MMA, like other sports, is an ego driven endeavor. Succeeding at the highest levels as an athlete requires absolute self belief, confidence, and the kind of competitive mindset that will push a person to not only train to be the best, but to want to go out and prove their worth in public as well.
It is, therefor, also a platform designed for high profile public failure.
One of the most common cliches fans will hear among the kinds of motivational execu-speak that tend to dominate athletics is ‘Dare to be great’. It’s one of those perfect catchphrases that means just about nothing while also being so easily understood by almost everyone. The long version would be something along the lines of ‘Take big risks, so you can reap big rewards.’ But for risks to be risky, there has to be… a risk.
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That’s an unfortunate chicken that has apparently come home to roost for top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith, who recently showed up on the MMA Hour to explain the big risk he took, when he decided to fly to Brazil and cut weight for his role as backup fighter for the January title bout between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill. Smith didn’t set foot in the cage that week, but even had he done so, he wouldn’t have had a chance to win UFC gold—after failing to make the contracted 205 lb title fight limit.
Instead of an improbable path to sporting glory, Smith is now experiencing the blow-back. It’s especially harsh, it seems, given his own history as an unforgiving voice when it came to other fighters missing weight.
”I was really sick,” Smith said, by way of explanation of why he didn’t make weight back in January (transcript via MMA Fighting). “Really, really, really.”
“It’s a fairly simple story. But the problem is, every time—everyone always gets mad when you don’t give a reason for what you did, or something that happened. They’re like, ‘Well, you won’t even give us a reason. We don’t even deserve a reason.’ And they get all upset because you won’t say anything.
“The second you give the reason, it immediately becomes you’re an ‘excuse-maker,’” Smith added, as to why he didn’t originally disclose his illness to the public. “So you can’t win. So I’d love to tell you. And it would make a lot of sense, like, ‘Oh, OK. Holy shit! That makes a lot of sense.’”
‘Lionheart’ went on to explain that after getting a “steroid pack” and “antibiotics” to treat a sinus infection he “ballooned to like 235, 234” lbs. He was apparently able to get back down to 228 lbs., but by the time he landed in Brazil for fight week, that still only gave him a few days to cut a significant amount of weight. He came close, but couldn’t quite hit the mark.
“Sometimes that shit happens,” Smith admitted. “And I’m really critical of people that miss weight. That’s your job, you gotta make weight. If I … mentally didn’t have such an ego, I probably would have called and just said, ‘Hey, I’m really sick. I can’t make it. We’re gonna have to go without a backup. But … I would have to say I couldn’t do it, and I just can’t say that.”
Being fair, Smith’s account of events is perfectly reasonable. He had a big opportunity at a very inopportune time. He took the risk, went down to Brazil anyway; it didn’t pay off. Instead of glory, the fallout is public backlash. He’s probably right, too, that there is no one answer he could give in a situation like this that would quell all the rabble. But isn’t that what makes the potential payoff rewarding? That there’s a price to be paid for failure as well. If that’s the math, then a little ego bruising is pretty small change next to the potential glory of becoming one of the world’s greatest fighters.
Smith is set to return to action on May 13th in a Fight Night headlining bout against Johnny Walker. An official location for the card has yet to be named,. The event is also expected to feature a heavyweight bout between Jailton Almeida & Jairzinho Rozenstruik, as well as a women’s strawweight bout between Mackenzie Dern & Angela Hill.
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Bloody Elbow is transitioning away from Vox Media, and relaunching as an independent, reader-supported website. Keep independent MMA journalism alive by subscribing to #TheNewBloodyElbow.
UFC 283 marked the end of an era. One of the last PRIDE stars still actively competing in MMA, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua took to the cage for the final time for a bout against Ihor Potieria. The 41-year-old had made no bones about stepping away, stating well before fight night that this would be his last trip to the cage.
Somewhat more unexpected, however, was the retirement of Glover Teixeira, following the evening’s main event. Having just lost the light heavyweight title back in June of last year, the Brazilian battled Jamahal Hill for five rounds in an attempt to regain UFC gold. The 43-year-old had previously made it known that he’d hoped to hang ‘em up with the belt around his waist. Hill put a stop to that plan.
The fight was a lopsided affair, with ‘Sweet Dreams’ out-striking Teixeira at a 3-to-1 clip to become the first ever champion to come to the UFC off Dana White’s Contender Series. The action got so one-sided at one point, that Teixeira’s longtime coach and cornerman John Hackleman tried to get the bout stopped between rounds. He was out-voted. All told, Teixeira absorbed 232 significant strikes, 91 of them after the third round.
The experience may not have caused a sudden shift in outlook for Hackleman, who has apparently always disliked doing corner work—and admits to being “a known fight-stopper”— but it does seem that this was a final straw. With UFC 283 in the books and Teixeira retired, Hackleman says he’s cornered his last bout.
“That’s my last cornering,” Hackleman told MMA Fighting. “I’m never going to work a corner again.”
“I just don’t like to see guys get any kind of beatings or brain damage. I’m just real quick on the gun.”
“I’m thankful they didn’t [stop it],” he added. “I know this wouldn’t have gone well with anyone. It would have made a lot of people really unhappy, and I don’t want it to be about me. I would have thrown it in after the third. I would have been completely happy with the fight stopping there. I saw no reason for it to go on after that.”
Hackleman added that stemming back to his competitive fighting days (compiling an 8-4-1 record as a pro boxer between 1982-85), he wishes that his own trainers had stopped a couple of his fights earlier.
“I’m sure I’ve taken away a lot of potential wins,” Hackleman admitted. “Imagine if [Jiri Prochazka’s] corner threw in the towel in the middle of the fifth round [against Teixeira]?”
While Teixeira is done fighting and Hackleman is done cornering, fans are left to wonder what’s next for Jamahal Hill. The newly minted champion has a host of potential contenders waiting for their chance at gold. Chief among them, recently stripped belt-holder Jiri Prochazka—who is currently rehabbing a shoulder injury. It seems more likely that fans will see Hill in the cage against either Jan Blachowicz or Magomed Ankalaev sometime in the near future.
About the author: Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. Host of the MMA Vivisection and 6th Round, he has covered MMA and the UFC since 2013.(full bio)
Minus any extenuating context, UFC 283 was a pretty good time. Fans got lots of finishes, some big highlight KOs, upsets, dramatic narrative shifts, and the crowning of a new champion along with the changing of the guard (again) for the flyweight belt. Despite all that, though, the vibes were clearly off. Leading into the PPV with Shogun getting put out to pasture set a sour mood. Then both the co-main and main events saw hometown favorites lose hard in fights where they just weren’t terribly competitive. Fans got nasty, the building looked only about 2⁄3 full. A strange night for the UFC all told.
So, is there an immediate title challenger that Jamahal Hill would be clearly favored to beat? Does Brandon Moreno finally get to do something other than rehash old fights? And does the UFC have any options other than Jessica Andrade for the strawweight title?
To answer those questions—and a few other thigns—I’ll be using the classic Silva/Shelby fight booking methodology from the UFC of years past. That means pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent up against one another. Hopefully, by following that model, a few of these bout ideas will actually make it off the page and into the Octagon. Now, let’s get to the fights!
JAMAHAL HILL
All things considered, this was a hell of a crowning performance from Hill. Teixeira had all the single moments of success he might have hoped to have, given five rounds to work with. He got takedowns, he got back takes, he got mount; the 43-year-old even landed his share of big bombs standing, despite getting out-struck more than 2-to-1. For a man who has made his success in recent years coming back from seemingly fight ending damage to demolish much younger opponents, his performance against Hill wasn’t a remarkable departure. What was remarkable was Hill’s output, his durability, and his ability to stay strong in the face of major momentum shifts. The fact that Hill got taken down and mounted in round 5, and still fought his way back up and won the round is a great testament to that.
Like kissing your sister.Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
As a result of his win, there are three clear contenders awaiting Hill for his first defense: Magomed Ankalaev, Jan Blachowicz, & Jiri Prochazka. If it weren’t for the unknown length of his injury recovery, Prochazka would have to be first in line—but I can’t imagine the UFC wanting to bet on him for a main event in the next six months right now. Instead, I’ll say Hill vs. Ankalaev is the fight to make. Both he and Blachowicz deserve it, but it feels like it makes more sense to go with the younger, fresher challenger.
BRANDON MORENO
Gotta run it back.Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
If there’s a big winner out of Brandon Moreno finally slamming the door on his four fight series against Deiveson Figueiredo, it’s Alexandre Pantoja. ‘The Cannibal’ has been on ice since July of last year when he took a quick submission win over Alex Perez. Really though, from the moment that Moreno laid any claim to some piece of the title, Pantoja has been an obvious challenger. He beat that champ once during Moreno’s first UFC run, and even way back before that, when the two men were both on TUF together. I’m sure Moreno’s not thrilled at the idea of yet another rematch, but he’s got unfinished business right there waiting for him still. Hopefully after that, some new challengers can start to truly separate themselves from the competition. Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Moreno is the clear next title fight.
DEIVESON FIGUEIREDO
Kind of a brutally bad fight for the now-former champion. He got caught walking in regularly with overhands. While he was able to initiate plenty of scrambles and hit some solid sweeps, he had no ability at all to control Moreno on the mat. The knuckle that scratched and closed his eye to end the fight felt a bit like a mercy, with Figueiredo pretty likely down three rounds already (unless judges really have a thing for strikes off a fighter’s back from guard), and seemingly unable to find any way to steer momentum in his favor.
Former champ, modern gatekeeper.Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
After the bout, ‘Deus da Guerra’ announced that he was leaving flyweight for bantamweight moving forward. So where does that leave him? Does he walk into title contention? The top 5? The top 10? Seems like it’d be foolish to throw him lower down the line than that. If he’s gonna be top 10, Dominick Cruz isn’t much older than Figueiredo; two former champs feels like a great intro to 135 to me. Cruz vs. Figueiredo seems like just the welcome to a new division that the former champ needs.
GILBERT BURNS
It’s hard to think of many worse matchups for Neil Magny in the top 10 at welterweight than someone like Gilbert Burns, who can hit hard enough to give pause standing, wrestle well enough to take Magny off his feet, and then grapple technically enough to just suck all the life out of him on the mat. That’s pretty much what Burns did, tapping Magny with an arm triangle with less than a minute left in round 1.
Does this guy even fight anymore?Photo by David Becker/Getty Images
After the bout, Burns called out Colby Covington. That fight, or a fight against Jorge Masvidal are exactly the kind of bouts he should be getting, but he may just have to settle for Muhammad or Rakhmonov instead. If Colby Covington is coming back any time soon, then Burns vs. Covington is a great fight. If he’s not, then Burns vs. Muhammad would be a great title eliminator.
JESSICA ANDRADE
A chance at revenge.Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
This was always going to be an uphill battle for Lauren Murphy. She’s often struggled to keep pace and confidence against top-tier athletes. When Andrade stormed out of the gate with a bevvy of low kicks, it seemed she immediately got deep in Murphy’s head. ‘Lucky’ never did find a way to defend the kicks, and having to think about them opened up more and more combinations up top for ‘Bate Estaca’ as the fight went on. By the time the final bell rang, all anyone seemed to be thinking was “this really should have been stopped a whole lot sooner.” After the bout, Andrade called out Weili Zhang for a strawweight title fight. Will the UFC really give her that coming off a flyweight win? Considering she’s beat Amanda Lemos and we’ve seen Namajunas against Zhang plenty now, an Andrade rematch makes a lot of sense. Not sure if it’s the fight the UFC will book, but Andrade vs. Weili 2 is the best strawweight title fight the UFC can make right now.
JOHNNY WALKER
They’ve got a common win now.Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
This fight seemed destined for shenanigans. Whether it was going to be Johnny Walker diving into Paul Craig’s guard and getting insta-tapped, or Walker landing the kind of detonating shots that would put Craig away in a hurry, the idea that this could make it three full rounds of tidy MMA seemed impossible—which it was. No sooner did Craig catch a kick for a single leg, then he started getting dinged up so badly that he had to turtle up. A quick TKO for Walker, who is once again on some kind of roll. I could argue for a booking against Azamat Murzakanov, but Walker hasn’t fought Volkan Oezdemir yet and that seems like a tragedy if we never get to see it. Walker vs. Oezdemir would be a good time.
BRUNNO FERREIRA
Perhaps no fighter improved their stock so dramatically as Brunno Ferreira at UFC 283. The Brazilian came in as a relative complete unknown despite his shiny 9-0 record and quick Contender Series KO win. Matched up against a borderline top-15 talent like Gregory Rodrigues on short notice, it was pretty safely assumed that he was headed for a rough loss in his Octagon debut—from which he could learn from moving forward. Instead (and despite getting pieced up for about 4 minutes) he walked away with a spectacular first round knockout win, and the potential that the UFC will throw him another serious challenge next time out.
Who do you call when you need a slugfest, stat?Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Personally, I’d rather see Ferreira get someone around the speed of Denis Tiuliulin or Armen Petrosyan than an Anthony Hernandez or Roman Dolidze, but it’s anyone’s guess what the UFC will do with a win like that. I’ll split the difference and say the UFC should book Brunno Ferreira vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan. Another dangerous, big puncher with noted defensive flaws to keep testing the newcomer’s mettle.
THIAGO MOISES
The question with a short-notice opponent like Melquizael Costa wasn’t so much whether this was a fight Moises could win, as much as it was, how well prepared would he be for Costa’s aggression and scrambling. The answer was: very prepared. Moises got in on his takedowns early, and started working over Costa from top control as the 26 year old’s cardio started to fade. lots of heavy GnP, and an aggressive guard passing game did well to force Costa to keep moving and burn energy. The result was a second round submission for the former LFA champ.
Time to reignite those title hopes.Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
That could lead to fights with Drakkar Klose, Nasrat Haqparast, Drew Dober, or Mark O. Madsen. I know it’s winner-loser, but given Madsen’s hopes to make a charge up the division, and his wrestling credentials, that feels like the most interesting matchup here. Madsen vs. Moises would be a great chance for the former Olympian to see if he can bounce back into top competition.
JAILTON ALMEIDA
Built by Frigidaire.Photo by Amy Kaplan/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Jailton Almeida’s introduction to the top 15 at heavyweight couldn’t have been easier. He breezed by Shamil Abdourakhimov, who had nothing ready for Almeida’s wrestling attack. The win should set the Brazilian up for a real, high profile heavyweight contest. Fights with the Ivanov/Tybura winner, Alexandr Romanov, or Jairzinho Rozenstruik all seem like reasonable next steps. The obvious answer for me of that bunch is Romanov. The fridge-like Moldovan has built a strong reputation for physical dominance in the cage and seems like he’d be a huge challenge for a smaller heavyweight like Almeida. Given, as well, how much Romanov struggled with someone who could fight off his grappling in Tybura last time around, Almeida could ask questions he needs to answer. Almeida vs. Romanov is a great step up at heavyweight.
ISMAEL BONFIM
A thrill every time he fights… which is not that often.Photo by Amy Kaplan/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
For so many fighters, the best thing they can do for their long term success is to take their time getting to the UFC. Ismael Bonfim is another great example of what that kind of longer journey can do for a fighter, hitting the world’s largest MMA promotion with an 18-3 record, accumulated over more than 10 years of fighting on the regionals. Standing a heavy underdog against Terrance McKinney, Bonfim outclassed ‘T-Wrecks’ pretty much everywhere from the opening bell all the way to an electric jump-knee second round KO. Hopefully that kind of win rockets him up into bigger fight conversations. At the very least, action bouts against Matt Frevola, Mike Davis, or Nasrat Haqparast should be on offer. If ‘Beast Boy’ is going to be back in action anytime soon, I’d love to see Bonfim vs. Davis asap.
OTHER BOUTS: Lauren Murphy vs. O’Neil/Maia loser, Paul Craig vs. Dominick Reyes, Ihor Potieria vs. Tafon Nchukwi,Gregory Rodrigues vs. Phil Hawes, Melquizael Costa vs. Michal Figlak, Garbriel Bonfim vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov, Mounir Lazzez vs. Gabriel Green, Shamil Abdourakhimov vs. Tanner Boser, Terrance McKinney vs. Ottman Azaitar, Nicolas Dalby vs. Alex Morono, Warlley Alves vs. Jake Matthews, Josiane Nunes vs. Julia Avila, Zarah Fairn vs. Danyelle Wolf, Daniel Marcos vs. Mana Martinez, Saimon Oliveira vs. Liudvik Sholinian
About the author: Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. Host of the MMA Vivisection and 6th Round, he has covered MMA and the UFC since 2013.(full bio)
The UFC is back in Brazil for the first time since 2020, with a couple of fun title fights. In the main event of UFC 283, Glover Teixeira is set to take on Jamahal Hill for the still vacant light heavyweight strap. While Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno will battle for flyweight gold for the fourth time in the co-main. Throw Gilbert Burns, Jessica Andrade, and Johnny Walker in there and the UFC has a lot of home country talent on display.
For fans interested in diving deeper into the undercard, check out the Prelims Vivi below.
The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by ‘The Fine Art of Violence’, a collection of art and essays recapping the year in MMA by Chris Rini, featuring the most talented artists and writers in Mixed Martial Arts. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats at chrisrini.com.
Here’s a look at the UFC 283 fight card as it stood at the time of recording:
ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD | 10pm/7pm ET&PT Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill – At 5:32, Odds 19:56, Picks, Zane: Hill, Connor: Teixeira Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno – At 20:17, Odds 39:38, Picks, Zane: Figueiredo, Connor: Moreno Gilbert Burns vs. Neil Magny – At 42:07, Odds 52:16, Picks, Both: Burns Jessica Andrade vs. Lauren Murphy – At 54:43, Odds 1:06:27, Picks, Both: Andrade Paul Craig vs. Johnny Walker – At 1:08:57, Odds 1:18:59, Picks, Both: Craig
ABC PRELIMS | 8pm/5pm ET&PT Mauricio Rua vs. Ihor Potieria – At 1:20, Odds 11:50, Picks, Both: Potieria Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brunno Ferreira – At 13:56, Odds 19:18, Picks, Both: Rodrigues Thiago Moisés vs. Melquizael Costa – At 20:54, Odds 30:24, Picks, Zane: Moisés, Connor: Costa Mounir Lazzez vs. Gabriel Bonfim – At 31:46, Odds 35:29, Picks, Both: Lazzez
ESPN+ PRELIMS | 6pm/3pm ET&PT Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Jailton Almeida – At 38:17, Odds 42:51, Picks, Both: Almeida Terrance McKinney vs. Ismael Bonfim – At 44:40, Odds 57:07, Picks, Both: Bonfim Warlley Alves vs. Nicolas Dalby – At 57:56, Odds 1:05:25, Picks, Zane: Alves, Connor: Dalby Josiane Nunes vs. Zarah Fairn Dos Santos – At 1:05:39, Odds 1:12:12, Picks, Zane: Fairn, Connor: Nunes Luan Lacerda vs. Cody Stamann – At 1:14:36, Odds 1:23:13, Picks, Both: Stamann Saimon Oliveira vs. Daniel Marcos – At 1:23:33, Odds 1:27:05, Picks, Both: Oliveira
For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisection shows for UFC Fight Island 1: ‘Kattar vs. Ige’. So far, here are the overall standings:
Overall stats from UFC Fight Island 1 in July, 2020, through UFC Vegas 67 in Jan, 2023: Zane went 809/1254 for 64.5% and Connor went 763/1254 for 60.8%
2023 Stats: Zane is 9/12 for 75% and Connor is 9/12 for 75%
2022 Stats: Zane went 330/505 for 65% and Connor went 312/505 for 62%
2021 Stats: Zane went 305/493 for 65% and Connor went 285/493 for 59%
July-Dec 2020 Stats: Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%
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Plus: Paul Craig vs Johnny Walker, Jéssica Andrade vs Lauren Murphy, Gilbert Burns vs Neil Magny ALL ON THE MAIN PPV CARD! PRECEDED BY A FULLY STACKED UNDERCARD!
Broadcast LIVE from the #JeunesseArena out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, exclusively on ESPN+: PPV CARD 10/7PM ETPT, Featured Prelims on ESPN2 or ESPN+ 8/5PM ETPT, & Early Prelims on UFC Fight Pass at 5:30/2:30PM ETPT. Stay tuned to Bloodyelbow.com for all the details on this event!
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