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
- The sentencing for former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez has been pushed back to March 24th. Velasquez pleaded no-contest to a series of charges last year, including attempted murder, convicting him but allowing the MMA star to avoid the mandatory life sentence that would come with the crime. The charges stemmed from a 2022 incident where Velasquez allegedly engaged in a high-speed chase with Harry Goularte, a man accused of molesting his son. He allegedly fired multiple rounds into the vehicle carrying Goularte, giving another passenger a non-life-threatening injury.
- UFC CEO Dana White, commentator Joe Rogan, and former champion Conor McGregor were all present for U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday. Both White and Rogan played huge roles in influencing the election of Trump, with many experts saying they both contributed to a growth of the Gen-Z vote for the Republican leader: White’s UFC gave Trump a massive spotlight at numerous pay-per-view broadcasts in the lead-up to the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, providing him a huge and uncritical spotlight. Trump was also interviewed on The Joe Rogan Experience before the election, a discussion which has since garnered more than 50 million views.
- Two fights have been recently confirmed for UFC 312 on February 8th from Sydney, Australia:
- Victoria’s Jake Matthews (20-7) will face off against Francisco Prado (12-2). 20-fight UFC vet Matthews is returning after earning a decision win against Phil Rowe in July. Prado will be trying to bounce back from his “Fight of the Night” loss against Daniel Zellhuber from just under a year ago.
- 2022-23 “Road To UFC” winner Park Hyun-sung (9-0) will search for his second UFC win when he faces Mongolia’s Nyamjargal Tumendemberel (8-1). Park advanced his undefeated record with an impressive UFC debut in late 2023, stopping Shannon Ross in the second round with strikes. Following more than a year out of the cage he returns to face Tumendemberel, who dropped his UFC debut to Carlos Hernandez via split decision in November.
- Vitor Petrino’s (11-2) heavyweight debut will have to wait. An elbow injury has forced Petrino out of his March 8th matchup against Jhonata Diniz (8-1), as first reported by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting. Petrino was aiming to bounce back following a pair of losses at 205 pounds. We currently don’t know whether Diniz will get a new opponent.
PFL
- A clash between rising middleweight prospect Yakub Sulimanov (7-0) and PFL veteran Jarrah Al-Silawi (20-7) has been removed from Saturday’s PFL “Champions Series” card in Dubai.
- Vadim Nemkov (18-2) recently told MMA Fighting his side of the story regarding a cancelled bout against Corey Anderson (18-6): “We didn’t even consider him as an opponent to begin with,” he said in a recent interview. “But when it was announced, we talked to PFL, we asked them to renegotiate the contract, offer better money or ask for the contract to be for a title fight let’s say, for the heavyweight division title with the belt on the line but the PFL refused to do so.” Nemkov was previously criticized by Anderson, who alleged that he was dodging a fight against him.
- Nemkov also mentioned frustration with the inactivity he has faced while under the PFL banner, mentioning his interest in possibly leaving if his treatment doesn’t change: “I can’t fight once a year,” he said. “This is something I cannot afford to do. So if they’re going to give me good contracts, good names, I’m ready to stay.”
- You can read the full story here, or watch Damon Martin’s interview with Nemkov at this link.
OKTAGON
- Will Fleury (14-3) will chase yet another OKTAGON belt when he faces Lazar Todev (11-6) for the promotion’s heavyweight title on March 8th in Stuttgart, Germany. Ireland’s Fleury is coming off a light heavyweight title win from last month, putting together a one-sided five-round fight against veteran Karlos Vemola to prevail on scorecards. Todev was scheduled to face Hatef Moeil for the heavyweight title in December, but their fight fell through after Moeil refused to face penalties for causing a brawl at a press event. Moeil has since had his title stripped and been cut by the promotion.
- The card also includes a matchup between former UFC fighters Makhmud Muradov (27-8) and Joilton Lutterbach (39-10). Muradov suddenly departed the UFC roster last year and returned to OKTAGON with a decision win over Scott Askham. Lutterbach was briefly lined up to fight on the UFC roster in 2024 but was cut before his debut due to a failed drug test. The Brazilian vet has since returned to the regional scene and earned two victories.
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