UFC 267
UFC 267: Błachowicz vs. Teixeira was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 30, 2021, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[2][3]
UFC 267
This event took place in the evening in Abu Dhabi, which was the morning and afternoon in North America.[4] It was the first numbered UFC event that was not pay-per-view in the United States since UFC 138 in 2011.[5]
A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion Jan Błachowicz (also former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion) and former title challenger Glover Teixeira was expected to take place at UFC 266.[6] However, the bout was pushed back in late June and headlined this event.[7] Former Rizin Light Heavyweight Champion Jiří Procházka served as backup and potential replacement for this fight.[8]
A UFC Bantamweight Championship rematch between current champion Aljamain Sterling and the former champion Petr Yan was expected to take place at this event.[9] The duo had previously met earlier this year at UFC 259 with Sterling winning the fight (and title) by disqualification (intentional illegal knee strike) in the fourth round, becoming the first fighter to win a UFC title by disqualification.[10] However, on September 25, Sterling withdrew from the contest due to lingering neck issues.[11] Cory Sandhagen stepped in for Yan for an interim championship.[12]
A lightweight bout between former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev was also expected to take place at the event.[13] The pairing has previously been scheduled and cancelled twice. First in October 2020 at UFC 254 and then two weeks later at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos with both participants pulling out due to separate health related issues.[14][15] However, dos Anjos was yet again forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury.[16] He was replaced by Dan Hooker.[17]
A featherweight bout between Zubaira Tukhugov and Ricardo Ramos took place at this event.[18] The pairing previously was scheduled to compete at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad, but Tukhugov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons.[19]
A light heavyweight bout between former light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir and Magomed Ankalaev was originally expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till.[20] However, the bout was postponed to this event for unknown reasons.[21]
A middleweight bout between Alen Amedovski and Hu Yaozong was expected to take place at the event.[22] The pairing was previously scheduled to take place at UFC 264, but it was cancelled just hours before taking place due to COVID-19 protocol issues in Amedovski's camp.[23] However, Amedovski was removed from the event due to undisclosed reasons and replaced by Andre Petroski.[24]
A featherweight bout between Makwan Amirkhani and Tristan Connelly was expected to take place at the event.[25] However, Connelly withdrew in early September due to unknown reasons.[26] Lerone Murphy stepped in to replace Connelly.[27]
A middleweight bout between Alessio Di Chirico and promotional newcomer Albert Duraev was briefly linked to the event.[28] However, Di Chirico was removed from the pairing on September 22 due to undisclosed reasons and replaced by Roman Kopylov.[29]
A heavyweight bout between Walt Harris and Tai Tuivasa was scheduled for this event.[30] However, Harris pulled out of the bout and Tuivasa was rescheduled to face Augusto Sakai at UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate.[31]
A lightweight bout between Damir Ismagulov and Magomed Mustafaev was expected to take place at the event. However at the weigh-ins, Ismagulov came in at 163.5 pounds, missing weight by seven and half pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. The bout was subsequently cancelled by the UFC.[32]
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For the first time, UFC fans in North America will not be charged (extra) to watch a PPV event, something that is actually commonplace across the globe for fans in other countries. There are a multitude of reasons for this taking place, namely because the promotion wants to further test out doing a daytime (in America) UFC PPV card that will line up with primetime viewing in its host country, Abu Dhabi (viewers outside North America will have to pay for this PPV).
Not long ago, the UFC made it so you had to be an ESPN+ subscriber to purchase a PPV event. While the company surely took a hit in overall PPV purchase numbers at first while some lagged on ponying-up the $6.99 (the price was recently raised $1)-per-month membership fee, Saturday night should serve as a large boost to those who will finally take the plunge and become ESPN+ subscribers.
Additionally, you can also guarantee that the UFC is budgeting/offsetting any lost income on PPV buys this weekend with aggressive, in-your-face, valuable advertising of its biggest event of the year next weekend of UFC 268 (Usman vs. Covington 2 at MSG). It is smart business, through and through, and the fact that the diehard fans will come out of this in the green is just an added bonus for them.
Kicking off an unprecedented pair of UFC events on consecutive Saturdays, ESPN+ will make UFC 267 presented by Boost Mobile: Blachowicz vs. Teixeira available to stream for all ESPN+ subscribers at no additional cost as part of a special presentation, live from Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, this Saturday, October 30.
In the co-main event, Petr Yan (15-2) will fight Cory Sandhagen (14-3) for the UFC interim bantamweight title. Yan is a former UFC bantamweight champion and the current No. 1 contender with 10 wins in his last 11 fights, while Sandhagen is the No. 3 UFC bantamweight contender with nine wins in his last 11 bouts.
Lerone Murphy landed a picture-perfect knee to the face as Makwan Amirkhani was reaching down for the takedown. The Finnish fighter was out instantly and the fight was stopped as soon as he hit the ground.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz (28-8) is poised to do battle with No. 1 contender Glover Teixeira (32-7) this weekend in the main event of UFC 267. Fighting before the 205ers is a bantamweight interim-title bout between Cory Sandhagen (14-3) and former champion Petr Yan (15-2). Also featured on the card is the return of Khamzat Chimaev (9-0) and an appearance from Islam Makhachev (20-1).
This card has a decent slate of prelims and a main card that makes me feel giddy. The 2 p.m. pay-per-view boasts six fights and 11 ranked fighters. Every single bout is a contender for Fight of the Night, making this card simply impossible to miss.
Our headliner between Blachowicz and Teixeira is extremely interesting, namely due to the similar reputations both of these fighters have. We are looking at the top two in a division still reeling from the long, dominant reign of Jon Jones (26-1), who retained the light heavyweight belt over 11 title defenses.
How Sandhagen can win: Cory is going to have to fight like hell to simply keep Yan at a distance. This matchup is pretty similar to that with Dillashaw, and Sandhagen likely learned a few lessons about the stout, power-punching type. If Cory can use his three-inch reach advantage, he can try to pick Yan apart at range and open him up for a Sandhagen flying knee or two.
Former welterweight rising star and fan-favorite Chimaev is back after a long bout of health issues spurred by a positive COVID-19 test. Chimaev was supposed to fight Leon Edwards (19-3), and later prematurely announced his retirement from mixed martial arts at the age of 27 due to health concerns.
"Sometimes, we've got a boring fight, sometimes it happens like this. So I would like to do a really good fight. When you make a really good fight, the wins taste better a little bit. Of course, at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you won the fight.
"I think that because he found the same that I found, because I think he found it, we are mentally similar so I think it will be a really good fight to watch. And people will enjoy watching this fight and remember it for a long time, I hope."
"You feel the energy. They celebrate with you, they scream, maybe they scream for you, maybe not. But it's much better when you hear the crowd, when you can celebrate with the people. So finally, we've got the people in the arena, beside the octagon on Saturday.
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On Saturday, the UFC returns to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi with a loaded 14-fight card for UFC 267, highlighted by an interim Bantamweight title bout between Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen and a Light Heavyweight title fight between Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.
Murphy is a late replacement for Tristan Connelly. Amirkhani is always dangerous for the first half of his fights, as he looks to take down and submit his opponents with a front choke. He can also win enough minutes in the first half of the fight to secure a decision with dominant positioning.
Murphy is hyper-talented, but he has shown some grappling deficiencies and could get exposed in his toughest test to date. I projected value on the Amirkhani moneyline (to +205) in addition to his submission prop (projected +536), odds to win inside the distance (projected +420), and his odds to win in Round 1. You could also hedge out with Murphy live after Round 1.
On paper, this is both a step up in competition for Chimaev, but a solid stylistic matchup against Li, an above-average striker (+0.87 strike differential) with subpar takedown defense (59%) despite his sambo background. 041b061a72