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Islam Makhachev shares words of encouragement for Ilia Topuria: "I hope he will come back"

Published

3 months ago

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Islam Makhachev shares words of encouragement for Ilia Topuria: "I hope he will come back"
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Islam Makhachev refuses to kick Ilia Topuria while he is down.

Topuria was riding a wave of momentum and had seemingly been on the fast track to legendary status before Justin Gaethje provided a reality check. “El Matador†became a two-division champion rather quickly, and he was sure that his first lightweight title defense would be a successful one at UFC Freedom 250 back in June. Despite having some success and even dropping Gaethje with a body shot, it was clear that “The Highlight†was doing significant damage with his boxing.

Topuria kept moving forward, which ultimately was his downfall. He reportedly suffered a broken orbital before failing to get off his stool for the final round. Gaethje handed Topuria the first loss of his pro MMA career via fourth-round corner stoppage.

While one might've expected Makhachev to pour salt in the wound given Topuria's desire to fight him, that's not the case. Speaking to UFC Hall of Famer Demetrious Johnson, Makhachev said he hopes to see “El Matador†make a strong comeback.

“He's still young bro, he has time. I hope he will come back,†Makhachev said. “Ilia's a good fighter bro. He has good punches, good wrestling. If he focuses, maybe he'll be champion again. But this fight changed his life. But we don't know which way.â€

Topuria has been seen in public without his sunglasses, and it appears his face has been healing quickly. Some are still wondering if the beating Topuria suffered against Gaethje will lead to him being more hesitant when striking. Topuria's boxing had been his bread and butter, and it earned him huge knockouts over the likes of Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira.

Are you surprised by Islam Makhachev's encouraging words for Ilia Topuria? Sound off in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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MMA

UFC Vegas 123 ‘Moicano vs. Nolan’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

7 hours ago

on

October 31, 2026

By

UFC Vegas 123 ‘Moicano vs. Nolan’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
UFC Vegas 123 coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The
event is also known as
UFC Fight Night 292.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 4

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 5

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

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MMA

Canelo vs. Mbilli Results: Live updates of the undercard and main event

Published

8 hours ago

on

October 31, 2026

By

Canelo vs. Mbilli Results: Live updates of the undercard and main event

MMA Fighting has Canelo vs. Mbilli results for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Christian Mbilli fight card and more for one of the most highly anticipated events of the year at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.

When the main event begins around 4:30 p.m. ET, check out our Canelo vs. Mbilli live round-by-round updates for our live blog of the main event. Canelo Alvarez tries to win the WBC super middleweight title and hand Christian Mbilli his first professional loss.

Check out Canelo vs. Mbilli results below.

Canelo vs. Mbilli Main Event

Canelo Alvarez vs. Christian Mbilli

Canelo vs. Mbilli undercard (DAZN PPV at 2 p.m. ET)

Jaime Munguia vs. Nikita Zon

Rafael Espinoza vs. Ricardo Blandon

Reito Tsutsumi vs. Raymundo Rojas

David Picasso vs. Carl Jammes Martin

Canelo vs. Mbilli prelims (MMA Fighting at 10 a.m. ET)

Sultan Almohammed vs. Erick Villegas

Bek Nurmaganbet vs. Marcos Vazquez

Emiliano Rojo vs. Flavius Biea

Brayan Leon vs. Hector Aguirre

For more on Jaime Munguia vs Nikita Zon, check out the live blog below.

Jaime Munguia vs. Nikita Zon

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MMA

Ciryl Gane defended from cheater accusations by two former UFC champions: "He wasn’t going for it on purpose"

Published

19 hours ago

on

October 30, 2026

By

Ciryl Gane defended from cheater accusations by two former UFC champions: "He wasn’t going for it on purpose"
Trending:

Pros react after Alexander Volkanovski TKO's Movsar Evloev at UFC 333
Zuffa LLC

Two former UFC titleholders are coming to the defense of Ciryl Gane amid a cheater label.

Some believe that Gane has bent the rules in his favor in past fights, particularly with eye pokes and illegal strikes. “Bon Gamin†came under fire for his double eye poke foul against Tom Aspinall, who still hasn't fought since Oct. 2025 due to his injuries. Gane was also scrutinized for landing illegal elbows to the back of Alex Pereira's head in their UFC Freedom 250 fight back in June.

While some have called Gane a cheater, former rivals Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw disagree with that notion. During a recent edition of the “Love & War Podcast,†Cruz said that during his fighting days, he'd take the blame himself if he was ever got poked in the eye (via MMAFighting).

“I always said if you can poke me in my f*cking eye, I'm doing something wrong,†Cruz said. “You can punch me in my head. Trying to my head is so f*cking hard, if you can poke me in the eye, that's my problem, so we agree on that and I think that's why he's not a cheater.â€

Dillashaw agreed with Cruz, saying that he thinks people have the wrong idea about Gane over his accidental fouls.

“I don't think he is [a cheater],†Dillashaw said. “It's gotten blown out of the water since the Pereira fight. Obviously, everyone's a Pereira fan and they wanted him to win and they want to call the illegal blows. He wasn't going for it on purpose and Pereira's moving his head as he's hitting those. I think Herb Dean's unfortunately catching a lot of flack as well, too.â€

Gane was promoted as the UFC heavyweight champion due to Aspinall remaining sidelined. He will put his gold at stake against Josh Hokit in the UFC 334 main event on Nov. 14 in New York City.

Do you think the cheater label towards Ciryl Gane is unfair, or have you seen enough fouls to the point where it's justified? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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