Tag Archives: Charles Oliveira

Nate Diaz to Fight Leon Edwards at UFC 262 in May

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Nate Diaz is returning to The Octagon…

Diaz, one of the most popular fighters in MMA, will fight Leon Edwards at UFC 262 on May 15 in Houston, according to ESPN.

Nate Diaz

Both fighters have verbally agreed to the fight, though the contract isn’t signed yet.

The fight will serve as a five-round co-main event for the card headlined by Charles Oliveira versus Michael Chandler for the vacant UFC lightweight title, sources said.

This will mark the first five-round, non-title co-main event in UFC history.

Diaz (20-12) hasn’t fought since his November 2019 loss to Jorge Masvidal at Madison Square Garden.

Edwards (18-3, 1 NC) is unbeaten in his past nine fights. He had won eight fights in a row; however, earlier this month, his bout against Belal Muhammad ended in a no contest after he hit Muhammad with an accidental eye poke in the second round, which resulted in Muhammad no longer being able to continue.

Edwards’ last loss was to Kamaru Usman, before Usman became UFC welterweight champion, in December 2015.

The promotion had hoped to book Edwards to face Colby Covington next, but couldn’t get Covington to agree to the fight for undisclosed reasons, sources said. The UFC pivoted to an Edwards-Diaz fight late last week.

UFC 262 will take place at the Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets.

Ricardo Lamas to Face Ryan Hall in UFC Fight Night Next Month

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Ricardo Lamas headed back to the Octagon…

The featherweight bout between the 38-year-old Mexican and Cuban American mixed martial artist and former UFC title challenger and Ryan Hall has been rebooked for a UFC Fight Night event on August 29, according to ESPN.

Ricardo Lamas

The 145-pound contest was originally scheduled to take place in May in Oklahoma City, but the event was scrapped because of the coronavirus outbreak. 

The UFC has since picked up a consistent schedule, hosting six events in six weeks at its Apex facility in Las Vegas. The promotion is preparing to host four events this month at “Fight Island,” in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

Lamas (19-8) has lost three of his past four contests, but all three of the losses were to highly ranked opposition in Calvin Kattar, Mirsad Bektic and Josh Emmett. He fought Jose Aldo for the UFC championship in 2014, and also has faced the likes of Max Holloway, Chad Mendes and Charles Oliveira over the course of his career.

Hall (8-1), of Falls Church, Virginia, has fought only four times since making his UFC debut in 2015. The submission specialist has had difficulty booking opponents at times, but holds wins against former lightweight champion B.J. Penn and title challenger Gray Maynard. He is 4-0 inside the Octagon.

Oliveira Defeats Jeremy Stephens for Third Straight UFC Featherweight Win

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Make that three in a row for Charles Oliveira…

The 25-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist has run his featherweight win streak after defeating Jeremy Stephens.

Charles Oliveira

Oliveira (19-4) dominated Stephens on the ground through two rounds and then survived a late onslaught in the third to take a unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight for Oliveira via scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

“I was training very hard for three months for this fight and he said something that I didn’t like and it made me only want to beat him more,” Oliveira said. “I came and struck with him despite an arm injury, and I was good on the ground, so it’s no doubt to me that I earned this win.”

The Brazilian did a great job of putting the power-punching Stephens (23-11) on his back foot early. He came forward at the start of the fight and shot on Stephens against the fence. Stephens defended the takedown initially, but when Oliveira fell to his back, Stephens obliged the submission specialist by dropping into his guard.

Stephens drops to 1-2 in 2014. He suffered a unanimous decision loss to Cub Swanson in his prior fight in June.