Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka will return at UFC Qatar for his first bout since losing to Carlos Ulberg.

The UFC light heavyweight title picture remains in a peculiar spot as titleholder Carlos Ulberg continues to recover from a leg injury suffered at UFC 327. Earlier this year, Ulberg rallied against Jiri Prochazka to earn a TKO win after injuring his leg just minutes into the fight.

Now, the light heavyweight titleholder remains on the sidelines as Prochazka and other top contenders make their cases for a title shot. Prochazka is looking to secure another title shot after recent championship losses to Alex Pereira and Ulberg.

As he looks to move closer to another potential title fight, Prochazka will headline the UFC's return to Qatar against one of the division's most dangerous young contenders.

Jiri Prochazka vs. Navajo Stirling headlines stacked card at UFC Qatar

As the UFC announced on Tuesday, Prochazka will face Navajo Stirling (11-0) in the UFC Qatar main event on November 21st.

Stirling returns to the Octagon after recent knockout wins over Jan Blachowicz, Ion Cutelaba, and Bruno Lopes. He was a longtime teammate of Israel Adesanya at City Kickboxing before Adesanya left the gym earlier this year.

A win over Prochazka would likely give Stirling the nod for a title shot over some of the other top contenders. Prochazka was briefly linked to a fight against former UFC title challenger Paulo Costa before negotiations fell apart.

UFC Qatar features the returns of top names like Aljamain Sterling, Dan Hooker, and the highly anticipated debut of super prospect Akbar Abdullaev. Stirling will face surging featherweight contender Kevin Vallejos in the co-main event.

Hooker, who returns after a loss at UFC Paris earlier this month, will fight Brian Ortega in the latter's long-awaited lightweight debut.

What is your prediction for Jiri Prochazka vs. Navajo Stirling? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Payton Talbott reveals he was in talks to face Sean O'Malley at the White House.

O'Malley ended up facing Aiemann Zahabi on the card, whom he knocked out, but Talbott was in the running for that fight. It would have been a major fight, but for whatever reason it didn't come to fruition.

According to Talbott, the UFC told him O'Malley wasn't available after asking about the fight, and then it was announced he was facing Zahabi.

“I was supposed to fight Sean [O'Malley], then I was supposed to fight him, I was supposed to fight her, all kinds of names,†Talbott said. “Supposedly when I was supposed to fight them, they all had a broken foot. I was like, ‘Dude, what's up with everybody's feet?‘ It must be something in the water.

“They were like, ‘Oh, so and so broke his foot. He really wants to fight you, but his foot is broken. This guy, he was gonna fight you, but this morning he broke his foot.' Then it's funny, because the same names that said their feet were broken are suddenly getting booked … it could be UFC, it could be people scared. I wonder which?â€

Why the UFC offered the fight and then walked it back isn't known. But perhaps the promotion is waiting for it to be a potential title fight, or No. 1 contender fight, to book it.

Payton Talbott is set to take on Deiveson Figueiredo in the co-main event of UFC 332 on Saturday in Utah. Should he beat the former flyweight champ, he could start to enter the title conversation at bantamweight.

Talbott enters the fight on a two-fight winning streak and is coming off a decision win over Henry Cejudo.

UFC 332 Fight Card

The full fight card for UFC 332 on Saturday is as follows:

• Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong – women's flyweight title fight
• Payton Talbott vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
• Roman Kopylov vs. Ateba Gautier
• King Green vs. Esteban Ribovics
• Khaos Williams vs. Roberto Soldic
• Mick Parkin vs. Johnny Walker
• Alden Cora vs. Imanol Rodriguez
• Damian Pinas vs. Andrey Pulyaev
• Court McGee vs. Eric Nolan
• Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev
• Alexander Hernandez vs. Rafael dos Anjos
• Marcus McGhee vs. Benardo Sopaj
• Anthony Wint vs. Lucas Armand
• Jacobe Smith vs. Bruce Whitehead

Stay locked to BJPENN.com all week for your UFC 332 fight coverage.

Who do you think would have won, Payton Talbott or Sean O'Malley?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

ONE Championship

No fighter in ONE has more wins, more finishes, or more first-round finishes than the promotion's lightweight MMA king. His next defense comes against a grappler who has already beaten a member of his family.

Christian Lee defends his ONE Lightweight MMA World Title against reigning ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo at The Inner Circle 37 on Friday, November 6. The event streams exclusively for members from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 28-year-old Singaporean-American holds an 18-4 record, with 17 victories via finish and 11 of those in the first round. His bouts last an average of just 5:14 minutes.

Lee debuted in ONE in 2015 at 17 and first claimed lightweight gold in May 2019. He came from behind against Shinya “Tobikan Judan†Aoki. That win made him the youngest male MMA World Champion in the promotion.

He went on to defend the belt multiple times against world-class opposition and also holds the ONE Welterweight MMA World Title. A brief spell without the lightweight strap followed a loss to Ok Rae Yoon, which he corrected in their rematch.

Last year, the Prodigy Training Center star turned back Alibeg Rasulov in a rematch that left no room for debate. The numbers now make him a five-time ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion and one of the greatest to compete in the sport.

Christian Lee faces a grappler chasing history

Ruotolo, 23, opened his MMA career by submitting Lee's younger brother Adrian “The Phenom†Lee with a rear-naked choke in round two, the first loss Adrian had ever suffered. A sub-three-minute finish of Shozo Isojima followed, lifting the Tenore fighter and twin brother of Kade Ruotolo to 2-0.

No ONE Submission Grappling World Champion has ever captured an MMA World Title in the promotion. Ruotolo gets his chance in just his third MMA outing, while Lee looks to add another chapter to one of the most decorated careers ONE has ever seen.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM