Welcome to the notebook, a quick catchup of all the smaller (but still important) stories from the world of MMA!
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Here are the latest stories we’re following:
UFC
- Former Fury FC Bantamweight Champion Cameron Smotherman (11-4) has received a short-notice call to compete on Saturday’s UFC card, stepping in to replace Brady Hiestand (8-2) in a fight against Jake Hadley (11-3), per Alex Behunin. Smotherman, who has put together a trio of wins on the regional scene since losing on the 2023 season of the “Contender Series,” has dominated the Texas-based Fury FC for years. As noted by Behunin, Smotherman had flown out to Saudi Arabia this weekend to corner PFL fighter Raufeon Stots. Recent Instagram posts show Smotherman cruising the streets of Riyadh on the lookout for a good restaurant in the area. With just a few days to prepare, Smotherman will now travel back to stateside for his UFC debut. Hadley is coming back after snapping a two-fight skid in July, beating Caolan Loughran on scorecards.
- An important news story to keep an eye out for: Judge Richard F. Boulware will host a hearing on October 22nd regarding the new settlement for Cung Le et al. v. Zuffa, also known as the UFC antitrust lawsuit. The hearing will be Judge Boulware’s first time appearing since a new $375 million settlement was brought forward, and since more than 100 fighters involved in the lawsuit submitted admissions which explained why they wanted the deal to be approved.
- Just days after his latest booking got cancelled, Chris Barnett (23-8) has received a new assignment. While he was originally booked to fight on Saturday against Junior Tafa, he is now expected to face Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-5) at UFC 308 on October 26th. Nzechukwu was first scheduled to fight Justin Tafa, who has since withdrawn from the matchup. Nzechukwu will be making his heavyweight debut after a pair of losses down at 205 pounds. Barnett will be making his return, competing for the first time since September 2022.
- Three more fights have joined UFC 310 on December 7th:
- A fight between veterans Vicente Luque (22-10-1) and Nick Diaz (26-10) has been re-booked. The bout, which was first set to happen on an August UFC card, is back on the schedule four months later. Diaz will be trying for his first win in over a decade, having suffered a trio of defeats since 2012. Luque is returning after losing to Joaquin Buckley earlier this year via stoppage.
- Rising welterweight Bryan Battle (11-2) will take on Randy Brown (19-5). Battle has put together a trio of finishes over the past year or so, including a bonus-winning stoppage over Kevin Jousset last month. 18-fight UFC vet Brown has put together a trio of wins as of late, most recently beating Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos.
- Brazilian heavyweight Tallison Teixeira (7-0) will make his UFC debut against Lukasz Brzeski (9-5-1). Teixeira earned his UFC contract on “Dana White’s Contender Series” last month, stopping Arthur Lopes in less than two minutes via strikes. Brzeski will try to begin turning around a rough UFC run, having won just one of his five fights for the promotion since 2022.
- With long-time rival Michael Chandler booked for a fight, it seems that Conor McGregor has turned his attention to a new opponent for his long-awaited return. In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, McGregor said he would return on February 1st as part of a card in Saudi Arabia against Dan Hooker. While Hooker told Submission Radio that he liked the idea, it seemed like the matchup was quite far out from actually being booked.
- UFC CEO Dana White said in a social media post that he has a “meeting this week to try and fix” the promotion’s rankings after railing against panellists for keeping Khalil Rountree Jr. at eighth after a loss to UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira. The UFC rankings are currently constructed by a series of media members around the sport.
- UFC Hall of Famer Donald Cerrone wants to come out of retirement for a pair of fights.
- Believe it or not, UFC was a key part of a recent “Saturday Night Live” sketch featuring pop star Ariana Grande. You can watch the full segment here.
Bellator
- Bellator Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen (15-0) recently revealed to MMA Fighting that he wasn’t told why his fight against Fabian Edwards (13-3) was moved from a September Bellator show in London to PFL’s pay-per-view card this weekend: “Not sure exactly what happened,” he said. “I was prepared to fight in London and I was actually pretty excited for it. But you know they moved it, I’m a company man so I did what they wanted me to do. They took care of me though, so there’s no issue and now I’m ready to go fight in Saudi Arabia.”
ONE Championship
- Grappling ace Kade Ruotolo (1-0) will make his second MMA appearance at ONE 169 on November 8th, facing Ahmed Mujtaba (10-4). Ruotolo had a successful debut in the sport earlier this year, submitting Blake Cooper in the first round with a rear naked choke. He’ll now meet Mujtaba, who has significantly more experience in MMA but has lost a pair of bouts since 2023.
Knockdown News 