Israel Adesanya feels he's made the best move to get back on the winning track.
MMA
UFC at ABC: Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder Main Preview and card failure
Published
1 year agoon
(Photo Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)In general, these “Fight Night” cards without payments are quite tame and kept in front of almost any audience on the top of the UFC. This is not the UFC release on ABC on July 26. This card takes place at the well -known Etihad arena in the United Arab Emirates. It will be the 21st UFC visit to the Etihad Arena, the majority in the last four years from the end of the arena in 2021.
We have two ranking fights with the five best guys in the main and co-head event. At Headliner No. 5 Robert “Bobby Knuckles” Whittaker is heading No. 12 Reinier de Ridder. In cooperation, the former weight weight master and pretender No. 3 Petr Yan fights No. 13 Marcus McGhee.
Even unrestricted duels are fascinating, and Bryce Mitchell is fighting, said Nurmagomedov in Bantameight scrap metal, and Shabutdin Magomedov throws him out of Marc-Andre Bariault in the card opener.
Here’s everything you need to know about this fights quartter! And don’t forget that this event in Abu Dhabi the main card runs at 15.00 et Piercing!
Main event: No. 5 Robert Whittaker vs. No. 12 Reinier de Ridder – Middle Wweight Ranking
Robert Whittaker (26-8) enters this fight in a significant flaw in almost every category. It has a height of six feet, but Reinier de Ridder (20-2) is a massive 6’4 “. 73.5-inch Whittaker’s range will also be relatively petite, and the” Dutch knight “has worked for 79 inches. Both men will be 34 years elderly when they enter the Octagon on July 26.
Whittaker will want to reflect after a slightly embarrassing show against Khamzat Chimaev, who in the first round relaxed the Australian to get the crank on the face of the first round. Bobby has 3-2 because he lost the fight for the title with Israel Adesanya in 2022. Meanwhile, de Ridder won all three UFC fights since joining the promotion last autumn.
De Ridder has finished 13 of his 20 wins by reporting, so Whittaker will definitely look for removal. However, he has a ten in defense of the average weight (over 77 percent), so the Dutchman will be hard to drop him. Borz is the only one who took Bobby Knuckles in the last five fights.
If we were doing UFC forecastsWe would like Bobby Knuckles not only for Nostalgia, but also because it seems a good opportunity to bounce. Sellers also have it mentioned as a petite favorite, so we are not alone.
CO-MAIN event: No. 3 Petr Yan vs. No. 13 Marcus McGhee-Ranking Bantamweight Bout
In the co–Main Petr Yan (18-5) and Marcus McGhee (10-1) event, they fit quite well physically. Yan, at 5’7 “, is a shorter man by one inch, while McGhee also enjoys a two -inch advantage, from 67” to 69 “. However, despite a much longer and more outstanding career for Yan, at the age of 32 he is three years younger than McGhee.
McGhee won all four UFC duels, ending his first three, and recently winning the decision on Jonathan Martinez. Meanwhile, Yan won the last two in a row against much more hard competition in the song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo. Some were worried after he lost three hard decisions (MERAB, O’Malley, Sterling), but the Russian seems to have returned. This is the first real challenge of UFC McGhee (he is a huge weaker) and the boy is huge.
Bryce Mitchell vs. Sai
Bryce “Thug Nasty” Mitchell (17-3) comes on 5’9 “with 70-inch range. Said Nurmagomedov (18-4) with a 5’8 frame” and an identical 70-inch range. The Dagestani fighter is three years older, and Mitchell is only 30 years elderly despite the seven years in UFC.
Mitchell was completed by Red Sizzling Jean Silva in his last duel in April, and alternately won and losses in the last six. At that time he won impressive victories over Dan IgE and Edson Barboza. Nurmagomedov does not quite touch his name because he lost two of the last three of the less than the famed competition.
Shabutdin Magomedov vs. Marc-Andre Barriault-Middleight
In the main card opener we get one of the most intriguing MMA fighters in Shabutdin Magomedov (15-1), taking Canadian sensation at Marc-Andre Barriault (17-9, 1 NC). Shara “Bullet” seems to have many advantages here: he is higher than Barriault by one inch (6’2 “vs. 6’1”), and in the age of 31 is four years younger than Barriault. Both have 73-inch resources.
His only disadvantage is that Shara is blind in the right eye. Because of this blindness, he must not fight in the United States yet, he remains a sniper, and his 62.4 -percentage significant striking accuracy takes second place in the weight class.
Shara will want to avenge his first career defeat when he was the last time he fought, when he abandoned his decision on the unconventional and unpredictable side of Michael. Otherwise, he dominated since joining the UFC, winning his first four fights and generally doing it in a dominant way.
Barriault returned with great nervousness towards Bruno Silva in his last fight just two months ago in May. But he lost three in a row (two in the first round of Nokaut) and seems to be on snail-paced.
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MMA
Dan Hooker calls Brian Ortega old while explaining quick UFC return
Published
9 hours agoon
November 5, 2026
Hooker was frustrated after his last defeat.
The New Zealander faced
Ultimate Fighting Championship debutant Salahdine
Parnasse in the main event of
UFC Paris this past September and lost via technical knockout
at 2:35 of the first round. Hooker is looking to make a quick
turnaround and is now scheduled to fight Brian
Ortega at
UFC Qatar on Nov. 21. “The Hangman†recently opened up about
why he's returning to action just 77 days after his last bout.
Dan Hooker says frustration after his Salahdine Parnasse loss
prompted him to accept Brian Ortega at UFC Qatar
Hooker said he was frustrated he couldn’t show his improvements
after a hard training camp for the Parnasse fight. He claims he
would've taken more time in between fights if he had gone to war
with the Frenchman for five rounds. While Hooker went down with the
body kick from Parnasse in the opening frame, he didn't suffer any
serious injuries, hence the short turnaround.
“When you just get out there and don’t really get to show anything,
that’s frustrating,†Hooker told Ariel Helwani. “I put in a really
hard training camp, made some pretty big improvements in my
consistency and training, and I just didn’t get to show it… Then I
saw Nolan was matched with Moicano, so I called my manager Ash and
said, ‘F*ck, surely I can beat Brian Ortega.' I was like, ‘F*ck,
he’s old as well. Surely, I can beat Brian Ortega.' The UFC liked
that fight, so I got it.â€
While Hooker (24-15) is on a three-fight skid, Ortega (16-5, 1 NC)
has lost four of his last five bouts.
Dan Hooker
explains why he’s getting right back in there against Brian
Ortega just 77 days after his loss at UFC Paris: “When you just
get out there and don’t really get to show anything, that’s
frustrating. I put in a really hard training camp, made some pretty
big improvements in my consistency and training, and I just didn’t
get to show it. Then I saw Tom Nolan was
matched with Moicano, so I called my manager Ash and said, ‘F***,
surely I can beat Brian
Ortega.' I was like, ‘F***, he’s old as well. Surely I can beat
Brian
Ortega.' The UFC liked that fight, so I got it.â€â€” Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
November 4, 2026
MMA
Two-time UFC champion ready to end slump after camp change: ‘Best I’ve felt in a very long time’
Published
11 hours agoon
November 5, 2026
It's been over three years since Adesanya last had his hand raised inside the octagon, when he recaptured the UFC middleweight title with a stunning knockout over longtime rival Alex Pereira. Unfortunately for Adesanya, his second championship reign ended without a successful defense as he was upset by Sean Strickland, and then went on to be finished in his next three fights against Dricus du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov, and Joe Pyfer.
Something had to give, so Adesanya made the decision in July to part ways with the City Kickboxing team in New Zealand, the gym he called home since 2009. Now with a smaller team built specifically for him, Adesanya is booming with confidence ahead of his next fight, rumored to be a meeting with Shara Bullet at UFC Saudi Arabia on Dec. 5.
“Training camp's been awesome,†Adesanya said in a training camp vlog. “This is like a cliché, I guess that everyone says, ‘The best training camp I've ever had,' but I can truly say with my departure from my old gym, CKB, and now building the team that I have and training specifically for me, this is the best I've felt in a very long time. For real.
“I think this is the best training camp—this is the most fun training camp I've had in the last—when was Pereira in New York? 2022? ‘23? This is the most fun training camp I've had in years. That's going to show on fight night. I've been in fight week shape for weeks, my regular fight week shape. I look forward to how I'll look on fight week this time. Holy shit.â€
Adesanya emphasized that his current team is built to focus on his preparation, as opposed to a larger gym like City Kickboxing, which has housed numerous high-level fighters including UFC champions Alexander Volkanovski and Carlos Ulberg, former champion Robert Whittaker, and veteran contenders Dan Hooker and Kai Kara-France.
When Adesanya first announced the split, he called it “bittersweet,†though he didn't elaborate on why he made the change. In his latest vlog, he again hinted at an explanation without explicitly stating a reason.
“I've been doing a lot of thinking,†Adesanya said. “Like, I could have been a better teammate because I could have made better bonds at CKB with certain people who I've trained with for years, and I did make some close bonds, but I feel like I could have been a better teammate in certain aspects. Even though I was a great teammate and I did for a lot for a lot of people, I was there for a lot of people, but I just felt like, you can always do more.
“When I sit back and look at it, I'm like, I hid behind them sometimes and just let the idiot take over. But that's me being self-aware now. I can't say the same for other people, if they can be self-aware and be like, ‘Yep, I f*cked up as a coach' or ‘I f*cked up here, here, here.' … Look in the f*cking mirror and just know what you did and be better. I'm being better now. I have nothing to hide; let's go. I'm glad that I'm here and I can just f*cking own my shit and know I'm going to be better now from all the lessons I learned. All the f*ck-shit I did, all the great shit I did, too. Don't let them ever tell you otherwise or let them tell you, ‘He got too big for his boots.' F*ck off. I know who I am and I'll never let anyone tell me otherwise.â€
MMA
Tatiana Suarez reveals what she took away from past title fight loss to Zhang Weili
Published
20 hours agoon
November 5, 2026
Zuffa LLCUFC star Tatiana Suarez has taken a look back at what she was able to learn from her title loss to Zhang Weili ahead of her return.
In early 2025, Tatiana Suarez fell to her first loss in professional mixed martial arts at the hands of Zhang Weili. Since then, however, she has done a pretty good job of rebuilding herself, with victories over Amanda Lemos and Loopy Godinez.
RELATED: Tatiana Suarez believes she is right back in title conversation after UFC 327
Ahead of her fight against Virna Jandiroba this weekend, Tatiana Suarez has been reflecting on what went down against Zhang Weili. Of course, a loss is always hard to take, but it can often help you become an even better version of yourself.
In an interview, Tatiana Suarez had the following to say on the matter.
Tatiana Suarez reflects on former title fight defeat
“I took a lot from that fight, obviously – um, I guess it's not obvious, because not everybody does that, but I'm sure you have to,†Suarez said. “There's just no way you don't take anything from a loss, you know? For me, it's helped me in a lot of ways mentally. Obviously, it's helped me understand things that I also have to improve on, and more so the mindset of it all. Up until that point, I've never faced any adversity in a fight. So, that was the first time I've ever had to face any type of adversity, and I never stopped coming. I always kept trying, so that's something to be said as well.
“So it does show me that I always just never quit. I'm never just going to be like, ‘OK, I'm done.' She hit me with some good shots, and I just kept coming forward. But I think more importantly, I just feel like being a skilled fighter and having the fight IQ is important when you have big fights like that. So, that's what I definitely learned out there as well is like being smarter and fighting smarter.â€
Quotes via MMA Junkie
Will Suarez compete for a UFC world title again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, BJPENN Nation!
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
Dan Hooker calls Brian Ortega old while explaining quick UFC return
Two-time UFC champion ready to end slump after camp change: ‘Best I’ve felt in a very long time’
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