Two new matchups have been added to UFC 309, the pay-per-view card that marks the return of the octagon to Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16.

The company announced Friday that Oban Elliott and Bassil Hafez will face off in a welterweight battle in New York, while Lucas Almeida and David Onama revealed on their social media that they have also agreed to fight on the card.

UFC 309 features Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight throne in the main event. The show is co-headlined by a five-round rematch between lightweight contenders Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler.

Hafez (9-4-1) defeated Mickey Gall this past June in Newark, rebounding from a split decision loss to Jack Della Maddalena in his promotional debut a year before.

Elliott (11-2) looks to go 3-0 in the UFC after a pair of decision victories over Val Woodburn and Preston Parsons this year that improved his pro record to 7-0 since 2022.

Onama (12-2) has won four of six inside the octagon and enters the cage on a two-fight winning streak. He missed weight for his most recent victory, a decision over Jonathan Pearce, and won a Performance of the Night bonus for his previous knockout against Gabriel Santos.

Almeida (15-3) had his hands raised via decision when he most recently fought in the UFC, beating Timmy Cuamba after three rounds to bring his UFC record to 2-2.

The UFC has superstars who seem to never fight, and one who seems to always fight.

Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) was back at it again for a record third title defense in 175 days – all since April – when he took out Khalil Rountree (14-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) in the fourth round. The pair headlined UFC 307 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City this past Saturday, and though Pereira was tested, he eventually broke Rountree down and took him out to continue his ascension as one of the UFC’s most popular fighters.

Plus, Julianna Peña recaptured the women’s bantamweight title after a two-year layoff, Kayla Harrison got her second UFC test and Court McGee, Ryan Spann, Joaquin Buckley and Roman Dolidze picked up key finishes.

Check out all the highlights in super-slow motion in the UFC 307 “Fight Motion” video highlights above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where we shine a light on fights from across the globe that may have been overlooked in these hectic times where it seems like there’s an MMA show every other day.

We like to focus on the fun and positive and weird when we bring you these clips, but sometimes you have to allow room for the sad. This is one of those times.

(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs and submissions, and to @Grabaka_Hitman for uploading many of the clips you see here. Give them a follow and chip in on Patreon if you can.)

K-Jee vs. Jerome Le Banner

On paper, matching 51-year-old Jerome Le Banner up with K-Jee might not have seemed like the worst idea, but it starts to look bad once you dig into the specifics of the pairing.

Yes, Le Banner, one of the most exciting strikers to ever live, hadn’t lost a kickboxing match in over 10 years prior to his appearance at this past Saturday’s K-1 World Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan, but he hasn’t exactly been facing K-1 competition, to put it kindly. He’s also competed sporadically outside of a burst of activity in 2019, and even continued to dabble in MMA, including whatever the hell this was a couple of years ago.

And yes, K-Jee hasn’t exactly been on a hot streak, coming into the Le Banner fight on five straight losses. But his quality of opponents has been notably higher and, perhaps more importantly, he’s 18 years younger than Le Banner.

All of this is to say that Le Banner’s late career win streak was finally snapped and in the most brutal manner possible.

I’d say I’m sorry you had to watch this, but I had to, so you should, too.

Now that Le Banner’s latest attempt to capture an elusive K-1 World Grand Prix title has come to an abrupt end, is it possible we’ve seen the last of the French legend? This is combat sports, so I wouldn’t bet on it.

Samuel Bunche vs. Zongo Boureima

While we’ve got the kickboxing gloves on, let’s check out what went down at the Combat at the Garden in New York.

Yikes!

That’s Canada’s Samuel Bunche separating Zongo Boureima from his senses with a left hand and temporarily turning the ring into a bouncy castle, with an out-cold Boureima being bounced off the ropes. I suppose it’s better than slamming into the mat with a thud? I’d rather not find out myself, personally.

The Ring of Combat-promoted kickboxing event is available for pay-per-view replay on TrillerTV.

Erkin Kazhymukhan vs. Zhavokhir Narzullaev
Amirkhon Alukhudzhaev vs. Nurbek Tazhibaev
Azizbek Temirov vs. Sherzod Ibodiloev
Kambarbek Shyndaulet vs. Asadbek Jorayev

I’m not entirely sure what was going on with Octagon League’s Erkin Kazhymukhan, but the man wanted to soccer kick real bad and he would not be denied.

In case you’re wondering, no, soccer kicks are not legal in Octagon League and Kazhymukhan was disqualified. He’s living his life his way though, respect.

Amirkhon Alukhudzhaev didn’t break any rules, but sometimes it feels like face-plant knockouts like this one should be illegal.

That’s four straight wins now for Alukhudzhaev, all in the first round.

If you want a textbook example of “going for it,” check out Azizbek Temirov’s lightning fast lunging right hand KO of Sherzod Ibodiloev.

He threw that lead left from a mile away with all the intention of following with a right hand from hell and somehow, it all came together for the perfect finish.

A replay of Octagon League 64 is available for free on YouTube, as is a related event that also went down this week, Octagon Selection 45.

That show featured this truly vicious knockout by Kambarbek Shyndaulet that left opponent Asadbek Jorayev with a vacant look in his eyes.

Thankfully, Jorayev was able to walk out on his own power not long after, but I assume he’ll be thinking about what he witnessed between realms for a while.

Gracjan Mis vs. Milosz Kruk
Bartosz Kwiatkowski vs. Mateusz Sosnowski

At Fight Exclusive Nights 56 in Wroclaw, Poland, Gracjan Mis landed a beautiful flying knee on Milosz Kruk to secure a first-round finish.

If you’re still bummed about Jose Aldo losing a dreary decision to Mario Bautista (I know I am!), then maybe that Aldo-esque strike will make you feel better.

If not, this Bartosz Kwiatkowski could do the trick.

Catch the kick, make your opponent do a little dance, and then WHAMMO.

Tatsuma Okada vs. Takumi Yagi

I’ve never heard of Japan’s POUNDOUT promotion, but it held its inaugural event in Chiba, Japan, this past Saturday and you can watch it for free on YouTube.

If anything, the show gave us one of the most unique arm-triangle submissions I’ve ever seen.

Who even thinks to attack with that move from that angle? Craziness.

Kai Yoshida vs. Yuki Ueda
Ryo Araki vs. Masateru Sawada
Rukiya Mukai vs. Shunsuke Kubota

We started in Osaka, so let’s close in Osaka with GLADIATOR 028 (free on YouTube), which featured a trio of must-see knockouts.

Best of all was Kai Yoshida’s unreal spinning elbow finish, which came after he survived some punishing grappling by Yuki Ueda.

Every second counts, as they say.

The next two clips come from bouts set for only two rounds, so I wonder if that encouraged the fighters to be more aggressive. That was certainly the case with Ryo Araki, who threw a punch that landed with such impact it sent his opponent and the referee flying.

Not satisfied with that shockwave, Araki followed with sledgehammer ground-and-pound before locking in a tight choke.

Lastly, tip of the cap to Rukiya Mukai and Shunsuke Kubota, who both executed the best gameplan in MMA: Throw until somebody falls.

If you know of a recent fight or event that you think may have been overlooked, or a promotion that could use some attention, please let us know on X — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.

Chael Sonnen likes Alex Pereira’s chances against Tom Aspinall.

Light heavyweight champion Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) notched his third title defense when he brutally took out Khalil Rountree in Round 4 of their UFC 307 headliner in Salt Lake City.

Pereira said he plans on staying put at 205 pounds for the time being, but would like to move up to heavyweight someday. “Poatan” posted an image of interim heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) watching him on, which has Sonnen salivating at the idea of a potential matchup between the two.

Although Aspinall’s grappling is expected to pose problems for Pereira, Sonnen isn’t sure if he’d succeed in getting to the necessary positions to take him down.

“I cannot guarantee you that the younger, bigger guy in Tom would win,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “There’s just something special about Alex, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. But I don’t know that Tom has the skills to just go out and take him down, so we might have to take that off of the board.

“I think Alex would have a really hard time getting up because of the size, but to get him there, Tom’s probably going to want to trade, probably have a little bit of ego like everybody else of, ‘Let me show all of you,’ and it might work out for him. But, it just might be a very dangerous proposition as well.”

Aspinall currently awaits the winner of the heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, which headlines UFC 309 on Nov. 16 in New York. But with Jones and a couple of his coaches hinting that “Bones” could be making the final walk at Madison Square Garden, Aspinall’s future is uncertain.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.