Guilherme Cruz

Journalist at MMA Fighting

🗞️ @MMAFighting

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Articles

Tim Elliott returns from 20-month layoff to face Kai Asakura at UFC 319

1 week ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Photo by Amy Kaplan/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Former UFC flyweight title challengers Tim Elliott and Kai Asakura will meet in the octagon when UFC returns to Chicago on Aug 16, both athletes announced on social media. UFC 319 will take place at the United Center and feature 185-pound champion Dricus Du Plessis defending his middleweight belt in the main event against undefeated force Khamzat Chimaev. Eliott (23-13-1) will be returning from a 20-month layoff when he faces Asakura.
Brazilian Radar: Aieza Bertolso choke-out tops action-heavy MMA weekend

1 week ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Photo via LFA The Memorial Day weekend was a slow couple of days for MMA fans in the United States with no UFC and PFL events, but fight fans were offered plenty of action in MMA brasileiro. LFA’s latest trip to Brazil took place at a high-end resort in Cuiaba, and where highly-touted strawweight prospect—and two-time IMMAF world champion—Aieza Bertolso improved her winning streak to 20 with a third-round submission of ONE veteran Samara Santos.
Henry Cejudo tops ex-ONE champion in grappling match in Kazakhstan

1 week ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Henry Cejudo just scored his first victory since 2020, but it wasn’t under mixed martial arts rules. The former two-division UFC champion and Olympic gold medalist in wrestling entered the Alash Pride 108 cage on May 27 in Astana, Kazakhstan, to challenge former ONE Championship flyweight titleholder Kairat Akhmetov in a five-minute grappling contest. Cejudo and Akhmetov, both very experienced in MMA, spent the first minutes in the collar tie position.
Chuck Liddell reflects on 20-year anniversary of first UFC title win, names ‘real fighter’ from today’s MMA

1 week ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Chuck Liddell retired from the sport almost seven years ago — and he still misses the game. The former UFC light heavyweight was one of the sport’s biggest stars in the early 2000’s, reigning as the best 205-pounder in the United States in the pinnacle of the UFC vs. PRIDE era.
Jungle Fight announces grand prix with biggest pay in Brazilian MMA history

1 week ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Photo via Leonardo Fabri, Jungle Fight One of MMA’s longest-running promotions will pay the highest prize in Brazilian MMA history in 2025. On Monday, Jungle Fight announced it will hold two tournaments to crown “King of the Jungle” and “Queen of the Jungle,” starting with the eight-man lightweight tournament that kicks off June 14 in Brasilia, Brazil. The promotion has yet to reveal a date for the women’s flyweight grand prix.
‘The greatest featherweight of all-time’: UFC’s Jose Aldo gets emotional sendoff in Brazil

1 week ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Guilherme Cruz, MMA Fighting RIO DE JANEIRO — In 2022, the Brazilian MMA community paid tribute to the great Jose Aldo, who had unceremoniously announced his retirement from MMA to transition to boxing. He would return to the UFC cage two years later to resume his career, and that cycle has come to an end earlier this month in Montreal, Canada. Jose Aldo Junior, who first entered the UFC cage in Toronto, again travelled to the Great White North for his final chapter.
‘I woke up and my mom wasn’t there’: Bianca Daimoni victorious 5 years after coma, mother’s death

1 week ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Dave Mandel, Invicta FC Bianca Daimoni upset former WBC international bantamweight and EBU European super flyweight champion Ashley Brace in a bare-knuckle boxing match at BYB in February, beating the pro boxer in enemy territory in Cardiff, and already felt like a winner by getting back in action. Daimoni’s BYB Bare Knuckle debut happened nearly five years after her last professional bout, a one-night tournament under the Shooto Brazil banner in Rio de Janeiro.
Top LFA prospect Aieza Bertolso hopes that 20-fight win streak leads to UFC deal

1 week ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Photo via LFA Not many MMA fighters opt for a long amateur career before pursuing a professional career in cages around the world. But when they do, especially at a young age, they often find themselves a step ahead of competition. That’s the case for 23-year-old strawweight Aieza Bertolso, a top prospect who enters Saturday night’s LFA 209 in Cuiabá, Brazil, riding a 19-fight winning streak.
Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato rescheduled for UFC Atlanta after herpes scrapped previous fight

2 weeks ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC The light heavyweight showdown between Paul Craig and Rodolfo Bellato is back on. Originally booked for UFC Vegas 106 on May 17 but pulled last-minute when Nevada Athletic Commission doctors noticed Bellato had herpes, Craig vs. Bellato now goes down at UFC Atlanta on June 14. MMA Fighting confirmed the switch after Craig first announced it on Leather’d Podcast.
Bruno Silva puts career on hold after UFC release, ‘at peace’ if he never fights again

2 weeks ago | mmafighting.com | Guilherme Cruz

Bruno Silva may never fight again after being released by UFC, and he’s fine with that. “Blindado” knew that losing his UFC 315 middleweight clash with Marc-Andre Barriault would mean his exit from the promotion since it was a last chance given by matchmaker Mick Maynard, and he ended up suffering the first knockout defeat of his career. Silva was actually carried out of the octagon on a stretcher following the brutal knockout loss but was feeling better just hours later.