Elizeu Zaleski stopped Zach Scroggin in November 2024 | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Neil Magny holds the record for most fights in UFC welterweight history heading into his 35th octagon appearance this Saturday at UFC Vegas 108 against Elizeu Zaleski, and Zaleski sees it as an opportunity to climb back into the 170-pound rankings.
Zaleski, who at one point of his career won seven in a row in the promotion with finishes against the likes of Sean Strickland and Curtis Millender, re-enters the cage with only one victory in his past five bouts. Fighting safe to go back to the win column doesn’t seem to be the plan, though.
“We have to brawl there and that’s what I hope to do,” Zaleski told MMA Fighting. “He’s a guy that was always in the top 15 so a win over him could obviously be a game-changer for me to go back to the top 15 again. I’m going for the win to be ranked again, of course, but the main goal here is to put one a great victory over him and then against whoever comes next, so being back in the top 15 is just the consequence.”
Zaleski has called out Magny multiple times in the past and finally got his wish on four weeks’ notice. Magny lost his past two against up-and-comers Michael Morales and Carlos Prates, and was finished by both in the first round, but Zaleski sees an evolution in one aspect of Magny’s game.
“He was tested against everyone at the top of the division but I see an evolution in his grappling in recent years,” Zaleski said. “He’s a very good striker, has this efficient clinch in wrestling exchanges when he’s attacking. He has gotten better on the ground with good attacks and great defense.”
“Capoeira” wonders if Magny’s chin is still the same after so many years competing at the highest level, as a third of his UFC losses came by knockout, but he has the utmost respect for Magny. Zaleski scored four of his 11 UFC wins via knockout, including a 75-second finish over Zach Scroggin this past November.
“He has a beautiful legacy and it’s an honor for me to do this fight,” Zaleski said of Magny. “If you look at his stats, he has a lot of wins by decision, so I think we can end up going that route, but I do see myself getting a knockout or a submission. I think we can really explore that. I’m looking forward to once again showing what Elizeu Capoeira can do. I have the hunger, and I want to finish this fight and not let it go to the judges. Every fight I do in the UFC is challenging, but a good challenge to have me evolve and show my best.”
Rodolfo Vieira and Fighting Nerds head coach Pablo Sucupira | Photo via Rodolfo Vieira
Rodolfo Vieira is one of the best grapplers to ever transition to mixed martial arts, but knows it’s not smart to overlook anyone’s ground skills. That said, he’s not particularly impressed by Tresean Gore’s jiu-jitsu game.
Vieira and Gore face off Saturday on the preliminary portion of UFC Vegas 108. Ahead of that matchup, Vieira commented on Gore’s submission game, which has helped him to two submission wins in the UFC over Josh Fremd and Antonio Trocoli.
“His jiu-jitsu doesn’t impress me, but the guillotine is definitely a position I’ll have some respect,” Vieira told MMA Fighting, “I know he catches with the right arm and he’s very confident. Every fighter that shot against him, he gave them the right leg to get around their neck to attack, and got his two submissions. I won’t see for myself because it’s a dangerous move. He’s proved to be good at that. But I’m more complete than him on the ground. I have many more weapons to dominate him on the ground.”
A five-time jiu-jitsu world champion and ADCC gold medalist, “The Black Belt Hunter” is 5-3 in the UFC with five submission victories. Before that, he went 5-0 in the sport with a 100 percent finishing rate. One major change Vieira has made going into UFC Vegas 108 was a six-week camp at Fighting Nerds in Sao Paulo, working with coaches Pablo Sucupira, Flavio Alvaro and Wagner Motta.
“The camp was wonderful,” Vieira said. “They put me in incredible shape. I think I’ve never felt this good before, and this confident in my striking, my takedowns, my jiu-jitsu. … I got the hunger back, the desire to train.”
Motta, the man leading the jiu-jitsu practice, was for years the coach of Demian Maia, who made his name as one of the best pure grapplers in UFC history.
“He knows a ton, the basic stuff that works,” Vieira said of Motta. “When he teaches you that, you know it will work. Also, training with the team here makes you want to evolve more on the feet. Not that I want to become a striker, I would much rather continue using my jiu-jitsu, but I’m getting confident with the distance, movement, calibrating my strikes and working on my defense. I’m becoming more complete. But, of course, always focused on going there and taking them down to use my jiu-jitsu.”
Gore was finished by Chute Boxe middleweight Marco Tulio in his most recent appearance in April, and Vieira aims to rebound from a decision setback to Andre Petroski in February. Vieira plans on submitting Gore at the UFC APEX, and expects his opponent’s aggressive style to make things easier.
“He’s a bit flat-footed and has a huge heart, he can take a punch and still come forward, but I don’t know how he will fight this fight,” Vieira said. “Last time around he got beat a lot by Marco Tulio and continued to walk forward. It’s good if he does that against me [so I take him down], but I’m ready for everything. I won’t stop in that octagon. I got good movement and will use that to my advantage until I find the right moment to take the fight where I’m best.”
Elves Brener | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Losing streaks bring extra pressure over the shoulders of a MMA fighter, and Elves Brener doesn’t want his mother to go through another heartbreak this weekend when he faces Esteban Ribovics.
When the exciting lightweights collide in the main card of UFC Vegas 108 on Aug. 2 looking to get back on track, Brener’s motivation to win after a pair of defeats to Myktybek Orolbai and Joel Alvarez in 2024 will be his mother’s happiness.
“Many people end up losing hunger and willpower after some losses, they say their heads are messed up,” Brener told MMA Fighting. “I’ll tell you what, I’m still happy the same way had I won — even if my mom cries. I made her a promise this time. My mother cried twice in a row, and now she won’t cry. My mother won’t cry a third time in a row, it’s the other mother that will cry.”
The Chute Boxe talent won three straight in 2023, his first year competing under the UFC banner, with a pair of bonuses for knockouts over Guram Kutateladze and Kaynan Kruschewsky. Despite the current skid, he still sees a bright future ahead in the lightweight division.
“I work with what I love,” Brener said. “I train every day to be in the UFC and have this experience. I’m top-15 material, top-10 material, and one day top-5 material, you know? My head remains the same, and I can clearly see the future ahead. [Those losses] were just a moment.”
Brener was briefly linked to a fight with Daniel Zellhuber in Mexico City in March, but said he was never officially offered until only three weeks prior to the date, so he was forced to decline. Now booked against Ribovics with a proper six-week training camp in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he sees it as a more favorable match-up.
“I have a harder time fighting taller opponents but to tell you the truth, I see Ribovics being easier than Zellhuber,” Brener said. “Zellhuber had longer reach, good arm-triangle chokes, long legs. Fighting Ribovics is more simple even though he’s aggressive, strong, tough and explosive, and has great cardio. But we’ll brawl in there, brother [laughs].”
Ribovics has never been finished before in MMA, and Brener said that’s because “he was never punched by a hand like mine.”
“He’ll come in alert because when my hand connects people are shut off, they fall stiff,” Brener said. “It’s going to be a great fight. I want to fight MMA with him. I’m ready to fight three rounds. If he has good cardio, I have more. If he has good boxing, I’m even better. If he has good kicks, I’m even better. I’m excited because he’s dangerous, and I love fighting people that make me feel alert. Brother, we’ll kill each other in there. We’ll brawl and put on a show for the fans. I’m going there to work, and I love my job.”
LAS VEGAS — Former UFC bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes spoke with MMA Fighting’s José Youngs on the UFC Hall of Fame red carpet to preview her upcoming title fight against reigning champion Kayla Harrison.
“Blessed” spoiled Poirier’s retirement and retained the BMF title with a unanimous decision victory in the main event of the promotion’s recent pay-per-view event. With the win, the fantasy matchmakers have thrown out a slew of fun ideas for Holloway’s next matchup, but according to the former featherweight titleholder, his next fight likely won’t be until some time in 2026 due to a hand injury suffered in the fight.
“I see a lot of people talking about who’s next, who’s this, there’s a lot of fun fights for me at [lightweight],” Holloway said on his YouTube channel. “There’s [Charles Oliveira], if [Justin Gaethje] gets the next title shot, that would be cool. If I get the next title shot, that’d be sick, but if you have hopes of me fighting before the end of the year, probably not going to happen.
“I see a specialist sometime [soon], I already met with my doctor, now I got to go meet the specialist, but things are not looking to up for me fighting one more time this year. So all of that fight talk is on still, so we just get to see how the [lightweight division] is going to pan out.”
Prior to his victory over Poirier, Holloway was stopped via strikes for the first time in his career by the now lightweight champion Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 this past October. Topuria vacated the 145-pound belt after stopping Holloway, and then brutally knocked out Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317 in June to capture his second title.
Topuria’s next opponent has not been announced. The names that seem to be in play among the fan base for “El Matador” are Arman Tsarukyan, Paddy Pimblett, and Justin Gaethje.
Holloway is wondering why more people aren’t putting his name in the conversation, especially with Gaethje’s name in the mix, who Holloway knocked out at UFC 300 in vicious fashion.
“I get to be a fan a little bit,” Holloway explained. “[I get to] be a father. ... I’m excited for the future, but what’s next? I couldn’t tell you. Now this stupid injury pushed me back a little bit, so we don’t know what’s going to happen.
“But even if I didn’t have this injury, the talks is wild. At the end of the day [fans are saying]... a lot of people are saying me and Ilia don’t make sense because my last fight before this one was Ilia, and he did what he did to me, right? But then how do you make a case for someone that I fought — I know he didn’t fight Ilia, but I fought him — I did what I did to him, and he’s going to fight next for the title after just winning one [fight]. Because most of you guys don’t know what you’re talking about. Most of you guys don’t know shit about fighting.”
