Grasso vs. Shevchenko II, Rose Namajunas Moves To Flyweight & More: MMA News & Notes For 6/23/23
– MMA Junkie is reporting that former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas will make her flyweight division debut against Manon Foirot at UFC Paris on September 2.
– Alexsandre Topuria, brother of Ilia Topuria, believes he is not far from joining his brother in the UFC:
“I don’t see myself very far,” Alexsandre said to MMA Junkie. “I just need the right moment and right circumstance. I’m ready for whatever is to come.”
– MMA Junkie is reporting that Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann II is set for UFC Singapore on August 26.
– UFC Fight Night Jacksonville weigh-in results:
Main Card (ABC/ESPN+, 3pm EST.)
Josh Emmett (145.5) vs. Ilia Topuria (146)
Maycee Barber (126) vs. Amanda Ribas (125)
Austen Lane (245.5) vs. Justin Tafa (266)
David Onama (146) vs. Gabriel Santos (145)
Brendan Allen (185.5) vs. Bruno Silva (186)
(Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 11:30am EST.)
Neil Magny (171) vs. Phil Rowe (171)
Randy Brown (171) vs. Wellington Turman (171)
Loik Radzhabov (157.25) *1 vs. Mateusz Rebecki (155.5)
Tabatha Ricci (114) vs. Gillian Robertson (116)
Joshua Van (125.25) vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (125.5)
Chepe Mariscal (154) vs. Trevor Peek (156)
Jamall Emmers (146) vs. Jack Jenkins (145.5)
Kleydson Rodrigues (129) *2 vs. Tatsuro Taira (126)
Cody Brundage (186) vs. Sedriques Dumas (185)
*1: Missed weight by 1.25 pounds
*2: Missed weight by 3 pounds, fight canceled
– Daniel Cormier warns Michael Chandler to not let the fight against Conor McGregor fall to the wayside:
“I don’t know what Chandler can do to make him move quicker into USADA, to make him agree to the fight faster,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel (transcript via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “I guess just kind of talking sh*t to him might help, but I don’t know if that’s going to be enough. Mike’s in a weird position. I spoke to him off the record today a little bit, just two text messages.
“He’s in a position where he’s just got to kind of wait and see, because that’s where he is. But my one bit of advice to him was don’t let the fight fall by the wayside. Do whatever you have to do in order to keep this fight together because this is a fight that can really make you at a level that no one else in the fight game can do.”
– The Schmo is reporting that Alexa Grasso will defend her women’s flyweight title in a rematch against former champion Valentina Shevchenko on the September 16 UFC card.
– Freak MMA is reporting that Erin Blanchfield will face Taila Santos at UFC Singapore on August 26.
– Kleber Koike has missed weight for RIZIN 43 and has been stripped on the RIZIN Featherweight Title.
RIZIN President Nobuyuki Sakakibara issued the following statement on Instagram:
“Kleber missed weight by 400g (0.88 pounds) and tomorrow’s championship bout has become quite chaotic. If Chihiro wins, he will be crowned as the rightful champion, if Kleber wins, the featherweight championship will be vacant.”
