Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out what the UFC Fight Night 230 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 230 took place Saturday with 11 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
You can hear from all the UFC Fight Night 230 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 230.
It may qualify as “no duh!” but Michel Pereira is feeling better than most fight weeks because he doesn’t have to cut an extra 15 pounds.
LAS VEGAS – It may qualify as a “no duh!” type of statement, but [autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag] is feeling better than most fight weeks because he doesn’t have to cut an extra 15 pounds.
Pereira will return to the middleweight division Saturday at UFC Fight Night 230. He’s fought at 185 pounds before, but not in the UFC, where he’s been a welterweight. But he missed weight by three pounds earlier this year for a fight against Stephen Thompson, and the bout was scrapped.
So Pereira made the decision to go back up, and it sounds like he’s been enjoying the change.
“I’m very happy, prepared, excited in this new division because I don’t need to cut a lot of weight,” Pereira said at Wednesday’s media day. “I’m feeling very well as a middleweight right now. I have a lot more energy, so I was training more and better. I’m confident. From now on, I’m a middleweight. I feel better. My personal life is better being a middleweight. Even when I was a welterweight, I was training with big guys, and I was always the bigger guy as a welterweight. But now I feel like I’m a middleweight. My body is a middleweight, so I’m going to stay in this weight division.”
Pereira said he used to cut around 45 pounds when he fought at welterweight. And no doubt, that carried over to his life outside the sport.
“I’m in love with my life right now,” he said. “I’m loving the fact that I’m a middleweight. I was even making jokes backstage because I didn’t used to like doing interviews when I was cutting weight. Now I’m happy.”
Pereira (28-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) said he’s feeling good enough ahead of his fight against Andre Petroski (10-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) on Saturday that he put his hat in the ring to fight Khamzat Chimaev on short notice next week in Abu Dhabi now that Paulo Costa is out.
Check out Pereira’s full media day interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 230.
Before UFC Fight Night 230 on Saturday, watch as the main card athletes fighters speak to reporters at media day.
LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 230, 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 230.
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 Oct. 2-8.
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.
After missing the welterweight mark in his past outing, Michel Pereira has booked his next fight at middleweight.
After missing the welterweight mark in his past outing, [autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag] has booked his next fight at middleweight.
Pereira (28-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) faces [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag] (16-6-1 MMA, 5-5-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 14 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by MMA reporter Laerte Viana.
Pereira missed the welterweight limit by three pounds for his matchup against Stephen Thompson this past July at UFC 291. Thompson elected not to compete, and as a result, the bout was scrapped. The 29-year-old Brazilian, who’s on a five-fight winning streak, will compete at 185 pounds for the first time since joining the UFC roster in May 2019.
After going winless in his first four octagon bouts, Barriault has won five of his past seven, and is coming off back-to-back wins over Julian Marquez and Eryk Anders. The 33-year-old Canadian has finished 11 of his 16 professional wins.
The latest lineup for UFC Fight Night on Oct. 14 now includes:
The “Embedded” fight-week video series is back to document what’s happening behind the scenes at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City.
The “Embedded” fight-week video series is back to document what’s happening behind the scenes at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City.
The UFC is back with its ninth pay-per-view of the year, which means the popular “Embedded” fight-week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.
UFC 291 takes place Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
In the main event, the “BMF” title is on the line between former interim lightweight champions [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) and [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC), who fight in a rematch. Poirier won their first meeting in 2018 with a fourth-round TKO.
In the co-feature, former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) takes on ex-middleweight champ [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who is moving up to 205 pounds after he lost the 185-pound belt earlier this year.
In addition, [autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag] (28-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) takes on [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC), [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] (25-8 MMA, 15-6 UFC) meets [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] (29-14-1 MMA, 10-9-1 UFC), and [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) fights [autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag] (24-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) on the main card.
The sixth episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:
The stars of UFC 291 hit the scales then face off once more for fans in Salt Lake City. Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje rematch for the BMF belt, plus Alex Pereira moves to light heavyweight to meet Jan Blachowicz and more.
Also see:
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
Hours after Michel Pereira missed weight, his UFC 291 bout vs. Stephen Thompson was called off.
[autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag] is off Saturday’s UFC 291 card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Before Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins, UFC commentator Megan Olivi announced the bout was canceled. Hours prior, Pereira (28-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) missed the welterweight limit by three pounds, as he tipped the scale at 174 pounds. This came minutes after Thompson (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) made weight at 170.5 pounds.
It is unclear if an agreement could not be reached due to the miss or if there was medical or commission intervention that ultimately caused the bout to be called off.
UFC 291 marks the second time Pereira has missed the welterweight limit in the UFC. He has not competed since May 2022. On the flip side, Thompson has never missed weight. He has not competed since December.
With the change, the UFC 291 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
The “Embedded” fight-week video series is back to document what’s happening behind the scenes at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City.
The “Embedded” fight-week video series is back to document what’s happening behind the scenes at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City.
The UFC is back with its ninth pay-per-view of the year, which means the popular “Embedded” fight-week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.
UFC 291 takes place Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
In the main event, the “BMF” title is on the line between former interim lightweight champions [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) and [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC), who fight in a rematch. Poirier won their first meeting in 2018 with a fourth-round TKO.
In the co-feature, former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) takes on ex-middleweight champ [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who is moving up to 205 pounds after he lost the 185-pound belt earlier this year.
In addition, [autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag] (28-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) takes on [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC), [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] (25-8 MMA, 15-6 UFC) meets [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] (29-14-1 MMA, 10-9-1 UFC), and [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) fights [autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag] (24-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) on the main card.
The fifth episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:
Jan Blachowicz gets a haircut. Derrick Lewis and Tony Ferguson light up media day. Dustin Poirier passes time with games; Justin Gaethje hosts a BBQ. Original BMF champ Jorge Masvidal joins the 291 stars on stage for the press conference.
Also see:
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
Check out the results from the official UFC 291 fighter weigh-ins in Salt Lake City.
MMA Junkie was on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC 291 fighter weigh-ins, where two fighters missed their marks on the scale.
In the main event, former interim lightweight champions Dustin Poirier (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) and Justin Gaethje (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) meet for the “BMF” title. They were the first two fighters to come to the scale. Gaethje was 156 pounds without issue; Poirier was 155.
In the co-feature, former light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) takes on ex-middleweight champ Alex Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who is moving up from 185 pounds. Blachowicz was 205 on the nose; Pereira was 205.5.
Two fighters missed weight. [autotag]Vinicius Salvador[/autotag] (14-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was 128.5 pounds for his flyweight bout against CJ Vergara (11-4-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and was fined 20 percent of his show purse. And [autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag] (28-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was 174 pounds for his welterweight bout against former title challenger Stephen Thompson (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC). If the matchup is approved at a catchweight, Pereira will be fined a percentage of his purse.
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The early weigh-ins took place at the UFC host hotel in Salt Lake City and preceded the ceremonial weigh-ins for the fans, which take place at 7 p.m. ET at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The same venue hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+.
The full UFC 291 weigh-in results included:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)
*Michel Pereira missed the welterweight limit. If the fight is approved at a catchweight, he is expected to be fined a percentage of his purse.
**Salvador missed the flyweight limit and was fined 20 percent of his show purse.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
