Tag Archives: Ariel Helwani

Junior dos Santos to Fight Fabricio Werdum in Bareknuckle MMA Fight This September

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Junior dos Santos is preparing to go the knuckle…

The 39-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, a former UF heavyweight champion, will face compatriot Fabricio Werdum in bareknuckle mixed martial arts fight on September 8 in Jacksonville, Florida under the banner of Jorge Masvidal‘s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA.

Junior Dos Santosdos Santos and Werdum, two of the top UFC heavyweights of their generation will meet in a highly anticipated rematch.

dos Santos and Werdum first met in the UFC in 2008 with dos Santos winning by first-round knockout.

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani was the first to report the news as official Friday.

dos Santos’ coach Conan Silveira first mentioned the fight in an interview with Sherdog earlier this month.

dos Santos last fought in May 2022 for Eagle FC, losing via TKO due to a shoulder injury. He departed the UFC in 2020. “Cigano” was the UFC heavyweight champion in 2011 and 2012.

Werdum, 45, was UFC heavyweight champion in 2015 and 2016. He ended legend Fedor Emelianenko‘s decade-long unbeaten streak under the Strikeforce banner in 2010 and is considered one of the best heavyweight grapplers ever. “Vai Cavalo” has not fought since a run with PFL in 2021.

Carla Esparza to Defend UFC Women’s Strawweight Title Against Zhang Weili

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Carla Esparza is ready to defend her title…

The 34-year-old part-Mexican and part-Ecuadorian American will face off against Zhang Weili at Madison Square Garden in a UFC women’s strawweight title fight.

Carla Esparza

Esperza, the current champion, and Zhang, the former champ, has been verbally agreed to for UFC 281 on November 12 in New York, according to ESPN.

The fight hasn’t yet been signed, nor officially announced by the UFC. But bout agreements have been sent out, per sources.

Both fighters have posted about the fight on their respective social media accounts. The news of the fight was first reported by MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.

ESPN has Esparza ranked No. 1 in the world at 115 pounds and Zhang at No. 3.

Esparza (19-6) became a two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion when she beat Rose Namajunas via split decision at UFC 274 back in May. The California native was the first-ever UFC women’s strawweight champion, beating Namajunas to win The Ultimate Fighter — and the inaugural belt — in 2014. Esparza, 34, is on a six-fight winning streak.

Zhang (22-3) is coming off a second-round knockout of Joanna Jedrzejczyk in June. The Chinese-born fighter lost the title to Namajunas at UFC 261 in April 2021 and then lost the rematch to Namajunas at Madison Square Garden last November at UFC 268. Zhang, 33, became the first Chinese-born fighter and second Asia-born fighter to win a UFC title when she beat Jessica Andrade to win the 115-pound belt in 2019.

UFC 281 will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Israel Adesanyaand former kickboxing rival and top contender Alex Pereira.

Shane Burgos Reveals Plans to Join the Professional Fighters League (PFL)

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Shane Burgos is makin’ money moves….

The 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican professional mixed martial artist has announced plans to join the Professional Fighters League (PFL).

Shane Burgos Burgos, a popular featherweight fighter, announced his plans to leave the UFC on Monday’s The MMA Hour.

Burgos fought out his UFC contract with his win over Charles Jourdain on July 16, becoming a free agent.

He said he’ll likely compete in PFL before the end of the year in an out-of-season fight and then enter either the lightweight or featherweight PFL season in 2023.

It’s a two-season contract with PFL, Burgos said. PFL season champions make $1 million in addition to their fight purses.

“I like the idea of the [season and playoffs] format being black and white,” Burgos told host Ariel Helwani. “There’s no gray area.”

Burgos said PFL offered him a significant raise, a deal where he would make in one fight what it took him multiple fights in the UFC to make. He did not go into specifics on the numbers, but said PFL will also offer him commentary opportunities in the future, which has been a post-career goal of his. Burgos said by the end of next year, he believes here’s a good chance he’ll be a “multi-millionaire.”

“I’m going to make the absolute most out of this deal,” Burgos said. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave the UFC, Burgos said. Being a UFC fighter and potential champion has been a goal of his since he was a child. But Burgos said from a financial standpoint signing with PFL was a “no brainer.”

Burgos (15-3) is on a two-fight winning streak. The New York native has won four $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses in his last 10 fights and is known as an action fighter.

Burgos has won five of his last seven bouts overall.