🥊 The UFC Info and Prediction Thread

[TopTort777]

News.

1. There is a strange situation with Pereira social media account. Recently he has made a strange post, then told he was hacked. There is a situation that starts to get big. According to Ankalaev, Pereira was offered a date for a rematch, but he seems to ignore that, or simply is ducking Big Ankl. Ankalaev responded that will not wait for Pereira and move on.

2. Another strange situation with Makhachev announcement that he does not want to vacant lightweight title when he moves to welterweight? Didnt Dana said that there wont be double champs no more? Want new belt, free current and move (like Topuria did).

[tokeweed]

Wait...  No way JDM vs Makhachev is real.  Lol.  It was just a call out, nothing more.  These guys are upping their social media game to get all eyes on them for their next PPV event.  And it's prolly just mind games from Makhachev to annoy Topuria.

But all in all if it is true, then looking forward to Rakhmonov vs Makhachev.    The big guy could give the little guy a  nice beating.  

Anyway, was disappointed to see Muhammad lose as it broke all my parlays.    That's another 200 bucks down the drain.

I think it was announced, that if Belal wins, Islam fights Topuria, if JDM wins, Islam goes to next division and fights him. But Topuria most probably will fight Oliveira for interim belt.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mXznW5S_P-Y here is the video Dana calls JDM after the fight and its a 50/50 confirmation to face Islam.

Btw, have you watched BSD vs Prepolec fight? The fight were odds were +8.00 BSD won and I think that Prepolec hasnt even landed a single clean fight. Statistics shows there were significant strikes, but I cant recall any (and I am lazy to rewatch the fight). And Jose Aldo fight. Not only he did not manage to make weight, but he has ran out stamina in second round, when he fell back on the back to recover breath. Hope that this time he has retired for sure

Trivia: Bukauskas vs Cutelana fight. Every judge showed different scores on scorecard. 3 guys were watching 3 different fights? That a rare thing to happen when 3 judges cant have an agreement who has who which round.

Nah...  That's nothing official and it's just Dana saying 'alright buddy' and didn't actually sound he was keen to the idea.  And what would people rather watch?  Makhachev vs Topuria or Makhachev vs JDM?  Not sure what you guys want but pretty sure a lot more people would watch the former.  It's a much bigger match up.

And I think it would be so dumb if the UFC match makers go for Makhachev vs JDM.  Lol.  

Anyway, who you guys have for the next event?  I think I'm just gonna have a parlay and try to claw back some money I lost to Muhammad.  Ruziboev - Costa - Morales parlay at 2.30 or something.

[Synchronice]

News.

1. There is a strange situation with Pereira social media account. Recently he has made a strange post, then told he was hacked. There is a situation that starts to get big. According to Ankalaev, Pereira was offered a date for a rematch, but he seems to ignore that, or simply is ducking Big Ankl. Ankalaev responded that will not wait for Pereira and move on.

2. Another strange situation with Makhachev announcement that he does not want to vacant lightweight title when he moves to welterweight? Didnt Dana said that there wont be double champs no more? Want new belt, free current and move (like Topuria did).

What post did he make? I don't follow fighters' twitter accounts but when I was dressing up and scrolling TikTok, I noticed DC talking about that but I quickly scrolled that to listen to some good phonk music.

2. That's very strange. Dana White clearly stated that no one is going to be a double champion if they don't fight in both weight class, that's why Ilia gave up on his belt. If Islam doesn't fight Ilia Topuria, then he has to give up on his belt or otherwise it's very, very unjust to take it away from Ilia but not from Islam. I think that Dana White also has no idea what to do, he wanted Belal very much to win and now his plans have changed drastically, he even didn't attend to press conference, which isn't usual for him.

[cabron]

News.

1. There is a strange situation with Pereira social media account. Recently he has made a strange post, then told he was hacked. There is a situation that starts to get big. According to Ankalaev, Pereira was offered a date for a rematch, but he seems to ignore that, or simply is ducking Big Ankl. Ankalaev responded that will not wait for Pereira and move on.

2. Another strange situation with Makhachev announcement that he does not want to vacant lightweight title when he moves to welterweight? Didnt Dana said that there wont be double champs no more? Want new belt, free current and move (like Topuria did).

What post did he make? I don't follow fighters' twitter accounts but when I was dressing up and scrolling TikTok, I noticed DC talking about that but I quickly scrolled that to listen to some good phonk music.

2. That's very strange. Dana White clearly stated that no one is going to be a double champion if they don't fight in both weight class, that's why Ilia gave up on his belt. If Islam doesn't fight Ilia Topuria, then he has to give up on his belt or otherwise it's very, very unjust to take it away from Ilia but not from Islam. I think that Dana White also has no idea what to do, he wanted Belal very much to win and now his plans have changed drastically, he even didn't attend to press conference, which isn't usual for him.

I thought it goes along with the plan that JDM won and so Islam can fight JDM in the next division.  If Islam stays as champ in LW, he has to fight Topuria. Him moving up will have to fight JDM and leave the belt.  Or is he afraid to fight the big guys in the WW, because this is exactly what will happen which he might be forced to also fight Belal in the end.

If i were him, I would take the risk in fighting Toppy and then keep the reign in the LW.

[pawel7777]

The message from Alex Pereira's Twitter account was about him hinting at his retirement, which he later denied, saying he was hacked:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/mixed-martial-arts/articles/ckgx2rlz824o

I don't know the actual wording of that post, but the article says:

In a post on Wednesday Pereira said he was "disheartened" with the UFC and was having "thoughts of not fighting any more".

I find the hacked account story hard to believe. If anyone actually hacked his account, they would probably not limit themselves to just tweeting such message.
It's more likely he posted that himself out of anger and regretted it later.

[TopTort777]

Nah...  That's nothing official and it's just Dana saying 'alright buddy' and didn't actually sound he was keen to the idea.  And what would people rather watch?  Makhachev vs Topuria or Makhachev vs JDM?  Not sure what you guys want but pretty sure a lot more people would watch the former.  It's a much bigger match up.

And I think it would be so dumb if the UFC match makers go for Makhachev vs JDM.  Lol.  

Anyway, who you guys have for the next event?  I think I'm just gonna have a parlay and try to claw back some money I lost to Muhammad.  Ruziboev - Costa - Morales parlay at 2.30 or something.

Its not official, but it was claimed, Belal wins, Makhachev fights Topuria, Belal loses, Makhachev goes up in division and fights Maddalena, while Topuria fights Oliveira.

In interviews both Makhachev and Khabib were talking that they will never fight Belal and would go up only if there is another champ. Dana also mentioned something like that. And what we have now, attention: UFC 317 Topuria vs. Oliveira June 28. If info about potential Topuria vs Oliveira became official now, wait few weeks or months and we will get Makhachev vs Maddalena in UAE

Also I havent found it official, but on sherdog there is: UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday that Makhachev will vacate the lightweight crown and face reigning welterweight king Jack Della Maddalena at a future event. The date for that fight was not revealed.

What post did he make? I don't follow fighters' twitter accounts but when I was dressing up and scrolling TikTok, I noticed DC talking about that but I quickly scrolled that to listen to some good phonk music.

You can check whole story here https://www.mmafighting.com/2025/5/7/24425724/alex-pereira-was-hacked-ufc-relationship-great

[tokeweed]

^  Pretty sure it won't happen even if both Makhachev and JDM want the fight.  It's just not an attractive match up and prolly won't sell a lot of PPV's.  Makhachev vs Topuria on the other hand...  Potential classic and a banger.  So why would the UFC risk injury for Makhachev and miss the time line to fight Topuria by organizing a match up with Makhachev and JDM?

And afaik, it's only JDM who wants the fight because he wants to avenge his friend's two losses against Makhachev.    I think he needs to defend his title vs a proper welterweight...  Rakhmonov.  A fight he will prolly have a hard time winning.  But I guess JDM knows now is his only chance while he has the belt as Rakhmonov looks like he's gonna be the next champ at 170.

Aaanyway, let's talk about picks for the next event.  What do you guys think of Sodiq Yusuff as a slight underdog?

[Synchronice]

Its not official, but it was claimed, Belal wins, Makhachev fights Topuria, Belal loses, Makhachev goes up in division and fights Maddalena, while Topuria fights Oliveira.

No, that was official, Dana White confirmed that. And today Dana White confirmed in live stream that Ilia Topuria will fight for the lightweight division belt against Charles Oliveira. So, as it seems, despite the fact that Islam wasn't going to vacate his belt, Dana White forced him to do it. As it seems, we will really no longer see double UFC champions and it's also very clear that Islam doesn't want to fight Ilia Topuria because otherwise he would fight Topuria at first and then JDM later.

The funniest thing will be Topuria moving up to Welterweight and fighting Islam by submitting him in front of Khabib. Will this crazy man really do this? At this point, I won't be surprised if Topuria really moves up to Welterweight.

[TopTort777]

Its not official, but it was claimed, Belal wins, Makhachev fights Topuria, Belal loses, Makhachev goes up in division and fights Maddalena, while Topuria fights Oliveira.

No, that was official, Dana White confirmed that. And today Dana White confirmed in live stream that Ilia Topuria will fight for the lightweight division belt against Charles Oliveira. So, as it seems, despite the fact that Islam wasn't going to vacate his belt, Dana White forced him to do it. As it seems, we will really no longer see double UFC champions and it's also very clear that Islam doesn't want to fight Ilia Topuria because otherwise he would fight Topuria at first and then JDM later.

The funniest thing will be Topuria moving up to Welterweight and fighting Islam by submitting him in front of Khabib. Will this crazy man really do this? At this point, I won't be surprised if Topuria really moves up to Welterweight.

I would believe more in Topuria knocking Islam than submitting (and as he promised - by Islams method of submission of choice) Islam. I look on Topuria, then look on Islam and it looks like a Islam way bigger than Topuria. Topuria is same size as Volk?

^  Pretty sure it won't happen even if both Makhachev and JDM want the fight.  It's just not an attractive match up and prolly won't sell a lot of PPV's.  Makhachev vs Topuria on the other hand...  Potential classic and a banger.  So why would the UFC risk injury for Makhachev and miss the time line to fight Topuria by organizing a match up with Makhachev and JDM?

You think similar to Topuria, Islam needs to be tested first in other division? To check if he deserves? Honestly speaking, a lot of Makhachev fights are not attractive for PPV He does not have that charisma and hype Khabib has. He does not have that-rival-in-division-fight-everyone-wants-to-see Maximum what Makhachev did I think was pushin Poirier at stare downs

Aaanyway, let's talk about picks for the next event.  What do you guys think of Sodiq Yusuff as a slight underdog?

Why he wouldnt be an underdog with lost two last fights against opponent with 15-1 record? Imho both have similar experience, Sodiq is older, which is a con here. But two losses are two losses, bookies trust is lost I would go with Brazilian guy, he has official record of 15-1, and unofficial record of "a lot" as the guy is from Rio.

[cabron]

Its already over the news that Topuria is fighting Charles. https://x.com/InsideFighting_/status/1922420205168267523
And Islam Makhachev will vacate his belt and move up to welterweight as a corresponding move.



There is never a talk about who Islam will fight with  but it would be easy for him to fight someone, its the question of which they would consider attractive match. I suppose he would want to be the champ in WW too.

[trendcoin]

The message from Alex Pereira's Twitter account was about him hinting at his retirement, which he later denied, saying he was hacked:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/mixed-martial-arts/articles/ckgx2rlz824o

I don't know the actual wording of that post, but the article says:

In a post on Wednesday Pereira said he was "disheartened" with the UFC and was having "thoughts of not fighting any more".

I find the hacked account story hard to believe. If anyone actually hacked his account, they would probably not limit themselves to just tweeting such message.
It's more likely he posted that himself out of anger and regretted it later.

I agree with you. Maybe he was drunk when he wrote this because alcohol sometimes gives courage...


Ilia vs Oliveira, JDM vs Islam. Uhhh, they will be super fights. Also, Khamzat vs DDP. The only thing missing is Aspinall vs Jones. 2025 is gonna be a great year for us...

[pawel7777]

Ilia vs Oliveira, JDM vs Islam. Uhhh, they will be super fights. Also, Khamzat vs DDP. The only thing missing is Aspinall vs Jones. 2025 is gonna be a great year for us...

I don't know, somehow I don't find the first two fights super-exciting.
Sure, it would be interesting to see how Topuria will perform in his first lightweight fight against Charles, who already is a legend, but Islam Vs Topuria would be an event on a whole different level and there would be a belt on the line.
Contrary to what I originally thought, I hear that Islam does not intend to vacate the belt, he just wants to make a quick jump up to the welterweight to become a double-champ and he'll probably return to defend it in the lightweight. If so, we might see Islam Vs Topuria eventually.

[TopTort777]

Ilia vs Oliveira, JDM vs Islam. Uhhh, they will be super fights. Also, Khamzat vs DDP. The only thing missing is Aspinall vs Jones. 2025 is gonna be a great year for us...

I don't know, somehow I don't find the first two fights super-exciting.
Sure, it would be interesting to see how Topuria will perform in his first lightweight fight against Charles, who already is a legend, but Islam Vs Topuria would be an event on a whole different level and there would be a belt on the line.
Contrary to what I originally thought, I hear that Islam does not intend to vacate the belt, he just wants to make a quick jump up to the welterweight to become a double-champ and he'll probably return to defend it in the lightweight. If so, we might see Islam Vs Topuria eventually.

Imho Islam vs Tsarukyan is more challenging than Islam vs Topuria. Tsarukyan deserves it more to have a title fight. And I really want to it to happen as you say, jump to weltherweight, get a belt, return back to lightweight, but defend his belt against Tsarukyan.

To bad that isnt going to happen. I think Topuria will finish Oliveira. Honestly, Oliveira isnt that good at striking. In a fight, his opponent always lands a clear punch that make Oliveira fall on his back and pretend (or threaten) he is welcoming him to a game of chess bjj. With Topuria, I think that one punch will not knock down, but will knock out.

Btw, what do you think about Islams wish to move to next division? It might be because it becomes harder for him to make weight, and it is time to think about retirement. But, as he wants to fight more, his body forces him to move up.

[tokeweed]

Nah...  That's nothing official and it's just Dana saying 'alright buddy' and didn't actually sound he was keen to the idea.  And what would people rather watch?  Makhachev vs Topuria or Makhachev vs JDM?  Not sure what you guys want but pretty sure a lot more people would watch the former.  It's a much bigger match up.

And I think it would be so dumb if the UFC match makers go for Makhachev vs JDM.  Lol.  

Anyway, who you guys have for the next event?  I think I'm just gonna have a parlay and try to claw back some money I lost to Muhammad.  Ruziboev - Costa - Morales parlay at 2.30 or something.

Its not official, but it was claimed, Belal wins, Makhachev fights Topuria, Belal loses, Makhachev goes up in division and fights Maddalena, while Topuria fights Oliveira.

In interviews both Makhachev and Khabib were talking that they will never fight Belal and would go up only if there is another champ. Dana also mentioned something like that. And what we have now, attention: UFC 317 Topuria vs. Oliveira June 28. If info about potential Topuria vs Oliveira became official now, wait few weeks or months and we will get Makhachev vs Maddalena in UAE

Also I havent found it official, but on sherdog there is: UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday that Makhachev will vacate the lightweight crown and face reigning welterweight king Jack Della Maddalena at a future event. The date for that fight was not revealed.

Hmmm...  Yeah if that really happens then I think this is kinda gonna like a revamp to balance out the top talent as the UFC is kinda getting dry in marketable guys.  So I yeah it would make sense to get Topuria on as 155 champ and Makhachev as 170 champ.

And I wouldn't mind seeing Makhachev vs Rakhmonov happen.   We might see Makhachev lose via KO or something.  I think he's been knocked down before.

Here are a couple of vids to watch to prep for the main event this weekend.

UFC Free Fight:  Gilbert Burns vs Jorge Masvidal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0SziDLLWGg

UFC Free Fight:  Michael Morales vs Neil Magny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clZY5UGFE0c

[TopTort777]

Rakhmonov is out until this year, he had or will have a knee surgery.

Funny to read how Topuria accuses Makhachev for running away from him to other division. Funny because Topuria ran away from Lopez, Evloev and Rodriguez probably Beat old Volk and ran away. I have a suggestion for Topuria, why not take belt in lightweight, and follow Makhachev to weltherweight? A unique opportunity to be triple champion. But, if Makhachev takes a belt in welterweight, he will become more greater than Khabib

[Hanadawa]

Contrary to what I originally thought, I hear that Islam does not intend to vacate the belt, he just wants to make a quick jump up to the welterweight to become a double-champ and he'll probably return to defend it in the lightweight. If so, we might see Islam Vs Topuria eventually.

Yeah I think so too. From the beginning Makhachev said he would not move up to fight for the belt in the walterweight class if Belal was still the champion. But now the situation has changed. Belal lost and JDM is the new champion. Of course this is the right time for Islam to move up to the welterweight class and get the championship belt. The new rule from Uncle Dana prohibits active fighters from having two belts. But if Islam manages to beat JDM I think fans will still call Islam the Double Champ even though it is not officially recognized by the UFC. So I think giving up the LW belt to get the welterweight belt is still worth it. It's just that I'm still curious why Islam didn't choose to fight Topuria first in the LW class and move up to JDM in the next match? I mean the Islam vs Topuria fight is the most anticipated fight by UFC fans this year.

[TopTort777]

Contrary to what I originally thought, I hear that Islam does not intend to vacate the belt, he just wants to make a quick jump up to the welterweight to become a double-champ and he'll probably return to defend it in the lightweight. If so, we might see Islam Vs Topuria eventually.

Yeah I think so too. From the beginning Makhachev said he would not move up to fight for the belt in the walterweight class if Belal was still the champion. But now the situation has changed. Belal lost and JDM is the new champion. Of course this is the right time for Islam to move up to the welterweight class and get the championship belt. The new rule from Uncle Dana prohibits active fighters from having two belts. But if Islam manages to beat JDM I think fans will still call Islam the Double Champ even though it is not officially recognized by the UFC. So I think giving up the LW belt to get the welterweight belt is still worth it. It's just that I'm still curious why Islam didn't choose to fight Topuria first in the LW class and move up to JDM in the next match? I mean the Islam vs Topuria fight is the most anticipated fight by UFC fans this year.

Wrong. Islam vs Tsarukyan is the most anticipated fight of this year. Topuria is just an insolent kid without much of achievements. Plain facts, Islam has title defences and cleared top of his division. He has fought against very dangerous guy. Topuria, did he has a title defence ? Did he fought every top guy of his division? Islam is moving to welterweight because there are no opponents in lightweight (except Arman). Why Topuria wanted to move up? I dont know. Probably to create a hype that he is challenging Islam.

[tokeweed]

Rakhmonov is out until this year, he had or will have a knee surgery.

Funny to read how Topuria accuses Makhachev for running away from him to other division. Funny because Topuria ran away from Lopez, Evloev and Rodriguez probably Beat old Volk and ran away. I have a suggestion for Topuria, why not take belt in lightweight, and follow Makhachev to weltherweight? A unique opportunity to be triple champion. But, if Makhachev takes a belt in welterweight, he will become more greater than Khabib

Oh I didn't know Rakhmonov has a knee problem and will be out for the rest of the year.  Yeah so it now makes sense that the UFC wants Makhachev to move up and be the champ at 170 while making Topuria the top guy at 155.  Both guys are easy to market and could sell a lot of PPV's.  It wouldn't make sense to have both in one weight class.

As for Topuria running away from the top guys at 145, no...  That wouldn't make sense as he's going after the toughest guy in Makhachev.

Weigh ins in a couple of hours or so..

UFC Burns vs. Morales:  Official Weigh In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8ebZLiQi_E

[TopTort777]

As for Topuria running away from the top guys at 145, no...  That wouldn't make sense as he's going after the toughest guy in Makhachev.

Toughest guy is Bones That should be Topuria prime goal if he is after goat Topuria is good at making hype, but why not first beat every contender in own division, like Adesanya did, before going up or down?



Nice picture describing situation we have now. I feel that situation will be pushed and forced similar to Dvalishvili vs Nurmagomedov. That one day Islam would give up and accept the fight, then beat crap out of Topuria and Topuria will get forgotten.

[pawel7777]

Wrong. Islam vs Tsarukyan is the most anticipated fight of this year. Topuria is just an insolent kid without much of achievements. Plain facts, Islam has title defences and cleared top of his division. He has fought against very dangerous guy. Topuria, did he has a title defence ? Did he fought every top guy of his division? Islam is moving to welterweight because there are no opponents in lightweight (except Arman). Why Topuria wanted to move up? I dont know. Probably to create a hype that he is challenging Islam.

Tsarukyan had his chance and blew it. Plus, Islam already defeated him once, so as much as Arman deserves another shot, it's not the most anticipated fight.
Topuria's hype is not coming from the number of fights or length of his reign as a champion, but from his dominating style (88% finish ratio) and the fact that he's undefeated.
I think Topuria would deserve an immediate title shot in the lightweight, but he's fighting Oliveira next, so the discussion is pointless. I hope him and Islam will be fighting next if they win their respective fights, but I have a feeling that the UFC could pressure Islam to stay in the Welterweight a little longer, as it's not great for the business to have all their top stars packed in only one weight class.

As for Charles, people are speculating that, if he loses, that could be his last fight and he might announce retirement, but I don't think that's very likely. He's 35 (will be 36 in October) but have been performing quite OK in his recent fights, losing only to Islam and Arman (by split decision). A loss would likely end his chances of earning another title shot, but he would still have few options for big-money fights, and I don't think he would turn his back on that.