Tag: UFC 311

Alex Pereira took no satisfaction in Jamahal Hill’s UFC 311 loss

Alex Pereira claims he received no joy in watching rival Jamahal Hill suffer a loss at UFC 311.

MIAMI – [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] says he received no joy in watching rival [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] suffer a loss at UFC 311.

Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who’s experienced issues with Pereira since his first-round TKO defeat last April at UFC 300, was halted by third-round TKO against Jiri Prochazka at this past Saturday’s event at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.

Pereira was cageside for the contest, and poked fun at both his former opponents, claiming he was watching his “kids” fight. Just weeks prior, too, Pereira and Hill got into a minor verbal confrontation at the UFC Performance Institute.

With the volume of talk that’s come from Hill over the past 10 months, it’s reasonable to think Pereira would take some satisfaction from what he witnessed at UFC 311. However, he said that’s far from the case.

“I have absolutely no problem with him,” Pereira told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “We’re both the same. Sometimes I’ll go and make some fun before the fight. Or he will (say something about me). But tomorrow we’re going to hold hands and respect each other. I think all the turmoil that was created is part of the sport.”

Hill has made his desire to rematch Pereira very clear, but the result at UFC 311 was a significant setback as long as “Poatan” holds the belt. For Prochazka (31-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC), however, he put him back in the running for another crack at the champion, whom he lost to at UFC 295 in November 2023 and UFC 303 in July.

Pereira, who is set to return for his fourth title defense at UFC 313 on March 8 in Las Vegas vs. Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC), said he’s indifferent to the idea of a third encounter with Prochazka.

“He’s No. 2, but whatever he is, I’m here to fight,” Pereira said. “If he’s No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, I’m just here to fight anybody.”

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Din Thomas explains why cardio isn’t UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili’s biggest strength

Din Thomas thinks UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili’s best attribute isn’t cardio.

[autotag]Din Thomas[/autotag] thinks UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag]’s best attribute isn’t cardio.

Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) retained his title when he outlasted Umar Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) by unanimous decision this past Saturday at UFC 311 from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.

After losing the first two rounds on two of the three judges’ scorecards, Dvalishvili took over. While Dvalishvili’s cardio was as impressive as always, Thomas says it’s not what won him the fight.

“I attribute a lot of Merab’s success to his – which is a skill in itself, it’s an under-appreciated skill in itself – and that is his ability to stay comfortable at all times,” Thomas told MMA on SiriusXM. “Nothing makes him uncomfortable. Like, missing a shot? ‘I don’t care.’ Losing two rounds in the beginning? ‘I don’t care.’

“Nothing makes him panic, and he still keeps the same pace. Nothing breaks him. That is a remarkable skill, and I think that’s his biggest strength. It’s not his cardio. I think his ability to just stay focused on task and remain comfortable while he’s doing it is his greatest asset.”

Dvalishvili was a sizable underdog heading into the fight, but was able to remain unbeaten for his 12th straight fight. His past four wins have come over formerly undefeated Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley, Henry Cejudo, and Petr Yan.

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Why is UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili’s cardio unmatched? One fighter’s theory is interesting

Could yelling all the time really be the key to UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili’s success in the cage?

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] has an interesting theory as to why UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag]’s gas tank is unmatched.

Dvalishvili, who’s affectionately known as “The Machine,” put his impressive cardio on display again this past Saturday at UFC 311 where he outpaced Umar Nurmagomedov for a unanimous decision by taking over the championship rounds.

Dvalishvili was very emotional in the lead-up to his fight against Nurmagomedov, with many warning him about the amount of energy he was expending. However, Sandhagen thinks Dvalishvili’s emotional outbursts actually have a positive effect on his performances.

“Obviously the decider in this fight was Merab’s conditioning,” Sandhagen said on his YouTube channel. “I know the answer to it. I’m almost certain that this is what it is: It’s that Merab – just because of the nature of who he is, the yelling that he does throughout the day, I think is what does it for him.

“Merab is always yelling. He’s always yelling at someone. He’s always yelling at fans, he’s always doing something that’s working those lungs of his. So, I think that’s what it is. That gives Merab this amazing conditioning.”

Sandhagen could be on to something.

According to the National Library of Medicine, “yelling promotes maximal muscular power and exerts a significant effect on the intensity of cardiorespiratory responses.”

Although Dvalishvili’s win over Nurmagomedov was his first successful bantamweight title defense, it was his 12th consecutive win dating back to 2018. Throughout his streak, Dvalishvili has used his masterful wrestling to push a relentless pace, which has proven difficult for his opponents to keep up with.

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Chael Sonnen thinks Umar Nurmagomedov beat Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311

In Chael Sonnen’s opinion, the wrong man got his hand raised in the UFC 311 co-main event.

In [autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag]’s opinion, the wrong man got his hand raised in the UFC 311 co-main event.

Bantamweight champion [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) retained his title when he outlasted [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) by unanimous decision this past Saturday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.

Sonnen thought the fight came down to one round, and that Nurmagomedov should have been crowned the victor.

“I thought Umar won the fight,” Sonnen said in an Instagram post. “When they announced Merab, I thought there was going to be a lot of boos. I was alone. I thought they were going to give Umar Rounds 1, 2 and 3. I think anybody would’ve agreed that it comes down to Round 3. (Rounds) 4 and 5 were very clear, 1 and 2 were very clear. Do you agree with that? I can’t come and tell you that Merab is the better fighter.

“That’s not what I saw, particularly if we’re talking about being dynamic, if we’re talking about being crisp, and we’re talking about clean techniques – and that isn’t an insult to Merab. It’s just a reminder that in this sport, those matches will get to a point where better athlete, better martial artist, doesn’t always come in. It is a battle for 25 minutes of duration, of your ability to keep up.”

Two judges had Dvalishvili losing the first two rounds, then rallying to win the last three. The third judge had Dvalishvili winning four rounds, and Nurmagomedov only winning Round 2.

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Umar Nurmagomedov shows off post-surgery repaired hand after UFC 311 loss to Merab Dvalishvili

Now four days into the first loss of his career, Umar Nurmagomedov has a new souvenir from the experience.

Now four days into the first loss of his career, [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] has a new souvenir from the experience.

Nurmagomedov early Thursday posted an image on his Instagram Stories of a screw in the index finger of his now surgically repaired broken left hand. The break, his manager said earlier in the week, came in the first round of his unanimous decision loss to champ Merab Dvalishvili in their UFC 311 bantamweight title fight this past Saturday.

Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), a cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, was more than a 2-1 favorite in the fight as the challenger. He started well against [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) in the co-main event, but faded in the final three rounds and dropped a unanimous decision.

Nurmagomedov won the first two rounds from two of the three judges, but dropped the next three. A third judge gave the fight to Dvalishvili 49-46. In addition, every media outlet tracked by MMA Decisions had the fight scored 48-47 for Dvalishvili.

Despite that, Nurmagomedov said he thinks he won the fight. The title defense was Dvalishvili’s first after he beat Sean O’Malley to win the belt in 2024.

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Johnny Walker details injury that forced him out of UFC 311, recent camp change

Withdrawing from UFC 311 was a tough pill to swallow for Johnny Walker.

Withdrawing from UFC 311 was a tough pill to swallow for [autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag].

Walker (21-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) was seeking new life ahead of his light heavyweight matchup against Bogdan Guskov this past Saturday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., but he was forced out due to a “bad injury.”

Walker was in the midst of a big life change after deciding to leave Dublin, Ireland for the U.S. and bring his family with him. So when he could no longer compete, it weighed heavily on him.

“Yeah, that was really hard for me,” Walker told MMA Junkie in an interview facilitated by OnlyFans. “It was a lot for me because I just moved from Ireland. I spent the last four years in Ireland training at SBG under John Kavanagh. Then I moved country, I brought my wife, my baby, and my dog to a new country, a new house. I had to finish the house, make a lot of bags and aside of that, I started a training camp in a new environment with new coaching and new training partners. It was a lot.

“I was so committed to training. I went to Gilroy, trained with DC, did a lot of sparring with Strickland in Vegas at Xtreme Couture, trained with Eric, a new coach. I put a lot of effort into making this fight happen. It was a lot of stress, mentally and physically. I put a lot of myself into this camp. Around all of this situation, I invested a lot of money. Then something happened. I was very upset because I put so much effort and money and time to make this happen, but we cannot control.”

Walker revealed that it was a rib injury that forced UFC doctors to pull him from the fight.

“It was nothing stupid,” Walker said. “I was doing the last sparring, very technical, timing. I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. It was hard sparring, but very conscious. I was trying to get out of a jiu-jitsu position and throw myself, like a normal thing, and then I felt my ribs pop. I said, ‘OK, stop, stop, stop.’ I think something happened to my ribs. Then I tried to keep fighting, I stood up again, started moving. I was like, ‘Wait, something’s wrong.’ Then I had to stop to check what happened so it doesn’t get worse.

“Then I got an X-ray the next day. The UFC got the results, and then they pulled me out after that. They knew how bad the injury was. I got the notice and was devastated because I was trying so hard. So much effort and so much timing. …I’m doing a lot of physiotherapy to heal. You can’t do much with rib injuries. You just have to stop, wait, and let it heal. It takes time, four to six weeks, and I’ll be back on track. It is what it is. I’ve never hurt my ribs before.”

Walker, who’s targeting a return in April or May, is grateful for the time he spent training under John Kavanagh at SBG. However, he explained why he didn’t feel like the training environment was suited for him.

“We had the best coach there. John was a very high-level coach,” Walker said. “He did the best for me. He improved my game a lot, but I just had one or two training partners. The last fight against (Volkan) Oezdemir, I was adapting myself to get ready as best as I could for the fight. I was doing boxing sparring in the ring. … In the fight, you can see I brought him close to the fence, which was wrong because I was sparring in the ring. You can’t spar in the ring and fight in the octagon. It’s totally different. In the octagon, if you step close to the fence, the guy is going to take you down, or the guy is going to knock you out because when you’re close to the fence, it’s the worst place to be. The guy (Oezdemir) knocked me out because I brought him to the fence.

“This is the worst thing you can do in MMA. The environment wasn’t perfect for MMA. At SBG, I had just one training partner. Here in Vegas, I have the UFC PI for strength and conditioning, for nutrition, for recovery. At Xtreme Couture, I have high-level guys between top 10 and top 15. Light heavyweight and heavyweight, and Sean Strickland. Every day I have a high-level guy to train with. You need challenges, and now at Xtreme, I have that challenge. …I have everything now for recovery, for nutrition, for training, coaching. Now the light heavyweights are in trouble. Now you’re going to have the best version of Johnny Walker because I’m just going to be better. Now my career is going to fly.”

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Cory Sandhagen believes he has style to dethrone UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili

Cory Sandhagen is confident that he has the answer to UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili’s game.

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] is confident that he has the answer to UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag]’s game.

Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) retained his title when he rallied to defeat Umar Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) by unanimous decision this past Saturday at UFC 311 from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. Sandhagen is coming off a five-round main event loss to Nurmagomedov at UFC on ABC 7. While he knows he won’t be next in line for a title shot, he likes how he matches up against Dvalishvili.

“Umar’s definitely a really good fighter,” Sandhagen said on his YouTube channel. “He beat me. He’s better than I am stylistically. That being said, styles make fights. If you’re going to be a guy that fights against Merab, you have to have really, really, really good footwork and be able to defend the takedowns in an energy efficient way. Merab has fought O’Malley, beat him pretty decisively. Yan, beat him pretty decisively. Umar, beat him pretty decisively. Those are the three guys that are ahead of me. I should be next in line.”

Even though Sandhagen knows better than to call for the next title shot, that doesn’t mean he isn’t confident that he could be the one to dethrone Dvalishvili.

“I know that that’s kind of a tough sell, so I’m not going to try to sell you guys on that because you guys know I don’t like doing that,” Sandhagen said of a callout. “… I do think that if there is a style that beats Merab, it’s one that can control the space the best. And say whatever you want about my style, what you have to say about it is I probably have the best footwork in the division. If not the best, way, way up there. I hold space, keep space, close it, open it better than anyone else in the division in my opinion. That’s what’s going to beat Merab. So when I get to fight him, I’m really excited to see how that gets to look like.”

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Usman Nurmagomedov ‘a little surprised’ by brother Umar’s UFC 311 loss to Merab Dvalishvili

Usman Nurmagomedov reacts to brother Umar’s title loss to Merab Dvalishvili this past Saturday at UFC 311.

UFC champion and undefeated. Those are two labels [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] thinks his brother [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] should have today.

Usman, the Bellator lightweight champion, was surprised to see Umar lose a unanimous decision to bantamweight champ [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] in the co-main event of this past Saturday’s UFC 311 in Inglewood, Calif. Umar, who had a good start to his championship fight but later faded, lost 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46 on the judges’ scorecards. This took Usman by surprise.

“Honestly, I was a little surprised because I thought Umar won the first three rounds,” Usman told MMA Junkie. “When they said ‘and still,’ I thought they were going to say ‘and still undefeated.’ But anyway, Alhamdulillah. Of course, this has some effect on me, but I try to keep it inside of me. I don’t want to talk about that with people.”

Usman (18-0) returns to the cage Saturday as he defends his Bellator lightweight title against Irishman Paul Hughes (13-1) in the main event of PFL’s Road to Dubai card.

Although not happy to see his brother lose, Usman is staying positive. He believes this is just a bump in Umar’s road to become UFC bantamweight champion.

“It’s just one step back for the streak, you know, Inshallah,” Usman said. “All good Alhamdulillah for everything, we’re always thankful for God, and this time the same thing. Nothing changes.

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Javier Mendez feels bad for Arman Tsarukyan, hopes Islam Makhachev fight rebooked

Javier Mendez says “no fighter should have to go through what that poor guy did” and hopes Arman Tsarukyan still gets his shot.

UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag]’s coach wants the [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag] fight rescheduled.

Tsarukyan pulled out of his title fight against Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) just one day before UFC 311 due to a back injury. Makhachev faced Renato Moicano instead, submitting him in Round 1 this past Saturday at Intuit Dome.

UFC CEO Dana White was not pleased with Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) withdrawing on Friday and said he now needs to work his way back up to a title fight.

[autotag]Javier Mendez[/autotag] hopes that’s not the case.

“I feel bad for him because no fighter should have to go through what that poor guy did,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “He trained so hard for this, earned the right to fight for the title, deserving the right to fight for the title, and only be out because of an injury, not because of anything else.

“I feel bad for him because it just reminded me of what happened to Khabib (Nurmagomedov). Same thing as him, so I wish him a speedy recovery, and I hope he doesn’t have to take another fight before he gets a title shot. I hope the UFC gives him that opportunity.”

If Tsarukyan isn’t next, Mendez wants a fresh challenge for Makhachev.

“Justin Gaethje because he hasn’t fought him,” Mendez said.

Gaethje will first have to get through Dan Hooker on March 8 in the UFC 313 co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Also waiting in the wings is Charles Oliveira, whom Makhachev submitted in their vacant lightweight title fight at UFC 280.

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Payton Talbott says he learned ‘valuable lessons’ at UFC 311 in first statement since loss

Payton Talbott suffered defeat for the first time at UFC 311 – and also apparently got his first scar.

[autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag] entered UFC 311 with a heck of a lot of hype – and exited with not only his first loss, but his first scar.

During Saturday’s prelims at Inuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., Talbott (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) was upset by veteran fighter Raoni Barcelos (19-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) when he lost a unanimous decision.

After four days of silence, Talbott released a statement Wednesday on Instagram in which he said he learned valuable lessons in defeat.

“The vet gave me my first scar. May the skin heal itself to be strong and never split again. lucky to have such people in my life. fortunate to be able to learn valuable lessons. still had fun.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFIvYnVSuH8/?img_index=1

Talbott, 26, was a -1209 favorite on average across major online sports books, per Best Fight Odds. The return on Barcelos was +750 on average. Perceived by many to be a budding star, Talbott had only gone the distance once prior to Saturday’s result. He had finished his three prior UFC appearances, submitting Nick Aguirre and knocking out Cameron Saaiman and Yanis Ghemmouri.

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