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
- Fresh off a successful UFC debut, former OKTAGON champ Felipe Lima (13-1) will face off against Miles Johns (15-2) at the promotion’s December 14th card. Lima won his first UFC appearance in June, submitting Muhammad Naimov with a rear naked choke. Johns is looking to end his year with a third consecutive win, coming off decision victories over Cody Gibson and Douglas Silva de Andrade in recent months.
- Both aiming to bounce back from their first UFC loss, Billy Goff (9-3) and Nikolay Veretennikov (12-5) will face off at the promotion’s February 15th show, per Goff’s management team. While ex-CES champ Goff won his UFC debut in 2023, he’s now coming off a “Fight of the Night” loss against Trey Waters from May. Kazakhstan’s Veretennikov dropped his UFC debut in August, losing a split decision to Danny Barlow.
- Two more fights have been added to UFC’s February 22nd card, which is rumored to go down in Seattle, Washington, USA:
- “Dana White’s Contender Series” stand-out Islam Dulatov (11-1) will make his promotional debut against Adam Fugitt (10-4), per Fugitt’s management. Former OKTAGON talent Dulatov had a quick win in his “Contender Series” showing, putting away Vanilto Antunes in less than three minutes with strikes. Fugitt, a fighter who has flipped between wins and losses since joining the UFC roster in 2022, is returning after a split decision victory over Josh Quinlan.
- Fighting Nerds gym member Jean Silva (14-2) will try to continue his impressive winning streak with a fight against Melsik Baghdasaryan (8-2), as first reported by AgFight. Silva has finished all three of his past UFC opponents, most recently getting past Drew Dober due to a doctor stoppage. Baghdasaryan has been out of the cage for more than a year, with a trio of cancelled bouts keeping him on the sidelines since his last fight. His most recent bout was a decision win in July 2023, beating Tucker Lutz.
PFL Europe
- A change has been made to the PFL Europe finals, which is scheduled for next weekend in France. Undefeated flyweight Shanelle Dyer (6-0) has withdrawn from her grand final matchup against Paulina Wisniewska (4-0), per the promotion. Replacing her will be Valentina Scatizzi (3-3), who will be competing in the division’s championship bout for the second straight year.
RIZIN
- A flurry of fights has been announced for RIZIN’s New Year’s Eve card, along with the title fights which have been written about here at Knockdown News:
- A high-level clash between flyweight contenders has been booked: Former UFC talent and ex-Brave CF Champion Jose Torres (12-3-1) will make his promotional debut, facing former CFFC champ Makoto Shinryu (18-3-1). Torres will be searching for his first win in over a year, coming off a pair of title fight losses as part of his Brave CF trilogy rivalry against Nkosi Ndebele. Shinryu, who failed at last year’s New Year’s Eve card to capture the promotion’s inaugural flyweight title against Kyoji Horiguchi, will try to continue regaining momentum. While he beat low-level prospects Lee Jung-hyun and Kenta Hayashi in recent months, he also dropped a bout to vet Hiromasa Ougikubo in July.
- 18-year-old prospect Kyoumi Akimoto (7-0) will get the biggest matchup of his career when he appears against veteran Yuki Motoya (36-12). Akimoto has earned a pair of wins since debuting in RIZIN earlier this year, stopping vet Kintaro and recently beating kickboxer Hiroaki Suzuki. Motoya, who will be making his 20th RIZIN appearance, will be trying to end his year with a third consecutive win.
- RIZIN Super Atomweight Champion Seika Izawa (14-0) will return in a mismatch non-title fight against Lucia Apdelgarin (2-3). Izawa’s last appearance was a decision win against the retiring Kanna Asakura back in September. Apdelgarin, a significantly less experienced fighter, is coming back to MMA after a two-fight kickboxing run in Japan recently.
- The long-lasting wave of kickboxers turning to MMA in RIZIN will continue on New Year’s Eve, as both Taiga (0-0) and Genji Umeno (0-0) will debut in the sport against each other. Taiga is returning to RIZIN for the first time since 2022, coming back after putting together a multi-fight winning streak in kickboxing promotion Rise which has led him to a title win. Umeno appeared once on a RIZIN show earlier this year, beating Uoi Fullswing in a kickboxing bout.
- Experienced talents Koji Takeda (16-7) and Suguru Nii (19-12) will aim to get back into the win column when they fight later this month. Nii had a five-fight winning streak, including a 2023 Pancrase title win, brought to an end in July with a submission defeat to Kazumasa Majima. Takeda has been unsuccessful as of late, as RIZIN has thrown him some of the toughest fights possible at featherweight. After defeats against names like Gadzhi Rabadanov and Tofiq Musayev, Takeda has lost four of his past five.
Cage Warriors
- Cage Warriors has announced their first events for 2025:
- The promotion’s 2025 schedule will kick off on March 8th with a trip to Rome, Italy.
- The promotion is planning to host a doubleheader from March 14th to 15th. The first night will be part of the promotion’s invite-only “Unplugged” series, with the second being a normal show from the BEC Arena in Manchester, England.
- A week later, Cage Warriors 186 will go down at The Indigo At The O2 in London, England on March 21st.
- Then on April 26th, the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland will present Cage Warriors 187.
- The RDS in Dublin, Ireland will play host to Cage Warriors 188 on April 26th.
Other
- Alberta, the Canadian province where amateur MMA fighter Trokon Dousuah passed away last month following a three-round decision victory, has appointed a name to lead a new committee which will focus on improving combat sports safety. Victor Cui, a co-founder and current CEO of the promotion’s international wing, has been tapped for the role by Alberta’s Sports Minister Joseph Schow, per the Canadian Press. Cui notably resides in Edmonton, Alberta.
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