We’re so proud of our team! Find out how they’ve been doing, as well as what else has been going on at our gym lately.
Anthony Smith won’t get his desired spot on the upcoming UFC card in his native Nebraska, but he will get a much bigger opportunity instead.
Smith (28-14 MMA, 5-3 UFC) has agreed to step in for Volkan Oezdemir against former UFC champ Mauricio Rua (25-10 MMA, 9-8 UFC) in this month’s UFC Fight Night 134 headliner. MMAjunkie verified the booking with a person with knowledge of the fight. The person wished to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. ESPN.com first reported the new main event.
UFC Fight Night 134 takes place July 22 at Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. The entire card airs on FS1.
“Shogun,” No. 13 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light heavyweight rankings, was left without an opponent for several hours today after Oezdemir was removed from their scheduled headliner in favor of a matchup with Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 227 next month.
Smith, 29, was one of the immediate frontrunners to get the fight with the Brazilian legend, and he managed to get the opportunity in what will he second consecutive bout against a former 205-pound titleholder. “Lionheart” moved up to light heavyweight this past month and scored a 53-second knockout of Rashad Evans for a result that ultimately pushed Evans into retirement.
He will go up against Rua, 36, who is currently riding the longest winning streak of his UFC career at three consecutive bouts. He hasn’t fought in more 16 months, though, with his most recent bout being a third-round TKO of Gian Villante at UFC Fight Night 106 in March 2017.
The latest UFC Fight Night 134 card includes:
MAIN CARD (FS1, 2 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 12 p.m. ET)
For more on UFC Fight Night 134, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
Max Holloway may have MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month, Knockout of the Year, and beyond locked up with his buzzer-beating finish of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, but that hasn’t stopped other fighters from submitting their entry into the conversation. At LFA 182, Kendra McIntyre did exactly that...
Anthony Smith knows he’s not currently in the title picture, but hopes he gets an opportunity to face Alex Pereira some day. The pair traded barbs in the past, but Smith insists it’s nothing personal. UFC light heavyweight champion Pereira (10-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) currently awaits his next challenger...
We want to make sure that Ludus MMA is the right fit for you before asking you to commit to a membership.
That’s why we’d like to offer you a FREE ONE-DAY PASS to our gym.
With your FREE PASS, you can: