Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Former UFC champ Julianna Peña will debut as a desk analyst for UFC Fight Night 214 on Saturday.
The UFC schedule continues this week with UFC Fight Night 214 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
As always, some marquee on-air talent will be there to help guide viewers through the experience.
Details of who will work as commentators and analysts for each event have been acquired by MMA Junkie through a person with knowledge of the situation, and you can see the scheduled broadcast team below.
We want your predictions for UFC Fight Night 214 in Las Vegas, which features Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Lemos in the main event.
We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 214 event in Las Vegas.
Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Thursday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the UFC Fight Night 214 main card staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. UFC Fight Night 214 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
Make your picks for the fights below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 214.
After his scrapped bout at UFC Fight Night 213, Mark Madsen has been booked a week later.
After his scrapped bout at UFC Fight Night 213, [autotag]Mark Madsen[/autotag] has been booked a week later.
Madsen (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) was scheduled to face Drakkar Klose (13-2-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) on Saturday’s event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, but the fight was canceled after Klose injured his ACL.
Instead, Madsen will now take on [autotag]Grant Dawson[/autotag] (18-1-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 214 on Nov. 5, which also takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. MMA Junkie confirmed the booking after an initial report from Combate.
Unbeaten as a professional, Madsen is coming off a unanimous decision win over Vinc Pichel at UFC 273 in April. Prior to that, the Olympic silver medalist wrestler edged out veteran Clay Guida at UFC on ESPN 29 last August.
After battling Ricky Glenn to a majority draw last October, Dawson scored a third-round submission of Jared Gordon at UFC on ESPN 35 in April. The 28-year-old, who’s yet to lose in the octagon, recently made a permanent move to American Top Team.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 214 lineup now includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 214.
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Bryce Mitchell has to wait. Brazilians Marina Rodriguez and Amanda Lemos will meet in the new UFC Fight Night 214 main event Nov. 5.
[autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] and [autotag]Amanda Lemos[/autotag] originally were supposed to fight Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
They were rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 214 next month in Las Vegas, and now it appears extra exposure will be their reward for waiting.
The women’s strawweight fight between Brazilians Rodriguez (16-1-2 MMA, 6-1-2 UFC) and Lemos (12-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) now will be that card’s main event Nov. 5 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. UFC officials made the announcement during the UFC 280 broadcast.
The card’s original headliner was to be between [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Movsar Evloev (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) until Evloev pulled out with an injury. And though Mitchell had other fighters who lobbied for the fight, he’ll instead have to wait to fight another day.
Rodriguez has won four straight fights. Her current run started with a bonus-winning knockout of Amanda Ribbas in early 2021. She followed that up with decision wins over Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Mackenzie Dern later that year. In March, she took a split decision from Yan Xiaonan.
Lemos had a five-fight winning streak snapped by Jessica Andrade in April, but rebounded in July with a second-round submission of Waterson-Gomez at UFC on ABC 3. Prior to the Andrade loss, her five-fight run included a Fight of the Night win over Angela Hill in late 2021.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night 214 lineup now includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 214.
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Bryce Mitchell needs an opponent for the UFC Fight Night 214 main event in early November. Damon Jackson knows a guy.
[autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] needs an opponent for the UFC Fight Night 214 main event in early November. [autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag] knows a guy.
That guy, Jackson said, is him.
Jackson (22-4-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Friday posted a video on Twitter in which he lobbied for the spot in the headliner against Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), whose original opponent, Movsar Evloev, pulled out of the Nov. 5 card with an injury.
Mitchell said Dan Ige is going to fight Ilia Topuria because Topuria can’t make featherweight for a matchup with Mitchell, so he wants the Mitchell fight on short notice.
“So apparently Dan Ige and Ilia Topuria are fighting because Ilia can’t make weight for the Mitchell fight, and it’s like I’m sitting here begging for the damn fight. Just so everybody knows, I am begging for the fight,” Jackson said in his video post. “I’m thinking, who else is begging to take a fight on a one-week or two-week notice? Who the hell else is doing this? I’m just trying to fight one more time this year, and I want a ranked opponent. I want someone in the top 10, someone in the top 15, and it’s like, this is my opportunity to step in and I’m ready to go, Bryce Mitchell. I’m more country than you. I want the fight, man. Give me the fight.”
So @Topuriailia is fighting @Dynamitedan808 and I am begging for the @ThugnastyMMA match up, and no one else can make weight @ufc give me a shot 🤜👊💪 pic.twitter.com/RjjqbNvCBt
— Damon Jackson (@damonbjackson) October 21, 2022
Jackson has won four straight fights since a first-round knockout loss to Topuria in December 2020. After an October 2021 win over Charles Rosa, Jackson has gone 3-0 in 2022 with a submission of Kamuela Kirk, decision over Daniel Argueta and a 69-second TKO of Pat Sabatini in September that won a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Mitchell was set to headline a UFC card for the first time against Evloev. He’s a perfect 6-0 in the UFC after Season 27 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which got him his start in the promotion. His three most recent wins have been decisions over Rosa, Andre Fili and Edson Barboza, the latter of which came in March after a layoff of about 16 months.
Bryce Mitchell still is in need of an opponent for his first UFC main event, and it sounds like he’d be just fine with one candidate.
[autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] still is in need of an opponent for his first UFC main event, and it sounds like he’d be just fine with one candidate.
[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) lost his next opponent, too, and nearly two weeks ago, he predicted a matchup between him and Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).
Saturday, Mitchell responded with a video posted to his Twitter account.
“I see I’m getting called out by Ilia Topuria now to fight,” Mitchell said. “He wants to go on Twitter and post a picture of his abs, his little perfect 8-pack or whatever. Hey, buddy – you see (my stomach)? You see that, buddy? I’ve been eating peanut butter cookies for three weeks now and I’ll still get off the couch and whoop your ass, buddy. I don’t give a damn about them abs. Let’s go, buddy. I’m tired of you putting my name in your mouth. (You) shouldn’t have done it.
U wanted it pic.twitter.com/p0cGVvTwRB
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) October 16, 2022
Mitchell was supposed to headline UFC Fight Night 214 against Movsar Evloev, but Evloev pulled out of the fight. The unbeaten Mitchell, from Arkansas, has three straight decision wins over Charles Rosa, Andre Fili and Edson Barboza, the latter of which came in March after a layoff of about 16 months.
Topuria was set to fight Barboza until the Brazilian was forced out with an injury in late September. Not long after that, was when Topuria learned Mitchell was going to need an opponent, too, and started his callout. He’s coming off a second-round knockout of Jai Herbert in March, which was his third straight finish in the UFC.
UFC Fight Night 214 takes place Nov. 5 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
The latest UFC Fight Night 214 lineup includes:
Bryce Mitchell isn’t happy with Movsar Evloev.
Undefeated UFC featherweight [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] isn’t happy with his originally scheduled UFC Fight Night 214 opponent pulling out of their matchup, especially considering the amount of trash talk he received.
On Thursday, news broke that Mitchell’s opponent and fellow undefeated 145-pound fighter Movsar Evloev withdrew from their main event bout due to an undisclosed injury.
In a video posted to Twitter, Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) expressed his frustration with Evloev (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), considering the amount of “harassment” and “bullying” he received in the lead up to the bout.
“So after months of harassing me and bullying me on the social media, Movsar pulls out of the fight,” Mitchell said. “And might I say, I’ve never been so bullied in my life. And I don’t really accept the victim mentality, it don’t really bother me, it just pisses me off, you know? It makes me want to go in there and punch him right in his face.
Movsar pulled out imagine that pic.twitter.com/AuODgwlikE
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) October 15, 2022
“He says all these things on me on social media about how I’m a coward, and I’m a dumbass, and this and that, and that and this. I’ve never been so harassed in my life. … So you can say what you want, but when it comes down to it, this guy was ready to go. All them words, that’s f*ckin’ cheap, man. Them words don’t mean a f*ckin’ thing. I was gonna show up and give you a piece of my mind. And it wasn’t going to be in English, buddy. It was going to be with these (fists).”
Mitchell explained how Evloev, his team, and fans messaged him constantly on social media in the days leading up to the now-canceled bout. He also stated he is dealing with things hurting on his body as well, but was still prepared to show up for the main event bout to perform.
Regardless, as it stands, Mitchell is left without an opponent for Nov. 5.
However, it appears Mitchell would like to remain on the card and addressed a prior call out from fellow featherweight Sodiq Yusuff, who is coming off a 30-second submission win at UFC Fight Night 211.
Sadiq since u been callin me out I’m gunna accept ur offer. I kno u ain’t scared but I’m worried u got too fat! Haha it’s all luv Sadiq but u kno dam well I ain’t lyin. Make the weight and let’s do it brother
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) October 15, 2022
Sadiq since u been callin me out I’m gunna accept ur offer. I kno u ain’t scared but I’m worried u got too fat! Haha it’s all luv Sadiq but u kno dam well I ain’t lyin. Make the weight and let’s do it brother
Unfortunately, Mitchell will have to continue to look elsewhere for an opponent if he would like to fight on his originally planned date, because Yusuff is not in a position to make another weight cut in three weeks.
🤣 you are absolutely correct Bryce. If we fight its definitely not happening in November at this point
— Sodiq Yusuff (@Super_Sodiq) October 15, 2022
“You are absolutely correct Bryce,” Yusuff wrote on Twitter. “If we fight, it’s definitely not happening in November at this point.”
Mitchell’s last bout was a unanimous decision victory against Edson Barboza at UFC 272 in March, which was his return from a 16-month absence from competition.
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The first UFC event of November will need a new headliner after an injury to Movsar Evloev.
The first UFC event of November has lost one-half of the featherweight main event.
[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] was scheduled to meet Bryce Mitchell in the headlining bout of UFC Fight Night 214 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Nov 5. However, due to injury, Evloev (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has pulled out of the contest, leaving Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) without an opponent.
A person with knowledge of the unspecified injury confirmed the news to MMA Junkie following an initial report from ESPN Deportes.
The bout between top 15 featherweights in the USA TODAY SPORTS/MMA Junkie rankings was first agreed to last month, with both fighters putting their undefeated records on the line.
At the time of reporting, it is unclear how the UFC will proceed with the main event, or if Mitchell will remain on the card and face a new opponent.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night 214 lineup includes:
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