Category: UFC Event

Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez in works for UFC 290

Posted on by Zane Simon in MMA News, UFC 290: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez, UFC Event, UFC News

If it wasn’t already clear that the featherweight champion wasn’t getting his instant rematch with Islam Makhachev next, let there be no doubt now. Fox Sports reports that the UFC is targeting an Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez title unification bout for this July, for the promotion’s annual ‘International Fight Week’ expo. News of the booking has since been confirmed by numerous outlets.

Rodriguez won his piece of gold back in February, with a 2nd round submission victory over Josh Emmett for the interim UFC featherweight title. After winning the belt, the 30-year-old Huntington Beach Ultimate Training Center talent called for a chance to bring the titles back together in his native Mexico, an idea that seemed only that much more possible following Alexa Grasso’s upset win over Valentina Shevchenko, giving the UFC three current Mexican champs.

Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez won’t take place in Mexico

“Actually, I talked to Alexander Volkanovski in the past—in Dallas,” Rodriguez said after his win over Emmett. “Not that much with him, but with his manager. He asked me, ‘Would you be able to go to Australia? Will you go to Australia?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, why not. Yeah, of course I’ll go.’ So, I stick to my word and I came here, won the interim title. And now I want to ask the UFC to take this belt, this championship fight to Mexico City, in September—whenever they open the UFC Performance Institute, so we can do it there.”

Want September in Mexico City? Sorry, July 8th in Vegas is all we got.

The International Fight Week Expo is set to run from July 3rd to July 9th with UFC 290 taking place at the T-Mobile Arena. No other bouts have been announced for the card at this time, so it’s not clear yet whether Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez will serve as the card’s headliner, or whether it will share top billing with a second title fight.

Volkanovski will have to wait for another crack at Makhachev

The longtime Freestyle Fighting Gym and City Kickboxing standout will enter this bout against Rodriguez fresh off the first defeat of his UFC career—a competitive five round decision loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev back in February, on that very same card where Rodriguez won the interim title. Alexander ‘The Great’ had hoped to secure his second concurrent belt at UFC 284, but struggled to deal with his Dagestani foe’s combination of pressure striking and wrestling.

That said, an exceptionally strong fifth round performance from Volkanovski had the 34-year-old feeling very much like this was a fight he could win, given another crack at it. Despite having previously said he would drop back down to defend his title at 145, Volkanovski immediately started campaigning for a rematch instead.

“Rematch? Let’s do it. Done. No doubt, rematch it is. Immediately,” Volkanovski told reporters in the aftermath.

Sounds like nobody’s getting exactly what they wanted out of Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez—except for fans, who should be treated to an exceptional bout in the featherweight division.

The MMA Vivisection – UFC Vegas 65: Lewis vs. Spivac picks, odds, & analysis

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Podcasts, UFC Event, UFC Gambling, UFC Vegas 65: Lewis vs. Spivac

We’re now one week removed from UFC 281, which means we’ve got a pretty severe downgrade in fight card quality to look forward to. In the main event, Serghei Spivac hopes to insert his name into the stack of rising heavyweight contenders with a victory over Derrick Lewis. The card drops sharply in notoriety from there.

For fans interested in diving deeper into the undercard, check out the Prelims Vivi below.

June M. Williams

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 Vegas 65 fight card as it stood at the time of recording:

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | 4pm/1pm ET&PT
Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac — At 2:38, Odds 15:21, Picks, Both: Lewis
Ion Cutelaba vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu — At 17:21, Odds 24:12, Picks, Both: Nzechukwu
Chase Sherman vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta — At 25:02, Odds 37:55, Picks, Zane: Cortes-Acosta, Connor: Sherman
Andre Fialho vs. Muslim Salikhov — At 40:28, Odds 47:36, Picks, Both: Salikhov
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Danny Roberts — At 49:14, Odds , Picks, Both: Della Maddalena

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 1pm/10am ET&PT
Charles Johnson vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov — At 1:03, Odds 12:14, Picks, Both: Zhumagulov
Jennifer Maia vs. Maryna Moroz — At 13:56, Odds 23:30, Picks, Both: Moroz
Vince Morales vs. Miles Johns — At 24:35, Odds 32:02, Picks, Both: Johns
Kevin Natividad vs. Ricky Turcios — At 32:20, Odds 46:27, Picks, Both: Natividad
Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Maria Oliveira — At 47:05, Odds 58:37, Picks, Zane: Oliveira, Connor: Demopolous
Brad Hiestand vs. Fernie Garcia — At 59:04, Odds , Picks, Both: Hiestand
Natalia Silva vs. Tereza Bledá — At , Odds , Picks, Zane: Bledá, Connor: Silva

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:

  • For our last event, UFC 281: ‘Adesanya vs. Pereiera’: Zane & Connor picked 100% the same for the first time, they went 7/14 for an even 50%
  • Overall from UFC Fight Island 1 in 2020, through UFC 281, this year: Zane is now at 770/1194 for 64.49% and Connor is now at 724/1194 for 60.64%
  • So far, in 2022: Zane is at 300/457 for 65.65% and Connor is at 282/457 for 61.71%
  • 2021: Zane went 305/493 for 62% and Connor went 285/493 for 58%
  • July-Dec 2020: Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%
  • Reference: Vivi Picks Stats_11.17.22.pdf

If you enjoy our variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels. Check out the new MMA Vivi Facebook Page, where the shows always drop an hour earlier than they do anywhere else on the network, be sure to “Like”, Follow, Share — At: https://www.facebook.com/TheMMAVivi.


Live! Stream UFC Vegas 65 on ESPN+

HEAVYWEIGHT SHOWDOWN – Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac — NOV 19: Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns yet again to the renowned APEX Facility housed in ‘Sin City’ – Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, November 19th, 2022, with an exciting 265lb Heavyweight top contenders tilt between Derrick ‘ The Black Beast’ Lewis (26-10) and Serghei ‘Polar Bear’ Spivac (15-3).

In UFC Vegas 65’s co-main event, hard-hitting Light Heavyweights go to war when Ion ‘The Hulk’ Cutelaba squares off with the ‘African Savage’, Kennedy Nzechukwu.

Plus — Chase ‘The Vanilla Gorilla’ Sherman takes on DWCS Alumni, Waldo ‘Salsa Boy’ Cortes-Acosta on the main card of this UFC Fight Night Event! Tune-in for a stacked 13-bout event…

Don’t miss a single second of face-punching action!

Video – UFC 279: Chimaev vs. Holland & Diaz vs. Ferguson ceremonial weigh-ins

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC 279, UFC Event, UFC News

All hell broke loose this week during the lead-up to UFC 279. The regularly scheduled fight-week press conference had to be cancelled after several fight camps got into a massive backstage scuffle. But even that feels like a distant memory considering the chaos that ensued when Khamzat Chimaev missed weight by 7.5 lbs for his welterweight main event bout against Nate Diaz.

They weren’t the only ones creating chaos. A women’s bantamweight bout had to be pushed to a catchweight. Hakeem Dawodu blew his weight cut as well, and Chris Barnett became just the second heavyweight in the promotion’s history to miss the division limit.

Some madcap scrambling and several hours later, however, and we’ve still got what looks to be a quality fight card.

Here’s a look at the weigh in results for the updated UFC 279 card as it’s set to run this coming Saturday, September 10th:

Main Card (10PM ET on ESPN+ PPV)

Welterweight: Nate Diaz (171) vs. Tony Ferguson (171)
Catchweight (180 lbs): Khamzat Chimaev (178.5)* vs. Kevin Holland (179.5)
Catchweight (180 lbs): Li Jingliang (170.5) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (179)
Catchweight (140 lbs): Irena Aldana (137.5) vs. Macy Chiasson (139.5)
Light heavyweight: Johnny Walker (205) vs. Ion Cutelaba (205.5)

Prelims (8PM ET on ESPNNEWS/ESPN+)
Featherweight: Hakeem Dawudo 149.5** vs. Julian Erosa (146)
Catchweight (220 lbs): Jailton Almeida vs. Anton Turkalj (214)
Middleweight: Jamie Pickett (185.5) vs. Denis Tiuliulin (186)
Heavyweight: Jake Collier (265) vs. Chris Barnett (267.5)***

Early Prelims (6PM ET on UFC FightPass/ESPN/ESPN+)
Featherweight: Norma Dumont (146) vs. Danyelle Wolf (146)
Bantamweight: Chad Anheliger (135.5) vs. Alatengheili (135)
Strawweight: Elise Reed (113.5) vs. Melissa Martinez (115.5)
Welterweight: Darian Weeks (170.5) vs. Yohan Lainesse (171)

UPDATE:


LIVE! Watch UFC 286 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

CHAMPIONSHIP TRILOGY! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to The O2 in London England, on Sat., March 18, 2023, with newly-minted Welterweight kingpin, Leon Edwards, running it back with former 170-pound champion, Kamaru Usman, for a third (and likely final) time. In UFC 286’s pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, all-action Lightweight knockout artists, Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev, will lock horns with the winner inching closer to a future Lightweight title shot.

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

Leaked: Adesanya vs. Cannonier & Chimaev vs. Diaz among plans for UFC 276

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Event, UFC News

Just who will headline UFC’s International Fight Week? That’s been a tough question to answer for the past couple weeks, with recent reports that a hoped for bout between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones is going to have to be pushed back until September.

A hand injury currently has Deiveson Figueiredo sidelined, Aljamain Sterling has talked about wanting to return to action in the fall. The lightweight title and women’s strawweight belts are both getting contested this weekend, with the light heavyweight and women’s flyweight titles on offer in early June. For a card that tends to be among the most stacked of the year, options have seemingly been dwindling.

On a recent episode of the Pivot podcast, however, Dana White accidentally gave fans a bit better look at just what the UFC has in mind. Notably, a series of mock-up fight cards at UFC offices—which include a planned middleweight title fight between champ Israel Adesanya and top contender Jared Cannonier, along with the return of Khamzat Chimaev against none other than Nate Diaz. Fans will also note that it looks like the UFC is hoping to make a bantamweight bout between Sean O’Malley and Pedro Munhoz.

Shortly after the video podcast aired, pictures of the cards started circulating throughout social media.

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Strickland vs. Pereira was originally planned for UFC 277, but news of the re-booking to UFC 276 has already been confirmed. Likewise, another screenshot of the UFC 276 board shows a potential bout between Robbie Lawler and Bryan Barberena, which Barberena just announced as well.

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Obviously, none of this is set in stone. Even when the UFC does get all the contracts signed and fights made official, bookings have a way of regularly falling apart for the world’s larges MMA promotion. At the moment, however, it looks like the UFC has found a pretty thrilling lineup for their July 2nd PPV event.

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori – Media Day live stream

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Event, UFC News

The UFC is back again this week, with another Fight Night offering, with UFC VEGAS 16. The main card features a top-ranked middleweight bout between Marvin Vettori and burgeoning contender Jack Hermansson. In the co-main, light heavyweight stalwart Ovince St. Preux takes on rising prospect Jamahal Hill.

Hermansson, Vettori, OSP, & Hill all took some time away from their fight week prep to sit down with media and field questions about their upcoming fight. They were joined by flyweights Montana De La Rosa and Taila Santos, who face off further down the undercard.

UFC Vegas 16 takes place this Saturday, December 5th at the Apex facility in Las Vegas, NV. Outside of the three bouts listed above, the main card is expected to feature a light heavyweight bout between Roman Dolidze and John Allan, as well as a featherweight fight between Movsar Evloev and Nate Landwehr. Tune in to Bloody Elbow for all your fight week coverage as the event approaches.

Report: UFC to host event on May 9th featuring Ferguson vs. Gaethje, Cejudo vs. Cruz, & Nunes vs. Spencer

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Event, UFC News

It looks like the UFC is firming up plans for their next big attempt to return to action amid the coronavirus pandemic. And this time around, they’re apparently looking to really stack the card with some major title fights—making up for their cancelled run of upcoming events. While MMA Fighting first reported the news, including that a final location has yet to be announced, Dana White reportedly told ESPN that he’s got a huge card in mind for May 9th.

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Assuming that the UFC plans for an interim lightweight title are still on the table, those plans would put three belts on the line for this new event; the two scrapped title fights from UFC 250 – Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer and Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz – being joined by the recently cancelled UFC 249 headliner between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. A heavyweight tilt between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik appears to also be in the works for the card.

No doubt more details will come to light in the following days. And with President Trump’s recent announcement that he would be looking to major sports commissioners like Dana White and Vince McMahon to help lead the way in restarting the economy, it seems much more likely that White’s plans will go forward this time around.

Still, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a few weeks time is practically an eternity. What may seem likely, and practically workable today could just as quickly become nearly impossible tomorrow. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and notes as the story develops.

UPDATE:

Video: Khabib kicks Ferguson’s interim belt at UFC 249 press conference

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Event, UFC News

It doesn’t appear that there will be any lack of tension heading into UFC 249 next month. The pay-per-view event, set for April 18th in Brooklyn, NY, is expected to be headlined by the long awaited lightweight title fight between champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former interim champ Tony Ferguson.

Ferguson picked up a piece of the lightweight title with a third round submission victory over Kevin Lee back in 2017. A freak fight-week injury to ‘El Cucuy’ scrapped the planned unification bout against Nurmagomedov shortly afterward, and the UFC then stripped him of the honor. But, that doesn’t mean the Oxnard-born fighter doesn’t still have the actual belt. And having gone unbeaten since 2012, he’s got a strong case to make that he’s never really lost his claim to UFC gold.

In fact, Ferguson showed up for his UFC 249 press conference with Khabib Nurmagomedov this week, with that interim title belt over his shoulder. After taking questions from fans and media, the two men faced off for a staredown. Ferguson set his belt on the stage so he could strike a pose. But, after some jawing back and forth between himself and Khabib, the Dagestani champ decided he needed to send a message about Ferguson’s title claims. You can see the video below.

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The UFC 249 headliner is, in fact, the fifth attempt to book a bout between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov, with injuries and botched weight cuts scrapping the original matchups. By this point, both men have to be tired of getting ready to fight one another; tensions certainly appear to be running high. If everyone stays healthy, fans should be in for a thrilling fight come April.

UFC on ESPN 5: Covington vs. Lawler weigh-in results – Williams misses by six pounds for short notice debut

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Event, Videos

The results are in and all bouts are set to go ahead for this weekend’s UFC card in Newark, NJ. And while the main event is right on target, with both Robbie Lawler and Colby Covington hitting the welterweight mark, two of the night’s undercard bouts will be contested at catchweights.

Both Dong Hyun Ma and Cole Williams failed to get within spitting distance of their respective classes. Ma hit the scales at 158 lbs for his lightweight fight with Scott Holtzman, while Williams ended up at a somewhat appalling 176 lbs for his welterweight bout with Claudio Silva. In his defense, Williams accepted the bout against Silva on just one week’s notice, still it’s a rough spot for Silva to be in, even if he does get an extra 30% of Williams’ fight purse.

Here are the complete UFC on ESPN 5: Covington vs. Lawler weigh-in results (h/t MMA Fighting):

ESPN MAIN CARD | 3PM/12PM ET/PT
Colby Covington (171) vs. Robbie Lawler (170)
Jim Miller (154.75) vs. Clay Guida (154.5)
Joaquim Silva (155.25) vs. Nasrat Haqparast (156)
Trevin Giles (185) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (185.5)
Scott Holtzman (156) vs. Dong Hyun Ma (158)*
Darko Stosic (206) vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (205.5)

ESPN PRELIMS | 12PM/9AM ET/PT
Mickey Gall (169.75) vs. Salim Touahri (170)
Antonina Shevchenko (125) vs. Lucie Pudilova (125.25)
Jordan Espinosa (126) vs. Matt Schnell (126)
Lauren Murphy (126) vs. Mara Romero Borella (125)
Claudio Silva (170.5) vs. Cole Williams (176)*
Miranda Granger (125) vs. Hannah Goldy (125)

*Williams and Ma failed to make weight for their respective bouts. Williams has been fined 30% of his fight purse, Ma 20%. Both fights will go ahead as planned, at a catchweight.

6th Round Post-Fight Show – N’Gannou vs Velasquez

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, MMA Podcasts, UFC Editorial, UFC Event, UFC News, UFC Results

Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Sunday’s, February 17th, UFC Fight Night Phoenix event. The main event featured Francis N’Gannou vs Cain Velasquez and the co-main starred James Vick vs Paul Felder. The guys are here with hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Here’s a look at the results from the Sunday, February 17th, UFC on ESPN 1: N’Gannou vs Velasquez card, from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, via Tapology.com

MAIN CARD ESPN | 9PM ET
Francis N’Gannou def Cain Velasquez, KO/TKO-Punches, Rd 1 of 5
Paul Felder def James Vick, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total
Cynthia Calvillo def Cortney Casey, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total
Kron Gracie def Alex Caceres, SUB-Rear Naked Choke, 2:06 Rd 1 of 3
Vicente Luque def Bryan Barberena, KO/TKO-Knees & Punches, 4:54 Rd 3 of 3, 14:54 Total
Andre Fili def Myles Jury, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total

PRELIMS ESPN | 7PM ET
Aljamain Sterling def Jimmie Rivera, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total
Manny Bermudez def Benito Lopez, SUB-Guillotine Choke, 3:09 Rd 1 of 3
Andrea Lee def Ashlee Evans-Smith, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total
Nik Lentz def Scott Holtzman, DEC-Unanimous, 3 Rds, 15:00 Total

EARLY PRELIMS ESPN+ | 5:30 ET
Jessica Penne vs Jodie Esquibel – CANCELLED, Penne Sprained Ankle
Luke Sanders def Renan Barão, KO/TKO, Punches, 1:01 Rd 2 of 3, 6:01 Total
Emily Whitmire def Aleksandra Albu, SUB-Rear Naked Choke, 1:01 Rd 1 of 3

Check out our exclusive pre-fight interviews with Jimmie Rivera, Cortney Casey and Emily Whitmire here: youtu.be/0DS2U9t4T40

As always, if you enjoyed our show, give us a “REC” here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like” and a share over on one of our other BE Presents Channels: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, blubrry, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.

*Intro/Outro music has been provided by OxBow, starring Eugene S. Robinson.

UFC on FOX 31 – 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Posted on by Zane Simon in Front Page, UFC Event, UFC Results

Zane Simon & Dayne Fox are back to recap this week’s UFC on FOX 31 card from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with hot takes, possible next fights, and results from the main, featuring Kevin Lee vs Al Iaquinta 2, and Edson Barboza vs Dan Hooker in the co-main, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Here is a look at the UFC on FOX 31 card results, via Tapology.com:

Al Iaquinta def Kevin Lee, Unanimous Dec
Edson Barboza def Daniel Hooker, KO/TKO, 2:19 R3
Rob Font def Sergio Pettis, Unanimous Dec
Charles Oliveira def Jim Miller, Sub, 1:15 R1
Zak Ottow def Dwight Grant, Split Dec
Drakkar Klose def Bobby Green, Unanimous Dec
Joaquim Silva def Jared Gordon, KO/TKO, 2:39 R3
Jack Hermansson def G. Meerschaert, Sub, 4:25 R1
Zak Cummings def Trevor Smith, Unanimous Dec
Dan Ige def Jordan Griffin, Unanimous Dec
Mike Rodriguez def Adam Milstead, KO/TKO, 2:59 R1
Juan Adams def Chris De La Rocha, KO/TKO, 0:58 R3

CANCELLED
Dwight Grant vs. Erik Koch – Koch Injury
Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Andrea Lee – Clark Pulled Due to Complications

As always, if you enjoyed our show, give us a “REC” here on Bloody Elbow, or over on SoundCloud, YouTube, or iTunes – whichever one happens to be your listening platform of choice. And while you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings.

*Intro/Outro music has been provided by OxBow, starring Eugene S .Robinson