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Ex-Amanda Nunes UFC title foe Irene Aldana no longer on roster

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Ex-Amanda Nunes UFC title foe Irene Aldana no longer on roster

A combatant who battled Amanda Nunes for UFC gold is no longer a UFC contracted athlete. As reported by MMA Fighting, Irene Aldana is the fighter in question who will not be continuing her journey with the Ultimate Fighting Championship as of this juncture.

The Mexican standout has not competed since a Fall 2024 setback to Norma Dumont, but Aldana still remained in the top ten rankings for contenders at 135 pounds before her departure from the promotion. The 38-year-old debuted in the UFC on the heels of notching multiple first-round finishes via strikes inside the Invicta FC cage.

Aldana began her UFC run in a bit of an inauspicious fashion with back-to-back losses to Leslie Smith and Katlyn Cerminara before then embarking on a three-fight winning streak. That stretch saw victories secured over Talita Bernardo, Lucie Pudilova, and Bethe Correia before Aldana lost a split decision to eventual UFC champion Raquel Pennington.

Irene Aldana's UFC run continued

Aldanda bounced back with wins over Vanessa Melo and Ketlen Vieria before taking a loss to former UFC bantamweight titleholder Holly Holm. The defeat saw Irene Aldana recalibrate and put together consecutive wins over Yana Santos as well as Macy Chiasson. This led to the aforementioned title shot, which saw Aldana fall short to women's MMA icon Amanda Nunes by way of a unanimous decision at UFC 289.

A win over Karol Rosa eventually gave way to the aforementioned Dumont defeat on the UFC's first-ever Noche event. Overall, Aldana had fourteen bouts in the promotion.

Of note, that June 2023 title defense still marks the last time that Amanda Nunes has stepped into the cage to compete. There were discussions around a superfight with Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison in January before the former two-time Olympic gold medalist had to pull out of the high-stakes bout with Nunes. The Brazilian legend is targeting a return, possibly for later this year, as Nunes aims to battle Harrison for the latter's UFC bantamweight belt.

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MMA

UFC adds four more Meta Apex events to 2026 schedule

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UFC adds four more Meta Apex events to 2026 schedule
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship has added four more Meta Apex
events to its 2026 schedule.

The Nevada Athletic Commission has approved permits for UFC events
on Sept. 29, Oct. 10, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7 at its venue. The Sept. 29
and Nov. 7 cards already have main events, with the headliners for
the two October cards yet to be announced.

Rosas Jr.-Barcelos and Brady-Bonfim are set to headline two
upcoming UFC Fight Nights

Raoni
Barcelos is set to face Raul Rosas
Jr. at
UFC Fight Night 289 on Sept. 29. The matchup pits an MMA
veteran against one of the brightest up-and-coming prospects in the
sport.

The main events for the UFC
Fight Night on Oct. 10 and the UFC
Fight Night on Oct. 31 haven't been announced as yet, but
multiple undercard fights on the cards have been revealed.

Some of the fights scheduled for the Oct. 10 card include Andre Fili
vs. Kai Kamaka
III, Lupita
Godinez vs. Ketlen
Souza, Malcolm
Wellmaker vs. Otari
Tanzilovi and Matheus
Camilo vs. Jai
Herbert, among others. Bouts slated for the undercard of the
Oct. 31 event include Julian
Erosa vs. Jeong Yeong
Lee, Francis
Marshall vs. Gaston
Bolanos, Yana Santos
vs. Luana
Santos and Andre
Petroski vs. Azamat
Bekoev, among others.

The
Nov. 7 UFC Fight Night will be headlined by Gabriel
Bonfim vs. Sean Brady,
a pivotal welterweight clash.

Should these events complete the UFC’s Meta Apex schedule for the
year, the promotion will have staged 12 events at the venue in
2026, just as they did last year.

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MMA

Claressa Shields: Cris Cyborg turned down $2 million to fight me at 154 pounds

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Claressa Shields: Cris Cyborg turned down $2 million to fight me at 154 pounds
Claressa
Shields has revealed why a boxing bout against Cris
Cyborg fell through.

During a recent interview, Shields discussed a previous offer for
the proposed Cyborg fight, which the Brazilian allegedly turned
down.

Shields says a sparring session changed her relationship with
Cris Cyborg

Shields claims Cyborg turned down a $2 million offer to box her,
despite them being on good terms.

“But as far as Cris, she turned $2 million already back when a guy
from Saudi had $3 million for her,†Shields told TMZ Sports. “Well,
$3 million for me and $2 million for her and we could [do that at]
154 [pounds]. She turned it down and that’s back when we were
cool.â€

The American now claims that they aren't on good terms, speculating
that the bad blood stems from a previous training session, which
Shields claims to have dominated.

“Right now, she got all this, ‘Oh, she don’t like me,'†Shields
added. “I think she don’t like me because I whooped her a*s in
sparring. That’s what happened. She got like this edited clip that
she begged me to let her and her team put together. But I had every
round when we sparred and I know for a fact she was a deer in
headlights. I beat her. Yeah. Yes. It was easy work.â€

Shields recently finished Kay Scott to win the WBA and WBC female
middleweight titles, while Cyborg beat Ketlen
Vieira in his last mixed martial arts bout in the
Professional Fighters League.

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MMA

UFC’s newest fighter had a 7:30 a.m. work call following historic upset

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UFC’s newest fighter had a 7:30 a.m. work call following historic upset
Alex
Apodaca has little time to celebrate the biggest win of her
career.

Apodaca pulled off the biggest upset in
Dana White's Contender Series history on Aug. 25, earning an

Ultimate Fighting Championship contract after defeating heavily
favored Bella Mir
over three rounds. When asked how she plans to celebrate the major
victory, Apodaca said that she has a day job obligation scheduled
for the next morning.

Alex Apodaca plans to keep accounting job after upsetting Bella
Mir on DWCS

Despite beating Mir and pulling off the biggest upset in DWCS
history, the 32-year-old bantamweight won’t be stepping away from
her day job just yet. Apodaca revealed after the fight that she had
an early morning commitment at her accounting firm.

“I am gonna party my *ss off, but I have work in the morning. I
have a call at like 7:30 a.m.,†Apodaca said at the post-fight
presser following
Week 3 of DWCS Season 10.

Apodaca works full-time as a consultant at an accounting firm, a
career she plans to maintain despite signing with the UFC.

“I actually don't think I'm just gonna quit,†she added. “I think
I'm gonna keep doing it. I like using my brain, so I'm gonna keep
doing it.â€

Balancing the two careers has not always been easy, particularly
around fight camps and weight cuts, but Apodaca credited her
co-workers and bosses for supporting her MMA career.

“They've been very supportive. I have so much gratitude towards
them for that,†Apodaca said. “I'll be on video calls with a black
eye and they are totally just used to it now. It's the coolest
thing ever to have that amount of support from all the people in my
life, especially the folks I work for.â€

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