Georges St-Pierre says UFC knew ‘I couldn’t fight in the summer’ during Bisping press conference

The first few months of 2017 haven’t come with a lot of buzz for the UFC. There have been good fights – a lot of them even – but for a promotion increasingly dependent on big stars and the ability to deliver box office smashes the product has under-delivered. So it’s no surprise that, when the opportunity to push a big star and a big fight came around, the UFC went in hard.

When Georges St-Pierre announced that he was coming back to fighting and returning to the UFC, the promotion jumped at the opportunity to put him in a middleweight title fight with Michael Bisping. It was a bout that both men had expressed some past interest in and would provide a meaningful bout for GSP’s re-entry.

On March 3rd, the UFC put together a big press conference to announce the fight, with Bisping and GSP fielding questions. But when the subject of just when this fight would take place came around, answers were vague at best. July was the hope, but nothing was set in stone.

Since that presser the bout has fallen apart. GSP released a video in early May telling Bisping he’d be ready to fight after October. That pleased no one, adding fuel to growing fan sentiment that Bisping vs. GSP was an unnecessary holdup to the middleweight division. And Dana White quickly pulled the plug on the fight altogether.

Which all seems to be pretty confusing for GSP. In a recent interview on the MMA Hour, he told Ariel Helwani that he was never going to be ready to fight in July and the UFC knew it all along. That was why the announced bout didn’t come with a fixed date in the first place (transcript via MMA Fighting).

“When the fight got announced with the press conference, we knew that we couldn’t fight in the summer. UFC knew as well that I couldn’t fight in the summer,” St-Pierre explained Monday on The MMA Hour. “They knew that I had an eye injury, but we still did the press conference, and I felt very uncomfortable during this whole time.

“Everybody has advisors, and I was advised to not talk about it, not talk about my eye injury. As an athlete, you don’t want to talk about these things. If you know about it now, it’s because this whole thing became out of proportion, it turned into a very negative thing. As athletes, we all have injuries and don’t want to talk about this, because it gives you weaknesses, something that your opponent can exploit.”

St-Pierre went on to explain that while nothing has gone wrong with the eye-surgery he underwent recently, the healing timetable was always going to be a relatively long one. As to why that’s become a problem lately with the UFC, he’s not sure.

“I don’t know,” St-Pierre said. “Maybe it’s contract, contractual reasons? I have no idea. Even my agent and I were not very excited about that (press conference). We were like, ‘it’s better if we wait a little bit,’ but they decided to do it. It was the first time, if you remember, that they announced a fight — I think it’s the first time in history they announced a fight without a date. That’s for that reason, because they couldn’t put a date yet because we didn’t know. I didn’t know when I would be able to spar. I knew the fight would definitely not happen in the summer.”

Much like Bisping, GSP also admits that he hasn’t heard anything personally from the UFC as to what will happen next. He’s been getting all his updates on the situation through the media. He still sounds hopeful of getting the match made, but with the UFC booking an interim title fight in the mean time, it seems like Bisping will have a set top contender ready and waiting when the champion recovers from injury.

Joe Rogan: Conor McGregor KO means Jose Aldo’s legacy ‘is always gonna be tarnished’

The whole idea is complete nonsense. A narrative fiction propagated by trolls; a few seconds of an athletes career spun out into a web that threatens to envelop all his other achievements. Which also means it may not be wrong.

Because that’s the trouble with a ‘legacy’. It isn’t defined by what you did so much as its defined by what people remember you doing. And at least in the moment, the thing a lot of people seem to remember most about Jose Aldo is him getting knocked out by Conor McGregor at UFC 194. Joe Rogan put words to the thought on a recent episode of his Fight Companion Podcast, discussing Aldo’s legacy right now (transcript via MMA Fighting).

“Aldo’s legacy and his reign is always gonna be tarnished by that 13 seconds against McGregor. Which is so crazy because you take away that fight and he’s got one brutal war with Chad Mendes where he got rocked and stunned, which is a tough fight – the second one – great fight. And those are the only hard moments he’s had inside the octagon other than maybe round five against Ricardo Lamas. Lamas had him down and was doing a little bit of ground and pound in the fifth round and that was Aldo was too drained making that weight, but he’s smaller now. He generally looks smaller. He definitely chose to slim down because he was having unbelievably brutal weight cuts early in his career. He was just too big for the weight class so he just chose to slim his body down.”

Of course, Aldo has since regained his featherweight title in the months following the McGregor loss. McGregor’s departure for the lightweight division (and superfights beyond) saw Aldo promoted from interim champion to undisputed title holder. He’s now set do defend his new belt for the first time against Max Holloway, this weekend at UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

And while a bout with Holloway may not remove the stain entirely (especially for a specific brand of McGregor faithful), “always” is a long time. If Aldo can put on a stellar performance against the young top contender he may go a long way to undoing the damage that those 13 seconds have done to his reputation.

Was Gamrot’s finger bite against Norman Parke at KSW 39 an accident? The UFC vet doesn’t think so

Every KSW show lately has the feel of a ‘tent-pole’ event, but even by those standards KSW 39 was something special. More than 50,000 fans packed Stadion PGE Narodowy for Colosseum, a massive event featuring 5 title bouts, a champion vs. champion catchweight bout, and a series of massive freak fights. One of those championships on the line featured a former UFC veteran, Norman Parke, facing off against Polish top prospect and lightweight belt-holder Mateusz Gamrot.

It was a big opportunity for Parke to pick up a notable win and to gain a title in one of the world’s largest MMA promotions. Unfortunately for him, things didn’t go down as planned. But he didn’t just walk away from the fight with a loss, he got a few tooth marks for his trouble as well.

Wow, looks like Gamrot DID bite Parke’s finger haha pic.twitter.com/nxPqMtAX97

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 27, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Midway in the second round, with Gamrot shooting in on a single leg and Parke sprawling on top of him, Gamrot appeared to bite Parke’s finger. Parke complained to the referee, the fight was stopped momentarily, and then restarted. Parke eventually went on to lose a decision. The incident hasn’t sat well with Parke, however, who feels that Gamrot should have been penalized and that the foul was intentional.

“He shot in for a single leg, you know, and he was trying it a few times,” Parke explained, in an interview with Obviously Fight Talk, setting the scene for the incident. “So, he shot in for the single leg and I stayed heavy on it. And we were there for maybe 30 seconds a couple of times and I was threatening to go for a guillotine, but he was defending that pretty well. And then I thought I’d try and restrict his breathing, so I cupped my hand – you’re allowed to do it – I cupped my hand and placed it over his mouth to try and lead him into letting me sneak into a guillotine or something. But, he just slipped the head inside, popped my finger in and bit pretty hard. And that’s where it led from there.

“I kept gesturing to the ref to stop it. I said he bit me, but I don’t think he was really listening to it at the start. Until I actually says ‘Look, look, look.’ And then he says time. But definitely he bit the finger, I know he did it on purpose. Because I says to him after the fight, I says to him, ‘You did that on purpose. You knew I was too heavy on top, you weren’t gonna get me down.’ And he just said, ‘Ah, you’re too strong.’ Never mentioned anything about biting my finger.”

Asked about the referee’s actions, Parke isn’t exactly sure why more wasn’t done at the time.

“No, it seemed like he just…” Parke said. “It was a quite weird situation. I showed him my finger and he could see the bite mark clearly. It was clear as day. And when I pushed him the crowd was, they booed. But when they realized, when they saw the replay, then they knew what happened. So I’m not too sure. There was a wee bit of confusion with the referee. And Martin, he come in and just said, ‘Calm down.’ But I says, ‘Here, what’s gonna be done about this? He bit me, so it’s like a straight disqualification or a point at least.’ That’s the way it should have happened. It’s not like there was no evidence there or no mark on the finger. The finger was there, the mark was there, and he intentionally did it. I believe that. We’ll see what happens.”

Parke went on to explain that KSW is apparently reviewing the bout and but he’s not exactly sure where that process will lead. The loss breaks a two fight win streak for Parke, and is his first after being released from his UFC contract.

Germaine De Randamie seems set to abandon the women’s featherweight division

It appears that being UFC champion isn’t always worth the trouble. Especially not if that trouble comes in the form Cristiane Justino, better known as Cris Cyborg. Germaine de Randamie won the inagural UFC women’s featherweight title back in February with a decision over Holly Holm. Since then, the only question on anyone’s lips has been: When will GDR fight Cyborg?

The answer looks more and more like: Never.

Trouble started brewing last week, when De Randamie’s manager told MMA Fighting that the champion would “never” face “known and proven cheater” Cris Cyborg. While the word of a fighters’ manager should always be taken with a grain of salt, De Randamie has since released a series of statements over social media, telling fans that she’s now focused on returning to the bantamweight division (translation via Champions.co, emphasis mine).

Dear All,

It’s been a while since I posted something. But because of the commotion that I have come to feel, I feel the need to hear something from me and to clear the air (as far as possible). It is absolutely not so that everything that is said makes me do nothing. Also, I am a human being and I also have feelings. Despite the fact that I’m always positive, the comments make me more than I had hoped. The positive but also the negative.

The fight between me and Chris Cyborg was offered to me last November. Even then, I had all my reservations but I accepted the fight. Chris Cyborg has rejected the fight because she could not get the weight of 66 kilos in twelve weeks time. One month later, she was visited by the USADA and did not pass the test. The rest of the story is known.

My reason for rejecting the fight now has nothing but nothing at all to do with my fear.

I believe that if you want to do sports you do this without any means that can affect the muscle mass. I – as a top athlete – always trained, always watched my food and put 18 years of my life on sports, without using just one means that is not allowed.

Everyone has his or her opinion on this and that may. But that people think to know what my motives are / do not put me in the cold clothes.

I work full time and irregularly, which takes a lot of time. In addition, there is still a lot of unclear about my hand. I have an appointment with the doctor on 14 June, and it will be decided whether or not to be operated. This option should also be considered for me because there is a great chance that my tendons / nerves can cause such damage that I could not use my hand more optimally.

During the negotiations on the battle with Holly Holm, I said in advance that after this fight I want to return to my natural weight class of 61 kilos. My task has not been completed yet

The UFC has promised me that this would be no problem and I can just return to my natural weight class.

This is why I am focusing on this moment.

When I fell in love with the martial arts 18 years ago, I had 1 goal. Share my great love with others who have the same love for martial arts as me !! This is my goal and will always remain my goal.

I want to thank everybody who has always stood before me and still support me through thick and thin !! You guys rock.

For all the haters; Two Baths !! “The IronLady” is far from done

It looks like the UFC’s featherweight division is about to be cut back down to Cyborg alone again, along with anyone the promotion can bring in to face her from fight to fight. It’s unclear yet whether De Randamie will vacate her title or whether the UFC will strip her of the belt, but it certainly sounds like she’s prepared for that eventuality.

And that leaves the world’s largest MMA promotion with a fighter fans want to see, but nobody wants to fight, in a division they can’t seem to start building.

UFC Stockholm: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira – Fights to Make

UFC Stockholm couldn’t help but over-perform. A night with little name value and few really meaningful fights had nowhere to go but up. By the end, it was a decent, not great night of action, but that’s a lot lot better than just being bad. And it gave at least one fighter some serious momentum. No, not Alexander Gustafsson (although he did well), but Volkan Oezdemir, who now is primed for another big fight after KOing Misha Cirkunov.

I’ll be using the old-school Silva/Shelby model from years past to plot out a next step for all the fighters on the UFC Stockholm card. That means winners vs. winners, losers vs. losers, and similarly tenured talent facing off against one another. Making selections with me this week is BE reader Ales. If you’d like a shot at picking matchups for next week’s card, leave a comment below starting out with “THIS IS SPARTA!” and I’ll pick a winner from the respondents. Now, lets get to the match-ups…

Hi all, my name is Ales but I’m lurking in the BE discussions as Ulrik. I’ve watch MMA for a few years and although PRIDE never dies the way fighters have evolved in last two years has been great. Still, I’m a big fan of good old Josh Barnett, along with Dominick Cruz, and Beneil Dariush. Right now I’m mourning relegation of my football team. Outside of MMA I have degree in Middle-East politics and history, but my job is game journalist. Yeah, it’s great but no, it isn’t just playing games. The UFC Stockholm was in my opinion solid, with some nice fights, simply another “not bad European card.”

ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON

Ales – I liked his gameplan. I didn’t like all that running with his back to Glover, but it worked. Mauler looked looked like toreador, picking Glover apart one round after another. From such a dominant performance there is only one way to go: winner of DC – Jones title fight.

Zane – Gustafsson has already said he wouldn’t fight Jimi Manuwa again, which means any kind of title eliminator (or backup match) booked alongside the DC/Jones fight is out of the question. That said, with Manuwa having faced neither Jones nor Cormier, giving him a shot at the belt first may not be a bad idea. Still, as limited as options are, Manuwa feels like a better fight for Oezdemir right now, while Gus waits for the DC/Jones winner, especially if that winner is Jon Jones.

GLOVER TEIXEIRA

Ales – Oh my, unless you rip his head off with thousand punches (or one big if you are Rumble), Glover is still coming for you. We can say that despite being 37 years old, his chin is made of steel. But, his dream of title shot is probably gone and so he deserves atop 10 opponent, just not as much of a beast as Gus. This story writes itself, doesn’t it? Give him Oezdemir. Because…

Zane – Teixeira would be a legit test of Oezdemir’s instant title hopes, but coming off that KO loss, I think it would also be an especially unflashy way to snuff them out. A Glover win doesn’t put him back in contention, it just derails Oezdemir’s climb. Ilir Latifi just lost his opponent for Oklahoma City, if he wants to wait a fight with Glover would be an interesting one. However, that seems unlikely. Instead Glover should wait to see if DC loses to Jones, giving Glover a chance to fight Cormier. If that doesn’t shake out then what about a fight against Shogun Rua? Dana White infamously claimed Shogun would “rather be cut” than have to fight him… suggesting Shogun was afraid of him. Sounds like the basis of some decent fight promotion.

VOLKAN OEZDEMIR

Ales – …because I do not think anybody expected Volkan to smash Cirkunov in such way. After beating a fading OSP and this short fight, it is still difficult to measure his true skill. Against Glover Teixeira he can show his whole arsenal and maybe his magic/ skill will hold. If not, losing to a fighter of Teixeira’s stature won’t hurt his stock much, he is just 27 years old. I do not see him in top 5 (yet), but in the Glover fight he can prove me wrong. Oezdemir asked for Manuwa, but in my opinion Jimi deserves loser from title fight (or to replace one of them).

Zane – I think that Manuwa fight makes too much sense right now to pass it up. DC/Jones 2 has been years in the making now. Booking Manuwa against Oezdemir alongside it is a nice way to make sure Manuwa is in camp, ready to step in. And otherwise it gives fans a hell of a scrap to look forward to on the same card. Either guy wins and he’d likely come away with a big KO seen by a lot of people. Manuwa vs. Oezdemir is the best contender fight the UFC can make right now.

MISHA CIRKUNOV

Ales – Poor Misha, this loss must be tough to swallow. There is nothing to gain from it. I don’t think you can give him a higher ranked opponent. Logical step would be pit him against Corey Anderson, but in such shallow division I’m against prospects fighting between themselves. My first pick, Cummins, has rendezvous with Villante, so it makes sense to book a fight with OSP, despite the fact that he will probably jump over him in the rankings.

Zane – I really wouldn’t mind giving Cirkunov a big step back, all the way to someone like Marcos Rogerio de Lima off a loss like this. Lima is another super dangerous power striker, but with an amazingly limited arsenal and tendency to shut all the way down under pressure. The other option would be Ilir Latifi, which makes tons of ranking sense and pits power punching wrestlers against one another. But I don’t think Cirkunov is ready for THA GAWD after that loss. So, Cirkunov vs. Pezao is the fight to make.

PETER SOBOTTA

Ales – I really like Sobotta. His style is constantly developing and he really eliminated Killa B in all aspects of his game. So, give him top 15 opponent. Leon Edwards has solid run and his style would make interesting matchup.

Zane – If nothing else, Sobotta is definitely proving himself better than the rank and file of WW. He’s finishing fights in a way that he never would have years ago. I’m still not sure if he’s an elite enough athlete to make a real run at the top of the division, but he’s become a dangerous action fighter with a complete game. A definite challenge for all comers. The dude most set to test that and meet Sobotta on equal footing everywhere? Zak Cummings. Cummings vs Sobota would be the welterweight battle for average looking dudes that can really throw down.

PEDRO MUNHOZ

Ales – That was solid performance. Munhoz is slowly getting better and better. His main problem now is to find solid matchup with most of the top 15 in his division booked. Still, bantamweight is much larger than LHW so I can make a winner-winner match. John Dodson will be a big leap but I can see Young Punisher make the fight competitive.

Zane – Munhoz’s habit of eating all the punches is going to make climbing the rankings really rough for him. A fight with someone like Dodson would be super fun on the mats, but standing, Dodson would probably take his lunch money. If the UFC wanted to go winner/loser a bout with Eddie Wineland would be interesting. Munhoz would be an open target, but it’s probably his best matchup ahead of him other than Caraway. I doubt he could get the winner of Sterling/Barao. The most realistic option here is probably a bout with heavy hitter Rob Font.

TREVOR SMITH

Ales – Can we just forget the fight? OK, Smith used the most effective tactic, but it was hard to watch. So give him Bradley Scott. The Englishman has solid takedown defense so there won’t be another “take down and smother“ 15 minutes.

Zane – Smith has worked his way into the “veterans who are nearly top 15 but not quite top 15” class of middleweights. Where guys like Rafael Natal, Tim Boetsch, Brad Tavares, Cezar Ferreira and others hang out, forever battling for momentary spots in the rankings. A fight with someone like Scott wouldn’t be bad, but I feel like the UFC can use Smith for bigger tests. It could be another chance for Anthony Smith to show his improvements, but I think a win/loss bout against Cezar Ferreira after Ferreira’s razor thin fight with Theodorou would be more interesting.

JACK HERMANSSON

Ales – That was confident performance and one-sided victory. Another Spartan (Elias Theodorou) is already booked, so what about Sam Alvey? Yeah, he is coming from a loss against Leites, but his counter-punching style should click with Hermansson’s toolset.

Zane – Nicholson wasn’t much of a test for Hermansson and I’d rather see “The Joker” work his way up the division than get catapulted into a more veteran fight off this win. Instead, I think this is the perfect spot for Brad Scott. Scott has developed a decent striking game over the years and is a tough guy to out-work, but he’s not any kind of dynamic fighter. Another chance to see if Hermansson can present a solid plan to out work a tough opponent who will hang around all three rounds.

DARREN TILL

Ales – It wasn’t perfect, but the guy is only 24 years old. The power and precision are there, but his inactivity during the fight and questionable defense from Muay Thai stance raises questions. I’m not sure about his takedown defense and Sultan Aliev should provide sufficient test.

Zane – Aliev is one of those guys I practically forget is on the roster these days. He’d definitely be the right test to see if Till cracks under pressure when he can’t get a KO (unless of course he knocks him out). Part of me wants to see Till against power stirking BJJ ace Alberto Mina, that would be a more exciting fight. But… Aliev is probably the fight he needs more. Darren Till vs. Sultan Aliev.

OTHER BOUTS: Saunders vs. Musoke, Akhmedov vs. Mina, Alhassan vs. B. Camozzi, Taleb vs. Moraes, Enkamp vs. Morono, Stasiak vs. A. Mendes, J. Silva vs. Holtzman, Madadi vs. Trujillo, Velickovic vs. Laprise, Ayari vs. R. Brown, Hadzovic vs. Gonzalez

UFC Stockholm: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira 6th Round post-fight show

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Report: UFC removes 12 fighters from roster including Sam Sicilia & Michinori Tanaka

It’s that time again. Time for another round of UFC roster trimming. While it doesn’t happen with near the same regularity that it once did, the UFC roster still tends to go through a lot of churn, as new fighters are picked up month after month and fighters who haven’t made their mark in the promotion are released from their contracts.

Nothing is official, but it looks like 12 fighters are on their way out of the WME-IMG promotion. Their names (along with the names of several other fighters whose release or retirement has been reported) were removed from the UFC’s online roster of active fighters on May 26th. The updates were originally reported by UFCFIGHTERSiNFO, a twitter account that scrapes the UFC website for changes.

Here’s the list of fighters removed:
Daniel Jolly
Garreth McLellan
Roan Carneiro
Rich Walsh
Viscardi Andrade
Alessandro Ricci
Sam Sicilia
Mike De La Torre
Ning Guangyou
Alex Enlund
Michinori Tanaka
Reginaldo Vieira

There are no major surprises in that group. Viscardi Andrade, at 3-1, is the only fighter to have a winning record in the UFC at the time of his release. However, Andrade is currently under suspension for failing a USADA drug test. Sicilia, De La Torre, and Tanaka are the longest tenured UFC fighters to get the axe. Sicilia going 5-7 in his 5 years with the promotion, with Tanaka going 2-3 and De La Torre going 2-4 (1 NC) over 3 years.

Alex Enlund is a bit of a surprise. The British featherweight was signed to make his debut against Martin Buschkamp at UFC Hamburg in 2016, before being removed from the bout due to injury. His removal from the roster altogether is a bit of a surprise, considering he wasn’t signed as a last minute replacement fighter. If he continues his competitive MMA career following injury rehab, it seems like he’d be a strong candidate for another shot in the promotion.

The MMA Vivisection – KSW 39: Colosseum picks, odds, & analysis

While the UFC is putting on a show this Sunday, KSW looks like they may have the biggest even on the MMA calendar this week. It’s not necessarily the same level of fights (call it 50/50) but KSW 39: Colosseum, headlined by Mamed Khalidov vs. Borys Mankowski and Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Tyberiusz Kowalczyk and featuring 5 title bouts along with most of Poland’s home grown stars looks prepared to be one hell of a show.

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Here’s a look at the KSW 39 card:

iPPV CARD
Borys Mankowski vs. Mamed Khalidov
Mariusz PUdzianowski vs. Tyberiusz Kowalczyk
Marcin Rozalski vs. Fernando Rodrigues Jr.
Pawel Rak vs. Robert Burneika
Tomasz Narkun vs. Marcin Wojcik
Michal Kita vs. Michal Andryszak
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Norman Parke
Lukasz Jurkowski vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Marcin Wrzosek vs. Kleber Koike Erbst
Damian Janikowski vs. Julio Gallegos
Ariane Lipski vs. Diana Belbita

Sugar Ray Leonard: McGregor vs. Mayweather is ‘the fight of a lifetime,’ and also ‘garbage’

Boxing fans have a couple of megafights on the horizon. Or, at least one megafight and one strange bit of combat fantasy potentially come to life. Gennady Golovkin is set to fight Canelo Alvarez on September 16th. It’s a bout that just about everyone can get excited about. Two of the sport’s best set to face off in something relatively close to the prime of their careers.

In a recent interview with Fight Hub TV, legendary champion Sugar Ray Leonard had nothing but praise for seeing that bout put together.

“Well, Canelo… I mean, Canelo’s my man,” Leonard said, when asked who he’d favor in the fight, “but I like Triple-G. That fight is going to be based on, again, once again, who fights their fight. Canelo doesn’t have to be a middleweight, he just has to go in there and fight his fight.”

“But let me say this, the fact that these kind of fights here, against these opponents… This is what boxing is all about. When you, you may have a favorite, but you’re not sure. You wouldn’t bet your house on it. You know what I mean? That makes a fight.”

“You know, that’s what makes boxing ‘boxing,’ man,” Leonard continued. “When there’s like a 50% or 45… You know, you don’t know. You have a feeling, but you just don’t know. “

The other huge fight making waves in the boxing world? Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor. While it’s nowhere near as much a done deal as Canelo vs. GGG, the Mayweather vs. McGregor bout has been a dividing point among fans and pundits. It seems set to be a money making juggernaut that everyone will show up for, while at the same time feeling like a competitive farce. And that’s a contradiction that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Leonard.

“To boxing purists, it’s garbage,” Leonard said of McGregor vs. Mayweather. “But, to just fans in general, it’s the fight of a lifetime. Because there’s a mixture of… Let me put it this way: If they box, who wins? Mayweather wins. If they ‘fight’ fight, McGregor wins.”

The fight itself still has a long way to go before anyone can be sure it’s actually happening. But it seems certain to continue drawing criticism and eyes all along the way.

The MMA Vivisection – UFC Stockholm: Gustafsson vs. Glover picks, odds, & analysis

The UFC returns after another week off with an offering that may be, for many, almost entirely miss-able. While Alexander Gustafsson takes on Glover Teixeira in a top light heavyweight bout in the main event, neither man has looked to be in his finest form lately. A co-main featuring Volkan Oezdemir vs. Misha Cirkunov means that by the end of the night the top of the 205 division will be a bit more sorted, but without a lot of notable names underneath, it’s not a card likely to drive a lot of eyeballs to televisions on a Sunday morning.

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Here’s a look at the UFC Stockholm card as it stands right now:

FS1 MAIN CARD
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira – 1:18:16
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Misha Cirkunov – 1:09:25
Peter Sobotta vs. Ben Saunders – 1:00:00
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Omari Akhmedov – 52:12
Oliver Enkamp vs. Nordine Taleb – 44:40
Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson – 37:50

FS1 PRELIMS
Pedro Munhoz vs. Damian Stasiak – 31:58
Trevor Smith vs. Chris Camozzi – 27:25
Reza Madadi vs. Joaquim Silva – 20:20
Nico Musoke vs. Bojan Velickovic – 16:08

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Darren Till vs. Jessin Ayari – 10:19
Marcin Held vs. Damir Hadzovic – 4:10