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Ben Woolliss cautious heading into The Inner Circle bout against Yuki Yoza: 'I Cannot Get Careless'

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3 weeks ago

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Ben Woolliss cautious heading into The Inner Circle bout against Yuki Yoza: 'I Cannot Get Careless'

A fighter who nearly lost everything to illness is not about to lose momentum to one bad scorecard.

Ben Woolliss meets former K-1 Champion Yuki Yoza in a bantamweight kickboxing showdown at The Inner Circle 22 on Friday, July 17. The card streams live for members from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 32-year-old Englishman announced himself with a first-round destruction of former MMA king John Lineker in his promotional debut this past March. He dropped a hard-fought unanimous decision to former World Champion Petchtanong Petchfergus in May, but that defeat has done nothing to dim his fire.

“Looking back, I think there were more positives for me to take from that fight. I pushed him to three rounds. There were some things I could have done better, but there were also things I did that were pretty impressive,†Woolliss said.

“But I'm not losing sleep over it. I'm just focused on fixing the shortcomings from that fight, tightening up my defense, and working on my attacks against Yoza.â€

Ben Woolliss breaks down Yuki Yoza, promises new tricks

Yoza enters on the back of a three-fight winning streak against elite opposition, a run only recently halted by reigning World Champion Jonathan Haggerty at ONE SAMURAI 1 this past April. Woolliss has spent his camp dissecting exactly how his opponent likes to operate.

“From what I've seen, I can say that he does not give room for any of his opponents to operate. He loves to close the distance behind those calf kicks of his, and immediately try to swarm you with follow-up shots,†the Englishman said.

“But he doesn't really do much of a great job with his hands. He does hit you, but it doesn't seem like anything that will entirely rock me. That said, I cannot get careless against someone who has just as much explosiveness as I do inside the pocket.â€

Seven years battling Crohn's disease taught Woolliss patience, and he insists the fighter stepping into Lumpinee Stadium this time is sharper than the one fans have seen so far.

“Fans can expect a lot more new weapons from me in this fight. Throughout the seven years that I was away due to Crohn's disease, I have leveled up every single day behind the scenes,†the Grimsby native revealed.

“The discipline and intensity are the same here. I've worked my socks off to improve. Whether it's the right hand or the calf kicks that helped me knock out Lineker, everything will be far more dangerous and sharper.â€

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MMA

Joel Alvarez steps in on short notice for UFC 330 after Geoff Neal injury

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19 minutes ago

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August 4, 2026

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Joel Alvarez steps in on short notice for UFC 330 after Geoff Neal injury
Islam
Makhachev and his new training partner, Joel
Alvarez, are set to compete on the same card.

Makhachev is scheduled to defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title against
Ian
Garry in the main event at UFC
330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Alvarez
was specifically brought into Makhachev's camp to mimic Garry and
the Spaniard is now reportedly set to compete at the upcoming
numbered event.

Joel Alvarez replaces Geoff Neal and joins Islam Makhachev vs.
Ian Garry card at UFC 330

As reported by Alvaro Colmenero, Alvarez (23-4) has accepted a
short-notice fight against Chidi
Njokuani (25-12) at UFC 330. “El Fenomeno†steps up on about
two weeks' notice after Njokuani's original opponent, Geoff Neal,
pulled out due to an injury.

Alvarez is 8-3 in the UFC, with all of his losses coming against
elite opponents. He went 7-2 while competing as a lightweight in
the promotion, although he missed weight twice. Despite putting
together a three-fight win streak at 155 pounds without missing
weight across 2023 and 2024, he opted to move up to welterweight,
winning his 170-pound debut in the UFC against Vicente
Luque.

He is coming off a submission loss against Yaroslav
Amosov that snapped a four-fight winning streak with three
finishes. Meanwhile, Njokuani is 5-5 in the UFC and currently on a
two-fight slump.

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MMA

Merab Dvalishvili reveals training changes ahead of Petr Yan trilogy fight

Published

2 hours ago

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August 4, 2026

By

Merab Dvalishvili reveals training changes ahead of Petr Yan trilogy fight
Merab
Dvalishvili has changed his training in preparation for a
potential rubber match against Petr Yan.

Dvalishvili (21-5) was looking to defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title for the
fourth time in a year against the Russian fighter this past
December. However, Yan completely neutralized Dvalishvili's
wrestling and pieced him up in the stand-up to earn a unanimous
decision win, taking their rivalry to 1-1.

“The Machine†is leaving no stone unturned ahead of their potential
trilogy bout.

Merab Dvalishvili adds new wrestling coach while preparing for
Petr Yan trilogy bout

Dvalishvili has hired a new wrestling coach for private sessions.
The Georgian says that while he worked hard ahead of his failed
title defense against Yan, he is working smarter now.

“This is my second training session and I have a private wrestling
session with coach Jesse,†Dvalishvili said on a recent vlog shared
on YouTube. “He's my new coach; he's been helping me with private
training. And this Q MMA is a new gym in [Las] Vegas. Today's
training was very good because we worked some positions. This is
pretty much how I'm gonna work against Petr. And this feels like a
real training camp for me… The last time I fought Petr, I was
working hard. This time, I’m working smart. That’s what I need, and
I think I'm going to make a big difference. I’m going to take my
belt back.â€

Dvalishvili and Yan's two fights so far have been a stark contrast
from one another. In their first meeting in 2023, when they
headlined a Fight Night event, Dvalishvili set the record for most
takedown attempts in a five-round fight and repeatedly took Yan
down en route to a comfortable decision win.

Yan then worked his way into title contention to earn a rematch
last year, showcasing significant improvements in his defensive
wrestling. “No Mercy†thwarted most of the former champion's
offense to cruise to a decision win of his own.

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MMA

Charles Oliveira says Islam Makhachev could face his toughest test yet

Published

4 hours ago

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August 4, 2026

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Charles Oliveira says Islam Makhachev could face his toughest test yet
Charles
Oliveira believes Ian Garry can
dethrone Islam
Makhachev.

Garry (17-1) is scheduled to challenge Makhachev (28-1) for the

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title at UFC
330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Center in Philadelphia.
Oliveira claims the challenger's fighting style will fare well
against the reigning pound-for-pound king.

Charles Oliveira breaks down why Ian Machado Garry could
threaten Islam Makhachev at UFC 330

Garry regularly trains with Oliveira at
Chute Boxe in Brazil and “do Bronxs†believes the Irish
170-pounder has a good chance of beating Makhachev.

Oliveira, who shared the Octagon with Makhachev in 2022, credits
Garry being a “strategic fighter†as the former
Cage Warriors champ's greatest asset.

“Ian has a very good chance of beating Makhachev,†Oliveira said in
an interview with MMA Fighting. “I'm not saying that because he's
my friend or because he's part of our team, but because of what we
have seen and how he's been training. We know there's an incredibly
tough guy on the other side, someone who deserves all the respect
in the world… But honestly, in my opinion, Ian has a great chance
of winning because he's such a strategic fighter and never abandons
the game plan.â€

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