Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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 Feb. 12-18.
Two months out, the UFC’s return to Atlantic City is suddenly without a main event.
The advertised UFC Atlantic City main event won’t happen as [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] has fizzled out.
Three people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the development Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA reporter Harry Mac first reported the news.
Despite Brady vs. Luque being announced by UFC CEO Dana White and officially acknowledged by the promotion, Brady (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) never signed a bout agreement as he’s dealt with an injury.
It’s unclear if Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) will remain on the card or if an entirely new bout will now headline the March 30 event at Boardwalk Hall. An important women’s flyweight contender fight between Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot is also slated for the event.
With the change, below is the current UFC Atlantic City lineup:
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Atlantic City.
Our “Spinning Back Clique” picks their favorite fights on the schedule so far for Q1 2024.
It’s a new year and that means a whole new slate of fights ahead.
As the UFC and other promotions fill out their Q1 2024 calendar, some intriguing matchups have been announced.
From [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] 2 in Mexico, to the return of [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] against [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] in Las Vegas, and [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] in Atlantic City, there are a number of fun matchups to get excited about.
But which fights are our favorites?
That’s what our “Spinning Back Clique” of Nolan King, Dan Tom and Brian “Goze” Garcia discussed along with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
You can watch their discussion in the video above, or check out this week’s episode below on YouTube or in podcast form.
There were 35 UFC 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.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 8-14.
The UFC’s return to Atlantic City features a welterweight main event clash between Sean Brady and Vicente Luque.
UFC Atlantic City will be headlined by a welterweight contender fight.
[autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] and [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] will collide in a five-round main event atop the UFC Fight Night card March 30 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., UFC CEO Dana White announced Friday.
Brady (16-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who fights out of Philadelphia, will headline in the UFC for the first time and do so relatively close to home. He most recently competed in December when he defeated Kelvin Gastelum by third-round submission.
Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) was scheduled to compete at UFC 296 in December, but his fight was later canceled when opponent Ian Garry withdrew due to illness. Luque looks to extend his winning streak following a five-round unanimous decision victory over former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in August.
With the addition, the UFC Atlantic City lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Atlantic City.
Sean Brady would be surprised if someone other than Belal Muhammad got the next title shot.
[autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] would be surprised if someone other than [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] got the next title shot.
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) handed Brady his first-career loss when he stopped him by TKO at UFC 280. He has since defeated former title challenger Gilbert Burns at UFC 288 which was dubbed as a No. 1 contender bout.
Despite rumors of a fight against welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC 300, Muhammad is yet to receive an official word on a title fight. Brady can’t see any other option than Muhammad, who’s unbeaten in his past 10 fights.
“I’m happy for him that he went on, beat Gilbert – he’s going to fight for the belt next,” Brady said on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “They haven’t announced it, but there’s nobody else. He deserves it. He’s beaten the most guys in the top 10. He deserves it, and I think he has a good chance of doing really well. It’s there for him. He deserves it, and he should get it and I’m happy for him.”
Brady (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) rebounded from his loss to Muhammad with a dominant submission of Kelvin Gastelum at UFC on ESPN 52. Although he believes he’d get the best of Muhammad in a rematch, Brady doesn’t understand why fans can’t get behind him.
“I don’t know why he gets so much hate,” Brady said. “He’s not a bad dude. He trains f*cking hard. … He gets a lot of hate, but I’m happy for him. That’s going to be a good fight.”
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Here’s MMA Junkie’s 24-fight wishlist for the new year.
2023 didn’t disappoint in terms of great MMA action, and 2024 looks just as promising, if not more.
With 2024 underway, there’s a new year of fresh possibilities for dream matchups across the MMA landscape, from the UFC to Bellator, PFL, RIZIN FF, ONE Championship and more.
For 2023, unfortunately, only four of the 23 dream fights MMA Junkie wished for came to fruition. We’re not deterred, however, and are back with another slate of 24 matchups we aspire to see in 2024.
Below, we present MMA Junkie’s wish list of 24 fights we’d like to see in 2024.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from December 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from December 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for December.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
After Ian Garry was booked against a different opponent following their failed UFC 296 fight, Vicente Luque is shifting gears to Sean Brady.
Seemingly the odd man out at welterweight after his failed UFC 296 bout with Ian Garry, perennial contender [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] is shifting his focus elsewhere.
Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) was scheduled to fight highly touted and unbeaten Garry this past weekend on the final UFC card of 2023, but when the Irishman withdrew on fight week due to pneumonia, he was left without a fight.
Once the event concluded, UFC CEO Dana White announced a number of 170-pound bouts for the first quarter of the year, none of which involved Luque. White claimed the Brazilian had turned down multiple of fight offers but did not specify if those were replacement fights for UFC 296 or other dates down the line.
That prompted Luque to take matters into his own hands for his next assignment. On social media, he issued a callout of [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) for the main event of UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City, N.J. on March 30 (via X):
5 rounds in Atlantic City against Brady what do you guys think? @ufc @AliAbdelaziz00 @danawhite @seanshelby
— Vicente Luque (@VicenteLuqueMMA) December 18, 2023
5 rounds in Atlantic City against Brady what do you guys think? @ufc @AliAbdelaziz00 @danawhite @seanshelby
Brady, No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, has not responded to the callout but expressed interest fighting in Atlantic City following his submission win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC on ESPN 52 earlier this month.
Given who is available, No. 13 Luque, who defeated former UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos by unanimous decision in his most recent bout at UFC on ESPN 51 in August, might be his best option.
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Our “Spinning Back Clique” discusses which non-headlining act stole the show at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
UFC on ESPN 52 was a spectacular event in the Lone Star State.
While lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan closed the show with an emphatic first-round stoppage of Beneil Dariush, there were eight other stoppages on the 12-fight card.
Rising lightweight contender [autotag]Jalin Turner[/autotag] throttled Bobby Green in the first round, welterweight standout [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] tapped Kelvin Gastelum, and former champ [autotag]Miesha Tate[/autotag] made a successful return to bantamweight by submitting Julia Avila, among other exciting finishes.
Former flyweight champion [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] made the move to bantamweight, and looked great in a clear unanimous decision win against longtime contender Rob Font.
But which performance was the most impressive of the bunch?
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Our “Spinning Back Clique” panelists Dan Tom, Matthew Wells, and Brian “Goze” Garcia discuss who stood out along with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
Check out their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss the most recent entire episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube or in podcast form.
