Check out the current card for next weekend’s big ABC show in New York.

The UFC is returning to ABC with a huge clash of featherweight action fighters on top. On Saturday July 16th in Elmont, NY, title implications may be on the line as former championship challenger Brian Ortega takes on the always-exciting Yair Rodriguez in the five-round main event.

The co-main event will come at women’s strawweight, with Michelle Waterson taking on Amanda Lemos. The lineup is pretty deep, with other exciting fighters like Li Jingliang and Shane Burgos in action. But perhaps the most intriguing fight outside of the headliner will open the main card, with former UFC women’s champion Miesha Tate meeting Lauren Murphy in a flyweight matchup.

Here’s a look at the current card.

Main Card

Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez

Michelle Waterson vs. Amanda Lemos

Li Jingliang vs. Muslim Salikhov

Matt Schnell vs. Sumudaerji

Shane Burgos vs. Charles Jourdain

Lauren Murphy vs. Miesha Tate

Preliminary Card

Ricky Simon vs. Jack Shore

Punahele Soriano vs. Daicha Lungiambula

Bill Algeo vs. Herbert Burns

Dustin Jacoby vs. Da-un Jung

Dwight Grant vs. Dustin Stoltzfus

Phil Rowe vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov

Jessica Penne vs. Emily Ducote

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Get a unique rundown on all the awards that should have been handed out at UFC Vegas 58 with Dayne Fox’s Unofficial Awards

In what appears to be the UFC’s final event at the APEX for quite a while – we can only hope – we finally received an answer to who the better Rafael was once and for all as Rafael Fiziev put away former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos early in the fifth round of their highly anticipated contest. The UFC was determined to have an answer to who was better as this was the third time they had scheduled this contest, only for it to fall out on the previous two attempts. The third time was the charm and Fiziev proved he’s capable of hanging with the best the lightweight division has to offer. While that was obviously the big story of the event and will be discussed in countless articles over various websites, the goal of the Unofficial Awards is to brush over the less talked about happenings of UFC Vegas 58 in hopes of shining a light on some of the notable proceedings that went down. So, let’s get to it….

For a different perspective on the evening, click here. For an audio recap, click here.

Biggest Jump in Stock: Many would probably insist Fiziev belongs here, an argument that is more than fair. Despite that, I feel more strongly about putting Saidyokub Kakhramonov in this spot after the native of Uzbekistan utterly demolished Ronnie Lawrence in what was supposed to be a close fight. Lawrence entered the contest with 14 takedowns in his two UFC contests – 26 if you count his appearance on DWCS – without being taken down himself. Kakhramonov was so dominant that Lawrence only added one more takedown to his count while being taken down 10 times himself. That’s not how a fight with pick ‘em odds are supposed to go. Kakhramonov did what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it, proving his short notice victory over Trevin Jones was no fluke. I feel like I say this every week – and I’ll say something similar a bit down the line – but the bantamweight division has another name to keep an eye on.

Biggest Fall in Stock: Given the one-sided nature of his loss to Kakhramonov, I could put Lawrence here. I’m going to go with Kakhramonov being far better than we all thought and ding Lawrence only a bit. Instead, I’ll go with a different member of the bantamweight division in Ricky Turcios. I don’t know what we saw out of Turcios against Aiemann Zahabi, but it was terrible. It’s like he anointed himself the next Bruce Lee after he received his TUF crown and tried to implement all of Lee’s moves after a weekend of binge watching all his movies. It ended up being a fight in which he provided all style and no substance, landing a total of 27 significant strikes after landing 100 in his UFC debut when his opponent controlled him for about half the contest. If he comes back with a performance resembling anything close to what he did against Zahabi, I have no doubt Uncle Dana will kick him to the curb. Too bad he won’t do the same thing to TUF….

Best Newcomer: I wasn’t going to include this if Garrett Armfield didn’t put on a respectable performance, but the natural bantamweight gave David Onama a hell of a fight at 145 on five days notice. Armfield showed some strong wrestling and a good jab, arguably taking the opening round. It was no surprise he faded after the opening round – it was a short notice fight – and Onama made short work of him after that, but Armfield looks like he’ll be a welcome addition to bantamweight, a division that’s arguably the deepest in the organization.

Start Typing a Resume: Jared Vanderaa very much reminds me of some of the throwback heavyweights from about a decade ago that didn’t make it very far. Christian Morecraft. Tim Hague. Chris Tuchscherer. They all pressed up against the heavyweight limit, were willing to throwdown, and didn’t last very long in the organization. Now sitting at 1-5 in the UFC, it looks like Vanderaa is going to have the same legacy. Only 30, it isn’t hard to see Vanderaa picking up a few regional wins and making his way back, but it’s also reasonable to expect the UFC would rather take a fresh look at someone new before welcoming Vanderaa back.

I could be premature with this thought, but I could see Tresean Gore being handed a pink slip. He’s just way too green to be competing in the UFC. It’s a bit of a risk as Gore is undeniably talented and Bellator could scoop him right up, but he’s flailing and the UFC hasn’t thrown him into the deep end yet. It’s one thing for him to lose to Cody Brundage. It’s another thing for him to lose to Brundage when Brundage gives Gore the type of fight he wants. If Gore is cut, but dead set on making it back to the UFC, there’s plenty of regional shows that would gladly give him the experience that is needed.

It’s hard not to be frustrated with the career of Karl Roberson. A plus athlete with professional kickboxing experience and a developing ground game, he looked like he could become a real fixture at middleweight. Instead, his fight IQ held him back and he couldn’t make the cut to 185 consistently after a while. Thus, he was forced up to light heavyweight, a place where he is severely undersized. No surprise, he ended up being manhandled on the mat by a MUCH larger opponent, resulting in his fourth consecutive loss. Unless your name is Sam Alvey, that’s usually a death knell for your employment.

Saved Their Job(s): I didn’t expect to be saying Chase Sherman would have one of the most impressive performances of the evening, but here we are. It’s been a couple of years since Sherman delivered an impressive performance, appearing to be stuck in his own head when he can’t get things to go his way immediately. As a result, most had written him off as a head case who would never fulfill the expectations his physical talents indicated should be placed on him. Kudos to Sherman as he acknowledged he needed to change his mind frame coming into the fight and it allowed him to stay all over Vanderaa before delivering the final sequence about midway through the final round. If Sherman can keep his mind in a good place, he can be a useful gatekeeper. That all depends on him keeping his head in a good spot. Perhaps that extra $ 50K he picked up will help with that….

While I’m listing Antonina Shevchenko here, I don’t believe her job was actually in jeopardy unless she offered absolutely nothing. The reason I say that is I get the feeling some nepotism would come into play, being the sister of Valentina. It doesn’t matter at this point as Antonina snuck out of the event with a close split decision win over Cortney Casey. Antonina completely lacks the confidence her sister possesses, which will forever hold her back. Regardless, she’s still skilled enough that I’d expect her to hang around for a few more years yet.

I’m not sure if I should be frustrated by Kennedy Nzechukwu or impressed by his smothering performance of Roberson. If he’s always had the type of wrestling and grappling he showed, I’m frustrated as hell he never bothered to show it before. If this was something that he only developed recently, it’s hard not to be impressed. Regardless, Nzechukwu snapped a two-fight losing streak, ensuring he’ll stick around and tease us with his prodigious potential.

Biggest WOW Moment: The easy choice here is to go with Fiziev’s left hook that spelled the beginning of the end for RDA. It was set up perfectly and resulted in the biggest win of Fiziev’s career. But it didn’t get the same rise out of me as when Jamie Mullarkey dropped Michael Johnson right before the end of the first round. I pick that moment as just over a minute before, Johnson had dropped Mullarkey with a slick combination, coming thisclose to putting away the Aussie. It signaled we were going to be in for a wild ride between those two. It wasn’t credit as an official knockdown as Johnson went for a takedown to save himself, but he was clearly hurt.

Too Much, Too Soon: I’ll never understand the UFC’s recent desire to place a pair of fighters relatively fresh from DWCS into the co-main event. They did so again with Caio Borralho and Armen Petrosyan, two names that even a lot of fans who follow the sport closely wouldn’t be familiar with. While I was familiar with them and acknowledge both have bright futures, why rush them into that spot? Even worse, they knew Borralho would attempt to neutralize Petrosyan and it resulted in the most forgettable fight of the evening. That isn’t to say Borralho is a bad fighter – I did say they both have bright futures — but Borralho and Petrosyan would have both been better served to duke it out earlier on the card rather than serving as the tasteless appetizer to the main event.

Most Forgotten Fight: Speaking of Borralho and Petrosyan, their less-than-entertaining contest took all the wind out of the sails of the bout between Said Nurmagomedov and Douglas Silva de Andrade. Realize I’m saying the most forgotten fight, not the most forgettable fight. Nurmagomedov and Andrade served up a hell of a fight that saw both men swinging for the fences with nearly every strike. Andrade continually marched Nurmagomedov down while Nurmagomedov continued to look for his signature spinning back kick. There did end up being more misses on those swings that hits, but it ultimately proved to be a fight that was a lot of fun. And yet, there seemed to be nary a word about it uttered at the end of the event. Regardless, Nurmagomedov should be fighting a ranked opponent next and Andrade’s stock shouldn’t take a hit despite the loss.

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The forming sparring partners are due to fight on August 6.

Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury is dead, again, and maybe for good. The British boxer and reality star was prevented entry to the US, likely due to his brother Tyson Fury’s association with wanted mob boss Daniel Kinahan. This put the kibosh on his August 6 date with Paul, set for New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The first time their fight fell through was last December, when Fury got injured in training. Tyron Woodley stepped in to replace Fury then, and was knocked out cold by ‘The Problem Child’ for his efforts.

This time Hasim Rahman Jr. is replacing Fury, though he will hope any comparisons to Woodley end right there.

Rahman Jr., whose father famously upset Lennox Lewis in 2001 for the WBC, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles, is a former training partner of Paul.

When this match-up was announced some thought the fix was in. However, it seems there may be real animosity between Paul and Rahman Jr. and thus little chance of these former training partners pulling off something scandalous.

Paul released some footage from the gym showing him and Rahman Jr. squabbling in the ring.

“I’ve wanted this fight ever since Hasim ran his big mouth to me 2 years ago in the gym (swipe right),” wrote Paul alongside his post (ht bjpenn). “My brother and manager didn’t want me to take this fight. They said it was too much risk. The New York state athletic commission didn’t want to approve this fight because they said Hasim had too much experience for me. He has over 100 amateur fights. 10x more than Tommy… but I’m built different.”

“I’m psychotic. CHAOTIC. PROBLEMATIC. But “he’s a heavyweight” they said. It don’t matter to me, I’m the fighting flea, they can’t hit me… I’m slippery like butter and with speed like no other. My power is unique and my style is sleek. I’ve made the toughest men weak. I’m not afraid of any man or what “can” happen. No boxer has taken this big of a risk this early in their career. They don’t have my heart, they don’t have my soul, they don’t have my drive, and they definitely don’t have my team. Welcome to history. Take a picture.”

Rahman Jr. is, by far, the most accomplished boxer Paul has faced in his career. He’s 12-1, having suffered his first ever loss last time out (a TKO to James Mackenzie Morrison in April).

Paul is 5-0 but has never faced an actual boxer. The only opponent he’s fought with a pro record was Tyron Woodley, who carried an 0-1 record into their rematch. Paul’s other opponents include former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, former NBA slam dunk champion Nate Robinson and a YouTuber called AnEsonGib.

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A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.

Tim Spriggs was crowned the Who’s Number One Heavyweight champion after beating out a field of top grapplers at the WNO Championships. That was around ten months ago though, and the title hasn’t been defended since. Now, the brains behind WNO have decided to strip Spriggs of his title and have adjusted the weightclass for their upcoming main event in order to put the vacant belt on the line.

Gordon Ryan was scheduled to challenge Pedro Marinho for his Light-Heavyweight title originally, but now the pair will be battling it out at Heavyweight instead.

This match isn’t going to be the only big moment at the event however, as it will also feature the conclusion of FloGrappling’s reality show, Who’s Next. ADCC trials winner Izaak Michell and 10th Planet’s Kyle Chambers will battle it out to become the show’s first champion.

Anthony Pettis’ team win UFC Fight Pass Invitational 2

The first edition of the UFC Fight Pass Invitational was a roaring success, delivering exciting team grappling action that featured top grapplers and MMA stars competing against and alongside one another. This time around the event featured an even bigger variation in grappling styles, with three-time NCAA champion Bo Nickal being selected to represent Jorge Masvidal’s team.

In the end it was Anthony Pettis’ team, stacked full of John Danaher’s students, that managed to take home the $ 25,000 grand prize. Daniel Manasoiu managed to almost single-handedly win their semi-final match with two wins and a draw, while Giancarlo Bodoni and Christos Papadelos impressed in the final. After that it all came down to Oliver Taza taking on Bo Nickal in a tie-breaker match to decide the winning team.

Full results for the event can be found here.

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida gets a big step up in competition

Buchecha is the most successful IBJJF world champion in the history of the sport and he’s been making waves in the MMA world since making his professional debut for ONE Championship. Buchecha has looked like a man on a mission over the ten months that has passed since then and has quickly put together a perfect 3-0 record, finishing all three of his opponents in the very first round.

Now he’ll be facing his biggest challenge yet, in the form of Kirill Girashenko. Girashenko is coming off of his first professional loss in an interim title fight against Anatoly Malykhin, and will be eager to get back to his winning ways. Prior to that Girashenko was undefeated in five fights and beating him will put Buchecha within touching distance of a title shot against either Malykhin or the champion Arjan Bhullar after they fight for the undisputed title.

Eoghan O’Flanagan to defend title against Jacob Couch at Grapplefest 13

Eoghan O’Flanagan has looked unstoppable recently, from his reign as the Grapplefest 90kgs champion to his flawless run to gold in under 88kg division at ADCC trials. He’s been known in the UK as one of the best leglockers in the country for quite some time, but has only recently managed to break out into the international scene with his trials victory and a submission win over ADCC veteran Jon ‘Thor’ Blank.

Now he’ll be facing fan-favourite Jacob ‘The Hillbilly Hammer’ Couch in the latest defence of his title at Grapplefest 13. Couch was eager to fight O’Flanagan after seeing him in action against Blank at GF 12, where Couch won a decision over former UFC fighter Tom Breese. Should he win, this will only further elevate O’Flanagan’s stock in the States prior to his run at ADCC 2022 where he’s one of the dark horse choices to reach the podium at 88kg.

Quick Hits

• Mackenzie Dern has been booked to fight Yan Xiaonan in the main event match of a UFC fight night in October.
• Tenth Planet black belts Kyle Boehm and Vinny Magalhaes switch places for ADCC 2022, with Boehm moving down to under 99kg and Magalhaes moving up to over 99kg.
• Renato Canuto has had his ONE Championship professional grappling debut announced, and he will be taking on Valdir Rodrigues at ONE 160.
• Gutemberg Pereira has been forced to withdraw from ADCC 2022 after winning his place at the South American trials, and will now be replaced by his teammate Max Gimenis.

Technique Corner

Russian 2-on-1 to Tai Otoshi, to Back control

Opposite side Armbar counter to Armbar escape

Reverse de la Riva with Lasso to Back control

Meme of the Week

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Zane Simon & Mookie Alexander are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, July 9th, UFC Vegas 58: ‘Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev’ 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-host, Mookie Alexander. We recorded for you on Saturday, July 9th, 2022, with a breakdown of the UFC Vegas 58: ‘RDA vs. Fiziev’ 11-bout Fight Night event, which took place at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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 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 11-bout card saw six exciting first round finishes, four thrilling KO/TKO’s, one sweet submission, and six hard-fought decisions; two split. Rounding things out, our fighters who were awarded for putting forth BONUS efforts included: FOTN: Jamie Mullarkey vs. Michael Johnson. POTN: Rafael Fiziev & Chase Sherman.

Here’s a look at the UFC Vegas 58: ‘RDA vs Fiziev’ 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/ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. JULY 9
11. Rafael Fiziev (12-1) DEF. Rafael dos Anjos (31-14) — via KO (Left Hook) at 0:18 of round five

10. Caio Borralho (12-1) DEF. Armen Petrosyan (7-2) — via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

9. Said Nurmagomedov (16-2) DEF. D. Silva de Andrade (28-5) — via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

8. Chase Sherman (16-10) DEF. Jared Vanderaa (12-9) — via TKO (strikes) at 3:10 of round three

7. Aiemann Zahabi (9-2) DEF. Ricky Turcios (11-3) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

6. Jamie Mullarkey (15-5) DEF. Michael Johnson (20-18) — via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

ESPN/ESPN+ PRELIMS
5. Cody Brundage (8-2) DEF. Tresean Gore (3-2) — via KO at 3:50 of round one

4. Antonina Shevchenko (10-4) DEF. Cortney Casey (10-10) — via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

3. David Onama (10-1) DEF. Garrett Armfield (8-3) — via submission (arm triangle) at 3:13 of the third round

2. Kennedy Nzechukwu (10-3) DEF. Karl Roberson (9-6) — TKO (strikes) at 2:19 of round three

1. Saidyokub Kakhramonov (10-2) DEF. Ronnie Lawrence (8-2) — via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZaneSimon & Mookie – @MookieAlexander; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings.

If you enjoy our wide variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels.

Join us again for another episode of ‘6th Round’ next week, on Saturday, July 16th, for UFC LONG ISLAND, aka: UFC on ABC 3: ORTEGA VS RODRIGUEZ:

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Join us here at Bloody Elbow for live results and discussion as UFC Vegas 58: Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev goes down from the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The main event is a lightweight bout between former UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos and top-10 ranked contender Rafael Fiziev. It’ll be the first five-round main event of Fiziev’s career. In the co-main event, Dana White’s Contender Series alums square off as Caio Borralho takes on Armen Petrosyan.

This will be an ESPN and ESPN+ show. The five-fight preliminary card is scheduled to start at 6 PM ET/3 PM PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+. The six-fight main card then kicks off at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT on ESPN and ESPN+. Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Main Card (9 PM ET, ESPN/ESPN+)

Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev

Caio Borralho vs. Armen Petrosyan

Said Nurmagomedov vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade

Jared Vanderaa vs. Chase Sherman

Aiemann Zahabi vs. Ricky Turcios

Jamie Mullarkey def. Michael Johnson by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card (6 PM ET, ESPN2/ESPN+)

Cody Brundage def. Tresean Gore by KO (punches) at 3:50 of Round 1

Antonina Shevchenko def. Cortney Casey by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

David Onama def. Garrett Armfield by technical submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:13 of Round 2

Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Karl Roberson by TKO (elbows) at 2:19 of Round 3

Saidyokub Kakhramonov def. Ronnie Lawrence by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

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Cynthia Calvillo vs. Nina Nunes is off the card.

There’s been a late change to the UFC Vegas 58 lineup.

A women’s flyweight matchup between Nina Nunes and Cynthia Calvillo has been scratched on fight day. Nunes revealed on her Instagram page that she’s been dealing with a stomach virus and had been ill since the weigh-ins.

Hey everyone, I had an amazing camp and the best weight cut yet,” Nunes wrote. “Unfortunately I picked up a stomach virus and have been sick since right after weigh ins. I tried as much as I could to make this better and still be able to fight. Sadly it has taken a tear on my body and I won’t be able to perform tonight. Sorry to my opponent. We are looking to reschedule the fight in the near future. Thank you.”

Nunes (10-7) hasn’t fought in over a year, having last fought to a first-round submission loss to Mackenzie Dern. Calvillo (9-4-1) was hoping to snap her three-fight losing streak this evening but she’ll have to wait a little longer for that to happen.

Ricky Turcios vs. Aiemann Zahabi has since been bumped to the main card, which features a headliner between former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev.

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Check out the betting odds for tonight’s UFC Vegas 58 card, where Rafael Fiziev is favored over Rafael Dos Anjos in the main event.

Rafael vs. Rafael.

This is our main event for tonight at UFC Vegas 58, which is happening from the super-familiar APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC’s former lightweight champion, Rafael Dos Anjos, will be putting his #7 ranking up against the #10 rated 155-pounder, Rafael Fiziev. Before that kicks off, though, let’s go gaze at the betting lines.

The oddsmakers are siding with a surging Rafael Fiziev to get the job done over the less consistent, yet more seasoned veteran in Rafael Dos Anjos. Fiziev is being offered as a -190 betting favorite, with a $ 100 gamble on him standing to see a total payout of $ 152.63. As for the former champ, RDA is listed with an underdog tag of +160, and dropping a hundo on those odds could see a potential payout of $ 260.

Will this five-round main event last the entire 25-minutes? Well, the bookies aren’t supremely confident in this one reaching the distance, but are leaning towards the posibility of the judges being involved. The prop bet ‘Fight goes to decision’ is sporting a favored line of -135, with a +100 comeback on the ‘Fight doesn’t go to decision’ option.

Out of Fiziev’s six UFC bouts, three have ended early with the other three resulting in a finish. On the flip side, six of RDA’s last seven matches went the distance. For those picking Rafael to win on the scorecards, the exotic bet ‘Fiziev wins by decision’ can be had at a value of +150. For anyone expecting Rafael to pull off the upset by way of a split, majority, or unanimous nod then ‘Anjos wins by decision’ is at play at a lofty plus line of +380.

Check out the UFC Vegas 58 betting odds, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook:

For an in-depth breakdown of each UFC Vegas 58 fight, check out The MMA Vivisection Podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to our SoundCloud Channel and YouTube channel to stay up to date with all of our live video content. Stay glued to Bloody Elbow for all of your event coverage including play-by-play, results, highlights, and more! Happy hunting!

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The UFC is heading back to the Middle East in October, and it looks like they’ve put together a high profile welterweight bout for the occasion.

Belal Muhammad may be unbeaten in his last 8 UFC bouts, including wins over Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, and Vicente Luque, but even he had a pretty good idea that he wasn’t about to be handed a title shot after his latest win.

“I’m going to stop calling for the champ, because nobody wants to give me that shot,” Muhammad told fans after beating Luque back in April. “So, let me get the big mouth Karen. Colby Covington’s out here calling out 155ers. Come fight a real 170-pounder, you coward! I’m a real ‘70 pounder.”

Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t look like Muhammad’s about to get that Covington fight either. Instead, in lieu of a chance at UFC gold, ‘Remember the Name’ will be fighting one of welterweight’s most promising rising talents. ESPN reports that the #5 ranked Roufusport talent has verbally agreed to a bout against #9 ranked Sean Brady at UFC 281 in Abu Dhabi.

Brady (15-0) will enter this bout with five straight victories inside the Octagon. Most recently the Renzo Gracie Philly fighter took a wrestling-heavy unanimous decision over former Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Chiesa, back at UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate in November of last year. That bout firmly entered him into the welterweight top 10, setting the stage for a path to title contention that appears to be running straight through Muhammad.

Muhammad (21-3) last tasted defeat in 2019, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Geoff Neal. It’s difficult to say whether a win over Brady will get him any closer to an opportunity to compete for the belt, but the 33-year old has never appeared to be a fighter that would shy away from a challenge.

UFC 281 is set to take place on October 22nd at the Etihad Arena. To date, no other bouts have been announced for the event.

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A clash of strawweight contenders is the headliner for an upcoming UFC Fight Night. 

An interesting fight between No. 4 and No. 5 in the strawweight division is set.

Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan are expected to headline a UFC Fight Night scheduled for Oct. 1 at a location and venue soon-to-be determined.

Dern recently returned to the win column with a split decision over Tecia Torres at UFC 273 this past April. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace was on a four-fight win streak before losing a unanimous decision to Marina Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 39 in October. Though she previously expressed interest in a potential interim championship fight against Zhang Weili, Dern also hinted at Xiaonan being her next opponent.

“If they do have an interim title, I would like to be in there,” Dern told Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. “Fight Zhang Weili or whoever it will be. I’m definitely interested in that. I’m ready. I’m taking with Mick [Maynard]. I even sent a message to [UFC president] Dana [White]. I’m like, ‘Hey Dana, I’m ready for whoever it is, I’m ready.’ My manager Tim [Simpson] from Paradigm. They’ve been talking so, a lot of names have been thrown out: Yan Xiaonan, Rose, Zhang Weili has been talked about in the past, so I don’t know how serious they are about that. But definitely I’d be ready for any one of those girls.”

Xiaonan has suffered consecutive losses to Carla Esparza and Marina Rodriguez in her past two appearances. The Chinese fighter fought her way into contention with six straight wins, including decisions against Angela Hill, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Cláudia Gadelha.

The winner of Dern vs. Xiaonan could move one step closer to a championship opportunity against Carla Esparza, who could defend her newly acquired title against the aforementioned Weili by the end of the year.

The UFC Fight Night now has five confirmed fights. Here is the current lineup:

• Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan
• Cheyanne Vlismas vs. Tabatha Ricci
• Vinc Pichel vs. Jesse Ronson
• Randy Costa vs. Guido Cannetti
• Leah Letson vs. Chelsea Chandler

Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for updates on the event as they become available in the coming weeks.

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