Tumultuous Week Ends With Fights Being Allowed to Go Off

December 16, 2023

2 years

The week leading up to UFC 296 wasn’t the smoothest ride. But all the fighters who made it to the scales Friday night in Las Vegas made weight, meaning every fight scheduled for Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, will go off as planned. Two scheduled bouts were canceled earlier in the week due to illness.

Irish star Ian Machado Garry was scheduled to fight Vicente Luque at welterweight. However, Garry didn’t appear at any media obligations during the week and later withdrew due to pneumonia. Another welterweight bout, between Randy Brown and Muslim Salikhov, was initially set to open the card but would end up being scrapped when Brown pulled out due to an illness, according to MMAfighting latest news.

Aldana Had the Only Close Call

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Mexican fighter Irene Aldana will be eager to return to the UFC octagon. Aladana froze up last June when she had the most significant opportunity in her MMA career. Fighting against legendary champion Amanda Nunes, Aldana seemed afraid to make a mistake.

A low-volume affair resulted in a lopsided decision win for Nunes, who retired following the fight. Aldana, who is ranked fifth in the women’s bantamweight division, will see a significant drop in competition tonight when she takes on No. 9 Karol Rosa.

Rosa made weight for their 135-pound bout with little issue, coming in at 135.5. Aldana, however, didn’t make weight during her first attempt. When the commission brought out the privacy box, Aldana could make weight after removing her fight gear at 136 pounds.

MMA news sites say fighters are given a 1-pound buffer over the scheduled weight for non-title fights.

Mitchell is Always a Professional

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Say what you will about Bryce Mitchell outside of the octagon, and he has said some pretty bizarre things; he is always prepared when it comes to making weight. Mitchell stepped in on short notice to fight former interim featherweight title challenger Josh Emmett.

Mitchell made weight with no problem, coming in at 145.5 pounds. During Mtichell’s last fight, he returned from his first career loss to win a decision over Dan Ige in September. Mitchell is now 16-1 in his career with nine submission wins, according to the best MMA news sites.

Emmett, who weighed 146 pounds, has had a tough 2023. In February, Emmett was submitted by Yair Rodríguez in the second round of a bout for the UFC interim featherweight title. During Emmett’s next fight, he took a tremendous beating in a five-round fight with Ilia Topuria but impressed many by making the final bell.

Topuria, who will fight Alexander Volkanovski next year for the featherweight title, is the only fighter to beat Mitchell.

Covington Made Things Personal

Colby Covington isn’t an exceptionally skilled orator. Usually, the American bantamweight welterweight attacks his opponents with long, rambling diatribes that feature crude nicknames and other personal attacks. During the UFC press conference for the event earlier in the week, Covington remarked about Leon Edwards’ dad, who was murdered, being in hell.

Edwards fired his water bottle across the dais, hitting Covington. Both men stood up to yell at each other, but security prevented Edwards from going after Covington. Covington is making his third attempt at winning a UFC title and came in a half-pound underweight. Edwards is making his second title defense and came in at exactly 170 pounds.

Royval Leaves Nothing Out There

Few fighters in any UFC weight division are as exciting as flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval. Since losing to current champion Alexandre Pantoja in August 2021, Royval has responded by winning three straight fights. Royval’s last win, a first-round stoppage of Matheus Nicolau, was amazing because he had an exciting fight that was still scheduled on the preliminary card.

Royval, who weighed a half pound under the 125-pound limit, has five knockouts and eight submissions out of his 15 victories. Pantoja, who is 26-5 in his career, doesn’t finish fights at the same rate but is a capable fighter on both his feet and the ground. This fight should be fun for as long as it lasts.

Wonderboy Will Face a Stiff Test

Stephen Thompson has a karate striking style that causes a lot of trouble for his opponents. Thompson, who weighed in at 171 pounds, will need all of those skills to be on point if he wants to stop rising prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov from getting into the win column. Rakhmonov has won the first 17 fights of his career.

Rakhmonov has won eight by knockout and nine by submission. Since entering the UFC, Rakhmonov has found a way to finish every fighter who comes his way. This will be the toughest test of Rakhmonov’s career. Thompson is a former title challenger who is one of the fan favorites in the UFC due to his friendly nature.

Paddy the Baddy Makes Weight

One of the more bizarre pairings on the card, with veteran Tony Ferguson and Paddy Pimblett, saw both men come in at 155.5 pounds. Ferguson is on a six-fight losing streak, while Pimbeltt will try to regain momentum after beating Jared Gordon last year. Many people felt that Gordon won the fight.

Ferguson is hoping to avoid entering the history books in the wrong way. If Ferguson were to lose in Pimblett, that would tie him with B.J. Penn for most consecutive losses by a fighter during their UFC career. That would be a brutal fall for Ferguson, who was once considered a legitimate title challenger to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Here’s a look at the other fights on the card and where fighters weighed in at: