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UFC Oklahoma City newcomer Levi Rodrigues Jr. confident he’ll become a 3-division champion

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UFC Oklahoma City newcomer Levi Rodrigues Jr. confident he’ll become a 3-division champion

Levi Rodrigues Jr. makes his octagon debut against fellow Brazilian light heavyweight Felipe Franco at UFC Oklahoma City, and believes that it will be the start of a historic career.

“Baby Monster†is undefeated as a professional MMA fighter with five finishes and one no-contest going into his three-round clash with Franco at the Paycom Center, having fought at both light heavyweight and heavyweight previously in his MMA career — plus middleweight bouts in muay Thai and kickboxing. After Alex Pereira came up short in his attempt to win a third belt this past June, losing to Ciryl Gane, Rodrigues Jr. says he will get to do that one day.

“‘Poatan' was the only one to try it, but still hasn't managed to win a third title,†Rodrigues Jr. told MMA Fighting. “Ever since I was 12 years old, my dream was to make it to the UFC. Today I have the opportunity to be in the UFC. In my very first interview, I said, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that if God gave me the opportunity, I will win the 205, 185, and heavyweight titles.â€

Rodrigues Jr. joins the UFC after a first-round knockout over Freddy Vidal on Dana White's Contender Series, a fight that was later overturned to no-contest after he failed a drug test for a metabolite of nandrolone. “Baby Monster†said he was given injections after almost being left paralyzed with an injury suffered in a jiu-jitsu match and spending six months in bed. The banned substance, which he claims he was unaware of, remained in his system for his DWCS bout.

After serving the suspension, and still given a contract with the UFC, Rodrigues Jr. fulfills a life-long dream of entering the UFC octagon for the first time.

“It's been my dream since I was a little kid,†Rodrigues Jr. said. “You can be sure that every one of my fights is going to be a war. No matter who the opponent is, who gets knocked out or who gets submitted, I'll be there to put on a great show and entertain the fans. The people who are coming to watch deserve a show, they don't deserve an ugly fight. I want to entertain and give the fans a great show.â€

Franco, his UFC Oklahoma City opponent, makes his return to the 205-pound division after losing a short-notice decision against heavyweight prospect Mario Pinto in his promotional debut this past March. The 25-year-old is a teammate of Jailton Almeida, and that's the type of fight Rodrigues Jr. expects to deal with Saturday.

“I don't think he's going to want to stand and trade with me,†Rodrigues Jr. said. “I think he'll try to take me down. I think he'll do that ‘Malhadinho' style and try to put me on the ground, but we're ready for everything. … I never underestimate my opponents. I'm not the kind of guy who talks trash about other fighters. I believe everyone who's in the UFC has talent and is trying to build a career and improve their family's life. I think he's a very capable fighter, and may the better man win.â€

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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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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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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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