Tag: Zhu Rong

Fresh Ink: Meet the 10 fighters the UFC signed in November 2023

Find out who joined the UFC in November and learn more about them here.

The UFC roster is bigger than ever – and it continues to expand.

Fresh faces appear on nearly every card, whether onboarded as short-notice opening fillers, “Dana White’s Contender Series” signees, or rare straight-up additions. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of the hustle and bustle of the mixed martial arts news beat, but here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got you covered.

“Fresh Ink” is your list of fighters added to the UFC roster the previous month and provides background on who they are and where they came from.

Check out the November 2023 list below.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 30-Nov. 5)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Oct. 30-Nov. 5.

Brandon Jenkins replaces COVID-positive Dakota Bush at UFC Fight Night 192 vs. Zhu Rong

COVID-19 has impacted Saturday’s UFC event.

UFC Fight Night 192 has been hit with a change caused by COVID-19.

Lightweight [autotag]Dakota Bush[/autotag], who was set to compete in his second promotional bout Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas vs. [autotag]Zhu Rong[/autotag], has tested positive for the virus and is out of the fight. Stepping in his place will be [autotag]Brandon Jenkins[/autotag], a fighter coming off a brutal flying knee knockout last month at 2021 PFL Playoffs 3.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Jenkins (15-7 MMA, 0-0 UFC) enters his UFC debut on a three-fight winning streak, which includes the aforementioned knockout of UFC alum Jacob Kilburn, as well as a violent spinning back elbow KO against Jordan Hinman in November.

The youngest fighter on the UFC roster, Rong (17-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) enters the fight coming off an unsuccessful promotional debut. At UFC 261 in April, Rong lost a unanimous decision to Kazula Vargas. The defeat snapped a 10-fight winning streak for the 21-year-old.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 192 lineup includes:

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

  • Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann
  • Devin Clark vs. Ion Cutelaba
  • Nikolas Motta vs. Cameron VanCamp
  • Mandy Bohm vs. Ariane Lipski
  • Christos Giagos vs. Arman Tsarukyan
  • Antonio Arroyo vs. Joaquin Buckley

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

  • Tafon Nchukwi vs. Mike Rodriguez
  • Pannie Kianzad vs. Raquel Pennington
  • Tony Gravely vs. Nate Maness
  • Brandon Jenkins vs. Rong Zhu
  • JP Buys vs. Montel Jackson
  • Sarah Alpar vs. Erin Blanchfield
  • Carlston Harris vs. Impa Kasanganay
  • Heili Alateng vs. Gustavo Lopez
  • Hannah Goldy vs. Emily Whitmire

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