UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena. | Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Here’s the fight card and bout order for UFC 277.
It’s a second pay-per-view fight week this month!
UFC 277 takes place on July 30th at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and there are two title fights atop the card. In the main event, Julianna Pena rematches Amanda Nunes for the women’s bantamweight title, only this time Pena is the defending champion after her shocking upset of Nunes last December. The co-main event is also a rematch, with former men’s flyweight champion Brandon Moreno challenges for the interim belt against Kai Kara-France. Moreno defeated Kara-France by decision back in 2019, but the stakes are higher this time around.
Rounding out the main card are heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Sergei Pavlovich, flyweight contenders Alexandre Pantoja and Alex Perez, and a title eliminator between light heavyweights Anthony Smith and Magomed Ankalaev.
Here’s the full lineup for UFC 277, which like UFC 276 will also have prelims on ABC.
Blood Diamond makes his return to the octagon on the UFC 277 early prelims | Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
What to watch for during the UFC 277 early prelims
The UFC is back in Dallas this weekend for the first time since May 2017. Like that event, this weekend’s pay-per-view fight card features two title fights. In the main event, Julianna Pea defends her bantamweight crown against the woman she defeated in December for that belt, Amanda Nunes. In the evening’s co-main event, former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno matches up against Kai Kara-France in a bout that will determine the interim 125-pound champion.
UFC 277 takes place at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ABC and early prelims on ESPN+.
Ahead of the July 30 event, I look at the storylines to follow on the early prelim portion of the UFC 277 fight card.
Michael Morales vs. Adam Fugitt
Michael Morales is 13-0 with 10 knockout wins to his name. The 22-year-old impressed in getting a knockout win over Trevin Giles when Morales made his UFC debut at UFC 270. The young fighter showed off his submission defense and also displayed excellent finishing instincts after he hurt Giles on the feet.
The issue with Morales is that he overextended himself at points in his matchup with Giles and put himself out of position when striking. Morales has a four-inch reach advantage in this matchup and that could serve him well.
Adam Fugitt takes this fight on short notice. The 33-year-old is coming off a huge upset win on the LFA 125 card in February. Fugitt was a +400 in that matchup. His opening odds against Morales were in that same range. Fugitt was incredibly confident and aggressive in the LFA matchup opposite Solomon Renfro, using a lot of head kicks right from the opening of the fight. If Morales gets lured into thinking all Fugitt has are those kicks, he could find himself in the same situation as Renfro did, staring up at the lights.
On the downside, Fugitt carried his hands very low while throwing his kicks and that’s something Morales can exploit. Like Morales, Fugitt is a finisher, as he has only gone the distance twice in his career, once in victory and once in defeat.
Ji Yeon Kim vs. Joselyne Edwards
Ji Yeon Kim has displayed decent technical striking skills during her UFC tenure. Her problem is that she doesn’t employ those skills — or her reach effectively. Instead, Kim allows herself to get drawn into brawls. While that has earned her two consecutive post-fight bonuses, it has not earned her wins in her past three outings. Kim was 6-0-2 when she joined the UFC. She is 9-5-2 heading into UFC 277 and is on a three-fight losing skid. This could very well be final opportunity to show the UFC matchmakers that she is making progress with her skills.
26-year-old Joselyne Edwards serves as a late replacement for the injured Mariya Agapova in this flyweight bout. Edwards ended a two-fight losing skid on June 11 with a decision win over Ramona Pascual. Edwards uses a lot of kicks in her striking. However, those kicks are not very quick. What makes that style dangerous for Edwards is that her takedown defense is below average. While this is a late replacement fight for Edwards, it is an important bout for he as well. She is 2-2 in the UFC after beginning her MMA career on an 8-2 run. A win at UFC 277 will give Edwards her first two-fight winning streak under the UFC banner.
Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Ihor Potieria
Nicolae Negumereanu was at a big height and reach disadvantage in his most recent outing opposite Kennedy Nzechukwu. However, Nzechukwu did nothing with his physical advantages and the 27-year-old Romanian made him pay for that mistake by turning the fight into a brawl. Negumereanu is not a technical striker and his defense is not great, but if his opponent engages him in a slugfest, he’ll oblige and he’ll usually win, as his 12-1 record — with seven knockouts — can attest.
Ihor Potieria heads into his UFC debut following a knockout win on a 2021 Dana White Contender Series card. Potieria’s 19-2 record looks impressive on paper, but if one spends some time researching his previous opponents, that record loses a lot of its luster. With that, this fight represents a big test, as well as a big opportunity for the 26-year-old Ukranian fighter.
Orion Cosce vs Blood Diamond
The UFC seems intent on making the fight between Orion Cosce and Mike “Blood Diamond” Mathetha happen. First scheduled for February, the fight fell through twice before the welterweight matchup landed on UFC 277.
Both fighters are coming off their first professional defeats. Cosce was favored over Phil Rowe in his UFC debut. The Team Alpa Male fighter looked to use his strength in the clinch and on the mat against Rowe, but other than getting positional advantage, he generated very little scoring offense. When it came to striking in the open, Cosce did little other than show he can take a lot of abuse.
Blood Diamond, who trains out of the vaunted City Kickboxing in New Zealand, made his UFC debut with just three MMA bouts to his name. His lack of wrestling skills and submission defense were glaring in his first-round submission loss to Jeremiah Wells.
As I mentioned above, I find the UFC’s insistence on making this particular fight happen odd, but there must be a reason for that and I think the reason might be twofold. The first is to see if either of these fighters has made progress in the skills they lacked in their first fights with the promotion. For Cosce, that is striking offense and defense and for Blood Diamond, wrestling. The second reason might be to see if it might better serve the loser of this contest to get more MMA seasoning outside the UFC.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Apparently there’s still some bad blood between guys that fought in the cage three years ago.
Back in June of 2019, then up-and-coming light heavyweight Aleksandar Rakic was matched up against veteran striker Jimi Manuwa at a UFC event in Sweden. Rakic picked up a brutal head kick knockout win in just 42 seconds that day, and it ended up being the last MMA fight of Manuwa’s career.
It seems that there are still some unresolved issues between the two men though.
In a video released on Twitter, Rakic claims that he was sucker-punched by Manuwa as both men were leaving the UFC London event over the weekend.
“Jimi Manuwa, you piece of sh-t. You son of a b-tch. What a p-ssy move you did last night on me. Guys, I would just let you know that after the event at UFC London, the security was escorting me to the transfer back to the hotel, and ‘Mr. Still Sleep’ was sitting in my row at the end of the row, so I needed to pass by. And I pass by and he talked to me something – I didn’t really pay attention. I have nothing to do with that guy. For me, this is over. So I started to turn away and he sucker-punched me. And even in that close range he couldn’t catch my head. I think he caught me with the forearm on my neck.
“The security was so fast here and they separated us. Man, what a f—king p-ssy move. You knew that I would be alone in London by myself. You know that I had surgery nine weeks ago and you did this. Man, you’re such a bad loser. I want the people to know what a piece of sh-t you are. I’m going to stay in your head forever. I retired you, I knocked you out and the world saw that. So happy retirement, ‘Mr. Sleep.’”
Later on, Manuwa responded and didn’t deny that he took a shot at Rakic. But stated his reasons why he did it:
The fight is the fight and we all win and lose which is part of it. When u try to talk shit months after the fight on twitter like every one of the keyboard warriors I promised you I will slap you when I see you. I saw you last night, how dare u think I wouldn’t @rakic_ufc
— JIMI MANUWA (@POSTERBOYJM) July 24, 2022
You’d think after three years Manuwa could just let it go. But I guess not.
UFC has released their trademark Countdown special to promote the upcoming UFC 277 pay-per-view event. The card will feature two title fight rematches in Julianna Pena vs Amanda Nunes 2 for the bantamweight belt and Brandon Moreno vs Kai Kara France 2 for the interim flyweight belt.
Watch the full episode of Countdown to UFC 277 below, which previews the two title bouts in depth:
UFC 277 Countdown showcases two rematches, as bantamweight queen Julianna Peña puts her belt on the line against featherweight champ Amanda Nunes, and former flyweight king Brandon Moreno runs it back with Kai Kara France for interim gold. See these athletes train and prepare for their bouts on Saturday, July 30.
Alexander Gustafsson after he fought Fabricio Werdum on UFC Fight Island. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The former UFC champion called for Alexander Gustaffson to retire from the sport.
One of the sadder moments from yesterday’s UFC London happened when Alexander Gustafsson suffered a first round KO at the hands of Nikita Krylov. That was the fourth loss in a row (all finishes) suffered by ‘The Mauler’.
On seeing the former title challenger succumb to a Krylov uppercut, former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier made it clear that he felt Gustafsson should not be fighting anymore.
“Gustafson [sic] is done,” wrote Cormier. “He needs to walk away, these shots are hard but he used to eat those. The chin is gone, walk away my friend. We all have expiration date. One of the best to not have had a title.”
I know he fought for the title multiple times but I have to wonder if he’s earned enough to financially retire
— shop CrisCyborg.com (@criscyborg) July 23, 2022
Cormier’s comment was met with one from former UFC featherweight champion, and current Bellator featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg. She brought up the sobering reality that Gustafsson may not have the kind of financial security needed to retire as a 35-year-old.
“I know he fought for the title multiple times but I have to wonder if he’s earned enough to financially retire,” she wrote.
Gustafsson entered the UFC in 2009 and debuted with a 41-second KO win over Jared Hamman. In his second Octagon appearance he was submitted by Phil Davis.
After that loss the Swede reeled off six straight victories to earn a title shot against Jon Jones. Jones vs Gustafsson, at UFC 165 in 2013, remains one of the greatest fights ever hosted inside the Octagon.
Jones won the fight via split decision. Though, some—including Gustafsson—felt the judges got it wrong.
After that close loss Gustafsson TKO’d Jimi Manuwa, but was then TKO’d himself by Anthony Johnson.
In 2015 he faced Cormier for the UFC light heavyweight title (vacated due to one of Jones’ many outside the cage issues). He lost that bout by split decision.
Gustafsson regrouped with wins over future champions Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira. Those victories won him a rematch with Jones, at UFC 232 in 2018. That fight was for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title (which was stripped from Cormier after he focused on defending his heavyweight title).
Jones KO’d Gustafsson in the third round. That was the first loss in Gustafsson’s current four fight losing skid. The other losses include submission defeats to Anthony Smith and Fabricio Werdum (at heavyweight).
Nikita Krylov punching Alexander Gustafsson at UFC London | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Get a unique rundown on all the awards that should have been handed out at UFC London with Dayne Fox’s Unofficial Awards.
For the second week in a row, the main event of the UFC’s card ended with an injury in the first round. This week, UFC London didn’t have a fantastic undercard to gird up the disappointing end to the event. Sure, Molly McCann and Paddy Pimblett both delivered as expected, but there were also eight decisions out of the first nine contests and McCann and Pimblett were the only ones out of the hyped hometown heroes who delivered. That’s not a rip on Tom Aspinall, whose knee gave out 15 seconds into the main event. It’s a fact. And while Curtis Blaydes is happy to get a win, I can assure everyone this isn’t how he wanted to pick it up as he gains nothing other than a bit of padding on his record. I suppose he gets his win bonus too, but that’s neither here nor there. Though the event wasn’t an unmitigated disaster, it didn’t come anywhere near the event that was produced in the same arena in March. Regardless, there were plenty of narratives produced from the event that won’t get a lot of attention. We’ll touch on those with my Unofficial Awards.
For a different perspective, click here. For an audio recap of the event, click here.
Biggest Jump in Stock: This is a hard spot to figure. Pimblett and McCann had the most impactful wins, but they were also given opponents that were designed to provide that outcome. While it wasn’t his fault, Blaydes’ win over Aspinall does nothing for him. There are others here that deserve consideration, but I’ll go with Nikita Krylov. Sure, a win over Alexander Gustafsson doesn’t mean what it used to — Gus hasn’t won a fight in over five years – but the manner in which Krylov bowled over him has to come into play. Plus, Gus didn’t just fold right up; Krylov had to work his ass off to put him away. Throw in that many were down on Krylov given he was coming off two consecutive losses and his outlook is far more rosier coming out of the event than it was going in.
Biggest Fall in Stock: I know a lot of people are going to vehemently disagree with me, but Aspinall is probably taking the biggest hit. It has less to do with him losing and more to do with the uncertainty of how severe his injury is and how well he’ll recover from it. Given Aspinall’s reaction when his leg came back from the kick, it looks like it was pretty bad. I get the feeling it will be more than a year before we see Aspinall back in action. We’ll get more information in the coming days, but the uncertainty is going to have most people anticipating the worst at this stage.
Best Newcomer: With only one newcomer on the card – which I seem to be saying a lot as of late – there’s only one choice. If there was nothing Charles Johnson did to show he’s a keeper, I would have ignored this. However, while Johnson lost all three rounds to Muhammad Mokaev, he made the hyped prospect work his ass off to get the win. I don’t see Johnson becoming a future contender, but he looks like he can become a reasonable gatekeeper for several years to come. That’s not a bad fate by any means.
Saved Their Job(s): No one ever became a fan of Jai Herbert for the performance he turned in against Kyle Nelson, but at least it gave him the him he so desperately needed. To be fair to Herbert, he had faced a murderer’s row of opponents given his record. Perhaps more problematic was Herbert was coming off a life-changing KO loss. Herbert was noticeably reluctant to engage, essentially giving away the first round as a result. Nevertheless, he woke up enough to secure the last two rounds and secure the nod of the judges.
There seems to be a lot of Victoria Leonardo haters out there. Perhaps they’re happy Leonardo turned in a boring win as they not only get to continue to bag on her, they have further reason to do so with her contest being one of the least entertaining of the event. That said, Leonardo played to her strengths and did what she needed to do to secure the win over Mandy Bohm. Critics can hate on her for it, but they can’t blame her for doing what she needed to do to keep her job.
Start Typing a Resume: The heart of Charles Rosa can never be questioned. Neither can his toughness. But the man known as Boston Strong has largely been a punching bag since coming back from some serious injuries in 2019. Rosa has managed to stay on the roster as long as he has thanks to his grit, but I can only watch a guy get brutalized so many times before I don’t want to see them fighting any more. Even worse, it’s not like Rosa has been fighting guys near the official rankings. Personally, I have no desire to see Rosa fight any more after the latest beatdown at the hands of Nathaniel Wood.
I was among those surprised to find out Nelson was still on the roster given he hadn’t been seen for a long time. He made what I considered to be a wise move by moving up to lightweight. He also had an intelligent strategy, taking out the front leg of Herbert with low kicks. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough and Nelson fell to 1-4 in the UFC. No disrespect intended, but he isn’t making his way back.
There wouldn’t be an ounce of surprise if the UFC brings Bohm back given the lack of German representation on the roster – you haven’t been paying attention if you don’t think that doesn’t play a part in who does and doesn’t stay on the roster – but she would benefit from more seasoning. I get that she’s already 32, but she was late coming into the sport and hasn’t taken as much damage as many women her age in the sport. It’s a risk as Bellator could gobble her up, but I don’t believe Bohm is a superstar in the making. For her own benefit, I’d let her go.
I’ll give Claudio Silva credit for putting up a better fight than I anticipated he would, but the final result was what most expected: Silva gassing hard after a good start and taking the L. Given Silva’s fights tend to be on the lower end of the excitement scale, I was shocked when the 39-year-old was given another fight after two consecutive losses. Now that he’s at three, I’ll be absolutely astounded if he gets the chance to snap the losing streak in the confines of the Octagon. Silva never came close to being a star, but he didn’t have a bad UFC run.
Best Confirmation: It’s official: L’udovit Klein never should have been fighting at featherweight. His record at 145 in the UFC: 0-2. His record fighting at a higher weight: 3-0. This win over Mason Jones is the most impressive as he appeared to fight the fight Jones wanted and was able to take a decision over Jones in front of his countrymen. Not an easy place to take the W. There are things Klein will have to iron out as he accepts a higher level of competition, but he’s already shown the ability to do that. Klein is going to be a force at 155.
Biggest WOW Moment: A strong case could be made for McCann successfully landing a spinning back elbow – again – but that wasn’t the shot that dropped Hannah Goldy, though it was in the finishing sequence. However, I’m looking at Klein’s leaping kick to the head of Jones. I can’t recall seeing someone land a kick like that in the midst of a fight. Sure, I’ve seen something like that in the movies plenty of times, but we’re talking about reality here. Thus, even though Jones barely seemed to register the kick landing, I’m going with the kick due to the originality of the move.
Biggest Hit to Reputation: This isn’t the same thing as a drop in stock. That has more to do with fighting ability. This has to do with how someone is perceived outside the cage. Chris Curtis suffered a double whammy. Earlier this week, footage emerged of him beating on a guy from off the street in a sparring session. When the guy claimed he could have KO’d Curtis, Curtis had to be restrained by Sean Strickland of all people. Most people were willing to give him a pass for that. It’s a bit harder to do so after flipping off Jack Hermansson several times and for a sustained amount of time as he left the cage. It’s going to be hard to sell Curtis as a nice guy after those incidents.
Cure for Narcolepsy: There were several contenders for this spot. I don’t want to be too harsh as the winners in each of the contests did what they did in order to generate the clearest path to victory, but it does do damage to their image in the eyes of fans. Thus, while Leonardo and Hermansson might deserve some consideration, I’ll go with Marc Diakiese. The longtime member of the roster put on a similar rinse and repeat performance of takedowns in his previous contest, creating a trend. If this is a trend that continues, perhaps he can be renamed the Sandman as opposed to the Bonecrusher. Unfortunately, it won’t be because he’s putting his opponents to sleep….
Oddest Stat of the Night: I understand a large part of the viewing audience is on the casual end. They don’t dig into who all the fighters are. Thus, they probably wouldn’t find this factoid to be as surprising as those of us who dig into every fight and every fighter on the card. This was the first time Krylov was awarded a Performance bonus. Given his reckless nature, Krylov didn’t go the distance in any of his UFC fights until his 12th fight in the organization. Given he won his fair share of fights in that time – obviously finishes – you’d think at least one of them would have been worth an extra $ 50K. Instead, it took the native of Ukraine 16 fights into his UFC career until he picked himself up a bonus.
Best Duo: At this point, it would be foolish to see Pimblett and McCann as anything other than a packaged deal. Their friendship clearly goes beyond training together. I would say it is safe to say they feed off each other too. While McCann was beloved enough by those who closely follow the sport, her 3-3 record wasn’t anything special, nor had she picked up a bonus prior to Pimblett touching down in the organization. Since Pimblett joined the organization, they’ve been on every card together, both of them taking home a Performance bonus in the process. It would take a lot of research on my part to figure out if there are two other fighters who have both secured bonuses in three events – let alone three consecutive appearances – but the guess here is these two are the first to have done so.
Charles Oliveira at the UFC 280 press conference. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Charles Oliveira will get a chance to reclaim the lightweight title at UFC 280.
Charles Oliveira lost his UFC lightweight title on the scales at UFC 274 in May. However, despite entering his fight with Justin Gaethje with no chance of reclaiming gold, he still put on a show — finishing ‘The Highlight’ by first round submission.
The promotion said they would stick by ‘Do Bronx’, citing commission failings for the mishap on the scales, and let the Brazilian fight for the vacant lightweight title at the next available opportunity.
Recently it was revealed that this opportunity would come at UFC 280 on October 22 on the so-called ‘Fight Island’. His opponent will be Islam Makhachev.
Oliveira was at the UFC 280 press conference this weekend. At that event he discussed his forthcoming opponent.
“If you’ve seen my record, I’ve fought tougher people,” he said (ht MMA Fighting). “And I’m here to prove that I’ll do it again.
“I’m here to fight. That’s what I will do, and you will know who is the champ once again.”
Oliveira went on to explain how he felt he had an advantage over Makhachev, given that his opponent likes to take fights to the ground.
“The ground is his turf so he will definitely try to do that, but if he does, will he want to do and bring down the best submitter in the history of the UFC? I’m not sure … We’ve seen he is the type of fellow who tries to bring the fight to the ground, but that doesn’t hinder me at all. So I’m ready for everything that he brings.”
Oliveira was also asked to address a hypothetical situation where he beats Makhachev and forces former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (who will be in Makhachev’s corner at UFC 280) out of retirement to face him.
“This is a question you need to address to [Nurmagomedov]. He has retired, deservedly. My focus is on fighting in October, then back to Brazil to fight in January. We need to respect people’s opinions, decisions. Of course I respect what he has done throughout the years. If he chooses to fight me, here I am.”
Oliveira was also asked his opinion on Conor McGregor. Previously, Oliveira had advocated for McGregor jumping the line at lightweight and facing him for the title. Oliveira admitted then that his reasoning was purely financial.
“I don’t have a special fondness for [McGregor],” Oliveira said. “This is business and if he brings money, great. He is a bit heavier. I could meet him there if need be. I think McGregor just wants to enjoy life. My focus is now Islam and what comes next.”
Oliveira won the lightweight title, after it was vacated by Nurmagomedov, with a TKO win over Michael Chandler at UFC 262 last year. His lone title defence is a submission win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 in December.
The win over Gaethje extended Oliveira’s win streak to 11 fights. Over that run he has beaten Tony Ferguson, Kevin Lee, Nik Lentz and Jim Miller.
His submission over Gaethje padded his records for most finishes and submissions in UFC history. Oliveira is also the record holder for most Performance of the Night awards in UFC history.
Michael Chandler warms up for his UFC 274 fight with Tony Ferguson in May. | Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Michael Chandler shares his side of the viral altercation he had with Dustin Poirier at UFC 276.
Amidst the UFC 276 festivities at the T-Mobile arena, another fight between two top-tier lightweights nearly broke out cageside. That viral moment involved Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler, who were seen on video being restrained by arena security.
At the time, not much context was made known to everyone. Poirier also refuses to speak about the said incident unless it’s done face-to-face. Chandler, however, is going the opposite route.
In a media scrum at UFC London on Saturday, the former Bellator champion shared his side of the story.
“We had our seats and we were walking over there and the security guards came over and basically said something to the effect of, ‘hey, he’s not gonna sit over there,”’ Chandler recalled.
“All of a sudden, I heard some chirping, some very vile, venom being spit in my direction. I didn’t know if it was being thrown at me or not. I look over and Dustin Poirier’s pointing at me.
“He obviously had a bone to pick with me that night. Dustin Poirier, it’s no secret he’s made it very known he’s ready for a fight. He is thirsty, very, very thirsty for a fight. So he’s looking for anybody and everybody to throw venom at. I was the target that night and I was just trying to watch some fights with my wife.”
A fight between Poirier and Chandler does make sense in the lightweight division, and such an incident usually drums up early interest. But for Chandler, this isn’t the way to go about it.
“If you think that’s the way that you’re gonna get a fight with me, that’s the absolute opposite way of getting a fight with me. I’m not here to be in physical altercations in a public forum, especially with my wife. He was not happy with me that night.
“In his mind, he’s got some ill will toward me, if you will. And it’s gonna make it that much easier to knock him out whenever he oversteps if he and I do step inside the Octagon.”
Chandler (23-7) is coming off a sensational second-round front kick KO win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 in May, which is easily a candidate for KO of the Year. Poirier (28-7, 1 NC), meanwhile, is coming off his second undisputed title fight loss at UFC 269 against Charles Oliveira in December.
Molly McCann knocked out Hannah Goldy at UFC London. | Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Check out which fighters won performance bonuses from UFC London: Blaydes vs. Aspinall.
UFC London was a bit of a slow burn, but the heat turned up as the show progressed. The heavyweight headliner ended in unfortunate fashion, and the middleweight co-headliner saw ‘The Action Man’ get outstruck by ‘The Joker.’
The preliminary portion of the card saw Nicolas Dalby return to the win column with a unanimous decision against Claudio Silva. Victoria Leonardo snapped a two-fight losing streak with a much-needed win over Mandy Böhm. Jai Herbert won a close fight against Kyle Nelson by decision. Muhammad Mokaev improved to 7-0 as a professional with a unanimous decision over Charles Johnson. The ‘Punisher’ utilized a wrestling-heavy approach en route to his second UFC win. Jonathan Pearce scored a second-round TKO of Makwan Amirkhani (the first finish of the night!). ‘JSP’ had ‘Mr. Finland’ pressed against the cage and unleashed some serious ground-and-pound before the referee waived off the fight. Nathaniel Wood fought for the first time in over a year and a half and turned in quite a performance. The bantamweight-turned-featherweight brutalized Charles Rosa throughout three rounds for a decision. Welcome to the division, Mr. Wood! Marc Diakiese dominated Damir Hadžović on the ground, which saw the ‘Bonecrusher’ notch his second win via unanimous decision this year. L’udovit Klein bested Mason Jones (and nearly got a finish!) for a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards.
The main portion of the card had Volkan Oezdemir thwart Paul Craig and his grappling attempts for a unanimous decision win. Molly McCann sent shockwaves throughout the O2 Arena with a first-round TKO of Hannah Goldy. ‘Meatball’ stunned ’24K’ with a right hand, followed up with her now-signature spinning elbow and unloaded with punches until her opponent crumbled to the canvas. What a win! Nikita Krylov tore through Alexander Gustafsson in 67 seconds. The No. 11 light heavyweight hurt Gustafsson early and finished him with a brutal uppercut and follow-up punches. And he had a name ready for his next appearance: the aforementioned Oezdemir. Paddy Pimblett promised he would take a chin home, but it was actually a neck he left with. The ‘Baddy’ secured a rear-naked choke on Jordan Leavitt in the second round. Jack Hermansson frustrated Chris Curtis with a calculated performance, resulting in a unanimous decision win. He set his sights on a rebooking with Darren Till, who withdrew from their fight due to injury.
Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall went after it once they met in the center of the Octagon. However, just as soon as the fight started, it was over. During an exchange, Aspinall threw a kick and collapsed when he planted his foot on the canvas. The heavyweight contender clutched his knee in pain as cageside physicians tended to him. Blaydes was declared the winner by TKO.
Performance of the Night: Jonathan Pearce, Molly McCann, Paddy Pimblett and Nikita Krylov
Jonathan Pearce def. Makwan Amirkhani by TKO (strikes) at 4:10 of Round 2
Molly McCann def. Hannah Goldy by TKO (spinning elbow, punches) at 3:52 of Round 1
Nikita Krylov def. Alexander Gustafsson by KO (punches) at 1:07 of Round 1
Paddy Pimblett def. Jordan Leavitt by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:46 of Round 2
Curtis Blaydes def. Tom Aspinall by TKO (injury) at 0:15 of Round 1
Fight of the Night: No Fight of the Night
Nicolas Dalby def. Claudio Silva by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Victoria Leonardo def. Mandy Bohm by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Jai Herbert def. Kyle Nelson by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Muhammad Mokaev def. Charles Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Nathaniel Wood def. Charles Rosa by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Marc Diakiese def. Damir Hadzovic by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
L’udovit Klein def. Mason Jones by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Volkan Oezdemir def. Paul Craig by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Jack Hermansson def. Chris Curtis by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, July 23rd, UFC London: ‘Blaydes vs. Aspinall’ Fight Night event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.
Bloody Elbow fight expert, Zane Simon is here, joined by his co-hort, Eddie Mercado. We recorded for you on Saturday, July 23rd, 2022, with a breakdown of the UFC London: ‘Blaydes vs. Aspinall’ 14-bout Fight Night event, which took place at the 02 Arena in London, England, UK.
June M. Williams
The guys have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or they can be caught on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel or any platform in our BE Presents Podcast Network.
For all the results, reactions and a plethora of details about the main card, and plenty of tidbits about all the prelims, be sure to hit play on the show to hear what our fight experts have to say!
Overall, this 14-bout card saw three exciting first round finishes, three thrilling KO/TKO’s, one sweet submission, and nine hard-fought decisions. Rounding things out, our fighters who were awarded for putting forth BONUS efforts included: FOTN: No Fight of the Night this week. POTN: Jonathan Pearce, Molly McCann, Paddy Pimblett and Nikita Krylov.
Here’s a look at the UFC London: ‘Blaydes vs Aspinall’ fight card with full results & updated fight records —
The main event was scheduled for five rounds, with the remaining bouts scheduled for three rounds. | Official UFC Scorecards
ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. JULY 23 14. Curtis Blaydes (17-3) DEF. Tom Aspinall (12-3) — via TKO (injury) at 0:15 of the first round
13. Jack Hermansson (23-7) DEF. Chris Curtis (29-9) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
12. Paddy Pimblett (19-3) DEF. Jordan Leavitt (10-2) — via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:46 of round two
11. Nikita Krylov (28-9) DEF. Alexander Gustafsson (18-8) — via KO at 1:07 of the first round
10. Molly McCann (13-4) DEF. Hannah Goldy (6-3) — via TKO (strikes) at 3:53 of the first round
9. Volkan Oezdemir (18-6) DEF. Paul Craig (16-5) — via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
ESPN+ PRELIMS 8. Ľudovít Klein (19-4) DEF. Mason Jones (11-2) — via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
7. Marc Diakiese (16-5) DEF. Damir Hadžović (14-7) — via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
6. Nathaniel Wood (18-5) DEF. Charles Rosa (14-8) — via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
5. Jonathan Pearce (13-4) DEF. Makwan Amirkhani (17-8) — via TKO (strikes) at 4:10 of the second round
4. Muhammad Mokaev (7-0) DEF. Charles Johnson (11-3) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
3. Jai Herbert (12-4) DEF. Kyle Nelson (13-5) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2. Victoria Leonardo (9-4) DEF. Mandy Böhm (7-2) — via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
1. Nicolas Dalby (20-4) DEF. Claudio Silva (14-4) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZaneSimon & Eddie – @TheEddieMercado; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings.
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Join us again for another episode of ‘6th Round’ next week, on Saturday, July 30th, for UFC 277: PENA VS NUNES 2:
June M. Williams
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