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Check out what happened at Invicta FC 48: Tennant vs. Rubin on Wednesday night. 

Invicta Fighting Championships visited ReelWorks Denver in Colorado for the first time on Wednesday night with a six-fight event that featured a bantamweight championship fight between Taneisha Tennant and Olga Rubin.

Taneisha Tennant vs. Olga Rubin

Tennant and Rubin opened with kicks. The challenger saw an opening on the champion and pressed forward, clinching with and getting her down (for a brief moment). Tennant returned to her feet, but Rubin stayed up against the cage until she separated. Once they return to the center, Tennant and Rubin exchanged. ‘Triple Threat’ got a nice right hand on ‘Big Bad’ as the first round ended.

Tennant was much more aggressive in the second round. She connected with those right hands, but was forced into the clinch again by Rubin. Knees were exchanged until Tennant reversed position. Near the end of the round, Tennant turned it up and let off some right hands and knees. It was much of the same in the third round, with Tennant staving off takedown attempts and closing out with a flurry of punches. The fourth round was interesting as Tennant threatened (and scored) a takedown against Rubin, who immediately went for a buggy choke. She held it until the round ended, but she may have burned out her legs. Rubin went for it in the fifth round, pushing Tennant up against the cage and securing a takedown. Tennant was forced to defend for nearly all of the allotted five minutes, but had the more damaging shots throughout. Very close fight. Tennant retained by split decision.

Talita Bernardo vs. Yana Gadelha

Short-notice opponent? No problem for Talita Bernardo, who submitted Yana Gadelha by second-round rear-naked choke in the co-headliner of the evening. The fight started off striking, but it was not long before Bernardo and Gadelha went to grappling. Bernardo changed levels, got a takedown and went for a kimura. Gadelha swept Bernardo and ended up in half-guard, where she unloaded some elbows. Gadelha then went for a kneebar, but Bernardo spun out before the first round ended. Bernardo got the fight to the ground again, taking the back and going to work on the rear-naked choke. It was on the jaw initially, but Bernardo adjusted and got it right under the chin. Gadelha tapped.

Liana Pirosin vs. Kristina Williams

Kristina Williams got her second win in Invicta FC with a first-round rear-naked choke of Liana Pirosin. ‘Warhorse’ controlled the distance early and kept ‘Li’ on the outside. Pirosin fought her way into range and connected with a right hand, but Williams responded with a flurry. Suddenly Williams dropped Pirosin with a combination! Pirosin turned and tried to get up, but Williams was already on her back with the rear-naked choke. Fun fact: That was the first submission win of Williams’ professional career.

Melissa Oddessa vs. Isis Verbeek

Melissa Oddessa vs. Isis Verbeek was a scrap! The exchanges were fast, with Oddessa moving forward with her left hand and Verbeek mixing in her punches and kicks. Oddessa and Verbeek clinched, and the former GLORY kickboxing veteran got off some knees before separating. The first round ended with the judges seeing it 2-1 for Oddessa. The second round began with Verbeek blasting ‘Bella Bestia’ with a flying knee! WOW! Oddessa recovered and continued to advance on Verbeek. Now Oddessa nearly finished Verbeek with a flurry of punches that stunned the ‘Fight Queen’ in the second round. Oddessa and Verbeek went all out in the third round and that was it. Verbeek was declared the winner by unanimous decision, her first win under the Invicta FC banner.

Amber Leibrock vs. Morgan Frier

Amber Leibrock finished Morgan Frier with a first-round rear-naked choke. Frier spent her time trying to get Leibrock to the ground, clinching with and pressuring her opponent up against the cage. But ‘Touch ‘Em Up’ reversed position and separated from ‘Mad Dog’ for a few seconds before she found herself defending a takedown attempt again. This time, it was Leibrock who got Frier to the ground, where she unloaded a few left hands until she switched to the back and secured the fight-ending submission.

Auttumn Norton vs. Maria Djukic

Auttumn Norton returned to Invicta FC and scored a second-round TKO of Maria Djukic. The ‘Natural’ found a home for her left hand early, stunning (and dropping) ’Sweet Maria’ on several occasions throughout the first round. The final left hand sent Djukic to the canvas and Norton followed her down with ground-and-pound until the referee waived off the fight at 1:02 of Round 2.

Full Results:

Auttumn Norton def. Maria Djukic via TKO (punches) at 1:02 of Round 2

Amber Leibrock def. Morgan Frier via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:09 of Round 1

Isis Verbeek def. Melissa Oddessa via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Kristina Williams def. Liana Pirosin via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:16 of Round 1

Talita Bernardo def. Yana Gadelha via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:39 of Round 2

Taneisha Tennant def. Olga Rubin via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 50-45)

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The No. 5 ranked lightweight contender wants another shot at gold. 

Michael Chandler is aiming for a No. 1 contender fight.

Following his ‘Knockout of the Year’ candidate against Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 this past May, the UFC lightweight sought out fights against the upper echelon of the division such as Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor. The former two-division champion expressed interest in Chandler, who he agreed to share the Octagon with ‘at some stage’ in his return from injury. However, the ’Notorious’ one could return by early 2023, leaving ’Iron’ out of action for longer than expected. And with his propensity for staying active, the No. 5 contender could entertain someone else in the meantime.

So who would he consider? Beneil Dariush, especially if he gets Chandler closer to a championship opportunity.

“Next, I want to put myself in line for the title,” Chandler told TMZ Sports. “I think, in my mind, Beneil Dariush was in the No. 1 contender spot with him and [Islam] Makhachev about to fight to become the No. 1 contender. Beneil Dariush is on a four, five, six — no, seven-fight win streak, maybe. So how do you not say that Beneil Dariush might be the No. 1 contender outside of Islam Makhachev. Essentially the No. 2 contender.

“Maybe you put me and Dariush in by the end of the year, we end up getting some answers pretty quick,” continued Chandler. “You got your new champion in Makhachev or the current champion in Charles Oliveira, then you get a clear-cut No. 1 contender, me or Beneil Dariush. That’s the fight that I see as the biggest potential — and the best potential — for me getting back to the title shot.”

That is good news for Dariush, who told CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri he requested a fight against Chandler but had yet to hear anything from the UFC.

“I’ve asked for Dustin [Poirier] or [Michael] Chandler, but I’m not hearing a whole lot,” said Dariush at The UFC Hall of Fame Honors in July. “So we’ll see what happens… At this point, I just need somebody in front of me.”

Dariush has not fought since defeating Ferguson via unanimous decision at UFC 262 a year ago. The 33-year-old was scheduled against Islam Makhachev at UFC Vegas 49 but was forced to withdraw after suffering a broken leg and injured ankle in training. Though he avoided surgery, Dariush has found it challenging to get a fight recently.

The No. 6 contender thought he would be rescheduled with Makhachev, but that is no longer an option now that the Russian is vying for the vacant lightweight championship against Oliveira at UFC 280 in October. And despite rumors of a fight with Poirier going around, the ‘Diamond’ promptly shut those down on social media.

Given their respective positions in the division, a fight between Chandler and Dariush is certainly plausible.

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Jake Paul is backing Nate Diaz to beat Khamzat Chimaev.

YouTube star Jake Paul is confident that Nate Diaz will pull off the upset against massive favorite Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279.

So confident, in fact, that ‘The Problem Child’ will be betting his hard-earned cash on the Stockton native come Sept. 10.

Paul is backing Diaz to beat Khamzat because he believes the latter is overhyped by the UFC and not as dominant as he’s made out to be.

“Betr believe I’m putting my money on Nate Diaz to win versus fake Khabib,” Paul (5-0 boxing) posted after the matchup was announced yesterday.

Paul will return to the boxing ring on Aug. 6 when he meets 12-1 pro Hasim Rahman Jr. at a Showtime Sports event at Madison Square Garden in New York. The 25-year-old is rooting for Diaz to win his fight in the hopes of securing a boxing match with him further down the line.

Diaz has just one fight left on his UFC contract, with The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner looking to transition to boxing win, lose, or draw against Khamzat.

UFC 279, which features Chimaev vs. Diaz as the main event, takes place on Sept. 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Roxanne Modafferi tackles your questions, Happy Warrior style, in her ‘Dear Roxy’ column for Bloody Elbow.

It’s time for another edition of Dear Roxy, where the ‘Happy Warrior’ goes toe-to-toe with questions about fighting, training, and life in general.

In our last edition we talked about self promotion without focusing on sex appeal. We also talked about what I’d change in MMA, given the power to change anything. And we looked at what it takes to maintain good corner communication in the heat of a fight.

In this week’s edition, we’re fielding questions on open scoring and whether or not it has a place in mixed martial arts. We’re also looking at weight cutting in MMA and the possibility for putting more strict systems in place. And we’ll be talking about the potential for bringing a women’s lightweight division to the UFC.

“Dear Roxy,

“How do you feel about open scoring? In my experience from watching recent Invicta FC events sometimes the information comes quite late into the break between rounds, do you think logistics concerns could hamper adopting the policy in UFC?” — Gokou9001

Dear Gokou9001,

I think open scoring is a great idea.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Concerning logistics, I’m not sure exactly how much counting and recording has to get done before judges turn in their scorecards. To the best of my knowledge they aren’t the ones who do the strike count and submit the figures that get put on the screen for “significant strikes” and the like. I’ve never looked over their shoulder while doing it, though. There are only 60 seconds between rounds, but even if the cornermen are just able to glance at the round score, I think it’s still useful because they can chose to send their fighter into the next round with a final word of advice. If it takes 40 seconds to get the information to the person holding the iPad, and 5 seconds for them to climb up the cage and flash it to the cornerman, 15 seconds is better than nothing. Of course, it would be best for the cornerman to be able to formulate different strategy depending on if their fighter is ahead or not, but they should have a general feel of the fight anyway.

I think that if the UFC starts using open scoring, they might implement more advanced technology to get the information faster, which would cut down on time.

It takes the guesswork out of close rounds. I’m glad Invicta is trying it out because it’s a high-level promotion with high-level fighters. There are concerns floating around about fighters who are ahead “coasting” and just doing barely enough to win. What about the other side? If I know for a fact that I’m losing, I’m going to go nuts trying to get a finish to secure myself the victory. That will ensure it’s an exciting fight, unless the opponent runs away the entire time. I’ve never seen a boring fight in Invicta.

“Dear Roxy,

“What are your thoughts on more organizations adopting weight cut parameters (similar to, I believe, ONE) where you have weigh-ins earlier in the process where you have certain benchmark weights at set dates out from the fight; to have less last minute crash cuts?” — From Donnie Oliver

Dear Donnie Oliver,

I feel like fewer and fewer people are missing weight nowadays. I think more people are following better nutrition and using science to aid themselves. I would like to think that some fighters are starting to choose to fight up a weight class where they feel good, rather than cut down and feel crappy just to be larger. I have multiple teammates who have gone up weight classes.

I think it’s a good idea to have certain benchmarks, but I’ve never had to abide by them so I can’t say 100%. I think it would be good for less disciplined people, for sure. It might be annoying for me, since I have my own benchmarks which I’m very strict with. I’m not 100% sure how other fighters like them.

“Dear Roxy,

“What is your take on the women’s weight classes in the UFC? Do you think they should adopt a 155 to attract a different pool of women. It’s had success in PFL. With the average weight of a woman in the USA being 170, and all the “body positivity” in the world today shouldn’t it at least be discussed. I love this sport, but the way my body is built, I would have to lose significant muscle mass to get to a weight class to ever be on the biggest mma platform in the world. In other words my dream is killed from the jump. Why is it that the ufc can support pride month, but can’t support opening weight classes so average sized women can have a shot at showcasing their skills and living their dreams!” — From Lauren Kyle Jones

Dear Lauren,

I absolutely think there should be more opportunities for larger women to have fights. I know how hard it is to find a fight. Trust me—I came up in a time where there weren’t a lot of women fighting period. Then, I felt stuck when they only had 135 and I was 125.

As to whether I think the UFC “should” adopt a larger weight class right now? I think we have to look at the number of fighters to fill the weight classes.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

The PFL is doing such a good job to give women who are 155 opportunities. However, I think that division in the PFL contains a few true 155-ers and also lots of women coming up from 145 or even 135 just for the opportunity.

You mentioned that the average weight of an American woman is 170. Google also says the average height is 5’4” at 170. By those numbers, the average women isn’t fighting; the majority of promotions want finely-tuned, shredded athletes to hire to perform at a high-level. I think we have to consider how many of the taller and more muscular women there are who train and who also weigh 170 lbs. Then, narrow that down to how many of them would be skilled enough to compete even at an amateur level. Narrow that down to those who can go pro, and then who can achieve a skill-level rivaling other UFC fighters.

I actually got a different perspective when I visited Hillary, owner of Unicorn Jiujitsu in Portland. She’s a powerful woman who has fought at 195, 205+, and managed to get to 185 once. She is 5 ft 10. She told me about how hard it was for her. I can only name a few women off the top of my head who are larger with muscle mass that would make it difficult to cut down to 155 lbs. I hope more and more promotions make it possible for larger women to fight and get opportunities so one day soon there will be a group of elite Amazons to make a UFC division. Maybe not tomorrow, but possibly soon. Keep training and fighting! Other women your size need you!

If you’d like to submit your own questions for ‘Dear Roxy’ feel free to email me at [email protected], with the subject line “Dear Roxy”, or reach out on twitter @RoxyFighter with the hashtag #DearRoxy. Or simply leave your questions in a comment below on Bloody Elbow. Look forward to hearing from you all soon.

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Sean Strickland thinks “twinkle toes” Israel Adesanya has what it takes to beat Alex Pereira in their likely upcoming UFC middleweight title fight.

Sean Strickland is anything other than shy in offering his opinion to fans and the media. So, when the UFC middleweight contender recently fielded a question about a matchup between his recent foe, Alex Pereira, and UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, it’s no surprise that he had a few things to get off his chest.

“Let me tell you something, just cause you can fight doesn’t mean you’re not a b-tch,” Strickland told The Schmo in a recent interview (transcript via MMA Fighting). “Don’t forget that. Ask that to Izzy. Just cause you can fight, don’t mean you’re not a b-tch. And I think Izzy’s gonna beat Alex. I think Izzy’s gonna stand there and Izzy’s gonna bounce around and outpoint Alex for five rounds and we’re all gonna say Izzy’s the best in the world. Doesn’t change the fact that he’s a b-tch.

“He’s gonna float around and win but at the end of the day, no one remembers how you win, they just remember that you win. So even though he’s gonna f-cking dance around on his little twinkle toes, he’s still gonna win. I hope he doesn’t, but I still think he’s gonna win. F-cking Izzy.”

Pereira, who is the No. 5 ranked fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings, earned that number next to his name thanks, in large part, to his first-round knockout win over Strickland at UFC 276. Unranked before that contest, Pereira ended Strickland’s six-fight winning streak with the victory. Strickland was the No. 4 ranked 185-pounder in the UFC on fight night. He has since fell to the No. 7 spot.

On the same card, Adesanya retained his title with a widely criticized decision win over Jared Cannonier.

The UFC is expected to book Pereira opposite Adesanya for the champion’s next title defense. UFC president Dana White has guaranteed that fight, when it does take place, will be “absolutely batshit nuts.”

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The middleweight top contender sounds anything but impressed by Chimaev’s recent attempt to get Dana White to book the two men for a battle in the Octagon.

Khamzat Chimaev made an instant reputation with the UFC for his willingness to fight anyone at anytime. The Chechen-born Allstar Training Center product ran out three straight wins between the middleweight and welterweight divisions in just three months back in 2020, turning himself into one of the promotion’s most hyped prospects along the way.

While a wicked case of COVID and a climb toward title contention have slowed the pace of his bookings lately, it doesn’t seem to have dampened Chimaev’s desire to chase down bigger and better challenges. Including, apparently, a potential fight with likely middleweight title challenger Alex Pereira.

As it’s turned out, the UFC has totally different plans for Chimaev—with the July 19th announcement that he’ll be facing Nate Diaz in the main event UFC 279 this coming September. That’s probably for the best, considering Pereira’s reaction to ‘Borz’ calling for a fight between them. By all accounts, the Brazilian was anything other than impressed.

“Look at this guy,” Pereira said of Chimaev’s tweet in a recent interview on MMA Fighting’s Trocacao Franca podcast. “I’m going to fight for the belt, it’s guaranteed. He wants to attention. ‘Oh, I wanna fight this guy.’ He knows I’m the next contender and he still says something like that. I’d like to see [what he would do] if Dana White came out and said, ‘Alex, your shot at Adesanya is guaranteed but he wants some time to prepare, so fight this guy first because he wants to fight you. Your title shot is still guaranteed.’ Let’s see what he would say.

“[Chimaev] wants attention because he knows it doesn’t make sense. I’m going to go back and fight him when I’m already guaranteed for the belt? He wants attention, but he’ll have to take a number and go back to the line.”

“These guys wanna make a name for themselves [by talking],” Pereira added. “If I wasn’t going to fight for the belt already and he said something like that, hats off to him. But the way he’s doing it, he’s a coward. He’s a coward seeking attention.”

No word yet on just when fans might expect to see Pereira face off against Adesanya in the Octagon. However, ‘Poatan’ already holds a pair of victories over the ‘Last Stylebender’ from their kickboxing days, adding a serious layer of intrigue to their first meeting under MMA rules. Couple that with Pereira’s 3-0 UFC run, including a spectacular KO over Sean Strickland earlier this month, and UFC president Dana White has essentially guaranteed that the UFC is making him the next defense of Adesanya’s title.

“I f-cking guarantee you. I absolutely, positively guarantee you that the next fight that Israel Adesanya fights will be bat-sh-t nuts,” White told the assembled media at the UFC on ABC 3: Ortega vs. Rodriguez post-fight presser, speaking of Pereira.

In the meantime, Chimaev will just have to settle for his upcoming battle with Diaz, and the very likely welterweight title shot that will await him if he comes out of that booking with his hand raised.

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ESPN reports that the welterweight bout has been verbally agreed on by both parties, for a five-round, non-title fight main event.

It looks like Nate Diaz is finally getting his wish. The former Ultimate Fighter winner and lightweight title contender has been calling for the UFC to give him the last fight on his current contract with the promotion for months, so that he can test the waters of free agency. ESPN now reports that final booking is all but finalized.

Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell told the UFC broadcast partner that a bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz has been verbally agreed upon. The fight would serve as the main event for the upcoming UFC 279 PPV on September 10th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The bout’s been one the promotion has been chasing since fall of last year, following Chimaev’s victory over Li Jingliang. After that win, the Chechen sent a message through the assembled media, “Hey, Diaz, let’s go, brother. Let’s go. You gonna get some smoke, bro. Let’s see who is the real gangster.”

Diaz seemed dismissive of the callout at the time. But a victory for ‘Borz’ over top contender Gilbert Burns back in April, along with Diaz’s growing interest in a boxing match against Jake Paul—and the ongoing contract struggles with the UFC that that’s caused—appear to have changed the tune.

The welterweight bout had apparently initially been targeted by the promotion for their UFC 276 PPV, headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier. However, Diaz claims that each offer he’s received for a fight from the UFC has come with a new contract extension attached as well, one that he wasn’t interested in signing.

“They want me to fight Conor. I’m not fighting Conor McGregor right now,” Diaz said in a recent interview on the MMA Hour. “Our timelines aren’t matching up. … You bring yourself back to life, and I’ll be back later.”

Hopefully all that is water under the bridge and fans can finally get to see the Cesar Gracie black belt back in the Octagon one last time before he makes a move over to other pugilistic opportunities. And for Chimaev, Diaz may just be the last stop on his trip to title contention and a chance to face the winner of Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards, which goes down at UFC 278 on August 20th.

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Michael Bisping wants to see Jan Blachowicz fight Israel Adesanya at 185 pounds.

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping is on board with the idea of a rematch between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya at middleweight.

Blachowicz, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, is the only man to defeat Adesanya in the UFC and would gladly welcome a rematch with ‘The Last Stylebender’ at 185 pounds.

Bisping thinks it’s a great matchup and one Adesanya will undoubtedly be interested in running back after coming up short against Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut at UFC 259.

“For Jan Blachowicz, this is interesting because for Izzy, he’s going to want the rematch,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel (h/t MMA Fighting). “This is the only person to beat him, but now it’s a very dangerous fight for him at 185. If you think about Jan Blachowicz and the first fight with Izzy, it was kind of even on the feet. Both guys had some success. Jan Blachowicz is really, really good at checking leg kicks and in the first fight he would check the leg kick and then fire back with a couple of shots, a good jab, a good left hook that was catching him a lot. And then in rounds four and five he switched it up, he got some takedowns, and he was the only person really so far in Izzy’s run in the UFC that was able to take him down and hold him down. You’ve got to think a lot of that was because of the weight.”

“One thing for sure, he will not be as strong,” Bisping added. “So could he take him down? Did strength play a factor? I think it was more timing and technique that put him down but strength does come into it. He won’t be as explosive and he won’t be as powerful, but one thing he will be is faster. That’s a fact. When you lose some of that extra bit of flab he’s got and a little bit of muscle, he will be faster. So that will help him. That will help him on the feet and help him with his reflexes. So it’s very, very interesting.”

This might be a fight Adesanya is interested in, but only after he defends his middleweight title against Alex Pereira, whom he is expected to face at a later date only the champ is aware of. UFC president Dana White has promised the fight will be ‘batsh-t nuts’.

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Check out the fight card and bout order for UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall.

The UFC is back in London for a second time this year, and for the second time the main event will feature English heavyweight star Tom Aspinall. He passed his biggest test to date with flying colors when he submitted Alexander Volkov back in March, now he has an even tougher test in the form of Curtis Blaydes, whose only losses at heavyweight have come to Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis.

In the co-main event, Chris Curtis gets a short notice bout against Jack Hermansson, who was initially scheduled to face Darren Till before Till pulled out with an injury. A Curtis main event, a Curtis co-main! Heh heh. Anyway, the fighter who will likely get the biggest crowd pop is former Cage Warriors FC champion Paddy Pimblett, who will look to go to 3-0 in the UFC when he takes on Jordan Leavitt.

Here’s the full fight card for UFC London:

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/ESPN+)

Marc Diakiese vs. Damir Hadzovic

Nathaniel Wood vs. Charles Rosa

Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jonathan Pearce

Muhammad Mokaev vs. Charles Johnson

L’udovit Klein vs. Mason Jones

Jai Herbert vs. Kyle Nelson

Victoria Leonardo vs. Mandy Bohm

Claudio Silva vs. Nicolas Dalby

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UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski throws his support behind interim title fight between Rodriguez and Emmett.

Injuries have put the UFC in an awkward position when it comes to the featherweight division.

Earlier this month, UFC 145-pound champ Alexander Volkanovski put an end to any debate about if he is better than Max Holloway when he scored a definitive unanimous decision win over the ex-titleholder in their third matchup. During that bout, Volkanovski suffered a thumb injury that required surgery. That surgery is likely to keep him out of the octagon for some time. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Volkanovski said his next fight isn’t likely to happen until the first quarter of 2023, when he said the UFC is planning a trip to Australia.

In an ideal world, Volkanovski said that he will fight for the lightweight crown on that card.

On Saturday, in what was a potential featherweight title eliminator, Yair Rodriguez earned a TKO win over Brian Ortega, via a shoulder injury in the first round.

After that event, UFC Long Island, promotional boss, Dana White, said he wasn’t against Rodriguez facing Josh Emmett, who earned a split-decision win over Calvin Kattar in mid-June, in an interim title fight.

“You’re asking if [Rodriguez vs. Emmett for an interim title is] a possibility? I like it. I don’t hate it,” White said at the UFC Long Island post-fight press conference.

Volkanovski is another person who doesn’t seem to hate the idea of an interim title fight between Rodriguez and Emmett.

“But to be honest, I don’t mind the idea, while I’m sitting here… Let them fight for that No. 1 contender. I think they both deserve it. Josh Emmett and Yair Rodriguez are both in a position where they could get a shot. Is there screaming for them like it needs to be [one] of them? No, not really. So, let them fight for that No. 1 contender. If it’s for the interim belt then we’ll fight. Sweet. Cause I’m not lying when I said I want to be active.”

“The perfect (thing) for me, lightweight title early next year and then if they do this interim thing, if that happens, it’ll just make for a bigger fight anyway, so I don’t mind,” said Volkanovski. “Then you’ve got a clear number one guy. Everyone’s going t be screaming their name after who ever wins out of Josh Emmett and Yair Rodriguez.”

Volkanovski added, holding up his left hand, which is in a cast post-surgery, “If I didn’t have this, I would be like ‘this is stupid,’ but I’m like ‘why not?’ I don’t look at it any other way. At the end of the day, I am the champ.”

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