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Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Mayra Bueno Silva plans to leave no doubt that she’s the best bantamweight in the world at when she fights at UFC 297. The Brazilian standout takes on Raquel Pennington for a vacant 135-pound title in the Jan. 20 co-main event in Toronto, and she’s bristling with confidence ahead of her title opportunity. Based on how Pennington fared in her championship bout against Amanda Nunes at UFC 224, Silva isn’t expecting her to put up much of a fight. During that May 2018 clash, Pennington could be heard on the broadcast telling her corner, “I’m done” heading into the fifth round of a fight that had been dominated by Nunes up to that point. Two and a half minutes into the final round, Nunes ended the contest via strikes. “Do you remember Raquel fought with Amanda, Raquel said, ‘Alright, I’m done. I don’t want to fight anymore.’ Do you remember?” Silva said on The MMA Hour. “For this reason, she doesn’t want to fight. She doesn’t like to fight. She wants to hold [during] the fight because she doesn’t like fighting. Remember, when she was done, ‘I don’t want no more.’ “In the first round, when I punch her hard, she’ll talk again: ‘I don’t want to fight anymore.’” Pennington lost two of her next three fights after the loss to Nunes, but has since bounced back with five consecutive victories. However, outside of a recent submission of Macy Chiasson, Pennington has gone to the cards more often than not; 10 of Pennington’s 15 career wins have come by way of decision. It’s this grinding style that has Silva questioning Pennington’s resolve. “I think she doesn’t want to fight,” Silva said. “She doesn’t have courage. “She doesn’t like to fight. I like fighting, punching and takedowns. She likes to fight, but she likes to hold [in] fights. She doesn’t like to fight a clean fight. She likes more clinching and this thing, you know?” If there’s one thing Silva knows, it’s how to finish, as evidenced by her seven career submission wins in 14 pro bouts. She is yet to lose when competing at 135 pounds and became just the third woman to finish Holly Holm when she beat the former bantamweight champion via second-round ninja choke this past July (that result has since been overturned due to Silva testing positive for a banned substance, which she attributes to prescribed ADHD medication). Asked when she expects to land the knockout blow, Silva was clear in her vision. “Second round,” she answered.

Alexandre Pantoja | Guilherme Cruz, MMA Fighting Alexandre Pantoja is set to defend the UFC flyweight championship in the co-main event of UFC 296 on Dec. 16, the same night Colby Covington challenges Leon Edwards for the welterweight strap in Las Vegas, and the American Top Team product wants nothing to do with his former teammate. Covington parted ways with ATT in 2020 after a series of public feuds with teammates Jorge Masvidal, Dustin Poirier and Joanna Jedrzejcyk. Pantoja said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast that Covington, who now trains at MMA Masters, is still not welcome at the Florida-based gym. “Everybody wants to kill him there,” Pantoja said. “I don’t care, brother. I walk my path. I know everything he says is pure marketing. I work with [ATT boxing coach] Gabriel de Oliveira and Gabriel is a person I respect a lot, and he says [Covington] has always respected him. To me, you earn points if you treat well someone I like.” Pantoja, however, has no intention to be friendly or cordial towards Covington during UFC 296 fight week. “I don’t care,” he said. “I was born in Copacabana and we are disgusting towards everybody [laughs]. There’s an artist right next to you and you don’t care. I respect him a lot as an athlete, but in a way I’m more connected to Leon Edwards because of his life story and everything he’s done. Leon Edwards is definitely someone I would go out of my way to shake hands and wish him a good fight, say I’m a big fan his work. Now, about that a******, I won’t say anything. Leave him alone [laughs].” Covington has admitted public he changed his public persona prior to fighting Demian Maia in Brazil in fear of being cut from the UFC, and that persona has propelled him into more profitable opportunities inside and outside the octagon in the form of rivalries with some of the best UFC welterweights. Pantoja said it all comes with a price, though. “I think he’s one of those person that let fame change his character,” Pantoja said. “The thing is you can’t character, but he let out all that stuff of talking badly about a country and whatnot and kept it going, and he’s lost a lot with that. It’s not a good idea to leave American Top Team. With all due respect to other teams, I’ve been part of a few, but American Top Team was the best fit for me. It’s such an incredible structure and so many great training partners.” “[Covington] moved to a team where he thinks he’ll get all the attention, but I think MMA is not about that,” he continued. “Even though we’re fighting alone in there, there’s a great team behind us. [At ATT] you’re just another one training, but I think Colby couldn’t handle being just another one. He wanted all the attention but he wouldn’t get that here. “American Top Team owner always tells [coach Marcos] Parrumpa that he likes my attitude in the gym because I’m always open to training with every training partner. I was just helping Kayla Harrison and the session was awesome, you know? I like helping everybody because I get so much help too. [Parrumpa] says Dan Lambert was very emotional when I won the belt because of that exact reason, because I dedicate to help my teammates as well. Colby can’t do that. He wants to be the main person all the time, and that wouldn’t be possible at American Top Team.” Covington vs. Edwards could attract more eyeballs to UFC 296 at T-Mobile Arena, meaning more money to Pantoja’s pockets in the form of pay-pre-view points. The PPV portion of the show also features Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson, Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett, and Vicente Luque vs. Ian Machado Garry. “That card is awesome,” Pantoja said. “I celebrate every name that gets in there. Paddy from England, so there’s the English audience he brings that will sell well. There’s also Leon Edwards, a champion from England. And Ferguson, too. I’m so pumped and happy with this opportunity. I think I’ve earned, my family and I deserve this. But it’s like I said, I’m very focused. I have a mission on December 16 so don’t invite me for anything until December 17 because I’m focused. The goal is to defend the title — and it’s on the same arena I won it, so I’m definitely coming back home with the belt.”

BKFC, YouTube Eddie Alvarez may have fallen short in his battle of wills against Mike Perry at BKFC 56, but the setback won’t stop his drive to continue pursuing bare-knuckle boxing. “I love this. I do. I truly [do],” Alvarez said at the event’s post-fight press conference. “I came out here and I was my best self. My coaches loved what I was doing. I was on point, I was sharp. The lead-up to this fight was really good, I was sparring heavyweights, doing well. Unfortunately this sport is so volatile, you just don’t know. You could have the cleanest fight, and I think my orbital’s smashed up and that’s it, that’s all she wrote. It f****** sucks, man, because it was a good show. The fans won tonight. I didn’t win but the fans won.” Alvarez, 39, stood toe-to-toe and traded punches with Perry for two brutal rounds in Saturday’s main event before his corner stopped the bout because of the mounting damage on his left eye. The result moved Perry’s record in bare-knuckle boxing to 4-0 and saw “Platinum” crowned as the new “King of Violence” in BKFC. Perry has now beaten former UFC champions Alvarez and Luke Rockhold in BKFC, as well as one-time Bellator title challenger Michael Page, en route to emerging as the biggest star in bare-knuckle boxing. And while Alvarez had his moments in the bout, “The Underdog King” couldn’t help but come away impressed by the resiliency his foe displayed over their two-round battle. “I was surprised,” Alvarez said. “In sparring I land these shots on the bigger guys and I don’t know if I hurt my opponents pretty good, but with a bare fist I thought for sure Mike would go down. He didn’t. My hat’s off to Mike Perry. The guy’s a f****** battle ax. He can take a shot, he can keep plodding forward and give them. He reminds me of myself a lot, so I was fighting a little mirror of myself in there tonight and Mike was the better man. Look, I take my wins, I’ll take my losses the same way — with my head [held] high.” “Tonight I dared to be great,” Alvarez continued. “I went up a weight class with Mike. I did, I really dared to be great, and I thought, with everything in me, I can beat a bigger guy, given my skill set, given his style. I’m not going back on anything. I thought I could beat Mike Perry tonight, bigger or not, and I didn’t. I came up short. And hey, this f****** sport, bro, that’s why I love it.” Alvarez is now 1-1 in his foray into bare-knuckle boxing. He debuted in BKFC this past April with a thrilling split decision win over three-time UFC title challenger Chad Mendes. Alvarez indicated on Saturday that he has every intention of fighting again, and when asked about an idea floated post-fight by BKFC founder David Feldman of running back a rematch against Perry in Alvarez’s native Philadelphia, the former UFC champ sprung to life. “Oh man, that’d be a beautiful motherf****** thing, I’ll you that,” Alvarez said. “Hey, one more time, Mikey, please. Give it to me. You come to north Philly, you do me that favor, big dog.”

Jalin Turner and Bobby Green | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Bobby Green suffered one of the worst losses at UFC Austin, but the MMA lifer is keeping his head high. In Saturday’s co-main event, Green was on the wrong end of a nasty knockout from Jalin Turner, an outcome made far worse due to an irresponsibly late stoppage by referee Kerry Hatley. Turner sent Green to the canvas with a pair of hard punches, then followed up with powerful ground-and-pound on a seemingly defenseless Green until the fight was finally waved off. Hatley’s decision-making was widely panned by the MMA community, with UFC CEO Dana White calling the stoppage “one of the worst I’ve ever seen.” Shortly after the conclusion of UFC Austin, Green shared an update on his status via Instagram Stories. He did not mention Hatley’s stoppage, focusing primarily on crediting Turner for the win. “What up, guys?” Green said. “You win some, you lose some. I guess I want to show people that you’ve got to keep it G and you’ve got to keep it G when you lose. “Shout out to Jalin, you did your thing, brother. I’m so happy for you. It means the world that you stepped up on short notice and you had your success, so shout out to you. To all my people, it’s just another step in the thing, you know. Another step in the career. There’s ups, there’s downs, I’m a keep it going. I’m not going nowhere. Love you, guys.” Green, a veteran of 48 pro bouts, entered Saturday’s event on a two-fight win streak, which included a stunning 33-second upset knockout of Grant Dawson. He was originally scheduled to fight Dan Hooker, but when Hooker withdrew due to an arm injury, Turner was called upon to step into the co-headlining bout on nine days’ notice. Turner’s gamble paid off as he snapped a two-fight skid and improved his UFC record to 7-4 with all of his wins coming by way of knockout or submission.

Jalin Turner and Bobby Green | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Dana White was blunt when asked about the controversial referee stoppage by Kerry Hatley in UFC Austin’s co-main event. “One of the worst I’ve ever seen,” White said at UFC Austin’s post-fight press conference. Hatley came under immense fire on Saturday for what many perceived to be a late stoppage for Jalin Turner’s first-round knockout victory over Bobby Green. Turner dropped Green with a right hand in the opening minutes of the bout, then towered over his fallen foe and unloaded undefended blows for more than 10 seconds before Hatley intervened. Many fighters expressed outrage at Hatley’s decision-making during the finishing sequence. Among the chorus was UFC cageside commentator Daniel Cormier, who called it “one of the absolute worst stoppages in MMA history,” and UFC featherweight Sodiq Yusuff, who called for Hatley’s firing on social media and wrote, “That insane man. I’ve never been actually mad at a ref before. Someone could die of s*** like that.” White has never been shy to criticize a commission official, and while he acknowledged Hatley’s mistake, he also held back because of contrition he cited on Hatley’s part. “The difference is we’ve had some refs say some dumb s*** in the past like, ‘Oh, I allowed her to be a warrior tonight,’ and goofy s*** like that,” White explained. “He knows that he made a mistake tonight and he does not feel good about it. So it’s unfortunate. “Definitely a bad stoppage. Very bad.” Turner also declined to criticize Hatley too harshly. The 28-year-old UFC lightweight admitted that he was baffled by Hatley’s indecision in the finishing sequence, but expressed relief that Green appeared to be lucid and in relatively good health after the knockout. “I don’t know, bro. I don’t know what to call it,” Turner said post-fight. “He just waited until Bobby was out. Like, Bobby’s tough. Bobby’s a really tough fighter, so when I was punching, he was defending, he was moving, he was still a bit coherent and I was like, dang. “I was like, maybe this should be stopped, maybe not, and I’m not going to stop until you pull me off because it’s him or me, and he would’ve gotten his bearings about him, he could’ve gotten back on top or something crazy. So it is what it is. He was healthy, he was coherent, he was good after, we had good words, so I’m happy he was in good health, decent health. So it is what it is.”