UFC Fight Night 97

Ricardo Lamas Is Reportedly Going Against Charles Oliveira at TUF: Latin America 3 Finale

Ricardo Lamas was hoping that UFC find an opponent for him and get him on the card very soon. Looks like UFC made sure that his bucket list wish granted.

According to FloCombat, sources close to the bout that The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 3 Finale targets the matchup between Lamas and Charles Oliveira on Nov. 5 in Mexico City.

The no. 4 in UFC featherweight rankings, Ricardo ‘The Bully’ Lamas  was originally slated to face the former two division world champion BJ Penn at Fight Night 97 on Oct. 15, but Penn’s rib was injured and pulled out of the fight. Due to the loss of the main event, the entire card was scrapped by the UFC.

The promotion said all the fighters on the Manila card would be rescheduled, and it appears the UFC has wasted no time in doing so.

The Chicago native has found success in three of his past five showings inside the Octagon, and suffered a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Max Holloway in his most recent outing.

Oliveria has been on a similar trajectory as of late, and will enter the bout with Lamas coming off a setback of his own as the Brazilian grappling ace was defeated by Anthony Pettis.

Source: FloCombat

"It’s discouraging," Ricardo Lamas on the Cancellation of UFC Manila Card


UFC leaves Pinoy fans devastated when entire Manila card was cancelled ten days before the fight night. The promotion announced to reschedule the event after BJ Penn’s rib was injured and pulled out of the fight against Ricard Lamas.

“It sucked. I literally went through an entire camp, I was done training. The only thing that was left was to cut the weight. I was already holding my weight pretty low, and to hear that, it stinks, especially with the holidays coming up. This is what I do to make a living.


I want to give my family a nice Christmas this year, and to have that cancelled when you put in so much work, it’s discouraging. But, I try to push it out of my head and I know UFC will make it right and everything will work out,” Lamas told Ariel Helwani on MMA Hour episode. 

Ricardo Lamas is disappointed. He is ready but his preparations and everything he put in work will go to waste, as well as to earn the show and win money. 


“Athletes scheduled to compete on the Oct. 15 card will be rebooked at upcoming UFC events in the near future. Each athlete set to compete on Oct. 15 will also receive compensation due to the card being rescheduled. With its 2016 calendar finalized, UFC officials will discuss future dates for the event,” UFC stated on the cancellation of the card.


“They said they were going to compensate me. I don’t know the number yet or whatever. They are also trying to reschedule me. Sean says he has some calls out and hopefully sometime this week I’ll find out whether I’m gonna be fighting or not.If it were up to me, I’d be happy with my show and win money of course. I would be happy with my show money, but really, I came to fight. I put all of this work and I don’t want an entire training camp to go to waste. So, I am hoping that they find an opponent for me and get me on a card very soon,” Lamas continue.

UFC Leaves Fans Devastated As They Cancels Entire Manila Card

Source: Wikipedia
October 7, 2016 around 1:57AM, I saw URCC light heavyweight champion Chris Valdez Hofman reposted ONE heavyweight champion Brandon Vera’s post that the UFC just cancelled their entire PI card on Facebook. At first, looks like a rumor since BJ Penn had to pullout of the fight.  Seconds later, a legit source FOX Sports twitted that the UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs. Penn to be rescheduled after losing half of main event. Filipinos are not pleased especially fight fans.

The reason stated by UFC was due to the loss of the main event. I don’t understand why as they have many fighters to replace Penn. Bryan Caraway, Robert Whiteford and Dan Hang even offered to fight Lamas. 
But there’s another side of the story that makes sense too. Every athlete will have to give blood for drug test. When you test positive, passport will be confiscated in country. Was it redundancy then? Because USADA tests these UFC fighters for performance-enhancing drugs and masking agents. URCC founder Alvin Aguilar also speaks about UFC Manila cancellation.
Slow ticket sales was also the big suspect to have led to the cancellation of the event.
I hope UFC will still fulfill the second unforgettable show they will put on for Filipino fans. WILL IT SOON BE TIME?

“The consistently warm reception we receive from Filipino fans and last year’s sold out event shows us that UFC has an incredibly strong following in the country. Manila is a fighting city and we hope to put on another unforgettable show that will capture the hearts of Filipino sports fans throughout the country,” Kenneth Berger said, Executive Vice President & General Manager of UFC Asia 

Anyone that knows me knows I love MMA. MMA’s biggest fan was hurt. I just want to watch the fight card. I don’t care what’s on social media. Is the UFC Manila still happening this year? If not when will it ever happen again?

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Sunday, October 2, 2016 Apple wrote:


It’s that time again Pinoy fight fans! On October 15, the wait is finally over for yours truly and the rest of MMA fans! Two division world champion BJ Penn a.k.a The Prodigy and the No.4 in UFC featherweight rankings, Ricardo ‘The Bully’ Lamas will headline the second UFC event to be held again at the MOA Arena, Manila.

Seems like UFC Fight Night 66 was just yesterday. Everyone’s at the MOA Arena Saturday, May 16, 2015 watching Philippe Nover working on the ground against Yui Chul Nam, Retiring Mark Munoz dominating Luke Barnatt to land takedowns, Neil Magny pounding Hyun Gyu Lim on the ground with hammer, Gegard Mousasi outgrappling Costas Phillipou and Frankie Edgar outscoring Uriah Faber.

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The scheduled lightweight bout between Damir Hadzovic and Yusuke Kasuya for UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem was moved to UFC Fight Night 97 here in the Philippines due to former visa problem.
Jon Tuck was again added to the card. He was part of the first UFC Manila and the winner of his bout against Tae Hyun Bang. This time he will square off with lightweight Alex Volkanovski. Mehdi Baghdad was originally the one scheduled to face Jon Tuck. However, Baghdad pulled out of the fight in mid-September citing injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Volkanovski.

Jenel Lausa is an Ilonggo mixed martial artist and Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC) flyweight champion. He signed a 20-month exclusive deal which guarantee him 4 fights with the UFC. “The Demolition Man” will make his debut for the promotion representing the Philippines. He will go against the Chinese flyweight Yao Zhikui. Yao was part of the first UFC Manila card and defeated the Filipino fighter Nolan Ticman.

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UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC lightheavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, former UFC lightweight champion and No. 6 ranked UFC featherweight contender Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, No. 3 ranked UFC heavyweight contender Alistair “The Reem” Overeem who was at the first UFC Manila and No. 8 ranked UFC lightweight contender Michael “Maverick” Chiesa alongside UFC event ambassador Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz were also announced as special guest fighters who will be flying in early to meet fans and watch the highly-anticipated event. They will be arriving during the UFC’s official Fight Week (October 10-15) to take part in a series of fan and media activities including:
  •  Open Workouts, Wednesday 12th October 6:00pm at the Mall of Asia
  • UFC FIGHT NIGHT® Manila: LAMAS vs PENN Q&A & Weigh-In with UFC Guest Fighters, Friday 14th October. Doors open 4:15pm at the Mall of Asia Arena
  • UFC FIGHT NIGHT® Manila: LAMAS vs PENN, Saturday 15th October first bout 6:45pm at the Mall of Asia Arena. Doors open at 4:30pm, with guest fighters signing autographs from 5:00pm.

The official UFC Manila card:

MAIN CARD 10AM/7AM ETPT
Featherweight: Ricardo Lamas vs. BJ Penn
Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis vs. Marcin Tybura
Flyweight: Jenel Lausa vs. Yao Zhikui
Featherweight: Cole Miller vs. Mizuto Hirota
PRELIMS 6:45AM/3:45AM ETPT
Middleweight: Sam Alvey vs. Alex Nicholson
Lightweight: Jon Tuck vs. Alex Volkanovski
Middleweight: Dongi Yang vs. Ryan Janes
Women’s Strawweight: Seohee Ham vs. Danielle Taylor
Welterweight: James Moontasri vs. Alex Morono
Flyweight: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ali Bagautinov
Lightweight: Yusuke Kasuya vs Damir Hadzovic

BJ Penn’s Path Back To The Octagon Was Not An Easy One

BJ Penn is not returning to the octagon for the third time.

The two division world champion and Hall of Famer is out of UFC Fight Night 97 card due to undisclosed injury. The match between him and Ricardo Lamas was the main event of the second UFC event to be held again at the MOA Arena, Manila.

BJ Penn announced in January that he is coming out of retirement to make a comeback to the octagon. A month after, however, his former BJPenn.com editor accused the “The Prodigy” of sexual assault against his girlfriend. In April, UFC stated that no criminal or civil charges have been filed against Penn, nor has any action been taken by local law enforcement. He was once again booked for a fight against Cole Miller on the main card of UFC 199.

BJ Penn was suspended by USADA for six months due to out-of-competition IV use last May which ended September. The fight which was going to be in the featherweight division was again scrapped out of the UFC 199 card.

He was last seen in action in July 2014 against Frankie Edgar, where he lost in the third round via TKO.

This is the the third setback BJ Penn has experienced on his return to competition this year. We hear nothing on a replacement for Penn yet. Our very own Phillipe Nover who recently fought Renan Barao offers to step in to face Ricardo Lamas and save the main event of UFC Manila though.

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BJ Penn Pulls Out of UFC Fight Night 97!!!

UFC Fight Night 97 is 10 days away! UFC needs to find a replacement in the main event!

BJ Penn has been pulled from the featherweight bout against Ricardo Lamas due to an injury, MMA Junkie reports. The promotion has not yet confirmed whether they will be searching for a replacement, or if Lamas is getting pulled from the card as well. The card takes place in the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Manila, Philippines and the entire card is set to air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass at 6:45 AM ET.

Lamas remains in the headline spot and he hopes to bounce back from his loss to Max Holloway at “UFC 199”. Lamas possesses impressive wins over the likes of Diego Sanchez and Dennis Bermudez. Who do you think he should face on short notice?