Liu (4-1) was scheduled to make his
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against Tafa (7-6) in
front of a home crowd in Shanghai, China, on Aug. 29. However, Tafa
withdrew due to undisclosed reasons five days before fight night
and was replaced on short notice by Levi
Rodrigues, who suffered a first-round knockout loss to Liu.

Ce Liu calls for Junior Tafa fight after first-round UFC
Shanghai knockout

The Liu vs. Rodrigues bout was a fast-paced back-and-forth affair,
with both fighters having moments of success before Liu piled on
the pressure in the final minute of the first round. The Chinese
light heavyweight ultimately flatlined his Brazilian counterpart,
opening his account in the UFC in style.

Liu subsequently called for a rebooking against Tafa.

“I want to challenge someone — my last opponent,†Liu said
backstage after his win. “I want to settle the score with him in
our next match.â€

“The Oriental Dragon†has finished all four of his pro wins so far,
going past the first round only once in victory. Meanwhile, Tafa is
3-6 in the UFC and coming off a first-round knockout loss against
Iwo
Baraniewski.

Nurmagomedov is the most sought-after free agent in mixed martial
arts, with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship rumored to be keen on signing
the latest
Professional Fighters League lightweight titleholder. Yan, the
current UFC bantamweight champ, recently revealed that the unbeaten
Dagestani once bought a rare BMW from him.

Petr Yan says Usman Nurmagomedov bought his limited-edition BMW
X5

Yan used to own a BMW X5, which now belongs to Nurmagomedov. There
were only 250 of the limited-edition X5 in the whole world in the
color owned by Yan and only 12 in Russia.

“Khabib
Nurmagomedov's brother, Usman, bought that car from me later,â€
Yan said in an interview with Kickdown. “There were only 12 of
these cars in Russia, and only 250 in the world. There were 12 in
Russia in this specific color.â€

While Nurmagomedov and Yan are from different camps, they share a
lot of mutual respect, even though the former's brother, Umar,
competes in the division ruled by Yan. “No Mercy†will look to
defend his title against Merab Davlishvili at
UFC 333 in October in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, the PFL has a 90-day exclusive negotiation window since
Nurmagomedov's last bout and he's revealed that he's already turned
down an offer for $2 million per fight. A recent Instagram post hints at a UFC move looming.

Zuffa LLC

If Carlos Prates gets a title fight with Islam Makhachev, he thinks he'll have to weather the grappling storm early.

Prates is confident that his name will be called to challenge Makhachev for the UFC Welterweight Championship next. The Fighting Nerds standout was in attendance to witness Makhachev's first successful 170-pound title defense against Ian Machado Garry in Philadelphia.

Having seen Makhachev perform live, Prates doesn't have any false notions about the pound-for-pound great. In fact, Prates believes he might struggle against Makhachev in the early going. Speaking to retired UFC fighter Gilbert Burns, Prates said he can see himself overcoming a bad start to put Makhachev to sleep (via MMAFighting).

“You look at his fight with Chael Sonnen, Chael Sonnen got the mount in the first round. In the second, [Silva] went out there and knocked the guy out,†Prates said. “And that's what I think is going to happen. I think I'm going to start by getting smashed, and the first time I manage to get back to my feet and start hurting him, I'm going to knock him out somewhere around the fourth or fifth round.â€

Prates has earned the reputation of being a finisher. After falling short in his bout with Garry back in April 2025, Prates scored big finishes over Geoff Neal, Leon Edwards, and Jack Della Maddalena. Two of those names are former UFC champions, and Prates believes that his resume should earn him a shot at Makhachev's gold.

Makhachev has even said he prefers to face Prates next given the top contender's momentum. It might be Makhachev's most lucrative title defense at the moment given Prates' popularity. The welterweight king plans to return to the Octagon before Ramadan, which would mean that Jan. 2027 would be the latest Makhachev fights again.

Do you think Carlos Prates can overcome Islam Makhachev's grappling to eventually score the KO? Sound off in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM