Tag: UFC 297

Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic 2 officially booked for UFC 297 in Toronto

A big light heayvweight matchup between former champion Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic has been added to UFC 297.

The UFC has added another big matchup to its first pay-per-view event of 2024.

Former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] will take on [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag] at UFC 297. The event takes place Jan. 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The bout was officially announced during the UFC 295 broadcast Saturday night.

Blachowicz (29-10-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) will look to reenter the win column after a pair of frustrating results. In his last outing at UFC 291, Blachowicz lost a close split decision welcoming former middleweight champion Alex Periera to the light heavyweight division. That result followed a split draw against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 282 for the vacant light heavyweight title.

Blachowicz’s last win came against Rakic (14-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in their first meeting at UFC on ESPN 36. It was a TKO victory due to injury when Rakic’s knee gave out.

Rakic has not competed since the injury, which led to surgery on his ACL. Prior to the setback, he picked up a pair of unanimous decision wins over former title challengers Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos.

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With the addition, the current UFC 297 lineup includes:

  • Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis – for middleweight title
  • Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – for vacant women’s bantamweight title
  • Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
  • Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic
  • Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
  • Dominick Reyes vs. Carlos Ulberg
  • Garrett Armfield vs. Brad Katona
  • Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Chris Curtis
  • Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson
  • Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
  • Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
  • Jimmy Flick vs. Malcolm Gordon
  • Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.

Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis, Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Raquel Pennington among official additions to UFC 297 in Toronto

The UFC’s return to Canada will feature a title doubleheader.

The UFC’s return to Canada will feature a title double-header.

UFC 297, headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) and [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC), takes place Jan. 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

In the co-main event, a new women’s bantamweight champion will be crowned when former title challenger [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] (15-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) and [autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag] (10-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) square off. Former UFC dual-champion Amanda Nunes vacated her belt when she retired this past June.

A press conference featuring the card’s Canadian fighters will take place Nov. 14 at Sportsnet Studios. In attendance will be rising star Mike Malott, Marc-Andre Barriault, Charles Jourdain, and Serhey Sidey.

The current UFC 297 lineup includes:

  • Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis – for middleweight title
  • Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – for vacant women’s bantamweight title
  • Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
  • Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Chris Curtis
  • Garrett Armfield vs. Brad Katona
  • Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
  • Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
  • Jimmy Flick vs. Malcolm Gordon
  • Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
  • Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson
  • Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.

Robert Whittaker thinks it’s fair Dricus Du Plessis got middleweight title shot at UFC 297

Robert Whittaker thinks it’s only right for Dricus Du Plessis to get the next title shot.

[autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] thinks it’s only right for [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] to get the next title shot.

Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) cemented himself as No. 1 contender after stopping Whittaker by Round 2 TKO at UFC 290. But when he couldn’t make a quick turnaround for UFC 293, the promotion handed Sean Strickland the title shot against then champion Israel Adesanya. Strickland upset Adesanya to claim the belt.

But Du Plessis would find himself passed up again. The UFC opted to dub Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 as a No. 1 contender fight. Fortunately for Du Plessis, the victorious Chimaev injured his hand in the fight which finally led to him getting his title shot against Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) in the UFC 297 headliner Jan. 20 in Toronto.

“It kind of cleared a lot of things up because the division is in a really crazy spot,” Whittaker told Submission Radio. “There’s so many fighters that are already busy or that are inactive or that are just sitting on sidelines, and with the win/losses that we’ve had in the top five, it’s just shuffled everything up. And then you have Chimaev and Usman coming in and fighting for a title shot, allegedly, just shaking everything up

“But to hear Dricus is getting the title shot with Sean, I think it’s fair because he wasn’t in a lot of the talks for the next title shot with Sean. And where did it leave him? Where did that leave him? Props to him. He did beat me, and I think that earns something.”

Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) thinks timing has had a lot to do with the recent title fights in the middleweight division.

“I guess that’s the moral of the story,” Whittaker said. “The division, especially top five, and the stakes that we play at, is just rife with opportunity, and Sean is a perfect example of being ready and in the right place at the right time, and obviously having the skills to back it up.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.

Video: Is Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva a good UFC title fight?

The UFC might have a big problem in the women’s bantamweight division without Amanda Nunes.

It might not have been what most were expecting, but [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] and [autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag] have been tapped to fight for the women’s bantamweight title Jan. 20 at UFC 297.

The belt has been vacant since the great Amanda Nunes retired this past June after her win over Irene Aldana. Under the circumstances of Julianna Peña being injured and unavailable, Pennington vs. Bueno Silva apparently is the best the UFC could come up with to fill a void left by Nunes’ departure from a division desperately in need of new stars.

Do you love it or hate it? Our “Spinning Back Clique” of Danny Segura, Dan Tom and Brian “Goze” Garcia answer that question with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode on YouTube or in podcast form below.

Dana White announces three UFC title fights to headline three pay-per-views in early 2024

Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis, Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria, and Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera are all lined up.

According to UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag], the promotion has three pay-per-view main events lined up for the first quarter of 2024.

White on Monday posted a video on social media to announce three title fights that will headline three separate pay-per-views to open the new year: [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] will defend his middleweight title vs. [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] in January; [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] will put his featherweight title on the line against [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] in February; and bantamweight champ [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] will face [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] in March.

Only Strickland vs. Du Plessis has an official date of Jan. 20 at UFC 297, with Toronto as the location, according to ESPN. White did not include specific dates or locations for Volkanovski vs. Topuria or O’Malley vs. Vera in his video announcement.

Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) getting the title shot at 185 pounds is a break for the South African as the announcement comes on the heels of Khamzat Chimaev suffering a torn hand ligament in his fight with Kamaru Usman last month at UFC 294. White said prior to UFC 294 that the Usman-Chimaev winner would be next in line to challenge Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC). Chimaev won by majority decision.

Du Plessis was set up to challenge then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya after he finished ex-champ Rober Whittaker this past July, but he couldn’t make an eight-week turnaround because of injury. As a result, Strickland got the title shot instead at UFC 293 and dominated Adesanya for five rounds to dethrone the two-time champ.

Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) will return to featherweight after a second failed attempt at claiming the lightweight title with another loss to Islam Makhachev last month. Volkanovski took the rematch with Makhachev on less than two weeks’ notice and was knocked out with a head kick in the first round at UFC 294. His only two losses in the UFC are to Makhachev at lightweight. Volkanovski will aim to make his sixth consecutive defense of his featherweight belt when he faces undefeated Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who is coming off a five-round unanimous decision win over Josh Emmett this past June in the UFC on ABC 5 headliner.

O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) vs. Vera (23-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) is a rematch of their August 2020 fight that “Chito” won by first-round TKO. It’s the only blemish on O’Malley’s career, which he’s always disputed as being legit because he was injured during the finishing sequence. O’Malley is looking to defend his belt for the first time after claiming it from Aljamain Sterling this past August at UFC 292. That same night, Vera defeated Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision for his fifth victory in his past six fights.

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Charles Oliveira reacts to reports of UFC 297 rematch with Islam Makhachev

Charles Oliveira is eagerly awaiting a date to rematch Islam Makhachev, but claims to be surprise at new reports about UFC 297 in January.

[autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] is eagerly anticipating a date for his rematch with [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag], but claimed to be surprise at new reports of a January clash at UFC 297.

Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) was forced to withdraw from his anticipated second encounter with lightweight champ Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) at UFC 294 this past month. He sustained a cut over his eye in one of his final departure training sessions, causing him to pull out and be replaced by Alexander Volkanovski, who was knocked out in the first round.

UFC CEO Dana White expressed interest in booking Oliveira vs. Makhachev 2 next at 155 pounds, but it would depend on how quickly Oliveira’s cut healed. According to the Brazilian, he is nearing a return to full contact training.

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“It was quite a deep cut,” Oliveira said on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 231 post-event show in Sao Paulo. “I don’t have any planned, scheduled fights at the moment. We get to take our time to get a good recovery, so I might go back into training in about a week or so.”

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani reported Saturday that the promotion is working on booking the rematch at UFC 297 on Jan. 20, which is expected to take place in Toronto. Oliveira claims he was unaware of that, and has yet to be contacted with any offers.

“We just heard this from the locker room,” Oliveira said. “People were asking us on the messages about getting it. This is the first time we heard about it. That’s the timeline, January maybe. So who knows?”

Oliveira suffered a second-round submission loss to Makhachev in their vacant title encounter at UFC 280 in October 2022. “Do Bronx” rebounded from that defeat with a second-round TKO of Beneil Dariush at UFC 289 in June, and will look to avenge his loss and regain the strap whenever the details become official.

“You’ll see the Charles you always see, always going forward, always going for the submission, for the knockout, going for the win,” Oliveira said. “I want to be champion. I want to be the next champion. That’s what I want.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.

Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva for vacant women’s bantamweight title set for UFC 297

More than seven months after Amanda Nunes announced her retirement from MMA, a new women’s bantamweight champion will be crowned by the UFC.

More than seven months after Amanda Nunes announced her retirement from MMA, a new women’s bantamweight champion will be crowned by the UFC.

Streaking contenders [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] and [autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag] are slated to clash in a vacant 135-pound championship fight at UFC 297, which takes place Jan. 20 and is expected to go down at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, though the location has not been officially announced.

Multiple people with knowledge of the situation verified the booking to MMA Junkie following an initial report from Ag Fight. The people requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Pennington (15-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) has been a staple of the weight class since its inception. Her fight at UFC 297 will mark her 17th women’s bantamweight appearance, the most in divisional history. Her current five-fight winning streak is the best run of that tenure, and she will look to make good on her second chance at gold after taking a lopsided beating from Nunes in her initial opportunity at UFC 224 in May 2018.

Looking to deny Pennington will be Brazil’s Bueno Silva (10-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC), who is unbeaten in her past four fights. She’s proven to be a dangerous finisher inside the octagon, and although her most recent submission win over Holly Holm was overturned due to a drug testing issue that resulted in a short suspension, it was evident in that fight that Bueno Silva was prepared for the top level.

The latest UFC 297 lineup now includes:

  • Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – for vacant women’s bantamweight title
  • Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
  • Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Chris Curtis
  • Garrett Armfield vs. Brad Katona
  • Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
  • Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
  • Jimmy Flick vs. Malcolm Gordon
  • Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
  • Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.

UFC 297 targets Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev featherweight contender showdown

The rumored UFC return to Toronto targets Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev to its 2024 fight card.

A key featherweight bout is targeted for the first UFC pay-per-view of 2024.

At UFC 297 on Jan. 20, contenders [autotag]Arnold Allen[/autotag] (19-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will collide in a three-round bout, pending finalization. While no location has been announced for the event, Toronto has been rumored as the frontrunner.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the targeted booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. News of the matchup was first reported by Twitter user @judobetter995 with the date first reported by ING.fights.

Allen, 29, looks to bounce back from a loss to Max Holloway in April. Despite a five-round unanimous decision defeat, Allen was competitive and was cheered heavily by the Kansas City, Mo. crowd for his effort. The defeat was his first in the UFC and snapped a 12-fight winning streak.

Evloev, 29, is a former M-1 Global champion who’s struggled to find willing opponents in the UFC. Key victories include wins over Dan Ige and Hakeem Dawodu. He most recently competed in May when he defeated promotional newcomer and short-notice replacement Diego Lopes by unanimous decision.

No other fights have been announced for UFC 297 at this time.