recent years. He’s had eight fights called off since making his octagon debut in February 2021, with only six fights taking place.

He was attempting to avenge a unanimous decision loss from March 2021 against Nicolau, but now it will have to wait.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 234.

Matheus Nicolau out to show new tools in Manel Kape rematch at UFC Fight Night 234

Matheus Nicolau previews his rematch against Manel Kape at UFC Fight Night 234.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Matheus Nicolau[/autotag] already proved he has what it takes to beat [autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag]. Yet, the UFC flyweight contender plans to bring new things to the table in their rematch.

Nicolau (19-4-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and Kape (19-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) collide for a second time this Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 234. The Brazilian is keeping in mind the things that helped him beat Kape in 2021, but he’s also looking to show new tools in the octagon.

“We always try to bring some new things,” Nicolau told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 234 media day. “I’m always training a lot, since my last fight in the beginning of last year I had a long time to train. Thank God I had no injuries, so I could focus a lot on training. That was my No. 1 focus ever, to train to get better.

“So for sure I’ll try to bring something new, and I also want to make the weapons that I already have even better, even sharper.”

Kape has already predicted a first-round finish for himself. Nicolau will try to match him, but he’s also ready to go the distance once again.

“I’m ready for the hard 15 minutes,” Nicolau said. “This is a high-level matchup so you have to be ready to fight a very hard 15 minutes., but I think the core of the martial arts is to finish the fight, so I’ll keep that in mind, but I’m in no shush to do that. I just want o keep focused and do my best performance I’ve ever done inside the octagon.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 234.

UFC Fight Night 234 pre-event facts: Jim Miller, Andrei Arlovski look to build on all-time wins leads

The best facts about UFC Fight Night 234, which features chances for Jim Miller and Andrei Arlovski to add to their historic resumes.

After a nearly monthlong hiatus, the UFC opens its 2024 schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 234, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.

Light heavyweight contenders are set to rematch in the main event of the card. [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] (18-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) and [autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag] (21-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC) will run it back with five rounds scheduled after their originally meeting at UFC 294 in October ended in a no contest due to an illegal knee from Ankalaev that halted the action.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts for UFC Fight Night 234.

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Video: ‘UFC Fight Night 234: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2’ media day interviews

Before UFC Fight Night 234 on Saturday, watch as the main card athletes speak to reporters at media day.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 234, which takes place at the UFC Apex with a card that streams entirely on ESPN+, goes down Saturday.

Before fight night arrives, though, notable athletes from the main card spoke to reporters Wednesday at media day.

If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for the archived videos of each media day.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 234.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Nov. 6-12)

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 the promotions from Nov. 6-12.

UFC on ESPN 44 medical suspensions: Three fighters get 60 days after KO losses

The Missouri commission issued medical suspensions after UFC on ESPN 44, the longest of which went to fighters who were knocked out.

Three fighters face 60-day medical suspensions as a result of stoppage losses by strikes at UFC on ESPN 44.

The event took place this past Saturday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. The event was overseen by the Missouri Division of Professional Regulation, which suspended 13 of 28 fighters from the card for medical reasons after their bouts, according to a list published Wednesday by the commission.

It’s important to note fighters can return sooner than the expiration date of their medical suspension should they receive proper medical clearance from a doctor. In addition, the commission does not list reasons for medical suspensions – just durations.

Scroll below to see the full list of UFC on ESPN 44 medical suspensions.