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

Canadian featherweight Hakeem Dawodu’s plans to score a big win to kick off the new year have been dealt a blow, with injury forcing the 29-year-old Calgary native out of his scheduled bout at UFC 257.

A source with knowledge of the situation has confirmed to MMA Junkie that Dawodu (12-1-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) has been forced to withdraw from his bout against Shane Burgos on Jan. 23 due to a shoulder injury.

The source requested anonymity as news of the bout’s cancellation has not been officially announced by the UFC.

It is currently unknown whether the UFC will seek a replacement opponent for Burgos (13-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), or whether the original matchup will be rescheduled to a later date.

The current bout lineup for UFC 257 includes:

• Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor
• Michael Chandler vs. Dan Hooker
• Joanne Calderwood vs. Jessica Eye
• Marcin Prachnio vs. Khalil Rountree
• Amanda Ribas vs. Marina Rodriguez
• Sara McMann vs. Julianna Pena
• Ottman Azaitar vs. Matt Frevola
• Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Brad Tavares
• Sergey Morozov vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
• Shane Burgos vs. TBA
• Nasrat Haqparast vs. Arman Tsarukyan
• Makhmud Muradov vs. Andrew Sanchez

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc257-hakeem-dawodu-ruled-out-shane-burgos-fight

The fan votes are in, and LFA has announced the winners of its best-of-2020 awards.

The promotion solicited votes from the fans inn eight separate categories for its best moments of an unprecedented 2020 calendar year that featured delayed cards, then a resumption of events without fans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Check out the results for all eight categories below, and don’t miss Ron Kruck’s video highlighting all the winners above.

LFA returns in a week with LFA 97 at Harman Arena in Park City, Kan., near Wichita. In the main event on UFC Fight Pass, the lightweight title is on the line between Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts Nick Browne and Arthur Estrazulas.

The LFA 2020 Fans Choice Awards included:

• Female Fighter of the Year: Lupita Godinez
• Male Fighter of the Year: Josh Fremd
• Knockout of the Year: Alex Pereira (LFA 95)
• Submission of the Year: Vanessa Demopoulos (LFA 85)
• Fight of the Year: Maycon Mendonça vs. Batsumberel Dagvadorj (LFA 96)
• Alum of the Year: Brandon Moreno
• Event of the Year: LFA 80 (Albuquerque, N.M.)
• Photo of the Year: Vince Cachero honoring Kobe Bryant, LFA 81 (Amy Kaplan)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/video-lfa-winners-2020-awards-knockout-submission-highlights