UFC 200 is starting to take shape with the announcement of bantamweight champion Miesha Tate’s first title defence against Amanda Nunes added to the line up.
While many expected Holly Holm to get an immediate rematch with Tate, the UFC has opted to go with the number four ranked Nunes. The 27 year-old fighter is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with an impressive striking game and is currently on a three fight win streak.
The confirmed card to date includes the following fights:
- Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor — welterweight bout
- Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar — interim featherweight title
- Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes — bantamweight title
- Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne — heavyweight bout
- Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum — welterweight bout
- Gegard Mousasi vs. Derek Brunson — middleweight bout
- Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Lauzon — lightweight bout
- Sage Northcutt vs. Enrique Marin — lightweight bout
- Takanori Gomi vs. Jim Miller — lightweight bout
Khabib Nurmagomedov will still fight at UFC Tampa against a new opponent in Darrell Horcher.
Despite requests from Tony Ferguson’s camp to hold out until May, Nurmagomedov was adamant about continuing to fight after sitting on the side lines for two years due to injury.
Darrell Horcher (12-1) is a new comer to the UFC and will compete against the undefeated Dagestani at a catch-weight of 160lbs. The fight has been relegated to the co-main event on FOX which is now being headlined by a light heavyweight clash between Glover Teixeira and Rashad Evans.
Here’s a little taste of Horcher:
Darrell Horcher has some hands pic.twitter.com/XI1UbJXs38
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) April 7, 2016
Three fights have been added to the TUF 23 Finale.
James Krause will meet Ross Pearson at lightweight; Scott Askham fights Anthony Smith at middleweight and Li Jingliang takes on Anton Zafir at welterweight.
The card will be headlined by a strawweight title fight between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha on July 8.
Speaking of TUF 23 the cast has finally been announced for the 12 episode season.
The show commences with 32 fighters, 16 for the strawweight division and 16 for the light heavyweight division. The winners will walk away with a guaranteed a UFC contract.
The first episode airs on April 20 on FOX Sports in the US. Aussie dates are to be confirmed.
Strawweights:
- JJ Aldrich
- Chelsea Bailey
- Amanda Cooper
- Ashley Cummins
- Jodie Esquibel
- Mellony Geugjes
- Lanchana Green
- Helen Harper
- Kate Jackson
- Alyssa Krahn
- Kristi Lopez
- Amy Montenegro
- Jamie Moyle
- Irene Rivera
- Tatiana Suarez
- Ashley Yoder
Light heavyweights:
- Kenneth Bergh
- Trevor Carlson
- Muhammed DeReese
- Myron Dennis
- John Paul Elias
- Marcel Fortuna
- Phil Hawes
- Cory Hendricks
- Jamelle Jones
- Abdel Medjedoub
- Norman Paraisy
- Andrew Sanchez
- Eric Spicely
- Joshua Stansbury
- Elias Urbina
UFC Zagreb hits screens on Monday morning with a slew of heavyweight fights lined up for your viewing pleasure. Here’s the local times and details to make sure you don’t miss a second!
How to watch #UFCZagreb
? Monday April 11
⏰ 4am
? on @FOXSportsAUS 2 pic.twitter.com/tbYqFkFB4j— UFC Aus/New Zealand (@UFC_AUSNZ) April 7, 2016
Ronda Rousey’s dietician Mike Dolce has confirmed that the former bantamweight champion is on the road to a big comeback.
In an interview with MMA Junkie Dolce stated the following: “We’re planning Ronda’s comeback and her world domination. That’s really what it’s about. The last loss Ronda suffered was in the 2008 Olympics, where she battled back and won a bronze medal. She has been undefeated since, all the way to November 2015. She’s extremely refocused, and the team is definitely moving forward. We’re all rowing in the right direction, and now it’s just a matter of sitting back and waiting for the right time for her to step back in again.”
Aussie welterweight Kyle Noke announced he has a fight in the works. Details of the bout will be announced shortly.
I Just spoke with my management team at @FirstRoundMgmt ….. Will have a fight announcement soon! #timetowork
— Kyle Noke (@KyleNoke) April 6, 2016
The trash talk continued between Dominic Cruz and Urijah Faber ahead of their bantamweight title fight at UFC 199. Check out this video with all the on air antics that took place yesterday. You won’t be disappointed!
