Tag: UFC 285

Cody Garbrandt returns to bantamweight against Julio Arce at UFC 285 on March 4

Cody Garbrandt’s return to bantamweight will come against Julio Arce at UFC 285.

[autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag]’s return to bantamweight will come against [autotag]Julio Arce[/autotag].

Garbrandt (12-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) meets Arce (18-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) at UFC 285 on March 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Both fighters confirmed the news on social media after an initial report by Eurosport NL.

Former UFC 135-pound champ Garbrandt will return to his original home after a failed stint at flyweight against Kai Kara-France at UFC 269. Garbrandt has lost five of his past six. His lone win in that stretch came in a buzzer-beating knockout of Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250. “No Love” saw two matchups with Rani Yahya scrapped after the Brazilian had to withdraw due to injury on both occasions.

Arce is 2-2 since moving back down to bantamweight. After defeating Daniel Santos by unanimous decision at UFC 273 in April, Arce was defeated by Montel Jackson at UFC 281 in November.

With the addition, the UFC 285 lineup includes:

  • Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
  • Farid Basharat vs. Da’Mon Blackshear
  • Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas
  • Julio Arce vs. Cody Garbrandt

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Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas targeted for UFC 285 on March 4

A women’s flyweight bout between Viviane Araujo and Amanda Ribas is headed to UFC 285.

A women’s flyweight bout between [autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag] and [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] is headed to UFC 285.

Araujo will take on Ribas on March 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the targeted matchup to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Dama de Ferro MMA first reported the booking.

Araujo (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) has split her past four appearances. After a solid win over Andrea Lee in May, Araujo dropped a unanimous decision to Alex Grasso at UFC Fight Night 212 in October in her first promotional headliner.

Ribas (11-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) also will look to rebound, but she will remain at 125 pounds. The 29-year-old moved back up to flyweight in her most recent outing in May, but was edged out by former title challenger Katlyn Chookagian in a Fight of the Night effort.

With the addition, the UFC 285 lineup includes:

  • Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
  • Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
  • Farid Basharat vs. Da’Mon Blackshear
  • Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas

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UFC 285 targets Farid Basharat vs. Da’Mon Blackshear

Bantamweight newcomer Farid Basharat will face former CFFC champion Da’Mon Blackshear as his first UFC assignment.

A new bantamweight bout nears finalization.

Promotional debutant [autotag]Farid Basharat[/autotag] (9-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and sophomore [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag] (12-4-1 MMA, 0-0-1) is expected to be finalized for UFC 285 in the coming days with verbal agreements already in place. The pay-per-view event is expected to take place March 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the targeted bout recently informed MMA Junkie of the matchup but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Both fighters recently trained at Xtreme Couture, though Blackshear will return to Jackson Wink MMA, the gym he previously called home base, for this training camp.

Basharat followed in the footsteps of his brother Javid Basharat when he won a unanimous decision over Allan Begosso on Dana White’s Contender Series in September to earn a UFC contract. In nine professional wins, Basharat has six finishes including five submissions.

Blackshear took the long, difficult road to the UFC as he fought many top-tier prospects on the regional scene from 2016 to 2021. After he won and defended the CFFC bantamweight title, Blackshear signed with the UFC for a short-notice opportunity in August when he drew with Youssef Zalalat UFC on ESPN 41 in San Diego.

With the addition, the UFC 285 lineup includes:

  • Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
  • Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
  • Farid Basharat vs. Da’Mon Blackshear

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Video: Will Jon Jones fight Francis Ngannou or someone else at UFC 285?

Jon Jones is targeted to return at UFC 285, but speculation about whether he’ll face Francis Ngannou or not runs rampant.

Former longtime champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] is targeted to return to the octagon after more than three years at UFC 285 in March, but speculation about who will be standing across from him continued to run rampant.

Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) and the UFC brass are working toward setting his long-awaited heavyweight debut for the UFC’s March 4 pay-per-view event. With divisional champion [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] in the midst of a contractual crossroads with the promotion, though, it’s not clear who Jones will fight.

MMA Junkie reported earlier this month that various names are in the running if Ngannou (17-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) parts ways with the UFC, but as of now the whole situation reeks of uncertainty.

Sp, if Jones is indeed going to finally get back to competition, which fight are we most likely to see?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Nolan King answered that question and more with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their discussion in the video above. And don’t miss this week’s full episode below.

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel.

Spinning Back Clique: Kayla Harrison’s upset loss, UFC 282’s shakeup, Conor McGregor, more

Join us for this week’s live stream of “Spinning Back Clique” looking at the biggest news and topics in MMA.

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, Mike Bohn and Nolan King will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:

  • [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] was a massive favorite to win her third PFL women’s lightweight final and another $1 million check, but lost an upset unanimous decision to [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag].
  • The UFC’s light heavyweight division got a major shakeup this past week. Champion [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] vacated the title with a shoulder injury, and UFC 282 now will feature a vacant title bout between former champion [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] and the favored [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag].
  • The 2022 PFL Championships this past Friday crowned six new $1 million winners – all of who were first-time PFL champs. They also hail from six different countries, and none American. The event was the promotion’s first pay-per-view. Did the PFL hit it out of the park?
  • [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] has been outside the UFC’s drug-testing pool with USADA while he rehabs a broken leg. He said he’ll return to the pool in February and is anticipating, it seems, an exemption to return faster than the six-month waiting period after getting back in the pool. USADA doubts he’ll get to return quicker than he might think.
  • Are we finally going to see the heavyweight debut of former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]? That’s the rumor for UFC 285 in March against champion [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]. Do we think it’s going to happen? And if it doesn’t, what will the fallout be?

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.

UFC books Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci for March 4 event

A pair of strawweights will face each other early next year as the UFC has booked Jessica Penne against Tabatha Ricci. 

A pair of strawweights will face each other early next year as the UFC has booked [autotag]Jessica Penne[/autotag] against [autotag]Tabatha Ricci[/autotag].

Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie that Penne (14-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) and Ricci (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will meet March 4 at an event expected to be UFC 285 from a location to be determined. The people requested anonymity since the promotion has yet to make an announcement.

Penne, 39, is a former UFC strawweight title contender coming off a unanimous decision loss to Emily Ducote in her only fight of 2022. Prior to that, Penne was on a two-fight winning streak – against Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Loopy Godinez – as she returned from a nearly four-year layoff.

Ricci, 27, is just nine fights into her professional career with three UFC appearances. She lost her promotional debut by second-round TKO to Manon Fiorot but has since rebounded with back-to-back unanimous decision wins over Maria Oliveira and most recently Polyana Viana this past May in her only fight of the year.

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Francis Ngannou opens up on knee injury prior to UFC 270: ‘Everything was designed for me to fall’

Heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou has given insight into the knee injury that almost forced him to withdraw from UFC 270 earlier this year.

[autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] has given some insight on the knee injury that almost forced him to withdraw from UFC 270.

Less than a month out from his title unification bout with Ciryl Gane in January, Ngannou tore his MCL and ACL. But the heavyweight champion, who’s currently in a contract dispute with the UFC, insisted on fighting even though his knee was heavily compromised.

Ngannou (17-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) won the fight by unanimous decision – surprisingly by using his grappling.

“Everything was designed for me to fall and collapse – not to come back,” Ngannou said on his YouTube channel. “That was it. That was how it was designed. Like, ‘OK, that’s how it’s going to be. Let’s go.'”

Ngannou explainsed that the injury occurred in one of the final rounds of a sparring session with a new training partner. His head coach, Eric Nicksick, was hesitant to allow a new body in the session, but ultimately, they went with it.

“The injury itself happened on Dec. 28, exactly three days after Christmas,” Ngannou said. “There was a guy in the gym that just came. I think that was his second training session at the gym.

“We were sparring. I think he got overwhelmed. He shot a desperate takedown. Then when I tried to turn around. I heard the crack on my knee. Then, right at that moment, when you hear that on your knee, you know that something is happening. But I was so warmed up, I couldn’t feel it exactly.”

With the promotion’s plans to have Jon Jones return March 5 at UFC 285 in Las Vegas, Ngannou is the targeted matchup if the champion is healthy by that date.

You can watch Episode 1 of Ngannou’s “Road 2 Recovery” VLOG in the video below:

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