Munhoz was poked in the eye by O’Malley.

The UFC 276 main card opener between bantamweights Pedro Munhoz and Sean O’Malley was disappointing both in terms of the expected action and the unfortunate ending. Munhoz was unable to continue after an eye poke from O’Malley hampered his vision to the point where he told the cageside doctor that he couldn’t see. The fight was ruled a no contest, but several fighters and O’Malley himself believed that Munhoz was looking for a way out in hopes of getting a disqualification win.

Munhoz has since released a statement through social media explaining what happened, as well as the extent of the injuries suffered to his right eye.

“To explain briefly what happened in the fight against Sean O’Malley, I was poked in the eye in the first round but kept fighting, and was hit with a low blow shortly after,” Munhoz said via Instagram (Portuguese translation by MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz). “The fight restarted and we exchanged a few strikes. In the second round, that’s when I suffered another eye poke. I couldn’t see anything for 20 minutes. I was taken to the hospital and they used a special eyedrop that made my eye numb so they could open my eye.

“They did an exam and the medical report I have is that there’s a scratch in the cornea all the way around it. I couldn’t open my eye because of that and couldn’t see anything. The referee asked if I could see at all and the doctor decided to stop the fight. That’s what happened tonight.”

As if that wasn’t enough, UFC Senior Vice President of Athlete Development and Marketing Reed Harris tweeted that he saw Munhoz’s eye was swollen shut.

Munhoz won the opening round on two of the three judges’ scorecards. There’s no word on whether or not the UFC will look to rematch these two once Munhoz recovers from his injury.

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

Bo Nickal has already achieved more in his combat sports career than the majority of athletes could ever dream of, but the three-time NCAA champion is about to make yet another huge step. With his incredible level of wrestling skill it was always a bit of a foregone conclusion that Nickal would do well when he transitioned to MMA, but there’s still no telling where his ceiling truly lies.

Nickal spent just five minutes in the cage as an amateur fighter, finishing both of his opponents. In his professional debut, Nickal got the knockout win in just over thirty seconds and immediately attracted the attention of the UFC. His debut for the promotion may come sooner than expected as his manager, Malki Kawa, has confirmed that Nickal will be fighting for a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series this summer.

Team Brazil and Demian Maia emerge victorious at Polaris 20

Europe’s top grappling promotion reached a landmark moment this past weekend as Polaris 20 took place in Newport, Wales. They put together the fourth edition of their well-loved team grappling ruleset as Team USA took on Team Brazil, along with an incredible superfight between a pair of UFC legends in Demian Maia and Benson Henderson. In the end, the Brazilians ended up with an almost flawless victory on the night.

Mason Fowler scored the only point for Team USA to win the first half for his country by submitting Kywan Gracie with an armbar. The Americans couldn’t hold the lead though, as Mica Galvao submitted Keith Krikorian twice in the second half with both an armbar and a triangle choke. Team Brazil won the event 2-1, while Demian Maia managed to put on an impressive display against Benson Henderson and win the unanimous decision.

Full results for the event can be found here.

Kayla Harrison continues unbeaten MMA record at PFL 6

Kayla Harrison has secured her place in the PFL 2022 play-offs after recording yet another brutal finish in her fight against Kaitlin Young. Not only does this bring the Olympic Judoka’s MMA record to an astounding 14-0 but it also puts her in line to win her third PFL Championship and the attached million-dollar prize. All she has to do is win another two fights this year, just like she did in 2019 and 2021.

Young was a late-replacement after Julia Budd withdrew from the fight due to an undisclosed injury, but she couldn’t make it out of the first round. As it stands, Harrison is clearly the greatest Lightweight fighter in women’s MMA and is a contender for greatest female fighter in the history of the sport. At the age of 32, she still has plenty of years left in her career and it’ll be interesting to see if she can remain undefeated throughout.

Full results for the event can be found here.

Craig Jones moves up to 99kg for ADCC 2022

There’s only a small number of invites left to hand out for ADCC 2022, and there is currently some movement between divisions as fighters enter new weightclasses. After B-Team’s Izaak Michell surprised fans by competing in the ADCC trials at 99kg last week, he’s quickly returned to a more natural weightclass after winning his place at ADCC 2022. He will instead compete at 88kg alongside his teammate Jacob Rodriguez.

To compensate for Michell dropping down to 88kg, B-Team founder Craig Jones will be moving up in weight to compete at 99kg for the first time. Jones will now be competing against a number of former ADCC world champions like Vinny Magalhaes, Yuri Simoes, and Kaynan Duarte. It’s worth noting though that Jones is no stranger to some of these men and even holds a submission win over Magalhaes from 2020.

Quick Hits

• Women’s MMA and UFC legend Ronda Rousey recently sat down with Daniel Cormier and revealed the biggest mistake she made during her MMA career.
• John Danaher is well known as one of the best coaches in BJJ, but he recently decided to explain why he has never attempted to make it as a competitor.
• Tom DeBlass was featured in a story for Forbes magazine where it was revealed that he currently makes over $ 500,000 a year from Jiu-Jitsu.
• Renzo Gracie Jersey City welcomed Dale Brown from Detroit Urban Survival Training (DUST) to one of their BJJ classes.

Technique Corner

Backstep from 50/50, to back control

Single-leg X guard, to X guard, to back-take

Single-leg X guard pass

Meme of the Week

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Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, July 2nd, UFC 276: ‘Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier’ PPV event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Bloody Elbow fight expert, Zane Simon is here, joined by his co-hort, Eddie Mercado. We recorded for you on Saturday, July 2nd, 2022, with a breakdown of the UFC 276: ‘Adesanya vs. Cannonier’ & ‘Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3’ 12-bout PPV event, which took place at the T-Mobile Center 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 12-bout card saw three exciting first round finishes, two thrilling KO/TKO’s, three sweet submissions, six hard-fought decisions, & one no contest. Rounding things out, our fighters who were awarded for putting forth BONUS efforts included: FOTN: Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena. POTN: Alex Pereira, Jalin Turner and Julija Stoliarenko.

Here’s a look at the UFC 276: ‘Adesanya vs Cannonier’ & ‘Volkanovski vs Holloway 3;’ fight card with full results & updated fight records —

Official UFC Scorecards

ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD
12, TITLE FIGHT #1 — UFC MW Championship: Israel Adesanya (23-1) DEF. Jared Cannonier (15-6) — via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45)

11. TITLE FIGHT #2/THE TRILOGY — UFC FW Championship: Alexander Volkanovski (25-1) DEF. Max Holloway (23-7) — via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

10. 185lbs: Alex Pereira (6-1) DEF. Sean Strickland (25-4) — via KO at 2:36 of round one

9. 170lbs: Bryan Barberena (18-8) DEF. Robbie Lawler (29-16) — via TKO (strikes) at 4:47 of round two

8. 135lbs: Pedro Munhoz (19-7) vs. Sean O’Malley (15-1) — fought to a NO CONTEST (accidental eye poke) at 3:09 of round two

ABC/UFC FIGHT PASS/ESPN+ PRELIMS
7. 155lbs: Jalin Turner (13-5) DEF. Brad Riddell (10-3) — via submission (guillotine) at :45 of the first round

6. Jim Miller (35-16) DEF. Donald Cerrone (36-17) — via submission (guillotine) at 1:32 of the second round

5. 170lbs: Ian Garry (10-0) DEF. Gabriel Green (11-4) — via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

4. 185lbs: Dricus Du Plessis (17-2) DEF. Brad Tavares (19-7) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

ESPN/ESPN+ EARLY PRELIMS
3. 185lbs: André Muniz (23-4) DEF. Uriah Hall (17-11) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

2. Maycee Barber (11-2) DEF. Jessica Eye (15-11) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

1. 135lbs: Julija Stoliarenko (10-6) DEF. Jessica-Rose Clark (11-8) — via submission (armbar) at :42 of the first round

Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZaneSimon & Eddie – @TheEddieMercado; 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 9th, for UFC Vegas 58: Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev:

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Jalin Turner tapped out Brad Riddell at UFC 276. On Twitter, pro fighters reacted to the finish.

Jalin Turner made quick work of Brad Riddell at UFC 276. Before the one-minute mark, the ‘Tarantula’ managed to secure a tight guillotine choke and force the tap just 45 seconds into the first round. On Twitter, pro fighters reacted to the finish,

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Get up to date on the co-main event of UFC 276 between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. 

The co-main event of UFC 276 will feature a featherweight fight between Alexander Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) and Max Holloway (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC). UFC 276: Adesanya vs. Cannonier airs live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday, July 2nd. The main card will start with a fight time of 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT, with the ABC/ESPN/ESPN+ prelims beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT and the early prelims kicking off at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT.

How do these two stack up?

Volkanovski: 33 years old | 5’6” | 71.5” reach

Holloway: 30 years old | 5’11” | 69” reach

What have these two done recently?

Volkanovski: W – Chan Sung Jung (TKO) | W – Brian Ortega (DEC) | W – Max Holloway (SD)

Holloway: W – Yair Rodriguez (DEC) | W – Calvin Kattar (DEC) | L – Alexander Volkanovski (SD)

How did these two get here?

Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway are fighting for the third (and potentially) final time on Saturday night. The ‘Great’ is 2-0 against ‘Blessed,’ but because their fights were so close, it was no surprise to see Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3 scheduled.

“He’s getting another chance because he was being stubborn and made sure no one else got that No. 1 spot,” Volkanovski said of Holloway during the pre-fight press conference for UFC 276. And he is correct. Despite defeating Holloway twice, once by unanimous decision at UFC 245 and once by split decision at UFC 251, the reigning champion could not escape the former champion. The shadow of Holloway loomed over Volkanovski, who moved on to other challengers in the division.

Volkanovski dominated Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung in back-to-back defenses. At the same time, Holloway pushed towards a third opportunity against his foe with ‘Fight of the Night’ awarded performances against Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. Now nearly three years removed from their first fight, Volkanovski and Holloway share the Octagon again in a clash of two featherweight greats.

Why should you care?

Volkanovski and Holloway are fired up for this trilogy! Seeing how their first two fights went, we should expect another compelling classic.

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Get the low down on the title fights of UFC 276, topped by Israel Adesanya looking to dispose of Jared Cannonier while Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway settle the featherweight division’s legacy.

I know I’m not shouting alone from the mountaintop by declaring this, but the UFC should have reversed the order of the title fights. Given Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway appear to be fighting for the legacy of greatest featherweight in history, there seems to be more on the line in their fight than there is between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier. No disrespect meant to Adesanya or Cannonier. Adesanya is one of the UFC’s darlings and Cannonier has earned this opportunity, but it feels like just another title defense for Adesanya. The odds reflect that too. I get that this is the third fight between Volkanovski and Holloway, Volkanovski being the victor in their first two contests. But they were both competitive and entertaining contests and this is with the legacy of the division on the line. Regardless, these contests are the cherry on top of a meaty card.

For the early prelims preview, click here. For the televised prelims, click here. For the main card, click here. For an audio preview, click here.

Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier, Middleweight

There’s a strong argument to be made that Adesanya is the best pure striker in MMA today. Much of that is attributable to his freakishly long frame as it allows him to do things others can’t. However, owning a unique frame isn’t enough to make a fighter a great striker. Adesanya’s technique is so clean, so crisp, so accurate. He doesn’t have bone crushing power, but if he lands a kick or a punch in just the right spot, he’s just as capable of turning out the lights as anyone.

However, despite his talents and unique personality, it feels like there has been somewhat of a failure to launch from Adesanya. Not that he isn’t amongst the P4P best, but the spectacular moments that the UFC was selling him on have been drying up. Rather than look for the highlight reel finish, Adesanya has been playing it safe, staying on the outside of his opponents and picking them apart. While it’s a testament to how good of a fighter he is – intelligence is a sign of a good fighter after all – it has also made his marketability take a hit. Fortunately for Adesanya, all it takes to regain that momentum is one moment. Can he get that moment against Cannonier?

I would have to say there’s a very good chance of that. Cannonier is a hard hitter, possessing enough power to put away an elephant. However, it isn’t like Adesanya hasn’t faced heavy hitters before. Perhaps Cannonier can dissuade Adesanya’s attack with his frequent leg checks. After all, he used that to weaken the legs of Anderson Silva. But it’s not like the legs is the only place Adesanya attacks. One of the champ’s advantages is his varied attack, keeping his opponents guessing. Maybe Cannonier can wrest Adesanya to the mat and bloody him up from there. After all, Adesanya’s one career loss came at the hands of Jan Blachowicz timing his takedowns perfectly and controlling him from there. Of course, that was at light heavyweight. If anyone can hold Adesanya down at middleweight, it would be the freakishly strong Cannonier. But then again, Cannonier isn’t much of a wrestler.

Outside of the puncher’s chance, I don’t see Cannonier finding success. Against certain opponents, Cannonier’s patient pressure has been problematic for his opposition as he waits for the right opportunity to spring into action. Against Adesanya, I fear it will merely allow the former kickboxer to find his method of attack and pick him apart. The one saving grace is Adesanya has been vulnerable to pressure if he has been vulnerable anywhere; remember how much success Kelvin Gastelum was able to find? But Gastelum also fought like a wild man for long stretches of that fight, his unpredictable nature proving to be problematic for Adesanya. Opponents typically know what Cannonier is going to do; it’s a matter of stopping it. Robert Whittaker was able to and I believe Adesanya is better equipped to do the same. I would even expect a finish…. Adesanya via TKO of RD3

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway, Featherweight

Given the controversy of the scoring in their second fight, it felt like an inevitability we’d see this fight a third time. If Holloway wins this, we’ll see a fourth fight. Then again, would anyone really be disappointed to see these two scrap again?

Against everyone not named Volkanovski in the featherweight division, Holloway has looked unstoppable. When people talk about all-time great showings in a fight, his demolition of Calvin Kattar will always be one of those fights people bring up. No one else comes close to his record 445 significant strikes in that contest. It was so damned impressive that it made people yawn when he put up 230 in his last fight with Yair Rodriguez. Nobody flows better with their boxing than Holloway. Nobody mixes their punches up better. Throw in that he never gets tired and it seems like only a cyborg stands a chance of upending Holloway. And yet, Volkanovski does have two wins over Holloway….

Volkanovski might be the older fighter of the two, but there’s a strong argument he’s the one who still has more room to grow. Sure, his stout frame isn’t exactly ideal, but Volkanovski does have a freakishly long reach and makes the absolute best use of his physical gifts. In fact, despite being five inches shorter than Holloway, Volkanovski has the longer reach. Plus, Volkanovski has the overall advantage in power. That said, Holloway is the one in this series who put Volkanovski on shaky legs, a favor Volkanovski hasn’t been able to return. That’s because there are few who do a better job of building momentum than Holloway. The Hawaiian tends to establish his jab early, getting a feel for his opponent’s range before opening up with the longer combinations.

Volkanovski was well aware of this, refusing to allow Holloway to establish his jab or get into a flow. Whether it was his own jab, constant low kicks, or takedown attempts, Volkanovski continued to interrupt Holloway’s momentum. Throw in the fact that Volkanovski mixes his strikes in a way to keep his opponents constantly guessing and it’s no wonder the Aussie is considered to be one of the smartest fighters in the game, if not the smartest. Volkanovski has shown the ability to make fights in the midst of a fight too, swinging the momentum in their second fight after Holloway jumped out to an early lead.

There will be zero surprise from me if Holloway regains the belt. His tall frame, flowing boxing, and endless gas tank is problematic for everyone, even Volkanovski. But we’ve already seen this fight twice and Volkanovski emerged victorious twice, even if the second fight was controversial. What has me even more leery about Holloway’s chances is his age. Not that he’s old at 30, but his frame is absolutely HUGE for featherweight. How much longer can he continue to make that weight without it affecting his performance. Holloway could come out looking like a million bucks again, making this a moot point. Still, I have to consider that a possibility in a fight that is as closely contested as this one. Regardless of who wins, I have a feeling I’ll be on the edge of my seat for the whole time. Volkanovski via decision

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Watch Max Holloway vs Alexander Volkanovski’s bouts in full.

Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski have faced each other for 50 minutes already, with the Australian coming up with close decision wins on both occasions. The pair will fight for the third time at UFC 276 this Saturday, but to get hyped for their trilogy, you can now watch their first two contests in full.

Watch the first 10 rounds of this rivalry below, starting with their first meeting at UFC 245, when Holloway came in as the champion:

Volkanovski took home the title in that first meeting in 2019, then they had an immediate rematch in 2020 at UFC 251. Watch rounds six to ten between these two elite featherweights below:

The second contest was much closer and could’ve gone either way, but Volkanovski retained his belt in a split decision with the scores of 48-47, 47-48 and 48-47.

Will this third fight reach a decision again at UFC 276? Will Volkanovski put an end to this match up, or will Holloway get his belt back and extend this rivalry even further? Either way, it’ll be interesting to potentially see how rounds 11 to 15 will play out — if it’ll even go that far.

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What to watch for during the UFC 276 pay-per-view card

With the 2022 UFC Hall of Fame class inducted, the final item to remove from the checklist for the UFC’s International Fight Week is the UFC 276 fight card, which takes place on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

In the main event, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya puts his title on the line against heavyweight turned light heavyweight turned middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier. In the evening’s co-headliner, featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski faces the man he took the title from in 2019 and defeated in a rematch in 2020, former 145-pound titleholder Max Holloway. As for the possible title eliminator. In that contest, Sean Strickland faces Alex Pereira in a 185-pound scrap.

Ahead of Saturday’s fight card, I look at the storylines to follow on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 276.

Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier

Looking back at how Jared Cannonier earned his first UFC title fight, it’s kind of amazing. This is a man who went from losing a heavyweight fight opposite Shawn Jordan in his UFC debut to going 2-3 at light heavyweight before putting together a 5-1 record at middleweight. That’s not a bad run for the 38-year-old Cannonier.

Now the question becomes, can Cannonier overcome the odds and pull off the upset win against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya? We will get the answer in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 276 fight card.

My opinion, if you’re interested, is probably not.

I suspect this is going to be Cannonier’s first and last shot at a UFC title and that makes him a desperate man. He was already a dangerous fighter thanks to the power he carries in his strikes. A desperate and dangerous fighter makes for an interesting opponent for Adesanya.

I think Adesanya and his team at City Kickboxing know everything there is to know about Cannonier and they have planned for the best he has to offer. Adesanya is a master at judging time and space and with the advantages he has in height and reach over the challenger, he should be able to handle everything that comes his way in this bout.

However, there’s always a chance for an upset.

Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway 3

I’m likely not alone in feeling like the UFC wants the UFC featherweight title wrapped around the waist of Max Holloway. After all, he is 0-2 in title fights opposite Alexander Volkanovski and getting a third title fight. That’s not to say that Holloway doesn’t deserve this fight, he has two wins following his second loss to the current champ, but I am saying it feels strange since Volkanovski is 2-0 against Holloway.

This fight won’t answer who the best featherweight in UFC history is, but with a win, it will put to rest the question about who the better fighter is between these two elite 145 pounders. If Volkanovski wants to remove the Max Holloway sized albatross from around his neck, he needs a third win against the ex-champ.

A secondary thing to consider in this bout is if this is the contest where Holloway’s style catches up to him, because if history has told us anything it’s that fighter’s who absorb the amount of strikes that Holloway has absorbed over his career, eventually break down.

Sean Strickland vs Alex Pereira

All signs point toward this one being a UFC middleweight title eliminator, with the winner moving on to face the victor of the UFC 276 main event scrap.

The big question in this fight is if Strickland will test his striking against Alex Pereira, who is a much more dynamic and talented striker than Strickland, who mostly relies on his jab, forward movement and volume.

I don’t believe Strickland will be that foolhardy. He might toy with the idea early in the first round, but I think the veteran’s plan will be to exploit Pereira’s weak grappling game.

Strickland doesn’t have a submission win since his first fight in the UFC in 2014, but he is a brown belt in jiu jitsu and in his most recent win, a five-round contest opposite Uriah Hall, Strickland went four-of-six on his takedowns and earned 7:02 of control time.

Strickland is the No. 4 fighter in the UFC’s middleweight division and I don’t expect him to risk his ranking or his six-fight winning streak for the sake of possibly entertaining fans on Saturday. Especially since Strickland’s fighting style is not one the UFC usually favors when booking competitors in title fights.

Robbie Lawler vs Bryan Barberena

If a fan’s main event exists, I would imagine it’s a toss up between the Jim Miller vs. Donald Cerrone fight on the ABC prelims portion of UFC 276 and the opening fight of the pay-per-view card, the scrap between Robbie Lawler and Bryan Barberena.

Like the Miller vs. Cerrone booking, if history is any sign of what we can expect, Lawler and Barberena are going to do their best to put the other one away.

Barberena is on a two-fight winning streak and coming off a somewhat controversial split-decision win over Matt Brown in March. For Lawler, this is a great booking following September 2021 TKO win over Nick Diaz. Prior to that, Lawler was on a four-fight losing skid and had gone 1-5 dating back to his UFC welterweight title losing setback to Tyron Woodley in 2016.

Lawler said that the Diaz fight reignited his passion for fighting and that his enthusiasm for that bout has carried over to his preparation for the Barberena matchup.

With Lawler having turned 40 in March, the big question in this matchup is if his body and mind are on the same page.

Pedro Munhoz vs Sean O’Malley

Sean O’Malley’s slow stroll up the bantamweight rankings ends on Saturday when he faces the No. 9 ranked Pedro Munhoz. O’Malley, who would like us to believe that he is undefeated, is actually 15-1 and checks in as the No. 13 fighter in the UFC’s 135-pound division.

The 35-year-old Munhoz is 2-4 dating back to UFC 235 and while that record is not great, Munhoz’s effort in those bouts was enough to garner four “Fight of the Night” bonus awards. I should also point out that his losses all came opposite former or future UFC champions.

Despite his age and his recent losing record, Munhoz is still a threat at 135 and his 5.50 significant strikes landed per minute is nothing to scoff at. However, his 6.09 strikes absorbed per minute is something that should raise eyebrows, especially when O’Malley averages 8.26 significant strikes landed per minute.

One thing O’Malley needs to be aware of is that Munhoz has never been knocked down, let alone knocked out in a UFC fight. With that, O’Malley might want to be more judicious than usual in his striking and output.

Another important thing this fight might tell us is if calf kicks remain a problem with O’Malley because Munhoz kicks low and kicks often. With that being said, O’Malley has an enormous advantage in height (five inches) and reach (seven inches) and if he uses those physical attributes to his advantage, the kicks coming his way might not be a factor.

This is the test we’ve been waiting for O’Malley to take and if he passes it, there’s no looking back for the 27-year-old. A win here and O’Malley moves on to face the elite of the UFC’s bantamweight roster.

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A strawweight scrap has been added to a UFC event in the fall. 

Strawweights Angela Hill and Lupita Godínez are expected to share the Octagon in the fall.

Nolan King of MMA Junkie reported Hill vs. Godínez was added to an upcoming UFC event scheduled for Oct. 15 at a soon-to-be determined location and venue. Iridium Sports Agency and Godínez have since confirmed the report on their respective social media accounts.

Hill is 1-5 in her past six appearances. ‘Overkill’ suffered split decision losses to Cláudia Gadelha and Michelle Waterson at UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris and UFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill, respectively. She snapped the two-fight losing streak with a unanimous decision win over Ashley Yoder at UFC Vegas 21 last March. That newfound momentum came and went as the No. 13 ranked strawweight dropped her next three fights to fellow ranked contenders in Tecia Torres, Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba recently.

Godínez enters the fight on a two-fight win streak that includes decisions over Loma Lookboonmee and Ariane Carnelossi. She previously went 1-2 since her arrival to the promotion, earning a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded armbar of Silvana Gómez Juárez between decision losses to Jessica Penne and Luana Carolina. ‘Loopy’ has already fought five times under the UFC banner, setting records for the fast turnaround (7 days) and shortest time between three fights (42 days) in modern UFC history.

There is no other fight announced for this upcoming UFC event. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for updates as they become available in the coming weeks.

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For former champion Max Holloway, it’s still too soon to determine the “GOAT” at featherweight.

Former champion Max Holloway has accomplished enough to be in the conversation as one of the greats in the UFC’s ever-dangerous featherweight division. But all that talk has since shifted towards reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski, who has so far proven that he does have what it takes to receive such accolades.

Volkanovski and Holloway will face each other for a third time this Saturday at UFC 276, a fight that could very well steer that GOAT conversation towards the rightful winner. But for Holloway, it’s all premature talk at the moment.

“Did we forget the man José Aldo? The man got eight title wins,” Holloway said during the UFC 276 media day on Wednesday. “I have five title wins, and until somebody can beat his records as a champion with the eight title wins, then they can consider themself the GOAT at featherweight.

“I got five. To be here against Alex to get my sixth title win, that’s just the cherry on top. With fans and everything, it’s gonna be amazing.”

Volkanovski vs. Holloway will be one of two title fights on Saturday. At the top of the bill is a middleweight championship between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier.

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