Tag: UFC Fight Night 211

UFC Fight Night 211 weigh-in results: Perfect scale session in Vegas for Dern-Xiaonan main event

Check out the results from the official UFC Fight Night 211 fighter weigh-ins.

LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie was on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC Fight Night 211 fighter weigh-ins, where all 24 fighters on the card hit their marks.

In the main event, Mackenzie Dern (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) takes on Yan Xiaonan (15-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in a women’s strawweight contenders bout. Xiaonan was the first fighter to the scale in the two-hour official window and was 115.5 pounds. Dern hit the same number about 35 minutes later.

Just prior to the start of the weigh-ins, the women’s strawweight bout between Jessica Penne (14-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) and Tabatha Ricci (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was announced as off due to an illness for Penne that reportedly was not related to her weight cut.

The weigh-ins took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The same venue hosts Saturday’s card, which streams on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 211 weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

  • Mackenzie Dern (115.5) vs. Yan Xiaonan (115.5)
  • Randy Brown (170.5) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (170)
  • Raoni Barcelos (135.5) vs. Trevin Jones (135)
  • Don Shainis (146) vs. Sodiq Yusuff (145.5)
  • John Castaneda (139.5) vs. Daniel Santos (138.5) – 140-pound contract weight
  • Viacheslav Borshchev (155.5) vs. Mike Davis (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

  • Ilir Latifi (253) vs. Aleksei Oleinik (254)
  • Jesse Ronson (155.5) vs. Joaquim Silva (155)
  • Brendan Allen (186) vs. Krzysztof Jotko (185.5)
  • Maxim Grishin (205.5) vs. Philipe Lins (205.5)
  • Chelsea Chandler (140) vs. Julija Stoliarenko (139.5) – 140-pound contract weight
  • Guido Cannetti (135.5) vs. Randy Costa (135)

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UFC Fight Night 211 video: Mackenzie Dern, Yan Xiaonan make weight for main event

The main event is set for Saturday’s UFC show in Las Vegas after Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan made weight for their strawweight fight.

LAS VEGAS – The main event is set for Saturday’s UFC show in Las Vegas.

Mackenzie Dern (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and Yan Xiaonan (15-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) both made weight without issue for the UFC Fight Night 211 main event Friday at the UFC Apex. The same venue hosts Saturday’s card on ESPN+.

Xiaonan was the first fighter to come to the scale during the two-hour official weigh-ins window. She weighed in at 115.5 pounds. Dern came to the scale about 35 minutes into the proceedings and weighed in at 115.5, as well, to make the headliner official.

Check out the video highlights from their trips to the scale in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.

Jessica Penne illness scraps UFC Fight Night 211 bout with Tabatha Ricci

The day before the event, UFC Fight Night 211 has lost a women’s bout.

The day before the event, UFC Fight Night 211 has lost a women’s bout.

An illness has taken [autotag]Jessica Penne[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) out of her women’s strawweight bout against [autotag]Tabatha Ricci[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC). The fight had been set for the prelims. UFC officials made the announcement just prior to the start of the card’s official weigh-ins.

UFC Fight Night 211 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+. The loss of the Penne-Ricci fight takes the event down to 12 bouts.

Penne stepped in for the fight with Ricci just a month ago when Cheyanne Vlismas pulled out of the bout. But now, after the opponent switch, Ricci is left without a fight at all. It is not yet known if the UFC will reschedule the matchup.

Penne is 2-1 since returning from a layoff of nearly four years in April 2021. The 39-year-old is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Emily Ducote at UFC on ABC 3 in July. Prior to that, she beat Loopy Godinez and had a first-round armbar submission of Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

Ricci is on a two-fight winning streak. Since dropping her UFC debut to flyweight contender Manon Fiorot, the 27-year-old Brazilian has beaten Maria Oliveira and Polyana Viana.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.

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Don Shainis: Sodiq Yusuff a clean striker, but ‘I’m gonna make this ugly’

“I think he slows down, and I think I’m a grinder and I’m gonna make this ugly.”

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Don Shainis[/autotag] is looking to break [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag].

Shainis (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his octagon debut against Yusuff (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 211 main card, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

Although Shainis’ past three wins came in Round 1, he’s looking to wear Yusuff out gradually.

“I think he’s a clean striker,” Shainis told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 211 media day on Wednesday. “I think he slows down, and I think I’m a grinder and I’m gonna make this ugly.”

He continued, “I’m coming out the woodwork. I’m coming out of left field, so no one knows what to expect from me. Everyone’s looking at my paper stats which don’t mean sh*t, and I’m coming out here and I’m coming to grind and get my hand raised.”

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Fighting a ranked opponent on short notice appears to be a no lose situation for Shainis, but the newcomer doesn’t necessarily look at it this way.

“You think I came here to lose? I didn’t put in 10 years’ worth of work to lose,” Shainis said. “Losing happens, one of us is gonna lose, but I didn’t come all this way just to come this way, so my stock doesn’t go down regardless. This is win-win for me, f*ck it, but I’m here to win, don’t get it twisted.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.

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Raoni Barcelos aims to show off new version of himself at UFC Fight Night 211

“The big difference is my focus now, how I’m training now, and I’m gonna show you guys a completely different Raoni.”

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Raoni Barcelos[/autotag] vows he’s a changed fighter after suffering his first career losing skid.

Barcelos (16-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) faces Trevin Jones (13-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 211 main card, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

After a 5-0 octagon start, the former RFA champion has lost two straight to Timur Valiev and Victor Henry, which has forced him to make changes.

“After you have two losses, you have something to change, and I did it,” Barcelos told reporters through an interpreter at the UFC Fight Night 211 media day on Wednesday. “I trained completely different than my last two fights so I come back to when I was winning in RFA and right now, I feel very well. I’m training very well, completely different than last time, so I’m very confident to show you guys how it is right now.”

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He continued, “I respect Jones as I respect all my opponents. He’s a tough opponent like all the opponents I fought before, that’s nothing different. But right now, the big difference is my focus now, how I’m training now, and I’m gonna show you guys a completely different Raoni.”

Watch the video of Barcelos’ complete pre-fight media availability above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.

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Trevin Jones eager to rematch Saidyokub Kakhramonov: ‘Make the weight and beat me’

“As soon as Said drop a fight, I want Said again because the boy didn’t even make weight.”

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Trevin Jones[/autotag] wants to run things back with [autotag]Saidyokub Kakhramonov[/autotag] after UFC Fight Night 211.

Jones (13-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will look to snap a two-fight losing skid when he meets Raoni Barcelos (16-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) on Saturday’s main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

One of those losses came to Kakhramonov (10-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 29, in a bout where Kakhramonov stepped in on short notice and missed weight by 2.5 pounds. Kakhramonov submitted Jones late in Round 3, but Jones wants a fair crack at the matchup.

“For sure I’m gonna get Said back,” Jones told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 211 media day on Wednesday. “If I get this Raoni fight, that’s gonna put me in a very nice position, but I don’t want no top 15, I don’t want nothing. As soon as Said drops a fight, I want Said again because the boy didn’t even make weight.”

He continued, “That fight has to happen again, has to. That’s the only fight I want right now. Right now I have an opponent in front of me, I’m very focused on Raoni. If they don’t give me him, I’ll be focused on my next guy, but if I had a chance to call anyone out or get any say, of course, I want that Said fight again.”

For Jones, the way Kakhramonov handled the win is what rubbed him the wrong way.

“When he won that fight he was like, ‘Oh three days’ notice, three days’ notice.’ The guy messaged me on Instagram at least eight days’ out and he was like, ‘Trev take the fight vs. me, take the fight vs. me,’ and I was like bro, whoever they call me, I’m not in charge of that. Whoever they call me, I’m fighting, and then it ended up being him. He ended up not making weight and winning. The way he acted about it, ‘Three days’ notice, three days’ notice,’ like a dick. I don’t respect that.

“I respect he beat me, of course, it’s a sport. He’s not supposed to come out there and lose, but make the weight and beat me. I think if he made that weight, four pounds down, that’s four pounds of him working and four pounds of him rehydrating. That’s a big difference and the way I was controlling him in the fight, I think that would have been the difference. So, I don’t think that fight should be held against me because boy didn’t even come correct.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.

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UFC Fight Night 211 breakdown: Can Yan Xiaonan stop Mackenzie Dern’s grappling?

MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the UFC Fight Night 211 main event between Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan.

MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for UFC Fight Night 211.

Top UFC strawweight contenders [autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag] and [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] clash in the main event as they both look to get one step closer to a title shot. Dern (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) holds the No. 5 spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie women’s strawweight rankings, while Xiaonan (15-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is not too far behind at the No. 9 spot.

Will Xiaonan be able to snap a two-fight skid and stifle the high-level grappling of Dern? Or will the BJJ ace make it two wins in a row against top competition at strawweight?

UFC Fight Night 211 takes place Saturday at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The  card airs on ESPN+.

Check out the video above for Tom’s breakdown of the fight and prediction.

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Randy Brown: ‘Uncle’ Francisco Trinaldo slowing down with age, but still has power to put welterweights away

“He’s older now so he’s slowing down and you could see that. But still, what’s the last thing to go with age? That power.”

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Randy Brown[/autotag] won’t underestimate [autotag]Francisco Trinaldo[/autotag].

Brown (15-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) and Trinaldo (28-8 MMA, 18-7 UFC) square off in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 211 co-main event, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

Looking to extend his winning streak to four, Brown had nothing but praise for the Brazilian.

“I was honored,” Brown told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the UFC Fight Night 211 media day on Wednesday. “Uncle Trinaldo has been around for a long time. That’s someone I’ve been watching from even before I got into the game. He’s a vet so ton of respect there, you already know what it is. So, it was an honor and it will be an honor to face him.”

Brown may be facing a 44-year-old veteran, but knows Trinaldo is still dangerous.

“Unc got power,” Brown said. “We know unc got power, we’ve seen it. He’s always bringing crazy energy when he fights, he’s a little Tasmanian devil. He’s older now so he’s slowing down and you could see that. But still, what’s the last thing to go with age? That power. You see him coming up and putting welterweights away so I’d be a fool to be like, ‘Oh well, I just need to coast and get through the rounds.’ Nah, he’s coming with that energy and I’m gonna have to meet him halfway just like that. So, a ton of respect but unc gotta get it.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.

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UFC Fight Night 211’s Sodiq Yusuff didn’t want prep ‘to go to waste’ after Giga Chikadze withdrew

“We put in a lot of work. I can’t let all that go to waste. I gotta get something at the end of the day.”

LAS VEGAS – Regardless of the opponent, [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] wanted to compete at all costs.

Yusuff (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) was originally scheduled to face Giga Chikadze at UFC Fight Night 210, but after Chikadze was forced out due to injury, he ended up drawing Don Shainis (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) two weeks later in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 211 card.

A rather anticlimactic change for Yusuff, who went from a top 10 ranked featherweight to a UFC newcomer. But the 29-year-old, who hasn’t competed since defeating Alex Caceres in March, wanted all that hard work to amount to something.

“I gotta go get my check,” Yusuff told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the UFC Fight Night 211 media day on Wednesday. “To be honest, the pay was a big motivator, but outside of that too, I took the fight with Giga maybe four months in advance. It was a long time when I signed the fight and we put in a lot of work. I can’t let all that go to waste. I gotta get something at the end of the day.”

He continued, “There is no letdown. This is a very crazy game. I try not to underestimate anybody, so I treat this guy the same way I treat Giga, the same way I would treat anybody in there. Every single one of my fights, I try to look at it like this is for the belt, so it’s definitely not a letdown. Once we get the fight over and done with, then we can look into the future, but for now, this guy is the main priority.”

Shainis may be making his octagon debut, but that doesn’t change much for Yusuff, who says he always extensively studies film on his opponents.

“He’s a grinder,” Yusuff said. “He throws a lot of looping shots and he tries to get in there in your face and tries to grind you out. Like I said, everybody I fight, I’m a big believer in watching film. I’ll never be a guy that comes in there and be like let’s just wing it. Ever since I was an amateur, I’ve always been film studier.”

UFC Fight Night 211 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.

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UFC’s Guido Cannetti finally at peace after struggling to cope with fighting career: ‘I’m happy with how far I’ve come’

Guido Cannetti enters UFC Fight Night 211 with a new mentality.

[autotag]Guido Cannetti[/autotag]’s outlook on his purpose and fighting career has vastly changed for the better.

The 42-year-old UFC bantamweight struggled for many years to feel fulfilled and content with his MMA career after suffering disappointing setbacks. However, making another return to the octagon this Saturday against Randy Costa (6-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 211, Cannetti (9-6 MMA, 3-5 UFC) feels happy and at peace with not only what he’s done in the sport, but also for what may be ahead.

It’s a feeling that evaded Cannetti for many years, but mentally speaking, he’s finally arrived at the place he’s long been searching for.

“Man, we’ve done interviews with me crying and others like today where I’m feeling my best, I’m happy, smiling, and giving it my all,” Cannetti told MMA Junkie in Spanish.

“With that alone, I’m at peace. Feeling great, that for me, it’s glory – being able to get to where I wanted to get and how I wanted to feel. Because I just wasn’t able to find a way to show up in a way where I could feel good and give it 100 percent. Now that I’m doing it, I feel joyful. I know Randy Costa is going to fight the best Guido ever.”

Everything changed for Cannetti after his most recent bout in March. With a first-round TKO over a tough Kris Moutinho, the Argentine was able to snap a three-fight losing streak that spanned almost four years.

It was a huge relief for Cannetti, as he hadn’t tasted victory since 2018 and felt he was fighting for his UFC job. But beyond being a winner, the true liberation came from the way Cannetti felt in the cage.

Cannetti, who entered the UFC with a lot of promise after competing in the first season of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, felt he was underperforming and never thought he lived up to expectations – even in his UFC wins. It was a strange feeling that had him doubting if he was cut out anymore to fight at the UFC level.

A radical change in nutrition and training ahead of his last fight, had Cannetti finally feeling like himself, which is all he asked for.

“In this last one, I showed up like never before,” Cannetti explained. “I felt incredible. And for this one, I think I’m coming in a little better, so I think this fight will show me where I’m truly at.

“If I win, then there’s more to give. And if I lose, well, I’m happy with how far I’ve come, but I’ll probably keep training, keep getting better and fight again. This is a decisive fight to see if the Guido that made those changes can continue in this manner or if it was, I don’t know, a luck factor, which I don’t think it was – I truly feel great.”

Cannetti feels the best he’s ever felt in his career – even now being in his early 40’s. He’s hoping this could be the start of a run of victories to finish out his fighting career.

“I hope that things turn out well, I really deserve it,” Cannetti said. “Maybe I’m not champion, but I could win a few consecutive fights and end my career with a little more money in the bank, so I could be more at ease and finish feeling happy, which is what I looked for the most.”

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No matter the result on Saturday, Cannetti is just happy he was able to persevere all these years, and finally get the type of performance he wanted. He hopes his story is an example to those who are struggling to live their dreams.

“The worst part about this sport is the result,” Cannetti said. “Winning and losing is what makes you compare yourself with others, and that can truly hinder you from really finding yourself and finding growth, as you’re looking at others. When you truly can judge yourself not based on your success and be able to look at the person who started training vs. the person that’s living today, and see how you improved over the course of time, that’s what’s truly important.

“If you’re going through a tough time, and bad things are happening, those are all just learning lessons. Keep moving forward because one day the sun will rise. All those things that are a struggle, in time it will be glory. Even if it seems that moment will never come, it will.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.

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