A UFC champ wants to be like Alex Pereira, Brendan Schaub challenges Nate Diaz and Ilia Topuria explains Islam Makhachev beef: MMA News Roundup

A UFC champion wants to be like Alex Pereira, Brendan Schaub challenges Nate Diaz to a fight and Ilia Topuria explains his beef with Islam Makhachev.

Find out more details in today's (Oct. 19) Sportskeeda daily news roundup.

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#3 UFC champion maps out 2025 blueprint, wants to fight as often as Alex Pereira

UFC welterweight champ Belal Muhammad recently expressed his desire to follow in the footsteps of Alex Pereira in 2025 and fight as much as possible.

Over the last 12 months, 'Poatan' has fought four times, which includes winning and then defending the light heavyweight title on three occasions. In comparison, 'Remember the Name' has only fought once so far in 2024, winning the welterweight title from Leon Edwards back in July.

Muhammad then spoke to Grind City Media about his future plans, stating he aims to replicate Pereira's activity in the UFC in 2025:

"Sitting on the couch doesn’t get you paid. Sitting on the couch doesn’t make me happy. I want to get happy by competing. I love to compete… So, yeah, for myself, obviously it’s the task at hand, what’s next. And then for 2025, I’m trying to get on that Alex Pereira schedule, right. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been on the Fighter of the Year ballot."

Check out Belal Muhammad's comments below (17:01):

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#2 Brendan Schaub challenges Nate Diaz to grappling match

Brendan Schaub and Nate Diaz don't appear to be fans of one another, after the two former UFC stars traded blows on social media.

The Stockton native appeared to start the beef by using a few choice words to hand Schaub a new nickname. He tweeted:

"Brendan 'The big ol' pu**y' Schaub"

'Big Brown' didn't let Diaz' comments slide, however, and soon responded by challenging the 39-year-old to a grappling bout. He wrote back:

"Oooh buddy. I probably got 20 pounds on you, so not too far off. I'll snap your neck. Set up a grappling match and let me know how it goes for you. Have one of your handlers read this tweet and get back to me."

Check out their tweets here:

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#1 Ilia Topuria explains his beef with Islam Makhachev

Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev's rivalry seems to have escalated in recent weeks, with the pair now having traded blows on social media and during interviews.

'El Matador' initially expressed an interest in stepping up a division and facing Makhachev with the aim of testing himself against one of the best in the promotion. However, what started out as a professional beef soon turned sour, leading to confrontations between Topuria and Makhachev and his team.

The UFC featherweight champ then shed some light on the situation this week during an interview with Ariel Helwani. According to the Georgian-Spaniard, there's nothing personal from his side. He said:

"I don’t have anything personal with him. The only point is that he’s the world champion in the lightweight division. I wanna move up to the lightweight division. I wanna face him in the future. I said something like ‘ I want to face him in the octagon ‘ and all his cousins came out ‘When I see you in the street. When I see you around, I’m gonna do this and that ‘. Oh, shut the fu*k up. You are not gonna do anything. So shut up.”

Check out Ilia Topuria's comments here: