On the UFC London prelims, Jonathan Pearce stopped Makwan Amirkhani with strikes.

The UFC London prelims weren’t exactly the most exciting we’ve ever seen, with seven decisions across eight bouts. A lot of these matches involved a bunch of control grappling, which made for quite a few lackluster moments. We did get one finish, and then also one knockdown in the card’s featured prelim.

Closing out this portion of UFC London, Ludovit Klein won each scorecard against Mason Jones. Klein scored a big knockdown in the second, which aided him in picking up his second straight victory. Before that, Marc Diakiese handily out-grappled Damir Hadzovic for pretty much the entire there rounds to get two scores of 30-26, and one of 30-27. It might be Marc’s least exciting fight to date, but at least it was a shutout?

Also on the prelims, Nathaniel Wood put on a dominant performance against Charles Rosa to take a unanimous decision. Wood showed of crisp boxing right away, and delivered several stinging calf kicks that badly chewed up the leg of Rosa. This was a strong showing to get himself back into the win column.

The first finish of the card came when Jonathan Pearce punished Makwan Amirkhani with a plethora of ground strikes to get a second round TKO. The opening round was pretty competitive, but ate a bunch of elbows while attempting to get the fight tot he ground. The second stanza was all JSP, who got on top and forced Makwan to wilt under him. This is the fourth straight win for Pearce.

Making good on his sophomore appearance in the UFC, Muhammad Mokaev dominated Charles Johnson in the grappling department to earn three scores of 30-27. Mokaev attacked with a grapple-heavy attack that rendered Johnson defensive for most of the match, and we even got a couple of suplexes in there. Mokaev remains undefeated and extends his perfect record to 7-0. In the lightweight division, Jai Herbert won a unanimous decision over Kyle Nelson, and then in the women’s flyweight division, Victoria Leonardo took a unanimous nod over Mandy Bohm.

Opening up the show, Nicolas Dalby overcame a poor opening round to pick up the next two and win a unanimous decision over Claudio Silva. Dalby was stuck on the bottom for pretty the entire first round, but made up for it with a ton of strikes in the second act, and then some more blows in the third. One judge even gave him a 10-8 in there.

**See complete results below

Prelims:

Ludovit Klein def. Mason Jones by unanimous decision (30-27×3): Lightweight

The fighters met in the middle to exchange strikes, with Jones closing the distance. Jones clinched up to press Klein against the cage, but wasn’t able to pin him there for very long at all. In open space, Klein landed a couple of head kicks that Jones somehow ate without issue.

Early in the second round, Klein clipped Jones with a right to left hand that dropped Jones. Klein got on top, and controlled for awhile, and when Jones scrambled back up, Ludovit stayed attached to his back. Jones eventually broke free, but wasn’t able to do anything to take back the round.

Jones pressed forward in the final round, but ended up pulling guard. Klein proceeded to control Mason for a bunch of time, and then Jones stood up with about a minute to go. The fighters exchanged strikes down the stretch, but none were really substantial.

Marc Diakiese def. Damir Hadzovic by unanimous decision (30-26×2, 30-27): Lightweight

Diakiese came out and shot in for the takedown right away to put Hadzovic on his back. After a few minutes, Hadzovic finally stood to his feet, just to get taken right back down. Diakiese came out deploying the same strategy in the second round. Hadzovic was having trouble improving his position, although he wasn’t absorbing much damage. The most significant strike was an accidental clash of heads, which caused a cut around Hadzovic’s left eye. The final round saw more ground control for Marc.

Nathaniel Wood def. Charles Rosa by unanimous decision (30-26 x2, 30-27): Featherweight

Wood marched forward behind a stiff 1-2, while Rosa was countering with body kicks. Rosa was stepping in with crafty knees that were catching Wood, but the hand speed of Nathaniel was the story here. The boxing of Wood was shining through, as he was clipping Rosa with fluid combinations. He was also complimenting his hands with damaging calf kicks that were compromising the footwork of Rosa. With just over 30-seconds to go, Rosa snagged a takedown and attacked with a modified guillotine.

Wood continued to lead the dance into the second round. He was blasting calf kicks that were dropping Rosa, but he elected to not follow Charles to the ground. Credit to Rosa for gritting through and continuing to throw back, but he wasn’t hitting his target nearly as much as Wood was. This was a pretty dominant round for Wood.

Nathaniel kept kicking the leg out from under Rosa in the final round. No matter what he did, Rosa just wasn’t able to get Wood to engage with him on the ground. When Rosa would stand up, he was throwing spinning elbows and overhands, but struggled to find the mark. Wood stayed with his calf kicks, and caused Charles to hit the deck a couple more times before the bell.

Jonathan Pearce def. Makwan Amirkhani by TKO at 4:10 of round 2: Featherweight

Amirkhani shot in to get things going, and Pearce instantly started attacking with a whole bunch of elbows. Amirkhani kept looking for the takedown, but he was split open by those elbows. A crazy scramble ensued, and JSP was being threatened with an anaconda choke, but was able to make the adjustments to defend properly. Amirkhani returned to his takedowns, but ate more and more of those elbows.

Pearce closed the distance in the second stanza to get his own takedown. JSP got away with a big fence grab that might have prevented Amirkhani from improving his position. The ref only warned him and Pearce continued to work from the top. He began blasting the body with knees, and then attacked the head with ground and pound. JSP began overwhelming Amirkhani, dropping punches and elbows until the referee stepped in.

Muhammad Mokaev def. Charles Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Flyweight

Mokaev was aggressive from the get go. He was pressuring Johnson with heavy strikes, which allowed him to close the distance. Mokaev hit a sick suplex, and credit to Johnson to explode right back up, but another suplex was on its way. Johnson returned to his feet right away, but Mokaev was attached to his back for the rest of the round.

Mokaev aggressively pursued the takedown in the second stanza, and was able to get Johnson down, but not for long. Johnson was doing a good job of not staying down for long at first, but he just couldn’t find any real seperation. That lead to Mokaev getting more takedowns, and racking up a ton of control time. The final round saw more of the same. Mokaev going hard for the takedowns, getting them, and then Johnson working to get up.

Jai Herbert def. Kyle Nelson by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Lightweight

Nelson was kicking the body and the legs to get things going. Herbert was showing a lot of feints, but wasn’t landing as much. Nelson caught a kick and went for a takedown, which caused the fight to drift to the cage. Herbert was able to stay on his feet, but he got hit with some elbows on the inside. back in the middle of the cage, Herbert went back to attacking the calf.

Herbert opened the second act with some urgency. He was flowing on the feet, chaining combos together and picking Nelson apart from range. After about two-minutes of that, Nelson entered the clinch to put Herbert up against the cage. They jockeyed for position there, with Herbert ultimately taking control. Nelson seemed to be slowing down, just as Herbert was finding his groove.

Nelson opened the final frame with a thudding leg kick that seemed to really bother Herbert. Just as Nelson went for a takedown, Herbert defended well and managed to get on top. It took quite some time for Nelson to get back to his feet, and didn’t do much besides look for a takedown with the little bit of clock remaining.

Victoria Leonardo def. Mandy Bohm by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) : (W) Flyweight

The fighters clinched up early in the fight, with Leonardo pressing Bohm against the fence. After an extended period of time, Bohm finally escaped into open space. At range, Bohm began to let some leg kicks go, but Leonardo was launching body kicks of her own. Leonardo then clinched back up against the cage, and that’s where the round came to a close.

Leonardo continued to close the distance in the second round. Despite remaining vertical, Bohm was struggling to get her back off of the cage. When she finally did get off the fence, she was able to land an elbow on the break. In open space, Leonardo was striking her way into close quarters, and went back to pinning Bohm against the cage. With about 30-seconds to go, Bohm got free and started to connect with hard body kicks that seemed to bother Leonardo.

Leonardo punched her way into the clinch again in the third, but just could not get the fight down to the ground. In open space it was Leonardo who was actually showing the urgency with her punches, and Bohm who was initiating the clinch. The fight went back to the cage, but the referee refused to allow any stalling and broke them back apart. With just under 30-second left, Leonardo got her takedown to finish up the round on top.

Nicolas Dalby def. Claudio Silva by unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 29-27): Welterweight

Silva was looking to close the distance right away, working hard to get Dalby down to the mat. Dalby was doing a good job of defending and staying on his feet, but the persistence of Silva won out. Silva got on top and went right to full mount, and spent some time there before Dalby was able to get to half guard. Silva wasn’t doing much damage, but he was controlling for the entire round.

The second round saw Dalby land a couple of kicks before get taken down. On the ground, Silva went to the back and locked up a body triangle. Dalby managed to spin around into top position and had his turn at controlling. He was also dropping some elbows and punches. Silva stood up and Dalby began to tee off, landing clean punches in bunches. The desperation wrestling wasn’t working for Silva, and Dalby started to unload knees from the clinch.

Silva tried for a takedown to begin the final round, but ended up flopping to his back instead. Dalby took top position inside of the full guard, and was sprinkling in elbows when the opportunities presented themselves. Silva was split open, and Dalby elected to stand back up. The striking onslaught continued to pour on, but Silva was able to change levels and score a takedown. Dalby locked up an omoplata, which ate up some clock, but Silva was able to escape into side control. The round ended with Dalby exploding back up to his feet.

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Join us here at Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, and play-by-play (main card) as UFC London: Blaydes vs. Aspinall goes down from the O2 in England.

The main event for this fight night will take place in the heavyweight division with possible title implications, as Curtis Blaydes crosses the ocean to take on Tom Aspinall in his home country. The co-main will see Jack Hermansson take on late replacement Chris Curtis in a middleweight battle. Crowd favorite Paddy Pimblett is also on the main card, taking on Jordan Leavitt.

This will be an ESPN+ show and is kicking off early due to the time difference. The eight-fight preliminary card is scheduled to start at Noon ET/9am PT on ESPN+. The six-fight main card will stay on ESPN+ and that is scheduled to start at 3pm ET/Noon PT.

Main Card (3 PM ET, ESPN+)

Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall

Chris Curtis vs. Jack Hermansson

Paddy Pimblett vs. Jordan Leavitt

Nikita Krylov vs. Alexander Gustafsson

Molly McCann vs. Hannah Goldy

Volkan Oezdemir vs. Paul Craig

Preliminary Card (12 PM ET, ESPN+)

L’udovit Klein vs. Mason Jones

Marc Diakiese vs. Damir Hadzovic

Nathaniel Wood vs. Charles Rosa

Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jonathan Pearce

Muhammad Mokaev vs. Charles Johnson

Jai Herbert vs. Kyle Nelson

Victoria Leonardo vs. Mandy Bohm

Claudio Silva vs. Nicolas Dalby

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Bellator MMA is in the state of Washington for the first time in the promotion’s history.

At the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Bellator 283 sees former welterweight champion Douglas Lima take on rising contender Jason Jackson. Lima did miss weight for this so it’s a catchweight. We were supposed to have Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire defending his title against Sidney Outlaw in the original main event, but Pitbull is out with injury and instead Outlaw has a really tough fight against the debuting former RIZIN standout Tofiq Musayev, who holds a win over Patricky.

This card also includes super prospect Usman Nurmagomedov against Chris Gonzalez, former UFC heavyweight Marcelo GOlm vs. Davion Franklin, and UFC and Strikeforce veteran Lorenz Larkin against the talented Mukhamed Berkhamov.

Bellator 283 kicks off with a free live stream of the prelims, which can be watched at the top of the page starting at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT. Showtime has the main card at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT. You can watch the main card on Bellator’s YouTube channel if you live in other select international jurisdictions. BBC iPlayer has this card for the United Kingdom viewers.

Main Card (Showtime at 10 p.m. ET)

Jason Jackson def. Douglas Lima by unanimous decision (50-45 x3)

Tofiq Musayev def. Sidney Outlaw via KO (punches) at :27 of Round 1

Usman Nurmagomedov def. Chris Gonzalez via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:54 of Round 1

Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Lorenz Larkin declared no-contest (unintentional illegal elbow) at 2:52 of Round 1

Marcelo Golm def. Davion Franklin via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:36 of Round 3

Preliminary card (Online at 7 p.m. ET)

Dalton Rosta def. Romero Cotton via TKO (left hook) at :38 of Round 3

Veta Arteaga def. Vanessa Porto via submission (guillotine choke) at 3:47 of Round 2

Gadzhi Rabadanov def. Bobby King via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Akhmed Magomedov def. Kevin Boehm via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:16 of Round 1

Roman Faraldo def. Luis Iniguez via KO (punch) at 3:42 of Round 1

Jaylon Bates def. Mark Coates via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Archie Colgan def. Bryan Nuro via TKO (punches) at 1:15 of Round 3

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Pro wrestling’s biggest name has decided to call it a a day, and a former UFC heavyweight champion apparently isn’t having it. Or is he?

The world of pro wrestling was flipped on its head today, and no one is sure how this is all going to play out.

Vince McMahon, the guru of sports entertainment’s biggest company World Wrestling Entertainment, decided to announce his retirement today at the ripe old age of 76. He initially announced his decision via social media, then through a press release. Here’s a portion of what it said:

“As I approach 77 years old, I feel it’s time for me to retire as Chairman and CEO of WWE. Throughout the years, it’s been a privilege to help WWE bring you joy, inspire you, thrill you, surprise you, and always entertain you. I would like to thank my family for mightily contributing to our success, and I would also like to thank all of our past and present Superstars and employees for their dedication and passion for our brand. Most importantly, I would like to thank our fans for allowing us into your homes every week and being your choice of entertainment. I hold the deepest appreciation and admiration for our generations of fans all over the world who have liked, currently like, and sometimes even love our form of Sports Entertainment.”

Pretty much any pro wrestling fan probably took this announcement with a grain of salt, because McMahon has said for many years that he would never retire. But according to all of the most influential wrestling insiders, including Dave Meltzer, this is actually a real thing.

McMahon has been under massive scrutiny for the last few months following two Wall Street Journal articles that called him out for a string of illicit affairs that led to him paying large settlements in exchange for the silence of a number of women. He stepped down as WWE chairman last month, and said he would cooperate with the ongoing investigation taking place due to the allegations.

Now, he has apparently stepped away completely from the company he bought from his father in 1982 and turned into a billion-dollar business. This apparently includes giving up creative control, which would have seemed unfathomable just a few months ago.

This decision will have industry-changing implications. There are a bunch of different angles to consider here, from the fact that his company might be on the shopping block (and the most logical buyer might be Endeavour, who also owns the UFC), to how their creative decisions will be handled now, to how new co-CEOs Stephanie McMahon (Vince’s daughter) and Nick Khan will steer the company.

But one gigantic implication went down pretty much immediately after it was announced. Former UFC heavyweight champion and basically the top guy in WWE, Brock Lesnar, apparently walked out of WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown show after finding out Vince was gone.

Multiple sources have stated that Brock said something along the lines of “If he’s gone, I’m gone.”

Lesnar was scheduled to headline one of WWE’s biggest pay-per-views of the year, SummerSlam, on July 30th. While everything in pro wrestling could be a work and not a shoot (storyline or not storyline), by all accounts so far this appears to be legitimate. Losing Lesnar would be a massive blow to the company, and it coinciding with their creative genius McMahon stepping away could be potentially crippling.

Stephanie McMahon opened SmackDown tonight, albeit briefly, to give Vince some props on the way out. No mention was made of Lesnar. We’ll just have to see how the company handles the next eight days leading up to the PPV, and (unfortunately, at least to me) it might be the return of another guy that flirted with MMA for many years – Bill Goldberg.

EDIT – Lesnar just showed up on SmackDown. Crisis averted?

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BE striking analyst Connor Ruebusch breaks down the body shots UFC fighter Chris Curtis uses to break down his opponents.

Chris Curtis was a veteran of 24 fights when he competed on season two of DWTNCS (that’s Dana White’s Dancing with the Contenders, for the uninitiated). A sharp boxer with solid defense and heavy hands, Curtis was what we in the horse-trading business call a finished product. He was good, and he was ready.

Of the ten men up for contract consideration on that night, White chose to sign Alonzo Menifield (now 5-3 in the UFC) and fan favorite Greg Hardy (4-5 in the UFC plus one no contest, currently riding a three-fight skid).

Chris Curtis was not selected, despite an exciting performance which ended in a stellar KO. Also competing on the same card was Kevin Holland, who was likewise passed over.

Fortunately for both men–and for Dana White and company, who really know how to pick ‘em–the modern UFC is in constant need of short-notice fill-ins. For Holland, that meant an appointment with light heavyweight contender Thiago Santos less than two months after his Contender Series bid. While Holland would go on to lose his overmatched debut, he has now amassed a remarkable 10-3, 1 NC record in the UFC and established himself as a contender in the welterweight division.

Curtis, meanwhile, would have to wait another 28 months before finally getting his summons to the big show, during which interim he competed in a staggering nine fights. At one point, while fighting in PFL, Curtis lost twice on the same night. He announced his retirement after the first, and then reaffirmed it.

It didn’t stick, thank goodness. Curtis was back in the cage within five months, and quickly put together a five-fight winning streak. Now 26-8 as a pro, less than two years removed from the worst night of his career, Curtis got the call to fight Phil Hawes at Madison Square Garden.

And here he is. 3-0 in the UFC with two spectacular KOs, Curtis is once more filling in on short notice, this time replacing Darren Till in the co-main event slot opposite middleweight contender Jack Hermansson.

Doubtless there are many reasons for Chris Curtis’ astounding success in this late stage of his long career. Clearly he is one hell of a hard bastard, a man who doesn’t know how to quit, even when he wants to. But we began this article with a mention of his veteran savvy, his completeness as a combat athlete. And nothing in MMA marks a veteran as well as his willingness to employ, shall we say, less glamorous techniques.

Everyone loves a knockout, and novice fighters tend to spend every second of every fight in single-minded pursuit of that sweet, sweet KO.

But guys like Chris Curtis know how to build up to the KO. How to break an opponent down piece by piece, confuse him, wear him out. Guys like Chris Curtis don’t chase the finish; they invest in it. They put money in the bank—even when their actual bank account has more cobwebs than cold hard cash.

In a word, veteran fighters work the body. And if we take that as the mark of a fighter’s wisdom, then Chris Curtis is practically Moses.

So with that, let’s take a trip into the kitchen and study how one old man cooks up a rack of ribs.

The Money Punch

There are lots of ways to attack the body, and, at the risk of painting with too broad a brush, they’re all good.

Body work is good in general, because it’s so efficient. The opponent’s torso is his largest target, and the most difficult to move out of the way. It’s harder to defend the body than it is the head, and extremely difficult to defend both at once, increasing the likelihood of a clean KO (this is how coaches sell young bucks on the idea of body work in the first place). Body work slows the opponent down, further increasing the likelihood that he will make a fatal mistake at some later stage in the fight. And—a crucial point for MMA fighters, specifically—body shots are a wrestler’s worst nightmare. Not only does a body shot serve as a readymade underhook in the case of a takedown attempt, but the very act of changing levels may turn that body shot into a head shot. And even if the wrestler doesn’t run face-first into the punch, the fact that said punch is aimed directly at his center of gravity makes driving through to secure the takedown a tall order.

Perhaps no single technique accomplishes all these objectives as elegantly as the one Chris Curtis likes best: the rear uppercut. Here’s an example from his win over Rodolfo Vieira.

1. Curtis puts up his guard, inviting Rodolfo Vieira to throw something at it.

2. Vieira obliges, firing a probing jab which Curtis parries, using the opportunity to step into range.

3. This step-in comes with a feint, which Vieira reacts to, parrying what he thinks is a jab…

4. …leaving him wide open for the Chris Curtis special, a left uppercut to the pit of the stomach.

This example succinctly demonstrates a few of Curtis’ favorite tactics—using the high guard to draw offense (read: openings) out of his opponent, transitioning smoothly from defense to offense, throwing in feints to confuse the opponent’s timing and defenses—but I want to focus on that one, ingenious punch. The back hand uppercut to the body.

This isn’t a punch you see very often, especially in MMA. It doesn’t feel quite as natural to throw as the cross or the lead hook. The moment just after you pull your elbow back and sight up the shot is a scary one: you feel exposed, vulnerable, easy to predict. And once the punch has landed, there you are: smack in the pocket, feeling the pressing need to either follow up with more punches or else get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.

But damn, is it effective. The uppercut works well against an opponent who instinctively ducks, but if he stands there and does nothing it will still land just fine. The trajectory is diagonal, not straight up-and-down. An uppercut doesn’t become an underhook the way other body shots do; it practically is an underhook. And because the uppercut swoops up from below, it is particularly effective at punishing takedown attempts, or any other aggressive posture.

Countering to the Body

Countering to the body isn’t easy. Most fighters feel more exposed while throwing body shots, so it doesn’t come natural to fire them in the middle of an exchange. The safest and most efficient way to throw a body shot is to change levels—ideally, you bend your knees until you can throw the body punch in more or less the same way you would a punch to the head. But doing so requires a stable position and solid footwork, which means you can’t allow whatever defense you use to prepare your counter to compromise your balance or the integrity of your stance.

But counter shots to the body are absolutely devastating.

Counters in general are effective because they land when the opponent isn’t ready to be hit; he thinks he’s punching you one moment, and then the next—bam—it turns out he’s got it backwards. If his initial attack has thrown off his position, then all the better. That way he’ll not only be surprised by the punch, but less capable of physically withstanding it. A solid stance helps to absorb and dissipate the shock of impact; a compromised stance… doesn’t.

All of these factors apply to body shot counters, with one additional advantage over head shots: they really, really suck. Body shots hurt—actually hurt. A blow to the face doesn’t feel good. It certainly will hurt if you haven’t spent two minutes walking to the cage while adrenaline floods your veins. But body shots just plain hurt, no matter how pumped you are. A head shot may stun but a good body shot is withering. It takes the wind out of you, and the will to fight with it. All the worse if you don’t see it coming, if yo throw yourself onto it. God help you if you happen to be sucking in a breath when it connects.

Curtis counters to the body better than the vast majority of MMA fighters. Here he is checking Brendan Allen’s excitement with a pair of sharp shots to the midriff.

1. Curtis edges into range, squaring his shoulders.

2. One of Curtis’ favorite strikes: an Eddie Alvarez-esque dart left, like a rear hand jab.

3. Curtis resets.

4. Brendan Allen wants to get that punch back. He lunges in with a cross of his own, which Curtis parries.

5. Immediately after defending, Curtis drops his level and throws a right hook—which doesn’t land, but serves to get him into position for…

6. …the usual left uppercut to the belly…

7. …followed by a right hook to the ribs.

8. Allen tries to grab hold of Curtis and counter with a clinch attack, but Curtis rolls out of his grasp and pivots to safely reset.

Note how Curtis positions himself for those two rib roasters. He doesn’t get all the way down, so he’s making eye contact with Allen’s nipples, but there’s enough of level change for him to find his targets without reaching too far. Had Allen followed the cross in frame 4 with a left hook, it would have sailed over Curtis’ head. He does get the idea to grab Curtis by the back of the head and start firing clinch knees somewhere between frames 7 and 8, but the Action Man isn’t as clinchable as he may appear. If he were bent forward at the waist, he’d be a prime target for some brutal clinch knees. Instead, with Curtis sitting down into his stance, Allen finds his posture difficult to break, and loses him before he can get off a single knee.

The Sucker

For some, body shots are enough on their own. It’s a species of strike for the connoisseurs, the people who neither want nor need a sloppy, parking lot brawl getting in the way of a nice, tactical bout of proper fisticuffs.

Of course, what normal people like about body shots is that they lead to dudes getting knocked the fuck out.

Fortunately, Chris Curtis isn’t above playing to the cheap seats. He’d be perfectly happy to finish you outright with the body shots alone, but once they start landing clean, he is absolutely gonna chuck a few at your chin just to be safe.

1. A familiar position: Curtis backs Brendan Allen up to the fence, then throws up the guard, inviting Allen to make the first move.

2. Like Vieira in our first example, Allen tries a probing jab which Curtis slaps down…

3. …before firing a jab of his own right across the bow.

4. Curtis hop-steps to the right, taking an outside angle on Allen and loading his left hand in the same movement.

5. Curtis sends in that thudding left uppercut to the body. Allen, to his credit, catches the punch on his elbow.

6. His defense successful, Allen begins to reposition himself to fire back, pivoting to his left to open up his own rear hand.

7. Not quick enough. Curtis finishes his combination with a short right hook, which sneaks over Allen’s shoulder and nails him before he has a chance to see it coming.

Everyone knows why body shots lead to knockouts. You hit the guy in the belly, he drops his guard.

That is part of what happens here. Allen shells up to block the body shot, defending his abdomen with both hands. Curtis’ right might have been blocked if Allen’s left stayed glued to his cheek. Then again, Curtis might not have thrown a right hook at all if Allen kept both hands up—he may just have hit the body a second time, and all the nerds would have cheered. But there is nothing fundamentally wrong with Allen’s defensive technique. It would have been possible to block or deflect Curtis’ right hand with a shoulder, or Allen might have simply moved his head.

The greater part of this knockout has to do with Curtis’ positioning. Previous examples have already shown how Curtis uses his punches (and feints) to bridge the gap between positions. He might feint in order to close distance, or throw a blinding punch while he changes levels to attack the body, or pivot while throwing a hook. Fighters like to call themselves warriors, but they’re more like duellists. A warrior usually has buddies around to lay down some covering fire; a duellist has to do it all on his own.

Take another look at Curtis’ footwork. Watch the GIF. He hits a small pivot while parrying Allen’s jab. As he fires back with his own, he hop-steps to the right. This complex movement changes the angle of attack, giving Curtis’ left hand a clear line to the center of Allen’s body, while simultaneously closing the gap and transferring weight onto the back foot to lend more power to the punch. This precise positioning forces Allen to commit heavily to his defense of the body shot, giving Curtis time to maneuver further. By the time Allen has blocked the left hand, Curtis has slid completely out of his crosshairs. Before he can even think about throwing back or continuing to defend, he has to move his feet—but he just doesn’t have time.

The final punch Curtis throws is barely even a right hook. It’s almost perfectly straight, and travels only about eight inches before smashing into Allen’s jaw. And because it comes off the rotation of Curtis’ beloved left uppercut, it packs more than enough power to send Allen reeling. Most importantly, Allen simply doesn’t see it coming—a crucial ingredient of almost every knockout punch. The southpaw right hook is always a sneaky shot; it has a way of hiding behind the orthodox fighter’s own shoulder until just before it crushes him, and it comes from a shorter distance than the left hand he’s usually expecting. These factors are only enhanced by the fact that Curtis uses each action preceding the right hook to completely outposition his foe.

Chris Curtis is a remarkable fighter. Aside from the fact that he seems like a genuinely friendly guy, even capable of being nice to Sean Strickland, he is an interesting athlete to watch. Shorter than many of his opponents, more specialized than most, Curtis keeps surpassing expectations because he knows exactly how his toolkit works.

It might have taken a long time—too long—for Chris Curtis’ UFC dreams to come true, but a few extra years of polishing don’t seem to have hurt him at all. If you want to cook ribs in the UFC, a little seasoning helps.

–

For more on Chris Curtis and the other, lesser fighters of UFC FIght Night: Blaydes vs Aspinall, check out the latest episode of Heavy Hands, the podcast dedicated to the finer points of face-punching.

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Alexander Gustafsson returns to light heavyweight to face Nikita Krylov at UFC London

Time can change some things, but it can’t change facts and one fact is that the UFC light heavyweight division is not now — nor was it ever — Alexander Gustafsson’s division.

Gustafsson, who returns to the octagon for the first time since July 2020 and competes for the first time at 205 pounds since June 2019, made the above claim in the days leading up to his fight opposite the No. 11 ranked light heavyweight, Nikita Krylov. Gustafsson, who claimed ownership of the division, is unranked.

Gustafsson was in two of the greatest fights in UFC light heavyweight history. His 2013 scrap opposite Jon Jones and his 2015 matchup against Daniel Cormier — he was the title challenger in both those contests. Gustafsson failed to get his hand raised in either outing.

Following the loss to Cormier at UFC 192, Gustafsson defeated Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira to get a second shot at Jones and the (then vacant) light heavyweight crown, but Jones knocked Gustafsson out in the third round of that bout.

Gustafsson followed that TKO loss with a submission defeat to Anthony Smith in June 2019. The Swedish fighter, who headlined that card in his home country, retired after the loss. An emotional Gustafsson took his gloves off after the fight and told UFC commentator Dan Hardy inside the octagon, “the show is over, guys” as he dropped his mitts to the canvas.

Gustafsson fell from the No. 2 ranking to No. 4 in the official UFC light heavyweight rankings following his loss to Smith. He remained in the rankings until late July 2020. Gustafsson was at the No. 7 spot before the UFC removed him from the official light heavyweight rankings. That removal followed his return to action. On July 26, 2020, Fabricio Werdum submitted Gustafsson via armbar in a heavyweight matchup.

Gustafsson has been in some wars during his MMA career, but at 35, he’s not an old light heavyweight. In fact, none of the fighters ranked inside the top-10 in the latest edition of the UFC 205-pound rankings is under 30 and three ranked fighters — Jan Blachowicz, Glover Teixeira and Thiago Santos are older than Gustafsson. Which is to say, while the division is not his, there is still time for Gustafsson to make it his.

A victory on the UFC London card against Krylov is the first step in turning that dream into reality for the former title challenger. The 30-year-old Krylov is 2-4 in his past six outings and riding a two-fight losing skid. His most recent bout ended in Paul Craig submitting him in 3:57 in March.

If Gustafsson is to make another run to the top of the division, he must beat Krylov. There’s no question about that. The oddsmakers don’t see that happening. Krylov is a 2-1 favorite over Gustafsson ahead of their matchup at the 02 Arena in London.

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See what happens on the scales ahead of the UFC’s latest UK invasion.

The UFC returns to London, England this weekend for a show at the O2 Arena. The UFC seems intent on visiting the UK more often nowadays, a move prompted by an unusually good crop of English talent on the roster.

This card features many of the hottest British prospects on the roster, including Tom Aspinall (who fights Curtis Blaydes in the main event), Paddy Pimblett (who faces Jordan Leavitt) and Muhammad Mokaev (who takes on Charles Johnson).

The card also includes a number of well-known European veterans including Nikita Krylov and Alexander Gustafsson, who fight each other on the main card. There’s also appearances by Paul Craig, Makwan Amirkhani, Molly McCann, Nicolas Dalby and Mason Jones.

The co-main event was supposed to be Darren Till vs. Jack Hermansson. However, an injury to till means ‘The Joker’ will now be fighting Chris Curtis instead.

Before any of these fights take place, we’ve got the weigh-ins to consider — both official and ceremonial.

The official weigh-ins are due to get started around 5AM ET.

The ceremonial weigh-ins will air on the UFC’s YouTube channel at 12 PM ET.

Full results:

Main card (3 PM ET on ESPN+):

Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall

Middleweight: Jack Hermansson vs. Chris Curtis

Lightweight: Paddy Pimblett vs. Jordan Leavitt

Light heavyweight: Nikita Krylov vs. Alexander Gustafsson

Flyweight: Molly McCann vs. Hannah Goldy

Light heavyweight: Paul Craig vs. Volkan Oezdemir

Prelim card (12 PM ET on ESPN+):

Lightweight: L’udovit Klein vs. Mason Jones

Lightweight: Marc Diakiese vs. Damir Hadzovic

Featherweight: Nathanial Wood vs. Charles Rosa

Featherweight: Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jonathan Pearce

Flyweight: Muhammad Mokaev vs. Charles Johnson

Lightweight: Jai Herbert vs. Kyle Nelson

Flyweight: Mandy Bohm vs. Victoria Leonardo

Welterweight: Nicolas Dalby vs. Claudio Silva

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Here’s what has been booked for UFC 280 on October 22nd in Abu Dhabi.

The UFC has gone all-out for its October 22nd pay-per-view in Abu Dhabi. There are two title fights and a slew of fights with major title implications that make this event one of the most stacked of 2022… and the card is only about halfway booked.

In the main event, Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev vie for the vacant lightweight title. Oliveira is the uncrowned champion, if you will, considering he was the champ against Justin Gaethje until he was stripped of the belt for a controversial weight miss. As for the co-main, men’s bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling puts his title on the line against former champ T.J. Dillashaw.

As for those non-title fights? Terrific. Former bantamweight champ Petr Yan returns to action against Sean O’Malley, Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot face off in a massive lightweight clash, Belal Muhammad battles Sean Brady in a key welterweight affair, and Brazilian strawweights Amanda Lemos and Marina Rodriguez go toe-to-toe.

We can’t wait to see what other fights are lined up for UFC 280! Here is what we have so far:

Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev

Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw

Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley

Beneil Dariush vs. Mateusz Gamrot

Belal Muhammad vs. Sean Brady

Amanda Lemos vs. Marina Rodriguez

Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Lucas Almeida

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Chael Sonnen cautions Charles Oliveira not to underestimate Islam Makhachev’s striking.

The popular narrative heading into the recently-announced UFC 280 main event between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev is that the only path to victory for Makhahcev is on the ground.

Makhachev trains under legendary UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov, who, like Makhachev, is known for his Sambo above all else. The Dagestani duo are confident Makhachev will dominate Oliveira on the ground despite “Do Bronx” possessing a dangerous submission game to compliment his vicious Muay Thai.

But let’s not forget that “there are no black belts in striking”, courtesy of Chael Sonnen. The former UFC title challenger turned podcast host and MMA analyst cautioned that Makhachev could surprise Oliveira if the fight stays standing and not to write off the Russian’s knockout power ahead of the lightweight matchup.

“We do always lean to, ‘I’ve seen Oliveira do more on his feet than I’ve seen Islam. And therefore Oliveira is better’”, Sonne said on his YouTube channel (h/t Sportskeeda). “It really doesn’t matter… There’s no black belts in striking… If I set you up and I do something beautiful, put my left hand right on your face, good for me. If you walk straight into me with no setup or understanding whatsoever and you punch me on the face with your left hand, we’re even … I do see where Charles is favored on his feet. I just wanna push back a little bit… we don’t actually know. We’ve not actually seen Islam there.”

Makhachev has just one KO victory under the UFC banner, that being a standing knockout of Gleison Tibau back in 2018. The rest of his fights were won on the ground, either by submission or TKO. The No. 4-ranked lightweight will take on Oliveira for the vacant lightweight championship at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

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A top-tier lightweight matchup is the latest addition to the already stacked UFC 280 card in Abu Dhabi.

Another top-tier match-up has been added to UFC 280. According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, number four-ranked Beneil Dariush will be facing number nine-ranked Mateusz Gamrot at the October 22nd event.

The 33-year-old Dariush (21-4-1) is on a seven-fight win streak, with his most recent victory happening against “El Cucuy” Tony Ferguson at UFC 262 in May 2021. He was slated to face Islam Makhachev at UFC Vegas 49 in late February but had to pull out due to an ankle injury. He was subsequently replaced by Bobby Green, who lost to Makhachev via first-round TKO.

Likewise, the 31-year-old Gamrot (21-1, 1 NC), is on a winning streak of four fights. He last competed against Arman Tsarukyan in June and won via decision along with a $ 50K bonus for Fight of the Night.

UFC 280 is set to take place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Expected to headline the event is the vacant lightweight title fight between former champion Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. Right before it is another championship bout between bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling and ex-champion T.J. Dillashaw.

Also part of the event is a 135-pound bout between former champion Petr Yan and Sean O’Malley.

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