Back in July, Stephen Thompson hoped to teach the UFC roster a lesson. Faced with a PPV main card bout against rising then-welterweight prospect Michel Pereira, Thompson turned the fight at the 11th hour, following a 3-pound weight miss for the Brazilian on the scales. Although he could have elected to go on with fight, Thompson hoped that making an example of Pereira would show other fighters the value of professionalism.
“I want everybody to know right now in the 170 division, that if you’re going to fight me now you better be on weight or it’s not going to happen,” Thompson told fans, speaking of his decision. “I’m at a place in my career where I want to fight fairly. I don’t want to play any games. I don’t know what needs to be done but I think there should be more and greater consequences for these guys who are coming in with no integrity and no honor to make weight.”
UFC makes an example out of Stephen Thompson
Unfortunately for Thompson, after looking for the UFC to compensate him for upholding his end of his contract, he ended up being the one getting turned into a public example.
“You decided not to fight,” White said of Thomspon at a press conference shortly after the event. “(Pereira) was three pounds overweight. You get a piece of his purse if you take the fight… We also offered him another fight. There’s a much bigger story behind the scenes. No, you don’t just show up and say ‘yeah, I’m not going to fight, I want a quarter of a million dollars.’ That’s not the way it works. Hasn’t worked that way for anybody.”
Thompson and the UFC back on good ground
Back in September Thompson sat down for a conversation with longtime friend and training partner, former UFC champion Chris Weidman. At the time, Thompson said he hoped that the UFC would settle their dispute over pay with a bump up in compensation for his upcoming bout against Shavkat Rakhmonov in December.
With that card now fast approaching, it sounds like the details have all been worked out. In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Thompson provided an update on his contract saga with the UFC. According to ‘Wonderboy’ everything has now been settled in a way that’s agreeable to all parties.
“Me and the UFC, and my management, we’ve settled everything,” Thompson confirmed, speaking of his dispute with the world’s largest MMA promotion. “So everything’s great. We settled with something we were both happy with, and that was it.”
“It took a little bit because they have a business and a lot of stuff going on — and so have I,” Thompson said. “So my managers have been taking care of everything. But, yeah man, I was happy with everything, with what the UFC has done for me, and we got away from this last fight with a smile on our faces.
“Not only that, but then [I got] a fight, obviously, against a top opponent, someone ranked above me, and on one of the most stacked cards of the year — the last card of the year.”
UFC 296 goes down on December 16th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas adjacent Paradise, NV. Alongside the welterweight top contender’s bout, the card is set to be headlined by a divisional title fight between champion Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. A flyweight title fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval is set for the co-main event.
Daniel Cormier recently opened up the discussion on Tony Ferguson’s MMA career with some pretty reasonably thoughts on the future for the former UFC interim lightweight champion. Ferguson found himself on the wrong end of his sixth-straight loss at UFC 291, a 3rd round submission to Bobby Green. After the fight, ‘El Cucuy’ was steadfast in his belief that he had more fight left in him.
“…I think it might be time for [Ferguson] to either say to the UFC, ‘I want to keep fighting but the competition needs to go down,’ or go fight somewhere else,” Cormier said in a recent DC & RC episode. “He’s going to be mad at me about it, but yes, the fight’s still there. It just does not seem the body is able to respond in the way his mind is telling it to. So, I tap in (on Ferguson walking away).”
Of course, while DC has the advantage of a strong UFC career under his belt, for his platform to deliver that kind of advice, he’s also never really gone through the kind of hardship that Ferguson is experiencing. Cormier’s had his losses, but the moment he dropped two fights in a row, he stopped fighting; he never had to deal with the adversity of stepping down in competition or fading away from the sport he gave his best years. However, another former champ with more relevant experience has stepped up to offer his view on things as well.
Ex-UFC champ Jens Pulver weighs in on Tony Ferguson
Back in the early days of the post-NHB era of MMA, Jens Pulver shot to UFC stardom. Briefly a Shamrock disciple, Pulver quickly moved to Miletich Fighting Systems, becoming one of a slew of top end fighters to win major titles in the early 00s. After going 3-0-1 in a spotty series of UFC appearances between 1999-2000, Pulver fought Japanese MMA legend Caol Uno for the first ever lightweight belt at UFC 30.
‘Lil’ Evil’ went on to defend the title twice before leaving the UFC due to a contract dispute, eventually making his way over to PRIDE in Japan. Pulver made his return to the UFC in 2006, which is when everything started to go wrong. Over the next four years he went 1-8 fighting between the two ZUFFA properties, the UFC & WEC. By the time Pulver hit 2011, he was riding a six-fight skid all his own.
Even though Pulver went 5-5 in the two years following, his victories were almost exclusively over badly inexperienced, or .500-level journeyman competition.
It’s that kind of history that gave Pulver some extra insight on what Ferguson may be dealing with right now and how he should handle it.
“You’re trying to remember what it was like, not just to be a fighter, to be a world champion; to be one of the best fighters.” Pulver explained on a recent UFC Watch-Along. “Every other day, when you’re in your day-to-day, you feel good. And you’re like, ‘Where in the hell did it go? Where did it go!?’ And you try to figure that out. See, unlike in baseball, where you can go hit-less 6-7 times—17 times—in a weekend and then get your hit back, we have to do this once or twice a year. And you gotta be ‘on’ on those days, and you try to ask yourself, ‘Where did it go?’
“On top of the fact, why I would never tell anybody that they need to retire—because that’s you. You gotta figure it out. And I said it in my documentary: How do you learn to die twice? The athlete in all of us, the athlete dies at such a young age. Most people, when they retire, they’re in their high 60s and 70s. We’re not, we’re in our 40s and upper 30s, and just *grunts* hrgh. I feel physically—do you know what I mean? But you’re too old. You’re done. That’s it. And it’s hard to let that go.
“That’s what I would tell him,” he continued, “just like anybody else. Because you’re always like, well, we’ll go through the changing of coaches, we’ll go through the changing of our gameplan, we’ll go for this, we’ll go for this. And that was the problem when I was out there fighting. I was like, ‘Why am I getting caught with these little stupid things?’ And the reality was, because I was a step away from what I was before.
“What made me retire was just that I was tired of doing this to my family, I was tired of doing this to my fans, I was tired of doing this to my teammates, and having to apologize. So it was like, ‘Eh, I’m done.'”
“But that’s the one thing, especially on a losing skid, you want to some how just, ‘Let me get that win and get the hell outta here.’ And it just doesn’t. It doesn’t happen. But you’re trying. You’re like, ‘Let me get back in there, and try again.’ Unfortunately, it’s in five months. Or it’s six months.
“And you’re getting older, and that one don’t happen, and you’re like, ‘WELL SHIT!’ Next thing you know, you’re four fights in going, ‘I just need this one.’ But again, if it was a weekend at the baseball park, I’ve got five games, I’m at bat sixteen times. I can go hit-less in five of them. That’s not the game we play, and it’s tough.”
Pulver says nobody could have helped him retire
As tough as it was and as much as Pulver went through, however, he freely admits there wasn’t much anyone else could have done from the outside. Even if it might have been obvious to everyone else where he was at in his career, he had to get to the realization all on his own.
“No, and I’ll tell you why,” Pulver responded when asked by UFC featherweight Sodiq Yusuff if anyone could have said anything to help him retire. “Because I kept going through the little things of, ‘I just need to make these adjustments.’ I ate like shit. Here was my wife going, ‘Please just go to a camp. Go take your ass away, and go for four months, and get out of here.’ And this is how I knew I probably was done, I was like, ‘Nah, man, I want to be around my kids. I want to be around my family.’ And that’s when I knew. Because everything I did was to get to the family side of life.
“And then I held on to this guilt, which was, ‘Why am I not going and dedicating my life to this camp? Why am I not doing it?’ And that’s when I realized, ‘Yeah, you know what? I’m done.’ My wife was like, ‘You’re done. Unless you’re willing to make that ultimate sacrifice and take your ass and disappear for five months and get married into this? You’re done.’ And I wanted to be around my family, and I was done.
“And that’s the one thing you gotta figure out for yourself, is: How do you let it go? How do you let it go.”
Hopefully Ferguson figures out just where he’s at before he takes too much more punishment. At this stage in his career, his title aspirations would be historic stuff even if he still looked like a man in his prime. If he can’t refocus, it might take a lot more losing before he realizes his best days are behind him.
As always, Tony Ferguson walked into UFC 291 brimming with confidence. The former interim lightweight champion has never been a man short on self belief. No matter how far down he seems to be in the chips, he’s there to take the next gamble. Even in a sport notable for its heavy concentration of guys who don’t know when to quit, ‘El Cucuy”s single-mindedness stands apart.
Tony Ferguson against Bobby Green at UFC 291. IMAGO/USA TODAY Network
Daniel Cormier calls for UFC to release Ferguson or ease up his booking
After his latest loss, the 10th Planet black belt made it clear that he wasn’t looking to retire. “I plan to work closely with Dana, Hunter & my entire team to assess what’s next,” he wrote while also stating that “I know for a fact I have more to give.”
As for what that conversation between Ferguson and the UFC might look like? Former two-division champion Daniel Cormier gave his thoughts on a recent episode of his DC & RC show: That the UFC either needs to give Ferguson a serious step back, or release him altogether.
“Five fights to the title, that was his catchline all week, but now he’s lost six in a row,” Cormier explained (transcript via MMA Junkie) “Look man, this guy is not losing to terrible fighters. He’s lost to Diaz, Chandler, Dariush, Oliveira, and Bobby Green now. But the reality is, he’s 39 years old, and while he still has a ton of heart to fight, it just does not seem like his body is allowing him to do everything that his mind is telling him to do.
“Because of that, and only that, I think it might be time for him to either say to the UFC, ‘I want to keep fighting but the competition needs to go down,’ or go fight somewhere else. He’s going to be mad at me about it, but yes, the fight’s still there. It just does not seem the body is able to respond in the way his mind is telling it to. So, I tap in (on Ferguson walking away).”
Cormier’s right not to talk retirement
It seems silly to say this—since the obvious, clear takeaway from Ferguson’s recent results are that he shouldn’t be fighting at all anymore—but Cormier is right not to take Ferguson to task for continuing his career. If the last century of combat sports has taught us anything (apart from how bad fighting is for your brain), it’s that the fight game is incredibly hard to let go of.
When people outside a fighter’s intimate circle start talking about how they should retire, the result is almost always unhappy. For many athletes in the MMA and boxing world, everything about their identity has been wrapped up in their ability as competitors. For some it’s the only real, stable job they’ve ever had. Even in best case scenarios like Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes, where Dana White stepped in and offered them long term employment to walk away from fighting, both men ended up bitter in their resentment towards White’s interference.
Liddell eventually returned to competition eight years later, only to get knocked out by Tito Ortiz in their terribly ill advised 2018 trilogy fight. Hughes had his long-teased return to competition cut off by a horrific train accident that left him with severely limited mobility in the aftermath. Neither man ever wanted to quit, even with money and security and a legacy to stand on.
Trying to force Ferguson out of MMA via well meant concern seems almost guaranteed not to work. To harangue him with constant calls for his retirement would not only be unlikely to result in fewer Tony Ferguson fights, but would likely only make his life outside of fighting worse. He’ll quit when he’s ready, not before.
Ferguson can fight, but fans don’t need to see it
If the 39-year-old former top contender wants to keep competing, he’ll find a way. The much more cruel truth, however, is that Ferguson no longer looks like a feature competitor and shouldn’t be treated as such. A truly benevolent UFC plan would be to let him keep making the kind of money he earned over his years as a top talent, while also facing lower tier fighters down on the prelims, something like the deal they’ve seemingly had going with Andrei Arlovski (although Arlovski has showed a much more gentle decline).
More likely, if this wasn’t already the very last straw, the UFC will use whatever’s left of Ferguson’s name for a fight or two and then kick him to the curb. If the PFL still sees value there, they might try jumping on the scraps for a couple more highlight fights. Otherwise, the former Ultimate Fighter winner will likely end up on the Middle Eastern/Russian MMA circuit, where rich men will seemingly pay decent money for former UFC talent to get fed to regional stars.
Much like the way the early years of a combat sports career can be a brutal, low-paying grind among fighters barely scratching out a living working part time jobs as they try to balance a professional training regimen, the late years have a tragedy all their own. With promoters looking for any last shred of drawing power they can squeeze out of someone before they lose all will to compete.
It’s because of that, that I feel like fans have to know when to turn away. The brittle agreement between spectator and entertainer so often means being there to pick someone up when they’re down. To keep rooting for the team, even when the team is bad. To let an athlete know how inspiring they are for continuing to battle against all odds. But, combat sports are different.
The cost of fighting is so high, and the bar to entry so low, that it’s too easy for fighters to compete well past any sensible point. This isn’t Stephon Marbury going off to play basketball in China, where technically you could stay a die hard fan for years beyond his NBA days and be supportive of what is still a reasonably successful basketball career. MMA very rarely provides that kind of third act. Instead, as fans, we have to pick our time to say when we’ve seen enough, come whatever may.
Ferguson can compete however much he likes, for better or worse, but his time as an elite fighter is almost certainly done. What’s left for him in MMA is unlikely to be worth watching.
UFC 291 was a night of major story-lines for the world’s largest MMA promotion. Justin Gaethje took out Dustin Poirier in the main event and likely cemented himself as the next lightweight title challenger in the process. Alex Pereira squeaked by Jan Blachowicz in the co-main to set up a potential light heavyweight title fight with former champ Jiri Prochazka in the not too distant future. And Derrick Lewis absolutely annihilated Marcos Rogerio de Lima to announce the end of his UFC contract and an uncertain future.
One of the storylines we didn’t get, however, was Stephen Thompson’s planned battle against Michel Pereira. After the Brazilian came in 3 pounds over the welterweight limit, Thompson declined a catchweight fight, pulling both men off the card. Unfortunately for Thompson, despite having made weight for the event, it also meant he walked away from Saturday’s fights without a paycheck.
Dana White at UFC Kansas City. IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
Stephen Thompson still hopeful the Dana White will get him his ‘show’ money
First reported by MMA Junkie, ‘Wonderboy’ recently sat down with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour to confirm that he had not, in fact, been awarded his show purse for UFC 291. It was a somewhat surprising turn of events, considering that the UFC has often paid fighters the guaranteed half of their contract for showing up and making weight for their planned fight. Technically, Thompson was there and ready to go on fight night, it’s Pereira who failed to meet his contract agreement.
To hear Thompson tell it, however, the Upstate Karate standout sounds confident that he will get his money eventually. It may just be that UFC brass is waiting for Dana White to return from his vacation in Italy before pulling the trigger.
“At this point, my management is talking to the UFC, (but) nothing yet (compensation wise),” Thompson explained (transcript via MMA Junkie). “I know Dana White is on vacation. The guy is a workaholic, so well deserved, but I feel like the UFC is going to do right by me. I’ve done everything that I’m supposed to do, and I tried to be as honorable as possible when it comes down to signing my contract and abiding by it.
“I’ve done what they wanted of me, and I feel like they’re going to do right by me. Things are still in talks. I think they’re waiting for Dana White to come back from his vacation, and we’ll go from there.”
Thompson did add that he’d be “disappointed” with the UFC if they failed to compensate him for the scratched bout, adding that “it would really stink if that was the case,” but that he feels “they’re going to do right by me.”
UFC’s history of weigh-in/show money disputes
From the look of things, the UFC appears to handle every late notice cancellation on a case by case basis. Back in 2021, lightweight Drakkar Klose was on the receiving end of a weigh-ins shove from longtime action-fight standout Jeremy Stephens. As a result of the altercation, Klose suffered a severe neck injury that kept him out of competition for a year. Fortunately for him, he did at least get his show money for the weigh-ins fracas.
Even with the check, however, Klose didn’t sound terribly happy with his treatment from the UFC.
“There is a lot of other stuff that I will probably say when I’m done fighting but they pay me so I will keep my mouth shut,” Klose told Just Scrap Radio back in 2022. “They ended up giving me my show money but they never said anything to me. To me, it’s kind of ridiculous, he really fucked me up. I remember driving home from that fight and I was crying, I don’t know why I was crying but my head was so messed up. It’s a business for them, they don’t care it’s all numbers for them, when I’m gone someone else will be in my spot.”
Back in 2020, however, the promotion wasn’t nearly so generous. Still very much at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, UFC Vegas: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan saw twelve fight cancelled in the days leading up to the event, including a cancelled bout between Markus Perez and Eric Spicely after Spicely failed to weigh in and a cancelled bout between Kevin Holland and Trevin Giles after Giles fainted backstage on the night of the event. A fight between Gerald Meerschaert and Ed Herman also had to be cancelled on fight day after Meerschaert tested positive for COVID, and Ray Borg was removed from the card on weigh-in day for another in his long string of weight management issues.
The chaos left a whole slew of fighters suddenly without bouts at the very last minute. Unfortunately for them, however, the UFC wasn’t about to pay out show money, even for the fighters who already weighed in.
“These guys that didn’t fight tonight, they got paid some money and we’re trying to turn these guys around,” Dana White explained during a media scrum. “I think Holland’s gonna fight next week. They got paid some money, but didn’t get their show money, though.”
Nate Maness had to wait four months for his next fight, although the rest of the athletes who weighed in but did not get a bout that week were successfully re-booked for the immediate following weeks. Hopefully for Thompson, he finds the UFC in a generous mood, and doesn’t have to rely on a short notice re-booking to get paid.
It was a bit of a surprise, ultimately, when the UFC didn’t hang a new light heavyweight title on the winner of Jan Blachowicz vs. Alex Pereira at UFC 291. The event was a banger from start to finish, but with Jamahal Hill only recently having been stripped of the belt (the second champion in two years to lost the title outside the cage), and the PPV without any real, meaningful title on offer, it seemed as though the timing was prime for a title fight. Hell, the UFC even briefly advertised it as such.
Nonetheless, Alex Pereira walked away from Salt Lake City with a less than definitive victory on his hands and without another piece of UFC gold around his waist. He also walked square into the sights of former champ Jiri Prochazka, who has big plans for the Brazilian.
Jiri Prochazka with his UFC light heavyweight title. IMAGO/CTK Photo
Jiri Prochazka expects Pereira title fight for UFC return
As aforementioned, Hill’s ‘decision’ to vacate the light heavyweight title was the second time in recent history that a champ has dropped the belt. The first came back in November of last year, when Jiri Prochazka suffered a catastrophic shoulder injury in training. After which, Prochazka graciously decided to step aside and let someone else have a crack at gold.
“I don’t wanna talk about it a lot. But after talk with the directors of UFC, I have to let… The show must go on,” Prochazka explained back in December. “Show must go on and I respect it. What to say about it? I want to stay a champion, doesn’t matter if I’m injured, doesn’t matter what. But it is the best for the light heavyweight division right now. For me it doesn’t matter. My way is to be the best fighter in the world, not just the light heavyweight division. That’s why I can vacate the title and wait for my moment till I’ll be in full power.”
In response, the UFC booked a bout for the vacant belt between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev, which ended in a disastrous draw that left everyone eager to move on. Jamahal Hill beat Glover Texieira back in January to secure the belt, before rupturing his Achilles tendon playing pickup basketball at a UFC-sponsored International Fight Week event, and now here we are. Exiting UFC 291 with what appears to be a new title fight staring us square in the face.
“Yeah, sure,” Prochazka said when asked if he expects to face Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title “in his heart.” “Not sure—it’s not confirmed yet from UFC—but my next fight will be the title, so I think Alex [Pereira] is a very good chance to show the world a good title fight. I’d like to see him [as an] opponent in my next fight.”
Jiří Procházka wants his next fight to be against Alex Pereira for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title 🏆 #TheMMAHour
Back in April, when Jamahal Hill was still champion and hoping to defend his title at UFC 292 in August, Prochazka gave an update as to the state of his health. Unfortunately at the time, Prochazka felt that Hill’s timeline was a little premature for his rehab schedule, but he hoped to be back to fighting form by “the end of this summer.”
“September, something like that,” Prochazka told Low Kick MMA (transcript via Middle Easy). “Now, it’s April. I think I need [to] finish rehab and making a great preparation, four more months I think. I want practice, practice, and practice. I will see after one month.”
Unfortunately for ‘the ‘Denisa’, if his goal was a return in late summer or early fall, that opportunity is probably off the table at this point. The UFC’s PPV schedule is looking booked out until the end of the year. Although… there just might be an opening in December if Pereira’s ready and if the UFC can’t wrangle Conor McGregor back into the Octagon for that fight with Michael Chandler he’s sounding less interested in than ever.
Either way, it’s starting to sound a lot like fans can expect to see a light heavyweight title fight between Prochazka and Pereira sometime toward the end of the year, or possibly in early 2024.
Bobby Green picked up the most prominent name win of his long MMA career on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. The noted lightweight veteran found himself on PPV taking on former interim champion Tony Ferguson.
Tony Ferguson speaks to media ahead of UFC 279. IMAGO/Icon Sportswire
The result was a thoroughly one-sided ass kicking from ‘King’. After a little early trouble, the Pinnacle MMA talent settled into a fairly easy rhythm, countering Ferguson’s pressure with sharper strikes off the back foot and controlling him on the mat, until he finally hurt ‘El Cucuy’ badly enough to chase down the fight ending submission. Along the way, however, he did catch the 10th Planet black belt with a solid eye poke.
It’s an ever present danger in MMA, where fighters throw punches in volume, using gloves with open fingers to allow for better grappling. Fighters reach out to parry or fence off advancing opponents and it doesn’t take much for an out-stretched finger to find an eye. In this case, however, Ferguson seems to feel the foul was intentional.
Tony Ferguson claims intentional foul marred UFC 291
Saturday night’s loss was just the latest in a long string of disappointments for Tony Ferguson inside the Octagon. Once considered one of the very best lightweights on the planet (someone some fans and pundits even thought could have upset Khabib Nurmagomedov’s title reign), Ferguson hasn’t tasted victory since a 2019 doctor’s stoppage TKO over Donald Cerrone.
In the years since, he’s hit the Octagon six times, losing every contest—with four of those losses coming inside the distance. Even still it sounds like his bout against Green is one he felt he was on his way to winning before Green decided to change the momentum.
“As the fight began, I was in the Xone, flowing & feeling confident,” Ferguson wrote in a post to his Instagram account. “Bobby knew the direction of the fight & I believe he knew what he was doing when he poked my eye. He has a big History of moves like this. It significantly impaired my vision, making it difficult to see clearly out of my eye.
“Despite this eye poke I never considered stopping the fight. Although the doc wanted too. Throughout my career, I’ve always pushed through challenges & never given up. This time was no different.”
As such, perhaps it’s not terribly surprising that the 39-year-old has no intentions of hanging up his gloves any time soon. Despite the continued poor outcomes, Ferguson sounds as set as ever on keeping his fight career going.
“Unfortunately in sports, setbacks like this are part of the journey.” Ferguson added. “While I won’t use the eye poke as an excuse for the outcome, I know for a fact I have more to give. Moving forward, I plan to work closely with Dana, Hunter & my entire team to assess what’s next.”
Bobby Green isn’t interested in Ferguson’s story
If Tony Ferguson believes that Bobby Green’s eye poke was intentional, and that the has a history of fouling opponents, the 36-year-old former King of the Cage champion doesn’t sound like he has much intention of pushing back against the narrative. Not because he’s prepared to own up to his opponent’s version of events, more because he doesn’t think Ferguson can be reasoned with.
“Tony said that I intentionally poked him,” Green responded in a recent interview on the MMA Hour. “There’s a narrative that I intentionally poked him, and then that threw his momentum off, and then from there the fight just went my way. I disagree with that. I felt that I was doing so much more than that the entire fight.
“The point is, that I feel like, one is that if you argue with this guy who—Sean Strickland just put out a post, he said “Who’s the most insane? Either Tony Ferguson or Diego Sanchez?” Those guys have been known for being the most crazy of the two. I guess who won by 75%, on Sean’s poll? I didn’t have anything to do with it… it’s on his polls.
“So, what I’m saying is, that if you argue with a crazy man, you’re probably crazy. So I’m not gonna argue with him… He’s crazy with that, but you can’t argue with crazy.”
Bobby Green says he feels "sad" that Tony Ferguson and others believe he poked Ferguson's eye intentionally at UFC 291 😔 #TheMMAHour
"If you argue with a crazy man, then you’re probably crazy. I’m not going to argue with him.”
That victory provided Green with his own badly needed bounce-back to winning form, following a recent no-contest due to a head clash with Jared Gordon back in April. That fight came on the heels of back-to-back losses to Drew Dober and Islam Makhachev, both via TKO/KO.
Another PPV in July, another badass UFC card. UFC 291 just rocked, hard. Elite quality MMA action from top to bottom. Justin Gaethje became a title contender once again, Alex Pereira looks like a shoe in for the next light heavyweight championship fight, and Derrick Lewis reminded everyone why he’s long been one of the UFC’s mainstay fighters. There were a couple lows points here and there, but nothing that could drain the night’s momentum.
So, is there any reason that Gaethje won’t get his shot at lightweight gold in the next 6-8 months? Who the hell is Pereira going to fight for gold? And is Derrick Lewis going to re-sign with the UFC?
Dustin Poirier falls to Justin Gaethje at UFC 291. IMAGO/USA TODAY
To answer those questions—and everything else—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!
UFC 291 Fights to Make
JUSTIN GAETHJE
An absolutely monumental performance from Justin Gaethje in a fight that had major implications on the immediate future of the lightweight title. Even with Charles Oliveira already booked to fight Gaethje in October, there was no clear fighter on the horizon next in line for a title shot at the lightweight belt. Beneil Dariush was the big story heading into 2023, and he fell tragically short to Charles Oliveira at UFC 289.
While a big win could put him right back in the conversation there isn’t a fight on the horizon that seems like it would have that kind of profile to it. Michael Chandler is tied up with a bout against Conor McGregor that may or may not happen. And while McGregor is certainly a huge deal, there’s nothing to even seriously suggest he’ll be fighting anyone soon.
Fighters like Tsarukyan, Gamrot, and Fiziev could all be in position to contend for a belt someday, but that day is not today and it’s unlikely to be tomorrow. The truth is, if the UFC is looking for a contender they can be sure of heading into spring of 2024, Justin Gaethje is almost certainly going to be that man. Sure he’s already got a loss to Charles Oliveira, which could be a problem if ‘Do Bronx’ manages to regain his belt in Abu Dhabi. But that fight was an absolute banger the first time, I don’t think there are many fans who would hesitate to watch it twice.
The winner is gonna need to fight somebody. Gaethje is that somebody. IMAGO/USA TODAY Network
The only person that really seems like they could throw a wrench in the works would be Alexander Volkanovski, if he could get himself set for a Makhachev rematch. But given that Volk just had surgery and seems like he’s got a contender on the horizon in Ilia Topuria, it really doesn’t feel like problem Gaethje should be losing sleep over. End of the day, Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira is on the horizon. Justin Gaethje should fight the winner.
DUSTIN POIRIER
As big as this win was for Justin Gaethje, it feels like it may have been just as hard a setback for Dustin Poirier. The ‘Diamond’ has contended for the lightweight title twice now and got finished both times (the same thing has happened to Gaethje too, but with each passing year the idea of another title shot seems like it becomes a more difficult opportunity to grab.
It doesn’t help either that this was such a decisive win for Gaethje. The ‘Highlight’ came out on the back foot, drawing Poirier into the pocket and intercepting his pressure with hard low kicks and winging hooks upstairs. The plan was successful enough to force Poirier to up the aggression in round 2, where he tried to stave off Gaethje’s blitz with a hand parry. That decision left him wide open for a sneaky right leg head kick that dropped the Louisiana native in a heap, ending the fight just 1 minute into round 2.
Maybe Dustin will take the fight this time. IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
I suppose as long as Makhachev remains king, Poirier will have a path to contend. But he’s gonna have to win a couple other fights first. What was it I said above about Beneil Dariush? That there wasn’t a high profile fight on the horizon that could put him back in contention? Seems like one just popped up. And it’s got a little extra history to it after Poirier previously publicly accepted, and then turned down the booking. Poirier vs. Dariush should be a top-priority fight for the UFC.
ALEX PEREIRA
An absolutely brutally close fight in which Jan Blachowicz looked like he hit a cardio wall midway through and did his absolute damnedest to keep battling on. Unfortunately for him, Alex Pereira was at least a little less gassed and the Brazilian was able to keep landing the cleaner strikes on his way to a very hard fought decision win.
It’s Jiri time again. IMAGO/CTK Photo
That victory almost certainly sets Pereira up for a title fight, but the question is, against who? Will Jiri Prochazka be back soon, will the UFC look to get Magomed Ankalaev back in the mix? My guess is that Prochazka will be ready to go sometime early next year and we’ll see Pereira vs. Prochazka then. Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka is a real decent light heavyweight title fight, even if this bout was just a bit of a dud.
DERRICK LEWIS
Only Derrick Lewis could produce a moment in MMA like that. From the jump knee to the GnP to the post-fight speech he nailed every moment of his latest iconic TKO/KO. Gotta feel a little bad for Marcos Rogerio de Lima, because the man just became part of every highlight reel for the rest of 2023 at least.
After the bout, Lewis revealed that he had just finished his UFC contract. My first reaction was that if he says he hopes to resign with the UFC, then that’s what he’ll do. But then I had to look at the options with just a little more clarity. Being real, the only ‘big’ fight I see on the horizon for Lewis in the Octagon is… Jairzinho Rozenstruik?
He got beat by Sergei Pavlovich, he got beat by Ciryl Gane, Stipe Miocic doesn’t seem like he’s about to fight anyone without a belt around their waist, and Tom Aspinall would be foolish to do anything else. He beat Curtis Blaydes and lost to Tai Tuivasa and beat Alexander Volkov and lost to Sergey Spivak. Jailton Almeida is a nightmare matchup. The reality is, there’s not a lot for Lewis inside the UFC.
It’s time to try it again. IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
Outside of it, there’s Francis Ngannou, a man Lewis has already beat once (in one of the worst fights in UFC history, sure, but a win’s a win). And alongside Ngannou is a guarantee of a $2 million payday. As a free agent, Lewis is automatically the biggest name on the market and there’s even a history there to sell. Seems like a no-brainer for all parties, unless, of course, the UFC can exercise their matching rights. Derrick Lewis vs. Francis Ngannou 2 is a fight so obvious it’d be stupid not to try and make it.
BOBBY GREEN
Tony Ferguson had a little bit in the tank for Bobby Green early on in their bout, even dropping ‘King’ in the opening round. But once those early exchanges were over it was almost entirely one-way traffic for Green. Especially after Ferguson dove for that Imanari roll in round 2 and came up short. Several minutes of top control time for Green and the tide was firmly turned.
These are the kind of performances that keep Green a perennial force at the edges of the lightweight elite…
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He may not be fighting for another belt just yet, but UFC 291 looks like a big night for former middleweight champion Alex Pereira both figuratively and literally.
The multiple time Glory kickboxing title holder will make his first appearance up at his new weight class tonight, against former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in the co main event of this weekend’s PPV in Salt Lake City, UT. To mark the occasion, Pereira stepped on the scales looking absolutely massive, even for a light heavyweight.
Alex Pereira still looks like a giant
Standing all of 6′ 4″, Pereira positively loomed over his competition fighting all the way down at 185 lbs. He also had a habit of looking like grim death every time he stepped on the scales. With an extra 20 pounds of weight to play around with, it’s no surprise he looked a lot more healthy on Friday at the UFC 291 weigh ins.
That said, it’s still a little bit of a shock seeing Pereira stand next to Blachowicz. A former champion, Blachowicz may not be the tallest light heavyweight in the world, standing at 6′ 2″, but he’s still plenty big. Ask any untrained viewer which of these men used to fight down a division, however, and I doubt many people would pick Pereira.
Perhaps it’s not terribly surprising that Pereira looks so much more natural up at light heavyweight, especially considering that the weight class is still a big lighter than where he used to compete back in his kickboxing days.
Pereira actually used to fight at 209 lbs
Although he started his career down at 187 lbs, by the time he was done plying his trade inside the ring, Pereira had already made a massive leap up in weight. As early as 2013, Pereira competed for the WAKO World Championships at 91 kg (200 lbs). And in 2019, he made the move up to Glory’s light heavyweight division, defeating Ertugrul Bayrak for the 95kg (209 lbs) title.
Pereira defended that belt once against Artem Vakhitov in 2021, before losing it in a rematch to Vakhitov via Majority decision later that same year. Shortly after that loss, Pereira made the jump over to MMA full time, signing immediately with the UFC to face Andreas Michailidis just two months later. Meaning he made a nearly 25 lb. swing in competition weight in just two months.
As tall as he is and as little work as he’s had to do to bulk up to light heavyweight, it’s not even out of the realm of imagination that someday fans could see Alex Pereira all the way up at heavyweight. Who knows, maybe he could even become the UFC’s first three division champion. Stranger things have happened.
Alex Pereira not worried about grappling
Maybe it’s that kind of size and strength that has Pereira feeling so confident about his chances of tangling with Jan Blachowicz on the ground. In a recent interview with Combate, ‘Po Atan’ talked about how he feels he matches up with Blachowicz’s ‘Polish Power’. And while he’d prefer to keep the fight standing, he sounds like he’s put a lot of time into his grappling game.
“Before my last fight with Adesanya, I said ‘I want to move up. I want to go to a different division. No matter what happens. Win or lose, I’m moving up’. I needed this break. I need a couple of fights in this division so my body can recover. I’m maintaining the same weight, 103 kg (227 pounds). The only thing that changes is my diet. I’m eating well now. I don’t have that ‘I’m weak, I didn’t eat that thing’ excuse now. No, I’ve eaten everything.”
“I think he’s better at striking [than grappling]. Lots of people don’t know and I haven’t had a chance to show my quality on the ground. If he forces (the takedown), I think I’ll be able to show some in this fight. I think his striking is more dangerous than his grappling, though.”
All things considered, I’m still not sure this is a fight Pereira will find all that much success in if he can’t get up off his back.
UFC 291 goes down this Saturday, July 29th, in Salt Lake City, UT. Outside of the light heavyweight co-main event the card is expected to be headlined by a lightweight rematch between former interim champions Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, competing for the UFC ‘BMF’ title.
At least everyone made it to the scales okay for UFC 291 this Saturday. Headlined by a ‘BMF’ title fight between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, the headlining fighters didn’t have to come in at actual championship weight.
Dustin Poirier hit the mark, however, weighing in at 155 pounds, while Justin Gaethje made it to the scales at 156, making their fight official for the the pay-per-view main event. Others on the card were not so lucky.
UFC 291’s Michel Pereira. IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
Michel Pereira blows weight cut
Top ranked welterweight fighter Michel Pereira was the most notable name on the card to struggle on Friday morning. The Brazilian was all set for a high-profile action battle against former title contender Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, when he came in 3 pounds over the limit.
Here’s the video. Pereira won’t have an hour more to cut in Utah, so 174 is his official weight. Will update on the status of his fight with Stephen Thompson #UFC291pic.twitter.com/6wKJGyDqBm
The situation was apparently bad enough that the UFC has had to go into extended negotiations with Thompson over his willingness to take a catchweight fight with Pereira.
Jon Anik announces to the media that it might be some time before we find out if the Thompson vs. Pereira fight is on or not.
At 40-years-old, Thompson is likely in a different spot than most notable talents facing an opponent struggling on the scales. ‘Wonderboy’ has already had a long career among the UFC’s elite, win or lose to Pereira on Friday, it’s unlikely he’ll be fighting for a title anytime soon. While the chance to negotiate with the UFC for a little extra cash to keep the fight on the card likely holds a lot more value. That said, Thompson hasn’t been talking like a man near the end of his career.
“I can’t believe people are saying that I’m old and I should retire,” Thompson said in a March interview. “I feel like people that do retire, when they sit down on the chair, they just feel like they should retire. Like just, their body’s beat up, aches and pains. … When I sit here and I’m sitting down in this chair, I feel great. I feel fine. I feel better than I was five years ago. I just don’t get it.”
Hopefully all sides can come to an agreement and Thompson and Pereira will still face off at UFC 291. For his part, the Upstate Karate standout hit the scales on point at 170.5 pounds.
UPDATE: Michel Pereira has not been medically cleared to fight. His UFC 291 bout with Stephen Thompson has been cancelled.
Stephen Thompson vs. Michel Pereira has been pulled from the #UFC291 lineup after Pereira's weight miss.
Pereira wasn’t the only Brazilian on Friday to miss weight big. Way down on the undercard, flyweight Vinicius Salvador had similar troubles with the scale, coming in at 128.5 pounds, 2.5 lbs over the 126 lb limit. Fortunately for Salvador, however, his oppponent CJ Vergara isn’t in nearly the same position of prominence as Thompson when it comes to on the spot negotiations.
Vergara has already agreed to a catchweight bout, and will receive 20% Salvardor’s show money as compensation for his opponent’s error. Speaking on Twitter, Salvador’s manager told fans that their team did everything they could to make weight, and apologized for the error.
Heavyweight is supposed to be the one place in MMA where a fight never gets cancelled on the scales. With an upper limit of 265 lbs, it took all the way until 2021 for the first fighter to miss the limit in the UFC’s then-28-year history. At least one other fighter has followed that inglorious path in the couple years since, but it’s still a terribly rare achievement.
It’s also something that it sounds like almost happened to former UFC title contender Derrick Lewis. The ‘Black Beast’ was on hand for the UFC 291 media day recently, and told a story about one of his weight cuts gone wrong, with frightening results.
Derrick Lewis weighs in for his fight against Serghei Spivac. IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
Derrick Lewis: ‘I felt like I actually died’ cutting weight
Ahead of his last fight, a heavyweight tilt against rising contender Sergey Spivak, Derrick Lewis apparently had to go through an absolutely harrowing weight cut. The 4oz Fight Club talent told media members that he dropped 25 pounds in the three days leading up to the bout, largely by fasting.
“The last fight, I actually passed out just before weigh-ins,” Lewis revealed (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I blacked out, my coaches had to carry me, make sure I stayed conscious, and I just didn’t have any energy the rest of the week.
“I cut like 25 pounds in three days, not eating, just drinking water—probably just a little something to eat. It was a big eye-opener and it was in the back of my head during the fight. I felt like I actually died, and I was thinking about all of the other fighters who went through that—they blacked out, came back, and couldn’t fight, they didn’t let the fighter fight. Good thing it happened at the [UFC Performance Institute] and they gave me everything I needed to get up and walk out of there. It was a very scary moment.”
While Lewis added that he really wished he could get that fight with Spivak back, this time around it sounds like he feels much more comfortable with his training camp and—by extension—much more sure of his path to victory against Marcos Rogerio de Lima.
“I really believe that on Saturday, I’m going to really have fun out there and you’re going to see something different in me, because I’ve been feeling good. I actually stuck to my diet. We’ve been training for 10, 11 weeks now, and I actually stuck to my diet for like one day, and I feel good.”
Marcos Rogerio de Lima ready to give performance of his career
As good as Lewis seems to feel heading into this fight, his opponent sounds like he’s just as well prepared. With both men holding elder statesman status as long standing members of the UFC roster (and both clocking in at 38-years-old), Marcos Rogerio de Lima nonetheless believes that this is his moment to shine in what would be the biggest win of his career should he walk out of UFC 291 with his hand raised.
“This is going to be a defining moment in the UFC,” Lima revealed in a recent interview. “I’m so ready for this fight. I’ve been training a lot of boxing, muay thai. My grappling is also on point. I’ve been training with Marcus Buchecha, so we exchanged a lot of info. (Augusto) Sakai has been helping me a lot, too.”
UFC 291 goes down on July 29th at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT. The card is expected to be headlined by a lightweight top contender’s bout between former interim champions Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. The bout will mark Lewis’ first time on a UFC prelims card since his bout against Damian Grabowski in 2016. A light heavyweight bout between former champions Jan Blachowicz and Alex Pereira will serve as the evening’s co-main event.
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