David Martinez will face former title challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC Mexico City, drawing the biggest fight of his career that could accelerate his ascent in the bantamweight division.

Martinez (13-1) expects an aggressive battle with Chito when the cage door closes. Both fighters are known for pushing the pace and forcing exchanges. Rather than shy away from that kind of fight, he believes it plays directly into his strengths.

“I really like putting pressure on opponents. He does that as well, but when someone pressures me, I become even more dangerous,” Martinez told reporters on Wednesday.

“I start at 100%, 120% in the second, and 130% in the third.”

“I’m grateful for the love from the fans who support me on social media. I think they like my style, and I still have a lot to show them,” he said.

“Thank you to those who support me, that help me, and encourage me. They’re a big part of why I’m here.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with David Martinez above. He faces Chito Vera at UFC Mexico City on Saturday night.

Translated by Cageside Press.

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“I think you saw this week I am really beating up babies. Is there a bigger p*ssy than Eddie Hearn?,” White asked reporters including Cageside Press.

“Is there a bigger p*ssy than Eddie Hearn? This guy’s supposed to be a friend. F*cking crying? He’s (Benn) going to make more money, and he (Hearn) had the right to match it. He could have matched it.

“What a crock of sh*t. Yeah, we’re literally beating up babies,” he said.

Watch the entire media day scrum with Dana White above.

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“That’s crazy to think, especially where I came from and losing my first two fights, Contender Series and debut. It’s crazy to come back the way that I did,” Judice said. “I’m proud of myself for it because I know how much work it took – to be to do that and mental, work too, to be able to go in the cage and stay calm under all the pressure and everything.”

Of course, with collecting three straight bonuses comes some decisions. While pocketing an extra 150k in those fights, on top of her show and win payments, Judice had some financial freedom not many have that early in their career. She started by taking care of something that she always dreamed of.

“I’m 26 years old and it’s always been, growing up, I always played house and family and stuff with my sisters. So one of my dreams was to have my own house. So we recently just purchased a house,” she said. “So yeah, that’s one of my first big purchases with those few bonuses I got.”

However, it wasn’t all practical and savings for the Lousiana-born fighter. She also has been digging into her passions outside of the cage – passions that satisfy her sweet tooth.

“I’ve been buying a lot of sweets and stuff to bake because I’m a baker. So big purchases is a house and little purchases is just little things to feed my hobbies,” Judice said. “I’m on a sourdough kick. I’m baking sourdough right now. My weight’s really good so I can still eat some sourdough bread three weeks out. So that’s great.”

Now, with a chance to add on to her historic run of bonuses, Judice heads to UFC Houston and a date with Ultimate Fighter winner Juliana Miller. Her prediction? Same as before.

“Man, I say first round knockout every time because why would I say anything else? This is sounds like the only right answer, but I’m definitely trying to find a finish in the first round,” she said. “But I’m definitely also going to be patient. So whatever comes, I’m going to look for it, but it’s about being patient. That’s when I really find it, but I’m just excited to go in there and have fun.”

You can catch her fight with Juliana Miller as part of the UFC Houston prelims. That fight card begins this Saturday at 5pm EST on Paramount+.

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He found that change with a move up to Chicago. After keeping his camp close to home for years, he headed up North to Valle Flow Striking (VFS) Academy with Mike Valle. That’s a change that he feels had made all the difference.

“I would say, I don’t think I was around the environment that I needed to be around per se, right? So I know that making a change and getting outside of the realm of comfort and doing everything that I, in essence, you know, I yearned to do, but I kind of was, it was like a missing link,” Brahmiaj explained. “So just looking at it from that perspective and seeing where I’m at now, I definitely think that that was the element of change that was required to do what I do now.”

For Brahimaj, that change was pretty immediate. The very first camp he did with VFS, he saw the impact.

“When I took the initial step, it was against Mickey Gall, that whole training camp that I did it outside of, you know, my home base in Texas,” he said. “And it was tough, you know, it was such a big change, such a drastic change. But it definitely paid dividends. I don’t always look forward to coming up to Chicago and kind of traveling around for training at times, but just to see the way that it has enhanced my career and it’s given me such a broad spectrum on training.”

While the results in the cage have improved – Brahimaj has picked up three straight finishes with two bonuses as well – but that’s not all. The change from Texas to Chicago has led him to have a better outlook in both sport and life. Now he’s ready to show the world what the best version of Ramiz looks like.

“Honestly, it feels like it’s amplified my quality of training, of life, my outlook on fighting and everything like that. So it’s definitely been necessary,” Brahimaj said. “As far as that goes, I got no regrets, man. I kind of wish I would have did it a little bit younger because I feel like I have so much to show the fight world and to show fight fans that I still haven’t even showed yet.”

His next chance to show that off will come this Saturday back in Texas. He faces off with fellow surging welterweight, Punahele Soriano.

“Every time I fight, I always plan on dominating. That’s it. If it has to be bell to bell, if it has to be inside the distance, if it’s the first round, second round, third round, or if I got a clean sweep, all the judges score cards,” he said. “That’s the biggest change in my mind and I’ve made my mind up. No matter what the outcome is, the outcome is still going to be me getting my hand raised.”

You can catch his fight with Soriano as part of the prelims of UFC Houston. The fight card begins this Saturday at 5pm EST and airs on Paramount+.

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“I don’t know. It’s funny because we’re the same age so I think he certainly has more fights than me. So there’s the pro, the experience of that,” Reese told Cageside Press among other reporters on Wednesday.

“I think he probably has a little more mileage than me too. I know he’s fighting for his job, I respect that, I know he’s dangerous.”

“I think he’s exciting. It’s funny too because I talked to my coaches about like next potential fight and Michel was like my #1. He’s an exciting guy, a big name, he’s got a ton of fights in the UFC. I’m super excited.”

Reese admitted his motivations early in his career weren’t always rooted in legacy or rankings. Instead, he joked that financial incentives played a big role in his initial ambitions to reach the UFC.

“I said that before I got into the UFC. I was like dude I want to get in the UFC and stack up bonuses and stack up fights because I’ve got a lot of dumb sh*t I want to buy,” he said.

“I haven’t bought a lot of dumb sh*t yet surprisingly.”

Watch the the entire media day scrum with Zach Reese above. He faces Michel Pereira at UFC Houston on Saturday night.

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“His name. Dan Ige. This guy fighting a lot, the best of the division, I don’t even have words to describe it,” Costa told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator on Wednesday.

“In name yes (Ige’s the biggest name I’ve fought yet), for style, I don’t know.”

Costa (25-7) kept it short and to the point when discussing what he expects from the fight with Ige. If it plays out that way, fans could be in for a thrilling showdown.

“Blood, lot of blood, war,” he said.

Costa didn’t shy away from the moment or the magnitude of the matchup when discussing what he plans to do on Saturday night. Confident in both his preparation and finishing ability, he made it clear he isn’t looking to leave the judges involved.

“I’m going to do something to him that no one has ever been able to do,” said Costa.

“I’m going to finish him before the end of three rounds.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Melquizael Costa above. He faces Dan Ige at UFC Houston on Saturday night.

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“He’s good. He’s 6-3, finished all his fights, he’s just reckless,” Neal told Cageside Press among other reporters on Wednesday.

“He’s do or die. Tough opponent, dangerous opponent. If I sleep on him, like, I’m going to go to sleep. I’m not sleeping on him, I’m taking him very seriously, I’ve been training extra hard. 100% ready for this fight.”

Neal (16-7) revealed earlier this month that he had struggled with alcohol and substance abuse in recent years, even during fight camps. While his battle with addiction is ongoing, Neal says he is now over 100 days sober heading into this bout.

“Hopefully it gets represented in the cage, but I’m 100% in better condition. That’s undeniable. Whether or not it translates to fight night, we’re going to find out. I believe that I’m going to go out there and I’m going to show out,” he said.

“I’m going to show ya’ll the pre-‘all that bullsh*t’ Geoff.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Geoff Neal above. He faces Uros Medic at UFC Houston on Saturday night.

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“I changed a lot of things on my training. I changed everything about my camp,” Pereira told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator on Wednesday.

“I’m a different person now I can tell you that. Get ready for the Michel Pereira that everybody knows. A guy that’s going to be very aggressive and ready to put on a show on Saturday.”

Pereira (31-14) admitted the matchup came with an added layer of familiarity given their shared time under the same roof earlier in their careers. While the situation initially gave him pause, he understands it’s part of the sport when fighters come from large, well-known camps.

“When I saw the opponent I didn’t want to fight him from having been a teammate at one point. He actually chose to do his camp here in Texas so he got off of that because we both trained at Xtreme (Couture) for a while,” he said.

“As Mick (Maynard) has always said that is going to happen when you actually have big teams. The main thing is that it happened that way, it’s back to life, and we put in the work. Both of us are going to put on a show.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Michel Pereira above. He faces Zach Reese at UFC Houston on Saturday night.

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