“I love tournament structures personally. I’ve been wanting to do a tournament for a while, but that’s what got offered to me,” Davis told Cageside Press.

“I’m a prize fighter, there’s a big prize there, so I’m coming to rob the bank and get out of there with my money.”

Davis (17-5-1) gets a shot at the tournament and the $500K prize that goes to the winner. It comes with a belt as well, but that may be more of an accessory to the big check that comes with it.

“I’d have to say money, mate. As I said I’m a prize fighter, and I like fighting, and that’s what I do it for. Equally the prestige of having the title will bring in more money,” he said.

“PFL as a brand, I think if you get a title in the PFL, in future years that’s going to be a massive statement.”

Money, a belt, and a rule change make Davis happy to be part of the tournament. The PFL recently added elbows as a weapon in tournament fights which is a change from recent years.

“I like an elbow personally. I’ve dropped a few people with elbows before. I’m a striker and I think in close I’m very good with elbows. It’s very good for me I would say personally. The cut scenario, it’s not ideal, but I don’t think I’ll be on the receiving end of that.”

At the time of the interview the matchups had not been released, but Davis gave insight into how PFL put together the first round matchups.

“100% it’s a very exciting matchup. I think what they’ve done in the first, judging by who I’ve heard, they’ve matched people on the styles on which they think will compliment each other,” he said.

Watch the entire interview with Alfie Davis above.

The post Alfie Davis Excited For Tournament, “I’m a prize fighter. There’s a big prize there.” appeared first on Cageside Press.

Across a pair of fights in 2024, Pudilova and Bolander fought to a pair of split decisions, Pudlova winning the first, and Bolander evening the series in the second. While a trilogy fight feels likely, for now, Pudilova has been paired up with the well-traveled Brittney Cloudy, who has competed for King of the Cage, LFA, Invicta FC, and even Karate Combat.

“I think Brittney’s a good boxer, so I think this fight will be very, very good, very good for fans, because I think we will show good technique,” Pudilova (15-11) told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview ahead of the fight. “So I’m excited for this.”

While she wasn’t prepared to give away any secrets about her game plan, Pudilova is hoping to be able to finish the fight. “I hope for this, I have in my mind a few ways to finish this fight.”

As for Cloudy’s experience- she’s shared the cage with UFC women’s flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield, and is coming off two straight wins in MMA, Pudilova downplayed it. Despite being the more experienced fighter of the two.

“I feel like experience, it’s not helpful. I feel like helpful is patience, who wants to win more, something like this,” she suggested. “Who will want it more, wins.”

Despite getting a fresh face at Oktagon 69 this Saturday, Pudilova still expects the trilogy fight with Bolander to come in the near future. “I think so, we will fight soon again,” she said, suggesting it would be “bad for her.”

Lucie Pudilova does believe she won that second fight with Bolander, which was for the Oktagon MMA women’s flyweight title. “I feel like winner, and also many people, like good people, big MMA persons, text me [saying] they think the same about this.”

Alluding to family issues before that second fight, Pudilova admits she wasn’t hungry enough. “Now I feel like, every day I work on my mind. I try to be stronger, so I feel more stronger, more hungry.”

Watch our full interview with Oktagon 69’s Lucie Pudilova above.

The post Oktagon 69: Lucie Pudilova Feels Who Wants It More, Not Experience, Matters Most appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It kind of sucks, but my weight has been coming off so good that it’s so not worth chancing. I’m happy eating what I’m eating, I’m eating a good amount, I feel good so it’s no problem,” Kline (6-1) told Cageside Press ahead of the fight.

On the bright side, Kline’s mother has promised to cook up something special after the fight. And Kline is “super-excited” to be fighting so early in the year. “It sucks not eating during the holidays, but I wanted to fight kind of where I am. I was thinking they were going to book me for March, and they offered January, and I was like ‘even better!'”

The timing of this Saturday’s UFC Vegas 101 card has Kline hopeful for a busy year. “I plan on fighting, God willing I come out not hurt, at least three times next year. I get like early January, summer, and then end of the year. I think that would be awesome for me, so that’s what I’m planning.”

“I think the timeframe is literally perfect right now. I’m excited, I love being able to kick off the new year with my strawweight debut. Being first on the card, I plan on starting it with a banger.”

Kline will return to 115lbs this Saturday after stepping into the UFC on short notice last year opposite Jasmine Jasudavicius. Like many debuting short-notice athletes, Kline moved up a weight class to get her foot in the door, but didn’t get the outcome she was hoping for.

“It was 10 days’ notice, and elevation is what killed me out there,” noted Kline, adding “I think I saw a lot of good in that fight. I feel like I proved to myself that I can go out there on that short notice and do that good and almost put somebody away. So it just gave me that much more confidence that if I can do that in that time, if I have the time that I deserve than I can really put on a show.”

You might just get a show from her this Saturday in Las Vegas. Kline is a sizeable -800 favorite heading into the match-up with Dudakova.

“In a humble way, I’m used to being the favorite,” noted Kline, who was a blue chip prospect in CFFC and Invicta FC. “I feel like my resume shows that I’m supposed to be the favorite. I’m don’t think I’m a minus 800 favorite because ‘oh, she’s alright.’ I feel like I proved that I’m supposed to be that big of a favorite.”

“I never pay attention too much to those things, but I know my skill and I believe I should be the favorite. I plan on going out there as if she’s the favorite, as if she’s the best in the world, and I plan on taking her out that way. It’s super funny though. Minus 800. I don’t think I’ve ever been that much of a favorite.”

She has, actually, back on the regional scene – but in the UFC, where the skill level is that much higher, Kline is the biggest favorite on the year’s first card. Should she come out victorious, Kline is hoping for a steady climb up the strawweight ladder.

“I don’t plan on rushing my way to the top but I definitely don’t plan on taking my time and sitting around. I want to be active and I want to get in there. I definitely hopefully can plan on hopping in the top 15 as soon as possible, but no names really come to mind yet. I’m sure when they throw me some, I’ll be excited to see who it is.”

Watch our full interview with UFC Vegas 101’s Fatima Kline above.

The post Fatima Kline Plans to Start UFC’s 2025 with a Banger appeared first on Cageside Press.

Tokkos (10-3) will be looking for his first victory under the UFC banner in Tampa, following appearances with Bellator and on the Road to UFC.

While his native England might invoke images of soccer (sorry, football) or cricket, Tokkos was sporting a Philadelphia Eagles shirt while speaking with Cageside Press recently.

“I’ve got some family in Philly. When I first moved to the states, six, seven years ago I asked them ‘who’s our team man?’ and they said ‘the Eagles,'” Tokkos explained. “I was like ‘cool,’ they’d just won the Super Bowl.”

He might have family in Philadelphia, but it’s Florida and Kill Cliff FC that Tokkos calls home. “I’ve lived in the states for six, seven years like I said and I’ve never fought in Florida. I’ve lived in Florida the whole time. So I’m happy about that, I’m going to drive to the fight, which is a change.”

Tokkos will still spend the night at a hotel, given it’s a three hour drive to Tampa, but that’s still a much nicer fight week than usual. In the meantime, he’s been able to train alongside the likes of Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues, Brendan Allen, Aung La N Sang, and others.

Stirling also trains at a top gym, City Kickboxing, but Tokkos sees a difference between their respective camps.

“To be honest, I know there’s all these great gyms around the world, but for me, and I don’t say this as like some proud American, although I live here, the level here is different,” Tokkos stated. “They’re not getting the best NCAA wrestlers out there. And you saw that when Izzy [Israel Adesanya] got found out. The first guy to shoot a legitimate takedown on him takes him down and chokes him like he’d never done jiu-jitsu in his life.”

“I’m not underestimating him of course, he has this kickboxing pedigree, he has a lot of knockouts, but when I go watch the fights, it’s like prior to the Contender Series fight- if this gets out there, everyone go through his Instagram. His last fight before that, I don’t know how that is even deemed a KO.”

Tokkos noted that Stirling’s opponent immediately prior to DWCS actually tapped out due to strikes, “and that’s a KO and he’s a KO artist.”

Questionable finish aside, Tokkos also questions the level of Stirling’s opposition. “I don’t know who these guys he was fighting are, but yeah. I’m not underestimating the guy, but there’s levels like I said. The guys that I train with- I’m sure the kid’s good, he’s big, he’s long, he just knocked someone out. Anyone can get knocked out in a fight, but there’s no fear there. He’s a bit younger than me.”

“The guys that I train with at my gym, multiple-time All-Americans, champions, MMA champions. It’s like, I don’t really give a f*ck about his gym, you know?”

Watch our full interview with UFC Tampa’s Tuco Tokkos above.

The post Tuco Tokkos Has “No Fear” of UFC Tampa’s Navajo Stirling, Questions KO Artist Label appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I think so. Hey sky’s the limit here bro. I’m just going to keep going and keep going and I’m going to keep getting better every fight,” Elliott told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“Every time you do that walk, that weight cut, you improve as a man. I just fought a good guy that everyone was loving that Bassil Hafez.”

Elliott (12-2) finished Hafez by knockout in round 3 over a guy who took a short notice fight against Jack Della Maddalena and came close to beating him.

“He could have easily beat that Jack Della, and he’s #4 in the world, so look what I just did to him. Big respect to Bassil, but we’re still just scratching the surface. I’ve got a mental career planned out here and it’s just slowly starting to unfold in front of everybody else,” he said.

So after scoring a knockout at the Mecca of sports in MSG what exactly was on Elliott’s mind?

“We’re going to have to see where Monday Night RAW is on Monday. Or Smackdown,” said Elliott.

“We’re going to have to keep it rolling while I’m over here in the states.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Oban Elliott above.

The post Oban Elliott Is Ready For A Main Card Spot appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I’m nothing without the help of God, without the help of my team, and all the support that I got,” Brahimaj told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“My mind and my heart I think is a testament to a lot of things. I’ve been through some pretty rough times, some pretty dark times.”

Brahimaj (11-5) scored his first win in two years at Madison Square Garden when he knocked Gall out in the first round. The dark moments he spoke of may have been the motivation to start fighting.

“I think everybody has dark moments, but I probably had a lot of dark moments even before fighting. That’s probably why I started fighting, right? It’s crazy to think how life goes,” he said.

“If you were to ask me about a year and some change ago if I would be here…I probably say no. I had a horrific neck injury that I thought was going to derail everything. I thought it was going to alter the way that I live my life.”

Brahimaj detailed a neck injury that took the use of his right arm to the point that he couldn’t move it or even lift 5 pounds.

“A lot of these emotions, a lot of these feelings are rushing back right now, and I don’t know,” he said.

“I don’t know.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Ramiz Brahimaj above.

The post Ramiz Brahimaj Details ‘Dark moments’ Due To Neck Injury appeared first on Cageside Press.

Miller, who has more fights inside the octagon than anyone in UFC history, just earned a submission win over Damon Jackson at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Somehow, at 41 years young, “A-10” keeps finding ways to turn back the clock.

He’s appeared on the UFC 100, UFC 200, and UFC 300 cards, the only fighter in the promotion to do so. He was already a 10+ fight veteran when he signed on with the company in 2008, and was appearing in his fourth UFC scrap at the centennial event in 2009. Jon Jones, who headlined UFC 309, was also in action that night, in his third UFC fight.

Miller has gone on to fight for the company a grand total of 45 times; Jones, comparatively, has 24 fights under the UFC banner.

“The 50 is the hard stop. Okay, you guys can hold me to that sh*t. 100%. 100%,” Miller (38-18, 1NC) said following UFC 309, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “Unless they’re like, ‘a couple million dollars, 51.’ I’m ready to move on to other stuff. There’s definitely parts of me that are ready to make a commitment to something else.”

Miller admits that the transition away from fighting is not likely to be an easy one. He’s competed as a professional since 2005, and met his wife training at his very first gym, just prior to his second fight.

“It’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be f*cking hard to not get to do this. I’ve never had a real job. I framed houses with my father, when I was in college I worked at Buffalo Wild Wings for a little bit, I was a pretty crappy fry cook for a couple months there. But yeah, I’m a fighter, that’s what I do. And I know that everybody’s road is different, and I’m trying to create my own and be in a good spot to move on to something else. And I want to have some energy left to do other stuff.”

“50 is the hard stop; the goal of mine is to get to 30 wins. So in those five fights, get three more wins and really put that one away,” Miller added. In terms of who he’d like to compete against, “just have some fun fights, fight on some big cards and fight some guys that I’ve been fans of forever. I feel like I’m in a really cool spot, I’m in a different spot than most people and in a different spot than most fighters before me. I want to go out and I want to put on shows, but also I’ve cemented Jim ‘F*cking’ Miller. I’m going to go out, and I’m going to finish people, or I’m going to get my f*cking ass kicked trying to do it.”

And so there will be no push to UFC 400, which by one journalist’s estimation will arrive in 2031.

“No, no, no. It’s not even funny,” Miller said, betraying that comment by laughing while saying it. “50 will be it, yeah.”

Watch the full UFC 309 post-fight press conference appearance by Jim Miller above.

The post UFC 309: The End Is in Sight for Jim Miller, And It’s the Big 50 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Luckily, the promotion came through, replacing the injured Lucas Almeida with newcomer Roberto Romero. A firefight ensued, with Onama coming away with a decision win, surviving a knockdown in the process.

“Coming into the fight, not having an opponent, I’m just glad they found me somebody,” Onama (13-2) said following the win, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press.

“Honestly it didn’t matter who they put in front of me. I was prepared through my whole fight camp, so I was ready for this week. It didn’t matter who they put in front of my. But I knew my manager was going to find me somebody, and I just had to stay ready. That was that.”

In the opening round, Roberto caught Onama clean, a scary moment, and one that pushed the “Silent Assassin” to bounce back in the second frame.

“I knew the kid was going to come to fight. When he did that, I was like, I needed to recover, get him back in the second round. Which I did,” Onama noted. “Things happen, I knew this kid was going to come out to fight. In New York City, MSG, who wouldn’t come out and perform like that?”

Now, it’s on to the next one, and Onama hopes the promotion can rebook him against Lucas Almeida in the near future. After all, he’s already dedicated one training camp to the Brazilian.

“I still want that fight. I want that fight in the future. Hopefully February or March. I still want him,” exclaimed Onama. “Everything I did was for him. I feel like I wouldn’t have got dropped today… yeah I want him back. He’s the one that caused all this, I want him back.”

Onama added that he hadn’t wanted to say too much when Almeida pulled out, having been forced out of bouts due to injury himself, “but I want that fight back,” he finished.

Watch the full UFC 309 post-fight press conference with David Onama above.

The post After UFC 309, David Onama Wants to Rebook Almeida Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I think looking at the names that they present me is what I’m looking for,” McGhee told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“There’s obviously different names that are going to make sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave me Jose Aldo. I feel like that’s a fight that they would give me.”

McGhee (10-1) won his fourth straight UFC fight at UFC 309. The win against a very dangerous Martinez is something McGhee hopes will get the UFC to send him Aldo.

“My partner (Mario Bautista) just fought him and he just lost to him, and I just come off a win off a guy he beat. We’re both right there next to each other in the rankings. He’s a little bit older. I’m a little bit older,” he said.

“I wouldn’t doubt that that’d be a fight that they make, but there’s so many other fights out there to make. I’ll just listen to what the UFC says. They’ve done a good job of matching me up so far.”

Fighting Aldo may involve going to Brazil to face the King of Rio. McGhee had another idea.

“New York, it’s already done, that’s checked off the list,” he said.

“Honestly, Arizona (where McGhee lives). I want the UFC to come back. I want a full turnaround. Let’s fight in Arizona. Why don’t we get Jose Aldo back in Arizona. That sounds good.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Marcus McGhee above.

The post Marcus McGhee Shoots His Shot For A Scrap With Jose Aldo appeared first on Cageside Press.

That said, the lightweight wasn’t fighting as a lightweight in New York on Saturday. With Charlie Campbell out of the fight, James Llontop of Peru stepped up, with the fight shifted to a 165lb catchweight as a result (with Llontop still coming in just a little heavy).

Whether it was the weight, or simply Llontop’s toughness, he simply would not be put away, despite Ruffy doing major damage, knocking him down at times. “Yeah his head was hard as hell,” Ruffy (11-1) joked following the fight, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press via translator.

With so much chaos surrounding the fight, “it’s been a mix of learning experiences,” Ruffy admitted. “It took about six months of camp, six months of dieting, six months of getting prepared for a fight that doesn’t happen. So all that stuff, a lot of it, and a mix of learning experiences but I do want to thank the UFC for the opportunity to be here on a card in Madison Square Garden. So I learned a lot, I took a lot from this experience.”

Following a hard-fought victory, Ruffy called out French lightweight Benoit Saint-Denis. He expanded on that callout backstage at MSG.

“I think the guy [BSD] is coming off of two losses, and people are looking at me, people are starting to point their finger going ‘hey this guy is something coming up,'” noted Ruffy. “I think it would be a really good fight. It’s not even coming from me, I think there’s a lot of people on social media who would like that fight. I think it would be a great fight, and I hope he takes it.”

Asked by Cageside Press if he’d be willing to travel to Saint-Denis’ home country of France for the fight, Ruffy replied saying “just call us up. We’re gonna go.”

Watch the full UFC 309 post-fight press conference appearance by Mauricio Ruffy above.

The post Mauricio Ruffy Explains Callout of Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 309 appeared first on Cageside Press.