Tag: UFC 295

Diego Lopes returns at UFC 295 vs. Pat Sabatini

The UFC 295 lineup for Madison Square Garden continues to fill out.

Rising fan-favorite featherweight [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] has his third UFC assignment.

Lopes (22-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will battle [autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Nov. 11 at UFC 295, the promotion’s return to Madison Square Garden in New York. Both fighters recently confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report by ESPN Deportes.

Lopes, 28, burst into the international spotlight when he took a short notice bout vs. ranked Movsar Evloev at UFC 288 in May. Not only did Lopes go all three rounds with one of the promotion’s top featherweights, he put Evolev in several dangerous positions in the grappling department. Lopes lost the bout by unanimous decision, but stormed back in his second UFC outing when he quickly clubbed and subbed Gavin Tucker in 98 seconds.

Sabatini, 32, has quietly dominated his UFC tenure outside of a quick TKO loss to Damon Jackson in September 2022. His wins in the promotion include Tristan Connelly, Jamall Emmers, Tucker Lutz, T.J. Laramie and, in his most recent outing, Lucas Almeida.

With the addition, the UFC 295 lineup includes:

  • Champ Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
  • Jessica Andrade vs. Mackenzie Dern
  • Kevin Borjas vs. Joshua Van
  • Stephen Erceg vs. Matt Schnell
  • Jared Gordon vs. Mark Madsen
  • Diego Lopes vs. Pat Sabatini
  • Nurullo Aliev vs. Mateusz Rebecki
  • Dennis Buzukja vs. Jamall Emmers

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

Dennis Buzukja vs. Jamall Emmers added to UFC 295 lineup

A pair of reeling featherweights will look to get back on track at UFC 295.

A pair of reeling featherweights will look to get back on track at UFC 295 when Dennis Buzujka takes on Jamall Emmers.

Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking Saturday but asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.

UFC 295 takes place Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The event is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

Both Buzukja (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Emmers (19-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC) lost their last time out. Buzukja dropped a unanimous decision to Sean Woodson last month in his UFC debut, which snapped a seven-fight winning streak. Emmers, who’s alternated wins and losses in his five UFC appearances, most recently lost a split decision to Jack Jenkins this past June.

With the addition, the UFC 295 lineup includes:

  • Champ Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
  • Jessica Andrade vs. Mackenzie Dern
  • Kevin Borjas vs. Joshua Van
  • Stephen Erceg vs. Matt Schnell
  • Jared Gordon vs. Mark Madsen
  • Diego Lopes vs. Pat Sabatini
  • Nurullo Aliev vs. Mateusz Rebecki
  • Dennis Buzukja vs. Jamall Emmers

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

Tim Simpson: Leon Edwards ready to go, Colby Covington fight will be ‘before the end of the year’

Leon Edwards’ manager is confident that the Colby Covington fight happens in 2023.

[autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag]’ manager is confident that the [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] fight happens in 2023.

After defeating Kamaru Usman a second time, welterweight champion Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) is slated to defend his title against Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) next, but a date and venue are yet to be announced. Covington weighed in as a backup for Edwards vs. Usman 3, but his services weren’t needed.

With two pay-per-views left in the year to be filled out, Edwards’ manager Tim Simpson says expect the fight to either land on UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York, or UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“It’ll be before the end of the year,” Simpson told Submission Radio. “I guess the two cards left are November and December, and they’re still finalizing those. Leon is good. He is ready to go, waiting for the call. From my understanding, Colby is ready to go, as well. So it’ll be one of those two.”

There’s yet to be any title fights added to UFC 296, whereas UFC 295 is headlined by a heavyweight title bout between champion Jon Jones and former champ Stipe Miocic.

Covington said that Jones refuses to compete on the same card as him at UFC 295. When asked about it in a recent news conference, UFC CEO Dana White appeared unaware, and took the claim with a grain of salt when he found out it was Covington who said it.

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Henry Cejudo: ‘Future is bright’ for Mackenzie Dern, just needs ‘a good tactical game plan’

Henry Cejudo sees plenty of potential in Mackenzie Dern.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] sees plenty of potential in [autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag].

Dern (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) meets former champion Jessica Andrade (24-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) at UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The event airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+.

Former UFC dual-champion and Olympic gold medalist wrestler Cejudo has been working on fine tuning Dern’s game, and believes a few adjustments could lead her to the title.

“Mackenzie’s a talent, man,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “She’s a multiple-time world champion in the sport of jiu-jitsu. The biggest question that I have for her: How is it that she can transition into mixed martial arts and still have the same principles that she used in jiu-jitsu? A lot of what Mackenzie needs is just a good tactical game plan and just positions on technique – not over-moving, not doing these unnecessary movements, getting from point A to point B.

“The most important thing for her is her discipline. Can she stay disciplined for 15 minutes or 25 minutes? She’s probably a fight away from fighting for the title if she’s able to win this fight against Jessica Andrade. … She’s all eyes. She’s all ears. The key is to actually do it in the fight.”

Dern is coming off one of her most impressive showings to date, a dominant Fight of the Night decision win over Angela Hill in the UFC Fight Night 224 headliner in May. Cejudo likes what he’s seen out of Dern in their trainings so far.

“So far, so good,” Cejudo said on working with Dern. “If she does things right, and she’s able to bring those principles back and finds the right engineers, the future is bright for her.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones could elevate Tom Aspinall, Serghei Pavlovich but why?

Daniel Cormier understands why Jon Jones wouldn’t be motivated to fight young contenders at this point in his career.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] understands why [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] wouldn’t be motivated to fight young contenders at this point in his career.

Heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) makes his first title defense against Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the UFC 295 headliner on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Chomping at the bit for their shot at gold are rising contenders [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag], and [autotag]Serghei Pavlovich[/autotag], who will serve as the official backup for Jones vs. Miocic. But Cormier says Jones doesn’t think he has much to gain in these fights.

“My profile was much bigger after (our) interactions,” Cormier said on Jones on his YouTube channel. “Then Stipe Miocic was bigger after him and I went through our trilogy. It really does kind of follow that same formula, where once you fight a guy that’s established, your status kind of grows. Jon Jones could elevate those guys, but why?”

Jones’ best performances in his light heavyweight title reign came over the likes of Cormier, Quinton Jackson, and Rashad Evans. But once he started taking on lesser established names such as Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes, Jones’ performances fell flat.

“Bones” recently said Aspinall and Pavlovich wouldn’t make too much business sense, but Cormier disagrees.

“See, the difference is this: … I was 35 the first time I fought Jones, but he was already the man,” Cormier said. “‘Rampage’ was in his 30s when he fought Jones. Rashad was in his 30s, I was in my mid-30s. Everybody was in their 30s until he got to guys like Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, Reyes – and Jones was kind of like, ‘Eh, those guys don’t get me excited. I went from fighting all these legends to fighting these young guys who don’t really get the juices pumping.’

“But in this one, he says about Aspinall and Sergei, who would absolutely get the juices pumping, he just isn’t interested because now, he’s weighing the business vs. the actual competition. To me, I feel like Jon Jones in a headliner, it doesn’t really change much in regards to who he’s fighting. He did over 700,000 buys against Ciryl Gane. He would probably do 700,000 buys against Tom Aspinall, he’d do 700,000 against Sergei Pavlovich. So what is he saying? He just doesn’t want to fight those young, hard-punching, hard-charging guys?”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

Sergei Pavlovich to serve as backup for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic title fight at UFC 295

Sergei Pavlovich has once again been pegged as the alternate for the UFC heavyweight title fight.

[autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] has once again been pegged as the alternate for the UFC heavyweight title fight.

Pavlovich, who weighed in as a backup for the vacant heavyweight title fight between [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, will once again play that role.

He has been named as the official backup for heavyweight champion Jones’ (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) first title defense against [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC), which headlines UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to MMA Junkie after an initial report from journalist Igor Lazorin.

Pavlovich (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) weighed in as a backup for Jones vs. Gane in March, but his services weren’t needed. Both men made it to the fight, and Jones ended up quickly submitting Gane to claim the vacant belt.

Since then, 31-year-old Pavlovich notched his seventh consecutive first-round knockout against Curtis Blaydes this past April at UFC Fight Night 222.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

Jon Jones likens new UFC champ Sean O’Malley to Conor McGregor: ‘He’s looking like the total package’

Jon Jones is extremely high on new UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and his potential to be a big star for the promotion.

[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] is extremely high on new UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and his potential to be a big star for the promotion.

O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) completed his path to UFC gold earlier this month when he dethroned Aljamain Sterling for the 135-pound belt with a second-round TKO at UFC 292 in Boston. UFC president Dana White has touted “Sugar” as a marquee attraction for the promotion, and only sees his notoriety growing from here.

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC), the current UFC heavyweight titleholder, agrees that O’Malley is a name on the rise, and sees parallels between his career trajectory and that of former two-division champ Conor McGregor.

“Sean O’Malley – I’m excited about him – he has the look,” Jones said on the OverDogs Podcast. “He reminds me a lot of McGregor. He’s really raw and authentic, he has that kind of rags-to-riches story that everyone appreciates, especially in this country. I like him. I like him a lot and I really want to see how far he can take it.”

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Jones, who will return to competition when he puts his title on the line against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York, admits he picked Sterling to defeat O’Malley in their matchup.

O’Malley managed to exceed Jones’ expectations, though, and now “Bones” is fully invested in seeing how O’Malley’s career plays out from here.

“He’s young enough still to where he can take those leaps and bounds in his game,” Jones said. “He’s going to be around for a long time. To beat up Aljamain like that – I always put my money on the wrestler. O’Malley, he’s looking like the total package. I’m going to be tuning into his pay-per-views for the next couple of years.”

Jon Jones lukewarm on UFC heavyweight contenders, thinks Tom Aspinall can be ‘really special’

UFC champ Jon Jones is open to fighting the next crop of heavyweight contenders, but it will come down to the magnitude of potential fights.

UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] is open to fighting the next crop of contenders, but it will ultimately come down to the magnitude of potential fights.

If Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) is able to defend his belt against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November and opts not to retire, he has some potentially intriguing opponents on the horizon in [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] and Sergei Pavlovich.

Jones admits he’s impressed by what both men are doing in the division, but at 36 and with a long UFC career already behind him, he’s not fighting just for the sake of it. He needs it to be significant, and in his mind, that falls on contenders like Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and Pavlovich (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) to bring their public notoriety to a certain level.

“They’re amazing – don’t get me wrong,” Jones said on the OverDogs Podcast. “They’re starching people in the first round. But as I get older, I have to look at it as a business and not just speak out of pride, but speak as my legacy and as a business. If the hardcore fans know who these guys are, that’s great. But at the end of the day I have to fight people that the mainstream public is going to be excited about. Because when you’re in my position, there’s always going to be this new challenge that’s younger than you that everyone wants to see you do it one more time.”

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Despite being uncertain about whether they will ever fight, Jones did heap praise on Aspinall, who has been very vocal about his desire to challenge Jones since his recent first-round TKO of Marcin Tybura last month at UFC Fight Night 224.

Jones thinks Aspinall is going to be a factor at heavyweight for years to come. It’s just a matter of whether timing and circumstances will lead to them colliding inside the octagon.

“Tom Aspinall, I think he really has the potential to do something really special in the heavyweight division,” Jones said. “I think he’s going to be hard for the majority of guys to beat. I really do believe that.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

How focused is Jon Jones on Stipe Miocic? You won’t believe this.

Jon Jones is focused on Stipe Miocic ahead of their UFC 295 clash – maybe a little TOO focused.

Inside the cage, [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] is one of the smartest fighters we’ve ever seen with a fight IQ that might be unmatched. Outside of the cage, though, the UFC heavyweight champion has proven he isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, at times using a curious choice of words to drive home a point.

This is one of those times.

In a trailer teasing an hour-long interview on the OverDogs Podcast, Jones had this to say about retirement and made a startling admission about UFC 295 opponent [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag]:

“I feel like when you get to a place when you don’t feel anything is probably when you should hang it up. … At this point, I still get really nervous, man. I have nightmares about my opponents. I could be balls deep in some mmm mmm [laughs] and Stipe will cross my mind.”

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It’s hard to believe that Jones thinks about Stipe while he’s having sex. Then again, you hear stories about legendary athletes maintaining their edge in some weird ways, so maybe it’s true?

Jones has a chance to cement his legacy if he beats Miocic, the former champ widely considered the greatest heavyweight of all time, Nov. 11 at UFC 295, and now we have an idea of just how focused he is on that task.

A little TMI, but we have an idea.

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Bellator veteran Kiefer Crosbie signs with UFC, set to debut in Sydney vs. Kevin Jousset

UFC 293 adds a matchup between promotional newcomers Kiefer Crosbie and Kevin Jousset to lineup in Syndey.

UFC has signed a pair of welterweights who will debut against each other at the upcoming pay-per-view event in Sydney.

Thursday, Bellator veteran [autotag]Keifer Crosbie[/autotag] announced on Instagram he signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC. Crosbie (10-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make his debut on short notice at UFC 293. The pay-per-view event headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland for the middleweight title takes place Sept. 9 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

Sharing the cage with Crosbie will be fellow UFC newcomer [autotag]Kevin Jousset[/autotag] (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), whose signing with the promotion was also recently announced. Two people with knowledge of the booking confirmed the matchup with MMA Junkie.

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Crosbie, 33, fought on seven occasions under the Bellator banner, putting together a record of 4-3. The Irishman is currently on a two-fight first-round finishing streak, picking up victories under Centurion Fight Championship and Rise FC.

Jousset, 30, will enter the UFC on a three-fight winning streak. In his two previous outings, the French fighter captured the HEX Fight Series middleweight and welterweight titles to become the promotion’s first two-division champion.

With the addition, the current UFC 293 lineup includes:

  • Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland – for middleweight title
  • Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov
  • Felipe dos Santos vs. Manel Kape
  • Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa
  • Tyson Pedro vs. Anton Turkalj
  • Da Woon Jung vs. Carlos Ulberg
  • Jack Jenkins vs. Chepe Mariscal
  • John Makdessi vs. Jamie Mullarkey
  • Nasrat Haqparast vs. Landon Quinones
  • Blood Diamond vs. Charlie Radtke
  • Kiefer Crosbie vs. Kevin Jousset
  • Gabriel Miranda vs. Shane Young
  • Viviane Araujo vs. Casey O’Neill

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.