UFC on ABC 1 – Page 4 – Syndication Server

UFC on ABC 1: Austin Lingo full post-fight interview

Austin Lingo spoke to the media after UFC on ABC 1 on Fight Island, Abu Dhabi.

UFC on ABC 1 play-by-play and live results

Check out live play-by-play and official results from UFC on ABC 1 in Abu Dhabi, featuring ex-champion Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar.

ABU DHABI – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Saturday’s UFC on ABC 1 event, and you can join us for live play-by-play and official results beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT).

The event takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on ABC and streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+.

In the main event, former featherweight champion Max Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) tries to snap a two-fight skid against Calvin Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC). In the co-feature, Matt Brown (22-17 MMA, 15-11 UFC) meets fellow longtime UFC fighter Carlos Condit (31-13 MMA, 8-9 UFC) at welterweight.

Follow along with our round-by-round updates and official results beginning at approximately noon ET for the ESPN+ prelims and 3 p.m. for the main card on ABC/ESPN+.

To discuss the show, be sure to check out our UFC on ABC 1 discussion thread. You can also get behind-the-scenes coverage and other event notes from on-site reporters John Morgan (@MMAjunkieJohn) and Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) on Twitter.

Enjoy the fights, everyone.

UFC on ABC 1: Phil Hawes vs. Nassourdine Imavov bout scratched from preliminary card

The featured preliminary card bout between Phil Hawes and Nassourdine Imavov has been scratched from the UFC on ABC 1 card for undisclosed reasons.

[autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag]’ second UFC outing has been put on hold after his middleweight bout against [autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] was scratched from Saturday’s UFC on ABC 1 card.

MMA Junkie confirmed the news following an initial report from RT Sport, as the UFC’s first fight card of 2021 drops from 11 to 10 fights. No reason has been given for the bout’s cancellation.

Contender Series graduate Hawes (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) kicked off his UFC career in spectacular fashion with his 18-second knockout of Jacob Malkoun earning him “Performance of the Night” bonus check at UFC 254 last October.

He was all set to take on Russian-born, French-based Imavov (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who also made a winning start to his UFC career last year with a unanimous decision victory over Jordan Williams at UFC on ESPN 16, also in October.

The pair were all set to showcase their skills in the featured preliminary card spot in Abu Dhabi. But undisclosed circumstances have now forced the bout off the card.

UFC on ABC 1 takes place Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on ABC and ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+.

With the change, the revised lineup for UFC on ABC 1 includes:

MAIN CARD (ABC, ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET)

Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar
Matt Brown vs. Carlos Condit
Li Jingliang vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Joaquin Buckley vs. Alessio Di Chirico
Punahele Soriano vs. Dusko Todorovic

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 12 p.m. ET)

Phil Hawes vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Joselyne Edwards vs. Wu Yanan
Omari Akhmedov vs. Tom Breese
Carlos Felipe vs. Justin Tafa
Mike Grundy vs. Nik Lentz
Ramazan Emeev vs. David Zawada
Vanessa Melo vs. Sarah Moras
Jacob Kilburn vs. Austin Lingo
Gaetano Pirrello vs. Ricky Simon

What’s happening with Khabib Nurmagomedov? Dana White will reveal all at UFC on ABC 1

UFC president Dana White will reveal all about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s fighting future during the UFC on ABC 1 broadcast on Saturday night.

MMA fans waiting impatiently to discover the results of [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag]’s meeting with Dana White won’t have to wait too long.

UFC president White hopped on Instagram to reveal that he would be making an appearance just before the main card of UFC on ABC 1 to reveal the outcome of his chat with the current UFC lightweight champion, with the wording of his statement offering plenty for fans to speculate about before his appearance on ABC later this evening.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKGuO08DTDr/?igshid=10bhw96y6ga86

“I met with Khabib Nurmagomedov last night, and today at three o’clock on the east coast, on ABC the network, I’m going to talk about his decision, and how it’s going to impact the Poirier-McGregor fight next weekend, and the co-main event in the lightweight division.”

Make of that what you will. Could it mean Khabib’s relinquishing the title, with Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor fighting for the vacant belt at UFC 257?

Could it mean the co-main event between Michael Chandler and Dan Hooker will become a number-one contender fight?

And does this all rule out any sort of return for Nurmagomedov, or could he still return, possibly to face Georges St-Pierre?

There’s a lot of questions still hanging in the air, but we should know a lot more when Dana steps in front of the ABC cameras later tonight.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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Fight Game on the ‘Gram: Max Holloway’s best posts before UFC on ABC 1

Check out some of Max Holloway’s most popular Instagram posts ahead of UFC on ABC 1.

Social media is part of life in the fight game for most fighters. Many of them turn to Instagram to keep their fans and followers informed and entertained since (for now) its reputation is less vitriolic than some of its contemporaries.

Ahead of his fight against Calvin Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC), check out some of the most popular Instagram posts from former featherweight champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) over the past year.

Holloway and Kattar headline UFC on ABC 1, which takes place Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on ABC and ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+.

Fight Game on the ‘Gram: Calvin Kattar’s best posts before UFC on ABC 1

Check out some of Calvin Kattar’s most popular Instagram posts ahead of UFC on ABC 1.

Ahead of his fight against former featherweight champion Max Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC), check out some of the most popular Instagram posts from [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) over the past year.

Kattar and Holloway headline UFC on ABC 1, which takes place Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on ABC and ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+.

Video: What big surprise could come from UFC run on ‘Fight Island’?

Here are three bold predictions for the UFC’s upcoming three events on “Fight Island.”

The UFC’s 2021 campaign kicks off with a bang Saturday, as the promotion launches the fight schedule with three cards in a week on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.

You already know about the big main events on the way, from the UFC on ABC 1 clash between [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] and [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag], to the UFC on ESPN 20 main event between [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] and [autotag]Neil Magny[/autotag], leading up to the big one, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] at UFC 257.

But even when the big fights deliver, something often comes out of the blue to steal the show and the headlines. Could that be the potential barnburner between Michael Chandler and Dan Hooker? Or maybe the long-awaited Carlos Condit-Matt Brown fight finally happening? Or maybe someone rises up from an undercard?

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Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Nolan King, and Brian “Goze” Garcia weighed in during this week’s episode.

You can watch in the video above.

https://youtu.be/wInzJfahRRM

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UFC on ABC 1 predictions: We’re split down the middle on Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar

Check out our staff members’ predictions for the UFC on ABC 1 main card in Abu Dhabi.

	Holloway vs. Kattar	Brown vs. Condit	Jingliang vs. Ponzinibbio	Buckley vs. Di Chirico	Soriano vs. Todorovic
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2021: 0-0	Holloway (68%)	Condit (63%)	Ponzinibbio (82%)	Buckley (85%)	Todorovic (57%)
Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2021: 0-0 2020 Champion	Holloway	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Soriano
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2021: 0-0	Kattar	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Soriano
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2021: 0-0	Holloway	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Todorovic
Nolan King @mma_kings 2021: 0-0	Kattar	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Soriano
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2021: 0-0 2014 Champion	Holloway	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Todorovic
Simon Head @simonhead 2021: 0-0 2019 Champion*	Holloway	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Todorovic
Brian Garcia @thegoze 2021: 0-0 2017 Champion	Kattar	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Soriano
Simon Samano @SJSamano 2021: 0-0	Holloway	Brown	Jingliang	Buckley	Soriano
Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2021: 0-0	Kattar	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Todorovic
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2021: 0-0 2018 Champion	Holloway	Brown	Jingliang	Buckley	Soriano
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2021: 0-0	Kattar	Brown	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Soriano
John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2021: 0-0	Kattar	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Soriano
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2021: 0-0	Holloway	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Todorovic
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2021: 0-0	Kattar	Condit	Ponzinibbio	Buckley	Soriano

The UFC is back for its first event of 2021 – and the first of three cards in eight days on “Fight Island.”

UFC on ABC 1 takes place Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on ABC and ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, former featherweight champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) takes on [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC). Holloway is a slight favorite at BetMGM at -165, but for the first headliner of the year, our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts are split down the middle at 7-7.

In the co-feature, longtime UFC welterweights [autotag]Matt Brown[/autotag] (22-17 MMA, 15-11 UFC) and former interim champion [autotag]Carlos Condit[/autotag] (31-13 MMA, 8-9 UFC) meet. Condit is the slight favorite, but he’s got a big 11-3 lead from our pickers.

Also on the main card, [autotag]Li Jingliang[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is a heavy underdog at welterweight against [autotag]Santiago Ponzinibbio[/autotag] (27-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), and Ponzinibbio has a big 12-2 lead in the picks.

[autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is the only unanimous pick from our staff members in his middleweight fight against [autotag]Alessio Di Chirico[/autotag] (12-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC). He’s nearly a 3-1 favorite at the sports books, and he’s got a 14-0 shutout from our staff members.

And to open the main card, [autotag]Punahele Soriano[/autotag] (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is a slight underdog at middleweight against [autotag]Dusko Todorovic[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC). Both are undefeated, but it’s Soriano with a 9-5 picks lead.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Holloway (68 percent), Condit (63 percent), Ponzinibbio (82 percent), Buckley (85 percent) and Todorovic (57 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

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Argentina’s Santiago Ponzinibbio pays tribute to Diego Maradona at UFC on ABC 1 weigh-ins

Argentina’s Santiago Ponzinibbio took the opportunity to pay tribute to the late Diego Maradona during his faceoff with Li Jingliang on “UFC Fight Island.”

[autotag]Santiago Ponzinibbio[/autotag] could be forgiven for feeling a little emotional heading into his bout with Li Jingliang at UFC on ABC 1 on Saturday night.

The Argentine welterweight will be making his first appearance inside the UFC octagon since his fourth-round knockout of Neil Magny back in November 2018. Since that win, a succession of unfortunate luck with illness threatened not just to delay his return, but threaten his entire career, as he battled a staph infection, then a bone infection in his leg.

Now Ponzinibbio is back to full fitness and ready to go. He made weight at Friday’s official weigh-ins after tipping the scale at 171 pounds, then, during his faceoff with Jingliang, produced a banner paying tribute to Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona, who passed away in November.

.@SPonzinibbioMMA and @UFCJingliang honored the late Diego Maradona during their pre-fight faceoff. 🇦🇷⚽#UFCFightIsland7 | More: https://t.co/LOiMnTmKXP pic.twitter.com/9WODduSAUz

— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) January 15, 2021

For the initiated, Maradona is considered a deity in his homeland, and led a largely workmanlike Argentina side all the way to win the 1986 World Cup, as he almost single-handedly dragged the team to the title in Mexico.

Ponzinibbio will be the first to admit that he will never achieve the god-like status of the man considered by many to be soccer’s greatest-ever player, but he’ll hope to do his bit to lift sporting spirits back home with a win on his return on “UFC Fight Island” on Saturday night.

UFC on ABC 1 official weigh-in highlights, faceoffs and photo gallery

All the pre-fight activities are in the books for UFC on ABC 1 following official weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs.

All the pre-fight activities are in the books for UFC on ABC 1 following Friday’s official weigh-in and fighter faceoff.

Everyone made weight for Saturday’s card, which takes place at Etihad Arena on Yas Island and airs on ABC and streams on ESPN+ following prelims ESPN+. That includes headliners Max Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) and Calvin Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC), who meet in a key matchup of featherweight contenders.

[jwplayer aK2wm0WH-RbnemIYZ]

At the conclusion of weigh-ins, the athletes from all 12 bouts on the card came face-to-face for a final staredown. There was a mix of high intensity and friendliness across the board.

Check out the faceoff highlights in the video above, and a photo gallery from all of Friday’s happenings below.

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