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Denise Gomes campaigns for UFC title shot at Mackenzie Dern after delivering ‘violence’ against Yan Xiaonan

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2 days ago

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Denise Gomes campaigns for UFC title shot at Mackenzie Dern after delivering ‘violence’ against Yan Xiaonan

Top-ranked strawweight contender Denise Gomes believes she has done enough to earn a shot at the UFC title against Mackenzie Dern after knocking out perennial contender Yan Xiaonan in such devastating fashion back in August.

“I'm ready. I've already proven it, I've already shown it. There's a lot more where that came from,†Gomes told MMA Fighting. “Start with what I did in my last fight. None of the girls at the top have done what I did. That says a lot about me already. What do the fans want to see? What do the people on the other side of the screen, who take time out of their day to sit in the stands and watch, want to see? What I've been delivering: violence and intelligence. That alone is a huge reason. I deserve it.â€

The 26-year-old is 7-2 in the UFC with four knockouts to her credit and currently rides a five-fight winning streak with a pair of finishes. Tatiana Suarez recently won a decision over Virna Jandiroba to call for a shot at the belt, but Gomes doesn't see her or other 115-pounders scoring exciting finishes like hers.

“The other girls haven't been delivering that,†Gomes said. “Mackenzie and Zhang haven't been delivering that in their recent fights either. They always put on great fights, but not what I've been delivering. This division needs an upgrade. Whether Zhang comes back or not, to be completely honest, I deserve a title shot. I want to fight, and I want to fight Zhang because, to me, she's one of the best. She still is. I want to fight the best. It would be an honor for me. I'm not taking anything away from Mackenzie. She's there, she's already fought for and defended the belt, but if I beat her, I want to fight Zhang. I want to fight all the other girls too.â€

“We need to shake things up at the top of this division and bring more knockouts,†she added. “That's how we generate a lot more excitement in our rankings. I'll never disrespect any of the girls, they're all tough as hell, but I deserve this opportunity. They're making things happen in their own way, but nobody wants to see nothing but grappling and jiu-jitsu. I bring a lot more than that.â€

Dern won a decision over Jandiroba in October of 2025 to claim the vacant title and has since defended it against Gillian Robertson this past August, another five-round decision. The jiu-jitsu ace scored submissions in five of her 12 octagon victories, but Gomes remains confident in her grappling skills to not only survive on the ground, but bring her problems.

“I've been fighting these girls in my head for a long time,†Gomes said. “I had to go out there and put my name at the top, and I'm aware of that, but now I want to move up and plant my flag there. I can always see ways to get a knockout, I can always see ways to finish a fight. Mackenzie is a perfect matchup for that because, like Jessica [Andrade] did, I can use the weapons I have and break her game.

“She's good at jiu-jitsu. People might think jiu-jitsu is my weakness, but it's not. I'm very good at jiu-jitsu. I just hadn't perfected it for MMA yet. Even if she wants to take me to the ground, I have the weapons to deal with that. But I've learned how to fight smart lately, combine my aggression with intelligence, and for this fight, I'm going to shut down her game, neutralize everything she might want to do, and impose my own game.â€

Regardless of who's standing across the cage when she enters the octagon next, Gomes vows to make her “pay†for the fact she was not awarded with a $100,000 performance bonus check for the Xiaonan victory.

“They want us to do what we do, deliver a hard fight and do incredible things, and when we do that, we're not valued as much. That's how I felt,†Gomes said. “I even joke that I think the only thing I didn't do that was moonwalk. Not taking anything away from any fighter, obviously, everyone earned their recognition, but I know I deserved it just as much as anyone else. But I look at it this way: someone's going to have to pay for it, right? I have a bonus that's been building up. I'm going to fight, I'm going to score an incredible knockout in my next fight, and I'm going to say, ‘I have another bonus that's been building up. If I had to do it twice to deserve it, I came here and did it.' I take this as motivation, not as playing the victim.â€

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MMA fighter Jindrich Janecka resuscitated after cardiac arrest in cage

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6 hours ago

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November 12, 2026

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MMA fighter Jindrich Janecka resuscitated after cardiac arrest in cage

Jindrich Janecka went into
cardiac arrest during his bout against Tomas
Skalicky at Cage Game 2, according to Oktagon
MMA chief medic Norbert Bidrman.

Janecka appeared hurt after a kick to the body and was later
knocked out by a punch. The bout took place under Oktagon MMA's
stand-and-bang rules, which prohibit ground fighting.

Oktagon MMA chief medic describes CPR, defibrillation and
Janecka regaining consciousness at Cage Game 2

Bidrman said the medical team performed CPR, delivered a shock and
administered oxygen. Janecka regained consciousness in the cage and
was able to speak with the team before an ambulance took him to the
hospital. Bidrman said a blow to the chest may have triggered an
abnormal heart rhythm, but the cause had not been confirmed.

“I'm the head medic here at Oktagon. We just had a very emergency
situation here, where one of the fighters, specifically Jindra,
went into a sudden cardiac arrest. After some cardiopulmonary
resuscitation, we delivered a shock. He was given oxygen and
brought back to life. He is fully oriented to place, time, and
person. And BRNO, the ambulance service, whom we greatly thank for
arriving on time, has taken him over, and he is now already at the
hospital. Jindra, I want to repeat, was already fully conscious in
the cage. He was communicating with us. And now we just want to
find the cause of why this happened. Most likely this could have
been some kind of arrhythmia caused by a blow to the chest that he
received earlier,†Bidrman said in a statement shared on X.

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MMA

UFC 334 | Pro fighters make their picks for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes title fight

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16 hours ago

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November 11, 2026

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UFC 334 | Pro fighters make their picks for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes title fight
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Josh Hokit compared to Cain Velasquez by Ciryl Gane's coach ahead of UFC 334 showdown

The UFC heads to Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, for UFC 334. In the co-main event, Kayla Harrison defends her women's bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes. Heading into the bout, Harrison is a -196 favorite while the former champ is a +152 underdog on FanDuel.

Ahead of the bout at UFC 334, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the women's bantamweight title fight. The pros believe Nunes will upset Harrison in her return and reclaim the bantamweight title.

BJPENN.com Fighter Picks Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes:

Julian Erosa, UFC featherweight: I think Nunes. She has less muscle than Harrison, and muscle takes oxygen, and I think Nunes wins in the later rounds.

Dustin Jacoby, UFC light heavyweight: This is a good fight. Amanda is coming back, so there are some questions, and she has the knockout power. But, I do think Kayla will get the win with her wrestling.

Gillian Robertson, UFC strawweight: Amanda. I've trained with and known her for a long time, so I might be bias. But I do think she is the greatest woman in combat sports, and I think Amanda won't be scared of Kayla's judo and will be aggressive on the feet with her striking.

Mario Bautista, UFC bantamweight: I think Amanda Nunes gets the win. Kayla cuts a lot of weight, and I do worry about that with how hard Amanda hits.

Modestas Bukauskas, UFC light heavyweight: A very tough fight to pick. Kayla has been great in the UFC, but I can never pick against Amanda. Although she does have a layoff, I think she wins.

Terrance McKinney, UFC lightweight: I think Kayla Harrison wins. She will be able to take Amanda down, and Nunes will get tired as we have seen in the past. Kayla defends her belt.

***

Fighters picking Kayla Harrison: Dustin Jacoby, Terrance McKinney

Fighters picking Amanda Nunes: Julian Erosa, Gillian Robertson, Mario Bautista, Modestas Bukauskas

ICYMI: Pro fighters also made their picks for the UFC 334 main event featuring Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit.

Who do you think will win the UFC 334 co-main event between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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Kayla Harrison’s coach downplays past experience with Amanda Nunes playing any real part in UFC 334 fight  

Published

23 hours ago

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November 11, 2026

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Kayla Harrison’s coach downplays past experience with Amanda Nunes playing any real part in UFC 334 fight  

As Kayla Harrison prepares to face Amanda Nunes in the UFC 334 co-main event, a lot of the focus for the fight is going to center around them previously training together at American Top Team and even sharing the same coaches at times.

But Mike Brown, who previously coached Nunes and has served as Harrison's head coach since the first day she stepped foot in the gym, says that narrative is really being blown out of proportion. While Brown knows that Harrison and Nunes crossed paths from time to time, they were never that close long before they were scheduled to compete for the women's bantamweight championship.

“It's a big gym,†Brown told MMA Fighting. “There's a lot of training partners. They weren't training partners that often. Very seldom.â€

Of course, Brown gets pulled into that conversation a lot because he did coach both fighters but even that doesn't really cause a conflict of interest. At least in his book.

“I have a job,†Brown explained. “I work for Kayla and I work for ATT. That's my job. I trained with Amanda, but I was never her official head coach. But I did work with her for a handful of fights.

“But this is business. It's a big fight, and they're both going to make a bunch of money and everyone is in a good situation.â€

Now Brown obviously has an intimate knowledge about the good, the bad and the ugly working with both fighters but even that doesn't necessarily serve as an advantage.

Nunes left American Top Team, and effectively started her own gym, and that's continued as she prepares for her comeback from retirement. But Brown knows that Harrison and Nunes both have enough footage out there that the strategy come Saturday night isn't going to be some revolutionary change from what each has done in the past.

“I think they both each other's strengths and weaknesses,†Brown said. “Amanda's a big power puncher and everyone knows that. Kayla is a world class grappler and a multiple world champion, a world champion in judo, so there's no secrets in what each fighter's going to want to do.

“I don't think you would have had to coach them to figure that out. I think everyone knows what everyone wants to do here. It comes down to who can implement their game plan.â€

Since the day she started in the sport, Harrison has long talked about defining her legacy by becoming the greatest of all-time.

With two Olympic gold medals in judo along with a UFC championship and several PFL championships, Harrison could already make a compelling argument as the greatest combat sports athlete in history.

That said, Brown acknowledges that Nunes' accolades are undeniable and adding that win to her resume should help separate Harrison from any past competition when it comes to that greatest of all-time conversation.

“I believe so just because of her track record,†Brown said about Harrison. “Her near perfect record. Amanda's beaten every champion I believe at 135 except for Kayla. She's beat every champ that's ever been at the weight. That's pretty damn impressive except for Kayla. Obviously, she's done more in the sport than Kayla, but Kayla's record is near perfect. One blemish with [Larissa] Pacheco in their third fight. She had beat her twice before that.

“She's clearly head and shoulders above the competition. She also has a very high finish rate I would consider her the greatest of all-time if she wins this fight.â€

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