Wellington Turman won’t be fighting Feb. 6.

On Saturday, Turman (16-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) confirmed he’s withdrawn from his scheduled UFC Fight Night bout vs. Aliaskhab Khizriev as he deals with pneumonia.

According to an initial report from Combate, which Turman later confirmed, Turman was hospitalized Wednesday and diagnosed with “atypical pneumonia frame (lung infection caused by microorganisms less common than normal pneumonia).” The report added that Turman is still hospitalized but is resting in stable condition.

Turman, 24, issued the following statement Saturday on Instagram (translated from Portuguese).

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to fight on February 6th. I got pneumonia and I won’t have time to recover and get well (for) the fight. I am very upset about this. I wanted to fight again soon, but there are things that are out of our command and health always comes first. Thanks to everyone who is with me. I will recover and come back as soon as possible.”

A post shared by Wellington THE PRODIGY Turman (@turmanmma)

With the change, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Feb. 6 now includes:

• Frankie Edgar vs. Cory Sandhagen
• Alistair Overeem vs. Alexander Volkov
• Macy Chiasson vs. Marion Reneau
• Molly McCann vs. Lara Procopio
• Macy Chiasson vs. Marion Reneau
• Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. TBA
• Julio Arce vs. Timur Valiev
• Seungwoo Choi vs. Steven Peterson
• Clay Guida vs. Michael Johnson
• Beneil Dariush vs. Diego Ferreira
• Alex da Silva vs. Devonte Smith
• Danilo Marques vs. Mike Rodriguez
• Nicco Montano vs. Karol Rosa
• Manel Kape vs. Alexandre Pantoja

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-news-wellington-turman-hospitalized-pneumonia-aliaskhab-khizriev-february-6

Have you had your fill of hearing about the best parts of 2020 – a year most of us want to slam into a dumpster fire and forget about?

Well, bear with us – we’ve got a few more. The UFC has released the results of its Fans Choice Awards, and with them a highlights video that features one of the great moments in the sport’s history.

It should come as no surprise that Joaquin Buckley’s insane spinning back kick knockout of Impa Kasanganay in October was the fans’ pick for best KO of 2020. And you can see that highlight, and copious amounts of replays of it, in the video above.

Plus, check out the highlights from the other winners, including:

• Debut of the Year: Khamzat Chimaev
• Comeback of the Year: Beneil Dariush def. Drakkar Klose
• Submission of the Year: Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Justin Gaethje
• Event of the Year: UFC 256
• Knockout of the Year: Joaquin Buckley def. Impa Kasanganay

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/video-ufc-fans-choice-award-winners-joaquin-buckley-khabib-nurmagomedov-highlights-knockouts-submissions

Bantamweights Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera are set to run it back on a new date.

After originally being scheduled for a Jan. 30 UFC Fight Night event that was scratched, Munhoz and Rivera will meet Feb. 13 at UFC 258, which will likely take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

In November 2015, Rivera (23-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) edged Munhoz in a back-and-forth battle at UFC Fight Night 77. Since then, Rivera has gone 5-3, most recently snapping a two-fight losing skid with a unanimous decision win over Cody Stamann at UFC on ESPN 13 in July.

After notching three straight wins, including a knockout over former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, Munhoz (18-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) has dropped two in a row to current title challenger Aljamain Sterling and former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

With the addition, the latest UFC 258 lineup includes:

• Champ Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns – for welterweight title
• Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera
• Uriah Hall vs. Chris Weidman
• Ian Heinisch vs. Kelvin Gastelum
• Maycee Barber vs. Alexa Grasso
• Gabe Green vs. Phil Rowe
• Dhiego Lima vs. Belal Muhammad

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-258-pedro-munhoz-vs-jimmie-rivera-rematch-booked

UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal is apparently considering leaving his more than 650,000 Twitter followers behind. Masvidal threatened the move in support of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been banned from Twitter.

UFC president Dana White is pushing hard for a Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal bout as soon as possible in 2021, but Masvidal is currently embracing a fight against Twitter.

The President was largely criticized by a majority of media reports and by numerous politicians and others for inciting the breach of the United States Capitol earlier this week.

President Trump’s comments on Twitter and elsewhere led to both Facebook and Twitter banning him.

Facebook has said that President Trump’s indefinite ban will be in place until after Jan. 20, when President Elect Joe Biden is inaugurated.

Twitter initially banned the President for 12 hours. It has since cited ongoing threats of violence leading the company to permanently suspend Donald J. Trump’s personal account, which is the account from which he most frequently tweeted.

Twitter’s decision to ban the President hasn’t sat well with conservatives and others who believe it is in essence banning free speech. Masvidal is a longtime support of President Trump and appears ready to leave Twitter as a show of his continued support.

“Not too many place I ain’t been kicked out of and since all the cool kids have been kicked off Twitter… Follow the leader,” Masvidal tweeted on Saturday.

“Ala din my way out of here. #supernecessary”

In this episode of Inside the Octagon, John Gooden and Dan Hardy preview the UFC 257 main event, Poirier vs McGregor 2.

The biggest star in the sport, “The Notorious” Conor McGregor, makes his long-awaited return to the octagon to face former foe Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier – a rematch six years in the making.

McGregor won their first fight in spectacular fashion, but both have since become champions and changed their games tremendously.

Will McGregor take out Poirier with ease again at UFC 257, or will Poirier avenge the loss and return to title contention?

(Video courtesy of UFC)

TRENDING Watch Conor McGregor starch Dustin Poirier in first fight ahead of UFC 257 rematch

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-257-poirier-vs-mcgregor-2-inside-the-octagon-preview