The six-pack of contracts brought the total for Season 7 to 36 through eight weeks, leaving this season seven graduates behind the record number of contracts awarded last year.

Tuesday night, the four sets of hopefuls that remained on the lineup following Monday’s weigh-ins made the walk to the cage with designs on impressing the boss, and once again, the action was impressive and the boss liked a lot of what he saw.

All four winners — Mauricio Ruffy, Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, Victor Hugo, and Rodolfo Bellato — all got the call to the Octagon, as did light heavyweight Jose Daniel Medina, whose gutsy performance in a losing effort against Gadzhiyasulov sparked something in the UFC President that prompted him to offer him a contract.

That’s now 41 contracts this season heading towards a six-fight finale next week.

Here’s a look at how things played out on Tuesday night.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7 Week 9 Results

• Mauricio Ruffy defeats Raimond Magomedaliev by TKO (strikes) at 4:45 of Round 3
• Magomed Gadzhiyasulov (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) defeats Jose Daniel Medina by Unanimous Decision
• Victor Hugo defeats Eduardo Torres Caut by Submission due to a Kneebar at 2:16 of Round 2
• Rodolfo Bellato defeats Murtaza Talha by TKO (strikes) at 4:46 of Round 2

The post Week 9 Results & Scorecards | Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 7 appeared first on MMAInformed.

On Saturday, Pyfer steps in with Abdul Razak Alhassan, a battle-tested judoka with big finishing power and coming off a second-round stoppage win over Claudio Ribeiro in January. While consistency has largely eluded Alhassan over the course of his UFC career, the veteran 38-year-old has made 11 of his 17 career starts inside the Octagon, posting six stoppage wins, including a 17-second knockout of Alessio Di Chirico two fights back.

Order UFC 294: Makhachev vs Oliveira 2

For Pyfer, this is a second straight matchup against an experienced opponent, but one that is more than happy to engage with him on the feet and has the power to match what he brings to the table. Part of what makes this pairing so compelling — and Pyfer so intriguing overall — is that he actually comes from a grappling background, having wrestled in high school and practiced Brazilian jiu jitsu for quite some time.

This feels like an opportunity for “Bodybagz” to potentially show another layer of his game, but it could also just be an additional chance to showcase the knockout power that has largely carried him to this point in his UFC journey.

Joaquin Buckley

The post Fighters On The Rise | UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green appeared first on MMAInformed.

The first of this week’s two light heavyweight pairings features Jose Daniel Medina taking on Magomed Gadzhiyasulov.

A native of Bolivia, Medina is a 32-year-old veteran with an 11-2 record and six-fight winning streak. He has faced limited competition over the course of his career, but has largely handled his business accordingly, registering 10 wins inside the distance.

The 10 Biggest Fights Happening This October

A teammate of Talha, Gadzhiyasulov is similarly undefeated as a professional after enjoying a great deal of success in the amateur ranks. Like his opponent Medina, the 29-year-old Russian representing Bahrain has yet to face many experienced foes on the way to Las Vegas this week.

Matchups like this between somewhat untested, but largely successful, competitors can be difficult to forecast, as dominant outings against overmatched foes don’t always allow you to see the full depth of an individual’s talent. Tuesday’s contest should be a great measuring stick opportunity when it comes to assessing what each man brings to the table, and whether either is ready to compete on the biggest stage in the sport.

Mauricio Ruffy vs Raimond Magomedaliev

The post Week 9 Preview | Dana White’s Contender Series appeared first on MMAInformed.

Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!

The post Free Fights | UFC 294: Makhachev vs Oliveira 2 appeared first on MMAInformed.

During the visit, all three athletes met with pediatric patients and their families, providing inspiration and motivation along with UFC Big League Pillows, hats, blankets, and signed gloves.

“We had a really good time here today and brought a lot of smiles to these kids’ faces,” said Allen. “This is a great hospital, and they do a tremendous job of helping the kids and their families, and I’m glad we were able to come back this year.”

UFC’s corporate social responsibility program, #UFCInTheCommunity, strategically collaborates with partners, sponsors, and athletes to develop additional charitable programs and funding sources to help bolster and inspire the local community.

The post UFC Visits Primary Children’s Hospital In Salt Lake City As Part Of UFC 291 Fight Week appeared first on MMAInformed.

“The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was proud to partner with UFC for the inaugural Dick’s Sporting Good’s Back to School Shop with a Cop event,” said Rachel Skidmore, Las Vegas Metro Police Department Director of Office Community Engagement.  “It is important to note that this event represents so much more than material possessions.  This event represents empowerment.  All children deserve the right to succeed academically, and this is our community’s way of showing these children that we see them, we stand with them, and we are cheering them on from the sidelines for their best academic year yet.”

See What’s Happening In The Community

During the event, athletes and law enforcement officers joined more than 30 under-resourced kids from local areas across the Las Vegas Valley as they were able to shop for clothing, shoes, and accessories. UFC’s presenting sponsorship of the event provided each student with a $200 gift card and a free pair of Under Armour BSR-3 trainers, along with UFC-branded notebooks, and pens.

The post UFC Partners With LVMPD Foundation And Dick’s Sporting Goods For Back-to-School Event appeared first on MMAInformed.

“I had hit a point in my life where I really needed martial arts back in my life and started going back to the gym,” Gianatasio said. “Since I got hurt, I have more focus on my career.”

Gianatasio had a handful of amateur fights and simply enjoyed the process of training until a coach got in his ear and guided him into the professional ranks.

“My first coach ever, he had told me when I started again back in 2020, ‘If I were you, I would take one more fight and go pro.’ I took a fight in Mississippi for my professional debut last October against Terry Wilson. He was about 3-0, and it was a heavyweight.”

His professional debut wasn’t what he was hoping for, as he lost by doctor stoppage. Gianatasio explained that he missed the mark in the first round which proved to be a decision-altering mistake.

“I had him hurt multiple times and I made one mistake in the second round took some cuts and the doctor stopped it between the second and the third round,” Gianatasio said.

The post Gianatasio Looks to Shock At Fury Challenger Series 8 appeared first on MMAInformed.

1. I had to take into consideration where we were — we’re in his hometown-ish, you never know what the judges are looking at, and the last thing I wanted was another (Jared) Cannonier moment where we didn’t put the gas pedal down, and then…
    
2. I didn’t want Sean to be at C range; I wanted him to be at A range, where we fought the entire fight. I didn’t want him to run laps around the cage and just be done, and maybe we’ve done enough because that would also put us at a kicking range Izzy wanted us at where he could inflict some damage with hard, heavy kicks.

And the last thing, honestly Spence, was I wanted to put my foot on his throat; I wanted to make that statement in Round 5, put a stamp on that, and I think that last 30 seconds when Sean went off on him, screaming, really won the crowd over.

As a football player and guy that loves sports, that was going to be a moment I remember for the rest of my life. I just remember standing up and clapping. It was amazing. I wanted to watch my guy go HAM.

(I felt good) right after that first round when we got the knockdown and I said, “He’s no boogeyman, is he?” and he said, “No he’s not; he’s human just like us.”

In the back, he was nervous; I’ve never seen him that nervous.

We had a good conversation before we walked. Manel (Kape) won, and I ran back, and it was very quiet, very ominous. I let it sit for a second or two, and I just said, “Hey MF’er — you’re gonna beat this dude! I don’t care who believes in it — all that matters are the five of us in this room that believe you’re gonna win this fight. Now tell me!”

And he said, “I’m gonna win this fight.”

“Say it again.”

“I’m gonna win this fight!”

We all had a big hug, and I looked at him and said, “We’re in this s*** together!” and I felt his energy pick up a little bit. He said to me after the fight, “You motivate the s*** out of me. I look over at you and I feel like I can do anything. I appreciate your compassion and love towards me.”

And that’s it, man — sometimes you just need those guys next to you that believe in you.

It looked and sounded like you got a little emotion there talking about it. What’s it like for you to be a part of this one?

All of them are different, but Sean — everyone knows his story, a part of what makes Sean winning this title so great is that he’s a kid that bounced around from gym-to-gym because he couldn’t stay anywhere, and then he showed up at Xtreme, and you said, “Go do your thing, but when it’s time to dial in, when it’s time to focus, I need you listen, I need you to trust me.”

He did, and now he’s a world champion. What’s that like for you?

The post Coach Conversation | Eric Nicksick Discusses Sean Strickland’s Middleweight Title Victory appeared first on MMAInformed.

Speaking of fights, based off more than 858 fight combinations, these were the top 10 fights fans want to see:

1. Israel Adesanya vs Dricus Du Plessis
    
2. Jon Jones vs Sergei Pavlovich
    
3. Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria
    
4. Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington
    
5. Islam Makhachev vs Charles Oliveira
    
6. Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic
    
7. Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka
    
8. Khamzat Chimaev vs Kamaru Usman
    
9. Alexandre Pantoja vs Brandon Moreno 3
    
10. Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler

Fans have to be excited about what the UFC has cooking on their schedule, considering the fact that four of their ten dream fights are already booked and announced for 2023.

Edwards is set to face Covington on December 16 in Las Vegas, Makhachev and Oliveira run it back on October 21, Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic headlines UFC 295, which is UFC’s 30th Anniversary show at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 11, and Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira will fight for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in the UFC 295 co-main event.

View The Complete UFC Events Schedule

The other six dream fights that fans want to see are all very plausible and could happen in the near future.

Stay tuned to find out who won the matchmakers sweepstakes and to see some of your dream fights happen!

The post From The Fans: Data From The UFC’s Matchmaker Sweepstakes appeared first on MMAInformed.

“We were thrilled to welcome UFC athletes Rob Font, Calvin Kattar, and Joe Lauzon to Boston Children’s,” said Michael Bornhorst, Vice President, Corporate Development, Leadership Giving & Events, Boston Children’s Hospital Trust. “Patients and their families joined the athletes in our Seacrest Studio for a meet and greet—even sharing unique fan art! The athletes also participated in a broadcast streamed to patients’ rooms on all floors, ensuring patients who were not able to leave their rooms could participate in the fun visit. We are grateful to UFC for bringing joy to patients here and for their generous support of Boston Children’s Hospital.”

See What’s Happening In The Community

During the activation, UFC athletes interacted with more than 300 patients virtually via Seacrest Studios, conducting a full Q&A and providing giveaways as part of the hospital’s daily programming.

The post UFC Visits Boston Children’s Hospital As Part Of UFC 292 Fight Week appeared first on MMAInformed.