5+ hour, 22+ min ago (495+ words) Payton Talbott reacts to being Henry Cejudo's final opponent at UFC 323 Payton Talbott and Henry Cejudo never thought they would be fighting each other, but now they will in'what looks to be'Cejudo's last hurrah. Cejudo faces Talbott in a bantamweight main card matchup at UFC 323 this Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Talbott admits he was a bit surprised the UFC went in this direction with the matchmaking, but there was no way he could turn it down. While Cejudo is known for having a bit of fun, and riling up his opponents during his fight weeks, Talbott says he's ready for anything Cejudo brings in his direction since he has familiarity with the Olympic gold medalist. "We kind of know each other," Talbott told MMA Fighting. "We're pretty familiar, so it would take a lot to like really…...

6+ hour, 22+ min ago (390+ words) Katie Taylor and UFC legend Ronda Rousey could meet in cross-over fight Katie Taylor vs. Ronda Rousey could be more than just a rumor. Following BoxingScene's report that a bout between Taylor, a legend in boxing, and Rousey, a legend in MMA, is in the works, the publication spoke to Taylor and the 39-year-old Irishwoman confirmed there is interest on her side in making a cross-over fight happen. "[Rousey's] an iconic figure herself in female sport," Taylor told BoxingScene. "She has an amazing mentality. You don't get to the position she's in without a fantastic mind, without a fantastic mentality. "It's just a very interesting fight. Seeing all the headlines this morning, I was thinking, "OK, I'm up and ready for this fight." In her fighting prime, Rousey was a dominant force in the UFC's bantamweight division and a consistent…...

8+ hour, 22+ min ago (424+ words) Heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk doesn't like Jake Paul's chances against Anthony Joshua Oleksandr Usyk spent over an hour in the ring with Anthony Joshua across two fights so he knows exactly what Jake Paul is facing in the biggest test of his career. While Usyk won both fights before conquering every major title to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, he understood the danger that Joshua represented as a former Olympic champion with legitimate one-punch knockout power. That's why Usyk just doesn't see a way for Paul to pull off this upset no matter how much he might tout himself as a serious challenger to beat Joshua on Dec. 19. "If Anthony Joshua wants, he will kill this guy," Usyk told Boxing Scene. "Listen, a lot of questions, blah, blah, blah " Anthony Joshua is an Olympic champion, first. Jake Paul, yeah a…...

9+ hour, 22+ min ago (282+ words) UFC 323 is headlined by Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan 2 UFC 323 goes down this Saturday in Las Vegas, and it will be the final event of the UFC's era on ESPN+ pay-per-view, and Joe Rogan will be on the call. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion's plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Rogan will join Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier for this weekend's card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In the main event, Merab Dvalishvili looks for his record setting fourth title defense of the year as he faces Petr Yan in a rematch. Additionally, Megan Olivi serves as the roving reporter, while Din Thomas will be on the broadcast team with coach's commentary throughout the card. On Friday, Cormier joins Laura Sanko, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, and host Dan Hellie for the UFC 323 weigh-in show during…...

10+ hour, 22+ min ago (467+ words) Gina Carano hasn't fought since 2009 but she can still throw hands in training Gina Carano technically never retired, but there's no telling if she's actually plotting a comeback after posting new training footage that showed her throwing hands with Merab Dvalishvili's head coach. Recognized as a pioneer in women's MMA, Carano was arguably one of combat sports' biggest stars at the peak of her career where she was primarily competing in Strikeforce. Following a loss to Cris Cyborg in 2009, Carano effectively put MMA behind her as she turned her attention towards an acting career. That doesn't mean she doesn't still love throwing hands occasionally after posting some training footage working at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas with head coach John Wood, who also leads Dvalishvili into battle on Saturday in the UFC 323 main event. "Grateful to be here for my…...

11+ hour, 22+ min ago (274+ words) UFC champion Tom Aspinall has no return date yet Tom Aspinall's fighting future remains unclear. Aspinall has provided regular updates on his recovery'and fired back at critics, including UFC CEO Dana White'and on Monday, Uncrowned shared footage of Aspinall discussing his next move with eye specialist Dr. Aws Al-Hity. Watch a clip below, courtesy of UFC on TNT. "And then what he's going to do if he's in a fight situation, he's not going to be dealing with it. He doesn't want the ache in the eye, and he also doesn't want to have double, so what he's going to do is tilt his head." For now, Aspinall isn't even sure when he'll be permitted to fully train again, much less fight. "It's a long road ahead, but the prognosis is guarded at the moment," Al-Hity told Aspinall. "I would…...

11+ hour, 36+ min ago (351+ words) Alex Perez and Charles Johnson face off at UFC 324 UFC 324 continues to add depth as the promotion kicks off the Paramount era. MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz and Mike Heck confirmed with sources with knowledge of the matchup that Alex Perez (25-10) and Charles Johnson (18-7) are set to meet in a flyweight bout at the Jan. 24 show, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout was first teased by Johnson on his social media. Both flyweights are currently ranked in the top 15 of the UFC's official rankings. Perez makes a quick turnaround following a third-round submission loss to Asu Almabayev in November. The 14-year veteran has dealt with numerous bout cancellations in recent years and looks to return to the form that once had him challenging Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight title at UFC 255 in 2020. He has fought just…...

12+ hour, 22+ min ago (395+ words) The UFC 324 main card is set to kick off at 9 p.m. ET on Jan. 24 from Las Vegas. The UFC officially launches its broadcast partnership with Paramount on Jan. 24 and with that comes a new start time for the major numbered events. Now it appears that this change is permanent with officials confirming to MMA Fighting that the new start time expected to serve as the standard for all major numbered events moving forward. This actually happened once in the past with the UFC experimenting with an earlier start time for the pay-per-view cards several years ago but it was short lived with the promotion eventually returning to the regular 10 p.m. ET launch. That's not the case any longer with the UFC airing events on Paramount+ starting in January with all of the events coming under the standard subscription price for the streaming…...

14+ hour, 22+ min ago (627+ words) Belal Muhammad calls for a change with penalties for eye pokes in the UFC. Belal Muhammad knows a thing or two about how eye pokes can dramatically alter the course of any fight. After his first encounter against Leon Edwards ended in a no-contest following a brutal eye poke, the former UFC welterweight champion suffered de ja vu in his most recent fight with Ian Machado Garry. The action was paused a couple of times after Muhammad complained about eye pokes but the referee didn't administer any punishment such as deducting a point for Garry committing the foul. Ultimately, Muhammad lost a unanimous decision but he believes Garry actually used the eye pokes strategically to gain an advantage. "What did we see in the fight? Obviously, we didn't see much," Muhammad said on his YouTube channel. "Got poked in the…...

16+ hour, 22+ min ago (597+ words) Was Dana White's UFC 324 announcement weird? Sean O'Malley was as confused as many fans when UFC 324's title fights were announced. White's halftime segment was brief and he went on to hype up several other newly official bouts on Instagram Live, but overall the reception to the news didn't exactly shake up the MMA community. On his YouTube channel, O'Malley criticized the quality of the announcement and theorized it was because the matchmakers actually wanted to pair Pimblett with lightweight champion Ilia Topuria. "I was so disappointed in the announcement. " The No. 1 fight promoter in the world absolutely brings the energy when he goes on live on Insta or YouTube, he brings the energy," O'Malley said. "This one felt weird. My theory is it was supposed to be Paddy vs. Ilia, that's what was supposed to happen and they were…...